Henry Arden Kukrum IV is a retired Soorian official that wants to spend his twilight years traveling the stars, learning about aliens and hunting them. Hunting for sport is illegal and taboo on Soor Prime, so he must roam the savage system.
- Age
- 55
- Gender
- Male
- Eyes
- Green
- Hair
- Orange
- Skin Tone/Pigmentation
- Ruddy, sun-kissed
- Height
- 6' even
- Weight
- A lean 225
===
INTRODUCTORY VIGNETTE - HENRY AND THE ALIEN
===
I was standing upon a cliff of pink ice and rock overlooking a glittering blue-white sea of crystalline permafrost. Stalagmites of pink ice between two and twenty meters tall - and nearly as wide at their base - breached the crystalline sea in clusters, providing ample cover for my quarry as it hid from both me and the afternoon sun that shone behind me, casting a long human shadow onto the stalagmite sea.
As I leaned upon my beloved laser rifle (a Sharps-LR3K I had nicknamed Tribulation, or Tribby for short), I raised a pair of primitive binoculars to my eyes and scanned the landscape below me for movement. I shrugged off my backpack and stretched. Generally, I carried few supplies, preferring to eat only what I could catch, but even my particularly broad shoulders - the result of generations of (now outlawed) Soorian in-vitro eugenics - grew tired after stalking a crafty xenobeast for several days.
I could see not track nor furtive shadow upon the entire landscape below me. There was no wind to cover its tracks, nor was there sign the beast had tried to do so itself. But as I lowered my binoculars from my eyes, I noticed something incredibly amusing at the corner of my vision. It was a glimpse of shadow cast by the afternoon sun, naught but a flicker. My lips curled into a slight smile, which crept outward until it made my cheeks sore. And then I laughed an undignified guffaw as I spun around, hefting Tribby and shoving its barrel into the gut of the creature behind me.
I spoke to her, a smile in my voice, in the local language.
“Hello, darling, and thank you, I had not wanted to descend into the permafrost - the white worms are dormant this year, but if you had slipped and hit your head, I’d have had to forfeit my deposit.”
The alien was beautiful in a dirty sort of way, with green eyes and platinum hair grease-locked into braids. Beneath her layers of white fur shawls, she was clearly emaciated. She was holding a steel knife in shaking, bony fingers. Her mouth hung open in shock.
“Oh, you didn’t know that? Is that why you thought you had to ambush me? You haven’t had occasion to study the thrilling xenoecology of your own planet?" I cocked my head to the side and then nodded. "Ah, I see. You alien tribals must have simply declared this field taboo. From a cultural evolutionary standpoint, that makes sense. You’re probably a thousand years or so shy of developing xenoecology. Though for you, it would just be - ecology, right?” I laughed again. I felt her tense up, and I dug the barrel of my rifle deeper into her gut. I twisted it slightly. She winced.
She spoke. “You are evil, old man. How can you do this to me? To us? What have we done to you?”
I sighed, adjusting my grip on Tribby. “Nothing that you would understand.”
She began to bark hysterically, and the warble of it made me grimace. “Do not mock my intelligence, offworlder! We do not have your starships, but we are not beasts. We are people, like you! How can you hunt people?”
I raised an eyebrow.
“People? Hardly! You hunted the club-tailed Velite bear to extinction. The few mottled wolves that remain are in protective captivity.” My voice began to swell in volume. “As are the shrieking hookbeaks, the Velite guar, and even the nocturnal gramats! All within the last fifteen years!” My voice shook and my finger began to squeeze the trigger of my rifle. “Because of you! You aliens don’t have the slightest grasp of simple sustainable hunting practices!”
The Velite was rattled, shaking her head wildly as her head of platinum braids shook about. “No, no, we hunted bears, but Domers hunted the others. More than us. We did, but they did, too. No tribe of Vel - it was poachers. Domer poachers. From the bubble cities.” Her eyes were pleading, full of animal terror.
She didn’t know that she was already dead.
Exasperated, I felt my finger curl tighter on the trigger. “You cannot conceive of the distance I traveled to be able to hunt those beasts. I’m retired, you know. Probably less than thirty years left.” I shook my head. “In the third act of life and reduced to this low-brow bounty hunting work.” As she squawked an impotent protest, I squeezed Tribby’s trigger. There was a small click, followed by a burst of scarlet light that tore apart the woman’s abdomen. Before she could fall to the ground, I pulled Tribby back and pointed at her exposed throat. The second shot would sever her brain stem. There was another click, followed by another burst of light. She fell in a heap.
After shouldering my pack, I used her steel knife to cut a lock of her hair so my client could run the DNA and confirm the kill. Her meat was no good to me, but the knife was of decent make and would do for a trophy.
