Name: Zelaya
Age: 15 turns 19 turns (as of July 2021)
Sex: Agender (biologically female, mostly uses female pronouns because her parents never really gave her the option)
Sexual Orientation: Asexual, hetero-romantic.
Craft: Woodcraft (Arborist, Apprentice)
Rank: Holder
Location: Balen Hold
Physical Description: Zelaya is slight and delicate, all gentle beginning slopes and softness wrapped up into a bundle wholly unfit for a rigorous or harsh life if you go off looks alone. Her mother and foster father have spared no effort or expense in sheltering her, and it shows in a wide, doe-eyed innocence, and an openness usually unheard of, especially after the advent of thread. Long, soft brown hair and sea-green eyes make her a sweet young beauty, and lack of any ostentation or put-upon airs gives her an earnestness most young ladies who are aware of their...advantages...lack.
She dresses entirely properly, no hint of flirtation at all in her floor-length dresses and numerous layers. Balen Hold is about as north as you can get, and on the coast, meaning that though the winters aren't as harsh as they could be, they still demand a certain amount of bundling up, which she indulges in almost year-round.
Personality: Zelaya is everything her mother and father say she should be, and they do say a lot on that note. She minds her appearance, but does not fixate on it. She does her duty, but does not demand praise for it. She obeys her parents and those of higher rank, but is not cruel to those beneath her. She is a very proper young lady, and does everything expected of her...and little more. Life in her small hold has been mundane, enough so that while she's begun to occasionally look outside her little circle of the world to see what's going on, the safety and routine of her home has kept her securely tethered. She struggles to imagine any life other than the one she has, and while she is not thrilled at the prospect of eventually growing up and marrying whomever she's supposed to fall in love with, she isn't unhappy about that outcome. It worked for her mother, after all, speed bumps aside.
She does know that she was an unexpected child. Her mother traveled to High Reaches Weyr without her new husband, to visit her rider brother, and a gold happened to take flight. Unprepared for the effect on her, she fell into the arms of a rider, and shortly fell pregnant. Her father was not entirely thrilled about it, but was never outwardly cruel to Zelaya, as their hold still held allegiance to the weyr her sire had come from. A firm upbringing kept her quite fit to the mold though, and she has developed strict ideas on what is and isn't proper for a lady to do, even if inside a few things about that might feel slightly off.
Beneath her quiet submissiveness, she has a steel core, a resolve to thrive that far outstrips most of her friends' and companions'. The return of thread has threatened her home and her livelihood, even stolen her mother away, but while she might be expected to crumple and weep, instead she has simply begun to shoulder more responsibilities, working tirelessly to salvage what she can of the hold's forests and orchards, and has quietly gotten her hands on what records she can find about the long lost grubs.
Positive Trait List Gentle, unassuming, traditional, resilient, dutiful.
Negative Trait List Quiet to the point of silence, naive, yielding, hidebound, anxious.
History: Born of goldflight lust to a visiting holder woman, Zelaya was unplanned, but not unloved. Her mother barely knew the man who got her pregnant, and in her shame at betraying her husband (who was not at the Weyr at the time), she barely paused to get his name as she fled back to her Hold. Loyalty to the Weyr itself, and the more conservative nature of her home meant that she did not give up her child when she found herself with a daughter, and thankfully her husband was kind enough to adopt the girl as well, giving them a complete, if unusual family. She grew up well loved and protected, kept mostly to their isolated Hold and away from any visiting riders (as her mother feared that her father would steal the girl away if ever news of her came to light).
As she grew she was pressed to go into the Woodworking craft, as were any youngsters in Balen, which had always been a hub of fine woodcrafting in the north. She lacked the physical strength to delve into carving or furniture making, but a soft and patient touch made her just right for growing trees, and her focus shifted slowly to orchard trees as she became aware of the tithing demands of High Reaches Weyr, and how she could help to provide for the great defenders of Pern...even if no one else out of the north seemed to think of them that way any more.
Thread's return was the first real hurdle in her life. The dragons of High Reaches turned out in force, and almost all of their forests were untouched, but the stress and fear of not only seeing the Enemy return, but so many dragons, bronze dragons surging towards her home put her mother into a fit, and her heart gave out from all the excitement. The fact that it was actually a latent heart condition that made her mother's heart too weak for such excitement was never uncovered, and the idea that her mother died because of a fear of dragons has left Zelaya a bit wary of them, if also imminently respectful.
Her foster-father, now left alone with a daughter that was not his own and a broken heart, finally did what his wife hesitated to do, and has sent a missive to the weyr in the claws of a firelizard, explaining to Z'tir, whoever he might be, that he had a child so many turns ago. And a few months later, when a searchrider came hunting and offered her a spot in the Weyr, she took it at her father's urging. He couldn't bare to see her mother's face each time he glanced at her, and though it meant leaving all she knew behind, the Weyr, she realized, would have far more information on grubs and how to save her family, her home's livelihood than she could get her hands on anywhere else. For them she had to go, even if in her heart she never desired a dragon of her own.
Other: She's the daughter of wingleader Z'tir, but hasn't met him up to this point. Obviously he doesn't have to react to the news at all, but it's been sent, just in case.
Candidate Specific Questions
Do you want them to have an official Search RP? Nope, as she's meant to be at the weyr already.
Do you understand they will age every passing year regardless if you're there to RP the or not? Yes or No
Do you want them to have a possible Stands Impression? Yes or No
- - - > Please keep in mind that Stands Impressions are very rare. This means that not everybody will get an opportunity to have a surprise Impression, and you lower your chances of being picked by a dragonet. Given the character is not ICly an official Candidate, they will need a reason to be at the Weyr of their choice long-term, or at least for every Hatching.
