We’re here with another interview with a newer member of our community. The title of this column is “Lower Decks,” hearkening back to the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode titled “Lower Decks,” in which junior officers aboard the Enterprise-D speculate on the reasons for recent unusual actions taken by the command crew near the Cardassian border.
This month’s interview is with the writer behind Ensign Egil Renot playing a male Al-Leyan Engineering Officer assigned to Starbase 118 Ops.
DeVeau: Tell us a little about the writer behind the character — where in the world do you hail from? Anything you’d like to share!
Renot: I’m from Vancouver Island, Canada. I’m fairly young, in my mid-20s. I’m a retail worker as I train to be an electrician. One step closer to being a Starfleet engineer! I do a lot of art and gaming in my spare time. I’m a huge nerd with my partner over various fandoms.
What was your introduction to Science Fiction in general and Star Trek specifically?
My family has always been particularly nerdy; Dr Who and Trek have always been constants in my household. I remember watching DS9 as a kid with my father. It is his favourite and he constantly rewatches it with me. My father also introduced me to Babylon 5 and Stargate.
What is your experience with roleplaying?
I’ve been an avid forum and in video games roleplayer for about a decade now. I used to be incredibly active in a Lord of the Rings roleplay community. Sadly my love for that fandom has died out and I’ve recently started Trek roleplaying.
What brought you to SB118?
I was looking for a Trek roleplay community to call home. Funnily enough, I have used the SB118 wiki as a reference before when roleplaying with my partner’s Star Trek Online fleet. Saw the JOIN NOW text and thought why the heck not?
Would you tell us a little more about your character, Egil Renot?
Egil grew up on Leya-1 and lived a pretty boring life working as a MAGLEV rail engineer. He got kicked off his rather restrictive planet for wanting to leave his occupation and be in a relationship with another male. He joined Starfleet soon after. Egil is a passionate flamenco dancer and is at a competitive level. He is a rather bright and chipper guy and tries way too hard to try and make friends with everyone and wants everyone to like him to a fault.
Why did you choose this specific character and duty post?
I’ve always had a fascination with engineering in Star Trek and all the almost fantastical technology. Coming from a family of electricians and mechanics, that kind of thing comes rather naturally.
As for the character specifically, I usually roleplay Romulans and seeing it wasn’t on the list of permitted species left me panicking to try and find something I would like roleplaying. Seeing how restrictive Al-Leyan society is hit a little close to home and I knew exactly how to roleplay that in a character from personal experience, so that was a logical choice!
Where do you see your character five years from now?
Oh boy, I always suck at these questions! Maybe a rank or two higher and more familiar and comfortable with Federation technology. Egil is a bit too anxious and exuberant to even think about captaining a ship.
Thanks for your time, Ensign Renot!
You can read more about Ensign Egil Renot on the wiki.
