Maiko's Note
Captain Worsley wasn’t born on Earth. He was born between stars, and yet somehow… he brought us home.
He didn’t lead with pride or power—he led with presence. The kind that makes people breathe easier, even in failing air.
If you ever feel lost, remember: he chose Madun when all other paths were broken. And that choice became a future.
The Man Who Found Their Home
Shindjal: Jarod Worsili
Faction:
Rothbard Foundation
“We were never meant to reach Earth again. But in that silence between the stars, Worsley heard the call of a new home - and answered.”
— Inscription in the Temple of First Landing, Worsili Borùmvil
1. Origin and Lineage
Jarod Worsley was born aboard the Theseus, a child of the stars and one of the earliest ancestors of what would become the Nodilani people. His parents, Gordon and Jamila Worsley, served as a surgeon and nurse respectively - members of the upper-deck class in the ship’s stratified social structure.
Jamila herself had ascended from the lower decks through marriage, giving Jarod a unique lens into both ends of the ship’s rigid hierarchy. This dual heritage shaped his empathy and balanced his firm command with profound moral clarity.
2. Career and Rise to Command
Jarod began his career in the Theseus’s security force, serving with quiet distinction among the upper decks. He was known for his restraint, fairness, and preference for diplomacy over aggression. Later, he trained and served as a pilot, earning high praise from commanding officers and simulator assessments alike.
By his early 40s, he became a leading candidate to succeed Captain Tanaka Mifune, who stepped down due to advanced age. Many of the upper-deck elite opposed Jarod’s promotion, calling him “too young, too soft, too sentimental.” But the crew - especially those from the middle and lower decks - trusted him. When Mifune named him as successor, the ship quietly shifted.
3. The Decision That Made a People
It was during The Incident - an event still partially lost to damaged records - that Captain Worsley made the defining call of his life: to abandon the failing original trajectory and reroute the Theseus toward the Daninsha star system for emergency repairs and resupply.
What was meant as a stop became a landing. And what began as a crisis became the foundation of a civilization.
Worsley’s decision to settle Madun is viewed by most historians as the birth of the Nodilani. Without him, the colonists may have died in deep space… or worse, carried on until there was no one left to remember Earth.
4. Conflict Beneath the Decks
Security Officer Worsley was not known for brutality, but for listening. When a water ration riot broke out near the hydroponics recycling tanks - where workers accused upper-deck techs of siphoning excess reserves - most officers prepared to storm the zone.
Worsley refused. Instead, he entered the chamber unarmed, requested a closed vent broadcast, and addressed the workers directly:
“You think I wear white because I’m better than you. But this suit doesn't feed my family. It doesn't fix the pipes or pull us through radiation storms. You do that. And I see you.”
He negotiated a compromise that day - adjusted ration schedules, tech rotations, and more transparency in deck-level distribution. The riot ended without violence. His report was marked “soft,” but his name began to travel.
5. A Pilot’s Worth
Worsley’s transition to the pilot corps wasn’t immediate. It came after he manually steered a failing personnel shuttle back to the Theseus during a grav-drift malfunction, saving twenty-six lives after all automated systems failed.
Tanaka Mifune, watching the flight path from the bridge, reportedly said only one thing when the shuttle touched down:
“Find me the one who made that arc.”
Jarod's improvisation under pressure - navigating a half-dead shuttle with broken stabilizers using a technique he'd only read in old Earth aerospace logs - marked him as not just skilled, but composed. His training was fast-tracked. Years later, Mifune would call him “the best steady hand in our dying sky.”
6. First Footfalls
When the scouting lander descended to Madun's surface, it was Jarod Worsley who led the mission. Radiation scans showed promise. Atmosphere was thin, but breathable. Gravity: forgiving. Surface temp: marginal, survivable.
They touched down in a valley of thick forest mist - the future land of the Endulani.
Jarod was the first to descend the ramp, pausing not for grandeur, but for safety readings. His first words recorded on the surface were:
“It smells like life.”
They collected soil. Sampled water. Cataloged signs of native fungi. When they returned to orbit, Worsley declared: “We won’t find a better cradle than this.”
7. Legacy
Jarod Worsley passed away a few decades after the landing, having seen the first children born under Daninsha’s light. His name lives on in the city of Worsili Borùmvil - the Harbor of Worsley - a settlement that began as a docking zone and grew into one of the major cities of early Madun.
Even among modern tribes who scorn the past, his name is still spoken with reverenc
Maiko's Note
Captain Worsley wasn’t born on Earth. He was born between stars, and yet somehow… he brought us home.
He didn’t lead with pride or power—he led with presence. The kind that makes people breathe easier, even in failing air.
If you ever feel lost, remember: he chose Madun when all other paths were broken. And that choice became a future.
