#character: laurie vexen

[ageofpiracyrp]

PLOT DROP 32: DIFFUSION

When The Prosperity enters the area around Kor'sel'Koo where communications transmissions are most accessible, Muffy and Hero find themselves met with a wave of messages to sift through and sort.

To Skylar and Ali from Karmel: Happy belated anniversary in Earth years. Enjoy a round of drinks at Yggld Drinks on me. [Enclosed is a gift certificate for a round of ten shots from the Water Bar and Alcohol Bar chain Yggld Bars, which is ubiquitous in every major settlement on Kor'Sel'Koo.]

To Beck from "K": If you've made it safely and find yourself with a spot of free time, I'd love if you visited.

To Ali from Zuytri: Hi, Friend! Here's the contact information for that person we were talking about that I think you might want to meet. Medri in room 806 Jallik in the Ulsgian Moon Retirement Community.

To Laurie from Viola Dessamer of Revvly Capsule Hotels: Thank you for signing up for the Revvly Capsule Hotels communications list. If you are in need of a safe space, we are always here for you. Read between the lines, and always feel free to reach out if you need a place to stay or cruelty-free, sustainably sourced, and practical meals.

To Theo from someone in the music business in Different City [the equivalent of about $200 in gixys are included]: Hello, Theo. Enclosed are some royalties from the sales of your music. It isn't that many gixys, but I'm pleased to let you know that some of your songs have been gaining a few fans. We anticipate being able to send you some more in six months.

To HJ from Junyi: Hey, bae!! It's really starting to be a long time since we've seen each other but I don't think I'll ever miss you any less. Work is going so good that I think I might be getting quasi-semi-kind of famous. I got some AH MAY ZING new tsum tsums and I stacked all of the ones I could find into a giant pyramid. Sometimes I think 'hey, Junyi, maybe you have a problem with collecting' but then I make a giant pyramid and everything is okay. I'm sending you a collection of my favorite memes that I've found over the last week and I hope that you cherish at least one of them because they made me smile and think of how nice it would be to look at memes with you. Did you know that "meme" rhymes with "steam"? I didn't know that until yesterday. Anyway anyway anyway I love you soooo much and you're sooooo pretty and sooooo good at communicating, HJ. I think about how happy I was to get to meet you all the time and how lucky I am to get to continue to talk to you.

To Robin from Jayvon: Robin, hello! Just wanted to let you know that I started a new job as a close combat officer on a brand new pirate crew, The Dreamhouse. I love it, and I'm glad that I have someone to tell the good news. If our crews are ever in the same area (I'm on Marloken right now), we should meet up and exchange stories.

To Marshall from her Dads: Marshall! We heard you would be going to Kor'Sel'Koo, so we are sending some of our favorite pictures of you and the family when you were younger and we lived there. Also, enclosed are up-to-date addresses and contact information for your cousins and other family. If you have the time, I'm sure they would love to meet up. All of us send our love!

To Daphne from Muzzain: Coast is clear still. Looking forward to meeting with you. "If you're out on the road Feelin' lonely and so cold All you have to do is call my name". These are poignant lyrics from the Gilmore Girls theme song. My name is Muzzain. Until we meet.

To Samira from Makhaira: How is your life going? We exchanged contact information a while back, but I never wrote. I don't know how much you want to hear this, but I've picked up a new hobby: pickleball. It's the one thing I'm a little better at than most of my family, but they haven't given up on playing. We installed our own court, which sounds completely rich erkuss girl of me, but I'm glad for it. What's been keeping you busy?

To Ian from Marlene: It was very nice to see you, Ian. I'm glad that you seem happy with your new crew, and I hope we can meet up again sometime. I don't like to mean ill will of others, but if I had to pick a different ship to crew on than my own, it would be Prosperity. Safe travels.

To Beck from Julia: Hey, Wanker. I know your birthday's not for a few weeks, but apparently the Three Stooges from the galx got their act together and won't leave us the hell alone. The twins wanted to make sure you got their birthday video messages. While they're starting to be rebellious little buggers (I know I'm getting old when I shake my head and sigh saying teenagers) they do love and miss you. They made me say something nice because I called you wanker but I think you're all right.

To Marshall from Oplo: You fixed our air conditioning, correct? Can you send tips?

