Post by Anaxarete on Dec 16, 2012 15:37:37 GMT -8
Name: Z'kar Farling
Pronunciation: zih-KAR FAR-ling
Gender: Male
Age: 29
Turnday: 3045.05.14
Weyr: Rainbow Mists Weyr (transfer from Benden)
Rank: Crimsonrider, Apprentice Dragonhealer
Family:
Mother: Kaarla Farling (63) of Silver Alisanth, Benden Weyr (retired)
-Two half-brothers, R'karan (34) of Brown Borth and Haykar (38) Journeyman Woodcraft
-Half-sister, Maliana (25) of Green Wasath
Father: Z'vax of Bronze Rorth, Igen Weyr
Foster Mother: Nivia Horne (58), Wherhandler & Dragonhealer, Benden Weyr
Weyrmate: None.
Friends: None yet.
Pets: None.
Appearance: Z'kar has dark blonde hair with the barest hint of red -- the legacy of his mother, a true redhead. When loose, it's thick and wavy and falls well past his shoulders, but normally he keeps it tightly braided so it doesn't get in his face while flying.
He's quite fair-complexioned, as you might expect from the son of a redhead, but he's picked up a little color from the sun he gets flying. It lends contrast to his bright blue eyes. His features are sharply chiseled -- high cheekbones, a narrow jaw, stubborn chin, and angular brows. His mouth tends heavily toward smirks, almost unconciously it seems. His thin nose begs to be broken, and it's frankly a miracle it hasn't been. He's usually clean-shaven, and he wears a single hoop earring in his right earlobe.
His shoulders would be broad on a man of average height, but at Z'kar's 6'2" they appear slender. Like all dragonriders, he is fit and muscular. He favors his wherhide riding gear heavily, and almost always wears it even if it's an occasion where he should find something nicer.
Personality: Z'kar is proud, ambitious, and brave, frequently verging on arrogant, reckless, and cocky. He is at least, very personable, but he tends not to realize when he's crossed into being pushy, particularly with women. He's handsome and confident and easy in conversation, so if you hit it off with him he's just fine, but if you don't... he's pretty blind to hints of disinterest. Or he thinks you're playing hard to get, in the case of flirting.
He is very aware that he's a fine figure of a man on a fine figure of a dragon who has performed with consistent skill in the air and neither of them have ever had any problems impressing members of their respective species. And he wants to make sure everyone else is aware of these facts. At the same time, he's unsurprisingly blind to his own flaws. He takes not having been a wingleader or wingsecond at Benden very personally, and refuses to acknowledge that there may have been reasons for that beyond Valaranth not being a bronze.
He has a very nasty temper that's gotten him in trouble more than once. Z'kar has little patience and absolutely no ability to let an insult pass unchallenged -- or a differing opinion, for that matter. He starts fights, he starts arguments, he's easily goaded and prone to to being competitive and jealous -- fortunately, he does distinguish between friendly and unfriendly competition. But it's always a contest. In spite of or perhaps because of this, he has a very strong sense of fair play. He's as quick to point out a bias that favors him as one that doesn't, because he wants to come out ahead fair and square on his own merits. He couldn't lie to save his skin -- anything he says, he probably believes, even if it's self-delusion.
That said -- no one could ever call Z'kar a coward. He doesn't back down or run away, even when it might be wiser to. He is as loyal to his friends, whatever their faults, as he is difficult to people he dislikes. Z'kar has a distinctly chivalrous streak, and if he does like you, there's no one he's not willing to take on on your behalf -- particularly if you're of the female or daintier male persuasion. Frequently, even if you really wish he wouldn't.
He's not as conservative as some Benden riders -- he has too much experience with Valaranth being denigrated for not being a bronze. But he thinks something has gone very, very wrong in Rainbow Mists Weyr, and that their hatching an Abyss queen only proves it. (If Sunvioath is allowed to clutch, you can bet he'll have things to say about it.) He also holds that RR Flames aren't proper Kings, but sport mutations.
