Name/Nicknames: Bhavin Zimraan (Bhav)
Gender: male
Rank/Position: junior scientist (zoology)/Candidate
Age: 24
Birthplace: First Centauri

Physical Description: Bhavin is a true mongrel, the descendant of a long line of colonists for whom racial identities were a minor curiosity. 5'11" in height, he has an average, if athletic, build, with a smooth golden-brown complexion, short, neat black hair cut to ear- length, and cheerful blue-green eyes with a slight epicanthic fold. He has an abstract black tattoo encircling his right forearm, the family mark of his mother's trader kin. He's reasonably attractive, if not stunningly handsome. Bhavin will usually be found in practical work wear, but has a few lighter, more brightly coloured items that he wears when off-duty. He is something of a sun-lover and will often go shirtless when outside of New Landing's caverns.

Personality: Bhavin is a smart, self-sufficient young man who has learned to shrug off loss and look to the future. He is determined to do his part for the survival of the colony and has little time for the pessimists who think that Pern is doomed already -- to him, so long as there are still avenues left to explore, there is still hope. He regards the unknown as a challenge and is curious as to how the Dragon Program will work out -- not least because he rather likes the idea of flying but science always seemed more appealing than the sleds.

Observant, practical, and unafraid of hard work or of speaking his mind, he has a quick -- if sometimes cruel -- sense of humour and a tendency to hold grudges. He has leadership potential, though it is so far unrealised as he has always been a junior member of the science team until now. He's not currently involved with anyone other than Enkith but was in a three-way relationship for a while -- he's quite cheerfully bisexual and will flirt with both genders equally.

Background: Bhavin was born on First Centauri, the third child of Kanaye Zimraan and his then-wife Inayati. His mother left to return to her spacefaring roots when he was 12, and her departure spurred Kanaye to consider starting a new life away from the post-War climate of Centauri. Bhavin wasn't overly enamoured of the idea of going to Pern, but by the time the ships were ready to depart he had come around to the idea of adventure on a new world.

Life at Landing wasn't *quite* as exciting as Bhavin had hoped -- classes were still classes and his father always seemed to be busy. It took a while for him to realise that he would never see his mother or his elder sibs again and there were some fights when that reality finally sunk in. Bhavin took to exploring the surrounding areas with his friends as a way to escape the awkward atmosphere at home and soon became fascinated by the native plants and animals of his new world, applying to join the science team as a zoologist when he was 17. He spent much of his time collecting native beasts for study and it was one of these field trips that he acquired his first firelizard, when a tiny green beast launched herself from the sands to attack the rockmites he had spent the last hour collecting. Impressing while attempting to save his samples, Bhavin realised he had the sole survivor of a green clutch and took her back to Landing, naming her Aissa after a childhood friend on Centauri. Brown Zelig followed the year after, coming from the first clutch of his father's mentasynth-enhanced gold.

When Bhavin was 19, he started a relationship with Keon, a construction engineer a couple of years his senior. The two young men had been together for some seven months when Bhavin met Jaelyn, a botanist who had settled at Jordan River. Not wanting to choose between his two lovers, Bhavin instead introduced them and all three ended up sharing quarters at Landing. Life was good for the next two years... and then Thread came.

Jaelyn died in the first 'Fall, and soon after the grieving Keon elected to go North, as did Bhavin's younger brother, Talos, a trainee cartographer. Bhavin remained at Landing with the science team and the silence that followed the northern group's departure soon led him to believe that they were lost to him too, one way or another. With Kanaye involved in the fledgling Dragon Project, Bhavin divided his time between helping in the labs and working with the groundcrews after 'Fall. The move to the Jordan River settlement kept everyone busy and in the midst of all the upheaval, Bhavin decided that there was no point in mourning what was lost and that just getting on with his life was the most practical course to take.

Recently, he was tasked with helping to tend the eggs in the hatching rooms, keeping them turned and watching for problems with the artificial shells. Given this close association with the eggs and his desire to do what he could to help the colony survive, he applied for Candidacy -- after all, he already had two firelizards and couldn't see the engineered versions being that much more trouble, just bigger and smarter. He rather liked the idea of Impressing a queen dragon, and made sure that he was closest to one of the gold-containing shells at the first hatching, but Ninhursath had her own ideas about who she wanted as a partner and selected Zyena instead. Bronze Enkith, however, found Bhavin to be ideally suited to his needs and made sure that the young scientist got to go on to the next stage of the Dragon Project at the business end.

Family/Friends:
Father: Kanaye Zimraan / 56 / senior scientist / New Landing
Brother: Talos Zimraan / 20 / cartographer / Northern Continent
Sister: Ayami Zimraan / 16 / hydroponics student / New Landing
Partner: Keon Aitan / 25 / construction engineer / Northern Continent

Hobbies & Skills: Bhavin loves exploring and collecting the native creatures that share his new home and gets a very real thrill out of discovering anything new. As a sideline to his official studies, he got into the habit of checking the edibility of the less-poisonous of his new finds, no matter how disgusting-looking, and has by now probably sampled more Pernese wildlife than anyone else on the planet. He's a decent cook, though he's more likely to be found stir-frying shellfish on the beach than in an actual kitchen.

If your persona were a song, the title: "Get Over It", the Eagles

Pets: two firelizards -- green Aissa, and brown Zelig. Aissa is a small, solidly-emerald green from a wild clutch. She's a happy creature, if not overly bright, and likes sitting on top of Bhavin's head if he will allow it. Zelig is a mentasynth-enhanced brown, large and tawny with darker mottling on his upper surfaces and a loudly bossy personality.

Dragon's Name: Enkith
Age: infant (hatched 08.01.11)
Color: bronze

Physical Description: Enkith is a dark bronze, with hide the colour of tarnished brass, lightening a little on his belly and the trailing edges of his wing membranes. He has a long tail for his age and is one of the larger hatchlings, filling out fast from his scrawny appearance at birth.

Personality: Enkith is a curious dragon who likes to observe new things and has a tendency to head for the highest vantage point he can get to in order to watch everything below -- unlike many of the dragons, he preferred to be carried as a hatchling as it meant he could see more of what was going on around him. He has an aggressive streak that several unlucky candidates still bear the scars of, and will not hesitate to lash out with teeth and claws if he feels threatened by anything.