Lore:Ambassador Qasrik Bal'mor

Ambassador Qasrik Bal'mor
Race	Human	Gender	Male
Born		Unknown
Died		2330 (Player determined)
Resided in		Dazra House Va'ruun Embassy
Faction		House Va'ruun
Appears in		Starfield

Qasrik Bal'mor was the Ambassador of House Va’ruun, who resided in the House Va’ruun Embassy located in New Atlantis. When he first arrived, he was hopeful that the embassy would serve as a symbol of peace between House Va’ruun and would help to alleviate the fear and contempt the Settled Systems held against the faction as a result of the Serpent’s Crusade. However, he faced numerous protests from the United Colonies citizens and during his tenure hosted the Gravid, Si’ah Mavan, from Dazra. Despite the challenges, he remained committed to the embassy’s purpose, believing it to be the desire of the Great Serpent. When House Va'ruun eventually ordered the retreat of the embassy, Bal'mor chose to stay behind, hoping that they would, one day, change their minds and return.

Some years after the embassy was established and seemingly abandoned, a Terrormorph attack on New Atlantis, pushed the United Colonies towards seeking the Armistice codes from the ambassadors of both the Freestar Collective and House Va’ruun. It was revealed that Ambassador Bal'mor had, in years previous, lent his support to some requests, and so efforts were made to locate him within the overgrown embassy. Upon eventually finding him in the basement, he agreed to provide the necessary codes on the condition that they were to be used to save lives and not endanger them.

Biography

Arrival in New Atlantis

When Ambassador Qasrik Bal'mor took office as House Va'ruun's Ambassador in the United Colonies, he was hopeful that House Va’ruun’s gesture of opening a new embassy, based in New Atlantis, would demonstrate to the Settled Systems that House Va'ruun had moved beyond their bloodstained past. Bal’mor’s hope for the embassy was somewhat shaken, however, after the brief journey from the spaceport to the embassy when the House Va'ruun embassy staff were greeted not with hope or kindness but rather with suspicious glances and sneers from numerous strangers on the streets. Bal’mor realised that the wrongdoing of House Va'ruun would not be easily be forgotten in the hearts and minds of the people in the Settled Systems and after witnessing the reaction of their arrival, Ambassador Qasrik Bal'mor felt committed himself to ensuring the embassy become an emblem of a peace between House Va’ruun and the Settled Systems. Ambassador Bal’mor resolved to do whatever he could do within his power to cleanse the stains of House Va’ruun’s past and to act as an avatar for a peaceful future regardless of the resistance he knew he would face. Ambassador Bal’mor held true to his faith in The Great Serpent during his time in the New Atlantis Embassy as he knew that his task was the desire of The Great Serpent and that The Great Serpent would guide him to success in this endeavor as he believed that the Serpent does not decide such things on a whim.

Protests Outside the Embassy

Ambassador Qasrik Bal’mor was disturbed whilst contemplating in deep prayer, some short time after settling into the new embassy, by sounds of muffled shouting. He then went to investigate its origins where upon arriving at the doorsteps of the embassy he found a sizable group of UC protestors who were fervently opposed to their governments attempts to establish a diplomatic relationship with House Va’ruun. The protesters, demanding for the immediate closure of the embassy, refused Bal’mor’s attempts to engage in a discussion. Most of the protesters refused to speak with the Ambassador, and those who did were skeptical of House Va’ruun’s peaceful intentions. When the protesting began to threaten the Ambassador’s well being, the embassy guards had no choice but to move in resulting in the Ambassador being forced back inside for his own safety. The Ambassador would later go to his counterparts within the United Colonies to ask for their aid, fearing that the protest would not be an isolated incident and knowing that their aid would be essential for the Embassy to succeed in its purpose as opposed to being a fruitless endeavor.

A Visitor from Dazra

When the Gravid, Si'ah Mavan, arrived at the embassy the Ambassador was overjoyed. Thinking it meant that those in House Va’ruun who were skeptical about the efforts of the embassy could finally see the value in their work. Si’ah’s stated mission, however, was at odds with her actions as she suggested incessantly that Bal’mor begin surveillance of the Freestar and United Colonies ambassadors of whom he had spent months gaining the trust of since his arrival. The Ambassador decided he must find a way to get her out of House Va’ruun’s old mindset as he was concerned about House va’ruun’s future. Bal’mor hoped that the dinner they had planned with Deputy Diplomat Roland would be a perfect opportunity, as he thought highly of the Deputy Diplomat, calling them level-headed and reasonable and even went as far as to consider that the diplomat may be sympathetic to House Va’ruun’s intention. Bal’mor prayed to the great serpent that Si’ah would be willing to welcome him with open arms, for as the losses of the Serpent’s Crusade were great for all involved, in his eyes a diplomatic relationship with the other factions was the only method that would ensure House Va’ruun’s survival and Future.

