Or are they? *G*
Below is Waxy dragon. She started out as a BB character some years back, kind of an alter-ego for Roger. He tells us it was just a joke at first to see how long he could get away with it. Waxy would 'swoop' into the BB to post something silly and wait for a response. No one knew it was him. Later on, when he 'fessed up', Waxy had become such a popular character, he began creating stories for her to star in. I got involved when I joined that BB, but I had known Roger for some years before that on another board devoted to books and writing, and so I played right into the fun. Those BBs have dissolved or moved on, but Waxy and her friends are still very much a part of our everyday life, and her universe has really grown. There are many stories involving Waxy right now (I think Roger told me recently around 60), and he is in the process of rewriting them to include a lot of the newer ideas and details we have added.
Waxy at this time is a 5 year old baby rainbow dragon, about the size of the average adult cat, with a rather long and graceful body, strong legs, and an expandable frill. She is playful and loves silly jokes, rolling in smelly roadkill, going on adventures, and especially craves dark chocolate. She doesn't like baths with rough scrubbing or soap that stings her eyes, being forced to eat Brussels sprouts, or being punished by watching boring politcial lectures on TV. Like all dragons she has a song, and her song somewhat resembles "It's A Small World" played endlessly, though dragons only hum and never sing the lyrics. She lives in The South of Somewhere Warm on the other side of a troll gate with Rusty, the not-so-famous otherworld adventurer and story idea writer, whom she calls Bubblehead because of the inflated and distorted way he usually appears to her (I'm sure it has nothing to do with his personality or intelligence). She also lives with 'her' beloved teddy bears, who have come to life and can talk and play with her.
Waxy and Bubblehead don't get along all that well at times, but then what child always minds and agrees with a parental figure? Waxy realizes that everyone knows Bubblehead is mean, nasty, stingy and irritable anyway, and that she is always a good girl who gets into some interesting circumstances, so no one blames her for occasionally misunderstanding a direct order because she got confused and excited, and was so busy she forgot what Bubblehead said. Waxy's favorite companions are Roger The Woodworker, who looks and acts like a kindly young Santa Claus (and is really Rusty when he is not covered in irritating fairy dust), and Lazlo dragon, who is her bestest friend in all the worlds. Oh, and she is rather fond of her Auntie Nancy too, but it might have something to do with all that superb Bulgosian dark chocolate Nancy seems to have on hand. Waxy is friendly and bold, and so she makes lots of friends wherever she goes. She has the most 'cattitude' of all the baby dragons, which means she never stays upset or embarrassed very long. Of course, everyone knows that cats actually descended from dragons, which are the highest form of intelligent life, and Waxy will make sure you don't ever forget that either. Waxy is a strong and acrobatic flier and she makes good use of the rotating lenses in the backs of her eyes, which allow her all kinds of interesting sight variations for special occasions like pitch black darkness and viewing magical item auras.
Waxy does have some special dragon skills. She can't make any flames yet, but she is capable of biting down with heat, or for short distances, huffing heat waves like a heat gun or hairdryer set on high. She has a bony diamond shaped knob on the end of her strong tail that she can crack like a whip. She can talk to and understand any creature or thing capable of language, and there isn't a lock made that she can't pick. She is a very courageous and adventuresome little girl who has traveled through portals in time and space to fight monsters or escape from evil beings, and still comes home to sleep in her crib on a pile of toys every night.
Waxy appears as a special commentator on Lee's ezine http://www.thefreechoice.info/ where she often shares her ideas as well as her best jokes, which are generally the ones that wound up in the dumpster wrapped around the fish bones...
Above is Lazlo, he is the companion of the witch Nancy, who lives some distance off the magical highway called The Elsewhere, in The Northeast of Somewhere That Has Four Distinct Seasons and a Special Season For Road Construction. Lazlo is a registered dragon familiar, which means he is licensed with the Council of Wise Wizards and Elite Enchantresses as a creature having been trained to work with a magic maker, but he was not exactly at the head of his class, if you understand what I am getting at. Lazlo is about 3 years old, brilliant shining blue above and soft deep green below, and he is about the size of a half grown kitten. He has sharp little horns on his head and dorsal ridges down his back to the tip of his multi spiked tail. Lazlo's large paws and small body make him very agile, and in spite of his language difficulties, he is quite bright, if a bit exciteable.
