Airships Over Aranor 3

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"Well, try to talk her out of it. Don't let on you've been reading her mind if you can manage." Conall turns to the aforementioned woman with wings. "Get your axe and head to the exit, just in case. Don't leave without orders."
"Yep." She does exactly that without another word.

If the Fylenis are not the generally least populous sentient race on all of Aranor, they are a very close second. They all have the exact same magical power, power over the minds of others, and of the other races the Ekim are the only ones generally resistant against this ability. This power amounts to the ability to read and edit another's mind, including memory, knowledge, and sensory input, as they see fit, and in a vacuum it would be limited only by one's own skill. On Aranor they are limited by something far more restrictive: The Fylenis, including part-Fylens who have enough of a Fylenis' power to be dangerous, are all considered subjects of the same kingdom, and the kingdom is ruled by an absolute despot. The being known only as the Cat King employs a very simple, very arbitrary eye-for-an-eye rule on assaults of others' minds. He considers certain actions, such as reading surface thoughts and telepathic communication, necessary to survival if not outright involuntary, and holds none responsible for this. Furthermore, certain things such as casting of illusions by false sensory input and even causing some fake physical pain are considered acceptable as acts of self-defense. The most important law is not to break another person's mind. To have one's mind broken is the most agonizingly horrific pain one can imagine; it usually results in death, but it is even worse to live through it. Any Fylenis found to have done so will be subjected to this exact same pain, but in a manner which does not kill them. More minor offenses also carry the punishment of having the offensive act committed upon the offender. And, because the Cat King is the most ancient (among two or three other legendary figures who have supposedly been around for thousands of millenia) and powerful of all of the Fylenis, he is perfectly capable of discovering by another Fylenis' memory whether they have commited any crimes--even if they try to stop him or fool him with their own powers. Each individual Fylenis is also responsible for upholding the same laws toward those less powerful than he or she, and failing to punish another for a crime one knows about entitles one to the exact same punishment; the only bit of leeway is that ignorance of another's crime is an excuse for not punishing it. Fylenis do not usually go around probing one anothers' minds for offenses, after all. (Ignorance of the laws is also not an excuse for breaking any of them.) This despotic and arbitrary law system is generally respected by all other races, for the simple reason that it protects them from the fear of some Fylenis being able to tear their mind apart at any time; anyway, the Cat King is reputed to be one of the most just and incorruptible rulers of all time.

But I'm getting off track. The real reason for my beginning to describe the Fylenis as a race and society is to say that they are a very rare and mysteroius people, they do not meet with one another often and they reproduce far less often than they meet. Therefore, the birth of a newborn Fylenis is an occurence sufficiently uncommon that a given couple of the race would never waste the opportunity to create and use a beautiful new word for their new son's or daughter's name. It is therefore unlikely that any Fylenis would ever have a name that is simply a word or phrase of any Aranoran language, or any name commonly used by one of the other races. Ultimately, my point is that a Fylenis' name could not possibly Whiskers.

The name of the particular Fylenis on The Farran at the present time being described is, in fact, Whyskars, often shortened to Whys.

What? Don't look at me like that. Aranoran Common language (also known as the human language) is not English, it's just being translated extremely well for the sake of this narrative. There is therefore absolutely no pun to be had in a name like "Whyskars". None whatsoever.

Anyway, Whys contacts the dragon, and the conversation goes like this: Excuse me.
A Fylenis?! Where are you?
I'm on the ship you're trying to torch. Why are you doing that, by the way?
They were being sent to Draconis to kill me, that's why!
This is a courier ship. We don't do illegal jobs, and killing people is illegal in most countries. Do you have any evidence?
Yes! The prophet made it very clear this ship would be involved in my death. I will burn it down to save myself! She spits a bolt of fire at one side of the ship as if to prove this point.
Easy, easy, easy! Nobody wants to drown on here, and nobody wants to kill you. Look, you came from Draconis to get here, and there's only one prophet there. I know that because we took him across. Raoclem loves keeping out really important details of the truth, and I can't even begin tell you how much trouble he cost us with that habit. What exactly did he tell you?

