[CHAR] Star Wars: Revanchism [Knights of the Old Republic/Mandalorian Wars]

[Ellri]

Elara Rahn

Name: Elara Rahn Species: Vahla Age: 25 Rank/Title: Jedi Knight Planet of Origin/Birth: None - Born in space Force Sensitive Y/N: Yup Appearance:

Compared to most human women, Elara is unusually tall at 191 cm. There are humans equally tall or taller, but they are uncommon sights. Among her own species, the Vahla, she’s actually a bit below average. She is lithe, almost bordering on thin, with dusky brown skin and blue-flecked gray eyes. Her hair is ebony-black and is kept braided up almost at all times. When it comes to clothing, she prefers to dress simply, sometimes in simple jedi robes, other times in more form-fitting clothing sewn primarily from Ankarax leather. On the current mission however, she is wearing inner Jedi tunic and pants of dark gray cloth, tucked into knee-high boots made out of Spacer’s leather. The other set of clothes described earlier has been left behind on the ship. When seeing her move, people often note how it is more sinuous than humans. This is owed to the fact that she has a cartilaginous skeleton, where humans have bone-based skeletons. This makes her considerably more flexible, but also somewhat more prone to fractures. This image is a fairly decent representation, though the clothes don't match. Not our work, of course.

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Skills/Abilities/Talents/Training:

Aside from average skill in the classic force powers (speed, telekinesis, sight, jump, etc), Elara has trained several other skills of a less common form. Chief among them is her H’ratth training in Force Healing. Owing to her long reach and flexibility, she is also rather adept at force-assisted acrobatics. For combat, she prefers the Ataru Form. She knows the basics of some of the other forms, but does not really consider herself proficient with them. She can also use blasters, but like so many other Jedi consider them a bit… uncivilized. In her years of knighthood, she’s also been trained to pilot smaller ships. She knows the ups and downs, but is no ace. Combat flight is not something she considers herself capable of.

Equipment:

lightsaber

She’s got clothes on (isn’t that a shocker?). Her utility belt is of IRSOG issue, containing basics like rations, a breather, a short vibroblade knife, a short grappler, etc.) Aside from the above, she doesn’t really have any other equipment with her.

Psych profile:

As Jedi go, Elara isn’t the most patient one. If there’s a problem, she’ll look for the quick solution rather than the complex ones. For example, if a door she needs to pass through is blocked somehow, say through a coded lock, she won’t bother trying to slice the control panel to bypass it. She’ll simply cut the door to pieces. If the door is uncooperative, she’ll cut through the walls of the ceiling. Once she has set herself a goal, she can be annoyingly persistent at it, not easily giving up. However, it takes a lot of frustration to even begin to make her angry.

History:

