Zshama Cossatra
Age | 46 (Born Humidor 24th 1719) |
Species | Weasel |
Sex | Female |
Build | Wiry, tall, angular |
Affiliation | Imperial Navy |
Rank | Admiral |
SKILLS:
Physical | Mental | Social |
---|---|---|
Cutlass [Trained] (2) | Medium Unit Organization [Proficient] (3) | Command [Proficient] (3) |
Skill [Rank] (Points) | Sailing [Proficient] (3) | Skill [Rank] (Points) |
Skill [Rank] (Points) | Large Unit Organization [Trained] (2) | Skill [Rank] (Points) |
Skill [Rank] (Points) | Skill [Rank] (Points) | Skill [Rank] (Points) |
Total Points in Category: 2 | Total Points in Category: 8 | Total Points in Category: 3 |
DESCRIPTION:
Zshama is a female weasel, her long life of hard work in naval service written clear across her body. Her patchy, often unkempt fur is a paler shade of brown than it should be, bleached by the sun and the sea, and greyed by stress long before age. She’s lean, still strong enough to wield cutlass in paw, though her right arm is missing below the elbow, replaced by a worn prosthetic that only adds to her disheveled appearance. Not left-handed by nature, the weasel still gets some use out of her right arm, with pliable, skeletal metal fingers at its artificial wrist able to hold objects in a loose grip, provided those fingers are moved into position to do so by her other hand.
In terms of her clothing, the weasel most typically wears her admiral’s uniform, a blue coat cut with various gold threading to signify her command. When in this capacity, she nearly always carries an old navy cutlass in a scabbard at her side, ready to be drawn – with her left hand – at a moment’s notice. A series of three small earings mark the side of her left ear, vestiges of a more energetic period of her life.
BIOGRAPHY:
Born into the Cossatra name, once renowned for its tradition of naval service, Zshama reached adulthood long after her older brother, Datko, had sullied its reputation by turning traitor during the Maelstrom war.
He had been a Lieutenant in the navy, holding his own command until his small ship was nearly lost with all hands. Demoted to ensign in disgrace, he managed to get assigned to the Golden Hide as an advisor to then-captain Brek Larks. In this capacity, Datko Cossatra secrely undermined the Hide’s missions in the service of Maelstrom, eventually revealing himself during the movement’s final battle in the harbor.
Presumed dead after being beaten senseless and launched overboard, her brother was never heard from again, but his actions forever stained the Cossatra name. Zshama had to perform twice as well, work twice as hard, to attain a commission in the navy her family had served for generations.
By luck or her hard work, she was assigned to the newly commissioned warship Invocation as an ensign in the summer of 1737. Zshama threw herself into her work, earning commendations during several skirmishes off the coasts of the Peace Islands. By 1739 she was a lieutenant, serving as first mate of the Invocation for another two years before finally reaching the rank of captain.
For a time, she had all that she wanted. She had respect, command of one of the newest warships in the fleet, and had restored some measure of honor to her name. Dispatched to Varangia on a mission to show the flag and help broker some small negotiations on the behalf of the Imperial government, Zshama and the Invocation would become ensnared in a local crisis on the coast of Hrushka in 1743. Known thereafter as the ‘Tahbos Affair’, she made the order to commit her crew to one side of an ongoing civil war, relieving forces friendly to the Imperium and its passing merchants at the cost of many members of her crew, and the loss of her right arm.
Though the battle was a victory, and the important city of Tahbos would remain controlled by the Imperium-friendly Merchant’s Alliance, the intervention resulted in massive diplomatic fallout for the Imperial Government, and had resulted in too many losses among her crew to go unaccounted for. Seeing little further use in the newly crippled weasel captain, Zshama was relieved of command after an investigation and dramatic military hearing found her negligent in her actions. Much to her dismay, her dead brother’s prior treachery was made evidence during the hearing, helping to undo all she had done to restore honor to her family name.
Bitter and dejected, Zshama floundered through the rest of her dead-end career in the Navy as a logistics officer for the Ministry of War, one of the few positions they figured she still had a use for.
She found another chance to prove herself when the civil war came in 1748. The Navy, long a hotbed of opposition against the Brudenell regime’s efforts to downsize the navy, found many ships and officers defecting to any of the various rebel factions that emerged to tear the government down. The weasel was quickly given command of a warship, and then a flotilla, promoted to Commodore before the war had ended, taking part in many victories over its course.
Emerging from the war a celebrated officer once again, she was nevertheless passed over for the position of Minister of War after Amelie’s coup, with the position instead going to a safer, more loyal army officer. She was, however, eventually promoted to Admiral for her service, and now finds herself back on her first command, the Invocation.
Being back aboard wiped away most of the sense of injustice she still felt, though it hasn’t stopped the nightmares. Like her arm, lost somewhere on the shores of Tahbos, she can still feel the losses of so many beasts under her command. More than anything, the weasel feels tired, wondering if spending her life this way has been worth it.
POSSESSIONS:
With a lifetime of naval service behind her, the admiral nevertheless possesses few assets on land, just an upper scale home in the Imperial condos that she rarely visits. Most of her possessions reside either in her quarters on the Invocation, or else in the Epicurean Bank back in the harbor.