Name: Cassali
Age: 68
Nameday: 3508.05.13
Sex: Female
Sexual Orientation: Very happy with S'une
Weyr: Western Weyr
Rider Rank: Wingrider
Previous Rank/Craft: None official
Physical Description: Cassali can hold her own, still fighting fit, at 5' 5" or so. Hair that was always sunstreaked brown has begun to show some grey but she wears her silver with pride, hair cut into a comfortably short cap that sometimes sticks up at the crown of her head with a will of it's own, covers her ears and hugs her neck, a maintainable pixie style. When not flying duty shifts, she prefers trousers that cut off mud-calf, sleeveless tunics and her well-worn sandals. Though smiles and weather have begun to leave a history of lines at her eyes, they are still bright and sharp, and a rich, dark brown.
Personality: In cassali's mind, family will always come first. Family doesn't only mean those who are related to her by blood, however. She has "adopted" many a new arrival to the Weyr who might be struggling with a transition between hold life and their new experiences or some other discomfort that needs a motherly touch. Not officially, mind. With three children of her own, she would never have taken in more from the creche, but she is certainly willing to spend some time telling stories at bedtime or wiping away the tearful remains of a scraped knee.
If she is motherly, though, she is also a disciplinarian. There is no skating by on soft words along. She will help you sort through your troubles or find a place to belong, but she does not believe in excuses or giving up. She believes whole-heartedly that there is nothing on Pern that cannot be overcome, though it may be hard or exhausting or painful. She expects everyone to try and has no patience for those who refuse.
Once upon a time she enjoyed being chased by men as much as her dragon thrilled in leading Flights. As some of the weyrbred are, she didn't hold out for her One True Love and finds some narrower hold-bred mindsets about sex and relationships amusingly limited and sometimes downright puzzling. She tries not to judge, but she believes life is to be lived, not reserved, and she might have very well gone on living without a steady partner had she not truly fallen in love with S'une.
She is not a rulebreaker, but she does sometimes like to skirt the edge of a rule rather than following it closely. She would, and will, never put anyone in danger or dey an order, and if she sees or hears of anyone taking excessive risks, she will step in and put an end to it in anyway she can.
She is fiercely protective of those who are Hers: her weyrmate, her children, her dragon, her dearest friends. Don't let the fact that she rarely raises her voice fool you: she can scratch and claw and bite if need be. It just takes extraordinary circumstances to make that side of her come out. Should it be provoked in her, however, she will not apologize. It's not pride or arrogance. It's just matter of factly the way things had to be done.
Positive Trait List Soft-spoken, motherly, compassionate, understanding, dedicated.
Negative Trait List [Fiercely protective, a rule-bender, expectant, disciplinarrian
History: Cassali and her sisters grew up in Western Weyr at a time when Threa was more a legend than a dreaded reality. Her parents, both healers had been sent to the Weyr to help when a wave of fever swept through the residents. Her father found the challenge of fighting to beat back the illness an exhilerating challenge. Her mother,preferred the Weyr's layout and the people compared to the cramped Hold tey'd been serving in. They decided to make Western Weyr their home and raise a family there.
Her mother's favorite part of her duties was serving as a midwife, so early on, Cassali was exposed to families and children. It was not at all uncommon for Cassali to spend a whole day helping to watch over the Weyr's children or the families of visiting traders whpse young children couldn't be left behind as they caravaned from place to place.
Now and then, of course, a dragon would rise or a gold would come from outside the Weyr, in need of a place to lay and hatch her eggs. Those were always magical and terrifying times for Cassali. She was asked -- no, expected -- to take a place on the Sands once she old enough, and she did so, half-afraid and half-hoping that one of the odd, magnificent beasts might choose her so she could understand what visiting riders had tried to share, but had gone over her head.
It happened when she was nearly twenty, when her parents only encouraged her out of habit and her younger sisters laughed because she was still trying, while they, both younger, surely had a better chance. During that Hatching,as she held back tears of hope, she finally heardadragon say,
Don't cry, Cassalimine. Your Diadrith is here!Life slid into fat forward the moment she became a Weyrling. More needy than a child, but far more important, Cassali threw everything into not only learning to be a rider but learning Diadrith herself. More than companions, more than friends, they were immediately inseparable and Diadrith's moods became her own.
Which is how a post-graduation impulse to visit Black Sands Hold, a place she had always heard about but never been permitted to go, turned into a quick vacation that changed Cassali's life yet again. She met S'une and Seifoth, a dragon riding pair unlike any she'd ever met. Tall and handsome and a little bit dangerous, Cassali has admited it's likely she ever stood a chance, not in combination with Seifoth's hunger for another dragon's company. What could have been a one-time encounter turned into a seriies of happy reunions that, eventually as they will, resulted in a child.
To Cassali's relief, S'une agreed to come to the Weyr and to stay with her. To be a father to their child. To their children, more importantly, as two daughters followed the birth of their first, and only, son. With each child, she saw more and more of the man she'd fallen in love with almost, and a little surprisingly, at first sight. They raised their children. They learned to navigate life with two larger-than-life dragons.
And then Thread returned and life changed on a half-mark again.
In the chaos and panic of First Fall, Cassali's youngest sister went missing. She fled the Weyr with a handful of others. Though search parties went looking for them after the skies were cleared, they were not found and, as such, are largely counted among the lost. It is a feeling Cassali never wants to repeat, and it turned her from someone assuming that friends and family will always be near into a woman who will fight to make that so, as hard and for as long as she can.
Other: Cassali and S'une have three children: one son and two daughters: they re in their mid-thirties to mid-forties. The middle sister is still alive, is in her mid-sixties. Her youngest sister disappeared during First Fall and is presumed dead.
DRAGON
Name: Diadrith
Age: 49
Color: Green
Size: 24’
Physical Description: Diadrith is a compact green, making her body seem somehow shorter than it is, despite the fact that she is pretty average in size for a green. It may have something to do with her almost dual-toned coloration. Whatever the reason, there’s nothing physically different about her than any other dragon. She is, however, exceedingly quick and while not as agile as she once was, she can still turn on a mark.
Personality: Diadrith is a caretaker. She is interested in the goings on around her, and particularly aware of the needs of other dragons. If one of them is worried or in pain or afraid, it’s Diadrith’s aim to calm them and keep them company until better help can arrive.
She is a sprited dragon, and has been since her hatching. She loves to play, both with Cassali and other dragons. She particularly with the young. Once her rider and her weyrmate began having having childre, Diadrith became a defender of the small, playing ledge guardian to keeping toddling littles from tipping over the edge, among other things.
She is a very affectionate dragon. Of course her Cassali will always come first, but she is very attached to S’une and Seifoth alike. She is known to “try to communicate” by crooning and warbling even to those who are not her rider, and if those who are considered friends are not wary, they might find themselves bowled over by an enthusiatic green head.
She still rises and she does so for the sheer thrill of the chase. Unless there is a particularly clever dragon chasing her, the majority of her Flights are won by Seifoth, by choice. (And her rider does not stray from her weyrmate.)
Dragon Art or Proof of Obtainment: Diadrith
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