Dardain / 17 M

:: OOC Information ::
Moniker:
transient
How did you hear about us?:
I stumbled in after I don't even know how many clicks through ads on dead sites and mostly-dead sites. I was shocked to discover that Dragonriders of Pern roleplays are a thing, though in retrospect it seems totally natural. I mean, I've seen Warrior Cats roleplays. lol



:: Character Information ::
Name:
Dardain

Pronunciation:
DAR-dayn (similar to "jar pain" even though that makes no sense whatsoever)

Title:
n/a

Honourific:
n/a (but hope to change in the future?)

Age/ Turn of Birth:
17, 485, born late summer

Gender:
Male

Place of Birth:
Southern Telgar cothold

Place of Residence:
Telgar Hold (for now)

Craft:
n/a

Occupation/ Role:
Kitchen assistant / hunter

Character Aspirations:
Dardain wants to make his grandmother proud, making an honest living and staying out of trouble, but his urges to wander are problematic at best. When he thinks of his long-term future, he imagines a pretty, loving wife and a handful of children raised in a peaceful Pern, with himself a much sought-after baker. We'll forgive his mundane idealism, won't we?


Family:
✣Father:
Audain (Born T.461- deceased T.495, farmcrafter and rebel sympathizer at Telgar Hold)
✣Mother:
Darona (Born T.463- deceased T.495, senior apprentice beastcrafter and rebel sympathizer at Telgar Hold)
✣Siblings:
n/a
✣Children:
n/a
✣Other Significant:
Paternal grandmother Relaine (born T.440, former popular baker, now half-addled and usually half-drunk at Telgar Hold)


Appearance:

✣Face:
Taylor Kitsch
✣Hair:
Brown and fairly short
✣Eyes:
Brown hazel
✣Height:
5'9"
✣Build:
Lean, defined muscle; pretty athletic and flexible
✣Other Notable Physical Traits:
Canine bite scars on both forearms, generally scruffy and unshaven in an attempt to look older. He can be stealthy on a stalk, but at other times, he's prone to jumpiness and quirky habits like hair-twirling, toe tapping, hands shoved into pockets, or folded arms. He has long deft hands, broad shoulders, and enough body hair he almost doesn't need extra layers of clothes to keep warm in winter.
✣Style of Dress:
Whatever is suited to tasks at hand. Leathers for hunting, light woven tunics and trousers for cooking. He doesn't have much variety in his clothing; except for a feastday tunic and counterpart, less-abused trousers, his garb is either outdoors-friendly leathers or light woven tunics and trousers for less strenuous tasks. He prefers easily cleaned materials that don't require much fussing and, if he were honest, no deep thought to match together.
✣Possessions usually found on persona:
A belt with a pouch of oddments - a small roll of twine, a firestarting kit, a stone hide-scraping tool, and some hide-wrapped bone arrow tips in various states of completion - and a belt knife. He has a good pair of boots worn to a level of comfort he likes, but they've been getting tight due to his growth spurt. If he's outdoors roaming around, he's bound to have his bow and a quiver of finished arrows as well.


History:
✣ Born in late summer of turn 485, Dardain was not really intended to come about at all. His parents weren't in love when they conceived, they were drunk. Once Darona let on that she was pregnant by him, Audain had to cut off relations with someone with whom he'd been a bit more serious in order to "do the right thing" and make an honest woman out of her. When they tied the knot, Darona was already starting to show, and it was something of a scandal in the family. To escape the talk, they decided to leave the main Hold and head south to work on one of his cousin's farms. The grudging parents soon found that they didn't much like one another when they weren't drunk, but continued in an unhealthy relationship in order to save face. Both had their ideas about how a child should be raised and those concepts became the source of a lot of conflict as he grew. Darona, a beastcrafter by trade, felt he would be best served by early exposure to lots of farm animals and taught to handle them, while Audain wanted his son to learn how to hunt, raise crops, and irrigate fields.

✣ His second cousins, three boys and a girl, were not very tolerant of Dardain's curiosity at first. They had their own chores to do around the cothold and didn't like little fingers getting in the way. As he became more of a help than a hindrance, they started changing their minds. The oldest boy moved away to apprentice to a vintner shortly before Dardain turned eight - that meant more work to be done by each family member and probably had something to do with the way they saw him. Around this time, his father carved him a small, functional bow and started teaching him how to use it while his mother focused more on showing him the intricacies of using signals to direct the cothold's one canine to herd the caprines. The canine had to be put down not long after: she took a hoof to the head, Dardain tried to pick her up to carry her back to the cothold and got bit repeatedly on both forearms, and finally left her there to retrieve his mother to take care of her. It was a rough time for all of them while the gouges - some of them deep in the boy's tissue - healed and they had to put him on light duty while covering for the loss of the canine as well.

