Age: 26
Gender:Male
Sexual Orientation: Bisexual
Craft/Rank: Rogue Rider
Description:
The best way to describe Jikkiri is 'soft'. He has a gennerally soft roundness to him, even though he hasn't eaten properly in years. Somehow, there are no edges to him at all: his face is rounded, his body is rounded, even his hands and feet are rounded and blunted. His friendly face and demeanor give him an aura of pleasant kindliness, much like a storekeeper or a grocer and very much not the pirate and criminal he has turned out to be.
Jikkiri's skin is a pale-olive color, fleshy and filled out in a defiantly healthy way. His black hair is short and is naturally neat and easily kept. His round face, with it's slightly dulled black eyes, has a perpetually genial look to it. The scraggly, soft, filamentous beginnings of a beard can be seen at his chin and just under it, enough to give him a sort of boyish maturity. It is a face not suited to the slightly confused frown that he now perpetually wears.
Personality:
Jikkiri is an affable and sweet young man, and he is not hard to please. It would not be hard for him to be thorougly satisfied with himself, the world, and his place in it, and he wants nothing more than food in his belly and company to share it with.
Unfortunately, he has neither and he is not happy. Naturally friendly, inquisitive, and a little bit slow, Jikkiri has learned that these are not good traits to have out in Pern's lawless wilds, not without his brother to protect him. He has been forced to be violent because of the war and his situation, and he no longer feels so upset when he has to seriously hurt someone, but it is not Jikkiri's element; he is simply not inclined to violence.
This is despite – or perhaps because of – his violent and massive bondmate, who he adores and clings to. In fact, he is loathe to leave Langoneth's side, and keeps to himself when he is out of the big brown's company. This is not out of a desire to be antisocial – Jikkiri is very social, and perfectly willing to greet anybody with genial acceptance and kindness if they approach him nicely. He is, however, scared of the crowd he has fallen in with. These are people who he cannot make happy, and who do very bad things on a regular basis. He helps only because he has to, and is shy because he feels he needs to be. If someone were to come up to him and talk to him and be generally nice, however, they will find him to be a genuine, pleasant, and lonely companion who is very understanding of others.
He needs people, and especially misses his brother, Jamarin, a great deal. Though he is more independent than he once was, Jikkiri would very much like his brother to be around. Jamarin used to do the fighting for him, protecting him from human aggressors and, though Langoneth is big, fierce, angry, and highly protective, he is hampered by his genetic inability to hurt people.
Jikkiri, meanwhile, is in a scary place with scary people and has had to adapt by being a Pernese yes-man. This is part of why he keeps to himself - he is a pushover, desperate for the approval and mercy of others. If he is asked to do something, he jumps like a terrified rabbit. Usually, he does not want to, and so he keeps out of everybody's way...
Other:
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History:
Jikkiri and Jamarin were born in a small, insignificant cothold. Though Jamarin had his problems, problems that Jikkiri understood, Jikkiri himself was happy there among his family. However, when Jamarin's problems came to a head and he ran away, Jikkiri was equally happy following him into a wandering Holdless group. He continued to follow his brother from place to place, and finally to Malvren weyr where he not so happily helped with the Revolution.
He settled into Malvren Wherhold life easily enough, earning some measure of comfort amidst the chaos and squalor. That was all he needed, and Jikkiri was again happy. He followed his brother into candidacy, and onto the sands, not particularly keen on thinking for himself.
Soon, though, he had someone to think for him – a big, brawny, violent brown named Langoneth, who's trail of blood maimed several candidates, killed one, and scared the pants off of Jamarin when he went for Jikkiri. It was love at first sight. Only Jikkiri understood the true depths of the beast that was Langoneth, and only Langoneth understood what Jikkiri needed.
The fight with his brother – around the masculinity of his dragon – was upsetting but overshadowed by Jikkiri and Langoneth's powerful, loving bond. The issue was soon resolved with a talk between brothers, the result of which was separation and independence from each other to a degree. This ended up being a good thing because, like Jamarin, Langoneth did not like to share. Jikkiri did not mind his dragon's posessive and suspicious nature, though he did modulate it. Others feared the brown, and for good reason, but Jikkiri never treated him as anything other than his darling, wonderful beast. His Langoneth.
