Age: 16
Sex: Female
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
Craft: Her mother believes she is training full-time as a harper with a family friend. (She's not actually training at High Reaches Weyr, but she is moderately skilled.)
Rank: Apprentice, technically, from back when her mother trained her.
Location: High Reaches Weyr
Physical Description: Calla is a near 50-50 blend of her mother and father. From her father – unruly hair that falls in coppery brown waves past her shoulders; a straight, strong nose; round face; tall height, about 5'9”. From her mother – almond eyes both in shape and color with a fringe of thick lashes; wide mouth with a heavy bottom lip; long, curvy build; freckled cheeks and nose. She wears her hair up usually with some kind of attempt to confine it. Usually, there is a mix of braids, threaded leather strips, and pins all pushing her hair up into a long ponytail. Her bangs are almost always hanging loose in a side swoop that she constantly attempts to tuck behind one ear. Calla is by no means girly, but there is something feminine about her. Not too curvy, but still feminine. Her ears are pierced, and she tends to wear a simple silver hoop in each ear. On her left wrist, she wears a thick braided leather bracelet that her mother made for her as a child. Each year, she soaks it in water to stretch it out to fit her wrist as she grows. As for clothing, Calla typically wears forest green riding pants that are tucked into brown knee length boots. Over her pants, she wears a billowing tunic that is gathered at the wrist with a boat neck. Over this, she has a brown vest. She is a earthy girl, and tends to reflect this in her color choices. In general, her clothing style is conservative and work-ready.
Personality: Calla is not one to hide her opinion. It brought her many lashings from those who have tried to instruct her, as well as punishment from her mother. Sometimes words leave her mouth before she has had the chance to realize what she is actually saying. She is headstrong, something that she likely inherited from her father, and has a hard time admitting that she needs help, or that she might actually be incapable of doing something. The fact that girls are sometimes portrayed as too dainty to do particular things is a point of contention for Calla. As a child, she was friends with more boys than girls and was almost always covered in some kind of dirt/grime/gross. Her childhood was spent getting into trouble and getting filthy in the process. As she grew older, she continued this knack for trouble-making, usually because of some great idea she had and felt determined to accomplish, but has greatly improved her physical cleanliness.
In short, Calla is a very driven person. She is passionate about the things that she loves and is fiercely loyal – almost to a fault – but on the reverse, she is incredibly cruel, vindictive, and calculating toward the things that she hates and the people who she dislikes. You don't want to be on her bad side, and unfortunately, it is not terribly hard to get there. Calla is just constantly evaluating people; she's very observant. In a single conversation, the girl will make all kinds of judgments about the person who she is talking to in that instant. You don't like reading? Hm. You think dragonriders are overrated? Hm. You love the color orange? Hm. Everything a person says goes onto some mental scoreboard in Calla's head, and she keeps track of points. This isn't to say that Calla goes out of her way to be mean to people – no, she couldn't be bothered actually – but she is not going to pretend to like someone who she does not. She will be civil, not kind.
Despite her fear of being treated like a maternal figure by others, Calla loves to cook and sing. It doesn't take much for Calla to offer to cook you a four course meal. She likes taking care of people and tends to believe in the potential of her friends almost as much as her own. Almost. Though she has never considered herself very bookish, Calla can read and write and tends to do both quite frequently. She has a diary that she writes in religiously, and thanks to her grandfather, has a healthy love of reading too. As far as math and history go, she is fairly uninformed.
Calla has a sarcastic sense of humor, but is often annoyed by people who are too negative. She prides herself on being respected by others and having complete control of her emotions – except anger. She doesn't really consider that a bad thing though. The girl tries to never cry in front of people, or to lose control. It makes her have these charming emotional walls, but more than anything, of course, she just wants someone to love her unconditionally – to have the kind of epic love that her parents had.
The rest of her personality will surely emerge in time.
Positive Trait List Perceptive, Steadfast, Loyal
Negative Trait List Guarded, Judgmental, Foolhardy
History: Calla's parents met when they were four years old. Both children lived in Bitra Hold and grew up playing together. It was a fairy tale romance of sorts – best friends who did everything together until, one day, they fell madly in love. Her mother, Olira, was a doting girl and knew, more than anything, that she was destined to be a loving wife. Calla's father, Linden, on the other hand, wanted only one thing: greatness. He dreamed of being a dragonrider of legend. Even though the threat of Threadfall had long passed, Linden longed to form a bond with a dragon that no other connection could rival. It was a bit of a chronic argument for the couple; Olira loved Linden more than anything else in the world, and yet, Linden divided his love between Olira and the idea of Impressing a dragon. Olira and Linden wed when they were only seventeen years old, and together, they moved to Igen Weyr – Linden, as a candidate, and Olira, as an apprentice to the Weyrsinger. After a turn of failing to Impress a dragon, Linden decided to relocate the couple yet again. This time, they moved to High Reaches Weyr. Linden hoped that the booming population might keep his young bride happy and that, somehow, this new Weyr might bring him the dragon he had always wanted. Besides, they seemed to be the only ones sensible enough to keep training for the looming threat! Olira only continued to worry. What if Linden Impressed a bronze? Or an impressive brown? What if his dragon mated with – she couldn't bear the thought.
