Since HT is a text-based environment, how you present yourself in text and
as a character comes out in what you say about yourself as well as how you say it.
We'd like to see how much you know about Pern, and your character in
particular, as well as hear any goals you have for yourself and the
character. Obviously, there are no right or wrong answers, because Hey! It's your character! but a well thought-out character comes across better; you may want to spend a bit of time thinking about your answers before you start typing. :)
Yes, it is nice if you've been around for a while so we all know who you
are, but if you haven't, you shouldn't sweat it either: we'll find out soon
enough!
Don't stress -- share!
1: Tell us about your character. Who is he or she? What position does
he/she hold? What's your character's background? Feel free to include descriptions, history, Significant Events -- anything you think would be handy in seeing Who You Are.
1.'mia is an tall and shapely to the extreme, stretched out and yet still holding curves. Her face is round and tanned, sort of heart-shaped, the only point being at her somewhat dainty chin. The tan only serves to deepen the set of those lovely sapphire eyes, eyes that turn slightly up at the corners to give her an almost elfin appearance. Her height, of course, completely dispells that notion, as does the complete, jet black of her hair. But one thing interrupts that sea of ebony, a tiny ivory interlude. Ebony characterizes even the splashes upon her forehead that are her slender eyebrows and those long, alluring lashes shielding the gems of azure below them. The girl's nose is rather small and roundish, though not snubbed, shaped a little too small for her face, but barely marring its beauty. Sensuous lips of deep scarlet, wide without the help of anything cosmetic in the least reside below that smallish nose...perhaps making up for it? Below that, the slightly pointed chin.
Her body is what makes her slender, not her face, assuredly. Her long arms are muscled, but not burly, ending in slender wrists and long, dexterous fingers. Those fingers are capped with perfectly shaped nails that look as if they would be perfectly elegant had she not a need to keep them cropped. Bakers simply don't have long fingernails. The young woman is fairly well endowed and, from long experience and habit running about and exercising, her stomach remains flat and firm. Below that and following the suit of curves come wide hips that lead into firm, shapely thighs and calves, ending in, of all things, tiny feet.
A lovely blue dress drapes Damia's curvy form in elegance. In High Reaches, even the summer isn't scorchingly hot and she always wears a white underdress though whether or not it's always pristine is a point that can definitely be debated. The bodice is the same color as the skirt, a lovely sapphire to match her eyes completely. It laces up the front, of all things, and the top of that white underdress can be seen at the top, the arms of course, coming from the sides of the bodice. The skirt flares with courtly elegance, aided by that everpresent underdress. It falls down to her ankles where it brushes against her wherhide boots, dyed the same color as her dress and don't look to be cheap...especially to a senior apprentice. Over her dress, she can almost always be seen with a long apron that drapes it completely. It too is almost always spattered with baking souvenirs of all types including batters and sauces. Her hair does mostly what it pleases and she wears it up or down as the weather and its mood permit.
A lush double cord accompanying a single loop complete with a small tail all of gold and brown. As well, there're little golden embellishments to signify 'mia as an assistant head cook. It sits upon High Reaches' black mountains against a blue sky. Below it sits a little loaf of bread. Of /course/ she's a baker!
Damia is 20 Turns old.
Damia’s life has confused her, to say the least. She started out as daughter to a minor holder of Benden. Yes, Benden. She grew up enjoying the happiness of being the eldest of quite a few children. Her father, of course, was far too busy to afford her much time, but her mother was not. Lady Mirabethan was a kind sole and was always happy to be a part in her children’s life. And she succeeded rather admirably at it, teaching her four daughters to be proper young girls and her three sons to follow their father and be moral in their dealings. Quite a big responsibility considering the fact that she still had to take care of the domestic dealings of a minor Holding. As ‘mia grew older, she learned to appreciate that effort on Mirabethan’s part even more, spending more time letting her mother know what a good job she did. Those last few months were close to heaven for Damia, learning the things she would need to know and spending time with a respectable woman. And then, it happened.
Lady Mirabethan and Lord Driken were out on a tour of their cotholds in the mountains around Benden. It was just early spring and some rains had drenched the countryside, though the Lord and Lady didn’t appear to notice, or even care very much. A mistake which proved to be fatal. A rumbling could be heard far above and before they knew it, a combination of rocks and mud came tumbling down the mountain at immense speeds. Driken spurred his runner forward and she whinnied but obeyed, eyes white and rolling all over the place from fear. Mirabethan did the same and despite the fact that she was a magnificent rider, sometimes runner silliness can’t be helped. Her mare panicked and pawed the ground instead of going forward. The Lady hopped off with lightening reflexes, dashing for Driken and safety…but to no avail. Midway to refuge, the rocks and mud overcame her, burrying her and killing her immediately with their velocity. A quick, relatively painless death, to be sure, but tragic. Driken ran to where sher body would be ‘neath the piles of rock and mud once the ‘slide had stopped, sobbing. His love…
Damia, meanwhile, was not to hear of her mother’s death for the day or two it took for a messanger to reach the Hold. After all, her parents were old-fashioned and firelizards weren’t their cup-of-tea. At least they were studious in all areas that really mattered…The poor girl ran sobbing to her room, throwing herself on the cot and slamming the door. She sat, crying and thinking between the fits of sobbing for at least a candlemark or two before the eldest of her brothers, the next sibling after her in birth-order knocked timidly on the door. A ragged “Come.” Escaped from Damia’s throat and he entered, padding silently into the room and setting him lightly at the foot of the cot. ‘mia sat up, looking at him through reddened eyes and across tear-stained cheeks. Keiran needn’t say anything, instead she just leaned into his shoulder and cried. A little while later, they both emerged to find the Hold in a state of shock…and no one to get it out. Afterall, the Lady Holder was no longer living. In the fairy tales, Damia would have come to grips with her problems and taken charge. This isn’t a fairy tale. Instead she remained locked inside her grief. And marvelling that her mother could have touched so many people…except one. One remained untouched, bustling about and trying to take care of things efficiently.
Falmyst was a sort of heafty woman, just hired by the late Lady Holder for help around the hold as she took care of the newest batch of babies—twins. Falmyst /was/ a great help, but that doesn’t mean she was a nice person. Quite the opposite, she was a little bitter and wasn’t really touched by anything. She was efficient, however, and whilst everyone was still grieving, she was speaking in hushed tones with some other people for arrangements for extracting the Lady and giving her a /proper/ burial. For quite some time, Falmyst would have hold of the Hold as far as domestic afairs go, and Damia couldn’t care less.
Just like her, her father was locked inside of his grief…until a new family arrived. The wife of the family had no husband and they didn’t look particularly prosperous. As it turned out, her husband had perished trying to save his family. And he succeeded, his wife, named Kisa, escaping to this small hold just south of Benden. Driken took her in, too numb to so anything else. Just about that time, something else came into Damia’s life. The same something, but for a different reason—that family. She didn’t particularly care that they were there, only that they brought with them change, change from the numb pace the entire Hold had set for themselves since Mirabethan’s death. It seemed to break ‘mia’s otherwise inpenetrable shell, if not those of others. And she noticed with the pack was a boy. Now, the little holder girl wasn’t exactly /old/ yet, but she was at that stage in her life when she began to notice boys. In a different way than just as playmates. Oh no, she noticed him and liked him. Not just liked, but /like/ liked. So she took her fear firmly in hand, shoving it just an inch behind her courage and she began to socialize with him.
The boy, Kasim, wasn’t particularly striking, though he did have the blonde hair-blue-eye-fair skin complexion that so many girls yearn after and can never receive. A mild mannered boy and yet having a couple of those wild ideas that make Kasim…Kasim! All those things and more, he was to Damia. He was something she could bounce her ideas for improving Hold morale against, he was someone to flirt with, something to occupy her time. They grew closer and closer, even began…experimenting a little. Just as teenagers are apt to do.
Her father hadn’t exactly been idle either. A Holder can’t exactly, and he had begun taking his grief in stride, running the hold like a well oiled machine once again. Falmyst’s position was usurped once again, this time by its proper owner, Driken. And the Lord wasn’t idle in the area of romance either. He had taken a liking to the exotic young woman who had come for shelter in his Hold. Soon she came into even more favor as she showed signs of actually knowing how to run a hold, domestically, with at least some emotion. Maybe not /quite/ as efficient as Falmyst, but definitely the emotional boost Driken’s people needed.
Before /anyone/ knew it, least of which, Damia, Driken and Kisa were handfasted and the Hold was running almost as well as it was under Mirabethan. Of course, ‘mia is always the last to know…and therefore she didn’t know until she had already gotten rather involved, emotionally, with Kasim. And then they found out. Ooops…Immediately they came to the mutual agreement to cut the ‘relationship’ off, but still, it was something that helped ‘mia to grow as a person. She learned how to truly empty yourself to someone. Sure she cleared her mind and her eyes of tears to Kieran, but never to the extent she could to Kasim. Truly, they had hit on a friendship that would last forever for all they were legally siblings now.
As ‘mia grew and developed, she became quite a blossoming young woman, beautiful with her mother’s startlingly bright, sapphire eyes. Of course she was the object of much lust far and beyond to those who knew her, or had even seen sketches of her. Driken, as any proper Holder would do, began looking for good handfasting for his daughter. As with /any/ girl, this scared the poor Damia and as always, she spilled her feelings to Kasim.
“I /can’t/ be married off. How can I do /anything/ properly if I have to spend all my waking—and sleeping—moments with someone I don’t know and don’t necissarily like, or /love/ for that matter?” Desperation began to color her tone and a flicker of something like despair began to glow, kindle, then light in those eyes of azure. Kasim looked deep into them with his own light blue eyes, searching them restlessly. “I…I can’t say that I honestly know. Truly, I’ve never been in that situation and aren’t likely /to/ be. But Damia…I’ll confess. I don’t think you’re cut out to be a Holder. I see it in your eyes. You have to do /something/ with that talent…” Wheat waved above their heads from their little hideout among a cropping of rocks piled in the middle of her father’s field. Always they would come here to talk and always, they would find a way to get back, unoticed. “What talent?” ‘mia had asked, completely, honestly bewildered.
Talent? Yes, Damia most /definitely/ had a talent. From…forever, she could be counted on to not only have perfect pitch, but to be infinitely patient with children. “Your talent. You could be just about anything you want, but you’re not ready to settle down and probably aren’t likely to be, at least with any one man.” Kasim had shrugged and ‘mia studied his features for a long moment. “I think you’re right…but do you really think I should run? Shouldn’t I just ask fa—“ “NO. Whatever you do, don’t. I know at least /that/ much. That’ll just speed up his pairing process so you don’t have the /chance/ to run away.” A certain hint of desperation darkened his own eyes as well, but nothing more.
After that conversation, ‘mia carefully hoarded whatever food she could, studiously packing one article of clothing each day. Sure she had to travel light, but she also had to do it surreptitiously. A holder’s daughter really doesn’t get all that much privacy she can call truly her own. After only a sevenday, she counted her supplies early, early in the morning when only the most studious drudges were awakening. A satisfied nod jerked almost the whole of her body and she took the little carisak and slung it over her shoulder, slipping silently through the darkened Hold. Into Kasim’s room she crept, right up to his cot. Softly, she planted a moist kiss on his forehead, eyes watering as she looked at him for what would probably be the last time. And then she was gone, sliding out the great doors of the hold and dissapearing down the road on her favorite runner, Moondance.
