Location | Ista Weyr |
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Position | Weyrling |
Birthdate | 08.437.04.09 (16yo) |
Birthplace | Ista Weyr |
Played-By | Alex Pettyfer |
Player | Ness |
Description
With dark brown hair, dark blue eyes, and a honey colored tan that doesn’t quit, Gavas doesn’t think of himself as particularly striking, though he honestly doesn’t think about his looks much at all. They are what they are, and he doesn’t have much of an opinion either good, bad, or indifferent, though the fact that he’s terrible at taking a compliment reveals more about some underlying securities than he cares to admit. He’s particularly fond of the fact that he’s of a perfectly average height and weight for a boy his age, however, as it makes it incredibly easy to blend in with the crowd, a valuable skill for people watching. And he’s always watching, though his stare is easily missed. Over the years he’s gotten very good at hiding it.
The air of cool indifference that he tries to maintain at all times is probably the most noteworthy aspect of his appearance. He isn’t proud or haughty, just distant, not above or below people or things as much as apart from them. In the midst of even the most chaotic moments he’s hard pressed to bat an eyelash. Gav seems to be capable of standing alone and apart even in the middle of a crowded room, and, perhaps more importantly, seeming perfectly comfortable with that position, not that it’s a trait that puts him near the top of anyone’s list for potential partnership in anything. Their mistake, not that he’d say it.
Some boys keep to and take care of themselves, and Gavas is one of them. He is as fiercely independent as they come and is completely comfortable with it, though he understands where some might not be and might wonder if he really is that way. In short, yes, he does. Not shy by any means, he’s a loner at heart in the sense that he genuinely enjoys his own company and prefers to keep everyone else over there, at arm’s length, where he can comfortably observe them, which is his number one hobby. With a tendency to say very little, he finds himself seeing and hearing more than most. Coupled with a razor sharp memory and lightning fast recall, Gav knows an awful lot of things about an awful lot of people, some secrets and some casual observances, many of them things people don’t even realize about themselves. If he wanted to use them as leverage someday he might very well be able to, but that day and time hasn’t come yet, so he contents himself with having a vast personal knowledge about people in the weyr.
When he does choose to speak, what comes out of his mouth is usually spectacular bullshit, something he made up off the cuff because it fit his mood and suited his needs in that moment or might prove interesting somehow. Knowing how to read people, he also knows how to play them or play to them and enjoys doing so, mostly because he’s very good at lying. He knows how to add just enough detail to make something believable, and he also knows how to work his way out of corners should someone raise questions or note inconsistencies. Not being particularly interesting and not putting himself out for public scrutiny, he tends not to find himself analyzed too closely. People tend not to compare notes about someone who’s seldom ever the topic of a conversation, and that is exactly how he would have it. Gavas doesn’t lie to hurt, just to manipulate people enough to keep things interesting. As morally questionable as that might be, he hasn’t found reason to stop yet and doesn’t know if he would or could quit it even if he did.
Those who do manage to get close enough to him that a little bit of the genuine shines through will probably know two things about him: 1) he has a great sense of humor about life in general and 2) he has a terrifying rage bubbling just beneath the surface on which he can barely keep a muzzle. Most things he can take in stride, meeting them with a witty and sarcastic remark, having a laugh, and moving on. Push him too far, though, and he’s likely to snap and go for a full on offensive. Gavas doesn’t have many fights in his history, but those few in which he has been involved are memorable because they were brutal. It’s probably good that he’s comfortable with being a bit aloof if only because it’s safer for everyone else.
Common Knowledge
Background
Though Gavas doesn’t necessarily know if N’sarn is actually his father given his mother’s reputation, he’s glad that the man claimed him, there’s enough of a family resemblance there that he’s happy to go along with it, nevermind the fact that they get along remarkably well. He’s proud to be the man’s favorite and only son, and he cannot imagine what his life would have been like if he’d been another brat raised by the weyr. Had he not known his parents as intimately as he does, it’s almost impossible to imagine just how much of a loner he might have become given his present tendency towards aloofness.
Being raised the middle child in a somewhat chaotic and disorganized cluster of seven children, it’s understandable that he grew up as a bit of an island. Neither as demanding of attention as his older siblings nor as worthy of it by virtue of being cute like his younger ones, he was often overlooked by crecheworkers as he did fine on his own and never asked for much. What Gav had in his favor was that he was sharp and clever and learned early the value of being silent, so much so that for a long time many wondered if he were mute. More mature than other children out of necessity, he never understood the neediness and selfishness displayed by others. Consequently, Gav never really sought out friendships with his peers as he had such disdain for them because he wasn’t like them, choosing instead to watch and to try to understand, ultimately deciding that getting involved with people wasn’t all that worthwhile on the whole. Watching, however, could be awfully entertaining, and every once in a while meddling was worth the effort if it gave him something more or new to watch unfold.
Even without many friends, Gavas had the strange habit of stepping up to lie for other children when they were in trouble with authority figures, providing solid alibis that nobody questioned simply because they couldn’t imagine him not telling the truth. He had no reason to lie for anybody, so why would he? That has always been the perpetual question, and Gav isn’t offering any answers to this day; the habit has stuck, however, and there are probably more than a handful of people who consider themselves in his debt, though he doesn’t seem to be interested in keeping score or collecting, which most aren’t sure is entirely comforting.
