Mateo Tidesong

[Mateo Tidesong]

Race: Human, Svefra
Gender: Male
Date of Birth: 53 Winter, 491 AV
Age: 24
Height: 5’9”
Weight: 165lb

Profession: Weaver/Sea Silk Spinner
Birthplace: Southern Suvan

Merits: Creative, Passionate, Adventurous, and Generous
Flaws: Stubborn, Hedonist, Brazen, Competitive

Likes: Swimming, making things, warm fires, stars, and rough seas
Dislikes: Sitting still, direct conflict, cooking, being alone for long periods of time

Gnosis: Oceanus 1 (Svefra SP)
Tattoos: Mateo’s Oceanus is a large swath of stylized waves that sweep upward on his left side from hip to wrist, broken up by tattooed bands of solid blue color—three bands (two thick, one thin) on his bicep and two bands (both thin) on his wrist.

The Tidesong paradisa, a common dolphin, is tattooed in a stylized fashion in the waves just above his left hip and ends below his ribs.

Two additional solid blue bands, one thick, one thin, are tattooed around his right forearm just below his elbow.
Scars: None

Fluent: Fratava
Conversational: Common
Poor: None

Mateo Tidesong

Physical Appearance:
Mateo stands at racially modest 5’9”; and weighs around 165lbs, casually inhabiting a lean, well-muscled body shaped by a life almost entirely spent at sea. Tan, salt-smoothed skin is decorated with a faint smattering of freckles, especially visible across the well-defined cheekbones of his face, his broad shoulders, and his back. Stylized waves in dark blue inked lines churn and swirl their way up his left side from hip to wrist, with a few of the waves washing over the top of his left hand. Broken up by five solid bands of varying width—three across his bicep and two on his forearm—the waves often appear in motion thanks to Laviku's gnosis. His hair is thick, curly, and an inky black that shines glossy in Syna's light, messily all kept out of his lagoon-blue eyes by some colorful scarf or another. Purposefully or not, he's almost always a few days shy of a fresh shave, dark stubble or a fair bit of beard hiding the hint of a cleft in his chin.

Mateo’s mode of dress is as simple and unobtrusive as possible when it comes to removal for swimming and diving, though it is very obvious that the Svefra is particular about his fabric choices and patterns. In warm weather, he wears whatever is in reach: loose, lightweight harem pants that tie just below the knees, a belt for his knife, a leather vest worn open, at least one colorful, hand-woven scarf, a shiny collection of bracelets and necklaces, and woven sandals only when necessary. Colder weather finds him adding to his daily wardrobe a plain white, long-sleeved cotton shirt under his vest and a charcoal grey wool half-cloak.

Personality:
Like the sea he was born into, Mateo Tidesong is always in motion. It's hard to keep the man still, and even harder to keep him focused unless he's foraging, spinning, sewing, or weaving (all of which thankfully require motion on his part). His passions are tied close to the sea, if only because he must spend a good deal of his time diving for pen mollusks in warm, shallow waters with sea grass to harvest their fibers to spin them into sea silk. When he’s not gathering his supplies, he’s preparing his haul, spinning it all into thread, and weaving something useful, and a good day is when someone else is satisfied with his creation. Making things out of such gifts from the sea for others is his way of honoring Laviku with his talents; he is thankful for all that lives in the sea under his god’s watchful gaze. Mateo finds his peace in the water or in front of his loom, both activities nearly meditative for the Svefra; devotions of his time and abilities to Laviku and his own people.

He's talkative, sometimes loud, hard to discourage, and generally easy-going and gregarious. He can be hard on himself and overly critical of his own work, and he has a very fierce competitive streak because of his creative passions. Mateo can be blunt and stubborn, sometimes biting off more than he can chew with his curious, adventurous nature. That said, he’s much more of a talker than a fighter—lucky to find himself in possession of an infectious laugh and an easy smile. He'd rather have a good time than argue, unless it's something he's opinionated about. Even then, he's easily distracted by such things as food, drink, and beach parties so facing his obstinate wrath is usually not an issue if one can swing some entertainment instead of punches. When necessary, however, Mateo is more than willing to fight, for life on the Suvan Sea is not one without violence.

