Name: Curry'nye (as the food + nie; father's naming convention indicates location or clan, in this case 'nye for New Year's Eve/nt; further generations should follow local tradition or family name for this addition; note also that ^markings indicate strength of magic or inherent abilities, following father's line, not all in this clutch are strong enough in those powers to show)
Gender: Female (+preference as desired)
Size: 16' s/l/ws
Build: burly, but still long
Physical Features: Pyrrhan/Myrsilk, remarkably long, four legs, two wings with very large ice-cutting claws on all; long head with external ears, sharp back-pointing horns, cheek horns, and paired curved neck spines, end of long skinny tail also has sharp spines; pupiled eyes; scaled hide (this dragon is scaled, others in clutch may not be), armor, will breed similarly to other types accordingly
Colors: scaled* (this produces a granular speckling visually) body grey; face, neck, belly, and under tail smoke grey; stockings on feet only in high black; wingsails bicolored grey and smoke reversed direction on other side of wings, spotted with high black star markings; horns, claws, and spines smoke with starry markings in mist white; eyes red
Stats: Strength 3, Speed 2, Endurance 3, Agility 2, Health 5, Intelligence 5
Abilities: 6 local teleport, telepathy, ice breath, ice manipulation; 5 prediction (localized), summoning^, flight speed; 4 void portal^ prophesy (long term), verbal speech; 3 dark vision; 2 nexus teleport, body language; 1 void magic (not strong enough to use) This dragon takes very strongly after her Pyrrhan mother in both appearance and powers
Parents: Smirch and Nekeel Void Shaman
Bond: Artok, Voluntary Companionship
Meeting Notes: He was so glad they came to this ball. Even if his legs wobbled a bit (walking was such a chore for an aquatic person!) he did wander the whole venue. Somehow the words on the pamphlet and souvenir baggie could be read by anyone, they clearly had magic everwhere too. But he'd caught some interesting things on the list of events that night. And even if he was a little ungainly he realized there was time to catch a few of those demonstrations. The Stage had barely cleared their first act of the evening (a rather more colorful group with flags and a routine changing them into a vast field of greys, clever), but the casino held more interest early on. Drinks suitable for people his size, delightful and well prepared seafood? What more could he ask? He even got caught up in dancing in between main shows - a bit of space made for larger bipeds like himself so they didn't squish the little'uns?

And there were dragons? Dragons! They were shown out from magically-sealed archways throughout the night. Was this why they were here? Because it looked like a great many dragons were milling about with new caretakers.

What grabbed his attention around two or maybe three 'hours' until Midnight was the 'tour bubble' - this venue was amazingly under the sea after all and who could possibly resist a guided tour of the area? The littler humanoids and whoever that couldn't withstand the depths and chill of the sea were carried around by a lovely dragon. As their metal and glass tour ball (a 'bathysphere' whatever that meant) splashed into the airlock's chute, he arranged with the tour guide to accompany it - without needing much more than a deep breath. They did outfit his head with a small device allowing him to hear the ongoing description that the guide gave, and down they went. Ah it was so refreshing out there! The pressure was greater than he'd been in before, certainly, this was deep ocean and not merely a lake or inland sea, but still it wasn't going to harm him - and such sights! His curiosity at the landscape and half-ruined city was piqued when they got to do a low pass over the 'dragon half' of the venue, where just as they were ending their exterior tour, the dragons themselves were organizing a sea-creature hunt! They came bursting out from their own airlock, what magnificent creatures!

Not beasts, definitely not animals, these dragons. And he knew that for certain, not an hour (according to the big ballroom clock) later. A pair of rather large dragons - maybe even the largest and certainly among the longest dragons of the event - carefully showed off their new brood. When one of them stepped toward him, as he watched from the edge of the ballroom floor (gazing out at the sea once more through the big windows), she had to make a polite little cough to get his full attention. Though all in shades of various greys, her hide sparkled, and then he realized it was because she had scales, tiny ones, that caught the light. Her wings danced with black star patterns, which were surprisingly echoed on her horn buds and claws? She - ... how did he know it was a her? - sat purposefully and wrapped her long long tail around her paws.

I should like to see this place you call home. I am Curry'nye, and I can make it so you're never surprised, just like now. Her red eyes faded to a strange muted pink tone and then snapped back to darker colors, you will want to move away from the Stage here, a battle of the bands will be occurring in a moment or two.

"A.... a what?" It took Artok a moment to realize that she'd spoken into his mind, but less than a moment later for him to accept that she knew what she was saying. Prophesy? Or just listening in on conversations? Well, either way she was right, and as they went over to a nearby 'dragon feeding station' fit for the young hatchlings there, sure enough several different groups of young people started doing a well-received mock dance fight!

Name: Fenovo Moonshield (feh NO voh, Moonshield is the clan's name for this event and clutch, taken by full Pieces)
Gender: Male (+preference as desired)
Size: 8' s/l/ws
Build: muscular
Physical Features: Drakkari / Dragonstake mutt, high bodied and long legs, four legs and two wings, with claws on legs only; conical face with small horn on nose, and fanned head fins, otherwise smooth until the tip of very long narrow tail in a small spade; hide that is very shiny, pupiled eyes
Colors: body incredibly sparkly chrome; wingsails pearlescent bright silver metallic; neck fins and tail spade solid burnished silver; claws and horn light grey; eyes yellow
Stats: Strength 6, Speed 5, Endurance 2, Agility 2, Health 3, Intelligence 2
Abilities: 6 empathy; 5 moon magic, local teleport; 4 moonlink teleport (anywhere the moon shows), nexus teleport, verbal speech; 3 freeze breath weapon; 2 shared magic, telepathy; 1 fire breath
Parents: Rakki and Sasazik
Bond: Eleana, Voluntary Bond
Meeting Notes: To say that Eleana was delighted to be here was a bit of an understatement. From people complementing her gown and a dance with a rabbit-man (*named Collan, adoptable) who seemed more sedate than the other bunch tromping around the dance floor, to picking up a few hands of cards in the casino, she flitted around the area all night just enjoying herself. Her friends - her friends had found dragon partners! They would be going home with fantastically lovely new friends!

It began to gnaw at her a few hours down the line, as more and more of those dragons were brought out. She helped feed one of them, fascinated by their little teeth and strong wings. Nearly tripped over another as that rabbit guy was followed by his own tiny dragonet! Eleana went up to the balcony above the dance floor and soaked in the more sedate conversational tones and business deals being done, watching the stage show with amazing acrobatics.

And it was growing quite late, that big obsidian and silver clock was nearing Midnight. Though she didn't outwardly show anything more than a little tiredness, inside maybe... Maybe there was a bit of worry. Maybe there was a little sadness, why hadn't a dragon come to her yet? Among all these amazing clutches and their little-bitty-checkerboard companions? She lost count of them all, before that Midnight chime was about to go off.

She forgot about counting when something as slippery-silver looking as the hand on that clock above moved around her. She was off to the side of the ballroom, pretending to freshen up near one of the restroom entrances, and hadn't rejoined her friends just yet. Did they know that it was more because she was a touch on the envious side?

