Name: Canthry (though she could just as easily follow the male tradition of name shortening if she impresses to… C’ry or something. She’s the type who might.)
Age: 18 turns
Sex: Female
Sexual Orientation: Completely irrelevant, though she’d most likely be classed as ‘bisexual’ if it became an issue.
Craft: N/A
Rank: Candidate, I think she’d be classified as?
Physical Description: Erring on the taller side of an ‘average’ height (about 5’7’’), Canthry’s natural build is rather willowy and slighting… though you sure wouldn’t know it from looking at her. Many long turns of physical labor have left her with a sturdy musculature unusual for most females, with broadened shoulders, strong arms, callused hands, and enough power in her core to handle even the most difficult of jobs. Unfortunately, however, the same strength and conditioning has all but destroyed any natural figure she might have: long lost (…if it existed in the first place) and probably never to return again. In fact, she’s often mistaken for male at a distance, and her face— retaining a soft jawline and vaguely ‘delicate’ features— is probably the only surviving vestige of her actual gender.
She keeps her chestnut brown hair uniformly short and neat at all times, with the longest strands rarely exceeding more than a couple of inches and, during those rare between periods when she hasn’t found time to crop it again, it’ll usually be jerked back in a sorry stub of a ponytail. Her skin is appropriately tanned from work, too, with a number of minor scars (mostly ancient now) on her hands, arms, and even face. Rarely do they have any dramatic story behind them, though; in fact, she doesn't even remember where half of them came from— inevitably working somewhere rough and getting a little banged up in the process.
Personality: Growing up in a household full of twittering siblings with incessant mouths, Canth was forced to develop a downright miraculous tolerance for others (regardless of how annoying they might be) from an early age, and it’s stuck with her ever since. She’s almost impossible to ruffle, maintaining a stoic face even in the largest, rowdiest, most irksome of circumstances, and rarely belies more than the thinnest half-smile or grimace in any public setting. Some who don’t know her well debates whether or not the strange (barely) female has any feelings whatsoever, and she won’t correct any of their accusations, either. From her perspective, it just seems like a waste of breath—and if some irritating deadglow does miraculously push her over the edge, she’ll (… usually) just choke it down to vent privately later.
Emotional debates aside, though, no one can deny that she has a superb work ethic, and one she’s been assigned to a task— no matter how large or small— she’ll always finish it, without complaints or excuses, in as prompt a time as possible. No job is too dirty, or too exhausting, or too menial to handle once she’s been granted it, and nothing short of mortal injury would stop her from meeting that goal either, either: whatever’s necessary to get through the day. She’ll never hesitate to (quietly) offer her help to anyone that needs it, either— particularly women, of whom she treats with a formal and almost gentlemanly cordiality… a quirk sometimes mistaken for ‘flirting’, as it were, which rarely (if ever) ends without some awkward correction.
Speaking is something she doesn’t do very often, but when she does, there are no words minced. Canth isn’t the type for wasting her energy beating around the bush; if it’s concerning work, she’ll cut right to the chase, and if it’s not… well… actually she’s notoriously lacking in casual conversational skills, and the hands down fastest, most surefire way to stump her is by sparking up a chat about something completely mundane. It’s about the closest she’ll ever get to flustered, attempting not to be ‘rude’ with a dismissal yet failing UTTERLY to hold up the other end.
As far as etiquette in the obligatory social situation goes, she’ll usually just stay ‘out of the way’ if it can be helped. Given her relatively keen intelligence and common sense, she does have the capacity to be a decent leader… just not the drive or motivation to do it. Standing at the front of a herd has never held any sense of special authority or prestige for her, and she’ll only take it up when absolutely necessary (and no one else is showing interest).
Overall, though, she’s a sturdy, reserved, hardworking individual: bound to her old fashioned personal morals and driven by a tough, no-nonsense get the job done ethic. If you need someone to really rely on, Canthry’s your go-to guy (...er, sort of).
History: Born to a pair of rather unimportant parents in Ista Hold, Canthry was the last child her mother bore: both the youngest and eventually tallest of five girls ranging from two to seven years older than herself. Her father— a kindly merchant with the unfortunate habit of spoiling his young children too zealously— perished suddenly just months after her birth during a journey to one of the island’s other settlements. She was too young to really know him, only hearing stories of the gentle father and husband from those who remembered him properly, but his presence (or lack thereof) continued to shape her life as she grew. Her mother, now struggling to work as a single parent, continued catering to the children’s whims in his absence: running herself down to nothing for the unintentionally frivolous, dependent, and terribly spoiled young women.
Perhaps it was the lack of direct influence from her father, or simply the observation of her elder siblings’ antics, but Canth alone developed a concept of ‘earning’ what she wanted. Her sisters weren’t bad people, of course, nor did she feel any lack of familial affection for them, but at the same time… it wasn’t the sort of life she wanted for herself, either— not at the cost of her mother’s health.
Sure enough, fatigue and exhaustion caught up with the aging single parent eventually when she was injured on the job: breaking her leg so badly at the femur that even the most skillful of healers couldn’t properly set it. She was bedbound, immobile, and most likely to be crippled for the rest of her life, leaving the family high and dry for a means of supporting themselves. As each of her sisters inevitably failed to take on a craft of make themselves useful, Canth knew that she would eventually be the one to fill that space and, inevitably, by the time she had passed her fourteenth turn, she was already working hard hours at any place that would take her. The more physically taxing jobs were difficult at first, but she acclimated without complaint. It was her own choice to make, after all; someone needed to keep things going and make sure there was food on the table. She was the closest thing to a man of the house that her family had left, and could only hope that eventually her sisters— whom she still cared for despite their freeloading— would eventually stand up on their own two legs and find some kind of independence.
That faint glimmer of ‘hope’ kept her going for a solid four turns of day to day holdwork with no sign of coming to pass when something very odd happened, though.
It was a searchrider from Ista Weyr, who met her with a very intriguing proposition. On the one hand she was naturally hesitant to leave, but on the other… what if this might finally force her siblings to find themselves? Perhaps what they really needed was not having her present to baby them any more?
Maybe she’d even get the opportunity to live for herself a bit along the way.
(… I’d like to leave the searching part a little hazy for now because Ferret and I want to rp it officially, if that’s alright? I’d add that all in later.)
Pets: None currently.
Other/Talents: While Canthry may not excel in any fine crafts or particulars, one of her greatest strengths lies in her versatility; she’s a Jack-of-all-Trades, with the ability to do a little bit of almost everything and enough common sense to figure out what’s needed for getting by. Thanks to work, she’s also exceptionally strong bodied for a female (roughly on par with the ‘average’ male) and has a rather impressive working endurance, able to carry heavy loads or stay out in the hot midday sun for far longer than your average holder. Being so hands on, she also enjoys activities like whittling in her spare time, finding a certain comfort in the quiet, mind-numbing repetition of the carving process. In fact, those that look hard enough can usually pick out a number of small wooden figurines tucked around her sleeping quarters.
Will this character be a candidate?: I’d like her to be, if that’s alright!
Picture: (If applicable)
(This is just a sketch of her I did at work and webcammed later on; it’s rough and kind of terrible and I PROMISE TO REPLACE IT LATER SORRY; it's just a placeholder for now. P-Please ignore the random flit on her shoulder.)
