Baryn Myr

Counselor Lt. JG Baryn Myr is a 30-year-old Betazoid. At 6’4”, 225 lbs, he is tall and well built, but lanky, with black eyes and black hair. His most notable feature is the almost hypnotic, penetrating intensity of his gaze. He does not smile often, but when he does, the genuine warmth he displays tends to set at ease those who might have been intimidated by his size and presence… that is, unless they have something to hide.

He graduated from Starfleet Academy at the age of 26, and has been assigned to the USS Dennison, under the command of Captain Madison Davis. He is played by GrannyGM.

Background

Baryn was born and grew up on Betazed, in the capital city of Medara. He was one of the rare Betazoid children whose telepathic abilities manifested early… in fact, he showed signs of possessing them from birth, and thus was not considered suitable to be genetically bonded to a future mate.

Baryn’s parents, Tam and Azema Myr, were of modest but comfortable means, a kind, loving couple solidly placed among the Betazoid middle class. They became alert to their son’s telepathic precociousness in time to get him into therapy while he was still an infant, and thus he has spent his entire life involved with various types of counseling procedures… entering the field of counseling as an adult was a natural choice.

Baryn’s parents still live on Betazed, where they continue to maintain a successful joint business as landscape architects. Some of the most ingenious gardens in Medara are of their design, and are maintained by their talented hands. Baryn keeps in touch with them as he can, and the family retains a warm, close relationship. Baryn is the eldest child, with two sisters, identical twins, now 28, and a younger brother, 22.

Baryn’s father’s eldest brother, Andrus Hagen, was a member of Starfleet. He was senior by 12 years, and used to tell wonderful stories of journeying among the stars when he would visit Baryn’s home. He served as a Science officer with the main fleet, under Admiral Doenitz’s command. But as Baryn grew older, he sensed an increasing discomfort in his uncle… the stories became less frequent, more often about the bygone days of Federation glory… and there was a quiet warning in them that his uncle could not hide. Perhaps Andrus was not trying to hide his warnings from the nephew that he knew would never fit in completely on his home world… but Baryn’s parents, blinded by their love for their ‘special’ son, could not imagine Baryn leaving Betazed. Baryn himself, however, had other ideas. As soon as his education on Betazed was completed, he contacted his uncle and arranged to attend Starfleet Academy.

Education

Baryn’s early education was mostly conducted in special schools, designed to meet the needs of children whose telepathic abilities manifested early. His teachers and his family accepted him as he was, but as is the case with children in many cultures who function outside societal norms, he experienced the restrained prejudice that mainstream society held against him. The part he hated the most was the well-meant pity he sensed in many of those he encountered. To deal with this, he developed a reserved, guarded interaction style, associating freely an openly only with those who he knew well, and excelled in his studies.

Many times during his school years, Baryn participated as an assistant teacher in special counseling and developmental programs designed for the telepathically gifted. He learned, and taught, a wide variety of advanced techniques for managing and enhancing telepathy; how to limit the bombardment of sensation that so troubled children like himself; and general coping skills for dealing with challenges not common to one’s culture.

Baryn had hoped to find less prejudice and greater acceptance at the University, but he was sorely disappointed. He was no longer that poor little boy who had to go to special schools… now he was some sort of dark power, of which those he would have become friends with were clearly afraid. There, he saw the hidden underside of the legendary friendliness of Betazoid culture, as he was treated with the suspicion typically held toward any sentient being that they could not easily understand. He kept to himself and graduated with honors, but he was off to the Academy the very day after graduation, much to his mother’s sorrow.

Starfleet Academy

Baryn was a Counseling major at Starfleet Academy, with an emphasis in practical therapeutic techniques applicable to life on a starship, including music, dance, and horticultural therapy. He also received extensive First Contact training.

At the Academy, Baryn finally found at least some of the acceptance he had longed for. So much diversity made the differences between him and the other sentient beings he met fade to insignificance… the common goal of graduating and becoming Starfleet officers proved sufficient to outweigh them. He retained his reserved personality, but he did learn to lighten up considerably, especially on outings with his friends to the music-soaked “hot spots” in the San Francisco area. He met his Imzadi at the Academy; a tall, lovely Andorian woman by the name of Jaylas h'Aniri, who was, not surprisingly, studying tactical operations. He taught her to dance, she taught him to fight. Both graduated with honors on the same day, and they kept in touch. On Baryn’s advice, she transferred to the 52nd fleet at about the same time he did. She is now serving on one of Lodona’s vessels as a Tac officer, and the two still maintain as regular a correspondence as possible under the circumstances.

Personal Data

Telepathy

Baryn is a powerful telepath, as are many Betazoids who display their abilities as children. However, as he was diagnosed very young and given excellent care, his control over his telepathy is almost flawless. He is especially good at blocking out unwanted psychic input, and at ‘reading’ the moods of others simply by listening to them and watching their body language, using his empathic abilities only as an enhancement, if at all. He takes an even dimmer view of liars than most Betazoids, and is highly adept at identifying them.

He maintains strict adherence to the Telepathic Moral Code. Even if he is attacked psionically, he prefers to defend himself by mental blocking, and then to neutralize the threat by non-telepathic means. He is by and large a pacifist, but if forced to resort to violence, he is a formidable enemy. He believes strongly in the founding ideals and principles of the Federation… blatant violation of those ideals may be considered just cause to display his more martial side.

Combat skills

Baryn is accomplished in several forms of primarily defensive martial arts, especially favoring an old Earth form known as Capoeira, which, in its modern form, combines moves taken from Karate and Tae Kwon Do with its more traditional maneuvers. Capoeira is derived primarily from the regions once known as Africa on Earth, rather than from the Orient. It emphasizes fast acrobatic maneuvers as feints to facilitate effective striking techniques, combined with locks, throws, and leg sweeps. Music and dancing are also taught in the traditional modes, especially in Brazil, the center of the art for the last several centuries. There, Capoeira is considered almost as much a performing art as a form of combat.

Hobbies

Baryn is an avid gardener. Of course, this passion can be a bit difficult to accommodate aboard a starship, but he tends to find creative ways to do so. Both his quarters and his office can strongly resemble barely-cultivated jungles when his plants are all in full leaf. His favorite specimen is good-sized muktok plant, which was a graduation gift, sent from his mother. He keeps it in his office, as its and sweet scent and the soft chiming produced by it’s flowers has proved to be as therapeutically calming to his clients as it is to him.

He is also an accomplished musician, having mastery of several forms of keyboard-based instruments. He favors the piano, and can often be found playing in Ten Forward when he is off shift. While in the Academy on earth, he was introduced to “Big Band” music. He especially admires with the work of 20/21st Century Big Band revivalist, composer and jazz pianist Harry Connick Jr.

Starfleet

Baryn has served as a Counselor on board Federation starships for a little over four years. He rose through the ranks quickly, but about two years ago, he began to become increasingly uncomfortable with the direction Starfleet seemed to be taking. Soon, he began to hear shadowy rumors of a rebellion forming… one of Doenitz’s Admirals, Robert LoDona, seemed determined to adhere to the original principles upon which the Federation had been built. It seemed that the foreboding he had sensed from his uncle years ago was not without basis. So, Baryn successfully negotiated a transfer to the 52nd Fleet in the early months of 2406… as it turned out, not a moment too soon. Later that year, when Lodona ordered the entire fleet further into Beta Quadrant and launched a Quasi- Civil War with select members of the Starfleet Admiralty, Baryn was relieved to be serving on the side he believed in. Currently, he has been assigned to the USS Dennison, an assault vessel designed for deep space tactical assignments, to serve as Ship’s Counselor. He has experience with First Contact missions.