Vashti "Ferret" Eon



Vashti "Ferret" Eon

Ship: Airship Daedalus

Title or Job: Indentured Servant

Age: 17

Race: Human

Homeworld: Fennec Dimension (original; not on multiverse map)

Hometown: Al-Tashani

Date of Birth: 19th day of Ran'tem, 1587 (September 19, 1887 in our time)

Personality:
As a result of her experience living as a street urchin, Ferret is snarky, crafty, and crude, and she doesn't take orders well (unless they're from Evangeline, whom she admires and respects as an older sister figure). But for some odd reason, the crew hasn't gotten rid of her yet. When she first joined the ship, Ferret's only thought was escape; she attempted so many times that the crew had to place a tracker on her wrist to ensure she couldn't stray too far. However, nowadays, leaving the Daedalus is the last thing on her mind. She's grown fond of her fellow crewmates and come to view them as replacements for the family she lost so many years ago. Although she might be tempted by offers of shinies and still struggles at times with the "me first, others later" philosophy that governed her actions on the streets, in the end, her loyalty lies with the Daedalus. Of course, you'd never catch her admitting this out loud. She does a good job of pretending to be apathetic and hiding it behind a smart-aleck disposition. Although she no longer has to steal to support herself, Ferret's favorite pastime is irritating her shipmates by relieving them of some of their smaller possessions from time to time. Her most frequent target is the alchemist Stark, partially because Ferret finds her spastic reactions the most amusing to watch out of anyone's in the crew--and partially because she enjoys hoarding the shiny glass vials the reagents and chemicals come in. Her other favorite activities include drinking (Zeno's constant attempts to prevent her from doing so drive her crazy) and hooking up with attractive men from the various ports the Daedalus finds itself in. Because of what it did to her parents, she's not exactly one for religion and its virtuous lifestyle. Ferret avoids fighting and flees whenever possible--not out of a moral obligation, but out of self-preservation; she recognizes that she's more suited for sneaking and skulking and wouldn't stand much of a chance in actual combat.

Biography:
Ferret, who refuses to reveal her real name to the rest of the Daedalus crew, originally came from the Fennec Dimension, a small realm composed of a continuous expanse of desert land, broken only by a handful of small villages that spring up next to the dimension's precious oases. Each village is self-governing, with its own laws and leaders. Ferret's village, Al-Tashani, was ruled by a religious fanatic who was a firm believer in the principle that the gods had already given man everything he needed to survive; technological advances and the pursuit of new knowledge went against their will for the human race. Ferret's mother and father were both inquisitive tinkerers and opposed this belief, claiming that the gods encouraged intellectual growth. When Ferret was 13, her parents discovered an aether deposit and began running experiments with the substance, hoping to find a way to use it to power a mechanical camel they had been working on. This was the final straw for the village chief, who up until then had ignored or tolerated the couple's inventing and experimenting. Humans, he declared, should not meddle with something that powerful; aether was for the use of the gods only. He ordered the aether confiscated, the camel destroyed, and its creators executed, although he spared their only daughter, hoping she would learn from her parents' mistake. As a result, Ferret was forced to take to the streets and begin a life supporting herself as a thief. When she was 16, Al-Tashani received an unusual group of visitors: the crew of Airship Daedalus. Although they were the epitome of the very technology that he opposed, the village chief allowed them to dock, make repairs, and gather supplies—after they bribed him with some rare artifacts. Seeing what sort of valuable items they were able to pay him with gave Ferret the brilliant idea to steal some of the ship’s cargo for herself. However, her timing was off, and the crew returned and began takeoff before she was able to escape. Subsequently, she was discovered by the crew, whom she proceeded to lead on a grand chase throughout the ship, finally culminating on deck, where she tripped over a stray chain and dropped her loot. Amongst the items she had gathered was a vial of a potent chemical from the ship alchemist’s stash, and when the glass shattered, the chemical combusted upon exposure to the air. Ferret could only watch and curse as her plunder burned. After the fire was tamed, the angry captain hoisted her up by her shirt and offered her three choices to compensate for the lost property: they could drop her off with the authorities at the next place they docked, they could toss her over the ship and be done with her, or she could work off her debt as an indentured servant for a period of three years. After attempting to call his bluff on the second choice (and finding herself dangling over the rail of the deck, staring at the ground hundreds of miles below), she agreed to work for them, and thus began her period of servitude on the Airship Daedalus. Her nickname was given to her by the quartermaster, who remarked on her "ferrety little face and tendencies" after Ferret refused to tell the captain her real name. She still has not revealed her name to anyone yet, as she's grown to rather like her sobriquet.