Head and shoulders of young man - light brown hair, blue shirt.
R'zel
Location Southern Weyr
Position Wingleader (Caracal)
Craft former Harper Sr. Apprentice
Dragon bronze Verokanth
Birthplace Harper Hall
Living family Father (oldtime Telgar brownrider), mother and stepfather (harpers), younger half-siblings including Valeiza.
Played By Louis Hunter
Player yranth

R'zel just tops six feet in height, and his build is lean and long-legged. Wavy light brown hair shows sun-bleached blond highlights; it’s parted at the side and swept back, tucked behind long-lobed ears, but strands at the forehead have come adrift and fallen forwards, softening the angles of a long face and a pointing chin. Low eyebrows frame dark rimmed blue eyes. The nose is small and unremarkable. A narrow mouth and full lips reveal even teeth when he smiles; there’s the suggestion of facial hair on his upper lip but he’s otherwise clean-shaven. His complexion is fair, with the beginnings of a golden Southern tan.


Common Knowledge

*Former harper Sr. Apprentice who came to Southern as a candidate for Khalyssrielth and Varaeth’s clutch.
*Impressed bronze Verokanth. At the Hatching, a brown hatchling also wanted him, but Verokanth got there first. The brown went Between after not finding another rider.
*Has been Weyrleader four times.
*Was Ocelot's wingleader for several turns, and again in between his spells as Weyrleader.
*Now Wingleader of Caracal, for the second time.
*Was Weyrsecond to Khy'ai.
*Plays the guitar - he's not bad, and sometimes does a turn in the Treble Clef.
*Loathes all PT except running and swimming, but especially the self-defence stuff. (Fondly imagines that this is not known!)
*Verokanth sired Yorprith's clutch of 50 eggs, three of Zymuraith's clutches, and two of Suanjiath's.
*Single again!


Relationships

Valeiza: Half-sister, daughter of V'zel; moved from Telgar to Southern and now the rider of blue Zicaerth.
Skailah: Ex-girlfriend. Formerly Assistant Headwoman at Southern, though originally from Telgar. It was getting serious and lasted several turns, but then she moved to Benden.
Keitrill (NPC). Brownrider, formerly R'zel's wingsecond in Ocelot, and a close friend. The persistent rumours that they're more than that are incorrect - even if they were seen vanishing into his weyr after Verokanth last caught Zymuraith.


History

R'zel is a child of oldtime parents, but remembers little of the oldtime. He was conceived at Telgar Weyr, his parents a brownrider and a harper journeyman. Ronica returned to the Harper Hall before the child was born, and she and V'zel had an ‘on-again, off-again’ relationship over several turns, including three when she was posted to the High Reaches, and a turn in Crom. When the jump forward happened, they relocated with the intention of living together, but the relationship was strained by the new situation and didn’t survive long. R'zel has always believed he was six at the time of the Comet, and has some nightmarish memories from the last few sevendays in Crom, but is coming to realise that in fact he was a little older and his memories are confused by the traumatic experience. (His father's tales of snatching them from the path of falling rocks are actually true, and occasionally show up in R'zel's nightmares.) He stayed with his mother through another three-turn posting in the west of the Reaches before they returned to the Harper Hall at Fort, where she married one of the teaching masters, a much older ‘nowtime’ man. Ronzel saw less of V'zel after that.
Ronzel didn’t particularly want to be a harper, but the harpers wanted him: with a mother in the craft, a stepfather who was a noted composer and instructor, and a really good treble voice, he was a prime target for an early apprenticeship. He was drilled into excellence in vocal technique, but otherwise made steady progress without being particularly good or bad at anything. The trouble was, he’d seen the life of a posted harper and it really didn’t appeal. He’d much rather have done something else. However, the parents weren’t hearing of it, and Master Morcom in particular thought that parents were the best people to decide for their children: a harper he would be.
Ronzel got a reputation as a troubled and somewhat troublesome apprentice. Although he was promoted to Senior Apprentice at the usual time, his work slipped back a little, and his attitude a lot. It showed more in sullenness and complaints than actual disobedience, but it tended to rub off on his friends. There was talk of rotten apples. Morcom decided that ‘the boy’ would be better off seeing what “real work” actually looked like, and engineered a posting for him.
Ronzel arrived at Southern Barrier Hold, a few weeks short of his nineteenth birthday, delighted at his change of circumstances – and was promptly Searched for Khalyssrielth and Varaeth’s clutch at Southern Weyr. He'd been passed over by Search dragons many times at the Hall, so this was unexpected, and he was happily astonished. Free from the burden of parental expectations, Ronzel enjoyed being a candidate. The Weyr’s atmosphere seemed much freer than the very conservative Harper Hall, and nobody was terribly worried if he wanted to keep himself to himself. He had only briefly lived at his father’s Weyr and rarely even ridden on V’zel’s dragon, but now he became fascinated with dragons and their riders. He was desperate to Impress, though he tried to appear indifferent.
Impress he did – to bronze Verokanth, which was more than he expected or hoped. His delight in Verokanth was tempered by the fact that he had also been the target of a brown hatchling, who went Between after Verokanth chose R’zel. It was only after the Hatching that he pieced the events together, but it preyed on his mind during weyrlinghood, and he still thinks about it sometimes.

