EliteCommander

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

<Snipped quote by Catharyn>

Thanks! I would just like to wait a bit so that my character comes in about a day or two after the crash, if that's alright?

@Ranvena

If that is how you want to do it, that is fine.

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

Hi all! Tossing my hat in for the ship’s crew, let me know if you have any questions. Thanks!

Dr. Ibarra

Name: Dr. Itxaro Ibarra

Species: Human

Age: 35

Appearance: Dr. Ibarra stands at 6'1 and weighs 165 pounds; tall for a woman, but not unusual in the 23rd century. Itxaro begrudgingly exercises, the motto "A corpo worked out today, did you?" still burned into her brain from primary school. As such, she is in good shape, but by no means an amazing athlete. Itxaro's left arm and shoulder are noticeably more toned than the other from lugging around the weighty prosthetic; which begins at a stump just after the elbow. Her hair, which had been going prematurely grey at 25, has since been dyed a muted white. Dr. Ibarra's wardrobe is decidedly less college professor, more college student, a mixture of loose casual clothes and form-fitting athletic wear. However, when on duty in the engineering bay, she wears the typical jumpsuit and ties her hair back to avoid getting caught in any machinery.

Augmentations: It can hardly be called an augmentation, but Itxaro's dominant hand and forearm have been replaced with a bionic metal prosthetic. Though significantly stronger than her organic limb, the replacement is heavier than modern, cutting-edge augments, and suffers from the occasional breakdown. These glitches can be easily resolved by Dr. Ibarra, which is part of why she keeps the older model. That, and being grafted with expensive prosthetics is something of a cultural faux-pas in the USASR.

Occupation: FTL Specialist

Key skills:

• Mechanical Savant: Dr. Ibarra is a titan in her field, one of the leading engineers in the entire USASR. Her knowledge of all things mechanical is vast and deep, and Itxaro is able to quickly pick up on abstract concepts she has never encountered, which is largely why she was chosen as the previous FTL specialist’s replacement. Itxaro specializes in theoretical FTL drives, and was pretty pissed when the Yenge blew up her spot with their vastly-superior tech. Dr. Ibarra thought she was damn close to a breakthrough. While she has spent much of her career as a researcher and designer, Itxaro is still comfortable wrenching on a ship's drive deep in a crawlspace or in an EVA suit. Still, she finds the entire field of engineering horribly boring.
• Medieval Enthusiast: While Dr. Ibarra is a genius when it comes to anything mechanical, her true passion is medieval European history, with a specific focus on how common peasants lived in their day-to-day life. In her spare time, Dr. Ibarra reads massive tomes on ancient blacksmithing techniques, cooking methods, architectural plans, and any other literature she is able to obtain from that distant time and place. Itxaro also joined a medieval European martial arts club in school, dueling with a variety of weapons, and even now occasionally competes in local amateur tournaments when her schedule allows. She placed 5th in the last one, and was pretty happy about it.
• Socialist Philosopher: Like all Cubans in the 23rd century, Dr. Ibarra is extremely knowledgeable concerning Marxian economics, eco-socialism, Ziotiomatian interplanetary class dynamics, Falcónist markets, and so on. This is a useful skill in space, right?

Personality:

Backstory: Dr. Itxaro Ibarra was born in Havana, Cuba, the heart of the 150-year old Union of South American Socialist Republics (USASR). The federal union was formed after the People's Republic of China capitulated to the United States in 2113 after a 30-year cold war between the two superpowers went hot. The proxy wars were largely fought in resource-rich Africa, with both countries redirecting most of their economies toward the conflicts; their allies made only a token contribution, instead opting to watch the superpowers burn themselves out. The war came to a conclusion after a brief but brutal direct confrontation between both countries in Alaska, followed by a decisive cyber-attack by the United States, which paralyzed the Chinese military and the country's infrastructure. China was balkanized into a variety of smaller puppet states controlled by corporations and European countries, while the US was forced to privatize most of its economy to private enterprise. The end of US hegemony gave way to the age of the megacorporation, which saw the hyper-exploitation of most of the global south. Cuba, one of the last countries without a megacorp presence, was able to back a series of revolutions over the next 30 years in South America to expunge the megacorporations, leading to the creation of the USASR.

