Game: Kaumi
Area: Kaumi Weyr
Position: Rider
Wing:
On-Site Profile: Z'ia
Dragon: Green Witherwith
Flits:
Local Species:
Pets:
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Table of Contents
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Consise/Basics
Name: Z'ia
Nickname:
Position: Rider
Past Ranks: Candidate, Weyrbrat, Weyrling
Wing:
Former Wing:
Gender: Male
Sexuality*: Pan
- Note that all sexualities are fluid or basically pansexual, due to ness's own sexual mindset. All characters are at base pansexual; they could go for anyone based on personality over gender. Some of them may lean, and have a gender preference. Some may be more bisexual. Bigenders, transgenders, and other genders may not be an issue on pern, so that aspect may not be an issue. Point: Personality over sexuality, which is why they will be listed as Pansexual with a potential lean.
Looks
Z'ia is a man of average height, just hitting about 6'. He gives the impression that he was once imposing, but even with the best of training has not been able to keep up a mass of muscle into his age. Don't let that fool you into thinking he's unfit, because he's anything but. His face is creased with lines, especially around his eyes. His hair is long, and was once black, but now is primarily a dark sleek silver, lined here and there with black. His beard is similar- he usually keeps it trimmed to around his face, and it is grey with smatterings of black. His eyes are bright grey, and his skin is a deep tan. Z'ia really likes to be comfortable, and as such wears fine cloth when he can, but his riding clothes are made of leather and are as durable as ever.
Personality
Z'ia is an old man who has seen much triumph and much loss.
Characteristically strong and brave, he had discipline from training on his side since he was young, and the shrill will-power to work at respect where a bronzerider might be handed it. That witherwith was green was never a handicap to him, and making that suggestion to him will make him vehemently deny it, but all the same, rank was never handed to him lightly: he worked to become wingleader, and to become weyrlingmaster.
Z'ia is calm and capable. He is patient, and wise— certainly enough so to usually know when to wait and when to act. It's a benefit of being old, he claims. He has proved himself many times, and will continue to do so.
Steady and stable, Z'ia is a good source of advice, and he gives it freely if it's asked for. Even when it's not asked for, he'll try to sooth a wounded pride or give some sage advice to someone, whether it will be well-received or not. His favorite method of conveying wisdom is short stories that drive a point home. Rarely will he start by saying "You should do this." He'll tell a story of how he once did something similar, and it backfired or succeed, and therefore one might find it in one's best interests to go about something this way… He also deliberately tries to phrase things so that they're light suggestions, rather then binding commands. Instead of "Do this" or "You should do this," he will say "It would behoove you to…" etc.
As such, Z'ia could be considered wordy. He can be rather longwinded, but his wordiness is deliberate: he's a very, very smart old man, with the benefit of a wide and ranging education. He was taught everything which his family thought necessary— excessive by most pernese standards— and he sought more knowledge on top of that. He knows exactly what he wants to say, and how he wants to say it— thus, his word-choice is important.
Z'ia's education frequently delved into more theoretical places— the study of ethics fascinates him, and he enjoys worrying away at some ethical conundrum, especially with someone who can think and operate on the same level as him. He's made an extensive study of philosophy and morality. He enjoys reading, and any place he lives will be covered in scraps of paper, essays, etc. Things he can get his hands on to examine new thoughts and viewpoints, because how can you grow mentally without such things? This is part of the reason why he enjoys conversation so much. It gives him a way to see the world through another's eyes
Z'ia is steady and stable. He's a strategist, partially: it served him well as a wingleader. He's also a compassionate and empathetic soul, and since stepping away from his leadership positions, has developed these aspects of himself more. He's become quite nurturing— you can go to him to cry about a failed relationship, or some other problem, and he'll be a welcome shoulder to cry on, and he'll give you some tea and some good advice. Developing this nurturing side is one of his greatest regrets— not that he's done it at all, but that he waited so long. He can't help but wonder if perhaps he squandered time with his son by not doing so.
