Such A Curious Feeling Green Faeth

[Flight Record]

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A grassy green with a face like a blade. Her long muzzle comes nearly to a point, her skull like the basket hilt for that rapier. She has narrow headknobs, swept back close to her skull and with the tips curved toward each other over the top of her head. From there, she has a long and well-muscled neck that's marred by a large patch of skin where the green of grass has been turned to arid brown, a broad ring around her neck has an almost fuzzy look from the clinging flakes of dead hide. Her body is rounded, almost pudgy in contrast to the leanness of her face. Slender limbs slightly bowlegged around the bulge of her belly contribute to the malnourished look, the hue on the legs more yellowish than elsewhere on her body. Her wings are similar to her legs in that they're long and slender, the sails traced with a branching pattern from blood vessels near enough the surface to be visible. Her hind legs are slightly shorter than her fore even after accounting for that bowlegged stance, which gives her a look like she's constantly just about to stand up or sit down. Her tail is perhaps the only appendage of hers that actually counts as short, barely enough to brush the ground. It's as if the crafter who sat down to make her started with a blob for her torso and big ambitions on the neck, then increasingly realized just how little material they had left to make the rest of her appendages!


Egg Name and Description

Cutaneous Cage Egg
Medium sized, there does not seem to be much to this egg at first glance but closer inspection reveals otherwise. Variations of tones stretch out across the shell, subtly stitched together in a near seamless patchwork. Light to dark and dark to light, there is no beginning and no end as it stretches from pointed tip to rounded bottom. Rosy peach blends to ochre, then shifts darker still to variating shades of brown. It's not unlike leather being stretched over framework, but surely that can't be the case for an egg, right?


Hatching Message

Cutaneous Cage Egg rocks suddenly, falling to its side with a crunching sound and rolling until it comes to a stop against another egg, its surface now crazed with a web of cracks.

Cutaneous Cage Egg crumbles along the lines of those cracks, fragments of the outer shell falling away to leave only a thin barrier of yolk-sac that rises and falls as if with heavy breaths.

Cutaneous Cage Egg is pierced by a talon - then another, beside it. They sweep to either side, ripping through that final barrier with a jagged tear to pull the last layer of shell apart and bare its occupant to the world.


Impression Message

« I dreamed of you. » The verdant scent of cut grass, laced with clover and poppies. « I was a fish, and you a sailor. » Bright thoughts, ginger and peppermint, stir with a rustle of stalks. « Everything was different. » Lavender that teases at the nose, and the tickle of hay as it dries. « You were so far away… » The thoughts drift, through field and forest strewn with herbs, and then a sharp tang of copper drags them back to the here, the now, the you. « Cara. » That name has a scent too. Your scent, strong with the heat of the sands and mingled with an undertone of dragon-hide's musk… then covered once more by that herbal and metallic blend. « I swear myself to you. I am yours, from now until the end of days. My Cara, and I… your Faeth. »


Personality

Gentle, curious, and kind, your Faeth is a creature aware of her surroundings and always willing to seek a little deeper, looking beyond the simple answers to find what truly feels right - for her, for you, and indeed for everyone around her. They're all special, in their own ways… and they all hold mysteries that are well worth understanding.

Like any young dragon, Faeth will have a powerful appetite and desire to gorge on meat. Unlike most of them, she's got a fair chance of vomiting it right back up again! There's something wrong with her digestion, a malformation in the system somewhere that will make it challenging for her to keep down her dinner… especially when she eats in large quantities or swallows big chunks, as hungry hatchlings are so prone to do.

It's not every time, but you may find yourself wearing many of her first meals… or scrubbing down her couch for the fifth time today after those chunks zoom through her irritated digestive tract and out the other end. As you learn the warning signs of stomach upset, you may be able to avoid it more frequently - but getting her enough nutrition as she grows is likely to remain a challenge for some time.

One way to help will be feeding her with blood; it's high in energy and nutrients, as anyone who's watched dragons before their flights knows. Of course, getting that blood out of the animals and into your baby dragon is likely to pose its own share of challenges - but at least it's more likely to stay there, once you manage it.

As Faeth matures and gains greater self-awareness and control, she'll eventually become able to manage her stomach well enough to (mostly) avoid issues. Still, even as an adult, there may be times when her digestive system simply decides to revolt and you're left to clean up a mess from wherever (or whoever?) is so unfortunate as to be in the way. Attempting to use firestone will also present its own issues, and she may never properly master the ability to flame.

