Age: 48
Gender: Female
Rank: Wingrider - Third-One
Appearance: Valeska is pretty much a rock. Average height for a Pernese woman, she is nonetheless broad in both shoulder and hip, in a way that doesn’t imply fat so much as tank. She’s got very little in the way of breasts, which she downplays even more with sensible binding when necessary. Because hey, sometimes when you’re toting a bow they get in the way. For her build she is surprisingly light on her feet, with a soft step and a steady tread that can quickly turn into an all-out sprint as needed. Calling her acrobatic would be outright wrong, but she moves with the quick, calm purpose of a trained fighter.
Both her skin and her hair are virtually the same color of nut-brown. The skin started off ambiguously tan and the hair started off ash-brown, and then sun darkened the one and lightened the other until they more or less turned into a wash of sameness. She keeps that hair about shoulder-length, either tucked behind her ears or pulled back into a tight runnertail to stay out of her face. Only her eyes break the monotony: a surprisingly light shade of clear grey-blue, bright and frequently glimmering with good humor.
There is a hefty scar along her right cheek, going from ear along her jaw down to her neck. Ask her how she got it, go on. It took a long time to heal, and usually Valeska wears it with pride unless she has a specific reason to cover it. When she does need to be a bit more anonymous, though, she prefers high-collared jackets, scarves, or anything that will cover the lower jaw.
Personality: Valeska is a bundle of surprises. Upon first impression, you see this fierce-looking, shortbow-toting, scarred-up dragonrider wearing Third-One knots? You would not be insane to think "oh god I should be running." But then she opens her mouth and out comes this light, charming mezzo-soprano voice, and it becomes immediately obvious that you've got nothing to worry about from her. She is polite, generally amiable, and possessed of a witty sense of humor. Once you get past the less-than-ideal surface, she’s a really great companion.
Unless you're a suspect. In which case... well, you can still run if you like. She enjoys a challenge.
She tried to be a good cop. Well, mostly. Valeska is unswervingly loyal to the idea of the rider as peacekeeper and protector; it was ingrained in her from a young age to respect authority and uphold the laws of Pern. This isn’t to say she won’t question an incompetent superior, because she will. Valeska values freedom and personal choice as much as she values respect and honor. But at the same time, she’s soldier enough to not think twice about putting herself in harm’s way for a good cause. She's not a leader, but a strong right-hand man… err, lady. Unfortunately, she tends to put almost too much faith in people at times, and finds betrayal personally devastating. She can hold grudges for a long time, but she will also blame herself for any failures, letting the weight of Pern rest on her shoulders until it crushes her.
It's her overenthusiastic vigilante tendencies that sometimes get the better of her. Her instinctive tendency is to see the world in terms of black and white, good and evil: it takes effort for her to deal with shades of grey. When something really gets under her skin, she's perfectly capable of pursuing it beyond justice and into the realm of vengeance, and at time her callous ruthlessness towards criminals can be... troubling. The lack of a solid justice system on Pern both frustrates and enables her. On the one hand, dragonriders are the be-all end-all on Pern. They are police, judge, and jury all rolled up into one. On the other hand, corruption exists and the well-connected can still easily slip through the cracks; all riders need to be responsible to someone other than just their fellow dragonriders and whatever Lord Holder they have to pretend to pacify. She doesn't want to be that governing body, mind you. She just thinks it ought to exist... and Faranth help any rider supremacists who claim in her presence that riders ought to be fully self-governing.
On a mission, Valeska tends to be the one cracking jokes in the middle of a crisis. It's just how she copes - as long as she keeps the outward appearance of being unruffled and in control, she can keep going no matter how bad the odds look. She's also one tenacious b***h. See those scars on her jaw? Yeah. She got back up and returned to duty as soon as the healers put her face back together.
History: Valeska was born at Ista Weyr, to a bronzeriding father V’sol and a journeyman weaver mother Rana. Her younger sister Solana was born a few turns later. Despite the usual stereotype of the philandering dragonrider, the little family was actually a rather stable one; it helped that her father's bronze was not the type to go chasing after any dragon but a gold, and thus Flights were few and far between. Both human and rider were very much alike: stern, serious, old-fashioned, by-the-book, and fiercely principled. Do things right or don't do them at all, was what got hammered into young Valeska’s head.
It was little surprise when V’sol voluntarily accepted a transfer to Benden when Valeska was nine. The Benden leaders had the right idea, he said. Finally, someone stepping up and doing what's right for Pern. The girl was just old enough to remember her father's teachings clearly; Solana, several turns younger, cried for weeks. Assurances were made that he would visit regularly, that really it was a miracle that a dragonrider had remained part of the family for so long... And at first that was the case. Then the bronzerider began to let work eat his free time more and more, and absences between the brief visits grew longer and longer.
Valeska, for her part, quietly moved on. She showed something of a knack for technical skills, enough that she might have been able to become a crafter if she so desired. She briefly considered taking up a serious formal apprenticeship, but ultimately the pressure to remain as a Candidate was stronger than her desire to branch out. At age eighteen, she Impressed Aldebarath,
-Impresses Aldebarath
-uncovers corruption in a wingleader
-can't get sufficient evidence to bring him down
-becomes frustrated, goads him into a duel
-severely injured (verge of death) as a result, but successfully has the corrupt wingleader removed from power for excessive force
-mostly mute during recovery due to face/neck trauma, befriends a deaf rider in the same infirmary
-not... really welcome at Ista so much anymore, scarpers off to High Reaches
-joins Third-One, coaches some squires
-has a good life
Name: Aldebarath
Age: 30
Colour: Blue
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