There is, at first glance, very little to separate this bronze from any of the other dozens of bronzes who fly the skies of Pern. He is almost textbook perfect, in that he is large, well built, handsomely colored in a shade of bronze that holds vague glints of burnished metal that sweep across his hide in an uninterrupted shade. It is neither shining bright nor looming dark, but some perfect middle ground between molten and shadowed. Thick muscles ripple beneath his hide, an easy strength evident in every arch and curve, with a long and serpentine neck and a sleek, well-proportioned tail. Head knobs sit proudly behind his prominent eye-ridges, and intelligent, jewel-like eyes watch with a laconic, predatory gaze upon the world. His neck ridges are high, sharp shaped, distinctive, like the work of some master smith, but he is no hardened statue; his motions are fluid, flexible, and deliberate. And always, always, with some purpose. If one does take the time to take him in a little longer, some distinctions show; he has relatively fresh scars on his hide; a set of them across his neck and chest that have completely healed and almost colored back to the same shade as the rest of him. The ones on his back, wing shoulders, and face, though, are new, fresh, and almost bright green against his handsome visage.
About Romth's shoulders rest a set of handsomely crafted straps. Dyed a rich, dark shade of brown, they contrast just perfectly with his medium-bronze hide.
Romth is about 38 meters long and has a wingspan of 63 meters.
Hatchling Description
The vague glint of burnished metal sweeps across this dragon, uninterrupted bronze wrapping his body in a color that is neither shining bright nor looming dark, but some middle ground between molten and shadowed. Thick muscle ripples beneath his hide, easy strength evident in every arch and curve, neck long and serpentine, tail likewise sleek. Headknobs sit proud behind prominent eyeridges, the line of his back marked out with high triangles. A sculpted, wedge-shaped head bears strong jaws and many, many sharp teeth. It is the visage of a predator, to be sure, one tempered by strange intelligence suggested in faceted eyes, sitting like precious gems set in a smithcrafter's finest work. But no hardened decoration is this, wide wings spanned by thin membrane, soft skin and flexible form bringing subtle shifts of hue with every smallest movement.
Egg Name and Description
Secret Source Of Shame Egg
The creep of a barely-opened door casts a shadow of maliced doubt over the cobwebbed outline traced in gruesome bone-white. The mantle, a hazy darkness which enshrouds this egg with enigma and mystery, encompasses all in an eidolon of color, dusk's greyscale falling over the small ovoid as if it is soon misplaced, soon forgotten. The tracery of truth lies within, a slumped figure, barely discernible for the dust and the dirt: but truth it is, disguised or revealed, and disguised it shall sit… for now.
Hatching Message
Secret Source Of Shame Egg sits still as a stone. That is, until it decides this whole wobbling thing is /in/. And suddenly there's rapid rocking motion. Whoever's inside, it very suddenly wants OUT.
Shake shake shake! SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE! Shake your egg yolk! SHAKE YOUR EGG YOLK! Secret Source Of Shame Egg is totally jammin' out over here, inner convulsions rocking the shell and creating a webwork of cracks across its surface.
Secret Source Of Shame Egg is about to let that pile o' bones out of its proverbial closet, or something. Because it's /totally/ breaking apart, egg goo and shell flung about as the critter inside unceremoniously dumps out on his head. Oops.
Impression Message
It's happened. Against all odds, against all REASON. A /candidate/ has suddenly managed to pop between all on his lonesome. The sands are gone. Your fellow white-robed sand-dancers are gone. The eggs, the galleries' crowd, clutchparents (yes, even Ellamariseth's tongue) - ALL GONE. You are enveloped in darkness. All-consuming, endless.. darkness. And it tickles. … Wait. Isn't between supposed to be empty? Something fishy is going on here. And.. /is/ that the smell of fish? Really.. tasty.. fried fish. But there is no air! How can you even SMELL in this place? And what's that horrible pressure on your chest, like someone's grabbed your heart and is.. shaking. Thud-thud. Thud-thud. Thud-thud. Faster and faster, the pounding radiates out from your center, till it's a throbbing /ntz/-/ntz/-/ntz/ through to your very core. And in this overwhelming darkness, you become aware.. that there is something with you. Is that the creaak of an opening door, the pull of wet nets around your shoulders? You're moving, being dragged inexorably closer, and yet you're not. /Something/ is coming to meet you. « Xe'ter. » It rasps out of the darkness, and you FEEL it, it becomes you. It /IS/ you. « Xe'ter, snap out of it, dude, » you're caught in this voice that is not a voice, hook, line, and sinker. The sensation of words just /being/ there, « We've got to get a move on, buddy. Know this is a shock and all, but momma over there is looking kind of slurpy, and I'd like to get my teeth around a nice something before my insides eat themselves. » Oh yeah, lots of voice. And then, without warning, it all rushes back, and you're left staring down the nose of a rather average dragon. /Your/ dragon. Your Romth. Not average at all, in fact. And that gnawing pit in your stomach? Yeah, it's a wake up call if there ever was one. Welcome to the rest of your life.