Another source of concern is that hide on her neck - dry and flaking from the shell, and it'll never manage to be properly oiled. Oh, sure, sometimes you can make one edge of the scaly brown retreat by the copious application of oil - but another part will grow rough as if in compensation, the erratic circle around her neck remaining despite your best efforts. It's not just a surface dryness, either; scrubbing down will reveal that the hide forms a thick dry callus, and exfoliating it all away will leave her with a scrape of injury instead of smooth hide. It doesn't seem to particularly bother her - beyond being more prone to itches, that is - but there may be questions of if it's safe for Faeth to go between. What if the skin splits? It could be dangerous… even deadly.

The more conservative of the dragonhealers and weyrling staff might try to hold the two of you back, but when you eventually get your chance to go between - with or without their permission - you'll find it's safe enough… though the chill can linger beneath that flaked skin of hers, and she may sometimes want a long bask or some help to warm it back up after a trip.

With that freedom to travel, Faeth's curiosity about the world beyond the Weyr will grow. When your own experiences prove similarly lacking in details, she may insist you go find out. You should make friends with a Holder! You can never truly be one, of course, no more than she can be a gold, but you can still seek to understand that experience and interact with them on their level.

Mysteries and secrets will draw her attention in general, even beyond the simple curiosity she holds about anything unfamiliar. If someone is trying to hide? She wants to follow them and figure out why. If there's a locked door? She wants to know what's behind it. When Faeth thinks someone's lying to her, she doesn't get angry, she gets intrigued. Why are they lying? Is it an outright lie, or just a partial truth - and if so, what aren't they saying… and what's the motivation behind it?

Faeth may even be perceptive - and persistent - enough to uncover some secrets that others would rather have kept hidden. At first, she may be open about what she's learned, broadcasting to the world what she's found out about who Azrith likes or why Sirhyth is spending extra time with one of the weyrling staff. She'll learn from the reactions of others to these revelations - whether it's anger teaching her that revealing secrets can be dangerous for her, or hurt showing her that it can be dangerous to others. While she'll never stop being drawn to mysteries - especially ones that someone's actively trying to keep secret - she'll learn to take a more subtle approach to how - and to whom - she reveals her findings.

As her understanding of the people around her grows, so too will her compassion for them. There are motivations behind even the most terrible-seeming of actions, and when she's discovered them, well, she'll want to help - or push you to do so. Maybe Brynnjan is unhappy because he's not getting enough time to work on his craft. You could help him find a project! Even if it takes inventing one from thin air, just so you can offer him that chance to be useful. Or maybe she can be the one to help - do those dragons in the infirmary need someone to hunt for them? Or maybe just someone to sit and listen? Her ideas for how to help may not always be effective, but she'll continue in her desire to help others however she can manage.

Faeth is willing to bend - or outright ignore - the rules when she thinks it's right. If visiting the sick means you're late for lessons? So be it! That's more than worth whatever scolding the weyrlingmasters may have for you. Taking something from the stores without asking because someone needs it? Well, that depends… but you may sometimes find your own opinions of what's right in conflict with hers. It's always in the service of some good, when Faeth breaks the rules or ignores her superiors; there's someone in need, someone she's trying to help. Do the ends justify the means? That's a question you and her have to figure out together… and then try to justify to those above you.

While she may see rules in general as more like guidelines and isn't particularly awed by authority figures, Faeth will always listen to you… eventually. She may avoid bringing topics to you because she knows - or thinks she knows - what you'll say. If you don't tell her not to do something, that means it's okay, right? …no, not really. She doesn't even really believe it herself, because she knows the right thing to do is talk it over with you and come to your decision together - and, if she can't convince you, to bend and follow your will on the matter. But knowing isn't the same as doing, and so she may try to keep secrets from you, tucking them away in the corners of her mind until she's forced by circumstances - or your confronting her - to give them up and confess everything to you in the hopes of absolution.

Her compassionate desires may lead to uncomfortable questions when she realizes that the meat and blood she consumes comes from living creatures. Is it okay to hurt another living thing? Whether or not it is, it's something she'll need to do in order to survive, and you'll have to convince her of that. Perhaps you can find some way to help her conscience, whether it's by insuring the herdbeasts she'll kill have a comfortable life or defending them from any dragons who take a more cruel view to their hunt. She might try to convince you to avoid meat yourself, or find some other way to help make things better.

While the combination of her moral qualms and stomach issues may have her eating lightly most of the time, the glow of her proddy will come with an increase in her appetite… though not one matched by an increase in her digestion's ability to handle it. That combination may have Faeth blooding frequently over the course of her proddiness, starting long before she's ready to take to the skies. She may draw male dragons to the feeding grounds, confused into thinking it's already time… and further confused when she doesn't follow her blooding with a rise to the skies.

