The Dominion of Rhinara (Story and Characters)
(OOC: For the time being, this is just a story I'm using to develop the character Silk as well as other aspects of my nation. Later on I'll include character summaries and pics and whatnot.)
She slipped through the quiet halls of the Dominion's capital, blending into the darkened corridors in her all-black outfit. Silk was her name, and the leader of the Dominion was her target. The one they called the Founder.
The Dominion was a large nation with advanced technology. Its borders were closed off and constantly monitored by both soldiers and tireless computers. Its intelligence agency was among the best in the world, having been around for much longer than most other countries. In fact, espionage was the Dominion's forté. In short, no one would have been able to penetrate into the capital. No one except for Silk.
Her lenses were on passive nightvision so that she could see better in the dark without setting off any alarms with her active scanners. Last she checked, the Founder was in the main meeting hall alone - a very unwise thing to do. She took slow steps as she approached a side entrance to the hall, not wishing to make any sounds reverberate off of the marble floor, walls, and ceiling.
Peering through the open entryway, she saw a monstly darkened hall save for the center table, where a man was sitting at, reading over a stack of reports. What fortune. The lenses indicated no one else was in the room, and the man - the Founder - had his back to her.
Her hand moved to her strapped rifle, but stopped. That would have been too loud; too messy. Such a weapon ought to be used for sniping from distances, not for shooting a man in the next room. Instead, she reached for her black combat knife, complete with black steel so nothing would stand out. A slit across the throat and she would be successful.
Her heart pounded as she crept slowly toward her prey, one step at a time. Each step seemed to take an eternity. Each one, although soundless, seemed like a ringing gong. Half the distance between her and the Founder had been closed, but just then her ears alerted her of several, silenced shots going off in the room.
Silk braced herself, but found her strength being sapped from her and she sank to the floor.
"You must have set off a couple hundred security alerts since the moment you crossed into Dominion borders," the Founder's voice said softly, still sitting in a chair and facing the opposite direction. "But I was curious as to how far you could get." He stood up, tapped on something on the conference table, and lights brightened up the entire meeting hall. He turned, regarded Silk lying on the floor, and walked to her to stand over her.
The sudden light blinded her for a second and she mustered enough energy to pull the amplifying lenses off of her face. Looking back up at the leader of the Dominion, she said, "...I can't...believe...you shot me!"
The Founder grinned and held out a hand to help her up. "It's only a few weak tranqs. Your strength should be returning to you by now."
And just like he said, she did indeed start to feel stronger. She took the offered hand and got back to her feet. With a frown, she pulled half a dozen little needles out of her outfit. Looking back at him, she finally smiled and dropped the needles. "Come here, l'il bro," and she gave him a hug.
"Your assassination attempt really hurts. Right here," he pointed to his heart, feigning pain.
Silk grinned. "I was only testing your security measures. Nothing personal."
"Anyway, how've you been?" he asked, leading her to the conference table and holding out a seat for her.
She unstrapped her rifle and katana, placed them on the table, and sat down. "Same as always. Met some interesting creatures, I must say. Argonians, for example. Some invisible ones are near-undetectable even with these," she tapped a forefinger on her optical device.
"You ought to be more careful, Jorelle," the Founder said. "If you pulled what you tried to today in another country, you could end up dead."
She rolled her eyes. "Don't start with that, Jorian. I know how to take care of myself. I have for these past several years."
"You were limping," Jorian stated.
Jorelle had hoped that he would not notice. Her leg was healed, but apparently she was unable to hide that barely perceptible limp. "A little riding accident. At the river Anduin. Nothing to do with any of my missions."
He arched an eyebrow. "The river Anduin? Didn't a horde of orcs attack that place a while back?"
"Goblins...mostly."
"Hmph," was Jorian's reply. "A job back here would be a lot safer. You'd've made of a good praetor or consul."
