Post by Slim on Jul 29, 2008 15:40:42 GMT -8
Name: S'lyn (Soralyn)
Gender: Male
Age: 44
Rank: Wingleader
Keeping his head shorn in the dragonrider style became a lot easier for S'lyn when he went bald as a cueball. The change was premature: he's merely in the early steps of middle age, grooves rather than wrinkles framing his prominent nose and stern mouth. Without hair, facial features such as those become all the more pronounced, from the pointed chin to the elephant ears that would be laughably oversized but for the hard look in his eyes. Dark brown, deep set, they are capable of expressing humor and kindness, but their default is "I don't question my authority, and neither will you."
With all that self-confidence going on, you'd hardly expect him to be as short as he is. At 5'8", he could find himself looking a tall woman straight in the eye, and a tall man straight in the neck. He masks that height by standing up straight and wearing clothes that accentuate long lines, favoring coats with raised collars and boot-cut pants. None of that Telgari fleeciness here: it's rider's leather or workman's linen for him, all the way. After years of going without a knot, assuming all who mattered would recognize Telgar's Weyrleader, he's now back to a simple wingleader's knot that he wears at all times.
Confidence is a habit with S'lyn, so he gives orders naturally and fights to conquer disagreement. It's not so much that he considers himself better than those he orders around as that he always does his part (as he defines it) and therefore has firm footing to tell others to do theirs. Putting everyone in their rightful place takes a firm guiding hand, so he rarely loses his temper and tries to bottle it up when he does. After all, someone being difficult simply must not know any better, or they wouldn't be so difficult. Women have extra reason to chafe against him, though, since he sincerely believes that men provide for women, and women tend to men.
The story of S'lyn's childhood is that of any second son of a cotholder: up at dawn, down at dusk, hard labor in between. No, the real story starts with his elderly aunt, Emeni, who insisted she had a "gut feeling" about him after she heard Telgar Weyr would soon be hosting a clutch. Figuring that Searchriders were not likely to find him in Crom's back of beyond, she persuaded a neighbor to bring young Soralyn as an assistant when he took his wares to Greenfields.
Right she was, and Soralyn was Searched after only a few days of peddling pots. Although he made a good impression on the Weyr, with many betting he'd get a brown, he failed to Impress any dragon. When the disappointed candidate was flown home, Emeni worked her magic again, convincing him and the rider who brought him to go back - and insisting that she be brought along also, to keep an eye on the boy while he waited to Stand at the next clutch.
Over the next two turns, Emeni and Soralyn threw themselves into every bit of work the Weyr sent their way. Hard work had always been the way they validated their existence, and it became even more important now they realized they were two country yokels in a (to them) sophisticated place. What extra marks they had went towards private lessons from a posted harper, so that Soralyn could learn to read, act like a gentleman, and most importantly, lose his accent.
Validation came at last when Soralyn Impressed, not the brown so many had expected, but "a big old smokestack of a bronze." Chadath. By then, S'lyn's transformation had caught the Weyrlingmaster's eye, and I'den groomed him for leadership from the very start.
Such favoritism sparked jealousy, of course. S'lyn survived quite a few fist fights before he figured out that acting sure of himself did more to fend off resentment than arguing he'd never asked for preferential treatment. Once the fighting stopped, the only remaining blemish on his weyrling record was an incorrigible infatuation with a lower caverns girl named Masha, but the two of them quickly learned discretion after Chadath's young mind accidentally broadcast a moment of, er, heavy petting.
From there on out, S'lyn's path was paved in gold. He jumped to wingsecond, then wingleader, and from there had the good fortune to win one of the former Weyrwoman's last flights. At twenty three, S'lyn was the youngest Weyrleader Telgar had ever seen, at least until nineteen turn old J'fel bested him two decades later. By the time Aderes became Senior Weyrwoman, S'lyn had settled in his role, so when Chadath proved as capable of catching a young queen as an old one, Weyrleader S'lyn became an institution in and of himself.
Although he'd listened occasionally to the former Weyrwoman, respecting her seniority, Aderes was young and unproven, so got none of the same deference. He made it clear that she was to stick to domestic matters only, and while - over the many intervening turns - he approved of her work as Weyrwoman, and often said as much, he never saw a reason to absorb her input, as he had with the Weyrwoman before her, or to ask for advice from his former trainee.
