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Name: Rokar
Age: 23
Sex: Male
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
Craft: Fishercraft/wherhandler apprentice
Rank: apprentice/candidate
Location: High Reaches Weyr
Physical Description: Rokar is a fairly large built young man, while he'll never be massive, he's strong, his skin, once deeply tanned is starting to fade and his hair, sunbleached to a dark, dirty blondish is turning a light brown. He has rich hazel eyes that are very expressive when he wants them to be, unless someone mentions the sea, then they seem to turn dark as he thinks about his loss of that freedom. He's of fairly average height but broad shoulders and large muscles can sometimes give him an intimidating feel.

Personality: Rokar is silent, both due to his problems with his voice and the fact since losing his voice he finds nothing really worth talking about. He won't talk about his past beyond saying that he came from a fisherhold, wanted to be a Wherhandler, got Searched and so came here. When asked why High Reaches Rokar will either ignore the question or just shrug. He's fairly reserved but if anyone tries to make fun of his voice when he DOES speak, he usually gets aggressive, bristling, glaring and looking damn intimidating, if it goes further than that he's not afraid to use his fists, usually just the once,often saying in his squeak of a voice "When i get a Wher or a Dragon you won't dare do that again" before backing off unless the other wants to continue the fight. Most of the time once is enough but they usually come back in groups rather than on their own after that.

With those he considers friends (which he doesn't really have many, if any of right now) you will see he will open up more, he'll talk of the sea, though he gets embarassed about his voice when it squeaks or comes out as a harsh, croaky bark. With critters he's very gentle, he likes the small ones, the babies. Things that also don't need to talk to tell their intent. They, like him, don't need to use words so he prefers them. More often you'll find him among the Beast Pens, at least until he gets a Wher, (or a dragon) as he enjoys being around them. He passes a lot of time grooming the runners especially, wishing sometimes he could have brought his stallion.

Rokar isn't afraid of much, certainly not drowning or the sea or even heights, as he found when on dragonback. However he is scared of getting sick again, of losing something else important of himself. He's scared that he might never Bond to a Wher or Impress a Dragon never be able to turn away the taunts but he's most afraid of ending up a drudge, useful as he is, with no voice he feels that becoming a Wherhandler or a Rider is the only useful thing he CAN do right now, if that fails then he will feel has has nothing, he lost his voice, he lost the Sea, he's afraid of losing those things around him that feel important to him. He wants to Bond to a Wher or Impress to make himself useful again in a way that's more than just the everyday things anyone can do.

There's one thing Rokar shies away from and that's singing and music, he loved to sing, that was taken away from him and it hurts, he tries to keep away from music whenever it happens to happen around him.

History: Rokar had a fairly normal childhood at a fisher hold, learned to swim before he could walk, grew up among strong Sea faring folk, men and women alike pitching in whenever a boat brought back a haul. He learned to gut fish quickly and efficiently, learned how to mend nets, haul rigging and such things needed to be out on a boat at sea but he also learned how to cook their catches too, a side thing for him to do, anyone could have done so but he liked being able to catch and eat things himself rather than be supplied elsewhere.

When Rokar's voice broke and proved that he had a very good tenor the hold's resident Harper requested that he come to the hall and learn Harpering, he turned this down. He loved life at the fisherhold, he couldn't imagine any other life, even though he did enjoy singing. A thing fairly valued whenever he went out on a fishing trip when he was older, he was great at keeping morale with his songs, other fishermen (and women, rarely) on the boats sung but Rokar would put his whole being into the song however he never let it get in the way of working, he knew when to shut up and get on with it.

One afternoon a storm washed in suddenly while he was with the crew chasing packtail shoals, Rokar, being of rather large build, was one of the few that stayed above, lashing the rigging down and securing the boat so they didn't capsize. Being the idjit he was he didn't think about himself, only the boat and the crew and hadn't donned his waterproof jacket and got soaked through. Over the next day or so, even after the storm had long cleared he was wracked with a fever and a cough, his throat closing so that he could barely squeak, let alone bellow when needed on the fishing boat. He returned home and was banned from going out on boats until he was fully recovered, which he did for the most part, his voice, once strong, was raspy and hoarse, however he kept going out on the fishing trips, other fishermen overlooking the fact he couldn't shout or sing as well anymore in favour of his strength and experience, however the more he went out, the more his voice weakened. It got to the point he was told he couldn't go out on the vessels anymore as he couldn't bellow or yell, which was kind of needed on a large boat, plus if he ever got hurt or knocked overboard, how was he going to signal he was in need when he couldn't shout, as at that point his voice was a loud whisper and his yell was about as strong as regular talking. Rokar was crushed but tried to hide his disappointment, the sea was his life, if he couldn't get out on it.... what use was he? ..

