#Ambassador Thoris

[indignantlemur]

Larger image (STRONGLY recommended): HERE The resolution on this is painful, so I'm including detail shots below the cut.

This meeting room was furnished many centuries ago by a renowned artisan who could carve stone and shells in stunning detail, and could shape and colour glass in a way that was never seen before and has never been replicated since. He took the secrets of his techniques to the grave, dying at an unexpectedly young age in a duel with a public safety official over the seizure of a rare and extremely toxic pigment imported from a Clan to the far south. His name was Kelenthor, and he was the only Clanless to ever attain such a high level of renown and fortune purely on his artistic talent. He lived during what would eventually be called the Post-Unification Andorian Renaissance. While this artisan was alive, he had a somewhat adversarial relationship with various officials and was known to use his art as a medium to mock and criticize his social betters. He was beloved by the general populace for exclusively taking on students from the lower social classes - almost as much as he was resented by the upper classes for his habit of hiding subversive messages in his commissioned works. Regardless of where one stood with Kelenthor, none could deny his talents. If you wanted the best of the best, Kelenthor was the one to commission. As such, he was eventually commissioned to design and create furnishings for a number of rooms and even entire buildings which are now used exclusively by government officials today or otherwise preserved as precious cultural works.

This particular room is widely regarded as his best work: the walls are conspicuously and almost insultingly plain, barely carved at all. At the centre of the room lies a heavy and imposing table of solid marbled stone - also barely ornamented, save some bevelling along the edges. The surface was treated with a substance which renders the stone almost entirely impervious to damage. No matter how one might rain blows upon it, barely a scratch remains to remember them by - much like many of the politicians who have sat at this table since its creation, which many believe was the subversive message behind the thing in the first place.

The focal points are the throne-like seats arrayed around the blunt instrument of a marble table, intricately carved and inlaid with precious shell and glasswork, iridescent and shining under even the faintest rays of light. Each scatters prisms randomly around the room, illuminating the shadows and often causing quite a few headaches when meetings stretch too long. More importantly, every single one of them was deliberately carved to be as uncomfortable as possible. No one in a position of power, Kelenthor once said, should be comfortable there.

First up, courting and wedding bands! Shral and Dagmar are only courting, so they have simple rings with minimal ornamentation, with Dagmar's being modified to fit as a cuff earring.

Thoris is married, so he has two bands on each antennae. Quite often marriage bands are more decorative and ostentatious than his, but Thoris isn't one for baubles and it's bad enough he has to wear these ridiculous robes. Frankly, if he could get away with just wearing his old Guardsman uniform to these meetings, he'd vastly prefer to. As such, his wedding bands are almost incongruously plain for his rank and status.

Next up, the lady and gentleman in the foreground! These two are Ministers, and high-ranking Andorians besides, so they ornament themselves rather loudly in comparison to our main cast's more sedate preferences. The lady on the left is Minister Zaathi, who we will be meeting in-fic very soon, and she's very fond of gemstones and carved hair beads - and not afraid of losing any, if she sheer number she's wearing are any indications. It's a weighted fashion statement, if nothing else, from a woman whose home province is small and relatively modest otherwise.

By comparison, Minister Bhael - on the right - is much more conservative in his ornamentation, but his robes are heavily embroidered and that is quite a lot of Andorian silk to be toting around. A closer look will reveal that his sleeves are embroidered with an ocean wave pattern, which is particularly interesting given the relationship Andorians have with the sea. Is it some kind of political statement, or just an odd choice of attire?

If those two are making statements with their sartorial choices, then Thoris has them all beat for layered meanings.

The silvery outer robes of office are closer to a cloak than a robe, with an inner layer that is belted around the waist and a loose outer layer that is joined to the inner layer at the shoulders and seams along the upper arms. This permits the maximum range of movement for the wearer. Being made of Andorian silk, which is several times stronger than Terran silk, it is an excellent means of protection against slashing and stabbing weapons. Despite their merits, however, Thoris loathes them. They're lightweight, sure, but they're still long and ostentatious and entirely too liable to get caught on something in a real fight. Sadly, they're also mandatory, or he'd have binned them ages ago.

