Conworlding Europa: Character Profiles
Okay, so this is the first of a number of preliminary character profiles I will be posting here. For me, the best part of creating a world is it's inhabitants. Few things speak louder or more clearly about a place than the people in it.
Note that all of these character profiles are pretty rough until I get more research done and make a few more plot decisions, but here we go with the first:
Walter Higgs
Walter Higgs, usually known as Walt, is a prisoner on Europa, though not by anyone's choice. Walt came to Europa as a drill worker. He traveled into space for the basic reasons - adventure, money, lonely women - and he was good at his job. He was always scraping and saving for the next trip. He had ambitions to go everywhere in the solar system that was inhabited.
An accident at work cut those plans short. Three people died, including the man at fault, and Walt wound up with a permanent head injury. He was in a coma for two days. His mind is mostly intact, and he wound up with a pretty sizable settlement from his employers, but the short end of the stick is that his injury makes it impossible for his brain to withstand space travel. He can't ever leave Europa.
He still works. No one will let him operate the drill any longer, but he does odd jobs around the station. He's basically a “handy man” now. He can frequently be found in the tavern, drinking and laughing with the crew. He gets along really well with pretty much everyone, although he is a little distrustful of strangers. He has been known to have the occasional odd burst of sudden emotion, like bursting out laughing or crying for no apparent reason, and he tends to rock back and forth when he's upset, but no one pays it any real mind.
Walt's new job doesn't take up a lot of his time, unfortunately. He found himself in need of a hobby, some time back. These days, he's best known as the creator of the now-famous ice sculptures of Europa. He started small, working with blocks a few feet wide in the storehouse, but he's become far more ambitious with his work. He's been using the considerable funds from his injuries settlement to buy explosives and tools. His old friends in the station gladly help him out with the cranes to haul huge blocks of ice so that he can spend hours - even days - out on the Europan surface carving. His sculptures are hundreds of feet long and tend to feature a theme of flight, from soaring swans to ancient rockets.
His sculptures were photographed, recently, and featured in several news packages, along with his story. To his astonishment, people have begun sending him donations of money to continue his work. It baffles him to no end, but he's not complaining... much. He figures if the sculptures make a few people happy, well then he's doing something right.
Every now and again, Walt misses traveling. He really wanted to see Io, and that was his next stop. He left a fine-looking woman back on Mars that he misses terribly. Every now and again, Walt thinks about opening his helmet outside and becoming as still and calm as one of his works. He tries hard not to open a bottle at those moments. Instead he usually puts on his suit and goes outside to carve. So far, he's always come inside again.
Note that all of these character profiles are pretty rough until I get more research done and make a few more plot decisions, but here we go with the first:
Walter Higgs
Walter Higgs, usually known as Walt, is a prisoner on Europa, though not by anyone's choice. Walt came to Europa as a drill worker. He traveled into space for the basic reasons - adventure, money, lonely women - and he was good at his job. He was always scraping and saving for the next trip. He had ambitions to go everywhere in the solar system that was inhabited.
An accident at work cut those plans short. Three people died, including the man at fault, and Walt wound up with a permanent head injury. He was in a coma for two days. His mind is mostly intact, and he wound up with a pretty sizable settlement from his employers, but the short end of the stick is that his injury makes it impossible for his brain to withstand space travel. He can't ever leave Europa.
He still works. No one will let him operate the drill any longer, but he does odd jobs around the station. He's basically a “handy man” now. He can frequently be found in the tavern, drinking and laughing with the crew. He gets along really well with pretty much everyone, although he is a little distrustful of strangers. He has been known to have the occasional odd burst of sudden emotion, like bursting out laughing or crying for no apparent reason, and he tends to rock back and forth when he's upset, but no one pays it any real mind.
Walt's new job doesn't take up a lot of his time, unfortunately. He found himself in need of a hobby, some time back. These days, he's best known as the creator of the now-famous ice sculptures of Europa. He started small, working with blocks a few feet wide in the storehouse, but he's become far more ambitious with his work. He's been using the considerable funds from his injuries settlement to buy explosives and tools. His old friends in the station gladly help him out with the cranes to haul huge blocks of ice so that he can spend hours - even days - out on the Europan surface carving. His sculptures are hundreds of feet long and tend to feature a theme of flight, from soaring swans to ancient rockets.
His sculptures were photographed, recently, and featured in several news packages, along with his story. To his astonishment, people have begun sending him donations of money to continue his work. It baffles him to no end, but he's not complaining... much. He figures if the sculptures make a few people happy, well then he's doing something right.
Every now and again, Walt misses traveling. He really wanted to see Io, and that was his next stop. He left a fine-looking woman back on Mars that he misses terribly. Every now and again, Walt thinks about opening his helmet outside and becoming as still and calm as one of his works. He tries hard not to open a bottle at those moments. Instead he usually puts on his suit and goes outside to carve. So far, he's always come inside again.