Post by Kaede on Apr 23, 2010 1:25:09 GMT -8
Name:Kaede (nickname: Kae or Kin, for some reason)
Rank:Master Beastcrafter of Pern
Age:76
Appearance:Kaede was once, and still shows, the hints of what was once an unusual but delightful beauty. Standing at a healthy five foot four, she has always been of a well-curved, well-muscled build, though she's become leaner with old age and the stress of grief over the Turns. She tends to walk with a bit of a limp when out of the saddle these days, too, a testament to how much easier it is to injure one's self as they grow older.
Her skin is weathered with age, now, lines spidering over a light olive hue that is much darker and grittier looking due to her exposure to the elements, also. A round face with high cheekbones and wide but well-shaped lips makes up her facial structure, though it hides the fact that she is missing a front tooth due to an accident in her younger days.
Kaede's hair still bears the thick, surprisingly soft looking waves and that it once was, kept to below her shoulders as her only feminine vanity and kept up in a bun when working. Though she took a while to go grey - in fact, she's practically white these days - Kaede's hair was once the dark red found quite commonly in the place she was born and spent much of her childhood in, and now and again, when she shifts a particular way and the light catches the stands, one could almost swear there is still a hint of the dark red hue amongst the white.
If there's anything that hasn't aged at all in Kaede, it is her eyes. Wide, dark blue and expressive, they seem to be eyes that should belong to someone many Turns younger. And though they are often shrewd and more hardened in gaze these days, there is still that spark of youthful curiousity and even mischief, enthusiasm even, as if warning the world that she's not going to go down without a lot of gusto.
Personality: With age and experience both positive and negative, Kaede has become a rather gritty person. She's hard to please and even harder to impress, particularly when it comes to the well-being of the beasts under her care.
It's not to say she's nagging or fussy about how things are done...not outwardly, anyway. You can guarantee though that her presence will hover over you until the job is done right, though, permeating throughout the Beastcraft in the form of an iron fist that brooks no opportunity for foolish mistakes, or any mistake that could be avoided, really.
Kaede can also seem infuriatingly reserved at times along with that hardy toughness towards being impressed; she's not one to bestow praise and affection in huge quantities, and while she doesn't make a big deal out of it, if she's angered or begrudged in any way, she's an iron-rod in how unforgivable she can be.
She does have a mischievous side, though. One that is rarely seen these days, though it was prevalent in her youth and used to be her bane when it came to getting into trouble, as she often let her desire to have a joke override her harder-working side. Now and again, this mischievousness does manifest in the twinkle in her dark blue eyes, or even if she chooses to let loose a suggestive or pointed remark, or even in the way she might apparently toss insults at someone she considers friend or family, when in reality, she's not serious at all, and one would realise that by the sparkle in her gaze.
Kaede also has a bit of a problem with pride at times, as seen by her completely unforgiving nature when she's begrudged. She's not dramatic about it, but she does have her pride and dignity, and does not take well to having it unreasonably insulted in any way. She's also got a very colourful vocabulary to go with her nature, and has not a care in the world as to who might be scandalised by it, because at her age, she plain does not care anymore.
For all her gritty, hard to impress nature though, "Kin" is not without her softer side. It's just a bit hard to draw it out, though it is blatantly obvious if you look in her direction at the right time, simply in the way she treats her grandchildren when she sees them, or the soft manner in which her hands move when she is tending to her beloved beasts. It can even be seen in the rough concern she has for those underneath her, if one is not so full of themselves as to think her brusque standards as targeting them alone.
Of all her students over the years, Kaede has remained fond of Hana and her determined nature, believing the girl capable of great things in her capacity as White Sands Weyr's Beastcrafter, and even has a soft spot for An'zell, partly due to his reminding her so much of her late husband *and* her youngest grandson, but partly due to his apparent strength of will in combatting any prejudice riding a white dragon would bring about and still maintaining his studies, both of which Kaede has always found admirable about people. Most amusingly, if there is anyone else she might show her softer streak for, it would be G'naro, whom she would count as one of her oldest friends, too...though considering he is older than her, her tendency to scold and fuss over him when they see one another on the rare occasion is certainly a cause for amusement.
