Baron Jerik Cayl Brendaron
House Cadriaan Near-Human, played by Neil S.
“There’s room for everyone in the Tapani Sector… almost everyone.“
A Near-Human shipbuilder that spent many of his years in the Imperial shipyards, aiding in the construction of Star Destroyers. Eventually left his job to go into business for himself, giving him ample opportunity to visit and settle in the Tapani Sector. Seized the chance to buy the noble title of “Baron” from House Cadriaan and then married into another royal family that recently migrated to the sector as well. Splits his time now by raising his two children, running his growing business of freighter construction and custom-refits, and representing his Barony in the Tapani Senate.
Born on a starship, Jerik’s parents were Belmaru, a Near-Human race of wanderers and nomads. The Belmaru are said to have evolved from a symbiotic relationship between the flora and fauna of their homeworld, Belmaril. Through evolution, they have become predominantly human in appearance, but some unusual markings upon their neck, shoulders, and forearms can be attributed to the vegetation component of their genetic makeup. These alien features can be easily concealed and Jerik’s parents found it necessary to do so once they decided to settle in Imperial space.
Jerik grew up in the Rendili star system as a restless and adventurous boy. His father’s occupation centered mostly around starship design and engineering. The Belmaru brought valuable talents to this profession due to their many generations of wandering the stars. Much of his father’s early success in business could be attributed to the skills he had gained during his family’s journey to Imperial space. As his father’s business expanded, Jerik often learned the secrets of the trade, and gained a reputation for designing very efficient schematics that allowed the builders to maximize the amount of space inside a starship.
Shortly thereafter, the Rendili star system became the primary shipyard facility for the construction of Imperial Star Destroyers. Eventually Jerik became a technician and worked on many minor engineering projects in and around the shipyards, ironically contributing to the growing power base of Emperor Palpatine’s navy. It was during this time that Jerik encountered Captain Silus Weller, an impatient and evil man, whose Victory-Class Star Destroyer was in bad need of repair. Jerik’s engineering team was assigned to refit Weller’s deflector shield generators. The Captain instructed that some of the power be diverted from the ship’s central power core and into the generators in order to give him a more powerful deflection screen. Jerik recommended that such a modification could result in total loss of the deflector shields during moments of high power consumption, but Captain Weller demanded the modification be made. When Weller engaged his next group of smugglers and pirates, he didn’t heed Jerik’s warnings and tried to pursue their ships with all guns blazing and the engine at maximum thrust. As a result, the pirate’s counterattack crippled Weller’s deflectors and eventually destroyed his engines as well. Luckily for Weller, Imperial reinforcements arrived to drive away the pirates before they could loot the defenseless vessel, but the Captain’s career and overall record has suffered as a result. Of course, Weller blames the engineers for improperly repairing his ship in the first place, and to this day holds a hatred for Jerik Brendaron. The Captain is also inclined to an alien prejudice as well, which doubles his disgust. Recent events have placed Captain Weller in the Tapani Sector, a position of prestige and respect that he has only recently regained.
Faced with the growing anti-alien sentiment of the Empire, as well as pressure from Captain Weller and his men, Jerik decided to leave Rendili to become a merchant and go into business for himself. Besides, he could no longer tolerate the stories circulating among the commoners as well as his own people, regarding the Imperial atrocities being committed in other sectors of space. He began to fear that his skills at ship building were being used to harm innocent people, and he could not tolerate that idea any longer. He created his own company for retrofitting ships and freighters with upscale and higher-quality equipment. Over time, he grew the business into an actual construction company of small-scale transports as well. Jerik’s business led him into contact with many smugglers and Rebels, one of whom was a childhood friend from his days at Rendili (see Contacts). His friend often asked him for assistance in creating secret compartments so he could smuggle weapons, medical supplies, and even Rebels into or out of Imperial territories. Given his natural tendency of despising what the Empire had become, especially once he learned from his friend that the stories were true, Jerik assisted his him as much as he could. For his continued help, Jerik received a badly damaged Imperial Customs Guardian-Class Light Cruiser from the smuggler as a gift one day. The gift came with some strings attached, however. Jerik feels indebted to his friend for such an expensive “gift”, even though he had to virtually rebuild the ship. His friend often calls upon him for assistance now by making use of the larger vessel or Jerik’s time to participate in missions in the Tapani Sector, missions that would certainly damage his political career among the House Nobles if they were ever discovered. At times, he and his smuggler friend use the ship to masquerade as Imperials in order to move about more freely.
It was one such mission that led him to smuggle a nobleman’s family out of House Pelagia during the Jedi Purge. That is how he met his future wife, Mia, the nobleman’s youngest daughter. After revisiting the Tapani Sector, often just to see her, he began to find more excuses for sticking around, particularly the business possibilities. Eventually, when the opportunity presented itself, he took advantage of House Cadriaan’s program to buy himself a Noble title, as well as the rights and privileges that came with it. Setting himself up as a Baron, he finally asked Mia to marry him and now has two children, a thriving business in the construction and operation of freighters and other starships, and an extra career as a House politician. His new job gives him the opportunity to quietly express his views and opinions on the Empire, as well as help to guide the Tapani Sector into a new age of prosperity and enlightenment. He feels House Cadriaan is poised to lead the sector in becoming more like the Old Republic with a greater tolerance of all races. For the moment, he doesn’t seek to overthrow the Empire, but rather to outlast it…although, his smuggler friend has often tempted him to join the Rebellion fully.
Since his arrival in the Tapani Sector, he has already made a few minor political enemies, mostly those that refuse to listen to the words of an alien, no matter how human he manages to appear. One particular noblewoman, Countess Afinna Rivenstar, from the foremost House of Mecetti, holds a deeper hatred of him. Her corporate holdings are in direct competition with Jerik’s businesses. So far, his location, competitive pricing, and knowledge of techniques from outside the Tapani Sector, have made Jerik a more popular choice. He has stolen several major clients from her company, resulting in a dwindling of her business and the recent denial of Afinna’s push to become a Marquis. She also cannot abide losing to an alien, and often contests his proposals and viewpoints within the Lower Councils of the Senate. She fears the day when his successful business dealings catapult him to the same level of nobility as her, and resents the fact that her former clients are responsible for it.