Name Pronounced: Am-brel-e Character type: Weyrling Rank: Journeyman Age: 31 Gender: Female Sexual Preference: Bisexual
Current Location: Arolos Weyr
Appearance: Ambrelli has deep olive skin that has been tanned by her Turns in the South at Arolos Weyr. She has beautiful slate blue eyes, flecked with bits of amber, which her father always told her was how he named her, and thick curved eyelashes. Her cheekbones are higher set to give her face a classic beauty. She has dark chocolate hair that tumbles down her shoulders in gentle waves. She is lithe with a decent amount of cleavage, though nothing too large. She's not muscled in the way a Rider would be, but she's strong beneath her lithe form from her Craft. Her guilt has left caused to her lose some of the little weight she had, and her ribs and collarbones are slightly more prominent than they should be. She's average height.
To look at Ambrelli, everything about her is purposeful, from her hair, to the tunics she wears and their tailoring, to her jewelry. Everything is exactly in place. It is her costume, her armor, and it has to be perfect. Like a guard whittling his blade, Ambrelli crafts her appearance every morning to be sensible but impeccable. She usually wears a leather shoulder gauntlet that's strapped over her left shoulder and around her lithe frame to give Merck a perch, with her knots attached. She constantly fiddles with her rings, as they belonged to her parents and she never takes them off anymore.
Personality: Ambrelli was a sweet "daddy's girl"...right up until her parents were killed in the raid of Arolos Weyr. Ever since then the girl has had a chip on her shoulder and has been looking for way to itch it. She's generally nice and may seem a little on the gentle and frail side since she's so lithe, but what she's been through with her family has made her hard as steel.
Being at Fort toughened her up. It wasn't that she hadn't cried before about her parents. It wasn't that she probably wouldn't again. It was that she had steeled herself for being in Fort, allowed her anger to be her channel instead of tears. She became very purposeful and manipulative at Fort, knowing how to play a role to reach a goal, and she did this well, sequestering her emotions behind a wall.
"Its harder when I meet someone who is actually nice. Its easier when I just hate Fortians in general. Its easier to not be emotional when you feel only a single one." -- Ambrelli to N'cheri
The events at Fort, and her role in them have left her twisted with guilt. What had been a young woman's quest for revenge, coupled with the girlish ideals of a revolution were twisted into disillusionment and despair. She blames herself for the things she did and didn't do at Fort, and no one can punish her more than she does herself. She came home to Arolos to try to regain who she used to be, because she found it getting harder to remember, and she ran out of reasons to keep running. But giving up a way of life is harder than it seems, and the anger that used to drive her, now just needles at her guilt instead. She's still working on finding her balance in this different emotional state. Especially as she's confronted by people from her past. She feels the need for atonement for her past, for the hurt that she unintentionally caused, for the deaths that still haunt her. Her move to Igen was about escape and self-care, but her move to Arolos is driven by atonement and a desire to come home.
History: Ambrelli was born to her mother, Lellianne, when she was only 20 in Arolos Weyr just as it opened. Her father A'bron (Ambrorn) was a bronzerider and while the two were not weyrmated, her father cared deeply for her mother. It wasn't until Ambrelli was 3 that the two finally settled 'down' together, or at least as much as a dragonrider ever does. Her father doted on her as much as time allowed, and she grew up a typical "daddy's girl", often helping him bathe and oil his bronze dragon when she was old enough.
Ambrelli's father gave her a firelizard egg when she became an apprentice dragonhealer, as the little creatures were so popular and plentiful in Southern. He told her that she could use the soon-to-hatch firelizard to study her anatomy for her classes.
Sadly though, when she was beginning her teenage Turns ((don't know how many Turns have past)), her parents both died in the poisoning and looting of Arolos Weyr. Ambrelli was working as a dragonhealer at the time, and was so busy with the maimed and injured that it was a full day before she realized her father's bronze hadn't returned. One of her mother's closest friends gave her the news that her mother had been killed trying to protect a weyrling.
From that day on, Ambrelli vowed to avenge her parents. She found an outlet for her anger in the Resistence. As Fortians began to transfer to Arolos, she learned about the 'traditions' of Fort, and the plight of so many riders. Perhaps she felt that it was this type of system that resulted in her parents death, or perhaps she was only lashing out. Ambrelli simply knew that she needed to *do* something. How could she simply be content to care for injured dragons after what had happened to her parents? In reality she feels some amount of responsibility for her parents' deaths, though there was little she could have done. Perhpas going to Fort Weyr is as much about self-punishment as it is anything else? If she gets raped or beaten or worse, doesn't she deserve it, for not saving her parents?
