Approved by Tawny
RiderName: H'ten (formerly Halsten)
Age: 25
Gender: female
Sexual Orientation: bisexual
Rank: Wingrider/Journeyman Minecrafter
History: Halsten was born to an extrended family of miners who lived in the mountains to the far sound of Trine. Mining was everything there, and even the smallest children started to learn about rocks, so she began to learn little bits of the trade at a very young age. Her family likes to say that stone is in their blood, since they've been miners ("The finest miners on Pern!") for generations. With very few exceptions, all males and quite a few females have taken up the family trade, just as she and her two older brothers had. What they mined has changed from time to time, but for most of Halsten's lifetime, her family's been mining gemstones. Even though that's been their main focus, when she grew old enough and invariably took up the family trade, she was instructed in all forms of mining work, including mining for metals and ores, quarrying, and other forms of stonework, as well as how to polish and refine stones for use. She was a solid and studious worker, one the other miners knew they could depend on and who always stayed focused on her work.
The mine was big enough that from time to time a Searchdragon from Trine would stop by to look over the teenagers at the hold, and one time one of them picked Halsten out of the lineup as a possible Candidate. She figured that she may as well stand as a Candidate, since there wasn't much call for dragons at the time, with no Thread having fallen in a long time. She didn't see any reason why she couldn't continue to mine even if she did Impress. She stood on the sands and soon found herself Impressed to Zanglith, the curious light blue hatchling that had gotten into everything and everyone's business that was on the sands before Impressing to her. From the moment his rainbow eyes turned on her, she realized that being his rider would turn out to be much more work than she'd expected.
After she graduated from Weyrlinghood, H'ten
would still fly back to her family's mine to help out as
often as she could. Initially she tried to pick up where she left off, but when she went down into the mines to work the blue would either pester her endlessly with questions or runs off to find out about something. She usually had to either chase after him and find him something interesting to ponder near the mines, or just let him go and apologize later to whoever he'd bothered. Zanglith soon heard more than any dragon usually cared to about mining and rocks.
Before long Zanglith kind of became the mine's mascot, the dragon everyone knew because he always got into everything. They couldn't begrudge him though, because he was also the mine's
go-to transport for anything and everything; goods, people, supplies, messages, new stock to be exported, slag to be disposed of, and more. H'ten never turned down a request to help in this capacity
as long as she was free from Weyr duties, so Zanglith got very used to hauling all sorts of things everywhere. In return, the whole mine helped keep the dragon entertained when H'ten was working elsewhere. Everyone at the mine ended up as the blue's babysitter at one point or another, from the smallest child to the head foreman. It was a bit of an odd arrangement, but it worked out well for them all.
She came to be on the lookout for interesting jokes, puzzles or stories she can tell to Zanglith to make him sit in one place and ponder for a while. Sometimes she wished she's Impressed a watch-wher instead...not that she ever really meant it, of course; Zanglith is the most handsome and clever dragon in all of Pern. But...sometimes he's a bit
too clever, and whers are so useful in the mines.
Yet when Thread began falling again, H'ten knew her duty. She
stayed mostly at the Weyr and turned her focus towards training to fight Thread, though when Thread was not imminent she still helped her family mine when she could, usually by ferrying items or people again. Yet whenever she had enough time free she'd get back to mine work itself. She was actually down in a mine when the Revolution happened, and didn't find out about it until she got back to Trine late after the long day's work. She immediately set to helping them rebuild, lending her strength and knowledge of stoneworking wherever it was needed.
She stood with the Resistance, but mainly because she was there and it was what she knew. She wanted no part in the conflict between the weyrs and wherholds. In her mind, the riders of Pern had more important things to think about than infighting, namely fighting Thread. She also took no part in the espionage, though she helped defend and rebuild as necessary.
Description: She has sandy-brown hair, worn fairly short and often unkempt since she doesn't care much about her appearance. When not wearing a riding helmet or miner's helmet, she tends to tie it back with a headscarf to keep it out of the way. Her eyes are gray and her skin is a ruddy hue, dotted with a few freckles that multiply when she spends too long in the sun. She's a bit on the thickset side, though if anyone comments she'll matter-of-factly respond that it's all muscle, and she'll gladly arm-wrestle to prove it. Her clothes are almost always of a very practical nature, and only wears more ornamental ones when absolutely necessary.
Personality: H'ten often comes off as a bit dull, more interested in rocks and mining than anything. She could talk your ear off about both subjects, but is otherwise content to stick to her work and not bother wondering about other subjects. She's of the mind that if you want to get anything done in this world, you have to do it with your own two hands.
