Holdless Woman Flynn

Subject: Holdless Woman Flynn Mon Oct 15, 2012 2:48 am

OOC Info:
Moniker: Melissa/Trouble
How did you find out about us?: JQ and Jess

Character Info:
Name: Ashflynna, goes by Flynn

Pronunciation: Aush-fauh-lynn-ah

Title: Holdless

Honourific:

Age & Turn of Birth: 19 Turns, 481 AL

Gender: Female

Place of Birth: Somewhere in the south, near the ocean

Current Place of Residence: In the Southeastern area of Pern

Craft: Holdless, one of the camp's hunters and very proficient with a bow

Rank/Occupation/Role Desired: Uncertain, ideally a place in a guard somewhere, though very few guards accept women.

Character Aspirations: Her only aspirations as a Shunned for a long time were to keep herself and her brother alive, unraped, and fed. Holdless children don't have much of a childhood to begin with, but her mother's death when she was 9 Turns neccesitated her growing up even faster. She had the responsibility of her younger brother, while Ember took care of their ailing father. Her older sister leaving them so easily after their father's death left her with more on her plate than any 15 Turn old should have, and she lost track of anything but survival for some time.

At 16 Turns, after one Turn of only that one goal, she began to see that things needed to change. If she really wanted to protect her brother, they needed to find a real home. After that Flynn tried to find a place for herself and her brother, and at some desperate times just Tashin, at every Hold and Hall they came by. No one would give the scraggly pair a chance though.

She still plans on finding a home for herself and Tashin. She promised to protect him, and he's her number one priority. She hopes she can find a Hold or Hall willing to take her on as a guard, and her brother as an apprentice somewhere. He's still young enough to learn a craft, she believes, though she thinks of herself as far past saving.

In the back of her mind she dreams of Tashin Impressing, but she knows that the chances of a Weyr accepting such a pair are slim. Not to mention that their group rarely goes near the Weyrs, and if they do it's only when no other route is possible and they have no choice.

She also occasionally thinks of finding Ember, and finding out why she abandoned them when they needed her so badly. Right before the beats the ever loving dragon shit out of her.

OOC Character Development Goals:

Family:
✣Father: Carcker - 36 at Death - Shunned - Deceased
✣Mother: Perella - 31 at Death - Shunned - Deceased
✣Siblings: Emberlynn - See Jess' sheet ; Tashin - 9 Turns, 491 AL - Shunned
✣Children: None
✣Other Significant: None

Appearance:
✣Face:
Holdless Woman Flynn FlynnBanner

✣Hair: Hair bleached almost white blonde by a life spent outside on the road, though it's naturally a darker shade of blonde. It results in amazing natural streaks. Her hair is the one vanity she allows herself: it reaches to her mid-back and is very thick, with a nice wave to it. She's practical though: she wears it in a tight bun or a braid unless she is resting.
✣Eyes: Dark brown, round and warm with laugh lines around them
✣Height: 5'6"
✣Build: She was underfed as a child, and will never be very large as a result. She has a bit of a gaunt look to her, especially her face, and her limbs are thin. But she's muscular from the hard life of a Shunned, especially those thin arms. She's much tougher than she looks, and managed to grow taller than many of her friends did.
✣Other Notable Physical Traits: She has a long scar from her right shoulder down to her left wrist from the claws of an angry wherry whose nest she was harvesting, and a scar above her right eye that healed a bit jaggedly from a fist fight with another Shunned.
✣Style of Dress: As Shunned she's worn whatever cast offs she could find. For the longest time all she was two pairs of trousers and three tunics, all owned by others before her and patched to the point where they're falling apart. Now, as head of one of the elite hunting groups, she's provided with the finest garments that the Holdless can procure. Certainly it's not up to the standards of the Holders and Crafters, but it's nice leather, fits well, and is newer than anything she's never possessed. It's all made with a mind for her archery, to give her freedom of movement and to hide her in the various terrains they come across.
✣Possessions usually found on persona: Long bow and plenty of arrows, which she fletches herself. Four daggers of varying lengths, two at her waist and another on each boot.

