Post by Neeq Machine on Mar 31, 2011 1:46:45 GMT -5
Name: Re'laur (formerly Renhelaur)
Age: 32
Gender: Female
Sexuality: Homosexual
Rank: Mercenary dragonrider; tithes to Igen Weyr. Serving as Weyrlingmaster Second to Hidden Weyr.
Playby: Kara Germany
Description: Re'laur regards herself as being pretty enough, though no great beauty. Her face is a cross between heart-shaped and oval, with a sharp chin, yet wider cheekbones and a high forehead. Her nose is strong and somewhat blade-like, with a straight bridge and narrow nostrils. Grey eyes are wide-set over soft cheekbones and beneath hardly arched brows which are darker than they would normally be, given her ash-blonde hair. Why, one may ask? Well, Re'laur is a touch vain, and darkens both her pale lashes and brows with stain in order to give her face some verve. She wears her hair a touch past shoulder-length, with grown-out bangs long enough to pin back to go under her riding helmet.
In form, Re'laur is tall at 5'10", and built proportionally -- neither lanky nor bulky. She has a nice enough figure, though she is a little flat-chested, which is often accentuated by the fact that she usually binds her chest down somewhat for comfort during flight maneuvers and any battles. Her normal pick of clothing is comfortable, preferring loose blouses and riding pants to any form of dress. She usually wears near knee-high boots with wraparound leather lacing, as well as wide belts with rings for attachments to her custom riding straps. She also wears hardened leather arm-guards, stamped in an gripping beast pattern composed of what look like hounds but could be just about anything.
Her main vanity are her piercings, all of which she has done herself (and some of which she has suffered infections for): three lobe piercings on each ear, two cartilage piercings in her left ear, a right brow piercing at the far end of her brow, and nipple piercings. She also has two tattoos which she picked up at High Reaches Weyr: one in the intricate style of henna on the inside of her right thigh, and another wreath in the same style around her navel.
Personality: It would not be off the mark to call Re'laur the black sheep of her family. Loud, often callous and in general unwilling to deal with other people's arrogance and nonsense, Re'laur is not really a people-person. She has an unholy glee for finding other people's dirty secrets and for doing things which shock others, just because she is capable of doing so. Re'laur isn't necessarily a bad person, but she is certainly not a good one. She has the amorality necessary to work as a mercenary rider, and though she won't do anything outright or obviously evil, she's quite willing to stray into the gray areas of the world and to tweak the tails of the rich and powerful -- her own family included.
However, by no means is Re'laur stupid. In fact, she is dangerously clever and intelligent, rapidly growing bored of normal life. She likes to put herself in situations where fast processing and living on the edge is the normal way of life, and thrives in highly complicated and stressful situations. She's not sure Thread is coming, but oh Faranth does she want it to -- sometimes even living from one post to another gets boring, and roughing it is only interesting for so long, after all. Her eagerness for complicated situations is part of the reason she loves meddling in politics and making life hard for others: simply to amuse herself. And if that's wicked, well, she doesn't want to be good.
Family:
Father: Aur’ley of brown Quth
Mother: Nellehrey of gold Heyrepath (deceased)
Sister: Laurellay of gold Archtyth
Brother: N’rau of bronze Pintonerath
History: Renhelaur was born the firstborn child to Nellehrey, the junior Weyrwoman of Igen Weyr, and her long-time lover (and eventual husband) Aur'ley of brown Quth. From a very young age it was obvious that she was a handful, from learning to climb before she could walk to spending all her time rough-housing with the boys of Igen Weyr. She had absolutely nothing in common with her younger, bookish sister Laurellay, nor her serious and quiet brother Neheyrau, both of whom she teased mercilessly. Renhelaur spent most of her young years at the outpost, learning to ride as an outrider for the fields and herds, or with the fighting dragonriders who were often hired by Holds to guard large caravans.
At the age of 11 she was apprenticed to one of the fighting dragonriders, one F'nesh of blue Okakephath, by his request. She spent the next two Turns working with the greenpair and their partners, K'sten and green Djurith. They taught her a great many things -- from learning to bathe, oil, and tend to the two dragons, to how to properly wield bow, knife, and javelin, to the overt and backroom politics and dirty deeds of those in power -- and kept her on her toes at all times. All was well until shortly after her fourteenth name-day. Renhelaur had matured early, and was turning into a young woman, albeit a lanky and coltish one as a young teen. The two men expressed little interest in her (being each others' lovers), and Ren herself had no interest in either man -- after all, they were older than her father.
