"I think I have this thing where everybody has to think I'm the greatest,
the quote unquote 'Fantastic Mr. Fox',
and if they aren't completely knocked out and dazzled and slightly intimidated by me,
I don't feel good about myself."
Roald Dahl, Fantastic Mr. Fox
BASICS
RETIRE INFO:
Kessyn: Retire, adopt if needed for a plot
NAME: K'syn, formerly Kessyn; Kess to his friends
GENDER: Male
PRONOUNS: He/him/his
ORIENTATION: Heteromantic pansexual
BIRTHDATE: Late Autumn 2746
AGE: 20 as of Early Spring 2767
LOCATION: Semaca Weyr
OCCUPATION: Weyrling, JM Beastcrafter
WING: N/A
APPEARANCE
EYES: Deep chocolate brown, expressive
HAIR: Short crop of black curly hair
HEIGHT AND BUILD: 5'10, muscular, broad-shouldered
PLAY-BY: Marlon Teixeira
FULL APPEARANCE:
Handsome, some would say- but you wouldn’t hear it from his lips. He is dark-skinned, like many Pernese, with heavily tanned bronze skin and a short crop of messy black hair. Dark, chocolate brown eyes are defined by black eyebrows, though he is far from intimidating. Kess has become a master of expression with a very flexible face. He has an angular chin and high cheekbones, but still retains some of that boyish roundness. Dark stubble lines his jawbones and spreads up his cheeks, giving him a more rugged, roguish look.
He might be deemed slightly shorter than average, standing at 5’10, but his muscle- and he is quite a muscular lad- is compact and pronounced, making him seem more bullish and less wiry than most of his beastcrafter friends. His hands are rather rough and calloused, and faint white scars trace the back of them, as well as his forearms and his legs. He is more accident-prone than he cares to admit, though he chooses to tell people that he is simply ‘adventurous’ when they tease him for his most recent accident. His nose is still slightly wonky after a fall from a ledge he made as a child.
His dress-sense is entirely practical, except on the rare occasion that he attends a Gather. He likes to pretend he is a very fancy man indeed. The practice began as a contest, with his friends, to see who could charm more women. Since then, he has developed a liking for well-fitting shirts and dress pants, as well as tunics that may or may not reveal his muscular forearms. He likes darker colours- blacks and browns, superimposed on the purest white tops. All of his outfits must be completed with an accent of red, which he believes is his lucky colour (don’t ask).
PERSONALITY
PERSONALITY:
Kessyn has a very devil-may-care attitude towards life. Bad things do not tend to phase him too much. Crises come and go- most of the time you survive, and just once will you die. So come what may, he says, not in a bohemian manner of insouciance, but more in the aggressive, grab life by the balls and see what happens when you squeeze.
Despite his general impulsiveness and eclectic sense of humour, he prefers taking numerous smaller risks, rather than throwing himself into the craziest thing he can find. That’s why his courtships end at yes, or why he only adds a tiny bit of klah and spice to his roast tubers. Afterall, you can’t get in trouble if you’re not throwing up and/or you’re not a dad.
The man thinks himself rather funny, and his goal in life is to make people laugh. Not a small, pity-the-fool kind of chuckle, but a full-blown boots-to-belly laugh. Kess genuinely loves people- for the most part- and finds it very hard to see them upset or down. He shows an almost disrespectful lack of seriousness during mournful times, choosing not to dwell on a loved one’s death but reflect on their life. He will be the spirited talker at a wake, the most inclusive drinker at a party, and the most ready to hug and hold you in your darkest hour.
Most of his high-octane energy and affection stems from a stabbing fear of abandonment. Deep down he is incredibly insecure, and relies on the validation of others to know that he is a worthwhile person. Some empathic people can see through the cracks in his positive outwards facade, and those people he tries to keep at arm’s length. He is afraid of feeling hurt, or let down, or disappointment, so he rushes past those feelings and into the next big thing.
His frequent and after tempestuous courtships with unsuspecting women all end the same way: he chases hard, then draws back when it becomes too intense for him to process maturely. He isn’t certain that what he experiences is love or lust, and for him the distinction is one that he believes he should keenly understand. Kess would love to fall in love and settle down, and to be confident in both himself and his singular monogamous partner, but his own anxiety eats away at him. So he plays the debonair gentleman and never says no to a tumble in the furs with any person who catches his eye.
One day, he hopes his bravado will become real enough for his worries to fade away.
HISTORY
FAMILY:
- Father: Dekorvan {2716 - JM Beastcrafter}
- Mother: Kerysa {2722 - JM Weaver}
- Brother: Korrik {2739}
- Brother: Devyn {2742}
- Brother: Rysked {2743}
- Sister: Sylkara {2745 - JM Tailor}
- Sister: Rysara {2750}
- Brother: Korvyn {2752}
BIRTHPLACE: Keroon Hold
HISTORY:
TW: violence, implied homophobia
As autumn came to an end, Kerysa, a Keroon weaver of skill and some renown, gave birth to her fourth son (and fifth child), and named him Kessyn. The labour had been intensive, the babe unusually big, and she was on bedrest for some time afterwards. Kessyn was thrust at various nursemaids during his infancy, though he never lack for attention or love. He knew from a tender age he would have to seek it from someone other than his mother.
