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Rider:
Name: J’nes (formerly Jennes)
Age: 36 Turns
Gender: male
Sexual Orientation: heterosexual
Rank: Assistant Weyrlingmaster / Apprentice Weavercrafter

History:
Jennes's mother loved children and wanted many of them, but despite years of trying, she was only able to bring one son into the world. Although Jennes was a single child, his mother didn't stop there and instead chose to foster many, many children. After a while, if anyone in her home of Trine Hold had a child that needed fostering, Jennes' mother was the first person they'd ask.

Jennes was always the oldest of the children in his household, and as a result he always ended up taking care of various household and childcare duties. He never minded and was happy to help, which was a great relief to his mother. He was clever with his hands and ended up mending and fixing things a lot, or putting together scraps of things to make toys. After the first time he sewed some fabric scraps into a doll, all the other kids wanted cloth toys too. he made lots; canines, runnerbeasts, fire lizards. His house was soon full of them, and every sibling had a favorite they carried around for years.

It was no surprise that when Jennes grew older he showed an interest in the weavercraft, especially sewing. He was readily accepted and quickly chose a specialty in tailoring, with some study in embroidery to add decoration to the finest clothes. He still made things for his family in his spare time, so as a result his parents ended up with finer Gather clothes then they normally would be able to afford, and his foster siblings still had a steady stream of brightly-colored stuffed animals, mostly made from new cloth scraps.

One day a dragon rider came by to pick up some cloth for the weyr tailors, and Jennes was one of the many children who crowded into the edge of the courtyard to see the pretty green dragon. She picked Jennes out of the crowd as someone who might be able to able to Impress, and the rider asked him if he'd like to come be a Candidate. He agreed readily, since becoming a Candidate was a task he'd been asked to do, much like any other, and he did the tasks set to him. Of course, every child's secret dream to bond a dragon was certainly a factor in the decision.

He was whisked off to Trine Weyr and Stood for hatchings for nearly a near before brown Hattath stumbled up to him and demanded to be fed. The newly named J'nes cared for the young dragon just as readily as he cared for his young foster siblings, and set to learning the duties of a rider.

[start edits here]
After spending some time in Trine, Hatteth and crimson Hyweth conspired to match their riders together, which is how J'nes met J'len. After a prolonged period of being chivalrous but dense, J'nes finally realized that he genuinely cared for her and the two riders (and their dragons) became weyrmates. In time the two had a son together, named Janel.

When some eggs of Hyweth's first clutch were stolen by the Revolutionists, J'nes adamantly joined the group that went to search for them. Thankfully, he successfully helped find them shortly before the eggs hatched, and Impressed to Weyr Candidates ensuring that Hatteth's step-children were not lost. Throughout the struggle between the Weyr and Wherholds, J'nes kept out of the fighting, for the sake of his weyrmate and child, though of course he helped out in the Weyr wherever he could.

When word got out that the new Euclid Wherhold needed staff, J'nes was intrigued. He'd had many years of experience caring for growing children, and had been interested in a position as a Candidatemaster or Weyrlingmaster, but had been unable to try for either of the positions because brownriders were not allowed to hold them in Trine. Euclid had no such restriction, and J'nes liked the ideals it was founded on. So with J'len's agreement, them moved to Euclid Weyrhold and he took up the position of Weyrlingmaster.

During the Wherwars, J'nes continued to stay out of the fighting, instead focusing his energy on caring for his family and students. When Euclid broke up and most of the residents moved to Trine, J'nes and his family moved back there was well. Once there he was able to take a position as Assistant Weyrlingmaster, since he had prior experience.

Description:
J’nes is tall, with a build that’s slender but muscular from years of dragon riding. His skin is fair, but not unusually pale, and tans quickly when he spends long in the sun. He has light brown hair, and dark brown eyes that tend to have a mild, dreamy look to them. His face that’s a little long with a squared shape, and his nose is slightly too large to look truly attractive. His hands are a bit large for his build, which makes him look awkward when he has a needle and thread in his hands, though that doesn’t stop him from sewing nimbly or doing other skilled work with his hands.

