Dervish

Mass Effect: Underworld

The funny thing about Mass Effect roleplays is Soldier seems to be the least preferred class for characters, whereas from stats BioWare put out, Soldier is by far the most picked class of all six for people's first playthroughs.

Mass Effect: Underworld

Name:

Ravanor Rykarn

Race:

Krogan

Class:

Soldier

Age:

68

Sex:

Male

Appearance:

Standing at 7’03” (213.4 centimeters) at the hump and built like one would expect from front-line krogan warriors, Rykarn is a brute of a man that embodies the physical profile one would imagine reading about the peerless warriors of the Rachni invasion or the marauders that overthrew even the best entrenched turian lines during the Krogan Rebellions.

Weighing in at around 188 kilos (414.5 pounds) and covered in heavy musculature, it would surprise most aliens that Rykarn is fairly young for his species, having a light sandy-coloured skin with yellowish-tan spots and a green-tinged brown crest that has only fused into a smooth plate from the rougher, less formed crest of young krogan. He carries himself proudly with a broad set of shoulders, made to look even more impressive with his armour plating, and he carries himself with an erect posture; about as much as one could expect from a species that is dominated by a predominant hump at the summit of their backs.

While his hump isn’t nearly as impressive or towering as one would expect to see on a Battlemaster or Warlord, it is still a sizable feature that peaks a bit over his head and requires a custom fit for clothing and armour, as is the case for many krogan. It, along with much of his body, are covered with a variety of scars, be it from gunshots, predator’s claws or teeth, blades, or even shrapnel, Rykarn’s body is a tapestry of violent history that belies his often restrained personality.

Rykarn’s chin his broader and less-pointed than the average specimen of his species, with his jawline tapering up roughly an inch and a half above where his chin sits, ending in a broad curvature. The gap between his upper lip and the start of his crest is a bit longer than average, giving nose and forehead a more flat look than more of the squat-faced krogan. This gives him an unintentionally more “open” appearance since his face does not look like it’s locked in a permanent scowl. Since he is younger, his skin is smoother and less cragged than other krogan, and it carries a lighter hue, like soft leather.

His eyes are a defining feature, sitting within sunken sockets that do not appear as baggy as older krogan but still give Rykarn a look that evokes a mistrusting graze, a sense of fatigue, and the slits that give all krogan a predatory visage. Being a light amber in colour, they contrast pleasantly with his crest and compliment his complexion. By krogan standards, he’s attractive, enough that on a pair of occasions he was offered a chance to model for Fornax magazine by the publication’s headhunters on the Citadel Wards and Nos Astra who were canvasing passerby’s who had the right “look”. He turned down the offer both times, only coming to regret it once in his post-Blood Pack career as a bounty hunter that left him nearly broke due to the lack of contracts.

Backstory:

Backstory

Born and raised under Clan Ravanor’s banner on Tuchanka, Rykarn was destined for a life based around working in and protecting the Clan’s extensive mining operation, the largest of its kind on Tuchanka and one that brought Ravanor a considerable amount of wealth. Coming from a clutch of over 500 eggs, of which only five hatched, and two of those survived the Rite of Life; Rykarn and his brother Karnak.

Both brothers were inseparable in youth, playing mostly with each other in their early years, and eventually graduating to sparring in their adolescent years. Both developed a friendly, yet fierce, rivalry where it constantly became a race to get a leg-up over their sibling in anything that mattered; strength, speed, endurance, wit, if it could be turned into a wager, the two young krogan would vie for supremacy, much to their fathers’ approval and joy. As far as a childhood on Tuchanka could be considered ideal, the two embodied just that. Already proficient hunters by the time of their Rite of Passage, which for Clan Ravanor involved scouring Tuchanka’s wastes for technology, weaponry, or equipment that could be put to use towards the clan’s mining or combat operations, the two clutchmates had decided to use the Rite of Passage as the penultimate competition for who would ultimately be the winner of a lifetime of childhood bets.

Painting the word korbal upon their severely worn and beat armour, the brothers set off into the wastes, going their separate ways for the first time in their lives; the desire to win only just overshadowed the realization that they might not see one another again. Whereas Rykarn set off towards where he recalled was the site of a large Clan battle from years prior, Karnak was far bolder and decided he was going to steal something right from under the noses of Clan Talyth.

Searching for days and having to hunt his meals along the way and get off of the ground when the rumbling of thresher maws was felt, Rykarn made the journey to the site of the Battle of Garog Ridge, where Clan Ravanor battled Battlemaster Garog of Clan Talyth decades prior, who had declared war on Ravanor with the intention of claiming mined raw metals to fuel his Clan’s ambition to build a Dreadnaught. Whereas sand buried much of the battle’s remnants that weren’t reclaimed by the victors, a few things were accessible and proving to be of some practical use. Recovering the lens array for a mining laser that was used by sappers to tunnel under enemy lines and detonate charges as well as a crate of shells for a batarian made tank that had been purchased from the black market that had seen use in the battle, the well-encumbered krogan made his way back to his Clan’s lines, enduring a tense confrontation with other scavengers and in one case, a feral varren pack, before returning with both the equipment and his pride.

The pride would only last for two days, when Karnak returned with a Tomkah loaded with two heavy mortars in addition to its main cannon and wearing the armour of Warlord Talyth Coran. While both brothers had completed their Rite by returning with materials that would serve the Clan well, Karnak became something of celebrity for his astonishing victory over such a renown warrior, as well as making it back alive after stealing one of Talyth’s war machines. Such a feat had not been attempted in quite some time, let alone successfully.

Seething from having lost face in front of his brother, whom he was beginning to see as something of a traitor to him personally, it didn’t take much convincing for a Blood Pack recruiter who was making his rounds between the clans to have Rykarn sign up to leave Tuchanka behind. He would find glory and a legacy off world and return to the Clan a renowned hero of sorts, or so he figured.

