Post by Kisha-Ra on Mar 29, 2008 17:18:49 GMT -5
Humans:
Name: Darya
Age: 45 (born November 2978)
Gender: female
Sexual Orientation: bisexual
Rank: bluerider/searchrider
Physical Appearance: it’s obvious that Darya’s a mature woman but her true age isn’t all that obvious. Thanks to the active lifestyle of a dragonrider and a naturally high metabolism Darya remains as greyhound lean as she was as a teenager, though now her form has gone more to whipcord over bone with no real soft flesh to pad out her figure. Darya moves swiftly in short bursts of speed, and when it’s needed she can outsprint people half her age though she has no endurance at all for the long haul.
Darya would never think of herself as pretty, her face is all harsh planes highlighted by washed out blue eyes that stare just a little too intensely at people, a stubborn set to her jaw warns people of what’s to come, but most of Darya’s facial expression is carried by her eyebrows, which seem to be incredibly mobile. Though she has a certain amount of crow’s feet around her eyes Darya carries most of age in scars and the grey hairs that are slowly taking over from the former pale blonde colour of her hair leaving the short, fine, stuff peppered white. Fortunately for Darya her grey is evenly spread out and is normally not too noticeable to anyone who isn’t looking closely.
When it comes to clothing Darya believes in practical, and she also believes in dark colours, most of her clothing is dark enough in colour to wash out her pale skin and eyes even further and though she does own a few skirts she will most often be spotted wearing trousers and plain shirts when she’s not in riding leathers. Add to that Darya’s habit of walking around armed with a long dagger that comes a scant inch or two short of being a short sword and a smaller fighting knife and a person might be forgiven for thinking they’d encountered a vengeful wraith instead of a human if they were to come across her in a dark corridor.
Personality: There’s no denying Darya’s standoffish, in fact it often seems this woman goes out of her way to annoy and/or shock people. She enjoys provoking people at times, and the more dramatic the reaction the better. Depending on she’sannoyingtalking to Darya can be cloyingly sweet with an edge of sarcasm, unpleasant, sarcastic, and cruel, or just sarcastic. There’s something in her that really can’t resist being sarcastic.
If she ever heard the saying ‘act your age’ Darya went out of her way to forget about it and normally she’ll be found acting in a totally immature manner, she’ll always be the one to stick her tongue out at someone, or end an argument with the stunning statement ‘so nuuurrr’ just because she can.
Somewhere under the protective layers of sarcasm there is a serious side to Darya, one that rarely sees the light of day. Mostly it’s well hidden because Darya doesn’t want to be serious about anything, especially not other people. She’d hate to have to depend on other people, resents it when she does have to, and loathes it when other people rely on her. She’s always at her happiest with casual relationships but somehow people keep getting past all her defences and becoming important to her.
One thing very few people would guess about Darya is that she’s got a soft spot for animals, especially firelizards and salamandyrs, If she thinks no one’s watching Darya will scratch runners, play with canines, and talk nonsense with salamandyrs. Given this maybe it’s not too surprising that she cares for her dragon and her pets above everything else.
History: Darya was born in Selenitas Weyr to a greenrider called Teliri and a bluerider named J’kar, though her parents were not weyrmates as J’kar’s preferences lay with his own gender, both contributed to Darya’s raising giving her a stable childhood. Most of Darya’s days were spent in the crèche with other weyrbrats but she always returned to her mother’s weyr at night.
As soon as she was old enough to understand the game her older half brother and sister began including Darya in their games of dragonrider, harper, hunter, and whatever else they could think of to while away an afternoon being. Needless to say dragonrider was Darya’s favourite game, and she would often demand that her older siblings take turns at being her dragon and flying her around, she hated playing harper because she can’t carry a tune in a bucket and that just gave her siblings an excuse to point it out.
As a nine turn old weyrbrat it galled Darya incredibly that her siblings were allowed to stand for clutches when she wasn’t old enough. Despite pointing out that she’d never be as old as them, because no matter how old she got Irrin and Foram would always be three and four turns older than her, Darya was not able to get the adults around her to see sense and was forced to wait until she was twelve turns before she stood.
Though it was the longed for victory standing as a candidate Darya was disappointed, she secretly hoped that the first dragonet to crack shell would run right for her. However it was not to be, Darya was passed over at the first hatching and sulked for a month solid even though her siblings had been passed over numerous times.
Being a fellow veteran candidate made Darya closer to her older siblings, no longer was she an annoying weyrbrat who demanded rides on their shoulders; she was their comrade in misery.
Now too old for endless games of play pretend and tag Irrin, Foram, and Darya spent their spare time hanging around in various areas where adults wouldn’t spot them being idle and talking about whatever first came to mind, since Irrin and Foram were now well into their teens the topic was often relationships, which Darya found boring at the time but grew to find more interesting as the turns passed.
At eighteen turns Darya’s older brother Foram decided to stop dreaming of dragons and get himself a craft. He left the Weyr to train as a smith leaving Darya and Irrin waving after his runner. Both Teliri and J’kar thought this would bring the girls closer but instead they drifted apart with Darya ardently still pursuing her dream of dragonriding and Irrin yearning after the path Foram had taken.
At fifteen Darya was finally chosen by a dragon, blue Azrath, the last dragon of his clutch to Impress. Azrath wandered among the candidates uncertainly while his clutchmates Impressed before abandoning the males entirely and heading straight for Darya. Ah Darya, there you are! Why are you over here? I am Azrath and I have been looking all over for you.[/color]
Darya’s Impressing Azrath oddly decided Irrin on leaving Selenitas to take up a craft. Though Darya didn’t part with her sister on a bad note she did wonder if her Impressing Azrath drove Irrin away.
Darya and Azrath muddled their way through weyrlinghood with remarkably few incidents and most of those amusing rather than painful. While Azrath gained friends among the other Weyrling dragons Darya kept to herself, content simply with the absence of enemies.
As Darya grew and learned more of the world beyond Selenitas Weyr she began to dislike much of what she saw. The rebellious attitude of the holders annoyed her, the high handed treatment of the holders by the Weyr shocked her, and the stories coming out of the north scared the whey out of her most of the time. So Darya gained knowledge but it came at high price, the price of faith, she found out that the riders she so idolised were as petty and flawed as any other human.
Back in the day Azrath was quite the green chaser, and through this Darya found herself dragged through a great deal of intense emotion that she probably would have given a wide berth if she’d had a choice. However Azrath is just as stubborn as Darya when he wants to be, so Darya didn’t get a choice. She found herself unwelcome in most of the beds Azrath got her into as both the male and female greenriders tended to prefer men.
One might have thought such experiences in rejection would make Darya more of a recluse, however she did form friendships with a few of the greenriders who didn’t like her as a bedmate, and some of the blue- and brownriders who shared similar experiences.
Darya’s life became a peaceful, contented pattern that carried her though turns. The troubles of the north hadn’t come home to Selenitas as yet, and Darya hoped the weyrleaders of Fort and Benden might be replaced, or come to their senses. However all that changed with the return of thread.
That which does not kill you makes you stronger, and the return of Pern’s ancient enemy certainly strengthened Darya, though perhaps not in the best way. In the first fall Selenitas Weyr fought Darya lost some of her friends and for a while her only thought was to destroy thread.
Shortly after that the ‘line of Selenitas’ was broken by gold Aslath, who did not Impress Weyrwoman Sera’s daughter as expected. Darya was sure she wasn’t the only one to find goldweyrling Shmee rather annoying, the girl was just plain silly at times. Was this the woman who was supposed to lead them now that the line of Selenitas was no more?
Disaster after disaster seemed to strike the small Weyr, thread still fell, the holders decided they’d finally had enough, and Sera grew ill. Darya began to gain a little more respect for Shmee as the girl was forced into the role of Weyrwoman. She was annoying but somehow she was cutting their problems down to size. The formation of real wings made threadfall less of an ordeal, and somehow the holds got quieter too, something Darya would never complain about.
However the drama was only just beginning, not long after things started quieting down another queenrider arrived, from Benden, bringing with her disturbing rumours of the Bendenites drugging their dragons. A second gold could only be good for the small weyr but sooner or later C’leon was bound to find out where his missing queen had gone and come to claim her.
Fath’s final clutch brought a third gold to Selenitas, Aezanth of Paryal, and still no sign of C’leon. Fath’s clutch was… odd though, hatching deformed dragons, including a green with abnormally small wings and a blue who shared the photosensitivity of whers. However all the hatchlings Impressed, and survived so whatever caused the odd hatchlings couldn’t have done that much harm.
C’leon didn’t appear until Aslath’s first Flight, where he, or rather his dragon, made a serious attempt to catch the young gold and seize power over the southern Weyr. However, fortunately for all (except the Benden leader, but who cared about him?) Aslath was actually caught by Salenth, making S’rei the weyrleader. Some time after Aslath’s clutch of twenty six hatched more or less uneventfully, all her hatchlings were healthy and not one major disaster took place, a stunning success for Selenitas after the past two hatchings.
