Writer: Aaron
Character type: Dragonrider
Rank: Wingrider
Age: 22
Gender: Male
Sexual Preference: Homosexual
Appearance
Z'rain is of average height, some perfect balance between his mother's short stature and his father's height. He can look most in the eye, and despite not being the boldest of men, he carries about himself an air of quiet, confident self-assurance, seemingly at ease whether among his betters or his subordinates. He inherited his father's musculature and sports a body seemingly chiseled from stone warmed by the heart of the earth. He has almond-shaped, hazel eyes that match his tanned skin, somewhat darker than his father's, and light brown hair kept high and tight. Z'rain manages somehow to embody the fusion of the sharp and the soft, of strength and gentleness.
Personality
Z'rain is truly a quiet, private man, and he is at his heart friendly, loyal, and compassionate. He is comfortable in his own skin and with who he is, but his deepest, innermost desires and feelings, he keeps almost entirely hidden to himself, confiding in very few. His personal life and his professional life are completely divided, and off-duty friendships and relationships always take a back seat to professional duties. While he is perfectly comfortable in both taking and giving orders, he seems to be born the perfect go-between, a natural second and a competent instructor. He has a knack for taking the vision of a superior and achieving the necessary result from his subordinates.
In his personal - read, sexual - relationships, he truly desires deep inside to be told what to do, to be mastered, to be owned - or better yet, to be taken. He is interested only in older, domineering men, but his first experience of love and its unfortunate ending have left Z'rain skeptical of real love and slower to trust in his romantic ventures. Very few know Z'rain's true nature, as he has become adept in hiding it, not out of shame or of stigma, but merely because to him, such things are to be kept private, lest they affect one's professional judgment or performance or that of one's peers - whether one is fond of men or women or both. He disapproves of open flamboyance for this reason.
Z'rain has always been kind, never striking another who did not strike at him first, and he nearly always advocates for outsiders - at least, Istans from outside the weyr - who are often pre-judged before having been given a chance to prove themselves. He is a proponent of cool, calm reasoning over emotional outburst, but even he is skeptical of mainlanders and defensive of Ista's pride and honor.
Z'rain was very close to his father, striving hard to impress the man, to make him proud. His loss has affected Z'rain deeply, and he has become quieter and more withdrawn since his death.
History
Birthplace: Ista Weyr, 8.432.2.13
Zirain was born to a young woman named Essaine in the Lower Caverns, a talented baker, who happened to be in the right place at the right time during a goldflight in which the young Lynth found himself lacking and did not manage to catch the queen. When she found herself pregnant, she hoped it would gain her the affection of the bronzerider, R'zic, who fathered her child, but the man was not interested in a romantic relationship. Nevertheless, Zirain grew up knowing his father. Essain taught him to revere the man, and he spent his entire childhood striving to make the man proud of him, to attract his attention, and to be the son he wanted. When he was old enough, he wasted no time in joining the Candidacy.
It was during another goldflight in his thirteenth Turn when Zirain found himself with an older man, a bluerider called J'nas. It was then that he discovered the beginnings of his sexual appetite, though from the start, he decided it was one he must keep to himself. He could not stop himself from seeking out again the man who first had him, and he soon found himself meeting J'nas regularly in storerooms and closets after hearing the voice of the man's blue in his head, telling him where to go and when. It was exhilirating to him, this secret love of his, and to Zirain it was a very real love, one for which he would have done anything.
But he never expected that one day, he might find another man there waiting for him, one who was not his J'nas. Despite the shock of it, Zirain gave in easily enough to the man he did not know, who never told him his name. Later, he felt dirty, used, maybe even a little betrayed. When his cousin - a nephew of his mother to whom he had grown up with as close as brothers - noticed how frequently he had been bathing and washing, Zirain confided in him of the events and his feelings.
On his advice, Zirain confronted his lover about the man to whom he had been loaned. When he confessed his deep love for the man, J'nas simply brushed him aside. To him, Zirain had always been nothing but sex. How could he be more? And if he was going to be a girl about it, J'nas would find another tail to pound. Zirain was devastated, but his peers might have only barely noticed. He had determined that his duty far outweighed his own personal problems, and he resolved to remain strong.
In the latter half of his seventeenth Turn, Zirain Impressed his brown, Glossith and became Z'rain. It was then, more than ever, that he began to develop his talents under the direction and training of the weyrlingmaster.
Z'rain lost his father in the first fall disaster, and while this has had a profound impact on him, he has tried to focus his grief into determination to fight and defend Ista Protectorate in his absence.
Relationships
Family: Father, R'zic (bronzerider), +18 Turns, deceased
Mother, Essaine (baker), +16 Turns
Half Sister : Mirai, Candidate
Other siblings: Open
First Cousin: S'vero, rider of brown
Z'rain's Dragon: Brown Glossith
Dragon Name: Glossith
Colour: Brown
Age: 5
Weyr of Origin: Ista
Weyrling Class: 8.449.8.11
Wing: Windraiders
If ever there were a dragon to personify the phrase "gentle giant," it would be Glossith. From hatching he grew and grew, outstripping all the blues, most of the browns and even some of the bronzes in size. At full maturity, he became one of the biggest browns on Pern, not merely long, but bulky as well. For all his size, though, Glossith turned out to be quite swift, achieving high speeds in the air. However, stopping and changing directions are more challenging for him, and during his training, he caused a few collisions mid-air - luckily, none fatal. He will always be a dragon more likely to barrel through obstacles, rather than take the longer route around them.
Another dragon of such size and girth might look intimidating, but not Glossith. His hide is a warm orange brown, with a long darker stripe down his back and over his wings. He will never sparkle or gleam like some dragons, but he will stand out, both for his size and the warm color of his hide. His headknobs are small and delicate in an almost comical contrast to the rest of him, and his eyes always look around curiously. His large mouth always makes him look as though he is smiling.
Glossith is a dragon that needs love and understanding from his rider, because he gives it freely to everyone he meets, and cannot understand it when others do not give it back to him. He is eternally friendly, cheerful and always believes the best in people - even outsiders. It is something endearing about this big dragon, but it also leaves him open to hurt and manipulation. Z'rain sometimes struggles to temper that naiveté and to stop his dragon from following the wrong people.
Because Glossith is loyal, no one will ever be able to fault his dedication to his weyr, weyrleaders, wingleaders and his friends. He will never leave anyone in danger, and will risk himself time and again for those he cares about. His plans might not always work out the way he had hoped for them to, but somehow he believes that everything will work out for the bett in the end. And most of the time, it does. Especially when it involves his obsession: green dragons.