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Name: Kiril
Age: 20
Gender: Male
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
Craft/Rank: Journeyman Harper

History: Kiril grew up in a relatively normal family belonging to a minor hold in the Malvren area. He and his brother Soldekai were the only young males in an extended group of female sisters, stepsisters, cousins… The only other boys were well older, the age difference enough to discourage closeness. Perhaps this played a factor, or perhaps a shared affinity for exploring, but any rate the two young boys were near inseparable for most of their childhood. Soldekai, the elder by a Turn and considerably more exuberant, would think up something for them to get into, and his brother, the younger and yet more cautious, would figure out how to get them out of trouble. Their play never really harmed anyone, being based more in boundless energy and insatiable curiosity than a real desire to cause mischief. And like most young boys, they eventually grew out of it and settled down from small horrible terrors to run-of-the-mill teenage terrors.

By this time, their differences were starting to assert themselves – Kiril showed talent in Harper skills, especially of the academic bent. He took up training with the local journeyman, but occasionally expressed an idle interest in traveling to the Harper Hall to receive more in-depth training. This left Soldekai to inherit the family business of beastcrafting, handling the herdbeasts. Kiril was aware that this wasn't Soldekai's passion in life, not the same way that he felt about becoming a Harper... But he was reasonably good at it, and it would earn him a decent living, and that seemed to be sufficient for everyone's happiness.

All was well in their world, until a sixteen-Turn-old Soldekai decided it would be a good idea to court a lady he fancied. This particular young lady, alas, was the favorite of the Hold Lord’s brother. No duel-worthy offense was given, as nothing had been made formal or serious on either side. Soldekai, valuing his own hide more than getting laid, backed off immediately. This did not stop the Hold Lord and brother from acquiring a strong dislike for the young man, and doing their best to discreetly take it out on him. Soldekai, feeling (rightly, but perhaps foolishly) that this was unfair, returned the strong dislike in kind. Vocally. Despite Kiril's futile attempts to defuse the situation with diplomacy, it only continued to get worse. Rather than simply lying low and letting it blow over, the situation escalated until the wisest solution was to simply... move the boy elsewhere, just for maybe a Turn or so, give everything a chance to blow over.

Then the dragon came. Malvren was most emphatically not what their parents had had in mind, but it was convenient, and the Search dragon did say he had some potential… Not to mention the way that Soldekai went starry-eyed the minute he locked eyes on the huge flying beast. Kiril had never quite understood the fascination with dragons - who were, to him, rather large and somewhat intimidating flying carnivores. But he was glad that his brother had finally found something better than minding the herds to do with his life, even if he couldn't quite understand it himself.

Their parting was a bittersweet one: Soldekai was sixteen, Kiril fifteen, old enough to look after themselves without each other's company but still young enough that the separation felt premature. Prior to that Kiril had been reluctant to leave home for the Harper Hall, but he applied in earnest to any Harper seeking an apprentice, and eventually found a Journeyman willing to sponsor his acceptance into the Crafthall. He opted to take the journey by conventional means - caravan and ship, rather than by dragonback - and it was a surprise when, shortly after his arrival, he received a letter from his brother now styling himself S'dekai and speaking of a newly Impressed bronze dragon.

Kiril was excited on his sibling's behalf, but a bout of fire-head - likely contracted from a visiting Journeyman coming back from the Southern Continent - laid him low for several months. As might be expected from severe illness, it also delayed his training further until he recovered.

When at last he was well enough to return to full-time apprenticeship, Kiril applied himself enthusiastically, and with all the drive and passion required to make up for his months in idleness. Ultimately he ended up walking the tables at nineteen: as all Harpers are required to take up an instrument he was passable in both voice and gitar, but his true specialty was in diplomacy and Pernese politics. It was little wonder that he'd kept a close and worried eye on the unfolding situation between Malvren, Benden, and Trine - even if he'd personally played no part in any of the fighting, he was well aware that S'dekai was somewhere in the middle of it all. But his brother had been MIA for quite some time, completely out of contact, and Kiril began to fear the worst.

Then, a few months after the Revolution, a letter explaining everything. The two picked up where they'd left off with a rapid stream of back-and-forth missives, delivered by S'dekai's nondescript pair of firelizards: a green and a blue, both the sort that could easily vanish into a fair if needed. The last letter that Kiril received was ominously vague, making reference to the young rogue goldrider and hinting that S'dekai and Pioth were about to engage in some dangerous gambit, and that if anything bad should come to pass Kiril should travel to Trine - as any relative of S'dekai's would likely no longer be welcomed or trusted at Malvren. Kiril was concerned, but agreed to the request. As a Journeyman Harper, if he wished to leave the Hall and travel to a Hold or Weyr, no one would suspect his motives.