If Aslath’s clutch was a success for Selenitas the next major event could only be called a total disaster as the weyrlings from Fath’s clutch were lured away from the weyr during threadfall and attacked. Many were killed before they escaped, including the weyrling gold, a great loss for the small Weyr all around.
Soon after it became apparent that the small Weyr had more problems than just the war to contend with. The self proclaimed weyrwoman of High reaches Weyr and several of her cohorts lured and even kidnapped weyrlings of all ages and candidates to join them and help fill their new Weyr.
Millieth’s clutch also contained mutated hatchlings though after the major deformities of Fath’s hatchlings one blind, one deaf, and one mute hatchling seemed fairly minor. However Weyrwoman Shmee was kidnapped just after the last hatchlings Impressed, which turned out to be the first move of a Benden plot, though it was not known at the time. Weyrleader S’rei left to seek the missing goldpair, leaving Selenitas in the hands of junior weyrwoman Keagan.
When the other boot dropped, as Darya suspected it would, it dropped straight on Selenitas and from a great height at that. C’leon turned up on the hatching grounds with Shmee, and announced that he was executing the Selenitas weyrwomen. The mysterious R’non, now the junior weyrleader, seemed to be the traitor in their midst. Darya joined the defence with a vengeance and with some evidence of insanity in her family. Eventually Benden was repulsed but Darya didn’t believe for one moment that Selenitas had seen the last of C’leon.
For the next turn or so things went quietly, with no evidence of anything but refuges and runaways coming from the northern continent. In fact things even looked to be looking up with three good clutches including a queen, However not long after the hatching of Aslath’s clutch of twelve weyrwoman Shmee was poisoned by an unknown party, and over the next few days so were several others. This sudden death sent the weyr into disarray, and into panic as the poisonings continued, eventually the measures put into place by T’rid won out and things settled down but not before a good portion of the weyr doubted the man’s competence as Weyrleader.
Happily for everyone, probably even T’rid, T’rid was replaced as weyrleader when gold Millieth Flew, making Keagan senior weyrwoman, and K’roi senior weyrleader. Darya wasn’t particularly thrilled to have a runaway Bendenite in charge of Selenitas but as time went by Kaegan proved that she was worthy of support.
As if that wasn’t enough Benden finally made their reappearance in the middle of the night to attack Selenitas Weyr, targeting the infirmary, wherhandler quarters, and weyrling barracks. Darya and Azrath joined the defenders at the infirmary, but were soon separated as Azrath joined other Selenitas dragons in fighting Benden riders and Darya split off with R’fuin of Ylonth to free two injured greenriders from their Bendenite attackers. Prehaps the bluepair should have stayed together, since both gained scars in the attack, Darya losing most of the grip in her left hand and Azrath gaining purely cosmetic burn scars to the last two feet of his tail as well as a large scar to his shoulder.
Though much of the Weyr was burned or otherwise destroyed by the time Benden retreated (the infirmary had been totally destroyed, as had the wherhandler’s quarters, and both were subsequently moved to more easily defended locations in the cliffs) it had to be counted as at least a small victory, though a bitter one and at too high a price, for both C’leon and his second had been killed, assuring, if not actual peace, then at least time to regroup before Benden returned to harry them again, dominance over the southern Weyr had always been C’leon’s obsession.
Benden might have been driven off for now but apparently Fort riders saw no reason not to make a brief sortie into the south, and why? because they were looking for an entire wing they’d somehow lost, a wing that was later found at Benden with the wingleader, J’lorin as Benden’s new weyrleader.
Frankly Darya was beginning to wonder if Selenitas would ever get to see the back of the northern riders or whether it was slated only to end when everyone left was dead, and because a cynic is always right it wasn’t long before more trouble was on the horizon. This trouble came in the form of attempted theft of the junior queen Hepaticath’s eggs, a swiftly deployed move by an unknown Weyr, although the High Reaches were eventually deemed the likely suspects, the thieves were quickly dealt with by riders, dragons, and even candidates, but not before K’lir’s green Calistoth was killed in combat.
Because nothing could ever be normal in Selenitas Weyr anymore the hatching of Hepaticath’s eggs was a rather confusing event, with gold Jingth choosing a girl from the stands and K’lir reImpressing, the first reImpression known at Selenitas, to another green.
After gold Millieth was caught by Salenth, making S’rei the weyrleader again an alliance was formed with Benden’s new weyrleader, J’lorin against Fort Weyr, who were steadily growing more aggressive. Darya was sure she wasn’t the only one to doubt the wisdom of this move, not to mention J’lorin’s integrity.
For some reason, mostly because she was asked and lacks the ability to say no sometimes, Darya was appointed the weyrlingmaster to the fear weyrlings, a job fraught with peril, well, paperwork in fact, which was the same thing in Darya’s mind.
Not long after gold Hepaticath’s second Flight seven strangers arrived at the main hall, all in bad shape, carrying with them the tale that riders from Fort Weyr had attacked and all but wiped out the supposedly secret High Reaches Weyr. Of course it was less than a candlemark later when the Fortians began arriving at Selenitas, but this time the southern Weyr was prepared for an attack. However it became apparent that their preparations were not as good as they might have liked. Though weyrfolk, wherhandlers, and the weyrlings had been ordered to the protected hatching sands it still ended in near disaster as the stands were set on fire and the sands had to be evacuated.
Another period of relative peace developed after the Fort invasion was repelled, with nothing more interesting than a ‘gift’ of hostages from Selenitas’ new allies in the north.
Of course it couldn’t last, because at Selenitas these days no peace ever did. The hostage/gift riders turned out to have been spies from a fourth Weyr based somewhere in the south, comprised of former Bendenites who were determined to re take Benden and bring back the old ways, but if they couldn’t have Benden, Senenitas would do for a while.
During the takeover Darya chose to join the forces evacuating the Weyr, which turned out to be for far longer than anyone thought as the hostile forces managed a compleate takeover with their surprise attack and inside information. This left the senior weyrlings, Legatus wing, and some few others who had managed to escape out in the wilds with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Fortunately someone was able to find some caves to hole up in, and miraculously those cave turned out to be part of a long lost Weyr, which the escapes moved into and name Burimyu.
Life in the forgotten Weyr was at one and the same time hard and boring, hard because no one had much of anything with them, and boring because no one could venture far outside, even dragons had to head out to the desert to sun. With a chronic lack of supplies to the hidden Weyr it was inevitable that supplies should be taken from somewhere, and even more inevitable that it should be the invading forces occupying Selenitas who paid.
Amazingly enough a species of avian found in the region, one that had been causing trouble by hunting firelizards and salamandyrs no less, was found to be Impressible, and much to her surprise Darya found herself to be the ‘mother’ of a male razorclaw hatchling, one Vrae. Thankfully he was smart enough to work out that Darya’s other pets were important to her, and therefore not food.
At a gather held by Hyphen Hold the exiles, those who attended in the hope of finding good food, new clothing, and other supplies (and in Darya’s case a few familiar faces), were discovered by wasteland riders who’d taken Selenitas. The exiles quickly fled but not before several were struck down.
Another trial was experienced, though nowhere near as major when gold Jingth Rose, and Burimyu riders were required to search, in secret. A challenge indeed.
More trials were yet to come as, in the middle of the night (nothing can ever happen in the daylight hours), not long after Jingth clutched, Meira summoned Darya, along with Merridan, Elysia, and Iskierka, to help investigate a disturbance in the records room of Burimyu, an ancient room, sealed off for most of the time. Within the locked room lay total disorder, overturned furniture, shredded paper and mysterious claw marks. However before the riders could even theorise what had happened Meira was dragged into an opening in the wall!
The hidden entrance, formerly hidden behind one of the bookcases proved to lead to a tunnel, which the four remaining riders followed, only to find a sight to shock even the combat hardened for Meira had not been killed by whatever beast laired within the tunnel but had been partially eaten while she was still alive. Darya was the first advocate leaving and coming back with better weapons to kill the beast that had taken the goldrider, however in the end the four living women were forced to flee, not even able to bring Meira’s remains with them, as the beast returned with company. How many, or even what they really were was unknown, only that they were large with birdlike calls and huge claws, and that none of those who’d been in the tunnel really felt safe until almost every stick of furniture had been moved to block the entrance. Darya would have liked to put down poison for them but there was no way she was moving that stuff again.
Shortly after the records room incident gold Jingth’s clutch hatched, leaving the hidden Weyr with nine new dragons, but once she no longer had a clutch to care for Jingth slipped between leaving Burimyu without a queen.