But interest has nothing to do with dragons. Djurith Rose late one afternoon, while K'sten was at camp and F'nesh and Renhelaur had gone far a-field tracking a group of bandits who had struck a caravan outside of Southern Boll Hold. Okakephath Rose, the only male close enough to heed the call of the green. Renhelaur had seen Flights before -- including the during and after for the humans -- but never had she been in the way of them. With no way to get to K'sten and out of his mind with lust, F'nesh came after the young girl, chasing her to the ground and raping her with the mindless passion of dragon-lust. She knew, knew it wasn't him, and that it was the fault of poor timing, but that didn't change the pain or the brutality, nor the terror she felt as she fled, bleeding, into the fields.
K'sten and Djurith found her that night, curled up in a field, her tears entirely shed. She couldn't stand to be near F'nesh, though intellectually she knew it wasn't his fault what he had done. K'sten didn't force Ren to come into the camp, instead collecting her things while F'nesh despaired, ashamed of what he had done and could not control. That night Renhelaur slept in her old room at the Igen outpost, restlessly and pained. She spent several days in a moody fog, until the stablemaster snapped some sense into her, just about throwing her into a stall with one of the nastiest runners and sending her out on a four-day-long outride. She came back with a stony heart, her emotions settled by the need to focus on everything else around her.
Several months later, Renhelaur had returned to some normalcy of who she had been, though she could hardly stand to be in the same room alone with any of the boys or men at the outpost. She wasn't pregnant -- quite thankfully -- though repeated flights between might have had something to do with that. And it was good for other reasons as well, for Heyrepath has Risen and been Caught by a bronze, Dezperenth, and the resulting Clutch of eleven was quite large. Renhelaur, as fourteen, was certainly old enough to Stand, as was thirteen-Turn-old Laurellay. "One of you is to have the gold," their mother had said. "See to it you don't let some other dragon take away what's rightfully yours." The woman was only half-joking: she fully expected both her daughters to Impress a gold dragon, as she had.
It was not to be. The gold egg held no gold dragon, but was a dead egg lying on the Sands. Laurellay stood near the edge, far from any wayward-straying dragons, and at first Renhelaur did, too. But then... a young man, nearing his 23rd nameday and his last chance to Impress a dragon, started "helping" a dragon Hatch, smashing along the small cracks with the base of a knife until the blue was forcibly Hatched. The man grabbed the dragon's head to force eye-contact and the bond of Impression, but the blue's eyes went black instead of rainbow. He leaped forward, head forced down against his neck as he sank his talons into the chest of the man, snapping his ribs like so many twigs and leaving him to drown in his own ruined lungs.
With a scream, a just-Hatched green flung herself at the blue, despair wrought clear in her eyes. The blue braced himself, and met his sister fang for fang, sinking his teeth into her face and shaking his head like a canine with a tunnelsnake. The green fought back feebly, but he killed her as ruthlessly as he had killed the boy whom she had loved. Renhelaur watched in semi-shock as the furious blue stalked the Sands, snarling and swiping at anything near him. In a fit of pique, the young dragon launched himself at another of the hatchling dragons, burying talons in the brown's back and fangs at the base of his neck. The brown keened, struggling to throw off his attacker, and only succeeding in worsening his wounds.
Before she knew what she was doing, Renhelaur was striding across the Sands, screaming obscenities at the blue dragon, who looked up at her with a maw dripping ichor and hissing in pure hatred. She did not stop, stepping forward with fury in her eyes to match the rage in the blue's eyes. He leaped from the back of the brown to stalk towards her, leaving the crippled brown to Impress to one of the more tender-hearted of the girls, who ran to help him. They met on the Sands, woman as full of anger as the dragon. He hissed at her, lips pulling back to bare dark gums. Renhelaur grabbed his upper jaw and shook him, like he was being a particularly nasty canine.
"Stop your nonsense," she snarled at him. "You're being petty and spiteful," Renhelaur said, giving the blue another shake to emphasize her point. The black in his eyes started swirling away, replaced by gray and red.
He called me a murderer, the dragon snarled back. Anyone could see that worm and his green deserved to die for attacking me. He shook his head far more powerfully than Renhelaur could, but failed to dislodge the girl's hand. She sneered at the blue.
