Persona Profile: Nidre

Name: Nidre
Pronunciation: NEE-druh
Age: 33
Birthday: m6 d14
Rank: Weyrwoman's Second
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr

Awards
Crayon Awards: Most Intriguing Female Persona (May 2025)

Physical Description of Persona:
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then body language should speak volumes, and Nidre is a natural-born, if unwitting, artist of the medium. It’s not uncommon for tall women to slouch, subconsciously aware that they’re expected to be less of a presence than what they are, but Nidre does not, perfectly willing to look average men directly in the eye and even privately delighting in looking down on the shorter ones. She’s almost too thin, better described as lanky rather than slender, with few curves to speak of, and her general demeanor is easily read in how she’s using her long, spindly limbs: when she’s relaxed or in a particularly good mood, she’ll drape herself around whatever space she’s occupying like an octopus, kicking her feet up onto whatever surface is handy, throwing her arms over the back of her seat, frequently lounging sideways across chairs or even sprawling a leg over the arm. When she’s working, focused, untangling a problem, both feet are firmly planted on the floor and she’s leaning forward, deep brown eyes blazing intent. When she’s angry, she has trouble staying seated -- she’s an agitated pacer, a person who wants to face conflict on her feet, from a position of power. On the very rare occasions when she’s feeling vulnerable, she withdraws physically, legs tucking under her seated form like a cat (or, depending on the circumstance, like a cornered snake coiling up in preparation to defend itself). Her hands are always in motion, punctuating her speech or even just her general mood: pointing, waving, drumming on the desk.

She’s had to put active work into learning to keep a poker face, or to feign pleasantness when feeling the opposite, as is sometimes needed when dealing with delicate diplomatic matters. Her face is as expressive as the rest of her, and she goes into situations like this making a conscious effort to school both her expression and her temper. Her face is also, coincidentally, the most outwardly feminine part of a body that otherwise doesn’t really conform to the traditional standard of beauty. It’s heart-shaped, with high cheekbones, long lashes, and moderately full lips. Her skin is light brown, her complexion clear. After a youth spent being mistaken for a boy due to her lankiness and short hair, she’s taken to using cosmetics to accentuate the femininity of her face. She keeps her dark brown hair extremely short, barely an inch, both because it’s just easier to deal with under a helmet and just because she likes it that way.

Emotional Description of Persona:
Nidre’s journey from stubborn, entitled, defiant brat to competent and responsible junior goldrider has been a hard one, but it has left her with a solid understanding of her own strengths and weaknesses. It’s all about learning to be self-aware, and finding ways to compensate. She still has a temper, but because of this, she prefers to make decisions about punishments or difficult topics after she’s had a short cooling-down period to consider things with a level head. She’s tough on those under her authority, because she has come to believe that uphill battles are the ones that teach the most, and wisdom hard-won is the most valuable. That said, she’s not without empathy -- she believes firmly in second chances thanks to those who were gracious enough to offer one to her once upon a time -- but the patience required in order to be able to offer that grace is another virtue that doesn’t come naturally to her, and she’s had to learn to put conscious effort into softening her heart and _listening_.

Needless to say, when she believes in something, she believes in it with a lot of conviction. Once she realized that the person she was was not the person she actually wanted to be, she was willing to put the work in, and that’s how she is -- she’ll move mountains to do something that she thinks needs to be done. There’s still a certain kind of stubbornness in that, sometimes to her credit and sometimes to her detriment. She enjoys a challenge, and is invigorated by having problems to tackle. Her tongue is sharp, and you’ll know immediately if she’s displeased with you. Her wit is sharp, too, and she can be surprisingly clever with her words for someone who’s still learning how to put her brain to use before she acts. She’s fluent in sarcasm, enjoys the occasional sly dirty joke, and can be mischievous when the mood strikes her.

Her strengths as a dragonrider lie largely in her ability to take decisive action when required, and in her technical skills. She and Jossenth excel at anything in the air: their spatial awareness is top-notch, and they can position well for flamethrower use or helping to catch injured dragons. She’s pretty good at domestic management as well because she’s bothered by disorganization in general and stays on top of things to make sure the lower caverns are running like a well-oiled machine. Diplomacy, however, is where she struggles -- she lacks decorum and finds politics tedious, though she can at least acknowledge that it’s important. She has a lot of potential -- she just needs some polishing and refinement in order to be the leader that she might someday become.