Besides Nancy - whom he calls Mama Tap Tap, Lazlo lives with her cats, which vary from 3-5 throughout the stories written so far. They all live in a big green house at the base of a thickly wooded hill, on a road that goes nowhere and has been long since forgotten. The secluded and magically protected enchanted place they live in has fairies, sprites, wood elves and gnomes and it is guarded by the howling 'hush now puppies' which are the fierce and protective guardians of the cardinal points of their world. They just look like cute little lap dogs, they are really fearsome killers - no we mean that! Lazlo and Nancy's private world is attached to another one where she does some of her more secret witch-type work as well as some writing, and that other world has a ruined castle keep and a prison for evil beings and dangerous creatures, as well as a wilderness sanctuary for rare unicorns and an inland sea inhabited by mermaids and mermen. It's very hard to reach because you have to know the secret password and be able to get through all the booby traps in the armory closet, but I can't tell you all that stuff now and so you will have to read the stories if you want to know the details.
Lazlo is a hybrid between a flaming and a hoarding dragon, so he does breathe fire and makes big untidy nests of found objects that he guards jealously. He tends to collect his versions of treasure, which usually include paper clips, foil wrappers, old keys, marbles, chicken bones, broken jewelry, plastic beads, bits of colorful ribbon and string, and whatever other interesting trinkets he can find that the Lost Sock Fairy doesn't claim first. He has the ability to flame as well as make fireballs and smoke rings. He can fly well and is very fast, but not always accurate, and he gets tired over long distances. Lazlo loves to dance, and with his big feet and sticky paw pads, he can climb walls and windows to dance on the ceiling if he wants to.
Lazlo also has a few special talents. He can imitate any sound he has ever heard, though with language, he often doesn't understand what he is saying. His hearing is very acute, and he can hear things no one else can - if a dust mite's ghost in the next world sneezes, Lazlo will hear it and say "bless you". No dragon writes, but Lazlo has a special voice-to-text program that allows him to work on the computer and read and send emails. He is learning spellwork so he can assist Nancy in her witchy business, and he is very charming and honest and so is well liked even by those who might have started out as enemies. He is loyal, hardworking, and dependable to all the people he cares about, which is just about anyone and everyone he has met (except Kiri dragon, but that's another story). Lazlo's bestest friend in all the worlds is Waxy, but he smooches and cuddles with anyone who is friendly and has warm arms and lots of pepperoni.
Oh yes, Lazlo craves pepperoni all the time. He doesn't like Brussels sprouts either, and he is not fond of many vegetables. His dragon song sounds a lot like "Take Me Out To The Ballgame". He also has a fondness for crickets (mostly in omelets or bowls of dragon chow) but will eat just about any bug or worm he can catch. He is particularly fond of the pretty garden fairies, who tell him which bugs he can eat and sing him the sweetest songs he has ever heard.
Lazlo has posted on a couple of BBs online, but he has primarily been a story character, guest starring in the Waxy tales and starring in some of his own.
This is master Shen Chao. He is an wise and venerable elderly dragon who is centuries old, and very powerful. He is the Keeper Of Keys and Warder Of The Curious Cabinet, where dangerous beings, beasts and artifacts are kept under secure circumstances. Within the cabinet, Shen Chao's magical ability allows him and those things he guards to remain in a miniature state so that they can be contained and studied. In his home world, which was destroyed except for that small part with the castle that Nancy uses as her writing retreat, Shen Chao is an extremely large and long-bodied Oriental-style dragon. Most of the time though he spends napping, or as he puts it, "Thinking very deep thoughts with my eyes closed and body very still."
