NPC Casting: Coriolite flying ace

If there’s one system that’s really got me excited right now, it’s Coriolis – The Great Dark from Free League Publishing. Since it’s very new, third-party material is still very scarce. But because my ideas are flying thick and fast, I want to be part of the vanguard. I’ve already given you a random table and some brief inspiration. What would complement that well? NPCs, of course!

Thaamira Ashur mir-Menkar

Who is she?

The Ashur family is known as the most open-minded and progressive among the Coriolites. Few embody this as much as Thaamira Ashur. In her youth, she was sent to train with the Navigators Guild, but while she thoroughly studied astronavigation, one subject became her true passion: flying shuttles! Talent joined passion, and when her family realized she wasn’t going to be an algebraist, they made sure the best instructors refined it.

At 19 cycles, she took part in her first Greatship expedition and earned her first recognition when she safely evacuated a Crew Explorer through a devastating storm and a meteor shower just outside the atmosphere.

Since that day ten cycles ago, her legend has grown. She is the inspiration for many zinti novels and a welcome interview partner for magazines on the subject of expeditions. For the Ashur family, she is both a figurehead and an enfant terrible, because although she is affectionately attached to her family, she would not turn down any opportunity for a daring voyage of discovery, no matter who financed it.

She has a thoroughly optimistic character and is generally a cheerful person. At the same time, she is very confident in her abilities, which leads to a certain disregard for death. Behind closed doors, people therefore always assume that she will leave this world with a big bang rather than in old age. The only people she truly despises are the Wreckers.

Stats

Attributes

Talente

Astrometry 1, Shuttle Pilot 3

Equipment

Flight suit, Astro-compass, Star chart

Use in the game

Thaamira Ashur mir-Menkar is well suited as both an ally and an antagonist. In the latter role, however, she is never truly hostile unless you really push her to it. But as a pilot for a rival team, she is a good choice.

Conversely, she could also appear as an allied pilot, e.g., because clients demand that a particularly difficult passage be flown “only by the best.”

Make a wish

You are a fan of The Great Dark and need more stuff? I’m eager to help my fellow GMs, and if you have a nice idea, I wrap my creativity to bring it into the game (and post it on this blog – for free, of course).