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All references to worlds and characters based
on Anne McCaffrey's fiction are copyright © Anne McCaffrey 1967,2000,
all rights reserved, and used by permission of the author. The Dragonriders
of Pern(r) is registered U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, by Anne
McCaffrey, used here with permission. Use or reproduction without
a license is strictly prohibited. For more information, visit the
Worlds of Anne
McCaffrey. Many thanks to Alec Johnson for his assistance with
this information!
Chailyn is clad head to toe in thick winter gear. Heavy black wherhide trous reinforced at the knee with sturdy patches go down into fur-lined boots. Overtop this is a bulky sweater in warm green cable, and a high collared cream tunic under it to shield her neck. When she is out of doors, a battered wherhide jacket a size too big is added to the ensemble, as well as a scarf and a set of sturdy gloves. A rather ridiculous looking hat has flaps that come down over her ears. It is lined with fur and *does* look to be warm, to make up for the fashion faux pass. The knot on her shoulder is the white and black of a Telgar Weyr assistant Headwoman. And yes, she even wears this through the spring and into summer. She always freezes her tushy off in winter! Chailyn also has two firelizards that can generally be found around her or lazing about the caverns of Telgar: Green Kauma and Gold Ifora.
Scritchy patches of hunter green race in timid flecks
up and down her hide, flickers of olive and a brownish-emerald to
be found therein. Delicate, finely boned and on the tiny side of size,
her body is certainly dainty though a bit thick at the middle. Six
shimmery lines run, near to pale white, from the tip of her rounded-muzzle
and back across her head-nobs and along her sleek sides to disappear
somewhere before her whipcord thin tail. An odd power lies dormant
in her legs, perhaps making her seem more a creature of the ground
than of the air. Kauma has a tiny banding of red and black, showing
her to belong to someone at Telgar Weyr.
She really never liked the tannercraft hall, and the dour people that ran it, and sought refuge in the laundry as soon as she was old enough to duck out of her lessons. There, as long as she was productive, people would leave her to herself. If you ask her, she'll tell you there's no one on Pern dirtier than a bunch of tanners, and she's rather proud of her ability to get out even the most stubborn stains. And while she wasn't entirely *happy* at the hall, she was content, and her inertia kept her there until she was nearly 22 turns of age. She came to Igen Weyr after a younger NPC friend of hers, Merali, was 'carted off on search' by K'dar, brown Craylath's rider, before the eggs had been clutched. Read: typical accusation of riders stealing off hold and craft women for their own uses. This was the push that Chailyn needed to finally leave the hall. She went to Igen Weyr to check up on her, and found out that she wasn't standing at all, but was instead going to be the rider's weyrmate. Because Chailyn had never been out of the tannerhall, she agreed to stay on at the weyr as a laundress, hoping against hope that her friend would come to her senses. She finally became good friends with the rider as well, and has come to accept weyr life, if a bit grudgingly. After all, riders leave skidmarks in their drawers just as much as tanners did. The impression of a rather flighty, silent green firelizard, Kauma, helped her settle in, as did talked with Jasmyn, green Umirieth's rider. After she was at Igen for two turns, a bronzerider from Ista, T'mren, won junior queen Ladonyth's flight. A clutch was the natural result. And surprisingly, Chailyn, at age twenty-four, was searched to stand for the clutch by F'gon's Hollerith. Now Chailyn had an enormous crush on the brownrider, but she maintained over and over that she was too old to stand for impression. F'gon responded by telling her that he was sure she'd impress. However, it was not to be. Unused to the restrictions, and a trifle headstrong, Chailyn snuck out of the weyr to a gather at the Baker's training center at Benden Hold. While at a raffle there, she impressed a second firelizard, gold Ifora. And incurred the wrath of Sarai, the senior Weyrwoman at Igen, who found her threre. Chailyn was asked not to stand for the hatching, and returned rather meekly to her duties in the Laundry. As the eggs hardened, Chailyn kept away from her former peers for, despite her conviction that she wouldn't impressed, she was terribly disappointed she cost herself the chance to try. As the eggs began to rock, F'gon took pity on the girl and took her out of the weyr on sweeps with him. Chailyn returned to discover that many of her friends had impressed: Tania to brown Tiaeth, K'ven to blue Tzanth and Taela to gold Lilacanth. She also discovered that her withdrawal from people had ended any chance of any sort of relationship with F'gon. Disheartened, she accepted an invitation from K'dar to take a trip to Telgar Weyr. There she ran into Haloran, a young man she'd grown up with at the Tannerhall. At his urging, and seeing no reason not to leave Igen behind, she spoke to the staff at Telgar about remaining and taking on a spot as a laundress with them. Comfortable, if not entirely happy with her situation at Telgar, Chailyn began to make fast friends and soon was back to her usual self. After spending what seemed like an eternity watching firelizard eggs which were to be given out as prizes for the Telgar Weyr Winter Games, Daelyth, the senior queen at Telgar rose in a blizzardy mating flight and was caught once again by A'lex's Nraith. Soon there were searchriders about the weyr, and Chailyn, to her surprise, was asked by Aisling and her green Sielth to stand. Determined not to make the same mistakes, Chailyn accepted. Hatching day came and went and to her delight, Haloran became H'lor, rider of green Makarath. Many other of the friends she'd made also impressed: Kichevio to green Saulith, Greylin to brown Kheprith, Kiran (now K'ran) to bronze Indrath, Laidan to blue Yehlth and Lorrin to blue Kaneth. However, despite managing to stay out of trouble, Chailyn was left standing on the sands. A trifle relieved, she went back to the laundry without complaint, though was tapped first to serve as a liason to the new weyrlings, helping them get settled as winter came on, and then later by Timbril as one of the assistant Headwomen. Just how will Chailyn cope with this new assignment, given that H'lor always did her tallies for her? It remains to be seen.
Chailyn is decidedly easy going, and seems to have a general lack of ambition, though it is truely more a sense of inertia, the same thing that kept her in her hall for 22 turns. She could be an able assistant headwoman, if she would merely apply herself and take on extra duties. However, she is terribly proud of her work, and if anyone engages her in conversation about 'bettering herself', her placid answer is usually something to the effect of: well, then, who'd wash your underthings? Her seeming lack of ambition is instead a simple work ethic: she would rather take care of 'distasteful' jobs herself rather than allowing anyone else to be inconvenienced by them. "Besides, if you let Merannia in there to do the weyrwomen's laundry, she'd starch everything, and *then* where would we be?" Naieve, gullible, cheerful, perhaps even 'flighty' and 'ditzy' can all be used to describe Chailyn. She has her fair share of common sense, though that can often be overshadowed when she is put into situations where she lacks the background information for. With her trusting heart, she generally believes anything people tell her, and that can often get her into trouble, though she maintains a sense of humor about it. She also has her share of pranks. Chailyn has a dry wit, in opposition to her name. She is not often caught with them, but her dry wit will surface when she is comfortable with her surroundings. Chailyn is extremely loyal, as witnessed by her finally leaving home in order to look after a friend she was sure was in trouble. She's also a trifle mothering, often looking after the younger laundresses, and making sure they're not overwhelmed with work or life. Her time at Igen caused her sense of duty and responsibility to increase, surprisingly. Having been caught breaking the rules, she's once bitten, twice shy, and generally makes certain not to cross any further lines without permission. Her recent promotion to assistant Headwoman should cause quite a flurry, for who'll do the Weyrwoman's smallclothes now?! Chailyn means 'Life' or 'Waterfall'. I just couldn't resist putting a name that had a meaning tied in to water, into a desert area like Igen when she first started.
All references to
worlds and characters based on Anne McCaffrey's fiction are copyright
© Anne McCaffrey 1967,2000, all rights reserved, and used by
permission of the author. The Dragonriders of Pern(r) is registered
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, by Anne McCaffrey, used here with
permission. Use or reproduction without a license is strictly prohibited.
For more information, visit the Worlds
of Anne McCaffrey. Many thanks to Alec Johnson for his assistance
with this information! PST |
Cheerful
and chipper, Chailyn usually has a smile for just about everyone.
That smile sits fairly well on a cherubic face, with big cobalt eyes
that are usually wide in some expression of amazement. Her head is
crowned with a riot of short-cropped inky curls that only serve to
highlight her tanned skin and light but numerous freckles. Her form
is dreadfully plain, save for her face, and for her hands. Usually
reddened and chapped, they show plain indication of long hours of
work.
Green
Kauma
Masterful
Gold Ifora
Chailyn
was originally birthed at the tannerhall in Igen. Her mother, Aralyn
was a seamstress, and her father, Chanon was an assistant Steward.
Chailyn paid attention to the harpers, though she had absolutely no
head for figures, and had a tendency to daydream during lessons. Growing
up, she was put to work early, helping out her mother by carrying
baskets of linen that had been repaired to the laundry for cleaning.
It was there that she began to be involved in the application of the
various dyes that the tanners use. While she was never interested
in being an apprentice for the craft, she did rather enjoy the ins
and outs of the dyeing process, and was known to have a good eye for
color. In her later years, some of the journeymen would occasionally
ask her for advice on color schemes, though the woman has never shown
the slightest interest in her own clothes or appearance. 
