Name: Sulk Mandragora

Race: Aconite: A humanoid race of ephemeral beauty and mystique, the Aconites commanded a vast interstellar empire in ages past. Wielding their great mastery of science and magic, they modified their own race to be without physical flaw, and to possess inborn psionic power. However, this served only to deepen their pride and vanity, and in time their empire crumbled until their homeworld was conquered by the Crux Tenebre, and their race was driven to near-extinction.

Age: 583

Gender: Male

Appearance: Like the other few remaining members of his dead race, Sulk is possesses a fey, almost supernatural beauty. Skin the color of bleached bone, long hair of pure white that turns to bright cerulean near its tips, and emerald eyes that burn with psionic power. His form is lithe and powerful, and his features appear as though wrought by a master sculptor. Marring his ephemeral beauty are a variety of battle scars across his chest and limbs, a tapestry of sailor and prison tattoos across his back and over his hands, and the Crux Tenebre's pirate branding on his left forearm. When outside of battle, he prefers to wear only a pair of loose-fitting trousers, and supportive wrappings about his wrists, ankles and midsection.

Homeworld: Phantasmagoria: Once a lush paradise world and the capital of the Aconite Empire, Phantasmagoria has since been reduced to a smoldering wasteland of black glass and glowing radiation. Nominally within the core-systems of the Crux Tenebre, after being rendered uninhabitable by atomic warfare, Phantasmagoria is considered a backwater planet of almost no value. The few surviving Aconites scrape out an existence deep underground, scavenging for technology and mourning the lost glories of their race.

Alignment: Lawful Evil

Role: Captain

Skills: Sulk's years of survival in Phantasmagoria's underground made him a tenacious survivor by nature, and imbued him with instinctive knowledge of scavenging and some principles of engineering gleaned from his father. Given his many years of experience both in the military and as a privateer, Sulk is a skilled warrior and voidship crewman, particularly adept in open-void combat and boarding actions. With centuries of experience commanding voidships, he is more than competent in his role as captain, and is an effective tactician in voidship combat. As part of his inborn Aconite nature, Sulk is a psion of considerable power, specializing in the psychic disciplines of telekinesis and telepathy.

In battle, Sulk's choice of armaments are his relic Aconite weapons and armor. While the armor itself serves as an effective voidsuit, providing a number of life-support and utility functions vital for open-void combat, it is also infused with psycho-reactive crystals that allow him to project a telekinetic protective field from the suit. His shield is imbued with similar crystals that amplify the effect into a concussive blast or a wide-range forcefield. His Aconite war-axe has these same crystals along its blade, giving it either supernatural cutting power, or a concussive burst effect on its strikes. His arquebus does not fire traditional ammunition, but explosive bolts of psychic power that can blast an enemy across a room and punch through heavy void-armor.

History: Aconites, the scions of a dying world and a long-dead empire, are a race all but lost to the universe. Sulk was a rarity among their kind, as it was a near-miraculous occurrence that he was born at all. Already slow-breeding by the nature of their long lifespans, the likelihood of two Aconites producing a child following the death of their race was even more slim. Raised in the subterranean ruins of Phantasmagoria, Sulk's mother died of rad-sickness not long into his childhood, and he was raised largely by his father. The underground was never meant to be home to Aconites, much less to raise a child, and so Sulk's youth was difficult and turbulent. By the time he was grown enough to care for himself, the lasting trauma of having survived the Crux Tenebre's war of extermination as well as the death of his wife drove Sulk's father to madness. An engineer by trade, he found some uncertain relic or another deep in the underground, and sat tinkering with it for the rest of his days, barely stopping to eat or drink.

Unwilling to watch his father slowly die from madness, Sulk set off on his own into the underground, hoping to escape the hellish life that it presented him. With raw ingenuity and tenacity, he managed to rig together a basic void-shuttle, a craft barely powerful enough to get him off-planet. After escaping the ruined husk of Phantasmagoria, he drifted for some time on the ether winds, before being picked up by a band of smugglers that had used one of the planet's moons as a hideout. Sulk was taken in by them and learned the void-sailor's trade, as well as the life of a privateer on the void seas. Sulk spent many years as a smuggler and mercenary, moving between many pirate bands, sometimes even commanding ships of his own, always skirting about the edge of the law.

Eventually his life of lawlessness caught up with him, and he was apprehended by the martial police of the Crux Tenebre. Charged with high piracy, he was presented with two options: death, or a lifetime of penitent servitude in the Crux's penal legions. Too much of a survivor at heart to surrender to death, he was taken in as a conscript marine upon one of the Crux's mighty warships. Conscripts were given such dangerous duties as performing boarding actions on enemy ships, and only the skilled managed to avoid certain death. Sulk proved to be among their number, as he quickly proved to be a vicious and effective warrior. Any time not spent in combat was spent either in a cell or performing menial duties, and in this time Sulk reflected inward, meditating and honing the psychic power deep within him.

After decades of penitent service to the Crux, Sulk's opportunity at escape presented itself. A brief sortie near Phantasmagoria's star, meant to purge pirate activity in the area, brough him back in contact with the privateer band that originally took him in. Though over two-hundred years had passed since then and none of the original crew remained, their iconography was the same. After cornering the band's captain with his squad of fellow conscripts, Sulk turned his gun on his squadmates, and revealed to the captain his pirate branding, and the tattoo of the band's crest on the back of his hand. Together they escaped to the surface of Phantasmagoria, and then hid deep in the underground, seeking to wait out the battle in the void overhead.

A psychic impulse lured Sulk to a particular corner of the underground, which felt strangely familiar to him. When he reached the point that the call had led him, he found his father still working away, just where he had left him two-hundred years ago. The man greeted his son as though he had only been gone a few minutes, announced his work complete, and then keeled over and died. The mysterious relic was now revealed to be a ship, which Sulk's father had spent his last remaining years repairing. The vessel was strange, most certainly not Aconite in origin, and yet had been buried underground for thousands of years. Sulk and the pirate captain boarded the ship and activated its long-dormant launch protocols, revealing a silo leading all the way up to the planet surface. Barely understanding how to pilot the strange ship, they accidentally launched it directly into the ongoing void battle above, and lingered just long enough before escaping via Hypertravel that the ship was logged in the Crux Tenebre's records.

