M'khor- Goat Tailed - Rider of Blue Bukharmath

[redwerecat]

Name: M'khor (Markhor)
"Peace to you, brother, and Honor to you and yours.."

Age: 29
Sex and Gender: Male
Sexual and Romantic Orientations: Bisexual, no preference, generally disinterested.
Species: Tailed - Wild Goat
Rank and Craft: WingletMaster (Diurnal Class), Dragonrider, Previously Journeyman Weaver

Place of Birth: Citrine Hold
Current Location: Cat's Paw Weyr

Family:
Father - Markelhay, Goat Tailed, Miner
Mother - Khoriea, Tailless, Weaver
Elder Sister - Khoray, Goat Tailed, Miner
Younger Brother - Karelei, Tailless, Miner
Pets:

"Appearance is a surface thing, and of little importance... however, one SHOULD present a visage worthy of respect."

Hair: Long, faintly shaggy, pulled back from his face. The color is a pale silver-grey with darker coal-grey at the tips, with faint streaks of red-beige here and there. It's naturally rather wavy and he leaves it loose except when flying.
Eyes: Yellow. Yellow with a darker ring of brown around the outside edge, and usually half-lidded and un-surprised.
Height and Build: 6'4, powerful. Tall, strong back, slender but muscular shoulders. Looks like he's well used to hard work, though the cut and style of his clothing hides this. Outwardly appears slender, somewhat thin.

Appearance: One word describes him- sharp. While he has high cheekbones and a sharp nose, his expressions are usually rather placid, as if he were constantly at peace with the world. It's hard to actually get him to show an expression in an extreme at all, actually. His facial features hint at possible Asiatic descent in his family line, from gently slanted eyes to faintly tanned skin. He has some facial hair, usually a short, sharply-contoured goatee (he does NOT find the name and association amusing). Strangely his facial hair is stark black, not the grey of his fur at all.

He carries himself quite regally, with a stiff, straight back, shoulders held back, head high, looking ahead. He may even appear to be looking down on most people; in fact, his habit of avoiding direct eye contact makes him seem quite arrogant and his whole attitude and body language tend to give off a 'Holier than thou' vibe. He makes people uncomfortable, and he knows it. He just doesn't care. He avoids eye contact for the other person's benefit (though he's more than happy to give a long, unblinking stare to those who try to be uppity with him), and believes a straight back and head held high is fitting of a man who has confidence in himself- he won't lower his head in deference to anyone. (He also has a bad bit of scarring over his shoulder and back, from a bad threadscore turns back.)

As for clothing, he prefers long, elegant fabrics, clean-cut and flowing styles, usually robes, or ornately decorated, embroidered clothing in many layers. He does most of the embroidery himself, actually, in what free time he has, so a close examination of his hands reveals them as rather lined and callused. (Though always immaculate.) He adores colors and subtle beauty, and if you observe carefully he really has excellent taste.

Lastly are his tailed Features. Like all Tailed, he has, (duh) a tail and animalistic ears. His tail is short, with long fur and a tiny tuft at the end. Generally it is unnoticeable under his clothing. He lacks fur except for on his spine, where there's a sort, stiff mane midway down his back in pale grey. The hair on his head, though is wavy, and very, very soft- almost wool-like in texture though he makes an effort to keep it immaculately groomed and untangled. His ears, however, are long, and don't stick up as most do. In fact, except for times of extreme fear, they tend to tilt downwards and back. They're long and oval, ends rounded in with a faint point to the tips and they hang down to his shoulders and slightly past- he has long-eared goat ears. Oddly he has the ends pierced with a ring and a few particular gem studs- pride? Vanity? Some other reason? He won't tell. Both ears and tail are furred in the same black-tipped, gray fur that matches his hair color, though the short fur on his ears and tail mean they appear far darker than his hair unless inspected closely. Odd parts... oh, yes. The horns.

He has horns. Many Goat Tailed do, actually. M'khor's are spiraled, loosely on themselves, though the shape of the horn is straight; curving up and back from his forehead, a few inches above his skull- they're definitely noticeable. (Based on a Markhor Goat.) They're rather long, tilted back some so they only add about half the length to his height (though if he tucks his chin to his chest they tend to stand straight up). However, though far larger than the norm, they're also concealed much of the time by a hood.
Horn shape.
Size accuracy.

