Assistant Weyrling Master N’varan and Brown Settbarath
Played By: Cymiri
Character Name: N’varan
Pronunciation:
Character Type: Dragonrider
Rank: Assistant Weyrling Master
Political Alignment: The Way things are...Holder style.
Age: 30
Gender: Male
Sexual Preference: Heterosexual
Appearance:
N’varan is an average sized man, but long of limb and only just saved from being gangly because of his moderate height. He has strength, but it is a wiry, whipcord sort not a palpable presence as with some men, and its lack contributes to the overall sense of ‘unthreatening’ he radiates.
His features are neat but quirky, rather like their owner, broad high cheekbones and wide eyes under long arched brows both rather obvious in a thin face; a nose which is narrow, straight and fine but slightly more ‘there’ than he could wish, and an unprepossessing jaw line and chin to finish it.
N’varan’s eyes are worth revisiting though. Because you *will* notice them. In fairness, their warm dark tones and sparkly hints of fun and laughter and genuine geniality would have deserved mention in anyone. But overriding that, best feature or not, is their deep and wide setting in that thin face and their perpetual look of faintly puzzled shock. Those high arches in his brows don’t help, though at least they are thick and heavy enough that no society lady will be craving them. N’varan thus walks the world with the permanent expression of someone who’s secret and longed for crush has walked into the room and flung her clothes off in front of him ready for the best night of her life- while his grandmother is standing right behind him.
His hair is at least as crazed. Its kept neatly cut, but he can do nothing about an unruly forelock that just seems to stand on end no matter what. He’ll swear blind to you it did it even under the close shave of weyrlinghood. It’s probably worth taking that with a pinch of salt.
Personality:
N’varan is not quite as crazed as his hair would suggest. You can’t help but feel that the look of perpetual wonderment isn’t too far off base, however. If something suddenly blows up and sprinkles him in pink ribbons, he wouldn’t be too surprised. He’d probably still be gosh darn perky about it, though!
Most things are just dandy in N’varan-world. It’s helped by a sense of humor that rarely lets him down. The word 'shifty' fits the man like a comfortable old coat, however, and yet you *would* be hard pressed to explain why. He just...is.
He’s a ranker’s dream, conscientious, neat, hardworking and actually enjoys pretty much everything he has to do. He is surprisingly quick on the uptake and is not bucking for promotion so backs are perfectly safe unguarded around him. He isn’t intense or strange, he is decidedly un-perverted, he has an impeccable track record (for which Settbarath is solely to thank, if only they knew) and he gets on with *everyone*. Kicking N’varan would be like kicking the most boisterous canine pup ever- except the pup would care. N’varan wouldn’t. He’d duck, but he’d move right on along with what you are discussing without remark. You’d better be a quick listener, though- he does talk way too fast when he’s involved in the subject and those in his care learn to listen well...cos taking notes is impossible at that speed and he'll smack you round the ear if you miss something. All the same, those in power have perpetually pointed N’varan’s way when they want an example of the perfect lackey. If he’s not careful, he’ll get caught whistling while he works someday soon.
You can’t imagine any real harm coming off of such an innocuous source, rare bits of evidence to the contrary. He’s the go-to man for a pack of cards on those quiet nights when the bronzers are abed and their wingriders may play. He’s the go to man for a lot of things, actually, which is where the observant may just occasionally pick up a hint of the rest of him. Less ominously, however, he is a hoarder and can lay his hands on spares of most things. It’s not unknown for him to get a desperate nudge in the ribs minutes before inspection or a hinting cough from a ranker short a pen. If he has it, he’ll loan it and it rarely occurs to him to ask a price. N’varan deals in a different commodity. Peace and quiet.
So what’s the real secret? N’varan genuinely, honestly likes people and being around them. He is also- upbringing and personal qualms aside- utterly laid back. He’d be out on an Istan beach with a boogie-board if someone had been kind enough to create such a thing. Since they haven’t, he’s dragon riding instead.
But N’varan’s innocence is not quite as innocent as it seems. Remember those quirks N’varan doesn’t seem to have? If only they knew.
