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Pale hues of malachite green slide sinuously together over the hide of this slender dragon, washing across every delicate angle and curve of her body in a smooth and unblemished expanse of color. Ethereal mists of silver mold and shift, clinging and forming a crown that perches atop her head and twines about the length of her headknobs in tight symmetrical spirals. Spidery tendrils of light snake forth from this pool of light, coiling their way into intricate loops and patterns that circle her whirling eyes and traverse down the sloping arch of her dainty muzzle before fading away into nothingness. Fingers of bleached silver-green twist their way down her spine and around her ridges in rigid braids of color, the lines branching out at her shoulders and haunches to trace their way down her legs in an intricate web, pale against the backdrop of moss. Thin lines crisscross down the length of her tail, each delicate swatch of saturated green linking back with the previous one to form a chain of interlinked segments that ends with her spaded tailtip. Shadows play and skip over the expanse of her wingspars, thick and thin bars of color lacing their way over the joints in shades of pale and deep jade. Only her wingsails maintain a clean slate of beautiful perfection, the membranes of near-white only marred with a tiny yet complex array of nearly invisible lines of colors ranging from green to blue-green to agate.
Zusamenth drawn by T'eo
Egg Name and Description
Rings of Perfection Egg
Round to the point of being a perfect sphere, this egg maintains a look of definite symmetry despite its large and almost overbearing size. Swatches of pale cream, tan and dark umber twist and flow across the shell, knitting together into a flawless and intricate design that spreads over every available space like a massive grid. Splashes of deep mahogany speckles invade the tight weave of earthen hues, adding their uniqueness into the mesh to create an even more complex pattern of color. Pale undertones of cinnamon and chocolate settle across the base, sinking seamlessly throughout as though they were always meant to be there. Bold rings of regimented lines march around the direct center of the egg in an unblemished circle, the thin filaments of gold, copper and bronze almost looking like fine spun sugar with their delicacy and perfection. Not even the tilt of the layered amber bands is crooked or cock-eyed, the balanced layout making them the focal point of the entire ovoid.
Egg made by T'eo
Hatching Message
Rings of Perfection Egg gives a slight *POP* noise as it wiggles in its place, bits and pieces of shell littering the sand around it. What was once a perfect sphere begins to warp and twist from within, as though it were caught in some strange black hole. Eventually something gives and, in a shower of tiny shards, the egg collapses into nothingness. Amidst the debris and destruction sits a green, nearly as perfectly proportioned as her egg once was.
Impression Message
A sudden chill sweeps through your body, a feeling quite at odds with the blistering heat of the sands around you. Soft, silver smoke flows through your mind on a gentle breeze, alighting here and there with an alluring touch. A cloudy and chilly haze fills your vision and your ears are soon filled with a delicate, honey-sweet whispering. It's quiet at first but it grows until one word can be discerned floating on a wave of sound, « Liandyn. » Warmth radiates through that tone, filtering through your body on a buffer of cool mist that sinks into every fiber of your being. « I am your Zusamenth. » It's impossible to resist the surge of adoration, love and warmth that flows from those simple words as the fog encases your mind. « Apart we may have been flawed, but together we are perfection. We will always be perfection. » The echoing whispers flow, ebb and move until they become one and settle permanently into your body. « Even those that are perfect must eat, though, my Liandyn. Right now the best thing we could do would be to /eat/. » Alluring and calm at the same time, the voice sinks away, taking the fog with it. Heat, noise and vision returns gradually but with a new sensation or two lingering - the eternal bond to the green hatchling before you and a deep, gnawing hunger.
Personality
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There is no such thing as a perfect anything or anyone. While these statements might seem to be truth to most people, they are utter fallacy to the unique dragon that is Zusamenth. Beauty is something that she claims, both inside and out. And perfection? Not only does she embody it, but she adores, craves, hoardes and breathes it. Self-assured might be one way to term her behavior, though others might call it pure haughtiness, through and through. Even so, its not as though there is an ounce of smugness or a smidge of showing off in her body why would there need to be when her perfection is so noticeable? Every movement, thought and action exudes a cool, calm and collectiveness, as though Zusamenth were completely convinced that she can do no wrong in whatever she does.
« There should be no doubt about my perfection. Why should I have to prove it? It is visible in everything I do. »
And though it might seem shes only completely and utterly assured of her own perfection, she is even more certain about yours. In her mind, the words Liandyn and perfection go hand in hand where there is one there has to be the other. Flaws, faults and blemishes are a part of your distant past, as with Zusamenth they cannot exist. Where there may have been two imperfect halves before Impression there is now a whole that cannot be unbroken or destroyed by mere cracks. In her sweet, alluring tones of smooth silk, Zusa will constantly remind you of this even in the direst of situations. No matter what happens you will always be her Liandyn and that will always mean perfection.%r%r« We are one. We are together. Together we are always perfection, my Liandyn. Together we are not weak, together we are strong. »
There may be unbreakable truth in this for you, though this honey sweet treatment doesnt extend to others. No one else can be as perfect as you can be, and certainly no other dragon can be as perfect as herself. It stands to reason, then, that she might disagree or find something disagreeable about many things. Thus, you might have to expect an earful of scathing background commentary on people, dragons, objects and places that she encounters here and there. On the outside shell /seem/ to be just as honey sweet, alluring, slightly haughty and soft-spoken as usual, preferring to send her insulting side remarks to you and you alone. Social isolation is something that Zusamenth fears, afterall, and she knows that sugar attracts more cohorts than something sour. Its a grand solution, to her anyways, to channel her sourness inwards where only you can hear and where itll do less damage to her delicate social networking.
