View source for Dragon:Zhoroth

{{NorConDragon
|weyr=FTW
|impressee=A'riste
|name=Moonless Night Bandito Blue Zhoroth
|date=2008.07.19
|size=27.5
|color=blue
|dam=Sleekly Eloquent Pale Gold Ciath
|sire=Soldreth
|egg=Impending Doom Egg
|clutch=22
|egg credit=T'aren
|dragon credit=T'aren with edits by P'draig
|puppeteer=
|body=

== Impending Doom Egg ==
Ominous blankets of slate coat the surface of this ovoid. Drawing from an under-layer of deep blue, the smoke-shaded swirling mass of fluffy-looking wisps seem to draw in the light and blot it out with its gloom. Pewter highlights kiss across the otherwise monotonous coloring of the shell, though these spots of light are hardly hopeful, as the overall look of the egg is simply dreary and dismal. Snaking up from the base buried in the sand is a slash of yellow-tinged white that comes off looking nearly phosphorescent, the streak perhaps lending a clue to the mind’s eye in sorting out just what the surface of this egg is reminiscent of: a gloom cloud coming to ruin a lovely day for nothing more than its own sadistic pleasure.

''Impending Doom Egg gives a final shudder and the struggle that the hatchling within has been waging against the prison that has been his home for so many months is won. Muzzle pops out creating fractures down the thick shell widening and shattering as talons pop through, feet first! The protruding limbs and nose are not quite enough, however, and the maw vanishes within and a moment later the egg crumbles leaving the Moonless Night Blue Hatchling sprawled on his back, having used his weight to push against both shell-walls at once. Perhaps not the most graceful exit from his sustaining cage, but effective.''

== Moonless Night Bandito Blue Hatchling ==
Swathed in the colors of the night sky when the moons dare not show their twin faces, darkness reigns over this lithe-limbed dragon. Rich navy cloaks this blue bandit, the color flowing from the crown of his head over his entire bulk, texture hinting at fabric caught in the wind, folding and rippling with the motion of the musculature beneath. His build is neither too lean nor too thick, but that ‘just right’ middle-ground that gives his form a naturally athletic look. Despite the monochrome inky blue that enfolds the greater part of him, his coloration is hardly monotonous. Across his back spread sinuously shaped shadows that draw patterns of Prussian blue, only a shade lighter than the canvas it is painted upon. These motifs and swirls rise up to drape across the backs of his wings, adding to an overall sense of fluid motion even when he is holding still. The overwhelming dark of this dragon is relieved by a patch of bright cerulean that seems almost out of place, spread across the underside of his neck and rising up to nearly cover his muzzle. A swatch of midnight bands his eyes like a mask, tight circles of cerulean peek out from the darkness that rises up and over headknobs only to spill over down the back of his head. Tendrils of dusty gold crawl across smooth headknobsringing his brow as if he has donned a decorated broad-brimmed hat.

==Temperament==
“After all… it’s only one dragon…” “It isn’t just one dragon, shard it. Its Zhoroth.” – The Mask of Zorro (Pernitized!)

Captivating, clever, and charming, Zhoroth is a complex companion. A being of mystery and secrets, you’ll spend your whole life unraveling him. Sleek and suave in time, he’s a head-strong handful from the start. Even just out of the shell, Zhoroth’s supreme confidence– arrogance?– is evident. He is the one and only Zhoroth, replete with bravado and machismo. He not only takes pride in himself but in you, keenly aware from day one that you, his compadre, are the one and only X’den: the central figure in his escapades!

A diamond in the rough, Zhoroth may easily be considered uncouth and ill-mannered in his early turns when bad habits run rampant. Notably, not bathing (if he can avoid it!), gorging himself to sluggishness. Exercise? Forget about it! Zhoroth has so much faith in his natural abilities that he doesn’t feel the need to practice. Change is in the wind and eventually: Zhoroth’s habits and your frustrations with them will hit rock-bottom, leading to a turnaround. Who knows what will spur this change in him – perhaps a confrontation with you, his most trusted confidante? Finally, he will pass the reins to you, admitting and confiding that maybe he doesn’t always know what’s best. He sees you as the wiser and more experienced of the pair, and once this reckoning occurs, he’ll yield to you, though it doesn’t lessen his confidence. His conviction that he will do well only drives him to study harder, try to remember things for longer, to train faster. He will finally want you to show him all of the finer aspects of life that your Holder upbringing has taught you, letting you bathe and groom him without a fight! With your help, he dons the different masks necessary to face life’s myriad challenges.