Some of the Resistence members that had left Fort warned her about how rough life could be there. Worried about being raped, she managed to persuade one of her friends, NPC K'ayel, to take her virginity so that her first time wouldn't be possibly being raped.
Then K'ayel took her as far into Fort's territory as he dared, and left her near the Hold. From there, she walked the rest of the way to Fort, determined to *do* something, even if it meant starting over in her Craft and pretending like she'd never had a day of dragonhealing training in her life.
Her elation at finally joining the cause was only tempered by its reality. There was that brief moment of disappointment, that feeling that somehow she'd been duped. Here she thought the Resistance was some great movement, some organized group that once she'd joined, she'd find herself a celebrated and welcomed member. It was of course, an idealists fantasy, but it had been hers, none the less.
She also became friends with a young wlg ww Sirasri, though their friendship began before the girl Impressed gold. The ww helped transform Ambrelli from a plain girl hiding in drudgery to a beautiful young woman. When the ww was killed during the Massacre, Ambrelli wanted to die for her own part in it. She'd been taken in as a paramour for a bronzerider, Tal'mor of Caratth. He was a ranking member at Fort, and she traded her body for his protection. She'd already been raped and beaten, and the Resistance had also encouraged her to seduce some rankers to gain intel. Tal'mor's affections meant she belonged to him, shared his weyr, and had less freedom. He had a young son still in the Creche, Tallis, whom she met a few times, although it was awkward as Ambrelli had taken his mother's spot. She wasn't home the night of the Massacre, having a shift in the Infirmary as planned by the Resistance. Tal'more was murdered in his sleep, and Caratth betweened.
During the dark part of the Resistance, Ambrelli felt her idealistic outlooks shattered. She wanted no part of worst of it, but she was smart enough to see what happened to those who spoke out, regardless of prior allegiances. And there was still ThreadFall, and there were still dragons to be tended. So she stayed silent, helping those she could as she could, and easing the suffering of the dragons as best she was able. But this cost her, and the label of Red Star and the Resistance was tainted beyond anything that could be washed off.
After the fall of Fort, Ambrelli transferred to Igen Weyr, following one of her close friends, a fellow Resistance member. She stayed at Igen for a few years, hanging onto the tide of change. But the victory felt hollow, and her friendships, once so important to her survival, seemed hollow and based on circumstances that no longer held. So she returned home to Arolos, but, unexpectedly, has found that's her homecoming is not what she expected. Her role in the Resistance was low-key, and few even knew the things she did. As such, she was able to shield herself from much of the fallout. But now, back at Arolos, she struggles with her purpose, or the loss thereof. What does she do now with that anger? It didn't melt away when Fort fell...
She's still angry over the death of her parents, so long ago. And that anger had a nice little focal point at Fort in the Resistance. She never dealt with it, rather just channeled it. And at Fort, she learned to hide behind her facades, and to be very careful about who she let it. But when Fort fell, her anger didn't go away. And when she transferred to Igen with friends, their lives improved, but hers did not. She'd given up her desire for a dragon of her own, to be a Candidate, because she didn't want that life at Fort. But now she's too old. She gave up everything for the Resistance fight (in her mind) and yet gained nothing from it, not even her peace of mind. She struggles with that and with her loneliness. Arolos is her home, and yet, she's been relatively shunned since she returned. Her memories of the place are tinged with the good ones of her days climbing her father's bronze and the tragedy of losing her entire family. Her home haunts her rather than brings her peace. She was hoping, with her transfer, that she'd finally find that here.
Family:
Father: A'bron of Bronze Ranth, Mother: Lellianne.
Weyrmate/Choosen/Lover/Sappy Trust Partner Thing: Brownrider Z'go of Gamyth
3T before the Pass 09.04 - Ambrelli born
8.10.04.01 - Ambrelli begins her Apprenticeship with the Dragonhealers at Arolos
8.18.11.07 - Ambrelli arrives at Fort Weyr
8.FUZZY - Ambrelli transfers to Igen with her friends after the fall of Fort Weyr
8.28 - Ambrelli returns to Arolos
8.28.5.2 - Ambrelli Impresses Ilexeth of the Midsummer Dreamers Clutch
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An excerpt about her time at Fort, the details of which only one or two people would know.
"You only knew me as a dragonhealer at Fort, but I was born here. Loving parents, good memories. My father was a bronzerider, and I grew up playing on Ranth. So I didn't grow up hating bronzeriders or golds at all. Quite the opposite. I saw how amazing leadership could be, how great and noble my father was, how Ranth was. Until there was a raid on Arolos and they were killed. My mother too, dying to protect a weyrling. They died heroes. But they died. After they died, I was so...angry at the world, at everything and everyone. I railed against the injustice of it all." She stopped for a moment, the memories flooding over her and she shuddered before taking another sip.
