Sic transit gloria mundi
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To further flesh out the ranks of Firemane.
- Image Credit: Here. Picture of Qyzen Fess, a character in 'The Old Republic'. Found on Wookieepedia.
- Role: Mercenary, hunter, designer.
- Links: Trandoshan, Dahomey.
- Age: 31
- Force Sensitivity: Non-Force User
- Species: Trandoshan
SOCIAL INFORMATION
- Name: Drassk Grobressk
- Loyalties: Firemane Industries, Tempest.
- Wealth: Moderate.
- Spectre Scout Armour (purchased here, approved here).
- Bobcaster
- Stokhli spray stick
- ACP Particle Array Gun
- Trandoshan Sword. Inherited from his father.
- Tooth of a rancor. Wookiee fur rug. Various other trophies and mementos from planets he's visited and hunts he's been on.
- Proficient tracker and trapper
- Gifted in designing personal weapons
- Proficient soldier
- Good at skinning and dressing game animals and making stuff out of them.
Drassk looks down on killing weak prey because it does not represent a test of your skill to kill those weaker than yourself. His dislike of the practice of slavery is motivated by a similar line of reasoning. Equally, he disapproves of strong enemies being left alive. His religion postulates that worthy opponents are reincarnated as Trandoshans and have a shot at a score. From his point of view, the weak should not be coddled, but encouraged to learn how to defend themselves. As a consequence, he has little respect for those who, from his point of view, refuse to stand up for themselves or display cowardice in the face of adversity. Significantly, his idea of strength does not end at physical prowess, but also takes mental fortitude into account.
Throughout his travels, Drassk often had to deal with anti-Trandoshan racism. But he freely admits that while his people are often treated badly, they are not entirely blameless, since certain members of his species have perpetuated the negative stereotypes that the rest of the Trandoshans suffer from. This also made it difficult for him to hitch a ride on starships or find fulfilling work after leaving his tribe. Sadly, one of these unenlightened Trandoshans is one of his own brothers, who decided to pursue a lucrative career as a slaver, pirate and general criminal miscreant. Ironically, he works for Enyo Typhos, the clone of Firemane's CEO, these days. He's even disavowed the Scorekeeper. Understandably, Drassk is quite vexed about all this. Not the least because his brother is responsible for the loss of his eye. Thus any mention of his brother is bound to rouse him to anger.
Drassk has acquired a reputation as a big game hunter, tracker, trapper and sellsword. However, he's also a smart designer, into the brutal arts of military display. This is an activity he pursues when he is not hunting or otherwise busy with a mission. He's particularly crafty when it comes to personal energy weapons. He keeps up-to-date on trends on the arms market and reads technonogical journals regularly. As a result, he gets on quite well with Varosh, a Hutt of refined tastes who's a gifted engineer and weapons' designer. Both can often be found talking shop. He's also quite good at making things out of animals furs and leather.
COMBAT INFORMATION
- Weapon of Choice: His cunning, guns and brute strength. Proficient in the use of most ranged firearms, melee weapons and grenades.
Being a lizard, he has trouble when exposed to extreme temperatures, especially cold. Cold-blooded creatures take on the temperature of their surroundings, so he is much more active in warm environments and very sluggish in cold ones. Wearing environmentally sealed armour helps him, but on average cryomantic and cryoban attacks are more effective against him. Furthermore, electrical discharges from lightning, ion or similar weapons can stun or incapacitate him depending on the power of the attack. He's a very poor pilot and thus reliant on others to get from planet A to planet B - and avoid being shot down during transit. Drassk is a non-Force-user and thus he must rely on his wits and prowess as a soldier if he ends up in combat with space wizards.
