Nolee's Gold Nalaieth

Shrouded Night Egg

An egg shrouded in inky darkness wears about itself a diaphanous veil conveyed as a translucent black layer that drapes breezy folds along the egg's contours. The black veil parts along one length of the shell to reveal a yellowed puddle of light spilling against the cold blackness. No starlight pinpricks break the cloak of midnight save that single slant of faded yellow illumination spilling through the emptiness like a solitary light piercing an otherwise complete, cold night.

Egg Inspiration: "Long Black Veil" by Johnny Cash

Ten years ago ago, on a cold dark night
Someone was killed 'neath the town hall light...
She walks these hills
In a long black veil.
She visits my grave
When the night winds wail.
Nobody knows. Nobody sees.
Nobody knows but me.

Hatching Message: At last the Shrouded Night Egg shatters, tiny arrowhead fragments falling along the one great fault line, black as the sands they land upon. The remaining inky halves hold together for one last moment, before - just above the slant of yellowed shell - a tawny muzzle pokes out, the warm yellow-gold of raw sienna, and snorts egg fluid out of her nose. And then they fall. And then she's freed.

Soulful Sienna-Smoke Gold

Above all else, the tawny young queen is comfortable in her own skin. The warm yellow-gold of raw sienna, it lends a velvety feel to the clean lines of her body that might otherwise seem too compact, too cold; when her narrow muzzle is lowered, or her wings furled, it creases in rippling folds that must be grown into as much as her paws and tail. Those large paws do also steady her, though, while ingenuous eyes enlighten her, and flexible joints help her twist and turn in seemingly boneless curves. Along the sinewy bases of her wings, a darker, smoky gold spirals upward, gradually diffusing into a diaphanous haze across their expansive sails; however, a few dark cinder-spots mar her neckridges, and yet another marks one solid, shapely flank. Not that such personal, physical things seem to concern her, for she's all eyes for the wide, wide world.

Final Size: 39.9

Dragon Inspiration: Nalaieth flows from Aretha Franklin, first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, described as having the phenomenal ability to inject whatever she may be singing about with gut-wrenching soul and sheer conviction. Franklin never thought of herself as confined to one genre, loving to sing straight pop songs as well as the earthy soul music of the early Atlantic records that made her name. She famously said, "Trying to grow up is hurting, you know. You make mistakes. You try to learn from them, and when you don't, it hurts even more." It's lucky that Nalaieth likes learning!

Links: Aretha Franklin Picture - MSN Groups, Aretha Franklin Picture - MSN Groups, Aretha Franklin Picture - Wikipedia, Aretha Franklin Biography

Name: 'Nalaieth' draws from Nala, the lion babe in _The Lion King_ (dragon) combined with Naiad (for Nolee). In reality, we tried to get the ai/ia and the flowing polysyllabic sounds you like, thought of many combinations including this one, liked it but felt the watery nature of Naiad didn't fit, went through many, many more names, and then decided that - once we thought of Nala, the warm and playful desert feline - we could justify it with the dichotomy of Nala, the warm womanly lionness for your lifemate, and Naiad, the girl by the docks for you. And the neat thing is, -this- Nala doesn't have to wait on any Simba to do what she needs to do. So, there you have her!

Mindvoice: Your Nalaieth's natural mindvoice is husky, deep and warm, her images flavored with brown velvet and veiling-the-obvious, displaying-the-invisible smoke. That said, she does have fun playing with her mental (and audible) expressiveness as much as everything else, seeing how high she can go, how low, how much she can change her tones. She can also entertain herself, you and friends with imitations, temporarily adopting one dragon's rainbows, another's glittering blue, although she never can escape - nor would she want to - the underlying sense of herself beneath. Still, it might at times be enough to fool a another dragon for a split second: << Attention! >> in Fiyanth's tone, right behind a fellow weyrling dropping muck where muck just shouldn't be.

Internal Impression Message: Looking about, there are fewer candidates than once there were, and more eggs broken to shards; with every blink there are fewer yet, it seems, lost in a haze of heat, or perhaps it's smoke. And then, after a while, you are alone. They've all left you, gone to riderhood, or glasscrafting, or bearing sons for trumped-up holders. It should be lonely, especially with the air getting colder the way it is, but it's not. Not even when it grows colder yet, raising goosebumps on your arms that freeze into icy stalagmites, only to break off and fall into the sand beneath the feet you can no longer feel. At last your breath freezes, too. And you can't draw it in. Can't push it out. And the world is black around you, but somehow there's no urgency; you could be like this forever. Until someone wraps a blanket about you, soft, velvety, warm. It's brown, the world is, no longer black; if only you could remember your friend's name, you could thank her, so you turn around and there she is, not so much blanket as wings, and now she's making herself at home in your head, and you'll never forget Nalaieth's name ever again. So -that's- all right, then. You take a breath - and the chaos is back around you, for it's only been an instant - only now Nalaieth's nudging you, and you're hungry, and all that world's for you to explore. << Now! >>

External Impression Message: It's official: the Soulful Sienna-Smoke Gold's gaze locks on a certain pear-shaped girl's, freckles and all, in what just as well might be a pounce. She croons, a quietly husky and somehow intimate sound amidst all the chaos, as her eyes blossom into rainbows of blue.