Once he’s made the change and taken a vested interest in training, weyrlinghood will become much easier. Zhoroth is a shining example of the best and brightest. Long hours of endless training may not be to your liking. Luckily, it’s himself he wants to train, so you can sit back and watch, guide, and critique. This doesn’t mean that everything is easy for him to learn, but works at it until he gets it right. For all of this change, his rash temperament remains. Expect to find him showing off the new guises that you teach him to whatever dragons listen, even if he hasn’t gotten the hang of each one yet: the gentleman, the champion, the lover. This leads him into adventure. With adventure comes trouble. Sometimes his exploits are kept secret and you’ll find out about them only after the fact.

As Zhoroth matures, he perfects his masks. With your guidance, Zhoroth hones his ability to choose words carefully, imbue them with implication and meaning, assumes a polished gloss. He follows the dictates of society when everyone is looking, but wears another mask when the world’s attention is elsewhere. He has a good heart and gives voice to those he feels need his help, especially the meek. To show kindness, he feels, is to reveal some chink in his mental armor, thus he arrays himself with the guise of the cool and collected gentleman. When no one but those in need are around to see, he is caring and kind almost to a fault. Whether it is extra time spent helping others to tackle difficulties, or working as part of search and rescue, Zhoroth lives up to the best names of dragonkind through his steadfast willingness to go the extra mile as a champion of the helpless.

As part of a wing, Zhoroth is easily leader material, but he also understands teamwork. It takes time for him to realize this, so some initial attempts at teamwork bring abyssmal results. It is usually those dragons most admired by him that he has the hardest time working with. He strives always to be noticed, even when operating in concert with other dragons, and his hard-won skills aid in this. He always wants to be involved with wing-happenings; after all, without inside intelligence, it’s hard to know who needs helping and how!

Flights are about passion and acrobatics for Zhoroth. The onset of lust is a subtle thing that builds slowly for Zhoroth, the opening moves of the dance of desire. Rhythm dictates his actions from start to finish, music perhaps unheard by the rest driving him onward to greater and greater shows of style and energy. Zhoroth always seems vigorous, never discouraged. Seduction is as much mental as physical for him, and he attempts to lure the lady with his mysterious mannerisms into madcap aerial tango. Flights are the perfect setting for him to perform for an audience, but ultimately, the object of the chase is the most important observer.

Being a search dragon brings out an unusual side to Zhoroth. He is, as in all things, elegant in his selection process. Though he senses potential, he has a difficult time pinning its source. Sometimes the most valiant hearts can come from the most unexpected sources, and he takes pride in his candidates with an unusually long memory. He does his part to help them learn the ropes of dragon-care during candidacy; up to and including volunteering himself (and you!) to spend time with them and be bathed and groomed by them (him, not you).

Mysteries are Zhoroth’s favorite occupation, any unsolved ‘why’ to be ruminated upon at length and investigated subtly. Most fascinating of all are /your/ mysteries and he enjoys picking your brain for long hours. Like dragonpoker between experts, there’s a trade between the two of you: how much is either of you willing to give away?. There’s no inherent mistrust between you, because really, Zhoroth is the only one in the world that you know you will never doubt, and vice versa. You both enjoy the intellectual exchange of one secret for another, unraveling mysteries as carefully as an old auntie would unknot hopelessly tangled yarn. In your time together, Zhoroth figures out that you do have less favorable traits such as taking enjoyment in others’ hardships, and he chides you when necessary if the sufferer is undeserving of their woes. Perhaps some of his goodness will rub off on you, or perhaps it will be a sticking point between you. The two of you won’t always see eye to eye on things, and your similarities will cause clashes.

