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Name: Karina (nickname: Kari)
Age: 24
Gender: female
Sexuality: bisexual
Rank: Wingrider
Appearance:
Kari is not a woman who would be considered particularly pretty, which probably saved her from further ire at Igen. She is in fact a bit plain looking, with straight, dull brown hair, middling brown eyes, a general caucasian skin tone and facial features that are otherwise unremarkable aside from a nose that is perhaps a bit small. She typically wears her hair in a tight braid, which keeps it out of the way when she's working as a healer and can be coiled neatly under a riding helmet when flying or drilling. Before Impressing she had been starting to put on some weight, but the rigors of dragon riding and Fierath's drive for improvement in herself and her rider resulted in Kari working off the weight until she's a bit slim and well-muscled.

How many Turns old were they when they Impressed? 16

Personality:
As a small child, Kari was a wild and tomboyish girl who wanted to do everything the boys did. But she soon had that beaten disciplined out of her by creche workers who wanted to fit her into the norm of Igen women. Yet a small core of that old self remained, hidden under the polite and obedient demeanor she wore. Sometimes it would show in small ways, tiny acts of rebellion that she felt she could get away with; things like exchanging jokes with her childhood (male) friends that were perhaps a bit more colorful than expected of a woman, or cover up for another girl when she wanted to sneak off and join the boys in play. Occasionally such acts were seen for what they were and a reason was found to punish her, but she was not deterred for long.

She did not like that in Igen she was meant to be quiet, obedient, protected, especially when men are exactly the opposite. The contrast made little sense to her, especially after teaching ballads and traditional songs where woman displayed the more assertive traits more, like the Ballad of Moreta's Ride. But once she Impressed and Fierath began encouraging her to be who she wanted to be, she became more assertive. She now tends to push her boundaries, both to discover the limits of her own ability and to see how far other people will let her go with things.

Kari has a strong dislike of bullies, and as soon as she sees or hears of any she sets off to find the cause and put a stop to it. And in her mind, senseless rules are much like bullies. As a result, she questions rules that make no sense and refuses to accept that a thing is done a certain way because that is how it's always been done. She always stands up for what she believes in, no matter what pressure is against her to do otherwise.

When given free reign to do as she likes, she may get carried away in pursing an interest. Now that she's at fort and has more freedom than she's ever known, she is even more prone to doing so, because she is allowed to do many things she was strictly forbidden from before. As a result, when she becomes interested in a thing she may become mildly obsessed with it until it either loses its appeal or something else catches her attention. Her clothing, for example, may vary wildly from month to month or even sevenday to sevenday, as new styles catch her attention and she tries them out one after another.

One thing she is determined not to do is to bring any child into the world who is effectively parentless like herself. While, as a greenrider, she frequently shares a bed with a man (and occasionally a woman), she always makes sure to go between soon enough after that no child will come of it. She vows to never have a child unless she is in a loving relationship with a weyrmate, so the child will have parents who genuinely care for it and will contribute to its raising as much as possible.

After spending so long guarding her tongue and acting polite, she's knows how to choose the right words for most social situations. She likes a mental challenge, and is fond of puzzles.

History:
Karina was born at Igen weyr, to a mother who was a worker in the Lower Caverns and a father who was a flirtateous bluerider. The rider flirted with the woman for a short time before his dragon joined in a Flight he didn't win. The rider and woman shared a bed during a Flight, and the woman convinced herself that the rider's passion was genuine. The pair stayed together for several months, and through a few more green Flights. When it became obvious the woman was pregnant, the rider moved on unceremoniously to another woman. The woman had carried the child too long to safely abort the baby, so she carried the child to term. Very soon after the girl was born and named Karina, she was delivered into the care of the creche, after which the mother mostly forgot about the girl.

Karina grew up much the same as many other creche children; she was officially fostered to one woman or another but was mostly cared for by a variety of creche workers. The other creche children were almost her cousins, not quite family but people she was close to just the same. Although she received all the necessary care, the lack of a solid parent figure left the young child with a bit of a disregard for authority. Her "cousins" were closer to her than any of the adults, and she often joined them in play and other mischief, especially the boys. She was game for any adventure they wanted to venture on, and would always chose to have fun with them than do whatever the adults had said.

For a few Turns this behavior was overlooked, but eventually someone noticed how wild the girl had gotten. For a boy that was only to be expected, but an Igen girl could never be allowed to carry on line this. She was fostered to a disciplinarian of an old lady who took Karina firmly to task for every misstep she made. Under the woman's watchful eye and heavy hand, Kari was forced into the model of what the woman thought a girl should be; a soft-spoken, obedient, hard worker to respected her elders. After everyone was quite satisfied that Kari was thoroughly reformed, she was returned to the more general care of the creche, though it was made clear there was still a watchful eye on her.

