Bald Mountain Dragons

Bald Mountain Holt has gotten a few new elfin members recently, wanderers who are more than welcome to hunt and live in the expansive area that the Mt occupies. But they walked on foot - and who needs to do that when there are dragons living at the Holt? Since none of the dragons here have yet risen to mate for the elves, these newcomers are sent off to collect their own the same way the rest of the tribe did.

Autumnburn, female, age around 304
Hair: reds/orange; Eyes: violet-lavender; Skin: fair, tans well
Mate: (love) Wintersnap; Children: none
Parents - both deceased
Powers: firestarting, works well on dry materials but is not strong on wet woods or non-flammable items; Sending, strong locally but weak at a distance; Magic Feeling, weak.

Springflower, female, age 434
Hair: flaxen blond; Eyes: green; Skin: dark ruddy-red
Mate: (life) Summerrain; Children: none
Parents - alive, Flurryfall mother, Vinetwist father
Powers: Plant Shaping, very strong almost obsessive for her, works on all but petrified woods (including dead wood, she can 'revive' it into a living state); Sending, moderate strength at all distances; Magic Feeling, weak, but good for her own type of magic detection

Summerrain, male, age 560
Hair: platinum white-blond; Eyes: silver; Skin, dark charcoal brown
Mate: (life) Springflower; Children: none
Parents - mother deceased, Swiftstone father
Powers: Water shaping, very strong locally, with a Weathersense ability excellent for prediction purposes over a wide area; Sending, moderate strength at distance, very strong close up; Magic Feeling, high locally, can sense individual powers within people

Wintersnap, male, age 290
Hair: brown; Eyes: grey-green; Skin: creamy fair
Mate: (love) Autumnburn; Children: none
Parents - alive, Snowshoe mother, Hoofbreak father, Clipper sister
Powers: Animal sense and control, strong locally with one or more medium (deer-sized) animals; Empathy, moderate strength with elves only and locally; Sending, high ability at local level, moderate strength at distance; Magic Feeling, weak

These four elves, travellers from southern plains lands, have no bond animals nor mounts. Wintersnap knows a lot about animals, but of course nothing at all about dragons! They're all new to this 'bonding' thing, but he is the most likely to understand how to take care of a new dragonet.

Summerrain is patient, caring, and gentle. His knowledge of non-magical healing and medicine is strong, aided by his lifemate's shaping of herbs.

Autumburn feels a bit distressed about this all, they just found a place to live and now they've got to go and do something else? What's up with that? (Which IS something that she'd be likely to say, she's a bit of an air head.)

Springflower is not as soft-hearted as her lifemate, she is often found hunting in addition to her many forays into the woods to shape. She is an exceptional weaponsmith, actually.

They are waiting for eggs, one at a time probably, from an old-blood strain of dragonry.

When an egg appeared it was with a strange sound, and a sparkly blue-ish glow appeared, just above the ground, slowly materializing into a green egg the size of a honeydew melon. It landed with a soft 'plop'.

"Well look at that," said Wintersnap, "There's definitely something alive in there." He stood and looked around, the others were tending their duties (weaving, making a bowl, that kind of thing) so he reached out to caress the green colored egg. "You look like a watermelon, but don't worry, I won't thump you."

One of the others looked up, Springflower said, "Oh, you've ... found one? Serves me right for being distracted, eh?" She laughed. The dark-skinned elfess went back to holding the yarn for her lifemate, as they worked on a big project.

*Wonder what this will hatch into,* thought Wintersnap. *It could be anything, I don't know... All those dragons in the Holt are so different, might be small, might be huge...*

Wintersnap chuckled and cornered the quickly-growing green male dragon. "You're good, but you're still too small to get in the air," the elf gently caught the panicky dragon, "But you don't want to be up there just yet. There are things big enough to eat you, Shivver, you don't want to be out there until you're bigger!"

The elf had named the skittish green Shivver, because of course that was what he did many times when left alone. But even when Wintersnap was around, Shivver was quite apt to zip around the den and attempt to flee. Even Wintersnap's animal controlling power, he could feel the nature of the dragon trying to assert itself. But he'd spoken truth: to leave the safety of their aerie den would be to be picked off by a predator below. So he enforced a bit more control over Shivver and calmed the young dragonet down.

As time went by however, and other eggs began appearing for the hand of elves, Shivver realised that he was among friends here in the top of the Aerie. Bigger dragons could help him learn, though he would always be apt to fly away at a loud noise. It was decided that he'd be best on scout duty - because any slight change around the Holt would surely give him the urge to head home!

