Dam: Ro's Shining Force of Justice Gold Rhadamanth
Sire: R'sul's Oath of Blood and Bronze Hesketh
Egg Name: Night Under the Stars Egg
Egg Desc: Smooth, uninterrupted blends of color render the impression of a breathtaking landscape over the shell of this rather large egg, depicting a night sky in all of its unabashed glory. Midnight-blue spills over the top of the ovoid, dappled with a thousand, miniscule dots of silvery-white. It's difficult to tell if a few of the dots are brighter than the rest, but they lessen in number as they approach the middle of the shell. Here, the dark of night purples into dusk, eventually igniting into the warm, orange-gold of dawn. Ragged outlines of mountains in the far distance, small shapes that could easily be called small buildings, not unlike holds - all of these are warmed by the ever-bright incandescence that descends to cradle the egg's base.
Mind Name: Fanciful Whims and Wiles
Mind Desc: No longer is Toriath's mind just full of blurry bits of light that glow and fly around everywhere. Any and every thought that she can trim with lace, she does. Her love for baubles and trinkets clearly shines through in her mental presence - the smoothness of milk-white pearls, the flash of shiny silk, a whiff of flowery scent - all of these things together are the essence of Toriath, a girl who truly revels in her femininity. Of course, these vary depending on her mood: Happiness might bring up an excited titter of laughter and a twirling motion like a really swishy skirt in a spin. If she's feeling coquettish (which will likely be often once she's matured), she'll be sure to emphasize that flowery, feminine scent for the males. Sadness will bring a touch of gray into her mind - an unusual enough hue since she adores colors - but only certain ones. Pastels, softer, girlish hues and even the occasional bright flash of something that's just really flirty and fun; she utilizes them all. Her voice is just as bright as the imagery that she's so fond of - it's a cheerful, often sultry soprano.
Hatching Message: Finally, the hatchling's efforts pay off: Night Under the Stars Egg is no more, shattered into fragments with the force of a final push from its former occupant, who finds herself blinking up at the world from a most undignified position.
Hatchling Name: Fairest Girl in Town Green
Hatchling Desc:Soft sprays of color, evocative of the first, tender shoots of spring wash over this sleekly built green, crowning a delicate head with hints of muted honeysuckle that fall to brush against her neck and shoulders. Here, the colors fold smoothly over her limbs, blending into gentle hues of creamy cowslips that cascade down to sway against her belly like the ends of a delicate shawl. Gradually, the spring-greens darken over her wings into richer shades, sun-kissed foliage creating a smooth, even canopy of color upon her wings when folded against her back. Luxurious splashes of deep emerald and sparkles of peridot refract from her wings when open, belying her otherwise delicate appearance, even down to the washed-out, bone-hued talons. Lithe in step and elegant in frame, here is one who embraces her femininity in the demure arch of her pale neck, the manner of her movements and the way that she swishes her curvaceous tail.
Impression Message: Warmth assaulting your senses is nothing unusual; the hatching sands, after all, are quite hot. But softness - well, that's another thing entirely. The brush of finely-woven silk that caresses your mind has nothing to do with the heat, but everything to do with the pale-hued hatchling in front of you. << Illiara. That's you, isn't it? >> Light laughter follows a rosy sweep of girlish delight, almost as if someone just swept a new, gorgeous string of pearls around your neck. << No, that's not quite right. You're Illia, >> she decides, right then and there. << I like that much better, don't you? >> But her discomfort already shines through, hunger pangs hitting your belly as much as hers. << But oh, Illia, I'm so hungry. You'll help me find something to eat, won't you? And then we'll charm the world together, you and I. Illia and Toriath. >>
Perhaps one of the first things that will strike you about her post-Impression after that first meal and nap is that Toriath can be quite a little brat, to put it nicely. As a child, she can be rather petulant and demanding (think Veruca Salt from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), giving you quite a handful to deal with during weyrlinghood. If she isn't the first to do just about everything or the only one to have special, sparkly straps - she'll sulk and pout and generally be quite miserable until she gets what she wants. It'll take a lot of work on your part to eventually get her to see that life isn't about getting her way all of the time.