As I turned to leave, I spared a glance at the rose-tinted winter landscape below me. What a thrill it would have been to chase her through the famous Teeth of Vel!
Oh, well.
===
INTRODUCTORY VIGNETTE - HENRY AND THE ALIEN
===
I was standing upon a cliff of pink ice and rock overlooking a glittering blue-white sea of crystalline permafrost. Stalagmites of pink ice between two and twenty meters tall - and nearly as wide at their base - breached the crystalline sea in clusters, providing ample cover for my quarry as it hid from both me and the afternoon sun that shone behind me, casting a long human shadow onto the stalagmite sea.
As I leaned upon my beloved laser rifle (a Sharps-LR3K I had nicknamed Tribulation, or Tribby for short), I raised a pair of primitive binoculars to my eyes and scanned the landscape below me for movement. I shrugged off my backpack and stretched. Generally, I carried few supplies, preferring to eat only what I could catch, but even my particularly broad shoulders - the result of generations of (now outlawed) Soorian in-vitro eugenics - grew tired after stalking a crafty xenobeast for several days.
I could see not track nor furtive shadow upon the entire landscape below me. There was no wind to cover its tracks, nor was there sign the beast had tried to do so itself. But as I lowered my binoculars from my eyes, I noticed something incredibly amusing at the corner of my vision. It was a glimpse of shadow cast by the afternoon sun, naught but a flicker. My lips curled into a slight smile, which crept outward until it made my cheeks sore. And then I laughed an undignified guffaw as I spun around, hefting Tribby and shoving its barrel into the gut of the creature behind me.
I spoke to her, a smile in my voice, in the local language.
“Hello, darling, and thank you, I had not wanted to descend into the permafrost - the white worms are dormant this year, but if you had slipped and hit your head, I’d have had to forfeit my deposit.”
The alien was beautiful in a dirty sort of way, with green eyes and platinum hair grease-locked into braids. Beneath her layers of white fur shawls, she was clearly emaciated. She was holding a steel knife in shaking, bony fingers. Her mouth hung open in shock.
“Oh, you didn’t know that? Is that why you thought you had to ambush me? You haven’t had occasion to study the thrilling xenoecology of your own planet?" I cocked my head to the side and then nodded. "Ah, I see. You alien tribals must have simply declared this field taboo. From a cultural evolutionary standpoint, that makes sense. You’re probably a thousand years or so shy of developing xenoecology. Though for you, it would just be - ecology, right?” I laughed again. I felt her tense up, and I dug the barrel of my rifle deeper into her gut. I twisted it slightly. She winced.
She spoke. “You are evil, old man. How can you do this to me? To us? What have we done to you?”
I sighed, adjusting my grip on Tribby. “Nothing that you would understand.”
She began to bark hysterically, and the warble of it made me grimace. “Do not mock my intelligence, offworlder! We do not have your starships, but we are not beasts. We are people, like you! How can you hunt people?”
I raised an eyebrow.
“People? Hardly! You hunted the club-tailed Velite bear to extinction. The few mottled wolves that remain are in protective captivity.” My voice began to swell in volume. “As are the shrieking hookbeaks, the Velite guar, and even the nocturnal gramats! All within the last fifteen years!” My voice shook and my finger began to squeeze the trigger of my rifle. “Because of you! You aliens don’t have the slightest grasp of simple sustainable hunting practices!”
The Velite was rattled, shaking her head wildly as her head of platinum braids shook about. “No, no, we hunted bears, but Domers hunted the others. More than us. We did, but they did, too. No tribe of Vel - it was poachers. Domer poachers. From the bubble cities.” Her eyes were pleading, full of animal terror.
She didn’t know that she was already dead.
Exasperated, I felt my finger curl tighter on the trigger. “You cannot conceive of the distance I traveled to be able to hunt those beasts. I’m retired, you know. Probably less than thirty years left.” I shook my head. “In the third act of life and reduced to this low-brow bounty hunting work.” As she squawked an impotent protest, I squeezed Tribby’s trigger. There was a small click, followed by a burst of scarlet light that tore apart the woman’s abdomen. Before she could fall to the ground, I pulled Tribby back and pointed at her exposed throat. The second shot would sever her brain stem. There was another click, followed by another burst of light. She fell in a heap.
After shouldering my pack, I used her steel knife to cut a lock of her hair so my client could run the DNA and confirm the kill. Her meat was no good to me, but the knife was of decent make and would do for a trophy.
As I turned to leave, I spared a glance at the rose-tinted winter landscape below me. What a thrill it would have been to chase her through the famous Teeth of Vel!
Oh, well.
===
Appearance
Mentality
Personality
The major events and journals in Henry's history, from the beginning to today.
The list of amazing people following the adventures of Henry.
Social