Hi Risya, and congratulations on your first dragon on a MOO! We chose a theme and tried to fit it to your specifications, and the end result was Sonhoth. We hope you like him, and hope this inspiration gives you lots to play as the two of you continue to be little rays of sunshine in your Weyrling class and beyond!


Risya's Always Look Both Ways Brown Sonhoth

Guardian of the Tomb Egg

An inky black resin coats this long slim egg all around, almost completely covering it in that dark sleek color. A word to describe it would be elegance, if a dragon's egg can be called such. Its smooth surface is marred only by rich golden marks, two in sharp vertical points at the top and a long horizontal bar lower that streaks off in a flowing scarf. Between the two are thin golden lines that almost appear to outline steady eyes. Sunken into the Istan hatching ground sands is the rounded burnished gold bottom, just barely visible.

Clutching Message

Lendai finds a nice spot, close to the side of the sands to watch her dragon do her thing. A gleeful squeal erupts forth from the goldrider as the first egg hits the sand. "Oh, oh, oh! It's a /Talicanitath baby/!" A look goes to the bronze quickly. "Well, a Tali and Azmaioth baby! Good all the same." And for once, Lendai is all smiles! Even the gold seems to suddenly be happier with the first egg out, throwing a happier sounding rumble Azmaioth's way. But, oh! Wait! No time for being any nicer. Cause another egg is starting it's decent. All hail Guardian of the Tomb Egg!


Hatching Message

Guardian of the Tomb Egg shifts slightly in its nest of sand. Having finally found the ideal position, deliberate cracks form on its surface, growing broader with each hit from within, until the shell is broken into three major pieces. With a stretch of his wings and a flick of his tail, the brown inside pushes the remains of his eggs away, and swings his head back and forth as he takes in the full expanse of the hatching cavern.

Always Look Both Ways Brown Dragonet

Tawny hide plays across a stalwart frame grounded by long legs and wide feet. A fine-boned head, with a short, narrow snout overburdened by large and high-placed head knobs, sits at the end of a long and graceful neck. Auburn incantations murmur over pale brown, accentuating the sinews of his limbs and flanks, and fletching narrow but sturdy hips. Halfway up his torso a lateral streak of sable divides the auburn from a darker sorrel, which scatters from the back of his neck to tailhead, camouflaging flattened ridges and concisely-rounded wings with flecks of lighter dun. A long muscular tail, shaded to a shadowed circumference, is held low and balance-ready. He is slim but strong, of a greater stature than many browns, and keen to walk on the ends of his toes where his best virtue is to be nimble.


Impression Message

Always Look Both Ways Brown Dragonet's head slowly subsides from its swinging, held steady as his gaze finally settles upon one candidate with a narrow face and curly, chestnut hair. Graceful and decisive, the brown dragonet moves forward at a steady pace, gaining speed and resolve with each step. Momentum is no hindrance to a smart stop in front of Risya, where he gazes up into her eyes with a gentle creel.


Personal Impression Message

The reverberation of distance bells are felt in the back of your mind, heralding the scent of dried flowers accented with pockets of jasmine as a cool and polished presence presses at your consciousness. « Risya. » The words float on liquid obsidian, curling gently around you, warm and comforting. « Isn't it strange, » a smooth voice muses, « how everything is confused and chaos here, when finding each other is really so easy? » Sparks of silver and bronze light the fluid darkness of his voice, giving way to a gold-hued image of a human hand and dragon's talons together lifting the same glowing stone. « My name is Sonhoth. »


~*~ Inspirations ~*~


Name

You said that, more likely than not, Risya would call her dragon 'Sweetie', no matter what his name would be. Well, being totally lame, we figured we would use that in the name inspiration, and went digging for all forms of the word 'sweet' and sweet things in foreign languages. The result: Sonhoth. 'Sonhos', literally meaning 'dreams' in Portuguese, are a fried dough dessert coated in sugar. (Sort of like a donut.) We hope you like this sweet (hah) short name, which we found easy both to type, and to say. And if you're interested, you can find a recipe for sonhos here: http://www.leitesculinaria.com/recipes/port/sonhos.html


Egg

This egg is based off of the famous Anubis statue that was found in King Tutankhamun' s tomb. The black jackal statue is the god of mummification. He was not the guardian of the tomb, but I thought the reclining figure appeared so and the name still fit it.


