Headwoman Anuleesa

:: OOC Information ::
Moniker: Suri
How did you hear about us?: Affiliation with Dragon’s Rise.



:: Character Information ::
Name: Anuleesa
Pronunciation: Ah-new-LEE-sa
Title: Lady in Waiting (Hold), Headwoman
Age & Turn of Birth: 41, Spring of 461 AL (Age for year 502 AL)
Gender: Female
Place of Birth: Fort Weyr
Place of Residence: Telgar Hold
Craft: Former Candidate of Fort Weyr, turned midwife and Lady in Waiting of Telgar Hold’s dignitaries.
Occupation/ Role: Headwoman


Character Aspirations:
Anuleesa wants nothing more than to live in a place of relative safety with her husband and children where she doesn’t have to worry about them on a daily basis (even though she will no matter where they live). She works hard to provide for her kids and she loves them dearly - but waiting on people for the rest of her life in a Hold doesn’t appeal to her. When her children Impressed at the Hatching at Fort Weyr, and she found out about the note to Torianu from her husband begging him to move the family to the Weyr for safekeeping on suspicious activity at the Hold, she settled the matter by approaching the Weyrwoman - an old friend from her Candidacy.

The woman caught up with her old friend and discovered the need for a Headwoman with years behind her, and Anuleesa offered herself for the woman. Their friendship had been on hold for many years, but Anuleesa wanted the Weyr to prosper and it was a way for her to do what she wanted with her life -- support her family, both blood and extended family in the Weyr. Much of it would be learning to do what she has done her whole life on a much, much larger scale - but Anuleesa is up to the challenge.


Family:
☆Father: Bronzerider of unknown name/rank/birth/death
☆Mother: Greenrider of unknown name/rank/birth/death
☆Siblings: All of the Weyrbrats (raised in the creche and fostered to a Healer woman)
☆Children:
Dareia [F] {Healer, B. 475 AL, D. xxx AL}
Valeron [M] {Smithcrafter. B. 481 AL, D. xxx AL}
T'rian [M] {Brownrider of Liorth, B. 482 AL, D. xxx AL}
Lesera [F] {Greenrider of Zelenyth, B. 487 AL, D. xxx} 
Terev [M] {B. 492 AL, D. 492 AL} - Born Sleeping.
Branik [M] {B. 491 AL, D. 493 AL} - Born weak, never got stronger. 
☆Other Significant: Keritorv {Hold Guard, General. B. 456 AL, D. xxx AL} - Husband


Appearance:


☆Face: Roselyn Sanchez
☆Hair: Long, thick, brown and usually very wavy. Facets of color shimmer in the sunlight when she’s out and about, and give it depth and dimension. She frequently wears it back in a pony tail, and the shorter strands fall forward to frame her face.  
☆Eyes: Klah-brown. The edges of the irises are edged in black/grey color. Their shape is large and expressive, framed by delicately arched eyebrows that always give her a emotions a visible expression. If she ever cocks and eyebrow at someone, they can see it. Her emotions are usually pretty obvious if one can read facial expressions.
☆Height: 5’9”
☆Build: Anuleesa is curvy. She has a large bust, naturally and with the assistance of being a mother six times over. Aside from her stomach showing obvious signs of motherhood from carrying her children (resulting in a loose area with stretch marks) she is not overly large. Her body is decently lean, but still thicker than that of her youth. Her back end is shapely, giving great fill for dresses and clothing as well as complimenting the size of her bust. Even in her advanced age she has kept a semblance of an hourglass to her figure - though it definitely shapes her as a mother.
☆Other Notable Physical Traits: 3 well-healed scars down her back from her failed time on the Sands as a Candidate. An enthusiastic brown knocked her over and walked over her to Impress. The wounds were treated at the Weyr before she moved to the Hold, but the scar tissue is so old and well cared for that they hardly cause her discomfort. Faded with 25 turns to heal, they are not very visible to the naked eye unless she has tanned.
☆Style of Dress: Always a practical woman, Anuleesa often took to wearing clothes that would show off those of her Lady that she was currently caring for - without keeping her from doing her job. Her son and husband often spoiled her with nicer things to wear for Gathers, but Anuleesa prefers her pants and 3/4 sleeve shirts that leave her arms mostly free to do the work put to her.

