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Zorah (Starfinder)

Starfinder Society Profile


Appearance

Portrait-Zorah.jpg

Zorah is a young ysoki with short light brown hair with ash highlights and large, bright blue eyes. Due to being from an ysoki family that has spent generations in the Diaspora mining asteroids, and likely originated from outside the Pact Worlds, she has a longer, lankier body and more anthropomorphic features than most ysoki. Her posture is more straight and her legs, especially, are longer than that of most ysoki (although they do curve inwards at the bottom instead of being straight like humans). Were she to wear a concealing helmet and boots, it would be easy to mistake her for a halfling or gnome at casual inspection. Her right ear has a small chunk missing from when she was wounded in battle. She usually wears a zero-g outfit with her Engineer's Jumpsuit D-Suit and has her backpack at all times, just in case she comes across any useful trinkets. She rarely goes far without her prototype weapon, Ghost. When not expecting trouble, it is stored away in a carry case, resembling a normal musical instrument but, when deployed with expectation of trouble, it is usually affixed to her back via a gear-clamp attached to her backpack.

Background

It is common knowledge that the key presence of the ysoki in the Diaspora began when the Farabarrium, an Atech Immortal left adrift by the Knights of Golarion after a brutal confrontation with an Eoxian cruiser several years earlier, was salvaged and laid claim to by the Shirsask Kaia ysoki salvagers, who were able to bring back online within 2 years. With the significant firepower and space provided by the Farabarrium, the Shirsask Kaia decided to put down roots in the Diaspora and operate as a trade hub and salvage way station. The Shirsask Kaia were quick to negotiate a lucrative protection deal with the Free Captains in return for offering priority maintenance for all Free Captain vessels. Thus ysoki presence in the Diaspora became commonly known and grew as more ysoki flooded in to take advantage of the new ysoki-ran trade hub. But it is less common knowledge that some ysoki had been in the Diaspora well before the Shirsask Kaia salvaged the Farabarrium. Zorah was born to the Frye Kaia, a humble asteroid-mining family that had operated in the Diaspora for centuries - predominently surviving by mining alongside and providing technical support to dwarves from the Heorrhahd Star Citadel (especially to more remote mining operations where support from Heorrhahd was more problematic) and assisting with those (as well as their own smaller) mining operations. Born in the Heorrhahd Star Cital, the Frye being amongst the few non-dwarves allowed permanent residence there, Zorah grew up within the family trade and around her family and dwarven culture, and loved many aspects of miner/dwarven society - especially dwarven music and musical instruments (one of the few passtimes out in space) which beame her main hobby. Although she respected the mining family business, she found it a boring occupation - mining and trading simply did not appeal to her, although she took especially well to the technical aspects of the job - the mining equipment: drills, space suits, ships, gear, and other technology employed. Although she never got any kind of formal technical education, her childhood was effectively one long on-the-job apprenticeship as she grew up assisting her father in repairing and maintaining equipment; figuring out how technology and machines worked, and repairing them, came naturally to her.

But the overall disinterest in the life of a miner as well as a desire to travel, meet other races, and see other worlds (perhaps even to actually set foot on a real planet and smell real air) was too strong for the young ysoki to ignore. When the Farabarrium set up operations and her family began regularly trading with them Zorah, to her family's chagrin, took advantage of the presence of a stop by the Free Captains pirate vessel Tabula Rasa to convince Captain Jaha Ching (or rather, Zorah convinced Jaha's wife Portia) to allow her to work her passage on the ship to Broken Rock, which Ching accepted. The Chings were impressed by the moxy little ysoki, not just because of her engineering knowledge - as they had other ysoki engineers at least as capable - but by her fearlessness and willingness to get involved in the action. Whilst most engineers would remain on the ship spending their downtime playing cards, or keep their distance whilst providing engineering support, Zorah would ceaselessly be tinkering with equipment, trying to improve them, finding inventive use for using salvage obtained on their missions, and going with the troops into combat to provide fire support, as well as with any engineering or hacking needs. Her flexibility meant that she was equally helpful filling in as one of the Rasa's engineers, science officers or even an emergency gunner if the need arose. Although Zorah paid off her debt very quickly, she was treated well by Captin Ching and the Rasa's crew and ended up permanently joining the Rasa's crew, getting along especially well with Portia Ching. She particularly enjoyed spending time around humans (a race she found very fun to be around) in the recreation rooms on the Rasa and in Broken Rock, where she would often regale her friends with musical performances.

