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Take me now, baby, here as I am
Hold me close, try and understand
Desire is hunger is the fire I breathe
Love is a banquet on which we feedCome on now, try and understand
The way I feel under your command
Take my hand, come under cover
They can't hurt you nowWith love we sleep, with doubt the vicious circle turns, and burns
Without you, I cannot live, forgive the yearning burning
I believe in love too real to feel, take me now, take me now, take me now- "Because the Night" by [ Springsteen/Smith ]
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Lylia! What a delight it has been to have you! Here he is (finally!), your Druseth. Enjoy!
*~*~*~*~* LYLIA'S BROWN DRUSETH *~*~*~*~*
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Dragon: Druseth
Colour: Brown
Name: Shaela
Egg: Roaring Drunk Egg
Egg Desc: Alanna; Shaela tweak
Dragonet: Vampiric Teetotaller Brown Dragonet
Dragonet Desc: Shaela; D'renn tweak
Messages: R'sli, Shaela
Inspiration: Shaela, Rade, Tai.
Puppeteer: Shaela
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Roaring Drunk Egg
Colors whip drunkenly across this egg's smooth surface; different patterns blend together to stagger this way and that upon the perfect oval. Swirls and dashes, swishes and slashes -- all cavort heedlessly upon the besotted shell, a kamikaze of amber and ocher. Various hues hint at brilliance as they shoot every which-way before melding together and surging into oblivion.Hatching Message:
Roaring Drunk Egg lurches, smacking a clutchmate as it rolls. Oh, hey. Sorry about that. Once more, and minute cracks appear, that party facade fading as the shadows within grow darker...and emerge in a shower of shards.Vampiric Teetotaller Brown Dragonet
Night descends on the dragon's pale, buff hide, to cast shadows over the majority of the ghostly surface. Scarlet splatters his muzzle, blood-red smears his neck; faded tan lingers amongst the shades of his torso, darkening the great hills that are blunt neckridges and settling upon an elongated tail. Mystery and intrigue reign amidst his complexity of razor talons and sharp teeth, yet a softer side is revealed in the sandy glistening of sweeping wings. Innocence too is evident in the serene sunlight-touched beige of his headknobs, abstaining from the drunken revelry that otherwise makes for fanged, feral ferocity.Impression Message:
Vampiric Teetotaller Brown Dragonet is pleased with any style of robe so long as it leaves the neck pleasantly bare. He nears, slowly at first, then with a viciously quick step he offers himself in an oddly comic baring of fangs to Lylia: this one has everything he needs, and more.Personal Impression Message:
Liquor's familiar buzz sets in, intoxicating your mind -- but where is wine's smooth, sweet flavour? Instead, blood, thick and salty pours over you, overloading your senses in an inebriating mix of fear and.. protection? It forms a cocoon-like barrier, warding off the outside world, keeping you safe within. Finally, a deep, soft voice speaks: << I am Druseth. I am Yours. >> There is a hesitant, nervous pause, then: << And you, Lylia, are Mine. We need nothing else. >>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
~*~ INSPIRATIONS ~*~
Name Inspiration:
Dru... Seth! What a perfect combination, no? Especially considering that you, Lylia, are our one and only LyliaDru. We thought this name, a combination of Drusilla and Seth (Green! Oz!) would be perfect for you. Something to make you laugh, cry, and remember all the great Buffy-filled conversations we shared during your Candidacy. The pronounciation is up to you, though we thought of: DROO-seth and Droo-SETH (I suppose depending on who you like more, Dru or Seth!), and you can use a Z sound or an 'ess' sound for that lovely middle S.
Egg Inspiration:
Back in the day - like, a couple thousand BC - Ahashverosh lived. Talk about a guy with an ego. He's a Persian king, and he lives in Shushan, which is the captial of his over-127-province area. Once upon a time, he has this huge party, for no real reason, and it lasts days and days. On the seventh day, he's particularly, ah, intoxicated, and he calls for his wife, Vashti, requesting her presence as a dancer for his friends. Ew. Essentially, her reply is: "No way," and his reply is: "Get out," and now there's a beauty contest on to find the next queen.
Living in Shushan, there's a Jew named Mordechai, whose cousin Esther is perhaps the most gorgeous woman he's ever seen. He encourages her to go to the contest, and so she goes - and wins. She keeps the secret of her religion from the king, though.
One of Ahashverosh's viziers - Haman! - makes daily outings, in which he rides out on horseback, makes people bow, and returns home. Mordechai, on one of these excursions, won't bow because it's one of the ten commandmants that you won't. To this, Haman replies with threats of death - and so he sends out letters to get all the Jewish people of the land killed.
