07.06b: Underwater Ball (A Dance with... Well, you know...)

The goings on of courts
Rasanam
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07.06b: Underwater Ball (A Dance with... Well, you know...)

Post by Rasanam »

Kizak, the bay dragon, is a little overwhelmed. He's used to inspiring terror and menacing towns. This being welcomed and thrust into the social circuit is difficult for him, but he's doing okay. He's got a small group of people asking questions, many who have never seen a dragon before.

But it's probably not helping his peace of mind when Rasanam and Lyra head off the dance floor towards him.

Rasanam nods politely to those present, careful to address everyone here rather than singling out Kizak. "Greetings. I am Rasanam, and this is my wife, Lyra. I hope we're not interrupting anything?"
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Joshua
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Re: 07.06b: Underwater Ball (A Dance with... Well, you know.

Post by Joshua »

Kizak goes immediately silent and attempts to back away as the rest of the crowd makes introductions and small talk. He does an impressive job of shrinking into himself as he's over 7 feet tall and well, a giant dragon. Anyone observing can tell something upset him, and he's withdrawing rather than face it. It's definitely something related to the newcomers, but what might be hard to tell. They're all dragons, after all. Right?

(OOC: I'm focusing on what is apparently the cat-and-mouse focus of cornering this dragon, set against the backdrop of the ball. If that's not the intent, I can fix that.)
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ShadowOfPreservation
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Re: 07.06b: Underwater Ball (A Dance with... Well, you know.

Post by ShadowOfPreservation »

Lyra looks at Kizak with a look of confusion for a moment before turning to the others that had been gathered there to speak with him and drawing them into a side conversation, completely non-Dragon related. As she engages with the other guest and gets to know them better, she shifts he position subtly so that after a few moments, she's moved as far away from Kizak as she can get without completely leaving the area. Seeing Jiga arrive, she will turn in her direction and wave before pointing the Tengu and her Raven companion out to the others. "Jiga was basically my best friend from back home. I'm so glad she agreed to come back to Amber with Rasanam and me." Lyra casually keeps and eye on Kizak but is clearly doing her best to become the center of attention and relieve some of the social pressure from the Dragon.
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Re: 07.06b: Underwater Ball (A Dance with... Well, you know.

Post by Rasanam »

And while Lyra is holding the center of attention, Rasanam steps over towards Kizak and - quietly - asks, "So, what's the problem?"

((OOC extra context: Rasanam has enough psyche to realize that Kizak's concern is directed solely at Lyra - and enough ways to cheat at communication to let her know and coordinate getting the free space to ask Kizak a question while nobody else is paying attention.))
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Joshua
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Re: 07.06b: Underwater Ball (A Dance with... Well, you know.

Post by Joshua »

"N-Nothing." Kizak will dodge the question. "I didn't expect other dragons to be here. I was told I was the only one."
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Re: 07.06b: Underwater Ball (A Dance with... Well, you know.

Post by Rasanam »

"Mm. Not quite true, but certainly close. As far as I know you're the only one in Rebma... but then, I haven't spent much time here, and I don't have whatever trick you're using to tell. How are you doing that, anyway?"

((In case the reader isn't quite following along: the "trick" in question is how Kizak has been able to identify Lyra as "dragon", but Rasanam as "not-dragon". Come to think of it, that particular leap of logic might not be obvious to Kizak, either.))
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Joshua
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Re: 07.06b: Underwater Ball (A Dance with... Well, you know.

Post by Joshua »

"trick, there's no trick," Kizak objects. "I wouldn't dare presume to trick another dragon. Such things are simply not done." The rote objection sounds rehearsed, and seems clear that the act of objecting is more important than the believability of the objection itself. "I don't wish to cause her trouble, or you..."
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Re: 07.06b: Underwater Ball (A Dance with... Well, you know.

Post by Rasanam »

Rasanam shakes his head and leans against the wall. "I'm sorry, that's not what I meant to imply. We don't want to cause you any discomfort, either; we're just curious. The plane we come from has nearly a hundred known types of dragon, and you don't match any of them. Nor would any of them have been able to just look at me and know that I wasn't a dragon - however you're doing that, it's a unique ability." Rasanam pauses, then adds, "Or at least a unique ability here; obviously I can't speak to whatever plane you came from."

"Anyway, it's obvious that you expect other dragons to cause trouble for you. We don't mean you any harm. Nor are we going to hurt you for saying the wrong thing - or not saying, as the case may be. And if any other dragons do show up and cause trouble - for you, or anyone else - we'd be more than happy to help deal with that."
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Joshua
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Re: 07.06b: Underwater Ball (A Dance with... Well, you know.

Post by Joshua »

"It is not spoken of in places such as this." Kizak says. "But in my home, all dragons are of one type, regardless of appearance. To have developed wings while still so young... is a sure sign of impropriety."
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Re: 07.06b: Underwater Ball (A Dance with... Well, you know.

Post by Rasanam »

"Whereas where I come from, most of those dragon types start with wings. Here, I can show you..." Rasanam pulls out a sketchbook, and flips to a page with studies of D&D style gold dragons, from hatchling to great wyrm. "That's one type - typically considered the 'greatest', though I'm not entirely sure about that myself."

Rasanam pauses a moment to let Kizak take a good look, maybe flip through the pages some, before he adds, "So I don't know what sort of 'impropriety' you're carefully not talking about. And if here isn't the place... would it help to move this conversation somewhere more private?"
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