Name: Shepherd

Gender: Male, ??

Age/DOB: Unknown, probably around 1000?

Origin: Rookery Earth's Vortal refugees / Shorepoint scout

Family: All Vorts are his brothers and sisters, no known direct relatives

Other: Shep is literally the shepherd of the Shorepoint refugees, so most Humans and other Vorts that went through that coastal area know him directly

Height: 5'6" normally at eye height, 6'2" when fully standing and head raised

Weight: 170, compact and muscled, heavy bone structure

Hair: none

Eyes: Normally red as shown, his are a vibrant crimson with a bright orange-red center, often narrowed but always expressive

Appearance: As shown, a Vortigaunt with typically mottled slightly yellow skin, has a stripe of pink around neck - this is where a collar had been worn for decades on Xen; has prominent teeth, and his central hand is often gently waving to 'see' through the Vortessence

Genetic Abilities: As all Vortigaunts, Shep has an intimate tie to the Vortal realm, and he has a very keen sense of aura sight. This allows him to spot errant refugees or dangers at a greater distance than vision alone. He is also well versed in the art of Antlion wrangling, hunting, and stalking, as well as dealing directly with the Guardians and their pheropods. He prefers hunting to herding, though his name implies otherwise. He has deadly aim with his electrically charged blasts, and can 'see' the pheropod within the Guardian before he extracts it.

Image Credits: Valve / Garry's Mod for posing

Events or History: As with many of the Rookery-universe Vorts, his stint on Xen was angry and sullen, and he was one of the later Vorts teleported to Earth when Nihilanth invaded the world. He managed to maintain some amount of autonomy until the invasion was over with the death of Nihilanth, and weirdly was subsequently teleported by anothr Portal Storm to the European continent. He remained there for years, hiding and hunting as was his typical activity, until others began congregating nearby. He basically put himself in charge of the routing from dangerous sandbars and coast, to the facilities near Nova Prospekt. When that area became too dangerous, he and others moved to Shorepoint, and when that fell, he was eager to see this new Rookery place. It felt quite weird to him returning to Black Mesa, and particularly with Kallah-Vahh in charge? But he too sensed that this man was not the same as the one they'd entered their own contract with, and has never had much against him. In fact, when offered, he took up the mantle of protector and scout for Lane Mansion's grounds, interested to learn more about the history and art of this world, and he spends a bit of time in the library when he isn't needed outside.

He and Pallienth have a station at Dragon Tower 5, overlooking the Xenian Cluster and guarding the eastern border of the area, and they keep an eye out for refugees when they're not busy there.

*** Rookery Year 11 ***

With the Rookery's expansion into the Nexus, a dragon like Pallienth could tell that there were great things on the wind. With an ever-growing territory to defend, and a steady influx of alien creatures as well as the endless parade of Combine soldiers trying to retake the area around the Grounds, they had a decision to make. Certainly there were plenty of strong defenders and fighting dragons among the Rookery wings, but this place, the Mansion and the Grounds, they were meant to be safer than those front-line areas. After a particularly heated fight not more than 15 miles away from the Grounds, Pallienth suggested to her bond-friend Shepherd, that they go looking for more to reinforce their defenses.

Communicating deeply and Flux Shifting with their minds together, the Vortigaunt and dragoness fused into a brilliant Vortal lighthouse. But this lighthouse was not merely ready to attract or warn, it was instead seeking, searching for a place, or perhaps even a time, that would be right for them to start looking. Since Pallienth was quite capable of moving between dimensions, and had experience doing so, when they brought this up to Keenan - having found such a place - he appraised the situation and found them correct.

"Good luck there," he said, tilting his head toward them. It was odd seeing a Vort actively riding a large dragon like Pallienth, but in this case, he was safer there than running along side her, which was their typical method. Vorts could run for days on end, as could this dragoness. But they'd need to be together for their trip into the Nexus. The striped dragoness flapped strongly, this time unafraid of lifting high into the evening sky over the Grounds: the Combine were pushed back sufficiently far that she wouldn't be seen, they wouldn't be close enough again until reinforcements came, and that might be weeks, or even months. So they had a little time, they had some leeway.

Even so, she wasted no time in getting her bearings, and communicating once more on that deeply Vortal level with her bond. They had seen a place that was markedly similar in many ways to the refuge that Xen had offered the Vorts long ago. But this was a ship, serving a similar purpose to Kallah-Vahh's use of Xen. Keeping species from being entirely wiped out, or letting them live the last of their years in safety while being observed. The Refugium would be the right place to start. How did they know? Well, Pallienth had always seen well beyond her own timeline or essence. And Shepherd had seen connections between them already - drifting far into the void, past stars that could never be reached by flight. Pallienth reached the apogee of her flight, almost looked like she was about to start a steep dive, and vanished with an orange burst of energy that only those with Vortal eyes could detect.

