The lone wolf joins a pack now and again, only to be driven off. He seeks his own way, his own path to find where life takes him.
That was the journey of Santiago or more commonly just Tiago, wanderer and itinerant fighter crossing through the Northern Continent of Pern. But it was not always this way, his story truly began with Clan Dimitru, a group of traveling traders that operated out of the Nerat Penninsula. Life was good growing up with many siblings and cousins, till he was ten turns old when the caravan was attacked by holdless mauraders. Santi was left for dead, found later by would be rescuers from Nerat Hold and told he was the only survivor. He was taken in by the Hold guards as an apprentice/foundling, where he trained and learned to defend himself in ways that might have been useful if his family were still alive. As he approached manhood, he left the Hold and became a freelance sword for hire guarding other trading caravans all across the Northern Continent.
By chance, a stop at a Gather at Fort Hold borught some interesting faces and experiences into his life. After meeting some people from Ista Weyr, Santi(now known as Tig) journeys there and hires on as a Weyrguard. There he meets Rhikiad, a kleptomaniac teen from Telgar with whom he becomes quite attached while forming a rather turbulent association with the bronzerider Q'luin.
Months pass and Ista's new cook Tiarla turns out to be a member of Tiago's long lost family. Together they journeyed to Fort Hold where her parents had settled after the devestation of the rest of their clan, reuniting the orphan with the rest of his surviving family. Their adventures afterwards took them down into the Southern continent, encounters with pirates, wildlife, and more close calls than they ever imagined, they finally returned to Ista Weyr for good.
A clutch is laid at Ista, Tiago was not searched given his age at the time, but managed to stay close to his new family and friends who were candidates, such as Rhikiad for whom he had become rather obsessed with. He stood guard over the ground entrance during the Hatching while watching his cousin Tia impress. To everyone's surprise, one large bronze dragonet made a beeline straight for the exit and stopped right in front of the guardsman, impressing him. Renamed S'tao, the lone wolf is no longer alone.
Weyrlinghood sped by quickly, ties to his clutchmates growing strong as they worked together to join the fighting ranks of the Weyr. His obsession with Rhik (now Rh'iad) had only strengthened and upon graduation, the two of them chose to be weyrmates and indeed S'tao learned to confess his love as well.
Months pass and Sephiroth proves himself to be quite the virile bronze, joining several mating flights across Pern. Then came an accident during Fall which claimed the life of Ista's Weyrleader N'lon, leaving the Weyr in some chaos for weeks till the next queen rose. Despite the fact that he was barely out of weyrlinghood, Sephiroth caught senior queen Naomith at the next mating flight. S'tao becomes the leader of the pack. ;) It is rumored that Sr. Weyrwoman Corana's second child, a girl named Caytilin may actually be his.
As the turns pass, S'tao proved himself to be a decent if not a bit unusual Weyrleader with a strong sense of confidence and command, putting his experience as a guard to good use. Sephiroth proves time and time again that he is indeed his father's son, catching many a green and gold in flight. Even a chance visit to Fort Weyr resulted in a clutch with Hestiath while her weyrwoman Imogen presented S'tao with a daughter Isthia.
Several turns later, S'tao discovered yet another branch of his family in Nerat, two more cousins in the form of Gwynne and Ildenin who came to reside at Ista Weyr as well. They too Impressed and Wyn became the new Sr. Weyrwoman after Corana took ill and retired to Southern to recover, leaving Caytilin in her father's auspices.
In the thirteenth turn of the 10th Pass, Sephiroth lost the mating flight with Isyth, resulting in S'tao's retirement as Weyrleader after ten turns of service. Where this puts him now is yet to be seen, though there is definitely more 'beach time' planned with Rh'iad.
S'tao has continued on as the Wingleader of the Windjammer wing with his cousin Tia as his second. He was gravely injured during another tragic Threadfall over his home turf of Nerat, due to unforseen miscommunications resulting from inexperienced errors made by the new Weyrleader Q'luin. It took months of recovery, but Tig has continued to soldier on.
Sephiroth's Inspiration: http://iw08.wikidot.com/tiago
S'tao's Livejournal logs: http://wolf-fight.livejournal.com (Not prone to updates, see Rh'iad's journal for more complete logs.)
