"I thought order was restored to Pern. To see such chaos, even here..."
-Cassandra Pentaghast, Dragon Age: Inquisition
BASICS
NAME: Calogera; sometimes called Calo or Gera
GENDER: Feminine
PRONOUNS: Feminine (she/her/hers)
ORIENTATION: Romantic Heterosexual by upbringing, but questioning
BIRTHDATE: Early Fall 2745
AGE: 29 as of Early Summer 2775
LOCATION: Fort Weyr
OCCUPATION:
WING: Eclipse
APPEARANCE
EYES: Brown
HAIR: Black
HEIGHT AND BUILD: 5' 8"; strong and fit
PLAY-BY: Cassandra Pentaghast (Dragon Age: Inquisition)
EXPY SOURCE: Cassandra Pentaghast (Dragon Age: Inquisition)
FULL APPEARANCE:
Standing at a respectable 5' 8", Calogera isn't much taller than an average woman, but her build reflects her life as a disciplined warrior, not a housewife. Strong from Turns of tumbling and fit from dragonriding, she is not someone to be challenged. Calogera possesses a heart-shaped face and a strong, angular jaw; an odd combination, but an appealing one. Capable of holding both a cutting edge and quiet warmth, her eyes are a rich walnut hazel color. Ebony black hair dominates her features, kept quite short and styled in a braid wrapping around behind her head. Narrow and often pinched in a frown, her brows are as dark as her hair.
From training accidents, she bears scars on both sides of her face; one is small and on her right cheekbone, another longer and deeper, running down her left profile. Both serve to give her a stern, authoritative look. Calogera prefers her wardrobe to demonstrate quality and function. Good luck getting her to attend a Gather at all, so forget about needling her into wearing a dress. Fashion is beyond her, so best to play it safe; a respectable tunic and slacks, paired to sturdy and comfortable boots are her go-to look.
PERSONALITY
PERSONALITY:
Calogera is quite an individual. In a first encounter, she comes off as sharp, very brusque, and blunt; she doesn't believe in sugarcoating. What she doesn't give off right away is her immense drive to work hard until her work is complete. Driven and strong, she will throw all her weight into her task, not withholding an ounce of effort. Putting her strength to lift others up, she strives to protect those in need and deliver what safety she can. But Calogera doesn't approve of laziness or slacking off, she's not afraid to deliver a searing and swift tongue-lashing. Holding a deep-seated grudge against Holders and their politics in general, thanks to Vestalus' nonsense in her youth, no Holder or Hold-bred individual will find much comfort from Calogera.
Calogera is impulsive, but not so far as to recklessly endanger others. Though she often applies logic to an obstacle she must face, she's more likely to follow her gut. Incredibly stubborn, she rarely takes "no" for an answer, especially if she feels strongly on a contested topic. It's rare, but there are times that she will disregard both caution and orders, doing what she sees as right. Calogera will do what must be done, regardless of how difficult or hard it is to see through, so long as it's for the greater good of Weyr and Pern. Never will she submit to being ordered to harm innocents or act against her morals. Calogera isn't stupid; in fact, she's very intelligent and won't hesitate to make someone regret assuming she's a dumb grunt.
Doubt. It colors every facet of Calogera. What she's been told she supposed to think and feel clash against how she views her world today from her thoughts and experiences. Growing up, it was wrong to be attracted to other girls, but Calogera would still find herself admiring a feminine form. Growing up, she was supposed to be dainty and gentle, but that's something she's long since called wherryshit. Calogera, as a result of constant uncertainty, can actually be quite understanding toward those who experience similar difficulties. Empathetic and caring by nature, as hard as it can be to discern, she wants to help others in need as best she can. Calogera is very firm in her stance that she must bring justice where need be, but not wrongful persecution or revenge.
Calogera is a woman of extremes, succumbing to her deep-seated anger on occasion. Belligerent anger, using foul language, and even getting physical are some traits she can display. Should someone elect to fight her, it drives her to stubborn determination, making her more impulsive, making her angrier. It is a vicious cycle, one Calogera is quite ashamed to possess. Additionally, her respect must be earned, otherwise it is rare that she will listen. Calogera absolutely will not tolerate liars or betrayers, personally slighted if even an acquaintance of hers receives such treatment. That is when her devotion to justice becomes a quest for revenge, determined to bring about payback.
Calogera has one secret: she is a romantic sap at heart. She absolutely loves hearing stories of star-crossed lovers and valiant heroes and damsels in distress, but good luck getting her to admit it. She often likes to sequester herself away with pilfered literature on such subjects, whenever she has the opportunity. Melancholy music can tug at Calogera's heartstrings as well, though she'll never let it show. Well, she'll hide in the back of the room so no-one will see her smile. That has to count! Calogera both embraces this side of her and goes to great lengths to hide it, for she believes others will use her passion against her if they ever found out. She can get very defensive if her secret's found out, not hesitating to snap or remain in extreme denial.
HISTORY
FAMILY:
Matthias - Holder - father - living
Tigana - Holder - mother - living
Pentaghast - older brother - Holder-to-be - living
Loren - Holder-bred - brother - living - open tie!
