Rider's Name: L'fer
Rider's Age: 31
Rank: Wingleader
Previous Rank/Craft: Minecraft apprectice, blacksmith
Which Weyr are they Stationed at? Western Weyr
Rider's Personality: L'fer is an adventurous soul. He enjoys excitement and danger, and loves nothing more than a challenge he and Morpeth can overcome together. As a young man, he was even more so. He wanted to fight thread (even before it returned), he wanted to see all of Pern, try moves that no one had ever done before, do everything, meet everyone.. As he's gotten older, however, he's scaled back his wanderlust somewhat. He's more keen to stay in one place than he used to be, enjoying the sense of community he has at Western Weyr and wanting to protect and defend his home rather than seek out adventure elsewhere.
An inherently honest person, L'fer is not a master of subtlety and is a terrible liar. It's a good thing he never gambles because he's the kind of person whose face is like an open book. Even truths that are concealed to save someone's feelings weigh on his mind until he usually cracks and admits the truth. He's not always the best diplomat, trying but typically failing to be nice about it. He finds white lies to be as difficult as any other, so even when he's trying not to hurt someone's feelings, he's such a bad liar that it usually doesn't work. But you'll always know where you stand with him. His honesty doesn't just extend to harsh truths, but difficult ones as well, and you can be sure L'fer will never lie to save his own skin or make himself seem better.
Similar to lies, past decisions often weigh heavily on L'fer's mind. He's the kind of person who can't easily let things go. When he feels he did something wrong or made a bad decision, it plagues him constantly. When he was younger, his natural reaction was to run from this feeling, trying to distract himself with new thrills or adventures. Recently he's started taking the more mature approach of trying to correct or admit his mistakes when he notices them. It's still difficult, especially when all he wants is to push them from his mind entirely, but he knows that it's better off in the long run.
L'fer is ambitious, but not necessarily for power or importance. He wants to work for something he believes in, achieve his best, and stand out as someone that can be relied on. He wants to be trusted with more responsibilities because he truly enjoys his work. Flying with Morpeth is the only thing that has ever come naturally to him. The idea that they were asked to be less than they are (that anyone would be) just to avoid hurting the pride of some bronze rider still doesn't sit right with him. L'fer is staunchly against any kind of color bias, and will stamp it out the second he sees it cropping up in his wing.
Though capable of putting up with a lot, once L'fer reaches his breaking point, he becomes short tempered and irritable until he's able to take a breath and destress. His natural reaction to bullying or insults is to ignore it, but he grows increasingly frustrated as things continue. Similarly, L'fer meets any adversity with redoubled effort, but if time goes on and the situation seems impossible to improve, he can become disheartened and it takes some encouragement from his never-say-die dragon to pull him out of it.
L'fer truly enjoys their work at the Weyr, seeing every day as a new and exciting challenge. Still, he is by no means a workaholic. He knows Morpeth is sensitive to his stress levels so he is careful to take time to recharge and unwind, and is diligent in making sure his wing riders do the same. Outside of work, L'fer is personable, but a little shy. He is still a little cautious of other people and usually needs someone (often his dragon) to help bring him out of his shell. He is a genuinely kind and caring person once you get to know him. He feels truly grateful for what he has in life now, which always helps to lift his spirits. He wants to spread the joy and make sure everyone else in the Weyr is happy as well. If you tell him a problem, he'll do anything he can to try and solve it for you, and likely won't be able to rest until he's able to succeed.
Rider's History: As a child, L'fer lived at a small hold near Nabol, training as a blacksmith under his father. When he was 15, L'fer was searched as a candidate to the near by High Reaches Weyr. It was there that he met his tough little tomboy Morpeth, and no gleaming bronze hide could ever convince him she wasn't the best dragon in the world.
At first, L'fer was more than happy to remain at the Weyr. He liked the work and believed, as High Reaches did, that dragons had a duty to continue training for the eventual return of thread. He was military minded himself, enjoying the rigor and training of High Reaches life. But he was talented and ambitious, and both were qualities not everyone wanted to see in a green rider. In particular, after he was singled out for praise by their wingleader shortly after joining the wing, a bronze rider by the name of K'ienn took it upon himself to warn him against drawing too much attention to himself.
Granted, L'fer might have handled things better. He could have dodged the issue, claiming he was just doing what he could for the betterment of the wing. But he was young, cocky, and had always been somewhat more combative in personality than diplomatic. He found it both annoying and amusing that the man was so opposed to the idea of a green rider with talent, and he might have needled him about it a bit. Still, when the exchange was over, L'fer barely thought of it, assuming the matter closed. However, that turned out to be just one of the many times when the two of them would butt heads. But while L'fer started off as a valuable and well-liked member of the wing, he soon realized it didn't matter how talented you were; no one would side with a greenrider over a bronze. It didn't matter what K'ienn did or said, people would take his side, and the burden of proving him wrong was always on L'fer. At first, his outrage at the situation propelled him to try twice as hard and perform even better. But the more he achieved, the more determined K'ienn was to bring him down.
Dealing with the bronzerider's daily harassment, he started losing his temper more. He found it harder to focus in wing drills, feeling like he had to constantly watch his back, afraid K'ienn would try to undermine or sabotage him. Sadly, bronze riders had a bad habit of only listening to other bronzes, and with the things K'ienn would say about him, it wasn't long before he'd lost the faith of the wing's leadership as well. With everything said behind closed doors, there was nothing he could do to defend himself. And after a final, heated argument with K'ienn, he decided to leave the Weyr.
