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Plot elaboration
While I mostly play Juri as free-floating of any personal plot, he can come with any of these for the relevant background settings! (it's a WIP, though, with only two plots really worked out.)
Sci-fi (or The Keys to the Kingdom):
Things get a little more interesting when he's mistaken for a chee courier contracted to ferry some highly sensitive and very stolen information (the control codes for a highly advanced and mostly-automatic fleet of ships), which means he gets a couple criminal organizations after him, the agents of an enemy military to the chee, as well as agents both from the inter-species peacekeeping and intelligence forces of the galactic community and the military of the chee government which the fleet belongs to. The problem, of course, being that the agents are convinced he is the contracted courier, and it's a little tricky to stop and tell them he isn't safely, while the criminals are all waiting for him to stop long enough for someone to snatch him.
The even bigger problem being that the information is now keyed to his DNA, so just taking the datachip back isn't really going to work. He finally gets something going his way by fleeing to Earth and finding his father to talk with, so he can relay the information to the various agents, even if Juri can't stay because of course they get interrupted by several factions, one of which who purports to be able to help him and he goes with them willingly... only to end up in front of the general of the military of an enemy of the chee. Who clearly has her own agenda, as while she says one thing to her leader when she informs him she has "the courier", she implies something else entirely after the call is ended (that she wants the fleet for herself). Juri doesn't have to figure out how to solve this dilemma, though, as he gets "rescued", by, it turns out, minions of the bigger criminal organization...
Who takes him to meet the surprisingly young (if... intense) leader thereof, and certain things becoming clear, Juri's sympathy doesn't stretch far enough as to think it being as good idea that this guy would have control over this fleet. Luckily, since he doesn't know where the fleet is, the leader has to wait for other agents to get the information of where it is, Juri is well on the way through an escape attempt when (unknowing for him), one of the government agents, aided by a "free agent" (as he claims) to come rescue/kidnap him.
After some explanations after they're away, Juri agrees to come with her (not that he can do much), but further convinced after a conversation with the chee ruler, and they travel to the fleet's location to reset his DNA lock (and, it turns out, meet said ruler). Of course it's not that easy, as they're followed by the minions of the criminal leader (there's at least one other rescue by the free agent), and then, when they get to the fleet... said free agent reveals himself to be not so free or well-meaning (being the leader of one of Chaldee's rebellious colonies), though the hostage standoff is solved thanks to the government agent managing to take him by surprise and give Juri time to get away and over to the emperor, finally resetting the DNA lock - just in time for the rebel leader to grab control over the fleet instead. During the forced escape, as forced of both the criminal organisation, Chaldee, and the rebel colony appear, Juri ends up right back with the rebel leader and basically hauled along.
(Ehlzee are a snake-like species with long necks, no real obvious sex dimorphism aside from wider hips on the females, and with flat faces and noses, narrow, flat nostrils and large, almond-shaped eyes. They have a hood instead of hair, and many have extra extensions of the hood that trail down to frame their neck and down over their shoulders.)
Fantasy (otherwise known as The Once and Future King):
While traveling to gather songs as he likes to learn new ones and they're nearly always a good hit when he goes elsewhere and brings something new people haven't heard there, Juri ends up sharing camp and road for several days with a... rather questionable bunch of Felin. Questionable because they're clearly not traders, but at least they don't seem to be actively raiding on this desolate stretch of road between two distant cities, and the leader is polite, if flamboyant and rather dramatic.
(The area was once the heartland of one of the few countries (not to talk about the only empire) the Feli have had, but it was shattered into warlord squabbling and then swept up by surrounding elven and human kingdoms when the current emperor was cursed.)
The evening before the last day where they should arrive to the next city, Juri is woken up from one of the dreams he's been having for the last several days. Ever since he joined up with these Felin, in fact. Thinking the voice is from one of the "merchants" he's travelling with (why they think he's so stupid or naïve, he's not sure. Couldn't they at least have pretended to be traveling tinkers or... something? They clearly have no goods with them.), Juri follows it... and ends up sneaking into the leader's tent, led to the long, elaborate dagger* Juri's seen glimpses off, but it's always been quickly hidden again.
