Name: Baroness Trifeena Marsud (though she usually goes by Trif)

Age: 30

Occupation: Astrogator

Description

Trif is tall and slender, with very short blond hair and pale skin. She has a calm, no-nonsense manner, though sometimes with a hint of mischief in her grey eyes. She's usually seen in her uniform jumpsuit; even her off-duty clothes tend to be similar.

Personality

Trif is proud, ambitious, and has bulletproof self-confidence. Three terms in the navy have knocked off any residual arrogance or recklessness, making her an adequate leader. She takes both diplomatic functions and starport bar-crawls in her stride, though she can be a bit of a stickler for the rules - they're there for a reason. She can be lacking in imagination, as shown by her preference for somewhat military-style jumpsuits even when not on duty.

Background

Trif grew up on Karin/Five Sisters (A767768-C 2 Ht Ri Ag Ga), the daughter of minor Imperial nobility. Her parents are proud to claim they are Vilani, and insist on the Vilani title 'Iishakku'. Her mother is the actual land-owner.

Her childhood was spent on the family estates. Karin is a high tech garden world, and time she didn't spend being tutored was spent riding around the estate's farms or attending various social functions. But the Imperial Navy was in her blood: not only had her parents served, but Karin is both a major Naval base and a junction point on the X-boat network. She signed up as soon as she turned 18. With her sights set high, she joined the Flight branch as an astrogator. Piloting was the more traditional route to becoming a ship captain, but she'd seen too many washed-up pilots who'd never commanded anything bigger than a shuttle.

In the navy, her social rank made her a target. There were rumors that she'd only been given her commission because of her parents, which Trif had to concede was partly true, and that she was incompetent, which Trif was determined to prove untrue. She learned to defend herself, and attended as many social events as she could to make sure people knew who she was.

Her big chance came in her second term. One of the chores given to ensigns was signing off the monthly requisitions. Trif was possibly unique in doing all the tedious cross-checking, and discovered a Cr75 discrepancy. Most would have ignored this as too small to worry about, but Trif diligently pursued it... and uncovered a smuggling ring that was diverting rather more than Cr75 of naval supplies to pirates and criminal gangs. The ringleader, Karsen Snow, was dishonorably discharged and spent several years in prison; he's sworn revenge. The work got her a commendation and a promotion, and finally silenced most of the doubters.

Steady work has seen her rise to Lieutenant, and working as an assigned astrogator. Trif has pride in her work: the pilots may steer the Artful, but it's the astrogators who work out where she's going.

Trif is allowed to use her mother's title as a courtesy title, but has no lands of her own - and is fine with that, not wanting to be tied to one world. She doesn't use the title in everyday life, and sticks to the Galanglic 'baroness' when she needs to use it to impress or intimidate someone - or to book a table at an expensive restaurant. She thinks her parents' insistence on Vilani forms of address as pretentious, as the family is likely no more Vilani than anyone else in the Imperium.