Do not mock the humble survey

[poll_the_stars]

Avet... has found herself annoyed. She has only one form. This isn't the problem, but this is what led to her noticing the problem. There is no way to preview what a dragon will look like. There are species books of birds and bugs and animals - but some of them are sub-par on noting where the dragon's colors go, and miscellaneous gods that she doesn't worship help you if you want to see what your color will look like on the form.

She is going to solve this problem. By taking some surveys. As in, grab photo paper, gather up a list of lines to go visit, and then knock on some doors and ask some questions and create a book series that organizes all possible forms, all known forms, what known lines look like in the forms - that sort of thing.

She starts with blue groups, because blue groups have the most available forms - she's gotten all of the big lines (well, all of the big lines that gave her the time of day) and is on the smaller ones. The ones with only one or two people. Or, in some cases, none.

This particular one's easier than some others; she doesn't need to fly to another country. It's Esmaar. She flies to the address of one 'Avar,' no line name. Apparently he had one and had some kind of explosive spat about it and gave it up. Not that it's her business. He's just another person for her survey.

She knocks on his door.

Comments

[poll_the_stars]

Thank you. That is reasonably close to what I needed.

... Yep, I tried that thing. Failed horribly. I am kind of sad now.

[thisvorlunatic]

I mostly just do my best to ignore it. Draconic can have its opinions on shrens; I will be over here disagreeing with those opinions, because they are shitty awful lizard opinions.

[poll_the_stars]

See, it's that sort of situation that makes me want to conspire to invent a new magic language to replace Draconic.

[thisvorlunatic]

Next project? I like it. Count me in.

[poll_the_stars]

Pff. Sure. As long as we don't change all of Draconic - I can think of quite a few dragons who would not like the change at all. Another option, instead of ripping the language away from them.

[thisvorlunatic]

The lizards can keep their lizardspeak if they feel like it.

[poll_the_stars]

You know of all of the words for Draconic, I don't think I've heard lizardspeak used before. I kind of like it.

[thisvorlunatic]

It seemed appropriate.

[poll_the_stars]

Ha. It is, I think.

Do you want to meet up for language conspiracies?

[thisvorlunatic]

Sure! Where? My house has the advantage of allowing us to easily consult my mother, who is a nominally retired research wizard, emphasis on nominally.

[poll_the_stars]

Your house sounds good, yeah. Helps that I can already teleport to it. Are you open this Chenen?

[thisvorlunatic]

Yep! Around lunchtime, say?

[poll_the_stars]

Sure! See you then.

Around lunchtime on Chenen, there is another knock on Mial's door. Surprise, it's the survey dragon.

[thisvorlunatic]

Surprise!

(Not surprise. No surprise at all. Entirely unsurprise.)

"Hi, Avet!"

[poll_the_stars]

(Yep.)

"Hi, Mial," she says, smiling at him.

[thisvorlunatic]

"C'mon in."

[poll_the_stars]

She does!

"So, magic language? I think the best place to start is likely figuring out how Draconic works. I mean, we kind of explain it away as 'dragon magic' but no one actually knows a ton about dragon magic either. We should probably fix that."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Let's fix that!" he agrees. "That seems like something that should be fixed."

[poll_the_stars]

She grins at him. "So - to start we should find something to let us observe the magic, or if one doesn't exist, go through the trouble of inventing it. Which, annoying, but you know." Pause. "This is the sort of thing we should likely ask your mother."

[thisvorlunatic]

"My mother did actually help somebody refine a spell that looks at dragon magic once," he says. "For shren-related purposes. I can't promise it looks at it particularly well, but we can go ask her for it."

[poll_the_stars]

"Sure. Lead on?"

[thisvorlunatic]

Up they go to his mother's office!

"Mother, where'd you put that dragon magic analysis...?"

[greatcomposure]

"I'll look it up. Hello, Mial. Who's your friend?"

[thisvorlunatic]

"Mother, this is Avetlarin, the survey dragon. Avet, this is my mother, Koridaar."

[poll_the_stars]

"It's nice to meet you," she says warmly. She gives Mial an amused look. "'The survey dragon.' Well, accurate."