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 Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2014 10:53 am
Approved by Con
THE RIDER
Name: Lanakirene
Age: 19
Gender: Uses female pronouns, that's all she knows for sure.
Appearance: First things first - La isn't pretty. It's not that she's necessarily bad-looking, just that she's not eyecatching. She's quite tall at just a smidge below 5'11", and her build is lanky - not, unfortunately, in the way of a model, but instead in the way of a stork. To put it bluntly, she's skinny, almost entirely elbows and knees. She doesn't make up for this with grace, either; La moves quickly, unrestrainedly, with a heavy step and enthusiastic, bombastic movements. She's slightly clumsy, and will probably remain that way. More or less devoid of curves but leanly muscled from the work of Candidacy, she usually wears men's clothes, favoring warm and neutral colors.
Her face is feminine - pointed chin, wide eyes, and slightly-narrow features with full lips. Her eyes are just about the only distinctly pretty thing about her - ringed with luxuriant lashes, they're a warm cinnamon-brown that compliments her dark auburn hair. Perhaps unsurprisingly, La has wholeheartedly embraced the Weyr's tradition of head-shaving. She'll freely admit that it doesn't help on the 'slightly weird-looking' front - she doesn't have the features to pull off a buzzcut, much less baldness - but she's been perfectly happy to keep it shorn. At the moment, it's once again nearing an inch long, just enough that it never looks neat so she doesn't need to worry about it.
Personality: Driven and enthusiastic, La is the type of person who seems to mostly get by on sheer force of will and unflagging optimism. She doesn't believe in half-assing things. Everything she does, she does 100% and keeps doing. She loves life, and she loves the experience of living. When La likes something, she makes a point to delve into it as fully as she can. Life is about the experiences, and La intends to experience all of it. Right along with that, when she makes a commitment, she follows it through. She's that rare breed of person completely willing to devote her entire life to the things she loves, and does so with astonishing regularity.
As for the rest of her life? Well, at least you can say she tries. Hard. But La is just not cut out to lead the pack. Sure, she's friendly and enthusiastic - she loves people and has a keen knack for remembering names and faces. But she's not smooth. She has a low bullshit tolerance and tends to call people out loudly when she thinks they’re being ridiculous, something Isonth has been trying to moderate. She wants to be liked, though, and tries to cultivate an approachable, easygoing manner. La's not particularly easy to ruffle, often coming across as breezy. Something's gone wrong? Ah, no sweat. It'll be right! She tends to take most things with a grain of salt, preferring to hang out and enjoy the ride rather than lose her s**t over situations outside of her control. When something goes wrong, she tries to fix it instead of having a meltdown.
Additionally, she’s easily bored of personal matters, with a propensity to tune out when it comes to other people's problems, and she often disregards social cues that she doesn't feel like following at the time. To say that La doesn't like waiting is roughly the same as saying that Thread is a "minor inconvenience." La loves instant gratification, and the less effort she has to put in the better, and will complain incessantly if she has to wait for something to come to her. In part, this is laziness – she doesn’t actually like the work demanded of lower-ranked riders by the Weyr's social structure – and in part, it’s that effort to put on a veneer of devil-may-care lackadaisy.
It is imperative that gossip be filtered through La. She's not one for rumors, really, but she loves knowing what everyone is up to. She’s not really a gossip – her endgame doesn’t involve telling secrets to other people – but she’s definitely nosy. Unspeakably nosy.
While she does try to be a catch romantically, La is...complicated. It's not that she's clueless, but it would be fair to say that La just doesn't quite get how relationships work. She's flirty (excessively flirty sometimes) and loves the ladies, but she tends to miss the bit where people want something more than superficial attention and romance that fizzles out once the initial spark is gone. As far as La is concerned, romance is about the thrill of the chase. Once she's made the catch, there's only so long things will stay interesting before she's off and running again. She doesn't mean anything by it - it's not malicious - but La doesn't date seriously. She does it for fun, and doesn't seem to realize that this might hurt some people.