History:Born seventy-six Turns ago at White Sands Weyr, Kaede is the daughter of T'rou, a bronze rider and a Wingleader of days past, and a weyrgirl he often had flings with, Monokae.
With T'rou's fondness for Monokae, Kaede was also given four brothers before her: Ichirou, seven Turns her senior, Jintsu, five Turns her senior and the brother she was closest to, Keiji and Koji, four Turns her senior and a rare set of twins on Pern, and Julrai, two Turns her senior.
Of all her brothers, Kaede was closest to Jintsu. This was perhaps due to the fact that he was fostered to the same woman as she, though partly it was because he was simply the brother she related to most. Yes, he bullied her like any elder brother, but he was playful in it, and in the end, was the most caring in that he was always there, and incredibly defensive of her. It pretty much went that 'nobody got to bully Kaede, except for Jintsu', and little changed even when he Impressed brown Raith.
When Kaede was nine, she was sent to the Beastcraft after showing an interest in the local runners. She was very much heartbroken by this at first, not wishing to be seperated from Jintsu, now J'tsu, but she went nonetheless and spent her time distracting herself with her studies. This helped her homesickness a great deal, and helped foster a grittier personality that helped her greatly later on in life when her mother died (though she'd never been very close to the woman) and then again, years on, when Ichirou would be killed in an accident on the Rim of White Sands Weyr.
Kaede walked the tables to Journeyman at seventeen, an impressive age for most to achieve Journeyman. It was around this time she requested to be transferred to White Sands Weyr for part of her tenure as a Journeyman Beastcrafter, though she didn't expect it to be granted and was pleasantly surprised when she was sent there.
Upon returning to White Sands Weyr, Kaede would be treated to a few surprises. The first was her Impression to the intractable brown Shunsui (though perhaps this was not so much a surprise, but still, a delight), the second, her discovery that she was, er, crushing on a man quite a few years her senior, G'naro of blue Noreyelth, and the third and most shocking, the fact that her father had had a fling with a girl a great deal younger than him and that Kaede's little half-brother, Jultra, was the result. She also found she'd missed her chance to Impress, which rankled her for quite a while, but she eventually got over it.
Being honest, yes, Kaede was a little iffy towards him for a while, though she didn't allow Keiji or Kojo any leeway in bullying him. Ironically, she became more concerned for Jultra's well-being when his mother, Malera, died of an illness and began to approach him more, eventually becoming his foster mother (he was eight by this point and thus, she was twenty four and recently of Journeyman Lvl 2 status).
It was also around this point that Kaede met the man she would later marry, Shigeru. A Journeyman of Lvl 3 status at the time, he was sent to deliver runners to the Weyr, and though she found it hilarious that he was Northern-bred and yet had hair as red as half of White Sands Weyr, she was attracted to him. This would be what would help her get over her crush on G'naro later on, though for the moment, little occurred as he was gone four days after he'd arrived, and Kaede doubted she'd ever see him again.
Luck would play games with her, though, for when she returned to the Beastcraft Hall to become a Master of her Craft at age thirty one - after Jultra Impressed to blue Jindath - Kaede met Shigeru again, and this time, he didn't end up disappearing. As such, they certainly got to know one another better and after an, er, rather interesting confession of feelings a Turn and three months after she achieved her Mastery (which did involve the MasterBeastCrafter's desk, but no details are needed), they were married five months later.
To say Kaede's life was perfect from then on isn't exactly true. Not long after her marriage, she lost J'tra, who was now a beloved brother and son-figure to her, to firehead, the stress causing her to lose her first child. She never quite recovered from the double-blow, but she moved on with life, having two more daughters, Etsuko and Kaeko, and a son, Shikai.
Turns passed and Etsuko was Searched for Fort Weyr, where she Impressed golden Amatersuth, much to her parent's delight and pride. She would later become their heartbreak, though, when she was killed in a Thread accident. Shikai would become Sh'kai when he Impressed blue Ichith at White Sands Weyr, later giving Kaede and Shigeru two grandchildren, Shialyn and Jukairu. Kaeko went on the achieve her own Journeyman status as a Beastcrafter, marrying a fellow Crafter, Azu and giving Kaede and Shigeru three more grandchildren - Kikyo (who later died in a runner accident), Yokai and Azula.
