Post by neeuqtar on Nov 1, 2011 12:28:06 GMT -5
Character Information
NAME: Uulagrenari, nickname Ri
AGE: 19
BIRTH DATE: 4th day of January in 2998.
GENDER: male
ORIENTATION: heterosexual
CRAFT/RANK: no Craft; Candidate
Playby: Byron Lamakuokanoeau
APPEARANCE: The first thing that strikes people when they meet Ri is the hair. Long ago, Uulagrenari decided that he hated brushing his hair, and so he instead wears his long hair in messy dreadlocks. His brown hair bleaches out over time to a honey blond, so his hair is somewhat two-toned, being darker up top and lighter lower down on his dreadlocks. When he's working, Ri keeps his hair tied back in a leather wrap or twisted into an updo and held in place with wooden hair-sticks.
Aside from his unusual hairstyle, Uulagrenari looks very Bitran. His eyes are dark and deep-set, with a strong nose and some loosely-tended facial hair. Ri cares about his appearance enough to not want to be dirty, but beyond staying clean and somewhat kempt, he can't be bothered. He tends to wear serviceable rather than fashionable clothing, preferring leather and wool. Because his family is wealthy, most of his clothing is quite nice -- well-spun and woven wool, high-quality furs, and boots that can weather a Bitran winter without problem.
PERSONALITY: Crafty, intelligent, and above all a realist, Uulagrenari has no compunctions about dirtying his hands if that's what profiting requires. He does try not to harm people, but if they get fooled, it's really their own fault as far as he is concerned. He's good at planning and getting away with things, and he something of a pathological liar, rarely telling people the truth or the full story. Deception and manipulation are second-nature to him, and often he doesn't even realize he's doing it.
Having a wealthy father means that he has a rather large resource pool, and though Ri is by no means a spendthrift, neither is he frugal. He likes nice things, and since he has the marks to get them, why shouldn't he? Nor is "charity" a word that really fits into his lexicon -- give away money to people who can't manage to make any? Why would he do that? He's something of a snob because he is both talented and well-off, even if the money comes from his father and not as much from him.
He's not irredeemable, though. Uulagrenari is bright, friendly, and fun to be around. He's quite willing to renegotiate his views on someone if he sees them changing, and once he decides to do something, he tends to throw himself into it (even if it doesn't appear that way to others). Dedicated, smart, and political, Ri has a way of getting other people to do what he wants, all while seeming quite pleasant and charming. Things just seem to go the way he wants them to, either because he's charmed all those involved, or he's maneuvered them into doing exactly what it was that he wanted.
FAMILY:
Former wife: Giennesh. Dancer. Born 2998.
...Daughter: Griuulaneshri. Born 3014.
Father: Uuralt. Runner breeder. Born 2963.
Mother: Narilaren. Deceased; no Craft. Born 2974.
Sister: Laralu. Journeyman beastcrafter. Born 2990.
...Brother-in-law: Lillyan. Journeyman smithcrafter. Born 2992.
...Niece: Rillyalu. Born 3013.
...Niece: Lyalan. Born 3015.
...Nephew: Yularin. Born 3015.
HISTORY: Uulagrenari was the second child of his parents, and younger than his sister by eight Turns. However, he saw little of her as she was sent to Keroon's Beastcraft Hall in order to make something of herself. Neither of his parents were crafters -- his father bred and raced runners, while his mother tended the home and helped run bets at the races.
Unlike his tempetuous and ambitious sister, Ri enjoyed the races and working with racing animals. Instead of going to a Crafthall, Uulagrenari fostered out with friends of his parents who bred and raced canines. Ri was good with the animals and enjoyed both betting and the excitement of the races. It was not an easy life, and Ri was quite exposed to the depravities which showed up in Bitra Hold, and got very inured to cheating and fixing races. That's just how things were done, and how a person made enough marks to feed themselves, their animals, and have some on the side for luxuries.
