Canllaith

Congratulations on impressing a dragon here at Ista Weyr! We hope that Canllaith is everything you could have wanted in a lifemate. We snagged your glacier pictures and went to town on him, and after many hours (and many e-mails) came up with your dragon. Just in case there are things you want to change, we want to make sure you know this is just a guideline for how you play your dragon. You are not required to follow all, or even any, of this guide if you choose not to. Canllaith is /your/ dragon, do what will make you happiest with him! —Tasi, Lyria & M'er

Dragon: Canllaith
Color: Blue
Name: Tasi
Egg: Winter Solstice Egg
Desc: Sapha
Dragonet: Spirit of the Ice Blue
Dragonet Desc: Tasi; Lyria tweak
Messages: Lyria & Tasi
Inspirations: Tasi; Lyria tweak

Clutching Pose:

Miyakath shivers as her body once more starts the process of bringing a new egg into the world. Judging by the increasing intensity of the huge shakes, it is entirely possible that the world may not be ready for what it is that she is bringing forth. With one last trumpet off effort she deposits Winter Solstice Egg upon the sands, bringing her shivering to an end, but not her labor as she quickly moves onto the next egg.

Winter Solstice Egg:

Tinted almost entirely by the colors of icy white, and winter sky blue, this egg appears glitteringly cool against the heat generated by the hatching sands. A few darker shades dare interrupt winters snowy palate, but however add to the harsh coldness that the egg projects. The haze seems to disguise one series of squared gray blotches particularly, giving them added mystery as to their inclusion to the lower portions of the ovoid. However all is not as bleak as it first seems, for reaching towards the pale blue appears to be blossoms of white, almost blushing with the promise of warmer times yet to come.

Hatching Message:

Winter Solstice Egg shudders and shivers, flakes of egg falling from the sides in a shower of shimmering white and blue. Frosted sapphire limbs burst through the sides, brushing the hot sands for just a moment. Seeming to find the high temperatures distasteful, the limbs promptly disappear again, pulling back into the protective, cool shell. The egg, however, is already half broken and can no longer hold the glacial dragonet. It cracks, sending Spirit of the Ice Blue Dragonet tumbling out onto the hot sands.

Spirit of the Ice Blue Dragonet:

Pale striations run across his hide, emphasizing impressive musculature and following each gentle curve, slim lines of frosted alabaster alternating with wider stripes of a pure ice blue. His head is slim, muzzle extending out with a slow fade from cerulean across the center of his face to a frosted powder blue that crests nostrils, headknobs and eyeridges. The blues deepen along the slope of a strong neck, the light stripes darkening a touch as they offer new depths of shadow, lining a series of uniformly angular neckridges and shot through with occasional whorls of color, periodically interrupting the otherwise regular shading. Variegated marks, from tiny swirls of cobalt and beryl to broad swaths of a shade nearing aquamarine extend down from the neck to adorn his broad back and powerful hindquarters. His wings, however, hold no such inconsistencies of pattern, the same pure lines of cyan and white spiderwebbing out from his shoulders to curve gracefully along broad wingsails.

Impression Message:

Spirit of the Ice Blue Dragonet makes his way across the sands, bright blues a sharp contrast to the black beneath his feet. Stopping patiently as a clutchmate dragonet rushes past, he neatly averts a collision and side steps, finding himself quite close to a group of white-clad candidates he didn't seem to notice until just now. Cocking his head suddenly he takes a half-step closer, as if something - or someone - has caught his attention. Gently nosing forward, he carefully navigates his glacial frame between two comparatively tiny candidates, coming to a stop before the tiniest, the proud-eyed brunette in front of him. It's Jesiya who's caught his attention so fully, and he appears to have finalized that choice, settling in quietly to give her a contemplative stare.

Personal Impression Message:

A relief from the hot sands - a sudden breath of icy cold air just brushes your mind - a hesitant test, and then it engulfs you. Sparkling crystal flakes swirl with the sound of flutes through your mind and across your eyes to settle in every corner of your consciousness with a cool presence and a sprinkling of cinnamon and vanilla. « You look as though you could use a break from the heat, my Jesiya. » A tinkling of ice and a delighted accompaniment of cellos tickle your senses, « As could I. I am Canllaith. We no longer have need to stand here on these hot sands. »

Clutch Theme:

Places around the world (climate, local flavor)

Canllaith's Theme:

North Pole. I really took your glacier pictures and ran with the idea, more than anything else. He is quiet and considerate, calm and thoughtful, and with an unruffled logic and wisdom that will alternate between saving your sanity and driving you crazier. He is on the big side for a blue, but carries himself easily. Really, I think the best way to explain Canllaith is this: we made a dragon look like a glacier, imagined what a glacier's personality would be, and put that in a dragon. Enjoy!