That changed when she Impressed the curious Zanglith. As the blue started looking at everything and asking questions, H'ten was forced to scramble after him and try to learn something about everything so he could at least answer enough of the blue's questions to keep him from running off to find more. Learning all that stuff doesn't come easy to her, and sometimes she feels her memory's as bad as a dragon's.
She's as steadfast as a rock; determined to do a job right, persistent, hard to spook and able to keep her head in tough situations. This has served her well as a miner, since at times when they ran into bad air or had a cave-in, she was able to take charge and keep the other miners focused on getting to safety. A few times where she lead
some of her fellow Apprentices to safety in such situations, as well as her skill at the craft, soon earned her Journeyman rank. She can work steadily on anything she's set to, whether it's excavating rock, hauling garbage or polishing gemstones, and will take the time needed to make sure each job is done right.
She knows her place and is content to stick with it. She knows she's a good miner and would love to train more in that craft, but she's also a rider and so it's necessary for her to train and fly Thread above all. To that end, she'll assist the Weyr in whatever is needed to make sure the riders can continue to fly Thread. Still, her loyalty is to her home mine as well as the weyr, and given the opportunity she'd help both.
But all that time focused on her work leaves her little time to polish her social skills. She's not much of a conversationalist unless it concerns a subject she knows well, and if the topic turns away from that (as it so often does, considering her limited interests) she's often at a loss for what to say. Her speech tends to businesslike, even blunt, although she does her best to avoid being rude. She's a much better listener though, and if someone else drives the conversation she's content to let them go at it, making occasional comments to let them know she's paying attention and keeping an ear out for anything she might be able to interest Zanglith with later.
Pros: hardworking, steadfast, persistent, patient, dutiful
Cons: difficulty learning new things, prone to tunnel vision, poor speaking skills
Other: -can tell you just about anything there is to know about any rock on Pern
-has gotten ratehr good at keeping Zanglith distracted
DragonName: Zanglith
Age: 10
Color: blue
Description: based off
[this image], though if you could soften the stark markings to look slightly more natural, I'd appreciate it.
Lines: second from the left adult in the dragon lineart image
Size: Small
Build: Below Average
Personality: Zanglith will look first and leap later, thank you very much. The world is a fascinating place, and surely you wouldn't rush him out of observing every little detail, would you? Quirky in his adamant desire to study everything new that comes in his way, it's an understatement to say the little blue is easily distracted. His rider has to know when to give and take with Zanglith; fighting with him head on is a sure-fire way to get him to dig his heels in, and completely lock down.
Anything is up for the dragon's scrutiny. New people, objects, places, animals--Zanglith will at least make sure he can recognize the interesting ones, even if he doesn't exactly know their names. His manner is inquisitive and a little forward when he's 'investigating', but once you give him some sort of information that satisfies him, he's content to sit back and mull it over for a while. Once you've made it past 'subject' stage, Zanglith is an excitable, but steadfast companion. He's eager to help, especially if he can see or learn something new while doing it, and if he promises to do something, he's sure to do it...eventually. He's likely to get distracted along the way and need reminding of his promise, though on the upside his rider may be occasionally be able to "remind" him of a promise he never actually made in order to motivate him.
During crisis situations, sometimes the little blue can loose his head with all the sights and sounds about, and will need to rely on his rider to guide him through it so he doesn't lock up and effectively shut down. Stress does not sit well with him; he's used to being able to take his time, not leap straight into action!
A surefire way for Zanglith to get riled up and back on track is when he's questioned--his duty to his Weyr, his rider, or just about anything he feels 'knowledgeable' on. It'll send him in a furious tirade, both verbally and with flapping wings, and he'll throw himself into his work like... well, a dragon possessed!
And his H'ten is not dull at all! She knows all sorts of things that Zanglith might not necessarily remember, but is always raptly interested in hearing about! H’ten will certainly have her hands full as she struggles to feed his insatiable appetite for knowledge, but she’ll always have someone to talk to now! The dragon, one way or another, is going to force her to interact with people and... well, things she never probably she thought she would before! Zanglith chose H’ten for her patience and unflappable nature in crisis situations. She’ll have to be strong for both of them in order to calm the blue down, no matter what has him spooked or riled up!
Pros: curious, steadfast, helpful, enthusiastic
Cons: nosy, takes his time, distractible, becomes flustered under pressure
Other: Zanglith was originally written by the staff at Sands of Pern, though I've expanded on his personality to try to make him more well-rounded.
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