Kellin

[Kellin]

Name: Kellin

Gender: Male

Race: Humanoid called the Qui'taag.

Faction: The Vulnii

Age: A little over a century; middle-aged, by his people's standards.

Personality: Kellin has the eternally stoic, mildly cynical bent of a man who has seen the very worst the universe could offer him, and survived to soldier on; his loyalty to his fellow people has largely been the driving force behind his continued determination, as he rarely bothers to socialize or even pursue activities that might be considered 'frivolous' anymore. He awakens, he works, and then he sleeps, only to repeat the cycle the next time around; though he has a dry sense of humor, he rarely uses it around those he is unfamiliar with, prefering instead to speak straight. Level-headed and not one to lose his temper, he can nonetheless have difficulty trusting outsiders, and even among his fellow refugees he is more a leader than a companion; he has a quiet confidence about him, which is at least part of what has placed him on the Vulnii Council. Of course, he finds the complicated, ethereal matters of societal organization far inferior to the straight-forward enjoyment of manual labor, so whenever there's some technical problem throughout the Compound, he is often among the first ones to tackle it, covered in grease and happily wading through wires and cables.

Though he has had some experience with the darker, more violent side of life, accumulated over his decade and a half of wandering the stars, he is no soldier. He still has the base desire for peace that carried him through years amongst his own kind, and not even the horrors of the Dalek attack have awakened any particular bloodthirst in him. In Council, he is often the moderate viewpoint, advising caution and never allowing anger or even fear to sway his decisions.

Romance is pretty much out of the question for him, and not just because there are only a grand total of three 'compatible' (i.e. the same species,) mates in the Compound; as a Master Builder, Kellin was accustomed to thinking of family as a vast, almost impersonal web of cousins, second cousins, third cousins... he never had time to take a mate, even during peacetime. Now, his sense of responsibility has tripled, leaving thoughts of social or romantic nature well beyond consideration. He's not even terribly reliable as a second-hand advisor on such matters; if you asked him how to handle courting a woman, he'd probably just grunt and say 'Ask Her. Idiot.'

Abilities/Skills: The Qui'taag possess a high-density bone structure and resilient musculature that gives them about twice the strength and durability of a human, more than enough to hold their own in a fight, or shift around heavy machinery during their work. Combined with their nearly eidetic memory and resistence to heat and radiation, the Qu'itaag were renowned as shipbuilders and mechanics, possessing the necessary physical traits to survive and operate near open power cores, damaged subsystems, and other regions too hazardous for other species.

Kellin himself was a Master Builder of his race's sect, and over the decades of his life has accumulated mechanical skill and knowledge sufficient for him to both operate as a legitimate engineer, and also 'improvise' when his available technology and resources are few or unusual. It has largely been Kellin's aptitude that allowed for the fusion and combination of dozens of alien technologies and techniques into the Compound; since his arrival on Earth, he has added more mundane skills to his roster, such as blacksmithing, metal work and carpentry... he's even studying human computer technology and programming. He's also demonstrated some minor leadership skills, which has put him in the reluctant position of Chancellor of the Vulnii Council.

Equipment: He has a variety of small, alien devices, mostly used for his mechanical duties; scanners, welders, adjustors, fabricators, etc, etc, ETC. They hang from, of all things, a leather toolbelt he picked up at Home Depot about a year ago. He also has an Omni-Gear; a combined communicator/personal computer/translator/etc. About the size of an old Gameboy, it's probably the last bit of technology he has from his own people. Finally, he has a small watch-like device intended to make his humanoid, reptile-skinned form appear human.

History: During Earth's 20th century, the Qui'taag consisted of a loose group of colony worlds halfway across the galaxy. Renowned for their works of architectural brilliance, they covered their worlds with buildings that touched the clouds, built ships the size of small cities, and slowly expanded out into the galaxy. Their relative lack of purely scientific sophistication was more than offset by their skill with engineering, design, and the creation of metal alloys powerful enough to support these monolithic structures. They were a largely peaceful race, though well-armed to deal with the occasional influx of bandits or thieves from surrounding civilizations... these occasions were few and far between, however, and friendly relations with the surrounding Empires and Confederations that surrounded them on all sides, it seemed that they were destined to have a long, happy existence.

Then came the Daleks.

They descended from the skies and stars like a great Plague, sweeping aside men, ships and entire worlds in a seemingly endless rain of fire that heralded the end of their civilization, and nearly everyone in it. Even their mightiest fleets proved helpless before this onslaught, and the 'war' was over in less than nine months; with a crushing victory for the Dalek attackers. So swift was the assault, and so unexpected, they simply were not prepared; no evacuation plans, no contingencies... even as they struggled to load their citizens onto vessels bound foe escape, their assailants were burning them down in the docking stations.

Master Builder of his Clan, Kellin literally watched his home burn around him, as his Clan's very own ship was utterly destroyed in one of the war's final, desperate struggles; though he tried to stand with his people to the very end, a collection of his own crewmen all but dragged the man into an escape craft, jettisoning just as the vessel went under. Though Kellin had no wife or children, nearly his entire Clan was lost in the resulting destruction, leaving only a handful of their pods remaining, all but ignored by the passing Dalek fleet.

The next fifteen years consisted of a sluggish journey across the cosmos, traveling back across space that had already been scorched and scattered by the Dalek fleet; damaged, abandoned vessels were scavenged, repaired, used for whatever technology they possessed, and over time the remnants began to acquire vessels capable of faster, more reliable travel. Two years ago, their travels took them to Earth, a planet whose inhabitants were sufficiently advanced to offer raw materials... but not so advanced that they would be aware of the 'visitors.' They were also surprised to find other aliens, similarly victims, hiding for a variety of reasons... most to do with the Daleks.

At the time, the alien refugees occupying Earth were largely unorganized, living in caves and forests and subsiding on scavenged and stolen food; Kellin and his fellow comrades sought to help improve their lot in life, culminating in the design and construction of the Compound. In return for their services, several of them rose to prominence amongst their fellow refugees; Kellin was offered the position of Council Chancellor less than three months later.