Shen Chao is still a developing character, but we know that he does have some certain abilities. He does not fly but can 'cloud walk' through the sky if he is in his full size. He can also render himself invisible. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of magic and history, and Nancy and others will sometimes consult him for advice. Shen Chao is totally unaffected by any magical spells or the charisma of those who seek power over others. He has no special food or song, but all foods and music are his favorites - he will even eat Brussels sprouts!
The white dragon is Ambrose, who is the familiar companion of the Countess Gina Jardinere-Duval von Stuart, the most powerful woman in the stories. Ambrose is a frost dragon, a very rare creature who prefers an arctic climate. As you see him now, he is either completely discharged or in a place that is uncomfortably warm for him, because his eyes are dull and the inside of his mouth and underparts are bright pink. If he is fully charged or comfortably frigid, his eyes and those other body parts would be a light, bright blue. Ambrose doesn't breathe fire, he belches out a frozen mist that can be anything from a light frost to the instantly freezing vapors of liquid nitrogen. He is well-trained and will appear to be polite and courteous, though he can also be coldly haughty and has a mocking attitude toward his peers. Ambrose is about 8 years old, and is the size of a large cocker spaniel. His favorite food is ice cream, the richer the better, and as far as a song, whatever he hums sounds very much like "White Christmas". He is also a developing character.
Kiri has become fairly well established in the stories, and is having a few adventures of her own. She is the rather unwilling dragon companion of the character Lee, who up until he met Nancy and her friends, had no idea dragons, wizards, witches and their lot actually existed. Kiri is bright ruby red, about the size of a beagle, and she is about 7 years old. She is long-bodied and tall for her age, with elegant limbs and claws. Kiri is a fire gel spitting dragon, and she can alter the composition of her gel so that it can be timed. Fire gel floats on water as well as ignites on land and in air.
Personality-wise, Kiri can be a real trial. She has a superior attitude and she can be caustically witty to just plain mean-spirited. She also has a hot temper, but she is very loyal to those she respects and cares about. Her background is a mystery, because she was left to Lee by an anonymous mage with no more than a note begging him to care for her. As far as special talents, she is very good with numbers and word guessing games, though like most dragons she doesn't write. She is also a master at chess and is not above playing poker with Nancy's bedmonsters. Kiri looks down on the younger dragons, and she detests Lazlo, though she enjoys the hero worship she gets from Waxy. Kiri's favorite food is caviar, and her song sounds very much like "Ride of the Valkyries" by Wagner.
This little red guy is Sneetch, he is a dragon orphan that bonded with Nancy's grandson Ben. Sneetch is just a year old, and about the size of a blue jay. Mischievous and fun-loving, he is always getting into trouble. Sneetch is a gas dragon, which means that instead of breathing fire, he belches or otherwise emits (use your imagination here...) very smelly and obnoxious choking odors that can drive away entire armies. If he concentrates hard enough, Sneetch can even make a reeking fog or smokescreen. Sneetch hero-worships Lazlo, and follows him around, driving his older friend crazy with questions and silly jokes. Sneetch loves knock-knock jokes, the sillier the better, and he has a very infectious giggle. He also loves tummy rubs. Sneetch's favorite food is peanut butter, and his song sounds very much like "Down By The Station". I predict Ben and Sneetch will be having some interesting adventures of their own. Ben is in the kindergarten grade of Elementary Magic School, and so he and Sneetch are growing up and learning together.
Golden colored Glimmer's story is a very sad one. She is a metal-smithing wizard's forge dragon who has been passed down or willed to new mage every time she has outlived her previous position or companion. The constant turnover of companions has left her quite melancholy and shy. She is a soft spoken, gentle, well behaved, dutiful, and highly trained creature with a faraway look in her eye and a real air of sadness about her. Glimmer came to Nancy as a temporary companion until the witch could find a good home for her with a magical metalworker. The story has to be written yet, but Nancy does succeed in finding her two metal working companions, who desperately need each other and a reason to go on with their work. Glimmer is one of the few companion dragons who has bonded with a human couple rather than a single person.
