¶ Argonauts
¶ Marcus Yusai
- High Concept: Self-Aggrandizing Genius
- Morph: Hyperbright
Dr. Marcus Yusai is a renowned scientist in the fields of astrophysics and Pandora Gate technology.
¶ Cancri 4 Colonists
¶ Alkippe Anna
- High Concept: Pre-fall military engineer
- Morph: Synth
- Exoplanets are our only hope
- Indebted to PlathCo
Alkippe is a veteran of many pre-fall conflicts. He has extensive knowledge of hardware fabrication, maintenance, military gear, and combat strategies. The Fall convinced him that transhumanity must move to the stars to avoid a repeat of that tragedy.
He was resleeved by PlathCo from a pre-colony backup on Pandora after perishing during the Cancri 4 expedition. Like the rest of the colonists, he is indebted to PlathCo for breach of contract.
Known only to Firewall, Alkippe was shot dead in Cancri 4’s xeno facility after fighting off Chloe and Peras, and wrenching open the door leading to the facility’s power generation level.
¶ Chloe Pratt
- Morph: Neo-avian
- I want to meet aliens. And smooch them.
- Indebted to PlathCo
Chloe is an avian uplift who was forced into a life of exploration by her hypercorp masters. She fled the inner system and put her linguistics skills to good use exploring alien worlds and relics. She desperately hopes to encounter new lifeforms someday, and that they’ll be more tolerant than transhumanity.
She was resleeved by PlathCo from a pre-colony backup on Pandora after perishing during the Cancri 4 expedition. Like the rest of the colonists, she is indebted to PlathCo for breach of contract.
Known only to Firewall, Chloe became infected by a rapidly growing xeno fungal lifeform in the hidden facility on Cancri 4. She was killed by Alkippe in an altercation when the remaining colonists came on a rescue mission.
¶ Ekaitz Karyna
- High Concept: Fortune-seeking archaeologist
- Trouble: Weak knees for shiny things
- Morph: Splicer
- I don't fear the unknown, I sell it
- I wish I were as cool as Indiana Jones
- Indebted to PlathCo
Ekaitz is a skilled xeno-technologist, skilled at making alien tech reveal its secrets. She was basically a groupie to the Pandora Gate decoding effort and got in on the ground floor of gatecrashing. Her klepto tendencies prevented her from rising too far in any of the gate corps, but her experience keeps getting her jobs.
She was resleeved by PlathCo from a pre-colony backup on Pandora after perishing during the Cancri 4 expedition. Like the rest of the colonists, she is indebted to PlathCo for breach of contract.
Known only to Firewall, Ekaitz became infected by a rapidly growing xeno fungal lifeform in the hidden facility on Cancri 4. She was severely injured in a brutal fight with Elias at the sealed door to the xeno site’s power control room. She was kept somewhat alive by the facility’s emergency life support drones, though she started emitting a piercing psychic scream that was extremely discomforting to listeners.
¶ Elias Bozhidara
- High Concept: Expert scavenger
- Trouble: I need to free my friends
- Morph: Synth
- Sharp eyes and sharp knives
- Indebted to PlathCo
Elias left his scum barge to join gate crashing expeditions when he realized the kind of rep he could get by scavenging xeno tech. He plans to use that rep to get his friends off the barge before it falls into terminal disrepair.
He was resleeved by PlathCo from a pre-colony backup on Pandora after perishing during the Cancri 4 expedition. Like the rest of the colonists, he is indebted to PlathCo for breach of contract.
Known only to Firewall, Elias was killed in a brutal fight with Ekaitz at the sealed door to the xeno ruins power control room.
¶ Kehsia Nithin
- High Concept: Cowardly maverick
- Trouble: Paralyzed by personal risk
- Morph: Menton
- I'd rather die on my own than live as a serf
- Indebted to PlathCo
Kehsia is an inveterate anarchist from the outer system. He’s an expert at jamming bots, preferring to operate on equipment remotely whenever possible. For reasons known only to himself, he smuggled an anti-personnel turret blueprint onto Cancri 4 in his personal belongings.
He was resleeved by PlathCo from a pre-colony backup on Pandora after perishing during the Cancri 4 expedition. Like the rest of the colonists, he is indebted to PlathCo for breach of contract.
Known only to Firewall, Kehsia was ambushed and killed by Theo in the xeno laboratories.
¶ Nolan Dowe
- High Concept: Seasoned gatecrashing commander
- Morph: Splicer
- My boots are made for walking
- I learned everything on the job
- Indebted to PlathCo
Nolan is one of those restless people who’s never happy settling down. Before the Fall, he was an asteroid prospector for the Newmont Combine. He and his crew watched in horror as the inner system was eaten alive. After the discovery of the Pandora Gates, Nolan was “lucky” enough to get one of the infamously dangerous exoplanet mining contracts.
Cancri 4 was his second such expedition. His long experience made him an obvious choice for commander.
He was resleeved by PlathCo from a pre-colony backup on Pandora after perishing during the Cancri 4 expedition. Like the rest of the colonists, he is indebted to PlathCo for breach of contract.
Known only to Firewall, Nolan was killed in a shootout in the xeno facility power generator level.