Dr. Ibarra grew up in Cuba's countryside, the daughter of an agricultural worker and a philosophy professor, surrounded by siblings in their modest home. At a young age, it became apparent that Itxaro was a mechanical genius. Both of her mothers gently encouraged her to advance her education in engineering, but it was Itxaro who made the decision to study engineering at the Universidad de la Habana. While her interests lay practically anything else, Itxaro knew she was given a gift, and to instead spend her life writing awful poetry or studying picked-over ruins somewhere in Europe would be a total waste. She had the chance to help her country, and she took it without regret or hesitation.

Itxaro quickly became Dr. Ibarra, flying through university at a pace rarely seen. Itxaro chose to specialize in faster-than-light travel, the Holy Grail of technology, but also developed a deep familiarity with multiple ship systems, since an FTL drive would work in tandem with many. Since the 22nd century, Cuba had been a leading innovator in space travel, more out of necessity than anything since the tiny island nation was isolated from the corporate world and had few natural resources available; the only way for them to access the raw materials they needed was to go up. The USASR had established a variety of colonies throughout the solar system, but their ships were beginning to lag behind, so the government began subsidizing further breakthroughs in space travel. Dr. Ibarra left the university with a PhD in theoretical engineering and FTL physics, joining the USASR's robust space program.

Because so many of their space-faring resources are off-planet, Itxaro was immediately shipped to a shipyard hidden in Saturn's rings, far from prying corpo eyes. She spent the next several years with a team of engineers, scientists, and pilots testing, testing, and failing. It seemed like there was a missing piece to the puzzle, but the collective wisdom of the human race couldn't find it. Dr. Ibarra advanced to the head of the team, and after what seemed like a lifetime in cold space, they were on the verge of a breakthrough. The moment of truth was cut short when breaching pods shattered the thin skin of their habitat, sending in squad after squad of corporate mercenaries who grabbed whatever crew they could and executed those they couldn't. Dr. Ibarra and a few others managed to reach an escape shuttle, but the mercenaries had rigged the shipyard to blow; just before they cleared the blast zone, Itxaro's former home exploded, disabling their shuttle with shrapnel and sending it hurtling into deep space.

Dr. Ibarra spent the next countless days clutching her crudely bandaged bloody stump of an arm, watching helplessly as her friends slowly succumbed to similar wounds. They didn't send out a distress signal until a week had passed, knowing the mercenaries would come to finish them off. By then the shuttle had traveled so far that it took the nearest USASR patrol ship another three days to recover them. Out of the nine survivors, just two had survived.

After recovering, Dr. Ibarra returned to Havanna just in time to learn that their efforts were wasted; a spacefaring species called the Yenge had beaten them to it, crashing into their solar system and promising to share their secret of faster-than-light travel in exchange for a safe harbor. Somewhat disillusioned, but not dissuaded, Dr. Ibarra returned to the Universidad de la Habana as a professor now, sharing her successes and failures with the next batch of scientists, as well as researching whatever scraps of Yenge technology the USASR's spy network could gather.

Just as Dr. Ibarra became content with her position, she was contacted by an agent of the USASR's space program; a corporation, Tamerlane, had fused Yenge and human tech to create the first drive capable of faster-than-light travel. The previous FTL specialist had vanished, either picked up by a competing corporation or disappeared of their own accord to sell the secrets, and Tamerlane was desperate to fill the FTL specialist slot before their deadline. So desperate that they were willing to accept a USASR citizen.

@Regime Goon

I could see how things could be interesting for this character, landing in a place like Kanth-Aremek. I wonder how her background with Medieval history might shape her expectations of the natives?

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

Kareet could have possibly believed this was some form of magic, until it started drawing closer. It started to slow noticeably as it drew nearer to the mountains, and the flames dimmed, at least slightly. It was still bright, but a Tekeri’s eyes could just make out…something within. Something more than flame, and it did not look to be stone either. Though, she had few guesses on what this could be, aside from a new mystery.

The fireball disappeared behind the mountains to the northeast. While it had been in the sky, the night had lit up almost like day, though darkness fell once again as soon as it went out of sight. Among the townsfolk, shock had seemingly kept a blanket of silence over the town around them for a few, brief moments. Once it seemed to become clear that the fireball was not going to bring an imminent death, though, that silence broke quickly. Everything from awe and amazement, to fear, to relief, could be heard in the chattering of the villagers around them. Kareet heard them talk of everything from magic to divine omens, but she did not concern herself with the speculations of the peasants, nor was she going to make baseless claims of her own. There would be only one way to find the truth here.

