* this seems to be a way to introduce themselves on this website.

this is going to more similar to a list than it is an illustration of her backstory, because this is just the framework of her story. i’ll elaborate in the near future in a post that is more narrative & less informational.  appearance: andromeda matos is of the xokrien race, akin to a teifling from dungeons & dragons or a zen-whoberis from the marvel comics. she is humanoid, with midnight blue skin and silver freckles. she has silver-white hair in ringlet curls around the shoulders. she has two dark horns that nearly form a full circle above her head. they are a few shades darker blue than her skin.

xokrien traits: very much like teiflings, xokriens have sharp canine teeth and horns. most adult illirian xokriens have a singular, circular horn atop their heads. xokrien horns grow in at each temple or, in some cases, just below the hairline. initially, they grow in as two separate horns. over time, each of the two horns grow into a half-circle shape. a xokrein’s two horns meet, forming a full circle, when are about twenty-five, or thirty years old at the latest. at twenty-three, andromeda’s horns have not yet formed a full circle. because illir is covered almost entirely in water, the xokrien race has developed some aquatic adaptations over time, including three gills on either side of the neck and webbed feet. these are traits andromeda possesses.  

personality: she is kind, passionate, idealistic to a fault. she participates in piracy with a sense of robin hood-esque altruism that hasn’t left her since her days in the rebellion. still, she’s not blind to the immoral side of piracy — she’s just able to make peace with it. she is personable, charismatic to a degree, though her outward optimism is not always agreeable amongst pirates. she has a competitive streak borne from being the middle child of her large family, and a hot temper to match her passion. curious by nature, she makes a map whenever she enters a new area, and enjoys charting stars as well as courses. stargazing is a hobby of hers — though she sees them every day, she never tires of them. fiercely loyal, she won’t back down in a fight, especially to defend a friend. still, because of her reputation on illir, she doesn’t speak openly about her past, preferring to say that she grew up in a small town on illir far from the conflict in mar’lah. she says that she’s looking for her brother, who went on a trade flyer years ago and hasn’t since returned. she offers silly stories about the scarring on her limbs and torso, saying that when she was young, she had many scrapes and injuries while learning to pilot on illir. 

home planet: she comes from a developed planet called illir, whose atmosphere is not too unlike earth’s, save the fact for a colder temperatures overall, even in warmer seasons. illir is mostly covered in icy oceans, affected largely by the planet’s two large moons.  because its civilizations are small and not involved in intergalactic politics, it’s not often traveled to, but it’s known for its extensive resources — such as crude fuel for ships or previous minerals.

family: capitalizing on the rich resources of illir, the matos family specialized in trade. andromeda has a fairly large family: one older brother, castor, and two younger sisters, ara and lyra. her father would help mine precious minerals found in illir’s earth, and her mother would pilot cargo ships from one system to another. this is how andromeda got her start — her mother taught her to pilot large cargo ships. they lived peacefully, a middle-class family of relative insignificance on an equally insignificant planet, until new leadership took ahold of her home country, mar’lah.

war: this new leadership made efforts to militarize, drafting most cargo pilots and forcing them to instead pilot massive warships made with the various metals found on the planet.  since their mother, one of the family’s primary, providers was away from home to train for war, andromeda and her oldest brother became providers for their family, turning to petty thievery to help put food on the table. she learned how to be stealthy, which would eventually aid her in her career of piracy. three months later, the people within her hometown rallied together to form a revolution, intending to overthrow the more militaristic, tyrannical government. andromeda and castor joined the effort wholeheartedly, hoping to give their family a chance to regain the peaceful life they once had. through this effort, she developed her skills in piloting, smuggling, and thievery. she stole from those who had profited off the militarization, instilling within her a sense of justice. soon, andromeda’s efforts earned her a spot alongside those who had founded the rebellion. she became a right-hand to some of the rebellion leaders, quickly rising in notoriety. the “war” lasted no more than a year and a half. the people were ill-equipped to handle such a conflict with the already battle-ready government, and were soon forced into submission by imprisonment or eradication.

post-war: she was separated from her brother in the final conflict. not knowing whether he was dead or alive, she heard that prisoners were being taken to an off-world facility, where other enemies of this power were being held. she decided to stay on-world for five months to secure her family’s safety and stability before setting out into the galaxy to find her brother. because illir is not well-known, few people knew the goings-on about prisoner transport from illir to another planet. despite this, the tyrannical powers that rule mar’lah has some outreach outside of illir, and her involvement in the rebellion against these powers made it difficult to find consistent, honest jobs.