Gyrfath

Gyrfath

Snail's Curl Egg
Cloaked as it is in Katrineth's shadow, little more can be gleaned
from this angular egg than the impression of size, the hint of
golden-umber hue: darker brown whirls an inward spiral around one
mottled face, the remainder subtly textured with the featherings of
long-fallen leaves. Around and around the spiral turns—but deosil
inward, or widdershins out?

In the curve of Katrineth's wing, invisible, the Snail's Curl Egg:
a cracking, a cracking, a cracking, that's thrice.

Again that cracking from the Snail's Curl Egg, invisibly, darkly;
and sounds that bespeak a hatchling dragon, sounds that reveal far
more than sight. The taste of talons finding sand; the susurrus of
unfolding wings.

Snail's Curl Egg — or, rather, its golden-umber shards — spills a
scattershot path for its fledgling dragon …for then, just then,
Katrineth half-furls the burnished canopy of her wing, and the
littlest queen finds her way from shadow into light, into crowd, and
dares the great, grand world Outside.

Dauntless Damask-Gold Dragonet
Darkly damask, she's a lady with integrity—but one tuned to her own
swashbuckling ends. Nighttime gold smooths fluidly over slim bones
and fine, frail wings; the weave's shadowy designs pattern her
underlying richness, subtly feathered down the slope of neck and
honeycombed along the mainsails, while spinal ridges and ailerons seem
runed with paler candlelight. Disarming gentility's belied by the
gleam of sparkling eyes, and the hint of swagger already in her
stride.

A heartbeat skipped. Sight splintered. Sound silenced. Deosil,
inward. Inward. Consciousness spirals deeper than knowledge,
beyond intimacy, shaking and shaping and shaped, into an eternity of
exploration … and then your heart finds its beat again, twined and
twinned, and she speaks, an unfolding feathery with light and shadow
and light:

» My name is Gyrfath! «


Totems:
Hawk: The gyrfalcon, the merlin, the visionary. Hawks are one of the most intriguing and mystical of the birds of prey; they are the messengers, the protectors, and the visionaries of the air. Hawks and owls have the keenest eyes of all the raptors. Hawks stir the imagination. Their hunting ability, their eyesight, and their powerful flights and other behaviors are dynamic symbols. The sky is the realm of the hawk. Through its flight it communicates with humans and with the great creator spirit. It awakens our vision and inspires us to a creative life purpose.

Dolphin: Good luck, protection, prosperity, wishes coming true. They're imaginative, they're friendly and light-hearted, they're sensual, they're buoyant… and family is important to them; swimming in pods, they're so very close to one another. "These animals are good signs, and very good powers. To see a dolphin near the shore is a good sign, meaning good luck or protection is coming." (Spirits of the Earth by Bobby Lake-Thom.)

Name:

Gyrfath has been waiting a very long time for you.
Her origination is with 'gyrfalcon', that notable hunting bird — there's a sense of high flight, floating dreams, gyring among the thermals — and has the added bonus of the Celtic sound. It's a unique name, too, very different from others we know; we've saved it for very many clutches, and we very much look forward to seeing you and your Gyrfath together.

Do you remember, as a little girl, reading stories about strong knights, and dashing heroes, and saviors of the male kind? And did you ever wish that once, just once, one of those was a girl?
You've got your wish. And her name is Gyrfath.

There is an Irish legend (based on historical fact) of a woman pirate named Grainne. She had a ship, and she robbed from the English and brought the booty home for her people, and she didn't do it in skirts. In the era where a woman on board spelled bad luck, men came from great distances to sail with her. She must have made quite an impression on Elizabeth I, for when Grainne was captured by the English, Elizabeth freed her. As the legend describes Grainne, she was a woman of passion and courage, an idealist, who not only dreamt of something more than the status quo — but had the strength to act for her beliefs.

Gyrfath is that kind of dragon.

