Difference between revisions of "Clutch:22"

Candidates: Aleudre, Carisandra, Fraya, Jaeni, Laylia, Leova, Louvaen, Lujayn, Niena, Viviana

Egg Writers: Amerie, Chantha, Fayre, I'daur, Jaispe, Laylia, Louvaen, Lujayn, Melata, Niena, Persie, R'uen, Satiet, Shanlee, Sria

Dragon Writers: B'yan, I'daur, Jaispe, Milani, N'thei, Satiet, Shanlee

Dragon Editors: I'daur, Milani, Satiet, Persie

Dragon Puppeteers: Chavali, Dana, I'daur, L'ian, Milani, N'thei, Satiet, Suraiya, T'mic

Search Committee: B'yan, I'daur, Jaispe, Milani, N'thei, Persie, Satiet, Shanlee

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.

Inspiration: Card tricks!

Credit: Sria

Shades of White Egg

Of average size and shape, the first impression of the egg is white, though a closer examination reveals several different aspects of this pure hue. Crowning the top curve is an incadescent, cleansing white which, under bright lights, might prove blinding, which then eases into a stainy shade, less brilliant, yet still pure. The majortiy of the shell is pearlescent, with a faint rainbow sheen before, near where the sand meets the large base, it becomes a matte velvet shade of white, soft and soothing.

Inspiration: In the Final Fantasy series, white magic is primarily healing and repairing. White mages can, however, pull down some devastating light-based spells which are particularly lethal to creatures which are inherently evil. The crown of the egg is one of those spells, while the satiny section represents the spells which stop the damage and gradually repair. The pearly shade represents the healing which defines the white mage, while the soft velvety-looking section finalizes all that a white mage is by representing protective spells.

Credit: Niena, with edits by Satiet

Red Sky at Morning Egg Largely covered in a swirling mass of sullen grey, this egg is caught in a tempest from apex to rounded bottom. Like the massive cloud front of a spring thunderstorm, stacked banks of black-on-grey sweep across a background as pale and colorless as smoke. Towards the bottom, where shell meets hot sands, there is the faintest edge of glowing red - light trapped beneath gloom. Only when the egg is observed for a length of time do patterns emerge; do faces and images begin to resolve from within the darkened and dangerous sky of the shell. Too undefined to truly recognize, these shapes offer no answers - just a vague sense of menace.

Inspiration: Aeromancy, from Greek aero, "air", and manteia, "divination": divination conducted by interpreting atmospheric conditions.

Credit: Amerie

Hint of Courage Egg

Initially a dull lump of gray rock compared to its more flashier neighbors, this large egg eventually displays more depth in its monochrome coloration. Slight imperfections provide the illusion of cracks, spanning the shell and converging at the rounded apex. There, the cracks spread into a complex lace work which, when viewed at the right angle, spin a riveting tale to those keen of imagination: a bearded face, a fanciful crown, a sword lodged within the depths of the stony shell. It is, perhaps, a promise of what could be, should a worthy supplicant have only the courage to try.

Inspiration: Sword in the stone legends - what is more magical than old myths and stories?

Credit: Melata, with edits by Satiet

Lonesome Watcher Egg

Sitting at a slight lean in the sands, this medium sized egg dutifully takes watch over the rest of its siblings. Rough, gruff grey dominates the shell - short brushed variation of shades giving the illusion of scruffy shag. Halfway to its apex, fracture-like markings mimicking the appearance of a chipped away shard frame a glob of shocking yellow shot through by an iris-like sliver of black. Above this otherworldly eye is poised paired flashes of sharp white, topped by a smudge of black vaguely in the shape of a thick "T". Hiding around the other side, near where the base tilts away from its mound, slithery blue tendrils swarm about a slight imperfection dimpled into the surface as if they might find a way to burst free onto the sands.

Inspiration: A Night in the Lonesome October is a fun, light read written by the late Roger Zelazny. Magic is found throughout the book in the form of magical beings (such as a witch, a werewolf, a vampire, and sentient animals), items of power, and spells based on various ingredients. This egg is largely inspired by the narrator Snuff, who is a watchdog. It also contains elements of the somewhat mysterious Things which he guards.

