Lieutenant Seleya Qellar
Name Seleya Qellar PhD
Position Chief Engineering Officer
Rank Lieutenant
Character Information
| Gender | Female | |
| Species | Romulan | |
| Age | 58 |
Physical Appearance
| Height | 5'8" | |
| Weight | 139 lbs. | |
| Hair Color | Black | |
| Eye Color | Green | |
| Physical Description | Seleya places an above-average emphasis on personal appearance, which reflects itself best in her embrace of haute couture fashion. Her vanity has only heightened since arriving in Federation space as she’s felt freer to explore her creativity outside of the strict conservatism of Romulan society. She keeps her hair cut relatively short with longer-than-average bangs in order to cover up the cranial ridges that are a dead giveaway of her Romulan heritage. She is diligent in her application of cosmetics to not only enhance her beauty but also to conceal her age. Seleya uses her immaculate, well-groomed appearance to project an air of noble self-assuredness. Seleya's speech is unsurprisingly regimented and precise with a subtle Romulan accent. |
Family
| Spouse | None. | |
| Children | None. | |
| Father | Senator Tomalan Qellar (Deceased) | |
| Mother | Natra Qellar (Deceased) | |
| Brother(s) | Centurion Tokkra Qellar (unknown); Aelan Qellar (Deceased) | |
| Sister(s) | S'anra Terrh'vanu (Deceased) |
Personality & Traits
| General Overview | Although a naturalized citizen of the United Federation of Planets, Seleya remains Romulan at her core. Seen by colleagues as tough, confident, and almost ruthless, those character traits were developed in no small part to overcome cultural attitudes and maintain credibility among an occasionally chauvinistic society. Since leaving Romulan space, Seleya has used her business-like manner as a mask when necessary to conceal her thoughts and true personality from xenophobic elements in the Federation, firmly believing that one is less vulnerable when others cannot tell what you're thinking or feeling based on your attitude or appearance. While she may, in fact, have a frosty demeanor at times, she is not particularly capricious or sinister in her dealings with other people. Given the rigors of her own life, Seleya can exhibit a certain aloofness and lack of sympathy for the struggles and difficulties of others; in fact, she is often harsh in her fault-finding and refuses to “sugar coat” her constructive criticisms. She holds both herself and everyone around her to a high standard. On the whole, Seleya employs an almost Machiavellian sense of morality; she is willing to excuse virtually any injustice so long as there are measurable gains and benefits. This personal creed is an extension of the Romulan rejection of limited war, where little distinction is made between combatant and non-combatant - the enemy is the enemy and survival is valued above all. The authoritarian, hierarchical Romulan society valued success, regardless of the means for achieving that success, and she has struggled to embrace anything as an alternative philosophy. Despite the negative aspects of her personality, Seleya is honorable, reasonable and loyal, though questions about that loyalty have dogged her constantly since crossing the Federation-Romulan border. She harbors some insecurities about being a foreigner in a foreign land and bristles at the automatic mistrust displayed by many because of her heritage. This has led in no small part to her efforts to conceal her background through the use of cosmetics, clothing and hairstyles to reduce everyday encounters with racial bigotry. She is free with her opinions (often to the point of belligerence) but can be expected to follow orders as it holds with the sense of personal honor and respect for authority and hierarchy indoctrinated into all Romulans. |
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| Strengths & Weaknesses | + Loyal + Honorable + Hard-worker + Technical expertise - Abrasive - Opinionated - Dominant |
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| Ambitions | Seleya's unbridled political ambitions were greatly diminished after she was forced to flee Romulan space and claim asylum in the Federation. She is content to work with Starfleet until Romulan in-fighting settles, after which time she will return to claim her "rightful place" among the policy-makers of the new Romulan Empire. | |
| Hobbies & Interests | Ornamental horticulture; Romulan scroll painting (calligraphy); research & technology policy; |
