Image Credits : Clergy Redux on Meiker

Name: Tungkhai (toong haie)

Gender/Pref: male, straight

Age: 14

Hair: silvery white, wooly and thick, usually loose but sometimes has it braided in cornrows to keep it out of his face

Eyes: hazel with a faint green tint, under slightly accusative or judgemental looking brows; very large

Appearance: dark brown skin with delicate hands and manicured nails, though he has a single scar on his shoulder that he doesn't allow anyone to see; he wears bold black and red outfits befitting his status as a court scribe, which fit his slender frame nicely; he is quite tall at his age, 6' already, he may top out around 6'2" by the time he's fully grown; he has a short nose and thin lips, sometimes with a sneer. His voice is clear and can be very sharp if he's trying to instruct or direct people

Family: local to Dun Keiba, though they are more in the merchantry side, he showed aptitude for his work, and has been moved formally into the scribe hall to keep records for the Castle; he is not close with his parents, nor his younger sister, and he is not really looking for a life partner at this time

Aspirant At: Wo Yao Fei

Skills: Very good at listening and transcribing as he hears, he's intensely literate and loves to read and write with equal passion. He is not as creative as he'd like, so he sticks with documenting things rather than inventing stories. His penmanship is immaculate, and he can draw adequately well - if you need a 'wanted poster' made of a person he's seen, he can create a very clear image in line art and hatching; without having seen someone, he will ask very pointed questions about the person's face or postures, and has a strong success rate for helping capture rogues and mob members. He knows how Castle behaviors differ from the Merchantry, and from the 'lowly' others, and he doesn't have to pretend to be among the high class, he is high class. He knows who to talk to, how to address people in diplomatic ways, even those field workers or random ninjas that show up. He also is reasonably good at archery, but it's more for show and contests than for hunting or defense, he would never in his life choose to put an arrow into a real person.

Personality: domineering, a bit of a coward, and arrogant. In other words, a high-ranking member of a Castle that was told he was good at his job often enough that he knows he's better than most. He avoids angering dangerous people, he's not stupid! But he will definitely mutter about the class or lack thereof in people around the courts, though he won't openly mock anyone if there is a chance he'll get in trouble for it. As he's grown up, he's also grown in rank, so his tasks and responsibilities have expanded, and by the time he'll turn 18 he will most certainly be among the top ranking court recordskeepers in the Castle. This has made him need to be asked to 'tone it down a little' for the demands of those below him, and while he is still a bit snippy toward some 'slacker scribes' in that area anyway he will defer to authorities and elders. Outside of his scribe realm however, he can definitely be seen as a touch on the annoying side and he does expect people to move when he tells them to move.

Background: as above, he was the elder son of a merchant couple, whose transport lines extend well into the mainland and across the coast. He showed talent early on with numbers and documentation, even at the age of 3 or 4 reading back shopping lists or import data so that his mother didn't have to reach for the papers. When his younger sister was born he was given more responsibility around the shops and their main warehouse, and at some point in there, before he was even 8 years old, he witnessed a theft and produced his own 'wanted' poster. From there it was clear that he would be very good with courtroom reporting, documentation, and the recordskeeping trade in general, and his parents eagerly allowed him to apprentice to the scribes. He took to this duty instantly, and has never regretted it.

Whether her regrets that one Drak that visited... who knows, but he will be going off to another Castle, Wo Yao Fei by name, to stand as an Aspirant. His duties might change a little, but he knows full well he won't be expected to become a fighter in an Armada wing. Here at Dun Keiba there are a great many drak pairs that serve a multitude of purposes. He knows because he's written up the lists and helped with the distribution of goods to them!

**

It wasn't all that long for Tungkhai but it seemed like forever for those who had to put up with his wide-eyed scrutiny. Which list was that? Who needed the delivery he'd do it! How often do you copy your archives onto more permanent records? Oh he was a nosy one. But at long last, ten full days after announcing her eggs had broken into fine little draklings, Nanphaw was ready to have then out into the world, and it would be a relief to absolutely everyone. The drak mother because of course that trio of hatchlings were... well, a handfull, and the newly joined pairs because at least their training would be handed off to the appropriate Knights and not 'everyone around' the castle.

She presented the pair of 'mud boys' and her single water daughter, and allowed them to finally stop fidgeting near her and approach the trio of Aspirants. The more evenly colored mud found his friend, then the bright water, and finally the duo-toned 'Rock' mud took his time in announcing that Tungkhai would be his one.

"There is no going back from this, do you object?" The drakling said, hissing-s sounds but otherwise quite clear in his intent.

"Why would I object!" Tungkhai replied, and the drakling let the young man make his notations before even heading off to the feast - they would certainly be quite the dutiful pair.

**

They would be on hand for a time, at Wo Yao Fei's castle, to learn the basics of their new life together. Teamed up with Ingryd and Jelti, they had begun only a few days after the joining. It was Jelti that would put her teal-shaded foot down now and again, "you need to walk, get out of thiss room." And both recordkeepers knew that she meant business. Ingryd would roll her eyes and sigh deeply, and Tungkhai chuckled with memories of virtually the same thing coming from his own instructors.

"Buried too deep in the books, they would say," he commented, and it appeared that Ingryd knew exactly what he meant.

Meanwhile, Kilawwe took breaks because he was physically beat, all the walking and grooming, the basics were boring to the humans, but they were essential to him!

**

After their basic training and instruction, Tungkhai and Ingryd would continue to correspond for quite some time. They had so very much in common after all! Their script was flawless and Tungkhai's drawing ability helped them with some who couldn't read very well, putting up informative and wordless posters where needed. This way to the bathing chambers and toilets, that way for the main hall, deep caverns, you name it, he put effort into showing how to get where you needed to be without being able to spell even your own name.

And he agreed with her too - some day, the original crash site would be ... very interesting to explore. Would it make their jobs obsolete if they somehow found ways to make the old tech work? Well, probably not, but it would maybe create new jobs! Who could maintain such machinery? Or even really understand it all?

**

He knew he was still too young for her, by the time he'd gone back to Dun Keiba with Kilawwe, but ... Tungkhai wrote back to Ingryd every month with news, weather reports that might help with transportation, and the like. She sent her own packets of similar information, together they shared more between these two distant castles than even the drak pairs riding regular routes! Knights only knew so much, guarding their caravans or seeking mob activity, but the recordskeepers were something else entirely!

Anyone that watched the way Tungkhai dreamily drew the pretty-faced Ingryd (and that was much more often than they saw him do it) knew that he'd been smitten the moment they met three years before. Would she ever consider them more than training companions or friends? Well, who knew. He wasn't obsessed with her, there were people to talk to and jobs to do here that distracted him from being too deeply enamored. But still, maybe?

"Sssome day," Kilawwe asserted with his gravely lisp, "we sshould go back, and sssee."

trained by: Ingryd and Water Jelti (Knight and Archivist Training)