To Daniel from Seetha: Hi, Daniel! I've missed talking with you so much, I've come to realize. I wanted to tell SOMEONE that isn't being a big meanie (Leo, he's being a big meanie) that I have a boyfriend now! :) His name is Frodo and he's so darling. I think you'd get along famously if you met. My captain is getting sentimental and sending messages to your ship, so I thought I'd send them too.

To Ryder from Seetha: I heard how Leo treated you from him and I am APPALLED. I know it was a while ago, but he's been so bratty and callous to you and also sweet Daniel and Ian. It sounds like he's cleared the air before, but it still doesn't sound right to me. Let me know if you need me to get a real apology out of that meanie on your terms. I know he'll actually mean it because he's apparently stopping his weird bedroom behavior and slowly but surely coming to terms with that. My goodness. You don't deserve that weird behavior.

To Skylar from Kenna: [It's just a picture of French fries with a digital smiley face drawn over]

--

By the time the crew touches down on Kor'Sel'Koo on 3/22/24, all of the messages have been sorted and provided and we pick up a new crew member: Mari, a quirky mate who is 4'6" of apparently pure enthusiasm.

The crew doesn't immediately settle down, as there are messages to read and Gilmore Gilrs to figure out.

--

Muzzain, the far'ly'dae one who ordered all of that Gilmore Girls merchandise, is staying temporarily in Wuunzek, a smallish city about an hour (by underground tunnel train) from Twarvu.

Wuunzek includes a variety of amenities, including Yggld Bars, the Inspired By Earth Waterpark (it's got a lazy river, a waterslide, and a wave pool), an enormous vitamin store aimed at Ly'Daesun called Yonrur, and more.

Wuunzek Population: 89% Far’Ly’Dae, 9% Erkuss, 1% Vanneer, 1% Carrek.

The process of getting the Gilmore Girls merchandise to the right place now will be... annoying because most of it actually needs to go to Twarvu. While it would normally take an hour and a half, the crew will probably take a full 24 hours to get their surreptiously.

[laurie-vexen]

Caught || Skylar & Laurie

Date: April 8th 2023 Location: Deep Space Characters: Laurie Vexen, Skylar Clarke-Iz’an Description: “I was wondering if the word Umbra rings any bells for you?”

(Link to Googledoc)

[ageofpiracyrp]

PLOT DROP 19: NEW ARRIVAL

It has been almost exactly a year since the last time that Prosperity was on Kraysha. For the crew that have been with the ship since that time, perhaps this time will be different. Another year older, another year wiser, another year more complicated.

As some examples.... For Theo, who left Kraysha in a state of grief, is this too soon? For Skylar, this may be a more joyous occasion- to spend some time with his husband and his beloved adopted parents together in a place perhaps more familiar than Kor’Sel’Koo. For Laurie, there is always the chance that she encounters her out-of-touch Umbra parents. For Beck, a longtime pirate, this is the first time returning to her home planet not as a member of the crew of her cousin. For Robin and Ryder, there are so many complications with their parents that it is difficult to summarize them all.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ Some hours after arrival in the city of Rungung, the crew got settled in. Daphne had an announcement to make. After observing the past week’s competition between Skylar and Vajean and much deliberation, Skylar had been selected as the new Chief Engineer, with Laurie definitively promoted fully into the Electro-Technical position.Additionally, Prosperity would finally be gaining a new Surgeon after being without one since November. Samira Kehmet would be joining the ship’s crew shortly.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Apart from the most personal of issues, there is always the upcoming “quest” set upon by Karmel. Karmel has chartered a smallish seaship (capable of air and surface water travel) for Beck to fly. Ali has agreed to join this quest, as it seems to require a djayyar. After this journey to a remote island, Karmel has agreed to find her own way back to Kor’Sel’Koo. Those with skills to contribute and an interest in going will be paid handsomely, but the contents of the cave and whether the secrets of immortality are too dangerous a risk. Daphne will not be going, but will permit unpaid leave to those who do (as they will be paid much more by Karmel in this instance).

“The Quest” will tentatively take place beginning May 20.

Confirmed Quest Attendees:

Karmel

Ali

Beck

Skylar

HJ

Butterfly (NPC Medic)

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Those who do not go on the the quest will be granted a small stipend to cover a few meals out or entertainment at shore. Robin will be left in charge temporarily of this portion of the crew, as there is still ship maintenance, meals, communications with the quest crew, and supply purchasing to arrange. The crew may not be quite as busy, but Daphne has expressed privately to Robin that this is a low-stakes test for him to flex his leadership ability.

