Xanadu Weyr

"I saw it with my own eyes on our way down to Castle Black. He drove a dagger into the walker's heart. He risked his own life to save mine more than once. He's a greater warrior than either of you will ever be." — Gilly

Oh Faranth, he comin'. This brown is a beast in the most classical sense, massive of paws, massive of chest, massive of wings, massive of — well, surely the picture he paints is clear. He is a damp loamy brown at base, the length of his hide leeched and faded with pale, frosted tones, like a pelt left to drag across snow-crusted ground. Pale whites, beiges and greys tick the stout bridge of his nose, brighten the baggy pouches beneath his eyes, before sweeping along his neck to form a fine ruff about his shoulders. There they are met with warmer copper tones, a soft aura of hope forming about twin hearts, hearts that beat to the tune of summer's song even in the winter's hardest hold. Hearty hickory ruffles compete with umber's more stalwart tones, darker depths draping over his wings and thick, heavy haunches before fading to a color so sepulchral it's almost black at the tips of his tail. Undersides are a matched pair - rounded stomach and wings both grow brighter as they fade back, leading siennas giving way to rich caramel, soft gingerbread and - as the color fades off the edges of wings, surrenders to dark haunches - bright tawny that speckles its way across the rest of belly and wings in cheerful mockery of the cold clusters of snow that gather on broad shoulders. Wide, flat paws seem to be geared more for walking than takeoffs and landings, each dipped in that same deep-dark brown of his tail, metallic rings of varying shades encircling each finger and toe hinting at a big of refinery that his otherwise round, rugged appearance might bely. There's something that his brown is hiding, something that sets him apart from the rest of his species, something encapsulated in clever eyes, gold claws, and slow, purposeful movements that puts him a step above the rest.

Egg Name and Description

Prize-Winning Produce Egg
Is this the biggest melon anybody 'round these parts has ever seen, or what. Compared to all the others, it's got some good size to it, doesn't it? Looks a lot more like a melon than anything else on these here sands, too. Handsomely green, it waits for perfect ripeness as patiently as any fruit. Dark green seems to take up the bulk of the shell, shading to near-black in spots, while lovely, faint vertical stripes of emerald wash in here and there. Splotches of sun-kissed gold vie for space in the dark green landscape; here, the size of a fist, a wherry egg, a half-mark, there mere freckles, scattered in a diffuse pattern near the bottom of its curve. …it's an egg, you say? Not a maybe slightly strangely shaped melon, waiting for somebody to pull it into the nearest gather as an attraction? Well. That changes things.

Hatching Message

Wobble Message
Prize Winning Produce Egg shivers under the fervent strain of life, sides heaving in boiling ripples that send the egg swaying this way with near violence before it goes still again.

Crack Message
Prize Winning Produce Egg swivels where it lies, rolling in sand that rises to entrap it, keeping it still as vibrations send fractal fissures stretching, reaching, splintering along the length of brilliant shell.

Hatch Message
Prize Winning Produce Egg comes apart — not so much an explosion as a concave collapse that surges outward again to birth an egg-wet hatchling. Snout and bulky shoulders come first, wings second, tail last until it's dripping the indignity of its origin at sire and dam both.

Sands Pose #1
The Greater Warrior Brown Hatchling chirp-trills at Ilyscaeth, that head twisting as any curious puppy's might, those eyes taking in the visage of dam in all of her glory and — and then sire. Triiiilllll-up. Cheep. One foot comes forward, then the next, a stumbling, clumsy first attempt at new limbs that have him picking one from the sand and ducking his head as if he intends to look at it. Chirp-trup! Down that paw goes, followed by the next, and the next, and the next until — plop. He caves in a heap near his dam, tiny legs sprawled out at four points, wet-wings pressing full length to sands, tail-and-chin gathering bits of it on egg-goo that remains. Hello, Ily! Don't mind him. He just… he just needs to catch his breath. On your forepaw. Cheep.

Sands Pose #2
The Greater Warrior Brown Hatchling truuuum-cheeps! at Xermiltoth, that head tilting from where it rests upon Ilyscaeth's paw as if whirling eyes and sound alone might capture the attention of the bronze. Chirp. Cheep. Chee! Finally his head rises, those clumsy legs pulled to support the bulk of his body from underneath, those egg-wet wings dragging as clumsy steps take him away from Ily (who gets a bunt of tiny head) so that he might make his way too-quick towards sire. WHUMP. Down he goes again, this time tucking his wings in against sides and tucking his legs under him so that he might embrace the reality of becoming a dragon-loaf. Chirp-trill. Cheep. A shimmy-shake runs the length of that body, as if a tiny bird fluffing feathers in contented comfort while he converses with Xermiltoth about… well, the candidates really. Probably. That's where his eyes are focused, after all, despite the fact that he's come to rest (once more) against harlequinned hide.

