Name: answers to 'Pal', name unknown because no one is willing to go look at the nametag
Gender: had been male, apparently, but is now considered entirely off limits for any sort of interest or breeding, trust me on this it's okay
Age/DOB: appeared to be in their early 20s when attacked by a headcrab, but no one knows exactly when that was, birth had to have been around 1986-1995, for them to have been employed at a nearby zoo when the Resonance Cascade brought headcrabs to Earth
Origin: Rookery Earth, around Des Moines Iowa, which places him about 30ish miles south-west of Lane Mansion in State Center
Family: unknown, currently half-headcrab, so headcrabs don't bother him at all
Other: is a headcrab zombie. But not a dangerous one*
Height: formerly about 5'9", currently with the headcrab on him he's about 6'1"
Weight: likely was wiry and slender, is now basically little more than bone and sinue, but is hardier than you'd expect
Hair: ....
Eyes: ....
Appearance: had been a fair skinned human male, and is now a headcrab zombie. As shown, in reasonably well-kept 'safari' gear; his fingers are elongated and that's not actually blood. It's tomato juice, berry stains, and the like, since he has never been known to harm any animal or human. Most of the blood on his outfit is his own, however the stains on his headcrab topper are also juice and stains from berries, watermelons, and the like. His 'voice' if you can call it that, is rarely heard, and you do not want to hear it.
Genetic Abilities: He eats by unbuttoning or raising that shirt, and sticking food directly into his exposed guts. He is a headcrab zombie, but he will definitely never attain the mass needed to pupate into a Gonarch
Icarus Processing: .... pfffffffhahahahaha oh for the love of fuck no.
* Some headcrabs have expressed dismay at this one's desire to attach herself to a meatless omnivore... but she assures them in her own way that this is for the best. She'd gotten a taste of an olive and later apples and pumpkins, and watermelon! Those were so good! Meat is too chewy and fruits are fun!
Image Credits: Valve
Events or History: Pal answers to this name by swinging or lurching toward the sound of someone's voice. "Hey Pal" is fine. Pal apparently had been working at the zoo when things went bad on Rookery Earth, and over the last ... twenty some years (it's hard to tell these days, he may have lasted a few years in hiding there before being headcrab'd) has slowly but surely shambled himself over to State Center, where the Lane Mansion resides. He does not have a bed there, but he definitely does live in the ancient servant's shack nearby, and the big hedge maze that had been overrun for years is now starting to look pretty decent even without plant shapers to aid it.
***
Somehow, he shambled into a portal, and found himself in a weird location surrounded by noisy people and lights. But there was the smell of fruit somewhere near, and even though he had to move in on a trenchcoat wearing 'person' to reach the good stuff, there was a plate of watermelon slices. The good kind, with no seeds to get in the way. At first it looked like he was trying to hide food in his shirt, but then someone realized no, ... no, it was just going in and something was moving in there, then he'd reach for more.
The headcrab on his shoulders would sometimes wave her forelimbs, to keep people at distance, but not really in a very threatening way. More to explore whether the tray of food they had was filled with the right kind of snacks.
Those would be vegetables and fruits, nuts, berries, corn treats and the like. Because even as a zombie, they do have standards. They're not going to chow down on some meat or other, they don't know whether it was free-range raised or sprayed with pesticides. And it's kind of odd too because they do have a sense of those things out in the Mansion grounds: they'll stay well clear of the slaughterhouse or barbeque pits, but oh they have a fondness for sometimes sneaking a few handfulls of coffee beans right off the plant...
Pal seemed somewhat interested in the goings on here, at this party though. Once their initial shyness had been overcome (and a sufficient amount of fruit cups consumed), the headcrab guided her zombie body to sniff at this person or that table, though they were never quite sure whether it was because Pal wanted to compliment their costume or try eating them. He certainly didn't seem all that threatening, just looked so gory.
Also no one knows whether they'll be able to 'ride' a dragon, but Pal will absolutely know how to take care of one! Even if they eat meat, which is disgusting, Pal knows the value of feeding animals (... and people, okay fine) their right diet.
