Evugith and Fadhila (whoops that was the wrong name all this time?!)

Size comparison Piece and Knockoff/Pawn

Perneseish/Zekiran/Zebra-kin, slightly furry hide; 3+thumb / claw paws, +wrist finger wings; mane and tail tuft hair; back pointing straight horns - slight Pernese influence no knobs though; horse-like face; no external ears but hears fine; pupiled or faceted eyes; bonding not required but enjoyed, sponsorships likely, multibond unlikely but possible, non-human bond preferred

Naming: those who are biped shifters or who want to carry the name ahlHadaa may do so, meaning 'family lacking colors'; each given name has a meaning; Knockoffs are 'ahlTanhadaa' meaning 'family of tiny colorless ones'

Knockoff stats: average 3 in each with one 1, and one 5, your choices; powers cannot use family shifting abilities at all, though they may be coaxed out in splices thanks to flexible Zekiran DNA; average 3 for Telepathy, Verbal Speech, Telekinetics, and local teleport; 2s in fire/tk, nexus teleport, and longevity

This clutch is shown off in the 1 hour until Midnight block, early on

Full Pieces

All spoken for as of 12.3.22

Bond: Tsanthryl, Voluntary Bond
Meeting Notes: "I don't know how you managed this, Cass. I don't know and I don't care, and also I am impressed."

"That's not too hard," Cassius chuckled. Then straightened and looked the other way when Tsanthryl let off a quick whut?

The pair of clean-cut, sharply-dressed adventurers came through the elegantly decorated tunnel and emerged to the bright interior of this Checkerboard Ball thing with blinking eyes and dazzled senses. They weren't late, hardly, but the dance floor was already moving with people, and the colorful bunch of performers who just vacated the big Stage were the only things in the room with much beyond black or white on. And even as they watched - the Color Guard's outfits dulled into a myriad of greys, somehow. Tsanthryl squinted as one of them walked by, bright green hair was all that was left of it, her outfit had been the same shade moments before. But there were still splashes of color here and there, mostly among the party guests actual physical traits. Bright red plumed head feathers, elegant golden horns.

The cat-man sniffed at the air, though, something else had caught his attention - a wide black-lacquer and silver-trimmed bar that was taking orders and serving booze and food. This bar was impressive all by itself, framing the whole of the dance floor, splitting it away from the balcony above, and apparently with a kitchen and wine cellar behind it.

"Smells good," he grunted, and Cass rolled his eyes, that only meant one thing - he'd be on his own for the duration once Tsan went full gobble mode. Though truth be told it did smell very good... It would be all too easy to just lose themselves among this throng, so Cassius scored them a small table nearby, while Tsanthryl ordered something based on the symbols on the menu. A batch of small - tiny - little dragons burst into action on that bar, filling glasses with ice and fruit or garnishes, and very shortly Tsan discovered that the tables had the 'full' meal menus too.

"Can't do anything on an empty stomach, right?" He claimed, stuffing his face with all the sampler bits before even deciding on the order for the night...

This went on for quite some time, actually. But while Cass was involved with whatever nonsense he'd discovered (it was hardly nonsense and Tsan would find that out shortly) Tsanthryl took a tour of the whole place. It was a long tour, because every once in a while something 'big' would happen. Either the Stage show would change up, providing very bold entertainment for everyone up in the balconies as well as at the scattered tables at floor level, or ... or, the dragons would come out to play.

(It was at one of those early dragon presentations where Cass... well, that's his story...)

The cat-man however made it to the Casino, and oh how this was a thrill a minute! These things, slot machines and video screens? Amazing?! and there were people willing to explain how they worked - which took up a few songs played by ... who were they even on this littler stage? Every time he turned around they changed like that lady with the green hair earlier. Tsan was frightfully tempted to follow the one admittedly-super-smexy cat lady back stage... But he got just enough of a glimpse to realize that this 'quartet' was four quartets, and that was hilarous to him. He blew off when they noticed him lingering at the backstage drapes, "just fixing this light, don't mind me," he said, pretending to do ... something something - and scooted back into the main casino floor.

On there was more food back here too? Welp. His night was gonna be niiiice. But really he did zip in and out of there, visited the odd 'back alley' seeming hallway where people were shooting bottles and practice dummies with everything from thrown knives to gunpowder pistols to pew-pew guns and even magic powers. They were far too drunk for his preference; he reasoned if you're going to be shooting at things not being drunk is a tad safer for your friends, right? But he went past little alcoves with people resting their tired feet or making out or even getting themselves tattooed in that one room... He danced a few jigs, but that just left him tired too! And more hungry! More food awaited at the table that Cass was still tending his ... little dragons at? Aww!

And this went on. Until fairly late in the evening, with 'one hour' to go until Midnight. What would happen then? Would the place dry up and blow away or vanish? Hardly, but for the moment, Tsanthryl was patrolling the area nearer the Stage, watching the windows with their varied locations. He knew they were under the sea, deeply so, because the casino's little port-hole windows by the booths as well as the slightly-larger curved and fluted windows offered a view of the dragon side of the venue from the sea floor. But these windows had hardly any of that in them! They showed space, comets and planets, and in another, a warmly evening-sunset-underlit pier with a pleasant beach surrounding it. Fascinated by all that, he hardly noticed the warm presence behind him.

But he noticed when that presence licked his ear, and started gently nibbling on the end of it. "I like your hair," the dragon said, with a reasonably long clump of it having been tugged free from his nice-and-neat bun! It wasn't eating the hair, at least!

"Hey! Hey! Stop that, there's plenty of real food over there!" Tsanthryl said, pretty sure that he'd seen a bunch of little dragonets the whole night being paraded over to the stall with meats and whatever else they ate.

"Well I'm not eating it, I'm... testing its tensile strength."

The cat-man squinted, hard, gently tugging his head back away from this horse-like dragon's mouth. His hair came out quite wet. "How does a little dragon like you know words like that already?" He muttered, adding an ew and attempting to use one of the napkins from a nearby table to soak up all that dragon spit.

