Illyria App

[captains_log]

Player Name: Captain Mod
Player Age: Old enough to drink

Character Name: Palu Imania, Palu being the surname, as is Bajoran custom.
Character Age: 52, though she is visibly younger; Bajorans live longer than humans and thus age more slowly in comparison.
Inventory: Imania has quarters on the ship, so she has a selection of personal effects there, like books and knick knacks from home. Of note is a small collection of books, including several on Bajoran folklore and mythology, an antique globe of Earth in sepia tones, and a two-gallon aquarium with a diminutive betta fish. On her person is usually a Starfleet uniform, as well as a signature Bajoran earring.
Character Appearance: Standing at 5'8", Imania is slim and visibly strong, with toned arms and stern shoulders. Her hair is dark and slightly wavy, usually pulled back in a smart bun, and her eyes are hazel leaning toward brown. Since she's half Bajoran, she is older than she looks, and the bridge of her nose has small ridges between her eyes, indicative of her heritage. Her human father was Asian, accounting for her dark hair and slightly almond-shaped eyes. Chosen PB is Michelle Yeoh.

History: Imania's father was a freighter captain, and during one of his runs to Bajor he met a beautiful Bajoran woman. They fell in love, and when the Cardassians invaded Bajor, he managed to get her and their unborn child safely off the planet to his home on Earth. Imania was born in 2349, and her mother decided that the child would keep her family name, just as she had, despite having married. Sadly, her father was killed when she was very young, but though she was raised on Earth, her mother taught her all about Bajoran history and customs. Young Imania longed to see the planet of her mother's birth, and set her heart on becoming a Starfleet officer, so she would be able to travel the stars and see many more worlds. She was accepted to the Academy fresh out of high school at the tender age of 18, and put her focus into medical training. Having heard stories of the atrocities the Cardassians were committing on Bajor, Imania hoped to put her medical skills to good use among the people she shared half her heritage with. She maintained excellent grades and was in the top 5 percentile of her class each year. In her third year, she was scouted for command school, and shifted her studies accordingly, though her passion for medicine did not wane.

She graduated with honors (only two spots away from Salutatorian, rats!), and was quickly given her first assignment, as a junior lieutenant on board the Triumph, where she served as a medical officer. It was only a short survey mission, but Imania earned the respect and trust of her crewmates beyond the shadow of a doubt when the away team was exposed to high levels of radiation during an unexpected storm. The weather phenomenon had never been encountered before, but the team discovered that the lightning emitted dangerous amounts of gamma radiation. When their camp was struck, the resulting explosion caused third degree burns and acute radiation sickness in the whole team, but with the help of a capable staff, Imania and the chief medical officer were able to save all six of them. It remains one of her proudest moments.

After the eight-month mission on the Triumph was over, Imania bounced between a few smaller starships on diplomatic or search and rescue missions. In 2353, shortly after her 20th birthday, Imania was offered the position of chief medical officer onboard the starship Adamant, As a lieutenant commander, she served as head of the ship's Sick Bay, and was a member of the senior staff, advising the captain on important decisions during their two-year mission to the edges of the Alpha Quadrant. She developed an excellent rapport with the crew, and thus stayed on for several subsequent missions.

In 2371, she met a young ensign named Parvin Asadi. The ensign was fresh out of the academy, and had been assigned to the science team, and Imania was immediately charmed by her boundless enthusiasm. It wasn't until Parvin wound up in Sick Bay, though, that the two became close. Having let her enthusiasm run away with her, Parvin had gotten a little too caught up in studying some new samples from their latest away mission. Unfortunately for her, the insect carapaces they'd found had come with stingers intact, and when Parvin accidentally stuck her finger with one of them, she became very ill. The insect's venom caused a severe anaphylactic reaction, though unlike anything on record. Imania was determined to save the new ensign, and spent 36 straight hours trying to find a way to counteract the poison.

She finally managed to find an antidote, and after six full days of transfusions and round the clock monitoring, Parvin recovered. After that, Imania found she had a new biggest fan. Knowing how challenging first missions could be, and feeling decidedly protective of the young ensign after working so hard to save her life, Imania took Parvin under her wing, and the two became close friends. They worked together for seven years on board the Adamant, Imania earning the position of commander and Parvin working her way up to lieutenant.

In 2378, Imania was offered command of the starship Illyria, and asked Parvin to serve as her first officer. Though she was still young, she had proven herself a capable and dedicated officer, and Imania trusted her judgment completely. She felt that the most important thing for a captain and first officer to share was trust, and Imania couldn't think of anyone she would have rather had at her right hand.

