Name: Layla
Age: 16
Gender: Female
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
Craft: N/A
Rank: Candidate

History: Layla, like many weyrbrats, is the product of a mating flight; her father was a rider, her mother a drudge, and that is as much as she knows. Raised in the Weyr's creche she has lived an unremarkable life; she sometimes wanted more than she had, but then most children do no matter what their situation in life. Much as she might have liked to have an extra doll or two she didn't want for love, attention, or friendship, and was generally fairly happy. She was, however, always a very nervous little girl needing a lot of encouragement to try anything new, and was very susceptible to any unkindness shown to her. As she grew older she began to show a preference for helping in the kitchen as opposed to any other chores, but never asserted herself firmly enough to be assigned there permanently. Like a lot of people, she also always entertained vague dreams of Impressing a dragon, but once again she was never assertive enough to go onto the sands when there was no gold egg; she couldn't stand the idea of everyone glaring at her like that! With the latest clutch now hardening on the sands containing one however, she has taken the chance to join candidate classes and will take to the sands when the time comes.

Appearance: Faintly wavy black hair falls to just past her shoulders, framing an oval face that is neither especially ugly nor especially lovely. Her complexion is fairly fair, but she is not starkly pale and tans slightly if she spends a lot of time out in the sun. Her eyes are dark brown, pretty enough, but hardly sparkling orbs of unmatched loveliness. So far as height and build go, she is around average; five feet four inches with light curves, but her arms and hands are notably tougher looking than the rest of her from chores such as washing clothes and helping to prepare food.

Personality: Layla is a shy, well-behaved girl; she doesn't put herself forward, respects authority, and she doesn't step out of line. She is also a big worrier; she can always think of how any situation could go wrong, and tends to expect the worst as well as being able to imagine it. She's the sort of girl who, when she hears an odd noise, thinks it might be a wild wher coming to eat her, and who can't sleep after a round of scary stories. She also has the unfortunate habit of sharing her worries with other people, telling them all the ways something could go wrong, which can really bring down the mood in any situation.

Given her anxious nature, taking risks really isn't her thing; no diving off high places into the hot spring for her, no running when it might be slightly slippery, and no messing around in the kitchen where there are a lot of sharp knives! The very idea of the Thread makes her tremble; she always checks the star stones before stepping outside, and the horizon come to that because who knows, the star stones might fail one day. Getting her to face her fears and do something a bit daring is nigh on impossible, and trying too hard to goad her into it will probably make her cry. Crying is another thing she does quite a lot; she is extremely sensitive, and takes any and all unkind words to heart. She also takes to heart unintended unkindness, or sees unkindness where there wasn't any at all; if somebody fails to smile at her as they pass in a corridor she is far more likely to think it's because they hate her than because they're in a hurry or distracted.

All wimpishness aside, she is a very kind person. The idea of hurting anyone on purpose is one she just can't get her head around, as is the idea of not helping somebody in need, or not giving a hug and lending a listening ear to someone who looks sad. Hard-working and efficient, she is usually one of the first to finish up her chores, and once she does she will help the people around her to complete theirs. She isn't utterly selfless: she's not about to give her possessions to someone just because they say 'please', but she will lend her favourite dress to a friend, or share her piece of pie quite happily.


Other: When her vivid imagination isn't conjuring up nightmares for her, she likes to turn it to making up stories, and most of her spare marks are spent on buying skins and ink to scribble down her ideas so that she doesn't forget them.