The next day, everyone woke up to their normal schedule…all except Kasim who was privy to Damia’s schedule for leaving. It was only late that afternoon when Driken had yet another of those dratted proposals that the Lord noticed his daughter missing. She’d always been allowed her independence and so he really hadn’t thought much of it. A scrawled note was found on his desk which he so rarely used and curses could be heard echoing about the courtyard. Kasim winced and went about his duties as normal, only the occasional piece of attention paid to the ranting Holder. He /needed/ that girl, shardit! She was his best bargaining peace and she just sharding had to run away, yes? Of /course/.
The road wasn’t exactly pleasant for ‘mia who had only seen the real hardships of travel on a few expiditions to the cotholds beholden to her father. But across the continent she road, steadfastly reaching westward and as far from her father’s questing fingers as she could get. Oh sure, she stopped at the occasional inn or charitable cothold, she /did/ have a few marks to use, but still it was meager going and by the time, a turn later, she reached Tillek, she was grimy, emaciated, and /very/ tired of riding. Moondance was worn despite her most studious efforts at keeping the runner healthy. She was met at the entrance by a cheerful cook who ‘mia would later know as Kaetetrini. The woman took Damia under her wing, nurturing her for almost a full sevenday before she would allow the girl any freedom to go about her chores as a member of the hold. When it came her time to help with cooking duty, she knocked the socks off of…well ‘trini. No one else particularly paid notice to the little holder girl from Benden who could cook. Kaetetrini pulled her aside, glowlight dancing across her optics. “Damia. You have a gift…you’ve just /got/ to be a baker. We can’t let that go to waste! And besides, you’re not going to be happy here, you’ve got to have /excitement/ in your life. I can see it in your eyes.”
Apparently Damia’s eyes betray a lot about her for Kasim observed the exact same thing. “But…” She began, but the journeywoman bustled her off, handing her an apprentice knot and a handshake. “You wouldn’t mind working up at the Weyr, now would you?” She had continued briskly and much to her own amusement and amazement, Damia agreed without hesitation. “Why of course! Wow…who’da thought /I’d/ be working at High Reaches?” At least, that was her assumption. And apparently Kaetetrini couldn’t prove her wronge. And so, with only a bare candlemark to pack her belongings once again, she was shuttled out to the courtyard and a waiting green dragon. She stared in awe, jaw open. A minor hold like her’s wasn’t especially prone to have dragon visits…and now she was going to /ride/ one!
The rider atop the dragon had a certain roguish appeal to him, and yet, he seemed the sort of big-brother type, not the lover type. Chocolate eyes twinkled as he reached a hand down and she handed up her stuff, still in a daze. A green dragon! The dragon snorted and the rider laughed out loud, brown eyes twinkling as he offered ‘mia a hand. She took it, still moving rather confusedly. “Hi…” She said shyly and he took the hint. “Oh yeah! How silly of me. I’m C’lumsy and this is green Klutzieth. We’ll be conveying you to High Reaches…I assume you’ve never ridden aback a dragon?” A brown wink awarded Damia’s head-shaking denial. “I’m Damia…” She said, but was swept away by his instructions. “Hold onto my waist. It’s going to be very cold, /between/, but it’ll be only for a moment.” The great green head turned to gaze upon the scared apprentice and ‘mia could’ve /sworn/ she saw the dragon wink…but then again, she didn’t really have time to think about it for with a little crouch and a spring they were aloft, taking ‘mia’s breath away.
And just as suddenly, they were /between/. ‘mia didn’t have words to describe it. It was as if…she wasn’t there anymore. She was just hanging in limbo, unable to move or think, the cold so complete that it actually numbed her mind. Comforting thoughts entered her mind and she knew Klutzieth was reassuring her even though she couldn’t feel the emerald hide beneath her thighs. And then they were in the compariably warm air of High Reaches. Compariably. It was still rather fridged and snow covered the landscape below, creating a winter wonderland. Little colored speck dotted the sides of the bowl where dragons lay, trying to catch the merest hint of winter sunlight. And down down down they spiraled, landing smoothly just before the living caverns. “Amalia! We’ve got ourselves someone new!” A thin woman bustled from the large mouth of the caverns even as C’lumsy helped ‘mia off the green’s back. Amalia helped out, then signaled a drudge who scuttled readily up to take Damia’s luggage. “Oh that’s alright, I’ll take it.” She assured the drudge with a smile. She shrugged then scuttled back off. She walked in a daze along behind the headwoman ‘till they entered the cavern. “Well, we’ll have to get you all bunked down and give you the basics…I take it you’ve never been to a Weyr?” Damia shook her head, her mouth slightly parted. She licked her lips and shut her mouth, only just then conscious of it. The girl turned, trying to admire everything at once. And that’s when the headwoman noticed her knot. “Oh! You’re not just anyone…you’re an apprentice. Nade!” She turned her attention to the door at the right of the cavern. A woman covered in flour appeared, a somewhat sour expression on her features. “We’ve got ourselves a new apprentice!” The cook replied, “Good thang, t’. I cannae get these drudge t’ do /ahnythink/ right!” The woman’s accent was thick and despite her grumpy appearance, the apprentice took an immediate liking to her.
Thus started Damia’s stay at High Reaches which is ongoing and happy. At present, she’s working on her journeyman project which will involve (probably) a TPish dinner. Heh.
Damia is still a little saddened by her past for it isn’t as she wanted it to go. And it still comes ‘round to haunt her from time to time; idle threats from her father for her to come back home pop up at the oddest of times, but other than that, she’s not bothered by them. Every once in a while she’ll try her hand at contacting Kasim, but each time, the letter doesn’t make it or her step-brother doesn’t choose to respond. Le sigh.
‘mia has made quite a few friends in her four turns at high reaches…and recently impressed three firelizards: Green Izyndyl, Blue Wyrre, and Brown Ozu-Zarkh. She’s happy with her life and has apparently set the stage for more apprentices to join her at High Reaches.
Damia never really had /much/ in the way of a social life back at Benden and therefore has a rather…flirtatious one here. Apparently, she has a low tolerance for alcohol and therefore can get quite drunk on only a few glasses. And now and again, she can be seen stumbling from a rider’s weyr in the morning, attempting to shake off sleepiness in time to fix breakfast. Those activities have lowered in frequency considerably, however, once she became senior apprentice, for Nadesda seemed to work her harder and she was almost /always/ exhausted…
She’ll be recovering soon, hopefully, especially with the help of a few, very close friends.
2: What are your goals for this character? What about the character's
goals?
Does the character want to be a rider?
I would like for some more significant events to happen that will help Damia shape who she is. ATM, a great many of the events that have happened to her didn’t actually get RPed and, as I’m an RP mad-woman, I’m slightly disappointed in that. However, there’s more to come and I hope the Weyr, dragons, and riders can provide even more in the way of paths I can take to develop her further.
ICly, of course, Damia would positively /love/ to be a dragonrider. Who on Pern wouldn’t be? Just about everyone, it seems, harbors a hidden desire or fantasy to be one of the elite, dragonriders of Pern. However, seeing as her life hasn’t exactly gone as she foresaw it, running a hold after her mother’s /retirement/, she’s working more on getting situated at the Weyr. She’s happy where she is and while she lives around dragons and should be getting constant reminders of dragonriding, that aspect of her fantasies for her future has sort of been shoved into the back of her mind.
Damia lost the only true chance she had at love, thus far in her life. How’d she lose it? Well, she can’t marry her brother…who in their right mind would do that? And so she formed a close, friendship-sibling bond. And while it’s as undying as anything else, Kasim just doesn’t live at High Reaches. His memory will always been in ‘mia’s mind, but she can’t experience it daily like she could when having a lifemate. As well, she owns three firelizards, thusly having a taste of what the bond must be like. They’ll love her anyway…but they can’t really interact with her. ‘Once you pop, you just can’t stop.’ She’s had a /taste/ of the dessert and so yearns greatly, on some subconscious level for a little more than just that tidbit.
3: OOCly, why do you (as a /player/) want to ride at High Reaches rather
than at Ista? What would you like to do for the Weyr or have the Weyr do for you? Do you have any goals for your character in terms of future positions you might like to hold?
I haven’t really RPed much at Ista for all I have an alt there. Basically, Ista doesn’t have as much RP as High Reaches and that’s what I look for most in a place. Not only that, but it seems to have a wealth of ideas to keep it moving and to keep the excitement level up. What would I give in exchange for all this excitement? Ideas of my own. While I’m not exactly the brightest crayon in the box, I can think up ideas when I want to and I think I could add to that wealth. Also, I tend to RP whenever I get the chance, and I wouldn’t call myself exactly a /shabby/ RPer and therefore, I feel that I can add healthy RP to the Weyr as well.
If there is a gold dragon and I Impress, I will, of course, love to hold a Weyrwoman position, as is dictated by the dragon color. Were I to Impress any other color, there are some other positions I would like to hold. One of them is Weyrling Master and Assistant Weyrling Master. I would like these two positions because it’s rather easy to plan TPs from them as well as gaiing RP both from the Candidates and Weyrlings while on Search Cycle. Plus, I /love/ working with people.
Another position I’d love? Wingleader. Yes, I have high goals, but I love ‘em. Wingleader allows you to do a lot in the way of planning TPs and doing Falls. /And/ you get to work with people. So it’s my second choice ‘cause you don’t get to terrorize Candidates and Weyrlings, but it’s almost as good ;).
4: If your /character/ were a dragon, what sort of dragon would she/he be?
Please feel free to tell us whatever strikes you. Color is not required if
you can't assign one -- nor is a gender match!
If my character were a dragon, I think they'd be really outgoing and provide opinions and thoughts to the rider instead of merely replying to what the rider says, formulating their own things to say and 'voicing' them...much like Ruth. I really think greens would be the most fun to RP because they're so moody, and yet quite sweet at the same time. Plus, you get to do the flights. ;). Golds would be fun as well for the same reason and to be imperious, though a green would be my first choice. Also, I think a brown would be the great fun because they're really quite thoughtful and that fits with the qualities I would like to have if my character were a dragon. Also, they get to chase greens /and/ golds.
5: Have you ever had a rider character before on HT - Impressed or Insta?
You do not need to give the name of your alt, but please be aware that we
mayask for this at a later stage if we feel the circumstances justify it.
I don't play any characters that ride a dragon on the MOO. Nope, nada, zilch, zero ;).
SECTION B: The SearchCo works very hard to design the dragon that is perfect for you -- one that you'll enjoy from Impression to years in the future. While we can't guarantee that you'll be more interested and active if you Impress, we want to try our best to help you, by giving you a dragon you'll like. This requires, though, that you be completely up front and honest About the dragon you would like, and the one you would not like. We encourage you to think about this, and keep thinking about this if you are searched -- it's no fun for any of us if you Impress a dragon you're unhappy with!
6: a. Please list those colors you would like to impress. Why?
Please list those colors you would not like to impress. Why not?
(Please keep in mind re: metallic dragons that fixating on one can
constrain our ability to Impress you -- but, if it is truly what you want,
/please/ be honest. We won't skewer you for it, really!)
Gold, as is with most people, is my highest ranked dragon. Golds are beautiful to describe (which I /love/ to do) as well has allowing the rider to hold a position not only to progress the Weyr, but to be an intricate part of the Weyr’s working both IC and OOC. Not only that, but you get to RP flights and organize Searches and Hatchings. /That’s/ just as fun as any of that other gobbledygook :).