So far as she knows, she’s the only survivor of her family. There may have been other survivors from the family ship, but if there were, they were all split apart after the a strike team of Jedi shadows attacked. When that happened, she was no more than four years old (in 3984 BBY), so she doesn’t really remember much of anything about it. The reason the Jedi Shadows attacked was that virtually all her people belong(ed) to the Dark Side cult known as the “Embers of Vahla”. Though the Jedi hunt all those who wield the Dark Side with a passion bordering on hatred, they did not feel it right to execute children like Elara. Instead, they took her with them, intent on raising her as a Jedi, indoctrinated in the ways of the Light Side of the Force. They brought her to the Strike team’s base of operations, in the Coruscanti temple, where the masters did their best to ensure that all her nascent training in the ways of the Dark Side were buried under what they deemed to be more appropriate lessons. However, they also determined that Coruscant was not an appropriate place for someone with a wounded psyche to mend. As such, they sent her to the Praxeum on H’ratth, placing her under the charge of the masters there, some of the greatest healers in the entire order. This proved to be a double boon, for not only did they mend her psyche, but they also found she had an aptitude for healing. Throughout the rest of her initiate years and the first few years as a padawan (3981-3978, under Master Mara Terius), she continued to be trained in healing and in the basic skills of all Jedi. At the age of ten, her master took her away from H’ratth, out into the field. For the next eight years, she and her master traveled the galaxy on the Order’s business, becoming fairly renowned as skilled healers where they went. While there were occasional intraplanetary and interplanetary conflicts, on the larger scale the republic was at peace. As such, they more often found themselves healing wounded from accidents than from combat. But with the wide range of accidents possible in the galaxy, that did not mean any significantly smaller range of wounds to treat. At the age of Eighteen (3970), her master deemed Elara ready for the trials of Knighthood. They returned to H’ratth to complete them, which she did soon afterwards. As is common among many Jedi, Elara isn’t fond of speaking of what happened during the trials. Suffice to say that every part of her, mind, body and soul, were tested many times over. After the trials, she opted to stay for several years on H’ratth, even as her old Master took a new padawan out into the galaxy. Part of the reason she stayed behind was to improve her skills with the lightsaber. In her eleven padawan years, she had often found herself relying more on her master’s skill the times they entered conflict. She wasn’t very proud of this fact, and now that she was no longer with her master, she knew she had to change it. She found another Jedi to train with, one who, like her, had specialized in the aggressive Ataru form. However, unlike her, Enric Rahn had trained far more at it. Over the next months, she trained intensively with him, reaching a far more proficient level at it. She did not, however, attain anything close to mastery. If things had turned out differently she might have, but their partnership turned first into a friendship and soon afterwards developed into something more. After seven months, they were officially married. Some of the Masters of the order were not overfond of the idea, but neither was the practice forbidden among Jedi. In late 3969, their first child was born. They named her Nyla Rahn. While they tried to have more children over the following years, none others than Nyla got carried to birth. After her fourth miscarriage, they agreed it was best not to try again. It saddened them both, but one living child was better than none. By 3966 the Mandalorian wars were slowly becoming more visible even on H’ratth. They had raged since 3976 and were not looking like they would end anytime soon. However, with a child to raise and the Masters’ decree in mind, neither considered actually getting involved in the war. Neither of them liked the idea of how the Mandalorians were slowly gaining foothold. Stuck as she was with her daughter on H’ratth, Elara slowly felt her frustration build up. When Revan let out the call for Jedi to join him, Elara felt herself very much tempted to go. Her daughter kept her back initially, but when news came out about the Cathar Genocide, she could no longer keep herself back. After conferring with her husband, she determined that she would go, that she would join the Revanchist movement. Had it not been for their six year old daughter, she would have been joined by her husband. The only idea she could think of as worse than her daughter growing up in the galaxy ruled by the Mandalorians was the idea of her growing up in one ruled by the Sith. She left H’ratth behind, joining up with a group of other Jedi headed to join the war effort. Among those other Jedi was the four years younger Miraluka Jedi Knight Ayessa Shayal. Though they had somewhat differing philosophies, they both agreed that the war had to be won.

Relationships and Acquaintances:

During her time on H’ratth, she encountered Ihna Zhiss several times. Its more of an acquaintance-business than it is true friendship, though. They share some personality traits, like the fondness for cutting Gordian knots. Prior to their encountering each other on the way to join the republic army in the fight against the Mandalorians, Elara Rahn has met the Miraluka Jedi Ayessa Shayal a few times on past missions, but they did not get as close back then as they have done now that they are both heading to join the same war. They do not have the same philosophies, but they have the same goals. [more will be added later]

[Kiddo]

