Elli'stryss zh'Nolon

Ensign Elli'stryss zh'Nolon is an engineer on the USS Odyssey.

## Background

Elli was born in the frozen city of Laikan on Andor - freezing cold all year round (but then again the whole planet is cold all year round) and sometimes the residents were accordingly frosty, both in their interactions and in their manners.

Thankfully, Elli'stryss did not inherit these traits of her neighbors and family. Being exposed to other cultures from a young age, living in the capital city of Andor, she realized that it would not do for her to be cold to others. Being educated at a school where off-worlder expats sent their children for their studies, she found that adopting the attitude of her parents simply earned her the suspicion and sometimes mistrust of her peers, which she did not like. She thus took it upon herself to seem more open and friendly - and to stay positive whenever possible.

Starfleet entered her life when she was ten. One of her classmates, a human girl named Mina, was lucky enough to be born into a family of enlisted Starfleet personnel serving aboard the USS Troubadour and currently the local Federation embassy. She and Elli were nearly inseparable, constantly studying together after school or sometimes staying over at each others' homes. Mina would constantly tell her stories of her parents' lives aboard the Troubadour and how she so loved seeing the stars fly by as the ship travelled through space.

Outside of school, she had a largely happy life growing up with only her *shreya* and *charan* around most of the time. Her *zhavey* worked at the embassy on Cardassia Prime and as such had to live planetside while her *thavan* found employment as a professor at the Daystrom Institute on Earth (and was accordingly not home too often either, though he tried hard to call home whenever he could). Her *shreya,* being an engineer and chef turned housewife, took it upon herself to raise her *zhei* as well as she could, keeping her well fed and healthy while teaching her whatever she could, including her engineering skills and knowledge. Funnily enough, both women note to this day that of all the skills her mother imparted to her, she never quite grasped the culinary arts, and admittedly remains a terrible cook to this day.

Her *charan,* however, was a bladed weapons instructor at the Imperial Guard Academy, and he too was determined to teach her what he knew. The universe could be a hostile place, after all. Her weekends were spent training with him on the Academy grounds: ushaan, rapier, ordinary sword, fencing foil and more. She learned to use them all well - in fact, she entered the Academy annual fencing competition and won, much to the chagrin of her competitors. Many of them likened her to a flowing wave od water; blue, calm, smooth, with her neatly kept white hair as sea foam atop the water - until she crashed down upon you, swallowing you under in the blink of an eye, blade at your throat.

Her aspirations did not lie with the Guard, however, but in the stars with Starfleet the sense of adventure it brought, and Engineering. While she did not mind combat she fancied being able to work on something bigger than herself, and to use what her mother had taught her. Thus at 19 she left for Earth with the blessing of all four of her parents.

Her Academy time was quite normal. Friendly and open as she was she often found herself mingling with others at cadet parties and social functions. Her fellow cadets were quite shocked sometimes at the disparity between the cheerful, bubbly woman and cool, calm swordswoman that she became whenever asked to demonstrate her skill with the blade. When she wasn't studying, she would be found with the Academy's fencing club - she eventually came to captain its team in several competitions, in fact, where her reputation as a tidal wave of the sea once again shone through. She also spent brief stints at the Academy's news club, publishing articles on miscellaneous topics, as well as a student guide for visitors coming to campus. She took special delight in meeting others and getting to know them. No one (in her tour groups at least) ever suspected that she was adept with the blade as she was.

Out of the Academy she was assigned to the USS Odyssey - whose mission excited her. A trip to the Delta Quadrant? Wonderful. She couldn't wait to see what lay in store for her.

## Appearance

Pictured above, standing at 5'5" (a fact she sometimes finds annoying) with a curvier, slightly thicker figure.

## Personality

Calm, sweet, friendly, passionate - and yet analytical. A strange combination for sure, but for her it works. Give her a sword or bladed weapon and her focus sharpens, as befits a practised swordswoman. She absolutely hates imperfections (from herself and no one else), knowing that the same could cost her life, or worse, *lives.* She demands surgical precision and carefulness from herself, both in her artful use of the blade and her engineering work.

## Psych Evaluation

She has a somewhat perfectionist streak, fostered by her *charan*, who trained her in the way of the blade since young. A swordsman needs to land perfect strikes to be effective, and this philosophy extends to her work as well. This officer is reminded to manage her expectations well.

## Other information

* Likes: Practising with swords, tinkering with spare parts, socializing
* Dislikes: Chocolate, whiskey, sitting idle with nothing to do