Photha el-Din, Defense Against the Dark Arts professor

Photha (pronounced foe-thah) reclined on the leather chair in his office, enjoying the way it felt - he enjoyed feeling everything around him, really. It was easy to see why he'd accepted Zora's offer to teach. First of course, she was willing to give him a nice tower office, and she hadn't threatened him the way the Durmstrang headmasters had. There was something about the way this school operated that ignored the obvious aura of evil around his head (and whether it was actually his aura, something placed upon him by a dark mage, or evidence that he was a dark mage), and went straight for the 'do you like to teach' questions...

Plus, once Magda told him that Kate and Ben hung out here a bit, that tipped the scales. He could have lengthy discussions about philosophy and ethics at the same time as getting signed copies of Kate's entertaining books! Never one to take himself too seriously, he let the artist use him freely - and loved the results. The comedy of Nabib's fevered book-hunting always reminded Photha of his brother more than himself. Phoebus was hardly one to read a comic book - muggle or magical - so he'd hardly ever known there was a parody of him running around.

Photha was one of the first staff members that Zora and her magical ... device* found. She'd already gotten Dakota to enchant things, and had a companion named Iris who was as dreamy as she was pristine. Photha almost felt out of place when he arrived some dozen years ago, but by now he was absolutely at ease. He had the ability and permission to summon whatever he needed to, cast what spells were required for his studies or his classes, and pretty much as long as he wasn't doing anthing that would get them all killed, it didn't matter to Zora whether it was legal or not.

Summoning a succubus, like Magda, was patently illegal. But not once had Photha been caught, although some Aurors came very close that one time. Had she not been able to pass herself off as a silly exchange student trying on the anime-muggle headgear to disguise her own headwings...

But things were a little more serious in his classroom. Since he instructed the dueling class as well as Dark Arts Defense, Photha knew that he had to maintain a bit of stability. The kids would be unruly if he acted like he always did outside of class. Heck, he often wanted to join in their games, but he usually had some kind of other study going on. His exercise came with the dueling practice, and he got quite the workout when there was a good student or two that could break through his defense or give his own offensive spells a go.

Some of those, he noted very well, were going to be trouble when they got older. Bhaktar, the necromancer and taxidermist... and he'd fallen in with the girl Calebrindra... Zeramar the vampiric mutt, they would be off on their own soon enough. And of course, they would ask him to join them. Photha would refuse, because House Domina was where he really enjoyed being. He didn't want a life spent looking over his shoulder wondering if what he was doing was attracting the wrong attention! Demonic or Auror, hardly mattered. If he was going to be in trouble for anything, let it be for plain old sex, instead of destroying the countryside or causing muggles to be terrified.

When he was done for the afternoon's instructions, he would come back to his tower office, where he lived more than two thirds of the year, and relax. Sometimes he'd play chess (muggle chess, he didn't care to ruin perfectly good pieces with shattering magic!) or cards with the ghosts. He lived mainly alone - but never felt lonely. Photha was rarely the type of man who would let himself wallow in self pity. If he felt like being around people all he needed to do was walk to the pub half a mile away. Or, to the kitchen here in the House, where more often than not a professor and some students would be active.

He rarely invited the students up into his study, however. His office, certainly. But the narrow and winding stairwell that wrapped halfway around the tower and ended at the conical-topped room he called home, that was his private chamber. The summoning circle he had was easily covered by a throw rug that had almost the same designs on it as the floor. The walls were slung with curved wooden shelves, and utterly covered in collected things.

Quite fond of brightly colored baubles, Photha had blown glass statues, magically animated trading cards, right along side My Little Ponies and bobbing head hula dance dolls. Books lined one entire half of the room, framed by slightly sinister looking objects like black candles, vials of blood or green goo, and stuffed dead creatures from other dimensions. Right up beside them were Beanie Babies.

Photha was like that.

And for some reason, it hardly ever seemed contradictory. Perhaps because he was never able to understand why anyone wouldn't have those things side by side? His brother the stick-in-the-mud, sure - every time Phoebus was around he'd tick his tongue at the stuff on the walls and try to ignore the big gleaming-plastic eyes or the plushy unicorns. Phoebus once actually accused Photha of actively trying to creep him out with those things.

He was pretty sure that Kate had overheard that conversation - she and Ben had been staying over. Because the next issue of Kate's comic, sure enough, there were animated attacking plush muggle toys on the loose...

Photha chuckled at that, glanced up and decided that he didn't need to re-read the story, it was one of his favorites and he'd read it a dozen times already. He felt it was sheer genius that Kate had created such a comic, knowing that she'd also created the actual Trusty Tome of Things to Run From and was trying to find a publisher... Maybe he'd help her fund it, if they needed to print it themselves. Too many people would think it was a joke.

