Non-Playable Characters: Trouble in our own Backyard

Non-Playable Character Descriptions Index

[Minor] Admiral Tavik (Mission 1 - Scene 1)
[Major] Counselor Vael Aquila (Mission 1 - Scene 2) *Only if a Player doesn't choose to play as this Character
[Minor] Fleet Admiral Thunnus (After the conclusion of Escort the Judge mission)

Admiral Tavik

Full Name: Tavik Farsea
Species: Kurgian (Amphibian)
Gender: Female
Age: 65
Height: 4ft 9inch
Flesh Color: Light Green with brown and white spots around her sides and arms.
Eyes: Blue

Admiral Tavik Details

Joined the Federation Navy at a young age. Had a family history of people serving in a variety of ways, but mostly in the Kurgian security forces. She felt it was necessary to step up into what she saw as a grander role that reached higher pursuits. As a Federation Officer, she will defend not just the Kurgian peoples but all free peoples. She has given everything to this idea and is strongly bound by her own sense of loyalty and honor to the Federation.

She sincerely believes an existential threat lurks in the dark places, the edges of Federation space, and that recent events have merely shone a dim light on the edges of the dark place it resides. She fears the Lepidoneans are those shadows but believes that something either bigger or at least more dangerous than the Federation's old foe is at work here. She, like her peers, is in desperate need of more information, and she feels the pressure of what failure could mean.

Counselor Vael Aquila

Full Name: Vael Aquila
Species: Sayor (Mammal)
Gender: Male
Age: 40
Height: 6ft 1inch
Flesh Color: Light Blue with small white spots
Eyes: White

Counselor Vael Aquila Details

A charismatic Sayor with a 'get it done' style attitude. He won his first election 7 years earlier on a campaign that showed him as a 'man of the people' like figure who wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty on a hard day's work. He sees himself in a similar light; in a way, he is typically full of himself, a somewhat annoyingly common trait amongst Sayorian people. It is as if the humbling experience of being brutalized and inslaved by the Lepidoneans caused the next freed generation of Sayorian people to bounce back and overcorrect. The political party he is part of formed in opposition to the initial single-party rule the Sayor experienced after becoming free. The party has never been a strong one and has only ever gained ground in the populated areas and in elections for Offices held within the Federation, not the local governments of the Sayor. However, in recent years this has changed as more and more people feel that the party that formed in rebellion against the Lepidoneans is growing old and out of touch, not to mention corrupt, and many see them as lazy, leaning on the 'We defeated the Lepidoneans, join the party that broke the chains!' too much.

Vael strongly believes the Sayor people need to further integrate with the rest of the Federation and open their arms to the idea of other species joining them, not just working for them. He believes divistry can provide strength and that unity of mind matters more than unity of 'blood'. Many older Sayor people still find this problematic; they do not trust outside influence unless it is from the Kurgian, whom many of them bled together. The Federation, to them, is more of a joint military, economic, and, to some extent, legal system that ensures that foreign influence must first deal with the Federation as a whole before bothering the average Sayor person. They see Humans as more than pets but still a lesser species who has yet to prove themselves and thus not a threat, instead an exploitable workforce. Which, in recent years, has ironically caused such an influx of human refugee labor that they have begun to have a cultural impact on the people.

Vael has his work cut out for him. He is running for re-election, and a lot rides on his ability to calm his native people from rioting. He also has to thread a very tight needle: on one hand, he needs to assure the Sayor people that taking this corrupt judge to the Federation's justice system, rather than the local planet's judicial system, is better. On the other hand, he needs to make sure that the Sayor don't see this as his political party moving to grab more power and relocate it to a stronger central Federation.

He has family who move with him as his political career moves him around. He doesn't like being away from them for too long. But in his view, he is doing this to build a better Federation for his family, too. He always frames his actions in a heroic, almost tragic sorta of way in his mind. Then he tries to express himself that way to the people around him, which he has always found helps turn a mind from distrust to sympathy, or at least to a more receptive one.