While an experienced fighter, Drassk eschews command roles. When he operates as part of a unit, he prefers to insert himself into the existing organisation and lend his expertise, but not take command himself. If need be he can take charge, but is a tactical rather than a strategic thinker. This makes him ill-suited for command roles that go beyond leading small teams. Being a devout follower of the Scorekeeper, he takes matters of honour rather seriously and will not back down from a fight, as this would bring shame upon him. This can be disadvantageous for him, cause him to misjudge potential dangers or be too stubborn to perform a tactical retreat.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Like most of his kind, Drassk was born on Trandosha, also known as Dosha. He hatched at a time when the Four Hundred Year Darkness was finally coming to a close and the Galaxy was getting a chance to breathe again - before it was hit by a somewhat redundant, repetitive series of more or less 'Great Galactic Wars'. Regardless, he was born into a clan of Trandoshan hunters. As a young hatchling, he proved himself several times as a capable hunter and warrior, participating in several hunts. He earned himself renown during a raid on a Wookiee settlement, where he slew a powerful Wookiee warrior.
In addition to his martial prowess, he proved himself to be a particularly ingenious Trandoshan, as he showed notable talent when it came to reverse-engineering and designing personal weapons, especially energy weapons. He might have been made clan chieftain in time. However, his younger brother Grashk was envious of his older sibling's 'score'. While Drassk was a capable warrior and promising designer, he was blind to his younger sibling's jealousy and too trusting of him.
In secret, Grashk plotted to undermine his elder sibling. So he spread rumours saying that Drassk had been inflating his scores and utilised dishonourable methods such as traps and foreign mercenaries to slay beasts. The tribe they both belonged to was more than a little old-fashioned in its views and believed that a fight should be a test of skill. Grashk took great care to make sure that he was not associated with the slander and bribed some of his fellow tribespeople with tokens. It helped that young Drassk was more than a little boastful of his successes.
Finding his honour besmirched, Drassk decided to counter the vicious slander by hunting a particularly dangerous beast, a Rancor that had been sighted in the jungle. With minimal gear, he set out on this dangerous quest. Braving wild beasts and the elements, he finally confronted the huge beast. It was a vicious fight in which he was almost slain, but after sustaining grievous injuries, he managed to climb on top of the beast's back using a vine and plung his sword into its neck.
However, his brother had arranged a surprise for him. While licking his wounds, Drassk was assaulted by a unit of hunter droids. In his weakened state, he was at a disadvantage, though he still fought bravely. In the struggle he lost his eye to shrapnel from a grenade explosion. Fighting his way out, Drassk was forced to flee. He managed to evade his pursuers and eventually return to his tribe.
Coming back, he found that Grashk had declared him dead. Realising who was behind the setup, he confronted his brother before the tribal council. Grashk was banished for his crimes and declared honourless. However, though his good name had been redeemed, these events brought great dishonour upon his family. It was also a source of shame for Drassk. Not only had he been gullible, he had also failed in his duty to teach his younger sibling the right path.
So he decided to go into voluntary exile. By seeking a better score, he would regain the favour of the Scorekeeper. So he bid his tribe farewell, promising to retun at regular intervals and help whenever they had need of his skills. He wound up travelling the Galaxy, selling his skills as a hunter and weapons' designer. Aside from hunting non-sentient prey, he also found employment as a bounty-hunter, accepting contracts from various private and public parties. He replaced his lost eye with a cybernetic prothesis, foregoing a cloned replacement since the implant would always remind him of what had happened on that fateful day. Taking things philosophically, he interpreted it as a lesson from the Scorekeeper. Carrying only a few personal possessions during his travels, he bartered his trophies and designs in return for passage to hunting grounds. For a while, he hooked up with a group of Mandalorian bounty-hunters who'd left Mandalore after its cataclysmic destruction. Aside from offering his martial prowess, he also earned his keep by upgrading and repairing their weapons in a small workshop.
What Drassk soon realised was that Trandoshans had a pretty poor reputation in the Galaxy. By and large, they were stereotyped as slavers, gangsters oppressors of the weak. Strictly speaking, Drassk did not have a moral problem with slavery per se. After all, he'd participated in the ongoing feud between his people and the Wookiees. However, prolonged exposure to the plight of slaves and their treatment challenged his views somewhat. He found that many lizardmen did not share his beliefs, as those he encountered often believed that they could gain the favour of the Scorekeeper simply by going after the weak, rather than going up against challenging prey. Indeed, many had forsaken their goddess altogether, claiming that she did not offer them anything and thus was not deserving of worship.