Turns passed once more, and Kaede was suitably shocked and delighted when at age forty eight, she was elected to what was the ultimate position in her Craft - THE Masterbeastcrafter of Pern. Surprisingly (well, to herself anyway), Kaede took to the job remarkably well, quickly establishing her authority and the firm but fair ethic she would still be known for years later.
Kaede continued working hard in her Craft as more Turns went by, using it as a means of coping with the grief that would follow when the rest of her brothers died, one by one. Nothing could prepare her for the grief that would come to her at the age of sixty five, though.
She lost the man that had been and still is the love of her life, Shigeru.
It wasn't entirely unexpected; Shigeru had been growing sicker for a while, and though Kaede cannot remember for the life of her the name of his illness (except that it wasn't tuberculosis), she does remember how tired it made him, and the fact that the day he began to cough up blood like it was phlegm was the day the Healer told them that it was too advanced to stop, and that it would limit his life span.
Still, the day she lost Shigeru was no less of a blow than if it had been any more sudden, and it was this time period in which Kaede became truly closed off from everyone else on a personal level. She threw herself into her work, particularly the training of Alaunus, the progeny of her favorite mare Amaterasu, who was trained initially by Shigeru.
Of course, the Turns have passed since then, and Kaede has learnt to deal with the heartache and life without her husband, though when she's alone or not distracted by work, it tends to affect her quite deeply, hence the added factor to her firm ruling and ethics over her Craft. Even at age seventy-six, she has no plans to retire, as she feels her Craft is all she has left that brings her some happiness...well, the closest thing at hand, anyway. The joke goes these days that she will likely have a heart attack in the saddle or something similar one day, though it may not be that far from the truth.
Pets:
Name:Shunsui
Age:62
Species:Brown Firelizard.
Description:Shunsui has begun to show his age, as seen by the specklings of greyish-green hue found over his muzzle, under his arms and wing joins and even around his head knob/eye ridge area. His muscle tone has also begun to thin out a tad, lending further credence to that wizened appearance.
Still, he bears the mark of being a handsome, if stocky lad, with tough, broad bones and a wide wing span, and what is left of his brown colouring is well cared for by Kaede, coming up a rich mahogany in colour.
Personality: Shunsui is, to put it short, beginning to get old. As such, he prefers to keep to himself or his mistress, or a very scant few older 'friends'...not because he's rude or anything; he is merely of an age now where he no longer cares to interfere in the lives of others, and prefers to let them deal with it themselves unless it is so drastic that he may need to be called upon to break up scuffles amongst his younger peers.
To be honest, though, Shunsui has never been a particularly bothered creature in the first place. He's always been quiet, thoughtful even, and shares Kaede's gritty attitude to work, though with less of that odd parental streak.
Name:Amaterasu
Age:22
Species:Runnerbeast
Description:Amaterasu is one of the few precious buckskin runners. Standing at 16hh in height, she is bred from the gritty, shrewd herding stock, trained by Shigeru when he still lived and given to Kaede to become her most steadfast beast companion, though she certainly has a deep sentimental attachment considering Shigeru was too shy at first to actually tell Kaede he liked her, and gave her the runner instead.
Amaterasu is strong-boned and healthy despite her age, though she's beginning to show it with grey making it's way over the blackness of her muzzle. Other than that, she retains much of her colour, with four black stockings and a minted buckskin coat, though that too, has faded to a paler colour with age.
Personality: Amaterasu is...queenly, really. She's not arrogant, but she is regal and dignified in her bearing, with an attitude befitting a mare who practically bosses around the rest of the local runner herd.
She's a typical lead mare, really, a real 'headwoman', and this is only compounded by an odd motherly streak. It makes her bossiness that much worse, however, it also means she's prone to an equine version of fussing...often snuffling over and nudging at various creatures - human and beast - if they seem upset or wounded in any way. She is perhaps a rarity in that she is not terrified of dragons - wary, yes, and not stupid enough to go prancing up to them in case they eat her, but nor will she shy away and start screaming if one landed nearby. This is likely due to the fact that she did spend some time in White Sands Weyr, and thus, was given the opportunity to grow used to them.
