Seal Of Immortality

Among the Most Coveted things a Dragon can own, is the Seal of Immortality.

At first, when the Master Tailors learned that the Dragons they had begun creating in Misty Vale had a limited Lifespan, they were confused, and thought they had done something wrong. All the Dragon they had encountered to date of those made by the former Tailors had no seeming end to the lifespan of the bond between Essence and Cloth.

Then they began to wonder if it was perhaps simply that they were not as magically inclined with the cloth as their predecessors had been. It was not until late one night, working on the repairs of a small, heavily damaged Leafy with wanderlust in her eye-buttons that they came to learn the secret of the First Tailors, and the explanation to many old questions.
How did some of the Dragons survive, but not all?
Why was there an overpopulation of Plushy Dragons?
What kept the bond of Cloth and Essence strong enough to last more than a few months?
And many more...

For you see, hidden deep within the cotton stuffing of Miss Leafy, they found a small Seal, much like a talisman in nature, but bound to both the Dragon's Essence and Cloth! This discovery was a breath taking moment for the Mast Tailors, who finally understood how it had been done. It was also a breath taking moment for Miss Leafy, who let out quite the squawk as she felt her Essence begin pulling away from her cloth. The Tailors of course quickly stuffed the Seal back into place and finished the repairs on her, their thoughts also quietly mulling over the complications and meanings of the fabulous discovery.

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It was a short time later before they had successfully created more of the Seals, and they needed to test them. The first volunteers were not Bahamut and Alexandra, who were happy to try things on for modeling purposes, but were not keen on the idea of having their Essence meddled with. Instead, a new Chubb stepped forth, confident in already being long lived, and consented to having the Seal fused onto his/her cloth.

The entire process seemed successful, but no one could be certain until those who did not have already long lives had a go at it. And so the Tailors began giving them out to seemingly worthy Visitors and their Dragon friends, watching carefully to be sure of their success, repair kits at the ready should something go awry.

As the days passed and experiments all proved successful (we'll just not count that one incident of explosion in the Tailor Shoppe, no one was hurt. Well, maybe one Tailor's pride, but that would heal), the Master Tailor's hashed out the details of how they would use the Seals of Immortality. While not true Immortality (a Dragon could still become injured or killed), it did do away with the short lifespan of the magic between Essence and Cloth, replacing it with a firm, long lasting bond that would hold through centuries.

They learned that not every Dragon made by the First Tailors had been given a Seal (apparently they ran out of stock often, and were very forgetful). This meant Tatty Foundlings, Chubbs, and some Wild Dragons had no need for a Seal. They also learned that it was much easier to place a Seal upon a Dragon successfully while it was first being made, rather than later on. Sadly, they also learned that the First Tailors had had no success in binding a Seal to a Deep Dragon. It seemed there was just too much Dragon there for the tiny Seals to manage.

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The Master Tailors did not wish to repeat the mistakes of the First tailors, and so came up with a careful and limited system for distribution, opting to keep the Seals on the outside of a Dragon, rather than hidden within. That way it would be easy to tell who had one, and who did not, and it could be toted about as a special elite feature that nearly every Dragon could have.
And so....here we present the details you all really want to know:

What the markings mean! And what is it made of?
Well it is made of Silver, and there are three markings; one for Earth, at the bottom; one for Air, at the right; and one for Water, at the left. Now on to the stuff that you really want to know...

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What a Seal of Immortality does for a Dragon

It allows them to continue to collect all of the wonderful Gear, Items, and Features we have available here on a long term basis. Normally, a dragon is only able to collect these things for the first year after being stitched. After that, they pass through the Dragon's Gate, where they no longer have an inclination to collect, but can still interact in most fashions. (What this means from a backstage perspective is that you have one year to make your Dragon bad*ss, and then we will no longer be keeping the layered file for it).

Sounds great! Maybe even, too good to be true? Well there is a down side. Give a Dragon unlimited time, and they can become a bit lazy in their proper duties. They won't work as hard when not playing with you to collect the materials they need each Breeding Season for Egg making. Effectively, binding a Seal onto a dragon drops it's chances of successfully completing an Egg to 50%. Perhaps they didn't collect enough stuffing, or maybe they neglected to collect Thread. Whatever the reason, they will not always be able to create the next generation. If two Dragons who both have Seals breed together, the chances of creating an egg are 25%, being accumulative effects. If you have used Breeding Aides; there will be a 50% chance, modified by your Luck Rating, that those Aides will be returned to your Dragon's Inventory, rather then used up.

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Seals of Immortality and the Dragon's Gate

When two Sealed Dragons pass through the Dragon's Gate, they may opt to have their Seals removed, and passed on to another Dragon. This will create only a single Seal, as some of the magic has already been used by them, and some is lost during the removal. The mark of the Seal will be left behind on the bodies of the passing Dragons (which means their appearance will be unchanged), just as wax dripped on cloth and then pulled away leaves a mark of itself. A brand new shiny Seal will then be made from the remnants of the two old ones, and placed on the chosen Dragon. This will only be done on a case by case basis, and only with prior approval. So please check with us first. Luck Ratings will have a lot to do with this.

