Post by mangotango on Feb 29, 2008 19:32:33 GMT -5
Deceased: Died in Selenitas Earthquake Plot
Name: Theocrasis ((“Thee-ockrah-sis” for people who don’t think like I do ^^))
Age: Thirty-one Turns
Gender: Male
Sexuality: Heterosexual
Appearance: Thin and angular, Theocrasis resembles a rodent to an almost uncanny degree. His appearance is generally disheveled, his Harper’s blue tunics wrinkled and grubby and his coarse hair tied back in a ratty runner-tail. Though he’s only 31, his black hair is already liberally streaked with gray. His eyes are large and dark brown, and almost always narrowed in cautious defiance. When his face relaxes, such as when he’s asleep, it can be seen that the features themselves aren’t as unattractive as they at first appear. His nose is too long for his face, and his lips are on the thin side already. But when his thick eyebrows aren’t puckered his face looked rounder and less rat-like.
At 5’10’’, there are more imposing figures then Theocrasis. Few of them can wrap their hands around hammers with the same ease and brandish them so readily, however. Unlike a blacksmith, Theo’s muscles are firm but not bulging; he is an artist, not an employer of brute strength. He looks down his nose (and, as previously mentioned it’s a considerable distance) at those who take one look at the long-handled drummer’s hammer and equated him with a Smith.
His one physical problem is to be expected in one of his occupation- years of drumming has dulled his hearing. The deep, mellow tones of the drums he loves are still clear to him, but high pitches are lost or not clear enough to be understood. Trying to carry on a private conversation at a noisy Gather might prove difficult, since too much background noise makes it difficult to identify the sounds he’s listening for, but the same conversation in a quiet or normal-volume room would prove no contest.
Personality: Theocrasis is a bundle of judgments and preconceived ideas with a body. He picks an idea up somewhere and never lets it go, worrying it around his mind until he’s found a spot for it. And there it stays, despite all the evidence that can be brought against it, because he’s got the kind of mind you couldn’t change with an ax and an ego you could bounce rocks off of.
Theocrasis mumbles to himself almost constantly, the sound of his own views being expressed soothing him and helping to keep his temper, worn down to a tiny nub from years of bitterness, under control. No matter what he says, it’s always better to keep him talking then to let him fall silent. When he’s disinclined to speak is when his temper is truly nearing the breaking point.
The light spot in his life is his drums. Most of the Harper training was wasted on him- he’s too surly to be good conversation or a teacher, and his voice leaves much to be desired. But his memory is excellent, and drumming was the natural occupation for a good memory coupled with a bad voice. He hardly even hears the beats anymore- his quick mind translates them into the messages themselves so quickly that, if you asked him what each individual roll and pause meant, it’d take him a second to distinguish it in his mind. It’s all become part of the greater meaning.
There is one thing to be said for Theo- he’s loyal to a fault. Loyalty and stubbornness are two takes on the same feature, and which he possesses largely depends on who’s doing the deciding and whether or not they agree with his views. While he is decidedly biased and unjust, you’d never catch him being unjust to someone just because he doesn’t like them. They have to do something wrong first! Such as be stupid, ugly, unskilled, or female.
History:
Theocrasis's mother was a Trader's daughter. She was the only girl, and while her brothers went to help her father in the business she and her mother acted as the cooks and maids of the family- as it should be. Being a rather plain girl, no one came out and made a marriage offer for her when there were much prettier girls with just as much skill, and her father offered her to no one since she was a good worker. She was allowed a rather lenient life- as long as she did her duties, then no attention was paid her.
When Serasis became pregnant, however, each of the three men who had regularly bedded her denied being the father and Serasis herself wasn’t quite sure. They were all members of the small band of Harpers who had taken up with the Trader's caravanm. Thus, when picking his name, she “honored” them all. Teridar, Eosas, and Cren were mixed together with her name, and Theocrasis was created.
Serasis worked just as hard after Theo's birth, if not harder. Now she was a woman in disgrace, after all, and was reminded of that by her father. If she couldn't earn her keep then allowing her to stay would bring shame on the family. She didn't have too much time for her son, but unlike some people under the same circumstances would have she really loved him.
