Character Type: Slightly Less Useless Layabout (Weyrling)
Rank: Grand Moff Layabout
Age: 25
Gender: Female
Sexual Preference: Bisexual
Appearance
Zeff got her height from her father and her build from her mother, apparently. Puberty was a bit awkward for her as it is for many kids – all height and skinny angles as she grew too fast for her body to really keep pace with itself – but she has since matured into her adult body: still somewhat tall for a woman, still slender, but lean and fit, with enough gentle curve of hip and breast to lend her a hint of femininity. She inherited her father's tanned brown skin, but her eyes are a lighter brown in shade and more almond-shaped. Her hair, kept in a long braid down her back, is almost the same light brown shade as her eyes and skin, but not a flat color – it catches the sunlight nicely, revealing some sunbleached highlights that don't show up nearly as well indoors.
Personality
Zeff has rapidly turned into one of those smart children who falls through the cracks. She's intelligent enough to require intellectual stimulation with actual substance in order to keep her properly engaged, and the sad truth is, there's not a whole lot of that in her life right now. She's too old to learn anything new in candidate classes, finds craftwork dull and repetitive, and is too unfocused in her interests to easily be able to go out and find something interesting to do, so she's been just drifting, cruising through life at low speed for several turns now. Some kids in the same situation react with frustration, or acting out; Zeff, being the mellow human being she is by nature, has reacted by just plain not caring anymore. If she has to be bored, after all, she'd rather slip off somewhere to nap, or count the clouds, or any number of things-that-aren't-really-anything. She is curious, and does keep her eyes and ears open for hints of things that might pique her interest, and if a task is interesting enough (or required of her) she'll do it, but she'll put the bare minimal effort into it if it doesn't really engage her. The rest of her time is spent avoiding the things she finds boring and unpleasant. She has made procrastination into an art form, and if she can't manage to put something off, she's also skilled at figuring out ways to do things that technically complete the task but which allow her ample time to get back to doing absolutely nothing. The girl spends more time lazing around the Weyr on her ass than half the old aunties and uncles in the Weyr all put together, and yet somehow she manages to keep herself just barely above the “acceptable” level when it comes to candidacy.
If anyone was really keeping proper track of her, they might be worried by this behavior – after all, she wasn't really like this as a child. But she's always been such a mellow person, friendly and even-tempered with an admitted tendency towards avoidance anyway, that somehow laziness just seems a natural outgrowth of that. She's only occasionally a troublemaker, when boredom actually overcomes her and something sparks an idea that eventually turns into full-on trouble (ask the crecheworkers about the Great Simulated War of the Weyrbrats of 448), but even then she's a friendly and infinitely likeable person. She's very touch-oriented, though, and tends to stand too close, lean against people, and just generally get a bit overly-familiar a bit too quickly for most peoples' tastes. It probably doesn't help that she's so casually sexual, too – it's not a big sensual production for her, just another activity than she enjoys, which she treats just like anything else that she enjoys doing – and it makes things a little awkward for people who like a nice clear line between friendship and sexuality because they often can't tell if she's touching them in friendly way, or an I-want-more sort of way. Zeff herself doesn't understand the distinction. “Let's play hookball,” and “let's take a nap,” and “let's have sex” are all about the same level on her radar. She may not be buxom or a master of the come-hither eye-flutter, but she's fun and relaxed and completely no-pressure, which does a pretty good job of drawing the lovers in. She's not ashamed to have slept with half the people she knows – everyone is a new experience, after all, and she delights in the subtle differences between lovers, and in giving and recieving pleasure.
“Not shy” is actually a pretty apt way to describe Zeff in general. She's too lazy to be overbearing, but does sometimes come across as rude because she's self-confident enough to believe her opinions are as valid as anyone else's, and doesn't always pause to think that she might not be welcome somewhere, or that her opinion might not be sought. She doesn't suffer from any of the same self-esteem issues that many young women her age suffer from, and she's comfortable with her body even though she knows there are plenty of girls more classically attractive than she is. She can be comfortable in almost any setting not because she can make herself conform, but because she doesn't conform at all – she's just Zeff, and she doesn't change, and it doesn't bother her if people stare or if she makes a bad impression or if they call her shiftless and useless and lazy. Social graces are not her strong suit, and she'd make a terrible diplomat despite the fact that she keeps up on politics and actually has a pretty keen mind for it when she bothers to try.
