Note: Image used is taken from a photo of a sculpture - I did not draw it, just used GIMP to play with the coloring
Sweeping the long-limbed and lean frame of this elegant green dragon is an exotic oasis of lush foliage, watered by the sheer turquoise of a pristine aquifer, the liquid crystalline hues rippling subtly underneath the dappled shade of emerald hide. Proportioned for aerial speed and acrobatic grace with her broad chest deeply muscled, the sleek form is one of an athlete. Willow dances across a finely-boned muzzle to whisper about the broad forehead between wide-set eyes, one of which is ringed with a faint glimmer – a golden halo of sun-kissed leaves. The delicate tracery of ivy twines down the arch of neck along the crested neckridges parting at muscled shoulders to run along each of her main wingbones while the rest follows the spine down her level back continuing to curl about the length of her long, supple tail. The webbing between the wing spars are clouded with moonshadow, the pale lime freckles thereon creating an astral patterning that, when spread, flare to a nebulous glow, an auroral flush of jade paling the trailing edges of her sails. Casting a muted pattern of light and shadow, bamboo and palm fronds arch gracefully from strong shoulders all the way down her long, lean flanks. Pale buttercup washes her underbelly, blending into feathery fern on her powerful fore and hindquarters, hues that dim to moss on long limbs and talons tipped with sharp claws of agate.
This From Afar Egg
Save for the feathered wings that cup the curve of this egg, the silhouette of sandy grains swirled across the pale shell's surface appear equine in nature: the figure's contours are combined to form a graceful, trim-legged, barrel-chested, lean-flanked conformation. Galloping on a flowing river of pure, clear water, drawing behind it a paradise of lush growth and flowering plants in riotous colors, this creature's joy and pleasure in its task is evidenced the playful arch of its neck, tossed mane, and excitement-flared nostrils of delicate muzzle. Gazing into yours, dark eyes full of wisdom from before the dawn of time, seek to impart a marvelous message of incomparable worth.
Streams in the Desert becomes furnace-like in its intensity and you might wonder briefly if something has again gone wrong with the heating units used to warm the sands. But gradually you become aware that you are no longer in the hatching grounds even though you are still standing upon sand. The ceiling above you has paled to brassy skies and the sun now beats down on your head and shoulders mercilessly. The stone walls have fled, leaving you stranded in a vast desert wilderness, empty and lifeless. There is nothing, not a sound save for the low moan as hot air currents eddy through stone crags and the dry screet of dead branches scratching sharp rockfaces. Alarming may be the sudden burst of wings whirring, the brief clatter of hoofs on stone that sends a small cascade of pebbles sliding, yet it too, surrenders to the reign of silence. A profound sense of loss and desolation settles around your heart. You are alone, isolated and will remain so forever. The scene fades and you are returned to the baking sands with a sense of relief so intense you might almost cry out.
Streams in the Desert draws you back to the wilderness - this time you stand amongst jagged boulders cast in shadows left by a retreating sun as the world stands at the edge of night. You feel you should go home but you are lost, unsure which way that is. The sky reddens, but there is no cooling relief with the twilight. A stiff breeze blows, the dry air sucks the moisture from you, sears your lungs, leaves your lips cracking and tongue parched. You are suddenly THIRSTY beyond reason and that breeze has become a gale force whipping at you with invisible claws, the howling in your ears maddening, the assault staggering. In the maelstrom a solitary figure draws near, seems to compel you to step inside. But where? There is nowhere to go! Suddenly you are within it, surrounded by its presence and sheltered. The wind is silenced, peace and tranquility reigns. The vision dissolves and you find yourself once again on the sands, but the thirst for a cooling drink lingers.
Streams in the Desert once more transports you beyond the hatching sands to the wilderness where a parched land shimmers beneath a baking sun. But what's this? There's a stir of hot breath upon your cheek, and borne on the dry breeze is the scent of wet rock, cooling as it steals about your face, stirring your hair and bringing with it the smell of ferns and moss, of orchids and lilies, of life and promise. A musical sound - the tinkle of water trickling into a peaceful pool changes to the hiss and froth of water leaping from boulder to boulder as it rushes down a cliff. The blast of mist hits you shortly thereafter, the moisture palpable after the desiccated feeling of this place. The grey jumble of rocks and cliffs sprouts green plants and spreading trees before your eyes, exotic and strangely wonderful, filling the air with the sweet scent of blossom and petal, fruit and vine, tender grass and green buds. Where desert had been is now an oasis, an Eden as far as the eye can see, laced with shaded pools, clear streams and sparkling rivers. Death has become life, promise has become fulfillment. As the water flows away to return to the gardens it made, it leaves you on the sands a final time, refreshed but longing for more.