When she grew old enough to be apprenticed, she chose to go into healercraft. She privately could not stand the thought of going into a tame-seeming craft like bakercraft or weavercraft, and becoming a healer seemed as adventurous as she might be allowed to become. She found she did enjoy the work, as learning all the medicines, anatomy and procedures offered more of a mental challenge than she had ever had. So was figuring out how various symptoms pointed out to a certain illness or injury, and how best to treat that cause. Seeing some of the worse injuries or illnesses was a bit hard on her at first, but she learned to focus on the work and not the less savory sights and experiences.

Although she was a weyr child of sound mind and body and could have become a Candidate, she had little interest in it. Dragons were nice of course, but she was more fascinated with her work at the time. However, when she was 14 Turns, a clutch was laid with a gold egg. As a weyrborn female of Candidate age, she was heavily encouraged to stand. She'd had obedience beaten into her for so long that after a short effort at polite resistance, she relented and joined Candidate lessons. She was soon glad she did, since the lessons included dragon care. The difference between the medical care of humans and dragons was fascinating to her, and she found herself entering into detailed conversations with riders on how to detect and treat illnesses in dragons. She did not Impress a dragon in that clutch, but she chose to stay in Candidate lessons to keep learning dragon care, After a turn or so, she transferred to learning dragonhealing for a more in-depth education on their care.

The next clutch did not contain a gold egg, so Kari was discouraged from standing, to leave more chances for males to Impress. But at that point, being into such close contact with the dragons and seeing the mutual bond between dragon and rider had inspired in her a desire to Impress one as well. And having spend so long in the care of her teachers, instead of the creche workers, had allowed her rebellious spirit a little room to grow. So when she was pressed to bow out of this Hatching, she refused.

This did not go over well, especially with a particular group of male candidates. A group of them had been standing for Turns and wanted every chance they could get at a dragon. They began bullying Kari to to and force her to drop out. Initially it was more verbal attacks and intimidation, but Kari found this only made her want to push back. They had no power over her, and she refused to let them think they did. When their first tactics failed, they became more physical. Small things like bumping her just the right moment to make her crash into something or drop whatever she was holding, or tripping her at the point that would make her look most incompetent. The adults pretended not to notice, and in fact told Kari that a girl as "clumsy" as her could very likely be hurt badly by a hatchling on the sands, and that she should stay off them for her own protection. Kari ended up spending more and more time in the healer quarters, since none of the the bullies were healers and could not follow her there, and none of the healers tried to discourage her from her work. She was known as an eager and dutiful worker there, after all.

The bullies grew tired of their tactics not having the desired effect. About a sevenday before the Hatching, they began getting violent. When no adults where looking, they began giving her pinches sharp enough to bruise, elbowing her in tender places that would leave no mark, and even punching or kicking her in areas where any marks would be covered by clothing. Finally Kari got fed up and struck back, slapping a boy who'd just stomped on her foot. Unfortunately, the Candidatemaster came across them just as she raised her hand at the boy. Although she hadn't even slapped hard enough to redden his cheek, the Candidatemaster took the opportunity to forbid her from standing that clutch, due to "bad behavior".

However, it ultimately didn't matter. Kari was still allowed to attend the hatching, and was sullenly watching it from her place in the Stands. She was hoping that one of the bullies would get mauled, and was quite gratified when a green barreled through the group and knocked one on his butt. But to her surprise, the green then made straight for the stands and began climbing up. The hatching struggled up half the distance between the floor and Kari before slowing, then pausing to rest. As the little one looked up at the spectators, her eyes locked with Kari's. Forget those fools, they do not see your true worth. But your Fierath does. Come, and together we will show them exactly what we can do.

The dragon's choice was made, and no weyrfolk could change it. So Kari and Fierath entered the weyrling barracks and lessons. The dragonet wasted no time in trying to improve herself in any way possible, working hard at every lesson the moment it was introduced. She firmly encouraged her rider to be proud of who she was and to improve her self, as well. As a result, Kari she began standing up for herself, challenging all that had held her back about the system. Her chances at this were limited as a weyrling, but as Fierath grew and Kari had more freedom to do things, she began resisting more of the cultural influence that had suppressed who she really wanted to be.

Natrually, many people did not like her new behavior, though now she had a dragon who both prevented the worst punishments and helped stand up for her. She had quite a few disagreements with various members of the weyr, and often relegated to the most disliked jobs as punishment. Eventually things grew so heated that she applied to be transferred to Fort, which she'd heard had a more open view of women. The official reason she gave for the request was that she wanted to be closer to healer hall to continue her study dragonhealing, but anyone who knew her knows the real reason. The request was approved, and when she was 19 she transferred to Fort Weyr. She settled in there quite well, and was happy that she was in fact able to continue studying dragonhealing when time permitted.

Pet:
blue flit Slate