BASICS
NAME: Balthazar
GENDER: Male
PRONOUNS: he/him/his
ORIENTATION: Heteroromantic heterosexual
BIRTHDATE: Winter 2716
AGE: 56 (as of summer 2772)
LOCATION: Fort Weyr
OCCUPATION: Guard / wherhandler
WING: Ground crew - Dusk Squad
APPEARANCE
EYES: Dark brown
HAIR: Black
HEIGHT AND BUILD: 6'5", surprisingly athletic for his age, but starting to put on some weight around the middle
PLAY-BY: Cliff Simon
FULL APPEARANCE: Although he's starting to slow down as he ages, lacking the speed and strength he possessed in his youth, Balthazar is still fairly fit and active. He's fairly tall, with a decent amount of muscle, although he's definitely putting on a little weight around the middle now. He has a thin, angular face, with a light brown, somewhat tanned complexion. Balthazar's eyes are dark brown, while his hair and short beard are black - and kept very, very well groomed. There's no denying that Balthazar takes pride in his appearance, appearing at all times clean and tidy. He favours dark clothing, especially black, with smooth lines and well-fitting. There's also usually a knife or two on his person, clipped to his belt or hidden in his boot.
PERSONALITY
PERSONALITY: Smooth, confident, and charismatic, Balthazar is not showy - nor does he need to be. He gives the aura of a man who is sure of himself and his own worth, and therefore doesn't need validation or acceptance from anyone else. If anything, he can seem a bit too sure of himself, heading right into the territory of arrogance. It's not something he pushes in people's faces, but it's just in his very being, like he just knows he's brilliant. So even without making a huge point of it, Balthazar's smug sense of superiority can rub others the wrong way.
Unfortunately, his arrogance isn't entirely without merit. Balthazar has lived a long time and been to a lot of places, and more than that, he's smart. He has a lot of experience to draw from, and a certain cunning that makes him dangerous when riled up. Of course, he considers physical violence to be rather crass - not that he won't do it if it comes to it - but if he needs to subtly suggest that he'll let his wher eat someone... well, he's not above doing that. But he much prefers sabotage, working in the background to ruin someone's reputation or arrange for their belongings to be stolen. Balthazar has a surprising number of contacts and favours he can call in, and he doesn't hesitate to do so.
The thing is, though, there's a reason why he's got those favours owed: he's not afraid of helping others out. However, Balthazar approaches this with a certain practicality, assisting those who he knows will be of use to him in the future. If someone is, in his mind, useless, then he just doesn't have time for them. To those he sees some potential in, however, Balthazar is a friend, a confidante, or a mentor, and he's been known to take someone under his wing if he perceives that they would benefit from his guidance. He's not afraid to share knowledge and experience with his proteges, and he'd be a great teacher if not for the fact that he just can't be bothered with those who aren't suitably motivated. Balthazar is all about cultivating relationships with those who are driven. He's not interested in the weak.
It's necessary for Balthazar to keep a tight rein on Balthazsk, and he does this capably by making sure her space is respected. While he might pretend that he would actually let her eat someone, in truth he'll actually do his best to make sure she doesn't. This is entirely for Balthazsk's benefit, because he knows the kind of trouble she could get into if she was considered dangerous - as her handler, it's his responsibility to keep her safe from her own wilder instincts. Balthazar does care deeply for Balthazsk, a relationship forged over decades that goes much deeper than pure practicality.
HISTORY
FAMILY:
- Both parents deceased (old age)
- A couple of siblings
- Probably some nieces and nephews, but he hasn't kept track
- Almost certainly a child or two, but again he hasn't checked up on the people he's dated over the Turns
BIRTHPLACE: Ista Hold
HISTORY: Born in Ista Hold to a steward and a herbalist, Balthazar had a fairly uneventful childhood. He was a natural born ringleader, easily able to boss other children around or manipulate them into doing what he wanted. There was no question that he could be a bit of a bully, but he was pretty good at not getting caught doing it. He just made absolutely no effort to be nice to the children he perceived as weak, preferring to surround himself with those who were strong or clever - or at least useful in some way. Suffice to say, there was no chance of him following either of his parents into their professions as he grew older!
But what did he want to do? Well, that was a little uncertain. Balthazar wasn't drawn to any of the crafts, finding all of them to involve entirely too much servitude to others. Ideally, he'd be a Lord Holder... but it turned out he needed the right blood for that, and the sons of stewards and herbalists just weren't "good enough". A young and idealistic teenaged Balthazar thought it patently ridiculous that a leader should be chosen based on who their father was rather than their competence, and in his opinion, the heir of Ista Hold was an idiot who didn't deserve the position. While this may not have been the actual truth, it was what Balthazar believed and no one was going to convince him otherwise.
At the age of nineteen, Balthazar acquired a wher egg from a trader, deeming it the best way of obtaining the kind of life he wanted. He couldn't be a Lord Holder and a Search dragon looking for candidates in Ista Hold had taken one sniff of him and moved on to the next youth... but anybody could Impress a wher, and absolutely nobody messed with a handler. The egg hatched into a green who called herself Balthazsk, and unlike everyone else in Balthazar's life, she didn't simply concede to his wishes: he had to work hard to earn her respect.
While she grudgingly obeyed orders from the very beginning, it took a number of Turns for Balthazsk to truly trust her handler. Most of these Turns were spent on the road, travelling Pern and visiting a number of Holds, Crafthalls and Weyrs. With Balthazsk being as wild as she was, moving around a lot helped to keep her out of trouble. And it was a good opportunity for Balthazar as well, as he saw a bit more of the world and tried to figure out what he was going to do with his life.
Ultimately, travelling suited him well. He did settle down occasionally, taking on a job as a guard or a scout, forging alliances and earning favours. But he never stayed in one place long, spending Turns accompanying caravans through the wilds, for a wherpair were always welcome as protection against the threats out there. While it wasn't the position Balthazar had always imagined for himself, at least he was beholden to no one else, and that was the most important thing.
He saw a lot of strange things in his travels, making long detours to the Weyrs to get a glimpse of the first mutation dragons when they appeared. Unlike many, Balthazar had no problem with them: as long as they pulled their weight, they were more valuable than those dramatically flopping around having tantrums about "tradition".
And then Threadfall returned.
This was a hard time for Balthazar, because the travelling he'd gotten used to doing became significantly more dangerous. He held out longer than most, insistent on maintaining his lifestyle as long as he was able to. But he had to be more cautious, travelling only when no Falls were due, and by necessity, this meant sticking with the trading caravans: abiding to their schedules and taking shelter with them. This was something he only grudgingly accepted.
But there was no denying that he wasn't as young as he used to be. Balthazar still had plenty of life left in him, but he was slowing down a bit. The rigours of travel were harder on his body than they had been in Turns past, and between that and the ever-present threat of Thread, Balthazar reluctantly decided it was time to actually... settle down somewhere. Balthazsk was much better able to tolerate civilised places and having people and other whers nearby, so that made it a little easier. So Balthazar considered his options and settled in Fort Weyr; it was reasonably central, not too warm or too cold, and an experienced wherpair was always welcome.