History: Z'kar, then Zakar, was fostered out not long after he was weaned, and is amicably distant with his birth mother and siblings at best. His father he never knew at all, as his parents were not weyrmates. He was very close to his foster mother Nivia growing up, though. She taught him the rudiments of dragonhealing and while she was quite strict, she was never really able to curb his growing ego.
He impressed Valaranth the first time he stood as a candidate, and was insufferable for weeks after. Their combined vanity became marginally more tolerable as they grew older, and were able to back up said pride with hard work and consequent achievement in training -- the two of them might like to win, but never let it be said they aren't willing to work for it. They were also knocked down several pegs multiple times by other riders -- while crimsons were not nearly as boat-rocking as some colors, they were still not bronzes. This feeling persecution only made him more stubborn, as well as giving Z'kar the ammunition to deny any of his faults and blame every altercation he was involved in on the prejudice of other riders. He did form a few tight friendships, mostly with male riders of Benden's few odd colored dragons -- G'gor, a purplerider and H'ner, a black, foremost among them -- who tended to reinforce his perceptions.
As a young rider not long out of weyrlinghood, he was involved in a feud with a bronzerider over the affections of a young goldrider, which escalated to the point of a brawl and only ended when the girl and the bronze were both transferred to different Weyrs before said gold could rise for fear there would be blood during or after the Flight. Initially, reports were that Z'kar had thrown the first punch and possibly drawn his belt-knife. The poor goldrider was scared out of her wits.
The part about the knife turned out to only be a nasty rumor, but he had struck the first blow. While much of the blame eventually fell on Z'kar, at least at Benden, none of the young riders were found to have been conducting themselves honorably. The goldrider, Jisralna, who would later become junior Weyrwoman at Ista, was discovered to be encouraging the younger male riders to fight over her attentions (her tune only changing to one of dismay once things escalated), and the bronzerider had been encouraging his friends to gang up on Z'kar and insinuating Valaranth would be outflown simply by dint of not being a bronze. It was decided it would be better for Permeliath to have her maiden flight at a weyr where she hadn't had a chance to manipulate the kingriders and besides, it was easier to place a gold than the crimson that had already been found at fault.
It was the most severe, but not the last dispute Z'kar would be involved in. Situations where he was involved, whether lover's spats or simple disagreements, tended to escalate rapidly, and it happened just often enough to give him a reputation which has prevented him from reaching Wingleader. A rider of Z'kar's temperament on similarly ill-tempered beast certainly seemed to be trouble looking for a place to happen.
When one of Jisralna's flights was declared open and Z'kar did not have the good sense or tact to be conspicuous in his absence, it was distinctly awkward -- even more awkward when Permeliath failed to hold the same grudges as her rider and was flown by Valaranth. Mercifully, it never went beyond awkward, as Z'kar was a far more gracious winner than loser and quickly accommodated Jisralna's request that he and his dragon get out of her weyr as fast as possible.
Other highlights included 'strange', possibly lascivious remarks made about a greenrider to their weyrmate at a Gather, but nothing ever came of them so they were forgotten as drunkenness. A fight with a bluerider over a woman of the lower caverns, who admitted she'd griped to Z'kar over said bluerider, but not thought he'd make anything of it. But when Z'kar was not actively involved in trouble, he was a fine rider who flew well, and the few friends he had were as loyal in defending him as he was them.
A breaking point was reached when during the most recent and heavily contested flight of Benden's second gold, Farrahith, when while flying closely, Valaranth gouged bronze Zorrylganith's hindqarters with his wing-claw. Zorryganith (who was ridden by junior Weyrleader B'mar) went on to win the flight, but it was felt that injuring another dragon, even during the heated emotions of a flight, crossed a line -- though Z'kar swore it was accidental.