Next in line would have to be green. I think it would provide interesting and stimulating RP to play a character who's dragon is proddy as well as having fun RPing the flights. I also think a green could fit my description of a perfect dragon nicely. Perhaps not perfectly, but definitely nice enough for all the rest of the good RP that comes with them. After all, they can have a pretty big mind of their own, mot of the time.
Third in line would have to a brown because they're versatile. They have fairly good endurance, but are also somewhat more maneuverable. They can participate in both green and gold flights which would provide RP (can you tell I like rp?). Also, better even then a green I think a brown would fit my description of a perfect dragon because in the books they seem to come across as more thoughtful and less automatic.
Last, but certainly not least, I would appreciate a blue. Blues are definitely versatile and can be quite fun because their capacities are so much less then the metallic dragons. Because of this, complaining could be fun and defense of blues in general would provide interesting RP, I think. Also, search would be fun as blues are often those to search likely candidates out of the holds, which would be a major RP perk to owning a blue.
I really don't think that there's a color I wouldn't like to impress. I think they would each be equally fun in their own way despite the order I have put them in.
b. If 1 is the ultimate dragon, and 5 is something that would make you log out and never log in again, please rank all dragon colors.
For Example: bronze-1, blue-1, green-2, brown 5. (This would tell us that you would be very happy with a blue/bronze dragon, and quite delighted with green, but would rather not ride brown.)
b) Gold-1 Green-1 Brown-2 Blue-3
7: a. Now, we'd like you to describe us a blue dragon! Note that this is
just for us to see what you do with a dragon desc -- it's not to say that
you/want/ blue! But humor us. =D We might give you a cookie.
a) Blueth
Azure radiance sweeps from the angular muzzle to the sinewy tail of this lithe beast. A slight more turquoise color tinges his snout, sweeping playfully backward and blending into a more Prussian color half-way down his neck. Covering the rippling muscles in his legs is hide of lovely, childish cerulean, sweeping backward for a more sapphire look near the end of his whispy tail. Inquisitive, curious eyes whirl from beneath the turquoise eyeridges, almost pulsating in their opalescent brilliance. Curving, almost dexterous fingers are ended by long, razor-sharp talons that gleam with an eerie sort of warning. Prismatic wings of pure gossamer arch elegantly out of the long, curving back, translucent and melding with the prussian to produce a dark, cobalt color. These wings, so different seem to move in such smooth and fluid ways as to suppress such yearning to be uniform with the rest of the lovely, but slightly immature blues of the dragon. Finishing the lashing tail is a spade. A spade that makes no effort to match its surrounds, a blunt spade of one of the lightest sky blues in a sea of oh-so-close to navy blue.
Now do I get a cookie? :)
b. Give us a clue to this dragon's personality! We'd like you to write a
pose (3-4 lines long) involving this dragon and perhaps his rider.
Blueth hops playfully in front of K’sin, blocking his path and crouching low and swishing his tail much like a playful little kitten. Lips part backward, showing off well-cared for, needle-sharp teeth…rows of the little devils. < c. Colour aside, is this the kind of dragon that you would like your character to Impress to? If so, why; if not, describe us the one you /would/ like! Tell us a bit about his/her personality and physical looks (a full description as you did in 7a. is not required); why would this dragon suit your character? We're not looking for a full inspiration here, just for some ideas about what kind of dragon you think would fit best and why. c)I think this blue (ignoring color, of course) is…well, not very close to what I would like Damia to impress. I think a little more humor would fit even better because Damia has a healthy sense of humor and I think her dragon should mirror that somewhat. However, I think he should look majestic but have something slightly wrong about him. Nothing that would prevent him from flying, but maybe a bad habit like scratching himself or twitching his tail or something. That would provide some source of interaction right off the bat between ‘mia and her dragon. Besides that, a playful dragon would be much more fun to RP with then one who just sits there and looks pretty. 8: Take a few (2 or 3) of the IC Weyr positions and tell us what you think they do, both IC and OOC. (If you're not sure, don't panic! We don't require you to be an expert in order to ride; after all, none of us knew when we first rode either :) If the position requires a dragon, are there any restrictions on what colors can hold these positions? If so, what are they? Weyrwoman:The Weyrwoman takes care of running the domestic tasks as well as some interactions with Lord and Lady Holders and some Crafmasters regarding tithe. She is the last word on such matters, higher in status then even the headwoman in domestic afairs. Also, she rides the senior queen and thus commands the queen's wing when the Weyr is flying thread. Because of this, the Weyrwoman must ride the Golden Senior Queen dragon. Headwoman: The headwoman takes care of domestic affairs and is second only to the Weyrwoman in that area. Mostly she takes stock of what the Weyr has in its larders and also takes care of the every day running of the Weyr, especially overseeing meals and making sure visitors are properly cared for. Generally, headwomen have an overall training with background in healing and cooking, but that’s not a prerequisite. Weyrlingmaster: The Weyrlingmaster is exactly what his title says, the master of the Weyrlings. Almost like a teacher…well no, exactly like a teacher. He guides the Weyrlings even from their Candidacy, preparing them for dragonriding. He’s someone they can go to for questions as well as help with their dragons. Caring for a dragonet is /hard work/ and Weyrlingmasters make it easier for the Weyrlings. There is no required dragon color to be a Weyrlingmaster. SECTION C: RolePlaying. This /is/ why we play, isn't it? We'd like to get an idea of what you like to roleplay, what you like about roleplay and what you do not like about roleplay, as well as what you'd like to share, RP-wise, with us. 9: Is there any particular bit of RP that you've done on HT that sticks out in your mind in a positive way? Why? Actually, surprisingly enough, one of my better RPs was one of my shorter ones as well. Basically, it was Damia and Michel and Edaeyn in the baths talking about Damia’s problems. They helped her to solve them which was good. But that’s not why I liked it. I liked it because the posing was positive and kept me on my toes as well as it being a chance to develop Damia ICly, giving others a little insight into her past. 10: Have you ever organized any sorts of events on HT? (Big or small, gather or firelizard hatching or craft events -- just something that required a bit of organization) If so, what? Don't worry if you haven't; we aren't asking this as any sort of test, just to get an idea of what you've done! What sorts of events might you like to organize as a candidate? As a weyrling? As a rider? (Again, you are never required to organize /anything/ -- we'd just like to get an idea of what sorts of things might appeal to you). Well, actually, I haven’t organized anything on HT, but actively I’m organizing a dinner TPish type thing, so I believe that counts even though it’s not in the past tense ;). As a Candidate, I would of course like to organize quite a few pranks, a few of which I already have in mind. And of course, if the WLM or AWLM don’t feel up to it, or would like some help, I’d like to organize an egg-touching and maybe a couple of practices as to what’s going to happen when the Hatching actually arrives. As a Weyrling, Falls would be fun because Weyrlings are expected to deliver replacement firestone. Also, drills and other such mundane Weyrling tasks would be interesting to organize, especially if the WLM was willing to help out. After all, they’re mundane but no one ever does them en masse with the other Weyrlings. As a rider, Falls and other disasters are the obvious course of action for someone to plan, but also Hatching feasts and other feasts for Namedays and the like. Mostly festive things, though some disasters would be fun, just to stir things up a little bit. LASTLY: 11: What didn't we ask you but should have? Do you have any comments on the Search process itself so far, or on the infopak? I’m not sure if this is relevant, but it might help to ask if the player wants a PD if’n they Impress. And whether or not they’re willing to be a PD. Just an idea, though I’ve never Impressed on /any/ Pern based game, so I don’t know if this is a process the newly-Impressed go through just after Impression. *shrug*. Anyhow, other than that, it seemed pretty thorough. Great job this time ‘round, SearchCO! *======================================================* Thank you for your interest in riding. :) If we like your application/RP, we /may/ be calling you in for an interview. Filling out the application does NOT mean that you will be interviewed; you must be interviewed to be Searched. SECTION A: You and Your Character. Since HT is a text-based environment, how you present yourself in text and as a character comes out in what you say about yourself as well as how you say it. We'd like to see how much you know about Pern, and your character in particular, as well as hear any goals you have for yourself and the character. Obviously, there are no right or wrong answers, because Hey! It's your character! but a well thought-out character comes across better; you may want to spend a bit of time thinking about your answers before you start typing. :) Yes, it is nice if you've been around for a while so we all know who you are, but if you haven't, you shouldn't sweat it either: we'll find out soon enough! Don't stress -- share! 1: Tell us about your character. Who is he or she? What position does he/she hold? What's your character's background? Feel free to include descriptions, history, Significant Events -- anything you think would be handy in seeing Who You Are. 1.'mia is an tall and shapely to the extreme, stretched out and yet still holding curves. Her face is round and tanned, sort of heart-shaped, the only point being at her somewhat dainty chin. The tan only serves to deepen the set of those lovely sapphire eyes, eyes that turn slightly up at the corners to give her an almost elfin appearance. Her height, of course, completely dispells that notion, as does the complete, jet black of her hair. But one thing interrupts that sea of ebony, a tiny ivory interlude. Ebony characterizes even the splashes upon her forehead that are her slender eyebrows and those long, alluring lashes shielding the gems of azure below them. The girl's nose is rather small and roundish, though not snubbed, shaped a little too small for her face, but barely marring its beauty. Sensuous lips of deep scarlet, wide without the help of anything cosmetic in the least reside below that smallish nose...perhaps making up for it? Below that, the slightly pointed chin. Her body is what makes her slender, not her face, assuredly. Her long arms are muscled, but not burly, ending in slender wrists and long, dexterous fingers. Those fingers are capped with perfectly shaped nails that look as if they would be perfectly elegant had she not a need to keep them cropped. Bakers simply don't have long fingernails. The young woman is fairly well endowed and, from long experience and habit running about and exercising, her stomach remains flat and firm. Below that and following the suit of curves come wide hips that lead into firm, shapely thighs and calves, ending in, of all things, tiny feet. A lovely blue dress drapes Damia's curvy form in elegance. In High Reaches, even the summer isn't scorchingly hot and she always wears a white underdress though whether or not it's always pristine is a point that can definitely be debated. The bodice is the same color as the skirt, a lovely sapphire to match her eyes completely. It laces up the front, of all things, and the top of that white underdress can be seen at the top, the arms of course, coming from the sides of the bodice. The skirt flares with courtly elegance, aided by that everpresent underdress. It falls down to her ankles where it brushes against her wherhide boots, dyed the same color as her dress and don't look to be cheap...especially to a senior apprentice. Over her dress, she can almost always be seen with a long apron that drapes it completely. It too is almost always spattered with baking souvenirs of all types including batters and sauces. Her hair does mostly what it pleases and she wears it up or down as the weather and its mood permit. A lush double cord accompanying a single loop complete with a small tail all of gold and brown. As well, there're little golden embellishments to signify 'mia as an assistant head cook. It sits upon High Reaches' black mountains against a blue sky. Below it sits a little loaf of bread. Of /course/ she's a baker! Damia is 20 Turns old. Damia’s life has confused her, to say the least. She started out as daughter to a minor holder of Benden. Yes, Benden. She grew up enjoying the happiness of being the eldest of quite a few children. Her father, of course, was far too busy to afford her much time, but her mother was not. Lady Mirabethan was a kind sole and was always happy to be a part in her children’s life. And she succeeded rather admirably at