Description:
Tall, slim, and shapely, Southern's greenriding Weyrsecond, as noted by the knot sitting on her shoulder, carries herself with the carriage of someone who cares little about what others think of her. Short-cropped locks of a lemon-blond shade curl about her ears and face, one reaching almost the bridge of her slender nose, and sprawl untidily about her neck. Her oval face matches in hue her bare arms -- bronzed lightly by the sun -- and sets off her eyes of periwinkle blue, sunken ever so slightly into the firm curves of her face, and yet lifted by a prominent -- most often smiling -- mouth. When she speaks, her words hold the faintest taste of a drawl, worn over by time and inclination, and still youthful for her age, which rests somewhere in the late twenties.

Her attire is simple, and well-worn, although something about it indicates quality. Breeches are worn, dyed the shade of bluish-green shadows deep within a tropic jungle, and beholding the faintest grass-stains on the knees and hem. An ivory blouse is unbuttoned to the second button-hole, showing off her nicely tanned skin, this in turn covered with a slightly disheveled vest of a shade of lemon, with undone buttons in the shape of leaves, although at least one is missing.

On occasion, her tanned arms are hidden beneath a llama-wool lined riding jacket of a spring sky blue, embroidered with knotwork of antique gold along the cuffs and hem, but Southern's heat keeps this from being a recurring trend.

Aura:
The name Aura gives you a strongly independent and highly creative nature, with drive and ambition to have experiences and accomplish things out of the ordinary. You can work intently at whatever is new and holds your interest at the moment, but your interest wanes quickly when drudgery and monotony set in. Obstacles to your progress or restrictions on your freedom to act create a sense of frustration which may cause you to feel resentful and even rebellious. You can then become intolerant of others, and caustic and belittling in your expression, thereby imposing stress on your personal relationships. Although you have a clever, quick, capable mind, your progress in life is restricted by instability in your affairs and misunderstandings with people. Your impulsive nature can lead to actions which you later regret taking, or to accidents. Relaxation is elusive, and depletion due to nervous tension can develop to the point where you become subject to moods of depression and morbid thoughts. Nervous tension centres in the solar plexus, with nervous indigestion and stomach ulcers a possible result.

[Sourced from Kabalarians]

Background:
The second child of Amarse and Auryllia, the holders of a small Hold in the Southern Boll area, was a daughter-- a second daughter, which was rather disappointing on the whole. To make the matter worse, there was significant doubt as to whether this child, Auralia, was the daughter of Amarse at all. It's no wonder, therefore, that Amarse elected to favour his elder daughter, whilst Auryllia delighted in spoiling young Auralia silly. As the turns progressed, and the brood of children grew larger-- one child, nearly, for every turn-- the trend continued; one child for Amarse to favour, one for Auryllia. Auralia was still nine when the younger sibling closest to her age, Tomar, was killed in threadfall, and ten when her elder sister, Amaryllia, who took the loss rather badly, departed rather abruptly. Suddenly the eldest left, Auralia chafed, desperate to get away from the responsibilities as caregiver for her younger siblings began to be forced towards her.

She tried to run away, a few times, and failed-- every time, she was brought back by her uncle (or was that father?), Amarse's younger brother, who seemed to keep a rather close watch upon her. She was fourteen, therefore, before she managed-- and even then, it was purely by chance: she fell asleep, hiding upon the deck of one of the fishing boats docked at Boll, and by the time she was found, they dropped her off at Southern Hold, rather than bother with taking her all the way back to Boll. This suited her perfectly well, and for several sevendays, she hung about the Hold, deliberating as to what her next step should be. In the end, the decision was made almost for her, because green Luiseth and her rider, Kinoa, dropped in upon the Hold, and left with young Auralia astride: she'd been searched, for the clutch currently upon Southern Weyr's sands.

In the middle of a heat wave, Tiarnath and Rnayth's eggs decided to hatch, and Auralia, clinging to the hands of Raven and Imara, two friends of hers at the Weyr, did not see until too late the rainforest valley green hatchling that stumbled upon her, naming herself as Iesath - and Auralia's. After a rather uneventful candidacy, she was flung suddenly into the strict regime of weyrlinghood, and although she was never particularly troublesome, it was a difficult turn and a half, nonetheless. At last, however, at the age of sixteen, Auralia - now often known as Aura - was tapped into the Starflame Wing, by Wingleader Kinoa, becoming a full rider at last.

For two turns, life was relatively uneventful, save for the precise cycle of Iesath's flights, and the usual matters that made everyday life interesting, as they always do. When Aura was eighteen, however, Kinoa cornered her, and presented her with the knot of Wingsecond, pushing her into the world of hidework and leadership, which she found a natural ability for, although she found the hidework tedious. She only held the Wingsecond position for two turns, however; just before she turned twenty, she was cornered again-- this time, becoming Weyrsecond. Nor did life settle down there: a turn later, events occured such that poor Aura ended up as Acting Weyrleader for a time, a position she grew to enjoy, and thus, when her somewhat nemesis, L'mir, become Weyrleader a turn later, was reluctant to give up.

But give it up she did, settling back into her role as Weyrsecond, showing off her well-developed peppery tongue in frequent verbal altercations with the new weyrleader. Such was their relationship that, when she was twenty-four, he 'banished' her to Honshu on a supposed Weyrsecond exchange, during which time Iesath rose, Aura caught a cold, and, upon her arrival home, at last, was discovered to be pregnant. S'tev, the child's father, remained nothing more than a friend - Aura's relationships had always been short lived and unofficial, and, most of the time, she preferred to remain single - although he was far more delighted than the reluctant Auralia at the birth of their daughter, Aurevi.

Aura's twenty-eight, now, a single mother who enjoys time spent with her daughter, although she's always relieved to hand the child back to her fostermother at the end of their visits. Most of her time is spent arguing with L'mir, chatting with friends, or working through the masses of hidework that her job entails-- plus, of course, caring for Iesath, the real love of her life, fighting thread, and drilling - forever drilling. No weyrmate shares her space, and she prefers it that way; home is perfect as it is, with just herself, Iesath, two firelizards, and sometimes Aurevi, or a random lover as fate wills. And this is, to Aura's mind, just about perfect, just as it is.

All references to worlds and characters based on Anne McCaffrey's fiction are copyright © Anne McCaffrey 1967,2000, all rights reserved, and usedv 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.