As the turn turned the riders of Burimyu continued their raids on tithe trains, however all did not go smoothly, as the occupants of Selenitas began stepping up patrols and guarding the tithes as they were moved. Eventually a pitched battle between Burimyu’s raiding party and a wing of mixed northern dragons and pairs of Selenitas rider who had not been lucky enough to escape. The battle was brief, as the raider fought only long enough to escape, but if was long enough to kill Ildyth, who had turned on the wasteland dragons mid combat, and R’fuin of Ylonth or the Burimyu defenders. Despite the bitter taint of the losses Burimyu was still able to celebrate a successful raid.
In the coming months disaster, as it so often did, would fall on Selenitas, this time in the form of an earthquake rather than anything brought by the hand of man. Burimyu at least was far enough from the epicentre to avoid the worst of the quake, while Selenitas was almost totally levelled. After some debate the council sent out assistance to the survivors. As it happened the leaders of the wasteland riders had mostly been killed off in the disaster, and those wastelanders who remained were not fanatically opposed to Burimyu’s existence.
Within a few sevendays the two weyrs had been merged into one and burimyu was renamed New Selenitas Weyr, though in Darya’s mind it would always be Burimyu first. The council was expanded to accomate the change, adding a wasteland bronzerider and, for the first time, a wherhandler to its ranks. This meant the endless tedium of council meetings was lengthened considerably.
Though it could hardly be said that the merge went off with nothing but good feelings on all sides, one thing that everyone could greet with enthusiasm was the hatching of Millieth’s latest clutch of eight, resulting in a surprise nine babies thanks to the uncommon phenomenon of egg twins. Seven new whers also hatched in the months after the merge, adding a new wher queen, Kaiusk, to the ranks of the night watch.
However fate, ever a perverse force gave with one hand and took away with the other as a plague swept through the populations of firelizards and salamandyrs killing many. Those who were inclined so could offer their sick pets up for experimental treatment of the disease, and Darya was among those as her green firelizard started showing symptoms. The small green was one of those who responded to the treatments and returned healthy, though she had been effected enough by her illness that every image she projected was now slightly fuzzy and inaccurate.
3018 came on in traditional selenitas fashion, that is to say badly, as the predatory creature that had killed Meira over a turn previously made a reappearace to attack the whers of the night watch, killing Darmori and Darmosk, and Ceryl and Cerysk, Darya got be among the first to know of this attack as Darmori’s salamandyr Harmony had died with him, leaving Imp without his lifemate and Darya with an inconsolable salamandyr. The fact that the creatures were driven off and that one of them had finally been killed and was available for further study was cold comfort.
On the bright side of the early part of 3018 Nitrath, the young queen hatched during wasteland’s occupation of Selenitas, rose and clutched sixteen eggs. (rest of this paragraph to be added post Nitrath’s hatching)
Although New Selenitas’ subterranean location meant that it remained hidden successfully it was only a fool’s hope that it would always be so. Something had to done, so it was decided that the Benden alliance would be renewed, though they’d been lousy enough allies in the past they were the lesser of two evils and the better known devil. An ally was needed as the southern Weyr could hardly fight the combined might of the two northern Weyrs alone.
So in 3019 the allied forces of Benden and New Selenitas engaged in a huge battle with the Fortian riders, a battle from which Darya and Azrath were lucky enough to escape from with only a few new scars for each of them, but nothing to be entered into the all Weyrs scar displaying contest.
Mopping up those Fort forces that had escaped the net took the better part of the next year to achieve, nut at least it wasn’t boring work.
After the 3020 summit of just about everyone who had an interst in what to do with Pern’s future, Darya, now no longer a councilwoman as that body had been dissolved, found herself uprooted again and transerred to the new northern weyr Inverness. Though she was less than thrilled with the transfer Darya had no mate or family to give her grounds for arguing against it.
If she was always cold at Inverness at least she wasn’t bored. Darya found herself advising Ce’thian, who claimed his elevation to weyrleader was nothing more than an accident. Darya slid quickly into friendship with the quirky bronzerider, and eventually found herself sharing a casual friends-with-benefits type relationship with him, and if she got a little more say in what happened than a bluerider should, well she wasn’t complaining too loudly.
Not that all things in Inverness Weyr went smoothly, once again former deadly adversires were supposed to work seamlessly side by side. Half the Weyr’s population had, like Darya, been summarily transferred away from home and friends, and the other half had had their older friends transferred away from them. One thing most were united in was grumbling about the summit. That was ultimate enemy.
Dragon:
Name: Azrath
Color: Blue #191970
Age: 28 (hatched July 2995)
Physical Appearance: A dragon of pretty much average size for his colour Azrath is on the whippy side of the blue spectrum but not so much that he really stands out for it. As such he has very good speed and agility but he lacks the endurance for a really long haul.
The notable part of Azrath is most definitely his hide pattern; his base shade is a deep night blue shade, clouded with striations of a darker navy shade. In a clouded night sky Azrath would be nearly invisible. That invisibility would be compromised however by the bright silver scar tissue that covers the last two feet of his tail everywhere but the inside of the fork, and a second patch of scar tissue on his left shoulder both gained in combat during the siege of Selenitas.
Personality: There’s no doubt that Azrath is the perfect compliment to his rider, where she’s cynical, he’s jovial, when Darya’s angry, Azrath’s amused. There’s little doubt that the blue does this on purpose, he’s well used to being bonded to a grump. He claims to have no sense of humour, often and loudly, but there’s certainly a streak of devilment in him and Azrath’s always the first to mock his chosen.
Azrath’s the social side of this pairing no doubt. He loves to talk with other dragons, though he’ll only address other humans when circumstances force it on him, and he adores his little cousins to bits. Azrath is even interested in non draconic creatures to a degree, providing he can give them back at the end of the day.
Pets:[/b]
Name: Imp
Species: salamandyr
Colour: bronze 999900
Age:13 (hatched 3010)
Appearance: Quite eye-catching indeed, this little bronze bears an almost brindled appearance. Everything ranging from a rusty golden shade all the way down to olive drab mixes and mingles on his hide in scrumptious swirls. The colors stand out in a manner that is very noticeable, and yet he seems to have the ability to blend in and go unseen when he so wishes. In some cases, his unique hide is much more camouflaged than one might think. Whenever he flares the frill around his neck, it looks more like he’s showing off than anything else, as the colors swirl around almost in a spiral.
But even if he were the dullest shade of bronze imaginable, this little guy would still be quite handsome. He seems to be the poster-child for male salamandyrs everywhere, bearing neck and tail of perfect length. His body is well-built, sleek and slender but strong, with sturdy legs equipped with the perfect claws for climbing on just about anything he wishes to. The only imperfection to this little bronze is that his wings seem to be abnormally large. They will always be this way, but on the bright side they aren’t too large for him to carry, and it will mean extra air-time in the long run.
[bPersonality:[/b] Despite his strapping appearance, the Witching Hour Bronze is actually a nice guy in disguise. He’s astonishingly friendly and loves everyone… yes, even firelizards! He gets along well with anything that will give him half a chance, as he’ll quickly prove. He’s not afraid to approach human, dragon, or wher, and one begins to think he’d even chat up a tunnelsnake if given the opportunity. He even prefers the company of his flying cousins (firelizards) over his own species and will give chase to any flitter who Rises within his ‘territory’.
Name: Bit
Species: Firelizard
Age: 12 (hatched 3011)
Colour: Green body: #4F8E43 belly: #A4E497 tail flecks: #55FF34
Physical Appearance: At first glance, this green can appear to be little more than a blob of color. She's tiny, no larger than the average salamandyr queen and her wingspan is anything but impressive. However, her itsy bitsy size leads to her being astonishingly quick in the air, zipping back and forth in constant motion. When she finally does sit still, it is clear that this female is built more like her smaller cousins than other firelizards. Her wings are small and thin, though large enough to hold up her light and lithe body. Her tail is disturbingly long, twisting and curling as if on its own accord; the length almost matches that of her body and the fork at the end is unusually large - a bizarre quirk to be sure. Her wide eyes add a distinctly feminine quality to her appearance, no doubt one of her more endearing traits for while she can appear strange amongst her kind, she's certainly anything but ugly. Altogether she looks more serpentine than most firelizards, and this will make her memorable to anyone who sees her... and doesn't mistake her for some bizarre tunnelsnake mutation, at least.
As far as coloring goes, this green is a dazzling mingling of shades. Her underbelly is a pale sea green with grayish undertones, lighter than most of her color; it almost appears as if this color was dusted on, rather than naturally occurring. The pale shade bleeds into a dark gray-green like a coat wrapped around her body, lacking in the many faceted gemstone qualities that her color is most known for. Rather than be shiny, she appears to be a wash of varying muted tones. However, down the base of her body connecting to her tail are vivid green flecks almost like sparkles, as though flaring to life beneath her skin. These tiny spots spiral around her tail like glimmers in the night, or green stars woven into her hide. When she's close to flight, the glow of her hide almost perfectly mimics those flecks, leaving her every bit as bright as any of her sisters -- and her pre-flight state is impossible to mistake.
