Post by Deryn on Dec 15, 2011 22:26:45 GMT -5
Candidate Applidcation
Name: Evyatar
Age: Twenty Four Turns
Gender: Male
Sexuality: Bisexual preferring women.
Rank: Candidate
Location: South Run Weyr, Eastern Caldera
Appearance:
Evyatar isn’t exactly a handsome person. Sure, he’s alright looking, but he’s got no suave appearance or rugged handsomeness. He’s better looking than average, though. He’d probably be more happier if he did have a sort of definable look to him. As it is, he sort of got saddled with the “good guy” type of features. Not that there are a lot of Evyatars running about, but he sort of does have of features which could confuse him with other people. The one thing that really sets him apart from others is how expressive his face can be, and always is. He’s a man who wears his heart on his sleeve, and he has a very difficult time keeping his face from displaying his emotions. Of course, this leads to a lot of required honestly on his part, but still. Evyatar is not a man with a good poker face. In fact, he would be the one who not only lost all his money at poker, but also all of his clothing.
His body’s nothing to be greatly proud of either. He’s got muscle, at least more than he used to, but he’s a harper. His body isn’t toned to perfection, he doesn’t have bulging muscles and tight skin. He has a body that in shape from traveling and walking, and yes, he’s strong. He’s as strong as he needs to be, but muscular definition isn’t really something that you see on him. Perhaps if someone was to teach him how to fight he might start an exercise regime, but for now he’s good just to get exercise whenever it needs to be done. Like taking care of some herdbeasts and dancing with the children while singing. He’s the type who prefers to exercise his vocal cords rather than his brawn. That’s not to say that Evyatar couldn’t take on people in a fight. He’d just really prefer not to, and he’d probably sustain some quite grievous injuries while fighting as well. He’s just not much of a fighter.
As for his actual proportions, however, Evyatar’s somewhat on the taller side, although he doesn’t, in the least, begin to be the tallest. He’s a good six foot one. His shoulders aren’t overly broad either, but he certainly couldn’t be called feminine or petite in any way. At about a hundred sixty five pounds, Evyatar’s not huge. He’s..... well, average. Normal, with a lanky sort of frame that was only ever tamed through dance. He’s quite an exceptional dancer, and loves to dance with people, be they experienced or inexperienced. That is the only reason he doesn’t knock simply everything over or trip over everything. Dancing lets him know where his body is in space, and he’s learned, over the turns, how to translate that to every day life as well. Still, he has long legs and a sort of longer torso, although his torso really isn’t all that long in comparison to his legs, just longer than normal and compared to other people. His arms are proportional as well, although he has longer fingers than one would expect. Some say that this is slightly creepy looking, if they notice at all, but for others it’s kind of attractive. His hands aren’t gnarled or weird looking. His palms are just large and his fingers are slender and perhaps the most “feminine” thing about his body. But, then again. You know what they say about men with large hands. They have large feet. And with large feet comes large.... shoes.
Now it’s time to start from the top down with Evyatar. And that means starting with his hair. It’s a medium brown shade with a very slight dusting of grey above his ears. Nothing special, nothing unique or interesting. Just standard Pernese brown and grey. It’s cut slightly shorter on the sides, although not by much, and a little longer on top, and its usually brushed out of his face, and kept that way by repeated fingers run through it. It’s a habit Evyatar has when he’s nervous or stressed, or just thinking. Really, though, Evyatar isn’t the type of person who thinks about his hair a lot. He actually usually has to be reminded to get it cut, and when he does, it’s always in the same style. He doesn’t see much point in changing it. It’s worked for him this far. And really, it’s just hair. It keeps the top of his head warm, and he doesn't look like a complete prat with it styled the way it is. Although styled really isn’t the right word. Styled indicates some thought about what’s going on, and if Evyatar was to actually care about his hair he’s either being self-conscious because someone he likes is nearby, or he’s incredibly nervous about something else.
Then you actually have Evyatar’s face. Or the shape of it, at least. He has a quite pointy chin, although his jawline is quite pronounced. In total, he has quite a square face, and quite a long face. It’s usually covered in a bit of stubble too, but that’s from forgetting to shave. It’s not that he’s a forgetful person, because while he’s not the best as remembering every little detail, he certainly isn’t forgetful in any way, but there are certain things, like shaving, that tend to get pushed back in favor of things that he likes to do. So it’s quite typical to see Evyatar with a bit of stubble, although if someone points it out to him he will generally excuse himself and go shave. Really, though, the only time he puts some effort into how he looks is when he knows he’s going to be taking care of the children. He doesn’t want to frighten them, and so he takes a bit more time to make sure that they’ll find him silly rather than scary. If the topic of hair is continued, then you get into his eyebrows, which are not the heavy things that he feels real men should have, but instead are a little more naturally groomed.
At the same time, though, Evyatar’s eyebrows are incredibly expressive. He’s one of those people who could communicate solely with his eyebrows, and they rarely stay in one place for very long. Of course, his entire face and body is very mobile, and he has trouble disguising his emotions, but that’s besides the point. He’s an eyebrow communicator, even if he doesn’t realize it himself. Dropping down slightly, his eyes are somewhat droopy. Not because of bags under his eyes or anything, but because they have a slight tilt downwards at the outside edge is all. This makes Evyatar looks more pensive and sad than perhaps he really is. As for color, his eyes are a lighter brown color. Again, nothing special or unique. Just sort of average. And there. Still, they’re usually crinkled at the edges with a smile or laughter, so that’s some comfort. With an incredibly straight nose leading down to thin lips that are usually smiling, Evyatar has quite a good looking face, sure, but not one that would launch ships or cause women to swoon as he went past. Actually, if women did that he would be quite concerned that there was something seriously wrong with him. He’s just a guy. One that people will look at and then smile and nod at before looking away.
Personality:
Evyatar’s the type of person who will forever try and look on the bright side of things. An optimist, to be sure, his normally cheerful and bright attitude has been tempered slightly by life experience. Yet, despite this, he is still more optimistic than most people. He just not has a dash of reality thrown in for good measure. And indeed, it is a good thing. Evyatar had the habit, when he was younger, of being almost painfully optimistic, and that got him into a lot of trouble. He still tries to see the best in people and the best in otherwise dismal situations, but not it’s maybe not as perfect as it once was. Still, he’s basically a hopeless optimist who, when the cave has collapsed, the vicious beasts are approaching, and the lights have gone out will stop and go “Well, at least we won’t be hungry anymore!” This type of attitude tends to make other people angry, though. That’s one part where Evyatar isn’t really like other optimists. He doesn’t like other people being mad at him, so he has learned to keep those kinds of observations to himself. This just makes everyone life easier, and it means that more people are willing to spend time with him, although really there’s never been a shortage of people who have liked Evyatar, which he also enjoys. He likes being around a lot of people, talking and chatting. He’s not a gossipy social butterfly, but he’s no social recluse either.
Hopeless is a good word to really describe everything about Evyatar. He’s a hopeless optimist, a hopeless romantic, a hopeless good guy. Except he’s an amazingly superb singer and teacher and loves nothing more than children. And not in that creepy way which some people talk about. No, Evyatar thinks children are a gift to the world and should be looked after with every possible tool to do so. He takes great pride in his ability to get along with children and to teach them. He’s a trained harper, and that was really all he ever wanted to be in his entire life. He was a very content person, and seeks that same contentment now. He’ll happily do anything to please other people as well, as that’s part of his idea of contentment. That’s why he spends so much time teaching children and singing with them and dancing with them. When they’re happy, he’s happy. At the same time, though, most people think that this means that Evyatar’s naive. This just isn’t the case. He perhaps was once, but again, he has learned a lot in his life, being quite a gifted learner, and while he will do things to make other people happy, he won’t do them blindly. Although he probably won’t ask for anything in return, he certainly will not deliver a suspicious package to “Jim”. Evyatar, despite what people might think, is not an idiot and he is not unaware of what is going on around him.