But why does this opportunity come up in the first place? Daphne will be taking this time to visit with her parents and ensure that everything was in order with their company... She disclosed the “why” of this information by message to Robin, Beck, Skylar, Ali, Muffy, Arys, and all of the medics with directions to let the rest of the crew know. She didn’t want to make a big announcement about this matter because she already didn’t feel comfortable discussing it in a town hall format. (Daphne neglected to mention to her crewmates that she would be reviewing other topics like the Makhaira matter)

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ 

Once Samira was at least settled enough to be considered “welcomed” onto the ship, the crew will be (variously) doing some work unloading some of the goods that were acquired from Earth, negotiating, scoping out the job market, and... possibly trying to avoid The Bat Ray and Galx authorities (Ayshena, Havok, Hael, Selleck) whom Greg reported have been spotted in port!

[ageofpiracyrp]

Laurie Vexen

Pronouns: She/her

Role: Electro-Technical

Age: 27

Romantic and/or Sexual Preference: Pansexual

Species: Umbra

Home Planet: Kraysha

Faceclaim/Humanoid Appearance: Hailee Steinfeld

True Appearance: Laurie puts on hazel eye contacts to hide her crimson eyes. True Appearance: Like the rest of her species, Laurie has retractable fangs and crimson-colored eyes.

Backstory: The Vexen family were a long and rare line of Umbra that still indulged in the consumption of organic blood. While other Umbra of their culture would label them as “radicals”, the Vexen family spent centuries knowing that the only way of truly surviving was to consume organic blood and keep their physical feats as primed as possible. They of course hid this by posing as Erkuss, traveling from planet to planet after enough years had passed by when it looked suspicious they did not look the age they were supposed to be. Laurie was an only child - it had taken centuries for her parents to decide on having a child. But with the Umbra population rapidly declining for centuries, they decided to finally have one. At the time, they had become obsessed with consuming Earth horror media, so it was no surprise when they named their first child after the protagonist of the Halloween franchise.

Laurie was not the apex predator they had been hoping for in a child. She was imaginative, often lost in her own thoughts. She enjoyed reading comic books and playing video games. Most scandalous of all, she hated feeding. Feeding on people felt wrong to her, and her family disapproved of her hesitation.  She felt like she had no choice in the matter at first, not knowing that synthetic blood was an available option until she was in her teens. Her version of a rebellious teen phase was finding a way to purchase the synthetic blood and consume it behind her parents’ back. It worked for a while, until they discovered her stash one day towards the end of her high school career.

Seeing no other choice, her parents resorted to a rather drastic decision of locking her up and starving her. They hoped that having her experience full bloodlust would make her wake up and see that natural blood was the only true option to proper gratification. She did become starved as intended, and when they kidnapped an Erkuss to offer to Laurie, she ended up losing control and sucked the poor woman dry. This only made her more disgusted with herself and with her family. She knew she needed an out.

Her parents had started monitoring her activity to ensure she didn’t try to sneak in synthetic blood again. Cameras all over her room, all her devices tagged to mark her location - it felt like she was in eternal house arrest. The only opening she had was waiting for her parents to fall asleep one night. She fed just a few hours before, making sure she was at her physical best for her escape. And then she broke out and ran away. Despite the alarms that went off in the house as she exited, she ran and didn’t look back. By some miracle, she managed to take the first ship out of Kraysha.

The only problem was that she was eighteen, broke and only had the clothes on her back. She had zero idea on how to survive out in the galaxy with how sheltered her family kept her. In the beginning, she had to resort to feeding on others in order to survive. Grifting was all she felt she could do, as her only practical abilities were what she was naturally given as an Umbra, and self-taught programming skills. Over time, she learned how to swindle and work her way around getting enough money to survive. It took a while, but eventually she learned to no longer feel bad about it, because survival was what was important. An ironic way of thinking, given that was the reasoning behind her parents’ desire to feed off people.

She found a way to acquire synthetic blood eventually, and she swore off feeding on any more people. It was only when she attempted to pickpocket a member of the Prosperity that she miraculously found a home for herself. The crew member saw past the criminal and instead saw a lost kid who needed a place to belong. Fast forward, and she became a mate on the ship. It wasn’t the best job in the world, definitely not what she used to imagine herself doing when she was younger, but it finally got her off the streets and away from the petty criminal life. The only problem... she’s told the whole crew she’s an Erkuss.

