Name: Esme Salinas
Gender: Female, she/her, 'bout as straight as this bullwhip if you catch m' meanin'
Age/DOB: appears young adult / born pre-war and frozen, released 2270 as a teenager
Origin: Vault Earth; was part of a (different) crygenic experimental Vault than 111
Family: Unknown, all long deceased
Other: definitely lookin' for a good time
Height: 5'6"
Weight: neva' ask a girl her weight, son
Hair: brick red, very curly and thick, frizzy, when styled as shown it's just at her shoulders but if its straightened it comes to her low back; almost always kept up as shown though, and often enough under a broad brimmed cowboy hat
Eyes: deep blue, heavy lids and carefully looking at you but is it to judge or?
Appearance: reddish tan skin, some amount of moles will become visible over time; thin but expressive lips, almost always with a coy smile; she prefers jeans and linen shirts, layered for weather, but adds suede or leather gear if needed, usually in the colors of good old America - actually this is more because that's what gear she dragged into the Vault had been, most of it is costumery and props, but still fully functional; speaks with more of a southern-belle accent than a ranch hand ought
Genetic Abilities: Unclear, but it does seem that she is easily able to adjust to her surroundings, takes dry and hot weather without much fuss. She has exceptional aim and moves precisely, though whether that's training or genetics is unclear
SPECIAL:
Strength: 4
Perception: 6
Endurance: 9
Charisma: 7
Intelligence: 7
Agility: 6
Luck: 3
Image Credits: Meiker / Cowgirl Dressup
Gun Nut; well, technically whip nut, but that doesn't roll off the tongue as well. Is sure and steady with a gun though, but enjoys freaking people out when she starts with the whip routine
Educated, you would be very surprised at her vocabulary and knowledge - though a lot of it is moot at this point in history since the rest of the world ... is gone? She'll learn new things!
Events or History: she is a very classically rough and tumble Hispanic-origin south-westerner, but with a Hollywood twist, as she had been attempting to break into television or movies when the bombs dropped. She was hustled into a vault that had been originally slated for a very different group, while out on a location shoot in the desert near the Hoover Dam. That's literally all she remembers - she's not even sure why the director and other actors knew about the place, but hey it got them to safety.
**
"So y'er sayin'... they're real," Esme said, eyes fixed on the dragon that sat patiently nearby, in one of the brahmin pens, with a guilty look on its ... muzzle? face?
"I'm saying that I have to apologize to these good people for having a dragon that will drop out of flight formation and eat someone's dairy cattle you idiot dragon."
Orlan and his Mudwing named Mudpots had a glaring match for a few moments before the local family who had been hosting their 'annual we survived party' with the aid of Esme and her rootin-tootin enthusiasm realized that the noise out there really had been their dairy brahmin being eaten by one of those far from local dragons.
Esme hadn't been around too long but she did know how people might respond to such a thing. "Now, I don't blame ya'," she said, holding her arms very slightly out to produce a barrier between the family and ... a full ass dragon. "But they'll get this settled," she turned with her own glare - one which both human and dragon recognized as quite serious - and added, "won't - they."
Mudpots raised his muddy, slightly bloody head, and nodded. Orlan leaned against the fence post and tapped at it before also nodding.
"There. Now that the ... festivities are prolly over, I think I'll see about this settlement." While others might have seen Esme in a more happy go lucky light, she was both furious and consumed with curiosity. Dragons were real! They'd been talked about on her exit from the Vault a while ago but not like this. She had guessed that the lady in charge of the Strip had connections with them.
It was that lady that arrived not too many minutes later. With her was what looked like her twin sister, with a dragon too? Esme's mind swam and threatened to make her swoon. Seeing one of the things was amazing and impressive but with several now? The blue one was calm, nice, smaller than the others by quite a bit. It was that blue dragon that sniffed her up and down and alerted Trinity to something important.
"You sure?" Trinity asked, and the dragon seemed to nod his head with a silent response. Trinity then turned to this whip-snapping sharp shooter. "Corenth says you should stand for a dragon, and he knows exactly the right place for it."
That place turned out to be the same as where he had hatched. "You were just looking for an excuse to come back here," Trinity muttered. Esme, still just on the edge of swooning finally managed to just roll with it. There were dragons. There were ... other planets, other dimensions, like a sci fi movie!
And here she was from a Western...
**
Most of this clutch with the positively gorgeous parents had gone by. There were maybe four or five eggs - then hatchlings - that wobbled around trying to find their one true partner among the people and dragons left from the rest already picking over them.
One of the last to hatch was a 'midnight moon', the deepest of blue with lovely moon and stars markings on her wingsails. I am still picky, Esme heard. Where did she hear it come from though?
The dragonet walked up to Esme, sat before her, and gave off a delightful crooning call. But it was into Esme's mind that her words appeared: I am Miranth. More quietly, she added, and I can't wait to see where you perform... sounds fun!
