Sienna's Sagebrush for your Booboos (Cleanicus Hurtibus) Green Kehemath

Sienna, what can we say? We loved the coyote idea you pitched to us in the interview. How lucky for us that you put so much thought into your character, that you were creative, that you were (astoundingly) active! You are absolutely deserving of Kehemath, and we had great fun making her. We hope you like the twists we’ve added to your original (and detailed) idea. Of course, -you’re- her pack leader, IC and OOC. You can play her however you like, and we look forward to seeing how you develop, and develop with, your coyote green. - D’baji, T’zyn, Onlie and T’ab


Bad Dog! Don't Eat! Egg

No way around it: with an almost flat base, and formed in such a way as though to look like several sausage-like shapes have been dropped and packed together into an almost conical form, this brown egg cannot but look like a giant turd. Those brave enough to take a closer look will see very small, textured spheroids, bright green in colour and each surrounded by a coral-like base. Dangerous and disgusting, but hey, someone might find it appealing.

Hatching Message:

Bad Dog! Don’t Eat! Egg receives a sharp hit from within, cracking and rolling onto its side as a big piece of shell falls away. Nothing but orange-whirling eyes at first; then, cautiously, one sturdy claw appears, then another, and out slinks a green dragonet, staying near the shelter of her hollow eggshell, casting wary glances around the sands.

(For the body language of her hatching message, see the first bit of this cartoon - though strangely enough, I only saw this after writing the hatch message. But it’s exactly what I was going for!)

Sagebrush for your Booboos (Cleanicus Hurtibus) Green Dragonet

Hatchling:
Deep forest and rifle greens mingle over the back of a small body, across rounded shoulders and long features. Long limbs end with heavy, wide claws, while a short neck ends in a wide, spade like head. A sandy color sets apart muzzle and eyeridges, running the underside of her body, from chin to tail tip, and reappearing just on the bottoms of her claws. Her eyelids are shadowed a light brownish red, the color mirrored on the underside of her wings. Flattened, feathered headknobs, light on the external sides, dark on either side of army green neckridges, complement the few teeth that peek out from the upper lip of a long, drawn out mouth any time she runs her floppy, wide tongue over her lips.

Adolescent:
Thin, gaunt and gangly, Kehemath appears to be growing in length before width.  Her legs and wings stretch thin, deep forest and rifle greens mingle over the back of a small body, forming hair like striations over narrow shoulders and long features.  Heavy, wide claws support her, while her short neck ends in a wide, spade like head. A sandy color sets apart muzzle and eyeridges, running the underside of her body, from chin to tail tip, and reappearing just on the bottoms of her claws.  Her eyelids are shadowed a light brownish red, the color mirrored on the underside of her wings with the beginnings of patterns in off white etched through.  Flattened, feathered headknobs, light on the external sides, dark on either side of army green neckridges, complement the few teeth that peek out from the upper lip of a long, drawn out mouth any time she runs her floppy, wide tongue over her lips.

Adult:
Deep forest and rifle greens mingle over the back of a small body, forming hair like striations over narrow shoulders and elongated features.  Strong, wide claws support her willowy legs and compact trunk, while her short neck ends in a wide, spade like head. A sandy color sets apart muzzle and eyeridges, running the underside of her body, from chin to tail tip, and reappearing just on the bottoms of her claws.  Her eyelids are shadowed a light brownish red, the color mirrored on the underside of her wings in explosive sunburst patterns.  Flattened, feathered headknobs, light on the external sides, dark on either side of army green neckridges, complement the few teeth that peek out from the upper lip of a long, drawn out mouth any time she runs her floppy, wide tongue over her lips.

Public Impress Message

Sagebrush for your Booboos (Cleanicus Hurtibus) Green Dragonet drives right after her sister, that wide tongue lolling out her mouth now, head low and eyes intent on one thing. Until the other green whips around that group of candidates standing there - the bakers, that trader. As if she'd hit a wall, this green stops short, digging her small but strong talons into the black sands. A careful whuffle, a high-pitched whine… and then, as she steps forward toward a young woman, she emits a long, eerie howl; more canine than draconic.

