Kel History

Kel was born into a wealthy and affluent family and is considered to be relatively high on the scale of nobility on Betazed, a fact which he is uncomfortable with and entirely dismisses. The day Kel was born the doctors diagnosed him with extreme early onset of exceptionally strong telepathic and empathic sense; a situation which is rare and only partially treatable. The early appearance of Kel’s telepathic and empathic senses, and his parent’s refusal to confine Kel to isolation until he was old enough to understand his abilities, drove Kel’s parents to seek the assistance of every doctor or telepathic expert they could find on Betazed for alternative treatments. After careful scrutinizing of various experts Kel was paired with a Vulcan, T’Can, who asserted that her meditative techniques could assist, the now two year old, Kel. T’Can's training of Kel was ongoing and continued until well into his teens when he finally dismissed T’Can himself having fully mastered, and entirely rejected her meditative techniques. Kel did not see his early onset telepathy as a hindrance and instead found himself more drawn to its possibilities. Kel became increasingly more likely to allow himself to be lost in the thoughts of others, something he had innately done since he was two. Kel’s continued dabbling in the minds of others and what he called the “thought world” often left him on the verge of insanity, a sensation he found to be disturbing. Despite the risks, of which Kel was only vaguely aware, he found the temptation of a universe of minds simply too enticing to ignore. Kel’s continued dabbling in the “thought world” often left him disoriented and without total awareness of where his thoughts end and others began, this often left others with the impression that Kel was constantly distracted, though in fact it was more likely that he was more aware of what was going on around him than the observer could comprehend.

Kel’s parents who became increasingly aware of their son’s obsession with his telepathy and noticed his lack of mental focus. They felt they had failed their son and became increasingly distressed by physical manifestations of his disoriented state (such as ignoring his personal hygiene, forgetting to eat, and lack of actual communication with those around him). Worse his began to fear that Kel was more than disoriented but was actually loosing himself in the thoughts of others. Out of sheer desperation they confronted Kel and demanded he stop, Kel refused and stole a family starship and hid in the rings around a gas giant in a nearby system. There Kel allowed himself to be lost in the “thought world” of a nearby inhabited M Class planet an act which drove him completely mad. The vessel he had stolen detected Kel’s erratic heartbeat and breathing and, sensing an emergency, emitted a distress signal. The distress signal was picked up by a sect of religious fundamentalists who, seeing Kel’s state of affairs, attempted to restore him. Kel returned from madness several weeks later, shortly after his eighteenth birthday, entirely he was unaware of who he was and found himself surrounded by strangers, fundamentalist followers of the Ka’Hilid. The fundamentalists, unsure of how to deal with this young man, who they had mistaken as human, initiated him into their sect which is where he stayed for two years.

During his years as a follower of the Ka’Hilid Kel’s abilities as a telepath gradually returned to him and he could feel the innate pull towards Betazed, home. Kel attempted to convince the leader of the sect to allow him to return to Betazed and seek out his past but the sect focused on strictly isolationist policies and its leader refused. Kel, feeling the onset of his telepathic abilities becoming stronger and unsure of how to control them, grew desperate and enlisted the aid of another member of the sect; manipulating her telepathically to assist him. Upon his return to Betazed Kel found the world in a state of recovery following the Dominions invasion and their subsequent removal from power. He felt his world’s pain, but above all he felt the particular pain of his mother. Kel raced to his mothers’ side and was reunited with her only to watch her die in his fathers’ arms, she forgave him for his disappearance, but his father never has.

Kel’s father placed the blame on Kel for his mothers suffering during his absence and her eventual suicide (His mother suffering from the assumed death of her son and the great pain of her world had chosen death). After his mothers death Kel’s father demanded that Kel never return to his families’ home. Kel complied and has never spoken to his father since. After a period of mourning for his only partially remembered mother, Kel underwent comprehensive therapy to return much of his lost memory, though there are still gaps, he continues to reject any attempts to control or ease his abilities but has learned to avoid unintentional contact with minds which don’t wish to be ‘touched’. Kel also rapidly completed the training required to focus his abilities, training which he had been denied previously because of his age. After the completion and effective proof of his skills Kel entered into Starfleet Academy seeking acceptance which he had been denied in his youth and now by his father.

Kel, in the academy, achieved top grades in sciences, specifically social sciences such as psychology and sociology; he carries a particular interest in people cultures and the inner working of the mind. Kel is also proficient in most other fields of science. Kel failed first year languages and was required to retake the course, which he passed though not well (he can’t write an essay to save his soul). Kel found his sporting abilities lacking but took up fencing and sword fighting as a hobby during his years at the academy.