Character Name: Orlina
Age: 12 (11 at start; turned 12 2 months after character creation)
Gender: Female
Sexual Orientation: N/A (Eventually homosexual)
Craft/Rank: Candidate
History: One of Orothor's half-siblings, though the two have never done more than pass in the halls, Orlina also grew up fostered in the weyr, though she's had more contact with her father, a Bluerider, than Orothor ever had with his. Her mother is still a veritable stranger, known only by reputation and the occasional run-in-turned-check-up. She's always had someone to turn to, be it other weyrbrat girls her age, her fostermother, or one of the women who work in the Caverns, so she's certainly never lacked for love and grew up learning to enjoy being around others more than being on her own. Orlina devoted herself a great deal to female pursuits, because of her mother's work in the Lower Caverns, so she's learned how to make a good meal or two and actually enjoys cleaning when it doesn't interfere with her day.
When she was around eight or nine, Orlina bumped into a group of older boys striking up a plan to prank one of the new Candidates. Despite not knowing who the Candidate was, Orlina put her foot down as the actions being "wrong" and the argument ended up in a scuffle. All three boys were several years older and quite a bit larger than her, but Orlina fought anyway. She only made it out relatively unscathed because the hallway they were in was well-used and one of the weyrfolk happened to come by and break it up. Orlina made it out without injuries that were too severe and insisted that all she did was pick up a new trick or two "just in case." Despite her fostermother's warnings against getting into more trouble, Orlina's life is peppered with many similar incidents and she's earned herself several enemies among the older Candidates and-- now that they've Impressed-- a Weyrling rider or two.
With only a month and a half to her birthday, it's likely that the next Clutch at Malvren will be her first, and she's very excited to Stand for the first time.
Description: Small, dark and rather lovely, Orlina's mother's strong genes played out in her as surely as they did in her brother. Her skintone is medium brown made darker by the Southern suns-- something she isn't usually happy about-- and her face is that same pixie-esque heart shape as her mother and half-brother, but her hair is her mother's pitch black and wavy mass and her eyes are a bright hazel, courtesy of her father. Orlina is destined to follow her mother's footsteps with a curvy figure, but she'll borrow her father's over-strong (for a woman) shoulders for the task. Although only around 5' now, Orlina will eventually top off at a short 5' 4".
Personality: To say Orlina goes looking for trouble would be an understatement. Her childhood was peppered with adventures that ended in scars and bruises-- a few of them fights with boys bigger than herself. Although she comes across as quiet at first, Orlina's transition over to cheerful and amiable is usually quick once she establishes the person she's talking to as "okay." Unless she's lost herself in an idea, Orlina is fairly talkative, easy to be with and willing to lend a hand so long as she's spending time with people she likes. The only time Orlina rescinds this personality is when she's confronted with someone she's attracted to or awed by. She'll go quiet and shy, still offering smiles but doing so without holding their gaze for too long. It will make her affections all too obvious, which would be great fodder for her enemies or offer a considerable about of embarrassment for her if she thinks the other person has realized she likes them. She isn't worth their time or affection, and the thought that they know about her obviously unrequited feelings is the one thing that can really shame her. Once she likes someone or is awed by them she places them on a pedestal and it would take a great deal of work for her to see them as someone on her level and be willing to accept-- if the other person was willing-- that they were interested back.
The problem really seems to come back to her cleverness. Orlina is too clever for her own good, even though she doesn't mean to be. It's just how she is. When she gets quiet and thoughtful, it's best to wait for what's coming, because it's either a great idea, a deep insight, or the most obvious way to get into trouble you've ever heard and you're going to need to convince her to do something else. She can't seem to stop that clever mind of hers from figuring things out (like those great, deep insights that lend people advice or things to think on or her brilliant ideas on cheering up friends or making the impossible possible). Thankfully, Orlina is relatively easy to waylay as long as you're around to catch her before she gets herself into a fistfight, stuck hanging off a ledge, lost on a beach somewhere, etc. It wouldn't be farfetched to those who knew her to one day find out she's swum off into the ocean to look for dolphin pods and no one's been able to locate her for hours. It's not that she doesn't have common sense, she does (sort of), it's just that this girl can convince herself that
anything is a good idea, even when it obviously isn't. She's aware of the danger, but pursuit seems like more fun than worrying about the what-ifs.
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