Age: 73
Sex: Female
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
Weyr: Western Weyr
Rider Rank: Wingrider
Previous Rank/Craft: Apprentice herder/Beastcraft, Creche worker
Physical Description: This woman doesn’t look a day over fifty-five. Well, maybe a bit closer to sixty. Still, a bit of extra youth is one of the perks of being a dragonrider that she enjoys. She’s a slim woman of about 5’8” with bright ginger hair in heavy curls. She keeps it cut just past her shoulders, and normally tied back in a thick tail. Talela’s eyes are round and blue, nestled above the numerous freckles of her cheeks. Her lips are still lovely and on the softer side, usually curved in a gentle smile. A few wrinkles tucked in the corners of her features balance out her youthful looks with a dash of maturity. She still dresses in attractive cuts and rich colors when appropriate, having no major physical faults to be ashamed of. She’s not the youngest woman in the weyr, but certainly not the oldest!
Personality: You would be hard-pressed to find another old auntie as cheerful as this one. Talela, nowadays better known as “Auntie Tally,” is notorious for her kindness and good humor, whatever the situation. For an older woman, she is surprisingly fit and physically capable – likely due to her bond with Vimiath. Age has slowed her down some, but she still works light duty, both in her capacity as a dragonrider and in the creche, when she can get away with it.
She always had a way with younglings that was playful, but also built up trust and obedience. She’s fostered at least fifty children for varying lengths of time, and can still remember all of them by name, even though most days she can barely remember her own. She’d probably forget it completely if not for Vimiath’s telepathic chatter giving her constant reminders. Not that it matters, really. “Auntie” is a perfectly suitable substitute by her book.
Talela’s forgetfulness also sometimes causes her to forget just exactly how old she is. Those are the times she’ll flirt with one of those handsome young dragonmen, or, alarmingly, try to insert herself and Vimiath into a position of higher altitude during Threadfall. So far, the damage has been minimal, thanks to Vimiath and Western residents who know Auntie Tally’s silly ways.
She doesn’t often talk about her dearly departed weyrmate Jylacus, even with her dragon, preferring that she and Vimiath focus on the present and remain a positive force for those who may look up to them. There are nights, though, when she lies awake, curled around his pillow and wishing to be with him again, wherever he is.
Positive Trait List : Self-deprecating, caring, jocular
Negative Trait List: Forgetful, sad, overestimates her abilities
History: Talela came from a cothold near Keroon, and vaguely recalls being given responsibility for a small herd of ovines as a child. She met her first dragon quite young, not even ten turns old. She remembers having compassion for the blue searchdragon and giving him permission to eat a few of her charges – and the raw outrage of her father when he came upon the scene. Apparently, the animals in that particular herd had been very valuable.
The bluerider from Western Weyr did make some sort of recompense, and a few turns later he returned on an official Search and somehow convinced the little girl’s father to let her come to the weyr to be groomed for her chance to become a dragonrider. Little did any of them suspect that that “grooming” would last for a good ten turns or so of standing on the hot sand, dodging claws and teeth and watching everyone else Impress.
Talela spent most of her time as a Candidate working in the creche, caring for a two-legged herd instead of four. She was known as “the fun mom” by most of her charges, though when she first started, she was barely a few turns older than some of them. She fostered dozens of children, and remained in contact with as many as possible as they grew up and went their own ways.
By twenty-nine turns of age, the young woman had pretty much given up hope of Impressing, but she was content. The last time she stood as a Candidate in 3529, it was more as moral support for the majority of her fellow Candidates – weyrbrats whom she had fostered. A clutch of twenty-one eggs from golden Herath awaited them, shells bursting to reveal a stunning spectrum of every color. Talela flitted here and there, carefully rearranging some of the youngest Candidates to keep them out of reach of flailing dragonets. She was a professional at it, by then!
As she made her rounds, the oldest of all the Candidates came face to face with quite a few greens and a couple of blue dragonets who seemed rather interested in her. She found one of the blues to be a fetching creature, and kept her eye on him through the whole event. The single gold hatchling, a svelt little feline barely as big as the largest of her blue brothers, appeared more interested in a particular pair of boys than any of the girls on the sands, and flirted shamelessly with them. Talela was amused to see that the two bronzes of the clutch later Impressed to those boys.
Talela’s favored blue did come to her, snuffling her hands in a most curious manner. She bent and looked into his eyes, hoping he would return her gaze – and then the blue was hip-checked out of the way by his lustrous golden sister. You only need look into my eyes, the dragonet crooned in her mind, to join with the one you’ve awaited for so long! I am your Vimiath, dearest Talela!
The woman collapsed to her knees as Impression was made, cupping Vimiath’s face and pressing her forehead against the hatchling’s. She was laughing, even while she sobbed uncontrollably. The other Candidates, many of them now joined to their own dragons, surrounded the pair and whooped and shouted their joy and congratulations, thrilled that their foster mother had finally found her lifemate. Though it could never compare to the joy of Impressing, she was deeply touched by the cheers of her kids.