R'zel got through his training with no major mishaps, though reaching the required physical condition took a lot of effort and determination from a young man who didn't previously have active pursuits. He graduated to Ocelot Wing, and became involved in Search and Rescue work. He's become a solid bronzerider now, a decent all-rounder, and inclined to think about things. He even goes running. Voluntarily. The freedom to fly brought him back into contact with his father and half-sisters (and new baby half-brother) at Telgar Weyr.

He was promoted at the age of 21 (on 13.8.11) to be Ocelot's wingsecond. When K'vvan stepped down, Va'os gave R'zel the position, making him, for a while, Southern's youngest wingleader at 23 (on 4.8.13). Eventually, he gathered the wingseconds he needed to form a good leadership team for the wing, Keitrill (NPC) and Alyna. However, on day 19, month 2 of Turn 19, Verokanth flew Zymuraith, making R'zel Weyrleader and giving him a new Wing and a whole new set of duties. He made a decent stab at being Weyrleader, doing much to overcome the general feelings of instability left by temporary leadership. Dealing with Waimyn's pirates was a major concern; he also waged war on unnecessary hidework and encouraged wingleaders to fill both their wingsecond slots, choosing Azraelle and (on her recovery) Evka for his Weyrseconds. He lost the knot to F'kan at the next flight, though it wasn't very long afterwards that Z'an resigned as Ocelot's wingleader, and R'zel resumed that position. At about this time, he started seeing Assistant Headwoman Skailah; that lasted for several turns but ended when she moved to Benden, to R'zel's dismay.

When Zymuraith rose again, it was Verokanth who caught her, so R'zel became Weyrleader for the second time, with Z'an and later also R'sk as seconds. He kept the knot at the next flight. During this term, he started a leadership training programme for promising young riders, and also had the task of keeping the Weyr able to fight against Thread in the aftermath of a major earthquake. However, Amani moved to Ista, and during the flight that made Xiawen Weyrwoman, Verokanth was attacked and put out of the running by another bronze, and was grounded for several weeks as a result. The new and very young Weyrleader, Khy'ai, chose R'zel as his Weyrsecond - but next time Suanjiath rose, Verokanth caught her, making R'zel Weyrleader for the third time on day 13, month 3, turn 27. With the Weyr flush with riders, R'zel was able to implement some new ideas over the next two turns. Siberian became a support wing, and a new multi-level wing, Caracal, was in the last few days before its official launch when Verokanth failed to catch Suanjiath for a third time (day 7, month 4, turn 29) and Ze'ran of Igen became Weyrleader. As the Wingleader-designate's bronze took a serious injury in the flight, R'zel took over leadership of Caracal, and got the Wing off to a good start, greatly enjoying the role. On day 19, month 3, turn 30, Verokanth caught Suanjiath again making R'zel Weyrleader for the fourth time. This term was made 'interesting' by the Orokee, and one particularly distressing event was that R'zel felt obliged to demote Weyrsecond A'kehm, who had aided the weyrlings' escape attempt. However, when Suanjiath next rose, it was A'kehm who became Weyrleader. R'zel is now leading Caracal again.


Gallery / Icons


All Logs


Title OOC Date Characters Summary Com
Accommodating Plans 29 Feb 2024 06:00

R'zel, Ilyana

After a hike up to Old Southern's Waterfall, R'zel and Ilyana discuss how life doesn't always go to plan, but there may be a few they're willing to accept.

1
A Day at the (Dolphin) Races 17 Mar 2024 00:00

Ilyana, R'zel

An overheard remark leads to an afternoon out.

0
Diversification! 25 Mar 2024 00:00

Kjartan, R'zel

R'zel and Kjartan inadvertently give someone a business idea. It may not be a very safe one!

0