Welcome to the Winter Wonderworld!

[dray]

⫸ WORLD: A crystalline pocket dimension
⫸ AGENCY: Shared
⫸ LOCATION: See above
⫸ EVENT: The Winter Gather Exchange!
⫸ NOTES: This is a general info post and a place to RP with one another and with the host, the enigmatic Noya Fosse


Part I: Arrival
You find yourself drifting off to sleep, or perhaps merely daydreaming, with the faintest sensation of a cold breeze tickling the back of your neck. Then, as darkness subsumes you, you feel the brush of hundreds of heavy flakes of the most beautiful, crystalline snow. This snow glints in all the colours of a frozen rainbow, prisms of sourceless light that blind you until you push your way forward into... into what, exactly?

The place you arrive is nothing like home: a frozen den of sharp pillars of ice support a mirror-smooth roof. Like the court of a powerful ruler, this place is fit to impress. Treasures of every kind and shape are frozen below the floor and along the walls: look but don't touch, please! The main hall is artfully littered with places to sit for creatures both large and small, and to one side is a never-ending buffet of cold and hot food (and drinks, and of course you know there are marshmallows) attended by little icy creatures not completely unlike flitters.

But what takes your first impressions and blows them away is the owner of this odd little place. A sinuous dragon of crystalline grace rests upon a raised dais on a throne molded of snow. Her scales seem to reflect the globes of light gently shining down on the room, and she is currently in deep conversation with a very furry creature made, it seems, to exist only in the deepest cold.

A chubby little flitter wings over to you (or perhaps it's a small fleet) with a pelt of heavy fur.

::Welcome to the Winter Gather! Noya chose you to partake in her riches and get to know one another. The Nexus is back! The Nexus is back!::

That thought fades from your mind as the flitter scoots off to its next duty, though it sounds like a triumphal cheer.

Welcome to the Winter Gather, it seems. What do you do next?


Part II: The Revelation
(To be posted on December 19th! For now, feel free to post a mingle starter and tag others, get to know them, etc!)

Comments

Re: A Chill Heir

[kinrrataiyath]

Thayer was accustomed to life around dragons. Nearly being stepped on was a daily occurrence. Normally though, there came an apology after an attempted crushing, for all at the Warren knew how the heir liked to get underfoot.

As Aeni's foot came down within inches of where the heir had been standing, Thayer deftly sidestepped and looked up to see who had entered his personal space. Bane came up quickly behind his brother. It was difficult to look intimidating when the creature before you stood at least double your height, but Bane tried nonetheless.

"Well, good sir," Thayer called up to Aeni'. "We've only just arrived to this gathering. Tell me, if you please, what world do you hail from?"

[dray]

"I am from Nidus Novalux, though I don't suppose you've heard of it. It was cut off from the worlds above when I was but a kit, and our scientists haven't found out yet what caused the shift back into cotemporality with other worlds. It was... until recently, at least, a very hushed secret."

The glare he was leveling at the icy queen on her throne could melt icebergs, but for Thayer and Bane's sake, the dragon leveled a kinder look upon them. "And you two?"

[kinrrataiyath]

"Thayer Dragon-Audil of Tris'Hath," Thayer said with a flourish and a bow. He then gestured back at Bane. "And that's my brother, Bane. A Nidus, you say? That word sounds familiar, though I can't place it. I'm afraid I'm not exactly up to date on my Nexus lore. We've also been cut off from the Nexus for a while. Though that was more out of politics."

Bane cast his brother a glance out of the corner of his eye, but if Thayer caught the subtle warning or not, he gave no sign.

[dray]

"Tris'Hath," Aeni' rumbles, brown-plated brows drawing together as he has himself a think. It's a brain teaser, truly, and he finds himself for once distracted from his basket of sour grapes.

His emerald eyes flit between the two men, then sighs and snaps the tips of his clawed fingers together. A moment later, a brilliant flash of light leaves them looking at a tallish man in a perfectly white suit fitted with bits of gold. He was older, surely, looking somewhere in his fifties... but for all of that he was incredibly well kempt. "A Nidus is an official place of solidarity, a gathering place for many species... though dragons and humans are the most populous. I take it that your Tris'Hath is the same?"

[kinrrataiyath]

"Brilliant," Thayer murmured under his breath. "Polymorphing but with such a quick casting."

The heir blinked to refocus himself on the conversation at hand and gave the gentleman now standing before him a quick smile.

"Tris'Hath is the world we hail from. The closest approximation to what you describe would be the Warren. It used to be quite the hub of interplanetary travel and trade, but we've been somewhat less adventurous up until recently. Is your Nidus on a planet or out in..." Thayer waved a hand vaguely at the ceiling. "Space. I've not seen a space station myself but I heard they exist."

