Name: Sophos
Species: Diplodocus longus (Whiptail Longneck)
Gender: Male
Age: 12 years (variable in RPs however.)
Location: Mysterious Beyond (variable in RPs)
Hatch day: Summer
Family: Mother – Plo, Father – Kleos, Sister – Aglaia
Appearance(Young): Sophos’ scaled skin is beige in tone, blending into a row of white along his back, which is also lined by a row of keratinous spines from the base of his neck to the base of his tail, the tip of which is a darker brown. His underside is chalk white. His legs are thick, but not as strong as they will be when he is older. Sophos’ neck isn’t as long as a fully grown longneck either. His eye colour is a soft green.
Appearance (Adult): Sophos’ scaled skin is beige in tone, blending into a row of white along his back, which is also lined by a row of keratinous spines from the base of his neck to the base of his whip-like tail; the top of which is a darker brown. His underside is chalk white and his legs are thick and strong as any sauropod. Sophos’ neck is long and limber. His eye colour is a soft green.
Personality: Shy and soft-spoken, even when among his own herd. Sophos prefers rather to listen and be mindful. He can occasionally be mischievous and bold at times, which has gotten him into trouble on more than one occasion. Despite this, he is fairly mature for his age - especially in part to having to look after his younger sibling when their father isn’t around. He can also be fairly clever and a quick learner. But he is also not very confident in his abilities, nor the most optimistic or even the most level-headed when under pressure.
Biography: It is a tale long past, during an overlapping of two periods. A time of famine and decay, when the leaves were dying and water was scarce. As many of you esteemed listeners are more than likely aware of, many dinosaurs struck out in search of land to settle; while the sharpteeth stalked the herds of leaf-eaters along the way.
It was among one such herd that there lived a story speaker known as Plo. She, along with many other longnecks, had been migrating for many cold times. When the herd rested, she would tell the others of a place known as the Great Valley, how there was more food and water there than they would ever need in a lifetime. The young ones who would often curl up against Plo’s belly and eagerly listened to her tales were enraptured by the thought of such a place, especially in a time such as their current predicament. But many members of the herd only looked upon such stories with skepticism. At best - wishful thinking. After all, how could such a place remain during such a harsh period of time?
Eventually, they decided to travel to the south east, it was there that the herd came upon a land untouched by the famine, Stone Tooth Gulch they called it, for the large cavern that dominated the region. Just in time for the mating season too, for It was here that Plo was courted by a male from the north, by the name of Kleos. For a while, it seemed as if the Gulch was an adequate settling ground.
And it was here, many cold times later, that young Sophos was born and his sibling - Aglaia - soon after.
However, the signs of decay were becoming ever clearer as Stone Tooth Gulch became affected by the drought, at first it was just the fringe of the area that was devoid of food and water, but by the time of their birth, well over half of the Gulch was lost. Sophos and Aglaia’s mother – Plo, had succumbed to the growing heat and increasingly harsh weather naught but a season earlier, leaving only Kleos to watch over and guide them.
Once the next cold time passed, the herd decided that it was best to move on once again, in search of yet another place that would sustain them for the future; a journey that would last many, many seasons. As Sophos grew, he quickly became familiar with the dangers of the world he inhabited. Many parts of the land had shifted, due to earth shakes, erosion and every so often, he and the herd would encounter many kinds of sharpteeth along the way.
It was on the dawn of a day seven years later, the whiptail longnecks were passing through Brightfall Gorge, their numbers reduced significantly and Sophos, alone with his father and sister, pushed on with the rest of them. Migration, the risk of danger and loss, the thought that they may all starve, these were things the young whiptail knew like an old friend, it was life.
But in an instant, things took a turn for the unexpected when the silhouette of the bloodletting sharptooth known as Charo made his presence known with a bloodcurdling roar, flanking them from the rear. Many of the longnecks - the matriarch, along with Kleos, swung around to face him, while the others continued on – Sophos and Aglaia among them. The gorge’s walls were steep and high, impossible for any longneck to climb. So those unfit to fight could only flee along the path in a tumultuous group. Sophos swung his head around to gaze in his father’s direction, stopping in his tracks, fearing for his father’s life.
For a moment, it seemed as if the herd had the upper hand – six against one, Kleos dealt a heavy blow to the large theropod, sending him crashing into the side of the gorge, the impact caused a rock slide which separated the combatants from Sophos and the rest of the herd. Kleos shouted at the young one to run, but Sophos was frozen in place as Charo gripped the matriarch in his jaws and crushed her windpipe like a vice, then took notice of the young longneck just as a wall of boulders blocked the sight of both.
With a crack of her tail upon Sophos’ rump, Aglaia snapped the young longneck from his frightened stupor and urged him on. So they ran, the adrenaline rushing in Sophos’ veins, as if at any moment Charo would chase them down and strike them both dead. They nary slowed until they reached the end of the gorge and it dawned on both siblings that the rest of the herd had left them both far behind.
Not a moment later, they could faintly hear something smashing through the wall of boulders long behind them, followed by an unmistakable, enraged roar.
“Looks like we’re on our own from here.”
With little hesitation, the two whiptail longneck siblings rushed out into the unknown...into the Mysterious Beyond.
More to come...
