Lord Holder's Heir LiekPersona Information: Name: Liek Age: 24 Gender: Male Sexual Orientation: Bisexual Rank/Craft: Lord Holder's Heir Mother: Zarik, 54, Lord Holder Father: Jielle, 46, Lady Holder Siblings: None Foster Parents: None Significant Other: None Children: None Persona Appearance: Liek takes after his mother, which is a good thing. He has her dark brown eyes, and wavy dark brown hair that never stays quite flat due to the heat of the Southern Hold he lives in. He is not tall, to his distress, standing at only 5'8", and it makes him feel somewhat inadequate on occaision. As the son of a Lord Holder, he has access to fine clothing, and dresses the part in rich tunics and breeches, as well as leather boots and jeweled belt knives. He's a good looking youth, for all his height, and his wide smile is charming. Persona Personality: Liek is a gentleman. When fostering at Daragon Hold, as is becoming traditional for sons of Jinani's Lords, he was raised by the formidable sister of Lord Pelinor. She was a true lady, and beat good manners in him with a leather belt, on occaision. He is always well-spoken, courteous to ladies, civil to underlings, and respectful to those above him. Of course, this is helped along by his natural charm - with his good looks and fairly easy-going personality, it didn't take too much to make a gentleman of him. Liek is perhaps too easy-going - his father, Zarik, disapproves of how laid back he is about his duties as heir to Jinani. As his father will often repeat to him, when Zarik was a boy, he was managing the hold during his father's illnesses. What is Liek doing? Not much, to tell the truth. He does some work for his father, rather like a steward, but he doesn't bother himself too much about it. His father will check his and approve all his decisions anyway. Since Zarik doesn't trust anyone but himself to get the job done, Liek isn't going to sweat about it. Liek is very popular in the Hold, actually. As he's a far, far easier task master in comparison to his father, the workers and holders in the area can't wait till he takes over. He isn't arrogant or rude, though he does make it clear that as he's the Heir to the Lordship, he isn't to be treated like one of the guys. He's apart, but not aloof, separate, but not standoffish. Persona History: Liek was Jielle's only child, though his mother hardly planned it that way. From the moment of his birth, she spoiled him and lavished love on him, as she had no one else to love. Liek grew up as quite the little mama's boy, chubby and solemn-faced, tattling on all the children to his mother, since he knew there'd be a treat for him if he behaved, or if he just acted petulant for that matter. He was a real brat in the harper classes his mother started him in at six turns, and the hold harper loathed having to coddle the child lest his mother swoop down on him for injuring her offspring. Liek, crying and fussing all the way at being separated from his mama, was sent to Daragon Hold to be fostered at his seventh birthingday. Upon arrival, the current Lordling's older sister, Elepae, took charge of him. He was treated like any other boy by her, and if he was bratty or whiny, she belted him. He soon grew less petulant and spoiled under her charge, and actually grew quite fond of her. When Elepae approved of a person, it was a mark of distinction; she was just as tough to impress as Liek's father. Elepae, however, rewarded performers, rather than taking it all for granted. When Liek returned home, at thirteen turns, he found his mother soft and weak in comparison. He couldn't know that it was all an act, and so he treated her with disdain - this was not the firm, strong, wonderful Elepae who had treated him like one of her own. No, this was a dull, weak, fluttering creature who had to be treated gently lest she break. He spent as little time as possible with her. Liek began to make friends with the apprentices down at the FarmCraft Hall, as he liked to play with the runners they used for plowing the fields. As a lordling, he received his own runner for his fifteenth birthingday, a bay colt of moderate breeding, and so spent much of his time down at the stables. Zarik was oblivious to his son's companionship until the lad turned eighteen. Then, Zarik began taking an interest in his heir, since he'd have to be trained up a bit, and who else better than Zarik? The first thing the man did was to ban Liek from associating with the "commoners" - according to Zarik, it made a man look weak if he allowed familiarites with those below his station. Liek resented this; there were no boys or young men of his station, and so there was no one for him to talk to as an equal if he obeyed his father. Liek did his duties, though grudgingly, and then did as he pleased; his father did not pay so much attention to him as long as the work was of decent quality. Liek hated his father, and detested his limp-wristed mother. He looked elsewhere for companionship. He began to find it with Diviad, a senior apprentice at the farmcraft who would soon make journeyman. The young man was friendly, but not the clinging sort, and was companiable whether they were talking, working side by side, or simply sitting together in silence and sipping beer. Diviad never pressured Liek, never expected anything of the young man, and Liek returned the favor. They were just friends. At first, that is. Liek had shown the usual amout of interest for girls as an adolescent, but he had also found, to his great confusion, that he was attracted similarly to boys and men. He stuffed those feelings down, as he knew that unless you were a blue or green dragonrider at the Weyr, you weren't supposed to "like" men. All this came out, though, around Diviad. They were friends, but they became closer over time, and eventually it became much more. They hid it well, and no one ever found out the unbelievable - the Lord Holder's Heir was bisexual. The relationship died when Diviad transferred north to train at the main FarmCraft Hall; Liek misses him, but doesn't grieve overmuch. In a way, it's a relief; Liek had been in constant fear that his father would discover his son's relationships. No one knows, but Liek is still afraid, and somewhat ashamed, of his feelings. Especially since he's coming to the age when his father will think of finding him a wife. Pet Information: Pet Name: Traveler Pet Breed: Runner Pet Appearance: Traveler is a twelve-turn-old runner stallion, long legged and with thin fur, one of a strain being specially developed for the warm southern climate from the stock mostly imported from Southern Boll. He has dark brown fur on his body, neck, and face, and black legs, main, tail, ears, and nose - typical bay coloration. He has no white markings at all on his body. He stands at about 14.3 hands, a good height for Liek. Pet Personality: Traveler is not a particularly unusual runner. Liek refused to geld his horse (fifteen-turn-old boys are usually uncomfortable at the thought of castration) and it didn't turn out to be a disaster; Traveler was well-trained by his breeder and is fairly calm for a stallion. He doesn't like water much, and bathing him is an ordeal; Liek doesn't do it unless he has a few helpers to hold the horse steady. As a rule, he doesn't shy much, and is not a very timid animal. Hold Information: Hold Name: Jinani Hold Hold Size: Major Position in Hold: Lord Holder's Heir Adoption Stipulations: Due to upcoming events that may involve Jinani Hold, Liek's player must be willing to work closely with the BoD on certain plots. Liek's writer must understand that due to his parentage, Liek may not be able to write certain posts without BoD approval - examples, marrying, breaking the law, etc. All references to worlds and characters based on Anne McCaffrey's fiction are copyright© Anne McCaffrey 1967, 2001, all rights reserved, and used by permission of the author. |
