Strakath

Dragon: Strakath
Color: Brown
Name: Eshe
Egg: The Good Kind of Evil Egg
Egg Desc: Rysta
Dragonet: Obliquely Angling Bishop Brown
Dragonet Desc: G'deon
Messages: Rysta
Puppeteer: G'deon
Inspiration: Rysta and Uriala

The Good Kind of Evil Egg:

Hard lines of black hold the white, giving it definition and order, while small splashes of sand sprinkle its surface. Along one side there is almost the outline of a face, black orbs so dark they appear to be bottomless, capturing the gaze of the onlooker. The bottom of the egg has what looks like footprints, side by side, marching across the sand it rests in while along the top the black speckles over the surface in a circular symbol.

Hatching Message:

The Good Kind of Evil Egg begins its march, those footprints along the bottom shimmying to the point that cracks appear over the surface. At first they follow the pattern of black lines rapidly marring the perfectly smooth exterior. Then with the sound of tramping boots, the egg shatters, several fragments dissolving into dust as the Angling Bishop Brown makes his entrance, a sentinel leading a brigade.

Obliquely Angling Bishop Brown Dragonet:

Fortitude and stubbornness drape like unseen vestments, darkening the dragon's muscular shoulders and heavy chest. Almost sleek, the embers of nearly extinguished hardwood ride up along the corded neck, his angular jaw line a mulish flash of tawny beneath the headknobs of mahogany. Down the stiffened spine, the harsher tones fade to sun-streaked tan over the haunches and wings, flowing down in a wash of warm brown to the tip of the forked tail, while the lines of the wingspars create a striking contrast of russet brown. The powerful back legs darken to the most shadowy chestnut, ending in the hard talons like an uncanny resemblance to a soldier's sturdy boots, while his forepaws shift towards an inviting shade of cinnamon, spicing the somber vestment with living vibrance.

Public Impression Message:

Obliquely Angling Bishop Brown Dragonet nearly scoffs at Auryn as she steps away, writing her off as a weakling. No, it was the other one. He hunkers down for a moment, staring at Eshe. Is she up to this?

Private Impression Message:

Darkness and doubt seem to weigh suddenly upon you. Quietness steals into the area, drowning the world outside away. A deep, almost overpowering scent of hops and sweetness fills your mind, the scent starting out dank but moving quickly to more earthy as calm and authority intrude. « Eshe, I am Strakath. » The voice is deep, smooth and now satisfied. « It is you I sought. »

Egg Inspiration:

Good Kind of Evil Egg is essentially based on a stormtrooper. The hard lines, the footprints in the sand walking side by side, the black bottomless orbs, all parts of the uniform of a stormtrooper. The name comes from a song a fan wrote called - I Wanna be a stormtrooper. The line that inspired this egg specifically is - I know they're evil and all, but they're a good kind of evil.

Name Inspiration:

We liked the idea behind the name and the name itself. This is the name you chose from "Babylon 5". It is the Drazi warship that sacrificed itself to protect Sheridan and others against a Shadow missile.

Dragonet Name Inspiration/Chess Piece Theme

Obliquely Angling Bishop Brown. There were a few reasons the Bishop was chosen as the piece for your brown. First, they do go with the darkness/evil theme, though perhaps not in the way that immediately comes to mind. Second, they move in a diagonal line, never straight, and you know, most shady types have an "angle" to their schemes. Third, the Greek meaning of the word is "overseer", which fits a security type to a T.

Description:

For the description, I was hoping to combine the ideas of a strong and sturdy security type with the appearance of a bishop. He's a dark sort of brown for the most part, perhaps even solemn looking, but the thought behind the brighter, "spicier" forepaws was that his actions might not always agree with his appearance. It's the old adage that things aren't always what they seem, which is an concept rampant throughout the Babylon 5 series. —G'deon

Mind Voice:

"Lyta, they believe in this new Alliance. They think they can make a difference, help people. But they're trying, Lyta. They're trying so hard, and they're gonna need all the help they can get, whether they know it or not. I came back because I figured they deserve a fighting chance to make this work, and I'm gonna give it to them. You do this for me, and I swear, I will never ask you for anything ever again… 'Til the next time." —Garibaldi

Strakath's scent is distinctive and yet a touch on the sour side. Sometimes it's fruity, other times it is more down to earth, the overtones of hops and malt creeping in. He often goes into broody moods that take him down a spiral of despondency, where his rider might often be the only one who can pull him out again. He'll of course promise her that he won't ask that of her again… until next time.

"I know a lot of guys who came out of the war… changed. Some came out better; some came out worse. A lot of them have this problem: the war gave them definition, direction, purpose. Without it, they don't know how to fit in anymore, so they keep looking for ways to go in a blaze of glory. Some people call that being a hero… maybe so. I don't know; I've never been one. Me? I think they're looking for something worth dying for because it's easier than finding something worth living for." —Garibaldi

He is always sure of himself, always in charge and his mental voice shows this. Dependable almost to a fault, unless he's in one of his needy moods. But when it comes to duty, he knows it, knows it well and never fails to do it. When it comes to the end of the Pass, however, the end of Thread for his lifetime, he'll not be one of those looking to go out in a blaze of glory. He'll be looking for something worth living for through the Interval.

