Apogee

Bonded to: Blue Light (Astan) female Eurani Promontores (large) at Avengaea

Birth Name: Tantumble, changed at age 48
Soul Name: Tonde
Who Knows Name: Only self and Tallow, but he's dead. Most of the time she acts as if she doesn't have one. She thinks it's of no use to her now. At year 3598 Squall arrives to Twin Peaks and they exchange soul names.
Race: Elf, pure
Age: 220 (305) Born in Year: 3366
Sex: female
Relatives: Fleecehide, mother-d; Skyshot, father-d; Recognized mate: Tallow-d, no children came of her Recognition*, see Tallow's Tale. ((**Please note - this is an ADULT story with TASTEFUL material in it, my mom liked it, so it should be okay)) Lovemate Squall.
*Well actually ... There's this girl named Starbright who would like a word!
Friends: Catcry, Talon, Squall, most bird riders, some of the better storytellers. (All either dead or left behind at the ruins of Twin Peaks.)
Enemies: cat-riders, particularly the one who let their cat chomp on her bird's feet! (this has faded over time, but she still is never comfortable around them)
Hair: Light brown, cut short and a little wild, tends to sweep upward in the back like a cowlick.
Eyes: Medium brown, sharply slanted, large.
Height: 3'9"
Weight: 70 lbs
Skintone: fair, usually reddened from sun.
Build: Small, compact with lean muscles. Long legs.
Voice: High, nearly 'cute' but she can whisper to make your hair stand on end.
Sub-Tribe: Bonders, Bird-riders
Bond-animal: A giant eagle namehead Silly-One (alternately Two-Claws), who is mostly brown, with a golden head and eye-markings, long black tips on feathers. Has only two claws on one foot because of an 'accident' with a lion. Often hunts for gophers, much to the disgust of Apogee, who tries to train him out of it. (Deceased about a decade before Dragons)
General Appearance: Spritely and lithe, smiling most of the time. Looks much younger than she really should, but with elves, who can tell? Because she is relatively pretty, she can disregard her appearance and still look good, which she does at most times.
Clothing:
Summer: Very small skirt and halter top over one shoulder in light green leather, frayed at the edges.
Winter: Tight fitting unitard-like outfit, long sleeved and down to ankles, in silvery green, trimmed in short brown fur. Second layer is cloak-dress, half-sleeves wider at elbow, down to knees, split in front. Cloak is greyish black, with brown fur inside.
Colors: greens, silvers, black.
Weapons: Favors the bow, and is very good with it. When arrows are not enough she throws javelins, only when cornered will she use her knife. She uses only wood and stone instruments, never metal (if available). Also, she makes fishhooks from bones.
Possessions: Few. Her weapons are the most obvious, then there are some tools useful for fishing, cleaning and gutting fish. She has a large basket filled with tanning scraps, which she intends to put together and use as some kind of crazy device to fly ((note that after her bonding to Silly she has almost forgotten this stuff, and she finally does put it all together and gives it to Jackdaw)). And her single most prized possesion is a candle made by Tallow, her deceased lovemate: it is an eagle in flight with two thin tapers that never shrink. She lights this candle once a year. (She becomes a packrat again at Bald Mt, and still has the candle.)
Skills: Fishing, swiming, diving of course, using bone for various applications. Has a little experience with the Humans nearby, and can attempt to barter with them. Also learned a little candle making from Tallow, as well as some phrases in other human tongues. She goes on long-distance scouting flights, and checks up on human scouting parties from birdback.
Likes: Fish, freefall, watching water and clouds, having things to do, wind, climbing trees and cliffs (if only to leap off of them), riding her bond-bird.
Dislikes: Restraints, returning to the ground, frozen lakes (though when someone invents iceskating, she may change this), going hungry, sticking to routines, overt changes in people, talking about her relationship with Tallow.
Personality: Certainly not shy, like her mother Fleecehide, though she gets her build from her. Once she finds something she likes, she will take pains not to over-use it, other than, of course, diving. She will do things like suddenly take up an offer to go on a long-range hunt or a scouting party just to have a break from everything. She is a fair hunter, preferring to shoot long-range from a high spot. She has no hatred of humans, in fact, she is rather curious about them, and will not harm them if at all possible. Trolls are a distraction and she considers them pests, but has also never tried battling them. (Armed with a knife? Get real! She'd run quick!)
Background: Born to Fleecehide and Skyshot, who both are now dead. Learned early in life that if she does not do something right Now, she will regret it. She is impulsive, but sane. No diving into shallows allowed. As a child, she would spend many long hours watching the sky from any given cave-opening, and knew that one day, she should soar in the clouds. Every time she saw a giant bird, her heart leapt into her throat...Is it for me? She asked herself. Of course, Silly was not at all expected in her life but then neither was her participation in getting a young Human to fly too! --see Flight Feathers...She took to water like a fish, one day, when Skyshot took her to one of the nearby lakes, and she accidentally fell in. She bobbed about for a moment, then happily splashed around. She can catch fish with her hands if the water is shallow enough, prefers to use her fishing lines and hooks in deeper waters.
On a long soul-searching trip, she ran into a male elf named Tallow, a wandering candle maker. They spent a while together, fell in love, but Tallow fell ill and died on the way back to Twin Peaks. This is partially responsible for her fear of closeness. She is very touchy about love. Losing both her parents to a rock slide was devistating, and this may also explain her need not to use her soul name. Since learning of Dreamkin and her 'talks' with spirits, she may try to get information out of her about Tallow, but that is unlikely at best. Since Tallow died before they could fulfill the bonds of Recognition (Apogee did learn his soul name and did speak it before he died) she has been a little too somber about children. What if there were children in her life and she were to fail them? To die even bravely is still to die leaving a distraught child. And since Catcry has Recognized, she has gotten a little bit jealous, but not enough to make it come between her and Cat for long. A big event in Apogee's life will be when she discovers that there are other people to love, all around her.
After the goundquake, she leaves the holt briefly on a scouting trip, to investigate the hostile Human's territory. While out there she meets Squall, a female weathershaper who returns with her to Twin Peaks. (After that, another more deadly quake sends the groups away from the Peaks forever.)

