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Character Name: Cathaoir (KA-heer)
Age: 16 Turns
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
Craft/Rank: Apprentice Dolphineer
History:
Cathaoir was born and raised in Namor Hold. He couldn’t begin to count how many siblings he had, as his birthmother was too busy in the kitchens to attend to him while his father was out at sea. At a young age he grew attached to the Hold’s harper, treating the older man as a father. It was from him that the boy first began learning how to play a harp, milking his foster-father’s instrument of its precious notes. He wasn’t very good, but the (strained) smile of the haper’s face was enough to encourage the boy to continue to practice.

At least, he practiced until he saw his first dolphin. It was a clear, warm day when the harper and boy decided to relax on the beach, the boy watching the harper skillfully play his harp when he heard the first splash. He didn’t think anything of it, until there was another splash followed by a whistle. That got his attention. Cathaoir turned and beheld his first dolphin, staring in wonder at the creature.

The boy became a Dolphineer apprentice soon after that, leaving Namor Hold behind. Needless to say, the boat to Malvern Weyr was largely uneventful. Aside from the seasickness, Cathaoir became well versed in the arts of deck scrubbing, net-mending, and how to climb up and down rigging. Somewhat. After he fell off the rigging and had to be fished out of the drink, he wasn’t allowed back up there.

Cathaoir was 13 when he reached Malvern Weyr. It wasn’t until he was a little past 16 Turns that a dragonrider informed him that he had the potential to become a rider. Or at least, he was reminded of it – Cathaoir has a dragon’s memory when he’s told something. Only now he’s really given it thought: does he want the sea or sky? The sea has its share of treasures and dangers, as does the sky. The only difference is a dolphin life-partner or a dragon – how is he to decide and choose?

Description:
The most notable feature about this young man isn't his average height and lean frame, nor is it his tanned skin. Rather, his notoriety can be attributed to the collection of small scratches that adorn his limbs: from feet to leg and hands to arms, this boy is covered in small scratches. Most of these scratches are no longer than a finger-length. Admist these scratches are a few scars, however the ones that are easiest to see are the two scratches located the lower-left side of his chest and are visible only when he is shirtless.

Even vanity cannot protect his face: there is a light line along the side of his chin that indicates an accident at some time or another. Aside from a pair of chapped lips and blue eyes, there is little else remarkable about him. His hair, on the other hand, is dark brown and unkempt to the point where it sticks up at odd ends and angles. The only time it appears orderly is when the boy is submerged under water, but once he surfaces it is apparent to the trained eye that the boy himself mercilessly hacks his hair to keep it shorter than shoulder-length. Most of it, anyway: there is a chunk of hair on either side of his face that seems exempt from this rule. Occasionally these "side-ponytails" are decorated with beads or braided, but it seems to depend on whether or not the boy encounters anyone who wants to make him "look nice."

As far as clothes go, his dress varies dependent on what he’s doing. If he is attending dolphineering classes, he is either shirtless with a pair of leggings that have been cut off at the knees, or a loincloth. If he is not, then he usually wears clothes that are too big for him for maximum comfort. Aside from that, he always wears a belt that comes with a small knife. This knife is used mainly to rid dolphins of bloodfish, but it’s no surprise that the knife is also used to pry open oysters and saw off small pieces of coral.

Personality:
“Hey! Heeey! What’re you doing?” Personal space is a concept that is foreign to this enthusiastic lad. Curious, he isn’t afraid to bombard someone with questions or to peer over their shoulder just to see what they’re doing. Dragons and dolphins also aren’t spared. With dragons, he’ll offer to help their rider oil them down or try to talk them into giving him a ride. With dolphins, he will often try to mimic their whistles and clicks while swimming with them. When he's irritated, he will often snap his jaw or give a short, sharp whistle.