"Our lives are over-complicated by irrelevant details. Simplify...simplify. Take a moment to enjoy the beauty in the world around you."

Personality:
* Aesthetic - There is little M'khor loves more than natural beauty. (Or manufactured beauty.) Art in all it's forms, paintings, music, poetry, a pretty face, a nice bit of fabric, or even the way the world looks just after it rains- he's something of a romantic, and often pauses in his day to observe the beauty around him.
* Artistic - Though he's got other duties, he makes time to practice his crafts. He's a skilled weaver and a painter, and likes to devote time to both.
* Rational - He rarely lets emotions sway his decision-making process, and prefers to think his way out of a situation than to jump to conclusion. Not that he is emotionless, just that he knows the importance of a level head.
* Calming - He does care for people, and he's generally seen as a calming presence to most. He doesn't judge, he doesn't overreact, and he makes it known that his door is open if any weyrfolk need to talk and not be judged.
* Intelligent - He's very smart, and often has pretty solid advice, he's just... rather tight about giving it out without being pressed.
* Private - He doesn't speak often, or about things close to his heart. He dislikes invading the privacy of others, though anyone in obvious distress is going to get him to change that. He actually has something of a white knight complex...
* Noble - He is the type to always stand up for someone if they need it, and to instinctively want to protect someone who is hurt. Not always wise, of course, and gotten him in plenty of trouble, but it's not something anyone could change- ever. He desires to be a hero, even if he doesn't actively want to be recognized as such- he just wants to protect people.
* Cleanly - He might be a little OCD about keeping clean. He dislikes being dirty, and often gets fussy about being assigned tasks that would get him unnecessarily dirty.
* Loyal - He's loyal to the Weyr to a fault. There is nothing that would please him more than doing his duty to the Weyr and to Pern with his beloved partner of a dragon.
* Honorable - If he were in a different life in a different place, he might be compared to a Knight or Samurai. He has a strong sense of honor and a hard Moral code he will refuse to break. He sees it 'right' to protect the weak, uphold honor, treat even your enemies with respect, and so on.
* Studious - He deeply enjoys reading, studying, and learning. He actually can sometimes be found doing sums on spare slates just for fun...
* Prideful - He doesn't mean to be, but he is. He regards himself highly and can come off as a little rude and frosty before you get to know him. He isn't unfriendly, but his air and manner of speech can make him come off as a little haughty. (He is a teeny bit haughty too.)
* Quiet - The man knows when to hold his tongue. Though he has no problem speaking, he tends towards being soft-spoken.
* Stubborn - Once he makes up his mind or sets himself to a task, it would take a superhuman effort to change his mind. Same goes to his opinions on people- if he likes you, he'll stick by you through thick and thin.
* Argumentative - Again, his stubbornness means he butts heads with a lot of people. He can be, as his sister likes to put it 'a stubborn old goat.' It's true, sadly.
* Surprisingly Eloquent - His habit of speaking mostly to himself or in an undertone means many people think he's a little off-putting, but when you pause to pay him attention he's very well-spoken and something of a poet. Also has a habit of dropping vaguely Taoist, cryptic anecdotes and sayings.
* Understated - He really doesn't like the limelight. He wants to help, but he does so because it's right. he prefers being outside the spotlight, and is okay with going uncredited for something as long as someone else was helped.

He's a good guy, if a little off-putting at first. Once you get through his rather prickly outer shell, you'll find a loyal, kind, poetic man with a huge heart and a soft spot of a damsel (or lad) in distress. He can't stand the sight of misfortune or injustice, and though he tries to hide it, he's more of a white knight than he would ever admit. He enjoys the finer things in life, and frequently stops to simply take in the simplicity of a flower or the beauty of a sunset. He's a decent artist, and takes great pleasure in things as simple as making someone smile. Under his soft, genteel exterior, of course, you'll find a stubborn, hard-headed, prideful man who sticks to his guns, can be a horrible jerk to argue with, and who doesn't always get the social niceties and may not understand if he accidentally insults someone. He's also not at all a pushover- start a fight with him and you'll regret it.
While he's an artist at heart, he is also a dragonrider and keeps in shape- and he headbutts. With his horns, this gets quite painful.