Well, with the track record they had of releasing books like that to the general public, it was a bit of a joke. The Tome would be circulated among muggles, like many of Kate's other products, and seen only as a very cleverly written book, but nothing serious or true.

Photha enjoyed that anonymity as well, even or perhaps especially when he walked through London and got followed by folks who wanted to know where he'd got that jacket, or was he interested in coming to their hookah party. And again, of course, because he was hardly one to deny himself the basic pleasures of life, he would often join them. Muggles were fascinating, their ways not nearly so mysterious as the Ministry would have it. If you just participated in their lives, he figured, you could gain another whole world to play in. That's why when he found his first collectable store, he almost went broke buying every little soft furry doodad he could find...

Sensible? ... Not really. But fun, and when dealing with magical things like dueling or identifying real, honest threats - very practical indeed. He learned from his mistakes, and was unafraid to make more in the process. Photha's only real lacking area it seemed, was focus or drive.

If he was driven, probably it was only to be a collector of fun things. He had no wife nor children, so those things on his walls would have to go somewhere when he was finally done with them. Perhaps later, perhaps in a year or a month or whenever he got around to it... he'd find a woman and settle down. Since Magda was a succubus it was very, very unlikely it'd be with her. Since Zora was preoccupied and such a busybody, and flirtatious with almost every man, and many of the women, they knew she would not be a good 'wife'.

Maybe what he needed wasn't a wife, at least right now. Photha sighed, put on his 'I'm off work' robe, and went down to the kitchens. There, as per usual, several people were talking intensely about how colors interact with spell components, and whether a ripe orange or a green one would work in any citrus-based spell casting.

While the conversation was certainly animated, what caught Photha's eye was a bit of color on a moving spell-window. For whatever reason, Zora had decided to leave all the windows to dragonries open here in the kitchen's wall. Though there were almost four dozen of them, only three or four ever had activity. This one had a lot. Though there was no sound coming from the oval shaped enchanted mirror, it was plain to Photha that those were hatchling dragons, and this was a place he wanted to see.

Right now. Sooner than now. There was something adorable on the other side of that mirror... And he meant to snuggle it.

He was not the expert on portals and travel, that was Lucas. And while Zora and Iris simply threw themselves at the dragon mage, Photha was still actually a little leery of him. Certainly he was attractive, but there was very, very little 'cuddly' about Lucas. Even though if he asked nicely, Photha would certainly spend an evening getting physical, it was hardly the same kind of entertainment that one of the other more fluff-headed companions Photha'd had could give. But Lucas was the best at opening and closing portals, so he tugged at the dragonmage's robe sleeve, and indicated the mirror.

"This looks like something I want to see up close," Photha said, "is it a place you have a portal to?"

"Of course it is, the Twisted Fate, it's near a place that I've been many times. Well," Lucas said with a shrug, "some of me have been there anyway."

"Is it possible to get me there, then?" Photha asked, fidgeting. "I have this feeling that there may be somewhat limited space. Just a feeling, but you know it's unwise to ignore such things."

Lucas gave off a chuffled laugh and nodded. "Well, gather what you're going to want to bring, if it's a dragonry you'll be there a bit before coming home. Normally that is the case, and," he looked Photha up and down, "while I certainly would say your robe is stylish, it's hardly formalwear, and not very useful if it gets covered with dragon muck."

With that warning in mind, Photha headed back up to his tower, packed a few items and removed his robes in favor of a tee-shirt and jeans. His wand, as always, was in a sort of cross-drawn holster on his left hip. "Ready," he stated, and Lucas performed a simple, but powerful spell. It opened a doorway from the hall of House Domina, into what appeared to be a cavern.

"You will want to find - ah, there he is," Lucas said, waving toward ... A dragon!

"Greetings!" Abhan announced, proudly strutting up and giving Lucas and Photha the once-over. "You're here for the current clutches, I can tell."

"He is," Lucas indicated the man next to him, "I'm merely his escort."

"Are we allowed to view them? I ... I saw a bit in our scrying mirror, is there a way we get to--" Photha started, but Abhan shook his head.

"You will be allowed when the time is right, but for now make yourself comfortable! If you wish to share accomodations we can arrange a larger room." The dragon was happy to oblige and ready to lead them into the corridor beyond, and Photha wasn't certain how to put that he --

"Separate rooms would suit us," Lucas said, casually, "I may call on some friends, if that is acceptable."

