Welcome back to another edition of Tuesdays at Quark’s! This one’s a little late but I hope you’ll find it better for the extra time taken. Once again I’d like to thank JtEvans for his contribution to the site and encourage anyone else with an idea for some NPCs to contact us and start a conversation. Today we’re finishing up our exploration of institutions in the Star Trek universe with a look at a debonair archeologist from the Federation Archeology Council!
The Federation Archeology Council is the institution that Picard is always geeking out over and the one that kicked out Vash for being too… well Vash. The character we’re talking about today has a bit of that rebellious streak in him but he skates close enough to orthodoxy to stay in the club. Velaz Matil is a Deltan which means he’s a sex machine and he knows it. Whereas Starfleet Deltan officers need to tamp down their sexuality, Dr. Matil has no such qualms and uses every tool in his arsenal (so to speak) to get his artifacts. This is a different take on the career scientist but also a treasure chest of potential issues for a crew that gets involved with him. It’s also a chance to play off the fast-and-loose rules that civilian scientists sometimes play under with the military precision of Starfleet science division.
Matil can be used in a number of ways, as a problematic protagonist or as a villain. Here are a few plot hooks to get you started.
- The Federation Council of Archaeologist has requested assistance from Starfleet in the excavation of an extinct pre-warp civilization. Dr. Matil is leading the excavation, and is immediately taken with your Science Officer. The two grow close, but the crew is afraid your science officer has lost their head, and when Matil disappears with all the data on the civilization, it only leads to more questions.
- Your ship has been chosen to host the FAC symposium, with Dr. Matil as guest speaker. Matil is a sweet talker, and charms everyone. He has recently discovered a new technology from an extinct civilization, but another archaeologist comes forward, claiming Matil stole his findings. The symposium is shocked, and Matil denies everything. What do you do?
- Dr. Matil has been researching the ancient civilizations in the Gamma Quadrant, in order to better understand the Dominion threat. Your ship is passing the Denorios belt when an escape pod rockets out of the wormhole, and a babbling Matil is found. He makes no sense, but keeps repeating the same phrase, “It ends at the beginning.”
Click on the image below for the PDF.
