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Name: Toffie
Age: 19
Sex: Female
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual in theory, she has yet to show much practical interest.
Weyr: Western Weyr
Rider Rank: Wingrider
Previous Rank/Craft: Tanner/Leatherworker
Physical Description: Looking at Toffie is pretty much like looking into some sort of warm, comforting hearth-fire complete with bubbling pot of klah, ready and waiting for you to sit down a spell. Her skin is an even golden-hued tan that will go even more golden after a bout of sun worship. It is fairly resistant to blushes. Her hair is likewise shades of gold and copper and tawny topaz, a massive silken riot of corkscrews and curls that reaches mid-back. Not that most people realize this as she regularly keeps it controlled in braids and loops and such. Her goggles help in this task and she has been known to go to bed wearing them accidentally/on purpose because she can’t be bothered to untangle the goggles from her hair. The only cool thing about her is her eyes which are a strikingly pale blue, large and rounded and clear. Stubby, dark lashes edge them and they are topped with dark, arched eyebrows set a bit crookedly. One eyebrow is a bit higher than the other and this, combined with her natural wide-eyed gaze, translates into a look that is frequently interpreted as bemused disbelief. Her face is heart-shaped with softly rounded cheeks and a pointed, stubborn little chin. A few reckless freckles scatter over her button nose. Her lips are thin and her mouth wide but, seeing as how it rarely stays still between smiles and grimaces and talking and laughter, no one judges much. Body-wise, Toffie appears to be topping out at a lanky five foot nine-ish with lots of leg and very little curve. At least, she thinks she has stopped growing. There is not a spare bit of fat on her, all long lines and lean muscle, with the agility and flexibility of someone who was born to be a dancer. Her hands are just as nimble and ever-moving with callouses from her leatherwork, careless mishandling of things, small burns and marks. Her dragon will proudly defend his claim that she has the best touch EVER and always knows just where and how to scratch.
Toffie has all of the fashion-sense of a coat rack and tends towards earth tones for her fitted trousers and loose-cut tunics with mid-length sleeves. She favors sturdy, high-laced boots and butter-soft waist-cinches and retains enough skill to make repairs to all of her own leather goods. When she is feeling fancy, she admits to a weakness for the color blue and has a treasured dress of that color given to her by her mother (and much altered to fit her growing frame). She always wears a small carved blue stone pendant on a leather thong around her neck; it was a gift from her favorite sister.
Personality: Toffie is the epitome of “what you see is what you get.” There are no ulterior motives to this woman, no hidden agendas, no secrets or even lies. To most people’s amusement and shock, she is exactly as cheerful and uncomplicated and friendly as she seems. Her optimism has yet to come up against something that defeats it. With every fiber of her being, she believes that hard work and pulling-together can defeat any barriers and it throws her off stride when she comes up against something that takes longer than she thinks it should to conquer. Pessimists and nay-sayers confuse her and those who shirk duty will raise her temper faster than few other things. While she is all for individuality (in fact, she loves meeting all varieties of people) and curious to a fault, she places high importance on teamwork and doing what you are supposed to do. To her mind, it is all about survival and she wants everyone to survive – in as solid comfort as possible, to boot. She has absolutely no patience for slackers or selfish people. This is a point on which she will not waver. Her stubborn nature manifests most noticeably in her belief system and moral code. However, she also gets herself set on a course of action and sticks to it, deaf to the cautious words of others. If she is wholly and utterly convinced of her right-ness in a situation, she is an immovable object and it best to go around her rather than work with her.
Toffie is built open and honest to a fault, bleeding into outright tactlessness on a regular basis. She says what she thinks and it is only by years of practice (and cuffs to the side of her head) that she can manage to prevent her foot from finding its way into her mouth (about half the time). Her filter is a bit askew, you see, and her own skin as thicker than triple layer wherry-hide so she doesn’t always realize how her words can hit. She never ever means anything malicious by her words. In fact, she is beyond guilty and upset when her thoughtless observations hurt someone’s feelings and will go to any lengths to make it up to the injured party. Her generous soul demands it. She hates pain and suffering and darkness and strives mightily to dispel as much of it as she can – through gifts and jokes and smiles and being the sort of solidly loyal friend we all should be lucky to have.
