Post by Lesa on May 1, 2011 7:30:27 GMT -5
D'ji
Name: D'ji (was Djordji)
Age: 33
Gender: Male
Prisoner: No
Crime: None
Craft/Rank: Dragonrider; Farmer
Appearance: D'ji has a Harper's hands, long and narrow with a grand spread, well callused. His hands are well tanned, as is the rest of him - his lower half a slight bit less than his back and chest, and his privates the least tan of all.
Stocky, at 5'7", D'ji manages to be lithe and muscular - since he has been working from a young age, he never 'bulked up'. While well built, to female eyes, D'ji isn't a bulky farmer, muscle on top of muscle, rather his muscles are visible through his skin, but no more than that. He has his mother's build, rather than his father's typical bulky-farmer muscles - this might be from D'ji working so much on his flowers then working with his dragon, rather than continually working for Turns on end in the fields. Regardless, he does have his father's eyes, a dark brown, nearly black, much the same shade as the riot of curls he calls hair. He prefers it at one length, just brushing his collar but able to be pulled into a short tail. Bushy eyebrows move descriptively as he speaks, much as his hands always do, conducting a symphony of sorts.
Aquiline-nosed with high cheekbones and the barest of clefts in his clean-shaven chin, D'ji's lips are small - full for their size, but small all the same, and it is rare to see his full-blown smile unless it is directed at Amisi or his dragon.
Personality: It isn't exaggerating to say D'ji could have been anything on Pern. Holder he is, but he could just as easily have been a Smith or a less-musical Harper - he has the brains for both. The man is not the stereotypical too-dumb-to-do-anything-but-farm Crofter that other Crafts seem to think of them. Farming was just what he loved best, and it shows, especially in his flowers as he charts out the different hybrids he has developed - his very first was named the Sima.
D'ji is a gentle man, as many farming Holders are, steady in disposition and caring, for they know that for all their hard work, nature can play havoc and it is useless to rave against nature. So they don't try. They just accept and move on. D'ji has accepted and moved on from most things in his life. Sima's death still hurts, when he thinks of it, but not with the searing pain it did that first Turn. He does dote on Amisi, spending time with her and giving her little treats.
He doesn't spoil her, preferring to give her simple gifts appropriate for her age - straw dolls when younger, a length of cloth to make a dress now. Simple things, as he is a simple man at heart, not given to great showing of wealth or privilege - not that he precisely has either to show off. However, for all he is a simple man, his leader-potential has been recognized. Not that he knows about it himself, or even knows it has been noticed.
The higherups in the Weyr have noticed D'ji's leadership ability, how he deals with people calmly and rationally, rarely provoked to true anger. It is hard to anger the rider, generally it all rolls off his back like water off a wherry, however if riled enough, he will shout. Once gotten rid of by shouting, D'ji will forget the matter, so long as it does not concern Amisi - if it concerns her he remembers it, if only to keep her safe.
D'ji was quite the family man back at Ruatha, to the disappointment of many Croftdaughters that saw him as a good match. He had no want to remarry, concentrating on his work and on his little Amisi. He was (and still is, patrol willing) always there to tuck her in at night and sing to her or read to her, and is perfectly willing to listen to her chatter about her day or wrestle with her. He even helps her bake cakes for her grandparents' birthing days or make other gifts (as though appreciated greatly, neither D'ji or Amisi are particularly good cooks). His family, not just Amisi, but mostly Amisi, are his everything. Even with his dragon being his soul, Amisi is his heart.
His humor runs from the ribald-jokes in the fields (though those are tempered by his general easygoing temperament: despite how he might laugh at a bawdy joke, he would never repeat it for fear of insulting someone) to the little jokes meant for young ears, or taking the offensive jokes he has heard and altering them to get a giggle out of his Amisi. He isn't precisely much of a smiler, despite his gentle temper and humor - his life has made him need to be adult faster than his age should have to be - having a child at the time others are merely becoming Journeymen.
History:
Costel - 61, father, Holder at Ruatha Hold
Meruna - 56, mother, Gardener at Ruatha Hold
Chaklai - 31, younger brother, Holder at Ruatha Hold
Yrjana - 28, younger brother, Holder at Ruatha Hold
Adsila - 25, younger sister, Holder at Ruatha Hold
Bopha - 23, younger sister, Journeyman Herder
Kiri - 20, younger sister, Holder at Ruatha Hold
Sima - wife, Farmer at Ruatha Hold (deceased)
Amisi - 13, daughter, Weyrbrat
First born son of Costel and Meruna, Djordji was never expected to be anything but a farmer. To work the land under Murray was expected of him. Certainly had he been particularly skilled or wished to take on a more formal craft, or even branch out into Herding, neither of his parents would have minded. There were more than enough children after him, so there would have been a son to take over the family farm. Djordji just enjoyed farming, the working of the earth to see something sprout that would come to feed his family and others. It was a particular one of those others that would shape the rest of his life.