Kareet gave a quick look over to Shirik. She felt sure that had been no product of Heat magic. It was something solid, even if it had been covered in flames. Prior to this moment, she would have felt that there would have been little that could pry her away from her investigation into the strange Iriad…but it seemed she had just found it. Whatever this was, it was most certainly a mystery more interesting than anything Shirik could offer. She did not even want to waste time talking or speculating; depending on exactly where and across what terrain it had come down, it could take a day or two in order to make the hike out to it. She hoped it would not be that far. “The coin was sufficient, yes? If there is nothing more that anyone needs of me, I will be going. Whatever that thing was, I must reach it.”

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

“How? Did you really think a mage like me would be so…limited, even in death?” Meesei responded, lightly smiling. Though, her expression took on a bit more of a serious appearance after a moment. “Or perhaps you are wondering how I have continued to exist at all, given what I…learned before from the Psijics. What I did that night, on the eve of the battle, did strengthen my soul, as I had hoped.” She explained, though it might have been a strange statement to Fendros. Despite all of the work they had done to try to solve Meesei’s problem, they had not settled on any approach that they believed would work. At least, that was what she and Sabine had told the rest of the pack.

Pausing a moment, Meesei found a clear spot in the soft grass nearby to take a seat. “I suppose it might be true to say that I am not Meesei. But I am not…not her, either. Being there in the Hunting grounds, with my unique soul, gave me a unique option. In simple terms, I was able to merge my own soul with that of my beast spirit. Not just to connect them, like with the average lycan, but to make both of them one. Honestly, I am surprised that it agreed; I could not force it upon it. Once it was done both of them became me. I have the memories of both lives.”

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Fendros had not spent much time conscious in this part of the forest last time he was here. After his first transformation, he had awoken elsewhere, surrounded by Meesei’s pack. Though, he did not have to walk long before he started to approach something new. Or…perhaps not new exactly.

He would catch the scent before he would see it. He was in what seemed to be unremarkable part of the forest when a werewolf dropped down in front of him, as if out of the trees. It was tall, powerful…familiar. Unmistakably, it was Meesei. As she took a few steps forward, her form transitioned back into her natural Argonian shape. It was not the usual twisting and contorting of the body that they were accustomed to, but rather as if she just faded into a new shape. Had he blinked, he could have missed it.

At first, she was almost hard to recognize. She appeared has young as the day they had first met. While Fendros’ Elven body had hardly changed at all since then, seeing her now called attention to how much she had changed in comparison. Her scales were more colorful and vibrant, while overall she seemed noticeably smaller. Over years and years of leading a war effort, she had conditioned her body as well as her magic. By the time she was standing face-to-face with him, though, she appeared back as her normal self. “Well…is there any specific etiquette I should observe when greeting you, Godhunter?”

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

Kareet observed silently as Kaqir worked. She had seen, and received, such healing many, many times before, so there was no tension for her. The only worry might have been if Kaqir was not a competent Life mage, but everything Kareet could see was perfectly acceptable. Healing simple injuries was far from the most complex thing a Life mage could do, after all.

Once Kaqir was done, Kareet gave a quick look over the Glen. No visible injuries, at least, and no more signs of pain. It was sufficient. She reached around to her backpack and produced a small pouch, from which she grabbed a few silver coins. It was far more than the coppers most peasants might be able to scrounge together, and consistent with what a healer would expect to be paid in the capital. “Thank you for your assistance.” Kareet said politely as she dropped the coins into the healer’s hand. “I…”

Kareet’s voice trailed off quickly. There was…something that caught her eyes in the sky to the north: a flash. At its source, there was something glowing, very distant. Tekeri had particularly sharp eyesight, but even to her the details were difficult to discern. It was like a hole in the sky through which daylight was shining. Through it, she could see a hint of fire, of distorted shapes she could not discern, and of…something that seemed to be moving. All she could really see of it was a red glow, like a fireball.

A few seconds later, something like the loudest thunder Kareet had ever heard echoed across the landscape. All at once, it was like the whole town froze. Anyone who had not noticed before now had their eyes to the sky. Even Glen villagers who had been roused from their sleep started to file outside as well to see what was happening.

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

Kareet did not take much time for formalities. Clearly, she was in a hurry. She was already starting to turn around when she gestured for Kaqir to follow. “I will explain on the way. We shouldn’t delay.” It would only be a short walk across town, but fortunately, there also was not much to explain. “Are you familiar enough with the Glen form to heal them? We encountered a Glen along the road being attacked by a creature. We dispatched of the creature, but he was injured. Blunt impact, mostly.”

