image from Meiker Operaghost
Name: Janus Engel
Gender: Male, straight
Age/DOB: ~20, unknown DOB but likely around RY-8 or -10
Origin: Twoarth native, has remained in Talon and Crescent Cities pretty much all his life and watched as dragons became more and more important on Twoarth
Family: son of (a version of) Jeff Engel and Mandragora (spliced using spare dna from her surgeries)
Other: Is unclear whether any given Jeff or whoever is actually his biological father, but the one that resides in Alabaster Tower in Talon City is definitely his dad. He knows there are half-siblings running around with the Sanger name attached, though
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 170, quite muscular but also there are cybernetics involved
Hair: steely silver-grey, had been platinum blond and almost immediately went more or less greyscale, it would have done this even if there wasn't a ton of nanotechnology running around in him; fluffy but takes styling well, kept short as shown
Eyes: had been very pale blue-green, icy aqua colored, but with cybernetic implants they are now yellow; almond shaped over high cheekbones; unlike his father he didn't need glasses before going fully cybernetic
Appearance: creamy to pale skin, handsome and far more rugged looking than Jeff; strongly muscled in appearance though most of that is nanotech that acts as both padding and energy source; upright though not stiff, truly loves looking stylish and somewhat more formal than most of his age group; has a quiet but rich voice that he can push to be quite loud but it will never be sharp or harsh
Processing: yes, as Janus was genetically engineered from Mandragora's remaining DNA, so with Jeff's permission and studious supervision, one or more of the Sangers on hand helped create customized nanotechnology that kept this young man healthy and quick, aiding his perception, and reflexes
Genetic Abilities: not so much genetic but he's very well suited to having cyberware put in, Mandragora's surgeries didn't go wrong and neither would anything done with Janus.
CHS scores
| Class | (Graduated 2 years ago) |
| Nut | Jalapeno infused macadamia with dark chocolate liqueur shell |
| Totem | Rich Kid With A Heart Of Gold ^nanotech boosts temporary |
| Smarts | 4 |
| Bod/Feet | 4 ^6 |
| RWP | 6 |
| Luck | 4 |
| Drive | 3 |
| Looks | 5 |
| Cool | 5 |
| Bonk | 4 ^6 |
| Powers | Filthy Rich - the Alabaster corporation is his to command some day, and while he won't just throw that money around like an idiot, he understands how it can affect friendships and allegiances. He knows that there are quite a few people whose affection can be bought, and he is not willing to put money on them... But he's always going to pick up the dinner tab and buy tickets for his friends to see movies and shows they've always wanted to. He keeps records of this expenditure and makes sure that he is working some of it off Nanotechnology - he has several abilities that can be performed but not all at once, or at least not with the same effect. These are all temporary and last anywhere from a few seconds for a burst of very high bonus, or a minute or two for lower level ability enhancements, though some do last longer if he has the time to just apply himself to a task
Also his nanotech raises his overall movement speed, up to around 2.5x normal running speed for bursts, and his perception (mainly sight, for distance, clarity, or sensing things that normal human eyes cannot such as heat signatures or other wavelengths of light) allowing him to respond sooner than typical Notably this technology does not affect any incoming or outgoing telepathic processes, and he does know this because his mother's dragon is very chatty with him |
| Clusters | Adept Businessman +4 With a dad like Jeff Engel and exposure to multiple dimensions worth of how things can be run, a network of both allies and friends to tap when he needs information or advice, and a cushion of protection from dangers thanks to his mother as well as a variety of Sangers lingering around, Janus is going to be at least as important to the company as Jeff, and even Kyle admits that he's way better at this stuff than he is, so go for it (and that lets Kyle do things like his artwork and arranging new talent to come through their agency!). He has strong math and recordkeeping skills, contract writing and reading, and a clear method of communication with virtually anyone. He doesn't care for the subversion and obfuscation tactics that Jeff often employs, preferring the direct approach to business, and it seems to work well for him Mom Is A Gold Rider +3 Mandragora's dragon brought her to Twoarth, once upon a time, and was almost killed when a commercial jet slammed into them on arrival. But even though Mandragora's body was near-fully replaced, that never stopped the dragon and rider from getting right back up to the job of being royalty 'where they're from'. Where that is, no one's really sure any more, it was once a place known as Pern, but then things got messy. Qutteth has always been fond of this one and only child of her rider's, one that will certainly live up to both sides of his family lines. She has shared many tips, how to ride better, how to care for dragons in general, and the like, ever since he was old enough to touch and understand who she was. Mandragora also taught him things, his love of fine craftsmanship and clockworks, as well as how to look good wearing virtually any kind of local outfits come from her. Since Mandragora was never really expected to become a 'weyrleader' she always had the outsider's eye on that whole process on the Old World - but she still thinks that her son is and will always be better than any bronze rider she's ever met for leadership roles |