Name: Lu Species: Selonian Age: 28 Rank/Title: Technical Recon Commando Planet of Origin/Birth: Selonia Force Sensitive Y/N: N Appearance: Lu is a typical infertile female of her kind, if perhaps a bit on the brawny and bottom-heavy side, though even that is nothing but the result of genetics and concentrated effort to build strength. She stands just under 2 meters in height, covered entirely in black fur but for white skunk-like markings along her sides and on her head. Her sept is shorter-muzzled than average, giving her a look much closer to that of an earth otter than to that of a rat. Lu wears only the most practical clothing, typically consisting of nothing but armor, Wolf, and perhaps a cloak if discretion is advised. She brings no other clothes with her, and is generally ambivalent about appearing naked before other races. If required of her, though, she’s willing to wear whatever is suitable to the climate, with no particular fashion sense but that she dislikes highly-saturated colors and shoes. Skills/Abilities/Talents/Training: - Well-trained natural knack for inventing and fixing things; if it has wires or chips, she’s the one for the job - Decent combat capability, both in the standard methods of a Republic Trooper and in the more savage, melee methods of her kind - Lu can speak basic; not a great feat for many species, but not particularly common-place among Selonians - Lu inherits the basic traits of her race: extreme dexterity, natural quickness, and good eyesight even in the dark Equipment: - A robotic jump pack/personal shield generator/minimal exoskeleton/artificial intelligence, named Wolf - Two robotic plasma chakram, capable of returning to her after being thrown and of linking to her hud to provide her with scout capabilities - Impact-specific armor, designed to be used in tandem with a ray shield. Its specialty is in deflecting and minimizing the damage caused by physical weapons, as the shield takes care of blaster fire - A customized anti-armor blaster rifle; using mechanics dangerously close to those of illegal disruptor rifles, this rifle is technically legal but still capable of penetrating many armors that would block default blaster fire - Mechanic toolkit, including a portable plasma welder and various materials and tools that are generally helpful to have around for scrapping together something useful - A large supply of thermal detonators and breach charges Psych profile: Lu is a tad more brutal even than is normal for a Selonian warrior. She generally operates in an ends-justify-the-means mode, with perhaps a dash of sadism thrown in for good measure. She has no qualms about killing, or torturing, or pillaging and murdering, as long as it’s for what she deems a “good cause.” She does not consider herself a horrible person, though. She just seems only to care about those close to her, and everyone else can just die. If you are in her little family group, she will be selfless and motherly, though stern and unforgiving. She holds herself to high standards, and expects others to meet only slightly lower ones. Each death of someone whom she has accepted into her temporary den has hit her hard. As the war has dragged on and on and casualties have increased, Lu has become only more extreme; her callous nature toward outsiders is worse, and her doting attention for the insiders is even greater. Her den’s size has shrunk, but those still left and those she adds to the number are people for whom she would lay down her life and the lives of thousands of innocents to save. Lu is not unkind to those who are on her side but not in her den, though “cold” might describe her well. She can be funny and helpful, but such affections are temporary and entirely dependent on her present mood and one’s good standing with her and her den. History: Each Selonian is assigned a purpose in life from a young age. For Lu, engineering was the field set before her by a bevy of psychological tests at the age of four. Sadly, there simply wasn’t enough to keep her occupied in just one field. While her peers struggled to grasp concepts, she would learn them quickly and then apply them practically even faster. So it was that the odd came about; a Selonian child had simply too much time on her hands. To fill it, she did the natural thing; she followed her friends to their classes. As the lessons became harder, they took more time, and soon Lu had to narrow her education down to just the three things which intrigued her most; making things, fighting things, and learning about things from other galaxies. Her broad education resulted in a rather unique and advantageous skillset. She could speak directly to aliens with her learning in Basic, she could spar with her bored friends during off time, and she could do her real job quite well. This skillset recommended Lu to a position that the Selonians were missing dearly: namely, that of a soldier in the Republican armies. As the Great Sith War came to an end and the Republic attempted to revitalize its wrecked military, the Overden saw an opportunity to cultivate good relations with their galactic masters in the form of a tribute. At the age of 18, Lu was admitted into the Academy with great pomp and circumstance, the first Selonian to ever enlist. She found adjustment difficult. Before, she had been surrounded by others like herself, her den or her further relatives in the Overden. Now, she found herself in the constant company of odd furless creatures who mistook her for a tall Drall more often than not. But she was decent at adapting to new things, and eventually managed to find herself at home even so far from her planet. Her main coping mechanism was to gather a close-knit group of friends, whom she viewed as her surrogate den. But for all the good adjustment that she did, her time in the student ranks gave perhaps good reason for a continued segregation of Selonian warriors from Republic soldiers. Her ferocity in battle simulations, sometimes resulting in injuries and even once nearly in a fatality, regularly offended her more-refined teachers. When she graduated, she was recommended to a unit more in tune with her “special needs,” and was thrown into the mishmash group of non-humans who made up IRSOG-9. They fought at Suurja, helped repel the Mandalorians at Ithor and Iridonia. Their contributions to the war were tactical and uncredited, but for them, it was fine. Most of them came out alive, and that was good enough. And then they were deployed to shuttle in to Gthrak. Relationships and Acquaintances: IRSOG-9: a misfit group of skilled-but-undisciplined soldiers who were sent, like other IRSOG units, for the important stuff. Their team was forged through fire and death, and though they had been in plenty of ill-fortuned missions, their squad managed to have some of the lowest death tolls among IRSOG units. Wolf: Wolf is Lu’s AI, built into a practical robotic body. He controls her chakram, performs whatever hacking she needs done, provides on-the-fly battle diagnostics, and gives her one friend who will never leave her; he’s secured to her by an exoskeleton, after all. He’s chipper, cool-headed, and all-around a decent foil and stabilizing influence for Lu’s aggressive emotions.

