Robert Langham

Space Opera·by Robert Langham

RACE

Human

GENDER

Male

LIFE STAGE

Adult

BODY SIZE

Large

BUILD

Muscular

Physical Appearance Robert Langham is in his mid-thirties, six feet tall and powerfully built, with broad shoulders and the heavy musculature of a lifelong fighting man. His hair is already salt-and-pepper, contrasting with a brown goatee and tired brown eyes that make him seem older than he is. Personality Robert is world-weary, quiet and thoughtful, with more education and curiosity than most would expect from a soldier. He is well-read in history, philosophy and law, and tends to speak only when he has something worth saying. He has little patience for excuses, hypocrisy or empty rhetoric. The Avenger Robert acts where ordinary justice has failed, punishing those who prey on others or escape consequences through wealth, influence or technicalities. He does not enjoy cruelty, but has few qualms about using violence against people he believes deserve it. Genuine remorse or repentance, however, can earn his mercy. Loyalty Robert is fiercely protective of his friends and family, showing affection more through actions than words. He will readily place himself in danger for those he cares about and often takes on burdens without asking for help, seeing himself as the shield between them and the uglier parts of the world. Fighting Style Robert is a defensive fighter, strong rather than quick. He prefers to hold his ground, absorb pressure and wait for an opponent to make a mistake before answering with decisive force. He excels at protecting others, controlling space and enduring punishment, becoming especially dangerous once a fight becomes close and physical. Moral Character Robert believes strongly in responsibility and has particular contempt for those who exploit people weaker than themselves. Though capable of considerable brutality, he still believes in redemption and distinguishes between genuine wickedness and human weakness. His greatest danger is that his personal sense of justice depends upon his own judgement being correct. Story Role Robert is a dark protector: soldier, knight, mercenary, officer, veteran or any equivalent the setting requires. Whatever the world around him, he remains the man who stands between danger and those he loves—and the man who comes after the wicked when everyone else has failed to.

GOAL & MOTIVE

Robert once trusted the law or those in authority to deal with someone he knew was dangerous, only for that person to escape justice and hurt someone Robert cared about. He has never forgiven himself for standing aside. Since then, he has believed that knowing a wicked person will strike again creates a responsibility to act, even when the law cannot or will not. His crusade is driven less by revenge than by a grim conviction that doing nothing would make him complicit.

NEMESIS

James Clackton

QUESTS COMPLETEDTotal quests completed with this hero by the creator and everyone who recruited them

Free to recruit. Every detail stays editable afterwards.

Skills and Stats

ATTRIBUTES

Good

Health

Good

Agility

Good

Strength

Superb

Reasoning

Good

Willpower

Good

Perception

SKILLS

Lore

Fair

Stealth

Fair

Athletics

Fair

Diplomacy

Fair

Investigation

Superb

Blaster Combat

Good

GIFTS

Galactic Authority Contact

Photographic Memory

FAULTS

Bluntly Honest

PTSD

Disciplinarian

Inventory

Retrofitted 1911 handgun

Deployable Cover

THE WORLD

THE SHATTERED MERIDIAN The Galaxy The Shattered Meridian is a far-future galaxy of thousands of inhabited systems connected by unstable folds in spacetime called Meridians. Ships entering them at precise velocities can cross hundreds of light-years in hours or days. Routes can shift, vanish or reconnect isolated systems without warning, making stable junctions immensely valuable. Nobody knows whether the Meridians are natural phenomena or ancient engineering. Humanity entered wider galactic civilisation just over three centuries ago. Humans are numerous, adaptable and politically divided between governments, colonies, corporations and independent settlements. Older species often regard them as dangerously ambitious and unusually willing to experiment with technology they only partly understand. There is no magic. Artificial gravity, biological engineering, imperfect consciousness copying, exotic matter, limited causal prediction and other technologies can appear miraculous, but all obey physical laws even when those laws are poorly understood. Across the galaxy stand structures millions of years old, attributed to a vanished civilisation called the Architects: rings around dead stars, dismantled planets and machines of unknown purpose. Equally mysterious are the Silent Zones, regions where advanced technology, quantum systems and Meridian travel behave unpredictably. There is no single galactic government. Civilisation consists of overlapping states, corporations, alliances, criminal networks and neutral territories. Wars are fought over Meridian junctions, resources, migration, technology, ancient ruins and even competing definitions of personhood. Major Species Humans are young by galactic standards but widespread and adaptable. The Vael are six-limbed, flexible-bodied beings belonging to an extremely old civilisation obsessed with law, bureaucracy and historical continuity. Vael governments can maintain treaties and grudges for thousands of years. The Orun are immense aquatic creatures beneath frozen moons. Individually intelligent but limited, thousands can synchronise through pressure waves into extraordinarily powerful temporary group-minds called Choirs. The Kel are microscopic organisms forming intelligent colonies of billions. Their bodies have no fixed shape and can split into separate portions before recombining and sharing their memories. The Harrow are ancient machine beings assembled from replaceable modules. Some claim to be millions of years old despite having replaced every original component. They insist they were once biological, though no evidence survives. The Vekari are enormous airborne organisms evolved within gas giants. Their settlements are floating living reefs, while specialised biological drones interact with outsiders. The Ossari are vast subterranean colonial organisms extending through kilometres of rock. Their mobile representatives are temporary bodies grown as extensions of a much larger intelligence.

LOCATIONS

CHARACTERS

HISTORY & EVENTS

COMMON HISTORY 312 years ago — First Meridian Crossing: Humanity entered wider galactic civilisation. Human history is commonly divided into Pre- and Post-Crossing periods. 247 years ago — Three-System War: Human expansion sparked war with the Vael over disputed systems. Humanity lost militarily but forced a negotiated settlement. 219 years ago — Harrow Recognition: Major powers formally recognised the Harrow as sovereign persons rather than machines or property. 163 years ago — Meridian Collapse: Dozens of routes abruptly disappeared or shifted, isolating colonies and collapsing governments. Some lost systems remain uncontacted. 91 years ago — Vesper Plague: An interspecies microorganism devastated fourteen systems and produced today's strict quarantine laws. 54 years ago — Battle of Orpheus Junction: A human conflict nearly escalated into galactic war and led to restrictions on extreme kinetic and gravitational weapons. 12 years ago — Red Meridian Incident: A stable Meridian unexpectedly changed destination, scattering ships thousands of light-years from their intended route. BLACKWAKE HISTORY 187 years ago — Construction: Halcyon Extraction Combine builds Blackwake as an ore-processing station. 132 years ago — Halcyon Withdrawal: Halcyon abandons Blackwake after mining becomes unprofitable. 124 years ago — First Compact: Merchants, captains, workshop owners and criminal leaders form an agreement to govern and maintain Blackwake. 83 years ago — Dock War: Rival syndicates fight openly for three months, killing hundreds. The Compact destroys both and effectively bans organised warfare aboard the station. 46 years ago — Hollow Fire: Illegal power connections cause a fire killing more than six hundred people and exposing decades of neglect. 19 years ago — Dock Nine Agreement: The Compact formally tolerates the black market provided traders avoid slavery, uncontrolled biological weapons, attacks on infrastructure and anything likely to attract a major fleet. 7 years ago — Undertow Disappearances: More than twenty scavengers vanish around sealed Decks 141–147. Most experienced scavengers still avoid them. 4 years ago — Saint's Row Massacre: A gang kills seventeen civilians while pursuing a rival. The Watch, Compact and criminal groups cooperate to annihilate those responsible.