Xen greeted the coatls with several hellos and well wishes. A few gave him some rather perplexed looks with his quick signing, but thanks to his frequent work with Arden and Pip, the golem could actually translate most of it into decent coatl. Xen was so pleased with himself that he jotted down a few notes to return to Clan Fairewind's only coatl and their number one translator. The pair would certainly be pleased that their work with Xen had paid off so well.
The few Coatl not completely offended by the robotic imitation of their language fetched Xen a set of gears; a little rusty, but nothing a bit of oil and some elbow grease couldn't sort out. Xen thanked them with a few taps on his chin, promised their safe return and some extra profit for their investment, then headed back to the building to store his goods.
Ursa was fast asleep when he returned, but even so had managed to protect Xen's corner of the room. The rest of storage looked as though it had been cleared out; save for his work space. Some of the chalked out plans had become smudged and Xen's frills quivered with discontent. The nerve of some dragons. Another night of planning and re-planning. This thing would finally come together soon, he simply needed a few finishing touches.
Like a base.
"Pardon me." The voice of the ridgeback security officer from earlier in the week startled Xen awake. He glanced over to see the larger dragon holding out a small bat contentedly hanging on their claw. Ursa had moved, placing herself somewhere between Xen and the other dragon, but didn't look aggressive. The ridgeback spoke again once they knew Xen was awake, "Sorry to disturb you. This came for you today?"
Xen sat up and then flew forward to greet the bat who dropped from the Ridgeback's claw and deposited (where do they carry these things?) a scroll into Xen's hands before making itself comfortable in a dark corner of the storage room. Xen tapped his chin and the guard nodded.
"Right. Have a good day then."
The letter was from the clan. The writing was clearly Jasper's, though many had signed it. It started as an eloquent well wishing that quickly spiraled into a list of souveniers that everyone wanted from the trip. Bah, foolish dragons. Didn't they know he was working?
His father's signiture at the bottom of the letter caught his eye. His frills sparked; okay, just one gift.
Xen headed down to the lower floors and examined what was what. Aisles and aisles of dragons filled the open floor scheme peddling and showing this or that. He grabbed a few things for the folks back at the Plateau; he'd make them pay him back later.
The side rooms then caught his eye.
Classrooms with many different learning opportunities littered the halls. Pottery, drawing, painting, gardening; it was an educated dragon's candy store. With nothing to lose Xen hopped in and out of classes, staying long enough to cobble something together before flitting off to the next class. The furiosity of his own inner lighting sparked and buzzed across his frills, threatening to short out his golem each time it flew too close. He simply couldn't help it, there was so much potential here.
Idea.
With so many materials and so much to be done Xen realized he had exactly what he could need right in front of him. The question now became just what to use. Metal was an obvious choice, sure, but with his theme, it was something that felt rather limited; not to mention altering it would be a task much easier for a fire dragon. Bones were...an interesting choice, but impractical and rather morbid, even from a scientific standard. Clay could work, particularly with his small hands, but was also rather breakable.
B) But the wood.
Wood could be modified to any shape if one was careful and patient enough. It's a plentiful source, and could potentially serve as a host for his power source if he bred the plants together correctly. More than that, splitting and shaping the wood should be much simpler than working with many of the other materials.
He dove into the woodshop and got to work. He knew exactly how he would handle this.
The few Coatl not completely offended by the robotic imitation of their language fetched Xen a set of gears; a little rusty, but nothing a bit of oil and some elbow grease couldn't sort out. Xen thanked them with a few taps on his chin, promised their safe return and some extra profit for their investment, then headed back to the building to store his goods.
Ursa was fast asleep when he returned, but even so had managed to protect Xen's corner of the room. The rest of storage looked as though it had been cleared out; save for his work space. Some of the chalked out plans had become smudged and Xen's frills quivered with discontent. The nerve of some dragons. Another night of planning and re-planning. This thing would finally come together soon, he simply needed a few finishing touches.
Like a base.
"Pardon me." The voice of the ridgeback security officer from earlier in the week startled Xen awake. He glanced over to see the larger dragon holding out a small bat contentedly hanging on their claw. Ursa had moved, placing herself somewhere between Xen and the other dragon, but didn't look aggressive. The ridgeback spoke again once they knew Xen was awake, "Sorry to disturb you. This came for you today?"
Xen sat up and then flew forward to greet the bat who dropped from the Ridgeback's claw and deposited (where do they carry these things?) a scroll into Xen's hands before making itself comfortable in a dark corner of the storage room. Xen tapped his chin and the guard nodded.
"Right. Have a good day then."
The letter was from the clan. The writing was clearly Jasper's, though many had signed it. It started as an eloquent well wishing that quickly spiraled into a list of souveniers that everyone wanted from the trip. Bah, foolish dragons. Didn't they know he was working?
His father's signiture at the bottom of the letter caught his eye. His frills sparked; okay, just one gift.
Xen headed down to the lower floors and examined what was what. Aisles and aisles of dragons filled the open floor scheme peddling and showing this or that. He grabbed a few things for the folks back at the Plateau; he'd make them pay him back later.
The side rooms then caught his eye.
Classrooms with many different learning opportunities littered the halls. Pottery, drawing, painting, gardening; it was an educated dragon's candy store. With nothing to lose Xen hopped in and out of classes, staying long enough to cobble something together before flitting off to the next class. The furiosity of his own inner lighting sparked and buzzed across his frills, threatening to short out his golem each time it flew too close. He simply couldn't help it, there was so much potential here.
Idea.
With so many materials and so much to be done Xen realized he had exactly what he could need right in front of him. The question now became just what to use. Metal was an obvious choice, sure, but with his theme, it was something that felt rather limited; not to mention altering it would be a task much easier for a fire dragon. Bones were...an interesting choice, but impractical and rather morbid, even from a scientific standard. Clay could work, particularly with his small hands, but was also rather breakable.
B) But the wood.
Wood could be modified to any shape if one was careful and patient enough. It's a plentiful source, and could potentially serve as a host for his power source if he bred the plants together correctly. More than that, splitting and shaping the wood should be much simpler than working with many of the other materials.
He dove into the woodshop and got to work. He knew exactly how he would handle this.