[Sundered Echo]

Ayessa Shayal

Name: Ayessa Shayal Species: Miraluka Age: 21 standard years Rank/Title: Jedi Knight Planet of Origin/Birth: Alpheridies Force Sensitive Y/N: Yes Appearance: Ayessa tends to wear robes suited for diplomacy and other consular work, having not truly experienced the rigours of heavy combat. Her mask is simple and practical, her hair cut fairly short so as not to get in the way of her Lightsaber in combat. Since her hair doesn’t affect her sight, she rarely bothers pushing it to the side, only doing so when she remembers others find it strange. Skills/Abilities/Talents/Training: - Force Sense - As a Miraluka, Ayessa relies entirely on the force to replace sight. Not only is she capable of sensing her surroundings as well as if she could see, she has developed these natural talents to include a more developed sense of precognition than most Jedi. She can, in effect, 'see' in 360 degrees, though her focus is usually ahead of her, a habit she learned partially because other races have only forward vision and appreciate being looked at while in a conversation. Another part of Miraluka Force sense is the ability to see feelings and intent in others, as well the capacity to instantly detect Force users, unless that user is hiding their Force sensitivity - willfully or not. Feelings and intent can also be veiled, particularly so with force users, but a skilled con-man could still rely on his skills against Miraluka Force Sight, albeit to a somewhat lesser extent. - Farsight - Ayessa is a practitioner of Farsight as an extension of her Force sense, though she can only control sight of events happening in the present. She is occasionally afflicted with visions of the Future, and has no control over the occurrence of such. - Form III: Soresu - Ayessa Has focused her Lightsaber training exclusively on Soresu, the defensive art. She has by no means mastered it, but in combination with her heightened Force Sense she has proved in many a duel that victory comes to the patient. Her original intent when practicing this form was, however, to counter her own comparative lack of physical strength compared to most other duelists, a flaw which made the practice of most other forms untenable. - Piloting Skills - She has received little formal training concerning the piloting of Starships and ground vehicles alike, but she does possess quite a degree of raw skill when piloting a fast moving vehicle, a trait that is seen quite often in Miraluka Jedi. However, due to the lack of formal training she is prone to taking dangerous risks while flying or driving, a tendency that often sees her assigned to missions that do not involve piloting of any kind, at least prior to the war. - Basic Force Manipulation - Including Force speed, bodily augmentation, jump, push, pull and telekinesis in general. Ayessa can make use of these staples of Jedi Force training, but is in no way unique in her application of them, merely representing a Jedi Knight baseline level of skill. - Basic mechanical aptitude - specifically with smaller spacecraft. Ayessa is capable of maintaining and conducting limited repairs on anything from an Aurek Strike Fighter to a small freighter, though this aptitude is more due to the Force guiding her than direct knowledge or training. Equipment: - Blue Lightsaber - Of basic construction, its decoration is largely tactile in nature so that ayessa can appreciate it more easily. Though a green blade would be more traditional for her role in the order, the blue crystal was retained because she located it through foresight. - Jedi Utility belt - Even diplomats are issued with the standard spread of survival equipment. - Clothing - Including the mask that covers the blank space where other species would have eyes. Psych profile: Ayessa is an atypical Miraluka, she believes quite firmly in her views of right and wrong as well as good and evil, where most Miraluka have a very grey outlook on the world. She believes wholeheartedly in the Jedi Code, and that the code dictates that the Jedi should help those in need. She believes that everyone has the capacity to be good, and will only fight when there is absolutely no alternative. She has begun to believe that many a wrongdoer deserves to be given the chance to atone, and she dislikes killing. She has a very naive outlook on war, and tends only to see the leaders and the ideals behind the war rather than the atrocity committed on the front lines. While many others may consider her to be a moral pillar, her morals often blind her to the true nature of those around her. She is an extreme idealist, refusing even to use the mind trick to avoid battle in the hopes that people will come to the right conclusion on their own, which ironically has lead to a number of avoidable deaths. Ayessa still believes in happy endings and that light always prevails over dark. She is often momentarily shocked into inaction when witnessing extreme brutality, particularly that committed by people she believed to be 'good', a flaw that has already been the cause of injury in battle. History: Born on Alpheridies not long after it had recovered from the Mandalorian invasion in the Great Sith War Ayessa grew up hearing tales of the