"It's because you know it," that dragon replied, absolutely serious. Then its dramatic black and white muzzle grew more white than black, as the stripes on it expanded or shifted around, all but forming 'worried eyebrows' above those bright green eyes. I apologize, I should have asked permission to search your memories before, y'know. Searching your memories.

"Wait you can make those stripes move - and you can talk into my head?!" Tsanthryl blurted out, but it was much too late. Now he felt that distinctly furry mind trotting around in his mind, and. Honestly? It wasn't that bad. In fact, now that he thought on it, he could sense bits of this dragon's short life too? He also knew the words: Yookath ahlHadaa, as well as the meaning of that name. The Bold One from the Family Without Color. Quite a name for quite a dragon.

The dragon seemed inordinately pleased with that thought leaking through Tsanthryl's mind.

"This could be quite.... Profitable..." Tsan chuckled, "but stop chewing my hair, you literally just ate, I know you did."

Bond: Zarujse, Voluntary Companionship
Meeting Notes: It was an hour before the midnight bell, and Zarujse had spent a lot of time mingling and gambling, eating the absolutely amazing food at both the buffet and a sit-down table in the balconies. In the middle of the evening, he watched with wide eyes a performance of a group called "The Solos" (...a group, of soloists...) but it was more their stage production than the exotic ethnic-techno music, the 'place' they stood was absolutely not on the Stage. It was deep space? The windows directly around the Stage aided that illusion that wasn't an illusion - but it took until the very end of the performance for him to notice that those windows had a different view of their weird glowing 'grid' ... a view from the other side of their black hole, he could see a ship from behind them, it was like seeing a camera on a rock stage while also watching the video feed.

After watching that show, the words 'you should take the tour' were uttered by several people, and for that reason, Zarujse sought out another of the evening's amazing distractions.

For most of the night, at least one or two of the big windows beside the Stage had a similar space-look to them, but now he knew who to locate and get a better view... Because they showed literally space - moving, seen from apparently the prow of a galactic cruise star ship?! But they passed so close to stars and planets? He might want to take one of those cruises! And in fact a little later in the evening he met the woman who was guiding that ship... they would definitely be getting some goods in trade from him for that!

Zarujse almost wallowed in the luxury of this place. The architecture, the seating and dining, the smells, the textures. He was on his third pina colada of the night as that one-hour-to-go alert pinged everyone. There had been a massive number of dragons trotting around the place by then, most of them now attended but a good few still wandered the ballroom looking for their one - or their dozen, some of those had a bunch congregating near them.

There was a bump that almost made him spill his drink (that wasn't true: he'd finished the drink and it was just slushy goop now) and Zarujse glanced down to pretend to be annoyed ... but the dragon that now sat next to him was appraising the Stage show (more acrobats than you could shake a stick at, along with their blacklight-colorful dragons). All he could see was the white-and-grey, it wasn't a checkerboard-covered tiny critter, but were those markings wobbly because he was drunk as a skunk or ...?

"No, no, it's just me!" The dragon spoke. "Oh but that's not all," they rose up a little and leaned backward, raising their wings to reveal midnight-black undersides. "I've got space reserved for... y'know. Advertising or tattoos or sponsorships maybe. What do you think?"

Zarujse squinted, "sponsorships? As long as they're temporary tattoos I suppose. Wouldn't want to mess up that lovely backdrop."

The dragonet took that to heart and sat proudly, "I am lovely, aren't I."

Bond: Galan Thesyas, Voluntary Companionship
Meeting Notes: Though they'd prepped some of the dishes, and helped make sure that all the deviled eggs were just-so, Galan was exceptionally proud of the hot egg-drop soup. The big man who obviously ran the kitchens was delighted by it, and that meant the world to Galan - this event would be a terrific way to test out those new spices and techniques. After a few interruptions, even a dragon or two drifting through the kitchen, it was finally time to exit and head around to the ballroom.

It looked like most people were enjoying the dishes, picking most of them up from the buffet table, but a few had opted to dine upstairs and enjoy a meal brought right to them. The smells in this place were amazing.

The clock showed a little under one hour left until the midnight celebration, and Galan was busy attempting to avoid getting dragged into the fray of dancing. Not that they didn't or couldn't dance, but they'd been on their feet all night already! Time for a break! A few of those youngest-of-the-ball kids (who brought children to an event like this? well they were decently behaved, and not all that young) sped through the area again and nearly caused a tumble by one of the tables. It all played out in slow motion, to Galan's eyes it looked like that perfect storm. Someone tripped at high speed. Hit the side of the round table, tilting it abruptly. The far side had plates and glasses and a very surprised looking attendee with a glass of wine and a set of cutlery in their other hand, and they disappeared as the table upended in front of them. A high arc of tableware, salt and peper and spice shakers, napkins, tulip-and-violet floral display, and ... three plates worth of sushi, soup, and steamed veggies all went flying.

And they stayed there. Flying. Well, hovering, in the air. The expected dousing of hot soup and rain of broccoli never hit the onlookers, and pieces of that sushi were close enough to Galan's face that they could all but taste it... Everyone was surprised, stunned even. What was going on? Was this the venue, the magic of the place? People muttered, facsinated.

"Nope! It's me!" A chipper voice said, near Galan. They looked down, a dragon that was part of the recently-displayed group of equine-like ones sat with bright eyes staring up at his work. He seemed to be smiling. "Can't have all that food go to waste!"

Carefully, the dragonet waited until the table was put back on its legs - all the non-essential things could be gathered by the cleaning staff, but the dishes and food and drink? They were going right back where they belonged, thanks to this little dragon and his very strong telekinetic ability. One which he seemed quite proud to display.

"There! Right as rain! I've never seen rain. Have you?" The dragon looked directly at Galan when he was saying this, why? What was...

"I've seen plenty of rain," Galan said, hesitating. "And even snow, and hail."

The dragon tilted his head, "ooooh that sounds fun!"

"Glad it wasn't a rain of stew," Galan chuckled, and the dragon gave off a chuffle.

