O'diah
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Sire and Dam: Sidijith & Xanth
Hatching Date: March 29, 2008
Theme of Clutch: The Four Seasons
Theme of Dragonets: Weather / Elements / Elemental Things
Hatchling Name: Dusky Mackerel Sky Blue
Dragon Name: Alysiuth

Clutch Message:
Sidijith thinks they are perfectly sized, thank-you-very much. Another summery egg follows the first, as if its stormy threats were burned away by the arrival of mid-summer's bright dream. High summer. Hot summer. This fifth egg is, if anything, smaller than the first four. The queen will roll it back and forth a bit with her tail and the wet and wobbly shell will soon be covered in grains of sand. When it is fully gritty she will roll it down into the next part of trench and push more sand on top.

Egg:
Summer Solstice Egg
Light claims this egg with the lucid, liquid, eloquent brilliance of the turn’s longest day: luminous golden radiance settles about the shell, as weightless and buoyant as sunlight and just as insubstantial. It is airy, these ambers, wispy and soft, like the delicate touch of flutterby wings or the feathery brush a feline’s whiskers made pliable and yielding with warmth and adoration. Imagination. Anticipation.

Hatch Message:
Summer Solstice Egg shudders again, as if it can no longer weather the storm of the dragonet within. The tempest breaks through with a bit of winghook and spars and is soon followed by a needly hook of talons as the fight for freedom continues. The brilliant, golden, daylit eggshell falls into shadows at last as the storm wins out; twilight shards linger only where the egg still sticks to flanks and one slim shoulder. With a snort and a struggle, the little blue dragonet rights himself, shakes his head three times in a sneeze, and looses his wings.

Impression Pose (what the audience sees):
Dusky Mackerel-Sky Blue Dragonet dips his head and snorts forcefully, sending sandy spume to splatter across Obadiah's hem. The proud head is lifted like a prow aboard the sea's swiftest ship and this blue dragonet leans forward into the invisible wind that only /he/ can feel, pouring off the young man from Fort Sea Hold. The horizon shall ever be their goal, now that he's found his captain.

Impression Message (what you see):
He is just there, your dragon, a sudden presence that mingles with you like a light-footed hungry feline tangling himself around the soles of your feet. His touch is whiskery-soft and ephemeral, as elusive as a warf-cat in fog, grey on grey, with the distant echo of a ship's bell in the distance. He is the space between daylight and darkness, the border between shore and sea, the balance between the Known and the Unknown. He is Alysiuth and his contact is light and amused — investigation, exploration — and then he pounces onto the very center of your being. « O'diah. » His delight is mackerel: a slash of blue, a sweep of grey, and a spine-tickling flash of electrified affection that makes your toes curl and your hair stand on end. « I am Alysiuth. » The promise of adventure, companionship, and a life changed as easily as the weather. Then there is gut-wrenching hunger shared as he will share everything, with you, his O'diah. « Food now? »

Dragonet Description:
The sky was what is called a mackerel sky—rows and rows of faint down-plumes of cloud, just tinted with the midsummer sunset.

Dusky Mackerel Sky Blue Dragonet
Herringbone and mackerel-silvers pattern the maritime blue of this slender dragonet's spars and patina his wings with starlight. His slim chest, lean flanks and those agile, high-set sails are limned with subtle bands of color as changeable as the sea, but the rest of him is a solid and deep. All his other hues sink beneath the waves of this mariner's blue as it laps gently along his sleek and bantam form. Oceanic blue ebbs up from his talon'd feet and flows over his sparse and buoyant frame before washing down the wedged sweep of his joyous, inquisitive muzzle. Here on his nose he is lightly swept with the original stormy grey, a windy bit of color that likewise whirls about his feet and tail.

"The Mediterranean has the color of mackerel, changeable I mean. You don't always know if it is green or violet, you can't even say it's blue, because the next moment the changing reflection has taken on a tint of rose or gray." -Vincent Van Gogh

Personality:
Oh, the sea. The fickle, changeable sea, always moving yet stable in its constant presence, brimming with possibilities for leavetaking and homecoming. Alysiuth echoes the dynamic pressure of these opposing forces. He'll strain to be off on new adventures and go where the wind may take him, and yet he'll also yearn for home with the intense longing of a sailer too long at sea. Imagine Odysseus, silver-tongued Odysseus whose journey home gives way to constant diversions, who navigates impossible, improbable situations with cunning and finesse, whose compass unerringly points "home" — and then, when he finally reaches his beloved Illyria, the chronicle ends with suggestion of another journey. Impossible to satisfy, yet at one with his element, Alysiuth's ever-constant curiosity will lead him — and you — from here to there and back again.

