Difference between revisions of "Dragon:Elaruth"

Revision as of 11:06, 23 March 2015

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Darn(ing) Egg

It might have been carved from heartwood, so darkly and densely grained is the large egg, largest of all the clutch: a deep brown-gold incised with rows of fine parallel lines, here closer together, there further, until at one side they become an irregular oval surrounding another and then another yet again. Solid and unassuming, it bears the uneven polish of use, as well as the minute, erratic scratches that scar each end with the old memory of iron.

Tuned to the stone-shaking hum of the dragons' encouraging of the clutch, the Darn(ing) Egg shudders and shudders again, deeper and deeper with every pulse. Finally it gives way where it had withstood so much, splintering in long, narrow fragments of brown-gold shell over the lighter gold hatchling that staggers free a step or two. She winces, though, and then creels at a high clattering pitch, as though every shard hurts her sensitive paws and the stares and smells are more painful yet.

Morning Over Mists Gold Hatchling

Small and spindly-legged, this young dragon is the soft, soft, insubstantial gold of sunrise reflecting off southerly marshes: not dark but not yet truly light, wavering into paler fog about her sides through her flanks, only to at last disappear into near-whiteness at her tail. An elongated muzzle holds side-set eyes with a quiet brightness to them, and behind the curve of her headknobs, neckridges flow with a smooth contour like so many expanding ripples. Though she tends to hold her head close to her body, and keep her wings close too, when unfurled the latter rise long and narrow from her broad shoulders. Those wings are not only thin but diaphanous, a sunlit haze between subtly greener spars with only their trailing edges still brushed in shadow. Shadowy are her talons as well, set in yielding, sensitive paws.

Temperament

Elaruth's sensitivity is both her strength and her weakness. She will often sense nuances when others (including you!) will not, and her senses are sharp from sight to smell to touch. At the same time, this means it can be difficult for her to keep her emotional balance and not get overwhelmed by everything that's going on, particularly when you get forceful; while age and experience will help with such stimuli, and you may help most of all, it can still trouble her in stressful situations. Elaruth also doesn't start out with many boundaries where you are concerned, so it may also be far too easy for you to be caught up in everything that she senses so piercingly, disrupting your sense of how things should be... which in turn sets her off further. Harmony is thus important to gentle Elaruth, akin to but not the same as your own sense of order and rightness; though these goals are often likely to mesh, don't count on them always being so!

Your Elaruth has a lot to grow into. Physically, she walks slowly and steadily (frustratingly so?) with her long, even delicate neck and wings tucked back into the rounded, solid body she inherited from both maternal and paternal lines. She also favors walking on soft soil or mud instead of stone, given the choice, which is more comfortable even if it means that much more to clean. Later, she'll love long-distance flight, and will even prefer it to between: outstretched and aerodynamic, shifting from thermal to thermal to save on energy, gliding through the world and taking it all in. Emotionally, even though she loves being part of a large flock with all that company around, she'll need you to help her develop filters to let her enjoy playing with the group instead of being overwhelmed by it and you. Relax, if you can. She'll need it, and love it, and relax with you. It's not all play, though, and so she'll have to learn what to focus on as well as how to fend things off, from her weyrlingmaster's voice in class (listen) to the fascinating leaf Gedroth is fidgeting with (try to ignore). "Being a leader" isn't so important to Elaruth, the way it is to Dasarth; it's more that she wants what she wants, and she wants to play with Gedroth and his leaf. However, she'll find that the ramifications of using a queen's influence requires greater responsibility, and that if the strength of her reaction hurts someone, she'll feel it too.

As Elaruth reaches maturity, her limbs and the rest of her physique become more proportional, and while she's still likely to be more curving than angular, she can become more dainty if that's what you as a player want. She'll be glad to be able to feather a whole entire weyr with her favorite things, branches and fabric and rocks and such, and it may take some negotiation to keep her from taking over whatever of your space she can reach, too. With your help, she may be much better at dealing with stimuli by now. Indeed, Elaruth's ability to notice details of who's moving where can make her a very useful member of the golds' wing, with its constantly shuffling pairs whose riders are pregnant or recuperating from injury, if she keeps enough of the big picture in mind. Similarly, she would have been extremely good at riding traditional sweeps, though Fall would have been much more difficult. If the time comes that she must lead Fort, she'll have you (and cherish the occasional alone time, just the two of you, that much more). Some things never change from weyrlinghood, however, and even if she should get used to walking on stone, playing with companions like Chielyth is unlikely to ever be beneath her dignity.