"You are a murderer, and you might as well accept it, Jaqcliyonth," she said sharply. "You will never be forgiven."
It was an... unusual... Impression, to say the least, and one which Renhelaur's parents did not approve of. Nor did any of the other weyrlings (or the 'ling Master), particularly after the savaged brown died of an infection hardly a se'enday later. Weyrlinghood was hard for the pair, who were outcasts from the start. Renhelaur (who soon started eliding to Re'laur) gave as good as she got in the many fights she was in, but when multiple people attacked her, there was little she could do. Re'laur refused to let Jaqcliyonth get involved in her battles, wanting to be her own person as well. Besides, she wouldn't kill the cowards who came at her in three and fours. Jaq would do it without any form of remorse.
There was no question that the duo had no desire to remain at the Weyr. The stigma following them from Jaqcliyonth's actions was never going to be shaken. At sixteen, fresh from weyrlinghood, the duo transferred to High Reaches Weyr. They managed to deal with the slow-paced and boring life there for a little over a Turn, during which Re'laur pierced her ears three times and garnered two tattoos. Shortly before her eighteenth name-day, the duo bid the Weyr adieu and left for Igen territory, living off the land and generally as homeless wanderers for several months before they managed to land a job guarding a caravan.
The next Turns were a series of jobs as mercenary riders, going from one place to the other. Re'laur managed to stay on top of the gossip and build a reputation for herself. Among the mercenaries, riding a dragon who'd killed two of his siblings was actually something of a good thing. People gave Jaqcliyonth a wide berth and paid her more, fully aware that when they asked her to "run off" bandits, she was going to kill them. Usually Jaq would eat the bodies of those of the Shunned who had managed to make enough of a nuisance of themselves to have a mercenary sent after them by a Lord Holder or a particularly rich caravan owner. It disgusted Re'laur at first, but one can get used to anything.
When Re'laur was twenty-four, she got the most interesting news: her sister, quiet "good daughter" Laurellay, had Impressed a gold dragon, one Archtyth. Not one of her mother's dragon's offspring -- Glemenith had Impressed someone else entirely, though her brother had Impressed one of Heyrepath's bronze sons. Re'laur returned to the Weyr and, at her parents' request, renewed her status as an Igen dragonrider. Of course, this meant paying a Weyr tithe of her mercenary earnings to them, but a home Weyr was useful -- food, a guaranteed place to sleep, the ability to requisition a decent amount of supplies. The duo stayed almost a month before leaving again, taking a position as a caravan guard.
Several Turns later, Nellehrey died of a lung disease. She had been the senior Weyrwoman at the time, and the position was left open. The two golds of the Weyr, Glemenith and Archtyth, shared power until one Rose: Archtyth. With Laurellay in power and no longer caring about how people felt about her at the Weyr, Re'laur spent more time at Igen Weyr, getting ingrained into the politics of the Weyr. Though her sister would never admit as much, Laurellay liked getting Re'laur's view of the world. The bluerider saw much of Pern and spend plenty of time in the company of the Weyrleaders and Lord Holders, not just guarding random caravans and ships. Politics were like a game to the woman, and an enjoyable one.
It might seem unusual that Re'laur did not face a rogue dragonrider until she was thirty, but it was so. Guarding a merchant ship traveling along the eastern coast of Pern, Re'laur was forced to defend against a pirate attack -- two ships, and a brownrider who flew vanguard for them. Jaq's viciousness and disregard for lives other than his own and the life of His Own proved a necessity, for the brown was willing to fight and kill the blue as well. But agility, cunning, and cruelty won over endurance and ability: Jaqcliyonth's fangs sank into the base of the brown's skull, killing him instantly and sending the limp form and his screaming rider down into the sea below. The pirates fled, and Re'laur had a story she would not share in taverns. Killing another dragon in battle was simply not done, though in the quiet rumors one could find out who had faced rogues and done away with them.
Being as involved in Weyr politics -- particularly the underbelly of it -- as she was, it was no surprise the Re'laur knew about the coalition riders, and about the founding of Hidden. She was a woman who could keep her mouth shut, though, and she liked her life. It wasn't until a smuggler whispered a word to the Weyrleader that she had any reason to go to Hidden Weyr. But a personal visit from the well-known (and presumed dead) Kes'len of bronze Trilliaenth, along with a set of very valuable gemstones, won her loyalty to the Weyr, so much as the loyalty of a mercenary was worth. Re'laur would serve as secondary weyrlingmaster, teaching the dear little children of the island chain about how to be a dragonrider -- and teaching the young goldpair how to backstab their way through and carefully control and manipulate the complex politics of Weyr, Hold, and Hall.
