The Hatching Sands – The Vella Crean

Time works funnily in the Nexus, and this is where we are at the Vella Crean

The Vella Crean court clutch hatched with no issues, and Shy is getting overly confident. It was not his idea to punt the Death Court offplanet, but other than a few skirmishes, nothing too eventful has happened.
The court clutch fledglings are growing quickly, and the courts themselves are happy with the new relationships they are forming with other Nexus worlds. Shy is keeping a close eye on this new development: he does not like the way the General continues to whisper and plot, the way he seems to eye the throne.
Many small events lead to Shy’s lightbulb moment. The General and his politicking, Sabrilla’s whispers for more power, more allies, Sylden’s growing success as a geneticist. The Fool’s suspiciously quiet absence. It’s time, he decides, for him to help his Empress amass more power. (It does not occur to him at all that maybe this is NOT what the Empress wants).
One day he turns up at her quarters with a box of delicate pastries and a pot of carefully brewed tea. “Look how well I’ve been behaving.” Shy cajoles. “I haven’t caused any trouble, and I’ve listened to your commands.” He hadn’t meddled with a single court dragon, had he? And none of the Projects had gone after the Death Court.
“What do you want, Shy?” The Empress knows her biggest troublemaker too well, she does not trust to look of innocence in those feline green eyes.
“With your permission, I’d like to host an Imperial court clutch at the Vella Crean.”
No one knows how he managed to convince the Empress of the Vella Crean. It has always been a sticky and unusual relationship between the Scientist and his Nae. But a few days later, an official invitation is distributed across the Nexus, announcing a new clutch on the sands.
“The Vella Crean” it reads. “Is accepting candidates for an Imperial Court clutch.” There are instructions, recommendations, requirements. The missive is on official Vella Crean letterhead, sealed with the mark of the three courts and the empress. Just at the bottom, there is the slightest, most delicate scrawl in molten gold penmanship.
There is a select number of eggs on the sands. First generation Imperial Courts, clutchmates, but not related to each other. All candidates are welcome, but will be asked for a genetic sample to test their suitability against the eggs.

OOC Instructions

A few months have passed since the court hatching. Fledglings are starting to grow into their court features, with little horns and stubs growing out of their very itchy hides.
Invitations have been sent out to most worlds. They can appear randomly on top of existing mail, accompanied by Pigeons (teeny tiny fluffy sentient projects that chirp and act adorable), or personally delivered by dragonriders of the Vella Crean. The invitation is officially from the Vella Crean, ICly, if your character decides to notice the molten gold signature of Shy, it’s up to you.
The first Imperial Court clutch had weird requirements: you needed to demonstrate that you were royalty and Shy blatantly asked for bribes. The second Imperial Court clutch has no such requirements. It simply asks all candidates to present themselves to be considered, but that final decision is based on a genetic test of compatibility.
Inspired by the Cyber Court clutch, all potential candidates will submit a genetic sample of some sort. If this sample “matches” with an egg, the candidate will be informed they are successful. IC: you are allowed to have one “official” candidate. OOC: You can send in more for consideration. Shy is easy to bribe, the Court leaders less so, but if they take a liking to your character, they might ask Shy for a favour.
It is an unspoken understanding at the Vella Crean that the second generation of Imperial Court dragons will also be genetically modified specifically for their bond. If your character has an issue with it, that is completely fine. I enjoy and encourage antagonism against the Vella Crean’s Scientist. You can also have your character demand that their bond be “untouched”.
OOC, if you have a geneticist who would like to tinker with an Imperial Court egg, please let me know. It can be “your” dragon, or someone else’s dragon. Everyone is invited for behind the scenes plotting and intrigue.

Setting

The Vella Crean : A planet that has reconnected with the Nexus. The planet and the main inhabited city are both called “the Vella Crean”. While there still exists signs of war, most of the city has been rebuilt. There is an odd hole in the world about a day’s flight from the main city. Scuttlebut is that this is the exact location of the Death Court’s lair that was punted off planet.