Fleet Admiral Thunnus

Full Name: Thunnus Darkscale
Species: Kurgian (Amphibian)
Gender: Male
Age: 71
Height: 4ft 7inch
Flesh Color: Light Green with a few red spots
Eyes: Teal

Fleet Admiral Thunnus Details

He is an older but stern-looking Kurgian. Always seems to be wearing a grin. He is highly charismatic and is loved by the crew. Often called 'The ole wanderer'. He not-so-secretly loves his posting. He spent most of his career in the Navy behind a desk, and he worked hard to gain an Officer position onboard a Navy vessel. He wanted to move up the ranks to this position because, in his mind, he was the best at it and knew how important it is to keep people fed and supported.

He, however, has never seen combat of any kind. Rumors also suggest that, with the recent events, he may need to retire.

Regent Garth Tomon

Full Name: Garth Tomon
Species: Lepidonian (Reptilian)
Gender: Male
Age: 88
Height: 6ft 0in
Flesh Color: Dark Brown Scales
Eyes: Light Grey
Notes: Regent Garth is slightly shorter than the average male Lepidonian, and he takes his height seriously and thus pads his shoes to appear 1 1/2 in taller.

Regent Garth Tomon Details

Garth Tomon is an odd case. He is from Abrah Alpha, which is one of the first and closest colonies outside of the Lepidonian system. The supreme high command generally doesn’t let people outside of the Lepidonian system have power. In fact, most people have to be raised on Lepidon Prime if they ever hope to gain positions like Regent.

To understand just how impressive Garth's rise to power is, one should remember their lessons on Lepidonian politics. After the war, the Lepidonian government collapsed, and as it tried to rebuild, many people blamed the outer colonies for its recent failures. It was known that the Lepidonians who grew up under different planets, especially ones from different systems, looked different. Because of different UV radiation from alien suns and different gravity and atmospheres on alien planets, most people from other colonies were shorter and usually had paler scales. It didn’t help that a common sickness had similar effects. This led to a new government that ostracized most of these colonies harshly.

Our intelligence found that Garth Tomon actually stains his scales regularly and wears extra-thick soles in boots to make it appear that he is taller, all to hide his less-than-desirable origin. No doubt that F.I.S.T actually knows the truth. That could be why they allow him to rise to rank since if he steps out of line it is an easy way to dispose of him.

What is also interesting is that The Department of the Peoples Security kidnapped his father and younger sister in secret. It is doubtful that F.I.S.T knows that Garth has been compromised.

Garth is a skilled, determined tactician and has dealt with conflicts within the Lepidonian empire with competence. He uses fear and a no-mercy policy when it seems to work, but has also been known to switch things up and ‘spare the rod’ so to speak when he thinks that will achieve the objective quicker.

Sir Nib Leinth

Full Name: Nib Leinth
Species: Kurgian (Amphibian)
Gender: Male
Age: 90
Height: 4ft 7in
Flesh Color: Light Green with brown and white spots
Eyes: Teal
Notes: Kurgians have no hair, but they do have scales that start at the top of their heads and go down the middle of the back and stop at the butt. As a Kurgian ages, they lose the pigment of the scales until they become almost transparent white. Nib Leinth is nearing senior citizenship for his species, so his scales are mostly white with a faint hint of green.

Sir Nib Leinth Details

Sir Nib Leinth is a highly distinguished noble of House Leinth from Kurgian Prime. His father and mother were both important founding figures of the Federation and became leaders of both the Kurgian peoples and the Federation as a whole. Both participated in the peace negotiations with the Lepidonians.

He was born shortly after peace was established. He has been a proud advocate of the importance of the Tarienth Terraforming project, and has served multiple tours in Tarienth before his final promotion to Project Lead a few years ago. His education was at the highest academy of Political Sciences in the Federation, and it is expected that he will end his tenure at Tarienth after this last tour and become a Federation Ambassador.

His whole family is full of powerful leaders and cultural icons. His sister has a secret identity as one of Kurgia’s most celebrated artists, and his older brother is serving as Secretary of the Interior. His family is safe in the Capital or abroad. His wife died a few years ago and his two sons are still in college. A security team has been dispatched to monitor their status.

Samuel O'connor

Full Name: Samuel O'connor
Species: Human (Mammal)
Gender: Male
Age: 48
Height: 5ft 8in
Flesh Color: Light Brown (Human color can change slightly depending on UV exposure)
Eyes: Brown
Notes: Humans usually have hair at the top of their heads. Samuel has gone bald. He also walks with a limp caused by an injury early in his life on his left leg.