Things changed whilst Portia was away undergoing Solarian training at the Cosmonastery of the Empty Orbit on Absalom Station, as the Tabula Rasa was attacked by the Hellknight Infernex Interdictus-class cruiser Chains of Mardinus. The battle was fierce but the Rasa was seriously outclassed and Captain Ching was mortally wounded. The ship would have been destroyed had it not been for a risky ramming manoeuvre by (surprisingly) the Space Goblin pilot, which damaged the Chains of Mardinus just long enough for Zorah to emergency repair and activate the Rasa's Drift engine. One of the few survivors (albeit with a large hole in her ear as a permanent reminder), her bravery and contribution to the escape (which enabled Captain Ching's body to be returned to his wife) was noted by Portia Ching, who took over her husband's position as Captain. But with the Tabula Rasa too badly damaged to be economically or even fully restored, Captain Portia Ching's status hang precariously, and so Zorah helped Captain Portia Ching come up with a risky but brilliant revenge plan to assault the Chains of Mardinus. Sacrificing what remained of the Tabula Rasa as a decoy, Portia Ching's crew boarded and captured the Chains of Mardinus, fleeing back to Broken Rock where it was renamed as the new Tabula Rasa, and secured Portia's position as a captain. But a new, female Captain in charge of a ship as powerful as the new Tabula Rasa made many jealous and ambitious eyes look at the captain's chair, and various mutinies broke out - requiring Portia to violently assert her control. Once the laserfire had settled, Zorah found the power struggles, bloodshed, and losses of former Rasa-friends too upsetting and decided to leave the pirate life behind. She amicably parted ways with Captain Portia Ching at Absalom Station the next time the Rasa was in dock.

Since then Zorah has operated out of Absalom Station with various groups - generally legal groups, but on occasion with some dubious crews as Zorah is guided more by her sense or morality than by adherence to regulations. She loves exploring and being around machinery and starships, and goes where she feels whenever she feels. She has contemplated joining the Starfinder Society, and turned down offers to join various crews as she is subconciously terrified of making friends who may then be killed in coup attempts or attacks by Hellknights or Stewards. Despite this, she was raised amongst tight-knit ysoki and dwarven communities and deep down needs a crew to bond with like she once did on the Rasa, or back on Heorrhahd, but preferably one that doesn't mean constantly watching out for Hellknights, Stewards and other similar groups who may want to have a not-so-friendly word with her about her past and underworld/pirate connections.

Personality

Zorah is a cheerful, optimistic, brilliant, caring, obedient (usually), thoughtful, affectionate, nice, understanding, attentive, mature, organized, unselfish, sweet-tempered, empathetic, kind-hearted, encouraging, wise, independent, thoughtful, zany, cute, energetic and very beautiful young ysoki. She is often chattier than her comrades would like—and her constant travelling has left her with contacts across the Pact Worlds. She prides herself on being a good judge of character (even if she's not), and while she’s savvy enough to withhold actual trust until it’s been earned, she’s not above throwing herself into a fight on behalf of a near-stranger.

Though fully capable of working alone, she tends to get bored easily without people to talk to, and thus prefers to sign on with teams of adventurers, where she can act as the group’s resident starship engineer. While she still occasionally keeps in touch with her family, she doesn’t speak about her past much, as she knows her family were disappointed by her leaving the family business (and being a pirate for a few years didn't help) but when she does mention it, it is with a liberal helping of humour. She’s a fan of both taking minor trophies from previous jobs and scavenging spare parts that she’s positive may come in handy someday, inevitably turning her cabin into a riotous nest of cherished junk.

Zorah spends the majority of her downtime puttering about with her prototype weapon. She often talks to it as a way of thinking out loud or voicing her innermost thoughts, attributing them to the weapon in a way that can make her seem a bit unbalanced to those who don’t know her well. (And in truth, sometimes to those who do too). She is either tinkering with it trying to find ways to improve or modify it, or simply playing it because of her love for playing music.

When she's not working, Zorah loves music. Growing up on a Dwarven Star Citadel, music and alcohol were the main passtimes - and out in mining or space trips, often not event that. Music was not only something she enjoyed artistically, but helped pass away the many long and often lonely hours in space. She has learnt how to play several instruments but is most often heard strumming away on Ghost, sometimes in it's guitar mode, and othertimes in its cello mode; as well as singing loudly (much to the consternation of her comrades). She finds the call of Karaoke almost as irresistible as her favourite food - chocolate!

Other Notes

Chordpocalypse-Ghost.jpg

Zorah has a custom experimental weapon that she has built herself. It began it's life based on blueprints of one of the Chordpocalypse Thunderstrike family, which Zorah acquired. Naming it "Ghost", several years of tinkering, experimentation, modding, and improvements has turned it into the equivalent of a Shattering Chordcopalypse, except Zorah has modified it to include dual batteries (giving her twice the capacity to call on before needing to change the batteries), the ability to attune it's vibrational frequencies against specific targets (causing extra damage), a body clamp giving the ability to use it with only one hand, and the Burst and Echoing fusions. The first of which allow her to once per day release the weapon's damage as a widespread attack against multiple close-together opponents within range, and the latter of which uses the vibrational echoes to send information to her HUD, granting her limited-range blindsense after making attacks with Ghost.