The vibrant blue mid-layer is a heavy material, durable Andorian silk woven through with tiny filaments of something very similar to a carbon fibre composite, providing a measure of protection against many forms of projectiles, though less so against phase weapons. The innermost tunic is more obviously armoured than the other two layers, with panels mimicking an extensive chitin pattern along the length of the torso and forearms. The sleeves in particular draw attention to a very vibrant yellow flash - much like the chitin of the predatory veeg he is known for hunting in the past.

Next we come to Shral, who is obscured partially by shadow at Ambassador Thoris' right hand - and ready to draw his ushaan-tor at a moment's notice.

This is not standard armour for an Andorian, but rather something one might wear while sparring or training in their personal time. The armour takes the form of layered, almost beetle-shell like layers, layered over a long, cowl-necked tunic. The cowl is an unusual choice for sparring attire, as it provides a potential hand-hold for an opponent - only a very arrogant or a very skilled duelist would wear such a thing while sparring.

In contrast, Dagmar stands in the light on Thoris' left. Her working attire is lightly embroidered, and features large, pearly buttons - but otherwise she's almost conspicuously plainly dressed. Hyper aware of how shockingly pink she is in comparison to everyone else in the room, Dagmar wears muted and neutral colours to try to off-set how glaringly alien she is - which, ironically, only serves to highlight her differences even further.

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[girrrate]

[coolactivenews]

Dierks Bentley at Miles & Music for Kids 2015: 'Everyone Had a Great Time'

Dierks Bentley at Miles & Music for Kids 2015: ‘Everyone Had a Great Time’

The exhibit, called Keith Urban So Far, will open on Nov. 20 and will show the history of one of country’s biggest global ambassadors through his memorabilia.

They doubtless were Thark warriors who had been sent out to capture us, and we breathed a great sigh of relief that they were traveling in the opposite direction. Quickly lifting Dejah Thoris from the thoat, I commanded the animal to lie…

[analib2909]

Dierks Bentley at Miles & Music for Kids 2015: 'Everyone Had a Great Time'

Dierks Bentley at Miles & Music for Kids 2015: ‘Everyone Had a Great Time’

The exhibit, called Keith Urban So Far, will open on Nov. 20 and will show the history of one of country’s biggest global ambassadors through his memorabilia.

They doubtless were Thark warriors who had been sent out to capture us, and we breathed a great sigh of relief that they were traveling in the opposite direction. Quickly lifting Dejah Thoris from the thoat, I commanded the animal to lie…

[indignantlemur]

More in-progress pics!

@the-lady-general  @starrynightgardens  @emilie786  @horta-in-charge  @emochook  @velvet-luvie  @creature-of-the-stars @unknownfacelessfanfictions

[indignantlemur]

The Directory!

Emigre: link

Pairing(s): Original Andorian Character/Original Human Character (Dagmar/Shral), Andorian/Andorian, Andorian/Human/Andorian/Andorian

Rating: Explicit (as of chapter 44)

Status: In-Progress, available via AO3

A tear in the fabric of space and time has consequences that echo across ages; an unexpected arrival from the twenty-first century challenges a nation's perceptions and sets a most unlikely precedent. An exploration of Andorian culture from a Human's POV.

The Stars Keep Watch: link

Pairing(s): Va'Al Trask/Original Human Character (Va'Al/Mira)

Rating: Explicit

Status: In-Progress, available via AO3

Mira Vos signed up for Starfleet only to find herself posted to hell. Undersupplied and overstressed, the fighting on J'Gal threatens to wear her down. The arrival of a special forces unit led by a handsome Andorian promises a break in the routine... A classic wartime romance - but In Space.