"I ate earlier, my food doesn't need all this work. I bet I could find you some good meat when we go out hunting."

".... 'We'?"

"Of course, we! I'm going with you! I am Jahazh Stoirowth ahlHadaa pleased-to-meet-you!"

Bond: none /yet, sponsored by Toshi
Meeting Notes: (see also Tyulgesu)

It had been a glorious emergence into the Ball that greeted the 'clutch' of Zekiranish dragons, and they among most of the young had the minds to appreciate the effort that went into it all. Of course they weren't all that self-sufficient immediately on hatching, they, like a few clutches, had some time to adjust before the event actually started. Whether that was a month, a year, or half a week, no one really knew. But the young that did march out into the main draconic cavern did so confidently.

Mostly.

Some took to the biped side, reaching out to individuals or even groupings to head back to wherever they called home, others, a fair few, merely wanted some companionship and a bite to eat before taking off with a dragon friend themselves. But some of the clutch were special, and needed to be educated just a touch more than others. How to balance on two feet instead of four, how to use thumbs, where to put those wings and tail if you had to maneuver through hallways, how not to spear your friend with your horns.

Den also learned things from her 'father' (who was, at that point, also 'mother' since she'd mastered many forms of shifting) such as the finer points of telekinesis, she could even feel through this power, didn't need thumbs to lift small items or even big ones!

Quietly, she strode through the draconic side of the venue. It had filled up immensely, it wasn't like this when they were training! Such flashy displays, powers and magic, natural abilities and raw strength in the spotlight. There, she spotted a dragon that, like many if not most, had a companion already over on the biped side, but had a touching encounter with a little Pernese hatchling. And that got her thinking. She did a lot of thinking, in fact, ever since hatching.

She was gifted with sight of unusual places, almost all of which would be easily reached from this weird party. But under her own power! Her mind kept going back to that little dragonet, the older dragon protecting them, and the bond over there, through the big archway. Rather than bothering the dragon and the little one, Den picked herself up and wove between realms - under the archway. Magic, technology, psionics, it was all the same thing, energy condensed into a transport. She would not have 'magic', but would definitely have strong abilities.

With confidence, she went around the ballroom's main floor. Looking here and there, and finally spotting the one that Shouraith was already paired to. They had a shared energy, connecting them even though they were also separate. She waited, noting that the little dragon was not part of this energy - either 'yet' or 'ever'. She overheard, casually prying into their deeply personal telepathic communication, how they'd have their hands full at this 'nidus' thing.

"I might be of service," Den asserted, adding mentally, I am sorry (she wasn't really), I overheard your dragon and the new hatchling, and I would like to help you!

Toshi looked at this new grey and black dragon, not quite confused, not very confounded, definitely starting to become amused at the whole thing. Before she spoke - before Toshi was about to ask what it was that a dragon, alone, and a little one at that, might do...

You will need meat prepared for the little one, Den said. At the table where Toshi still had some leftovers on that platter, suddenly the cutlery lifted into the air, not wobbly and not haphazardly. She lived up to her name, she'd done this trick before, even before the event was opened. She diced up whatever was still left into tiny pieces, with quick control, with adept speed - if one of the chefs had been around, they would have been quite impressed indeed. The knives lowered carefully, and Den looked very pleased with herself.

"Well you're filled with surprises, aren't you?" Toshi muttered, eyes wide.

"More suprises than you think!" The dragonet giggled, having just enough energy (she'd want to eat that finely diced food shortly!) to shift into what looked like a little child, with a horsey-head and dragon wings... She sat down somewhat abruptly at the booth bench next to Toshi. She'd had training in etiquette too - a fancy little dragonet, though she didn't have a pinkie to raise while holding her fork!

Bond: Nuutta, Voluntary Companionship (not bonded) - hey, those Zekiran based people need to stick together... wait, you're not from the same dimension!
Meeting Notes: An hour until the midnight bell, and it was getting to be a regular occurrance that the dragons would bring out their nests. There weren't many left, Nuutta wondered were they leaving the 'best' for last? There certainly had been quite a few impressive dragons!

We are Impressed, you and I, Fimijith nudged his companion with a butt of his head, obviously knowing that there were different meanings for the word. Why wasn't I invited to this flight? I would fit right in! So would you!

"I suppose you would," Nuutta commented quietly. "I'm sure there will be other events. I'm certain some of those found here would be interested in the future."

Nuutta felt a wave of pleased energy from the dragon. Tonight, they hadn't sparred much, which was ... nice. Perhaps it was because the dragon was distracted by all the shiny things. It looked as though plenty of other people were similarly distracted. And... the dragon wasn't wrong about their other comment - Nuutta's wings and colors definitely matched some of those hatched at this event.

Like me, but you do not have stripes, a voice telepathically entered Nuutta's, though it wasn't as sharp and clear as Fimijith's. The Peridian felt a stronger surge of query from his dragon, but it wasn't challenging - it was approving.

Look! Look! Oh I like this one a lot. Fimijith lifted his wings to accent the brilliant white and black striped hatchling that had strutted (somewhat confidently) over to their table. Fimijith was barely bigger than the hatchlings from some of the clutches tonight, honestly. The one that he was showcasing for the Zekiran was actually... pretty sharp. Not sharp like those dragons that showed up earlier, but still, well marked, strong values on that black and white.

"Glad you think so," the dragonet said, "we have things in common!" They did, too, though this hatchling was significantly brighter white.

Over the course of the next hour, Nuutta and this dragon, Gramgath by name, discussed what might be expected or where they could best be put. "I'll need to do some testing," Nuutta commented, "you seem... different."

"Oh I am!" the dragonet proceded to stand on their hind legs, with very slight alterations to their hind legs and hips. Since Nuutta was able to bend and effectively turn to rubber, himself, he noted the variations as they occurred. "We can all fly together some day, I am not strong yet."

"Some day," Nuutta agreed. There was still more to discover about this little dragon, they would definitely spend some time in a lab picking apart the DNA. Shifting was fairly rare even among the dragons here, and it felt like there was more to it than just standing up.

