Name: Re'ka
Age: 25
Gender: Female
Rank: 2nd wing wingrider
Appearance: She is huge. By many people standards she is beautiful. And she is huge. Six foot six with wide shoulders and wide hips; arms, legs and stomach rippling with muscle; an arse you could bounce a mark off. Her skin is a middling beige tone, smooth and soft save where it is calloused by her work or scarred by old battles; one scar she is especially proud of runs across her belly at a slight angle. Coal black hair falls down to just past her hips when left loose, it's naturally poker straight but she often styles it elaborately when off duty; she never wears it covered, unless it be by her helmet. Eyes that are nearly as black as her hair - they whisper of deepest klah brown - are set in a diamond shaped face with cheekbones that could cut glass, with full lips that are often painted blood red and even more often tug into a self-assured little smile. When out of uniform she loves to wear jewellery and the colour red, and switches comfortably between masculine and feminine attire depending on the occasion and her whim. Personality: Re'ka is fierce, cunning and resourceful; a survivor above all else. She comes from a world where there was no provision for the weak and where there was little room for compassion; her need to be strong at all times and her ruthlessness have not faded just because her life has become kinder. Whatever she needs to do to get the job done she will do and she'll do whatever she must to get ahead come to that even if it means stepping on other people trying to get the same place she is, or just getting in the way. Re'ka is determined to make a great name for herself and incidentally to climb as high as she can up life's ladder, nothing is going to stand in her way least of all being nice to people who share her burning ambitions.
Family is sacred to Re'ka, if you're not loyal to your very closest comrades you will die sooner or later and... well, it's just not something you do; this makes her a very loyal person but only to a very very select group of people, she really struggles to give a flitt's fork about anyone else and as such can be extremely callous and uncaring. Her deep loyalty to 'family' however is beginning to get a bit awkward; many of the War Hounds count - her old Holdless gang c** Free Company - but these days some people in the Weyr count too, and there is a conflict of interests to say the least. Re'ka's mother expects her to leave High Reaches and come back to her Hold once she has served her eight turns, but Re'ka is no longer entirely convinced that she wants to do that.
In a social setting Re'ka is happy, comfortable, witty and charming; she's pretty good at reading a crowd's mood and either going with it or leaving if she doesn't like said mood. Self-assurance makes her a relaxed conversation partner who only brags if friendly bragging is the order of the day though she will never be falsely modest even if everyone else is denying they are good at anything ever. She is a proud women, not to the point of arrogance and not with a delicate ego but definitely with a large one. Re'ka does like to scandalize a bit sometimes, she finds it funny to see uptight people getting flustered about the shade of red she likes to paint her lips, or the plunging tunic she likes to wear, or her stories about the women she has... encountered. Encountering women is one of her favourite things too; Re'ka is a terrible flirt and has a long string of flings behind her, and while she quite likes the idea of romance she's less keen on the idea of settling down with just one person for the rest of her life. Maybe she'll do it when she's old, but not right now thanks. She quite likes to tease too, usually fairly gently but very sensitive people may get their feelings hurt by her. Unless she cares about said people however Re'ka won't be too bothered by this, people who can't take a joke aren't much fun to be with anyway.
Adventure and excitement are air and water to Re'ka, she'd wither without them... actually no, when none are in evidence she goes off to find them long before she would wither up. On duty this love of a thrill means Re'ka is never to be found at the back of the pack, and is quick to volunteer for dangerous missions. Off duty it means that she's always seeking new places, new experiences, new people, attractive women, and new stunts to pull with her dragon. A hedonist in all ways she enjoys the finer things in life when she can get them too but prefers a rare real indulgence to regular small treats. She's not the most patient of people and doesn't like saving but she's pretty good at it and at self-restraint in general when she really has to be. What she's not that good at however is sharing what she has. A really good friend can borrow something from her but she doesn't spontaneously give out gifts and if rounds are being bought she's careful to make sure she buys near the end of the night when some people have dropped out of the drinking.
Pros: Loyal, sociable, brave
Cons: Callous, ruthlessly ambitious, greedy
History: Re'ka was born Reskani, was born Holdless* in Ruatha Hold's territories. The turn was I5178, the last turn of the famine. That turn took her father's life just two months before her birth as giving what little food he could scavenge or steal to his wife finally took its toll. Many of the small band of Holdless didn't make it through those days of starvation but Kaniya was a huge strong woman with an indomitable spirit; that, and her husband's sacrifice, allowed her to survive and bring her small daughter safely into the world.
Though the band was diminished times began to get better for them as crops grew once again and Reskani thrived as much as a Holdless child could be expected to. Her early childhood was rough, spent dodging the attention of the more violent adults in the group and fighting with the other children over snatched luxuries. She watched her mother's careful manoeuvrings in search of allies, and friends, and tried to emulate those. She also watched her mother fight when there was no choice and wasn't blind to the fact that people usually only picked a fight with Kaniya once. By the time Reskani was eight Kaniya had managed to make herself the favourite of their little group's leader, an alliance which somewhat improved the growing girl's lot in life.