History: Flynn's great-great-great-great-great-grandfather was exiled from... erm... somewhere for... something. No one remembers at this point: the life of a Holdless Shunned is simply the life of Flynn's family. She was the second born to a young couple, who welcomed their second daughter joyously. She had, in her mind, the best older sister even, Emberlynn. The two was inseperable, living as much of a childhood as Holdless children do. They were both scrappers even as little girls, tomboys to the bone. Flynn was a bit of a follower in regards to Ember, though both of them were the leaders. She simply tended to take a subordinate role to her older sister. She was the Second in Command, training to take over as leader of the children. Both girls had such forceful personalities and charm that it was impossible to not follow them on adventures.

When she was 10 Turns life brought new excitement in the form of a baby brother named Tashin. Flynn proudly took on the title of Big Sister and adored her brother. Only three Turns later tragedy struck when Perella was caught in a fight between two other Holdless members of their group. Though she had nothing to do with the fight she was collateral damage and died before her family could reach her.

Flynn was fifteen, and Tashin only five, when their father drunkenly fell from his fishing skiff and drowned off the coast of Tillek. Flynn was devestated, remembering more the man her father had been before his wife's death than the man that had died. Once again she was in the dark, not knowing that Carcrek had made a choice and faked his death to escape the camp. He had been pressured by the leader of their camp to join in the raiding of tithing trains and traders, and felt his only safe way out was to fake his own death. He felt it was the only way to assure the safety of his children.

But the pain wasn't over. Ember was especially effected by the 'death' of their father, and felt she had to provide a better living for the two. To cover her emotions, she callously said goodbye to her little sister and brother and left, her heart breaking while she did. At 15 Flynn was thrust into the position of the only adult in the home, with a five Turn old little brother to raise on her own.

For the next Turn Flynn focused only on survival. She joined the hunters, putting her skill with the bow to use in bringing down wild herdbeasts and wherries. Tashin she trusted with dear family friends while she was out with the hunters, and spent every other moment with him. She learned to cook, clean, care for a child... whatever Tashin needed she learned. She knew their biggest concern was being killed by one of the more ruthless members of the camp: with no family to help protect them they were on their own.

Not long after her 16th birthday, Flynn found herself in a situation she dreaded: one of the camp members decided to introduce her to the life of womanhood forcefully. She fought the man off and crippled him. At that point she realized that she couldn't just hide her entire life, and that she had to get Tashin out of the camp. Luckily the figh had brought her recognition as a warrior. She was offered more varied training, learning knife work and other skills useful for a full guard. While they may have thought they were teaching the new generation of camp guard, they were actually giving her the tools she needed to escape.

From then on she tried every Hold and Hall that the camp came near, searching for a job in their Hold Guard. She was turned away at every one, even during the desperate times when she begged for them just to take her brother in. Instead of being beaten down by the constant rejection she set her mind to learning more, to making herself more desirable. At one point she would find a Hold or Hall that would overlook her birth in favor of her abilities. On top of refining her skills with knives, she began to study leadership.

By the time she was 19 Turns she had been promoted to head of her own squad of hunters, one that specialized in quiet, night hunting and bows. She was proud that her squad easily brought in the most food of all the squads on the shift, in part due to her own training that she put her men and women through. It quickly became an honor to be placed in the squad of the young woman with the sharpest eye in the camp, and Flynn was able to set herself and her brother up more comfortably.

She began to notice that things were changing recently though. Some of her squad memebers, and her peers, seemed to pull away. And the there were random questions asked, about her feelings towards the Weyr. One thing life had already taught her was to play her cards close to the chest, and she shrugged the questions away with blithe remarks that she had more important things to worry about then dragons and Lords. Still, the experiences stayed with her and she kept on her guard. She noted the people in her squad that were becoming withdrawn and covertly began to keep an eye on them.