On the ground, just outside his mansion, and with a group of people that he'd lovingly dubbed those hippies gawking upwards around him, Keenan slowly nodded and watched their progress. "Indeed," he whispered, "good luck, and come home."

**

The Vortal sight of the Nexus was both thrilling and unusually sobering to Shepherd. Here, none of his kind dwelled after their kallah, their bodies, had passed. None of their lih drifted, there was no all-in-one here. There were ghosts, to be sure. A great many. Dragons, children, concepts, universes. All those that had passed beyond their wakeful and tangible realms weakly shone here like yet another field of stars from a planet's view. But they were likely to come investigate, and also likely to be dangerous. Pallienth had already warned her bond: not to look at them too long. Closing his eyes to the chill of the Void already, the Vortigaunt shuttered the other eyes, with difficulty, while they travelled. His third arm, normally gently strumming the Vortal energy around him, was pressed firmly to his chest, and that chest was likewise huddled closely to the orange and black hide of his dragon friend. She escorted him like a winged Chiron, for that was exactly where they were, a dimensional Styx.

He carried a small satchel of goods - he was not certain how any trade might be arranged, but then he was used to living off the land. He knew they were going to be around 'people', but what kinds? They were heading to a brightly compelling location indeed, he saw it as they approached through the Nexus outside time and space. It was varied, busy, but it floated with purpose in its physical space. They arrived within the massive space station itself, it would be difficult to land outside it anyway: it almost had its own gravity well. They both felt the tendrils of those lost to the Void retreating, Shepherd steeled himself not to look at them as they did so, lest he too be lost to it.

At last, Shepherd opened his large eye, and the others squinted a bit at the sudden light change. It was nominally 'warm' in this vast room, at least compared to the Nexus, where temperature meant about as much as time or direction. Once Pallienth had settled to the floor to land, they both took a long look around themselves. There was so much activity, though not immediately pressing throngs of life. Large ships were docked near and far, but the obvious focal point of this area drew attention to itself, and without pause Pallienth began walking toward the big bright desk. It was clear that they were used to beings of all sizes and configurations here, particularly of note was that the attendants at this desk were... not even remotely what either Pallienth or Shepherd had expected.

Perhaps they had been among Humans too long, but they honestly both gave strangely surprised Vortal pings to each other's minds. What could be expected here? Well, a large map and a brightly crested shimmering dragon in front of it certainly gave them ideas. It looked super excitedly at them - both the dragon and Vort could tell purely by their eye widening and crest bobbing: they'd seen the pair, and was chattering loudly toward them. With some amount of hesitation, Shepherd dismounted from Pallienth's shoulders, and they walked together toward that desk.

Delicately, Pallienth's mind edged toward her friend's, she seems quite friendly, though that sentiment was tinged with amusement. And it was true, this tall long-necked draconic creature gestured with short forelimbs and drew them closer to the big desk. A large sign, dominated by numerous images all of which seemed to indicate 'hear/speak' had lit up when she waved at it: a communication terminal?

Pallienth took the initiative, if you show us how to use this, I'm sure we can get around a language barrier. We are both quite talented. Even Shep gave a Vortigrin at that. The contact from one dragon's mind to the other elicited a very excited series of chirps, she pulled out a dragon-sized data device, tapped onto it, and eventually that somehow gelled into speech.

"It's a pleasure to welcome you to the Refugium! I... didn't see you come with any of our local agents," she peered around them, tall pink crest bobbing, "so would you mind filling me in so I can... fill in our registration records?"

It was a Vortal speech - through a device? Or perhaps it was 'magic', or even just technology. Shepherd knew that plenty of advanced species could figure out brain waves. But this felt more intimate than that. Maybe it was just Pallienth. She had the gift, he was along for that ride eagerly. He still spoke in English rather than Vortigese, either way, because he knew full well that unless the dragoness was heavily telepathic, and willing to Flux Shift with him, all of the context of his native language would be lost.

"Just so," he said, waiting a moment to make sure that she heard and understood him. "We have arrived of our own accord, as necessity dictates. Our home suffers from invasion on all fronts," he said, knowing that Pallienth was helping him insert the images of their second-adopted-home on the Grounds into the welcome-dragon's mind. Her expressions and body language showed she did get that part loud and clear. "And thus knowing there are distant realms which might aid our cause, we sought a path toward that goal."

