"All I know is that my life is better when I assume people are doing their best"
--Brene Brown
BASICS
NAME: Dameron (DAME - er - on)
NICKNAME: Dame
GENDER: Male
PRONOUNS: he/him/his
ORIENTATION: Demisexual
BIRTHDATE: Late Winter 2735
AGE: 36 as of Early Fall 2771
LOCATION: Fort Weyr
OCCUPATION: Wherhandler
WING: Groundcrew - Dusk Squad
APPEARANCE
EYES: Near black
HAIR: Dark brown and curly, with some early silver
HEIGHT AND BUILD: 5'10" and solidly built
PLAY-BY: Oscar Isaac
FULL APPEARANCE: Dameron has very classic masculine features, with a strong brow ridge, a large, straight nose, and generous scruff. His dark hair holds loose curls, and is generally maintained in a short and tousled mop for the sake of keeping his head warm. Clean brows mark straight lines across his brow, perching over expressive dark eyes framed with long, black lashes. Physically he is a strong man, with a body that shows the exertions of hard work.
In general, Dameron dresses in very muted colors, preferring winter tones such as ash browns, greys, black, and grey-blue. Dameron is typically not much of a clotheshorse, preferring to maintain a small amount of clothing and discarding pieces as they become too worn to ward off the weather. He likes layering and almost always wears pants (never shorts). He rarely is seen without a shirt, and he is very private about his body.
PERSONALITY
PERSONALITY: Dameron is a bright and talented man, who loves to engage with people and to direct his boundless energy towards important tasks. He's usually the first one to volunteer, and will see any task he's been given through to the end. He's incredibly loyal to people he's befriended; he will not reassess his choice of people unless he is betrayed in an obvious and overwhelming fashion, and even then, he's likely to find a good reason why someone would do such a thing. This makes him relatively easy to betray, for he is likely to always give a second chance.
Dameron is deeply wounded by grief from the loss of the life he'd set up. Though once almost childlike in his trusting in the good nature of people, Dameron has become more wary. Nevertheless, he still wants to be able to trust people, and tries to believe that everyone is doing the best they can - even if their best isn't super great. He hates disappointing people, but can handle anger directed towards him without much of a problem. In general, he is a very rooted person who prefers to stay in the same place, and finds being transplanted extremely difficult.
HISTORY
FAMILY:
Father: Madon
Mother: Kelli (deceased)
SIGNIFICANT OTHER: None
BIRTHPLACE: Ruatha Hold territory
HISTORY:
TW: child abuse Dameron was born out of wedlock to a cook in one of the small mining outposts south of Ruatha Hold, but in that Hold's territory. He was a bright and eager child, but when, at the age of five his mother died of a sudden fever, Dame was left in the not-so-kind care of the minecrafter in charge of the outpost. He was put to work in the mine, first in sorting the coal chips that were brought up from the mine, and later in going into the small exploratory tunnels and setting markers for the miners.
He met Eilan when both boys were 12. Like him, Eilan was an orphan, brought to work in the mine; the two of them became fast friends during their first escape attempt from the mine. They made several through the years, and eventually the minecrafter in charge got so sick of their escapades that he transferred them to the wher stable associated with the outpost, some distance away. The stable was much more to Dame and Eilan's liking, and they proved to be hard workers and earned a solid place in the hierarchy.
At 19, both young men were invited to stand at a wher Clutch. Eilan bonded to a little green hatchling, who was so fond of him that she named herself Eilaneisk, apparently not having enough name to announce her attachment to him. Dame was not so lucky, but, only several weeks later, was given the opportunity to re-bond a wher that had belonged to one of the older wherhandlers, who had passed away in her sleep. And so, Dameron joined Eilan in handler lessons, now the proud handler of Redaisk, formerly Reisk.
They had good lives as wherhandlers. Eilan preferred doing safety checks and guard work, while Dameron loved riding the wher traces and outriding, and became quite talented at orienteering and living off the land. In late fall 2763, Dameron and Eilan were assigned to work at a mine near where they had met. The mine had been without wherhandlers for some time, and threw a party at the arrival of the two men.
It would prove to be a disaster.
Undetected because of lack of wher safety checks, a pocket of gas ignited from a spark when the miners went to show their new wherhandlers around the mine, causing a massive and destructive explosion. Redaisk flung himself in front of Dameron and Eilan, saving their lives but sacrificing his. Both men were thrown clear of the worst of the explosion, but the mining camp was destroyed and Eilan was badly injured. The trio - Dameron, Eilan, and Eilaneisk - were forced to set off into the beginnings of winter, attempting to reach an outpost or the stables.
They never made it, instead being surrounded and intercepted by bandits. Eilan was shot in the chest with an arrow and left for dead; Dameron was knocked unconscious with a club. The raiders captured Eilaneisk and Dameron, and attempted to force-bond the green to Dame. The holdless bandits were particularly pleased to discover that Eilaneisk had recently Run, and more so when she laid an egg. The green laid a duty on Dameron's shoulders: take her egg, and run. It was the first, and last, time she ever spoke to him
It took him two weeks to find a suitable way to escape, and in the dark of the night, he did what Eilaneisk had told him to do. The wher, in turn, guarded his escape, tearing her way through the bandits despite a choke collar and grievous injuries. She bought him enough time to flee with her life, and Dameron began the desperate attempt to survive the winter with a wher egg and a concussion. He used his best guess at their location and did his best to dead-reckon his way south, towards the closest haven, until, delirious, starving, with a new-hatched wher chick in his arms, he came to Fort Weyr.
He was rescued by a wherhandling pair outside of Fort Weyr, and spent the better part of a month in the care of the healers before he was allowed to join the wherhandlers. In the meantime, the young white Damesk had been befriended by the green Danisk who had found them, and before long, Danie and Dame grew close, as well, spending much of their free time together.
Their burgeoning romance was put on hold that spring, however, when Dameron bonded a second wher - a blue, who also chose the name Damesk. Danie also found herself with a second wher, a white Daniesk. For a time, Dame and the Damesks were devoted to wherling training, working hard to master the skills that would serve them well during Threadfall. Dame and Danie remained close friends throughout, and when they both graduated, they finally made good on the promise of romance from their early friendship.
The two were weyrmated shortly thereafter, and spent a happy turn and more together. Dame tried his hardest to stay out of the messiness of the dragon politics, instead dedicating his attention to his wherhandling work, volunteering for the more difficult guard routes and going out with Danie and their whers on longer trips. Especially after Nornth's brutal maiden Flight, Dameron tried to keep away from the draconic side of the Weyr, though he never once even thought about leaving Fort Weyr.
Danie and Daniesk's deaths in Threadfall were devastating for Dameron; Danisk going wild in the days afterwards rather than rebonding was another blow. Only the dedicated attention of his whers kept him from falling to pieces. The past turns have given time for healing, and Dameron has gone on being a solid worker and pouring his life into wherhandling.