🎄🎁❄️Deck the Halls (and Not the Vulcans): link

Pairings: Dagmar/Shral (background)

Rating: Teen

Status: Complete, available on AO3

It's winter time in San Francisco, and the Andorian embassy has just been challenged to participate in a friendly competition between the Federation's founding species' embassies. The objective? To see who can best decorate a Terran Christmas tree. The prize? Nothing less than deeply coveted bragging rights for the coming year.

Dagmar Gunnarssen has never been so ready for anything in her entire life.

Hoarfrost: 🚧🛠️

Pairing(s): Dagmar Gunnarssen & Ambassador Thoris th'Kor, Background relationships from Emigre

Rating: Teen

Status: In-Progress, not yet available via AO3. (Pssst! Sneak peak available: link)

An unusually powerful ion storm forces Ambassador Thoris and his retinue to abandon ship over a largely uninhabited planet. Some of the last to make it to the escape pods, Thoris and Dagmar wind up separated from the others. Together, they must navigate a frozen, eerily barren landscape - and survive.

Emigre Art:

Shral: in-progress 1, in-progress 2, in-progress update 3, in-progress update 4, FINISHED

Thelen: in-progress, in-progress 2, in-progress 3, finished with detail shots

Miraal: in-progress, in-progress update

Ambassador Thoris: in-progress & finished (tentative)

Vrath: in-progress 1, finished

'An Eventful Meeting' : in-progress, in-progress 2, in-progress 3, in-progress 4, finished

IndignantLemur's Very Serious & Accurate Antennae Expression Guide: here!

Dagmar's courting ring: here

Kelenthor the Clanless: here

Fancy Drinks and Fancy Duds: in-progress

Andorian Chitin Map Reference: Thelen, Thoris, Shral: here

Winter Holiday Series:

Dagmar/Shral: In-progress 1, in-progress 2, finished

CANON Fan Art:

Shran: here

Commissions/Gifts:

Serrin of Romulus: in-progress & finished (@bigblissandlove1 commission)

S'Talon of Romulus: in-progress (silly) & finished (@bigblissandlove1 commission)

Gift commission: in-progress & finished (@the-lady-general commission)

Emperor Georgiou: in-progress & finished (@the-lady-general commission)

Lt Hemmer: finished (@nichestartrekkie0-0 gift)

Cmdr Ophelia Zubira: finished (@unknownfacelessfanfictions)

Andorian Headcanons:

Andorians and Food

Andorians and the Sea

Andorian Governing Bodies & The Role of Nepotism

Andorian Marriage Dynamics & Divorce

Andorian Proposals

Andorian Religion & Spirituality (And horror stories)

The Andorian Imperial Clan

Andorian Hair

Andorian Holidays

Andorian Courtship Ring Metallurgy

Andorian Medical Professionals

Andorian Awards and Commendations

Andorians and Figure Skating

Andorians and Dancing

Andorians and Currency

The Andorian Facepalm?

Andorian-Vulcan relations pre-ST:ENT

Andorian Language and Conlang

Andorian Weddings and Funerals

Andorian Attitudes on Interspecies Relationships

Andorian-Human Hybridization

The Am Tal and The Andorian Incident

Andorian Clan Identification and Chitin Patterns

Andorian Names

Andorians and Adoption

Clanless Andorians

Andorians and Rites of Passage into Adulthood

The Code of the Ushaan and the Holmgang

Andorian Fairy Tales

Kelenthor the Clanless and Watercolours

Human-Andorian First Contact headcanons

Andorian Fashion and Fabrics

Emigre General Discussions:

Healing and Grief in Emigre

The Bulreeng Taal Beatdown

Author's Commentary: Chapter 41 - Grace and Poise

Author's Commentary: Chapter 37 - Connection

What Do The Andorians (and Dagmar) of Emigre Smell Like?

Author's Commentary: Chapter 43: The Star Thief

What Language Is Dagmar Speaking?

Author's Commentary: Chapter 46 - Face the Facts

Director's Cut - ask for a writer's commentary on a chapter, section, line, or scene in their work, or send a ⭐for free-range rambles!