¶ Peras Manilus
- Morph: Splicer
- I build things that build things
- Indebted to PlathCo
Peras is an expert at nanofabrication and hardware maintenance. He honed his skills as part of an anarchist collective hab in the belt.
He was resleeved by PlathCo from a pre-colony backup on Pandora after perishing during the Cancri 4 expedition. Like the rest of the colonists, he is indebted to PlathCo for breach of contract.
Known only to Firewall, Peras became infected by a rapidly growing xeno fungal lifeform in the hidden facility on Cancri 4. He was killed by Alkippe in an altercation when the remaining colonists came on a rescue mission.
¶ Teresa Polnima
- High Concept: Hardworking refugee
- Morph: Ruster
- I'll do anything for a fresh start
- People only see what I can do for them
- Indebted to PlathCo
Teresa was purchased as an infugee by the Planetary Consortium for her expertise with habitat food systems. She’s bounced around between habitats ever since, eventually winding up on Pandora working on exo colonies.
She was resleeved by PlathCo from a pre-colony backup on Pandora after perishing during the Cancri 4 expedition. Like the rest of the colonists, she is indebted to PlathCo for breach of contract.
Known only to Firewall, Teresa was shot during an altercation in Cancri 4’s xeno facility. She bled out in a hallway while trying to reach the surface.
¶ Theo Torsten
- High Concept: Xenophile scout
- Morph: Octomorph
- Humanoid morphs are for the weak
- Indebted to PlathCo
Theo is a scout who specializes in extreme environments. His xeno-loving tendencies put him at odds with everyone except the really out-there anarchists and scum.
She was resleeved by PlathCo from a pre-colony backup on Pandora after perishing during the Cancri 4 expedition. Like the rest of the colonists, she is indebted to PlathCo for breach of contract.
Known only to Firewall, Theo became infected by a rapidly growing xeno fungal lifeform in the hidden facility on Cancri 4. He was severely injured after multiple fights during the other colonists’ rescue attempt, but managed to stay alive by using one of the advanced xeno endoskeletons. He was eventually killed by United Division after a long, drawn-out fight.
¶ Vaso Gemma
- High Concept: Nihilist farmer
- Morph: Splicer
- I already lost it all, so there's nothing holding me back
- Indebted to PlathCo
Vaso was one of the lucky few to escape the Fall in one of the giant evacuation barges. His family was not so lucky. Vaso made his rep among the Scum by maintaining HVAC and food systems.
He was resleeved by PlathCo from a pre-colony backup on Pandora after perishing during the Cancri 4 expedition. Like the rest of the colonists, he is indebted to PlathCo for breach of contract.
Known only to Firewall, Vaso was killed by Theo in an altercation in Cancri 4’s xeno facility.
¶ Clean Sweep
¶ Jenny Cavalboc
- Morph: Executive Sylph
Jenny is the corporate stooge of Clean Sweep’s idols. Her character is proud, vain, and devious. Styled as a scheming lower-echelon executive, Jenny always has a few schemes in play to get ahead. Naturally, all of her schemes fall apart in appealing and entertaining ways. Her persona was launched in 3AF as part of the second wave of corporate idols in a partnership with Gravaton Entertainment Corp. Her fans call themselves the Cavalry.
Off stage, Jenny Cavalboc is unfortunately just as proud and vain as her idol persona. She has a strong wild streak that she tones down for performances, but which has gotten her in trouble more than a few times off the clock.
¶ Ramir Hayati
- High Concept: Ambitious Indenture
- Trouble: Loyal to My Betters
- Morph: Menton
- I Already Gave 100%
Ramir is an erudite indenture who works as an administrative assistant for Clean Sweep’s idols. He manages the schedules and appearances for the entire group, always working overtime as he tirelessly chips away at his contract.
¶ Samantha Pillón
- Morph: Pleasantly Pudgy Bouncer
Samantha is one of the idols working for Clean Sweep’s PR department. Her gimmick is being sickeningly cute in a pudgy, sleepy, clumsy sort of way. Her fanclub calls itself the Pillow Pals after her nickname, the Pillow Princess. Sammy is, of course, too pure to understand the word play.
Behind the scenes, Sammy is addicted to a number of the drugs she has to use to consistently perform her sleepy act. Her dosage is carefully controlled by management.
¶ Sylvia Delafosse
- High Concept: Doting Caretaker
- Trouble: People Over Profits
- Morph: Ayah
Sylvia is the caretaker for Clean Sweep’s group of professional idols. She loves her wards and cares for them like they were her children. She’s taken heat from management a few times, but her relationship is too vital to the idols’ performance to get rid of her.
¶ Umbretta Faith
- High Concept: Waifu on the Front Lines
- Trouble: As Rebellious as They Tell Me to Be
- Morph: Umbretta Synthmorph
Umbretta is one of Clean Sweep’s “ongoing assets” who has been in the business of making the company look good almost as long as Nenette. Off the clock, Jill and Reece share a friendly acquaintance, much like two soldiers fighting on the front lines. They try to look out for each other but know there are limits to how far they can push back. Reece was unfortunate enough to have been absorbed into Clean Sweep’s idol brigade when her parent mini-corp was bought up, thus extending her contract through the legal loopholes that exist within the consortium. Included in her contract is a clause that allows for temporary but very real psychosurgical changes to her ego, typically to create a more ‘genuine’ role that doesn’t come quite as naturally to her as for Nenette. To the masses, Umbretta Faith is the renegade bad girl who fights against Clean Sweep’s propaganda and gives the ‘real talk’ about which models of vehicle (and idols) are actually worth the public’s time. The mesh records show she and Nenette were very close early on but had a significant falling out over an early line of Clean Sweep fliers. Since then, Umbretta has been hungry to prove she was in the right.
