Having previously and somewhat offhandedly mentioned the game of Dragon Scrabble in a different thread, I began to wonder. How would such a game work? Obviously we're talking about an incredibly complex and intricate game which beings eons of years old would play. Without crazy Matrix technology, most likely they would play it with magic.

Now, I would imagine that Dragon Scrabble would somewhat resemble normal Scrabble wherein the object of the game is to connect one word to another. Except, with Dragon Scrabble, it's more of connecting a concept with another concept, since they're all high-falutin' crazy demigod beings. Thus, you would traipse off into the metaplanes and actually grab a concept-no doubt a fierce and dangerous undertaking in and of itself-find another concept in the same or perhaps an even different metaplane and find an association with which the two could be connected. There would be bonus points and multipliers for certain combinations, I would imagine, or even the effect the combined concept had on astral space. The more you were able to connect, even, perhaps the larger your score.

Most likely, this would be done in a Dragon Scrabble metaplane of its own, probably resembling some kind of strange Euclidian puzzle box zoo of interconnecting concepts and metaphors, tended to by odd, bookish spirits clutching various versions of the New York Times' Crossword Encyclopedia.

Now, it is along this line of thought that I figured out not only why Ghostwalker took his sweet time getting back, but what dragons are actually doing during mana downswings. You see, the dragons were all playing Dragon Scrabble on their metaplane while they waited for the upwards mana shift. Ghostwalker had no doubt been on the verge of some incomprehensible master Dragon Scrabble endgame and got caught up in it, only to have his attention diverted back to normal affairs fifty years after the others had left.

Knowing this, various comments made by other Dragons in various source material like Year of the Comet become all that much more clear, and the universe itself has become to make a great deal more sense.

Being sick for a week is bad. Idle hands....go crazy, apparently.

The byline on that should have been "And Learned To Love The Great Ghost Dance"

See, that's another thing that I've been wondering about. What are the steps to the Great Ghost Dance? What kind of music is appropriate? Did a proper application of Enya bring the United States to its knees?

"Dragon Scrabble" is just a pet term dragons use for manipulating the fabric of reality as we know it.

No, no, that's Dragon Monopoly. Lowfyr's winning.

Conneting concepts together, huh? Sounds more like "Games Qaballists Play", rather than dragons...

Dragons can't be Qaballists?

not unless they've been circumcized...

bada-dum-tish!

They seem to be more like "Scientologists." How else would L. Ron Hubbard come with that wacky plan if he wasn't immortal. To say nothing of the Mission Earth Decalogy.

I'm sorry, but L. Ron Hubbard has not been, is not, and never will be, in any way, shape, or form a Dragon, Great Dragon, Immortal Elf.

As for Scientologists, they are just scary. We shall speak no more of them.

I imagine the instructions to the GGD would sound something like Time Warp from Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Ah keed, Ah Keed...

ANd here I was going to say Gyro was on crack... but in my over medicated state.. it makes sense!