Light-hearted and generally a cheery soul when she isn't being a brat, Toriath knows intrinsically that everyone needs to have a good time every now and then. And despite your own (or your protective aunt's) inhibitions, she'll coax you to go out and have a little fun - even if it means doing a little sneaking here and being a little cunning there. << Come on Illia, the other greenriders are going to have a girl's night out. You should go with them! Oh, never mind Rhadamanth's - what she doesn't know won't hurt her, right? >>
Despite this carefree attitude that she exhibits toward life, Toriath does know when enough is enough. Although generally whimsical, she's actually fairly intelligent - there's definitely a brain of some sort beneath those headknobs of hers. You'll have your doubts about this at times - her rationale tends to fly out of the window when she sees shiny objects or something particularly pretty for either you or her. << Ooh, Illia, look at /that/ rock! It's so sparkly - I must have it! And did you see that pretty little thing that Zemesuth's was in? You would look good in something like that, too - only, maybe something with longer sleeves? >> You'll soon discover that Toriath is going to concentrate her efforts on gathering a horde of 'pretty things' and you might very well have to firmly tell her 'no' after you find a pile of thirty sparkly rocks forming around your area in the weyrling barracks - or in your weyr, later on.
One day, when you and Toriath graduate out of the weyrling barracks and get your own weyr, you'll wake up one day and find that she's - well, a little bit brighter than normal. And that suddenly, she's nothing but coquettish and petulant. Normally quite sociable as an adult, even if she /is/ a flirt, Toriath becomes a mixture of the brat and the flirt - we'll call her a bratty flirt - when she's proddy. She'll entice the males with coy gestures and swish her tail just so - she'll have it perfected by the time she's ready to rise. Valuing the male who can give her the most - the most shiny rocks, the most fish, the most herdbeasts in one session - she'll go equally for bronze, brown or blue, even though she'll tend toward the larger colors every now and then.
Girly and feminine to the core, no matter what her age, Toriath will encourage your feminine side out of you and enhance your life with the outlook of one who is mostly happy-go-lucky. No matter where her interests or whims sway, her love for you is steadfast and constant - you'll always be her top priority, when all's said and done. Besides, the most fun girl's night out is a night in which you and she will just spend an evening together discussing anything and everything - she'll be your best friend, your confidante, your ever-present partner in life with a rosy touch of feminine delight.
(These are just some guidelines and ideas that I came up with while brainstorming about Toriath - feel free to tweak any part of her along the way. I hope that you enjoy her as much as I've enjoyed making her - she's a lot of fun! - Ro)
So begins Stardust, a fantasy adventure movie based on the novel of the same name by Neil Gaiman. As our clutch theme for this cycle was summer 2007 blockbusters, Night Under the Stars Egg is based on the well-populated image from Stardust's official website of dusk turning into dawn with the village of Wall and the kingdom of Stormhold below.
Toriath, quite simply, is Victoria, the prettiest girl in Wall - and she knows it. She's not above taking advantage of poor boys who would gladly stop to do anything for her and goes for the worldly, the experienced and the rich. Her name draws inspiration from "Victoria, " obviously coming from the last three syllables. I think of it as being pronounced "tor-ee-ath, " but you're welcome to vary the pronunciation as you see fit.
While flipping through iTunes, I ran across a song that I felt really fits the bond that Illia and Toriath will share - "You Were Loved, " sung by Wynonna Judd on the Touched By An Angel soundtrack. In the interests of cutting down on spam, you can find the lyrics here: http://tinyurl.com/3db9kp and the song itself, here: http://tinyurl.com/2a8f3b.
We're really glad to have you with us at High Reaches, Illiara, and hope that you'll find a lot of girlish delight in playing Toriath for years to come. Toriath was created for you by Ro. Welcome to the family!