Private Impress Message

The black sands surrounding you melt away, transformed into the dark beach of Blacksands Hold with a smoking volcano on the horizon, the image stolen from your memories. Initially you were alone, but slowly a second presence approaches, wafting the aroma of burning sagebrush. The scenery is absolutely silent until a sultry, smoky voice enters, « Kehemath. » The voice then erupts into a mental howl, emotions of joy and kinship soon being overtaken by an instinctual need to feed.


Egg Inspiration

Canine parvovirus is a highly infectious disease spread by direct or indirect contact with feces. It doesn't look like much under the microscope, but it can cause vomiting, diarrhea, anemia and a reduced the white blood cell count, and can be quite fatal if not treated. One more reason not to let your dog eat poop, even if it really wants to.

(Sorry. We couldn’t resist having the most canine-inspired of the dragons coming from the Parvovirus egg.)

Name Inspiration

You wanted a coyote dragon, and we wanted to incorporate some native myth into the personality you’d already outlined. Where the name came from isn’t hard to guess: we started looking up ‘coyote’ in various languages from the native groups on the Plains. When we came upon the Cheyenne ‘Keheme'ehne’ for ‘coyote appearing’, we were in love. We pared down the syllables a bit, found the vowels we thought worked best for sound while according to the examples you gave us of names you liked, and wound up with your Kehemath. We read it either with the middle vowel long, the others short (the ‘a’ might almost have a short ‘u’ sound to it: ke-HAY-math or ke-HAY-muth), the howl of a coyote, or with all short vowels (ke-he-math), the laugh of the trickster.

Physicalities

Kehemath might grow up to be a sleek huntress, but there is little of that to be seen in the rolypoly dragonet that hatches on the sands. At birth she is a plump round creature, all overlarge paws and playfulness. You might be hard-pressed to keep up with her in her early months, her rambunctious energy similar to that of a young canine.

Like a young pup, too, she'll get her teeth into most anything she can – gnawing on furniture, your shoes, her straps, your wingmate's flight jacket – a habit that persists not just through her infancy but throughout her life. It's something you'll have to keep an eye on, with her, as much as possible, lest she swallow something inedible and grouse about the resultant stomachache for the next candlemarks.  

In this young stage of her life you'll notice another strong instinct in her, too – the drive to dig and burrow. Those powerful-strong claws of hers will get into pretty much anywhere they can, trying to carve herself a burrow out of the stone if need be. It will be a struggle for you to keep this in check – digging outside in the dirt is one thing (though people around the Weyr might be alarmed to find huge dragon-sized dens excavated into the plateau) but carving out the hard stone walls of the Weyr could easily injure her talons, especially when she is younger. Keeping her from doing so will be a battle of wills between you two, and good practice for you starting to learn control over the mindlink.

As she grows, she loses that roundness quite starkly – the months leading up to her maturing find her considerably lankier, gawkier, long-legged and bony. Through this time her playfulness might dwindle somewhat, her gangly physique more awkward than anything.  She will grow rather rapidly through this time, and in addition to her not-quite-comfortableness in her body, this means that you will have to pay extra attention to keeping her oiled so her growing hide doesn't stretch and crack through all the changes. By the time she matures fully, though, those bony muscles will have filled out to be trim and sleek, and she'll have lost that awkwardness entirely. Long-legged, elegant and muscular, Kehemath will be a strong and confident dragon, now, whether hunting or at play.

Kehemath is an intensely tactile dragon, and with you – her pack – she will enjoy being very physical. Curling up with you when it is time to sleep, snuggling during your relaxation hours, and she certainly loves it come bath time when you get to groom that is, wash and oil her. Though she loves the contact with you, she's not near so comfortable with it when it comes to other dragons and certainly not other people – their intrusions into her personal space are met with tension and displeasure rather than the affection you get from her so easily.

Kehemath shows her irritation or anger in very physical ways; even to those who don't share her mindlink, it's never very hard to read her more negative moods. Tense, tail extending, long legs stiffening, teeth bared, head lowering and eyes staring, she makes it quite obvious when she's feeling uncomfortable or hostile.

Mindvoice

From Impression, it may be obvious that Kehemath’s mindvoice is one that is very focused on the imagery and other senses and less on actual words. (She will either love speaking to dragons like Kzydnth and Nylanth, or hate it - they are both very visual, but their imagery might infringe on, or re-interpret hers. Meanwhile, she will likely run into communication issues with Sarezith, who uses no imagery whatsoever, but relies on speech and intonation.) Her general theme throughout her life will be the natural scenes from all around Pern.