Her fans call themselves The Faithful.
¶ Comet Express
¶ Shen Guanting
- High Concept: Profiteering Executive
- Morph: Sylph
A local representative of ComEx’s delivery service on Venus. Working in collaboration with Clean Sweep to corner a luxury transporation and delivery market. Nenette hyped him up a little too much at the Opulux reveal party, but brought him and a number of executives closer together on the journey to Octavia.
¶ Conamara Citizens
¶ Augustine MacArthur
- High Concept: Deep Sea Celebrity
- Morph: Octomorph
Augustine is a minor local celebrity known for his blazing fast times in the octo-weight orienteering league. He’s since moved on to work with a number of Europan minicorps.
¶ Tamatsuki Yasotaro
- High Concept: Relaxed Researcher
- Morph: Neo-Bonobo
Yasotaro is a marine biologist teaching and working in the Conamara habitat on Europa. He’s also part of the group that welcomes new arrivals at the habitat. He loves bivalves a little too much.
¶ Dead Sea
¶ Rohaan Qas
- Morph: Neo-Orca
- Prominent Scars
Rohaan is a respected leader within Dead Sea. She’s known for being tough in a fight and shrewd in a negotiation. She’s responsible for most of the gang’s recent extortion schemes.
Though she’s one of the favorites to take over leadership of Dead Sea, she has not made any moves on the gang’s boss and maintains the appearance of steadfast loyalty.
¶ Ecologene
¶ Ethan Liens
- Trouble: Fired and Not Forgotten
Dr. Liens was the obvious successor to Dr. London Carrick’s position within Ecologene. He is eager and self-serving, and when the ID Crew breakaways asked him to be a part of their scheme to finally kill off Carrick, he eagerly accepted. He is now no longer employed at all, and on the run from his former boss’s killers.
¶ Graham Wescott
- Morph: Menton
Dr. Wescott is an old face at Ecologene. He was the bitter rival of Dr. London Carrick before the latter’s spectacular demise. Though he cannot prove it, he strongly suspects that Carrick had him ego-napped with the help of the ID Crew about a year ago. Not that he’s still bitter.
¶ London Carrick (Deceased)
- High Concept: Eccentric X-illionaire
Dr. London Carrick was by all accounts a brilliant scientist and asshole. From ego-napping his rival Dr. Wescott, to screwing over Dr. Quinn, to throwing the ID Crew under the bus, he made a very long list of enemies during his abnormally long life.
At his 130th birthday celebration, his enemies from ID Crew caught up with him.
Dead: Assassinated during his 130th birthday party by a breakaway faction of the ID Crew. They spent the year+ since he threw them under the bus slowly finding and deleting all of his backups, so that when they blew him up on Atmos Station, he would stay dead.
¶ Quinn Buchannon
- Morph: Neo-orangutan
- All That Glimmers Is Definitely Gold
Overly-enthusiastic scientist and advocate for uplift rights. He was working with Dr. Carrick on an ambitious plan to create a habitat specifically for the needs of neo-hominids. Carrick’s unexpected death let Ecologene cancel the project without much explanation.
¶ Europa Regulars
¶ Delilah
- Morph: Budget Supercomputer
Delilah is an AGI who was hobbled and enslaved doing genetics work.
¶ Shen Hanying
- High Concept: Corp Ego Hunter
- Trouble: Taboo Interests
- Morph: Prototype Eel
- Wacky Pod
Shen is a retired ego hunter who used to work for Hugh & Gratton Security.
¶ Europan Assembly
¶ Aiza
- Morph: Neo-octopus
Aiza is a publicly known member of the mercurial rights group Europan Assembly. Her own reputation is somewhat tarnished by the group’s strong criminal ties.
¶ Ex-Indentures
¶ Benjamin Pitt
- High Concept: Neo-Gorilla Laborer
- Trouble: My Genes Are Not My Own
- Morph: Gene-Locked Neo-Gorilla
Benjamin is a gorilla uplift pushed into indentured labor on Europa. He was the target of a Europan Assembly extraction job that they contracted to United Assembly. The group managed to get him out of Angkor Ridge and delivered into the hands of Dead Sea, a criminal group who promised to get Benjamin safely off world. If they kept their word, he now lives on a Mercurial habitat dedicated to neo-apes.
¶ Experia News
¶ Ariel Rojas
- High Concept: Media Smear Campaigner
- Morph: Gargoyle
Working for Experia, the PC’s foremost viral marketing and news media outlet. Ariel was likely a pawn to either improve or damage Clean Sweep’s rep using misleading footage of Nenette’s cloud diving match and the cargo ship debacle by Octavia. Got scared good by Umbretta, probably learned her lesson.