it, teaching her four daughters to be proper young girls and her three sons to follow their father and be moral in their dealings. Quite a big responsibility considering the fact that she still had to take care of the domestic dealings of a minor Holding. As ‘mia grew older, she learned to appreciate that effort on Mirabethan’s part even more, spending more time letting her mother know what a good job she did. Those last few months were close to heaven for Damia, learning the things she would need to know and spending time with a respectable woman. And then, it happened. Lady Mirabethan and Lord Driken were out on a tour of their cotholds in the mountains around Benden. It was just early spring and some rains had drenched the countryside, though the Lord and Lady didn’t appear to notice, or even care very much. A mistake which proved to be fatal. A rumbling could be heard far above and before they knew it, a combination of rocks and mud came tumbling down the mountain at immense speeds. Driken spurred his runner forward and she whinnied but obeyed, eyes white and rolling all over the place from fear. Mirabethan did the same and despite the fact that she was a magnificent rider, sometimes runner silliness can’t be helped. Her mare panicked and pawed the ground instead of going forward. The Lady hopped off with lightening reflexes, dashing for Driken and safety…but to no avail. Midway to refuge, the rocks and mud overcame her, burrying her and killing her immediately with their velocity. A quick, relatively painless death, to be sure, but tragic. Driken ran to where sher body would be ‘neath the piles of rock and mud once the ‘slide had stopped, sobbing. His love… Damia, meanwhile, was not to hear of her mother’s death for the day or two it took for a messanger to reach the Hold. After all, her parents were old-fashioned and firelizards weren’t their cup-of-tea. At least they were studious in all areas that really mattered…The poor girl ran sobbing to her room, throwing herself on the cot and slamming the door. She sat, crying and thinking between the fits of sobbing for at least a candlemark or two before the eldest of her brothers, the next sibling after her in birth-order knocked timidly on the door. A ragged “Come.” Escaped from Damia’s throat and he entered, padding silently into the room and setting him lightly at the foot of the cot. ‘mia sat up, looking at him through reddened eyes and across tear-stained cheeks. Keiran needn’t say anything, instead she just leaned into his shoulder and cried. A little while later, they both emerged to find the Hold in a state of shock…and no one to get it out. Afterall, the Lady Holder was no longer living. In the fairy tales, Damia would have come to grips with her problems and taken charge. This isn’t a fairy tale. Instead she remained locked inside her grief. And marvelling that her mother could have touched so many people…except one. One remained untouched, bustling about and trying to take care of things efficiently. Falmyst was a sort of heafty woman, just hired by the late Lady Holder for help around the hold as she took care of the newest batch of babies—twins. Falmyst /was/ a great help, but that doesn’t mean she was a nice person. Quite the opposite, she was a little bitter and wasn’t really touched by anything. She was efficient, however, and whilst everyone was still grieving, she was speaking in hushed tones with some other people for arrangements for extracting the Lady and giving her a /proper/ burial. For quite some time, Falmyst would have hold of the Hold as far as domestic afairs go, and Damia couldn’t care less. Just like her, her father was locked inside of his grief…until a new family arrived. The wife of the family had no husband and they didn’t look particularly prosperous. As it turned out, her husband had perished trying to save his family. And he succeeded, his wife, named Kisa, escaping to this small hold just south of Benden. Driken took her in, too numb to so anything else. Just about that time, something else came into Damia’s life. The same something, but for a different reason—that family. She didn’t particularly care that they were there, only that they brought with them change, change from the numb pace the entire Hold had set for themselves since Mirabethan’s death. It seemed to break ‘mia’s otherwise inpenetrable shell, if not those of others. And she noticed with the pack was a boy. Now, the little holder girl wasn’t exactly /old/ yet, but she was at that stage in her life when she began to notice boys. In a different way than just as playmates. Oh no, she noticed him and liked him. Not just liked, but /like/ liked. So she took her fear firmly in hand, shoving it just an inch behind her courage and she began to socialize with him. The boy, Kasim, wasn’t particularly striking, though he did have the blonde hair-blue-eye-fair skin complexion that so many girls yearn after and can never receive. A mild mannered boy and yet having a couple of those wild ideas that make Kasim…Kasim! All those things and more, he was to Damia. He was something she could bounce her ideas for improving Hold morale against, he was someone to flirt with, something to occupy her time. They grew closer and closer, even began…experimenting a little. Just as teenagers are apt to do. Her father hadn’t exactly been idle either. A Holder can’t exactly, and he had begun taking his grief in stride, running the hold like a well oiled machine once again. Falmyst’s position was usurped once again, this time by its proper owner, Driken. And the Lord wasn’t idle in the area of romance either. He had taken a liking to the exotic young woman who had come for shelter in his Hold. Soon she came into even more favor as she showed signs of actually knowing how to run a hold, domestically, with at least some emotion. Maybe not /quite/ as efficient as Falmyst, but definitely the emotional boost Driken’s people needed. Before /anyone/ knew it, least of which, Damia, Driken and Kisa were handfasted and the Hold was running almost as well as it was under Mirabethan. Of course, ‘mia is always the last to know…and therefore she didn’t know until she had already gotten rather involved, emotionally, with Kasim. And then they found out. Ooops…Immediately they came to the mutual agreement to cut the ‘relationship’ off, but still, it was something that helped ‘mia to grow as a person. She learned how to truly empty yourself to someone. Sure she cleared her mind and her eyes of tears to Kieran, but never to the extent she could to Kasim. Truly, they had hit on a friendship that would last forever for all they were legally siblings now. As ‘mia grew and developed, she became quite a blossoming young woman, beautiful with her mother’s startlingly bright, sapphire eyes. Of course she was the object of much lust far and beyond to those who knew her, or had even seen sketches of her. Driken, as any proper Holder would do, began looking for good handfasting for his daughter. As with /any/ girl, this scared the poor Damia and as always, she spilled her feelings to Kasim. “I /can’t/ be married off. How can I do /anything/ properly if I have to spend all my waking—and sleeping—moments with someone I don’t know and don’t necissarily like, or /love/ for that matter?” Desperation began to color her tone and a flicker of something like despair began to glow, kindle, then light in those eyes of azure. Kasim looked deep into them with his own light blue eyes, searching them restlessly. “I…I can’t say that I honestly know. Truly, I’ve never been in that situation and aren’t likely /to/ be. But Damia…I’ll confess. I don’t think you’re cut out to be a Holder. I see it in your eyes. You have to do /something/ with that talent…” Wheat waved above their heads from their little hideout among a cropping of rocks piled in the middle of her father’s field. Always they would come here to talk and always, they would find a way to get back, unoticed. “What talent?” ‘mia had asked, completely, honestly bewildered. Talent? Yes, Damia most /definitely/ had a talent. From…forever, she could be counted on to not only have perfect pitch, but to be infinitely patient with children. “Your talent. You could be just about anything you want, but you’re not ready to settle down and probably aren’t likely to be, at least with any one man.” Kasim had shrugged and ‘mia studied his features for a long moment. “I think you’re right…but do you really think I should run? Shouldn’t I just ask fa—“ “NO. Whatever you do, don’t. I know at least /that/ much. That’ll just speed up his pairing process so you don’t have the /chance/ to run away.” A certain hint of desperation darkened his own eyes as well, but nothing more. After that conversation, ‘mia carefully hoarded whatever food she could, studiously packing one article of clothing each day. Sure she had to travel light, but she also had to do it surreptitiously. A holder’s daughter really doesn’t get all that much privacy she can call truly her own. After only a sevenday, she counted her supplies early, early in the morning when only the most studious drudges were awakening. A satisfied nod jerked almost the whole of her body and she took the little carisak and slung it over her shoulder, slipping silently through the darkened Hold. Into Kasim’s room she crept, right up to his cot. Softly, she planted a moist kiss on his forehead, eyes watering as she looked at him for what would probably be the last time. And then she was gone, sliding out the great doors of the hold and dissapearing down the road on her favorite runner, Moondance. The next day, everyone woke up to their normal schedule…all except Kasim who was privy to Damia’s schedule for leaving. It was only late that afternoon when Driken had yet another of those dratted proposals that the Lord noticed his daughter missing. She’d always been allowed her independence and so he really hadn’t thought much of it. A scrawled note was found on his desk which he so rarely used and curses could be heard echoing about the courtyard. Kasim winced and went about his duties as normal, only the occasional piece of attention paid to the ranting Holder. He /needed/ that girl, shardit! She was his best bargaining peace and she just sharding had to run away, yes? Of /course/. The road wasn’t exactly pleasant for ‘mia who had only seen the real hardships of travel on a few expiditions to the cotholds beholden to her father. But across the continent she road, steadfastly reaching westward and as far from her father’s questing fingers as she could get. Oh sure, she stopped at the occasional inn or charitable cothold, she /did/ have a few marks to use, but still it was meager going and by the time, a turn later, she reached Tillek, she was grimy, emaciated, and /very/ tired of riding. Moondance was worn despite her most studious efforts at keeping the runner healthy. She was met at the entrance by a cheerful cook who ‘mia would later know as Kaetetrini. The woman took Damia under her wing, nurturing her for almost a full sevenday before she would allow the girl any freedom to go about her chores as a member of the hold. When it came her time to help with cooking duty, she knocked the socks off of…well ‘trini. No one else particularly paid notice to the little holder girl from Benden who could cook. Kaetetrini pulled her aside, glowlight dancing across her optics. “Damia. You have a gift…you’ve just /got/ to be a baker. We can’t let that go to waste! And besides, you’re not going to be happy here, you’ve got to have /excitement/ in your life. I can see it in your eyes.” Apparently Damia’s eyes betray a lot about her for Kasim observed the exact same thing. “But…” She began, but the journeywoman bustled her off, handing her an apprentice knot and a handshake. “You wouldn’t mind working up at the Weyr, now would you?” She had continued briskly and much to her own amusement and amazement, Damia agreed without hesitation. “Why of course! Wow…who’da thought /I’d/ be working at High Reaches?” At least, that was her assumption. And apparently Kaetetrini couldn’t prove her wronge. And so, with only a bare candlemark to pack her belongings once again, she was shuttled out to the courtyard and a waiting green dragon. She stared in awe, jaw open. A minor hold like her’s wasn’t especially prone to have dragon visits…and now she was going to /ride/ one! The rider atop the dragon had a certain roguish appeal to him, and yet, he seemed the sort of big-brother type, not the lover type. Chocolate eyes twinkled as he reached a hand down and she handed up her stuff, still in a daze. A green dragon! The dragon snorted and the rider laughed out loud, brown eyes twinkling as he offered ‘mia a hand. She took it, still moving rather confusedly. “Hi…” She said shyly and he took the hint. “Oh yeah! How silly of me. I’m C’lumsy and this is green Klutzieth. We’ll be conveying you to High Reaches…I assume you’ve never ridden aback a dragon?” A brown wink awarded Damia’s head-shaking denial. “I’m Damia…” She said, but was swept away by his instructions. “Hold onto my waist. It’s going to be very cold, /between/, but it’ll be only for a moment.” The great green head turned to gaze upon the scared apprentice and ‘mia could’ve /sworn/ she saw the dragon wink…but then again, she didn’t really have time to think about it for with a little crouch and a spring they were aloft, taking ‘mia’s breath away. And just as suddenly, they were /between/. ‘mia didn’t have words to describe it. It was as if…she wasn’t there anymore. She was just hanging in limbo, unable to move or think, the cold so complete that it actually numbed her mind. Comforting thoughts entered her mind and she knew Klutzieth was reassuring her even though she couldn’t feel the emerald hide beneath her thighs. And then they were in the compariably warm air of High Reaches. Compariably. It