Much of Rykarn’s early years in the Blood Pack was spent capturing pockets of vorcha and “conditioning” them into the vicious cannon fodder and bread and butter of the Blood Pack ranks, even going so far as to be stationed on Flett, the Blood Pack training and breeding ground for vorcha soldiers as a heavy weapon trainer, given his experience with complex machinery being a member of Clan Ravanor. After requesting a transfer to an outfit that wasn’t a “glorified babysitting job”, Rykarn became a heavy weapons and explosive specialist for a number of combat units, given the relatively loose command structure of the Blood Pack and that skill vacancies were abundant after heavy losses or new contracts were acquired. Assembling, manning, and maintaining turrets, grenade and missile launchers, and generally anything that took more than an hour to know the basics of use, Rykarn served the Blood Pack as a part of the rank and file, albeit in a specialist role.

Taking part in contracts across the Terminus Systems, Rykarn logged an impressive number of hours and a respectable kill count for the organization, fighting pirates, slavers, smugglers, and people who were defaulting on loans, amongst other things. For the most part, the work was uncomplicated; if someone had a gun, shoot them. If another didn’t comply, shoot them as well. The Blood Pack didn’t take many VIP protection or security gigs, so most of Rykarn’s experience was of the seek and destroy variety without much of a mind for collateral damage commanding many of the vorcha he’d helped train. While far from the most ruthless or effective member of the Blood Pack, Rykarn certainly developed a reputation for getting jobs done, regardless of the cost.

That all came to a head twelve years later when Rykarn’s outfit was sent on a contract to Sanctum in the Decoris System to hunt down a turian mining tycoon named Tychus Garvikan that had hired the Blood Pack to raid shipments belonging to his rivals and had refused payments after the delivery, instead having his own personal security take down the Blood Pack mercenaries who had attended the drop off. His location confirmed through information brokers, the Blood Pack raided the colony world’s capital of Vulpe in a brutal strike to take down the tycoon and seize whatever assets they could to recoup the losses.

Not long after this operation went underway, Rykarn realized too late that to find Garvikan, they’d have to tear apart an entire neighbourhood, and innocent lives were caught in the middle of a feud they had no part in. Clearing one house, Rykarn came across a family huddling in a backroom, defenseless and terrified under his shotgun sights, and a deep misgiving filled him. There was no honour or glory in preying upon defenseless people; Karnak’s reputation was built from battle and triumph, Rykarn was descending into petty banditry. It was pathetic. Instead of pulling the trigger or extorting the civilians for information, the krogan dropped his shotgun and told the patriarch to defend his clan. He left the house without incident, and in his mind, the Blood Pack.

After refusing to take part in the operation, Rykarn resigned from the Blood Pack to ridicule and no small amount of hostility; it was simply unheard of for a krogan to resign from the outfit, so there was some debate on whether or not it should be permitted, given that the odds of an ex-Blood Pack member sharing trade secrets or taking part in an outfit that opposed Blood Pack interests were high, but in light of Rykarn’s service record and low ranking, he was permitted discharge upon turning in the equipment he was issued and forfeiting any impending dues he was owed. He accepted, and having enough credits to get to Omega and live off of hotels and cheap food for a few weeks, the krogan started his life as a freelance bounty hunter, deliberately avoiding contracts that would put him in the way of his old outfit. If he was going to earn a name for himself, it would be on his own terms.

After various degrees of success and a slow, but steadily improving reputation, over the years, Rykarn would find his calling in 2176CE when a revolt broke out on the human-batarian colony world of Anhur between abolitionist forces and pro-slavers. Heeding a call for any and all available mercenaries to assist the abolitionist forces, the krogan booked passage to the colony and would take part in the two year war. Taking part in a mixed-mercenary outfit and raiding supply depots, ships, and ambushing opposition forces, Rykarn would find himself ending the war as something of a folk hero, along with the rest of the mercenaries, from the local populace. Surprisingly, he had found himself fighting alongside Eclipse mercenaries and finding an excellent working chemistry with the professional contractors.

After the rebellion ended in abolitionist victory, Rykarn spent the next few years as hired security and to hunt down wanted criminals on the colony and throughout the system, earning enough to pay for his own private lodging and better equipment. Pleased to have found a niche market to apply his skills and earn a respectable sum of credits, Rykarn remained on Anhur until 2186CE: the arrival of the Reapers. With the galaxy facing outright extinction and comm buoys going offline at the rate new systems were occupied by the invading horrors, Rykarn knew that this might be his last chance of ever returning to Tuchanka. While he had grown to have something akin to an affection for the colonists of Anhur where he’d been working for a decade, he managed to book passage to Citadel space, joining the influx of colonists attempting to claim refugee status on the Citadel before the space lanes were shut down, and as his ship was turned away by the Citadel authorities due to overcrowding, Rykarn managed to find another ship of krogan departing the Citadel in response to a planet-wide call to action to fight the Reapers on home soil.

Landing in Urdnot territory, where many of the allied clans were gathered, Rykarn quickly fell in with Clan Ravanor warriors who had been acting as liaisons and within a day, Rykarn had his first experience fighting the Reapers while on patrol. His unit was swarmed by innumerable husks and backed by brutes and ravagers, along with monstrous hanar-volus hybrids that acted as suicide bombers. The battle lasted six hours with the krogan taking heavy losses, but the survivors had gained valuable insight into how to kill and survive a fight with the enemy. For the next three weeks, Rykarn fought alongside the other clans without sign of his brother or father until the day the turians arrived to provide air support in an operation to help Shepard deliver the genophage cure.

While holding a defensive chokepoint designed to keep Reaper forces from reaching the convoy of Tomkahs and the cure, Rykarn was united with Karnak, who was leading a warband of his own. The two brothers had a fond reunion that felt like their childhood contests and found that their chemistry was quite intact on the battlefield. Karnak would later remark on their fight against the Reapers “just like hunting klixen and harvesters”. The reunited brothers would continue to fight the Reapers on Tuchanka well after the genophage cure was released, renewing the krogan species with a fighting spirit that had not been seen in centuries. Then, at the end of the world, there was a resurgence of krogan identity.

