History

Kasadel's parents, Kemmil and Mira, met while still in their teens. Kemmil had inherited his father's Vinehold at a young age, and had gone to Tillek in the hopes of meeting a woman-- which he did. Mira was from the hold proper and knew nothing about being a Vineholder's wife, but she adapted as best she could, especially after becoming so immediately pregnant with her first child.

Kasadel was the second-youngest of nine, and the seventh son; he was born after Mira had begun to hope she was done with having children. With his next-eldest brother, Marrin, nearly four turns older than he was, it was understandable that young Kasadel turned to his younger sister, Nakasha, for companionship: eighteen months younger than he was, Kash was the perfect age to be follower to his leader, something that was impossible with all those older siblings.

It was a happy, busy childhood; there was not much quiet to be had in that household. One by one, however, the older siblings moved on: several married into local families, while others joined crafts, or found professions at Tillek Hold. For Kasadel, it was reminder after reminder that he would have to do something pretty special in order to stand out; and it felt increasingly that everything he might do had already been done.

In his mid-teens, Kasadel discovered girls. For the first time in his life, he pulled away from his little sister, and tried to focus on this new interest, something he was convinced she was too young to share. Perhaps that's what made it easier to decide, when he was fifteen, that he was leaving... without her.

He went to Tillek, first, where two of his brothers lived. Caderin, third son, was a Vintner Journeyman there, and got Kasadel work in the Winery. It was hard work, and definitely not what Kasadel intended to do for long, but it was a start. A few months later, when the tithe left for High Reaches Weyr, with Edeline accompanying it on her way to seek sanctuary, Kasadel also went with it: guarding the tithe seemed like an improvement on crushing grapes.

At the Weyr

Kasadel arrived at High Reaches Weyr in Turn 17, with high hopes that some kind of opportunity would present itself to him there. He wasn't wrong: mere sevendays after his arrival, he was Searched by L'vae for Rielsath and Malsaeth's clutch, and became a Candidate. Having been searched, he immediately decided that it was his destiny to Impress bronze... and spent much of the next few weeks dreaming about his proud, charismatic lifemate-to-be.

When hatching day finally arrived, his dreams proved... somewhat correct. Certainly, he was found by bronze Cadejoth on the sands... but Cadejoth was not much like the dragon he'd imagined. Cadejoth was... not regal. Not aristocratic. Not ambitious. He was... childish, and fifteen-turn-old K'del (as he was now known) wanted to abandon such childishness. Even so, he found himself angsting over the fact that his family had not attended the hatching... and arguing with Tiriana, whom he simply could not stand. And possibly warping Cadejoth's little baby mind.

To K'del's horror, he did not get immediately chosen for the silver thread leadership programme, and found himself utterly determined to prove himself - more than ever before. It helped that Rascela, who had been chosen, was willing to share her notes with him; still, it rankled to have missed out. Some months later, he was offered the opportunity to replace Rascela... he refused, but was allowed to join all the same.

During weyrlinghood, K'del started sleeping with both Rascela and Milani, in a casual way. His liaison with Rascela trailed off relatively quickly, but Milani proved to be more long-term - if still very casual.

A Young Rider

At the end of Turn 18, K'del graduated from weyrlinghood, and was tapped into Avalanche Wing under L'vae. He liked riderhood: he was sixteen turns old, and had all the freedom he could possibly imagine. So many of his childhood friends were still toiling in Apprenticeship, but not him; life was good. His parents weren't necessarily thrilled with his attempts to bring his sister, Nakasha, into the world, but he was happy with the opportunities he had.

It was a few months into his riderhood when Satiet died. K'del had known that something was wrong, both via Milani and through his own eyes, but it was a shock. Worse, it came at a time when Milani's ex-boyfriend, A'son had returned to the Weyr... and she was attempting to patch things up with him. Although he was certain he didn't want long-term relationships, he missed her... and having the whole Weyr turn topsy-turvy over this leadership change only made things worse. Especially when it seemed like Tiriana, a woman he considered his adversary, would become High Reaches' next Senior.

Tiriana's Iovniath rose for her maiden flight on K'del's seventeenth turnday. A'son was her choice for Weyrleader, but he would have none of it: he stabbed himself in the shoulder to draw Nikoth out of the flight, and in doing so, created enough confusion that it was Cadejoth who caught the falling queen.

K'del was seventeen... and the Weyrleader.

Weyrleader

The next few turns were rocky. To say the least.

K'del quickly selected B'sil, one of the more experienced Wingleaders, to be his mentor, to help him through all the turmoil that would follow. With barely six months experience as a rider, K'del was in no position to be a leader-- and he knew it. It didn't help that raiders elected to make the most of High Reaches' inexperienced and mercurial leadership, culminating in a hanging that left K'del distinctly uncomfortable.

Even the land deal K'del had attempted to negotiate with Lord Aughan (via Yuliye, whom K'del found difficult to resist) fell to pieces: K'del had no idea whether he wanted Cadejoth to catch Iovniath in her next flight or not. Did he want to go down as a terrible leader, or have the opportunity to prove himself?

In amidst all of that, Nakasha ended up being searched to Fort Weyr... and then having to drop out when it was discovered that she was pregnant. Worse, she disappeared from the family home in Turn 21, leaving behind her infant son.

But at least K'del had Milani. Their relationship had grown more serious over the turns, despite K'del's initial inability to consider it anything more than casual. It bothered him more than he cared to think about when she got pregnant to K'ndro... and when it increasingly seemed as though he was unable to have children (despite still being under twenty).

