Llayne's Characters - Gaarvin "Gaar" Makinaugh
Gaarvin “Gaar” Makinaugh
Information
Description:
Tall and broad shouldered but with a deceptively lean build. His gray skin has darker mottling on his shoulders neck and back. His black hair is shaved at the sides but otherwise spiked up and in mild disarray. Like most Xenjes he can’t afford any chrome, so he has a set of goggles on his forehead to access AR when he needs to. They also serve to hide his orange eyes when they start to glow… a sure sign that his temper is starting to flare.
Gaar wears work boots, baggy pants, and when he’s not running around shirtless he wears a grungy tank top. He takes a lot of pride in his sleeves… black leather that extends from his hands to his shoulders, covered with more buckles than are strictly necessary and in selective armor reinforcements. All the metal is in a dark bronze-orange.
Personality:
Fiercely loyal to his family and friends, he’d also step up for an Asher or another Xenje if baseline humans were running their mouths off. He hates the position his people are in… namely the bottom of the food chain. That’s why he’s so eager to make a name for himself… he’s determined not to be on the bottom for long.
Hot tempered and prone to action, Gaar is chafing at the leash he feels the gang has placed on him. Since Braelyn’s crew is usually kept in reserve to protect the neighborhood when the other crews are out, they’ve fended off a few attacks, mugged people… even disappeared a few members or rival gangs that messed around In their territory. But they only get called up to help Kurtagh when it’s a big score... so his cut is small.
He’s taking more underground fighting matches, but that can only bring in so much dough. He’s been quietly putting feelers out for outside jobs, but knows it’s tricky business since he can’t run afoul of the Underground in the process. If he endangered the Warden’s relations hip with the Underground he’d be dead or exiled for sure. Even if he managed to avoid that, Kurtagh and Braelyn will likely be pissed at him, for not clearing any jobs through them. Given the state of the Slag Wardens right now and schism with Ullan, Gaar figures he can escape the blow-back as long as he’s forwarding up a cut of his earnings.
Character Sheet
Information & Status
High Concept: “Slag Warden Street Thug”
Trouble: “Always Another Hustle”
Aspects: “Business is Personal" "Budding Street Rep" "Bred for War"
Stress: OOO Mild: N/A Moderate: N/A Severe: N/A
Fate Points: 3 Refresh: 3
Approaches
+3 Forceful
+2 Quick, Sneaky
+1 Clever, Flashy
+0 Careful
Stunts:
- Because I am an Underground Prizefighter, I get a +2 to Forcefully Attack someone whenever I'm in one on one combat.
- Because I have my Head on a Swivel, I get a +2 to Quickly Defend whenever I'm the target of a surprise attack.
- Because Subtlety is Overrated, I get a +2 to Flashily Create Advantages that involve explosions, fights, shouting or damaged property.
Equipment:
- Mule Kick Revolver (6 shot revolver with single barrel 12 gauge on top)
- Gaar's Sleeves
- A pair of banged up Augmented Reality Net Goggles
Campaign Notes
Xenjes
Wetware (bioware) and genetic modifications hit a wall at some point... corporations were able to clone human organs without defect or grow replacement. That enabled the wealthy to purchase augments that that put them at the ‘peak’ of humanities physical capabilities, but science wasn’t able to go beyond that.
Once humanity started encountering alien species scientists saw this as a whole new pool of source material. It should come as no surprise that they started tinkering with alien DNA, often illegally at first, and splicing it into humans.
Xeno Augment Test Subjects is what these humans were originally called. This was shortened as time went on to Xenjects. Xenjex is the ‘official’ term used by governments and corporations, but Xenjes (Xen-jeez) is common vernacular for most of the population. Jex is a derogatory term used by bigots and various hate groups, and it implies that Xenjes are augment ‘rejects’ rather than ‘subjects.’
The earliest augment tests resulted in subjects that were widely varied and inhuman. Many didn’t survive, and some who did were in chronic pain. As the process was refined, corporations and governments started creating pools of humans augmented for specific purposes, often specialized laborers or soldiers. This lead to the creation of multiple Xenje ‘races’… each with different abilities. The populous treats these races with different degrees of acceptance or bias. Some older races have even started developing their own subcultures.