| Skills | Frugal Without Being Miserly +4 he has a great memory for who likes what kind of music, which group has already seen the latest flick, and whether someone's car insurance is run through Alabaster's extended corporate ties. If he is asked to loan someone money, he might do so without hesitation if he knows they're going to either be good for it or put it to excellent use - but he would certainly require a contract for anyone else. Nanotech Master +3 with Sanger's help he can say he knows how to 'feel' the incredibly tiny but powerful computer aided technology racing through his body. Send them to the muscles, divert them to bones, get the heart reinforced for a heavy workout - all these things and more, he can do almost without thinking. Since he was a young teen when the technology was implanted, he has had time to discover new and clever uses for this stuff, and design potential external functions as well |
| Knacks | Tinker +2 His eyes can focus on micron-wide wires, and his fingers can definitely keep up with the intricate workings of even the most highly tooled gears and devices. He mainly looks up older watches and clocks, thinking that newer digital technology, while obviously very functional lacks a certain kind of feeling; he is in awe of the big clocks in the Checkerboard Ball's main and side halls... Tailor +2 Well, not making clothing, but wearing them? Absolutely, he's a bit of a fashion hound and does enjoy looking his best; and thankfully with Alabaster's budget as well as a host of allied companies that take care of their entertainment division, he always has access to materials, fashion styles, and people to put him in the most forward-fashion (or retro, who's counting) Spy? +1 Sorry no soldier in there, because that's what Sanger's for... But spying, sort of? Listening with an ear toward secrets being spread - a reverse engineer of industrial espionage, he can spot someone out of place, or who is acting less than honest in a business transaction |
| Period | Class / Instructor / Grade (Failing, Passing, Decent, Excellent, Superb) As he graduated already, these are his favored classes from different years attending |
| 1 | Advanced Statistics / A. Vale / Excellent |
| 2 | Careers: Admin and Legal / Wesson / Excellent |
| 3 | Practical Augmentation Control / Mandragora mom / Excellent (timely, they'd just been installed) |
| 4 | Mechanical Engineering / Vasalo / Decent |
| 5 | Royalty and Regular Folks / Wynnah / Excellent |
| 6 | Nexus Geohistory / T. Kshau / Excellent (shhh he had a crush on Tess) |
| 7 | Fashion Technology / Lallidarr / Decent |
| 8 | Coddling Codexes / Kale-Baah / Superb |
| Pets | ? |
| Parents? | Mandragora and Twoarth's Engel |
| Siblings? | Half brother Kyle, several dozen offworld or alternate cousins or siblings from other Engels |
| Other Info | Even though most people expected Jeff and Mandragora to home-school or have their son tutored (he was, just for very specific things) or at the very least go to a private school, Engel's connection to Carramba High meant he knew that Janus would have the very best education as well as an amazing childhood. |
Events or History: as above, privately tutored as a child by Sanger and several others brought in from various dimensions, then sent to Carramba for his middle and senior high school education. He did attend BUB, Baja University of Business, to get his BA in business (Baja California is part of the usa in Twoarth). With several worlds to choose from to see about a dragon, as he was Searched by Qutteth as a very young child, he did have to wait a bit longer than expected. But his mother admitted that she too, being the daughter of high ranking riders herself, bonded as a young adult too - and not just a kid, unprepared for the rigors or demands of dragon riding.
He was with his parents at the Ball, not really expecting anything like this. He knew that he was needed for helping with various business deals, as Alabaster was broadening its horizons once more - and trying to patch things up with a couple more distant worlds that had gone sour thanks to 'their' Engel screwing them up... He's still baffled that sometimes, his own parents are out there doing things differently.
It was actually very early in the evening when the first pair of dragons entered the ballroom. He had hardly been able to take a full walk around the ball floor while his dad and several others were still talking upstairs on the big balcony. But now here were these gorgeous sleek and sharp looking - and remarkably marked - dragonets!
They were nearly fresh hatched, he could tell. They were not 'ungainly' but definitely a few of them were unsteady as they pranced out. The marble flooring couldn't have been helping, either, as one of them slid into their bond and tumbled over to a table, laughing loudly at the whole thing. Meanwhile others, the smaller checkerboard winged ones, were scooting under tables and chairs, scattering to the winds looking for their one true bond. What were they looking for? Strength of body, of character, of mind? Was it superficial, incidental?
It's more than all those things put together, but even though there's a lot going on, it's you that I spotted. I do like your gloves, we match! That's not everything I noticed, though.
It was a new voice, not just new to his mind or ears, but a new voice. One which may have never even thought to another mind before. Janus looked around, trying to see beyond the dancers who had mostly regrouped on the ball floor after the main influx of these hatchlings.