He is a bookworm, however, and loves to read. All of the scholarly arts are things that Evyatar excels at, and while you would be hard pressed to find him pumping iron, he will pump water so that he can earn enough marks for another book. Or really any other task that requires doing. Because while Evyatar would love to just sit and read all day, possibly blocking out the world for a while, because even the nicest people need a rest sometimes, he also gets a kick out of getting first hand experience. It’s one thing to read and memorize a song and poem about making bread, and it is quite another to actually make the bread with your own two hands. He loves both of them, and he wouldn’t trade one for the other. It would be correct to say that Evyatar is something like multi-talented. He’s learned a lot because he’s not afraid to talk to people and is actually genuinely interested in what they are doing. He’s sort of what a lot of people picture when they picture a “good guy”. Of course, nothing really good ever happens to the good guy, and he’s not really who you want to be, but that’s the straw that Evyatar seems to have drawn in life. But since he’s an optimist, he looks on the bright side of things, and just goes with it. It’s not only easier that way, but just generally better. Evyatar isn’t one to complain, even when things get really bad.
Remember the other things that Evyatar’s hopeless at? One of them was romance, and he really is bad at it. Not in the forgetting sort of way, but it’s here than he will turn a blind eye to what he’s doing, and what’s being done to him. He will learn from his mistakes when it comes to romance and avoid situations that put in such predicaments again, but still, he won’t be guarded. He’s just not that type of person. Hurt him once, alright. Hurt him twice, sure. Hurt him a million times, just the same as the first. Of course, with romance comes the tricky business of sexuality. Sure, at the Weyr it’s all fine and dandy to like those of your own gender, and you’re safe being forward about those sorts of things. No one’s going to throw stones at you or hurt you because of it. But outside the safe walls of the Weyr, things are very different. There is a bit of self-hate going on with that and Evyatar. It’s not normal, and he shuns that part of himself. That means he must shut it in other people too, although he would much prefer just to do the exact opposite. Evyatar might be a bit hypocritical, after all, isn’t everyone, but he’s not a major hypocrite. He despises it when people are.
Indeed, Evyatar can despise things and people. No one’s perfect, and he’s hardly any different. He might be a bit incorrigible when it came to certain things in his life, but still there are some things he can’t stand, and some things that make him jealous beyond belief. He tries his very best to avoid these things, because he doesn’t like how they make him feel, but still. Sometimes it’s not possible. The one major problem is that Evyatar wears his emotions, play as Rukbat on a clear day, on his face. That means whomever he is jealous or angry at is quite aware of his feelings toward them. Evyatar will try and smooth the situation over if he can control his anger or jealousy, but otherwise just leaves. He’s not a physical person, and although he’s strong enough to hold his own, although not without some major injuries on his part, he’s just not the type of person who likes violence. In fact, he’s the exact opposite of that. He’s a pacifist and he’s that one person who you’re waiting on forever because he has to pick up trundlebugs and place them on the side of the road as he goes. You can never be too careful, after all. Someday those small kindnesses might come in handy. Not that he even thinks that way. He just personally hates feeling responsible for taking something’s life. He can and does eat meat, that’s different. That death had a purpose, and as long as the food doesn’t go to waste he’s happy and content.
The fact that he’s so much of a pacifist also comes into play with the negative. Even if Evyatar should get involved he doesn’t. This means that generally his side of the argument stops when tempers start to flare. That’s normally when he’s needed the most, actually. He’s not exactly the most reliable person in the world. He’s reliable, sure. To the extent that other people normally are. He’s just not... perfectly reliable. In fact, there is very little about Evyatar that’s perfect at all. At first it seems like he is, and then people really think about it, and they see that he’s anything but. Still clinging to the ideals of his past, unwilling or unable or both to move forward and accept reality, he prefers to hide behind books than deal with his problems, and if confronted about them will simply shut down. Really, it’s like he never grew beyond twelve, although mentally he’s much older than that, and does accept his problems as problems. He just refuses to get himself help or do anything about them at all. Maybe, if he wishes hard enough or doesn’t think about them, they’ll eventually go away. It’s that optimism thing again. It’s so annoying.
Family:
Mother: Ewunia
Father: Euphiem
Wife (Estranged): Sutillia
Daughter (Eldest / Estranged): Shania
Son (Middle Child / Non-blood Related / Estranged): Eshkar
Daughter (Youngest / Non-blood Related / Estranged): Sigalia
Background:
The simplest place to start when talking about someone’s history is their parents. After all, it is from the parents that the child comes, and it is the parents who shape who the child shall become. Evyatar’s mother was a loving woman, large and with enough caring to go around the entire world if need be. She had been deemed Ewunia by her own parents, and it was a name that sat just right with her. In her heyday she had had the best voice in the whole hold, and her figure hadn’t been all that bad either, being more along the lines of curvaceous rather than skinny. She’d been a happy girl who had turned into a happy woman who’s handfast had been the envy of all. After all, her father had been a master harper, and had been able to afford it. Her husband was a harper as well. A promising young man, although perhaps a bit shy, but with a voice to rival his new wife’s. His own parents had given him the name Euphiem, and it was not long before their son was born.
Evyatar was a rolly-polly little baby boy, chubby cheeked and as happy as any small child could be. He certainly laughed more than he cried, or at least that’s what his mother would jokingly tell the other women. It was probably not true, but there was love within the family. Euphiem’s work was augmented by his wife’s talent, and while some of the other men jokingly told Euphiem that he should be jealous of his wife, he could never bring himself to think like that. Evyatar, in this way, grew up in a stable home. The only surprise was that he was an only child, but both Ewunia and Euphiem agreed that they only needed one child, and since Evyatar was a happy child, healthy and strong, and had the makings to be built just like his father, tall and strong, they had nothing else to wish for. As Evyatar progressed into his preteen years, his father began to seriously advance in his chosen craft. More of his time was taken up by his work, but Ewunia, ever the loyal wife, laughed and always had a hot meal and love waiting for her husband when he did finally make it home. Evyatar missed his father, but his father always had a little bit of time to play with his son after he had eaten.
In this stable environment, Evyatar’s gift for singing was allowed to flourish. It seemed he had inherited both his mother and his father’s skill, and when he was very young his father began to teach him some of the stories that the harpers sang. Many of them, Evyatar already knew from his own instruction, but there were other, more complicated one that he was taught as well. As he grew, so did his talents, and he entered the harper hall to follow in his father’s, and grandfather’s steps. It was only around his fourteenth birthday that things started to go from perfect to... well, a little less perfect. Evyatar was a well adjusted child. He spent enough time on his studies, and enough time with his numerous friends. As he got a little bit older, though, he began to notice that he viewed some of his friends... differently. This was, of course, normal and all part of growing up for a young boy. What wasn’t ‘normal’, however, was that he felt that way about not just the girls, but some of the boys as well. That, he knew very well, was bad. Very bad, and Evyatar had always been a good boy. Liking other boys wasn’t like him, although the urges were there and he couldn’t deny that they were his, so he tried to ignore it. Tried to forget about that part of himself. Luckily for him, he also thought that girls were very pretty.
