Crescendo Clans

The Crescendo Clan are Snappers who live in the Twisting Crescendo. To outsiders, they are the ones who guide visitors and pilgrims through the dangerous storms and the Wind and Ice magic. They are the caretakers of the mysterious spots where the Windsinger and Icewarden’s magics have become so concentrated as to imbue scrolls with the power to change a dragon into a Spiral, a Skydancer, or a Tundra.

They also have another purpose, one known only to them.

They help contain the Twisting Crescendo, continually reinforcing the boundaries that keep it from breaking free and tearing across all of Sornieth. They are also working to calm the storms that rage, so that within a thousand generations it will be a beautiful home.

## Lore

Once, long ago, Snappers from all over Sornieth felt the pull of the Windsinger in their hearts. Maybe it was because of their green scales, or perhaps it was because they were some of the most musical of all the Snappers, but for whatever reason they found themselves leaving their well worn paths and coming towards the Twisting Crescendo.

There, they stopped, and looked at the whirling mass of wind and ice with trepidation. They had left their homes to follow a niggle in the back of their minds, only to find that it led to a place where no dragon could live!

The wisest among them gathered together to hold council to decide what they would do. Most favoured leaving this inhospitable place, and returning to their old lives. However, one brave Snapper named Triskelion decided to brave the twisting winds.

She stepped into the continuous storm, and was amazed when she was not blown right out. She could feel her scales rippling, helping her to stay on her feet. She also, much to her surprise and delight, could feel a magic that she had always known but never been able to use unfold within her soul. She found herself feeling like she was finally Home.

*“Come on in!”* She called to the others, who were starting to notice her. *“We were led here for a reason, trust in the Windsinger!”*

Seeing her standing there, safe and sound, others took the plunge. Most of them felt their own scales changing, but a few found that theirs were polished to an iridescent shine. *“See?”* Triskelion called, bounding around. *“We’re Home!”*

Those that had the rippled patterns would eventually sort themselves into Journeying Clans that patrolled the Crescendo, monitoring the magics and reporting back to the Synod of Iridescent Clans, who lived in the Eye. The Synod prepared the magic talisments to help calm the magics, and to contain the storms.

The Journeyers are the ones who most dragons will meet, since they are the ones who will sometimes leave the Crescendo to get supplies, secure trade deals, and to see the world. Sometimes a member of the Synod Clans will leave, but they usually find the outside world too bereft of the magic of both the Windsinger and the Icewarden to feel comfortable.

The Crescendo Clans call the dragons who live outside of their storms the Calm dragons.

   It usually takes a group of at least three Crescendos to have enough magic to protect one of the Calm dragons. If a Crescendo is extremely powerful, it will sometimes manifest as Windbound Plumage.
## Breed Standards

The main type of dragon in the Crescendo Clans is Snapper.

**Every member of the Crescendo Clans is an XYY dragon.** Acceptable colours for Primaries are Aqua, Seafoam, and Jade. Acceptable colours for the Secondary and Tertiary are White, Maize, and Ice.

### **Member of the Journey Clans**

    Genes for the Journeyers are Ripple/Current or Stripes/Smoke. These are the Crescendos who travel through the Winds, tracking the state of the wild ma
gics and reporting back to the Synod. They place the magical talisments that the Synod enchants, and guide travellers through this realm. They also trade with the outside world. They instinctively choose paths that help reinforce the calming magics the Synod create, wearing a spell sign into the land itself.

* Aqua – Usually found near water, at the Southern end of the Crescendo.
* Seafoam - Rarely venture outside of the Crescendo.
* Jade – The dragons most at ease outside of their Crescendo home.

### **Member of the Synod Clans**

   Genes for the Synod are Ripple or Iridescent/Current or Stripes or Shimmer/Smoke. The Synod are the dragons who create the talisments that help contain and calm the wild magics. They link all the Journey Clans together, allowing a loose common government. They also are responsible for food production, because gathering can be dangerous with the magic potentially changing food in dangerous ways.
All members of the Crescendo Clan spend their last season of childhood in the Eye with the Synod, where they have more in-depth schooling to teach them things their own Clan might not know. They also meet other Crescendos, sometimes forming new Clans. They also make their Wooden Pipeflute during this time.

### **Acceptable Breeding Partners**

    Acceptable breeding partners are Skydancers, Imperials, Nocturnes, Coatls, and Wildclaws. While these can travel with a Journeyer Clan, it requires the adults to pool their magic to protect the non-Snapper. It takes three Snappers to protect one non-Snapper, and then this group cannot guide any Calm dragon through the Twisting Crescendo.
Any non-Snapper born in a union with one of these breeds will have enough magic to travel with the Crescendo Clans on their own, without needing the other Snappers to pool their magic to keep this non-Snapper safe.

## Favoured Items

### Favoured Trade Goods

The Crescendo Clans are always anxious to get these, though outsider dragons are never quite sure why. These are the items that the Synod uses in making and enchanting the magic calming talisments.

### Favoured Treasure

The Crescendo Clans, as a whole, don’t care much for the more traditional forms of wealth. Due to their wanderings, they value most highly treasures that fit into the satchels they will usually have.

* **Rambra Horn** - They make them into horns that can call across long distances, as warnings or just as greetings.
* **Brillint Feather Cluster**
* **Shining Feather Cluster**
* **Snow Streak Pinion**
* **Fallout Streak Pinion**
* **Tiny Feathers**
* **Charged Tungsten** - Used by those with Delver lamps.
* **Jade** - Sometimes carved into small statues.
* **Labradorite**
* **Ancestral Incense**

### Favoured Food

Their diet consists mostly of plants, with the occasional sea food as a treat. Those that live near the sea will enjoy more seafood than those that live near the Steppes.

* **Luminous Almonds** - These are a sign that the magic is very strong in the area.
* **Pinwheel Paddies** - These grow everywhere in the Crescendo!
* **Broadleaf Plantain**
* **Strawberry**
* **Sweet Grass**
* **Clover**
* **Green Shoots**
* **Sunkernel**
* **Pale Smallmouth** - They breed these in their water reservoirs, to make sure that no tainted magic has corrupted the water. This is the fish most often eaten by those away from the sea.
* **Dumpling Squid**
* **Corycat**
* **Ballooon Belly Magi** - These are highly prized by the Synod Clans, because they enhance magical capabilities.
* **Pumpkinseed Sunfish** - A wonderful snack.

### Favoured Apparel

Because of the winds in their Home, they favour minimal apparel, and ones that fit fairly tight to the body. The Synod Clans will sometimes wear looser clothing.

* **Wooden Pipeflute** - Every Crescendo has a Wooden Pipeflute that they craft themselves when they begin to travel away from their family. It helps them to communicate over long distances, though the true reason is there is a deep love for music in the hearts of all Crescendos.
* **Journeman Satchels** - If they could afford them, every Crescendo would have some.
* **Deepsea Bulbs & Delver's Lamps** - These help to light the way when the storms darken the sky past what even their magic can help with. All colours of deepsea bulbs are acceptable.
* **Peridot, Pearl & Aquamarine Flourish** - Any item from these colours of Flourish jewellery is acceptable.
* **Wing Bangles** - Any wing bangle is acceptable. They twinkle prettily in the wind!
* **Tawny Antlers**
* **Bleached Peacekeeping Vest**
* **Bleached Peacekeeping Headband**

The Synod Clans Sometimes Wear:

* **Any Satin Tunics**
* **Any Cowls**