William A. Blakely

Authored by Emil Petecki

Character Biography

Appearance
Skin tone: slightly pale
Eye colour: green
Hair colour: dark mahogany
Hair style: short comb-over

Background

Born in Greenwich, home of the old Royal Observatory and the Old Naval College, he was surrounded by tales of great explorers from the early childhood. His father, James, was a scientist specialising in adapting new colonies to their surroundings. He met William’s mother, Elizabeth, on one of the failed outposts. Habitats needed a lot of work to adapt to the local environment, made particularly harsh by acidic hurricanes, and Elizabeth was one of the few doctors capable enough to treat its aftermath. Together, they worked hard to transform that desolate place into a prosperous mining colony, vital for the region.

William was born shortly after his father’s retirement. Prone to illness, James could not stand the dangerous lifestyle he had once been so used to. He chose to retire early, teaching colony adaptation in London, so that new generations of explorers would not repeat mistakes of the past. His mother joined him, teaching young students how to provide adequate care in the harshest of conditions.

Young William’s imagination was constantly fuelled by the tales of strange worlds and unknown phenomena. When he was a teenager he wrote a short novel, “USS Hercules and the Acidic Storm”, which did not sell very well. Determined to discover for himself the vastness of space he kept writing about, despite his parents’ wishes, he enrolled in the Starfleet Academy.

Interests
- Celestial cartography
- Tales from the Age of Sail
- Hiking
- Chess
- Terran history
- Cricket
- Plants

Various facts
- Greatest achievement: the best chess player in his class.
- Greatest disappointment: losing the cricket finals and letting his school down.
- Phobias: wasps
- Favourite colour: blue
- Childhood pet: a Devon Rex cat named Kitty
- Favourite music genres: classic and jazz

Medical conditions
- Nickel allergy, kept in check by a new generation of antihistamines
- Weak ankles

Family
Mother, Elizabeth Blakely, age 56, alive
Father, James Blakely, age 65, alive
Brother, Edward Blakely, age 18, alive
Sister, Anna Blakely, age 16, alive