He's a little bit of a snob, sure, and can be somewhat disdainful towards people before he gets to know them, but if someone were genuinely in need of help, his personal vanity would not get in the way. He tends to talk to himself, and to Bukharmath, usually out loud, and he's known for being incredibly cryptic and not always making much sense. (Though you really just have to puzzle out what exactly it is he's saying.)

His favorite hobbies are sketching, watching the weather with his dragon, embroidery, and making tea for people. Really- if you ever want tea, go to his weyr. He's more than happy to treat you. (He also hates Klah.) He also practices a tai-chi-esque form of meditation and stretching to both relax and clear his mind and to keep him in shape.

Likes: Art, rain, tea, beautiful things, embroidery, painting, poetry, peace, quiet, helping people, being seen as 'wise', Bukharmath.
Dislikes: Disorder, loud things/people, tunnelsnakes, slime, dirt, being told what to do without respect (people who don;t respect him, even as his superiors), people getting uppity with him.

"Fly high, seek peace, friend."

Name Bukharmath
Age 13
Color Blue
Place of Birth Lion's Roar Weyr
Current Location Cat's Paw Weyr

Appearance: Lengthy, almost leonine in his appearance, with a narrow muzzle that makes him look far more reptilian than some of his brethren, and constantly narrowed eyes which give him an air of hostility. While he's abnormally large for a blue at 21 feet, most of that is made up in a long, whippy tail and wings like a falcon's- long and narrow and perfect for sharp aerobatics.

His hide is a grey-blue shade with faint markings in lighter steel blue under his throat and around his eyes. A slightly darker stripe lines his spine. He has long, broad wings, slender, slightly bony limbs, and a high waist. He generally appears rather bony, almost spindly. (He's a little sensitive about the matter, actually, in comparison to his more muscular kin.) He has a few threadscores along his hide, though none of real note- besides the 'X'-shaped scar across his muzzle and a similar one on his chest from his first fall, where overconfidence proved to be a dire lesson for both him and his rider.

Voice Hex Code: 708090

"My rider is my life, and I his. Without one, the other would not be, yes?"

Personality: Bukharmath is a generally quiet creature, rarely talking to humans aside from His. He also tends to ignore other dragons unless they address him directly. He's not rude, but he tends to be distant, except from his rider. He likes to sit and contemplate life (much like his rider) and can be surprisingly philosophical when he tries. (Though being a dragon, this doesn't mean much given his short memory and rather skewed draconic life view.)
He likes rain, storms, strong wind, and clouds. He claims to enjoy the challenge of fighting with the elements when he flies. The sky is his home, and he loves nothing more than long flights with his rider.
He dislikes confrontations, and will generally defer direct questioning to his rider unless it's a command from a Queen. He views most others as 'silly children' and has a rather old-man view of the world.

"My life is like a river- constantly flowing, and the ripples of the past blending to the current of the future."

History: Markhor, as his family once knew him, comes from humble beginnings. Born to a Miner father and a weaver Mother in Citrine hold, he's always known a life of hard work. His family was not wealthy, though they were never hard off, and he grew up working alongside his father in the mines from a young age, while his sister learned their mother's trade of weaving. When he was old enough, he thought to apprentice to his father and become a miner as well, but he was caught by a bad chest illness in the winter, and instead, his elder sister went in to do the job. As a result, M'khor spent his next few months recovering and eventually began to help his mother in her weaving, filling spare orders and eventually learning he much preferred the soothing, delicate work of embroidery to the smoky, claustrophobic work in the mines.

He asked to permanently become a weaver's apprentice, and he was told no immediately.

He then got in a huge fight with his father, there was much yelling, arguments where neither party budged, and this was basically the next year of his life. Eventually, hilariously, Markelhay realized his son was just as stubborn as he was, and let it pass. Besides, his sister was truly better at the job than Markhor had been, and Markhor was still weak from the chest illness. So the young tailed boy became a weaver's apprentice.

