Teller Munro

The Basics

Full name: Teller Josiah Munro Date of Birth: September 29, 2490 Gender: Male Born On: Hera, White Willow Ranch Eyes: Hazel green Hair: dk. Brown hair Height: 6' Weight: 180 lbs Handedness: Ambidextrous Bloodtype: B negative Parents: Duncan and Ula Munro Siblings: 1 older brother (Thaniel Jacob) 2 younger sisters (Birgite Margaret and Moriah Adele) Spouse: Widowed, Coraline Munro (nee Broin) Children: None Assignment: Captain, Valiant Specialization: Gunslinger/Security Status: Inactive Nicknames: Tel, Rook, The Gut Education Information Newcastle Township Comprehensive School, Pine Mountain, Hera (K-Graduation, 2506) Military Service 2506 - Joined the Independents, 6th Army, 123rd Battalion, Stonewall Brigade (sharpshooters) after lying about his age. (he was 16 at the time) Callsign: Rook. Field promoted to Corporal 2508 Wounded later that year, healed and reassigned to new unit in same brigade. Field promoted to Sargent 2509 Wounded in early 2510, Battle of New Kashmir, returned to his unit. Wounded April 02, 2511, Battle of Serenity Valley, returned to his parents home to convalesce until the end of the war

Post War Service/Employment Worked for a time on his parents ranch following the end of the war. Crewed with the Weeping Tree for a short spell in 2512 Plantation hand for Unger Estate, Persephone 2512-2516 Crewed with the Ni Bao 2516-2518 Joined the Smythe Gang, 2518 (2 jobs, train and bank heists.) Crewed with the Durch Flammen 2518-2520 Crewed with the Sojourner 2520-2523 Inherited the Valiant February 2524, becoming her Captain Personal Rules to Live by: Rule Number One: Don’t over think. Rule Number Two: Don’t under think. Rule Number Three: Listen to the Gut. Rule Number Four: When in doubt, improvise. Rule Number Five: Being underestimated is to have a tactical advantage. Rule Number Six: Listening will teach you more than speaking. Rule Number Seven: Don’t lie to yourself. Rule Number Eight: Be careful who you let in. Rule Number Nine: There's no such thing as coincidence. Rule Number Ten: No plan survives contact with the enemy intact. Rule Number Eleven: Always carry a knife.

Here's How it Is:

Born the second son of a Scotsman and a German woman, I grew up on a horse, sheep and goat ranch on Hera, in a valley not far from the now infamous Serenity Valley. Reckon you could say I was a headstrong, but quiet kid. Most folk mostly took me for shy, in comparison to my Golden Boy older brother. I’d like to think I was a decent student that liked learning alright until it got in the way of other pursuits. My best friend was Michael O'Brian, the oldest of the kids next door. Granted, our next door was a mile down the dirt road. Even though he was a couple of years younger, we played together with my older brother Thaniel and younger sister Birgite, it wasn't like there were a lot of other kids around really.

I was 16 years old in 2506 when the war started, and by December of that year I had managed to get a hold of forged documents that put me at having just turned 18. No one much cared in the Independent recruiting office at the time, and truth be told, I did look a little older than my years. This was when my friendship with Michael honestly came to an end over a catastrophic difference of opinion. He broke my nose, I knocked him out and carried him back to his parents house and didn't see him again.

Through all the worst of the war, I was wounded three times and promoted twice. There were probably decorations in there for valour or some other fancy way of saying I was doing what I was trained to do. Momma's got 'em tucked away in some drawer or something. I did everything I could to protect my people, and never left a man behind. Not terrible bad for a NonCom. The last time I was wounded was in Serenity Valley. Lost my right leg to a boulder that rolled down the mountain to my sniper position and crushed the old foot and leg. Hera exacted a high price from us locals in those months we were fighting over the Valley, come to find out the very day I lost my leg, Michael lost his life.

Convalescing at my parents home on Hera helped to heal more than just the body. Eventually I felt right enough to move off the farm and take what work came along with various crews. In time it landed me on the Unger Estate on Persephone.