N’varan’s an oddball, all right. Mostly in amusing little ways, but in one or two others...well, it’s best he doesn’t get outted, for the sake of his credibility in the wing if not exactly his life. That too, maybe, in the wrong hands.
N’varan is nothing at all but a Holder in Weyrman’s clothing for one. He was raised a Holder by a domineering step father, and by Faranth’s very shell he will die one too no matter how hard he may try. And he doesn’t try. He’s proud of it.
He’s too smart for his own good. He deals in knowledge and making arrangements. He’d be selling dodgy things from barrows at the back of gathers, if he wasn’t a rider and all.
He is a feminist, in a twisted way. Provided you like your 'feminists' patronizing and misogynistic. He has a genuine sympathy with and fondness for women that isn’t sex driven and so makes him pretty unusual. Said women, of course, fitting his limited holder definition thereof. They are weaker and not suited for men’s jobs. They should remain dutiful. They should remain chaste and loyal to their menfolk, enjoy their children and maintain their honor. They are just pretty nice people, too and every decent man should be protecting... *and* cosseting them. If you can't hold your girl with kind gestures and a gentle hand, then don't expect sympathy from him.
Introduction to a weyr full of women not fitting that mould was...interesting. His mother used to call them 'no better than they should be'; and he came to agree with her. The debauched path they see as normal is not really their fault, the Weyr promotes a lot of odd, wrong things and women are weaker minded, its natural they would be influenced. You can't blame them or punish them for it. And hey, its a plus for a red blooded man. It’s not exactly a chore, having pretty girls long to spend time in your company?
Of course, it left him free to be a solidly devoted one- woman man too. Er...technically, technically. Weyr girls aren't proper women, remember?
He's a darn sight nicer than some. A lot of the lower caverns staff do, genuinely, like him. But Weyr girls are not the equal of the women of the holds. They should be a little more careful about what they deny and how they do it when dealing with him. He is, in general, perfectly nice and polite. He's even been a help and a cover for a lot of them. But he has strict views on obligations and duties.
He is also a *violent* homophobe. He is also probably one of Fort Weyr’s only closeted ones.
No, really.
Almost all of the green and blue riders who’ve met him simply by existing in his wing or having a single flight encounter would be surprised to learn exactly how strict his preferences are, and how much they don’t run *that* way. Why? Because he’s earned himself a rep as a safe flight partner, for one. One of those ridiculous little ironies life tosses up!
He really doesn’t like upsetting people. *That’s* how far his easy going nature actually goes. So there’s been a fair few mornings where he has woken to the revolting sight of another man where no man should be, and yet felt the need to make the bloody best of it. There will be chat, there will be an appearance of total comfort, maybe even a joke or two, and there will be a genial parting. It wouldn’t be too hard to get the impression he actually enjoyed it and is just too sensible to say so. *Then*, N’varan will run- and that really is run- to the nearest bathing room, scrub every inch of his hide with a vigor that strips skin, and hope the water will wash any remaining perversion from him. He’ll probably vomit too.
Because if you are a pervert, he really hates you. Badly. But he is simply too easy going to make something of it... until you do. Be prepared for what you unleash if you do, because the willingness to keep a calm face does not make his hatred run any less deep.
Greenriders have a partial pass. He will let you alone because –unlike the Hold’s degenerate perverts- you have a sweet little girl dragon *and* a use in the Weyr. But don’t push it. And if you don’t have a use....well. Then you really had best watch out. Openly gay instead of merely-suffering- through-it blueriders need to take particular care, since they don’t have that pretty girly dragon and ergo they don’t need to exist, period. Real men could do their job. Though he will be very nice as pie to your face you might well find yourself rather accident prone for a long time after. And they will be nasty, nasty accidents. Such a shame.
Ironically, N’varan thinks he is a liberal. Partly because he is petrified of the resistance, but mostly because he is kinder to girls- even weyr sluts- and underlings then the people he grew up with. He doesn’t even register any cruelty in that one loathing or his patronizing views.