Credit: Louvaen

Twelve Dancers Egg

Wavering abstract blobs of color ring this egg, each one distinct and roughly the same size, never blurring into one another or fading away. Each shade of the rainbow is represented, along with brown, grey, black, and a couple of pastels. Above this riot of color, encircling the narrower tip of the egg, are dainty lines and ovals of palest creamy yellow, their curves inviting the eye back to the rainbow profusion below. The distinct patches of color dance so closely together that the shell's base white can barely be seen, while in the background, phantom shapes of lavender and grey can be glimpsed here and there, lurking just shy of the festivities, like shadows cast.

Inspiration: The fairy tale "The Twelve Dancing Princesses", where the princesses descend underground each night to attend a faerie ball and dance with mysterious princes.

Credit: Chantha

Deceitful Demonic Shadows Egg

Shades of deep red wash over the shell of this egg, the thick crimson looking like it could ooze onto the sands at any moment. Flickers of black figures dance and mingle across the blood red shell, mere glimmers hinting at more ominous things contained within. Are they figures, or deceiving shadows? Some seem to take the shape of dragons or humans, but a simple shift of light makes them vanish back into the fire of the egg. It's one of the larger eggs on the sands and has the uncanny ability to take up more space than it needs, as if it was trying to steal the sands from the others in the clutch.

Inspiration: This egg is based on the play "Dr. Faustus" by Christopher Marlowe. The title character makes a deal with the devil to obtain earthly magical power-but all the magic is based on illusion, and his soul is doomed to hell thanks to his greed.

Credit: Fayre

Stargazing Egg

Although this egg might seem like any other from afar, the closer one gets to it, the more impressive it appears. Shades of perfect, pale ivory and pure platinum white all but glow from within, wrapped in brushstrokes of dark silver that are at once delicate and lively, fiery and soft. The shell's surface appears hazy when backlit, adding to the illusion of a brightly glinting center, an inside burning to get out. At the base, a crinkled navy peeks out from its sandy covering, bleeding upward in slow rivulets, the only darkness on an otherwise shining specimen.

Inspiration: The fallen star character Yvaine, who is herself magical, from the film Stardust, based on the Neil Gaiman novel.

Credit: Sria

Smoke and Fire Egg

At its base, this large, rather oblong egg is dull and burnished yellow, like gold left to patina over millenia. Above that uniform surface, however, the shell is a swirling mass of charcoal smoke, its lightest greys at the egg's apex. In places, the grey is touched, too, with rose, hinting at what is hidden below the smoke; but in a handful of spots, the fire underneath does flash through completely, in bursts of orangey-red streaks burning through the cover of smoke.

Inspiration: What lies within the lamp is only known to those who take the chance to rub.

Credit: Jaispe

Beyond Belief Egg

Just a handful of shades off of true white, this egg is a little larger than most, though size isn't its most striking feature. Instead, that honor goes to the pattern of jagged blackish stripes that slash their way across the smooth shell's surface, a striking contrast to the pale cream underlaying them. Branching off from a line down the egg's apex, the streaks are thinner at both ends of the egg, while around its fat middle, they broaden. In some cases they even veer out, outlining diamonds before petering entirely and leaving the egg's belly unmarked.

Inspiration: White tigers have become famous for both their beauty and their long-running role in the show of Las Vegas magicians Siegfried and Roy. While the act closed in 2003, the trained tigers formed an integral part of it for more than thirty years, performing in a number of tricks and illusions to wow audiences.

Credit: I'daur

Blood, Hair, and Fingernail Egg

While the base of this egg is black as wrought iron, the upper half is a dome of unpalatable colors and incongruous shapes. Sickly green, like swamps and rot, bubbles in ever-widening circles of gloss about the shell. Swirls of something ruddy, a sanguine red that burns to rust and shines in fresh crimson, mixes with the abhorrent green, churning. What may at first appear to be hairline cracks in the egg's surface are shown to be dark lines, handfuls of messy strands thrown in amongst the muck. Around the crown, like waning and waxing moons, are pale crescents, boiling amid the highest bubbles and sinking down to dissolve away below the iron's edge.

Inspiration: Everyone knows that you need bits of a person to cast a spell on them! This egg is inspired by a witch's brew. Sans eye of newt.