Samuel O'connor Details

The only reason we have any info on Samuel O'connor was because of his criminal history. His parents are Nancy O'connor and Tim O'connor, and they are registered citizen workers under Derkinson & Walton Inc. They left Earth nearly 40 years ago and spent a short time on Mars before heading to the Federation and finding work in Sayor space as farmworkers. There Samuel reached Human adulthood.

Samuel was involved in some petty crimes while maturing on Sayor Prime before attempting to become a smuggler. His luck at smuggling was no better, and he was caught and given a choice to serve on Tarienth. Like many Humans, he chose this instead of a Federation Federal Mining Prison on some asteroid. This, however, was nearly 20 years ago—far longer than his 8-year sentence. Apparently, he decided to stay as a full employee. He sends some money back to his parents from time to time as well as to someone who we believe to be his daughter, whose name is Karen Hewitt (location unknown).

His service record appears to be solid with only minor complaints throughout the years, but nothing stands out.

Susan

Full Name: Susan
Species: Human (Mammal)
Gender: Female
Age: 22
Height: 5ft 5in
Flesh Color: Pale white
Eyes: Brown
Notes: A scrawny woman with short blond hair that ends just before her shoulders. Her clothes appear worn like most others, and her skin is pale for the average human because of extremely low light exposure.

Susan Details

Players should only know that Garth is looking for this human woman because she is helping the strike and that she is hiding somewhere in ‘The Pit’.

The Pit is the primary terraforming facility on the planet where workers eat, sleep, and work. Garth’s forces have been trying to find her for weeks, as she was responsible for the worker strikes. She is young, very beautiful, and charismatic. Many people, even non-humans, have rallied behind her to ask for better working conditions. Unlike O'connor, Susan doesn’t want violence and has urged for peaceful protests.

To find her, the party must go to ‘The Pit’ and head to the lower decks of the facility where uncared-for wounded workers stay to recover. Workers are hiding because they are afraid of getting treatment or of anyone claiming to help. They will need to ask around to find the location. Humans will be hard-pressed to give up the location.

Once you find the location, some humans who worry about your presence will try to use violence to remove the players. Depending on the players' reactions, Susan will reveal herself:

If the players use violence to stay, Susan will whisk the wounded away and even offer to care for the players' wounds, but will refuse to show herself unless the players answer her questions correctly.
If the players use diplomacy, she immediately reveals herself and asks that they speak with her in private.

Once you talk to Susan, she reveals she just wants better health care, worker's compensation, and better hours. She says that humans only started the strike a few weeks before—the day before the events occurred. She also says she has heard rumors that Nib isn’t really dead and that likely Samuel has him. She also says that Lord Thuih was always a welcome sight in Tarienth as he was kind to humans, provided medical supplies, and bought their bootlegged alcohol. She has a hard time believing that these new policies are truly his, and suspects that he must be in trouble and likely being manipulated by Garth. Lastly, she talks about the rumor of the medical facility ‘losing’ Human and Sayor patients; people who go there often do not come back, and if they do come back, they are worse than when they left.

Dangers

A Perception check of 20 will show that you are being followed by both Sayor and Human peoples. Catching them, they will claim that they are watching you to protect the strikers and attempt to flee. A Sense_Motive check of 20 indicates they are lying, but they will refuse to acknowledge what they are lying about.

Once you leave, Lepidonian agents will try to stop you. They will first ask you to give up her location and any other strikers. If you refuse, they will try to kill you in an attempt to make it look like a riot. The moment the leader hears that you will not give up the location, he will press a button on his wrist, which signals other agents elsewhere to start a riot. Then, in the midst of the chaos, combat ensues.

Side Note

If the characters cannot find Susan, they will be confronted with these agents when attempting to leave The Pit. They will ask for all info. During this fight, a human bystander will be seriously hurt. Susan will appear to help heal the person and will engage in a conversation with the players. She will reveal herself if she believes the players can help.

Lord Thuih (Judge Carthic)

Full Name: Carthic (masquerading as Lord Thuih)
Species: Sayor (Mammal)
Gender: Male
Age: 50
Height: 6ft 2inch
Flesh Color: Light Blue
Eyes: Gray
Notes: Lord Thuih is a recent addition to the workforce on Tarienth. He has become a replacement representative for the Federation. He appears tired and wears a Judge's uniform instead of an official one.