Name:Alaunus
Age:12
Species:Runnerbeast
Description: Alaunus is bred from Amaterasu, and this shows in his build. Standing at 16.2hh, he is gritty and tough of bone, with a slightly bulkier build than his dam simply due to the fact that he is male, and was gelded quite late in life.
His colour is that of his sire, though - a dark, rich mahogany bay, with four white socks splashed upon four black stockings, as if a child has taken white and black paint and just splashed them about. He also bears a large white star on his forehead, and scars over his whithers recieved from an accident involving a fence in his youth. His training was initially started by Shigeru, and continued by Kaede as a means of soothing her grief after she lost her husband.
Personality: Despite his noble name and bearing, Alaunus is a bit of a dipstick, really. Amusingly enough, he is a very hard worker, he just...needs a bit of a shove to get going in the morning.
He seems a bit air-headed, really; he likes to stand there, constantly half dozing, and has even dozed off so much while waiting on Kaede that he has toppled over, saddle and all. He's also a bit of a clown; he's the kind of runner you don't want to leave shiny or colourful things near, particularly if they flap around or smell good, because nine times out of ten, he'll grab them in his teeth and bolt, laughing his horsey head off as he forces you to chase him, screaming insults as you go.
He's a bit of a sook, too, yet he shares his dam's sensitivity when he so chooses to. He's the kind of beast that will amble up to you, and if you look upset, crowd close and snuffle and nudge until you respond.
Name:Kagirinai (Rin)
Age:7
Species:Herding canine
Description:Rin is a shadow in every sense of the word. Built sleek and agile in frame, she seems fine-boned, even, and it is only compounded by the way she seems to be incapable of anything but silently slinking about in the shadows, be it in the shadow of humans (mostly Kaede, due to her nature) or the shadows of the runners and herdbeasts she was bred to chase.
Her colour only adds to this appeal; she is a dark midnight black all over, the colour of a rook's wing, with the only change being the manner in which her medium-long fur seems to acquire a bluish tint when in bright light. She is missing a claw on her right front paw, and her right ear is slightly ripped. Still, despite this, she tends to somehow make slinking like a shadow look dignified.
Personality: Kagirinai is an excellent herding dog. She's always on the job the minute she's called upon, and seems almost human in the way she works herself to the bone if she errs in some way, making up for the error with bone-breaking brutality, and suffering very little the errors of others.
She's perfectly loyal to her job, and Kaede (and for the most part, her family as a part of Kaede's 'pack'), however, she is a surprisingly aloof, reserved canine. Distrustful even, as she never goes near other people of her accord lest Kaede bids her to do so, and watches the world around her with a careful, piercing watchfulness. Yet she's an oddity more so in that she does have a spot soft; she has a surprising tolerance for young people, particularly children, and though she may growl quietly and move away if they begin to poke or pull at her painfully, she has never once snapped or bitten a person, something no doubt trained in her brutally not to do by Kaede.
Other:
Family:
Father:T'rou of bronze Makuleth (formerly of White Sands Weyr. Deceased age 65)
Mother:Monokae (weyrgirl formerly of White Sands Weyr. Deceased age 40.)
Brother:Ichirou (deceased age 32)
Brother:J'tsu of brown Raith (deceased age 64)
Brother:Keiji (deceased age 59)
Brother:Koji (deceased age 61)
Brother:Julrai (deceased age 70)
Half-Brother:Jultra (deceased age 19, formerly of blue Jindath)
Daughter:Etsuko of gold Amatersuth (formerly of Fort Weyr. Deceased.)
Daughter:Kaeko (Journeywoman Beastcrafter)
Son: Sh'kai of blue Ichith (of White Sands Weyr, age 48)
Husband/Mate:Shigeru (formerly a Masterbeastcrafter who specialised in runners. Deceased.)
Granddaughter:Kikyo (deceased)
Granddaughter:Shialyn (Journeywoman Starsmith. Age 19)
Granddaughter:Azula (Journeywoman Weaver)
Grandson:Yokai (former Journeyman Harper, is confined more to the Halls now due to his crippling injury)
Grandson:Jukairu (NPC Candidate at White Sands Weyr. Age 14)
Niece: Ayame (daughter of Ichirou and Raiko. Journeywoman Dragonhealer)
IMAGE REFERENCE
Younger Kaede
Current Kaede:
Rank:Master Beastcrafter of Pern
Age:76
Appearance:Kaede was once, and still shows, the hints of what was once an unusual but delightful beauty. Standing at a healthy five foot four, she has always been of a well-curved, well-muscled build, though she's become leaner with old age and the stress of grief over the Turns. She tends to walk with a bit of a limp when out of the saddle these days, too, a testament to how much easier it is to injure one's self as they grow older.
