The Den alerted Baeris to an arrival, and thankfully it hadn't interrupted any of her existing daily tasks. She was in reasonably good spirits, because honestly there was nothing going on in the Den at the moment. Well there was that hilarious batch of creatures that Keenan kept sending photos of, claiming they were pestering him for space. They could have whatever space they wanted, somewhere else... anywhere but here...

She wove her way around desks and chairs, halls and access tunnels. The Den pinged her more urgently, which was a bit weird. She had long been accustomed to it tugging on her elbow like an insistent child, but this was more like the old days - more like when it would wrest control of direction and time and just land wherever it pleased. At least it was telling her to take the wheel, as it were. Maybe the Den had things on its own mind.

Maybe she was making things up, because hardly anyone else really believed her when she tried to explain all of that to anyone who wasn't intimately connected to the place. The kids who had been born here? They got it. Some of the more recent visitors like Keenan and Rhea and Mel? They understood implicitly, but probably for different reasons. Only Keenan 'knew' what she was talking about. Mel and Rhea scampered around the labs like giggling school girls - and Baeris had joined in - on that one visit...

Finally Baeris got to the main entry point, a broad cement-lined room with rollup doors and what had been concession stands lining the walls. Open to the one end's broadest archway, looking out to the flat parking lot and beyond it to the chunky landscape of an asteroid this all was carved from, that entry had signs on it on both its inner and outer rim. As a point of habit, Baeris glanced up at the sign, but didn't immediately grasp its significance. It displayed a yellow-gold neon egg, and after a little while switched infrequently from that to a black and red chrome shell, then faded to a black and gold one, all of these superimposed on... a desert? Why? Weird. It rested on that neon gold when she passed under the arch, and stayed that way while they were near it.

There was a moment when Baeris stood in shock, because for all the things she could imagine, seeing her sister's dragon show up at the Healing Den was not one of them. But there she was, bright as day - brighter, in fact, against the blackness of the Healing Den's void sky. She glowed. She was... very, very large. It had been a while since Baeris had been in proximity with this particular dragon. According to her own personal 'internal clock' it was... more than... well, it was more than a hundred years, longer than a human lifetime at least.

The neon sign didn't do this dragoness justice, honestly. She rumbled with a deep tone, a big sound, one that resonated in Baeris's lungs and almost made her gasp. The Vortigaunts that Keenan would bring through the place sometimes spoke that way. It had been quite a long time since she'd heard a queen's trumpeted greeting.

But along with that nearly-subsonic tone was a mental spark, a connection that in honesty had never been forged between the dragon and this woman. I greet you, my rider's-sister, the dragoness bespoke with a voice that was as intense as her color. Before I say or do anything more I must ask... that this... remain between us? There was a weird pause, the dragon seemed to be working up how to say what she meant. I require sands, but I ... require this to be held secret from my rider.

Baeris blinked, hard, and tried to focus. The intensity of the insistence, the quality of must rather than could... "I... I guess?" She stammered. It was highly unusual for Baeris to be at a loss for words, but sure if it wasn't this dragon that could bring her to it. "But why? I can't imagine that my sister the bitch-queen would be worried about her dragon's-"

That queen cut her off: She does not approve of this pair, she forbade it, but I needed to... I needed to do this for him.

"Him... him? Who?" Baeris asked. Did the dragon mean her suitor? Or the dragon's rider? But the dragoness dodged all that. The woman let it drop, because of all the things she wanted to do, pissing her sister off was still oddly high on the list. So for spite? Sure. She'd let it just be unknown for the time being. If the dragon decided to tell her later, so be it. She wasn't going to push.

Besides, if they got samples it might go a ways to telling.

"So you did know to come here, but when-" Baeris took a glance around. The Den had in fact settled back on Pern, she knew it instantly. She knew the wide and rugged mountains, she knew the chill in the air. This was Buenos Weyr's old territory. She wondered absently - and then more firmly - whether anyone she knew was here or if it was abandoned, the way she'd left it all that time ago. Baeris didn't want to hang around though, because just in case there were still folks? She couldn't afford to be seen with this dragoness. Lyeleth wasn't known to the locals, the dragon had only visited the place maybe once and that was when she was a weyrling barely big enough for Cheyanne to ride or go between, and she obviously had wanted to shove this in Baeris' face. I'm a queen-rider and you're not, she all but said it.

