Dear reader
Burn all the files, desert all your past lives
And if you don't recognize yourself
That means you did it right
(Taylor Swift, Dear Reader)
BASICS
NAME: Quintessence; goes by Tess
GENDER: Feminine
PRONOUNS: Feminine (she/her/hers)
ORIENTATION: Greyromantic Greysexual, but happily taken
BIRTHDATE: Early Spring 2744
AGE: 32 as of 2776
LOCATION: Fort Weyr
OCCUPATION: Apprentice Smith, Wingrider
WING: Equinox
APPEARANCE
EYES: Bright Blue
HAIR: Dark Brown
HEIGHT AND BUILD: 5' 0"
PLAY-BY: Tiefling Maker
EXPY SOURCE: Original Character
FULL APPEARANCE:
Tess is remarkably short, standing at exactly 5' in height, though it's more than likely she's reached her full growth. While her skin is fair, freckles smother her forehead, nose, and cheeks. Accented by braids, she has dark brown hair, kept short for both easy care and additional obscurity, allowing her natural curls to show. In a shade of rich dark blue, her eyes are large and often described as doe-like, though more often than not narrowed in suspicion at someone or other. As for her wardrobe, Tess will vehemently swear she'd rather die than ever wear a dress again. In her usual day-to-day activities, she's usually seen in a nice-enough shirt, pants to match, and a pair of good boots.
PERSONALITY
PERSONALITY:
Tess is...a complicated woman. Though she's capable of being polite and even somewhat dignified at situations that absolutely warrant it, such as important meetings or Gathers, it's not her nature to do so. While reserved, she can be personable in said scenarios, carrying on conversation like its as easy as breathing to her. In actuality, it's not, far from it. Unless she has to put on proper airs, she's crass and rude, brazen and aggressive, she speaks her mind and doesn't pull her punches. So blunt as to seem callous, she doesn't sugarcoat matters, regardless how awful a situation before her. Though she doesn't shirk her duties, she'll do it her way and won't take shards otherwise. Intelligent and quick-witted, she won't hesitate to call someone a dimglow and tell them how to do something right, if she knows how to do it. It irks her to no end to see something that's not right and not correct it herself or see someone else fix it; even something as minor as riding straps in disarray annoys her, which quite often shortens her short fuse.
Tess tries to pretend that everything is okay, that she doesn't always keep a knife on her, that regret doesn't haunt her every step, second-guessing herself into restless sleep every night. It's a lost cause to imagine these things, but she tries regardless. No matter how hostile and harsh she behaves, she's an insecure and fearful woman, afraid that she's not worthy, always questioning herself, wondering if she's good enough. So she hides behind her nasty attitude and colorful language, trying to keep others at a distance, so no one can see how irreparably flawed she perceives herself to be. In her eyes, if she lets others in, that does nothing but give her something to lose, if death should take them or once they inevitably realize that she's not worth it. But those persistent enough to get Tess to let her walls down will find her to be a fiercely loyal friend, even capable of caring for them above all else. Though she gets lost in her head more often than not in her anxieties, she's a good person at heart.
There are few Tess likes and even fewer she trusts, Kazeroth among an even rarer few that she holds in highest regard. After so long spent together, a deep trust and understanding has formed between them, so much so that Tess doesn't like to be away from her green for long, if she can help it. Alike in more ways than one, it has taken Turns for both to grow and mature, but it was a process that they faced together. Into today, both still learn valuable lessons every day; that it's okay to let others in, that not everyone is out to get them, as well as so much more.
HISTORY
FAMILY:
Parents - both common workers - both living
Siblings/Half-Siblings - none to her knowledge
Adoptive Mother - Master Smith - living
SIGNIFICANT OTHER: Weyrmated since about 2764
BIRTHPLACE: A small Hold within Fort territory
HISTORY:
Quintessence was born to an unlikely couple in a small Hold beholden to Fort. Thanks to issues relating to fertility and close calls in pregnancy, it seemed unlikely that her mother would be able to bring forth more children, which gave her little relief from a too critical mother. From a young age, Tess and her mother didn't see eye-to-eye. Where her mother insisted on her being as she wanted her one daughter to be, Tess rebelled at every opportunity. Things continued to go progressively downhill between them until her sixteenth Turn, where she made her acquaintance to a Master Smith that lived further within her Hold. Here was her chance to be something more, relaying as much to her newfound confidante. After some thought, she agreed to give her a chance and decided that Tess would be taken under her wing as one of her Apprentices, if she chose. Tess didn't say goodbye to her parents, not even in a note.
