[RFC] Arthur Nkomo (open character)

[Rakhasa]

 
Here is a short write up of Arthur Nkomo as White Knigth of the Hellfire Club, pending Brian's approval or any needed changes if he needs a different background for MFoOS.

In line with the efforts to make fenspace less of a western/japanese playground, Arthur is African. The lucky (because he left Earth and is not here anymore) nation is Kenya, due to the beautiful landscapes, long and fascinating history, and because it was the African nation under my finger after I closed my eyes and touched the map.

He is also on the upper class side of the social scale, because, unfortunately, very few of the average african youth can afford to be internet lurkers or sci-fi nerds. Let's all hope this changes soon and everyone can afford some small frivolities in their lives.

Arthur Nkomo

Arthur was born in Mombasa. His father was an assistant in Kenya's diplomatic service, so he spent most of his youth being raised by his grandparents or moving from embassy to embassy, while his father climbed the ranks to full Ambassador.

He studied in the Institute Of Diplomacy And International Studies in the University of Nairobi, but his passion had always been cop shows, so he added courses in forensics and computers sciences. He was expected to follow his family steps in politics, but the Wave changed everything.

The launch of The Island carried waved across the world, but few places were stronger than in Africa. While most of this acquaintances were surprised or angry, he was fascinated. He spent the next months plotting and cajoling, and he finally convinced his parents to let him try. His father’s government contacts got him a chunk of handwavium as a graduation present, and he wasted no time to wave a mobile home and take a few sabbatical months in the Solar System.

He still is there.

It did not take him long ot know he would live in space. He moved to the still under construction Kandor, and he was one of the seven original (and for a long time, only) cops in the Kandor City Police Department.

He left the KCPD to enlist in Operation Great Justice when the war started, but his superiors soon found his investigative skills -and all that diplomatic training he so dearly tried to forget- too useful for the battlefield: He war assigned a rank of Troubleshooter as soon as this group was created.

Unfortunately for Arthur's dreams of being a hotshot field agent, but possibly fortunately for the Troubleshooters, sorely in need of skilled administrators, he managed a roaring success in his fist solo mission as a OF-6 troubleshooter.

This would also be the mission where he met Oscar Vykos, though since he was his main suspect their first few meetings weren't all that warm. Their relationship did warm at the end of the investigation, when both of them were trying to escape an abandoned Soviet base in Kazajstan while engaging a firefight against rebels, weapon dealers and Boskonian fugitives. Not as memorable as Paris, but it nevertheless was the start of a friendship

The reward of a job well done, of course, was an ascension to OF-7 and a job as trying to herd too many fractious agents. His education in international relations and his calm under even the most trying of agents has meant that he usually is the agent stuck with every 'Dane liaison investigation; though he grumbles and grouches, he has discovered he actually likes to helt tightening the links between fen and dane (the occasional chance of, very politely, rubbing biomods, females or homosexual agents in the face of bigots is also one perk he cherishes). He is slowly gathering an impressive list of contacts in the 'dane law agencies.

He is the second person to be asked (by Oscar) to join the Hellfire Club after the original creation, both for his skill and to open a friendly channel to the Convention law agencies.

Skills: He is a decent investigator, and a crack shot, but his real strength is keeping order in the ranks as an administrator. Through he keeps it quiet, he is also an excellent hacker.

Quirks: He has dealt with family, the construction of Kandor, a war, the dubious sanity of his friends in the Hellfire Club, herding the even more dubiously sane troubleshooters in his command, and countless 'dane politicians. Nothing fazes him.

[Ace Dreamer]

Got potential...

I think he needs a bit more 'character', 'hooks' to hang an understanding on of who he is, what he is likely to do. Maybe some hobbies? Does he have any relationships with people? Have any prized possessions? Pets? Favourite art, media or fiction? If he gets in a fight, what is his preferred combat style? Weapons (you imply guns)?

I like the history, but I think you could do with more than him being unflappable, good with people and bureaucracy, and hacking. Something to add 'colour'?
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind

[robkelk]

An unusual hobby of some sort, perhaps?
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[firvulag]

Looks good so far

[Rakhasa]

In all honestly, I had not though to flesh him more because so far he only has appeared in a couple of scenes as the long suffering boss of Grey and F. Well, that and now shooting terrorists with the help of a vampire in the Steppes. Which on hindisight begs for a full story.

This bio was the first part on the proyect of fleshing more the Open Characters in the Hellfire Club; soon is coming Kalyn Telana, of whose past is known even less, in her thrilling debut as a Star Wars geek and hollywood prop designer (did you think that a group of random nerds would be able to design and build a fake Luxury Station like Kickassia without anyeen noticing it's fake just like that?)

