Tiergren, Lord Holder of Weyrhold

[Lan]

Name:
Tiergren

Gender:
male

Age:
30 (Summer, 22nd Turn, 9th Pass)

Sexuality:
heterosexual

Location:
Weyrhold

Rank:
Lord Holder

---

Personality:
Tiergren is confidence in a short and stocky form. He knows what he's capable of and isn't afraid to stand up and say that he can do something better than somebody else. Not that he toots his own horn, but he won't stand idly by while someone else does something in what he considers the wrong way. He seeks counsel when needed; he becomes disgruntled with unsolicited advice is offered him. This being his second turn as head of a Hold and after all the experience organizing crops in his time before Ending Fall, he's found out how to do his job and absolutely despises it when someone else thinks they'll just swan in and do it for him. He's got his brother for that. He needs no one else for the job of second him.

The holder can mostly get away with this line of thinking because he's responsible and, frankly, a workaholic. He knows what needs to be done and isn't afraid to do it himself. While he'll delegate what tasks he can't get done himself to other people, Tiergren likes to keep his plate full of work that needs to be done so that he can keep himself busy. If he doesn't have a job to do, the man tends to flounder. Sitting back and relaxing is not in his repertoire. His idea of relaxing is doing an honest day's work with his hands. It's politics that gets him on edge. While he can play a diplomat and do it rather well, it tires him out faster than working on the farm does. Irritating and otherwise unwelcome people are not dealt with as pleasantly as another man might, but he'll give them the time of day for as long as it is an efficient use of his time. Otherwise, he'll dismiss them without a second thought. He doesn't have time for toadies or whiners; he has a Hold to run and build from the ground up.

While other men might despair at such a situation, Tiergren sees it merely as another challenge humanity and, more importantly, he must overcome. What happened a turn and a half ago was an atrocity indeed, but it has also given those that survived the opportunity to rebuild Pern as they see fit. Other aspects of life on Pern that were seen as terrible could be done away with or transformed into something better. Those that survived Ending Fall were hardy folk and capable of looking out for themselves. Such people could certainly rebuild Pern in a magnificent way. It is this thought, this persevering spirit that gives Tiergren the ability to laugh and smile again. It allows him to have hope in such terrible times. The only cloud in which he cannot see a silver lining is the tragedy of his sister's death. Those that bring it up around him are met with a grim face and a stern look. The love he held for his sister was so dear that he cannot bear to live with the constant knowledge of her death, so he chooses to forget he ever had a sister most of the time. When he is reminded it only renews the pain of his loss and he relives the moment of watching her jump from the boat again.

Still, her impact on his life is not wholly in a negative fashion. While stern and demanding with men, with women and children he is gentle and kind. Perhaps it is because in every face of a child he sees his sister's face, or perhaps it is just because inside he has a heart of mush, but he is always patient and nurturing with kids and cannot refuse a face full of tears or an innocent smile. Ladies, too, are treated with a certain tenderness (although, perhaps his treatment of them reflects a somewhat chauvinistic attitude at times). He's a gentleman to those that need comfort or help and he will not refuse anyone who is in dire need of a place to stay or work to do.

Appearance:
While Tiergren is a big personality, he comes in a relatively small package. At 5'7" he's not going to be towering over anybody anytime soon and he's not unused to looking up into another man's eyes. Not that this bothers him; Tiergren has an astounding lack of complex about his slightly-less-than-average height. Men come in many shapes and sizes and he'd rather judge a man by his heart than by the height of his head. There's also no need for a complex with the fact that he's build like a tank. Hard work with his hands and back as well as a drive to stay fit has made him muscular and burly. His arms are thick and tough as rocks and his shoulders and chest are wide and strong. He's a survivor and he's certainly built like one.

He has a square jaw and a chiseled face with a pronounced nose and brow. Frown lines between his eyebrows and around his mouth have already begun to show due to the stress of the time he lives in. His eyes, a deep and dark blue, already are beginning to look world-weary and tired. Yet there is also brightness there on occasion; Tiergren finds reasons to laugh each day to ward off the sadness that has gripped everyone in this time and he tries to remain upbeat so that others might do the same. Still, he has more than his share of gray hairs for his age. His long hair, majestically falling around his face like a lion's mane, is streaked with the few gray stripes that he has earned in his relatively young turns. Keeping a hold together and keeping peace is the greatest battle he's ever fought, his fight to get his siblings and himself out of Benden included, and when he is actually sitting down thoughtfully it shows in the shadows that haunt his face when he is alone.

History:
Tallier, being a distant relative of the Lord Holder of Benden, was given a small Hold with which to make his life with his newly-wedded wife, Grena. It was small indeed, comprised mostly of farms in which some of the crops for the Benden Wine were grown. This suited Tallier fine, as he had a sharp mind for which crops to grow where and when. He could have lived happily that way with just himself and his wife until he was a great old age. However, life always has its twists and turns, and soon Grena found herself with child. Tallier went from complacent and happy to overjoyed at the news. He took care of her and made sure she never wanted for anything if it was in his power to give.

His first child was a strong young boy, whom he named Tiergren. The child was the pride of his life. Everyone he talked to got a full report in how splendid the child was growing up, whether they wanted to hear it or not. Tallier wanted the very best for his son, from the best education to the best training in whatever field the boy wanted to go into. Oddly enough, though, instead of sitting in lessons with Harpers Tiergren was more apt to sneak off to the fields and play among the crops. He seemed keen on helping people, particularly the older women whose bad backs hurt them while they were picking the grapes meant for fine Benden wines. And the lad wouldn't take no for an answer.