Dragon's Name: Jaqcliyonth (Jaq)
Age: 18
Color: blue ; 380474
Out of: gold Heyrepath
By: bronze Dezperenth
Location: Igen Weyr
Description: This blue is a striking creature. His hide is dominated with a deep violet-blue shade, the color of the twilight sky -- and a hue that has earned him the name Nightshade among the mercenary dragons. He is marked with a pale periwinkle/lilac blue, with a blaze and list along his spine and stripes on his haunches and tail, as well as similar striped on his lower legs and his entire feet. His talons are pale ivory and wickedly sharp naturally, needing little filing to remain that way. He is 27 feet in length, and built lithe, though he has a heavy, low-set neck and is quite powerful through the haunches. His wingspan is somewhat short, at 26 feet, but it gives him an edge in agility -- and he has endurance from long training and days spent gliding as long as there was sunlight to fly by. When on caravan duties, Jaq wears a set of metal-tipped spikes strapped to the underside and side of his tail, to give him a deadly tail-swipe.
Personality: Jaqcliyonth is far from a pleasant creature. Snide, nasty, and with a spitfire temper, this blue is not one to harass or make rude comments to. He lacks the restraint that almost every other dragon has, and will quite willingly tear into man or dragon alike with his talons or fangs. He is extremely difficult to predict -- a comment one day may be met with a sharp bark of laughter, and the next with a face-full of fangs. The only person who has any capability to read (or control) the blue is Re'laur, who won't take any of his guff and is fully aware that no matter how Jaq blusters and bluffs at her, he will never purposefully harm her. Re'laur is the only creature (besides himself) that Jaqcliyonth has any care for at all, and he will defend her and fight with her until the end of time. He's not just a feral beast, however. This blue is purposefully cruel at times, using cutting words to hurt others and quietly seeking out the most hurtful gossip and secrets. Only rarely does he like or respect other creatures, but if he does like you, he can be an interesting (albeit often frightening) friend.
Age: 32
Gender: Female
Sexuality: Homosexual
Rank: Mercenary dragonrider; tithes to Igen Weyr. Serving as Weyrlingmaster Second to Hidden Weyr.
Playby: Kara Germany
Description: Re'laur regards herself as being pretty enough, though no great beauty. Her face is a cross between heart-shaped and oval, with a sharp chin, yet wider cheekbones and a high forehead. Her nose is strong and somewhat blade-like, with a straight bridge and narrow nostrils. Grey eyes are wide-set over soft cheekbones and beneath hardly arched brows which are darker than they would normally be, given her ash-blonde hair. Why, one may ask? Well, Re'laur is a touch vain, and darkens both her pale lashes and brows with stain in order to give her face some verve. She wears her hair a touch past shoulder-length, with grown-out bangs long enough to pin back to go under her riding helmet.
In form, Re'laur is tall at 5'10", and built proportionally -- neither lanky nor bulky. She has a nice enough figure, though she is a little flat-chested, which is often accentuated by the fact that she usually binds her chest down somewhat for comfort during flight maneuvers and any battles. Her normal pick of clothing is comfortable, preferring loose blouses and riding pants to any form of dress. She usually wears near knee-high boots with wraparound leather lacing, as well as wide belts with rings for attachments to her custom riding straps. She also wears hardened leather arm-guards, stamped in an gripping beast pattern composed of what look like hounds but could be just about anything.
Her main vanity are her piercings, all of which she has done herself (and some of which she has suffered infections for): three lobe piercings on each ear, two cartilage piercings in her left ear, a right brow piercing at the far end of her brow, and nipple piercings. She also has two tattoos which she picked up at High Reaches Weyr: one in the intricate style of henna on the inside of her right thigh, and another wreath in the same style around her navel.
Personality: It would not be off the mark to call Re'laur the black sheep of her family. Loud, often callous and in general unwilling to deal with other people's arrogance and nonsense, Re'laur is not really a people-person. She has an unholy glee for finding other people's dirty secrets and for doing things which shock others, just because she is capable of doing so. Re'laur isn't necessarily a bad person, but she is certainly not a good one. She has the amorality necessary to work as a mercenary rider, and though she won't do anything outright or obviously evil, she's quite willing to stray into the gray areas of the world and to tweak the tails of the rich and powerful -- her own family included.
