Post by Narrator on Jul 12, 2022 11:24:45 GMT -8
Ensconced upon the vast ledge that serves as the Weyr's Hatching Sands, Tuirith lays curled around her impressive egg clutch, at last count, there are thirty-two eggs. Each almost six feet tall, these massive ovoids carry Pern's hope within them.
The eggs that were the product of Tuirith being caught by Baizynth had finally arrived. The dragon, glowing with pride of finally having produced another clutch, guarded the eggs so well that only a few glimpses of the shells managed to be seen. A myriad of shapes and pale marks and colorations greeted the adventurous Weyr dweller who sought to see the Clutch around the various parts of the dragon’s bulk.
Despite her rider's depression, for her part, Tuirith brooded with joy over the eggs; her body placed firmly on top of them and her tail looped snug around the side closest to the main entrance. Though the Candidates had an entrance to the Weyrbowl separate from the rest of the Weyr, her attention seemed more focused on those who came through the main one.
Watchful and wary of her eggs, Tuirith only allows the sacred few to approach her. A silent and respectful Candidate it seemed was more likely to see as much as there currently was to be seen than someone who randomly walked into the Hatching Grounds, even dragonriders (especially strangers), and this was as it should be. The eggs were meant for the Candidates; the gold expected them to come and want to view her children. Everyone else could keep away.
As with all brooding gold dragons, she was at the stage she would not leave the nest to hunt for herself or anything at all save the direst of emergencies. She too remembered when Alayth’s eggs had been stolen and though no attempts were made on Dysmeth’s, the older queen refused to budge even the smallest amount to allow enough egg for some Syndicate to spirit away. No, all these eggs were meant for the Candidates of Great Cliffs Weyr or perhaps Crashing Seas as well, but certainly not the Syndicate’s choice. Their lot could find some other Weyr to steal eggs from for they would have none here. Tuirith fully intended there to be no mishaps.
Baizynth perhaps was more protective than his weyrmate, or perhaps the same. Though the exact scene and experience had been forgotten, the fact the eggs had been stolen and he had failed to prevent the Syndicate from doing so was not. How could he forget when he had lost part of his tail in the conflict that almost took the Weyrwoman, the Weyrleader, and a Candidate’s lives? They had not died, but Alayth lost eggs. Other forces set in place had failed to protect the eggs, and the bronze had been the last stand against the marauding Syndicate. So paranoid had the incident made both dragon and rider that K’ivan put a watch on the eggs in the form of Guardians. Day and night they were watched.
The fact the Syndicate had not attempted to take any of Dysmeth’s eggs made the Guardian’s leader all the more paranoid and concerned for he had heard rumors the Syndicate was regrouping under a new Leader. Who the Leader was or if it was the woman come back from whatever hole she had been hiding in this last Turn, he could not say. However, he would not allow these eggs to be stolen.
Tuirith’s clutch, so well protected by the dam, sire, and others was doubly filled with joy for this was only her third Clutch since they had come forward, and some, including the Master Dragonhealer had been concerned about the arduous jump between had somehow ruined Tuirith’s ability to Rise and Clutch. Now the proof that she was fine to lay nestled in the sands, awaiting their moments of glory as they were “oo’ed” and “awed” by the gathered peoples who meant merely to welcome them into the world. Candidates were required for this task, and the Searchriders now were taken to the air, seeking from Western Continent and her surrounding islands new blood to add to the Weyr’s population.
The visible eggs and their descriptions. The markings and colors represented herein are faded and faint, having similar variations as any avian nest might.
• Soft in coloration and one of the larger eggs, the Amber Egg gleams with near-internal light. The egg is splotched with spindly blotches, some looking almost like insects, others merely indistinguishable blobs of a dark color. Small circles mark the egg in some places, faint brass rings with slightly paler halos within.
• A little more than half of this egg has a lovely hint of teal, striated with long, darker streaks. Perhaps the most beautiful part of this egg is the opalescence of egg, which gleams like a pearl in the shifting lights of the Hatching Caverns.
• Swirled on top of that is a rippled steel-gray, appearing to shine due to white and pale silver highlights. Here and there are golden-colored geometric shapes, mostly squarish, but some are larger and more complex. It is set deep in the sand, ready for anything, firmly planted.
• Upon this egg there is a single mark, pale pink in hue. The rest of the egg remains smooth and unblemished. But once you see the one flaw, it is impossible to look at the perfection of the rest of the egg without noticing the pale mark.
• Another bi-colored egg, half of this egg is a lighter white with darker markings in long, sweeping streaks. The entire egg is smooth and shiny, with brilliant highlights showing wherever the light hits it.
• A mottled egg the Hypersthene Egg is almost ugly with unusual bumps and ridges on its surface. But it is not the coarse ugliness of the egg which first greets the eye, but when the sunlight hits it right, the shimmer of copper-red, dancing in the light and the heat from the Sands.
