to Amaria's Page

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the tubes,
Gobs of users were surfing, from oldies to noobs.
But in one tiny corner of the great interwebs,
All the members were off with their families and friends.

But one lady sat typing homage to tradition,
Cool and quiet, holiday's intermission,
"If I had a new template," she said to herself,
"I'd get sneaky tonight and give them all out."

But giveaways sat waiting on the Giveaways board,
From generous women (or maybe just bored),
And presents were waiting away from the 'puters,
(Well unless they'd been opened by holiday looters).

Out in the snow Santa Dragon was checking,
All the bases were covered this year, so he reckoned
But the season is not quite complete without meddlin'
From a fat old red dragon (or this author, but no tellin'),

So the metaphorical roof was reindeer-trodden upon,
Through the metaphor-chimney dropped a ton
Of eggs, now given, twice gifted again,
Patience rewarded in two weeks would be seen.

The first challenge was laid: to add in some color,
Christmas or not, one's as good as the other,
Then upload the orb and post it up here,
Before midnight on the thirty-first draws near.

But there were presents to wrap now, a shower to take,
Many dreams to be had 'fore t'was time to wake,
So to bed with you all, and bed for me too,
Make your Christmases merry and fuzzy all through.

ALLIGNMENT
Those who are to own an Isitu must pledge themselves to one city-state, and every city-state is watched over by a god or goddess. Each of these Lords has power in his or her own right. Of the many lords that rule over this world and the others, there are eight that are of concequence:

Anu is the lord of the highest heaven, and he watches over all. 
The stars are his soldiers and the gods, his children.

Aruru is the gentle lord of creation and the earth, and is the midwife to the gods. 
She holds domain over fertility and prosperity, and created humans from a pinch of clay.

Ea is the lord of the waters and creation, and his mind holds all knowledge. 
His words can become reality, and the domains of balance and gender are his.

Ellil is the lord of the space between heaven and earth. 
He moves the wind and is active among humans, causing the growth of all things.

Irkallu is the lord of the underworld, passing judgement and creating laws in her kingdom. 
She governs the changing of the seasons, particularly winter.

Ishtar is the lord of love, sex, birth and war. She has loved many both mortal and not, 
but requires great sacrifice from her lovers, and can be vengeful.

Shamash, the son of the moon, is the lord of the sun and the embodiment of the idea of justice. 
He inspires order and encourages structure.

Sin is the lord of the moon, knowledge, and cycles, and watches over 
the calm dark places of the universe. He was born in the underworld, but dwells in the skies.

STATS
Name: Amaria
Gender: Neuter
Species: Muttutu
Affiliated God: Aruru, the gentle lord of creation and the earth, the midwife to the gods. She holds domain over fertility and prosperity, and created humans from a pinch of clay.
Description & Personality: Amaria is a pastel yellow neutered dragoness. She has large grey eyes and a short snout. Two large fins portrude from her head where he ears would be. Two spiral ridges adorn her back. The crest on her tail is somewhat heart-shaped. Amaria has got faint orange markings on her head, paws and tail. The scales on her belly are bright white with a hint of yellow running through them. 
Amaria is a stubborn little dragon. She wants to be useful and help others as much as she can. She's nurturing and quite smart though her lot in life has left her naive, obedient and gullible. 
Size: Medium Dog-sized
Communications: purring and guttural vocalisations. Telepaths can pick up her thoughts.
Place of Origin: Avengaea (Nexus Forum Giveaway)
Bond: Opal Court Geode Blue Komenth (m) from The Empyrean Stair (Court Clutch)