"Not all who wander are lost," JRR Tolkien suggests, and this concept rings true for Alysiuth. He'll wander the Weyr and strain to go beyond its borders, disappearing from sight on one of his adventures, sometimes encouraging you to come with as his mate, his partner in crime, and sometimes wandering off as you sleep. Even if physically absent, he'll be there in thought, merry and mischievous when you awake: « You'll never guess where I am. » Once he learns how to between, a whole new world will be opened up to the two of you. Don't be surprised if you don't end up where you think you were going. There's almost no point in asking for the destination, since nine times out of ten he'll prefer it to be a secret. He likes to surprise you, so you may find yourself popping out of ::between:: above Ista, Tillek, High Reaches – or some completely new place. How did he get the co-ordinates to jump there? Most likely from another dragon, but he's not going to share that particular secret with you. He wants to keep you guessing.

Alysiuth is a steadying influence in his constant presence, a subtle buffer to uphold and support. Yet he also reflects and responds to variation with the capriciousness of the sea, especially when it comes to your moods.

"It is only when we are very happy that we can bear to gaze merrily upon the vast and limitless expanse of water, rolling on and on with such persistent, irritating monotony, to the accompaniment of our thoughts, whether grave or gay. When they are gay, the waves echo their gaiety; but when they are sad, then every breaker, as it rolls, seems to bring additional sadness, and to speak to us of hopelessness and of the pettiness of all our joys." - Jim Moore from By Way of the Wind, 1991

When you are happy, he echoes your delight and buoys you up with conversation and shared confidence. But when you are sad, then his every thought seems to bring additional sadness, and he'll reflect melancholy and woe. When Odysseus was imprisoned on Calypso's island, he spent the nights as her lover under a strong attraction. But by day, he wept on the shore, longing for his family and home. Alysiuth is open to the whole range of emotion, and will always reflect it deeply, whatever the governing emotion may be. He holds soundless depths within himself — the same depths that give him the capacity to offer such steadying companionship.

Of course we're not suggesting you turn manic-depressive on us. We suspect most of the time Alysiuth is content in himself as he plans for the next adventure and stores up all sorts of information for you – or for you to explain to him. « What is underwear for, again? »

It's also safe to say that your dragon is as silver-tongued as they get. He's got a way with words, a way of smoothing over any situation he may have dropped you both into, and he'll often use his wit to get you out of it. While often this cleverness is subtle, he'll occasionally come up with some sharp one-liners that will make even him chuckle (mentally, of course) with his own prowess. And don't expect him to always be honest. Words are, after all, a game.

"There is nothing — absolutely nothing — half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats. In or out of 'em, it doesn't matter. Nothing seems really to matter, that's the charm of it. Whether you get away, or whether you don't; whether you arrive at your destination or whether you reach somewhere else, or whether you never get anywhere at all, you're always busy, and you never do anything in particular; and when you've done it there's always something else to do, and you can do it if you like, but you'd much better not." - Spoken by Ratty to Mole in Wind in the Willows, a children's book by Kenneth Grahame (1859-1932).

And he likes nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much as just messing about with /you/, O'diah. In barracks or mud, lake, ocean, air or snow. Alysiuth just likes being with you. You matter. You're his. And he's like a best friend, imaginary playmate, and life-long companion all rolled up in a fish-bright hide of blue.

"Sailors, with their built in sense of order, service and discipline, should really be running the world." - Nicholas Monsarrat

He's a planner, your dragon. It serves him well for plotting out these adventures of him; he wants it all ship-shape and perfectly crafted. Like Esther (well, no, not quite /that/ bad), Alysiuth likes an orderly space, with everything in its place. Small spaces are great, as long as they're kept tidy. He also likes plotting out a course and then sticking within it, sometimes to the point of obstinacy. A trait, like his sea-pieces, that he shares with T'jano's Mrrth. She too can be stubborn, but hers is more 'had enough, sitting down, just you /try/ and move me any further', whilst Alysiuth's more bull-headed and would just keep going and going and going, instead of stopping. « Three laps of the bowl, three laps of the bowl, I planned out three laps of the bowl and hail, sleet, mud or Weyrwoman aren't going to stop me. »