She loves dressing up for fancy events, however, and uses the nice clothing gifted to her to show off. She knows she’s a beautiful older woman, and doesn’t mind appreciative looks since she’s faithful to her husband.

☆Possessions usually found on persona:



History:

Childhood:
From the very beginning Anuleesa has had a strong personality. Her mother and father were never part of her life, and the most she knew about them was that they were dragonriders and she was the get of a mating flight between a bronzrider and a greenrider. By the age of 5 turns it was apparent that the young girl was going to be a troublemaker. She had an attitude, loved mischief and was often getting into sticky situations. Little Anuleesa was going to be a looker, anyone could tell. As she got older, her thick dark hair got longer and wavier, and her olive toned skin stood out among her peers. She was an independent child, loving to escape into whatever relative freedom she could get. It took many eyes to keep an eye on her and she was often put to the chores where many women were at work.

At 6 turns she was fostered to the Headwoman of the Weyr (at the time), and the Kitchen staff became her family. Her creative mind was put to work and she slowly grew out of the recklessness that had worried the creche workers. Young Anuleesa never knew if she had siblings, and wasn’t even sure her name was a mashing of her parent’s names as many children’s were. After awhile she stopped asking about her parents and gave up trying to dissect her name for clues.

Growing Up:
From the moment she was put under the Headwoman’s care, Anuleesa prospered. She loved the work of the older woman and followed her around like a puppy trying to glean information from her foster mother. When she was old enough, she was assigned to the woman as a Kitchen worker, allowing her to take on tasks she couldn’t have otherwise done. Excelling with numbers in her lessons, Anuleesa became her foster mother’s inventory keeper and she kept up the numbers (followed behind by the Headwoman to make sure they were accurate).

At 13 turns Anuleesa was appointed the Headwoman’s Assistant where her training took on a much broader, more encompassing turn. At the time, she had no interest in becoming the Headwoman, but she dutifully learned the lessons and did her duty. This was also the first year she was allowed to stand as a Candidate, and Candidate Lessons were added to her day. Despite this, she didn’t Impress at the Hatching and went back to her daily life as a Headwoman’s Assistant after the Candidate Classes came to an end.

Around 14 turns, a goldflight caught her unaware and the young woman lost her virginity to a handsome young dragonrider. She had strayed much too close to the clot of losing dragonriders and became an unintentional flightmoth. It didn’t matter, she was a weyr child and as soon as the baby was born, it was given to the creche and fostered out. While she never raised the girl, later in life Anuleesa followed her daughter’s progress and was delighted when she found out that she had moved to the Healer Hall. This was Dareia.

Her foster mother’s perfectionism rubbed off on Anuleesa, and her skill with numbers increased. Inventory taking and tithe train unloading were added to her list of responsibilities, and the young woman of 15 turns thrived. Her difficulties letting others help her with tasks meant that Anuleesa was never put in charge of a task force in the kitchen. She was allowed to move between tasks where needed, filling in where needed, but mostly helping in the background and keeping smaller things moving smoothly for her foster mother.

This continued for some time and all the while Anuleesa stood as a Candidate on the Sands, never really all that upset when she walked away without a dragonet at her side. She, like many weyrbrats allowed to stand for the sole reason of their blood, was certain that if she Impressed, it would be to a perfect dragon and was willing to wait. She began to learn basic healing, a lot of cooking, and other tasks that a future Headwoman might need, and even spent some time with the Weyr’s midwife learning about babies and how childbirth was handled. The midwifery interested her greatly, and her foster mother allowed her to spend some time learning it. Anuleesa began to frequently assist the midwife at births, but her main duties still revolved around her Headwoman foster mother’s directions.


Young Adult Years:
Around the age of 18 turns the young woman, who knew she was beautiful and often the recipient of compliments and flirtations because of it, met a man who was visiting the Weyr with friends to support a Candidate in her current class. Keritorv was a guardsman of Telgar Hold, training and advancing in the ranks. She failed to Impress, again, but her disappointment was chased away when the man stayed to celebrate the success of the new riders with her at the Gather afterward. The two found they had a lot in common and when he returned to his training, they kept in touch with letters and visits when their schedules would allow.

