Asari Zh'eziarath

[NPC] Ensign Asari Zh'eziarath is an intelligence office on the USS Odyssey.
== Background ==
Asari was born on a small island in Andoria’s northern hemisphere, to a family of ice fishers. The islands were thought to be the birthplace of the Andorian people. It was never above freezing there. The few times it was, it was never warm enough for the ice to melt. Her small village was deep underground, heated by the core of the planet. They survived by fishing, taking the tunnels to the surface every morning, taking boats out into the ocean, where the salt and deep currents kept the water from freezing, or going inland to a frozen lake, cutting holes in the ice to throw their fishing lines. 
They lived in an isolated part of Andoria, their closest neighbors a settlement of Aenar who lived even deeper beneath the ice. For the most part, the two species kept apart, only trading as needed. The fiery passionate Andorians, always quick to fight to defend their pride, had never settled well with the quiet, pacifist Aenar. They had both evolved on the same planet, but they couldn’t be more different. Asari was quite unique, born from a shelthreth quad that contained an Aenar. Her Shreya had always been adventurous, often coming to visit the Andorians, preferring fishing to hunting for ice-bores. Eventually she decided to stay after forming a bond with three other Andorians. 
Asari’s people always did their best to defy the norms of their people. With a hundred Andorians living in close quarters in a rough environment, everyone had to remain cordial, or everything would fall apart. Even as a young girl, Asari proved her value to the community. Her zhavey always compared Asari to the ocean that provided their livelihood, deep and slow moving. She had inherited the same peace that her Shreya’s people were known for, along with their telepathic abilities. She became the peacemaker, always willing to lend a sympathetic ear to any grievance, then patiently work towards a solution with both parties. Among such passionate people, Asari’s temperament quickly made her invaluable.
But like the ocean, Asari possessed deep currents. She was never content with the place of her birth. The technology that made their lives easier also showed her what life was like outside their settlement. The great underground cities to the south, and the hundreds of other worlds that made up the Federation. She had never left her home, but she felt such a need to explore. She devoured information, becoming quite the encyclopedia on other planets, species, and governments. 
Her longing for the other soured her on her hometown, the sweet child growing into an angry teenager, finding that Andorian passion later in life than most. But she contained it, hiding it behind an icy facade that would make a Vulcan proud. She knew her role in the community, but she wasn’t interested in helping anymore. It became a game instead, finding the quickest way to solve a problem and convince everyone to go along with it. 
At 16 years old, she secretly applied for, and was accepted, to a school in Laikan, Andoria’s capital. When she told her family she was leaving, Asari was met with shock and anger, and even she couldn’t find a way to calm them down. They tried to make her stay. She refused. Eventually, she left without her parents’ blessing.
It took time to acclimate to the city. Outside a PADD, she’d never seen anything like this sprawling metropolis. At home she knew everyone, but here she was surrounded by strangers. Asari excelled in the humanities courses in school while struggling in math, but her real problem was in making friends. Her calm unfazeable demeanor had been an asset back home, but here she was considered icy. Her shyness around strangers was ascribed to standoffishness. Despite her Aenar heritage, she had inherited most of her looks from her Andorian parents. Her blue skin was lighter than normal, but nowhere near Aenar white. More alone than she’d ever been, Asari began to seriously consider going home, until she met Etezitothov Th'verohr – Thov, a security force trainee who felt just as alone as she did.
Unlike the others, he viewed her cold facade as a challenge, patiently chipping away at the ice until she let him in. He was fearless, unstoppable, and had decided that she needed a friend. So that was what he would be. Eventually, Thov told her about his plans to attend Starfleet Academy.  It took her two years, but Asari followed. 
She chose to study psychology, since she’d been an unofficial counselor for most of her life anyway. But Asari’s method of counseling - looking for a quick solution rather than truly helping the patient - was easily spotted by her professors, which earned her consistently low scores. By the end of her first year, she was about to flunk out. Thov, who had chosen security as his route, was no help at all. 
The last day of the term found her moping in a bar downtown, drowning her sorrows in andorian ale, dreading her eventual return home. Back to dreary unchanging islands and their cycle of fish. She had the summer to turn it around, but she needed to figure out how.
Her misery was noticed by the musician strumming his guitar on stage, the only other Andorian in the place. Vyta Ch'vhynirh had been born in San Francisco, a multicultural city with every type of personality in the Federation, so he’d grown up far from the cultural stereotypes that made Asari so odd to other Andorians. But there was a tradeoff, a unique upbringing that meant he didn’t know much about his own people. To Asari, Vyta was one of the most open people she’d ever met. Unlike her hometown, where everyone bottled up their emotions until everything came bursting out, but also unlike regular Andorians who were free with their passions, but cold when it came to the smaller things. Unlike everyone else in the universe, Vyta had no walls, always ready to pour his heart into the world through his music. 