greatness of the Miraluka Jedi who had fought in the war. She was, like all Miraluka, born Force sensitive, but even in her early years it was clear that her perceptions where a cut above those of the Miraluka around her. Ayessa was always able to find out things about people and places, and she often had an inkling of the answers to question before they were answered. Her parents were overjoyed, and their daughter was soon brought to the attention of the Luka Sene as a prospective initiate. At around the same time, the Culu Memorial Jedi Praxeum was coming to prominence on Alpheridies, and with it, the stories of the Jedi. The Jedi had played an integral part in the liberation of Alpheridies, and at that time were highly regarded in Miraluka society, a view that rubbed of on Ayessa as soon as she was old enough to comprehend what it all meant. A young Ayessa was enchanted by these stories of heroism against all odds, and compared to the Luka Sene, these mythic protectors of the galaxy were a far more appealing choice for a Force Sensitive to join. At the age of nine, Ayessa had her heart firmly set on joining the Jedi, not the Luka Sene as would have been more traditional. She wanted to become one of the 'great heroes and saviours of the galaxy' and already she was beginning to develop a strong moral code that adhered heavily with the code of Jedi as seen by an outsider. Though her parents did not like the idea of her becoming a Jedi, as they knew that such a choice would mean that they never saw their daughter again, they nonetheless gave her their blessing and took her to the Culu Memorial praxium. The Jedi were happy to take her, especially once they found out the extent of her natural Force Sight, already trained somewhat by early intervention from the Luka Sene. In her they saw the potential to mold a Jedi Seer, a rare type of Jedi Consular able to see the future. After the sudden and brutal Great Sith War, the Jedi masters felt the need for seers to better predict any future wars of the like. Ayessa was quickly selected as a padawan to the human master Artemes Myndraav. Artemes was an aging and kindly master who had taught a number of Miraluka padawans in the past, his teaching style a subtle and gentle one. They stayed on Alpheridies for several years while Ayessa was taught all the basics, where she also began to learn the art of fighting with a Lightsaber, though still with a practice saber. Here she also learned the Jedi code and immediately began to interpret it through the lense of the Jedi being heroes of the people. Because of this unshakeable belief that Jedi were heroes and beacons of light, Ayessa always interpreted the code as a responsibility to help those who could not help themselves. She proved an enthusiastic student, though always a little over eager to 'save the galaxy,' Master Myndraav always reacting with joviality to his 'young future heroine'. The years passed quickly for her, and soon enough Master Myndraav took her offworld for the first time. Her first task away from Alpheridies was to forge a Lightsaber, however in a test of her sight, she was given no information at all as to how this was to be done, or where. It was a task she initially thought impossible, and for weeks she begged her master to tell her something, anything. But Myndraav refused, and for all those weeks he also refused to teach her anything of the Jedi ways at all, merely content to meditate aboard their small ship while the young Ayessa cast about for the tiniest clue. This was the first time Ayessa had been forced to rely entirely on her farsight for anything, and it proved difficult for her. After a solid week of meditation, a vision eventually came to her, from which she was able to determine the location of the Crystal Caverns on Dantooine. Only once she had told her master of this did he finally relent and teach her the techniques necessary to build a Lightsaber, revealing that he had had all the components except the crystal on their ship and waiting the whole time. As much as a test of her sight, the test had been one to teach patience as well. Ayessa took this lesson to heart, taking her time to build the Lightsaber, receiving another vision in the process. This vision directed her building of the hilt of the Lightsaber to fit her future use of it in the Soresu form - as a result the initial saber proved quite large for her hands at the time, but as she grew older began to fit more perfectly into her hands. Once this had been done, Master Myndraav and Ayessa spent the remainder of her time as a padawan accepting missions from the council across the galaxy. In the field, Myndraav was a skilled diplomat, and always sought to solve problems with reason and words, only resorting to the Lightsaber if it became clear that violence was the only path yet open to him. Ayessa followed his example, an example which served to strengthen her own interpretation of the Jedi code - that everyone should be given a chance to do what is right. Myndraav always encouraged her to make use of the peculiarities of Miraluka sight, and to trust in her visions. Her sight became one of her greatest skills as a Jedi under Myndraav's gentle guidance, quickly coming to rival