"They have their own worries," this dragon said. While his voice was high and chiming, she somehow got the impression that it was a male dragon. The light bounced off of his wings, or wait - did it? Were those patterns that made it look so bright? No - no it was definitely super shiny. Like ripples on a pond, in liquid silver. "They will have their hands full, like you do now."

"I - I do?" The badgermorph suddenly blinked a few times, she wasn't drunk and she wasn't so sleepy, what had that dragon just...

"You have your hands full with me!" He proudly lifted his angular snoot, yellow eyes gazing into her own. "I felt you from across the chamber," he said, "and I wanted you to know that you are for me. You will never be alone any more, we will be able to visit everyone quick as a flash!" It looked like he was going to do something... which didn't happen. A little sheepishly, he added, "once I learn how to master my moon spells, that is. You do... have a moon where you live, don't you?"

"Oh we do! We have more than 'a' moon!" She had never really thought about it, but there certainly were moons.

"That helps, the more the merrier, right? I am Fenovo Moonshield, and I have chosen you." He pushed his long face toward her hand, and to her surprise the dragon's sleek skin wasn't cold - for all that metallic looking shine, he was warm and soft. And now, she could introduce him to her friends!

Name: Bun (Knockoffs are named 'ahlTanhadaa' meaning 'family of tiny colorless ones' )
Gender: (choose +preference as desired)
Size: s/l/ws 4' s
Build: a touch on the chunky side
Physical Features: 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 (pupils on this one)
Colors: Black Pawn 3, body improbably checkerboard brilliant white and sleek black in small checks, but with added black paws and narrow stripes on limbs, body, tail, neck, and face; wingsails distinguish from knockoff sibs in dark grey; mane and tail tip mist white, claws light, eyes pupiled blue
Stats: Strength, Speed, Endurance, Agility, Health, Intelligence average 3 in each with one 1, and one 5, your choices
Abilities: 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
Parents: Donor Clutch Evugith and Fadhila (gendershifted for clutch siring)
Bond: Matzina, Voluntary multibond with Quicksilver
Meeting Notes: (see also above)
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!

Name: Hureurith (hoo REE oo rith, Pernese naming -TH ended)
Gender: Male (+preference as desired)
Size: 5'3" s/l/ws
Build: wiry, leggy
Physical Features: Pernese with embellishments, four legs and two wings all with short sharp claws; long muscular tail with spade; dished head with knobs having short horns, and a tall segmented crest
Colors: body gemtoned mist white, wingsails transparent gemtone graphite, crest and tail spade marbled high white and obsidian; claws and horns black, faceted eyes aqua
Stats: Strength 3, Speed 5, Endurance 4, Agility 2, Health 2, Intelligence 2
Abilities: 6 telepathy, local teleport, unassisted firebreath; 5 emotion control, fltter control; 4 nexus and time teleport; 3 telekinesis; 1 verbal speech
Parents: mother Laeurath, father Juth
Bond: Zhuo-Ji, Multibond with Woonath'Alkar
Meeting Notes: (see also above)

They'd finally gotten everyone ready, much to his fretting distress. And the evening had started out glorious even from the moment they entered the vast undersea city! The panda seemed incredibly happy to see all the finery, and his friends knew that wasn't all he was about - but tonight, it absolutely should be. Hundreds of people, magical and mundane, churned around the place in all their glory, and he joined them with gusto. There were dancers, and he got in a good couple rounds sweeping the place with a delightfully eager (if not quite light on her feet) wolf-girl. Took in the sights during one or two of the Stage performances, had delicious snacks and drinks!

Oh what a night! But even though the clock said it was well into 'three hours until' the midnight bell, something gnawed at him even though he'd just eaten (who knew that bamboo shoots could be grilled to perfection like that?). He was decidedly hungry but quite certainly didn't need to eat. It was when a large group of very small dragonets arrived. Though they could hardly be said to be 'colorful' (like anything here, really) there were such differences between each and every one of them, they were all so stunning.

"Do you think so? I do." A voice called, from somewhere below Zhuo-Ji's ample waist. Leaning a bit to the side, he had to keep looking because ... well, something was moving around him.

I do too, another voice, but this time it was much more direct, and interestingly, inside his own mind! He'd felt bits and pieces of telepathic communication in the past, and knew there was plenty of it going on here at the Ball, but nothing had so directly connected to him in his whole life.

It was remarkably strange, wonderful, in a word, "Magnificent!" He cried, when both of these voices turned out to be from two dragonets. They finally stopped circling him, and sat beside one another for him to appraise.

And praise, thank you, the white bodied one thought, pleased with himself.

They were as different as night and day, one white with black wings, the other black with white wings - but even with those words they were also shiny and delightful and not at all 'merely' black and white. Each had horn buds, again opposing colors. They definitely had different features - one seemed more lanky and leggy with a longer tail, the other was more cat-like in posture and poise. Also they were clearly male and female, and had definitely formed their own bond before even deciding to gang up on Zhuo-Ji.

"I am Woonath'Alkar, and this is Hureurith," the black cat-like female announced.

And like you, there's more to us than just perfect looks, the white dragon added.

"I'm sure that is true," Zhuo-Ji nodded sagely. "Life is not only about appearances, though they are important in their own way."

He did get the impression that they were ready to gobble down some meat when a waiter breezed by heading toward a big table - and both dragons sniffed the air eagerly. "Let's get you fed, I can hardly eat another bite myself... not until I have a few more dances!"

Name: Sparmeba (SPAR may bah, -meba is the family knockoff naming, their full family naming includes gendered endings and nye' but this will not come into play unless breeding is desired)
Gender: (choose+preference as desired)
Size: 4'8" s/l/ws
Build: l o n g
Physical Features: Drak-like supermutt, four legs with heavy claws, fluff on back legs; four wings two main and two butt-wings, with claws on the fore and Shatternak-styled wing barbs on hind; head has two horns, ear floof, a silky mane, multicolored sclera with pupil; tail has floof and a sharp (poison?) spine; they are furry but they are also egg-layers
Colors: White Pawn 8, the 'white' part of this dragon is fairly dark, its body being on the lighter side of grey and mottled heavily to show strong contrast in light and shadow; wingsails have incredibly small black and white checkerboard on backs, with slightly less tiny checks underside; buttwings have 'slightly slightly larger' checks; mane is shiny oil-black, leg floof mixes graphite and white, and tail floof is mostly silvery white; ear floof light; one horn black, one white, claws and tail spike white; eyes red-violet
Stats: Strength, Speed, Endurance, Agility, Health, Intelligence 3 average with one stat at 2 and one at 5 your choice
Abilities: most abilities (telepathy, verbal speech, local teleport) at 3, but exceptionally strong specific-location Portal (6) and 5 choose what kind of spit/sting they produce; do not use or carry the shifting or genetic abilities of full pieces regardless of promotion from knockoff
Parents: Donor Clutch Merajanay and Bales apa Larsis'Iann
Bond: Derion, Sponsorship
Meeting Notes: It was actually quite early in the evening, and while one of their little group was over enjoying the draconic section, Derion strutted about the entire venue just checking it all out. From the rafters above the main ball floor (where a couple kids were roosting between dances) and behind the casino's hidden strip club curtains (hmmm, hmmmm), around each and every one of the stunning tall arched windows bordering the Stage - offering views of worlds that could hardly be reached by flying, or even just outside at the deep sea, and finally coming to rest at one of the balcony tables above it all. He overheard quite a bit of juicy dirt from some tables - politics, business, trade. Even a couple arguments about egg-laying versus live-bearing, interesting, but not why he was here.