Personality: Green firelizards seem to come in many different personalities. However, this female is anything but typical. She's not sweet and quiet, nor is she loud and obnoxious. She's silent. Totally, completely mute. Not a single sound escapes her. No sweet chirps and chittering, no scolding squawks or irritated shrieks. There will be no sounds made by this female save the fluttering of wings to announce her arrival or the occasional rattling of her claws whenever she lands on a particularly hard surface. Even in flights, she does not make the challenging shrieks that most females do. This absolute silence will make it easy for most unobservant individuals to overlook her presence (indeed, she will fade into the background ridiculously well when she bothers to try) but make no mistake: she has no problem expressing her feelings when she wants to make a point. Her eyes are more expressive than the average dragon's, as are her movements, and her bonded will quickly learn to tell what she's feeling from the feelings she offers, the images she sends, and the looks she gives, all of which are unmistakable.
Constantly in motion, it is very rare to see this firelizard holding completely still. She's always darting to-and-fro, usually at a lightning fast speed, rendering her appearance to little more than a green blur. Should she land, her tail will be flicking, her claws moving and her eyes whirling. She's very observant and notices even the smallest changes in details, and her memory for a green is astounding, rivalling that of some of the metallic shades. With her bonded she's affectionate, but often too rough; nips and scratching are not uncommon, though they're meant with the utmost love and adoration. She has no patience for the antics of other firelizards, however, and will spend almost all of her time away from them if she can help it; gossip isn't worth her time, and anything that shrieks at her runs the very real risk of meeting her claws first hand. Her constant movements make it hard for others to see it coming, and since she doesn't make any noise, there's no forewarning screech to behold. For her, a warning is the scratch to the face, and she has no problem distributing punishment as she sees fit. She doesn't have time for squawking and games. She'd much rather spend her available opportunities with hers and without all the needless chatter.
(no longer capable of sending accurate images since 3017 pet plague plot)
Name: Vrae
Species: Razorclaw
Age: 7 (hatched 3016)
Gender: Male
Appearance: This male will be slightly larger than your average razorclaw. Although you can’t really tell that simply by looking at him. It only becomes apparent when he is perched next to another of his kind. His wings however will be noticeably wider than average. In length he will have the same wingspan typical of the male avian yet in width they will be a touch wider the muscles connecting them just a tad thicker, making his endurance something above average. In speed and aerial prowess he might be a bit upstaged by some of his brethren but in long distance flight he will beat them all out. He is still able to display the speed and agility his species is famed for however he rarely if ever chooses to display it. Instead he prefers easy, lazy flight if he is not hunting or defending.
Coloration wise he is simply stunning. His head is capped with jet black, the color lightening into a dark tanish mask around both eyes. His hooked beak is a cheerful yellow the very tip looking like it has been dipped in black. Sleek, shiny, and very, very dark chocolate feathers cover his back and the top of both wide wings. In fact the brownish color is just a shade off true back. His underbelly feathers are banded. Each feather an alternating crème and black, giving his bib and underside a sort of speckled appearance. His flight feathers are also follow the same alternating banded pattern although instead of crème they are a soft tan and chocolate. He is meticulous about preening and so each feather is always very sleek and shiny making him a very beautiful creature to look at in both appearance and flight.
Personality: Loyal. This is the first word that comes to mind when describing this male. Even at the start of the bonding process he shows a preference for the company of his that is unusual. As time goes on his owner will find that the male’s preference for her company will soon develop into something borderline possessive. However, to call this male actually possessive would be wrong. He only wishes to be her protector not claim her as only belonging to him. He is a guardian if you will a silent protector. The razorclaw likes to know where his chosen is at all times. He is also very picky of who he lets close to his bonded. He is very attune to subtle body language cues from her and any unease on her part is met with his arrival. He is not fond of being stroked or held but he will tolerate it, and only for his. Any others who seek to touch him are levered with a patient look and a leaving bird. He would never strike out at them. Instead he just nobly removes himself from their presence.
He is not outwardly aggressive unless he has to be. However he does use threats well. The clacking of his beak and fluffing of his feathers being his most normal display. It quite effectively lets the party know that now is the time to ‘back off’. If his warning is not heeded he is not above lashing out with talons and beak with precise and often painful results. This male razorclaw is very intelligent and easily trained. Commands, messenger work, and completing simple puzzles will not be above his abilities. The only praise he needs are the verbal ones from his chosen. He is happy to accept food rewards from her but such is not needed. The only bad habit he seems to have is the almost immediate outward distrust of all other males. It will take a careful and patient man to earn his full trust. Females and the young however are lumped into the ‘must protect’ category and he will defend them like he does his. Let there be no mistake though. His always comes first.
As far as other razorclaws go he is ‘tolerant’. Never welcoming and any of his species who seek to perch on his will be met with both beak and talon and driven off. As far as food goes he is fond of catching his own meals. His main fair being other avians. Waterfowl, ground fowl, songbirds, ect. He also likes the challenge the occasional wild firelizard brings. Thus he will have to be carefully trained not to eat peoples pets. With time and patience it will be easy to train him to avoid firelizards. However at the beginning of his training quite a few of the small draconids might fall to his talons
Name: Sweetling
[Species: Salamandyr
b]Age:[/b] 6 (hatched 3017)
Color: Green Base: 324F17, Eye spot, wing membranes, belly: 397D02
Appearance: This green is positively tiny. In fact if not for her undoubtedly green hide color one might think she is a white. She is built delicate too. Quite like a china doll she is elegant and refined. Every line of her body smooth and flawless. She perhaps could be just a touch too much on the thin side, though instead of making her look emaciated it just further solidifies her overall delicate and breakable look. Tiny limbs are in perfect proportion to her tiny body and her tail is long and tapers to a whip thin tip. She will be fond of using her tail in fact mostly to twine her tail through her bonded’s fingers to ‘hold hands’ with them. The wings that grace her back are large enough to use for gliding though she doesn’t use them much preferring to use her own to feet to get around or even better yet hitch rides on unsuspecting passerby. Like most of her brothers and sisters this clutch she has no frill. Instead sporting elegantly curving and thin spines in it’s the frills place. Hers are a shiny black exactly the same shade of the small claws that tip her toes.
In coloration she is undoubtedly green. A darker shade that might remind one of the color of a lime rind. She even looks almost textured like a lime though if one where to ever so carefully stroke their finger down her back they would find that this is nothing but an illusion as she is just as smooth as any mandyr. Like the rest of her siblings she has a spot covering her left eye the spot being the color of a fresh from the garden green pepper. The same pepper like coloration also covers the entirety of her wing membranes and solidly colors her whole belly. Yes despite her size there is no doubt that this little lady is anything but what her hide color states she is. Green
Personality: This little lady seems not to have inherited the boisterous behavior of most of her siblings. Instead she’s very demure and certainly extremely shy. The green most often can be found hidden somewhere on her bonded’s person peeking out curiously at the rest of the world. She’s not really antisocial by any means. No she adores other mandyrs and people and the like. It’s just that most of them make her a bit nervous. If you’re careful and quiet you might be able to coax her into interacting with you but it is a rarity. She certainly loves her bonded though and is extremely obedient to their commands. She also seems to have no problems when it comes to shyness with her chosen either. In fact when she sees something that excites her she has no problems chattering away about it. Thankfully she is quite verbose for a green and certainly eloquent enough to make sense, even if she can’t form full sentences and some larger words are beyond her capability.
Deceased pets:[/u]
Name: Irony
Species: ... Chicken
Gender: Male
Appearance: As a chick the little fellow is the epitome of cute. A downy of fluffy white and the receiver of baby coos from the passing motherly woman – and the occasional man. Not that he notices, the little chick sleeps the majority of the day; preferring to nestle in the warmth of blankets or – if it's available – a woman's bosom. He'll grow into a handsome black-breasted rooster with a deep red wine feathers covering his neck and shoulders. This rooster is small but highly musculature, carrying himself in a distinctive upright stance with long black tail feathers drooping toward the ground. His crest is small, red and wholly unimpressive and set above a pair of eerie pearl white eyes. He'll grow to have long legs that end in wickedly curved talons – paired with a sharp beak this rooster is clearly a fighting bird.
Personality: Territorial. There is simply no other way to put it. His human caretaker is considered his hen and he'll be damned if he'll let anyone else or thing in on his claim. He likes to try to perch on his person's shoulder but even small in size he's too much of a feathered fuss and his talons too sharp. But even being pushed off, repeatedly, this rooster will roost again and again and preen the hair and ears of his lovely hen. Woe be to those that he sees as a threat; without hesitation he will fly at dragon, person, and pet like with intent to slash them apart with his talons. As far as crowing goes – that is a means to let everyone else know where his territory is. So expect a 'morning wake up call' at any hour of the day... and night.