While grateful for having been reunited with his brother and lamenting the loss of their father years prior, when turian warships came to pick up krogan reinforcements, Rykarn was among the first to volunteer. He’d found purpose in the galaxy, and it was clear that staying on Tuchanka would force him to live under his clutchmate’s shadow.

And so, in the last month of the Reaper war, Rykarn found himself fighting on the one planet he never thought he’d ever step foot; Palaven, and alongside turian troops. Much to both species’ pleasant surprise, they turned out to be rather effective allies in the war against the Reapers, and being able to work past old hatreds gave both the krogan and turians an appreciation of each other’s’ strengths and enthusiasm for warfare. Rykarn in particular proved to be an informed and valuable asset to the war effort as his decade on Anhur had made him far more natural to work with other species and be willing to listen to their ideas, acting as an excellent mediator between krogan and alien fighting forces. That and his hard-earned skill at fighting Reapers made him stand out from the crowd. A turian Spectre named Aetius Phrixus first took note of him leading a fighting retreat to a dropship and refusing to evacuate until everyone else was on board. Further monitoring on the Spectre’s behalf resulted in the decision that Rykarn was both a gifted warrior and a team-oriented individual who worked well under others’ direction. Along with a few other krogan, turian, and even an asari and salarian who had been caught up in the Palaven front, Rykarn was enlisted by Phrixus to take part in a series of deep-strike missions and rescue operations against Reaper encampments, eventually culminating in the climatic action of the war: retaking Earth.

Having a hand in the largest military battle in galactic history is certainly one that many can boast about, and it also marked the only time in history that every species in the galaxy fought alongside one another against a common enemy. Phrixus’ Rangers, as they’d taken to calling themselves, were instrumental in clearing out buildings and fortifications in commando-style raids ahead of the main columns to ensure the heavy artillery could be brought to bear against the Reapers themselves without being torn apart by lesser ground forces. While the war ended shortly after a foothold was established, it felt as if they had done a month’s worth of fighting within a matter of days. After watching the Reapers crumble, the galaxy let out a collective sigh of relief, followed by a period of mourning; how was anyone supposed to rebuild after losing everything and everyone?

Phrixus gave his team a choice of whether to stay with him on Earth and help with reconstruction and security efforts or to go their separate ways, and for the next two months, the team stayed together and helped bring some form of normality back to the human home world. Once the worst of the cleanup and security concerns were addressed, as well as the restoration of essential utilities to London, the team disbanded, although Rykarn elected to stay behind to help with the reconstruction effort.

Psyche Profile:

Quiet, non-argumentative and cooperative aren’t usually things one would associate with a krogan, but it is this mentality that has both helped Ravanor Rykarn survive two major wars and the harsh lands of Tuchanka. While he tends to look down upon vorcha and has a lingering resentment towards salarians, the krogan has conditioned himself to judge individuals on a case by case basis. This, along with years living amongst aliens, led to excellent interspecies cooperation for the krogan, who makes no distinction in combat between allied units “So long as they’re shooting the same way I am”.

Rykarn tends to get irritable in confined spaces, and he tends to find most music and video entertainment a waste of time, possibly as a side effect of relying on his senses to look out for danger as distractions can prove to be fatal. The exceptions to this are an interest in turian Clawball and human American Football, which are two sports he has a keen interest in following, as well as a self-professed guilty pleasure in watching cooking shows and volus auctions. He dislikes loud and boisterous personalities, dance clubs, anything manufactured by Elkoss Combine, public transportation, pastries, the way hanar speak, perfumes and asari pop singer Cerulian Sea.

Rykarn has a particular love of processed meats and fresh breads, which make fresh food markets some of his first stops on shore leave. He has a soft spot for pets and has been looking to adopt a bird or varren for some time, as well as find a pyjak supplier to feed said varren. He also has a love for soft furniture, reading, and he maintains a war trophy collection of things he’s picked up from every conflict he’s been in. Rykarn enjoys other species’ histories (particularly military), since the krogan more or less destroyed their own, and he would like to start collecting historical antiquities and visiting museums.

Recreationally, Rykarn enjoys boating, hunting, hiking, and rock climbing. He has a fear of suffocation and entrapment, and burning alive. He also finds clowns and contortionists deeply unsettling.

Specialty:

Rykarn is an excellent example of the ferociousness a krogan shocktrooper can represent; fast, ruthless, and capable of shrugging off wounds that would down a lesser species, he fully embodies the sentiment of first in; last out. Literal decades of combat and survival experience in some of the roughest parts of the galaxy have made him extremely proficient at his job, and in any team composition, he’s a big enough target and threat that it’s hard to ignore him, giving more specialized members of the team plenty of room to do their jobs.

Setting him apart from other krogan is his speciality in the use and maintenance of heavy weaponry, particularly of the explosive variety. Field guns, mortars, grenade and missile launchers, he’s had plenty of field time on just about every major armament that’s hit the Terminus Systems and thanks to his upbringing under Clan Ravanor, he’s surprisingly adapt at repairing and maintaining heavy equipment on a mechanical level.

Powers/Skills:

-Concussive Shot
-Incendiary Ammo
-Carnage
-Adrenaline Rush
-Frag Grenades
-Cryo Ammo

Equipment and Resources:

Equipment

-Striker assault rifle

-Haliat Armory Tornado Shotgun

-Cerberus Skunkworks M-358 Talon (acquired after the fall of Cronos Station and Cerberus when remaining Cerberus weapons were distributed to make up for equipment shortages across the warfront)

- Hanhe-Kedar Scorpion Heavy Armor

-Kassa Fabrication Polaris Omni-Tool

-Armax Arsenal ML-77 Missile Launcher *

-Elanus Risk Control Services M-100 Grenade Launcher *


* Indicates it will be selected based on mission and will not be carried at the same time

Sample Post:

Writing Sample

“Will you turn that shit off?”

The two humans turned away from the music player they’d salvaged from a general store that had largely survived the last Na'hesit offensive to look at the krogan, who was sitting on the hood of a destroyed Yolac, a kind of batarian infantry fighting vehicle, flipping through a datapad he’d found that was preloaded with a monthly magazine description from the same store.