¶ Extropians
¶ Melika Qasemi
- High Concept: Body Banker in Little Extropia
- Morph: Exalt
- Sympathetic to the VTP
Owner and proprieter of Melika’s Body Works. An Extropian popular in the Little Extropia arcology of Gerlach station, orbiting Venus. Pre-arranged to re-sleeve Heidi in a very experimental Ariel morph designed by Titanian researchers. Politically invested in the hawkish progressive fringe of the VTP, hoping to steer the Morningstar Constellation toward the Autonomist Alliance. During Nikolaj Rage’s underground auction, she bet on behalf of an unknown third party to secure the Ni Deux Ni Metre, a far hauler equipped with an antimatter drive. Unlikely she’ll be delivering the ship, but her deal was for the coordinates, and she sticks to the contract.
¶ Fa Jing
¶ Kateriina Passerini
Geologist working on Mercury. Does amateur gene-hacking and created a custom Exalt variant specialized for underground pathfinding.
¶ Factors
¶ Ambassador Node
Ambassador Node represents the Factors on Venus. They ‘sold’ access to the embassy at an underground auction in The Pattern Club, Parvarti during the events of The Venusian Job. The United Division secured Morningstar exclusive access to the Factors at great risk to themselves, and great cost to the constellation leadership.
It’s unclear why the Factors have come to Venus, but they’re here now.
¶ Firewall
¶ Valentine
- High Concept: Firewall Egghead
- Morph: Menton
Valentine is an old associate of Agent Alpha. They’re a member of the same server within Firewall and are a trustworthy partner in crime.
¶ Flux Gallery
¶ Airah Molina
- High Concept: Professional Seat Warmer
Receptionist and secretary for Flux Gallery. She’s worked with the company since shortly after its inception, when she emigrated to Europa from Luna.
¶ Bevan
- High Concept: Suave Sales Rep
- Morph: Custom Sylph
Slick and experienced sales representative working at Flux Gallery.
¶ Oluwat
- High Concept: Exhuman Geneticist
- Morph: Refined Menton
- Boutique Cover Story
Oluwat is a former member of an exhuman cult that included Miss Abigail. After the cult dissolved, he stayed on Europa and assumed the identity of Dimitri Sumner, morph artiste. He now works as the lead designer at Flux Gallery, pursuing his extreme morph adaptation research on the side.
¶ Former Associates
¶ Caelan
Caelan is a former member of an exhuman cult that included Oluwat and Miss Abigail. After the cult dissolved, he set up shop on a solar habitat to pursue high-energy physics researh.
¶ Lexi-Mai
- Morph: Remade
Lexi-Mai is a former member of an exhuman cult that included Oluwat and Miss Abigail. After the cult dissolved, she moved somewhere near Uranos and may be involved with the Ultimates.
¶ Freelance Criminals
¶ Nikolaj Rage (Deceased)
- High Concept: Red Market Arms Dealer
- Trouble: Debaucherous Sociopath
- Morph: Stolen Reaper Morph
- Everyone Has a Price Tag
- Agressive Negotiator
- Orgiastic Murderball
Nikolaj Rage is known to Firewall for being a nexus of X-Risks wherever he is spotted. Noteworthy for being as untrustworthy as he is capable, Nikolaj always has the goods he promises to deliver and only sticks around long enough to make some kind of sale. Sometimes, he double-deals or takes the money along with a better offer. Simultaneously hated and bartered with by many factions, Firewall believes he enjoys the attention and percieves himself as a power broker. Revealed himself at an underground Parvarti auction masquerading as a game of high stakes Blackjack. Alpha has been pulling strings to ensure his ultimate ego-death, and seems to have succeeded near the end of The Venusian Job. Scratch one x-risk in the galaxy.
Stunts: Diabolical Disregard (X-Risk), Underbarrel Seeker Launcher, Demolition Charges, Armor, Reflex Booster.
Dead: Killed by United Division in the skies of Venus, while a Firewall operation took out his backups across the system. He’s probably staying dead.
¶ Fujizo
¶ Charity Martinas
- Morph: Menton
Charity is the lead researcher on Project Revival. She was responsible for reawakening and socializing the pre-fall AI YUKI.
¶ Donald Kevinson
As head of Network Engineering and Support at Fujizo, Donald manages most of the corp’s virtual services and internal resources.
¶ Roger Bennett
- High Concept: Friendly Contract Lawyer
- Morph: Hibernoid
Roger handles various contract negotiations for Fujizo Corporation. He is friendly and magnanimous, and equally comfortable when working with demanding corp execs as with specialist contractors.
¶ Glitterati
¶ Joselyn Hyland
- Morph: varies
- Follow the Thrill
Joselyn is the obscenely rich neice and heiress to Dr. London Carrick. Obsessed with the next thrill, she didn’t even attend the birthday bash where her uncle was killed.
¶ Killaraus Citizens
¶ Deacon Turner
- High Concept: Creepy Superfan
- Trouble: Obsessed with Millie
- Morph: Splicer
Creepy superfan of Millie Markham. Tried to use hidden paralytic glands to kidnap her from a public show.
¶ Millie Markham
- High Concept: Celebrity Escape Artist
- Morph: Octomorph
Local spelunking celebrity on Europa. Works out of Killaraus Icicle.
¶ Theodor Amadeus Pehr
- High Concept: Rich Schlub
- Morph: Neo Orca
Rich, liesure man. Enjoys drinks, racing, and highly visible snobbery.
