Name: Felixa – Lady, Dame or Madame are commonly used titlesAge: 39
Sex: Female
Sexual Orientation: Out of your league
Weyr: Unaffiliated
Craft: Courtesan/Entertainer
Rank: Journeyman
Location: Nabol – The Silver Gate Inn
Physical Description: The Dame Felixa is a svelte brown-eyed woman with fair skin, petite in build and in height. At most she will present at 5’6” depending on the soles of her footwear. Her hair is often worn loose, a maroon curtain draping to midback length—not her natural color, of course. She commonly clothes herself in shimmering dresses that flow elegantly, accentuating her own graceful movements. She appears delicate and as if she could be easily broken, but it’s all a facade, cultivated to appeal to a certain clientele at one time in her life. Proving the darkest parts of her past, she bears an ownership brand on one thigh and another on the heel of one foot. It is hard to discern, except by an expert eye, but the brand on her thigh has actually been altered into a third brand to hide the fact that she was once stolen.
Personality: Most of her acquaintances would say that Madame Felixa is a calm, quiet presence in the background when she isn’t onstage for one of her nowadays-rare songs or dances. She speaks softly and politely, but isn’t afraid to remind any rowdy patrons exactly who is in charge.
As proprietor of the Silver Gate Inn, Felixa no longer deals with personal clients, and instead attends to management of the business. As did her predecessor, she offers great generosity toward her employees, giving them liberties that most brothel workers are unaccustomed to, including the ability to slowly but steadily raise enough marks to buy their own freedom. If it were feasible with the troublesome laws, checks and balances in Nabol Hold, she would rescue and release those who wanted an out without a second thought, though she would quickly find herself either financially destitute or crossing the wrong people. She hates the “rules” as much as she hates all of the injustice in Nabol, but in a strange, convoluted way, they make it possible for the Gate to support itself even while making life better for many fortuneless folks.
By necessity, she has learned to be duplicitous, and even though her intentions are good, sometimes her methods are not. More than a few fatal accidents have happened, particularly when trust has been betrayed, or harm has come to an innocent. Though no lines coming away from those incidents would lead back to the Gate, the power of a suggestion, a little twisting of the truth, and the fanning of a small spark into a fire at just the right moment can often create a perfect reason for someone else to decide on their own to mete out justice. Goodness knows, there is always a steady supply of people in Nabol who draw their sword first and ask questions later.
The people Felixa employs at the Gate often form a strong mother-child or master-apprentice relationship with her, or a mixture of both, as she did with Lady Glisa. Trust can be hard to earn at first, on both sides, but Felixa, though cautious with new hires, is persistent in showing them love. Outside of these fresh arrivals and contacts referred by those she already knows well enough to lay her life on, she doesn’t go looking for new friends. The risks are just too high.
Felixa desires romantic love from a good man, but because of her past she has preconceived notions that anyone looking her way is only looking for particular services, nothing more. Getting close to her is not easy and she will completely bow out of a developing relationship if advances of a physical nature are made, for in her mind this proves her suspicions that the other party is only looking at her as a plaything. If anything happens due to Caiprith’s involvement in a flight, however, she harbors no ill feelings and the encounter is dismissed as meaning nothing.
Positive Trait List Benevolent, shrewd, generous
Negative Trait List Resentful, deceitful, distant
History: Felixa doesn’t know exactly where she came from, but she was brought to the mines of Nabol at a tender age along with another child named Fari, who was obviously her identical twin. Their overseers didn’t pay much attention to the scruffy little slaves, and didn’t bother trying to differentiate between two such like faces. That fact saved Felixa’s life, for it allowed her twin to impersonate her when she fell sick, or to take a beating that would have broken her. Underneath their ragged clothing, no one would have noticed that one of them was a bit broader of shoulder and endowed with musculature that was absent in the other. The full name of her twin was Farimis—a male child.
As they grew, it became harder to hide the differences, and their little tricks stopped working. To make matters worse, Felixa was spotted by someone who was used to looking past the grime and exhaustion, and deemed the girl worthy of “moving up.” She was separated from her brother and taken along with several other young workers, including a dark-skinned girl named Zheria, into the vice-ridden slums of the overworld to blink in the sunlight before being carted off to learn a new trade.
The things that happened in the mines were bad, but the things that happened above were bad in an entirely different way. There were many tears shed in the wee hours of the night, and a desperate clinging to the familiar pieces of the old life. Felixa found herself looking to Zheria, the girl who was strong and brave enough to attempt multiple escapes from the mines. Even in her weakest moments, both above and below, Felixa never once saw her cry.
