"Not all mistakes can be fixed."
BASICS
NAME: Aragon
GENDER: Male
PRONOUNS: He/him/his
ORIENTATION: Heterosexual but still in mourning for his wife, so not interested in anyone else
BIRTHDATE: Early Winter 2722
AGE: 53 as of Early Winter 2775
LOCATION: High Reaches Weyr
OCCUPATION: Holdless
WING: N/A
APPEARANCE
EYES: A muted blue
HAIR: Grey, once dark brown
HEIGHT AND BUILD: 5'11, initially skinny, will fill out given time and access to the weyr's food stores
PLAY-BY: Liam Cunningham
FULL APPEARANCE: A man of slightly below average height, the marks of hard living are clearly written in Aragon's bones. He is skinny, in the way of a man who never has quite enough to eat, and looks older than his turns. His once dark hair has long since started to thin and turn to grey. The H-shaped brand of the holdless sits clearly on his forehead. He doesn't bother to try to conceal it with hairstyles or headdresses. His style of dress is simple, his clothes made up of basic surplus clothes from the weyr's stores.
PERSONALITY
PERSONALITY: Still a proud, stubborn man, in his own way, Aragon is determined to be better than he once was. He mourns his wife, and likely will until the day he dies, but rarely indulges overly much in his grief. She wouldn't want that, when their sons need him sharp and focused. He does not touch alcohol, and will almost without fail leave the room when someone else is intoxicated, not trusting them not to act as he once did when drunk, often with a judgmental glare and some pointed mutterings under his breath.
Aragon has a prickly temper. He has learned some hard won control over the terms, but if sufficiently goaded, will still punch first and ask questions later, especially if he feels the honor of his sons or his late wife has been slighted. He is fiercely protective of his two sons and will do anything to see them safe and happy. He does not trust dragonriders and will do his best to avoid them, never entirely convinced they won't kill him after all. He does not really understand dragons and doesn't want to- operating under some incorrect assumptions of their telepathic "hivemind." Prone to paranoia, Aragon sees dangers around every corner of the weyr and it will take a long time for him to be sure they ought to stay.
While Aragon is not fond of dragonriders, he doesn't make any apologies or excuses for his crime and has told his wife and sons the story, bluntly and without caveats. He killed a man. It was wrong. No matter what the rider did to deserve it (which Aragon cannot even remember- he was very drunk at the time). His sons deserve him to be better than who he was and so he'll continue to try to be, as best he can.
HISTORY
FAMILY:
Father: Aranor, Bitra Hold
Mother: Thelagon, Bitra Hold
Siblings
Sons: Ealar, Haron
SIGNIFICANT OTHER: Rahaneal, holdless, deceased
BIRTHPLACE: Bitra Hold
HISTORY: TW: Violence, death, alcoholism
Aragon was born in a simpler time, a time of peace. His parents were farmers of Bitra Hold, until the crops failed to grow for several turns. Unable to maintain themselves, the family abandoned their lands. Aragon's parents entered service as drudges. When Aragon came of age, he did the same, securing a post in the hold's kitchens.
Aragon was a troubled young man, prickly over as much his honor, as much honor as a drudge could have, and never fully in control of his temper. He was prone to drinking too much and when he was in his cups, which was often, starting more than his share of trouble and squabbles. One day, after one too many cups of cheap wine in his favorite tavern, Aragon got into a fist fight with one of the men Benden Weyr had sent to Bitra, to keep watch for enemy riders, over a series of perceived slights on both sides that escalated to violence. Thoroughly intoxicated, Aragon beat the man until he stopped moving, dead. To this day, he isn't sure if he meant to kill him. Aragon didn't know he was a dragonrider, until he sobered up and learned the man's dragon had fled between, on his death. He had never been especially fond of the weyr delegation- who were, to put it mildly, not especially kind to the holders- but he wasn't reckless enough to deliberately anger the sort of men who rode dragons that could rain fire from the skies.
Benden Weyr called for his death, but in a small act of mercy after his mother pleaded for his life, the Lord Holder instead sentenced Aragon to be branded and exiled for his crimes. Torn between fury, guilt and shame, Aragon left Bitra Hold. With no knowledge of the wilds, and seeing little left to live for, Aragon likely wouldn't have lasted long on his own. But a few sevendays after his exile, he met Rahaneal, a former cotholder six turns older than him. She had been branded for stealing food for her elderly parents, after enemy dragonriders destroyed their harvest. She had been alone ever since.
The two traveled together thereafter. Aragon agreed to protect Rahaneal, who had never been much of a fighter, from any wild beasts or more hostile holdless they encountered. Rahaneal taught him what she had learned of survival and ensured he found the food and shelter he needed, to survive the winter. Aragon always kept one eye over his shoulder, sure that someday dragonriders would come find him and exact vengeance and justice for their fallen comrade, but the riders never came.
Over time, Aragon fell deeply in love with Rahaneal, who was one of the finest people he had ever met, better than he had ever been, good through and through, despite the brand on her face. He found a strange sort of contentment in his exile, in being alone in the world, just with her. She came to return his affections and they had two sons together. While there were no formal rites of marriage in the wild, Aragon considered Rahaneal his wife, in all the ways that mattered.
Long separated from the outside world, when the blight struck High Reaches in 2773, Aragon knew only that the winters had grown leaner and there were more dragons and whers in the skies. Not realizing he had long ago wandered out of Benden territory, Aragon feared they were searching for him, revenge delayed but not forgotten. Determined not to leave his family alone with his death, Aragon sought out other holdless to travel with. He found two families, with children of their own, and the group formed a temporary alliance. The winter of 2774 was easier than that of 2773, with food growing again, for reasons Aragon did not know. The dragonriders retreated, but Aragon and Rahaneal remained with the group, who they had grown accustomed to and become fond of.
In 2775, a bitter cold snap took Aragon's beloved wife from him and threatened the survival of them all. The only thing that kept Aragon from losing himself in his own grief was their sons, who needed him. Who he needed to see survived. And then- Aragon's long held fears at last came true: A wherhandler, followed by dragonriders, found their group. Aragon attempted to flee, to save his own life and that of his sons, who might be spared if no one knew they were his kin.