War and Threadfall were dreadful things to deal with, of course, and shocking... but life went on. Bitra was so mountainous, rocky, and cold, that Uuralt (and by extension, Ri) lost very little to the First Fall. Most people built in stone, and even the stables were generally caves and stone buildings. Finding fodder was difficult for a time, but there were storehouses and grasses grew quickly, after all. Little of the war affected Uulagrenari. He lived his life just as he always had.
When he was fifteen, Ri got a girl -- Giennesh -- pregnant, one of the young dancers who worked the taverns and bawdy houses in Bitra. His father -- who was quite wealthy from his runners by this point -- purchased a small plot of land for them just outside the Hold, so that they could wed and have a family started. This worked quite fine for about a year, until their daughter was born. Giennesh was unwilling to live at home while Ri made his money working the races and for his father, and started sneaking out to dance, leaving Griuulaneshri home alone for hours at a time with only the canines to tend to her.
Uulagrenari was furious when he found out, and for the first time in his life hit Giennesh. The next day, she and their daughter were gone. It wasn't too hard for Uulagrenari to locate his wife and child in Bitra, but Giennesh was completely set on leaving him and keeping the girl, supporting herself as a dancer. At sixteen Turns and with only as much honor as he needed, Ri wasn't about to sacrifice everything to try and win her back. Instead he returned to working in the races, making a decent profit and enjoying what he did.
That all changed in the spring of 3015. A Searchrider came to one of the runner fairs held near Bitra Hold, and one found Uulagrenari as he was going about his business. Intrigued by the idea of dragonriding and not about to turn down the honor or adventure, Ri prepared his things and left his family for the Weyr. Not to mention that one simply did not turn down a dragonrider on Search. The Weyrs were dangerous and they were in control. The next day, after his family hosted the dragonrider and his dragon, Uulagrenari returned with him to Benden Weyr.
When a group of riders defected from Benden, forming Wasteland Weyr in the South in the husk of Monaco Bay Weyr, Ri was one of the Candidates taken with them. He hated the desert, but it was survivable, and Uulagrenari managed to build up some relationships similar enough to friendship that he counted them as such. Being taken to the defeated Selenitas Weyr was another unusual shift, but Ri was good at fitting himself into niches, and he made a place for himself among the Candidates.
Life at Selenitas was darker, it seemed, than the underbelly of Bitra Hold, which was an odd twist of fate. He Stood for the first time at Selenitas, but was not the pick of any dragon. The culling of the malformed dragons was shocking to him. Oh, he understood the rationale -- as a breeder, he had sometimes been forced to kill animals for their own sakes, because they could not live a good life. But the Wastelander's definition of "good" was very different from an animal breeders (no to mention dragons were sentient). The only animals they had culled were ones that would have required excessive medical care simply to survive -- those with broken or malformed legs, generally, or animals with severe injuries that could not be justified the cost.
But none of the dragons culled had anything so wrong with them that they could not survive and live good lives. Even the dragon without wings seemed otherwise healthy. More than once Uuralt had retired or kept runners who could not perform their primary duties -- racing and breeding -- as "pasture ornaments." They had the wealth, and though they were cutthroat in making their profits, the runners were more important to them than family. It cost little to feed one extra mouth, particularly when that mouth had been the fault of their own poor breeding. There was such a thing as taking responsibility for your own mess. It wasn't charity. Privately, Uulagrenari began to resent the Wastelanders.
The earthquake, too, was horrifying, but he survived, and now in the formerly-Burimyu-now-New-Selenitas-Weyr, he is settling into a new pattern.
OTHER INFORMATION:
- Ri stands to inherit his father's land and business, as his sister has no interest in racing runners.
- Laralu & Lillyan live at Ruatha Hold. She raises the children and maintains the breeding records; he works as a farrier.
- Uu'n of blue Adith was Ri's cousin.
Candidate Information
IMPRESSION PREFERENCES: no preference
POST-IMPRESSION NAME: L'nari