Name Inspiration:

The word "Canllaith" is Welsh for "tranquil," which seemed to fit nicely…there were a number of names we were considering, but this one just seemed to fit best. I mean, come on! When you find a word in a different language that means exactly what you're looking for /and/ that ends in a 'th,' you know you've found the perfect name! I've been pronouncing it "KAN-layth," other ideas that come to mind include "Kan-ah-layth" or "KAN-lath."

Egg Inspiration:

Actually, this egg is one of a set of four commemorating the four major times of the year when there have been the most holidays, past and present. From ancient pagan religions, to the modern ones today, the Winter Solstice was a particularly important holiday. The halfway point between harvest and spring growth, it was an important holiday to have to provide moral and hope during the bleaker months. Of course probably the most famous structure associated with these four events is Stone Henge, which graces the bottom of this egg. The winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year, and occurs on December 22 for the Northern Hemisphere.

http://www.equinox-and-solstice.com/html/winter_solstice.html

Description Inspiration:

Like I mentioned before, imagine a glacier turned into a dragon and you've kind of got Canllaith. Those same brilliant, bright blues intermingled with hints of green and white, and that sturdy, reassuring sense of mass and power. I know there was a request in the dragon questionnaire for a long, sinuous dragon, but having gone all-out on the glacier idea, he seemed to do better as a strong, sturdily built sort of dragon. I hope you don't mind the switch there. This just seemed so much better a fit to his personality and physicality.

http://www.allposters.com/gallery.asp?aid=477343&item=370902is the picture that seemed to work best for how he turned out.

Mind Voice:

Canllaith might as well have two completely different mind voices; the one the dragons hear and the one you hear. For everyone but you he is solid ice, rarely giving vent to the gaudy fireworks that some dragons use to communicate, and speaks in as few words as he can use to make himself fully understood, accompanying it a high flute, the barren whistle of wind sweeping across frozen lands.

For you, though, it is different. You, lucky rider, get to see beneath the surface. And here lies a stunning depth and startling intelligence to which you have full and complete access. To Canllaith, showing you everything is his duty as your lifemate, and great comfort can be found in the silent deeps of his mind, the soft sound of waves sometimes all that can be detected. Things of importance may be accented with the eager deep sounds of a cello and a sudden overwhelming of surprising warmth of cinnamon when your Canllaith is especially exuberant. Occasional, very rare moments of emphatic speech will have the louder, more aggressive tones of strong, high waves crashing into still, cold ice, sharp, short drawing of bows against the string instruments. (Inspired by Vivaldi's Winter)

Your blue's mind voice perfectly reflects his moods, and he will show you his emotions as calmly and quietly as his personality suggests. Expect subtle, soft changes in tones, as if gusts of wind are manipulating strong seas. Sometimes the whistle of wind through cracks in the ice will accompany his communications, high and piercing over the usual steady surges of thought. Upon those winds you may seem to catch a whiff of vanilla when he's feeling particularly logical and knowing, sharing with you the depths of his wisdom, and cinnamon for more impassioned moods. And on the rare occasions when he's cross, the waves will seem to cease and all you will hear is the crackling, tinkling sound of impenetrable and unchanging blocks of ice grinding and bumping together, with high, possibly disturbed sudden notes with nothing behind it but pure silence.

At first, you may not sense the subtleties within his mind voice. He may seem monotone, or uninterested. But as you delve into his mind, and develop your bond with him, you will quickly grow to understand the deep significance in each slight change of tone, and his voice will take as many dimensions for you, an orchestra of flutes and cellos all playing their parts to convey to you every bit of his emotion, as it would if he spoke the way most dragons do, the variety of blues and greens every bit as expressive as the fireworks employed by Aeokaith, or the deep, suggestive scarlets Myrreth uses to communicate. He is your dragon, your lifemate, and you will grow to understand his mind voice as perfectly as he does yours.

