Approved by Sil
You have my permission to maul Quinnel in the Hatching, so long as she doesn't suffer from the loss of life or limb. :3
Name: Quinnel
Age: 17
Sex: Female
Craft: Harper
Rank: Apprentice
Orientation: "Non-sexual;" Quinnel considers sex to be a necessary part of life, but has given no serious consideration to the matter. If forced to chose a partner she would likely choose a male simply because of practicality, but she is capable of seeing beauty in both genders.
Physical Description: Most of Quinnel’s features are long and/or skinny. She is tall, standing around 5’9”, but often can seem taller because of her willowy frame. Quinnel has “bird legs,” skinny arms, long fingers, and a marked lack of feminine curves. She has a heart-shaped face with high cheekbones, a small nose, and thin lips. Her delicate facial features emphasize her already large, stormy blue-gray eyes, resulting in her eyes easily dominating her face. Her thick, wavy, shoulder-length, auburn hair is typically pulled into a messy knob on the back of her head. Skin prone to burning instead of tanning means that Quinnel is either pale or in various states on sunburn, but never tan.
One trait that Quinnel was not born with is the long, ropy scar on her right calf. The first time she stood as a Candidate for a Hatching she didn't pay attention to her surroundings and was knocked out of the way by an eager Hatchling.
Personality: Quinnel can often impress others as anti-social, standoff-ish, and aloof. It is true that she does not go out of her way to socialize with others, but the main reason for this is because she simply doesn’t relate well with others. Quinnel is intelligent and has problems participating in “dumb” conversations. She often can’t help but point out flaws and silly/stupid mistakes, further adding to her people-problems.
Aware of how many perceive her, Quinnel purposely plays to the opinion that she is strange, slightly air-headed social hermit. The opinion is not entirely undeserved, but Quinnel has intentionally seen to the opinion's exaggeration. It is her belief that those unable to see past this act are not worth befriending. Those select people that get to know the real Quinnel see a girl that simply has a different way of viewing certain aspects of life, not the complete flake her reputation indicates.
One of the main reasons Quinnel became a Harper is because of her obsession with sound. She can hear music in many strange things, from rain to broom sweeps. It is not unusual for her to become lost in whatever music she hears. If someone distracts her from whatever “music” she’s listening to, or intentionally messes up the “music,” Quinnel can become rather irritable. If the person interrupting her or her music has a poor reason for doing so, Quinnel can go from irritable to snappish or downright scary.
Quinnel has never gotten along well with people her own age, preferring to spend her time in older, more mature company. Despite having three siblings, she can be surprisingly awkward around children. Her intentions concerning children are good – none of her siblings suffer from (serious) mental or emotional issues from having her as an older sister – but her methods are certainly not conventional. For example, her idea of helping her brothers learn to swim was to chuck them into a pond; in her defense she insists that the water was only shoulder deep on them.
A seemingly strange trait Quinnel has, at least when her social ineptness is taken into consideration, is the joy she takes in entertaining others with her music. She is not shy about performing and will perform almost anyone, anywhere, at any time. She has been known to forget to sleep because she was too busy playing for an audience of attentive Flitts. Unless performing Quinnel is not fond of crowds, which has made Weyr life somewhat difficult for her to adapt to.
Quinnel can be somewhat sarcastic and pessiminstic, though she prefers to be called realistic. This is ironic because, between her obsession with sound and her penchant for daydreaming, she doesn't exactly seem like a grounded person. Her habit of daydreaming stems from her intelligence: when doing something mundane, she will often daydream to amuse herself. It is true that it is rare for something to grab Quinnel's attention, but when something does she will devote herself to it, whether it be work or play.
Quinnel is loyal to her family and small group of friends, but her strong sense of right and wrong could trump her loyalty, were she ever forced to choose. Like many girls she loves romantic stories, but her own views concerning love are rather dismal.
History: Quinnel’s father, Daymin, had dearly hoped that his first child would be a boy. He had clung to the belief that his first child would be his heir and had already decided that his son would be named Quin after his father (the child’s grandfather). He was rather disappointed when his first child turned out to be a girl. Knowing that his father was in poor health and was unlikely to live to see the birth of any more grandchildren, he improvised and named his new daughter Quinnel.
Quinnel's father had always been awkward around women, and this included both his wife and daughter. He cared for them, yes, but prefered to spend his time with his male friends. Quinnel's mother, a polite, soft-spoken woman, never protested her husband's frequent absences, content to go about her daily chores and to care for her child. When Kiram and Kirin were born this didn't really change, because while Daymin was thrilled to finally have sons, they were young and he handled them rather roughly; Annela (Quinnel's mother) finally put her foot down and told her husband to back off until the boys were older.
Quinnel played a large part in helping to raise her twin brothers, and then her "surprise" sister Clara. She helped them with their lessons, watched them when they went out to play, and made sure that they did their chores. The twins were a handful and made sure that life wasn't easy for Quinnel or her mother and Quinnel was quite glad when they reached the age at which her mother decided that her father could begin to handle them. The trade-off was that her sister, Clara, began to follow her like a shadow.
One day Quinnel and Clara were out by the sea, waiting for their father's return from a fishing trip, when a green dragon dropped from the sky and landed nearby. The rider L'thor approached Quinnel and informed her that she was a potential Candidate, which sent the previously awe-struck Clara into hysterics. After comforting her sister and speaking with her parents Quinnel left to become a Candidate. This was at age fourteen.
Quinnel did not Impress at the first Hatching that she stood at, but it did leave a mark on her; literally. She had been so entranced by the "singing" of the dragons that she didn't move in time to get out of the way of an eager Hatchling, resulting in her receiving a nasty gash on her leg. Stuck in bed for a day after the Hatching - she had passed out from both excitement and her wound - Quinnel heard some beautiful music. Once the Healers let her out she immediately went in search of the music. Her search led her to a Harper, and thus to her intoduction to the Harpercraft. After her second failed attempt at Impressing, Quinnel officially became a Harper apprentice.
Family:
Quin (paternal grandfather, deceased)
Daymin (Father; Fisherman)
Annela (Mother)
Kiram (Brother, twin Kirin)
Kirin (Brother, twin Kiram)
Clara (Sister, youngest)
Pet: None
Other/Talents:
- Quinnel has a soft but clear voice that is surprisingly expressive, making her a naturally good singer. Unfortunately, her voice's strength is also its weakness: her singing can rarely be heard over crowds, other singers, or loud instruments, meaning when she does sing she typically sings solo.
- Although she can play other instruments to a lesser degree, Quinnel's instrument of choice are the pan pipes.
- Quinnel has a good attention span and can work on a single task for hours, or even days, as she's proven once she became an Apprentice. The problem Quinnel has is that she's easily distracted by certain things, music and shiny objects being the main culprits.
Will this character be a candidate? Yes
Picture: None