No, that would be more or less to show off. And as he'd wandered the areas, he got responses, oh yes. It was odd though, until he thought about it: he wasn't particularly a rarity here. This place was jam packed with a huge variety of people from any number of worlds or planets or eras. He spotted other furry types, some of them were almost like his breed, but then he knew better than to assume that they actually were. Although... his trip through the strip club, there was a gorgeous lady not stripping but instead dealing at one of the card tables: her appearance betrayed a lemur-like nimbleness and long tail - though her fingers were also sometimes a little too long, and sometimes they were bat wings. He had to blink a few times to realize that she was a shapeshifter with multiple forms. Also she was taken. There was a large tiger-elk guy who occasionally wandered by to chuckle at her about 'why aren't you dancing' and she elbowed him good and hard in the gut.

When he did sit down to eat a little, he felt pings from the dragons, that things were going smoothly for them. He felt a touch of something odd lingering in Sybara's mental touch. Not sure why. He'd find out if he found out. Maybe she'd keep it a secret. Maybe she'd gloat. Who knows?

The clock was barely touching '4 hours' until midnight (it had already been more than several hours, in his estimation, what was wrong with this clock?) when a group of springy, sproingy, gangly dragonets bounded out from the dragon sided area. A multitude of them. Flapping and scampering and sliding on the marble floor below, Derion chuckled at their antics. He went back to munching on wonderful breadsticks and dipping them in spicy cheese.

He hadn't noticed a marbled grey shape slipping up the balcony stairs, around poles and people with exactly the same ease. It moved with purpose over to where Derion was sitting, and stuck its nose between his head and his hand to chomp the bigger piece of bread Derion had just loaded with jalapeno cheese.

The dragon gulped it down and stood on the curved black booth seat, long tail draped halfway over the rest, "delicious, spicy, more," it said, sniffing at the variety of bowls and plates on the table looking for the...

The cheese fondue fountain. This dragonet stuck its whole face right into it and practically siphoned the entire supply of hot and spicy cheese down in one gulp. It couldn't speak with that much cheese in its mouth. Perfect! Still hungry!

"...Maaaaaybe you should find the dragon food? Instead?" Derion said, as casually as he possibly could given that there was a dragon almost as long as he was tall (including tail) standing on his lap. Checkerboard patterned wings obscured most of the scene for the L'meridii, until finally the dragon turned to perch on the opposite side of the table, draped its (dangerously spiked) tail off the balcony.

As it then started to preen, Derion picked tail floof out of his mouth, and looked for at least something to replace the bite he hadn't been able to take. "I'm Sparmeba, I'll find more. Bee Are Bee!" And it dove backwards in a surprisingly elegant flip to scrounge something up.

Apparently, Sparmeba was going to come home with them, because after returning (laden with meats, sauces, a veggie platter and more breadsticks, and a 'spicy sno-cone' that seemed to finally sate its desire for 'moar spice') it would not leave Derion's side.

Oh he was definitely in the right place at the right time. The party was barely started when they arrived, and even if this wasn't his normal choice of activities, maybe once in a while. Maybe he could take a spin around this large flight dome under the sea. Maybe - oh, there was a spa. Like a real, honest, run-by-dragons spa. The trip here had ruffled his fur a bit. Some of the white beads and accessories might have gotten out of place. So Ostin strutted right up to the sign-in board, and was shown the entrance arch. Even the draconic service here was polite and suitable, it could have been just a big mess.

... "That's mud," Ostin said, on impulse, and without even hesitating.

"Of course it is, it's a mudwing healing center," another dragon commented. "You don't look like you need any healing, let me get Burrow, she'll know just what you want." And the multicolored very-broad dragoness (a mudwing, it turned out, there were quite a few of her specific breed here) moved off to locate said dragon. The air had changed, and Ostin realized that in going through the archway, he was no longer in the Ball's undersea dome. Rather, this was under the stars, and in an admittedly beautiful bayou canyon. It was warm, much warmer here than down in the dome, but that was to be expected, who thought the deepest part of the ocean would be toasty?

The ground was not paved nor stone, it was just bare dirt. Hmm. He wasn't going to get a mud bath (oh no no no not on his floof) but he did take a moment to watch the activities for a bit, before deciding he would be returning to the Ball proper. Over there were large pits with heated water, thin mud, thick mud, what looked like algae... Who knew what that glowing blue water was about, but it actually seemed to sing with magic. All of those places swapped rapidly with one dragon or another lounging in them, climbing out, being doused with fresh clear water, and ... and blow-dried by other dragons with wind or breath magic. It was a regular assembly line of day-spa treatments under these foreign stars.

"Oh look at you," another dragon spoke, and for a brief moment Ostin couldn't even see where she was. She blended in with the dusky greens and grey-browns of 'beautiful this area'. She was not as tall as Ostin, but the moment he did actually focus on this new mudwing, he realized that she was probably three, maybe four times as heavy, and the last thing he wanted to do was say the wrong thing about how plain she was.

Instead, he said, with a tilt to his head, "yes, look at me!" That elicited a bright laugh, good. In fact, it made him feel better - or maybe that was the aura of this dragon, or the whole place. It was a spa, it was magical. Burrow was so broad, so thick, he wondered how in the world could she do anything with those big paws? And yet, she sat up on her haunches (improbable though it seemed) and picked at the stray baubles and pearls that he'd draped himself with earlier. Her long, curved claws were probably used to scratching in dirt, sand, mud - but they were pristine, here. And shortly, so was he. She'd buffed his spiral horns, and made sure the ribbon dangling from them stayed behind his ears, muttered something about 'you could have a veil over your muzzle but then no one would see how shiny your teeth are' - and they were cleaner now. Every little detail, from nose to tail, this broad matron of a mudwing took all of him in and made sure he was perfect.

"Oh those little teensy paws of yours," she sniffed at his forepaws, which were indeed somewhat delicate - her one toe was bigger than his whole foot... "Now, don't flinch."

"F-flinch?!" He did, but obviously she was ready for that. Burrow had somehow taken dirt and flung it at his feet, covering all four of them in it. And he was about to get a touch on the irate side. But then his toes... tingled. It was more magic all right. She gently blew across them; warm, actually quite pleasant smelling breath. His claws sparkled. His toe pads felt invigorated. One particular hind pad that had been giving him trouble for weeks felt better than it had in a long time.

"Now you're ready to dance and mingle, your toesies won't get tired for a good while!" Burrow said, cheerfully. She was clearly having a great time with this, in fact a lot of the local mudwings were acting like this was as much fun as they'd had in ages - and then he realized there were the trappings of actual hospital rooms here in the Bayou's mud wallow. They were used to attending warriors. No wonder she was so eager to see a happy smile and a proud strut. No wonder they all appeared to be so... so oddly relieved when dragons dunked themselves in those mud pits or lifted a wing to have their pits dried.

