"Will you be inviting more Sherlocks here, then?" she asks.

"They are certainly welcome. Although none asked particularly to come when Jane inquired of them how best to introduce you to the news. If nothing else, there will in some days be a large party of my alts and our friends, including all of the Sherlocks who care to appear."

"I've never been to a party before," says Sherial. "Dragons don't really have them. I don't think there are enough of us. And we don't easily all fit in the same place at once."

"A sufficiently large place can be made," Isibel assures her. "Although perhaps this eventuality will make Amariah reconsider her offer to host in her new palace, which I do not believe was created with a population of dragon guests in mind."

"If you say so," says Sherial, tapping her tail idly against the ground with a considerable thump. "Elasirae must be off somewhere. I'm less sure what to do about Sidanar and Arianna. Maybe Tianthonet will think of something; she knows them better."

Isibel quickly checks the names against her pastwatching: Sidanar is the Darcy, Arianna the Anna. "Perhaps."

"I'm going to guess that Amariah is one of your alts," Sherial adds. "That thing you do is magnificently useful, Elspeth."

"Thanks!"

"Amariah is one of my alts, yes. There are sixteen of us in total."

"That's a lot," says Sherial. "You can tell me more things about them while we wait for the others if you want."

Isibel laughs softly. "I can - I also do not mind being asked questions, which helps with interacting with my alts, none of whom are elves. They are mostly humans, although Amariah and Angela and Golden would not call themselves so."

"What would they call themselves instead?"

"Amariah is a witch, Angela an angel, and Golden a vampire. Whether these things are species in their own right is an ambiguous matter, as all three sorts of people are normally interfertile only with humans."

"That's interesting," says Sherial. "Are there any apart from you who aren't human or not-quite-human like that?"

"Not of my own template - unless one counts a newly located one's ability to turn into a swan and back, but it was a magically acquired power, not an intrinsic feature."

"And if she's human the rest of the time, that still counts," says Sherial. "None of my alts are dragons, right? Maybe this world is just strange. Are most people here different species than everyone else of them?"

"None of your alts are dragons. Most worlds do not have dragons; there is one other world that has, but they are very different, and we do not know any of them to be templates of any kind. Humans are overwhelmingly common for all of the templates we have found, with exceptions like you and me, here and there. It is the same with elves. Some templates here that I have just discovered," (this description is intended to include Lycaelon, who she only recently discovered to be a template, though it was years ago she discovered him at all) "are human, like their alts, but I, the five of you, my beloveds, and another recently-discovered template who is an elf do not match."

"Very interesting," says Sherial. "I want to meet my alts and see their worlds!"

"I can invite the other Sherlocks here right now, if you wish, but they will all be at the party in a few days either way. Visiting their worlds would be somewhat more problematic, as you would be highly conspicuous, but perhaps you can work that out with them."

"I'm not that conspicuous," she says. "For a dragon I'm positively stealthy. But I guess in a world that doesn't have dragons, that wouldn't be much help."

"Indeed it would not. You would need to be invisible, avoid leaving footprints or making inexplicable sound - I suppose you could change shape if desired."

"I don't desire to change shape," she says, arching her glittery grey neck.

"Then you will find your travel accordingly constrained. There are a few worlds where magic and so on are generally known, and there you could appear undisguised and receive only peculiar looks."

"I wouldn't mind being imperceptible," she says thoughtfully.

"That is also possible."