Persona Profile: Mardria (Inactive)

Writer: Anaria

Name: Mardria
Age: 92
Birthday: m3 d13
Rank: Wingrider, Shoals Wing
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Job: Retired Dragonrider
Craft: Dragonhealer
Craft Rank: Senior Apprentice

Physical Description of Persona:
In her youth, Mardria was a sight to behold. She was tall, long-limbed, and possessed almond-shaped emerald green eyes, a perfect tan, and a shapely figure. Nowadays, she is still one of the Weyr's tallest women, and has the same, clear green eyes - but has changed in nearly every other regard. Turns spent mostly outside have left her skin darkly tanned, heavily wrinkled, and feeling like the thickest wherhide. Her once-brunette hair is now gray, nearing white, although is still of a length just past her shoulders. Her lips have thinned, and her nose - once straight as an arrow and perfectly pointed - seems a bit too long and sharp for her wrinkled face. As she doesn't participate in wing drills anymore, and often relies on candidate assistance to wash Soravath, she is no longer in good shape. "Shapely" bust and rear have developed into massive bust and rear, and her once flat as a washboard stomach now sags loosely. She has developed age spots on her arms and hands, and arthritis has given her hands a stiff, claw-like appearance.A mole over her lip on the left-hand side once was a mark of beauty - now it has gotten quite large, and hair grows from it.

Mardria was once prone to wearing green dresses with empire waistlines to show off her figure - and still does so on occasion, like at Hatchings. However, for the most part, the retired greenrider has taken to wearing loose-fitted dresses, as they are far more comfortable in her opinion. Somehow over the Turns she has managed to collect a rather massive collection of jewelry (most likely from the suitors of her youth), and she typically wears a gaudy amount. She still carries herself with proud, strong bearing, despite a bit of a limp from arthritis. She speaks with a loud, confident, boisterous voice, that seems surprising from someone so aged.

Emotional Description of Persona:
Mardria has not been informed of the fact that she is no longer what most men would consider attractive. While she is understanding and boastful of her 84 Turns, she still believes that she is as beautiful as the day she Impressed Soravath. She is outgoing, flirtacious, and always looking for a tumble (which are all too infrequent nowadays). Whilst the Weyr's mindhealers have suggested she settle down a wee bit, perhaps find a weyrmate her age and maybe pick up a craft as a hobby, she stubbornly refuses, preferring to chase down men young enough to be her grandchildren, and spend her days being a pest in general.

Mardria frequently talks about the way things "were" - before Thread, before the Plagues, back when riders biggest concerns were who would win the Games, and which Bronzerider at the Weyr was the most attractive. She possesses a bitter hatred of the "Northerners," and is convinced that the Weyrlings nowadays are immature and irresponsible compared to how they were in her day. She laments that larger clutch sizes means an overall lower quality of candidate, and believes herself to quite frankly be the best greenrider that's ever lived - despite the fact that she was already into reserve status when Thread started falling. Mardria has only flown Thread in situations where the Weyr was simply desperate for personnel - and as such has managed to never get herself or Soravath scored, which is something she is boastful of.

When she is not trying to bed the nearest available male rider, Mardria tends to weyrbrats as she misses her own children quite badly.
She laments that both of her greenrider sons were never of the proper persuasion to grant her grandchildren, and has a tendency to "borrow" other people's offspring as her own. She has a knack for playing "crazy" - pretending to be senile and unaware of what is going on around her to get away with doing things that would ordinarily be considered unacceptable. She is, however, both quite sane and quite intelligent. This is an extension of her stubbornness - she will do whatever is necessary to ensure that she gets what she wants.She considers herself an expert on all things draconic,and often offers her services to the Weyrlingmasters and the Wingleaders. She also was once an accomplished Searchrider, and Soravath still has an uncanny nose for candidates.

