All That Glitters Ch. 30

"Let's call up what needs to be in a coat of arms," Fayad said, opening his comp.

"First, a heraldic device, or coat of arms, can be issued to any person of letters, or a member of the military who has achieved the rank of Warrant Officer or equivalent or a commissioned officer in the military or other services, or a person who has achieved a significant decoration or notable distinction.

"It can also be issued to corporations and businesses as a distinct symbol, though this is usually trademarked.

"By those standards, Hanalei and I can ask the Union Heraldic Authority for a coat of arms as we have both achieved notable distinctions and decorations. We would then pay to register our coat of arms with the Heraldic Authority.

"A coat of arms has many distinct parts and can include a shield, which holds the main features of the coat of arms and doesn't have to have the shape of a shield. It has a head piece, which tops the coat of arms and can be broken down into more distinct parts such as the helmet, the crown which only royalty may use though a crown may be included as part of a device given by royalty to a group, and the crest, the upper-most piece of the device.

"It may have a mantle, which supports the head pieces, and supporters, which are mounted either side to 'hold up' the shield, the centerpiece of the device. The shield can be wrapped in a buckle, which may have an 'inferior motto', the 'superior motto' on a banner which can be above or below the device, though usually it is below," Fayad showed them each item as he spoke on it.

"So, Pod-Drran shields tend to be rectangular, similar to the old Roman shields. We refer to that kind of shield as a 'Scutum'. The shields now used in heraldic devices now tend to be more like medieval shields. But in a heraldic device, the term 'shield' refers to the centerpiece of the crest, which has the various emblems on it. So it doesn't have to be a shield shape.

"I think your old house crest was a shield because senior females and males of most Pod-Drran houses are of the Warrior Class. Your house will have the distinction of not being directed by the Warrior Class, so you need not use a shield.

"Next, the background, what is known as the 'field'. This provides distinctive colouration for the shield. What do you want as a background?" Fayad asked.

"The Peninsula of Ur, is noted for its wild nature and large animals, including very large lizards," Mind-Ur said. "I was thinking of using the scales of a lizard as the background. I don't know what colours to incorporate though. I was a Tae but no longer am. The colours of the Tae are yellow-blue."

"The colour of the Union Flag is blue. You are a citizen of the Union now, that is your distinction, being the first ever non-human to achieve the citizenship. Why not colour the scales in the blue of the flag?" Hanalei asked.

"You can also use images of the beasts from the Peninsula of Ur as your supports," Fayad suggested, throwing the items from his comp up onto the large 3D monitor in the room.

The image of a large oval with blue dragon scales was now on the monitor, a 'buckle' surrounding it.

Mind-Ur threw some images of the animals of Ur up on the monitor, and Fayad selected a large reptile that he modified and placed on the right of the oval as a support.

"How do you write 'Ur' in the Pod-Drran language?" Junelliya asked.

Mind-Ur showed her and added that to the larger monitor.

"That is distinctive," Vangeliya noted. "What does the peninsula look like?"

"It is very rugged with many mountains," Mind-Ur told them. "That is why no one has claimed the name, as very few Pod-Drran live there."

"Mountains can be characterized by an upside down V in the form of a tall triangle" Fayad said. "Put two of them together, make one smaller than the other, and that will show mountain ranges."

"What colours should they be?" Junelliya asked.

"Do you get snow on the mountains there?" Vangeliya asked.

"Yes, the snow on some of the mountains is permanent," Mind-Ur advised.

"Ok, we make the mountain symbol white then." Vangeliya stated. "Why not put the Pod-Drran symbol for Ur inside the mountains, black on white?"

"That's good," Hanalei said. "But it still looks a little too simple. What about adding a star above the mountains?"

"The central Union star from the flag?" Junelliya suggested.

Fayad added the star and moved the mountains a little lower on the shield. It was starting to look good.

"What about the motto?" Vangeliya asked. "What do you want to say about your family, Mind-Ur?"

"Not about the family but about the people in the family. The people in the family all work for the family," she told them.

"Oh, then you can say 'In Support of the Family', in Latin, that would be, 'In Favorem Familiae'," Junelliya said after looking it up on her comp.

"Why not put that in Pod-Drran script around the buckle?" Fayad suggested.

They did, modifying it slightly to read 'In Support of the House of Ur'. The device was starting to look good now.

"OK, what about the headpiece? Do the Pod-Drran use helmets?" Fayad asked.

"Only in very ancient times, Fayad," Mind-Ur told him. "Most would not recognize what a helmet is now."

"So right to the crest then. What would be appropriate there?" Fayad murmured.

"Quills," Junelliya said.

"Sorry?" Fayad asked.

"When I was at Denders Resort on Terra, they showed me an animal that had quills on it," Junelliya said. "I think it was called a porcupine?" She called up an image and Fayad added it to the top of the device, changing the size to make it fit.

"Very distinctive!" Vangeliya stated. "It is not too simple and not too complex. There is plenty of areas to put various colours in for all the classes of the people in your House. The motto is simple and direct and has meaning for the Pod-Drran and for humans. It's a good crest."