That said, but when La takes an interest in someone, she really does know how to court. She's not exactly poetic, but she does have a knack for tiny, thoughtful gifts and beautiful secluded locations for picnics. She likes making people happy, especially when she's dating those people. She wears her heart on her sleeve: When she's feeling something, it'll be obvious to everyone around her. Whether it's good or it's bad, she's incapable of masking those emotions. It’s something she shares in common with her dragon, and something that makes her remarkably open to manipulation.
History: Technically Lanakirene is a weyrbrat. Her father was a rider, and her mother was, technically, weyrfolk. Practically, it's a little bit more complicated than that.
Lanarri conceived her while she was living at High Reaches Weyr, three days after her twenty-first birthday and a week before she left her stint as a Candidate and returned to Tillek. Lanakirene's father was K'ren, a Second Wing brownrider with whom she had grown close during her four-turn stint as a Candidate. The dalliance had been spontaneous and brief, not intended to result in anything. But the best-laid plans of mice and men...
The pregnancy was disappointing, of course. Lanarri's father was...understandably incensed when two months after his daughter's return, she discovered she was with child. Still, Lanarri was determined to keep the baby, and ultimately her parents supported it. It might make Lanarri unmarriageable, but new life was new life, and Alana and Orri were ultimately happy to welcome their grandbaby into the world. That said, all of them hoped for a boy - the b*****d son of a successful brownrider would have been excellent Search potential. Unfortunately, seven months later, Lanakirene arrived blotched and screaming and female. And though her mother and grandparents were admittedly disappointed, it wasn't long before she won their adoration. Babies were babies, after all, and babies frequently have that effect on people.
Lanakirene didn't grow up affluent, but she grew up loved. Her grandfather was a retired carpenter, her grandmother and mother both housemaids to other, wealthier holders, and though she didn't always have the attention a more privileged child might have, she never wanted for support. Her grandfather became her primary caregiver, readily taking her under his wing once she was weaned and capable of walking. They grew up close, and Orri absolutely doted on her. As she grew, he taught her bits of his own craft, and while Lanakirene didn't take to it particularly well, she certainly enjoyed the idea.
She was a tomboy from a young age, keeping her hair short and playing with the hold's boys when she had free time. Orri encouraged it: It wouldn't have been the first time a child born a girl grew up different, and if little Lanakirene wanted to act like a boy...well, having a grandson would be better for everyone. It didn't help that one of her friends was in a very similar situation, having begun expressing himself as male quite young. Except he knew he was actually a boy, whereas La...wasn't quite sure. She didn't feel like a boy, whatever a boy was "supposed" to "feel" like, but she also was pretty sure she didn't "feel" like a girl. She was Lanakirene, whatever that meant. But she never really objected to being called a girl, because as far as she was concerned, there wasn't anything wrong with being a girl, either!
When she was ten, she started running messages for people, including the local healer, and quickly established a rapport with the man. He seemed to like her well enough, frequently employing her for any odd job that came to mind, and before long Lanakirene wasn't just running messages, she was folding bandages and holding baskets and helping move things while she sat in on the man's sessions. His work was interesting to her, and listening to him talk about what he was doing was one of the few things that caught Lanakirene's attention long enough to get her to sit still. She started working in the infirmary when she was eleven. The Healer seemed as fond of her as a man of his stature could be of a little girl, and her grandfather was happy to pay him to take her on as an apprentice. It went swimmingly, and after a turn the Healer began to talk of perhaps taking La to the Hall to further her education.
That plan never got off the ground, though, because Lanakirene managed to get herself Searched at fourteen. Her mother, perhaps out of some misplaced desire to live vicariously through La, encouraged her to attend the Search, and La managed to drag Miskael out of his workshop long enough to line up with her. It was the first time either of them had met a dragon, and when the pair of them were Searched together, La ran home to her mother in triumph. Lanarri sent her off with a kiss and a firm entreaty not to sleep with any men while she was there. La was quite certain she'd be able to manage that without any trouble at all. She headed to High Reaches the next day.
