Age: 12
Gender: male
Sexual Orientation: heterosexual
Craft/Rank: Farmcraft Apprentice/ Candidate
History:
Kelon was born to two farmers who lived on the Southern Continent. The pair grew root vegetables, mainly varieties of onions and tubers. Once Thread started falling, they found their crops fared well in them, since even if a stray piece of Thread reaches the ground, the grubs in the soil would eat it right up before it can do much harm, and many roots have little greenery above ground to be harmed.
They’d tried to have children before, but has little luck. Their first child died in early infancy, and the second was stillborn. When Kelon was born, they were initially concerned for his health as well, but he proved to be healthy, if on the small side. He was his mother’s darling, and she had to resist the urge to spoil him, since she feared she might never have another child. She did end up being not disciplining him particularly harshly, though, especially when years passed and she never had another child.
And after all, he was everything she could have wished for in a child; attentive, eager to help and took easily to farming. As he had no desire to try another craft, they were sure to have his help around the farm for years to come. However, while he was cheerful and energetic enough around the house, she did notice that he grew shy whenever he was around anyone new, and belatedly realized he hadn’t spent a lot of time around anyone but his parent growing up, since neighbors were distant and he’d been taught his Teaching Ballads by a traveling Harper who visited the farther-flung holds. She wasn’t quite sure what to do about this for a while.
Then a traveling Trader came by, peddling supplies and bringing news that a new Weyrhold was starting up. The place was brand new, founded by a goldrider who wanted a place free of violence, where dragons, wherhandlers and unbounded would all be treated equally and have an equal say in running the place. And they needed craftfolk of all types to get it going, farmers included.
This offered a solution to the mother’s worries. She liked her little farm, but was willing to start up a new one near this Weyrhold if it would give her son a chance to socialize more. Besides, she liked this Weyrhold’s ideals and was happy to support it. Even if that meant they’d be living in tents for a bit while they constructed buildings. She had a bit of work convincing her husband to leave their safe farm and move someplace new, but he agreed in the end. Their latest crop was almost ripe, so they spent their time dividing between packing and tending the fields. As soon as the crop was ready, they harvested it all, loaded it in a cart with a second cart for their belongings, and headed to the Weyrhold to offer themselves and the load of tubers to the cause.
Kelon, of course, had to come along with his parents. Even though the Weyrhold was just starting up, there were more people living in one place then he usually saw more than once every few Turns, since his family seldom attended Gathers. He didn’t know how to talk to all these strangers and stuck close to his parents, but he was happy to farm wherever Mama said to. He figured farming in one place would be the same as another, and once they got the fields ready and their home was built, things would settle back to what he was used to.
But instead soon after they got there, a green picked him out as having potential to Impress. His mother thought this would be a great chance for him, and urged him to be a Candidate. When he asked why, she told him she wanted to support the Weyrhold and its queen, and he needed to spend more time with kids his age. What she doesn’t tell him is that she thought Candidate training would be good for him, whether or not he Impressed. She knew that she was a bit soft on him and hasn’t really pushed him out of his comfort zone even a little bit, so she worried about his lack of social skills. She figured he could use more discipline than she could bring herself to give, and being forced to interact with other people might bring him out of his shell. She was somewhat afraid his timidity might get him teased, but trusted that the Candidatemaster won’t let anyone get away with that.
Kelon really didn’t want to be a Candidate, and especially didn’t want to be a rider. He was kind of afraid of the responsibility taking care of a dragon entailed, as well as the danger of Threadfall. But Mama was Mama and didn’t have to push the issue too hard, since he would pretty much do whatever she said. So he joined Candidate lessons. But he really hoped he would never Impress so he could go back to farming in peace.
Description:
Kelon is small for his age, about 4’ 9” with a slender frame. He has straight, sandy-blond hair that his mom keeps trimmed into a neat bowl cut ending just above his ears. His grey eyes look a little wide, and combined with his tendency to hide behind mom or hunch a bit makes him look even more timid. He has fair skin with a smattering of freckles across face and arms.
Art by The Nozomi:
Personality:
Kelon is very timid around anyone but his parents. She also spent much of his life without interacting with others much, so he has poor social skills. He doesn’t know how to talk to people besides his parents, and tends to only talk when spoken to or if he has a question about whatever they’re doing. Even then he’s slow to ask, because he worries he’ll look stupid. If he doesn’t know what’s expected of him in any situation he might find himself in, he tends to hang around awkwardly until he can leave or is given instruction.
He is very much a Mama’s boy; he’s very obedient to his Mama, happy to help her, and does whatever she says promptly and to the best of his ability. He wants to make her proud, and is happiest when he can make her happy. By extension he’s obedient to anyone Mama says to mind, though he’s significantly less enthusiastic (though just as diligent; they might tell Mama if he’s not!) about doing what they say.
He keeps himself and his surroundings clean, since Mama likes neatness. He’s also very honest, and couldn’t lie if his life depended on it. He tends to look guilty over even the smallest things, like whether or not he put his clothes away when he’d been told to do so earlier in the day. He enjoys farming; since he likes watching things grow from tiny sprouts to full-sized plants. It feels even better when all the work he’s put into raising the plants turns into a tangible reward, namely the plants that he can harvest to eat or sell. He wants nothing more than to be a farmer, and seeks no advancement or reward beyond a job well done.
He’s scared of responsibility, of being in charge of anything beyond the farm’s fields or tending his family’s house. He knows he doesn’t know much about much and is worried that he’ll mess things up due to ignorance. He doesn’t even want a flit, because he fears he’d do something wrong and it would leave him or die.
Once he'd been at the Weyrhold a while, he got a little more used to meeting people, preferably either a teacher or around his age, and in small doses, maybe just a couple at a time. Any more than that and he gets overwhelmed. It takes a while for him to grow used to people, but for mama's sake he tries to make friends. He just doesn't know how. Or what to do with them. If left to his own devices he tends to find some work to do, since he doesn't like to be idle and doesn't know what else to do with himself.
Other:
