Approved by Tawny
Handler Name: Mustela
Age: 24
Gender: female
Sexual Orientation: heterosexual
Rank: Journeyman Leathercrafter/Journeyman (technically) Wherhandler
History: Mustela was born and raised in a smaller hold a little south of Igen Hold [OOC: unless there's a Tannercrafthall in the Southern continent, too?]. She had an uneventful childhood, then when asked to pick a craft she decided to become Tannercrafter because they lived rather near the Tannercrafthall, and it was easy to get there. Her parents were concerned with her choice, since they knew she often did whatever was easiest, and repeatedly asked her if there was anything she would rather do, assuring her that they would get her the training. But she insisted that she was sure, so she was sent to the crafthall.
Despite her dubious motives for joining the Tannercraft, Mustela found that she enjoyed the work, and set herself to her lessons cheerfully. However, once she'd felt she learned the basic lessons she wanted to move on. She started taking up any extra side projects she could, both to work herself into the Masters' good graces and to get practice, especially with more advanced techniques. Her diligence and eagerness to work was noted, and Masters asked her to take on some self-directed projects to test her capability. This she did, and was both quick and thorough at the jobs. After the Masters were quite sure she knew the craft well, she was promoted to Journeyman and given a post in the Southern Continent, in an area that had been requesting a good leatherworker.
The posting ended up being situated in an area near several cotholds that mostly raise Runnerbeasts and other herdbeasts, so Mustela is most often is employed in making saddles and tack, and she can easily restok her supply of bovine hide. The holding is a slightly isolated building where she can ply her trade as a Tanner without the smell bothering anyone. However, since she is isolated and a provider of valuable, easy-to-carry-off goods, she is occasionally the target of bandits and Holdless. The smell of a Tanner's workshop is too much for even ones used to it to tolerate all day long, so her living area is slightly removed from the workroom. This leaves her goods vulnerable, as they are not under her direct eye.
When Thread began falling again, Mustela wasn't too worried. Her building was luckily a solid stone one, though it had only wooden shutters to seal the windows. She purchased some metal shutters for those, and had long since made sure not to keep anything valuable outdoors. She hoped the shutters threat of Thread would deter the bandits, but they were not deterred for long.
The bandit problem was persistent enough that she considered getting a guard canine to try and stop the thieves. However, while she was chatting with a customer about the issue and asking if he knew of any good canines for sale, he heartily recommended getting a wher instead. A friend of his who was a woodcrafter had hired a wher and handler to help mind the shop and couldn't be happier, since the beast was so much more clever than any canine. It was so strong and patient that it would even pull a cart for him.
His enthusiasm swayed Mustela, so she arranged for training in basic wher care. She found, somewhat to her annoyance, that she had to become a formal wherhandler Apprentice to do so, which would take time away from her tanner work. But after a bit of asking around (and perhaps a small bribe) she managed to find a teacher who would let her get away with the bare minimum of training before allowing her to get her own wher. She applied herself to the necessary lessons and with that learned, she presented herself to a wher clutch as soon as one was available. Unfortunately her basic training had not covered examining a clutch's parentage to determine probable traits of the offspring, and by going for the first egg she could get, she inadvertently ended up with one from rather less intelligent parents. When she was presented to the queen, she picked the largest egg she could, hoping for a strong fellow.
She tended the wher egg carefully, knowing that if anything happened to it she would not likely be permitted to get another any time and would have wasted her time. She protected it from getting bumped around too much on the way home, settled it in a warm spot once there, and checked it often to make sure it was intact and the proper temperature. When the egg was withing days of hatching she began checking it as often as once a candlemark, and in the last day or so she mostly found work to do that would allow her to sit by the egg.
She was sewing together some tack by the hearth when the egg began to wiggle in its pot of sand. She immediately dimmed the glows to protect the youngster's eyes, gently tipped the egg onto floor and watched it eagerly. However, the wiggly creature that burst out of the egg was not exactly what she'd been hoping for. She fed the youngster anyway, hoping it'd calm down and prove trainable, the first of which never happened and the second of which it dubious. She has repeatedly tried to train the wher to guard her hold, but has only managed mixed results at best.
After her efforts to train Musk proved to have little effect, she eventually resigned to leaving him chained to the front of the building at night (on a long chain, so he had room to run and get exercise), figuring if anyone approached he'd let her know but sheer excited noise, and maybe just the sight of a largeish, active wher would deter people. When he's not chained out front guarding, she tends to keep him in his kennel (a converted storeroom just inside the back door, so nobody can try to get in that way) with toys and things to keep him occupied. She sews him toys out of leather scraps that are too small, oddly-shaped or poorly-tanned for any other use. The toys come out as irregular lumps most of the time, but as long as he has something to bat around and chew on, he can amuse himself.
