Arxid Sagan
Arxid Sagan is a
Rostran man trained in the arts of public communications, leadership, and political warfare. Arxid took the normally inscrutable nature of his mother species and turned it into an asset for the
Rostran Archipelago Confederacy and the
Free Faces League, blending into crowds and using his knowledge to bolster allies and gainsay enemies. Now, having settled down somewhat since his youth, Arxid helps the other members of
Parasol Private Holdings to secure lucrative salvage contracts while still working against
Voxelian interests on the sly.
Physical Description
Arxid is lean and somewhat muscular for a Rostran due to his military training, though he is not a physically exceptional individual by any stretch of the imagination.
Arxid is a clean-cut man with light tan skin and one large, red eye. His right eye was gouged out during an intercept mission gone awry. When in disguise, Arxid puts in a glass eye to match his other one; otherwise, he wears an eye patch.
Arxid is somewhat ambidextrous. While he prefers his right hand, he can use either hand when affecting a disguise.
Mental characteristics
Arxid Sagan was born to Levi and Klara Sagan, a family of small-scale machinists in Rostral C. While he lacked the requisite mechanical or electrical aptitude to directly work in the family business, he possessed a strong interpersonal presence that led him to a successful role in advertising. Arxid learned the Voxelian language at an early age, and he was frequently called upon to translate deals between Rostran and Leaguesman traders.
Despite his gifts in communication, Arxid was not content to spend his life in commerce. He joined his local island's civil defense force as soon as he reached the age of majority, quickly rising through the ranks of the aerostat squadron due to his intelligence and sense for unit politics.
Over time, Arxid found that his own personal ideological beliefs aligned well with those of the the Free Faces League, a common sentiment among his generation of Rostran men. The war between Voxelia and the
Coalition of Breakaway Colonies (including the League) often spilled over into the air trade lanes controlled by the Rostran Archipelago Confederacy. The Voxelians were often perceived to be the aggressors in these incidents by Arxid and his air squadron, though the RAC held trade agreements with both foreign nations and, therefore, sought to remain neutral. In Arxid's eyes, appealing to the rational and individualistic ideals of the League represented the best hope for the RAC to retain it's independence once the war was concluded; Arxid recognized Voxelia's strategy in attempting to achieve cultural hegemony through their art and media exports, as it was something he would have done himself if presented with the need to "conquer" the RAC through soft power.
Arxid was initially private military contractor after his military service, with his old airship team and one of his family's Ovinex retainers,
A'adekpf "Iodex" Sagan, at his command in a company-owned airship called the
RACV Canopy. His specialty as a PMC was political warfare (specifically propaganda and the gathering of human intelligence), though his team was willing to fight if necessary. Arxid's flair for propaganda and rhetoric, especially on radio, made him a well-known public figure in the parts of the Manifold where public media hold sway - though he is not well recognized due to the various public disguises and personae he adopts in pursuit of his goals. Arxid was always willing to take contracts for the Rostran Archipelago Confederacy or Free Faces League.
Later on, he was approached by
Zekiel Kade and
Bixby "Bix" Hickory of the then-new
Parasol Private Holdings to employ his services as a man familar with marketing and intelligence-gathering - both useful tools in the
Hazardous-Condition Salvage Reclamation game. Arxid reasoned that this would also bring him closer to his opponents in Voxelia and ideological fellows in the League, so he agreed. To this day, Arxid works to help his business partners unearth and sell rich salvage while covertly working against Voxelia's interests on the side. Many of Arxid's former subordinates - and the
PPH Canopy itself - followed him into employment with PPH.
Personality Characteristics
Ultimately, Arxid is motivated by patriotism and a love of individual freedom. In an ideal world, he would see the war between Voxelia and the breakaway expeditionary colonies ended through dialogue - or subterfuge - rather than violence.