his own Force sense. On one occasion during a mission, the pair found themselves betrayed and cast into a sudden ambush by a republic officer. He had been the one to call for the assistance of the Jedi, and had for weeks been providing them with leads to take down the criminal organisation he had been running, but once he had pruned out the elements of his organisation that posed a threat to him with the use of the Jedi, he attempted to kill them to cover his tracks. This sudden betrayal from a man who Ayessa trusted and had come to view as righteous saw her injured in battle when she failed to draw her Lightsaber to deflect the initial blaster shots. Master Myndraav was able to fight off the assailants, standing guard over Ayessa's fallen body until help arrived. Fortunately her assailant had been a poor shot, the blaster bolt having only grazed across the side of her torso, but it had still been enough between the unfamiliar pain and the shock of betrayal to fell her. After this incident Artemes realised that he had been too eager to push Ayessa into the path of the seer, and in his insistence that she trust her visions and intuition he had failed to prepare her for the unexpected. Because of this he delayed her Knighting for a full year, he began to take on missions that would have unexpected turns, and slowly managed to minimize the amount she would suffer from surprise and betrayal, but after a year of focusing largely on this aspect, it became clear to him that nothing short of complete betrayal would cure her of this inherent trust which had now become a flaw. It was something he could not orchestrate on his own, and indeed could not, fearing something of that magnitude brought about by his hand, the master whom she trusted with her life, would send her to the Dark Side. Not only this, but the Mandalorians were becoming an ever greater threat as they conquered unaligned fringe worlds, and Ayessa could not help but see the Mandalorians as evil, having conquered her homeworld in the last war. This distraction made Artemes's lessons less effective, and with each new report of a world conquered at the hands of the Mandalorians Ayessa grew more distracted and more determined that the Jedi should not be so idle. And so seeing that he could teach her no more, in her twentieth year Ayessa was sent by Myndraav to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant to undergo the Trials of Knighthood. Ayessa's Trial of Skill was one of the lengthiest on record, her focus on Soresu and the defensive technique pitting her endurance against that of apparitions who could fight indefinitely. Eventually she was able to exploit the flaws in the techniques of the apparitions, but only after learning their techniques through a constant and unrelenting battle. Nonetheless, she defeated them and passed the Trial of Skill. Her Trials of Courage and of Spirit where one and the same: A vision in which her own brutal death was portrayed vividly was presented to her. Whether through the efforts of the Council or a happenstance of the Force, she does not know, but for days it appeared as though the vision had destroyed her faith in the Jedi. She has told no-one, not even the council or Master Myndraav of what she saw other than that it was her death and refuses to speak of it, though some have whispered that she saw far more atrocity than simply her own death. Just as the council began to lose hope that Ayessa would be able to surmount this twin trial, she presented herself for the remaining two. Ayessa passed the final trials without flair, but adequately for the observing masters. Following this Ayessa was Knighted at the age of twenty standard years, and studied at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant for a short time. She was here when the Mandalorian war broke out in earnest and she here where she heard of the Revanchist movement. Though barely a Knight herself, she immediately began to support Revan's ideas, citing that the war cost the lives of countless innocents every day, and that even if the Jedi avoided battle they should at least help the civilian populaces. When the Jedi Masters eventually allowed a number of Jedi to leave to support the Republic and Revan, Ayessa was one of the first to take up the cause. She believed it would be like the great stories of how the Jedi liberated Alpheridies, all heroes and villains battling and turning the war with the deaths of a few leaders. She had no conception of the reality of the frontline, and departed eagerly, finally fulfilling her dream to beat back a great evil from devouring the Republic. And not just any evil, but the Mandalorians, who had always been the foes of her childhood fantasies. Relationships and Acquaintances: Ayessa has met the fellow Jedi Knight Elara Rahn several times in her travels, always in the capacity of a healer, often for Ayessa’s own injuries. Because of this, she views Elara as, if not a friend, at least a person of great moral integrity. She is prone to overlook Elara’s methods, even though they clash with Ayessa’s own view of how things ought to be done, due to this opinion. Ayessa Shayal has also, out of necessity, taken on the Kaleesh Padawan Valek as her own.