Who are you calling a trainwreck? What even IS a train?

"It's a method that humanoids use to move across land," one of the passing dragons muttered.

Then they should fly.

"Then you'd be a plane wreck," that same dragon muttered below his breath but even Vujix laughed at that. He moved around the Ball carefully, at least as carefully as he could, though he was hardly the biggest or even the scariest of the visiting nonhumanoids. Heck he wasn't as scary as some of the humanoids. But who cared about that. There was hunting and flirting and sparring to be done!

He definitely enjoyed all of those things. Though he didn't hook up at the Speed Date event, he kept a careful eye on a few of those smaller ladies. Avoided the hydra-dragons, they were much more trouble than they were worth to him. This went on for several hours, with demonstrations of magic and colors, stuff that was well beyond his own abilities. The sparring was quite entertaining though, because he surprised his opponent with teleportation tricks that the others asked about later.

Could he teach them that? His reply was 'git good'. Perhaps next time this event started up he'd come back and see if they learned.

Perhaps next time he came here, it would be accompanied. Because around about an hour before Midnight, while he was resting up and enjoying a cleanup by some of the attendant healers and fixer-uppers, a group of furred dragonets appeared from their magically-protected archway. Most of them trotted around for a few minutes and sniffed at everything and everyone that they found interesting, and then went over to the biped side of the venue.

It was likely that was for the best. The groups over here didn't interest most of the dragonets but a few lingered with those very scary very pointy 'death court' dragons. Even Vujix didn't want to hang with them.

"Why not?"

He looked around, confused for a moment.

"Why not want to hang around them? They're pointy, you're pointy." That voice was quite high and airy, but it was because its owner was still small and young. Not 'fresh out of an egg' young, only a few of the hatchlings at this event had actually hatched during the event. She looked at him with sparkling, faceted green eyes. "I will be pointy too, but not like you." She lowered her head, shaking it, and giving off a little whinnying giggle. "I will have horns! My other mom has horns!"

Vujix squinted again. She didn't even have to ask and he didn't even have to speak, to ask huh?

"My dad is my other mom right now. I have a bunch of sister-brothers and some of them can even walk like other-mom can, two legs."

They're shapeshifters?

"I can too! I can too, look!" And this little dragon with the dark fur marked with light slashes... suddenly looked almost exactly like him for those markings. Even the backs of her wings turned dark, like his. It looked like it wore her out though, but that was mainly because she was new at it, and not because it was so hard to do. Clearly she was going to be expert with it!

She looked very proud of herself on catching that thought. So now, Vujix, normally a rough-and-tumble sort, had a little companion to escort around the Ball. She would grow up to be just about the same size as he was. They already 'cut a path' through the crowd to the hunting lodge, Vujix looking proud and little Jioth flickering her markings around with each sniff and judgement about what she wanted for dinner.

Bond: (( SHARD taking this 10.8.23 fuck it been long enough )) (Yakima has AU unbreedable if she posts it)

Bond: Vedrima Molmuth, Voluntary Companionship
Meeting Notes: She had swished through the ball room, saw the dazzled looks from so many men and a good few women, but she wasn't here for that. On their arrival, she had laughed as the demon escorting her gave her a glare (trying to keep her from trouble, oh please, it was a party that's what you're supposed to be doing). She picked up a large glass of wine from one of the little checkerboard dragon ushers, oh they were so busy-busy... Vedrima knew that actually making a party of any size come off without a hitch required a lot of effort. She'd rather attend them, in fact she'd rather not even see the busy work and back breaking lead up at all - she wanted to be on the dance floor, or prowling the casino, or even just standing before the big improbable windows overlooking eerie depths or distant worlds.

Maybe if she kept moving, though, her stuffy companion on this trip would lose her and lighten up a little himself. She knew he wasn't the type to get onto the dance floor, obviously. But she bet that if they had a sparring arena he would have liked that. Not that she cared. An hour until midnight, after she'd danced with a dozen different partners and even had a mock rivalry between herself and another of a group that arrived almost entirely to dance, Vedrima took a bit of a breather. There were plenty of tables to relax around, including a bunch of them that were populated by those simply seeking a bit of rest from the dance floor - groups unrelated save for their enjoyment focused on that aspect of the party. By this time, though, some of those tables were thinning out, because of... well, because of the dragons.

A good number of the attendees were being chosen by the black and white and silver and grey dragons as they were presented over the course of the night. They now had things to think on other than enjoying the evening. As two more groups of those dragons were spreading from different arched nooks, Vedrima poked at the plate in front of her. It was good, spiced strips of meat served over a bed of crispy ... 'chips'. But it wasn't what she really desired, there was something missing.

Shall I suggest, you miss having someone to back you up?

Staring at the plate, hard, Vedrima blinked and wondered if someone had spiked her drink - more than it already was.

No no, silly, she heard a strange high-pitched screeching laugh nearby, I'm sure your food is fine... it's me you want to look at!

She did look - one of those dragons with the incredibly complicated markings was staring back at her. They were small just now, 'foal' sized apparently by their horse-like shapes, but this one? Oh she was just lovely! Her markings sparkled like ripples through the champagne! We'll be able to get away or into trouble quick and easy.

Vedrima smiled broadly, though she did make note that her stuffy demonic companion had also apparently found a friend among the other dragons. Didn't bode well, but she had now definitely doubled the chance to pester them!

Bond: Elowynne, Voluntary Companionship
Meeting Notes: Oh how this place beat with life! Not just the steady and increasingly loud music with a very foreign sound, but the walls and the floors and the lights just... everything had been touched by magic, of some sort. This metal piping, that marble tile, the laquered wood framing the big archway nearby, the glass windows looking out to the deepest sea or the deepest space?

There were scents and flavors and sounds to just breathe in. A few of those scents were more compelling than others: Elowynne caught whiff of what was obviously a narcotic smoke, not unpleasant but not her style specifically. But also the smoked meats, something they called a 'barbeque', and salmon with that same delightful smell; pungent smokes from the casino, puffed from pipes or large rolled cigars. She wandered without purpose for a while, kind of a long while actually, but enjoyed every single step she took.