Credit: Persie

Ruby Road Egg

Eye-catchingly two-toned, this egg is at one end a rich, vibrant ruby, the color quite brilliant. The other end is a sun-warmed yellow, marked with unusually geometric striations across the end; while at the egg's center that color swirls together with the red, streaks of each color dashed through the other. Large and with a rather slick texture, it has a tendency of catching the light and refracting it into flashes.

Inspiration: Ruby slippers meeting a yellow brick road from the Wizard of Oz.

Credit: Jaispe

Orbital Oddness Egg

Unremarkable in its shape or size, it's the illusion provided by the coloring that lends this egg its individuality. Speckles of sky blue intersperse with pinpricks of amber that swirl over a background of muted silver. Light catching the egg creates the idea of it being caught in the motion of slipping between one world and another - here and yet not quite.

Inspiration: The ability of a whitelighter to 'orb' from one place to another at will as represented in the TV series Charmed.

Credit: Shanlee

Straw Spun Egg

Grassy at its top, the shade of drying green sapped of life, this eggs seems more like an unusually neat and oval haystack, a mound of straw left to bake on the sands. Drawn in lines and shadows, tawny wheaten hues lay piled, heaped and waiting. But it looks as if the heat of the sands has an unusual effect on this curing process; below the egg's stout equator, its colors and lines become burnished until every strand is a finely wrought filament with an honeyed shine.

Inspiration: This egg is inspired by the straw Rumplestiltskin spun to gold.

Credit: Persie

Amazing Escape Egg

Shades of glacial ice blue intermix with deeper shades of aquamarine to give this egg a swirling watery appearance that denies the warmth that the egg is settled in. Curled around the breadth and width of the shell are more prominent shades of dark steel grey, which give the semblance of chains with manacles, that are keeping up the appearance of preventing the very shell from bursting apart. The shell itself is satiny, except for the occasional lump here or there that puts off that perfection.

Inspiration: This egg is inspired by Harry Houdini's Chinese Water Torture Cell magic trick, where his feet were locked in stocks, then suspended in mid-air by his ankles with a restraint brace, and then finally lowered into a glass tank overflowing with water, and the restraint locked on top of the cell. Houdini is one of the most well known escape artists, and a great magician.

Credit: Laylia

Clay Sentinel Egg

Like a handful of mud scooped from the riverbank, this big, sandy brown egg looms protectively over the others. Across the apex, the shade is lighter, with a few faint striations of darker brown giving it the appearance of cracked, dried mud that might give away at any moment to crumble into dust. Yet at the bottom, the egg is darker, sporting small rust-brown streaks like veins of clay as it squats stalwart and immovable in the sand.

Inspiration: This egg is based on the golem, a creature created from mud and animated by magic, traditionally used as a guardian. The most famous golem is known from protecting the Jewish ghetto in Prague.

Credit: I'daur, with edits by Satiet

Spiraling Purity Egg

Blinding white greets all eyes who look upon this tiny, fragile-looking egg, hardly a blemish to be found on its smooth, snowy shell. It glows with cleanliness, slight silver gilding appearing around the edges, turning ever inward and upward to an invisible point. In addition to this, there are scatterings of flashing mica chips everywhere on its shell that lend the illusion of a clouded crystal, perfectly polished and pure. For all the gilded edges and eye-catching glitters, this egg is simple in coloring and far from boastful.

Inspiration: Unicorns are the purest of the pure, captivating but humble, reflected in this little egg.

Credit: Lujayn

Make It-! Egg Reminiscent of a gather gown, sisal fabric skirts the flared bottom of this symmetrically ovular egg, where overlapping hues of girlish rose and sky blues swish and swirl above the sand submerged delicate white base. Faintly raised lines sketch an hourglass shape on the otherwise smooth looking surface, buffered on both sides by two spots of white, light-like in its brilliance, which then burst into two warring shades. The battle of colors is inconclusive as splatters of pink threaten to dominate the blue, while splotches of blue encroach upon pink, leaving a messy divide down the center.

Inspiration: The ultimate battle of pink or blue where Flora and Merryweather from Disney's Sleeping Beauty, can't settle on one color for Aurora's dress.

