"Well, what did you see in him?"
"I don’t know. I guess I’ve always had a soft spot for the lunatic fringe."
BASICS
NAME: Sh'nal, born Shonallio. Elided for more "traditional" presentation.
GENDER: Female-leaning genderambivalent (usually identifies as neutral, but will accept 'she')
PRONOUNS: They/them/their or she/her/hers
ORIENTATION: Demiromantic Grey-sexual
BIRTHDATE: Late Fall 2749
AGE: 23 as of Late Fall 2772
LOCATION: Semaca Weyr
OCCUPATION: Apprentice Tannercrafter
WING: Requiem Squad
APPEARANCE
EYES: Bluish, sometimes appear grey in dim/dark light
HAIR: Dirty blonde, usually pulled back or up
HEIGHT AND BUILD: 5' 10", she keeps in shape as needed for a rider but doesn't focus on building muscle
PLAY-BY: Amanda Tapping
FULL APPEARANCE: Sh'nal is of generally standard appearance: nothing about her is particularly striking, but she's also not unpleasant to look at. Her hair falls a few inches past her shoulders when she has it down, but she rarely wears it that way. Usually it is up or back in some fashion to keep it off her face, out of her eyes, and especially out of her way. In dress, Sh'nal tends to find whatever is available and wear it as long as it will last.
PERSONALITY
PERSONALITY: Overall, Sh'nal prefers to keep to themselves. They're very loyal to the few friends they keep, but for the most part they err on the side of caution and prefer not to let people too close. They're dedicated to assisting the Weyr through their Craftwork and will happily take any order that serves a purpose without fuss. They're willing to take orders for specialty and custom items, but they require some convincing, as such items usually requires far more socializing than they're comfortable with.
Slowly, they've been gaining control over their dragon, but that control requires an intense amount of concentration. For this reason, they can be very impatient and react poorly when they're interrupted, especially for something they might feel is unimportant. They can also just generally be rude and snappish, whether it be from feedback from Thraktuluth or simply their own frustration with existence.
HISTORY
FAMILY: Mother, father, three sisters, two brothers, all remaining at their Hold in Igen. An uncle who is a member of the Holdless population of the Igen Caverns and his *extensive* family, not all members known to her.
SIGNIFICANT OTHER: (optional) None at the moment!
BIRTHPLACE: Minor Hold in North Igen
HISTORY:
TW: Homophobia/queerphobia
Shonallio was born the third of six children in a small Hold in the northern stretch of Igen Hold, near the Weyr itself, but would not meet a dragon until chosen for Candidacy at 19. She spent the days of her youth romping with her siblings and helping out with basic chores and tasks, but was largely left to the communal pack of Hold children as she grew. She had the standard array of minor disagreements with her fellow children but was largely a peace-keeping child, interested in maintaining the status quo in herself and those around her. Sadly, this meant that as she began to question what it really meant to be "female", a "woman", her hesitant inquiries into the discussion of gender went unanswered and tradition went unchallenged.
At the age of eleven, she found herself in the workshop of the local Tannercraftsman on a dare: while the adults were always quick to extoll the virtues of the Craft to the children, the fact remains that tannery is a particularly stinky craft, and so they were daring each other to see who could remain the closest the longest. Shonallio, in a moment of stubborn pride, ducked into the shop itself to see what exactly was making that smell in the first place! She found out firsthand that day by upsetting a bucket of... mess... that had been prepared to help de-hair a set of new hides. After she'd washed that all off, though, she found herself going back to ask why that material, and what would it do? And then there were more questions, and then more, and then two years later she found herself being nominated to go to the Crafthall and learn Tanning properly. So, at thirteen, she left her family and Hold to become an Apprentice at the Tannercrafthall.
Once there, Shonallio was not prepared for the level of competitiveness of her fellow Apprentices. With so many there to learn the basics without even becoming Apprentices in the first place, many of her fellows -and soon she herself- found the pressure to learn faster and prove themselves worthy of being properly Trained over these other, miscellaneous people. And after a year of Apprenticeship, when Shonallio finally felt as though she'd proven herself worthy of being there and earned the respect of her classmates... She was betrayed. It was a poorly done betrayal, truly: her dehaired hide replaced with a fresh one just before inspection, without enough time to develop enough rot to appear as if it was done on time but incorrectly. But this was a rough cut on the fourteen year old, the first of what would unfortunately be several small attempts at sabotage over her Apprenticeship. She wasn't the only one, of course, and with so many people around at a given time, it was hard to know who the culprit could be. In an attempt to maintain peace, to maintain the casual standards around her, she instead withdrew from most of her compatriots.
She focused on producing her own work instead of making friends. She focused on learning as much as she could when and where she could, and tried to avoid the temptation of engaging in the same underhanded tactics that it felt like everyone was using around her. Sometimes, she failed to resist the urge to cheat to get ahead. In the end, though, the Tannercraft is simply not a Craft where one can employ shortcuts: the materials they work with go at the pace of the worker with only minor variations. Thankfully, it was in the craft Hall that she had her first encounter with someone of a non-traditional gender: she met and was casual friends with a non-binary individual and started to experiment with her/their own pronouns, mostly using "they" instead of "she".