It was around this time that the Searchriders left the Weyr on a hunt for Queen Candidates for the golden egg. They returned with prospects, one of them a blond woman with a defiant manner to her. Anuleesa liked her immediately. Trying to make the other woman’s transition to Candidacy easier for the few days before the Hatching, Anuleesa spent her time helping with the drudge-work instead of her usual Assistant style chores.

Their day came as their Candidate class filed onto the Sands. Anuleesa stood between a chromatic group and the golden group, trying to appear as a Candidate for either. If she Impressed gold it would be amazing, she had decided. But it was not to be, as her new friend stood in the wake of the golden hatchling and Impression was made. Not long after, with her mind focused on being happy for the woman - now Goldrider Karene and Junior Weyrwoman - Anuleesa was knocked over by a brown dragonet and her back mauled by his hind talons when he made his way to his lifemate.

Anuleesa did not Impress.

She was taken from the stands, her wounds cared for and when she awake from the delirium of pain, she found that Keritorv was at her bedside, begging her to come away with him to the Hold. An intense fear of dragons had overtaken the young woman, and she agreed. But they could not leave so soon, and she was forced to wait for her back to heal more before her foster mother and Healers allowed her to move to Telgar Hold with the man she had fallen in love with.

This also put her friendship with the newest goldrider at a distance, and they kept in touch when they could through letters. Anuleesa loved hearing about children and the growing dragonet, but was secretly glad she didn’t have to face it all anymore. Her foster mother was distraught but understood, and proud that her fosterling had found someone to love.

Hold Life:
19 turns and beautiful, Anuleesa moved to Telgar Hold with Keritorv who continued his employment in the Hold Guard. He made enough to support the two of them but Anuleesa had other plans. She went to the main Hold and asked for employment in the Kitchens where she had experience from the Weyr. She was granted a position but soon became clear that her independent and bossy ways were not suited for the work. She was not in charge there, but acted as if she were anyway.

Her employment moved on to being a Lady in Waiting for the Hold Family, and any visiting dignitaries, and she rather enjoyed this work. It allowed her more freedom to dress up, and gave her access to higher ranking people who treated her with more respect than she had gotten in the Kitchens. She wrote often to the Junior Weyrwoman Karene at the Weyr, telling her things she heard. The Headwoman often gave her more information on her friend than she got from Karene, noting to her foster daughter that the life of a goldrider was hectic and busy - which Anuleesa didn’t mind. She was proud.

At 20 turns, Keritorv had saved enough marks to buy an engagement ring and he proposed to Anuleesa. The icey winter and snow blanketed landscape made the proposal perfect, and she agreed to be his wife. The idea seemed strange to her at first, having grown up in the Weyr where love was freely given, and sex a natural part of everything, but it grew on her. After explaining that she was not the typical Holder wife, not a virgin and already a mother, Anuleesa was surprised that her fiance didn’t care, and in fact, searched for her daughter for her and reported that she was being fostered to a Healer woman. Dareia became his own despite their young age. While they still never raised the girl, they supported her with marks and clothing, and Turn’s End gifts.

The freedom of his fiance making it easy for them to get away with intimacy, Keritorv and Anuleesa discovered she was pregnant before the wedding, and not long after their engagement, were married. Anuleesa gave birth to a son, Valeron, named for Keritorv’s fallen soldier father. The next year, Anuleesa gave birth to another son, Torianu, who was named in the traditional mashing of parents names.

Life was good for the family; between Keritorv’s work as a solider and Anuleesa’s work as a Lady in Waiting, they made enough to support the children and themselves. Their little home was a warren of rooms, constantly growing as their incomes would allow, complete with four bedrooms (one for themselves, Valeron, Torianu, and a spare for guests), a kitchen and a large sitting area. A weapons room and storage room were one in the same, as Valeron and Torianu took on their own crafts. Valeron was apprenticed to the Smithcraft and soon moved to live at the Smithcraft Hall to further his studies. Torianu, who desperately looked up to his father, decided to join the Hold Guard, so the keeping of uniforms and weapons grew.