Like a merlin, she is both sleek and swift—small for a queen, and fast. Not so easily startled as her feathered inspiration (remember, she has the sleek and sinuous dolphin in her, too), still her flight will be as daring and, eventually, as effortless, growing wilder and bawdier as she matures to mate. Gyrfath will delight in the freedom of air, the sensations of wind under her wings, the interplay of muscles beneath her darkly damasked hide, the sheer revelry of the chase and the fired climax of catch. This is one gold who will exhaust the males who chase her, and only the swiftest and most agile will catch this pirate queen!

…And in the here and now, the always, she loves life — the sky is more blue to Gyrfath, herdbeasts more flavorful, the wind more biting… and she revels in sharing it with you. Life is to be lived with gusto!

There is an undeniable swagger to her step that may grow more pronounced as she learns control of legs and tail, and an echoing glimmer of irrepressible glee in that swift, far-seeing glance. The world her adventure, her ship 'The Fiona', …and the more the promise of danger, the more apt she is to just go and see for herself what all the fuss is about.

Gyrfath loves to push her limits, and to learn new skills; she'll become quite a resourceful dragon indeed. Adventuring and exploring with you will be a favorite pastime with her. Later on, it will be long flights without ::betweening::, seeing parts of Pern that you've never seen before, and then coming home to share it with those she thinks might enjoy it. Right now, it's exploring nooks and crannies in the weyrling barracks, and slowly managing to peer Outside. And as Gyrfath explores, her layers of personality will deepen and shift as she experiences all that you and the rest of Pern have to teach her. She's a Truth-seeker, delighting in flights of fancy but always wanting to know what is real, in herself, in others, and in you. Questing. She'll have a strong sense of herself, and is endlessly questioning of rider, of others, of herself. She'll try to figure things out on her own, first (and may come up with answers that aren't the Truth), but if there's someone else who might Know, she'll want answers, for she expects that there'll be a reason for things. Question that might come up in her mind are, Why can't I fly?). Why is life the way it is? Why, when I accidentally bonk my head on the feeding table, does the world spin? Oh, it hurt a little, but not so much, so let's try it again… and that's where you come in. ;) She's just not one to take things on blind faith, unless she senses that you're the one asking, and from the heart. …And it's not that she doesn't trust, either — she'll trust if that's her best choice for now — it's that she wants to experience. To see for herself, for yourselves. To know in the deepest knowing of all.

Gyrfath's insatiable thirst to learn may make her a bit brusque at times. Not a crude queen, mind you. Oh no. Nor rude or overbearing. She can be elegant and even prim when the mood strikes her — though without any prudish tendencies. She is above all a sensual, sensitive, strong-willed female, as a dolphin should be. A dragon who glories in the feel of stretching — she'll flex and twist, taking sheer delight in the smooth play of muscles under skin. She'll love the feel of oil, but in a light, smooth coating — no slathering or globbing for her. Sensual as she is, she likes to have the time to experience the fullness of each sensation (pleasant or unpleasant): taste, touch, sight, smell, sound — and to share them with lucky you. Sensation of any kind is what she likes, and she especially likes it when it comes though you, so perhaps she'll send you a-questing in turn: try that food, please. Even if it does look lumpy and green. I want to know. Together.

No jesses for this queen. Such trappings of leather and token would be both unable to contain her and are unnecessary (though straps you'll need, to stay aboard). Gyrfath is unhooded, as she should be: free to peer and gaze and explore, unhindered by anything but the bulk of her body and her occasional desire to just stop. Right here, right now. Just indulge in that which is You. Lifemates, soulmates, when all else fails you're each other's true haven, a safe harbor, within the intimate sanctity of repose.

You're her compass with which she charts out life, and as a weyrling she'll spend countless hours, just before bedtime (or in a midnight waking) looking up at the stars with you and dreaming of flight… and she'll always watch for the first star to appear, and note it to you. Look. Over there. Up there. See? …Together. Here there be dragons. Moons. Seas. Perhaps it'll become a special time to you, this observing, mulling over the day, what's happened and what might happen.

