Name: Salva (nickname: Sunny)
Age: 26
Sex: Female
Sexual Orientation: Pansexual
Weyr: Western Weyr
Rider Rank: Wingrider
Previous Rank/Craft: Harper Apprentice
Physical Description: There's no doubt that Salva is attractive: long lashes, smooth skin, full, pale lips.. Yet her large, round eyes and round cheeks, complete with dimples give her an undeniably childish appearance. With her blonde curls, baby blues, and petite stature, it's hard for anyone to take this girl seriously, which is something she is constantly trying combat in her struggle for respect within the Weyr.
Personality: Salva is one big bundle of sunshine: hence her nickname. An eternal optimist, she will be forever looking on the bright side of whatever crappy situation her and her wingmates happen to find themselves in. Enthusiastic and positive, she seems to enjoy work as much as she enjoys anything, and is always ready to give one hundred and a million percent into anything they do. While some of her antics may boarder on hyper, she knows how to calm down, buckle down, and get her work done. While sweet, Salva is not a bleeding heart. She doesn't mourn for the disadvantaged. She believes strongly in people making their own way in life, and she doesn't see why she should be expected to give a damn about your feelings (and specifically whether or not she hurt them). She might be sympathetic to a cause, but not a situation. You need to be doing something for her to get behind you. She is an action-oriented person. In her mind, it doesn't matter how smart you are if you don't act on it. Similarly, Salva doesn't like whiners. She rarely whines herself, finding it largely unhelpful at fixing the problem, and so has little sympathy for those who do.
If there's one thing Salva really isn't, it's prudish. She's probably a Hold-bred boy's worst nightmare about the Weyr. Promiscuous would be a fair (though somewhat unkind) way of describing her behavior. Or you could say she's open and just very forward. If you have a thing for her, nothing could be easier than getting her to agree. Salva is not one to say no to love, and while she believes in soulmates and 'the one', she doesn't think that means she can't fool around until she finds them. Everyone deserves a fair chance. Now, getting her to stick around is another matter..
Salva is about as accommodating as they come, and goes along with almost anything her partner wants. She doesn't like to make others upset, so she gives in easily. Few things are important enough to her in a relationship to fight over, yet this can be exactly her problem. She doesn't bind herself to them emotionally, making their feelings her own, and so isn't dependent on them for happiness. And it can sometimes upset her partners that she doesn't seem affected by their mood. Really, Salva just doesn't invest herself in her relationships. As she sees it, she's just having fun. As soon as she stops enjoying it, she ends the relationship and is rarely heartbroken about it, although it does upset her when it disrupts her friendships.
Even when she finds someone that would make her consider settling in for the long haul, Salva still does not like to be tied down. In fact, she's a little bit of a comitment-phobe. It doesn't matter how long they've been together or how in love they are, as soon as someone starts talking about 'forever', Salva will run in the opposite direction. She just can't think that far ahead, and too many things could happen, and what if she meets someone else and it's true love but she's already committed? It's not meant to be an insult, nor is she generally so unfaithful, it's just how her brain works. She's a day-dreamer and a romantic, and she needs her options open, even if she'd never take them. It helps that Salva and her dragon are like-minded in this respect. The two act as each other's dampers, quickly bringing negative mood swings back into equilibrium. Altoth is Salva's bff. Not only does he live in her head, he makes a great roomate. He's her rock just as much as she is his. If either one is feeling down about relationships outside their sphere, they need only to remember one other's company to find their center again.
Salva is not shy about admitting her own faults. In fact, it often starts her self introduction. She's a loud-mouthed, crass air-head who would probably have or more harassment charges on her record if people weren't so accommodating about her habit of casually breaking the touch barrier. As open as she is with her own , she's equally honest about the negative qualities of other people, although she'll usually wrap them in a positive casing. Especially if it's someone she likes (which is almost everyone) she doesn't see it as an insult or an attack to be open about their less-than-perfect qualities, on the ilk of 'yes, he's a lazy buffoon, but he's our lazy buffoon' or 'he may be a ruthless slave-driver, but he means well'. Though she usually has a good handle on the extent of her own abilities, and others', she is not nearly as stupid as her demeanor would lead people to believe. In fact, there's quite a keen intellect hidden behind her day-dreamer's mind.
Salva has many rules she lives by; never share a secret told in confidence, you don't get credit for something you do late, always be considerate of others, if you have time, share it, when you forget someone's nameday, you have to buy them two presents, um.... don't drink klah after sunset. But there's only one rule she holds as absolute, never to be bent or broken, by anyone. And that's that one does not talk poorly of someone behind their back. Salva would never says anything about someone that she wouldn't repeat to their face. If you have an issue with a person, you tell them directly and let them defend themselves. Depriving them of that right is unacceptable. The concept of white lies simply don't occur to her. Everything should be brought out into the light. It's the only way to prevent misunderstanding and give everyone a fair chance to state their case.