Egg Wobble
The grains on This From Afar egg ripple as if stirred by a Sirocco, creating the illusion that the sandy equine form thereon is alive. Nostrils quiver and the form breathes, mane and tail flutter in the hot, dry wind - all brought by the gentle side to side movement of the egg.
Egg Crack
This From Afar egg wobbles more insistently, causing a fissure to form across the surface of the shell, the crack forming along the river-like pattern as though water pressure behind a dam threatens to break forth from its restraints.
Hatching Message
The shell of This From Afar egg disintegrates, there one moment, the next crumbling to rain rusty-colored grains that mingle with those of the hatching sands. In its place, a sleepy dragon hatchling lies curled nose to tail, glistening save where powdery shell remains dust its head and back.
Impression Message
Your feet are on solid ground. Or so it has seemed until this moment. Where before hot sand had scorched bare toes, cooling waves now lap at your feet, soothing the heated skin before curling about you in gentle currents that seek your attention. Look up, they seem to direct and when you do, pure waters pour over you. Cleansing and refreshing, they flow into your innermost being and you know with a certainty that you are — new. That’s the only way to describe this state of being. It’s as if spring has come to you after a very long, very dry, dead and frozen winter of loneliness. Everything inside - your outlook, your attitude, your hindsight - has burst into the figurative lush growth, bloom and song of hope and joy. The sweetness aches and you almost want to cry, but a trickle of water dances into your mind as a voice pleads, « Don’t. I am here now. I will never leave you. I am your hiding place, Idrissa, and you are mine. Together, we will do wonderful things. I am your Tahryth. »
Personality
Right from the shell Tahryth is going to be on the go. Like most young dragons, she contains a bright curiosity about the world around her. However, rather than being content to ask you questions about it, she wants to experience it for herself! Those things she can get into, she will. If she can pick it up, she will grab it. If she can taste it, her tongue will flick out to do so. Sniff-test? That applies to just about everything, including V'dim, the AWLMs, strangers, food and the list is endless. This is one trait that she may not outgrow.
Her energy seems boundless as she patters over the area, checking things out while her irrepressible chatter keeps you apprised of her thoughts on the matter at hand as she keeps a constantly running dialogue. It's when she falls silent you had better worry for it is then that she's probably into something she shouldn't be. And she has it in her to be evasive. When asked, "Taaaaahryyyyyyth? What are you doing?" As if it might suffice to satisfy you and keep you from probing further, her oft (and evasive) answer will be, « Having adventures! » That's when you'd better go check on her, because she is up to mischief!
Comfort zones? You have those? That would, of course, mean that you have areas of discomfort as well, but for Tahryth the whole world is her comfort zone. When she is a baby it might seem that she is deliberately pushing your buttons to test your patience. But no, really with her uninhibited mindset, she is simply not aware that anyone could be shy or want to act with social decorum. Tahryth is a free spirit, rarely thinks beyond the first impulse to the consequences of her actions. She's not willful in the least, not trying to annoy you, so if she manages to do it nonetheless, that is simply a by-product of her unrestrained nature. She'll often have you wincing with some of her forthright comments and irrepressible drive to try new things, situations that she'll more often than not attempt to drag you into, perhaps getting you both into hot water. Should that happen, she'll laugh it off with, « But it was so much fun! Let's do it again! »
Tahryth''s I-can-do-anything attitude might often lead her in Weyrling lessons to volunteer to be the first to try something or answer questions posed to the group. « Oh me - pick me! », waving her tail as one might raise a hand, lifting it higher and higher until the WLM chooses her. And if she then gives a completely wrong answer - as many of hers are simply outrageous - it won't bother her in the slightest to be found in error, laughing off her blunder along with everyone else. She's not particularly driven to be the best because she thinks she already is. This is not to say she's conceited, oh no. She's just got a healthy does of self confidence. Perhaps too much. She is however, driven to be the first simply because the idea of trying something new excites her so much that she can hardly wait. Those are the times you'll have to learn to use mental restraint on your dragon-child who will be a-quiver with anticipation.
As with many just-hatched dragons Tahryth's first steps are clumsy, but she'll outgrow the awkward stage, able to move on the ground with grace and agility. By the time she is ready for the skies, her sleek, aerodynamic form and long wings will assist her to excel in flight and she will revel in the tricks and breath-stealing stunts that have your stomach in your throat. She might even take a wee guilty pleasure in scaring you once in awhile with her need for speed.
Tahryth will be pleased to 'listen in' on your beastcraft work with the runners and eagerly soaks up all you are willing to teach her about them. Her early turns then, will be full of her « If this then why that ? » and « How do you? » questions so that in time she'll learn to read their behavior through your eyes, reaching a level of understanding that will enable her not only to discuss the cases with you, but offer advice. Likewise, though you are her rider, she'll never be affronted that you also enjoy riding runners.
