Lelani

Writer: Claddagh
Name: Lelani
Nickname: Lela (But only family and really close friends can call her that)
Rank: Wingrider
Age: 24
Gender: Female
Birthdate: 8.429.10.5
Sexual Preference: Heterosexual. She would describe herself as “straight but not narrow.” While she prefers men, she realizes not everyone does, and she’s perfectly ok with that. Years of living in the Weyr have taught her that sexual preference isn’t a choice, and there’s nothing wrong with a little experimenting. She just doesn’t feel that's the path for her.

Appearance:

Lelani is of average height with a medium, curvy build has been known to turn more than a few heads. Personally, she finds it awkward that people consider her beautiful, and becomes shy and reserved if anyone makes their attraction to her known. She is athletic and toned; she actually enjoys a strict workout regime prefers to eat healthily.

Her face is round with normally pale, unblemished skin but days spent in the sun has given her a light tan. Her features seem soft and delicate, which is at odds with her seemingly stiff and reserved personality. Anyone who knows her would describe her best feature as being her cat-like eyes which are sharp and lively with intelligence. They are an unusual shade of brown; auburn and ruddy, the same colour as the bottom of a clear stream bed on a sunny day. Her forehead is broad but not obtrusive, and her nose is long, but with a slight upturn at the end which lends an air of confidence to her face and saves it from looking unusual on her delicate face.
Her hair is long and wavy, a beautiful chestnut brown with hints of blonde from the sun. She normally keeps her hair back from her face in a loose braid; thin wisps tend to escape the braid and frame her face.

Lelani feels most comfortable in her riding leathers, preferring to be training as much as possible. But outside of training, she can often be found in breeches, boots and a shapeless linen shirt belted at the waist, which does nothing to hide her figure, much to her chagrin. She prefers materials which are thicker, more reminiscent of her home in Telgar, despite the warmer weather in Ista. She does have a couple of really nice dresses which her mother had insisted go with her when she came to Ista (“You never know when a special occasion might arise and you need the perfect outfit, Lela!” because "You'll never find a husband wearing shapeless shirts and breeches"), but they often stay carefully folded up at the bottom of her wardrobe.

Personality:

Determined, disciplined and intelligent are all adjectives which would best describe Lelani. She likes to think of herself as a strict rule-follower, but her feisty temper and acerbic tongue has a way of landing her in trouble at times. Although she has a high regard for the rules, part of obeying the rules is knowing when the rules need to be broken or changed, and the spirited side of her can sometimes make rash or bold decisions when she feels the rules need to be broken. She believes in the core values of duty, honour, and family, and feels it her responsibility to strive for excellence and encourage others to strive for the same.

She has become a somewhat solitary figure since coming to Ista which has left her a bit lonely; being an Outsider in Ista has kept her on the fringe of things, and her more uptight nature has kept her reserved around the more free-spirited Istans. Despite this, she would consider herself a team-player and wouldn’t hesitate to step in and help any of her classmates when needed. As she begins to let her guard down more, others will see that she has a lighter, more easy-going manner than they previously thought. She is even known to display humour especially around her over-the-top, diva-esque dragon, Zalqueth. She has a close bond with Zalqueth, like all riders have with their dragons, and the two clearly adore one another and are fiercely loyal. Coming from such a family-centric background, she had a need to fill the void she feels now since coming to Ista and not being around her family any more.

History:

Born in Telgar, Lelani’s parents are excellent and well-respected Healers in Telgar, the product of a long line of top-knotch Healers who had been working with the miners living in the area for generations. As it was the family business, her parents had fully expected Lelani and her two brothers to follow in their footsteps.

When a rider and their dragon had come on the Search for new Candidates, Lelani and her brother snuck out from the Infirmary to be lined up in front of the dragon with the other children. They were supposed to be helping their father while their mother was at home with their newborn brother, Caeldar, but in a rare burst of shirking their duties, they had left the Infirmary early and joined the other children to see who would be Searched. Lela had been far too young at the time to be Searched (being only 5 turns at the time), but her older brother Caelthan at 12 turns was eligible for Candidacy. Still, even being of the right age, neither of them had expected him to be chosen by the dragon that day; all of them were supposed to follow their parents into the Healingcraft after all.

When Caelthan had told their parents of the news, they had understandably been disappointed at the prospect of their eldest son not following in their footsteps. They were a close-knit family, and Telgari culture and the feeling of responsibility and duty which came with working in Healingcraft, and living in a mining community, had left her and her siblings with the sense of obligation to perform whatever mission was put in front of them to the best of their ability. After all, both medicine and mining require discipline to work long hours, sometimes without food or water, and without this discipline and expert knowledge of their craft, there could be catastrophic accidents which could result in loss of life. She had seen it herself, first-hand while helping her parents in the Infirmary.

Caelthan had felt it his duty to follow through on the dragon’s decision and become a Candidate, and their parents had supported his decision. They would feel the loss of what he could have been (for he had shown great promise as a Healer), but they knew he would apply himself fully to becoming a dragonrider and make them proud.

As a result, Lelani found herself now the eldest sibling in the house, with added pressure from her parents to become a Healer. She missed being around her older brother all the time, whom she had looked up to and regarded highly. She considered Caelthan to be her hero, and she felt his loss around their home keenly. As she grew older, she had begun to change her mind about becoming a Healer, but her parents had planned out her entire life for her. When she was of age, she would begin her formal training and she would then be married to another Healer of appropriate rank for their family’s status. But what precious few letters she received from Caelthan (C’lthan now, he told her as he had Impressed quite early into training), left her head filled with the adventures of dragonriding. When she was old enough to become a Candidate, she had taken her turn and lined up with the other children, and had been overjoyed that she had been Searched and would be able to join her older brother.