Come by the hills to the land where fancy is free.
And stand where the peaks meet the sky and the rocks reach the sea.
Where the rivers run clear and the bracken is gold in the sun.
And cares of tomorrow must wait till this day is done.
Loreena McKennit, Elemental
This is one dragon that has a soundtrack. Imagine: mental music rising and swelling, 'classical' pipes and gitar here, a good ale-drinking tune there, a kick-dance when she's in the mood
! This is more associational than conscious; somehow, her mind just works that way. She's not one to be singing along with the harpers, but you might just catch yourself humming along with her … though the real world tuning (perhaps a little askew?) pales to the sound inside your heads.
Her mental signature is composed most of light and shadow rather than particular hues, with the slight exception — trim, if you will — of clearest cobalt and tactile crimson, whether her mood sets them aglow like a stained-glass window, or shadows them darkly in contemplation. Down-soft, her thought can be, or as silken-sturdy as flight-feathers, just as her physical range (though quite limited, in the tenor range, as a hatchling) will as an adult rise to a floating cantor's call or drowse into a mellifluous baritone. She enjoys sending kinesthetic sensation by way of commentary, whether it's the feeling of a well-oiled caress for something of which she approves, …or the churning of a too-full stomach for the opposite — and just wait until she learns how to time sendings just in time to get you to, despite yourself, miss a step … or to smile.

This dragon knows how to ride out the stormy waves and revels in it, but at the same time enjoys calm waters in their own time and place, when both you and she need it (and it'll take time for her to recognize exactly when that's necessary). A sense of humor is there — bawdy, rapier sharp … and with a private gentleness that is reserved primarily for you and your foibles, but also shared with others as need be. Her mind-link with you is strong, and both as buoyant and as restorative as the deepest ocean. While not notably strong as a dragonet — especially those grand wingsails will be a bit frail — a little extra TLC will do you both good. Get enough sleep, eat healthfully, exercise, and All will be Well, a slow progression towards the wiry strength that she will achieve and maintain as an adult. But, she always will be, to her eternal frustration, damned awkward on the ground. The air and the water are her elements — she is resplendent in the air, and sleek and deft in the water. She will have quite an affinity with the shipfish that sail Pern's seas, and will delight in swimming beside them.

Physically, Gyrfath's a small gold, and deft as these things go. Set in an Arabian's softly dished muzzle, her eyes are wide-set and brilliant, and may be heavy-lidded when contemplating or conspiring; her neck is long, her throat tender, her taloned paws ever so sensitive. Her golden hue carries a liquid richness akin to her dam's deeply golden burnish, but darker, a nighttime gold. An integral part of the weave is damask's shadowy filigree, shaping designs as random as stars and as patterned as constellations: feathered down the slope of her neck, honeycombed along her mainsails, curled and twined and scrolled here, and there, and around the long, slim bones — but always subtle, and never to be replicated by even a weaver master's art (though she might inspire you to craft ribbons for your hair). Her wing- and 'ridge-runes are candlelit, gentler than dam's vividly golden damascening, and clearer than sire's dark runes: she takes heritage from a long line of dragons, and shapes it into a design uniquely her own.

She'll be a bit possessive of you, with a tendency to curve her neck (wings, tail, …) around you, pulling you close to her body as well as her mind. It's not that Gyrfath is needy or clingy, but it's because you're hers, and ultimately the center of her life. Your lovers she will tolerate, as long as it is understood that you are the primary force in her life. She does have her moods — and by Faranth, she is going to feel them, and just you try and stop her! No one bronze or brown will rule her — she'll have her lovers but won't stick to any for long. She loves to be free — but not from you. Never from you. As she matures, she will allow you to stray farther from the fold, as it were; however, you will never go too far from her. And why would it ever be otherwise?

Gyrfath is not always the easiest of dragons; her complexity and inner sense of self can, perhaps, seem overwhelming when revealed in an occasional desire to burn hard, burn fast, burn far. » Go now, right now, go. We go. « Like the hawk suddenly leaping aloft into wind and flight, she will go and carry you along with her to the ends of the earth and back again. But through it all, under it all lies the woven tapestry of One, Fiona-Gyrfath-You, forever unbroken, forever united, threads twined into the very same yarn.

Take care. Rejoice!
Egg credits: Arien
Inspiration credits: Arien, Kessaly, Kiris, K'lora, Lysalla, Th'ea, Toria

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License