Ferocity and antisocial nature aside, Langoneth grew to be a powerful brown, failing to catch a queen in his first Flight but making a good showing for a young brown. Jikkiri handled the 'flighties' very well, remaining in control of himself the whole time, and in subsequent Flights as well.
He joined a wing along with his brother, and Langoneth's bulk and belligerent nature saw the gentle Jikkiri on military missions he would rather not be on and fighting Thread that he would rather not fight. But, despite disliking the jobs intensely, Langoneth's presence – as well as his brother's presence – helped him cope. Eventually, he figured out how to be a proper fighter, and settled into his role.
The raid on Benden and the fights thereafter, however, were not pleasant for the quiet Jikkiri. During the wherwars, he became more and more withdrawn, his conversations with his dragon becoming more private even as his conversations with his brother became shortened. Langoneth thrived in war, fighting any who dared approach them. Allies soon learned to leave the brown alone, as he cared for no one else but his rider. But, when he worked on his own, he was effective in bringing down enemy dragons and fearless in battle.
In the chaos of the wherwars ending, Jikkiri ended up fleeing with some of the rebels into the wilds, not realizing that his brother was left behind until it was too late. The rebels survived on their own until the fall of the Golds, and that is when their troubles began....
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Name: LangonethSize: Large
Build: Above Average
Personality:
A beast best decribed as feral, Langoneth is very much a Wherholder dragon. On the surface, he bears more in common with whers than he does most dragons. He will do everything just short of harming humans and aggressive displays and shows of force will be a daily occurence, whether in response to perceived threats or to less dire incursions, such as someone invading his personal space - which he needs more of than most - or even just looking at him wrong. While he poses no direct threat to humans, beyond possibly scaring them to death, all other creatures (especially bite-sized flits!) will need to watch where they step and what they say around territorial, temperamental Langoneth and his rider, who is his and to be defended at all costs.
Also like a wher, Langoneth is not very talkative. Though he will vocalize much, particularly when riled up, he is a dragon of few words (and will never bespeak a human other than His, unless it is a matter of life or death), preferring when possible to communicate with image and emotion, combining the two for a depth and complexity even the most eloquent dragons might struggle to match. Underneath all the aggression and suspicion, this brown has undeniable heart, and understands and appreciates more than most will ever realize.
Though he will fly and mate with females, Jikkiri the one person in all of Pern that Langoneth will ever love and show real affection to. There is nothing that Langoneth would not do for him - His love for his rider is complete devotion, bordering on worship, and he will trust and follow them always, no matter where that path leads. To Langoneth, Jikkiri is perfect for him – he is calming and innocent and beautiful and, moreover, he understands Langoneth in a way that nobody else was truly capable of. To Langoneth, Jikkiri can do no wrong and it only takes one word from his rider to stop all but his wildest and most desperate tempers; in Flight or in battle, he will remain nigh-unstoppable... but always, always centered on his rider.
Langoneth respects and admires strength and skill, but is suspicious of cleverness. He is also wary of all others who are not his rider. Those who wish to be close to him or, at least, not be the target of his claws will have to earn his respect. It will be difficult enough to achieve tolerance but it is possible, along side with time, acceptance. Physical proximity, however, will still put him on edge, and there is only so much interaction he can take before he needs a break.
He is a suspicious beast and will struggle with trust issues all his life, but if any do manage to earn that trust, he will repay it with loyalty. Of course, this is a mixed bag: Langoneth is territorial and protective by nature, and will jealously attempt to guard anything that he considers his, especially his rider. He is also volatile: any emotional hurt his rider suffers will be viewed in the same way as a physical one, so anyone with an interest in him or His had better be extremely careful. Langoneth is watching them closely, and his reddened eyes do not miss much.
Interestingly enough, he is intrigued and calmed by music. Jikkiri's musical talents are lacking, to put it mildly, and anybody who can create music has an advantage in gaining Langoneth's trust, and likely to be tolerated so long as they do not hurt His rider.
Inspired by the Beast of Gévaudan.The Beast of Gévaudan is the historical name associated with the man-eating wolf, dog or wolf-dog hybrid which terrorised the former province of Gévaudan (modern-day département of Lozère and part of Haute-Loire), in the Margeride Mountains in south-central France between 1764 and 1767. The attacks, which covered an area stretching 56 by 50 miles, were said to have been committed by a beast or beasts that had formidable teeth and immense tails according to contemporary eyewitnesses. Descriptions of the time vary, but generally the beast was said to look like a wolf but about as big as a calf. It had a large dog-like head with small straight ears, a wide chest, and a large mouth which exposed very large teeth. The beast's fur was said to be red in colour but its back streaked with black.
The Beast of Gévaudan carried out its first recorded attack in the early summer of 1764. A young woman, who was tending cattle in the Mercoire forest near Langogne in the eastern part of Gévaudan, saw the beast come at her. However the bulls in the herd charged the beast keeping it at bay, they then drove it off after it attacked a second time. Shortly afterwards the first official victim of the beast was recorded; 14-year-old Janne Boulet was killed near the village of Les Hubacs near the town of Langogne. Over the later months of 1764, more attacks were reported throughout the region. Very soon terror had gripped the populace because the beast was repeatedly preying on lone men, women and children as they tended livestock in the forests around Gévaudan. Reports note that the beast seemed to only target the victim's head or neck regions.
By late December 1764 rumours had begun circulating that there may be a pair of beasts behind the killings. This was because there had been such a high number of attacks in such a short space of time, many had appeared to have been recorded and reported at the same time. Some contemporary accounts suggest the creature had been seen with another such animal, while others thought the beast was with its young.
On January 12, 1765, Jacques Portefaix and seven friends were attacked by the Beast. After several attacks, they drove it away by staying grouped together. The encounter eventually came to the attention of Louis XV, who sent two professional wolf-hunters, Jean Charles Marc Antoine Vaumesle d'Enneval and his son Jean-François, to Gévaudan. They arrived in Clermont-Ferrand on February 17, 1765, bringing with them eight bloodhounds which had been trained in wolf-hunting. Over the next four months the pair hunted for Eurasian wolves believing them to be the beast. However, as the attacks continued, they were replaced in June 1765 by François Antoine, the king's harquebus bearer and Lieutenant of the Hunt who arrived in Le Malzieu on June 22. On September 20, 1765, Antoine killed his third large grey wolf. The wolf, which was named Le Loup de Chazes after the nearby Abbaye des Chazes, was said to have been quite large. Antoine officially stated: "We declare by the present report signed from our hand, we never saw a big wolf that could be compared to this one. Which is why we estimate this could be the fearsome beast that caused so much damage." The animal was further identified as the culprit by attack survivors who recognized the scars on its body inflicted by victims defending themselves. The wolf was stuffed and sent to Versailles where Antoine was received as a hero, receiving a large sum of money as well as titles and awards.
However, on December 2, 1769, another beast severely injured two men. A dozen more deaths are reported to have followed attacks by la Besseyre Saint Mary.
The killing of the creature that eventually marked the end of the attacks is credited to a local hunter named Jean Chastel, who shot it during a hunt organized by a local nobleman, the Marquis d’Apcher, on June 19th, 1767. Writers later introduced the idea that Chastel shot the creature with a blessed silver bullet of his own manufacture and upon being opened, the animal's stomach was shown to contain human remains.
Since the late 18th century, numerous explanations have been promulgated as to the exact identity of the beast, but an explanation has yet to be found and remains a mystery to this day. Suggestions as to what sort of cryptid animals roamed Gévaudan have ranged from exaggerated accounts of wolf attacks, to the myths of the werewolf, or a punishment from God. Modern theorists now propose the beasts were some type of domestic dog or a wolf-dog hybrid on account of their large size and unusual colouration.
