Difference between revisions of "Dragon:Zechoth"

Revision as of 02:05, 7 February 2015

Pick a Card Egg

A close pattern of red and white blanket the glossy-smooth contours of this egg, the delicate lines so carefully braided across the surface as to appear pink from a distance. A faded triangle appears occasionally, where red and white have blended to form the illusion of corners, here and there, as if too many fingers have strayed across the bright colors. Darker shapes surface in bolder blotches, misshapen circles with too many peaks and curves, grouped for easy counting. Overall there's a strange feeling of familiarity, as if somehow you're seeing one you've seen before.

Finally, escape! The Pick a Card Egg crumbles in the face of an increasingly furious onslaught from the dragon caged inside it, first silver claws stabbing through the end, and then sharp neckridges as the occupant flexes against the walls that bind him. It takes only seconds then for the egg to shatter completely, shards tumbling to the sand at the dark feet of a proud, amber-touched brown.

Gilded Machiavelli Brown

Average in length, this dark brown's rangy build, long legs and proud neck, raise his lordly face above many others. Though shadowed by the deliberate arch of his eyeridges, cool and calculating eyes still gleam with intensity of spirit, undaunted by a certain knowledge of how the world works. A slender, patrician muzzle is matched by burnished headknobs, elegantly curved over the gold-flecked neckridges stalking down his spine. Echoing those hints of brighter hue, the wings that mantle him are sunlit brown, as translucent as amber. Yet those stairstepped ridges descend further, past the furl of cape-like 'sails, and there his color deepens again: rich walnut rolling along compact shoulders and muscled flanks until its shading culminates in the black-brown of paws like scorched earth, even darker-seeming for the brilliant silver of his talons.

Temperament

Calculating, cool under fire, with a focused intensity of purpose, Zechoth is the dragon that can survive anything. He may not be ever the strongest, the fastest, even the smartest or most skilled, but he is the most stubborn, with endurance and resilience surpassing his relatively unimposing physique. A born leader, Zechoth also possesses charisma in spades, but along with that gift comes his mistrust, his arrogance, his disregard for mere mortals (which is just about everyone, as far as he's concerned). Only you, Jaeni, will be privy to his innermost thoughts, the one confidante that Zechoth will unquestioningly trust.

Some people might say life's a game, and Zechoth might not disagree with that sentiment. The only difference is: Zechoth is playing to win, and he's not afraid to do what he has to do to ensure that he does. Even from his first days with you, Jaeni, his mind will always been making rapid-fire calculations, seeking to understand the motives of others and to see how to use that to his advantage. He can be extremely detached, downright cold, to other dragons, particularly the clutchsiblings he will find himself most frequently in contact with at this point. Expect Zechoth to develop strong feelings (generally dislike) about each of them, along with a more than healthy amount of distrust.

As for lessons? A means to his ends, that's all. Zechoth might not know what's going on or how to do it at first, but if that's the case, then you'll be the only person he'll ever let know that. In front of his siblings and the weyrlingmasters, he'll do everything in his power to fake the knowledge he doesn't have, playing along and picking things up as he goes rather than asking direct questions that reveal just how clueless he can be./P>

As Zechoth ages, however, he will begin to mellow-slowly, of course, as he's a dragon in it for the long haul, despite his memory weaknesses. Even by dragon standards, Zechoth's memory is weak; you might be able to call up memories for him, or perhaps some cue in the world will trigger something more precise in him, but he is a creature who lives on general feelings toward the world when he's forgotten all the specific reasons for that feeling. He won't ever remember things like the time that bronze ate the herdbeast he wanted, or the green who shunned him for that blue; but he will remember he loathes those dragons, and act accordingly.

