Gender/Age: Male, 17

Rank/Craft: Sr Apprentice Harper (singer/model)

Location: Dawnlight Hold

Relatives/Family: parents alive, one brother (crafter), girlfriend Ludy

Dragon if any: IMPRESSED BLUE TRELERTH at Aneris Weyr

Physical Description: 5'9", 140, attractively built but not very muscular. Has a great butt, likes to pose in new clothing. Has yellow-pale skin, white hair (yes, white!) that is fluffy and falls to his shoulders, and yellow eyes that almost match his skin. He has a very exotic look to him, with a long, square jaw and high eerie eyes. He apparently has no eyebrows, if he does they are also white and can barely be made out. His voice is entrancing, both when he is singing and speaking, and he can keep audiences enraptured for hours.

Emotional/Mental Description: quiet, observant and careful. He plans things long before he brings them to bear, always thinking of ways around current worries, and always getting another view on a subject before actually making any changes. He has been known to see both sides of an argument so well that the Harper Hall would love to see him remain as a judge of some kind, but he is far more interested in seeing the world and passing on knowledge than that. He is sexy and he knows it, and every once in a while can be found a bit full of himself. He is an animal magnet, and perhaps dragons will find him interesting too.

Skills: Singing and harper stories, he can pick up a tune in a moment, and sing like he never knew another song. His grasp on history is strong, and uses it to balance arguments. He also knows a lot about hair care. Go figure. He has deft fingers, but not very strong limbs, so if he does Impress he has a long way to go before he is in shape enough to toss firestone. He will learn.

History: Brought up in the Harper craft hall in Dawnlight, and always around learning. He would have started spreading his knowledge sooner but the prior Lord Holder was more than a little stuffy on that side. Since Lord Xamashore has come into power, he and the rest of the young people of Dawnlight Hold enjoy more freedoms. He immediately jumped on the idea of having a dragon to ride, and when the search riders from Blackstone Weyr came he was among those Searched.

Pets/Hobbies/Posessions: Arard has many pets, and loves animals. They seem to flock to him, cats and dogs mostly but he has one fire lizard and a watch-wher under his yellow eyed gaze too. Hobbies include modeling new clothing designs for his friends in the weaver hall, and being seen in them by other people. He tends to keep those clothes, so he has a dresser full of them.

Notes and Special Information: Arard is soft spoken, yes, but he will stand fiercely by his principles. There was a time, not long before now, when the old Lord Holder would have crushed the Harper's presence in the Hold, but fortunately the then-fourteen year old boy did not have to fight to get his rights.

When the dragons came for Search, Arard was doing a typical afternoon work: nothing at all but looking good. He had no choice. The Weavers had done their magic on cloth and leather, and shards but they loved to see him in it!

Then, the whistle went up in the courtyard that a gathering was needed.

A blue rider and brown as well were there, looking about at the younger folk in the Hold, and Arard noticed that there were quite a few of the Blackstone Weyr folk present too.

Then, the Brown dragon turned his heavy head at Arard, and everything changed.

That one, the dragon called out, and summoned Arard by a little wink of his faceted eye. That one will do well. There are others. I will look.

Arard looked at the rider, who nodded and wrote something down in a wherhide booklet. "You've been Searched, Harper! What's your name?"

He paused only long enough to blink. "Arard, sir, where am I Searched to?"

"Aneris Weyr," the rider said, and indicated that he'd best be packing, as there were eggs hardening on the sands there already!

(Marcel's page has more)

Arard watched his friend Marcel ... no, it was M'cel now! Impress. His heart ached all of a sudden. But it was a while until he got the chance of a lifetime. M'cel was almost off the sands with his blue dragon, and then...

Arard glanced down to see the whirling eyes of another blue, much darker than M'cel's, looking up at him. The dragon nudged the other candidate away from Arard's side, and carefully bespoke to the white haired man.

You and I are meant to look good together, A'rd. Could you scratch that itch I have? It bothers me so! My name is Trelerth. And food would be good. Perhaps something right after you scratch that itch I mentioned...

A'rd laughed, and embraced the still-wet dragonet. "I shall do everything you want, Trelerth, just as soon as we're out of the sands! Everyone at the Hold will love you."

Just like they love you! Good! Why is your head that strange color? No other humans have that color here on the sands! It matches the thing you wear! The dragon tugged at the robe, and A'rd only laughed more!

"Trelerth, come down from there!" Ard yelled, but to little effect.

It is breezy and breezes are good for my wings! I will fly soon, my friend!