"It is," Abhan nodded, ears flopping. It was all Photha could do to resist grabbing them and wiggling them around. They did eventually find their rooms, large ones obviously suited to have a candidate or sponsor that already had pets or a bond. For Lucas that would make sense, Audeo followed shortly and the fire Avengaean tried to make the best of being in a place which she deemed a bit too 'tainted' for her tastes...

Tainted or not, Photha realized that this was his chance to find a perfect familiar, or a mount, or even just a fluffy friend. Those movements he'd seen in the scrying mirror, they showed a serious amount of cuteness. Now, the waiting would probably kill him...

*** Continued Below ***

* - Zora and the early students, along with one or two of her friends, had concocted a large magical artifact which literally walked around 'finding' people appropriate to the School. Invisible to muggles, but highly distinctive to mages, this object clattered right up to Photha and handed him a business card...

House Domina Personalities
Image from Tektek.org's Gaia Dream avatar maker	Photha el-Din - instructor of Defense Against the Dark Arts and Magical Dueling Male, age 48 Hair - black; Eyes - reddish brown; Skin Tone - swarthy dark tan Preferred Clothing - Relaxed Formalwear from another era. Jeans and a silken robe feel as good as a stiff collared shirt and tie. He prefers colors that accent his dark hair and eerie eyes. Specialties - While Photha is an expert wand-fighter, defensive and offensive quick spell casting and a better than passing familiarity with the Dark Arts (he was approached by the Death Eaters on more than one occasion but managed to turn them away every time), he is actually a truly fantastic teacher. He manages to get the best out of most students whether they're competent or not. He's a genuinely enjoyable professor to learn from. Weaknesses - perhaps Photha's one exterior weakness might be summed up on his head. While he's relentless in his pursuit of dark arts practicioners and has a high conviction rate, he's had a number of ... um, encouners with a partially demonic woman who added the little wings to his head. They're not quite as big as hers, in fact she's the one who Kate Gray is using as a model for the Illustrated Adventures of Melora and Nabib (and, Photha is the physical model for Nabib himself), but they are demonic in nature and he often shows up on evil-sensing magic devices though it's just the wingies. Yes, they're 'cute' wings. Wand - Photha's wand is not made from wood, instead it was from an animal that he killed as a young child with his magic. Resembling a unicorn's horn, the animal it was from bore more in common with a rabbit or hare (it's the middle eastern version of a jackalope). This wand seems to accentuate speed, reflex and some say irony. Familiar - none yet... Photha thought perhaps that the animal approaching him would become his lifelong friend -but once it drew blood visciously attacking him he lashed out mentally and that was that. Now, Photha will look at almost any small, interesting animal and hope that it will become his familiar, but he's gonna be wearing gloves when he tries... Maybe that's why he collects plush toys. They don't bite back. Unusual Studies - Photha likes to.... study... beautiful women. Does that count? He actually loves all things soft and cuddly, not just as gifts to those women, but for himself. One wouldn't expect to find a collection of plush toys on the shelves next to the stuffed raven and bleachd skulls, but there they are.
Photha (pronounced foe-thah) reclined on the leather chair in his office, enjoying the way it felt - he enjoyed feeling everything around him, really. It was easy to see why he'd accepted Zora's offer to teach. First of course, she was willing to give him a nice tower office, and she hadn't threatened him the way the Durmstrang headmasters had. There was something about the way this school operated that ignored the obvious aura of evil around his head (and whether it was actually his aura, something placed upon him by a dark mage, or evidence that he was a dark mage), and went straight for the 'do you like to teach' questions... Plus, once Magda told him that Kate and Ben hung out here a bit, that tipped the scales. He could have lengthy discussions about philosophy and ethics at the same time as getting signed copies of Kate's entertaining books! Never one to take himself too seriously, he let the artist use him freely - and loved the results. The comedy of Nabib's fevered book-hunting always reminded Photha of his brother more than himself. Phoebus was hardly one to read a comic book - muggle or magical - so he'd hardly ever known there was a parody of him running around. Photha was one of the first staff members that Zora and her magical ... device* found. She'd already gotten Dakota to enchant things, and had a companion named Iris who was as dreamy as she was pristine. Photha almost felt out of place when he arrived some dozen years ago, but by now he was absolutely at ease. He had the ability and permission to summon whatever he needed to, cast what spells were required for his studies or his classes, and pretty much as long as he wasn't doing anthing that would get them all killed, it didn't matter to Zora whether it was legal or not. Summoning a succubus, like Magda, was patently illegal. But not once had Photha been caught, although some Aurors came very close that one time. Had she not been able to pass herself off as a silly exchange student trying on the anime-muggle headgear to disguise her own headwings... But things were a little more serious in his classroom. Since he instructed the dueling class as well as Dark Arts Defense, Photha knew that he had to maintain a bit of stability. The kids would be unruly if he acted like he always did outside of class. Heck, he often wanted to join in their games, but he usually had some kind of other study going on. His exercise came with the dueling practice, and he got quite the workout when there was a good student or two that could break through his defense or give his own offensive spells a go. Some of those, he noted very well, were going to be trouble when they got older. Bhaktar, the necromancer and taxidermist... and he'd fallen in with the girl Calebrindra... Zeramar the vampiric mutt, they would be off on their own soon enough. And of course, they would ask him to join them. Photha would refuse, because House Domina was where he really enjoyed being. He didn't want a life spent looking over his shoulder wondering if what he was doing was attracting the wrong attention! Demonic or Auror, hardly mattered. If he was going to be in trouble for anything, let it be for plain old sex, instead of destroying the countryside or causing muggles to be terrified. When he was done for the afternoon's instructions, he would come back to his tower office, where he lived more than two thirds of the year, and relax. Sometimes he'd play chess (muggle chess, he didn't care to ruin perfectly good pieces with shattering magic!) or cards with the ghosts. He lived mainly alone - but never felt lonely. Photha was rarely the type of man who would let himself wallow in self pity. If he felt like being around people all he needed to do was walk to the pub half a mile away. Or, to the kitchen here in the House, where more often than not a professor and some students would be active. He rarely invited the students up into his study, however. His office, certainly. But the narrow and winding stairwell that wrapped halfway around the tower and ended at the conical-topped room he called home, that was his private chamber. The summoning circle he had was easily covered by a throw rug that had almost the same designs on it as the floor. The walls were slung with curved wooden shelves, and