BACK

A few of the locals in the Den started actually sitting out watching, waiting for the next arrivals. And sure enough, they were either asleep, looking the other way, or doing something distracting them from watching the big tree - when the next one came.

She was chilly, odd, but remarkably gregarious. She'd sidle right up to a big dragon, ask personal questions, laugh, and repeat. But that was not to say she was as completely rude as Lenilt, far from it in fact. She was somewhat apt to leave him alone, choosing more cleanly dirty folks to be around. A couple of the naughty-clutch dragons, certainly they'd be of help...

When she did want something she wasn't getting, though... she did use a bit of magic - or was it psi? - to manipulate their actions. Shiny wrapping paper? Better get on that, kid.

Name: Inigi Coldmoon
Gender: Female
Size: 48 feet long
Color: Yellow, blue, black eyes
Abilities: Verbal Speech, Teleporation, Electricity Breath Weapon, Control Elemental Force: FrostFire, Natural Combat Ability, Control Others, Immortality
Personality: naughty, courageous, gutsy; daring

"On the fifth day of Chrishanukwansolstice, the big tree gave to meee," sang the newcomer, in a strange mix of warbling dragon-tongue and bright happy telepathy. He woke the whole Den, or at least those who weren't up yet, or those who minded the intrusive singing.

Guess who that was?

Baeris knew that she looked rumpled. She'd been asleep, after all, and it was what-thirty-in-the-damn-morning?! She turned and glared at Dulath, who gave an innocent look.

"Why don't you ... protect me from these things? Hm?" Baeris grumbled. Dulath tilted her head.

Protect you from what? A happy little song? What's wrong with you, you grinch?

"I should find those lawyers that Misota talked about... They could write it into my contract that I don't get woken up at such hours..." She moved downward to the tree and its ever-increasing stack of presents. She hoped idly that whatever was under all of them wasn't fragile. Taking her rumpled self and standing before the utter beauty of this violet-shaded dragon then, was something that irked her even more.

"You're too damn pretty to be awake this early in the morning," Baeris muttered, and walked back up to her sleep den. The tittering laugh that followed her seemed to come with a more feminine mental tone, Baeris would sort that out later. Maybe after a few mugs of coffee, and some research.

Chrishanawhat?

Name: Queenia Agepolrynust
Primary Gender: Male (subsequent gender female, but he's rather ... floofy for a male)
Color: Violet, pink, white, warm grey
Size: 14 feet at shoulder (about 35 feet long)
Personality: courageous, gutsy; daring, anxious
Abilities: Telepathy, Teleporation, Ice Breath Weapon, Extraordinary Physical Beauty*, Gender-shifting
(Not only are they pretty, they *KNOW* they're pretty, and most other creatures agree)

Of course there were still surprises in store for the Healing Den. The tree was being decorated slowly but surely by the crafters, medical staff and even some of the servants had little things to tie upon the branches. That left the other 35 feet of it for the dragons. They hadn't noticed that in the morning of the sixth day of events, they'd all slept in a little - the doing of the latest addition, Gumaness. She moved gracefully, almost as through she was a dream. She was also quite elusive, in the Den, but people eventually found her chatting with the flitters and making sure that the stock animals for feeding the humans and dragons were well tended on whatever worlds they connected to (there were rooms which led to other worlds, simply put, there was no room for a farm or ranch on the Den!).

Baeris rather liked this one, for she kept out of the way but visibly was quite nice to look at.

That, and when Ivo and his children came tearing through the place at full enhanced-cheetah-speed, Gumaness zapped them with a slow-down magic that made everyone laugh!

Name: Gumaness Flamehunt
Gender: Female
Size: 43 feet long
Abilities: Verbal Speech, Telepathy, Teleporation, Sleep-Mist Breath Weapon, Slow Motion Control, Heightened Sense of Smell, Heightened Sense of Hearing
Personality: fond of animals, curious