In a show of unusual graciousness, Ostin thanked Burrow with a quiet voice and a low nod. She was instantly off to attend another dragon, but he still appreciated the work she put in. Work that he nearly destroyed when he almost tripped over ...

"Careful, please?" The voice was tiny, but confident. "I could learn from her. I think I did learn from her. But I won't practice on you until later."

Ostin drew in a long, carefully measured breath. "That is correct you won'... Pr...ractice? On me?"

The dragon was tiny, particularly compared to Burrow, and was blurry around the edges of its wings and tail. In addition to those wings and tail being completely covered in checkerboard patterns. Apparently the dragonet noticed. "Oh you like it? I know most of my siblings are all spooky-hide-out-in-shadow types but not me. I am Waan, Waan Dumanish. I'll be able to help keep your 'little toesies' clean and proper. But only if I get to practice."

"... On me."

"On you."

(continued)

Name: Tonamsh (TONE amsh, full piece 'word-based' names for those who take strongly after non-Pernese in power types, with -TH ended names for those who take after their Pernese parent; Knockoff naming ends in -AMSH, though if promoted to full Pawn may also have wordy)
Gender: (choose+preference as desired)
Size: 4'3" s/l/ws
Build: average to muscular
Physical Features: Pernese/Pyrrhan, four legs, two wings, all with claws; strong neck; spaded tail with double row of spine/nubs; hide with scaled armor (spliced features carry as-is to any Pernese, may lapse to scaled with similar pair); face sharp with back-pointing horns, external ears, spike crest; eyes may be faceted or pupiled; Bond not required but enjoyed, sponsorships accepted, multibond unlikely, non-human bond accepted
Colors: Black Pawn 3, body darker graphite grey with lighter grey belly from chin to tail; wingsails and tail spade large bold checkerboards; face armor white with black ends, body armor alternates black and white, neck and ridge shiny black and darker grey; claws dark, horns white; eyes pupiled blues
Stats: Strength, Speed, Endurance, Agility, Health, Intelligence average 3 for most, 4 for one and 2 for one your choices
Abilities: 3 average ability with most things available to the clutch Pieces (Telepathy, Verbal Speech, local and nexus teleport, firebreath), however no added longevity and Stealth limited to 2
Parents: Donor Clutch Amrith + 50 Shades of Grey
Bond: Ostin and Waan Dumanish, Voluntary Multibond (perhaps others?)
Meeting Notes: (see also Waan)

When Waan and Ostin reentered the Ball proper, their ears popped a little, the pressure here certainly was different but mitigated by more magic than ever. The little smoke-winged dragonet seemed quite excited, chatting it up with whoever was head level to it. And at one point that meant another dragon, another checkerboard-winged dragon in fact. Healthy looking, confident in its stride, more bold in both depth of brightness (couldn't be said to be 'of color', but the blacks were blacker, the whites whiter, the greys more strikingly contrasted) as well as its posture.

Ostin was only marginally interested in the things going on directly in the draconic venue on their arrival - wrestling? How ... gauche. And while the sea hunt seemed interesting to watch with glimpses of the sleek, sea-worthy dragons out there herding and catching small or big or dangerous fish... That definitely was not for Ostin either.

Maybe the speed dating. Oh. Hm. Perhaps that. There was a dragon that he'd spotted coming back from the Stage early in the evening and... And She Was Stunning. She looked like she was heading toward the Speed Dating center. Should he? Should he follow her? Didn't want to look too eager, didn't want to look too dismissive or haughty.

"You look fine, you should do it!" Ostin heard, and was about to nod when he realized it wasn't... Waan.

It wasn't the smoke dragon who spoke, it was the other one sitting next to them. But that smoke dragon nodded in agreement. "You look better than fine. She's a hottie. She's a catch. But so are you!" Waan assured him. "Tonamsh is right, do it. We'll be cheering you on regardless, won't we?"

"We will. I know I will." The darker dragonet moved with a bit of a bounce, "don't let her get away."

With that, Ostin did several brief double takes, and then remembered he was probably the finest dragon in this whole place. He would be the catch, here!

Name: Wurostash (woo row STASH, while the Turun name inherits to the full Pieces, the Knockoffs get -STASH instead, and seem to like it)
Gender: (choose+preference as desired)
Size: 3'6" s/l/ws
Build: slinky slinky slinky
Physical Features: Tattoo/Kijana mutt, four legs, two wings with feathers and membranes, head has small horns and external ears, pupiled eyes, lots of sparkly floof, paw pads and claw feet, long tail with feathers, orb with magic; requirement of being tattooed (or... temporary tattooed)
Colors: Black Pawn 8, on the lightest end of 'dark grey' body, quite shiny; floof is pale warm-toned grey; wing leather underneath all the feathers is large checkerboard black and white; feathers on backs of wings as well as on tail end grade from deepest shimmering black to middle-static grey; horns and claws light, pawpads light; orb... is checkered with a tiny-checkered aura... eyes aqua blue
Stats: Strength, Speed, Endurance, Agility, Health, Intelligence 3 average, with one stat at 1 and another at 5, your choice
Abilities: 5 telepathy, verbal speech, magic sense; 3 paradise creation; otherwise they use only very modest versions of light breath and divination
Parents: Donor Clutch Sta Turun + Shiyo
Bond: Sybara, Voluntary Tattoo Bond (multi-sorta)
Meeting Notes: If anyone recognized that Sybara was a dragon, she realized it wouldn't matter. There were dozens and dozens of people here who were also dragons. But she remained in her bipedal form, dressed up carefully in appropriately black and white people-clothes. Moving them to the Ball was the easy part, actually - because they had an invitation. She held it in her hands as the boys got close, and merely needed to concentrate on it a little and boom there they were, standing in a broad stone hall with an arched exit that had brighter lights beyond. The entrance was well used, they weren't the only ones who had just appeared out of nowhere. But they were the best of the bunch, by far; they were clearly superior.

Ostin was nudged toward a slightly different entrance point - even though they all started in the same hall, the spot he went to whisked him away to the opposite end of the venue - the draconic side. Neither Sybara nor Derion muttered anything about that, they just headed straight in. And if they were awed upon entry, they didn't miss a step. While Derion zipped off in his undiagnosed-ay-dee-aych-dee manner, Sybara's attention was caught by something.

She wasn't even sure what. Not five minutes into the event and she was wandering around a weird slightly-dimmer curved hall. If it could be said to be the 'back alley' of the event, that's how she would describe it. Overhead was probably a big staircase, since the ceiling here was slightly angled, and the curve of the hall definitely followed a long-staircase-arc. So what, she was investigating something on a whim in the underbelly of a venue?

Why not. Why. Not.

There were other people around, distantly chatting in the dimmer and farther-under portion of this hall, but the black marble and silver trim and white flooring was actually quite attractive. There were alcoves, nooks in the same art deco arch as was duplicated pretty much everywhere in the venue. Some of the nooks were occupied by people gathering their wits or rubbing already-sore feet, but there was this one. A singular arm's depth nook with a black and white cushioned seat across most of it, and narrower shelves that framed the arch with little collections of stuff on them.

