BAMDingo's Clan

(Time for a bit of an update. It has been six years, after all.)

They/them

In the living room, dancing like a mad thing with a lampshade on my head. Closets are for clothes. Fabulous/BAMF clothes.

For those popping by to comment if one of my dragons is on the front page: Thank you! Please don't send a Friend request unless we know each other offline or we've talked for a while online (here or elsewhere).

Introverts unite-- in very small groups and just for a little while until our people buckets are full and we need to hole up and recharge.


Scruffy-looking derg-herder; RL spouse of Koar of the Arcane Flight.

Members of Tiamtu's clan who are descended from her or her offspring bear (with a couple of exceptions) names derived from Old Babylonian. If you want to know what a particular dragon's name means, please feel free to ask.

Colour focus: Blues, purples, reds, black, silver

(I have a soft spot for Christmas Sweater/Hawaiian Shirt dergs. If they're eye-melters, they're keepers!)



[Update below: 11/30/14-- scroll down!]

Rising from the vast and trackless sea, Tiamtu spread her great wings and soared forth to find territory she could call her own. A quiet inlet, perhaps-- plenty of access to deep water, soft sand upon which to sun herself, and access to all the food she would need to raise her offspring.

The power and grace of her flight caught the eye of a passing Tundra male. He took time to hunt for the perfect offering; approaching her without something suitably impressive would see him driven away (or worse, eaten). Like most of the Water Flight, the midnight-hued fellow was given to long and careful thought. He could not afford to ponder for too long, though, lest she fly elsewhere or another bolder male snatch the chance from him.

Clutching a tremendous oyster in his talons, the Tundra approached with all caution, head lowered in deference as he entered her territory. He placed the oyster before her, prodding the hinge with a claw to prompt it to open, and then stepped back.

Tiamtu watched the Tundra's actions with growing interest. An oyster was unimpressive from the outside, but what lay within was sheer beauty. Inside lay a huge, misshapen black pearl, gleaming with dark promise. She raised an eye-ridge, pinning him with her gaze.

"It is not a perfect pearl, true," he explained, his voice steady. "Anyone may collect a thousand perfect black pearls, but each would be indistinguishable from the next. This pearl will never be mistaken for any other. Set in silver, it could not be placed in any common finding but demands dedicated craftsmanship. Conformity is a poor ornament for one as glorious and unforgettable as yourself."

Tiamtu drank in his words. He was eloquent, thoughtful, far-sighted, and, truth be told, easy on the eyes.

"What is your name, stranger?"

He bowed, then straightened to present himself to full effect. "I am Omri of the Tundra. May I know your name, great lady?"

"I am Tiamtu. Be welcome in my lair, Omri. Let us become better acquainted."

And thus began Tiamtu's line.


[11/06/14]

"Breathe, brother. You're already purple enough!"

Anu snorted and continued pacing around the nest. "Easy for you to say, Kisha. Your lot aren't due to hatch for another three days. What do I feed them first? What what do I do when they hiss?" He shook his head, eyes squeezed shut. "I could tell you how to break a siege but I have NO IDEA how to be a father."

Cragjaw laid her head on his shoulder and coiled around him. "You're not doing this alone, you know. Your mother's second hatching is due tomorrow as well. Take cues from her-- that's what I'll be doing." Though she was slightly older than Anu, the gembond lady was just as new to the reality of parenthood.

Drawing strength and serenity from each other, the young adults looked around the nesting grounds. There was plenty of food stocked in the wall niches, endless warm currents to wash over the eggs in their tidepool nests, and no short supply of watchful, doting adults to see them safely into the world. Not far away, Omri and Novia's three hatchlings scampered and wrestled.

"They say," came the Tundra's calm baritone, "that it takes a clan to raise a hatchling. We stand together, we support one another, and we pass along knowledge to each generation. Love is the key."

"Thank you, Father," rumbled Anu. "Your support is--" His words dropped away like shale from an ocean cliff, and he held up a claw. "Wait... did you hear that?" Not a breath broke the silence as they strained to hear what had cut him off mid-thought. Faintly but unmistakably, there came a sharp cracking sound.

"Oh... Oh, great Tidelord, they're hatching!"


[11/30/2014]

*It is far too early-- and chilly-- to leave the nest yet,* mused Tiamtu, watching through one slitted eye as the first snowflakes drifted down outside the cavern. She absently reached out with a claw to stroke Omri's seafoam green fur. Much to her surprise, Omri did not appear to be in it. Recoiling, she drew a fistful of fluff back along with her claws. The nest was otherwise empty, but scraps of black hide and pale green fur littered both the nest and the cavern floor.

"Omri? Dear one? Where are you?" The Matriarch was near-frantic. Had they been attacked in the night? Had the Plague visited them? Desperate for answers, she charged forth from their shared nest.

A frosty-maned Tundra awaited her in the cavern's communal area. He was scratching his hide with frenetic vigour, bits of shed skin and fur flying off with each swipe of his talons. Tiamtu ground to a halt-- the skin and fur being shed were not frost-coloured, but midnight black and seafoam green. Hearing her approach, the Tundra turned around.

"Good morning, love. Did my scratching wake you?" Omri asked, for indeed it was he. "I'm terribly sorry for the mess." He shook himself off, flinging bits everywhere, then set to grooming his tail. "Shedding is a less than pleasant business at the best of times."

The Guardian's eyes narrowed in focused curiosity. "When I had heard that Tundras shed, I assumed it meant there would be a little more nestcleaning to do, not that you would turn into an entirely different dragon."

The Tundra smiled. "Rest assured I am still the same dragon, Great Lady. My winter colours have come in, that's all. My line tend to blend with the weather and landscape; the snow and ocean have influenced my coat this year." He rose, padding over to her, and turned around to let her get a good look at his new colouration.

Tiamtu's tongue flicked out, tasting the air around Omri. Once she was satisfied that yes, he was still the same dragon, she reached out and ran a claw through his ice-coloured mane.

"I approve. I approve very, very much," she rumbled, smiling. Her facial ruff flared. Omri raised an eyebrow, returned the grin, and headed back toward their nest. Tiamtu, smile widening, followed.