The Crew of the FSS Beagle

The following were members of the Crew of the Federation Space Ship the Beagle: Brand Kirk (DA2)
– Hydroponics technician. Hydroponics is the science of producing food from microorganisms living in water. Kirk joined Stephen Rocklin’s rebellion and fled with him into the swamps.

Dygar Mendel (DA2)
– Quartermaster’s mate. Mendel joined Stephen Rocklin’s rebellion and fled with him into the swamps.

Lynn Raupp (DA2)
- Assistant of Commander Stephen Rocklin’s security section. Rapp joined Stephen Rocklin’s rebellion and fled with him into the swamps.

Willis Strom (DA2)
- Assistant Engineer. Strom joined Stephen Rocklin’s rebellion and fled with him into the swamps.

Norn (DA2)
- Cyborg in the service of Saint Stephen.

Weewak (DA2)
- Cyborg in cervice of Captain Riesling.

Commander Stephen Rocklin (DA2)
- Commander and Chief of Security.

Captain Bork Riesling (DA2)
- Captain of the FSS Beagle.

Ogdoban Treel (WotI)
– Communications officer.

Rheddrian Benekander (WotI)
-First Assistant Engineer.

Cyborgs
Several other Cyborgs were aboard the FSS Beagle.

Frog People
- Saint Stephen created this race of Froglike men using Beagle technology and the DNA from frogs he found in the swamps.

Sand People
– The Sand People were originally described as creatures living in the valley of the Ancients. However, later fan material suggests that this race was a silicon-based lifeform native to Mmars (Mystara’s equivalent of Mars). Most likely the FSS Beagle stopped on this planet first picking up a few samples before moving on to Mystara. As the Blackmoor civilization grew more advanced and eventually reached the Space Age (See my Blackmoor Timeline), more Sand People were brought back to Mystara. Some even exist today (AC1000) living on the Ahdri Varma Plateau.

Dbots
– These are robots programmed for combat and other purposes.

Storyline:
After the FSS Beagle crashed on Mystara, Captain Bork Riesling acted according to the Federation Regulations (Prime Directive), which prohibited contact with primitive natives. He therefore ordered that all crewmembers were to enter hibernation sleep while waiting for Federation ships to rescue them. Unfortunately, their distress calls never reached the Federation or something else prevented the Federation from coming to the rescue. In any case, some members of the captain’s crew were not so eager to follow these orders. A small group under the leadership of the mischievous Commander Stephen Rocklin rebelled against the captain. However, they were defeated and driven out of the ship. Stephen together with Brand Kirk, Dygar Mendel, Lynn Raupp, Willis Strom and the cyborg Norn fled into the nearby swamps. There, Rocklin reorganized the Order of the Frog, a local cult where he now became known as Saint Stephen. Using Beagle technology, they created a race called Frog Men using DNA from the local swamp fauna.

Meanwhile, Captain Riesling became increasingly paranoid. He battle conditioned (brain-washed) the remaining awake crew into extreme loyalty and sent them into suspended animation. He then, surgically alters two cyborgs to look like him. He armed the Sand People to keep intruders away from the Beagle and had his robots collect specimens for study and had them attacking the traitorous Stephen Rocklin and his agents.

The final fates of Captain Riesling and Stephen Rocklin are unrevealed. A possible scenario by Andrew Theisen suggets that Captain Riesling was mortally wounded in the original rebellion. Because of this, he was replaced by another Cyborg alterered to look like him. This Cyborg (Conveniently called Cybork) became mad which explains Rieslings later paranoia. The original Riesling would at all of this time be in Suspended animation, but would eventually wake up and you’d have a battle between Bork and Cybork. Bork would defeat the Cyborg and later on there would be a final showdown between the real Bork and Saint Stephen.

200 years later Ogdoban Treel woke up from suspended animation. Probably because of Bork (or Cybork’s) Battle conditioning mentioned above, Treel himself was not entirely stable. He awoke finding several crew members including Rocklin and Riesling missing. He went on contacting the natives selling off Beagle Technology to them. To prevent this from being discovered by other crew members still in hibernation, he sabotaged their hibernation beds killing the remaining crew. However, the compulsive tinkerer, First Assistant Engineer Rheddrian Benekander had meddled with his Hibernation Bed and was not killed, but instead awakened by this process. He realized too late that Treel’s meddling with the Beagle had destabilized the Ship’s Core. While trying to fix this, he was attacked by Treel, but with the aid of reprogrammed Dbots, Benekander was able to defeat the Communications officer. Benekader realized that the Core was now unstable beyond repair. However, he managed to change the imminent explosion into an implosion. By sacrificing himself, he saved the lives of thousands of locals as the Beagle disintegrated. However, Benekander was not killed. His soul was trapped within a shield like device connected to the ships engines. Thousands of years later he was released and became the Immortal Benekander as detailed in Wrath of the Immortals.