As a leader, Arxid is inspirational and unflappable by circumstance. He has a solid sense of discipline and, as a result, his team has a very high mission clearance rate. While Arxid is a social manipulator by profession, he cannot generally be accused of dishonesty; when possible, Arxid applies the truth (however creatively stated) to a situation rather than lying outright. Finally, while Arxid is a trained soldier, he believes firmly in the minimization of suffering and violence in the world, a trait that led him to his current profession versus traditional mercenary work.
Arxid tends to view the world in terms of logic and utility rather than emotion. While this makes him cool under pressure, it also makes him cool towards others. With allies, this can come across as a painful bluntness; Arxid does not sugarcoat the truth with friends, as he believes that euphemisms can lead to dangerous misunderstandings. As a result, the normally non-violent Arxid often finds himself paradoxically at odds with Z.K. over the latter man's overwhelming pacifism and soft-heartedness.
Social
While not outwardly very religious, Arxid is a
Rostran Esotericist and pays particular homage to
Ixaumosana. Arxid sees the female spirit's 'ebb in flow' in all things, from the traditional cycles of nature to the trends which influence the cultures of sentient peoples.
Member of client family (Vital)
Towards A'adekpf "Iodex" Sagan
History
A'adekpf has "belonged" to the Sagan family since they were a house of tradesman in the Rostral Tesseract, producing small mechanisms for use around the island. The "Iodex" nickname (meaning "Protector") was an honorific given to A'adekpf by his Rostran retainers, as this name was easier for the Rostran tongue to pronounce. Over time, Young Arxid and young Iodex came to regard one another more as adoptive family than employer and employee. When Arxid moved to the Free Faces Guild to help them in their war for freedom, A'adekpf followed his client.
History
One summer night in 9997, Livara Satin and Arxid Sagan were both at a bar in Intercostia and wound up meeting each-other amidst the haze of alcohol intoxication. Struck by one another's wits, the pair had a brief romantic involvement before Livara discovered who Arxid was and what he did for a living, leading the two to split on awkward terms.
Relationship Reasoning
While Arxid and Livara belong to political ideologies which would usually put them at cross-purposes to one another, the pair are on a similar intellectual level, share a history of military discipline, and can commiserate over the trials of being in leadership roles. The situation is more awkward for Arxid, since, though he distrusts Voxelia as a whole, High Rostran culture regards a "secret romance" like the kind he and Livara once shared to be the most intense romance of all; Rostran couples are considered informally engaged when their relationship becomes a matter of common public knowledge.
Shared Secrets
To the current day, Livara insists that she only found Arxid attractive because her inhibitions were decreased that night, while Arxid insists that he would never have been interested in someone who was so patriotic to the Voxelian cause. Nevertheless, despite their vigorous protestations the the contrary, observers from Parasol Private Holdings and the Hive City Royals note that the two argue like an old married couple whenever thrust together by professional obligations.
History
Arxid occasionally brings Vela experimental reagents, prosthetics blueprints, or other things which she can use to pursue her transhumanist vision in exchange for useful information. The two share a vaguely flirtatious manner with one another, though both know that a romantic connection isn't on the table. Vela's mercenary attitude and connection to the hidden currents of information which flow through Intercostia suits Arxid's human intelligence needs perfectly. While she believes that Arxid shares her beliefs, Arxid actually regards her lack of conviction as a moral failing - a view which he studiously conceals to maintain their mutually beneficial relationship.
Business Partner
Towards Bixby "Bix" Hickory
Arxid and his partners now cooperatively own the PPH Canopy under the name of a company called Parasol Private Holdings; he is the original owner of the company vessel, but the other PPH plank owners are now invested in the vessel's maintenance and loan payments. The Canopy is a cargo airship reconfigured for carrying the team and their materiel, with a pirate radio transmission antenna fused to the lifting envelope keel.
Over the course of his career, Arxid has had reason to acquire small, out-of-the-way pieces of land in various locations for use as staging areas or secret meeting places. These small patches of land are usually undeveloped and almost invariably purchased on the cheap due to their remote or dangerous locations, though a few have "fishing shacks" for when privacy is necessary. While he can always go home to his family, the Sagan estate cannot be said to be part of Arxid's wealth unless and until he becomes the patriarch of the family.
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