Temperament

Weyrling:
The one thing about Nalaieth is that even as a clumsy hatchling, falling down and messing up, she's comfortable in her own tawny, raw-sienna skin. It's not so much an overt confidence or pride as simply a sense of buoyant oneness with her world, and while she'll certainly cry out if she's hurt and seek your consolation, it will take a lot to truly rattle her equilibrium. Which is a good thing, because she'll be doing that falling down and messing up a lot.

Being interested in the world around her as she is, and not having a memory that's notably long for a dragon, means that Nalaieth often focuses on one thing for a time and lose track of everything going on around her... until the next thing catches her eye, even if it's just a wet pebble. << Shiny! >> Or when she's a little older, << Don't let him distract me, I want to remember this! Nolee, remember this for me? >> Or even, << My, , I have never smelled muck as stinky as yours! Did you eat very many fish? Did you keep it inside you for a very long time? >> And though she means well, it may be difficult for her to understand that not everyone likes that sort of open curiosity, much less -why- they don't. And as for paying attention in class, especially enough attention to actually learn what she needs to learn... that's what trial and error is for, or a coping technique or few.

Physically, think of a roly-poly puppy crossed with a lioness in the making: large paws to grow into; plump, warm loose folds of hide, ditto; bursts of energy followed by sleep; and a sometimes-wagging tail. Nalaieth eats with a great deal of gusto, and is rarely picky about her food, although she will play with it. Interminably. As for her tail, you wanted a defect, and this is your opportunity. The injury can heal into a faint scar that's less and less visible over time or, given that it's long and easily tripped upon, it could get accidentally broken during babyhood (leaving an ache when the weather changes, perhaps, or an irregularity as with a broken nose). It's up to you. Just don't drip pus about the barracks, eh?

What else? Nalaieth is fond of firelizards and likes them about her, along with stray animals-that-aren't-food, although the human variety of little creatures may mean some difficulty down the road. Nalaieth -doesn't- like things to be lost, and may often bring you back things that, well, weren't lost (rocks, your neighbor's boots...) and will need to be put back. And she really, really likes being petted. By you. Until she trots off and does something else.

Adult:
Nalaieth's general personality, including her easygoing nature, will likely remain as she grows. However, her native curiosity will develop into outright passions. They may not last forever, but they will be intense, and woe betide the one who gets in her way. Which may be part of why she doesn't care for other queens; she'll tolerate them, at least listen to her dam and the Senior - but they are an underlying threat to her pack, -her- pride. (Aretha didn't like divas either.) Flying will be a thrill. She'll grow into that skin of hers, even her paws, and revel in long endurance flights - as well as (even though she isn't as good as it) the maneuverability of hunting. And tag, with other dragons? An exciting challenge, made even better if, afterward, they can curl up together and catch more of that sun she loves.

Flight:
When your Nalaieth starts to get proddy, you might think she's sick, because she goes off her feed. Oh, she won't demand muffins or sheared ovines, but this beast is too stringy, that one is too fat, she doesn't like the looks of this other one, that one looked at her funny... and so on. If she can't be persuaded to eat, she will survive until the flight's blooding, but starving couldn't help her temper any. The flights themselves may manifest differently each time - aerobatic maneuvers one time, straight endurance flight over the ocean another - or she may eventually develop a pattern. The clutchsire will likely become one of her passions for a time, and if he's from another Weyr, she'll happily troop over there until the clutching if he can't be freed to visit her. (Who doesn't mind a big gold tagalong crooning in his head when he's attempting to do drills, after all?)

After the clutching (which will disturb her greatly, these things popping out of her belly like that, and is it safe?), that's when protective Mama Lioness comes out. The sire will rise or fall in her esteem according to how much he cares for their eggs (not necessarily for -her-) and keeps an eye on those untrustworthy candidates. After the hatching? Bye, big boy, it's off to go fly other skies!

Wing:
What does she want? R-E-S-P-E-C-T! She can have a working relationship with other queens, even if she doesn't much -like- them, but they'd better not push her around just because she's the youngest. Those who try may get her back up and turn her aggressive or even hostile; she may however forge a tentative armistice, possibly even an accord, with those who give her room to work in and respect her abilities (and who don't mind it when -she- is the one who pushes boundaries). The changes brought on by pregnant riders or recuperating pairs flying with the queens' wing won't be a trouble for her; in fact, she'll welcome them, and may well miss them when they move back to their home wings. She loves variety in her duties: working and/or social visits to other places will be great fun, and hidework? Best to schedule it for when she can sprawl in (you guessed it) the sun.

Credits:

Egg: Erivan
Description: I'sai
Hatchling: I'sai
Puppeteer: I'sai