Mordechai pleads with Esther to help her people, Esther pleads with Ahashverosh, and the king gets it done; Haman gets hung, the letters are brought back, and the Jews are safe.
Hence - celebration. Drinking. Partying. Purim's about fun and costumes, and deception - Esther had to do a little bit of deception to do good. So, we dress up in costumes, sing, dance, and tell the story of how one little Jewish girl overthrew a great vizier with just a little eyelash fluttering.
Theme Inspiration:
Teetotaller: a person advocating or practising abstinence from alcoholic drink. You wanted something that would oppose Lylia, so here you've got a teetotaller of a dragon!
Vampires!
(from http://www.buffy.com/slow/library/vampires.html)
Down through the ages, the image of the vampire has haunted the dreams of man. Around the world, many differing legends of the vampire can be found.In ancient egypt, it was believed that the dead would sometimes return from the afterworld, walking the night and where they would occasionally steal the lives of unlucky villagers. In this world that viewed the pharoahs as gods, the "undead" were just a fact of life.
The vampire was viewed very differently in Southeast Asia. The vampire was a demon who would visit victims as they slept, draining their life essence. It was widely believed that these monsters favored men as their prey, leading to a bizarre custom in which men would paint their nails and wear false eyelashes when they slept. By changing their appearance they believed they could trick the demons, saving their lives in the process.
The more traditional version of the vampire legend originates in the mountain villages of Eastern Europe. Early recorded reports of vampire activity, sometimes referred to as plagues, date back to the 17th century Serbia. It seems the dead sometimes didn't stay dead. Individuals recently deceased were seen wandering the countryside. Like their Asian counterparts, these undead beings would often visit others while they slept, sometimes killing them. The local lore referred to them as "nosferatu".
Unlike the cultured, cosmopolitan vampire that we see in the movies, these vampires were ragged and decomposed, and could turn their victims into vampires themselves. Eventually the "vampire epidemics" led to a practice in which bodies were dug up and "killed" by a wooden stake driven through the heart.
The vampire legend really begins to take its modern shape in 1819, when The Vampyre was published. Attributed to Lord Byron, the story was later credited to Dr. Polidori, a sometime companion of Byron's. The main character, Lord Ruthven, is an aristocrat whose enchantment and manipulation of women sets a tone that carries through to today: The vampire as a sexual creature.
Probably the most famous story of the undead can be found within the pages of Dracula, by Bram Stoker. It is Stoker's concept of the vampire - debonair, regal, predatory - that we have seen in the movies. It is this vampire that we have come to know.
Anne Rice wrote of a slightly different vampire. A vampire capable of emotion, longing, even of pity. Her vampires remembered their mortal lives, lived by a code, and even fell in love. (For more on the difference between BTVS and Ricean Vampires, check out http://www.pic.ab.ca/~sheila/versus.html)
Even though there are many views of the vampire and its nature, one thing is certain: Mankind has been obsessed with the undead for centuries. The legend of the vampire lurks in the shadows of our imaginations, filling our hearts with fear.
Description Inspiration:
Running with the vampire theme here, we wanted to create a description that would express the dual-sided nature of the dragon you requested. And what better way to do that than use light and dark, sun-on-sand and shadows. Sand (dust!) and blood. So that's the vampiric theme you probably noted right off the top. The teetotaller actually relates much more to the draconic personality, but as a back-story, a teetotaller is a person who does not drink. Thus the abstaining of the lighter elements from drunken revelry of the darker elements.
Mind Voice:
Soft, hesitant, thoughtful: Druseth is all these things and more in his mind voice. Based loosely on the quiet, mid-to-deep ranged voice of David Boreanaz (Angel!), there is a slight drawl to his voice. He won't ever be one to rush the words out, rather, he'll mull things over and make sure what he says is exactly what he wants to say. Even with this preparation and his innate confidence, he will always be a quiet voice in the back of your mind; his tendency to trail his sentences off into a mumble is not indicative of his assurance.
To others, his mindvoice will seem much the same -- quiet -- though he can be commanding where necessary. He is intelligent, and knowledgeable on a great many topics, especially those relating to Threadfall tactics. He will be the one to push quietly to the leadership positions, never forcing, but instead asserting his quiet advice on others so that his reputation as a solid leader grows: << Kelitath, you must watch your re-entries. I know you are unwell today, but before next Fall perhaps you and I and our riders could practice formations? >> Ever gentlemanly, he will never push too hard, or seem brash. He will speak softly and directly, always saying precisely what he wants to say so that no one misinterprets.
