RP:Vailkrin Dragon Races 16-06-2011

Background

It was time again for the Vailkrin Dragon races.

In the dark arena both dragons and hearts raced as the majestic creatures dominated the sky for moment of sheer magnificence.

Setting: The Dark Arena

The arena is filled with various killed and undead as well. Several Zombies seem to be carrying corpses out of the arena, returning them to the masters they served. Many bodies here look disfigured and ill, clearly abominations constructed by Necromancers to serve in the gladiator like battles held here. Several of the other bodies though are completely normal. A battle must have recently gone on here, as the crowds of people step out of the entrance of the area. To your south is the way out, to your north is a path leading to the back of the arena.

The Race

Ginger pulls out her two new jockeys and begins tying them to their mounts.

Ginger gently pulls her dolly out and whispers in it's ear, before tying the doll carefully to a docile-seeming Ice Wyvern wearing a collar with the sobriquet, "Snowflake".

Ginger shouts, "Are we all ready for excitement!!!" The ensuing silence is no deterrent, because the pixie continues her spiel. "Get your bets in, we'll be accepting wagers until the final lap."

Hans enters his giant salmon dragon and frog jockey.

Descending haphazardly from the sky comes a black dragon so ancient that his scales are greying. Known among his kind as Shardrazhur, he hastily attempts to reduce momentum at a magically enhanced warning shout from his rider "Oh come on now, Shard! That's the bleedin' ground, that is! Pull up already!" With an undignified thudding plop, the black dragon lands. A rheumy film obscures once-sharp vision, and a slight trail of acidic drool slips through yellowed fangs to hiss on the Arena floor. His rider, an elderly and reclusive mage named Alphesius, calls down "Oh, jolly good show! We nailed that landing, eh? We've got this 'in the bag', as the younglings would say!" Shardrazhur hacks and coughs, depositing a half-melted cow skeleton and mutters "No hammer, no nails, no bag, my dear Alphesius. I told you this carpentry profession was no good. What am I going to do with a floor? Build an underground house? That makes no sense, Alph, no sense at all. You're lucky I'm here to keep your thoughts in order. These young bucks would think you senile if I let you carry on. Nails in landings indeed!"

Hans said, "large bet on me opponents to win..."

Cornelius is in the audience, accompanied by a shifty-looking individual with scars around his neck strongly reminiscent of rope-burn

Ginger notes the late entry and grins. The new development means that fewer people would be collecting on their bets. Profit, anyone? "And their off, Dolly's Little Snowflake taking an early lead, and the Dastardly Duo chasing at a fast clip. Should they catch up, circumstances could be dire. What's this? the late entry is making a bid. . .what was their name again?"

Alphesius blinks as the other dragons take off, and starts waving his arms in a peculiar flapping motion, his fingers wiggling subtly. "Shard! The young bucks think they can outrun you!" Shardrazhur huffs "Damn hatchlings have no respect for their elders." A twin vortex of air builds up as Alphesius draws the air to his advantage, a sort of encouraging push to get Shard going. With a hop, totter, huff and flap, Shardrazhur takes to the skies in swift, if uneven, pursuit "Come back here, you damn lizards! I'll give you a piece of my mind!"

Hans watches at the race stats and his dragon dose his thing, that is turn back into a fish there by throwing the race, Hans wanders off to collect his winnings...

Ginger notes the disorganized murmurings of the latest entry, while Kermit on Sushi flops along at an easy, or at least constant pace. Snowflake keeping a steady and happy pace, unheeding of the angry Frost Drakes closing in. They pincer her in and crush her between them, knocking the air out of her, momentarily.

Ginger pays out the winnings to the owner of Kermit on Sushi, and gets back to the race. "The Late Alpha-Shard is closing in on Snow and White, who are tied for the lead." Not liking the turn of events, the pixie makes a few arcane, and somewhat obscene, gestures behind her back triggering her spell. Dolly wakes up and takes her reigns, giving poor Snowflake focus. The two take to the sky, soaring just above the other contestants. The pair of disreputable drakes circle back to harry their elder, having more rage than interest in racing.

It is with shock and dismay that Alphesius witnesses the crass tactics of the frost drakes "I say! The cold-blooded blighters are -cheating-!!! Shard! We cannot let this stand!" Shardrazhur, for his own part, responds by blithely stating "Sheeting? You're mad, Alph. We're in the sky, there's no laundry up here, unless you've gone and set up a damn line along my dorsal spines again... have you?" Shard shifts his neck and head to examine the length of his body - a mistake, alas, as the huge and ancient black doesn't realise he is on a collision course with one of the Frost Drakes. Alphesius rapidly shifts his hands in a rolling pattern to protect himself from the imminent shockwave with a buffer shield of a small vortex of wind and magical ribbons the air plucks from his pockets "Watch where you are flying Shard! You're about to hi...."

