Post by Admin on Feb 16, 2011 16:57:49 GMT -5
Rider Application
Name: Aryna
Age: 19
Gender: Female
Sexuality: Bisexual
Rank: Weyrling
Appearance:
Standing at a height of roughly 5’6, Aryna seems to be on the tall side of average for a Pernese woman. There is no singular feature that stands out above the others, but all work together to make Aryna a lovely young woman by almost anyone’s standards. Long hair falls to the end of her back, thick and black and just wavy enough to look unruly at times. It’s usually tied back in some way, though she rarely has the patience to braid it and it’s not uncommon to see her with it completely unbound. It’s soft and silky smooth to the touch.
Her skin is a dark bronze color that grows even darker with time spent in the sun. While it is partially due to being outdoors often, it’s also hereditary; thanks to her dark complexion, Aryna almost never gets a sunburn. Because of her dark skin and hair, one automatically expects her eyes to be dark as well. However, most people are surprised to find that her eyes are actually a vivid, light green in color. Like her skin, this is a hereditary trait, strong on her father’s side. Her eyes are fringed with thick, dark lashes and slant slightly, giving her a slightly exotic, almost feline-like appearance. Her nose is long and straight above full, plump lips. The general shape of her face is somewhat long and angular, with a softly squared jawline leading to small rounded ears usually hidden by her hair.
Aryna’s build is perhaps the most misleading feature of all. At first glance, she’s slender and almost petite, with enough curves in the hip and breast to make it obvious that she is very much a woman. It’s nearly impossible to mistake her for a male from any angle. But what looks like soft, yielding flesh is in fact hard, slim muscle in most places. Her flat belly has the faintest definition of abs and her arms, while slender, are lined with muscle. There’s not a single ounce of extra fat to be found anywhere on this young woman’s body, and she’s perfectly capable of packing quite a punch. She prefers pants and shirts to dresses and skirts, which limit her movements. When she dresses up, she wears a wide variety of colors, not liking to limit herself to just a few.
Personality:
One who looks at her must automatically assume that she’s the offspring of someone important. The way she carries herself just seems to imply that she is valuable and someone to be paid attention to. But that’s just who she is, and that’s only the beginning. Aryna is tough, and she’s not afraid to prove it; she is extremely independent and has her own ideas about just about everything. Fear seems to be absent entirely within this person, as it’s exceedingly rare for anything to give her pause or make her hesitate. Aggressive wouldn’t be a completely inaccurate term to use for her; she’s not really hostile but she pursues whatever is on her mind almost ruthlessly, like a canine with a prized bone.
As far as people are concerned, Aryna is not anti-social in the least. She enjoys being around people, but she doesn’t always get along with everyone. It’s rare for her to be nice; she is often blunt to the point of being hurtful, and she’s well aware of it but has no desire to change. Why should she? It never occurs to her to censor herself or to keep her opinions to herself. She is incredibly brash and impulsive, doing whatever comes to mind pretty much the instant she thinks of something. Perhaps what takes people aback the most is the fact that she has the mouth and vocabulary of a sailor. Which… technically makes sense, considering her past. However, most people are surprised at the very least to hear such words come out of a lady’s mouth.
Aryna’s sense of humor is such that she positively enjoys shocking and surprising people. It truly makes her laugh when someone gives her a gasp of surprise at one of her vulgar statements or comments, or the fact that she really doesn’t act anything like what a girl should. Another of her quirks is that she’s an antagonist… truly, she loves to poke and jab people, discovering what makes them squirm or seethe and doing her best to drag it through the mud until she gets a reaction. The prospect of violence does not put her off or intimidate her in the least; in fact, it’s only going to serve as encouragement. Aryna loves a good brawl, and she’ll fight at the drop of a hat. It is rare for her to actually fight out of anger.
In spite of this, she is not an unfriendly person or even necessarily difficult to get along with; if one doesn’t mind her rather abrasive nature, Aryna can actually be a rather fun and certainly unique companion… she definitely looks out for herself first and foremost but if she comes to know someone long enough they will be privy to her protectiveness. Not that she would ever admit it to anyone, even herself. But she doesn’t make friends easily, and once someone has gained her trust they must work hard to keep it; always suspicious, it’s not hard to give her cause to doubt someone’s intentions, good or otherwise.
Family:
Anral, 40; mother (deceased)
Rylan, 42; father (assumed deceased)
Yanyl, 24; older brother
Aynra, 26; oldest sister
Lanra, 65; grandmother (paternal)
Yalan, 72; grandfather (paternal; deceased)
Stenval, 45; uncle
Maran, 38; aunt (deceased)
Serral, 20; cousin
Merlan, 21; cousin
Sarvel, 21; cousin (deceased)
Various other family members
Background:
Aryna was born into a family of pirates and smugglers. More specifically, her immediate family owned a small fleet of pirate ships. It was on one of these ships (her father’s of course) that she was born one spring night on the western sea near the eastern archipelago. Her mother was not the sea-dweller that the rest of her family seemed to be, and preferred the safety of land for giving birth. Unfortunately for her, she had to make do with what was available: a cramped cabin below the deck of their ship. Her family was undeniably superstitious, and her mother was now convinced that their youngest daughter would be cursed with the desire to always be on the open sea and always on the move.
