un: hidden | audio

[matermali]

( cw; drug use—marijuana )

[ The woman's voice that scrapes through the network's channel keeps low and calm, with a vocal fry that is uttered in a distinctly English accent. ]

The dragon of recent arrival, whom I believe to be named Zhaera, wishes nothing to do with us, and so I would suggest leaving her be. Her only concern seems to be in mothering, and the power she wields would be no small thing if she feels the need to defend her nest. Best not to invite her ire when she has yet any cause to make of herself a monster.

She knows even less than we do about her sudden appearance. Perhaps if she did, she would not be so willing to keep to her singular cause.

I should also think that the serpents deserve no ill will en masse unless they become an immediate threat. I'm of no mind to make demands, but perhaps they can be herded into the woods where they can better find the prey they likely crave. A task I am willing to take on should any with the skill wish to assist.

Aurora has given us few choices aside from what we do with these trials presented.

[ The pause that follows is not from hesitation, but a drag that includes a whispered exhale of smoke that remains unseen on the network. Should anyone happen upon where she's seated on a bench near the café and bookstore, Vanessa—in all of her black-laced glory—is smoking a joint.

The rasp softens with her murmur. ]

We are all outsiders, after all.

Comments

un: smallbat | audio

[smallbat]

Do you have experience with dragons outside of this?

[matermali]

[ Now that pause is hesitation.

The Dragon.

... ]

None but those read about in epic poems, I'm afraid. Never before did I think they could be real, but I ought to have known better given all else I have been witness to.

Have you known any?

[smallbat]

Not anything like this one. A spirt of one once in another world though.

I hate magic though.

[matermali]

[ Vanessa isn't about to defend her own magic. The self-loathing is too grand. ]

You've encountered some trouble with it, then?

audio, un: gorgug

[tinflower]

I don't, are there animals anywhere else? For the snakes to eat-- I think snakes only eat animals, so.

I don't know a lot about around Etraya. Just, it seems pretty empty. [ Ah, quickly: ] But I'll help.

[ In case it sounds like he won't, but-- he's confused, trying to understand. His voice young, unsure, but sincere. ]

[matermali]

There are indeed animals of all sorts about. You need only know where to look.

[ It isn't as chaotic as it was a couple of months ago, but she has lived in a city completely barren of animals and insects, so she knows the difference. ]

You wish to help? Do you have experience with wild creatures?

[tinflower]

No, but I'm strong? I can help move them, I mean, if we knock them out. And, well, if we need to get rid of some, since, they're big? I think we might have to think about that. Maybe.

[ A beat, and quickly: ] Only if we have to.

[ It's added as a simple possibility, a maybe, more of volunteering for it than being eager for it. More of a doer, action person, than being confident in the planning. ]

un: fett; text

[shabuir]

[ Fett has killed one of the serpents so far—though, he'd mostly been putting it out of its misery after someone had insisted on blinding the creature to stop it from eating a few stray cats. Still, he figures they'll have to be dealt with more systematically at some point; one can't just introduce megafauna like that into an artificial, sparsely-populated ecosystem like Etraya and expect no problems. ]

I don't see any benefit to keeping them alive. Creatures that large will need a constant supply of prey to keep them from going after humanoids. Better to put them down before they become a threat.

[matermali]

Etraya and its surrounding region seems to invite new fauna every so often, but I have no argument against a cull.

Do as you will. I've no interest in stopping you if you wish to hunt.

audio. un: derolo

[littlestderolo]

[The voice that responds also sounds rather properly English. Also young.]

It's good to know her name. I've been trying to leave food for her, to show that I don't mean her any harm. [She doesn't say 'we' there, because she doesn't know about anyone else that's been brought here and quite frankly she's mistrustful of most of them.

That she's suggesting what Cassandra herself had wanted, had hoped for in regards to the snakes, inclines her a little. Enough to respond to this message, at least. She'd half-blinded a couple, one in her efforts to keep it from eating several kittens and draw its attention on herself instead and another to keep it from trying to eat someone, but she would have avoided it, if she could have.]

I'd like to help try and herd the snakes somewhere safer. They had as little say in their coming here as we did. It's only right to try.

[matermali]

I should think that keeping a wide berth ought to achieve the same message. You invite danger if you continue to try and engage her, but do as you like.

[ Despite what some vampires like to think, she's no one's mother.

But why are there so many children around... ]

You seem to lack fear in volunteering for such ventures, but is there cause for it, or is this the boldness of youth? Do you have a skill to offer? I don't wish to use children as bait for these serpents.

[littlestderolo]

I intend to.

