
Dark teal shadows are brightened by turquoise, blotches and spots that vary in shape and size - as well as hue, for those patches of more vibrant color against the darker background shift from cyan along his dorsal side to ventral aquamarine. The transition of hue is gradual, though with a clear overall gradient - but it's only when he's viewed from a distance that those individual spots of color combine to form a dragon in gestalt. He's overall slight in build, with a delicate muzzle but a prominent forehead whose brow arches over large eyes. The sweep of large head-knobs extend that brow-ridge and make it seem yet more prominent, their dark teal crackled with veins of platinum white along the curves and dusted by coal at the tips. He's short from nose to tail-fork - though neither neck nor tail are lacking in their curve, the whole body proportionate (if small) - and his body is lithe and lean, the sort of slender shape derived less from elegant grace and more from simply forgetting to eat. Along his back, a series of large cyan splotches follow the curve of his spine, while varied smaller ones make a space-filling pattern of his sides as their hue gradually shifts to the oceanic aquamarine of his belly. On his stomach, two larger patches of that greener hue might evoke twinned continents - one between his forelegs, one between the hind - but those vague shapes against dark ocean might as easily be a trick of the pattern-seeking eye. The turquoise-marbled teal of his wing-spars support sweeps of cerulean veined with marble-like streaks of light and darkness whose paths roam and intersect in another of the random-seeming patterns out of whose varied all-but-noise appears a dragon.
Egg Name and Description
Umbral Egg
From a distance, this egg is almost a match for its equally-dark sibling, a pitch-black spheroid perched upon the sands, and yet upon approach two eggs could not be more different. This egg emits presence, rather than lack, an uncanny sort of anxiety characterizing its diminutive form. It's almost as if it's worried, or frightened, tipped forwards onto its edge as if prepared to flee upon a whim. Rather than a heavy, matte shell, this ovoid seems polished to a fine lustre, a faint, oily iridescence eerily visible even in the lowest of lights. There are shapes and patterns to be found if only one looks hard enough, dire warnings painted in a shadowy hand, each prediction of death, and doom, and destruction more fearsome than the last… But then the light shifts, and the spectral faces of past and future fade into a pretty little miasma of purples and blues, and it's almost as if it was all in your head all along.
Hatching Message
Wobble Message
Umbral Egg shivers on the sands, as if all that pent-up anxiety and fear has reached a peak and it can wait no longer, shifting onto its side and rolling closer to those other eggs in an attempt to blend in.
Crack Message
Umbral Egg splinters, a spiderwebbing of hardened shell that leaves intricate patterns throughout so much black. It shivers with more force this time, flecks of outer-casing falling away without leaving any real hint as to just what it is that tries to escape from inside.
Hatch Message
Umbral Egg vibrates with more energy — more, and more, and more — until it caves in a depression at the side, a soft-spot of shell that one nose pushes through, followed by one paw, then another, then another…
Sands Pose #1
The Riddle Before Your Eyes Blue Hatchling looks around him with a clear sense of curiosity and wonder, his attention first on those bits of eggshell that lay scattered all about his feet (what's this?!), then towards the towering, watchful attention of his dam and sire. WHAT'S THIS? Sorry, candidates; it seems as if he hasn't noticed you just yet. First he must press his hatchling snout against Leirith and Garouth alike, maybe seeing if he can eat them (nope, no such luck there), and then — what's this? His attention is snagged, and clumsy hatchling-feet carry him away towards discovery.
Sands Pose #2
The Riddle Before Your Eyes Blue Hatchling is distracted halfway through his march, coming to a standstill, ribs expanding as he draws in air and that tiny body vibrates with some kind of emotion. WHAT'S THIS? He ambles his way towards the stands, as if he might get a better view of all of the occupants there. And he does stare, inspecting every face, making a curious trilling sound and cocking his head to one side.
Impression Message
Public Message
The Riddle Before Your Eyes Blue Hatchling finally loses his interest in the crowd and — what's this? There's a line of robed candidates just waiting to be found, and that blue does a stumble-trot towards them, clumsy and unsure of his footing but focused. He stills long enough to press his snout in against the hand of one hopeful, then draws back with a sneeze. Nope. That's not what he's looking for. Not you, not you, not you — wait a moment. He shifts on those paws to draw back in a shoulder-and-wings-and-paws tucked shuffle that ends with him staring straight at — yes. This one, with the brown hair. A press of that entire wedge-shaped head into her stomach seems to confirm that he thinks she is the most interesting one here.