There I met Coraline Broin, the stars in my sky. She was the sous chef in the household kitchen, and after seeing her exclusively, she agreed to be my wife, to be my life really. We only had eighteen months together though. In 2516, she murdered by Valente Lopez, a fellow who worked on the estate with us. Apparently he couldn’t get the hint that she was married and not willing to cheat on me. She was three months pregnant at the time. They say I took her murder hard. How do you love some one that deeply and not take their death ’hard’? Specially when it didn’t have to happen. But I’d like to think that I’m a just man. So rather than seek revenge on the man who exterminated my family, I became a thorn in the side of the authorities on Persephone. That insistence on the investigation led the guilty man to confess and he’s currently serving time. It did end up costing me my job with the Ungers, but I couldn’t have continued to work for them. Everywhere on their land reminded me of her. I had to leave before I did something stupid.

Following Coraline’s death, I’ve worked a variety to jobs, some more legitimate than others. Last gig was on a boat called the Sojourner, working for a captain called Cornelious Wolf. When Wolf sold his old Firefly, the crew went their separate ways. I spent several months trying to get myself hired on a variety of boats or ranches with relatively not success. I reckon it's either gone out of fashion to hire veterans, or people just don't see the point in hiring a guy with one leg he puts on in the morning.

All that travel landed me in the Medical Wellness Clinic on Persephone with, apparently Paquin Encephalitis. Don't rightly know how any of it came about cause my memories of that time are fuzzy at best. The first clear thing I can recall are a pair of brilliant, aquamarine blue eyes trying to downplay just how much pain she was in. First conversation I had with Miss Rasya Emer wasn't one with words. She's become one of my closest friends since.

A year ago now, I was given the greatest gift and responsibility since I got married. My Aunt Aggie was a hell of a woman, the oldest of all her siblings, including my mother, she owned her own ranch separate from her husbands on New Melbourne. She ran it, and ran it well. It was January, (2524) she purchased the Valiant, but regrettably, she'd never get to see the ship fly. Not even a month later, she died and willed the ship me, of all people. So I've put together my crew, we're got the Valiant, and now have the freedom of the stars to guide us.

Other Random Information

The Cult of Teller's Personality

Often a quiet and observant man, Teller generally tells it like it is without a lot of flowery speech. He's a genuinely nice guy who's not afraid to not be nice when the time is right to not be nice. There's a protective streak in Teller that's more than a parsec wide, he'll do just about anything to protect his people. While there is a romantic streak in him as well, Teller's very guarded about romantic matters and doesn't let people in beyond a certain point. Honesty is vitally important both with himself and with other people, and he's developed a fairly accurate sense of when people are lying. Teller's instincts are well honed, and he listens to his Gut quite a bit. Generally speaking, it does him a fair amount of service. He has rather complex relationships with his family, in particular with his three siblings.

Things of Note:

• Will drink any kind of coffee or coffee substitute, black no sugar.
• Missing his right leg from just above the knee thanks to a freak accident during the last great battle of the War, Serenity Valley, fought on his home planet of Hera.
• Favourite colour is Blue.
• Doesn't dance.
• Is an avid reader. (of books and generally anything in print. Including cereal boxes when desperate.)
• Likes to play chess.
• Known for his use of formal titles, people he uses nicknames with hold a special place with him.
• Wears a necklace with both his and his wife's wedding rings on it.
• Favourite two poets: Robert Burns and Rudyard Kipling.
• Too much success makes him nervous and twitchy.
• Generally won't eat a haggis that hasn't been prepared by his family, but is always willing to share, and promote Heran Cottage industries.
• Hums or sings the song "Ohne Dich" originally by Rammstein when he's thinking of his wife and he doesn't think anyone's around.

PCs: Or People in the 'Verse of Teller....

• Doctor Xian Yu - Doctor that treated him twice during the war, and one he's run into a few times since. He's described her as the kind, calm chewy centre of the 'Verse.
  
