ROCHELLE
Name: Rochelle
Age: 48
Gender: Female
Craft/Rank: Journeyman Glasscrafter/Wingrider
Appearance: When Rochelle first meets a person 'Journeyman'' isn't generally something that first springs to mind. She's a respectable 5'7" and a bit overweight, carrying it well in generous curves. Rochelle wears the typical tunic-and-pants outfit, thick wherhide boots, and a series of tattoos along her shoulders above her breasts and down her back, some on the base of her neck, enough to peek over the tunic and all in the fashion of ta moko - it's there to try and cover up the wher-claw scar that goes from mid-sternum, over the curve of her shoulder to the middle of her back. She also has a labret and multiple piercings in her ears, the piercings commissioned from plastic crafters. Her skin is a dark beige and her hair was once a dirty blonde but through the wonders of additives to the hair before frolicking into the sunlight, it lightened her hair to a much lighter blonde and it goes all the way to the middle of her back. It's become streaked with gray ever since she hit 40 and her skin has started to line; Rochelle claims she looks distinguished.
Her face is very round with a tiny chin, full, wide lips and an even larger smile. Dark blue eyes made nearly black by the use of kohl, Rochelle makes a practice of making little glass jewelry on her off times and then damn well wears them too. Rowr. She does, however, bite her nails down to the skin.
Personality: She is the MasterCrafter of Sasscraft. Rochelle takes pride in being sassy, full of swagger and snark and other 's' words. Being mean is not exactly something she enjoys but more of an unfortunate consequence of being Usually Right about all of the things. Opinionated and loud about it, she doesn't hesitate to tell her best friends (if/when she actually gets some) to shut up when they're going off on a verbal or physical rampage. This would be easier if she knew when to shut up instead of making uncomfortable situations even more so with inappropriate things such as saying "battle wounds" when a man with severe blood loss has already expressed concern about his son.
Her ego is the size of bronze dragon. Rochelle knows she is awesome and she does her very best to act awesome. She puts 110% into everything she does due to the simple fact that in order to be as badass as she KNOWS she is to the outside world, she needs to be the best on her own level. Anyone protesting her being one of the coolest cats around will be met with an argument on why they are wrong. You cannot shake her belief or her ego. (... okay, so she's arrogant about her own worth. Is this really such a bad thing?)
Rochelle dislikes outbursts. This makes her a complete and total hypocrite - and she is, for various reasons - but people bursting into hysterical sobs or screaming fits of rage do nothing but piss her off and annoy her. Control is a big part of being an adult (again: hypocrite) and if it's a child, they have no business being around her.
Her BS meter is low. She will call people on it and their random acts of stupid. This goes hand in hand with that whole 'doesn't know when to shut up' thing as stated above. Being an idiot has no place in a Weyr or around gigantic beasts or blowtorches. Like with children and their not adult status.
Children are messy, sticky for unknown reasons, loud, kind of dumb, and she dislikes them immensely. One of the reasons she does not want to be a parent is because she doesn't think she'd like her own flesh and blood. Even though she grew up in a creche, Rochelle adores her fostered out father and could not imagine putting her own kiddlet in a creche instead of caring about them. Shards, she has a hard enough caring about guys she sleeps with let alone something she's supposed to love on sight. Being in a Weyr means few people would judge her for this but after spending half her life at a Hall... It altered her perception a little bit.
"Because I can" and "I wanted to" are the mantras she lives by and pertain to every aspect of her life, including her love life. If a guy/gal is interested and she is interested, both are of age and sober, then why not? What's wrong with some fun? She's had a few long(ish) relationships. When in a relationship, Rochelle is monogamous and happily so, seeing only her partner in a sexual or romantic light.
That's where the problems come in. When emotionally attached to someone, a cold panic seeps in and Rochelle bolts. She does her best to disappear from their life as soon as she realizes one of them or both of them have more serious romantic feelings, withdrawing from the world for a few weeks in order to avoid them. The few times she's attempted to offer explanation, she gets sick and can't spit the words out.
She channels all of her love and adoration into her Craft. She works long hours and does her best to be a good member of the prison, even though she falls short at times due to her issues with shutting up and annoying people. She's good at her job, no matter what else can be said of her, and it's something of a miracle that her eyes are still as sharp as ever with her day job of guard and 'set s**t on fire'.
Rochelle swears, drinks, and likes to have fun in the meantime. That's pretty much all I have to say about that.
Her temper is mighty when roused. She does not consider it a character defect or something to be stopped, merely quelled when inappropriate or in front of people who shouldn't see her go all Curbstomp on someones face. Fists are there for a reason and while her hands are small, they hurt when those tiny knuckles dig into flesh. She fights dirty and takes no prisoners. Punishments in the past has made her learn to push down the urge to beat someones face in, though it is not always successful. She mostly sticks to sneering, snide comments, and being better than they are. Living well is the best revenge (and bloodied noses).