Credit: Satiet

Second Star to the Right Egg

The inky blue of this big broad egg is that unmistakable shade of the night sky, twilight still clinging around the horizon and, at its apex, the great depths of space lie endless beyond the atmosphere. And out there, where hidden nebulae and galaxies promenade through their mysterious dances, are brilliant pin-pricks of light, perfect shining whites and silvers amid the darkness of the sky. They are points too stark and bright to be simple dots, spread at random around the velvety shell, and it might seem, maybe, through a play of light, that the second to the right is winking.

Inspiration: While there is some specific reference to the magic of Neverland's destination, this egg is inspired by the heavens in general and the part they've played in various manners of imagination, divination and of course, wishing.

Credit: R'uen

Honorable Mentions

There were so many spectacular descriptions submitted that the decisions on which were used or not were very difficult. We'd like to honor and thank everyone who submitted a description in our honorable mentions.

Vtolcat Egg

This medium-sized egg is textured with what appears to be soft, luxuriant fur. It flows in silky waves, its stormy colors fading in and out from light, wispy silver to darker, solid charcoal like gentle tabby stripes. Wrapped tightly over the two upper quarters of the shell is a glimmering iridescence, bisected by thin, matte black lines like the wings of a dragonvtol, the 'membranes' themselves shifting with tiny rainbows. Standing back to view this ovoid, it would seem as if someone has attached semi-transparent wings atop a rounded feline pelt.

Inspiration: In Irish folklore some fairies were said to be able to turn into cats, and the result was a Jhari's Cat, transposed here into Pernese myth as 'Vtolcat.'

Credit: Lujayn

Nevermore Egg

To say this egg is black would be to oversimplify the thing. It is a black that is downy, thick with ebon shafts and neatly lined fans shimmering in half-hidden hues and ending in feather-fine ruffles, over and over again around the shell, encasing it completely. The sky is reflected here and there, a steely blue shade that highlights certain angles. From other sides, it seems the black's gloss takes on a violet light, rich and royal with hints that any moment that purple might sheen into emerald over the absolute, perfect black.

Inspiration: This egg is inspired by crows, ravens and other members of the Corvus genus that have peppered man's imagination as a symbol that breaches the gap between reality and the supernatural. Be it an omen of death, a totem of cleverness or an uncanny familiar hovering over an old woman's cauldron, the crow is closely aligned with something just outside man's understanding.

Credit: R'uen

Crystal Clarity Egg

Appearing to be crafted of the finest crystal, this little egg lies slightly apart from the others as if discarded in a hurry. Words such as 'dainty', and 'delicate' spring to mind when appreciating its graceful curvature. Upon closer inspection an illusion of bubbles trapped within glass bears strong resemblance to that of clock hands pointing to the midnight hour.

Inspiration: Cinderella's crystal slipper left on the stairs after the ball as the clock struck twelve.

Credit: Shanlee

Sparks in the Night Egg

Darkness stretches in almost smooth black matte against the surface of this near-round egg, the color shading only nominally lighter to indigo where it meets a drift of pale sand. On its far side, night's shades give way to a shower of sparks zinging through the firmament with the promise of light and laughter.

Inspiration: Magic sparking from a wand, sparklers on the Fourth of July.

Credit: Milani

Deceptive Tapestry Egg

Brilliant whorls of bright color splash themselves on the tapestry that is this egg. Spirals of fiery orange on a dark slate background, with speckles of canary yellow are flagrantly shown on the smooth side of this egg that is most often shown to the world. But, beneath this vivid display of radiant color, on just the other hemisphere of the orb, dark greys and muddled turquoise blues are prevalent on the more fissured and rough shell. Cunning enough of a shell to belie and conceal the darker color, and when exposed, the bright colors are muted in the sanctuary of the sand.

Inspiration: While I realize this clutch is not based on mythology, but magic, this egg is a magical representation of Loki. The god of tricks, deceit, and an adept shape shifter. This egg boasts what it isn't, with all the perception of fire, and the potential for good and ill associated with it - while hiding its more watery and lucid demeanor.