Grateful and eager to open a new chapter in her life, Tess was a quick study, not to mention bright and clever, as well as mathematically-inclined. A Turn passed, where her mentor soon found a deeper place in her heart, like a mother, one that cared for her and made her love known, that Tess had always wanted. But before long, her world turned upside down. A dragon flew Search from Fort Weyr, stopping in Fort Hold. Tess thought little of it until her mentor was welcoming that dragonrider inside, who soon communicated his dragon's choice: Tess had potential and was invited to Fort for Candidacy. Though she didn't want to go, after some time to ponder and encouragement from her newfound mother, she accepted and went.
Candidacy was a trial. Tess didn't know a single soul here, too hesitant to try to step forward and make friends, leading to her coming off as standoffish at best, outright hostile at worst. Though she did her chores and complied during lessons, she wasn't otherwise interested in socializing, a fact she made clear in loud and colorful words. All but one listened. That one person stayed close to her, managed to wear down her walls, and has been her closest friend into today. But she Impressed remarkably quickly, in her eighteenth Turn, about a Turn after being Searched. At gold Keahith's maiden clutch, a green burst forth and started ramming into Candidates, until she found Tess and seized her robe. Before she felt teeth dig into her flesh as she was so sure would happen, a voice pressed into her mind, telling her a name and informing her there was a world that needed changing. Quintessence knew she was everything but perfect, but in that moment, that instant she and Kazeroth were one, it all fell to pieces at her feet. Every insecurity, every flaw, every fear, lost in a rainbow in her green's eyes.
Weyrlinghood was far from smooth sailing, but Tess and Kazeroth got through it together. Graduating into a fully-fledged dragonrider and selecting her wing, she began to apply herself to fighting Thread and helping Pern and her citizens, though it was a difficult process. Before, she had no reason to care for others' wellbeing, but being a dragonrider forced her to change her perspective entirely. Where most saw her Kazeroth as harsh and abrasive, she knew her green to be gentle inside. It took them both Turns, but a deep understanding bloomed between them, a friendship stronger than iron, a love that knows no bounds, no limits. But a new love took root in her heart too, for a young man who made her feel lighter, who set her free from her fears and let her fly, who occupied her every thought by day and haunted her dreams at night. Though it would take time for her to admit it, she would decide there is no other for her like him, together even today.
Times changed before Tess and Kazeroth's eyes, forging them into who each are today. So much happened, from mutations hatching both at home and in Weyrs far elsewhere, from events that shattered stability across Pern. Fort Hold withheld tithes before exploding into complete rebellion, leading her to fear for her mentor's safety, wondering her stance on such an event. Serapheth's eggs, a class that was later called Trailblazers, hatched to cause chaos and bloodshed in Fort, which earned them fellis-laced retribution. Ista Weyr sent a delegation to take command of Fort; Tess and Kazeroth made themselves scarce in those trying times. From Benden, a gold and her bonded fled to Fort, revealing that both had been held prisoner in a place that should've been safe, should've been home. It wasn't fair, but there was little Tess or Kazeroth could do.
It seemed too that Fort's Trailblazers weren't finished wreaking havoc, as Nornth rose in a flight that ended in four dragons falling to her whims. Shortly after, she and her bonded fell to poison. A couple quiet Turns were met in relief, before Traditionalists began asserting themselves more in Fort, bringing more strain and tension. Garnet Neozeoth had laid a small clutch, but her eggs vanished and later reappeared in High Reaches. Everything went tense between both Weyrs, so much so that even ornery Tess could feel it in her bones. Relations within Fort itself explode into combat after Weyrleader Z'osh staged a Traditionalist coup, placing a whole host of dragonriders under house arrest. Once he was sent to Semaca in exile for his actions, Tess felt she could breathe again.
But things couldn't stay peaceful for long, could it? News spread on who was behind Fort's lost eggs, some Turns before: a criminal network, as well as a couple inside dragonriders, had been responsible. It was a shock, it pissed both Tess and Kazeroth off, but those behind it were identified and sufficiently punished. Serapheth's second gold daughter was born to Fort, who Tess decided to greet cautiously and steer clear for some time. Speaking of time, dragonriders from all Passes began appearing, settling into Fort after getting things sorted out and figuring out that it was 2774 and not...what Turn they thought it was. Later, as numbers grew enough for a third high-flying wing, Tess and Kazeroth transferred into Equinox, to better cover thinner ranks. After so much change and upheaval, Tess has matured into who she is today, Kazeroth at her side, steadfast and devoted, for better or for worse.
UPDATES
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