" 'Tis the set of the sail and not the gale that determines the way we will go "
BASICS
NAME: Keltin
GENDER: Agender
PRONOUNS: They/Them/Their
ORIENTATION: Panromantic pansexual
BIRTHDATE Late Summer 2737
AGE: 33 Turns as of Late Fall 2770
LOCATION: Fort Weyr
OCCUPATION: Wherhandler, Wherlingmaster
WING: Dawn Squad
APPEARANCEEYES: Dark brown
HAIR: Dark brown
HEIGHT AND BUILD: 6'4", thick and muscular
PLAY-BY: N/A
FULL APPEARANCE:
A large and powerfully-built person, Keltin is usually taken for a young man, and a relatively tall one at that. Ze certainly looks the part of the sailor that ze has always been, with darkly tanned skin and labor-calloused hands that have the strength to haul on ropes and little in the way of delicacy. Hir dark brown hair is cut short enough that it cannot get in hir eyes, but with an underlying wave that makes it almost impossible to keep remotely neat, and ze habitually dresses in rather wrinkled clothing.
Despite being genetically female, there are virtually no curves to hir body- hir chest is rather underdeveloped, and even hir face seems to be all angles, with a strong jawline and narrow lips, a narrow scar running on hir right cheek from ear to just short of the corner of hir lips. Ze has a deep alto speaking voice, which is surprisingly soft given hir size. Hir singing voice, on the other hand, is best described as a hoarse tenor, if the tenor were tone-deaf. Perhaps hir most attractive feature are hir eyes, which while rather narrow are a warm brown.
Ze clearly bears the scars of hir Turns of conflict since Impressing Kelsk. There's a thick, ropy scar running from the lower left part of hir ribs almost down to hir right hip, the result of a sword. There's a deceptively small scar on the front of hir right shoulder, mirrored on the back, from a crossbow, and ze's missing hir right arm below the elbow. There are thick wherry-bite scars on hir left leg at the knee and calf, and ze walks with an obvious limp, unable to lift hir foot or feel anything below hir knee.
PERSONALITYPERSONALITY:
Keltin grew up an outlier in a man's world, and picked up on many of their more undesirable habits in an attempt to fit in. Ze is stubborn to a fault, coarse, occasionally vulgar, and is apt to resort to fighting to get things done. To those who have no authority over hir, ze is nearly impossible to deal with, as ze often refuses to do anything that ze is even remotely opposed to if given no good reason to do so. On the other hand, ze has a strong respect for rank structure, and will rapidly obey hir superiors. Though exceptionally determined to see tasks carried out by any means necessary, ze does not have much in the way of natural leadership ability, and when put in a position of authority will readily turn to bullying if other methods of convincing hir subordinates fail.
Despite hir brusque demeanor, Keltin is very much serious-minded, and rather levelheaded unless overcome by hir short temper. While not typically demonstrative of the fact, ze genuinely cares for anyone that ze is responsible for, and will stop at almost nothing to ensure their safety. However, ze is not often considerate of anything beyond their immediate physical well-being, and has difficulty retaining friends. This can be somewhat troubling for hir, as ze is not a solitary person by nature- ze just has a hard time connecting with people.
Around those that ze is not well-acquainted with, ze is surprisingly shy, and doesn't always willingly approach someone new. Though ze treasures those people ze may be close to, ze views others as a potential threat, and is wary of allowing them to see hir even the least bit vulnerable. For one so large, ze is quite quiet, and is always careful not to get in the way of anyone else.
Keltin is not prone to whimsy, but nevertheless retains a healthy appreciation for the physical beauty of the world- both in people and the environment. Ze likes nothing better than a sunrise over calm seas, except perhaps a kind and thoughtful woman to share hir bunk. If ze could be anything for a day, ze would be a sea-bird perched atop the mainmast of a sloop, with no care in the world save for which fish to steal out of the nets so conveniently trailing behind the ship.
Buried somewhere deep within hir lie dormant the traits that ze learned to ignore- an endless curiosity, a desire to explore, a little bit of generosity, and a distinct fondness for dancing. However, ze hides many of these things from other people, and rarely allows anyone to see hir true personality, hiding it behind a quietly angry mask.
