There's a thin line 'tween the dark side,
And the light side, baby tonight
It's a struggle, gotta rumble, tryin'a find it
BASICSRETIRE INFO: Retire
NAME: L'ark, Luarken
GENDER: nonbinary, generally presents as male
PRONOUNS: xe/xym/xyr
ORIENTATION: panromantic homosexual
BIRTHDATE: Spring 2742
AGE: twenty-six as of Late Fall 2768
LOCATION: High Reaches
OCCUPATION: Rider, apprentice Weaver
WING: Firestorm
APPEARANCE
EYES: blue-green
HAIR: brown
HEIGHT AND BUILD: six foot two, slender and awkward
PLAY-BY: Chris Colfer
FULL APPEARANCE:The past few Turns have held a late growth spurt for L'ark. Xe has grown nearly eight inches since Impressing Anuketh. Since xe is still growing into xyr lanky frame, xe is physically awkward, more likely to trip over xyr large feet than glide smoothly through a room. Xyr limbs are long, xyr fingers dexterous. And while they have plenty of strength to them, they are not bulky.
PERSONALITY
PERSONALITY: L'ark is an adorable dork. Xe would very much like to glide through life, smooth and suave, but life has a different plan for xym. Xe spends a lot of time either embarrassed, apologizing, or some combination of both. It gets to the point where xe over-exaggerates certain gestures in the hope of not messing up.
Xe's about as sweet as can be, and will give until xe has nothing left for the people xe claims as xyrs, but xe prefers to hide that sweetness behind a mask of sarcasm and judgemental snobbery. Xe has learned how to apologize in such a way that it makes xyr audience feel as thought they are to blame. As xe puts it, xyr body already betrays xym on a daily basis. Why should the rest of the world know xym well enough to have the same privilege?
HISTORY
FAMILY: Single father, step-mother, step-brother and his family
SIGNIFICANT OTHER: none
BIRTHPLACE: Nerat Hold
HISTORY:
TW: character death
Xyr home life was not particularly exciting. Xe was the first born of a pair of holders, and was intended to be only the first of several. But xyr mother never truly recovered from her pregnancy, and was one of the victims of a winter virus. Xe was four at the time, and xyr father would not remarry until xe was seventeen.
Luarken was apprenticed to the Hold's main weavers when xe was just eight. Xe tried many crafts under their tutelage, and was eventually tapped by the Master of Knitting. There was soon nothing xe could not do, or figure out, or invent, with a few smooth sticks and some spun wool. Xe immersed xymself in knitting to the point that xe neglected other, basic, weaving skills. In fact, it was to the point that xe was not expected to walk the tables until xe was twenty Turns old!
Well, that expectation fizzled to nothing when a rider from Ista Searched the young weaver for a clutch at nineteen. Luarken was told that xe would be a fool to let such an opportunity pass xym by, and bundled onto a dragon amid protests. Xe did not Impress at the current clutch.
Xe did not Impress at the next clutch, either.
In fact, xe requested to be transferred to Benden Weyr shortly before xyr twenty-first birthday, in the hopes of learning other forms of weavercraft while xe waited for this mysterious dragon that might potentially choose xym. Xe was struggling with the art of bobbin weaving when Vilketh Rose, and laid ten eggs.
When Anuketh hatched, Luarken was not prepared for it. Xe had watched many dragons find their riders on the Sands, and hadn't gotten a particularly strong reaction from any of the eggs in the clutch. But xe was unexpectedly worried as the green inside of the Grace Begets Speed egg struggled to leave her shell. But when she finally emerged, and sprawled across the sand in front of the candidates, Luarken irrevocably became L'ark.
Ah, L'ark! I might need a little bit of help, here. The floor is unsteady.
But L'ark's joy of Impression was overridden by one of the last eggs to hatch. It contained Benden's next gold, and she chose one of the daughters of Laretta. Weyrling training was doomed.
L'ark transferred to High Reaches in the Spring of 2765 to escape a particularly obnoxious brown rider who seemed to think that because her brown had caught Anuketh during her first Flight, she should have exclusive access to L'ark's bed. Xe was also very tired of defending xyr dragon's color from the metallic assholes that ran the weyr. After the attempted execution of a Fortian white rider, xe wanted to belong to a weyr that valued Anuketh for who she was.
After all, the only gold dragons were weyrlings, and they were notably not part of the official ruling Council. There were two greens on the Council, and a white rider, too. L'ark is eager to experience this new dynamic in the hopes that xe will finally fit in somewhere.