"I learned about Fort, about how terrible it was up there for those who were seen as lesser, and the injustice of that was something I could understand and believe in. My parents died protecting those who were lesser than them like a weyrling. They gave their lives to protect others. So I gave myself to the Resistance. And I was so angry, and at least that gave me something, somewhere, to put that anger. I knew someone there, and they got me into the Weyr. I was already a dragonhealer here, so it wasn't hard to put my skills to use up there. I learned the Fortian accent a little, so I wouldn't stick out as Arolosian at the least. And I joined a cause that I thought was going to protect people. That's still what I thought when I had my missions with you, that we were on the side of the heroes. I gave so much to the cause, and gave up so much for it, because I thought I was avenging my parents and making them proud." Another long sip of wine. She needed it, because up until that point, she was the idealistic child playing at wooden swords. She couldn't escape what followed.
"They didn't tell me about the Massacre. I had become lovers with a bronzerider, one that I could get information out of that was useful. He was decent, kind enough to me, even if he thought he owned me. I was good at playing roles you see, I still am. It's a hard habit to break...." another sip. The words were coming more freely now. "There was a dragon emergency I got called down to the Infirmary for, and I'd been there for candlemarks. That's when the killing started." She looked at her hands, tears streaming down her face. "I had just spent candlemarks working on a Scored bronze, trying to save his wing so he could fly again when they killed his rider. The panic, I could see it in his eyes before I knew what was going on. And that sound, that keening he made as he realized what was happening. He tried...." she was openly crying now. "He tried to get up, to go to his rider, but he couldn't. He broke his wing trying, like a twig snapping in the wind. Ichor was everywhere from the wounds he inflicted on himself trying to get up; i was covered in it. He eventually took himself between, but he would have died from his wounds even if his rider had lived. I hear those screams. Every night I hear them and a thousand others." She wiped her cheeks with her sleeve, touching a small scar on her forehead. The dragon had hit her accidentally in the process, and this was her reminder of his pain.
Another long sip and the cup was empty. She poured more. "After that, my job was to patch up the dragons or to keep them sedated while their riders were tortured. I wasn't drugged or locked up like the other Healers, but I couldn't leave either. If I refused, I would have been no better off than the healers or killed because I had been Resistance. So I chose to work willingly, I chose to help them because it made my life easier and I got to live. I did what I could for the dragons. I eased their suffering as much as I was able. I saved a few of them even. There was still Threadfall, still scoring to be healed, even on the dragons of the worst of the torturers. I couldn't let the dragons suffer because their humans were terrible. I did what I thought was the best I could do then. And because I played complacent, I could do more than I could have otherwise. At least, that's what I tell myself when the nightmares flood over me." She looked up at Ay'shen, anger and hatred filling her eyes, the hazel flecks in the blue fields flashing. "I hate the Resistance with every fiber of my being. They took what was supposed to be noble cause, what should have been a fight to protect others and turned it into something dark and twisted. And I became something dark and twisted along with it." She didn't wipe away the tears this time.
"I stayed even after the Hall ransomed the other Healers back. There were still dragons, still a need for them to be healed. At that point, I think I stayed because I was more scared of leaving then of staying. Eventually, some of the riders I still respected left for Igen and I went with them. The Hall asked a lot of questions, and I lost Turns off my rank. But they couldn't prove I'd done anything really other than stay and heal dragons. And there were people who spoke up for me, whose dragons were alive because I was there. That counted for something I think." There was a weak smile, as if the last sentence was to reassure herself and not him. "I stayed there for some Turns, stayed around the only people I knew anymore. Until eventually I ran out of excuses."
She looked up at him again. "And I finally came home."
Information about Ambrelli's pets
Pet Name: Merck
Pet Type: Brown Firelizard
Appearance: He's a beautiful creamy brown color that's mottled and swirled. He's smaller for his size, and has a couple scars on him from Threadfall.
Personality: He's relatively well-behaved, for a Firelizard anyways. Ambrelli's taught him some commands and she often used him to study for her anatomy lessons as a Dragonhealer. He's helpful, and his training means that Ambrelli uses him during her duties. Given that he generally desires to please, he enjoys the rewards that comes with it as well, and can usually be found touching Ambrelli if he's able. He's more outgoing than she is, which is alternatively amusing and annoying to her.
Appearance: Egg: The Cycle of Life Egg is a luscious, swirling mass of greens as though someone was inspired by every example of plant life known to Pern and wanted to recreate every possible shade in a vibrant mass upon a single egg shell. It seems to pulse and move as you watch, like sunlight moving over the tops of trees and casting its rays to cause a beautiful, dappled effect.