(Irony was left behind in the Wasteland invasion, and later reincarnated as Irony soup)
Name: Darya
Age: 45 (born November 2978)
Gender: female
Sexual Orientation: bisexual
Rank: bluerider/searchrider
Physical Appearance: it’s obvious that Darya’s a mature woman but her true age isn’t all that obvious. Thanks to the active lifestyle of a dragonrider and a naturally high metabolism Darya remains as greyhound lean as she was as a teenager, though now her form has gone more to whipcord over bone with no real soft flesh to pad out her figure. Darya moves swiftly in short bursts of speed, and when it’s needed she can outsprint people half her age though she has no endurance at all for the long haul.
Darya would never think of herself as pretty, her face is all harsh planes highlighted by washed out blue eyes that stare just a little too intensely at people, a stubborn set to her jaw warns people of what’s to come, but most of Darya’s facial expression is carried by her eyebrows, which seem to be incredibly mobile. Though she has a certain amount of crow’s feet around her eyes Darya carries most of age in scars and the grey hairs that are slowly taking over from the former pale blonde colour of her hair leaving the short, fine, stuff peppered white. Fortunately for Darya her grey is evenly spread out and is normally not too noticeable to anyone who isn’t looking closely.
When it comes to clothing Darya believes in practical, and she also believes in dark colours, most of her clothing is dark enough in colour to wash out her pale skin and eyes even further and though she does own a few skirts she will most often be spotted wearing trousers and plain shirts when she’s not in riding leathers. Add to that Darya’s habit of walking around armed with a long dagger that comes a scant inch or two short of being a short sword and a smaller fighting knife and a person might be forgiven for thinking they’d encountered a vengeful wraith instead of a human if they were to come across her in a dark corridor.
Personality: There’s no denying Darya’s standoffish, in fact it often seems this woman goes out of her way to annoy and/or shock people. She enjoys provoking people at times, and the more dramatic the reaction the better. Depending on she’s
If she ever heard the saying ‘act your age’ Darya went out of her way to forget about it and normally she’ll be found acting in a totally immature manner, she’ll always be the one to stick her tongue out at someone, or end an argument with the stunning statement ‘so nuuurrr’ just because she can.
Somewhere under the protective layers of sarcasm there is a serious side to Darya, one that rarely sees the light of day. Mostly it’s well hidden because Darya doesn’t want to be serious about anything, especially not other people. She’d hate to have to depend on other people, resents it when she does have to, and loathes it when other people rely on her. She’s always at her happiest with casual relationships but somehow people keep getting past all her defences and becoming important to her.
One thing very few people would guess about Darya is that she’s got a soft spot for animals, especially firelizards and salamandyrs, If she thinks no one’s watching Darya will scratch runners, play with canines, and talk nonsense with salamandyrs. Given this maybe it’s not too surprising that she cares for her dragon and her pets above everything else.
History: Darya was born in Selenitas Weyr to a greenrider called Teliri and a bluerider named J’kar, though her parents were not weyrmates as J’kar’s preferences lay with his own gender, both contributed to Darya’s raising giving her a stable childhood. Most of Darya’s days were spent in the crèche with other weyrbrats but she always returned to her mother’s weyr at night.
As soon as she was old enough to understand the game her older half brother and sister began including Darya in their games of dragonrider, harper, hunter, and whatever else they could think of to while away an afternoon being. Needless to say dragonrider was Darya’s favourite game, and she would often demand that her older siblings take turns at being her dragon and flying her around, she hated playing harper because she can’t carry a tune in a bucket and that just gave her siblings an excuse to point it out.
As a nine turn old weyrbrat it galled Darya incredibly that her siblings were allowed to stand for clutches when she wasn’t old enough. Despite pointing out that she’d never be as old as them, because no matter how old she got Irrin and Foram would always be three and four turns older than her, Darya was not able to get the adults around her to see sense and was forced to wait until she was twelve turns before she stood.
Though it was the longed for victory standing as a candidate Darya was disappointed, she secretly hoped that the first dragonet to crack shell would run right for her. However it was not to be, Darya was passed over at the first hatching and sulked for a month solid even though her siblings had been passed over numerous times.
Being a fellow veteran candidate made Darya closer to her older siblings, no longer was she an annoying weyrbrat who demanded rides on their shoulders; she was their comrade in misery.
Now too old for endless games of play pretend and tag Irrin, Foram, and Darya spent their spare time hanging around in various areas where adults wouldn’t spot them being idle and talking about whatever first came to mind, since Irrin and Foram were now well into their teens the topic was often relationships, which Darya found boring at the time but grew to find more interesting as the turns passed.
At eighteen turns Darya’s older brother Foram decided to stop dreaming of dragons and get himself a craft. He left the Weyr to train as a smith leaving Darya and Irrin waving after his runner. Both Teliri and J’kar thought this would bring the girls closer but instead they drifted apart with Darya ardently still pursuing her dream of dragonriding and Irrin yearning after the path Foram had taken.
At fifteen Darya was finally chosen by a dragon, blue Azrath, the last dragon of his clutch to Impress. Azrath wandered among the candidates uncertainly while his clutchmates Impressed before abandoning the males entirely and heading straight for Darya. Ah Darya, there you are! Why are you over here? I am Azrath and I have been looking all over for you.[/color]
Darya’s Impressing Azrath oddly decided Irrin on leaving Selenitas to take up a craft. Though Darya didn’t part with her sister on a bad note she did wonder if her Impressing Azrath drove Irrin away.
Darya and Azrath muddled their way through weyrlinghood with remarkably few incidents and most of those amusing rather than painful. While Azrath gained friends among the other Weyrling dragons Darya kept to herself, content simply with the absence of enemies.
As Darya grew and learned more of the world beyond Selenitas Weyr she began to dislike much of what she saw. The rebellious attitude of the holders annoyed her, the high handed treatment of the holders by the Weyr shocked her, and the stories coming out of the north scared the whey out of her most of the time. So Darya gained knowledge but it came at high price, the price of faith, she found out that the riders she so idolised were as petty and flawed as any other human.
Back in the day Azrath was quite the green chaser, and through this Darya found herself dragged through a great deal of intense emotion that she probably would have given a wide berth if she’d had a choice. However Azrath is just as stubborn as Darya when he wants to be, so Darya didn’t get a choice. She found herself unwelcome in most of the beds Azrath got her into as both the male and female greenriders tended to prefer men.
One might have thought such experiences in rejection would make Darya more of a recluse, however she did form friendships with a few of the greenriders who didn’t like her as a bedmate, and some of the blue- and brownriders who shared similar experiences.
Darya’s life became a peaceful, contented pattern that carried her though turns. The troubles of the north hadn’t come home to Selenitas as yet, and Darya hoped the weyrleaders of Fort and Benden might be replaced, or come to their senses. However all that changed with the return of thread.
That which does not kill you makes you stronger, and the return of Pern’s ancient enemy certainly strengthened Darya, though perhaps not in the best way. In the first fall Selenitas Weyr fought Darya lost some of her friends and for a while her only thought was to destroy thread.
Shortly after that the ‘line of Selenitas’ was broken by gold Aslath, who did not Impress Weyrwoman Sera’s daughter as expected. Darya was sure she wasn’t the only one to find goldweyrling Shmee rather annoying, the girl was just plain silly at times. Was this the woman who was supposed to lead them now that the line of Selenitas was no more?
Disaster after disaster seemed to strike the small Weyr, thread still fell, the holders decided they’d finally had enough, and Sera grew ill. Darya began to gain a little more respect for Shmee as the girl was forced into the role of Weyrwoman. She was annoying but somehow she was cutting their problems down to size. The formation of real wings made threadfall less of an ordeal, and somehow the holds got quieter too, something Darya would never complain about.
However the drama was only just beginning, not long after things started quieting down another queenrider arrived, from Benden, bringing with her disturbing rumours of the Bendenites drugging their dragons. A second gold could only be good for the small weyr but sooner or later C’leon was bound to find out where his missing queen had gone and come to claim her.
Fath’s final clutch brought a third gold to Selenitas, Aezanth of Paryal, and still no sign of C’leon. Fath’s clutch was… odd though, hatching deformed dragons, including a green with abnormally small wings and a blue who shared the photosensitivity of whers. However all the hatchlings Impressed, and survived so whatever caused the odd hatchlings couldn’t have done that much harm.
C’leon didn’t appear until Aslath’s first Flight, where he, or rather his dragon, made a serious attempt to catch the young gold and seize power over the southern Weyr. However, fortunately for all (except the Benden leader, but who cared about him?) Aslath was actually caught by Salenth, making S’rei the weyrleader. Some time after Aslath’s clutch of twenty six hatched more or less uneventfully, all her hatchlings were healthy and not one major disaster took place, a stunning success for Selenitas after the past two hatchings.