¶ Killer Crew
¶ Darren Pell
Darren is a former member of the ID Crew criminal organization. He and his group left ID Crew to pursue revenge against London Carrick, after the high-ranking Ecologene exec screwed them over. They spent the better part of a year carefully locating and covertly corrupting all of Carrick’s backups. Then, at his 130th birthday party, Darren and Delilah used a small bomb to kill off Carrick in a gruesome, public display. Their final warning before being taken for interrogation rings true: “Don’t fuck with ID Crew”.
¶ Delilah Jammer
Delilah is a former member of the ID Crew criminal organization. She and her group left ID Crew to pursue revenge against London Carrick, after the high-ranking Ecologene exec screwed them over. They spent the better part of a year carefully locating and covertly corrupting all of Carrick’s backups. Then, at his 130th birthday party, Delilah and Darren used a small bomb to kill off Carrick in a gruesome, public display. Her final warning before being taken for interrogation rings true: “Don’t fuck with ID Crew”.
¶ Martian Rangers
¶ Eldon Haynes
- High Concept: Corrupt Ranger
- Trouble: Tongue of Coal, Heart of Tarnished Mud
- Morph: Martian Alpiner
Eldon is one of the Martian Rangers, a planet-wide militia that acts as law enforcement outside of Mars’ settlements. He was involved in the Argyre incident before Pecos took over that area’s police services, and is openly against the Movement.
¶ MeshMax News
¶ Sonya Foster
- High Concept: Mildly Corrupt Reporter
- Morph: Sylph
Experienced and professional newscaster. She accompanied United Division, YUKI, and four Fujizo employees to Savitr Station for a PR cast. Though helpless during the near-catastrophe which ensued, she nevertheless made a good news cast and assited Nenette with her own program.
¶ Neo-Synergists
¶ Aurelia Montgomery
- High Concept: Brilliant Quantum Physicist
- Trouble: Guilt-Ridden Filicide
- Morph: Menton
- Parallel Processing State
One of the original Neo-Synergists, Aurelia and her partner Rio co-founded their own company, Synergistics, after the collapse of the company they originally worked for. Aurelia leads the theoretical research arm of the company, leaving product development and implementation to Rio.
During a conversation in their offices, she shared how she, Rio, and Elodie were haunted by the things they did to survive when their original collective was stranded for ~5 years on the wrong side of a gate. She gradually began to recall memories about her daughter, Lorelei, apparently suppressed or excised through psychosurgery. She no longer heads the company and has stepped down along with Rio and Elodie.
¶ Chrysalis
- High Concept: Emergent Exhuman Ego
- Trouble: Wracked By Anamnesis
- Morph: Ni Deux Ni Metre (Presumed)
- Orange/Blue Morality
- Memetic Syzygy
The reconstituted and pseudo-uplifted ego of Lorelei, the long-dead daughter of Elodie, Rio, and Aurelia of the Neo-Synergists. Chrysalis was discovered by The United Division to be haunting the parallel processing units preferred by the Neo-Synergists of Octavia, Venus. The group hypothesized that her fragmented ego presence was reformed or rediscovered when the Neo-Synergists started to test the Factor tech-inspired HyperMesh (NeurSCo). Driven at first for revenge, then out of a desire to stop the painful feedback, then finally as she matured to head ‘home’. Chrysalis communicates through data-dense research papers, theses, and ancient Earth music. Throughout the Venusian Job, she suborned multiple Neo-Synergists in an attempt at ‘pruning’ the egos that were causing her so much pain. Nenette put her in her box for a time, learning more about its nature; Abigail spent a lot of time learning about and connecting with Chrysalis, ultimately naming her when she cast out the name of Lorelei.
In the Battle at Reaver’s Wake, Chrysalis joined forces with The United Division to take Nikolaj Rage out once and for all. She took over his pet fenrir and then his own reaper morph. She gave Abigail a gift of understanding along with a nanoscopically detailed blueprint of an old world record player, authentically worn and used. Presumed to have trapped Rage in his reaper as it exploded while she used his morph’s emergency neutrino farcaster. Also presumed to be inhabiting the Ni Deux Ni Metre , a far hauler with an antimatter propulsion drive.
Music List: At Last, I don’t want to set the world on fire, Cry Me a River, I’ve got you under my skin, Beyond the Sea, and Don’t Wait Too Long.
Stunts: Multitasking, Mental Speed, Math Wiz, Modular Linkstate (Exhuman), Transient Architecture (Exhuman), Manifold Will (Exhuman)
¶ Elodie Cain
- High Concept: Gifted Ego-Scientist
- Trouble: Psychosurgery is Usually the Answer
- Morph: Menton
- Parallel Processing State
Elodie is a neurological expert and promising psychosurgeon originally tasked by Ambiscience with observing the Synergists. When she was lost on the wrong side of a Pandora Gate, she joined them out of necessity and has since dedicated herself to Aurelia and Rio’s vision.
Elodie was tracked by Octavia HabSec to have charted a dangerous round trip through Venusian acid clouds. There she was attacked by Markov’s Men and kidnapped for Nikolaj Rage’s darkmesh auction. Elodie had been testing the HyperMesh (NeurSCo) prototype with Rio Bautista, and through this testing had re-awakened ego fragments of Lorelei, their long-dead child. She has since been recovered by the United Division and returned to the Neo-Synergists during the events of The Venusian Job. According to Aurelia, Elodie had psychosurgically removed the elements of their long-dead daughter from their memories in order to keep the three of them emotionally stable.
