Poppet

So our clan was searching an (undisclosed location) in the Shiftling Expanse, and discovered the ruins of an alchemists workshop that appears to once have been frequented by the great Alchemist Baldwin (judging by the large pile of Hallowed Ivy stems and Shellbug carcasses)

Within the complex of dusky ruins were the burned out shells of several laboratory complexes, including one marked:


Clearly this warranted further investigation!

The team excavated the ruins, and found an intact incubator which took a lot of effort to break into - Muffin eventually used her mad smashing skills to get around several of the safety containment systems, with a little help from freezing and burning courtesy of Brew and Bella. Clearly if you are a level 25 dragon warnings are things that apply to other dragons... right?

Unhatched Bogsneak Egg

Dragon Eggs

A tiny Bogsneak hatchling grows within. The thick, armored shell makes it unclear what elemental alignment it has taken.

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Unhatched Bogsneak Egg

Dragon Eggs

A tiny Bogsneak hatchling grows within. The thick, armored shell makes it unclear what elemental alignment it has taken.

0

Unhatched Bogsneak Egg

Dragon Eggs

A tiny Bogsneak hatchling grows within. The thick, armored shell makes it unclear what elemental alignment it has taken.

0

Unhatched Bogsneak Egg

Dragon Eggs

A tiny Bogsneak hatchling grows within. The thick, armored shell makes it unclear what elemental alignment it has taken.

0

Unhatched Bogsneak Egg

Dragon Eggs

A tiny Bogsneak hatchling grows within. The thick, armored shell makes it unclear what elemental alignment it has taken.

0

Unhatched Bogsneak Egg

Dragon Eggs

A tiny Bogsneak hatchling grows within. The thick, armored shell makes it unclear what elemental alignment it has taken.

0

Unhatched Bogsneak Egg

Dragon Eggs

A tiny Bogsneak hatchling grows within. The thick, armored shell makes it unclear what elemental alignment it has taken.

0

Unhatched Bogsneak Egg

Dragon Eggs

A tiny Bogsneak hatchling grows within. The thick, armored shell makes it unclear what elemental alignment it has taken.

0

Unhatched Bogsneak Egg

Dragon Eggs

A tiny Bogsneak hatchling grows within. The thick, armored shell makes it unclear what elemental alignment it has taken.

0

Unhatched Bogsneak Egg

Dragon Eggs

A tiny Bogsneak hatchling grows within. The thick, armored shell makes it unclear what elemental alignment it has taken.

0

The team was very excited to bring this stash of materials back home, until Cielo, the clan matriarch started asking her usual annoying questions:
"Where did you find these?"
"Are you sure they don't belong to someone?"
"Does this lair LOOK like it has a level 7 hazmat facility?"

Since Cielo is clearly not willing to see reason (her exact words were "get those monstrosities out of my lair RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!") we thought that the only sensible thing to do was to sell them to other clans that DID have a level 7 hazmat containment unit - you've got one of those right? We hear they are like a baby gate, but for teensey weensey elements of destruction?

(Note to buyers - coliseum brawling teams aren't generally known for their mad science skills)

So we have 10 unstable genetic experiments for sale, and it would be irresponsible for us to sell them on the open market (unless of course we can't sell them all by Halloween) LAH is 250kt / 300 gems each and will probably go up tomorrow, but the auction house can't sell you an egg with backstory

So - give us a reasonable offer and a CR request (since we will be largely offline until tomorrow morning) and if you give us a good price (with discounts for a good story) then we'll approve your trade request tomorrow morning.

Any unsold eggs will be surreptitiously snuck into the auction house tomorrow morning and mixed with the (presumably stable and less likely to be an evil abomination) bogsneak eggs for sale.

If there are more requests for eggs than we can supply we will choose the ones that we think are best (note that this is NOT likely to be purely price based) so give us a good story and a reasonable offer and we'll have fun tracking the exploits of the mad halloween unstable genetic experiments!