Squall

Bonded to: Cascatan (Water) Male Stallano Altus at Avengaea (tiny)

Age/Year Born: 33 (118)/3567 Sex: Female
Soul Name: Tylesh Known By: none but self, later Apogee
Mate Status/Sex Preference: lovemated to Apogee, but they both 'shop around'/wildly prefers anyone who will match speeds with her
Children: hah. ha ha hah.*
*.... about that, Icecap made a surprisingly apt match for her, their son is Crystalstorm
Parents/Relatives: mother, flier; father unknown, possibly glider or weathershaper, both deceased and from another holt
Height: 4'3" Build: slender and long limbed, gangly
Hair Color, Length, Style: black shiny, to thighs tied in 4-6 braids, heavy and very straight
Eye Color, Size, Shape: violet, large, almond shaped and slanted
Skin Tone: dark, tanned from the sun and very even
Voice Quality: husky, low and sexy, growls and uses animal noises in her speech a lot
Clothing -- Summer: halter top and bikini bottom in red-orange cloth, red braid yarn woven through, no shoes
Clothing -- Winter: loves silk things, and piles them on in great numbers when she's cold at all (up here, lots)
Jewlery Worn, Made: none, metal might attract lightning!
Tatoos/Markings/Scars: has a tribal insignia around her ankles, wrists and neck, over scars from bonds
Pets/Animals Kept: none, likes birds and sea mammals
Notable Posessions: nothing, she just wears what she wants from other people, gives them back
Holt Function: protector/hunter, weathershaper
Magic? How Powerful? Sending 8/10, Magic Feeling 2/10, Levitation 10/10 (she is really a glider), Water Shape 8/10
Stormshape: A combination of flight and water-shaping at 9/10 power! She loves to fly, and will do it anywhere, in any weather.
Climate/Locations Preferred: warm, rainy and wet climes, Twin Peaks was a little too cold for her year-round
General Likes: openness, people who are happy, storms, watching water and animals in it
General Dislikes: kids, trolls, humans, anything which keeps her tied to the ground
Fears/Worries: terrified of being captured again by humans, they are responsible for her injuries
Special Strange Info: her bestest friend outside of Apogee is Rasp, natch!
Basic Personality: Loud, cool, happy, blunt, open to a fault, dramatic and easy to fluster; when in holt discussions, she is quieter because she is unused to being the focus of any attention (a habit brought on by being a captive)
How they feel about
Humans: absolute terror, with growing anger
Elves -- shepherds: oooh, I'm impressed, you can watch sheep graze.
Elves -- magic users: like these guys, they're my kind of people
Elves -- bond-riders: yeah, up there in the sky, okay!
Trolls, etc: afraid, they're like humans

Squall's history can be found here.

