Name: ArolonDragon Rider Name: Ar'lon
Age: 13
Sex: Male
Sexual Orientation: Straight
Craft: Smithcraft
Rank: Apprentice
Physical Description: He's 5'5 and around 115 pounds. An average height and weight for someone his age. He has straight messy charcoal black hair he doesn’t like to comb. It’s short enough that it doesn’t cover his small ears yet long enough to stick out in all directions. He sweeps most of the hair off to one side of his head in an effort to hide his scar. The scar is as large as an adult’s closed fist and red in coloration. It covers his right eye and part of his face surrounding the eye. His thin eyebrows are as black as his hair. He has slanted eyes that are a light honey brown color. He can still see out of his right eye, despite the scar. He doesn’t wear glasses. His head is rounded with a small chin. The boy has a pointy nose that curves upward at the end, and a short neck. His skin is cream-color white and prone to sunburn. His build is average, though he looks like he needs to eat more to fill out in some places. His limbs are long like he’s going through a growth spurt. He’s not at all muscular, as if he is not used to hard work yet. He’s a healthy-looking boy though. When he runs his heels go up and only his toes touch the ground. He likes to be barefoot. He walks slowly where ever he goes, as if he was never in a big hurry. When he’s sitting or standing he can stay still as a stone. He doesn’t process the manic energy children his age usually have. He looks like an emo kid, the sensitive type. To some he probably looks like a punk, or troublemaker. People probably wouldn’t know how to act around him until they got to know him. He won’t make friends easily. His voice is a surprisingly soft male voice, not deep sounding. He tends to talk loudly, so that his soft voice can be heard. He also talks fast, especially when he’s excited. His voice cracks when he laughs so he tries to smother any laughter by covering his mouth with his hands. He wears scented cologne he made himself to fight against sweaty, dirty smells he sometimes gets in his crowded sleeping space or during hard work. He wears layers of clothes to protect himself from cuts and scraps. A black long sleeved shirt was covered with a red vest that had golden yellow trim. It was tied close to him with a silver colored sash around his waist. Baggy black pants protected his legs. He tucked the ends of them into his boots and tied the pants to my boots with two smaller silver sashes. Arolon’s boots matched his outfit with colors of red and black.
Personality: Aro’s a hardy teen boy that can adapt to different situations easily enough. He dealt with leaving home to become a Smithcraft apprentice then made the most out of his change to become a candidate. He wasn’t the smartest lad but he hoped to gain an education while pursuing his goals. This young lad has gained a careful streak ever since his accident, wanting everything done right so no one will come to harm. He’s very loyal and protective to those he cares about. Risk taking is costly and unappealing. He’s rather self-conscious. He has a nervous habit of pushing his hair over his facial scar to try and hide it from curious eyes. The ‘hair over one eye’ look makes others think of him as emo or just the poetic sensitive type. He isn’t any of those things. He prefers to work alone so that no one would stare at him or question him about the scar. He’s not a loner by nature; he’s not shy either, just tired of explaining his big mistake to everyone. He just wants the company of someone who would ignore his appearance. To distract himself from thinking about the accident he does chores others would hate to do. He’s very committed to his goals and works hard to accomplish them. Arolon secretly fears he has become a disappointment to his mother for not following family tradition and for his embarrassing burn incident. He wants to restore the family’s honor by becoming a dragon rider and saving others from thread. He has artistic creativity in the form of perfume and cologne making. He likes to sell them for a cheap price when he can. It started when he noticed that both apprentices and candidates alike stink from sweat, dirtiness, and overcrowding. He learned about herbs by doing chores for healers. He uses various flowers and herbs to make sweet smelling perfumes to wear. People tend to misunderstand him and question his manliness. He often lies claiming the flowers are for a girlfriend and snaps defensively if they don’t believe him. Some people also question his sanity whenever they see him with his pet rock Zerst. He loves animals and badly wants a pet. Unable to get one, he made Zerst instead. He’s teased often and overtime has become foul mouthed and quick to anger. He likes to vent his frustration out on inanimate objects. He’s not very patient, or forgiving. He likes earning money, and loves spending it just as much. He hasn’t learned anything in the way of self-control. If he sees a fresh bubbly pie or a neat item he’ll see if he can afford it. He won’t gamble though, too risky. His usual disposition is neutral, focused and curious. He could ask a million questions if he knew the person he was talking to would answer him. He likes fun as much as the next youngster, when chores are done he likes to play by himself or with close friends who understand him. He values friendship, family, hard workers, honesty and honor. He hates lazy people, idiots, bullies and adults who think their smarter, faster, and/or stronger than everyone else in all of Pern. He has a competitive streak and loves to prove others wrong. His creative side makes him an Introvert and at times that can distract him. His greatest fear is the dark, not fire. After the accident he gained a phobia of going blind and hates the dark. Fire just fascinates him with its power to protect or destroy. He would keep a glow basket beside his bed if he could get away with it. He snaps his fingers a lot. He has horrible table manners, slurps his soup and burps without saying excuse me. He eats likes a pig, claiming that he’s growing boy and needed it. He’s not at all picky about what he eats; his favorite desert is bubbly pie. To avoid table conflict he prefers to eat outdoors and away from others.
