Captain Maple Androtti

Captain Maple Androtti was the most famous female explorer of the 24th-and-25th-century Ocean Boom. While revered for centuries as a great explorer, she was discredited in the 34th Century as a fraud who stole credit for others' work; her original prestige has been returning in recent years, when the original body of work putting forth this hypothesis was heavily discredited.

History
Much of the history of Androtti's early life has been lost to the mists of time. The earliest we know of her was that she purchased the Maiden's Voyage in roughly 2354, suggesting she was still fairly young when she died. Rather than finding someone else to captain it, she instead chose to command it herself; her infamous poster searching for a crew declared "Let My Finds Speak For Themselves", picturing her among a vast amount of riches acquired from her previous experience as a sailor.

Unfortunately, her voyages frequently met with misfortune. The Maiden's Voyage had barely traversed a third of the Madrovian Sea before running directly into the Inescapable Reef. The vast majority of Androtti's crew died, but she (and a sufficient portion of the discoveries and treasures she had acquired on her voyage) returned safely. The Lewis and Clark managed to map the remainder of the sea, but was struck by lightning, leaving Androtti adrift. The HMS Expen was commandeered by her crew when she attempted to dock against Xerus Prime; they claimed that the rocks would tear the ship to shreds. Upon them leaving, they ran afoul of a powerful wind, which quickly capsized the ship. It is unknown if there were any survivors.

Accounts of Androtti in the last ten years of her life all point to her rapidly losing sanity. Nobody is quite sure why this occurred; most believe it was simply a genetic neurological disorder that only manifested itself later in her life. Whatever the cause, she became convinced that living in the exact center of the Xerian Archipelago-- at approximately the summit of Mt. Hoston-- would draw the "energy of existence" towards her, making her immortal. After about ten years of almost never leaving this area, she promptly shot herself in the head to demonstrate her powers, and immediately afterward disproved her methodology.

Botanical

 * Corkvine
 * Xerian Blue Bean (Disputed)

Animal

 * East Aquitillan Green Rat
 * Marbleized Jelly (Disputed)
 * Polar Hexapus

Geographical

 * The Groll Trench
 * Xerus Theta, Xerus Gamma

Archaelogical

 * The Crown Jewels of the Heptanian Emperor
 * Oarspur shipwreck off coast of Aquitilla, suggesting trade routes or piracy
 * The Moai of the Drorian Rainforest

Disputed Reputation
While, for the most part, Androtti is revered as a masterful (if unfortunate and slightly unhinged) explorer, some claim she was not. Certain groups, for example the Dhuiss Monastics, claim that she was, in fact, a nexus point of luck; others' luck flowed into her, making her a jinx to others and allowing her to stumble into success. This is childish reasoning, almost certainly incorrect (due to the Monastics' less-than-perfect record of success), and probably rooted in sexist and/or racist beliefs.

The more common form of libel against Androtti is that she was a fraud. According to this hypothesis, she happened to come into contact with the actual discoverer/charter of the various islands (notably portrayed as an Aquitillan, and usually believed to be a male), and stole his journal, maps and treasure to claim them as her own; those discoveries of hers that were later invalidated, rather than being simple mistakes or misattributions, are suggested to be complete fabrications. This theory posits her to be a con artist and a liar, and while it is technically true there is no conclusive evidence against it, there is also little evidence for it; it is for this reason that some have described it as a "glorified conspiracy theory."

Sr. Cyrus Elfonzi

New

 * Madrovian Sea