Back to Tribe page

Without a doubt, Squall was having a hard time with the place. Even after having arranged their trip away from the Zoorti nebula - what a shame, they thought, that they'd never see the fine results of that cold nest... - they were surrounded on all sides by humans.

Not just any humans, but ones who had a society. Bustling. It made Squall nervous, at the same time as it made Apogee beam with pride. It was almost as if she herself had prodded them into becoming technologically or magically (or indeed, psionically, which was what the elves were) advanced. Their culture was thriving, and their people were interesting.

Squall tried her best to emulate the elfess she loved... It was tough.

Tonde, she thought carefully, this place makes me chilled. It is too busy...

Tylesh - don't worry. I'll protect you. See, the people aren't harmful. Apogee thought back, they are curious, but they are not like the humans who hurt you. How could they be? Apogee pointed out their symbiosis with the dragons, how they all cooperated and made their lives together.

"They celebrate us?" Squall asked, and Apogee nodded enthusiastically. The group of candidates for the beautiful young dragonets they were to be introduced to had lined up and gathered. They were sent into a large meeting hall with the others, and the dragonets came to greet them. It was a semi-formal kind of thing, not everyone knew everyone else, not every dragon wanted to talk to everyone else. In fact it looked like there was one who just wanted to get the heck out of there.

Squall was halfway surprised that he wasn't the one who chose her - she felt just like him...

A day or so later, another grand meeting was called. Apogee and Squall had picked up just enough psionic energy from people to grasp what was said - though the priest man who presided over the whole thing droned on and on... He had a nice voice. For a human. But anything taking this long would have put them to sleep had they been humans. One of the kids nearest the pair of elves almost did fall to sleep...

Then the dragonets were brought back out, escorted to the group of bonder candidates. They did not have to choose, but if they came and didn't, they had to wait until another batch - three tries, then they had to leave. They weren't fit or ready for a bond at that point. But...

Both Squall and Apogee thought they felt something. It was an outside tingling, like the way that sensitive elves could pick up whether their own magic had been used on things. It wasn't internal, and it was focused on a basket of scrolls which the dragonets were asked to pick up if they felt ready to pair.

Look at the glow, can you see it? Apogee asked Squall of the basket. The flier nodded, but wasn't positive she'd really seen it as Apogee had. She was distracted by the arrival of the dragons. Every eye was on either the dragonets or the people bonding - and that again, made Squall nervous.

Apogee held her hand, knowing that this would be nerve wracking.

Three dragonets chose off, they were wonderfully paired. The scrolls they held sealed their fate.

Squall wasn't sure that this was all a good thing, any more...

"It'll be okay," Apogee assured her. "Look here come two now. Remember them? Oh - they look so funny together like that..."

"I wonder if that's how we look?" Squall said, as the mismatched pair of huge Light and tiny Water dragons came toward them. Squall was sure that the light would come to her, really, but the smallest Water dragon anyone had seen came up to her instead, quickly handing her the scroll.

"You look about my size," he said, a voice that was deep like the ocean already. Suddenly Squall smiled and knew - there was no way that the big female would come to her - that was left for Apogee. Squall and Stallano formed their bond by sharing the scroll's touch - and right then Squall did see the magic so clearly it was as a second sun.

The other dragonet, female Light, came to Apogee. Solemnly, she said, "Leadership can be lonely, and although I think you have the companionship you need already, I'd like to help you fly again." She gave the elfess a smile, hesitating.

Apogee took the scroll, knowing that her bond was precious - like the lifemating of a recognized, only with the open acceptance that they would be apart at times, of one who willingly shares their name.