Where some might be short or put off by the rambling nature of his speech, this dragon seemed to relish it. She nodded toward them, eager to hear more.

This time, Pallienth tried it - again she spoke in the language most comfortable for her, which was English-from-another-dimension, "We can both sense such things, I know how to travel through dangerous locations. Something about this place called to us, we're looking for... well, is there anything here that would? Aid us, I mean?"

"Oh there is!" The dragon exclaimed, and quite shortly introduced herself as Bolbec, and the others nearby who had been taking care of other more conventionally-travelled arrivals, as Eukith and Tiax. They were led through a large set of corridors as Bolbec explained the space station's overall purpose and layout - they were correct when they'd 'seen' this place in their Vortal vision. It was indeed a refuge, aptly named, and they could quite possibly help a species they had recently encountered to regain a hold on their population.

She didn't really catch the deeply-sent Vortal emotion that Shepherd let off, Pallienth soaked it up a bit. To any observer, it would merely have seemed that the Vort stifled a little catch in his breath. To Pallienth, she knew: his species was also endangered - the world he was from still had some small number of female Vortigaunts, scattered around the world. But to those who had arrived from an alternate dimension, the one where Keenan hailed from... their entire breed was going to be extinct if they did not find willing females to help bolster that community. It was slow going, Vortigaunts were already scattered far and wide, few between on worlds that had anything worth living for. Such a brief contact, with so much power, Pallienth knew that edge of dispair.

Hush, my friend. Here we will find help, and when home, we will begin to build more. You will see.

The Vort gave a little head-jog, she knew that expression was resigned acknowledgement. But at least he did not fall into that pit that some had back home.

Over a few more minutes they were introduced to the lay of the land as it were. With displays of this massive space station, cutaways, maps, and even a model spinning slowly in one lobby area (with a gathering of varied people around it pointing and speaking in languages that their newly-found communication abilities had to work to keep up with), this was made easier. Shepherd was quite good at interpreting the maps, and when Bolbec indicated they should sign up for a specific Biome's nest, they perked up.

"You'll be able to comfortably spread your wings," the dragoness asserted to Pallienth, "though if your companion wants a room they're usually not easy to enter when you're - well," she seemed to catch herself before saying something embarrassing or insulting, "well, full sized dragons may have trouble reaching those rooms from their interiors. But I think we do have a setup with easy access to one of the flight levels near that nesting area." She tapped on that big data pad with equally big claws, "yes, if you wish, I can take you there." Obviously, they agreed - this would be an adventure, but there was no reason to think it couldn't also be a relaxing and educational trip to boot.

Bolbec showed the way, through large halls and occasionally having to open access hatches for Pallienth to scoot past the narrow ones. While there were certainly large creatures around, both of the visitors were used to seeing crowds of human-sized creatures, and only the rare case of a dragon too large to walk comfortably around. They had both visited locations in the Rookery's staked claims on Earth, after all - the Mesa itself was such a place, built for and by Humans, but made functional for some of the mid-sized dragons to move around more freely in certain places. Visibly however, this location bore more in common with the North Aperture site: the Shafts rebuilt and being fitted with habitable areas. It did actually look similar in ways to their Biomes here on this ship! Though nowhere near the scale!

Once they knew just where the Vort's temporary quarters sat in relation to the rest of the station, Bolbec asserted that she'd be available to help, and that the small electronic devices they had been given were able to tune to the nesting site's information feed once they were keyed to any given nest. So now it was time to find that nest.

"It's in one of the subterranean sites, I think you might have issues creeping through all the tunnels," she indicated Pallienth, "but they've got a large queen in there, so she has some room to move around. There is an upper level access spot, though!" Pallienth decided that she would remain on hand there, able to fly in the 'savannah' location shown on the map. Truth be told, Shepherd wanted to visit that spot as well - it superficially resembled the Vort homeworld, with tall spires of termite-hills and hazy 'sunlight' filtering down from a nebulous 'sky'.

Below, though, they discovered a complex nest of tunnels that had been dug out of the very ground. Pallienth declared that she would see through her bond's eyes, her Vortal presence and mind would be easily recognized by anyone he spoke to with his own mind. She knew this would work - and Shepherd was shortly to find out why.

The light here was dim, but the Vort had enough eyes to go around. He could tell as he and Bolbec made their way through the tunnels, that these had been carved out by scythe-shaped claws, by physically moving the soil and scraping the stone base. They were strong marks, the dirt compressed by limbs after being moved around: they knew what they were doing. It made him both sad and wistful, these creatures were markedly similar to Antlions, and his people had herded those beasts for millennia on their homeworld.