Her skin is weathered with age, now, lines spidering over a light olive hue that is much darker and grittier looking due to her exposure to the elements, also. A round face with high cheekbones and wide but well-shaped lips makes up her facial structure, though it hides the fact that she is missing a front tooth due to an accident in her younger days.
Kaede's hair still bears the thick, surprisingly soft looking waves and that it once was, kept to below her shoulders as her only feminine vanity and kept up in a bun when working. Though she took a while to go grey - in fact, she's practically white these days - Kaede's hair was once the dark red found quite commonly in the place she was born and spent much of her childhood in, and now and again, when she shifts a particular way and the light catches the stands, one could almost swear there is still a hint of the dark red hue amongst the white.
If there's anything that hasn't aged at all in Kaede, it is her eyes. Wide, dark blue and expressive, they seem to be eyes that should belong to someone many Turns younger. And though they are often shrewd and more hardened in gaze these days, there is still that spark of youthful curiousity and even mischief, enthusiasm even, as if warning the world that she's not going to go down without a lot of gusto.
Personality: With age and experience both positive and negative, Kaede has become a rather gritty person. She's hard to please and even harder to impress, particularly when it comes to the well-being of the beasts under her care.
It's not to say she's nagging or fussy about how things are done...not outwardly, anyway. You can guarantee though that her presence will hover over you until the job is done right, though, permeating throughout the Beastcraft in the form of an iron fist that brooks no opportunity for foolish mistakes, or any mistake that could be avoided, really.
Kaede can also seem infuriatingly reserved at times along with that hardy toughness towards being impressed; she's not one to bestow praise and affection in huge quantities, and while she doesn't make a big deal out of it, if she's angered or begrudged in any way, she's an iron-rod in how unforgivable she can be.
She does have a mischievous side, though. One that is rarely seen these days, though it was prevalent in her youth and used to be her bane when it came to getting into trouble, as she often let her desire to have a joke override her harder-working side. Now and again, this mischievousness does manifest in the twinkle in her dark blue eyes, or even if she chooses to let loose a suggestive or pointed remark, or even in the way she might apparently toss insults at someone she considers friend or family, when in reality, she's not serious at all, and one would realise that by the sparkle in her gaze.
Kaede also has a bit of a problem with pride at times, as seen by her completely unforgiving nature when she's begrudged. She's not dramatic about it, but she does have her pride and dignity, and does not take well to having it unreasonably insulted in any way. She's also got a very colourful vocabulary to go with her nature, and has not a care in the world as to who might be scandalised by it, because at her age, she plain does not care anymore.
For all her gritty, hard to impress nature though, "Kin" is not without her softer side. It's just a bit hard to draw it out, though it is blatantly obvious if you look in her direction at the right time, simply in the way she treats her grandchildren when she sees them, or the soft manner in which her hands move when she is tending to her beloved beasts. It can even be seen in the rough concern she has for those underneath her, if one is not so full of themselves as to think her brusque standards as targeting them alone.
Of all her students over the years, Kaede has remained fond of Hana and her determined nature, believing the girl capable of great things in her capacity as White Sands Weyr's Beastcrafter, and even has a soft spot for An'zell, partly due to his reminding her so much of her late husband *and* her youngest grandson, but partly due to his apparent strength of will in combatting any prejudice riding a white dragon would bring about and still maintaining his studies, both of which Kaede has always found admirable about people. Most amusingly, if there is anyone else she might show her softer streak for, it would be G'naro, whom she would count as one of her oldest friends, too...though considering he is older than her, her tendency to scold and fuss over him when they see one another on the rare occasion is certainly a cause for amusement.
History:Born seventy-six Turns ago at White Sands Weyr, Kaede is the daughter of T'rou, a bronze rider and a Wingleader of days past, and a weyrgirl he often had flings with, Monokae.