Impression Message

Public Message
The Greater Warrior Brown Hatchling honks — yes honks, a sound giddy with newborn excitement as those eyes fix on something, on someone. Cheep, chirp. Chee-trill-chup! It takes a sliding press of his form against Xermiltoth to stand, a brush of cheek-maw-knob against his sire in clear affection as he gathers himself up and makes that perilous journey from lifegivers to lifemate. There is no need for this pudgy brown to walk the rows of white-robed selection, because he already found his. Here. That maw tucks underneath the arm and in against the side of one candidate with light brown hair. Here he is. Here is home.

Private Message
The scent of parchment rife with ink permeates and invades, embedding itself irrevocably against the soft give of your mind. Scents follow, an amalgamation of too many things at once because he is pulling them from you, learning in that tentative press, deriving those favorite scents from what is merely familiar. « Oh, hello, » comes soft, gently accented, tumbling through octaves that bespeak nervous demeanor. « You are my P'al. You are very brave, you know. » There's a shiver of anticipation, a sudden scratching of quills against paper that summons forth the confines of a library — massive, but as of yet empty. « I thought of you, » he whispers, sheepish and unsure, but no less steady. « I thought we might start our adventures. Here. Together. Or, well… maybe that you might adventure and I… I will write. » Soft laughter comes, a tumble of pages turning in the dim glow of evening candles before it stops. « I am Auricyth. It would… please me very much if we could find what made those scents in your head. I am feeling rather uncomfortable and… » A beat, another hush of pages turning, quill scratching words upon them. « Well, I am hungry. »

Personality

Samwell Tarly: Sometimes a man has to make hard choices, choices that might look wrong to others, but you know are right in the long run.

LISTEN HERE, P'AL. Your Auricyth is, without probably anybody realizing it, the glue that will keep all of his siblings together. He's the unassuming one, the innocent one, the one whose temperament runs more towards 'cowardly' and 'bookish' than 'ferocious' and 'strong'. We're going to start out by saying that he's not a fighter — not in any sense of the word. And sure, of course he's a dragon. He has teeth and claws and the ability to rend with the best of them, but it will take a strong show of force to awake that inner spark your Auricyth tries to bury so very deep down inside.

During Weyrlinghood, your Auricyth will be less about the physical pursuits and much more inclined towards the academic ones. That doesn't mean that he's going to hold you back or try to keep you down, but it certainly means that he's probably going to be the underachiever, the (physically) slowest in his clutch, the last one to achieve anything. This doesn't bother him, P'al. Not really. Your Auricyth can appreciate that some of his brothers and sisters were built to be sinew and brawn and stronger things; some of them (him, he's talking about him) were meant to balance all of that strength with insight, with intelligence, with understanding.

Your Auricyth will never be the fastest or strongest of your Weyrling class, and he won't be one who really excels in lessons. He will, however, excel in the sometimes-finicky art of keeping his more high-strung siblings sane and reasonable. With perhaps a few exceptions, Auricyth's easygoing nature will definitely help keep the peace in the barracks in those first months. His ability to listen, to be genuinely interested in Glorioth's stories, his sisters' temperamental fits or sudden obsessions, will be a welcome boon. Well: to the human portions of the pairs, at least. Your brown will listen, will patiently point out problems in Neifeth's plots for revenge, or Koth's latest tiff. Anything that can give your peers a break can't be a terrible thing, right? And he doesn't mind, genuinely enjoys sitting with his clutchmates, with older dragons, with anybody willing to talk with him.

Auricyth is not shy. He's not a dragon that will hesitate to branch out, to talk to people he doesn't know, to engage a dragon he's never met, to collect their stories. That's a habit of his, collecting stories. He doesn't have the mind to keep all the details, but he'll remember their structure, their build, their climax. He will use them to create fantastical tales for himself and for you — for others, if you're willing to pen them onto paper as he dreams them into being. But the best thing about it is that he is genuinely interested. He could listen to Glorioth's vanquishing deeds for HOURS and never grow bored, or listen to Inasyth talk and talk and talk and talk and find in it only her wisdoms and caring.