The simple truth is he is a wise boy and a devious little git, but too genuine a people lover for a properly bad nature to have emerged. It’s kind of sad that N’varan, raised anywhere else, would be a very good man. But he is just that smidgen too traditionally Fortian to make that true and his homophobia is just too strongly entrenched to yield even to a kind and lazy nature. Make of it what you will.
He doesn’t want a liberal system, though. He likes peace and quiet and getting along is all. And he does have a soft protectiveness of women. Whatever facet of him you choose to see, the others are there all the same.
N’varan lives in total, utter terror of dying a resistance induced death. Thread doesn’t scare him in Settbarath’s capable claws. The Resistance does. Badly. He just hopes they see that he’s a good guy really.
...he doesn’t really get the Resistance’s definition of good guy, no.
Birthplace: Fort Hold
Parents: Mother- Naena, worker, Fort Hold; Father- Unknown dragonrider but was raised as son of Renarn, JM Smith, Fort Hold
History:
Naeveran is, as mentioned, a hold boy through and through. He’s a dragonrider’s son, though. His mother was a bit of a naughty girl for a couple of weeks ‘til said rider’s attention failed and she was forced to go begging to her betrothed. Lucky for her, he took what had definitely been pleasure and hope of escape and chose to interpret it as doing her reluctant duty. He never did have much imagination.
Naeveran was not his father’s favorite son, however. It’s nothing to do with his birth. Nevaran is entirely too girl loving- *not* in the correct sense- for the authoritarian and strictly Fortian smith. Who needs to raise a mummy’s boy? Naeveran found him strict, dull, clueless and wholly odious, though he keeps his tongue in his head like a dutiful son. His father thinks him a wastrel, too smart for his own good, far too easy going in general and way too indulgent, especially of foolish female whim, and doesn’t hold back his opinions at all.
The man caused the last, ironically. Naeveran’s mother is a witty, intelligent and lively woman. His father is none of that. It’s hardly surprising which was the formative parent and which still holds his affection. His father thinks he is the reason Naeveran got searched. Which is odd, since Naeveran dodged that bribe-procured search token like a veritable plague- the Weyr, home of entrenched perversity? No thanks.
However, another slick talking rider locked on to his precious sweetheart. The girl he had from a tender age fully intended on hand fasting and raising a plethora of children with as (over)protective head of the perfect family unit. And since Naeveran, unlike his father, has actually listened to his mother at some point in her life he had a shrewd idea how likely the rider’s golden promises were. He’d never tell his girl not to do her womanly duty to one of Pern’s dragonmen, but he was threaded if she was going to end up tossed aside. Bad enough she was about to be ruined. So when she went so did he, suddenly way more keen on that token he’d been offered. And bam...out popped the most perfect little brown second time out.
Which rather beggered his plans, given weyrlinghood’s entrenched isolation. Worse, she wound up impressing a green while he was gone. Lucky for her, his views on girls on green are not really traditional. Lucky for them both, they didn't get caught breaking restrictions much. Unlucky for her, she died a few years later. N'varan misses her more than he'll admit.
But at least he has pretty Weyr slu...girls to keep him distracted. It’s fairly hilarious and decidedly unmanly, but N’varan’s been subtly pimped out before, when a girls' desperately needed a sperm donor or an excuse or a room to hide in or a shoulder to cry on. He goes with it. He rolls with most things that don't challenge The Way Things Are. Though he'd *hate* to actually know that's how they got his name and the referrer had best never mention it.
He’s a model father to every possible extent he can be. He is genuinely distraught that of his 2 known children only one is his beloved’s, but the kids himself he adores.
The Weyr did change him in one way. Probably because he fell in love- with the cute, dainty little greens. He never wanted one (of course) nor feared getting one...no perversity, no chance...but couldn’t help but think them the sweetest little things and just so preciously *girly* next to their male counterparts. Suddenly, he understood why they would go actively looking for freaks- they patently needed something close to a female hand and proper girls aren’t tough enough for a man’s job. It makes him fairly lenient to female greenriders. It did nothing to fix his view of the rest of them as men who yearn to be used like women and don’t deserve to be treated as real men- or even human.
