Name
Grick
Nicknames
Bishop, Altar boy: He's real religious.
Fish: His people are aquatic.
Fish: His people are aquatic.
Position
Convict
Age
45 Earth Years (36 Frecksan Years)
Gender
Male
Charged Crime(s)
Failure of Duty, Third-Degree Murder
Reputation
It's doubtful that many people in 'the public' would remember Grick at all, especially as his home planet is slightly... isolationist. His people, however, will remember him as a particularly notorious 'Fallen Child' who is currently on a voyage of penance.
Appearance
The Children of the Deep (or, as everyone else calls them, the Freckans) are all aquatic and look the part, looking almost like vaguely humanoid dark blue anemones, with tentacles instead of digits and large red eyes on the sides of their heads. Their blood is yellow, and they usually stand at around six and a half feet tall. Grick in particular is slightly more grey than blue, very tall for a member of his species (almost eight feet), and has a large, jagged green scar on his 'forehead' (which is, in actual fact, more a plate of bone than an actual part of his head)
Height
7'10"
Weight
260 lbs
Personality
Grick is quiet, unassuming, and above all devoted. He is almost completely dominated by the beliefs of his people, as his typical among his culture. He hates conflict and usually prefers appeasement as a method of solving interpersonal problems, giving him something of a reputation as a pushover. He... doesn't really understand alien cultures, nor does he make an effort to, so he has a tendency to (privately) view other races as somewhat backwards or ignorant - though he doesn't hold it against individuals. That being said he's unfailingly polite and oftentimes endearing, if one can get over his strangeness. He's also totally bought into the narrative of him as a "Fallen Child" and all the self-loathing that comes with it.
Likes
- His Home
- Water
- Fiddling with machines
- Trel'nan: A dish from his home planet that's sort of like meat-peanutbutter.
Dislikes
- Space
- Light
- Noise
- People being rude about his faith
Skills
- A genius with nuclear-powered technology
- Adept at engine maintenance
- Naturally monstrously strong
- Exceptional Low-light Vision
Weaknesses
- Totally untrained in combat
- Needs special headgear to survive outside of water for more than thirty minutes
- Eyes shut down in bright light
Fears
- Fire
- Failure
- Dying in space
History
Grick was just another Child of the Deep, pulled out of the great spawning pools of his homeworld and educated as a ward of the state (as all his people are). From an early age he showed an aptitude for mechanical engineering, and so he was afforded an apprenticeship at one of the great nuclear forges. He could understand any piece of tech put before him and even improved on many old designs, particularly for spacecraft, and before long he became the chief engineer of one of his people's glorious Pod Ships, small trading vessels that represented the bulk of the Children's contact with other races.
Disaster soon struck, however. The Pod Ship came under attack by pirates and due to a miscalculation by Grick, the nuclear engines overheated in the escape attempt. Only Grick, with his special radiation-shielding suit, was able to survive the radiation bath that fried all his comrades on the ship. The ship was found by traders two days later, with Grick the sole survivor.
When he returned to his world, the full weight of the blame was placed on his head. The Pod Ships were few, and so a loss even of one was a national disaster. The Elder Brothers, the rulers of his people, declared Grick a 'Fallen Child', the highest dishonor that can be bestowed upon a child. Grick lived as an outcast among his own kind for two years until he was summoned before the Elders Again. A picker crew had need of crewmembers, and so the Elders declared that Grick would represent his people in this mission and in so doing, redeem himself in the eyes of the Father of the Deep.
Grick has served faithfully for two years, always eagerly awaiting the day he may return home - and now the captain has a new heading. Though he'd never admit it, Grick his not pleased with this change of plans; he has served long, and wants to go home. Who cares about the humans?
Disaster soon struck, however. The Pod Ship came under attack by pirates and due to a miscalculation by Grick, the nuclear engines overheated in the escape attempt. Only Grick, with his special radiation-shielding suit, was able to survive the radiation bath that fried all his comrades on the ship. The ship was found by traders two days later, with Grick the sole survivor.
When he returned to his world, the full weight of the blame was placed on his head. The Pod Ships were few, and so a loss even of one was a national disaster. The Elder Brothers, the rulers of his people, declared Grick a 'Fallen Child', the highest dishonor that can be bestowed upon a child. Grick lived as an outcast among his own kind for two years until he was summoned before the Elders Again. A picker crew had need of crewmembers, and so the Elders declared that Grick would represent his people in this mission and in so doing, redeem himself in the eyes of the Father of the Deep.
Grick has served faithfully for two years, always eagerly awaiting the day he may return home - and now the captain has a new heading. Though he'd never admit it, Grick his not pleased with this change of plans; he has served long, and wants to go home. Who cares about the humans?
Children of the Deep (Freckans)
Lifespan
150 years
Home planet
The Children have no name for their planet, merely calling it 'home' - but the galaxy at large refers to it as 'Frecka Six'. It is a world dominated mainly by oceans, with around 20% of its surface being made up of continents on which tropical forest is the order of the day. On the land, the flora and fauna is exotic and varied, and there's even a tribal species of amphibious sentients that dominates the forests, though owing to their galatic irrelevance, they have no name. What's really interesting is the seas, which support an enormous variety of ecosystems. The Children hail from, and continue to make their home in, the deepest parts of the water, the abysses where the light from the world above does not reach. They have erected great cities of stone and metal down there, with only the dull light of the 'Giftstone' (uranium) to illuminate them.
Culture
The culture of the Children is positively dominated by their worship of the figure known as the 'Father of the Deep', a mysterious entity that they hail as the progenitor of their race. Darkness and the deep places of the ocean are sacred to them, as they believe that these are the sources of his power. Their technology is all based off of uranium, which is positively abundant in their world and which they believe to be the gift of The Father. Children are born from communal spawning pools, and are all raised and educated by the state (which is synonymous with the church) - the concept of 'family' just doesn't exist to them. The species as a whole is governed by the 'Elder Brothers', an all-male council chosen from the highest ranking members of the clergy. They're somewhat isolationist, caring rather little for the world outside their depths until it is convenient for them to do so. They tend to consider all other races as 'unenlightened' or 'unimportant' - after all, what are any of them without the love of the Depths?