He has absolutely no concept of personal space, let alone personal property, both of which have often capsized him into a storm of trouble. He has a bad habit of borrowing things that don't appear to be in use that strike up his curiosity and never return them, from unattended drinks at a bar to random keepsakes or shiny baubles people might actually miss simply because he finds them inspiring or interesting to his creative process. Anything can suddenly become a muse, willing or not. This tends to (mostly) unintentionally perpetuate the rampant distrust of his race, as well as land Mateo in difficult situations he can't always smile and talk his way out of.

History:
Mateo was born somewhere in the blurry middle of a large family, with four brothers and two sisters. His maternal grandmother was sister to the Tidesong Lia, both her and his mother were weaver and seamstress. His father and several other family members were hunters for the pod, fishing and diving and foraging.

From a very young age, Mateo was always happy in the water, capable of keeping up with his siblings, if not surpassing them, when it came to diving and digging up interesting things from reefs and sand. It was clear in his youth that he was not a hunter, however, having inherited his mother’s creativity and his Lia great aunt’s passionate stubbornness.

So, his mother happily took him under her wing and focused his often untamed and wiggly self through teaching him spinning and weaving. As he grew in abilities and showed lasting interest, she chose to share with him the delicate secrets of harvesting fibers from certain mollusks and preparing them to be spun into very delicate threads. These fibers could be carefully harvested without killing the creatures so long as the forager was careful, and the preparation took time but was well worth the effort, for the beautiful thread was a lighter but more durable form of silk. It was dull brown until the sun hit it, sparkling gold in Syna’s light, and a real treasure to weave with and behold. Truly, a Svefra sort of treasure and a gift from Laviku.

Mateo became very enamored with the whole process and found a lot of himself under the calm, quiet teaching of his mother. Sisal, sea silk, and a variety of other weaving methods were the bulk of his education, and the dark-haired Svefra enjoyed the strangely meditative and repetitive task of working at the loom. Still, when not busy with such things, he often wandered himself in trouble, especially anywhere on shore and not with kin who at least shared his loose definition of property and personal space.

Adulthood mellowed the Svefra some, and practicing his craft gave him a space to focus. He'd found a comfortable place in his pod and with his family, and the. the Djed Storm happened and changed everything. While the storm didn't wipe out his entire pod, he lost much of his family and his great aunt, the Lia, leaving the pod splintered and broken. Unable to deal with it all, he drifted for a while, traveling the Suvan Sea like a stray, sometimes spending time in cities and sometimes avoiding them for months at a time.

He feels the need to settle now, to find family again. He's just not sure what that's supposed to look like, longing for a pod or some other feeling of familiarity and support. Whatever that may be, he finds himself asking Laviku to show him soon.

Skills:

Picture	Skill	Experience	Total	Rank
	Weaving	20SP+10RB	30	Competent
	Swimming	10SP	10	Novice
	Foraging	10SP	10	Novice
	Sailing	5SP	5	Novice
	Sewing	5SP	5	Novice
#	#	#	#	#

Lores:

Svefra Culture
How to Harvest Sea Silk

Possessions:

• Simple leather vest
  
• Simple white sisal long-sleeved shirt
  
• Simple sea silk harem pants
  
• Simple undergarments
  
• Simple grey wool half-cloak
  
• Simple woven sandals
  
• Various colorful woven scarves (3)
  
• Bracelets of glass beads, woven seasilk, bone beads and wood beads (4)
  
• Necklaces of glass beads, woven seasilk, bone beads, etc. (2)
  
  
• 1 Waterskin
  
  
• 1 Leather Backpack which contains:
  
• Comb (Bone)
  
• Brush (Bone)
  
• Soap
  
• Razor
  
• Balanced Rations (1 Week’s Worth)
  