Private Message
Fragile touches of emotion flutter against the edges of your mind, butterflies spreading wings of blue and green - a quiet feeling, one that waits in darkness and patience, one that touches to your chest, your heart, your throat - hope. Is this you? Are you the human to this dragon, the one who didn't know that everything was fine - but said it anyhow - and made it true by daring to ask? You dared to ask, to look, and now he does the same, searching your mind with a touch that's gentle but insistent, an exploration like fog surrounding your skin to feel and - yes. Joy, bursting like the songs of birds that explode out to welcome the dawn - like the sun that shines golden through the morning haze. « It's me! » The streak of sunlight becomes a golden thread, tugging you along to see a dark egg amid a spiderweb of varied hues - then zooming back to you, a tapestry almost true to life of how he sees you before the color of your eyes expands and reforms to be… « Euclath. That's me. I'm not sure why, but it is. » Pride, joy, a mental touch of curiosity and affection. « And… Meion. That's you, isn't it? » He's earnest, happy… and beneath it, almost irrelevant to his thoughts (if not his body), hungry. But never mind that, he's got a million and one questions to ask, like - « Do you know why? »
Personality
Jumping at shadows, leaping to conclusions…
If there’s one thing Euclath isn’t, it’s static. The closest he’ll get to still is when he’s deep in thought, mind bouncingly active enough that he hasn’t got the spare energy to move his body - though even then, there’s likely enough to be a tap of claw or flick of tail that keeps him moving physically as he charges from one thought to the next.
He’s quick, eager, impulsive. He'll make a lot of mistakes at first, but he learns from them - far more quickly than most - and by doing so, he tunes his sense of how the world works so that he can… make new and far more interesting mistakes!
He’s very much about trial and error; his own personal variant of the scientific method where he makes a guess and then sees whether it’s true. He's not much for the careful chains of reasoning and stolid logic; he's much more likely to see something and jump to a conclusion - then look closer, and see if he's right.
At first, he may have some outright terrible theories - like thinking that your shadow is a monster - but he learns from them, and soon his "wild guesses" (at least, in some domains) will be better than some people's hard-earned knowledge.
Of course, in his hatchling days, this may have you chasing him away from cliffs before he tests whether he could fly already - or cleaning up after a curious muzzle investigates an entire shelf of books to see just what he thinks of those squiggles. And Faranth help you the day he discovers your klah-making apparatus! It’s absolutely fascinating, entirely fragile, and… well, you may find yourself having to weigh your desire to be awake with that of not wanting to sweep up glass… again.
« Did you know that between your name and mine, we have all the vowels? We do! Well, except for Y… when it's a vowel. Why is it only a vowel sometimes? »
There's no common theme to his curiosity, at least not at first. He may develop certain areas of particular interest, as he grows and explores, but it's likely that he'll always have wide-ranging interests, easily intrigued by anything that seems complex enough for theorizing - or like it's so commonly held to be true that there might be something nobody's thought to actually test.
Come, taste the wine
Race the blind
They will guide you from the light
While he may sometimes be intent on one line of reasoning and eager to run it to the ground, at other times he'll hop readily from one concept to the next in his quest to build a theory of everything. It’s not that he’s incapable of focus, it’s just that he’s always seeking to understand how things work in connection to each other, and sometimes concepts connect in ways that don’t quite make sense without the entire context.
Early weyrlinghood may be a challenge for you, and not only because Euclath will sometimes encourage a deviance in your curriculum (IE: putting down that book with all the Weyrleader's faces to sit in front of that computer for just another hour or five), but because when Euclath is in attendance for those time-honored lessons of hunt, and flight, and firestone, he will want to push it just a little further. WHAT, MEION. Of course you want to know just how they reached that conclusion and what, exactly, happens if you chew up all the firestone. At once. Do it… for science!
Not to mention all those times when he’ll ask the AWLMs but why and is it really? - which just leads into an hour long lesson becoming an hour and a half long lesson… if you're lucky. If you’re not, well. Better push off the rest of the schedule until tomorrow, because by the time Euclath is done exploring this topic, his clutchmates will have already run for the hills!
He likes learning, he likes exploring, and he especially likes doing experiments… and whether it's fondness or convenience, you and your friends are going to be one of his primary research pools. What foods are most conducive to energy? Does it make a difference which side of the barracks you sleep on? What about the time you go to bed? - and yes, your self-care is going to be one of the things he runs experiments on, testing what it is that makes you feel good - or not - and then popping in with reminders of what he's discovered, or those learned-intuition guesses about what sounds crazy but just might work.
While the results of it may turn out practical - or deadly - his experimentation and exploration itself is generally playful in nature. He's like a child exploring at the sand-table - and learning applied physics as he does! He's not regimented about it; there's no notebooks and journals (at least, not unless you decide to write them yourself), no need for publication or perishing… just a series of curious questions - and guesses about answers - that he wants to find out more about.