Back to the Tribal Listing Nexus Exchange November 06 Lantessama		Autumnburn, firestarter and Autumn Brown Male Taeng Springflower, plant shaper and Moss Female Fyuin Summerrain, water shaper and Midnight Starry Male Gabii Wintersnap, animal bonder and Green Male Shivver
Bald Mountain Holt has gotten a few new elfin members recently, wanderers who are more than welcome to hunt and live in the expansive area that the Mt occupies. But they walked on foot - and who needs to do that when there are dragons living at the Holt? Since none of the dragons here have yet risen to mate for the elves, these newcomers are sent off to collect their own the same way the rest of the tribe did.
Autumnburn, female, age around 304 Hair: reds/orange; Eyes: violet-lavender; Skin: fair, tans well Mate: (love) Wintersnap; Children: none Parents - both deceased Powers: firestarting, works well on dry materials but is not strong on wet woods or non-flammable items; Sending, strong locally but weak at a distance; Magic Feeling, weak. Springflower, female, age 434 Hair: flaxen blond; Eyes: green; Skin: dark ruddy-red Mate: (life) Summerrain; Children: none Parents - alive, Flurryfall mother, Vinetwist father Powers: Plant Shaping, very strong almost obsessive for her, works on all but petrified woods (including dead wood, she can 'revive' it into a living state); Sending, moderate strength at all distances; Magic Feeling, weak, but good for her own type of magic detection Summerrain, male, age 560 Hair: platinum white-blond; Eyes: silver; Skin, dark charcoal brown Mate: (life) Springflower; Children: none Parents - mother deceased, Swiftstone father Powers: Water shaping, very strong locally, with a Weathersense ability excellent for prediction purposes over a wide area; Sending, moderate strength at distance, very strong close up; Magic Feeling, high locally, can sense individual powers within people Wintersnap, male, age 290 Hair: brown; Eyes: grey-green; Skin: creamy fair Mate: (love) Autumnburn; Children: none Parents - alive, Snowshoe mother, Hoofbreak father, Clipper sister Powers: Animal sense and control, strong locally with one or more medium (deer-sized) animals; Empathy, moderate strength with elves only and locally; Sending, high ability at local level, moderate strength at distance; Magic Feeling, weak
These four elves, travellers from southern plains lands, have no bond animals nor mounts. Wintersnap knows a lot about animals, but of course nothing at all about dragons! They're all new to this 'bonding' thing, but he is the most likely to understand how to take care of a new dragonet. Summerrain is patient, caring, and gentle. His knowledge of non-magical healing and medicine is strong, aided by his lifemate's shaping of herbs. Autumburn feels a bit distressed about this all, they just found a place to live and now they've got to go and do something else? What's up with that? (Which IS something that she'd be likely to say, she's a bit of an air head.) Springflower is not as soft-hearted as her lifemate, she is often found hunting in addition to her many forays into the woods to shape. She is an exceptional weaponsmith, actually.
They are waiting for eggs, one at a time probably, from an old-blood strain of dragonry.
When an egg appeared it was with a strange sound, and a sparkly blue-ish glow appeared, just above the ground, slowly materializing into a green egg the size of a honeydew melon. It landed with a soft 'plop'. "Well look at that," said Wintersnap, "There's definitely something alive in there." He stood and looked around, the others were tending their duties (weaving, making a bowl, that kind of thing) so he reached out to caress the green colored egg. "You look like a watermelon, but don't worry, I won't thump you." One of the others looked up, Springflower said, "Oh, you've ... found one? Serves me right for being distracted, eh?" She laughed. The dark-skinned elfess went back to holding the yarn for her lifemate, as they worked on a big project. Wonder what this will hatch into, thought Wintersnap. It could be anything, I don't know... All those dragons in the Holt are so different, might be small, might be huge...
Wintersnap chuckled and cornered the quickly-growing green male dragon. "You're good, but you're still too small to get in the air," the elf gently caught the panicky dragon, "But you don't want to be up there just yet. There are things big enough to eat you, Shivver, you don't want to be out there until you're bigger!" The elf had named the skittish green Shivver, because of course that was what he did many times when left alone. But even when Wintersnap was around, Shivver was quite apt to zip around the den and attempt to flee. Even Wintersnap's animal controlling power, he could feel the nature of the dragon trying to assert itself. But he'd spoken truth: to leave the safety of their aerie den would be to be picked off by a predator below. So he enforced a bit more control over Shivver and calmed the young dragonet down. As time went by however, and other eggs began appearing for the hand of elves, Shivver realised that he was among friends here in the top of the Aerie. Bigger dragons could help him learn, though he would always be apt to fly away at a loud noise. It was decided that he'd be best on scout duty - because any slight change around the Holt would surely give him the urge to head home!

