![[PICTURE]](TBIN2.jpg)
Tobin was born at Benden Hold, the son of two seacrafters who made their living carrying goods up and down the Benden River in long, low-set barges. When Tobin's mother's barge returned without a pilot, the general hold speculation was divided - some thought the woman had taken up with another man, the rest thought she had drowned. Tobin's father thought the latter, and gave the five-turn-old boy to his sister, Salless, to raise within the confines of Benden Weyr. His father has, since then, been rumored to be holdless, and has not been seen in turns.
Tobin grew up at Benden Weyr, fending off the bullies who picked on his small size, and fighting for every scrap of freedom he could scrape out from beneath his aunt's stern watch. Many, riders and weyrfolk alike, became the brunt of his practical jokes: which ranged from putting crawlies or dead tunnelsnakes in the girls' beds to pouring numbweed in the weyrlings' oil. One trick in his older turns caught him, though: when he tried to climb the sides of the Benden Bowl to impress a girl, he got stuck and stranded for quite some time, and was left with a secret fear of heights. He impressed his first firelizard, Dare, at the age of 8, and Dare chased off all other possible comers for many turns.
Several of the riders took an interest in the boy, pleased by his independent spirit. Deyaan cared for him like an older sister while she was at Benden, and T'garrick tried to make enough time to fill something of a father role in his life. K'rick and R'tan, among others, also taught him the fundamentals of the cards, the dice, women, and wine. At least at the first two, Tobin was naturally lucky.
Tobin hated the strict discipline of weyr life, and the confines of the bowl at Benden Weyr became a cage to him. He was entranced by stories of free life and easy living on the open seas, finding adventure at the helm of a ship. Because of his mother's 'accident', Salless forbade him to even think about it, but Tobin rarely listened, and ran away, headed for Nerat at the age of 14. With money he won playing cards, he managed to get passage on a ship called the Silver Shipfish - more of a small sailboat than anything. That was the turn of The Great Benden Storm , and the Silver Shipfish was caught in the storm. The ship, not designed for high seas, broke apart, and Tobin clung to the wreckage for much of the night. In the morning, he awoke on the shore of Ista Island, half-drowned.
He refused to be taken back to Benden (which he'd never escape from), and was determined to somehow earn passage to Seacraft Hall again. He had too much pride to be flown in on dragonback. He was searched by Melony for the last clutch under Deyaan, and, despite fears that this could trap him in the weyr forever, agreed to stand - on a bet. If he didn't impress, he'd get 75 marks, enough for passage to Seacraft hall with a bit to spare. If he did, he'd pay the Watchriders his winnings for the two turns of his Weyrling years. Apparently, his luck worked against him, and he impressed bronze Ashroth.
T'bin was a rebellious weyrling, always struggling for attention. He was fiercely competitive with G'rel, and protective of the other weyrlings. And he never went a day without getting into some fight or pulling some prank. He graduated and joined the Timor wing, where he earned a reputation as an excellent fighter of thread, who has gone ten turns without a single score. He also became known for his skill at the Dragonpoker table and his complete irresponsibility.
About a turn after he graduated, he began to get more erratic, and undermined good relationships with blueriders Filana and Aislinn, forsaking them for the Gambling Tables at Bitra. Three turns after that, he was up at Bitra more than ever, and his behavior got worse, revealing fits of irrational temper and deep-seated self-loathing for no clear reason. However, normally, he continued to play the dandy, always ready with a joke or a lightfingered con.
Recently, G'rel offered T'bin the position of Weyrsecond, but he refused it, claiming he was responsible for someone's murder, and would not be to blame for another one. Since his confession, he's gotten darker and darker, like one condemned...or an executioner. Only the presence of his new weyrmate, Sonya, managed to crack his grim armor.
Rumors about him abound, and he has, at various times, been called a thief, a liar, a hero, a lover, a murderer, and a bastard. They're probably all true. Ashroth is of a friendly, philosophical frame of mind, far more stable than his moody rider.