After five more long years of hard practice, Shonallio and the other classmates of their year were each given a full-sized hide to work with. As a practice for their Journeyman pieces, they were permitted to work the hide and make items with it to present for inexpensive sale at the mid-year Gather. Shonallio focused on making a smaller selection of higher quality items rather than try to churn out the highest variety possible and made a couple of nice, well-made bags that could be worn either across the back or front of a person as satchels with a single over-the-shoulder strap. This went over well with Gather attendees- too well, as two of their three bags sold within the morning of the first day, leaving them with only a single bag for their display. Their distance from their classmates also meant they had no friend to share a stand or display with, and their lonely little piece left them quite out of place. And yet, luck was with them. A Searchrider attended the Gather that day on their own day of rest, but on meeting Shonallio was encouraged by their dragon to bring them around for the dragon to meet. They'd never met a dragon before, never seen one up close, but they held their ground when the rider left them alone before their dragon's stern glare. They smiled at rider and dragon both, thanked them for their time, and never thought for a moment they'd be invited to be a Candidate.
Leaving the Crafthall was the strangest decision they'd ever made. They were perhaps a year from becoming a Journeyman. Even if they were still occasionally judged as odd, the Craft was surety where the Weyr was a question that could lead to utter failure. And yet... That dragon had referred to them so easily as both 'she' and 'they', and so had their rider. They could always study under a Tanner at the Weyr, couldn't they? So they accepted the offer to go to Igen Weyr and Stand on the Hatching Sands.
Their first clutch was entirely uneventful: eggs hatched, dragons Impressed, and they and a handful of Candidates were left to ponder their futures. Shonallio resumed her Tannercraft studies and decided that even if they aged out of Candidacy, they would stay at the Weyr to ply their craft in aid of the dragonriders. Their second clutch, however, was far more chaotic and would result in their Craft studies being put on hold. The smaller number of dragonets were uncoordinated and indecisive, and several Candidates were scattered across the sands as the eggs hatched. One of the medium-sized eggs hatched... The metallic gleam across the large dark wings drew the attention of a handful of boys who were hoping to Impress to a bronze and make some kind of name for themselves. However, the wings unfurled to reveal quite a small bronze dragonet. He was around the same size as a brown, and a couple of the closer boys made to withdraw in disinterest. In response, the bronze snarled at them and mentally shrieked, sending stabs of pain into those closest to him. As attention turned that direction, the dragonet began to lash out and menace the Candidates around him. Everyone started to move away hurriedly, and the uncoordinated dragonet attempted to follow, clawing and snapping as they went. In an abrupt moment of bravery, Shonallio stepped in front of their fellow Candidates and spread their arms wide, facing down the angry dragonet. "Enough!" they yelled out. The bronze spread its wings and shrieked back at them, but they held their ground... And the bronze's eyes whirled the rainbow of Impression.
You. I shall have you.
Shonallio- now Sh'nal- was terrified. For all that they'd begun to feel familiar with the Weyr and familiar with their identification, Impressing a bronze did not suit the general status quo they preferred to maintain. But there was no time for uncertainty. They had a hungry, angry dragonet to care for and learn to control... And Thraktuluth had no interest in bowing to anyone.
Throughout the course of their weyrling training, Sh'nal and Thraktuluth struggled to connect. Thrak wanted to grow, to rule, to command, and Sh'nal had no interest in any such roles or behavior. He was willing to growl and snap and bully his way to victory, and began to turn his frustration on his rider as they attempted to enforce manners and control. Most people attempted to be supportive, but there were whispers through the Weyr that someone who couldn't even decide on their gender certainly couldn't be expected to control a bronze dragon. Sh'nal's irritation with those whispers and with themselves fed into Thraktuluth's agitation and violent urges, creating a vicious loop that left the pair at odds. It reached a point where the weyrlingmaster had to ask one of Igen's senior bronzes to bring their mental and physical presence to bear on the young dragon so his rider could simply sleep. It was at that point that someone finally offered them a few brief words of comfort: "He chose you. That means that somewhere in that thick skull of his, he believes you can handle him. So stop doubting the pair of you and be the person we all saw on the Sands that day."
Their relationship didn't change overnight, but it did slowly improve afterwards. When Thraktuluth attempted to fight Thread early, Sh'nal was able to keep him grounded and out of the way of the fighting wings. By the time they graduated and starting fighting Thread actively, the pair were working together most of the time without needing constant supervision by senior dragons. Fighting Thread gave the pair the perfect outlet to channel Thrak's vicious energy into something productive and they fell into a sensible rhythm.
However, that sensible rhythm soon led to boredom, and Thraktuluth chafed for more to do. Sh'nal consulted with the leaders of Igen and was presented with a possible solution: the pair could transfer to Semaca Weyr, where the need for fighting dragons and able crafters was high, and rumor had it there was always something new to find or see. After a very brief consideration, they agreed and left the Weyr and continent they had always known to try carving out a new life, excited to have an environment where Thraktuluth could stretch his (very large) wings and Sh'nal could practice their craft.
UPDATES
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