With T'rou's fondness for Monokae, Kaede was also given four brothers before her: Ichirou, seven Turns her senior, Jintsu, five Turns her senior and the brother she was closest to, Keiji and Koji, four Turns her senior and a rare set of twins on Pern, and Julrai, two Turns her senior.
Of all her brothers, Kaede was closest to Jintsu. This was perhaps due to the fact that he was fostered to the same woman as she, though partly it was because he was simply the brother she related to most. Yes, he bullied her like any elder brother, but he was playful in it, and in the end, was the most caring in that he was always there, and incredibly defensive of her. It pretty much went that 'nobody got to bully Kaede, except for Jintsu', and little changed even when he Impressed brown Raith.
When Kaede was nine, she was sent to the Beastcraft after showing an interest in the local runners. She was very much heartbroken by this at first, not wishing to be seperated from Jintsu, now J'tsu, but she went nonetheless and spent her time distracting herself with her studies. This helped her homesickness a great deal, and helped foster a grittier personality that helped her greatly later on in life when her mother died (though she'd never been very close to the woman) and then again, years on, when Ichirou would be killed in an accident on the Rim of White Sands Weyr.
Kaede walked the tables to Journeyman at seventeen, an impressive age for most to achieve Journeyman. It was around this time she requested to be transferred to White Sands Weyr for part of her tenure as a Journeyman Beastcrafter, though she didn't expect it to be granted and was pleasantly surprised when she was sent there.
Upon returning to White Sands Weyr, Kaede would be treated to a few surprises. The first was her Impression to the intractable brown Shunsui (though perhaps this was not so much a surprise, but still, a delight), the second, her discovery that she was, er, crushing on a man quite a few years her senior, G'naro of blue Noreyelth, and the third and most shocking, the fact that her father had had a fling with a girl a great deal younger than him and that Kaede's little half-brother, Jultra, was the result. She also found she'd missed her chance to Impress, which rankled her for quite a while, but she eventually got over it.
Being honest, yes, Kaede was a little iffy towards him for a while, though she didn't allow Keiji or Kojo any leeway in bullying him. Ironically, she became more concerned for Jultra's well-being when his mother, Malera, died of an illness and began to approach him more, eventually becoming his foster mother (he was eight by this point and thus, she was twenty four and recently of Journeyman Lvl 2 status).
It was also around this point that Kaede met the man she would later marry, Shigeru. A Journeyman of Lvl 3 status at the time, he was sent to deliver runners to the Weyr, and though she found it hilarious that he was Northern-bred and yet had hair as red as half of White Sands Weyr, she was attracted to him. This would be what would help her get over her crush on G'naro later on, though for the moment, little occurred as he was gone four days after he'd arrived, and Kaede doubted she'd ever see him again.
Luck would play games with her, though, for when she returned to the Beastcraft Hall to become a Master of her Craft at age thirty one - after Jultra Impressed to blue Jindath - Kaede met Shigeru again, and this time, he didn't end up disappearing. As such, they certainly got to know one another better and after an, er, rather interesting confession of feelings a Turn and three months after she achieved her Mastery (which did involve the MasterBeastCrafter's desk, but no details are needed), they were married five months later.
To say Kaede's life was perfect from then on isn't exactly true. Not long after her marriage, she lost J'tra, who was now a beloved brother and son-figure to her, to firehead, the stress causing her to lose her first child. She never quite recovered from the double-blow, but she moved on with life, having two more daughters, Etsuko and Kaeko, and a son, Shikai.
Turns passed and Etsuko was Searched for Fort Weyr, where she Impressed golden Amatersuth, much to her parent's delight and pride. She would later become their heartbreak, though, when she was killed in a Thread accident. Shikai would become Sh'kai when he Impressed blue Ichith at White Sands Weyr, later giving Kaede and Shigeru two grandchildren, Shialyn and Jukairu. Kaeko went on the achieve her own Journeyman status as a Beastcrafter, marrying a fellow Crafter, Azu and giving Kaede and Shigeru three more grandchildren - Kikyo (who later died in a runner accident), Yokai and Azula.