In these first months, however, these rambling chats will lead to more than you might expect. Auricyth's early curiosity, interest, will give way to deeper friendships, of the sort that shape him for life. It's anybody's guess whose story he'll share, who will inspire him, but you may be assured that these early moments aren't only play tussling over morals or interests or whether wherries or porcine taste better. It doesn't necessarily matter if they're so different from him — your Auricyth isn't a judgmental dragon, won't always see the differences so much as the similarities. This early latching on, the shared molding of his own Auricyth-ness, won't be obvious at first. It might sneak up on you, how much time your dragonet is spending with another of the dragons, until you realize that he's taking their side in a fight, steadfast. That he refuses to leave them, if they're serving a punishment, even if that means that he's punished, too.

This, this early loyalty, will develop into a fondness not as deep as his for you, but abiding all the same. Their philosophy on life will impact his, will inform his. Their dreams, their ambitions, he'll absorb it directly into his own before you realize it. Whether this is a good thing or not really depends on who it is, now, doesn't it? This habit won't necessarily continue throughout his life; in his more impressionable months, when his brain is expanding so quickly, his whole world is expanding so quickly…well. It's a cocktail for an interesting Weyrlinghood, certainly. That's not to say that Auricyth won't have high regard for your wingmates, further down the line, though. It's just that it's a little different, starting out together, isn't it?

Gilly: You shouldn't give it away.
Samwell: I'm not giving it away. I'm giving it to you.

That's the thing about him: everybody is important. There is nobody Auricyth has ever met that is uninteresting or unimportant. Everybody has a collection of stories, everybody has important things they've done or will do, everybody plays an integral role in weaving the tapestry of everybody else and Auricyth finds all of them truly fascinating. He's not much for adventure himself, after all, so being able to — even for just a moment — immerse himself into the adventures of other, better dragons is something he will very much enjoy.

More than that, his crux to bear is that he's very good at making everybody feel important. There's no real judgment, no real cruelty in your Auricyth . The worst thing about him is his cowardice, and the next worst thing about him is that he's too curious sometimes. But it's because there's a spirit of innocence about him, an absolute naivety that might not make him blind to the shortcomings of others, but certainly means he believes they're all capable of better and at worst, he hopes, they are good people trying to do the right thing and getting it wrong. Regardless, this means you'll probably find Auricyth being sought out often for his ability to simply listen and encourage others to be their very best versions of themselves.

But don't get us wrong. It's not all seriousness and heartfelt moments. Auricyth does have a sense of humor — and it can be pretty funny, if not a bit self-deprecating at times. The manifestation of jokes is perhaps timid at best, tinged with a hint of sarcasm and wit that might not always hit the mark and isn't always aimed at himself. Still, Auri will often quietly chuckle to himself about them even if noone else does. If he finds a particular story or jest that tickles P'al the most, he'll research equally amusing anecdotes on the same topic and, for as long as he can hold it in his memory, rain down the wrath of his FUNNY BONE on you.

Jon: Have you seen the Wall?
Samwell: I'm fat, not blind. Of course I saw it, it's seven hundred feet high.

And in that vein, Auricyth can get a little narrow sighted on things that interest him or things of which he simply wants to know more about. He will research a thing to death, beat allll the dead horses, burn every single candle that you own, and sometimes he will even forget to go to sleep. His memory isn't great, P'al, and that makes it that much more important for him to make it to the finish line. It's times like these that he will need you to pull him out of it, to kick his ass into gear and get on with life because so what if you can't find the document about Xanadu's 10th clutch because ALL THOSE DRAGONS ARE PROBABLY DEAD ANYWAY. And honestly, who cares about that outdated law that some antiquated sagbutt Weyrleader made when it's been rewritten and invalidated and otherwise abandoned for over too many turns? Auri. Auri does. Auri cares.

There's always one activity that will draw him from the depths of infinite study, and that's playtime with children. If you are too busy to be with him at any given moment (tending duties, obtaining that coveted bubbly with the crumbles, secreting away with a lover), Auricyth will absolutely spend his free time hanging out with the nannies in the meadow, letting kiddos climb all over him and convert him into a jungle gym. Thankfully, Auri doesn't try to keep them, but he will definitely do his best to convince you, P'al, to help him bribe them into a playdate or a story time. More than anything, Auri really enjoys their open-hearted trust, because it means that he gets to weave fantastical tales and see the absolute wonder in their faces as he does.

One of his other absolute favorite interests will lie in food, so not only will your Auricyth put on some weight, but he'll make you put some on too. He can't try everything, can he? So while his diet is first pre-sliced meat and, later, the brutal ruination of a herdbeast (or five), he will absolutely rely on you to try those human delicacies that were never meant for a dragon's palate. More than that, he likes to sift through every taste touching on his tongue, formulating recipes and breaking down the ingredients with alarming accuracy.