Y'sil and Praetalia have arranged for him to be transferred to Rainbow Mists Weyr, and it's no secret that he's intended as a white elephant gift by the Benden Weyrleaders. However, they may have insinuated to Rilora and T'kar that the problem is a result of Z'kar being 'ill-suited' to Benden and he might do better in the more 'permissive' culture of Rainbow Mists Weyr. As ever, Z'kar is convinced the problem is not him.
Adoption?: Sure.
Dragon's Name: Valaranth
Dragon’s Gender: Male
Dragon's Age: 16 turns
Dragon's Color: Crimson (Hex: 920000)
Dragon's Appearance: Valaranth is compact and muscularly built, with a deep chest and powerful limbs. His smooth hide is a rich, dark ruby, and he is large for a Crimson at 40 feet.
Dragon's Personality: Like his rider, Valaranth is proud. Like most Crimsons, he's quick to take insult and slow to forget. He's also extremely vain, seeking grooming whenever possible, and will happily chase any female dragon that rises. He never misses a chance to show off for them or anyone else, certainly. (Z'kar would be annoyed at the female's rider for not having her chew firestone if she was a non-Queen and clutched, but Valaranth would just preen more.) In general, when it comes to anything that is not a direct slight to him or his rider, Valaranth is much more laid back than Z'kar is. He could care less about strange colors -- if it's smaller than him, he outranks it, if it's bigger, he'll chase it or quarrel with it. While he has arrogance in abundance, he's generally more gracious about being a king than Z'kar is about being a kingrider. He's perfectly sociable as long as he feels he's being shown proper respect.
Valaranth can't abide fire-lizards, which amuses Z'kar to no end. Whers are at least useful. Flits are just a nuisance.
Dragon's History: Valaranth was clutched from Z'kar's mother's own silver Alisanth by crimson Poreth (from High Reaches) sixteen turns ago, and in spite of his parentage was one of only a few 'non-standard' colors clutched by his mother during her laying life. Valaranth was late to hatch but Impressed immediately. He has won a number of flights at Benden and other weyrs, including several junior queens -- one of which was an open flight of Permeliath's, the junior Istan queen.
Pronunciation: zih-KAR FAR-ling
Gender: Male
Age: 29
Turnday: 3045.05.14
Weyr: Rainbow Mists Weyr (transfer from Benden)
Rank: Crimsonrider, Apprentice Dragonhealer
Family:
Mother: Kaarla Farling (63) of Silver Alisanth, Benden Weyr (retired)
-Two half-brothers, R'karan (34) of Brown Borth and Haykar (38) Journeyman Woodcraft
-Half-sister, Maliana (25) of Green Wasath
Father: Z'vax of Bronze Rorth, Igen Weyr
Foster Mother: Nivia Horne (58), Wherhandler & Dragonhealer, Benden Weyr
Weyrmate: None.
Friends: None yet.
Pets: None.
Appearance: Z'kar has dark blonde hair with the barest hint of red -- the legacy of his mother, a true redhead. When loose, it's thick and wavy and falls well past his shoulders, but normally he keeps it tightly braided so it doesn't get in his face while flying.
He's quite fair-complexioned, as you might expect from the son of a redhead, but he's picked up a little color from the sun he gets flying. It lends contrast to his bright blue eyes. His features are sharply chiseled -- high cheekbones, a narrow jaw, stubborn chin, and angular brows. His mouth tends heavily toward smirks, almost unconciously it seems. His thin nose begs to be broken, and it's frankly a miracle it hasn't been. He's usually clean-shaven, and he wears a single hoop earring in his right earlobe.
His shoulders would be broad on a man of average height, but at Z'kar's 6'2" they appear slender. Like all dragonriders, he is fit and muscular. He favors his wherhide riding gear heavily, and almost always wears it even if it's an occasion where he should find something nicer.
Personality: Z'kar is proud, ambitious, and brave, frequently verging on arrogant, reckless, and cocky. He is at least, very personable, but he tends not to realize when he's crossed into being pushy, particularly with women. He's handsome and confident and easy in conversation, so if you hit it off with him he's just fine, but if you don't... he's pretty blind to hints of disinterest. Or he thinks you're playing hard to get, in the case of flirting.
