Hatchling
Description: Conclusive
perfection is depicted in every mottled nuance of this divinely crafted brown dragon, his
form a complete depiction of the verdancy of a newly born world. Raw earth drifts in
darkened crevices across the landscape of his back, broad and deep with the bluish shadows
of networking subterranean caves tinged only faintly with the stubbornly clinging fingers
of finely dusted emerald lichen. Curving wingbones arch with finely honed precision to
support the chaotic imagery of his nearly translucent wingsails, themselves animated to
depict the fiery flow of amber-touched lava across the mahogany of virgin soil, rich
tresses of curling bubbles that erupt into splattered droplets of illuminated gold.
Trickles of these more livid hues creep along the sinuous line of his belly, slowly
hardening into duskier hues of obsidian that flicker with mirror-like polish over the warm
cinnamon of his heavily muscled hindquarters, a powerful compliment to the chaotic vortex
of creation. Thick fronds of burnt sienna billow along his extremities, swirling as if
caught on the first breeze of existence to envelop the elegant spade of his tail, the
fierce curve of his talons, and the gentle slope of his muzzle in the warmth of a newborn
embrace. The crest of the surf clings to his forelimbs, paling the jungle of silvery cedar
where waves might lap against a seaward forest, the soft azure dappled with milky brown
shadows of a thick canopy's web of overhanging branches.
Hatchling Inspiration:
Hawaiian mythology details the creation of the world
specifically as it would have effected the people and the islands. The story goes that
Keawe, the first god, evolved order from the chaos of the first flames of life, drawing
the sun and the sky and then turned himself into the remainder of the gods who would
complete the process. He became his daughter Na Wahine, and his son Kane. From these two
would come the three sons Ku, Lono, and Kanaloa who, along with Kane, were worshipped as
the primary gods of the Hawaiian culture. Every man worshipped the god that oversaw his
own profession, for there was indeed a specific deity for bird-catchers or canoe-makers,
fishermen or sorcerors. The stories are, however, convoluted as they were passed down by
oral tradition and vary from one retelling to the next, though the general framework has
persisted.
Egg
Description:
Jagged capped is this starkly upheld egg, cast aloft
like a tower of unified strength to balance upon its squatter end in the overheated Sands.
Runnels of carved stone blast valleys and crags into its outer surface, scarring the
smoothness of the ovoid form with a bas-relief network of sharply-defined mountains.
Basalt and malachite melt sable and emerald in a whirling miasma of hypnotic hues that is
nonetheless overwhelmed by the potent fury of the anguished and impassioned tones which
paint the rest of the curving canvas. Roiling veins of livid canary battle over a field of
crimson rain, both erupting in twinned explosions from the central heart of the brownstone
peak. Sky and agitated sea reflect the cloudy anger of a dance in the fire's wild heart, a
sole obsidian figure spiraling upward, head cast back in a scathing thrum of passionate
laughter. Wickedly gleaming amber depict eyes, the knife-sharp curve of a smile promising
devastation to the gap-cracked landscape. Trailing pumice streamers of ash and burning
rock, the maelstrom's heat descends into the charcoal-churning waters, which bear a
reflection of depicted carnage along the base.
Egg Inspiration:
The Hawaiian volcano goddess, Pele was born as a
Flame In the mouth of Her Earth Mother according to ancient legend. Her sister the sea was
always forced to cool the goddess' fiery temper, and eventually she settled at Halemaumau
on the island of Hawaii. Pele is revered as both a goddess of fire and a goddess of earth,
for through the molten bouts of her anger do volcanic eruptions shift stone and melted
rock to rebuild the islands around her. The goddess is said to embody the image of raw
life-force, at times fiery-fierce, and at others as calm as a late-summer sea. The peoples
of the islands worshipped her as a basic facet of their theology, and this reverence
formed one of the basic elements of their culture. They lived in the volcano's shadow and
their thoughts and prayers were devoted unto it. This egg is the work of Cymber.
Hatching
Message:
The tower crumbles. The stark disposition of the
Fiery Destructive Wrath Egg crumples as so many of its fellows, dissolving into a mass of
liquid shards that wrap themselves about the roughly-hewn, newly shimmering form of the
brown dragonet left in their wake. Tossing shards aside, he moves from the remnants of his
egg with the initial stumble of a first step.
Impression
Message:
The physical embodiment of the heat that surrounds
you rescinds for a moment, wavering so that it is not only tolerable but easily ignored.