Writer Ask Game - send an emoji, get an answer!

OC Emoji Ask Game - send an emoji, specify the OC, and get an answer!

Emigre Playlists:

Dagmar - I Don't Belong In This Club

Dagmar - All I Can Do Is Try

Dagmar/Shral - I Will Melt With You

Dagmar/Thelen - Shut Up & Dance

Anlenthoris th'Kor - The Old Warhawk

Emigre Atmospheric Mixes:

Dagmar At The Office

Hovercar Ride With Shral

Hoarfrost Atmospheric Mixes:

Walking Through A Blizzard

Waiting Out A Snowstorm In A Cave

Alien Aurora While Camping In The Snow

OFFICIAL TAG LIST

(You can always request to be added to the list!)

[indignantlemur]

A tentatively finished Ambassador Thoris! Behold his silvery robes of office and his vaguely amused but mostly frowny face!

(I assume Dagmar did something terribly amusing somewhere in his line of sight. She has her back to him. She will never see the almost-smile. The moment she turns around, he will scowl at her. Purely on principle.) As an artist's note, I guess? I'm not *completely* happy with the fabric for the outer robes, but it turns out metallic fabrics with brocade pattern/textures are actually kind of hard and I need a lot more practice. Really happy with the inner robe and tunic, though!

[indignantlemur]

Another in-progress pic! Thoris is coming along pretty well, I think!

@the-lady-general  @starrynightgardens  @emilie786  @horta-in-charge  @emochook  @velvet-luvie  @creature-of-the-stars @unknownfacelessfanfictions

[indignantlemur]

So remember how I said I was never doing to do complex backgrounds again?

I lied.

I think I'm gonna call this one: "An Eventful Meeting"

[indignantlemur]

An in progress Ambassador Thoris! The hair is, as usual, giving me trouble and is definitely going to change once I find a suitably dignified powdered wig. I'm not sold on the antennae either, but even with all that, so far so good!

(Look Ma, no hands!)

[indignantlemur]

Another in-progress pic for 'An Eventful Meeting' for you all! Blocking out the shading, currently, and absolutely enamoured with the chairs! So pretty! <3 I ended up adjusting the right-most gentleman's hair to resemble some of the old school TOS-era and comic Andorians, just for funsies.

And of course, for @horta-in-charge - here's the lineart version! If you'd like a larger image or a higher resolution, let me know!

@the-lady-general  @starrynightgardens  @emilie786  @horta-in-charge  @emochook  @velvet-luvie  @creature-of-the-stars @unknownfacelessfanfictions

[indignantlemur]

Tell me the specifics! Who do you want to see?

@the-lady-general  @starrynightgardens  @emilie786  @horta-in-charge  @emochook  @velvet-luvie  @creature-of-the-stars @unknownfacelessfanfictions

[indignantlemur]

A mix for Anlenthoris th'Kor, the Andorian Ambassador to Earth and Tellar.

SPOTIFY LINK: HERE

Song list with lyric samples below the cut!

Ironfoot (Extended Edition) - Howard Shore [Instrumental]

From The North - Runrig & Paul Mounsey [From the north came a warrior Bearing burdens dark and deep I've a will and I've a wanting And miles to go before I sleep I have horses in my stable I have sons fit to fight I will bring this to your table If you ride with me this night]

As Cold As It Gets - Dustin Kensrue [To the end of the Earth, I'll search for your face For the one who laid all of our beauty to waste Threw our hope into Hell and our children in the fire I am the one who crawled through the wire I am the one who crawled through the wire There's a million sad stories by the side of the road Strange how we all just got used to the blood A million sad stories that'll never be told Silent and froze in the mud Silent and froze in the mud]

Crow On The Cradle - Show of Hands ["The sheep's in the meadow, the cow's in the corn, Now is the time for a child to be born. He'll laugh at the moon and he'll cry for the sun, And if it's a boy he will carry a gun," Sang the crow on the cradle

