Character type: Dragonrider
Rank: Wingrider
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Sexual Preference: Heterosexual
Appearance
V’lada is a man who tends to be attractive only to those who really like the type. He’s a gruff-looking fellow, with heavy eyebrows and too much body hair to ever be considered pretty in anyway. Which is fine, as pretty is far from what he would ever want, no matter how the girls swoon over that. But there’s a sort of appealing charm in his dark brown eyes and neatly kept beard and mustache. He has a broad face with proportionate features that are starting to show signs of lines from laughter around his mouth and frown lines between his brows. Its clear he’s an expressive man, given to loud and booming laughter, wide grins as well as some intense grimaces that can be downright frightening.
He keeps himself neat — not because he’s some nancy greenrider — but because it works. Keep the beard trimmed, the hair close-cropped and clothing in good shape and your life will be easier, he figures. Especially if you ever want to get laid. He’s got a typical dragonrider’s physique naturally, of course, and he puts in the extra work to add on to that. He’s not a complete muscle-head, one of thsoe guys who just focuses on big pecs and biceps to show off. No, he wants to be physically capable in all aspects. He works everything equally: strength, speed, stamina, agility and he pushes himself hard enough to have to train his mind to be focused and able to keep up with the physical rigours. So while he’s stocky and only 5’8, he’s not overly bulky with muscle. Rather he’s a very well-balanced man. And a well-balanced man covered in tattoos that he’s collected over many turns now.
Personality
V’lada has the sort of driving force that is sometimes difficult to believe. He will work himself to the bone, wear himself down to complete exhaustion and then get up the next day and do it all again. And he does it with a grin. He lives to push himself and to constantly test what he’s capable of. Because he has a theory that people in general can do a whole hell of a lot more than they think and he likes to test that theory on a daily basis. Its not only for personal gain, the stronger he and his dragon are then the better for the Weyr they are. He’s got more than his fair share of fierce Istan pride and he’d rather die than be anywhere being a weak link in his home.
He’s serious about doing what he does, but he has fun while he does it. Why run boring laps when you can go on an epic adventure run through the wilds of the Istan Island for a couple of days? Why swim when you can crawl through mud? Life is about enjoying it, so he finds ways to enjoy keeping in shape. And of course eat up the heaps of adrenaline he acquires while doing it.
And then? Drag other folk into it! He’ll take on any challenge of making anyone the best person they can be, physically and mentally. He’ll spend days breaking a person down in every way and then help them grow to be stronger. Its what he loves and it makes many wonder why ever he impressed a green when he gets himself leading others the way a bronzerider should.
He can be intimidating and he does it on purpose, especially to Outsiders. He resents very strongly that his Weyr needs them and not one of them will ever live up to the standards he holds. Istans are truly made of different and tougher stuff, and he has a hard time relying on anyone from elsewhere. Still, if they’re willing he’ll certainly put in the effort to at least try to help bring them up to par. Its a whole different attitude: while he’ll gather his native wingmates and encourage them and push them with friendly rivalry, V’lada’s attitude towards Outsiders is more rough. He’ll be the one to haze newbies and be on their asses until they’re working hard enough to satisfy him. It is possible for them to earn some respect if they’re putting in the effort. He won’t go out of his way to befriend an Outsider unless they really impress him, but those that are trying won’t get a complete cold shoulder.
Its easy to think V’lada isn’t a social man with the way he works, but he greatly appreciates the company of good friends. He bonds well with others than hold his trust and he can be a fun man to be around. Alcohol tends to bring out a nastier side of him if the atmosphere is right for it, so he generally just avoids it unless he knows there’s a good crowd to party with. Besides, even without drinking he’s generally loud, boisterous, foul-mouthed and ready to have any sort of friendly or unfriendly competition. He’s no stranger to fighting and he loves a good spar with friends, or a good beat-down for those that get on his bad side. It doesn’t matter the rank, if anyone comes around trying to piss on his home or her people they will have a fist in their face before they can blink.
Being a greenrider is difficult on him sometimes. It got old very quickly being put on par with those nancy girly riders and he developed something of a homophobia shortly after impressing. He is *not* one of those frilly gay men than prance around with their greens, and his dragon is certainly far from dainty so why should he be compared to them? He is a *man* who likes women, and will sometimes be more of a womanizer than he really is just to drive home this point. Generally its not that he’ll go out of his way to be cruel to homosexuals for the sake of it, and he’ll tolerate those that work their share, but its obvious that he gets squirmy at any close contact.
History
Birthplace: Ista Weyr, 8.415.4.9
Valadha had a normal Weyr childhood for the most part. His father was a guard and his mother a journeywoman healer and both were fitness nuts. They encouraged Valadha from a young age to be healthy and strong, especially if he wanted to impress a dragon one day. His father had failed to impress and was tended to live a little through his son, pushing him and working him to earn the dragon he never got.
By the time he was old enough to Stand he was at the head of the boys his age, occasionally as a bully but mostly they didn’t mind following him because he helped them succeed. For the most part. It took him a long while to realize that it was easy to push too hard and that some people were easy to break. He lost himself a fair few friends from trying to force them to working harder than they were able or willing. He actually spent a good turn with only his very closest and most loyal standing by him until he learned that he didn’t have to be quite as much of an asshole.