When the pair of firelizards showed up again with a mysterious map, both chattering in a panic, Kiril knew exactly what to do. He packed his modest things and took a journey south to the districts of Trine.

Description: Much like his brother, Kiril is solid of feature and solid of build, with a strong jaw and squarish facial structure. His natural complexion is lightly tanned, perhaps a little on the fairer side due to his habit of spending time indoors with the scrolls and instruments rather than outdoors with the dragons, but it pairs well with dark brown, near-black hair and soft gold-flecked hazel eyes. He wears his hair long, but tidy, pulled into a neat little tail that just brushes the nape of his neck.

While his bone structure - big hands, sturdy limbs, broad shoulders - suggests the potential for a muscular build, in actuality Kiril fails to deliver. He's had a life relatively devoid of heavy manual labor, and his body reflects it: no significant scars, softened by just enough body fat to take all the sharp edges off without being heavy. And at six foot even he's not precisely the kind who will loom over anyone. He would probably be very pleasant to hug, if he weren't quite so awkward and if he knew what to do with his elbows.

An ugly bout of fire-head a few turns back left him chronically frail for some months afterward, and permanently damaged his eyesight. He has mostly recovered, but requires a set of reading glasses for his work. Kiril is proud of his work as a Harper, and generally at any given time at least some part of his clothing will be accented in Harper blue.

Personality: Upon first glance, Kiril is... well, he can strike some people as being a bit bland. He's polite, soft-spoken, and discreetly competent. Some Harpers are the kind who enjoy taking center stage and drawing attention to themselves. Others are the kind who can all but vanish into a crowd if you're not actively looking for them. Like a stage magician's trick of misdirection - watch the left hand while the right hand does the real magic - both halves are necessary to pull off the complex political magic that Harpers must contend with. But it's immediately clear which half Kiril falls into, and it's not the one that requires magnetic charisma.

In fact, in many social situations Kiril is just downright awkward. He has some very particular roles that he knows how to do, and he knows how to do them very well: he's an excellent mediator, a fine performer of teaching-songs for children, and a truly kind and giving friend. When it comes to everything else... Well, there's a reason he's never successfully dated anyone, despite being both reasonably attractive and reasonably pleasant. He has no idea how. And Kiril doesn't deal well with the unknown or the unexpected. Or change of any kind, really. His instinctive response, upon being confronted with a question he doesn't know the answer to, is to go look it up in the archives. This is not an approach that is conducive to romance. And don't expect him to be useful in a sudden ambush by bandits, either, unless they're the kind of bandits who give you a few hours' notice to study up on basic self-defense techniques first.

As might be expected, anxiety and self-confidence are issues for Kiril. He is capable of a lot more than he thinks he is capable of, but tends to cripple himself by underpromising and overdelivering. He's the kind of guy who tended to pull all-nighters getting a song to be just perfect, but then wouldn't know how to admit the extra time he spent to his teachers at the Crafthall without sounding like he was bragging or fishing for praise, and thus wouldn't get the recognition for his hard work. Still, for all his faults he's surprisingly well-adjusted and grounded, without any buried traumas. Kiril moves on quickly from the past, not holding onto grudges or remembered hurts.

Regardless, still waters run deep, to borrow a cliche, and it is a safe bet to assume that at any point in time Kiril's sharp mind is working hard. Kiril may be quiet, but it is a quiet born of deep consideration and thoughtful self-examination. He makes a good mediator not just because he is polite and kind, but because he is capable of stepping back and examining his own emotional response to an issue - something his brother has never been able to do. He can see both sides of an argument and respect the merits of both without blinding himself to the faults. Sometimes he takes the same approach to his interpersonal relationships with other people: Kiril has many acquaintances, but does not trust lightly or quickly, tending to hold himself back until he knows the other person well enough to gauge their intentions.

On the rare occasion that he does grow angry with someone, he tends to respond indirectly - either by giving them the cold shoulder and withdrawing from their company with polite excuses, or via passive-aggression. Outright aggression does not come naturally to Kiril... although, if the necessity came to it, he would find himself much better suited to stealth than to a full frontal assault. Honor is not a word that Kiril possesses in his vocabulary, not when it comes to life and death situations. If you kill a man, does it matter to his widow whether he was stabbed in the heart or in the back?

Other: He's S'dekai's brother. They have a sufficiently strong physical resemblance that anyone who knows S'dekai can suspect blood relation.

He also currently possesses a small crumpled map given to him by S'dekai, with coordinates on it. Nobody except him, S'dekai, and Natai know that this map is in his possession.

Yup - he's hitching a ride with the next trading group that's passing Trine.