Name: Nessa
Age: 18
Sex: Female
Sexual Orientation: Straight
Craft: Healer
Rank: Apprentice
Physical Description: Standing at about 5'6", Nessa has grown just about all she's going to. She is slender with creamy fair skin and jet black hair that is straight and falls to mid-back. However, her hair is usually pulled back out of the way somehow - be it braided, or in a bun or even a simple ponytail. If she left it down, she would undoubtedly be considered prettier, but she doesn't really care about such things. Her eyes are blue-green, reminding a lot of people of the color of the water along the coast of the Southern continent.
Personality: For the most part, Nessa is a confident - but plain-spoken - young woman. She really hasn't much clue how to dress up or be fancy and frankly, she doesn't care. She's blunt without actually trying to be rude, but sometimes her manner comes off as such even when she doesn't mean it. She prefers to lead in a group, though if there's someone who obviously knows more than she does, she will back down - but not always gracefully. She loves new ideas and figuring out any kind of puzzle, sometimes taking such things just a bit too far. Nessa has one major fear - the dark - though she has gotten fairly good at controlling it over the years. However, she still really really doesn't like going between and the only reason she's still at the Weyr now is because she feels a sense of duty to Pern and the dragons she has seen so much of over the past few years. She doesn't want to leave before she's had every chance to Impress that she is allowed. Her fear of the dark isn't really connected to anything in her past, it's simply an irrational fear that she's always carried with her.
History: Born near Fort Hold to a small family of herders/weavers, Nessa is the oldest of two and had to help her family out with chores and more from a young age. Her younger brother was born when she was two years old and soon after his birth, her father was killed in an accident. Rather than move in with another family and merge their herds, Nessa's mother chose to stay at their home by herself, raising two children alone. As the oldest, Nessa was expected to help out with whatever she could as she got old enough to understand things. As such, she has a variety of skills, and also gets her confident and no-nonsense sort of attitude from her mother.
However, there was one thing about Nessa that was different. Though she seems a bit cold on the outside, she cannot stand to see anything or anyone in pain. It started with taking care of the family's herdbeasts - toddling after a local Healer when she was no more than five and imitating him, making clumsy poultices for sick or injured animals. The older Healer noticed her attempts and taught her a little bit so that she could help him out. Soon enough, she began to hunger for more knowledge, especially as she got older.
When Nessa was twelve, her mother met an old friend in town who had moved away for a time, but was now in the area again. The two got to talking and sharing more and more time together... and in time, her mother fell in love again and married the man. Nessa didn't really like him, but she said nothing because she could see that her mother was happier. And it also took a lot of the load off her, so she could ask for permission to go to Healer Hall and get more formal training.
Her mother and new "father" agreed and off she went. But, after no more than three years there, her life was to change again. Through the years, there had still been small clutches of dragons laid at various Weyrs. In the summer of her fifteenth year, one of these was waiting on the sands at Ista Weyr, and Nessa was Searched to stand at the Hatching. She did not Impress at the time, and hasn't Impressed in any Hatching since, though she has chosen to stay on at the Weyr until she's 21 and can no longer stand.
Several of the Healers attached to the Weyr have taught her things here and there - mostly about taking care of dragons and their rides, considering where she is. Nessa has always soaked up knowledge like a sponge and always tends to show up with one of these Healers in any kind of emergency - ready to help deal with whatever it is. Nessa has gotten to the point where she doesn't really think she'll ever Impress, though it would be nice if she did, and actually is toying with the idea of applying to become a Healer at this or another Weyr after she returns to Healers' and completes her training.
Pets: None
Other/Talents: Though she hasn't been formally trained or acknowledged as such, it's likely that Nessa just about has Journeyman Healer skills in the specific areas dealing with dragons and riders.
Family:
Mother: Lily
Father (deceased): Marcus
Younger brother: Damion
Stepfather: Kallik
Will this character be a candidate? Yes
Picture: None yet ... ninja
THINGS TO THINK ON
FerretPrince
Nessa
Point of interest: It turns out that people who are blunt and thought of as rude aren’t good leaders. Or, at least, they rarely have actual followers. (Well, except for Dr. House… but he’s just the exception that proves the rule). Especially if she doesn’t concede power gracefully. You know how the saying goes… “If you complain when you lose, you won’t be asked to play again.”
How does Nessa handle this? She wants to be a leader but, most likely, people will not accept being led by someone who’s thought of as rude. I’d like to hear more about that.
How does she take puzzles too far? Are we talking about like… mysteries? 8D I’d love more mystery-obsessed characters. C’ren loves getting his snoopy groove on. Talk more about that, because it’s really fun to have characters who are obsessed with finding out The Truth and all that jazz.
Comment: if she is being trained as a Healer and has the skills of a Journeyman Healer, I think she’d be recognized as one. There are several Candidates who are Healers so it wouldn’t be completely unknown.