Now and then she'd hear news from passing Harpers or people at Gathers she attended, so she eventually heard of the struggle between the weyrs and wherholds. It didn't seem to have anything to do with her or her work, so she largely ignored it. She doubted either group would care about her wher, dimglowed as he was.
Description: Mustela is a short and stout woman, though not quite overweight. She dark brown eyes set in a round face of a dusky complexion. Her hair is medium-brown and straight, which she wears chin-length and and often pulls back in a kercheif when she needs it out of her eyes. She tends to wear plain, practical clothes, things that can stand a little rough use. But since a rambunctious wher is harder use than most clothes are designed for, she keeps a thick leather apron, worn and often-patched, that she wears when taking care of Musk (such as when exercising him, washing, training, etc.) because he tends to be careless of his claws when he gets excited.
Personality: Mustela is ambitious, and wants to expland her expand her business and earn her Mastery. In order to pursue this, she is entrepreneurial, willing to take business risks if she thinks there's a good chance she can make them work. But she's mainly willing to try new things if she's sure there's a solid advantage to it, such as profit or security. She's less likely to try new things if they seem frivolous or for amusement only. She is quite happy to work with others, especially if she gets some sort of recognition for the work.
On the other hand, she is also somewhat opportunistic, and will often go for what's easy to get or do instead of waiting to see what else there is or putting in the effort for something better. But she will make more effort if it's something she finds particularly interesting or useful. She can be rather hasty, and tends to make quick decisions about things without spending much time considering the consequences or other options.
She tries to be patient with Musk, but tends to get exasperated by his antics. She does not have particularly thorough wherhandler training, and therefore doesn't know how to reroute his energy to more productive routes. Because of this, she tends to leave him restrained with ways to entertain himself, since she doesn't know what else to do with him. She is attentive to his physical needs, providing food, bathing and oiling as necessary, and cleaning out his kennel regularly. But she's pretty much given up on caring for any mental needs of his, no longer trying any sort of training or offering mental stimulation besides some lumpy toys.
Other: Wher Name: Musk
Age: 2
Colour: brown
Description: Base his markings on a ferret. He looks like
[this] in another B/C, but you can just take the theme "ferret" and run with it.
smile Musk will never be considered handsome, not even for a wher; his proportions are all off. "Cute" is the best he could hope for, and that's more on personality than anything. His legs, neck and tail are too short, while his body is too long and thin, and it's hard to tell if his wings are all all proportionate because what part of him do you compare them to?
Size: Small
Build: Slim
Personality: The first thing anyone notices about Musk is his energy. He has more energy and enthusiasm than anything else, especially including sense. He never stops moving, never seems to tire and is always ready to play. He seems to want to get into everything, mainly to see if it can be played with, and is constantly poking about any area he's in. He sometimes digs at the ground if he thinks there might be something interesting there, or if he's just bored. Mustela has to make sure he doesn't dig up any bushes or dig under the wall of the building, and fill in holes as necessary. Whatever he's doing, he often has a vocal commentary of some sort running, a series of chirps, grunts, clicks and other sounds that become louder when he's particularly excited.
But all that energy means he needs something to do or else he'll find something to do, which may be potentially destructive. He is easily distracted, so if he's doing something he shouldn't he can be easily diverted. Give him a toy, or something (simple) to do, or even just something new to poke and bat around, and he'll be content to amuse himself for a while. On the other hand, is he's supposed to be doing something he can very easily get sidetracked. Since most often the thing he's supposed to be doing is guarding, this could pose a problem if an intruder knows how to divert him before he can do his job.
Musk is not a very bright wher. He can speak to Mustela a little, but has the limited vocabulary of a very small child, mainly words like "food!" "play!" "mine!" and "no!". Usually manages no more than two words at a time, and only simple phrases like "more food!". He does not seem to learn very easily, not even after repeated lessons in various styles, and sometimes he misinterprets the lessons. For example, attempts at teaching him to guard the building have only caused him to harass anyone (besides Mustela) who tries to get in, no matter what their intention. As a result, he's generally only let out of his kennel at night, when the chances of bandits are highest, Mustela needs to sleep and he's most comfortable. He tends to make a racket when anyone comes near, so whether an evening visitor is friendly or not, Mustela is notified of their presence.
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