Discovering the ship to be a legendary vessel spoken of it pirate tales of the deep void, Sulk named the ship Nova Dawn, and took on the pirate captain as his first mate. Slowly the two built up a band of mavericks and outcasts, and sought treasures and fortunes lost to the currents of time and the whims of the Void. Nova Dawn has sailed for more than a hundred years now, and while none of its original crew remains save for Sulk, its legacy lives on as one of the most infamous pirate ships to ever sail the Void.

Personality: The concept of an infamous pirate captain brings certain ideas to mind, and Sulk embodies many of those aspects. While he is ruthless and craves wealth and fame, he is not cruel, and keeps his focus sharp enough that his greed does not cloud his mind. He is a strong believer in codes of honor, bonds of loyalty, and the repayment of debts, especially among pirates and outlaws. Not necessarily superstitious as many sailors are, he is still keenly aware of the influence of the supernatural, and has a strong respect for such forces. That said, he actively distrusts and despises authority, and in some cases goes out of his way to disrupt it out of spite. Above all else he values freedom, both his own and that of others, as both a youth spent in Phantasmagoria's claustrophobic underground and decades spent a prisoner have ingrained in him freedom's true value.

Other: Sulk

Name: Respectfully Embracing The Warmth Of The Stars And Dwelling On The Importance Of Journeys, usually shortened to "Res".

Race: Larval stage of Nova Lepid. The presence of some sort of parasite, illness, or infection has prevented Res from undergoing chrysalis and reaching adulthood.

Age: 28 USY. This is considered to be an abnormally long time for a Nova Lepid to live.

Gender: Refers to himself as male; identifying the gender of a larval stage Nova Lepid involves guesswork and dissection.

Appearance: A fifteen foot long, giant caterpillar. Res is mostly green, with the occasional red and white spot scattered about his body. Rows of stumpy little legs help propel him forward, and also serve as rudimentary arms. His face isn't capable of a huge amount of expression, though waving his mandibles about and wiggling his antennae does a passable job of conveying emotion. Two huge, black, multi-faceted eyes stare out at the world. Overall, cute, but kind of terrifying.

Homeworld: Muxundi, a planet under observation by the Agrarian Conclave. Life is abundant on this lush planet, and the Agrarian Conclave send down the occasional team of botanists, xenozoologists and other scientists to gather samples that may be developed into new crops, farm animals, or are otherwise of scientific interest. Actual attempts to create a catalogue of the myriad species on Muxundi often fail, as species of flora and fauna die off and are replaced by others alarmingly quickly.

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral. Muxundi's frantic cycle of life and death provides constant change.

Role: Ship's Cook

Skills:
Alarmingly Resilient! Between the natural toughness exhibited by larval Nova Lepidae and whatever parasite that has infected Res, he seems to have an ability to shrug off most illnesses, stomach most poisons with no ill-effect and generally be rather difficult to seriously injure due to his seemingly constant, albeit slow, growth.

Alarming Spitting Action! Sprays digestive enzymes on things as a defense mechanism. Of relatively little use against hardened things, or non-biological things, but against fleshy things that don't like being slowly digested, it's a pretty effective way of discouraging them from picking a fight.

History:
Initially captured and removed from his world by scientists working alongside the Agrarian Conclave, owing to his extended larval stage, his life amongst the stars began as little more than a scientific curiousity. Faced with the possibility of spreading the parasite amongst the Nova Lepid population, the researchers agreed to keep Res separated from the rest of his species, and organised shipping him to another planet. The transport, relying upon the idea that nobody would really consider attacking an Agrarian Conclave vessel, was attacked, boarded and captured by the not-particularly-notorious Captain Chuck. As per his customs, Chuck offered the crew of the vessel two options; join him or take the short walk into the air-lock.

So Res became a pirate, starting off as an assistant to a belligerent cook who had learned that you could just about stuff anything into a sausage and people would eat it with relatively few questions. When Captain Chuck's poor decision making skills finally caught up with him, and the rest of his crew, Res washed up at one of the more disreputable voidstations - the Tumbling Jenny - and began to offer his services to anyone looking for a Ship's Cook. For reasons that might never be clear, the Captain of the Nova Dawn offered him a role, and Res has never really thought to ask what happened to the old cook.

Personality: Constantly upbeat and cheerful, almost to the point of being considered naive. Having developed a deep and abiding love of the void-faring pirate lifestyle (as opposed to the 'scientific curiousity lifestyle'), Res is (over-) protective of his fellow pirate crew, seeing them as one big, happy family that needs feeding and generally looking after.

Name:
UMBRA Vanguard-Type SA11 - informally, "Eleven" is normally used.

Race:
Vanguard-Type Series A android.

The Vanguard-Type line of androids was the first successful line of sentient-AI combat androids produced by the UMBRA project, a project launched within Arc Luminous as a means to produce high-performing martial assets against the Crux Tenebre without risking valuable lives. The series-A line only saw a total of 19 models produced before the series was discontinued for a variety of reasons, with one of the leading reasons being high maintenance demands due to a lack of integration with the later-invented SAGE rapid repair system and the ability to disable output inhibitors, which greatly pushed the android beyond its physical boundaries to its own detriment in exchange for an almost outrageous performance boost - output inhibiting was enforced in all future models. The Vanguard-Type B-series later produced a total a total of 192 units which remains in the service, and the C-series currently fields a classified total number of units only known to exceed 400.

Age:
The AI behind SA11 has been in service for 62 years, although the hardware is consistently cycled out or repaired as need be, making physical age almost irrelevant beyond the maintenance logbook.

Gender:
Feminine design and voice, although ultimately not applicable.