• The egg is perfectly smooth and incredibly glossy, and the highlights bring out the depth of faded reddish color of the shell. It is slightly askew, and settled nicely into the sand, as if perfectly content to rest and let the world come at it.
• Beautiful etched designs swirl across the surface of this egg in bands of color, interlacing across the surface like the bands on Jupiter. Lying on its side, the egg seems to be ready to roll away.
• Lacy white filaments scroll across the surface of this egg, growing outwards from small points on the egg, into fans of white and cream lace. Where the egg is not covered with fans, there are white and cream speckles and flowerets swirling across the lovely surface. It seems almost otherworldly, like some scene of coral deep beneath the sea, wrought in white and the palest hints of green, and can be an unnerving egg to remain by long.
• This egg is mottled creamy-white and stark white, with the occasional blotch of grayish color, usually with a bit of a tinge of faint pink or green in it. The colors are in geometric blotches, never curved or rounded. In fact, the shapes themselves are never one solid color, but stippled patterns, ranging through many shapes of the same color, with darker edging, as if painted by some artist.
• Standing out from all the others in the Clutch, this egg has a vaguely violet tinge, swirled with a softer gray violet. In a few places, pure white splashes across it like falling stars, or lines of pale lavender trace it, the sweeping tails of comets brushing against a pale purple twilight sky. Blue and even reddish markings meld with purple to create the look of some far-off nebula, mysterious and beautiful.
• Chunks of sand cling to this egg giving it fanciful splashes of raised black. White, ruddy tan, and black-brown bands, about a hand span thick, mark the egg in gentle bands, the edges faintly ripples, curved in half-moons. Though not immediately the most impressive, the Onyx Egg has a restful, well-grounded air that banishes dark thoughts and is only attractive to those who prefer thought as opposed to action.
• This partially buried egg has an odd silvery-gray sheen in the right light, and the pale golden light from the glows in the Hatching Grounds sends a yellow-gold shine across the rough surface of the egg.
• This egg has pale greenish-turquoise markings, like the color of the purest ocean waves, or perhaps the crystal waters of a coral reef. To the touch, this egg is almost powdery, and if scratched with a fingernail, a tiny bit of pale powder will collect beneath. K'ivan assures everyone the powder is a benign must that occasionally forms on eggshells but will not affect the dragonette within.
• This egg bears geometric markings of faded gold-brown. One of the smaller eggs off to the side of the cluster, it is easy for this egg to fall into the background, and unless someone is truly looking for the untouched eggs, it will probably remain there.
• Pale grey, with faint violet and white striations, this egg is remarkably unremarkable. Though pretty, in an elegant sort of way, the Diaspore Egg seems withdrawn and lonely, unwilling to seek or accept affection, and very normal, without any uniqueness to mark it as beautiful and interesting.
• This egg has an unusual brilliantly, obscenely yellow spot that is an eyesore. Tuirith keeps it near her, which suggests that it might be a queen egg, but she is remarkably shifty when it comes to pinpointing whether or not she Clutched a queen. This egg is remarkably easy to approach and seems to call Candidates to it.
• This egg is a pale colorless color with no unusual markings. The egg seems to radiate calm and peace, though it is the peace of waiting before action, rather than true peace.
• A lovely silver-gray color, lustrous and rich, colors this egg. Tan clutching lines criss-cross, interweaving in a very geometric pattern. It is an especially large egg, and sits heavily in the sand, near the edge of the Clutch.
• Another candidate for a possible queen egg, the Citrine Egg is one of the most beautiful, with a smooth, glossy shell.
• White clouds that seem etched onto the surface scud across the curve of the egg, drawing the eye in slow circles around the egg. This egg is mysterious and lovely, but it keeps its secrets until after it hatches.
• Incredibly plain and even rather boring, this egg is... egg-colored. The surface feels like any other egg, and even the faint blotching of white and gray on the creamy-gray surface isn’t nearly enough to make this egg look like anything. Rather, it blends into the Sands, ignored by its mother except to be turned when needed, almost as if some giant green fire-lizard had dropped its egg and just left it there.
• Unique among the eggs, this egg is banded in a multitude of striations with incredibly pale colors crossing through each. A person could get lost in the designs of the egg, just admiring the beauty and tracing the rings, over and over. One of the beauties of the Clutch, yet Tuirith seems to spend little time with it, always fussing with the less-beautiful one.
• A large egg swirled with lacy veins of pearlescent pink, so pale as to be white—but only just this side of the pure white color that some of the other eggs bear. The lighter colors look almost like cracks and it's clear that when this egg does begin to Hatch, it will be well nigh impossible to tell until its resident breaks shell.
