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Character Name: Viskal
Age: 15
Sexual Orientation: Bisexual (though he doesn’t know it yet, hehe)
Craft/Rank: Leather Working Apprentice / Candidate
History: To understand Viskal’s origins, his mother must be explained first. Gretcha was a tanning woman who, given to self-pity over her low status in life and lack of high relations, frequently took to drinking and exuberant parties at the cheapest pubs available. On one of these exuberant nights, she was mugged while walking home from a pub. The attacker took her money and shoved her down before fleeing. He took little besides enough to buy himself a few meals, but Gretcha was robbed of more. The fall cracked her head, and though she survived, little could be done about her addled brain. After the mugging, Gretcha’s temperament became erratic and notional. Still capable of complex thought, she was not demoted to drudge work, but was simply ‘off in the head’ and her friends slowly drew away from her erratic behavior.

That never stopped her drinking, however, and in a drunken stupor similar to the one that she lost her mind to, she conceived her b*****d child: Viskal. She only had vague notions about who the father was (the son of a tavern owner, though he would never know it), but simply refused to ever admit her guesses about her son’s parentage to anyone, even Viskal.

Raised by a woman drank heavily, lied often, and occasionally believed that flits were the cleverest of beings, Viskal grew up believing the world truly was a dangerous shifting place of fantasy and deceit. His mother’s indecency kept him from having many playmates, and it took some years before he began to separate his mother’s imagination from reality, which was more dull and perhaps more cruel than he imagined.

Despite his lack of close friends and Gretcha’s inattentiveness, he never openly complained of loneliness, and preferred to work with the small leather scraps his mother brought home, making ragged belts or armbands with his mother’s encouragement. The reason became clear when after twelve turns, she foisted him to a local leatherworking journeyman. Though they still saw one another often, being so roughly removed from home embittered him toward her and his trade greatly. He was, however, gifted, and picked up on handling the delicate blades and dyes. He might have become skilled as well, but he was searched too soon.

He was searched one late evening when he was on an errand to deliver a runner saddle across the hold and saw a blue rider arguing with some trader. The man’s dragon looked to him then, and the argument came to a halt as the man approached Viskal. Viskal argued with the rider for some time, but eventually gave up and after eyeing the dragon and informing it that it was wrong and wasting everyone’s time, went and packed his things.
Description: If he grows into his feet, Viskal will be a tall young man. He’s rakishly thin but his arms and chest are lined with thin muscle that seems it would develop well. His black hair, though chopped short, grows abnormally fast and usually falls in his face. He hasn’t much of a tan, though his hands and lower arms look to be permanently darkened and harshly weathered by his trade. He looks handsome when he smiles, but usually he carries a distrusting or annoyed expression that does quite the opposite for his appeal.
Personality: Viskal is a solitary young man. Having not formed close friendships as a youth has made him wary of others and suspicious of their motives. However, dealing with anxious customers, a overly-clever master, and a half-insane mother has made him self-reliant and capable of confrontation. Usually though, he holds to his mild paranoia and tries not to be too involved with others. He’s a stubborn young man and is not fond of being directed by weak superiors, but once put in his place he will carry out orders without shirking, though he might grumble a bit from time to time. For example, he has no love of his craft, but performs what he knows admirably and works to improve even in the weyr. He is currently studying harnesses and saddles so he might one day make and sell his own to riders. He does not expect to Impress, though his imagination refuses to quashed out of considering making his very own for his own future dragon.

Privately, though he’s not aware of the full extant of it, he is very lonely and bored individual. He would call adventure and companionship a foolish thing to base a life around, but if coaxed out of his shell both would do him wonders. Until then, he’s roughly as personable as a rock, though his gruff honesty might befriend another mirthless soul.
Other:
When he was young, he crafted several belts and traded them for a rather handsome bow and a small quiver of arrows. He never learned to use the bow, but brought it with the rest of his belongings to the weyr. He obstinately thinks he might one day find a use for it.

Gretsha obtained a firelizard egg during one of her more manic phases, perhaps out of deviousness or simply bargaining during a more lucid day. In any case, the egg hatched into a green firelizard with a particularly nasty attitude, and after growing up alongside the creature and Viskal has developed a quiet fear of the lizards. He refuses to touch even the mellow ones and usually tries to keep a fair distance from them.

Presently, Viskal is a very inactive heterosexual. He could be physically wooed by a woman, but it would take a while for him to actually become close with one. There’s a decent chance of him ‘discovering’ men though, if he finds one decent to his standards to persue.


I haven’t read this series in nearly a decade. If there are any grievous errors that conflict with how Pern works, I’ll change the problems immediately. I’m not really sure the bow I mentioned works since I know there’s not much metal on Pern. I don’t know if stone tipped arrows would be feasible if metal weren’t.

Edited slightly to make the egg's origins a bit more murky. Thanks for the help!! <3