MASTER WOODCRAFTER CHANTHEN

Persona: Chanthen
Writing Status: NPC/Free
Age: 50
Gender: Male
Rank: Master Woodcrafter
Residence: WoodCraft Hall
Birthplace: Far Cry Hold
Father's Name: Chevan
Father's Rank: Journeyman Farmer
Mother's Name: Liethena
Mother's Rank: Journeywoman Wood Smith

Physical Description: The woodcraft master is about 5'11", with blue eyes, and of slim build, with silver-grey hair that has white streaks around the temples.

Personality: Chanthen is even-tempered, prone to smile a lot, and rarely yells, even (or maybe especially) at apprentices. He can be stubborn, and he likes to dream big; but the difference between him and many others is that he'll work in an organised and logical way to make his dreams into reality. He's not afraid to discipline apprentices and journeymen, but he does it judiciously and applies only as much as they need; he's not heavy-handed. However, he's not above making an apprentice redo a project two or three times until he's satisfied.

Life Story: Chanthen was born in a small Hold that looks to Lemos, right in the middle of the area that supplies most of the wood for the Northern continent. It wasn't surprising that he gained an appreciation for building and carving at an early age and was apprenticed to the Woodsmith Hall at 11. At 16 he earned his Journeyman's knot, and at 27 he became a master. Teaching comes naturally to him, and he has an affinity with working with children, and the Hall took advantage of that. He's spent most of his life in the Craft managing and teaching, and when the Woodcraft Masters' Council decided to build a second Hall on the burgeoning Southern continent, Chanthen was their unanimous choice to run it.

Unlike F'len, who was for a time one of Chanthen's special apprentices and whose specialty is small-scale carving, Chanthen's bent is more toward woodworking than carving, and his two loves are furniture and framing. He's especially looking forward to working with students at the new Southern Woodcraft Hall.

Chanthen married when he was in his twenties, a lovely black-haired lass, Deanna, with brown eyes and a loving disposition, and she bore him a son Ch'val, now a brown rider at one of the northern Weyrs, and a daughter Lithia, who looked much like her mother and later attained her master's rank in the Healer Hall. Deanna passed away about three turns back of a withering sickness that had been plaguing her for a number of turns. Losing her left a void in the master woodcrafter's life and was another reason he readily accepted the position on the Southern continent that the Master's Council offered to him.

Pet Name: Carver
Pet Species: Firelizard
Pet Colour: Bronze
Pet Description: Carver thinks he has a knack for tooling wood with his sharp claws and teeth, but his budding ability is questionable at the moment. Chanthen is trying to train him to retrieve small items and to carry messages, and the proud little bronze is eager to learn. Many of the apprentices have taken to Carver, also contributing to his "studies," although possibly not in the way Master Chanthen would prefer.