I know there is little love between you, Lyeleth bespoke, as Baeris waved for her to enter. But you are both at least strong and smart. We look for that in our shells.

Baeris thought she detected a curious note to that, and sure enough there was Dulath peering around an artistic stone column with eyes whirling assorted violets and reds, until they settled on a dark blue-green. Dulath kept to herself, voice silent, and mind clamped shut - Baeris didn't want to intrude on her conversation with this queen, but was well aware that it was going on. She scooted away, to places Baeris wasn't going to follow just at the moment.

The hallway was tall but much broader than its highest spot, and this dragoness actually needed to lower her head and tuck her wings to properly get to the main Sands. She was not the biggest dragon ever to come from the Den itself, but she was still a queen-sized gold, and she was very, very heavy with eggs. She also had a slightly dry look to her skin, and Baeris tapped out a message on her data pad: bring bathing equipment and traditional Pernese oils, their guest needed to be tended. She knew from experience that the dragoness wouldn't want to eat yet - not with that much blocking her internal organs from expanding with a good meal.

Eventually while the dragoness was pampered by an assortment of local kids and unbonded staff, Cynonix approached carefully. He was always careful, he was always a bit more jumpy than any other Sanger on site. Even after this long, with children and grandchildren tying him to Baeris (and the other Sangers), Cynonix had never lost the edge to his senses that could let him escape in the blink of an eye. Of course, he was a cheetah-kin, so there was that aspect, built for speed and not for fighting like some Sangers, Cynonix none the less had been presented with plenty of the same issues that plagued his human and humanoid doppelsangers.

"She... has been timing it," he said quietly. "A lot. She's run herself ragged. And though there is no danger to the eggs, they may have been affected by some of that betweening."

"It isn't typical to travel a lot while heavy," Baeris nodded. "But then we can make sure that any eggs are healthy long before they hatch. Provided she allows it," she looked at the queen - and remembered they were a bit more touchy on their own nests than anywhere else...

Very few of the dragons on the Den's sands had ever needed to travel at all, the Den would provide. But Lyeleth had not showed up and then grown heavy, she apparently hadn't been able to 'catch' the Den's 'eye' until now. Why then, suddenly, did it perk up and listen?

That was answered when the Den seemed to move just a little sideways. Probably no one but Baeris noticed; maybe Cynonix did, he swayed and had to use his long spotted tail as a balance. It was not unlike a boat mooring on a gently rocking lake. Baeris pulled in a long breath, bid Cynonix to continue making sure that the queen had what she needed in terms of help and health, and turned back to the entrance hall.

The sign above now shone a dark red and black egg, swapping out with a bright golden-yellow and black one, and flickering back to the neon gold one only rarely, like static interfering with a signal; still with that arid dune behind it as a backdrop. So, now what? Another visitor with eggs?

Yes, it was. But it also wasn't who she might have expected, even less so given this twist.

Because it was her sister's dragon again. Only it was another version's sister's dragon. She looked for a Baeris that had been born on another world very similar to but not quite the same. And Baeris recognized this dragoness too, even though she herself had never physically set eyes on her.

Though she was clearly from whatever Weyr had birthed Lyeleth, with similar overt features of headknobs, dual-tipped wing fingers, thumbs, and the like, she had brilliantly red hide with equally stunning shiny black wings - indicative of being from a Pern where things went a bit differently. But still a queen and big for one: this dragon was, if anything, another notch taller than the gold who now rested on the sands.

"I don't know your name," Baeris said, "I... I want to say zeeee...something." Her hand fiddled with the air a little, and she thought how the Vorts would do that to coax lines of energy from the surroundings - they at least could get something out of the motion. She was left just waggling her fingers until the dragoness supplied the information she needed. She did so with a voice, in addition to a rich but somewhat exhausted sounding mind.

"My name is Tzarrenth," she said, in a voice as husky as one might expect a sixteen-foot-tall dragoness to use. Breathy; she was tired, she was still steaming from arrival from - wherever it was they had put down. The Den had actually abruptly taken off from that world, it was quite odd. Touch and go was not a typical response from it. Perhaps the dragon's exhausted state showed more than the Den would tell.