A sea captain when he stands upon the bridge, or looks out from his deck-house, thinks much about God and about the world. Away in the valley yonder among the corn and the poppies men may well forget all things except the warmth of the sun upon the face, and the kind shadow under the hedge; but he who journeys through storm and darkness must needs think and think..- William Butler Yeats, The Celtic Twilight

A planner, a thinker; an adventurer, a rapscallion; a liar with a tongue of gold. Your erstwhile companion who, more than anything else, is just that: your companion, O'diah. He as mercurial as the seas, as changeable as the wind, but never, ever, in this. So unfurl those sails, tighten your hold on the ropes, and let the journey begin.

Flight:
"Our voyage had commenced, and at last we were away, gliding through the clean water, past the reeds. Care was lifted from our shoulders, for we were free from advice, pessimism, officialism, heat and hot air." - K. Adlard Coles

Alysiuth loves to fly; he is an artist, and his medium is the wind. In water or in air, he will be one of the most agile dragons of his clutch. He's light, he is, lithe and lean, with the sleek shape of the mackerel fish, but more buoyant: sailfish, shipfish, flying fish. Alysiuth is like a well-built boat. He'll know how to catch the wind and use it to his advantage, making him a swift and dynamic flier.

"A tradewind starts gently, without gusts — a huge ocean of air that slowly and resolutely begins to move with ever-increasing strength. Suddenly everything comes to life. Spirits rise as the sails fill. The boat heels slightly and moves ahead. The almost oppressive silence gives way to the sound of the bow cutting through the water. Gone is the sea's glassy surface, and with it the terrible glare. Close the hatches and ports! We're sailing again!" -Albert Camus

This might take a bit of getting used to, as first flights with Alysiuth might be akin to sailing rough, wild seas. And not just first flights, really, but whenever that desire takes him. He shares an affinity with Ikaroth for those terrifying plummets and take-offs-without-warning.

"Waves are not measured in feet or inches, they are measured in increments of fear." -Buzzy Trent

Like any good sailor, once the sails are unfurled and have caught the wind, all Alysiuth's planning is happily thrown out the window. For him, flight is the simple joy of sailing – the freedom, the challenge, the lure of wild winds and new thermals. In the air, Alysiuth's adventuresome side is set loose and only you know it's not madness, it's /glee/. He spins and swoops and dives for the feel of weather along his hide and you, like a barnacle stuck to his back, are just along for the ride.

Unfortunately for you, Alysiuth likes flying in any weather – in /all/ weather. This is great, for the Weyr, but means you'll be spending a lot of your marks on wet-weather gear and warm woollies. What with his love of water, as well, I wouldn't plan on ever being really dry again, O'diah. Ever. Whereas Mrrth might like creating storms and chaos, Alysiuth loves being in them. He devours the elements for dinner: mud, water, wind, Alysiuth loves them all and will slip and slide through each in turn, whether he's on the ground or in the air. Fire is the exception: that's reserved for Thread.

As for mating flights —

Sailors have a propensity for a few simple pleasures: the sea, liquor, bawdy jokes, and women. Alysiuth can always be distracted by a particularly attractive green, and he'll mature quickly when it comes to an awareness of the pleasures of the flesh. Here, his wit will hold him in good stead, and he'll play the charmer, attempting to curry favor well before the flight's even been flown.

He's no less capable in flight itself, which he enjoys not just for the attempted goal, but for the exhilaration of the chase itself. It's a high-stakes game with him intent on winning, bringing out a competitive nature. All in all, he's one to be reckoned with when it comes to flights.

But the thrill is momentary, and afterwards, he'll lose interest as quickly as he gained it. The pleasure, after all, is in the chase, and once that's gone there's little else to keep him rooted to a particular green's side. He'll be wandering away shortly thereafter without a backwards glance. Few and far between are the females who can hold his attention.

Threadfall:
This fierce flier of yours will prove tremendous under pressure. And flying to meet Thread is what he's made for.

He's not all that keen on the taste of firestone, but he sure does love flaming things in flight, and is utterly fearless in the face of Danger.