"And if it should be that this baby's a girl, Never you mind if her hair doesn't curl. With rings on her fingers and bells on her toes, And a bomber above her wherever she goes," Sang the crow on the cradle]

The Wondersmith and His Sons - Astronautalis [A smile safe-crackers understand, Is rendering this steady hand, Obsolete. The charm and confidence of men, Can jam the bullets in your gun, And stop heartbeats]

World on Fire - Les Friction [I'll return from darkness and will save your precious skin I will end your suffering and let the healing light come in Sent by forces beyond salvation There can't be not one sensation World on fire with a smoking sun Stops everything and everyone Brace yourself for all will pay Help is on the way]

Who Are You, Really? - Mikky Ekko [So you feel entitled to a sense of control And make decisions that you think are your own You are a stranger here, why have you come? Why have you come, lift me higher, let me look at the sun Look at the sun and once I hear them clearly, say Who, who are you really? And where are you going? I have nothing left to prove 'Cause I have nothing left to lose See me bare my teeth for you Who, who are you?]

Brother, My Brother - Michael Lanning [And His eyes will look away For His heart will so be torn As His fields of gold turn scarlet From the rage of battle born And the silence of the night Will be broken with the cries Of the ones who've been forgotten On the quiet field where honor lies]

The War - SMYL [Here stands a man With a bullet in his clenched right hand Don't push him, son For he's got the power to crush this land Oh hear, hear him cry, boy]

Daniel in the Den - Bastille [And you thought the lions were bad Well, they tried to kill my brothers And felled in the night by the ones you think you love They will come for you]

Hurt - Johnny Cash [And you could have it all My empire of dirt I will let you down I will make you hurt]

Davy Jones' Theme - City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra [Instrumental]

[indignantlemur]

My dear Indi, I need your expertise !

Do you have any ideas or headcanons for Andorian outfits, from lighter to warmer? What would they look like in general, what texture is most appreciated or considered fashionable ?

Thanks ! 💙

Hello Zier! Let's see what I can do for you! Fair warning, this one is going to be image-heavy.

For the most part, Andorian fashion in my headcanons isn't unified. Different folks prefer to wear different things, same as Humans, but there are broader elements that are quite common.

Firstly, we know from ENT and subsequent appearances in the modern Treks that Andorians tend to wear a lot of leather, often embossed or tooled to have a particular sort of feel. The samples below from Discovery give me powerful 2009-2013 Gareth Pugh vibes.

Beyond that, the only other time we see Andorians is when they're in Imperial Guard or Starfleet uniforms, which mostly just gives an overall impression of leather, suede, and future-kevlar.

The Andorian ambassador in "Terra Prime" had a very different feel from these, of course, and that shiny outer robe ultimately inspired Thoris' official get-up.

By contrast, some super early screen tests and comic book depictions for everyday Andorians look rather different, however. We've got draping fabrics, robes, tunics, some thigh high boots, and what looks like bits of armoured studding and chainmail. That's quite the departure from the other depictions!

And then, of course, we have Shran's post-Imperial Guard coat. This one gets its own mention, because that coat is fabulous.

Honestly, this isn't a lot to work with. It's better than nothing, of course, but the different depictions feel very disjointed and all over the place. There's no sense of unity in the designs across the board.

So, from there I looked to real-world fashion to help me build a better idea of what I wanted my Andorians to actually look like outside of a uniform. As much as their depictions would lead us to believe that Andorians have an oddly prevalent leather kink, that's really not practical. Leather is a useful material, and certainly a heavily carnivorous population would end up with quite a lot of it, but surely that can't be everything they wear. So, I started looking around for things that felt like they fit the vague aesthetic we were given to work with.

Below are some samples from the ungodly huge pinterest board I keep for ideas and references for Andorian fashion. I think these mostly hit all the key notes for my headcanons.

