Weyrwoman Leshta of Gold Semith

Name: Leshta
Age: 26
Gender: Female
Prisoner: No
Craft/Rank: Weyrwoman, Journeyman Weaver

Appearance: Let's not beat around the bush. Leshta is over-weight. She's not 'womanly', she's heavy. She can still get around just fine, but she's carrying at least sixty pounds that she could afford to lose. She's also, well, short. Not excessively so, but she'll certainly never see 5'5" without wearing the sort of heels she's certain to fall over in. It's important to note that fat does not mean 'pathetic'. It does not mean 'slob'. Leshta is clean, her clothing is extremely well made and attractive, and her hair is always nicely styled.

With dark brown hair verging on black, eyes of a similar color and darkly tanned skin, she has no startling, or unexpected features. None-the-less, for those whose interests are not limited to the exotic or slender, she might be found to be attractive. Her hair is long, curly and extremely healthy, with a nice shine. Her eyes are fringed by dark eyelashes. She's also got some great cleavage, and she's not above wearing a neckline that makes that extremely clear.

Leshta tends to dress very well. She likes dark clothing, particularly deep reds, rich oranges, and warm browns. She favors flowing, slightly loose fashions that allow for comfort in the Southern heat. She's also nearly impossible to get into pants. Skirts or dresses only, shard-it.

Personality: There are two kinds of people in Leshta's world. Friends and Enemies. Neutral parties don't exist and she's ready and willing to assume the alliances of anyone she hasn't met yet. Assuming is something that Leshta does a lot. She is, in fact, a relatively good judge of character but that doesn't excuse the fact that she's usually decided within the first five minutes of conversations whether the person she's met is with her or against her. And once she's decided, that's the end of the conversation. Changing her mind about that, or any subject, is nearly impossible. Leshta is about as obstinant as they come. It's hard to call her beliefs opinions, they're more like a faith. Changing her mind is something she finds painful, as it calls into question everything else she believes. If she's wrong about thing A, who's to say she's not wrong about everything? So she'd rather just not change her mind.

On the bright side, Leshta's views make her a wonderful, if fanatically devoted friend. She'll happily give the world for those she cares about. She treats them with a completely unhesitant generosity and almost worshipful affection. Her friends are extremely important to her and once she decides she values someone, she's loathe to give them up. It takes pretty serious betrayal for her to even consider switching a friend to an enemy and if she can blame a friend's fault on herself, she will. She can also get a bit overprotective of those she cares about, a side effect of her us versus them mentality. People who hurt those she likes end up on her enemy list and that's not a fun place to be.

While Leshta used to actively attack her so called 'enemies' maturity (or at least the pressure of her position) has lead to her easing up a bit on this front. Which is to say, people she dislikes can expected, at the very least, to be ignored. If they're just a little more obnoxious than that, they will get the very sharp edge of her tongue. However, if they really get on her bad side, they can expect to be assigned to work the least comfortable positions at the least convenient hours possible. Leshta figures, if she can make someone's life hard enough, they're bound to leave. Hey, at least she's not putting tunnelsnakes in people's beds anymore!

Leshta is extremely protective of her gold, Semith. Best not to be heard discussing the Queen's less than queenly attributes within earshot, because the Weyrwoman has been known to completely lose it over such comments. Semith is Leshta's world, and can, in her eyes, do absolutely no wrong. She dotes on the crippled dragon, and can not bear the fact that she's treated as less than other queens.

Socially she's forward, a bit blunt, but not unfriendly with strangers until she decides where they stand. She's no butterfly, but she's not shy either, and she can manage small talk even if it's not her favorite activity. Just don't interrupt her during work. Leshta has a very one track mind. Whatever she's doing, that's what she's doing, and she has a very hard time thinking about anything else. It's very important to her to finish what she's doing and do it well. Leshta likes to be recognized for her skills and while she doesn't necessarily need to be the best she does have to be her best. And she's convinced that her best is quite the high standard of quality.

History:
Leshta doesn't talk much about her past. At least, not with much honesty. She was born at Southern Weyr to Harper parents. And Leshta will happily spin horror stories about how badly they treated her. They are stories though. Her parents were strict, and tried to pressure her into following in their footsteps, but they certainly weren't abusive. Leshta just had other ideas.

