Persona Profile: Ariau

Writer: Rochelle

Name: Ariau
Age: 27
Birthday: m3 d6
Rank: Wingrider, Cascade Wing
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Craft: Harper
Craft Rank: Senior Apprentice

Awards
Crayon Awards: Most Intriguing Female Persona (February 2007)

Physical Description of Persona:
Hovering somewhere between petite and average, Ariau is fighting a loosing battle with genetics, hoping to keep her slender teenage body from descending into her mother's pear-shape. Turns of craft study indoors and a tendency to sunburn as she got older have turned her once deep tan into an array of freckles across her body, something she finds almost as embarrassing as her nonexistent bosom. Thick, dark auburn hair waves to below her shoulders, but has a tendency to frizz and knot so badly she quickly breaks every hairbrush she owns. She managed to inherit a version of her grandmother's heart-shaped face and pretty hazel eyes, but her mother's dainty nose and mouth appear too small for her face.

Emotional Description of Persona:
Friendly, intelligent, well-traveled, and a bit of a dreamer, Ariau has always felt that she needed to present a strong face to the world. She will put on a brave face even when in pain, but has never been particularly _good_ at hiding her feelings, so people usually notice when she's upset or angry. She has a stubborn streak that can make her overly defensive at times, but if you can avoid her notice for a while after arousing her temper she'll usually forgive you. Turns of travel have left her with an antsy feeling whenever she has been in one place for too long, frequently conflicting with her desire to find somewhere she can belong to and call home. She adores her family and makes friends easily, but finds it difficult to maintain long distance relationships with anyone she doesn't have a blood-tie to.

History of Persona:
The first eight turns of Ariau's life were uneventful. Born in a small hold beholden to Nabol, her father Gaejirin was a runner, and her mother Aula was the daughter of a small cotholder. Her grandparents, Master Composer Shaelis and her grandfather Aothart were frequent visitors, and Ariau and her brothers would listen with wide eyes as their grandparents told tales of their travels across Pern. But their comfortable existence came to an end when a series of infections claimed Gaejirin after an accident shattered his knee. Her mother Aula was too exhausted from nursing and grief to fight off the illness than claimed her shortly after, orphaning eight-turn old Ariau and her brothers.

After a long, lonely winter with no response to the messages sent to their other family at the Harper Hall, the entire hold was surprised when their grandmother appeared early that spring to claim them. But rather than bringing a wagon to take them to their uncle at the Harper Hall as everyone expected, she packed the children and their belongings onto some newly bought runners, and brought them with her to her next commission in Bitra.

Ariau and her brothers soon fell into the rhythm of travel, and she quickly learned to love the roaming life. For the next five turns, Ariau's life was determined by her adored grandmother as she and her brothers followed her across the northern continent from commission to commission. Shaelis taught them their harper lessons on the road, and they made friends in halls and holds across the northern continent. Not all of their experiences were pleasant, but the terror of being accosted by bandits or other disasters was soon mitigated by experiences such as the sight of their grandmother knocking a would-be runner thief senseless with her saddle, or their grandfather teaching them how to read the sea and clouds for clues to bad weather.

Thread's arrival put an end to their travels. Since she was the appropriate age, Ariau reluctantly decided to join her uncle's family at the Harper Hall as an apprentice, and her grandparents were forced to cut back and plan their trips far more carefully since shelter from Threadfall had to be arranged in advance. When Ariau was 15, she and her brother Eulajir were both Searched at the Hall. After two turns of unchanging scenery at the Harper Hall, Ariau found weyrlife to be the exciting adventure she'd been missing. Eulajir Impressed blue Bakketh his first time on the sands, but Ariau was left behind again and again.

After two turns of this, Ariau was ready for a change and no longer believed that her dragon was waiting for her on the sands at Fort. She considered moving back to the Hall, but it was the news that her grandparents had successfully petitioned to move to the southern Harper Hall that inspired her to try her chances at another weyr. After four turns she didn't want to be in the same weyr as her grandmother anymore, but the general feeling in the family was that someone in the family should at least be on the same continent. To her brother's protests and her grandmother's amusement, Ariau requested and received a transfer to River Bluff Weyr.

Family and Friends
Shaelis, 84, Master Harper, Harper Hall, Emerald Falls Hold (Grandmother)
Aothart, 88, Former Caravan Guard (Grandfather)
E'laj, 25, Bluerider of Bakketh, Fort Weyr (Brother)
Jaurin, 21, Beastcrafter Junior Apprentice, Keroon Beastcraft Hall (Brother)
Lishae, 18, Fort Hold Harper Hall resident (Cousin)
Baeo, 21, Junior Apprentice Runner (Cousin)
Shabal, 22, Junior Apprentice Caravan Guard, Fort Hold (Cousin)
Aelari, 24, Senior Apprentice Harper, Fort Hold Harper Hall (Cousin)
Balari, 46, Senior Journeywoman Harper, Fort Hold Harper Hall (Aunt)
Shaeo, 45, Senior Journeyman Harper (Drummer), Fort Hold Harper Hall (Uncle)
Gaejirin, 47, Deceased Runner (Father)
Aula, 45, Deceased (Mother)
Alarish, 15, Fort Hold Harper Hall resident (Cousin)

Dragon's Name: Alabieth
Dragon's Age: 8
Dragon's Hatching Date: m6 d3
Dragon's Colour: Gold
Description of Dragon:
Alabieth appears to have been hatched with her rider's sense of wanderlust in mind. Her wings are the delicate, almost rosy gold of the early morning horizon, deepening slightly into the more liquid gold colors of the sunrise. Neither large nor small for her color, Alabieth has also inherited the trademark pride and strong personality of the queens.

To Ariau's endless amusement, Alabieth is not a neat sleeper, tending to sprawl across the floor of her weyr until she meets an obstacle and causing her rider anxiety that she might inadvertently crush one of her precious eggs one day -although the gold's natural possessiveness means she is simply more likely to be cranky from lack of sleep while guarding her eggs. Alabieth loves seeing new places almost as much as her rider, but fortunately for the Weyr she has grown very attached to her wallow and insists on returning to it at the end of the day.

Approved: October 19th 2007
Last updated: August 14th 2009

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Persona Profile: Ariau