If Aslath’s clutch was a success for Selenitas the next major event could only be called a total disaster as the weyrlings from Fath’s clutch were lured away from the weyr during threadfall and attacked. Many were killed before they escaped, including the weyrling gold, a great loss for the small Weyr all around.
Soon after it became apparent that the small Weyr had more problems than just the war to contend with. The self proclaimed weyrwoman of High reaches Weyr and several of her cohorts lured and even kidnapped weyrlings of all ages and candidates to join them and help fill their new Weyr.
Millieth’s clutch also contained mutated hatchlings though after the major deformities of Fath’s hatchlings one blind, one deaf, and one mute hatchling seemed fairly minor. However Weyrwoman Shmee was kidnapped just after the last hatchlings Impressed, which turned out to be the first move of a Benden plot, though it was not known at the time. Weyrleader S’rei left to seek the missing goldpair, leaving Selenitas in the hands of junior weyrwoman Keagan.
When the other boot dropped, as Darya suspected it would, it dropped straight on Selenitas and from a great height at that. C’leon turned up on the hatching grounds with Shmee, and announced that he was executing the Selenitas weyrwomen. The mysterious R’non, now the junior weyrleader, seemed to be the traitor in their midst. Darya joined the defence with a vengeance and with some evidence of insanity in her family. Eventually Benden was repulsed but Darya didn’t believe for one moment that Selenitas had seen the last of C’leon.
For the next turn or so things went quietly, with no evidence of anything but refuges and runaways coming from the northern continent. In fact things even looked to be looking up with three good clutches including a queen, However not long after the hatching of Aslath’s clutch of twelve weyrwoman Shmee was poisoned by an unknown party, and over the next few days so were several others. This sudden death sent the weyr into disarray, and into panic as the poisonings continued, eventually the measures put into place by T’rid won out and things settled down but not before a good portion of the weyr doubted the man’s competence as Weyrleader.
Happily for everyone, probably even T’rid, T’rid was replaced as weyrleader when gold Millieth Flew, making Keagan senior weyrwoman, and K’roi senior weyrleader. Darya wasn’t particularly thrilled to have a runaway Bendenite in charge of Selenitas but as time went by Kaegan proved that she was worthy of support.
As if that wasn’t enough Benden finally made their reappearance in the middle of the night to attack Selenitas Weyr, targeting the infirmary, wherhandler quarters, and weyrling barracks. Darya and Azrath joined the defenders at the infirmary, but were soon separated as Azrath joined other Selenitas dragons in fighting Benden riders and Darya split off with R’fuin of Ylonth to free two injured greenriders from their Bendenite attackers. Prehaps the bluepair should have stayed together, since both gained scars in the attack, Darya losing most of the grip in her left hand and Azrath gaining purely cosmetic burn scars to the last two feet of his tail as well as a large scar to his shoulder.
Though much of the Weyr was burned or otherwise destroyed by the time Benden retreated (the infirmary had been totally destroyed, as had the wherhandler’s quarters, and both were subsequently moved to more easily defended locations in the cliffs) it had to be counted as at least a small victory, though a bitter one and at too high a price, for both C’leon and his second had been killed, assuring, if not actual peace, then at least time to regroup before Benden returned to harry them again, dominance over the southern Weyr had always been C’leon’s obsession.
Benden might have been driven off for now but apparently Fort riders saw no reason not to make a brief sortie into the south, and why? because they were looking for an entire wing they’d somehow lost, a wing that was later found at Benden with the wingleader, J’lorin as Benden’s new weyrleader.
Frankly Darya was beginning to wonder if Selenitas would ever get to see the back of the northern riders or whether it was slated only to end when everyone left was dead, and because a cynic is always right it wasn’t long before more trouble was on the horizon. This trouble came in the form of attempted theft of the junior queen Hepaticath’s eggs, a swiftly deployed move by an unknown Weyr, although the High Reaches were eventually deemed the likely suspects, the thieves were quickly dealt with by riders, dragons, and even candidates, but not before K’lir’s green Calistoth was killed in combat.
Because nothing could ever be normal in Selenitas Weyr anymore the hatching of Hepaticath’s eggs was a rather confusing event, with gold Jingth choosing a girl from the stands and K’lir reImpressing, the first reImpression known at Selenitas, to another green.
After gold Millieth was caught by Salenth, making S’rei the weyrleader again an alliance was formed with Benden’s new weyrleader, J’lorin against Fort Weyr, who were steadily growing more aggressive. Darya was sure she wasn’t the only one to doubt the wisdom of this move, not to mention J’lorin’s integrity.
For some reason, mostly because she was asked and lacks the ability to say no sometimes, Darya was appointed the weyrlingmaster to the fear weyrlings, a job fraught with peril, well, paperwork in fact, which was the same thing in Darya’s mind.
Not long after gold Hepaticath’s second Flight seven strangers arrived at the main hall, all in bad shape, carrying with them the tale that riders from Fort Weyr had attacked and all but wiped out the supposedly secret High Reaches Weyr. Of course it was less than a candlemark later when the Fortians began arriving at Selenitas, but this time the southern Weyr was prepared for an attack. However it became apparent that their preparations were not as good as they might have liked. Though weyrfolk, wherhandlers, and the weyrlings had been ordered to the protected hatching sands it still ended in near disaster as the stands were set on fire and the sands had to be evacuated.
Another period of relative peace developed after the Fort invasion was repelled, with nothing more interesting than a ‘gift’ of hostages from Selenitas’ new allies in the north.
Of course it couldn’t last, because at Selenitas these days no peace ever did. The hostage/gift riders turned out to have been spies from a fourth Weyr based somewhere in the south, comprised of former Bendenites who were determined to re take Benden and bring back the old ways, but if they couldn’t have Benden, Senenitas would do for a while.
During the takeover Darya chose to join the forces evacuating the Weyr, which turned out to be for far longer than anyone thought as the hostile forces managed a compleate takeover with their surprise attack and inside information. This left the senior weyrlings, Legatus wing, and some few others who had managed to escape out in the wilds with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Fortunately someone was able to find some caves to hole up in, and miraculously those cave turned out to be part of a long lost Weyr, which the escapes moved into and name Burimyu.
Life in the forgotten Weyr was at one and the same time hard and boring, hard because no one had much of anything with them, and boring because no one could venture far outside, even dragons had to head out to the desert to sun. With a chronic lack of supplies to the hidden Weyr it was inevitable that supplies should be taken from somewhere, and even more inevitable that it should be the invading forces occupying Selenitas who paid.
Amazingly enough a species of avian found in the region, one that had been causing trouble by hunting firelizards and salamandyrs no less, was found to be Impressible, and much to her surprise Darya found herself to be the ‘mother’ of a male razorclaw hatchling, one Vrae. Thankfully he was smart enough to work out that Darya’s other pets were important to her, and therefore not food.
At a gather held by Hyphen Hold the exiles, those who attended in the hope of finding good food, new clothing, and other supplies (and in Darya’s case a few familiar faces), were discovered by wasteland riders who’d taken Selenitas. The exiles quickly fled but not before several were struck down.
Another trial was experienced, though nowhere near as major when gold Jingth Rose, and Burimyu riders were required to search, in secret. A challenge indeed.
More trials were yet to come as, in the middle of the night (nothing can ever happen in the daylight hours), not long after Jingth clutched, Meira summoned Darya, along with Merridan, Elysia, and Iskierka, to help investigate a disturbance in the records room of Burimyu, an ancient room, sealed off for most of the time. Within the locked room lay total disorder, overturned furniture, shredded paper and mysterious claw marks. However before the riders could even theorise what had happened Meira was dragged into an opening in the wall!
The hidden entrance, formerly hidden behind one of the bookcases proved to lead to a tunnel, which the four remaining riders followed, only to find a sight to shock even the combat hardened for Meira had not been killed by whatever beast laired within the tunnel but had been partially eaten while she was still alive. Darya was the first advocate leaving and coming back with better weapons to kill the beast that had taken the goldrider, however in the end the four living women were forced to flee, not even able to bring Meira’s remains with them, as the beast returned with company. How many, or even what they really were was unknown, only that they were large with birdlike calls and huge claws, and that none of those who’d been in the tunnel really felt safe until almost every stick of furniture had been moved to block the entrance. Darya would have liked to put down poison for them but there was no way she was moving that stuff again.
Shortly after the records room incident gold Jingth’s clutch hatched, leaving the hidden Weyr with nine new dragons, but once she no longer had a clutch to care for Jingth slipped between leaving Burimyu without a queen.
