Melianth launched herself from her lair in the cliffside of 
Keldarra and coasted to a gentle landing on the Warren green.  Aleta 
swung down and held her arms out, calling to the dark child still perched 
on the great green's shoulder.  Benna launched herself down Melianth's 
foreleg without hesitation, landing laughing and squeeling in Aleta's 
outstretched arms.  She threw her arms around Aleta's neck and gave her 
a big kiss.

	Aleta hugged her back, then stiffened self-consciously.  She 
checked around quickly for anyone watching her, kissed Benna on the 
forehead, and sent her off to acrobatics practise with Briana.

**********

	M'tan strolled over after breakfast to pick Benna up from 
Briana.  The child was full of boundless energy, and her antics had kept 
everyone enraptured.

	"Look!  Look at what Bree-ahna showed me!" Benna exclaimed as she 
saw M'tan come into view, stumbling lightly over the name.  She posed and 
did several summersaults in the grass.

	"She's a natural at this," Briana admitted.  "And I don't know 
where she gets all that energy!"

	"Kids are energy leaches," M'tan smiled, thinking of his younger 
siblings.  "The more they  keep going, the more tired you become."

	Briana laughed.  "Well, I'm certainly tired.  But it's so much 
fun to be teaching."

	"Look!" Benna cried, preparing for another summersault.  "Look 
at me!" 

	M'tan looked at her and laughed aloud.  "You just want to have 
all the attention," he scolded affectionately.

	"Yes," Benna replied charmingly. "Give me attention!"

	M'tan, smiling, moved to pick her up.  He suddenly stiffened.  
<There's a wraith attack on a trade caravan outside Seign!> Zareth 
exclaimed. 

	<Should we go??> M'tan demanded, ready to head into battle again.

	Hesitation.  <No,> Zareth replied.  <It's a small attack.  
Malekith and a part of Gamma Wing are going to take care of it.  Melianth 
says Aleta may take her Flight out to survey the damage afterward, but 
she says not to come.>

	M'tan nodded distantly.  <Can do.>

	"What's wrong?" Briana asked, a little alarmed. 

	M'tan shook his head.  "Another wraith attack-- a small one," he 
said.  "There are probably going to be some wounded coming in here, so we 
should make ready to welcome them.  But it's really nothing you need to 
worry about."

	Briana nodded solemnly.  "I understand."

	M'tan picked Benna up expertly and rested her on his hip.  
"You're doing a great job here," he observed, looking around at the 
children practicing.  Briana flushed with pride and thanked him.  He 
smiled and waved at her as he left.

	"Do you want to come with me to meet a friend of mine?" he asked 
Benna quietly as they walked.

	"What kind of friend??"

	"A very close one," M'tan replied.  "I think you'll like him, and 
I think he's been wanting to see you."  *Afraid* of seeing her was more 
like it, he knew from the look on Almiron's face when he had woken from 
the coma.  But it was about time for a confrontation.

	The meeting with Almiron, even with the consideration of Benna 
and the possibility of Darlea's pregnancy, had a strange, surreal 
quality.  Almiron's room was uncharacteristically empty of wares, and 
there was a hideous dye stain on the floor-- one M'tan found it difficult 
to believe Almiron could have caused.  And it was certainly obvious that 
Almiron had a lot on his mind.

	M'tan was not the type to press people for information, and he 
let Almiron talk about the troubles he felt comfortable sharing.  But he 
couldn't help glance around the room, especially as Almiron and Benna 
sang together in a haunting tongue M'tan could not understand, and wonder 
what had caused the difference.  Perhaps Almiron would tell him later.

	At least he was staying.  That was a pleasant thought.  And Benna 
had a wonderfully cheering effect on him-- he'd never heard Almiron laugh 
before.  He should do it more often.

	Almiron looked exhausted as the meeting concluded, and M'tan 
thought it was good to get away and let him sleep.  He brought Benna with 
him to the dining hall for lunch.

	"How would you like to stay with us?" he asked Benna pointedly.

	"I *am* staying with you, silly," Benna replied hapily.

	"Do you like living with Aleta?"

	"She frowns all the time," Benna observed.  "But she's funny."

	M'tan laughed quietly to himself.  That was all the judgement he 
needed.  

**********

	There was only one seriously wounded from the attack on the 
Kale-Barr trading caravan, but the large trading family now found itself 
without wares or transportation.  Christalla met them as they arrived, 
transported adragonback by members of Gamma and Alpha Wings, and offered 
them space at Keldarra for as long as they liked.  Though a bit reluctant 
to put themselves furthan in debt to the dragonriders, Rikale and his 
people eventually agreed.

	The injured boy, Mukale, recovered quickly, and Christalla 
suspected that Almiron might have had some hand in that.  There was no 
point in confronting him about it-- it seemed he would toss about his 
healing ability as he saw fit.  But Christalla hoped fervently that he 
stayed away from too many women.  She was keeping an eye on Darlea, but 
*Aleta* hadn't turned up pregnant...

	Two months crept by as Christalla found herself aquainted with 
morning sickness, bloating, and general discomfort.  M'ressan was 
tireless in his support, but sometimes she wanted to yell at him anyway.  
How could he be so impervious?? Because he was a man and didn't have to 
have babies, THAT's why.