Description

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Black_Backed_Jackal_Masaai_Mara_April_2008.JPG

As Anubis is known as the jackal-headed god, I used this above picture as a reference. I stuck as close to the colors as possible and tried to also stay true to the physical form of a jackal: slender, long-legged, with strong feet and a small head. Don't forget the big ears :) You wanted a dragon with "balance and grace" and a jackal fit the bill pretty well I think.


Mindvoice

In keeping with the Anubis theme, we've based Sonhoth's mind voice on the sounds and smells brought to mind by the statue of the Egyptian god Anubis. Like the statue which inspired his egg, Sonhoth's very mental presence will be polished and cold, like chiselled stone; his voice will be smooth and comforting, the soothing feeling of sun-warmed polished rock against your skin. Rather than leave you chilled, Sonhoth's mind voice will leave you feeling as though you've stepped from an icy desert night into a warm and welcoming room.

A gentleman, his words are always polite and chosen with the utmost delicacy. Even in the midst of anger, sadness, or overwhelming joy, he will never lose his controlled tones - though, with time, you'll begin to recognise the slight alterations and nuances that give away his true emotions. Like Anubis, Sonhoth will have a commanding mental presence that isn't simply marked by his words, but is denoted through each and every sensory facet of his mental communication. This seriousness will be a sharp contrast to his usual outward behaviour, and only you and those he holds close will often be shown this deeper aspect of his personality.

He will engage your senses in a manner unlike anything you've ever experienced, mixing words with sounds, colours and scents in a barrage that will envelop you entirely. At first it may seem like a lot, but within a couple days together you'll be quite at ease with his unique form of communication.

Imagery is Sonhoth's gift, and he knows exactly how to paint the most beautiful pictures in your mind, delicately constructed in much the same fashion an artist would tend to their canvas. He will pepper his words with images as simple as a flower to as intricate and detailed as a complete landscape. Sonhoth will take artistic lease as well, painting his pictures in shades and tones that often reflect his feelings toward the topic at hand, or emphasising different parts of the same scene to you in repeated visual echoes. The objects he desires, the people he loves and the things he feels most passionately about will primarily be swathed in a golden tinge, whilst things he dislikes will be mentally painted and shown to you as drab, dull and lifeless.

The visual base of Sonhoth's mind voice is liquefied obsidian; unfathomable depths of swirling darkness will draw you in complete and wholly. His mind voice may seem devoid of light at times, but flashes of silver, bronze and gold metallic sparks will be waiting to appear, most obviously present when Sonhoth is communicating with you on a deeper, personal level. These flecks of brilliance are almost exclusively reserved for you, Risya. The only others he may share them with will be the dragons he is closest to, possibly only to a chosen mate.

Sonhoth's presence will always be with you from the day you impress. However, when he reaches out to you specifically, the thoughts he sends will be preceded by the faintest tolling of bells. At first, Risya, you might think it comes from some external point of origin - but soon you will learn that the sweet, distant echoes are the precursor to Sonhoth calling for you.

Finally, the scents conjured by Sonhoth will be the aromas of dried flowers and burning candles. Depending on his moods and emotions, the smell of the dried flowers will intensify, and even sometimes, in a heightened state, turn to the scent of fresh jasmine. This is indeed a rare occasion, and will be reserved only for important and life-changing events. The candle scent is unusual in itself, as it bears not the aroma of a deliberately scented candle, but rather the simpler smells of cooling wax and the whimsical odor of the flame itself.


Physicalities

Sonhoth is a brown dream. He’ll be perfection from the time he comes out of that egg until he’s full grown. Everything this dragon does will be so full of grace, most onlookers will be amazed not only at his strength and power, but at how agile he is, despite his size. Even just walking will make him look like he’s floating on a cloud. This will translate into flying as well. His wings are not long, though it seems as if that extra form went into the width of them to make turns that much more rapid.

What makes his grace so unbelievable is his sheer size. Sonhoth is very large for a brown and made up of sheer muscle, making him look more like a small bronze. Expect people to be asking you exactly what color your dragon is, and then expect their amazement afterwards. However, don’t think that your dragon is just one huge lump of muscle. Oh no. While, yes, he is very fit and muscular, he’s not bulky. Your brown will be more like a soccer player or a dancer versus a football player or body builder. His muscles are well defined rather than just large, and he has flexibility to go along with the strength.