However, by no means is Re'laur stupid. In fact, she is dangerously clever and intelligent, rapidly growing bored of normal life. She likes to put herself in situations where fast processing and living on the edge is the normal way of life, and thrives in highly complicated and stressful situations. She's not sure Thread is coming, but oh Faranth does she want it to -- sometimes even living from one post to another gets boring, and roughing it is only interesting for so long, after all. Her eagerness for complicated situations is part of the reason she loves meddling in politics and making life hard for others: simply to amuse herself. And if that's wicked, well, she doesn't want to be good.
Family:
Father: Aur’ley of brown Quth
Mother: Nellehrey of gold Heyrepath (deceased)
Sister: Laurellay of gold Archtyth
Brother: N’rau of bronze Pintonerath
History: Renhelaur was born the firstborn child to Nellehrey, the junior Weyrwoman of Igen Weyr, and her long-time lover (and eventual husband) Aur'ley of brown Quth. From a very young age it was obvious that she was a handful, from learning to climb before she could walk to spending all her time rough-housing with the boys of Igen Weyr. She had absolutely nothing in common with her younger, bookish sister Laurellay, nor her serious and quiet brother Neheyrau, both of whom she teased mercilessly. Renhelaur spent most of her young years at the outpost, learning to ride as an outrider for the fields and herds, or with the fighting dragonriders who were often hired by Holds to guard large caravans.
At the age of 11 she was apprenticed to one of the fighting dragonriders, one F'nesh of blue Okakephath, by his request. She spent the next two Turns working with the greenpair and their partners, K'sten and green Djurith. They taught her a great many things -- from learning to bathe, oil, and tend to the two dragons, to how to properly wield bow, knife, and javelin, to the overt and backroom politics and dirty deeds of those in power -- and kept her on her toes at all times. All was well until shortly after her fourteenth name-day. Renhelaur had matured early, and was turning into a young woman, albeit a lanky and coltish one as a young teen. The two men expressed little interest in her (being each others' lovers), and Ren herself had no interest in either man -- after all, they were older than her father.
But interest has nothing to do with dragons. Djurith Rose late one afternoon, while K'sten was at camp and F'nesh and Renhelaur had gone far a-field tracking a group of bandits who had struck a caravan outside of Southern Boll Hold. Okakephath Rose, the only male close enough to heed the call of the green. Renhelaur had seen Flights before -- including the during and after for the humans -- but never had she been in the way of them. With no way to get to K'sten and out of his mind with lust, F'nesh came after the young girl, chasing her to the ground and raping her with the mindless passion of dragon-lust. She knew, knew it wasn't him, and that it was the fault of poor timing, but that didn't change the pain or the brutality, nor the terror she felt as she fled, bleeding, into the fields.
K'sten and Djurith found her that night, curled up in a field, her tears entirely shed. She couldn't stand to be near F'nesh, though intellectually she knew it wasn't his fault what he had done. K'sten didn't force Ren to come into the camp, instead collecting her things while F'nesh despaired, ashamed of what he had done and could not control. That night Renhelaur slept in her old room at the Igen outpost, restlessly and pained. She spent several days in a moody fog, until the stablemaster snapped some sense into her, just about throwing her into a stall with one of the nastiest runners and sending her out on a four-day-long outride. She came back with a stony heart, her emotions settled by the need to focus on everything else around her.
Several months later, Renhelaur had returned to some normalcy of who she had been, though she could hardly stand to be in the same room alone with any of the boys or men at the outpost. She wasn't pregnant -- quite thankfully -- though repeated flights between might have had something to do with that. And it was good for other reasons as well, for Heyrepath has Risen and been Caught by a bronze, Dezperenth, and the resulting Clutch of eleven was quite large. Renhelaur, as fourteen, was certainly old enough to Stand, as was thirteen-Turn-old Laurellay. "One of you is to have the gold," their mother had said. "See to it you don't let some other dragon take away what's rightfully yours." The woman was only half-joking: she fully expected both her daughters to Impress a gold dragon, as she had.
