Miz Paufan (meez POW-fan)

Miz Paufan (a.k.a. Young Dragon, Little Miz)

A Common of uncommon courage...
There is no upward mobility for Khamens on the homeworld. They do not hold commands, lead squads, or even research teams. Things might be different for those in the Redali System serving the Sons-in-Exile, but back at home Commons live under the shadowy thumb of Mal Daggur's Obsidian Guard. When Miz Paufan noticed his superior Naz Dassyr conversing with Bak Thraplek-a suspected Dasphati-any other Common might've ratted them both out, and when Naz discovered him spying his first inclination was to shell him. Bak stayed his hand, seeing something in the little Common and invited him to join his crew. Miz readily accepted: he wanted off this rock and didn't care how. With the exception of Ker Barzduk of the Blue Isis crew and those in the Redali System, Miz Paufan has probably seen and done more than any other Khamen in history.

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

Despite not being a Nobeyl, Miz is slightly stronger than the average human, but much like a crocodile, can't open his mouth if someone's holding it from the outside. Khamens don't have tail clubs so his tail starts out smooth, tapering to a narrow tip. His skill in hand-to-hand combat is moderate but he can use his shell to ram opponents and throw them off balance.

Body Features

Aside from his beard and crests he has two smaller yellowish scaly protrusions just above his eyebrows between his head crest and horns.

Facial Features

His muzzle appears narrower and rounder than that of a Noble and his nasal ridges are small and smooth.

Identifying Characteristics

Because of the lack of unique hairstyles, Khamens and Thunthen in general wear padded armor colored in specific schemes or patterns to distinguish themselves.

Physical quirks

Miz often wags the tip of his tail when excited. He'll also scratch one of his front teeth with a claw if nervous.

Special abilities

He's trained in small arms but prefers close-quarters combat.

Apparel & Accessories

Miz wears light-blue padded armor with light-red accents on the arms, shoulders, chest, waist, and legs.

Specialized Equipment

He carries a screen tablet with him at all times, usually tucked away under his shell when not in use.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Not much is known about Miz's early life other than he was hatched on the homeworld and served Naz before joining with Bak's crew, and he doesn't seem inclined to speak much about himself.
Since making contact with the Ronin and their allies, he's assisted with construction of the conference room and comm. room, given remote tactical support over the com network, and on occasion participated in physical combat such as during the first engagement with Beastlord and his Menagerie. His small size and amiable nature allow him to engage humans in dialogue better than the towering Nobles.

Education

Trained in the basics of programming and engineering from an early age until winding up under Naz Dassyr.

Employment

Served Naz Dassyr as his assistant for most of his early life. Currently serves Bak Thraplek on the Oldworld.

Accomplishments & Achievements

“It’s Her! It’s Her! She’s coming for me! They know I talked!” Kayura glanced from the screen to the now-empty chair when she heard Miz’s frantic squeal. She glanced from side to side, wondering if he’d left the room then blinked when she heard whimpering and stooped down slightly, peering under the console itself.
Kayura didn’t know what to think when she saw the Thunthen Khamen curled up in a ball in the shadows beneath the console with his arms thrown over his head. His shell shuddered violently as he whimpered in despair.

— Spacequake Ch. 4

Oddly enough, Miz is the first to realize the true nature of the Neo Armors. After analyzing Emma's Neo Wildfire Armor, he discovers they are made of dererium and suspects Eyurodin's hand in their design, but Bak urges him to secrecy. Study of the Armors allows him and Ita to devise the ArmSig System to improve the effective range and reception of the wrist-coms. In the Cataclysm War Miz actually gets in a rare first shot against Kangor, the Marzok general of the Menagerie. His shell takes quite a beating afterward but any fight you can walk away from...
Miz visits the Nether Realm aboard the Argonauth and later assists the others with recovering the amnesiac Ronin, nearly giving Ryo a scare despite his small size. Accidentally lets slip that the Neo Armors are made of dererium to Kayura. At the same time Cye is speaking to Jonathan Proud Wolf about the Four Queens, Miz notices the proximity alarms going off in the comm. room and knows the goddesses are coming before anyone else.