Suddenly in your mind you find yourself amongst titanic redwoods that emerge out of the ground in all directions, the scent of burning sagebrush wafts across your nose and slowly starts to increase in intensity as you walk through the forest. Despite the splendid surroundings, there seems to be no living creature around and you feel empty, alone. In the pit of your stomach there is a dull ache reflecting the emptiness of the woods.

And while she will borrow from the various regions around the world, the deserts of Igen, the lush forests of Lemos, or even the arctic chill of High reaches, there will always be a few aspects that she keeps distinctly Kehemath. The areas where she’s most at home will be grasslands, and her times of contentment, playfulness, joy - anything positive that isn’t a specific message - is likely to be pictured there. Beyond visuals, there will always be the smell of sagebrush; every canine can recognise a creature - even creatures of the same species - by their particular scents, and Kehemath is sagebrush in her mindvoice. We chose sagebrush not only because this is one of the most common plants used in Native ceremonies (sagebrush is used for smudging, a sort of cleansing ritual in which the smoke from the smoldering plant is wafted up over a person’s head and heart), but because it fit in with the clutch theme of home remedies. Sagebrush can also be used for topical applications, to fight off infection.

Depending on the degree to which she’s commenting on external situations, or pressing her own opinions, plans, or wants, the scent may be in the background (think walking past a bush of sagebrush on a hike), or may dominate everything (burning sagebrush is very pungent, and liable to overtake your nostrils entirely). She will likely assign other scents to other regular creatures in her life - her clutchmates, you, your family or loved ones - and these scents always will always be plant or herb based: mint, thyme, sandalwood, etc., and probably less-palatable fragrances like stinkweed for anyone she finds particularly distasteful. Colors range within the natural spectrum from the ruddy brown of a red cedar to the luscious green of flourishing ivy. The more intense the emotions will result in more vibrant colors and stronger scents, almost overwhelming at times as her main form of emotion expression is through these messages.

But it isn’t that she never speaks, it is just rare.  In fact, she’s more likely to resort to actual vocalisations - strange yipping noises and barking noises, howls and whistles, as well as the usual repertoire of dragon warbles, rumbles and croons. True to coyote form, she’s more likely to skulk around a topic than to address it directly at first, scouting it out for herself, and most of all hoping for understanding from you. It’s only when she’s extremely excited and focused on you, or when you, or others, are incapable of deciphering her animated messages and Kehemath becomes frustrated with the lack of understanding, she will finally be provoked into words (cornered, if you will) to speak her messages in a smoky, deep contralto, but her words will be short and to the point.

A forest? I don’t really understand what you are trying to say, Kehemath. You want to run around through the trees, I don’t think we have time to be playing.
« I hunger. »

During the beginning portion of Weyrlinghood you may find it hard, or near impossible, to always translate what Kehemath is meaning with her variety of images, scents, and emotions. Due to your strong mindlink, though, it will be much easier than any outside dragon or other person (most whom may never fully understand her).

Personality

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Wile E. Coyote, genius."
- Wile E. Coyote (Genius)


Or rather, Kehemath. She is the coyote you requested, a mix of sly and cunning and playful and friendly; a trickster and a loner and a pack animal in turn; a hunter and a scavenger; a leader and a follower in turn. She changes like the winds, based on either circumstance (she’s a true opportunist), or some strange internal twinge of instinct - though when the external and the internal are out of sync, you can trust that she’ll be stubborn to adapt to the situation at hand.

From the start of your mutual life together on the sands, you’ll be her chosen pack leader, and your relationship will be not unlike one of parent-offspring. However, as she grows, greater depth will develop in your bond. She’ll seem a little less unpredictable as you learn each other’s patterns, but don’t worry: your Kehemath will always have a surprise in store for you, just - as it goes with surprises - when you’re least expecting it.