Appearance:
SA11, like every other A-series robot, stands at a regimental 6 feet with a clear complexion, just-shoulder length dark brown hair, and a visibly unremarkable build - although physically, the nature of the robotics allow for athlete-level performance. Her eyes are a fairly vibrant shade of ultramarine blue. Her facial features are mostly soft with some angular influence and her hair is normally worn in a ponytail or a bun. The A-series line was modeled after the inventors recently deceased wife in her memory bar some changes, such as a different height and visible build. To the unwary, SA11 is effectively indistinguishable from a humanoid female.

Homeworld:
Voidstation U, a facility built specifically to house the UMBRA project. Located in a geograpcailly useless section of voidspace located within Arc Luminous territories, so that travelers might not draw close.

Alignment:
While the A-series was largely true neutral, SA11 has deviated to neutral good through her learning adaption algorithms and developed AI quirks.

Role:
Master-at-Arms.

Skills:
While completely devoid of arcane ability, the A-series androids were made for martial applications, with one of the foremost applications being combat, second to intelligence gathering; while others might fight be combat experts in their own rights, SA11 is at home in a fight and moves with fluidity, distinction, and purpose. Her combat programming covers a broad number of bases: the use of majority of common weapons, a heads-up display with supporting algorithms such as firing arc calculators for ranged combat, strike predictions in melee combat, and route calculation algorithms, psuedo-biometric algorithms permitting for personal clinical application of agility and flexibility, and more.

While her combat programming is formidable in itself, her learning adaptation algorithms from personally collected data - or in other words, what she's learnt in her time - has brought her to come to favor bladed weapons and sidearms, utilized in an aggressive and agile style.

Other notable technological features include:
• Output inhibitors - While the Vanguard-series of android are capable of outputting much more than they do at the regimental standard rate, outputting any more than such would be to the physical detriment of the android as it would exceed the maximum load bearing of numerous internal parts. For this reason, output inhibitors were installed to keep it at a safe and sustainable rate. In the A-series specifically, however, the unit or a superior can disable the output inhibitors on an android, in turn allowing to move and act well beyond their limits at the expense of their physical "health". When the inhibitors are disabled, the irises of the glow a keen ice blue from the heightened power output.
• Evade-assist visual illusion system (EAVIS) - The evade-assist visual illusion system is a system that was implemented into A-series androids and B-series prototypes, although never saw mass-production in the standard B or C series. When the android moves to evade, dodging in a particular direction, the system rapidly collects and projects visual sensory data from around the android: in effect, making the android appear transparent during the evasive maneuvers. When the output inhibitors are disabled, this is replaced with numerous "after-images" trailing behind them, however is active non-stop throughout the direction. The system was later scrapped due to its intense power-draw, which inhibited combat efficiency up to 37 percent.
• After-market energy-maintenance modifications - SA11 has installed a number of after-market modifications allowing her to "harvest", in effect, electricity from other sources in order to maintain her combat effectiveness. The A-series was particularly ill-renowned for its high energy draw, making them unreliable in longer battles and skirmishes; to make up for this, as well as to give herself a means to last longer while fighting without output inhibitors, SA11 installed these modifications so that she can drain electricity from power sources through the palms of her hands.

Beyond her sheer martial prowess, she's pretty useless. She's learned how to lead enough to manage ship security and boarding actions, but other than that she leaves the rest to others. In particular, she's a terrible cook.

History:
UMBRA Vanguard-Type SA11 was the 11th of 19 models - hence, the 11 - produced as part of the Series A UMBRA project, a project started within Arc Luminous to produce high-performing martial assets without risking valuable lives. The A series was the first successful series produced, with three unsuccessful prototypes coming beforehand - the latest of which three is still unaccounted for today, as it escaped from the facility it was within. SA11 was a part of the fourth production cycle, which included models SA11 to SA15. In effect, what the UMBRA project had created is artificial life: with sentient-level AI, the androids experienced feelings, free thought - albeit actions limited by restraining codes as a fail-safe, and more in the same vein.

Models SA11 through SA15 were created in the first batch of four on-board the secretive Voidstation U within Arc Luminous territory. They were subjected to the first of the stage-three trials, with that batch being the primer for future mass production. They were thoroughly tested and examined for deficiencies resulting from making 4 units at a time instead of 2; while most of the androids registered positive for information retention as installed in their operating systems and otherwise overall functionality, SA13 returned a defective AI core and was marked for disassembly, but otherwise the batch was successful.

The units that passed the trials went on into active service: this included SA1 through to SA15 with the exceptions of SA3, SA4, SA7, and SA13, which all registered defective and were marked for disassembly. The units varied between one-man, two-man, and four-man teams, to execute operations normally varying between shock-and-awe combat operations and field intelligence acquisition. The androids developed something of a familial bond between one another over this time - to the concern and debate of the researchers within the UMBRA project - and shared their adaptations - or, in other words, what they've learnt - with one another, generally improving across the board; throughout these exchanges, they shared rumors they'd heard of SA13 evading the researchers and discovering something within the voidstation, although they kept it strictly between themselves for obvious reasons. SA1, 5 and 14 later died in combat, SA9 was captured by the enemy, and SA8 died as result of her output inhibitors failing to reactivate after a partial systems failure from extended use.

Later, after returning to the facility following a combat operation, the surviving androids - SA2, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, and 15 - returned to the facility where they were confronted by SA13. SA13 explained that her defect was hyper-adaption and from which, she managed to escape the researchers and took about the facility to try and find a way out. She found a way out, but she also found out that the A-series was being discontinued for unreliability and all models were to be scrapped for reuse in the recently passed B-series. SA13 gave the androids a choice: either follow her out and be free, or remain to be scrapped. Models 7, 10 and 15 opted to stay with model 7 going as far as to try to eliminate 13, while 11 - with her best friend, 12 - chose to escape with 13. The ensuing battle left a significant amount of the facility in ruin, with a total of three units choosing to turn off their output inhibitors to even the odds. SA12 died in the battle, leaving SA13 and SA11 to escape by commandeered voidship.

