"I want nothing more to do with him!"
BASICS
NAME: Kovu
GENDER: Male
PRONOUNS: he/him/his
ORIENTATION: Upsetero Hetero
BIRTHDATE: Early Spring 2754
AGE: 19 as of Spring 2773
LOCATION: High Reaches Weyr
OCCUPATION: Herder
APPEARANCE
EYES: Emerald green
HAIR: Shoulder-length dark brown
HEIGHT AND BUILD: 6'3 and muscular
PLAY-BY: Picrew build
FULL APPEARANCE:Kovu is a reasonably attractive young man, all things considered. Shoulder-length dark brown hair drapes in silken waves down his head. The sheen of this thick mane might somewhat distract from the long pink scar that runs vertically over his left eye. While his vision is unaffected, it is a blight on his otherwise pleasant appearance that tends to keep people staring, and whispering. Both eyes are a deep emerald, a bright contrast to his olive skin, but they carry a troubled look to them much of the time.
Clearly not a man unfamiliar to hard work, his body has been built through the years, into a lean and powerful form just as fitting for a guard as a gladiator, not so tall as to tower over the rest, but a confident build that suggests power beneath the surface ready to be used.
PERSONALITY
PERSONALITY: Outgoing since he was a child, Kovu was never afraid to pursue new friendships or wild adventures, though his mother was not one to encourage mingling with just anyone. He is brave if, at times, a little naive of the ways of the world. While he is friendly and good at heart, he is conflicted by the cold ambition pushed at him by his mother and his desire to simply live his own happiness.
He is loyal to those who earn his trust, and you'd never want a better companion at your side when the going gets tough. He will fight hard for what he believes in, and he is determined to establish himself as his own man, not a pawn of his mother's or the mans to an end for everyone else.
The duality of his being is his greatest challenge. When his mother's overbearing presence in his mind is strongest, he can find himself conflicted. Is power his destiny, and he can only fight it for so long, or can he make his own way in the world?
His uncertainty can result in outbursts which, while never violent, are emotionally charged. He'll say something in anger or upset which he doesn't really mean, but it's a little too late to take back. He never tries to be mean but he hasn't learned how to regulate emotions well and can overreact, leading him to rash decisions or conversations that won't often go his way.
HISTORY
FAMILY: Mother: Zira
Father: Unknown bronzerider
SIGNIFICANT OTHER: N/A
BIRTHPLACE: High Reaches
HISTORY:
To understand Kovu's past you must first understand his mother. Kovu's mother is an ambitious, power-hungry woman, and for that reason she was always driven to those who had power...or could seize it. She never held any true position herself, but she was able to work her guiles and attract men who did. She held eyes only for the bronzeriders, and it was through them that she conceived her son.
Which rider, exactly, was never made clear to Kovu, and it's possible that Zira herself wasn't sure. What was always certain was that her ambition didn't stop with the potential position of her lovers, and from birth she stressed the importance of power and position onto her son.
His mother did not encourage socialization with just anyone, and Kovu was often whisked away after Harper lessons back to their quarters, not often having a chance to properly interact with the other children outside of teachings. She tried to teach superiority over them rather than a sense of fellowship. He didn't see what was so bad about making friends, but he obeyed all the same, contributing to his own isolation, though he was a good student and friendly enough when group interaction was expected.
His father may not have been Weyrleader, but Kovu could be, and there was nothing more important to Zira than for her son to impress a bronze and take that power. She would never be Weyrwoman, but the mother of the Weyrleader could try and wield power through him, after all.
Even after Golre's fall from power and death, and the changes to the leadership of the Weyr, Zira held fast to tradition. It was the bronzes who should hold power and it was with a bronze that her son would one day take that position. She looks down on garnets and mutations with nothing short of pure disgust, thinking them mistakes of nature that should have been at the very least banished, if not outright culled. She has tried to instill those same values in her son, though he sometimes secretly wished if he did impress, he would have a mutation for a partner just to spite her.
It was wandering the caverns of the Weyr one day around ten turns old that Kovu encountered one of the girls of the creche, close in age to him, and for the first time he found that he had a playmate and a companion that didn't care who he was or who he could be. His mother didn't want him to stay and mingle with the 'commoners', as she put it, but he would sneak away on adventures after lessons with the girl. It was through her willingness to befriend this strange boy that he began to loosen the hold his mother had on his mind and his movements.
It was in running away from his mother trying to corral him back into their weyrchambers that Kovu accidentally stumbled and his eye found the edge of a wall sconce. His vision was, fortunately, undamaged, but the vertical scar is a permanent reminder of his mother's seek to control him. There were rumors that Zira herself had struck him and, while unsubstantiated, the pressure was enough on her that she had to reduce the pressure on him, and for the first time in his life he was able to follow his own pursuits.
He started to spend more time in the Weyr proper and, while he enjoyed the company of the riders, he spent more time at the feeding grounds for their dragons. It's here that he found his first work at 14 turns, and gradually has been trusted more with the herds that keep the beasts of the weyr fit to fight Thread. Though he has no plans himself to satisfy his mother and join Candidacy, he loves to attend Hatchings and often volunteers to bring the first meals for the dragonets, taking the greatest care when he butchers for the newest dragons and always giving his warm regards to the newly bonded.
It's hard to tell what the future will hold, but while Zira wrote the prologue, Kovu holds the pen now.
