| Tej | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Gender | Female |
| Current Home | Xanadu Weyr |
| Place of Birth | Southern Boll Area |
| Occupation | Weyrling & Journeyman Harper |
| Dragon | brown Eyistirth |
| Hair | Copper-Red |
| Eyes | Blue |
Description
Willowy but strong of frame and fine of feature, Tej stands a little on the tall side for a young woman, coming to a height of 5'7" when not slumped, which she rarely is. Her posture and carriage speak to long practice in the control of her graceful stance and movements. In stillness, her expression holds a natural serenity in the delicate arches of her copper-red brows, the length of her round-tipped nose and shapely pink lips. Her skin is so fair as to bear freckles in all weather, smattering the bridge of her nose, though less so across her rosy cheeks. Her eyes are a light blue that could easily be as icy as they could be vibrant when her expression is animated. Her copper-red hair is frequently bound back away from her face in a long plait, but when unbound falls in gentle waves to mid-back.
Tej favors two extremes of clothing. Either her clothes are tightly fitted at cuffs and waist with only enough extra material to allow for the bends and stretches of body that her profession requires or her clothes are made to flow about her, skirts or pants with enough material that they move like skirts, loose fitting shirts that flow down her long torso cinched under her small bosom in scooped or sweetheart necklines and broad enough of sleeve that they billow just a little before being gathered around the wrist. Her feet are garbed in boots or slippers by turn, or even bare, depending on the calling of the day. Her hair often has a ribbon woven into her locks and a slender choker of leather holds a small oval locket at the hollow of her throat.
History
Curses are not real and luck cannot be proven, but neither of those facts prevented Tejra's family from experiencing a series of unfortunate events that amounts to nearly the same thing. Tejra's father, Teiranfal, was the second son of minor Holders in Southern Boll. Tejra's grandfather's holding was a prosperous one, specializing in exotic spices and fruits. One might say that Teiranfal's worst piece of luck was remaining the spare, second son, instead of the heir. Nothing terrible ever befell Teiranfal's elder brother, Eirazal, and so when Teiranfal was old enough to either take a place in his father's household in service to his brother or to strike out more or less on his own. He uprooted his family and took them to the Southern Continent to start a citrus farm. Fruit farming was in his blood. How different could it be from one continent to the other?
Teiranfal took his young bride, Jasei, and their two young children and settled. With his knowledge and experience, how could such a venture go wrong? It took time and capital to get their new operation underway. They managed, though it was hard work. Then… Then their crops turned bad. There was money enough that with a couple of lean seasons, they were able to try again. The next try turned out badly, too. Teiranfal was left with no choice but to appeal to his family back in Southern Boll for enough money to try one last time. They didn't eat well that turn, either, but it was better than nothing. Too headstrong by half, Teiranfal refused to use any of their hard-won marks to consult any experts and it was little wonder to anyone but Teiranfal himself that their last chance crop failed to thrive. The new venture was abandoned when Tejra was seven turns old.
Returning home a failure was more than proud Teiranfal could stomach and it was little wonder to anyone that he died shortly after their return though none would speak to Tej about it at the time. Jasei was, by that time, a worn woman, aged by the experiences on the Southern continent. Maybe she simply didn't have enough heart left to care what became of her, or maybe she thought she was doing right by her young son, Seifal, to marry again so soon after Teiranfal's untimely death. Jasei's second husband wasn't what anyone would have wished for as a father figure to the young children. Still, time passed and when Tejra was ten, her mother died of an illness and her step-father sent the children to Teiranfal's relatives who were practical strangers by that point in their lives.
Uncle Eirazal had come into his own by then and took responsibility for his young niece and nephew. It wasn't that Eirazal was cruel or even just a little mean, he was simply a man with more responsibility than left time for the orphaned children. He had means, however, so apprenticeships were arranged for both children, on the early side in Tejra's case, though only by a pair of turns. Seifal was sent to SeaCraft, while Tejra made the move to the HarperCraft.