One girl in particular, actually. Sutillia, who always smiled at him when he passed and giggled when he smiled back. She made his chest flutter, and he always became a bit flustered when she giggled, but he was only fifteen. That was normal for any teenage boy. Still, Sutillia always seemed to be there, smiling at him in that peculiar way that she had, but Evyatar, for all that he had an amazing voice, always seemed to be tongue-tied around her and more than a bit clumsy. She’d just giggle and give him another one of her little looks before leaving. Needless to say, it took Evyatar some time to catch on, but when he did, it was in a giant flash of understanding. She liked him. That was new and kind of scary. Actually, it was really scary, and for a while, Evyatar tried to avoid her as much as possible, confused about what he was supposed to do. Eventually, though, he grew a backbone and their friendship became something closer to a courtship, although it wasn’t all that serious at the outset. It quickly became that serious, though. Although not because of some horrible reason like pregnancy. Just because the two seemed to really like each other.
It was all rainbows and butterflies and sunny days for Evyatar. His first real relationship with someone who seemed so incredibly perfect, both his and his father’s time at the hall was going well, and it seemed that Euphiem would likely be the next in line for a Master’s position in a few turns, while Evyatar was quite the promising apprentice. His real talent was his voice and how he dealt with children. They seemed to flock to him, and he spent as much time with them as he possibly could, laughing and playing with them. Really, everything seemed perfect, and it was even possible to forget that he still found other men attractive. He had hoped it was just... a phase or something, like his mother talked about with the other women, but he hadn’t grown out of it as he had gotten older, and that slim hope had been dashed. Still, he had a beautiful woman who seemed too good to be true. Unfortunately, when something seems too good to be true, it usually turns out to be the case. For Evyatar, though, he didn’t learn that crucial lesson until it was far too late.
Still, for a time, things continued to be peaches and cream. Or whatever the Pernese equivalent of that sweet treat is. All bubbly pies and sugar, perhaps. At seventeen turns, Evyatar was preparing to walk the tables to become a journeyman. True, he was young for it, but his talent was obvious, as was his dedication to the craft. All the signs for him to read were there about his upcoming commencement, and while he might still have been a bit too vague for his own good sometimes, he wasn’t stupid. He knew that with walking, there were certain things expected of him. One would be the traditional two turns of traveling, and there was something he had to do first. He was still courting Sutillia, and he had obtained quite a bit more courage than he had had when he was fifteen, so he went to her father to ask permission for her hand. It was granted, and eight sevenday before he walked, they were handfasted. True, all of Evyatar’s life was good up until that point, but if he had to pick, he would say that that had to be the happiest time in his life. Newly wed, with a beautiful blushing bride, having just obtained journeyman status as a harper, Evyatar stayed at the hall long enough to see his father obtain the rank of Master, before he set out with a pregnant Sutillia to travel and do his duty as a harper.
That was where things took a turn for the worse, however. As they traveled, Sutillia’s mood turned from loving to quite cold and somewhat sour, although it didn’t happen overnight. There were little things, here and there which bothered Evyatar, but he put them out of his mind. After all, all of this was new to Sutillia. She was bound to be a bit uncomfortable, especially with how far along she was getting. He put it down to the pregnancy, and concentrating on doting upon his wife as much as he always had. When the baby was eventually born, Evyatar was the picture of a nervous new father-to-be, fretting and hovering in a most annoying fashion until his irate wife finally banished him to the far side of the cothold that they had stopped at until the baby was delivered. It wasn’t the easiest delivery, but it was Sutillia’s first, and for a first child, everything went as well as could be hoped. The new baby girl was large, just as Evyatar had been when he was born, and started crying right away. Sutillia, unlike her husband, however, seemed rather cold and hostile toward, although she took the child and refused to give her up once she was in her arms.
Evyatar spoiled his wife and new daughter rotten during the next few sevenday, which honestly wasn’t much of a chance from how he usually acted. When he wasn’t busy tending to Sutillia and his daughter, who they had christened Shania, he was teaching the children of the cotholds and caravans the songs he had learned when he was their age. There was just something about him that made the children laugh. During those next few weeks, Sutillia seemed to recover somewhat from her grumpiness, and they were once again the happy family they had been. To Evyatar, it seemed that his fears had been unfounded after all, and he was once again the happiest man on Pern. A few months in, however, things started to go wrong again, and once again the cause was Sutillia. Actually, Evyatar didn’t know what the real cause was, but the effect was Sutillia becoming even more withdrawn than she had been, even more so than before. She also became irritable and depressed, crying for no reason and quite unlike herself. Evyatar, bewildered, but still in love with his wife, could do nothing. Her hysterical fits only seemed to become worse when he was around.
He became depressed as well, the only high point in his life was those few brief moments when Sutillia was how she used to be, and the time he spent with his daughter and the other children. Shania, at least, was growing just fine and just as Evyatar had been, was a happy child, oblivious to her parents growing woes. She was still a baby, after all, but just as bubbly as could be, and Evyatar took great pride in her. To him, she was beautiful, and he bragged about her as much as any new father would... or perhaps a bit more than that. It put a smile back on his face, and Faranth knew he hadn’t smiled nearly enough or nearly as much as he used to during that dark time. Still, he carried on as was his duty, and they continued to travel, the hold Evyatar having been assigned to being on the other side of the continent. They were also delayed by heavy snow and storms, and so it took the family quite some time to reach their final destination. By the time they got to the hold, Sutillia seemed to have recovered once again from whatever ailment consumed her. She wasn’t crying anymore, although she was still distant from Evyatar.
This broke his heart, although once again it wasn’t something that happened over night. It took some time, and during that time, Evyatar began to chance as a person. He was still the great harper that he had always been, he still played with the children and taught them their lessons when they could be spared from their chores, he still doted upon his growing daughter and took as good of care of her and Sutillia as he possibly could, but he didn’t smile as much as he used to. He wasn’t the overly cheerful, incredibly naive boy who had set out from Harper hall with a new bride and not a care in the world anymore. He was a more experienced, more worn man who still tried to see the best in people and situations, but somehow couldn’t quite manage it as easily anymore. Evyatar pressed on, though, ever the optimist that things would get better. Unfortunately for him, they didn’t. By the time Shania was two, Sutillia had shut herself off completely from her husband, except in public, where she was like she had always been. Loving and the perfect wife. These switches in mood were what really wore Evyatar out, grinding at him day in and out.
He at least still had his work. That didn’t last as long as he had wished, however. The orders came in about three forth of a turn after they had finally reached the hold, just as he was becoming settled and comfortable with the people there. The harper at another hold had died unexpectedly, and there was no one to take his place. Evyatar had been deemed promising enough to take his place without any further training from the senior harpers at his current hold. He would be replaced by a more junior journeyman. This disheartening, although still understandable news was compounded by the fact that Sutillia was pregnant once again, although Evyatar had his serious suspicions that the child wasn’t his. He said nothing, though. He had no real evidence besides a feeling, for despite everything, they were still intimate on occasion, and the times roughly matched up. The thought of another child was comforting to him, though, and so they packed up and prepared to leave the hold for another distant place. It was once again a long and difficult journey, and once again, Sutillia gave birth to a boy on the road.
