Character Profile: Edrass Vaaranas

Chibi Edrass, Art by Kurama-chan

The Corsair of Vesk Prime, Edrass Vaaranas has made a name for himself over years of hard-fighting, raiding, and taking few prisoners. Born to a very modest family, Urkana and Nuski were former outlaws, who settled on Vesk Prime, with the hopes of raising their young hatchling Edrass with full honors to enter into the Veskarium’s Imperial Navy. Only the greatest warriors would be raised to the exalted positions, something that Edrass’s father Urkana pressed into him from a young age.

But over the years, Edrass realized that he disliked the military life. He often chaffed under the order of his snarling superiors, and longed to strike out on his own. The order to fire on the Frost Behemoth civilians on Vesk-8 from his Captain Fellgur was the straw that broke the Ellicoth’s back. The colony would have died on their own, their encampment stripped of their heating systems, but Fellgur wanted to set an example. Edrass deserted his company rather than obey the order, but realized that the only way he was going to make it out of the system was with a ride, so he hijacked his troop’s craft, the Norikama class dropship “The Dauntless.” He piloted for Pact Space, and celebrated his 18th year since birth aboard a ghost ship.

Edrass Veraanas, Character Art Courtesy ArtGian

A fugitive, the young Edrass gravitated towards the Diaspora. A collection of rocks in the middle of the Pact system, it is home to outlaws, thieves, and runaways as well as the Pirates under the Council of Free Captains. Edrass began to fly his own flag then, styled after his own distinctive scale colorization. When he put out the call to staff his stolen ship, the first two to sign up under his banner were Arcor and Sonros, a ysoki and human respectively. They became his first mates, as well as his eyes and ears in an ever-expanding crew. Smuggling, raiding, protection runs, the crew of the Dauntless did it all, save for that which Edrass’s personal code would not allow.

It was his morals that put him at odd with his first mate Sonros. The man was willing to go beyond in order to reap the profits for himself. After the Dauntless raided a corporate freebooter ship with medical supplies in-bound for a colony on a small moon, Edrass let the ship go, only stripping it for weapons and non-essential parts. Some crew members remained loyal to Edrass during the Mutiny, but they were outnumbered. Sonros woke Edrass in the dead of night with a taser that incapacitated the young Vesk. They threw Edrass out on a frozen rock orbiting Liavara called”Hykax.”

Vesk Ship, © Paizo, Inc.

Edrass was stranded with few supplies, and he would’ve died if it were not for the colonists of Hykax, who had received supplies from the freebooter that the Dauntless let go. He eventually made his way off planet and has been working solo ever since. He’s teamed up with the Starfinder Society to hunt bugs outside the pact system, taken on entire freight shipments himself on Akiton, and raided Solar hot-boxes himself.

Envoy Ambassador, © Paizo, Inc.

But his greatest feat was kidnapping a Magika-Pharma CEO. Li Kresh systematically created a monopoly on Akiton as the single supplier of the Plagus-IV drug. This drug is a catch-all for the various negative conditions or diseases that can be caught by working the mines or deserts of Akiton. It is considered a staple for working families. Once Kresh’s company became the sole provider he more than doubled the price of the drug. This forced poor families to choose been food for a week or Kresh’s overpriced drug. Edrass kidnapped Li Kresh and forced the CEO to resign by dangling him headfirst over a starved Ksarik, all while streaming the entire thing to the infosphere.

Vids of the free-styling Vesk Corsair began to circulate on the Infosphere, and the myth of the Vesk pirate that saved the colonists of Hykax, took down a greedy mining corporations supply train, and made a Pharma-suit CEO pee himself continues to be shared. People far and wide began to know his name, the cavalier Vesk Pirate known as Edrass Vaaranas.