She danced with Yves, but caught herself pausing before accidentally stepping up to tall and dangerous Beaumont - he was not of 'their' tribe, and beyond his tall shoulder, on that one balcony, was his mistress Jade - that would prove a disaster, this would not work, this was...

She turned with a different very tall man whose four black and white arms were able to distract her from that momentary lapse in judgement, and continued to enjoy herself on this big marble floor.

Elowynne picked up recipes from the cooks, tucked away a few little seeds from one of those odd glowing furry dragons sporting the narcotic scents. Got ran-into by a young human or two or three, but at least one of them nodded and apologized before offering her one of the little party-popper... things ... he held and running off to find his friends.

The night wore on, it was about an hour left until Midnight. She was still grinning from having won a darts game in the casino, though 'darts' for people of her size were more like 'javelins' to the humans. It was right that they got to enjoy themselves. They'd been invited, this place wasn't their distraught home, their eternally-squabbling land.

Why squabble? When you can share?

It was a voice that came through her mind, and it wasn't a hallucination brought on by one of those 'nightmourner's illusions. Elowynne glanced about, not quite sure where to look.

Here, I am here, just - give me a moment, it's so crowded and I cannot fly yet!

Elowynne wasn't the biggest of her group, but she was still more than head and shoulders taller than most of the attendees, and spotted the source of this mental voice. Pale grey but not white, and those paws - dipped in ink it looked like! Very delicate white stripes... this would be quite the lovely dragon!

"Do you think so? I think so too but that's not really important. What's important is on the inside, don't you think?" She said, her voice was strangely accented, not slurred. "Sometimes people forget to look inside themselves, to see others better."

Elowynne picked up this dragon, who announced herself quietly as Det'darrth ahlHadaa (quite the name for a little hatchling!) and looked around, to see Beaumont once more, who also held a dragonet in his arms - dark where hers was light, but no less impressive looking. This time, she dared to smile when he noticed.

Bond: Runzon, Voluntary Companionship
Meeting Notes: That obnoxious Firebender sped off to the casino the moment he noticed it, and that allowed the other three of them a little more elbow room. Truth be told he wasn't that bad of a guy toward his fellow Benders, but... He was clearly in his element here. But what about the rest of them? Runzon squinted, it wasn't as hard to see here under artificial lighting as it might have been in the broad day sun. Still, everything being in black and white confused his already poor vision. He'd felt the changes in both atmosphere and... spirit realm? When they moved between Zekira and this place, Rapture they called it? Whatever that was, it channeled his spirit energy at least as well - perhaps even better, and that meant that when they entered the main ballroom with all the people milling about, chairs and tables and servers and dragon assistants... He didn't slam straight into everything. His eyes weren't really needed when his aura could tell just where any given table or party-goer was in his path.

He did sort of wish that his eyes worked better when the performances on the Stage started, though. He could certainly tell that there were things happening, brilliant things in fact, so when he and their Earthbender Eh Hyeng found a nice smallish table to sit and watch it, he leaned back and allowed his spirit to float free of his body. Now it was all crystal-clear (hm, crystals, they could focus light couldn't they? Eh Hyeng might be able to make him some glasses?) and Runzon enjoyed a good chunk of the evening bobbing around as a 'ghost'.

He noted that he surprised a few people, here and there, who could easily make him out even in this manner. Most folks couldn't detect him while he was out of his body, but this event sure had a lot of special people at it! The hosts seemed interconnected - what Runzon saw of them was shimmering turquoise blobs with tendrils of that aqua energy between them, communicating to one another? Or was it just that they were the same person from other dimensions and they could hardly help but be connected? Who knew.

Runzon was nudged 'awake' by his companion, when the food and drink arrived. Carried by a strange tall man with four arms (and was it a trick of the light or costume makeup that made him look boldly white with black markings? nope, that was just his skin) he set their table with care. It all smelled great, there was no doubt that they'd spared no expense at this Ball. The fish, perfectly grilled (or, on one platter, flawlessly packed around rice and spices smoked), the vegetables steamed just right. They had water and wine, though it was obvious that when Siji got back from his casino gambling he was drinking much harder liquor. He scarfed the food down, sped back away for more fun wherever it was he'd found.

More Stage shows, music, dancing - and thankfully Eh Hyeng didn't try dragging him onto the ballroom floor for that. He might be agile and light in the air, but... well, this was different. Being able to easily focus on things while dancing was important.

Late in the evening, not quite to the Midnight bell, the place was still churning and enjoying all manner of entertainments. But by now, there were also a vast array of dragons, hatchlings and sometimes their adult counterparts, milling about in the room too. It did make for some fascinating blurry movement in Runzon's vision.

I might help you with that, a steady, deep voice rang through the Bender's mind. Runzon glanced around, and spotted a large grey patch standing next to their table. Runzon heard Eh Hyeng's giggle and appreciative breath, as the dragon approached. She hugged her own, who was slumbering and draped over her lap.

It's all right, I can see you when you're floating out, the dragon bespoke. So with that, Runzon's mind left his body, and saw very clearly this amazing dragon.

Stocky - this dragon was shaped like a fine Steed found on Zekira, a big one at that. With stripes that contrasted light and dark over the same grey color, handsome, though it didn't look like a dragon this... broad... was going to be very agile in the air. "Are you... saying you'd like to come home with us?"

With you, the dragon asserted. I think we'll make a decent enough team. After all, as the dragon paused in his thoughts, Runzon made note of the brilliant sparkling his aura was producing. And then when he blinked his spirit-eyes, the dragon was standing on two feet, not four! Unsteady, obviously he was still new at all this walking about...

And also kind of unsteady because he was still the same burly build when bipedal. "I can walk with you if you want, though if you tell me to 'yip yip' I might drop you..."