Sylkara, his sister, was older than him by slightly less than a Turn. The pair grew up close, Kessyn loving her sweet and charitable nature, and he never left her side if he could help it. They had grand adventures that mostly involved exploring the paddocks and fields of their Hold. Children seemed drawn to them, to their stories and laughter and happiness, and Kessyn was thrilled. The gaggle of holdbrats hung on Sylki’s every word, but they would follow him anywhere if he asked them to. He could climb a tree and impress each and every single one of them. Their ooohs and aahhs fed his still growing ego.
As a youth he tended to struggle in class, partly due to a lack of concentration, but also because of his desire to be elsewhere. Harpers were stuffy, boring people- who had time for rote memorisation and singing when one could be outside, playing or riding or travelling beyond the horizon? He was a distracted child, lost in daydreams and mad ideas.
Shortly after he turned eleven, Sylki apprenticed to the weavers. This left him all alone during lessons, but he confidently asserted himself over the other children and surrounded himself with friends who were awed by him. Having kids ready to fawn over him and bicker for his attention left him feeling very good indeed. With his ego stroked on a daily basis, he began to forget the hole in his heart left by his sister.
When the time came for him to apprentice, his father made it quite clear that he was to become a beastcrafter as well. This was fine with Kessyn. Animals were truly wondrous, and the physical activity kept him occupied whilst not being entirely boring. He threw himself into routine chores of stable mucking and herding with enthusiasm that might have been fake in another child. For him, any opportunity to be outside in the sunshine was a welcome one.
As he aged and his circle of friends grew more laddish in culture, Kess developed a tendency to romantically pursue multiple girls at once (read: he was a fervent and frivolous skirt-chaser). He was the originator of the bet that he could win the most dance partners at a Gather, and it was a custom he and his Beastcrafter friends continued through the Turns. It was an opportunity for Kess to play at being over-confident and oozing in charm.
In 2763, Rumination was born, He assisted in the birth and was allowed to name the foal. His father then entrusted the runner to him as a training project, and the filly grew into an admirable long-distance runner under his careful handling.
A Turn later, a few months before he turned 18, Kessyn was raised to Journeyman for recognition of his understanding and training of racing runners. He was thrilled that people thought of him as talented, but the added responsibility of looking after apprentices was a little bit of a bore. He preferred to keep to his herds, and paid special attention to Rumi, whose care had been entirely handed over to him. His father’s way of thanking him, or appreciating him, he supposed…
Their relationship changed dramatically later that Turn. Kessyn returned home one day to find his father beating Sylkara. The young woman had fallen, and was now crouched, guarding her face as he continued to strike her. Kess didn’t think- all of his confidence faded away leaving animal instinct in its place. He jumped onto his father’s back and dragged him away, suffering a few punches of his own (that adrenaline stopped him from feeling until later).
Still, the pain was nothing compared to what Sylki had suffered. He realised he had grown distant from his sister, and he felt that old, stabbing hole reopen wide. He sat by her bed every morning and night, unwilling to leave her but unable to look upon her bruised and swollen face. He didn’t need to know why they had been fighting- she was hotheaded, and their father was stubborn, descended from a long line of deeply traditional men. It was no doubt some intergenerational issue that had no clear resolution…
And then he found out it was because Sylki had taken a lover, and refused to marry. He was angry on her behalf- because, of course, they were trying to force marriage on her like she was a pawn to be played or traded away. His father would never dream of doing the same to him. It was stranger, still, that Sylki’s lover happened to be a woman. Although not firmly ensconced in his parents’ backwards way of thinking, he couldn’t help but wonder if Sylki had gone about courtship all wrong… and then he realised that he was no paragon of virtue- and if Sylki had the courage to pursue love and remain true to herself, she was a lot braver than him.
Ashamed and guilty, he did all he could to support his sister as much as she needed. He was sorely tempted to confront her former lover and ask why, but feared that his involvement might burden her somehow. On top of that worry, his father no longer spoke to him, and his lack of support within his Craft had resounding implications with the rest of the journeymen and masters stationed at Keroon; nobody wanted to cross Dekorvan, so Kessyn felt the sting of ostracisation, and was saddled with the less talented apprentices.
When Sylkara came to him one night in the spring of 2765, asking for him to accompany her to the newly-recognised Semaca Weyr, he agreed. It was a new adventure, and it was an opportunity to remake himself as he desired; he could shed this old skin and become a better man for all that Keroon had taught him. He took Rumination, and the three of them boarded a ship and made the crossing to the Weyr.
Kessyn continued to practice his Craft, paying special attention to breeding and herd numbers, and continuing Rumination’s training. When offered the chance to Stand for dragon clutches, the man eagerly agreed. Dragonriding was just another great adventure, right? Besides, he would make a better leader than half of those crotchety northern folk put together...
UPDATES
- Late Autumn 2767: At Nebulaeth's Every Star clutch hatching, Kessyn Impresses Bronze Titabeth.