Zhoroth is your match in secrets, confidence, and determination, but his innate good heart clashes with your sometimes less than fluffy inclinations. It’s enough to keep life interesting to say the least. You will never stop learning the intricacies of your Zhoroth, and he will never stop investigating yours. Together, perhaps you can unravel the greatest mystery of all: life.

==Public Impression Message==
Moonless Night Bandito Blue uses the shells, the other dragons, even the candidates, to avoid some of the prying eyes, losing himself in the hectic-ness of the hatching sands. A danger, to be sure for those keeping their attention on the hatchlings to try to keep from getting gored. Young and inexperienced though the hatchling may be, he moves with a certain amount of natural ability, though it could hardly be called grace, and really more of an ill-trained swagger. Such elegance in looks doesn’t seem to translate into form, or at least not yet, and so it is with a tangling of talons, that he goes rolling forward onto the sands. Not to let such a little thing defeat him, however, he plucks himself back up, not heeding the sand that now dusts his dark form and arrives at long last in front of one lean teen with sapphire eyes. He pulls his head back and up, puffing his chest up and unfurls his wings, posing as impression is made.

==Private Impression Message==
The hatching sands are no less uncomfortable than the last time you faced them, though that was in a very different where. Fort’s sands have brought all the familiar feelings of heat and frantic activity that comes with the cracking of shells and melding of man and beast. Your focus on the sands or hatchlings or– well, whatever, is suddenly stolen away as darkness envelops you. The smell of hot spices and a musky masculine scent fill your nose as light flames into life, a slow drag across, then diagonally downwards and back leaving a sizzling Z suspended as bright as a bonfire in the dead of night. For a moment, it is all you can see, sense, and then you hear a deep, rich voice purr into your mind, accompanied by the seductive tremolo plucking of gitar strings and the quiet ‘shhhhhhhhhhh’ of maracas, << I am the one and only Zhoroth, and you are my X'den. For now, that we are together is all you need to know. >> Suddenly the darkness is gone and colors are flaring vibrantly into your mind, fading swiftly to reveal the hatching sands once more and the blue dragonet poised before you, wings unfurled, chest puffed, and head tilted up. << Now, I am hungry. We will get something to eat, no? >>

==Mindvoice==
Maracas and castanets shiver into rhythmic life with the initial touch of Zhoroth’s mind. Overlaid by sweet strains of an expertly plucked and strummed gitar, his sendings are musical, vibrant. Often the tunes he’ll choose are echoes of his feelings, the gitar in Zhoroth’s mind as expressive as it is in the hands of a Master Harper. Preferring to communicate in only the liveliest hues, the passion with which Zhoroth relays his thoughts is evident not only through color, but in the vivid imagery that accompanies his words. Words are relayed in a deep baritone, many sentiments practically purred, his speech flowing together gracefully. As with many aspects of his movement, there is precision in his communication, he chooses words carefully (after he’s learned a bit from you). A hint of masculine musk touched occasionally by what smells like a classy cologne suffuses his sendings to further entrance the senses of female conversation partners. Every now and again when he gets particularly excited, a pleasantly spicy spark will infuse his mindtouch. In bad moods, everything pales to a rather dreary and hopeless grey.

==Dragon Inspirations==
The inspiration for your Zhoroth is the masked bandit Zorro! You suggested “a dragon full of himself and full of secrets” as a possibility, and I thought a character as rich and complex as Zorro might well fit the bill. His primary inspiration comes from the 1998 movie “The Mask of Zorro” where Zorro is portrayed by Anthony Hopkins and Antonio Banderas. I tried to incorporate a lot of early Alejandro Murrieta, Banderas’ character who becomes the new Zorro, and used a lot of the relationship between Don Diego de la Vega (orignial Zorro, Hopkins’ character) to characterize how he will feel towards you. Of course, as with any dragon, this is an RP jumping off point, and if there’s anything that doesn’t suit you, please feel free to disregard. I hope you enjoy your secretive, suave, bold, though perhaps a little bull-headed blue.

'''Egg Inspiration:''' Gloom and doom clouds that mean rain!

== Name Meaning ==
Zhoroth is derived from Zorro, the dragon’s inspiration. I wanted it to be more subtle than Zorroth because I wanted the idea of secrets and mysteries to be present even in the name.}}