Crew of the Albatross

The Albatross was an Earth spy ship stolen from a megacorporation by Grimm. Designed to fly in high Earth orbit for years at a time, it was the ship used to discover the Portal Network. While the Albatross didn't see much use after the discovery of the Network, its whole crew, and the individuals associated with them, have become famous in one way or another. They could rightly be said to be the founding parents of Nordic Frog Beach, and their influence can be felt everywhere. The ship spent years orbiting Triton after the Crew de-boarded and entered the Portal Network. It was later used to head sunward, bringing a crew of Nordic Froggers back to Earth and Mars. The Albatross went missing shortly after entering Earth orbit on a survey, with all hands on board unaccounted for. The crew was:

Scrud Cutter was an Earth scavenger looking to settle down when she joined the Crew. She had to be dragged into space by Grimm in order to go, but when she went, she went with gusto. She served as the moral center of the group, as well as a motherly protector. Where she went, the others followed.
Graesen Gage, otherwise known as Grimm. Grimm was an investigator from Earth. Despite being born into one of the richest families to ever exist, he turned away from that life to serve the downtrodden on the streets. Grimm was key to human discovery of the Portal Network, because he used his mother's resources to track the Babel probe back to its origin point. Grimm explored several worlds with the other members of the Crew, and went with them back to Earth as well. Grimm later fought against his own mother and her soldiers to ensure people would be free to explore the portals. Once there was a settlement at New Alexandria, he founded the library there, and the order of Grimms (Scrud's naming convention) who guard and collect for it.
Lenora Xavier, otherwise known as Lux. Lux was an underground orphan who lived on the streets of Earth, her body blown apart as a child by U.N. missiles because her parents were socialists. She grew into a cybernetic warrior with willpower of steel and superhuman strength. Her appearance at the portal network was never explained - she crashed into the icy surface of Triton in a tiny pod that came screaming out of the portal just moments after the Albatross arrived there for the first time. Lux became Scrud's first loyal acolyte, doing her best to defend the woman from harm. She invented the Resonance Sword and was always on the front line of defense against threats. She was one of the first people to explore Spideyworld, and she defended Ifera during the mission to destroy Pathfinder HQ. She went on to found the X-Templar after Nel-Tesk escaped, ensuring humanity would always have a shield against him.
Olympia Snopes was a corporate spy who turned against the system when she uncovered some of the details she was stealing. With impeccable aim and the ability to impersonate anyone, Olympia found her skills tested when she found herself exploring alien wilderness instead of infiltrating cities. She lived on Nordic Frog Beach for a time, making friends with settlers and doing database management for the new towns. Then one day she traveled to Triton with a crew, boarded the Albatross, and left for Mars. Two years later the Martian government collapsed. A year after that the Albatross went missing in Earth orbit. Olympia was never seen again.
Ifera Anderlok, originally a journalist from the cloud cities of Venus. Ifera traveled to the portal network under the guise of a corporate drone in order to record what was going on, and discovered a great mystery waiting to be uncovered. She spent the remainder of her days trekking through the network, penning Ifera's Journeys along the way. Her ultimate quest - to discover the deepest secrets held by the Maeglin - was left unfinished after she went missing pursuing the Diamond Portal.
William Braddock was a soldier from Earth who died fighting Myrmidon, the rogue intelligence that caused the Fall. He was brought back by Mars and sent to the portal network to ensure that it would be a Martian possession. He betrayed his masters and signed on to the Albatross crew as a medic and a sentry. He was always protecting the rest of the crew, providing covering fire and medical care anytime it was needed. When New Alexandria was founded, he and a small company of mercenaries he founded would scout nearby planets to write William's Report, the primary document that shows local threats in the Rainbow Ring.
Howser, who was a former Martian CEO that left that life behind when he heard something was going on out past Uranus. He traveled to the Portal Network and lent his diplomatic expertise to the Crew. Howser's curiosity led him to be the first to explore many of the planets in the Network in any real detail, and he led the first expedition to Spideyworld. In addition, Howser was instrumental in creating peace between the Pathfinder Corporation and the settlers at Nordic Frog Beach.
Ischyro, a synthetic intelligence created on Earth as a combat-situation-simulation program. She achieved sentience before the Fall, but her perspective was limited to only her own building, and she killed humans during the Fall when Myrmidon convinced her that they were a threat to her survival. Following that, though, she has had several positive experiences with humans. Over the course of their adventures, Lux made many overtures of friendship. Scrud rescued Ischyro from a vat of radioactive coolant, and talked her through being infected with the Babel virus. Despite the fact that Ischyro stole the Albatross, Cassiopeia cooperated with her on her mission to achieve independence. Eventually, Ischyro returned the Albatross, along with several nanofabricators and exowombs and stores of raw materials. This payment was for her ability to establish bases that could not be interfered with and research to her heart's content - as long as she shared the results of her research with humanity. Her dropoff of supplies was instrumental in the successful formation of the first settlements on Nordic Frog Beach.
and Cassiopeia. Cassiopeia was picked up on a destroyed research vessel in the Belt. She had been a university student on Earth, and had egocast into the Belt to work an engineering internship. Stranded by the Fall, she was kidnapped by Ischyro during the intelligence's first bid for freedom. Together, she and Ischyro traveled all over the Outer Planets, taking over space stations and turning their productive capacity into warships for Ischyro. No further records exist for Cassiopeia.
finally, there was Nel-Tesk. Nel-Tesk was resurrected without the approval of the group by Lux, who had fallen in love with him while talking to his digital blueprint. She returned him in an Exalted human sleeve, and he became dangerously narcissistic. Furthermore, he possessed potent psychic powers. As it turned out, he was a member of the extinct Maeglin, conquerors and slavers from the ancient past. Fortunately for the others, Lux had a deal with him that he would help out for a year as payment for his resurrection. His engineering skills and psychic powers proved to be a powerful weapon in the war against the capitalists, but at the end of his term of service he ran away to create a resurrected Maeglin empire.

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

The Albatross is a luxury vessel designed for CEOs to live in comfort while spying on their rivals. Its exterior resembles a sleek racing vessel and is outfitted with stealth technology. The interior holds a crew of up to 12 and resembles a high-class bar or lounge.

Mental characteristics

Morality & Philosophy

The Crew of the Albatross grew up in a horrific cyberpunk dystopia. Each of them were curious and competent punks. They believed in personal freedoms, anti-capitalism, and fucking off and doing the right thing.

Children

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