Backup of Norah Everdin

Norah Everdin is the former president of Blue Spire Academy, the sector's most prestigious psionic institution. As president, she was known for having exacting standards of students and staff alike. It was even rumored that she'd developed a new psionic discipline involving control of the elements.
However, she has recently been removed from her position and placed under arrest for her role in illegal experimentation on Academy students and staff that, allegedly, resulted in numerous deaths over the last several years.

Appearance

Norah has brown skin, black hair, and a commanding aura. She's always immaculately dressed, often in shoes that echo her coming down the halls and a cloak that flutters in her wake. She walks into a room and demands attention by existing. She makes sure her voice is heard in any situation, and speaks with an unbreakable conviction.

BSA President

The board of educators of Blue Spire Academy voted to hire Norah Everdinn as academy president in 3216. Unlike many prior presidents, Norah hadn't spent time as a professor or dean of the academy prior to becoming president. Her only connection to BSA was having previously attended as a student, when she graduated top of her class.
BSA always had a reputation of high standards, and this only grew under President Everdinn. She changed curriculum to meet stricter guidelines for students, and pushed staff members more heavily into research with faster results. Over the years, her changes dropped average grade point average of students and lowered the graduation rate.
Neither effect was significant enough to cause the board to consider hiring a different president. Especially since Norah got results. While no major breakthroughs occurred during her tenure, numerous smaller advances in psionics research were made. Many students returned to become professors, or were hired to prestigious positions elsewhere, such as in psitech research.
Norah had two main focuses when it came to psionics research:

1. First, she wanted to uncover new disciplines and techniques. It's rumored she herself is able to psionically produce flame, though perhaps not reliably enough for a public announcement.
2. Her second focus was to prevent deaths by torching, whether by healing the damage it caused or stopping it from happening in the first place.

Her obsession with the latter became her downfall.

Imagine psionics without torching, vacant the fear of accidental death or going feral. I imagine it daily, and I want to stop imagining and start living it.

— Norah Everdinn

Arrest

In 3228, Professor Patricia Eckhart fell ill with an unusual psionic disease. The professor's daughter, Jorie Grey, returned to the planet to help her parents, but got caught up in something more. Certain her mother's illness was related to missing students she'd investigated two years previously, she set to finding the source and cure for the ailment.

With help from the Gal Pals and Tavari Zima, Jorie uncovered a plot from President Everdinn. She was using a newly-opened spa as a front for illegal medical testing to cure the effects of torching. While it may have helped some, it killed others or left them with permanent disabilities.
Victims would secretly be sent to a secure wing of the local hospital. No friends or family would be informed, and the victim, if they survived, would have no means to communicate with the outside world. This is what had happened to the missing students. Patricia's public status and teleporting husband were all that kept her from a similar fate.

Known side effects of the testing:

• Locked-In Syndrome: paralysis of the body despite full lucidity of mind.
• Eternal Pathways: constant metadimensional flow through the brain, weakening the body until death.
• Memory Loss: starting from the most recent memories, resulting in regression-like behavior.

Once this was revealed, the board immediately placed President Everdinn on leave while the investigation took place. Numerous business deals with BSA were cancelled, students dropped out, transferred, or rescinded applications, and professors went on strike in solidarity with the experiment's victims. Within a month, the board decided to retire President Everdinn permanently.
While she was initially in custody of the planet's justice system, she was quietly transferred to Perimeter. She testified to them that she had no knowledge of what transpired at the spa, and no connection to the experiments being run. However, Elenore King, BSA dean and candidate for president, came with receipts. She provided a data disk of emails between her and the former president, proving Norah's knowledge of what was happening as well as Dean King's reluctant involvement.

This story is still developing. The status of Norah's plea deal with Perimeter is unknown, as is what consequences Dean King will suffer for her involvement. Follow for updates on what happens.

Timeline

3182	Born on Xeros
3205	Graduated BSA
3216	Became BSA President
3228	Arrested for illegal medical experimentation

Information

Psionic abilities

Master of
Master of
Potential elemental manipulation

Prior affiliations

Blue Spire Academy

Related

Author Commentary

Inspiration

Vivienne de Fer from Dragon Age: Inquisition was a big inspiration for Norah's bearing and personality. Less so for her blatant disregard for others' lives.