Personality
THIS IS A NONSTANDARD DRAGON. Though granted, in Ista, that's pretty much par for the course. Romth is just your average male on the outside. He's not too big for his color, not too small, and won't excel particularly in anything terribly physical, at least anymore than any other dragon would. He's not very agile, or very fast, though there's definitely strength in him, and more than a little will, if he puts his mind to something. Which he will do. Often.
Despite being one of the larger colors, what dignity he may appear to possess is totally unintentional. While he might /fancy/ himself this elegant and charming beast, he's really a kind of goof inside - a touchey-feely, emotional, and /chatty/ goof, who only looks big and burly, but is a bundle of childlike tendencies wrapped up in a coating of muscle and power. Power which you will quickly have to learn to make him control, lest he over do it.
Most of the time, he's going to be laid-back and friendly, the kind of compassionate and caring creature who's easy to please and easier to befriend. In fact, he'll go out of his way to put his sizable snout into other peoples' business, but he means well, really. Even if he doesn't quite understand all those human things, like restraint and tact. That's where you'll come in, and in those early months, you'll have to keep quite an eye on his social development, lest he shove his over-caring attitude into the wrong person's (or dragon's) affairs. And it's almost guaranteed to cause some embarrassment (or trouble and injury, later on). Because he'll totally drag you into things, or come running when there's too much for him to handle.
Donkey: You, uh… you don't entertain much, do you?
Shrek: I like my privacy.
Donkey: Y'know, me too. That's another thing we have in common. I hate it when you've got someone in your face, you try to give someone a hint and they won't leave, and then there's that big awkward silence…
Donkey: … … …
Donkey: ..Can I stay with you?
He's your best bud, though. Your leaningpost, your safe harbor when seas get rough. He's also chatty as all get-out and will pester and poke at you, making you admit to things you'd likely rather keep locked up inside. He wants to know every thought and process of your being, to delve down deep into all the layers of your mind and peel them back, to reveal what lies underneath. It's done in all innocence, and with the best intentions, but it will definitely be something you'll have to get used to. At least he isn't going to intentionally air your dirty laundry, though again, until you both are used to one another, weyrlinghood may provide more than a few challenges.
Speaking of challenges, once he's matured enough, flights will be one heck of a challenge. And probably a bit overwhelming at first. You see, the girls have cycles. And he TOTALLY reacts to them. Possibly more strongly than any male really ought. He just tries too hard, though it'll probably be a bit awkward if any of the girl-dragons ever does return the attention. He'll get sappy and even more emotional. And when, inevitably, his attempted smarm fails to win the girls, he'll go through some moping phase of self-doubt trying to figure out how he can change to better understand them. This.. is not a macho dragon. At all. He'll probably even demand all kinds of pettings and comfort from you, before persisting again in his quest for lovin's. It'll be one bad romance after another. Glowing green in the bowl? He's out there like /that/, tossing the compliments and coming on too strong. A gold? Well, then he's just doomed, smitten till the glowing girl goes up. But once the girls /are/ up, all of his constant in-contact and opinionated feely-thoughts take hold of /you/. You'll be right up there /with/ him, and will have to fight to maintain even a tiny amount of awareness of yourself while he's chasing. And if he ever catches? Forget about it. You're totally lost then. At least it'll be one intense ride.
"And in the mornin', I'm making waffles!" - Donkey, from Shrek
Your dragon.. really likes food. Like. A lot. Delicious delicious noms, he'll savor it, he'll slurp it, and you bet he'll /share/ it with you. You'd better get used to the sensation of raw meat sliding down your gullet, because every meal, ever tender morsel, will flow through the mindlink like water. And he'll be so eager to share, too. You'll have to work to distance yourself without upsetting him, or just deal with it. It's only a little uncooked herdbeast, after all! And he will share a lot. The feel of stone scraping under his claws? The wind catching under stretched wings from his first time in the air? Oh yeah, that will come through all too clearly. And you.. well, some of it you may relish, some of it you may not. But at least it's obvious how strong the bond between you is, even if you may end up a little green around the gills sometimes. It's going to take a lot of patience to put up with his desire to share, and when the hatchlings start hunting, you'll be feeling every hot-blooded mouthful.
