Jr. Weyrwoman Xianine
Gold Carleath
Persona Information:
Name: Xianine
Age: 19
Gender: Female
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
Rank/Craft: Jr. Weyrwoman
Mother: Filaine, Wife, deceased.
Father: Exeren, Master Seacrafter, 57
Siblings: None
Foster Parents: Jilah, 53, nursemaid.
Significant Other: None
Children: None
Persona Appearance:
Xianine is not a beauty, not really, but as she's young and pretty it doesn't matter. With her brown hair, streaked gold by southern sun, tanned complexion and dark brown eyes, she has a fair amount of admirers. Adolescence was unusually kind to her, giving her a figure early and withholding the usual blemishes that come with puberty; she made the transition from child to woman without an awkward or fat stage, as she often thanks Faranth. At nineteen turns, Xianine is one of the prettiest girls in the Weyr, much more attractive than the Weyrwoman at any rate, and is very pleased about it.
Xianine's hair has not yet been cut short, despite the displeasure of both her Weyrlingmaster and the Weyrwoman, but the girl refuses to sacrifice her wavy, silky locks. After all, with short hair, how can it blow in the breeze, or fall fetchingly in front of her face? Her tan skin, almost the same color as her hair, is devoid of freckle or sunspot, a rarity given the strength of southern sun, and it is soft as well, as she bathes often and avoids physical labor like the plague. Her hands are the soft hands of a lady, even though weyrling training should have put some callous on them. However, Xianine managed to get one of her admirers among the brown and bronzeriders to do most manual labor for her, and now that she's a full rider, she doesn't even attempt to bother with work.
Xianine is a little shorter than average, at 5' 4", and petite, with small, fine-boned hands and feet. She has curvy hips and a respectable chest, not too large and not too small. Considering the fact that Xianine is enamored of tight clothing, little guesswork is needed as to, ah, what she'd look like undressed. Xianine likes red, as she thinks it's flashy, though she tends to choose shades too close to orange; she looks better in very dark reds and blues. She wears a great deal of gold jewelry, the more flashy the better, and she is never without a gold brooch, shaped like a dragon's head, that she had fashioned after impression with gift marks from her father.
Persona Personality:
Xianine is, first and foremost, looking out for number one. Spoiled from childhood and through adolescence, she is quite sure that the rest of Pern is there to serve her, and she sees no reason to bother herself with anything more important than having a good time. She has status and the money that goes with it, and so Xianine endulges in luxury. Only the best for a queen's rider and the daughter of a Master Seaman, surely? Xianine isn't all bad, though. She's a quick learner, and can be a good and loyal friend, though she gains them slowly. She doesn't betray trust, if she knows it has been given, unless it is a suitor; then, as she says flippantly, all is fair in love and war.
Xianine isn't fond of other women or girls, mostly because she sees herself as greatly superior to them. They, in turn, are generally not fond of her, as they see her as a swollen-headed hussy. While those words are a bit harsh, they aren't completely off the mark - Xianine does enjoy men. She's been flirting and teasing and coyly leading them on since she had fifteen turns, and at nineteen she's hardly inexperienced any more. She can wrap a man around her pinky finger, especially the younger ones, and she has no compassion for them, having broken various hearts wherever she's been for more than a sevenday. She is not just a flirt, however; Xianine is quite capable of falling in love, though she hasn't managed to stay in love with anyone for long periods of time. Her love is brief and furious, and she is a jealous lover, hating any attention not directed to herself.
Xianine isn't ambitious in the way that Alandra is, or Santara was - she has no plans to make her Weyr the most powerful on all Pern, or to meddle in politics. This is probably a good thing; as a goldrider, Xianine could be potentially influential, and she would likely offend many who could have been friends of the Weyr. Santara kept the girl far away from political affairs, relegating only the simplest of paperwork to her, and Alandra has not yet been around long enough to grow familiar with Xianine.
