Arolos Weyr - R'tal

R'tal

User: shewhoguards

Character type: Dragonrider
Rank: Weyrleader
Age: 32
Gender: Male
Sexual Preference: Bisexual

Current Location:

Appearance: To all appearances, R'tal is a fairly ordinary looking man. He has fairly long brown hair, and grey eyes. If you look more closely at his face, you might also notice more lines of worry tha is usual for most 26 year olds, and a few faint scars from long ago Threadscores. His nose also has a slight bend in it from a long-ago breaking.

He's medium height and build, with small hands and feet - again, nothing unusual there. His clothes though, hide a few more scars - including a whole mess over his stomach where he was once hit by a clump of Thread. The fingers of one hand, when examined closely, have a slightly twisted gnarly look as if, life his nose, they've been broke and reset.

Personality: R'tal spends a lot of his time Worrying. He does it with such flair and panache that it deserves the capital letter. Give him a situation and somewhere along the line he'll worry himself into taking responsibility for it. He has a gentle personality, but the capacity for great courage and determination and the last thing he wanted was to be put in the situation where he was making the decisions. But on the other hand, now he finds it hard to be totally out of control.

His other great passion is paperwork. Most people avoid the stuff, but R'tal loves it with a passion. The problem tends to be getting him to stop doing it - though K'ren has just about stopped him pulling allnighters by now, there are still occasional threats of flamethrowers when he's overdoing it.

History: R'tal arrived at the weyr a relatively new wingsecond and seeming just after he had set foot on the soil the Senior Queen took flight and he found himself in a position he thought as a brownrider he would never be in,; he was a very young, inexperience new Weyrleader. Slightly panic striken he threw himself into the role with a little too much fervour nearly working himself sick. Fortunately he gained the friendship of Kirren the new Healer and from that point things never looked back.

At this point he was in love with Alba, and good friends with Kirren and managed somehow to make it through many disasters...Duels, Firehead, the infamous Renegades hostage taking. Unfortunately Alba felt that he was not commited enough to her wholly and solely and decided that they would not be weyrmates any more. R'tal was devestated but continued to bury himself in paperwork to compensate. Then, there was an incident with High Reaches weyr, and Jesa the then Weyrwoman tried to frame R'tal for rape to protect one of her favourite riders who had attacked an Arolos Rider. K'ren was with him, and the attempt went wrong, and they attempted to kill them instead. In the hurry to get away and injured K'ren took them all between times and they were believed lost.

It was during this soujourn that R'tal and K'ren realised that they had more than just intense friendship going on. They were in love.

When they returned, to great surprise, Alba attempted to claim R'tal back as hers alone and though K'ren was willing to step back so they could be happy, R'tal would not deny K'ren and the Weyrwoman was not happy at all.

Whether it was stress or tiredness, the following day, Alba and Toreth went between...and did not re emerge. It nearly destroyed R'tal, and if K'ren had not been there...it would have been entirely possible that it might have done.

As it was, it drew the pair together, which they needed to get through the disasters Arolos threw at them both.

And since then, there have been more than enough to cope with. R'tal Impressed Tyren shortly after returning, and pest though he occasionally is, the wher's helped keeped R'tal from getting *too* serious.

An "arrangement" was set up with K'ren where both he and R'tal could sleep around when they wished, as long as they both came home eventually. To date, the result of that agreement has been two children - and sadly, earlier this Turn, one miscarraige. R'tal always regards his children with mid amazement - these little people really belong to *him*?

He's served three terms as Weyrleader so far, the last one cut short when a Threadfal was interfered with, killing many riders. The Conclave suspended R'tal on a charge of incompetance, and he proceeded to.. fall apart a little. The stress of knowing people would believe that of him, combined with the guilt of wpondering if he truly *was* responsible, and not truly *wnting* to be Weyrleader again in any case combined into a somewhat nasty mixture. The result was him walking out of the weyr he shared with K'ren, and not returning for several months, until he had his mind sorted out a little more.

He hasn't actually taken full control of the Weyr since then, though he was proven innocent eventually. Jenith rose straight after the Conclave left, and this time Talith did not win. It's not something R'tal minds - he's much happier in his WeyrSecond role.

Information about R'tal's pets

Pet Name: Tyren

Pet Type: Brown Wher

Appearance: Imagine Tyren as a playful puppy who just happens to be the size of a pony, with rather lethal teeth and claws, and the ability to rip your arm off without really thinking about it, and there you have Tyren.

Personality: Hatched just after Alba's death, Tyren's gathered so much personality by now that he really deserves a character sheet of his own.

When first Hatched, Tyren was the size of a young german shepherd pup, and - so R'tal claims - just as cute. That didn't however stop him attempting to claw up K'ren's leg that first day to get at his food - a trick they hasily trained him out of.

Unfortunetly, too much busyness on his owner's side has meant that Tyren got perhaps a little less training than he ought to have done. It does result in "incidents" from time to time - such as the time Ty got over-excited during a game, and snapped at a child's arm, or the time he was left home alone and succeeded in trashing the whole weyr.

He does have one irrational fear left over from puphood - he was once cornered with a broom and poked at. He didn't forget it, and though R'tal and K'ren tend to keep their brooms out of sight now, when he's worried Tyren will occasionally seek them out and destroy them.

He's an adult now - no longer the pup who adopted R'tal's old jacket, or the halfgrown youngster who nearly fell victim to draconic plague. He's perfectly capable of looking after himself - and R'tal and K'ren too. When they ran short of food in famine it's Tyren who's been catching them tunnelsnakes for stew (and a few pets, but we don't talk about that) and when R'tal was hit by a stone, it was Tyren who attempted to chew the arm off the lad who threw it. He's cute still, and playful, but make no mistake. Upset him, or upset his owner, and he's as dangerous as *any* fullgrown wher.

Information about R'tal's dragon

Dragon Name: Talith

Colour: Brown

Age: 15

Wing (Weyrling Group): Firedance

Appearance: Talith is one of the larger browns of the Weyr - something that has helped him win three goldflights now, and many greenflights. A wide wingspan helps him glide easily, and he tends towards a darker brown.

Personality: K'ren has been known to occasionally tease R'tal about the randyness of his dragon - and it's true! Talith really *does* like flights that much. He views every one as a challenge, and while he doesn't use compliments enough is smart enough to occasionally trap his female before she even knows he's there.

He has a more serious ide though - it would be hard to avoid it with R'tal as a rider. When R'tal is worried, or depressed, the dragon gains a grey tint and stops chasing with quite so much skill. He's got nothing against tattling on his rider when R'tal is overdoing it either - oe big advantage of K'ren being a HAD is that he can do so.

Weyr of Origin:

Abilites and weaknesses:

The Dragonriders of Pern® is registered U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, by Anne McCaffrey, used here with permission. Use or reproduction without a license is strictly prohibited.