Maize
| Name | Maize |
| Gender | Female |
| Homeworld | Aperture Labs |
| Class | Junior |
| Nut | Nut |
| Totem | None |
| Smarts | 4 |
| Bod/Feet | 5 |
| RWP | 3 |
| Luck | 6 |
| Drive | 2 |
| Looks | 4 |
| Cool | 5 |
| Bonk | 7 |
| Powers | Telepathy (magic) Telepathy (Vortal) Animal Mastery Finding |
| Clusters | Track Anything/Anyone +3 |
| Skills | Magic Spells +1 Sort Through Contacts +3 Pick Up Others Projects +4 |
| Knacks | Not Get Hurt Doing That +3 |
| 1 | Alchemy / Varnhagen |
| 2 | Mars/Venus Culture / Noah |
| 3 | Betting and Odds / Haital |
| 4 | Geocaching/Treasure Hunting / Vasquez |
| 5 | Decoding Magical Texts / Liaxeri |
| 6 | Public Relations / Qeats |
| 7 | Mastering Spell Magic / Alorel |
| 8 | Multiplanar History / Prescott |
Pets: Intri(cate) (f) |
 |
| Dragon | Zyoros Filidethersalyin |
| (Donor Parent) | Iris of Domina |
| (Siblings) | Aquamarine, Ivory |
Maize and some of her sisters had arrived at Carramba only to be sent directly to the Healing Den. So many dragons, colorful, bright, talented. None of them were for Maize, though, at least none that were there at that time. One little black and white flitter who apparently had been waiting in the rafters for a while, however, darted down and landed on her shoulder. A little intricate web of white lines showed clearly on her black wings, leading Maize to name her 'Intri'.
She'd figured if she looked the right way, she'd find ... something. So Maize set off away from the Den, away from the Rookery, and even away from Carramba for a time. Though her 'mother' Iris had explained a few things about using magic, it had been a pair of others - Liaxeri the dragon-shifter, and Alorel the formerly-evil elf mage - who helped set her more firmly on her path. It was professor Varnhagen who gave some good advice about locating the right ingredients to any given chemistry experiment... or potion. Whatever she could find, there was some use for it, right? Some component or other would be out 'there'.
Maize waved her hand in a particular way, and stepped forward. There was no visual effect at least one which could be seen with only eyes. The Vortal power, or perhaps they called it magic in her case, was still strongly visible to anyone who had the senses to note it. Her own power was a bright yellow, stronger in shade than a yellow colored diamond, but less intense than 'corn', for which she was named. Her aura kept to itself, normally. Some of her sisters had easily visible, real-world auras that showed how much power they could really use. For her part, Maize's power was just enough, not too much, not too little. She'd never be mistaken for a normal person by any with magical senses.
Her abilities had been of use during her school semester, but she liked actually learning new things about how to use them. Professor Vasquez seemed to think she was quite a lot better at animal-based skills than she even knew herself, though she was only taking his Geocaching class he recommended she spend some time in the Vet clinic maybe to help out here or there. Since it was easily her best class, and she could almost literally perform testing skills blindfolded for it, he sent her off to be the 'bait' now and again. This was great practice, she knew, for her own sisters and their ruined world.
From professor Qeats, she learned how to best meet and greet people - and was told she was quite good at it. But her world didn't much need a receptionist... It needed folks to gather those left in the Outlands and bring them home to the Rookery where they would be safe! The weird, ancient Noah the Vortigaunt urged her to learn more about the aliens residing all around them in their world, himself included. But he was cryptic at best, because whenever she'd asked direct questions (like she'd learned to do in her Multiplanar History class) all he might say is that he was but one of many.
Maize was sort of worried that she wouldn't be able to find her own way. She could locate things, she could escort people, she could find any given item or location pretty easily. But what was her path? As disparate as her abilities were, where would she really fit in? There were a couple others who could perform actual 'magic', non-Vortal feats involving rituals and hand-waving - like she'd done to open a portal just a moment before. Her brothers Aquamarine and Ivory, and the fire-loving Scarlet and Russet, they all had similar skillsets. It always felt like Scarlet and Russet knew where they were going to be best of use, and her brothers... well, Aquamarine was so much like their mother Iris! A paladin of sorts, he was very protective and knew his way around wards like nobody's business. Ivory... odd pale Ivory summoned demons! They tested each other's abilities constantly.
But that still left Maize, her faintly dissatisfied frown changing to a confused line, and finally a bit of a smirk.
"Well. I ... don't even know what this place is called, but I guess I'm supposed to be here." She said, looking around. There were dragons, plenty of them, and eggs that looked almost ready to burst. She glanced around and spotted those who must be the parents of the nest - gorgeous dragons, long-haired! She stifled a giggle at the paler one, who actually... Could have been her own color! The other was as dark as the bottomless caves below the Rookery, with brilliant feathered wings. How pretty could these dragons be!
She hoped... That they were not just pretty. Because where they would be headed, if she did find herself a bond mate here, was a nasty, hard world. It wasn't like the bright, fun-filled, Crescent City where Carramba was. It wasn't even like the slightly dusty and ever-so-tired but hopeful world where Mister Lane came from. She'd visited a lot of different places. She'd been to Moraga's world - Pandora (the shitty one, so he said), she'd been to another Earth where mutants and radioactive bombs were common. She'd visited the magical campus and its attendant 'slightly different Earth' where magic was more common than mutations.
Could the results born from these two incredibly awesome dragons withstand her own, still-fighting world? Well, Maize fiddled with her hair and tsked her tongue at Intri for continually undoing her little braids. If she'd come here, looking to find her own dragon, it would follow that they would be ready and willing to help with the fight.
***
"When I asked if you could pick up the pace a bit," Maize yelled over the wind, "I didn't think it would mean this!!"
Zyoros gave a draconic chuckle, she felt it more than heard. They'd been soaring for a while but needed to get home fast - there were Combine troops marching on one of the ruins that the Rookery defended. A line of dark vehicles and three Striders, plus an assortment of foot troops could be seen from their high vantage. The moment they knew where those soldiers were headed, Maize gave her dragon the command to head home.
And he ... did. He didn't teleport, he couldn't do that himself. But suddenly the terrain below became a blur! He covered nearly two hundred miles in the time it would normally take to travel twenty. Exhausted, he found a tall sandstone pillar and carefully landed. They were still many miles from the Rookery, but it was more than close enough to allow Maize to contact the distant dragon site.
"They got the message," Maize said, looking up at her dragon's lovely grey eyes. "Good work, ... but if you're gonna do that again warn me first!"
NAME: Zyoros Filidealor
GENDER: Male
COLOR: Fire
SPECIES: Drak/Alevaharin/Avengaean Daemon Mutt; furry, with long mane, back ruff, and tail tuft; external ears, horns, four wings 2 internal fingers and wrist thumb
SIZE: large 14' s / 60' l / 80' and 36' ws
LINEAGE: Helios Filidethersalyin x Alor
BOND: Maize
PERSONALITY: Hot tempered and high-strung, Zyoras is quick to anger and even quicker to lash out against those who harm him or his bond. He's always looking for the next big confrontation and is eager to help Maize defend her homeworld. Zyoros has a strong sense of duty, but his temper can often get the best of him and he may sometimes do more harm than good. He's unendingly faithful to his bond and would do anything she asks of him. Zyoros does best in the middle of a fight. He's all action, no patience.
NATURAL ABILITIES: Telepathy (strong). Verbal Speech (average). Spit Acid (weak).
KOALITION-GIVEN ABILITIES: Increased flight speed; can reach speeds of up to 500km/hour while flying, but only for short bursts.