Her devotion, once given, is unwavering. What started as loyalty to her family has since grown into loyalty for her fellow riders plus the accompanying staff and residents of the Weyr. She loves hard and will put the physical needs of those she adores ahead of her own without thinking. A part of her is aware that this could be detrimental to her well-being and, in the case of fighting Thread, downright deadly but she shrugs the risk off as just something you do for your people. It boils down to a practical fact of life for her; she is under no illusions about the life expectancy of a dragon rider. She is, however, determined to do her best and protect to her utmost. She feels great honor at being Chosen and does not want to let anyone down. Any natural talent she possesses is viewed as a gift and treated with respect. This humility stands her in good stead when questions arise about her relatively young age and her big brown dragon and how DARE she?
Luckily for her, Toffie has a quick mind and an adaptive streak a mile wide. She learned her initial leatherworking trade easily and has taken to dragonriding like it was breathing, enabling her to work variations on a theme in both cases. She can improvise at the drop of a hat and calculates options fast enough that it often seems she dives into problems without thinking. Rest assured that she doesn’t. She always thinks. It is just that she thinks as fast as her body movies, most times, and her intelligence combines with her straight-ahead thought process to make things happen awfully fast around her. Toffie, unfortunately, suffers from impatience as a result and always wants to go-go-go. She restrains herself as best she can and, to her credit, her impatience rarely translates into temper but she often forgets that others don’t move or learn or think as fast as she does. She tries to combat her discomfort with standing still by multi-tasking. It sometimes works.
Positive Trait List cheerful, humble, loyal
Negative Trait List tactless, impatient, stubborn
History: Born the youngest of a (by Hold standards) unusually large family that totalled two parents and nine children, Toffie grew up used to squirming her way to the table and making herself heard in Igen Hold. She also grew up knowing how to work hard and be practical, learned traits that balanced out her buoyant and endless energy. Her father was ranked a Craftsmaster of Tannercraft and her mother worked in the kitchens while keeping serene and unruffled control of her brood.
At age 10, her father realized that they had to do something about this bouncing ball of energy and, since she already seemed fascinated by his work, brought her into the Tannercraft Hall for formal apprenticeship. The other kids were all settled out to foster and/or apprentice and here was little Toffie, driving them all bonkers. So it made sense. She took to it with joy and a natural talent. She liked the detail work and the usefulness of it all and so actually would settle into one place to learn. With all kids occupied and contributing to society now, the family thrived even as it spread away from Igen Hold. About half stayed put but the others started to roam, including one of Toffie’s unmarried sisters who became a journeyman Healer. When she returned, she told all sorts of fascinating stories about other people and places and, best of all to Toffie’s curious mind, dragons.
A bit of a hiccup to the family’s easy-going life happened when a Benden dragonrider showed up at a Gather shortly after Toffie’s 15th Nameday. Excited to see one of the beasts so close, Toffie managed to sidle her way up to the big brown for a closer look. The rider spotted her and was all set to shoo her off when he paused, exchanged looks with his dragon, and then burst into laughter when the dragon rumbled before twisting his head and delivering a gentle shove to the snooping girl. The rider promptly went to have a talk with her parents and, by the end of Gather, Toffie was on her way back to Benden with them. She had been Searched and her parents were not at all happy about it. Toffie herself was ready to see what it was all about and tried to comfort them that, maybe, she wouldn’t be Chosen, after all.