Credit: Laylia

Sparkling Abracadabra Egg

This small egg is black, but neither a moonless night nor a mug of dark klah would an observer dare to make a comparison. Instead, sparkling flashes reflect the uncertain flickers of torches and steady light of glows alike, the display constantly changing. So hypnotizing the magical play of light, one almost misses that the egg is not solid in coloration: when it is turned just so, a faint scattering of silver, as stars spilled across the evening sky, swoops across the shell end to end.

Inspiration: Stage magician! Magic at its best!

Credit: Melata

Arcane Stones Egg

Wrapped in a pebbly grey shell, this egg seems more like a large, clouded piece of obsidian. Sharp, jagged patterns, much like letters of a archaic language, are scattered across the surface in a rigid charcoal message. Here and there a glimpse of a familiar shape rises from the fog to reveal a lightning bolt, an arrow, or even the bowtie curves of the letter 'B', but in the end, smoky grey waves obscure the rest of the message.

Inspiration: Runestones have been a favorite form of Divination, the magical art of seeing the future, ever since the Norse Elders first drew characters in stone. These same runes can be seen on standing stones along leylines, marking out the magical veins of energy of the Earth herself. Diviners create Runestones by taking a meditative nature walk, then as their inner instincts guide them, chosing small round stones. These are washed, cleaned, and then have each Rune letter painted or carved onto them. When the set is complete, a piece of thick and clean cloth is laid out on a flat space, the runestones are placed in a bag, shaken, and simply poured out onto the cloth. A skilled caster can make a prediction based on the arrangement and whether or not the stones are rightside up or upsidedown. Another simpler method is to remove a sequence of six or seven stones from the bag, this predicts an event and the progression of other events that affect it. The final stone is the conclusion.

Credit: Jazra

Bean Egg

An elongated oval, this pebbley-seeming egg is touched with various and sundry multihued splotches from afar. When observed more closely, those random splotches resolve into what appears to be...beans. Lentils of every tone and shade - from navy through black to pea - even faba, puy, and soy - scatter across the surface of the shell in a merry mix of colors, inviting one to touch and see if the illusion of bounty is indeed real.

Inspiration: Based off of lentils/legumes/beans - of which a magical one took Jack up its beanstalk to the sky...AND about which there is a humorous little rhyme of: 'Beans, beans, The magical fruit. The more you eat, the more you toot!'

Credit: Caitlyn

Sufficiently Advanced Egg

Medium-sized, a little narrower at the top than it should be for the perfect oval shape, this egg is a very common shade of grayish-blue to the simplest glance, broken down into a maze of wire-thread colors when examined in detail. All over a brushed-metal gray surface run a network of narrow bands in very basic shades of red-and-green. The whole egg is lit with a mesh of these wires, each terminated with the flicker of a bright brass connector that seeps into the overall aluminum-shaded shell. Fissures of lightning-purple jump between the termini, link the whole mess of wirework into a single hub of a softly glowing electric blue.

Inspiration: The inspiration for this egg is simple; the following quote from Arthur C. Clarke: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

Credit: N'thei

Beware All that Glitters Egg

Gilded argentate waves caress this shell in a dazzlingly shimmering flow of brilliance, enveloping it entirely in mesmerizing, luxurious color. Its multifaceted promises lay within the diamond webbing that captures the egg in radiant illusion of hidden treasure and found glory. Confined within jet-black shadows which appear to grip the edge of the egg's surface in bright copper-tipped claws.

Inspiration: In many fairy tales, the cautionary moral speaks of the dangers of being seduced by untold, unending wealth; be drawn into the scintillating glittering web that leads only to darkness.

Credit: Viviana

Unwanted Gift Egg This egg's shell is a smooth swathe of dark grey and black, veiling it in shadow but for the vibrant violet streaks that lash across it like lightning. Delicate arcs of lavender halo the smaller end, while slashes of royal purple branch and stretch like premature cracks in the shell down its curving sides. One narrow violet oval is halved down the middle with a crescent of black, yet it only makes the color more lurid, and leaves the unsettling impression of an eye. A patch near the base and another on one side flash an unexpected copper-orange, framed by yet more lines of purple like oval portraits of light against the darkness.

Inspiration: The red-headed Alanna, in Tamora Pierce's Song of the Lioness trilogy, has an unwanted magical gift that flares up and causes trouble when she least expects it. The magic manifests itself in sparks and auras of purple light.

