Chellor

**Chellor** is a vett'iri, and a major character of the series. Though he is blunt and often abrasive, Chellor is an accomplished Vaulter and a valuable component to the *Manta* crew's success.

## **Biography**

### **Early Life**

Chellor was not born into slavery, having been conceived after the Vett'iri were freed from the Exodeists by the Sentinels. He was born with an identical twin, as are nearly all Vett'iri. Both were taught by their parents to never let anyone tell them what they could or couldn't be.

Taking their advice to heart, Chellor grew up with dreams of grandeur; he imagined himself as someone who would help lift the rest of the Vett'iri up from the metaphorical pit they'd been thrown into. But as he grew older, his view of the world became far more cynical and less optimistic. He watched as others took advantage of each other, cheated one another, only ever looked out for themselves, and always treated him like just another urchin.

As his parents' cellular degeneration progressed, his perspective only worsened. He was forced to watch as his mother and father no longer recognized him, trapped in their own minds until their death and unable to say goodbye to their sons. For this, Chellor developed a deep hatred of the exodeists.

### **The Mark of Eden**

#### **Joining the Team**

At some point between then and AY 2998, Chellor befriended and became the Vaulting partner of a nox named Isaak. The two of them first encountered Val and Niles after the latter had set up a meeting to discuss Vaulting services for a prospective mission to the Umbra. Realizing that Val wanted their help to break into an Architect ruin in the Umbra, the pair was keen to turn down the job, but Isaak decided to stay upon learning that Val was being hunted by the Cell, vowing to protect the boy from the gene-splicers for personal reasons. Chellor, feeling he had no choice but to stick with his partner, came as well.

Upon meeting back at the dockyard where Niles' ship, the *Manta,* was moored, Chellor was outraged to find an exodeist was part of the crew. His protests were shut down by Niles, however, and he was forced to accept that he and Quix would simply have to get along for the duration of the journey.

During a game of Crooks and Crowns while traveling to the Umbra, Chellor revealed to everyone how his parents had died, blaming the Exodeists for their genetic tampering and construction of his species. He then asked Quix why he should trust her as the rest of the crew wanted him to. Quix revealed that her common name, "Hopes Quixotically", was given to her by the Collective because she was seen as idealistic, a trait looked down upon by exodeists, and was ostracized for her outspoken advocacy of freeing the Vett'iri from slavery. As she and the others left the table, Chellor found for the first time that he actually felt empathy for an exodeist.

#### **The Dead Moon**

Upon arrival at the dead moon in the Umbra, Chellor and the others discovered evidence of an Imperial camp outside the temple. When Isaak said that the Empire's presence and failure to reveal such a site to the Hegemony was in violation of an agreement between the two governments, Chellor pointed out that the violation was entirely in-character for them.

The *Manta* crew then descended into the temple and found the chamber where Val's Chrysalis had been. In the same room, an AI designated as Ouroboros appeared and revealed the truth that Val and Note came from the Architect civilization and were Architects themselves. They were interrupted, however, as a creature living on the moon attacked them. Chellor ran alone in the Armamentarium and hid there while Ouroboros relayed him information about the others.

The creature, a viper-worm, followed Chellor in and attacked again. Though he ran back to the main chamber, it was faster than he was, and he was nearly eaten before Quix stepped in and put herself between Chellor and the viper-worm, urging him to run. Together, the two then joined the others and used the temple's gateway to escape to the surface.

While on the way back to the Mercantile, Chellor found Quix and apologized for his behavior, asking for her forgiveness. Quix accepted, and the two had a lengthy discussion about religion, Chellor wondering whether there was such thing as an afterlife and whether his parents still existed in some form or if they were truly gone. Quix told him that, while she was unsure if any afterlife existed, she knew that the only sure thing about death was that those who loved someone would miss them when they were gone.

#### **The Cell's Attack**

When the *Manta* eventually emerged from null space, everyone witnessed the Cell attacking the Mercantile. After they crash-landed inside the station, Chellor and some of the others, along with Val, were chased through the Scrubs. Chellor, Note, and Quix found themselves traversing platforms hanging over a massive garbage disposal. Quix threw both Note and Chellor to safety, but was tackled by one of the two cell chasing them in mid-air, the other plummeting to its death. As Quix wrestled with the cell, she urged Note and Chellor to run, but Chellor stayed and killed the cell with a climbing anchor, saving Quix's life in return for her saving his.

They eventually rejoined with the others above ground and learned that Val had been captured by the Cell. He was rallied by Note with everyone else to board the *Manta* and chase after them to save Val.

#### **Eden**

After the *Manta* followed the Cell flagship through the energy cloud surrounding the Rings of Eden, the ship was shot down, and Quix and Chellor stayed behind to repair the ship while the others pursued the Cell and Val on foot. After analyzing the damage, Quix determined that there wasn't enough quality-grade metal to fully repair the ship from what they had scavenged, and she instructed Chellor to cut apart a section of her body's chassis for the spare metal. He initially refused, having grown to care for her as a friend, but relented after she told him she'd do so herself if he didn't.

With the ship's thruster temporarily repaired, he and Quix piloted the craft through the Gate's Tear and landed near the unconscious body of Val being attended to by Ten and Note. Only after Val had woken up did everyone board the *Manta* and fly back through the Gate where Val and Note closed it, sealing the Sensus in Eden once more. The ensuing explosion of null energy from the collapsing Tear further damaged the *Manta* and stranded everyone in space for several weeks before they were picked up by a Hegemony patrol and arrested.

## Trivia

• His name is pronounced (Keh-lr)

• Chellor is the character with whom the author most strongly relates to and identifies with.