Even just a short explanation revealed a bit more about Kareet. The uneducated might just assume that a Life mage could heal anyone, but she knew at least enough about magic to know that a Life mage could only heal a being if they had studied their form long enough to develop an understanding of it. Of course, the majority of Life mages would spend plenty of time studying the bodies of Kanth-Aremek’s major races early on in their training, unless they had learned in a remote place.

There was not much time for conversation before they reached J’eon and Shirik. The Glen was still laying in his cart. On the outside, most of his injuries were not visible, though it would not take that long of an examination for Kaqir to feel just what kind of injuries he had. Physical trauma was, in general, relatively easy for a trained Life mage to deal with, other than brain damage. They could not heal others as quickly as they could heal themselves, but even still, it usually would not take more than a few minutes for them to heal even severe injuries, as good as new.

"Here he is. I do not think his life is in danger, but I imagine the pain is not pleasant." Kareet explained.

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

Kareet did not know immediately where to find the Life mage, but it was not something that was particularly challenging to accomplish. The mage was not a local, but a traveler, so the inn was a natural first place to start. Even if she was not there at the moment, there was nowhere else in the town for a traveler to stay. All it took was questioning the innkeeper to get both a description, and a general idea of where she had gone. As expected, the locals were eager to make use of a visiting healer.

While she only had a basic description, that was fortunately all Kareet needed. Evidently, this Tekeri had a very distinctive appearance. That many beak piercings were immediately recognizable and would stand out right away in such a small town. Kareet was heading in the direction the innkeeper had indicated when she spotted her coming out of one of the houses.

Given the urgency of the situation, Kareet wasted no time in approaching the Life mage directly. She was somewhat taller than Kareet, with more complex adornments. Kaqir would likely be able to tell from Kareet’s sleek, clean feathers and polished beak that she was someone who, at minimum, could afford to mimic the Ascendancy’s upper class. “Excuse me, are you the Life mage? I have urgent need of your services. I can pay you fairly.”

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

Kareet gave another glance back at the creature’s corpse. This was a particularly interesting find; something new, with properties that challenged what could be natural. Perhaps Shirik was right that she could return to examine it later, but that presented its own risks. It might not take long for scavengers to find the corpse, and any damage they might do could interfere with her findings. Still, she had to prioritize. Shirik was likely more valuable, and to refuse to help this Glen could her to lose their cooperation. If she was going to have to choose between two discoveries, it would be better to choose Shirik. She supposed it was a good problem to have.

“We just need to hurry and get him to the town. Sorry to say, but you don’t look to be in much of a state to walk right now, J’eon.” Kareet said, already moving towards his cart. She pulled back the canvas to take a look at what it was carrying, then gave a glance back towards the Glen. “I’m going to have to take some of these things out to make room for you. I’ll tell you right now, I’m not going to be pulling both your whole weight and an entire anvil all the way back to town. I’ll hide these things as best as I can so you can come back for them later.” Even if she had the strength to do so over some distance, trying to do so over hilly terrain all the way back to Ertiseda would be far too exhausting.

“Come on, help me with this.” Kareet remarked to Shirik as she started to make room in the cart for the Glen.

---

While tiring, the walk back along the road to Ertiseda was not so tiring that Kareet could not handle it. Tekeri were strong and quick, but they were not nearly so well-suited to long-distance endurance as the Glen. It was the middle of the night when they arrived, so there were plenty of Tekeri up and about. Kareet did not bother herself with the looks of concern from some of the bystanders, though. She was focused on dealing with this problem as quickly as possible. “Shirik, could you look after him? I’ll see if I can find this Life mage.”

From what she remembered when she was staying in town, Ertiseda did not have a Life mage of their own, but there was a traveler who knew Life magic who was staying in town for the time being. Traveling Life mages often found themselves inundated with pleas for healing whenever they passed through remote towns, but unlike the average peasant, Kareet actually had the coin to pay for the service.

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

Hello! Here is my character. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions!