He's not a thief, but it's also not every day you get addressed by a magical knife asking you to take it because the recipient of the dagger will not use it properly.
Juri, hesitant, almost doesn't, but when the Felis almost wakes up, he ends up snagging the dagger out of pure alarm and, of course, runs. Avoids the town they were going to at all and continues to a nearby village, and from there, following directions from the dagger, back the way he came, deeper (with various side-routes) into land long since ravaged by time and rulers and left to crumble, while pursued by the previous mercenaries and soon other interested parties.
The dagger, reluctant at first, soon explains what's going on; the recipient and, briefly, former owner, is a distant descendant of not the cursed Emperor, but one of his younger brothers, and while that wouldn't be an issue, the Felis, as the dagger (or rather, the spirit of the cursed Emperor) has found out, wouldn't be a good king. And even if he didn't want the restored land that'd come with the removal of the curse, he would be even worse possessing the magical army that the emperor had control of, and the control of which will fall to the one who properly kills the Emperor while restoring his spirit to him and lifting the curse.
So, racing against several other interested parties, one of which being an otherwise very competent and curiously combat-knowledgeable "historian" along with a very attractive "assistant", the former, at least, who wants to destroy the knife; Juri's encounter with her drives him right into the hands of the mercenary group he'd taken the knife from, but not before he manages to hide it. The historian and her assistant attempt to save him ends in a hostage situation and they're forced to back off. Juri's taken back to their employer (who turns out to be the concubine of the human king of part of the surrounding lands), Juri ends up silently agreeing with the Emperor's spirit; the Felis, not much older than he is, wouldn't be a safe choice for the knife or the magical army.
He only gets away from there when the captain of the royal guard reveals she knows about the dagger, knows he had it last, and attempts to get the information of where it is from him - the concubine stages a distraction, and Juri manages to avoid his henchmen and, after a brief run-in with the king himself (interrupted by the concubine playing up what his captain of the guard did and that she's scheming against him), finally escapes out of the palace and then the city with the help of the historian and her assistant, as they've apparently followed him.
Having an argument with the historian about what to do with the dagger while he stalls on leading them to where he hid it. She refuses to agree with him and seems intent on simply keeping him until he gives the location up. It's a little surprising that he's assisted in getting away from her by her assistant, who says he agrees with him. Whether or not Juri believes that, he ends up retrieving the dagger and, with the help of this guy (who both he and the emperor's spirit agree can't be just a historian's assistant) Juri works himself deep into the Emperor's "tomb", intending to do what was asked of him... just in time for some of those interested parties to arrive, too, while the "assistant" attempts to take the knife from him, revealing he is also very interested in gaining the magical army for himself, as protection for the northern tribes of free felin he leads.
The whole thing is a bit of an awkward mess, and the historian almost manages to do what she has been aiming to do, but Juri gets the knife back at the last moment and restores the emperor's spirit to his body, which quickly evicts all other parties aside from Juri and the emperor.
When they leave the tomb, the land is slowly being restored around them, and most of the people have left (or been forced to leave), though the historian is still there, and she asks to talk to the emperor. Juri excuses himself and waves off any immediate reward from the emperor - he gets to keep the dagger, though, now just a normal one.
He's pretty surprised to get accompanied by the historian's former "assistant", who says they're going in the same direction anyway, and while he's displeased he didn't get what he wanted, he'd still not see Juri hurt, if some of the others (the concubine in particular) decides to try and get back at him. Wary but not enough to say no and split, they work their way north to go back to the continent they both consider home.
*looks like a pesh-kabz
Sci-fi (or The Keys to the Kingdom):
Things get a little more interesting when he's mistaken for a chee courier contracted to ferry some highly sensitive and very stolen information (the control codes for a highly advanced and mostly-automatic fleet of ships), which means he gets a couple criminal organizations after him, the agents of an enemy military to the chee, as well as agents both from the inter-species peacekeeping and intelligence forces of the galactic community and the military of the chee government which the fleet belongs to. The problem, of course, being that the agents are convinced he is the contracted courier, and it's a little tricky to stop and tell them he isn't safely, while the criminals are all waiting for him to stop long enough for someone to snatch him.