Skills: Laurie possesses the same enhanced physical feats and senses that come with being an Umbra, although she is weaker than natural blood-feeders given her synthetic blood diet. Laurie is actually quite savvy with programming, having felt inspired by all the video games she played growing up to self-teach herself. From her grifting days, she knows how to pickpocket and pick locks.

Played by Ash; 28 ; she/her; eastern time

[ageofpiracyrp]

PLOT DROP 17: HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF

The event on the KBW was moderately successful for the Prosperity. While the ship did manage to pick up three new crew members (Theo, Ian, and Daniel), there were also some very uncomfortable revelations. Perhaps the most dramatic was the reveal that Gwen Volnal was married to (of all people) Mark Espionage from The Bat Ray. A lesser-known revelation that influenced the Gwen reveal is actually known only to only Daphne Rux: that her secret ex-girlfriend Makhaira Espionage (yes, the very same Espionage family) wanted her back and it was at least partly for a promotion! The only person that has any information about Daphne and Makhaira’s past relationship outside of the Espionage family is actually Stella Sarasvati, whom was only given this information due to being in gerbil form at the time. Stella swore herself to secrecy, but Daphne does not trust Stella (or anyone else) to vent about this issue. Stella had her own strange drama when she and Ian, another member of her rare species, ran into Bucket again, who is in denial about being that same species. Bucket was essentially threatened by Laurie (reeling from first I-love-yous and almost sucking her boss Skylar’s blood) into backing off. Ryder Astrea experienced a deeply uncomfortable situation where all of his past hook-ups were in the same place at the same time, and Robin Astrea had a less uncomfortable but still odd experience when his ex-boyfriend Theo Seong took up the invitation to join the ship.

Needless to say, the crew was excited to accomplish a collective dream of seeing the band My Chemical Romance in concert. The Sydney, Australia performance on March 20th went great until mate Greg decided to (completely platonically) bring a new friend on board the ship to show off his rock collection. Greg (beloved, but not known for good judgment) lost track of dates and times and who was supposed to be crew, and HJ Violet was many miles away from Earth before anyone realized what was wrong.

With a human not in the know of aliens aboard, the Prosperity was seriously at risk of further Galactic Union scrutiny. Daphne recommended that the group pretend that HJ was a descendant of the colony of Tarryville, perhaps related to one of the crew members. Which one could be decided later. For now, though, the ship is going to need to take a detour to somewhere less scrutinized  before heading to somewhere else. Robin and Daphne discussed the situation, and decided that the KBW would be the best place to regroup. After some debate by the crew and what to do, the ship will arrive back on the KBW early on March 24 to do some group bonding and figure out what is even happening with HJ. The KBW will be much emptier than it was during the event, so we should all have more privacy.

To make things more complicated... Karmel has been hinting that she has other news (we can only assume regarding her weird immortality mission) to dispense before leaving the KBW.

[laurie-vexen]

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGE 4: DOSSIER

general

Name: Laurie Vexen Nicknames: Laur Gender: Cis woman Pronouns: She/Her Birthday: 25 January 1996

appearance

Faceclaim: Hailee Steinfeld Height: 5′6 Build: Slim Hair Color: Brown  Hairstyle: Usually wears it down and wavy or up in a messy bun Eye Color: Red Scars/Markings/Tattoos: None. Fashion Sense: She usually goes with comfy/tomboy. She saves the dresses for special occasions. 

background

Hometown: Q’uorra, Ruug, Kraysha Romantic/Sexual Orientation: Pansexual/Panromantic Relationship Status: Single Occupation: Mate on the Prosperity Hobbies: Video games, reading comic books, watching anime

traits

Strengths: Imaginative, Clever, Adaptive Weaknesses: Dishonest, Hard-headed, Secretive Temperament: Calm Neutral Traits: Sarcastic, Introverted, Analytical Dominant Hand: Ambidextrous

persona

Life Philosophy: Just try to survive. Values: People are friends, not food. Ambitions: Finding a place to belong. Religion Affiliation/spirituality: None. Favorite Time of Day: Night Pet Peeves: When people pop bubble gum, loud chew-ers, when people unironically thirst over Pete Davidson Quirks: Doesn’t know much pop culture outside of her little bubble of geekdom

[ageofpiracyrp]

The following character has been accepted!

Laurie Vexen, an Umbra Mate played by Ash

Please send in your account! Looking forward having you and your character join us here!