Hravitherav th'Shan

Therav th'Shan (full name Hravitherav th'Shan) was an Andorian thaan who served in Starfleet during the 24th century. Due to the standard Starfleet difficulties with Andorian names and titles, he has been addressed as any number of variations of his name, including Lieutenant Shan, Lieutenant Therav, and Lieutenant Therav Shan.

A graduate of Advanced Tactical Training, Therav was an operative with Starfleet Special Operations prior to serving in a variety of security and tactical positions aboard various craft of the Eighth Fleet, including the USS Monitor, USS Takeda Shingen and USS Tethys.

Early life and career
Therav was born at Shan-Zhess Keep, in a time of year approximating winter on Earth. He spent most of his early life in the shadow of a very overbearing thavan and zhavey, and two other parents who largely made themselves scarce.

Therav's determination to join Starfleet began at a young age. He was extremely serious and diligent in his studies, and didn't partake in much of the stuff that other Andorians do in order to blow off steam; he didn't seek casual intimate partners, for example, as many do prior to consummating their bond.

He took the Starfleet Entrance Exam against the wishes of his family, even his thavan who was a retired admiral ("things were different then, my thei; there were simply more of us to go around"). It would be many years before the rupture between himself and Thalev would heal, and his family still has its misgivings about his choice of career. His thavan later revealed (in writings which he willed to Therav) that he was glad Therav had avoided being ensnared by the criminal activity so prevalent in the clan.

Prior to being accepted into the Academy, Therav held a variety of jobs. As a child, he worked as an apprentice stablehand, and later, a zabathu trainer. Between fifteen and seventeen, before acceptance into the Academy, he worked as a mounted courier.

USS Ansari
Rank of Ensign; sponsored into Advanced Tactical Training.

Advanced Tactical Training
Therav completed the two-year Advanced Tactical Training course, specializing in Small Unit Tactics.

Special Operations
Therav began his Special Operations career after graduation from Advanced Tactical Training with the rank of Lieutenant (junior grade).

He served in a variety of assignments, including an extended classified mission during the second Klingon-Federation War.

He was promoted to Lieutenant during this time.

USS Monitor
Therav's time aboard USS Monitor - which comprises the whole of his Dominion War service - is his most decorated tour in his career. At the beginning of the war, he posted to Monitor as the commanding officer of a Special Operations detachment, RRT-59. In his last four months aboard USS Monitor, he served as Acting Chief Tactical Officer, replacing Lieutenant Commander Donald Fergus. Captain Masaru Hayashi spoke highly of Therav's four months as department head. He was offered a promotion to Lieutenant Commander with official confirmation of his role as Chief Tactical Officer, but refused and instead transferred to a lateral security position aboard USS Takeda Shingen

An event in the last six months of his time aboard the Monitor resulted in his later hospitalization with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which is an extremely shameful thing for an Andorian. The experience (which he barely remembers) involved Founder infiltration of his unit, and resulted in the deaths of half of the team as well as the eventual suicide of one other underling, Ensign Madden. He received several commendations for conspicuous gallantry and heroic behavior for his comportment in that conflict, but it's left nothing but a bad taste in his mouth.

USS Takeda Shingen, 2375-2381

 * On medical leave for three months, in first year, due to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
 * Promoted to Chief Tactical Officer with rank of Lieutenant Commander in early 2381
 * Tried as an accessory in a conspiracy that involved several members of Shingen's crew, including the Captain, who were revealed to be taking part in a Section 31 conspiracy. Over the years, he had been manipulated into participation by higher-ranking co-conspirators who preyed upon his experience with the Founders and residual paranoia. This, plus the fact that he was unaware that he was an accessory to a Section 31 conspiracy and was willing to assist the judicial process, resulted in his being spared full Court Martial and arrest. He was instead demoted to Lieutenant. It was on record that Admiral Masaru Hayashi, his former commanding officer aboard USS Monitor, did not agree with his demotion.