Leshta moved to the north at fourteen turns, partly to get away her parents, but also to follow her passion, weaving. Intense in her studies as she was at everything else, Leshta did well as a Weaver, advancing to Journeyman at twenty-one.

At twenty-two, she was searched. Modern times being what they were, candidacy and even impression didn't necessarily stand in the way of Leshta's studies, so she moved to Benden Weyr and stood for the clutch. She was left standing.

But she liked the Weyr well enough, and stayed on for the next clutch. A clutch where the much celebrated gold egg split to reveal a dragon with a stump where her wing should have been. The dragon herself seemed in bad shape, stumbling and falling instead of moving toward any of the candidates. She seemed confused, disoriented, and her cries grew shriller and shriller as her eyes began to go gray.

Many still say that she was meant to go between. Instead, Leshta was foolish enough to sprint across the sands, where she attempted to pick the stumbling gold up and carry her toward the candidates. The gold was all fear and confusion. Leshta was all fury and determination. A match was made. Whether it should have been, well, it's too late for such arguments.

Semith quickly proved to be a little... off. Her strangeness might have been forgiven and ignored in a blue or a green, but in a queen, it was often remarked upon. Leshta, of course, refused to admit there was anything wrong with her dragon. Regardless, Semith was seen as dead-weight. Flightless, and therefore sterile, not to mention lacking the attitude to assist in the running of a Weyr. After two turns spent at Benden, they were sent to Warden's to "assist in running things". Leshta has never forgiven Benden that particular insult, nor has she forgiven the Warden for, well, existing as the living embodiment of the place she doesn't want to be.

And then Semith Ran. That changed everything. Especially when a clutch was laid. Leshta is now as protective of the eggs as she is of Semith, reluctantly permitting prisoners to stand if only because it means the hatchlings are less likely to go between. And there will be hatchlings. Don't talk to Leshta about dud eggs. She won't even consider the possibility.

Other Stuff: Leshta technically has two firelizards, but only impressed them because Semith likes the creatures.



Name: Flit
Species: Firelizard
Color: Blue
Appearance: Small, awkward.
Personality: Clumsy, forgetful, curious.

Name: Other Flit
Species Firelizard
Color: Brown
Appearance: Dark, large.
Personality: Protective, serious.


Name: Semith
Color: Gold
Age: 3
Appearance:

At first glance, Semith is quite the pretty queen. She's a dark, antique sort of gold, sleek and elegant with a long neck and a slightly pointed face. She's also slightly on the smaller end, closer to the size of a large bronze.

And then, when one takes a closer look, one notices that while her right wing is long and well formed with a slightly lighter gold wingsail, the left is little more than a mangled stump, utterly useless. That's right, Semith was born with a malformed wing and will never taste the skies. She can be quite graceful in water, and she moves with the ease of familiarity on land, but as for the air, she's doomed to only watch as other dragons take flight.

Personality:

Oh! Oh, hello! Semith didn't see you there! Did you come to play with her? Of course you did. Why wouldn't you?

Poor Semith. She should have been born a firelizard. Or perhaps a ferret. All that enthusiasm and energy doesn't belong in the body of a large, flightless dragon. Not that she lets the whole not flying thing get her down, although she does sometimes wish that she could get up into the air and play with all her friends.

And everyone, everyone, is Semith's friend. She could see the good in a convicted killer (and has, as there are plenty of them about). That thing about dragons not talking to anyone but their riders? Yeah, not Semith. She'll happily hold a conversation with a rock. Especially if it's a shiny rock. Semith loves shiny things, and tends to collect 'presents' whether it be bits of jewelry that Leshta gives her, or just sparklies that she happens across. She can actually be a bit possessive of 'her' things. She doesn't mind if other people touch them, but she certainly expects them to be given back in the same shape they were found.

While Semith can't join her fellow dragons in flight, she does enjoy their company, though not all of them enjoy hers. Her constant prattle can grate on the nerves of some of the more sedate dragons but her playful personality and starry-eyed optimism win over others. She'll be the one talking the other dragons into games of tag, or hide-and-go seek.

If Golds are brighter than other colors, well, Semith certainly hides it well. Her memory is even worse than an average dragon, and she sometimes forgets what she's doing while she's doing it. Sarcasm and insults tend to fly right over her head, though that may be because she likes to pretend there's no such thing. No, she's not the brightest glow in the basket, but she's got a heart the size of Pern.