Over here, come look, I have a great view.
Janus looked around, again, and then upwards. Sure enough over the main bar, but below the 'business end' of the balcony arrangements, where smaller tables and booths served couples and families... There was a black-muzzled face poking over the chrome railing. He knew just exactly that face, it was... familiar even though this was the first time he'd ever set eyes on that dragon.
So Janus hustled up to the curved stairs, and on the way he picked up a bowl of chopped meat and towels... because the dragon was hungry and he knew that too. He finally arrived at the booth that the dragonet was draped over, with a couple nearby giving giggles and complimenting him when they realized it was 'his'.
But I am yours, and you are mine, that dragon bespoke, clearly, and Janus was impressed with that thought - and impressed, as a term applied to bonding, too.
"I'm glad, Tausagafouth," the name tumbled from his lips somehow intact. "But how did you even see my gloves from all the way up here?"
I have my ways! The dragon tucked in to the bowl of meat, and it was a good thing that Janus had brought along those towels... You thought of everything.
"We do match pretty well, huh? Well, one thing is different, though," Janus said while dabbing at the now-bloody face, "I don't have a mask like you!"
Gender: Male (prefers females)
Size: small 6'6" s / 33' l / 50' ws
Build: lanky
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 graphite with high black points on legs, face, tail tip, wing fingertips; wingsails light grey laced with strong black lightning markings; crest and tail spade light grey with very fine high-white lightning markings; faceted eyes blue, claws light
Stats: Strength 1, Speed 3, Endurance 2, Agility 4, Health 3, Intelligence 6
Abilities: Winged Flight (5) a good all-around flier, Tau enjoys early morning and foggy night time flights, as much as swooping low over the Carramba parking lot during their visits to the school; he's not all that strong to be able to carry more than his rider and perhaps a pack or one small extra rider, but for short distances he'll certainly pick up a few little kids and let them experience flight for the first time
Local Teleportation (5) able to move between spaces up to 50 miles at a jaunt, without tiring, and only with minor course correction with landmarks to spot. He's very good with remembering specific locations, reducing travel time if he knows just where to go even if it's upwards of 500 miles distant. He can also use the Nexus adeptly (4) but it does wear him out a bit more if he has to go through different iterations of worlds. He can follow others easily, and contribute to a group level of movement if there's a team going somewhere
Telepathy (6) Tau reads your mind shamelessly and boldly, but would never imagine using those thoughts against you. That's not to say he won't pass them along to his rider, because he's not stupid. There might be things his dragon mind misses, that the businessman he's impressed to might understand fully. He can reach Janus at any distance on-world, and with a little difficulty if they're separated across dimensions, he can ping the man for attention
Multibond (6) Like his father, Janus should expect this dragon to start bringing home other dragons. For real, Engel has a batch, why not? Specifically Tau is good with finding those who will mesh well with their dynamic, and look good to boot. (oh boots! and gloves! - he remembers his impression which is something that even gold Qutteth cannot say she does without assistance from Mandragora.) Non-human bonding was also possible (1) but a moot point now that he's impressed a nice human
Assisted Firebreath (3) not really in use, not on Twoarth anyway, and he has no practice with fighting. No reason to fight, either, he shows up and people pay attention, if someone threatens his rider there will be so many other ways to deal with them...
Parents: Ancheoth and Tehndarinth
Bond: Janus Engel, Impression, possible Multibond
Meeting Notes: (above)
***
It didn't take long for Tau to start roaming the nexus in search of friendly faces to add to the family portrait wall. There was a wall, too, a big one, in the penthouse at the top of the Alabaster tower in Talon City. Because a lot of dragons had visited there, and because a lot more of them were starting to take note of the place again, that penthouse area had been rebuilt with landings and taking-off and structural stability. And in the end, the entire top three stories of the building (it was over eighty, it's not like they didn't have room) was dedicated to housing visiting dragons. Some of them decided to remain.
Housing for this dragon wasn't entirely difficult to produce - he was still small, though obviously those wings were something spectacular and he couldn't fly indoors to say the least. But they, like several others in Alabaster's system, had a place to stay near the top of the structure, with a balcony that allowed the dragon to bask as well as take off from.
When he went to take off from it this morning, for his early stretch and tour of the foggy downtown obstacle course (read: many blocks worth of tall and short buildings), there was another dragon on that balcony. Though she was definitely as big as Tau (as he'd grown to his full size within a year or so) she was very clearly quite young, and might become quite large.
"Oh I'm not large, not yet anyway, but I will be I'm sure you'll see. Oh is that a grooming kit? There's so much stuff in the air down there, I had to get away from it and this is sure a terrific spot. Oh you're cute, aren't you?" She finally noticed that both Tau and his rider Janus were just. Staring, the man open-mouthed.