But while writing Arthur, I thought on a couple of good scenes for him and his adventures in Kazajstan, so I think he will get more fleshing and a bigger spotlight.

[Rakhasa]

I began to write about Kalyn, but could not shake the feeling that I had forgotten something, so I went back here to check Arthur. Ooops, after you asked for some hobbies I added then to the file but forgot to post then here. 

Hobbies: He loves detective novels of all kinds, and reads any he can get his hands on, no matter how corny its plot or how purple its prose. During the first family visit to Luna after the reconciliation, his grandmother brought him a traditional Kenyan mask; since then he has gathered a collection of african masks which he checks when he feels homesick.

He always carries a knife -a waved blade, with an impressive cutting edge, and several different waved handles with hidden electronics. He 'waved it and all the different handles personally, and claims to be very proud of it, because it it his tribe's the traditional knife, which he used to kill a lion in his coming of age (the knife is Ethiopian, and he bought it on a street market in New York. Arthur is a city boy, and he has never been insane enough to try and see a lion outside a zoo)

Edit: I edited his wiki page

[HRogge]

*reading character story again* Ahh, thats why he sent a catgirl down to Earth. *G*

[Ace Dreamer]

Rakhasa wrote:

---

It did not take him long ot know he would live in space. He moved
to the still under construction Kandor, and he was one of the seven
original (and for a long time, only) cops in the Kandor City Police
Department.

Where did that figure of 'seven' come from?  I did make use of 'Inspector Raven' of the KCPD in the story 'Raven Lunacy':
http://www.fenspace.net/i...rthurs_Fish#Raven_Lunacy
So, I thought it was past time I put this write-up in the wiki:
http://www.fenspace.net/i...p5?title=Inspector_Raven
Did they have a 'detective' department, early on?  If there were only seven, I'd like one of those slots for 'Raven'.  The story text implies it is a relatively conventional police department by April 2012, with normal policemen and other staff - the Supers on the force being, by then, a bit of an exception.
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind

[Rakhasa]

I made it up when I wrote the bio, so feel free.

The idea was that those seven were a group of friends/aquaintances in the early months of Kandor; most would be Supers, but not all, because Kandros was not a fulll super city even then.

Early Kandor had a lot of urgent thisng to do right now: Pressurized habitats, food, waste disposal and recicling, gathering materials to build the massive dome and the city itself, not to mention the effort in creating the Super faction, wich may sound silly but still takes a lot of time. So many things an actual city would need -education, police, even laws would be left for that nebulous "later"

The first members of the KCPD would be chatting/gossiping one day, and someone would mention the lack of cops, and someone else woudl say that there in no reason they cannot simply build it themselves -after all, it's not as if Kandor has any laws in place, after all. So the original Kandor City Police Department would be basically a miniature faction of fen which like police show and detective novels, and it would have not actual law enforcement powers. So most of the seven would be "inspectors", "western sheriffs" "detectives" or "forensic techs", and boring things like traffic cops would be completely ignored.

After the Articles of Convention were signed a justice syspem began to appear, the KCPD graduated to a full police department, and they eventually had to hire the full service, but their origins would still be fen of cop shows, not Supers, so it would remain a normal(ish) PD.

[Ace Dreamer]

So, I guess a bit needs to be done on the KCPD, history, etc...

Maybe using the idea of the seven originators? The "Septigeous Seven"?

• Arthur Nkomo
• Dr. Asmodeus Grey - super scientist & trans-humanist
• Raven - translator, troubleshooter & vigilante
• Jack "Casey" Jones - railways enthusiast & robotics engineer
• Shaun "Hammer" Hanner - police procedural enthusiast & environmental engineer
  
• "Chief" Jacobs - systems engineer & power armour fan
• Maureen Jacobs - social engineer & political scientist

Just a thought...
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind

[Rakhasa]

So, I guess a bit needs to be done on the KCPD, history, etc...

I guess we will have to wait for the first mook to have a fic with the KCPD to do all the work ~looks pointedly~
Also, Dr Grey as one of the founders of the police in fenspace (becuase KCPD would of course be one of the, or even the firs police department)... the irony is too good to pass up...
  

[Ace Dreamer]

So, I guess a bit needs to be done on the KCPD, history, etc...

I guess we will have to wait for the first mook to have a fic with the KCPD to do all the work
~looks pointedly~

It's a fair cop...

Also, Dr Grey as one of the founders of the police in fenspace (becuase KCPD would of course be one of the, or even the firs police department)... the irony is too good to pass up...

It does have a certain appeal...
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind

[HRogge]

Also, Dr Grey as one of the founders of the police in fenspace (becuase KCPD would of course be one of the, or even the firs police department)... the irony is too good to pass up...

It does have a certain appeal.

And it would give him all kinds of experience how to evade the cops.