"Now, you just have to add colour to it," Fayad said. "You could add another support on the left of the oval. You still have a few animals to chose from so you can add one of them, or just reverse the lizard and have two of the large reptiles for supports. The center piece is distinctive and unique, in colours that are good for both our species.

"The mountains would be recognized by humans as such and the Pod-Drran will recognized Ur by the word in the center. It is a good crest for the House Ur," Fayad summed up.

Mind-Ur was pleased. She had been agonizing over this for more than a day, and her friends had helped her come up with an amazing House crest in less than twenty minutes.

"Now all you have to do is get it recognized by the Union Heraldic Authority and no one else will be able to use it." Hanalei told Mind-Ur.

"Show it to Raymond first, Mind-Ur. He may know how to get that done," Junelliya advised.

Mind-Ur took a copy of what they had proposed and called up Raymond. She told him what they had been doing and flashed the proposed crest to him.

"I am very impressed, Mind-Ur!" Raymond praised her. "This is something that both humans and Pod-Drran could easily recognize and be proud to wear."

"I have to figure out colour schemes but I think most of it is done now," Mind-Ur explained. "I may add one of the other animals from Ur to the left side or just reverse the support from the right. Still haven't decided on that."

"I know someone at the Heraldic Authority," Raymond told her. "I can send this to him and ask him to do a search but I don't think that there is anything like this on file. I'll get back to you on that in a couple of days.

"Once we know for sure that it is unique, we can add this to the new uniforms and clothing of the new House Ur members," Raymond said. "There is a way of laser printing images to clothing so that the crest can be added to clothes that have already been made. I'll get back to you in a day or two on the registration. Please get the colour scheme to me by tomorrow. Then we can finish this up. Good job, Mind-Ur."

"It wasn't just me, Raymond," Mind-Ur told him. "Fayad, Hanalei, Junelliya, and Vangeliya helped me with it. It was a collaborative effort."

Hospital, Liramor-23, Piscium System

Six hours after she began her labour, Jennifer Roust gave birth to a beautiful baby girl that they named Matildis, after Jennifer's maternal grandmother who she greatly admired, Elizabeth, after Daniel's mother, Qan-Arl, after the two Pod-Drran doctors who helped in the delivery of her first child, Roust-Polit, a hybrid name of her two parents.

Arl-Hal Sin-Dae and Qan-Har Sin-Don were speechless at the fact that they had been given the distinction of having their names included in the child's name. It was a distinction that had never before been given to medical professionals of the Pod-Drran.

The pair had helped in all aspects of the delivery, including dealing with the afterbirth, Heyya directing and watching carefully as they went through the procedures. They had encouraged the mother and the father during the more difficult times of the birth, when the mother was becoming fatigued by the birth itself. They had made such an impression on the young couple that they had decided to include their names as part of their child's name. History had been made in this birth and, as long as the child lived, her name would show that history for all to see.

Jennifer and the baby were moved to the private room next door, which had a basinet for the baby and a bed for Daniel, so the whole family could be together.

An hour after they were moved, there was a knock on the door and Fiona peaked her head in. Daniel was up immediately, but Fiona held up a hand to stop him.

"I'm just activating my prerogative as the Director of the platform to get an early peak at our new arrival," she whispered to Daniel. She stepped over to the basinet and looked down at the sleeping girl.

"She's beautiful," Fiona whispered to Daniel.

"Yes, she is," Jennifer answered from her bed.

"Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you," Fiona mumbled.

"You didn't," Jennifer reassured her. "I wasn't really asleep."

"Matildis Elizabeth Qan-Arl? Roust-Polit," Fiona asked, momentarily confused.

"Qan-Arl for the Pod-Drran medical duo who helped in the delivery," Daniel explained.

"Oh, my! Were they surprised?" Fiona asked.

"Immensely," Jennifer giggled. "They have never had the honour before. We may have started a trend where Pod-Drran medical personnel will want to help in human births in the future."

"Stranger and stranger are the things that happen on this platform," Fiona said with a smile.

"Not all of them bad, fortunately," Jennifer replied, getting a nod from Fiona.

"I'll leave this little family alone for now. Heyya has proclaimed that you will have no visitors until tomorrow afternoon, except medical staff of course," Fiona told them with a grin.

"Commodore, we would like to ask something special of you, if you would allow it," Daniel stated.

"Ask, I can't promise I'll act on your request," Fiona replied.

"You'll act on this one, Commodore," Jennifer told her with a smile.

"Ma'am, Jennifer and I want to get married, and..."

"YES!" Fiona said, then covered her mouth as she had been a little too loud. "Let me know when and I will be glad to officiate," she said.

"Time to leave, Heyya will be in shortly to drag me out if I overstay my welcome," Fiona explained. "I'll stop by over the next few days, just to see how our newest celebrity is doing. Oh, about that, Cynthia Stewart wants to do an interview, when you guys are feeling comfortable about it. Let me know if you are willing or not," Fiona told them as she headed for the door.

The new parents looked at each other with a little worry. It was going to be a rather exciting week...

End of chapter thirty.

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