He is very aware that he's a fine figure of a man on a fine figure of a dragon who has performed with consistent skill in the air and neither of them have ever had any problems impressing members of their respective species. And he wants to make sure everyone else is aware of these facts. At the same time, he's unsurprisingly blind to his own flaws. He takes not having been a wingleader or wingsecond at Benden very personally, and refuses to acknowledge that there may have been reasons for that beyond Valaranth not being a bronze.
He has a very nasty temper that's gotten him in trouble more than once. Z'kar has little patience and absolutely no ability to let an insult pass unchallenged -- or a differing opinion, for that matter. He starts fights, he starts arguments, he's easily goaded and prone to to being competitive and jealous -- fortunately, he does distinguish between friendly and unfriendly competition. But it's always a contest. In spite of or perhaps because of this, he has a very strong sense of fair play. He's as quick to point out a bias that favors him as one that doesn't, because he wants to come out ahead fair and square on his own merits. He couldn't lie to save his skin -- anything he says, he probably believes, even if it's self-delusion.
That said -- no one could ever call Z'kar a coward. He doesn't back down or run away, even when it might be wiser to. He is as loyal to his friends, whatever their faults, as he is difficult to people he dislikes. Z'kar has a distinctly chivalrous streak, and if he does like you, there's no one he's not willing to take on on your behalf -- particularly if you're of the female or daintier male persuasion. Frequently, even if you really wish he wouldn't.
He's not as conservative as some Benden riders -- he has too much experience with Valaranth being denigrated for not being a bronze. But he thinks something has gone very, very wrong in Rainbow Mists Weyr, and that their hatching an Abyss queen only proves it. (If Sunvioath is allowed to clutch, you can bet he'll have things to say about it.) He also holds that RR Flames aren't proper Kings, but sport mutations.
History: Z'kar, then Zakar, was fostered out not long after he was weaned, and is amicably distant with his birth mother and siblings at best. His father he never knew at all, as his parents were not weyrmates. He was very close to his foster mother Nivia growing up, though. She taught him the rudiments of dragonhealing and while she was quite strict, she was never really able to curb his growing ego.
He impressed Valaranth the first time he stood as a candidate, and was insufferable for weeks after. Their combined vanity became marginally more tolerable as they grew older, and were able to back up said pride with hard work and consequent achievement in training -- the two of them might like to win, but never let it be said they aren't willing to work for it. They were also knocked down several pegs multiple times by other riders -- while crimsons were not nearly as boat-rocking as some colors, they were still not bronzes. This feeling persecution only made him more stubborn, as well as giving Z'kar the ammunition to deny any of his faults and blame every altercation he was involved in on the prejudice of other riders. He did form a few tight friendships, mostly with male riders of Benden's few odd colored dragons -- G'gor, a purplerider and H'ner, a black, foremost among them -- who tended to reinforce his perceptions.
As a young rider not long out of weyrlinghood, he was involved in a feud with a bronzerider over the affections of a young goldrider, which escalated to the point of a brawl and only ended when the girl and the bronze were both transferred to different Weyrs before said gold could rise for fear there would be blood during or after the Flight. Initially, reports were that Z'kar had thrown the first punch and possibly drawn his belt-knife. The poor goldrider was scared out of her wits.
The part about the knife turned out to only be a nasty rumor, but he had struck the first blow. While much of the blame eventually fell on Z'kar, at least at Benden, none of the young riders were found to have been conducting themselves honorably. The goldrider, Jisralna, who would later become junior Weyrwoman at Ista, was discovered to be encouraging the younger male riders to fight over her attentions (her tune only changing to one of dismay once things escalated), and the bronzerider had been encouraging his friends to gang up on Z'kar and insinuating Valaranth would be outflown simply by dint of not being a bronze. It was decided it would be better for Permeliath to have her maiden flight at a weyr where she hadn't had a chance to manipulate the kingriders and besides, it was easier to place a gold than the crimson that had already been found at fault.