“What do you have against Celine Crawford? She’s a lot nicer sounding than listening to that electrorap stuff Jensen’s tried to force on us since the war began.” One of the men retorted. His name was Carl, a nice kid, but times like this made Rykarn want to throw him off the bridge into the river.

“She sounds like a space cow in heat and I like to hear myself think. Besides, her ilk are probably the primary reason batarians want to enslave you humans.” The krogan responded, turning his attention back to the magazine he was reading. The article was about this new prototype shotgun called Lieberschaft that shaved serrated metal pellets instead of the usual chunks that was already on a fast track to being banned from military use across Citadel space. Spoiled sports. Rykarn thought, looking at the ragged chunks torn out of ballistic gel from a test firing.

“Aww, you really do care.” The other man, Johannes, said, walking up to the Yolac with a bottle of water he handed up to Rykarn, who took it without looking up. “What is a krogan doing fighting a human-batarian war?” he asked

Rykarn looked down at the man, who’s dark complexion was only a few shades lighter than the mop of hair on his head and contradictory to his bright green eyes. “Money. Also, batarians are fighting for the abolitionists, too. I don’t know why you humans think they’re all out to get you.” He observed.

Johannes shook his head. “No no, not what I meant. Just it’s a joint colony without a lot of offworlders. I guess what I’m saying is Anhur’s kind of out of the way and not really a big cog in galactic civilization. I guess what I’m saying is it doesn’t make a lot of sense for a krogan, of all people, to show up and fight the good fight. You’re breaking a lot of stereotypes. Aren’t you guys supposed to be the standard villainous henchmen?”

“Aside from the batarians? Sure.”

“Aside from the batarians.” Johannes nodded with a grin.

Rykarn set down the datapad and drained the bottle of water in a single mouthful. “Like I said, money. That and this is probably one of the last places I’d run into the Blood Pack out in the Terminus Systems. I didn’t leave them on the best of terms, so I’d like to give it of time before I run into somebody I know.” He explained, as if it were a super mundane explanation.

Carl perked up. “You were with the Blood Pack? Geez, you really were an asshole… are? I don’t know. Jury’s out.” It was hard to tell if he was joking.

Rykarn grunted, tossing the bottle towards an open trash container. It landed a few meters off to the side. “Working for the Blood Pack for a krogan is about the same as you humans and your fast food restaurants. It gets you a pay cheque and is a step to something better, and I wasn’t enthusiastic about how they ran business. I feel better about being told to shoot someone if that someone can shoot back. I guess that’s part of why the offer to sign up to fight for your side was appealing; what the Na’Hesit want to do to the human colonists is cowardly. It’s easy to pick on someone when they can’t fight back, and you guys fought back. I respect that.” He said, head perking off to the side. “Ah. Speaking of the rutting pyjaks now. Here comes more armour.”

The three fighters scrambled into their entrenched fighting positions, Rykarn grabbing an armful of Hydra missile launchers from where they were stashed away in the rubble, taking position with the launcher mounted on his shoulder, optics picking up the eezo signatures of the IFVs. Soon, the shooting started, and Carl and Johannes were returning fire under the awful droning of Celine Crawford. One of the other fighters opened up with a heavy machine-gun, forcing a number of batarians off the street and behind the armour. Soon, the enemy guns opened up, and forced the abolitionists behind cover while the vehicle column advanced. Suddenly, the music player was hit by a stray round and the hated pop singer ‘s voice vanished in a cloud of concrete and electronic parts.

The first vehicle rolled into firing range, and Rykarn smiled from behind the sights. At least the batarians and I agree on one thing, the krogan thought, squeezing the trigger and a trio of spiraling missiles erupted from the tri-barrel assembly of the launcher, piercing through the outer armour of the enemy Yolac and erupting from the inside-out, the turret launching clear of the chassis and the windows exploding out from concussive force.

Notes

-Still maintains contact with his brother Karnak and promised to revisit once a year
-He considers High Tide, Anhur his hometown, where he is seen as something of a folk hero thanks to his role in the Anhur Rebellion.
-He is still on friendly terms with his teammates in Phrixus’ Rangers, although he hasn’t had contact with any of them for a few months.
-Some in the Blood Pack are still hostile towards him for his departure, but on paper, his departure from the company was clean and won’t likely lead to future hostilities.
-Still has to complete his Rite of Honor to secure breeding rights in the krogan clans.

Mass Effect: Underworld

@MrDidact@BlackSam3091

Thanks, guys! Usually I'm used to being on your end of the table so it's always a bit nerve wracking waiting for the review, so colour me surprised when you both liked it without any glaring issues! I'll add a grenade launcher and missile launcher to Rykarn's sheet, he'll just pick and choose between missions depending on what they're expected to go up against. I'll throw him into the character tab since you both gave your blessing. Looking forward to this!

Mass Effect: Underworld

<Snipped quote by Silver Fox>

quick tip: plural of 'Geth' is 'Geth'

@PrivateVentures

I prefer Gethi or Geeth.

lol no

Mass Effect: Underworld

Question on heavy weapons.

I wasn't sure if it would be overkill to add a grenade or missile launcher to Rykarn's equipment for the sake of not making the character overpowered and what not, but would it be possible to have access to those weapons for some missions from the ship's armoury?

Mass Effect: Underworld

<Snipped quote by MrDidact>

Aye aye will fix it. I know that in lore there was a good portion of Geth that didn't get involved. As it was discussed that the Reapers offered but many didn't. As I remember at least. But that may have been in ME2. But I'll fix it anyway

@Silver Fox

Prior to ME3, the geth were stuck in a split of whether to follow Sovereign or not.

During the events leading up to ME3 and ME3 itself, the quarians attacked and were more or less unanimous in accepting the Reapers as a means of saving themselves from the quarians. You're literally seeing the entirety of both species locked in a total war.

From what I recall, Legion was unique among geth because all of its runtimes were local in that body. Usually geth all "live" in massive communal servers and the platforms that are their physical bodies are more or less puppets that they don't really lose much if it is destroyed since they are remotely connected. It's like an avatar, as it were.

Of course, the GMs can easily hand wave that the geth had more scouting units like Legion and say Legion itself wasn't aware of any others.

Mass Effect: Underworld

Unfortunately my knowledge of Asari is... lacking lore wise for the most part. I'll most likely have her done by the end of the day, but I hope it'll make sense for an Asari.

@MechonRaptor

I don't know if you haven't used the Mass Effect Wiki, but it's pretty much a godsend for keeping stuff sorted out and lore consistent: http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Asari.

Asari aren't really my field of interest/ knowledge (that's pretty much krogan and turians in my case), but if I see something out of place, I'll point it out if you want.

Mass Effect: Underworld

And I thought that my background was long. @Dervish

@The Spectre

Things just kinda happened

@BurningCold I have no qualms about a Vorcha character. Have at it.

@MechonRaptor Yeah, I had no idea that Quarian's were so popular before starting the Int-check for this RP.

@BlackSam3091

I actually had a suspicion, given the number of people who said they were interested in quarians and from personal experiences that quarians tend to be extremely popular in the roleplay world for whatever reason.

It's probably the accents.

I'm surprised there aren't any Asari xD I guess I'll either make an Asari or Turian, which we seem to be lacking. I'll save my Quarian for another time, I guess.

@MechonRaptor

On the other hand, I think I've seen maybe 3-4 asari characters since I started back in 2012.

@Dervish And here I was proud to have finally found a cool Krogan name as I was at work. Here's hoping @BlackSam3091 allows two Krogan or you'll probably get the spot. I'm not the best with character sheets. Also Ravanor's quite young!

@POOHEAD189

The nice thing about krogan names is they're usually short, have an emphasis on hard vowels, and don't require an obscene amount of research like salarian names, which is a big reason why I haven't played salarians yet. Salarians have more name than Khaleesi has redundant titles.

Mass Effect: Underworld

I'm going to apologize in advance for how carried away I got with that. I was working on it for like 4 days now and the ideas just kind flowed out.

>_>

Mass Effect: Underworld

Name:

Ravanor Rykarn

Race:

Krogan

Class:

Soldier

Age:

68

Sex:

Male

Appearance:

Standing at 7’03” (213.4 centimeters) at the hump and built like one would expect from front-line krogan warriors, Rykarn is a brute of a man that embodies the physical profile one would imagine reading about the peerless warriors of the Rachni invasion or the marauders that overthrew even the best entrenched turian lines during the Krogan Rebellions.

Weighing in at around 188 kilos (414.5 pounds) and covered in heavy musculature, it would surprise most aliens that Rykarn is fairly young for his species, having a light sandy-coloured skin with yellowish-tan spots and a green-tinged brown crest that has only fused into a smooth plate from the rougher, less formed crest of young krogan. He carries himself proudly with a broad set of shoulders, made to look even more impressive with his armour plating, and he carries himself with an erect posture; about as much as one could expect from a species that is dominated by a predominant hump at the summit of their backs.

While his hump isn’t nearly as impressive or towering as one would expect to see on a Battlemaster or Warlord, it is still a sizable feature that peaks a bit over his head and requires a custom fit for clothing and armour, as is the case for many krogan. It, along with much of his body, are covered with a variety of scars, be it from gunshots, predator’s claws or teeth, blades, or even shrapnel, Rykarn’s body is a tapestry of violent history that belies his often restrained personality.

Rykarn’s chin his broader and less-pointed than the average specimen of his species, with his jawline tapering up roughly an inch and a half above where his chin sits, ending in a broad curvature. The gap between his upper lip and the start of his crest is a bit longer than average, giving nose and forehead a more flat look than more of the squat-faced krogan. This gives him an unintentionally more “open” appearance since his face does not look like it’s locked in a permanent scowl. Since he is younger, his skin is smoother and less cragged than other krogan, and it carries a lighter hue, like soft leather.

His eyes are a defining feature, sitting within sunken sockets that do not appear as baggy as older krogan but still give Rykarn a look that evokes a mistrusting graze, a sense of fatigue, and the slits that give all krogan a predatory visage. Being a light amber in colour, they contrast pleasantly with his crest and compliment his complexion. By krogan standards, he’s attractive, enough that on a pair of occasions he was offered a chance to model for Fornax magazine by the publication’s headhunters on the Citadel Wards and Nos Astra who were canvasing passerby’s who had the right “look”. He turned down the offer both times, only coming to regret it once in his post-Blood Pack career as a bounty hunter that left him nearly broke due to the lack of contracts.

Backstory:

Backstory

Born and raised under Clan Ravanor’s banner on Tuchanka, Rykarn was destined for a life based around working in and protecting the Clan’s extensive mining operation, the largest of its kind on Tuchanka and one that brought Ravanor a considerable amount of wealth. Coming from a clutch of over 500 eggs, of which only five hatched, and two of those survived the Rite of Life; Rykarn and his brother Karnak.

Both brothers were inseparable in youth, playing mostly with each other in their early years, and eventually graduating to sparring in their adolescent years. Both developed a friendly, yet fierce, rivalry where it constantly became a race to get a leg-up over their sibling in anything that mattered; strength, speed, endurance, wit, if it could be turned into a wager, the two young krogan would vie for supremacy, much to their fathers’ approval and joy. As far as a childhood on Tuchanka could be considered ideal, the two embodied just that. Already proficient hunters by the time of their Rite of Passage, which for Clan Ravanor involved scouring Tuchanka’s wastes for technology, weaponry, or equipment that could be put to use towards the clan’s mining or combat operations, the two clutchmates had decided to use the Rite of Passage as the penultimate competition for who would ultimately be the winner of a lifetime of childhood bets.

Painting the word korbal upon their severely worn and beat armour, the brothers set off into the wastes, going their separate ways for the first time in their lives; the desire to win only just overshadowed the realization that they might not see one another again. Whereas Rykarn set off towards where he recalled was the site of a large Clan battle from years prior, Karnak was far bolder and decided he was going to steal something right from under the noses of Clan Talyth.