With authority, Rochelle respects the fact they can mess her life up good. She knows people higher ranking than her can (will) make her life miserable if she does stupid things and has in the past been punished at the Craft hall for fights, talking back, and being disrespectful. She gets this. Knowing this doesn't make it easier, of course, but she knows. Her disdain for those in power she believes shouldn't be in power (mostly leaders who got there on banging a certain color dragon, or jerk Masters) is thinly veiled but she says 'yessir' and 'yes ma'am' with the best of them. Honestly authoritative and knowledgeable people - not the sort who assert themselves through snarling and cocky throwing - are ones she can really respect. Don't storm in to a room and start bossing people around just because you think you can and you dislike them; that makes you a childish and insecure creature she'll never respect. Rochelle has exacting standards, albeit some hypocritical, and does her best to hold everyone to them.
She thrives on human contact and is well aware how antagonistic she can be. None of it is meant as malicious, merely curious, but it's how her mind works. Annoy a little, get attention, get a friend, then they can see her for the real, somewhat less bothersome her. She also likes to smile. A lot. It's her favorite expression. If she dislikes someone, she annoys them. Badgering, snarky comments, things like that. Luckily she doesn't dislike many people (save for aforementioned wannabe authority figures), so people are mostly free of her wrath.
History: Rochelle's history is kind of boring. There is some sad feels, there are good feels, friendships, a bit of more sad personal feels tossed in, but all around it is nothing spectacular.
She was born into Fort Weyr and promptly delivered to the creche by a drudge attending her birth. They said her name was 'Elle'. Her parents were probably dragonriders but a Weyr being a Weyr, no one knows and no one cares - especially her parents. Elle grew up a normal, happy Weyrbrat, getting into trouble, making not-really friendships with the other Weyrbrats, and generally not caring if she was supposed to be angsty or upset or something.
At six, a Glasscrafter named Rocham took her in as a foster and mini-apprentice. She fell in love with the craft and absolutely adored Rocham as a father figure, although the man had blonde hair and pale skin - unusual and nothing at all like her. He gave her trinkets and a doll named Missy, taught her a few things about 'Crafting, told her that one day she would be one just like him and would help him out at the Weyr. He filled her head with badassery and self esteem, making sure the little girl had swagger - it would do no good to have a wilting, sad creature as an apprentice. She had to learn to use melting glass and fire-breathing technologies after all.
When Elle turned eleven, Rocham sent her off to the Crafthall in Ista. Elle screamed and protested and in the end was told "LOL You think you have a choice, that's adorable. Shoo now, come visit when you can." So she did and introduced herself there as Rochelle, daughter of Rocham, because screw convention. Even with all of her misgivings and dedication to hating the hall, Rochelle fell into a steady routine of being Amazing and trying to show up everyone else in her age group. She never made it to #1, though it was close for a while there. She made friends, as children do, and she made enemies, as arrogant little snots do. Fist fights were not a common thing, though enough for the Journeymen and Masters to just sigh and go "Shardit, Rochelle, why?"
Her first crush and first kiss happened at fourteen. His name was Samisu and he was fifteen, all elbows and knees with a silly smile. Nothing came of it except giggles and blushing and awkward teenager handholding.
No, the big things happened between her fourteenth nameday and the fifteenthth.
Rochelle visited the Weyr as often as she could before then and sent Rocham letters frequently - or as much as she could afford. He never mentioned ill health, keeping it from his apprentice for at least a turn until a Healer, concerned, sent a message to Rochelle that he had been sick for quite some time and she may want to return to say her final farewells.
She left Ista behind without a second glance, Missy in tow.
It took some readjusting to the Weyr, another culture shock that became like a warm return. She became far too aquainted with the Infirmary as she spent as much time as she could there with Rocham. He looked sick and frail in the bed, often drifting in and out of sleep, and in pain when not dosed up. Whenever the Healers kicked her out to get her own rest or food or just because of her annoying, she took solace in the Crafting quarters. Even though she was only an Apprentice, Rochelle knew a few things and found another Journeyman to help her continue her education.
There she met a man. About two years older, he had red curling hair and skin a shade lighter than hers, his smile wide and bright, nose crooked. She doesn't remember his name (it is R'nam), but he came to the Crafting quarters to commission a flask for a wingmate's nameday. He flirted, arrogant in his own right, charming all the same, and after eight sevendays of her being there, convinced Rochelle to give the handsome brownrider a chance. So she did, seeing him when not with Rocham.
A Turn into her return, the decision was made to send Rocham to Healer Hall. While the Healers at Fort were (are) excellent, the Hall staffed itself with more Masters, more medicines, and more apprentices to see him in the peak of health. Rochelle would not be allowed to go there with him. She bid him farewell until her next visit and decided to stay at Malvren as an apprentice and a Candidate.
A certain brownrider professed his love to her the night they sent Rocham off and held her when she cried for her foster-teacher. But he loved her and stroked her hair, so the next morning she woke up in his bed. He didn't talk to her for a sevenday afterwards and when he did, it was to inform Rochelle that he made a mistake and did not feel t hat way about her. He did, however, have feelings for this greenrider in his wing, she was a metal crafter and--
Rochelle went back to Ista the next day with no prior warning to anyone in the Weyr. She threw herself into her aprenticeship and when she started to date again, they were all casual, short flings. When things became serious, she withdrew, ended it with their tears or yelling because she could not explain enough why she panicked and tried to disappear and few people wanted to listen. Poor Samisu. He cried. She still feels guilty about that.