Tejra's childhood didn't make the transition easy, and where those aware of her circumstances forgave some of her tempers, moods and disobedience, she was called to task by others, given extra duties and other mundane punishments to try to curb her behavior. The first turn was rough and she was nearly sent home before the turn was over. It only changed for Tejra when she met Master Farzi. Farzi was a dance specialist who largely taught older students preparing for their journeymen duties of teaching and was more than a little picky about whom she worked with. Something about Tejra, however, bound the pair together. Though Tejra studied the usual course for a young Harper, she began to spend her free time in Farzi's company. It became quickly apparent that if Tejra's focus could be directed to dance, among other Harper disciplines, she had a chance for settling into some sort of tolerable apprentice.
Once Tejra found a companion in Farzi who successfully directed the girl's energies into more constructive rather than self-destructive activities, she excelled. A passable singer, a fine drummer, but, above all, a superb dancer, Tejra lacked anything beyond basic skills in the more melodic instruments and was banned in her third turn, for some months, from the instrument workshop after a true mishap that damaged one of the pieces of maker's equipment, before she was allowed to resume study to attain basic levels of competency. Tejra likewise lacked skill (or rather, more likely in this case, interest) in the study of law or the finer disciplines of archiving. She did, however, spend every spare moment that Farzi would allow with the dancing Master and her students, learning everything she could soak in or practice to perfection.
At 18, Tejra walked the tables to Journeywoman and accepted her first posting to Xanadu. In her time at the Harper Hall, Tejra became a young woman of carefully balanced temper, bouncing at unexpected intervals between serenity and near manic levels of activity (largely physical). She moves and acts with the confidence of one comfortable in their skin, though whether or not that's all a carefully cultivated act will be something only time can tell.
Family
| Name | Relation | Location | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teiranfal | Father | Deceased | Ash |
| Jasei | Mother | Deceased | Ash |
| Seifal | Brother | Unknown | SeaCraft… Something? |
| Hevsik | Step-Father | Southern Boll Area | Jack of All Trades |
| Eirazal | Uncle | Southern Boll Area | Minor Holder |
| Farzi | Non-blood Family | Harper Hall | Master (Dance specialist) |
RP Hooks
Look, I have an extreme love of stories. So, if you're interested in a scene or in hooking together our characters in their backgrounds, please feel free to page or @mail if you can't catch me! Here are a few ideas to get the ball rolling:
Easy Scene Hooks
- Tejra is a Journeyman Harper; she does all the normal Harper duties like teaching and working with the records and all that stuff, but she also teaches dance, some in her service to Xanadu Weyr and some in private lessons across Pern as there's call for it.
- Tejra travels whenever the opportunity comes up; better when it's on her Craft's dime, but she still could be found anywhere the length and breadth of Pern. Want to have a chance run-in? Hit me up!
- Tej hunts, fishes, sails, camps, rock climbs, cliff dives and does weird things like hug trees and dance alone on the beach in the middle of the night in her free time, want to run into her somewhere out of the ordinary? I'm there.
- Tej loves gathers, festivals and anything where there's a large gathering of people for a short duration and the possibility of dancing.
- DOES IT REFINE GROSS OR FINE MOTOR SKILLS? Tej wants to do it. Unless she doesn't. (Sometimes she's an indecisive cat about life. What can you do.)
- Tejra has a habit of going to places she possibly shouldn't be just to see what she can see and hear what she can hear, often in some blend-in set of clothes and doctored up demeanor. Want to meet Tej when she's not Tej? Have some questionable or mundane dealings you want her to end up tied into? Alternately, do you swear you saw her somewhere? Where was that again?
- Totally open to whatever else comes up! Just a few ideas to toss out there.
Back-Story Hook-In Possibilities
- Tejra was at the Harper Hall from approximately turn 2715-2723 (ages 10-18). Were you a classmate? A student there? Someone who happened to cross paths with mercurial apprentice Tejra on a good day or a bad day? Were you a partner in mischief or someone catching mild misdeeds?
- Tejra was in a fishing cothold on the coast of Southern Boll from turns 2712-2015 (ages 7-10). Did you know her then? A neighbor? Someone who felt pity for the poor situation her mother ended up in by marrying her step-father? A rare friend in a miserable time?
- Tejra was at a new-then-failing citrus farm venture on the Southern Continent from turns 2705-2712 (ages 2-7). Did you know Tej? Her parents? Of the farm, generally?