Five years after Torianu’s birth, Anuleesa (now 26 turns) became pregnant again, and this time gave birth to her daughter, Lesera. Keritorv was often busy with the Guard, and out on assignment, but their time together was well used. He was able to be their for their daughter’s birth, which was difficult and blood loss almost took Anuleesa’s life. Despite this, the baby thrived, and grew into a beautiful child. It was some time before Anuleesa’s body could handle another pregnancy, but her next child, another son, was stillborn. Her child following him was another son, who was born early and weak. Branik was frequently sick and around the age of two turns, took ill to firehead and died.

After the death of her two children, Anuleesa was depressed and took to doting on the ones still living with them. She worried constantly for Keritorv’s safety when the fighting broke out, but they were Loyal to the Hold and she supported him. He survived, much to her pleasure.

Time Goes On:
Life with her family at the Hold was perfect. She loved working for the ranking people of Telgar, loved her husband, children and eventually got over the death of her sons. She still wrote to her foster mother, visiting when she could, and heard about her friend becoming the Senior Weyrwoman vicariously through her foster mother. Torianu showed his merit in the Hold Guard and advanced to the position of Officer Cadet, but soon after was Searched as a Candidate for the Weyr. Pride and fear battled for control in Anuleesa, but she and her husband gave him permission to Stand, and he went to join the Candidacy.

Anuleesa frequently looked into his empty room where his possessions were stored, and once or twice, was found sleeping in his bed. Lesera, concerned, became a constant in her mother’s life, and she even got herself a position in the Kitchens as she herself had once held. The Searchrider’s came back, however, and this time Lesera was found to be a worthy Candidate. The young woman refused to go, not wanting to leave her mother to grieve again - though Tori was still alive, and so Lesera didn’t leave with the riders. She never told her mother that she had been offered a place at the Weyr, and Anuleesa never found out.

That was, until she and her daughter went to support Torianu at his Hatching. Anuleesa’s fear of dragons was kept from her children; she never wanted them to think her weak, and she had never shared her past as being weyrbred with them.

Return to the Weyr:
It was a shock to both Anuleesa and Torianu when Lesera was the one to Impress first, and their mother tried valiantly to hide her anxiety from her daughter while they watched. When Lesera Impressed from the Stands, Anuleesa looked at her daughter with a new light. She was proud, extremely happy, and wanted to support Torianu and Lesera as they journeyed through life as dragonriders.

The woman found out, after the Hatching, that Keritorv had been in contact with his son, begging him to take his mother and sister to the Weyr where it was safer. He had suspicions about the Hold, and upcoming dangers, and didn’t want his children and wife to be in danger. Anuleesa was stunned, her husband hadn’t said anything about it to her, and the letter also noted that he was tendering resignation to the Hold Guard, and intended to join them as soon as he could.

At the same time, Anuleesa visits with her much much older foster mother who has been debating retiring as the Headwoman, and her old friend Karene. Knowing her foster mother’s intentions and the Weyr’s need for a new Headwoman, Anuleesa offers herself to the Weyrwoman.

And this is where we find them.


Personality:



Anuleesa knows who she is and likes it that way. She is not vain, concieted, diffident or timid. She is candid. She tells the truth even if doing so won’t necessarily benefit her. She is punctual, generous and diligent. Anuleesa is a no-nonesense woman who won’t take no for an answer. She knows when to back down but isn’t afraid of anyone, least of all dragonriders. While she shows them respect, she cannot be expected to hold her tongue if they get insulting, or if they fail to do what is asked of them. She is high-spirited and strong-willed, unwilling to let people run her off something she is trying to do and distract her from tasks that need done. Her willingness to tell people to shard off when she needs to concentrate, and her blunt ‘you asked for my opinion’ attitude means people often know where they stand with her.

That being said, she is still warm and loving and always willing to help those who need it. She is very much a mothering sort, while remaining tough. She is strong not only physically but mentally and she won’t let anything get her down. Most insults and mean comments (if anyone has the balls to say them to her face) roll right off her back -- unless they insult her family or friends. Disrespect overheard about the Weyrwoman is guaranteed to have Anuleesa bearing down and dishing barbed comments. That is, right before she reports them to their Wingleader for their disrespect. Her anger in these instances is legendary, and many flinch at the sight of her long spoon.