✣ Around this time, the fighting was getting nearer and nearer to the family. The cotholder left the farm to Audain when it became clear the farmcrafter and his wife had no interest in looking for a safe refuge from the conflict. With the cousins and much of the livestock gone, everything seemed emptier to Dardain. He discovered to his surprise that he had actually liked having other kids around, only realizing that the irritation and bullying was worth the company after they were gone. His father took him hunting more and more to augment their supplies, though there was no praise when he made a few kills on his own, just grudging comments that the meat would be welcome. They sent off tithes with a good excuse to hold some back like "everyone else" seemed to be doing - more than half the labor force and herds had evacuated, how could they send what had been due in the past? The claims caught up with them, however, and they became bitter that their careful hoard was confiscated as punishment. Soon, other rebel sympathizers in the area made contact, but in the main life went on as usual for all of them... work, work, and more work, sometimes interrupted with news of fighting. It came to a head for the family in turn 495 - the rebels were losing ground. At one point a small group of them stopped in the cothold's fields to try to hide from loyalist pursuers. While they were delivering klah and pottage to their guests, Audain and Darona were caught in the ambush of loyalists, mistaken for active rebels, and killed with most of the rest. Dardain ran out from the cothold as the loyalists chased after their targets across neighboring farms - the kid was later discovered weeping uncontrollably over their bodies.

✣ A writ of lineage suggested Dardain had a living relative whose whereabouts were known - and nearby, which might have been more influential - and was brought back to Telgar Hold proper. His grandmother took over his care, tutting over her son's ridiculousness for keeping them apart this long. Relaine seemed kind, but she'd suffered a bad head injury falling down some stairs the turn before and was guardian in name more than anything. The boy made himself useful in the kitchens, helping Relaine make soups and baked goods for a while, sometimes breaking down and crying uncontrollably when something reminded him of his parents. As his grandmother's memories slipped more and more, though, the aging woman was retired from the kitchens, leaving Dardain to do what he could to earn his keep and push through his issues. He was learning more than he'd ever wanted to know about recent history from overhearing gossip in the kitchens and was only able to continue practicing hunting under the supervision of a group of older lads. Understandably, they weren't thrilled that he tagged along, but his involvement didn't lead to disaster.

✣ Growth spurts eventually made it impossible to continue using his old child-sized bow, and Dardain finally confessed his frustration to his grandmother near his fourteenth turnday. Relaine explained that she had an old bow of his father's that had been abandoned in the scramble to get away from the Hold. Telling the story shed some light on his family history to the youth, though he wasn't exactly happy to know that he'd been an accident from the start. At least it explained why his parents had been so hateful to one another and, to some extent, why they hadn't separated - they had loved him, at least, even if he couldn't remember being shown much affection. The bow was handed over, only for Dardain to discover he could barely draw it back. He started volunteering for extra duties in the kitchens to further strengthen his body, to the apparent surprise of the staff. Within a turn, he started his new bow to shoot at targets, and within a season after, he found a partner to go hunting with. It wasn't like hunting with his father, but it was gratifying anyhow. There was a young woman in the kitchens - older than he was - he had a crush on, so it was good to have an escape from her maddening presence that made it so difficult to focus on his duties. She was just the first of many female interests he never pursued, but he wondered what it would be like, just once, to steal a kiss behind a pantry door - or more...

✣ The last two turns have been rough. A lot of potential friends turned away from him during the pastry theft issues and still don't talk to him much for fear that he'll do it again and implicate the by association. In addition, Relaine's health is going downhill as fast as her mind, and Dardain dreads finding her cold and stiff some day. Though he knows eventually he wants to start a family and be in charge of a kitchen rather than working in the bottom ranks of one, his plans between now and then are prone to change on a near-daily basis. He's thought about trying to go looking for the cousins that once welcomed his family to their cothold and passed it on to them, but it's an idle thought. The cothold was reassigned to a different family and he has no way of knowing where his relatives might be. Kidnappings, smuggling, the resurgence of the rebels, murder - it all seems so unreal to Dardain. He would like to do something about all of it, maybe join the guards for a while, but since Relaine made him swear to steer clear of the guardsmen until his eighteenth turnday, he feels bound to honor her wishes. Unless she dies first, much as the thought of losing her acerbic tongue and batty comments might sting. Right now though, he's most concerned with making connections with his peers and moving up in the rank structure of the kitchen while avoiding negative attention from the guard. One of them, somewhere, had to be part of the killing of his parents. At least there is still time to work on his literacy before he plans to leave the Hold for good.

