Character Type: Dragonrider
Rank: Wingrider
Age: 18 (born 8.436.4.5)
Gender: Female
Appearance:
Among her peers Tristara stands a bit shorter than average girls and has a petite frame that matches her personality well. She's not drop dead gorgeous but she does have a few natural gifts of beauty that make her conventionally attractive: a soft, round face, luxurious brown hair, and a set of dark brown, almond shaped eyes that hold a smile well. Her curves are average and well-proportioned to her frame.
Her wardrobe is comprised of whatever she can get out of the Weyr stores. She doesn't have any real eye for fashion nor has she ever felt the inclination, perfectly happy with the way she looks au naturale.
Personality: Tristara embodies the classic girl next door. She's a soft-spoken young lady who sits calmly and quietly on the sidelines waiting for an opportunity to be of some help to someone. Her self-sacrificing personality often no bounds, leaving her wide open to being manipulated or abused. Seldom does she ever catch on to this behavior, instead prone to making excuses for why it's okay. In the years of her childhood she never really caught on to fighting like some of the tougher girls nor did she find a place among the more glamorous young ladies in the Weyr, developing somewhere right in the middle, where she's content to smile politely at people and lend a helping hand wherever she can. Sometimes it's hard to notice she's even in a room with how well she can blend into a crowd.
And where those girls may have beauty or brawn, she has brains. She went through the same rote teachings as the other kids but she caught on to lessons quickly and often looked for more challenging things to keep herself occupied. While she's no prodigy, she does love to learn — particularly reading. She frequently creates her own poems and songs, though they're hardly of high enough quality to compete with journeymen. It's for that reason that she sometimes thinks she'd do well as a Harper.
Becoming a dragonrider, surprisingly, was not the first thing that she decided on in life, but from the first time she caught a glimpse of her father T'rian smiling at her from the hatching sands she decided it was better to try than to risk disappointing him. Truthfully, she's a real Daddy's girl. To her, T'rian can do no wrong, and she feels obligated to bring both honor and joy to him. If he should want to see her Impress (and she thinks he does) then she will. She'll make it work. The two of them are a remarkably close pair: in her heart, there is no question that he was the greatest Weyrleader and that he's the smartest man she knows. To insist otherwise is one of the very few ways to inspire any real anger in her — though even at her hottest, her temper is little more than some ineffectual slapping and girlish whining.
Despite having complete comfort over her body image and a good handle on her sexuality, she lies a bit on the shy side when it comes to sex. It's one thing to understand that it happens a lot in the Weyr and that her feelings are perfectly normal, but it's another to look at a boy and want those things from him and — oh now she's blushing. Other girls are touch and go with her. Some of them she find very amicable and easy to get along with — and she does try to get along with everyone — while others are too stuffy or too aggressive for her to have deep, meaningful friendships with, though she couldn't say there was ever a person she met that she absolutely hated.
History: Tristara was born out of a brief, but passionate fling between her father and a Lower Caverns girl, and as such was immediately fostered into the Weyr creche after her mother weaned her. As a child she seemed to possess a very joyous and carefree spirit, making friends wherever she went, yet never really learning to stand up on her own two feet. Boys frequently pushed her around (as young boys are wont to do) necessitating several rescues from creche workers. Her father, a Wingsecond at the time of her birth, visited often, and during his visits he would recite Teaching Songs, tell her stories, and play games with her. She enjoyed having his company daily up until the age of 10; becoming the newest Weyrleader of Ista demanded more and more time from him, so the time between visits kept increasing as the months went on, until T'rian was visiting her once a month.
In that time she made friends and played games with those kids who didn't look at her differently because she was a Weyrleader's daughter. The only thing the title meant to her was that her father was the most important man in the Weyr. It didn't change a thing about her. But while there were those who held that belief, there were others who thought she needed punishing for being so privileged, though it was rarely anything more than the continued bullying of spoiled little brats.