That he'd never set hoofed foot on that world was irrelevant. His people were joined Vortally, all in some way connected, even if distance separated them. They had shared memories that dated back literally millions of years, knowledge of his homeworld was spread even through those few who had been born on Earth. All Vortikind knew their language, their habits. They had new skills now, new words to speak among strange peoples.

He felt the queen before reaching the chamber she rested in. Just like he felt his draconic bond, above; just like he would have felt his kin had they been on this large space station. Shepherd did feel less lonely here than he expected to. A great number of sentient minds were around, not the least of which was this queen, Gleam. Closing his physical eyes and searching with his lih, Shepherd reached back to her.

Pallienth expressed a little surprise at the strength of the queen's mental aura, as she burst back a complicated greeting. It was not quite Flux Shifting, but it would do. Shepherd could tell that this greeting was edged with both pride and desperation, he'd felt that so many times before from his own kind. He also sensed that any lesser Vortal being might be blistered by the volume and strength of that mind. He held his own and reflected his response, which rippled in the Vortessence.

Given permission by her, he knew that her guardians would allow passage. How alike they were, to those Antilons - but these were intelligent in ways that those beasts could never be. An edge that the Rookery needed, then, was here on this station. Shepherd made his way through the dim tunnels, wishing that there were iztach, the light-bearing plants found on Xen, to illuminate the way. Perhaps that was only because he had lived there for so long. They were not native to Earth, but useful there as well.

At last, Shepherd reached a much wider and sturdier cavern than the tunnels behind him, and he halted in respect. The queen was there, nestled among hundreds of glimmering pods. It... made him wish that he had Human eyes: because the sight of it made him want to weep with joy. This was much like the Antlion Nectarium, but rather than merely eggs holding mindless but valuable extracts that intensified Vortal power, these held minds which could understand that concept. It reminded him, through the all-in-one, of his own kind's harvests, on a distant and dead world lost to the Combine more than twelve thousand years prior.

He expressed that thought directly to Gleam, with a verbal greeting added in his native tongue. "Esh joh'taa rahd, alla loom-xen kit-ting'qoi," adding the deeper context that only Vortal communion could offer. In so many words, he said, 'this habitation has been carefully crafted indeed, my peers in our adopted home would benefit greatly from such expert workmanship'. With the memory-images of the Grounds and its weird added-to-the-farm mountain, the ruined town's farmland beyond, and then a glimpse into the equally-not-normal Xenian caverns below, he added, "jurr-garrah hachra ahr'chackt razh'ahl-rum". Meaning, 'below the ground a carved area creates safety for those residing above'.

His own imagery afforded the queen all the information she needed to truly appreciate his entreaty. The Grounds looked a bit like those found on one or more of the inhabited biomes: providing food and some amount of workaday employment for those willing to till the soil or work with the land. That mountain looked very out of place indeed, more so with the Vortal aura that it always had - visible only to those sensitive to such things of course. The two glowing underground spots, Xenian connections leading directly to another dimension, equally out of place. And yet: also entirely appropriate given the taller emplacements that had been assembled or moved from other distant places, now in use as dragon towers where defensive riders and their dragons could roost on patrols. This farm land that the Vortigaunt and his dragon friend resided in, was hardly typical.

In kind, then, she replied with a burst of emotional static, your kin understand our methods, I would welcome such folk in my childrens' lives. She paused, and her insect-like head turned to look upwards at his unseen but very present draconic bond. And those as well who aid you in your task to keep those workers safe.

With that, he was made aware of a buzzing on the clutch-alert dongle he'd been given. It was now tuned to this frequency, and would alert him to any events there. Good, Pallienth exuded a sweet harmony of agreement. Finally: she would have a territory to guard and truly belong. The queen echoed this sentiment. Her brood would spread across the multiverse, not merely this one small worldlet.

**

As the multitude of pods affixed to the cavern floor and walls matured, both Pallienth and Shepherd entertained themselves on this massive space station. He did run beside her on that savannah, and she was finally able to just fly without worry that a Combine patrol would see her. They had a goal now, their 'second adopted home' of Earth would be this safe one day.

Shepherd took some time to explore the populated area itself, Janos City, and spent quite a bit of time examining the reconstructed ruins and historical data of distant planets, looking in awe at the ancient bones and skeletons assembled from them in the museums. He was more for the natural history museums and displays there, than the metropolitan libraries or downtown cafes. All he usually saw when he walked through those tall and busy blocks were 'future ruins'. He shook his head, he'd rather see how other worlds' natural wonders developed.