✣ 04-02-481AL - Born
✣ 05-12-491AL - Tashin Born
✣ 09-09-494AL - Perella dies
✣ 02-04-495AL - Flynn uses a bow for the first time, falls madly in love with the weapon
✣ 05-27-496AL - Carcker dies
✣ 06-12-496AL - Emberlynn leaves
✣ 04-30-497AL - Flynn joins the hunters, realizes she needs more skills, begins her work at moving up in the ranks
✣ 04-25-499AL - Flynn is promoted to Head of her own squad
✣ 07-03-500AL - Begins to notice differences in the group, suspicions begin

Personality: Holdless children do not have a childhood. From a young age she was at work, helping to keep the community fed and alive. As such she's very mature, and naturally slips into a leadership position when with others. Even as a child their games had purpose: setting traps, clearing them, fishing, digging for gems... Flynn and her sister were often put in charge together, as their inate abilities to get the other children to listen to them made them practically effortlessly made them invaluable. The AUnties and Uncles were quick to nurture that ability in her, seeing a natural born leader when they saw one. When the children split she was often put in charge of children even older than her, because her level headedness in the face of just about anything was soothing to the other children.

Perhaps she is overly forceful, but That was a survival technique as a Shunned: asserting dominance before another person could. She has a natural distrust of strangers, another survival technique, but is capable of putting forward a friendly, trusting front when needed. Her first priority is keeping her brother and herself safe, and if she has to scare someone to do so she will. Though she has been dreaming of being accepted into a Hold or Hall her entire time she also fears it. She's spent her entire life looking out for herself and her brother and no one else, and she knows that to find a true home she'll have to open herself open to being vulnerable. She also fears that she may have messed up a chance in the past, more than once, because of her own fears. She is quite loyal, though, and will fight tooth and nail for a friend. And when she fights, she fights.

Family is everything to her. Tashien is the only one she has left, and she'll go to any lengths to protect him. She would be willing to give her life to give him a chance at a better life. AS for the rest of her family... she holds a grudge against her older sister Ember for abandoning her for seemingly no reason, something that will eat at her until settled. The fact that her father is alive will be a blow to the chest to her, and there's no way of predictating what will happen.

Shortcomings: Can be seen as a bitch, because she does tend to take over any situation she encounters out of habit. Shirkers simply confuse and irritate her. She does not know how to read, write, or figure. She sometimes overreacts in situations she sees as dangerous, simply out of habit. Her relationship with her brother is quite odd as well, more mother than sister and extremely dependent on each other.

Mannerisms or Habits: She has an incredibly sharp sense of hearing and can be a little paranoid, something you need to survive as Holdless. She assess every room she enters immediately, finding the exits and planning her escape just in case. Her hand rests easily at her side, on the hilt of the knife at her right side.

Skills/Likes:
✣[Skill 1]: A relative weapons master, and quite adept at teaching her skills
✣[Skill 2]: Childcare, despite her rather scary personality. She just gets along with children, much better than she gets along with adults.
✣[Like 1]: Quiet time alone with her bow, she is very focused on her archery and it's the ultimate stress release for her.
✣[Like 2]: Watching dragons in the sky, ever since she was a child she would look up and see them, and imagine flying away from her life on one

Dislikes:
✣[Dislike 1]: Shirkers, she puts 200% of herself into everything she does and doesn't understand the concept of others not doing the same
✣[Dislike 2]: Flowers, she has allergies that she doesn't tell people about
✣[Dislike 3]: Admitting that she can't read or write
✣[Dislike 4]: People trying to teach her to read or write

Fighting Style/Weapon of Choice: Flynn would rather keep at a distance and use her bow. Her accuracy with it is deadly, and she is a quick draw and fire, capable of taking down multiple targets in moments. Up close she has several daggers, and is almost as adept at blade work as she is with her bow. She's small, she knows, and never stops moving during a battle. Unarmed combat... she's terrifying. She uses all tools at her disposal, teeth included, and isn't afraid to gouge, claw, or kick anything she can reach. She dreams of learning to use a sword, something that is far too rare for a Shunned like herself to own or learn.