This child was certainly not Evyatar’s, but when he first saw him, he couldn’t care less. He was a beautiful boy, and so he treated him as his own. Deemed Eskhar by a once again jubilant Evyatar, the four of them continued on their way. Before long, though, it was clear that Sutillia was pregnant once again. This time, Evyatar was almost positive that the child was not his, but he was too busy caring for two children and a demanding wife, who, despite everything that had happened, he still loved and cared for deeply. Besides, he assured himself that he would love the child just as much as he loved Eskhar and Shania, which was probably true. Blood or not, they were his family, and he took care of them. Still, Evyatar had his doubts. His marriage wasn’t the happy thing it once had been, despite his best efforts, and despite the complete improbability, he began to worry about little things. Mostly, he worried if Sutillia knew his deepest and most horrible secret. That men were still attractive to him. Despite his best efforts to cull that part of himself, it was still there. To try and squash these rising self esteem issues, he began a strict regime of self improvement. More for himself than for anyone else, even Sutillia, even if it was just to take his mind off of all of his problems, but still.
When he was younger he had never been overweight, but he hadn’t been the strongest. He began to take exercise, helping out around the caravans more than just teaching. Besides making him stronger physically, he also began to learn a lot about healing and beastcrafting. More than he knew from just the basic teachings, anyways. Surprisingly to Evyatar, he actually enjoyed himself, although his passion was still song and harper work, and that was what he spend the majority of his time doing. Still, his body began to show the difference, and his spirit was buoyed up a bit by that. Sutillia was still pregnant with their third when they arrived at their new home, although about two months in, she went into labor. Although the first two children had been born without much difficulty apart from what was standard, this child was coming about a month too early. The healers were sent for, and while Sutillia delivered a girl, she wasn’t as healthy as her siblings. Distraught over the thought of loosing his newest daughter, Sigalia, it was Evyatar who shut himself off this time, although his wife was no better.
Their marriage had fallen apart completely, but Evyatar still wanted to repair it, somehow. He just had no idea how to even begin. In the cold and distant Sutillia he could still see the girl who’s smile made his stomach feel funny. It was completely hopeless, but for the children, for himself, he wanted to do it. The first good news to come in a while was that Sigalia would be alright. The healers had taken her to watch over her carefully, and when the news reached Evyatar, he smiled like he used to. Although it was quite unlike him, he felt the news that his daughter, although it was obvious that she was also not really his child, would be alright was worth a few drinks. The reason Evyatar had never indulged in wine much was that he was perhaps Pern’s biggest lightweight, despite his size. A few drinks turned into a few too many, and it was clear to everyone that Evyatar was drunk. Happy, ecstatic even, but still, drunk. He should have been more cautious, paid more attention, not closed himself off so much and refused to see what was happening around him, but Evyatar did, and that was his greatest mistake of all. When he got home, Sutillia was, if it was possible, even more cold than usual. Evyatar, happy in his blissed out state of alcohol induced glee, didn’t suspect anything at all, although he was a little put out that Sutillia didn’t seem to be as overjoyed as he was.
He really should have suspected something, he really should have. But he didn’t. While he went to check on Eskhar and Shania, both of whom were safe and sleeping peacefully, he heard a crash from the other side of their house. The noise didn’t wake the children, but it worried Evyatar greatly. It didn’t have the jingle of “oops I dropped something”. It was more serious that that, and so he stumbled out to try and find out what had happened He found Sutillia on the floor, bleeding. But not unconscious. She’d hit her head against something and fallen against a table. From what Evyatar could tell, she’d either dislocated her shoulder as well or broken something. Things only got worse from there, for when he tried to help her, she shouted at him to stay away. Still quite drunk and more than a little bewildered, Evyatar did as she said, standing back as she got to her feet again. Instead of letting him help her then, though, she ran from the house crying. Baffled beyond belief, Evyatar went after her, although his progress what quite a bit slower, considering how much the room moved when he didn’t. The noise Sutillia was making had caused quite a few curious head to poke around doorways and out of windows to see what was going on.
That puzzling episode brought things from bad to worse for Evyatar. It seemed that while he had been busy doing his job, teaching and learning, Sutillia had been making friends with the lord holder’s family. The same smile that had made Evyatar weak at the knees seemed to have the same affect on other men as well. They had not been at the hold long. Certainly not long enough for everyone to become comfortable with their new Harper after having had their last one for so long, and Sutillia’s rumors certainly didn’t help matters at all. The women began to whisper when Evyatar was around, giving him dark looks, and for a while he was quite oblivious as to what was going on. All he knew was that Sutillia refused to see him, as much as he begged and pleaded with her, and that she had taken the children. Finally, it hit him in one of his non-to-frequent starting revelations. Sutillia had told the lord holder’s family that the bruises and break on her arm had come from Evyatar when he was drunk, and likely she had lied and said that he had done it many more times than just that. No one knew Evyatar well enough to know that he was incapable of such acts of violence, especially against the woman who he still adored. To make it worse, it appeared that she had also said that he had mistreated the children in one way or another.
Or at least it seemed that way, for slowly the children started to be taken away earlier and earlier from their lessons for needed chores. His time teaching was honestly the last good thing that Evyatar had in his life. He wasn’t allowed to see his children or his wife, and the feelings of the holders had become even more aggressive. As time progressed it became painfully obvious that there wasn’t any future for him at the hold. All that was left was for him to finish up his two turns worth of study and teaching, and to return to Harper hall. While his heart had been broken before, this time it was crushed. He had to leave his children behind, his beautiful wife, who, although she despised him now for reasons he couldn’t understand, he still cared for, his entire life at the hold. The journey back to Harper hall was the very worst thing he had ever endured. He hadn’t even been allowed to say goodbye to his children. He only sank further into depression when he reached Harper hall once again, although there at least he was allowed to start his studied up once again, and he did so with gusto.
He also took up drinking, although his mother, who was a constant presence in his life once again, disapproved. Which meant that he had to take his drinking elsewhere where she wouldn’t find out. So he took to taking great long walks. He could drink going out, and by the time he got back, he could be relatively sober. He took many of these walks over the next few months, trying to work everything out in his head so that he could make everything better. His children still prayed on his mind, and he would have done anything to see them again. It was on one of these outings that he came across something strange. At that point he was mostly sober, and so was able to figure out what was going on. A man was sitting on a rock. Just sitting, apparently waiting for something, although when Evyatar came closer he raised his head and smiled at him. It wasn’t until a little bit later that Evyatar saw the dragon. The dragon actually hid quite well, despite his blue color, in the bush, and Evyatar, who had sung about dragons his entire life, although he had never seen any of them from far away, let alone close up, was quite scared.
The man calmed him down, although it took some effort on his part, and explained a few things to him. One of which was that they had been flying over, looking for people like Evyatar. People who might, just maybe might, have a chance at impression. But Evyatar had to make the choice, right there and then, to go with him and abandon everything in his life or stay and give up the chance forever. It didn’t take Evyatar long to decide, really. Most of his life was over and left back at the hold, while what little he had here was nothing that he could really grasp. There was his mother, and his father, but really.... it wouldn’t have surprised either of them at this point if he never came back. There was no one else who he could see or care about, and what little friends he still had at the hall even had begun to avoid him. It was an easy choice, and Evyatar accepted. Honestly, things couldn’t get any worse, and still forever the optimist, Evyatar hoped that things would get better.
Pets: Nope
Color Preference: I honestly couldn’t care. I’ve never cared before now, and I’m not about to start.