It is not now your feet that burn but your heart, your soul, your very existence. <<
Z'vind? >> comes the molten fire of a subtle but enveloping voice. And then there is
jubilance! << Z'vind! I knew I should find you here! >> And you - how could
there ever have been a doubt that Kealath would be here for you? Kealath, the fiery wonder
of the world, the greatest and craftiest brown on Pern has found and adores you! <<
I am SO hungry, Z'vind. >>
Temper:
Cunning and crafty is Kealath, so much so that it
seems at times he never will be properly contained. No matter what obstacle may befall
him, Kealath is ever-ready to hatch a plan that will allow him to overcome it. He is not
yet big enough to walk as far as the ocean? Fine, then perhaps you should bring him a
bucket-full of the saltwater that he may investigate it for himself. He is too large to
execute the wingtip turns of those agile little greens? Fine, then he will brake quickly
and duck about himself - all but a contortion of his great form until he has done
something similarly impressive. Never one to be outdone is this brown, for his proud
nature dictates that he must ALWAYS be the first and foremost at everything. Headstrong
and lively, it makes for possible trouble to those who are not prepared to deal with such
fits of temper as this brown is ready to deliver. As tempestuous as a proddy green at
times, his will is tempered only by your own and it is only when YOU tell him to that he
will be soothed. Sulky, << But, Z'vind, I wanted to be the first one to fly among my
clutchsiblings. >> And so you will have to exercise the utmost patience in
explaining exactly why he cannot be the first to do EVERYthing, that sometimes sharing is
better than winning.
Even still, Kealath will not take kindly to second
place - be it in spring games or mating Flights. Here is an ardent lover, given over
entirely to the thrill of the chase so that the very fibre of his being is tied to the
flexings of his sturdy muscles, his drive unfathomably focussed. His own nature being
rather flighty and given to fits of temper, he is easily lured by a glowing green -
<< Oh, indeed. You do look VERY lovely today, Genevrath, >> as he dutifully
pads along after her with a string of attentive croons. Let it not be said that he is
gullible, however, for once they are aloft, Kealath is nothing but focussed on the prize,
never one to be lured by the flighty wiles of females. Compliments abound until the moment
is upon him, for then is this brown so driven that he cannot even waste the precious fuel
of his energy on sending forth compelling flattery or sweet warbles.
Strangely enough, Kealath is also greatly pleased to
be the bearer of gifts - be they small trifles for you or great pleasures for his fellow
dragons. A devout and cunning fisherman, he is quite often to be found catching the
smaller fish and delivering them happily onto the beach for waiting firelizards or hungry
wherries. Seeing a pretty stone - or boulder as the case may be - he is inclined to
deliver it to the first lovely female who crosses his path, making a great show of
delivering the prize whether it be to gold, green, or girl. Unfortunately, he will have a
hard time learning what exactly is and is not his to give, and will occasionally be found
pilfering quilts or tunics or other such trifles to deliver as tokens of his affections.
<< How was I to know those furs belonged to Marcath's rider? They were right there
on the cot, and I thought that Mamonth's lifemate might like them... >> Though
sometimes naive, this is nonetheless a charming generosity that only heightens the
sweetness of this warmly affectionate brown.
Temper Inspiration:
Maaui-tikitiki, as he was AoTeAroa, was the greatest
of fishermen and the most daring of individuals. Cast aside by his mother that he might
drown in the sea as a child, he returned home to his mother to become her favorite son, a
born hero and stronger than all mortal men. His feats range from slowing the sun's passage
across the sky that his mother might have more time to finish her work, to lifting the sky
so that it didn't rest so low that men had to walk on all fours, to discovering the secret
of fire and delivering it unto the people of the world. So popular was Maui that his
exploits carried to New Zealand, where he was told to have pulled up the North Island
known as Ika-a-Maaui from the bottom of the ocean using the jawbone of his ancestor as a
hook.
Voice:
The warmth of a flickering hearth sometimes
transmuted into a rich conflagration of bubbling, consuming amber - the liquid fire of an
impossibly glowing stream that winds and threads itself through the thoughts of all who
listen: This is the great voice of Kealath. Tempered at the edges so that, when he wills
it, the flame of his mental presence is baked into coarse hardness, seldom employed by
ready for the wielding nonetheless. His is not the way with words so much as the poetry of
a single image, traipsing into the mind of his listener with a harsh clarity, the edges
crisply defined as if held captive by the sharp rays of a hot summer afternoon.
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