It was the most severe, but not the last dispute Z'kar would be involved in. Situations where he was involved, whether lover's spats or simple disagreements, tended to escalate rapidly, and it happened just often enough to give him a reputation which has prevented him from reaching Wingleader. A rider of Z'kar's temperament on similarly ill-tempered beast certainly seemed to be trouble looking for a place to happen.
When one of Jisralna's flights was declared open and Z'kar did not have the good sense or tact to be conspicuous in his absence, it was distinctly awkward -- even more awkward when Permeliath failed to hold the same grudges as her rider and was flown by Valaranth. Mercifully, it never went beyond awkward, as Z'kar was a far more gracious winner than loser and quickly accommodated Jisralna's request that he and his dragon get out of her weyr as fast as possible.
Other highlights included 'strange', possibly lascivious remarks made about a greenrider to their weyrmate at a Gather, but nothing ever came of them so they were forgotten as drunkenness. A fight with a bluerider over a woman of the lower caverns, who admitted she'd griped to Z'kar over said bluerider, but not thought he'd make anything of it. But when Z'kar was not actively involved in trouble, he was a fine rider who flew well, and the few friends he had were as loyal in defending him as he was them.
A breaking point was reached when during the most recent and heavily contested flight of Benden's second gold, Farrahith, when while flying closely, Valaranth gouged bronze Zorrylganith's hindqarters with his wing-claw. Zorryganith (who was ridden by junior Weyrleader B'mar) went on to win the flight, but it was felt that injuring another dragon, even during the heated emotions of a flight, crossed a line -- though Z'kar swore it was accidental.
Y'sil and Praetalia have arranged for him to be transferred to Rainbow Mists Weyr, and it's no secret that he's intended as a white elephant gift by the Benden Weyrleaders. However, they may have insinuated to Rilora and T'kar that the problem is a result of Z'kar being 'ill-suited' to Benden and he might do better in the more 'permissive' culture of Rainbow Mists Weyr. As ever, Z'kar is convinced the problem is not him.
Adoption?: Sure.
Dragon's Name: Valaranth
Dragon’s Gender: Male
Dragon's Age: 16 turns
Dragon's Color: Crimson (Hex: 920000)
Dragon's Appearance: Valaranth is compact and muscularly built, with a deep chest and powerful limbs. His smooth hide is a rich, dark ruby, and he is large for a Crimson at 40 feet.
Dragon's Personality: Like his rider, Valaranth is proud. Like most Crimsons, he's quick to take insult and slow to forget. He's also extremely vain, seeking grooming whenever possible, and will happily chase any female dragon that rises. He never misses a chance to show off for them or anyone else, certainly. (Z'kar would be annoyed at the female's rider for not having her chew firestone if she was a non-Queen and clutched, but Valaranth would just preen more.) In general, when it comes to anything that is not a direct slight to him or his rider, Valaranth is much more laid back than Z'kar is. He could care less about strange colors -- if it's smaller than him, he outranks it, if it's bigger, he'll chase it or quarrel with it. While he has arrogance in abundance, he's generally more gracious about being a king than Z'kar is about being a kingrider. He's perfectly sociable as long as he feels he's being shown proper respect.
Valaranth can't abide fire-lizards, which amuses Z'kar to no end. Whers are at least useful. Flits are just a nuisance.
Dragon's History: Valaranth was clutched from Z'kar's mother's own silver Alisanth by crimson Poreth (from High Reaches) sixteen turns ago, and in spite of his parentage was one of only a few 'non-standard' colors clutched by his mother during her laying life. Valaranth was late to hatch but Impressed immediately. He has won a number of flights at Benden and other weyrs, including several junior queens -- one of which was an open flight of Permeliath's, the junior Istan queen.