Nevertheless, it's important to remember that Z'ia was once a leader. Despite his great emotional sensitivity, he still values strength and ability. He also values a strong adversary- he doesn't like having enemies he can't respect, just as he wouldn't have friends who he doesn't respect. He values bravery and valor, and a willingness to take risks and prove oneself.
He was once more stringent then he is now, when the fires of youth motivated him— somewhat, anyway. He's always been easy-going, but now he is more laid-back, even more empathetic then he was. He is both friendly and social: he loves other people, he loves meeting them and learning who they are. He's good humored, with a somewhat dry sense of humor.
Z'ia likes nice things. He likes nice, comfortable clothing in expensive fabric. He likes fine food, fine wine, fine beer. He really really likes fine tea, and will drink several non-medicinal herbal infusions a day. He enjoys art, music, theater, and good conversation. As such, he can seem mildly hedonistic, and to an extent he is. He won't be unfairly so, he takes great delight in sharing, and he's not soft or incapable by a longshot— he just really enjoys nice things. Especially now, one of Z'ia's core beliefs is that one should live life to the fullest.
Speaking of core beliefs, Z'ia has a lot of them, and they are strong and deeply held. He's a very, very spiritual man, and though he has nothing which could resemble an organized religion, he can be superstitious and he does respect those that came before him— faranth, and his personal ancestors. He thinks the world has a balance, and that one must be tuned into it to survive. He seeks balance and unity within the aspects of his own life: spiritual, physical, emotional. His advice frequently has to do with others doing the same. To his credit, he does have a sort of serenity hanging over him.
Z'ia is also very, very loyal. His first loyalty is always to his family— that loyalty is strong enough to overcome his devotion to country and duty. He has no family anymore, though, and just after them in importance comes the aforementioned country and duty. He believes in doing right by one's people: doing one's duty. If that means joining the guard, it means joining the guard. If that means being a dragonrider, then be a dragonrider. That kind of thing. He'll be loyal to his country and leaders for a long, long time. He'll do things for them even if he doesn't agree, and it crosses his morals. This is not limitless— eventually transgressions against his morals will outweigh his need to do right by his country and the people at it's head— but up until it reaches that melting point, Z'ia will writhe with agony at having to cross himself for the "Greater Good." So long as he does believe it's for the greater good, he'll probably go along with it— but commuting atrocities, while he' may do it for a little while, will eventually loose him. He will feel guilt and remorse even if he remains loyal, and will seek penance if he defects.
Another core belief for Z'ia is that people create their own destinies. You choose what you do, no matter what, through the actions you take. He's become good at subtly manipulating situations in his favor. He believes that you can accomplish things through willpower alone, and sets himself to doing that- and even in his old age, Z'ia has a lot of willpower. He also knows you can't control everything, which is why his manipulation of events is subtle, and why he occasionally just goes with the flow and takes punches as they come. He can be very adaptive, and can find silver linings in many things. This belief is part of what will cause him problems if he is ever asked to cross his morals, and then does: he will have thought he should know better.
Z'ia is deeply familial. He loves his family. Even the family that turned their backs on him he maintains some affection for, and those close to him will bask in his affections. His weyrmates were treated to luxuries, and he remained close to them even after that initial chasing spark had passed. He regrets that he only ever had one child. His friends are an extension of his family in his eyes, though perhaps not as close, and he will probably come to see people who grow close to him in a similar light to children, or other familial labels.
Z'ia can and does keep his head in a crisis, with perhaps the exception of an internal moral crisis. He has no want of power— even in his youth, he was motivated more by an urge to prove himself capable then any ambitious want of power. Now more then ever, he is glad to renounce the leading stick to someone else. He is very deeply honorable, and conducts himself according to an internal honor code. He is also chivalrous, and polite.