History of Persona:
Nidre was born to a journeyman seacrafter and his wife. Her childhood was not one of opulence, but it was comfortable and full of love. Her father was a skilled young seaman with a bright future, promoted to Second Mate aboard his vessel when Nidre was six, and both of her parents doted on her as it became clear that she would be the only surviving child they would ever manage to have. She was what her father affectionately referred to as a “spitfire”: intelligent and active, but also strong-willed, stubborn, and maybe a little bit spoiled. When she was Searched at age 14 for Vista Point, they were reluctant to let her go, but well… her parents never could hold out long in denying her something that she really wanted. She did not Impress at her first Hatching, but she had gotten a taste of the relative freedom afforded to women at the Weyr by this point, and elected to stay. Her second Hatching passed without a lifemate, but at her third, the gold egg hatched to reveal Jossenth, who made a beeline for Nidre as if she never had any intention of considering anyone else.

Her weyrling class was a particularly difficult one, full of big feelings and even bigger egos. Needless to say, Nidre fit right in. When the Weyrlingmaster delayed their first firestone exercises by a sevenday, partially because he genuinely didn’t believe they were ready, and partially as a punishment that he hoped would cause them to make some sober reflections, several of the weyrlings decided to defy him by sneaking and doing it behind his back. Jossenth, obviously, wasn’t going to chew any firestone, and the act wasn’t Nidre’s idea, but she vocally supported it, and was there helping, encouraging. It was all fun and games until an errant hiccup caught their classmate, blue weyrling P’kryn, in flames.

At first, Nidre was loudly defiant. It wasn’t her idea. She didn’t force anyone to be there. _It wasn’t her fault._ But the guilt of it -- watching her classmate suffer the agony of recuperating from severe burns, seeing his resulting disfigurement -- ate at her. The anger, disgust, and disappointment of the Weyrleaders, the Weyrlingmaster, and nearly everyone else for all of those weyrlings involved -- particularly Nidre and the two young bronzeriders, who should have been responsible examples to their classmates -- shamed her. Even the eventual forgiveness of P’kryn didn’t truly set her free. Slowly, she began to realize some things. It didn’t matter if it was her idea or not. Her presence carried weight simply because of the color of her dragon. Her words meant something to people. She was self-centered and immature, and she had a responsibility to be _better_.

People could have written her off as a lost cause, and some certainly may have. But those who mattered most did not. When she swallowed her pride enough to finally admit her faults and ask for guidance, it was given. And, over the ensuing turns, she began to make slow but measurable progress -- not just as a goldrider, but as a human being. Age and experience alone was a big contributing factor, as well as Jossenth’s more mellow influence, and with adulthood came perspective and balance that she had previously lacked, but the patience shown to her by mentors within the Weyr also made an enormous impact. Outwardly, she doesn’t really like to talk about her own struggle because she’s honestly embarrassed by her past behavior, but inwardly, she is proud of the person that she has become. She’s progressed so much, in fact, that Weyrwoman Galardja believes she would be a good candidate to start taking on more responsibility.

Family and Friends
N'jen, 14, Junior Weyrling, Dolphin Cove Weyr (Son)

Dragon's Name: Jossenth
Dragon's Age: 18
Dragon's Hatching Date: m12 d23
Dragon's Colour: Gold
Description of Dragon:
Jossenth is a very small gold, but well-proportioned and athletic, nimble in both the air and on the ground. Like her rider, her body language is rather pronounced, possibly because she’s particularly energetic and is often in motion, though it’s no longer the boundless energy that she exhibited long ago as a hatchling and young adult. A reckless game of chase with her clutchmates when they were weyrlings introduced the side of her face to a stone wall in a particularly rude fashion, and left her with two missing teeth on the back left side, and a permanent scar on her lip from where her broken teeth cut through the flesh upon impact. Her hide has a hint of orange to it, like rich amber, with some darker shading along her spine, and along the trailing edge of her wingsails.

She’s fairly mellow as far as golds go, with an easygoing manner and good humor that rarely falters. She’s easily amused and delights in teasing her rider and other dragons, though her teases don’t always make perfect sense, as the things she’s picked up from humans don’t always translate well in dragon terms. A bit of a busybody, she makes it her business to know what’s going on in her Weyr, and socializes easily with other dragons. She isn’t particularly territorial or possessive except for right in the midst of flying to mate, and is rarely caught by the same bronze consistently, having thus far shown no particular desire to form a closer bond with any of her suitors.

When she needs to bring her authority and dominance to full force, she certainly can -- however, she much prefers a lighter touch.

Approved: April 13th 2024
Last updated: April 13th 2024

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Persona Profile: Nidre