But while in youth that fact will inspire his vengeful streak, his unforgiving nature, age will teach him that revenge often only hurts the wreaker or the innocents. And while in youth he might consider the whole world his enemy, maturity will teach Zechoth his own particular moral code: to right evils where he finds them, even if it requires questionable behavior on his own part. He'll have no tolerance for tyrants, and while he will always desire a position in leadership, and be willing to do almost anything to gain that position, he will also seek to use it in the best way that he can. Moreover, Zechoth is a realistic dragon, well aware of his own shortcomings and failures, though he's far too proud to ever admit as much to anyone else. Unsurprisingly, one of those weaknesses he will see in himself as he ages is his increasing sentimentality, but for all he will call it a flaw in his character, that won't stop him from exercising it in small moments of mercy toward a once-enemy, or in the defense of someone weaker, whom he might once have viewed as beneath his notice.

While Zechoth will trust the females of the species no more than the males (and in some cases even less), he will still always have an eye out for the pretty ones. Playing everything so close to his vest can give him an alluringly mysterious air, and all the dry wittiness he possesses will be turned upon the female of his choosing-and he'll choose many, always with a new one to woo as soon as the previous one's risen. Zechoth might even discover a previously untapped gift for poetry when he seeks to charm a particular green or gold. He will chase as intensely as he does everything else, with single-minded purpose; and if he loses he might be bitter for a bit toward the victorious pair, but he's wise enough to know that had he won, he would move on all the more quicker, and any resentment for his loss is thus shorter-lived.

A fierce, inexhaustible fighter, Zechoth boasts endurance-a combination of natural talent and sheer tenacity of spirit-that will keep him flying fresh long after most of his wingmates are exhausted. Unfortunately, the concept of flying in a wing is not one that will come easily to this mistrustful dragon. He's supposed to rely on these other dragons, who are either incompetent or out to get him, to watch his back? He will require a good deal of patience to manage-subjecting himself to authority isn't exactly a strong point of your Zechoth, either. Still, while he might not trust them to do the same for him, Zechoth's essentially good nature means that he will always step up to defend them, even if it means risking himself to do it. Just don't expect him to like having to do it.

Public Impression Message

A roundabout path brings the Gilded Machiavelli Brown past the candidates one more time, but takes him no closer to making a choice of them. His eyes unreadable except for the hunger that overwhelms all other colors, he still displays remarkable patience, playing his cards close to the vest until the last possible minute, when he, suddenly and decisively, lunges to kneel at the feet of the round-faced girl with the dirty blonde hair.

Private Impression Message

As the roving shape on the sands finally shows his hand and sweeps toward you, kneels at your feet, the colors of the sands leach away into grayscale, stark black-and-white and then simply blackness: a wry intelligence, cool in its assessment of you. « Can I trust you, Jaeni? Are you mine? » that voice wonders, but it's a decision already made, as Zechoth's mind rushes into yours even as he speaks, flooding over you in shades of emerald all the brighter for their sharp contrast to his colorless earlier images. But then, a beat later, his hunger finally overwhelms the calculating restraint with which he approached his now-ended search for you, and Zechoth adds, with raw intensity, « Come, we /eat/. »

Mindvoice

Zechoth's cool voice is as collected as his well-compartmentalized mind. It's generally infected with a dry wit, mocking of those around him; an honest dragon with himself if no one else, he won't even spare himself from that. He favors images painted in stark colors, often in simple blacks and whites and greys. While he plays his mental touch as close to the vest as anything else, his anger frequently displays itself in cold silver, and the clang of metal on metal; but his good moods are colored just as often by his color of choice, a rich emerald green that colors his voice.

Itchyspots

The brightest spots of Zechoth's hide will always be the itchiest for him: the tip of his nose, across his brow- and neckridges, where his dark hide gleams amber. Though those areas are perpetually dry, he'll be loathe to admit it, trying to suffer through the itch or fix it himself.

Dragon Inspirations

Zechoth is based on Corwin, one of the nine princes of Amber, the only true world in a multitude of shadow ones. After losing his memories and being stranded on Earth for four hundred years, he returns to the city of Amber to try to take his rightful place as king and dethrone his conniving older brother.

Egg Inspiration: Card tricks!