At 12 she became a Candidate for the Weyr and started standing for clutches, always hoping that she could Impress one of her father's dragons (how she chose to see them). Every time she could expect to look up and see his smiling face in the stands quietly cheering her on, but for four Turns in a row she walked off the sands empty handed. She always saw her father in those days following the hatchings, once he was finished congratulating new weyrlings and making rounds, and she firmly believed that it was an effort on his part to do for her what he could when he could.
When the first Fall came she was as devastated as anyone else in the Weyr. Familiar faces were suddenly gone from her life; all she could be thankful for was that her parents had both survived the horror. But what she couldn't bring herself to understand was why T'rian had given up his position as Weyrleader afterward, or why he felt the need to retreat in on himself. She insistently made herself a presence in his life, offering inexperienced, childish advice to him in the vain hope that she could bring a smile to his face.
After learning of her father's apparent suicide, Tristara found herself lost in grief, wondering why he would choose to abandon her in her greatest hour of need. But where one door closed, another opened: from Tameketh and Zogeth's clutch she Impressed the tiny, runty blue Taigith, who would forever fill those gaps of loneliness in her heart.
Family:
T'rian, bronze Bayleth, father (went between on 9.2.13.8)
Nammara, drudge, mother (NPC)
(plus numerous full- and half-blooded siblings)
Dragon Name: Taigith
Colour: Blue
Age: 1
Weyr of Origin: Ista
Appearance:
This blue is without a doubt one of the smallest dragons on Pern, smaller than the smallest greens, but perfectly formed. He’s like a delicate glass dragon, slender and tiny and almost fragile seeming, but still very much physically present, even if it’s not the male, dominating presence of his brothers. His hide is the palest of pale blues and appears almost like coloured glass; it has that almost reflective sheen to it. He’s so pale he looks almost like he glows, especially in low lighting, reflecting the lights that are around back into the room, brightening it. In the brightest daylight however he will just look like a normal pale blue dragon, the gleam hidden by the scorching sunlight. When he spreads his wings, people may notice pale blue circles over it, like hollow dots, or craters, but it’s very subtle, and most will be too charmed by his lovely colouring to notice. He’s well proportioned, which is a good thing, especially considering his diminutive size.
Personality: Taigith is, at his core, a sweet natured little blue. He’s just a genuinely kind, loving, optimistic little soul, always with a pleasant word to say about everyone. He feels deeply that Ista is his home, and everyone in it is his family, even the Outsiders. They have come to look after his home, and that makes them a part of Ista now. These feelings lead to a strong sense of duty, of doing whatever it takes to keep his home safe, even at the cost of his own happiness…or even his own life. This will absolutely be something his rider will have to keep an eye on, this tendency towards self sacrifice, as Taigith will absolutely put everyone else's needs before his own. This will influence, not only the dangerous field of threadfighting, but also the day to day life of a dragon. He might give up food, or his turn at practicing, and more dominant and pushy dragons could well exploit Taigith’s inherently innocent nature to further their own ends.
Threadfighting will never be one of Taigith’s great strengths. This little blue is a social creature, skilled in guidance and supporting leadership, but the physicalities of threadfighting will always be a struggle for him. The deaths of wingmates, of other dragons weyrwide, will hit Taigith hard and send him into an emotional spiral of sadness. Loss is so cruel, and the idea that someone is no longer there to fill their place any longer is distressing. He is a dragon that will grieve bitterly, and seek comfort in his friends. And he will make friends with ease. Many will like him, and he will like them in return, but he will have a core group he seeks out more than any other. Interestingly he rather prefers the company of dragons that most people overlook. While others look towards the big, bright and bold, Taigith is intrigued by the forgotten dragons and candidates and lavishes them with his time. His simple pleasure in everything is infectious and should win him friendship everywhere he goes. He will be especially tender to greens, or rather greens that are nice and friendly. Greens he catches will be treated with especial tenderness, affection and be incredibly spoiled as he lavishes them with his whole hearted and uninhibited love.