From the start, Kehemath will tend more toward the playful side of things, and a little less toward the sly. She'll be very much a coyote pup in dragon form, excited and curious, always wanting to play, and smell things, and see if she can fit in to small spaces, and yelp when she can't get back out, and taste all sorts of things off the ground, and maybe throw them up later, and invent games that she thinks are a world of fun even if you might not always agree. She will, by far, be at her most playful when she’s around you, and only you. She'll be excited and she'll jump about and she’ll project animated scenes to you and might even be carried so far as to give a couple words to you now and then - and this will carry on through adulthood and into her senior years.

“Wow!” says Coyote. “Omens and miracles. We haven’t had any of those yet.”
“Get your head down,” I says. “He’s going to see you.”
“Here I am,” says Coyote. “Here I am.” And that one dances around and jumps around and stands around. “Here I am,” says that standing-around Coyote.
“You are one silly Coyote,” I says. “No wonder this world is a mess.”
- Thomas King, Green Grass, Running Water, (Toronto, ON: Harper Collins, 1994), p. 238

She'll be hard to keep under control at first, with that puppy-short attention span, and you'll have to remind her over and over and over. Kehemath is a creature made up of instinct and impulse, and this makes her self-interested; where her gut tells her to go, she goes, without thought of what could happen to anyone else, or even really to herself - like miniature quests, except without the planning. And when these quests don't work out or she finds herself surprised by something? She'll come running back to you.

"Well, back to the old drawing board."
- Wile E. Coyote (Genius)


While these frequent failures may drive the drawing board (psst, that's you) a bit insane at times, you'll soon learn that she'll respond best to you when you maintain a firm and patient hand. Anything that provokes a fierce explosion of temper will have her slinking off to pout - but don't worry. Kehemath is the epitome of dragon memory, and lives in the moment. No grudges will be held, and it won't be long before she's back at your side.

Okay. There are two worlds, you know. One world is a Sky World. One world is a Water World.

“Where do the Coyotes live?” says Coyote.
“Forget the Coyotes,” I says.

That Sky World has all sorts of things. Sky things. They got Sky Moose. They got Sky Bear. They got Sky Elk. Sky Buffalo.

“And Sky Coyotes?” says Coyote.
- Green Grass, Running Water, p. 38.

Aside from her loyalty to you, Kehemath is a self-interested dragon, though not in an egotistical way. She’ll always be checking and re-checking her place in things, like any good pack animal, and for you that will sometimes mean testing, and sometimes just mean following. These ‘tests’ will serve not only as a means by which Kehemath can test her own abilities, but a way of keeping the greater Weyr ‘pack’ up to snuff. They can manifest themselves in all sorts of ways, from quiet tests of will between the two of you, to physical challenges with other dragons.

It’s time for drills. Come on.
Kehemath crouches lower in the brush of the forest, tail swishing. The usual smell of sage in your mind abates, nearly disappearing beneath scents of the forest and the wet earth in which she’s dug her talons.
Kehemath, now.
The world around you goes darker, a deep green, encased in the rustling of leaves and hardly more than a memory of Kehemath’s sagebrush. And from the forest comes a pitiable, high-pitched whine as the green backs farther, blending in as best she can, clenching her talons harder.


With the number of flyers in your weyrling class, you can expect her to get into contests especially with Jivayath (who’s competitive to a fault), Injolnith (who likes to try and prove he’s just as acrobatic as the greens), and Sarezith (whose physicalities are based on a bird, and hey, Wile E. Coyote and the roadrunner, right?).

The bowl becomes smaller and smaller as Kehemath soars to an aerial view in her mind. The rim begins to blur as her mind’s eye spirals upwards, and when the focus shifts again to the ground, there beneath is the fading outline of a dragon the same pale amber tones as Jivayath. Her usual smell of sage smolders, then flares, a final note of challenge in the sheer intensity of it.


The older Kehemath gets, the more she'll be able to focus her energy on achieving those instinctive desires. While the impulse will always be a matter of instinct, her means of pursuing the want or need will become more methodical — and more creative.

And while she may learn some day-to-day things through your encouragement and discipline, you can't take the wild out of Kehemath. And with that 'wild' comes the coyote's cunning. Kehemath is the trickster coyote from Native myth just as much as she's the wild coyote you see when driving down a prairie highway. If she wants something that is beyond her reach, she'll find a clever way to get around it.