"Let... let me guess," Baeris said, "you were flown by a mate that Cheyanne didn't want you to?"

As Tzarrenth took a hesitating step into the dark corridor, her mind sought out Baeris's. Indeed, but how-

"You're the second to arrive," Baeris said on entering the Sands. "I think you two will have a lot to talk about."

The red-black was stately, but clearly still winded from whatever rough and tumble journey had led her to the Den. As she passed the mistress of the Healing Den, Tzarrenth sniffed her soundly. You are like but unlike. I cannot pretend to understand this.

"So you've met ... well, you've met that Baeris that lives wherever you are from," Baeris asserted. "It follows that I smell a bit different. Plus I've been here a long while."

"You still smell good," Kalkin said from one of the ledges above the Sands, chuckling. The dragoness looked up sharply at him, but said nothing more. It was entirely possible that he didn't exist in their timeline or world, so this unexpected presence would have shaken her. He wanted to yell, You have a sister? But he'd already known about Cheyanne. And had already yelled that in jest numerous times over the years. Not recently.

Baeris wasn't typically the one to go looking for her own duplicates across the multiverse, but she was very curious now. Was she a healer? Was she a rider? Both or neither? She knew from the endless parade of Sangers that had come through the place over the years that virtually anything was possible out there. But she alone was the one that the Healing Den as it was allowed to guide it.

Before she got too deep into that philosophical spiral, however, the Den moved once more. Baeris hustled toward the entry and noticed that the black and gold egg was still shining, with the other two hardly appearing in bursts of static. So there would be three, she decided. Very shortly she was rewarded with the strange sensation of a shockwave. One which preceded a dragoness, dust settling around her.

This one was, as Baeris fully expected, black bodied with brightly golden wingsails. She wasn't as big as either of the other queens for height, but definitely was built longer and sleeker... save for the fact that she too was absolutely gravid with eggs. Her wings folded somewhat uncomfortably over her bloated sides, and she strode in with confidence - and a limp.

"I am sssure this isss the right place," she breathed, verbally, hissing a little, "becaussse you are ssshe my once-rider resssented."

"Oh she resented me?" Baeris chuckled, "that's a twist."

The black-gold dragoness tilted her head, quite far actually, as she peered closer at Baeris. The woman couldn't help but wonder if this was how her Sanger companions felt on seeing their own for the first time? "You are ssshe but only in face," the dragon asserted. "I know only that I have moved far... much farther than usssual."

"So is Cheyanne going to have a fit if she finds out about your flight?" Baeris said, fairly sure of herself by now.

The dragon shattered that by saying, "my once-rider perissshed with my ssspeed," she raised her left wing, and on her back leg and hip were lumpy grey scars, which went into her wingsail and slightly down her tail from a central point. "Mossst of me got out of the way of the Ssskyfall," she sighed, and looked a little sad, "but not enough." She blinked away whatever memories, her eyes swirling from a strange muted grey-violet, into a brighter teal. "Ssshe and ... you-not-you fought often over the sssands." She tilted her black head again, "you are the missstresss of thisss place, but you are more than that one."

"I... started as a Healer," Baeris suggested, "am I more than that where you're from?"

"A Weyrwoman, indeed," the black and gold nodded. "Ssshe hated that you-not-you attained sssuch a role before ssshe did. Sssometimess I misss her. Many ssseasonss have passsed, no othersss came to me."

That got Baeris thinking, "your rider died but you're still around, that's... different for many dragons I know of." She paused while the dragoness nodded. "And... you can rebond?" Another nod. "Well that's certainly new. I - don't know your name, what should I call you?"

Breissemarth, the dragoness declared for the first time touching Baeris's mind with her own. It was sharp, felt - odd - felt like a sandstorm that was there and gone in a moment.

She curled her neck a little, noticing for the first time Dulath who had come back to ogle the new arrival. They sniffed noses, and the big dragoness seemed to chuckle. "Ssshe isss ssso ... sssmallll..." It seemed like she was about to say 'adorable' too, when she also caught wind of the other queens who had come through. Dulath communicated with her, gently nudging Baeris's mind with a rundown of events being relayed to the new one. The dragon was going to handle this a little better than she might, Baeris was distracted now even though she'd hardly considered the implications a moment before.