Failures & Embarrassments

Miz tried to debate with Kayura about magic and earned himself several bonks with the Staff. His technical expertise is impressive, but he does not have a very firm understanding of Oldworlder mythologies such as the nature of spirits and demons. He helped Tanya in her efforts to rescue a partially resurrected Kaosu but nearly gave away their position when the sight of Talpa caused him to panic. A slip in attention allowed Caroline Wendell to escape her confines in the containment cell and abduct Dais, though Ryo places most of the blame on Whiteblaze for failing to stop her.
Miz unsuccessfully tried to intervene and wrestle with a transformed Kento in the midst of a hallucinogenic fit only to get flung with ease, though given Kento's strength, thats' likely no fault on Miz's part. He travels to Thanged to participate in the Blood Dawn celebrations but fails to catch a goldfish using a traditional paper scooper. Miz had a rather unfortunate run-in with Genshiro Hashiba while trying to retrieve an amnesiac Rowen.

“Hey! Universal greeting: bah-weep-graana-weep-ninny-bong!” Miz didn’t know what to think when Genshiro started making a series of gestures with his hand and fingers. Rowen smacked his own palm against his face and pulled downward. “Here, lemme get a picture! The guys at the lab won’t believe this!” Before Miz could squirm out of range, Genshiro wrapped one arm around the back of his shell and fished a small camera out of his lab coat pocket and aimed the camera towards them, snapping a picture of himself grinning like a giddy kid and Miz looking absolutely horrified.

— Spacequake Ch. 3

Mental Trauma

Not hatched until years after the Battle of Banguk, just reading about the account and how Thangien hero Ander Vai Stel Vethu sacrificed himself was enough to shake Miz's belief in the status quo on the homeworld. He missed the boat to join Takshi Anazhar in exile, but joining Bak is better than risking a shelling by the Obsidian Guard.

Spoiler Warning: Upcoming Content!

Spacequake Ch. 15

"B-b-but...th-they can't be dead! Th-they're the good guys! The heroes!" Miz sputtered.
"Miz...you and I both know: nothing survives the Spectra Pits," Bak lamented, his breath fluttering in his throat. "...do it..."
Miz hesitated, holding his claw over the keypad. He curled his fingers, rubbing his thumbs over his fingertips. His jaw quavered. He pursed his lips and inhaled deeply through his nostrils before slowly typing in the commands. The roster came up on the main screen, and across each of the Ronin's portraits, a bright red KIA appeared. Miz slumped in his chair, feeling sick all of a sudden. Bak gave him a consoling pat on the back of the shell before turning and walking out of the room slowly, his gait jerky. Miz remained sitting there staring at the screen and the ten faces he would never see again. He hung his head in despair.

Intellectual Characteristics

Despite his dumb appearance he's very knowledgeable when it comes to technology including human electronics, helping Rowen to upgrade the earlier iteration of wrist-coms.

Morality & Philosophy

Mal Daggur must be stopped: that is the imperative Bak Thraplek and his crew undertook on their sojourn to Earth. Miz isn't old enough to have suffered under the Daggur Clan's tyranny, but he's read enough of Thunthen and Thangien history to know what could happen if Mal Daggur's vision comes to fruition. He's seen enough of the Oldworld to know it is worth protecting, and he's gotten to know humans well enough to learn the meaning of friendship and taking a stand against evil.

Spoiler Warning: Upcoming Content!

RoninWarrior Spectra

"I knew it! I just knew it! I just knew you couldn't be dead!! I just knew it!" Miz ran into the room, giving Ryo a big bear hug first. Ryo grimaced awkwardly and patted the little Common on the back of his shell before Miz peeled away and began giving out hugs to the others, who looked similarly disoriented as Ryo. He paused after hugging Tanya and put a hand on her shoulder and patted a hand over his chest. "I could feel it here! Right in here!" he sniffled, closing his eyes matter-of-factly.
"...you mean your heart?" Sage commented.
"Yes, that!" Miz nodded emphatically.