utterly covered in collected things. Quite fond of brightly colored baubles, Photha had blown glass statues, magically animated trading cards, right along side My Little Ponies and bobbing head hula dance dolls. Books lined one entire half of the room, framed by slightly sinister looking objects like black candles, vials of blood or green goo, and stuffed dead creatures from other dimensions. Right up beside them were Beanie Babies. Photha was like that. And for some reason, it hardly ever seemed contradictory. Perhaps because he was never able to understand why anyone wouldn't have those things side by side? His brother the stick-in-the-mud, sure - every time Phoebus was around he'd tick his tongue at the stuff on the walls and try to ignore the big gleaming-plastic eyes or the plushy unicorns. Phoebus once actually accused Photha of actively trying to creep him out with those things. He was pretty sure that Kate had overheard that conversation - she and Ben had been staying over. Because the next issue of Kate's comic, sure enough, there were animated attacking plush muggle toys on the loose... Photha chuckled at that, glanced up and decided that he didn't need to re-read the story, it was one of his favorites and he'd read it a dozen times already. He felt it was sheer genius that Kate had created such a comic, knowing that she'd also created the actual Trusty Tome of Things to Run From and was trying to find a publisher... Maybe he'd help her fund it, if they needed to print it themselves. Too many people would think it was a joke. Well, with the track record they had of releasing books like that to the general public, it was a bit of a joke. The Tome would be circulated among muggles, like many of Kate's other products, and seen only as a very cleverly written book, but nothing serious or true. Photha enjoyed that anonymity as well, even or perhaps especially when he walked through London and got followed by folks who wanted to know where he'd got that jacket, or was he interested in coming to their hookah party. And again, of course, because he was hardly one to deny himself the basic pleasures of life, he would often join them. Muggles were fascinating, their ways not nearly so mysterious as the Ministry would have it. If you just participated in their lives, he figured, you could gain another whole world to play in. That's why when he found his first collectable store, he almost went broke buying every little soft furry doodad he could find... Sensible? ... Not really. But fun, and when dealing with magical things like dueling or identifying real, honest threats - very practical indeed. He learned from his mistakes, and was unafraid to make more in the process. Photha's only real lacking area it seemed, was focus or drive. If he was driven, probably it was only to be a collector of fun things. He had no wife nor children, so those things on his walls would have to go somewhere when he was finally done with them. Perhaps later, perhaps in a year or a month or whenever he got around to it... he'd find a woman and settle down. Since Magda was a succubus it was very, very unlikely it'd be with her. Since Zora was preoccupied and such a busybody, and flirtatious with almost every man, and many of the women, they knew she would not be a good 'wife'. Maybe what he needed wasn't a wife, at least right now. Photha sighed, put on his 'I'm off work' robe, and went down to the kitchens. There, as per usual, several people were talking intensely about how colors interact with spell components, and whether a ripe orange or a green one would work in any citrus-based spell casting. While the conversation was certainly animated, what caught Photha's eye was a bit of color on a moving spell-window. For whatever reason, Zora had decided to leave all the windows to dragonries open here in the kitchen's wall. Though there were almost four dozen of them, only three or four ever had activity. This one had a lot. Though there was no sound coming from the oval shaped enchanted mirror, it was plain to Photha that those were hatchling dragons, and this was a place he wanted to see. Right now. Sooner than now. There was something adorable on the other side of that mirror... And he meant to snuggle it. He was not the expert on portals and travel, that was Lucas. And while Zora and Iris simply threw themselves at the dragon mage, Photha was still actually a little leery of him. Certainly he was attractive, but there was very, very little 'cuddly' about Lucas. Even though if he asked nicely, Photha would certainly spend an evening getting physical, it was hardly the same kind of entertainment that one of the other more fluff-headed companions Photha'd had could give. But Lucas was the best at opening and closing portals, so he tugged at the dragonmage's robe sleeve, and indicated the mirror. "This looks like something I want to see up close," Photha said, "is it a place you have a portal to?" "Of course it is, the Twisted Fate, it's near a place that I've been many times. Well," Lucas said with a shrug, "some of me have been there anyway." "Is it possible to get me there, then?" Photha asked, fidgeting. "I have this feeling that there may be somewhat limited space. Just a feeling, but you know it's unwise to ignore such things." Lucas gave off a chuffled laugh and nodded. "Well, gather what you're going to want to bring, if it's a dragonry you'll be there a bit before coming home. Normally that is the case, and," he looked Photha up and down, "while I certainly would say your robe is stylish, it's hardly formalwear, and not very useful if it gets covered with dragon muck." With that warning in mind, Photha headed back up to his tower, packed a few items and removed his robes in favor of a tee-shirt and jeans. His wand, as always, was in a sort of cross-drawn holster on his left hip. "Ready," he stated, and Lucas performed a simple, but powerful spell. It opened a doorway from the hall of House Domina, into what appeared to be a cavern. "You will want to find - ah, there he is," Lucas said, waving toward ... A dragon! "Greetings!" Abhan announced, proudly strutting up and giving Lucas and Photha the once-over. "You're here for the current clutches, I can tell." "He is," Lucas indicated the man next to him, "I'm merely his escort." "Are we allowed to view them? I ... I saw a bit in our scrying mirror, is there a way we get to--" Photha started, but Abhan shook his head. "You will be allowed when the time is right, but for now make yourself comfortable! If you wish to share accomodations we can arrange a larger room." The dragon was happy to oblige and ready to lead them into the corridor beyond, and Photha wasn't certain how to put that he -- "Separate rooms would suit us," Lucas said, casually, "I may call on some friends, if that is acceptable." "It is," Abhan nodded, ears flopping. It was all Photha could do to resist grabbing them and wiggling them around. They did eventually find their rooms, large ones obviously suited to have a candidate or sponsor that already had pets or a bond. For Lucas that would make sense, Audeo followed shortly and the fire Avengaean tried to make the best of being in a place which she deemed a bit too 'tainted' for her tastes... Tainted or not, Photha realized that this was his chance to find a perfect familiar, or a mount, or even just a fluffy friend. Those movements he'd seen in the scrying mirror, they showed a serious amount of cuteness. Now, the waiting would probably kill him... * Continued Below * * - Zora and the early students, along with one or two of her friends, had concocted a large magical artifact which literally walked around 'finding' people appropriate to the School. Invisible to muggles, but highly distinctive to mages, this object clattered right up to Photha and handed him a business card...