Vestalus - Holder - uncle - living
Deeba - Holder-bred - cousin - living
Treylus - Holder-to-be - cousin - living
SIGNIFICANT OTHER: None, open.
BIRTHPLACE: Minor Hold beholden to Fort
HISTORY: TW: separation from parents
Calogera was born to Matthias and Tigana, both Holders in a long-lived family of Fortian nobility. Calogera, unfortunately for her, was not the firstborn nor a son. It fell to her eldest brother, Pentaghast, to become the next Holder of their home. It was in Calogera's twelfth Turn that she, along with her brother Loren, were sent away to live with their uncle Vestalus in a neighboring Minor Hold. The reason? To remove any potential competitors for Pentaghast and provide Vestalus with a male heir, for his own attempts to secure his lineage remained unsuccessful. Calogera never saw her parents again. There are still days that Calogera wonders what might've happened had she been permitted to remain there, in the Hold of her birth with her family. She tries not to let the bitterness and disgust for her parents' actions, all to secure Pentaghast's place as the next Holder, get to her.
Life under her uncle was...difficult. A staunch Traditionalist and very controlling, Vestalus demanded perfection of his niece and nephew. While Loren was tutored to conduct Hold business, Calogera was to undergo training to become a lovely young Lady, and eventually become a suitable wife to secure ties to other families through marriage - like her cousin, Vestalus' only child, daughter Deeba. Calogera wouldn't have it. The classes themselves were both mind-numbing and stifling, and her cousin Deeba a dull, dim-witted creature to be around. She balked at every thing she was told was important; questioned everything. What did it matter that she folded a napkin just so? Why in Faranth's name did anyone need to know twelve different ways to fold a napkin? What did it matter that she sit perfectly in her seat? It was all ludicrous to Calogera, leading to disagreements between her and her uncle.
Calogera finally couldn't bear any more of her tutoring. From her seventeenth Turn and onward, she refused to attend her silly froufrou lessons on feminine etiquette, instead watching the boys learn to duel with honor and dignity whenever the time was allotted for the activity, and skulking around the resident Harpers to listen to tales that were most definitely not approved by her uncle or teachers. Relations between Calogera and Vestalus went from bad to worse. Butting heads on a daily basis, Calogera sought solace in her brother Loren. After the betrayal of their parents, all they had left was each other. Their bratty cousin Deeba most certainly cared nothing for them. It was around this time that Vestalus finally sired a son, Treylus, and an heir of his own Blood for his Hold. A Searchrider came to their dwelling, and Vestalus pulled out all the stops. Here was his opportunity to perhaps lose the competition posed by his nephew Loren.
Imagine Vestalus' shock when the Searchdragon selected Calogera out of all available young members of the Hold. His stubborn, belligerent, failure of a niece. Vestalus donned a smile to mask his cold rage and bid Calogera farewell - which was politely disguised code for "get out of my sight and never return". Calogera, while shocked at the Searchdragon's decision, was glad to accept this escape from this gilded cage she'd dwelled in all her life. Bidding her brother good luck and and farewell while giving her uncle a sour look, she departed for Fort Weyr with new hope and a dream to one day become a Fortian dragonrider.
Turns passed, and Calogera was left without a dragon. She even tried for whers! No dice. Turns of disappointment. Turns of being passed up and being left Standing. Hope faded and her dream of becoming a dragonrider became distant. Candidacy became a day-to-day ordeal to get through as Calogera grew older and older. It was in Calogera's twenty-fifth Turn in the early spring of 2770 that Serapheth's clutch - dubbed The Blessing of the Moon - began hatching. Calogera dutifully attended, keeping her hope firmly in check and her mind clear and open, as she'd been taught. Keeping her head down toward the rear of the assembled Candidates, Calogera fully expected to walk away alone again.
Oh, but how wrong she was, for tonight was her time to shine.
Ah... Well, it is the night of the hunt, is it not? How curious for you to be here. Nevermind then, really. Come, Calogera. I, Ghermath, have plenty to learn, and I am hungry.
Calogera looked up and locked eyes with the rainbow hues of the small, wrinkly brown before her, and her entire life changed in that moment. Here was her soulmate; the one she had been waiting for all this time. As his mind merged with hers, Calogera realized that she would never be alone or find herself without aid in her darkest hour. Ghermath would be with her until death separated them. Head held high, Calogera strode to the meat buckets with her brown, no longer a Candidate, but a weyrling. Let her uncle catch wind of his niece's Impression to a fine brown and pull his hair out, the stiff bastard.
Despite a training accident leaving Calogera with a scar or two on her face, she and her Ghermath graduated from weyrlinghood with distinction into their first fighting wing: Eclipse. At last, Calogera had achieved her goal: become a dragonrider and escape the nonsense expected of her as a Holder. With Ghermath at her side, there was nothing the two of them couldn't accomplish together.
UPDATES
- Late Fall 2773: In Threadfall, Calogera somehow strains her left shoulder feeding Ghermath firestone. (Mild)