Sava hates all dark-dealings and underhanded politics (not least because she is incredibly bad at them). She may be optimistic (some may call her naive) but she believes that if they continue being honest and virtuous and hard-working, that's all that should matter. Not who they know, or what color they ride. And despite some of their less serious qualities, the two are not lacking in ambition. She doesn't have the organizational skills to be a wingleader, she knows that, but the pair may be gunning for a wingsecond position some time in their future.
History: An average Weyr-born brat, Salva is every bit a typical creche-kid. She wasn't particularly close to either her foster or biological parents, but feels close and connected to the Weyr and all those that inhabit it. Her first real adult role model was the Weyr's Harper, who encouraged her to purse the craft while she waited to Stand for Impression. Salva never had any strong inclination towards any one craft, but she took to lessons well and absorbed information like a sponge. She started work as a Harper mostly because she found it the easiest. She had a beautiful singing voice. And took to instruments well enough. But in her heart, Salva had always longed to be a dragonrider.
She wasn't made to wait long. And in only her second time 'round the Sands, she chosen by her cheerful blue. They were not exactly model students (they often found giggling together in a corner) but unlike her Craft, riding was something Salva took to with her whole heart. It was all she wanted to be since she was young, so even though they didn't always give the appearance of scholarliness, and though their loud and boisterous ways were the bane of many a weyrlingmaster, Salva applied herself to her lessons studiously, and they graduated as one of the better known pairs among their class.
Salva always knew she would stay at the Weyr, but dragonriding alone wasn't enough in this day and age. She went back to work as a Harper, a kind of jack-of-all trades, going from working as a courtesan at a large Hold, to teaching a small gaggle of children when their regular Harper fell ill, to simply passing around a hat when it was late and poeple were too drunk to tell how much they were tipping their entertainer. She took odd jobs around the Weyr as well, doing anything and everything she could to help out. Though she worked as a Harper to pay the bills and fill the time, the Weyr is where she always wanted to be.
In a strange sense, her wish came true when thread started to fall again. Soon, dozens of dragons were pouring back to the Weyr which was once again looked upon to be the defender of Pern. Having kept up with her training at the Weyr, Salva was soon surprised to find herself as one of the more experienced among her peers, many of whom came from the surrounding Weyrholds and had never flown drills in their life. Leaving her Harpering ways behind, Salva is 100% committed to fufilling the Weyr's ancient mission. It might not be the life the signed up for, but it one that both she and Altoth believe in strongly.
Other:
DRAGON
Name: Altoth
Age: 12
Color: Blue
Size: 32'
Physical Description: Altoth is large for a blue, fueling his tendency to fly any and all females, including golds. He has a slow but subtle grace of movement, that looks languid yet is deceptively spry. His light but bright blue color blends perfectly into the sky on a sunny day, and his eyes are typically a softly spinning green or blue. His hide is marbled but has no other markings.
Personality: Cheerful, helpful, and honest (perhaps too honest sometimes), Altoth is very much Salva's twin when it comes to personality. The idea that opposites attract does not apply to these two. Kind-hearted and trusting, Altoth usually thinks the best of people but, like his rider, he isn't shy about expressing their less-than-brilliant qualities as well. In his case, he's really just oblivious to any insult he may have caused. True, he did call his wingleader narcissistic and verbose, but he meant it as a compliment. With a different rider, he might have learned to be more cautious with what he says, but Salva's open approach and tendency to shrug it off only serves to encourage him, every time he asks 'did he seem mad to you?' and she responds 'who cares?'
Fortunately, these two need precious little love but each other's. They are wholly supportive of one another and, if either were close to feeling guilty or upset over something, it would only take the other shrugging it off for them to realize it's not such a big deal after all. For his part, Altoth only needs validation from Salva to feel fulfilled and that's something she would rarely, if ever, withhold from him. It doesn't matter to him if another dragon makes fun of him, or he does something that makes him look foolish. As long as Salva is there for him, he doesn't mind.
Altoth is not the most reliable of blues. If he didn't have Sunny to remind him of what things need to get done, he would probably sun on a rock all day without a second thought. It's not that he means to shirk his duties, he just often forgets he has them. Once Salva reminds him, he can be as hard-working as anyone. But try to leave him alone with a task and his mind will evnetually wander, leading him to forget what he was doing in the first place.
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