Dorian Walker

Species
 Shield
 Affiliation
 Relative(s)

**Dorian Walker** is the famous Exile explorer responsible for decoding the apocryphal Book of Dominus and discovering planet Nexus. Along with his daughter, Belle Walker, he is an important figure to the Exiles and considered almost legendary. He’s also a cantankerous old coot who explores wherever he wants, whenever he wants to, and damn the consequences. Despite his age, Dorian is found out in the field more often than not, using the Book of Dominus to find and explore the many wonders of planet Nexus.

Dorian can be found in-game in the FCON Headquarters section of Thayd.

## Physical Description

Dorian Walker is in great physical shape for a 77-year-old. His hair and beard have gone white with age, and his brown eyes are covered by a pair of goggles that correct his failing eyesight. Years in cheap spaceships without artificial gravity should have left him frail or killed him long ago, yet he remains hale and hearty. Due to injuries suffered during his most dangerous adventures, Dorian’s left arm and right leg have been replaced by cybernetic prosthetics.

## Personality

A famously stubborn individual, Walker rarely compromises. He's always been sure of himself and his beliefs, and his discovery of Nexus only solidifies this attitude. This overconfidence often gets him in trouble, whether in the dark and dangerous depths of an ancient Eldan ruin, or sitting across the gambling table with Deadeye Brightland. Walker is also prone to pursuing ever-crazier theories about Nexus, provided they give him the chance to push the edges of exploration on the planet. He wants nothing more than to find all of the wonders of Nexus that are described in the Book of Dominus before his Dominion rival, Artemis Zin, does.

## History

In the late years of the Long Flight, Dorian Walker had become one of the Exiles' most reliable pathfinders—pilots who scout the way light-years ahead of the fleet looking for threats or places to resupply. Having lost his wife to Spacer's Plague not long after they were married, Dorian was forced to raise their daughter Belle alone. Despite the hardships the two faced, they became very close. Dorian's true obsession, however, was planet Nexus, the legendary planet of the Eldan that had eluded discovery for more than two thousand years.

The search for Nexus had been an obsession of the Walker family for centuries. Alizar Walker, the family's patriarch, had obtained a rare copy of the apocryphal Book of Dominus in the midst of the Cassian Civil War, and he was convinced that it held the clues to the location of planet Nexus. Since that time, the Walker family strove tirelessly to locate the fabled planet, which earned them a reputation for being a clan of pseudo-scientific crackpots.

Like many of his predecessors, Walker believed the book contained the secret to finding Nexus. One passage in particular mentioned ‘three celestial jewels' and 'the river of green fire’, which Dorian was convinced referred to a trinary star system and a uniquely-shaped nebula. Unfortunately, trinary star systems were extremely common, and no one had ever observed anything like a green-tinted nebula in close proximity to one.

For years, Dorian scoured ancient star charts, dusty tomes, and old ship captains’ logs looking for any reference about the nebula, but there was nothing to be found. Whenever the Exile fleet would trade with independent cargo captains and smugglers, Walker would ask if they had seen 'the nebula,' but all of them rolled their eyes at him. Dorian became so discouraged that he thought about giving up the search, but Belle always convinced him to stick with it because, in her words, "That's just what us Walkers do, dad."

One fateful day, the Fleet rendezvoused with a decrepit old freight hauler, captained by a grizzled old spacer who went by the name of Nolin Kregg. Captain Kregg docked with the Gambler's Ruin for repairs, and was half-drunk in a small bar when Dorian found him. After buying the old captain a few more drinks, Dorian asked him if he had ever seen the nebula, and, after taking a long drink, he said that he had.

It had been when he was much younger, on a smuggling run that had taken him out to the Fringe. Running from a Dominion patrol, Kregg had drifted off course and ended up beyond the Fringe’s threshold. As he came out of hyperspace he found himself staring up at the strangest nebula he had ever seen, not unlike the "the river of green fire" that Dorian had described to him. Kregg said that he had never recorded the exact coordinates, but, for another drink, he was pretty sure he could tell Dorian the quadrant where he’d seen it. Dorian gladly obliged him, and then walked away with what he knew was the key to the galaxy's greatest mystery.

Convinced that he had finally discovered the truth, Dorian made a bold decision. For the good of the Exiles, he was going to steal a transport and find the legendary planet of Nexus alone... and that's just what he did. A week after his daring theft of the Exile transport Blue Horizon, Dorian found himself without food, water, or hope. He’d traveled to the quadrant where Kregg had seen the nebula and witnessed the awe-inspiring celestial body for himself. But space was vast and unforgiving, and without accurate star charts, Dorian was unable to find the trinary system where Nexus was surely located.

As the air on his ship began to run out and he began to lose consciousness, Dorian had a vision. A small girl, frail and ethereal, appeared next to him on the bridge. Smiling mysteriously, she pointed out the viewport toward a single faint star shining in a black, empty void. Hoping that the ship would make one final jump, Dorian set his course and then fell to the floor, unconscious for lack of air.

When Dorian awoke, the Blue Horizon’s air scrubbers were whining in protest. Through the ship’s viewports, Dorian could see a beautiful blue planet. Nexus had been found! Using the last of his fuel, Dorian headed towards the planet’s surface. He landed atop of grassy hill in what would become known as Algoroc and sent a message to the Exile fleet.

*"Nexus found. Our dreams have come true. Coordinates to follow."*

Although he is in his later years, Walker is still dedicated to exploring the legendary planet and uncovering its many secrets for the Exiles. Using the Book of Dominus to help him locate many wonders, Dorian can still be found out in the field. He often sends Eldan technological relics to his daughter Belle for her to study, and the two are known to have long and impassioned discussions about the wonders of planet Nexus.

## See Also

* Tales from Beyond the Fringe: Dorian Walker and the Lost Valley of the Pell
* Waving at Walker

## Sources

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Loremageddon, as preserved on the Internet Archive.