The eggs that were the product of Tuirith being caught by Baizynth had finally arrived. The dragon, glowing with pride of finally having produced another clutch, guarded the eggs so well that only a few glimpses of the shells managed to be seen. A myriad of shapes and pale marks and colorations greeted the adventurous Weyr dweller who sought to see the Clutch around the various parts of the dragon’s bulk.
Despite her rider's depression, for her part, Tuirith brooded with joy over the eggs; her body placed firmly on top of them and her tail looped snug around the side closest to the main entrance. Though the Candidates had an entrance to the Weyrbowl separate from the rest of the Weyr, her attention seemed more focused on those who came through the main one.
Watchful and wary of her eggs, Tuirith only allows the sacred few to approach her. A silent and respectful Candidate it seemed was more likely to see as much as there currently was to be seen than someone who randomly walked into the Hatching Grounds, even dragonriders (especially strangers), and this was as it should be. The eggs were meant for the Candidates; the gold expected them to come and want to view her children. Everyone else could keep away.
As with all brooding gold dragons, she was at the stage she would not leave the nest to hunt for herself or anything at all save the direst of emergencies. She too remembered when Alayth’s eggs had been stolen and though no attempts were made on Dysmeth’s, the older queen refused to budge even the smallest amount to allow enough egg for some Syndicate to spirit away. No, all these eggs were meant for the Candidates of Great Cliffs Weyr or perhaps Crashing Seas as well, but certainly not the Syndicate’s choice. Their lot could find some other Weyr to steal eggs from for they would have none here. Tuirith fully intended there to be no mishaps.
Baizynth perhaps was more protective than his weyrmate, or perhaps the same. Though the exact scene and experience had been forgotten, the fact the eggs had been stolen and he had failed to prevent the Syndicate from doing so was not. How could he forget when he had lost part of his tail in the conflict that almost took the Weyrwoman, the Weyrleader, and a Candidate’s lives? They had not died, but Alayth lost eggs. Other forces set in place had failed to protect the eggs, and the bronze had been the last stand against the marauding Syndicate. So paranoid had the incident made both dragon and rider that K’ivan put a watch on the eggs in the form of Guardians. Day and night they were watched.
The fact the Syndicate had not attempted to take any of Dysmeth’s eggs made the Guardian’s leader all the more paranoid and concerned for he had heard rumors the Syndicate was regrouping under a new Leader. Who the Leader was or if it was the woman come back from whatever hole she had been hiding in this last Turn, he could not say. However, he would not allow these eggs to be stolen.
Tuirith’s clutch, so well protected by the dam, sire, and others was doubly filled with joy for this was only her third Clutch since they had come forward, and some, including the Master Dragonhealer had been concerned about the arduous jump between had somehow ruined Tuirith’s ability to Rise and Clutch. Now the proof that she was fine to lay nestled in the sands, awaiting their moments of glory as they were “oo’ed” and “awed” by the gathered peoples who meant merely to welcome them into the world. Candidates were required for this task, and the Searchriders now were taken to the air, seeking from Western Continent and her surrounding islands new blood to add to the Weyr’s population.
The visible eggs and their descriptions. The markings and colors represented herein are faded and faint, having similar variations as any avian nest might.
Amber Egg
• Soft in coloration and one of the larger eggs, the Amber Egg gleams with near-internal light. The egg is splotched with spindly blotches, some looking almost like insects, others merely indistinguishable blobs of a dark color. Small circles mark the egg in some places, faint brass rings with slightly paler halos within.
Tourmaline Egg
• A little more than half of this egg has a lovely hint of teal, striated with long, darker streaks. Perhaps the most beautiful part of this egg is the opalescence of egg, which gleams like a pearl in the shifting lights of the Hatching Caverns.
Hematite Egg
• Swirled on top of that is a rippled steel-gray, appearing to shine due to white and pale silver highlights. Here and there are golden-colored geometric shapes, mostly squarish, but some are larger and more complex. It is set deep in the sand, ready for anything, firmly planted.
Topaz Egg
• Upon this egg there is a single mark, pale pink in hue. The rest of the egg remains smooth and unblemished. But once you see the one flaw, it is impossible to look at the perfection of the rest of the egg without noticing the pale mark.
Ametrine Egg
• Another bi-colored egg, half of this egg is a lighter white with darker markings in long, sweeping streaks. The entire egg is smooth and shiny, with brilliant highlights showing wherever the light hits it.
Hypersthene Egg
• A mottled egg the Hypersthene Egg is almost ugly with unusual bumps and ridges on its surface. But it is not the coarse ugliness of the egg which first greets the eye, but when the sunlight hits it right, the shimmer of copper-red, dancing in the light and the heat from the Sands.
Carnelian Egg
• The egg is perfectly smooth and incredibly glossy, and the highlights bring out the depth of faded reddish color of the shell. It is slightly askew, and settled nicely into the sand, as if perfectly content to rest and let the world come at it.