¶ Jimi Goodwin
- High Concept: Born-Again Neo-Synergist
- Trouble: Traumatic Family Reunions
- Morph: Menton
- Ex-Con Wheelman
- Parallel Processing State
The newest recruit among the Neo-Synergists. A plucky member who’s maybe a little too eager to spread the good word of his newfound research community. Got a slap on the wrist from Detective Francis for wanton evangelism on the Stratos convention floor. In his excitement to convince Miss Abigail to join them, he let a few company secrets leak. He also appeared to be exhibiting signs of personality bleedover. Among his other skills, an apparently accomplished pilot as he supported Rio and Elodie during the cargo ship debacle near Octavia. One of the morphs that was suborned by Chrysalis during the events of The Venusian Job.
¶ Prof Abdullahi
- High Concept: Academic Genehacker
- Trouble: Never Wanted to Lead a Cult
- Morph: Menton
- Parallel Processing State
Professor Abdullahi teaches a number of courses on bioengineering and ecological stability at Morningstar University (mu - “Go Muons!”). He joined the Neo-Synergists after they had been established on Octavia for about a year. Fascinated by the real-time commune lifestyle, he had planned only a trial of 6 months yet has elected to remain multiple years. A dedicated leader in the local research community who commands a measure of respect particularly within the Venusian Transformation Party. Runs a side business genehacking various new forms of sustainable food animals and plant life on Venus.
Since the events of The Venusian Job, he has reluctantly replaced Aurelia and Rio as the leader of Synergistics by unanimous member decision.
¶ Rio Bautista
- High Concept: Prodigious Biotechnician
- Trouble: Guilt-ridden Filicide
- Morph: Menton
- Parallel Processing State
One of the original Neo-Synergists, Rio and his partner Aurelia co-founded their own company, Synergistics, after the collapse of their original hypercorp Ambiscience. Rio formerly led the development arm, leaving the theoretical research to Aurelia. During the events of The Venusian Job, he was the first Neo-Synergist to be suborned by Chrysalis in her attempt to get revenge, grow through ego-pruning, and head back for ‘home.’ Since the United Division returned Elodie Cain to their collective, he has stepped down as one of the leaders of Synergistics.
¶ Night Cartel
¶ Nishant Mercer
- High Concept: Tech-Savvy Parlor Master
- Trouble: Unsanctioned Alliances
- Morph: Varies (most recently *Muscle-Bound Ghost*)
- Not Above Cutting a Deal
- What Management Doesn't Know Won't Hurt 'em
Nishant Mercer runs a Simsense Parlour out of the Ganesh platform on Parvarti Station, Venus. Nishant has been a naughtier boy than usual. Beyond the horror of being a sex slaver and accomplice to egonappers, he committed the sin of making an unsanctioned deal with lower management within the Triads. Recently deceased, presumed cause being a double-cross from the Triads, which will inevitably reignite hostilities between the factions. The United Division succeeded in planting the false flag, murderizing Nishant, and taking his stuff. When he’s reinstantiated from backup, he’ll be missing 6 critical days, a lot of money and assets, and his invitation to the Pattern Club.
¶ Octavia Administration
¶ Annabelle Dupont
- High Concept: 3rd Shift Maintenance Manager
- Morph: Bouncer-Like Worker Pod
Annabelle Dupont oversees the mining operations and customs at the Octavia Lower Docks, third shift. She questioned the United Division but ultimately gave them access to the mining and manufacturing facilities at the base of the aerostat.
¶ Cmdr Magnus Goddard
- High Concept: Ironclad Navigator
- Morph: Fury
Cdr. Goddard is the head of Octavia’s Central Command. While Mayor Halis Sapien interfaces with the public and the Star Council, Goddard ensures the overall wellbeing of the aerostat itself. As a matter of public record, Goddard was awarded with multiple medals by both the LLA and various now-defunct nations for heroism during Earth’s evacuation. Retains their military title out of habit despite having outgrown the rank, and Octavia leadership seem content to let it stand.
¶ Mayor Halis Sapien
- High Concept: Charismatic Mayor
- Morph: Androgynous Exalt
- Beloved by Most
Mayor Halis Sapien is the central government official of Octavia Aerostat, not to be confused with the Star Council, whom represent the Morningstar Constellation as a whole. Mayor Sapien worked closely with Counsilor Arisa before the Morningstar Constellation was formed. Together, they successfully rolled out a grassroots Venusian independence movement which led to the eventual formation of the Constellation. Halis spear-headed the growing sentiment for their Aerial Terraforming Initiative (ATI) which now dominates the current Venusian Transformation Party, and which initially spurred other Venusians to vote for independence. They are a widely renowned figure on Octavia, and a patron of both the arts and scientific research.
¶ Octavia HabSec
¶ DCI Francis
- High Concept: Grizzled Fish Detective
- Trouble: Suspicious Workaholic
- Morph: Modded Synth
Detective Burton Francis works for Octavia HabSec as lead criminal investigator. This mostly means investigating discrepancies on cargo manifests, shutting down unregulated fabber farms, tracking indentures in breach of contract, and sifting them from infugees claiming asylum. He has a traumatic backstory, and a fishbowl for a head. Fish is included.