He left High Reaches with no real plan of where to go. Feeling like he had failed by not being able to remain at the Weyr, he was afraid to return home, fearing he would be a disappointment to them. He met Ambrin when he was at his lowest. Furious and frustrated that K'ienn had gotten what he wanted, he was looking for something to distract him from everything that happened. He wanted a sense of adventure, and a feeling of belonging, and Ambrin's group seemed to provide just that. Most importantly, he and Morpeth could reach for their full potential without ever being told that needed to be less. But the things they were doing weren't exactly the stuff of ballads. Frightening innocent runners, bullying people into paying up.. At first, he didn't care. At least, he told himself he didn't. These people had no connection to him, why should be worry about them? But as much as he liked Ambrin and Euma, the guilt still weighed on him. He was a man driven by bitterness, ambition, and a desire for adventure, but he wasn't a bad person at heart. It wasn't long before he saw the actions of the mercenary group as going too far. He regretted the resentment that drove him to join them, and began to increasingly look at his decision as a mistake, approaching the job with less enthusiasm and more reluctance.In the end, he knew he couldn't stay with the group forever. Not knowing how to explain or what to say, he just picked up one night and left with no explanation.
When he joined Western Weyr, L'fer was still a young man, but he felt like he was twenty turns older. In hindsight he realized he had never really gotten over what happened at High Reaches. He was upset that he let someone change his personality to that extent and was disappointed that he didn't have the courage to stand by his convictions despite adversity. When he returned to a Weyr, it wasn't seeking glory or ambition, but as a last resort. Morpeth, who had always been sensitive to his moods, had started suffering the consequences of the constant stress, her health declining. He needed somewhere to hide from his past, both figuratively and literally. He chose Western simply because it was the furthest away at the time.
However, once he got to the Weyr, and despite holding no hope for anything more than a dull career of being told to stay in his place and not to stand out, he found Western Weyr to be delightfully different. People there seemed to foster talent from all colors, and genuinely believe in the kind of equality he thought was only a fantasy within a Weyr. It still took some time for his paranoia to fade. He was still ready for a fight every time he voiced his opinion. He still braced himself any time he succeeded, waiting for the other shoe to drop. But over time, his heart began to heal from the anger and mistrust he'd come to believe was synonymous with living in a Weyr. He saw Western as his chance for redemption, a way to make up for the things that he had done as a mercenary, and with nothing to hold him back, he and Morpeth could put their full effort into their work, quickly rising in rank and renown.
DRAGON
Name: Morpeth
Age: 13
Color: Green
Size: 28
Physical Description: [Up to the artist! The only thing I'll say is she's not really dainty, delicate, or even pretty in a traditional sense. Her lack of femininity features in her personality, so that's really the only reason (she secretly wishes she was). Doesn't have to be, but free reign to make her as weird/mangy/scary as you like]
Personality: Morpeth is one indefatigable green of a dragon. She never gives up. Not once. Through all they suffered in High Reaches, and all the danger and adversity they've seen since then, she always kept truccking. It seems like nothing can stop her and nothing can get her down. She never complains at her lot, only saying 'let's just try harder next time!' or 'I know I can do better'. It was her determination, more than anything, that broke L'fer's heart at High Reaches. All she ever wants to do is try her best. And when someone tries to stop her, she never puts the blame on them, but just keeps on striving forever.
Nothing about Morpeth is dainty or sweet. She an awkward, hulking, beast of a dragon, with a crude way of talking and a skin as thick as a stone wall. She loves being thought of as 'one of the boys', easy going, not sensitive, always up for a joke or an adventure. Still, there's a part of her that secretly watches other female dragons from afar, wishing she could be more like them. If she could flirt like them, be coy like them, attract boys like them... How do they do it? Morpeth will never understand it, and she's a little too self conscious to try, afraid people might laugh at her for trying to be something she's not. She always been a little unlucky in love, finding friends easier than she finds mates, and has had some bad experiences in the past. Her mating flights are usually awkward, brutal affairs that are more a show of pure athleticism than the beautiful dance so many other greens seem to be able to pull off effortlessly.
Morpeth doesn't have much of a moral compass, leaving those kinds of questions to L'fer. He'd like to say she doesn't have a mean bone in her body, and she certainly never sets out with the intention of hurting anyone, but she also doesn't really think much about doing the 'right thing'. She had as much fun laughing at the freaked out runners as she did flying drills in High Reaches, and L'fer always felt a little bad about that, feeling like he led her astray. Unlike her rider, she doesn't stress about whether something is good or bad in the grand scheme of things, and has a narrower focus.
As well as following his lead in terms of morals, Morpeth is also very sensitive to L'fer's moods. She is always quick to try and cheer him up when he's down, or convince him not to worry when he's obsessing about something, but the constant emotional strain will eventually start to get her down. One of the few things that can cut into her near indomitable spirit is a sustained emotional downturn from her rider. Though this is largely not an issue now, she still remembers how he got when after leaving High Reaches or towards the end of their time with the bandits, and is a little more sensitive about those kinds of feeling now, panicking quicker when her rider gets upset and thinking he's going to go back into one of those moods.
Dragon Art or Proof of Obtainment: Wingleader contest
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