So Baeris-on-that-world was a Weyrwoman? Well that would certainly put Cheyanne on edge. What a strangely different world this one had to be from. Of course, she followed that thought with... Even though she was dead in one, her sister was a bitch in all of them. That probably wasn't true and certainly wasn't kind, but it still felt right.

As she walked behind the tiny green-gold and the waddling, limping black-gold, Baeris let her mind wander a bit. They would reach their destination in a few moments, she could walk this route blindfolded or in her sleep. She had walked it blindfolded, at least once thanks to Kalkin...

What would happen if the Remaining Cheyannes came here? Of course: how they might do that would be quite the tale. Given that her dragon(s) had come alone, leaving her on whichever their worlds had been. They would have to return to their riders. They would have to remain silent, perhaps forgetting in that draconic way that they had, what went on here. Would they notice that the dragoness they'd impressed as a teenager was older, more slightly worn, had evidence that she'd laid eggs...

Did it matter? The thing that did matter to the Master Healer was that the dragons were safe now, they had all the care they could possibly want, they had complicit silence from everyone here. And all the space they needed to lay these eggs. Cynonix took one look over the red and black queen, glancing back and forth between the other two, and jotted down a few numbers. He showed those numbers to Baeris.

How they would do so in such proximity? Well, Baeris had a little experience with that. She thought back to the "Cross Gender" flight - the one which had the most eggs she'd ever seen from the most number of pairs. It was possible that there were still shards of shells under the sand from that hatching.

She led Tzarrenth to the far side by the highest of the dragon ledges along the south-east wall, since Lyeleth had already plopped herself onto the nearer part of the dune, closest to the entry hall on the south wall as well. Baeris indicated that once she was checked up and examined for any potential dangers Breissemarth would be situated directly under Baeris's office ledge and beside the entry to the dragon-pond along the north wall. The red and black dragoness would be visible from Baeris's quarters up above the sands, and the gold might block her view of that dragon, but all of them were visible from her office thanks to security cameras scattered all over the place. She'd have the easiest access to the black-gold, and even the other two queens agreed that this was appropriate - her scarred leg and body might make for an extremely difficult egg-laying.

***

While the trio of queens did settle on their spots, they could occasionally be heard chirping or bellowing at one another, depending on their mood. Lyeleth dropped egg after egg onto her portion of the sands, before Tzarrenth even started really getting her side smoothed out to her liking. Days before, actually. It was nearly a fortnight before Breissemarth would be allowed to lay anything, and it had even been suggested that they do a draconic Caesarean on her to surgically remove some or all the eggs. But within three weeks, all the queens were tending to their broods. Cynonix's estimation of 'a lot, no, more than that' was accurate but they wouldn't know exactly how accurate until those cameras detected heat signatures and movement from the eggs.

Tzarrenth's were spread slightly farther apart from one another, she was sure to separate them for whatever reason. Lyeleth's rested closer to her and in clear groupings, again it was unclear why she'd decided on this approach. Breissemarth's were all quite near one another but she actually asked Dulath for some assistance moving them - after all that work, after her already-aching skeleton and muscles were stretched to the limit from eggs, she hardly had the physical strength to do more than stand. Dulath did move them - exactly where the queen instructed her. Displayed then for everyone to take their guesses just precisely what quantity, each one of them seemed quite proud and happy with their situation.

Perhaps it was that they knew they would have to allow people to come near them? In the short time they were nesting in the Healing Den, they realized that this place was different than they expected, but also was as safe and secure as they knew it could be. So as one, they decided to announce they were ready to both receive visitors to their clutches, and... that the sire of their nests was Utainth.

The name made Baeris pause, a grip in her gut that didn't go away when she asked for them to say it again. The tone of her voice brought Kalkin to the edge of their overlook above the Sands, concerned. He watched, quietly, but obviously could listen in with ease to anything other than their mind-speak.

Utainth they said - E'tan's dragon, who had been through at least as much time as Baeris and the Den itself. But why?

And this time she did voice again, more insistently than when they had arrived, "you said you 'needed to do this for him'," she said to both queens who had mentioned it, "which 'him' do you mean? I need to know this, I have to know whether you mean the dragon, or the rider."

At that statement all three queens eyes turned angry red-orange, Tzarrenth's almost matching her hide. But it was Lyeleth who answered, to the dragon, and only he. We know that the rider is... not right. He is not what either of us would allow to approach our hatchlings.