Every other pervert he’ll happily burn by fire. As he proved literally a year out of weyrlinghood with a bluerider who got the wrong idea and wouldn’t back off the crush he developed. (Don’t frown like that, the man lived and isn’t even *that* burnt. A couple of scars, is all. It was an ‘accident’, you know? He could have had Settbarath do it and then what?).
Long memories, though, will remember that N’varan survived Fort at its darkest *really* comfortably. N’varan, the rankers go-to man. The ‘everything’ he hoards includes some interesting weaponry that doesn’t leave a mark however much it hurts. The competence he displays includes the capability to organize some bronzers’ parties and evening debauches that...well yes. The truly liberal may frown on him for that and more.
He’d be annoyed. He’d point out that if you are going to get beaten, there’s worse things than it leaving your face intact and you to live another day. He’d note that those ‘parties’ included watered booze and girls he knew wouldn’t care. He’d mention that sometimes he’s arranged matters so girls (and very, very occasionally greeners) in real deep trouble don’t have to face it head on. He’d counter that that sort of thing has done rather a lot more tangible good to protect some of the weakest among them then high blown rhetoric and pointless bucking of the system. And there are just enough people around him who will back that up. He has done some good.
His once-wingleader met a sticky end at the end of a resistance knife 5 turns ago. He found the body. Hence his seldom acknowledged trepidation.
His life in general, however, is a thrill a minute genuinely enjoyed but never taken seriously. It’s all good.
N'varan drifted naturally into one of the vacant Assistant Weyrling Master positions after a reasonably successful flying career. A break to Settbarath's wing-bone from catching a thread injured falling blue left them grounded for a while. Blues again, you note, are any of them competent for shell's sake or do the perverts they pick break them all? The new position stopped him fidgeting while they healed. Seriously, though, he does undoubtedly have a bent for the young and is a fairly efficient teacher. That's if the student can stand the first few initial whacks to the head while they learn to *stop fussing* with pen and hide and learn to *listen*. Do they think thread's gonna hang around while they fumble and faff and *look things up*? The bone healed, but they remained. The verdict among the weyrlings themselves is mixed every time a clutch comes through his hands- some think he's wonderful, some abhor him and the runner he rode in on, but they tend to live, mostly without horrific handling, and he worries no rankers...so people best get used to it.
~~Dragon~~
Dragon Name: Settbarath
Color: Brown
Age: 11
Wing: Weyrling Wing
Appearance:
Setbarrath is just gorgeous. He has a shiny hide of the most carefully worked wood grain, glossy, deep and rich and varying everywhere. His build is slim and sleek. He looks every inch the sleek, thread destroying powerhouse he should be.
He’s small though. Definitely more the size of a not-as-big-as-all-that blue than a mighty brown. Best not to mention that. Really best not to.
He has a ridiculously expressive face for a dragon, And his eyes are a touch oversized- like man, like dragon? Far from startled, however, he radiates a sense of smug. Totally and utterly smug. You know smug? Smugger then that.
Personality:
A very good explanation for his perpetual air of smugness comes in that, well, he is.
Not quite as obnoxiously so as his looks suggest, but smug nonetheless. And very, very self confident. And like his rider, he is neat and efficient. He kills cleanly, metes out discipline cleanly....everything is slick and quick and done with the minimum of drama.
Until he feels like pitching one of his diva fits. The smallest thing can bring them on, and whilst they are usually quickly resolved, for those few moments he is an utter and total quivering mass of wounded dignity and high flown hyperbole. As soon as mollified, however, the placid Zen lakes of Settbarath-ness flow once more.
Its a shame Settbarath is a brown and not a bronze, because he adores younglings of all sorts. He’s a protective sort of dragon, and in that way the lifemates are beautifully matched.
Weyr of Origin: Fort
Abilities and weaknesses: Sett is a thread killing machine. Which is exceedingly lucky since his rider is an utter pillock in the air. He seems to lose every inch of his manifold common sense as soon as they reach 3 foot off ground level. Fortunately, he has learnt to shut up and let Sett steer. Needless to say, though, Settbarath has major stamina issues next to his counterparts. And his dragonic ego doesn’t like hearing about them. He’s a stubborn little git, just like his rider.