HISTORY
FAMILY:
Kellera, Mother, Fisherman's Wife
Maratin, Father, Fisherman
SIBLINGS:
Katin, older sister, Weaver
Mera, older sister, Fisherman's Wife
Matir, older sister, Fisherman's Wife
Mellerin, younger sister, Healer
Keltira, younger sister, Tanner
Kara, younger sister, Weaver
SIGNIFICANT OTHER: None
BIRTHPLACE: Small seahold west of and beholden to Fort Hold
HISTORY:
Unfortunately for Keltin's beleaguered parents, their fourth child was yet another girl, as were their fifth, sixth, and seventh. There were no more children after that. Thankfully, an abundance of uncles and cousins were available to crew the Hold's two ships, one fishing sloop and one larger, three-masted trading vessel. Even as a young child, Keltin learned to be at home on the deck of a ship, often being the first to volunteer to help unload the day's catch, preferring the hard physical labor to the more menial task of cleaning the fish. Ze never really considered hirself a girl; after all, ze was far more at home doing the same work as the boys, even if ze wasn't quite the same as them physically. Ze just was.
Ze'd always been large for hir age, larger even than some of the boys who were a couple of Turns older than hirself, and when another set of hands was needed to man the sloop's nets, ze was the best choice available, much to hir mother's dismay and hir sisters' sniggers. They weren't all too fond of hir propensity to act "like a boy", and they considered sailing to be a man's job, not a woman's, no matter what ze considered hirself. However, ze went out that day in spite of their reservations, and fell quite in love with the trade. Soon ze had picked up on the mannerisms of hir counterparts, took to keeping hir hair cut short, and and was effectively accepted by hir parents as a suitable alternative to the son they'd never managed to have.
It continued thus for some Turns, and ze arrived at adulthood with little thought of change. The sloop's deck was hir home more so than the Hold ever was, and ze was as much a sailor and a fisherman as anyone ever could be. Ze had gone from doing little save hauling nets to knowing the most miniscule details of how to raise and lower the sails, how to keep the little ship on course in even a gale, and even how to get back to harbor with a breach in the hull. But all the knowledge and preparation in the world couldn't prepare the sloop's clue for a freak storm that sprang up as they approached Fort Hold in the only vessel they knew nothing about: a wagon.
They were supposed to be delivering their fish so that the main Hold could send it on to the Weyr as their tithe, and on the same trip they were supposed to acquire some of the foodstuffs that they couldn't produce themselves: dried fruits, fresh vegetables, and even some wine. Instead, the wagon was destroyed in a mudslide, and two days later the crew—exhausted and thoroughly sick of land travel—arrived at Fort Hold. The same day, a wild gold wher delivered eggs, and Keltin's father saw a brilliant opportunity: he wanted a wher for their hold, and ze was likely of the right temperament to receive one, so when the rest of the crew departed in a new wagon, ze was "accidentally" left behind.
UPDATES
- Impressed to Pern's first garnet wher: Kelsk
- Quickly discovered that Kelsk was the swear-wher, and that her brother, Brask, had a handler ze was quite fond of, and eventually grew to regard as a brother
- Also rather quickly learned that ze did not approve of the way Evander treated Evask
- Attempted to re-bond Evask; the blue refused, and as a result ze and Kelsk fled the Hold for the Weyr to avoid the Lord Holder's likely wrath, not telling anyone where they'd gone
- Heard that Bran was captured in an attempt to get other handlers to flee the Hold; Brask escaped alone. Keltin was not at all okay with this turn of events, and attempted to get Weyr handlers to go rescue him.
- When Weyr handlers took too long for hir liking, ze decided to go rescue him hirself, along with Kelsk. The attempt failed horribly, and the pair were captured. In the fight, Keltin was shot in the shoulder with a crossbow, and sliced across the torso with a sword; ze was not good at fighting.
- Kelsk, with help, escaped her cage and killed Evander. Keltin still doesn't know.
- Keltin's wounds got infected; most Healers assumed ze was going to die, so Kelsk was convinced to go run with the Ghost's pack for a while. Ze eventually recovered, though hir right shoulder will forever be almost entirely useless, and ze has a rather impressive scar across hir ribs.
- After recovering, ze managed to track Kelsk down again, and the pair returned to the Weyr, not wanting to stay at the Hold where both had such terrible memories. Keltin grew increasingly morose, especially since Bran and Brask had never come to see hir.
- Keltin Impressed a second wher at a Fort hatching, green Keltisk. Ze's been slowly recovering mentally from the aftereffects of hir actions, but ze's still extremely jumpy about people approaching hir, and especially people waking hir up or doing anything else unexpected.
- Became the assistant wherlingmaster to help distract hir from hir memories of what had happened at Fort Hold
- Befriended Sunari, a Candidate, and eventually fell for her. She managed to Impress a wher, not a dragon, much to hir relief.
- When Sunari finally graduated from wherlinghood, the two became weyrmates.
- Was attacked by a wherry, which savaged hir left leg, leaving hir with a severe limp and nerve damage that prevents hir from feeling anything below the knee.
- Was promoted to wherlingmaster when Tlaloc departed
- Sunari departed unexpectedly; Keltin still doesn't know what happened
- One of hir sisters, Mera, showed up at Fort, surprising hir