Turns passed once more, and Kaede was suitably shocked and delighted when at age forty eight, she was elected to what was the ultimate position in her Craft - THE Masterbeastcrafter of Pern. Surprisingly (well, to herself anyway), Kaede took to the job remarkably well, quickly establishing her authority and the firm but fair ethic she would still be known for years later.
Kaede continued working hard in her Craft as more Turns went by, using it as a means of coping with the grief that would follow when the rest of her brothers died, one by one. Nothing could prepare her for the grief that would come to her at the age of sixty five, though.
She lost the man that had been and still is the love of her life, Shigeru.
It wasn't entirely unexpected; Shigeru had been growing sicker for a while, and though Kaede cannot remember for the life of her the name of his illness (except that it wasn't tuberculosis), she does remember how tired it made him, and the fact that the day he began to cough up blood like it was phlegm was the day the Healer told them that it was too advanced to stop, and that it would limit his life span.
Still, the day she lost Shigeru was no less of a blow than if it had been any more sudden, and it was this time period in which Kaede became truly closed off from everyone else on a personal level. She threw herself into her work, particularly the training of Alaunus, the progeny of her favorite mare Amaterasu, who was trained initially by Shigeru.
Of course, the Turns have passed since then, and Kaede has learnt to deal with the heartache and life without her husband, though when she's alone or not distracted by work, it tends to affect her quite deeply, hence the added factor to her firm ruling and ethics over her Craft. Even at age seventy-six, she has no plans to retire, as she feels her Craft is all she has left that brings her some happiness...well, the closest thing at hand, anyway. The joke goes these days that she will likely have a heart attack in the saddle or something similar one day, though it may not be that far from the truth.
Pets:
Name:Shunsui
Age:62
Species:Brown Firelizard.
Description:Shunsui has begun to show his age, as seen by the specklings of greyish-green hue found over his muzzle, under his arms and wing joins and even around his head knob/eye ridge area. His muscle tone has also begun to thin out a tad, lending further credence to that wizened appearance.
Still, he bears the mark of being a handsome, if stocky lad, with tough, broad bones and a wide wing span, and what is left of his brown colouring is well cared for by Kaede, coming up a rich mahogany in colour.
Personality: Shunsui is, to put it short, beginning to get old. As such, he prefers to keep to himself or his mistress, or a very scant few older 'friends'...not because he's rude or anything; he is merely of an age now where he no longer cares to interfere in the lives of others, and prefers to let them deal with it themselves unless it is so drastic that he may need to be called upon to break up scuffles amongst his younger peers.
To be honest, though, Shunsui has never been a particularly bothered creature in the first place. He's always been quiet, thoughtful even, and shares Kaede's gritty attitude to work, though with less of that odd parental streak.
Name:Amaterasu
Age:22
Species:Runnerbeast
Description:Amaterasu is one of the few precious buckskin runners. Standing at 16hh in height, she is bred from the gritty, shrewd herding stock, trained by Shigeru when he still lived and given to Kaede to become her most steadfast beast companion, though she certainly has a deep sentimental attachment considering Shigeru was too shy at first to actually tell Kaede he liked her, and gave her the runner instead.
Amaterasu is strong-boned and healthy despite her age, though she's beginning to show it with grey making it's way over the blackness of her muzzle. Other than that, she retains much of her colour, with four black stockings and a minted buckskin coat, though that too, has faded to a paler colour with age.
Personality: Amaterasu is...queenly, really. She's not arrogant, but she is regal and dignified in her bearing, with an attitude befitting a mare who practically bosses around the rest of the local runner herd.
She's a typical lead mare, really, a real 'headwoman', and this is only compounded by an odd motherly streak. It makes her bossiness that much worse, however, it also means she's prone to an equine version of fussing...often snuffling over and nudging at various creatures - human and beast - if they seem upset or wounded in any way. She is perhaps a rarity in that she is not terrified of dragons - wary, yes, and not stupid enough to go prancing up to them in case they eat her, but nor will she shy away and start screaming if one landed nearby. This is likely due to the fact that she did spend some time in White Sands Weyr, and thus, was given the opportunity to grow used to them.
Name:Alaunus
Age:12
Species:Runnerbeast
Description: Alaunus is bred from Amaterasu, and this shows in his build. Standing at 16.2hh, he is gritty and tough of bone, with a slightly bulkier build than his dam simply due to the fact that he is male, and was gelded quite late in life.