Information on Sirrush Dragons and Muttutu:
Sirrush dragon females are called Queens, and males are called Drakes. The third class of Sirrushu, the dwarf neuters, are called Muttutu, for "half".
Wild queens, when bred, produce clutches of between five and ten, with four to eight viable eggs. However, when Sirrush colonies grow too large for their habitat to support, clutching queens, exhibiting a behavioral pattern that seems to indicate an instinctive form of population control, neuter varying numbers of their offspring upon birth. In extreme cases, if a group gets very large, queens have even been observed cannibalizing some or most of their offspring.
Once neutered, Mututtu grow only to between a fifth and a quarter of the size of their sexed clutchmates and retain a stunted appearence. Because both male and female Sirrush dragons are born with their gonads on the outside, Muttutu can be genetically male or female, however since the neutering prevents the expression of secondary sex traits, the differences between genetic male and female Mututtu are minute and inconcequential. Muttutu play a similar role in Sirrush groups as worker drones do in insect hives, acting as food gatherers, caretakers, lair-builders and cleaners.
In human society, Mututtu have moved from the role of drones to that of pets. Their small size and obedient demeanors make them ideal house-pets, and their instinctive drive to defend their clan make them wonderful guard-animals.
How a female chooses which hatchlings to turn into Muttutu is a mystery, but many dragon breeders believe that the clutching queen knows better than any human which hatchlings will grow up to become good breeders and which will not, so the most common practice is simply to let the queen choose -- if she clutches more than one viable egg at a time.

STORY
Merel looked up at the pale yellow Muttutu dragon Amaria and was both surprised and pleased by the effort the stunted neutered dragon was putting into her studies. Though she'd been destined to a life of servitude and undergrowth, to be no more than a pet or guard, the Muttutu was intent on being much more. As she served the goddess Aruru, her priorities lay on nurturing. Amaria had been born female until the luck of the draw had made her what she was today. 
"Aren't you getting tired?" Merel asked.
The white-grey feathered and furred brid-cat dragon wasn't all that eager to socialise but there was something endearing about Amaria that not even she could withstand. Merel was a winter-born creature which meant she was only starting to feel comfortable now that summer was at it's end. 
"I need to be able to teleport." Amaria grunted.
"Not all dragons can do that, you know." Merel replied.
"If I want to protect those in my care than I should be able to do it. It's the safest way of getting out of harm's way."
Well there was logic in that. 
"I can help you. Teach you." Merel said solemnly.
Amaria looked up at the larger white-grey dragon and thought she really couldn't be choosy. Most of the other dragons were training for bigger things. So what if her teacher looked a bit wishy-washy, she was a teacher. Secretly, Amaria wanted to be a parent. But she'd never have her own eggs. So looking after the children of others seemed like the closest she'd ever come. But before she attempted to be a nanny, she really needed to be perfect. 
"Thank you. Can you show me how you do it?" Amaria asked carefully.
She saw Merel wink out and back in a few feet away.
"Not to brag but I'm really good at teleporting. I'm sure I'll be able to teach you if you're meant to be able to do it."
"I should. I AM a dragon." Amaria said, feeling a twinge of frustration.
Merel nodded and placed a paw on Amaria's. 
"Feel how I do it. I'll take us to that tree over there."
Amaria nodded and felt as pinpricks of cold briefly touched her extremities only to vanish when they returned under the tree. 
"I don't think I really got it." she admitted.
"You have to visualise where you want to go. Make the image crystal clear in your head. And then you just let go. Try it, at worst we'll stay right here."
Amaria thought that didn't seem very helpful. But she closed her eyes and envisioned the place they'd come from. Crystal-clear, Merel had said, like the jewels in a necklace or crown. She sighed when she thought of the pretty stones some humans wore... and then they were gone.

Continues here

HATCHING
The candidates were led into the Sands. Dragons and humans numbered about equal portions but the dragons seemed to be clustered together. Rumours were that it was to buffer members of a death court. Amaria had heard of them but felt quite neutral to their cause. Bonding wasn't something bad as long as it was out of free will. Her own race was one that didn't bond all that often but to make a rebellion out of it seemed a bit daft.
Eggs were clustered around their mothers and a foster mother called Brigid. While the eggs that Brigid had coiled herself around seemed unmoving - or perhaps...contemplative - those natural-born alongside their mothers seemed to grow more eager, and thus, were the first to start shaking. A strange, momentary sensation washed over the sands, like listening. Watching. Clearly coming from the unmoving eggs - as they seemed to observe what their clutchmates would do on instinct alone, before they applied their own knowledge. After all, experiencing a thing was different from observing a thing.
“I very much look forward to working with you.” One of the Opal blues stopped alongside Amaria, offering an affectionate smile. “Komenth is my name. It is nice to meet you.”