Lord Thuih (Judge Carthic) Details

Lord Thuih is actually the not-so-honorable Judge Carthic. The Judge was sentenced for his crimes. Somehow, he was spared death and relocated to prison work on the surface of Tarienth. He arrived just a day before the system went dark.

Now Carthic, masquerading as Lord Thuih, is a Lepidonian puppet. Since the Jove and the local inhabitants are unaware of his sentence, they have accepted him as the new head of the operation. The Jove will see a Federation representative overseeing the terraforming project.

The real Lord Thuih was a minor Lord in the outer colony of Sayor. He had been given the task of surveying the DMZ, a dull task done only because of Federation bureaucracy. The tour would end with a visit to the Tarienth system. The end of his surveying tour was timed right when the system went dark.

The real Lord Thuih’s ship is missing. Thuih’s comrades and crew noticed something was amiss somehow and forcibly disembarked from Orbital One station. The damage from that action is still noticeable (DC 20 Perception check or Knowledge (Science) check; a ship sensor scan at DC 12 can also determine this).

Doctor Ziyal

Full Name: Ziyal
Species: Lepidonian (Reptilian)
Gender: Female
Age: 42
Height: 4ft 6in
Flesh Color: Khaki with sandstone color pattern on her scales
Eyes: Gray

Doctor Ziyal Details

She is young for a Lepidonian who has as much authority. Usually, it takes another 20 to 30 years, if you are lucky, before a Lepidonian would find themselves in that position. A Knowledge (Culture) DC 15 check will recognize this.

She was not the original head doctor of the Lepidonian hospital. She came as part of the management change a few years ago, when Regent Garth Tomon joined Tarienth. She has a short history with Garth. A Knowledge (Current Events) DC 15 check reveals that she arrived with Garth Tomon.

If the characters hack the hospital computer system, a Study DC 10 check on the system reveals that she has had a history of issues with leadership, and her peers claim she is rash and overly harsh.

She is a coward. If she can be taken, she will confess to the Federation and Jove of her involvement.

She can be found in the Lepidonian hospital in the ‘alternative healing wing’. She seems to live at the hospital. That section of the hospital has a few odd nurses. A Perception DC 17 check shows that they are disguised security forces. The ‘nurses’ and facility employees will request that the characters leave, but they will not force the players to leave as long as they do not do anything illegal.

To corner Doctor Ziyal, the players will have to sneak past the guards in the ‘alternative healing wing’. There are several ways to sneak in. They cannot take uniforms because all employees are Lepidonian. The best way is to either bribe a non-security-guard nurse or stealthily bring one player in, then open a backdoor for the rest of the members. Once inside facility security, Doctor Ziyal will be walking around visiting the wards, and the players should be able to corner her. She cannot be bribed and diplomacy will not work. She will immediately try to raise an alarm by running to the nearest comm panel. If she fails, the players can only get her to talk if they intimidate her. An Intimidate DC 12 check will make her tell all; if that fails, she will scream.

The story she has to tell is that she is experimenting on human and Sayor species. She has two different missions:

The first is to develop a convincing plastic surgery technique that will allow a Lepidonian to look exactly like a human or a Sayor, so that even sensors cannot tell the difference. Although not directly illegal to make convincing spies, the ‘research’ she is doing is.
The second thing she is working on is a special virus designed to target specific species or even specific people—particularly Federation species. This is illegal and a direct violation of the treaty. The virus appears as a simple common cold, and if a secondary activator virus infects the host, they quickly die of what appears to be natural causes. There currently is no antidote since it is designed to target Kurgians only at the moment. However, the research is located on Ziyal’s personal computer and backed up on the secret ‘alternative healing wing’ computer system.

Garth will assume Doctor Ziyal will spill her guts, as he knows she is a coward. Therefore, security forces will attempt to kill the players and claim that it was an accident at the hospital. They will close the hospital down and quarantine it under the claim that a deadly virus has been released. ‘Medical personnel’ will be dispatched to ‘clean’ the inside of the hospital.

The players will have to figure out how to sneak out. There are four ways out:

Out through the front.
Through the roof.
Out the back, although that appears to be covered by security forces.
Via a sewer system, which is infested with a dire rat problem.