	Christalla and Evelle screened the Warren thouroughly for 
Hatching candidates, and Aleta brought in a few from the Landbound, but 
not many this time.  Christalla kept the Queen egg in mind especially.  
After 9 years of only one Queen at Keldarra, now they were to have *3*!  
And there were plenty of young women Christalla saw with the potential of 
being a Queenrider-- a least 10 very cultured, polite girls that would be 
easily trained in diplomacy.  But these were all Warrenborn girls.  The 
Landborn girls-- Carie, Briana, and Sky-- all had strong dragon-afinity, 
but seemed for the type for combat dragons.  Especially Carie.

	Evelle kept a constant eye on Christalla to keep her from taking 
too much on herself.  Christalla found this endlessly irritating, but 
endured with a diplomat's grace, if a little forced.

	After receiving multiple reports from Evelle and Aleta about the 
dragon-affinity of the boy Mukale from the Kale-Barr caravan, Christalla 
began to look into making him a candidate.

[NRPG: Mike E, I'm not familiar with your character yet, or what you have 
in mind for his joining.  I'm going to leave this to you to backpost.  
Christalla will contact Mukale and his family.]

	Then, after the first month Alicynth's clutch had passed, Evelle 
brought some disturbing news.  V'rdeen.  He seemed to be targetting 
landborn women-- and mates of landborn men-- in some kind of bigotted 
vendetta.  Evelle had kept records of at least a dozen women harrassed, 
some fairly seriously.

	Christalla looked over the pad containing Evelle's records.  "You 
should have brought this to me a long time ago," she said quietly.

	"I *am* WarrenLady," Evelle protested.  "There's nothing wrong 
with me doing the research on my own.  You didn't need to be bothered."

	Christalla sighed, and Evelle could feel Christalla's 
disappointment in her.  "With something this serious going on at my 
Warren, I always need to be bothered," she said.

	"It is my Warren too, Christalla."

	Christalla looked up at the determined expression on Evelle's face 
and smiled in spite of herself.  "Yes, I suppose it is," she conceeded.  
But what is this about Almiron's room being  ransacked?  A month ago?  
Was there some kind of conspiracy of silence to keep this from me?  He 
should have at least been compensated for his lost wares."  

	"That hadn't occurred to me," Evelle admitted.  "Perhaps we 
should discuss this with him?"

	"Well, it's been a while now," Christalla sighed.  "He's well 
situated in a Warren apartment.  But I feel I should address him about it 
anyway.  Keldarra's a bit stretched right now, so I have to be careful 
what kind of compensation I offer, but he's done Keldarra countless 
services already.  I think I should talk to him."

	This was independent of her personal feelings, which still were a 
bit uncertain about Almiron.  She was preganant, after all, and it did 
appear to be a fault of his.  She'd thought over everything, and that 
touch of his... how she'd felt afterwards... she knew that had to have 
been when she conceived. 

	Evelle looked her over.  "Certainly, if you're sure.  What are we 
going to do about V'rdeen."

	"I want to catch him at it," Christalla replied.  "I can take 
action then.  We need to keep him under observation."  Evelle nodded.

[NRPG: Lyn, go ahead and write a conversation with Christalla in her 
office. Be creative :).]

**********

	Two more weeks passed, and Evelle began walking around Keldarra 
wreathed in smiles.  "The dragonets are waking up!" she confided in 
Christalla.  "Ali says she can feel their minds reaching consciousness.  
She's been working out names for them for days."  Christalla could only 
smile, knowing what a special time this was.


	Then, when two months were nearly up, Christalla was eating lunch 
with Evelle, M'ressan, and Wynn when Evelle jumped up, holding her head.  
"The eggs!" she cried.  "They're hatching!"

	The air was filled with the excited trumpeting of dragons.  
Christalla immediately took charge.  It was so strange for eggs to be 
hatching and NOT to be hearing Kaeryth's excited singing in her mind.  
She sent Wynn to escort Evelle to the Hatching Cavern, and she and 
M'ressan began organizing candidates.  Aleta and Alpha Wing departed to 
pick up any last-minute guests.

	The eggs were already hatching by the time she could make it to 
her seat in the Hatching Cavern.  Fifteen eggs, including one Queen, and 
they were all hatching at once.  Multicolored dragonets climbed over each 
other flapping useless wet wings and keening miserably.  Each one 
was about 4' long, a shadow of the mighty size they would once achieve, 
and could only be considered beautiful to a mother Dragon or a newly 
joined dragonrider.  

	Christalla signaled M'ressan just off the Hatching sands, and he 
directed the orderly lines of candidates onto the hot sands.

	The orderliness dissolved almost immediately as the hatchlings 
and candidates scattered amongst each other, looking for the right 
match.  The group of Christalla's handpicked Queen candidates stayed in a 
clump, searching for the metallic-colored hatchling.

	Then, as the audience held its breath, the first joining 
occurred.  A keening brown-and-gold stumbled and collided with an unaware 
boy, no more than fifteen.  He reached down to help it, and met it's 
huge, black eyes.  

	"His... his names Kalron!"

	A cheer rose from the audience.  The Dragons trumpeted 
excitedly.  And the chaos of Hatching descended completely.


Respectfully Submitted,

Susan Rati
Administrator, DragonLands

NRPG: Whew!  A bit piecemeal, but it gets us there.  I really wanted to 
get us to the hatching in this post, so forgive any vagueness.  Everyone, 
go ahead and flesh out your activities for 2 months from the outline I 
gave from Christalla's perspective. :)

We've run a hatching before this.  It's in the post archive under 
February, and the first hatching post is entitled, interestingly, 
"Hatching!"  So, if you want more data on how the Hatching is run, check 
out the web page (shameless plug): 
http://ezinfo.ucs.indiana.edu/~srati/dlands.html