Come, drink deep let the dam of mind seep
Travel with great élan, dance a jig at the funeral
He's got very little ego tied up in being right; finding out that he's wrong is wonderful, because it means he's learned something! He's not one to accept an easy answer - "Because I said so." and "That's just the way it is." are pretty much outright unacceptable - but he’s okay with an honest lack of knowledge (as long as they admit that’s what’s going on).
He’s full of respect and eager attention for those who can actually explain their theories of the world, along with plenty of curiously prying questions as his mind races to think of ways to test and validate that perspective and see where it's true, where it's got holes - and what parts of it might hint at or recombine with yet other theories and answers.
It’s not all above the neck, mind you. Alongside Tineangrath and Ceruadharth, your Euclath will be one of the more daring. He will not hesitate to take that first dive from on high, or be the first to run with you seated on his back. He will be eager to fly, eager to learn, eager to push the very limits of those restrictions set by Weyrlingmasters and bodies alike and find out why those rules came into existence in the first place.
His own body - and those of others - are just another thing to be learned, explored, questioned until they’re understood at a fundamental level of learned-intuition fluency. There is nothing too big or too small to escape the scrutiny of his curiosity, his need to explore, the desire to map out just which angle of tail, and paw, and wing produces the best results on any given assignment, and he will pursue the answers almost ruthlessly.
He's not afraid of falling on his face - literally or figuratively - and he's quite willing to put himself in the line of fire to test a theory. Nor does he doesn't have any intrinsic issue with others risking themselves - whether for one of his experiments, or their own reasons - he does want to make sure they understand what the dangers are. Informed consent is important!
Mind you, that doesn't mean he's going to be foolish about taking risks. Some theories are fine and fun to speculate on, but there's just no viable way to check them! Of course, calibrating just what is and isn't worth some particular risk is yet another thing that's going to take some figuring out, and you'll have to keep a careful eye on him at first to make sure that he's not about to innocently test just what happens when a lamp is nudged into a barrel of oil meant for dragon-hides.
While he may sometimes run amok with a theory he wants to test or an idea that's all fun and games - until it causes property damage or injuries because things get out of control… he's a kind and loving dragon at heart. He wouldn't intentionally hurt someone - but he might forget, in his excitement, about the risks entailed in some of the experiments he imagines - or not realize just how dangerous something was until he was already in the middle of it.
When things do go wrong, he'll be full of apologies and the desire to make it right, and he'll definitely do his best to fix things up and make amends - but he's not going to stop experimenting, or lose his sense of adventure and playful fun. He may learn to be more careful about that sort of exploration, tuning his concept of what risks are acceptable and what's just too dangerous to get by his ethical review.
Not all of his experiments have a purpose beyond satisfying his own curiosity, but some of them may turn out to be helpful to you - or others. Those will make him happy - when he finds them - because he likes to help; while dragons no longer burn thread from the sky, that desire to aid humanity remains, and his inventive and creative mind - along with yours - is well-suited to draw together the conceptual threads of Pern's past and present to help create the future.
His insatiable curiosity will not diminish as he grows. If anything, it will become as inescapable as he is - growing stronger and more nuanced, better able to pry into the corners of accepted wisdom and discover new. He's unconcerned with following tradition - not because he's opposed to it in principle, but merely because he'd rather explore and figure things out for himself instead of blindly trusting in what came before.
That desire to investigate and willingness to project possible futures will mean he's suited to traditional roles in at least one sense, quite capable of noticing that spark of mental potential that hints at a possible dragonrider - and more than willing to talk about it. Candidacy is an excellent experiment, a test of whether this human - and those dragons - might match together… and an opportunity for that searched-out human to try many other new things besides. It's an adventure he'll glad to offer, when he finds someone suitable - though he may sometimes make unusual recommendations, just to see what might happen!
For all the unanswered questions in the world (and believe us, between the two of you, there will be quite a few) there’s no question at all that he is, and will always be, your Euclath. (Now, when it comes to figuring out what that actually means - now, and in the future… well, nothing is ever simple, even when it’s certain.)
I will taste the manna in every tree
Liquid honey and wine from the distant hills
With his fascination with the world - and everything in it - he's ready to dive headfirst into many an adventure. If there's a question about something, whether it's a good idea, bad idea, or whatever else, his answer may just be a curious, « Let's try it! »
The meadows of heaven await harvest
The cliffs unjumped, cold waters untouched
That curiosity sometimes takes on an edge of the daredevil, willing to take risks not just for the sake of knowledge but the adrenaline thrill of the attempt - though he's unlikely to be truly foolish in what he attempts (at least within the limits of his theory of the world).