"Perhaps he used to be," Tzarrenth spoke after clearing her thoughts. "He could never stand for a dragon now, Utainth told us." She added quietly and mentally, I believe we both felt sorry for this dragon. And... I believe... he is the same dragon that flew all of us? Not three of them, as there are of us.

"Even though you're not from the same world," Baeris asserted with a nod, "yeah that sounds like E'tan's dragon. He knows how to move through worlds the same as any dragon born here in the Den. Only he's been doing it..."

For that horrible man, at his whim, Lyeleth spat. Utainth wanted to... well I think he wanted to be the sire of something right for once.

"I do not have any secrets to keep from anyone at my home," Breissemarth said quietly (relatively speaking, her voice still was remarkably clear and loud), "but I ... believe I will be remaining here if I may, I have nothing to return to back home." Though she'd been given a clean bill of health save for her scarring and lasting damage, Brei wasn't in any immediate danger and was still reasonably young for a dragon. She did however relay that her pairing with Utainth came at a cost, her own health. She was hardly able to fly faster than he was, and he had been slower and less agile than a weyrling. No one would follow her into the sky when she went into heat, she had been such a spectacular sight once upon a time. The shame of this stung them all, even Dulath.

Baeris considered this. The queens shared, through Dulath who was weaving almost constantly between them and even around their eggs, that Utainth's mental landscape was as rough as the Void, broken as between. And not the 'good Void', the blessed silent darkness of death - something else, a twisted place that sweltered of sands: the desert behind the egg images, on the Healing Den's arrival sign. A desert that almost always meant E'tan. But they both swore that the rider knew nothing of this flight - because Utainth had often been ignored by the man for months at a time. When he would be near there was no welcome or warmth, only more commands, always coming from the man and never going out to him from the once-loyal dragon.

The image from all of the queens was staggering and very clear: Utainth was a mess, his wings tattered, missing parts of his feet or tail, an eye hopelessly ruined and the other barely able to see. Dulath remembered him from one flight long, long ago - such a contrast from that shining and swift-winged dragon. And there was something more desperate about this once fine brown that Dulath caught even through the filter of their shared memories. Utainth was terrified to return to E'tan.

Apparently Dulath shared this information with Sixth, because he started chirping urgently, and Kalkin went silent at that point. He watched as Baeris paced around and reassured the queens: they were safe, and they were most certainly safe from him here. The Healing Den would not allow E'tan to come through its space - even if he tried forcing his way in. It could not be brute-forced, and that was his way. Even among his own duplicates over the multiverse, E'tan preferred the bold and open method, brutally doing whatever he pleased with whomever he could dominate mentally, and then washing the memories out of the minds of anyone involved.

Kalkin knew more secrets about him too - that he was in most worlds... the father of his own abuser, Jonbyer. Jon, Renaud, whatever he went by, more often than not the blond menace that ruined virtually all Sangers had a father that was infinitely worse. As well, in some worlds, including that which the Kshau Protectorate's blue skinned leader hailed from, a son that was as brutal and senseless and lacking any subtlety... R'ingo he had been known as, before being killed, and freeing his dragon from that same kind of domination and shame. Kalkin wondered whether Khal was similar to this third queen: virtually unfazed by the lack of his 'once-rider'.

Kalkin sighed, closed his eyes and tried to clear his emotions. It was painful, it was an old wound. It was a wound that seemed very familiar when spoken of by the chittering dragon at his side. E'tan had run his dragon ragged the same way that Byers or Jon would have his own slaves. It ran in the family, apparently. He knew that the Zekiran version of Etan was among the nastiest of the group; but at least there, people stood against him that could fully withstand his psionic power. The dynasty of bitterness and cruelty that E'tan might have created among the dragonries had been cut short on numerous worlds, but... his own?

Here, the Den provided that padding. And he was quite glad for it. Cynonix was on edge about all of this too, he overheard that dragon-speak, and like almost all of the Sangers knew what it meant. All the dragons at the Den, and their riders, would have to remain here, at least until the eggs had proper bonds attending to them, and could be safely moved to secure locations - and probably, watched for any signs of incursion by the man or his dragon later on. Any stray mental noise from dragons who didn't know better, or riders prone to gossip, they couldn't be allowed off the Den until all was over.