Moukaite Egg
• Beautiful etched designs swirl across the surface of this egg in bands of color, interlacing across the surface like the bands on Jupiter. Lying on its side, the egg seems to be ready to roll away.
Seraphinite Egg
• Lacy white filaments scroll across the surface of this egg, growing outwards from small points on the egg, into fans of white and cream lace. Where the egg is not covered with fans, there are white and cream speckles and flowerets swirling across the lovely surface. It seems almost otherworldly, like some scene of coral deep beneath the sea, wrought in white and the palest hints of green, and can be an unnerving egg to remain by long.
Unakite Egg
• This egg is mottled creamy-white and stark white, with the occasional blotch of grayish color, usually with a bit of a tinge of faint pink or green in it. The colors are in geometric blotches, never curved or rounded. In fact, the shapes themselves are never one solid color, but stippled patterns, ranging through many shapes of the same color, with darker edging, as if painted by some artist.
Sugilite Egg
• Standing out from all the others in the Clutch, this egg has a vaguely violet tinge, swirled with a softer gray violet. In a few places, pure white splashes across it like falling stars, or lines of pale lavender trace it, the sweeping tails of comets brushing against a pale purple twilight sky. Blue and even reddish markings meld with purple to create the look of some far-off nebula, mysterious and beautiful.
Onyx Egg
• Chunks of sand cling to this egg giving it fanciful splashes of raised black. White, ruddy tan, and black-brown bands, about a hand span thick, mark the egg in gentle bands, the edges faintly ripples, curved in half-moons. Though not immediately the most impressive, the Onyx Egg has a restful, well-grounded air that banishes dark thoughts and is only attractive to those who prefer thought as opposed to action.
Jet Egg
• This partially buried egg has an odd silvery-gray sheen in the right light, and the pale golden light from the glows in the Hatching Grounds sends a yellow-gold shine across the rough surface of the egg.
Crysocolla Egg
• This egg has pale greenish-turquoise markings, like the color of the purest ocean waves, or perhaps the crystal waters of a coral reef. To the touch, this egg is almost powdery, and if scratched with a fingernail, a tiny bit of pale powder will collect beneath. K'ivan assures everyone the powder is a benign must that occasionally forms on eggshells but will not affect the dragonette within.
Sphene Egg
• This egg bears geometric markings of faded gold-brown. One of the smaller eggs off to the side of the cluster, it is easy for this egg to fall into the background, and unless someone is truly looking for the untouched eggs, it will probably remain there.
Diaspore Egg
• Pale grey, with faint violet and white striations, this egg is remarkably unremarkable. Though pretty, in an elegant sort of way, the Diaspore Egg seems withdrawn and lonely, unwilling to seek or accept affection, and very normal, without any uniqueness to mark it as beautiful and interesting.
Tyuyamunite Egg
• This egg has an unusual brilliantly, obscenely yellow spot that is an eyesore. Tuirith keeps it near her, which suggests that it might be a queen egg, but she is remarkably shifty when it comes to pinpointing whether or not she Clutched a queen. This egg is remarkably easy to approach and seems to call Candidates to it.
Euclase Egg
• This egg is a pale colorless color with no unusual markings. The egg seems to radiate calm and peace, though it is the peace of waiting before action, rather than true peace.
Galena Egg
• A lovely silver-gray color, lustrous and rich, colors this egg. Tan clutching lines criss-cross, interweaving in a very geometric pattern. It is an especially large egg, and sits heavily in the sand, near the edge of the Clutch.
Citrine Egg
• Another candidate for a possible queen egg, the Citrine Egg is one of the most beautiful, with a smooth, glossy shell.
Jade Egg
• White clouds that seem etched onto the surface scud across the curve of the egg, drawing the eye in slow circles around the egg. This egg is mysterious and lovely, but it keeps its secrets until after it hatches.
Quartz Egg
• Incredibly plain and even rather boring, this egg is... egg-colored. The surface feels like any other egg, and even the faint blotching of white and gray on the creamy-gray surface isn’t nearly enough to make this egg look like anything. Rather, it blends into the Sands, ignored by its mother except to be turned when needed, almost as if some giant green fire-lizard had dropped its egg and just left it there.
Agate Egg
• Unique among the eggs, this egg is banded in a multitude of striations with incredibly pale colors crossing through each. A person could get lost in the designs of the egg, just admiring the beauty and tracing the rings, over and over. One of the beauties of the Clutch, yet Tuirith seems to spend little time with it, always fussing with the less-beautiful one.
Spinel Egg
• A large egg swirled with lacy veins of pearlescent pink, so pale as to be white—but only just this side of the pure white color that some of the other eggs bear. The lighter colors look almost like cracks and it's clear that when this egg does begin to Hatch, it will be well nigh impossible to tell until its resident breaks shell.
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