After several sevendays the teasing started as he stopped speaking alltogether, it taking more effort than he cared to expend to make himself even heard. Other, mostly younger fisherfolk would tease him, kick dirt at him as if he was a dumb drudge, in fact most of the time they treated him worse than a drudge. Only a few of the women defended him from the others, which frustrated him, he wasn't some child that needed to be babied, nor was he a woman, doing woman's work (not that they didn't work just as sharding hard as the men did) Over the next turn a plan formed, he worked silently with the women, avoiding the men as much as he could to avoid their looks, the glances, some sympathetic, which infuriated him, he was still ABLE... just because he couldn't speak much didn't mean he needed their shaffing pity. He grew a little bitter, hoarding every mark he made that he didn't need for his immediate needs, skimping on some things to save his marks back, he began to hate the sea, feeling torn from something that had meant so much to him, he couldn't stand looking at it anymore. He got in more than several fights among young lads of the fisherhold before making his final decision.

When he had saved enough Marks he'd left the Fisherhold, leaving a note for his parents, they deserved that much, to tell them where he had gone, why and not to follow. He found the nearest beast sale at a nearby Small farming Hold and bought a sturdy Runner, a good solid beast that would do well travelling long distance. Using his new runner he travelled to the nearest large Hold that was as far from the sea as he could, determined to leave it far behind him. He and his runner he named simply Black, travelled and formed rather a good bond, the beast watching out for him as well as being his mount for the journey. Upon arriving at the Hold he declared his intent, to serve as a Wherhandler, he would like to learn the craft. He stayed on a few days, learning a few of the whistles and clicks, these seemed much easier and he learned them quickly, much easier than talking.

After a few days it was decided that he should travel to High Reaches Hold, which suited him very well as he wanted to be as far from the sea as he could, there he would have to apply properly to see if he was allowed to become a Wherhandler Apprentice. He said a teary goodbye to Black, he'd become quite attached to the animal but had gifted the stallion to the Hold as breeding stock, being of better breed than he had originally realised. He was willing to pay the price, despite the small heartache it gave him to part with the runner, it was worth the price to leave the sea behind. A Rider gave him a ride to the Hold, Rokar had never been on a dragon before but the feeling he got when the beast was airborne was similar to the freedom he felt on a ship in the middle of the sea. He liked it, however when the blue went Between he almost wet himself, THAT feeling was not one he liked at all.

Arriving at High Reaches, after thanking the Blue, he petitioned the Wherhandlers and was allowed to become an apprentice, seeing how his lack of a voice (well, not without great effort) didn't hinder him communicating with a Wher, being able to speak enough to deal with the human aspect. He has been at the Hold for a few weeks and has learned much but sometimes he daydreams of the Dragon ride, thinking a Dragon wouldnt NEED him to be able to speak, and is curious about Candidacy

Other: He's almost desperate to own a firelizard and is jealous of those who have one, but he's too proud to actually ASK about best places or methods to tame one.

Candidate Specific Questions
Do you want them to have an official Search RP? Yes
Do you understand they will age every passing year regardless if you're there to RP the or not? Yes
Do you want them to have a possible Stands Impression? Depends on IC situations but most likely won't need to

- - - > Please keep in mind that Stands Impressions are very rare. This means that not everybody will get an opportunity to have a surprise Impression, and you lower your chances of being picked by a dragonet. Given the character is not ICly an official Candidate, they will need a reason to be at the Weyr of their choice long-term, or at least for every Hatching.

Edited the slate thing, speaking takes a lot of effort but he can communicate when neccesary

http://www.britishvoiceassociation.org.uk/voicecare_paralysed-vocal-folds.htm

Some info on vocal chord paralysis, it started with the fever/infection but permanent damage occurred because he continued going out on the boats and abusing his voice

A Harper might be able to help him improve it (because of the association to singing)but he is both too proud to ask, and stays away from ALL things Harper/singing

fixed!