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Approved by Con

RIDER
Name: Valdene
Age: 25
Gender:Female
Rank: Wingrider of 5-2 wing, Fort Weyr
Appearance:

Valdene is about average height for a woman, obviously in good physical shape. She has shoulder-length dirty blonde hair, done up in a tight french braid. She has prominent facial bones, giving her face an angular sort of look, and small brown eyes. She would honestly be at least mildly pretty if she would put on some makeup. But she does not.

Her rider uniform is as meticulously cared for as her dragon- she looks sharp, everything is in place. She has a pair of goggles, which she keeps ready around her neck in case she needs them. Other than that, she is unremarkable.

Personality:

Serious and stern with a little bit of snark mixed in, Valdene was never a sugar-and-spice sort of girl. Holdborn of drudge stock, she inherited the rank from her parents and has had to work hard all her life. While she is definitely not the sharpest knife in the drawer, she has been conditioned to never disobey an order (as she was punished the few times she did so even slightly). As such, when she was Searched, she did well in the physical training and discipline aspects of her candidatehood.

Because of her discipline from a young age, she keeps going when others tire and right up til she goes to sleep. She has few friends aside from her dragon and keeps most other potential friends at bay with an attitude problem. Its never so bad that she gets complaints but she is definitely not the sort of person that people get close to.

Rank means everything to her. A superior will get nothing less than complete obedience and devotion. She is a yes-man- if asked about her opinion on an issue she will agree wholeheartedly with her CO, no matter what she really thinks.

Inheriting her role and being treated as she was, she has constant feelings of inferiority. While she longs for higher rank, higher pay, and more power, she feels that rank and power will come to those that deserve it. As such, she feels that her low rank and tiny blue are as she deserves, and perhaps all she will ever deserve. Still, she holds herself to a very high standard – perhaps impossibly high: everything must be in tip top condition for her- her uniform, her weyr, herself, and her dragon (who does require a lot of care). Any laxness on her part or others is met with scorn.

Valdene craves order and stability, especially now that she has somehow found herself in a situation where the natural progression of time has been screwed with. Ritual, tradition, Law and Order- these are things she holds dear. She is not good with sudden changes, especially if they cause chaos. She stumbles and staggers when carefully led strategic plans go awry, and reels at sudden deaths and changes in the status quo. Finding herself suddenly 500 and change turns in the future has not been good for her.

Fortunately for her, Suuyeth acts as a buffer. The little lighthearted blue handles change with delight and aplomb and can ease the stress a bit. She is very attached to her dragon, and he is her best and arguably only friend, and – often – the only way she can make friends. She won't admit it, but she does pamper him somewhat, though she is never overly affectionate.

History:

Valdene was a third generation drudge in Ruatha hold: her father had been sold into drudgery when he was a child and had accumulated further debts through various means, and her mother's mental illnesses (of an unclear nature) made her 'unfit' for much else. When Valdene was seven, her mother was kicked by a runner while assisting a stablehand and died of complications. Valdene and her father were devastated by the loss and consumed by their chores. Her father took to drinking pilfered liquor and Valdene grew distant from him.

One day, at age 13, while tending the racecourse after a race, Valdene was Searched. She leapt at the opportunity and tried her best to be the best candidate she could at Fort Weyr. After Standing for the first clutch (the one with a queen), she decided not to return home, asking to work in the lower caverns. Plagued by feelings of inadequacy, she tormented herself by watching the hatchings from the stands. The second time she did this, the tiny blue Suuyeth decided to start his streak of being unconventional by crawling his way up the stands to her.

Suuyeth's attitude softened her somewhat: her intense – almost absurd – rigidity and his easygoing energy balanced each other out, and the pair did well enough as weyrlings, surviving to make it to Wingrider.