**
She'd ridden horses, robotic bulls, real bulls, whatever... And while they definitely prepared her for some of the motion, this wasn't an animal nor a challenge ride. This was her dragon. Knowing that she needed to be able to ride with confidence. But not without spice! They practiced at Darkling Dawn a little longer than some of those from the Protectorate did, half a year or so, by the time Miranth was big enough to spread her big wings and lift off the ground - to speed into the sky and land as careful as could be. I will not buck you off unless it's for a stunt, Miranth reminded Esme when they were ready to head back home.
Once they did arrive, she realized that she should probably revisit a couple of those locales that had larger space in their ancient busted-up fencing, ranches or... something, where they could put down proper roots.
I like it where we can see the streets and people, Miranth commented, so Esme found a spot near the broken overpass closest to the Freeside entrance. There, Miranth could roost above, spotting any dangers and blending in with the rich night sky, and then deliver Esme to the Atomic Wrangler's rooftop so she could head down to their stage for her performances! Though the dragon was a little too big to easily get into the casino, Esme would also do outdoors performances, and Miranth had a hand - paw? - in their creation. Rewriting old tall tales, cowboy stories or fantasy tales that the 'movies' on their holotapes could show. Suitable now for a whip-cracking cowgirl and her trusty dragon partner to save the day!
Dragon
Name: Miranth
Gender: Female, clutches
Size/Shoulder/Length: medium-small (large blue pernese) 9'2" s / 40' l / 76' ws
Colors: Midnight Moon, body rich dark blue with a midnight black tail and wing fingers; wingsails clouded blue with black, nebula blue, and white stars and moon on each sail; neck ridges charcoal black, tail spade dusty deep blue; claws and horns light, eyes turquoise
Features: Darkling Dawn mutt with Ryslen, Alskyr, and many other influences
Powers: Winged Flight, Miranth is not necessarily a show-off, but she is very showy and capable of impressive stunts. She and Esme practice doing tricks such as standing on shoulders and doing rolls or loops, Esme leaping from a rooftop or overpass to land safely on the dragon's shoulders, even walking from head to mid-tail while in flight. Basically anything that those old 'crop duster' or even stunt horse riders would pull, only done 50 feet in the air at 60 miles an hour!
Teleportation*, Time port, and Genrehop, All that noise in her genetic line means Miranth likes to tap different dimensions worth of information, and sometimes she'll accidentally wind up somewhere 'else' entirely. She can teleport, but she does like to be guided specifically during shows or events, so she will move to the correct spot, rather than another era or the roof of a villain lair on some other earth
Verbal Speech, Telepathy*, Miranth is quite vocal and has a good singing range, she almost always hums or 'whistles' and has been working on their theme music... Her mental voice is clear and 'narrator' like, enunciating with just enough mid-western twang but clear for everyone to grasp her words. She frequently will listen in on other people's telepathic communication which Esme thinks is a bit rude, but she always claims it's for 'research' and 'getting to know their back-story'...
*psionics inherit together
Unassisted Firebreath, this works to their advantage in so many ways. Though she's female, and apparently in any other gene pool this would mean that 'chewing firestone' would render her sterile, Miranth is fully capable of not only creating her own fire and spitting it very accurately and in fancy patterns, but is clearly also fully fertile... Her fire is pretty straightforwardly red-orange and hot, and she takes great care not to burn down any of the remaining crops or buildings, particularly while they're practicing their 'looping fire jump' stunts
Clever Girl, Miranth is at her heart a creator and a very smart dragoness, with a sharp memory for details and a creative impulse that means she will most certainly write scripts for other dragons and their riders to act out. She can share her imaginative memories, her ideas and concepts, in a broad thought blanket that feels much like watching a 'home movie' on a sheet in the back yard. She takes criticism very well, what story would be perfect the first time? Aside from her Impression to Esme??
Parents: White Rainbow Ryslenese Esraphyr [rainbow white Gzrieth flurry (white rainbow Sadikith (pg) / silver blue Selnyan {black fire glenn Neres Storm [Utopia/Atlantis] / teal black Jishinth [Dulath/Vaoth]}) / sunset brown Liojuth (duo green flurry Ainchisth {white Seryth / white brown Kukoricath} / sunset brown flurry Ambroseth {ltgrn Tesimith /cream-bronze Sampath})] *many farther lines Talor + HD + Ryslen
x
Midnight-Moon Lantessama/Pern/Avyndal Caleve [sunset purple Ialee (purple sunset Evelia {California/Teuroi} / brown Arajaxth {green-gold Dwyth**/copper danach Xcenisorath)} / moonlight Birayen (spectral sunset Arayath {white green flurry Kyrenath/bronze Ithtyruith} / sunset spectral Naryen {Kyrenath/Aseth})] **pern/glenn
Origin: Darkling Dawn clutch 42
Other Info: she is honest and quite fun to be around, and has urged Esme to become more of the 'honest' part of that. Acting is one thing, but her defensive mood swings and covering her fears with too-bold flirtations are a bit harmful and she'd like to keep her rider safe, even from herself.
Also of note, she... is possibly interested in a little flirtation herself, there are a lot of interesting dragons out here! Including at least one who has markings very similar to her own!