Approved by Tawny

Name: Deruvene ( Deru is fine )
Age: Nineteen
Gender: Male
Rank: Candidate/Squire

Appearance: Always blessed with a ridiculous smile on his face, Deruvene is a walking ray of sunshine....or so he might seem (and probably think himself out) to be. Usually sun-kissed from work outside, his skin is naturally more olive in color even though most people see him in a nice tanned state. He likes being outside rather than inside, so it's almost safer to say being tanned is his default, even in the colder months. How he stays tanned when it's not really bright out is a mystery.

His hair, like all candidates, is kept cropped/shaved close to his head though when it is growing out is a rather nice shade of chestnut brown. It's naturally straight, though it can puff up at times, and before it was cut off Deruvene enjoyed wearing it quite long. His eyes are green.

Neither tall nor short, he sits in the proper middle ground for young men of his age, and through work at the Weyr is toned and fit. Clothing doesn't matter, he wears the candidate attire (and all the proper knots he needs), but he does put in effort to keep himself neat and presentable at all times.

Personality: Were it possible for a human being to be an animal, Deruvene would be Pern's equivalent of a hen. A mother hen. Always fretting, always worrying, Deru considers everyone to be part of his family. Everyone's an aunt or an uncle, a brother or a sister - even if he doesn't exactly say it out loud (he's long learned to keep such silly thoughts to himself), and because of that he's practically gushing at the seems with kindness and affection. Likely to give himself an ulcer with stress over everyone as well, there isn't a single person who hasn't been spoken to by him at least once. This doesn't mean he has an amazing memory that allows him to know all names and faces, it just means that he's talked to people and does his best to recall who they are. If he hasn't seem them in a while he'll need prompted over their names, their lives, but otherwise everyone is always welcomed back as though they'd only been apart for candlemarks, not days or sevendays. Naturally they need to tell Deruvene where they've been the entire time, update him on their lives because as family it's very important he knows so he can cry over how they got sick or hurt and panic over an incident that happened months ago and would have been completely out of his control anyway.

For as kind as Deruvene can be, for as gentle as he can be, when push comes to shove....don't do either with him. He's not stubborn enough that he'll stick his heels in the ground and refuse to move, nor will he balk at all opinions about his own, rather he has a way of standing straight and stepping to the side. It's something akin to a blind faith or drive that moves him and he's fairly okay with that, but he doesn't appreciate being forced into a situation without being allowed to refuse. Of course if he really doesn't have a choice in the matter he'll go along with the idea, because it's rude not to, but don't expect him to stay overly quiet about things. He'll pop off a quip about how he feels, probably two at most, and then never speak of it again. Unless, of course, some pressures him into speaking about it and then he won't shut up.

This naturally leads to his honesty and tactlessness. Raised by his Foster to always tell the truth, as lies and fear were running rampant due to the Plague and tensions between factions, Deruvene developed a sort of brutal honesty that only got stronger as he aged. While it meant that he could almost always be counted on to tell the truth regardless of the situation, in both major and minor things, it also meant he was blunt and tactless in responding. Unable to keep secrets, in the manner of "you didn't see this" or "don't tell anyone if they ask", Deruvene responds with the entire truth (and then some) if asked about something. He doesn't like deceiving people, or seeing others be deceived by someone, as he dislikes the feelings of animosity that comes with it. His blind love of people and acceptance of them as family prevents him from often seeing that he's the reason for their upset at certain times (as no one really wants an honest opinion in the "does this make me look weird" category) though he often will apologize if he feels it makes the situation easier. He may not know why he's saying sorry but he honestly feels sorry so that's never a bad thing, right?

Deruvene doesn't have any real goals in his life outside of the more recent picture. Dreams of the future aren't something he has, or if he does he doesn't talk about them. If he becomes a rider that'd be awesome, because he can help people that way and protect Pern, but if he doesn't he's okay with that too. If he doesn't become a rider he'll become a Foster parent. If he can't become a Foster parent he'll do something else, there's no big rush. His apparent unwillingness to fight for what he really wants can occasionally lead others to become frustrated with him. Ridiculously accepting of everything that comes his way he's very content to just roll with whatever people tell him to do or be. It's not so much being weak willed as he just doesn't want to argue since arguing doesn't solve anything and family really shouldn't fight.

pros: protective, compassionate, devoted, honest
cons: prone to panicking, overbearing, tactless, somewhat aimless

History:

184: Born
193: Plague hits
197: Starts squiring for S'ol, of Blue Zaqueth
198: Stands for first Hatching

Born to some creche workers, or to a rider and a worker, or to two riders, or any combination of the above, Deruvene was welcomed into the world and swiftly fostered as soon as he was weaned. Born right around the time that hostilities between High Reaches and Ruatha started to become more intense, Deru spent much of his earlier Turns being paranoid that something bad might happen yet not really understanding the situation. His foster mother did her best to keep things as normal as she could for her children and Deruvene accept that without complaint. As the Turns passed and he grew older and gained a bit more awareness he joined her efforts to keep the damage down, acting as her shadow and helping around as much as he could.

Deru was nine turns old when the Plague came, and he got his first real understanding of fear. People he knew, people he called family, were leaving never to come back. Friends were taken off to Igen in order to Impress dragons - dragons that hopefully would not succumb to the disease that was brutally ripping through their ranks. Then the civil war started, and things changed again. There was fear, mistrust, all on the back of the plague that left many people terrified. Deruvene clung to the beliefs that family was important, instilled in him by his Foster, and did his best to try to impart on all others that everyone was family and therefore mistrust and fear wasn't going to work. He was generally written off as an annoyance at the worst of times by anyone he harped at too much.

Four Turns later, at the age of thirteen, Deruvene was picked to Squire to S'ol, Rider of Blue Zaqueth. Pleased to find that he could be of help to someone he put all of his heart and soul into working for the rider. Having already grown up at the Weyr as a brat there wasn't anything super difficult for him to adjust to or understand, save for the undertaking or working with a rider and following the tasks they required, and so Deru somewhat flourished in a manner about as average as one would expect. There was nothing he overly excelled at nor anything he failed horribly at. Things he had trouble with he worked hard to get into an acceptable range, and things he was already decent enough at he kept up the pace in order not to fall behind, all the while serving S'ol with devotion and dedication.

A Turn after he was taken into Squireship Deruvene was able to stand for his first clutch, where he did not Impress, though the ability to remain a candidate kept him delighted enough. He loved the comradeship between the candidates, not to mention he loved being with S'ol and Zaqueth. Candidate training and squire training was taken with the same gusto as everything else in his life, meaning if he liked it he liked it (and if he didn't he did his best to like it anyway, minus a few grumbles), and Deruvene looked forward to each Turn and each clutch.