With Suuyeth's personality and speed, Valdene found that taking on jobs as a courier or searcher were easy for her to do. Suuyeth's social – or, some would say, prying mind – had a fairly high success rate for Searching impressable candidates. Suuyeth was the main personality of the team, and became known in the Weyr and in the Holds they frequented as a source of gossip, information, and advice. Valdene was a slightly unpleasant intermediary or addendum, and she didn't mind being considered as such – sometimes she even cultivated it. Suuyeth tried, unsuccessfully, to get her more friends, but she was not unhappy with the few she had, and certainly not with him, even if he was annoying.

Suuyeth himself had many friends, though no weyrmates or lovers of any sort, which of course didn't stop him from trying to set up his rider with other riders. In part, that was why they were at Benden at the time of the massacre and got caught up in it – he was trying to get her together with the rider of a dragon he knew from that weyr, a nice enough male greenrider. It was actually working out: Valdene liked the guy and was starting to be open to the idea of trying to find herself a mate.

Unfortunately, Suuyeth's plans were ruined by the massacre and the pair escaped with the rest when they got caught up in the chaos.

Suuyeth, obviously, made it through the long jump okay, but he was so exhausted that he was barely able to land and was out of it for several days afterwards. When he got back on his feet, however, he met the future with excitement and delight.

Valdene, however, closed up like a bivalve against the terrifying newness of it all.

Currently: It will be difficult for Suuyeth to get back to nudging people, especially his rider, into relationships, but he welcomes the challenge – its a fun puzzle he is excited to be able to solve.

Valdene will find it harder to fit into her familiar roles and will have far more issues adjusting.

DRAGON
Name:Suuyeth
Age: 8
Colour:Blue
Feel of voice: Light and peppery, like sparkling sunlight on a newly mowed meadow. Suuyeth's voice typically carries a lot of energy with it when he talks, which is often.
Appearance:

Suuyeth is a tiny blue dragon, about the same size as a medium-small green of his time. He is a bright, pretty sapphire blue with a few subtle markings along his sides and a few crisp markings on his back. He is very proud of all of his markings, though, especially the bow and arrow shape on his head and the line down his tail. In addition to being tiny, he is also thin with little excess fat on him and as such is fairly agile. Though he doesn't have much physical stamina, he is generally energetic enough to keep going longer than he probably should. Typical eye colors: bright, happy, energetic green.

Personality:

Suuyeth loves people. He just absolutely loves people. Dragon or human, he wants to know all about people and all the little and big dramas that make up their life. His favorite sort of gossip involves relationships: Whos weyrmated with who, who wants to be weyrmated with who, who cheats on who with who, who is trying to talk to who and failing because they are shy... that sort of thing.

He has his own opinions on who should end up with who and how, and he is not shy about voicing them or not-so-subtly enforcing his opinions. He has a problem with minding his own business, and tends to be an interfering, giggling, self proclaimed matchmaker.

His rider manages to curb this behavior somewhat before it goes from annoying to offensive, and thus prevents him from getting into fights which he definitely wouldn't stand a chance. Aside from the obvious disadvantage of being small and not as strong as other dragons, Suuyeth is friendly, especially to strangers, and too empathetic to do actual intentional harm: Suuyeth definitely does not have the personality of a fighter.

However, just because he isn't a fighter doesn't mean he doesn't get pissy occasionally. He doesn't lash out so often with tooth or claw, but typically with words or mean spirited gossip. If it isn't gossip, though, he forgets it easily. He does not hold grudges or negative opinions long, and it does not take much for him to forgive and forget. Someone who has made a sharp-tongued enemy out of Suu one day may find him cheerfully greeting them at their weyr and babbling about the latest gossip a week later as if nothing had happened.

As for jumping hundreds of turns into the future, Suuyeth – after recovering from the long jump – is thoroughly enjoying himself. Everything is new and strange and different and there's all these neat things to explore. Being smaller than just about any dragon has always been a point of pride for him, and now that he is meeting enormous dragons (And may be the tiniest dragon on Pern) he is pleased as can be. In fact, he thinks the whole situation is the most awesome thing ever, and has quickly forgotten the whole massacre thing.

Other:



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