As the turn turned the riders of Burimyu continued their raids on tithe trains, however all did not go smoothly, as the occupants of Selenitas began stepping up patrols and guarding the tithes as they were moved. Eventually a pitched battle between Burimyu’s raiding party and a wing of mixed northern dragons and pairs of Selenitas rider who had not been lucky enough to escape. The battle was brief, as the raider fought only long enough to escape, but if was long enough to kill Ildyth, who had turned on the wasteland dragons mid combat, and R’fuin of Ylonth or the Burimyu defenders. Despite the bitter taint of the losses Burimyu was still able to celebrate a successful raid.
In the coming months disaster, as it so often did, would fall on Selenitas, this time in the form of an earthquake rather than anything brought by the hand of man. Burimyu at least was far enough from the epicentre to avoid the worst of the quake, while Selenitas was almost totally levelled. After some debate the council sent out assistance to the survivors. As it happened the leaders of the wasteland riders had mostly been killed off in the disaster, and those wastelanders who remained were not fanatically opposed to Burimyu’s existence.
Within a few sevendays the two weyrs had been merged into one and burimyu was renamed New Selenitas Weyr, though in Darya’s mind it would always be Burimyu first. The council was expanded to accomate the change, adding a wasteland bronzerider and, for the first time, a wherhandler to its ranks. This meant the endless tedium of council meetings was lengthened considerably.
Though it could hardly be said that the merge went off with nothing but good feelings on all sides, one thing that everyone could greet with enthusiasm was the hatching of Millieth’s latest clutch of eight, resulting in a surprise nine babies thanks to the uncommon phenomenon of egg twins. Seven new whers also hatched in the months after the merge, adding a new wher queen, Kaiusk, to the ranks of the night watch.
However fate, ever a perverse force gave with one hand and took away with the other as a plague swept through the populations of firelizards and salamandyrs killing many. Those who were inclined so could offer their sick pets up for experimental treatment of the disease, and Darya was among those as her green firelizard started showing symptoms. The small green was one of those who responded to the treatments and returned healthy, though she had been effected enough by her illness that every image she projected was now slightly fuzzy and inaccurate.
3018 came on in traditional selenitas fashion, that is to say badly, as the predatory creature that had killed Meira over a turn previously made a reappearace to attack the whers of the night watch, killing Darmori and Darmosk, and Ceryl and Cerysk, Darya got be among the first to know of this attack as Darmori’s salamandyr Harmony had died with him, leaving Imp without his lifemate and Darya with an inconsolable salamandyr. The fact that the creatures were driven off and that one of them had finally been killed and was available for further study was cold comfort.
On the bright side of the early part of 3018 Nitrath, the young queen hatched during wasteland’s occupation of Selenitas, rose and clutched sixteen eggs. (rest of this paragraph to be added post Nitrath’s hatching)
Although New Selenitas’ subterranean location meant that it remained hidden successfully it was only a fool’s hope that it would always be so. Something had to done, so it was decided that the Benden alliance would be renewed, though they’d been lousy enough allies in the past they were the lesser of two evils and the better known devil. An ally was needed as the southern Weyr could hardly fight the combined might of the two northern Weyrs alone.
So in 3019 the allied forces of Benden and New Selenitas engaged in a huge battle with the Fortian riders, a battle from which Darya and Azrath were lucky enough to escape from with only a few new scars for each of them, but nothing to be entered into the all Weyrs scar displaying contest.
Mopping up those Fort forces that had escaped the net took the better part of the next year to achieve, nut at least it wasn’t boring work.
After the 3020 summit of just about everyone who had an interst in what to do with Pern’s future, Darya, now no longer a councilwoman as that body had been dissolved, found herself uprooted again and transerred to the new northern weyr Inverness. Though she was less than thrilled with the transfer Darya had no mate or family to give her grounds for arguing against it.
If she was always cold at Inverness at least she wasn’t bored. Darya found herself advising Ce’thian, who claimed his elevation to weyrleader was nothing more than an accident. Darya slid quickly into friendship with the quirky bronzerider, and eventually found herself sharing a casual friends-with-benefits type relationship with him, and if she got a little more say in what happened than a bluerider should, well she wasn’t complaining too loudly.
Not that all things in Inverness Weyr went smoothly, once again former deadly adversires were supposed to work seamlessly side by side. Half the Weyr’s population had, like Darya, been summarily transferred away from home and friends, and the other half had had their older friends transferred away from them. One thing most were united in was grumbling about the summit. That was ultimate enemy.
Dragon:
Name: Azrath
Color: Blue #191970
Age: 28 (hatched July 2995)
Physical Appearance: A dragon of pretty much average size for his colour Azrath is on the whippy side of the blue spectrum but not so much that he really stands out for it. As such he has very good speed and agility but he lacks the endurance for a really long haul.
The notable part of Azrath is most definitely his hide pattern; his base shade is a deep night blue shade, clouded with striations of a darker navy shade. In a clouded night sky Azrath would be nearly invisible. That invisibility would be compromised however by the bright silver scar tissue that covers the last two feet of his tail everywhere but the inside of the fork, and a second patch of scar tissue on his left shoulder both gained in combat during the siege of Selenitas.
Personality: There’s no doubt that Azrath is the perfect compliment to his rider, where she’s cynical, he’s jovial, when Darya’s angry, Azrath’s amused. There’s little doubt that the blue does this on purpose, he’s well used to being bonded to a grump. He claims to have no sense of humour, often and loudly, but there’s certainly a streak of devilment in him and Azrath’s always the first to mock his chosen.
Azrath’s the social side of this pairing no doubt. He loves to talk with other dragons, though he’ll only address other humans when circumstances force it on him, and he adores his little cousins to bits. Azrath is even interested in non draconic creatures to a degree, providing he can give them back at the end of the day.
Pets:[/b]
Name: Imp
Species: salamandyr
Colour: bronze 999900
Age:13 (hatched 3010)
Appearance: Quite eye-catching indeed, this little bronze bears an almost brindled appearance. Everything ranging from a rusty golden shade all the way down to olive drab mixes and mingles on his hide in scrumptious swirls. The colors stand out in a manner that is very noticeable, and yet he seems to have the ability to blend in and go unseen when he so wishes. In some cases, his unique hide is much more camouflaged than one might think. Whenever he flares the frill around his neck, it looks more like he’s showing off than anything else, as the colors swirl around almost in a spiral.
But even if he were the dullest shade of bronze imaginable, this little guy would still be quite handsome. He seems to be the poster-child for male salamandyrs everywhere, bearing neck and tail of perfect length. His body is well-built, sleek and slender but strong, with sturdy legs equipped with the perfect claws for climbing on just about anything he wishes to. The only imperfection to this little bronze is that his wings seem to be abnormally large. They will always be this way, but on the bright side they aren’t too large for him to carry, and it will mean extra air-time in the long run.
[bPersonality:[/b] Despite his strapping appearance, the Witching Hour Bronze is actually a nice guy in disguise. He’s astonishingly friendly and loves everyone… yes, even firelizards! He gets along well with anything that will give him half a chance, as he’ll quickly prove. He’s not afraid to approach human, dragon, or wher, and one begins to think he’d even chat up a tunnelsnake if given the opportunity. He even prefers the company of his flying cousins (firelizards) over his own species and will give chase to any flitter who Rises within his ‘territory’.
Name: Bit
Species: Firelizard
Age: 12 (hatched 3011)
Colour: Green body: #4F8E43 belly: #A4E497 tail flecks: #55FF34
Physical Appearance: At first glance, this green can appear to be little more than a blob of color. She's tiny, no larger than the average salamandyr queen and her wingspan is anything but impressive. However, her itsy bitsy size leads to her being astonishingly quick in the air, zipping back and forth in constant motion. When she finally does sit still, it is clear that this female is built more like her smaller cousins than other firelizards. Her wings are small and thin, though large enough to hold up her light and lithe body. Her tail is disturbingly long, twisting and curling as if on its own accord; the length almost matches that of her body and the fork at the end is unusually large - a bizarre quirk to be sure. Her wide eyes add a distinctly feminine quality to her appearance, no doubt one of her more endearing traits for while she can appear strange amongst her kind, she's certainly anything but ugly. Altogether she looks more serpentine than most firelizards, and this will make her memorable to anyone who sees her... and doesn't mistake her for some bizarre tunnelsnake mutation, at least.
As far as coloring goes, this green is a dazzling mingling of shades. Her underbelly is a pale sea green with grayish undertones, lighter than most of her color; it almost appears as if this color was dusted on, rather than naturally occurring. The pale shade bleeds into a dark gray-green like a coat wrapped around her body, lacking in the many faceted gemstone qualities that her color is most known for. Rather than be shiny, she appears to be a wash of varying muted tones. However, down the base of her body connecting to her tail are vivid green flecks almost like sparkles, as though flaring to life beneath her skin. These tiny spots spiral around her tail like glimmers in the night, or green stars woven into her hide. When she's close to flight, the glow of her hide almost perfectly mimics those flecks, leaving her every bit as bright as any of her sisters -- and her pre-flight state is impossible to mistake.