Pronunciation:
Character Type: Dragonrider
Rank: Assistant Weyrling Master
Political Alignment: The Way things are...Holder style.
Age: 30
Gender: Male
Sexual Preference: Heterosexual
Appearance:
N’varan is an average sized man, but long of limb and only just saved from being gangly because of his moderate height. He has strength, but it is a wiry, whipcord sort not a palpable presence as with some men, and its lack contributes to the overall sense of ‘unthreatening’ he radiates.
His features are neat but quirky, rather like their owner, broad high cheekbones and wide eyes under long arched brows both rather obvious in a thin face; a nose which is narrow, straight and fine but slightly more ‘there’ than he could wish, and an unprepossessing jaw line and chin to finish it.
N’varan’s eyes are worth revisiting though. Because you *will* notice them. In fairness, their warm dark tones and sparkly hints of fun and laughter and genuine geniality would have deserved mention in anyone. But overriding that, best feature or not, is their deep and wide setting in that thin face and their perpetual look of faintly puzzled shock. Those high arches in his brows don’t help, though at least they are thick and heavy enough that no society lady will be craving them. N’varan thus walks the world with the permanent expression of someone who’s secret and longed for crush has walked into the room and flung her clothes off in front of him ready for the best night of her life- while his grandmother is standing right behind him.
His hair is at least as crazed. Its kept neatly cut, but he can do nothing about an unruly forelock that just seems to stand on end no matter what. He’ll swear blind to you it did it even under the close shave of weyrlinghood. It’s probably worth taking that with a pinch of salt.
Personality:
N’varan is not quite as crazed as his hair would suggest. You can’t help but feel that the look of perpetual wonderment isn’t too far off base, however. If something suddenly blows up and sprinkles him in pink ribbons, he wouldn’t be too surprised. He’d probably still be gosh darn perky about it, though!
Most things are just dandy in N’varan-world. It’s helped by a sense of humor that rarely lets him down. The word 'shifty' fits the man like a comfortable old coat, however, and yet you *would* be hard pressed to explain why. He just...is.
He’s a ranker’s dream, conscientious, neat, hardworking and actually enjoys pretty much everything he has to do. He is surprisingly quick on the uptake and is not bucking for promotion so backs are perfectly safe unguarded around him. He isn’t intense or strange, he is decidedly un-perverted, he has an impeccable track record (for which Settbarath is solely to thank, if only they knew) and he gets on with *everyone*. Kicking N’varan would be like kicking the most boisterous canine pup ever- except the pup would care. N’varan wouldn’t. He’d duck, but he’d move right on along with what you are discussing without remark. You’d better be a quick listener, though- he does talk way too fast when he’s involved in the subject and those in his care learn to listen well...cos taking notes is impossible at that speed and he'll smack you round the ear if you miss something. All the same, those in power have perpetually pointed N’varan’s way when they want an example of the perfect lackey. If he’s not careful, he’ll get caught whistling while he works someday soon.
You can’t imagine any real harm coming off of such an innocuous source, rare bits of evidence to the contrary. He’s the go-to man for a pack of cards on those quiet nights when the bronzers are abed and their wingriders may play. He’s the go to man for a lot of things, actually, which is where the observant may just occasionally pick up a hint of the rest of him. Less ominously, however, he is a hoarder and can lay his hands on spares of most things. It’s not unknown for him to get a desperate nudge in the ribs minutes before inspection or a hinting cough from a ranker short a pen. If he has it, he’ll loan it and it rarely occurs to him to ask a price. N’varan deals in a different commodity. Peace and quiet.
So what’s the real secret? N’varan genuinely, honestly likes people and being around them. He is also- upbringing and personal qualms aside- utterly laid back. He’d be out on an Istan beach with a boogie-board if someone had been kind enough to create such a thing. Since they haven’t, he’s dragon riding instead.
But N’varan’s innocence is not quite as innocent as it seems. Remember those quirks N’varan doesn’t seem to have? If only they knew.
