“All facts are useful; it’s just the context that shifts.”
~ Vincent Nigel-Murray
Katrya! You didn’t think we were going to leave you and all of those fascinating facts of yours just sitting on the Sands, did you? No no no! You and this brown belong together and the more we worked on him the more obvious that became!
You asked for a dragon based on Ryan Cartwright's Vincent Nigel-Murray a.k.a. Mr. Nigel-Murray from the TV show Bones, and we delivered to the best of our abilities, with a little of Stephen Fry’s Gordon Gordon mixed in! We also couldn't resist adding just a dash of one of Ryan Cartwright's other characters, Gary Bell, from the short-lived TV show Alphas. We hope you love him as much as we loved writing him. (Because any excuse to re-watch Bones is a good excuse, right?)
Name Inspiration
Vee-noh-dehs-troth. Four syllables is a bit long but it’s so much fun to say, and there are so many ways to shorten it! Vino, Des, ok maybe not as many as we thought, but there are ways!
His name was super fun to come up with because we came at it from several different angles, looking up words in different languages for things like intelligent, wise, twin, clever, and skillful, and then looking for references to Mr. Nigel-Murray as well.
What we ended up with was a mix of one of Vincent’s nicknames (Vino Delectable) and the Spanish word diestro, which means skilled, dextrous or clever - all things that sum up both Vinodestroth and Mr. Nigel-Murray quite nicely!
Clutching Pose
That's something Zymuraith will likely fully support once she's not so focused on just getting this done! It is almost done, right? The young queen determinedly keeps on with the circle, eminently grateful for Ravaith's help all along the way. How many more? Surely not too many; she's already looking a good deal smaller - to Amani, anyway. - from A Clutch of Contrasts
Find A Penny Pick It Up Egg
Burnished copper slides over ovoid curves, glinting in some places, dull in others, deep shadows belie impressions of engravings near worn from it's reddish brown surface. Tarnished rust and patches of matte midnight black splotch over the surface as if it were long worn by time and much handling. As if used as a lucky token or worry stone, some of it's veneer is worn smooth, some rough and near porous.
Egg Inspiration
"Find a penny, pick it up, and all day long you'll have good luck!" - Willimina
Touching Response
Unlike it's brethren, this egg is something other, something different. Contact brings on the feel and smell of heated metal, the taste of copper fills thick the air and it's warmth is comforting, or tries to be. Can you pick it up and put it in your pocket? No? Shame. It wants to be there, to bring you luck. Perhaps today is not the day. With a hug-like feeling, it releases you. Maybe next time. Luck till then.
Hatching Message
Find a Penny Pick It Up Egg gives a violent shake, a hop, and a violent jump before it shatters into a million pieces. Shards of shell go flying in every direction and it leaves The Truth In The Myth Brown Dragonet on the Sands, goo and sand clinging to his hide. Shaking his head, he stumbles up onto all fours and ambles forth in search of his other half.
The Truth in the Myth Brown Dragonet
Though drenched in all manner of delectable shades from mocha to caramel to the hickory whorled over his tail, it is klah brown that dominates this brown's build with a pervasive and redoubtable tenacity. The shadow of tarnished copper glints smooth and subtle over svelte musculature all wrought in shifting shades like the play of sunlight and autumn foliage over aged wood. Curved, bleached neckridges illuminate the dark hills of his spine, starkly contrasting the dark currant ripples of wine-soaked sails and the wispy, sunlit spars of his wings. Spitfire eyes are nestled like embers beneath the shadow of deep, black eye ridges in a thin and intelligent face, as sharp and shrewd as the hematite talons that tip dexterous paws.
Public Impression Pose
The Truth In The Myth Brown Dragonet noses through the white knots on the sands. He sniffs at a short brunette boy. Nope. Not here. Stumbling, he raises his head and gazes over what heads he can. It takes a moment, but he finds her, his twin, his other half, the very light of his soul! Rushing up excitedly he nearly bowls the girl over, coming face to face with none other than the bubbly-natured Katryana!