There's a Karuk tale of how Coyote brought fire to man that illustrates this beautifully. When all the animals were cold, and only the yellow-jackets had fire, Coyote went up to their nest and told the all-yellow bugs that he could make them beautiful by painting them with charcoal. He painted stripes on them, and then told them he could make them even more beautiful by painting their eyes. When he'd darkened their eyes, he grabbed a smoldering stick and went flying down the mountain, leading the yellow-jackets on a race. The stick was passed from animal to animal, and finally was swallowed by a willow just as the yellow-jackets had given up the chase. It was then old Coyote who showed how rubbing willow branches together would bring the fire back by creating heat.

There is a story derived from Aesop's fables (carried from Mexico to the Native tribes) of how Wolf and Puma were hunting, and then both wanted to eat a fawn. They fought each other, inflicted heavy wounds upon one another, and as they were both laid out on the ground and out of breath, Coyote dashed into the middle and carried the fawn off for himself. "All they could say was, 'Too bad for us. We killed ourselves for Coyote.'”
[- John Bierhorst, Doctor Coyote: A Native American Aesop's Fables (Macmillan Publishing, 1987), 8th story.]

If any lessons are to be learned by her antics, they'll be learned by you. (The fable above is about those who scrounge off the work of others, and as well as teamwork.) Kehemath has neither the interest nor the memory for that. You may come away wiser, she'll come away the same Kehemath in the end. And for those things she /does/ remember, she may try to re-phrase in her own way.

Sometimes, of course, even these more clever plans and tricks of hers won't work. If Wile E. Coyote has taught us anything, it's that not all plans work out, even if they're planned by a Genius. Or a Supergenius. Just like in her youth, it'll be back to the old drawing board. Although she might, once she’s older, try to downplay some of the things she’s done that either get her in trouble, or go wrong.

Anybody who eats my stuff is going to be very sorry, says that GOD. There are rules, you know.
I didn’t eat anything, says Old Coyote.
Christian rules.
I was just looking around.
Is that chicken I see hanging out of your mouth? says that GOD.
No, no, says Old Coyote. It must be my tongue. Sometimes it looks like chicken.
- Green Grass, Running Water, p. 69

Except for the times when she naps, Kehemath will always be on the move. And the transition between activity and nap time will be as sudden as a skip between. Her instincts and needs won’t let her sit still, and she’ll be happiest when kept busy. If she’s made to sit idle, she’s liable to get a bit destructive if only as a means to amuse herself.

Although mostly a solitary creature, there will be a few dragons or people close to you that she will form fairly close bonds with (though, obviously, nothing like the one the two of you share). She will select a few playmates at random, probably types who won’t stand in her way, but might encourage her trickery or even become parts of her plans. She might be able to draft Injolnith into this (he’s part spirit-coyote, and it’s likely he’ll ‘get’ her sometimes - and to try and lend a chivalrous hand, so long as she can make herself understood when she explains her plans through imagery).

When it comes to interacting with the other weyrlings, and other leadership, however, you’ll have a harder time. First, Kehemath tends to be skittish around others, far preferring to slink along the sidelines. Of course, she does have to interact, and will understand this on some ‘pack level’, but even during this times, her instincts might not be in the right place (maybe she wants to eat when it’s time to fly; maybe she wants to swim when it’s time to ferry important rankers back and forth from the holds), and she will pretty much always take exception to anyone leading her except you. It will be up to you to show that you agree with the leadership, and up to you to focus her attention when she’d rather try to skirt around the issue. Or slink out of the bowl. And if you ever disagree with the leadership, and try to tell her to do what the wing is doing anyway? No dice. Kehemath will know when you’re lying and when you’re being sincere, and it’s only the latter she’ll be willing to follow.

Your Coyote dragon will be at her most narrative (that is to say, least instinctive and instantly changeable) when she’s asleep. With no external stimuli to prompt her instinct (it’s a two-way street, after all; impulse can come as much from within as from without), she’ll be able to focus on just one thing. And you will sometimes have whole mini-quests and adventures unfolding in your head, like a silent movie - or rather, a movie with no dialogue, ‘cause all the smells and sounds will be there, and probably even sensations that will take you by surprise.

