NRPG: This is the introductory post for the new World Weavers realm, 
DragonLands.  It is intended to introduce characters and outline the 
situation/culture of the gaming world.  

Mail me (srati@ucs.indiana.edu) for more info.  We'll be glad to have 
you!  The FAQ will be posted along with this.


RPG:

	Christalla walked in bare feet along the edge of the Hatching 
Sands, just close enough to feel their heat yet avoid discomfort.  She 
was a small woman, dressed simply, with long blonde hair and pleasant 
blue eyes.  She was approaching 30 years old, but still had an almost 
childlike face.

	Just days before an expected hatching, the vast Hatching Cavern 
was all but empty.  Sunlight cascaded through the massive cave mouth, 
reflecting copper-gold against the hide of the expectant mother-dragon, 
the Empress Kaeryth, as she coiled protectively around her clutch of 
around 40 eggs.  It wouldn't be long now. 

	Christalla relished these times alone with Kaeryth.  It seemed 
they were becoming harder and harder to come by as time passed.  It was 
only in her dragon's company that she could completely leave rank and 
responsibility behind.  Not even with M'ressan was she capable of being 
ONLY Christalla and not the DragonLady.  Dragons completely ignored the 
social structures of their riders, and in a way that was part of their 
beauty. 

	Kaeryth moved restlessly, using her hot breath to raise the heat 
of the sands to keep it optimum temperature for her eggs.  She was always 
tense and nervous this close to hatching time.  Pending motherhood didn't 
bring out the best in her.  Christalla tended to wonder if she would be 
as impossible to deal with when she someday became pregnant.  She hoped 
not.  M'ressan might not survive.

	<Your mate is coming,>y Kaeryth told Christalla excitedly.  
Christalla grinned.  She knew that Kaeryth didn't care one way or the 
other about that bothersome Human, but his dragon...

	There was a whoosh of wings, and a huge crimson dragon swooped in 
to land on the Hatching Cavern sands.  Kaeryth hissed at it -- not so much 
as warning as an expression of her general distress.  A man dressed in 
leather riding gear swung expertly down from his perch on his dragon's 
shoulders, his boots crunching in the coarse sand.  He walked toward 
Christalla, pushing windblown black hair out of his face.  His green eyes 
were twinkling.

	He drew himself to attention in front of her.  "All's quiet on 
the Western Patrol, DragonLady," he reported.  "Is there any more service 
I can offer you?"

	Christalla laughed.  "You've done your duty well, Wingleader 
M'ressan," she replied.  "I'll have to reward you later."

	"A reward sounds appealing, DragonLady," M'ressan said huskily, 
grabbing Christalla and pulling her to him.  She laughed and turned away 
from him.

	"There's a metallic egg in the clutch this time," she said, 
triumphantly changing the subject.  "Kaeryth showed it to me this 
afternoon." 

	M'ressan's grip on her shoulders became tighter.  "A Queen egg??" 
he exclaimed.  "That's wonderful!  Keldarra's been dependent on only one 
egg layer for entirely too long.  Do you have some girls in mind as 
joining candidates?"

	Christalla shook her head, her face suddenly serious.  "Not at 
the moment.  I'm going to start screening the unjoined Warren girls 
tomorrow.  This is a really big deal.  Empress dragons are usually 
daughters of Empress dragons.  This girl could well succeed me as the 
DragonLady."

	M'ressan nodded.  The Empress had resided at Keldarra for 
generations.  "I'll tell Aleta to refine the Search.  We don't have more 
than a week now."

	"I have faith in Aleta," she said, her DragonLady persona 
surfacing, "and in you."  She turned her head back to the Hatching Sands, 
where Kaeryth and M'ressan's crimson Alanth were tenderly nuzzling each 
other.  "I've never seen two dragons so devoted to each other," she 
murmurred affectionately, just Christalla again.  "If it weren't 
for Alanth, I think Kaeryth would drive me crazy around this time."

	"I can see how they feel," M'ressan said, dragging her closer.  
"Now what about that reward?"

	"I have just the reward in mind," she replied wickedly and leaned 
in to kiss him.

	Suddenly, M'ressan stiffened.  Christalla pulled away, forcing 
down the surge of panic this always caused in her.   She knew he was 
receiving a telepathic message from another dragon, and from his bodily 
reaction, it was a serious one.  M'ressan was highly telepathic, able 
to communicate with any dragon at impressive distances.  It galled 
Christalla sometimes to know how much she depended on him for his 
communications ability.  She'd always thought that HE deserved to be 
DragonLord, but the Warren command structure only allowed the Empress 
rider to lead, and that had never been a male.

	"Who is it?" she asked nervously.  When he didn't respond, she 
asked Kaeryth, <Do you know who my mate is talking to?>

	<Melianth has returned,> Kaeryth answered, and there was 
something in the tone of the dragon's thoughts that made Christalla 
uneasy. 

	Very uneasy.

	M'ressan's eyes refocussed on Christalla.  "I have to get my Wing 
ready for combat," he said cryptically.  "Aleta needs me."  He turned and 
ran across the sands.  Alanth met eyes with his rider, spread his mightly 
wings, and launched himself into the air.  He swooped low enough for 
M'ressan to grab saddle straps and haul himself astride.

	"M'ressan!"  Christalla ran after them, feeling helplessly 
landbound while her dragon was guarding eggs.  Aleta was M'ressan's 
sister, his only living relative, and he would do anything for her -- and 
his behavior meant that there was some kind of danger.  She ran to the 
mouth of the Hatching Cavern.

	Outside, Aleta's great green Melianth hovered dangerously close 
to the steep Warren cliff-walls.  She could hear the fire-haired Alpha 
Wingleader barking orders to the unjoined Warren staff below her.  People 
were running about and shoveling coal into the waiting mouths of dozens 
of combat dragons.  Half of Aleta's wing was here, and M'ressan was 
rousing all of his.
	
	"Aleta!" Christalla screamed over the beating of wings.  "What's 
going on!"  She was the DragonLady, damnit.  She was supposed to be 
informed. 

	Aleta looked down.  "Wraith attack on Ralengarde!" she called 
back.  "Half of my wing is there doing the best they can, but their flame 
isn't going to last long!"

	Those dragons hadn't chewed any coal.  With such heavy use, a 
dragon could only sustain flame for half an hour, with heavy use.

	But WRAITHS??  There hadn't been a wraith attack anywhere in the 
DragonLands in decades!  Christalla's predecessor as DragonLady had dared 
to say that the wraiths had been destroyed.  Why were they back??

	Christalla stood and watched as the dragon wings readied for 
combat.  The wind caused by increasing numbers of dragons launching into 
the air plastered her clothing to her skin.  There would be heavy 
injuries, she knew.  Few of these dragonriders had ever fought wraiths 
before, and she'd heard terrible stories of what wraiths did to flesh... 

	<Wish them luck for me,> she told Kaeryth.

	<I already have,> the dragon replied.

	Aleta raised her hand as a signal, and M'ressan answered it.  
Dozens of multicolored dragons took to the sky.  And, as the two 
wingleaders signaled each other, all of them disappeared in unison.  

	Teleported to Ralengarde.

	Christalla sighed.  This was the hardest part of being 
DragonLady.  Now all there was to do was wait to pick up the pieces, 
and hope that there were no lives lost.  The other Warrens would have to 
be informed that the wraiths were back.


Respectfully Submitted,

Susan Rati
Administrator, DragonLands


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