History: His mother Donnet was 49 turns old when she decided something was missing in her life. She decided she wanted a baby. Someone to call her mother and fill her life with happy memories for the rest of her turns. She was infertile; she knew she couldn’t become pregnant. Even if she could she wasn’t very attractive or easy to get along with. No one wanted to become her Weyr Mate. Donnet wanted a child to pass on the family tradition of joining into Smithcraft. There were no servants under her command so it was up to her to find herself a child. Requesting an audience with the Lord Holder she asked if she could nanny a weyr brat. It would satisfy her desire to nurture and she could encourage it into Smithcraft. She was politely rejected due to an abundance of nannies already available. Determined to get what she wanted the woman bought a runner beast from a friend and rode off in the direction of another Hold. During the night along the way she was sleeping when she awoke to a strange sound. She heard someone crying. Investigating further she stumbled upon a farm. Beside a pen of wherries was a baby wrapped in a little worn blanket. Someone had obviously put the child there in hopes of it being discovered. She picked the little one up and looked around for its mother. She was startled when she did see someone hiding in the shadows of the forest. What stuck out most was the letter ‘S.’ Shunned folk had abandoned the infant. The person vanished and Donnet nervously returned to her camp back in the forest. Her Runner Beast was stolen, along with all of her food rations. She returned to the farm and noticed a dragon rider and his dragon searching a youngster in the field. She approached them quickly and asked for a ride back home. The rider refused at first, saying the cold of ‘Between’ would kill the baby. She repeated that she had asked for a flight, not a trip Between. The boy accepted the proposal to become a candidate. The rider said he would bring the new candidate Between to his destination then he would be right back. Donnet waited and sure enough the rider blinked back from Between and she rode a dragon back home, triumphant in finally adopting a son.
Turns later and Arolon wears his best looking clothes in hopes of impressing the Master Smith during his application to become an apprentice. His goal was to carry on the family tradition of becoming a Smith like his mother expected him to do. He knows nothing of his Shunned parents, instead believing that he was Craft Born and that his father died doing his job. Mother had always said how important it was to follow family tradition and become a Smith like his father; it was practically in his veins! He believed her story without question. He was accepted as an apprentice. One of his first tasks was to sort through ore in the bellows. Just as he was starting to get good at it after a few days the boy noticed a flamer (flamethrower) off its rack. Despite safety precautions he felt it would be safer to put it back on the rack where it wouldn’t burn anything. Then he thought about learning how to work it so he would be one step ahead of the other apprentices his age. Sure that no one would find out about his brilliant plan he began messing with the flamer. It was pointed right at his face when it went off. Thankfully his eyes were closed right before the blast. His screams of pain alerted the Master Smith. He found the flamer on the ground and the burnt boy; he turned the flamer off and escorted the boy outside. Cool water was gently poured over the burn while another apprentice was sent to go get a healer. The Master Smith didn’t scold the boy; the scar he was sure to get was punishment enough. He wasn’t sure if Arolon would ever see again out of the right eye or not. The burn covered the eye area as if he were punched. The healer arrived and quickly put some salve paste over the burn, bandaging the boy’s head. The Master Smith put his remaining apprentices back to work while the healer escorted Arolon home. Donnet was horrified by the incident, asking if he’ll ever see out of his right eye again. The healer could only shrug and say he wouldn’t know until the bandage came off in a sevenday.
Arolon received a scolding and a lot of comforting love from his mother. He stayed home that week, too ashamed to return to his apprenticeship until he knew if he were blind in that eye or not. The day finally came when the healer slowly unraveled the bandage wrap from the boy’s face. Donnet was even more sickened at the burn she hadn’t seen until now. The healer gently wiped away the old salve crème and asked Arolon if he could open his eye at all. The boy did and shocked everyone with his eye. It was seeing and clear, not at all blind! He closed it again while the healer reapplied a new salve paste and rewrapped the wound. “One more sevenday and he should be just fine.” The healer stated, leaving again. Donnet hugged her son tightly; it was obvious he would be scarred. Was this all her fault? If she had left him to the farmer family, what would he be like now? She wasn’t sure she wanted him to become a Smith anymore.
Another week passes and the burn is mostly healed. Arolon is left with a phobia of the dark, of blindness and a strong fascination with fire. Arolon can see out of both eyes and finally returns to the Master Smith to apologize for what he did. He also asks if he could try again at apprenticeship, as long as he obeyed all orders this time. The Master Smith was impressed that the boy wasn’t quitting. He didn’t want to accept but he didn’t have the heart to refuse the boy after what happened.
Come next week a dragon rider searched through all the children apprentices and the dragon found Arolon worthy to become a candidate. The boy asked his mother and the Master Smith if he could go, new dreams filling his head. They both agreed, relieved that he wanted something else now. He was young at 13 turns old that left many more turns to try and become a dragon rider. He packed some things to go with him, including Zerst his pet rock. He was then flown away to his new destiny.
Pets: He has a pet rock, more of an item than a pet. He painted eyes on it with berry juice and glued grass on top for hair. He named it Zerst. Upon questioning he swears it’s a well-trained rock. It can sit, stay, roll over, play dead and attack on command. (By throwing it at his victims) He takes it everywhere with him.
Other/Talents:
· He knows about herbs from doing chores for the healer and uses that knowledge to make perfumes and cologne.
· His influential ability to talk customers into buying his perfumes and colognes.
· His ability to motivate people
· He learned sorting and organizational skills during his Smithcraft apprenticeship by sorting ore. This talent increases his timeliness.
Will this character be a candidate? (Yes!)
Credits:
* Art done by madhatterkyoko
* Free banners found here!
Note: I tried to fill in as much detail about the character as possible but despite my best efforts I think it ended up disorganized, maybe lacking in something. I'll happily accept some opinions about it.
