[G] [O] 743.08.02 | Stalkers In the Shells

Malvayth shifted her weight anxiously on the sands as she looked over the neatly numbered eggs one more time. Were they spread far enough apart? She had the golden egg in the back, on the edge of the group closest to her where it wouldn't have a remote chance of being crowded. Maybe two of the eggs were still too close. She considered getting up to adjust them, but Cazan gently reached up to give her a pat.

"I'm sure they're fine. The candidates know you're very cautious about your eggs. Bedith and Xyxyth are here too to help keep an eye on things." And the goldrider was really quite grateful for that; while Mal was still agitated and unhappy with letting the candidates in for the Touching, she was being much calmer about it. At least outwardly. That and they had the firelizards as backup. Sir, ever vigilant, either flew or marched around the outer perimeter of the Sands in a vigilant patrol for intruders, and Lady was up above in the rafters eagerly watching the goings on. The dragon took a deep breath in and huffed it out in annoyance before nodding. Fine. I am ready.

She still sat stiffly, glaring at the candidates as Xyxyth allowed them to come in. Most of them at least. She didn't give her usual cheery chirps to her friends, instead just giving them small nods before moving her gaze along to the next candidate that clearly needed a warning glare. Cazan just tried to at least give everyone a smile as she welcomed the candidates.

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 twenty five eggs, 24 which have numbers neatly marked on them in charcoal, and one gold egg. A minimum of one touch is required.

Candidates are expected to be polite and demure; the safety of the eggs is paramount and anyone found to be goofing around will be removed. Firelizards are not allowed on the Sands during the Touching and Sir is patrolling the perimeter to attack or chase off any who come near. Malvayth normally loves firelizards but is quite protective of her eggs. The same goes for humans that are not a part of the class and the instructors (while Sir has not been tasked with this, he is bold enough to try and chase off a human intruder as well). Special permission can be granted if asked beforehand but even then, there won’t be many exceptions granted.

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 below a hr tag with a number 1-24 or Gold for the gold egg and I'll get one up.