N’varan’s an oddball, all right. Mostly in amusing little ways, but in one or two others...well, it’s best he doesn’t get outted, for the sake of his credibility in the wing if not exactly his life. That too, maybe, in the wrong hands.
N’varan is nothing at all but a Holder in Weyrman’s clothing for one. He was raised a Holder by a domineering step father, and by Faranth’s very shell he will die one too no matter how hard he may try. And he doesn’t try. He’s proud of it.
He’s too smart for his own good. He deals in knowledge and making arrangements. He’d be selling dodgy things from barrows at the back of gathers, if he wasn’t a rider and all.
He is a feminist, in a twisted way. Provided you like your 'feminists' patronizing and misogynistic. He has a genuine sympathy with and fondness for women that isn’t sex driven and so makes him pretty unusual. Said women, of course, fitting his limited holder definition thereof. They are weaker and not suited for men’s jobs. They should remain dutiful. They should remain chaste and loyal to their menfolk, enjoy their children and maintain their honor. They are just pretty nice people, too and every decent man should be protecting... *and* cosseting them. If you can't hold your girl with kind gestures and a gentle hand, then don't expect sympathy from him.
Introduction to a weyr full of women not fitting that mould was...interesting. His mother used to call them 'no better than they should be'; and he came to agree with her. The debauched path they see as normal is not really their fault, the Weyr promotes a lot of odd, wrong things and women are weaker minded, its natural they would be influenced. You can't blame them or punish them for it. And hey, its a plus for a red blooded man. It’s not exactly a chore, having pretty girls long to spend time in your company?
Of course, it left him free to be a solidly devoted one- woman man too. Er...technically, technically. Weyr girls aren't proper women, remember?
He's a darn sight nicer than some. A lot of the lower caverns staff do, genuinely, like him. But Weyr girls are not the equal of the women of the holds. They should be a little more careful about what they deny and how they do it when dealing with him. He is, in general, perfectly nice and polite. He's even been a help and a cover for a lot of them. But he has strict views on obligations and duties.
He is also a *violent* homophobe. He is also probably one of Fort Weyr’s only closeted ones.
No, really.
Almost all of the green and blue riders who’ve met him simply by existing in his wing or having a single flight encounter would be surprised to learn exactly how strict his preferences are, and how much they don’t run *that* way. Why? Because he’s earned himself a rep as a safe flight partner, for one. One of those ridiculous little ironies life tosses up!
He really doesn’t like upsetting people. *That’s* how far his easy going nature actually goes. So there’s been a fair few mornings where he has woken to the revolting sight of another man where no man should be, and yet felt the need to make the bloody best of it. There will be chat, there will be an appearance of total comfort, maybe even a joke or two, and there will be a genial parting. It wouldn’t be too hard to get the impression he actually enjoyed it and is just too sensible to say so. *Then*, N’varan will run- and that really is run- to the nearest bathing room, scrub every inch of his hide with a vigor that strips skin, and hope the water will wash any remaining perversion from him. He’ll probably vomit too.
Because if you are a pervert, he really hates you. Badly. But he is simply too easy going to make something of it... until you do. Be prepared for what you unleash if you do, because the willingness to keep a calm face does not make his hatred run any less deep.
Greenriders have a partial pass. He will let you alone because –unlike the Hold’s degenerate perverts- you have a sweet little girl dragon *and* a use in the Weyr. But don’t push it. And if you don’t have a use....well. Then you really had best watch out. Openly gay instead of merely-suffering- through-it blueriders need to take particular care, since they don’t have that pretty girly dragon and ergo they don’t need to exist, period. Real men could do their job. Though he will be very nice as pie to your face you might well find yourself rather accident prone for a long time after. And they will be nasty, nasty accidents. Such a shame.
Ironically, N’varan thinks he is a liberal. Partly because he is petrified of the resistance, but mostly because he is kinder to girls- even weyr sluts- and underlings then the people he grew up with. He doesn’t even register any cruelty in that one loathing or his patronizing views.
The simple truth is he is a wise boy and a devious little git, but too genuine a people lover for a properly bad nature to have emerged. It’s kind of sad that N’varan, raised anywhere else, would be a very good man. But he is just that smidgen too traditionally Fortian to make that true and his homophobia is just too strongly entrenched to yield even to a kind and lazy nature. Make of it what you will.
