Lieutenant Commander Riaani ek'Meru
Name Riaani ek'Meru
Position Executive Officer
Rank Lieutenant Commander
Character Information
| Gender | Female | |
| Species | Kodaaj'ek | |
| Age | 19 (adjusted age of 31 Earth years) |
Physical Appearance
| Height | 5'8" | |
| Weight | 174lb | |
| Hair Color | Tawny blonde | |
| Eye Color | Amber-green | |
| Physical Description | As befitting a young adult of her species, Riaani is a slender woman whose compact frame conceals a surprising weight, the result of exceptionally dense musculature and bone. Though unremarkable by Kodaaj'ek standards, such physiology grants her considerable physical advantages beyond the confines of her high-gravity homeworld. In environments with lighter gravitational demands, the strength and explosive power required simply to move with ease on Oshaal become extraordinary assets, allowing her to leap farther, accelerate more rapidly and exert force well beyond what her slight build would suggest. Despite this latent power, the Kodaaj'ek are not built for brute force alone. Their musculature is instead specialised for explosive acceleration, agility and precise, controlled movement rather than prolonged feats of endurance, lending them a reputation among other species for startling speed and exceptional dexterity. Couple this with vision built for night-time acuity and hearing adapted to pinpoint sounds amid the echoing acoustics of the vast canyons back home and Riaani is relatively easy to underestimate based on initial appearances alone. Her dermal markings are most prominent on her face and shoulders, though they do continue down her back to an extent. Slender fingers and toes taper into well-groomed claws, not very dissimilar to human fingernails and toenails outside the far sturdier material from which they are grown. Like most females of her species, she also has a retractable barb located beneath the nail on both index fingers and each big toe. Fully extended, these barbs measure approximately a couple of inches past the tip of the claw and are able to deploy a naturally-produced neuromuscular toxin as a defense mechanism to subdue and deter would-be predators. Like most Kodaaj'ek assigned to extended low-gravity service, Riaani wears a pressure-weave beneath her uniform and carries a subdermal regulator at the base of her spine. The combination helps stabilise blood pressure, dampen excessive muscle response and reminds her body that the rest of the galaxy is considerably more fragile than home. |
Family
| Spouse | Toark ek'Madu (Bonded, platonic), Hiodan ek'Rigu (Bonded, platonic; Toark's romantic partner) | |
| Children | Enuua ek'Meru (adopted daughter, age 3) | |
| Father | Muurdak ek'Meru | |
| Mother | Selin ek'Meru, Mooriti ek'Meru | |
| Brother(s) | Too many to list | |
| Sister(s) | Too many to list | |
| Other Family | Too many to list |
Personality & Traits
| General Overview | Riaani is an expressive woman, of that there is little doubt. Articulate and inquisitive, she has risen to prominence amongst her people through her aptitude for diplomatic inquiry and investigation. Simply put, Riaani likes to talk; to question, to probe, to analyse and to unravel the intricacies of a situation with a persistence that would leave most people utterly exhausted. Among the Kodaaj'ek, she carries the Vaarek'Shaa: the Burden of Truth. It is a calling devoted to pursuing clarity through the careful scrutiny of evidence, thoughtful discourse and disciplined reason. Those who carry the Shaa are expected to seek understanding before judgement, to question assumptions before accepting conclusions and to remain steadfastly impartial even when the truth proves inconvenient. Those who carry the Shaa are taught that truth is not theirs to shape, only to uncover. Riaani strives to embody those ideals. Driven by an insatiable curiosity and guided by an uncompromising commitment to honesty, she is compelled to seek answers and is instinctively drawn towards the unknown as it represents a truth as yet uncovered. As much as she is determined to uphold the expectations of her calling, however, Riaani struggles to maintain the analytical detachment required to reach impartial decisions. Swayed by a sense of justice and emotional connection that does not always serve due process, the young Kodaaj'ek wrestles with her obligation to the Shaa and a deeper intuition to recognise that whilst truth may be absolute, people rarely are. |
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| Strengths & Weaknesses | + Exceptional speed and dexterity - Poor endurance; rapid fatigue during prolonged exertion + Excellent low-light vision - Sensitivity to bright light and ultraviolet radiation + Exceptional hearing - Easily overwhelmed by loud, chaotic environments + Highly robust digestive system - High caloric requirements + Thrives in colder climates - Suffers in heat + Far stronger than she looks - Far stronger than she sometimes remembers; RIP furniture + Passionate and determined - Proud and argumentative + Compassionate and fiercely loyal - Impulsive when emotionally invested + Intensely curious - Naturally cautious of unfamiliar motives + Highly adaptable learner - Often struggles to reconcile traditional Kodaaj'ek values with life beyond her homeworld |
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| Ambitions | Travel amongst the stars has long been a daydream Riaani nurtured without a great deal of expectation. This opportunity to broaden her experience and represent her people is an unexpected boon but something she does not intend to squander. Quietly, within the confines of her own personal motivations, Riaani hopes to find answers for her people. It may take her some time to open up enough to divulge what the questions are, however. |