But like his dad, he'd have to take this in stride. They'd get a portrait taken and measurements, she was eager to let folks groom her and do all that, reminding them that maybe if they came back in another year she'd be so much more muscular you'll see!
It was with completely no surprise at all that she announced herself as Esstir. Some folks thought maybe she meant 'esther'. "Oh no, no haha, no, no S-Tier like the ranking system." She floofed her head around and they were definitely all planning on putting her in commercials for large-scale grooming supplies...
** More story below **
Name: Esstir
Selamputo - that's 'S-tier to you' pal...
Gender: Female
Size/Shoulder/Length: medium-large 12' s / 76' l / 82' ws main
Colors: Starry (danachian) champagne body with black dorsal stripe; wingsails ash grey; floof black with grey tips; eyes blue, claws grey
Features: Mutt (furry thanks to Asandus, multiwinged to a degree from Danachian genes, has Hathian and Pernese as well!)
Powers: Winged Flight - very good with flight, even in stiff winds or bad weather, and has scared the living crap out of people in the nearby buildings by scaling them at full speed straight upwards, or doing a nose dive with inches to spare on the street below. She seems to use her under-wings for extreme stability during these moves
^Teleportation - Well, she wound up here, right? It's a last resort, it wears her out and she'd much rather be flying anyway
^Telepathy and Verbal Speech with a smart mind comes a smart mouth. And both of them will surprise you if you let her start prattling on because she'll start by talking about how pretty the asphalt looks when there's oil glistening on it from the rain this morning and wind up with a lengthy textbook description of how surface tension works and why it's bad to let cars drip because that stuff goes right into the ocean and that's where you fish, right?
Psionics^ (Telekinesis, Telepathy, Teleportation), a solid suite with telepathy being the strongest, and telekinesis a strong second, she can pick up and manipulate small to very large items with her mind, it's a wonder she doesn't talk them into running away...
Shapeshifting (Dragon-Human Spectrum) she's working on this. Really, but it's not that easy, so maybe if she gets a tutor or something... She knows it'll be fun, walking around on two feet, right? But how do you do it with no tail to balance?
Avengaean Functional Magic, she needs a tutor for this too, not sure how she's going to find someone to teach her this stuff didn't Carramba have classes for magic or stuff?
Body-Heat Control, Fire Immunity, Fire Majyck (weak) - with a suite like these some dragons would become experts at all things fiery, but Esstir isn't interested in burning things OR being burned by things. No sir. She does enjoy the way other dragons like cuddling up when she's 'warm' but if they notice she's not as toasty, that's a good clue that they shouldn't get too close
Parentage: Sire: Piralan Asandus Inceme Oranato Dam: Orange-Gold Dragon Mutt Ashane Selamputo
Origin: Fur and Feathers Remix by Dray and Phe from the Nexus
Other Info: Esstir and her companions comprise the newly established Stretch Your Wings Limousine Service in Talon City, and she tends to handle the organizational side and chatting up customers while they wait. She has really put a lot of effort into learning how to have thumbs since she serves as the office's manager...
"Are you really interested in this of all things?" Jeff asked, glancing around the parking lot, and having to look up more than not because the 'vehicles' were all dragons.
"They did a good job of convincing me," Janus replied. "It's not like we had much use for this particular property, I checked."
The structure behind the line of dragons was indeed a little on the dilapidated side, needing both repairs and perhaps relocation. Or they'd just tear it all down and put up something better as a street facing office rather than a clunky metal warehouse - they didn't need to repair vehicles in it after all.
"Ooh, tents and airy ceiling skylights!" Esstir proclaimed from the back, obviously she was used to simply listening in to everything her companions were saying.
So they already had an idea ... well, okay, and Janus was fine with that too. He put his own connections to use, they started working up city planning agreements and checked up all the details. Shortly, within just a handful of weeks in fact, there was a newly built structure suitable for both humanoid and draconic use sitting on this formerly-disused warehouse lot. A nice tall structure almost entirely enclosing it, behind the lower one-story bungalow, where the dragons who would work here could relax and sort out their duties, open at the back but with two front-facing entries for smaller dragons or even just plain vehicles. There would be nothing 'plain' about this service company though.
It did take at least as long as they'd been working on the structure and getting everything properly paper-trailed and fitted, to come up with the right name.
But it was as a trio of dragons - all involved now because they wanted something fun to do and get looked at in the process - sitting on the top of the heavily reinforced walls of the building that gave Janus the big grin as he typed out to his dad, "Stretch Your Wings Limousine Service," and all Jeff sent back was a goofy smile emoji.