[Candidates] Egg Watching

[Jabberwoky]

The Touching is still a ways away, but hey, no one said we couldn't just go peek at the eggs! Candidates are gathering to plan out a little trip to the sands to catch a glimpse of the eggs as they harden!

[Dragon]

"There's nothing wrong with looking," Renkestuous pointed out logically. It wasn't like they were going to try to touch the eggs early or anything; they were just going to take a peek. They didn't even necessarily have to actually go on the sands; they could just look. Still, it wasn't precisely allowed ... "Who's with me?"

[Ezra]

Candidate Anphiel

Anphiel was not going to pass up a chance to have a look at the eggs, at least then she could say she got a head start trying to decide if one was for her or not, and honestly, she was bored and this sounded entertaining. No one got ahead in life without a bit of risk right?

" I'll go. Looking aint against no rules, as long as we don't step on the sand." She replied, fully confidant in her stance. Also so what if she got into trouble? She was no coward and not afraid to take risks. How else was she going to make a name for herself someday if she didnt have the courage to put her neck out there?

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Candidate Adella

" I don't think its a good idea. What if we disturb the clutch mom? Or we could get into a lot of trouble and get banned from standing. The touching will be soon enough anyway and I for one, plan to wait." She replied, folding her arms across her chest. She had already been passed up in several hatchings and she did not want to risk being banned from the sands, even if she was very curious to see the eggs.

[Calingaladha]

"If they ask why we're near the eggs, we just say we saw a tunnel snake headed that way and we were afraid it would try to suck the eggs dry."
Joffrey shrugged, clearly not overly concerned with the potential consequences.

"Besides, if they say a word against us I'll go over their heads and make sure none of us get into any trouble." he boasted, though he inwardly plotted otherwise. If they got caught, Renkestuous would be identified as the ringleader by Joffrey, and he would insist he was forced to go along under threat. A perfect plan.

[toby-du-coeur]

Candidate Kirin - Open

"I'm in! and whoever's not in is a rotten wherry egg."

Kirin was a bit disoriented and disheartened after his first several days of Candidate life. He'd had a forskload of new faces, new places, new limits and new expectations dumped on him. And he'd had little choice but to comply until he had learned, as the pirates might say, the ropes. (The pirates had neverin fact deemed Kirin to have learned the ropes.)

All in all, he'd been feeling very un-Kirin.

But he'd known that befriending Ren (from a distance) (okay, maybe more like trailing him every free moment and occasionally popping up, always with completely appropriate timing, to ask questions) would pay off. And sure enough, here was a chance to get back to what really mattered - bending rules, having adventures, and getting close (ish) to the egg that would hold his very own dragon.

[Mal]

Candidate Polites

"Is doing this the best idea? Will the queen get upset at us? I don't want to be squashed by an angry giant." Polites said, shuddering. "I'm sure if we just talked to Liyanel about it, they'd be happy to let us know when we could look."

He was in the vocal minority, but he was also not of the mind to do first and ask forgiveness.

[DinoInADress]

Candidate Erina

Softly Erina agreed with Polites ”I’m with them.” she didn’t know everyone’s names and pronouns so simply went with them until she knew them all. ”It might be better to wait for an official time and go through official channels.”

In all honesty though, she badly wanted to see the eggs and the golden queen. Didn’t mean she had a death wish however.

[FirebrandPhlox]

Candidate Brabbop - Kirin

"I ain't no rotten wherry egg!" Brabbop said, puffing his chest. "I ain't no coward neither! If you babies wanna sit around an' wait fer permission. Dose eggs are gonna be ours anyway, right?"

It just made sense for them to be able to see the eggs. Inside were dragonets that were going to impress to the candidates once they hatched, so the eggs basically already belonged to the candidates. It was only natural to want to check and see how they were doing.
___

Candidate Phelps - Adella

Phelps gave Adella a mischievous smile. "What's the harm in just going to look?" He asked with feigned innocence. "It's not like we're going to go on the sands and touch them. It's just a peek, it's completely harmless."

He honestly didn't see why the candidates had to wait so long to get a glimpse at the eggs. Sure, the Cadidatemaster had given some lecture about the eggs needing time to harden and the clutchmom being protective of the babies in the meantime, but again, they weren't touching. Only looking. "Nobody said we can't look, we're not going to get banned or anything. Even if we do get in trouble, it'll just be a slap on the wrist. Don't you want to get a look?"

[nineofswords]

Candidate King

"Forsk yeah! Let's do it!" King crowed, pumping a fist in the air. "Exactly, Brabbop! Those're our dragons in there! Why can't we go look at them? Why's the mom gotta hoard them all to herself? How is that fair?" They were psyched for this idea, and was thrilled everyone else was too. "Let's just go now! We can't get in trouble if all of us go, right?"

---

Candidate Hamuntep

Hamun was less than thrilled that someone else had come up with this little scheme first. How was he supposed to be remembered in ballad if he left things like this to be dreamed up by others? And he couldn't be the voice of reason, either, for the same reason: He hadn't said anything first. The dangers of being clever, it seemed was he was doomed to consider everything reasonably instead of jumping in to say something first. He was glaring at his fellow candidates with his arms crossed over his chest, tapping his fingers against his arm.