The even bigger problem being that the information is now keyed to his DNA, so just taking the datachip back isn't really going to work. He finally gets something going his way by fleeing to Earth and finding his father to talk with, so he can relay the information to the various agents, even if Juri can't stay because of course they get interrupted by several factions, one of which who purports to be able to help him and he goes with them willingly... only to end up in front of the general of the military of an enemy of the chee. Who clearly has her own agenda, as while she says one thing to her leader when she informs him she has "the courier", she implies something else entirely after the call is ended (that she wants the fleet for herself). Juri doesn't have to figure out how to solve this dilemma, though, as he gets "rescued", by, it turns out, minions of the bigger criminal organization...
Who takes him to meet the surprisingly young (if... intense) leader thereof, and certain things becoming clear, Juri's sympathy doesn't stretch far enough as to think it being as good idea that this guy would have control over this fleet. Luckily, since he doesn't know where the fleet is, the leader has to wait for other agents to get the information of where it is, Juri is well on the way through an escape attempt when (unknowing for him), one of the government agents, aided by a "free agent" (as he claims) to come rescue/kidnap him.
After some explanations after they're away, Juri agrees to come with her (not that he can do much), but further convinced after a conversation with the chee ruler, and they travel to the fleet's location to reset his DNA lock (and, it turns out, meet said ruler). Of course it's not that easy, as they're followed by the minions of the criminal leader (there's at least one other rescue by the free agent), and then, when they get to the fleet... said free agent reveals himself to be not so free or well-meaning (being the leader of one of Chaldee's rebellious colonies), though the hostage standoff is solved thanks to the government agent managing to take him by surprise and give Juri time to get away and over to the emperor, finally resetting the DNA lock - just in time for the rebel leader to grab control over the fleet instead. During the forced escape, as forced of both the criminal organisation, Chaldee, and the rebel colony appear, Juri ends up right back with the rebel leader and basically hauled along.
(Ehlzee are a snake-like species with long necks, no real obvious sex dimorphism aside from wider hips on the females, and with flat faces and noses, narrow, flat nostrils and large, almond-shaped eyes. They have a hood instead of hair, and many have extra extensions of the hood that trail down to frame their neck and down over their shoulders.)
Fantasy (otherwise known as The Once and Future King):
While traveling to gather songs as he likes to learn new ones and they're nearly always a good hit when he goes elsewhere and brings something new people haven't heard there, Juri ends up sharing camp and road for several days with a... rather questionable bunch of Felin. Questionable because they're clearly not traders, but at least they don't seem to be actively raiding on this desolate stretch of road between two distant cities, and the leader is polite, if flamboyant and rather dramatic.
(The area was once the heartland of one of the few countries (not to talk about the only empire) the Feli have had, but it was shattered into warlord squabbling and then swept up by surrounding elven and human kingdoms when the current emperor was cursed.)
The evening before the last day where they should arrive to the next city, Juri is woken up from one of the dreams he's been having for the last several days. Ever since he joined up with these Felin, in fact. Thinking the voice is from one of the "merchants" he's travelling with (why they think he's so stupid or naïve, he's not sure. Couldn't they at least have pretended to be traveling tinkers or... something? They clearly have no goods with them.), Juri follows it... and ends up sneaking into the leader's tent, led to the long, elaborate dagger* Juri's seen glimpses off, but it's always been quickly hidden again.
He's not a thief, but it's also not every day you get addressed by a magical knife asking you to take it because the recipient of the dagger will not use it properly.
Juri, hesitant, almost doesn't, but when the Felis almost wakes up, he ends up snagging the dagger out of pure alarm and, of course, runs. Avoids the town they were going to at all and continues to a nearby village, and from there, following directions from the dagger, back the way he came, deeper (with various side-routes) into land long since ravaged by time and rulers and left to crumble, while pursued by the previous mercenaries and soon other interested parties.