In turn 190 when Reskani was twelve her dwindling group joined forces with another slightly larger group, which left their leader as 2ic of the newly formed bigger group. Over the turns the proud, rather savage man's resentment of this grew and in 192 things finally came to a head; the leader and his bitter second fought for control of the band, ultimately leading to the death of both men. When the dust settled and the ragged folk looked about for a new leader it was Kaniya who stepped into the void, duelling with three challengers to secure her position. Now fourteen Reskani's status in life rose again and she worked hard to prove that she was worthy of it, that she was very much her mother's daughter, and became a force to be reckoned with amongst the other youngsters.
When war broke out in 193 the group initially kept themselves apart from the conflict, trying to suss out who to support. Eventually however in turn 194 Kaniya chose the Fort claimant to the Lordship and styling her band as a Free Company known as The War Hounds she offered Willeim her sword and the swords of her followers. Reskani, then sixteen turns old, took up a sword of her own to fight at her mother's right hand. The group's intimate knowledge of the terrain surrounding Ruatha Hold contributed to an important victory in turn 195. The War Hounds continued to fight for their new master for the remainder of the war and in 196. Kaniya's ferocity was remarked upon during the final battle, earning her the epithet Kaniya the Fury. Reskani fought beside her mother and though she was by far overshadowed by the elder woman she was proud of her role, and the scar across the belly she took slaying an enemy soldier.
When Willeim became Lord of Ruatha he granted Kaniya control of a small Hold on the border with High Reaches' territory taken from one of Edweird's supporters; Kaniya chose to rename it Fury's Keep. Kaniya was also gifted with a small number of runners and hounds to breed, and to use to patrol the borders. The fact that she was a woman made this an unusual decision given Willeim's general policies but being a widow made her somewhat respectable, and having a strong Hold on the border was perhaps worth the mild controversy. Fury's Keep grew quickly at first, swollen by those who had lost their homes in the war, and though it remained a fairly modest size it prospered; it even attracted a Harper, who taught the young generation of The War Hounds (who, ironically given their origins, had become 'the noble class' in the small hold) to read and write, and acted as a Steward and advisor to the inexperienced new Holder. Reskani didn't enjoy the lessons very much but she stuck at them over the coming months, gaining a very basic level of literacy.
Used to travel in her childhood, and to action over the last few turns, Reskani soon grew bored. Patrols seldom led to anything and she was disinterested in learning how to run Fury's Keep; it was stifling, and offered her no opportunity to make a great name for herself as her mother had. In 197 she approached her mother, seeking permission to leave the Hold and find... well something that wasn't going to drive her distraction. After some thought Kaniya agreed, choose to dispatch her daughter north into High Reaches territories to act as a hired sword and listen for any potentially interesting information about the rival Hold. Before Reskani departed Kaniya gifted her with good leather armour and with her own blade, which she had named Fury's Fang after the final battle in the war. Reskani took these gifts, and a runner, and her mother's firelizard and left to seek adventure and the next chapter in her own great tale.
Upon reaching High Reaches she quickly sought to integrate herself, and aided by many turns of slipping into Holds to steal or trade during her childhood she succeed. Soon she had lodgings and semi regular work as a bodyguard to whoever felt the need for one, was willing to employ a (huge) woman, and able to pay her fee of course. Reskani sent regular updates back to Fury's Keep via her mother's firelizard, in letters that used small words and had rather wobbly writing. After a few months she found herself with a long term employer, a courtier of the Lord Holder's court who was growing nervous about a rival. As he went too all of the places and events she wanted to go Reskani quickly made herself indispensable to him in more ways than one; her personal preferences ran towards women (a fact she had quietly begun to explore in the seedy areas of the Hold) but she had no qualms about doing what she needed to in order to firmly entwine herself in the man's life.
It was this closeness that led her to accompanying her employer to High Reaches Weyr in turn 198; his third son was Standing for the clutch and he wanted to witness it. The courtier was delighted to see his boy Impress to a good solid brown, but was less delighted when his bodyguard did the same. Reskani didn't know what to make of the sudden presence in her mind; she had grown up fearing dragons, the punishment they could bring down upon her family, but her own dragon - well how could she not adore it? She ended her contract with her employer and wrote to her mother to explain the situation; Kaniya wasn't thrilled but could hardly blame her daughter, and pointed out that after eight turns of service she could do whatever she chose, and could potentially seriously raise the status of Fury's Keep
The adjustment to her new life however was difficult for Reskani, she didn't understand the culture of the Weyr or know anything at all about history, law, or any of the other things she needed to. At least she was semi-literate. She also had good fortune in the personal mentor assigned to help her catch up; a female veteran of First Wing who walked with a limp but was not at all lacking in zeal to bring her student up to speed. Months passed and Reskani slowly began to catch up to her clutchmates and at least she had absolutely no problems with combat; not only had she been fighting all her life like a Weyrbrat, she had already fought in a war and was quick to remind her classmates of this fact whenever things she was not so good at were brought up. Thanks to an awful lot of hard work Reskani graduated on time, securing a place in 3rd-1, and took the name Re'ka.
