Persona Profile: Alyena
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyrhold
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Elsewhere on Pern
NPC Weyr (NPC)
River Bluff Weyr
Seacraft Hall
Writer: Estelle
Name: Alyena
Age: 40
Birthday: m8 d26
Rank: Headwoman
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Physical Description of Persona:
Once a pretty young woman, with long, dark curly hair and warm brown eyes, the hardships of Alyena's life have taken their toll and she looks older than her Turns. Her figure is gaunt and her face thin, with deep lines around her eyes. Since the death of her husband she has had to do harder, heavier farm work than she ever expected, which has given her a tough, wiry strength despite her small stature.
Emotional Description of Persona:
Alyena was bright and courageous as a young girl and dreamed of a life outside the narrow confines of a woman's place at Emerald Falls. As she grew older, her strict upbringing and the constant drudgery of helping her mother stifled her spirit and made it easier to conform and settle down with a husband. Instead, she pinned her hopes for the future on her children.
The relentless troubles of the past few Turns have forced Alyena to face her fears and find reserves of strength she didn't know she possessed. Her children mean more to her than anything and she will fight tooth and nail to protect them. Recent events have led her to question her assumptions about the Weyr and dragonriders. With her eldest son taken from her, Alyena has come close to despair, and only the need to provide for her younger children keeps her going.
History of Persona:
Alyena was born into a family with a proud tradition of service to Emerald Falls. Her father and grandfather were both guards, while her mother conformed to the role expected of a woman at the Hold, keeping their small cot clean and taking care of the children. Even before she left harper classes, Alyena would help her mother with the chores, and when she was old enough she joined the Hold's workers in the kitchens and the laundry. When she was sixteen, she married Cronfur, the son of one of her father's friends, who she'd known from childhood. In the first Turns of their marriage, Alyena suffered several miscarriages, and so she was overjoyed when her son Grevan was born healthy. Though childbearing was never easy for her, the couple had two more children, a daughter Evalya and her younger son Furayl.
Misfortune struck the family when Cronfur's father had to retire after he was injured while trying to prevent a young holdless man escaping from the guards' custody. The humiliation and the fact that the boy was never caught, but made it to sanctuary at the Weyr, affected Cronfur deeply and nothing Alyena could do would calm his simmering resentment. Eventually he left their home and travelled to the Weyr in the hope of revenge, but his target proved to be the better fighter. Cronfur was left with severe injuries that meant he was unable to work as a guard any longer. To make matters worse, the holdless boy had Impressed and for his attack on a dragonrider, Cronfur was banished to a small farm cothold along with his family. Living in shame and constant pain, one day he could bear no more and committed suicide, leaving his wife alone with her three children.
Alyena did her best, but neither she nor the children were used to farm work and the cothold did not prosper. Slowly, she sold off their valuables in order to keep up with the tithe payments, hoping to keep them afloat long enough for her eldest son Grevan to get a job and support the family. Instead, filled with anger at the loss of his father and his family's inexorable decline into poverty, Grevan followed in his father's footsteps and went to the Weyr seeking vengeance. He was caught in an attempt to kill the bronzerider, J'ackt, and sentenced to labour in the prison mines, where he died when a tunnel caved in.
Having lost her only means of support, Alyena and her family continued to live at the cothold, where they are sustained by supplies brought by J'ackt from the Weyr. After being offered marks by a mysterious visitor, she fears being dragged into a feud between holders and the Weyr.
Family and Friends
R'ayl, 13, Weyrlingstaff Assistant, Dolphin Cove Weyr (Son)
Alvard, 66, Retired guard (Father)
Yeliena, 60, Hold resident (Mother)
Cronfur, 42, Guard (Husband (deceased))
Grevan, 21, Hold resident (Son (deceased))
Evalya, 11, Weyr resident (Daughter)
Approved: November 15th 2021
Last updated: August 16th 2024