Tedorn

Tedorn fled his homeworld of Pintac in fear of being killed by the dominant species of his home world, the Grimalkin. His race of beings, the Nimrev, are typically used as sources of food, slave labor, and often dismissed as life forms unworthy of any care or concern as to their well being. He stowed away on board the Sunfire during a time in which Captain Lexia was visiting the leadership of the Grimalkin as an honored guest. After witnessing the fate of many of his kind, she took pity on Tedorn and allowed him to stay on board.

As an average represntation of his species, Tedorn appears to be a three foot long gerbil. Many would compare him to a mouse or other rodents but his fur, body structure, and movement is more akin to that of a gerbil. He has a coat of brown fur, two oval shaped ears, wide black eyes, a cone shaped snout, a set of four teeth in the front and a secondary set of teeth in the back like a rodent, and long whiskers that help him respond to his environment. His front paws are more akin to humanoid fingers, allowing him to interact with technology more so than his smaller counterparts would be able to do so. He possesses the ability to sit up on his hide legs, which his hind legs are nearly three times the length of his hands for his people would burrow underground to escape predetors.

Tedorn possesses a unique ability in which allows him to study a piece of machinery, and know exactly how each part connects to another. If given the opportunity, he could dismantle an entire starship, lay all the parts across the ground, then with enough time, reassemble it, knowing exactly where each part fit into the next. He would not only be able to do this, but he would improve on the design. This is why he is becomes the assistant to the chief engineer, Tinker, when he first joins the crew. Later, when Tinker departs the ship, he is promoted to chief engineer even though he's the only person in charge of the functions of the engines.

He has the tendency to find pits of broken machinery, parts that others consider to be little more than trash, often scavenging locations that the Starfire visits throughout their travels. He adds his newly acquired items to a growing pile that he keeps in the engine room. When in need of a part of something that may prove useful, Tedorn will dig down through the collection to find the part he needs and uses it to fix the problem presented to him.

This particular Nimrev is motivated by three things. The first is his unending yearning for food, an appetite that is rarely saticefied for he always seems to be hungry. Secondly, he is motivated by self preservation. For one of his kind, he is considered noble and heroic, which means he refuses to sacrifice someone else to save his life. However, that is the only limitations in that he won't go out of his way to save someone else if it means risking his own life. Although, with the passage of time as a member of the crew, this behavior is not as prominent in that he has shown moments where he did risk his life to save others he cared about. Lastly, he fears the disapproval of the captain. At first this was due to a genuine fear of being sent back to his home world or being killed as the Grimalkin would have punished one of his kind. However, over time this fear for his life was replace with a deep concern in disappointing the captain, his desire to seek her approval taking prominance.

Tedorn has developed a unique way of communication, known as the Tedorn Language. It is an adaptation of the away that Lexia communicates, which is similar to modern day English. Therefore, much of what he says is a rudimentary version of how English is spoken.

Appeared within the pages of these novels:

Lexia's Legacy

Tinker's Treasure

Parallax's Paradox