Calm mother’s nerves make it easy for Anuleesa to handle large amounts of stress and stressful circumstances very well. This includes the running of her responsibility as a Headwoman. However, Anuleesa has a huge problem delegating tasks or letting people help her with anything. Her need to get it done right, and done right the first time means that she often overworks herself and passes out wherever she may be -- usually in the Kitchen. Perfectionism is a problem for her, and it causes issues for her when she makes someone repeat a task three to four times until they do it right. That is - if she let’s them do it that many times before she tells them to go away and let her do it. Anuleesa has an uncanny ability to make people feel guilty for making her do something she asked them to do. This is possibly the result of many -- if not all -- of the Weyr’s inhabitants knowing that she and the Weyrwoman have issues letting people help.

One issue she is being forced to get over with her return to the Weyr is her fear of dragons that resulted from her mauling before she moved to the Hold. Unfortunately for her son T’rian, browns have a higher chance of being feared since this was the color that had mauled her. Now the Headwoman for the Weyr, Anuleesa must get used to all of the dragons again, and force herself to interact with them on a daily basis so that she doesn’t appear weak. Mentally she knows that her fears are unfounded, since the mauling happened at a Hatching with an infant dragon -- well known to be dangerous.

Her habit of putting others ahead of herself means she’s constantly working to make others happy and make sure they are fed and cared for before herself. Anuleesa is frequently being reminded to eat, often forced to take breaks, and when she falls asleep in the Kitchen, she usually wakes up to find that she has been moved to a cot by the window with a blanket because the Kitchen staff tried to take care of her for once.

More than anything Anuleesa loves her family and the few close friends she has. She would lay down her life in place of theirs if needed, and she is fiercely protective of them. Her loyalty to them is dangerous to her own life, but she wouldn’t change it for the world.

Moving back to the Weyr as a married woman has been strange for her, and many times the weyrfolk will flirt with her and be rebuffed. She does not reciprocate the attention, and is never seen to bed anyone but her husband. Those who know she is weyrbred find this strange, but Anuleesa is loyal to Keritorv. Her husband, knowing how goldflights affect the entire Weyr, knows that if a gold rises to mate this loyalty is most likely to be tested only then - and if it is, Anuleesa cannot keep it a secret and tells him immediately. This honesty means that their relationship is on good terms regardless, and Keritorv know the chances of it happening when he asked his son to move her there. For this reason, Anuleesa doesn’t sleep with the handsome men of the Weyr unless the forces of a goldflight cannot be fought (and she always tries), and Keritorv accepts this -- as long as their coupling doesn’t continue after a flight. This all changes when her husband comes to the Weyr and they can sequester themselves together for goldflights, much to Anuleesa’s relief and great pleasure.




Shortcomings:
☆ Always puts others ahead of herself: She has a problem with prioritizing her own health over that of others who need her. For this reason she often gets sicker than others as she puts off her personal care to handle her chores or the needs of those around her. Her children often ate before her, she always gave them the marks she earned so that they could buy things, and for the longest time her clothing was simply things the Weaver’s apprentices worked on and discarded because she wanted her family to have things she didn’t need.

At the Weyr (as Headwoman), this often means that she’s working late into the night, exhausting herself to make sure that things are getting done, late night riders coming in from patrols or whatever they were doing had food, and preparing meat for weyrling dragons in case they needed food when they woke at night. Not wanting to sleep alone before her husband joined her meant that she often slept in the Kitchens whenever she passed out, listening to the hustle and bustle of the night crew and making herself readily available if they needed her.

☆ Secret Fear of Dragons: Since her mauling in her youth, Anuleesa lives with a distinct mistrust of dragons. It’s an unreasonable fear, since her scarring happened at a Hatching where everyone knows baby dragons are dangerous - but the woman thinks that an angry dragon is uncontrollable and will harm is rider or bystanders - without fail. It’s something she is now forced to work on since her children’s Impressions - and since she doesn’t want them to think she hates their lifemates.