Glimmer does not breath fire but she exudes heat all over her body, and can direct it into magical items, weaponry, artifacts, charms, jewelry and talismans to meld the magic and harden or soften the metals. She can make and unmake things, but the unmaking is a very difficult process that sends her into a suspended state. That is how she outlived her last companion, who was elderly and had no heirs. In a time of war and the seige of their homeland, he and Glimmer went into hiding, and she was forced to unmake something dangerous to keep it out of enemy hands. She slept for the rest of his natural life, and was passed to Nancy once she awakened and realized she was in Council care and that her human had passed on decades ago.
Glimmer is about 10 years old and she is the size of a full gown bald eagle. She has not reached her teenage growth spurt yet because she has slept so much that her physical age has not caught up with the amount of years she has been alive. Her song sounds very much like the medieval ballad "Greensleeves". Her favorite food is cheesecake, the sweeter and richer, the better. All of her energy goes into metal forging, but if she concentrates she can produce a jetted stream of flame for defense or lighting fires. She can also make herself too hot to handle for short periods of time. Glimmer is the biggest of the baby dragons so far, and is fairly hefty for her age, though the body bulk is important for the type of work she does. She is one of the safest dragons to have in the house because she has a real respect for fire and virtually no temper. Her hearing and sense of smell are not as good as the other dragons. She has actual ears and no neck frill, and her scent ability is dulled. Those are specialized adaptations to being a forge dragon, since the noise of metal working is very hard on sensitive hearing and the vapors of hot materials are very distracting. Her eyesight is much more acute than average though, and she can not only see magic auras, but can categorize them into gradations of shade as well as colors.
Chica is the newest of the companion dragons, and I know less about her story than the others. She tells me she is a gypsy dragon, and often worked the crowd at the gates of carnivals, festivals, and marketplaces. She is about Kiri's age (7) though shorter legged and heavier in the body. Happy-go-lucky and upbeat, Chica is one of the few dragons who doesn't mind being passed from mage to enchantress as a working companion. For her, it is all about the job. She is no nonsense and not afraid to tell it like it is, and she is very unimpressed with the fancy breeding and tastes of some of her peers. Chica loves all hot and spicy foods, but beanless burritoes and chili are about her favorite. She will dump on the hot sauce because no one makes it as hot as she can handle it. Her song sounds very much like "The Macarena" interwoven with excerpts of "The Mexican Hat Dance", "Tequila", "Zorba The Greek", "Tijuana Taxi" and "La Bamba". If it's got a beat, Chica will dance to it.
Chica is a illusion dragon, she can produce small bursts of flame but her primary talent is glowing a shimmering light that is confusing and hypnotic. She is an excellent dancer and can mesmerize entire crowds with her snakelike wriggling and booty-shaking manuevers. Chica's dancing will make you see what you want to see, and for everyone that is different. The harder she dances, the better the illusions, and the more entranced her audience. Like Waxy she is a rainbow dragon, but instead of stripes, her colors are in patches that shift all over her body, heightening the hypnotic effect. Fiesty and scrappy when angered, her temper blows over quickly. Chica is generally kind hearted and is a real big sister figure to the younger dragons, though she is also Glimmer's best friend and confidant.
Chica's place in the stories is not set yet, but she will definitely have some adventures of her own. I am toying with the idea of having her live with a bellydancer who is an enchantress and illusionist - sort of a Mata Hari in bells and veils. We'll have to see how that works out.
Those are the companion dragons we have so far. I am sure there are others out there just waiting to be discovered. Roger, Lee and I have been kicking around the idea of having a big joint story where the dragons all work together to save the day. What an interesting tale that would be, with all these special talents and abilities!
Did I mention writing these stories is a lot of work, but it sure is fun? LOL. You would not believe how many times one of us has turned to the other and said something about how a particular dragon would react in some place or situation we as writers were experiencing. Many of our conversations and emails revolve around dragon story ideas. It's a pleasant obsession.
If you like what you read here, get out to that other blog http://magicdragonverse.blogspot.com/2009/08/familiar-name.html and read what is there, you will enjoy it! And leave us a comment, we love feedback.
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