Dragon
Name: Kinemorth
Gender: Male
Size/Shoulder/Length: medium-small (blue-pernese) 8'2" s
Colors: burnt orange body with slightly darker wingsails
Features: smooth Pernese, with headknobs and 3 fingered wings, paw like feet, but no other outward frills
Powers: Winged Flight,
Teleportation and Nexus port
Telepathy
Parentage: Mother Polanaeth Father Faloritoth
Origin: Meridian Weyr's Halloween clutch
Other Info: (from hatching) It had become obvious over the course of the Hatching that the odd, stumbling candidate with their head replaced by a crab-like alien being was decidedly not entirely human - at least, not anymore. The duo of organisms was leaving the other candidates well enough alone, but they’d shuffled uncomfortably away. The hatching dragons had steered clear as well.
“I feel a little sorry for… him?” Rimaea whispered to Shamira. “Them? I mean, I’m not sure if they’re… totally aware of where they are… but even so.”
“Well, it seems anything’s possible on Hallow’s Eve,” Shamira responded as a rusty orange hatchling split from their siblings and made a beeline for the zombie-like candidate. “I think they’re exactly where they’re supposed to be.”
I’m not quite sure what’s going on here, the orange admitted as he looked up at his choice, but I like it! I like you! I hope you’ll be my Pal !
The zombie made an odd noise, a sort of mashup between a guttural gurgle and a delighted trill. The spectators weren’t sure what that meant, but for the hatchling, it was more than enough!
Well, the pleasure’s all mine! I’m Kinemorth - but you can call me whatever sound you feel like making! I don’t mind one bit.
Kinemorth was more of the dominant personality in this pair, but he also made sure to learn all the tricks of a dragon's trade: flight, patrolling the air, listening in for good gossip, and protecting his rider. 'Rider' was a bit of a stretch but at times Kinemorth did manage to squish under Pal's arm and encourage him to climb onto his neck. While he was still a little too young and small to support a full flight, Kinemorth did work out ways to fly without dropping Pal or allowing him to fall.
They returned to the Grounds, on a night somewhat sooner than 'a year' of training would indicate. No, just a few weeks later, still in wonderful Fall, and the Grounds were absolutely gorgeous this time of year! Plus festive, with the Carnival below the canopy of shaped trees and the lights from the Xenian incursion cavern? Oh it was delightful, and everyone, even Pal, seemed to want to get in on holiday treats. Honey treats, delicious! Caramel apples?! Sticky but so perfect! And all the pumpkins that they could chomp on? Get them before the weather abruptly turned warm for one last bit before the Winter!
Kinemorth would help out in the gardens, the maze, and upkeep at the Grounds, making sure that no weird creatures started eating the humans food sources.
Somewhere along the way, Kinemorth spotted a sleek oil-black dragoness slipping through the evening sky from the Mansion down to one of the Grounds 'imported lakes'. The humans were having a party to celebrate a Combine defeat nearby, knowing that their bonfires were safely unseen. While Pal slept (or hibernated, or whatever they did when not active) Kinemorth went to investigate the party. After all there was always good gossip and fun people to watch, and their dragons too!
The one he'd seen was impressed to an "important person", the son of one of those who actually lived at that Mansion - Kendrick, and his shiny black dragoness Gozu'lath. While the people were putting gathered sticks and a lot of fallen leaves on their fire pits (oh that smelled so good though!), singing and laughing in their celebration, Kinemorth concentrated on listening for any flutter or motion in the dark trees just beyond the beach. His sensitivity to such things had grown, his rider's ... senses? If you could call them that, were quite well tuned to vibration, so he had adjusted his own sense to it too.
She stepped through the underbrush with hardly any sound, impressive given how the trees were less than half green and there was a lot of already fallen leaf litter everywhere, in addition to the fallow field beyond having its share of whatever weeds had been let to grow. But silent she was, and beautiful to Kinemorth's faceted eyes. She was smaller than he'd expected, but then wasn't he also small for a 'brown'?
Gozu'lath picked a spot next to the orange dragon, and rustled herself into a cat-like curl to watch the humans and their bonfire together. It was certainly unclear whether Gozu'lath realized that his own bond was... well, not really human any more, but it became apparent that she would be willing to fly with Kinemorth regardless of what her human partner thought.
