Name: Hilena
Age: 17
Gender: Female
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
Rank: Candidate


History: Hilena grew up in High Telgar Hold, where her parents worked in the East side market. From an early age, everything and everyone around her was industrious, organised and dull. An adventurous child, Hilena was a constant nuisance to her parents, always under foot and moving at top speed. She climbed things, just to get a better look at what was going on above her low eye level, and asked endless questions. Her parents didn't have time to supervise the active little girl, and encouraged her to run errands rather than 'help' them at the market.

It wasn't long before she had explored every nook and cranny and dangerous perch of the market and eventually the greater Hold. When she wasn't running errands (and often when she should have been) she was hunting firelizard eggs, and pestering visiting traders for stories from beyond the Hold. Harper ballads fascinated her, but she hated to sit and learn them, wishing only to be out and re-enacting the grand tales of the past. She slipped away from her studies as often as she could, and was more often than not found on the fire heights, or up at the drum tower, looking out over the wide world. The best days were the ones when dragons flew over. They had the whole sky to themselves, but they were as bright and distant to her as the stars.

Hilena's fascination with climbing the heights did not lessen with age. On one notable occasion, she attempted to scale the Hold wall itself on a dare, and it took considerable time and an enterprising Smithcrafter to fetch her down again safely. Her parents were mortified, and attempted at last to curtail her activities and turn the girl into a proper and marriageable Hold lady. They sought to wear her out with chores and instil in her some sense of decorum.

It was a measure of her respect for her parents that Hilena did attempt to live up to their expectations and tone down her wild ways. But a life without excitement was no life at all. She replaced her forbidden adventurous roaming with amorous pursuits, seeking the exhilaration she longed for in the arms of any passing young man who could tell a tall tale well. This did not please her parents any better than her childhood activites.

When one of the young men she flirted with turned out to be a Weyr Searchrider, and offered her a place on the sands, she jumped at the chance. She expected her father to refuse, but frankly, the Holders were relieved to be rid of her. Away from the Hold, Hilena has revelled in the chance to explore, finally, a greater world than she had previously been permitted. The Weyr itself delights her with its heights and ledges, and she will make any excuse to persuade a rider to take her aloft, even if only for a moment. The thrill of take-off, as the stone ledge falls away below her, is something she feels she could never grow tired of.


Appearance: A short and slight but agile young woman, with wind-mussed brown hair and wide greenish eyes. Her cheeks are often pleasantly flushed from running, and even at rest she speaks with a slightly breathless voice, as if the whole world is just moving too fast and she has to keep up. Her hands, and occasionally other parts, tend to have scrapes or grazes from her latest adventure.


Personality: Hilena is an explorer at heart – she always wants to know what's just over the horizon. But when she gets there, more often than not she finds it isn't as grand as she imagined. She's a little disappointed that the world isn't putting on a better show. The anticipation is what keeps her going, the dream that she might discover something different, and the flutter in her stomach when she takes a risk to get there. She has very little drive beyond this nebulous need to know the world. She has little interest in formal learning, and no craft has been able to hold her attention more than a few moments.

Active and easily bored, Hilena is constantly seeking new experiences and new places to explore. She has little tolerance for routine, and if a task does not engage her well enough, she may seek to make it more interesting, or abandon it altogether. She sometimes finds herself with a following of younger children who delight in seeing her turn a boring task into a game, even if the ones who set the task will not approve. She's also a sucker for dares – particularly those that challenge her physical skills. She's not so much a show-off as an adrenaline junkie. When she can hear her own heart like harper drums, she knows she's doing it right.

Hilena can become a bit distant around those her own age. She flirts and jokes and dares, but others' pessimism damages her sense of joy in the world, and she would rather go off alone than endure company that brings her down. She can come across as contrary – all bright and enthusiastic one minute, almost sulky the next. Her interest in boys is secondary to her exploring: she's tried a few, and they're all much the same in the end.

Sometimes, in quiet moments, Hilena is afraid that the one thing she will never experience is the contentment she sees in those who accept their places in the world. She doesn't want to admit it, but she's jealous of people who can just settle down and find happiness. A rider completely absorbed with their dragon, a crafter hard at work, a mother laughing with her family – all are cause for a secret, shameful jealousy. They seem to have something that is missing from her life. She tells herself that she has to keep moving, climbing, searching for the thing that will give her that feeling, but really, keeping busy just stops her noticing the lack.


Other: No gold/bronze. Alas, I probably don’t have the time.
Sorry it's so long. ^_^;