A lot of these images are very bland in terms of colour, particularly by Andorian standards, but I think you should be able to see what I've drawn inspiration from.

What I ended up with was a combination of future-fashion elements, and influences from places like Japan and India - with a heavy slant towards using leather, silk, velvet and occasionally soft, drapey fabrics. Heavy ornamentation, such as embroidery, is very common but lacework on clothing is actually quite unusual. Andorians tend to find it catches on their chitin and tears too often to be worth the fuss.

In particular, I really like the idea of layers, off-set or asymmetrical necklines, and elements of structural/architectural fashion for Andorians. Tooled leather is very popular, as well.

Another detail about Andorian fashion that I've mentioned a few times in other posts is that they like to show off their chitin patterns. Often this is done using leather as the medium, but embroidery is also a perfectly acceptable option. Often times, these articles of clothing (usually outerwear but not always) will have a Clan sigil somewhere on it as well, but it's not at all a requirement. These practices accomplish a couple of different things:

Firstly, it offers prospective playmates a tantalising 'preview' of what's underneath. Andorians are not shy about these things, nor do they understand why aliens think they should be. Some Andorians find particular types of chitin patterns very attractive, while some are averse to partners with what they perceive to be too much or too little chitin - or worse, chitin patterns that are far too similar to their own, which would suggest a shared lineage somewhere.

Secondly, it shows off Clan affiliations, especially for Clan members who were not born with their Clan's 'typical' chitin pattern. (Married individuals will often wear things that show their affiliation to both their birth Clan and their marriage Clan, as well, though these are usually ornamental items such as jewellery or hair pieces.)

Thirdly, wearing one's Clan affiliations stamped on their sleeves can sometimes serve as a conflict deterrent. Some Clans are just not worth picking a fight with, and knowing who's who ahead of time instead of after someone says something spectacularly stupid tends to save lives. Since the Unification, the need for these sorts of deterrents has dropped substantially, but it's never entirely gone from Andorian society.

This is not to say that I imagine that all Andorians wear the same things. Being able to express individual preferences is very important, especially in a society where most other individualistic pursuits are seen as counter-productive to the harmony and unity of a community.

Shral, for example, deviates from the norm by preferring dark colours and minimal ornamentation. To other Andorians, his sartorial choices are almost conspicuously bland. On the other end of the spectrum, Thelen adores vivid colours - neon oranges, shocking yellows, acid greens - and fully embraces the bombastic colour palettes his people are known for. Thoris is doomed to be trapped in billowing robes he'd much rather burn in a steel drum behind the embassy under cover of darkness, but he prefers layered tunics, boots, and breeches that don't inhibit his movement. Vrath is in the middle of the road, favouring bold colours and practical clothing but never quite able to resist bits of ornamentation that give her wealthy Tha'an Clan allegiance away. Miraal, on the other hand, adore soft, draping fabrics and wears very little leather, or any other similarly heavy materials, and she prefers to wear minimal ornamentation so as not to distract from her wares.

In terms of seasonal clothing, Andorians can tolerate very broad rangers of temperatures, and they have thermal regulators built into much of their clothing. They can get away with quite a lot, in terms of weather, but a heavily cultivated sense of caution generally prevents them from wandering out into surface conditions wearing anything less than full winter gear - though, naturally, their idea of full winter gear is rather lighter than what a Human would go in for. In extreme heat, Andorians have no problem wearing as little as possible - often to the consternation of other species who do not share their total lack of nudity taboos.

Regarding colours, I headcanon that much like how Vulcans view green as a traditional mating colour owing to the hue of their blood, and Humans view red much the same way, so too do Andorians with the colour blue. Just wearing blue alone isn't an invitation for anything, but it is very noticeable and considered a very attractive colour. Wearing a particularly fetching shade of blue while lurking in a bar and being very noticeably single, however...