was still rather fridged and snow covered the landscape below, creating a winter wonderland. Little colored speck dotted the sides of the bowl where dragons lay, trying to catch the merest hint of winter sunlight. And down down down they spiraled, landing smoothly just before the living caverns. “Amalia! We’ve got ourselves someone new!” A thin woman bustled from the large mouth of the caverns even as C’lumsy helped ‘mia off the green’s back. Amalia helped out, then signaled a drudge who scuttled readily up to take Damia’s luggage. “Oh that’s alright, I’ll take it.” She assured the drudge with a smile. She shrugged then scuttled back off. She walked in a daze along behind the headwoman ‘till they entered the cavern. “Well, we’ll have to get you all bunked down and give you the basics…I take it you’ve never been to a Weyr?” Damia shook her head, her mouth slightly parted. She licked her lips and shut her mouth, only just then conscious of it. The girl turned, trying to admire everything at once. And that’s when the headwoman noticed her knot. “Oh! You’re not just anyone…you’re an apprentice. Nade!” She turned her attention to the door at the right of the cavern. A woman covered in flour appeared, a somewhat sour expression on her features. “We’ve got ourselves a new apprentice!” The cook replied, “Good thang, t’. I cannae get these drudge t’ do /ahnythink/ right!” The woman’s accent was thick and despite her grumpy appearance, the apprentice took an immediate liking to her. Thus started Damia’s stay at High Reaches which is ongoing and happy. At present, she’s working on her journeyman project which will involve (probably) a TPish dinner. Heh. Damia is still a little saddened by her past for it isn’t as she wanted it to go. And it still comes ‘round to haunt her from time to time; idle threats from her father for her to come back home pop up at the oddest of times, but other than that, she’s not bothered by them. Every once in a while she’ll try her hand at contacting Kasim, but each time, the letter doesn’t make it or her step-brother doesn’t choose to respond. Le sigh. ‘mia has made quite a few friends in her four turns at high reaches…and recently impressed three firelizards: Green Izyndyl, Blue Wyrre, and Brown Ozu-Zarkh. She’s happy with her life and has apparently set the stage for more apprentices to join her at High Reaches. Damia never really had /much/ in the way of a social life back at Benden and therefore has a rather…flirtatious one here. Apparently, she has a low tolerance for alcohol and therefore can get quite drunk on only a few glasses. And now and again, she can be seen stumbling from a rider’s weyr in the morning, attempting to shake off sleepiness in time to fix breakfast. Those activities have lowered in frequency considerably, however, once she became senior apprentice, for Nadesda seemed to work her harder and she was almost /always/ exhausted… She’ll be recovering soon, hopefully, especially with the help of a few, very close friends. 2: What are your goals for this character? What about the character's goals? Does the character want to be a rider? I would like for some more significant events to happen that will help Damia shape who she is. ATM, a great many of the events that have happened to her didn’t actually get RPed and, as I’m an RP mad-woman, I’m slightly disappointed in that. However, there’s more to come and I hope the Weyr, dragons, and riders can provide even more in the way of paths I can take to develop her further. ICly, of course, Damia would positively /love/ to be a dragonrider. Who on Pern wouldn’t be? Just about everyone, it seems, harbors a hidden desire or fantasy to be one of the elite, dragonriders of Pern. However, seeing as her life hasn’t exactly gone as she foresaw it, running a hold after her mother’s /retirement/, she’s working more on getting situated at the Weyr. She’s happy where she is and while she lives around dragons and should be getting constant reminders of dragonriding, that aspect of her fantasies for her future has sort of been shoved into the back of her mind. Damia lost the only true chance she had at love, thus far in her life. How’d she lose it? Well, she can’t marry her brother…who in their right mind would do that? And so she formed a close, friendship-sibling bond. And while it’s as undying as anything else, Kasim just doesn’t live at High Reaches. His memory will always been in ‘mia’s mind, but she can’t experience it daily like she could when having a lifemate. As well, she owns three firelizards, thusly having a taste of what the bond must be like. They’ll love her anyway…but they can’t really interact with her. ‘Once you pop, you just can’t stop.’ She’s had a /taste/ of the dessert and so yearns greatly, on some subconscious level for a little more than just that tidbit. 3: OOCly, why do you (as a /player/) want to ride at High Reaches rather than at Ista? What would you like to do for the Weyr or have the Weyr do for you? Do you have any goals for your character in terms of future positions you might like to hold? I haven’t really RPed much at Ista for all I have an alt there. Basically, Ista doesn’t have as much RP as High Reaches and that’s what I look for most in a place. Not only that, but it seems to have a wealth of ideas to keep it moving and to keep the excitement level up. What would I give in exchange for all this excitement? Ideas of my own. While I’m not exactly the brightest crayon in the box, I can think up ideas when I want to and I think I could add to that wealth. Also, I tend to RP whenever I get the chance, and I wouldn’t call myself exactly a /shabby/ RPer and therefore, I feel that I can add healthy RP to the Weyr as well. If there is a gold dragon and I Impress, I will, of course, love to hold a Weyrwoman position, as is dictated by the dragon color. Were I to Impress any other color, there are some other positions I would like to hold. One of them is Weyrling Master and Assistant Weyrling Master. I would like these two positions because it’s rather easy to plan TPs from them as well as gaiing RP both from the Candidates and Weyrlings while on Search Cycle. Plus, I /love/ working with people. Another position I’d love? Wingleader. Yes, I have high goals, but I love ‘em. Wingleader allows you to do a lot in the way of planning TPs and doing Falls. /And/ you get to work with people. So it’s my second choice ‘cause you don’t get to terrorize Candidates and Weyrlings, but it’s almost as good ;). 4: If your /character/ were a dragon, what sort of dragon would she/he be? Please feel free to tell us whatever strikes you. Color is not required if you can't assign one -- nor is a gender match! If my character were a dragon, I think they'd be really outgoing and provide opinions and thoughts to the rider instead of merely replying to what the rider says, formulating their own things to say and 'voicing' them...much like Ruth. I really think greens would be the most fun to RP because they're so moody, and yet quite sweet at the same time. Plus, you get to do the flights. ;). Golds would be fun as well for the same reason and to be imperious, though a green would be my first choice. Also, I think a brown would be the great fun because they're really quite thoughtful and that fits with the qualities I would like to have if my character were a dragon. Also, they get to chase greens /and/ golds. 5: Have you ever had a rider character before on HT - Impressed or Insta? You do not need to give the name of your alt, but please be aware that we mayask for this at a later stage if we feel the circumstances justify it. I don't play any characters that ride a dragon on the MOO. Nope, nada, zilch, zero ;). SECTION B: The SearchCo works very hard to design the dragon that is perfect for you -- one that you'll enjoy from Impression to years in the future. While we can't guarantee that you'll be more interested and active if you Impress, we want to try our best to help you, by giving you a dragon you'll like. This requires, though, that you be completely up front and honest About the dragon you would like, and the one you would not like. We encourage you to think about this, and keep thinking about this if you are searched -- it's no fun for any of us if you Impress a dragon you're unhappy with! 6: a. Please list those colors you would like to impress. Why? Please list those colors you would not like to impress. Why not? (Please keep in mind re: metallic dragons that fixating on one can constrain our ability to Impress you -- but, if it is truly what you want, /please/ be honest. We won't skewer you for it, really!) Gold, as is with most people, is my highest ranked dragon. Golds are beautiful to describe (which I /love/ to do) as well has allowing the rider to hold a position not only to progress the Weyr, but to be an intricate part of the Weyr’s working both IC and OOC. Not only that, but you get to RP flights and organize Searches and Hatchings. /That’s/ just as fun as any of that other gobbledygook :). Next in line would have to be green. I think it would provide interesting and stimulating RP to play a character who's dragon is proddy as well as having fun RPing the flights. I also think a green could fit my description of a perfect dragon nicely. Perhaps not perfectly, but definitely nice enough for all the rest of the good RP that comes with them. After all, they can have a pretty big mind of their own, mot of the time. Third in line would have to a brown because they're versatile. They have fairly good endurance, but are also somewhat more maneuverable. They can participate in both green and gold flights which would provide RP (can you tell I like rp?). Also, better even then a green I think a brown would fit my description of a perfect dragon because in the books they seem to come across as more thoughtful and less automatic. Last, but certainly not least, I would appreciate a blue. Blues are definitely versatile and can be quite fun because their capacities are so much less then the metallic dragons. Because of this, complaining could be fun and defense of blues in general would provide interesting RP, I think. Also, search would be fun as blues are often those to search likely candidates out of the holds, which would be a major RP perk to owning a blue. I really don't think that there's a color I wouldn't like to impress. I think they would each be equally fun in their own way despite the order I have put them in. b. If 1 is the ultimate dragon, and 5 is something that would make you log out and never log in again, please rank all dragon colors. For Example: bronze-1, blue-1, green-2, brown 5. (This would tell us that you would be very happy with a blue/bronze dragon, and quite delighted with green, but would rather not ride brown.) b) Gold-1 Green-1 Brown-2 Blue-3 7: a. Now, we'd like you to describe us a blue dragon! Note that this is just for us to see what you do with a dragon desc -- it's not to say that you/want/ blue! But humor us. =D We might give you a cookie. a) Blueth Azure radiance sweeps from the angular muzzle to the sinewy tail of this lithe beast. A slight more turquoise color tinges his snout, sweeping playfully backward and blending into a more Prussian color half-way down his neck. Covering the rippling muscles in his legs is hide of lovely, childish cerulean, sweeping backward for a more sapphire look near the end of his whispy tail. Inquisitive, curious eyes whirl from beneath the turquoise eyeridges, almost pulsating in their opalescent brilliance. Curving, almost dexterous fingers are ended by long, razor-sharp talons that gleam with an eerie sort of warning. Prismatic wings of pure gossamer arch elegantly out of the long, curving back, translucent and melding with the prussian to produce a dark, cobalt color. These wings, so different seem to move in such smooth and fluid ways as to suppress such yearning to be uniform with the rest of the lovely, but slightly immature blues of the dragon. Finishing the lashing tail is a spade. A spade that makes no effort to match its surrounds, a blunt spade of one of the lightest sky blues in a sea of oh-so-close to navy blue. Now do I get a cookie? :) b. Give us a clue to this dragon's personality! We'd like you to write a pose (3-4 lines long) involving this dragon and perhaps his rider. Blueth hops playfully in front of K’sin, blocking his path and crouching low and swishing his tail much like a playful little kitten. Lips part backward, showing off well-cared for, needle-sharp teeth…rows of the little devils. < c. Colour aside, is this the kind of dragon that you would like your character to Impress to? If so, why; if not, describe us the one you /would/ like! Tell us a bit about his/her personality and physical looks (a full description as you did in 7a. is not required); why would this dragon suit your character? We're not looking for a full inspiration here, just for some ideas about what kind of dragon you think would fit best and why. c)I think this blue (ignoring color, of course) is…well, not very close to what I would like Damia to impress. I think a little more humor would fit even better because Damia has a healthy sense of humor and I think her dragon should mirror that somewhat. However, I think he should look majestic but have something slightly wrong about him. Nothing that would prevent him from flying, but maybe a bad habit like scratching himself or twitching his tail or something. That would provide some source of interaction right off the bat between ‘mia and her dragon. Besides that, a playful dragon would be much more fun to RP with then one who just sits there and looks pretty. 