• 1 eating knife
  
• Flint & Steel
  
  
• Embroidery Kit
  
• Sewing Kit
  
• Toolkit, Crafters
  
• Loom (2)
  
• Spindle (2)
  
• Knife (2)
  
  
• Cooking Pot, Gallon
  
• Crock, 28oz
  
• Pan, 12”
  
• Dish, 8” (4)
  
• Cup, 10oz (4)
  
• Bowl, 5” (4)
  
• Fork, table (4)
  
• Knife, table (4)
  
• Knife, bread (1)
  
• Spoon, table (4)
  
• Spoon, serving (1)
  
• Cooking utensils (4)

Heirloom:
Spinning Wheel
Gifted to Mateo by his maternal grandmother, his heirloom spinning wheel can be used to spin a variety of fibers into yarn and thread such as wool and cotton, but it has been specially crafted to also spin byssus (or pen mollusk) fiber, harvested from large mollusks in warm shallow waters, into sea silk. It's light enough that he often takes it on deck or onto some nice beach to sit and spin thread, but usually he keeps it below with his looms.

Tavan:
Nylo the Common Dolphin (7ft, 285lb)
Mateo’s tavan is a young common named Nylo. He’s 8 years old and isn't always the most mature of dolphins, but then again, his Svefra friend has his moments, too. He’s a fabulous scout and hunting companion, often keeping both of them well-fed since Mateo totally lacks any interest in fishing or hunting. Nylo can be his own instigator for trouble, always hungry and willing to snatch food from anyone, anywhere, much to Mateo's chagrin. Nylo's pod was the family pod of the Tidesong Svefra, and just as Mateo lost most of his family, so did Nylo. The two are very close because of this.

Ledger:

Purchase	Cost	Total
Starting funds	+100 GM	100 GM
Knife, 2	- 1GM	99GM
Spindle, 2	- 6GM	93GM
Loom, 2	- 10GM	83GM
Toolkit, Crafters	- 25GM	58GM
Sewing Kit	- 18GM	40GM
Embroidery Kit	- 20GM	20GM
Scarves, 3	- 9SM	19GM, 1 SM
Simple Leather Vest	- 3SM	18GM, 8SM
Cooking pot, gallon	-3SM	18GM, 5SM
Crock, 28oz	-8SM	17GM, 7SM
Pan, 12”	-3SM	17GM, 4SM
Dish, 8”, 4	-4CM x4 = -16CM	17GM, 2SM, 4CM
Cup, 10oz, 4	-6CM x4 = -24CM	17GM, 4CM
Bowl, 5”, 4	-4CM x4 = -16CM	17GM, 8SM, 8CM
Fork, table	-1CM x4 = 4CM	16GM, 8SM, 4CM
Knife, table	-1CM x4 = 4CM	16GM, 4SM, 4CM
Knife, bread	-1CM	16GM, 4SM, 3CM
Spoon, table, 4	-1CM x4 = -4CM	16GM, 3SM, 9CM
Spoon, serving	-3CM	16GM, 3SM, 6CM
Cooking Utensils, misc	-2SM x4 = 8SM	15GM, 5SM, 6CM
Bracelets, Various materials	-1SMx4 = 4SM	15GM, 1SM, 6CM
Necklaces, Various materials	-5SMx2 = 10SM	14GM, 1SM, 6CM
Current Funds		14GM, 1SM, 6CM

Housing:
Mateo’s home is his casinor (Svefra SP option), like so many of his kind. His ship is on the larger side of the craft, nearly 30ft long, but only because it is also his workshop, much of the below decks has been modified to be used as space for his loom and various weaving and sewing supplies. If all neatly packed up and contained, there is still plenty of room for guests and his own sleeping quarters, as well as a modest kitchen and storage for food and other things.

His brothers and grandfather helped him build the casinor, dubbed the Wisely Woven, and the ship is very special to his memories because of this history.

Threads:

Flashbacks

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Summer 516 AV

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