Ciello looks out of the "Lightning Distributors" office wondering why there is a small crowd of "those types" wearing clothes ranging from bleeding edge steampunk to sandwaste scavengers, all apparently arguing about "appropriate containment systems" with a periodic refrain of "needs more popsicle sticks!"

She shakes her head and heads back to the clans nesting grounds pleased that she managed to head off disaster...

...and looks in horror at the ten unmistakable impressions where eggs were placed in her nesting grounds, in among the clan's eggs which are scheduled to hatch tomorrow

Muffin, never the most brilliant of dragons was excitedly rummaging through the offerings.

"Oooh Nella look this one has crinkly wrapping! And it's shiny!" Several of the prospective patrons shuddered as Muffins massive armoured form flounced and bounced like a hatchling at a festival, her glasses fogging up as she ricocheted around like a hyperactive ferret. All this activity distracted her (and most of the other dragons) from noticing a small green egg making a break for freedom trailing slime - and being closely followed by one of the patrons intent on recapturing it!

Obviously if it escaped on its own it becomes a case of "finders keepers" right?

Bella huffed, trying to keep muffin away from the stockpile of eggs, the (presumably fragile) offerings brought by the various patrons, mad scientists and curiosity seekers, and the patrons themselves. Her only notable success was that Muffin crashed into the erstwhile sales platform instead. She shook her head as splinters rained down on the large and growing mob in front of the lair "The hatchlings are going to miss their lemonade stand..."

The commotion intensified before being pierced with a colossal SCREECH! as Cielo stomped out of her lair and grabbed Bella by the head crest, dragging her toward the lair.



What were you thinking? I can understand that Muffin can't figure out what she is doing through her head full of fluff, and Brew has a frozen block of water inside her skull, but YOU are supposed to be the responsible one - WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!!!

The tiny fae dragged Bella toward the entrance, with various curiosity seekers flinging themselves out of the way of a furious (albiet tiny) clan matriarch in full fury
"And you kept them in MY HATCHERY!" the larger dragon breeds shrank back at the assault on their delicate ears
"The Hatch is today and OH NO!"

Billows of smoke could be seen coming from the lair, in the general area of the nursery. A trickle, building quickly to a flood, then a torrent of familiars came streaming out of the lair trying to escape the blaze, and a small guardian girl could be seen leading a scurry of hatchlings out onto the roof away from the blaze. Cielo released her grip on Bella and rushed back inside, madly trying to coordinate efforts to fight the blaze.

The small guardian, looking satisfied wathed as the tide of panicked familiars hit what was left of a lemonade stand, bowled over Muffin and then proceeded to scatter eggs, dragons and materials around whilly-nilly. Muffin snatched at her "shiny crinkly wrap" and kept it safe, while many of the dragons seeking to purchase these oddities did their best to keep their trade wares safe.

As the wave of familiars vanished into the distance the swath of scattered cloth, gems, gew-gaws and finery made a brilliant counterpoint to the often drab wastes. A small, newly born hatchling led ten of her compatriots through the destruction and looked up at the half cybernetic wildclaw and said in perfect unaccented Guardian

"A bit of a bother getting out of that cave, don't you think" the wildclaw stepped back in astonishment as the guardian continued, with a bit of a lisp due to her still soft mouth dripping egg fluids "Would you happen to have a spot of tea?"

“Stop! This is an abomination!”



An awkward bogsneak came barreling into the chaos at a rather surprising speed considering his fumbling, tripping gait.

“Those eggs – uh, em – I mean hatchlings” he skidded to a stop in the middle of a group of dragons – some anxiously clutching at baby dragons, others desperately attempting to protect valuables – “Oh, yes indeed, hatchings” he panted, looking around at the strange collection of dragons. Drawing his attention away from the others and focusing in on a formidable-looking fae (yes, formidable in spite of her petite stature) as the obvious one in control, he drew himself up and proclaimed loudly, “That is to say, these are mine!”