Metallic Only: HAHAHAHA. He wouldn’t have a clue what to do with himself.
Name: Evyatar
Age: Twenty Four Turns
Gender: Male
Sexuality: Bisexual preferring women.
Rank: Candidate
Location: South Run Weyr, Eastern Caldera
Appearance:
Evyatar isn’t exactly a handsome person. Sure, he’s alright looking, but he’s got no suave appearance or rugged handsomeness. He’s better looking than average, though. He’d probably be more happier if he did have a sort of definable look to him. As it is, he sort of got saddled with the “good guy” type of features. Not that there are a lot of Evyatars running about, but he sort of does have of features which could confuse him with other people. The one thing that really sets him apart from others is how expressive his face can be, and always is. He’s a man who wears his heart on his sleeve, and he has a very difficult time keeping his face from displaying his emotions. Of course, this leads to a lot of required honestly on his part, but still. Evyatar is not a man with a good poker face. In fact, he would be the one who not only lost all his money at poker, but also all of his clothing.
His body’s nothing to be greatly proud of either. He’s got muscle, at least more than he used to, but he’s a harper. His body isn’t toned to perfection, he doesn’t have bulging muscles and tight skin. He has a body that in shape from traveling and walking, and yes, he’s strong. He’s as strong as he needs to be, but muscular definition isn’t really something that you see on him. Perhaps if someone was to teach him how to fight he might start an exercise regime, but for now he’s good just to get exercise whenever it needs to be done. Like taking care of some herdbeasts and dancing with the children while singing. He’s the type who prefers to exercise his vocal cords rather than his brawn. That’s not to say that Evyatar couldn’t take on people in a fight. He’d just really prefer not to, and he’d probably sustain some quite grievous injuries while fighting as well. He’s just not much of a fighter.
As for his actual proportions, however, Evyatar’s somewhat on the taller side, although he doesn’t, in the least, begin to be the tallest. He’s a good six foot one. His shoulders aren’t overly broad either, but he certainly couldn’t be called feminine or petite in any way. At about a hundred sixty five pounds, Evyatar’s not huge. He’s..... well, average. Normal, with a lanky sort of frame that was only ever tamed through dance. He’s quite an exceptional dancer, and loves to dance with people, be they experienced or inexperienced. That is the only reason he doesn’t knock simply everything over or trip over everything. Dancing lets him know where his body is in space, and he’s learned, over the turns, how to translate that to every day life as well. Still, he has long legs and a sort of longer torso, although his torso really isn’t all that long in comparison to his legs, just longer than normal and compared to other people. His arms are proportional as well, although he has longer fingers than one would expect. Some say that this is slightly creepy looking, if they notice at all, but for others it’s kind of attractive. His hands aren’t gnarled or weird looking. His palms are just large and his fingers are slender and perhaps the most “feminine” thing about his body. But, then again. You know what they say about men with large hands. They have large feet. And with large feet comes large.... shoes.
Now it’s time to start from the top down with Evyatar. And that means starting with his hair. It’s a medium brown shade with a very slight dusting of grey above his ears. Nothing special, nothing unique or interesting. Just standard Pernese brown and grey. It’s cut slightly shorter on the sides, although not by much, and a little longer on top, and its usually brushed out of his face, and kept that way by repeated fingers run through it. It’s a habit Evyatar has when he’s nervous or stressed, or just thinking. Really, though, Evyatar isn’t the type of person who thinks about his hair a lot. He actually usually has to be reminded to get it cut, and when he does, it’s always in the same style. He doesn’t see much point in changing it. It’s worked for him this far. And really, it’s just hair. It keeps the top of his head warm, and he doesn't look like a complete prat with it styled the way it is. Although styled really isn’t the right word. Styled indicates some thought about what’s going on, and if Evyatar was to actually care about his hair he’s either being self-conscious because someone he likes is nearby, or he’s incredibly nervous about something else.
Then you actually have Evyatar’s face. Or the shape of it, at least. He has a quite pointy chin, although his jawline is quite pronounced. In total, he has quite a square face, and quite a long face. It’s usually covered in a bit of stubble too, but that’s from forgetting to shave. It’s not that he’s a forgetful person, because while he’s not the best as remembering every little detail, he certainly isn’t forgetful in any way, but there are certain things, like shaving, that tend to get pushed back in favor of things that he likes to do. So it’s quite typical to see Evyatar with a bit of stubble, although if someone points it out to him he will generally excuse himself and go shave. Really, though, the only time he puts some effort into how he looks is when he knows he’s going to be taking care of the children. He doesn’t want to frighten them, and so he takes a bit more time to make sure that they’ll find him silly rather than scary. If the topic of hair is continued, then you get into his eyebrows, which are not the heavy things that he feels real men should have, but instead are a little more naturally groomed.
At the same time, though, Evyatar’s eyebrows are incredibly expressive. He’s one of those people who could communicate solely with his eyebrows, and they rarely stay in one place for very long. Of course, his entire face and body is very mobile, and he has trouble disguising his emotions, but that’s besides the point. He’s an eyebrow communicator, even if he doesn’t realize it himself. Dropping down slightly, his eyes are somewhat droopy. Not because of bags under his eyes or anything, but because they have a slight tilt downwards at the outside edge is all. This makes Evyatar looks more pensive and sad than perhaps he really is. As for color, his eyes are a lighter brown color. Again, nothing special or unique. Just sort of average. And there. Still, they’re usually crinkled at the edges with a smile or laughter, so that’s some comfort. With an incredibly straight nose leading down to thin lips that are usually smiling, Evyatar has quite a good looking face, sure, but not one that would launch ships or cause women to swoon as he went past. Actually, if women did that he would be quite concerned that there was something seriously wrong with him. He’s just a guy. One that people will look at and then smile and nod at before looking away.
Personality:
Evyatar’s the type of person who will forever try and look on the bright side of things. An optimist, to be sure, his normally cheerful and bright attitude has been tempered slightly by life experience. Yet, despite this, he is still more optimistic than most people. He just not has a dash of reality thrown in for good measure. And indeed, it is a good thing. Evyatar had the habit, when he was younger, of being almost painfully optimistic, and that got him into a lot of trouble. He still tries to see the best in people and the best in otherwise dismal situations, but not it’s maybe not as perfect as it once was. Still, he’s basically a hopeless optimist who, when the cave has collapsed, the vicious beasts are approaching, and the lights have gone out will stop and go “Well, at least we won’t be hungry anymore!” This type of attitude tends to make other people angry, though. That’s one part where Evyatar isn’t really like other optimists. He doesn’t like other people being mad at him, so he has learned to keep those kinds of observations to himself. This just makes everyone life easier, and it means that more people are willing to spend time with him, although really there’s never been a shortage of people who have liked Evyatar, which he also enjoys. He likes being around a lot of people, talking and chatting. He’s not a gossipy social butterfly, but he’s no social recluse either.
Hopeless is a good word to really describe everything about Evyatar. He’s a hopeless optimist, a hopeless romantic, a hopeless good guy. Except he’s an amazingly superb singer and teacher and loves nothing more than children. And not in that creepy way which some people talk about. No, Evyatar thinks children are a gift to the world and should be looked after with every possible tool to do so. He takes great pride in his ability to get along with children and to teach them. He’s a trained harper, and that was really all he ever wanted to be in his entire life. He was a very content person, and seeks that same contentment now. He’ll happily do anything to please other people as well, as that’s part of his idea of contentment. That’s why he spends so much time teaching children and singing with them and dancing with them. When they’re happy, he’s happy. At the same time, though, most people think that this means that Evyatar’s naive. This just isn’t the case. He perhaps was once, but again, he has learned a lot in his life, being quite a gifted learner, and while he will do things to make other people happy, he won’t do them blindly. Although he probably won’t ask for anything in return, he certainly will not deliver a suspicious package to “Jim”. Evyatar, despite what people might think, is not an idiot and he is not unaware of what is going on around him.
