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

[alicornucopia]

"I'm not," says Finnah.

[on_my_word]

"I am," says Avar.

[poll_the_stars]

"Thank you." Write, write. "And now for the photos. May I?"

[on_my_word]

"Yes."

[poll_the_stars]

Avet takes two pictures of the relevant forms.

"Thank you for your time."

[on_my_word]

"No problem," says Avar, turning human again and scritching his smug fluffy son.

[poll_the_stars]

"All right then, are there any other dragonishes in the house...?"

[on_my_word]

Avar shakes his head.

[poll_the_stars]

"Thank you, then. If any of you pick any more forms and would like to further contribute to my obsessive project to catalog forms, my name is Avetlarin, feel free to mail me. Also if you would like a copy of the thing when I've finished, feel free to ask and I'll send copies. Though it's going to take a while to finish, I think."

[on_my_word]

"I imagine it will," Avar agrees.

[thisvorlunatic]

"I'm definitely going to want a copy," says fluffy Mial.

[alicornucopia]

"I'll just borrow his," shrugs Finnah.

[poll_the_stars]

She smiles a bit. "Sure." She retrieves another bit of paper that looks very list-like, and writes Mial's name on it. "And if there's nothing else...?"

[thisvorlunatic]

"Doesn't look like it," says Mial. "Are you really going to survey all dragonishes?"

[poll_the_stars]

... She can sense a challenge in that one. It's possible someone blind and deaf could have sensed it, too.

Well now she just has to be contrary.

"Yes," she says, only a little tartly. "Though I can't promise literally every single dragonish, some of them might be hard to find."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Good luck with that."

[poll_the_stars]

"Thank you. Well, since that's all, have a wonderful day, and thank you for your time."

And then she teleports away to the next people to survey.




Eventually, she is at a different door. She's made it to golds (having already tackled every shren house that will give her the time of day) and knocks on the door to her latest survey victim.

[middlingalong]

And a dragon who could be anywhere between the ages of two hundred and four thousand opens the door. "Why hello."

[poll_the_stars]

"Hello. I'm doing a survey on forms and what to expect when shifting. Do you have a few degrees?"

(It's probably a good thing she has her empathy turned down, not that she's aware of that...)

[middlingalong]

"Sure. What do you want to know?"

[poll_the_stars]

"I'll need your name, a list of all of your forms, and with your permission, photos of all of them."

[middlingalong]

"I'm Aurinpardamlysalavid," says Aurin. "I've got this and a booted eagle. What's your name?"

[poll_the_stars]

"Avetlarinyarenesaar," she says, writing his name down. "Nice to meet you. Are you a parunia...?"

[middlingalong]

"I'm not, but my dad was, and he didn't have any other dragon kids."

[poll_the_stars]

She nods, and writes this down in a section that is really not meant for that. "And, may I take a picture of you...?"