Beyond simply moving gracefully, Sonhoth is always aware of his surroundings, and knows exactly where he is, physically, in any situation. He has amazing dexterity in both his forelegs and his hindlegs, and can use his tail as a sort of fifth limb whenever he feels it necessary or beneficial. This will have many uses to you and him both, Risya, but only you can decided how both of you will use this to your advantages.

One thing that you will surely notice about your dragon is the fact that his head is constantly in motion. Sonhoth does not like to miss anything in his surroundings. With him, not one single angle of a situation will be missed. He’ll be able to tell you where everything is in relationship to him. This enables his graceful movements, especially while flying. He’ll also point out sights to you that you would have just overlooked. Or maybe he’ll notice dust in your weyr that you thought you got. He’ll always provide a very visual picture of people and places in your head due to this fact, and he’ll probably ask that you start to do the same for him.


Personality

Your Sonhoth is a dragon of contrasts. His serious inner voice will highlight absurdities and make light even of the most grave situations; his grace and awareness of his physical presence will be used to convey an amicable and teasing personality. Though based on a god who is both patron to embalmers and guardian of the underworld, his perspective will almost always be one which celebrates the colour and diversity of life. Though he may at first seem a contradiction, you'll find that the differences in him all come back to one major consistency: an ability to see all sides - to always look both ways as he moves through life.

Sonhoth is, above all, extremely observant - and this can lead to some behaviours which seem strange or obsessive. Take his fascination with the proportions of young creatures. Babies whose heads are too big for their bodies, little runners and herdbeasts whose legs seem too skinny or long to be of any use to them, puppies whose feet look so very big in comparison to the rest of them - almost all creatures are strangely proportioned when they're very young, and so all very young creatures will be an irresistible draw for him. Sonhoth will want to be right up close with these adorable little things, preferably in physical contact with them, so that he can encourage them and care for them and get to know them as thoroughly as possible. For example, should a kitten with huge ears ever let him get close enough, he'll probably want to send you off to get it something it needs while he stays and watches it.

« It likes milk? » Sparkles of silver illuminate the fluid obsidian of his mind. « Then we must get it milk. … I will stay here. »

This obsession with proportionality will be a part of his personality right from the start (perhaps because he himself will never truly have over-stated baby proportions). And this means that for about the first OOC week or two of Weyrlinghood, Sonhoth is going to be completely and utterly enamoured with Jeyth, whose calf-like knobby knees and wobbly legs will be the most intriguing thing he'll ever see - every day. He'll want to be near her at all times, chatting with her, and probably nosing her affectionately quite regularly.

But, like with all little creatures, once Jeyth begins to lose those baby proportions, growing into herself and putting on muscle, Sonhoth will lose all that fascination. He'll probably still like her all right, but it will no longer be a matter of him charging out of his couch every time she exits hers, like he used to do when she was really little.

Sonhoth is a dragon of the night, nocturnal like the jackal (which inspired his description, and some aspects of his personality). It will be up to you to wake him and get him going in the morning, if you want to be in time for lessons. It's not that he'll be grumpy (Sonhoth is far too easy-going for that), he simply prefers for his waking hours to be in the afternoon and evening. And it's after sundown that he'll be at his most animated.

Another peculiar behaviour you'll see in your dragon is a tendency to scavenge. Again, the fault of his capacity for acute observation. He'll notice everything around him, and will always want to test whether something is edible. (And keep in mind that 'edible', to Sonhoth, doesn't necessarily mean that it's food; it means only that he can eat it without getting sick.) Trust him to be sampling foliage on the tree in the basin, tufts of grass in the bowl, the mud pies that one of the weyrbrats has made on the beach… And once he's old enough to hunt, he'll prefer first to finish off any dragon's leftovers. Which will be a bit of a shame, because, with his fluidity of movement and ability to read situations, Sonhoth will be an absolutely beautiful hunter.