But he can't be all sweet all the time, P'al. If there is any one thing that will definitely get his dander up, it's negative talk about you. He is your stalwart defender, and you are the one topic upon which he will not compromise. There is nobody that he loves more, nobody that he trusts more, nobody that he believes in so much as you. He isn't a confrontational dragon, just to be clear, but he will certainly put somebody in their place if he overhears them. He will not deign to argue, either; it will be a simple interjection to correct their entirely and wholly unwelcome erroneous opinion before he removes himself from their presence, thankyouverymuch. He wants the world to see you the same way that he does, which means sometimes your dragon will slip into dark, despondent moods if ever he overhears complaints bordering on cruelty.

Samwell: I've been worrying about Jon for years. He always comes back.

More than anything, Auricyth will be your steadfast companion. He might not be the first to throw himself into the fight, but he's always — always — backing you. Always. And he will always do what's right. He has a very strong moral compass, an absolute drive to help everybody. It doesn't matter how many times he is told to follow rules and follow them for a reason, deep down, your Auricyth is probably the bravest of all. There isn't anything he wouldn't do for you, no lack of courage that would stop him from putting himself in harm's way to defend others. What it boils down to is that your Auricyth believes in the strength of everybody else, but not nearly enough in himself.

Regardless, he believes in you. He loves you. He will support you, always and in everything. He will tell you when he thinks you're wrong, but he will encourage you to be who you are and build you up every single time you fall. You are his best friend, his Jon Snow, the reason he took an oath, the reason that he stays. Night gathers, and now his watch begins. It shall not end until his death. He shall hold nothing, nobody, higher than you. He shall wear no crowns and win no glory. He shall live and die beside you. He is the sword in the darkness. He is the watcher on the walls. He is the fire that burns against cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the weyrs of men. He pledges his life and honor to whatever home you choose but, more importantly, he pledges his life and honor to you P'al — for this night and all the nights to come.

Mindvoice

The Citadel

When the night is dark and full of terrors, your Auricyth is a comfortable retreat. His voice is soft and gently accented, refined and careful, even when it's treading several octaves as he stutters through words. His public voice is primarily auditory and olfactory, words underlined with the etching of pens, the rustlings of old papers, their dusty ancient scent tickling the nostrils even as rich, hearty foodstuffs waft forth to tantalize: bread for everyday thoughts, meat pies for particularly juicy stories, a hearty stew for long reports, and the favorite food - of whomever he happens to be speaking, or P'al's favorite food as a back-up in case he doesn't know - when delivering news of great sorrow or import.

Visual additions are much less abundant, but all the more poignant for their rarity - a catch of light on beveled glass when he's discovered something new, a gust of snow during times of upset, a puff of fur when something's gone and startled him, and a shower of petals for when he's feeling the lurve~. All of these smaller aspects of his projected voice make more sense when his mind is considered as a whole. For those who dare to peek inwards, who take the time to get to know Auricyth and all his quirks, the rewards can be great (or at least, he seems to think so).

For Auri's mind is a vast library, one he intends to slowly but surely fill with the doings and goings-on in the world around him. The penrustles and pageruffles are him, busy at work putting down words, recording important moments the minute they occur. Foods hit not just your nose, but also your tongue, memories of foods you've tried - foods you've tried together - drawn back up with particular relish for the details. Beveled glass hangs from the ceiling of this library, a great metal contraption installed with vast circles that draw sunlight from elsewhere in his mind's eye to beam down on his work, allowing him to burn that midnight oil on the inside as well as without.

It is not often that he ventures outside the library mindscape, for the land outside is fickle at best, summer in one moment, and hard cold winter the next, bolstered high and low on the floods of his own emotions. On the very farthest horizon of his mind rests a great wall, though what lies beyond it, either he doesn't know, or he does not speak of it. Suffice to say, it will be his life's endeavor to keep it as distant as possible.

Physicality

P'al, there's not just no other way of putting it: Auricyth is pudgy. He's got rolls on his tiny dragon body and they're MINDBOGGLINGLY CUTE (also, we don't body shame 'round here, okayyyy), but so very much a hindrance to both of your ability to do quite a few things. Auri is not a very athletic dragon, you see; he prefers to learning new things, not flapping his wings, or running the yard, or trying to finesse his way into first place past Glorioth's boisterous enthusiasm. He's pretty content where he's at — they can be good at everything else, and he will be good at being him.

Which is a very nice way of saying that he's clumsy. Extremely clumsy. It's not that he's trying to do it, as much as others might start to believe he is, after a while, but his mind is everywhere but here in the now. So yes, that slightly-bigger-than-need-be body of his does find the edge of a table or two. His innate cowardice and predisposition to RUN AWAY! means that every once in a very great while, his unsteady paws will knock over a meat-bucket or five.