Searching for days and having to hunt his meals along the way and get off of the ground when the rumbling of thresher maws was felt, Rykarn made the journey to the site of the Battle of Garog Ridge, where Clan Ravanor battled Battlemaster Garog of Clan Talyth decades prior, who had declared war on Ravanor with the intention of claiming mined raw metals to fuel his Clan’s ambition to build a Dreadnaught. Whereas sand buried much of the battle’s remnants that weren’t reclaimed by the victors, a few things were accessible and proving to be of some practical use. Recovering the lens array for a mining laser that was used by sappers to tunnel under enemy lines and detonate charges as well as a crate of shells for a batarian made tank that had been purchased from the black market that had seen use in the battle, the well-encumbered krogan made his way back to his Clan’s lines, enduring a tense confrontation with other scavengers and in one case, a feral varren pack, before returning with both the equipment and his pride.

The pride would only last for two days, when Karnak returned with a Tomkah loaded with two heavy mortars in addition to its main cannon and wearing the armour of Warlord Talyth Coran. While both brothers had completed their Rite by returning with materials that would serve the Clan well, Karnak became something of celebrity for his astonishing victory over such a renown warrior, as well as making it back alive after stealing one of Talyth’s war machines. Such a feat had not been attempted in quite some time, let alone successfully.

Seething from having lost face in front of his brother, whom he was beginning to see as something of a traitor to him personally, it didn’t take much convincing for a Blood Pack recruiter who was making his rounds between the clans to have Rykarn sign up to leave Tuchanka behind. He would find glory and a legacy off world and return to the Clan a renowned hero of sorts, or so he figured.

Much of Rykarn’s early years in the Blood Pack was spent capturing pockets of vorcha and “conditioning” them into the vicious cannon fodder and bread and butter of the Blood Pack ranks, even going so far as to be stationed on Flett, the Blood Pack training and breeding ground for vorcha soldiers as a heavy weapon trainer, given his experience with complex machinery being a member of Clan Ravanor. After requesting a transfer to an outfit that wasn’t a “glorified babysitting job”, Rykarn became a heavy weapons and explosive specialist for a number of combat units, given the relatively loose command structure of the Blood Pack and that skill vacancies were abundant after heavy losses or new contracts were acquired. Assembling, manning, and maintaining turrets, grenade and missile launchers, and generally anything that took more than an hour to know the basics of use, Rykarn served the Blood Pack as a part of the rank and file, albeit in a specialist role.

Taking part in contracts across the Terminus Systems, Rykarn logged an impressive number of hours and a respectable kill count for the organization, fighting pirates, slavers, smugglers, and people who were defaulting on loans, amongst other things. For the most part, the work was uncomplicated; if someone had a gun, shoot them. If another didn’t comply, shoot them as well. The Blood Pack didn’t take many VIP protection or security gigs, so most of Rykarn’s experience was of the seek and destroy variety without much of a mind for collateral damage commanding many of the vorcha he’d helped train. While far from the most ruthless or effective member of the Blood Pack, Rykarn certainly developed a reputation for getting jobs done, regardless of the cost.

That all came to a head twelve years later when Rykarn’s outfit was sent on a contract to Sanctum in the Decoris System to hunt down a turian mining tycoon named Tychus Garvikan that had hired the Blood Pack to raid shipments belonging to his rivals and had refused payments after the delivery, instead having his own personal security take down the Blood Pack mercenaries who had attended the drop off. His location confirmed through information brokers, the Blood Pack raided the colony world’s capital of Vulpe in a brutal strike to take down the tycoon and seize whatever assets they could to recoup the losses.

Not long after this operation went underway, Rykarn realized too late that to find Garvikan, they’d have to tear apart an entire neighbourhood, and innocent lives were caught in the middle of a feud they had no part in. Clearing one house, Rykarn came across a family huddling in a backroom, defenseless and terrified under his shotgun sights, and a deep misgiving filled him. There was no honour or glory in preying upon defenseless people; Karnak’s reputation was built from battle and triumph, Rykarn was descending into petty banditry. It was pathetic. Instead of pulling the trigger or extorting the civilians for information, the krogan dropped his shotgun and told the patriarch to defend his clan. He left the house without incident, and in his mind, the Blood Pack.

After refusing to take part in the operation, Rykarn resigned from the Blood Pack to ridicule and no small amount of hostility; it was simply unheard of for a krogan to resign from the outfit, so there was some debate on whether or not it should be permitted, given that the odds of an ex-Blood Pack member sharing trade secrets or taking part in an outfit that opposed Blood Pack interests were high, but in light of Rykarn’s service record and low ranking, he was permitted discharge upon turning in the equipment he was issued and forfeiting any impending dues he was owed. He accepted, and having enough credits to get to Omega and live off of hotels and cheap food for a few weeks, the krogan started his life as a freelance bounty hunter, deliberately avoiding contracts that would put him in the way of his old outfit. If he was going to earn a name for himself, it would be on his own terms.

After various degrees of success and a slow, but steadily improving reputation, over the years, Rykarn would find his calling in 2176CE when a revolt broke out on the human-batarian colony world of Anhur between abolitionist forces and pro-slavers. Heeding a call for any and all available mercenaries to assist the abolitionist forces, the krogan booked passage to the colony and would take part in the two year war. Taking part in a mixed-mercenary outfit and raiding supply depots, ships, and ambushing opposition forces, Rykarn would find himself ending the war as something of a folk hero, along with the rest of the mercenaries, from the local populace. Surprisingly, he had found himself fighting alongside Eclipse mercenaries and finding an excellent working chemistry with the professional contractors.

