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BASICS
NAME: B'ley
GENDER: Nonbinary
PRONOUNS: They/Them/Theirs
ORIENTATION: Bisexual Demiromantic
BIRTHDATE: Winter 2745
AGE: 27 as of 2772
LOCATION: Fort Weyr
OCCUPATION: Dragonrider
WING: Midnight Wing
APPEARANCE
EYES: Cornflower blue
HAIR: Wheat-blonde and a bit past the shoulders
HEIGHT AND BUILD: 6'3", broad shoulders, narrow hips
FULL APPEARANCE: B'ley is ... fairly androgynous in appearance, with sharp features that seem almost elfen in aspect. They're tall, though not shockingly so, and muscular in the way of someone who takes pride in their musculature; they bind their breasts to give them a more masculine appearance, though they don't seem overly fussed about presenting as male. They move with a slight swagger to their gait, though those who are aware of it might recognize this as an attempt to mask a a limp.
B'ley has a fair complexion, their eyes a pretty pale blue, their hair the color of ripe wheat fields, though they don't seem all that interested in doing more than brushing it and tying it back in a thong. They aren't particularly good at figuring out how to attire themselves, seeming far more comfortable in their riding gear than in their Gather Day best, which looks a bit ill-fitting and worn, the relic of an friend's pity cast-offs that they've stuck with since graduating Weyrlinghood. It's clear that they've grown a bit broader and taller since then.
At least their every day non-riding gear is a bit better; it fits without showing their ankles, anyway. That's something.
PERSONALITY
PERSONALITY: B'ley has traditionally been a quieter member of the Weyr, unwilling to stir the pot unless they're certain their addition is useful. Their time in the Weyr before Impressing, with the High Reaches attack and Fort Hold withholding tithes, left a deep mark on their psyche. It was beyond horrifying, and the loneliness and isolation of losing easy access to their family resulted in B'ley no longer having contact with them.
After all, once they'd Impressed... and then graduated Weyrling class... it just seemed -- like they'd be boasting if they went back? It felt wrong, disloyal, somehow, and Vereigth wasn't terribly interested in wallowing in Their rider's humble origins. You are Ours now, Vereigth informed them in no uncertain terms. Our Rider's family is the Weyr now, is us, not some foolishly named kitchen servants. It was... a well-intentioned move from the Bronze, who'd decided that his Rider's family had not done nearly as much for them as they had for their family, and thus they were not worthy.
With their past reluctantly set behind them, B'ley is now focused on doing everything in their power to make Fort the kind of Weyr it needed to be in order to be safe from the ravages of whatever might come, be it Thread or dragon's flame or foolish Lord Holders. After ten years with Vereigth, they're ready to do more, though the Bronze still has a habit of overriding them that could prove dangerous.
HISTORY
FAMILY: Mother worked in the kitchens at Fort Hold, father is unknown; five half-siblings, all younger
- Hyssop (-3 years, asthmatic)
- Rye (-7 years)
- Turnip (-9 years)
SIGNIFICANT OTHER: None
BIRTHPLACE: Fort Hold
HISTORY: Barley was born to the mighty and bustling Fort Hold, the child of a kitchen maid who never wed the father, nor the fathers of any of Barley's half-siblings; her indiscretions were viewed with contempt, her children raised with the other lowest ranking Hold children.
Their childhood wasn't great, but it could have been worse. They grew tight-knit bonds with some of the other Hold children, forming a roaming group of 'hungry, wherry-brained younglings', as an irritable Trader once called them. Being one the larger children for their age, they acted as a de facto protector of not only their own siblings, but of other younger, smaller children too, popular amongst their lowborn peers, if not among the Blooded children. They were an adequate but not particularly gifted student, far more interested in learning hands-on than repeating the Harper's songs or scratching letters in wax tablets.
They ended up working in the kitchens with their mother, their vocation rather taken for granted as inevitable given their mother's status. The ancient, enormous Hold had begun to feel like an impossible prison by the time they turned sixteen, and they were considering trying to find someone, anyone, to sponsor them as a Runner apprentice when the unexpected occurred: they were Searched by an elderly Whitepair, visiting Fort on a leisure call.
Neither the Rider nor Barley anticipated that they would be Searched, but the dragon was insistent, and for Barley, as reluctant as they were to leave their siblings and mother behind, was as eager as they were wary of the opportunity.
They Stood for two Hatchings, during which time High Reaches attacked Fort in an unprecedented act of Dragonrider on Dragonrider violence; the experience scarred Barley, the white rider who Searched them one of many who fell to the first attack. By the time the second one rolled around, Barley was one of many Candidates who helped as best they could during and after, and if they'd never shown much of a use at healing, they helped in the kitchens, aware that while it was hardly ostentatious but that it was critically important work nevertheless during times of need.
Ties with Fort became strained, and Barley soon lost all communication with their family, leaving them isolated and missing their siblings, even if Fort Weyr had slowly begun to feel like a place they were needed.
Keahith's maiden clutch was laid shortly after Golre's demise, and when Vereigth came staggering from his enormous shell, his eyes whirling orange with hunger and agitation, Barley didn't bother looking at him after a glance, for a Bronze like that would surely Impress to someone more qualified than a kitchen girl.
Barley was wrong. On multiple counts.
B'ley, square your shoulders; you are Ours now, and we have work to do. The Bronze was upon them before they could even try to dissuade him, those brutal claws gouging a permanent injury across B'ley's left thigh that would leave them with a small but annoying limp.
After that, everything changed.
Weyrling classes were grueling, and the bond between Rider and Dragon was ... strained. Vereigth was an impressive creature, sure to be one of the bigger bronzes, and yet they were dissatisfied with nearly everything about their Bonded. There was an air of superiority from the bronze that B'ley struggled with, and after a great deal of discordance between them... B'ley came to realize that the discomfort had been theirs all along, not Vereigth's.
Once they became who they'd been all along and adopted the neutral pronouns that fit them best, B'ley and Vereigth finally seemed to find a far less strained relationship between them, Vereigth finally satisfied that Theirs was now who they were, not hiding like a frightened runnerbeast. They've spent the last decade growing into their role as a Bronze, as a Fighting pair, and as members of Fort Weyr.
