Feeling right at home...

[DoF Archive]

Date: 12/16/1997 8:30 PM Central Standard Time
From: DoraeRasta

There is nobody in the Outback, it is deserted, for now. The poorly cloaked figure makes a careful path down the stairs into the common room, heading for a particular table, carrying what looks to be a heavy burden hidden under a deerskin hide. The cowled head turns slowly, making certain there is no one about, either in the common room or in the rings farther away. Not that what she does is top secret or naughty, but she bets she will be questioned about it enough later, now is not the time to be bothered. Carefully she deposits her burden on the table top and reaches serpented hands up to remove the cowl about her head and tosses around a mass of short dark curls. A slight smile creases her forever straight lips as she reaches a hand to remove the deerskin covering. Once the cover is off, a small rectangular glass tank is revealed. Inside the tank, positioned from one lower corner to an upper corner is a piece of drift wood and the bottom ofthe tank is lined with small pebbles with a few bigger ones stacked making an overhang effect along one edge of the tank. A shallow bowl of water is sunk into the pebbles, under the shade of some sort of greenery stuck on one short side of the glass enclosure. It looks a bit clutter, the tank being small, but the current occupants seem not to mind, finding it awfully cozy. A wood frame with netting stretched across serves as the lid of the tank, kept on by odd looking clips. Dorae reaches out a hand and unbuckles the clips and slowly drops a hand inside the tank. One of her serpented fingers stroke the serpent within gently. Startled, the earth toned being inside withers and it's tail drops off in many pieces. Its eyelids blink rapidly and the forked tongue slithers out from its mouth in a frenzy. Thewoman says nothing but keeps the finger stroking in a calming manner. This pair; the mate to the one Dorae disturbed is curled under the rock overhang; have been with Dorae a short time now, but she finds she favors them more than her python. These are Slender Glass Lizards. They look like snakes, but have eyes like a lizard which means they can blink, their scales are reinforced with bony plates making them feel stiff. They are earth toned in color and when scared, the tips of their tails will break off,either in one piece or as is more common, in several pieces, hence their name. The lizards are small, sort of like the common garter snake, only thicker and not as long. Though they are scared easily, Dorae finds them easier to handle than the overly large python she keeps at home. She replaces the netted cover, securing the odd latches tightly so they might not escape. Earlier, she had put a pair of small lizards in the tank, for it is time for the pair to feast. She will leave them in the tank while she goes to do some training, which will take up a better part of her day, and return for them before going home. The tank will stay on the table, so that a secure place is ready for them come dueling nights. Again the slight smile creases her sullen mouth, then she repositions the cowl atop her head and turns for the stairs. She takes them two at a time, uncaring that she steps on the rag she uses for a cloak, until the door is at hand and she is gone.