But he will grow into his body, P'al, and by then he'll be a force. He's massive for a brown. Glorioth might even question his own virility if not for the fact that Glorioth doesn't question anything. Ever. Regardless, the point remains that your Auricyth will become a handsome beast indeed, a dragon that never, perhaps, actually comes into his own when it comes to things like agility and being sure-footed, but he will absolutely be a magnificent sight to behold.

When he takes to the skies, he will not be so great a flier as his brethren. Well. Rephrase. He's a dragon, P'al. Of course he's good at flying. The problem is that your Auricyth has his mind on so many different things (and has a THOUSAND questions) that it's not always in him to concentrate. He would never hurt you, of course, so there's no danger going between, but he certainly can lose himself to his thoughts, which means all of that over-land flying that he's doing is auto-pilot at best, prone to forgetting that you were supposed to bank left 20 miles ago to complete your sweep at worst. Don't worry. He'll get to where he's going eventually.

Flights

Samwell: I miss girls. Not even talking to them, I never talk to them. Just looking at them.

Your Auricyth is not a ladies man, P'al. We know. WE KNOW. Who could resist the CHOCOLATE THUNDER? The problem is that your Auri is so painfully shy when it comes to proddy female dragons (and their feminine dragon wiles), that he can't seem to form a thought coherent or cohesive enough to make sense in that melding of mindscapes. Did you know that it was possible for a dragon to stammer, P'al? WE DIDN'T EITHER. But look at Auri, making it a thing and turning it adorable. Sometimes, he just hits them with random facts he remembers, or a story that he knows. But mostly it's just painfully cute to even watch him try.

Once he gets over that initial pitfall of not knowing what to do, he's a very, exceptionally sweet dragon. It might be painful, sometimes, to watch him go up against some of those females with more dominant personalities because he just doesn't have it in him to be cruel. He knows, especially in these moments, that he is not, by any stretch of the imagination, the most nimble creature to hatch this side of Pern, and sometimes the pain of rejection cuts deep. Auri is not the type of dragon to persist in his endeavors; he will fold in those brilliant wings, bow that knobby head, and accept the refusal in silence. He doesn't make a scene, he doesn't cause a fuss, he doesn't even hammer against you with anything other than a hollow ache, an acknowledgement that he is not enough.

But not all female dragons are cruel in their venture to find a suitable partner in dragonflight, and those lucky dragons that bolster Auri's confidence will be lucky enough to get to know just how charming he can be. He will never pressure her or push, he will be patient from beginning to end, and he will always, always put her needs before his own in the days or week of her glowing hide.

Failure isn't so bad; he's more impressed that he even tried. But winning? Oh, P'al. Winning will be well worth it.

BUT WHAT ABOUT IF YOUR Auricyth IS LUCKY ENOUGH TO CATCH A QUEEN AND SIRE A CLUTCH? He will be an absolutely stunning father on the sands. He will remain close to whichever golden hide he ensnared, will dote upon those eggs, will encourage the temerity of candidates as the come to greet his future progeny.

Inspiration

WHAT'S UP OL' BUDDY, OL' P'AL. HOW YOU DOIN'? We hope you're doing SUPER FINE! First of all, let us extend a big CONGRATULATIONS on behalf of everybody here at Xanadu Weyr, and an even warmer, WELCOME TO WEYRLINGHOOD! We really hope that you enjoy your Auricyth as much as we enjoyed writing him. We tried to find a character with an innocent streak that might be solid and well rounded, but fun to explore.

Egg: Prize Winning Produce Egg was based on the concept of gardening by moon cycles — the idea in folklore that the different phases of the moon provide a guide on when to carry out your gardening rhythms, from planting to harvest and everything in-between. It was written by Cita, and the overall theme for our eggs this cycle was the moon! 'Tis the season for spooky, and what's spookier than a giant…watermelon. Look.

Dragon: As for your dragon, we based him off of Samwell Tarly from Game of Thrones. Samwell is there to back his stellar (and occasionally, less-than-stellar) ideas to the very end. You asked for an innocent dragon, but also one that was BIG, with presence implied, and, well… He instantly came to mind!

Name: Auricyth is not inspired by anything in particular, save for your desire for a mid-length name! It is, however, influenced by another dragon's. Inasyth and Auricyth both end in the same sound, and it's not by happy accident. Did Auricyth poach Inasyth's name on purpose? MAYBE SO. Who's to say. Not us. (He totally did.)

<3, Citayla, R'hyn, and Risali!

Credits