« Of course I would be willing to hunt, Risya. But why should I do so now, when Stilith has left so much meat on the bones of her last kill? »

Finally, representative of Anubis' role in the preservation of the dead, Sonhoth will have an instinct to keep memories and moments alive by acquiring and 'preserving' souvenirs. He's not the first dragon, and surely won't be the last, who will like to collect various objects. What is truly unique will be his insistence that you wrap up these mementos in strips of linen (though you might be able to convince him, for some more regularly-used objects, that a nicely knitted cozy would be better), to keep protect the moments he wishes to remember frozen, even as the objects themselves must continue to be submitted to the the ongoing trek of time. And don't think you'll be able to enlist help in this task, even if the thing in question is a big one: Sonhoth will protest steadily (though of course he would never think to yell or be harsh with you).

The vibrations of Sonhoth's distant bells penetrate the back of your mind. « No, Risya. Not Kriane. This is our rock. It has to be between us. »

Sonhoth is easy to please, and will take great pleasure in the simplest parts of your daily routine. His favourite moment of bathing will be when he emerges, dripping, from the water and is hit by that first cool breeze. He'll love the intricacies of different flavours, part of why he'll never really outgrow that scavenging tendency. Oh, the joy he'll feel when he first gets to try a rotting fish found on the beach! And how he'll love tracking the phases of the moon, probably bringing you up to the star stones quite regularly, and filling your mind with vivid paintings of tonight's moon in comparison to last night's, and the one before that (though these comparisons will remain within the scope of draconic memory, unless you offer up some of your longer-term memories for his benefit).

Another aspect of why he's so easy to please is his broad sense of humour. Sonhoth loves physical pranks and slapstick comedy. His second-favourite moment in bathing will be wandering over to some innocent bystander, and shaking water from his wings and body (dog-like) all over them. He will, of course, feel absolutely horrible if the humour of it isn't appreciated by said innocent bystander, and will do his best to make them smile some other way. There will surely be those who take his attempts at friendship badly, and that's where you come in as his interpreter. He'll also think it's incredibly funny when someone trips and falls into things, provided he knows they're not hurt, and may even try to emulate the fall, mimicking their movements to the slightest detail (because, of course, he's too graceful and dexterous to trip up accidentally).

His sense of humour, of course, isn't limited to physical comedy. Sonhoth is very intelligent, and though he may sometimes appear to be playing the role of a big, dumb brown, he's more than capable of catching themes and nuances of the situations in which you will both find yourselves. He'll love pointing out coincidence and absurdities. Things to not quite fit in their context will both amuse and intrigue him. The two-turn-old who can speak full sentences amidst the broken language of all the other weyrbrats her age will capture his attention immediately. The full-grown herdbeast who runs rather than ambling through the corral will delight him to the point that he'll try to protect it from being eaten by other dragons.

The strange behaviours of other beings will also delight him. The little boy who tries to be absolutely subtle when approaching Sonhoth in the bowl, barely able to contain his excitement at the fact that he's 'sneaking up' on a big brown dragon, will not only thrill him, but will of course entice him to join in the game, for once stilling his every-moving head and looking pointedly away from the kid.

And then there's the coincidental order of the universe. The man and the puppy who sit down on the beach and heave a sigh simultaneously will have him replaying the scene over and over to you, painting it out for you again and again with different portions of it emphasised at each go: the firelizard who happened to circle around overhead as if highlighting the man and dog from above, the symmetry of the wave that pushed up toward them on the beach, drawing them together more than splitting them apart, the way the man's hair and the pup's fur were ruffled by the breeze in the same way… And all this observation won't only be limited to things he sees. He'll notice things from your visuals as well, and will be all the more excited when something he sees in the bowl and something you see in the living caverns are somehow related.

Sonhoth will pick out ongoing themes in the things he observes; for him, all things are somehow connected. Much as Anubis represents the connections between life and the afterlife in Egyptian religion, as the god who helps prepare people for this journey, Sonhoth will find continuity and meaning everywhere - and these insights will be reserved for you and you alone. He will highlight theories of cause and effect - some of which are obvious, others, highly symbolic and intertextual - and will stress a sense of karmic balance in the world. But, being a dragon, he will have to rely on your memory to be able to group various instances of these ever-present themes. Together, you and Sonhoth will be able to shed a whole new light on the things you experience, and bring a deeper meaning to your shared life.