Shy: Shy is a tall, slender, rather stunning androgynous man with raven black hair and feline green eyes. He is almost always clothed in cheongsams- and has beautiful, ornamental nails. Shy is petty and vindictive, a geneticist and facilitator at heart. He was a weakness for rare genetics, Sanger men, and Mystic.

Shy’s Projects: Shy’s projects are genetic experiments in various forms. They can be identified by their signature molten gold eyes. They exist throughout the lab- and are open for interaction with visitors and guests. The elite- projects that have distinguished themselves in Shy’s eyes through their abilities or achievements have ‘titles’. (i.e: Monique ‘The Oracle’, Savas ‘The Eyes’, Ishaan ‘The Search Rider’). View a list of active projects.

The Hatching Sands: The Hatching Sands of the Vella Crean have been rebuilt, and are protected by dragons and projects. It is heavily fortified: as if the Scientist has learned his lessons from the Imperial Hatching. Eggs have been buried deep, deep under the sands. How many? No one knows.

All Vella Crean residents and characters can be used as plot devices to bring your character to the Vella Crean. Information on Court leaders are spare, so below is the tldr;

Naeodin, Empress I Queen Sasiath : A spry granny with a sharp mind and a love for peace and harmony. She continues to rule the Vella Crean and is very sympathetic to sob stories. She likes to advocate for peace, and is a busy body who enjoys meddling in the affairs of others.

Onesto, Cleric : A bear of a man with polite manners and the unending patience of a lake. Naeodin’s cleric, he is often not far from Naeodin’s side, and can often be found chiding her for trying to test her limits. Any party that has issues with the morals and ethics of the Imperial Court will be politely diverted to Onesto, because he is probably the one man who can convince Shy to listen to reason.

Maramia, Leader of the Light Court l Queen Lollaseth : After losing her consort in the Tris Hathian wars, she was admittedly a little bit mad. Mia is back, and is working very hard with cleric Onesto to unravel her issues and to become a better leader. She is not the most approachable Court leader though, and is very prone to hot bursts of temper. Mia has a beautifully crafted spear of death topped with the broken horn of the Death Court King.

Mwvayan, Leader of the Dark Court l Hydra Queen Royiuion : Very political and diplomatic. While the Light Court and Dark Court have worked through most of their differences during the Death Court wars, she continues to have a chip on her shoulder against the negative publicity hydras and non dragonriders receive. Very interested in war strategy, the most motivated court when it comes to creating diplomatic ties with other worlds.

Pii, Leader of the Blood Court : The only unbounded court leader, she is easy to find and very personable. She has been working very hard to ensure that the Blood Court remains neutral on all issues and matters.

The General l Opal Court Queen Zahrarinath : A member of the council and a skilled leader, since bonding his opal queen he has started to eye the throne a little bit more. If you have characters who like to cause a little bit of mayhem and would support his new goal of taking over the Vella Crean, he will help figure out a way for you to get your own Imperial Court dragon.

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The Rules

The Vella Crean accepts candidates for this clutch.
One official candidate per person, up to two additional “surprise” candidates.
There are no restrictions to the type of candidate that can be submitted for the Courts, however, Court Dragons do not traditionally multi-bond.
If you are submitting a page, it needs to be online and accessible without registration, and should not be on a site that can be edited by other people.
Please provide a link back to the Vella Crean (http://vellacrean.com/)
You may provide preferences of what you would like to receive- which we will try to keep in mind. Please provide deal breakers: this we will try to abide by more carefully.
Please complete the below form and send it to Naeodin on discord.

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Candidate Form

Name of Character:

URL:

Preferences: (Particularly for color or abilities, please let me know)

Deal Breakers:

Meddling Geneticists Form

Name of Geneticist:

Plot event that has them arrive at the Vella Crean and volunteer their services:

Would you IC like them to tinker with your candidate’s court dragons, or someone else’s court dragon?

Candidates

[Dray]
Rikna
Kester Lance