Farana

"I have the same feeling when I walk in a very beautiful place that I have when I play and it goes right."

-Jacqueline du Pre

**RETIRE INFO:** Character - Retire, Wher - Adopt

**NAME:** Farana

**GENDER:** Genderfluid, DFAB

**PRONOUNS:** they/them/their

**ORIENTATION:** Grayromantic graysexual

**BIRTHDATE:** Midsummer 2742

**AGE:** 24 as of spring 2767

**LOCATION:** Fort Hold

**OCCUPATION:** Wherhandler, Journeyman Harper

**WING:** Dawn Squad

**EYES:** Brown

**HAIR:** Black

**HEIGHT AND BUILD:** 5' 6", slender

**PLAY-BY:** Keke Palmer

**FULL APPEARANCE:** Farana takes care of their appearance and presents as feminine most days, though they do bind on some non-female days. They have sculpted cheekbones and full lips, and their brown skin is clear and smooth due to careful cleaning and application of lotions. Most days, they wear a smoky line of kohl around their deep brown eyes to accentuate them. Though usually, their black hair is down, they enjoy elaborate updos for feasts. They enjoy wearing black most days, though they occasionally wear vivid colors. Their posture is straight and proud, a result of rigorous Harper training.

**PERSONALITY:** Philosophical and imaginative, Farana will happily spend hours discussing the finer points of a viol performance, the beauty of nature, or the meaning of life, but has little patience for tasks that don't interest them. They hate cleaning and are a bit of a slob; though their living space looks acceptable on the surface, they tend to shove everything into drawers or chests. This is a good metaphor for their dealing with their own emotions; though they have many complicated feelings about their parents, they tend to ignore these until they overflow, bursting out of their hiding spaces to haunt Farana for days. Farana's main method of coping with their emotions is through music. They devote themselves to the viol, paying attention to the teaching and drum aspects of being a Harper only enough to squeak by.

They can come across as cold, and they are. They don't care about what they don't understand, and that includes others' emotions. They can't even understand themselves, why would they care about others, especially those who hurt them? Part of the reason they take care of their appearance, but not their surroundings or emotions, is out of the need to present an unruffled facade to the world. When hurt, they become standoffish and withdrawn, hiding their pain behind an icy mask of unconcern and pushing potential help away. Despite everything, they hold a deep love for their mother, and became a candidate in the hopes of making her proud.

**FAMILY:** Fartoo of blue Fartosk - father (estranged), Kanala of bronze Kanask - mother (deceased), several half-siblings

**SIGNIFICANT OTHER:** N/A

**BIRTHPLACE:** Fort Weyr

**HISTORY:**

**TW: bullying**

Born to a pair of wherhandlers who'd developed a friends-with-benefits relationship fighting together, Farana was put in the creche. Their father didn't see them much, but for the first eight years of their life, Kanala made an effort to get to know her child. She doted on them, bringing them presents and letting them ride on her bronze wher. Then, one day, Kanala stopped coming to the creche. She'd been seriously injured, and after an agonizing few sevendays in which the young Farana wasn't allowed to see their mother, Kanala passed away, Kanask rebonding to another handler.

Farana didn't have much in common with the other children and was often teased for being by themself. They didn't face much bullying for their gender identity in Fort Weyr, but did get relentlessly tormented after a disastrous attempt to cut their own hair. Seeking comfort, they turned to their next logical parental figure - Fartoo - but were rebuffed. Doggedly, they tried to continue talking to their father, and were teased each time they were rejected. Farana finally stopped trying, finding solace in Harper lessons and taking up training as an apprentice harper when they were twelve.

Harper training afforded them respite; most of their childhood tormentors weren't apprentices, and those that were stayed away after Farana began to prove their dedication and talent. They walked the tables shortly after they turned eighteen, more on their performance merit than anything else, and chose to stay on at Fort Weyr. On an impulse, a rare thing for them to follow through on, they became a candidate, wanting to make their mother proud by fighting Thread rather than having to fight in a war.

UPDATES

* Summer 2765 - Farana, after seeing Nornth and Exiath at work, decides that dragons (especially golds) are too much. They transfer to Fort Hold to join their half-sibling Ferorate and Stand for whers exclusively.
* Fall 2765 - At the donated Gather clutch, Farana bonds white Faransk!
* Spring 2767 - In their first full Threadfall, they are mostly unhurt, except when Faransk wanders into Farana, causing them to trip and scrape their left elbow.
* Summer 2767 - Farana's left wrist is broken in a few places when they use it to break their fall after tripping over a rock (Major).