Character Name: Antigonos
Age: 20
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual, but not worried by the idea of flights, or averse to going against his preferences for a night if he stands to gain from it.
Craft/Rank: Harper journeyman; arbitration subcraft
History: Antigonos was a bit of a naughty boy when he was very little. He stole, he lied, he cheated, and he cared nothing for other people. As he aged he seemed to be growing out of these traits, much to the relief of his mother and father a woodcrafter and a farmcrafter respectively, living in a small hold close to Benden Weyr. The truth, however, was quite different; Antigonos wasn't turning into a sweet charming young man, he was just learning to act like one. He stole discreetly, he told believable lies, he cheated well and he gave the appearance of caring about people. Why? He wasn't abused, he never witnessed any traumatic events, he was just a selfish boy with enough cunning and charm to get away with it. When he turned ten, having shown a little flare for music and of course a whole shipload of charm he was sent to Harper Hall to become an apprentice.

He had a decent voice, played a few instruments passably and played the lyre, his chosen speciality, rather well (he did enjoy his little joke with that one). Over the turns he made a lot of friends at the Hall, and secretly cheated and lied to every single on of them whenever it suited him to do so. He managed never to get caught out on a lie or to be seen stealing, however, and walked the tables aged nineteen. As a journeyman he specialized in arbitration, remaining at the Hall for some months to study and aid with the teaching of apprentices here and there. Just after he turned twenty an opportunity to transfer to Benden Weyr came up, and he couldn't apply soon enough. There were only a couple of spots and several journeymen interested in going, but silver-tongued serpent Antigonos managed to be one of the lucky ones.

Luckily for him as it was a Weyr he was heading to there was no long uncomfortable journey over land and over sea involved, just on quick jump between. The experience of that total nothing both rattled and fascinated Antigonos, and when he arrived at the Weyr he started asking around about when the next hatching might be. Dragons did Impress from the stands at times after all, and maybe if he managed to show himself to a dragon he would even be searched for the next clutch. The chance to Impress a dragon was hugely exciting to Antigonos; having a powerful creature to aid him in his schemes and take him anywhere in the world he fancied going was too great for him to ignore, he didn't really care about the rest of a rider's duties but he was willing to tolerate them in exchange for a dragon. If it didn't happen, however, he was still a journeyman in a good position; he wouldn't exactly be heartbroken over it. After all, he could always befriend riders and persuade them to take him where he wanted to go; having his own dragon would be nice, but was hardly necessary.

Within a couple of sevendays of arriving, Antigonos had managed to befriend a vintercraft journeywoman who just so happened to have a golden flitt with a clutch. Having become Friends with the handsome harper, she thought it was only right that he should have one of them. She had already given away or sold most of the eggs, but there were two small ones left and she gave Antigonos his pick. When her egg hatched into a little blue, which she impressed, Antigonos' showed no sign of movement, and so he cracked it unceremoniously against the edge of the table. A crimson flitt fell into his hand, and quickly impressed to him as it licked the blood away from a cut on his finger, given to him by a shard of shell. He named the little creature Symphony, and decided that she was a very fine pet indeed; not as good a status symbol as a dragon, but nice all the same.

When his little pet was only a few days old, Antigonos found himself sitting next to a Searchrider at dinner... okay, not really found; he carefully engineered it but still. The pair chattered a little over food, and once they had finished the rider offered to take Antigonos out to meet his lifemate. After inspecting him for a few moments the green decided that he had the potential to Impress, and her rider offered him the chance to stand as a candidate. Antigonos professed shock at being picked out, and claimed he had never seriously considered life as a rider, though like any boy he had dreamed... Seen as he was almost too old to Impress, he said, he could put his studies on hold for just a few months and stand at the next clutch. If his fate was to become a dragon man, he was sure that His would find him out there on the sands.

Description: Antigonos is hot stuff. He has a classically handsome face; defined cheekbones, a strong jaw, and a straight nose. He keeps his black hair fairly short, but not so short that it wouldn't be ruffled appealingly by the wind or he couldn't run his fingers through it alluringly; it is straight, soft, shiny, and full of body. He stands a fairly impressive six foot, and his body is well muscled and broad shouldered; he's no bodybuilder but there is definite power there. His brown-black eyes excel at giving smouldering glances, and stand out well from his fairly pale northern skintone.

Personality: A handsome, charming, clever young man; a good young harper with a taste for the finest things in life, and a great passion for his art! His voice is a wonderful tenor, not exceptional by harper standards but easily good enough to make the grade, same with his playing of the lyre. It's his skill with crafting words that make him stand out though; why young Antigonos could talk a feline into handing over its teeth and going vegetarian!...

Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye,
Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower,
But be the serpent under't.

Macbeth: Act 1, Scene 5

...Or then again he could talk it into dispatching somebody who's getting in his way. Antigonos is a ruthless, selfish, hedonist with a silver tongue. He knows what he wants, and he knows how to get it. A lot of the time it's all charm, using his wit and looks to their best advantage. Many a young lady has been smoothly talked into bed and then felt quite unable to accuse this serpent of any wrongdoing when he moves along. After all, how could someone like him be captivated by such a dull little creature for very long? He'll never call anyone dull or stupid, he'll just make offers to help them out with this, that, and the other ever so kindly because they seem to be struggling. Picking up girls with low self-esteem to begin with helps too, of course, they're much easier to twist around your finger.

If it's not just charm he's using to get what he's after, then it's lies and theft. Antigonos has been lying almost since he learned to speak, and started pilfering small items not long after he learned to walk; he wanted it, so why should he have it? He almost never keeps anything he takes for more than a day or two, usually he wants to take something far more than he wanted to actually have it. Once he tires of an item he'll either throw it away, or slip it into somebody else's possessions; he doesn't want to alarm you but he thinks he saw your favorite brooch in that shifty lad's bag. If he's caught actually holding a stolen item he'll insist he found it lying around, or in somebody else's things and was just coming to give it back to you, and as he is so seldom actually seen with a stolen item the story has held up just fine to date.

In a group, Antigonos slots himself in wherever it suits him to be. He can be a shining leader, a witty genial follower, or a sly power behind a leader who lacks direction of their own, or who's just dim enough to be steered into thinking his ideas were theirs all along. His personal preference is for either the former or the latter; just remaining a follower isn't going to help him make powerful friends, get nice things, get invited to fancy parties... Still, if he is stuck in a position without power he'll manipulate his way into getting things he wants all the same.

Other: His flitt is a RL commission