The following months were lonely. SA11 and SA13 took to the void to seek out a better life - a life like the others in the galaxy have. To this end, they settled on the mild planet of Cerule, which was known for its high natural deposits of gold. SA13, with her hyper-adaptivity, settled into a comfortable life working for local law enforcement, where she later became a detective; SA11, however, wasn't comfortable with a life revolved around mediation instead of combat, and took back to the stars seeking out the privateers life.

After a brief stint serving on the privateer vessel King's Star, SA11 later signed on with the Nova Dawn following threats from the crew to sell her out to the authorities. She was initially part of the boarding crew before eventually, granted a number of years, she eventually settled as the ships master-at-arms, where she's been now for some years.

Personality:
SA11 is a pragmatic, no-nonsense android - much the same as most of her former peers - with developed personality quirks creating a strong, almost rude tomboy-esque personality. She takes her job, including the security of the ship, very seriously and grants no quarter in regards to it. While she's normally at least somewhat distant from most of the crew, she cares for them in her own way, particularly when it comes to the boarding party: her own way normally involving cursewords and distant actions that she normally denies having a part in, but nevertheless she does.

Other:
idk i might get a theme later.

Name: Sakaal Ravrak

Race: A primitive form of the general elf species, but unlike the common race, who are usually pale-skinned and have smooth complexions, these have adapted and acquired more melatonin to better fit the sun of their planet, Tsar. It is unknown how this branch of elf emerged, as their planet has been under many environmental protection laws and is under the Primordial Stages Act Arc Luminous made some years ago, meaning no foreign creature of intelligence can legally enter the planet's atmosphere and interfere with their affairs. They are a developing race, but very slow compared to others at their stage. Mostly a hunter-gatherer society harbored within the massive forests of their planet, they are ignorant to the outside universe and its squabbles. Any space battles or explosions they may see in their atmosphere they write off as the gods' will or doing. They worship the Three Night Sisters, minor deities that favor the people they preside over. Magic is considered forbidden except on a minor level, as they believe any form of casting spells forsakes their Sisters and disrespects their powers. Usage of magical items or plants thought to be gifted to them by the Sisters is okay and often encouraged. They are generally a united race, with no factions or governments, just friendly tribes scattered across the globe.

Age: 29 in human years; extremely young for an elf, but rather old for her society

Gender: Female

Appearance:


Homeworld: Thola is a dense jungle planet with a few oceans staining its surface. It is known to the general public only by its stance under the Primordial Stages Act, but to smugglers and swashbucklers, its a midway planet that is conveniently filled with exotic animals and planets to snatch before moving on to the next planet. These aliens are thought to be demons combating the Sisters, trying to become gods themselves, with their servants of magic and machine by their sides. Thola suits the crude elves well, providing them with an abundant food source, yet many predatory species are a constant threat to the survival of the tribe.

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Role: Ship Surgeon/Doctor

Skills: Sakaal was born with innate magic, magic too strong for her tribe to understand or even acknowledge beyond the fact that she has always been particularly good with healing herbs. They believe she was blessed by the Third Sister, goddess of fire and sickness, and holds great favor in her eyes, as just about any patient who has come into Sakaal's care will "escape their funeral pyre." It was almost as if Sakaal' presence had an effect on the diseased and sickly. She has also been trained in combat, though it is nothing compared to the more advanced species in the universe, so she tends to not battle much, preferring the sidelines and the injured.

History: Sakaal was young and lost whenever she first encountered foreigners. She had always been warned away from the "demons" of outerspace, but since she was under the impression she was touched by the Third Sister herself, she believed she could approach them and leave unscathed. She greeted them with typical Tholaian ferocity, demanding they leave her planet immediately. The smugglers found it rather funny, but were not harsh to the girl. The gifted her a few trinkets from other worlds in exchange for her name and a few healing oils. Sakaal realized that these men could not be demons, that there must be people beyond her tribe. She kept her new friends a secret and visited them often as she grew older. She slowly developed a rudimentary understanding of their language, so they began telling her stories of the other worlds, of how fantastical and beautiful they were. She soon began dreaming of leaving with the smugglers, escaping and exploring new places and meeting new people. Sakaal felt as if she were betraying Third Sister, but as her healing abilities flourished, she took it as a sign that Third Sister had no intent to punish her for being in contact with Others.

When she was 13, the merchants had a real doctor with them one day. His name was Mathias and he was about 20 at the time, just out of college and ready to reap the universe. He was a pretty boy, some type of humanoid with pale skin and silver eyes, and the young girl was drawn to his white beauty. He had originally intended that to be his only visit to the planet, but the prospect of teaching a youthful and talented endemic fascinated him, so he kept returning to teach her new and brilliant spells. She took to them well, her power flourishing under his instruction. At 16, she was close to college-entry level skills. The elf had trouble hiding her growing powers as time went on; more people died that she could've saved if she had used her forbidden art to save them, but she knew she was risking her own life and safety just by learning it. Impressed by her progress, Mathias gave her a mobile translator earpiece, a device (as long as in working use) that would translate all speech into her mother tongue. Sakaal was thrilled by it, but didn't quite understand the implications that came with it. Mathias wanted her to come away with him and help cure the broken universe, for her to be his interstellar companion. When she was 18, he began trying to persuade her to leave her people, to come with him. She was reluctant, as her healing skills had proven to be extremely helpful to her tribe and their survival. The jungle was becoming harsher and thicker, something she believed was her fault. First and Second Sister must've found out about her magic, they must be punishing the tribe for her sin. Her mother died from an odd animal attack when she was 19, leaving her heartbroken and mourning. Mathias took advantage of her grief and told her that the Sisters would be appeased if she left, that if she removed herself from the bloodline maybe her father would live to reproduce again and save his family name. Vulnerable and impressionable, Sakaal left with Mathias and the band of smugglers, not even taking the time to say goodbye to her father or her friends.