¶ Pandora Regulars
¶ Alger Collins
- High Concept: Xeno-tech Analyst
- Morph: Greasy Menton
Technologist and researcher working on Pandora. He has lots of experience analyzing and handling the spoils of gatecrashing expeditions. Chatted with Roland on the group’s first day on Pandora and dared him to taste his buddy’s locker.
¶ Lyssa Galven
While indentured at Ecologene, Lyssa worked as an executive assistant and lover to Ethan Liens. When Ethan learned of the plot to kill London Carrick by explosion, he tried to get Lyssa into the blast radius, but to no avail. United Division purchased her contract during their investigation and later freed her, along with the money used to buy out her contract. She fled to Pandora to establish a new life.
¶ Margie
- High Concept: Dour Scientist
Apparently uptight woman living on Pandora. Nenette sensed a deep dislike of her waifu catgirl profession.
¶ PlathCo
¶ Finley Plath
- High Concept: Charismatic Go-Getter
- Morph: Crasher
Finley is the founder of PlathCo. A charismatic leader and organizer, he makes sure the members of the PlathCo cooperative meet his high standards.
¶ Nickie Alexander
- High Concept: Talented Recruiter
- Morph: Friendly Splicer
- Silver Tongue
Recruiter and talent scout for PlathCo. Contacted the PCs for their help investigating and packing up the defunct colony on Cancri 4.
¶ Savitr Admin
¶ Asami Hiraku
- High Concept: Lineman
- Morph: Synth
Hiraku is an accomplished hab tech specializing in power systems. During the near-catastrophe at Savitr Station, he jetted away from swarming nanomachines in a panic, Disabled among the asteroids, he was resuced by Heidi.
¶ Hye Chae-Won
- High Concept: In-Tune Engineer
- Trouble: Bulletproof Rose-Colored Glasses
- Morph: Synth
Chae-Won is a professional zero-g agritech engineer with a good eye for usability. Her work features in a number of Fujizo’s live-in spacecraft. During the near-catastrophe at Savitr Station, she was instrumental in containing the nanomachines and keeping the station operational.
¶ Miyashita Tomiko
- High Concept: Hard-working Asshole
- Morph: Synth
Tomiko is an experienced technician with special skill at running hab systems. She has a reputation for letting her ego run away with her temper at times. During the near-catastrophe at Savitr Station, she took charge of nanite containment and station integrity, leaving Roland and YUKI to handle the planning and maneuvering.
¶ Tsubaki Karasi
- High Concept: By-the-book Middle Manager
- Morph: Exalt
- Loyal Company Man
Karasi is a lower manager assigned to Project Revival. He was sent to oversee the opening of Savitr Station and the arrival of its first occupants. During the near-catastrophe at Savitr Station, he only got in the way a little bit.
¶ Solid Ground Initiative
¶ Sergio Ricci
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- High Concept: Radicalized Researcher
- Trouble: Unwitting Patsy of the Corps
- Morph: Exalt
A highly established figure within the Solid Ground Initiative, an astroturfing campaign by the PC to destabilize and de-ligitimize the Venusian Aerial Terraforming Initiative. A true believer in terraforming Venus into a new Earth, unaware that he is being used as a tool. Couldn’t hold his liquor at the Clean Sweep opening party. What a shame.
¶ Star Council
¶ Councilor Arisa
- High Concept: Head of the Star Council
- Trouble: Cold War with the PC, Heating Up
- Morph: Exalt
- Pragmatic Idealist
Councilor Arisa leads the Star Council in all of its dealings between aerostats and with outside major entities. She worked closely with now-Mayor Halis Sapien to turn a grassroots initiative into a full-blown independence movement. Arisa has proven quite adept at weaving together the various interests of the aerostats and forging common goals despite their strong independent streaks. Memetic campaigns launched by various hypercorp and Consortium interests to undermine her authority and competence have failed in the wake of her ability to rally support from various Star Council representatives, not to mention get results.
¶ Rathenberg
- High Concept: Doyenne of the Diplomatic Corps
- Morph: Sylph
- Diplomatic Hatchetman
Rathenberg is the head of the Star Council’s Diplomatic Corps, by seniority. Though little is known about her personal life, she acts quite capably as Councilor Arisa’s intermediary. Her offices are set within Octavia’s Rim, closer to the Upper Docking and Hospitality District. She invited The United Division to talk in The Beige Room, apparently a balloon equipped for discrete conversation. She diplomatically told the group to fuck off from her ‘stat in search of Elodie Cain, even giving them leads and access that would hasten their exit. Agreed under pressure from Abi to win the last bid to ensure Factor access to the Venusian surface. Also offered Abi a job in mercurial outreach.
¶ The Movement
¶ Luvenia Thorn
- High Concept: TITAN Hunting Extremist
- Morph: Martian Alpiner
- Freedom from TITANs, Freedom from Tyrants
TITAN hunter and occasional terrorist. Firewall believes she is a member of one of the survivalist cults on Mars. Luvenia approached Roland after his successful killing spree against a squad of Masked Men in the TQZ. She seems quite interested in his skills and offered to go hunting with him at some point in the future, presumably hoping to recruit him to her cult’s cause.