8: Take a few (2 or 3) of the IC Weyr positions and tell us what you think they do, both IC and OOC. (If you're not sure, don't panic! We don't require you to be an expert in order to ride; after all, none of us knew when we first rode either :) If the position requires a dragon, are there any restrictions on what colors can hold these positions? If so, what are they? Weyrwoman:The Weyrwoman takes care of running the domestic tasks as well as some interactions with Lord and Lady Holders and some Crafmasters regarding tithe. She is the last word on such matters, higher in status then even the headwoman in domestic afairs. Also, she rides the senior queen and thus commands the queen's wing when the Weyr is flying thread. Because of this, the Weyrwoman must ride the Golden Senior Queen dragon. Headwoman: The headwoman takes care of domestic affairs and is second only to the Weyrwoman in that area. Mostly she takes stock of what the Weyr has in its larders and also takes care of the every day running of the Weyr, especially overseeing meals and making sure visitors are properly cared for. Generally, headwomen have an overall training with background in healing and cooking, but that’s not a prerequisite. Weyrlingmaster: The Weyrlingmaster is exactly what his title says, the master of the Weyrlings. Almost like a teacher…well no, exactly like a teacher. He guides the Weyrlings even from their Candidacy, preparing them for dragonriding. He’s someone they can go to for questions as well as help with their dragons. Caring for a dragonet is /hard work/ and Weyrlingmasters make it easier for the Weyrlings. There is no required dragon color to be a Weyrlingmaster. SECTION C: RolePlaying. This /is/ why we play, isn't it? We'd like to get an idea of what you like to roleplay, what you like about roleplay and what you do not like about roleplay, as well as what you'd like to share, RP-wise, with us. 9: Is there any particular bit of RP that you've done on HT that sticks out in your mind in a positive way? Why? Actually, surprisingly enough, one of my better RPs was one of my shorter ones as well. Basically, it was Damia and Michel and Edaeyn in the baths talking about Damia’s problems. They helped her to solve them which was good. But that’s not why I liked it. I liked it because the posing was positive and kept me on my toes as well as it being a chance to develop Damia ICly, giving others a little insight into her past. 10: Have you ever organized any sorts of events on HT? (Big or small, gather or firelizard hatching or craft events -- just something that required a bit of organization) If so, what? Don't worry if you haven't; we aren't asking this as any sort of test, just to get an idea of what you've done! What sorts of events might you like to organize as a candidate? As a weyrling? As a rider? (Again, you are never required to organize /anything/ -- we'd just like to get an idea of what sorts of things might appeal to you). Well, actually, I haven’t organized anything on HT, but actively I’m organizing a dinner TPish type thing, so I believe that counts even though it’s not in the past tense ;). As a Candidate, I would of course like to organize quite a few pranks, a few of which I already have in mind. And of course, if the WLM or AWLM don’t feel up to it, or would like some help, I’d like to organize an egg-touching and maybe a couple of practices as to what’s going to happen when the Hatching actually arrives. As a Weyrling, Falls would be fun because Weyrlings are expected to deliver replacement firestone. Also, drills and other such mundane Weyrling tasks would be interesting to organize, especially if the WLM was willing to help out. After all, they’re mundane but no one ever does them en masse with the other Weyrlings. As a rider, Falls and other disasters are the obvious course of action for someone to plan, but also Hatching feasts and other feasts for Namedays and the like. Mostly festive things, though some disasters would be fun, just to stir things up a little bit. LASTLY: 11: What didn't we ask you but should have? Do you have any comments on the Search process itself so far, or on the infopak? I’m not sure if this is relevant, but it might help to ask if the player wants a PD if’n they Impress. And whether or not they’re willing to be a PD. Just an idea, though I’ve never Impressed on /any/ Pern based game, so I don’t know if this is a process the newly-Impressed go through just after Impression. *shrug*. Anyhow, other than that, it seemed pretty thorough. Great job this time ‘round, SearchCO! *======================================================* Thank you for your interest in riding. :) If we like your application/RP, we /may/ be calling you in for an interview. Filling out the application does NOT mean that you will be interviewed; you must be interviewed to be Searched. SECTION A: You and Your Character. Since HT is a text-based environment, how you present yourself in text and as a character comes out in what you say about yourself as well as how you say it. We'd like to see how much you know about Pern, and your character in particular, as well as hear any goals you have for yourself and the character. Obviously, there are no right or wrong answers, because Hey! It's your character! but a well thought-out character comes across better; you may want to spend a bit of time thinking about your answers before you start typing. :) Yes, it is nice if you've been around for a while so we all know who you are, but if you haven't, you shouldn't sweat it either: we'll find out soon enough! Don't stress -- share! 1: Tell us about your character. Who is he or she? What position does he/she hold? What's your character's background? Feel free to include descriptions, history, Significant Events -- anything you think would be handy in seeing Who You Are. 1.'mia is an tall and shapely to the extreme, stretched out and yet still holding curves. Her face is round and tanned, sort of heart-shaped, the only point being at her somewhat dainty chin. The tan only serves to deepen the set of those lovely sapphire eyes, eyes that turn slightly up at the corners to give her an almost elfin appearance. Her height, of course, completely dispells that notion, as does the complete, jet black of her hair. But one thing interrupts that sea of ebony, a tiny ivory interlude. Ebony characterizes even the splashes upon her forehead that are her slender eyebrows and those long, alluring lashes shielding the gems of azure below them. The girl's nose is rather small and roundish, though not snubbed, shaped a little too small for her face, but barely marring its beauty. Sensuous lips of deep scarlet, wide without the help of anything cosmetic in the least reside below that smallish nose...perhaps making up for it? Below that, the slightly pointed chin. Her body is what makes her slender, not her face, assuredly. Her long arms are muscled, but not burly, ending in slender wrists and long, dexterous fingers. Those fingers are capped with perfectly shaped nails that look as if they would be perfectly elegant had she not a need to keep them cropped. Bakers simply don't have long fingernails. The young woman is fairly well endowed and, from long experience and habit running about and exercising, her stomach remains flat and firm. Below that and following the suit of curves come wide hips that lead into firm, shapely thighs and calves, ending in, of all things, tiny feet. A lovely blue dress drapes Damia's curvy form in elegance. In High Reaches, even the summer isn't scorchingly hot and she always wears a white underdress though whether or not it's always pristine is a point that can definitely be debated. The bodice is the same color as the skirt, a lovely sapphire to match her eyes completely. It laces up the front, of all things, and the top of that white underdress can be seen at the top, the arms of course, coming from the sides of the bodice. The skirt flares with courtly elegance, aided by that everpresent underdress. It falls down to her ankles where it brushes against her wherhide boots, dyed the same color as her dress and don't look to be cheap...especially to a senior apprentice. Over her dress, she can almost always be seen with a long apron that drapes it completely. It too is almost always spattered with baking souvenirs of all types including batters and sauces. Her hair does mostly what it pleases and she wears it up or down as the weather and its mood permit. A lush double cord accompanying a single loop complete with a small tail all of gold and brown. As well, there're little golden embellishments to signify 'mia as an assistant head cook. It sits upon High Reaches' black mountains against a blue sky. Below it sits a little loaf of bread. Of /course/ she's a baker! Damia is 20 Turns old. Damia’s life has confused her, to say the least. She started out as daughter to a minor holder of Benden. Yes, Benden. She grew up enjoying the happiness of being the eldest of quite a few children. Her father, of course, was far too busy to afford her much time, but her mother was not. Lady Mirabethan was a kind sole and was always happy to be a part in her children’s life. And she succeeded rather admirably at it, teaching her four daughters to be proper young girls and her three sons to follow their father and be moral in their dealings. Quite a big responsibility considering the fact that she still had to take care of the domestic dealings of a minor Holding. As ‘mia grew older, she learned to appreciate that effort on Mirabethan’s part even more, spending more time letting her mother know what a good job she did. Those last few months were close to heaven for Damia, learning the things she would need to know and spending time with a respectable woman. And then, it happened. Lady Mirabethan and Lord Driken were out on a tour of their cotholds in the mountains around Benden. It was just early spring and some rains had drenched the countryside, though the Lord and Lady didn’t appear to notice, or even care very much. A mistake which proved to be fatal. A rumbling could be heard far above and before they knew it, a combination of rocks and mud came tumbling down the mountain at immense speeds. Driken spurred his runner forward and she whinnied but obeyed, eyes white and rolling all over the place from fear. Mirabethan did the same and despite the fact that she was a magnificent rider, sometimes runner silliness can’t be helped. Her mare panicked and pawed the ground instead of going forward. The Lady hopped off with lightening reflexes, dashing for Driken and safety…but to no avail. Midway to refuge, the rocks and mud overcame her, burrying her and killing her immediately with their velocity. A quick, relatively painless death, to be sure, but tragic. Driken ran to where sher body would be ‘neath the piles of rock and mud once the ‘slide had stopped, sobbing. His love… Damia, meanwhile, was not to hear of her mother’s death for the day or two it took for a messanger to reach the Hold. After all, her parents were old-fashioned and firelizards weren’t their cup-of-tea. At least they were studious in all areas that really mattered…The poor girl ran sobbing to her room, throwing herself on the cot and slamming the door. She sat, crying and thinking between the fits of sobbing for at least a candlemark or two before the eldest of her brothers, the next sibling after her in birth-order knocked timidly on the door. A ragged “Come.” Escaped from Damia’s throat and he entered, padding silently into the room and setting him lightly at the foot of the cot. ‘mia sat up, looking at him through reddened eyes and across tear-stained cheeks. Keiran needn’t say anything, instead she just leaned into his shoulder and cried. A little while later, they both emerged to find the Hold in a state of shock…and no one to get it out. Afterall, the Lady Holder was no longer living. In the fairy tales, Damia would have come to grips with her problems and taken charge. This isn’t a fairy tale. Instead she remained locked inside her grief. And marvelling that her mother could have touched so many people…except one. One remained untouched, bustling about and trying to take care of things efficiently. Falmyst was a sort of heafty woman, just hired by the late Lady Holder for help around the hold as she took care of the newest batch of babies—twins. Falmyst /was/ a great help, but that doesn’t mean she was a nice person. Quite the opposite, she was a little bitter and wasn’t really touched by anything. She was efficient, however, and whilst everyone was still grieving, she was speaking in hushed tones with some other people for arrangements for extracting the Lady and giving her a /proper/ burial. For quite some time, Falmyst would have hold of the Hold as far as domestic afairs go, and Damia couldn’t care less. Just like her, her father was locked inside of his grief…until a new family arrived. The wife of the family had no husband and they didn’t look particularly prosperous. As it turned out, her husband had perished trying to save his family. And he succeeded, his wife, named Kisa, escaping to this small hold just south of Benden. Driken took her in, too numb to so anything else. Just about that time, something else came into Damia’s life. The same something, but for a different reason—that family. She didn’t particularly care that they were there, only that they brought with them change, change from the numb pace the entire Hold had set for themselves since Mirabethan’s death. It seemed to break ‘mia’s otherwise inpenetrable shell, if not those of others. And she noticed with the pack was a boy. Now, the little holder girl wasn’t exactly /old/ yet, but she was at that stage in her life when she began to notice boys. In a different way than just as playmates. Oh no, she noticed him and liked him. Not just liked, but /like/ liked. So she took her fear firmly in hand, shoving it just an inch behind her courage and she began to socialize with him. The boy, Kasim, wasn’t particularly striking, though he did have the