Well no, not 'stuff'. Small books with a 'got it at the ball' binding of black or white; keepsake packs, that kind of thing. And small stacks of what looked like little rectangles of paper, bunched together carefully, next to elegant little bottles that looked like... Chess pawn pieces? Huh, well they certainly did go the whole distance on this ball with the theme, didn't they?

As if the weird desire to just jaunt off away from the ballroom floor and the food (smelled great) and dancing and whatever else wasn't enough, Sybara found that she couldn't resist picking up a bottle, and noticed when she did so that a little spare piece of that paper next to it fluttered downward. She caught it deftly, and on turning it around she spotted writing on one side, which described how to 'apply' it. What was this? A ... a temporary tattoo?

On the other, therefore, was ... a pawn? in greys with black and lighter trim aspects, it was the same silhouette as the bottle with its little stopper being the ball atop it. Sybara glanced around. No one was watching, though she saw shadows of other new arrivals that occasionally brushed past the hall. She squinted, reading, and then pulled up the wide lace of her left arm's sleeve. "Why not, huh?" She muttered, choosing a spot on her upper arm. The sleeve would cover it here at the dance, but she still felt a little giddy as she dropped one - single - drop of whatever was in that bottle onto the paper. Held it in place firmly for a few moments. She could feel ... something happening, but absolutely did not know what.

When she took her hand off, the paper fluttered down empty, on both sides (the... the instructions vanished too?) but she did notice that the bottle itself had a tag. With her name on it. Along with the stack of temporary tattoos next to it, also bearing a symbol that was definitely her name. So she tucked those things into the pouch at her waist, if they were labeled for her, no one else got to even see them, right? Then, with a growing hunger and urge to see the sights, she entered the fray at last.

**

As the ball clock drew closer and closer to Midnight, and Sybara had experienced quite a few fun things - dancing and drinking and eating (so much eating) and gambling... It was the little nudge at the back of her head from her partners Derion and Ostin, time to watch the proverbial ball drop. Ostin wasn't going to be at the same side of things, but he certainly was having fun positioning himself on their part of the Healing Den's big parking lot 'stage', because their last fireworks show would lead up to the end of it all. Sybara kind of wanted to be in on that too, but there was only so much one person could - or should - do here.

Her arm itched, absently she scritched at it first over and then under the lacy sleeve.

Hey hey, "hey! Howarya!" She heard a voice and while she'd never 'heard' it before, it was very familiar. How strange. Glancing around, Sybara realized... There was a dragonet standing on its hind feet with a big (long!) tail helping keep its balance, and bold black to grey feathered wings hiding surprise checkerboard sails under them, wobbling a little until it plopped back down to all fours. A very horse-headed looking dragon, this.

Its fluffy mist-pale mane would come in more fully, but for now, it looked like this dragon was trying so very hard to look... Suave? With that thought, it actively smiled, flat front teeth framed by fangs.

"How are you? I'm great, you've eaten a lot and most of that was for me, did you know that? Now you do." It nodded. It took half a second before Sybara blinked a few times, and the dragonet nodded again. "Yup! That's me!" It pointed with its thick pale claw, at the pouch on her belt, and then did a very catlike roll to its head, neck, finally folding its wings and all but rolling over on his back, before righting himself. It was actually kind of adorable.

With Derion showing up shortly, with another checkerboard-winged creature in tow, this dragon blurted out, "she thinks I'm adorable!" to that other. "Me! Wurostash! Adorable!"

Between the two of these little 'knockoffs', there would be precious little words to get in edgeways from now on...

Name: Natcada (GNAT caw dah, -CADA is the knockoff clutch designation, whereas -TH is the clutch's full requirement, either may inherit if promoted to Piece for breeding)
Gender: (choose+preference as desired)
Size: 4'7" s/l/ws
Build: lanky, leggy, long
Physical Features: Pernese-Alskyran/Danachian/Eienic Mutt, four legs and two wings, feet have apparently retractable claws, wings have large wrist thumbs with thick claws; angular head with knobs having very long and sharp horns, faceted eyes, and a jagged tall crest, echoed on the spade of very long slender tail
Colors: Black Pawn 2, body extremely shiny just-off-black with pale speckled mist 'points' on face, feet, wing finger ends, and tail tip; wingsails are downright black on the backs, transparent to a degree, undersides have medium-small checkerboard black and white, also on tail spade; crest shiny black, claws and horns shiny white; eyes faceted red
Stats: Strength, Speed, Endurance, Agility, Health, Intelligence have 2s in most, with a 5 in one, your choice
Abilities: average of 3 in most, do not have any shapeshifting nor can they carry it; select one from Telepathy, Verbal Speech, Local Teleport, Nexus Teleport, or Telekinesis to have at 5; they may have Void magic abilities but unless they have a specific attachment/bond that can help them learn, they cannot master spellcasting (Void tops out at 5, spells at 2 even then)
Parents: Donor Clutch Calietosth + Dairruinth
Bond: Vui'veda, Sponsorship (multi)
Meeting Notes: (see also Enes)

He was early, which admittedly was a touch odd. Vui'veda had the tendancy to crash existing parties, not be promptly on time for them! Well okay he wasn't a party crasher so much, but even he was hoping that he didn't attract unwanted attention. But! He had that weirdly tingling sensation that he knew was because of his family - go there, do that! (At least, he claimed it was because of that, not wrong...) The place was filled with dragons - oh, he finally noticed that dragons on their own would be filtered to this one much larger side of the...

Woah, the place was covered in a dome, clear, and miles under the sea? Now that was a place you wouldn't typically expect to find a party! And while he could easily shift into a bipedal form (maybe he'd do that later), it felt like a lot of these dragons wanted their moment to let loose too. Most of them were obviously attached to people on the other side, but a fair few - particularly a number that prowled around looking too spikey and badass for their own good - were anything but attached.

Speaking of attached, there were events that might play hook-up or nudge some relationship sparks? Heh, well, maybe later. For now, Vui'veda spent a decent amount of time bouncing from one conversation to the next, listening to stories of hunts and battles here, watching a magic demonstration there. All of these things could hardly compete with the stars of the show, though. Every once in a while, one of the nests of dragonets would be announced (in whatever format their parents desired, apparently) and the young would be shown off.

Big and small, burly and noodly, all with only the shades of grey, black, and white that this event promised. For the most part Vui'veda gave them room, some of them were teensy, a few would be around his size when they were grown. Some... much larger. A few of those 'hatchlings' could look him right in the eye?

One of them did. Well, in the eye because the dragonet was hanging from an overhead beam, clutching it with all four paws worth of short, sharp claws. The beam wasn't wood, it was definitely metal, and it didn't make a screeching sound even though the dragon's body was very-slowly-sinking downwards.

Hey, it said. Heard you like parties. Turns out, I like parties too.

It was upside down, still trying to get a good look around itself, when it just outright plopped onto the ground... But somehow had managed to right itself and didn't break its little spine in the process.

Nice wings, Vui'veda stated, it was true, those big big wings would serve this dragon well in the future.