Xianine was somewhat intimidated by Santara, and generally stayed out of her way; the older woman was formidable, and still beautiful despite her age, a force to be reckoned with. Xianine payed lip service to her, curtsying very prettily with "yes ma'ams" and "no ma'ams" before continuing as she always had. Xianine's happiness at Santara's death was unseemly, and her fury at Alandra's arrival and replacement of her has been felt by all but the Weyrleadership, as she has yet to summon the courage to challenge an older, ranking goldrider.
Persona History:
Xianine was a privileged child, born to a rich Master Seaman and his young wife, daughter of a wealthy Cotholder. Her dowry was the true reason for the marriage, though she was pretty and sweet enough; the Master Seaman was more interested in progeny than romance. He got her pregnant quickly, and then bad her fairwell, as he had sea voyages to make, with much profit to be earned in trade to the north. His wife, only seventeen turns and too slender yet for childbirth, pined. She was sick throughout the pregnancy, and the midwife and healer clucked over her for eight months. Xianine was born several weeks early, and the birthing killed her mother.
No one was surprised, really; childbirth and young mothers caused death too often to be uncommon, and Filaine had not been healthy. Xianine's father returned for the funeral, saw, to his disgust, that Xianine was female, named her, and found a wetnurse as soon as could be, a woman whose infant son had died of an unidentified fever. Jilah took Xianine as her own, and both were some comfort to each other.
Xianine's father was rarely in Daragon, where Xianine was brought up; he had no real need for a family, and prefered to be on voyage somewhere, making profit. He was good at his trade, and Xianine was brought up with fine clothes and toys and food - indeed, too much for a child, especially as her nurse spoiled her outrageously, with no one to check her or the child. Jilah indulged Xianine far too often, and when Exeran returned, he too gave her gifts inappropriate for a child. It did not take long for the girl to develop a swollen head.
By seven turns, Xianine was quite the little princess, wearing clothes fit for any Lord's daughter or spouse, and ordering the drudges around, demanding sweets and toys and rides. Jilah kept on indulging, and by the time Xianine was nine, she was rather fat. Exeran returned after a turn's absense, noticed his daughter's appearance, and instructed Jilah to cut down on Xianine's diet. Xianine fussed and cried, but after a smack from her father, she did as told and stopped eating so many treats. Jilah consoled her, telling her that being fat would ruin her beauty, and Xianine began to realize that being beautiful was a good and important thing.
Xianine slimmed down, became somewhat more afraid of her father (she no longer sassed him to his face), and began to wander outside of the hold. Jilah came with her, usually, but sometimes a male drudge who acted as her guard, Doret, accompanied her. She had really lived a rather secluded life, and as Gathers were often in the busy seaport of Daragon, she met all sorts. She loved the music of the harpers, and for a time indulged a fancy of being a harper's wife and playing the pipes while he sang, but as the harper who gave her lessons with the Lord's children said that she was hopelessly unmusical, she dismissed it. Xianine actually made a friend in her eleventh turn, a well-to-do weaver's daughter who had a firelizard, much to Xianine's envy, and would sometimes let Xianine pet it.
This was Delinae, a girl not quite so pretty or wealthy or intelligent, but nicer and sweeter and calmer. She was a "good influence" on Xianine, getting her to quiet down and use her pretty face and manners to get what she wanted, not temper tantrums and threats. Xianine learned, and also enjoyed playing on the sands with her new friend. The two were very close for some years, until Xianine grew up beautiful and Delinae grew up plain.
Delinae fancied herself in love with the son of a prosperous trading camp, a handsome youth of roughly 19 turns; he was four turns older than both girls. He paid no notice to her when his trading train came through Daragon hold. Xianine, however, he did notice. She had matured into a lovely girl, having skipped the awkward, gawky, and pimply stages altogether. She was also better-dressed, and she swanned around the hold, completely aware of the glances she received from young men. When the trader's son noticed her, she was coy and flirtatious, and eventually Delinae caught on that her best friend was toying with the man she fancied.