There is however… a transparent fragility to the egg. Compared to some of the others it seems smaller, less robust. There is a shimmer to the shell that makes you wonder if it’s going to be tough enough to withstand the gruelling clutching and hatching processes that it has to endure before its occupant can finally be free.
Dragonet: Nobody expected the eggs to hatch. The eggs that were gathered were carefully taken Between. But one did. One out of a few that were secretly taken away to be examined in absolute secrecy because it needed to be known, what would have caused so many eggs of such a young Gold not to hatch? Was it just the earthquake? Something to do with Razelth? Or something more sinister? No one knew. And they needed to be sure.
Except, Ilexeth’s shell didn’t Hatch. Not really. It was carefully taken apart by the Dragonhealers who wanted to know what had caused such a tragedy on what should have been such a day of promise. Carefully lifted from her shell, everyone assumed that the tiny grey dragonet with barely developed headknobs and no visible teeth was, like the others, already deceased.
Ilexeth was exceptionally small on the day her shell was broken. She was effectively a premature birth of sorts, her development paused when the earthquake caused damage to her shell. Except, she lived. And found the person she didn’t even know she had been looking for. Ilexeth is destined to survive and she needed another survivor in turn. Not having had chance to fully absorb her yolk to get the colour restoring ichor, Ilexeth is a pale, greyish, milky shade of green with thin, spindly markings of brighter and darker hues that look almost vein-like as they twist and weave themselves around her in an assortment of shapes. In time Ilexeth’s base shade will darken a little so that her core colour is more apparent but it will never be a startling shade of green, more a pale, washed out version with their darker lines that suggest maybe they were the colour Ilexeth was meant to be all along.
What will become apparent is that Ilexeth will always be smaller, rather considerably so, than the others of her colour but not quite as unusually small as the 2nd Pass dragons. She will also grow up to demonstrate a surprising strength which may not have been otherwise expected although it will become clear that Ilexeth’s stamina is somewhat on the lower side and she has a degree of clumsiness that suggests her coordination isn’t quite top notch. Another unusual feature will be that her headknobs will seem rather small compared to most, almost more nubbish and not as clearly defined although Ilexeth will certainly not protest them being rubbed as often as possible. One other concern as she matures will be whether or not she has the capability to rise as regular greens do. Will she be capable or will her dramatic start in life have caused other changes that weren’t expected? One possibility is that she will not rise as often and due to her smaller size and stamina, will not be able to sustain it for as long.
Personality: Despite her rocky start in life, something was apparent from the start is that Ilexeth is a fighter. The body may have been weak and small but the spirit was strong and determined. It is likely this stubborn determination to hang on which kept Ilexeth alive against all other possible odds. She is fully aware of her unusual start to life, the memories can be found easily in her Rider’s thoughts after all, but is unusually philosophical about it all and has a calm outlook that life is a cyclical movement but that life… always finds a way. It is this which makes her such a perfect match for Ambrelli, seeing and valuing the intrinsic value in her Rider’s work as a Healer and being deeply fascinated by the intricate and careful processes. She has an unusually optimistic air, being of the opinion that the mistakes we made doesn’t mean they’re a reflection of our futures, but rather that they are lessons so that in order to know where we’re going, we just have to understand where we have been.
Ilexeth is rarely ruffled, in fact she seems to have a length of patience as long as the biggest gold and then a bit more and for a green, is oddly level-headed about things. However she has an abject dislike for recklessness that could unnecessarily endanger life or the lives of others and will be fast to vocally express her displeasure that life is being disrespected or worse, abused. Life is a constant gift, not one to be dallied with. However, Ilexeth will adore the opportunity to talk to all who might listen about the wonderful mystery that is life itself. Why do the trees regrow in the springtime? Why do the nights grow so short in the summer? Why does the world continue to sleep and awaken in its endless cycle? Those that listen with care will be drawn to this odd-looking but ferociously passionate little dragon and find themselves with a dear friend who will furiously fight for those that need it.
Due to the intensive care that she required during the early days of her life, Ilexeth’s bond with her Rider will be monumentally strong and neither will like to be away from their respective “other half” for longer than is necessary and each will find extraordinary comfort and relief just from being in the vicinity of each other. Without their Bond, there could be no life and life after all, is precious.
Weyr of Origin: Arolos
Abilites and weaknesses: Ilexeth is based on the concept of “rebirth” - an archetype that is prevalent in fairytales and a common parable in stories around the world. Her name has been given after being inspired by the holly bush (the Ilex genus), a plant associated with the cycle of life and death.
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