Thanks, I can't say I made em myself, but I'll make em work myself! Can I come with you? I mean I don't have to but--

Of course you can! (continued below)

Name: Enes Zwitterion (ee NEZ zwi TEE ree on, last name for the entire clutch regardless of status; name is from chemistry, a molecule or ion having separate positively and negatively charged groups)
Gender: (choose+preference as desired)
Size: 3'11" s/l/ws
Build: compact, stronger than typical
Physical Features: Hathian-Whorling, with four legs the front two having wing struts, long sharp claws, very long bare tail, long angular face with eye armor blending into neck fins, a fluffy mane, shoulder armor with similar fins; their mane can stand up if needed; Bonding is not required; sponsorships are likely, multibonding/pack is preferred, and non-human partners are likely
Colors: White Pawn 4; body shiny high-contrast light grey, with deeply black face mask and 'tuxedo' marking on neck, chest, under tail, with a white 'bow tie' on neck; wingsails medium checkerboard pattern, shoulder and neck fins small checks; mane chrome; eye armor white, shoulder black, claws dark; eyes violet-red
Stats: Strength, Speed, Endurance, Agility, Health, Intelligence average 2, with one being 5 you choose
Abilities: average 2 with 6 in 'singing' (sonic manipulation and perfect pitch), cannot shift in any way, but they do display adept ability with computers and electrical items
Parents: Donor Clutch Evocation Zone + Errick
Bond: Vui'veda, Sponsorship, Multi-pack pleaseoplease?
Meeting Notes: (see also Natcada)

Vui'veda and Natcada conversed, learning each other's names, figuring out where they'd be heading when the party was over. But the party was far from over! At times, Natcada would rest, riding on Vui'veda's warm fluffy shoulders (and not getting burned); alternately sleeping or snatching little bits of food that Vui'veda grabbed from the buffet table, and occasionally giving draconic direction hints about what looked interesting. Thus draped over Vui'veda's unusual scooped horns, they attended as many of the dragon-venue events as possible. Mock battles! Thrilling! Magic demonstrations that defied description. Story time (kinda lulled them both half asleep but maybe that was also the effects of the big buffet...), they even took the exterior tour when the sea-dragon-dance was being held, with magic keeping them safe, warm, and best of all alive under the pressure of the sea above.

When things were starting to peak, when the big onyx and crystal* clock on the dragon side wall began to tick downwards to Midnight, Vui'veda's own magical cheer-producing power wasn't even needed. Everyone was thrilled, this was a super fun time! Not that it was going to be 'over' at Midnight, but that this meant the formal festivities were going to end and people would be on their own for entertainment.

As the bell was ringing, both dragonet and deer-dragon noticed that they'd been joined by one of the small attendant dragons, a sleek little one, as bright as Natcada was dark.

Where've you been? Natcada asked, dangling from its preferred perch of Vui'veda's neck.

Over there, the little half-Hathian bespoke, mental voice pure like a ringing bell... or more like a bell's perfected waveform filtered through a reverb machine? I was busy helping the two-feet-people get their food and drinks. Fun stuff, but I'm beat.

Vui'veda watched this interaction curiously, because of course, it was including his mind too. They were speaking privately, but... with him too.

Don't'cha get it? Natcada tittered, joined by the other one, they're coming with us!

I won't take much space, not like wing-flappy over there...

Those flappy wings were quite bat-like after all - obscuring Vui'veda's face when Natcada decided to right itself and launch at their new little partner. Enes was its name, spoken above their mock tussle, and Vui'veda managed to separate them with a well timed toss of still-fresh meat from that same buffet...

*yes, the dragons clock looks slightly different from the obsidian and silver biped side's... but be sure, it's the same clock...

Name: Vitiirith (vee tee EE rith, traditional -TH ending name, Albanian word for new year)
Gender: Male (+preference as desired)
Size: 6'1" s/l/ws
Build: muscular, hearty
Physical Features: Pernese, four legs and two wings all with short claws, long neck with boxy head, prominent fangs, high crest, faceted eyes; slender tail with spade tip; Bond is required at hatching, cannot be sponsored, may multibond or bond to nonhumans
Colors: body solid light grey, wingsails high white base with splashes of lightning in mist-white (catches the light and very shiny), crest and tail spade shiny porcelain white, faceted eyes orange
Stats: Strength 4, Speed 1, Endurance 6, Agility 3, Health 5, Intelligence 2
Abilities: 4 local teleport, telepathy, nexus teleport, assisted firebreath 3 nonhuman/multibond accepting
Parents: Ancheoth + Tehndarinth
Bond: Brinlan (Br'an), Impression
Meeting Notes: Brinlan and their group entered this venue with wide eyes and open mouths. Sure, they'd seen parties and gathers, as well as the immense caverns and twisting passages of their Weyr lit up with glows and fancy trappings at times. But this was something else.

And Brinlan was absolutely in their element. And for once, those folks weren't going to be whining about their intensity or flighty focus. This was a party, this was a place Brinlan would be able and even encouraged to go from one event to another and just love it for everything it was worth!

It was only by virtue of being dragged out of bed far too early by their Steward and stuffed into their gear, that they were even here as a group 'on time', but frankly the first thing Brinlan's first move was to find some food to wake themself up. Everywhere they looked, it was more stuff to do, and by golly Brinlan was going to do it. Dancing! Check! Fingerfoods, yum! Casino cards? Absolutely! A stage show with what? How were they even doing those things with just... water and fizz? It was all astounding.

And then the dragons started coming out from their 'side' of the massive Ballroom venue.

I have waited, I've been so patient, Brinlan had a strange tingling sensation - it wasn't their thought. It was from outside. It was bright, it was flashy. But now it's time to play! We'll have to wait for the end of that clock-thing, before my name is true!

Possibly for the first time in their life, Brinlan was left speechless and in wonder - and they'd been around dragons all their life, in a Weyr after all. But this was something special. And never let it be said that Brinlan couldn't adapt, at least for the moment... to something as stunningly important as...

As Impressing a dragon. Their dragon.

Br'an, I am Vitiirith, the dragonet bespoke quite formally, but there was a very, very strong overtone of 'getting it overwith for the sake of mom n dad n all that background noise they keep tossing at me fine fine I'll tell them my name!!' In fact, Brinlan... Now Br'an, absolutely knew that was all going on in the back of this brilliantly white dragonet's mind. They could feel it. They knew this dragon. Bubbly, but also confident and perceptive. And not small, though they wouldn't be a big-big dragon - even as a little one this sleek-winged hatchling strutted with strength. I will be able to fly strong if you need me to fight, but I would rather do better things with you.

"Things like meeting other dragonries?" B...Br'an said, "things like watching hatchings and finding people?"

If you want that, or maybe carrying goods from place to place, or even scouting a place for food to hunt?

"We can do anything," Br'an's heart was just filled - anything was possible. This dragon's mind was eager, but his belly was quite hungry too. "The only thing I feel bad I missed, was you hatching?"

Everyone missed that, I was first!

You were not first, Vitiirith's eyes went from that mostly-orange (which they would be as a baseline) to an angry red-violet, sticking his tongue out at his sibling that was wandering nearby. But then shrugged and happily clung to his new bond as Br'an picked him up to find the food tables.

