“Lineage.’ Savas whispered, the word escaping in more of a hiss. “You need a candidate with lineage. To her.”
Shy’s hands stilled, his shoulders stiffened.
“Created, from your hands. Your memories. Your emotions.” Monique intoned. “They will represent her lineage, but your joint history. You need to take care, scientist. She can be the key to getting you home: or she will have the one you seek turn against you forever.”
| Name Namiya | |
| Age 20-ish | |
| Appearance Namiya is a remarkably ordinary looking young woman. Of average height and of average build, she has warm golden skin, shoulder length dark brown/black hair, and ordinary brown eyes. Namiya is pretty, enough, in that ordinary way with a face that is pleasant and usually quite friendly. There is nothing unusual about her appearance: in fact, physically, everything is so within the average range that that in itself might be considered unusual. Namiya’s clothing fluctuates with the purpose she is dressing for. As home in traditional Pernese style dresses in wide skirts and narrow bodices as she is in gear meant for dragonriders, her only preference seems to be in bright, bold colors that draw the eye. But all in all, Namiya is, quite ordinary. Nothing special. Please move on. What might make her a little unusual is her charisma- despite being so ordinary and of low physical prowess, Namiya is charismatic. She pulls your attention when she enters the room and when she speaks, her words sound right. They drive people, purpose, and Namiya excels in her role as a leader, whether it is as a child with a group of friends, a student in class, or as a candidate. To those who are magically inclined, able to read auras and see magic as lines, there is something that seems a little bit unusual about Namiya’s aura. It is surprisingly an exact replica of a certain Weyrwoman, just… broken. Namiya’s aura is missing patches, not, as if she is ill or weak, but as if someone simply forgot to fill in the missing blanks. | |
| Personality Namiya is confident, she is capable, and she is friendly. Namiya has the alpha personality of a young woman who has been groomed for a leadership position her whole life- and she has. She has a highly strategic mind, and views the world in terms of opportunities and threats. Or theoretically, she is supposed to. Shy has coded a precise sequence into her personality to enable her to think and take decisive action. But all Namiya wants to do is have fun. She has a gusto for life, for enjoying everything has to offer. Dragons? Changing the world? Hell yeah. Creating a Weyr and then moving it off planet to form a country? Wait. What? There are times when Namiya seems to have a split personality: although the overall base is the same, in some occasions, she seems to be a carefree, spirited young woman who has big ambitions for life. At other times, there is something very calculative and predatory about her, as if she is just a little out of place with the world, and watching events as a puppeteer rather than an active player. | |
| Ability Namiya is completely and utterly human. She has no abilities, not even mild telepathy. Her talent would probably be her charisma, the force of her personality and her ability to sway people to her cause. Within human range (for there have been some incredibly charismatic leaders), Namiya is a naturally born leader. |
Namiya looked around the Weyr, her hands straying from the back of the blue dragon as they clapped together in delight. “So this is Istabitha’s?” her words held amusement and curiosity as she fidgeted on the back of the dragon, trying to take in the sight of the Weyrbowl around her.
“And you will be able to see more, darling Nami, if you will simply get off Pederth’s back to explore on your own.” Sh’an words were exasperated as he reached up to help the young candidate off the blue dragon’s back. “You would think this is the first Weyr you have ever seen.”
“Well, no but-“ she accepted the help, sliding off the dragon’s back until her feet touched the ground. Was it her imagination or did the ground seem to ring, rippling with awareness of her arrival?
Probably her imagination.
“But this is Istabitha’s.” she whispered excitedly. “You know” she wiggled her brows.
Sh’an laughed. “You, my dear. Definitely do not take after Shy in terms of your personality.” He said fondly. He held out an arm. “Now my dear, let me go introduce you.”
—
B’nir watched the arrival of the blue dragon and rider with little interest: the announcement of the new clutch on the sands had gone far and wide, and the most unusual assortment of candidates were arriving. Had he known so much was out there (outside of Pern), he might not have been so unwilling to consider the Weyrwoman’s ideas.
And yet.
‘That one’ the white dragon spoke, surprise in his tone. ‘She smells like the Weyrwoman.’
The white dragon who had been lazily sunning himself on the ledge of their weyr rose to his feet, pushing off lightly to land on the ground not far from the rider and now curious female.
B’nir strode forward, his interest piqued. The young woman was dressed in simple, practical clothes- trousers and boots, a blouse and a jacket. Her dark hair tied away from her face in a low tail. Brown eyes, tanned skin- there was nothing remarkable about her until she turned and pinned him with her eyes, and smiled.
Smiled in just that way that had the head search rider take pause and stare.
A flash of memory of a young girl with sunny blonde hair and blue eyes who had smiled at him in just the same way, her expression confident and sure about their status as candidates.
Pikceth sneezed. ‘She doesn’t smell like the Weyrwoman any more’ nothing confused the white dragon- but curiosity touched his tone. ‘She smells different now’.
How interesting.
‘Greetings!’ The man’s voice was loud, full of good cheer. ‘Sh’an and blue Pederth, Searchriders.’ He gestured to the woman who stood close by him, her arm hooked around his elbow. ‘We have brought a candidate to you, for your clutch.”
“Namiya” she offered, untangling herself from the search rider and stepping forward, her hand outstretched. Calm, confident in herself, and as B’nir took her hand, with a very strong grip. “I am delighted to meet you.”
Confident, with the type of self assuredness that came from- “We did not advertise for queen candidates, search rider.”
A widening of the young woman’s eyes, and laughter. Something about the way she laughed, that specific trill triggered another half memory in B’nir. There was something very familiar about-
“Oh, not a queen candidate, sir.” She said, and her eyes crinkled. “But thank you for the compliment.”