It wasn't going to be the wait that killed him. No, it was probably the other people. If people was the right word... There were only a couple humans in the place, others were clearly demonic, some 'furry', and plenty were four-footed dragon types. Photha made the mistake of trying to follow one of them around a little, but was refused entry to any of the off-floor areas. He could see the magical barriers around certain doorways, and it frustrated him a little. He did see a couple women that were attractive and wanted to at least talk to them, drawn immediately to their exotic appearances. One it turned out was a sphynx, haughty and full of herself like all her kind, but still she was pretty - and smart, but... Photha and she could hardly get five sentances out before one or the other was wandering off on a tangent. Not a great way to try learning about each other. The other woman was even more exotic, and when she shifted into a very large, very long limbed dragon... Photha wondered if his 'tastes' for pretty women really needed a good looking at. Photha finally heard the call for people to come by the hatching area, and there were mutts apenty there. His heart nearly exploded when he saw the little feathery ball-shaped ones, but it was not to be one of those that came to him. In fact far the opposite. He carried himself with such a defiant beauty, that still Photha looked with an entranced gaze. The glowing wispy 'wings' and the tail which had a ball of some strong magical energy... Beautiful! "I do hope you'll refrain from trying to 'snuggle' me," sniffed a grey-glow mutt, coming up on Photha el-Din. For a newborn, he already had the airs of a 'snooty scholar' down pat. "There is no one better on these sands to help me learn my magic to the greatest extent, but the only thing I want to embrace is knowledge." This surprised Photha greatly. Here he thought he'd be getting involved with an adorable kitten or ... no no no - he chastised himself. That was what he thought he wanted. This here, this gorgeous fluffy but smart and contained dragon? This would be more like what anyone else should expect in a dragon friend! "I will certainly obey your wish," the instructor said, bowing deeply. His little head-wings fluttered on impulse, maybe - just maybe - the little creature would bat at them... but no. "I am Photha el-Din, pleased to meet you. My home will be yours, there are other dragons too, would you like to meet them?" The little nightmourner-mix nodded, "I would. I am Lunarwisp, I hope that this will be a mutually beneficial relationship." "It will be," Photha said, grinning. "I am sure of it." * When he got back home, with Lunarwisp in tow, the first thing Photha did was show him off to the girls. And sure enough - even though they were talking at Lunarwisp with the gusto of any student and teacher about their favorite subject, the ladies old enough to appreciate Photha's presence simply threw themselves at him for showing them this gorgeous dragon. When the first day of this was done, and Lunarwisp and Photha headed back up to the tower, Lunarwisp gave a chuckle. "So I suppose that your idea of 'beneficial' means something different than it does to me?" He said. "Well I.... of course it does!" Photha wasn't one to just lie for no good reason. "I must admit, I did not expect anything like you. But then you're not at all like I saw your siblings! You've got the refinement and grace that they don't - and the good sense not to mistreat yourself. They all seemed a little... mixed up about what life is about." "Learning," Lunarwisp said. "My life is about learning, and art." "You are in the right place for both," Photha said, "now, you've seen my human friends work some of our magics... I would like you to show me a little of yours. Don't challenge yourself, I would like to know what seems 'easy' for you, we can work up to challenges when you're older..." * And the challenges came. Lunarwisp voraciously ate up any information he could, and when he was able to fully comprehend many of the books in the big old library below, he became consumed with learning them all. "Take a break now and then," Photha encouraged his friend, tugging on his tail, and eliciting a yelp of surprise from the dragon. "But they... ah, you are right, it's late, isn't it?" "Late, you've been here for days of course it's late!" Photha chided him. "And, there's a note for you, something from your birth place. I didn't open it, of course. It's for you and you alone." He paused, winked, "I hope you'll share though." After several days in the dimly lit corners of the old library of House Domina, Lunarwisp was actually apt to consider not reading this delivered object. His eyes blurred a bit. "I ... think I shall leave it for later, my friend." "Oh good!" Photha exclaimed, and tossed his head. His little wings bobbed with excitement. "We're having a party, it would be ... nice if you could, um," he paused, but Lunarwisp chuckled. "Add something to it? Of course I shall. It's time I relaxed a little myself." They went to the other tower, where an assortment of friends, instructors, and lovers were already hitting the bottle a bit. They were in fact playing spin the pixie, with an inebriated cornish pixie that'd been paralyzed just enough to not fly away entirely. It flitted from one person to another, finally whoever it landed upon was the one who was meant to be 'it' that turn. "As though you lot need more narcotics," Lunarwisp chuckled deeply. He'd grown a lot in the time he had spent here, and his vocabulary as well as magical tome reading had expanded to far above what any human might expect. All he did was study, he wans't