He is a bookworm, however, and loves to read. All of the scholarly arts are things that Evyatar excels at, and while you would be hard pressed to find him pumping iron, he will pump water so that he can earn enough marks for another book. Or really any other task that requires doing. Because while Evyatar would love to just sit and read all day, possibly blocking out the world for a while, because even the nicest people need a rest sometimes, he also gets a kick out of getting first hand experience. It’s one thing to read and memorize a song and poem about making bread, and it is quite another to actually make the bread with your own two hands. He loves both of them, and he wouldn’t trade one for the other. It would be correct to say that Evyatar is something like multi-talented. He’s learned a lot because he’s not afraid to talk to people and is actually genuinely interested in what they are doing. He’s sort of what a lot of people picture when they picture a “good guy”. Of course, nothing really good ever happens to the good guy, and he’s not really who you want to be, but that’s the straw that Evyatar seems to have drawn in life. But since he’s an optimist, he looks on the bright side of things, and just goes with it. It’s not only easier that way, but just generally better. Evyatar isn’t one to complain, even when things get really bad.
Remember the other things that Evyatar’s hopeless at? One of them was romance, and he really is bad at it. Not in the forgetting sort of way, but it’s here than he will turn a blind eye to what he’s doing, and what’s being done to him. He will learn from his mistakes when it comes to romance and avoid situations that put in such predicaments again, but still, he won’t be guarded. He’s just not that type of person. Hurt him once, alright. Hurt him twice, sure. Hurt him a million times, just the same as the first. Of course, with romance comes the tricky business of sexuality. Sure, at the Weyr it’s all fine and dandy to like those of your own gender, and you’re safe being forward about those sorts of things. No one’s going to throw stones at you or hurt you because of it. But outside the safe walls of the Weyr, things are very different. There is a bit of self-hate going on with that and Evyatar. It’s not normal, and he shuns that part of himself. That means he must shut it in other people too, although he would much prefer just to do the exact opposite. Evyatar might be a bit hypocritical, after all, isn’t everyone, but he’s not a major hypocrite. He despises it when people are.
Indeed, Evyatar can despise things and people. No one’s perfect, and he’s hardly any different. He might be a bit incorrigible when it came to certain things in his life, but still there are some things he can’t stand, and some things that make him jealous beyond belief. He tries his very best to avoid these things, because he doesn’t like how they make him feel, but still. Sometimes it’s not possible. The one major problem is that Evyatar wears his emotions, play as Rukbat on a clear day, on his face. That means whomever he is jealous or angry at is quite aware of his feelings toward them. Evyatar will try and smooth the situation over if he can control his anger or jealousy, but otherwise just leaves. He’s not a physical person, and although he’s strong enough to hold his own, although not without some major injuries on his part, he’s just not the type of person who likes violence. In fact, he’s the exact opposite of that. He’s a pacifist and he’s that one person who you’re waiting on forever because he has to pick up trundlebugs and place them on the side of the road as he goes. You can never be too careful, after all. Someday those small kindnesses might come in handy. Not that he even thinks that way. He just personally hates feeling responsible for taking something’s life. He can and does eat meat, that’s different. That death had a purpose, and as long as the food doesn’t go to waste he’s happy and content.
The fact that he’s so much of a pacifist also comes into play with the negative. Even if Evyatar should get involved he doesn’t. This means that generally his side of the argument stops when tempers start to flare. That’s normally when he’s needed the most, actually. He’s not exactly the most reliable person in the world. He’s reliable, sure. To the extent that other people normally are. He’s just not... perfectly reliable. In fact, there is very little about Evyatar that’s perfect at all. At first it seems like he is, and then people really think about it, and they see that he’s anything but. Still clinging to the ideals of his past, unwilling or unable or both to move forward and accept reality, he prefers to hide behind books than deal with his problems, and if confronted about them will simply shut down. Really, it’s like he never grew beyond twelve, although mentally he’s much older than that, and does accept his problems as problems. He just refuses to get himself help or do anything about them at all. Maybe, if he wishes hard enough or doesn’t think about them, they’ll eventually go away. It’s that optimism thing again. It’s so annoying.
Family:
Mother: Ewunia
Father: Euphiem
Wife (Estranged): Sutillia
Daughter (Eldest / Estranged): Shania
Son (Middle Child / Non-blood Related / Estranged): Eshkar
Daughter (Youngest / Non-blood Related / Estranged): Sigalia
Background:
The simplest place to start when talking about someone’s history is their parents. After all, it is from the parents that the child comes, and it is the parents who shape who the child shall become. Evyatar’s mother was a loving woman, large and with enough caring to go around the entire world if need be. She had been deemed Ewunia by her own parents, and it was a name that sat just right with her. In her heyday she had had the best voice in the whole hold, and her figure hadn’t been all that bad either, being more along the lines of curvaceous rather than skinny. She’d been a happy girl who had turned into a happy woman who’s handfast had been the envy of all. After all, her father had been a master harper, and had been able to afford it. Her husband was a harper as well. A promising young man, although perhaps a bit shy, but with a voice to rival his new wife’s. His own parents had given him the name Euphiem, and it was not long before their son was born.
Evyatar was a rolly-polly little baby boy, chubby cheeked and as happy as any small child could be. He certainly laughed more than he cried, or at least that’s what his mother would jokingly tell the other women. It was probably not true, but there was love within the family. Euphiem’s work was augmented by his wife’s talent, and while some of the other men jokingly told Euphiem that he should be jealous of his wife, he could never bring himself to think like that. Evyatar, in this way, grew up in a stable home. The only surprise was that he was an only child, but both Ewunia and Euphiem agreed that they only needed one child, and since Evyatar was a happy child, healthy and strong, and had the makings to be built just like his father, tall and strong, they had nothing else to wish for. As Evyatar progressed into his preteen years, his father began to seriously advance in his chosen craft. More of his time was taken up by his work, but Ewunia, ever the loyal wife, laughed and always had a hot meal and love waiting for her husband when he did finally make it home. Evyatar missed his father, but his father always had a little bit of time to play with his son after he had eaten.
In this stable environment, Evyatar’s gift for singing was allowed to flourish. It seemed he had inherited both his mother and his father’s skill, and when he was very young his father began to teach him some of the stories that the harpers sang. Many of them, Evyatar already knew from his own instruction, but there were other, more complicated one that he was taught as well. As he grew, so did his talents, and he entered the harper hall to follow in his father’s, and grandfather’s steps. It was only around his fourteenth birthday that things started to go from perfect to... well, a little less perfect. Evyatar was a well adjusted child. He spent enough time on his studies, and enough time with his numerous friends. As he got a little bit older, though, he began to notice that he viewed some of his friends... differently. This was, of course, normal and all part of growing up for a young boy. What wasn’t ‘normal’, however, was that he felt that way about not just the girls, but some of the boys as well. That, he knew very well, was bad. Very bad, and Evyatar had always been a good boy. Liking other boys wasn’t like him, although the urges were there and he couldn’t deny that they were his, so he tried to ignore it. Tried to forget about that part of himself. Luckily for him, he also thought that girls were very pretty.
