Baeris Kshau's Hatching Dune Office

When you reach the Dune office, traveling along twisting corridors and confusing hallways - always following the brown color stripe along the wall - you are taken aback by the hum of activity in the room. It is a large office, with pale blue colored walls (again, the paint smells quite fresh) and a number of chairs, couches and light stands. Two small tables frame the doorway, with couches beside them, a'la waiting rooms. Beyond them, another pair of couches face them, and framing those are chairs. At the far end of the room is a large desk, black and grey metal and chrome. Behind it, tall filing cabinets in silver colored metal stand, a rather imposing bunch of them in fact.

On the desk are two computer monitors, one of them a thin Sony Vaio, the other a 17' flatscreen. The computers connected to these are not visible, but cords vanish into the desk somewhere. A keyboard sits in the middle of them, and a mass of "inbox"/"outbox" paperwork is piled up around everything. On top of that... A gigantic blue fire lizard is squatting with his head peering over the Vaio screen. He doesn't seem odd in any way other than that you've never seen a blue flitter that large before!

Next to the big flitter is a smallish golden brown Rukel from Darkling Dawn, his name is Savannah but you don't know that. He sits proudly and wags his two tails at you when you approach.

Behind it all, in a large leather office chair, sits a long-limbed dark skinned woman with raven black hair that has a long white streak down the front. She wears a white-trimmed violet dress, rather revealing at that.

"And so that's why I want it done in gold, okay? I'm not messing with you, he wanted it that way. Oh-" she says, looking up from the Vaio screen, "I've got a visitor, I'll get back to you."

You see a small light go off from on top of the screen, and you guess that there was a webcam attached to it which sent her image to whoever she was speaking with.

In a mock-sweet tone, Baeris says, "I'm Baeris Kshau, the healer. You must be on a tour. I'd help you out but as you can see," she waves her hand over the pile of paperwork, "I'm rather busy."

"What is it that keeps you so busy here? I mean, the Healing Den is in the middle of nowhere!"

Baeris gives you a glaring look. Her brilliant blue eyes don't waver in the slightest.

"Um... Sorry, I mean, it's ... rather isolated, isn't it? How much stuff can be going on here?" You say, stammering and trying to avoid her piercing gaze.

"Well, we are the hosts of many unusual mating flights, for one thing. These," she indicates a specific pile of papers, "are the entrants to the current flight. Males and females."

"Wait, femaleS, like plural? Isn't that a bit odd? Don't female dragons usually insist on a bunch of males and no other females?"

Baeris smiles, a hidden pride coming out on her face. "That's the usual fare, but the Den is a very unusual place. As I said, males and females, in quantity. We host what we call "Frenzies". Theyre.... well, they're pretty much the draconic equivalent of orgies."

Sort of shocked, but intrigued, you ask, "what happens at them? I haven't ever been to one."

"We've got a number of them in the records rooms," Baeris says, standing up. You notice with a bit of amazement that she is quite tall, built long like her arms looked - they are in proportion to her slender long body. Her hair falls to her low back. The big blue fire lizard on her desk leaps into the air and with one big flap of his wide wings, he lands on her shoulder.

"Striker is his name, by the way," Baeris says, walking from around the desk and indicating a door near the edge of the bank of filing cabinets. "If you ever see him flying around he's on a mission. Or flirting." She opens the door, "this is one of our viewing rooms. If you want to look over the frenzies, feel free. The records rooms are open to the pubic."

"Oh, I don't want to interrupt your work," you say, "but I might want to check them out later!"

"Well that's nice," Baeris says, again adopting a false-sweet tone. "Any time. Now, if you want to continue your tour you should head toward the main hall. It used to be a meeting room for a star-faring university, and then it was a big convention hall. There is food and drink, and couches or chairs if you're feeling tired from your tour."

Before you leave, you turn and smile, "This place is a lot more high-tech than I expected it to be," you tell her.

"Yes, I don't see any reason to deny myself or my staff the luxuries that the Nexus travelers can bring. We've got technology from many worlds, and many different eras. We use whatever we feel meets the needs of the Den best. Like toilets and hot water. I like my microwave." She grins widely. Striker waves his wings and chirps.

"Well I suppose I'll be on my way then. I look forward to seeing you again, or one of those flights!"

As you are leaving, you notice two pairs of photographs on both sides of the door. Standing there for a moment or more, you examine them. One picture shows Baeris, two tall curly-haired men, and three other women in various states of posing or relaxation.

The image below that is an odd collection of men and women, all wearing similar violet and white robes - Baeris is on the left-middle, and several other people who look vaguely similar to her (skin tone, black hair, etc) are smattered through the image. The healers' caduceus is boldly burned into the wooden frame of the image, so you know this must be a kind of 'graduation' or 'class' picture for Baeris' healer group.

On the left side of the doorway are two more photos. One shows five beautiful people - four girls and one tall handsome boy. They are obviously Baeris' children, apparently with the curly-haired man in the other picture. "You've got a handsome family," you say. Baeris, back behind her desk, gives off a pleased grunt and a smirk.

You notice that the image is taken in the same locale that the prior group had been: a darkened cliffside cave.

"Yes I do. Most of them live here, in the Den. Though most of them travel. We hail from Ablan, mostly. Cherry wine and pie. I've got vintners and tanners among my healer children."

The last image, framed in what looks like shining multicolor titanium, is an odd one indeed. Dozens of dragons in flight over a large lake - two moons in the sky overhead, and apparently a huge gather or faire going on below.

"That's the Cross Gender flight," Baeris says, of the picture. "The biggest and the best, some say."

You decide to check later. Cross Gender? Whatever!

There are other photos and books of charts, obviously labeled "genetics" on them. You stay clear of those. They look like technical manuals!

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