Arnu Taberna

## Traits and Appearance

A tall, athletic man, Arnu would have an imposing look if not for his messily maintained hair. He stands at an impressive six foot five, allowing him to wield huge weapons. His lack of skill with ranged weapons means that, in many ways, this brute force approach is the only way Arnu can efficiently fight.

Arnu is never seen without his traveller's cloak. The garment has become totally unique over years of use and abuse. The colour, once a powerful Pyxis orange, has faded. It is covered in burn, stains, stitches and additional pockets. Most anything can be found in it, if Arnu lets you check it.

## Biography

Arnu was born to save the sector. At least, that's how some people looked at it. The coming together of the respected explorer line of Taberna and the venerable Munshee family of Wardens had created a powerful family with grand aims. Both were heavily active in pushing for Imperial reform, especially amongst Pyxis circles. The Tabernas had famously refused to use Synth labour in their businesses and holdings until specific ethical concerns were rectified. Naturally, this led to them falling behind in wealth, but what they lost monetarily they gained socially. Even those who opposed them politically had to respect their commitment to their cause.

Nevertheless, the ambitious Taberna family maintained its attempts to climb. To this end, they arranged a deal to merge the Munshee family, also prominent in progressive circles, into their line and absorb their assets. Brought together by a mutual idealism, the families agreed to take the Taberna name for its strength. They established two wings of the new family, the Seekers centred around the Tabernas and the Wardens around the Munshees. Doss and Ebna Taberna left to explore and thus accrue prestige, while Klu and Hermippos Taberna remained on Lodestone, to work as Wardens. This system functioned well, a good crop of fresh Tabernas coming up on Lodestone, while the Seeker wing made dazzling discoveries. The ascendant family was watched with great interest, many pinning hoped for change on these bright new successors.

Then, tragedy struck. After a button-related accident, the entire Warden wing of the family died or disappeared. Suddenly, the Taberna family was without a new generation and a successor with no heir. This necessitated Arnu. The next year, he was born.

## Early Life

As the War Against the Artificials burst around the young Arnu, his parents took him away to shelter.The heirs to the Taberna family almost vanished entirely from polite society. Attempts to track them down turned up nothing, the young couple and their son only appeared at their own will.

Late into 3181 Arnu's grandmother, Paplee Taberna, died. As a result, his mother ascended to the position at the head of the family. This left the entire collected wealth of the Taberna family concentrated solely in the hands of Arnu's parents. Surprising many, the Taberna accounts remained almost entirely untouched, invested safely and rarely withdrawn from. Nevertheless, the Tabernas' idealism served them well, though not perhaps how they had envisioned. While their competitors' businesses collapsed without synthetic labour, their businesses survived. While the previous decades had placed them firmly behind, even surviving in such a climate placed them once again at the forefront of business in Acheron Rho. Nevertheless, the young family did not seem to indulge in their wealth, publicly stating that they wished to live a quiet life on the fringes and wait out the war.

During the war Arnu spent several years studying in seclusion under the tutelage of the high church. It is here that he learned much of his knowledge of philosophy and theology and moved towards a more repentant stance. There was some speculation that Arnu may join the church, but he eventually left, disgusted with its culture and theological stances.

## Reemergence And Self-Imposed Exile

In 3192 Arnu Taberna returned to Lodestone with tragic news. His mother was dead, his father missing. He said they had been killed by rogue synthetics on a far off exploratory outpost. Many saw this as a just punishment for the family's synthetic sympathies, though the broader Pyxis community rallied to shield the young orphan. He had been born a year before the war began, he could hardly be blamed. Those who talked ill of him often had a way of getting themselves beaten up or deulled. Nevertheless, Arnu declared that he was washing his hands of synthetics, activism and politics. During this time he came under the wing of Sheikhsul Vela Eratesh XXVII [Redacted], his godfather and friend of his parents. The closest thing the boy had left to family, the pair went on multiple adventures, which continue to this day.

The young boy was distant from society, spending time with only a select few within a tight inner circle. He could often be seen wandering Lodestone alone, withdrawn and uncommunicative. It is during this period that Arnu wrote a series of beautiful, if massively pretentious, poems. A collection underwent a limited release, published in print only in strictly limited numbers. Amongst certain groups, this could be considered a collectors item. Others consider it worthless trash, or don't consider it at all.

Around 3164, Arnu became involved in the creation of a crew for the exploratory ship *HPS The Worthy Endeavour Is The Endeavour Most Tasty.* The organization was a collective enterprise, each participant taking an equal share, both in the ownership and running of the ship. This became Arnu's life for the next six years. Over time, society noticed a shift in the young noble. For one, he began to utilise the vast wealth at his sole disposal. Not consistently, nor sensibly. He lived quite humbly, save for sporadic, extravegant purchases.Beyond this, he began to return to political life. Occasional treatises delivered by Echo from the farthest fringes of the sector began to circulate in the traditional Taberna circles.