Personality:
J’nes has an easygoing and cheerful manner about him, almost all of the time. It’s rare to see him without his usual relaxed smile on his face. He’s soft-spoken and doesn’t get upset easily. He’s not very assertive and if told to do something he usually will without much resistance. Unless of course he has his own project going. Then he can be very single-minded, working on one thing to the exclusion of all others, forgetting even about sleep and food. He can be somewhat unreliable when he’s focused on one task, since he forgets go or do other things, no matter how important. Hatteth often has to bully him into leaving his project to do whatever else he’s supposed to. But as soon as possible, J’nes is back to his work. He can get absent minded, especially when he’s focused on something else, and would tend to leave things around where he forgot about them if Hattath didn’t keep reminding him to clean things up. But he always keeps his sewing work space very neat, since that makes his work easier.

Most of J'nes' personal projects involve sewing and/or children. In his spare time he's often found making and repairing clothes to earn extra marks, or sewing little accessories like hats or gloves to give to friends. But he's also still fond of making plush animals, so he makes many of those as gifts for weyr children. If a young weyrbrat had a bad day, they can always run off to J'nes' weyr and cuddle with the small pile of stuffed toys that he always has on hand. He's fond of children after spending years taking care of young foster siblings, so he doesn't mind young visitors at all as long, as he's at home; he wants to keep an eye on them so little hands don't find their way into a drawer of sharp scissors or needles. He's good at cheering up sad or upset children, and is always willing to listen to any problems they have. He sometimes ends up as an impromptu babysitter when a child wanders into his weyr and he find himself entertaining the child until someone else comes to find the errant kid.

Even when not motivated by the drive to finish one task, J'nes is persistent and hardworking. He’ll generally work without complaint on just about anything, unless it’s something he’s grossly unqualified for, or it leaves him no time to do his own assigned work. He's willing to assist a friend if they could use a little help with something, but if he realizes someone's trying to take advantage and dump all their work on him, he'll try to insist he doesn't have the time to do two people's work. He doesn't always succeed in deflecting them though, at which point he becomes resigned and does it anyway, as best he can in what time he has. He’s also frugal and would usually rather repair things as many times as possible (especially clothes) than get new things.

J'nes usually keeps a level head in most situations. Did someone (such as a small child) run in his room screaming and with a bloody arm? Did he get dumped with three people's worth of unsavory chores? Or did he get publicly humiliated in front of his entire wing? He'll usually do nothing more than smile or shake his head before figuring out what to do about it. He takes things as they come, but he can think on his feet and is rarely at a loss for ideas. He's generally not impulsive though, and if time permits he'll consider some options before acting. But if time doesn't permit, he may go with the first thing he thinks of that seems like a good idea, even if that's a delaying tactic to give him time to think a little more.

[timeskip edit:]
Growing older, and especially having a dragon, weyrmate and child to look after, have made J'nes somewhat more assertive. You can't really be a good caregiver if you let kids walk over you, after all. And he had to know when to hold Hatteth back when the dragon wanted to overexert himself, or eat too much. And if he wanted to sell his crafts, he had to know when haggling is reasonable and when the customer is trying to rip him off. Once he was better able to balance wanting to be helpful with the need to take proper care of himself, his charges and his finances, he was able to be an effective teacher.


Dragon:
Name: Hatteth
Age: 17 Turns
Colour: brown
Description: (old cert) (new cert) (weyrlingmaster art never completed)

Hatteth is noticeably smaller than the average brown, and a bit slimmer as well. This only reinforces his opinion that he's nothing special to look at.
Size: Small
Build: Below Average

Threadfighting stats: HP: 53, Agility: +1

Personality:
If you didn’t know Hatteth very well and only saw him when he’s working, you might think he has a very mild, or even meek, personality. He works hard at whatever he’s told to do, keeps his mind on his work and works with others well enough. But if you actually spent more than about five minutes getting to know him, you’d find he’s normally quite different. While things are going smoothly he can be kind and considerate, but when he’s pushed he pushes back. Then you’ll find that he’s very strong minded with a tendency to argue.

He prefers to resolve things by talking things into going how he wants, which means that when things get tough, he gets bossy. He can be very insistent, almost mulishly stubborn, about making sure things goes his way. If someone resists his will, he’ll dig his heels in and attempt to browbeat them into submission. But even when he’s at his most stubborn, he can be diverted from his course by interrupting his train of thought for long enough.