Taboos

Miz doesn't like having his beard plucked, even out of curiosity. Hearing "magic" used repeatedly gives him a headache. Even though he tends to be submissive, he sometimes gets into arguments regarding magic and science that earns him more than a few bonks on the head.

Personality Characteristics

Motivation

Initially Miz just went along to get along, traveling with Bak Thraplek on a rickety cruiser risking life and limb to seek out the alleged Oldworld. Instead of serving as just another cog in Mal Daggur's murderous machine, he gets to put his technical expertise to use aiding the Ronin Warriors and their allies.

Savvies & Ineptitudes

Proficient at programming and analysis, tends to over-think things. Huge magic-septic. If invited to, will share lots of Thunthen-based jokes.

Likes & Dislikes

Likes snack foods, Japanese tokusatsu, kaiju, and super sentai shows.
Dislikes getting picked on by Naz and Ita. Hates Shakespearean trash-talking from Trakar.

Virtues & Personality perks

Loves his work and excels at his fields. His size and naivety make him more relatable to Humans and Thangiens.

Vices & Personality flaws

Sometimes chafes at orders, will turn his brain into a pretzel to try and find a practical explanation for magical phenomenon.

Personality Quirks

Despite his age in human years, Miz has the mental development of a human in their mid-late teens and tends to be very excitable and easily spooked.

Hygiene

Like all Thunthen, Miz is a bit of a prude and wears his padded armor all the time when not sleeping. He keeps his beard and crests neat and takes great pride in his smooth shiny shell.

Social

Contacts & Relations

Bak Thraplek

Treats Miz like something of a surrogate son. In the original draft of AoD he was far more strict. In the rewrite he's more lenient and only slaps Miz when necessary.

Naz Dassyr

Miz' former superior on the homeworld, he acts like an overbearing boss at work to Miz. Never passes up an excuse to discipline Miz, though he's mellowed over the years.

Ita Tarmvun

Behaves somewhat like a surrogate aunt or older sister, sharing duties with him in the comm. room. Mostly indifferent to him, she won't hesitate to thwack him with her tail club to keep him in line.

Tar Uhnin

Treats the young Common cordially, being the wise old grandfather of the crew. Sometimes borrows Miz to assist in recording data during medical analysis.

Rgn Chorrez and Koi Udsarrin

Mostly indifferent towards him.

Bau Daophyn

Cheerful and treats him cordially.

Apprentices

Mostly indifferent towards him.

Ronin Warriors and allies

Miz is friendly with just about any human including civilians and Neo Ronin. Gets along best with Ryo, Rowen, Cye, Mia, Tanya, Emma, Kayura, Shannon, and Michelle.

Trakar

Hasn't had the chance to meet the Reptilloid yet but not exactly in a rush to...

Thangien Allies

Indifferent. Miz has only ever had fleeting contact with Azuro and Danae.

MizandItaCompareb.jpg

Miz and Ita side by side by Mardrena

Made in Realistic Paint Studio

Rowen glanced down when he noticed Miz’s tail twitching to and fro excitedly. Miz looked over his shoulder at Ryo suddenly. “Do you know how many Thunthen does it take to install a light fixture?”
“No, Miz, I do not know how many Thunthen it takes to screw in a lightbulb...” Ryo grumbled and squeezed his eyes shut.

— Cataclysm War Ch.8

MizandTanyasketchb.jpg

Miz Scared(thumbnail) by Mardrena

raw pencil sketch

Family Ties

Miz doesn't speak of blood family at all and views the rest of the crew as his surrogate family.

Religious Views

While not a devout worshipper of the Four Queens, he knows enough to know that they are very real and is fearful of them.