[It's spoken rather matter of factly. Regardless, she intends to continue to try and let the dragon know that she's friendly. That she means no harm, and wishes to help. No one can change her mind otherwise. (She knows all too well what it is to be alone. And to have choice taken from you. Zhaera hadn’t asked to be brought here. The least she can do is try and help.

She has no need for another mother. She only had the one, only needed the one, and Cassandra feels no need to ever replace her. (The thought of anyone else mothering her honestly turns her stomach; courtesy of Delilah. The woman’s definition of motherly is twisted and wrong. Particularly since she’d helped murder Cassandra’s mother, and most of her family.) She’s been surviving on her own for some time now, in her own personal hell.

Dragons and snakes are a vast improvement.]

Snakes aren’t the worst thing in the world. This or any other. Even ones as large as these. And I think it’s necessary. If I wish to try and make an attempt to keep the lot of them from being slaughtered wholesale, then I certainly can’t avoid the danger that entails, can I?

[Nor would it be her first experience with danger. At least this is by her choice.]

As far as skills; speed, stealth, the ability to fit somewhere small in case an expedient retreat is necessary. I doubt that these snakes speak a language, let alone the particular dialects the Serpentfolk in my world speak, but it would be something to try, as a last resort. The ability to fight, if need be.

[Not her first choice, of course, but she can. Her mother had made certain of that.]

Perhaps there’s some way to incapacitate them. Although moving their unconscious bodies would prove difficult. It might be better to try and lead them elsewhere under their own power. At least some of them. [She can’t help the brief flicker of humour in her voice.] Attempting to haul unconscious snake bodies through the streets en masse seems as though it’d make unnecessary work for us.

voice; un: MAXIMUMLEGEND

[maximumlegend]

[ Sure, there's a discussion to be had about these creatures and what to do with them. That much is obvious. But Fabian figures a whole lot more people than him will be thinking about this, and-- besides, the more he listens to Vanessa, the more something becomes clear to him. ]

You really seem to care about this. [ He points out.

Not even as a bad thing - it just stands out to the young man. ]

[matermali]

Enough to make mention. Not enough to protest should others wish to be rid of them.

[ The last thing she wants is to be mistaken for a bleeding heart. ]

Perhaps I only carry a lingering fondness of serpents, for the sake of an old friend.

[ Oh Crowley, she misses you! ]

And what do you think on the matter?

[maximumlegend]

I mean, if they become a problem, then we just kill them.

[ Maybe it's an oversimplification, but this is just how it works in Fabian's head. It's what he's been taught his entire life. If something becomes a problem, then you just get it out of the way. ]

But from what you're saying, it doesn't sound like they're a problem? [ A slight pause, and then the boy definitely sounds a little more grumpy in that very teenage way as he adds: ] Maybe yet. I mean, this place seems to be doing pretty much anything to inconvenience us. There was a lion in the hallway of the apartment building back when I first showed up here.

text; un: Constantine

[keepgodwaiting]

since when can you talk to dragons

[matermali]

Conversation was a bit thin, I'm afraid. What I gathered was more from lingering memory. Emotions. Intent.

I could understand when she was sharing her name, at least I believe so, but her language is yet unknown to me. Someone else with more experience on the matter may fare better.

[keepgodwaiting]

So is that you're dragon-psychic, or that she's telepathic?

un: localflorist | text

[anciently]

it's tough, isn't it?
because there's a pretty fine line between "animals" and "fiends" where i come from.
just because it's dangerous doesn't mean we should destroy it.
but also, just because it's a living thing doesn't mean it won't hurt someone.

[matermali]

The same could be said for humanity.

What draws the line between animals and fiends in your world?

[anciently]

i'm not an expert, but i think it's something like this: animals hunt for food. to live. fiends act only out of violence.

sometimes it's mako that turns a normal animal into something worse, too.

un: Merciless, text

[dangerousmind]

Dragons are incredibly easy to manipulate. Just butter them up and you can run circles around them.

[Yeah, that's totally what the point of this post was.]

[not here]

[furiousfists]

[ Adaine doesn't have much to add to this conversation that Gorgug hasn't already covered up above. And she's sure that her friends know that it goes without saying that she's in for whatever plan they come up with to address the snake issue.

But it is interesting, to say the least, to see Aelwyn's unfiltered opinion on the subject of dragons. Not surprising, really. But interesting nonetheless. ]

[matermali]

Speaking from experience?

[dangerousmind]

Yep.

Worked for one.

Well. I worked for something else and she told me to go offer my services to him so we could manipulate him in service of a larger plan. The older more malicious dragons have pride encoded within their biology. It tends to get them into trouble.