Those first months in the brothel were terrible, and yet wonderful. She had lost her twin, and anything else worth having dignity or pride over. But there was food, warmth, education, lovely and well-fitting clothes, a bed all her own. And there was music. What an amazing thing, that her ears could experience sounds that were actually beautiful! Once she had become hardened to the less-palatable parts of her new life, she reveled in the glamour—or appeared to, at any rate. The truth was, she merely clung to it for the small comfort it could offer, being bereft of everything else.
She remained in that place for some time after Zheria had been sent away to a new owner, but then Felixa, too, was sold off. She passed through a handful of other similar establishments before she landed in unusually comfortable circumstances. Her new mistress, Lady Glisa of the Silver Gate Inn, was a curt and eternally cross older woman, but there was a kindness in her that Felixa had never seen before. The workers of the Silver Gate had many privileges she was not used to, including being allowed to set their own hours and choose their own clients, as long as they met certain income quotas. If they exceeded their quota, they were often rewarded with an allowance. Rumor had it that some workers there had earned enough to buy their own freedom—and yet they willingly remained at the Gate. Felixa couldn’t comprehend such loyalty at first, but she soon came to understand by experiencing it herself.
Her time with Glisa was life-changing. Empowering. Even if she was still technically someone else’s property, Felixa suddenly had control, could make her own decisions. Glisa encouraged her, though her customary method of doing so by telling her off with sharp words. If she was tired, she should just take the rest of the day off, stupid girl! She was requesting a certain perfume to please a favored client? She had an allowance, she could just go out by herself and buy it, if she wanted it that badly! She didn’t like the cruel glint in that other client’s eyes? Well, show him the door, then! Shards, child! Why did she always have to hold every newbie’s hand and walk them through everything?
Thus, Felixa’s dignity was returned to her almost overnight. She could hold her head high and have it not be an act. Glisa was a master of entertaining and refined the girl’s education still further in the arts of the Courtesans, giving her even more power to grow and take care of herself. And Felixa loved Glisa as she would have her own mother. It was a good life, but there was one thing that had yet to be returned.
What a joyful surprise for the both of them when, shortly after her twenty-first nameday, she answered a late-night knock on the Gate’s door and saw Farimis standing there on the stoop. He’d been searching for her a long time, he’d said. How did you escape the mines, she’d asked. Search, he’d said, and his smile was just like her own when she looked in the mirror. He’d become a grown man and she a grown woman in those turns apart, and yet they still looked so alike.
Farimis hadn’t Impressed at any of the hatches he’d stood for, so, taking full advantage of the freedom given him by the dragon who’d Searched him, he’d chosen to give up and return to Nabol to look for his sister. He gave Felixa the news that their old comrade Zheria had also escaped Nabol through Search and was now a dragonrider—in fact, she was the rider of the very gold dragon whose clutch was due at High Reaches Weyr.
Now that she had her brother back, Felixa was eager to reconnect with her friend as well, and managed to get permission to visit High Reaches Weyr for the hatching. There, during the short break Zheria had to chat before getting back to her duties, Felixa met Eveleth face to face. She was in awe of the sheer massive size and beauty of the golden dragon who intently watched her and Zheria interact for a time. The two women were now both strong in their own right, but had attained their current stations through vastly different life experiences. One through harsh circumstances and ruthless self-empowerment, and the other through freely-given opportunity and maybe even actual love. You might be suitable for one of my children, Eveleth had said privately. Perhaps… yes, you might do well with the strength of one of my golden daughters to lift you up, as I uplifted my precious Zheria.
Though she had no want for anything, and no desire to leave Glisa and the Silver Gate, there was a spark of premonition within her. A feeling that came with Eveleth’s words, a sort of knowing, that she would be doing something good with her life, but was going to need help to do it. Of course, she didn’t really pay attention to it, considering the fact that she was standing in the midst of what most impoverished children from Nabol believed was a fantasy world, where only a lucky few got to experience the miracle of instant freedom and power that came from bonding with a dragon. Any fanciful feelings she might have were just that, or possibly even some sort of suggestion planted by Eveleth’s thoughts. She had a life already, and a very good life it was.
By the time she and Farimis sat down in the stands to watch the hatch, she had forgotten the idea and was merely a spectator. The eggs began to hatch, dragonets spilling into the sands and making their way to their chosen partners. A gold dragonet hatched, and instantly went to a dark-haired woman. Not long after, another egg cracked, and the baby within heaved, its wings breaking through and flaring out with a snap. The wings were gold. A second gold hatchling! Felixa leapt to her feet, as did many others in the stands.
