D-044: Secluded Vernissage
Theme: Secluded Vernissage
“Here we are, little one.”
Unable to move his arm at that moment, Chao could only vaguely gesture towards the tall pillar of carved wood jutting from the ground before them. It was old, one of the first pieces he made here - back when he had yet to discover the abundant clay reserves that waited nearby. Time had covered its painted surface with lichen and fungi and moss, but the artist didn’t mind; nature only embellished it.
“Welcome to my home!”
The small, heavy bundle in his arms shifted as he spoke. He glanced down to see a silvery eye open just slightly, then focus on the strange pillar, and a thought that wasn’t his own crossed his mind.
“My home too, now?”
“Precisely!” Chao grinned. “I hope you’ll like it as much as I do. I consider myself to have a good taste in decoration, but… well, you’ll see.” Gently running his fingers over the dragon’s smooth scales, he went on walking.
The week-long journey from Tsotska d’la Mer back to his forest had been taxing. The young night dragon - still nameless - was exhausted from the travels, seemingly even more so than Chao, who’d barely taken a break since leaving his home in the first place. But as he’d quickly noticed, crossing planets and the exhaustion that came with that had been a necessary distraction for the poor creature: the sights and sounds and smells of the many places they crossed could at last relieve some of the frustrating memories it had to endure for so long.
Once they left the first pillar behind, one statue after the other greeted them: wooden figures with fading colors and chipped bark; statues carved from stone, rough and jagged; burnt clay with vibrant, glazed colors. Each piece was unique. Some were abstract, some seemed to depict stylized animals or other lifeforms. Many were small enough to remain hidden to a careless eye while others made it nearly impossible not to stop and stare.
“Y’know, not to brag - but I made all those myself,” Chao casually pointed out. “What do you think? Pretty cool style, huh?”
A pensive little huff was the only answer he got. The hermit snorted.
“Oh, you’ll learn to love it. You better do.”
“...Later. I’m tired.”
“That’s fair.”
Soon the path widened, winding around a small hill covered in more statues. An experienced visitor might recognize the construct at its center as a shrine, but Chao didn’t stop to point that out to his companion. He didn’t want to delay their well-deserved rest with benign chatter.
With the shrine hill behind them, they followed a gentle river up to the point where it widened, forming a calm and shallow bathing spot - which, as Chao briefly commented, was the favorite spot of Patchwork, the other dragon that lived here. She used it to clean her scales every now and then, and it was not advisable to enter as the same time as her.
Then, at last, they arrived.
The clearing at the center of which his atelier-slash-home stood was, as expected, covered in even more statues. The building itself was a curious mix of all materials available nearby: parts of it were wood, polished or as nature made it, some walls were built from rocks or decorated clay bricks. Branches were woven into the roof wherever tiles weren’t used, and a large stone chimney jutted from the center.
Despite its irregularities - or perhaps because of them - Chao’s home had a unique charme that was reflected in all of his statues.
Careful not to rouse the sleeping Patchwork, who was only visible as a dark silhouette behind the building, the hermit gently opened the ornate door and stepped inside. He didn’t bother lighting a candle; the furnace provided a steady, soft red glow to make navigating his chaotic workplace just a little easier. It was littered in half-finished clay pieces and modelling tools, turning it into a minefield of pottery.
He beelined it to one of the room’s corners, where his simple mattress occupied one of the few clear spots on the ground.
There, Chao went down on one knee and let the night dragon wriggle free from his grasp. It groggily waddled toward the head-end of the mattress and curled up there, watching through half-closed eyes as the hermit got comfortable as well.
Resting his head on his worn pillow, Chao shared a look with his new friend, and smiled.
The dragon blinked in response, slowly and content.
A unique home.
A unique artist.
And now, another unique dragon to join them...
They would be a very special family.
Design
Art
“Here we are, little one.”
Unable to move his arm at that moment, Chao could only vaguely gesture towards the tall pillar of carved wood jutting from the ground before them. It was old, one of the first pieces he made here - back when he had yet to discover the abundant clay reserves that waited nearby. Time had covered its painted surface with lichen and fungi and moss, but the artist didn’t mind; nature only embellished it.
“Welcome to my home!”
The small, heavy bundle in his arms shifted as he spoke. He glanced down to see a silvery eye open just slightly, then focus on the strange pillar, and a thought that wasn’t his own crossed his mind.
“My home too, now?”
“Precisely!” Chao grinned. “I hope you’ll like it as much as I do. I consider myself to have a good taste in decoration, but… well, you’ll see.” Gently running his fingers over the dragon’s smooth scales, he went on walking.
The week-long journey from Tsotska d’la Mer back to his forest had been taxing. The young night dragon - still nameless - was exhausted from the travels, seemingly even more so than Chao, who’d barely taken a break since leaving his home in the first place. But as he’d quickly noticed, crossing planets and the exhaustion that came with that had been a necessary distraction for the poor creature: the sights and sounds and smells of the many places they crossed could at last relieve some of the frustrating memories it had to endure for so long.
Once they left the first pillar behind, one statue after the other greeted them: wooden figures with fading colors and chipped bark; statues carved from stone, rough and jagged; burnt clay with vibrant, glazed colors. Each piece was unique. Some were abstract, some seemed to depict stylized animals or other lifeforms. Many were small enough to remain hidden to a careless eye while others made it nearly impossible not to stop and stare.
“Y’know, not to brag - but I made all those myself,” Chao casually pointed out. “What do you think? Pretty cool style, huh?”
A pensive little huff was the only answer he got. The hermit snorted.
“Oh, you’ll learn to love it. You better do.”
“...Later. I’m tired.”
“That’s fair.”
Soon the path widened, winding around a small hill covered in more statues. An experienced visitor might recognize the construct at its center as a shrine, but Chao didn’t stop to point that out to his companion. He didn’t want to delay their well-deserved rest with benign chatter.
With the shrine hill behind them, they followed a gentle river up to the point where it widened, forming a calm and shallow bathing spot - which, as Chao briefly commented, was the favorite spot of Patchwork, the other dragon that lived here. She used it to clean her scales every now and then, and it was not advisable to enter as the same time as her.
Then, at last, they arrived.
The clearing at the center of which his atelier-slash-home stood was, as expected, covered in even more statues. The building itself was a curious mix of all materials available nearby: parts of it were wood, polished or as nature made it, some walls were built from rocks or decorated clay bricks. Branches were woven into the roof wherever tiles weren’t used, and a large stone chimney jutted from the center.
Despite its irregularities - or perhaps because of them - Chao’s home had a unique charme that was reflected in all of his statues.
Careful not to rouse the sleeping Patchwork, who was only visible as a dark silhouette behind the building, the hermit gently opened the ornate door and stepped inside. He didn’t bother lighting a candle; the furnace provided a steady, soft red glow to make navigating his chaotic workplace just a little easier. It was littered in half-finished clay pieces and modelling tools, turning it into a minefield of pottery.
He beelined it to one of the room’s corners, where his simple mattress occupied one of the few clear spots on the ground.
There, Chao went down on one knee and let the night dragon wriggle free from his grasp. It groggily waddled toward the head-end of the mattress and curled up there, watching through half-closed eyes as the hermit got comfortable as well.
Resting his head on his worn pillow, Chao shared a look with his new friend, and smiled.
The dragon blinked in response, slowly and content.
A unique home.
A unique artist.
And now, another unique dragon to join them...
They would be a very special family.