Kaqir

Name: Kaqir

Species: Tekeri

Appearance: Tall and expressive, Kaqir can often appear overwhelming to those she meets. Her feathers are a glossy black. Her eyes are similarly dark, raven as the rest of her, and the eyes on the right of her face have strabismus. This is difficult to notice at first, given her pupils blend into her iris, but the rolling effect produces quite an unnerving effect when properly observed. She finds it amusing. She has a parrot-like hooked beak that she has pierced the bottom of with all manner of bone, metal, wood, and stone. She can typically be found wearing simple black leather clothing, though she adorns her outfits with necklaces and bracelets of the same materials as her piercings. She does not wear shoes or gloves in order to leave her talons free for tasks that require sharp implements. Her feathers lay flat in their resting state, but when Kaqir is excited, angry, afraid, or otherwise emotional, they fluff into a mohawk/cockatoo-like crest atop her head.

Magical Affiliation: Life Domain

Occupation: Mercenary

Key Skills:

Hand-to-Hand Combat. With her vicious beak and tactile magic, Kaqir excels at close-range fighting. She often uses her Domain to tear opponents’ muscles and nerves, weakening them to prevent the chances of resistance when she follows up with a beak attack. This, combined with the self-healing potential of her magic, makes her an incredibly sustainable fighter. She’s basically useless at long range, though, as she has no idea how to wield bows or human weapons such as guns. She also tends to under-utilize the potential of her shapeshifting abilities. Tekeri culture has imparted a strong sense of pride in personal achievement and identity to her, so she balks at using her magic to make herself unrecognizable.

Intimidation. Though she is a generally cheerful and lighthearted person, Kaqir knows how to use her imposing appearance to daunt others into submission. A few threatening words and a well-timed glare can do a lot to prevent conflict. However, this can often work against her: if she’s not making an effort to be friendly, she can often come across as overly intense to a potential ally, or, at worst, threatening. There’s a reason the Tekeri are rumored by some to be demons.

Linguistics. Kaqir adores communication in all its forms. Thus, she talks. A lot. Perhaps too much. She’s great at learning languages, though!

Backstory:

Born in a busy mountain town, Kaqir was very close with her parents when she was a child. Due to the nature of Tekeri society, she trained rigorously from an early age. Her lifelong passion for community inspired her to study the Life Domain. Through practice with her mother (who is a Life mage), she was able to awaken herself to magic. Though she originally studied to become a doctor, her impulsive personality drove her to serve her community as a guard instead. She worked tirelessly to stand out amongst her peers. As a very social person, she is desperate for the approval of those around her—and it was no different back then. She often forced herself past her limits and suffered burnout. Perhaps the only way she made it through her training regimen was the support of her fellow recruits. She met her best friend in the career; his name is Sev’ee. They were close enough to think of each other as siblings.

Everything changed on the day of their graduation. As a test of their skill, the established guards sent the small group of recruits to fend off an incursion of wild beasts by themselves. Though those who had already achieved seniority were loath to waste a chance at glory, they thought it would be the perfect opportunity to weed out those who weren’t “perfect” for the duty. Unfortunately, the animals were far greater in number than they originally surveyed, and much of Kaqir’s squadron was killed or maimed. Sev’ee, who didn’t want to be a fighter in the first place—he showed no particular aptitude for anything deemed worthwhile by the community, so he was just sort of shoved into the guard program—would have died had Kaqir not used her magic to save him. He has no use of his legs to this day. Kaqir herself barely survived, sustaining heavy injuries to her right side that still partially inhibit her vision.

This experience was her breaking point. No amount of justification could convince her to stay in such a ruthless environment. She hated abandoning her family and Sev’ee, but knew she had to do it to truly find fulfillment in life. Now she travels Kanth-Aremek as a mercenary, struggling to reconcile her hatred of her homeland with the guilt she still feels for not being strong enough to save her friends.

One note: I didn't give Kaqir a last name. I figured with the Tekeri's general lack of emphasis on lineage they wouldn't have them, but I can totally give her one if you'd like. I love a fun surname :)

@meri

You are right about their lack of emphasis on lineage. Most Tekeri (or other citizens of the Ascendancy) simply have a given name. Outside their home, they may use their place of origin. Like with Kareet of Arcaeda.

I really like the image I have of the pierced beak, and the appearance in general. Ascendancy culture has a strong focus on individualism, so there is a lot of leeway in things like their fashion or personal beliefs. Her thoughts on shapeshifting are compatible with Ascendancy ideology, though many probably would not agree with her.

Everything I see in the CS checks out. A Life mage trained in war casting shall be an interesting one. Sounds quite vicious.

I should probably put up a bit more information about the Ascendancy's culture in the OOC, now that I think about it.