One - #02. “Shimmering Owlcats”

[Prof. Sindor Aloyarc]

You find them in the ruins of an old observatory half buried in snow, and for a moment you might be convinced the stars themselves have fallen.

Glowing shapes flit between broken domes and icicled towers. Winged creatures with feline grace and owl-like faces. They hoot, yowl, and argue loudly. One flies straight at you and drops a snowball on your head before taking off, cackling.

Finn ducks another. “Owlcats,” he mutters. “Brilliant minds, terrible manners.”

The Shimmering Owlcats were supposed to have joined the Frost Elk hours ago, but instead they’ve decided the Migration is “boring” and have built a snowball city called Meowgopolis. You can’t help admiring their work: delicate arches of packed snow, shards of ice crafted into towers, and the occasional fish frozen midair as a decorative feature.

A particularly pompous owlsquire named Twizzle informs you, “We’ve voted unanimously to stay here and pursue the arts.”

Finn squints. “By arts, you mean throwing snowballs at strangers?”

“Performance art,” Twizzle says solemnly.

You sigh. The aurora above flickers again. The owlcats’ lights dim slightly in response. Their magic is tied to the Migration, they just don’t remember.

So you gather them all and propose a challenge. “If Meowgopolis can withstand one north wind,” you tell them, “then you may stay.”

The owlcats agree at once and the wind answers immediately. It sweeps across the plain, playful but powerful, and Meowgopolis collapses in a swirl of glittering snow.

For a long moment the owlcats stare blankly. Then Twizzle looks up, his feathers drooping. “Perhaps we should travel after all.”

When they finally lift off together, hundreds of glowing shapes spiraling into the sky, the aurora brightens as their laughter echoes behind them.

Finn watches them go. “Artistic temperaments,” he sighs. “Very delicate.”

Task:
Like a Shimmering Owlcat, show your own winter art by making a Signature &/or Avatar to go along with this activity and post below! 10 beans/sapphires will be awarded for posting a Signature image (250x100px), 5 beans/sapphires for posting an Avatar (100x100px)

Alternatively you may Describe your signature and avatar in 80 words or more (what kind of imagery would you use, and what do you enjoy about that?) or use a minimum of 100 words to write a Character Description, fleshing out the identity of who you are as the protagonist represented in this story.

15 beans/sapphires are available for this task, with an extra 15 for completing all Week One tasks by end of activity. Deadline is 11:59pm (HOL time) on Wednesday January 21st.

[Janne Halla]

For both the avatar and signature, I'd use animal, winter, and aurora borealis imagery to go with the whole theme of the story. I also quite like everything mentioned. It reminds me of home.

The avatar would have a silhouette of a fox on a snowy white hill, with stars twinkling brightly in the sky. The signature would be mostly the same. In the background, there'd be two or three snowy hills or similar landscapes with a different silhouette of an animal (fox, wolf, elk, and so on) on each of them, sort of representing migration.

In the sky, there'd be some auroras and bright stars, with the name of the activity at the bottom.

[River Fenwick]

Avatar
Signature