Meanwhile, as Weyrleader, S'lyn insisted that the wings of Telgar be kept Thread-ready. Not, as he explained it, because they were going to fly it themselves, but because they were going to teach the generations of riders after themselves how to fly it. That knowledge had to be kept alive in order to be passed down in good form. Yet he deviated from other Weyrleaders who focused on wing games to keep their riders in top form during an Interval: although he expected his wingleaders to train for the games, he preferred to watch and scrutinize regular drills, leaning on his wings to train for more than just winning the games.
With the holders, he had to rein in his Thread-readiness philosophy and focus more on keeping their attention at all. Ever a top-down kind of guy, he spent a lot of time cultivating his relationship with the Lords of Telgar and Crom, winning the endorsement of both for his right-minded, traditional approach to the world. He left it to them to squeeze bigger tithes out of their beholden crafts and small holders to account for the Weyr's share, and made dragons frequently available to their holds, as transports or messengers, to keep the Lords ever friendly (and indebted) to him and Telgar.
Would that his family life could be as smooth as his politics. As Weyrleader, the first thing he had done was use his clout to retire Emeni and give her a private room. Masha, who refused to move into a weyr, soon joined Emeni after becoming pregnant with S'lyn's first child. That child, a boy, later died of pneumonia at age five, along with Emeni at age eighty. His second son, Macor, grew up estranged from his father, and left for the Smithcraft as soon as he was able. Meanwhile, his only daughter, named after the late Emeni, developed an unruly character that both her parents found unbecoming of a woman.
And now this thing with J'fel has thrown everything into disarray. Outflown unexpectedly in a leadership flight, S'lyn immediately leaned on the new Weyrleader to find a place for him that suited his stature. While J'fel shuffled his opponents, S'lyn made a secret beeline for an old wingleader and convinced him to retire to Ista. Everyone got to keep their pride, but S'lyn solidified the support of other wingleaders who feared they might have been forced out had he not stepped in to handle the matter. Duplicitous he can be.
Now that he's had some time to settle in with his new wing, it remains to be seen what if anything else he may do to keep his replacement from becoming a permanent one.
Dragon's Name: Chadath
Color: Bronze
Age: 27
Physical Description:
Big-bodied and long-winged, Chadath lacks for nothing in the classic bronze archetype. Heavy muscle thickens his already broad hindquarters and deep chest, the one offering powerful take-offs and the other endurance once in flight. He's well-kept on top of that, with a hide that gleams from daily oiling. It brings out the depths of his coloration, all but bereft of the green undertones that usually brighten a bronze but instead rich with dark, smoky hues, as though he'd been left near a fire for too long.
Personality:
Chadath retains the rustic demeanor that his rider sloughed off long ago: he's straight-spoken, stubborn, and fiercely loyal. Other than S'lyn, he's indifferent towards human beings, and ignores them unless he's walking somewhere and has to avoid stepping on one. With other dragons, he can get away with being more physical, so he frequently leans on or pushes them as part of his hands-on approach to being social. Outside of a flight, he doesn't care about the gender of his companions, treating everyone to the same buddy-buddy attitude (although he does expect to be looked up to as a bronze).
General Form
Standard wing
Character and Duties
S'lyn's wing has seen a fair amount of transfers lately as its new wingleader puts his stamp on it, but seems to be settling down. Camaraderie is a wing's most valuable asset in S'lyn's opinion, so his weyr is open to his riders in the evenings - whether or not he's there - as a gathering point outside work. It often sees a rotating handful of riders, mostly playing dragonpoker. Such get-togethers have worked wonders getting the riders comfortable around both each other and S'lyn, who can be a hard-ass during drills but becomes much more human when he's losing at cards. As a result, the wing is focused and attentive when they're working (if unaccustomed to acting without specific orders), but dissolves into jocular chit-chat as soon as their work's done.
Games
The wing excels most at events that can be rehearsed, such as formations, and after that at competitive sports like races, since they tend to do that among themselves anyway. Individual riders are left to their own devices to hone their skills, however, so those who aren't self-motivated do poorly in solo performance events like precision flaming. This is a full reverse from the way the old wingleader approached the games, but even the veterans' skills have deteriorated since he retired and they stopped practicing.
Have you read Game Philosophy and The Rules of Tempus Fugit? Yes.