The dagger, reluctant at first, soon explains what's going on; the recipient and, briefly, former owner, is a distant descendant of not the cursed Emperor, but one of his younger brothers, and while that wouldn't be an issue, the Felis, as the dagger (or rather, the spirit of the cursed Emperor) has found out, wouldn't be a good king. And even if he didn't want the restored land that'd come with the removal of the curse, he would be even worse possessing the magical army that the emperor had control of, and the control of which will fall to the one who properly kills the Emperor while restoring his spirit to him and lifting the curse.
So, racing against several other interested parties, one of which being an otherwise very competent and curiously combat-knowledgeable "historian" along with a very attractive "assistant", the former, at least, who wants to destroy the knife; Juri's encounter with her drives him right into the hands of the mercenary group he'd taken the knife from, but not before he manages to hide it. The historian and her assistant attempt to save him ends in a hostage situation and they're forced to back off. Juri's taken back to their employer (who turns out to be the concubine of the human king of part of the surrounding lands), Juri ends up silently agreeing with the Emperor's spirit; the Felis, not much older than he is, wouldn't be a safe choice for the knife or the magical army.
He only gets away from there when the captain of the royal guard reveals she knows about the dagger, knows he had it last, and attempts to get the information of where it is from him - the concubine stages a distraction, and Juri manages to avoid his henchmen and, after a brief run-in with the king himself (interrupted by the concubine playing up what his captain of the guard did and that she's scheming against him), finally escapes out of the palace and then the city with the help of the historian and her assistant, as they've apparently followed him.
Having an argument with the historian about what to do with the dagger while he stalls on leading them to where he hid it. She refuses to agree with him and seems intent on simply keeping him until he gives the location up. It's a little surprising that he's assisted in getting away from her by her assistant, who says he agrees with him. Whether or not Juri believes that, he ends up retrieving the dagger and, with the help of this guy (who both he and the emperor's spirit agree can't be just a historian's assistant) Juri works himself deep into the Emperor's "tomb", intending to do what was asked of him... just in time for some of those interested parties to arrive, too, while the "assistant" attempts to take the knife from him, revealing he is also very interested in gaining the magical army for himself, as protection for the northern tribes of free felin he leads.
The whole thing is a bit of an awkward mess, and the historian almost manages to do what she has been aiming to do, but Juri gets the knife back at the last moment and restores the emperor's spirit to his body, which quickly evicts all other parties aside from Juri and the emperor.
When they leave the tomb, the land is slowly being restored around them, and most of the people have left (or been forced to leave), though the historian is still there, and she asks to talk to the emperor. Juri excuses himself and waves off any immediate reward from the emperor - he gets to keep the dagger, though, now just a normal one.
He's pretty surprised to get accompanied by the historian's former "assistant", who says they're going in the same direction anyway, and while he's displeased he didn't get what he wanted, he'd still not see Juri hurt, if some of the others (the concubine in particular) decides to try and get back at him. Wary but not enough to say no and split, they work their way north to go back to the continent they both consider home.
*looks like a pesh-kabz
The Interested Parties
A good ruler with an eye for big-picture thinking, strategy and planning, if perhaps somewhat high-handed and haughty. Misses to take into account people's feelings a lot, even if he cares. Has more doubts than he cares to acknowledge in the light of day. 34 y/o, 185 cm - Feli/Chee
(The Humbling River - Puscifer / Towards the Sun - Rihanna)
Background:
Fantasy - The seventh emperor of the second dynasty of the only Feli empire and one of their few real countries, he fell afoul of both an ambitious younger brother and hostile elven and human kingdoms. He was in the middle of waging war on several fronts when his younger brother saw fit to try and usurp him, using a curse of elven origin to both try and shift the blame and gain control of the magical army his older brother had inherited as he took the throne. It didn't quite work; the curse worked fine, but the magical army was simply "deactivated" and the land reacted negatively as well, slowly falling to ruin. After that, the allied elven and human rulers found it rather easy to break up the felin forces and divide the empire between them.