Come, surf the clouds
Race the dark
Meet me where the cliff greets the sea
Your Euclath is going to want you to experience the world, to take the path less travelled, to revel in your ability to jump, and run, and leap (while hopefully staying on the conscious side of pushing your limits)! He wants those heart-in-your-throat moments that come with freefall, to be weightlessness unrestrained — to be free. It's more than mere curiosity at how the placement of your feet or the landscape beneath them affects maximum velocity; it's more than being those first trepid explorers to discover something new (about yourselves, about the world, about the unknown). It's how he meets your bravery, how he fosters that quiet spark in both of you, and gets you both to let go.
freefall awaits the brave
As much as Euclath enjoys the mapping of correlations or the satisfying tediousness of code, he knows that sometimes the answer to those most difficult challenges lies in feeling the give of beach-sand beneath your feet, in the crisp chill of fresh Autumn winds and the crunch of fallen leaves. It's running through the woods with your eyes closed, trusting him to be your guide, or flying high against a backdrop of stars, giving yourself to the beat of his wings and the wind in your hair.
Flying higher, higher, higher
« Come fly with me. It'll help clear your mind. » Because there's nothing like a break from staring at code and numbers to help have the insight that'll let you go deeper into it.
He's brave and true, this dragon, but he can be easily startled sometimes. His quick mind can jump to terrifying conclusions as readily as glorious ones, and he's perceptive enough to see what could be threats - and what might go wrong.
The answer to the riddle before your eyes
Is in dead leaves and fleeting skies
Sometimes, the number of things that could go wrong can be overwhelming; there are so many potential disasters… and in the end, no matter how it goes, there's the ultimate question of death to be answered - and look at he might, none of the theories seem promising. He may fall into dark thoughts, wondering about the troubles that lie ahead… but he's unlikely to stay there for long.
Can't walk away, nothing to say
No need to feel so afraid,
Colours last a lifetime and fade to grey
Life is short, and there are so many things to be learned and experience. He wants to live - with you - and fully experience each day. Whether that's flying through the clouds or tracking down a tricky pattern in the data, he's going to throw himself eagerly into living, loving, and learning - with you.
Write a lyric for the song only you can understand
Above all, he wants for you to be yourself. So what if they don't understand you? So what if they disagree? So what if their eyes glaze over when you start to talk about those fascinating pieces of computers and information theory? With life as short - and glorious - as it is, he doesn't want to waste a single moment worrying about what other people might think or trying to fit to a mold that doesn't suit the two of you.
Meion, no matter your mood, no matter your reasons, no matter your failings (or success), your Euclath will be there for you in whatever capacity you need him to be. He will be the strength to complement your weakness, the question to benefit your answer, the head to reason with your heart - though there will also be times when you’re the strength to his weakness, and he’s the heart that believes in your head. He will balance you in ways that never override, but make you stronger, better, more confident than you were, more capable than you would have been in whatever inevitabilities await you — both of you. He will be your lungs if you forget how to breathe, your voice if you forget how to speak; he will be the blood in your veins and the beat in your heart and every melody underlying every song you two will ever write together.
(Be still) Heart, lung, soul
Arteries and all
A shoulder at the ready, vital organs on call
(Be still) Heart, lung, soul
Arteries and all
A shoulder at the ready
But he will absolutely forget to be the reasonable one sometimes. He will jump to conclusions, he will leap before he looks, and he will — without doubt — fail. That's why the two of you just might find yourselves realizing that one (or both) of you forgot to do something Very Very Important. Like, you know. Eat. Or sleep. Or be something other than two brilliant minds colluding to solve the cryptic mysteries of errant codebits (or stray sheep, or mysterious signals from outer space…)
The important thing to remember is that Euclath doesn't want to change you. Your drive to find the answers is what called to him in the darkness of his shell and speaks to him now. Your strength, and kind heart, and selfless nature are why he chose you. He does not aim to force you to remember those things your sharpened focus makes you forget, he simply wants to remind you that you are important too, that you can't always keep going without a moment to breathe, or relax, or brush your teeth - despite how persistently those numbers compel you to keep going.
Still, for all that he is quick, and eager, and emphatic, enthusiastic energy (be it in the throes of scientific endeavor, or egging you on to, « Leap, Meion! Just leap! » from the highest cliffs, your Euclath knows how to be still for you. Between solving the mysteries of the world and discovering newer heights, there will be shared moments of calm in between — a quiet, steady presence that, perhaps in that moment, has nothing to offer you in way of advice, or solutions, or escapes, but is there for you.
