Difference between revisions of "Madilla"

Revision as of 07:53, 16 February 2013

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Description

Soft, comfortable, cozy: these are all adjectives that might be used to describe Madilla, whose taller-than-average frame is gently padded in a pleasing way. She wears her curly, red-brown hair cut to shoulder-length, though it's usually pulled away from her pale, oval face in a series of tidy, pinned-up coils. More 'interesting' than outright pretty, her nose is too large and wide for beauty, and her lips too oddly quirked; still, her pale green eyes are full of life, and there are few who'd call her outright unattractive.

WYSK

• Madilla is holdbred, hailing from some backwater Hold somewhere near Peyton in the Fort Area. By all accounts, her family are very conservative, and very authoritarian. Although she has obviously adapted to weyr life in many ways, she remains a product of her upbringing.

• She was Apprenticed to the Healer Craft in Month 1 of Turn 16, and posted to High Reaches Weyr, accompanying Journeyman Delifa, in the summer of turn 17. She walked the tables to Journeyman in the autumn of Turn 22, aged nineteen, and took over as Weyrhealer in Turn 30 after Delifa was forced into retirement.

• It's well known that she was engaged to marry W'chek for about a turn before the relationship ended; apparently, the bronzerider is gay. This hasn't stopped her from having a daughter, Lilabet, born Month 3, Turn 23, with W'chek's weyrmate, B'tal. Her son, Dilan, was born Month 4 of Turn 27, father un-named.

• In general terms, Madilla is known for being hard working and dedicated, with a softer heart and more empathy than is often useful.

• She makes quilts in her spare time, and has even sold a few.

History

Madilla's family has had a small holding just north of Peyton for as many generations as anyone can remember; they cultivate a variety of crops, raise a few animals, and look forward to occasional visits by circuit-riding Harpers. Led by Madilla's uncle, Tredor, her father's eldest brother, the holding is not especially affluent, but nor is it especially impoverished. They produce enough to feed themselves, and provide their share of the tithe, and that is enough.

Born after what should have been the end of the pass, Madilla's earliest turns were easier than those of her older siblings and cousins. She was her mother's third child, with four half-siblings from her father's previous marriage older than that, and between these and her numerous cousins, there was always someone to play with her, in between their extensive chores. Maddie, as she was often called, was a relatively serious, thoughtful child, who kept her head down and did what she was told, which was considered appropriate, by her uncle, for a girl-child. She had no illusions that her life would hold anything but wife and motherdom - and for Maddie, who played happy families with bundled rags, this was in no way a problem.

When Madilla was eight, thread returned unexpectedly. News took some time to reach the remote holding, but it brought panic when it did. What little prosperity the hold had gained, after the end of the pass, was lost when a whole field was lost to a burrow, in early turn 12. That turn was a lean one, and three of Maddie's older brothers left the holding, to her dismay, to ease the shortages, and hopefully find better work at Peyton, or perhaps further afield.

It was neither thread nor poor crops that made for the biggest change in Madilla's life, however. She was just eleven when it happened, a thin scrap of a child, still, but old for her age in many ways. Her cousin, Jessil, was badly gored by a rampaging bull, and brought back to the hold barely alive. A rider was sent out towards Peyton in the hopes of bringing a healer back, but until that point, Madilla's aunt Essa, who had a little knowledge of herb-lore, was given charge of him, and Madilla was sent to assist her.

Jessil died, but not before the healer arrived, a Journeyman named Kandos. It was Kandos who noted how unafraid Madilla seemed of the massive amounts of blood, and how steady her hands were when he had her assist him in cleaning, and then suturing, the wound. The death of her patient affected her more, but even so, Kandos told her parents, she had some aptitude for healing. Maybe, he ventured, they might send her to the crafthall at Fort Hold, when she was a little older.

They never mentioned this to Madilla, and it never crossed the girl's mind that it might be an option, though the experience had given her much food for thought, and encouraged her to ask Essa to teach her about herbs and remedies. But she proved a very capable student, and when she was twelve, it was Essa's turn to tell her parents - and then, her own husband, Tredor - that it seemed a waste to not give her the chance to cultivate those skills further. Madilla's parents were not adverse to the idea, but Tredor was: there was a neighbouring holding with an unmarried son who might make a good match for Madilla, in a few turns. She didn't need healer training for that.

Essa was not, however, deterred. Evaris, Madilla's cousin, was only a turn and a half younger, and would make an equally good match. Madilla could be spared. Even if she just went for a few turns, and bought those skills back to the hold, well, that would be better than a marriage. A trained healer on hand was a worthwhile thing, surely.

It took some convincing, but soon after Madilla's thirteenth turnday, Tredor came around, and she was called in to his rooms to be told her fate. It came as a complete surprise, though not an unwelcome one, and though leaving home was a wrenching, heartbreaking experience, she was thrilled with the prospect of learning all the things she didn't know, things Essa had not been able to teach her.

The Hall was eye-opening for the thirteen year old, being used to a small, very conservative hold, compared to the large Hall, with the Harpers, and Fort Hold so close. Madilla found it difficult to get used to having women in charge, but that was the least of her worries. The education that had been deemed sufficient for a girl at home, was in no way appropriate for an apprentice - she could barely read her classes, let alone even begin to write her reports. Only a few weeks after her arrival, she was taken aside and told to report to the Harper Hall for additional classes, to hopefully improve these skills. Grateful to be given this chance, rather than to be simply sent home, Madilla threw herself into her classes with more vigor than ever, determined to prove herself.

One turn later, she walked the tables to become a full Apprentice. After several months in those classes, she was chosen to accompany her mentor, Journeywoman Delifa, to a posting at High Reaches Weyr.

High Reaches Weyr was terrifying, but also exhilarating. If the Hall had been an eye-opening, the Weyr was ten times so-- and yet, no matter how intimidating and horrifying it seemed, at times, it did not take very long at all for it to begin to feel like home. It helped that she made friends: Leova, Milani, many others. She assisted in treating then-Weyrwoman Satiet before her death; she was devastated when the Weyrwoman died, though the tragic events did result in her receiving her Senior Apprentice's knot.

In Turn 19, when she was 17, she met Whitchek , a good holder boy whose intentions towards her seemed ideal: marriage, children, family. They were betrothed for a long time, even after he Impressed... until she discovered that behind her back he was in a relationship with B'tal, another of her friends.

Utterly betrayed, she withdrew from the now-bronzerider for a long time. She walked the tables to Journeyman in Turn 21, earlier than she'd expected; now, finally, she was free to marry, to have children, to-- put her plans in to action. For a while, despite her earlier betrayal, she seemed to seriously consider having a child with W'chek, but that plan (to Delifa's relief) was later put on hold... only for it to be diverted to focus on B'tal, some time later. Madilla's daughter, Lilabet, was born in Turn 23.

The more Madilla adapted to weyr life, however, the more her family withdrew from her. Long before she walked the tables, she was estranged from them, and though finally having the child she had longed for ameliorated some of that hurt, it did not fix it. In turn 25, she fell into a relationship with Varens, another Journeyman Healer, but their relationship was eventually strained by the distance (he was posted at the Hall), and Madilla's reluctance to drag her daughter away from her home to return to him. Eventually, she turned down his proposal, deciding to continue on alone.

When B'tal - suddenly, tragically - died in turn 26, she briefly considered creating a story to explain her daughter and her dead father, to give her the ability to return home, but could not do it: she couldn't lie, not even to give Lily extended family after losing her father.

It was later that turn that she became pregnant for a second time, although this time she named no man as her child's father. She was determined, now, not to worry about anything but her children: they didn't need fathers. They had her.

Although Madilla had hoped to add a third child to her family, she put those dreams aside after Delifa was diagnosed with a terminal illness in Turn 29. As her mentor grew weaker, Madilla picked up more and more of her duties as Weyrhealer before finally taking over altogether in the third month of Turn 30, when Delifa was forced to retire south in order to preserve her health for as long as possible. It's a burden Madilla is uncomfortable with, but determined to succeed with: if Azaylia and Brieli can step into Iolene's shoes with so little experience, then she must be able to do this.

Relationships

• Azaylia: If you can do it, so can I. I'm so proud of you.
• Brieli: I wish I'd been as composed at eighteen as you are now.
• B'tal: I wish you could see our daughter now. You'd be as proud of her as I am, I'm sure.
• Delifa: Don't die. Please don't die. I don't know if I can do this, even now. I miss you already.
• Delvana: I know I'll never be able to replace her for you, but you know I will do anything I can. All you need to do is ask. Please.
• Devaki: Why did you have to come back to visit? I don't know if I can keep this from you... and I must.
• Dilan: You're still too young to ask the question. I don't know what I'll say when you finally do.
• Iolene: I didn't really know you. I don't know that you did good things for the Weyr I love. But I'm so sorry for what happened. No one should die so young.
• I'kris: No one.
• Leova: How is it possible that I have known you for so long? I'm glad you can talk to me. I'm even more glad that I can talk to you.
• Lilabet: My little Lily. How can you be so wise? I look at you and my heart wants to burst.
• K'del: I hate seeing you so bereft. It's hard imagining this Weyr without you at the helm, now. I hope you find peace.
• Satiet: I still think about you. About your daughters. About... I suspect you'll haunt me forever, somehow.
• Varens: I wonder, sometimes. Whether I made the right decision. But I look back and... I know I did. I'm sorry I hurt you.
• W'chek: I wonder what our life would have been like, together. If we would have been happy, despite everything. I do still dream about that life, even if things are so different now, even if I don't regret at all the direction my life has gone in. I would have liked being a wife, even so.

RP Logs

Mentioned In... Logs

TV Tropes

• The Beard
• Acceptable Feminine Goals
• Family Versus Career
• Earth Mother
• Boring But Practical
• Purity Personified
• The Pollyanna
• Stay In The Kitchen

Icons

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