Her fear was tested when the Poetry of the Air clutch hatched resulting in the injury of many Candidates and the immediate death of one who was killed by a gold hatchling, as well as the eventual death of another gold Candidate who had chosen to end her life when her legs were crushed. A recurring nightmare of Lesera and Torianu’s dragons injuring them has Anuleesa frequently checking the infirmary for her children.

☆ Inability to Delegate: One thing the Weyrwoman and Anuleesa have in common is their inability to let others help them by delegating tasks. Anuleesa believes that if she needs something done right, she has to do it herself. This oftentimes leads to her being overworked, and then being forced to let someone do work. The first time this happened she was made to take an Assistant, which she often resented. It didn’t stop her from continuing to overwork herself, and this is often how her Assistant’s get larger tasks - when she can’t handle them alone and it has to be proven to herself, BY herself in order to believe it.

Only then will she ask for help or delegate it. Always grudgingly. Once she has, however, she is critical of the work the other person does - demanding perfection and making them redo it until she is satisfied.

Mannerisms/ Habits:
☆ “Ask once and carry a large spoon.” Anuleesa is not patient when a job needs done. She will ask for it to be done once and if it’s not, a resulting whack with her handy long-handled stirring spoon is the outcome. She also has a way of making someone feel guilty if she has to do a job she asked someone else to do.
☆ Sleeping in the Kitchens: An issue with sleeping alone in her rooms (since her children are in the Barracks for the Weyrling riders and her husband has yet to come to the Weyr) means that Anuleesa often overworks herself in an effort to not sleep, and then when her body can’t stand it any longer - tends to pass out in the Kitchen.
☆ Inability to let people go hungry: Perhaps a carry over from her motherhood days at the Hold with her children, Anuleesa seems to always have some sort of stew with bread cooking, and bubbly pies on a backboard for hungry people. If someone came asking for something to eat, she couldn’t turn them away hungry.

Skills/ Likes:
☆ [Loves Challenges]: Anything someone says she cannot do, or won’t be able to do, is a challenge to Anuleesa and she works hard to prove them wrong.

☆ [Unofficial Therapist]: Anuleesa has a personality that lends itself to letting people speak to her about their troubles. Something about her personal authority, natural trustworthiness, motherly instincts and the fact that she is always around when someone needs to talk something out or just vent - means riders and weyrfolk alike flock to her. She listens to their troubles, offers advice and usually follows this by food and a good glass of wine.

This reputations has made people realize that she’s good for the task because the secrets told, conversations had and advice given are not shared and gossiped about the Weyr. Because of these things, she is a natural choice to talk to - much like a bartender.


Unskilled at/ Dislikes:
☆ [Flirty Weyrfolk & Dragonriders]: Seeing as how she is faithful to her husband, Anuleesa finds flirty weyrfolk and riders irritating. Especially if they are overly persistent. While she may appreciate the compliments secretly, she never intends to reciprocate the flirtations. This often leads to her taking refuge in the creche for mating flights, and she can often resist the calling of a goldflight - though there are times when the emotions run too high and a coupling during a flight happens.

She resents this happening, and her husband is told immediately. However, they met during a goldflight and he knows how they affect the Weyr and it’s inhabitants so he forgives this... As long as it doesn’t continue after the flight. He did, after all, ask that she go to the Weyr for her own safety.

☆ [Messes and Clutter]: Anuleesa is very organized and insists that things are not messy and cluttered. The storerooms are kept in perfect condition and are checked at night to ensure that they aren’t left in a disaster. Her rooms with her husband are neat and orderly as well, because they both appreciate an almost militantly organized home. A messy, cluttered or disorganized room is quickly fixed and becomes the center of her chore list for a day until it’s done. This often means that she is asking the Weyrlingmaster for weyrlings to put to work on the tasks.


Fighting Style/ Weapon of Choice:
Perhaps another secret her children never knew was that Anuleesa was taught how to fight with a bow and arrow by her husband early in their marriage. It was a way for her to get over her injuries and stretch the skin and muscles of the scars on her back, and feel protected during the fighting.

She is able to hit her mark nine times out of ten, but has a dislike of injuries people - and so her skills are only used in dire situations and she never carries the weapon with her unless she has a good reason.