Seeing the stern look he was getting, he went on, somewhat diminished. “Well, okay, they’re not exactly mine but they belong to Baldwin. You see, I am Gorlassar, one of his apprentices, and I was put in charge of maintaining the hatchery, you know, recording daily temperature data and whatnot. Keeping me away from the more … “ His voice dwindled away to a mutter. “…not enough experience for… “ He took a breath and seemed to gather himself again. “So that is to say, they were in my care and in any case, not yours! ”

The group had gone strangely silent, and the young bogsneak suddenly appeared rather uncomfortable now that all attention had turned his way. A beautiful young skydancer with radiant wings peeked around from behind the intimidating fae. “If they were yours, how come we found them all alone and abandoned?” she asked.

“Well, you see, that is quite a story. I was tending to the hatchery and collecting data on a few other miscellaneous experimental type projects, when the most tremendous ruckus started up. I ran to the door to see two impressive dragons engaged in battle. The force of their blows was like thunder, and they were uprooting trees with the lashing of their great tails. I watched for a time, mesmerized by the strength and ferocity of their struggle. The very ground shook as they employed both magic and might against each other. I came to my senses as their fighting was drawing closer and closer to the hatchery. The eggs were in peril!”

He paused for breath before continuing and noticed several little dragons gazing up at him with rapt attention. “I yelled at them, ’Stop this! Come no closer! There are unborn babes within these walls that you are endangering!’ They just turned and looked at me with malice in their eyes. One of them let out a great bellow, and that’s when the familiars swarmed in - hundreds of them, from every imaginable beastclan. I threw myself in front of that door, determined to keep them from the eggs, scratching and biting furiously, but I was finally overwhelmed.”

As he finished, his eyes met the fae’s stern gaze and then fell. All the pretense seemed to drain out of him as he quickly mumbled, “Oh alright then… I ran away.” He looked up sheepishly. “They were so big, and when one of them fell against the workshop and completely leveled one of the labs, I was afraid I might get trapped in there and squished like a common shellbug. I figured those poor little eggs were long gone."

He looked up with sad eyes. "It’s just that our clan had volunteered to foster one of the hatchlings, and my daughter Zivit had her heart absolutely set on it. Bless her, but I just can’t deny that girl anything. – Of course, we would need to keep data on it, you know, track its development for a long-term study on the effects of... well, I can’t really elaborate. But, I just had to come back to see if there were any left. And now that I’m here and I see that there are, I will need to gather them all up for …” It was then that he noticed all the smoke and the retreating dragons.

“Wait! Where have they all gone? Oh dear, oh dear. What has become of them? What have you done with them all?” he cried. He flung himself down rather melodramatically. “I was supposed to keep them safe. They were supposed to be safe. Oh, it’s all my fault. If you even had but one left to take back with me then all might not be lost.” He looked up to see if he was having any effect.

“Ah, but what could I offer for such a treasure even if you were to have one tucked safely away? I am but a poor apprentice." He paused for thought. "I suppose you could send me on your errands, and I could offer you all of my gatherings for a day."

"I would give you my brewing services, but as a mere apprentice, I fear that is not much. Still… if you ever wanted someone to do tedious reductions, it might be worth toiling for hours over a cauldron if I could just set things right. I do have some meager treasure if my services would not be helpful, but I fear it is not much."

"Please tell me you have just one hatching that has been protected from this mayhem?

"Would there be tea involved? I could really do with a spot of tea."


The small guardian looked up at the oddly self-concious bogsneak

"I'm pretty sure that I'm a hatchling, and it wasn't all that much trouble to get out of the hatching grounds... well nothing that a little combination of purple ooze and yellow goo mixed with silver muck couldn't solve"

Her wings gestured dramatically

"Boooom and Bob's you uncle, off we ran"

Many of the dragons started edging away from the loquacious hatchling - who shouldn't be talking within minutes of hatching, let alone creating alchemetical mayhem

"Is Zvit nice?"