"But the weyrling master has already asked me to get you to stop this! You aren't ready!"

He is wrong, I am ready!

A'rd stood with his hair blowing stiffly back over his shoulders, and his eyes narrowed to the wind. Trelerth was poised at the edge of the Starstone ridge of the weyr, with his wings angled into the wind. He did look about to take off, A'rd thought.

But the weyrling master would have nothing of it.

Then again, A'rd had rarely been known to really follow orders from people who didn't see the hand before their face unless they were expecting it.

"Let me harness you," A'rd said, turning to the caverns below. "At least let me get into trouble with you, instead of without you!"

After spending time with the Weyrling Master at Aneris Weyr, Trelerth and A'rd became ready to leave the weyr and head back to Dawnlight and Blackstone. Their antics hadn't made them very popular with the weyrling master, but he did have to admit that they had what it took to be true to the riders' pledge.

"If I don't see you all again," A'rd said to his many female followers, "just keep me in your dreams. I like it there." He winked at one young girl and she nearly fainted. Then Trelerth helped A'rd mount up, and they took off.

They betweened to Blackstone, circled and announced themselves. Then, they lit upon the ground near the entrance to the weyr.

"You've come back! Good!" H'lis said, truly happy to see the white haired man. "Are you ready to join a wing?"

"That depends on Trel here," A'rd said. "He's got his own way of doing things."

"We have no lack of that here," H'lis muttered with a grin. "P'at can help you get settled, right?"

The older rider nodded, his gigantic bronze dragon bellowed to Trelerth to come follow him, while the human partner draped his arm around A'rd's shoulder. "They missed you," he said with a grin.

"They?"

"Telona and her crew. They're going to be in ecstasy when they find out you're back."

"Then let's go tell them, man! Why wait?"

After getting another new outfit, one which of course was made only after A'rd had to pose mostly nude for the girls in Telona's studio, A'rd had to go back to the weyr and tend to his dragon.

"I can't believe them," he chuckled.

But they like you! Oh! Did you know that the Wing is going to be doing sweeps? We must be there.

"Of course. But I've gotten this," he said, holding up a note which had been gently pinned to his weyr's doorflap. It was a small scroll telling him that he was to report to the weyrleaders.

Moments later, in the cavernous room where H'lis and several others waited, including Shard and Tanis, A'rd came to a halt.

"What's up?" He asked, typically casual even though he was before the most important members of the weyr.

"You are," Shard said, tossing him a shining circlet of metal. "Your dragon has been sniffing at a lot of people lately."

"I'll tell him to stop," A'rd said, rolling his eyes and was about to bespeak Trelerth when Tanis spoke up.

"No, no, he means that Trel has been sniffing out candidates. He's a great search dragon. And I think you would make a perfect search rider, myself."

Momentarily stunned, A'rd stood there speechless for the first time in his life. Then a smile crept across his face, and he pinned the new badge onto his shoulder.

"Search rider, huh? Great! I'm going to go searching, then."

"You're still needed in the wing," Shard pointed out, smiling. "But do your best."

"The dragons know," H'lis added. "The Bent is headed off toward the north today. Go have fun. See if there are any good kids to steal back to us."

***

A'rd and the rest of the Artistic Bent wing flew high over the land, and saw the smallish new weyr called Seasparkul. They watched as M'cel's blue Lakenth dove down, and A'rd asked Trel what was up.

He says there is a rising green, my friend... I have never seen a flight, before.

Well, no time like the present, A'rd bespoke.

So they went to follow M'cel but the dragon was so caught up in getting to the green's area that A'rd nearly had to dive off his dragons' back! They landed, and A'rd waited for poor M'cel to get back to the ground.

Then, Trelerth gave off a roar.

M'cel and A'rd looked at each other and shrugged.

A'rd headed inside, looking for the rider of the green, Satineth was the dragon's name apparently.

"Got a couple roudy dragons looking for a certain green," A'rd said, uncharistically loud. "We're from the Protectorate. Once that wacky blue of mine gets down from the clouds we've a search to run too. So I suppose a front-and-center is necessary, isn't it?"

"As if people won't want to watch the flight?" M'cel added more quietly. "Look at them go. Hey! Trel's fighting for a spot too!? You traitor!"

A'rd grinned, and they turned back to the flight.

A'rd and Trelerth have become the lead Search pair for the Protectorate! Any time they cross into new territory, Trel's nose seems to smell out candidate after Candidate! Most of them wind up impressing sooner or later!