expected outside or at events, so he soaked up words and images easily. However, he did see the wisdom in cutting that behavior down to a low rumble now and then. And of course, Photha was the kind of person who could fill his leisure hours with whatever they could find, and still enjoy it. If that meant a trip to the beach, or a stroll down a spooky cemetary lane, or even tonight, a drunken bash with some close friends, that was what he was enjoying. Lunarwisp rested on his haunches and began strumming at his tail. Coaxing first one strand of glowing energy from it, then another. Finally, he wound them together into a complicated web of dreamery and imagination. He didn't make it too potent, because the humans were already tipsy. The first spell he put out to them was to make them able to see more vividly the illusions he put out next. They weren't frightening images, and this group of people were probably among the hardest folks to scare anywhere, so he wasn't worried about putting too many weird things into the visuals. The illusion party lasted well until dawn, and it was a good thing that everyone had days off, because no one was going anywhere for a while as they slept it off... Lunarwisp included. *** When he finally opened the odd message container, Lunarwisp read the slip of pressed paper that had been rolled into it. There were a pair of 'charms' waiting for him at Dritanys' location. What did that mean? Oh - wait, he had a faint recollection. Magical charms, not like spells here, not simply cast, but instead ... Burned into the very flesh of the recipient. He'd seen some on locals, not many. It was probably a painful process. He turned the paper over, and read a few of the brief descriptions of typical RuneBrands. Lunarwisp saw one or two that caught his attention. He was going to have to return to his birthplace to have them set into his flesh. Because he did have some use for these things. Lunarwisp whispered to his bond, "I will return soon," and teleported away, back to the Twisted Fate. The place was as he remembered it, darkly dangerous and rather impressive. Since he'd grown a lot, he hardly had anything to fear from most of the inhabitants, but he remained well clear of a few. He carefully approached the elder Tycharis that ran the ship and commanded much respect. "Dritanys-sul-Raduskal, hear my plea," Lunarwisp said, quietly when he hoped her attention wasn't required on the others in the area. "I wish to redeem the tokens that I was granted, I was told that they existed. I would like to see what I may acquire, to become one of the Rune Branded." He saw that her skin was marked with so many runes that it was hard to comprehend. She would be impossible to fight, terribly hard to kill, almost entirely immune to magics effects... The list went on. Though not kindly by any stretch of the imagination, Dritanys turned and appraised the young adult hybrid. "Ah, you. Yes... you've got," she blinked and somehow acquired the information, "two tokens. They add up to one Obsidian. Are you prepared to have this," she held up a magical tool, "permanently mar your hide, dragon?" "I would hardly consider it to mar anything, it would be of such use to me. I would wear them proudly, if you would bestow them." He bowed his head, aware that she could simply say no, and send him home. Instead, she urged him to come forward and meet her in the location where she'd perform these rituals. "And how is that little hedonist you partnered," she chatted, giving a laugh when Lunarwisp jolted at her having remembered who he paired with. "He was trying to hump any leg he could find, how could I not know what he's like?" They arrived, and Lunarwisp spotted things in the air, vestiges of magic that he wanted to see more clearly. "I choose two runes, mistress," he said. "I have need to know more languages, and there are not enough people to instruct me in their forms. To read the ancient tomes available to me, I need to understand the script. To listen to foreign mages and learn their secrets, I would have to know their languages. This I wish to do - brand me with Tongues." Dritanys nodded, and looked over the others, "you've a glass-level token as well," she said. Nodding, Lunarwisp said, "I also wish Clarity, that I can better understand the world beyond magic. If this will make me able to see a spell, such as the one keeping the doorway quiet," he looked over at the arched area beyond the ritual room, where it was silenced, "or to sense better where magics were done, I can track them back to their casters - but not become victim to the magic itself." Dritanys nodded again, and chose another few tools. She began her incantations, and Lunarwisp prepared himself as well as he could... it would be painful, branding - and it would be so very permanent... What would Photha think? Well he'd probably think they were very cool because tattoos were in with his friends these days... * While Lunarwisp was out doing whatever mysterious things he was up to, Photha hung out with the other professors and had a good time generally. But he was growing bored, because... well, he was used to having a dragon around, having someone to bounce ideas off of, talk to, entertain himself. It was something of a surprise then, that he discovered a little oddly wrapped package that was warm to the touch, wobbly, and clearly alive inside, just outside his tower door one morning. He didn't even have to unwrap it, it was coming loose by the time he picked it up. The little creature inside it was brightly yellow, and had the smallest, most adorable little wings! Two sets of wings! "You've got headwings!" Photha gleefully tittered. The little