One girl in particular, actually. Sutillia, who always smiled at him when he passed and giggled when he smiled back. She made his chest flutter, and he always became a bit flustered when she giggled, but he was only fifteen. That was normal for any teenage boy. Still, Sutillia always seemed to be there, smiling at him in that peculiar way that she had, but Evyatar, for all that he had an amazing voice, always seemed to be tongue-tied around her and more than a bit clumsy. She’d just giggle and give him another one of her little looks before leaving. Needless to say, it took Evyatar some time to catch on, but when he did, it was in a giant flash of understanding. She liked him. That was new and kind of scary. Actually, it was really scary, and for a while, Evyatar tried to avoid her as much as possible, confused about what he was supposed to do. Eventually, though, he grew a backbone and their friendship became something closer to a courtship, although it wasn’t all that serious at the outset. It quickly became that serious, though. Although not because of some horrible reason like pregnancy. Just because the two seemed to really like each other.
It was all rainbows and butterflies and sunny days for Evyatar. His first real relationship with someone who seemed so incredibly perfect, both his and his father’s time at the hall was going well, and it seemed that Euphiem would likely be the next in line for a Master’s position in a few turns, while Evyatar was quite the promising apprentice. His real talent was his voice and how he dealt with children. They seemed to flock to him, and he spent as much time with them as he possibly could, laughing and playing with them. Really, everything seemed perfect, and it was even possible to forget that he still found other men attractive. He had hoped it was just... a phase or something, like his mother talked about with the other women, but he hadn’t grown out of it as he had gotten older, and that slim hope had been dashed. Still, he had a beautiful woman who seemed too good to be true. Unfortunately, when something seems too good to be true, it usually turns out to be the case. For Evyatar, though, he didn’t learn that crucial lesson until it was far too late.
Still, for a time, things continued to be peaches and cream. Or whatever the Pernese equivalent of that sweet treat is. All bubbly pies and sugar, perhaps. At seventeen turns, Evyatar was preparing to walk the tables to become a journeyman. True, he was young for it, but his talent was obvious, as was his dedication to the craft. All the signs for him to read were there about his upcoming commencement, and while he might still have been a bit too vague for his own good sometimes, he wasn’t stupid. He knew that with walking, there were certain things expected of him. One would be the traditional two turns of traveling, and there was something he had to do first. He was still courting Sutillia, and he had obtained quite a bit more courage than he had had when he was fifteen, so he went to her father to ask permission for her hand. It was granted, and eight sevenday before he walked, they were handfasted. True, all of Evyatar’s life was good up until that point, but if he had to pick, he would say that that had to be the happiest time in his life. Newly wed, with a beautiful blushing bride, having just obtained journeyman status as a harper, Evyatar stayed at the hall long enough to see his father obtain the rank of Master, before he set out with a pregnant Sutillia to travel and do his duty as a harper.
That was where things took a turn for the worse, however. As they traveled, Sutillia’s mood turned from loving to quite cold and somewhat sour, although it didn’t happen overnight. There were little things, here and there which bothered Evyatar, but he put them out of his mind. After all, all of this was new to Sutillia. She was bound to be a bit uncomfortable, especially with how far along she was getting. He put it down to the pregnancy, and concentrating on doting upon his wife as much as he always had. When the baby was eventually born, Evyatar was the picture of a nervous new father-to-be, fretting and hovering in a most annoying fashion until his irate wife finally banished him to the far side of the cothold that they had stopped at until the baby was delivered. It wasn’t the easiest delivery, but it was Sutillia’s first, and for a first child, everything went as well as could be hoped. The new baby girl was large, just as Evyatar had been when he was born, and started crying right away. Sutillia, unlike her husband, however, seemed rather cold and hostile toward, although she took the child and refused to give her up once she was in her arms.
Evyatar spoiled his wife and new daughter rotten during the next few sevenday, which honestly wasn’t much of a chance from how he usually acted. When he wasn’t busy tending to Sutillia and his daughter, who they had christened Shania, he was teaching the children of the cotholds and caravans the songs he had learned when he was their age. There was just something about him that made the children laugh. During those next few weeks, Sutillia seemed to recover somewhat from her grumpiness, and they were once again the happy family they had been. To Evyatar, it seemed that his fears had been unfounded after all, and he was once again the happiest man on Pern. A few months in, however, things started to go wrong again, and once again the cause was Sutillia. Actually, Evyatar didn’t know what the real cause was, but the effect was Sutillia becoming even more withdrawn than she had been, even more so than before. She also became irritable and depressed, crying for no reason and quite unlike herself. Evyatar, bewildered, but still in love with his wife, could do nothing. Her hysterical fits only seemed to become worse when he was around.
He became depressed as well, the only high point in his life was those few brief moments when Sutillia was how she used to be, and the time he spent with his daughter and the other children. Shania, at least, was growing just fine and just as Evyatar had been, was a happy child, oblivious to her parents growing woes. She was still a baby, after all, but just as bubbly as could be, and Evyatar took great pride in her. To him, she was beautiful, and he bragged about her as much as any new father would... or perhaps a bit more than that. It put a smile back on his face, and Faranth knew he hadn’t smiled nearly enough or nearly as much as he used to during that dark time. Still, he carried on as was his duty, and they continued to travel, the hold Evyatar having been assigned to being on the other side of the continent. They were also delayed by heavy snow and storms, and so it took the family quite some time to reach their final destination. By the time they got to the hold, Sutillia seemed to have recovered once again from whatever ailment consumed her. She wasn’t crying anymore, although she was still distant from Evyatar.
This broke his heart, although once again it wasn’t something that happened over night. It took some time, and during that time, Evyatar began to chance as a person. He was still the great harper that he had always been, he still played with the children and taught them their lessons when they could be spared from their chores, he still doted upon his growing daughter and took as good of care of her and Sutillia as he possibly could, but he didn’t smile as much as he used to. He wasn’t the overly cheerful, incredibly naive boy who had set out from Harper hall with a new bride and not a care in the world anymore. He was a more experienced, more worn man who still tried to see the best in people and situations, but somehow couldn’t quite manage it as easily anymore. Evyatar pressed on, though, ever the optimist that things would get better. Unfortunately for him, they didn’t. By the time Shania was two, Sutillia had shut herself off completely from her husband, except in public, where she was like she had always been. Loving and the perfect wife. These switches in mood were what really wore Evyatar out, grinding at him day in and out.
He at least still had his work. That didn’t last as long as he had wished, however. The orders came in about three forth of a turn after they had finally reached the hold, just as he was becoming settled and comfortable with the people there. The harper at another hold had died unexpectedly, and there was no one to take his place. Evyatar had been deemed promising enough to take his place without any further training from the senior harpers at his current hold. He would be replaced by a more junior journeyman. This disheartening, although still understandable news was compounded by the fact that Sutillia was pregnant once again, although Evyatar had his serious suspicions that the child wasn’t his. He said nothing, though. He had no real evidence besides a feeling, for despite everything, they were still intimate on occasion, and the times roughly matched up. The thought of another child was comforting to him, though, and so they packed up and prepared to leave the hold for another distant place. It was once again a long and difficult journey, and once again, Sutillia gave birth to a boy on the road.