"The ocean has always been a salve to my soul…the best thing for a cut or abrasion was to go swimming in salt water. Later down the road of life, I made the discovery that salt water was also good for the mental abrasions one inevitably acquires on land." -Jimmy Buffett

After a Fall, especially if either of you have taken a scoring, Alysiuth will want to drag you straight to the beach and into the sea. He'll love to just float those aches and the tiredness - not to mention the smell of firestone - away in the salt water, perhaps with a few shipfish tickling at his tummy as he does so. He'll insist that it's good for the pair of you, to just let those cares disappear on the waves. It may be that you'll prefer to snuggle up between his ridges while he lets the tide take him where it will, or you'll be down in the water beside him, but either way, this is the one relaxation method that he'll crave the most after any mental or physical exertion.

Physical…

Alysiuth's just on the small side of blue, normal, but very slim and sleek – fishy, all cartilage and silky smooth motion once he gets over his toddler phase.

Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of fish, mostly, but not exclusively, from the family Scombridae. They occur in all tropical and temperate seas… Common features of mackerels are a slim, cylindrical shape (as opposed to the tunas which are deeper bodied) and numerous finlets on the dorsal and ventral sides behind the dorsal and anal fins. The scales are extremely small, if present.

The rest of the time Alysiuth is that amazing silvery blue of a mackerel sky, lightly herringboned that goes more pebbly and rocky around his muzzle and legs. He's darker along the bottom than along the top, deep sea blue at his feet and belly but unless he rolls over and flashes the world his tummy, he looks much lighter: more tropical seas or the Mediterranean at dusk.

Mind Voice:
All the sounds of the sea, as varied as its moods - the lullaby lapping of waves against the shore or a good, firm hull, the crash of breakers, the playful slap of the surf, and squelch of wet sand and mud between your toes.

Mind Scent:
Alysiuth is forever changing, just as is the sea. He'll have a full accompaniment of oceanic scents to his mind voice, each to its own mood - though that doesn't necessarily mean that they're tied to any specific one. There's the tang of salty air on a summer's day, the tartness of seaweed, the dusty scent of sun-soaked sand… and probably a thousand and one things you won't even recognize until he physically drops you into the middle of them. Often, you'll catch a hint of tropical blossoms, as if blown in from a distant shore, teasingly dancing around the edges of the other scents.

Physical Voice:
There's three distinct voices that your Alysiuth utilizes. Most of the time, he'll sound quite like a ship's horn - a long, deep, drawn out note, which is bass in tone and fades to nothingness, rather than just stop sharply. That's the voice he'll display to pretty much everyone, in varying intensities depending upon the situation.

Then there's his, shall we say, amorous voice. It's a 'hello, ladies!'-attention grabber of a voice - imagine a blast of a fog horn. Repeatedly. Honk! Honk! HONK! He'll make short, sharp and increasingly loud roars as he gets more and more wound up… it'll start as the occasional little one as he begins to blood his kill, but as soon as that green takes to the air, he'll be sounding off like the starter of a race. Thankfully for the other dragons he won't do it all the way throughout the flight (that would be a bit too embarrassing, wouldn't it?) - or… will he? Maybe he'll get so carried away that he just can't help himself!

Finally, there's the voice that he reserves just for you. Imagine the mythical sound of Triton's horn, a warbling, watery sound that might be mistaken for cooing, if it weren't so loud. It's his 'I love you' voice, a sound that's like water gushing over silk, like the gentle trickling of water from rock pools, like the splash of a mermaid's tail against the foamy surf. Warm, comforting, and just for you.

Growth:
Some of his agility s innate, in his color, and some of it is Alysiuth's natural flair for motion, but it won't necessarily come easily. Oh, he'll certainly be one of the first dragonets to grow into his wings and hide, but he'll need to work hard to get into shape and then stay there. Once you explain to him that only through hard work and exercising all his parts, as a dragonet, can he fly as a dragon, Alysiuth won't mind all those drills and exercises: preparation, anticipation.

Eating Habits:
He will, of course, prefer fish and beg to visit the ocean to indulge. It'll take quite a lot for him to fill up, but playing in the water's half the fun anyway. And not just Fort Sea Hold, with the closest water access - he'll want to taste all the abundance Pern's waters have to offer. Everything from shellfish to shipfish - though you'll have to tell him eating the latter is not allowed. Even when a morsel may seem too small for a dragon to even taste, he'll insist upon trying it, which may mean that you'll have to sit for hours shelling oysters until he's had his fill.