Bond: Sponsored by Ari, voluntarily bonded to Moxmami
Meeting Notes: It was only an hour left until the big celebration - what would happen then? And what might happen until then? (May vary, depending on arrivals of other influentual dragons...) The strutting of stuff was continuing unabated however, and the most ... the most marked clutch and their very large knockoff team arrived from one distinct arched room. Fadhila had reverted to not only their upright bipedal form, but their female shape, even though 'he' was the sire of this striped clutch. Yes yes everyone was impressed. (Impressed? Well no, these were only half Pernese...) (They rolled their eyes, the entire Pernese contingent, at that joke.) But it was true, they didn't need to impress or even bond, but then most of them seemed interested in doing so. Even their incredibly eye-burning knockoffs! One of them, with the darker wings indicating they were part of the 'Black' chess side, trotted itself up to Ari's now-crowded table.

"You got room?" They tilted their head, and it was a good thing their horns hadn't fully grown in yet, because that action would definitely result in casual damage when the dragonet was older...

"Of course we do," Ari said, becoming slightly more comfortable with the idea that she was going to be sponsoring and quite busy for the foreseeable future. She smiled when she realized that the zebra-dragon was gazing wistfully across the table, at another of their sponsors...

Bond: Matzina, Voluntary multibond with Quicksilver
Meeting Notes: (see also SHEVA)
It had taken everything the group could do, to get Matzina to look ready for the ball. But looks can be deceiving. Her black and white fur fluffed over the edges of her shirt and out from under her pant-legs, she didn't care for how it always felt like she should be pulling at it or brushing something off of her. Quite unlike the absolutely-natural feel of twigs pulling at just the smallest clump, or a blissful heavy drag of freshly-earned mud from a good romp around the pond.

This place was anything but 'a pond'. It was an ocean, and Matzina finally drew to a halt when she realized the scope of this locale. The others moved around her, but not without a pause and half-heard reminder or scold not to get into too much trouble. That they expected her to get into trouble was obvious. There was quite a bit of trouble to be had here, it dawned on her.

Of course there were the stern looking men in their black suits, and one much bigger human with the same look, but even so. She wasn't the first one to kinda-accidentally-on-purpose suggest in the restroom lounge that that feather cap was slightly bent - and only just after saying it realized it wasn't a cap, it was a bird-lady's crest... This went on all night, pretty much. Not insulting so much as listening in and if there was a devil's advocate to be played, she played it. Not seriously, and definitely not with the people who had such an air of importance that even she 'got it' and left them well alone.

Matzina did enjoy her time at the ball though. Over the evening she even won some card games, listened to the weird but fun music, watched a drunken elf belt out unusually colorful songs about dragons. Oh - and the dragons! Over the course of the evening numerous nests of them came out, she even heard Zhuo-Ji's exclamation ("magnificent!") at one point.

But it was now getting toward 'an hour' to Midnight, and something strange started tingling in the back of Matzina's mind. Like she could hear added conversations, or at least one side of them. Not quite clearly enough to know what was being said. It felt odd. Almost intrusive.

"We didn't mean to intrude," a voice that matched one of those in her head proclaimed, quiet but clear, focused. A second one chimed in with a little titter.

"Well I did, but that's fine."

On glancing around, two dragons became the focal point in her vision, Matzina couldn't help but see them. Shiny silver, and the most improbably checkerboarded littler companion... The smaller one trotted up, rather horse-like, and nuzzled Matzina's hoofed hand, and rubbed up against what could be felt of her much-abused fur.

"So soft, come feel," that checkered dragon told their companion.

"I will ask permission," the bigger, silvery-and-striped one said, eyeing the llama morph carefully.

"She likes it," the smaller asserted. Matzina wasn't actually sure what was going on but she definitely felt like she was being mocked just a little...

"I am Quicksilver Sheva, this is Bun ahlTahnhadaa," the bigger one announced, still not rubbing up against her, "we met earlier, and now we've found you, so we are complete."

"On that we agree!" Bun giggled, and took a nibble of the nice shirt sleeve... Well this would work out perfectly, wouldn't it!

Bond: Fenian, multibond with Mav ahlTahnhadaa
Meeting Notes: (see also Bymthol)

"You're not twins, no matter how you try and say it," Fenian said, faintly slurred, to the pair of small young dragonets that had decided to hang out with him at their big balcony table. They sat across from him, though if anyone from his group came along they'd need to move, and if one did sit where Bymthol had sat they might notice a few punctured holes in the nice leather seat cover...

"Well we are siblings then," that spikey dragon asserted, and their heavily-checkerboarded companion nodded. They took turns eating from a large shallow bowl of cut meats, and while one of them had their nose buried in it, the other would sit staring at the fairy asking him strange questions or making silly assertions.

The other one, the more horse-like dragonet, licked its muzzle clean (they were both reasonably clean eaters, somehow) and said, "you're not exactly like your twin, he wasn't who we wanted to hang out with. Right, Bym?"

Bymthol, up to its cheeks in meat, gave a grunting nod.

Fenian knew that their bond was true, both with each other and with him, as that spiked dragonet's mind met his own. He's boring, well not boring but just not exciting enough!

They switched off who ate at the bowl, the contents rapidly dwindling, and Mav telepathically added, not like you, you suited us better.

Fenian did spot his brother, apparently having a conversation with some other fey person down by the orchestra pit near the Stage. "I hope he'll find someone to come home with," he said earnestly. "He deserves it."

"We are your extra eyes and ears," Bymthol asserted.

"And you might be surprised to find he's already paired up," Mav claimed, though it was hard to say - where? Huh, well, he'd find out later. For now, Fenian wanted to help these two get some more food in their bellies, and grab another plate of kebab, himself!

Bond: Alida, voluntarily bonded (not required but enjoyed)
Meeting Notes: It took another two and a half hours before a dragon looked at Alida the way that one had gazed at her husband. But in that time, Alida had the chance to watch so much joy among her friends! She was growing tired, after all being away from her family home and her infant was wearing on her, and it would have been well past bed time. But it was a special occasion! Everything leading up to midnight!

What is 'midnight'? A voice came into her head, it was clearer than the murmurs of the people chatting around the big table they sat at, louder than even the music across the large dance hall. She looked up, glancing around, but saw nothing. Until...

