ETHEN
" I do not think it means what you think it means.”—Inigo Montoyo, The Princess Bride
BASICS
NAME: Ethen
GENDER: male
PRONOUNS: he/him/his
ORIENTATION: he thinks he’s heterosexual now, but what does he know?
BIRTHDATE: Winter 2757
AGE: 15 as of Winter 2772
LOCATION: Semaca Weyr
OCCUPATION: candidate
WING: N/A
APPEARANCE
EYES: hazel, although they usually match to brown
HAIR: golden brown
HEIGHT AND BUILD: Ethen just recently shot up to 5’11. He is slender, but well built.
FULL APPEARANCE: Ethen is tall with a charming smile, dimples and twinkling hazel eyes. His height is new, so he is a little uneasy about it. His hair is long and braided tightly. Ethan expects when he becomes a rider he will want to cut it, but for now he wanted to try the length out, although his mother does not like it. Eager to gain his mother’s attention, he keeps himself ready to receive her at any moment and that includes making sure he is immaculately groomed at all times, even when he is in his work clothes.
PERSONALITY
PERSONALITY:Ethen is a kind lad who will grow into a kind man. He is a charming young man who will help anyone in any way possible. His personality is based his biological mother’s treatment of him and lessons she taught him as a young lad. She turned him over to the women of the lower caverns when he was born, but she frequently visited Ethen especially as he grew older because in his eyes she was beautiful and exotic to someone who is mainly surrounded by the people of the lower caverns. He was almost worshipful of her and she appreciated it. She has a color bias and viewed gold, brown and bronze pairs as superior. She filled his head with stories of how his brave, wonderous bronze rider father would come to see him, if his duties allowed, but they did not. All these stories cause Ethen to focus on his biological parents instead of seeing the value of what was in front of him, a loving foster mother in the lower caverns.
HISTORY
FAMILY:
Biological mother: Elissia, greenrider
Biological Father: C’ristian rider of green Tayth, although he does not know this. His mother, Elissia claims his father is a bronzerider of some renoun, but Ethen has never met him.
Foster Mother: Hermina of the lower caverns
Foster Father (or closest to it) Justinium of the lower caverns (Hermina’s best friend)
BIRTHPLACE: Igen Weyr
HISTORY:
Ethen’s name speaks to his history. He was born to Elissia, one of Igen’s many greenriders. As was traditional at Igen, Elissia turned him over to the lower caverns to be raised as a weyrbrat. He was fostered by Hermina.
Hermina was barely 22 at the time and unattached, but took to motherhood like an expert. She raised Ethen with every bit of love in her heart. She even coaxed her best friend Justinium who had never shown an interest in children until then to be Ethen’s father figure, even though he laughed uproariously every time Hermina used the phrase.
As expected, Elissia never showed a fingertip of interest in the lad until his third birthday when her latest flight mate heard of the boy and insisted on meeting him. She was stunned by Ethen’s cuteness and Ethen was entranced with his glorious (to him) mother. After that, he trailed around after her as much as she allowed like a trained canine. She filled his head with stories of his wonderful bronzerider father who sadly was parted from him by his duties. Maybe Ethen thought, maybe if he became a rider like his father, the duty she spoke of would bring them together even for a short time.
In the meantime, Ethen grew up much as other weyrbrats did. Playing in the lower caverns, going to harper classes and learning skills that would help him be an asset to the weyr. He showed a particular interest in cooking and managing a small herb and vegetable plot he kept in a Thread safe place just outside the kitchens.
When Ethen was just about eight, Elissia developed a persistent cough and weakness and the weyrhealer recommended that she move to a southern climate. She applied for and got permission to move to Semaca Weyr. She could have left Ethen behind, but she could not bring herself to lose her adoring son so she decided to bring him with her. Hermina also could not bear to be parted from him and got a transfer for herself and her best friend, Justinium.
When pirates made their presence known in the weyr, he was interested in the new type of life for a short time, then realizing it would interfere with his life goals. True to his goals, he followed every step of the weyr life cycle with interest and took notes on what he thought he needed to do to be chosen by the best of soulmates when his time came.
He had human friends and even a few dragon ones, as much as a dragon might be a friend to someone who was not his or her rider, but on his fourteenth birthday, he was presented with a special friend, a canine, named Invader who was given to him by Justinium.
“Just in case no dragon looks his way!” Justinium murmured in Hermina’s ear, “It may soften the blow somewhat.”
Ethen heard him and pressed his lips together tightly. He would be Impressed, a bronze, just like his father before him. But he was not about to turn down such a winsome creature, so he took Invader to his quarters and told him all about his bright future.