</Name>Talen-Jei
</Nicknames>The Hunter, Predator
</Age>29
</Species>Trandoshan
</Gender>[X] Male -- [ ] Female -- [ ] Other
</Planet of Origin>Trandosha
</Prior Occupation>Big-Game Hunter, Slaver (Briefly)
</Appearance></Personality>On first impressions, Talen-Jei is fierce, aloof, and reclusive. Slow-to-trust and wary of others, Talen-Jei often appears far more brusque and cynical than he truly is, masking his true nature until someone has earned his trust. Underneath this harsh and calloused exterior, one will never find a stronger, more loyal friend and companion.
Staunchly dependable and honorable, with a strict adherence for tradition, Talen-Jei is deeply religious and respectful to his culture. Devoted to both the Scorekeeper and the Great Hunt, Talen-Jei considers hunting his sole purpose in life; seeking to continually please his goddess with each successful kill. What sets him apart from many Trandoshans, however, is his motivation. Talen-Jei is not driven by sadism or cruelty like many of his species, but instead kills because it is his purpose in this life. As a result, he treats all worthy opponents - be they man or beast - with respect, granting them a swift warrior's death.
Honest and open-faced to a fault, Talen-Jei despises subterfuge and manipulation, believing them to be demeaning of a true hunter. Though he utilizes stealth and Guerrilla tactics in combat, Talen-Jei always gives his prey a fighting chance, believing that each and every creature should have the opportunity to fight for their right to live.
Remarkably intelligent and experienced, Talen-Jei possesses a resourceful and quick mind that allows him to make fast decisions with ease and operate well under stress. This intelligence is bested only by his sheer cunning, which allows him to track his prey, set various traps, and pinpoint an enemy's weak spot with remarkable efficiency. This mental acuity is denoted as being the instinctive craftiness of a predator as opposed to the cultured intelligence of someone more educated, using instinct and inherent aptitude to accomplish his goals.
As a skilled warrior and hunter, Talen-Jei constantly searches for stronger, more-dangerous opponents to test his abilities, and will not hunt those he deems beneath his skill level. This unwillingness to fight those he believes are weak is not out of arrogance - but out of religious belief. In Talen-Jei's mind, to hunt an inferior opponent is degrading, and does not honor the Scorekeeper. However, should such 'inferior' creatures attempt to attack him first - he will show no mercy or remorse in their subsequent demise.
</History>Born 10 years before the infamous start of the Great Jedi Purge, Talen-Jei's life was unique since he was a mere hatchling. Raised on the Trandoshan homeworld of Trandosha, Talen-Jei's father, Deekus, was a skilled hunter, spending much of his earlier days exploring the galaxy in search of prey before settling back on his homeworld to start a family.
Talen-Jei frequently would accompany his father on hunting trips, learning everything he knew from the older hunter. Especially unorthodox, Deekus did not promote the inherit aggressiveness and brutality of many Trandoshans, but instead urged his son to hunt the beasts of the galaxy, to not taint his heart with sentient blood in search of the eternally-craved Jagganath Points. Talen-Jei took these tenants to heart as he grew older, though he and his father both were soon shunned by much of Trandosha's general populace.
Eventually, Deekus took Talen-Jei to Kashyyk to speak with the Wookiees there, considered extremely unorthodox by Trandoshan standards. Deekus did not view the hairy mammals as enemies like many of his kind did, but instead believed them to be just like the Trandoshans: skilled hunters and honorable warriors, seeking a place in the galaxy.
Remaining on Kashyyk for a number of years, the peace Deekus had found for him and his son would soon be shattered as the Empire sought to enslave the entire Wookiee population - ironically at Trandosha's suggestion.
Imperial and Trandoshan forces both invaded the beaches of Kashyyk, killing or capturing any Wookiee on sight without remorse or mercy. Deekus fought to defend his tree-dwelling companions to the best of his ability, but was gunned down after trying to protect a Wookiee mother and her cubs.
Talen-Jei was found by the Blackscale Clan, the ruling Trandoshan slaver clan on Kashyyk, where he was forcefully inducted and trained as a slaver. He learned how to hunt Wookiees instead of beasts, taught to treat them as animals instead of sentient creatures. Though his perception and mind had been clouded after years of forced teaching, in his heart he still held onto the dead whispers of his father. Nevertheless, Talen-Jei lost himself for a time, becoming an exceedingly brutal and murderous slaver. At first, he told himself it was an act, a facade to convince the Blackscales that he was not his father's son. But as time went on, Talen-Jei could no longer differentiate whether his savage actions were a front or not anymore. They had broken him...and he could not stop it.
It took a sudden epiphany upon being commanded to gun down a rebellious Wookiee family - cubs and all - that Talen-Jei realized just what he had become. Stealing a ship in the dead of night, Talen-Jei escaped Kashyyk, journeying to the Outer-Rim planet of Thila, where he attempted to reground himself once again, returning to hunting instead of slaving, beginning the arduous process of cleansing his soul of its dark taint.
It wasn't long after arriving when Talen-Jei discovered the Rebel Alliance had established a base on Thila following the Battle of Yavin. It was then that Talen-Jei realized the only way he could redeem himself of his past actions was to assist the Rebellion in destroying the Empire, and by extension: stop his own people...
</Useful Skills>- Superhuman strength, durability, and resilience.
- Heightened vision that can see into the infrared range.
- Masterful hunter and survivalist, with extensive experience when it comes to tracking, placing traps, and navigating a foreign environment.
- Highly skilled at hand-to-hand and melee combat, due to his claws and enhanced strength.
- Skilled marksman.
- Possesses a notorious 'hunter's instinct'.
</Other>-Though fluent in Basic, Shyriiwook, and Dosh, Talen-Jei's Basic is far less-refined. As such, he will typically speak in blunt, fragmented sentences; preferring to get his point across as opposed to dealing with unnecessary vocabularies.
-Somewhat unique to his species, Talen-Jei has an attraction towards humanoid females, finding them incredibly aesthetically pleasing.
-Also unlike many of his species, Talen-Jei has no inherit hatred of Wookiee's, attributed to his father's unorthodox teaching and time spent on Kashyyk before the Imperial Occupation.
-Talen-Jei holds both the Jedi and the Force in great reverence, and believes the Force to be a powerful universal entity that aids the worthy hunter.
