G'len
Name: G'len
Age: 24
Gender: Male
Craft/Rank: Journeyman Harper/Assistant Record Keeper, Sr. Weyrling
Appearance:G'len is tall and pretty... huge, with wide shoulders and large arms. He looks like he could be a guard, easily, but he's surprisingly un-physical in nature (preferring to talk things out instead). Even so, no one could ever call G'len intimidating. He's a big, friendly, always-found-laughing pushover.
He has Harper's hands, with rough and callused fingers from playing for long hours. His eyes are a muddy hazel that look like they were supposed to be green, until someone spilled a few drops of dirty water in them. His short, dark blonde hair sticks up in weird ways sometimes, although he is constantly flattening it nad he usually has a short, blonde beard. He has soft, pleasant features, and you might call him handsome (he certainly likes to think he is!)
Personality: While G'len is snarky and back-talking, he is also patient and hospitable. He'd pretty much do anything if asked, although he reserves the right to complain about it later. Because of his own snark and sarcasm and insults (all of which are meant in good taste), G'len takes a lot of the same from others without any complaint. In fact, he laughs it off. There's a very good chance this man actually believes that insults are a natural way of showing one's affection. It's certainly how he does it.
Yet, for all his taunting and teasing of people to their face, G'len only has nice things to say about them in private. One strict part of G'len otherwise ambiguous moral code, is that he never speaks ill of someone behind their backs. If he has a complaint, he'll take it up to them in person. He does not gossip, spread rumours, or go over people's head. He tries to give a voice to those who are aren't present or can't speak for themselves by always playing the devil's advocate, trying to make people see both sides of an argument. Those who know him will see this as one of his best qualities, but those who don't might slam him for being argumentative or trying to justify a terrible position.
He's down to earth, for a harper, but that still means he's got half a head in the clouds. He has a go-where-the-wind-blows nature. He loves life's adventure. Too much planning just ruins the surprised. Consequently (and not surprisingly) he has poor fore-thought and often gets himself in trouble. Luckily, he's the sort who bounces back easily from failure, so he'll never give up trying. He has a giving nature that derives happiness from other people's happiness, so he's often over eager to please.
While he attacks his new job with the same enthusiasm as everything else in his life, G'len is not exactly the model of a perfect soldier. He never actively disobeys or tries to undermine his superiors, but he does have a bad habit of taking orders as kind of more like suggestions. He believes things (which aren't) are open to debate and will try to persuade the other party, to the point of openly arguing with a superior about an order given. Although he abides by it himself (usually), he is definitely not a letter-of-the-law man, and -bar the crazy violent kind- believes that prisoners deserve as much respect and compassion as the next man.
History: Since he was a young boy, there was only one thing G'len ever wanted to be, and that was a harper. As long as he could remember, he was humming tunes and learning to play on anything he could get a note out of. He was not the oldest in his family, so although there was some objection to his career choice, his parents put up little resistance when he declared he was leaving for the Harper Hall, to follow his dream. When he arrived, he was certain he had found his calling in life; he learned every instrument he could and never ceased experimenting with music.
When he left, what he found was the harsh truth; that the world had more harpers than it had need of them. That's what you get for going into the arts. Especially with his unusual music style, the young harper found it hard to get his start. Who wanted someone with no experience, when there were so many older harpers who'd do the job just as well?
G'len loved music, but he was willing to accept that it didn't need it to be his whole life, so he started looking into alternative occupations. Since he spent most of his apprenticeship gophering around for him, G'len had become good friends with his 'grand-master' (the old master of his master), an ageing harper who was now the primary record-keeper for the Harper Hall. He was the one who turned him on to the possible opportunity opening up in Warden's.
G'len was happy for work, wherever it came from, so he gladly signed on with Warden's Weyr as a record keeper. Perhaps it wasn't the career he'd always imagined, but it was something. And, contrary to what he thought, G'len found he thrived in the rough atmosphere of Warden's Weyr. Although his job was technically as a record keeper, he found people were usually open to a bit of music on the side (especially since there were precious other forms entertainment) and Galen loved to play for them. And there were no stuffy Holders demanding more 'traditional' music either.
Always one to seize opportunities, G'len stood for the donor clutch when the chance presented itself. He wasn't expecting much, except a bit of excitement. But nothing could have prepared him for what he got...
You know that voice in your head? The one you hear when you've had too much wine, telling you to do every stupid thing you'd never be brave enough to try sober? Well, for G'len, that voice is Absinth. If ever there was a bad idea, Absinth would be the first to suggest it. She's a playful little demon green of a dragon, but he loves her. At least life is never dull.
Other stuff: Shamrock Green?
Absinth, The 'Green Fairy'
Name: Absinth
Color: Green
Age: 8 months (??)
Appearance: Absinth is a nimble green, through small. Her colour is pale and acrid, growing brighter on her face, feet, and wing tips.
Personality: Absinth brings both clarity and chaos. Any idea you give her, she turns it back with a dozen different suggestion of things to change or try. This can be both chaotic and frustrating, (especially when you are trying to get her to do something), but it makes her a great person to bounce ideas off of, although some of her ideas are petty far out there.
Absinth is affectionate and loves attention. She is certainly a friendly little thing. Absinth is always delighted to meet you. Just don't hope to hold her attention for long. She's a sneaky, playful little sprite, tending to cling close to Hers or others and egg them on rather than get into trouble herself. And the minute her interest is lost, or it seems like her plan won't pan out, she'll flutter away and leave others (often G'len) to clean up the mess she created.
She has the most bizarre kind of pixieish grace, something between a rebellious teenager and a Lady Holder. But it cannot be denied that for all her pranking and joking around, there's a certain loftiness about her, a certain poise. Like somehow, she was more refined than your run-of-the-mill prankster.
Absinth challenges the norm. Why can't we do things this way instead? Because it's always been like that? Not good enough! Absinth is an innovator. She is constantly questioning the status quo. Fortunately for her superiors, Absinth gives up easily. When shut down, she'll flutter away and shrug it off ('I was only asking', 'it was just a suggestion') but it will never dissuade her from bringing up whatever her next pet peeve is. She wants to see things change for the better, and she loves the dissent it sows to stir the pot, but she'll never put too much on the line for it.
Absinth is a rebellious soul, it's true. It's easy to write her off as nothing more than a loose canon, but there is a strange clarity in her, and her suggestions (while sometimes out there) are usually good. And she never causes more chaos then she can manage (okay, she totally does, but she doesn't mean to). All she wants to do is rock the boat a little. She doesn't have a problem with authority, she just wants them to be a little more flexible.