"'I kind of lost track of time.'
'For two hours?'
Elend nodded sheepishly. 'There were books involved.'"
-Brandon Sanderson, The Well of Ascension
BASICS
RETIRE INFO: Character- Retire, Dragon - Adopt
NAME: Elend
GENDER: Cis male
PRONOUNS: he/him/his
ORIENTATION: Heteroromantic demisexual
BIRTHDATE: Early fall 2738
AGE: 30 as of summer 2769
LOCATION: Semaca Weyr
OCCUPATION: Wingrider
WING: Healer's Wing
APPEARANCE
EYES: Brown
HAIR: Dark, wavy but cropped short
HEIGHT AND BUILD: 5' 10", muscley stick
PLAY-BY: Suraj Sharma
FULL APPEARANCE: Elend always looks slightly disheveled - his clothes are fashionable, but never quite put together right. Maybe his collar is untucked, or his shirt not tucked in, or he forgot to wear a belt that day. He always seems to have ink stains somewhere they shouldn't be, and his hair is always rumpled, as if he's just rolled out of bed. His facial features are fine and delicate, but are usually scrunched into a slightly perplexed expression. Dragonriding has forcibly made him...not the underfed stick he used to be, but he'll never be particularly fit for a rider.
During his time in Nowhere, Elend became more muscular and accumulated some scars, necessary consequences of having to help hunt for a group. He'll never be ripped, per se, but he's gotten stronger. He also wears his hair much shorter than he once did, and prefers more practical clothing.
PERSONALITY
PERSONALITY: Fundamentally, Elend is a good person. He wants to make the world a better place for everyone. He just has...no real idea how to do it. Dragonriding has chipped away at some of his former idealism and naivete, though he thinks it's still possible for life to be better than it is. He's a friendly sort, though distant and not particularly outgoing. Usually, he's awkwardly polite to those who interrupt his inner world, but he doesn't actively seek anything outside of it. He's perfectly happy living in his own head, and will often forget to take care of himself, though this is changing due to the fact that one can't be a halfway decent dragonrider without basic hygiene, food and sleep.
Elend has a strong sense of determination, and has the potential to be decent at most things if he'd just put his mind to them. Past the awkwardness and bleary looks, Elend can be surprisingly observant and persuasive, with a cutting focus that is shocking to those who know just the bumbling scholar. However, Elend doesn't really have cause for this side of him to come out very much, so most of the time, this focus is just directed towards his books and scrolls.
His time in Nowhere has made him a more responsible, serious person. He'll always be a bit of an idealist, but he's discovered his potential when he focuses on a task. He's efficient when he puts his mind to things and much more skeptical than he once was.
HISTORY
FAMILY: St'raff of Bronze Varanelth (father, deceased)
SIGNIFICANT OTHER: N/A
BIRTHPLACE: Fort Weyr
HISTORY: Elend's mother died soon after he was born, and he was put in the creche. He had a happy childhood, at least until his father found himself unable to have any more children and took quite the interest in Elend. Elend was a bookish sort, but he'd found his niche in a group of similarly nerdy friends. St'raff was having none of that, and wanted to make his son into his idea of a model bronzerider. He gave his son a hatchling bird to raise to try to gain his son's liking and trust. Elend raised the bird and named it Shan, but didn't like or trust St'raff one bit.
He started Standing as soon as he was old enough, partly due to his father and partly because he wanted a dragon for himself. He failed to Impress for eight Turns, his father growing increasingly angry with each passing Hatching. Finally, Elend did Impress, at the historic Hatching that marked Pern's first female bronzeriders. St'raff was livid. His son had Impressed a green? He thought there might be something wrong with the clutch and vocally expressed his regrets that Antoth hadn't chosen someone else, or even betweened.
Elend focused himself on raising Antoth and protecting her from St'raff. He loved the green more than he'd loved anything before, and he was not about to let his father spoil this one good thing in his life. When St'raff died in Threadfall a little before Elend's graduation, Elend wasn't unhappy to see the end of him. Now, he, Shan, and Antoth are making their way through life.
UPDATES
- Fall 2764 - Vin, his crush, goes renegade with Re'laur's group. Elend does not follow suit, but vows to give the renegades information on Fort in order to protect them (especially Vin.)
- Spring 2765 - Antoth strains her leg avoiding a collision during Threadfall, putting a hold on visits to the Summerlands for a while.
- Fall 2765 - Vin goes to live in the wilderness permanently. Elend is devastated and becomes reckless with his life.
- Fall 2765 - After overdoing it in Threadfall, Elend and Antoth go between without a destination to avoid a tangle of Thread. Instead of dying, they end up in a mysterious land, along with other survivors.
- Winter 2765 - The lost return, and Elend takes a place in the healer's wing since Antoth was half-blinded in their last Threadfall.