Aside from her issues in relationships, Rochelle did well as an apprentice. She walked the tables at twenty and stayed on at Ista as a Journeyman for about five years. She traveled as frequently as she could between Healer Hall and her place of business ad was, luckily, at Rocham's bedside when he passed in her twenty-fifth year. She put in a transfer back to Fort shortly after.
Then she Impressed Kibeth. Surprise! She sure was. Arriving late for a Hatching ended up with her having a baby dragon headbutting her in the knees and demanding she stop being so silly. Rochelle went with the flow (and Weyrlinghood), and came out of it with a passion for flying and setting s**t on fire even more. Life was good. For a while she tried to continue her Craft as a sole means of work but when you have a dragon, even a small one, there are expectations. She was thirty when she joined the Dragon Watch.
A good ol' boys club full of shinies made her a bit green at the gills. They paid well and people respected the uniform, Rochelle had no issue with hunting people down. She was good at dropping the 'knots and going into the seedier parts of town as a sort of undercover agent for a good while; there's nothing to loosen tongues like a wench with some beer or a mistress seeking to get her lover some 'Dust.
She had a weyrmate for a few years. It didn't work out. He was quieter than she and a good deal more intelligent. After a ridiculously difficult sting operation, she returned to his quiet disinterest safe for why she had blood on one cheek and Rochelle sort of... exploded. There was an outpouring of feelings and resentment, her voice rising up as Kibeth kept silent for once - this had been a long time coming. Rochelle demanded a reaction from him, anything, and when she failed to receive it, she grabbed her things and left. That was eight turns ago. Around that same time, a Dealers wher decided to take a chunk out of her shoulder.
When Warden's came into being, they looked for volunteers. A place to actually be looked at for your talents, rather than color for the most part? Something different? She signed up. She's been there ever since. She missed the Hatching, being on duty with Danger block, and is frankly kind of horrified by it.
Other stuff:
KIBETH
Name: Kibeth
Color: Green
Age: 23
Appearance: In a single word, Kibeth is rangy. As a baby, of course, she’s all round and endearing and full of tripping on her own feet and pouncing on things and generally being as cute as she possibly can be. But when she grew up, she lost all of that baby fat and cuteness, becoming a lean, mean fighting machine. She tends to the slim, though it’s not freakish metabolism; Kibeth does have body fat, just not much of it. Her legs are long, wings short and tapered for greater speed and more accurate flight.
Her colour is dusky compared to other greens; there are some bright markings on her eyeridges and headknobs, but for the most part, she’s a nondescript shade of grass green, darkening on her back and wingsails and lightening slightly on her stomach, legs, and tail-tip. It’s pretty without being obtrusive, just like the rest of her: there’s nothing really female about her as a dragon, and she moves with a purpose that suggests she could go all day, in the air or on land. Her tail carriage often suggests her mood: the higher she carries it, the happier she is.
Personality: You are not the boss of Kibeth. If you keep that in mind, pretty much everything should work out for you. More or less.
There is no way to restrain Kibeth. Not in the sense that she’s some terrible force of nature waiting to blow but in the sense that the second she is told no, she’ll probably go and do something. Not out of sheer bloody-mindedness or to annoy people – but simply because it is up to Kibeth to decide where she shall and shall not go, and what she shall and shall not do. She does things as she chooses to do them, and no doubt will end up with a reputation for being untrustworthy, even downright disreputable.
She is not charismatic in the strictest sense, but there is something compelling about Kibeth, perhaps the fact that whatever she is up to she manages to make seem like the most interesting thing ever. She exists to find weird stuff and do things to it, whether that weird stuff is some kind of horrifying plant or a new species of glowing fungus in the deepest caves in the Weyr or some sort of strange animal she keeps hearing in the jungle at night. And if she wanders off, there’s really no choice but to go with her, because you’re not going to get her to come back once her mind is made up. Stubborn as a mule is Kibeth, and she regrets nothing.
She does have a tendency to be impatient – and is most likely to get emotional if she feels something needs doing and everyone else is ignoring her. Of course, Kibeth isn’t a dragon to sulk or whine; she snaps right into action and gets s**t done even if nobody else is going to. That said, she won’t give up without a fight if someone is being dismissive. Kibeth doesn’t like being bossed, or being told that she’s wrong. If someone dismisses her, they can expect an earful until they realize what they’ve done and make up for it. She also loves to fight – physically or verbally, you name it.
None of this changes the fact that she’s actually mind-blowingly loyal when it comes right down to it. In a pinch, she can always be relied upon.
Kibeth’s primary inspiration is Kibeth the Walker, a contrary bell whose ring can force the dead to walk where the ringer commands, or in contrast walk the ringer where they would not go. Her primary influence is canines, specifically the coyote. She was written for you by tetrachrome.