Autumnburn was enjoying a long nap by the waterfall, when she heard a rustling in the bushes. Her senses told her to be alert but not to panic. There was something familiar about this scent and the noises that the creature was making. She tensed up but then saw a brown snout poke out from the golden foliage. It made her giggle, and when the snout sneezed she laughed loudly. "Well that's a fine welcome," the dragon muttered. "I am here, for you, do you like me?" He strutted out, showing off transparent wingsails and a long tail. Autumnburn sat silently for a moment and then realized what he'd said. "I... I do like you! I've gotta show you to the rest of the Holt!" Fortunately for Taeng he could easily keep up with the excited elf. He wasn't sure whether he could manuver easily in the branches of the trees that framed their small lakeside homes, but once they exited the shelter of those nearly bare branches, Taeng spread his wings and took off above. "Look at him!" Called out Autumnburn, "his name is Taeng! He's here for me!" Elves and dragons alike poked their own heads from their homes and out from dens, and the dragons began to bugle and cheer. This one was tiny compared to most, in fact he was just about the size of the Lian dragons that lived here. But his attitude was fit for a much larger dragon - though he was not rude, he certainly was confident!
Name: Taeng Gender: Male Species: Autumn Dragon Size: 4' at the shoulder, 12' from nose to tail Abilities: Verbal speech, teleportation, chameleon, multiple lives Personality: Easy-going, home-loving, has a little bit of a Napoleon-complex, active, and a bit hyper at times

Springflower worked her hands over a piece of wood that had come loose in the storm the prior night, it had snapped cleanly off the gigantic wide-leafed tree near their cavern entrance, and blocked it from easily coming and going. "I can change it into a portal, a door," she said, as the others came up for their morning rounds and to get outside. The branch was easily the same width as any elf in Bald Mountain, and though they climbed over it, the other elves would certainly rather see something more useful than a hurdle when they got up every day. So Springflower set to work, while the others were out with the dragons or tending to every day life. She hummed gently to herself, while figuring out what she wanted to make. It turned out that this would be an interesting way to catch rain water, as well as keep it out of the entrance itself. She shaped the wood into an archway that stretched over the whole portal, a wide and flat-topped arc. Setting it into the stone, growing new roots where none had been before, she kept the branch alive while she did this. The foliage on it would become a beautiful nesting place for the local birds, she was sure that they'd like it. The sides of the branch though, instead of just planting them into the ground to the sides of the entrance, she formed into barrels. Large, big enough for two elves to stand in. She put a knothole into the bottoms of them, and then formed small plugs from the spare wood lying around, to keep the water they'd get in until they wanted it out. Up above the archway, Springflower caused the branch to grow in a runnel shape, to catch the water and send it directly into the barrels. By the time she was done with this effort, it was early evening. No one wanted to interrupt her - so when she was finsihed, she was all but exhausted and quite hungry. It was a good thing that her lifemate Summerrain had caught several fish. The smell of cooking salmon brought her out of her long trance. "That will make our home much prettier," said Autumnburn of the new plant decoration. "As long as the dragons don't break it, or chew on it," she said, glancing at Shivver the green dragon who was even then sniffing at the dangling branches. Not too many days later, was when Apogee met up with the four of them again, and noticed that Springflower would be ready to head out for dragon bonding. It was not at random that she chose Lantessama. They'd been there before, the elves, and she just had this feeling that it would be a good place to send the dark-skinned female. *** And sure enough, there was a lovely group of dragons ready to hatch! It was what the two female elves present guessed was a special occasion, other folks were set up with party tables and drinks nearer the Isle's main location. Cyan and Springflower got along well, tending gardens and plants was more than a hobby for either of them, so they had something in common. Shath over there, well, something told Springflower that they'd meet again: in the future. She hadn't understood why the girl looked at her so oddly, acting like Springflower already had a dragon. Well, obviously, she didn't, that was why she was here in the first place. But she knew from what others had said, that dragons could travel in time as well as space, and for elves time mattered little anyway. Then the eggs started breaking, so no one quite cared whether they were displaced in time or space. They were here to find a friend! It was well past the middle of the clutch, fewer than half of the eggs left (they'd been breaking open and hatching and - the dragons were lovely! They were colorful, slinky, very interesting to look at), when a trio of eggs burst open and one of the dragonets started looking toward Springflower. A grey-green moss colored female sprang into action, racing as quickly as she could toward Cyan and Springflower, who were still talking about vines and weed control - and then this dragon collapsed in a happy heap at Springflower's feet. *I made it, she panted mentally, My name is Fyuin. All else in the world stopped worrying Springflower. Her heart swelled, it was like ... it was like when she'd found her plant-shaping magic, and her soul-name, at the same time... Just like that. Something new, but something that completed her so well... What about if... she didn't worry about what would come if and when she and her lifemate Summerrain would Recognize. Maybe they would, maybe they would just be blessed with children otherwise. But this sensation of this little dragonet happily resting in her mind... This was bliss! Shath vanished almost immediately after the celebration, home toward Bald Mountain of the future. Absently, Springflower wondered why she hadn't asked the desert elf (oddly pale skinned for one who claimed to be from the desert!) about the future of her tribe. Would she and Summerrain have kids? It doesn't matter now, that's then!* Reminded Fyuin. I am with you now, will you scratch my neck again? "Of course I will, dear, now, when we get home, you have to remember not to chew on the awning!" *I will not. Unless it's tasty. Then I'm not going to make any promises.* They laughed, and when they did get back to Bald Mountain a celebration was held - every time someone new came, it was cause for a party! Of course! And Fyuin reveled in it, she really enjoyed prancing around, and though there were no other baby dragons around at this moment, that merely meant she got to be the star all the time. She grew quickly, too, over the next turn of the seasons from Summer to Summer, she just kept getting larger and longer, flying more confidently than ever by that time. But unlike her clutch mates, she prefered to be on all fours - probably because she knew she looked good slinking around the gardens that way instead of prancing around on her hind legs like others might. Now, of course, she was mostly bipedal, but she didn't act it... Unless there were tasty fruits dangling out of her reach from the ground... In which case she would extend up to her full height, which wasn't all that large truth be told (she was still three elf-heights at the shoulder, a standard size for the Holt's dragons) but she still liked reaching those redfruits up in the very tops of the trees, claiming they were the best. At least she'd stopped nibbling Springflower's awning...