His colour is that of his sire, though - a dark, rich mahogany bay, with four white socks splashed upon four black stockings, as if a child has taken white and black paint and just splashed them about. He also bears a large white star on his forehead, and scars over his whithers recieved from an accident involving a fence in his youth. His training was initially started by Shigeru, and continued by Kaede as a means of soothing her grief after she lost her husband.
Personality: Despite his noble name and bearing, Alaunus is a bit of a dipstick, really. Amusingly enough, he is a very hard worker, he just...needs a bit of a shove to get going in the morning.
He seems a bit air-headed, really; he likes to stand there, constantly half dozing, and has even dozed off so much while waiting on Kaede that he has toppled over, saddle and all. He's also a bit of a clown; he's the kind of runner you don't want to leave shiny or colourful things near, particularly if they flap around or smell good, because nine times out of ten, he'll grab them in his teeth and bolt, laughing his horsey head off as he forces you to chase him, screaming insults as you go.
He's a bit of a sook, too, yet he shares his dam's sensitivity when he so chooses to. He's the kind of beast that will amble up to you, and if you look upset, crowd close and snuffle and nudge until you respond.
Name:Kagirinai (Rin)
Age:7
Species:Herding canine
Description:Rin is a shadow in every sense of the word. Built sleek and agile in frame, she seems fine-boned, even, and it is only compounded by the way she seems to be incapable of anything but silently slinking about in the shadows, be it in the shadow of humans (mostly Kaede, due to her nature) or the shadows of the runners and herdbeasts she was bred to chase.
Her colour only adds to this appeal; she is a dark midnight black all over, the colour of a rook's wing, with the only change being the manner in which her medium-long fur seems to acquire a bluish tint when in bright light. She is missing a claw on her right front paw, and her right ear is slightly ripped. Still, despite this, she tends to somehow make slinking like a shadow look dignified.
Personality: Kagirinai is an excellent herding dog. She's always on the job the minute she's called upon, and seems almost human in the way she works herself to the bone if she errs in some way, making up for the error with bone-breaking brutality, and suffering very little the errors of others.
She's perfectly loyal to her job, and Kaede (and for the most part, her family as a part of Kaede's 'pack'), however, she is a surprisingly aloof, reserved canine. Distrustful even, as she never goes near other people of her accord lest Kaede bids her to do so, and watches the world around her with a careful, piercing watchfulness. Yet she's an oddity more so in that she does have a spot soft; she has a surprising tolerance for young people, particularly children, and though she may growl quietly and move away if they begin to poke or pull at her painfully, she has never once snapped or bitten a person, something no doubt trained in her brutally not to do by Kaede.
Other:
Family:
Father:T'rou of bronze Makuleth (formerly of White Sands Weyr. Deceased age 65)
Mother:Monokae (weyrgirl formerly of White Sands Weyr. Deceased age 40.)
Brother:Ichirou (deceased age 32)
Brother:J'tsu of brown Raith (deceased age 64)
Brother:Keiji (deceased age 59)
Brother:Koji (deceased age 61)
Brother:Julrai (deceased age 70)
Half-Brother:Jultra (deceased age 19, formerly of blue Jindath)
Daughter:Etsuko of gold Amatersuth (formerly of Fort Weyr. Deceased.)
Daughter:Kaeko (Journeywoman Beastcrafter)
Son: Sh'kai of blue Ichith (of White Sands Weyr, age 48)
Husband/Mate:Shigeru (formerly a Masterbeastcrafter who specialised in runners. Deceased.)
Granddaughter:Kikyo (deceased)
Granddaughter:Shialyn (Journeywoman Starsmith. Age 19)
Granddaughter:Azula (Journeywoman Weaver)
Grandson:Yokai (former Journeyman Harper, is confined more to the Halls now due to his crippling injury)
Grandson:Jukairu (NPC Candidate at White Sands Weyr. Age 14)
Niece: Ayame (daughter of Ichirou and Raiko. Journeywoman Dragonhealer)
IMAGE REFERENCE
Younger Kaede
Current Kaede:
Thanks Rascal!