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| Hobbies & Interests | Back home, for all her apparent physical prowress, Riaani was considered more a cerebral woman than a lover of movement-based recreation. An amateur historian, astronomer and writer, she is best described as someone who knows well how to keep her own company whilst being content to speak to an audience when it is warranted. By her people's standards, she is a loner with no apparent urge to expand her immediate family. As a result, she is more likely to be found reading or drawing than engaged in any kind of communal activity. |
| Personal History | The Basics Riaani was born nineteen cycles ago, (a span of time equivalent to approximately thirty-one Earth years), in the Kodaaj region of the planet Oshaal. Dominated by immense canyon systems, sheer escarpments and sprawling cliffside settlements, Kodaaj is the planet's most rugged and isolated continent. Its native inhabitants, the Kodaaj'ek, are recognised as Oshaal's oldest surviving civilisation despite sharing their world with two other sentient species; the aquatic Deshaal'ek and the widespread, forest-dwelling Baroond'ek. Born into Ka'resh Meru, Riaani was raised in the customary manner of her people, where the distinctions between biological parentage, bonded responsibility and hearth-wide community are far less rigid than most other cultures find easy to comprehend. Though unconventional by Federation standards, her upbringing was a happy one, founded upon the shared responsibilities of the Ka'resh and the belief that no individual should carry life's burdens alone. Fifty cycles prior to Riaani's birth, the most transformative period in Oshaal's history began to take shape. After centuries of geographic isolation and political independence, the Kodaaj'ek, Deshaal'ek and Baroond'ek gradually set aside old divisions in favour of unprecedented cooperation. Their alliance culminated in the establishment of a unified planetary government and the founding of a fourth, purpose-built metropolis; the island capital of Nou'mera. That alliance remains strong to this day and is largely responsible for Oshaal's political influence throughout the surrounding sector. Each civilisation contributes its own strengths to the whole; the imposing Baroond'ek, renowned for their discipline and tactical acumen; the charismatic Deshaal'ek, whose aptitude for commerce and diplomacy has made them exceptional traders; and the inquisitive Kodaaj'ek, whose enduring commitment to reason, moderation and shared responsibility often serves to temper the ambitions of the other two. Together, this union is now known as the Osha'Thaar and the three peoples have since forged a society whose greatest strength lies not in the talents of any one species but in the balance achieved between them. The Details Upon reaching early adulthood at twelve cycles, Riaani underwent her Sha'ven, publicly accepting the Vaarek'Shaa, the Burden of Truth. It was not an easy decision. She found herself equally captivated by the call of Vaarek'Ruun, whose promise of exploration and discovery appealed deeply to her inquisitive nature. Had she followed that path, it is likely she would have found herself in Nou'mera before long and perhaps beyond Oshaal itself. Instead, she chose a quieter burden, one that allowed her to serve her people through reason, investigation and the pursuit of truth. Her early years carrying the Shaa were spent in local law enforcement before she undertook formal training in legal advocacy and diplomatic investigation. Although the occasional pang of wanderlust never truly faded, she gradually set aside thoughts of distant horizons in favour of the responsibilities that awaited closer to home. Among those responsibilities was Toark, a lifelong friend from neighbouring Ka'resh Madu, who lost the use of his legs following a devastating landslide. In time, the two entered a Sa'keth founded not upon romance or sexual attraction but upon profound mutual trust, affection and shared purpose. Such arrangements are entirely unremarkable within Kodaaj'ek society, where bonds are defined by commitment rather than convention. Together they later accepted responsibility for raising Toark's biological niece, a distinction that carries little significance among their people. To the Kodaaj'ek, parenthood is measured not by blood but by those who willingly choose to carry its responsibilities. Interestingly, it took welcoming a fourth member into their Sa'keth for Riaani to seriously consider opportunities beyond her own settlement. With Hiordan's arrival, the family's responsibilities were no longer carried quite so heavily by her alone. Her constant presence, once essential to the household's stability, gradually became less necessary and, in some respects, even impeded the natural evolution of the family's changing dynamic. Recognising that her role within the Sa'keth had shifted, Riaani came to understand that carrying her Vaarek did not always require remaining close to home. As much for her own fulfilment as from a desire to give those she loved the space to grow together, Riaani finally embraced the opportunity to scale the canyon walls that had framed her life since childhood. She secured a position in Nou'mera, where she immersed herself in the considerably more intricate legal and diplomatic systems required to maintain harmony between Oshaal's three distinct civilisations. There, the principles of the Vaarek'Shaa would be tested on a far broader stage than she had ever imagined. For the past two cycles, Riaani has served the Osha'Thaar's diplomatic corps aboard the flagship OSV Letha. Historically, connections off-world have focused on trade and commerce, as well as region stability and protection. The Federation's arrival significantly broadens the scope for expanding that focus to indulge a purely explorative curiosity and Riaani finds herself in the unexpected role of pioneer. It is the closest she has come to reconnecting with an old longing and, in the eyes of many of her people, she now has the unprecedented opportunity to embrace a second Vaarek, carrying Ruun alongside Shaa. Not as a replacement or attempt to abandon her current responsibilities, but to enhance her efforts with an astronomer's thirst for wonderment amongst the stars. |