Deep Space 17 - late 2381 through early 2382

 * Security Officer with rank of Lieutenant
 * Did undercover work, acting as the Security Chief's "eyes and ears"; helped flush two illegal organizations out of DS17 by the time of his transfer to USS Tethys

USS Tethys 2382-
Most recently, Therav was posted to the USS Tethys where he is one of three people who help to run the Security and Tactical departments. As (due to circumstance) Tethys is presently travelling with a large number of inexperienced crew and a relatively low number of experienced officers, Therav has taken it upon himself to assemble and train a Rapid Response Team based upon his own training in Advanced Tactical Training and experience as a Special Operations operative and veteran of the Dominion War... often coming to odds with many senior staff who see USS Tethys as a return to the "peaceful mission" philosophy.

Psychological profile
After sixteen years of service, Therav still finds it awkward to relate to many non-Andorians. As a result, he has a reputation for being, at times, gruff and ill mannered.

He also is hypervigilant and paranoid, and though these are racial traits, they are exacerbated by his war experience.

Clan
Therav is an outcast from his clan. He may never again set foot on clan property.

Over the years, Therav had become more and more aware that his clan was a major Volna Vrinia family, a fact which his thavan and zhavey had tried their best to keep from him. This did not become an issue until Therav's cousin, Zlesha zh'Shan, cited an Andorian tradition in order to claim full custody of Therav's thei Shlev th'Zhess from Therav and Thil, Shlev's other remaining parent. Zlesha's grown thei had been killed in a joint Imperial Guard-Starfleet action during which the last remaining True Heirs stronghold was seized. As Thil sh'Zheshri was an Imperial Guardsman and Therav was a Starfleet officer and both were involved in the raid (unaware of the clan Shan's True Heirs involvement), Zlesha and the clan considered them both accomplices in the deaths of all clansmen who had been on the opposing side. Zlesha and her bond considered it only fair that Thil and Therav should give up custody of their thei in order to replace that which she had lost due to their disloyalty to the clan.

As Therav himself had a broken bond (two bondmates were dead, and he was divorced from his remaining bondmate, Thil), and Zlesha had an intact bond, and as such Zlesha's household was considered a better environment for Shlev, this challenge was declared legal by the elders of the Shan clan.

Initially, Zlesha challenged Therav's ex-bondmate Thil, who upped the ante to an ushaan, claiming that Zlesha could have Shlev over her dead body and that she was demanding that full custody of the boy be granted to her now that she had remarried and had an intact clan. Zlesha's th'se Ushilev stepped in to champion Zlesha (via Right of Substitution), and Therav stepped in to champion Thil (as Thil had recently remarried, but had not yet produced children).

Therav penned a quick note to his lover, Noelle, stating that he had business to take care of on Andor; he expected that he might not survive the conflict. During the conflict, Therav severed one of Ushilev's antennae, disabling him and thus ritually ending the fight. The fight was called. As Therav had his back turned, Ushilev managed to get to his feet then charge Therav with his ushaan-tor. In an act of self-defense, Therav buried his ushaan-tor in Ushilev's chest, killing him.

His own zhavey spit in his face as he left the Keep, telling him "you are not my thei". The Evaste Elders ordered all mention of him struck from the clan's records, and they went on as if he'd never existed. Custody of Shlev was granted to Thil, who handed Shlev into Therav's hands since she felt that Shlev should remain off of Andor, as she was afraid that the Volna Vrinia might still be interested in the boy.

When he returned from Andor with Shlev, he was accompanied by Thil, and met at his duty station Deep Space 17 by his lover Noelle Connor, who embraced him and whispered "thank you, thank you, thank you". She tended to his wounds before having to return to her own duty station. Therav realized that he indeed had a clan (consisting of Thil, Shlev, Noelle, and the crewmates he had grown close to over the years). He married Noelle not long after, now that no clan obligation prevented this, and considers her and her children to be part of the clan he has chosen.

Shlev th'Lenthar
Therav's best and worst moments are in his relationship with his eight-year-old thei, Shlev, who shares his life with him aboard the Tethys. Therav is frustrated with Shlev's inability to tell him when things go wrong. He did not learn that Shlev was the victim of bullying until he came home and witnessed it for himself. The child, formerly of clan Zhess, took the name Lenthar when he was formally adopted by his shreya's bond, who share custody with Therav. Shlev will soon be of age to be matched to a bond of his own, and has recently peppered Therav with questions about the matter.

Bondgroup
Like most Andorians, Therav was given to a bondgroup when young, with three other individuals. They had one offspring together, Thravishlev th'Zhess, despite numerous pregnancies and attempts. The bond divorced him when he chose to remain in Starfleet and fight in the Dominion War with his squadron (which was tasked with the defense of Andor) rather than return to Andor to attempt to sire another child.

The bond saw Therav's choice as selfish and did not see him as taking into account the Whole; Therav felt he had a duty to an even larger Whole.

Therav is on good terms with Thil, his sole remaining ex-bondmate; the other two are now deceased. As Therav championed Thil in an ushaan, and won custody of Shlev for her clan, Thil feels she will never be out of his debt.

Zhall zh'Lenthar
Thirizhalleh zh'Lenthar was a bonded Andorian crewmate with whom Therav had a passionate affair for several months, in the months following the divorce from his bond. She was killed in the line of duty. He grieved her death for several years, and shunned any kind of intimate contact with anyone until finally coming to terms with her loss early in the year of 2381, around the same time that he met Noelle Connor.

Noelle Connor
Therav's wife, Noelle, is a Human engineer serving aboard the USS Takeda Shingen. She acts as his cultural interpreter, explaining human interactions that he finds especially confusing. She also balances his passions with cool-headed rationality and calm. Therav is known to be a sullen, closed-off person who is not reputed to be receptive to the people around him, and his dealings with humans have met with little but frustration - but she has managed to introduce him to many human things, such as Chinese food, sushi, 20th century Western films, and horseback riding. They were married one week before he posted to USS Tethys, after nearly a year together. They served aboard the same ship for the six years without crossing paths, until the day (a little over a year before they were married) that she approached him in the mess hall to call him out on sending his underlings for practice drills in Engineering. Within a few days, he found himself drawn into a flirtation with her at a party that he almost did not attend, and over the course of the next two months, they would serve together on two dangerous and intense away missions, and he began to fall in love with her over the course of the second one (an extended intelligence mission on his homeworld Andor). They began an intense, passionate relationship that took place during the last six months of his time aboard USS Takeda Shingen and was tested by the investigation and court martial that led to his transfer to Deep Space 17. She did not believe that the relationship had a future, due to his ties to his world and the seeming impossibility of marriage. She broke it off when he transferred, but they reconciled within a month or two of his transfer. They bought a house in Eagle River, Alaska, shortly after their marriage, but have not yet had time to work on it or spend any time there. They are hoping she'll be able to transfer to an engineering position aboard the Tethys when her tour aboard Shingen comes to an end. He treats his half-Bajoran stepchildren Arianna and Joray as his own, though they don't necessarily agree with this.

Preferences

 * Food: Andorian, Terran (specifically Chinese, Japanese, seafood and steak), Klingon
 * Music: Classical Andorian, Klingon Opera, Terran Opera, Classical European, and Metal
 * He does not at all like breaded, fried food.
 * He has had to wear his hair long before, for various reasons, and despises it.
 * He despises of doctors and medical personnel in general.

Hobbies and interests

 * Journaling (personal journal)
 * Keeping a memoir for Shlev, in case he's killed in the line of duty
 * Home improvement
 * Zabathu riding, handling, training
 * Horseback riding - introduced by his wife
 * Outdoors (survival, tracking, orienteering, mountaineering) - traditional Andorian skills that he likes to keep polished.
 * Hunting (bow, knife)
 * Archery
 * Historical, combat and survival simulations
 * Holodeck games - such as the Clan Wars series, which is set on Andor but is banned on Andor. Therav generally reprograms these and often plays with the safeties off.
 * Electronics tinkering (typically with surveillance equipment)
 * Earth literature - Therav is a fan of Russian novels and of Tom Clancy's writing, in addition to some classic literature.
 * Klingon literature and language
 * History
 * Debating politics