Sneering, Jorelle said, "You know perfectly well I'd die if I had to sit at a desk all day, pushing papers. That's why I left. Dad...he always..." Her eyes dropped to the floor.
Jorian shook his head, "No need, Jorelle."
A brief moment of silence, and she shrugged it off and smiled to show her change of mood. "Howabout you? I see there's still no ring on that finger."
"No time," he said, then smiled. "Too busy pushing paper."
"What about that nice girl from college?"
"That was years ago..." Jorian took in a deep breath and let it out slowly.
"Sorry." She looked steadily into his eyes. "But you still feel something for her, huh?"
He was quiet at first, then looked away. "So, any interesting stories from your mercenary journeys?"
Jorelle chose not to pursue the topic, and answered, "Oh, I fought some vampires and some mutants. Never really imagined I'd be doing that kind of thing. Visited some beautiful lands, untouched by industry, unlike here. How can you stand living in a city with permanent cloud cover?"
"It protects us from prying eyes," Jorian pointed up to indicate satellites. "And much of the population lives underground anyway, so it doesn't matter to them."
"Still obsessed about that, I see."
"We must protect ourselves. There are aggressive nations out there that wouldn't hesistate to attack us if we were weaker."
She shrugged. "I guess you're right. But still..." she shook her head.
Another moment of silence approached, and Jorian broke it by saying, "It's late. Get some rest and we'll catch up more in the morning. You'll find your room just as you left it."
http://www.angelfire.com/scifi2/ttomaktt/dominion.JPG
http://www.angelfire.com/scifi2/ttomaktt/jorian1.JPG http://www.angelfire.com/scifi2/ttomaktt/jorian2.JPG Jorian Tovius
The young leader of the Dominion, taking the Founder position at the age of 23. He is currently 29. Founders' names are typically not used, but rather they are always referred to simply as the Founder. Thus, most people in the Dominion, not to mention outsiders, never learn the Founder's true name.
http://www.angelfire.com/scifi2/ttomaktt/jorelle1.JPG http://www.angelfire.com/scifi2/ttomaktt/jorelle2.JPG Jorelle Tovius
She calls herself Silk when outside of the Dominion, doing contract mercenary work. Along with the Dominion coverups of her identity, no one knows that she is the older sister of the leader of the Dominion. While not the best of mercenaries, she does well enough to survive.
http://www.angelfire.com/scifi2/ttomaktt/korell1.JPG http://www.angelfire.com/scifi2/ttomaktt/korell2.JPG Taevan Korell
General Korell, head of the Dominion Intelligence.
http://www.angelfire.com/scifi2/ttomaktt/varel1.JPG http://www.angelfire.com/scifi2/ttomaktt/varel2.JPG Llorana Varel
Fleet Admiral Varel, in charge of the space armadas.
http://www.angelfire.com/scifi2/ttomaktt/avrek1.JPG http://www.angelfire.com/scifi2/ttomaktt/avrek2.JPG Toketh Avrek
General Avrek, leader of the Dominion army.
http://www.angelfire.com/scifi2/ttomaktt/ravyn1.JPG http://www.angelfire.com/scifi2/ttomaktt/ravyn2.JPG Othien Ravyn
Admiral Ravyn, head of the navy.
http://www.angelfire.com/scifi2/ttomaktt/hrisal1.JPG http://www.angelfire.com/scifi2/ttomaktt/hrisal2.JPG Tollath Hrisal
Doctor Hrisal is renowned in the Dominion for his archaeological and astroarchaeological studies.
http://www.angelfire.com/scifi2/ttomaktt/rhinara1.JPG http://www.angelfire.com/scifi2/ttomaktt/rhinara2.JPG
The capital of the Dominion
The capital building of the Dominion. Major cities in the Dominion are covered in a permanent layer of clouds, giving it a perpetual dim look.
(More to come...whenever I get around to it.)
Bump.
And yeah, I'm a Stargate fan. Naturally.