Unlike the others, however, she began to push through the crowd, climbing over the tiers and down to the sands. The egg wobbled and fell over as she reached it, splitting open and exposing the dragonet’s true color—its legs and back were clearly a rich, almost reddish brown. His amber wings, wet from the egg, had only appeared to glisten like a metallic dragon’s hide. Some who watched were disappointed by the reveal, and some were disturbed that a brown had chosen a woman, but Felixa neither knew nor cared what anyone else thought. She was only aware of her lovely and wholly perfect Caiprith.
Once the initial ecstasy of Impressing wore off a little, Felixa realized that there would be some serious complications with Lady Glisa. With the help of an older rider as a messenger, they managed to reach an agreement. Farimis volunteered himself as a bartender and general laborer for the Gate while Felixa and Caiprith trained, and Felixa would also give up her meager weyrling wages to make up for any deficits her brother could not meet. Though they were told that any ownership that might have lain on Felixa was null and void now that she was a rider, she still planned to return to Nabol once their training was complete, and wanted to be sure she was still welcome at the Silver Gate when the time came. Glisa was her mother, for all intents and purposes, and had given Felixa her life back.
Felixa’s loyalty proved to be well-placed. The brown pair returned to the Gate when they had earned their rider’s knot, and did so with great relief. A military setting was not for them, not at all. Felixa prized her autonomy over all else aside from her dragon, and Caiprith was right on board with that. Shortly after their return, Lady Glisa announced her retirement. And whom did she consider most worthy, and most capable of carrying on her legacy?
The one who chose to return to the fold when the rest of the world had been handed to her on a silver platter.
Since then, Felixa has run the Silver Gate Inn in much the same was as her predecessor, making it a safe haven for those she can afford to keep. As openings for new workers are rare, she uses every possible avenue to rescue others, including the buying and reselling of “duds” into better lives or instigating a Search when feasible, often through riders from High Reaches. She is also a dealer in information and occasional movement of certain items or people, but has a very limited clientele for this service. They are a trusted few who help make her covert operations possible, most of them based outside of Nabol. None of this would be possible without Caiprith’s ability to claim Search, relay conversations and other information in private, and provide instant connection to his mother Eveleth and her rider.
Other: Her Impression story is a nod, not to the popular “The One” tradition but to the theory that you will only Impress as “well” as you believe you will, as with Brekke believing she could Impress a fighting green when girls were thought to be only able to ride gold at the time. In my mind, Felixa would have been “worthy” of a gold from a future clutch, if she’d actually listened to Eveleth and set her mind to it. While she watched that hatch, she wasn’t planning to Impress and certainly wasn’t expecting any particular color. Out of all the people there, she happened to be the most compatible with Caiprith. So now she’s happily bonded to her beloved brown, whose color is an acknowledgment of what could have been in another life/universe/etc.
DRAGON
Name: Caiprith
Age: 18
Color: Brown
Size: 42’
Physical Description: Caiprith is a massive brown by length, though his build is fairly average. Still, he equals or outmatches quite a few of the bronzes he’s met. What’s going really to draw eyes, however, is his coloration. His colors are reminiscent of a dessert—a rich honey scone topped with chocolate glaze. Each of his legs are of the same dulcet brown, their appearance like the elegant evening gloves of a lady. Being so large, he can look suspiciously like a gold dragon at first glance if his wings are unfurled and masking the darker areas, especially on an overcast day. But there is no sheen on his hide, unless it’s been freshly oiled.
Personality: Caiprith may not be a metallic dragon, but he has the hearts—and the size—of one. Like the gold he isn’t, his greatest urges are to nurture, protect and build up those who are smaller and weaker than himself. He is a shepherd and protector, and as does his rider, he tends to form strong relationships with many of the employees at the Gate, having few (if any) of his own kind to look after.
He is usually very placid, but he does have some sore spots that he will not willingly allow to be prodded. After the horrors he’s learned about his own rider’s past and seen with his own eyes in others’ lives, Caiprith detests those who complain about things that he sees as trivial. You want to whine about being picked on for your hide color while you can eat whenever you want and your rider decides who gets to come to their bed? People are starving. Children are being enslaved. Just. Shut. Up. You don’t know what real suffering is. Anyone who gets a speech like that, human or dragon, has generally made it onto his shortlist of idiots and stays there until they prove him wrong.
It was well that when he Impressed Felixa, she’d already dealt with her past and grown into a stable, self-sufficient woman. He can handle working with troubled individuals whose experiences he doesn’t share, but if anything puts his rider over the edge, he feels a bit lost and defaults to defending her in whatever way he can. In those situations, he may forget any contingency plans, and often has to be sternly reminded if he is supposed to be doing anything specific in an emergency.
Dragon Art or Proof of Obtainment:
