USS Arinol NCC-1891

My main blog, which is just a mess of whatever I want, can be found here:

My current project is the USS Arinol, a "background ship" in the year 2384. The central conceit of the project is to explore the background cultures of the star trek mythos, and try to flesh them out while telling interesting stories; it'll be fun because

a) putting your characters in the microwave good

b) learning good, engaging exposition is very hard and worth doing for other projects

c) I'm a writer, not an artist, but this'll give me the motivation to learn! Sorry, the blog will look a little bare bones until I make some art for it :)

The project is best considered an AU because I'm just gonna take ideas I find fun and smoosh them together. The Typhon Pact? It's going in there. STO's romulan stuff? In the soup. ST Picard's attack on mars? Also in there. This is as self-indulgent as I can handle- which is very.

So Orezian belief is one of many things I'm still workshopping, but here's some of my key ideas right now;

1) being a major religion, there are many interpretations and sects of Orezian faith- much like many irl religions or the bajoran faith in the prophets. Different stories have different levels of importance to different people and groups, and many interpretations can be drawn.

2) As stated, Trasa is not the most devout Orezian. She's absolutely *culturally* Orezian, and attends the occasional Address, but its impact on her day to day decision making is pretty subtle, much like how many westerners have a heaven and hell, demon Vs angel on the shoulders cultural framing. She couldn't quote the Orezian codices from the top of her head, but definitely thinks whoever designed those dirt-trapping shoulder ridges on starfleet uniforms deserves some time in the divine donjon.

With that said, the following are some basic ideas;

1. The Queen represents/is Bolarus' star, her husbands- the Kings- its four moons. She is also thus associated with heat, especially fire, and travel.

2. Orezian faith has major themes around leadership, and how a good leader acts- however, these stories are somewhat contradictory. Some stories absolutely support what we would call the 'divine right of kings', that leadership is both divine in nature and divinely bestowed, and that decisive action by such people is virtuous. Other stories tell of even The Queen seeking outside wisdom in grave matters, even going on dangerous voyages to acquire divine knowledge in order to rule fairly.

Hi, thanks for the question! :]

Captain Trasa's been rotating in my brain for a while, so I don't exactly remember where all of my inspirations for her originate, but here's a basic list:

1. Bolians look cool! The ultimate origin of Trasa was my old Star Trek Online captain, and of the default federation races the Bolians just stood out to me- so, on a whim, I picked them to play, and now here we are!

2. The character of Mott, the bolian barber from TNG. While ultimately just a joke about a bald, nosy barber, the character of Mott has appealed to me to a while because if you examine his character literally, he's actually kind of profound! The citizens of the federation are motivated not by money, but by a drive for self-improvement, personal fulfillment and self-discovery. Mott finds his fulfillment as a barber, fulfilling a need for others that he doesn't have! Mott is a very direct product of federation ideals and multiculturalism, and the idea of scaling that up to the level of a starship captain really appeals to me.

3. The Bolians are one of the background star trek species that show up often, but unlike the Andorians or more recently the Barzan they haven't really had a time to shine- but Beta canon has given us a lot of interesting incidental details that work like perfect prompts to explore!

Name & Rank: Lt. Commander Okun, Chief Engineer, USS Arinol

Name Format: Given Name

Species: Clan Ru

Gender & Pronouns: Man, He/Him

Age: 42 years- Born 11th July 2342.

Body structure: Therapod dinosaurid

Skin Tone: Forest Green, Scales

Eye Colour: Amber, slitted

Feather Colour: Brown to burnt orange

Height: 6 ft.

Length: 23 ft.

Distinguishing Features: Closely resembles a Utahraptor, albeit with a slightly thicker face and chest than some depictions; has some crocodilian resemblances in this regard.

Born: Je Mudlands, Ru

Language(s): Jescret

Favourite food & drink: Je Mudrat Haunch, Katheka (Andorian Coffee)

Personal Interests: Racquetball, Singing, Home decorating

Religion or Spirituality: Athiest, but deeply philosophically fascinated by Clan Ru evolutionary history, especially as it pertains to Earth and the Voth.

Skills and Training: A simple, no-nonsense engineer with a speciality in shielding technologies. Originally studied at Group Ab for Applied Sciences on Ru, and was then transferred to Starfleet Academy following the dissolution of Troupe Hy, the Ru expeditionary force, in 2363. Served first as an engineer on the Omicron Testus IV colony’s planetary defence grid, before being promoted to Chief Engineer for the Arinol.

Biography:

Okun was born as the third of his clutch, with two brothers and six sisters. As per Je tradition, the clutch were raised together but taught to each seek their own profession and education alone, so that each will have their own ‘territory of life’. At age five, Okun enrolled in the local craft-school, which taught him a basic education in art, building construction and maintenance, and computing. This inspired a lifelong curiosity in Okun that could not be contained, leading to him applying to join Troupe Hy, the Ru expeditionary force, who sponsored his entry into Group Ab for Applied Sciences. Following the dissolution of Troupe Hy, Starfleet approached those that the troupe had sponsored and offered them places in starfleet academy, which Okun accepted.