Candidate Information:
Searched?: No

Dragon Colour Preference: Gold

Standing Only?: No

Subject: Re: Holdless Woman Flynn Mon Oct 15, 2012 2:51 pm

Hey Mel, go to this link and take a look at the Pern calendar of years. Adjust the years of events in her history to these IC appropriate turns, puuhh leaase Smile

hehehe.

https://rainoffire.rpg-board.net/t15-calendar-of-the-change-in-seasons

Only other comment I'd have on the profie atm is to write it from her perspective right now. It's a little confusing when in some places like the personality you reference her already being at the weyr but in history suggest she's not there yet. If you can clarify it to where it's all in reference to her present life, that'd be ideal. Wink

later on, her history or personality or other things can be updated to fit the changes in her life as need be.

<3 thanks chicky.

Subject: Re: Holdless Woman Flynn Mon Oct 15, 2012 4:11 pm

As soon as Jess and I nail down the details on our plot I'll get it fixed. Twisted Evil

Subject: Re: Holdless Woman Flynn Mon Oct 15, 2012 9:52 pm

Eloaene wrote:: Hey Mel, go to this link and take a look at the Pern calendar of years. Adjust the years of events in her history to these IC appropriate turns, puuhh leaase hehehe.

https://rainoffire.rpg-board.net/t15-calendar-of-the-change-in-seasons

Only other comment I'd have on the profie atm is to write it from her perspective right now. It's a little confusing when in some places like the personality you reference her already being at the weyr but in history suggest she's not there yet. If you can clarify it to where it's all in reference to her present life, that'd be ideal.

later on, her history or personality or other things can be updated to fit the changes in her life as need be.

<3 thanks chicky.

Think I got everything you mentioned. Smile

How's that doll?

Subject: Re: Holdless Woman Flynn Wed Oct 17, 2012 9:23 am

I know I already visited with you about most of this, but I wanted to post it to you officially so you have a reference and nothing's forgotten. lol Smile

<3 <3

I'm taking this from the critique that Kate presented me with and summarizing things down a bit and added some of my own thoughts.
Also, keep in mind, detail detail detail.. all helps the character become real and the RP more real, and explains why the character is the way she is. That doesn't take away from what they can become and develop into later, but helps us increase the dept of RP as they go. This is required of every PC.

Keep in mind that Kate and I spent three weeks planning our first characters and the plot outlines to start with. I am of the belief that the more we put into them to start, the more we will get out of them later. We want to make it a supurb RP group! Not mediocre so plan your plottings and characters with greatness in mind.

First of all I want you to know I'm being picky because she is a Gold Candidate and should meet with a certain depth of character in order to be viable on a Gold.

Note:

Quote :: Once she Impresses she will lead the charge to make sure that ALL Holdless are provided with shelter from Thread.

Keep things in the Present in the biography. The rest will come later with planning from all players involved. If you want to set goals for the character, share those future goals in the Character Goals section at the top of the bio to be discussed/determined later.

And here comes the part where I get picky! LOL

Age: She is already 20, women only stand for dragons till the age of 21-22 in most cases. If we do not have an Egg on the Sands for her to Impress, she might age out especially if there is a lot of competition for the next Gold Egg. (I think you already said you were fixing this, Mel. Smile

)

History: Lacks any real depth. She is shunned so I'm sure life has been a bumpy road for her but she sums her life up into two Paragraphs and one paragraph is for her life recently. What happened to the other 16 Turns of her life? There had to be times when she was learning things, such as leadership skills, involved with trader groups, other holdless groups, dangerous encounters etc etc.

Also, no one is born knowing how to inspire people to follow them even if they have a natural capacity to do such a thing more easily than others. They learn it. What experiences other than the loss of her parents would have led her to be a great leader.

