Thomas Kael
Overview
Thomas Kael was a Gearforged smuggler and former member of the Axiom Rangers. His dead body was discovered by the Dusters after a heist of theirs went wrong.
History
Thomas Kael was awoken by the Axiom Rangers in 299 PF by Cadence. Not long after, he elected to join the rangers. Kael had a penchant for accruing gambling debts at various casinos in the Lamplight District. To pay off these debts, Kael sold salvage from the Mekanos Infinitum on the black market. When Cadence learned of this she warned him to stop, or else end his commission in the rangers. Kael persisted and when caught again was officially ejected from the rangers.
During his time in the rangers, he became close with Vai. The bond between them approached romantic attraction but was never realized. They kept contact, even as Kael took up work as a smuggler.
Kael's smuggling days truly began when he found work with the Novus Agricultural Survey, a team that seeks the possibility of making agricultural colonies outside of the walls of Novus. Kael learned that there was a demand for things that could only be found outside of the city -- all manner of things from live biological samples to artifacts and debris from pre fall. Kael hid these items in his chassis to smuggle them back into the city.
Circumstances of Death
In 316 PF, Kael was contacted by Coda to smuggle in a clutch of stirge eggs. The control agent that Curtis Thorne developed that makes the creatures suggestible was used to keep the stirges and their eggs docile, but the reagent wore off sometimes after Kael brought the creatures in. This is what led to the his death by stirges in the tunnels beneath the Copper Ring. Regardless, Coda had gotten his hands on a number of dangerous specimens as a reult of Kael's smuggling, including ankhegs, giant spiders, and others.
