Salorne Zaheeran

*”My species, my people…. We were made to dominate; to kill. The impulse to conquer those above us is in our blood. So tell me, which is more noble - to be created in the paragons image, or to work your entire life to overcome the shadows that threaten to consume you.”*

## Dossier

Dr. Salorne Zaheeran-Vaenik is the First Inquisitor in charge of the civilian Victoria Wing aboard the CSV Caesetia. With multiple master-level degrees, not limited to xenobiology, medicine, and psychology, he also acts as the chief surgeon and psychologist for the RIFT fireteam, and is an important figurehead in the more personal lives of the crew.

Like most of his species, Salorne towers over the other races. He stands at a staggering 9’6” and has the physical build to back it up. Though his body consists largely of muscle, he is a few pounds heavier around his belly and thighs.   His voice is thunderous, impossibly deep and dual-toned, but at the same time, also gentle and kind.

Unlike a typical yahg, Salorne shows compassion and empathy, among other things.  He finds the beauty in life around him, and violence is usually his last resort.  Though he is an exceptionally patient man, there are still a few things that can set him over the edge.  He despises those who show him and others disrespect, or those with astoundingly large egos.

Though he could easily tear some of the smaller species limb from limb, he refrains from acting on the violence engraved in his blood. Though the temptation to revert back to his typical yahg nature is always there at the back of his mind, years of meditation and soul searching have given Salorne a great degree of self-control. While Salorne is fairly sophisticated and calm, he is well aware of his appearance and how intimidating he comes across at first.  In certain situations, he uses this to his advantage to possibly discourage violence against either him, or anyone else.

## History

In the year 1949, Salorne was born in the city of K’Jaarin, Parnack into a world of violence and brutality.  He quickly learned from an early age that the world was kill or be killed.  He joined the yahg version of the military as soon as he reached the appropriate age and dove headfirst into the world of slaughter.  Many years passed by as Salorne moved up the ranks, getting more and more kills under his name.  Not all were justified.  During a civil uprising in a major city, Salorne, along with the rest of his battalion went door to door in civilian sectors gunning down anyone they saw.  This included non-combatants and children.For a long time, Salorne was empty inside, only able to fill himself with the joy that the slaughter brought.

It wasn't until he met his mate that he realized there was an entire galaxy outside of just violence.  Typically, yahg would only find a mate for either sexual pleasure or for reproductive purposes; never love.  But this was different.  She was different.  Salorne fell for her, hard, and she showed him what it meant to be truly alive.

They eloped to be together; something that was on a level near treason in yahg culture.  For a year, they lived in a small house near a body of water, and they were happy.  She taught Salorne the beauty of the world they lived in, and how every life, no matter how small, has meaning.  Shortly after this, Salorne felt the weight of a lifetime of guilt fall upon his shoulders.  How could he find justification for all the lives he had so brutally and carelessly ended?  She wanted to help him work through this guilt, but they were discovered.  Salorne had been hunted by his former team over the past year, and finally they caught up to him.  He was a deserter, through and through, and the punishment for desertion was severe.  To make an example, Salorne was beaten senselessly and his mate was murdered as he watched, helpless to do anything.  His former team was in the process of dragging him back, bound and cuffed when they made contact with an alien ship.  The aliens, who would later come to be known to them as the salarians needed yahg specimens to study.  Salorne and his team were tranquilized and brought aboard the salarian vessel into confinement, never to see Parnack again.

Within a few weeks of confinement, the salarians realized that Salorne was no typical yahg. Instead of fighting his captors like the rest of his species, he showed a remarkable will to learn - both about the world around him, and how to better himself.  As part of an experiment, the salarians tested Salorne on his ability to absorb information.  Within only a few months, he had learned masters level mathematics, and continued to show an interest in education and knowledge.  As his time in salarian confinement grew from months to years, he gained more and more freedom to move around the compound as their trust in him grew.  Eventually, he was given access to the extranet when he expressed an interest in the galaxy around them.  Salorne became heavily interested in alien biology, and requested access to courses that would teach him about such things.  STG agreed, and Salorne enrolled in an online course for a salarian medical school.  Though the course was extremely fast paced, just as all salarians are, Salorne was able to keep up relatively well.  He graduated with exceptional grades after the course ended, and started to work within STG as a medical operative treating any of their injured or sick soldiers.

In 2186, the reapers hit the milky way, and salarian STG was busier than it had ever been.  Salorne worked long hours helping them strategize their attack plans as well as still treating the injured.  When the crucible failed to destroy the reapers, it was widely regarded as the beginning of the end of the galaxy.  Knowing this, his handler in STG released Salorne (illegally) from any obligations he had with them, and allowed him to go off world to see the galaxy with his own eyes, as he had always dreamed.  But Salorne refused.  He insisted that there would always be hope, no matter the odds against them.  Then, the Council released their plans for Operation: Event Horizon.  Salorne was contacted shortly after by the turian General Aetrius Caltaneus, offering him a place in RIFT.  Salorne accepted, and he was picked up by a council shuttle that delivered him to the secretive location of the CSV: Caesetia.  Due to his calm demeanor and high intelligence, Salorne was given the position of Chief Medical Officer and First Inquisitor of the CSV: Caesetia's civilian wing.