"I just know, before this is over, I'm gonna need a whole lot of serious therapy. Look at my eye twitchin'!" - Donkey
As much as his escapades might get you in hot water, Romth is forever your companion, your sidekick, and your conscience. That doesn't mean he won't get exasperating and complain along the way, low attention span and tendency to be stubborn not lending itself particularly well to most endevours.
"All right, nobody move! I've got a dragon and I'm not afraid to use it! I'm a donkey on the edge!" - Donkey
Whatever you choose to do, he'll be tagging along anyway, providing 'helpful' suggestions and always, /always/, ready to come to the rescue should you actually need him for anything. You are his reason and his direction. And in the end, it's all about your wants and needs, or at least what /he/ things you need, and making them happen.
Mindvoice
Black. Blacker. Blackest.. It's not just for between. This dragon's mind is dark. Dark like his SOUL. And it smells. Of beef stew. No really. And brine. And fish. And probably that nasty tar they use to seal ships' hulls. Salt-air, rotting seaweed, and the damp of fishing caverns. Some of it's pulled from your mind, some of it's things he's experienced or gotten from someone else. The cloying scent of crushed and not-quite pressed flowers? Where's THAT from? It's in there too. He is ALL ABOUT the smells of things.
And the /feel/. Textures, rough and splintery, the slickness of heavy nets biting into chilled hands as they're pulled in with the day's haul, or the grainyness of ocean water drying on your skin after a swim. The warmth of Rukbat.. all of this will come to you, out of the darkness. But imagery will be scarce, and seldom seen. More than not, you might wonder whether that itch, that horrible pressure on your spine, those prickly fingers running up and down your limbs ..is really you or him. Lurking always in the recesses at the back of your thoughts, he'll constantly let you know he's there, always with the brush of /something/, an opinion of whatever's going on, vague but there.
Not that he's a quiet dragon, oh no. He talks too. A LOT. About everything. Anything. Your feelings, especially. Did you think that harper girl was the worst invasiveness Ista could throw at you? PFFT. Try having that /in your head/, where all your deepest thoughts reside. He won't go announcing them to the world. At least.. not intentionally. There might be some mishaps when he's young. But he'll push and push and push and make you admit to HIM, at least, what bugs you. What makes you tick. What you /really/ think of that trundlebug of a weyrwoman. Pictures might be in short supply, and sometimes there might be silence, but never will the communication cease. The door has been opened. And you've been sucked in. And it's up to you to pay attention and figure out what he really means by the slimy trickle between your toes or the frigid tingle on your nose. You may end up spending more time trying to figure /him/ out those first few days, but once you've attuned yourself fully to his moods and modes of thought, that strange and shadowed alien mindscape will be rich with the sensations of what only a dragon-strength bond can bring.
Inspiration
Inspirations. There were a LOT. The egg theme was idioms, and Romth's was 'skeleton in the closet' created by the awesomesauce that is known as Ixie. The dragon himself is a collaborative effort of, like, everyone on Co, with various people throwing in many and random things, all of which add up to your dragon. It was put together by the Shovel. Also Cenlia, who may have been attached to the Shovel. We'll get back to you on that one. Inspiration … well. Obviously, Donkey, from Shrek, with a bit of Lady Gaga thrown in for flavor, and some Wolf from 10th Kingdom, because you wanted chatty and a lot, and too much is better than too little. ;) We took the two chattiest characters we could think of - Donkey from Shrek, and Wolf, from 10th Kingdom, both of whom have significant skeletons in their closets, sometimes in the literal sense, and made EPIC CONGLOMERATION. Booze might have been involved somewhere. We sincerely hope you like him! And as always, feel free to tweak, toss out, and change whatever you wish, Romth is yours to play, and yours alone!
Credits
Name | Romth |
Dam | Ellamariseth |
Sire | Ittisieth |
Created By | Cenlia |
Impressee | Xe'ter (Wroxeter) |
Hatched | 11 Feb 2011 |
Ista Weyr | |
PernWorld MUSH |