It was a chilly Winter, almost a full turn of the seasons past when Springflower had bonded her dragon. It felt like the right thing to do, Summerrain thought, to go out alone on that chill, clear cloudless night. Now, he was the first to admit that he didn't much care for ice and snow. There was plenty of it coating the grounds near their shared den, the trees and bushes made into big white lumps under the two moons half-full light. The stars were cheerful, though, they were what drew his attention. He'd bundled up, of course, he had no heating magic and his water-shaping only really worked very well on liquid water and not ice. But he, by now, knew this terrain. He knew where the one dip that the squirrels would vanish into lay, he passed the tree which had not one but two families of different birds residing in the trunk. All the leaves were bare on most of the trees, there were a number of evergreens but most of them were on the northern side of the peak. Summerrain knew that there was a good bit of storm brewing soon, but also that it wouldn't arrive for at least another day or more. It would be at least that long before anyone needed to batten down their aerie flaps to keep the chill out while their dragons nested together. Springflower's dragon nested in the nook beside the elves', a larger hollow meant for dragons to snake through. It wound its way up through the whole Mountain, like many of the back ends of elfin dens did too. That near-high-one elf, Kolgar, he went wild on the dens and shaping the insides of the mountain to make it up 'right'. Summerrain looked up to the stars, and sighed. His breath plumed out from his mouth, as he gazed upward. The stars were exceptionally clear. But for one patch, oddly obscured or was it moving? It couldn't be said to glow like stars, exactly, more like reflection? Something was moving, well of course it was a dragon. Though it wasn't a dragon whose mind Summerrain recognized as belonging to anyone here. Yet... it was familiar to him. I would hope so, I'm supposed to be here for you! The mind was masculine, dark, endless. Velvet smooth, warm. So it was with a huge sigh of relief that Summerrain greeted his dragon for the first time! The dragon was long, low to the ground but large, bigger than many of the Holt. I suit you, the dragon bespoke. "You certainly do, Gabii, I really think you do." Summerrain approached the midnight-colored, starry-marked dragon, "may I?" "Of course you may," the dragon's voice was as clear and silky as the night sky he was named after. He knelt down a little, and Summerrain climbed somewhat inexpertly up to his neck. He gripped onto the longer strands of fur - a furry dragon, now that was the best kind, he thought, since most of them were just hide. What to hold on to on a hide-skinned dragon! Nothing! True, he also had little nubs of spines on his neck all the way down to the tip of his tail. Gabii spread his galaxy-tinted wings, and lept into the air! Nothing like it, his first real ride on his own dragon, Summerrain hooted and called to his friends below - but they had a hard time finding him against the clear winter sky!

Gabii Male, about 15 feet at the shoulder, Nexus Night before Christmas giveaway 05 Blue, White, Chrome, Silver No known lineage