Of note, one particular soldier race rebelled while on active duty. It was quickly put down… each of the Xenje soldiers were implanted with a cranial bomb without them knowing. This led to massive news coverage, endless ethics debates in parliament and new legislature. The end result was that widespread use of Xenje soldiers is a thing of the past.
Now that it’s been refined, many of the ultra-wealthy may trend toward new wetware. They can get greater than human abilities without any obvious cosmetic changes that come with cyberware… or the pesky maintenance and software issue. Many of the youthful rich actually like the designer cosmetic changes... glowing tattoos, chrome eyes, cat tails, etc...
Poor humans, or Xenjes biologically close to human baseline, can still volunteer to be test subjects, as corporations seek to perfect their augments before they go commercial.
Ashers
KVI, among many other variants, tailored more efficient humans to work their mining operations on this brown star system. In corporate speak, more efficient usually means more cost effective. These efforts resulted in what are now called Ashers' The biggest cosmetic difference from baseline humans is the dull grey skin, sometimes with faint blue hues, other times with darker gray tones. Ashers are sometimes born with mottled or blotchy markings and their is prone to becoming chalky or dry.
Ashers were given higher temperature thresholds which meant less AC cost in their housing. Their increased endurance and durability meant less downtime for medical reasons... and improved digestion let them digest a wider range of matter more efficiently. This cut down on their food intake and all associated costs. The improved respiration system allowed their bodies to filter out ash and other harmful debris in the air, and the combination of the respiration and digestive modifications gave them a significant resistance to poison.
As a side effect, of these their tastebuds were less responsive and the ability to metabolize alcohol was greatly increased. Asher food is generally prepared with heavy spices and strong flavors, which is good because it covers up the low quality of food many in the slums have to eat. They also lean toward beer and spirits that are extremely strong.
Ashers were designed for internal use within KVI, and as such the corporation was able to bypass many of the regulations associated with the sale of genetic modifications. While cosmetically they appear close to human, they actually have a very alien biology and their blood is actually dark blue, often confused with black. To achieve the endurance and durability they wanted Ashers dna was infused with tantalum generating properties. This process worked, but requires ashers ingest certain amounts of base metals to remain physically strong.
Asheres were designed as mining and construction workers, operating heavy machinery in whatever mining/terraforming is going on. The heavy machinery, the arms at least, are controlled by arm movement... so the Ashers stick their arms in these sleeves in the control station. It's a bit gross to work for a whole shift getting sweaty, then to have somebody else need to stick their arms in those same sleeves. Better employees earned their own sleeves so they didnt have to share and it eventually became something of a status symbol... with Ashers walking around wearing the sleeves all the time.
Within the KVI mining enclaves, Ashers are considered valued employees. They can and often do progress to senior positions such as foreman and planner, but few, if any, go beyond middle management.
Ashers that retired, had discipline problems or were laid off during a mine closure found their way to the cities. Here they were quickly lumped in with other Xenje's and treated as lower class. Over the years most Ashers found their way to the slums, although there are still plenty of respectable Ashers that work and live in the city.
Embers
Capitalizing on their already proven genetic variant known as Ashers, KVI decided to modify their successful design to ostensibly create specialized security workers for it's own use. This was just a back door however... one that let them circumvent the regulations on genetic modifications while effectively creating a 'soldier' race of their own
Physically the only difference from Ashers is the orange eyes. They seem to catch and reflect the light which makes many claim that they glow.
Gangs
Slag Wardens
High Concept: "Struggling Xenje Street Gang"
Aspects: "Bound to the Underground" "The Horned Ones Must Die"
The Slag Wardens, most commonly just the Wardens are one of a handful of Asher gangs in the lower levels of XXX colony/settlement. There are 10 active members including the leader and the two lieutenants.
There are only a handful of true 'soldiers' left in the Wardens, including Kurtagh, Ullaan and a few members of their crews. There’s a rift growing between Kurtagh and Ullan… some sort of falling out that isn’t openly discussed. With Braelyn’s crew supporting him, Kurtagh has retained leadership of the Wardens, but meetings are growing tense.