She shares your affinity for small creatures, understanding also your keen interest for runners and so out of her love for you, she will forego picking the old ones retired to the feeding grounds because she knows this will likely distress you. In fact, she's not all that keen on eating hoofed beasts for the same reason. When she's able to hunt, she'll be a picky eater, prefer wherries and fish, dispatching them with a swift perfunctory snap to finish the business so she can eat.
Tahryth's disinterest in hunting will change when she's ready to take to the skies for mating. Then she's the intent, fierce feline, stalking her prey to blood savagely whatever beast befalls her. Still, it's a means to an end for her, rather than a pleasure in killing. Tahryth isn't particularly sensual for a green. Her mood when proddy, will tend to be irritable and snappish and her mood may well affect her rider. Once she leaps skyward, however, her spirits rise with her ascent. Then her acrobatic flight will be dizzying in nature and the males will be hard-pressed to keep up with her. The tight corkscrews, diving spirals and loops she executes will result in mostly blue dragons catching her, rarely a brown though it's unlikely a bronze ever will. Afterwards she'll be happy to cuddle with the winner, keeping a cheerful companionship for as long as the male is amenable to remaining by her side.
Tahryth chose you, Idrissa because she was drawn by your a soft-hearted gentleness. Her wayward impetuousness creates in her a need for stability and nurturing and deep down inside she really needs this. Tahryth also understands the self-protective cloak of shyness you wrap around yourself and she knows you need her to help draw you out to the place where you can live a little and let your hair down without caring so very much about what other people think. She senses that together you will be an awesome team, but more than that, she knows you are the one who will love her best and that no one could love you like she can.
Mindvoice
Tahryth loves to talk and if she's not talking to you, she'll frequently be chattering to any dragon who will listen, acquaintance or stranger, her happy prattle the musical bubble of water over stone, foaming and frothing with gleeful eagerness to spill forth. Her laughter is the dance-beat of rain on a roof; her excitement might well be the tattoo of hooves on drumming across the ground while her rare ire contains the crackle of thunder within her words. The roar of rushing water might accompany her urgency; the musical trickle of water falling into a still pool her contemplative thought and her lyrical abandon drops dripping from varying heights, the liquid notes akin to the warbling of an avian. Nearly fearless, she nevertheless will experience it occasionally. Those times she does it'll be the hiss of steam as water evaporates after hitting a sun-baked rock.
Inspiration
Our clutch theme was 'The Zodiac' and we were encouraged to look beyond the 'traditional zodiac'. So I used the Mazzaroth's Zodiac from the Temple of Eseneh in Dendera, Egypt, predates the more commonly-known one of the Greeks and Romans by more than 5000 years.
Egg: According to the Mazzaroth, the constellations tell the story of God's purpose in creating mankind, each constellation telling a part of the whole. It is said that God himself named the stars and that those names were passed on from Adam to the Mazzaroth. The stars within the constellations still bear the Arabic and Chaldean names the Mazzaroth knew them by today. Each star name defines its constellation and reveals of the purpose thereof.
This From Afar egg is based off of the constellation Pegasus. In Pegasus there are 89 stars. The brightest of them in the neck is named Markab, which means 'returning from afar'. In the near shoulder is the star Scheat meaning 'who goes and returns.' The star at the tip of the wing bears the name - Al Genib, 'who carries'; the star in the nostril is called Enif, 'the water'; the star in the near leg is called Matar, 'who causes to flow'. So by the stars within it, the Pegasus is 'He that goes and returns from afar bringing the living water (eternal life)'. The symbolic task of Pegasus then, is to carry the water (symbolic of God's blessing) that is to be poured out upon creation to lift the curse from the earth.
"I will open rivers in high places,
And fountains in the midst of the valleys;
I will make the wilderness a pool of water,
And the dry land springs of water.
The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
the calf and the young lion together;
and a little child shall lead them.
For more on this and the other constellations: see the book "The Witness of the Stars" written by E. W. Bullinger, which may be read online here: http://philologos.org/__eb-tws/default.htm
Dragon Name: The name Tahryth was taken from the Comanche language using three words that tie in with This From Afar Egg: tahuya meaning horse, tatsinuupi, meaning star and umaaru, meaning rain. So Tahryth literally means 'rain from the star horse'. Tahryth may be pronounced tah-reeth or tah-rith, whichever you prefer.
~ For Idrissa and Tahryth ~ To the Sky by Owl City:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ao0A1GgxyE
.~*~. Tahryth was created for you by Thea at Xanadu, Winter 2013 .~*~.
Credits
| Name | Tahryth |
| Dam | Sahazyth |
| Sire | Orionth |
| Created By | Thea |
| Impressee | Idrissa |
| Hatched | February 10, 2013 |
| Xanadu Weyr | |
| PernWorld MUSH |
