Colchith

Kethlor (E’th) and ColchithThe Dark Depths of Sea EggUnwavering black drips from tip to rounded tip of this egg, draping it in an inky black that glows darkly against the sand. That black is interrupted only by the glimmer of tiny crystals, almost invisible, that spark from its salty depths.Hatching Message: There’s a creak and a groan, the sound of wood scraping against rock, and The Dark Depths of Sea Egg opens slowly, shards of egg crumbling to the sands to release the salty creature inside from its depths.Ancient Shipwreck Bronze HatchlingThere’re no smooth lines or svelte form here, just rough edges dulled by time and covered in a hide more matte than metallic. His burnished bronze ages to green on the edges of those magnificent ’sails and thick haunches, while barnacles of darker brown attach themselves to a thickly barreled chest and the awkward length of a greening tail.There’s little grace in those untidy curves, and salty crystals encrust ’ridges and ’spars before returning to crown his headknobs with the sea’s own jewels. Impression Message It begins as a trickle of coolness that runs down your spine, then builds bit by bit until a roaring wave forces all thoughts from your mind. When the wave recedes, it leaves calmness where moments before there was only chaos. The salty smell of the sea fills your nose as a presence, at once new and familiar, fills you – body, mind, and soul. » I am Colchith. You are Kethlor. We are together. «Egg Inspiration: The Dark Depths of Sea Egg was based on the Black Sea, although I (Sia) didn’t realize at the time that it is not really dark! I take full responsibility, and still think it made a lovely egg. We chose this one for your Colchith because you liked it, and because we liked the idea of giving you something tied up in the sea.Name Inspiration: Colchith. Colchis is an ancient kingdom, more or less where modern day Georgia is now, and it’s tied up with the legend of the Golden Fleece, which hung here in the grove of Ares until Jason came and stole it. Colchis is where Jason sowed the dragon’s teeth, and armed men rose up from the earth. And this linked in with the Black – The Euxine – Sea of your egg. There’s dispute over the origin of Euxine, with some scholars arguing that it means inhospitable, and some that it means hospitable. And while some – many – will take one look at Colchith, find him the former, and walk away, we hope for you he’ll be like coming home. Personality: Colchith may be a young dragon, physically, but he has what could be called an old soul. It’s almost as if he has been sitting on the bottom of the Black Sea, collecting barnacles on his salt-encrusted hide and waiting for you to come find him. Because of this, Colchith will never suffer from self-doubt. He takes a long time to make up his mind, but once he’s made a decision he knows that it is the right one, and there is no changing it. This does not necessarily mean that he is particularly forceful. In fact, he often takes so long to come to a decision that by the time he does it’s a moot point, but you can be sure there will never be anything hasty about him.And he’s sure about you, Kethlor. You are his ship captain – get those sails up and the wheel turned, and he’ll follow you anywhere you point him, sure that treasure lurks just on – or beyond – the horizon.For how he does love to search for treasure! However his definition of treasure is a little suspect: he likes shiny things, but also broken pottery, and tiny crawling creatures reminiscent of crabs scuttling over the beach. He’s just as sure that your mind is full of secret cachets of pirate booty. You’ll feel him, sometimes, turning over your memories and thoughts, searching for clues – treasure! – as he pieces you together and fathoms you out. When he finds something you’re sure you want, he’ll take that and latch onto it, supportively. When you’re not sure, then he’ll work full time on making you so, one way or another. He’s very accepting of all your thoughts, treating the good and the bad with just the same loving indifference. He’s not one to give his opinion unless asked for it, but if you ask him, you can be sure he’ll have one - eventually. But even with taking his time, he’s never at a loss, he has the calm confidence born of serenity, and if you let him, he’ll infect and infuse you with the same.He also likes to keep abreast of what’s happening in the weyr. That’s not to say that he’s a gossip – far from it, actually, as he’ll rarely spread rumors – he just likes to know what’s going on before other people do, so that he can figure out what it means for him and for you. He needs, as always, his time. He’ll defer to you on matters human, but he’s likely to ask plenty of questions about them, especially while young. These ones without a dragon for instance. How do they manage? Come to that, how did you manage, before him? Or did you know you were just waiting, like he was