It was not to be. The gold egg held no gold dragon, but was a dead egg lying on the Sands. Laurellay stood near the edge, far from any wayward-straying dragons, and at first Renhelaur did, too. But then... a young man, nearing his 23rd nameday and his last chance to Impress a dragon, started "helping" a dragon Hatch, smashing along the small cracks with the base of a knife until the blue was forcibly Hatched. The man grabbed the dragon's head to force eye-contact and the bond of Impression, but the blue's eyes went black instead of rainbow. He leaped forward, head forced down against his neck as he sank his talons into the chest of the man, snapping his ribs like so many twigs and leaving him to drown in his own ruined lungs.
With a scream, a just-Hatched green flung herself at the blue, despair wrought clear in her eyes. The blue braced himself, and met his sister fang for fang, sinking his teeth into her face and shaking his head like a canine with a tunnelsnake. The green fought back feebly, but he killed her as ruthlessly as he had killed the boy whom she had loved. Renhelaur watched in semi-shock as the furious blue stalked the Sands, snarling and swiping at anything near him. In a fit of pique, the young dragon launched himself at another of the hatchling dragons, burying talons in the brown's back and fangs at the base of his neck. The brown keened, struggling to throw off his attacker, and only succeeding in worsening his wounds.
Before she knew what she was doing, Renhelaur was striding across the Sands, screaming obscenities at the blue dragon, who looked up at her with a maw dripping ichor and hissing in pure hatred. She did not stop, stepping forward with fury in her eyes to match the rage in the blue's eyes. He leaped from the back of the brown to stalk towards her, leaving the crippled brown to Impress to one of the more tender-hearted of the girls, who ran to help him. They met on the Sands, woman as full of anger as the dragon. He hissed at her, lips pulling back to bare dark gums. Renhelaur grabbed his upper jaw and shook him, like he was being a particularly nasty canine.
"Stop your nonsense," she snarled at him. "You're being petty and spiteful," Renhelaur said, giving the blue another shake to emphasize her point. The black in his eyes started swirling away, replaced by gray and red.
He called me a murderer, the dragon snarled back. Anyone could see that worm and his green deserved to die for attacking me. He shook his head far more powerfully than Renhelaur could, but failed to dislodge the girl's hand. She sneered at the blue.
"You are a murderer, and you might as well accept it, Jaqcliyonth," she said sharply. "You will never be forgiven."
It was an... unusual... Impression, to say the least, and one which Renhelaur's parents did not approve of. Nor did any of the other weyrlings (or the 'ling Master), particularly after the savaged brown died of an infection hardly a se'enday later. Weyrlinghood was hard for the pair, who were outcasts from the start. Renhelaur (who soon started eliding to Re'laur) gave as good as she got in the many fights she was in, but when multiple people attacked her, there was little she could do. Re'laur refused to let Jaqcliyonth get involved in her battles, wanting to be her own person as well. Besides, she wouldn't kill the cowards who came at her in three and fours. Jaq would do it without any form of remorse.
There was no question that the duo had no desire to remain at the Weyr. The stigma following them from Jaqcliyonth's actions was never going to be shaken. At sixteen, fresh from weyrlinghood, the duo transferred to High Reaches Weyr. They managed to deal with the slow-paced and boring life there for a little over a Turn, during which Re'laur pierced her ears three times and garnered two tattoos. Shortly before her eighteenth name-day, the duo bid the Weyr adieu and left for Igen territory, living off the land and generally as homeless wanderers for several months before they managed to land a job guarding a caravan.
The next Turns were a series of jobs as mercenary riders, going from one place to the other. Re'laur managed to stay on top of the gossip and build a reputation for herself. Among the mercenaries, riding a dragon who'd killed two of his siblings was actually something of a good thing. People gave Jaqcliyonth a wide berth and paid her more, fully aware that when they asked her to "run off" bandits, she was going to kill them. Usually Jaq would eat the bodies of those of the Shunned who had managed to make enough of a nuisance of themselves to have a mercenary sent after them by a Lord Holder or a particularly rich caravan owner. It disgusted Re'laur at first, but one can get used to anything.
When Re'laur was twenty-four, she got the most interesting news: her sister, quiet "good daughter" Laurellay, had Impressed a gold dragon, one Archtyth. Not one of her mother's dragon's offspring -- Glemenith had Impressed someone else entirely, though her brother had Impressed one of Heyrepath's bronze sons. Re'laur returned to the Weyr and, at her parents' request, renewed her status as an Igen dragonrider. Of course, this meant paying a Weyr tithe of her mercenary earnings to them, but a home Weyr was useful -- food, a guaranteed place to sleep, the ability to requisition a decent amount of supplies. The duo stayed almost a month before leaving again, taking a position as a caravan guard.