Ginger silently cheers on her dolly, while recounting the events for the crowd. "Alpha-Shard and the Devious Dwarven Duo seated upon Drakes have collided. We can only hope that they recover soon enough to get back into the race." Ginger sends out another flicker of magic to animate her dwarves, making sure that the recovery takes as long as possible. Dolly's Little Snowflake continues her rounds, finishing her first lap uncontested, and happily begins her second of the three-lap race.

Alphesius ducks as shards of ice spewed out by one of the Frost Drakes catch in his vortex, whirling around for several hundred rapid revolutions before being spat out back at the Frost Drakes. Anchored to Shardrazhur by his magics, the old mage is shaken but not stirred upon the impact, and he mutters "This is most undignified!" before calling out "Shard, do something about this! Senior Citizens should be better treated by youth!" Shardrazhur, at first surprised, and then rather miffed by the Frost Drakes, glares at them and, in a burst of indignant speed, uses his superior size and bulk to force his way through them, vomiting out a spray of acid if one tries to get directly in his way. Then he sees Little Snowflake, and is reminded that, beneath his crusty and ancient exterior lies the still-beating heart of a magnificent male dragon, and he pursues in lusty fashion "Why hello there, little lady! Let us dance in the clouds!"

Ginger mutters under her breath about mice, men, and Murphy's third law. ..then she gets back to her announcer-duties. "And Alpha-Shard breaks away and begins closing on Little Snowflake. . .it's a close battle. Little Snowflake notes the pursuit and begins flying in earnest. She hasn't lost a race, yet, but that could soon be over. Alpha-Shard is making an enthusiatic effort. Very impressive for someone his age." Uses her dolly as proxy and has the cloth figure make the gestures to summon a chaotic vortex to waylay the only real competition. "Snowflake and Alpha-Shard are finishing their lap, meaning the betting booths are closed for this race. Now it's only the cheering and praying that matters." The dwarves untangle themselves and set off in frigid pursuit, egging their rage-infused mounts into battle. The young drakes spit hailstones at their elder's behind.

While Alphesius rants and shakes his fist at the Frost Drakes, Shardrazhur continues his attempts to woo Little Snowflake "Did you know I once melted an entire city? I did, you know, use it as a chessboard now, dragon's got to have his hobbies. Do you like forest arranging?" Psionically, Shardrazhur sends a message to Alphesius "I say, you have to be my wingman here. Do you remember that trick I showed you? I need you to cast -the- spell." Alphesius stops his ranting, states are Shard with wide eyes, and then grins "Why, you randy old drake, I never knew you still had it in you". He begins a complex sequence of what seem to be dance moves as Shard does his utmost to keep abreast with Little Snowflake

Ginger stops her ringmastering to focus on the race. She has no idea what's happening. The dwarves are doing their thing, dolly is doing her thing, and Alpha-Shard. . .well, live people aren't exactly predictable. The lead dragons are neck and neck, Snowflake, Alpha-Shard. Finally they cross the finish line and. . ."The Winner is. . ."

As Shardrazhur cavorts around and through the vortex with the instincts won through a long existence to regain his position by Little Snowflake, Alphesius completes his spell with what could -not- be a pelvic thrust. No mage would do that. Ever. And with a psionic shout Alphesius says "Do it!" And the ancient black flips in mid-air, pushes by a maelstrom of air which torrents at Alphesius' command directly into the old drake, as the dragon positions himself in front of Snowflake, pretending to do a mid-air backstroke through the air. Does he pass through the finish line at this time? He cannot see to tell. "Want to date?"

Ginger curses under her breath. "Alpha-Shard wins by a. . .horn." The pixie draws her magicks out of her constructs and begins packing. She has to chase the drakes away from the disqualified participant. . .they were eating him and his mount. Finally, she catches up to Snowflake. "It's okay, dear. We'll get it next time." Snowflake is blushing a dark blue at what Alpha-Shard had been whispering to her, but Ginger manages to calm her down. "No dating until you is a hundred, young lady." She leads her young dragons away, preparing for next time.

Alphesius taps Shardrazhur with his foot "We don't have time to dilly-dally, old man! We left the oven on!" Shard curses "You oaf! The Roast will be ruined!" With undue haste, the strange pair make their exit

OOC: Current Statistics

Little Snowflake, with rider Dolly: 3 gold medals, 1 silver medal.

Shardrazhur, with rider Alphesius: 1 gold medal