creature, no longer than his hand and fingers, scampered up around his arm, and under his hair. Finally, after a moment's prodding with his wand, Photha urged the thing out into the open again, where its little black eyes blinked and its little pink nose sniffed the air. "Oho, you smell treats, don't you?" The wizard said, and flicked his wand to open a bin that had small candies in it. They were wrapped, and it seemed that this small lizard-like creature could hardly figure out plastic wasn't good to eat. Photha unwrapped the tiny hard candy, and Photha laughed while the creature nibbled on it. It seemed as interested in the plastic wrap - to play with now that it tried tasting it and didn't find it edible, so Photha put it down on one of his desks and watched it play. "Dublin, you've got a double set of wings." He nodded, naming the creature. Dublin developed a habit of sneaking around the stuffed toys on the shelves, posing as one of them, or even looking like he was riding his own dragon - stuffed of course - while sleeping draped over it. Dublin**, Rock Lizard Traits: pink nose, Bat wings, earwings
It was a calm night, snowing outside made Photha wistful. Some years he wondered why Peace on Earth hadn't been made from merely looking out at nights like this. The snowflakes tumbled down, gently, and lights from the willowisps outside lit them sometimes. From the village nearby there were the sounds of carollers, they woudln't be coming up to House Domina's castle, which was a shame. However, inside the school building there were plenty of other people singing. Photha closed his tower window and went down to investigate. It wasn't in the kitchen, which was where most people tended to gather when it was off-hours. Instead, the main hall, where a wide archway of holly and ribbons, floating candles and candy-canes bobbed around. The place had already been decorated for the season for weeks, but only a small number of students and staff remained during the holiday itself. "And what are we doing this year?" Photha asked, and the rabbit-girl Saijitsu, Iji her nickname as he recalled, giggled and told him. "We are making portals, and giving gifts through them! You should try it!" She didn't have to wave a wand, her parentage gave her innate magical abilities (which would most certainly land her and her parents both in Azkaban if they lived on Earth) so she flicked her furry hand and a smallish ground-level portal opened. From it, popped a wraithlike wisp of smoke, it snaked around people's legs and finally sought out its keeper. When the student bent down to pick it up, it immediately changed into a ribbon-decked large alien bird of some kind. Even Photha clapped and laughed, and tried it himself. He discovered that there was a weird mess of portal-shapes already present in the hall, and it was through them that these random creatures came. Not even he knew what would come out when he waved his wand and encanted "accio present". So it was absolutely no surprise - at least to anyone who knew him - that the darkly furred creature which wound its own way out of a portal by the wall came directly to him. It looked half-smoke, half-cat. Eventually it became clear that this was no mere feline, of course, but more akin to the dragons which dominated the familiar-types here. No sooner had she slunk up to the wizard, did she turn gracefully and grow bigger. Not big enough to ride, but certainly bigger than a housecat - or even a kneazle. Almost the size of a large guard dog, her fluffy fur rustled in what might have been magical wind, and her bright green eyes blinked sweetly up at Photha. "Mine," she said, voice as smooth as one could expect. She too had little fluttery wings - like Dublin (who had come along with Photha riding his shoulder almost unnoticed. The creature batted at the yellow rock-lizard, and they merrily bounded away floating on whatever magical whim they needed. No harm would come to Dublin, and certainly no one would dream of hurting the feline-like familiar. "So what's she called?" Iji asked, and Photha shrugged. "Not sure, Mina I think. That would be an acceptable name for her. Now.... where's she got off to..." Photha wandered away while the others continued conjuring their own presents. *** It didn't really come as a surprise that one day there was another little lizard-creature sitting beside Dublin, when Photha got back up from a long day teaching. It was a brightly colored blue and white one, this time, not quite as long as Dublin, but a bit lower to the ground and a little chubbier. A moment after he noticed the creature, it started making off with one of the little pewter unicorn statues that Photha had on his shelf! In fact, now that he looked around, a large number of very small items had been moved around from one shelf to another! Probably all due to the activities of this little thief! "Why you little swiper, you're not supposed to move things. You don't know where they've been," Photha warned, and Dublin made a tiny eeping noise from his shoulder to drive the point home too. "And you don't know where they might take you! Now, come over here, you haven't been to this shelf, and I'm sure you'll find it a little more comfortable." On it was a big enchanted dollhouse, it had actually belonged to one of the castle's inhabitants long long ago, but the magic in it still worked. Doors opened and shut, and let the little palm-length creature into beds or over the kitchen wares. It seemed to enjoy that - but even so, over the next few days, Photha did have to re-swipe several works of 'art' that Swipe had put into its new home... Swipe: Traits: fins, panda, small nose, cute ears