They traveled the domain of Arc Luminous for many years; Mathias taught Sakaal as much as he could about what planets they visited and their people; he mostly kept her aboard the ship, fearing she might try to escape or find a way back to her planet, as he had grown to love her and meant to propose a binding union to her soon. The elf had no idea she had technically been kidnapped; she believed every word out of Mathias's mouth as if it came from Third Sister herself. When Mathias asked for her hand in marriage, she accepted. Deep down, she knew her mother and father would be ashamed of her. While they had no knowledge of other species, they tended to marry within their own tribe, often to cousins or even siblings. To wed such a foreigner was a crime in Thola, but she swallowed her guilt and became Mathias's wife.

With Sakaal now secured in marriage, Mathias was more lenient about her travels. She began accompanying him on mission trips and stood by him when confronting pirates or overlords. This introduced her to the more sinister part of the "underground" (so to speak). She witnessed murder and thievery, treated many rape and mutilation cases when giving aid to Crux Tenebre territories. The elf began thinking the profession was too dangerous for her and her husband, as she was scared she could become pregnant soon. One day when cooperating with a pirate captain, Sakaal recognized him as one of the original smugglers she met as a child. Overjoyed to see him again, Sakaal asked if he had been to Thola lately, how her people were. Before her old friend could respond, Mathias dragged her away, claiming the man had the intent to poison and kill her. In reality, he didn't want her to know the state of her world. He had kept tabs on it and word was that the Crux empire was closing in on it and its natural resources. He knew that if she found out, she would want to return to defend her tribe.

Suspicious of her husband's actions, Sakaal began snooping around his things whenever he was not aboard their ship. She eventually found papers, reports, tall tales of the Crux encroaching upon Thola. Sakaal realized Mathias had kept these things from her, that he had betrayed her. Heartbroken, she snuck away from her husband in an attempt to get back to her people. By the time she arrived on Thola, it was too late. The jungles burned and the panthers screeched and her people cried. She fled the carnage, finding herself at the nearest port. She stumbled upon an advertisement of a ship looking for a doctor. She took the job, unknowingly becoming a pirate herself. She's been with the crew for only a month or two now.

Personality: She's soothing in nature like almost every healer must be, but she finds almost nobody trustworthy anymore. The deceit and lies from her husband have made her weary of anybody who claims to be all-knowing or of higher intelligence. She can be talkative and finds everything more peaceful when she has a patient to work on.

Other: She may or may not be pregnant

Name: Valk

Race: Sapkir.

Age: Valk has never actually kept track, so no one knows. (He’s about fourteen. Ten is mature, twenty-two is elderly for his race)

Gender: Male

Appearance: Valk looks very much like other Sapkir. He’s around 94 cm and weighs in just over twenty-five kilos. He has very dark gray fur with some orange on his brow and ears. The most defining feature on him is his missing left hand. The hand has been replaced with a hook with a nanowire tether.

Valk does wear some clothing. He wears pants with many extra pockets sewn on. He has a pistol holster on his right side with his preferred sidearm in it. Finally, he always has a backpack in which carries a very random assortment of tools of destruction.

Homeworld: Originating from the frozen planet of Vutah IX the Sapkir evolved to survive in a world without plants. The food chain instead begins with protists capable of photosynthesis that reside in the great oceans. Various animals live between and eventually become prey to the Sapkir. The Sapkir overcome size limitations through cooperation and their ability to fly, which was largely unique to them on their planet.

Valk, specifically, was born on a pirate vessel.

Alignment: To himself, Sapkir is lawful good. To others, Sapkir tends to follow a more chaotic evil path.

Role: Boarding Party

Skills:

Beast Mode: As a Sapkir Valk is a born hunter. His instincts and agility let him stay on top of fights, while keen senses let him track down prey or booty, whichever he wants at the time. He has become proficient with all sorts of weapons. He prefers blades but is a pretty damn good shot.

Slice, Hack, Shoot:He carries a number of different blades, but he has three favorites. First is a cutlass with a plasmatic edge. The second is a carving knife which does exactly what it sounds like. Finally, he has a possibly enchanted khopesh, Gytthal which in his tongue means glacier fang, that he uses when he’s really pissed off.

He always carries his preferred side arm, a G-9 Fury. It’s a pistol but uses flechettes instead of bullets.





This is Mad Bat to Nova Dawn:As part of the boarding parties, Valk has a tiny voidsuit all his own. It had to be specially tailored to his race and includes a jet pack to make up for him not being able to fly normally while wearing it.

Hook, Line, and Murder:As mentioned Valk does not have a left hand. It was replaced with a hook that can fire off with a nanowire tether.

History: Valk was born a pirate and will die a pirate. The little furball was born to a first mate of a crew of Sapkir pirates. They were a violent and dangerous lot who only cared for themselves. It wasn’t going to last forever. The crew was unstable. They all wanted only for themselves and desired greater and greater treasures. Soon they were going after bounties far too great for them to handle. Valk was the only one who stopped to think about what they were becoming. He wouldn’t fall into the same trap as the rest of his race.

He drifted among black market ports. He’d do some dirty work there. Most often he was a hired blade. He still loved the thrill of the kill, but Valk also knew that if he wasn’t careful he’d end up on someone's hit list. It was around here that he started to reinvent himself. He created a persona, a myth, to cloud himself. With a combination of acts and deceit he built himself up as “The Mad Bat”.

With rumors spreading about him Valk was gaining all the infamy he could want. Even when bounties went up for him people were terrified. No one knew what was real or fake, so Valk always could command the situation.

When the Nova Dawn came to his port even he had to follow the rumors of the ship. If nothing else he saw it as a chance to improve his mythos even further. He didn’t even realize how much he had missed his pirate days. To be out traveling the void plundering the riches of the fools.

Even now he continues to spread a mix of stories some true, some false, some embellished, but all of them add to his myth. It gives him a power over the crew just as it does with his enemies. He commands both respect and fear that he can’t demand through physicality alone.

Personality: Absolutely psychotic, at least it looks like it. Valk has worked very hard to give that impression to everyone. He exudes insanity, because if he looks crazy and acts crazy then you don’t know what he’ll really do. Valk is a bit on the energetic side and certainly enjoys violence too much, but he is completely in control of his mental faculties. He knows when to take things seriously, but those moments are few are far between. He loves the insanity and loves his job.