Elaruth is so often affected by the emotions about her, and when it's her time to rise, that's still true. Gone, however, is the uncertainty and need for reassurance, nor does she wish to try to predetermine the outcome; instead, she's apt to throw herself into flight and ride the winds wherever they take her. Where others' emotions have a place is in affecting the mood: if you and the males give yourself up into enjoying whatever will happen, that's how her flight will be. If you're anxious or violent, that can carry through too. Something of a serial monogamist, Elaruth is also apt to remain close to her bronze or brown of choice, at least until the next migration comes and she mates anew. His rider has little to do with it; so long as he does not mistreat you, you each can handle yourselves. What's important is the clutch and their nest, and while cleanliness as such doesn't bother Elaruth the way it does her dam and rider, everything must still be just so. She might even require her mate (or you) to fetch her nesting materials, and be quite fastidious about what counts as a "good stick" (and thus accepted) and what does not (and must be rejected). Interest in her offspring goes beyond hatching day: not only does she take care of her young while they are in the egg, she remembers the young dragons as being her offspring for longer than most.

What becomes of you and Elaruth depends so much on how you deal with her, whether you can patiently support and encourage her instead of scolding or shaming. By nature, your Elaruth is curious and sociable, not particularly vocal but also not shy. (She will happily converse mentally, even if it often isn't in words. When she does vocalize physically, which is primarily while meeting someone, it has a clattering quality that does not trouble her but which might give you the embarrassment your player wished!) Elaruth may merely tolerate firelizards, but she likes other dragons. She even likes humans, even if no other is nearly as important as you. And since you are her Hattie, and not only her bulwark but her beloved, she intends to fit you into her world without question that you will like it. Of course you will. o/~ Anything you can do, we can do better...

Public Impression Message

The Morning Over Mist Gold's wings flap as though they could keep her from touching the ground, and she leans toward the young woman with the deep brown eyes and unruly hair before going still once again. One moment. Two. If only she could get closer... and then she does with a quick clattering croon, all but staggering into the lifemate who'll surely protect her from the world.

Private Impression Message

The very air smells different, all of a sudden, a mixture of sweetness and salt and sweat, and a coppery taste pools in your mouth. Even your tongue feels different, or maybe that it's that you have more teeth. You're so hungry. And the sounds... everything's louder, roaring, the bass deeper than you've ever heard it while a high scraping noise mars every step anyone takes on the sand. Anyone at all. Even the little queen before you, until she goes very still, and then all you can hear is her heartbeat. All you can feel, even before she staggers into you with that clattering sound of delight and relief, is your Elaruth who's found her refuge at last. « Yes, Elaruth, » she confirms her name as she makes herself at home. « Hattie! » It's blinding the way she says it, tender and committed, like the sun rising over still water at long last. And then you're hers, just like that.

Mindvoice

Elaruth is atmospheric, the marsh at sunrise, where night melts into day and fresh water meets the sea. Though the tides have their distant effect, the water here is stiller, more sensitive to what moves within it. When she's unhappy, her thoughts get brackish and increasingly swamplike. When active, there's the rustle of marsh grass. When pleased, she shines like light off water, and can be blinding in her rare true delight.

Dragon Inspirations

Your Elaruth is inspired by the white stork, viewed as a bird of good luck and fertility, and believed by several nations to bring harmony to a family on whose property she nests. She flies for great distances and is graceful in flight. Marshy wetlands are part of her habitat, and have an unusual beauty. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Stork

Egg Inspiration: A darning egg is used in fixing snags or rents in fabric and is traditionally made of wood. As the saying goes, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without!"

Name Meaning

Elaruth comes from Belarus, whose national bird is the stork, and we like to think it has the flow for which you asked.

Clutches

• Turn 20: Clutch 1 by D'kai's bronze Mikhuth
• Turn 23: Clutch 2 by T'rev's bronze Mecaith
  • NPC. 15 eggs. No gold.
• Turn 25: Clutch 3 by T'rev's bronze Mecaith
• Turn 26: Clutch 4 by N'muir's bronze Bijedth
  • NPC. Ten eggs. One unhatched. No gold.
• Turn 29: Clutch 5 by N'muir's bronze Bijedth
• Turn 31: Clutch 6 by N'muir's bronze Bijedth
  • NPC. 12 eggs. No gold.
  • B'rant's bronze Rhenth
• Turn 34: Clutch 7 by N'muir's bronze Bijedth
• Turn 36: Clutch 8 by N'muir's bronze Bijedth