Faeth may take this opportunity to learn more about them… and even try to understand the mystery of mating flights themselves. Why /does/ she have the urge to rise when she won't bear eggs? What does it mean, and is there something that could be done? So many riders feel pain because of these flights… and her heart aches for them, even if she knows they chose this life. But was that choice really free? If they hadn't, young dragons like her would have died on the sands, going between for the lack of a human to call their lifemate. It's sad, and while Faeth may not be able to change things, she'll feel the urge to do what she can… whether that's by counseling dragons and their riders, or turning her own senses to search in the hopes of finding people who'll be more comfortable in the circumstances of dragonriding life. It may not be much, but her compassion will move her to act.

Eventually, the time will come for Faeth to follow that blooding with a rise to the skies. For all she may wonder if the world would be better without flights, she can't deny her own needs! The passions of the flesh come with powerful urges, and she must give herself to them. She'll seek to achieve a soaring flight, wings beating through the air to carry her far… but when those wings begin to tire, Faeth will seek a lover to satisfy her. Her first flight may be heedless of your desires, but after that she'll always hope to find some lover with whom /you/ will also be pleased.

She can't resist rising! But, Faeth knows you'll always wake beside the rider of that dragon who catches her. While she cannot change that fact… she can at least do what she can to make it easy for you. What that means may vary, whether it's selecting a dragon whose rider you already care for, or one who's already attached, the better to make the flight a no-strings affair. It's not that she's averse to sex, it's just that she doesn't want feelings to be hurt because of it! Of course, her success in both picking her lovers and having things turn out how she hopes will vary… perhaps wildly. She'll always care about people - of whatever kind - but that doesn't mean she actually knows what they're going to feel or do.

Faeth may be kind of heart, but don't confuse that tender touch with weakness. It takes strength of will to do the right thing and stand up for those who need it. This road she's chosen is a long one, and it will take the two of you to many places unknown to those who keep to the more obvious paths through life. There are wonders and mysteries to be discovered, and many people who need help. Still, in time, the two of you may find a way to live in peace with your natures.


Mindvoice

Copper and cut grass, blood and herbs mingled together. The scents vary with her mood, a freshly-mown field of sweet alfalfa and clover when she's content, bitter wormwood and pungent garlic for her displeasure. There's a meaning to each of them, to each herb and flower that she gathers. Some of their purposes she knows, others she seeks to discover, and after speaking to others - or merely observing - she may retreat to the herbal workshop of her mind, a place where she and you can explore her thoughts as the bundles of herbs drying in the rafters or ground with mortar and pestle into new concoctions and conclusions.

In her mind, she takes a shape made up of these herbs and plants that symbolize her carefully-gathered secrets - a small creature like an animated rosebush, a living bramble with bright floral hues amid her green leaves… and a prickled back of thorns like a hedgehog that are smooth to a gentle touch but prickle up sharply in response to threat or danger. The form shifts to take on the aspects of different plants that suit her mood or what she's trying to convey, but here amid all her herbs and flowers she can remain a peaceful creature who needs nothing more than soil, air and water… even if the copper tang of blood serves as a reminder that she sometimes can't help but prickle with those thorns.


Inspiration

The theme of this clutch was indeed Body Parts - Organs, as we put it - and Cutaneous Cage Egg was based on skin, with the touches inspired by, well, being high! As for the dragon… well, you gave us so many options for an inspiration, I just had to pick two that weren't on the list! …but I hope you'll like them (and her) even so. Faeth is inspired by Toby Daye - Seanan McGuire's changeling detective caught between the modern world and Faerie - and Brother Cadfael, the crime-solving monk from the series of medieval mysteries by Ellis Peters.

She draws her curiosity and fascination with mysteries from both of them. Toby inspired her mental signature - though there's a bit of Cadfael's herbal workshop in there as well - as well as her peculiar relationship to blood. Cadfael was the source for her deep compassion, as well as - through his connection to the beheaded Saint Winifred - her scaly neck. Some further details of her appearance were influenced by Green Herons.

Her name comes from a variety of places. It's right there in Cadfael (minus the C syllable, and with the corners rounded off to fit a dragon). It's in Toby's Faerie heritage. It's a variant of the faith she has in people… and as an added bonus, it's Welsh for nutrition, an issue the two of you will be working hard to obtain!


Credits

Egg description by K'vir; touches and dragon by Soriana. We hope you enjoy her, and we're glad to have you here at Xanadu!

Name Faeth
Dam Meirath
Sire Draukaith
Created By K'vir & Soriana
Impressee Cara
Hatched Spring 2017
Xanadu Weyr
PernWorld MUSH

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