Name: Carltis
Age: 20
Gender: Male
Sexual Orientation: Bisexual
Craft/Rank: Harper/Apprentice
History: Like many of Malvren's weyrbrats Carltis has no idea who his parents are but he suspects his father was a rider, or perhaps that's just what he wants to believe. Growing up he was a bright boy, but more notably a temperamental boy. He didn't make friends easily - to say the least - and the more he failed socially the more he pretended not to care about it and pushed people away. He got into fights with kids his own size, picked on kids smaller than him, and - more often than either of these - picked fights with kids bigger than he was. Understandably, this got him labeled as 'trouble', and got him avoided even more by his peers but he insisted didn't care about them because he was going to grow up and Impress a bronze and become weyrleader and then they would all have to do what he said!

That little plan rather fell apart when aged thirteen he found himself with a massive crush on another boy. After a lot of denial he had to accept that no bronze, no brown even would choose him. His reaction to this was to run away; he sought an apprenticeship at Harper Hall, got a lift, and swore he would never look back at stupid dragons who chose like that. He took well to his lessons at the Hall, proving to have a good ear for music and a good hand for art; his voice was average, but he did well with the lap harp and ocarina. He even became slightly less vicious and nasty, managing to form a few tentative friendships and even managing to get a girlfriend when he was fourteen. This was all well and good until two years later when he found out she was cheating on him and got into a fight with the other person she was seeing. The fight ended with Carltis' nose broken, and the other young man's arm broken. Sixteen year old Carltis was unceremoniously booted back to Malvren, where he landed in the midst of of political chaos. Carltis did his best to ignore it, and tried not to panic about the future too much. He could still Impress a silver or something; they were rare and couldn't be Weyrleaders but they could be wingleaders, and that would just have to be good enough.

Remaining isolated from and abrasive towards his peers Carltis spent his free time practicing on the harp he managed to save for, and sparring/fighting with anyone he could talk or provoke into it; by this age he had at least stopped picking on people who just want to be left alone. Unless they insulted him or something of course. Isolated and withdrawn from the world as he was, the first Carltis knew of the revolution was when it kicked off. Despite identifying with the views of the dissenters he ended up with the resistance, mainly because he ran into a weyrbrat he really hated on the revolution side and punched him in the face in front of a lot of people.

Carltis is not famed for his well thought out life decisions.

The next couple of weeks were spent trying to win Malvren back and - more to the point - trying not to die. Shortly after the death of the Weyrwoman - when it became clear that Malvren could not be saved - he caught a ride out to Trine. He misses his harp, but really likes the whip he acquired during the fighting.

Description: Carltis stands just about dead on six feet tall; he possesses a powerful build, and a hard square-jawed face. A scar from a slash wound runs straight down across his right eye from mid forehead to just below the cheekbone but the eyelid and eye are not damaged thanks to the knife skipping off his orbit bone. His eyes and hair are both dark chestnut brown; the former are usually glowering or sneering and the latter is usually spiky and unruly. He favours dark colours in his clothing, especially black, and always seems to be wearing the same pair of heavy knee boots that look designed for kicking things.

He actually has a very pleasant smile, not that it comes up often.

Personality: Sharp, prickly, short-tempered and volatile; Carltis is not a man to trifle with. He is a malcontent, and a born cynic; when social grace was being handed out, he was definitely in another room. Why should charm be everything, he would like to know? He’s an intelligent man (not brilliant but definitely bright, and possessed of a healthy dose of practicality too), and yet he struggles to form and maintain friendships. Deep under his spikes and acerbic temperament is a man who would love to have a large group of friends, but can’t seem to get them. Because of this failing in himself (he definitely sees it as a failing) Carltis decided a long time ago that if he couldn’t be liked then he’d at least be respected, or failing that feared.

To be respected or feared a man must be tougher than nails, and so that’s what Carltis has made himself; his rough, tough, remorseless image is all important to him. Unfortunately, it is this determination to stick to his ‘next best thing to being liked’ that is actually part of the reason he struggles to make friends. Carltis has a temper. A real temper. Call him volatile, and you’d be right; call him that to his face, and you’d certainly find yourself on the receiving end of his considerable ire. So, he’s prone to fits of anger and saying unpleasant things in the heat of the moment... But he wants to be liked. He regrets his outbursts, but he can’t be liked, so he has to be tough, so he never shows his remorse, so people dislike him more, so he gets angrier, so he becomes more vicious, so he regrets that too, but he can’t apologize.... It’s a real vicious circle, one that he might well never break free of. So far as he's concerned pretty much everyone will stab you in the back given half a chance, so why even take the risk? Remaining a man aloof without close connections might be lonely, but it's safer.

Despite his rough attitude with others, loyalty in general in fact is one of his major redeeming features; when he actually does manage to form a solid relationship with somebody he will stick by them through thick, thin, forest fires, being dragged out of bed at stupid o' clock to help with something and so on and so forth. Betrayal is something Carltis deals poorly with, and at first tries not to deal with at all through denial. If there is not a shadow of a doubt that somebody he trusted and cared about had shaffed him over however the burning fiery passion of a thousand suns would be a candle next to the amount of hate he would have for that particular individual. Unfortunately for him however he tends to have trouble letting go of the affection he had for them, leading to extremely uncomfortable like/hate conflict that he tries to suppress with extra hate.

If Carltis had a middle name (well, two middle names, because Acerbic-Wherson would certainly be one too) it would be Stubborn. Quitting just isn't something he seems to be capable of once he's set his mind to a task, and while this is positive in that he'll keep trying no matter what it also means that he has a tendency to drive himself into the ground and or attempt things it's really unwise to attempt. Added to his short temper it can be a recipe for disaster but thus far it hasn't got him killed; it's just got him kicked out of his apprenticeship, socially isolated, and on the side of the revolution/resistance equation he disagrees with ideologically. Other than that, no harm done at all.

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