Private Impression Message
The dark, normally quiet corridors of your mind are invaded by the sounds of soft static and indistinguishable chatter. Lines of different colors and patterns begin to trace their way through the void. One expands in the middle, creating a port window like screen through which a distinctly child-like cultured (read: Fortian) accent speaks. « Did you know that nearly ninety-nine percent of dragonets hatch starving? I'm Vinodestroth by the way, and you, you're Katrya. That's better isn't it? Now, about that starvation thing…can we take care of that? »
Description Inspiration
Vinodestroth's desc was inspired by a variety of things, the wine Mr. Nigel-Murray too often indulged in, the mocha, caramel, and hickory-flavored coffees that Z'bor has ordered from England (noth Mr. Nigel Murray and his actor's home country), wine country in the fall, and copper, in tribute to his egg and your grandmother's dragon. Thankfully all those ideas melded into a wonderfully beautiful set of imagery.
Theme Inspiration
“Facts are the stitches that hold the fabric of existence together.”
~ Vincent Nigel-Murray
Well, it was easy coming up with the theme inspiration for Vino with you sending in to us that Mr. Nigel-Murray must be the one! And who could blame you? It’s easy to see that you, Katrya, and Mr. Nigel-Murray have a lot in common. And to be quite frankly honest, some of us were so excited to write this dragon. (Who doesn’t love Bones?) He practically wrote himself.
Which leads us to the second part of his theme, the thing that ties him to the clutch theme, his Zodiac sign. It’s just too blatantly obvious which of the Zodiacs we had to give your Vinodestroth. He’s a Gemini through and through. What with Mr. Nigel-Murray's references to twins, and the fact that his character was born in 1990, it was just too perfect.
1990, by the way, is the year of the Horse in the Chinese Zodiac and is that Zodiac’s equivalent to Gemini.
Dragon Song
“The word “Abracadabra” was first uttered to cure hay fever.”
~ Vincent Nigel-Murray
The Lime In The Coconut
This particular song holds hefty weight for both the character Mr. Nigel-Murray, and for the show Bones in general. It’s mentioned more than once and is something the characters bond over. It’s also used as the send off song for Vincent himself. It seemed only right and perfect that this be Vino’s theme song, too.
Vinodestroth’s Zodiac Sign and Personality
Gemini
Symbol: Twins Element: Earth/Ground
Polarity: Positive Quality: Mutable
Ruling Planet: Mercury Ruling House: Third
Spirit Color: Yellow Lucky Gem: Tiger's Eye & Emerald
Flower:Lavender & Lily of the Valley
Top Matches: Aries & Leo
Key Traits: Curious, affectionate, kind
“Twins die in average of 10 years apart even when they are genetically identical.”
“Over the last 500 years 600 Siamese twins were born, 70% of them were females.”
~ Vincent Nigel-Murray
Gemini Motto: "I manifest my reality."
Well, considering all of the quirky idiosyncrasies and habits Mr. Nigel-Murray has, and that his character was born in 1990 (The Year of the Horse and Gemini’s equivalent), it made sense to pick Gemini for Vinodestroth. Gemini is represented by twins, and Mr. Nigel-Murray’s factoids about twins aside, Vinodestroth is your twin in every way we could make him.
Smart, passionate, and dynamic, Gemini is characterized by the Twins and is the chameleon of the Zodiac, adept at blending into different groups based on the vibe and energy they perceive, most of the time. While they're also amazing at showcasing surface traits, the Gemini well runs deep, which is why the Twins are one of the Zodiac's most emotionally intelligent signs.
This applies to Vinodestroth too. He will be smart, passionate, and able to adapt to many a situation, as long as he's allowed to be himself while doing it. And Vino himself is a quirky kind of guy. He's apt to blurt out trivial facts under stress (and whenever he feels like it, but particularly then), because it helps him focus.
« Did you know that the average bubbly pie has eight insect legs in it? »
These little factoids are likely things he pulls from your vast well of knowledge as an apprentice Healer, Katrya, but who knows? He may figure a thing or two out on his own, surprising you before forgetting it a few days later. But you will always rememberm Katrya. He also likes to hear trivial facts, adding forever to that shared well of knowledge.