Candidacy wasn't anything like what La had expected. Her mother had always talked about it in slightly romantic terms, a description of the work as somehow magical and life-changing. It changed La's life, certainly, but not in a particularly fun sense. A turn of boot camp for a girl who had spent most of her time doing odd-jobs was grueling, but La was determined not to look weak to her family, and threw herself headlong into training. She passed - sort of - but her tendency to crack jokes and general breezy air gave her a reputation as a goof-off who needed some proper schooling.
The Candidatemaster agreed with that assessment, foisting La off on a harsh Third Wing squiremaster in the hopes of instilling the fear of authority into her and getting her whipped into shape. The relationship was...volatile, and not in a good way. La was sharp and more than a little petty, and while she wasn't necessarily argumentative, it quickly became apparent that neither she nor her squiremaster would be able to stand each other. Punishments only made her resentful, and she didn't respond at all to his hardness. He decided by the end of their trial period that he didn't have the time to handle La while also doing his job. It branded La a troublemaker and got her sent through a few weeks of remedial boot-camp before another rider was found who would tolerate her.
The second assignment was better; La's squiremaster was firm, but fair, and made a point to explain to La that her respect and hard work would be both demanded and rewarded. And La, put into a position where she was no longer forced into an adversarial role with her squiremaster, accepted it. She challenged, on occasion - and then generally accepted her punishments with a minimum of grumbling. The firm hand of her squiremaster brought her in line the longer they worked together, La acquiescing to requests and adjusting to Weyr life in increments. She was firmly held back from Cinnamath's first Hatching - in part as punishment and in part because her squiremaster simply didn't believe she was ready yet - but by the time Thread began to fall, La was an asset rather than a liability. She stood for Evmeth's first clutch of the Fall, failed to Impress, and began to re-evaluate herself.
It wasn't that the Weyr wasn't exciting. She loved dragons, loved the work of the dragonriders, and understood her squiremaster and the methods of High Reaches better than she ever had before. But she missed home, somewhat - and missed her Healer training even more. Candidacy was the same tasks over and over, and she derived little personal satisfaction from being someone's personal assistant. Even the learning was beginning to grow stale.
Cinnamath's clutch was the last one she stood for - and might have been the last one she stood for even if she hadn't Impressed. La was experiencing more than a little bit of a crisis of faith, sticking around primarily out of stubbornness - and partially for the benefit of those few friendships she had managed to maintain at the Weyr. She cared more about expressing her support than she did about Impressing, and was genuinely happy when Miskael and her other classmates Impressed. M'ska Impressing meant that the pressure was off her - she could return to Tillek knowing her friend was now officially safe and Impressed. It took the weight off her, a little bit.
It wasn't until late in the Hatching that a lanky green who had been one of the first dragons to break shell finally stumbled over to La, tripping over her own tail on the way, and reared up on her hind legs while informing her rider that her name was very long, Isonth's was very short, and she was incredibly hungry now that all her brothers and sisters had Impressed safely. La was...a little surprised - she had never really pegged herself as a greenrider - but she already understood what she had been told about Impression. That it was a sudden change, that as soon as you found your dragon, you couldn't imagine having Impressed to anyone else...yes. Isonth was hers, and Isonth was perfect.
In the months since, there have been...occasional snags. La is once again part of a class, which means less isolation, which means more opportunities to be herself - which means running her mouth off, occasionally hamming it up, and finding chances to throw herself into her class clown antics with cheerful abandon. But Isonth has been something of a tempering influence, demanding attention and gently trying to calm situations before they get out-of-hand. The partnership is still occasionally shaky as the two feel each other out, but no moreso than any other riderpair.
THE DRAGON
Name: Isonth
Age: 6 months
Colour: Green
Feel of voice: Rich jungle plants, growing things, flowers blooming, loud birdsong in the morning light – it can get a little scattered. Plants is a constant.
