Wingrider S'tai
Blue Lekith
Persona Information:
Name: S'tai
Age: 34 Turns
Gender: Female
Sexual Orientation: Bisexual
Rank/Craft: Sr. Apprentice Seacrafter
Mother: Elenai, 57, Wife.
Father: Tespen, 60, Shipwright.
Siblings: Aitel, 37, Sr. Journeyman Seacrafter; Penala, 29, Wife.
Foster Parents: None
Significant Other: None
Children: One or two unidentified flight children
Persona Appearance:
S'tai's not exactly an eye-catcher. With his light brown skin and dark brown hair, he doesn't look particularly exotic among the Atorans, and his height of 5'10" makes him precisely average. He has a slim but not unusually thin build, and his pleasant but non-descript features truly make him one who'd melt into a crowd. His nose is straight and neat, his eyes are a light brown color, his lips are thin and his mouth wide, his chin and jaw are firm but not protruding. His hair is always well-cropped and is completely straight. The only thing that would tell you he isn't just a civilian are his knots; he has never really had the look of the noble dragonrider - rather, he looks like the type you'd share an ale with, and gripe about the day's work or the poor harvest. An accesible type.
Persona Personality:
Laid back but not stupid is a five world description of S'tai. He's always calm and reasonably optimistic, with a fairly placid look at the world - what will happen will happen; I'll deal with it as it comes. As this strategy has never brought him to grief before, he has no intention to get "overly emotional" about anything in the near future. His calmness, which to some seems like apathy, has annoyed people before; they are the people who panic or get angry in a crisis. S'tai is always level-headed, and is a good wingman for that reason. He has been seriously looked at as a possible rescue rider, but his dragon's narrow wings haven't seemed(to the queen's wing) to be strong enough to hold the weight of a falling dragon (despite the number of greens he's successfuly caught).
S'tai is friends with everybody. If he were trying to subvert the leadership, this might be a problem, but as he has no interest in politics, his easy charm and talent at unobtrusive flattery haven't been a problem. He can walk into a room and be friends with everyone in five minutes, simply because he'll listen, nod, seem genuinely interested, and reply reasonably intelligently. People seem to love this; apparently, there aren't enough good listeners in the world. S'tai has found that friendships are good things; since he and D'verish have been on good terms for turns now, it got him out of an unwanted transfer north.
Persona History:
Seltai, the son of a boat builder in Daragon hold, was raised by his young mother, a cheerful woman already raising Seltai's older brother. He had a happy, normal childhood in the hold, going to harper lessons, at which he did passably well, playing on the beach near the hold, and getting underfoot. He was not on good terms with his older brother; Aitel often hit his brother if Seltai was rude or annoying. The two got along reasonably well for the most part, but they were never close.
Seltai's father entered both his sons into the seacrafting trade when they turned eleven. Aitel was a natural, being strong and active, but Seltai, being small and lightweight, was not up to the heavy work that crewing on a fishing boat required. He tried hard, not wanting to look weak compared to his capable older sibling, but it was clear he wasn't really cut out for the work. He was frustrated and angry, as he didn't want to apprentice to his father and really had no other options. The captain he'd apprenticed to kept him on as a faither to Tespen, and didn't hide the fact from Seltai.
Deliverance came unexpectedly for the lad in the form of a green searchdragon. A large clutch was on Atora's sands, and there were barely enough candidates for the twenty-nine eggs; Seltai, along with three other promising lads from the seacraft hall, came as candidates to the Weyr. Seltai, only thirteen years old, was shocked by the attitude and manner of the dragonriders; to a boy like him, they were the height of cool in their wherhide jackets and with the confident, slightly arrogant air about him. Seltai worshipped the ground the bronzeriders walked on, and got the reputation for being quite the little toady.
He impressed on his first try, much to the envy of overlooked weyrbrats; his was the largest, darkest-colored blue of the clutch. Lekith was always everything that Seltai, now S'tai, had ever wanted - companionship, respect, prestige, security in livelihood. Lekith was loving, humorous, and very good with the ladies; it was embarassing to fifteen-year-old S'tai when his dragon caught three greens in as many months. Eventually the boy got used to dragonriding, and he was a good pupil in Weyrlinghood, not exceptional, but sensible, safe, and concientious. He graduated and was drafted to a now nonexistant wing.
Life was pretty good for S'tai as a wingrider. Not outstanding but better than most, he was well-liked among the wingmen, and made friends easily. He ingratiated himself with several traders who periodically came through the Weyr for gathers (they were transported by Daragon boats), including a ladyfriend; while their relationship is strictly casual, whenever Betria passes through, S'tai makes time for her. It pays off, too - Betria had three flit eggs one time that she'd been planning on selling at a gather in Jinani. Graciously, she shared one with him, and that led to Taki-Taki becoming one of the gang.
S'tai was a useful enough wingrider that D'verish managed to keep him from transfering north; he's now assigned to the Weyrleader's Wing. He's settled down again, and is perfectly content. As far as S'tai's concerned, as long as he does his bit and tries as hard as he can, he'll be fine, and life is pretty good if you don't attract a lot of attention and try to make friends.
Dragon Information:
Name: Lekith
Age: 21 Turns
Color: Blue
Dragon Appearance:
This large, fully mature blue is well-muscled and fit, if a bit oddly proportioned. His large head seems a bit big for his thin, long neck; his broad shoulders make his forequarters seem unusually large. He has very long, narrow wings that everyone from the Weyrlingmaster to the Dragonhealer say he'd have no endurance, but while they do give added speed, they don't seem to have diminished Lekith's staying power. The size of a small brown, he could fly a full fall. If he were a racing runner, it might be said that he has a lot of heart; he seems to stay in the air after a long drill more out of will-power than strength, though he's never failed yet.
Dragon Personality:
Everyone seems to think that all blues are lazy, almost a forgetful as greens, and only interested in the aforementioned greens. Lekith is none of those things; a workhorse of a dragon, he is determined, intelligent, and even-tempered. While he likes the ladies, he isn't constantly chasing skirts; he tired of that by his fifth turn. Lekith is renowned among his wing for his unflagging effort during drill. He can sense thread approaching, and will be ready to meet it. He knows he can be as capable as any small-to-medium sized brown; it just takes a little more effort from him. He doesn't know the meaning of the words can't or quit; he just doesn't imagine himself as using them.
All references to worlds and characters based on Anne McCaffrey's fiction are copyright© Anne McCaffrey 1967, 2001, all rights reserved, and used by permission of the author.
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