- Tejra's brother, Seifal was shipped off to SeaCraft at the age of 12. Details are up in the air still about the specifics of his story, but Tej has fallen out of contact with him. Did you know him? Did you hear something about him? Are you him? Are you claiming to be?
- Tejra's always had a penchant for being a bit of a con artist when the moment called for it. Were you a victim of one of her mild or more severe ploys? Despite rules against it, she's discreetly had boyfriends in the past, are you one? Did you know one or hear how badly something crashed and burned?
- Tejra's dance Master is Farzi, whose basic character can be summed up if you mashed Mameha from Memoirs of a Geisha together with Master Shi Fu from Kung Fu Panda and then blended that with someone who has an eccentric set of hobbies, beliefs and practices. Farzi probably has more secrets than even her protege, Tej, could begin to guess, dark ones, light ones and every color in between. Do you know Farzi? Is there some reason Farzi sent you to seek Tej to do a service or assist you in some usual or usual job? Farzi is a link that could range from the very shady to the very benign as long as it's all discreetly done.
- Tejra occasionally performs for private parties or other entertainment; were you once treated to a show?
- Totally open to other possibilities! Just a few ideas to toss out there.
Dragon
Manifestation of the Mind Brown Eyistirth
Weaving, winding, whirling - tendrils of sepia intertwine with those of a warmer russet, the vine-like patterning appearing to mingle, to fold over upon each other, until they tangle into a mass that it somehow, it seems, is a dragon. Ebony talons are the dark roots from which the brambles of his body grow, crafted carefully first into each of his limbs - limbs that seem to lack true definition as they support his smaller than average frame, definition that remains absent through belly and haunches, even as the darker hints of umber appear here and there, adding shadows to the tangled thicket. And yet, despite the haphazardness, there is a certain beauty to the patterning, as if the vines were carefully cultivated to curve around his hips, to encircle his long tail, and to sit solidly upon his slender shoulders. Further emphasizing the perhaps planned nature of his body are the crystalline ridges of bone that are spaced evenly, perfectly down the center his spine, so pale as to appear translucent. Smaller crystals, or rather small bits of the pale bone hues, sprout here and there from amongst the trailing tendrils that form the leading edge of his wings, even smaller speckles appearing along each spar where they stretch between the only unpatterned, smooth portion of his body - wing sails of translucent mahogany - carefully planed wood that thins to nothing at the trailing edge. As for all the vines, all the tangled tendrils? They all seem to come together at his head - overly large headknobs, heavy, expressive eye ridges over his faceted eyes, a wide muzzle with dark nostrils and a nearly comically large mouth, the only true break in the briar patch.
Firelizards
Trouble in Treble Blue Tesko
Curlicues of navy dance down the spine of this lithe blue. Though the expanse of his hide is a rich sapphire, the color is only a backdrop for the score scrawled across his dainty frame. Navy blots and flourished flags might be rests or partial notes jotted in a spurt of Nature's inspiration. Though none could ever make sense of the sonata (or minuet or folksong), especially given that there are splotches of faded hide at irregular intervals that might be incomplete erasures from a harried composer, the coloration of blue effects an elegant, artistic look. The look extends to talons dipped in the deepest navy, as if inked and ready to complete the composition of his own form or even start another.
Heart of Life Green Pirouette
Though one of the smallest of her kind, no dainty Miss is this green; rather she is one whose broad back and sturdy limbs are made to bear the worst of what life has to offer and still carry on. Not only could she carry on, but she would, her inner light never diminished. That light that seems to burn deep within her, and in reality could never dim because it's just the illusion of her luminous green coloring. The subtleties of shadow and highlight all across her form suggest light seen through water, a radiance of green light diffused by the refraction of the water that guards it. The only real variation of the verdant expanse is a thread of green so bright as to be nearly white that spirals on her belly and chest drawn to its tightest coil right above her heart. This green is life embodied: bright, bold, beautiful and above all enduring.
Songs
Songs for Tejra:
Elements
Night Vision
Transcendence
Master of Tides
Thunderstruck
Tortuga
A Sky Full of Stars
Natural
Dragonland
Wild Roses
Wild Life
Logs
Tej has been in 52 logs since Xanadu Weyr drew the short straw in posting assignments.