"If we are to do this - and I admit that I don't see a reason why we shouldn't beyond cowardice - we can't just go charging in. We do need a plan. If we stay to the stands, even if we are caught, we will have plausible deniability, and we should be reasonably out of the mother's range. She can hardly bite us if we don't get close to her, and if we are only looking, that should be close enough." Privately, he was considering possibly trying to touch an egg or two early, just to ensure his chances of impressing. He just...needed to figure out how to do that without the other candidates or the mother gold seeing.

[Arcane]

Candidate Sylvia

In Sylvia's opinion, there was never an adventure with friends not worth the trouble you got in for embarking on it. Sure- she'd just become a candidate and most of these people were near strangers, but what were strangers but friends you hadn't made yet?

Without an ounce of hesitation, she announced, "Forsk yeah, I'm in. I'll bring snacks and presents. This way if we get in trouble, we can pay our way out with some dragonberry wine and a crystal."

She'd been brewing a batch anyway and it wasn't half bad. She wasn't sure the smell was quite right yet, but that just meant it could be both a bribe AND a test audience.

Candidate Francesca

As one of eight children, Francesca was not new to mischief. While she herself found it easiest to mostly stick to the expected course and follow the rules set upon her, she had witnessed many of a childhood prank and misadventure. Because she was quiet and could keep a secret, her siblings did not hesitate to speak in front of her, even if they didn't always invite her to join in.

As one of eight mostly loud children, she had also learned how to be heard, over a crowd of people far more assertive than her. She cleared her throat, "Has anyone considered simply asking Nebulaeth for permission? She does not seem to be a queen overly tied to the formalities. Perhaps she would be inclined allow us in, if she knew how eager we were."

[EW-NA]

Candidate Diendiatto
--

Seeing a decent collection of his fellow candidates all tightly packed together, Diendiatto went over to see what the issue was. He had to assume it was news or maybe some hold over for a lesson. There was very rarely another reason for so many of them to be grouped and whispering among themselves, unless it was for lesson prep.... or trouble.

Today it was clearly 'trouble'.

He couldn't help the sigh passing his lips as he caught the various suggestions among his peers. This was stupid, and asking for trouble. Even so, Dien didn't count himself so much of a stickler for the rules. It wasn't like he wasn't also interest in an egg that could potential be for him.

“It's only 'against the rules' until Nebulaeth gets pissed and bars you from the hatching,” the broad shouldered candidate offered gruffly. He wasn't speaking to anyone so directly, but the comment had floated about from various individuals.

“I assume one of the dragon parents is always with the eggs until they hatch,” he added on, setting his arms crossed at his chest, almost in contemplation, despite the frown on his features. “Won't be hard to sneak in; will be hard to explain being there when everyone is caught.”

The logical solution on that would be to designated a 'fall out' person... but Diendiatto was smart enough to know not to offer that up. Ye who suggested it, get to bear it.

[Tyto]

Candidate Anduin

Anduin had only joined the foray, really, to try and be a voice of reason. "It's risky," he murmured, joining the others against it. It seemed he wasn't the only one with reasonable hesitation. "Although... I've been here for a while, but I don't recall anytime where Candidates managed to sneak into the Hatching Grounds, so they were either very good at it... or didn't do it." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

Candidate Castien

Castien frowned, arms folded over his chest. "You really think they can go and ban all their Candidates?" he asked, eyeing the others--most specifically, the naysayers. "We go one or two at a time, we can prolly get a good peek n' just pretend we were passin' by on our way somewhere. Gotta space it out right, though." Dragons could probably sense humans, right? Or something. Honestly, he'd been here for a few Turns yet and still didn't know all that much about how they worked. At least, in the way of their mental connections. Were they able to sense humans? Or just their rider? Or was that not a thing at all?

[Windra]

Candidate Petraxen

Adventure! The idea made his blood run hot! Daring to enter the Hatching Sands to look at the eggs?! Yes, of course he would! He would ... except ... well, mom would have his head and he loved his mom. Plus getting trampled by over-protective parents wasn't a feasible thing.

"We can't Impress if we get squished," he said with arms crossed. Briefly he glanced at his bed to watch the adoring Honeysuckle snore in her sleep while clinging to that teddy bear. "Yeah. No. I'm out. Why don't we just get permission? I don't think Neb will give two hoots as long as we clear it first."

He was a vagabond. A bold and daring kid! But he wasn't stupid.

[Dragon]

Candidate Renkestuous - Kirin, Open

Giving Kirin a grin - the boy had the right idea! - Ren addressed the group as a whole. "Look, if we ask, someone might say no, even if Nebulaeth herself doesn't care. And why should anyone have a say in it other than the clutchmother? And if we spread it out, some of us might get to see the eggs and others might not. We should all go in a group, show up, and ask Nebulaeth herself if she minds if we peek without actually going on the sands. If she objects, we leave. Simple as that."

It all made sense to Renkestuous. They wouldn't be breaking any rules, and they'd politely leave if Nebulaeth didn't want them around. All they were going to do was look. There was no harm in that. "We should probably be quiet, though; I imagine Nebulaeth wouldn't be happy with us making a racket."

[DinoInADress]

Candidate Erina

Renkestuous was making sense though. Oh dear. She very much did not want to get mauled. This time she asked loudly

”How could we ask Nebulaeth? We can’t very well just go up and talk to her. I’ve heard that Queens get very grumpy when they have eggs. Maybe we should track down Goldrider Liyanel like Polites said? They might be able to ask her for us?”

She quickly ducked her head after that. She really did not like having to speak up. But she wasn’t about to let her new friends get mauled either.