Gender: Male
Age: 44
Rank: Wingleader
Physical Description
Keeping his head shorn in the dragonrider style became a lot easier for S'lyn when he went bald as a cueball. The change was premature: he's merely in the early steps of middle age, grooves rather than wrinkles framing his prominent nose and stern mouth. Without hair, facial features such as those become all the more pronounced, from the pointed chin to the elephant ears that would be laughably oversized but for the hard look in his eyes. Dark brown, deep set, they are capable of expressing humor and kindness, but their default is "I don't question my authority, and neither will you."
With all that self-confidence going on, you'd hardly expect him to be as short as he is. At 5'8", he could find himself looking a tall woman straight in the eye, and a tall man straight in the neck. He masks that height by standing up straight and wearing clothes that accentuate long lines, favoring coats with raised collars and boot-cut pants. None of that Telgari fleeciness here: it's rider's leather or workman's linen for him, all the way. After years of going without a knot, assuming all who mattered would recognize Telgar's Weyrleader, he's now back to a simple wingleader's knot that he wears at all times.
Personality
Confidence is a habit with S'lyn, so he gives orders naturally and fights to conquer disagreement. It's not so much that he considers himself better than those he orders around as that he always does his part (as he defines it) and therefore has firm footing to tell others to do theirs. Putting everyone in their rightful place takes a firm guiding hand, so he rarely loses his temper and tries to bottle it up when he does. After all, someone being difficult simply must not know any better, or they wouldn't be so difficult. Women have extra reason to chafe against him, though, since he sincerely believes that men provide for women, and women tend to men.
Background
The story of S'lyn's childhood is that of any second son of a cotholder: up at dawn, down at dusk, hard labor in between. No, the real story starts with his elderly aunt, Emeni, who insisted she had a "gut feeling" about him after she heard Telgar Weyr would soon be hosting a clutch. Figuring that Searchriders were not likely to find him in Crom's back of beyond, she persuaded a neighbor to bring young Soralyn as an assistant when he took his wares to Greenfields.
Right she was, and Soralyn was Searched after only a few days of peddling pots. Although he made a good impression on the Weyr, with many betting he'd get a brown, he failed to Impress any dragon. When the disappointed candidate was flown home, Emeni worked her magic again, convincing him and the rider who brought him to go back - and insisting that she be brought along also, to keep an eye on the boy while he waited to Stand at the next clutch.
Over the next two turns, Emeni and Soralyn threw themselves into every bit of work the Weyr sent their way. Hard work had always been the way they validated their existence, and it became even more important now they realized they were two country yokels in a (to them) sophisticated place. What extra marks they had went towards private lessons from a posted harper, so that Soralyn could learn to read, act like a gentleman, and most importantly, lose his accent.
Validation came at last when Soralyn Impressed, not the brown so many had expected, but "a big old smokestack of a bronze." Chadath. By then, S'lyn's transformation had caught the Weyrlingmaster's eye, and I'den groomed him for leadership from the very start.
Such favoritism sparked jealousy, of course. S'lyn survived quite a few fist fights before he figured out that acting sure of himself did more to fend off resentment than arguing he'd never asked for preferential treatment. Once the fighting stopped, the only remaining blemish on his weyrling record was an incorrigible infatuation with a lower caverns girl named Masha, but the two of them quickly learned discretion after Chadath's young mind accidentally broadcast a moment of, er, heavy petting.
From there on out, S'lyn's path was paved in gold. He jumped to wingsecond, then wingleader, and from there had the good fortune to win one of the former Weyrwoman's last flights. At twenty three, S'lyn was the youngest Weyrleader Telgar had ever seen, at least until nineteen turn old J'fel bested him two decades later. By the time Aderes became Senior Weyrwoman, S'lyn had settled in his role, so when Chadath proved as capable of catching a young queen as an old one, Weyrleader S'lyn became an institution in and of himself.
Although he'd listened occasionally to the former Weyrwoman, respecting her seniority, Aderes was young and unproven, so got none of the same deference. He made it clear that she was to stick to domestic matters only, and while - over the many intervening turns - he approved of her work as Weyrwoman, and often said as much, he never saw a reason to absorb her input, as he had with the Weyrwoman before her, or to ask for advice from his former trainee.