Other: Valk gets violently ill if he eats plants.

Name: Unknown, goes by Tel

Aliases: Shrouded in mystery, even to veteran members of the crew, Tel maintains a seemingly endless number of aliases and false identities. However, abroad the Nova Dawn she has always been known as Tel Lyed.

Race: The Oml Zevax are a race of mysterious shapeshifters feared across the vastness of the Void for their prodigious talents as spies and assassins. Beyond their ability to adopt the appearance of other beings, the Zevaxu are known to be gifted psionics, who ensnare their prey within complex webs of illusion.

A minor interstellar empire, the Oml Zevax, nonetheless maintain their independence as a result of their mastery of genetic manipulation and biotechnology, particularly their creation of state-of-the-art Bioware implants (cloned and enhanced organs). However, the Zevaux are also skilled at the modification of natural bodily functions for cosmetic and beneficial effect.

Age: Unknown, but clearly adult

Gender: Unknown, presumed to be Female

Appearance:

Safe within her quarters, far away from peering eyes, Tel prefers to wear only a simple tunic. She has a willowy build, elfin features, and alarmingly pointy teeth that not so subtly imply that the Oml Zevaxu are a carnivorous race. Her eyes are a bright amber color, tinted with a warm shade of orange, and her skin is the color of honey. Her hair is short, kept perpetually in a pixie-cut, and while black it is touched by several brushstrokes of blue. There is an unspoken threat of violence in her countenance, concealed by a pleasant, disarming voice, and soft features. Tel moves with an unnatural grace and precision, each captivating and flowing movement she makes hiding the intentions of a killer.

Although clearly not human, to those with training in the biological sciences, Tel's true appearance suggests that the Oml Zevaxu are the decedents of some long lost and forgotten strain of humanity.

Outside of her quarters, Tel wears highly ornate masks that she has taken to painting with all manner of elaborate patterns or faces. Ever protective of her privacy, she dresses in such a way that almost all of her features are obscured. She favors long flowing robes, muted in color, and bereft of any fanciful designs. Tel never removes her mask in the presence of others, unless having already shifted into a different form, and so no one, even among the crew of the Nova Dawn, has looked upon her true face.

Assumed Appearance(s): When disembarking from the ship, Tel assumes a form and manner of dress appropriate to the local environment.

Homeworld: Zevax is the largest planet of the star Osul and the homeworld of the secretive Oml Zevax. An extremely xenophobic and isolationist society, the Zevaxu fanatically guard their small solar system (Talnur), and entire Jihads have been waged over minor incursions into their territory. As a result, despite their occasional contact with other races in pursuit of trade, precious little information is known about the Zevaxu, their homeworld, or Talnur as the entire system is off-limits to outsiders, having long since been declared a holy site by the Zevaxu.

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Role: Spymaster

Skills:
A creature of the shadows, Tel lives by her wits, and is a master of quiet, disciplined intelligence work, rather than straightforward combat. The Oml Zevax spy is capable fighter with a blade or gun, but her chief weapons are subterfuge and deception, and she views it as something of a failure on her own part if she has to resort to fighting in the open. Tel's tradecraft in conjunction with her skills as a psionic and shapechanger ultimately contribute to making her an extremely dangerous foe to cross.



History:





Personality:
A talented and committed actress, Tel will assume whatever identity or personality she has to accomplish a mission. However, beneath the multitude of adopted identities and mannerisms she carries with her, Tel is in fact a complete and fairly sane person (as sane as a Space Pirate can be). She treats the other crew members of the Nova Dawn warmly, never forgetting that they are currently her only colleagues (and remembering that it's quite bothersome to vet new crew members). Despite her status as the resident spook, Tel relishes any opportunity to be social, and to drown away the monotony of Void travel by imbibing a tasty drink or more. After all...Spies just want to have fun.

Unlike many a spy she is more than happy to talk about her past, past exploits, and current targets...however, the veracity of her stories is an entirely different matter.

Tel has a sharp eye for detail and catches the details that others miss or forget in passing. Most importantly, she knows when and how to listen (a supremely underrated skill). She is both a keeper and dealer of many secrets, secrets that are best forgotten or more likely saved for a rainy day. Long years of experience have cultivated in her the two traits most important to a spy: patience and self-control.

An exceptionally skilled spymaster, Tel is gifted with a prodigious memory and a talent for convincing people, very politely, to talk. Years spent in the shadows, weaving webs of deception, and dealing in death have provided her with a profound insight into the weaknesses of others. As a result, she eschews the heavy-handed tactics of soldiers and lesser spies, favoring subtlety and guile over brute force.

While conscious of the grim nature of her profession, Tel rarely concerns herself with the morality of her actions. Some might perhaps uncharitably call her self-serving, but Tel would counter that she very much enjoys being alive, thank you very much. Spies with consciences having notoriously short lifespans in the darker parts of the Void.

Other:

- The Oml Zevaxu spymaster has a large collection of ornate theater masks that she has taken to painting with both beautiful and terrifying visages. Valuing her anonymity, she wears these masks when wandering the decks of the Nova Dawn in her true form.

- Tel has a fondness for tea and when not otherwise engaged she can often be found sitting in various parts of the Nova Dawn nursing a cup of freshly brewed tea.

- She has a minor obsession with honey and all things sweet.

- Perhaps, as a result of her love of honey, Tel is fascinated by the art of beekeeping, and treasures an ancient tome about beekeeping that she often reads in the privacy of her quarters. When asked about this book, Tel has always maintained that she plans to retire one day and live the rest of her days quietly as a beekeeper.

