Gender: Male
Rank: Trader/Candidate
Sexuality: Heterosexual
Age: 15
History:
There are four classes of people on Pern. There are the Weyrfolk, who tend the dragons that guard Pern from Thread. There are the Crafters, whose vocations keep Pern running. Then there are the Holders, the proper people of Pern. And then, there are the ones who chose to live outside of Hold or Weyr, who no one really talks about except when they cause trouble.
Sharajan doesn't know exactly when his family became traders; his father told has him several different tales about what led this to pass, based on what virtue he wanted to instill in his son the day the story was told. Regardless of the version, all of them ended with Sharajan's Grandfa dramatically marching out of their cothold (and setting it on fire) rather than submit to the Lord of Keroon, with his Grandmother clutching her two-year old son's hand. She might have been pregnant, but he's not sure. And there might have been snow on the ground. The stories changed so much...
Not that it really mattered. Until he was taken in by the Weyr as a Candidate, the only home Sharajan knew was his family's travelwagon drawn by two rangy herdbeasts across the plains of Keroon. It was where he was born and raised in relative safety, since it was Interval and thus no Thread fell. The road was their home, with his family occasionally stopping at smallholds and majorholds to trade services, supplies, and whatnot. Despite it being Interval, people still looked upon traders with a fair amount of disdain and distrust. After all, no one with sense would choose to live outside a Hold. Never mind that it was the actions of his grandfa that led them to this vocation - that could never be explained to anyone's satisfaction. The sins of the father were visited upon the son. And now, grandson. It was a wonder Sharajan didn't grow up more bitter and suspicious than he did, with the prejudices he encountered from both Hall and Hold.
But he didn't. While his father was adamant that they didn't need a Hold to survive, and was positive Thread was never going to fall again, he wasn't all that sure. After all, his now deceased Grandfa remembered stories about Threadfall. You never knew.
Then, in the fall of his twelfth birthingday, his mother came down with a severe chest infection, and the family was forced to seek out a Healer at the hold for proper treatment. They didn't have enough to pay, of course, and proceeded to work off the debt by carrying and fetching for the hold while his mother recuperated. During that time, a blue dragon came on Search, and picked out Sharajan while he was helping his father to clear brush. The dragonrider wrinkled his nose at the dust-covered traderboy, asked his dragon if he was sure - and extended an offer to the boy to go to the Weyr for the next clutch.
Sharajan hesitated, giving his father ample time to say no, he didn't want his son Searched.
The rider frowned. "I'm not asking you, man, I'm asking the boy next to you. Son, what do YOU want to do?"
This was something he'd *never* been asked before. Until that moment, he'd always had to go with what his father said. But now he had a choice of what to do with his life...and it didn't mean constantly wandering. He could make something of his life.
He's been at the Weyr ever since. He failed to Impress in the clutch he was picked for, and the one after that, but that's okay. Weyr society, which he'd only heard rumors of, has been something of a shock to his system. He may have never been Holdborn, but the only thing Sharajan had been exposed to was Hold morality. But, he's adjusting.
Description:
The Trader boy from the Keroonian plains may be a respectable member of the Weyr now, but there's no erasing his origins. Everything about him is coarse and unrefined.
Sharajan's face is thin and not handsome at all, with dark circles under his deepset wide brown eyes. They never seem to go away no matter how much sleep he gets. His hair is a sooty, unrelieved black shade, the unkempt locks seriously needing a trim and sticking out every which way. There's a certain angular edge to his wiry but strong frame, very much the body of a young man that hasn't had quite enough to eat, ever, or burns through food so quickly he doesn't have the chance to put on any pounds.
His hands are wide but strong, the fingers a tad short and stubby, coarsened by hard work in life. They're tailormade for handling a hoe or a rake, or moving heavy stones. Sharajan does not sit as much as sprawl; while he knows how to sit properly, He sees no reason in compacting himself in a socially acceptable way when can just be, well, comfortable. He speaks with a rough, drawling plains accent.
Personality:
Sharajan is the person everyone thinks of as The Voice of Reason. Forthright, sensible, and laid back, with a head on his shoulders, although he's got little in the way of proper book learning besides what basic harper ballads he picked up. He's just one of the Great Unwashed, and he likes it that way. He’s got aspirations of becoming something other than he is but no desire to lead. No, he’s just happy being one of the cast of thousands, and properly working for a living.
If you could take one quality in Sharajan and bottle it for sale on Pern, what would wind up on top is the stubbornness and need for personal independence. A lifetime of traveling with his holdless family has instilled in him a need to find his own place and make his own choices, as it wasn't *his* idea to be a wanderer in the first place. He's living at the Weyr because he said 'yes' to a Searching dragon, and 'no' to his father who insisted he stay. Oddly enough, he's still beating himself up about that. Part of him feels like he's abandoned them; shouldn't he have tried to make them come with him? While he's still something of a lone wolf, he's quietly allowing himself to be taken under the wings of the women in the Weyr.
His childhood instilled a crazy amount of personal pride in the boy, and not necessarily the good type of pride. He was taught to not be beholden to anyone, because being beholden will tie you down. Even though he's learning that it's okay to rely on people other than yourself, which is necessary to prosper in the Weyr, he will go to crazy lengths to avoid doing so at times. If Sharajan has a bad cold, he will continue doing as much as he can, drink lots of hot drinks, and avoid people till it goes away, rather than see the Weyr healer who could prescribe something. If his shirt's ripped, he will mend it as best he can rather than go to the Weyr stores and just get a new tunic. He will work twice as hard at a task he's promised another person in trade for an item, and do twice as much so there will be NO doubt he fulfilled his end of the bargain. He will not fail to do this. Failure means he is still beholden to you. Failure is NOT an option.
Sharajan is also very distrustful of authority, thanks to a lifetime of the aforementioned authority assuming the worst about him just because of his rank at birth. Although he's a member of the Weyr now, people of equal rank to him are more likely to get results than someone from on high; even though he will submit to authority, he will NOT like it. He really REALLY dislikes people who throw their rank around, like arrogant nobles or cocky bronzeriders. Come on, is that *really* all you've got to prove yourself with? With Sharajan, actions speak much louder than words. Treat him as an equal, and you will have his trust.
Do not expect any sugarcoated words from this lad; he's extremely blunt and to the point, having not been properly schooled in social niceties. If you ask him his opinion on something, he will tell you exactly what he thinks - even if it's something you really don't want to hear - and look mightly confused when you react. What is the point in lying? Lying just gets you in trouble with the Hold guards, watchriders, and other People In Charge. If Sharajan tells you that no, that red dress looks horrible, he's trying to save you from future embarrassment when you look like a nosebleed in motion on the Gather dance floor. As a result, he's not going to be the most chased-after boy for most girls. Heck, to him, giggly girls are DUMB. But, well, he's only fifteen. That could change very soon...