¶ Venusians
¶ Blackvein
- High Concept: Third-Party Underworld Fixer
- Morph: Iridescent Neo-Avian
- Secrets Glitter Most
Blackvein is an independent info-broker based out of Parvarti aerostat, Venus. Word on the street is he’s well-connected and has a number of pseudo-legal enterprises and networks in place around the planet. His g-rep and civrep are both strong on a hab infested with bad actors and organized crime. Recently made a deal with The United Division to reignite a gang war between the local Night Cartel and Shui Fong Triad in exchange for information on where to find Nikolaj Rage’s darkmesh auction. A self-interested businessman who might have a soft spot for those escaping slavery or indenture.
¶ Jaseva Khol
- High Concept: Smug Corpo Technocrat
- Morph: Savant Synth
Director Khol runs the Nimbus Department of Research & Development. He hired the Neo-Synergists to develop the NeurSCo (aka HyperMesh) project into some form of highly secure communication. Apparently on cordial terms with Rathenberg, though she thinks he’s a snake. The United Division pieced together that his research may be based in part on Factor tech, and that he did not share that information with the Neo-Synergists.
¶ John Imwata
- High Concept: Respected Street Vendor
- Morph: Splicer
- Hotdogs with a Personal Touch
Proprieter and purveyor of John’s Hotdogs & Sundries. A self-starter who earned his way out of indenture and now feeds the masses. He also begrudgingly sells a variety of other tourist trap memorabilia, as well as a “Chat with John” if you schedule in advance.
¶ Portentia Mangal
- High Concept: Unflappable Cafe Maid
- Morph: Discrete Slitheroid
Portentia is a much-loved cafe maid at the locally famous Snake Pit Cafe. The Snake Pit caters exclusively to synths, and usually to nonstandard ones at that. Portentia flirted with Miss Abigail during a stressful false flag operation, and showed her the back door when things got too hot.
¶ Robbie Kent
- High Concept: Scumborn Traceur
- Trouble: Living Above My Means
- Morph: Flexbot
- Markov's Man on the Inside
- Getting Out While The Getting's Good
Robbie Kent worked the Lower Docks and Spine on Octavia. Umbretta Faith’s crew tracked him down in connection to Elodie Cain’s disappearance. Previously an indenture who worked surface mining through Lucifer Aerostat, he moved to Octavia 3 years ago and has been living above his means since. Apparently a parkour enthusiast, he ran from Umbretta into restricted areas and was hiding out, unaware he was tagged by a taggant swarm. HabSec suspect he has ties to Venusian criminal circles beyond Octavia.
The United Division tracked and then chased him down despite his best efforts to evade capture. Once pinned by a hangry Heidi, he confessed to being a spotter for ‘Markov’s Men’, a group of Venusian smugglers and pirates. He shared Elodie’s flight path with an anonymous benefactor on Parvarti station, only hearing days later about her missing person’s case and a Red Market auction offering suspiciously familiar tech. True to their word, the United Division let him go and dropped him off at Upper Docking, presumably as he makes his escape off-station or off-world.
¶ Ruby
- High Concept: Latent Psi-Static
- Trouble: Cursed by Fate
- Morph: Shiva Exalt
- Lunar Expatriate
- Draconic Instincts
The United Division met Ruby at the Pattern Club, where she guards the access point to the VIP casino. She didn’t seem to know about asyncs, but recognized them in the party as soon as they pinged on a feedback loop of psychic radar. She allowed the group to pass but messaged Heidi wanting to talk later. Assisted them in making it out of her club alive, expecting some form of favor or information in return.
¶ Sai Patel
- High Concept: Black Market XP Peddler
- Morph: Sketchy Neotenic
Sai Patel met The United Division on Parvarti and tried to sell them various depraved and illicit XP’s. In exchange for Roland buying some questionable petals, she connected them with Blackvein.
¶ Tomos Duffy
- High Concept: Community Ombudsman
- Morph: Synth
A local neighborhood ombudsman within one of the many outer-facing plazas of Octavia’s lower class district. Grateful to Miss Abigail for catching him during the evasive actions of the Octavia habitat. Abi offered possible psychosurgery for his neighborhood to sweeten a return of the favor. He was successful in getting Abi a rough map of the Lower Docking area, even though crime and secrets are really not his jam.
¶ Zone Stalkers
¶ Penelope Larue
- High Concept: Seasoned Zone Stalker
- Morph: Martian Alpiner
Penelope is an experienced traveller through Mars’ TITAN Exclusion Zone. A so-called “zone stalker”, she keeps to herself and her community. Unlike many with that title, she lives less as a hermit and more as an itinerant trader and scavenger. Most recently, she’s started hiring out as guide and muscle for larger scavenger groups.
She has a friendly history with Roland. Each has helped the other out of tight spots before and they maintain a healthy working relationship.
¶ al-Mansoori Nomads
¶ Ahmad Sattar al-Mansoori
Ahmad is a Barsoomian nomad who travels with his tribal group throughout the deserts of Mars. He is the only one of the al-Mansoori to ever speak with outsiders, though he rarely bothers.
Over time and many distant interactions, he and his tribe have come to see Roland as an acceptable person to have nearby. Ahmad is even relatively friendly toward Roland.