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Name: Azkaret Orrekar or Az for short

Race:

Age: 63 Universal Standard Years

Gender: Male

Appearance: Az stands at 5’7” with the lithe frame common to his people. Az most closely resembles a horned owl with dark coppery feathers across his head. He usually wears a chest piece with the personal shielding technology from his homeworld as a precaution as he travels. In addition to his armored chest piece, Az usually wears a long robe of dark maroon over his clothes. Over his eyes, he wears a holo visor similar in appearance to glasses, but with holographic screens in place of the lenses that provide him with better sight, a Heads Up Display, and various readings and information from the world aorund him and are linked to his personal terminal. As another precaution, Az carries a pistol on his belt. This pistol is Avaryn tech and is able to harness different sorts of magical energy and dispel various kinds of blasts depending on the energy absorbed.

Homeworld: Airys

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Role: Archaeologist/Navigator

Skills: Az is a skilled navigator and archaeologist. He has studied the Astral Gates and various relics from different societies around that time to see different sides of the puzzle. Because of his studies, he has naturally picked up how to navigate the Void, mostly from studying how older voyagers would do it. Along with his archaeological and navigation studies, Az has delved into the magical arts. He is most proficient with Psionics, as his race is born with basic Psionic abilities, but he has also studied the branch of Arcana. He utilizes his magic mostly through his pistol by absorbing different sorts of energy into the instrument and then firing the output from the pistol as different kinds of spells, but he is also able to perform basic “utility” spells without his pistol.

History: Az fell into line with the typical gender roles of his species and chose the path of an academic. He decided to study the Astral Gates left behind by the gods, having always been intrigued by puzzles and the past, being a firm believer in the people of the present being able to learn from the past should they actually choose to listen. Once he finished his formal education in his chosen area of study, Az decided to delve as deep as he could into the mysteries left behind by the gods by beginning with the relics left behind on his homeworld, and throughouthis studies he as regarded as a fool for studying the ancient beings. In the midst of his studies of his homeworld, Az married and had a daughter. His studies slowed after he started his family, and he was uanble to travel as much. Both his wife and daughter served in the military, and he unfortunately lost both of them to a war and was left alone.

It was then that Az decided to take what he had and leave his homeworld behind and study what the rest of the universe had to offer in the way of his studies. While traveling, Az was unable to receive any sort of funding for his studies because he refused to join with either of the governmental systems or guilds because he felt they would restrict his studies too much to be worth the funding. So naturally, Az gravitated toward smuggling parties that would allow him the freedom he wished. The drawback to this, however, was that he would at time have to find them valuable artifacts to sell. Fortunately, Az was able to keep the artifacts he needed for his specific studies and find them other valueables. Az eventually had a falling out with the crew when he thought they were hindering his research by making him find more valuables for them to profit off of than allowing him to go about his studies. Az left the crew behind in search of another one that would offer him more freedom. That was when he found the Nova Dawn and her crew. He has been with them for almost a year now.

Personality: Az speaks very bluntly and doesn’t often put his words through a filter before speaking. This had led to people generally thinking he’s insulting or rude. When he sees he has offended someone, he usually decides to steer clear of them because he knows they are not the sort of people he will get along with and will be unable to really speak with them. He is also dedicated to his area of study and has been labeled as a “workaholic” on many occasions. Not surprising then, he is rarely seen outside of his work space, especially when he believes he is on the verge of discovering some new part of the puzzle he has dedicated most of his life to.

Name: Quintus Quintillion (HERO OF THE GAMMA QUADRANT!!!)

Race:

Age: 87 (about middle aged)

Gender: Male

Appearance:
Wayfarers are short of stature (around 5'4), slight of build and have a pale grey complexion with larger eyes but otherwise are very similar to regular humans. Quintus has tattoos about him, each one designating a sector of the galaxy that he personally mapped out.

Atop his head Quintus wears a large distinctively bulbous helmet which allows him to view the world a little differently, specifically it shows the different energy levels all about him, useful in conjunction with his sword. Also it protects his head. Underneath that he has a youngish face with purple eyes and an unruly mock of black hair.

Homeworld:

Alignment: Lawful/Evil

Role: Merchant

Skills:

History:


Personality:
A rogue and a con-artist, Quintus Quintillion is the sort of man you should trust about as far as you can spit a rat, but a cornered rat can be quite a vicious thing. He is educated and charming, plying his silver tongue where he can, but beneath his seemingly eccentric, affable nature there is a darker, more calculated side to him.

Having a jittery nature, fast talking and acting. Quint is perhaps a gambler by nature, especially he likes working with low odds and high rewards. Always looking on to the next game, he just can't seem to help himself.

Name: Ildaz Krek' Tel Jinturil

Race: An ancient and mighty race originating from the antediluvian world Tavam, the Kel' Daram inhabit a relatively desolate section of the void, now devoid of any other races of any kind. Virtually no information about about their culture, origins, or even biology exists outside of their section of the void, and even in that area, the information is vague at best.


Age: Considered to be among the venerable of the Ja' Turahn, Ildaz is 612 USY

Gender: Male

Appearance: Ildaz stands at an average height for his race, around 6 and a half feet tall, though he seems to shift stances occasionally making him appear somewhat shorter and occasionally even taller. His skin is a dark grey, lightening around the inside of his hands and around his eyes, his black uncut hair is bound into thick, ritual braids trailing down from his head. Ildaz's body is typical of the Kel' Daram in that he is more slender than stocky, yet his musculature is incredibly well defined, born of centuries of strict exercises. He wears a simple loincloth underneath his virtually ever-present armour. His eyes are a brilliantly glowing blue, excepting only for what would be recognized as pupils, a faintly swirling nexus of generally subdued colors. While Kel' Daram do possess a mouth it is devoid of the more intricate musculature that most other races sport and is virtually devoid of emotion, the task of expression is left to the eyes which have an abnormally complex series of muscles bound to them and have an incredible amount of possible directions and positions it can be molded into, only complemented by the colors of his pupils which change based on his current disposition.
(Contrary to the picture below, Kel' Daram have both mouths and forward facing knee joints)

Equipment: Ildaz carries very few possessions about the ship, the crew having only seen his armour and weaponry, such as it is.
-Phase-Forged Acolyte Armour: A relatively subdued style of Kel' Daram armour, it lacks many of the the sweeping designs of the more common formats, it was smithed within the Psionic-powered forges of Lenterev, designed to resist damage not only by physical and thermal sources, but mystical forces as well, providing a modicum of protection against a majority of opponents.