Personality:

Dardain is sort of like a cross between a bit of dandelion fluff and a bulb of garlic as far as the flavor of his personality goes. He likes wandering. Sure, he uses hunting to legitimize it, but if he wouldn't feel guilty for stealing more time away from judging eyes and wagging tongues, he'd love to disappear for days at a time. As a kitchen assistant of a young age, he doesn't get much freedom to prepare dishes the way he'd prefer - the way his mother and grandmother taught him. Over an open fire, with herbs seasonally scavenged, he could "ruin" whatever he makes himself and nobody would have to know! He does try to behave as a responsible adult, however, and restrains his impulses when he must. He does regret not finding more opportunities to indulge his inner thrill-seeking exuberant side that  can seem suspiciously childish to some and shows in his usual sheepish grins.

Through an active lifestyle and the mixed blessing of genetics, Dardain possesses a fast metabolism. Ingestible stimulants like klah hit him hard and fast as though he were hypersensitive. He's often hungry between meals and has been reprimanded before for hoarding leftover rolls to snack on.  In the same vein, he doesn't fare well when he's thrown off his natural sleep rhythm. Most of the time he falls asleep fast and heavily, and when he does wake on his own it is abrupt, clear-headed, and ready for the day to start - anything to escape sweat-sodden blankets and the crust in his eyes. What he doesn't talk about much is that his recurring nightmares about his parents' fates make that heavy sleep a horror more often than it is a relief. He hates total darkness because it dredges up the imagery he's plagued with at night. During the day, nobody would really suspect it; even when there is something wrong, Dardain isn't the sort of person to freely burden others with his problems, so that means shoving any fears and worries to the back of his mind so he can try to move on. Of course this can't last forever, but at present, he's too conscious of his tenuous status and ambitions to improve it to risk admitting he still needs a sliver of glow light to sleep by.

He was raised on a farm as a youth. Naturally this led to proficiencies that a hold brat would envy - or sneer at, depending - and deficiencies to match. Dardain is still pretty competent working rows of plants, hitting moving and stationary targets with arrow shots, skinning and rough-curing hides, playing midwife to milchbeasts, and so on. Ambushing prey was never a strong skill since his patience is limited. He isn't very literate, though he is improving, and handling "refined" weapons like swords, crossbows, throwing knives, or spears is completely foreign territory. He'd rather wield a spatula anyhow. Batter won't beat you in return! He isn't overly fond of sweets despite making them pretty well; nor does he appreciate having to clean up others' messes, though his own personal spaces are scrupulously tidy about 90% of the time.

Children are something of an ambiguous topic for Dardain. Most folks he can at least tolerate, and he does want kids of his own eventually, but he feels superior and may come across as a bit condescending to them presently. He knows how to show proper respect to superiors and only rarely forgets to do so, except when mutual familiarity allows for more comfortable, informal interactions. His friends are usually male since he gets a little tongue-tied (and hormonal) around females. When he starts getting to know people, he starts feeling a connection that may be one-sided. It can and does lead to disappointment if they aren't as delighted by his company as he is with theirs. Dardain can be a little too eager to make friends and might just misrepresent or exaggerate the truth to try to make himself seem more interesting. He just isn't exactly the most popular guy around, and sometimes it brings him down.