Rules and Stuff!

*The three dragons clutches have at minimum 18 eggs each, which is certainly a lot. That said, there is no collect-the-set option for this event.

*Humanoid only, no full unshifted dragons; shapeshifters are allowed! Only one clutch type will openly allow changes of riders/bonds but none are for full dragon pairs.

*No gender restrictions, even on golds/bronzes. They're Pernese, but they're not stupid... If the right person comes along they will eagerly accept this bond regardless

*Most of the clutches will have a standard array of Gold, Bronze, Brown, Blue, and Green in their typically-Pernese genders. However Tzarrenth's may come in Red, Black, Bicolor as well as off-gendered for their normal type; Breissemerth's may be 'visibly bicolor' or markedly lighter or darker than a normal colored dragon appearing 'black' or 'white', wing/body contrasting in this manner but genetically maintaining their normal Pern rank

*Each of the females are from different dimensions so they do have different expectations or quirks shown above; choose carefully, if you're writing toward a specific ability make sure that the right one is selected; Some unexpected results such as 'this dragon can TALK!?' or 'why is there an explosion following us every time we teleport?' may complicate your candidate's life when they go home. If there are any added differences or complications per-dragon, they will be added to hatchling info at that time, if none are included, the dragon will have its mother's baseline abilities only

*No prior (still-living) full-dragon bonds; however candidates may potentially multibond later, based on their personal abilities and the clutch selected here if this is their first dragon; lesser sized dragons (Lians, Whers if allowed at Wher's hatching site, some few other non-pet types) may to an extent be tolerated more easily. No large 'pets' such as horses or dolphins should be along for the ride, I'll leave those up to you to decide whether the rider will be capable of keeping their dragon from eating the easily available food

*Official candidates for the higher ranks (Gold, Bronze/Red/Black) or for unusuals (Off-Gendered/Bicolors/Rares) should contain at least a fleshed out stat page. I will take up to 2 'queen-rank' candidates, up to 3 'king-rank', and up to 4 'unusual' candidates per person - not per clutch. Higher ranked dragons don't need massive amounts of existing story, please go easy on me I will definitely take stat pages with detailed info...

*Candidates for the mid and low ranks, and non-rare fillers, can be sent or requested at-will up to 3 per clutch, these will be green, blue, and low-ranked other colors only. Fillers may be either created by me or made by you later but please do make them available in a reasonable time since I will definitely forget about asking for links later. Can also just be fleshed out stat pages with requests for specific ranks/types that are not higher than browns might be in a typical clutch arrangement

*The hatchlings do require a (primarily humanoid) bond at birth. However only 2 clutches require that bond to be maintained; the third can break it, lose their bond, or even take a new one (and are much more likely to accept non-human or multiple bond situations).

*The hatchlings and new riders must remain on-site until they are 'screened' for potential lapses in security - E'tan must not know of this event. Ever. This may go as far as having memories erased, or altered, 'it's not really important who the sire is', or outright replacing names or visuals of the parent dragons with 'generic' ones when they leave. No post-hatching story is required, I'll assume that if none is made for the character, their memories of the event have been blotted out or altered to be generic 'I attended a hatching it was confusing and wonderful'.

*Thus, candidates for these eggs must be on board with this secrecy. Wherever they come from, whoever has Searched them, is "in on it" and likely from among the few capable Search riders the Den itself has. That is not saying that you can't make any decisions about whether they encounter E'tan, this is an option for later days if Zekiran ever gets off her ass to write up the big bad Glades things...I'd prefer to know about it in advance but I won't hold it against the character standing!

---- Send this to Zekiran on Discord please!! ----

Your (Discord) Name:
For Ranked Candidates (up to 4 total copy as needed):
- Name, Gender, Link, requested specific clutch / requested specific abilities / suggested rank desired
For Common Candidates and / or Filler Requests (up to 3 per clutch copy as needed):
- If existing candidate Name, Gender, Link, rank request, clutch request
- If requesting filler, Quantity, Humanoid Breed/Genders if desired, clutches requested
If any of the characters sent (or even requested for fillers) will be wanted for use in Big Bad Guy Preparation give me a heads-up

If I've left anything out just nudge and I can correct.

Candidates (last updated 10.31.23)