Although there were a comforting few who assured her it would not be so, Aryna was the only one out of her siblings born at sea, and as luck would have it, her mother’s superstition would not go unfounded. A ship was no place for a babe however, and while Anral insisted on remaining on land for the first few Turns of her youngest daughter’s life, Aryna seemed to have other ideas. When she was just two Turns old, she stowed away on her father’s ship. Her mother had been absolutely frantic when she had been unable to find the child, and it was only with a panicked note carried by a blue firelizard that the crew of the ship began to search high and low for the missing girl. When they finally found her, it was in a large cache of stolen goods headed for Smuggler’s Drop, fast asleep.
As she grew older, her instances of defiance only grew worse. When she was just five Turns of age, Aryna made such a scene as the ship was about to depart that her mother, exasperated with her, threw her hands up and told her father to “just take her!”. And take her he did. When it became clear that Aryna had no intention of being anywhere else, eventually Anral rejoined the crew of the ship once more as well, cooking their meals and performing the more domestic tasks. Aryna learned early the ins and outs of sailing and maintaining a ship at sea, as well the complex variety of knots that were required, among many other things. Although there were some who were convinced that having such a young child (and a girl at that) onboard was just asking for trouble, Aryna proved herself a worthy young sailor, eager to learn and a quick study.
When she was six Turns old, one of the crew members brought aboard a clutch of firelizard eggs. Her brother and sister each Impressed two, her mother and father each Impressed one (a brown and a green respectively) and even Aryna Impressed one: a dainty little browned that she promptly dubbed Pretty. It was an apt name for the little brown, who grew to be not-so-little after all. But he was a spritely thing, and quick to learn much as his human pet was. Together they learned all about what their family did and why; it wasn’t exactly a welcome ‘trade’, Rylan would say with a wink. Well, that was one way of putting it.
As she grew older, Aryna witnessed more and more of what really went on. It wasn’t just a lifestyle, and it wasn’t all about sailing the open ocean. It was a job, a life-long career choice that you were either a part of or you weren’t; she loved every aspect of being a pirate, and embraced the lifestyle wholeheartedly. Aryna was a brash young girl, who learned that no one would hear her if she didn’t speak up, and no one would respect her if she wasn’t willing to back up her words with action. Anral worried that her daughter was too headstrong, too outspoken, and would become a victim among the rough crowd that made up the majority of the ships’ crews. Her father, however, encouraged her behavior, knowing that she had a future in the ‘business’ if Aryna continued to develop her strong personality.
When she was fourteen, Aryna’s older brother acquired his own ship, adding another to their small fleet. Their older sister also joined him as the ship’s navigator. When asked if Aryna would like to ‘transfer’ to her brother’s ship however, the girl answered quite firmly that she wished him luck but preferred to stay on their father’s ship. The decision was met with hearty approval from Rylan and a more subdued, reluctant approval from his wife. At least with Aryna there, she would be better able to keep an eye on the wayward girl. Although Anral was mostly resigned to what was obviously her daughter’s choice in lifestyle, she still did her best to keep the girl out of trouble. As much as she possibly could, anyway.
But there was nothing that she could have done to prevent the trouble that befell their entire family. One unseasonably warm night, a wild storm blew up seemingly out of nowhere. It blew the ships violently about, sending them far off-course. Although a couple of the ships (including Yanyl’s) realized and corrected their course in time, Rylan’s ship was caught by the fierce currents along the edge of Harper’s Whirlpool. It was flung straight into a jumble of rocks that jutted up from the sea along the edge of Harp Island. Most of the crew abandoned ship, but Rylan stubbornly refused, as did Aryna. Even as the ship began to sink from under them and many of the crew (along with Aryna’s mother) were swept away in the currents, father and daughter remained and argued hotly, both insisting for the other to abandon ship.
Realizing that there was no way to get his daughter to leave without him, Rylan promised her that he would follow after he saved what he could from the ship. Trusting that her father wouldn’t lie to her, Aryna abandoned the rapidly sinking ship and by dumb luck managed to escape the currents and swim to the shore of the nearby island. Pretty hovered near her the entire time, offering encouragement and companionship and seemingly anguished that he couldn’t offer aid in other ways as well. Fortunately Aryna was (and still is) a strong swimmer; exhausted and bedraggled, she just managed to pull herself off the beach into the forest and promptly passed out from exhaustion.