blonde hair-blue-eye-fair skin complexion that so many girls yearn after and can never receive. A mild mannered boy and yet having a couple of those wild ideas that make Kasim…Kasim! All those things and more, he was to Damia. He was something she could bounce her ideas for improving Hold morale against, he was someone to flirt with, something to occupy her time. They grew closer and closer, even began…experimenting a little. Just as teenagers are apt to do. Her father hadn’t exactly been idle either. A Holder can’t exactly, and he had begun taking his grief in stride, running the hold like a well oiled machine once again. Falmyst’s position was usurped once again, this time by its proper owner, Driken. And the Lord wasn’t idle in the area of romance either. He had taken a liking to the exotic young woman who had come for shelter in his Hold. Soon she came into even more favor as she showed signs of actually knowing how to run a hold, domestically, with at least some emotion. Maybe not /quite/ as efficient as Falmyst, but definitely the emotional boost Driken’s people needed. Before /anyone/ knew it, least of which, Damia, Driken and Kisa were handfasted and the Hold was running almost as well as it was under Mirabethan. Of course, ‘mia is always the last to know…and therefore she didn’t know until she had already gotten rather involved, emotionally, with Kasim. And then they found out. Ooops…Immediately they came to the mutual agreement to cut the ‘relationship’ off, but still, it was something that helped ‘mia to grow as a person. She learned how to truly empty yourself to someone. Sure she cleared her mind and her eyes of tears to Kieran, but never to the extent she could to Kasim. Truly, they had hit on a friendship that would last forever for all they were legally siblings now. As ‘mia grew and developed, she became quite a blossoming young woman, beautiful with her mother’s startlingly bright, sapphire eyes. Of course she was the object of much lust far and beyond to those who knew her, or had even seen sketches of her. Driken, as any proper Holder would do, began looking for good handfasting for his daughter. As with /any/ girl, this scared the poor Damia and as always, she spilled her feelings to Kasim. “I /can’t/ be married off. How can I do /anything/ properly if I have to spend all my waking—and sleeping—moments with someone I don’t know and don’t necissarily like, or /love/ for that matter?” Desperation began to color her tone and a flicker of something like despair began to glow, kindle, then light in those eyes of azure. Kasim looked deep into them with his own light blue eyes, searching them restlessly. “I…I can’t say that I honestly know. Truly, I’ve never been in that situation and aren’t likely /to/ be. But Damia…I’ll confess. I don’t think you’re cut out to be a Holder. I see it in your eyes. You have to do /something/ with that talent…” Wheat waved above their heads from their little hideout among a cropping of rocks piled in the middle of her father’s field. Always they would come here to talk and always, they would find a way to get back, unoticed. “What talent?” ‘mia had asked, completely, honestly bewildered. Talent? Yes, Damia most /definitely/ had a talent. From…forever, she could be counted on to not only have perfect pitch, but to be infinitely patient with children. “Your talent. You could be just about anything you want, but you’re not ready to settle down and probably aren’t likely to be, at least with any one man.” Kasim had shrugged and ‘mia studied his features for a long moment. “I think you’re right…but do you really think I should run? Shouldn’t I just ask fa—“ “NO. Whatever you do, don’t. I know at least /that/ much. That’ll just speed up his pairing process so you don’t have the /chance/ to run away.” A certain hint of desperation darkened his own eyes as well, but nothing more. After that conversation, ‘mia carefully hoarded whatever food she could, studiously packing one article of clothing each day. Sure she had to travel light, but she also had to do it surreptitiously. A holder’s daughter really doesn’t get all that much privacy she can call truly her own. After only a sevenday, she counted her supplies early, early in the morning when only the most studious drudges were awakening. A satisfied nod jerked almost the whole of her body and she took the little carisak and slung it over her shoulder, slipping silently through the darkened Hold. Into Kasim’s room she crept, right up to his cot. Softly, she planted a moist kiss on his forehead, eyes watering as she looked at him for what would probably be the last time. And then she was gone, sliding out the great doors of the hold and dissapearing down the road on her favorite runner, Moondance. The next day, everyone woke up to their normal schedule…all except Kasim who was privy to Damia’s schedule for leaving. It was only late that afternoon when Driken had yet another of those dratted proposals that the Lord noticed his daughter missing. She’d always been allowed her independence and so he really hadn’t thought much of it. A scrawled note was found on his desk which he so rarely used and curses could be heard echoing about the courtyard. Kasim winced and went about his duties as normal, only the occasional piece of attention paid to the ranting Holder. He /needed/ that girl, shardit! She was his best bargaining peace and she just sharding had to run away, yes? Of /course/. The road wasn’t exactly pleasant for ‘mia who had only seen the real hardships of travel on a few expiditions to the cotholds beholden to her father. But across the continent she road, steadfastly reaching westward and as far from her father’s questing fingers as she could get. Oh sure, she stopped at the occasional inn or charitable cothold, she /did/ have a few marks to use, but still it was meager going and by the time, a turn later, she reached Tillek, she was grimy, emaciated, and /very/ tired of riding. Moondance was worn despite her most studious efforts at keeping the runner healthy. She was met at the entrance by a cheerful cook who ‘mia would later know as Kaetetrini. The woman took Damia under her wing, nurturing her for almost a full sevenday before she would allow the girl any freedom to go about her chores as a member of the hold. When it came her time to help with cooking duty, she knocked the socks off of…well ‘trini. No one else particularly paid notice to the little holder girl from Benden who could cook. Kaetetrini pulled her aside, glowlight dancing across her optics. “Damia. You have a gift…you’ve just /got/ to be a baker. We can’t let that go to waste! And besides, you’re not going to be happy here, you’ve got to have /excitement/ in your life. I can see it in your eyes.” Apparently Damia’s eyes betray a lot about her for Kasim observed the exact same thing. “But…” She began, but the journeywoman bustled her off, handing her an apprentice knot and a handshake. “You wouldn’t mind working up at the Weyr, now would you?” She had continued briskly and much to her own amusement and amazement, Damia agreed without hesitation. “Why of course! Wow…who’da thought /I’d/ be working at High Reaches?” At least, that was her assumption. And apparently Kaetetrini couldn’t prove her wronge. And so, with only a bare candlemark to pack her belongings once again, she was shuttled out to the courtyard and a waiting green dragon. She stared in awe, jaw open. A minor hold like her’s wasn’t especially prone to have dragon visits…and now she was going to /ride/ one! The rider atop the dragon had a certain roguish appeal to him, and yet, he seemed the sort of big-brother type, not the lover type. Chocolate eyes twinkled as he reached a hand down and she handed up her stuff, still in a daze. A green dragon! The dragon snorted and the rider laughed out loud, brown eyes twinkling as he offered ‘mia a hand. She took it, still moving rather confusedly. “Hi…” She said shyly and he took the hint. “Oh yeah! How silly of me. I’m C’lumsy and this is green Klutzieth. We’ll be conveying you to High Reaches…I assume you’ve never ridden aback a dragon?” A brown wink awarded Damia’s head-shaking denial. “I’m Damia…” She said, but was swept away by his instructions. “Hold onto my waist. It’s going to be very cold, /between/, but it’ll be only for a moment.” The great green head turned to gaze upon the scared apprentice and ‘mia could’ve /sworn/ she saw the dragon wink…but then again, she didn’t really have time to think about it for with a little crouch and a spring they were aloft, taking ‘mia’s breath away. And just as suddenly, they were /between/. ‘mia didn’t have words to describe it. It was as if…she wasn’t there anymore. She was just hanging in limbo, unable to move or think, the cold so complete that it actually numbed her mind. Comforting thoughts entered her mind and she knew Klutzieth was reassuring her even though she couldn’t feel the emerald hide beneath her thighs. And then they were in the compariably warm air of High Reaches. Compariably. It was still rather fridged and snow covered the landscape below, creating a winter wonderland. Little colored speck dotted the sides of the bowl where dragons lay, trying to catch the merest hint of winter sunlight. And down down down they spiraled, landing smoothly just before the living caverns. “Amalia! We’ve got ourselves someone new!” A thin woman bustled from the large mouth of the caverns even as C’lumsy helped ‘mia off the green’s back. Amalia helped out, then signaled a drudge who scuttled readily up to take Damia’s luggage. “Oh that’s alright, I’ll take it.” She assured the drudge with a smile. She shrugged then scuttled back off. She walked in a daze along behind the headwoman ‘till they entered the cavern. “Well, we’ll have to get you all bunked down and give you the basics…I take it you’ve never been to a Weyr?” Damia shook her head, her mouth slightly parted. She licked her lips and shut her mouth, only just then conscious of it. The girl turned, trying to admire everything at once. And that’s when the headwoman noticed her knot. “Oh! You’re not just anyone…you’re an apprentice. Nade!” She turned her attention to the door at the right of the cavern. A woman covered in flour appeared, a somewhat sour expression on her features. “We’ve got ourselves a new apprentice!” The cook replied, “Good thang, t’. I cannae get these drudge t’ do /ahnythink/ right!” The woman’s accent was thick and despite her grumpy appearance, the apprentice took an immediate liking to her. Thus started Damia’s stay at High Reaches which is ongoing and happy. At present, she’s working on her journeyman project which will involve (probably) a TPish dinner. Heh. Damia is still a little saddened by her past for it isn’t as she wanted it to go. And it still comes ‘round to haunt her from time to time; idle threats from her father for her to come back home pop up at the oddest of times, but other than that, she’s not bothered by them. Every once in a while she’ll try her hand at contacting Kasim, but each time, the letter doesn’t make it or her step-brother doesn’t choose to respond. Le sigh. ‘mia has made quite a few friends in her four turns at high reaches…and recently impressed three firelizards: Green Izyndyl, Blue Wyrre, and Brown Ozu-Zarkh. She’s happy with her life and has apparently set the stage for more apprentices to join her at High Reaches. Damia never really had /much/ in the way of a social life back at Benden and therefore has a rather…flirtatious one here. Apparently, she has a low tolerance for alcohol and therefore can get quite drunk on only a few glasses. And now and again, she can be seen stumbling from a rider’s weyr in the morning, attempting to shake off sleepiness in time to fix breakfast. Those activities have lowered in frequency considerably, however, once she became senior apprentice, for Nadesda seemed to work her harder and she was almost /always/ exhausted… She’ll be recovering soon, hopefully, especially with the help of a few, very close friends. 2: What are your goals for this character? What about the character's goals? Does the character want to be a rider? I would like for some more significant events to happen that will help Damia shape who she is. ATM, a great many of the events that have happened to her didn’t actually get RPed and, as I’m an RP mad-woman, I’m slightly disappointed in that. However, there’s more to come and I hope the Weyr, dragons, and riders can provide even more in the way of paths I can take to develop her further. ICly, of course, Damia would positively /love/ to be a dragonrider. Who on Pern wouldn’t be? Just about everyone, it seems, harbors a hidden desire or fantasy to be one of the elite, dragonriders of Pern. However, seeing as her life hasn’t exactly gone as she foresaw it, running a hold after her mother’s /retirement/, she’s working more on getting situated at the Weyr. She’s happy where she is and while she lives around dragons and should be getting constant reminders of dragonriding, that aspect of her fantasies for her future has sort of been shoved into the back of her mind. Damia lost the only true chance she had at love, thus far in her life. How’d she lose it? Well, she can’t marry her brother…who in their right mind would do that? And so she formed a close, friendship-sibling bond. And while it’s as undying as anything else, Kasim just doesn’t live at High Reaches. His memory will always been in ‘mia’s mind, but she can’t experience it daily like she could when having a lifemate. As well, she owns three firelizards, thusly having a taste of what the bond must be like. They’ll love her anyway…but they can’t really interact with her. ‘Once you pop, you just can’t stop.’ She’s had a /taste/ of the dessert and so yearns greatly, on some subconscious level for a little more than just that tidbit. 