"lyrics or quotes here"
BASICS
RETIRE INFO: Retire
NAME: Renemont ("Rene")
GENDER: Male
PRONOUNS: He/Him/His
ORIENTATION: Bisexual
BIRTHDATE: Early Winter 2743
AGE: 26 as of Late Fall 2770
LOCATION: High Reaches Weyr
OCCUPATION: Rider
WING: Starfall
APPEARANCE
EYES: Extremely dark brown
HAIR: Black
HEIGHT AND BUILD: 6'6", average
PLAY-BY: Donald Glover
FULL APPEARANCE:
Renemont is a tall man of an average to slender build. He has medium-dark skin with a slightly cool tone to it. He has dark black hair, extremely curly and a couple of inches long without stretching it out, and about twice that when it's wet. His face is rectangular, though his jawline is obscured by a thick beard, kept neatly trimmed to just over an inch long. He has a broad nose, though it isn't particularly prominent. His eyes are dark brown, almost indistinguishable from black in all save the brightest lighting. He has thick, rather bushy eyebrows that come within a finger's width of meeting in the middle.
PERSONALITY
PERSONALITY:
Rene is an extremely outspoken individual. He rarely fails to share his opinions--and he has an opinion on most matters, often a very strong one. He has an intense need to be right, and will argue on most points without cease. Nothing is too unimportant for him to possibly be wrong; even on matters as trivial as which season is the best to hold a Gather in. The only one he ever really acquiesces to is Jurith; he's learned that arguing with her is just a fast way for her to fall into a funk.
He's an idealist, always thinking that the world can be changed for the better, and he's arrogant enough to think that he's the one to do it. His sense of his own self-worth is rather inflated. However, he can take failure hard, not believing that it lowers his worth but that because of what he's certain he's capable of, he should absolutely have succeeded. He's sometimes hyperaware of how other people perceive him. He can't let them believe that he has any major vices, because they may only project that onto other Holdless, assuming that they're all flawed. As a result, he never indulges in alcohol, and he's typically early to everything. He won't let anyone have the excuse to call him lazy, or a drunkard.
Owing to his rather flawed early education, he has a tendency to mistrust what he's told about the world by other people. If it can't be proven, corroborated by records, he's hesitant to believe it. Luckily, he has discovered a rather voracious appetite for reading and learning, and spends a decent portion of his free time perusing old records.
HISTORY
FAMILY:
Mother, Tifarene, Holdless
Father, Montario, Holdless
Older sister, Tariti (2736)
Older brother, Faretario (2739)
Older sister, Monet (2741)
SIGNIFICANT OTHER: None
BIRTHPLACE: Holdless
HISTORY:
Despite being born to a pair of Holdless, Rene's early life didn't differ much from that of many children on Pern. They lived with a fairly insular group, just a few families that effectively functioned as a small cothold, albeit one where they occasionally had to relocate exactly where they lived. Nobody had much beyond what was necessary for survival, but they survived and were relatively happy. He was barely aware that there was any possibility of any other sort of life.
That changed when he started learning. There was a former Harper among them, exiled for a crime he didn't speak of--nobody there really did, it was just assumed that it was better not to ask. Reading and writing were taught, but the lack of reading materials meant that what was more important was the oral education given: history and the culture that existed outside their little band. It was, perhaps, an extremely flawed education, and one colored by the man's biases, but there were kernels of truth. And Rene felt a growing sense of injustice. Why should he not have as much food as he could ever possibly want just because his parents had done something wrong? Why did he have to frequently move to some other cave system, often damp or chilly, when other people had comfortable homes?
Not that any of this altered his love for his family. His anger was turned outwards, towards the rest of Pern.
As he grew older, reaching adulthood, he became convinced that things had to change, and that he could change them. People could be convinced that those born Holdless hadn't done anything wrong, and that the Holdless weren't beyond salvation. His parents had been nothing but wonderful to him. He was certain that whatever crime they'd committed was nothing but a petty misdemeanor, as he'd been taught that Lords were capricious and wont to hand down excessive judgements over things as slight as looking at them funny. If he could only get to a Hold and speak to the people there, live among them for a time, he would surely be able to prove to them that the Holdless weren't what the rest of Pern thought they were. Someone as well-spoken and educated as himself was obviously the best choice for this.