Eventually, his travels took him to Dahomey, a wild, dangerous world that had technologically regressed during the Gulag Virus. He'd been informed that its natives, though lacking in tech, were a hardy people who for many decades had fought against foreign exploitaton and oppression. Moreover, the planet was populated by dangerous wild life.
Little did he know that the political situation was a bit volatile. His quarry were Kardoks, fierce crocodilian creatures that possessed long fangs and could even stand on their hind legs briefly so they can crush and maul their prey. Dahomian hunters had informed him that these creatures could be found in a nearby swamp. However, when he arrived on the spot, he found that someone had beaten him to the punch. Indeed, his marks had been butchered with cannons and explosive weapons.
Knowing that the Dahomians had a code of hunters and would not use a Gunship to conduct such slaughter, he headed back to the nearest settlement to make enquiries - and inform them in case there was a threat. However, when he arrived on the scene, he found a burning village. Most of the homesteads had been put to the torch, bodies lay everywhere. Heavily armed slavers were in the process of looting and absconding with their human chattle. Enraged by what he saw, Drassk attacked the slavers, using his guns, Trandoshan sword and claws.
He fought bravely, but the sheer weight of numbers proved to be too much for him. In the end he was beaten after being shot in the back...by a Trandoshan who turned out to be his brother. Grashk gloated about his triumph and mocked his brother for his archaic beliefs, but ere he could finish him off, his scouts informed him that reinforcements were arriving. So Grashk quickly departed, though not before stabbing his brother with a Dahomian spear to make it look like he'd been one of the raiders. The slavers retreated under heavy fire from rapidly approaching Firemane forces. Drassk was left for dead and fell into the hands of Firemane mercenaries. Since he lay close to a bunch of dead Dahomians and had been left with Trandoshan weapons, it looked pretty compromising.
Many of the soldiers were Dahomians themselves and so his captors/rescuers took their anger out on him, believing him to have been one of the slavers. However, village people who had been able to hide due to his intervention came forward to vouch for his innocence. So he was brought before the Firemane commander, Major Tempest. The rather...tempestuous Force Master was understandably a bit sceptical, but after hearing the testimonies, he was given medical care and then questioned about the raid.
Perhaps to the Firemane soldiers' surprise, he offered to help them track the raiders so that they could be ambushed before they had the chance to leave the planet with their human chattle. Perhaps it worked in his favour that Tempest had a background as a warrior, huntress and tracker, as both managed to find some common ground. Through their combined skills, they were able to track the slavers to their hideout and launch an assault. Several raiders were slaughtered by Firemane troops and native militia, others smote by Tempest's lightning. Fighting his way through the ranks of raiders, Drassk eventually came across his brother.
At first, Graskh sicced beasts on him, then the two engaged in a brutal, savage duel. The fight ended with Drassk wounded but the victor. However, amidst the carnage, Graskh managed to escape by using explosives to cause part of the corridor to cave in. Badly injured and lacking an arm, Grashk fled the wrecked base. Angered by his brother's escape, Drassk linked up with Tempest again. Though some raiders had been able to flee, the assault was a success, as they'd been deprived of their booty.
After he'd recovered from his injuries, Drassk decided to stay in contact with Firemane. He spent some time on Dahomey, learning about the local culture and hunting wild beasts. Tempest even accompanied him in one. During this time, he also became acquainted with the Major's spiritual, somewhat eccentric partner Elpsis. After participating in a number of Firemane missions, he was put on retainer and later taken aboard as a contractor. Drassk remains very independent and still engages in his own pursuits, but has found a place in the company. He's also contributed to the megacorporation's R&D department and acted as a trainer for Firemane special forces, teaching them tracking and survival in the jungle.