Z'ia respects life as sacred, and he respects other people's beliefs and ideas. He's fascinated by the culture of others. He enjoys the "keeper of cultures"— the harpers, they're his favorite sort of craftsman, and he will seek them out for conversation. Z'ia also enjoys games, both of strategy and chance. He'll play chess and he'll bet on random odds- because there are some things in life you can control, and some things in life which you can't
History
Z'ia was born into a long and proud tradition of dragonriding. Bronzes had been in his blood, with a smattering of queenrider, some brownrider, and the rare bluerider thrown in- but they never talked about the blues much, because they were an old and proud bloodline of dragonriding folk. As such, Z'ia was trained with almost militaristic discipline to take up the mantle of dragonrider, and was thrown into candidacy at the earlier possible age.
He was left standing once or twice, but this did not perterb his family much- they knew that sometimes you had to wait for the perfect bronze, as they weren't that common. What did perturb his family, however, was the fact that it was ot a bronze in his future. On his third hatching, when he did manage to Impress a dragonet, Witherwith turned out to be a green.
Z'ia didn't look back- he adored her. His family, however, had a pall of disappointment which never faded, and things were never the same between them, much to his deep chagrin.
Still, Z'ia gave life his all. He showed the same dedication in riding he had shown in candidacy, to good effect. He became wingleader at the age of 36, and weyrlingmaster at the age of 40. He managed to net himself two weyrmates, though he was with them at different times.
The first was a bluerider, male, killed by an illness when both of them were fairly young. It was some time before he felt good enough to go out on a limb and find a romance again, but when he did it was with a woman of the lower caverns, and she bore him a son: Zalmar.
It was with great pride that he watched Zalmar grow, and the highest point of this pride was watching the boy stand as a candidate for the first time. The blood held true- Z'ar managed to impress a bronze on his first go. Z'ia was proud, especially because he and Witherwith were the weyrlingmasters who would teach them.
Z'ia had already taught a few weyrling classes. He knew that losses happened, especially when it came to between. It weighed heavily on him and strained him, even early on. When those lessons came around with Z'ar in his class, they proved the end of his career, effectively: as fate would have it, Z'ar and bronze Pzenth would not emerge from their first trip between.
It was the heaviest blow Z'ia could imagine. He managed to finish out the rest of that weyrlingclass, but immediately he resigned his positions as both wingleader and weyrlingmaster, and went into a kind of self-imposed exile from rank, doing only the duties of wingrider and keeping to himself. His only solace was the company of his weyrmate.
It took him years to come out of that shell, but he was never the same, and he never accepted high ranks.
His weyrmate died of an illness similar to the one that claimed his first weyrmate when he was 66, and the wounds have barely healed despite the long time. He has no family now: only country, and himself. And country, even, they tried to take from him: the holds, so important to the weyr, turned their backs on the weyrs they so needed.
Family
| Name | Relation | Location | Position | Dragon | PC/NPC/Adoptable? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| x | x | x | x | x | x |
Dragon
Witherwith
Green F Dragon
Witherwith is a large green, with a build that puts one in mind of a jungle feline with wings. Her muscles are pronounced and lithe, and she moves with a kind of predatory, dangerous grace. Watching this dragon hunt is both gruesome and beautiful. She is perfectly in control of her actions. Her features are round but elegant, and fearsome. Her gaze is unblinking, and many find her incredibly intimidating. The colors that wash her hide are deceptively soothing: her base is a wash of cool gray-green, upon which climb twining branches of darker greens stemming up from a mossy-colored belly. Her paws look like she was splattered in mud up to her elbows and hocks, down to her feet, though the very tips are washed in socks of almost inky-black green. That same shade sits atop her head and runs down her spine, streaking down to cover part of her face and dance down her neck and back. A brighter shade of green shows under all of these markings on her underbelly, but it is really only clear on her wing sails. All of this is broken by fairy-lights of bright yell0wgreen, giving her an ethereal appearance.
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Started as: Rider
Starting Age: 72
Starting Date IC/OOC: 8-20-2011
Bdate if specified:
