Candidate Katabelai

Persona's Name: Katabelai
Age: 19 (11.01.4647)
Rank: Gemsmith Journeyman, Candidate

Physical Description:
She is a tall woman, standing 5'10". She is slim and lean with a gentle rather than overt figure. Warm golden tones form the base for her coloration. Bright, warm honey/ginger hair falls to the bottom of her shoulder blades in a gentle wave. Her face is softly oval, and long enough it doesn't become pudgy. Her nose is a little long for her face, her mouth a little broad. Her deepset eyes are a warm, summer blue. Her complexion is a gentle tan, high lighted by a very faint, even dusting of freckles.

Personality:
Katabelai sometimes seems to have a split personality. When she is around craftmasters, Lord Holders, titled offspring, or other high ranking people, she behaves very much as a Lady. Her courtesies are utterly impeccable, and she plays the game out of long practice. She is as well versed in who is who on Pern as most Lords, and better than some of their children, and never fails to perform proper courtesies, though she also never grovels or lets herself be bullied by them, a trick she learned from her father.

On the other hand, she is a willing worker. She will turn a hand to any task that needs doing if she is capable of it. She has a laid back, easy going manner with the ordinary workers of Hold and Crafthall. Even here she is never less than respectful, but she never stands on ceremony with them unless it's an occasion when EVERYONE is at full formality.

Not everyone takes this attitude well, and she frequently gets annoyed with constant accusations and grumblings that she's two faced, or trying to play people, when to her it's simply a matter of respect. You don't talk to a beast crafter apprentice in the same way you talk to a Lord Holder! He's not going to expect the same things, and you're likely to get yourself laughed at.

Over all she is practical, her mannerisms in any given situation do reflect that. It is /practical/ to act like a Lady when dealing with Lords, and act like a Farm girl when dealing with Farmers. She has little use for rank and station as such. It is the application of rank and station that concerns her. The mannerisms and courtesies are simply the lubrication that makes the application run smoothly. For all that she is not a cold hearted person, she simply is pragmatic when faced with the realities of dealing with people. She knows she's not going to make everyone happy all of the time, so she doesn't try.

Gender and sexual preference: female heterosexual.

Persona's History:
Born to the steward of Falling Star Hold, and oldest child by almost ten turns, Kata grew up thinking she would be the only child. She didn't exactly /mind/ having younger siblings, but she hadn't wanted them either, especially since it usually meant her having to take care of them at the least convenient moments. She didn't have to deal with them for long as she was soon apprenticed to the local Gem Smith, Falling Star being very close to several rich gemstone deposits.

It was here she first consciously realized her way with people. She had no trouble dealing with her master or the other apprentices, the lessons she learned from her steward father on how to deal with people stood her in good stead at least initially. Her pragmatic attitude towards people and the craft got her out of mor scuffles with the other apprentices than anything else. Of COURSE she wouldn't deliberately mess with someone else's tools, that would be silly and pointless, but if they wanted help looking for the missing tools…

Her master duly noted her ability with people and her fine eye for detail, and started taking her along when bargaining with clients to give her the experience and him an extra set of eyes. As long as he didn't /tell/ anyone she was an apprentice she acted with such decorum and presence she was frequently taken for one of the younger daughters of one of the southern Lords. It was a useful enough mistake neither she nor her master disabused anyone of the notion.

She learned quite a bit about the actual monetary value of her work as well as that of her fellow craftsmen. To the disgruntlement of some, she never took advantage of the ignorant, going to great lengths to show them exactly what made a good stone, and why a smaller stone might be a better bargain than a larger or a worse one, the subtle differences that make the difference to a smith but not necessarily to a holder who is never going to look at it under a loupe. Her Master was leery, but as turns went by and the same people she spoke with came back to him and their hall specifically because they knew they would get an honest bargain, and a fair price, as well as quality goods.

The hall was almost sorry to see her go, but even though she'd made journeyman at the young age of 16, there were places that needed her more than the hall, besides there were a few other apprentices who'd taken her lead, so the Hall's reputation wasn't likely to suffer too much. There were a few of the apprentices who were quite happy to see the 'show off' pack her things and leave.

They sent her to Quartz River, one of the other prominent holds that had gem deposits to exploit. She had a bit harder time adapting there, as the stranger. She had few close friends as many of the crafters saw her as two faced and double dealing. While she slowly brought several around, she was still in an untenable position with a few of the miners who were suspicious about why she would be so free with 'craft secrets' in her dealings with non-crafters. It drove the prices down! They were not in a position to see the return customers the tactic brought.

Things started to smooth over after a couple of turns, though bitter feelings remained with some of the gemsmiths and some of the miners. When a dragon came on search several of the apprentices eagerly crowded forward. Kata was simply shepherding them so no one got themselves stepped on trying to get too close (either by the dragon or more dangerously by their fellow apprentices who weren't nearly so aware of their surroundings.)

The brown looked them over taking one of the boys, Tensor, and one of the girls, Shauni, then the rider looked at Kata and asked if she would stand as well. She took a couple of days to think about it before agreeing to come to Mountain Song and stand. Again there were some glad to see her go, but there were more who were not, and the Gemsmith Master she worked with made her promise to return if it looked like she wasn't going to impress at all.

Crafter: Yes
Craft: Gem Smith
Craft Rank: Journeywoman
Specialties: gem carving, Customer relations

Candidate: Yes
Possible Colors: Preferably green, but won't object to any
Possible Names: Any
Possible Personalities: Any