Dinner at Roland’s

The dinner at Deputy Roland’s began quite promisingly. There were some questions about House Va’ruuns intentions but the overall mood was polite and well received. This all changed however, when one of Roland’s guests, an officer, who Ambassador Bal’mor reasoned was likely drunk, asked “But how can we trust you snakes after what you did?”A question that Bal’mor believed had pushed the Gravid to her breaking point. When dessert was served, the Gravid, Si’ah, excused herself, and after a long wait it became increasingly clear that the Gravid had simply left. Ambassador Bal’mor then made his pleasantries and returned to the embassy himself in the hope of finding Si’ah. It was there he found her packing her things, when he confronted her about her sudden leave she simply stated “I’ve seen all I need to,’’ before leaving without another word. After the Gravid’s departure Ambassador Bal’mor reached out to his contacts in Dazra to inquire as to the venture. Bal’mor’s contacts assured him that they still believed in his endeavors. For the Ambassador, Jarek Va'ruun, still believing, was for him all the reassurance he required.

House Va’ruun’s Retreat

Shortly after ratifying the armistice in the year 2311, the Va’ruun embassy received a message from Dazra that stated a single word. “Return.” All embassy staff left, shuttering the embassy and showing that House Va’ruun’s leaders had ceased all communications with the United Colonies and abandoned their cause of seeking peace with the Settled Systems. The Ambassador himself, however, stayed behind. Seeing this as a test of faith believing that continuing to serve House Va’ruun as an Ambassador was greater than following the order from Dazra. Bal’mor still believed that House Va’ruun could not survive on its own, hoping that more of House Va’ruun would learn this truth; he waited for them to see the truth and return to the embassy.

As months of radio silence went by, Ambassador Bal’mor had tried to make contact with Dazra on a multitude of occasions but he wasn’t sure if his messages were arriving at all. In his solace, Bal’mor had nothing but time to think about why they had been tasked with setting up the embassy around a distant star and why they had been allowed to make a home only for a demand to abandon it when resistance was met. Ambassador Bal’mor reasoned that there was ‘Something larger at play’ as he could not fathom that a drunken slight or the influence of the Gravid to be enough to convince the Court to retreat. The reason for his orders to ‘return’ was not clear to Bal'mor, only that something had changed.

An Unwelcome Visitor

The Ambassador spent quite a long time isolated in the embassy after the Va’ruun order to ‘Return’ and considering why House Va’ruun’s intentions had changed. Sometime after this event, a ‘Welcome bit of exercise’ occurred wherein a United Colonies spy had infiltrated the embassy. Bal’mor was alerted to this as he was disturbed during his morning prayer by the unusual thrum of the embassy elevator descending which he almost passed off as his ‘hearing finally giving out’. Bal’mor, being a wary gentleman, presumed that uninvited guests could mean only bad things, proceeded to sneak upstairs from his quarters and chose to hide amongst the Venom Tree’s branches. Perched within the branches, Bal’mor watched the young man as he cautiously made his way through the branches of the tree. It shocked the Ambassador that the boy was so scared of the mere idea of House Va’ruun, especially after so much time had passed since the Serpent’s Crusade. The young man’s fear acted as a clear reminder to the Ambassador of the failure of his own endeavors. After the better part of two hours of evading each other the young man gave up and returned to the elevator whilst the Ambassador returned to his meditations. The encounter came across as a disappointment to the Ambassador, however, as he concluded that the visit was not in the name of diplomacy but rather to spy, someone breaking into the embassy could have only meant that the UC thought him dead.

Silence Broken

For months Ambassador Bal’mor had no contact with House Va’ruun, not since the order which led to the embassy staff vacating New Atlantis. The silence was broken after too long when the Ambassador finally received a message back from Dazra asking ‘for information regarding the state of things in New Atlantis’ he thanked the Great Serpent for assuaging his fear he may never hear from his people again. The message Bal’mor received was a short request which whilst the Ambassador was still unsure by the true intentions of House Va’ruun, he was comforted to see House Va’ruun’s willingness to re-engage in communications and was hopeful that it indicated Dazra’s willingness to return to diplomacy with the United Colonies. Ambassador Bal’mor’s belief was reaffirmed by the request and so he vowed to stand firm in his belief that the Great Serpent would be at his side as he continued to serve House Va’ruun in New Atlantis.

Terrormorph Threat

In the year 2330 after the Terrormorph attack on New Atlantis, United Colonies President Alexandra Abello tasks a Captain of the UC Vanguard with getting the Armistice codes from the Ambassadors of both the Freestar Collective and House Va'ruun in hope of finding a way to stop the emerging Terrormorph threat.

This vanguard Captain is informed by UC Deputy Diplomat, Elisabeth MacIntrye, that Ambassador Bal'mor has lent his support to small numbers of archival requests in the past, and hopes that he is willing to do so again, assuming that he is still alive noting that ‘his public appearances have always been rare but that it has been a time since he last poked his head out’. McIntyre, revealing that the UC has done several scans of the embassy for life signs, stated that they are not as expected, as a result of the Xenoflora brought by House Va'ruun from their native habitat, which has made it hard to verify what is plant and what is Ambassador.