This child was certainly not Evyatar’s, but when he first saw him, he couldn’t care less. He was a beautiful boy, and so he treated him as his own. Deemed Eskhar by a once again jubilant Evyatar, the four of them continued on their way. Before long, though, it was clear that Sutillia was pregnant once again. This time, Evyatar was almost positive that the child was not his, but he was too busy caring for two children and a demanding wife, who, despite everything that had happened, he still loved and cared for deeply. Besides, he assured himself that he would love the child just as much as he loved Eskhar and Shania, which was probably true. Blood or not, they were his family, and he took care of them. Still, Evyatar had his doubts. His marriage wasn’t the happy thing it once had been, despite his best efforts, and despite the complete improbability, he began to worry about little things. Mostly, he worried if Sutillia knew his deepest and most horrible secret. That men were still attractive to him. Despite his best efforts to cull that part of himself, it was still there. To try and squash these rising self esteem issues, he began a strict regime of self improvement. More for himself than for anyone else, even Sutillia, even if it was just to take his mind off of all of his problems, but still.
When he was younger he had never been overweight, but he hadn’t been the strongest. He began to take exercise, helping out around the caravans more than just teaching. Besides making him stronger physically, he also began to learn a lot about healing and beastcrafting. More than he knew from just the basic teachings, anyways. Surprisingly to Evyatar, he actually enjoyed himself, although his passion was still song and harper work, and that was what he spend the majority of his time doing. Still, his body began to show the difference, and his spirit was buoyed up a bit by that. Sutillia was still pregnant with their third when they arrived at their new home, although about two months in, she went into labor. Although the first two children had been born without much difficulty apart from what was standard, this child was coming about a month too early. The healers were sent for, and while Sutillia delivered a girl, she wasn’t as healthy as her siblings. Distraught over the thought of loosing his newest daughter, Sigalia, it was Evyatar who shut himself off this time, although his wife was no better.
Their marriage had fallen apart completely, but Evyatar still wanted to repair it, somehow. He just had no idea how to even begin. In the cold and distant Sutillia he could still see the girl who’s smile made his stomach feel funny. It was completely hopeless, but for the children, for himself, he wanted to do it. The first good news to come in a while was that Sigalia would be alright. The healers had taken her to watch over her carefully, and when the news reached Evyatar, he smiled like he used to. Although it was quite unlike him, he felt the news that his daughter, although it was obvious that she was also not really his child, would be alright was worth a few drinks. The reason Evyatar had never indulged in wine much was that he was perhaps Pern’s biggest lightweight, despite his size. A few drinks turned into a few too many, and it was clear to everyone that Evyatar was drunk. Happy, ecstatic even, but still, drunk. He should have been more cautious, paid more attention, not closed himself off so much and refused to see what was happening around him, but Evyatar did, and that was his greatest mistake of all. When he got home, Sutillia was, if it was possible, even more cold than usual. Evyatar, happy in his blissed out state of alcohol induced glee, didn’t suspect anything at all, although he was a little put out that Sutillia didn’t seem to be as overjoyed as he was.
He really should have suspected something, he really should have. But he didn’t. While he went to check on Eskhar and Shania, both of whom were safe and sleeping peacefully, he heard a crash from the other side of their house. The noise didn’t wake the children, but it worried Evyatar greatly. It didn’t have the jingle of “oops I dropped something”. It was more serious that that, and so he stumbled out to try and find out what had happened He found Sutillia on the floor, bleeding. But not unconscious. She’d hit her head against something and fallen against a table. From what Evyatar could tell, she’d either dislocated her shoulder as well or broken something. Things only got worse from there, for when he tried to help her, she shouted at him to stay away. Still quite drunk and more than a little bewildered, Evyatar did as she said, standing back as she got to her feet again. Instead of letting him help her then, though, she ran from the house crying. Baffled beyond belief, Evyatar went after her, although his progress what quite a bit slower, considering how much the room moved when he didn’t. The noise Sutillia was making had caused quite a few curious head to poke around doorways and out of windows to see what was going on.
That puzzling episode brought things from bad to worse for Evyatar. It seemed that while he had been busy doing his job, teaching and learning, Sutillia had been making friends with the lord holder’s family. The same smile that had made Evyatar weak at the knees seemed to have the same affect on other men as well. They had not been at the hold long. Certainly not long enough for everyone to become comfortable with their new Harper after having had their last one for so long, and Sutillia’s rumors certainly didn’t help matters at all. The women began to whisper when Evyatar was around, giving him dark looks, and for a while he was quite oblivious as to what was going on. All he knew was that Sutillia refused to see him, as much as he begged and pleaded with her, and that she had taken the children. Finally, it hit him in one of his non-to-frequent starting revelations. Sutillia had told the lord holder’s family that the bruises and break on her arm had come from Evyatar when he was drunk, and likely she had lied and said that he had done it many more times than just that. No one knew Evyatar well enough to know that he was incapable of such acts of violence, especially against the woman who he still adored. To make it worse, it appeared that she had also said that he had mistreated the children in one way or another.
Or at least it seemed that way, for slowly the children started to be taken away earlier and earlier from their lessons for needed chores. His time teaching was honestly the last good thing that Evyatar had in his life. He wasn’t allowed to see his children or his wife, and the feelings of the holders had become even more aggressive. As time progressed it became painfully obvious that there wasn’t any future for him at the hold. All that was left was for him to finish up his two turns worth of study and teaching, and to return to Harper hall. While his heart had been broken before, this time it was crushed. He had to leave his children behind, his beautiful wife, who, although she despised him now for reasons he couldn’t understand, he still cared for, his entire life at the hold. The journey back to Harper hall was the very worst thing he had ever endured. He hadn’t even been allowed to say goodbye to his children. He only sank further into depression when he reached Harper hall once again, although there at least he was allowed to start his studied up once again, and he did so with gusto.
He also took up drinking, although his mother, who was a constant presence in his life once again, disapproved. Which meant that he had to take his drinking elsewhere where she wouldn’t find out. So he took to taking great long walks. He could drink going out, and by the time he got back, he could be relatively sober. He took many of these walks over the next few months, trying to work everything out in his head so that he could make everything better. His children still prayed on his mind, and he would have done anything to see them again. It was on one of these outings that he came across something strange. At that point he was mostly sober, and so was able to figure out what was going on. A man was sitting on a rock. Just sitting, apparently waiting for something, although when Evyatar came closer he raised his head and smiled at him. It wasn’t until a little bit later that Evyatar saw the dragon. The dragon actually hid quite well, despite his blue color, in the bush, and Evyatar, who had sung about dragons his entire life, although he had never seen any of them from far away, let alone close up, was quite scared.
The man calmed him down, although it took some effort on his part, and explained a few things to him. One of which was that they had been flying over, looking for people like Evyatar. People who might, just maybe might, have a chance at impression. But Evyatar had to make the choice, right there and then, to go with him and abandon everything in his life or stay and give up the chance forever. It didn’t take Evyatar long to decide, really. Most of his life was over and left back at the hold, while what little he had here was nothing that he could really grasp. There was his mother, and his father, but really.... it wouldn’t have surprised either of them at this point if he never came back. There was no one else who he could see or care about, and what little friends he still had at the hall even had begun to avoid him. It was an easy choice, and Evyatar accepted. Honestly, things couldn’t get any worse, and still forever the optimist, Evyatar hoped that things would get better.
Pets: Nope
Color Preference: I honestly couldn’t care. I’ve never cared before now, and I’m not about to start.
Metallic Only: HAHAHAHA. He wouldn’t have a clue what to do with himself.