“Where did you say you were from, Sh’an?” B’nir’s tone was half distracted as he looked towards the Search Rider.
He smiled, slow and easy, with just a little bit of cheek. “I didn’t.”
—
Namiya looked around the candidate barracks, nodding her head in approval. “Perfect. Enough privacy with the way the beds are arranged, but room to allow for bonds and friendships.”
‘Are you actually judging the way the barracks are built?’ amusement again that travelled through the mental connection.
Namiya laughed as she unpacked her belongings. Sturdy clothing to last through the training, fine dresses ‘just in case’, and a packet of dark chocolate truffles sealed in a plastic container.
‘I can’t help it’ she sent back, letting the stronger mind pull her thoughts from her head. ‘There were good, analytical decisions made. I approve. I would make some changes, but-, you know. I have knowledge of technology that they don’t. Didn’t.’
‘Have you met her yet?’
‘Oh no, not yet.’ Even her mental tone sounded breathless with excitement. ‘B’nir though, he looks different from the way Uncle described him. I would have thought he would be taller.’
Laughter ran down their mental bond. ‘UNCLE’ an undignified snort. ‘I will tell Shy, that that is the relationship you have decided on. Uncle Shy and Auntie Monique will definitely be attending the hatching. Just… behave, okay?’ Monique’s tone settled, serious. ‘Shy has a lot hanging on this, and he is… nervous.’
Namiya pushed through encouragement and assuredness, as much as she could. She felt the presence peering into her mind fade away, and as she put away the rest of her belongings, she took a look around her, and smiled.
This was Istabitha’s. The place Shy had been telling her about, the world that had existed before the Vella Crean, and she was here, under the same roof as the woman she had been created from.
Namiya could hardly be faulted for being so excited.
—
“Does the new candidate worry you?” Naeodin murmured, her lips barely moving as she and B’nir walked through the Weyrbowl. The Weyrwoman smiled and stopped to exchange a few words with a weyrling, and B’nir waited patiently by her side.
“She is… different.” The Searchrider responded. He nodded his greetings, gestured to the group of candidates that had gathered. “She reminds me…”
“Of me. I’ve heard. How curious.” She looked towards the girl with the dark hair currently plaited tightly against her head, who stood, gesturing to the other candidates, caught in some story or another. “She does not look like me.”
“No, but sometimes, the way she acts, she way she smiles.”
“Maybe she is just a strong willed candidate.” Naeodin gently nudged her head search rider. “Maybe she just reminds you of a type of candidate, and a person.”
He laughed. “I’m sure that is the case.” He agreed.
But he would keep an eye on her, anycase.
—
It did not take long for Namiya to run in directly with the Weyrwoman of Istabitha’s Weyr. It was during her candidate chores, helping scrub the walls that led to the hatching sands that a gentle voice coughed behind her.
Namiya turned, jumping to her feet. “Weyrwoman.” She bobbed a quick curtsy, brushing back her hair and dropping the broom she had by her feet.
Naeodin’s eyes crinkled in the corners as she looked down at the woman in front of her. Odd, they had said. With mannerisms that reminded them sometimes of the Weyrwoman when she had been younger, other times, someone completely different.
Namiya- who had come along with a Searchrider who refused to name his origins.
But the dragons seemed to like her well enough, Sasi- well, Sasi seemed to appreciate the curiosity that this candidate was causing.
“It is about time we met, don’t you think?” she asked archly, and watched the young candidate’s cheeks crease into a grin.
Ah. She saw the resemblance now, just a little bit.
The Weyrwoman of Istabitha’s Weyr nodded as she gestured for the candidate to follow her. They walked into the hatching caverns, stopping far enough that the dragon with the odd markings did not rise from her position around her eggs.
“Where are you from?” she asked.
Namiya smiled. Again, that slight cheek and sparkle. “From a different world, Weyrwoman. But one very familiar with Pern.”
“and family?” she asked.
Namiya looked towards the eggs. “I have an Uncle, who is a scientist.” She said, her words careful. As if she was thinking up words that would translate well. “An Aunt who is a fortune teller, and many cousins. We aren’t all related by blood, though. My uncle picks us up like projects.” Another dimpled smile as she shook her head. “But I love them very much, and they have high hopes of what I can achieve.”
Naeodin smiled. “It sounds very different from my family.” She offered. “I grew up with brothers and sisters, but no aunts and uncles. We love each other very much also, but are as traditional as you can get, here.” She laughed. “You remind me of myself, Namiya.” She said.
Namiya’s face was very, very careful.
And wasn’t that interesting?
“I hope, you have many achievements then, and I wish you luck at the hatching.’
—
‘What do you think of the girl, rider mine?’ Sasi’s voice was strong, curious. ‘Pikceth said she smelled like you, at her arrival. But none of us have picked up the same scents.
‘She is just a girl who happens to possess strong leadership skills: maybe around the eyes, a little bit- but nothing too unusual’
‘Are you sure?’
‘And if I am not? What could it be, Sasi? There are enough worlds out there, maybe she is a copy of me-or I am a copy of her. She is here for the hatching, and I think, it is family love that drives her. So we will see what hatching day brings. Until then, let us watch our curious new candidate’
Name: Perdeth (перде Kazakh ‘veil’)
Color: White Variant
Gender: Female
Size: 5′
Special Talents: Perdeth is a twin egg, and will pass down genetic markers for this ability.
Cameo Appearances
Namiya recruits Kolten, searches him for Meridian Weyr