Physicalities:

Regardless of his size while he grows, Canllaith will always be an impressive-looking blue. It's not that he's larger than the browns of his clutch, of course, but his musculature and overall form gives him a sense of mass that is a far cry from all the thin, wiry dragons out there. Even before he starts flying he will look like it would be an effortless attempt for him. He's not fat, nor does he look it. But the impression upon looking at him is very much one of power, strength, and solidity.

He will grow to at a surprising speed, going through a brief period of clumsiness where his wings have yet to catch up with his body. This will not bother him much, though; he'll take it in stride the same way he does everything. He knows, even if you might worry at times, that he'll reach his full size and proper proportions, and he'll do his best to remind you of this if you ever start to worry.

Personality:

Canllaith is a northern glacier…stone-solid, outwardly incomprehensible (sometimes even by you), and as set in his ways as you could possibly imagine. Of course, his ways include being a part of your life and self in every way he can possibly manage, so this probably isn't such a bad thing for you. No matter how well you understand him, he will probably always remain a mystery to others, his emotions too deep beneath the surface for anyone but his rider to understand.

He will require nearly as much patience from you as he has himself. He has that frustratingly zen ability to take absolutely everything in stride, even when you're livid about something. He'll encourage you to do the same, and will never quite understand why you can't always be as calm and collected as he is. However, even if he never fully understands it he will make every effort, when you're upset, to make everything better however he can.

To you, he will display a depth and clarity of thought unusual for dragon or human, calmly considering everything and relaying each emotion, doubt and idea back to you for a second opinion. He is calm and unruffled in all things except one: his desire to please you, protect you and make everything good for you. Even in this, he's hardly prone to outbursts. He will approach you with whatever's worrying you, explain his concern, and expect you to discuss whatever it is with the same candor and peacefulness as he does, letting the calm seas of his emotions work to relax you, as well.

His relative silence around most dragons is not a reluctance to communicate with others; he is neither shy nor afraid of expressing his opinion. He simply prefers logical, simple interactions to the emotionally loaded, colorfully expressed conversations of which so many dragons in the Weyr seem so fond. The first person to attempt an argument with him will find this out the hard way: he's calm and quiet because he's completely unshakable in his beliefs. Unless you can convince him, logically, to reconsider, he's not going to let go of an opinion no matter how loudly anyone but you might yell.

Flights:

It will take an awful lot to melt Canllaith's usual calm, and the prospect of a flight is not usually enough to get his interest. However, if something about a flight (the dragon, or rider, involved, or particular interest from you) drives him to join the throng in the skies, rest assured that he will do his absolute best. He is strong and muscular, and talented in flight. Should he rise, he will likely do well. But the truth of the matter is, flights are not Canllaith's concern. If asked about this, he will likely respond that he, as a blue, could never father a clutch, and he sees no reason to go to such efforts when the result of the flight is so unimportant. It's not so much that he'll show any sort of disdain for those who do join in, he just chooses not to himself, most of the time.

Threadfall:

Where Canllaith may not show that much interest in flying for flight's sake, he's incredibly motivated when it comes to Threadfall. It's what dragons /do/, it's exciting, and he lives for it. This means that any time thread is falling, you're likely to be there, regardless of location. He might even go so far as to make sure the other Weyrs know to call on him if they have incapacitated riders.

While this may be a pain at times, it does give you an advantage over some: while you and Canllaith will still be susceptible to the random, unavoidable Threadfall injuries, once you're out of weyrlinghood Canllaith will pretty much be the safest dragon you could possibly be fighting thread on. He's practiced so much, and thought about it so much, that he really has the potential to become one of the best blues out there, and you, as his rider, get the added safety (and reputation) that can come with that.

Threadfall, like you yourself, is one of Canllaith's passions. You'll get to see a completely different side of him when you start learning about it as weyrlings, and that side will continue to grow and develop as you both begin to fly. Expect your first Threadfall together to be an amazing, amazing experience. He'll go from his usual collected self to the hero of a Harper's song, fierce and fiery, an epic protector of his rider and all of Pern. It's probably the only time you'll see him act truly silly over anything.

Harper's Tale's 37th PC Clutch

Ista Weyr
Yulianna's gold Miyakath and N'ano's bronze Bydelth
Monday, December 15, 2003

Clutchmates:
Raine's green Zeimyth
A'mar's green Naluth
Ariah's green Belissaith
Rele's green Tifaryth
B'au's blue Niwath
Issket's brown Lesoleth
Nayla's brown Manaslath
S'nin's brown Kismetath

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