Name: Mina Gender: female Bonded/Familiar to Photha elDin Breed: holiday fluffy gift from Unyko Abilities: Adoration (Psychic/pheremonal combination ability - anything within range will find themselves unaccountably drawn to this dragon, and, if originally of violent intent, be unable to cause it harm.); size shifting (from cat sized to horse sized); flight (improbably with the little floaty wings); Verbal speech, empathy; it's possible that she can shapeshift into a humanoid form, but no one yet has seen her do this.

Name: Lunarwisp Bonded to: Photha el-Din Gender: Male Species: Nightmourner Mutt Hatchling Height: 1'8" at shoulder Adult Height: 8'4" at shoulder Color: Grey Amber Personality: Lunarwisp is the only one of his clutch who isn't dark or twisted in some way--against them, he's almost bland. You could call him a connoisseur of magic, hence his attraction to a teacher of the magic arts--and an art, indeed, is what Lunarwisp considers it to be. Delicacy and finesse is his modus operandi when he weaves magic from his tail, and anyone who throws magic around like a wrecking-ball will earn nothing but his scorn. Abilities: Bioluminescence. Illusion Magic. Narcotic Magic. Physical Magic. Telepathy. Teleportation. Verbal Speech. Hatchling Charm: Glass Adult Charm: Iron