After the rebellion ended in abolitionist victory, Rykarn spent the next few years as hired security and to hunt down wanted criminals on the colony and throughout the system, earning enough to pay for his own private lodging and better equipment. Pleased to have found a niche market to apply his skills and earn a respectable sum of credits, Rykarn remained on Anhur until 2186CE: the arrival of the Reapers. With the galaxy facing outright extinction and comm buoys going offline at the rate new systems were occupied by the invading horrors, Rykarn knew that this might be his last chance of ever returning to Tuchanka. While he had grown to have something akin to an affection for the colonists of Anhur where he’d been working for a decade, he managed to book passage to Citadel space, joining the influx of colonists attempting to claim refugee status on the Citadel before the space lanes were shut down, and as his ship was turned away by the Citadel authorities due to overcrowding, Rykarn managed to find another ship of krogan departing the Citadel in response to a planet-wide call to action to fight the Reapers on home soil.

Landing in Urdnot territory, where many of the allied clans were gathered, Rykarn quickly fell in with Clan Ravanor warriors who had been acting as liaisons and within a day, Rykarn had his first experience fighting the Reapers while on patrol. His unit was swarmed by innumerable husks and backed by brutes and ravagers, along with monstrous hanar-volus hybrids that acted as suicide bombers. The battle lasted six hours with the krogan taking heavy losses, but the survivors had gained valuable insight into how to kill and survive a fight with the enemy. For the next three weeks, Rykarn fought alongside the other clans without sign of his brother or father until the day the turians arrived to provide air support in an operation to help Shepard deliver the genophage cure.

While holding a defensive chokepoint designed to keep Reaper forces from reaching the convoy of Tomkahs and the cure, Rykarn was united with Karnak, who was leading a warband of his own. The two brothers had a fond reunion that felt like their childhood contests and found that their chemistry was quite intact on the battlefield. Karnak would later remark on their fight against the Reapers “just like hunting klixen and harvesters”. The reunited brothers would continue to fight the Reapers on Tuchanka well after the genophage cure was released, renewing the krogan species with a fighting spirit that had not been seen in centuries. Then, at the end of the world, there was a resurgence of krogan identity.

While grateful for having been reunited with his brother and lamenting the loss of their father years prior, when turian warships came to pick up krogan reinforcements, Rykarn was among the first to volunteer. He’d found purpose in the galaxy, and it was clear that staying on Tuchanka would force him to live under his clutchmate’s shadow.

And so, in the last month of the Reaper war, Rykarn found himself fighting on the one planet he never thought he’d ever step foot; Palaven, and alongside turian troops. Much to both species’ pleasant surprise, they turned out to be rather effective allies in the war against the Reapers, and being able to work past old hatreds gave both the krogan and turians an appreciation of each other’s’ strengths and enthusiasm for warfare. Rykarn in particular proved to be an informed and valuable asset to the war effort as his decade on Anhur had made him far more natural to work with other species and be willing to listen to their ideas, acting as an excellent mediator between krogan and alien fighting forces. That and his hard-earned skill at fighting Reapers made him stand out from the crowd. A turian Spectre named Aetius Phrixus first took note of him leading a fighting retreat to a dropship and refusing to evacuate until everyone else was on board. Further monitoring on the Spectre’s behalf resulted in the decision that Rykarn was both a gifted warrior and a team-oriented individual who worked well under others’ direction. Along with a few other krogan, turian, and even an asari and salarian who had been caught up in the Palaven front, Rykarn was enlisted by Phrixus to take part in a series of deep-strike missions and rescue operations against Reaper encampments, eventually culminating in the climatic action of the war: retaking Earth.

Having a hand in the largest military battle in galactic history is certainly one that many can boast about, and it also marked the only time in history that every species in the galaxy fought alongside one another against a common enemy. Phrixus’ Rangers, as they’d taken to calling themselves, were instrumental in clearing out buildings and fortifications in commando-style raids ahead of the main columns to ensure the heavy artillery could be brought to bear against the Reapers themselves without being torn apart by lesser ground forces. While the war ended shortly after a foothold was established, it felt as if they had done a month’s worth of fighting within a matter of days. After watching the Reapers crumble, the galaxy let out a collective sigh of relief, followed by a period of mourning; how was anyone supposed to rebuild after losing everything and everyone?

Phrixus gave his team a choice of whether to stay with him on Earth and help with reconstruction and security efforts or to go their separate ways, and for the next two months, the team stayed together and helped bring some form of normality back to the human home world. Once the worst of the cleanup and security concerns were addressed, as well as the restoration of essential utilities to London, the team disbanded, although Rykarn elected to stay behind to help with the reconstruction effort.

Psyche Profile:

Quiet, non-argumentative and cooperative aren’t usually things one would associate with a krogan, but it is this mentality that has both helped Ravanor Rykarn survive two major wars and the harsh lands of Tuchanka. While he tends to look down upon vorcha and has a lingering resentment towards salarians, the krogan has conditioned himself to judge individuals on a case by case basis. This, along with years living amongst aliens, led to excellent interspecies cooperation for the krogan, who makes no distinction in combat between allied units “So long as they’re shooting the same way I am”.

Rykarn tends to get irritable in confined spaces, and he tends to find most music and video entertainment a waste of time, possibly as a side effect of relying on his senses to look out for danger as distractions can prove to be fatal. The exceptions to this are an interest in turian Clawball and human American Football, which are two sports he has a keen interest in following, as well as a self-professed guilty pleasure in watching cooking shows and volus auctions. He dislikes loud and boisterous personalities, dance clubs, anything manufactured by Elkoss Combine, public transportation, pastries, the way hanar speak, perfumes and asari pop singer Cerulian Sea.

Rykarn has a particular love of processed meats and fresh breads, which make fresh food markets some of his first stops on shore leave. He has a soft spot for pets and has been looking to adopt a bird or varren for some time, as well as find a pyjak supplier to feed said varren. He also has a love for soft furniture, reading, and he maintains a war trophy collection of things he’s picked up from every conflict he’s been in. Rykarn enjoys other species’ histories (particularly military), since the krogan more or less destroyed their own, and he would like to start collecting historical antiquities and visiting museums.

Recreationally, Rykarn enjoys boating, hunting, hiking, and rock climbing. He has a fear of suffocation and entrapment, and burning alive. He also finds clowns and contortionists deeply unsettling.