« It was once believed that holding wine in the mouth while breathing through the nose could prevent a plague. »
Highly intelligent, Geminis are adept at seeing a 360-degree picture of a situation almost instantaneously, but sometimes they can become indecisive when making the next move.
This, too, is true of your Vinodestroth, to the point of being obsessive compulsive about it. This obsessiveness will translate into wanting to be prepared for everything. Oh, and everything must be neat and tidy and organized so that he might be able to find what he needs, when he needs it. Just like all those organized little facts he likes to pick from your brain.
While intellectual, enthusiastic, witty and versatile, like most Geminis, Vino is also sometimes indecisive, distractible, and anxious. Unfortunately, while he is good at socialising, it comes with a fair amount of social anxiety, too, and there will be times that Vino needs calm and quiet and to withdraw from the busy day to day of the Weyr and it's people. Though most of the time you won’t have to worry; his bubbly and energetic personality will be quite infectious to those around him.
Geminis are an air sign and in a constant state of flux.
Equipped with almost uncanny emotional intelligence, Vino can easily read a room and know exactly what other people/dragons want to hear from or need from him. He can easily shift his personality traits depending on mood, going from restday life of the party to Monday morning Threadfighting superstar. He can breathe new life into a same-old routine and excite other people simply by his all-in presence, but when he's done, he's done, and he'll need emotional recuperation time.
« I'm glad we did well today, Katrya, but can we skip the celebratory drinks and go home? I'm tired. »
When it comes to you having any sort of social or emotional issues, Vino has a near complete change in personality. He becomes a bit more sly, a bit more…puzzling. More like Bones’ Gordon Gordon (Stephen Fry) as he figures out clever ways to help you through things.
Mindvoice/Scape
Vino may have one of the odder mixes of voice and scape, lending to his constant state of flux.
His voice itself is soothing, the calm, rich tones of a loose Fortian (read: Southern English) accent. It will sound childish at times, though mostly like a young adult male just finding his deeper tones, and at others like a cultured old man having gone through the walks of life.
This is at odds with his scape, which is a little harsher, presenting as a void with static and indistinguishable chatter constantly fading in and out. That is, until you learn to filter through the static and find the strands of thought he wants you to grab onto.
These strands will move through the void, invisibly drawn lines shifting in colors of green, blue and white. When Vino wants to speak, the patterns will open, into a wide moving picture of color and voice.
Here’s the challenge: that moving picture will superimpose itself over your actual vision at times, particularly when Vino really wants your attention about something. This can be disorienting, but once you get used to it, it’ll be like having the Pernese version of an optic implant that you can use for bringing up information or memories or even directions. How about that? Pernese GPS, too!
« No, we need to go here, Katrya. See, there, you see that? There is a one hundred percent chance that I am right about this, you know! »
When he withdraws into himself, all you will hear is his soft static, and he’ll only come out of mental stasis when he’s ready to, so when hearing that soft static and nothing else, it’s probably best just to leave him be.
Physicalities
Vinodestroth will be large compared to a Nowtime brown, but quite compact in musculature and middling compared to the Oldtime browns of his blood. Big and burly. Except, it won’t be that way in the beginning. He’ll have to grow into all that muscle and burliness and that comes with an awkward stage. As a young dragon, he’ll be all long limbs and gaunt rib cage, stumbling over himself and his tail and forever trying to catch up. This “puppy” stage, we’ll call it, will only last until he hits late adolescence, then, then he’ll begin to bulk out and fill in all that extra space.
He won’t get overly bulky either, his musculature quite lean in the making, but on a boy as big as your Vino is going to get, it’s a lot of muscle, svelte as it may be. Because he won’t be fat. He won’t ever be fat. It just won’t happen.
But you will have to watch him because big boys come with big appetites and we don’t want any bellyaches, now do we?