"How could I miss that pattern?" Alida whispered mostly to herself, at the small horse-like face that was tilted looking up at her from beside her chair. "Um. Midnight is... when it's the middle of the night, sweetie." She fluffed the mane on the dragon's neck, and the dragon seemed to enjoy that.

I am Tin! You are mine!

"I... I am?" Alida didn't notice how her husband was grinning broadly, proud as ever.

Bond: Kreeordsun Mirrhen, Voluntary Multibond (Bos ahlTanhadaa)
Meeting Notes: The name tumbled from her lips numerous times, but she had yet to hear it repeated correctly more than once or twice. But then she was used to that. The Mirrhen family did tend to choose ... well, stupidly long names for their children. Of course they were the types that consulted with Peridian who could sense all their powers and mutations in advance of birth, and in compelling ways choosing a name became a way of nudging their kids into specific niches. Her half-sister for instance was Ohm'rix, the 'glitterstone lure' who true to her name had become rather rich from the shiny stuff she dug out of their family land holds.

But Ohm'rix wasn't animal tuned. Almost everyone else in the family had some kind of power over them, some folks even felt sorry for the stone-shaper. Even when one of the Mirrhen clan didn't choose to enter the Pelatih field and raise or train animals, they often dealt with them, betted on races, or did good business deals while hunting them. But it didn't matter here, this place was far better suited to those who had abilities like her own, Kreeordsun ran a communications array down in the offshore belt. This spot had technology coming out of its ears.

It also had dragons. Which was simply delightful for Kreeordsun, because she heard their minds singing and chittering all night long, right up until the 'one hour till midnight' bell. It was music that she preferred over the stage presentations, anyway. A few of these dragons really pulled at her powers, too. While most Zekiran dragons were... well, beasts, these were absolutely not animals. They were not to be trifled with, nor bartered, nor ordered around into battle. They might wind up in battles - those big spikey dragons that showed up and collected a batch of young hatchlings would certainly be training their brood here for dangerous combat missions. But Kreeordsun considered that many would be excellent for... well, subterfuge.

People could tell when she was listening in on things, her ears would give it away easily. But... But a dragon, in the shape that a few of these had? Oh, how people would underestimate just exactly how smart some of them were! Secrets could be told, thinking that a mount like one of them was 'merely' like a Steed.

"What is a 'steed'?" Asked a strangely muffled voice. The fact that it was asked out loud, where she'd merely been thinking on the matter, was of great importance.

Kreeordsun looked around, down, and saw not one but two small dragons... Both of whom were absolutely Steed-based!

"Why, something like you, and your friend!" She replied, and sent a mental image of one of her own prize winning show Steeds to them. The pair perked up, the one with ears tilting their head, the one with horn buds doing the same in the other direction. Kreeordsun definitely detected Zekiran genetics in the one... how interesting...

"She thinks I am interesting!" That one said, and the other butted its head against them. "Okay okay she thinks you are too," they added a moment later.

The other dragon, with four wings and two horn buds in an unusual arrangement on their forehead, curled its very long tail around its feet and looked proud of itself. Much more quiet, except for the distinct clicking of those already big claws on the marble dance floor. She caught their names, Bos ahlTahnhadaa (oh that was definitely a Zekiran name wasn't it?) and Skormeba, as they proudly strutted around with her.

Kreeordsun realized she'd need to start looking into carnivore diets, when she introduced them both to the feeding area... She couldn't afford to lose any of the animals she bred or trained, to these two hungry ones...

Bond: Uto, Sponsorship; Asp nye'aynn, Multibond
Meeting Notes: (see also MEBA)

"Sorry, sorry, I know I'm late!"

"On the contrary, you are just in time!" The dark and fluffy dragonet looked pleased as punch to meet up with the little incredibly-checkerboarded half-steed...kin...whatever. "Did you watch?"

"Their performance was amazing, I loved it, that's why I chose to find you. Because you're better at this than I am..."

"Oh I don't know about that," Asp made a knickering laugh. "But let's go find Uto, we're his problem now."

Both dragons had horns, but they were facing in different directions: the much smaller knockoff's came pointing back off their head, whereas Asp's would stand centered on his forehead. They both had manes and tail tufts, and it was obvious that Asp's were more 'grandiose' than the other's. But still they were a pair already. Where Asp lacked markings for the most part, Deln had them to spare.

"I don't understand," Uto muttered, when the pair of them came trotting back up to him at the big table that Love♥Letter commandeered after their song and dance routine. "I... thought you wanted to come back with me?"

"I do!" Asp enthusiastically said. "And now we have a new friend!"

That little new friend leaned against the black fur of Asp, contrasting wildly.

"I also don't understand how your names work," the dancer chuckled, while looking at the pamphlet provided. "At least they tell us how to say things, that's good..." He then glanced at the dragons, and squinted. "I mean I know this says your name translates to 'family without color' but if you move even a little bit," he said of Deln, "I see plenty of colors..."

"It's an opp-ic-tal illu-sum," Deln said, inexpertly, and was already busy with its snout in a bowl of greens. That 'horse' had fangs, like its dark friend, and that dark friend also dug his nose right into the salad bowl. Wound up with a carrot sticking out of its nostril. Uto suppressed a snort, and helped free the vegetable from his new friend's nose.

"I thought these were supposed to be dragons, not horses," Uto muttered, "but you know what, I'm supposed to be the weird one, so I guess that tracks..."

Bond: Dasha Hargorth, Burmei nye'aynn, Voluntary Companionship, Multibond
Meeting Notes: Well, she'd signed up for this. Dasha was unsure now, whether this was all really a good idea. Thrown together with a few disparate candidates and brought to this massive place was not really on her list of things to do, but. Here they were.

They were here, she had faintly overheard or maybe faintly listened in on further discussions, because of the others - the 'why did you invite them' 'how can they possibly show up here' 'how did they even' dragons. The Death Court. So... maybe she still wanted to be here, maybe she and the others still were absolutely ready or able to find a dragon bond or companion here. But they were here as a revenge stunt? In the long run, would that matter? Only by virtue of knowing how to filter gossip from nonsense did she realize that the many whispered rumors circling in the dining hall back home were very, very real.

