"It is better to be the right hand of the Devil than in his path."
-Beni Gabor, The Mummy (1999)
BASICS
NAME: Grabor, sometimes called "Grabby", "Grabs", or even "Bore"
GENDER: Masculine
PRONOUNS: Masculine (he/him/his)
ORIENTATION: Uhhh...probably Bisexual-ish? Too busy fending for himself to figure out or care.
BIRTHDATE: Late Summer 2741
AGE: 31 as of Early Spring 2772
LOCATION: Semaca Weyr (Pirate Hold, technically but shhh...)
OCCUPATION: Pirate
WING: N/A
APPEARANCE
EYES: Hazel, rather pretty for a pirate
HAIR: Mousy Brown, short and wavy
HEIGHT AND BUILD: 6' 1"; skinny and twiggy
PLAY-BY: Kevin J. O'Connor as Beni Gabor (The Mummy)
FULL APPEARANCE:
Grabor may be tall, but he's all height and nothing else. What muscle he does have is hard-earned, making him lean rather than just worryingly scrawny. His skin is quite tanned from long days spent under the hot Semacan sun, and how pale he might end up remains a mystery. His eyes are a lovely shade of hazel green, and seem too nice of a color for a creature like Grabor. His hair is a mousy light brown, with a natural wave, kept short. He sports some mild scruff along his cheeks, and maintains a small mustache. Perhaps in another, less grueling life, Grabor could've been in possession of physical beauty.
When it comes to his clothing, Grabor seems to dress similarly to other pirates. He often wears a loose shirt, often black in color, with greenish slacks and suspenders. He's rarely seen without his brownish-beige scarf and nearly lilac-colored jacket, but there are days that are too hot to justify taking these two items for even protection from the blazing sun. For some reason, Grabor constantly wears a bold red cap he "found", finding it to look quite dashing on him. Grabor also keeps a leather satchel on him, to hold whatever he might need...and steal.
PERSONALITY
PERSONALITY:
Grabor is a self-centered, cowardly man. With no scruples or honor to defend, Grabor is not above using dirty tricks to win a fight. Yet has absolutely no spine at all, and would sooner flee and live to fight another day, than stay and risk more. Grabor isn't above to petty thievery either, hence his nicknames. If it could get him a few marks, he'll try to swipe this bauble or that goblet. Like a scrawny bird, he is fond of shiny things, and enjoys collecting them in his quarters. Fiercely possessive of his material goods, Grabor won't hesitate to get violent to defend what's his.
Did I mention Grabor likes money? The only way to be sure what Grabor is telling you isn't an outright lie is with money, to tempt him to speak the truth. Not only is he an untrustworthy coward, Grabor is a greedy man, always seeking ways to amass more for himself. More what? Mostly material wealth, but he will gladly hoard anything that will benefit him. People like secrets, it seems, and Grabor will certainly sneak around and listen in for material for attempts at blackmail and coercion. Yet Grabor possess wicked intelligence, which is often overlooked and overshadowed by his self-centered nature. Given the opportunity, he could learn much in the academic arts, perhaps even taking a Craft...if he wasn't a pirate.
Grabor has a deep-seated resentment for dragonriders. He believes them to all be high-and-mighty and arrogant; all meddlesome fools gone mad with power. Wherhandlers are hardly better. No, Grabor is not fond of the occupants of the Weyr. Not at all. It shows too. If anything regarding the Weyrs' occupants comes up in conversation, Grabor will often go silent and sneer, or offer a few scathing comments. If a dragonrider attempts to engage with Grabor, the pirate is more likely to bare his teeth than smile. While he is capable of laughing along to another's joke and grinning in a somewhat pleasant fashion, rarely is it sincere or to be trusted.
If Grabor allies with another person or persons, it is solely for his own benefit. Utterly unconcerned about the welfare of others, he is only looking out for himself. He will not hesitate to leave an alliance in a bad position or even sell them out to a more powerful entity, if it benefits him more than remaining loyal. Loyalty is an utterly foreign concept to Grabor, but he understands it enough to mimic it effectively. The only group he feels any inkling of true loyalty for are his fellow pirates. Grabor believes that pirates need to stick together; that there's strength in numbers. Even so, if he must ensure his own survival, he will split from his group and regroup with them later...probably.
HISTORY
FAMILY:
Parents - a pair of shiphands - entirely uninvolved with both each other and their son's upbringing - status unknown for both
Adoptive/Foster Mother - pirate cook - alive - open tie!
Siblings/Half-Siblings - who the forsk knows or cares? - open ties
SIGNIFICANT OTHER: None, open...if you really wanna try.
BIRTHPLACE: A pirate hideaway, Semaca Province
HISTORY: TW: mild abusive behavior/minor bullying
Grabor was born of a passing fling between two pirate shiphands, in one of the pirates' inland hideaways, and life already wasn't looking kindly upon the boy. Even while they at the hold, his parents could barely spare a glance at him. Eventually, they left to return to active duty at sea, leaving Grabor behind. He was raised by one of the cooks of the hideaway, a large and intimidating woman that could probably break a man's arm in an arm wrestling contest. Rarely did that woman show her sweet side, but when she did...Grabor could've sworn he had a parent. Yet what Grabor learned under that woman's care has stayed with him: stay out of sight, and be a cunning and clever little weasel, unafraid to be manipulative and place his life before others.
As soon as he was able, he was put to work in the hold, scrubbing floors and running messages while he was a young boy, and gradually working up to more complex, and thus useful, tasks. Grabor grew into a scrawny teenager, hitting an early growth spurt and shooting up like a weed. It was here he truly became who he is today, dealing with the harsh treatment he received from the other children - few as they were, they travelled in well-organized packs, with the exception of Grabor - and the more ill-tempered adults.
It may have taken him time to flesh out, he did it in the end. Grabor matured from a weedy adolescent into an equally weedy man, and was required to take his full share of the work around the hold. It wasn't bad, necessarily...but it was all he knew. What else might there be? He decided to board a ship of his fellow pirates and serve with them for a time. Needless to say, Grabor absolutely hated it and felt very much inclined to strangle the past-him who thought it a great idea to do this.
When the pirate hold was cemented in Semaca Province, Grabor set foot on land once more, this time intending to stay for a long time; perhaps the rest of his life. He'd had enough of life on the ship, being harassed by his peers and working his hands raw. The ship was glad to have fresh hands on deck, and Grabor was glad to find a new place to haunt and slink about unseen among others of his kind. Eyes and ears open for anything of use, he seeks to ensure his self-preservation and the continuation of the pirate way of life through any means necessary.
When the recently established Semaca Weyr opened their doors to pirate-Candidates, Grabor was among those who went "what the forsk" when the news of the agreement came. Certain it would come to ruin, he washed his hands of it, despite being of eligible age at the time for whercandidacy for many Turns now. Being 30 Turns of age now, he was entirely out of luck for being a dragon-Candidate, if he ever wanted it. Neither option appealed to him, as he loudly and foully stated. It remained clear that dragonfolk were nothing but trouble, to Grabor. The whole heroic "protect Pern from Thread" image was just that: a mask; a ruse to hide their true, power-hungry natures.
To this day, Grabor lurks about the pirate hold, alert and ever watchful for danger to himself and his way of life. As rumors began circulating of political disturbances in the Northern Weyrs and a few new arrivals to Semaca, he began to
Grabor learning more negatives about dragonriders and wherhandlers, much to his surprise.