[G] [O] 744.07.08 | Dazzling Sands

Orgailian wasn't even listening to the assistant that went over all of the rules for the third time in the last twenty-four hours. He knew it all by heart thanks both to how many Touchings he now had under his belt and just being a weyrbrat. He grew up around dragons that deserved respect, eggs that deserved care, and superstitions that had to be believed.

It wasn't that he hated Touchings, but they were a little silly when one truly thought about it. How many people Impressed to a hatchling that sprung free from an egg they had never Touched? How many had a negative reaction when they did Touch the right egg? Still, it was kind of fun and even exciting. He knew several chatty dragons so it wasn't uncommon for him to have an extra voice in his head, but this was different. It was the smallest sampling of what Orgailian could only assume a true bond felt like. These unhatched creatures didn't have any hesitations when diving into his deepest thoughts and hidden secrets and some even tried to comfort him as if they were a mated pair.

Touchings lifted his spirit and gave him enough hope to get through the Hatching that would inevitably leave him crushed yet again. It was a vicious cycle, yet he continued to go through it. The prize would be worth all the dejection and wondering if he would ever be good enough for a dragon. At least Xendrin was several months older and Mylorah's vacated position of the positive one that watched over them all could be his. Orgailian barely smiled with encouraging words when he was in a high mood, no way would he manage it when emotionally devastated himself.

What did make him smile was an attractive person and goldrider Azelina was exactly that. He tossed a flirtatious smile her way as they entered, but as usual, she didn't seem to notice it. Orgailian let it slide considering the stress a Touching no doubt brought to the gold pair. Azelina had bigger things on her mind than a Candidate that wanted her. He supposed his own attention should switch focus as well, so he spread out when given the go ahead and wandered up to an egg, gently pressing his palm against the warm shell.

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Egg 9, please

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 8am and these guys are the first group, meaning that no one else has Touched the eggs yet. There are 28 eggs which have numbers neatly marked on them in charcoal. 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. 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, 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 colour 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 1-28 and I'll get one up. You can also ask for the word used for the prompts if you wish to interpret that your own way.