To the others in a soft, sweet tone: « Oh, I do think that shade of green does well for your eyes. Such a /practical/ color. »
To you: « but the clothing itself makes her look like a fat old wherry thats eaten too much. What /was/ she thinking? It doesnt help that she waddles, too. »
As a young dragon, however, she may have problems keeping these inner thoughts just to herself at first. Volume control is always difficult to master in the beginning and you might find Zusa accidentally shouting about so-and-sos odd new choice of hairstyle or how utterly imbecilic another person looks when they walk. Thankfully, though, all of this will soon be forgotten by short-term dragon memory and Zusamenth will quickly become adept at filtering her thoughts. Yes, shell still grumble, hiss and whine to you about the shortcomings of others, though she will no longer slip up. Instead she will become adept, wily and devious, in fact, at crafting delicate words intended to win people over to her way of thinking. Its no coincidence that her mind is silvery smooth and silky, as she can be quite the silver tongue when it comes to flattery and manipulation of others. Words are her specialty and she weaves them well, always wanting to be the center of a social web with minions (or friends) to do what she asks of them. While shes good at picking up on peoples flaws, shes equally good at finding their good points and expounding on them in an upbeat, cheerful manner to try to get her way (even if she might be complaining to you, Liandyn, on the side about how silly they really are.)
« Oh, but I know /you/ fly the fastest and the best. Why would I ask anyone else to go pick up something for Liandyn? I would be /ever/ so thankful. »
To you, though, she'll add, « Oh /what/ an imbecile. I cant believe he falls for it every time, Liandyn.»
Some may fall into her trap of words, flattery and alluring commentary easily, while others may balk at the treatment and refuse to give in. It wont bother Zusamenth, as shell just coolly and calmly continue with her advances without relent. Failure is not an option. Failure is irrelevant. Failure is a flaw, and she is not one to give up on anything for the sake of being perfect. As a result, shes quite efficient and organized in her ways. Things must be done in a certain order and spontaneous switches seem completely awkward and unnecessary to her well-ordered mind. Its almost a mechanical way how she thinks, organizes and categorizes things to be the best and proper way. Inefficiency can lead to failure and failure can lead to imperfections, so it is a sure bet that Zusamenth will push you to do your very best. Laziness and sloppiness wont do at all and shell try her best to rouse you with her honeyed tones and sweet caresses even when its at the crack of dawn.%r%r« It is the best time to bathe me, my Liandyn, when it is early and there are not many people at the lagoon. The water also will help wake you up. It is efficient. »
Some of her siblings might find her bossy at times, on top of her usual haughty and honey-sweet air. The reason is that Zusamenth often thinks that she knows just the right way to do something, which shell state rather matter-of-factly in a pleasant and sweet tone. Some of these ideas come straight from her organized and efficient mind, churned together in her usual way. Some others, however, may have been suggested by others at first only to have been disdainfully dismissed by Zusa, who deftly mixes a rejection with a compliment, as being « Thoughtful and nice, but irrelevant. » Irrelevant being her favourite word to describe things that dont make sense to her. Even so, Zusa will often assimilate these ideas into her own thoughts and merely repeat them later only slightly modified as her own, more perfect versions. If she gets caught doing it? Denial, denial, denial.
« Why I dont know what you mean. It is completely different from the idea before and much, much more efficient. I cant believe youd think such /horrid/ things of me. »
Collecting is something that Zusamenth has a weakness for, even if it is ideas, thoughts, facts and information that she might absorb from a conversation. Sometimes she might even like to collect real things, too, but only if they are perfect in some way or another. There might be a shell she spots on the beach that is perfectly curved or a pillow that is the perfect shade of green whatever it is, shell have to have it. It will have to be placed in the most perfect position for viewing, as well, and you might find that familiar sweet and alluring tone in your mind wheedling for a certain item or another. Its surprising that, even with her short-lived draconic memory, she has a fairly good grasp of what she does and doesnt have in her collective.
« But Liandyn, my dear, wouldnt that look lovely next to the shell we found before? I simply /must/ have it. »
This might seem like a childish thing to do, but Zusamenth is far from childish. In fact, shes quite intelligent, self-assured and assertive, no matter if people might think her haughty or self-centered most of the time. Insults or ill-wishes seem to roll right off her, as shell merely laugh in the face of them and point out where theyre wrong in her usual honey-sweet voice. Nothing usually can ruffle your Zusamenth or anger her in any way, as she maintains a very assured and calm demeanor through most things.