Several Turns later, Nellehrey died of a lung disease. She had been the senior Weyrwoman at the time, and the position was left open. The two golds of the Weyr, Glemenith and Archtyth, shared power until one Rose: Archtyth. With Laurellay in power and no longer caring about how people felt about her at the Weyr, Re'laur spent more time at Igen Weyr, getting ingrained into the politics of the Weyr. Though her sister would never admit as much, Laurellay liked getting Re'laur's view of the world. The bluerider saw much of Pern and spend plenty of time in the company of the Weyrleaders and Lord Holders, not just guarding random caravans and ships. Politics were like a game to the woman, and an enjoyable one.
It might seem unusual that Re'laur did not face a rogue dragonrider until she was thirty, but it was so. Guarding a merchant ship traveling along the eastern coast of Pern, Re'laur was forced to defend against a pirate attack -- two ships, and a brownrider who flew vanguard for them. Jaq's viciousness and disregard for lives other than his own and the life of His Own proved a necessity, for the brown was willing to fight and kill the blue as well. But agility, cunning, and cruelty won over endurance and ability: Jaqcliyonth's fangs sank into the base of the brown's skull, killing him instantly and sending the limp form and his screaming rider down into the sea below. The pirates fled, and Re'laur had a story she would not share in taverns. Killing another dragon in battle was simply not done, though in the quiet rumors one could find out who had faced rogues and done away with them.
Being as involved in Weyr politics -- particularly the underbelly of it -- as she was, it was no surprise the Re'laur knew about the coalition riders, and about the founding of Hidden. She was a woman who could keep her mouth shut, though, and she liked her life. It wasn't until a smuggler whispered a word to the Weyrleader that she had any reason to go to Hidden Weyr. But a personal visit from the well-known (and presumed dead) Kes'len of bronze Trilliaenth, along with a set of very valuable gemstones, won her loyalty to the Weyr, so much as the loyalty of a mercenary was worth. Re'laur would serve as secondary weyrlingmaster, teaching the dear little children of the island chain about how to be a dragonrider -- and teaching the young goldpair how to backstab their way through and carefully control and manipulate the complex politics of Weyr, Hold, and Hall.
Dragon's Name: Jaqcliyonth (Jaq)
Age: 18
Color: blue ; 380474
Out of: gold Heyrepath
By: bronze Dezperenth
Location: Igen Weyr
Description: This blue is a striking creature. His hide is dominated with a deep violet-blue shade, the color of the twilight sky -- and a hue that has earned him the name Nightshade among the mercenary dragons. He is marked with a pale periwinkle/lilac blue, with a blaze and list along his spine and stripes on his haunches and tail, as well as similar striped on his lower legs and his entire feet. His talons are pale ivory and wickedly sharp naturally, needing little filing to remain that way. He is 27 feet in length, and built lithe, though he has a heavy, low-set neck and is quite powerful through the haunches. His wingspan is somewhat short, at 26 feet, but it gives him an edge in agility -- and he has endurance from long training and days spent gliding as long as there was sunlight to fly by. When on caravan duties, Jaq wears a set of metal-tipped spikes strapped to the underside and side of his tail, to give him a deadly tail-swipe.
Personality: Jaqcliyonth is far from a pleasant creature. Snide, nasty, and with a spitfire temper, this blue is not one to harass or make rude comments to. He lacks the restraint that almost every other dragon has, and will quite willingly tear into man or dragon alike with his talons or fangs. He is extremely difficult to predict -- a comment one day may be met with a sharp bark of laughter, and the next with a face-full of fangs. The only person who has any capability to read (or control) the blue is Re'laur, who won't take any of his guff and is fully aware that no matter how Jaq blusters and bluffs at her, he will never purposefully harm her. Re'laur is the only creature (besides himself) that Jaqcliyonth has any care for at all, and he will defend her and fight with her until the end of time. He's not just a feral beast, however. This blue is purposefully cruel at times, using cutting words to hurt others and quietly seeking out the most hurtful gossip and secrets. Only rarely does he like or respect other creatures, but if he does like you, he can be an interesting (albeit often frightening) friend.