She was their neighbors' daughter, and while she herself dreamed of being a dragonrider (a dream he simply wouldn't admit to - despite the wondering when they were teens what would happen should his blue catch her green), his simple pleasure in the hard labor kept her grounded. Sima wasn't the flighty sort, merely a dreamer, and from an early age it was common to see the two side by side dropping seeds into the ground or weeding.
Under Meruna's guidance, six-Turn old Djordji gained an appreciation of his mother's beloved flowers, a love passed onto Sima with various blossoms and bouquets. To say that their parents were happy with their childish forays into flirting would be like asking if a firelizard was happy getting a meatroll. Both sets knew it might not work out - but both children were getting more than enough chances to meet with others through their Harper-lessons. The two were just naturally always together.
Sima, an only child, enjoyed playing with Djordji's younger siblings, and as he taught her an appreciation of flowers, she taught him a better appreciation of his younger siblings - he'd always known how to care for them, but at times it had seemed they just got in the way. Nine Turns passed this way, calmly, peacefully, the pair enjoying their friendship.
Until one fateful kiss - Djordji was fifteen, Sima fourteen. After the requisite blushing and stammering, they kissed again. And again. And it came as no surprise to anyone that Djordji and Sima became a couple. It was quickly decided that if they wished to, the pair could marry when Sima was sixteen. It was, admittedly, young.
It wasn't quite a handfasting, but nor was it a formal engagement leading to marriage, yet. The pair would need to date for a full year before their parents would allow them to become engaged, and then would have to last a year engaged to then be wed.
So the pair grew in love as the Turns passed and they began slowly taking on a few of the more adult responsibilities, in order to assure their parents they would work well together even under heavier loads than basic work. They did, and did quite well. It was a greenflight, just as dawn was cresting, that gave them problems.
Perhaps it was that before this neither had been ready. Perhaps before this neither had felt such a wave. Perhaps it had nothing to do with the flight at all, except a remarkable proximity in time. Regardless of what it truly was, at barely sixteen, Sima found herself pregnant. At seventeen, Djordji found himself an expectant father, hastily wed to the mother of his child - though not too hastily, merely a few months earlier than expected. He couldn't have been happier.
Everything was going right, he and Sima were married, Sima would be giving birth any day now, the farm was doing amazing as were his gardens. Then Sima gave birth, and things started to go wrong. Sima gave birth to a gorgeous little girl with her mother's nose and her father's eyes, slipping into unconciousness before even able to name the girl, slowly slipping away as the Healers couldn't stop the bleeding.
Djordji was grief-stricken, but knew he had to care for his little girl, his little Amisi, setting her up with a wetnurse, a fellow field-hand, so he could carry his daughter close to him as he worked but still be assured she would have food should she want it. Anca was happy to help - she had been Sima's best female friend, and the two had shared pregnancy worries and woes, it being the first time for both.
The Turns passed, as they are wont to do, Djordji coming to accept Sima's death and instead reveling in his Amisi's life. He was shocked when the Searchdragon to Ruatha chose him - what did he know about being a dragonrider? He was a farmer! With a child! The green persisted, and after being assured by the just-older rider that Amisi would be welcome would Djordji consent to go.
Even if it had been openly Sima's dream more than his, and even if now there was no chance of his blue twining with her green, there was still the chance he could be a dragonrider. Djordji knew he was old for a Candidate, made his chances more unlikely. All that meant was if he didn't Impress, he could return to his family with an adventure.
To his utter surprise he did Impress, and the Turns since have gifted him with the phrase 'may you live in interesting times'. Has been having a most interesting liaison with one of the wherhandlers, Iria of blue Irisk for seven Turns now, a quite serious relationship despite the lives both lead. D'ji from the outset was just happy that Amisi was willing to accept the other woman. It is hard to leave her, but duty is duty, both know that, and Iria has talked on looking into getting transferred to Warden's, once D'ji knew he was going there, for them to continue their dalliance.
Other stuff: No weapons training beyond what Iria and his Weyrlingmaster made sure he knew, but can hold his own in a hand-to-hand brawl. Very protective of Amisi, you are warned now.
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