When a second son was given to him, named Leir, Tallier was all the more overjoyed, and when his fragile daughter was born he was all the more happy. However, the pregnancy with little Ielle had made Grena weak. For three turns she suffered, her mind as ill as her body, before she finally passed away. To the three children, it was as if their mother had faded away into the night. To Tallier, it was as if all that was good in the world was lost. He sent the children away to the greater Benden Hold. Tiergren, now 16 turns young, took charge of his younger siblings as they journeyed and promised them he'd never let anything happen to them.

At Benden Ielle was given a nurse and Leir was put into proper lessons with Harpers and fellow Holder children, but Tiergren had more ambitious plans for himself. Learning under his father a fine work ethic and a certain prowess for planning farms, he began to work under the master farmer who controlled the planning and logistics of crops around Benden Hold. They often disagreed, and more than once was Tiergren threatened that if he didn't hold his tongue he'd find himself out of a job. To take out his frustrations and to learn more first-hand about the crops Benden produced he worked on the farms himself. He gained a fine tan and a strong set of muscles from his work, which he found rewarding and satisfying. At age twenty he was a force to be reckoned with, not that anyone wished to brawl with him. Working under a man he wholly disagreed with had helped him develop a silver tongue as well and he knew how to talk over and around people so that it never came to fists.

The only one he ever did fight with was his brother, Leir. Throughout their teens they would playfully scrap and brawl, wrestling as brothers might. It was only in his early twenties that his sister, Ielle, urged both him and his brother to stop fighting. She couldn't stand the violence, the delicate flower that she was, and both brothers were absolutely smitten with her and hated to make her cry. So they kept their banter to the occasional sharp words, and only when Ielle wasn't around.

For turns the three siblings were as happy as siblings might be and in his mid-to-late twenties Tiergren found himself overseeing much of the farmcraft that went on around Benden, with his master only checking in when approval was needed. Leir worked alongside his brother wonderfully, and together the two made quite the team. Under their scheming hands much of the crops were saved from Thread and the like... until it started falling irregularly. If Leir was frustrated by the irregular and oddly heavy thread, then Tiergren was wholly exasperated. He paced frequently in his room, bickering to himself about what crops were lost and why. Every sevenday it seemed to get worse and worse. The only comfort was that soon Thread would fall no more and he could get back to plying his craft to its full potential. Sadly, it would get worse before it got better.

Ending Fall came like purging fire, sweeping over the land and devouring all in its path. Apocalyptic would not begin to describe it. Tiergren could see the leading edge on the horizon long before it struck. He could hear the keening of dragons and the disaster that would soon hit Benden Hold. All the crops would be lost... but there was something far more precious in his sight. He quickly grabbed his two siblings and locked them both in the stone storage shed near the farms and blocked with metal all possible holes, entrances, and exits. Then, with death all around them, they waited. And waited. And waited. For two days they kept themselves alive by eating what dried food was stored in the shed and rationing what water was kept in their flasks. Then, when silence was all they could hear, Tiergren decided to take the offensive.

He and Leir ventured out and found a couple of flamethrowers not too far away, and then returned for their sister so they could make a run for it. The three of them followed the river near Benden for what seemed like miles before they finally came across a boat full of people ready to head for more fertile ground. Tiergren bargained their way on board. Only when the ship had set sail did he finally breathe freely again. He had made it. He had taken care of his siblings and now they would survive in a new, green land. In their triumph neither he nor Leir thought that anything could be wrong. Ielle, however, was beginning to realize that she would not make the trip. A close encounter with a mangy canine had made her ill. She had VT... and she knew there was no hope for her. For the one day she was on the ship she kept to herself, not letting anyone touch her as she didn't feel well.

In the middle of the night she rose from her sleep with the last of her sanity still intact. Tiergren awoke just in time to see her throw herself off the ship. His scream pierced the night, as awful and terrifying as the keen of dragons for one they had lost. It took three strong men a piece to hold him and his brother back from jumping over with her to save her from drowning. The brothers, for the first time since their mother's death, cried tears uncontrollably. The rest of the journey was taken in silence. Only once the group was settled into the Weyrhold with the other refugees did either brother speak more than one word to others or to each other.

Tiergren and his brother quickly took the lead in building up the new hold. With their knowledge from working closely with master farmers and members of Benden's Lord Holder's family they were able to organize the refugees into a fairly decent-working hold. Crops were planted, defenses were built, and squads were organized in cooperation with the remaining dragonriders of The Weyr to keep a look-out and watch for any signs of VT. Not half a year had passed when Tiergren, the more charismatic of the two brothers, was placed in charge of much of the organization of the Hold... and not long after that before he was given the position formally; Leir, of course, was his right-hand man.

Life continued on. Working with Avine he helped establish the Hold and keep both Weyr and Hold running smoothly. While he was not at Sereldeth's hatching, he visited shortly after and took the new batch of weyrlings as a good omen. Together, the people of Pern could get through this. They had survived this far and Tiergren was determined that this hardy group of people would be able to rebuild Pern from the ground up.

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Family:
father- Tallier, small Holder under Benden Hold - deceased
mother- Grena, deceased
sister- Ielle, deceased in the Ending Fall at age 15
brother- Leir, living at Weyrhold - 23 (29th Turn, 9th Pass)

Pets:
none

[Reky]

a p p r o v e d.

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