Finally, Sonhoth will always have the deepest loyalty to you. He may pick out a few others, human or dragon, to hold as close companions (though none above you, of course), but his true inner circle will always be a small one. Though he is thoroughly friendly, this dragon-dog of yours will always know his true pack. After romping and playing with anything that moves, he will always turn to you with the deepest affection. It's a difference of inner peace and contentment, really: the deeper, more spiritual and intellectual depths of Sonhoth are for you. It's with you that he feels quiet and restful and it's you he trusts above anyone else - and that, like Sonhoth himself, is no small gift.


Flights

Sonhoth will never get totally into the chasing aspect of flights. He'll be wanting to catch, yes, but more importantly he'll be noticing the odd behaviours of all those other lusty males, laughing at the interplay of the tactics of both the wily green and strategic blue, enjoying the attempts of each dragon to outsmart or outdo the others, and generally providing a running commentary to you as if he were sitting on his ledge and watching, rather than actually participating. This means that, at least during the chase period, you'll be one of the less influenced riders waiting it out in the ground weyrs. Provided Sonhoth gives you a break in his play-by-plays, you should be able to partake in relatively rational conversation, and shouldn't get too terribly nervous or twitterpated - or if you do, it won't be the result of Sonhoth's influence.

Because he'll be so intrigued by the airborne dance, Sonhoth will try to hang toward the middle or the back of the pack for the majority of the pursuit. Being big, strong, and agile like he is, it will always be his way to wait it out, and then use his physical prowess to burst forward at the end in an always-exciting and valiant attempt to capture the female.

And when he does manage to catch, you can kiss that casual and aloof attitude goodbye. The intensity of it will be jarring, with so sudden a switch. His attempts at catching will always occur too quickly to allow you any time to adjust or prepare for the potency of success. After he's caught a few times, you might get a little more accustomed to it, but you can bet you'll be utterly disoriented by his first couple successes. Yup, it could be pretty awkward in the aftermath.

Sonhoth is a really big brown, and when he does catch a gold and father a clutch, it will be up to you to keep him focused on his duties as clutch-daddy. Because he is so observant, he might become a bit obsessed with the little nuances of life on the sands with a brooding queen. He might forget that he's supposed to help the gold with hunting and the like, and spend his day, rather, waiting to see her turn the eggs - especially if she has a peculiar pattern to it. This means that he'll find the placement of the eggs during the clutching absolutely fascinating. Again, if the queen wants his assistance in any preparation of the sands, you'll have to make sure he keeps the task in mind.

When his babies first hatch, true to form, he'll be completely thrilled with them, and their too-big wings, or stubby little tails, or anything out-of-proportion. Sonhoth will hover around the northeastern bowl and the barracks even if the pair of you aren't involved in the weyrling program, watching his little ones grow, and sharing his pride in his cute little offspring with any who will hear it. Once the little dragons reach that certain stage where they're growing into themselves, though, all this intense interest will be lost. He might stop on occasion to watch the weyrlings practicing their formations, or to examine any particularly strange styles of movement - but it will just be the result of his natural curiosity. One day, Sonhoth will simply go from proud papa to casual observer. The switch will be almost instantaneous, and if there are any hurt feelings caused by the sudden change in the degree of attention, it'll once again be up to you to explain.

As far as mating habits go, that we can leave up to you. Because of his detached and observant nature, it's entirely possible that Sonhoth won't have any set list of whom he flies, and will simply go up after a proddy gold or green whenever the mood strikes. That said, he is certainly capable of deeper connections with the select few, and it's more than in character for him to find that one special green or gold whom he will want to fly every time she goes up - and maybe even exclusively.


Credits

Name: D'baji
Egg Desc: Thyia; D'baji tweak
Dragonet Desc: B'ane; D'baji tweak, Sin tweak
Messages: D'baji
Inspiration: D'baji, Lzi, B'ane, Minka

Risya's brown Sonhoth
Harper's Tale: 51st PC Clutch
Ista Weyr
August 3, 2008
from Lendai's gold Talicanitath and R'yn's bronze Azmaioth
(clutchmates also from Minka's gold Ryazusith and D'baji's bronze Nverath)

Clutchmates:
Pippa's gold Jeyth
M'yr's blue Gelirumeth
Jana's green Stilith
Kriane's green Ikkasanaith