"With luck, they may never find you, but if they do, you will know pain…"
"… and you will know fear…"
"… and then you will die. Have a pleasant flight." —G'Kar and Na'Toth

During flights, his voice loses some of his sureness, becoming somewhat gloomy. The scent will grow dank, musty even more earthy then before. That is until his quarry takes to the sky. Then he faces a flight much like duty. It's something he does and does well, never wanting to disappoint his rider especially in this all important chore. The strength that is underlying at all times comes to forefront with a flight, along with the almost pervasive darkness that hovers at his core. It's always there, threatening to overwhelm him and just before a flight it will manifest itself to a point where even Eshe will be hard pressed to pull him out of it.

Personality:

"Hey, come on Chief, it's not your fault. I heard what happened. You offered to help, he walked away."
"Yeah, I know, but the thing is: sometimes people walk away because they want to be alone, and sometimes they walk away because they want to see if you care enough to follow them into hell. I think I went the wrong way." —Zack and Garibaldi

Strakath is loyal almost to a fault. He will do anything for someone he or his rider considers a friend. Of course he will often complain about what he considers useless ritual and how the "system" works and how he thinks it /should/ work. No one is perfect and Strakath does have his quirks. Most notably, he often has dark moods, where he seems to think of nothing good and cannot see the positive side of things. It will be in times like these when he will need Eshe the most, when he will be telling her without words that he needs her and only she can pull him out of the funk he is in.

"'Sure' is for people with nothing on the line. You and me, we just get on with it." —Garibaldi

When he is at his best, Strakath is mellow, easy going and unflappable. He does his job and does it well. The brown will be the kind of dragon that any superior could rely on to do exactly what is expected of him. If in a leadership role he will run things with a firm hand, learning everything he would need to know to fulfill that role with nothing extra allowed to interfere. Watchriding and sweeps will be two of the duties he actually excels at and perhaps complains a little less about. Flying Thread will be a duty to perform and one that he will do regardless of the personal cost to protect those he cares about. Though there will be times perhaps when he disagrees with the way things are handled during a Fall, he would never say so at that time and would wait instead for the aftermath when there is actually time for discussion. Then you will hear the brown railing at the injustices only he may have noticed and harping on the things that could have been done better.

"What… part of my message did you get? We've been having trouble with the com system, see, and…"
"The most important part. The part that said: 'I need you.'"
"And you came here just on that?"
"What more is there?" —Garibaldi and Lise

Those moods could possibly prove to be his undoing at times, the moods where he goes melancholy and bleak, where he considers himself to be less than he needs to be. The moods that tell him he cannot be and is not the dragon he should be for his friends and his rider; the times when for whatever reason he feels he has failed in his duties to his Weyr and his lifemate. At these times he will possibly test the patience of those around him, and only Eshe will be able to bring him back from the brink of darkness. Only Eshe will be able to convince him that he is what she wants in a dragon and that he is worthy to be /her/ dragon. After all, through everything it is Eshe's trust and support that will keep him straight and it is only through her being there when he needs her most that she can turn his darkest moods.

"Let me pass on to you the one thing I've learned about this place: No one here is exactly what he appears. Not Mollari, not Delenn, not Sinclair… and not me." —G'Kar

He can surprise you too. Just when you think you've figured him out, he'll do something completely unexpected. Perhaps he'll pull himself out of one of his moods by thinking of something Eshe has said. Or maybe he'll suddenly decide that for just one Fall nothing went wrong and there's no reason to complain about the system that time. He has a tendency to be… unpredictable, to not be what he immediately seems. After all, we all are often more then the face we show to everyone, and sometimes that inner core just might come out into the forefront.

Flights:

"Would you prefer to be conscious or unconscious during the mating? I would prefer conscious, but I don't know what your… pleasure threshold is." —Ambassador G'Kar to Lyta Alexander

Mating flights will be a time when Strakath's darkness becomes almost too much, when even Eshe may not be able to pull him out of the desolation he goes into. At least until he begins to blood his kill. He'll sense the proddy dragon and when he does, his mood will spiral down. It will prepare him for the intensity of the flight, for he will follow the dragon with an all-consuming passion that will only be quelled with the completion of the flight.

"You're a vicious man."
"I'm Head of Security. It's in the job description." - Ivanova and Garibaldi

During these times before he prepares fully for the impending mating flight, he will seem strained and stronger then ever. There will be a fierceness to him that will reflect in his voice and even in his scent. There will be little that could even hope to distract him in such a time, and Eshe may very well be caught up in the moment herself.

"Why does any advanced civilization seek to destroy less advanced one? Because the land is strategically valuable, because there are resources that can be cultivated and exploited, but most of all, simply because they can." —G'Kar/

Should he win the flight, he will be smug, knowing that he was able to perform such a flight all along. Should he lose, however, the mood will grow darker. He will be mortified at his inability to catch his quarry and think it somehow reflective on him personally, that he is not what he should be. It will be up to Eshe to be there for him when he will need her most, and she will need to reassure him that he is worthy and that she is there for him despite everything.

"That's no excuse for what I put you through."
"It's not about excuses. Seventeen years ago, we both died inside. But somehow we survived. For better or worse, that's all we can do. Survive, and maybe one day, forget how much it can hurt to be human." —Lianna Kemmer and Garibaldi

Harper's Tale's 42nd PC Clutch
High Reaches Weyr's 13th PC Clutch
Ashli's gold Isamath and K'nex's brown Shirasuth
August 14th, 2005

Clutchmates:
Liza's green Ikth
V'enn's green Casseth
Auryn's brown Animuth
I'anex's bronze Feitoveth

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