There are a half dozen teenagers who serve as runners and are expected to be full Wardens in the next couple of years. While they ostensibly work for the whole gang, individual crews have been working to make them loyal to their crew. If Ullaan is able to get most of these runners over to his side, he’ll have the clear majority when they become full Wardens. Within the neighborhood there are plenty of people who serve as eyes and ears for the Wardens, some old and injured, others very young.
There's some sort of a protection racket going in, but only for the bigger businesses that the Wardens deem pull in sufficient money from outside the neighborhood. A few bars, restaurants, corner stores, etc...
As an echo from the status Ashers gained when they ‘earned their sleeves’ on one of the construction teams, most Asher gangs use long leather gloves or sleeves to denote their membership in a gang. Some are rough leather, others smooth and shiny. Some incorporate latex, lace or other bits… it’s up to the member. The Slag Wardens sleeves are some variation black, and orange to symbolize the color of hot slag.
There is considerable friction among the smaller Asher gangs, but since many work with the Underground an uneasy peace has developed. The one exception is the Horned Ones with sleeves of green and black. They’ve been feuding with the Slag Wardens for at least a decade. Violence between the Wardens and the Horned Ones has caused the Underground to intervene on at least one occasion. The Wardens have worked alongside other street gangs such as the Honorbound and Dustwalkers on a few occasions.
The Wardens have been called up by the Underground to raid Hanja warehouses before… one such raid ended up with two dead members from Kurtagh’s crew.
Kurtagh
High Concept: "Leader of the Slag Wardens"
Kurtagh is the leader of the Slag Wardens, and is an Ember himself. His personal crew is down to two other gang members.
Ullaan
High Concept: "Ambitious Warden Crew Leader"
Ullaan is the first lieutenant and has been with the Wardens as long as Kurtagh. He’s an Asher with three other gang members in his crew.
Braelyn
High Concept: "Young Warden Crew Leader"
Aspects: "Warden by Birth" "Bests Friend of Gaar"
Kurtagh’s younger sister, She leads a crew consisting of Gaar and one other gang member.
Horned Ones
High Concept: "Violent Xenje Street Gang"
Aspects: "The Slag Wardens Must Die"
Honorbound
High Concept: "Xenje Street Gang"
Dustwalkers
High Concept: "Xenje Street Gang"
Criminal Organizations
The Underground
High Concept: "Mixed Race Mafia"
Aspects: "Access to the Starports"
The Wardens primary link with the rest of the criminal world on the colony is the Underground. A sizable organized crime outfit comprised of both humans and Xenjex. Though the leaders have always been human, the fact that they let in Xenjex has put them at odds with the more xenophobic crime organizations. They have relatively strong ties with the smaller Xenje gangs, which lends them a fair amount of strength if it came to a gang war, giving the Underground a bit more clout than it might ordinarily have. The Underground has influence in multiple star ports in the Brown Star system, giving them avenues for smuggling and drug trafficking.
Hanja Family
High Concept: "Mysteriously Powerful Crime Family
The Hanja Family is directly vying for control of the Underworlds starport access, making them the Underground's biggest rival and current threat. It is believed the Hanja may have backing from an out-system government or corporation, though they may actually be a small piece of a much larger criminal organization.
Furst Syndicate
High Concept: "Humano-Centric Crime Syndicate"
This organization is at odds with the Underground due to opposing views on Xenjex, though they aren't currently at odds over territory. The Furst Syndicate hate aliens and the wetware derived from them.
Corporations
Keller-Vao Interstellar
High Concept: "Monolithic Mega-Corp"
Aspects: "Multiple Mining Enclaves" "Genetic Pioneers"
Keller-Vao Interstellar, also known as Keller-Vao or simply KVI, was born when Keller Industrial - one of the foremost mining and corporations in the colonies, merged with Vao Evolved - a pharmaceutical and genetics giant. KVI was one of the leaders in the initial Xeno Augment Tests and leveraged their successes to create multiple strains of specialized laborers, tailored to the requests of their clients. The Ashers were one they created for their own mining operations in the Brown Star system.
Though not the only mega-corp in the system it's presence is definitely felt throughout. Over the decades they've branched out into several different products and services including shipping and manufacturing.