On an extended mission several years later, the Illyria encountered a spatial anomaly while surveying the birth of a new star near the border of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. At first it appeared to be some kind of shockwave, but what they believed to be a blast of energy from the birth of the star turned out to be much more powerful and much more dangerous. When it struck the ship, the energy wave shut down all of the ship's major systems. With no navigation, no shields, and no engines, the ship was flung like a toy. Imania was thrown from her seat on the bridge, and when she regained consciousness, most of her crew was dead, and her ship was dead in the water, in a sector of space no one could identify.

Canon Point: After the Illyria is sent to Who Knows Where.

Personality: As far as starship captains go, Palu Imania can definitely stand up with the best of them when it comes to leadership skills. Working for many years as a ship's doctor, she developed a very real compassion for others, and coupled with her genuine desire to uphold Starfleet's ideals and philosophies, Imania is the first to volunteer when there's danger afoot, and the last to give up when the going gets tough. She is dedicated to each and every person on her ship, and would sooner fall on her phaser than leave anyone behind.

Though she grew up on Earth, she has a deep respect for and belief in Bajoran religion and culture. As such, she understands that faith and individuality and the right to practice them are just as important as any Starfleet regulation, and thus made the rather unorthodox decision to relax uniform regulations a bit. Crew members on board the Illyria are welcome and even encouraged to accessorize their uniforms with personal jewelry and spiritual tokens--within reason, of course. After all, she couldn't in good conscience wear her Bajoran earring if she denied others the right to wear comparable items.

While she is on the bridge, Imania commands respect and demands obedience, but is never so rigid in her authority that she is unwilling to listen to a second opinion. She welcomes advice from her subordinates, and often seeks it out when making decisions that affect the whole crew. She is considered among her crewmates for being approachable, despite her lofty title, and has even been known to indulge them once in a while by joining their poker games. (In truth she's a terrible poker player, but they almost always let her win at least one game. Being the captain does have its perks, after all.)

On a more personal level, Imania is intelligent and well-spoken, with an appreciation for literature, especially mythology. She has a dry sense of humor and is in general quite friendly, but while she is a good listener, she rarely talks about herself and is thus a bit hard to get to know. She will gladly tell you about Bajoran history, and is happy to discuss old Earth mythology or the writings of Shakespeare, but as soon as the subject turns to her personal history, or anything deeper than her thoughts on Parrises Squares or the weather on Risa, she tends to deftly change the subject.

She honestly cares greatly for her crew, and the loss of so many of them in the accident that has stranded them wounds her deeply, though she refuses to let her grief show. She knows that she must remain strong in the face of this adversity; the crew and these newcomers will be looking to her for guidance, leadership, and support as they move forward from here, and she cannot let her own pain get in the way of her efforts to get the ship back home.


Skills:
• Medical Training - Imania attended Starfeet Academy's medical school for three years (which, incidentally, is considered an acceptably complete medical education, given the advancements of the time), and worked as a medical officer on several ships. She is well-versed in triage and trauma care, and dabbled a little in psychology as well, though she is not technically qualified to be a counselor.
• Command Training - Having attended the academy's command school, Imania has been trained in all bridge operations, and has at least a passing knowledge of all stations on the bridge. If necessary, she could perform the duties of any bridge officer who is rendered incapacitated acceptably in an emergency.
• Flight Training - Though she doesn't consider herself a pilot, Imania is capable of flying most shuttlecraft, and has clocked some time at the helm of a starship as well.
• Tactical Training - She is capable of assessing situations and acting quickly, coming up with plans and contingencies that will keep her crew and ship as safe as possible, while attempting to attain a peaceful resolution.
• Diplomacy - Any Starfleet officer is expected to be able to conduct diplomatic negotiations if necessary, but Imania excels at diplomacy no matter the situation. Generally easygoing and friendly, she isn't difficult to get along with anyway, but she can be downright charming when the occasion calls for it.
• Combat Training - Aside from general combat training any cadet in the academy is given, Imania has studied Mian Quan martial arts since she was very young, in honor of her late father, who was classically trained in this northern Chinese martial art.
• Language Skills - Even though we can all usually rely on the universal translator, Imania speaks several Earth languages, including English and Mandarin, which was taught to her by her mother, who learned from her late father. She can also speak and read modern and ancient Bajoran, and is conversational in Klingon and Ferengi. She is also attempting to learn Romulan, just for kicks.

Supernatural Abilities:
N/A, Bajorans are physiologically very similar to humans and have no exceptional abilities, though they do have longer lifespans.

Samples:
• TDM Thread with Tony Stark
• TDM Thread with Mack Gerhardt

Aspirations: As captain of this unexpectedly wayward ship, Imania of course plans to get the crew home, but that may take a while. In the meantime, she's going to do her best to get to know these strangers who have mysteriously showed up on her ship, and hopes that they will be willing and able to contribute to the efforts to get back to the Alpha Quadrant. Although she's kind of an NPC/OC lite? I'm still hoping she'll get to thread with people and make a few good connections.