I do not wish to evade the world
Yet I will forever build my own
Forever my home
He can be your fallible-but-always-trying, strong-enough-to-never-give-up, quiet-in-between-the-notes support; he can be the pressing questions that challenge your every conclusion. He is the one who sees you at your worst and loves you anyway, because you are his - and he is yours - and you didn't know it, but you chose each other to embark on this journey with.
… And maybe the shadows at your backs are just a little less daunting with you at his side.
Mindvoice
Into the Wild
The sound of mist, smell of moss-grown woods
The world of his mind is a forest, mist-wreathed trees and the cycles of day and night, plants and animals and seasons that echo nature as they express the underlying complexities of his unconscious mind. It's a full sensory experience, the metaphorical extension of his fundament into a natural world.
Weaving my wings from many-colored yarns
His ideas, he sketches into this mind-setting with bright hues and varied shapes. It's his own internal crazy-wall, ideas connected to each other, threads like multi-hued spidersilk stretching between the trees in a glorious tangle and web of concept and meaning, idea and conclusion. Sometimes the connections are straightforward, but at others they leap and jump through seemingly-unrelated ideas. That's half the fun of it, isn't it? Making those unexpected connections that might lead to insight!
Weaving my world into tapestry of life
It's this textiled metaphor that he uses most often to communicate, the reaching yarn of his thoughts weaving together into a rich conceptual tapestry in a receptive mind. He speaks with images as naturally as words, picturing what he means - or saying it, as clearly as if written on the page or typed on the screen - knitted in yarn-hues that may convey his emotions as obviously as his eyes do… or may pick up more obscure conceptual meanings.
Physicality
Physically speaking, he's far from the most impressive specimen of his color. He's the smallest of his clutch for sure, and he'll likely always be one of the smaller blues around - something which, along with his shades, may see him confused for a green at a first (or even second) glance.
His light build suits him for neither strength nor stamina, but he's decently nimble - or at least, he will be once he's tumbled head over heels a few dozen times and learned his own body the same way he does everything else.
What he can't manage in brute strength, he's more than capable of making up in cleverness! Just give him a lever or a pulley system, and he's sure he can out-lift any bronze you'd like to name… though he’ll still pay dearly for it when the adrenaline wears out and his muscles realize just what he’s made them do.
The dragonhealers may grow as tired of seeing him as the healers are of you, but that same determination and will to succeed will mean he never stops trying. He’ll pull through whatever exhaustion and strained muscles he takes on in the course of his adventures, and figure out - if not his limits - at least a decent approximation of how far he can push them.
Flights
He's as curious about flights as he is anything else - the general principle of them, but also about what it might be like with some particular green. He might even try chasing a gold - not because he thinks he'll win, but just because he's curious about what it would be like to be amid (okay, trailing behind) that pack of bronzes!
Catching a green will sometimes diminish his future interest in her flights - he knows what she's like, now. It's not as interesting as it was the first time. Of course, some people are capable of being interesting time and time again - and even without the added allure of novelty, the rush of excitement and pleasure that is a chase (and catch) is still fun.
When he’s not the one to catch, he’s unlikely to be upset - trial and failure is his way of life - but neither is his excitement and arousal easily forgotten. He’s keyed up, caught in his leap of desire, and it’ll remain a restless urge not unlike the proddy experience of some greens… though any hint of gleam to his hide is almost certainly imagination.
That swell of aroused emotion may sometimes subside on its own, but at others it will linger to distract him - and, by proxy, you - until it’s resolved. Just what it’ll take to sate that desire is likely to depend on how strongly it’s been evoked. Perhaps it’ll be by some catch of his own, or perhaps by his vicarious experience through you and… however you manage to handle that particular set of feelings!
Inspiration
The spooky theme for Leirith and Garouth’s Autumn 2018 clutch was two-line horror stories - like this one:
"I travel here and there so suddenly, and never make a sound.
Slaying quickly, quietly, swiftly; Just don't turn around."
The Umbral Egg was written by Siobhan, while Euclath is a collaboration between Risali and D'lei. He's got music in his soul (or at least, a few songs woven through his personality), and his physical description is inspired by turquoise stones - and a hint of euclase, which is a blue-green silicate that also serves as the source for his name (though there's also a hint of Euclid and his Geometries that seems to suit him).
Credits
Name | Euclath |
Dam | Leirith |
Sire | Garouth |
Created By | D'lei and Risali |
Impressee | Meion |
Hatched | November 30, 2018 |
Xanadu Weyr | |
PernWorld MUSH |