"Eurani Promontores is her name," Apogee said as they were paraded across the room. "Stallano Altus is his," announced Squall. The other bonders seemed happy with their choices, and both the elves realized that they would be able to show off their partner's bond just as well as their own. Apogee would be willing to swim with the water dragon, while of course Squall could fly already.

***

"He's gotten so big," Apogee commented, as the water dragon lept out from the lake, and flipped his flat tail into the air before splashing back down. Stallano wasn't really big compared to the other water dragons, in fact he had remained the smallest of the whole batch. But still, he was twice the size he'd been when they had their pairing, and it was noticable.

"Yup," Squall said, "and you know you're going to have him in the lake competing with you for dives."

Apogee laughed and nodded. The other dragons and riders were having their day off, the rigorous training and magic practice, flight-readiness and chores were cancelled just for a few days. It was chilly outside, but the lake water almost steamed by comparison. Apogee was the only person who felt like swimming, on a cold day like today. She, and the trio of water dragons who had remained to get their training!

Eurani sat up in their den, on a ledge. The elegant blue-Light spread her wings open and dove over the water, causing a ripple behind her from her speed and size.

"He's not big!" Eurani called out, craning her neck around and stalling in mid-bank to turn her direction. "I'm the big one!"

"You're already bigger than her bird... was," Squall said, coming up to meet the great light-dragoness in the air. Two-claws was a large bird, but he'd nothing on this grand beauty. When would she stop growing? Who knew!

But some day they would head to Abode, where Bald Mountain awaited... Their tribe would be so different after they all got back together!

***

And it was true: the tribe had matured in the time it was apart. Though two turns of the seasons usually meant nothing to these long-lived elves, they had grown in so many more ways than just 'older'. Apogee and Squall arrived back at Bald Mountain and the water dragon immediately looked around from the ledge for the infamous diving pond. He couldn't see it from there of course, because it was on the far side of the south face.

"I want to dive... My skin will simply dry up and fall off if I do not get to dive." He said, Stallano wasn't going to take no for an answer.

So Squall - as per usual - lifted the dragon up with her powerful wind magic, and they soared together out of the ledge again. To meet up with the rest of the tribe, all coming in roughly at the same time. She was so surprised, she almost dropped her precious bond!

"Don't do that to me!" Stallano cried, his webbed tail lashing around, "I cannot fly!"

"I know, and if you're not careful, I won't be strong enough to hold you any more. Stop thrashing!" Squall said, and gently set him down on the low diving ledge. The pond was big enough for him, but not for two, unless they were quite small.

She noticed that not everyone had arrived. Apogee had done a head count as well, and come up short. Eurani was about to make a "you're all elves, of course you're short" joke, but Apogee elbowed the Light Blue in the neck and that shut her up.

"Where is White Eyes?" Asked Apogee. "Should we go back to the Healing Den and find him?"

The others looked around and decided that they'd wait a bit before doing so. It was possible that the youngest of their tribe needed more time, time alone, to sort himself out.

After they'd all arrived, though, there was much preening, introducing, and showing off to be done. And then there was a stunning idea put forth from Whip. They should go introduce themselves to the local human folk.

There were several tribes nearby - and on dragon back it would be but a moment's flight. Not all the humans even knew that there were elves living in this odd mountain but now they would have to.

And no way would there be a repeat of what they'd done when the High Ones arrived: they would not run, they would not be beaten down. They had dragons to help defend their territory now.

Proudly this great line of beautiful dragons - all colors and all sizes - stood on their ledges. They'd found niches that could be further carved, if they only had a rock shaper that would be easier.

(trying to add some stats here)

Eurani Promontores - Askan (light) dragon, female, blue-opal; 16' shoulder (large even for an Askan); abilities: Verbal Speech, Psionics (telepathy, telekinesis, teleportation), human-dragon spectrum shifting (unused except in very rare occasions), functional magic

Stallano Altus - Cascatan (water) dragon, male, blue-purple; 9' shoulder (small for Cascatan and very small for new ones); abilities: verbal speech, Psionics (telepathy, telekinesis, teleportation), water breathing, functional magic, human-dragon spectrum shifting (never used)