Should he ever choose to speak to humans -- something he will most often be too shy to do -- they'll probably not even realize he's spoken, at first. His voice, like the softest whisper of the wind, will enter their mind so smoothly that it will take more than a few tries for them to realize that, indeed, the dragon is speaking to them. Nevermind them actually figuring out what he's said.
Physicalities:
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Xander: "He's buff. She never said anything about him being buff."
(From "Teacher's Pet", BtVS season 1)
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Many of the dragons in this clutch are gorgeous beasts, and Druseth is one of them. Perfectly proportioned in every way, he'll never have to grow out of a gawky period, instead he'll only grow bigger. He won't be the hugest dragon in the weyr, but he will be pretty large all the same, in both height and mass. There is something very steady about him. When he moves, he moves as if he is dancing. He is a rock in the wind which will not move no matter how much it blows. There is an inner peace about him.
Clad in a ghostly darkness, he could never be vain, he knows that being vain will do no one any good. He knows he looks good, but he's still not vain. In fact, he can be a little bit sloppy at times, and he always seems to have a trace of his last meal stuck in his talons, or his teeth, or drool on his muzzle; this usually gives him a reddish tinge around his mouth. Blessed with darkness and quietness, he can move without anyone here him, and can often come out of no where, offering a little << Hello >> into your mind.
Hide is darkness itself; it seems as if it was born from a midnight sky, with the huskiness of deep red mixed into it, and the lightness of sand scattered over it like stars. Somehow all these colors have mixed together to create the color that is Druseth. In places it looks like he was painted in a primal pagan ritual, as his colors dribble out of their brown to make interesting patterns over him. He is never very smelly, but if you get close to him you can sometimes catch a wisp of salty, metallic blood and pepper. At his most emotional moments - like flights - he may even smell like roasting flesh, like smoke curling up from a fire, but this is very rare.
Personality:
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Angel: "I know what you're thinking, but don't worry, I don't bite!"
(From "Welcome to the Hellmouth", BtVS season 1)
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*And so begins a beautiful friendship! Indeed, Druseth does not bite -- humans, that is -- and is in fact quite the cuddly little vampire-dragon. In a dark, brooding sort of way.
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Cordelia: "Oh, he's a vampire. Of course! But the cuddly kind, like a Care Bear with fangs?"
(From "Halloween", BtVS season 2)
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Pretty much. For all Druseth looks the big, tough, sharp-toothed vampire-dragon, inside, he's a softie, an intellectual, a wise, old soul. He could sit by the hearth on your weyr's ledge for hours with you, listening to you recount the great Pernese Sagas -- particularily the ones that relate to dragons. He is your confidante, your shoulder to cry on: he will be there for you silently until you ask for his thoughts, and then he will be your best source of advice on any topic. He is also your guardian angel, the one who will appear from nowhere and leap into action to protect you, the one who will warn you against danger when he senses that it is nearby.
Though Druseth is always there for you, most especially when you need him, he contrasts you at every available opportunity. You are happy, therefore he must be broody and depressive; you want to stay in for the afternoon, so he will want to go for a swim. On and on it goes. Even down to choice of mates, you will contrast each other: Druseth will be well known for his disapproval of the lifemates of your chosen weyrmate, and likewise, he will often take an interest in the green whose rider you are not especially fond of. Annoying, yes, but dissent among the troops definitely makes life much more fun!
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Buffy: "Okay, you have a secret, and that's not allowed."
Willow: "Why not?"
Buffy: "'Cause...there's a rule."
(From "I Robot, You Jane", BtVS season 1)
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*The only thing he will ever nag you about is, of course, your drinking habit. << Lylia, no. You cannot go to the caverns tonight for a drink. It is not healthy, and you do not present yourself well when you drink. >> A tad stodgy in the delivery, certainly, but Druseth is oh-so-concerned about saying things precisely as he means them. And in the case of you, Lylia, all he wants is for you to be presentable, responsible, and the best person you can be. Unfortunately for you, none of that allows for a little wine at dinner. Nevermind his own drinking obsession -- blood is to him what water is to a dehydrated man: it is life itself. << That is something altogether different, >> he will say. << I need blood to live. You do not need your alcohol. >> And he has a point. No, his every thought will no focus on blood, but there is always a lingering yearning for the salty taste of a herdbeast.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Xander: "He's like Super Librarian. Everyone forgets, Willow, that knowledge
is the ultimate weapon."