He likes things very tidy, all the time. He, his rider and their weyr must always be neat and clean. If it gets even a little bit out of order, he tries to clean it up himself or insists that His do so. He dislikes gossamer spinners because the cobwebs they leave behind look messy and gather dust. He is not at all vain about his appearance, since he doesn’t think he looks like anything special, but his love of cleanliness does mean he wants a bath almost every day. He rises for Flights occasionally, but doesn’t have much hope in winning because he doesn’t expect the rising female would even notice him in a crowd of other, probably more handsome and impressive-looking, dragons.

Other:
While Hatteth and J’nes are both stubborn in their own way, they have different ways of going about it. Hatteth has a loud and in-your-face mulishness that tries to push others the way he wants. J’nes has a quieter, dogged persistence that keeps going the way he wants no matter what anyone says. Between the two of them, if they both really want to convince someone of something they get can a very persuasive good cop/bad cop routine going, trying to wear their target down one way or another.

Rank RP:

J’nes stood in front of the Weyrling barracks, gesturing for the new riders to gather closer around the tables he’d set up. This would be one of their first lessons, held while their bondmates were napping inside.

“Come closer,” he called to some stragglers in the back. “I don’t want to yell and wake the dragonets, and you can’t see too well from there.” Once the teenagers were all clustered in front of him he introduced the lesson. “Now then, today we’ll be learning to feed your dragon by cutting up this.” He reached into a bucket beside him and held up a large hunk of bloody meat. He quickly glanced at each young face in turn, nothing who looked aghast or disgusted, and who looks nonplussed. The former would need help, the later might be able to assist their classmates. “For the hatching meal you get pieces of good meat cut into appropriate size, but from now on you’ll need to cut them yourself if you want your dragon to eat. So everyone gather close while I show you how.”

He herded them around the table beside him, making sure that everyone could see before dumping a bucket of meat onto it. With deliberate movements he began sorting through them. “Now usually the meat you’ll be given will be fit for consumption, but sometimes things slip through. Mostly bits of meat with shards of bone, which could harm young throats, but sometimes you’ll get a piece that’s slightly spoiled, or more fat than meat…” He continued to talk, pointing out the subpar pieces of meat he’d purposely put in this bucket as a demonstration and telling students why they were no good. After the first couple, he held up each piece and asked the class if it was good, and inviting them to say why.

When he finished sorting, he picked up a knife. Now he demonstrated how to cut the meat ; first how to hold and use the knife so you wouldn’t hurt yourself, then how it was easiest to cut the meat, and finally what size they needed to cut it.

“Now then, do any of you have experience as a cook or butcher?” he asked the class. He knew a few of them did, but wanted to give them an opportunity to volunteer. Sure enough, five of them did. “Great, would you like to give it a try so your fellow weyrlings can see how you do it?” They agreed, with more or less enthusiasm, and gathered knives and pieces of meat. J’nes watched as they competently chopped the meat into appropriate pieces, and nodded his approval. “Good job, all of you. Now let’s split up so everyone else can give it a try.”

He sent the five students each to a different table, then allowed the other students to distribute themselves as they liked. The idea was that each table had one experienced student who could serve as a good example. Some students would actively help their peers, but even if they just had someone to watch, it tended to help the students who were new to the task.

As the students sorted themselves out and began, J’nes wandered through them all, checking their work. He had taught this lesson a few times now and was wise to most of the common mistakes and tricks they would try to get out of the work. At one table he corrects a student’s hold on the knife so he would be less likely to slip and cut himself. At another he showed the group why that piece of meat is cut poorly. At a third he sternly told a girl that was trying to hold the meat with her fingertips that she was likely to cut herself like that, and she would have to get used to holding it or else her dragon would not eat.

Throughout the lesson, Hatteth lounged beside them, looming over the group to keep tabs and help point out to J’nes who might need assistance. Even J’nes’s flits helped, chasing off other flits that may be trying to steal a bite.

When J’nes found a moment to stand back and look over the group, he smiled to see them all working. He’d had a hard time with this job at first, since at Euclid he’d more of less made it up as he went, but he’d gotten better at it. Now he and Hatteth had settled into the role quite well. He loved helping new riders as they grew and learned to work together, and there was nowhere else he’d rather be.