Of course… she'd probably be good at a lot of things, if she ever bothered to try.
History
Birthplace: Ista Weyr, 429.02.07
Zeff was born at Ista Weyr to a pair of rather young first-time parents. Her father R'fan, a restless fifteen-turn-old bronzerider, was absolutely floored when it finally sank in that he created this tiny little living creature with nothing but his penis and also a girl and her mother, a rather meek sixteen-year-old lower caverns girl, was a bit more practical about it but no less in awe. It was R'fan who chose the baby girl's name, rather proudly declaring her to be Zeffaryn – what he felt was a clever way of combining Zella's name, his own, and his mother Faralyn's all at once. Zella herself was too shy to protest, Faralyn rolled her eyes indulgently (she never could tell her son no), and the baby… well, by the time she was four turns old, Zeffaryn had decided she didn't like it on the grounds of “that's dumb, daddy” (probably influenced by the fact that she couldn't pronounce it!), and she's been known exclusively as just plain Zeff ever since.
As a child, she was pleasant and friendly, always ready to flash a gap-toothed smile and only slightly spoiled by the fact that she had a bronzeriding father who dropped by the creche more frequently than most to shower her with gifts and attention. She always showed a bit of a tendency to avoid anything she didn't like or want to do, but she didn't argue much, didn't throw tantrums or cause a fuss, and when the inevitable childhood taunting and teasing made its rounds, insults just seemed to bounce right off of her and she'd run off giggling to find something else to do. She did have a bit of a penchant for mischief, and her curiosity and mental restlessness led her into trouble from time to time when she was allowed to get too bored, but for the most part she was well-liked by the crecheworkers and most of the other children.
As she got older, though, things got a little more difficult. Candidacy was a no-brainer for her, and at first it was all sorts of exciting, and some of the lessons were more in-depth than what she'd gotten before. Trying out crafts was fun, too – they all seemed pretty interesting, and she liked the idea of having the skill to make something neat with her own two hands. Then there was puberty, and all the fun distractions that came along with sexual awareness, and that was enough to keep her busy for a time, too. But eventually, there wasn't really anything left to learn anymore in classes, and none of the crafts she'd tried had turned out to be half as interesting as she'd thought they would be, and sex… well, sex was always there and usually fun, but it didn't really fill the intellectual void that she was suddenly keenly feeling. As the Hatchings passed her by and she matured, physically and mentally, into adulthood, she matured into a rather lazy and apathetic person. She's very aware of the troubles that face the Weyr, but she's not really in a position to do anything about it herself, so she just… does nothing. She whittles away her time doing frivolous things, instigating minor trouble among her peers just to make things exciting, and just generally being useless to everyone. She's a little afraid of what will happen to her if she never Impresses (and, to be honest, a little afraid of how she'll handle the responsibility if she does), but even at her best she's a master of avoidance – she doesn't allow herself to think that far ahead, because it's scary.
When L'rori tapped V'lada back into the wings, V'lada offered Zeff a chance to do something useful with herself: she had been a candidate for longer than anyone, and seemed to genuinely enjoy giving advice and helping the younger candidates with their problems, so why not use that interest and experience to guide the Candidate Barracks in his absence? After some thought, she accepted the unofficial position of "Head Candidate", and has suddenly found herself giving lectures and helping kids with their homework. In fact, she hasn't visited her favorite napping spots in months now… but don't expect her to show a sense of urgency, either.
Update: Zeff's final chance at a dragon came with Tameketh and Zogeth's clutch, the RainCallers… and blue Murumbith, enthusiastic and hopeful, made her his rider.
Relationships
Family
Father: R'fan, bronze Ronageth's rider
Mother: Zella, kitchen worker
Half-sibs:
Annaca, weyrling to blue Colstenth
Issyra, candidate
Ryssyra, candidate
R'thriel, weyrling to bronze Gavilth
Friends
Lovers
Almost anybody?
Enemies
Things that look like busywork
ZEFF'S DRAGON: BLUE MURUMBITH
Dragon Name: Murumbith
Colour: Blue
Age: 0
Weyr of Origin: Ista
Weyrling Class: RainCallers
Appearance
It's just as well that Murumbith was hatched during a Pass, because he will always be a dragon who requires a little extra effort to keep from getting a little… well… “fluffy”. He's a fairly big dragon anyway, not the largest but certainly tall enough and broad enough, and though he sports an excess of hatchling chubbiness early on, he /will/ eventually prove to be a rather sturdy, muscular dragon underneath… but he'll also always have a little extra padding that insists on hanging about, and without careful management of his feeding and exercise, he could develop more. He's a strong dragon, with legs like tree trunks and a tail that will bowl people over if he isn't careful about it (and he will probably not be especially careful). His deep sapphire coloring has a natural handsome sheen when healthy and well-cared for, particularly in the darker marking that covers his arms and upper back and splits at his waist almost like a tailcoat.
Personality
What kind of dragon is Murumbith? Well, that may depend on who you ask. One of his siblings might say he's an annoyance: obnoxious, troublesome, and wholly unreliable. Another might dispute that, call him positive, creative, brave, and inspiring. Both of these accounts may be equally true. Murumbith is a dragon that you'll just have to experience for yourself.
He would love being referred to as “an experience”, in fact. He likes standing out, being regarded as a little odd, and he especially likes making people smile if he can. And why not? He's good at it, and he doesn't mind looking a little foolish if it keeps everyone else's spirits up. Well… for the most part. He genuinely does put the happiness of others before his own, but sometimes it feels like a fool is all he is, and he wishes others would just take him seriously sometimes! Just because he likes to march to the beat of a different drummer doesn't mean he doesn't want to be a part of the parade, too!
The problem is, perhaps alone out of his class of talented, fierce, and/or dedicated Threadfighters, Murumbith can be a bit of a bumbler, and he knows it. Clumsy, too loud and enthusiastic for his own good, and severely lacking in attention span, he has a lot of trouble focusing and thus a lot of trouble performing to standard. He tries to draw attention away from these glaring faults by being clownish, alternately very friendly and charismatic or, when that gets shut down, obstinate and obnoxious. He can be very childish when the mood strikes him: pouting, refusing to obey, and picking, teasing, and taunting. Underneath all the bluster and bumbling, he's a very proud dragon, and failing while his clutchmates succeed cuts him to the bone. Like a budding young bully on the playground, he tends to pick on those who are good at doing things that he cannot, desperate to claim some small victory from them, and he may never outgrow the juvenile methods he chooses to do so. (I'm not touching you…. Iiii'm noooot touching youuuu!) All things considered, though, Murumbith would much rather just be happy, and have everyone happy with him, so it's a good thing he forgets quickly and his better nature usually eventually wins out.
It may take some time for it to become apparent, but Murumbith is not a dragon without his own talents. He may seem hopeless when it comes to learning, or memorization, but he is by necessity a master of improvisation. He'll show signs of adaptability and rolling with the punches as a hatchling, but once in the air against Thread (if he lives that long), his true strength will be unleashed: perhaps more so than any other dragon, Murumbith almost literally lives in the moment, taking each shift of wind and situation as it comes, and it makes him incredibly flexible and almost impossible to panic. He'll never be able to chart out a static Threadfall formation, but he will be able to tell you in an instant, on the fly, how the Wing should shift to adapt to conditions at that moment. A wise wingleader will find a way to use him well, and may find Murumbith to be a much more reliable, fulfilled dragon when he feels that he's being individually respected and depended-upon.
TIMELINE
Title | Date | Characters | Summary |
---|---|---|---|
A (Mostly) Quiet Turn's End | 01.01 | Assorted RainCallers | With dragons too young to be left alone, the RainCallers are confined to the barracks for Turn's End, so they play some dragonpoker. |
The Babies on the Way | 02.24 | Assorted RainCallers | During bathtime, the weyrling dragons discuss the impending arrival of new baby dragons. |