Now, though, they were at the Ball and they were all dazzled and hopeful. What's this now? She recognized someone right away, at the coat-and-hat check. Lord Noone?! Here? Oh. He was handing out proper capes, fancy ruffled collars; she got the treatment too: a kind of garland in white silk that she realized had flower designs embroidered in it in satiny white thread. She wondered if she'd get to keep it. She wondered how they could possibly take anything back from people once all was said and done, so of course she'd keep it.

There was precious little lead time for them, and though they were all given the once-over and twice-checked in their (sometimes) rented gear, Dasha still felt a touch out of place. But she realized they all felt this way. This place was 'out' of their experience, after all. Mystic and her group were already present, apparently, because every one of this weird little collection of candidates could hear her simmering and heated words, over on a balcony. It wasn't hard to hear her specific voice, even among the throngs that were milling around, dancing to the music, or even performing over the ballroom's big floor. But it wasn't hard, either, to distract herself from that measured, irate voice - to watch an aerial dance, quite fun.

Dasha felt a bump at her elbow and immediately realized that she had been staring in wonder at those performers, not paying attention to where she was going. She'd put one foot in front of the other and had usually been able to avoid crashing into anyone given her upbringing in the kitchens of the Warren. Busy places, lots of people to move around, she was used to it. But this place seemed to be drawing her attention anywhere but right in front of her.

"Oh I'm sorry," she uttered and then glanced down when the bump continued at her arm. Where a shiny, satin-sparkling dragonet sat patiently looking up at her. A horse-like face, but with gigantic floofy curls around its long ears, and two small horn buds on its forehead. A shimmering mane of platinum and white tumbled down its neck, and those wings were like molten silver!

No need to be sorry, I'm the one bumped into you! The mental voice was so gentle, slightly masculine, all very curious and a little bit tired. I've been waiting but not for very long. I don't think you were here when I first looked.

Dasha realized that... this... was her dragon? This beautiful creature like a cloud poured out of mercury?

I am! And... I think we should wait and watch. I am Burmei nye'aynn, I'll come with you wherever you wish. But there's definitely ... something.

"Something, or some one?" Dasha finally found her voice, a rarity while back home. The dragon gave a furry-shouldered shrug, unsure yet.

Little Burmei did need to be fed, and then took a bit of a nap while Dasha was busy reading up on the breeds in the pamphlet they got. It was harder to study that pamphlet when the music got raucous, or when the more booming and blustery operatic performance came onto The Stage. After that though... With an hour to go, Dasha had also enjoyed some food and drink - food she neither had to prepare nor serve! bonus! - as well as hazarded a few inexpert steps on the dance floor. She was much more comfortable up on the balcony watching... and listening to the Warren's leadership gripe and grumble to each other...

As the hour bell chimed, and the acts started up once more, Burmei woke up and shook off his slumber a little. We should go down there! He bespoke somewhat urgently.

Dasha picked up the hatchling and hefted him gently over her shoulder and using her new sash to support him (oh how Noone would throw a fit if that sash got ripped by those already-sharp claws) and headed straight down to the ballroom's big - crowded - floor. The dragons who were walking there now were proud little things! Heads similar to Burmei's, well marginally, and...

That one! That one! There you are! Burmei struggled a little and then tumbled to the floor, rolled (tail and legs and wings and hind wings going all directions) and came up next to a littler one - one with the distinctive event's checkerboard pattern improbably on their body?!

Dasha watched as her faintly-older and slightly-bigger Burmei came to a halt near this dragonet and they nuzzled muzzles. Bask is ours! Yours and mine!

It settled its wings over its very boggling back, and looked up at her with big blue eyes, and nodded. "W...wait, both of ours?" Dasha wasn't sure, she'd heard about riders who had more than one dragon to their name, but was never - ever - one to imagine that one would be her!

"I didn't imagine being with anyone else!" The little dragon could speak? Already? And again it nodded, proudly. They made their second trip to the meat counter, and Dasha had to rein in Burmei from gobbling up another big share of it!

Bond: Shaenera Faralei, Voluntary Companionship
Meeting Notes: She, like the others in her group, had enjoyed the evening immensely. Passing the time dancing with her troupe - and lots of other people too - and listening to the main Stage performances. But also, wandering the back areas. She'd made her way to the casino and caught a glimpse of the rock band that had been performing literally non stop on their side of the venue since they got there. They'd played some amazing music, obviously improvising some parts as soloists got their time under the spotlight.

Aha! That was it! She'd noticed something odd about the group when they would do that. Normally a solo gave time for others in the group to take a little breather, it was a well practiced feature of most bands. This time, a woman was singing a passionately smoldering 'Black Velvet' as the rest of them gently got drinks of water and... swapped out for other people. So that was their trick! But the people looked so similar when they picked up the bass and stood by the guitar resting beside it. A raven-like bird person slipped in and picked up that guitar and began seamlessly strumming when the incredibly pretty grey-furred feline woman hit a long, high note. The bald-headed black woman at the drums had little to do, but she'd been... well, there had been an almost exact male version playing them not a minute before her. The tall perfectly-made-up pale human at the keyboard didn't have much to do during this performance, but Shaenera had caught them doing 'trumpet' and 'sax' sounds earlier.

It is a clever trick, some of my .... relatives (?) could get away with it I think. The voice was in her mind, warm and fuzzy, and close by with the feel of it. The way it had questioned the word relatives made a certain amount of sense, when Shaenera turned to look for the source. A checkerboard-marked body? That meant it wasn't one of the 'natural' types, but instead a crafted mini-version. If this was 'miniature' though... wouldn't be small!

"Haven't seen too many dragons in here," Shaenera said, "but I'm glad there's room."

The dragonet butted up against her, and announced that they were named Aeu. They put in a request for a plate of that meat found in the main hall, when one of the serving dragonets came by, and enjoyed the rest of the show together.