Boy, that Coyote likes to tell stories. Sometimes he tells stories that smell bad. Sometimes he tells stories that have been stretched. Sometimes he tells stories that bite your toes. Coyote stories.
- Thomas King, “Coyote and the Enemy Aliens” in A Short History of Indians in Canada (Toronto, ON: Harper Collins, 2005), p. 58.

So. In the beginning there was nothing. Just the water. Coyote was there, but Coyote was asleep. That Coyote was asleep and that Coyote was dreaming. When that Coyote dreams, anything can happen. I can tell you that.
- Green Grass, Running Water, p. 1.

Her hunting habits reflect her wild coyote nature. Hunting and eating is about survival, it is not a frivolous activity and she takes every meal very seriously. When Kehemath stalks her prey, the mindlink will go far more primal, reduced only to smells - her sagebrush, and the exact scent (nothing herbal here!) that she’s picking up from her prey. This will last until she finally captures the beast, in which she will release all of the held in emotion with vocal howls and imagery that will put you, Sienna, amidst the meal. When she’s merely scavenging, the eating will be far less intense; you’ll still be treated to the smell of Kehemath herself and her meal, but there won’t be the same prey-drive intensity, and you’ll catch less emotion overall. No matter whether she’s hunting or foraging, though, Kehemath is not a clean eater: the food-creature’s body will be shredded to pieces and her hide will be coated with the blood and innards. And out-ards. It will seem that after almost every meal you will need to bath Kehemath and pick out all the pieces of fur and bone off of her maw.

Flights

Proddiness in Kehemath comes slow, and it comes quiet. While it is a subtle thing to others, to you it is easy to note when your largely-solitary dragon uncharacteristically starts actively seeking out the company of others of her kind. Where other greens might get flirty during proddiness, or press you to keep them oiled and looking their best, Kehemath is less concerned with her own looks and more concerned with feeling out the males around them – she does not flirt so much as /test/, whether that be tasting how confidently Injolnith responds to her imagery or keeping a close eye on how strongly Xhiyanth is performing in drills. She is fairly quiet and restrained through her typically short proddy periods, but once the time has arrived, that all changes.

From the moment she goes to blood her kill it will be as savage and messy as her feeding time; you'll have a hard time keeping her in check and making sure she does not turn the process into a meal. That same ferocity carries through into her flights. In the air it is hard to tell if she is hunted or hunter; though others may be chasing her, she is clearly seeking to leave the weak behind and get her claws into the most choice catch of the group. She'll fly hard and fast, her sleek form well-suited to culling those without the strength or agility to keep up with her. If someone gets a little too close before she is ready, or if she does not think they have proven themselves adequately, she isn't above using a snap of her jaws or lashing out with her strong talons, either, to discourage them. Even once she is caught, it can be hard to tell if she's mating or /fighting/ – it won't be unusual for the winner of her flight to find himself a little bloody and scuffed up in the aftermath.

Afterwards, though, will be one of the very few times when Kehemath is nearly as affectionate with anyone else as she tends to be with you or her few chosen ‘pack members’– she'll enjoy snuggling up to the winner in the wake of things, often falling asleep curled up together. The affection doesn't last, though; once her nap is over she is back to herself again, as prickly as ever as she ejects them unceremoniously from her den.


Credits
Egg: D’baji
Dragonet desc: Onlie, D’baji-tweak
Messages: T’ab, D’baji
Name: D’baji, T’zyn tweak, Onlie tweak
Puppetted by: D'baji
Inspiration: D’baji, T’zyn, Onlie, T’ab


Sienna's Green Kehemath
Harper's Tale: 57th PC Clutch
Ista Weyr
Pippa's gold Jeyth and I'no's bronze Raeklith
July 30, 2010


Clutch:

A'ru (Andru) and blue Kotoceth
D'rani (Dorian) and Injolnith
Ei'es (Eilem) and green Sarezith
Sadaiya and gold Jivayath
Sienna and green Kehemath
T'sei (Taliesin) and bronze Xhiyanth

NPCs:
Olivia and green Laetith
J'az (Zamaja) and blue Cilioth
P'shel (Pushel) and bronze Shoveth
A'live (Aliver) and blue Neardeth
T'uft (Tuffnut) and brown Snotlouth
Ruft (Ruffnut) and brown Gobberth

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