Douglas Sharper
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| Race | Human |
|---|---|
Douglas Sharper was an independent contractor who worked for the DRC during the Second Restoration from 2000 to 2004 CE. During that time, he was primarily responsible for the restoration of Teledahn. He returned to the Cavern during the Third Restoration, but did not continue his work with the DRC. He considers himself an adventurer and a hunter, having gone on a number of game expeditions to Africa.
History
Role in the Second Restoration
The precise relationship between Sharper and the DRC has never been completely explained. He was never a member of the Council, nor was he ever listed as a "Restoration Engineer", but he still answered to the Council itself, and his work was directed by them. He spent the better part of 2 years between 2000 and 2002 restoring Teledahn, a process difficult and complex enough that he vowed never to take on a project of similar size again. While restoring the Age, he discovered a large crustacean-like species, which he called "shroomies". His personal journal details his efforts to capture and kill one of these creatures, though in later conversations with explorers he reportedly swore off hunting any more of them. He also kept several aspects of Teledahn secret, including the Baron city office and Teledahn's role in an illicit slave-trading ring.
After the restoration of Teledahn was largely complete, Sharper was given the task of restoring the Great Tree Pub in the J'taeri District of Ae'gura (D'ni Cavern) sometime in 2003 CE. When explorers began to arrive in the Cavern later that year, he took a group called The Great Tree and their leader, Brian Fioca, under his wing. Together, they agitated against the DRC, arguing that their policies were too restrictive, and demanding greater access to D'ni. Conversations on the DRC forum during this time indicate that the Council was displeased with Sharper's actions, but they were divided on what to do about it. When Sharper took down a barricade blocking access to the Kahlo Pub in Ae'gura, Ikuro Kodama had finally had enough, and pressed for the Great Tree Pub to be taken away from him. The rest of the Council agreed, and from then on, Sharper's restoration work was largely over.
Sharper was one of many explorers who took Yeesha's Journey. When he returned, he coupled his movement to Yeesha's message and its in-Cavern advocate, Phil Henderson. Sharper began actively spying on the DRC's meetings in the Tokotah II building. He and Phil set up a telescope in an enclosed space across the alley from the DRC's meeting room, and used Phil's Relto Book as a means of getting out of it. When Phil was apparently killed by a collapsing wall while exploring the Guild Hall in early 2004, Sharper blamed himself for Phil's death, reasoning that he wouldn't have died if he had had his Relto Book with him. Shortly afterwards, the DRC lost funding and could no longer maintain their restoration efforts. Douglas Sharper was the last to leave.
Third Restoration
On March 9, 2007, Sharper returned to the Cavern. The DRC's new benefactor, Cate Alexander, publicly expressed that she was happy to have Sharper back on the restoration effort. He was assigned to investigate a string of animal deaths around the Negilahn area of the Pod Age. He first explored the area with Nick White and an explorer named Rils. They found an urwin that had been slaughtered, as well as claw marks on several trees, but no tracks leading away from the corpse.
On a subsequent expedition, he and Nick White set up a blind to watch for predators. Nick left early when news reached them that Willow Engberg was trapped by a cave-in on Ae'gura. After he left, Sharper saw something take the urwin he was watching, and told Nick in a KI message that he was going to pursue it. The creature he followed turned out to be a Bahro. It lured him into a field, where he realized he had been drawn into an ambush. A number of other bahro swooped in to attack him, but a second group rescued him at the last minute. He fled, bringing news of a "civil war" between the Bahro back to the Cavern.
The Bahro civil war
After one of the Bahro killed Willow Engberg in May 2007 CE, Sharper vowed to take revenge. He spent the next month on Noloben observing the Bahro on their home Age, and said he intended to kill one of them in retribution. In June, he appeared in the Watcher's Pub, shaken, saying that he had done so. He claimed that as he was about to shoot one of the Bahro nekisahl, another Bahro leaped into the line of fire. As he recounted this story, two Bahro linked in next to him with a corpse. They seemed to mourn for a few minutes and then linked out.
In the months that followed, Sharper became withdrawn and pessimistic, saying that war was coming to the Cavern, and there was little that could be done to stop it. He eventually decided to return to Noloben to help the bahro shoraht in their struggle. He only returned to the cavern briefly when the DRC left to find new sources of funding after Cate Alexander pulled out of the project. He decided to return to the surface, and has not been heard from since.