Theocrasis was raised by commune. While he had to obey his mother, he also had to obey any man who spoke to him, especially the Harpers. They did not mistreat him (despite vocally denying it, each one rather suspected he was theirs- fortunately Theo looked like no one so much as Serasis, so they couldn’t never quite finger the father), and his entire childhood he never earned anything more severe then a spanking when he was bad or a quick slap to get his attention- nothing compared to some of the children he saw when the traveling group stopped at Holds. Actually, due to his ability to be quick on the uptake Theo didn’t get hit once since he was eleven.
Oddly enough, seeing his own mother as an example of the plight of women in the North did nothing to make Theocrasis see it as unfair. He saw it instead as prove of female inferiority and weakness.
At twelve Theocrasis bid fare well to both his mother and the traveling lifestyle. The Harpers went on with the Trader’s (for protection and also so they didn’t have to pay- teaching Trader children some ballads and extra work on their numbers (though little enough had to be done- these were the children of MERCHANTS- they knew the value of Marks)), leaving Theo at the Harper’s Hall.
In three weeks into the training and Theocrasis had manipulated his way into the Drummer’s fast track. At the introductory lesson, he’d made up his mind that that was what he wanted. It wasn’t hard to do, really. He didn’t have to fake being a bad singer, and it only took a few actions for the rest of the teachers to dislike or be frustrated by him enough that they were all encouragement for the drums.
And, from that point on, his life was pretty much that. He finished his training as a drummer, and went right into work.
He came south only a few Turns ago, to take up residence in Lighttower Hold as their drummer. This has been both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because unlike the liberal, moral-less place he had feared, Theocrasis found what amounted to a paradise. They were even willing to die as a Hold to protect what they were from the over-stepping dragonriders! None of the northern Holds had that much courage- the Weyrs could have ran them if they’d have stopped tearing each other apart and wasting resources that could have gone to other things. Sure, Lighttower might be a decaying wreck, but he found some dignity in the sea-side place.
A curse because Lighttower’s self-induced isolation meant that he was practically without a job- few messages ever came over the salt-laden air, and even fewer were ever sent.
Name: Theocrasis ((“Thee-ockrah-sis” for people who don’t think like I do ^^))
Age: Thirty-one Turns
Gender: Male
Sexuality: Heterosexual
Appearance: Thin and angular, Theocrasis resembles a rodent to an almost uncanny degree. His appearance is generally disheveled, his Harper’s blue tunics wrinkled and grubby and his coarse hair tied back in a ratty runner-tail. Though he’s only 31, his black hair is already liberally streaked with gray. His eyes are large and dark brown, and almost always narrowed in cautious defiance. When his face relaxes, such as when he’s asleep, it can be seen that the features themselves aren’t as unattractive as they at first appear. His nose is too long for his face, and his lips are on the thin side already. But when his thick eyebrows aren’t puckered his face looked rounder and less rat-like.
At 5’10’’, there are more imposing figures then Theocrasis. Few of them can wrap their hands around hammers with the same ease and brandish them so readily, however. Unlike a blacksmith, Theo’s muscles are firm but not bulging; he is an artist, not an employer of brute strength. He looks down his nose (and, as previously mentioned it’s a considerable distance) at those who take one look at the long-handled drummer’s hammer and equated him with a Smith.
His one physical problem is to be expected in one of his occupation- years of drumming has dulled his hearing. The deep, mellow tones of the drums he loves are still clear to him, but high pitches are lost or not clear enough to be understood. Trying to carry on a private conversation at a noisy Gather might prove difficult, since too much background noise makes it difficult to identify the sounds he’s listening for, but the same conversation in a quiet or normal-volume room would prove no contest.
Personality: Theocrasis is a bundle of judgments and preconceived ideas with a body. He picks an idea up somewhere and never lets it go, worrying it around his mind until he’s found a spot for it. And there it stays, despite all the evidence that can be brought against it, because he’s got the kind of mind you couldn’t change with an ax and an ego you could bounce rocks off of.