Name: Ubnith (UHB nith [rather than oob], traditional -TH ended Pernese naming)
Gender: Male (+preference as desired)
Size: 9'4" s/l/ws
Build: slender, flexible
Physical Features: Technically Pernese, four legs and two wings, horned head with small external ears, faceted eyes, sharp spikes with webbing between on neck and hips/tail, tail fin similar, large conical claws
Colors: Body shiny highly recflective light grey (speckles are reflections, not markings!); wingsails greys marked with 'noise' in lighter and darker streaks as static; neck and tail webbing super shiny silver; spikes shiny grey; horns and claws light, eyes faceted red-violet
Stats: Strength 2, Speed 3, Endurance 1, Agility 6, Health 4, Intelligence 5
Abilities: 6 verbal speech, time teleport; 4 nexus teleport, telepathy; 3 empathy, foresight, local teleport; 1 unassisted firebreath
Parents: Thaljath + Olelikoth
Bond: Malieja, Impression
Meeting Notes: She had been Searched, as they had all been in this little group from the Weyr; but longer ago than most. Maybe that was why Malieja's mind had always dwelled, unbidden, on how... how alone she was. Wasn't she meant to be part of a team? And until she and a few others were chosen to attend this large 'Checkerboard Ball' thing she hadn't been able to put the deep unease she'd felt into words.

She was alone because a dragon hadn't come to her yet. Year after year, even clutch after clutch, there had been nothing? She was growing older than typical for standing, too, and that put a knot into her stomach even though she was standing with the others at the threshhold of a massive party and hatching celebration.

Malieja put her party face on and it quickly spread to her heart. Maybe, there was hope. Maybe not - but maybe there was dancing, food, drinking, what were those things in this 'casino' of theirs? She had Marks that somehow turned into little disks for placing in that 'slot machine' - oh and she won a handful more! No fool, she cashed them out and would be going home all the richer when they weirdly transformed back into Marks. Malieja moved from table to bar, listening to the (not bad, not great) 'karaoke' at the small stage, back out to the main ballroom's chamber.

A deep sense of that same old weariness kept popping back, maybe it was the waves above this venue - but no: they were so far up, so very far up above. If she spent any time staring out the giant windows at the sea floor, it would return stronger, and so she stopped looking no matter how beautiful and surreal it was. Turned on her heel, and even tried that 'stomp' dance that those... furry people were doing! It... kinda hurt, but then didn't life hurt? It made you feel alive?

What sort of stung even more than her feet after a while, as she found a spot at a small table with a stranger across from her who was busy assembling some toy they'd gotten in their gift bag, was that there were half a dozen different kinds of dragons that had come from their nesting area beyond the ballroom's wall. And none of them had sniffed at her. She had seen close up, time after time, some random person lighting up with joy and embracing their new one. Their partner, their completeness. It was harder to look away from that.

She accepted another dance request, a slower dance this time. From, of all people, the bartender that had served her a fruity-icy-umbrella-topped drink earlier. He was handsome, sure, had a resonant voice that she'd barely heard because apparently he was a good listener. "It seemed like you needed a little lift," Wally suggested, "something is on your mind."

They danced to a careful and slow song, performed on The Stage by ... a pair of dragons; it was semi-sweet, almost-sad, yearning.

"Something isn't on my mind," Malieja sighed, and on the surface, had anyone but this highly trained psychologist she danced with heard her, they might have thought she was trying to dodge the subject. But Wally knew perfectly well that she'd answered truthfully. Her shoulders held without strength, the little exhalation, the very very slight emphasis on isn't.

"Someone," Wally said, soft, "but I don't think you should worry too much. You've distracted yourself into thinking you'll be alone all your life."

She couldn't meet his gaze, even though his own steely-blue eyes weren't even looking at her. The song came to a higher, hopeful end; Wally bowed gently and indicated he needed to return to the bar. That would leave her alone again.

But there was nothing wrong with that - for at the edge of the dance floor there was a singular dragon sitting with their tail wrapped around their paws, wings settled firmly against their body. It looked like glass, parts frosted over, parts with a dark drape on the other side but still shiny with reflection. He had the starts of stiff horn-like spines on his neck, webs between them already contrasting just a little with the brilliant sparkling of his body. There was a sensation that Malieja felt on seeing him. Or more accurately a sensation left her.

All the noise of the ball going on beyond them, every conversation in the balconies, the noisy slot machines, the laughter and clinking of dishes and glasses and mugs, even a shout or two across the entire ballroom... All of that dulled into a murmur and for once she felt like it was the most blissful silence in her life.

Ubnith is my name, but you knew that already, did you not?

Her throat had constricted, but her mind had opened wide. She could hardly even see the difference between the dragon and the floor, mostly due to the tears now covering her vision, but they were joyful; and Ubnith's warm muzzle wiped them away.

Name: Fraeth (FRAY th, traditional -TH ended Pernese name structure)
Gender: Male (+preference as desired)
Size: 7'6" s/l/ws
Build: energy-packed muscular
Physical Features: Pernese, hide skin with possible iridescence resembling scaling, four legs and two wings with large claws on all, boxy head with knobs and a low neck ridge, fleshy ridge on rump and high tail, split ended tail, faceted eyes; Note that Maranth is from a twin-egg, so this feature may play into future generations
Colors: body graphite with light grey belly marking from chin to mid tail; wings high black undersides with iridescence, backs of wings continue body coloration in dark graphite; neck and back ridges dark grey, eyes red-violet
Stats: Strength 3, Speed 4, Endurance 4, Agility 3, Health 6, Intelligence 5
Abilities: 6 unassisted firebreath, telepathy; 4 telekinetics, local teleport; 3 nexus teleport; 2 search dragon
Parents: Maranth + Minath
Bond: Pherin (Ph'in), Impression
Meeting Notes: He knew better than to be playing cards with these people in the casino, but he'd dug in and managed to both learn the game and win a bit before realizing he was in over his head now. He'd take a loss, folded, rose and politely fumed to himself for his foolish bet. Oh well. Maybe he could swap some goods later, he'd definitely be bringing some of the food piled on his plate home, no way he could eat it all, again even though his eyes decided his stomach would just take it all in.

Pherin wasn't really a fool, wasn't really angry about having lost, since most of the chips he'd lost had been won earlier from others with worse luck. Instead of dwelling on it, he drifted back into the main Ballroom and wove his way toward a small table to watch the dancing. There had been an incident out here apparently, involving one of the Stage shows, he gleaned that a flitter had smashed into the ground when someone's little checkerboard dragon got a bit too enthusiastic and joined in without warning. Huh. Well at least it wasn't dead? But that meant that now people were still kind of muttering about it. But now there were people setting up that big weird backdrop with moving images all over it...

Wait, that was the stage itself, and those were windows, with space? Trippy. They played loud music, there were people brave enough to dance, flying, leftover from the acrobatics even before that flitter accident. A buzzing in Pherin's head kept making him blink hard to try and rid himself of it. Noise, a sort of darkness around his vision. Was he having trouble? Was there something in the drinks he'd had?