(From "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date", BtVS season 1)
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Druseth would share Xander's sentiment, for to him, knowledge is everything. It is power, and it is life itself, especially when it comes to fighting Thread. Druseth will be a keen Threadfighter, once he gets his wings. His keen intuition and ability to read a situation and come up with the most logical and effective means of dealing with it will make him -- and you! -- a prime candidate for leadership. But so much as he has the skill to lead, he lacks somewhat the desire. He would certainly never turn down the accolades given to him, but neither would he ever seek them out, much less competitively. No, Druseth is the silent hero -- the one who performs miracles, then vanishes into the shadows before anyone can give him credit. His victories are best celebrated alone, late at night, with you curled up beneath his sunlit wings. This is where he feels at home.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Xander: "Yesterday, my life's like, 'Uh-oh, pop quiz!" Today it's, "rain of toads."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Indeed, sometimes you may share Xander's sentiment, too! For along with Druseth comes mischeif and mystery: trouble to get into and problems to solve. Sometimes it will seem that everywhere you and Druseth go, bad things will follow -- or precede! Occasionally because Druseth will seek it out -- he lives to help others, after all -- but most of the time, bad things will just fall into your laps. Luckily, with Druseth's keen mind and intuition, the mystery will always be solved, and life will toddle on as it always was. Some may not believe that you and Druseth managed to right a fallen wagontrain, or return that runaway holder girl, but as always, the need for the affirmation of others does not enter Druseth's thoughts, and life goes on for him. How Lylia chooses to deal with people thinking of her as a teller of tall tales is none of his business: he knows what went on, as do you and those who were helped, and that is enough.
For all his vampiric tendencies, Druseth does have a soft spot for the great outdoors, and on his upbeat days, he'll be known to drag you down to Southern for a full day of sunning. The sound of the rolling waves, the gentle breeze rustling the treetops, all of these make his not-so-little heart go pitter-patter. But those days are few and far between -- Druseth is more inclined to be quiet and brooding. Yet even then, his love of nature is great: some of his favourite spots to curl up and ponder life, the universe and everything are on nearby mountain-peaks or in the clearings of protected forest, late at night when the world is silent and dark.
Flights:
"You blood, and then you /fly/," you will have to remind Druseth time and again, for he will inevitably forget the flying part of the flight. Ever-keen to jump in and blood along with the proddy female, he'll often get so wrapped up in sapping the life from a plump herdbeast that he'll not even notice the take-offs of all the other dragons. But, oh well, he will go home satisfied, which is much better than the other boys who failed to catch!
Should Druseth actually get into the air, well, his technique (and it will indeed be a technique!) will be planned down to the slightest movement of his rudder-like tail. Planned, yes, but predictable, no. Though he'll be sure to use all the tactical manoeuvres on record, he won't necessarily use them at the time when others would even consider them, thereby keeping his foe on her toes. Or her wingtips. And this ability to confuse the female will make him a frequent success on those rare occasions that he gets into the air.
Not necessarily a natural flyer at first (Druseth's talent is lurking, actually. He'll be much more quick to get his feet confidently under him than he will be to get his wings confidently beating) he will eventually become quite the master of tactical flight. Every manoeuvre will be learned promptly and exactly, such that he will often be placed in positions of leadership. He will possess a certain amount of agility, certainly, but he will never be one for the more stylish techniques: the tried, tested and true are his way, and any of that newfangled, fancy cartwheeling stuff can be left to the greens.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
There's a saying old, says that love is blind.
Still, we're often told, 'seek and ye shall find'.
So I'm gonna seek a certain lad I've had in mind.,
Looking everywhere, haven't found him yet
He's the big affair I cannot forget.
Only man I ever think of with regret.I'd like to add his initial to my monogram
Tell me, where is the shepherd for this lost lamb?There's a somebody I'm longing see
I hope that he turns out to be
Someone who'll watch over me.I'm a little lamb who's lost in the world,
I know I could always be good
To one who'll watch over me.Although he may not be the man
Some girls think of as handsome,
To my heart he carries the key.
Won't you tell him, please, to put on some speed?
Follow my lead, oh, how I need
Someone to watch over me.- "Someone to Watch Over Me" by Ella Fitzgerald
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Indeed, Druseth /is/ the one sent to watch over you. He is the one you have been seeking, the one you have been longing to meet. And, yes, if you really like, you can add his initial to your monogram. (LyliaDru!). Here's hoping that Druseth is all you could have ever wanted and more!
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Lylia's Brown Druseth
Harper's Tale: 24th PC Clutch
High Reaches Weyr
Shaela's gold Chayath and Yiddae's brown Tyrodinth
December 4, 1999.
Clutchmates: Geko and Brown Revnath, Iri and Blue Sriath, Kh'et and Bronze Telynth, Lis and Green Alymath, Mhari and Green Kelitath, M'rin and Bronze Rixesith, Quara and Blue Sakuruth, Willow and Blue Ozth (NPC) and T'nis and Green Racqueth (NPC).
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