Theocrasis mumbles to himself almost constantly, the sound of his own views being expressed soothing him and helping to keep his temper, worn down to a tiny nub from years of bitterness, under control. No matter what he says, it’s always better to keep him talking then to let him fall silent. When he’s disinclined to speak is when his temper is truly nearing the breaking point.
The light spot in his life is his drums. Most of the Harper training was wasted on him- he’s too surly to be good conversation or a teacher, and his voice leaves much to be desired. But his memory is excellent, and drumming was the natural occupation for a good memory coupled with a bad voice. He hardly even hears the beats anymore- his quick mind translates them into the messages themselves so quickly that, if you asked him what each individual roll and pause meant, it’d take him a second to distinguish it in his mind. It’s all become part of the greater meaning.
There is one thing to be said for Theo- he’s loyal to a fault. Loyalty and stubbornness are two takes on the same feature, and which he possesses largely depends on who’s doing the deciding and whether or not they agree with his views. While he is decidedly biased and unjust, you’d never catch him being unjust to someone just because he doesn’t like them. They have to do something wrong first! Such as be stupid, ugly, unskilled, or female.
History:
Theocrasis's mother was a Trader's daughter. She was the only girl, and while her brothers went to help her father in the business she and her mother acted as the cooks and maids of the family- as it should be. Being a rather plain girl, no one came out and made a marriage offer for her when there were much prettier girls with just as much skill, and her father offered her to no one since she was a good worker. She was allowed a rather lenient life- as long as she did her duties, then no attention was paid her.
When Serasis became pregnant, however, each of the three men who had regularly bedded her denied being the father and Serasis herself wasn’t quite sure. They were all members of the small band of Harpers who had taken up with the Trader's caravanm. Thus, when picking his name, she “honored” them all. Teridar, Eosas, and Cren were mixed together with her name, and Theocrasis was created.
Serasis worked just as hard after Theo's birth, if not harder. Now she was a woman in disgrace, after all, and was reminded of that by her father. If she couldn't earn her keep then allowing her to stay would bring shame on the family. She didn't have too much time for her son, but unlike some people under the same circumstances would have she really loved him.
Theocrasis was raised by commune. While he had to obey his mother, he also had to obey any man who spoke to him, especially the Harpers. They did not mistreat him (despite vocally denying it, each one rather suspected he was theirs- fortunately Theo looked like no one so much as Serasis, so they couldn’t never quite finger the father), and his entire childhood he never earned anything more severe then a spanking when he was bad or a quick slap to get his attention- nothing compared to some of the children he saw when the traveling group stopped at Holds. Actually, due to his ability to be quick on the uptake Theo didn’t get hit once since he was eleven.
Oddly enough, seeing his own mother as an example of the plight of women in the North did nothing to make Theocrasis see it as unfair. He saw it instead as prove of female inferiority and weakness.
At twelve Theocrasis bid fare well to both his mother and the traveling lifestyle. The Harpers went on with the Trader’s (for protection and also so they didn’t have to pay- teaching Trader children some ballads and extra work on their numbers (though little enough had to be done- these were the children of MERCHANTS- they knew the value of Marks)), leaving Theo at the Harper’s Hall.
In three weeks into the training and Theocrasis had manipulated his way into the Drummer’s fast track. At the introductory lesson, he’d made up his mind that that was what he wanted. It wasn’t hard to do, really. He didn’t have to fake being a bad singer, and it only took a few actions for the rest of the teachers to dislike or be frustrated by him enough that they were all encouragement for the drums.
And, from that point on, his life was pretty much that. He finished his training as a drummer, and went right into work.
He came south only a few Turns ago, to take up residence in Lighttower Hold as their drummer. This has been both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because unlike the liberal, moral-less place he had feared, Theocrasis found what amounted to a paradise. They were even willing to die as a Hold to protect what they were from the over-stepping dragonriders! None of the northern Holds had that much courage- the Weyrs could have ran them if they’d have stopped tearing each other apart and wasting resources that could have gone to other things. Sure, Lighttower might be a decaying wreck, but he found some dignity in the sea-side place.
A curse because Lighttower’s self-induced isolation meant that he was practically without a job- few messages ever came over the salt-laden air, and even fewer were ever sent.
