Russel Kopek, District 10

Name: Russel Kopek
Age: 15
Gender: Male
District/Area: District 10
Appearance:

Russel wouldn't stand out in an aerial photograph taken from a hovercraft, not that there would ever be reason to take one of him. His black curly hair, which stops before the base of his neck, doesn't make that much of an impression on most. His eyebrows can't even be distinguished from underneath his curls; cauliflower ears don't come out much further from his locks.

His eyes, a murky hazel that's more brown than ivy, often appear to be locked on some far off point in the distance. In reality, Russel has perfectly average vision. They are separated by a nose with a wide, prominent bridge and small nostrils.

Russel's mouth is set above an angular cleft chin. His top lip protrudes more than his bottom one, which is thin. When he smiles he sure to open his mouth and reveal his large teeth in order to hide the difference in size between his lips.

His hands show the badges of the family trade in the many scars along his thick fingers. His palms are calloused from working with knives every afternoon. His nails constantly have a rusty appearance from the blood that stains them.

Russel is a bit under five and a quarter feet tall, but his broad shoulders make him appear taller. Most of his mass is in his upper body, which tapers down towards his waist. His legs are a little short in proportion to the rest of his body. His skin in fairly pale, similar to the color of a beach.

Russel's clothes are dark colored, making the bloodstains less apparent; his olive linen shirt and black linen pants would be described as mottled except under close inspection. His feet are covered by brown leather shoes, the result of an expensive trade for his birthday.

Personality:

Russel is very friendly; it's a pity he has such difficulty making friends. Either he is too overeager or rambles about something someone does care about. This hasn't stopped him from trying, however, and he does have a few people who he can talk to about his interests, namely being wrestling and riding, the latter something he doesn’t get a chance to do unless he sneaks onto a ranch.

He is also easygoing to the point of being a pushover. He will let anyone completely dominate him if it means spending time with them. He’s no fool though, and realizes that he is getting taken advantage of. Russel can be evasive when asked his opinions on things, or anything that will get him on someone’s bad side.

Russel is very diligent, doing his best to get any job done correctly and to its end. He only fails when he over commits himself to too many things at once. Even then he will get it done, too late but up to expectations. Sure, he might lose some precious hours of sleep, but a job well done satisfies something inside him.

Something that Russel keeps to himself is his hope for something better. People to respect him. Not having to live in poverty. Being able to ride whenever he wanted. But things like that come at a dangerous cost, so he knows to keep his mouth shut on this dream.

History:

Russel was born the second of four children, currently ranging in age from seventeen to six. His mother insisted that only their male children should have to sign up for tesserae; unlucky for Russel that he should be the only son of four children. Being the only son had its benefits, however, like not getting beaten up by any brothers, but Russel lacked any male playmates in his family. He also was teased mercilessly by his older sister, as well as his immediate younger one who is only a year younger than him. His parents worked long hours at the meat packaging plant outside their town.

Russel had difficulty in school, not in the classroom but with his peers. He understood the procedures for raising livestock and the methods of killing them more than well enough, but his animated answers resulted in his classmates finding him odd. At an early age the would laugh, but their actions and words toward him grew to be more vicious as the years went on. This troubled Russel, but he didn’t know what he could do about it that wouldn’t make it worse. A silver lining to the fights was that he learned a lot about wrestling, so much that now he is only ambushed by groups.

When he turned twelve and first became eligible for tesserae his mother insisted that he begin signing up for them immediately. His father, not one to push an argument, resigned to her opinion. Russel found this unfair, but couldn’t bring himself to complain. However, Russel did find some solace in his new work after school: cutting the meat in plant. It gave him something to pour himself into, learn about in depth, and commit (and over-commit) himself to. It is while working with the knives that Russel daydreams about the future the most.

Codeword: odair
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