always waiting for you?There’s one exception to his deliberative tendencies, and that is should he feel that anyone’s attacking you, in any way. He’ll be really quite aggressive in his defense of you, both physically and mentally. (Although he might, while young, be a while after the fact – but he’ll learn to take cues from you, over this.) He’s very protective of you – a ship’s no good without someone to steer it. To a lesser extent, he’ll also appoint himself guardian of your possessions, and of the people closest to you – a captain also needs a ship, and a crew!Oh, and he also gets protective over things that are small – children, kittens, bugs, little fish, etc… he likes them. » How are they so small? What do they /do/? « Being so large himself, he can’t quite wrap his mind around what it would be like to be small. You’ll have to remind him that he wasn’t so large, out of the egg; that will be a story he likes to be told constantly. He’s fascinated by anything tiny, and might well spend whole candlemarks just watching a bug crawl across the floor. Just to make sure no-one treads on it. Most of the time, it will seem like he can hardly bear to hurt a fly.Perhaps this fascination with things that are small is part of the reason for his thing with names. He can’t hang onto them at all. Dragons of, course, he will always get right, but people? Places? He can barely put down the first syllable of their names – and no other syllable has a chance. Of course, with you and your penchant for cutting off that first syllable, either you’ll complete each other, or you’ll have conversations in which you end up referring to completely different people!Mating: It’ll take Colchith a while to mature. He won’t be sure he’s even interested in golds for a long time. When he does decide he wants to partake, his strategy is steady and even. He’s the turtle watching the hares, waiting for the right moment to sweep in and make his deliberate catch. When he doesn’t catch, he’ll take it all in stride, and with the simplicity of short dragon memories he won’t even think about it five minutes after the flight ends. But when he catches – and especially if it’s a gold – he will stick to her like glue. He’ll make an attentive clutchparent, too, should he sire eggs.He’ll push you to find a mate in life, though. He’ll probably pick her out for you – again, after careful deliberation - and push you towards her by commenting about all the reasons you should like her day in and day out until you give in. If confronted, he’ll plead innocence » I told you she was beautiful yesterday? Oh. I don’t remember. She is, though. Smart, too. I think she likes you.« Should you not give in, don’t think you’ll be let off. If it doesn’t seem to be working, he’ll slowly back off – and begin the process of choosing a new one. Anyone you fall in love with, he’ll also love unconditionally. If you ever have children, he’ll be as proud as if they were his, and happily serve as babysitter anytime you want.Physicality: He’s large, even for a bronze, and approaches the size of some of the smaller golds. Because of this, he could never be described as a fast mover. Even in the air, he is slow, ponderous, and never without thought beforehand. He even grows slowly, in fits and spurts, with limbs and tail and wings always in proportion to that barreled chest. He’s thick even as a hatchling, and he’ll bulk up even more as he gets larger. This means there won’t be too many problems with cracked skin, and the painful weyrling growth spurts he – and you - will be spared. Perhaps because of this, he doesn’t really like being oiled, you’ll have to coax him into it every time. Bathing, however, he can’t get enough of. You’ll have a hard time dragging this one out of the water, in fact. His hide is meant to look as if he’s been at the bottom of the sea for a while. He tends to loom, and if he frightens people, particularly children, it will upset him. He won’t say anything, not to you, but he might become a little withdrawn for a while. While he’s not the most outgoing and chatty dragon, he does like company, whether it’s cooling off in the shade of the cliffs or messing around in the water. He’s not the greatest fan of heat. Underwater swimming, though, or mud baths, or snow – anything he can wallow in – is good, and something to be sought out whenever possible.Voices:Your Colchith’s bugle is reminiscent of warriors blowing into conch shells, and his mindvoice sounds like the sea: waves lapping slowly against the shore, the calm stillness of a windless day on the ocean, or the fury of a storm that can capsize even the largest ship. His colors are those of the sea, too, from sea-foam green to calm blue to inky midnight, and when he speaks he brings with him a breath of salty brine, old seaweed, and sandy shores. —Egg Credit: SiaInspiration Credit: Sia and Sissi, Blueriders Extraordinaire

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