Andorian silk is a luxury item, and one in high demand. Made from cocoons harvested from a domesticated relative of the infamous Andorian ice borers, it's ten times stronger than Terran silk, rendering it resistant to slashing and piercing damage. It can be woven into heavy brocades or crafted into a diaphanous, organza-like material, or blended with other fibres. It almost always has a slight iridescent or even metallic shine to it, a highly coveted property, and it is ludicrously expensive.

Hope this helps! <3

[indignantlemur]

Hi! :)

I am curious, is there an antennae equivalent for a facepalm??

Hello!

A facepalm is a uniquely Human gesture, but it generally expresses exasperation and dismay. Working with the base emotions, I think in terms of antennae movements you'd wind up with a combination of weary-droopy and irritable-flicking, and probably paired with either a wince or a flat expression depending on the circumstance. The guide I posted isn't a perfect reference chart by any means, since Andorian antennae act as a kind of thermometer for their moods - often on a completely subconscious level. It takes a great deal of practice to control them consciously, and that goes doubly for controlling their movements and expressions for a long period of time.

That's partly why it's so frustrating for Dagmar when Ambassador Thoris, Thelen, and Shral hold their antennae perfectly still and give nothing away - it's the Andorian poker face. As I've emphasized many times, Andorian faces aren't as expressive as Human faces are due to their subdermal chitin and much more limited facial musculature, so they're effectively taking away the other half of Dagmar's lexicon for reading Andorians when they do that. It's very inconsiderate of them.

[indignantlemur]

💌

For your reading pleasure, an excerpt from Hoarfrost! AKA the worst walking holiday ever.

The premise is this: An unusually powerful ion storm forces Ambassador Thoris and his retinue to abandon ship over a largely uninhabited planet. Some of the last to make it to the escape pods, Thoris and Dagmar wind up separated from the others. Together, they must navigate a frozen, eerily barren landscape - and survive.

For extra immersion, I made this: ambient mix

It was beautiful, if freezing. Dagmar in particular admired the way the loose snowflakes almost created a mist along the ground with the wind, hissing and sliding over lichen, ice and stone like sand. The sun, or what passed for it on this planet, was a pale, far thing in the sky but the light that it gave the land before her was eerie and entrancing. It glittered off of the ice and gave definition to the jagged edges of the dark rocks and pallid, curling lichen. It reminded her, viscerally, of a trip she had once taken to the far north of the Yukon Territories in her childhood, just alongside the border to Alaska with her parents and little brother, once, to see the aurora borealis. It had been hauntingly beautiful then, as this place was now - desolate and frozen, yes, but haunting and beautiful nonetheless.

It was slow going, even with Thoris leading the way. The cold seemed to invigorate the older man, while Dagmar found herself starting to shiver despite her temperature regulators and biosensors. The exertion of navigating through the nearly mid-thigh height snow had caused her to work up a sweat, which was rapidly growing chilled against her skin. Her gear was made for Andorian subterranean cities, not open tundra - it was holding up, but not wonderfully. Already, she was starting to shiver.

Dagmar gritted her teeth and carried on, trying to match her footprints to the Ambassador’s as best as she could. His stride was longer than hers, naturally, and so his boot prints were placed further apart than was comfortable for her. Her breathing had quickened with exertion, the heat and humidity of her breath wicked away by the fine copper mesh inside of her mask. The Canadian woman took a moment to praise Andorian ingenuity, if only because her visor wasn’t fogging up horrendously.

Dagmar wasn’t sure how much time had passed like that, with the pair of them trudging determinedly towards the treeline she had spotted from their escape pod. She glanced up from where she had been watching the ground below her and was startled to find her vision of the trees obscured by large, clumping flakes of snow being swept off the bare rock and lichen and back into the air by the gale.

“Are you keeping up?” The Ambassador called back to her, turning his head to look back at her. His silvery robes billowed behind him with a renewed gust of wind, and his antennae flicked wildly against the force of it. He didn’t look like he was struggling nearly as much as she was.