Name: Komenth
Court: Opal
Gender: Male
Coloration: Geode Blue
Personality: Affectionate, Confident
Abilities: 
*Telepathy
*Teleportation
*Verbal Speech
*Prismatic Breath: The dragon produces a colorful magical spray where other species might create fire or lightning when exhaling. This cone of rainbows has variable effects based on the color that strikes whatever they are aiming at.
*Genetic Memory: The dragon possesses very clear memories, inherited from its ancestors, within its genetics, not unlike a library or database. How far back these can be traced varies by the individual and their Court heritage. (only passes on to direct descendants in a diluted form)
*Trance: The means by which the dragon can access their inherited memories, falling into a meditative state while reviewing their catalogue of relevant experiences. Having this state disrupted causes no harm, but may leave the dragon slightly disoriented, or with an unpleasant headache. Reviewing memories occurs in an accelerated state, not unlike dreaming, allowing the dragon to review days or weeks of continuous memory within just a few minutes. (only passes on to direct descendants in a diluted form)
*Discern Truth & Lies: The dragon is capable of detecting whether or not an individual is knowingly lying - wholly or partially - or speaking the truth as they know it. This is by no means the ability to pick out absolute fact from fiction, but rather, the sense of what a person believes is true or false as they speak it.
*Karmic Weight: The dragon levies a blessing or curse of some kind on a target after passing judgment upon them. The severity or intensity of the result tends to depend on whatever was being judged.
*Kismet: The dragon has incredibly good luck of their own, and tends to be able to shrug off most bad luck and curse effects laid on them by others.

ADULTS
Amaria looked up dotingly at her bond-child Komenth. The blue dragon with his sparkly hide and red geode markings had grown up to be quite a bit bigger than his foster nanny but he still listened to her every word. She was so nice that she would never hurt him or others and he would do everything to make her wishes bear fruit. Even the one about caring for more children. 
But he'd need help for that one. Help he would need to convince or bribe. Komenth took a deep breath and headed up the Lantessama Isle mountains where the gem dragons lived. Most elusive of them was the Water Opal dragon who was said to be the cause of several of the changes at Lantessama. The Opal gem dragons all had amazing powers and hers seemed to be to change the inborn characteristics of fauna. If she could change the colours of the dragons on Lantessama, then maybe she could change Amaria enough to have her be able to have children. 
Onwarth he searched, until he finally heard the slithering of snakes.
"Miss Derastall?" he broadcasted tentatively.
"Who is it that calls me?" she asked, her voice like a breeze: elusive and refreshing but with a hidden power.
"I, Komenth, would like your aid." the opal court dragon said and told her of his wish.
The opal gem dragon drifted closer and draped herself around his neck. She was a womanly dragon who delighted in new life and laughter. But there was a catch.
"I cannot change Amaria like you wish." she breathed.
Instantly Komenth felt devastated. Derastall had been the one he'd pinned his hope on. What could he do if she couldn't help?
"But there is something I can help with." she continued.
A spark of hope flared up again, making Komenth's mind reel like he was doing loops.
"It will take work, but if I read you right, you won't mind doing the work for her." Derastall crooned, "I have heard tell stories of new immigrants. Aelith who like to work with genetics. If they can merge your precious Amaria's DNA with that of another dragon, then I can fuse it into eggs of a surrogate mother."
Komenth was stunned by the explanation. So there was a possibility? 
"All I need is a surrogate and a partner?" he asked.
"That's correct. And permission from all parties involved."
komenth somehow doubted Derastall had asked permission before her previous changes but maybe the gem dragon had been admonished for the workings of her magic. Whatever it was, Komenth felt he had a good chance. After all, he himself would gladly be the partner and he already had a dragon in mind to be the surrogate. And even if Eguth didn't want to, there would be others willing for the right reward.
"I'll do my best." he told Derastall.
"Don't forget to talk to those Aelith. I'm quite interested in meeting them." the elusive Opal Gem dragon reminded him.
(Coninued here)

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