He doesn’t want a liberal system, though. He likes peace and quiet and getting along is all. And he does have a soft protectiveness of women. Whatever facet of him you choose to see, the others are there all the same.
N’varan lives in total, utter terror of dying a resistance induced death. Thread doesn’t scare him in Settbarath’s capable claws. The Resistance does. Badly. He just hopes they see that he’s a good guy really.
...he doesn’t really get the Resistance’s definition of good guy, no.
Birthplace: Fort Hold
Parents: Mother- Naena, worker, Fort Hold; Father- Unknown dragonrider but was raised as son of Renarn, JM Smith, Fort Hold
History:
Naeveran is, as mentioned, a hold boy through and through. He’s a dragonrider’s son, though. His mother was a bit of a naughty girl for a couple of weeks ‘til said rider’s attention failed and she was forced to go begging to her betrothed. Lucky for her, he took what had definitely been pleasure and hope of escape and chose to interpret it as doing her reluctant duty. He never did have much imagination.
Naeveran was not his father’s favorite son, however. It’s nothing to do with his birth. Nevaran is entirely too girl loving- *not* in the correct sense- for the authoritarian and strictly Fortian smith. Who needs to raise a mummy’s boy? Naeveran found him strict, dull, clueless and wholly odious, though he keeps his tongue in his head like a dutiful son. His father thinks him a wastrel, too smart for his own good, far too easy going in general and way too indulgent, especially of foolish female whim, and doesn’t hold back his opinions at all.
The man caused the last, ironically. Naeveran’s mother is a witty, intelligent and lively woman. His father is none of that. It’s hardly surprising which was the formative parent and which still holds his affection. His father thinks he is the reason Naeveran got searched. Which is odd, since Naeveran dodged that bribe-procured search token like a veritable plague- the Weyr, home of entrenched perversity? No thanks.
However, another slick talking rider locked on to his precious sweetheart. The girl he had from a tender age fully intended on hand fasting and raising a plethora of children with as (over)protective head of the perfect family unit. And since Naeveran, unlike his father, has actually listened to his mother at some point in her life he had a shrewd idea how likely the rider’s golden promises were. He’d never tell his girl not to do her womanly duty to one of Pern’s dragonmen, but he was threaded if she was going to end up tossed aside. Bad enough she was about to be ruined. So when she went so did he, suddenly way more keen on that token he’d been offered. And bam...out popped the most perfect little brown second time out.
Which rather beggered his plans, given weyrlinghood’s entrenched isolation. Worse, she wound up impressing a green while he was gone. Lucky for her, his views on girls on green are not really traditional. Lucky for them both, they didn't get caught breaking restrictions much. Unlucky for her, she died a few years later. N'varan misses her more than he'll admit.
But at least he has pretty Weyr slu...girls to keep him distracted. It’s fairly hilarious and decidedly unmanly, but N’varan’s been subtly pimped out before, when a girls' desperately needed a sperm donor or an excuse or a room to hide in or a shoulder to cry on. He goes with it. He rolls with most things that don't challenge The Way Things Are. Though he'd *hate* to actually know that's how they got his name and the referrer had best never mention it.
He’s a model father to every possible extent he can be. He is genuinely distraught that of his 2 known children only one is his beloved’s, but the kids himself he adores.
The Weyr did change him in one way. Probably because he fell in love- with the cute, dainty little greens. He never wanted one (of course) nor feared getting one...no perversity, no chance...but couldn’t help but think them the sweetest little things and just so preciously *girly* next to their male counterparts. Suddenly, he understood why they would go actively looking for freaks- they patently needed something close to a female hand and proper girls aren’t tough enough for a man’s job. It makes him fairly lenient to female greenriders. It did nothing to fix his view of the rest of them as men who yearn to be used like women and don’t deserve to be treated as real men- or even human.