Specialty:

Rykarn is an excellent example of the ferociousness a krogan shocktrooper can represent; fast, ruthless, and capable of shrugging off wounds that would down a lesser species, he fully embodies the sentiment of first in; last out. Literal decades of combat and survival experience in some of the roughest parts of the galaxy have made him extremely proficient at his job, and in any team composition, he’s a big enough target and threat that it’s hard to ignore him, giving more specialized members of the team plenty of room to do their jobs.

Setting him apart from other krogan is his speciality in the use and maintenance of heavy weaponry, particularly of the explosive variety. Field guns, mortars, grenade and missile launchers, he’s had plenty of field time on just about every major armament that’s hit the Terminus Systems and thanks to his upbringing under Clan Ravanor, he’s surprisingly adapt at repairing and maintaining heavy equipment on a mechanical level.

Powers/Skills:

-Concussive Shot
-Incendiary Ammo
-Carnage
-Adrenaline Rush
-Frag Grenades
-Cryo Ammo

Equipment and Resources:

Equipment

-Striker assault rifle

-Haliat Armory Tornado Shotgun

-Cerberus Skunkworks M-358 Talon (acquired after the fall of Cronos Station and Cerberus when remaining Cerberus weapons were distributed to make up for equipment shortages across the warfront)

- Hanhe-Kedar Scorpion Heavy Armor

-Kassa Fabrication Polaris Omni-Tool

Sample Post:

Writing Sample

“Will you turn that shit off?”

The two humans turned away from the music player they’d salvaged from a general store that had largely survived the last Na'hesit offensive to look at the krogan, who was sitting on the hood of a destroyed Yolac, a kind of batarian infantry fighting vehicle, flipping through a datapad he’d found that was preloaded with a monthly magazine description from the same store.

“What do you have against Celine Crawford? She’s a lot nicer sounding than listening to that electrorap stuff Jensen’s tried to force on us since the war began.” One of the men retorted. His name was Carl, a nice kid, but times like this made Rykarn want to throw him off the bridge into the river.

“She sounds like a space cow in heat and I like to hear myself think. Besides, her ilk are probably the primary reason batarians want to enslave you humans.” The krogan responded, turning his attention back to the magazine he was reading. The article was about this new prototype shotgun called Lieberschaft that shaved serrated metal pellets instead of the usual chunks that was already on a fast track to being banned from military use across Citadel space. Spoiled sports. Rykarn thought, looking at the ragged chunks torn out of ballistic gel from a test firing.

“Aww, you really do care.” The other man, Johannes, said, walking up to the Yolac with a bottle of water he handed up to Rykarn, who took it without looking up. “What is a krogan doing fighting a human-batarian war?” he asked

Rykarn looked down at the man, who’s dark complexion was only a few shades lighter than the mop of hair on his head and contradictory to his bright green eyes. “Money. Also, batarians are fighting for the abolitionists, too. I don’t know why you humans think they’re all out to get you.” He observed.

Johannes shook his head. “No no, not what I meant. Just it’s a joint colony without a lot of offworlders. I guess what I’m saying is Anhur’s kind of out of the way and not really a big cog in galactic civilization. I guess what I’m saying is it doesn’t make a lot of sense for a krogan, of all people, to show up and fight the good fight. You’re breaking a lot of stereotypes. Aren’t you guys supposed to be the standard villainous henchmen?”

“Aside from the batarians? Sure.”

“Aside from the batarians.” Johannes nodded with a grin.

Rykarn set down the datapad and drained the bottle of water in a single mouthful. “Like I said, money. That and this is probably one of the last places I’d run into the Blood Pack out in the Terminus Systems. I didn’t leave them on the best of terms, so I’d like to give it of time before I run into somebody I know.” He explained, as if it were a super mundane explanation.

Carl perked up. “You were with the Blood Pack? Geez, you really were an asshole… are? I don’t know. Jury’s out.” It was hard to tell if he was joking.

Rykarn grunted, tossing the bottle towards an open trash container. It landed a few meters off to the side. “Working for the Blood Pack for a krogan is about the same as you humans and your fast food restaurants. It gets you a pay cheque and is a step to something better, and I wasn’t enthusiastic about how they ran business. I feel better about being told to shoot someone if that someone can shoot back. I guess that’s part of why the offer to sign up to fight for your side was appealing; what the Na’Hesit want to do to the human colonists is cowardly. It’s easy to pick on someone when they can’t fight back, and you guys fought back. I respect that.” He said, head perking off to the side. “Ah. Speaking of the rutting pyjaks now. Here comes more armour.”

The three fighters scrambled into their entrenched fighting positions, Rykarn grabbing an armful of Hydra missile launchers from where they were stashed away in the rubble, taking position with the launcher mounted on his shoulder, optics picking up the eezo signatures of the IFVs. Soon, the shooting started, and Carl and Johannes were returning fire under the awful droning of Celine Crawford. One of the other fighters opened up with a heavy machine-gun, forcing a number of batarians off the street and behind the armour. Soon, the enemy guns opened up, and forced the abolitionists behind cover while the vehicle column advanced. Suddenly, the music player was hit by a stray round and the hated pop singer ‘s voice vanished in a cloud of concrete and electronic parts.

The first vehicle rolled into firing range, and Rykarn smiled from behind the sights. At least the batarians and I agree on one thing, the krogan thought, squeezing the trigger and a trio of spiraling missiles erupted from the tri-barrel assembly of the launcher, piercing through the outer armour of the enemy Yolac and erupting from the inside-out, the turret launching clear of the chassis and the windows exploding out from concussive force.

Notes

-Still maintains contact with his brother Karnak and promised to revisit once a year
-He considers High Tide, Anhur his hometown, where he is seen as something of a folk hero thanks to his role in the Anhur Rebellion.
-He is still on friendly terms with his teammates in Phrixus’ Rangers, although he hasn’t had contact with any of them for a few months.
-Some in the Blood Pack are still hostile towards him for his departure, but on paper, his departure from the company was clean and won’t likely lead to future hostilities.
-Still has to complete his Rite of Honor to secure breeding rights in the krogan clans.