[ S Y N O P S I S ]
Krauss is an experienced pilot tasked with flying one the new "helicopters" brought aboard this expedition. He's a fairly nice, laid back guy who likes to socialize and get to know people.
[ A P P E A R A N C E ]
He has short cut grayish blond hair and a rough beard. His face is covered in small scars and he has burn scars running along his forearms and back. While not particularly muscular, he still maintains a decent figure. This is mainly due to the fact that, as a pilot, he focuses more on endurance type workouts as opposed to strength building ones.
[ P E R S O N A L I T Y ]
Straight forward, no BS sort of guy with a healthy sense of humor. He has a strange "meh" approach to the idea of death. Once couldn't really call it bravery nor a death wish. He just seems very calm about facing it and dealing with it. Over all he's a fairly nice individual who values reason and rational thinking.
[ H I S T O R Y ]
Krauss was born and raised in the Greater Republic of Avalia. It's one of the nations of Maru, controlling a sizable chunk of the island and seen as one the leaders in the United Isles Naval Coalition. It's a strong, democratic nation, whose biggest strength is airship design. They are economic rivals with Ventui, always competing with each other both in the civilian fields of aviation, and military. Being one the largest producer of both helium and hydrogen, Avalia focuses primarily on airships when it comes to aviation, and is famous for both its luxurious, high class transports, and its terrifying flying navy with some of the biggest guns around.
However, they don't point these guns at most, not even Ventui. However, time and time again, they seem to always be trained on Leigr. Avalia's people are strongly opposed to any sort of faith. They consider it a tool of manipulation and an attack on human rights to free thinking. Thus, the religious theocracy of Leigr is considered a serious threat on a good day. In the past, there were even large skirmishes and minor battles between the two nations, often over Leigr unlawfully seizing Avalian trade ships or Avalia detaining Leigr diplomats. Even now, in this time of relative peace, Avalia seems to be quietly gearing up for a full blown campaign with Leigr, thanks to the renewed importance of both the Obelisk and the resources the nation possess.
Caught between this massive mess is Krauss and his family. His father was a pilot in the Avalian Airborne Navy and his mother was originally from Leigr. The two met during a raid that, as far as Avalia is concerned, never happened. She was a civilian who was trying to escape religious persecution. While she was a believer, she doubted the religious authorities and despised how they would vale their own selfish needs with excuses of faith. She had stowed away onto an Avalian airship she found, which, as it turned out, was on a secret mission to rescue some important engineers who had been captured. Krauss's father had discovered her, but instead of killing her or taking her prisoner, he heard her out and took pity on the young woman. So, he smuggled her essentially back to Avalia where they started a life together.
Krauss picked up his father's friendly, laid back personality as well as his love for flying. His mother taught him both tolerance and determination, telling him to always seize the day and keep moving forward, no matter how hard things get. His dream was to be a great pilot, and so he did what he had to do. From an early age, he flew with his father, learning the skills needed to expertly fly light aircraft. Through this, he also met many friends and contacts with the Avalian Airborne Navy, which would help later on. He joined the National Academy of Aviation at 17, and graduated at the top of his class. Now, that's not to say he was perfect. The many scars and burns Krauss bares are from the many crashes and hard landings he's had to endure over his career. He's seen all manner of problems and learned that a dangerous situation can always occur when you least expect it.
From there, he joined the AAN, following the footsteps of his father. However, during his time in the AAN, he slowly grew to dislike the military. So many restrictions, so many barriers kept him from flying freely through the sky.
Thus, he eventually left the military, to join the new booming industry and lifestyle, the United Isles Naval Coalition. With his impressive record and with the pulling of a few strings from his network of friends, Krauss landed an incredible job. To be the pilot of a new type of aircraft, set to take its maiden flight on the UIS Garrloch, set to go out on an exploration expedition. How could Krauss ever resist such a job?
[ N O T E S / O T H E R I N F O ]
Krauss likes to draw quite a bit in his spare time. Mostly just sketches of landscapes that he sees.