Meanwhile, as Weyrleader, S'lyn insisted that the wings of Telgar be kept Thread-ready. Not, as he explained it, because they were going to fly it themselves, but because they were going to teach the generations of riders after themselves how to fly it. That knowledge had to be kept alive in order to be passed down in good form. Yet he deviated from other Weyrleaders who focused on wing games to keep their riders in top form during an Interval: although he expected his wingleaders to train for the games, he preferred to watch and scrutinize regular drills, leaning on his wings to train for more than just winning the games.
With the holders, he had to rein in his Thread-readiness philosophy and focus more on keeping their attention at all. Ever a top-down kind of guy, he spent a lot of time cultivating his relationship with the Lords of Telgar and Crom, winning the endorsement of both for his right-minded, traditional approach to the world. He left it to them to squeeze bigger tithes out of their beholden crafts and small holders to account for the Weyr's share, and made dragons frequently available to their holds, as transports or messengers, to keep the Lords ever friendly (and indebted) to him and Telgar.
Would that his family life could be as smooth as his politics. As Weyrleader, the first thing he had done was use his clout to retire Emeni and give her a private room. Masha, who refused to move into a weyr, soon joined Emeni after becoming pregnant with S'lyn's first child. That child, a boy, later died of pneumonia at age five, along with Emeni at age eighty. His second son, Macor, grew up estranged from his father, and left for the Smithcraft as soon as he was able. Meanwhile, his only daughter, named after the late Emeni, developed an unruly character that both her parents found unbecoming of a woman.
And now this thing with J'fel has thrown everything into disarray. Outflown unexpectedly in a leadership flight, S'lyn immediately leaned on the new Weyrleader to find a place for him that suited his stature. While J'fel shuffled his opponents, S'lyn made a secret beeline for an old wingleader and convinced him to retire to Ista. Everyone got to keep their pride, but S'lyn solidified the support of other wingleaders who feared they might have been forced out had he not stepped in to handle the matter. Duplicitous he can be.
Now that he's had some time to settle in with his new wing, it remains to be seen what if anything else he may do to keep his replacement from becoming a permanent one.
Dragon
Dragon's Name: Chadath
Color: Bronze
Age: 27
Physical Description:
Big-bodied and long-winged, Chadath lacks for nothing in the classic bronze archetype. Heavy muscle thickens his already broad hindquarters and deep chest, the one offering powerful take-offs and the other endurance once in flight. He's well-kept on top of that, with a hide that gleams from daily oiling. It brings out the depths of his coloration, all but bereft of the green undertones that usually brighten a bronze but instead rich with dark, smoky hues, as though he'd been left near a fire for too long.
Personality:
Chadath retains the rustic demeanor that his rider sloughed off long ago: he's straight-spoken, stubborn, and fiercely loyal. Other than S'lyn, he's indifferent towards human beings, and ignores them unless he's walking somewhere and has to avoid stepping on one. With other dragons, he can get away with being more physical, so he frequently leans on or pushes them as part of his hands-on approach to being social. Outside of a flight, he doesn't care about the gender of his companions, treating everyone to the same buddy-buddy attitude (although he does expect to be looked up to as a bronze).
"Sleet" Wing
General Form
Standard wing
Character and Duties
S'lyn's wing has seen a fair amount of transfers lately as its new wingleader puts his stamp on it, but seems to be settling down. Camaraderie is a wing's most valuable asset in S'lyn's opinion, so his weyr is open to his riders in the evenings - whether or not he's there - as a gathering point outside work. It often sees a rotating handful of riders, mostly playing dragonpoker. Such get-togethers have worked wonders getting the riders comfortable around both each other and S'lyn, who can be a hard-ass during drills but becomes much more human when he's losing at cards. As a result, the wing is focused and attentive when they're working (if unaccustomed to acting without specific orders), but dissolves into jocular chit-chat as soon as their work's done.
Games
The wing excels most at events that can be rehearsed, such as formations, and after that at competitive sports like races, since they tend to do that among themselves anyway. Individual riders are left to their own devices to hone their skills, however, so those who aren't self-motivated do poorly in solo performance events like precision flaming. This is a full reverse from the way the old wingleader approached the games, but even the veterans' skills have deteriorated since he retired and they stopped practicing.
Have you read Game Philosophy and The Rules of Tempus Fugit? Yes.