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How to acquire a Seal of Immortality

Purchase: Buying a Seal is the only guaranteed method by which to acquire one, and may only be done with real money, not points or other forms of 'fake money'. A Seal may be purchased for the following prices>
$10 if your Dragon does not qualify for one of the below discounts
$8 if your Dragon carries a Gold Item, Gold Feature, or Gold Lolly
$6 when ordering a Tailor Made (for said Tailor-Made only, and only at the time of purchase. If added later must pay full cost)

Prize: Occasionally we will offer these as a prize for>
Fairground Contests(most often)
Kiribans(rarely)
BIG Contests (ones where everyone can enter at once, occasionally)
Exceeding Excellence! _{^{(If we feel that your Dragon has become Grand and Glorious, has collected a fabulous collection of Features or Items, or even a Hoard that anyone can envy, and that you have been a responsible, highly active visitor to the Vale, we might just offer you a Seal for this wonderful Dragon, free of charge. This is only at our whim, and our whim must be impressed. It may not be pestered, cajoled, or bribed. If your Dragon is truly Excellent, and would be a missed part of Misty Vale by all upon it's passing, then, and only then may you look forward to this.)}}

Trade This will be on a case by case basis, and is only available if WE offer it. It does not come with precedents, nor will it create any.

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Placement of the Seal is at our discretion, and is already set and decided for each species. Please do not attempt to ask for it to be placed 'here like this' as it will be looked at with disdain for not reading these details, and ignored.

TO ORDER
1) Leave a comment on your Dragon interacting with it and asking if it wishes to obtain a Seal of Immortality.
2) We will then reply with a comment as follows: 'You are welcome to purchase a Seal for this Dragon. The Cost will be $(we will insert the price here)' or 'You may not at this time purchase a Seal for this Dragon' (we do not expect to have to use the latter, but it is an option we want you to be aware of)
3) Once you have received the go ahead (as per above), send us a note as follows:

Subject line - (insert Dragon's Name) is Purchasing a Seal

Content - (insert Dragon's name)(insert THUMB to said Dragon)
This Dragon wishes to purchase a Seal of Immortality. My email is (insert your email), and I am ready to pay the cost of the Seal now.

4) Obviously, don't do this until you CAN pay for it, k? We will then send your email a Paypal request for payment for the cost of the Seal. Once we have received it, we will notify you of such and place the Seal onto your Dragon. We will do this in as timely a fashion as possible, but if you feel your order has become lost, or forgotten, feel free to inquire, not more than once in a day please, and not every single day.

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_{This information is subject to change, at the discretion of the Master Tailors, based upon need and system balance. The same goes for pricing.
If a step is left out, the rules are not followed, etc. in the purchasing process, we will ignore your purchase.
We may at any time revoke a Seal at our discretion, though it will likely only be for disciplinary action, and we haven't had much trouble with that around here, have we?}

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And finally, at long last ( that was a lot to type!) here we are, what you all are waiting for. The free ones! Yup, we are giving out some free ones.
But they come with stipulations! Please read carefully, and remember, there are limited slots for each one!

1) For anyone and everyone who has purchased (with real money) a Tailor Made or Auction Dragon prior to the posting of this Seal, you are welcome to a free Seal for that Dragon. Simply leave a polite comment here, with a link to the Dragon, requesting to have it added.

2) Otherwise, today we are giving out 10. And only ten. We may give out more in the Future, so keep your eyes sharp!
_{^{( We will likely give out more once these ten slots are full)}}
*One per owner.
*You must not already own a Dragon with a Seal
*We reserve the right to pass you over for a more active member. 'More active' will be primarily determined by the level of build up your Dragons have received. For example, a Drakey which is still in its basic form with no Items or Features, and an Owner who rarely visits and leaves no comments for the Dragon, may be passed over for someone who has spent a lot of time building up their Dragon and making them the most they can be, while visiting them and interacting with both them and us. This is but one example, and there are a lot of scenarios. If we pass you over, there is a reason for it, and you can be certain we carefully reviewed each application.
* Fill this out:
-Owner's name
-Dragon's name and link
-Why it should have a Seal of Immortality. Be descriptive, and give us good reasons. The better and more detailed your reasons, the more likely you are to receive one. But don't go making stuff up either. Tell us what your plans are for this Dragon! We need to know what you and it will accomplish with this Seal. Is it going to be creating a particular breeding line, does it have the goal of collecting the most stuff, what are your ambitions with this pet?
*Leave the form in a polite comment here.

Thank you everyone, and best wishes to you!

Taken:
1) Nemestrinus [link]
2) Maria [link]
3) Atlas [link]
*Extra-Minolo [link]
4) Blue Wish [link]
5) Orchid [link]
6) Cybele [link]
7) Sapphire [link]
8) Layla [link]
9) Opal [link]