Vimiath proved to be Talela’s perfect match, needing the woman’s genial but firm discipline while providing a layer of excitement, fun and politics that Talela never imagined she’d experience. Even in progressive Western Weyr where color didn’t necessarily equal leadership quality, gold dragons still elicited a certain, often unconscious respect from many. Being noticed as more than “that nice creche worker” was definitely new to the young woman, and Vimiath made sure the both of them received a lot of attention. The two were never elected into the Council, but still made their mark on the weyr–
–The mark of two hundred and ten new dragons, that is, over ten sizable clutches. Vimiath just loved making offspring, but didn’t care so much to raise them. That was Talela’s strong suit.
And speaking of making offspring, Talela had many turns as a Candidate to play the field, but she only needed a few short relationships to find her heart’s desire – a Courtesan named Jylacus. He was absurdly handsome, smart, well-spoken, and gave the best massages she’d ever had. Not long after Vimiath’s first flight in 3532, Talela took Jylacus as her weyrmate. To her, he was like something out of the idle fantasies of her youth, and she loved him passionately. He was wholeheartedly devoted to her in return, and their bond remained strong for more than thirty turns and half a dozen children of their own.
It was almost easy for Talela to accept when she realized in those later turns that Jylacus was hiding something from her. A lot of things, actually. He wasn’t unfaithful to her, no, nothing like that. It was that he had a secret side, a person he didn’t let her see, who lived in the shadows and did things that were equally dark. Even though she knew she may be crossing into the point of no return, Talela loved and trusted him enough to ask plainly if he had ever killed a man. And her mate was truthful. He hadn’t killed a man, not with his own hands… but he had done many things that ultimately lead to men’s untimely ends. He also admitted to sedating her on occasion by putting substances in her drinks while resting in their weyr, providing both an alibi and a secure location for discreet meetings to be held. The pain at having to do such things to his beloved had been so clear in his face that there was no way Talela could believe that he ever intended to harm her.
She was sad, of course, but at that point nothing could have changed her feelings for Jylacus. In fact, she even blamed herself for his death. When he was found bearing a mark signifying a hit by one of Nabol’s gangs, she feared that somehow, by her asking questions, she had blown his cover.
Since the loss of her weyrmate, she’s begun to get a little senile and will occasionally find herself in strange places and be unable to recall how she got there. She’ll usually gloss it over with a joke, implying that someone may have slipped a little something into her drink.
Other: Yes, Talela’s a little young (for a dragonrider) to be going senile. Her senility was largely caused by whatever substances Jylacus used to sedate her. It was a pretty regular thing and caused some permanent damage that just happened to manifest right after he passed. Talela had 6-7 kids with Jylacus, who would be between ages 22-40 turns in the present. And foster kids out the wazoo, ages 0-66 assuming she started working in Western’s creche at 14 turns. Add in Vimiath’s 210 kids and… well, together, they’re probably responsible to some degree for half the population of Western…
DRAGON
Name: Vimiath
Age: 44
Color: Gold
Size: 40’
Physical Description: At forty feet of shapely muscle, this gold is all curves. Small curves, that is. She’s one of the smallest of her color out there, but that doesn’t bother her. Vimiath is very aware of her own loveliness, and moves with poise and confidence. Her body is built to entice, each limb well-proportioned, her head delicate with large eyes a gently-dished nose, her tail long and supple. Vimiath’s hide is an even shade of the same soft, gleaming gold all over, with no markings to clutter the handsome details of her form.
Personality: Viamath is not old, thank you! Dragons don’t age like runnerbeasts, or even humans, for that matter! And besides, even at her age, Vimiath is still a very... fruitful sort of dragon.
Clutching is decidedly her favorite function as a gold. Presiding over a generous brood makes her feel so grand, so big, so beautiful! Look at us! Look at me! Vimiath is never happier than when she is surrounded by her own eggs. As any mother, she wants to see her children safely Impressed once they hatch, but then her job is done. She loves them, but they’ll be fine with their bonded, no need to keep tabs… no, she’ll just start the countdown for the next bunch!
In light of that, it is fortuitous that she just so happens to love each and every one of those bronzes, blues and browns. Even the unpleasant or ugly ones, or the ones who are… confused. They’re all potential sires-in-waiting, each with something wonderful to contribute to the next generation. She’d rise once every sevenday for them, if she could. Since she can’t do that, she settles for doting upon them, often in mixed-color and age groups.
She’s not picky about her mates, but she IS picky about what she eats. Vimiath will only consume what she perceives to be the best – she favors caprines, especially younger, darker-colored beasts. She won’t touch any with white spots on their fur, believing that to be a sign of sickness or weakness. Wherries are her last resort if nothing else is available.
Vimiath doesn’t appreciate being thought of as “old,” but she does enjoy using her age as license to get away with things younger dragons get scolded for. She’ll steal things for a laugh, leave half-eaten carcasses for others to clean up, cause distractions during greenflights, anything that she can do to get her jollies. And if she can get friends to join in, so much the better!
Positive Trait List: Fun-loving, affectionate, youthful, fertile
Negative Trait List: Self-centered, irresponsible, naughty, fussy
Other: Vimiath has 210 babies so far, 101 of which are green. THAT’S AN ENTIRE FLIGHT OF LITTLE GREENS. heart
Player offspring: Brown Eldwinth :: Blue Enioth :: Blue Aneith :: [NPC] Gold Sheyoth :: Bronze Thath :: Blue Morgath :: Green Neith :: Green Eosphoth
Dragon Art or Proof of Obtainment: Tiny dragon size chart raffle