Personality: Green firelizards seem to come in many different personalities. However, this female is anything but typical. She's not sweet and quiet, nor is she loud and obnoxious. She's silent. Totally, completely mute. Not a single sound escapes her. No sweet chirps and chittering, no scolding squawks or irritated shrieks. There will be no sounds made by this female save the fluttering of wings to announce her arrival or the occasional rattling of her claws whenever she lands on a particularly hard surface. Even in flights, she does not make the challenging shrieks that most females do. This absolute silence will make it easy for most unobservant individuals to overlook her presence (indeed, she will fade into the background ridiculously well when she bothers to try) but make no mistake: she has no problem expressing her feelings when she wants to make a point. Her eyes are more expressive than the average dragon's, as are her movements, and her bonded will quickly learn to tell what she's feeling from the feelings she offers, the images she sends, and the looks she gives, all of which are unmistakable.
Constantly in motion, it is very rare to see this firelizard holding completely still. She's always darting to-and-fro, usually at a lightning fast speed, rendering her appearance to little more than a green blur. Should she land, her tail will be flicking, her claws moving and her eyes whirling. She's very observant and notices even the smallest changes in details, and her memory for a green is astounding, rivalling that of some of the metallic shades. With her bonded she's affectionate, but often too rough; nips and scratching are not uncommon, though they're meant with the utmost love and adoration. She has no patience for the antics of other firelizards, however, and will spend almost all of her time away from them if she can help it; gossip isn't worth her time, and anything that shrieks at her runs the very real risk of meeting her claws first hand. Her constant movements make it hard for others to see it coming, and since she doesn't make any noise, there's no forewarning screech to behold. For her, a warning is the scratch to the face, and she has no problem distributing punishment as she sees fit. She doesn't have time for squawking and games. She'd much rather spend her available opportunities with hers and without all the needless chatter.
(no longer capable of sending accurate images since 3017 pet plague plot)
Name: Vrae
Species: Razorclaw
Age: 7 (hatched 3016)
Gender: Male
Appearance: This male will be slightly larger than your average razorclaw. Although you can’t really tell that simply by looking at him. It only becomes apparent when he is perched next to another of his kind. His wings however will be noticeably wider than average. In length he will have the same wingspan typical of the male avian yet in width they will be a touch wider the muscles connecting them just a tad thicker, making his endurance something above average. In speed and aerial prowess he might be a bit upstaged by some of his brethren but in long distance flight he will beat them all out. He is still able to display the speed and agility his species is famed for however he rarely if ever chooses to display it. Instead he prefers easy, lazy flight if he is not hunting or defending.
Coloration wise he is simply stunning. His head is capped with jet black, the color lightening into a dark tanish mask around both eyes. His hooked beak is a cheerful yellow the very tip looking like it has been dipped in black. Sleek, shiny, and very, very dark chocolate feathers cover his back and the top of both wide wings. In fact the brownish color is just a shade off true back. His underbelly feathers are banded. Each feather an alternating crème and black, giving his bib and underside a sort of speckled appearance. His flight feathers are also follow the same alternating banded pattern although instead of crème they are a soft tan and chocolate. He is meticulous about preening and so each feather is always very sleek and shiny making him a very beautiful creature to look at in both appearance and flight.
Personality: Loyal. This is the first word that comes to mind when describing this male. Even at the start of the bonding process he shows a preference for the company of his that is unusual. As time goes on his owner will find that the male’s preference for her company will soon develop into something borderline possessive. However, to call this male actually possessive would be wrong. He only wishes to be her protector not claim her as only belonging to him. He is a guardian if you will a silent protector. The razorclaw likes to know where his chosen is at all times. He is also very picky of who he lets close to his bonded. He is very attune to subtle body language cues from her and any unease on her part is met with his arrival. He is not fond of being stroked or held but he will tolerate it, and only for his. Any others who seek to touch him are levered with a patient look and a leaving bird. He would never strike out at them. Instead he just nobly removes himself from their presence.
He is not outwardly aggressive unless he has to be. However he does use threats well. The clacking of his beak and fluffing of his feathers being his most normal display. It quite effectively lets the party know that now is the time to ‘back off’. If his warning is not heeded he is not above lashing out with talons and beak with precise and often painful results. This male razorclaw is very intelligent and easily trained. Commands, messenger work, and completing simple puzzles will not be above his abilities. The only praise he needs are the verbal ones from his chosen. He is happy to accept food rewards from her but such is not needed. The only bad habit he seems to have is the almost immediate outward distrust of all other males. It will take a careful and patient man to earn his full trust. Females and the young however are lumped into the ‘must protect’ category and he will defend them like he does his. Let there be no mistake though. His always comes first.
As far as other razorclaws go he is ‘tolerant’. Never welcoming and any of his species who seek to perch on his will be met with both beak and talon and driven off. As far as food goes he is fond of catching his own meals. His main fair being other avians. Waterfowl, ground fowl, songbirds, ect. He also likes the challenge the occasional wild firelizard brings. Thus he will have to be carefully trained not to eat peoples pets. With time and patience it will be easy to train him to avoid firelizards. However at the beginning of his training quite a few of the small draconids might fall to his talons
Name: Sweetling
[Species: Salamandyr
b]Age:[/b] 6 (hatched 3017)
Color: Green Base: 324F17, Eye spot, wing membranes, belly: 397D02
Appearance: This green is positively tiny. In fact if not for her undoubtedly green hide color one might think she is a white. She is built delicate too. Quite like a china doll she is elegant and refined. Every line of her body smooth and flawless. She perhaps could be just a touch too much on the thin side, though instead of making her look emaciated it just further solidifies her overall delicate and breakable look. Tiny limbs are in perfect proportion to her tiny body and her tail is long and tapers to a whip thin tip. She will be fond of using her tail in fact mostly to twine her tail through her bonded’s fingers to ‘hold hands’ with them. The wings that grace her back are large enough to use for gliding though she doesn’t use them much preferring to use her own to feet to get around or even better yet hitch rides on unsuspecting passerby. Like most of her brothers and sisters this clutch she has no frill. Instead sporting elegantly curving and thin spines in it’s the frills place. Hers are a shiny black exactly the same shade of the small claws that tip her toes.
In coloration she is undoubtedly green. A darker shade that might remind one of the color of a lime rind. She even looks almost textured like a lime though if one where to ever so carefully stroke their finger down her back they would find that this is nothing but an illusion as she is just as smooth as any mandyr. Like the rest of her siblings she has a spot covering her left eye the spot being the color of a fresh from the garden green pepper. The same pepper like coloration also covers the entirety of her wing membranes and solidly colors her whole belly. Yes despite her size there is no doubt that this little lady is anything but what her hide color states she is. Green
Personality: This little lady seems not to have inherited the boisterous behavior of most of her siblings. Instead she’s very demure and certainly extremely shy. The green most often can be found hidden somewhere on her bonded’s person peeking out curiously at the rest of the world. She’s not really antisocial by any means. No she adores other mandyrs and people and the like. It’s just that most of them make her a bit nervous. If you’re careful and quiet you might be able to coax her into interacting with you but it is a rarity. She certainly loves her bonded though and is extremely obedient to their commands. She also seems to have no problems when it comes to shyness with her chosen either. In fact when she sees something that excites her she has no problems chattering away about it. Thankfully she is quite verbose for a green and certainly eloquent enough to make sense, even if she can’t form full sentences and some larger words are beyond her capability.
Deceased pets:[/u]
Name: Irony
Species: ... Chicken
Gender: Male
Appearance: As a chick the little fellow is the epitome of cute. A downy of fluffy white and the receiver of baby coos from the passing motherly woman – and the occasional man. Not that he notices, the little chick sleeps the majority of the day; preferring to nestle in the warmth of blankets or – if it's available – a woman's bosom. He'll grow into a handsome black-breasted rooster with a deep red wine feathers covering his neck and shoulders. This rooster is small but highly musculature, carrying himself in a distinctive upright stance with long black tail feathers drooping toward the ground. His crest is small, red and wholly unimpressive and set above a pair of eerie pearl white eyes. He'll grow to have long legs that end in wickedly curved talons – paired with a sharp beak this rooster is clearly a fighting bird.
Personality: Territorial. There is simply no other way to put it. His human caretaker is considered his hen and he'll be damned if he'll let anyone else or thing in on his claim. He likes to try to perch on his person's shoulder but even small in size he's too much of a feathered fuss and his talons too sharp. But even being pushed off, repeatedly, this rooster will roost again and again and preen the hair and ears of his lovely hen. Woe be to those that he sees as a threat; without hesitation he will fly at dragon, person, and pet like with intent to slash them apart with his talons. As far as crowing goes – that is a means to let everyone else know where his territory is. So expect a 'morning wake up call' at any hour of the day... and night.
(Irony was left behind in the Wasteland invasion, and later reincarnated as Irony soup)