Deputy Diplomat McIntyre informs the Vanguard Captain that the alarms of the Terrormorph attacks at the spaceport may have triggered the security systems within the Va’ruun embassy and that it cannot be accessed via the main entrance due to being walled off, instead stating that the Vanguard would have to use a side entrance using a device to bypass security. Upon arriving in the embassy the Vanguard Captain is greeted by a voice through a glitching intercom asking them to use the nearby power switch, noting that the power switch was not enough and that they would need to activate more of them throughout the embassy. The voice continues to guide them through additional intercoms whilst warning them of the embassy's defenses.

Entering deeper, the Vanguard Captain finds that the embassy is indeed overgrown with the Va'ruun native flora which was continuously releasing spores into the embassy’s ventilation system. While the Vanguard was working on arming the power system they found that the defenses, including various turret model systems and Model A robots bearing the House Va’ruun sigil, throughout the embassy were armed. Upon turning on all power the Vanguard Captain was able to locate the ambassador in the basement. After engaging a pair of Model S robots also bearing House Va’ruun markings, Bal’mor emerged from his quarters thanking the Vanguard Captain for their help and apologizing for them having to endure the ordeal, Ambassador Qasrik Bal’mor invited the Vanguard Captain to discuss their reason for arriving to the Embassy, noting that he did not know the extent of the Va'ruun Venom Tree upstairs having worked itself into more systems than he has realized. During the conversation between the Vanguard Captain and the Ambassador, Bal’mor may be asked about the Venom Tree and its spores. Bal’mor assures the Vanguard that the spores are harmless but make it difficult to navigate the embassy hence why he was guiding them via the intercoms. Ambassador Bal’mor almost begins to explain more on the sap of the Venom Tree but stops short as he feels it was ‘not a topic for this exact moment’

The ambassador shows great interest in regards to the safety of the people outside, asking the Vanguard Captain on several occasions what it's like outside in the city as a result of having heard the emergency broadcast mention an attack on the spaceport and then being struck with a power surge. The aforementioned power surge threw the entire embassy in a lockdown, trapping the ambassador in his quarters, arming the embassy’s defenses whilst also disabling the venom tree filters. The Ambassador then continues to ask what brought the Vanguard Captain to the embassy in the first place, stating it could not solely be by the Serpent's grace which brought them at such an opportune moment. Noting that they were sent by the UC and hearing about Terrormorphs in the spaceport, Bal’mor reasoned that they had come for his archive code. Upon hearing that the codes were needed to help stop current and prevent future attacks the Ambassador agreed to provide the captain with a copy of his codes, noting that the archive's very purpose was to preserve life thus using the data to prevent more attacks as being logical. Before Bal’mor provided the Vanguard Captain with the code, however, the Ambassador had a requirement, He informed the Captain about House Va'ruun being ‘known only as agents of slaughter’, and that House Va'ruun had founded the embassy in the hopes of shedding that legacy, with little success. In exchange for his code, the Vanguard was asked to be the one who ensured that it was used for good, to ensure that House Va'ruun’s legacy could be more than just carnage. Ambassador Bal’mor’s personal belief was that ‘’The knowledge isn’t evil. No knowledge is. It is we who bend it to evil ends.’’ Bal’mor then requested that the Vanguard must ensure that ‘’will be used to save lives, not endanger them,’’ before proceeding to insert his code machine key into the House Va’ruun Archival Code Generator to produce House Va’ruun’s archival access code. The Vanguard Captain states that it is an impossible request, and continues to tell the ambassador that they "can't know how exactly this all will play out." The Ambassador agrees but simply asks the Captain to assure that their actions are noble ones.

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In one of infinite universes, the Vanguard Captain may choose to give their word to Ambassador Bal’mor that they will make sure that House Va'ruun's archival code is used for good to which the Ambassador responds that he shall not fear, trusting the Captain will honor his wishes. Bal’mor proceeds to invite the Captain to follow him over to the House Va'ruun Archival Code Generator, upon receiving House Va'ruun's Archival Code the Captain proceeds to leave the Embassy to continue on their mission in retrieving the Terrormorph data from the Armistice Archive	In one of infinite universes, the Vanguard Captain may choose to tell the Ambassador that he is "just an old man in a basement", and does not get to tell them what to do. The Ambassador states that this is true, and that he cannot force the great UC to do anything, but that he can choose to live a life he doesn't need to be ashamed of. Continuing to tell the Vanguard Captain that they have the same choice, and asks them to reconsider. Should the Vanguard Captain refuse and threaten to hurt the Ambassador, Bal’mor states that he will not ‘‘bend to such crass measures?’’ telling the Captain to agree to his terms of making good on their threats, to which the captain may open fire, killing the Ambassador and claiming the code machine key of House Va'ruun in order to produce the House Va'ruun Archival code themselves before continuing on and leaving the Embassy to continue on their mission in retrieving the Terrormorph data from the Armistice Archive.	In one of infinite universes, The Vanguard Captain may be of The Promised declaring that ‘’in the name of the Great Serpent, House Va'ruun's code will be used to protect their good name.’’ the ambassador tells the captain to create the legacy that their people deserve he then proceeds to invite the Captain to follow him over to the House Va'ruun Archival Code Generator, upon receiving House Va'ruun's Archival Code the Captain proceeds to leave the Embassy to continue on their mission in retrieving the Terrormorph data from the Armistice Archive.