Nocker
Nockers are the artisans among the Kithain, able to craft the stuff of dreams into whatever they desire. Their creations are always flawed, however, and their knowledge of this curse makes them irritable and quick to anger.
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Nockers are master artisans. Their skill and inventiveness are legendary; so is their cynicism and bitterness. Typically, they are highly critical of their rulers and eminently sarcastic of the people around them. Most nockers dislike having to deal with "imperfect" things, including people. Most prefer to surround themselves with treasures of mechanical wonder and ingenuity, instead. Things are much more reliable than people, and they're much easier to fix. Nockers are also known for their great talent for crafting chimerical inventions.
A nocker's standards of perfection are impossibly high. These Kithain got their name from their habit of constantly rapping on things to inspect their quality. Unfortunately, they treat others the same way. They continually "knock" others by insulting them, testing their reactions and trying to find their faults. While this is a great way to test machines, it doesn't work as well with people. As far as nockers are concerned, they've elevated ridicule to a high art form. This hardly improves their popularity.
Nockers are also fiercely individualistic. Once one has selected her tastes in artwork and craftsmanship, she immediately condemns everyone else's. When she works, she develops a style of craftsmanship that defines the work as hers. Anyone else's attempt is second best. Then again, nocker's creations are an expression of her identity: if her work is no good,then she's no good.
Nockers have other weaknesses, but they will never admit to them. They usually yearn for an escape from their flawed lives: music, treasure and even courtly love attract them. Denied ambitions stir the passions they bury beneath their work. Romantics pity nockers. Their cynical facades, the romantics say, hide the fact that they can never attain what they truly desire. In fact, if they did attain their desires, it would cease to be so appealing. In any attempt at romance, a nocker will wear at the minor flaws of a relationship until the magic is gone. Tinkering is the only surcease from a life trapped in such an imperfect world. The dream if everything; reality is a disappointment.
Pursuing their obsessive and passionate natures, nockers lose themselves in creation. Their greatest creations are in the chimerical world. It's hardly surprising that they excel at creating things that could never be. Their mundane lives may never mirror the vision of their art, but not for lack of trying. Whatever their chosen mediums, they strive to make their dreams real.