He didn't die, however, as his spirit was separated from his body and stuck in the dagger he was struck down by. The attempted usurper fled with the dagger but died later, and the dagger started a long wandering route through the centuries until it came back into the hands of one of his descendants... and not someone who should have charge of the magical army, he realized quickly, no matter how much he would wish at least his land restored and revenge taken on the descendants of the surrounding kingdoms.
Sci-fi - The current Emperor of Chaldee and its surrounding colony planets and sovereign space, unaware the one of his young nephews who was kidnapped is still alive, and more focused on dealing with the mess that meant someone managed to escape with the activation key to their new fleet.
The concubine/crime lord:
Slightly erratic, cynical and deeply emotionally wounded even by small hurts, his experiences have molded him into a high-strung, ruthless and cruel young man with a hunger for revenge and power, to make sure he can't be used or abused again. He does, of course, have perfectly legit reasons to not be "kind", but he's also a fragile soul who, while risen above the trauma he's been through, nurses all hurts, big and small, and lets them fester. A good actor, despite what it might look like. 21 y/o, 181 cm - Feli/Chee
(Bird With a Broken Wing - Owl City / Control - Halsey. With Juri; Open Up Your Eyes - MLP the movie / (sci-fi), Ready As I'll Ever Be (fantasy))
Background:
Fantasy - Half forcibly, half knowingly by his guardians, sold into future sexual slavery as a royal concubine because the king knows what his exact lineage is and wants to keep it (and the local Felin) under control. His guardians hope that by having someone in the palace close to the king, he (and they) might have influence. Trained for his future position from 12 to 17, he has spent the last four years not just doing his "job", but gathering a power base and influence, butting heads behind the scenes with the king's wife.
Sci-fi - The nephew of the chee emperor by a younger brother, the boy was kidnapped young with the intention of ransom by a long-time enemy of the chee. The delivery went awry, though, and the boy was lost, ending up picked up by the leader of a growing criminal organization. Partially raised as a potential successor, partially used, he finally succeeds his "mentor" and goes about gaining influence and power with near single-minded fury.
The historian/agent:
Diligent and competent, she has years of experience to back up her no-nonsense (and, when younger, precocious) sharpness. Can be slightly condescending, however, as she considers herself to "know best" in what needs to be done, and her experience and skill often means she does.
40 y/o, 165 cm - human
Background:
Fantasy - Enterprising "historian", she has often taken it upon herself what to do when it comes to certain artifacts, something that goes doubly when she's on the trail of a cursed feli dagger. She does not think that restoring the emperor is the best course of action, but further that it would be unwise that anyone else have access to and control over the magical forces still tied to him, so she wants to destroy the dagger.
Sci-fi - Decorated military and inter-galactic agent to a law-keeping force, she's given the mission of getting the activation key for the new chee fleet back. Against her better judgement, she does as told, instead of destroying it (it's not like a new wouldn't be able to be made, in time), and realizes the "courier" currently in possession of it is but a hapless accident. Ends up playing babysitter.
The free agent/assistant (the leader of the rebel colony/the northern tribes):
Charismatic, arrogant and of the certain opinion he knows best (for himself, for the people he leads), he's also well aware of his ego. Which means he's capable of tempering it, and can do so if the situation calls for it, but if he doesn't have to he doesn't bother. Takes his responsibility for his people seriously, despite his apparent attitude of divine right to rule, and can be both surprisingly generous and kind... when it suits him. Is not so secretly possessive and more secretly (and perhaps surprisingly) scholarly. (Name: Dima Gennady - where "gennady" is actually his title)
26 y/o, 195 cm - Chee/Feli
Background:
Fantasy - The overlord of the "wild" tribes of feli who live in the far north of Spears Rest, unfortunately near countries of orcs who are very firm about their own place at the top of the food chain and do not really tolerate the existence of free peoples within their grasp... even more so when they're not orcs. Has been leading his people for nearly seven years, and always looking for something that will give him an edge over their would-be oppressors, and a chance to preemptively strike at any and all who've subjugated feli in the past.
Sci-fi - The elected leader of a colony in the feli empire, and the secret leader of a brewing rebellion, as they feel the control from the feli capital planet is a yoke, not responsive to their needs... and he really, really just wants to lead an independent state, no matter how true or wrong the feelings about the governance from the feli capital is.