Time slowly passed, and at this new Weyr, Olira began to gain much praise as a skilled harper. Her voice was low and mournful, but it soothed the Weyr. It didn't take long before more people were familiar with Olira than the no-name candidate she was married to. Linden only grew more obsessed with the idea of Impressing a dragon. Every day, he would lament why he hadn't tried to become a candidate sooner; he had been so sure it would only take one Hatching for a dragon to choose him. Many other candidates his age had already relented in the attempt and had instead moved to Crafthalls and Holds. And why not? Dragonriders were not as essential as they once were, and fewer and fewer Candidates were going to the Sands each time. Olira tried to cheer her husband any way that she could. When they learned that they were pregnant, she thought it would bring Linden happiness – and it did. For a time. Calla was born to the couple when they were only nineteen years old. Olira had never felt more complete, and for a time, things were perfect. Linden even began to speak of becoming an apprentice with a tanner that Olira's father knew, of giving up on his dream of becoming a dragonrider. Then, just as things started to turn toward a future, it all changed. At the next Hatching, the last that Linden swore he would ever attend, an egg responded to the touch of Linden's hand. It stirred, it hummed, and it claimed him – a bronze dragon, a beautiful bronze dragon named Dazuth.
Linden became L'den. As his relationship with Dazuth strengthened, L'den distanced himself from his wife, though he still fought to make time for Calla. Dazuth, especially, had a soft spot for the toddler and would often ask L'den to bring Calla to visit. Calla's mother struggled to adjust to the new presence in the family, but L'den had never been happier. As weyrling training began, he became even more obsessed with Dazuth and with perfecting all the skills of dragonriding. He was headstrong and thought that his skill was innate. Halfway into training, L'den let his confidence get the better of him. He made a mistake. One day, he traveled between – and he never came out the other side. Calla has no idea how they realized that he had died in this way, that he had tried to bring Dazuth out in a place where such an act was impossible to do while surviving – in a wall, perhaps? Within a mountain? Either way, L'den and Dazuth died that day.
To say that Olira was crushed would be an understatement. Her husband had been killed by his love of dragons -- and for what? Dragons were outdated. They weren't needed to protect society anymore. Her husband had died in foolish pursuit of nostalgia. Olira fled the Weyr immediately and moved into High Reaches Hold. She continued to work as a harper to support Calla, and as each turn passed, her hatred for dragons grew stronger and stronger. They were the cause of her husband's death, in her mind. Their allure had taken away the man she had loved since childhood. At the news of his son-in-law's death, Olira's father moved to High Reaches Hold to help his daughter. It was in this family situation that Calla was raised. Calla had a relatively happy childhood. Her family had enough money to keep her comfortable – to buy her books and treats and new clothes, even if they weren't the finest. Her mother continued to sing and tried to teach her daughter the craft. Her grandfather, on the other hand, regaled Calla with stories of Pern from ages ago and, more importantly, stories of her father.
When Calla was eleven turns old, she told her mother she wanted to be a dragonrider. Olira slapped her – the only time she had ever struck her child – and walked away. Two turns later, Calla tried again. This time, her mother simply cried for days, forbidding it. The next time Calla asked, when she was fourteen, Olira responded with anger. She struck Calla until the girl was backed into a corner, crying and demanding to know why she couldn't even try. Calla knew that her father had died after becoming a dragonrider – but she was headstrong like her father and believed that she would not suffer the same fate. Deprived of her father for her waking life, Calla was drawn inexplicably to walk in his footsteps. She felt awe for dragons that she was certain her father had felt. In those moments, those briefs moments when she could watch the dragons flying in wide arcs in the sky, she had felt her father's presence, felt him moving in her bones. The girl was convinced that Impressing her own dragon would only bring them closer. The girl's desire for a dragon forced a wedge between Calla and Olira. Olira no longer sang to her daughter, no longer bought her books. She grew despondent and listless.
Then, Threadfall. It was terrifying the first time it happened, but High Reaches Hold was fortunate to be protected by their Weyr, a Weyr that had never stopped training, that was prepared. If Calla had not been certain of what she wanted before, she was now. She had seen her friends, her family, herself saved by their brave efforts.
Not long after, Calla's grandfather stepped in. He told Calla that she should go to High Reaches Weyr and tell her mother that she was going to train to be a harper with an old family friend there, just as Olira herself had once trained. It seemed insane, but with her grandfather's help, Calla was able to convince her mother to let her move. There were so many risks -- Olira still knew countless people at the Weyr. People could remember her father, the cautionary tale. Calla and her grandfather banked on her mother's anti-social habits and self-imposed distancing from all things dragon, even with Thread back and falling, to keep the lie protected.
So, two weeks after her sixteenth birthday, Calla arrived at High Reaches Weyr – and immediately sought to become a Candidate. Caught between her desire to follow in her father's footsteps as a dragonrider and keep her mother's love, Calla is at a precipice of adulthood. She is unsure of what the future might hold, but for now, she feels that she is in the right place.
Other: Calla is a decently skilled harper, as trained by her mother since childhood. She doesn't sing in public often though. It isn't that she doesn't enjoy singing; she just wants to be taken seriously as a tough girl – and a dragonrider. In her mind, she cannot embrace the harper in her without somehow giving up on her dream of being a dragonrider like her father was. She also is a very good cook, also thanks to her mother. None of these things seem important to her though, not nearly as important as becoming a dragonrider.
Candidate Specific Questions
Do you want them to have an official Search RP? No
Do you understand they will age every passing year regardless if you're there to RP the or not? Yes
Do you want them to have a possible Stands Impression? Since she will ICly be a Candidate, this is N/A.