The boy faced a mounting pressure to return fully to political life and claim what was stressed was his political destiny. It was hard not to view such overtures as cynical attempts to utilise the Taberna name and heritage for political leverage. Arnu ignored them, mostly. Over time, the pressure mounted. Finally, the war ended and a new era of turmoil and political opportunism began. Arnu, in a rut with his exploration, was inexorably drawn back into the political sphere.

## Present Day

Nobody expected Arnu to win the Orator election. That was very much not why he ran. It was expected, amongst some, for political hopefuls to put themselves forward. He gave a good showing, but did not win. Nevertheless, fate had other plans. Arnu found himself Orator Of The Rose, drawn into the deadly web of political intrigue on Imperial Prime. Luckily, this gave him more time to spend with Orator Coolyo Typhoon, who he sees as a close friend and surrogate family member.

Arnu was served well by his training as a boy, forming connections and serving adequately as a diplomat and politician. His crowning achievement during this period was the apportionment of official resources from several major groups toward the creation of The Symposium For The Advancement Of Non-Human Rights, securing his own house's public attendance. Once his month of service was concluded, Arnu organised a party to celebrate. Arnu, believing that he had received a mission from God on Andophael to be more trusting, organised no security for the event. It was at this event that an assassination attempt was made against him.

Arnu is a notoriously tough man. It has been said that, in his time on Prime, the only thing at which Arnu truly excelled was being shot. In the attack Arnu suffered four to twelve hits from shear rifles, depending on who you ask. He was rapidly bundled into a car by Avitus Asherah and taken into hiding. Arnu vanished for a month,the vast majority of Acheron Rho left unaware whether he was alive or dead. The investigation into the attack was undertaken by a crew of Pyxis Rangers and their allies, hunting down the culprits. It is said that Rayya Kymay and Raetac Romani married after bonding over their work on the mission. The rumour persists in the sector's underworld that he only survived due to assistance from known terrorist Pontius Candles. The two were close before Pontius's disappearance and Arnu's location while in hiding has never been disclosed.

Arnu eventually returned during the Great Journey, finding the world mostly unmoved by his absence. He soon travelled back out to the fringes of space, exploring around Ergus. After travelling for several weeks, Taberna returned, the crew of the *Endeavour* breaking down. He spent his time travelling the sector for pleasure, taking a 'holiday' and focusing on recovering from his injuries. This was until fate once again took a twist for Arnu.

Arnu, against 1/53824 odds, was randomly selected a second time to be Orator Of The Rose, becoming only the seventh person in history to hold the title twice in one year, until Tegan Cai did it immediately after him as the first ever back to back doublechosen. Arnu isn't annoyed. During his tenure, Arnu attempted to work with House Lyra prevent the oncoming conflict with the STO, but ultimately failed to broker an acceptable deal. While politically a failure, Arnu remembers this month fondly, it being the month of Xavier Stordiz and Adella Jane's wedding. In his speech at the party Arnu recounted the importance fo the couple in helping him to recover psychologically from the attempt on his life.

After the end of his term as Rose, Pontius informed Arnu that Avitus was dead. Arnu thus committed himself to a vengeance quest, to bring Avitus's killers to justice. He rapidly had himself deputised by Vrkas Kesler, who he had befriended lifting weights to recover from his shear rifle injuries, and began his search. He tracked down many of the principle members of Avitus's circle, but made no headway in finding the killer. Midway through his search, he was informed that Tegan had gone missing. He was diverted, trying to track them down. Eventually, he discovered that Tegan was safe, but required his assistance in cooperation with Xavier to prevent anyone from filing them as dead, so they could enjoy a honeymoon with their new wife. Arnu was just happy that his friend was alive.

As the war with the STO has progressed, Arnu has become increasingly disillusioned with The Church of Humanity, Repentant. Their membership of the organisation and silence on the violent methods of the organisation have led him to distance himself from the church in much the same way as he once did from the High Church. He has begun openly describing himself as 'Non-Denominational' in social situations.

## Arnu Taberna

### Skills

Administer 1, Connect 1, Know 1, Talk 2, Stab 0, Pilot 0

### Cha

10

Arnu is a monstrously tough man, with a total lack of coordination. Arnu has a good mind and is trained well to utilise it. Nevertheless, when pitted against a skilled specialist in any given field he can hope to at best keep pace and never overtake them. The single exception to this is his capacity to sustain physical injury and drink, in which he can be regarded an expert.