Appearance: Odd as it sounds, Isonth in many ways resembles her rider. First and foremost, she's a long dragon, with disproportionately lanky limbs and wings, and a long tail and neck that make her look absolutely ridiculous. She hasn't grown into her build yet, looking - if possible - even stranger than she did first out of the egg in comparison with her maturing clutchsiblings, but there is a suggestion of something stately about the way she moves. Even for a young dragon, she has very little body fat, and is prone to bone and joint pain while she grows.
Her hide, unlike the rest of her, is striking. Starting with a vibrant, grassy green base, she darkens at her points to a richer emerald. The rest of her hide is patched with the same emerald, blotched irregularly in large spots on her sides and smaller spots on her limbs, neck, and tail.
Personality: Isonth is sweeter than bubbly pie. Here is a dragon who wants to love everyone all the time. She doesn’t remember all names – that onus is something that rests squarely on her rider – but she makes a point to introduce herself to any and every dragon and wher she meets. It doesn’t seem to bother Isonth that whers aren’t sophisticated in the same way dragons are – they’re kin, right? And she should know all her kin! She wants everyone to know she’s there for them and that they’re gonna be all right, and Faranth help anyone who stops Isonth from making sure everything’s okay. Her capacity for adoration is boundless; there is literally not a single animal – from the smallest flitter to the nastiest wher to the oldest, grumpiest bronze – that she doesn't want to make sure is happy. She has never come across a dragon she didn’t at least want to support in their time of need.
She has a knack for defusing tense situations, and a generally good-natured air that makes her surprisingly talented at keeping cool under pressure. She's significantly better at reading the energy of a group than her rider is, and sees it as her responsibility to defuse tense situations that La might otherwise exacerbate. It’s almost impossible to get on Isonth's bad side, and she’ll do anything for anyone who asks. Even if it's a little out of her league. Or if it might not be a good idea. There’s a naiveté about her, making her willing to turn a blind eye to the faults of others...as long as those faults don’t offer injury or insult to her rider. Mess with La, and Isonth wants nothing to do with you. Otherwise, you can pretty much ask anything of Isonth, and she will do her best to get it done. Especially when it comes to hatchlings – she loves babies, and it makes her sad that she’ll never have any of her own.
Honestly, it doesn't take much to get Isonth down; the loving little green is a delicate, sensitive soul. Sure, she bounces back quickly enough, but even gentle insults can make the green a little sad. This is especially true when it comes to dragons rebuffing her affection: what, you mean you don't love her? Why not? Please let her! It gives her a tendency to sulk until she forgets what it was she whining about in the first place. Luckily for La and unluckily for the dragons who don't want anything to do with her, her memory is unusually bad, even for dragons. Additionally, she rarely taps into La's mind for names and faces - it doesn't actually matter who the dragon is because she knows she wants to be their friend!
All of that said, Isonth doesn't have much in the way of an attention span. She likes doing things and getting involved with things, but when it comes time to actually buckle down and pay attention, you'll be lucky if you can get her to focus for more than ten minutes. This, combined with her rider's tendency to lackadaisy, has already begun to get them in trouble. And while that doesn't bother Lanakirene much, it devastates Isonth, who is doing everything she can to brush up. When she remembers, she takes the initiative, gently cajoling and pushing Lanakirene to the heights she knows her rider can reach. Whether those heights are realistic or not doesn't really matter; Isonth thinks the world of her rider, and nobody will ever convince her otherwise.
Original personality (from many, many years ago) by teh_sil, though it has been frankensteined and rewritten countless times since then.
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Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2014 2:43 pm
Hi!
One quick note - in our setting, candidacy ends at 21, though there *are* confirmed very rare cases of 22 turn olds impressing from the stands. Just that point with her mother needs changing, and then she'll be good to go :'D
Cheers!
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Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2014 2:46 pm
Ah, my bad, I thought Candidacy extended through 21. Changed!
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