Mardria has a bit of an issue with wine, gossiping and gambling, and participates in all whenever she can - preferably all at the same time. Fortunately, she is somewhat good at the latter, so she has managed to retain most of her marks. Many of the smarter residents of the Weyr refuse to play her as they are quite convinced she cheats. She has quite a reputation among the weyrbrats and Weyrlings, as many late night scary stories are told about her. She is the subject of legend at the Weyr. Some boys believe if their dragon were to fly Soravath that both dragon and rider would be immediately rendered impotent. There is no factual backing for any of these tales, short of Mardria's life having been filled with death and despair, but the Weyr's younger residents are sometimes gullible.

Most of Mardria's "acts" are defense mechanisms. She has found herself alone and without a real role in the world, and she erects facades in order to try and protect herself. By acting like she only cares for men as a source of sex, and like she isn't past her prime, she manages to convince herself - for the most part - that she isn't really alone.

History of Persona:
Mardria was born the oldest daughter of greenrider Madrena, the product of a mating flight. Her father was brownrider K'drian who she saw somewhat frequently as a young girl. She had 6 younger half brothers, all of which shared a fostermother with Mardria. Mardria's fostermother was a childhood friend of Madrena, so Mardria did spend a lot of time with her mother. As the only girl, Mardria was quick to embrace her femininity to help and distinguish herself from her siblings. She was always bounding around the Weyr wearing dresses, finding flowers to braid into her long hair, and tending to baby dolls.

With so many male siblings, Mardria learned the differences between girls and boys at a young age. As her brothers would grow, she would hear them talk about all the girls about the Weyr, and how much they fancied each one. At this point, she was 16 turns old, and was beginning to acquire a strong interest in male dragonriders. She decided to start spending time at the Weyr's infirmary to try and meet some of these riders up close and personal. She would spend several turns as an Apprentice Dragonhealer. During this time, she would stand for the occasional Hatching, but as they were rare, and eggs few, she never seriously considered that she'd one day become a dragonrider. Three of her younger brothers would Impress by her 20th turn, at which point she realized that she really, truly wanted a Lifemate of her own.

At the age of 21 turns, she stood for a clutch of 10 eggs. The Gold that had laid them was older, and the eggs small, and many at the Weyr doubted that the eggs would even hatch. However, many of them did, and out of one of the largest eggs Soravath would hatch, stride proudly over to Mardria, and claim her. Mardria's plans to make a bronzerider her own would have to wait, as she was thrust into Weyrling duties.

Soravath, much like her rider, was a large, sturdy green, despite the fears that her egg would not even hatch. The pair did reasonably well in Weyrling training, which seemed to pass far too quickly for Mardria. She was assigned to the Weyrleader's Wing shortly thereafter, and the pair distinguished themselves at the various games and competitions.

Soravath would be taken by a bronze at her first flight, and Mardria found herself in love with his rider. But as was typical for the Weyr, the Bronzerider did not share her interest. It was hard for Mardria to get over his dismissal, but she did so by throwing herself into attracting other men, and gambling in her free time. She knew that she was what most men would consider attractive, and she fully intended to take advantage of that fact.

At 27 turns, Mardria would have her first son, Adrianas, with a brownrider named K'dras. This brownrider would be the second man ever to take her heart. K'dras shared Mardria's feelings, and the pair became weyrmated. Mardria decided to raise her son herself, and threw herself into motherhood. Two turns later, her second son, Kaladrias would be born, and Mardria would experience what she now refers to as the "happiest turns of her life."

This would sharply change when the Plague came. K'dras, who was often away from the Weyr delivering cargo and ferrying people about, was one of the first afflicted. He took ill while at a Crafthall, and was unable to return to River Bluff Weyr. He would die without Mardria ever being able to see him again. Mardria lost many friends and family members to the plague. Her mother, father, and all but two of her half-brothers all perished. Mardria and her sons would take ill as well, and she feared for all their lives.