No trouble, a voice moved into his own, just me. Ph'in you are my own, I wanted to make sure you were right. You want to make the world a better place, I haven't seen your world yet. I know I'm... I guess I am from it? Sort of? I don't know. Do you think we can see it on our own terms?

A stream of words, images, feelings - but pretty coherent.

"Wait - my name is Phe--" He said, confused. He wasn't confused for long, because a broad snoot pushed up against his head. Dark, with paler neck and darker wings, and hungry looking red-whirling eyes. The dragon chomped down on the piece of meat that he'd almost gotten to his mouth.

Your name is Ph'in now, the dragon gave a chuckle and a burp, that was good but it isn't raw enough for me.

"It's a good thing they have something for everyone here, then?" Ph'in pushed the chair back and sought out the dragon servers, he was a rider now? "Do you think we'll be able to? Do things for ourselves?"

Well we better, because I can already tell we're going to be good at it.

Name: Parsith (PAR sith, traditional -TH Pernese ending)
Gender: Male (+preference as desired)
Size: 5'9" s/l/ws
Build: chonky but strong
Physical Features: Pernese, four legs, two wings, all with claws; head knobs and soft short neck ridge, tail spade, faceted eyes on some, pupils on others
Colors: body ice blue with drifty snow white markings scattered all over; wingsails festive mottled bright silver; neck ridge and tail spade shiny silver; claws silver, eyes faceted blue
Stats: Strength 4, Speed 2, Endurance 5, Agility 5, Health 4, Intelligence 2
Abilities: 6 **Void Communication, time teleport; 5 local teleport; 4 nexus teleport, unassisted firebreath; 2 void-sense; 1 telepathy
** this dragon's ability to use teleportation and communication through between or the Void, or whatever other side-dimension that doesn't quite exist is truly amazing, and has caused a little bit of trouble for him as well
Parents: Gertith + Surrith
Bond: Saquia, Impression
Meeting Notes: It was like herding wherries with this group. Saquia knew that she'd be entrusted with more responsibility because of who she was, and at least she'd been trained since her earliest years in how to do just that. But it never came without that price tag: you're the Weyrleaders child, you're expected to this-or-that. She watched as Pherin zipped away, headstrong but handsome, he'd never learn discipline. And also as Brinlan barely held it together as they entered the venue, Saquia could tell they wanted to go in every single direction all at once. Again, lacking discipline. Malieja tried to get her to come to the dancing, but Saquia had other things to attend to and begged out before stepping once onto the dance floor.

There were people up on the balconies, important ones, and she was there to present them with offers of trade, to hash out communication lines, all the things that her upbringing focused upon. They were very important indeed, both the offers and the people who accepted them with grace and their own packets of information. To be delivered back home, to be read and approved.

None of these folks seemed to realize that she herself wasn't even impressed, didn't have a dragon to grant her special rank. They expected that if she was up here holding her own with the Big Names, it was for a reason.

Once all that was settled, which didn't honestly take that long, Saquia thought she saw something in the corner of her eye, and bowed politely to the steward and healer and all. Probably because she was young, rather than because she was distracted, they returned her graceful gesture and went on with their discussions. Not that she didn't understand the chatter about economics and political sway.

But she was ... somehow, being drawn away from that chatter now. It felt like that sensation was getting stronger when she descended the big curved stairs back to the main floor, it felt like she'd heard this odd sound her entire life.

Saquia had had dragons converse with her, of course, she was the Weyrleaders' daughter. This wasn't that. It was similar, she rolled it around in her mind - why was it so very, very like a dream, or a daydream, or a half-remembered childhood fantasy?

Because I was there with you, a voice came into her mind that was warm and chill at the same time. A sunny day with a stiff breeze, a winter morning that the sun was just gracing with its rays. I know you won't remember very well, but I was.

"You - who are you? Where are you?" Saquia blurted out, uncharacteristically surprised. Oddly panicked. Not a bad panic, more like... trying to remember where the book you needed to return to the Weyrlingmaster had gone to, it's around here somewhere!

You know just exactly where I am, my friend. When you find me, we will share everything once more.

That neither calmed her nor reassured her. But she did as that voice suggested - a male by its tone - because he was right. She had to gather her wits. She had to remember something that had not yet happened to her. Where would she be - where will she be - when she met... meets, this dragon? It really felt like the world was growing dim, strange around the edges.

This time, because it was. The venue looked the same, but it was different; the walls that were indeed high, just kept going - like a dream, like a nightmare there was no ceiling. The hall that she'd found stretched for miles, not straight, but not clearly curving in any particular manner. And small bits of light reflected on dust here and there, but it was spotless, there was no dust here, it hardly even felt like there was air here for dust to drift on, or light to strike it either. It was cold, might even have become uncomfortably so; it was the chill of Between, but was it really?

"No, it isn't," another voice, quite a bit more masculine and mature than the one in her head, spoke aloud. "But it's nearby, should you wish to visit it." She heard tak-tak-tak-tak the sound of shoes on marble flooring, and the voice seemed altogether too close to her shoulder when he added, "it's right there, in fact, where... Well." He chuckled, "That isn't for me to say."

She spun, and saw Keenan Lane, or one of him anyway as she'd been forewarned there were multiples of him from different dimensions at this party, standing in his dark suit and white tie, somewhere much farther away than 'directly behind her right ear'. Ah, it wasn't the same one that had been up on that balcony meeting with the other big-types earlier, this one's hair was just a little shorter, his posture just a bit more stiff. The way he held himself was barely shy of threatening, albeit in a completely relaxed 'take you by surprise if you take your eyes off him for a moment' way.

He is not going to harm you, there was that other voice, I would not allow it, but he has no ill intentions. He has his own distractions to think about.

Because she was actually watching that man, Saquia saw his response - he was able to listen in? He straightened his tie and swept invisible dust from his shoulder, a smirk on his lips as he bowed and vanished in a green-orange orb of energy.

That left Saquia in this place that was not a place, with a disembodied voice in her head. Was she hallucinating? Was this all absolutely just a dream or nightmare?

I hope not, the dragon finally stepped from the darker-than-black wall nearby. The wall had a strangely familiar inset arch, she'd seen those along the entry walls. But it was black on black, dark on darker. And then it was not dark. Spun starlight seemed to wobble a little, came into focus there, and then vanished at the same moment a blue-tinted silver-winged dragonet walked out of it. Now you have found me, here in this place. When you see him again, you should thank him - he made it easier for me to come back to you.

"Come... come back? What does that even mean?" Saquia was more than confused, she was distressed. The dragon however was... She knew this dragon. He wasn't small like the others, he was nearly half-grown, though he would never be truly large like some at the event. He would never be truly as big as a blue dragon, either, but then who cared?

He was hers. Something very deep in her memories suddenly flashed - the dragon himself provoking it. He was also making it easier for me to communicate with you while you were in the Ball, the dragon bespoke. We will not be parted again, you and I. I was meant for you. I ... got lost for a time. But I looked for you.

"You -Parsith- you were in my dreams, you actually... You were always really there? Is that why..." Why she remembered him so vividly now. Why all the talk of being a queen rider was ridiculous to her. Because she already had him. He'd been back and forth through time and space, and finally they were together... again. For the first time.