He spent hardly any time in the room he'd been given, preferring to fill his evenings with Pallienth in the wilderness, where they both felt much more at ease. While Human-style accommodations were the norm and indeed the Vorts had their own hive-like structures in times past, he would far rather enjoy the view and feel of air on his skin. He stood unafraid at the edges of the biodomes, staring out at the infinite sky. After all, he had spent his entire life before coming to Earth, on Xen: shattered floating islands in a sea of distant nebulas.

Now, he waited for that device to buzz... he would relish the hatching, and certainly what would come after.

** Candidates at the Refugium ** https://planetzar.com/nexus/refugium/index.html

---- Continued on the next page! ----

Dragon

Name: Pallienth
Gender: Female
Size/Shoulder/Length: Large, 15' s / 75' l / 85' ws
Colors: Tiger striped golden orange body and limbs, with narrow black stripes mostly on back and tail, fronts of limbs and wing fingers; wingsails, crest, and tail spade a mottled, cloudy dirt-brown tinted orange darker in some places; eyes blue
Features: Healing Den born Ryslen-Sapphire hybrid; four legs with heavy paws, 3 fingered with dewclaw fore; two leathery wings with single visible arm and finger and one internal finger; body is long and slender, tail slightly longer than 1/3 of total, hide skin which requires maintenance and sheds regularly; head is long and slender with headknobs, otherwise unadorned; neck bears a short Ryslenesque crest, tail has long diamond-shaped spade at the end; Since this dragon is techically mostly-Pernese, her name ends in -TH and her offspring may inherit that if there are naming conventions for the breed, or she chooses an old-world mate
Powers: Winged Flight, Pallienth is good in the air, but her decades of worrying about whether she's seen in bright blue skies means she is better on the ground. She can still spring into the air with ease, and maintain flight for hours on end. Also she is quite dramatic in the air if she wants to be, slithering around in the sky just as she would between trees or buildings below.
Teleportation and Nexus Navigation, because she was abandoned after bonding, her ability to move between worlds has been strongly aided with a very long stint at the Healing Den and other worlds. Her ability to teleport was developed before she learned to fly, actually, and move not only distances she could see, but to other worlds. Her exploration has been quite fruitful, but she doesn't know what ever happened to her own offspring - or even if they ever hatched.* She is quick to move between worlds as well as within line of sight, moving like a predator even without flexing a muscle. Her Nexus navigation skill is on par with Keenan's, though she is restricted to worlds with sentient life on them and has never accidentally wound up somewhere which cannot support life.
Communication, Pallienth is adept with both Vortal and Verbal communication skills, preferring to be silent with her bond when they're out on patrol, but enjoying animated discussions with him and dragons, humans, and whoever else when they're in the safety of the Mansion's courtyard. She is wise, careful with her words, and quick to the point when using Vortal speech.
Vortal Scrying, encompassing several aspects of Vortal sight, Pallienth can detect living things, and particularly read their history when they're a sentient creature, from their birth through perhaps their death? She can also touch objects that have been used by people of any kind, at any time, and understand their history or recent events, psychometry is a good skill to have in a world where anything might have been placed as a trap. She can see into the Vortessence and claims to be quite sad at the number of her relatives and extended family that are no longer in the realm of the physical.
Parentage: Orange Golonith (Hallith & ???) / Night-Brown Zujirth (Green Sxoith & Black Faloritoth) (Golonith and Faloritoth are 'clutch siblings')
*Pallienth had been in a successful flight at Holic, but that never finished? She would have had 3 offspring there with a poison 2-tailed male from Ryslen's dark sands. Her original Healing Den page is here.
Origin: Hatched at Healing Den Halloween 2001 clutch; Originally bonded to Fortune, but never arrived to her home.
Other Info: She is finally at ease. Pallienth's long life has been punctuated with change and loss, exploration and hardship. What she's always wanted was to be of use, to be herself wanted. The loss that she's sustained - her first bond refusing her a home, and the eventual blackness of the many worlds that had existed to explore - has been put behind her. Even though she put a brave face on at the Den, she was still lonely there, even when surrounded by others. Her heritage after all was bound to require a connection to a specific individual person. Well now she has one of those. Shepherd makes the ideal pair for her - he is bold, like she is, and enjoys exploring and hunting at least as much! And since she's quite the large dragoness, they can go out and rescue those in need after detecting them, which both of them can do Vortally. She is learning to sing in Vortigese, her great lungs can surely handle it, and her mind is clear and colorful to those who can sense it. She has had many escapades, and her bond enjoys listening to stories she has to tell. A happy ending? Well, that's what it feels like to Pallienth.