It was the next day when she was awoken by a worriedly crooning Pretty peering at her anxiously. Her clothes were still damp, and dirty, but the first thing she noticed upon waking was that her father was nowhere nearby. Staggering to the beach, she scanned the horizon for their ship. The only evidence that anything had ever been there was a few scattered pieces of debris that, like her, had somehow escaped the currents of the whirlpool. Realizing her mistake, Aryna swallowed her anger and grief and retrieved what few pieces of the ship and its cargo she could. With only Pretty for comfort and companionship, she began to formulate and discard plans. Escape would be nearly impossible; the currents were fearsome here. Only dumb luck had landed her safely on the island. Even large ships that were unwary enough to be caught in the whirlpool could be laid low, as had already been demonstrated.
Since she had no large ships at her disposal, and wasn’t quite insane enough to try swimming, it didn’t take long for Aryna to determine she was stuck there; after that determination, she quickly set to scouting the island to see what food and water sources were available, and building shelter for herself. She had recovered a few weapons from the wreckage of the ship, and stashed them away should she ever need them. Little thought was given to the distant future; she was too busy making certain that her survival would be ensured for the immediate future. Aryna taught herself how to make other weapons and how to hunt and forage for food. Luckily the forest provided plenty of food sources.
The island was made her own. After nearly a Turn of living alone with only her brown for company, Aryna remained hopeful that perhaps her brother’s ship might happen by the island, perhaps in search of her or evidence of their father’s fate. No such luck so far, but she remained vigilant. Which could have explained how/why she noticed a sudden abundance of dragons around the island and surrounding isles. Naturally suspicious, she was careful not to give any indication that Harp Island was occupied. Pretty was put to work in surveillance, reporting back to Aryna frequently with images of dragonriders and… eggs? Puzzled, she had no idea what the dragonriders were about… but she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to know.
Pets: Brown firelizard Pretty
Dragon
Name:Ejjarth
Age: 1
Color: Blue; 00466e
Appearance: Though large, Ejjarth is not near so massive as his siblings. Coming in at 27 feet, this blue is smaller than his green sister, and built lighter, to boot. Though his frame is powerful -- with a low-slung neck, massive hind legs, and a back ridge that will require padding to be the least bit comfortable to mount -- Ejjarth is not all bulky muscle and power. He's strong, but he's leaner than his siblings, more whipcord than bulging musculature. Of course, he does have the tendency to build up a layer of fat, which smooths out those taut lines and gives him a soft, almost babyish appearance at times, though he is broad-chested and with a wide face. On the ground, he is quite awkward, even for a dragon, and his walk is a rather hysterical waddle -- though when he runs in the bounding "bunny run" that dragons are known for, he has an incredible long jump.
His base color is a gorgeous dark teal, looking somewhat like the ocean just after the sun has set. Midnight streaks run from the tip of his muzzle to cover his broad cheeks and his brow ridges, up onto his headknobs, then meet in a broad stripe down his spine that bleeds into smudges along his ribs and wings. Cerulean blue spots mark his hide in several places: on his haunches, much like a runner's dappled blanket; two on the underside of his chin; one, shaped rather like an upside-down heart, on his left shoulder. If one looks closely, his entire hide is dappled with a shade brighter than whatever part of his hide one is looking at, giving him the appearance of dwelling underwater, in a grotto beneath the surface of the ocean.
Personality: Ejjarth is, well, hardcore. While most people see blue dragons as being dear and somewhat silly, Ejjarth is hardworking, brave, brazen, and sometimes quite thick-headed when it comes to common sense. This blue is never one to forsake a challenge, and is most easily manipulated into doing something when someone says that he's incapable of it. There is no danger that Ejjarth is afraid to face and no feat to daring. He likes to imagine himself in a little bit of a heroic light, as if he can single-handedly save the world. That's not to say that he's melodramatic -- he just has a high opinion of his abilities and of the skills of his rider. There is pretty much nothing that can damage that self-image; if they run into trouble, well, they just need to practice more, or perhaps they just had a little bit of bad luck. Ejjarth is very much of the can-do mindset, and isn't about to let actual facts of what is and is not possible slow him down.
Ambition may be one of this dragon's strengths, but at first his leadership skills leave something to be desired. So often is this dragon wrapped up in his own capabilities that he has trouble understanding that all dragons and people are not like him, and can't function however it is that he functions. But with time and experience, Ejjarth will learn how to judge the fitness and capabilities of most dragons quite fairly, even at first glance -- particularly if His gets in on the action, and helps him learn and teaches him about anatomy early on. Though not truly friendly, Ejjarth gets along well with dragons in a restful setting, though he easily gets restless if there's nothing active to do. This is not a dragon to laze around and take the day off. He loves to explore and has perhaps one of the greatest natural gifts at between, with an innate sense for how to travel in that fashion.