| Personal History | Seleya was born into a well-heeled aristocratic house on Romulus, the daughter of an Imperial Senator and businesswoman. Her formative years were unremarkable and followed much the same pattern as other young Romulan women from the same class. With her older brother attending the Imperial War College to satisfy the family's duty to the military and her younger sister betrothed to another politically influential house, Seleya was free to pursue her own career without the interference of familial obligations. She was initially attracted to physics and engineering, eventually narrowing her interest to quantum engineering and its application in starship technology. Her interest in the discipline had less to do with an idyllic life of quiet research and technological advancement and more to do with the thrill of exercising the power to bend the building blocks of existence to her will, to take the universe and improve upon it to suit the needs of the Star Empire. Admittedly a bit power-hungry, Seleya used her father’s connections and her own scientific expertise to secure a position on the Quantum Science Advisory Committee at the Romulan Ministry of Science, which served as a stepping stone for her political career. In 2387, she was completing her term as Deputy State Secretary for Research & Development when the Hobus star went supernova, obliterating Romulus and effectively shattering the Romulan Star Empire. At the time, Seleya was attending a starship design conference on the planet Ralatak, which hosted the largest shipyard facilities in the Star Empire; however, her entire family was presumed killed in the explosion. Like many Romulans, the incident caused significant emotional distress for Seleya. Unfortunately, there were more immediate concerns as the central government disintegrated and the vacuum of power laid the groundwork for civil war. Stranded on Ralatak with virtually all of her political allies dead or missing, she knew that the various factions would soon be fighting over one of the most industrially productive planets and being a former member of the central government was likely to be a liability. As widespread violence broke out across the Star Empire, Seleya made the calculated decision to flee Romulan space for the United Federation of Planets. She stowed away in a shipment of Ralatakian grain on a freighter destined for Starbase 39-Sierra; upon arriving in Federation space she made her presence known and requested political asylum. After waiting several months on Starbase 39-Sierra, Seleya was given an asylum hearing. Her combative attitude did little to help her cause, but her technical expertise was seen as a benefit to the Federation so she was granted asylum and offered resettlement assistance. Using her limited contacts within the Federation engineering community she was able to secure a teaching position at Cornell University and residency on Earth. Over the next few years she would become increasingly frustrated by the limitations she faced as a Romulan in a supposedly meritocratic society: she was passed over for associate professorship at Cornell twice thanks to the efforts of her colleagues and experienced much the same treatment at the Faraday Institute. Though it rarely occurred to her, Seleya’s abrasive and uncompromising personality had a great deal to do with the difficulties she found in adjusting to life in the Federation. Eventually, her opinion of Earth soured to the point that she sought a different opportunity with an accelerated officers' program within Starfleet, reasoning that the practicalities of space exploration (and defense) meant fewer prejudicial attitudes. |
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| Service Record | 2355-2359: Khimek Imperial Academy (secondary education) 2359-2363: Imperial Institute of Science & Technology (undergraduate: physics) 2363-2365: Rihannsu University (graduate: matter-antimatter studies) 2365-2370: Rihannsu University (post-graduate: quantum engineering) 2370-2372: Research Assistant, Lareth Industries, Romulus 2372-2374: Research Associate, Strategic Technology Office, Romulan Ministry of Science & Technology 2374-2379: Research Coordinator, Strategic Technology Office, Romulan Ministry of Science & Technology 2374-2379: Member, Quantum Science Advisory Committee, Romulan Ministry of Science & Technology 2379-2381: Asst. Director for Program Management, Strategic Technology Office, Romulan Ministry of Science & Technology 2381-2385: Deputy Director, Strategic Technology Office, Romulan Ministry of Science & Technology 2385-2387: Deputy State Secretary for Research & Development, Romulan Ministry of Science & Technology 2387: Relocation to Earth 2387-2388: Adjunct Professor, College of Advanced Engineering, Cornell University 2388-2389: Research Scientist, Faraday Research Institute, London 2389-2391: Starfleet Direct Commissioning Program, Engineering Division 2391-2393: Ensign, Engineering Officer, USS Hudson (Oberth-class) 2393-2396: Lieutenant JG, Assistant Chief Engineering Officer, USS Mendeleev (Nova-class) 2396-Pres.: Lieutenant, Chief Engineering Officer, USS Athena (Prometheus-class) |