Post by Desert on Aug 21, 2009 10:40:45 GMT -5
Weyr: Fyr Amenti
Dragon Name: Skolth
Dragon Color: cephalo
Age: 13
Personality:
Fairly typical of cephalo, the unbonded in particular, Skolth has more attitude in his smallest toe than many dragons or hybrids several times his size have in their entire bodies. He could easily be compared to a terrier in that respect; he also shares a few other traits with the small canines, including stubborn tenacity.
Once Skolth has set his mind to something, it is very difficult to persuade him otherwise. This leads him to be rather pig-headed, and in some ways close-minded, but that isn't to say he is immovable. Unlike some of his fellow cephalo, Skolth knows when enough is enough; perhaps from his long association with Xeal. And when he changes his mind, the process is just as final; there seems to be no hesitant transition period, rather he adjusts his view on the subject with a firm snap and everything falls into place.
One thing is certain: this scrappy little hybrid isn't one to dither over anything. He'll walk the walk as well as he talks the talk -- and Skolth has a notoriously loose, sharp tongue -- and isn't averse to wading into a fight. He actually enjoys getting into a good scrap every now and then, and his favorite activity is when Xeal feels inclined to playfight, because the bigger hybrid usually makes a point to coach him in some basic techniques.
Touchy-feely is certain one thing Skolth is not. He presents a tough-guy attitude to the world at large, and wouldn't be caught dead showing anything approaching affection. Of his big brother Xealnaveth, he is possessive, and of Ayeda merely tolerant. In reality he does enjoy the company of both duvalia and rider, and the pair have grown accustomed enough to his ways to see that, but to most onlookers all they see is a riderless cephlo doing what many of them do and staying wordlessly in his benefactor's shadow.
Appearance:
At roughly thirty meters tip to tail, Skolth is a fairly large example of his color, the equal of some kipepo. His build is more stereotypical, though: blue-like in proportions, stocky, with wings made for endurance rather than speed or agility. His tail is unusually heavy and thick in proportion to his body size, though not especially long [for a cephalo], making it quite intimidating when he slings it around in agitation.
Skolth -- slightly unusually for cephalo -- has elongated fangs: in his case, only the lower canines are affected, jutting up a good hand-length above his lip.
In color, Skolth is a vivid hue caught between scarlet and bloodred; more intense than is usual for cephalo and hybrids in general, whose hides tend to have more muted tones. Skolth's coloration has been the inspiration for one or two pieces of Ayeda's wardrobe; he isn't sure whether to be flattered that she likes his hide color or to be a bit weirded out. On his points -- muzzle, headknobs, paws, and wingspokes -- the color deepens subtly as the distance from his body increases, so that the tips of his toes, wingspokes, headknobs and muzzle are noticeably darker than the base color.
His segmented tail's armor-like shell is, as with any cephalo or duvalia, a dull black color with an undertone of deep purple; in Skolth's case, it looks closer to magenta than true violet.
[[since he's a complete character in and of himself, having needed no rider to begin with,
i'll put this in, but it'll be brief]]
History:
Skolth's Hatching was fairly cut-and-dry. Once he emerged from the egg, the hatchling took his sweet time grooming the worst of the amniotic fluid from himself and then giving the candidates a casual look-over. He ambled leisurely in an aimless fashion through the female candidates, though finding none. He was skimming through the male candidates in the same manner, but another, slightly bigger cephalo who had just claimed one of the candidates took a dislike to his trajectory, which brought him close to the newly Impressed boy. The bigger cephalo promptly gave Skolth a slap broadside with her tail that sent him staggering to one side.
Skolth wasn't going to have any of that. He raked his drillspike over the ground with a swooping swing of his tail, which sprayed hot sand over the bigger cephalo and her rider's legs. The lad yelped in pain and danced away from Skolth, eliciting an indignant hiss from the other cephalo; she wrapped her tail around his ankle and ushered the boy away, all the time shooting venomous glares over her shoulder at him.
Skolth's search for a bonded had been haphazard up until that point, but the unwarranted altercation with the other hatchling apparently soured his desire to linger among the candidates, so Skolth wormed his way back through the group and onto the open sand. If a candidate had reached out to him, caught his attention, perhaps he would have chosen one of them -- the line defining forced Impression was slightly blurry with hybrids -- but since no one felt inclined to try their luck with the now irritated cephalo, he remained independent.
Once the Hatching cavern had cleared of candidates and onlookers, Skolth and the handful of other unbonded hybrids scattered. Roughly half disappeared into the recesses of the Weyr's network of caves, and Skolth trailed after the remainder toward the populated sector. Once in the Bowl cavern the more-or-less group dispersed again, and Skolth was left to his own devices.
There, across the Bowl, was a young adult duvalia sprawled in the sun. Mostly. The bigger hybrid had his head in a pool of shadow thrown by the lip of the cave entrance, while the rest of his body was bathed in the rosy light of dawn -- for as if in deference to their wher blood, most hybrid clutches hatch at night or close to that time. Skolth promptly made his way across the Bowl; in the process, he discovered that newborn hybrids are especially sensitive to light, and snapped his eyes shut with a squeal of protest. Guided only by his heat sensors he made for the first blob of warmth that caught his attention, and that blob happened to be Xeal.
Skolth hid himself in Xealnaveth's shadow, away from the too-bright morning sun. Bright, too bright. You had a good idea, big brother,
Xealnaveth looked down at Skolth as if the hatchling was something he'd like to scrape off the bottom of his paw. This didn't perturb Skolth, who remained where he was, ignoring the fact that the duvalia could easily swallow him whole.
Ayeda walked up, smiling, and looked the hatchling up and down wryly. Skolth stared back, daring her to make him move. He had no compunctions about doing some damage to prove his point, even with the risk of alienating his as-yet unwilling benefactor. Ayeda walked off without a word. Skolth took that as grudging permission for him to remain; it was to his surprise, and Xeal's, when Ayeda returned with a platter of scraps borrowed from the new weyrling class in hand. She set the platter down next to Skolth, and in an act of daring, let her hand come to rest for a moment on the young cephalo's head. "Sometime you'll have to tell me your name, little one, if you're going to be hanging around," she said.
Other:
Mindspeech: E3170D
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