His family tried to tell him what a bad idea this was. But he'd always had a burning need to be right, and this time was no different. He was certain that he could manage it inside of a season. He'd go during winter, and return before spring, thereby avoiding the danger of Thread. He left without saying a word other than the note he left behind; he knew they'd only try to stop him if he said goodbye properly. So instead of going to fetch water, he simply left and didn't return. He'd be back soon enough, he reasoned.
His plan, however, failed spectacularly. No cothold he encountered was willing to take him in, and refused to provide him any sort of aid at all once he said that he was Holdless. He wouldn't lie, either, as that would defeat the entire purpose; he had to be better than they would expect of him, not the sort of person who'd lie. However, this meant that he was now lacking any decent shelter in winter.
He was eventually found by a bluerider as he tried to make it to yet another cothold. She intended to take him back to wherever he belonged, as nobody should be wandering about in winter. Her dragon, however, had other ideas. Given the chance to go to Fort Weyr instead of going home, Rene all but leapt at the opportunity. He could convince people there, and even better because riders had far more power than cotholders!
His attitude didn't make him a lot of friends as a Candidate. He was arrogant, and always convinced he was right. He thought he was smarter than everyone else in the room, even when what he had been taught was wrong. He lacked any sensible fear of telling people where he came from, and never hesitated to argue with them over the value of the Holdless.
It was almost a Turn before Jurith hatched, in a Hatching full of violence and spite. Rene was quick to point out that if Serapheth had been human, she would have been exiled for what she'd done... but as a dragon, and especially as a gold dragon, she faced no consequences whatsoever. The hypocrisy grated on him; his bitterness didn't lessen during Weyrlinghood.
He wanted to leave. Fort was allowing a known killer to wield a measure of political power, and yet at the same time her people spoke against the Holdless. He could tolerate one or the other, but for the Weyr to see nothing wrong with allowing both. So he transferred soon after graduating, to Benden, which seemed to be a fine and upstanding Weyr.
This turns out to have been a miscalculation. Benden, as he soon learns, has its own problems. Chromatic riders were treated poorly, so he tried to be exactly what the metallic riders expect of him. He listened, he stayed out of their way, he... actually largely agreed with them. At least their treatment was fair; mistakes and ill behavior were accordingly punished. He didn't see--perhaps willfully, as a survival method if nothing else--just how much metallic riders were getting away with. Even when Fortian riders were kidnapped ("captured in Benden territory and planning to murder Sido", according to Benden), he believed they were simply being adequately punished for their crimes. Maybe he couldn't convince anyone that his family should be allowed to live with the rest of society, but so long as no one was above the law, he could live with that.
Turns passed. He tried a few times to find his family again, to tell them that he was all right, but he never managed to locate them. And as a Benden rider, he wasn't exactly free to fly wherever he wanted. He learned to stay quiet, to keep his head down. Speaking up, save to agree vehemently, was what got one into trouble.
The revelation of the imprisoned goldrider was the final straw. He'd learned to put up with a lot, but even he couldn't blind himself to that level of hypocrisy. Of evil. And when the leadership continued to go unpunished, he left, this time to High Reaches. Supposedly with Golre gone, they'd improved dramatically. They were a democracy. A greenrider didn't have to fear for his safety if he spoke up against something, however minor.
And things there were better. Things improved for him over time. He stopped looking over his shoulder every time he wanted to speak his mind. His former pride and confidence returned. He started arguing on the behalf of the Holdless again.
And then High Reaches went and stole eggs. Yet another crime going unpunished. And if that was the way things were going to be, then fine. Maybe he couldn't see to it that every crime was properly punished; and even if he could, that wouldn't make his family's lives any better. But he could make sure that High Reaches made an effort to find and take in any Holdless in their borders who hadn't been branded, if they wanted to come. He could push the Weyr toward more compassion, and from a place of power convince other Weyrs to follow suit. After all, he was just that good. He could be Weyrleader.