He still had troubles with being weak, and was bad at hard labor, so he was known as a 'Mother's boy' and didn't have many friends as a child. He was also silent, very quiet and studious, preferring to spend long hours working on bettering his skills or reading a records scroll than playing with other children or going outside. And by the time he did recover enough to not be permanently bedridden, he was a shy, smart pre-teen. Which is not the best way to be if you are in fact a pre-teen in a loud, busy Mining community.

He never really had very many friends. However, as he hit puberty, and the other kids began to be cruel in the ways only teenagers can be, he also discovered the odd quirk of his family. He was a tailed, after all, and yes- he began to get horns. His father and sister had very short horns, but Markhor apparently took after his grandfather, and developed the long, spiraled horns a very small portion of his breed did.

He also learned he did not take well to bullies. People could do anything to him, but the first time someone picked on his little brother for being a human and not taking after the rest of his family, he saw red, lost his temper, and apparently (as he was told later) K.O.ed the bully in question via headbutt and a surprisingly agile wrestling move.

This... did not win him any friends. Oh well- he preferred his solitude, or the company of the Hold's harper, who would teach him stories, old teaching ballads, and things like the art of painting, drawing, and the like. Markhor actually considered applying to Harper hall, but he found the whole idea too... showy. He preferred to stay in the background. So while he was probably skilled enough as an artist to join the subranks of the harpers, he chose to remain a Weaver's apprentice. However... a search dragon had a better idea. In the search for candidates, of all the children taken? Markhor was the one selected. Not the hale miner's son, not the charming girl everyone thought would be a shoe-in fr a greenrider, nope. Markhor, the quiet, solemn, Goat-tailed boy.

Well.

It was odd, but he didn't mind. His first hatching he missed Impressing at entirely, in fact, he had hoped he wouldn't. The life of a rider was too flashy, too dangerous for him. He was weak, still had a predilection for chest colds. And when a bronze dragon had looked his way, he had ducked his head- he hadn't wanted to be chosen.

So when, at his second hatching as a candidate, a brown dragon tried to bull him over, he was surprised. He hadn't expected a dragon to be so pushy- he was actually irritated. The brown was the biggest and was kind of a bully- he bit a few of the candidates in his search until a blue-grey dragon had hatched and nearly bit off the end of his tail, scolding the brown for his stupidity. Then the blue had marched over to Markhor, put his claws on the boy's arm, and announced his name.

Browns, bronzes, the bigger, flashier colors were overrated. Bukharmath was just right.

Things from then on were peachy. Not without troubles, but good. Bukharmath was everything M'khor had never dared hope for, and fit him like a glove. Training was awkward, and M'khor still had troubles with keeping up with the remnants of his illness and so little physical training, but he caught up. He and Bukharmath proved to be good riders, and Kharma- (as was M'khor's very private nickname for the dragon) even had a bit of skill as a searchrider.

Life came and went, with thread scaring the life out of them one fall when an ill-caught clump scored Bukharmath's muzzle and chest badly, and caught M'khor's arm and shoulder, grounding them again for a few falls, until they recovered. With that came a transfer of Weyrs as well. Life kept on- Bukharmath flew a few smaller females, winning a flight or two himself- a green and her lady here, and a Lash and her man further on- neither gave M'khor much bother, and both parted on good terms- the bluerider did not long for a weyrmate in his early life.

M'khor never changed his ways nor lost his intolerance for bullies. He became known for being a go-to guy for nervy candidates and tended to police the winglets to assure no untoward bullying was going on, and he made it very clear he did in fact like the company of the younger riders and candidates- and anyone else. His door was always open to anyone who wanted to talk. He was eventually forcibly volunteered by Bukharmath to apply for the Diurnal wingletmaster position, though he really kind of likes the job.

Now they reside at Cat's Paw, serving in the Search wing and flying thread when there's no winglets around. And when there are? Teacher's in.

[Whim]

Accepted! Welcome to the Weyr, M'khor!