• Duke Dunkirk - former commarade and co-worker on the Soujourner. Teller's got a soft spot for the big guy, and would do damned near anything to help him if he could. In many ways, Duke is like the little brother Teller never had. It's a shame that Duke's dropped off the face of the 'Verse.
  
• Naomi Ida - Fate seems to have put these two into contact with each other at just the right time. Having already had several conversations and a couple of cups of coffee together, The Gut told Teller to hire Naomi for the Valiant. And then The Gut was rewarded with Real Coffee. Not chickory and dirt. He listens to her suggestions because she generally knows what she's doing and when she doesn't, she lets him know. Honesty like that's not something you dismiss easily. Their relationship has deepened into a brother-sister sort, even though he has yet to meet her Honoured Father just yet.
  
• Finnegan Marsh - The eccentric bluehaired ships mechanic that Teller honestly hired on a whim. It seems to be a good whim though, since Finnegan's joined the Valiant as a mechanic, and is currently teaching Teller the difference between the mechanics of a spaceship and a combine. Also, a fellow Coffee Enthusiast.
  
• Jackson Wilder - A pilot that Teller's served with before on the Soujourner. Though they seem to have conflicting personalities and lifestyles, There's a quiet bond that comes of working together for a long time. Besides, every guy needs that crazy friend that gets you into experiencing 'local colour' ever now and again. But Teller will never willingly introduce Wilder to his little sister Moriah.
  
• Taylor Kim - The first full fledged Registered Companion that Teller's actually ever held a conversation with. Slowly by slowly, the two men are getting to know each other, hopefully developing a life-long bond. Only time, and adversity will tell.
  
• Siegfried Von Heilden - A lucky find, Siggy as he's affectionately called is the main pilot on the Valiant and rapidly turning into a young man that the whole Munro Clan would adopt. Hard working and resourceful, he helps put his own fair share of a dent in the coffee stores on the Valiant.
  
• Mycol Reamer - A fellow veteran, though on the other side of the conflict, it might surprise most people to find out that there is not in fact an 800 lb. proverbial gorilla in the room when both of them are in it at the same time. But in spite of how well they might get along in real life, much like Wilder, Teller will never willingly introduce Myke to Moriah.
  
• Maite Padilla - In many ways, she had been Teller's Apprentice. For nearly a year they worked together, and with any hope, Teller maaged to impart some kind of knowing to her before she decided to leave for different pastures.
  
• Burn Kim - Sometimes chance encounters put the most interesting people into one's path. An odd day's shopping on Persephone led to a brilliant conversation with Miss Burn, and ended with Teller buying her an old, re-re-re-printed copy of Riders of the Purple Sage, by Zane Grey. It might just surprise Teller to discover the connection between Miss Burn and her brother Taylor, the Companion renting a room on the Valiant.
  
• Helena Byrne - Only recently reunited in the modern day, a chance encounter put these former neighbors back into contact with each other in a surprisingly friendly fashion, considering the tension that once drove their two families apart. Her oldest brother Michael O'Brian was his childhood best friend.
  
• Damian Carmichael - Haggis and shared heritage can be interesting binding agents in this day and age. However, it seems to be working for these two partial Scots.
  
• Nicholas Drake - Nicholas' mother Aly was the 'local' vet for not just New Fleska, but for Newcastle as well back on Hera, so really Teller has only had the briefest of touches in the life of Master Drake, rather surprised to find him in the household of a Noble on Osiris, of all places. Not to mention 'all grown up'!
• Richard Clarke - The medic hired to fill the medical void left by Jhi, Richard is making the Valiant his home, settling in nicely into his spot on the crew. Something his Mother seems keen on supporting with her canning talents.

NPCs: The Family Munro

Weathered Munro Tartan Clan Badge

Duncan - Father (b. November 24, 2457)

A boistrious and joccular man, Duncan is a man always on the go, with a quick smile and a dirty joke to go with his hearty laugh. Originally from Londinium, Duncan moved his bride and first born out to Hera to homestead and live the good and honest life. They settled on the south side of the south mountain that helps to form the bowl that is Serenity Valley. Though the White Willow Ranch is not in Serenity Valley itself, Duncan or one of his hands will occasionally come across unexploded ordinance from the war, which makes some days more "intersting" than others. Talk of the war, or rather Teller's involvement in it will generally set Duncan in a lovely dark Highland Brooding Session.

