Name:
Tashryn Corveau

Position:
Herald Trainee

Age:
16

Physical Description:
Five feet, eight inches tall, wiry and slender, with dark coppery-brown hair worn fairly short, big grayish-jade irised eyes, high cheekbones, and a wide, full mouth. He's fairly darkly tan, and, his hands seem a bit large for his body, with long fingers. He tends to be fairly neat about his personal appearance: Trainee grays clean, hair combed, etc, but not really fussy about it at all; not a peacock but not a lump, either.

Personality/Attitude:
Tash is gregarious, out-going, tends to talk to anyone, cannot stand bullies, is a little less self-confidant than he appears to others, is generally a genuinely nice person, except if he loses his temper, in which case he CAN go totally ballistic to the extend any Herald ever does. He's a bit day-dreamy, and a bit of a romantic, too, and quite happy and excited to have been chosen and to be training to be a Herald; he is a hard worker and will probably please most of his teachers with at least the effort he puts out, the exception likely being math, which he just really does not like one bit.

Brief History:
Tash was born and raised in Zoe, on the shore of Lake Evendim, the youngest of four children in one-half of an extended family (a brother and sister and spouses and children) which runs one of the town's most prosperous inns (The Speckled Frog) and tourism businesses, catering to tourists and holiday-goers vacationing at the Lake. As a child, Tash was not much interested in either schooling or in learning the family trade; he was bright enough, but entirely a day-dreamer, and the one thing he did excel in was in writing stories, when he had read his way through every adventure tale he could get his hands on. He probably would have driven his parents and relatives insane if he was not the youngest, and therefore, both somewhat indulged and spoiled, and, at the same time, over-looked to a degree by these busy grown-ups. To Tash's advantage was the fact that he was always an open and kind-hearted boy; the spoiling only made him a bit of a pain, instead of a mean brat, and, used to be surrounded by hordes of people, strangers as well as family, he was always outgoing and gregarious, though, he could be positively fiery tempered when he saw someone being treated unjustly or being bullied. When Tash was fifteen he started to have the first weak stirrings of his primary Gift, in the form of small (usually tiny) objects occasionally mysteriously flying through the room he was in when he became emotionally excited; with all the people around, though, the 'poltergeist' was not even connected with Tashryn at first, until a Bard passing through recognized what was happening, and, sent a message to Haven mentioning the boy's gift. This is also the very time (just after Tash's sixteenth birthday) that Tash 'fell in love' for the first time, and with a dubious character at that: Merriden Altwile was a slick and handsome sharpster and con-man, four years older than Tash, who had no moral objection to taking whatever he could get from the cute son of the innkeeper, from a kiss to a meal to 'borrowing' a boat for the afternoon. It was the boat that caused the problem, because, one evening, in a bad temper because 'his' Tashryn had been 'forced' to stay in and fill-in serving the larger-than-usual dinner crowd and down on his luck (and coin), Merriden, idly coming onto one of the little islands, and finding a pair of late-picnicking honeymooners, took it into his mind to relieve them at swordspoint of their purse. Finding out how relatively easy, at least, at first, robbing the tourists was, Merriden began to do so as a regular business, quickly gathering a pair of thick-headed but brawny accomplices, and declaring himself, if only to his easily impressed minions, a 'pirate captain'. The report of this, combined with the earlier report which needed attended to anyways about the boy with the Fetching gift, resulted in the dispatch of a Herald, who found himself being accompanied by a Companion who had no chosen, once he had gone half-way to Zoe. Meanwhile, Tash had no real idea what Merriden was up to, and Merri was smart enough not to tell him, knowing the younger man would never go along with robbery; the occasional filch of a meal, yes. Tash even put up with Merri's bad moods and occasional outright nastiness towards himself, but.. Tolerate banditry, and sometimes assault? Never, particularly considering that the level of violence was increasing, and it was only a matter of time before some victim of the Lake Evendim 'pirate' trio ended up being murdered. When the Herald arrived, the riderless Companion no longer in view, Merriden also surmised, rightly, who he might be there after; Tash had no idea, and certainly not that Valdemar's justice had come for his paramour, but, Heralds and Companions were a major theme in his stories and dreams of adventure, so, he was 'shadowing' the Herald. Who knew, of course, that Tash was there, but found it convenient, since, after all, the youngest Corveau son was his second order of business. So, Tashryn was there when, outside of a wharf-side tavern, Merriden and his thugs attacked the Herald. The Herald was not precisely losing, even against the three of them, but, he was not winning, either, yet; Tash, for his part, was simply shocked that Merri had Attacked A Herald! That, in his book, was simply wrong. It was wrong in a way that offended him down to his very core, and, what's worse, he had been watching this Herald: he was kind and gentle and -good- and even a bit glamorous, and Merriden had attacked him. And not just that, but three-against-one. Suddenly, Tashryn could see all of Merri's little maliciousnesses and lies for what they were. A shout of "STOP IT! NOW!" was all the warning Merriden, and his 'pirate crew' had before being broadsided by a massive cannonade. Of fish. The fish which had been just then hauled in and un-loaded, dockside. Slippery, wet, and, when there are several dozen flying at you all at once, even if each one only weighs a few pounds, sure you knock anyone over. Not that the Herald was displeased, having managed to secure the arrest of the Lake brigands, and, conclusively prove Tash's Gift all at once. Of course, it was a night for surprises, for no sooner had the three robbers been handed over to the local guards than the solitary Companion showed up again, and approached Tash, and.. looked into his lake-colored eyes with her incredibly blue gaze: */Tashryn, I am Lorrah, I choose you./* After that, it was just a matter of Tash saying goodbye to his rather shocked, but proud, family, and, then, returning to Haven to begin his training as a Herald. And not even much missing his no-good first.. Well, he realized half-way there he hadn't exactly loved Merriden, not really - love is what he feels for his family, and now, Lorrah.. Whatever he was, then. Not with his wonderful, new Companion here with him, and all his dreams ahead of him.

Goals:
Having just arrived in Haven, Tashryn's goals are to become the best Herald he can be, and not to be a gullible dupe again. He does still see things in slightly grand, storybook terms, but, he also is realizing that it is going to be a lot of hard work, and, he isn't unwilling to commit himself to that. As far as the initial assessment once arriving: Tash is actually quite knowledgeable in history and pretty good in languages, will need tutoring (even a lot, really) in maths, took to riding (on the way from Zoe to Haven, after the initial few days of agony,) like a fish IN water, and knows nothing at all of combat beyond some very simple how-to-stop-a-tavern-brawl techniques (like 'hit the drunk with the ale pitcher!'); he is in fairly good shape physically, and coordinated, though.

Gifts:
Fetching (fairly strong), and, Firestarting (quite weak, basically, he doesn't need to carry a tinderbox, to light a candle, and that's about all he can do with that).

Companion:
Lorrah