To say her parents had been less than thrilled at the idea of losing their only daughter (and yet another child they had hoped would become a Healer), would have been an understatement. They had begged her to consider accepting the Search carefully; after all, would she not feel more accepted in Healingcraft than in Dragonriding which was still very much considered a man’s profession? She may not rise a high in the ranks as easily as her brother in Healingcraft, but she could still make her mark on the profession. Besides, didn't she want to settle down eventually, get married to a nice Crafter boy and have children? But she was not to be deterred. Sure she wanted to get married one day (maybe even have a family), but she also wanted to become a dragonrider. Healingcraft had always been her parents’ plan for her, but it was not a path she had chosen for herself. When she had tried explaining this to them, she knew they hadn't understood, but they had reluctantly accepted her decision.

Candidacy at Telgar Weyr had been tougher than she had initially expected, but she had risen to the occasion, easily becoming the top of her class. She was happy in the daily routine of chores, courses, and duties; she liked the ritualization of everything. She had been excited at the Hatchings, hoping to Impress early like her brother, but had been left disappointed as classmate after classmate Impressed over their training with their dragons, leaving her behind. Unsure why she was continuously passed over, combined with all the heightened emotions caused by the hormones of being a teenager, she was left feeling anxious and insecure about herself.
She was left feeling further despair when, 4 turns ago, C’lthan announced he had volunteered to go to Ista Weyr after their population had been nearly wiped out after the First Threadfall. Separated from her family and about to lose the older brother she idolized, Lela asked, in a fit of impulsivity, to be transferred with him to Ista. It had turned out to be the best decision she had ever made.

While she still had her troubles after transferring out (she was now an Outsider, still away from the majority of her family, and still hadn’t Impressed), she eventually found her stride. And then came her first Hatching Feast since arriving at Ista. She had become used to wearing a mask at the Feast after her past rejections, but she had still not become used to how upset she felt at not Impressing after each Feast. But this Hatching Feast would not be like the others, for Zalqueth had been Hatched during this feast. It had been the best feeling in the world to her to Impress with him; finally finding someone to connect with in her new home.

Relationships

Family:

Caelthan Sr.: Master Healer
Lelavene: Journeyman Jr. Healer
C’lthan: older brother (+7 turns older than Lela)
Caeldar: younger brother (-2 turns younger than Lela)
Zalqueth: On the surface it seems an odd pairing between Lelani and Zalqueth, given his propensity for being flashy and attention-seeking and Lelani’s disciplined and modest demeanor, but underneath the two are not so different from one another. Lelani’s disciplined nature means she demands the same level of excellence in everyone around her, and she isn’t afraid to show off her intelligence and talent on occasion; all in the spirit of inspiring excellence in others. Her occasional cockiness and boldness has become more apparent in her personality since Impressing with Zalqueth, and she seems to have assumed some aspects of his showy nature.

Friends:

Lovers:

None currently.

Enemies:

Dragon

Dragon Name: Zalqueth

Colour: Blue
Age: 2 (9.2.4.20) Stormriders
Weyr of Origin: Ista

Appearance:

Zalqueth is, without a doubt, one of the showiest blues going around. His hide is that very bright, almost extreme, blue colour and patterned all over with a paler shade that is no less eye catching. Why does the pattern stand out so much? Well the light areas form the shape of feathers, hundreds of feathers all across his body, making him look less like he has the warm, soft, buttery leather hide that dragons are supposed to have, and more like the sleek feathers of a great bird of prey, albeit a bright blue one. Other than his attention demanding hide however Zalqueth is otherwise quite normal in appearance. He’s of normal build, average size, in proportion, with headknobs that kind of curve slightly. However his propensity to pose, and to draw attention back to himself often fools an observer into thinking that he is a much grander size than he actually is.

Personality:

Zalqueth is the epitome of the frustrated performer, the dragon who craves the attention and finds any opportunity to bring the attention back onto himself. All he wants is the glory, the accolades and most importantly he wants suitable tributes paid to him, especially gifts. Because of his diva-esque tendencies, Zalqueth quite often refuses to do anything until his ego has been assuaged. No amount of shouting or punishments will work, however flattery does work quite well, and bribery works best of all. Gifts just seem to be this dragons weakness, little treats encouraging him to actually get moving rather than sitting there belligerently. It will certainly be a useful technique for his rider, but possibly a costly one, as he will frequently and adamantly refuse to budge.

Forgiveness will have to be earned through buying off this dragon too, with a gift proportional to the ‘crime’ perpetrated against him. It could just be a simple misunderstanding, or small error on his riders part, but it will still require some small treat before Zalqueth will forgive whoever it is. Big errors or indiscretions will demand a much larger gift.

Full of opinions, which vary between being horribly wrong, and actually correct, Zalqueth has no qualms about sharing his thoughts with the world, and insisting they be treated as correct. His classmates and wingmates will regularly be treated by a broadcast of his opinion, ‘The World According To Zalqueth, which he announces with great aplomb and then barrels through, ignoring any objections or corrections.

Stroppy and demanding he may be, but when push comes to shove, he really does love his rider and even his wingmates and classmates. If someone tried to hurt one of them he would absolutely charge in headfirst to guard their honour. The death of someone he cares about will be probably the only time you will see Zalqueth subdued…and he will be…for a while afterwards.

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