Islands of Pern

Blue Rider R'kar

Name: R'kar
Age: 33
Gender: Male
Rank/Craft: Blue Rider
Residence: Ithaca Weyr

Description: R'kar is 5'11" and 160 pounds. He has graying brown hair that looks all the more gray because he always wears it cut short. He is often presumed to be slightly older than he really is. He has a long, slender face with a prominent but not over-large nose, a close-trimmed moustache and goatee, and hazel eyes, which flash green if he's feeling a particularly intense emotion. He has an expressive face and an oddly appealing crook-toothed grin.

Personality: R'kar has one of those personalities that invite people's confidences. In addition to being naturally compassionate he is discreet, and so is trusted and respected by many. He has a keen mind and an astonishing memory, well-suited for the acquisition and analysis of information. Had he bothered to learn music, he would have made an excellent harper. Because of these qualities, R'kar usually finds himself in the role of "impartial observer," and outside of most social groupings. For the most part he doesn't mind this, preferring to spend his time with a select number of very good friends.

R'kar is good-humored for the most part, though he does suffer from occasional bouts of moodiness. These have become less frequent since he has come to grips with the losses of his past. Still, if his patience is tried he can be painfully blunt, and if angered or deeply offended he can become implacable. Being holderbred he can also be very shy when it comes to approaching other men, and it is the cause of some amusement to his friends that he is almost always surprised when others find him attractive.

Background: Rekar was born the second son of farmholder Marek and his spouse Winsa. As Rekar grew up he showed little aptitude or interest in farming. This, in combination with the fact that he was clearly interested in other boys led his parents to send him away at age thirteen to work with Winsa's brother Bolthayzer, an assistant to the stewards at High Reaches Hold. Since Rekar's older brother and only sibling, Marwin, would inherit the farmhold anyway, it seemed a good way to both send Rekar into a different profession and get him out of his parents' hair.

Perfectly well aware of why he had been sent away, Rekar settled with some suspicion into his new assignment. His taste for reading, his skill with numbers, and his attention to detail put him in good stead with his uncle, with whom he eventually formed a close emotional attachment. If Rekar had a good relationship with his uncle, he had no friends among people his own age. His bookishness and general shyness, not to mention his interest in other boys, often made him the object of teasing so that he spent his early adolescence alone. It was with no small amount of satisfaction that he bid the other children at the hold farewell when he was chosen on Search at age fifteen. That satisfaction was short-lived, however, when he failed to Impress on the High Reaches Weyr Hatching Grounds.

S'rent, the bronze dragonrider who had Searched him, felt that he deserved a second chance at Impression, and found Rekar work in the Lower Caverns where his administrative skills were put to good use. He was allowed on the Hatching Grounds two more times, but did not Impress. The humiliation and disappointment of failing on the sands three times made Rekar increasingly bitter and sarcastic, and he found himself increasingly isolated thanks to his sharp tongue. Through all of this, S'rent lent his support as much as he could, and he encouraged Rekar to stand on the sands a fourth time shortly before the boy turned seventeen. It was then that Rekar Impressed the blue dragonet Zorenth and became R'kar.

Almost immediately, R'kar's personality stabilized. However, both S'rent and the Weyrlingmaster felt that the blue rider had alienated enough of his fellows that it might be better if he were transferred somewhere else. This somewhere else happened to be a Weyr on the Southern Continent. Grateful for another chance, R'kar worked hard and made himself a valued member of his new community.

Unfortunately, if R'kar's professional life as a Threadfighter was a success, his personal life was a disaster. Until quite recently, he never could shake the feeling he'd had since he was thirteen that he was the boy nobody wanted, and his self-esteem suffered accordingly. Those lovers he managed to attract in the south were poorly suited to his temperament, and all but one of them died due to Thread. These losses only reinforced R'kar's insecurities, and led him to believe that he was living under a sort of curse. These feelings came to a head in the latter half of Turn 36, when he suffered a complete emotional collapse.

As painful as this was for him, it allowed him to actually face his insecurities and pain, and he has emerged all the stronger for it. He is now facing the world for the first time with a clear heart. In the process he has discovered that there is still hope for true friendship and even love; in fact, he has found a fiercely loyal and passionate partner in green rider D’son. Despite these recent developments, the hot south, whose climate R’kar never fully adjusted to, remains full of unpleasant memories. Thus it is with a heart full of hope (and his lover at his side) that R’kar has decided to transfer to Ithaca Weyr on Pern’s Western Continent.

Dragon's Name: Zorenth
Color: Blue
Age: 17
Age of Rider at Impression: 16

Description: Zorenth is an incredibly large blue. He is almost certainly the largest blue at Ithaca Weyr, although Sh'val's Celleth comes close. Zorenth is an exact shade of harper blue and his smooth hide, marred by Threadscore in only a couple of places, has a veritable sheen to it when he has been properly oiled.

Personality: Nearly as complex as his rider, Zorenth is a highly intelligent and empathetic blue. Over the Turns he has learned a variety of mental coping mechanisms to keep up with his rider's fast-moving and, at times, convoluted thought patterns; some believe this has given him an edge over other dragons in understanding humankind's peculiar ways. Certainly there is something in his many-faceted eyes that gives the impression of intense scrutiny and understanding, but if this is indeed the case, there is no way to verify it as he rarely comments on his observations.

Reserved Characters:
Marek, holder, father, Koram farmhold – High Reaches (deceased)
Winsa, holder’s spouse, mother, Koram farmhold – High Reaches
Marwin, holder, brother, Koram farmhold – High Reaches
Syvald, former High Reaches dragonrider, uncle, location unknown
Surokin, Journeyman Vintner, uncle, Tillek Hold
Falave, Journeyman Harper, uncle, Igen Hold
Tanora, green rider, friend (deceased)
T'bres, weyrling, rider of brown Megureth
R’hul, rider of green Amarith, lover (deceased)
Yolara, rider of green Firiath, lover (deceased)
J’than, green rider, lover (deceased)

Last Updated: 6/04/2008