So he grew and started learning to have a bit of a gentle hand when leading, as much as a gruff fellow like him could be. When the next clutch was laid he was sixteen and a favourite for bronze but shocked everyone who knew him by walking away with a green. He might have been disappointed, but Plawinth was the most perfect creature that could have bonded with him, and V’lada could only be overjoyed with the ferocity in his new lifemate. Not that either of them showed it. In fact anyone who ever saw the two together could swear that they hated each other, but their aggressive interaction was only their way of showing love.
Weyrlinghood was rough and a wonderful test as the two learned how to work with each other. They were both so bull-headed and stubborn that everything was a constant battle, but very gradually they figured out how to work together. They were a good team: V’lada *liked* all the hard work he could get and Plawinth *needed* it to burn off her excess energy. They graduated and flew in the wings, training and waiting for the day to actually have something to fight against.
It was only a shame Thread was so far off. The Turns after graduating were filled with V’lada finding ways to keep his dragon focused so she wouldn’t destroy part of the Weyr or dismember something out of boredom so he was constantly coming up with new exercises she could do. One thing for sure was that they would be ready when Thread did Fall.
Of course, nothing could truly prepare anyone for what fighting the stuff was actually like. Though they made it through the Fall alive, neither of them escaped a bit of scoring and a huge blow to their egos. It was humbling and sad to see what their natural enemy could do, but it served as a greater goal to work towards. Ista should never have to see another Fall like that, and V’lada vowed never to let a wingmate be anything less than the best. Not when their home and pride was at stake the way it was.
Relationships
Family
Father: Halladen (Weyrguard)
Mother: Vanda (JM Healer)
Siblings: TBD
Children: L'han(15), bronze Orowenth; G'dan(19), green Wuffryth , Others
Friends
Assistant Weyrling Master Gridgi, rider of green Avaterith
Lovers
(None)
Rivals
(None)
V'lada's Dragon: Green Plawinth
Dragon Name: Plawinth
Colour: Green
Age: 21
Weyr of Origin: Ista
Weyrling Class: 8.431.7.13
Wing: Unknown
Appearance
From the moment she hatched, there was always whispers: "What an ugly green!" The spot of dull, drab dark olive-green — something like the muted green-brown of camouflage — on her chest and throat are her best spots of color, believe it or not. The rest of her body, however, is an even darker shade of dull green-black, the color of swamp water or pondscum. Though only about average size for her color, this dragon is no delicate pretty-girl or wispy little waif — no, she is thick and solid, with a good bulk of muscle to her. Her body was always fighting-fit right out of the shell. She is broad through the chest, giving her great stamina for a green, and in the fine muscles of her legs and back, you can see the raw power that is dragon — yes, even green dragon. She is rather low-slung — her legs, though strong, are a bit short, and she walks with her front legs slightly bowed, so that she appears to be stalking with her belly right along to the ground. Her head is large, her muzzle short and rounded. If any part of her can be called "cute," it's her muzzle — at least until she opens it and reveals that her fangs are very sharp and a little too big. Ever since she was a hatchling Plawinth developed a habit of chewing to ease the pain of teething and even as an adult needs to regularly wear down her teeth so they don’t give her problems.
Personality
Plawinth is a dragon with a lot of energy, but she's no clown who bounces around being silly to burn that energy. No, she wants to fight. From the moment she hatched, she has been ready (or thought she was) to fight Thread, and youth was the utmost inconvenience first. She is one of the worst-tempered dragons in the Weyr, easily angered and slow to forgive. Even with a typical green's short memory, she will hold grudges. She may not remember WHY she dislikes you after a day or two, but she will still retain this nagging feeling that she is supposed to hate you, therefore she will. When in doubt, she will err on the side of dislike. One can never be too careful, after all. She is of average intelligence for a green, but she is extremely observant and good at thinking on the fly — while she will never come up with any profound thoughts, she will be able to make those split-second decisions that can mean the difference between life and death when flying Thread. So long as she is occupied by an interesting or intense lesson, or by drills or actually fighting Thread when it comes, she is reasonably tolerable. But when idle for too long, she gets frustrated and may begin to take her intense natural aggression out on other people or things. It is normal behavior for her to growl, roar, and even snap at whatever annoys her. She is a chewer, and anything that gets too close to her mouth will probably end up shredded. Because she is often angry or frustrated, she is often tense, and will sleep less than other dragons — in fact, she may occasionally be troubled by insomnia, and chewing on something as she is trying to go to sleep will help her relax. She has a semi-decent Search sense, but she will never make a Search dragon because she can't stand children or pets. Plawinth is not the first dragon that you want a potential candidate to meet.
Plawinth is not a flirter and does not respond to the flirts of others, either. When a male does manage to catch her fancy, she may act more snappish than usual around him simply because she doesn't know how to behave to act on her feelings and her own awkwardness frustrates her. Proddiness manifests in her as awkwardness, too, and she prefers to shut herself away in her weyr and hide from the staring eyes of the males until that final awful moment when she can put it off no longer and she absolutely must fly. Once in the air, however, she is much more relaxed, and she is a trash talker — you sorry lot call yourselves male? Pathetic! Her flights will be long simply because she does not pick her mate lightly — she will make him work for her, and win her himself. May the best male win! She does, however, tend to favor blues.