Gorlassar looked down at the tiny creature, taking notice of her for the first time, and blinked repeatedly as if to bring her into better focus. "My little dear... What's this you speak of? Purple ooze, yellow goo, silver muck? Why that's... That's... " He trailed off in befuddlement. "That's something you shouldn't know at all! Baldwin's Beard!" He mused down at her in astonishment.

"Perhaps the proximity of the experimental..." he muttered half to himself. "Baldwin would be very interested in this. Interesting proposition indeed. If we could eliminate confounding factors... indicate causality... " He muttered on inaudibly for a few moments before focusing on the little guardian again. "And tea she says! Zivit would be so enthralled! Yes, I think we might yet salvage..."

He turned back to the little one, and slowly lowered himself down in what he considered a nonthreatening manner until he could look into her face. "Would you prefer Jasmine or Earl Grey?" he asked in his most soothing, fatherly tone that was usually reserved for his daughter. "on the other hand, green tea can be quite refreshing, and the zing of an oolong can really perk one up! Although, there's really nothing like a nice cup of English breakfast tea first think in the morning.
My daughter, Zivit, does like a good spicy Chai now and then. Although, perhaps for one so young we should start with a nice herbal chamomile?" He stopped himself. "Do pardon me. I'm off and rambling again."

He looked around at the few remaining dragons. "But this little one must surely have parents in the clan. I couldn't possibly..." He looked back at the remarkable girl. "But given the circumstances, you know, there is undoubtedly some exposure to consider. It might be safer to..." His eyes raised again to the matronly fae, and he hesitated. "May this child return with me? I humbly leave the decision in your hands. I will comply with your word, madam. "

The small guardian looked up at Gorlassar and said in a high squeaky voice
"Surely I don't need permission: I don't subscribe to any foolish notions of predestination, and free will is surely preeminent in this case"
She preened a bit, lost in thought and then grinned impishly
"Free will and explosives anyway!"
She stepped forward and whispered into his ear
"And Darjeeling tea - it's still morning, only a barbarian would drink chai before noon"
She tossed her tiny head with a sniff, spattering Gorlassar's nose with egg
"Unless maybe it had lots of honey and milk... then it's breakfast!"

Gorlasser seemed to be torn between fascinated and horrified, but was jostled out of his reverie by an armoured fluffy red slab of a dragon




"Maybe you should just take her off and we will tell Cielo that your clan has decided to foster her. Cielo sems a bit... occupied right now"
She turned toward the still burning lair, and the screeches of the clan matriarch that could still be heard over the shouts of dragons fighting the fire, and the sounds of many panicked familiars running willy-nilly across the landscape

"She can get kinda picky about the details, but I don't think she'd complain if we got everything all squared away formal like"
Muffin reached down and shook the dust (and footprints) off a vest and spats that had been dragged out of the lair by a panicked Toridae
"I'm sure that you brought this by for bonding of adoption right? I'll make sure she gets it. And maybe it would be best if we pretended that miss smarty-pants came by her alchemy skills because someone taught her..."

Brew lumbered up and glared at Muffin, and then gathered up the tiny guardian
"You take after your father luvvie - do you want to go with this fellow and learn how to make big explosions?"

The tiny guardian snuffled
"That sounds fun - but only if he'll promise to feed me tea!"

Gorlassar let out a loud chuckle. "Well, it seems that this has been settled quite nicely! Yes, yes. And Darjeeling, of course! Such an oversight on my part. I do hope you will forgive me. We certainly have Darjeeling, my little Poppet, and biscuits as well!"

He tenderly took the little dragon from Brew, a look of immense joy crossing his face. "Now, now... Let's get you home. I have a feeling there will be a great deal of fussing..."

"You mean tea?" she cut in.

"Quite right! Fussing and tea!" He gave a grateful nod to Brew before turning and heading off the way he had come.

"So, it seems my little Poppet has a knack for alchemy as well. We must think up some of the more engaging concoctions - things that crackle, things that flash, ... I even know one that makes a whistle like a teapot!"

A squeaky squeal of delight could still be heard as they passed out of sight.