After her turn's trial period, standard for wings one through three, her martial prowess saw her promoted to Second wing which she found slightly awkward given she would be hunting the sort of people her family had once been. The very fact that she did have that background however made her very good at sniffing out where bandits might be. This turn also happened to be turn one of the 6th Pass, and her dragon picked up some scars from Threadfall to go along with the ones she already bore from combat.
Now aged twenty five Re'ka is old enough to be a wingsecond and is doing her sharded best to get herself noticed and or promoted to First wing. This is hardly going to be an easy feat for a woman, but she won't make the name for herself she so desires by doing what is easy.
* A brief note on the group: They came from various places, having committed various crimes or just been born to Holdlessness like Reskani. Reskani's father Resor was second generation Holdless, her mother Kaniya was a horse thief who fled her Hold to escape sentencing to a work gang.
Name: Pycath
Age: Five turns
Colour: Brown
Inspiration: The Eurasian Magpie, European Magpie, or Common Magpie (Pica pica) is a resident breeding bird throughout Europe, much of Asia and northwest Africa. In Europe, "Magpie" is used by English speakers as a synonym for the European Magpie; it is the only magpie in Europe outside the Iberian Peninsula.
In European folklore the magpie is associated with a number of superstitions surrounding its reputation as an omen of ill fortune. This reputation may derive from the bird's widely believed tendency to "steal" shiny objects or its aggressive behaviour toward favoured songbirds.
In both Italian and French folklore, magpies' penchant for picking up shiny items is thought to be particularly directed towards precious stones. Rossini's opera La gazza ladra and The Adventures of Tintin comic The Castafiore Emerald are based on this theme. In Bulgarian,Czech, German, Hungarian, Polish and Swedish folklore the magpie is also seen as a thief. In Sweden it is further associated with witchcraft. In Norway, a magpie is considered cunning and thievish too, but also the bird of huldra, the underground people.
The name magpie splits itself into two parts – the last part ‘pie’ comes from ‘pied’ in this case referring to the black and white plumage. The bird was originally known as ‘the pie’ but in the 16th C ‘mag’ meaning chatter, was added to the front making ‘ chatter-pied’ or magpie.
The collective name for a group of them is a tiding but they have also been known as a parliament. Shakespeare uses an older term for them, maggot-pies. Macbeth refers to the ability of the crow family to be taught to talk: “Augurs and understood relations have/ By maggot-pies and choughs and rooks brought forth/ The secret’st man of blood“. Rossini wrote a tragicomic opera entitled La Gazza Ladra (The Thieving Magpie) about a French girl accused of theft who is tried, convicted and executed. Later the true culprit is revealed to be a magpie and in remorse the town organises an annual ‘Mass Of The Magpies’ to pray for the girl’s soul.
Feel of voice: A predatory screech, the kiss of lips, a brush of something against your feet when swimming
Appearance: Pycath is one handsome brown, and he knows it. Unlike a lot of browns, he isn’t bulky and muscular, with sleek flanks and small neat wings. In the air, he’s fast and nimble, though his stamina is maybe a little lacking and should be carefully managed.
Personality: Pycath is an a-grade con artist, with an ambition to match. What he wants is for his rider to be as highly placed as he can possibly get her, and he’s got Plans. In fact, Pycath has half a hundred of them, and is pretty certain that he can twist any given situation to his own advantage. This is made a little more difficult by his inability to plan much more then a week or two in advance, but… well, he’s got to be adaptable, and he can always rely on his rider to remind him of the really big things he wanted, right? Even if other dragons - and people - may catch on to his ways, he can use that, and turn the wheels in wheels that make up his whole being.
He’s also exceptionally brave: wherever the action is, there Pycath will be in the thick of it. Pycath will never flinch and never falter in the face of danger. He’s also daredevil and a show-off, and if you could tease thread, Pycath would be. As is, his superiors will frequently be exhausted by the brown pushing them and pushing them - maybe to see how far he can push them without them snapping, maybe just for the fun of it… maybe to distract them from whatever scheme he’s pulling right now.
Pycath is a creature of the flock, and his flock is the whole Weyr: although he may love very few of them absolutely, he will do absolutely anything for their good - their good as a whole. After all, the weak or the crippled use resources that could go to the strong, that they could use to better their mission. He’s not saying they should be put out of their misery (alright, well, in regards to the new clutch, somebody should have done something before they Impressed), but maybe they should be using up a little less space and resources around here. There is a vicious steak of cruelty in Pycath that comes out in regards to those who he considers too weak to fulfil their roles, and the brown dragon will cheerfully push them out of the nest - so to speak. Life is tough, and only the strongest can make it.
As far as the individual goes, Pycath is charismatic and bright. He takes an interest in everything and everyone, and his curiosity is probably legendary by now. He loves to talk, and he encourages other people to do so as well - together, he and his rider can work a crowd beautifully, and talk up a storm. He also loves to collect shiny objects, and will adore bedecking himself out in beautiful items - while metals are good, bright feathers and other objects will do just as well.
Pros: Intelligent, perceptive, flashy, daredevil, brave
Cons: Wilful, opportunistic, thieving con artist, cruel
Other: Pycath is Noisy As Hell. Raucous, terrible, and ready to yell at everyone.
Pycath was written by Con! <3