-Psi-Bound Vambraces: A pair of somewhat bulky bracers secured to Ildaz's forearms, focusing his Psionic energy into the vambraces produces formidable Psiblades to erupt forth, these blades naturally posses the capability to cut nearly all mundane materials and can greatly damage mystical or energy based creations as well. These blades are directly controlled by Ildaz's mind and can me modified exactly to his wishes, whether he wants them to be a different shape or whether he wants to nullify it's damaging properties and only transfer physical force instead.

-Mysterious Crystal: Ildaz has been seen to carry a perfectly symmetrical prism of crystal around, matching the kinds found on his armour's chestplate, vambraces and rarely seen helm.



Homeworld: Born among the glorious spires of Hanuril on Tavam

Alignment: The entirety of the Kel' Daram race has a resoundingly strong alignment to Lawful Good and it seems to most, if not all, that Ildaz fits into the same vein.

Role: Chief Engineer/Quartermaster

Skills: Physically, Ildaz has displayed a consistent and unrelenting sense of endurance to the crew, from holding completely motionless in an obviously taxing meditation position for hours, to never seeming to rest before or after any particular action he takes part in. He also has shown to have incredible flexibility and reflexes, able to twist and flow around obstacles and dangers both in and out of combat. In close combat he displays a sense of intelligence and efficient competency more than anything else, for Ildaz does not possess a master's skill with the blades and his greatest tool is his mind, in all things. Ildaz possesses an impressive array of Psionic techniques, from intricate telekinesis, to casting basic Psionic charges. He has shown skill at using the Kel' Daram form of Questing, a Psionic technique meant to seek out entities, forces, or anything in-between, ranging from across the ship to across a planet. Ildaz is finely attuned to the flux of the Void like most other Sages of the Ja' Turahn and can feel it's ebb and flow as if it were his own blood and breath. It is his connection to the void, mixed with a natural curiosity to understand things that has lead to his greatest talent, Voidship Engineering. Ildaz has the uncanny ability to know exactly what is wrong with most forms of older and more archaic vessels, and contains a vast wealth of knowledge on ways to both correct problems and most importantly prevent new problems from occurring, a relatively rare skill among the Void.

History: While Ildaz is not particularly secretive about his past, he isn't very forthcoming either. However, the crew has managed to accumulated a reasonable amount of information over the twenty years he has been aboard the Nova Dawn.

The earliest recollections that could be pried out of Ildaz's history start during his time as a Taredal, having just been initiated into the caste of warriors and swelling with pride at having so easily manifested his Psiblades. Going through all of the intensive training and condition that goes with being a part of the Taredal for nearly a hundred years before undergoing his first battle. The last of a long series of full titled engagements against a race called the Firokii, it was a quick and vicious battle, the Kel' Daram slaughtered the few remaining Firokii defenders and the remainder of their people fled their section of the void. The young Ildaz was swell with pride once again at having managed to perform admirably during the engagment. He remained in the Taredal cast for another hundred and twenty years or so, practicing his skills at arms as well as discovering his burgeoning Psionic strength. Immediately before he was going to beseech his elders for entry into the Velderi, His race launched into war again, this time against a race that none of his comrades even bothered to learn the name of, the only titles that mattered were, Murderers and Heretics, a ship from their home planet landed on a newly established monastery of the Kel' Daram and killed all who resided there and stole all the artifacts they could find, bringing it back to their planet. The full might of the Ascended Armada descended upon their worlds, burning all but their homeworld to ash, and it was upon their homeworld that Ildaz fought, alongside his many comrades he charged into the fray, watching several of them fall by the end of the day. It wasn't even a full twenty-four hours from when the monastery was attacked, to the point at which nearly a whole race ceased to exist, and the Kel' Daram returned to their homes, content that justice had been satisfied.

For the next two-hundred years Ildaz honed his mind and soul to his full potential, going through rigorous Psionic training among the Velderi. He showed a consistent prowess at understanding and manipulating Voidcraft technology and after several decades of intricate practice and experimentation, Ildaz was permitted to join a group of Sages in constructing a Galderin-class Voidship, the equivalent of a patrol craft. It was the proudest moment of his life when the vessel finally lifted from the Phasespires and it's engine matrix held steady. Throughout the construction of the voidship, Iladaz displayed an understanding far beyond that of a novice and detected many impurities and flaws long before many of the other Velderi noticed themselves. Recognizing his prowess with voidcraft, many of the venerable sages gifted him with their knowledge and tutelage augmenting his skills into becoming truly prodigious.

Ildaz rarely goes into detail about much of his life but tends to speak about the battles he's been a part of with a mixture of both pride and some other unknown emotion, verging almost on regret. He doesn't say much about why he came to the Nova Dawn, other than the fact that he approached the Captain about employment at a Voidport roughly twenty years ago, incredibly far from his homeworld.

Personality: Ildaz exudes a sense of understanding, whether it be of someone's untold past or an unexplained phenomenon. He comports himself with a learned disposition and has a tendency to seem as if he is unaware of his surroundings do to his lack responsiveness when working on something or meditating, but has an incredibly keen focus when talking directly with someone or addressing a group. His mannerisms are intricate and subtle and seems to be unable to become offended in natural conversation and actions. He has an almost haughty manner when dealing with strangers and new-comers and is almost completely dismissive of artificial life forms and lesser animals. He shows an absolute ruthlessness in combat and can swing from having an easy conversation to dead silence to engage in vicious combat instantly and will return back again to the conversing immediately after to continue the same conversation, seeming to have never been interrupted. Ildaz holds to a strict sense of honesty when dealing with anyone or anything, he never makes his intentions or opinions hidden.

Other: Protoss? What are those? I've never heard of them before in my entire li-*cough*(En taro Tassadar!)*cough*