Outside of combat, it is a modal stringed instrument that uses hardlight strings and LED lightin and includes both internal amps and speakers for use much like a classic acoustic instrument, as well as the ability to plug into professional external amps or headphones for private usage. In its full, opened form it includes an endpin spike and when used with the LED bowstrings works as an electronic cello, with a very wide range of sound. Compacted, with the endpin withdrawn, and the hardlight strings and settings reconfigured. it instead functions as an electric guitar. Ghost is most commonly used in this latter mode when Zorah is in combat, whilst she is more likely to use it as a cello when simply using it for enjoyment.

Zorah commonly refers to her weapon by name or as "him" as if it were a real person. If this is commented on, she states that she considers Ghost to be a silent partner, one who has never let her down.

GM Note: The Chordpocalypse is an instrument/weapon in Starfinder, but the image used to represent it is of the real-life Yamaha SVC-210PW Silent cello, with some liberty taken as to it's modal and improved capabilities within a advanced-tech fantasy sci-fi setting. To see what Ghost would look and sound like in it's "full" mode, check out the amazing Tina Guo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQrUCkBWQME

Combat Style

Being an ysoki, people would expect her to be extraordinarily nimble like other ysoki. However, as Zorah is an anthropomorphic ysoki, her body stature and abilities are more close to that of humans (or smaller humanoid species such as gnomes or dwarves) although, like most ysoki, she lacks physical strength. Nonetheless, Zorah has a lifetime of moving around space stations, tunnels, and starships and is quite dextrous anyhow. Lacking strength but being quite dextrous, it is no surprise that Zorah prefers to keep her distance from combat and rely on ranged weapons.

Unsurprisingly, her weapon of choice is Ghost, her customised Chordpocalypse, which is a functional longarm that can deal deadly sonic attacks, especially when she takes a few seconds to play a riff to build up a charge before unleashing it on a target, or hitting the same target with multiple blasts for a polarizing effect. With two batteries by default, Ghost is a reliable weapon that should give pause to any attacker and most threats, unless they are resilient to sonic damage.

If she does not have ready access to Ghost, or against threats immune to sonic damage or that Zorah simply does not want to use Ghost for, she relies on her Hail Pistol. This weapon sends frozen projectiles and has proven quite versatile, dealing both cold and projectile damage, which means being useful even against targets with resistance to one or either of those forms. It is very much a backup weapon, however, and when using it Zorah very much would take a defensive, supporting role.

Her key skills being technological, however, Zorah is less likely to simply try to shoot her way through problems and tries to apply her skills to be more useful in other ways. She is usually also able to help bypass electronic security and temporarily disable technological items, often disabling or overloading the weapons or equipment of enemies at key moments to create opportunities for her allies, open up escape routes, or simply hack computers/equipment whilst her allies cover her.

Social Style

Zorah is almost-annoyingly cheerful and optimistic, with boundless energy. She loves meeting new people, hearing stories of their exploits and discovering other races and, especially, their technology. She responds positively to those of friendly demeanour or who indulge her interests. Asides from mechanics, she loves music and chocolate, and both of these are perfect conversation topics or shared activities to endear her affections.


Signature Equipment

Armour & Weapons

  • D-Suit I (with Reverberation Amplifier and Reactive Goggles upgrades)
  • Subzero Hail Pistol
  • Survival Knife
  • Cordpocalypse Ghost (see other notes)

Augments

  • Fortified Feet (protects against ground-based hazards such as electrical wires in water-drenched floors, coolant leaks, or similar)
  • Zorah's Omni-tool Rig (a custom rig embedded in her left arm as a cybernetic augment, which she can access via a hardlight holographic display that appears over her arm, typically in bright orange colours)
  • Mk 1 Synaptic Accelerator (boosts cognitive ability)

Magic Items

  • Brigh's Bolt (can affix to a broken weapon to temporarily restore functionality)

Technological Items

  • Starship Repair tool Kit
  • Various engineering and mechanical items
  • Library chip (engineering)

Signature Quotes

  • "Everything's shiny, Cap'n. Not to fret."
  • "Don't pay anybody in advance. And don't ride in anything with a Capissen 38 engine, they fall right out of the sky."
  • "No, it’s shiny! I like to meet new people. They’ve all got stories…"
  • ""I didn't go to no fancy college or nothing. I just learnt to do it on the job, that's all; my daddy says I got natural talent.""
  • "SPIDERS!!! Spiders, spiders, spiders, spiders!"

Gallery

  • Portrait-Zorah.jpg
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