[dray]

Aeni' houghed a laugh and folded his hands behind him, green eyes intent on the young man. "Planet-side. By our history, space is a cold, dangerous place. Only a fool would choose to live his life from moment to moment like that, let alone suffering knowing his person... or his dragon, I suppose, were in such a constant state of danger."

But oh, let him consider the Warren. Warren... warren... such a terrible name for a place of esteemed business. If Thayer could read his thoughts right now, Aenieso would be painting his mother nor her home any favours. At least, that is, until it clicked.

"Tris'hath. Warren! Ah. You're the home of the tumultuous Hathians and their despicable hydra rivals, are you not? Yes. Yes! I have heard of beasts with strange golden horns and odd powers."

Glancing from Thayer to Bane, he frowned. "Are you not, ah, bonded? Or have your Hathians suffered some blow?"

Diplomacy? No. No no no, Aeni' is a book-keeper, not a politician. Unfortunately, that makes him a little... blunt.

[kinrrataiyath]

Thayer's smile never faltered. Bane scowled. In terms of their own political prowess, Thayer could find the compliment in a dung heap. Bane would take offense from a wilting flower. Hence why Thayer always did the talking.

"No, our bonds are here. That's them hanging out by the throne." Thayer motioned toward the trio of dragons gawking at the gathered crowd from the far side of the room. At his gesture, Stacurik lifted his head and nodded a greeting to Aeni'. Baaki curved her neck in a graceful bow. Baneo glowered.

"Stacurik, the blue, is my bond. The other two are Baaki'Virh and Baneo'Mybl, respectively. They're both Geperna. Neither of us bonded Hathians. Hathians don't necessarily need a bond. They just find it... entertaining, I guess? It's like picking out who's going to be your best friend for life."

[dray]

Aeni' snorted, and then for the first time this evening, the elderly man put on a grin. "Well, that is a piece of lore I didn't have. So I thank you. Ge'perna are familiar," he added, though his pronunciation of the term seemed a little stuttered, more prolonged than maybe it should be. "There are many of my brethren who share ancestors from that, ah... origin.

Do you by chance happen to know of a planet called Avengaea?"

Clearly Thayer was a man of some travels and, though Aenieso kept his tone drab and aloof, it would be hard for anyone who knew about that planet's largest denizens not to draw connections between his floofy frame and his ancestors.

[kinrrataiyath]

The grin that lit up Thayer's face seemed far too eager given the innocuous question. Then again, Aeni had no way of knowing the young heir's childhood playmates.

"Of course I know Avengaea. That's where the whole Ferrin brood came from. Well, except for M'lor and T'lor. They're Tris'Hath natives. Plus there was the time we sent several Wings off to help against a demon attack. I was a baby at the time, but I heard the stories." Then, as if struck by lightning, Thayer smacked a fist against his palm. "That's why Nidus sounds familiar! I forgot what they were called on Avengaea. Hah! Mom will be happy to hear that Avengaea is still so actively involved in the Nexus."

Behind him, Bane closed his eyes and repressed the urge to sigh. He had hoped Mystic would not hear of this event at all.

[dray]

"Ah... no. You misunderstand." Aenieso feels almost completely overwhelmed by Thayer's burst of youthful delight, and though he doesn't shrink in his suit, he does rather mirror Bane's dour energy. That, but paired with some unkind news.

"It's not the land from which I hail, but that from which did my forebears. I heard stories of it growing up, as well." An olive branch, he supposes, "but that is all. I'm glad that we can share a connection."

He gestures towards the buffet, then whisks a finger. A trio frosted flutes of something like champagne float over, not a drop to be dripped despite several flits gawking and swooping to try to intervene. "Honestly, these animals..."

Never the less, he hovers the glasses into Thayer, Bane and his hands, plucking his from the air with some somewhat well-studied flare. If he has to be here, he may as well imbibe. "So, your planets were intertwined and then parted? That is fascinating. I have some... interesting discoveries, myself, on that front."

[kinrrataiyath]

Thayer noted the immediate withdrawal from Aenieso and checked his own enthusiasm. Even something as innocuous as a polite conversation could be turned into a game of politics.

As the champagne glasses floated over, Thayer accepted his with a graceful tilt of his head. Bane held out a hand for the glass to float to, then acknowledged Aeni's hospitality with a curt nod.

"I apologize if I came across as over eager," Thayer said after a sip. "It's been a long time since we could mingle in the Nexus. I'm eager to see the places I've only heard stories about."

Thayer then turned his attention to the flits and sent a mental push at them to drive them away. He was so used to the screeching, starving creatures flocking to the nearest person who showed a hint of interest, but he knew not everyone saw them as being as harmless as he did. Some thought they were down right nuisances.