Every other pervert he’ll happily burn by fire. As he proved literally a year out of weyrlinghood with a bluerider who got the wrong idea and wouldn’t back off the crush he developed. (Don’t frown like that, the man lived and isn’t even *that* burnt. A couple of scars, is all. It was an ‘accident’, you know? He could have had Settbarath do it and then what?).
Long memories, though, will remember that N’varan survived Fort at its darkest *really* comfortably. N’varan, the rankers go-to man. The ‘everything’ he hoards includes some interesting weaponry that doesn’t leave a mark however much it hurts. The competence he displays includes the capability to organize some bronzers’ parties and evening debauches that...well yes. The truly liberal may frown on him for that and more.
He’d be annoyed. He’d point out that if you are going to get beaten, there’s worse things than it leaving your face intact and you to live another day. He’d note that those ‘parties’ included watered booze and girls he knew wouldn’t care. He’d mention that sometimes he’s arranged matters so girls (and very, very occasionally greeners) in real deep trouble don’t have to face it head on. He’d counter that that sort of thing has done rather a lot more tangible good to protect some of the weakest among them then high blown rhetoric and pointless bucking of the system. And there are just enough people around him who will back that up. He has done some good.
His once-wingleader met a sticky end at the end of a resistance knife 5 turns ago. He found the body. Hence his seldom acknowledged trepidation.
His life in general, however, is a thrill a minute genuinely enjoyed but never taken seriously. It’s all good.
N'varan drifted naturally into one of the vacant Assistant Weyrling Master positions after a reasonably successful flying career. A break to Settbarath's wing-bone from catching a thread injured falling blue left them grounded for a while. Blues again, you note, are any of them competent for shell's sake or do the perverts they pick break them all? The new position stopped him fidgeting while they healed. Seriously, though, he does undoubtedly have a bent for the young and is a fairly efficient teacher. That's if the student can stand the first few initial whacks to the head while they learn to *stop fussing* with pen and hide and learn to *listen*. Do they think thread's gonna hang around while they fumble and faff and *look things up*? The bone healed, but they remained. The verdict among the weyrlings themselves is mixed every time a clutch comes through his hands- some think he's wonderful, some abhor him and the runner he rode in on, but they tend to live, mostly without horrific handling, and he worries no rankers...so people best get used to it.
~~Dragon~~
Dragon Name: Settbarath
Color: Brown
Age: 11
Wing: Weyrling Wing
Appearance:
Setbarrath is just gorgeous. He has a shiny hide of the most carefully worked wood grain, glossy, deep and rich and varying everywhere. His build is slim and sleek. He looks every inch the sleek, thread destroying powerhouse he should be.
He’s small though. Definitely more the size of a not-as-big-as-all-that blue than a mighty brown. Best not to mention that. Really best not to.
He has a ridiculously expressive face for a dragon, And his eyes are a touch oversized- like man, like dragon? Far from startled, however, he radiates a sense of smug. Totally and utterly smug. You know smug? Smugger then that.
Personality:
A very good explanation for his perpetual air of smugness comes in that, well, he is.
Not quite as obnoxiously so as his looks suggest, but smug nonetheless. And very, very self confident. And like his rider, he is neat and efficient. He kills cleanly, metes out discipline cleanly....everything is slick and quick and done with the minimum of drama.
Until he feels like pitching one of his diva fits. The smallest thing can bring them on, and whilst they are usually quickly resolved, for those few moments he is an utter and total quivering mass of wounded dignity and high flown hyperbole. As soon as mollified, however, the placid Zen lakes of Settbarath-ness flow once more.
Its a shame Settbarath is a brown and not a bronze, because he adores younglings of all sorts. He’s a protective sort of dragon, and in that way the lifemates are beautifully matched.
Weyr of Origin: Fort
Abilities and weaknesses: Sett is a thread killing machine. Which is exceedingly lucky since his rider is an utter pillock in the air. He seems to lose every inch of his manifold common sense as soon as they reach 3 foot off ground level. Fortunately, he has learnt to shut up and let Sett steer. Needless to say, though, Settbarath has major stamina issues next to his counterparts. And his dragonic ego doesn’t like hearing about them. He’s a stubborn little git, just like his rider.