[G] [O] 742.02.02 | First Touch

Malvayth gave one of her precious eggs another soft nudge to gently move it into a slightly more appealing position before she settled down proudly off to the side. Cazan gave her neck a soothing pat as she looked at the thirteen eggs, a much smaller clutch than the one that had just hatched. That didn't matter to Mal though, the gold was absolutely delighted and pleased with the results of winning her grand game. And soon the candidates would be coming to meet her precious babies!

Aradissicath was also there, so the younger gold had taken a cue from her and forbidden any firelizards from attending even though she adored them so much. Besides, as Cazan had mentioned, she might get distracted by their adorable antics and miss out on watching the candidates react as they met her babies! Malvayth puffed as regally as she could as the candidates started to arrive, giving them all tiny nods of her head in acknowledgement instead of her more usual boisterous greetings. She had to pretend to be more sophisticated after all, at least for her babies as they had their initial meetings! And it would set a good example for Lady and Sir as they watched from the stands, curled up with.

Cazan, for her part, did her best to emulate what she'd seen Rhaedalyn do for the last touching. She tried to look calm and warm and pleasant as she greeted the first batch of candidates as they walked in. She wasn't sure all of this was really as necessary as some of the dragonriders insisted, but she could understand that it was at least a tradition to uphold. Perhaps a boring tradition, but one that she wouldn't be able to escape just because she wanted to. She just had to wait through a few rounds of this and then she could get back to work. At least she had a comfortable chair to sit in so she didn't have to stand the entire time.

Candidates are divided into groups of twenty (20) who each visit the eggs for an hour, with a 15 minute gap between sessions. For the purpose of RP, all PC Candidates are in the same group, which is being threaded now.

This Touching commenced at 10am and these guys are the first group, meaning that no one else has Touched the eggs yet. There are thirteen eggs, one of which is gold. A minimum of one touch is required.

Candidates are expected to be polite and demure; the egg safety is paramount and anyone found to be goofing around will be removed. Firelizards are not allowed on the Sands during the Touching. Malvayth loves firelizards but is following Aradissicath's example. The same goes for humans that are not a part of the class and the instructors. Special permission can be granted if asked beforehand but even then, it won’t be many.

Eggs are approximately 4 to 5 feet in length, and approximately half to two-thirds that in width. They’re rather squat and roundish. Eggs are laid in a leathery state, much like an earthen snake egg. They slowly expand as they harden with the youngster growing within. When a candidate Touches an egg, they will find the shell to be hard, but kind of lumpy and bumpy in some spots, and smooth in others, depending on how the dragonet shifted during the hardening phase. All the eggs are roughly the same mottled greenish-tan, except for the gold egg, which has a bit of the metallic gold color in the shell, in addition to being larger than all the others.

Additionally, when the candidate’s hand connects with the shell, the dragonet within will reach out mentally and touch their mind. The response the dragonet has to each individual candidate is extremely varied and often considered private by the individuals. A negative response from a dragonet does not denote the inability to Impress the hatchling within! There have been several cases in the past – PC and NPC – when characters Impressed to a hatchling from an egg that they thought hated them.

If you want a reply from the egg, put an ooc note with a number 1-12 or Gold for the gold egg and I'll get one up.