Woodrow
"Names’ Woodrow, but call me Woody."
BASICS
RETIRE INFO: Retire Rider, adopt wher
NAME: Woodrow, Woody to most everyone
GENDER: Cismale
PRONOUNS: he/him/his
ORIENTATION: Heterosexual Bicurious, but his heart belongs to Bo, ultimately
BIRTHDATE: Fall 2741
AGE: 27 as of 2768
LOCATION: High Reaches
OCCUPATION: Wherhandler
WING: Sunburst Crew
APPEARANCE
EYES: Brown
HAIR: Brown
HEIGHT AND BUILD: 5’8, lanky man
FULL APPEARANCE:
He keeps his hair cut short and out of the way, and does his best to keep himself as clean and tidy as he can. He doesn’t mind getting dirty, but he takes pride in how he presents himself. He’s never seen without his lucky red bandanna, his leather boots or his favorite leather hat. Woody’s also usually got a smile on his face and a pleasant demeanor when he’s out and about in the Weyr.
He has a very rectangular face with a slightly pointed chin, and rosy cheeks. Woody has always been tall and gangly, ever since he hit a growth spurt at 16 turns old. He’s not incredibly muscular, and has always been a bit noodly when he moves around. Still, he manages to pull his own weight and carry things that he needs to carry.
PERSONALITY
PERSONALITY:
Woody is a down to Pern sort of guy. He works hard for his keep, and he takes pride in his work. He doesn’t get discouraged easily, and commits 100% to whatever he chooses to do, even if it’s not the best course of action. Of course, this means he plans ahead quite a bit. That isn’t to say he’s no good at improv, he just prefers to think and plan ahead if he can. He can be a little resistant to change, especially if it’s a lot all at once. But if he knows it’s coming, it’s a lot easier for him to adjust.
He’s also stubborn in keeping at least a part of his former Holdless way of life. Even after all this time, he has Holdless superstitions and fights like one as well. He especially has Holdless lingo still in his head, and uses it liberally when he feels comfortable. Herding work allows him to straddle the line between Holdfolk and Holdless, so he dedicates a lot of his time and energy to it. While he doesn’t always enjoy spending time with others, he can be social when he feels like it. He also has a take charge type attitude when things get rough and people start panicking.
Intra-weyr Politics are the last thing on his mind, ever. He knows enough about High Reaches’ history (after much struggle learning to read) that he doesn’t want to get involved in any of it.
HISTORY
FAMILY:
Ya’vald – Father, Holdless bandit leader
Dosei – Mother, Holdless bandit
Tehas - Adoptive Father, Bovine Herder
M'sota - Adoptive Mother, Bovine Healer
A'zona - Adoptive Sister, Candidate
BIRTHPLACE: Holdless Bandit lair near Telgar Hold
HISTORY:
Woodrow was born into a Holdless life. He’d always been a Holdless and ever since he was little, he’d been taught to steal and lie as needed. He was often the ‘lost child’ when ambushing travelers, though sometimes their group would collaborate with other Holdless groups to try and take down bigger caravans. Woody was never allowed on this bigger raids, and he begged and pestered his parents to actually let him go and help.
He was 13 when they finally caved and let him come.
They’d attacked what they thought was a small caravan with a couple other Holdless groups. But it turned out it was just a part of a much bigger caravan. One that the Holdless was not prepared to fight. So in the chaos, Woody was left behind, having panicked when the alarm had been sounded, and the order was given to scatter.
The traders found him, and figured he was just a kid. Besides, the Holdless group he’d been with had scattered all over, so unless he could find his own way home, he was stuck out here. Granted, Woody was more than capable of returning to their home. But the thought of facing his parents after freezing up like that was one that he didn’t want to face.
Shamed and alone, Woody was taken in by a herding family specializing in bovine herdbeats. It was a rough transition, but he learned to make an honest living, even using his former Holdless fighting skills to scare off herdbeast thieves. He often worked alongside with a girl named Bo, who tended a flock of Ovine beasts. The pair worked well, and Woody started to fall for her.
One evening, as a 22 Turn old Woody was coming in and herding the beasts back in, he encountered a dragonrider and his enormous brown dragon. At first, Woody was wary and told the rider the herdbeasts were for the Hold. But it turns out that the dragonrider was here to do some Searching. Woody, among with a couple others, were perfect as dragonriders, as it turns out. And while Woody was not initially interested, he became more interested as he learned about Whers, the more land bound equivalent.
It was a tough choice. But Bo told him he should go. After all, he’d never be happy just being a Herder all his life, surely. And while she was right, he also didn’t want to leave her behind. Regardless, she pushed him to go, as she’d wanted to be a Rider but she’d never been Searched. She didn’t want him to skip on this opportunity. The rider was staying for a couple days to meet family anyway, so he still had a chance to go.
Besides. If he didn’t enjoy it, he could always come back.
He started his life at Telgar, working with their herds and also learning about Whers. And the more he learned, the more he found them charming and enjoyable to work with. They didn’t seem as fussy as dragons, and their mothers were the ones who ultimately made the choice about who got their chicks. Since wher clutches were pretty small, of course Woody stood for a long time. He had plenty of chances to back out, to reunite with Bo. But he stuck with it, even if he did go back and visit when he could. But his efforts were rewarded when a healthy brown wher chick’s egg was pushed against his boots one evening.
He and Brown Woosk got along just fine. Life was great. Woosk was healthy and his future looked bright. He hoped things stayed this way forever.
Though despite Woody’s resistance to change, change sought him out.
Bo’s family eventually wrote to Woody, saying they were moving closer to High Reaches and that he might not get to see her as much. So of course, he transferred over, much to Woosk’s annoyance. But the pair settled in just fine, though with some scrutiny. It seemed whers had gotten a bad reputation in the past due to a rotten old leader they’d had. Not that Woody cared much. He had a job to do with his partner, and wasn’t about to let people’s assumptions about him get in the way of that.