Social Aptitude

Miz tends to be very meek and rarely acts on initiative. He will notify a superior of a problem and interject out of curiosity. Hearing the M-word has about the same effect as using the F-word to him.

Mannerisms

He has a tendency to tuck his head close to his shell rim if he feels embarrassed or intimidated.

Hobbies & Pets

In his downtime late at night or when no one else is on shift or in the room, he'll use the console to watch Japanese entertainment.

Speech

In addition to looking like a teenage dragon, Miz sounds like a teenager with a tinny, nasally voice. (Think Matt Hill's Kereberos voice from Card Captor Sakura pitched slightly low).

The Thunthen’s eyebrows rose in excitement and he straightened up a bit. “You…you’re Gauraax Cye!!” Cye blinked in bewilderment. Apparently the word served to denote someone of great importance; much like Thangien’s “Takin”. “I heard about how you and Aurorakhan defended the Captain so staunchly! It’s an honor to meet you in person!” Cye cautiously extended his hand in greeting and the diminutive Thunthen seized it with both hands and shook it vigorously. “I wasn’t hatched until a few cycles ago, so I never got the chance to know Ander, but I imagine if I had, he certainly would’ve been as passionate as you!”

— Foes From Another World Ch. 24

“Please, just-call me Ryo, okay? Between you people and the Thangiens, I’m gonna end up with fifty-some-odd names, and everyone always pronounces it differently,” Ryo grumbled and turned around and walked away, waving his hands. “Ray-oh, Ree-oh, Rai-oh: it gets a little old…”
Miz stood there with his hands raised and mouth hanging open. His gaze flicked from side to side and he slowly closed his hands and rubbed his thumbs against his fingertips. He furrowed his brow and shrugged. “Well…it is meant as a gesture of respect…”

— Foes From Another World Ch. 26

Current Status

Serving as member of Bak's crew

Species

Thunthen

Ethnicity

Khamen

Age

2 cycles (6-7 Earth-Years)

Current Residence

The Roost underground complex and surrounding forest (when sleeping)

Sex

Male (Sire)

Eyes

Bright green, wide

Hair

Orange head and neck spines

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Yellow-orange skin, bright orange beard, crest, and nose ridges

Height

5' 6"

Weight

210lbs

Quotes & Catchphrases

"We got a big problem! Actually, ‘big’ is sorta an understatement…actually, ‘understatement’ is a big understatement…"
“I think that’s just making him angrier.”
“Sorry, but for us Thunthen, believing is one thing, seeing is an entirely different matter.”

Known Languages

Highscript
Thanctiorn
Oldworlder spoken and programming languages.

“I heard raised voices! Is anything wrong?” Miz asked as he jogged into the infirmary. Ryo glanced at the doorway when he entered and his eyes widened in shock.
“Holy crap! The fat man was right about the alien space dragons!!” Ryo exclaimed and pressed his back against the wall, keeping his distance from the diminutive Miz, who threw him a puzzled glance. “N-N-Nice space dragon!” Ryo stammered as he tried circumventing Miz. The young Khamen tilted his head to the side, following him with his gaze as Ryo held his hands up in fear.
“I take it the procedure was not successful?” Miz asked Kayura.
“That’s putting it lightly,” she grumbled and rubbed her forehead with her fingertips.

— Spacequake Ch. 2

Just then the younger alien from earlier came around the craft.
“Naz, the Captain wanted to know if you-” Miz Paufan’s eyes widened when he saw Genshiro.
“Oh! Hey there little guy! Listen, I’m really sorry about earlier. I got a little carried away: totally unprofessional of me! So, bygones be bygones?” Genshiro apologized and extended a hand.
“WAAAAAAAHHHH!” Miz fled, wailing hysterically. Naz Dassyr rolled his eyes and shook his head while Genshiro grimaced and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.
“Yeah...that’s what you get for making a bad first impression, Dad…” Rowen growled.

— Spacequake Ch.3