Character Name: Zerivon
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Sexual Orientation: Bisexual
Craft/Rank: N/A
History: Born to a Trader family in the back of a wagon rumbling from one Hold to another in the Trine area, Zerivon's early childhood was chaotic and free. He ran barefoot in the streets, rode runners bareback, and learned how to make a quick mark. His father died falling from his runner when he was four, but the interconnected network of families that made up the trader group kept him from feeling the loss too badly. Thanks to his pretty face, striking eyes, and agility his speciality became dancing and acrobatics and like any good Trader he also developed 'the gift of the gab', meaning that he could sell a nonplussed holder his own wherries at twice their value and have them thank him for it.

The trading group passed through Trine Hold several times a turn, and when Zerivon was around eight he started to notice his mother disappearing off to 'spend time' with a particular farmcrafter. When he was twelve she announced that she, he, and his siblings (two older brothers and a younger sister) wouldn't be leaving Trine Hold with the rest of the group: they would be staying with farmcrafter Rikcha as she intended to marry him. Zerivon was most definitely Not Pleased about this and insisted that he wanted to go on with the others rather than settle. On seeing how upset his words made his mother, however, guilt won out and he remained at the Hold when the wagons rumbled onward. He spent the next few turns being surly, bitter and generally disagreeable, regretting his decision to stay but feeling unable to go back on his word.

Mid way through his fifteenth turn, and shortly after the birth of his second half sister, a Searchrider arrived at the Hold and selected Zerivon - amongst others - as a potential candidate. At that point anything seemed better to Zerivon than staying stuck at the Hold, and if he managed to Impress he could go anywhere on Pern he wanted to. In his mind he led a relaxed life of luxury bought by savvy trading all around the world, and occasionally deigned to go do wing drills or whatever it was riders did with their time. After some thought his mother reluctantly allowed him to go; she didn't want her son away from her, but being Searched wasn't quite the same thing as him abandoning her. In any case, from what she knew of candidate life the boredom of hard graft would get to him before long and he'd come home in any case.

As it turned out she was half right; the monotony of chores did get to him, but he didn't give up. Even as he learned more about riders and their duties Zerivon maintained his little fantasy with only a few minor adjustments for more drills than he'd expected and lots of time spent scrubbing hide. Around two turns on he is still waiting for his dragon to come and find him, and trying to think of a way to turn a profit from current events into the bargain.


Description: The young man is of average height for his age, and as slim, supple and quick as a whip; his movement have a kind of languid, lazy grace about them. Amber eyes stand out strikingly against his deeply tanned complexion and his long black hair; his face his fine boned, handsome enough but not exceptionally so. Additionally, he has fully mastered the art of raising one eyebrow to convey skepticism far more effectively than words could possibly hope to.

Personality: An amiable cynic, lazy but given to sudden bursts of activity. Zerivon isn't as much of a contradiction as summarizing him in a sentence makes him sound; he expects the worst of life in general, but not necessarily of the people around him. They're all in the same boat, up the same creek, without the same instrument after all, except for the bastards who get everything handed to them on a silver platter. He presumes that people he doesn't know, or knows and dislikes, will try to use him just as he would try to use them, but he trusts that those he does know and like are on his side, and he in turn is on their side. It isn't difficult to get on his good side; he likes people in general, and is a pretty easy going sort, so you'd have to be really combative (or a serious enemy of one of his friends) for him to think badly of you once he's chatted with you a few times. While he's fond of the company of almost all people, he finds the company of optimists particularly interesting. Sure he's convinced that they're just a bit naive, or that life has been uncommonly nice to them, but their outlook is refreshingly different to his own, almost entertaining at times. Additionally, while he is of course a cynical pessimist, he has a kind of dry, wry, darkly amused attitude to his own view of the world, and about the things that happen to him. Rather than whining that life is unfair and difficult he'll make a witty or facetious observation about whatever it is that's just happened, or he expects to happen.

As to laziness, perhaps it would be more apt to say that he's languid, and conserves his energy. If there's nothing that needs doing he won't waste strength by pacing or wandering aimlessly; he'd rather sprawl somewhere and top up his all over tan. When it comes to time to move, however, he really can move; he has the muscles, flexibility, speed, and stamina necessary to put on a good dance/acrobatics show, or run like hell when everything goes Tango Uniform. Even when he is sprinting or turning a backflip, however, he manages to look lazy, as if every motion is completely effortless. As he rather likes his cool and casual image, he does his best to keep up this unruffled air until he's in private, whereupon it's acceptable to collapse in a heap and get his breath back. As to actually choosing to use that energy though... Well, he'll only do it if it's interesting, or if he's in some kind of danger. This means that while he'll happily pour his heart into dancing for a crowd, he'll do his chores half-heartedly and sloppily. If he's called on it by a superior he will deign to do an adequate job, but no more than that and you can guarantee that he'll be grumbling about things he'd rather be doing.

While he is gregarious and loves to be surrounded by people, in general Z'iv doesn't chatter on; he's more likely to put in snarky/witty comments, or to make observations/remarks about the people or situation around him than to be the one dominating the talk/gossip. As with physical action, however, when there's something he really wants said, a point he really wants to make he'll use that Trader's mouth to full effect and talk non-stop until he's either been heard out or physically threatened. Yea, he's not a fan of threats. He's been in his share of scuffles, although mainly before he came to the Weyr, but he would much rather talk his way out of a bad situation than fight. If it does come to a fight he'll probably back down in short order; his honour is not worth getting beaten up over.

It's also worth noting that he's kind of vain. He's handsome (or pretty), and he knows it; nature blessed him with a fine face, fine eyes, and fabulous hair, and he put in the hard work to make his body good enough to match. Insulting his looks... well it won't get you anywhere actually, at most you'll get a smirk and a short laugh out of him; he's completely secure in his vanity, and while he likes compliments he doesn't really need them. He approves of good looks in others too though, and isn't shy about giving compliments. He isn't shy about flirting either; he's not looking for a long term relationship right now but he is very fond of flings; one night, one sevenday, two at most in one stretch... He'll flirt with anyone he thinks is attractive regardless of gender, and he's not particularly offended or upset if his advances are rebuffed but that doesn't mean he'll quit flirting; he might know he's not going to get into bed with you but that doesn't mean he's going to stop having fun with you.

As well as being vain, Zerivon can be pretty materialistic. He wants the best, and sees no reason to settle for anything less; if there's a way of getting what he wants why shouldn't he take that opportunity? He's never actually stolen during his time at the Weyr... well that is to say not really. Sure he might have picked up an unattended purse and lightened it a bit if nobody else was around but hey, the owner ought to have been more careful. As well as sneaky things such as this Zerivon is quite happy to sleep with somebody for the promise of a present or a nice bottle of wine or whatever else. Playing on his materialism is just about the only way to get him to make a good job of doing something he doesn't really want to do, but this is of course far more likely to apply to personal favours than to the chores he's actually been assigned to.

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