Character Name: Tia
Age: 17
Gender: Female
Sexual Orientation: Hetero
Craft/Rank: Apprentice Woodcrafter, planning to specialize in carving.
History: When Tia was born, she was her mother's third child, and first girl, and was surprisingly small, and had she been less... robust in her opinions, there would have been a bit of doubt as to her chances of survival. Her mother was completely smitten with her tiny, delicate daughter, and seized on the name that would later become somewhat... out of place. Tia, because like her daughter it was pretty, tiny, and delicate.

...Then Tia grew. Apparently taking her cues from the trees her father liked to work with, tiny Tink took off and rapidly started growing, outstripping pretty dresses one after another, as her doting mother continued to indulge in the idea of having a lovely -delicate- girl to hang fantasies of being swept away and marrying a lord on. With her daughters increasingly strong, powerful frame, made more so by increasing escapes to play with (and take revenge on) brothers who lovingly, but in standard sibling fashion, teased her for looking like a tree in lace, this began to be an source of discomfort and embarrassment.

She chose, when she came of age, to apprentice to her fathers craft for two reasons, one of which was because she loved being around the trees, and working with fresh cut wood. The smell of wood chips or tree-sap is more relaxing to her than any scented oil... and the second, because it gave her an most incredible excuse to shed delicate lazy frocks for something that was actually designed to be working around sharp instruments and trees, since tree-sap and lace weren't exactly designed to go hand in hand.

Her mother was quite distressed at this apprenticeship, and several arguments resulted between her parents as a result, but her father remained resolute, arguing that his daughter was no dress up doll, and that if his wife had really wanted to play the roll of the lady so badly, she should have made other choices years ago, and married a different man 'if one would have had her'.

Relationships became strained in the family, and Tia looked more and more to escape, hoping to become a journeyman, to be offered a place on a departing caravan... anything to not feel as though she was the source of strife in the family. She even attempted on several occasions to wear lacy dresses while she worked, ruining two before she gave up when her mother burst into tears when she returned home with sap, leaves, burrs and twigs covering the fabric, and the lace edging in tatters and mud.

What she didn't expect was to be searched by a dragonrider. Such things were for stories and legends, and for other people. She'd never even dreamed of it. Dreaming of dragon riding or life at the weyrs was for, she thought, idiots, since the chances were so slim to begin with, and the prospect of impressing even slimmer, and she cursed herself for one at the idea of going, but seized on it with both hands, not because she plans to impress, but because the distance, she reasons, will be her freedom, and allow her mother to dream of her doing whatever she likes, with no one the wiser, or unhappier for the truth, whatever that turns out to be.


Description: At very nearly six foot tall, Tia is massive for a woman, and the physical equal of many men, superior even to many who are smaller than her. Her light brown hair, sun bleached and slightly coppery in places, is almost to her waist, a relic of trying to look more feminine for her mother that Tia admits she's grown a little attached to, though for the sake of practicality it's usually worn in a strict tail or long, heavy braid. ((Which some have joked ought to be regarded as a weapon when swung.))
In spite of her incredible size, she's not board flat, though hard work means her chest isn't as buxom as some might fantasize on a woman her height, her hips are notable, and there's no mistaking her for an man.
Distrust and a tendency to expect harsh judgment from others tend to make her eyes hard edged, making her look more cold and hungry than pretty, though her amber ((Human amber: Basically a light brown-gold.)) eyes are attractive enough if she stops scowling long enough for someone to notice.

Personality: Caught awkwardly between the desire to please people and the desire to please herself, Tia is still growing into her own personality, but when she finishes deciding, as she's already in the process of doing, that it's alright to like herself being who she's comfortable being, she'll be a force to be reckoned with. She hates manipulators, hates being plastered with guilt, and is disgusted by lies. Pleasantries are all fine and good, but she'd rather know where she stands, than to find out, as she's put it, that the person who just informed her that she looks good in green really means that a tree is about to land on her.
She's envious of girls who actually look good in frills and lace, but is rapidly moving out of any desire to really wear them herself, starting to feel as though she might even pass for some kind of attractive in simpler, more useful clothing and leathers. Pants, especially, when she can wear them, are a blessing. Skirts, she feels, only serve to remind her that she is very. Very tall, since to cover as intended, quite a lot of fabric is needed.

Other: Secretly: Tia's favorite color is pink. She will not wear it.

Tia was never actively 'abused' by her mother, but she still loathes the guilt she felt for being unable to measure up to what her mother wanted. In spite of this, she loves her mother deeply and conflictingly wishes she could be what she wanted.