Credit: Chantha

There are a few minor discrepancies in color from the hatching log to the final list due to clerical errors. The final list is, in fact, final.

W'jar and blue Marckilth

The first to Impress from Teonath and Wyaeth's clutch, talkative and chubby Wujaren became W'jar when smeared blue Marckilth found him on the sands. Best buddies with F'ren since weyrlinghood, he's a little less excitable than the other bluerider but is almost always up for a good game. His Marckilth does fine when given direction but has a tendency to wander when on his own.

Out come blue headknobs, a smeared blue muzzle soon to follow. The Red Sky at Morning Egg crumples abruptly, folded to the sand while the dragonet gets his bearings. He's got pretty good balance for a spindly hatchling, though his wingtips drag twin trails in the sand while he scrabbles toward the line of candidates. Out of the group, he hones in on Wujaren with a croon of satisfaction. The boy, chubby and talkative and sweating buckets, blinks saucer-wide eyes while he tells his startled friends, "Marckilth! That's his name!" Only one of them has the presence of mind to congratulate the new weyrling, W'jar.

Rhonda and green Ishawith

Frizzy-haired but gentle, Rhonda's allergies may be what sealed the deal for the lanky-limbed green Ishawith to pick her on the sands.

Right when the Hint of Courage Egg shatters, Rhonda sneezes loudly- and maybe that's what sealed the deal. The lanky, new-hatched green no sooner gets her limbs sorted out than she rushes-and-tumbles toward the girl, nearly bowls her over. Frizzy hair in her eyes, nose running from her sneeze, Rhonda blinks dazedly at the dragonet while she murmurs, "Ishawith," over and over.

S'trun (Satrund) and bronze Sevierth

Fortune favored the bold as the larger of two apparent choices for bronze Sevierth was muscular Satrund who was Searched for Teonath and Wyaeth's clutch. The youngest of the four original weyrlings on the "silver thread" leadership track, and the only bronzerider in that group, S'trun has learned to cope well with eyes on him and to handle teamwork. However, he hasn't completely outgrown his tendency to get sucked into alpha male challenges, and I'ro in particular likes to bait him.

The Twelve Dancers Egg hardly teeters before the bronze inside simply bursts from the shell, splits it neatly in half while he steps from the fragments. He stumbles a few steps before he gets the hang of walking, at which point he marches directly over to a pair of boys. Unlikely friends: Henrist is scrawny with freckles, Satrund is older and muscular. The little boy gulps, the larger one steps forward. Fortune favors the bold! S'trun announces, "He's Sevierth!" A grin spreads while he walks away from his pale-and-shaken friend with his proud-and-gleaming dragonet.

K'zarin (Kazarin) and green Kellnith

K'zarin, once Kazarin, Impressed to clover green Kellnith at the hatching of Teonath and Wyaeth's clutch.

Kazarin is distracted entirely while the Ruby Road Egg wobbles and finally shatters, but he happens to be looking at just the right moment to see the clover green dragonet that falls out. Hardly a moment is wasted between the two of them. She is still shaking shards off her slick skin when they lock eyes, when he hurries to help her find her feet. "Don't worry, Kellnith, you look just fine!" K'zarin beams from ear to ear while he helps pluck shell fragments off her gleaming hide.

I'ro (Igoro) and blue Stilkith

I'ro, once Igoro, Impressed to vapor blue Stilkith from Teonath and Wyaeth's clutch. Athletic, aggressive, and often a pain in the neck, I'ro has gotten easier to get along with under Stilkith's influence, but has kept his crude sense of humor. The discipline of being one of the original four participants in the "silver thread" weyrling leadership track also helped him channel his energy in positive directions, but he's lapsed slightly since joining Polaris, and still doesn't like being caught doing something nice for someone.

The Straw Spun Egg leans to the side slightly as if bent over by some wind that only it feels. The angle of that lean sharpens suddenly, and deep striations slide up along wheaten blades of grass that part suddenly to release a slight, vapor blue dragonet. Just as his feet hit the sands, his shell topples over on top of him, disintegrating into a rain of a million sunny shards. Blinking muzzily through the fading dust of his egg, the tiny blue takes off with a sudden start for Igoro and despite his size, knocks the candidate flat on his back, trumpeting gladly. "Sure! Sure! Let's eat, Stilkith!" I'ro laughingly agrees.