However, Cathaoir has the mind of a dragon in that he has a difficulty remembering and understanding something told verbally to him. Unless he can do it himself by means of hands-on, he will often misinterpret concepts to the point of coming off as a rather slow individual. In a shell, he is a Pernese kinesthetic learner: he learns best by doing, rather than being told about it. While it may mean that he learns slower than the rest of the class, that's okay! He makes up for it by studying extra hard, practicing concepts learned in class whenever he can, even if it means sacrificing the early morning hours, lunch time, or free time. Unless he’s distracted, which honestly isn’t very difficult to do.

His main motive for anything in life? Simple: how much of a rush does it give? Swimming with dolphins? Fun! Peeking into the girl's hut? Risky! Shoveling dragon dung? A challenge! Sitting down and trying to learn weather patterns? Well... um... That cloud looks like a wherry? In all honesty, Cathaoir most enjoys physical tasks that push his limits either physically or mentally. And if someone's watching, it's even better! He adores attention.

Cathaoir does his best to not let anything get to him. He does his best to “roll with the punches” as it were. If something doesn’t work, try something else! If something is bothering him, he tries to get rid of it as quickly as possible by either going out and doing it, confronting the source of the bother, or by just acknowledging it and moving on.

Other:
+ Cathaoir cannot grasp concepts/thoughts as easily as other students. In order to learn something, he needs hands-on experience with lots of repetition to "get it."
+ Training as a Dolphineer has enabled Cathaoir to be a strong swimmer, and hold his breath underwater for longer than the average non-Dolphineer.
+ He knows basic delphinic language understanding. Danger, fish, play, and some things that are best left untranslated. He's still learning, so he's bound to mess up more than once.
+ Cathaoir is curious about dragons. He is tempted to consider becoming a Candidate, but he is unsure about whether or not he wants to give up Dolphineering or the chance to become a life-partner. I mean, with one you can swim underwater, but with the other you can dive into the water! How can he choose?!
+ Aside from shamelessly invading personal space, Cathaoir do his best to use his hands to form the Dolphineer underwater hand signals at the same time. He'll also absently tap out bell codes while waiting, or while eating a meal.
+ Cathaoir wakes up early every morning to practice swimming. Before breakfast, he scavenges underwater for anything to trade to other residents, trading things such as coral, sand dollars, oysters, pearls, and such in exchange for extra clothes (for when the barnacles or something else under water reduces his britches to shreds), or to barter for other weyrlings/candidates to take over his chores to let him scavenge for more things.
+ Cathaoir has a piece of pet coral. Its Her name is Shalin, and she is a piece of yellow coral that he accidentally broke off soon after arriving at Malvern Weyr. He wedged it between a couple of rocks close to shore, and checks on it daily. One day, he’ll figure out how he can successfully NOT kill a piece of coral when kept indoors (RIP Caren, Rure, Baden).

If he's only 16, would he really be 5'7"?

I like him for the most part. Would love for him to meet Wykla. Her desire for personal space and his lack of it could easily set them at odds, but she'd also like his underwater treasures.
Um, I'm not sure how believable it would be for him to be practicing both crafts right now. If he's going to try to Impress, would the Candidate master really allow him every other day off to practice dolphineering? May want a backup plan if he can't do both. Second is there any dolphineer teachers at Melvren? (something to double check cause I'm not sure.)

Brownies please. ^_^

Updated: Fixed his height and changed him to a Dolphineer apprentice. He has the ability to become a dragonrider, but he's currently torn between sticking what he knows or diving head-first into something he doesn't know much about.

Otherwise, balancing two crafts = not possible. A Candidate's first/previous craft is put on "pause" while they learn Candidacy, and they return to it after failing to Impress a dragon. :3 (thank you Skie!)

I was lead to believe the people of Pern were a stock shorter than people as we know them. So if he's 5'7" at 16 he is going to be one very large guy, which would be unusual. Up to you of course.

Cool, just wanted to confirm there was dolphineering there since it is a Weyr. smile