Name: Reya
Age: 24 (3550.9.13)
Sex: female
Sexual Orientation: heterosexual
Craft: N/A
Rank: N/A
Location: Rivercrest > Western Weyr
Physical Description: Curly dark hair that she keeps short, which means it's usually a curly dark halo around her face and head. Dark brown eyes. A tendency both to burn and freckle in the sun, despite having an olive complexion, although both conditions fade quickly. She stands about 5' 6", usually with her arms crossed or with her hands on her hips, unconsciously doing her best to loom or adopt a power stance so that people will listen to her. She does not tend to respect personal space when speaking to people, although she is good about keeping her hands to herself.
Personality:
From the very start, Reya has been in a hurry to get things done. She weaned herself early enough to be inconvenient, and set about trying to do everything for herself. The words most often heard coming out of her mouth are still, "Just let me do it." In her opinion, the only way to get something done right, is for her to do it. This meant that growing up, she tended to do most of the cleaning around the house, even in areas that weren't her responsibility. It would frustrate her, of course, that no one would follow the lists of task assignments she drew up, nor would they put things in the places she'd established for them (which made so much more sense than their lackadaisical approach to things).
Although Reya prefers to always have a plan and a schedule, she is perfectly capable of being flexible. She's nowhere near as easy-going as her parents and brother, but she is capable of adapting her plans at need. She has learned that more gets accomplished this way, and that adhering rigidly to a single course of action when it is clearly not going to be successful is a waste of her time, which she considers a valuable commodity. This is why she was able to shift her attentions from becoming a harper to keeping the books for a brothel with only a minimal mourning period for her childhood dream.
Of course, Reya had more in mind for herself than simply keeping the house clean, and scheduled time each day, even as a child, for self-betterment. This meant practicing the teaching ballads, learning to read and write and do sums, and working on any skills she thought she might need. She will work obsessively toward her goals, but her organized nature means that she will not forget her other obligations - that is why schedules exist! It is her firm belief that anything can be accomplished with sufficient hard work and planning. In an ideal world, it can also be accomplished without having to resort to asking others for help. Reya dislikes having to rely on others for anything.
It is worth noting that while Reya is mildly disapproving of people who do not share her work ethic, and almost totally unsympathetic when it comes to people who complain, she doesn't actually dislike or resent such people (although she doesn't have much patience for them, either, and will totally tell them all the things they're doing wrong, whether or not they ask). There is no one she holds to a higher standard than herself, and she does not expect other people to live up to her expectations for herself. If she ever met someone who did, she would probably fall in love with or kill them on the spot, depending on whether they were in competition for something.
At this point in her life, Reya is also very suspicious of romantic attachments, and is functionally celibate, preferring not to get entangled in another relationship like her first (and last) one. She loves her son, but she doesn't want any more children, nor the hassle of a relationship. She's more open to forming friendships, though most of her acquaintances tend to come from her seeking out someone with desirable knowledge or skills and spending enough time with them to learn those things without ever having to overtly ask for instruction. The people she prefers to spend "leisure" time socializing with tend to be mild, affable people like her family or clever, entertaining people by whom she needn't feel threatened.
Positive Trait List driven; curious; ambitious; organized; independent
Negative Trait List critical; obsessive; impatient; unwilling to relinquish control or ask for help
History:
Reya was a surprise child born 8 years after older brother Rosbin to loving, supportive parents who were largely confused by her driven nature, which bore no resemblance to anyone else in the family. When she was nine, her older brother was searched by Western Weyr and more or less ceased to be a part of her life, although before he had been a favorite source of fun and entertainment, when she wanted those things.
After her brother was searched, Reya began pestering the local harper to send her to the hall as an apprentice, because she was convinced she had useful traits that would put her in good stead as a harper. However, her lack of actual musical talent outweighed her intellect and after three turns of her increasingly less subtle hints he bluntly told her it wasn't going to happen, no matter how perfectly she knew the words and the lessons of the teaching ballads, nor how well she understood the principles of meter and mathematics. Undeterred, twelve-turn-old Reya got her parents to give her permission to work as an assistant accountant for a successful brothel in the hold, a position where she rarely interacted with the courtesans and never with the customers, and so remained impressively ignorant of what sort of activities earned the marks she tallied. (She chose a brothel because it was one of the few places she knew actual marks were exchanged, rather than bartering or payment in-kind.)
When she was sixteen a much-older musician named Joha, who sometimes worked at the same brothel, swept Reya off her feet with his stories of his travels as a journeyman harper and by the time she was eighteen they were living together and she was newly pregnant with his child. Around this time Reya learned that not only was Joha not really a hall-trained harper, just someone who had taught himself some tunes on a pipe and could keep a beat with a drum, but he expected her to keep house for him and tolerate his continued philandering, even around their shared place of employment, which she found humiliating. His fidelity faltered as she grew more gravid and he was less interested in her rotund figure.
Eight months into her pregnancy Joha disappeared. In his absence Reya threw herself into her work at the brothel and into caring for their son Eridan. Eventually, she came to take the place of the woman who had taught her the job to begin with. There may or may not have been some maneuvering to convince the woman it was in her best interest to retire and let Reya move into her position. Who can say? While Reya worked toward improving her status in life, she moved back in with her parents and often left her son in her parents' care, which worked out well for everyone, as the brothel certainly didn't want a squalling child around, and Reya found she hadn't much patience for a toddler. Not that she didn't love him, she simply found him very frustrating.
When Joha returned after two turns, he was full of apologies and sweet words, though short on explanations. But Reya had grown wiser in his absence, and less tolerant of his behavior, and was not interested in allowing him back into her life. For one thing, he showed no interest in their son, and although she wasn't all that involved as a mother, it certainly upset her that Eridan's father disinclined to be even as involved in their son's life as she was. For another thing, Reya had simply found that she was happier without a man to appease. Unfortunately, although Joha had been fired by the brothel where he and Reya had met, he still worked as a musician at a similar establishment not far from where Reya worked, and he took it upon himself to alternatively harass her and apologize to her on his breaks and when she left work.
After a turn of this harassment, Reya's brother, R'bin, was summoned, and he threatened to have Huarangith flame him to keep him away. The threat of Reya's dragonrider brother was effective for over a turn, but when R'bin made no more trips home to visit his family, Joha grew bold once more. When Eridan was nearly five, Joha broke into her parents' home and tried to force Reya to come away with him. He was stopped and turned in to the authorities, but Reya no longer felt like she was safe in Rivercrest. At their parents' urging, R'bin came to take his sister and nephew away to the Weyr, where they could hopefully make new lives for themselves.
Other: I am aware that she's not an ideal candidate. She'll probably try to find work helping out in the lower caverns or putting her math skills to use for the Weyr, and be perfectly content. Eridan will quickly assimilate with the other creche kids and forget all about his life in Rivercrest.
Candidate Specific Questions
Do you want them to have an official Search RP? No, but I'll eventually get around to RPing R'bin taking her to the Weyr.
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? Yes
- - - > 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.
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