"Survive. It's the only thing that counts in the end."
BASICS
RETIRE INFO: Retire
NAME: Vella
GENDER: Female
PRONOUNS: She/her/hers
ORIENTATION: None of your sharding business unless you're in her bed naked
BIRTHDATE: Early spring 2733
AGE: 34 as of Fall 2767
LOCATION: Semaca Weyr
OCCUPATION: Captain of the Weyr Guard, Wherhandler
WING: Weyr Guard
APPEARANCE
EYES: Light brown
HAIR: Black, curly
HEIGHT AND BUILD: 5'8, muscular but slender
PLAY-BY: Sibel Kekilli
FULL APPEARANCE: Vella is a striking woman, with a hooked nose, high forehead and strong cheekbones. She couldn't be called beautiful by any conventional definition, but there's something about her that catches and holds the eye. Her skin is a golden brown giving few hints as to where her Terran ancestors originally hailed from. Her work clothes are practical, but she's been fiddling around with adapting her Fortian riding leathers to the hotter Southern climate and the results can sometimes appear...unusual, to say the least. In her spare time, she mostly dresses comfortably in shorts and a light top, but she's not averse to donning a nice gown for a special occasion.
PERSONALITY
PERSONALITY: Vella was born and raised in the war turns and it shows. To this day, she goes nowhere without a knife in her belt and takes a cautious approach to conflict. There have been horrors enough in her day. She's a voice for peace and stability in matters of politics. Even if things aren't as good as they could be, they could be a lot worse. That's not to say Vella is a traditionalist by any means. She's met enough stupid bronzeriders and genius greenriders to know the color hierarchy is a bunch of shards that deserves to be thoroughly upended. It's just not worth burning the weyr down to do it. She's perfectly happy to benefit from a weyr that's already switched to a more modern system. She just won't be leading any uprisings herself.
Within a squad, Vella is practical and professional. She doesn't care necessarily if things are done by the book, so long as they're done right. You want to try making a saddle out of a spotted feline's skin? Fine. But you're showing her you're not going to fall flat on your face during practice before you take it on patrol. She's not the friendliest of wher handlers, but she'll give praise when things are done well and advice when they're done poorly. She takes her duties seriously and does not approve of pairs that goof off during practice.
In a social situation, Vella is blunt and straightforward, with a surprising fondness for bawdy jokes. She doesn't put too much stock in elaborate manners and distrusts those who say nothing but polite courtesies. She's interested in whatever the newest innovation is in everything from weapons design to food preparation and is fascinated by everything discovered in the south. If there's an exploration expedition, you can bet your marks she'll be the first to sign up. So long as she's not on patrol that day.
HISTORY
TW: War and related violence
FAMILY:
Mother: Ventra, holder
Father: Dalla, holder
3rd of 5 siblings
SIGNIFICANT OTHER: N/A
BIRTHPLACE: Cothold beholden to Fort Weyr
HISTORY: By the time Vella was born, the weyrs had already been at war for three turns. She wasn't born in a weyr, but the conflict still defined her childhood. Her hold set guards every night, flinched every time a dragon flew too close overhead, knew every time they sent hunters out to supplement their failing harvests, they might never return. As soon as Vella was old enough to hold a knife and sling, she was taught to defend herself. Her hold heard the stories. And when the dragons came looking for hostages, they wouldn't be left defenseless.
The attack they were waiting for never came. The war ended. Life moved on. But Vella never fully trusted the peace. Not really. While their hold was never touched, they'd lost hunters, including her oldest brother, to forces from Benden and High Reaches and she had seen the burned out shells of nearby holds that were unfortunate enough to catch a dragon rider's eye. She never married, choosing instead to continue keeping guard, to protect her hold.
But it wasn't enough. Her friends and siblings were marrying and having children of their own. Her parents' days were taken up with adorable grandchildren and new fields to tend. In peacetime, she felt out of place as a woman ill-suited to domesticity. So when the Lord Holder declared there was no longer a need for women in the guard, she left. She moved to Fort Weyr, where she assumed they would always need good soldiers. While at 28 she was already too old to stand for a dragon, she accepted the opportunity to stand for a wher. Less than a turn later, she had Vellask, a perfectly adorable little green.
Vella stood on the sidelines when High Reaches and Fort clashed again, being first a candidate then a wherling, but joined the squads and performed well. When Semaca opened its doors, she decided to transfer. There were too many wherhandlers at Fort for her to have any realistic chance of advancement in the near future and there was something exciting about the prospect of a whole new continent to explore. She joined the Weyr Guard, the task of protecting civilians a familiar one to her and was recently promoted to captain. She's unsure how it will go, but eager to try her hand at keeping her new home safe.
UPDATES
- Vella is given an egg by Temask that hatches into the magma Vesk. She's not thrilled to be a wherling again.
