Lieutenant JG Cayden Zahn
Name Cayden Zahn
Position Chief Counselor
Rank Lieutenant JG
Character Information
| Gender | Male | |
| Species | Betazoid | |
| Age | 29 |
Physical Appearance
| Height | 5'11" | |
| Weight | 150 lbs | |
| Hair Color | Black | |
| Eye Color | Black | |
| Physical Description | He has a runner's physique, low body mass; a Vulcan friend of his at the Academy worked out the weight he should maintain to maximize the power-to-weight ratio that would also be high enough to provide better injury resistance and a stronger immune system. It's hard for him to gain weight; maintaining 150 was a lot harder to manage that he'd thought. He likes to run and has participated in marathons; he has been known to pace or fidget if he has to wait for hours at a time. He dresses to suit the occasion, required as a member of the Eighth House, but the first thing that comes off when he's in his own quarters are his shoes. He is well-mannered and has a really, really good poker face. |
Family
| Spouse | None | |
| Children | None | |
| Father | Tolvyn Zahn | |
| Mother | Mennalys Zahn | |
| Brother(s) | None | |
| Sister(s) | Maelyn, Kylara, Alira, Arianthe, and Marisa (deceased) |
Personality & Traits
| General Overview | Cayden, resourceful, self-reliant and curious about everything. Mention a custom he doesn't know about on some distant world and he'll be reading books about it before the end of the week and looking for holographic recreations before the end of the month. He's comfortable wherever he is, has impeccable manners, and is very astute though you wouldn't know it from his facial expressions. While he's cultured and well-educated, he's also curious, an explorer at heart who has understood from an early age that the obligations of his house would never fall on his shoulders and left him, therefore, able to choose his own destiny. A true son of Betazed, he knows what its like to live within the awareness of other telepaths. Privacy within one's own mind was a novel concept to him especially when you consider that someone who is angry, moody, or withdrawn comes under the focus of everyone around him on Betazed. He's a healer not a fighter - though he got decent scores on the firing range, he's never fired at another soul nor does he want to particularly. Considering his telepathic/empathic abilities, that makes sense -- he would literally experience the death he caused. The stuff of nightmares. |
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| Strengths & Weaknesses | Strengths: > Strong telepath/empath > Experienced psychologist with a working understanding of criminal and deviant behavior > Trained diplomat, both on Betazed and at the Academy > Good listener with endless patience > Comfortable wherever he is, mud hut or palace Weaknesses > Finds it difficult serving among non-telepaths who guard their privacy; he misses the subtlety of interactions among his own people > Very curious - he'll pull a book off the shelf and start reading or pick up a trinket and examine it. He's not a snoop but it can come across that way. > Good cup of coffee or an even better bottle of wine > Doesn't like being completely alone (silence of the mind is hard for him/he's used to the hum of other minds in the background) |
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| Ambitions | > Learn to climb > See every world in the Federation > Convince Starfleet to abandon replicators |
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| Hobbies & Interests | > Plays the Cello > Reads voraciously > Loves live performances > Long-distance running > Swimming/Water Sports |
| Personal History | Cayden is the youngest, and only, son of the Eighth House of Betazed. His older sister, Maelyn, who is the oldest of six, is destined to become the Holder of the Sacred Scrolls of Karawati, Heir to the High Priestesses of Betazed. Members of the Eighth House are widely considered to have the most gifted telepaths and often serve in various diplomatic roles and in this at least, Cayden is very much a child of his house. He grew up on the family estate not far from the capital city though family obligations required him to spend more time in the city than he'd like. He made friends easily and found ways to escape the duties imposed upon him by his family whenever he could. Course, with five sisters, that wasn't particularly hard. The obligations fell on their shoulders more often than not and while he was glad to escape the duty, he was equally glad to listen afterward. They'd make forts in the woods on the estate or indoor tents in the attic when the weather was bad and talk about it all. Between the five of them, they perfected a way of shielding those sessions from everyone in the house. Took a while for the siblings to realize that the fact that they couldn't be heard drew more attention than when they could which lead to some 'tinkering' with the technique. He was restless, eager to explore and wildly curious which meant that he tended to slip away, following his own path, sometimes alone and sometimes with one or more of his siblings. As his sisters grew older, one by one, they fell a way from those adventures until finally, it was just him and Marisa. As Cayden was the youngest, she thought it her duty to protect him; Cayden saw her more as a conspirator. It was on one of those adventures, exploring on a family friend's estate, that the two fell into a deep hole. Both were injured; Cayden survived, Marisa did not. As he healed, grief and loss dimmed his enthusiasm for pretty much everything. And in the silence that enveloped his home, the way his parents' suddenly shielded their thoughts from him, he began to suspect an unwanted truth. He lost himself in his schoolwork and took up long-distance running because, in hard physical activity, he found a peace of mind that was missing from his life. His other sisters understood and with them at least, he could be himself. But with his parents, specifically his mother, the blame seemed to fall squarely on him for Marisa's death. Her bedroom became a shrine and the easy camaraderie of his younger years fell away, replaced by halting speech, shielded minds, and an almost artificial family spirit. He accepted the blame that seemed to project from them and, when the time came, decided to go into psychology, to heal, to understand, and to help others who had been through what he had. |
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| Service Record | 2390-2394: Starfleet Academy - Counseling Track with a Minor in Diplomacy and additional coursework in Criminal and Aberrant Behavior 2394-2395: Starfleet Medical, Earth One year fellowship involving supervised clinical practice and crisis counseling. 2395-2401: USS Faraday: Counselor First Year: Worked in trauma response and shipboard mental-health training. Second-Fifth Year:: Participating in numerous away teams providing diplomatic and advisory support to the team lead. Took long-distance courses and earned his degree from the University of Betazed. Sixth Year: Assumed the role of Acting Chief Counselor after an explosion on board took the lives of several crew members. Provided trauma counseling to crew members and helped command uncover the individual responsible for the attack. 2401- Now: USS Resolute: Chief Counselor |