With a start, Dagmar realised she had started to fall behind. She grimaced and tried to hurry up, feeling as though the wind was pushing her back a little with every step. Was it her, or was the wind getting stronger? It seemed like it was throwing more snow up from off the ground, now - or at least it did, until she looked up at the sky and realised some heavy grey clouds had started to move in with the wind. It wasn’t just already fallen flakes being scattered in the air - fresh snow was joining it now.

“Doing my best, sir!” Dagmar huffed and puffed when she finally caught up, and she had to raise her voice a little to be heard. “Is the wind picking up? It feels like it is.”

“It is, and much faster than I was anticipating.” Ambassador Thoris answered, his voice sharp and clear against the wind. “We’re in for a storm, I think. You’ll need shelter soon.”

When she got close enough, the Ambassador reached back and pulled her over the last few feet of snow to plunk her down just behind him. From there, he gripped her wrist hard and turned back to forging a path through the snow. Dagmar struggled to keep up with her arm extended so far ahead of her in the Ambassador’s grip, but she had to admit it was effective for keeping her close to the Andorian as visibility started to fade into a messy blur of grey rock and white snow. Dagmar had no idea where the treeline was, and she was still shocked by how suddenly the wind and snow had picked up.

Back in her time, in Canada, she never would have ventured outside in weather like this - not even with the best kind of gear available, not even with the most experienced guide. In fact, Dagmar was really starting to wonder why the hell they hadn’t stayed in the escape pod, where they were at least sheltered by the wind. It wouldn’t do to question the Ambassador, though - he had to have a reason for abandoning the pod, and as her superior she was supposed to be able to trust him to make sensible decisions in situations like this. So, she kept her mouth shut and kept moving.

Truthfully, when Dagmar took a moment to really think about it, it made sense to leave the escape pod. Crumpled and compromised as it was, it was much too large to keep warm with just two people even if it had been intact - not unless the computer systems were online and able to manage the internal temperature controls, which they most certainly hadn’t been. Worse, with its position at the bottom of a crater, it was very likely to be snowed in and buried - especially in this weather.

See? A small part of her, the part of her that put her faith in strange aliens on strange worlds, was validated. Those were perfectly good reasons to leave, and that was just what she was able to reason out. Ambassador Thoris had far more training and experience than she did, and he grew up on an ice planet.

The redhead glanced up at the sky, eyeing those heavy clouds dubiously, and had to agree with the Thoris’ assessment. Andorians could endure truly astounding temperature drops, but she was starting to sweat hard and once that sweat chilled she was going to be at an ever-increasing risk of hypothermia despite her equipment. She found herself flexing her fingers in their gloves to keep her blood flowing to them, and wiggling her toes in her boots whenever she could; the cold was seeping in more and more as time passed.

“We’ll get to the treeline and find somewhere to shelter for a few hours.” The Andorian man shouted back to her, turning his head and antennae towards her to catch her response. Dagmar’s answer in the affirmative was lost to the wind and her mask, but she nodded as she spoke and he at least managed to see that.

Dagmar could hardly see anything beyond the Ambassador’s form ahead of her now, but she could make out a bit. He had pulled the scanner out of his robes and was keeping them on track as best he could, matching their direction to where the others’ escape pods should have landed. Dagmar couldn’t hear its whirring and chirping over the wind, but she could hear what it should have sounded like in her mind clearly enough from memory alone.

She had to trust the Ambassador to lead her, given that he had the superior senses and the scanner and she didn’t. With that in mind, the Human woman kept her gaze down and focused on where she was placing her feet. It wouldn’t do for her to slip and take the Andorian down with her. The very idea gave her visions of losing the scanner in the now hip-deep snow and losing their way in the disorienting white-out conditions; a very real fear, followed very quickly by the slow-dawning dread that it was very possible for her to freeze to death out here.

Focus, she told herself. One foot in front of the other, one step at a time. She was with the Ambassador, a trained Imperial Guardsman with a long and impeccable record that spoke to his competence and effectiveness as a leader.

…And he had no experience with Humans in extreme climates.