Ula (nee Schwartz) - Mother (b. September 14, 2464)

Ula Munro is a far more serious minded lady with a penchant for quietly ruling her family with an iron fist. Like Duncan, she hales from Londinium, where her family runs several department stores now headed by her brother Hans. Family is the most important thing to her, and nearly every other year at Christmas, she hosts her parents, all of her siblings, their children and grandchildren, as well as Duncan's father, his siblings, their children and grandchildren and so on. The odd cousin or three are just as liable to show up. Well educated and an avid reader, she helped to fan the thirst for knowledge of her four children by reading all manner of stories to them. Of all the Munro's, Ula is perhaps the most outspoken about the foolishness of war, and the price their family paid, not just the blood that Teller sacrificed, but her youngest sister and a handful of cousins, as well friends and neighbors.

Thaniel - Older Brother (b. May 17, 2488)

Two years older than Teller, Thaniel takes a little more after Duncan than Ula, wearing his charming sense of humour on his sleeve. This helps to hide an actually analytical mind and a well driven indvidual who's taken some of the most rugged mountain terrain on Hera and produced some of the best black tea anywhere in the 'Verse. Something he gifts his brother with at birthday and Christmas, though Thaniel knows that Teller himself doesn't drink the stuff. The last couple of years, it's come with the worlds "You can give it to a lady friend, they love this stuff, boy-oh. Maybe you can end your dryspell...." Knowing his brother honestly means well is and trying to look after him, Teller smiles and nods and replies, "Yeah we'll see." There used to be quite a bit of tension between brothers, as Thaniel stayed behind to help the parents out and start his family during the War while Teller ran off from his responsiblites at home to go fight what most of the family saw as another man's war. Married to the mother of his five children, the proverbial girl next door, Katie O'Brian.

Birgite - Younger Sister (b. March 19, 2492)

The older of Teller's two younger sisters, Birgite is perhaps a fairly sterotypical middle child. She and Teller being only eighteen months apart were really rather close until he ran off to fight. Though of all the Munro children, she's the only one who understands why he'd go and risk his life for the very notion of Freedom. But when Teller came back so broken and really a different person, Birgite couldn't handle it and a wall has grown up between them. Since the end of the Core-word Aggression, she married a man from New Fleska, Parker Stinson, who with not lack of irony is also a veteran of the war. They've settle on a large plot of land between New Fleska and Newcastle Townships, on which they're raising four children.

Moriah - Younger Sister (b. July 24, 2499)

Being nearly a decade older than Moriah has certainly made things interesting for these siblings growing up in such different times. Moriah had just turned seven when Teller went away, and by the time he came back she was nearly an all grown up twelve years old, with more fantasies of what Teller was like than actual memories. But like all Munros, she was there to help care for him when their father brought him over the mountain to finish convalescing. It was in helping to nurse Teller that Moriah realized what it was she wanted to do with her life. She's currently enrolled in MedAcad on Ariel, studying orthopedics with a sub-specialty geared towards amputees. Her bestfriend since childhood is Helena Byrne, even if the two young women have moved into very different, if somewhat interconnected spheres through their education. She is single at this time.

Coraline - Wife (b. February 23, 2492 - m. August 12, 2514 - d. March 13, 2516)

The lovely wife he intended to stay on Persephone for the rest of his life with. Her life and that that of their unborn child was cut short by the jealousy of another man. She was bright and firey, independent and fierce, loving and loyal. Passionate about food and history and culture, she delighted in trying her best to make people fat and happy as possible. She did better than just hang the moon, she was Teller's Everything. It took more time to put himself back together after her death that it did when the war ended with his body in pieces. Nine years after her death, Coraline is still well entrenched in his quieter thoughts.