Dragon Scent
There’s no real particular scent that comes with Vino beyond whatever soapsand scent you decide to use when you wash him, or the scent of his oils. (He prefers earthy and citrusy smells, by the way!) Because of your knowledge and training as a Healer, and his own OCD need to be clean, olfactory senses must be kept sharp! So he smells clean. Very clean. But beyond that, no odoriferous concoctions for this male! Bring on the citrus oils!
Sacred Space
With Vino’s love of facts and learning, it should come no surprise to you Katrya that his favorite places to be, are going to be around the Dragon Infirmary, or the Healer’s Complex. What better places to pick up all those random factoids he loves soooo much? These are his places.
And when he needs to be reclusive, he’ll prefer the quiet and peace of the jungle. A quiet pool, a nice clearing for napping. Nature. He loves it.
Flights
Flights. Oh, flights.
These will be lovely events for you and Vino, as here is where his indecisiveness really comes into play. While Vino thinks highly of himself, and would consider himself an excellent lover, he’s a bit shy and it’ll be hard to tell whether or not he will chase a female when she rises. He may spend an entire proddy period wooing and nerdily flirting with a lady, only to decide the moment she goes up, that he is no longer interested. Or, vice versa, he may ignore a lady completely before she rises, and then decide last moment to join the fray.
And if he’s in one of his reclusive moods, he won’t chase at all.
Should he chase however, he will do so with all that is in him. He will fly until he can’t anymore, or until the lady accepts his embrace. And he will either crow over it for days, recounting every detail and fact he can about the act until he forgets, or he will mourn his losses and try to plan how he can do better next time.
If allowed to mate, he’ll also show a penchant for lingering if the lady allows it. For pillow talk purposes ok? He likes a good cuddle. That being said, while he is an attentive and cuddly lover, he isn’t one inclined to take on a dedicated mate.
Should he ever catch a gold and sire a clutch, you’ll really be in for it Katrya. This will be a source of Ego swelling that will go on as long as he has eggs on the sands and remembers that the resulting hatchlings are his. And be prepared to learn every single thing you can about the process of making, clutching and hatching eggs Katrya, because he will expect to learn/know all of that before his Weyrlings hatch! And he will tell you everything he learns! More than once…
Thread
When it comes to Thread, Vino is like any other dragon: he wants to flame it from the skies. His eagerness for battle with the silver menace needs to be tempered in the beginning though, otherwise, his grandiose ideas might get someone hurt.
Once he has a feel for his duties, and he’s made sure you both have a feel for strategy and wing formation, he’ll be a much stronger, more methodical fighter. He’ll want a set of formation charts to study, and might even push for Katrya to advance in the ranks, or mildly suggest it anyway. That way they can be on the up and up all the time. Can you imagine you both in say, a wingsecond position, where you get to make formation charts? Do you have any idea how much research that will take? Vino would be in heaven. Moreso, if said position leans more towards healing than wingleading. You may consider dragon healing perhaps? Vino will definitely suggest it.
« You were learning to heal people, right? Why not dragons? »
He’ll fight hard and to the best of his abilities and while he’ll take his victories with cheer, the loss of a brother or sister in arms will hit him hard, and he’ll mourn heavily and will do so until memory fades. Gemini’s feel emotion deeply and your Vino is no different.
Southern Weyr’s 8th PC Clutch
Gold Zymuraith & brown Ravaith
July 6th, 2018
Credits
Name: Amani, Z’bor, Alyna
Egg Desc: Willimina
Dragonet Desc: Z’bor and Amani
Messages: Z’bor
Puppeteer: Z’bor
Inspiration: Z’bor, Amani, Alyna, Th’res
Clutchmates:
J'ay's Son of the Shirewode Bronze Iandreth
Evka's Gift of the Fertility Gods Brown Saetyroith
Ginger’s Striking a Balance Brown Shokravanth
Talya's Catch the Morning Star Brown Turahaimajusuth
Calliope's Transcending the Cataclysm Blue Zrucanith
Kyriatis' Out of the Darkened Depths Blue Omairhuith
Syri's Cold Paws, Warm Heart Blue Gamanturath