Meteors fell on the Weyr in Turn 21, destroying the Star Stones and leaving massive damage in the bowl. A group of convicts were brought to the Weyr to help repair the damage, and soon after, Iovniath rose for her second flight - and was, again, caught by Cadejoth. More secure in his position, now, K'del was better equipped to deal with the repercussions of all of these things, though he was not necessarily pleased when several of the convicts, including Taikrin Impressed from the resultant clutch.

To his surprise, both Avey, a friend and occasional lover, and Milani turned up pregnant to him in Turn 22... and produced two sons for him: Kasey (b. Month 7, Turn 23, to Avey), and Nikalas (b. Month 9, Turn 23, to Milani). Sadly, Milani suffered intensely from post-natal depression after Nikalas' birth, and spent some months at Cove Hold to recover.

In Turn 26, the Weyr discovered a group of exiles, abandoned out in the western islands. They were brought back to the Weyr, eventually, just in time for Iovniath to rise in her third flight, and be caught by Cadejoth once again. A number of them Impressed from the resultant clutch, including Iolene to gold Ysavaeth. Worse, one of the young exile women, Seani, was found murdered in K'del's weyr after the hatching. Once again, High Reaches' situation was precarious.

K'del and Milani's relationship ended with more of a whimper than a bang: after nearly a decade together, they'd simply grown apart. For better or for worse, it left K'del quite open to the manipulations of Ysavaeth that had Cadejoth win her maiden flight... and commence a relatively casual relationship with once-exile Iolene. Tiriana broke his arm in retaliation, starting a downward spiral of actions that ultimately led to her being banished from High Reaches Weyr by fiat of the Weyr Council. Iolene was pregnant with K'del's child at the time, but lost the baby in mid Turn 29.

Lujayn's Rielsath ought to have been the next to rise, but it was Iolene's Ysavaeth who did (or so everyone thought) - caught, once again, by Cadejoth. Again, K'del was Weyrleader, but this time to a Weyrwoman he cared about-- which should have been a good thing.

It wasn't. Instead, Iolene's reign as Weyrwoman led to argument and discontent, and ultimately resulted in her murder by I'kris. Utterly bereft, K'del relinquished his knot and abandoned the Weyr, leaving it to Lujayn, whose queen was on the Sands, and two untried juniors, Azaylia and Brieli.

Rider Once More

It took losing a gold flight (Ali's Isyath's, at Fort) to bring K'del back to High Reaches. He moved into a new weyr, and attempted to pull his life back together, piece by piece. By the time the two young queens seemed ready to mate, he was determined to be ready to reclaim his Weyr-- he wasn't ready to let it go. But it wasn't to be: the two queens rose simultaneously, albeit on different continents, and though Cadejoth chased Hraedhyth, she was caught instead by Taikrin's Szadath, as Iesaryth was caught by H'kon's Arekoth.

Horrified at the idea that his Weyr would be led by two brownriders, K'del attempted to gather support: he would take his Weyr back. Initially, he was supported (and supported, in turn) H'kon, but that became all the more complicated after Brieli claimed the Acting Weyrwoman position for herself... and more still, when Iolene's pendant, lost for nearly a turn, turned up on H'kon's ledge. That resulted in a brawl.

Worse, after the hatching of the two clutches, Brieli announced to the Weyr that she was not Brieli, but Aishani Vijay, daughter of the man K'del had executed more than ten turns before.

On the 14th day of Month 6, Turn 31, the day after his twenty-ninth Turnday, K'del was promoted to Wingsecond of Taiga Wing.

Taiga Wingsecond

It turned out that K'del rather enjoyed being Wingsecond. He'd been flattered to be asked - he'd never really been chosen for anything before - and actually, it worked really well. It would've been better if things hadn't been so complicated at High Reaches: if he hadn't hated what Aishani and Taikrin were doing, if he hadn't found himself constantly at odds with people. He was involved in protests that were ultimately shut down by the queens; that, and Cadejoth's attempt to catch Isyath at Fort, started an argument with Azaylia, one that drew them apart.

Did he want to be Weyrleader again? He was increasingly unsure, except that... he knew he would do anything for High Reaches. Anything to save High Reaches.

Which made it hurt all the more when, after Aishani abruptly quit, Azaylia did not offer him the Acting Weyrleader position.

And what is a man who hasn't yet turned thirty supposed to do with his life after that?

(Feel sorry for himself, apparently.)

In the meantime, it's wasn't as though he hadn't been keeping himself busy: there was a secret project to work on, somewhere out-Weyr. He adopted Tayte's daughter, there were his sons... and then he's found out that he has fathered a daughter at Benden, with his sister's weyrmate, Eire. He's not allowed to claim Erika as his own, and that hurts, but it's comforting to know. Mostly.

He served as Acting Weyrleader Sisha's Weyrsecond for a time, but resigned his knot immediately following Hraedhyth's eventual flight. It felt... good, and also terribly wrong, to be out of the game, with the Weyr firmly in the hands of Azaylia and Z'ian. It was more difficult than he'd expected it to be, but he was just beginning to feel comfortable (despite various emotional ups and downs, including a burgeoning relationship with Ali, and another child on the way) when a shock accident (or was it?) left Z'ian seriously injured, and catapulted K'del into the Weyrleadership once more.