✣ Prone to wanderlust, enjoys self-direction and rare freedom
✣ Prefers family recipes to more standard fare
✣ Guilts self into trying to behave more responsibly, has an inner thrill-seeking/exuberant/childish desire for adventures at odds with his desire for long-term normalcy
✣ Leads an active lifestyle, has a fast metabolism, sensitive to stimulants, hungry between meals and not above hoarding snacks
✣ Falls asleep hard and fast, suffers nightmares he doesn't talk about, hard to wake up except according to habits, hates total darkness
✣ Suppresses his problems and tries to hide weaknesses, conscious of his low status and ambitions to improve it
✣ Competent with farm work and hunting-related tasks, barely literate but well-spoken for a farm boy
✣ Doesn't like sweets much but able to make them, doesn't like cleaning others' messes but usually keeps his own spaces tidy
✣ Feels superior to children despite wanting some of his own eventually
✣ Shows proper respect for rank usually but prefers informal interaction
✣ Tongue-tied (and hormonal) around females he could theoretically get involved with
✣ Wants connections with people so badly he sometimes convinces himself that acquaintances are in fact friends (or more) - and then get disappointed if he discovers it isn't actually true
✣ Might misrepresent or exaggerate the truth in his efforts to make friends

Shortcomings:

✣ Spends more time than others think he should out hunting since it's "shirking more important duties"
✣ Often seen as reckless by those who don't understand how well he can estimate his own abilities
✣ History of incredibly minor food-related "thefts" that could have been avoided if he'd only asked first
✣ Recurring nightmares (though this is unknown to the general public)
✣ Hard to wake up in unusual circumstances
✣ Barely literate
✣ Not a team player when cleaning up other people's messes is involved
✣ Too eager to make friends out of acquaintances
✣ Sometimes falls prey to poor judgement where truth is concerned
✣ Discontented with his place in the world

Mannerisms/ Habits:

✣ Waits too long to shave since he thinks stubble makes him look older
✣ Jumpy when unexpected loud noises or body contact is made
✣ Sometimes fidgety (hair-twirling, toe tapping), sometimes hides his hands in pockets or by folding his arms
✣ Sometimes comes across as condescending to children

Skills/ Likes:

✣[Skill/Like 1]: Hunting - it's something he's practiced since a young age and gives him time to clear his head while still contributing.
✣[Skill/Like 2]: Cooking - he's got a good instinct for what flavors match well and isn't afraid to experiment on his own when he can, but likes best his family's recipes.
✣[Skill/Like 3]: Making bows and arrows - he's better at carving bone arrowheads and straight arrow shafts than a bow, but even those are generally serviceable. (The bow he owns used to be his father's and is of better quality than he could produce right now.)
✣[Skill/Like 4]: Physical challenges - though not as strong as a smith or as fast or enduring as a message runner, Dardain is in great shape and likes to use that.
✣[Skill/Like 5]: Suppressing his issues - he's lived with nightmares for about three turns now, still sleeps with a glow, and can barely read more than an ingredient list or provision order, but he's developing some skill with hiding what he doesn't think he can fix  - and improving what he can (the literacy).


Unskilled at/ Dislikes:

✣[Dislike/Unskillful at 1]: Criticism - depending on how it's presented, this can be really difficult for him to take gracefully, especially if he feels he was doing his best and still managed to fail at something.
✣[Dislike/Unskillful at 2]: Total darkness - it leaves his mind too free to bring up images of his parents' bodies, makes him feel vulnerable and unmanly, and leads to barked shins and stubbed toes.
✣[Dislike/Unskillful at 3]: Reading and writing
✣[Dislike/Unskillful at 4]: Sweets - likes making them better than he likes eating them.
✣[Dislike/Unskillful at 5]: Rudeness - people who don't bother with social niceties can be a real drag when you're trying so hard to make friends!
✣[Dislike/Unskillful at 6]: Talking to females - it's probably the hormones, but he might range from tongue-tied to blushing beet red or even stuttering around women.


Fighting Style/ Weapon of Choice:

He doesn't relish the thought of fighting other people, but if he felt like he had to, he'd rather use a bow or his belt knife - things he has practice with. Anything more complicated might lead to him hurting himself rather than protecting anyone. He'd definitely go for trying to disable an opponent rather than killing them unless he really didn't see a way out of it. Killing is wrong... isn't it...?

:: Candidate Information ::
Standing only?:
Not forever, if I may be so bold.

Colour preference:
No preference really, I've never done a Pern RP and I'd really like to see what happens. He's no Jaxom or F'lar, you know? If he does get a dragon, I'll already be thrilled. Though I have to wonder how desperate one would have to be to choose Dardain's brain over going between. lol!

:: Crafter Information ::
Craft: Cooking

Turns in Craft: around ten

Rank:
"Senior apprentice," nearly "junior journeyman" if cooking has ranks at all.

Location of Journeymanship: Telgar Hold

Specialization: Meats, breads, and other savories