Okun was very popular at the academy, attending a party every friday night and leading a team for the academy’s annual altruism project every year. By his final year he had a reputation for being approachable and helping others; be it academically, mechanically or socially. However, while he passed every test, his instructors generally agreed that he was not working to his fullest potential.

He was assigned an engineering position at the Omicron Testus IV colony out of the academy, working as a technician on the colony’s defence grid. There he met his wife-to-be, Ofa, and married her after a long relationship.

Okun has a very social, extroverted personality and thrives in low-pressure environments, often using clear times to develop and prepare contingencies to compensate for his self-identified weakness to stress; in this way, his work has been described as artistic, like a writer crafting plot outlines for future work.

A month ago, Okun and Ofa were blessed with a clutch of three. Due to the importance- biological and cultural- of both parents in the raising of Clan Ru children, Okun was given special dispensation for Ofa and their children to live aboard the Arinol in the same style as was common pre-Wolf 359.

Well, I've made a profile picture for this blog! It's my first bit of digital art for this project, and I'm very proud of it given that fact!

Name & Rank: Captain Yafe Trasa, Commanding Officer, U.S.S. Arinol

Name Format: Given Name, Surname

Species: Bolian

Gender & Pronouns: Woman, she/her

Age: 36 years- Born 21st September 2348.

Body structure: Mammalian Humanoid

Skin Tone: Teal

Eye Colour: Hazel

Hair Colour: N/A

Height: 4’8”

Distinguishing Features: Very slight, “gymnastic” frame, no facial markings.

Born: Arinol City, Bolarus

Language(s): Arin-Rasaran

Favourite food & drink: Fermented oil-gelled eelshark, rasran-style bolian tonic water

Personal Interests: Rasaran Dance, Gymnastics, Classical earth naval holonovels

Religion or Spirituality: Trasa is an Orezian, a popular bolian faith that describes a primordial monarchy that created and personifies the universe. The Queen is the most important deity in this religion. Trasa is not as devout as some, but does attend occasional Addresses (Orezian services) and owns a set of Orezian Regalia (sacred clothing).

Skills and Training: A dedicated career woman who trained in the command path and an impressive array of additional classes at starfleet academy, focusing primarily on diplomacy and conflict resolution. Her first posting was as an administrative officer on the USS Indefatigable, where she was commended for excellent away team supply management. She then served as chief of operations on starbase 246, and finally as first officer of the USS Québec before being offered her own command in 2384.

Biography: The daughter of a retired starfleet science officer and a traditional dancer, she grew up on tales of heroes both real and fantastical. While always admiring her father’s profession, she chose to follow her mother and apply to starfleet in order to see the galaxy and help others, having developed a disdain for Bolarus’ participation in the galactic economy- despite, as a federation member, having no reliance upon material wealth. She sees this as needlessly exploitative of those who rely on finance to live, and is a bank of bolarus abolitionist.

During her tenure at the academy, she was considered likeable enough, fulfilling many bolian stereotypes as talkative and personable, yet made few true friends due to her focus on her studies and dislike of parties; she finds such gatherings rather pointless, having too many people to form a proper connection with anyone- and besides, like most bolians, alcohol is far more toxic to her than it is to humans.

While she is best categorised as an introvert, it is more accurate to say that she values true friendship far above relations of convenience, and only makes friends with those she actively chooses to.

Captain Trasa’s command style is based in trust of her crew and their skill. Much like in her work as an administrative officer, she sees her role as that of a facilitator, making sure her command staff have what they need before they need it, and to decide what takes priority whenever this is not possible. However, as a new captain with a largely more experienced crew, Trasa is finding it difficult to use her authority properly.

Formal Name: U.S.S. Arinol, NCC-1891

Class: Miranda-class, Antares-class refit

Gender: Standard feminine voice interface, 2370’s edition, she/her pronouns as per sailor’s tradition

Age: 123 years- Launched 19th April 2261.

Distinguishing Features: “Bolian blue” livery, 2280’s pendants and markings.

Construction Yard: Bolarus Prime Shipyard, Bolarus

Capabilities: Retrofitted to Antares-class standard specification in 2374; surprisingly well-equipped and well-armed for its size and age, but not capable of engaging medium-sized or heavier opponents unaided. Most efficiently used for general tasks, including non-specialised scientific observation, transportation duties (such as transporting starfleet specialists or colonists), and light diplomatic tasks. She has a duotronic computer core connected to isolinear subsystems via a network of adapters, leading her to suffer significant lag when under heavy load; for this reason, red alert shuts down all unnecessary computer functions and processes.