Delinae was furious, and the fight that ensued effectively ended their friendship forever. The two have not spoken since. Now completely friendless, Xianine spent far too much time with young men than was appropriate for a girl her age, and since her nurse was powerless and her father rarely at home, she did whatever she pleased. It didn't take very long for her to deflower herself; she didn't care at all what the old biddies whispered about her, since the men liked her plenty.
When a young bluerider, dashing in his riding leathers and impressive astride his fighting beast, came on search to the hold, Xianine was first in line to be searched, unawares of the preferences of many blueriders. She was searched nonetheless, for the searchdragon thought that the scheming, strong-willed girl had some of the necessary properties to impress a queen dragonet. She was not well-liked at the Weyr, but she found that the men were just as willing as at the hold, and that the biddies didn't whisper nearly so much. Three sevendays after being searched, she impressed the last gold hatchling Santara's queen, Eluanth, ever clutched. Xianine fell in love with Carleath on that day, and for the first time in her life Xianine had found a soul whom she loved as much as herself.
Xianine was not pleased with the restrictions of Weyrlinghood, but under stern injunction from the Weyrwoman, who frightened the girl somewhat, she obeyed the Weyrlingmaster in that respect at least. She was hardly the exemplary weyrling, but she scraped by, mostly since she had the brown and bronze weyrlings obeying her every whim. She learned to fly, go between, and manipulate dragonmen - the only useful lessons of Weyrlinghood, in her opinion. She also began recordkeeping for the Weyrwoman, a duty she hates. She still performs it, however, as Alandra has no love for it either, and as Jr. Weyrwoman, she has to do as told by the Senior Queen.
After the death of Santara, Xianine had quite a ball, doing whatever she pleased in the Weyr with no one to reign her in. The only bronzerider who might have exerted some influence was T'lobl, and he was preoccupied with grief. Managing to offend various important people and run up a deficit in stores, the young goldrider has earned little respect from her elders. The girl was impotent with rage when Alandra was appointed Weyrwoman over her - she had only had the title for a scanty six months! Though she doesn't tell the Weyrwoman to her face, Xianine resents the older woman, and only serves her out of duty.
Xianine's Carleath has not yet had her first flight, and at twenty-three months, many think it is imminent. Those who know Xianine worry that her flight may be more than the Weyr can handle...
Dragonrider Information:
Dragon's Name: Carleath
Dragon's Age: Twenty-three months
Dragon's Color: Gold
Dragon's Appearance:
Carleath is a dainty gold - well, as dainty as you can be at forty-one feet in length! She is nowhere near so large as Eluanth was and Lastianth is, and most think she's reached her adult size. Trim, slender, and graceful in the air, Carleath is prettier than the other two golds she's been compared to, and her light, yellowish gold coloration is pretty too. While not as majestic as most queens, she is very impressive too - after all, save the Weyrleadership's dragons, she's supreme in the Weyr, and she knows it! She carries herself as if the whole world should bow down to her, despite her young age, and in the air she swoops and soars like any green, sure in her arial prowess. Her wings are long and narrow, and while her stamina is not as great as most bronzes and golds, she is very, very fast, and much more nimble and manoueverable.
Dragon's Personality:
Carleath was born knowing that she was a queen, and Xianine's own sense of superiority has reinforced this idea. Carleath believes quite firmly that she deserves respect and obediance from all, though she always obeys the Weyrleader and Weyrwoman's dragons. She is not intimidated by them, however; it is her firm belief that someday she will be Sr. Queen. She was as indignant as her rider when replaced by Alandra, not that she'd ever say so to Lastianth's face, and still holds a grudge. She believes that Lastianth is trying to steal her males, and she doesn't like it! Carleath likes the boys almost as much as her rider, and flirts constantly. However, she, unlike her rider, believes that permanent attachments aren't bad things - once she develops a liking for a brown or bronze, it takes an awful lot to change her preference.
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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