While she answers, Whys hears helmsman Edward Leonard asking whether something is on fire and requires extinguishment. Through the benefit of seeing through her eyes, he can see that nothing is on fire. He answers quickly to everyone on the bridge that the damage will need to be repaired later, but it is not on fire. A skillful Fylenis like Whys can keep up with five or six separate conversations at the same time, so two is a piece of cake. (Fylenis are carnivores and don't eat cake, so I guess it's really more like a piece of raw cow flesh? Whatever.)

Her answer takes the shape of the memory of Raoclem's voice reciting the prophetic poem in question:
Today a vessel leaves port on the other side of the world;
Far it has run and far it shall, for running is its nature and its name.
Your life or death, dragon of fire, hold its crew in their hands,
Though ignorant of the task set before them, they would do it all the same.
Okay. So you worked out that he meant the Farran, but completely ignored the 'life' part?
Threatening me with death is much more important!
Did it cross your mind that he might have meant meant our 'task' was saving you from some other threat?
I'm a dragon.
Yeah, and I'm a giant meat-eating cat that can screw with memories and make convincing illusions. Either of us could still be killed by someone stubborn enough. Or, you know, a giant monster.
....I hadn't thought of that.
So could you please leave us alone?
No. If you're supposed to save my life from something then I should obviously stay with you until it happens.
So you're planning to follow us the other halfway across the ocean back to Draconis, then?
No, I am going to board your ship to speak with your captain.

The Fylenis turns his attention back to Conall. I talked her down, and now she wants on board the ship. He relays the whole memory of the conversation to Conall's mind for reference.
"Well, that's better than trying to kill us. Is our flyer at the doors yet?"
Yep.
"Ask her to open the doors and not attack." He is assuming that Arizan has the common sense to shift to a smaller form before attempting to enter an airship (Aranoran dragons can take on two or three smaller forms, usually including a humanoid one, in addition to their natural 'giant dragon' form). And, fortunately for everyone, she does. Changing form in mid-flight is a feat of some coordination, but as the winged woman observes, Arizan is well-practiced in doing so. She takes on the shape of a large humanoid with separate wings and arms, still entirely covered in red scales. She looks like some kind of winged Ekim, but bigger.

"Are you the captain?" demands the dragon. She still looks pretty mad, by all accounts.
The winged woman (whose wings are feathered and off-white in color) is engaged in closing the doors so nobody risks falling out if they come too close to the back end of the ship. "Nope. Look up front." She points a thumb vaguely backwards and doesn't elaborate. She almost never elaborates. But the dragon gets it, and starts walking toward the bridge.

Arizan is angry for entirely different reasons now. She is angry that she was able to be fooled by such a stupid trick of ambiguity. She is still suspicious of Whys' interpretation of said ambiguity. She is angry at whoever or whatever intends to hurt her. She is slightly angry, perhaps unconsciously, at the egalitarian stance the Fylenis took and the general egalitarian attitude toward race. There was a time when dragons were the most respected and feared creatures on all of Aranor, and more recently when they were the most respected and feared creatures on Draconis. Many of them are still raised with the general assumption of superiority, and Arizan is no exception.

However, the prophecy that this ship's crew might be responsible for her death advises caution at least, and perhaps putting up with the attitude of equality. This places her in an awkward position: Ordinarily she would simply command them to protect her and expect them to do so to such a degree of confidence and stubbornness that it is absolutely impossible to refuse the request. That might make them angry enough to kill her or ignore her, especially since she already damaged their ship. Or she could offer some kind of reward, but she doesn't have any currency on her because dragons usually don't do that sort of thing. Aranoran dragons are not even known for hoarding treasure in the first place, and carrying any of it with them does not make sense in their heads. The question boils down to what exactly Arizan could offer as payment in return for protection from whatever threat is on its way.

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From: http://www.mspaforums.com/showthread.php?42524-Airships-Over-Aranor-Prose