Skies of War

A more serious look at life on a dragon's back, following a number of pilots, fighters, dragon riders and their crews. Since this is a semi-historical docu-drama, it comes on reasonably late at night and is uncensored. Some of the odder elements of this show include having time-travel be a normal occurrance, and plucking "would have dieds" from the wreckage and moving them into the modern era. Now, normally this doesn't seem like a very "pc" thing to do, however Twoarth is known for its highly unusual behaviors. They're not the kind of film makers who just "let the starving animal die", or avoid contact. Since the show has a collection of mages working with it along with the high-tech aspects, they often are called upon to wipe memories or make simple alterations to the locals to allow for these odd happenings, in addition to pulling memories out and 'visualizing' them for editing and overdubbing.

The show itself though, is a marvel to watch. Each week a different squad is chosen and followed around in depth. The show is two hours long, and compiles weeks worth of documentation on each group. From small innovative and almost completely inconspicuous cameras placed in helmets or equipment, viewers get up-close experiences with dogfights, aerial battles, crash landings, maintenance, and everything that goes into training a skyborne warrior.

As time has gone on and the show began to document off-world battles, from threadfall on Pern, to incursions in the Shadow Shard, and a regularly updated 'What is Paxton's Squad of Clones Up To Now?' on the Rookery.

Name: Shunduys
Gender: Female
Species: Drak/Winter Mutt
Colour: Rain
Father: Ore Drak, Nycaridu
Mother: Crystal Grey Lantessama Winter Dragon, Axys
Size: Medium
Height@Shoulder: 11'
Abilities: Telepathy, Acid Spit
Personality: Impulsive, Sneaky
Fun Facts: Their fur, when spun into wool and knitted, has exceptional insulation ratings. It can keep the wearer warm in up to -40 degree celsius weather. Their ankle and wrist cuffs are made out of this material from their mother: each cuff is actually a starter and example of different kinds of knitting and perling, should anyone want to reverse-engineer some fancy toques and sweaters!
From Nidus Corona

Rider: Adelphis Ironheel
Gender: Male
Species: Human
Appearance: An older man with chocolate coloured skin and shoulder-length, silvering hair, Adelphis is well built even despite going on in years. He is shorter than average, however his presence is large enough to make up for that. His impeccable style of dress also helps!
Personality: Charming and witty on the outside, there is no doubt that Adelphis is a genius and a wit. He does an excellent job of covering his darker side, that somewhat insane and competitive side of him, at least in conversation. When he's in the cockpit of his beloved dogfighter, Adelphis is (and always has been) the best damned pilot you have ever met. He strives to oneup not only others, but himself as well, and in all his years he has spawned dozens of tactical moves that nobody would experiment with if they were sane! In a world where steampunk and biopunk have merged, he has a better grasp of how to ride a dragon than other pilots might, though he's having a hard time wrapping his mind around the intelligence of a dragon, rather than the mindless obeisance of his original fighter. Portrait Illustration Maker

That "more" came in the form of an invitation to an unusual locale. Nidus Caeligenus had numerous groups of dragons - eggs, hatchlings, live-born kits... All manner of them more or less at once.

But Korrdae knew when he saw them, that the distinct and unique Yautjadragons were where he should focus his efforts. They had both pride and sense, not foolish at least as far as Korrdae understood it. And it was to him the clutch group's selection process quickly finalized. Introduced as Soltin Mei'Thwei, this little warrior-to-be filled Korrdae with confidence. He learned quickly, as did Korrdae, as he too wanted to learn more about how these exotic people trained and worked. Together they did quite a few projects and gained that teamwork element that was apparently elusive outside of their breed.

They would reach milestones together, but first they had to get past the 'learing to eat without terrifying the neighbors' stage...

*

Once they had in fact mastered quite a few of the basics, hunting and defense, stealth and use of his blooming innate abilities, it became apparent that Soltin would serve remarkably well as a field medic. So for more than a year they trained up mainly defensive skills, and quick uses of healing, stealth, and ambush techniques. This wouldn't be enough to become Blooded, but it set him well on his way.

And then the time came that Sotin became Soltinde, thrown in combat against a surprisingly large quadruped Xeno - a beast that he could avoid getting stomped on only by moving from spot to spot... Observing its motion, in the few times that he could remain still long enough to take a good look, Soltin realized there was a weak spot between the beast's legs and and its otherwise heavily armored body. He chose to strike when the creature reared up, and bathed in the green acid-blood when it fell to the ground, foreleg dangling by only the carapace.

(Shown as a full adult, as his armor and gear seen below are reserved for actual combat)

Birth Name: Soltin Mei’Thwei
Blooded Name: Soltinde Mei’Thwei
Bonded to: Korrdae Lena’Macropodus
Gender: Male
Species: Yautjadragon
Hatchling Height: 3’1”; Adult Height: 12’4”
Color: Mottled Brown; body and wingsails rich yellowish brown with heavy dappling from above in ashen light grey, features on both sides of wings; 'hair' black; claws ivory, eyes green
Abilities: Telepathy, Huntermind Communication
Teleportation
Healing Powers, Purification Powers
Acid Immunity, Balefire Immunity, Corruption Immunity
Personality: Contrary to popular belief, yautjadragons can be humble, and Soltin is an example of such. He’s a yautjadragon who keeps his mouth shut and never lets his tongue run off with him, though he has a distinct mandible-twitching tic whenever there’s something he’d like to say but knows better not to. Actions are best let to speak for themselves and a braggart is only setting themselves up to be taken down several notches.

The thrill of hunting was indeed alluring, but the presence of many combatants on a field meant that he could resume a support role, and still maintain his combat prowess. Wherever there is need for good and just fighting, Soltinde and Korrdae will make sure that the battlefield is not where brave warriors must die. In keeping with his beliefs, however, Soltinde has decided that if a warrior is still awake and aware on the field, he asks first - will you be healed? They may decline, and in that case Korrdae makes note of their last requests, or any other rites needing to be filled. By the time he's done with that, the Yautjadragon is often off helping one who does request.