The next few Turns would be the hardest of Mardria's life. Once the Plague itself had passed, there came the cleanup. Many riders had died, leaving many positions at the Weyr available. Mardria made the tough decision to foster her sons, and decided to help out the Weyrlingstaff. She threw herself into her new duties of training Weyrlings, and preparing Candidates for Hatchings. Two of her favorite Candidates were sons Adrianas and Kalandrias, both of whom would Impress green dragons like their mother. As her two sons completed Weyrling training, Mardria would settle down with another weyrmate, bronzerider S'bian. S'bian was approximately 15 turns her junior, barely older than one of her sons

Mardria fell into a pretty stable life for many turns. She watched her sons developed into capable riders, lead many Weyrlings to be the same, and enjoyed her free time with S'bian. More than 20 turns would pass without major incident until one day, at a clutching, over 40 eggs were laid. The Weyr kicked into full gear, sending out Searchriders to the local Halls and Holds to find suitable candidates. Soravath was found to be an excellent Searchdragon, and as such, Mardria spent a lot of time away from the Weyr, scoping out possible candidates.

The Weyr did it's best to get ready for the first Fall, and Mardria, well into her 7th decade was told that she would not be among the riders fighting the first fall. Despite being in relatively good physical and mental condition, it was decided that even slight hesitations or weaknesses could become deadly in the face of a relatively unknown enemy, and Her stubborness caused her to challenge this decree - to the point that one of the Gold Dragons needed to inform Soravath in no uncertain terms that she was not permitted to fly the fall. She was set her to reserve status, as they wanted to see what Threadfall was really like before fielding her.

The pair would get to fly Thread a few, brief times in those first few Falls, when there were many riders injured and the ranks were a bit thin. The pair was relatively good at keeping their own tail intact, but the Weyr's dragonhealers were concerned that Soravath wasn't near as fast as she could be, and sometimes lost formation as a result. At this point, Mardria was officially qualified as a retired rider.

Her two sons would not be as lucky, both of them losing their lives to threadfall within the first few sevendays of the Pass. S'bian lost his bronze to Threadfall, and despite Mardria's attempts to comfort him, he would eventually take his own life. Mardria withdrew within herself for several long sevendays after these events, and then emerged a "new" woman, someone who cared not for what other people thought, and who acted like a barely graduated Weyrling.

Nowadays, Mardria helps out with the Candidates and Weyrlings at the Weyr, occasionally participates in Sweepriding and Searchriding, and helps young riders cope with the loss of loved ones.

Family and Friends
B'dren, 90, Bronzerider (Retired) (Brother)

Dragon's Name: Soravath
Dragon's Age: 70
Dragon's Hatching Date: m8 d2
Dragon's Colour: Green
Description of Dragon:
Soravath's hide was once a medium emerald green, and still retains most of that color. However, she has started to gray at her muzzle and tail, and the whirl of color in her multifaceted eyes has seemed to slow. At the time of her Hatching, she was impressively large for a green, but with their now being many more dragons in the Weyr, she more or less blends in. Soravath is a bit stouter in body then many greens, and has quite strongly developed wing muscles, although she has sacrificed some of her mobility in order to achieve this.

Soravath is an outgoing, flirtatious, happy go lucking dragon. If it wasn't for the graying around her muzzle, and a bit of hesitation in her takeoff, you'd never guess the green dragon was in her 6th decade. She spends much of her time sunning herself, talking to the bronze dragons, and gossiping like an old auntie. Her dislike of firelizards is taken to an almost paranoid extreme, and she is one of the few dragons that refuses to even let them assist in scrubbing her hide.

Pets

Pora, Feline: aged 9, born m2 d4
Pora is a rather small feline, that Mardria found hiding in a crate a few days after S'bian committed suicide. She is a medium gray color, with long, soft fur. She is extremely friendly and outgoing, approaching anyone who steps in Mardria's weyr.

Approved: August 24th 2010
Last updated: June 30th 2014

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Persona Profile: Mardria (Inactive)

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