The mercenary/gang leader:
Flamboyant and dramatic, she's far more competent than she might seem to be. Possesses a curious sense of honour where she will not drag in people unrelated to the goings-on, doesn't condone of raiding farms or raping, but is also very much of the "ends justify means" when it comes to whatever mission while hired as a mercenary.
35 y/o, 175 cm transgender - Chee/Feli
Background:
Fantasy - Grew up a petty thief in the slums of the capital of an elven kingdom, and wanted to be more than that. Worked herself up into having her own gang, somewhere between mercenaries and raiding merchants on the lonely stretch of road that passed across a stretch of no-man's land between her home and another country. Ends up in the employ of the concubine of the ruler of her country.
Sci-fi - Grew up much the same, joined a small-time smuggler/pirate gang and took control of it herself. Wanting more influence in the criminal underworld, finding out about the mostly-automated chee fleet and that the activation key was "wandering", it seemed like a good opportunity.
The captain of the royal guard/the general:
Ambitious, conniving and neither as dutiful or loyal as she appears. She does, however, always do her job right and as well as she is capable of as long as she has it and there's no better chance of "promotion" (actual or engineered).
45 y/o, 174 cm - half-elven/ehlzee
Background:
Fantasy - Despite being half-elven and human, rose up into prominence within the military of her home, all the way up to captain of the royal guard, to the disapproval of many. She got the position after supporting the current king, who usurped his sister. She doesn't intend to stop here, however, but replace the king... and keep his wife, as she's having an affair with her.
Sci-fi - The illegitimate daughter of a daughter of a highly respected military family, she's always doubted her place in the family and their acceptance of her. Supported the now-autocratic dictator when he replaced the duly elected Presidium after accusations of corruption (mostly fabricated). Intends to replace him, if she can only gain the clout and force to do so... which the new chee fleet would be useful for, wouldn't it?
The King/military dictator: Cold and ruthless. Thinks he knows best, and will make sure his orders are followed. A hedonist who does not balk from indulging himself, but also surprisingly indulgent and generous with the people he loves (he knows about his wife's affair and isn't doing anything about it since he knows it makes her happy). Autocratic and expansionist-minded. Looks down on any who isn't his own (but has a fondness for the looks of felin).
37 y/o (337 is the equivalent in elf aging), 178 cm - elf/ehlzee
(Pet - A Perfect Circle / Centuries - Fall Out Boy
Background:
Fantasy - The younger brother to the crown princess and later queen of their kingdom, she didn't think it was necessary for them to turn their efforts towards expansion and empire-making. He didn't agree, and, with his wife's support, usurped his sister's place. Is looking to bolster his army's forces, and what better way to do that than add the magical army of the cursed feli emperor? His concubine isn't as stealthy as he thinks he is, at least in this (on the other hand he doesn't know his captain his scheming against him...).
Sci-fi - Power hungry and certain he can lead the ehlzee planets better, he leads a military coup against the elected Presidium after mostly fabricating charges of corruption (the Presidium herself was clean, and she was working through the government to clean up, just not fast enough). Would certainly not want to see the chee possessing such a fleet as they've made, and it would probably be very useful to him in chipping away at their holdings, if he can just get his hands on the activation key.
The Wife:
As cold as her husband, cheerfully scheming behind the scenes but extremely and precisely formal in public. Loves her husband deatly but is jealous of his attention to his concubine/his weakness for feli in general.
36 y/o (336 equivalent in elf), 155 cm - elf/ehlzee
Background:
Fantasy - Has not just been supporting her husband in his ambitions, but aided and abetting him with her spy network and skills at pulling strings behind the scenes. Eagerly imagining all the influence and wealth they could have if his ambitions of an empire come to fruit. Is, however, indulging in and soothing some of her hurt regarding her husband's attention to his concubine (even if it's not to the exclusion of her) with an affair with the captain of the royal guard. Is not aware of said captain's full ambitions.
Sci-fi - As above more or less. She was the one who seeded the false rumours and "evidence" of corruption to beef out the real corruption.