« /I/ am self-centered? Certainly not. Youre the one who insists on being oiled three times a day, /not/ me. »
Even when shes proddy her calm and collected attitude exudes from her very being. Not only is she assured in her perfection, but shes assured in her beauty and the ability to lure in males with just the merest flick of a tail or glimmer of hide. At these times shell be a master of quiet flirtations as well as manipulation of words, toying with the affections of the other dragons for the fun of it all. It gives her the biggest thrill to have the males waiting on her and doing her every command, which should be an easy task for her to achieve with her persuasive skills and feminine wiles. Not only that, but the eventual flight will be an even bigger thrill a true test of mind, stamina and wits that Zusa will rise to the occasion with all her might and cunning. It is this philosophy that she will adopt in all her life, too never give up, surrender or give less than your best. Alluring, sweet, calm and assured on the outside but devious, cunning, manipulative on the inside this is your Zusamenth and she is yours for all time. Resistance is futile and failure is irrelevant.
Mindvoice
Curls of smoke, mist and fog are the fillers for Zusamenth's mind, the touch often soft, cool and alluring at the same time. Everything about her mind is languid, calm and slow, as though even her thoughts were teasing, devious and manipulating. It is the wisps of ethereal smoke that she uses to portray her emotions, as colors are a bit beyond her except those of pale blues, greens, creams and silvers. Often she portrays herself with a silver mist, gentle, sweet and alluring, that enfolds the minds of those she links with. When she flatters the mist will thicken to a fog, churning like the sweetest honey, to entice those to her way of thought. No matter what she tries to put forth a sweet, albeit sometimes haughty, demeanor with gentle caresses of cloudy whites, creams and silvers. Should she be disdainful or condescending or judgemental, it will almost be like molten silver itself swishing through the mind link - sharp and cold. However, Zusa will try to keep such thoughts to herself and will only insult people's flaws or imperfections if well and truly angry, which is rare with her calm and collective demeanor (anger can be seen as a flaw, of course.) As it is, she has a very self-assured attitude full of light mist and fog that, despite the fact it seems amorphous and thin, it can repel any insults back at those who give them.
The tone of her voice that hides behind the mist is undoubtably feminine. A soft, lilting voice that plays on some of the more attractive characteristics of a female voice. She can make it melodic, dancing, honey-sweet or mellow depending on her mood and, more importantly, who she might need to coerce with it. She's extremely sure of her femininity and doesn't hesitate to use that part of her, if it's to her advantage. However, just like her other traits, she never flaunts or shows off this uniqueness to others.
Another oddity with Zusa's voice is the fact that it often echoes or doubles on itself, as though it were bouncing through a large room. At one point it can be a single tone, soft and sweet, while another time it may multiply to three different tones - one high, one medium and one low. It's all for effect and it can often be quite melodic, calming and soothing at the same time.
Zusamenth uses the attractive, sweet tones of her voice to lure people in. Some might think it's merely to have other dragons do certain errands for her, though the truth is that she's afraid of being alone in her own mind. Social networks are important to her and she'll cling to friendships and try to "collect" more. In the first few months of life she'll hate to leave your side, Liandyn, as it might mean being alone for a period of time. Eventually she will get used to distance, though she will always insist on checking in on you from time to time wherever you are in the Weyr - it will just be a slight tendril of silver mist sliding into your thoughts here and there, but you'll know it's her. Her obsession with bonding and togetherness is so strong that for the entirety of her life she will rarely use the word "I" unless speaking directly about herself. In all things it will be "we", as Zusa can't imagine doing most anything without you. Without you she would no longer be perfect, as you are the strengths to her weaknesses.
« We are strong. We are one. We will always be together. »
Inspiration
The egg theme this cycle, as you may have guessed, was the Planets of the Solar System, with the dragons inside being based on various alien species.
Rings of Perfection Egg was based on Saturn, the planet most notable for its distinctive ring system and certainly one of the more well known on sight.
Zusamenth, on the other hand, was based on the Borg, a race of cyborgs in the Star Trek universe that spreads by assimilating technological and biological distinctiveness of other species into their own. They are a hive or collective mind type species with a queen that controls numerous "drones" in their quest for perfection. The egg itself was fashioned to have some hints of a Borg sphere, which is the ship they often travel in throughout the galaxy.
Zusamenth was based mainly on a Borg queen, the one who is many, who alone has some hints of emotion and is the driving force behind the Borg. She also has some hints of Seven of Nine, a former Borg who was removed from the collective and returned to being human (a fun fact is that the egg was number 7 out of 9 eggs for this clutch.) These were both melded with what you wanted in a personality to form the uniqueness that is Zusa. Her name, Zusamenth, comes from the German word zusammenn for togetherness or collectiveness, which hints at her Borg nature.
Egg description, hatchling description and all things about this dragon were crafted by Ae'gus. Here's hoping Zusamenth is all you wanted. If there's something about her you don't 'like, feel free to change it - she's your dragon afterall!
Credits
| Name | Resistance is Futile Green Zusamenth |
| Dam | Gold Nieleth |
| Sire | Bronze Halinith |
| Created By | Ae'gus |
| Impressee | Liandyn |
| Hatched | April 11, 2010 |
| Western Weyr | |
| PernWorld MUSH | |