Unfortunately for them Toffie was Chosen during her very first time on the sands. A roly poly, somewhat uncoordinated brown tumbled to her feet and it was love at first sight. Her life changed completely when training began. She was delighted and happy, despite the flack the Weyrs got from the Holds for being “drains” and “leeches.” Toffie also spent a lot of time ignoring mutters and gossip about her, a mere gangly female, Impressing on a mighty brown. Vanoth helped a lot with that, though. He gave her such undisguised love and adoration that she could easily focus her attention on him. Their bond grew tighter and Toffie would curl up next to him anytime she faced a bout of insomnia.
Then, as Vanoth reached full growth, the skies turned and the Red Star returned. Thread had come once more and, with it, death abounded. The Holds panicked, livelihoods crashed, people died. To this day, Toffie is reluctant to talk about her own personal losses in that first Turn of Thread. While both of her parents and most of the rest of the huge clan survived, she lost her journeyman sister who was between Holds at the time, another sister, one of her brothers and his entire family (wife and two children), two brother-in-laws, and two other nieces. The loss of her Healercraft sister hurt her particularly hard; they were close and she was the only sibling who seemed to understand Toffie’s love for her new life. The tragedies served to focus Toffie even more on her training and work. She quickly became known as a fierce fighter and she and Vanoth worked like a perfect pair.
Slightly less than a Turn ago, Western put out a call for volunteers to move to their growing weyr. Toffie barely hesitated and up her hand went. She and Vanoth were ready for the next adventure.
Other: If her father hadn’t set her to the Tannercraft, chances were good that some entertainer would have snatched her up. For all that she is tall and lanky, Toffie has a natural talent for movement and can dance anyone into the ground and then some. Plus she can bend in all sorts of fascinating ways. Her stamina is also the stuff of gossip/legend. She has bouts of insomnia that hit her every 15-20 nights; she can function well enough after those few nights without sleep but she gets more impatient and snappish. She keeps her own riding gear in fine repair and decorates it with patterns from her own mind. If she likes you, chances are good you’ll get leather gifts as well. Other riders regularly beg her to do repairs to their leathers.
DRAGON
Name: Vanoth
Age: 3
Color: Brown
Size: 37 feet
Physical Description: Simply put, Vanoth is a massive brute of a brown. Deep-chested and about as stocky as a dragon can get, he defaults to crouching on his massive haunches like some overgrown herding-dog. His wings are gentle points, hardly a proper taper at all. His head is a strong wedge-shape in balance with the rest of his large frame. Overall, he is a lighter brown color with flecks of darker brown/amber mixed through his skin like subtle lowlights. He is very grateful to Toffie to keeping him well-oiled, scritched, and loved even if he has next to no vanity.
He has very impressive brute strength and, through steady drills with Toffie, he is getting the hang of agility (it doesn’t come naturally to him). Unfortunately, he is still liable to step on something breakable if he does not pay attention to his feet at all times. Delicacy does not come easily to him but he tries very hard and achieves his best results when he relaxes into a sort of mirror-state with Toffie, mimicking her natural grace and body-awareness.
Personality: A surprisingly good match for Toffie, Vanoth is about as placid and even-keeled as a dragon can get without slipping into a coma. Nothing much rattles him - not even his constantly fidgeting rider - possibly because one of her little fidgets is scratching him and his favorite thing in the world is getting lovely scritches. He is intelligent in a steady sort of way, not very enterprising or inventive but practical in getting the job done. He does not think out of the box; that is what Toffie is for, really. His sense of humor runs along the lines of Dad Jokes which no one but himself and newly-shelled dragons find amusing. He doesn’t care if you don’t laugh, luckily. He requires no audience; if anything, Vanoth is an introvert with a tolerance for the noisy Rest Of The World.
He has no temper to speak of nor any ability to hold a grudge. If he could remember a slight, that is, because Vanoth has a rather short memory span - even for a dragon. He believes in his rider with all of his heart and tends to look upon her like a doting and indulgent uncle, amused by her antics. He gets along with other dragons and fire lizards and most beasts, in general. On the other end, though, he really hates being crowded and will show a modicum of temper when forced into a tight space or hemmed in by too many other bodies.
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