Asari spent the summer with him, learning a gentler way of life. He wasn’t like Thov, who had fought his way to friendship. Vyta was perfectly content with Asari as she was. And when she eventually brought Thov along, Vyta was happy with that too. 
She had been raised to solve emotional problems quickly for the good of the community. It took a summer on Earth with her friends - people who cared for her, not what she could give them - for her to realize that psychology was more than that. A telepath who’d forgotten how to listen to people, Asari had buried her Aenar nature for too long. She had been ordered to be a counselor as a child, but for the first time, Asari considered being something else. With Vyta and Thov urging her on, she decided to change her specialization. 
She went around campus, talking to the different advisors, eventually settling on intelligence. She was a meticulous researcher, a thorough analyst, and could talk people into anything. She hit it off with the advisor right away.
The three of them had a good thing going for a while. Asari’s grades skyrocketed now that she was taking courses that suited her. Thov’s were already excellent. Vyta had his music to keep him company when the others were busy. The Andorian trio were happy. Then Rysha came along. 
Like Vyta, Rysha Sh'vithan hadn’t been born on Andoria. The new cadet came from the lush islands of Deneva, but somehow, she was still the most Andorian of them all. A biologist who preferred animals to people, Rysha’s emotions were always close to the surface, her temper quick and fiery. She clashed with Thov immediately, a first year cadet ready to fight a fourth year. Asari often found herself in the middle, talking them both down before the arguments got them on a professor’s radar. Honestly, she wasn’t the least bit surprised when Thov came to talk to her, sheepishly admitting that their fighting had finally gone too far, and he’d woken up that morning in Rysha’s bed. It was a relief, since - in true Andorian fashion - they got along much better after. 
Rysha was introduced to Vyta, and from then on the four Andorians were inseparable. 
It took the others a while to realize, but Asari had already figured out what they would be to each other. By the time Thov graduated, the four Andorians had decided to enter a shelthreth quad, becoming bondmates.
They were separated for years after that. Thov was sent off to his first posting, while Asari, Rysha, and Vyta remained on Earth. Two years later, Asari was sent to her first posting on Starbase 4 as an analyst, leaving the other two behind. She missed them terribly, so she dove into her work.
She spent most of her time in an office, analysing reports and disseminating them throughout the sector when pertinent. But it didn’t take long before her supervisor started sending her out on intelligence gathering assignments instead. She was brilliant and empathic, adaptable enough to fit seamlessly into any new environment, and skilled in talking information out of her marks. Her superiors were quite impressed with her work.
She saw her bondmates over the three years that followed, but never all of them at once. Thov visited Deep Space 4 as his ship went through, she visited Vyta on Earth, and met Rysha on Risa. They talked over comms every day. But it wasn’t the same as when they’d all been together on Earth, and Asari could see the strain of distance on all of them. Eventually, for the mental health of her loved ones, she went to work, to secure them new postings together. 
Unfortunately, she wasn’t entirely successful. The three Starfleet officers were all transferred together to the USS Odyssey. Though the ship was large enough for it, civilians weren’t currently allowed on board, so Vyta would have to wait. But three was better than nothing, right?
== Appearance ==
Asari is considered quite beautiful, but she tends to turn other Andorians off, as her calm demeanor is often misinterpreted as icy. She’s like the ocean she was born on, deep and slow moving.
== Personality ==
At heart, Asari would like to think that she’s a kind person. Her bondmates certainly think that she is, and they know her better than anyone. But truthfully she thinks she’s quite a cold person. Asari keeps her emotions tightly controlled and hidden beneath an icy facade, and she is often manipulative when it comes to getting what she wants. 
== Psych Evaluation ==
Asari has the fiery temper stereotypical of Andorians, but she typically bottles it up inside until she’s in danger of an explosion. She learned the dangers of this a long time ago, and knows the warning signs that will lead her to a counselor.
== Medical ==
Asari is healthy and has no medical issues.
Since she is only ⅓ Aenar, she was born with functioning eyes. Her telepathy is weak by Aenar standards, about the level of a normal Betazoid.
== Facts ==
* If they’re ever all together on a ship, they would like to start a family and have a child. As the Zhen of the group, Asari would be the one carrying the fetus to term.
Category:NPC