For the most part he was a quiet and obedient child, if a little unsettling with his silence and staring, making himself as useful as possible around the weyr and silently looking forward to his father’s visits, frequent during the Interim. As N’sarn’s only boy and favorite, he wasn’t so much spoiled rotten as he was treated like a dear friend, which he has always appreciated. His father probably knows more about him than anybody, ironic given the fact that the man probably doesn’t really care about the everyday life and random thoughts of his son. It was their close camaraderie that influenced him to actually pursue candidacy where he might otherwise not have bothered, mostly because N’sarn never emphasized a need to Impress bronze as much as a need to serve and protect Ista Weyr, an ideology he could adopt fairly easily as it had fairly low expectations. To his mother he was largely indifferent, perhaps even a little disdainful, which served them well as she was never particularly fond of him, and while he always acknowledged his siblings, he never went out of his way to act like a blood relation interested in being intimately acquainted. Though he had a family, it was a loose fit, but it was perfect for him.
At twelve, Gavas packed up his things and moved into the Candidate barracks, and as soon as the next clutch was laid he began standing for impression. Though it was to no avail, he didn’t let his lack of success didn’t bother him in the least, and his life changed little until the First Fall. His mother’s death didn’t impact him much, but his father’s loss of two limbs steeled his resolve to become either a rider or a healer in the event that he aged out. While N’sarn pushed many away, Gavas made his way closer to the man, never pitying him or offering help as much as just doing things without being asked that would make the man’s life easier. Fiercely independent though he is, he is an excellent caretaker when it comes to his father, and he would do anything for him—or turn his wrath on anyone who might question the grounded rider’s honor.
Most recently, Gav’s made an interesting sort of friend, and sudden faux family member, of his fellow Candidate Caltonnel. In spite of knowing that the boy was lying about being an Ista native, for reasons unknown, even to himself, he stepped up to vouch that Cal was, indeed, his very own Holdborn cousin on his mother’s side somewhere. With the woman dead and his family in such disarray to begin with, no one’s really had any reason to question it at all, though sometimes he does find himself wondering why he stuck his neck out when he doesn’t have to. The best answer that he can come up with is that it keeps things interesting, and that’s all that Gavas needs; there isn’t anything he strives for more in life than not being bored, and, fortunately, being fully capable of entertaining himself in a myriad of ways, he won’t have to worry about that any time soon.
Relationships
Father: N'sarn, brown Galmuth; Ista Weyr
Mother: Idala, green Nixeth (deceased); Ista Weyr
Half a dozen (give or take; they’re not particularly close) half siblings
Friends: C'tonnel, brown Raskhath; "cousin"
Lephiroth
Lephiroth | |
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Color | Bronze |
Birthplace | Ista Weyr |
Birthdate | 09.03.03.03 (hatchling) |
Wing | DreamChasers |
There is no doubt that this young bronze is quite a handsome young dragon. He's built lithely for his colour, with the size of a bronze but not the stereotypical bulk along with it. He's built to be rather agile and fast, very fast, which can be very useful in a larger dragon. He's well muscled, toned rather than bulked up and just looks like a pleasant sort of fellow, the kind you'd want to hang around with. His hide has a subtle gleam to it a dull, metallic sheen, not bright and brassy like some bronzes. The colour also is duller, an ashen bronze that gradiates from dark at his tail up to a soft pale ash bronze at his head. All in all this will be a handsome bronze, beloved of the lady dragons, and perhaps even by a few of the male ones too.
What makes someone charming? Is it confidence? Humour? A certain joie de vivre? Well Lephiroth has all three of these, and he is certainly extremely charming. He's also a bit wicked, in that he likes to push the envelope and then slide on out of trouble when things get a little heated. He's an expert at dodging punishments, he has every reason and excuse under the sun, every alibi, every bluster you can think of to squirm out of the firing line. And when all else fails he turns to either flirting or plaintive puppy eyes. He's constantly looking for a way around the rules to get to what he wants, and if that means a few of them need to be bent in various ways then so be it. He never wants anyone to get hurt by his rule-bending, his desires are purely selfish rather than malicious, and on the odd occasion someone he cares for, or likes, or even just thinks is a good person, get pulled up because of something he did, he feels terribly guilty. He won't confess to get them out of it, but you can be sure he will concoct some story that makes it clear that while he didn't do it, neither did they.
In fact that ability of his, that gift of the gab, the ability to spin anything and weave an almost credible backstory around it, is useful in other ways. If he’d been born human he might well have been a harper, but as it is he contents himself with being a storyteller. His fellow dragons may find themselves listening as he weaves a daring tale, one of heroes and villains and funny friends and adventure. Some may even openly come to listen to his stories, enjoying his theatrics. Others may think it frivolous or a waste of time. Frankly…Lephiroth doesn’t care, and just enjoys entertaining the audience he has.
He's a likable dragon, and very social with a gift of the gab, but he's not naive. In fact he's quite cynical and loves to share those points of view with dry sarcastic comments. He /wants/ to trust you, but really he kind of doubts that your intentions are that good. Still, it doesn't take too much effort to win him over. Betrayal will hit Lephiroth hard however, as will death, and he will heavily rely on the love of his rider to get him through those times.
Lephiroth is not a natural leader, but the potential is there for him to learn those skills. He may never learn to curb his playful, wicked ways. Or his flare for the dramatic, but he does have a desire to be better. With the support of a rider who will nurture his foibles and love him for who he is, Lephiroth could be a definite asset to Ista Weyr, at least socially or politically. He's never going to be a standout warrior…he's far better wielding his tongue than his flame.