Personality section:
Pretty much this is all I'm getting from it
1. Natural Leader
2. Distrustful
3. Loyal
4. Hardworking

Four traits is not enough to make a person seem real. She needs to make a list and then write short paragraphs explaining how they manifest themselves in the character. I'd be okay with a couple more but keep in mind this is a Gold Candidate and there is going to be competition for the Egg when we have it so the more fleshed out and in depth her bio is the better.

I really like where her character is going, championing the Holdless. However I feel there is a lot more to her than is written here and it would help us see if she is going to be a good fit for a dragonet if she has more to her personality and history.

Subject: Re: Holdless Woman Flynn Mon Oct 22, 2012 8:21 pm

Done I think?

Subject: Re: Holdless Woman Flynn Tue Oct 23, 2012 5:58 am

She looks awesome. As I said in the chat I would change where you say she is hot-headed because it doesn't make much sense. Using a different word to describe it will be more accurate for her personality.

Other than that I'd say she was approved.

Subject: Re: Holdless Woman Flynn Tue Oct 23, 2012 6:05 am

Caoimhe wrote:: She looks awesome. As I said in the chat I would change where you say she is hot-headed because it doesn't make much sense. Using a different word to describe it will be more accurate for her personality.

Other than that I'd say she was approved.

lawl I forgot about it. I just went ahead and took it out, because I think I made it abundantly clear in the rest of the sheet that that side only comes out to protect herself and her brother. Very Happy

L'cus became L'rue, btw, and besides his dragon's personality I'm done with him as well!

Woot, go Mel! Expect Elicia to be uploaded sometime later. I'm on a character writing streak.

Subject: Re: Holdless Woman Flynn Tue Oct 23, 2012 6:09 am

Sounds good. When JQ comes on, she can officially approve it .

Subject: Re: Holdless Woman Flynn Tue Oct 23, 2012 11:15 am

I only have one other mention and other than this looks supurb! Being that they've been holdless, I'd like to see a little differentiation between the skills she's learning and a formal Guard are learning. Her skills began as more hunting oriented which is different from the stand point of combat against humans and doesn't require swords. This is a unique set of skills she's developed in that aspect, probably making her combat style a little unorthodox in comparison to a formal hold guard. That doesn't make her less capable, but their styles are probably quite different.

I can understand her having to defend herself and learning to fight using the knives she has for hunting, skinning, etc, but few people in comparison to the total population probably own or find necessity in a sword. I can understand a militia like group such as the AW/AW holdless coming up with a need in order to supply for their rebellion, but that takes metal that is not mined by them and to make a sturdy sword, requires skills they may not have having never entered a craft for the experience. Even with experience, do they have the resources to make their own anvils and hammers etc etc for making something like that? Are they trading skins and animals they trap/ hunt for their swords or are they melting down their hunting tools in order to try and craft their own? Armaments like that are relatively expensive. It'd be much easier to come by knives for fighting or bows and arrows or spears. If they are making their own, the blades are probably just as different as their fighting style since there is no formal organization of their skills per se.

(Which may create an interesting issue for the guard going up against them all in the future^.^)

It could probably also make for an interesting plot to see how they start getting such weapons.. maybe with their joining of the AW, the AW holdless go through them to acquire weapons like swords. Even the AW group of small holdings is probably hard pressed to be able to come by very many swords since most of them are farmers and use mostly farm tools to fight. (axes, staffs, hammers for bludgeoning, knives and daggers, bows, etc. But swords do not fit in that category.)

In any case, all that to say, her set of combative skills is probably much different than that of the Guard considering her situation. That will make her in interesting figure and keep her different enough in her fighting style from that of the char you plan on having in the Guard. Smile

Subject: Re: Holdless Woman Flynn Wed Oct 24, 2012 5:12 am

Okay, dropped the sword and changed it to she really really wants to learn how to use one. Very Happy

That'll be fun.

Subject: Re: Holdless Woman Flynn Wed Oct 24, 2012 8:18 am

Alright, well finish updating it in her history, because it's still mentioned several times and once her history is updated she'll be good to go! And I guess you could just mention her skills with daggers instead of sword in some of those instances.

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