Jest'liana Warren

Jest'liana Warren was a human from pre-Sanctuary Earth. Over the course of her career she has been connected to various legitimate and illegal business interests, and has been a well-known merchant captain and smuggler. She was the owner of the DMS Faux until her death under unexplained circumstances in March of 3006. (A jestleahna is also a small Demarian animal.)

Early History
Jest'liana Warren, or Jest as she prefers (one might say insists) to be called, was born to a wealthy family on Earth in the late 2620s. Attractive and intelligent, she possessed a wild spirit that did not suit her very proper family, which tried to muzzle her and force her into the role of wealthy socialite. Unhappy with this situation, Jest ran away from her family, left Earth, and traveled to the Fringe, where she ultimately made her way to Nephthys Station near Tomin Kora. There she was recruited by Leopold VanMahr to join the Smuggler's Guild of Lord Fagin, the pirate king. Working for VanMahr, she soon revealed she had a talent for engineering, and became the engineer for his ship, the Courser.

Smuggler's Guild, Take One
Jest and the rest of VanMahr's crew were captured by the Hivers in the year 2650, and transported to Hiverspace to fight the Hive Mind's enemies, the B'hiri. Along the way, they discovered the truth behind the intentions of the Il'Ri'Kamm Hive Mind and their gift of the Otherspace Drive.

After returning to normalspace, Jest and the rest of the Courser crew were caught up in the conflict between VanMahr and Lord Fagin. When it was revealed that Fagin's true identity was Thomas VanMahr, the man Leopold had believed to be his father, Leopold assaulted Fagin's luxury liner, the Galore, and was killed. The Courser was destroyed, and VanMahr's crew was left leaderless.

Jest then joined with the rest of VanMahr's Guild crew, including Kateri N'Sha-El and Teel Nels-McGrath, as well as some outsiders, including Orandius Jaxx and Remy LeBeau, in an assault on Fagin's fortress on Tomin Kora. The Pirate King, wishing to rid himself of these troublesome enemies who had gotten too close to him, allowed them access to his hidden fortress, only to blow it up out from under them. In the resulting explosion, Jest was injured, but all members of the assault force escaped alive.

Smuggler's Guild, Take Two
In the months after the assault on Fagin's fortress, Jest found herself missing the life she had led in the Smuggler's Guild. While travelling aboard the sentient starship, Galactix, she encountered John Christian Falkenberg, who had been recruited by Fagin's majordomo, Grim, to rebuild the Guild. After this chance encounter, Jest sought out Falkenberg on Nephthys and asked if she could rejoin the Guild.

Falkenberg, ignorant of her history with the Guild, informed Grim of her request, as was his habit with all new Guild members. Grim, however, assumed that Jest was attempting to infiltrate the Guild on behalf of N'Sha-El, Jaxx, and the rest of Fagin's enemies. He ordered Falkenberg to accept her into the Guild and employ her aboard his ship, the Zephyr, and watch her carefully.

Over time, however, a romance developed between Jest and the Guildmaster, and Grim began to suspect Falkenberg was being manipulated by her. He increasingly began to pressure Falkenberg to find out why Jest had joined the Guild, and ultimately began to insist that he turn her over to Grim for interrogation. Falkenberg stalled Grim in an effort to protect Jest, and Jest considered running away, but remained because of her relationship with Falkenberg. When Grim became frustrated with his Guildmaster, he arranged for Falkenberg to be shot, and then ordered his successor, Franz Messer, to hand Jest over.

Messer, however, refused, and he and the rest of the surviving Zephyr crew fled with Jest in order to protect her from Fagin. At this point, the Smuggler's Guild effectively ceased to exist, and the approaching Kretonian invasion led Jest, Messer and the survivors of Falkenberg's crew to seek refuge aboard Sanctuary. Before boarding Sanctuary, Jest purchased her own ship, a tramp-class freighter she named the Asylum.

Sanctuary Days
On Sanctuary, Jest soon found herself playing an increasingly important role as the reluctant captain of one of the colony vessel's most effective scout ships. The Asylum and its crew, which included Firemane Stormrider, became involved in a variety of exploratory journeys in Hiverspace. It was part of the early exploration of the planet Yptarn, and was also the vessel to discover the planet Nemonus and find the Obelisk of Truth. Aboard Sanctuary, Jest was reunited with Falkenberg, and the two gradually resumed their relationship.

The Boromovs
After Sanctuary returned to Hiverspace, Jest and her crew participated in early exploratory voyages to the surface of Demaria and to Ungstir, where she made contact with the Boromov Crime Syndicate. Together with Falkenberg and her old friend, Remy LeBeau, Jest joined the Boromov family and relocated to Ungstir. She received a new vessel from Boromov, a Chandler-class freighter she named the Faux. It was specially designed for smuggling, and had the capacity to conceal a considerable amount of contraband.

Not long with joining up with the Boromovs, she and Falkenberg had a falling out over his decision to pursue a career in the Boromov pirate fleet. The two parted company, and Jest continued to recruit her own crew for the Faux. She became one of the most successful smugglers in the galaxy, but over time she quietly distanced herself from the Boromov organization. When the Boromovs came under seige, in part because of the actions of Falkenberg, and Ungstir was attacked by the Nall, Jest was able to slip under the radar of the embattled Boromov family and concealed her connection to them from the Nall and the outside world. With the near-destruction of the Boromovs, she and her crew had effectively escaped employment by the crime syndicate, and became free agents.

Free Agency
Jest and her crew aboard the Faux continued to turn up wherever there was a significant amount of trouble. Jest continued her smuggling activities, but also earned a reputation as an efficient and legitimate transport captain. The Faux was involved in the early exploration of New Luna on behalf of the Free Luna Protectorate, and also performed a number of services for the governments of Ungstir, Demaria and Sivad. It participated in the effort to repair the rift in space time in the Sol System that nearly destroyed the universe, and was also involved in the efforts to combat the Lem'ing invasion and the Moebius Effect.

''Note: At this point, the current author's knowledge of the details of Jest's life fades to unreliability. Someone else should fill in the remaining details and bring the story up to date.''

[[Category:Classic OtherSpace Characters|Warren,Jest'liana]