Loutra
Everyone's Favorite Damn Smug Otter-Horse
By Posiedon, Out of Mammalia (Kingdoms* x Leona+)[1]
"One morning (I use this term loosely, as it was just past dawn, and still time to be asleep and therefore night...) the sensation of dripping water roused me. "Tabby! What are you doing now???" I thought-muttered at the panther, who had taken to waking me in sundry ways (tugging the blanket away, tugging me away, dropping "breakfast" beside my pallet, the list goes on). To my amazement, Tabby's reply was a groggy "What are you dreaming up this time, Dylana?" A mix of survival instinct (granted, my survival instinct is seriously repressed. It's still there, though.) and curiosity - mostly curiosity - caused me to actually half-way wake up. I opened my eyes to discover a not-quite-full grown blue horse with a green mane dripping on me. The last half of sleep to which I had been so desperately clinging fled. This is an understatement. I mean "fled" in the same way some people would say most prey animals flee Tabby. This was, to say the least, an unexpected sight. Really, when was the last time you woke up expecting to be dripped on by a blue and green horse? If you answered anytime at all, I defy you to prove the truth of that matter.
Anyway, so I've woken up to this somewhat (read: extremely) bizarre sight. My first action is to hop out of bed, followed closely by thinking at the still sleeping feline, "Tabs? There's a horse dripping on me." After convincing her that I had not in fact overindulged in some of the island's more popular intoxicants, and that there was indeed a wet equine in our (Tabby's and mine) hut, I glanced around to make sure my weapons were where they were supposed to be (they were). I then asked the horse aloud, "All right, count me unamused but curious. What the hell?" The horse, through some fairly amusing gestures suggested that I mount (Dad had taught me to ride. I'm not sure whether that counts as fortunate or not in this situation.) and, for lack of anything better to do that day, I did. Hey, I've already stated that my survival instinct's a bit repressed. You didn't really think I was joking, did you? It resurfaced once I found my way to Amber. But I digress.
I mounted the horse, who walked out of the hut into the surrounding forest area. Tabby stalked along behind. "This should be interesting. Now you've gotten me curious," she projected into my mind.
To make a long story short, the horse, who I later named Loutra (the name's founding has a whole other story), eventually led Tabby and me to the base of Kolvir, where the three of us wandered for a while, until Dad found us. "Um, I know I left you on the island Dylana. How did you..." he trailed off upon taking notice of Loutra, "ah." At which point, he shuffled out Sand's trump. Some conversation ensued which ended up in Sand being pulled through. She looked at Loutra and said, "Yeah. That's one of mine. He seems to have found a rider. Um, she's probably going to end up here lots, so I suggest you take her to the Pattern."
Dad looked a bit troubled at this. "Is she ready?"
Sand shrugged. "She's yours, Gerard. Probably."
"What's the pattern? What's going on? Where am I?" My tendency to throw out all the questions on my mind usually got the same momentarily overwhelmed look from Dad that it did on this occasion.
Sand was faster on the uptake. "The Pattern, well, you'll see. It appears that the horse has plans. You are in Amber."
Soon after, Dad and Sand took me to meet King Random, who called Benedict, who between them decided that I was indeed ready to walk the pattern. From there on, everything was as usual (for Amber), except that when Dad told me to watch out for "that step", Sand and Random (Benedict went back to wherever he came from) gave him the odd, "we still don't know what you're talking about" look."
- Dylana
Loutra's Dad: Posiedon
Not much is known about this gentleman, other than that he is - or was - a chariot horse to some sea god. He also bears the distinction of being able to turn, for all practical purposes, into sea foam, a skill his son did not really inherit. Posiedon now resides in the Hellmares' home Shadow, somewhere in one of the lakes or the ocean.
Loutra's Mom: Mammalia
This is the side, according to the Hellmares, that matters. Through his mother, Loutra can trace his ancestors back to three of the original five half-Chaos founders of the breed: Rose, Ascot, and Black Jade.
Mammalia is considered one of the sages in Shadow-shifting lore by the Hellmares. She has been from Amber to Chaos and back several times on her own. On the other hand, she has a marked tendancy to forget that she has a rider at unfortunate times. She seems to have passed on both some of her lore and some of her forgetfulness to her son. At least, we assume that's forgetfulness and not guile...
The Personality Behind the Blue and Green Fur
Smugness seems to be his calling card. He's always smug, except on very rare occasions (like when Carnegie got him drunk...). And if he can find a way to pull his rider out of trouble, he's even more smug.
He's also occasionally mischievious. I suppose that's what you call periodically deciding to roll over while being ridden - often with little to no warning. He's somewhat disdainful of "normal" (i.e. non-Hellmare) horses - especially ponies, consistently finding ways to harrass Arwen's latest pony, at least up till now. One can only assume he'll continue his track record.
And then there's his relationship with Carnegie. They seem to distribute their time equally between feuding over some as-yet-undetermined thing/incident and being civil to each other for their riders' sakes. Or at least relatively civil. (Gods forbid these two should ever take a liking to the same filly!) Unfortunately, Loutra seems to currently be on the losing end of the situation.
Some History
Very little is known about Loutra's early years. One assumes he was a standard Hellmare foal: insatiably curious, gangly, and silly. It is also assumed that he was raised in the Hellmare Shadow. His first real appearance came in his late teenage years (or the equine equivalent), when he presented himself to Dylana (scroll up for that story).
More recently, he's been involving himself in an apparent mischief contest with Carnegie; they seem to be trying to top each other in terms of pranks and times they've beaten the other. Loutra is, unfortunately, losing. He's been kicked, bitten, and made drunk, among other things.
He was also briefly recalled to the Hellmare Shadow after Chaosites hostile to Amber tried (unsuccessfully) to take it over. One gets the feeling the Hellmares were glad when Chetwin reclaimed both Carnie and Loutra to chase Chaosites.
Poor Hellmare; he hasn't had much time to be smug recently.
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[1] For those unfamiliar with this style of horse breeding information, this is how it works:
- By Posiedon = The sire [a.k.a. "Dad"]. A * here means the sire is a Hellmare (for this situation)
- Out of Mammalia = The dam [a.k.a. "Mom"]. A + here means the dam is NOT a Hellmare (for this situation)
- (Kingdoms* x Leona+) = The sire and dam of "Mom". Again, a * in the first name means the sire is a Hellmare, and a + in the second name means the dam is NOT a Hellmare. The x is there for separation purposes.