Sh'dor (Sheldor) and blue Idriloth

Hailing from Nabol, this lanky, brown-eyed young man Impressed to aquiline incandescent blue Idriloth from Teonath and Wyaeth's clutch. One of the oldest in that group, the tall rider was one of the original four weyrlings on the "silver thread" leadership track. Sh'dor has a genial, easygoing competence that makes it easy to get along with people, but is also able to keep his cool under pressure. Those traits, plus Idriloth's flexibility and control in flight, made them a natural fit for the plum spot in Icicle Wing.

Flop. The Smoke and Fire Egg just falls over, just like that without any warning. It lies still for a few seconds then starts to rock and roll back and forth hard enough that it seems to be casting up actual smoke all around itself. Moments later the middle seems to just melt out of existence and two long, incandescently green wings rise from the egg's center, the rest of the shell crumbling into so much ash as a regal, aquline face observes the world around. Sliding nimbly forth, the intensely viridian hatchling stops in front of lanky, lean Sheldor from Nabol and fixes him with an intent look, then imperiously leads the way off the sands. "Idriloth needs a bath /right away/!" declares Sh'dor.

F'ren (Ferean) and blue Haraith

Overly excited and pudgy, Ferean Impressed to the sinuous cerulean blue Haraith from Teonath and Wyaeth's clutch. Best buddies with W'jar since weyrlinghood, the two can usually be found together when off duty. Haraith is more easygoing than his rider and while he doesn't keep him in check, is at least a somewhat stabilizing influence. Which is to say: it could be worse.

Turned on its side, the Amazing Escape Egg has lain very still for a very long time. Finally it begins to shimmy and shake from side to side in silent desperation as if bound tightly in chains it cannot break free of. A few nearby candidates eye the egg nervously, uncertain whether or not to move to help or not. Overly excited, pudgy Ferean strides forward only to come to a sudden halt as a sinuous celadon shape worms its way free through an expected crack at the very top of the egg. Turning nose over tail, the green stares up at the ceiling for a moment as if catching her breath, then rolls once more to sit up and stare F'ren right in the eye. "Yes. I'm all yours Haraith!"

Cesaira and blue Pirioth

Pudgy, pale cornflower Pirioth from Teonath and Wyaeth's clutch found former healer Cesaira on the sands. While Pirioth likes other dragons' company, blonde Cesaira is more reclusive, with a quietly bitter streak.

Sweaty palms are rubbed along the wrinkled hem of Cesaira's no longer quite white robe. The popping of the Shades of White Egg nearby only increases her nervousness as a pudgy, pale cornflower hatchling tumbles out of its pure-hued confines. Taking a few steps back, the girl looks like she might turn and run as the green bears down on her. Something stops her in her tracks though and she lifts a hand that her very own Pirioth slips her head under, crooning delightedly. The new rider only remembers to call out the blue's name loudly to the stands as they turn to leave, chin lifted with pride.

E'dro (Eledro) and bronze Hroxeth

A tiny boy when he Impressed massive bronze Hroxeth, E'dro was the youngest of the weyrlings from Teonath and Wyaeth's clutch. He still isn't that tall but has developed more confidence after successfully making it through weyrlinghood, and flame-tinged Hroxeth remains gentle with his lifemate even when he's stern and unyielding with almost everyone else.

A few experimental shakes disturb the Blood, Hair and Fingernail Egg from its comfortable resting place on the sands. One more shake and then it goes still until all of a sudden it explodes outwards with all the strength of a gale force wind, shell fragments flying every which way, some dangerously sharp. Pouncing onto the sands with aplomb, the flame-tinged bronzeling within, glares around the immediate are for a second then leaps in a few short bounds towards a cluster of female candidates. No. All wrong. Another group proves as unyielding of an adequate choice. Finally, he spots him, standing all alone, head bowed, tiny Eledro, the youngest of all the candidates. Pale-haired E'dro's head jerks upward wide-eyed before the dragonet even reaches him and with tears streaming down his face, cries out: "Hroxeth! You found me!"