3: OOCly, why do you (as a /player/) want to ride at High Reaches rather than at Ista? What would you like to do for the Weyr or have the Weyr do for you? Do you have any goals for your character in terms of future positions you might like to hold? I haven’t really RPed much at Ista for all I have an alt there. Basically, Ista doesn’t have as much RP as High Reaches and that’s what I look for most in a place. Not only that, but it seems to have a wealth of ideas to keep it moving and to keep the excitement level up. What would I give in exchange for all this excitement? Ideas of my own. While I’m not exactly the brightest crayon in the box, I can think up ideas when I want to and I think I could add to that wealth. Also, I tend to RP whenever I get the chance, and I wouldn’t call myself exactly a /shabby/ RPer and therefore, I feel that I can add healthy RP to the Weyr as well. If there is a gold dragon and I Impress, I will, of course, love to hold a Weyrwoman position, as is dictated by the dragon color. Were I to Impress any other color, there are some other positions I would like to hold. One of them is Weyrling Master and Assistant Weyrling Master. I would like these two positions because it’s rather easy to plan TPs from them as well as gaiing RP both from the Candidates and Weyrlings while on Search Cycle. Plus, I /love/ working with people. Another position I’d love? Wingleader. Yes, I have high goals, but I love ‘em. Wingleader allows you to do a lot in the way of planning TPs and doing Falls. /And/ you get to work with people. So it’s my second choice ‘cause you don’t get to terrorize Candidates and Weyrlings, but it’s almost as good ;). 4: If your /character/ were a dragon, what sort of dragon would she/he be? Please feel free to tell us whatever strikes you. Color is not required if you can't assign one -- nor is a gender match! If my character were a dragon, I think they'd be really outgoing and provide opinions and thoughts to the rider instead of merely replying to what the rider says, formulating their own things to say and 'voicing' them...much like Ruth. I really think greens would be the most fun to RP because they're so moody, and yet quite sweet at the same time. Plus, you get to do the flights. ;). Golds would be fun as well for the same reason and to be imperious, though a green would be my first choice. Also, I think a brown would be the great fun because they're really quite thoughtful and that fits with the qualities I would like to have if my character were a dragon. Also, they get to chase greens /and/ golds. 5: Have you ever had a rider character before on HT - Impressed or Insta? You do not need to give the name of your alt, but please be aware that we mayask for this at a later stage if we feel the circumstances justify it. I don't play any characters that ride a dragon on the MOO. Nope, nada, zilch, zero ;). SECTION B: The SearchCo works very hard to design the dragon that is perfect for you -- one that you'll enjoy from Impression to years in the future. While we can't guarantee that you'll be more interested and active if you Impress, we want to try our best to help you, by giving you a dragon you'll like. This requires, though, that you be completely up front and honest About the dragon you would like, and the one you would not like. We encourage you to think about this, and keep thinking about this if you are searched -- it's no fun for any of us if you Impress a dragon you're unhappy with! 6: a. Please list those colors you would like to impress. Why? Please list those colors you would not like to impress. Why not? (Please keep in mind re: metallic dragons that fixating on one can constrain our ability to Impress you -- but, if it is truly what you want, /please/ be honest. We won't skewer you for it, really!) Gold, as is with most people, is my highest ranked dragon. Golds are beautiful to describe (which I /love/ to do) as well has allowing the rider to hold a position not only to progress the Weyr, but to be an intricate part of the Weyr’s working both IC and OOC. Not only that, but you get to RP flights and organize Searches and Hatchings. /That’s/ just as fun as any of that other gobbledygook :). Next in line would have to be green. I think it would provide interesting and stimulating RP to play a character who's dragon is proddy as well as having fun RPing the flights. I also think a green could fit my description of a perfect dragon nicely. Perhaps not perfectly, but definitely nice enough for all the rest of the good RP that comes with them. After all, they can have a pretty big mind of their own, mot of the time. Third in line would have to a brown because they're versatile. They have fairly good endurance, but are also somewhat more maneuverable. They can participate in both green and gold flights which would provide RP (can you tell I like rp?). Also, better even then a green I think a brown would fit my description of a perfect dragon because in the books they seem to come across as more thoughtful and less automatic. Last, but certainly not least, I would appreciate a blue. Blues are definitely versatile and can be quite fun because their capacities are so much less then the metallic dragons. Because of this, complaining could be fun and defense of blues in general would provide interesting RP, I think. Also, search would be fun as blues are often those to search likely candidates out of the holds, which would be a major RP perk to owning a blue. I really don't think that there's a color I wouldn't like to impress. I think they would each be equally fun in their own way despite the order I have put them in. b. If 1 is the ultimate dragon, and 5 is something that would make you log out and never log in again, please rank all dragon colors. For Example: bronze-1, blue-1, green-2, brown 5. (This would tell us that you would be very happy with a blue/bronze dragon, and quite delighted with green, but would rather not ride brown.) b) Gold-1 Green-1 Brown-2 Blue-3 7: a. Now, we'd like you to describe us a blue dragon! Note that this is just for us to see what you do with a dragon desc -- it's not to say that you/want/ blue! But humor us. =D We might give you a cookie. a) Blueth Azure radiance sweeps from the angular muzzle to the sinewy tail of this lithe beast. A slight more turquoise color tinges his snout, sweeping playfully backward and blending into a more Prussian color half-way down his neck. Covering the rippling muscles in his legs is hide of lovely, childish cerulean, sweeping backward for a more sapphire look near the end of his whispy tail. Inquisitive, curious eyes whirl from beneath the turquoise eyeridges, almost pulsating in their opalescent brilliance. Curving, almost dexterous fingers are ended by long, razor-sharp talons that gleam with an eerie sort of warning. Prismatic wings of pure gossamer arch elegantly out of the long, curving back, translucent and melding with the prussian to produce a dark, cobalt color. These wings, so different seem to move in such smooth and fluid ways as to suppress such yearning to be uniform with the rest of the lovely, but slightly immature blues of the dragon. Finishing the lashing tail is a spade. A spade that makes no effort to match its surrounds, a blunt spade of one of the lightest sky blues in a sea of oh-so-close to navy blue. Now do I get a cookie? :) b. Give us a clue to this dragon's personality! We'd like you to write a pose (3-4 lines long) involving this dragon and perhaps his rider. Blueth hops playfully in front of K’sin, blocking his path and crouching low and swishing his tail much like a playful little kitten. Lips part backward, showing off well-cared for, needle-sharp teeth…rows of the little devils. < c. Colour aside, is this the kind of dragon that you would like your character to Impress to? If so, why; if not, describe us the one you /would/ like! Tell us a bit about his/her personality and physical looks (a full description as you did in 7a. is not required); why would this dragon suit your character? We're not looking for a full inspiration here, just for some ideas about what kind of dragon you think would fit best and why. c)I think this blue (ignoring color, of course) is…well, not very close to what I would like Damia to impress. I think a little more humor would fit even better because Damia has a healthy sense of humor and I think her dragon should mirror that somewhat. However, I think he should look majestic but have something slightly wrong about him. Nothing that would prevent him from flying, but maybe a bad habit like scratching himself or twitching his tail or something. That would provide some source of interaction right off the bat between ‘mia and her dragon. Besides that, a playful dragon would be much more fun to RP with then one who just sits there and looks pretty. 8: Take a few (2 or 3) of the IC Weyr positions and tell us what you think they do, both IC and OOC. (If you're not sure, don't panic! We don't require you to be an expert in order to ride; after all, none of us knew when we first rode either :) If the position requires a dragon, are there any restrictions on what colors can hold these positions? If so, what are they? Weyrwoman:The Weyrwoman takes care of running the domestic tasks as well as some interactions with Lord and Lady Holders and some Crafmasters regarding tithe. She is the last word on such matters, higher in status then even the headwoman in domestic afairs. Also, she rides the senior queen and thus commands the queen's wing when the Weyr is flying thread. Because of this, the Weyrwoman must ride the Golden Senior Queen dragon. Headwoman: The headwoman takes care of domestic affairs and is second only to the Weyrwoman in that area. Mostly she takes stock of what the Weyr has in its larders and also takes care of the every day running of the Weyr, especially overseeing meals and making sure visitors are properly cared for. Generally, headwomen have an overall training with background in healing and cooking, but that’s not a prerequisite. Weyrlingmaster: The Weyrlingmaster is exactly what his title says, the master of the Weyrlings. Almost like a teacher…well no, exactly like a teacher. He guides the Weyrlings even from their Candidacy, preparing them for dragonriding. He’s someone they can go to for questions as well as help with their dragons. Caring for a dragonet is /hard work/ and Weyrlingmasters make it easier for the Weyrlings. There is no required dragon color to be a Weyrlingmaster. SECTION C: RolePlaying. This /is/ why we play, isn't it? We'd like to get an idea of what you like to roleplay, what you like about roleplay and what you do not like about roleplay, as well as what you'd like to share, RP-wise, with us. 9: Is there any particular bit of RP that you've done on HT that sticks out in your mind in a positive way? Why? Actually, surprisingly enough, one of my better RPs was one of my shorter ones as well. Basically, it was Damia and Michel and Edaeyn in the baths talking about Damia’s problems. They helped her to solve them which was good. But that’s not why I liked it. I liked it because the posing was positive and kept me on my toes as well as it being a chance to develop Damia ICly, giving others a little insight into her past. 10: Have you ever organized any sorts of events on HT? (Big or small, gather or firelizard hatching or craft events -- just something that required a bit of organization) If so, what? Don't worry if you haven't; we aren't asking this as any sort of test, just to get an idea of what you've done! What sorts of events might you like to organize as a candidate? As a weyrling? As a rider? (Again, you are never required to organize /anything/ -- we'd just like to get an idea of what sorts of things might appeal to you). Well, actually, I haven’t organized anything on HT, but actively I’m organizing a dinner TPish type thing, so I believe that counts even though it’s not in the past tense ;). As a Candidate, I would of course like to organize quite a few pranks, a few of which I already have in mind. And of course, if the WLM or AWLM don’t feel up to it, or would like some help, I’d like to organize an egg-touching and maybe a couple of practices as to what’s going to happen when the Hatching actually arrives. As a Weyrling, Falls would be fun because Weyrlings are expected to deliver replacement firestone. Also, drills and other such mundane Weyrling tasks would be interesting to organize, especially if the WLM was willing to help out. After all, they’re mundane but no one ever does them en masse with the other Weyrlings. As a rider, Falls and other disasters are the obvious course of action for someone to plan, but also Hatching feasts and other feasts for Namedays and the like. Mostly festive things, though some disasters would be fun, just to stir things up a little bit. LASTLY: 11: What didn't we ask you but should have? Do you have any comments on the Search process itself so far, or on the infopak? I’m not sure if this is relevant, but it might help to ask if the player wants a PD if’n they Impress. And whether or not they’re willing to be a PD. Just an idea, though I’ve never Impressed on /any/ Pern based game, so I don’t know if this is a process the newly-Impressed go through just after Impression. *shrug*. Anyhow, other than that, it seemed pretty thorough. Great job this time ‘round, SearchCO! *======================================================* Thank you for your interest in riding. :) If we like your application/RP, we /may/ be calling you in for an interview. Filling out the application does NOT mean that you will be interviewed; you must be interviewed to be Searched.
No, I don't have the original, so you'll just have to make do. The original questions, that is. You can make your way over to the High Reaches website, though, if you wish. It's really cool :).