When it comes to regular dragon food, such as is kept in the Weyr's pens, he'll be meticulous in what he chooses. Only the choicest specimens will tickle his fancy, and when he does strike them down, it'll be done with the ultimate panache. It's a thought-out, methodical process that only he seems capable of, and once he's got it figured out how to do the deed just right, he'll likely stick to it as far as he can. One thing's for sure, he's an incredibly clean - if not dainty - eater, as far as dragons go, and even the blood-lust brought on by a flight isn't going to change that.

Movement:
On land, Alysiuth rolls and sways, following the motion of an internal ocean. He's got the legs of a sailor on land, and so will always look like he's not quite in his element.

That element, of course, is the air. There, he plies the currents with the deftness of one who has not only learned his trade, but bears an innate knowledge.

"I don't know who named them swells. There's nothing swell about them. They should have named them awfuls." -Hugo Vihlen

Bonded so well to you, O'diah, Alysiuth has the disconcerting habit of being seasick whenever you ride anyone but him. This tends to make /you/ sea-sick, which isn't very pleasant for anyone else nor the dragon you are on at the time. Its not separation anxiety, not really, its just that Alysiuth wants to fly, when you fly, so sits in your head when you're on the other dragon and does back-seat flying just out of the range of consciousness. So you're always anticipating a turn that doesn't happen, the bank of the body, the shift of the wings. All the things that make you and Alysiuth such an incredible team in flight works against you when you're not riding /him/. We can hope this mellows with age.

Weyr Relationships:
Vsuviath and Alysiuth are fire and water, polar opposites who, nevertheless, unerringly attract. They are both, after all, in pursuit of fun and adventure, though their particular methods may be different. They'll become bosom-buddies, great friends and mischief-makers.

T'jano's Mrrth will fascinate Alysiuth at times, being the Calypso to his Odysseus. Fascinate and, at other times, repulse. The two dynamics may be simultaneous or may occur according to his particular mood. She's one of the few greens who keeps him constantly guessing, which in turn stimulates his interest.

Jianth also captures his attention, as she's another fully unpredictable green. She perhaps has less of the siren about her, but she's something to be reckoned with, and Alysiuth will certainly respect that.

Finally, Hestiath. Hestiath, ultimately, represents home.

Inspirations… (any themes used, what inspired creators)
Egg Inspiration:

Name Inspiration:
We're delighted you liked the name Alysiuth. He's got roots in the Native American word Alysium, which means "brightness", and the historical idea of Elysium which has, in its time, meant both Heaven and Hell. It is a land of perpetual spring and shady groves, with its own sun and lit by its own stars: solemque suum, sua sidera norunt.

I also love the way it reads, and that it also means "a place or person struck by lightning", which so suits your storm-struck dragon.

In Greek mythology, Elysium was the section of the Underworld where the souls of the heroic and virtuous came to rest. And back in Egyptian times, it was a paradisaical land of plenty where the dead hoped to spend eternity. In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Elysian Undying Lands, the home of the gods, elves, and a select few others, can only be reached by crossing the western sea.

Elysium is also referenced in the Schiller poem which inspired Beethoven's Ode to Joy (9th symphony, 4th movement) : Freude, schöner Götterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium, wir betreten feuertrunken, Himmlische, dein Heiligtum! Deine Zauber binden wieder, was die Mode streng geteilt: alle Menschen werden Brüder, wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt.

Joy, beautiful spark of the gods, Son of Elysium, Touched with fire, to the portal, Of thy radiant shrine, we come. Your sweet magic frees all others, Held in Custom's rigid rings. All men on earth become brothers, In the haven of your wings.

How cool is that? And finally, Elysium is the name given to a volcanic region of Mars and one of its volcanoes. This is worth mentioning, as it ties Alysiuth to Izara's volcanic Vsuviath. Twinned, those too dragons, if not by ichor then by their shared delight in a rollickin' good time.

Dragon Inspiration:
The mackerel sea, from Nomi.

Odysseus, from Eleni.

Clutchmates:
Imogen and gold Hestiath
Iona and gold Orlaith
Izara and brown Vsuviath
Kyana and green Jianth
Taini and gold Birgith
T'jano and green Mrrth
Thera(Esther) and brown Hadamarth
W'ren and bronze Gnaedath

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