[Celeste]

Name: Tamare "Rada" Na Zhalos Species: Half-Theelin Age: 19 Rank/Title: Padawan (Liturgist-in-training) Planet of Origin/Birth: Coruscant Force Sensitive Y/N: Y Appearance:

Heir to the blue hair, golden eyes and pale, delicate beauty that can be found in many Theelin and half-Theelin, Tamare's looks were shaped, not only by the gifts of genetics, but also by a childhood spent in the Coruscant underworld, and an adolescence under his permissive Jedi Master, Koryan Lyu. He grows his hair long, and combs it stylishly, with no regard for the customs of the Jedi Order. His physique is slender, with long limbs and torso, and only mildly toned by the years of training. He is not particularly tall by human standards, standing at 1.79 meters, but what he lacks in physical grandeur he makes up for in litheness. As he grew older, Tamare's Master allowed him to express himself with a modicum of freedom through his attire, to the point of eventually letting him abandon the Jedi robes in their entirety. Instead, he began to wear more casual and fashionable pieces of clothing popular in the Uscru Entertainment District, including his now trademark gold and dark fuchsia pullover, his short multicoloured leather jacket, his black military pants, his long grey-blue leather boots, and his feathered scarf, that he normally hangs from his utility belt to conceal his lightsaber beneath. Perhaps the most important piece of clothing, however, would be the necklace he always wears around his neck. It combines an old Theelin talisman Tamare's mother gave him as a child, made in a brown metal, with a silvery amulet that his Master gifted to him when he learned to speak Bothese fluently.

Image for reference

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Skills/Abilities/Talents/Training:

- Exceptional Memory: The capacity to easily remember even the smallest details of old memories, or vast amounts of abstract information, has always been Tamare's greatest blessing and curse. It was a blessing from the Force, as far as the Jedi Order was concerned, because it made him a promising candidate for becoming a Jedi Lore Keeper or Researcher. But for the half-Theelin boy born and raised in the undercity, it meant that he could never forget the many horrors he witnessed, nor the grudges born from those he himself suffered. Be that as it may, this seemingly inborn talent of his has proven to be useful in many contexts, ranging from mere academic studies to lightsaber combat training, giving him a great advantage over most people when it comes to being almost perfectly aware of one's surroundings and knowing what to expect, and what reaction is expected from one. - Comprehend Speech: Master Lyu was deeply enamored with his work as a Jedi Liturgist, and he devoted most of his efforts as Tamare's Master to instilling in his Padawan this same fascination. In particular, he trained Tamare to use the Force to understand the many foreign languages they did not or could not study in the Jedi Temple. - Polyglotism: As a child, Tamare had already demonstrated an unusual ability to learn different languages while living in the streets. After he was admitted into the Jedi Order, his Master took advantage of this talent and, over the course of the years that followed, tried to teach him as many languages as he could. By the time of Master Lyu's disappearance, Tamare could speak four languages with fluency (Bothese, Cheunh, Kaleesh and Togruti), had a basic grasp of three more (Durese, Huttese and Sullustese), and could comprehend some Droidspeak and Shyriiwook without using the Force. These days, he continues his studies on his own, immersed in the vast wealth of knowledge on philology left behind by previous liturgists. - Art of Movement: Although his Master was a man more inclined towards academic endavours than physical training, Tamare's past experiences moving around the chaotic jungle that is the undercity made it easier for him to learn the Jedi Art of Movement, which allows him to move through enviroments with agility and dexterity, occasionally with assistance from the Force. - Ataru-style Saber Combat: As much of a pacifist as Master Lyu was, he did not shirk his responsibilities when it came to teaching his Padawan the art of lightsaber combat. While he treated it less as a proper form of fighting than as a stylish choreographic display, his Padawan's education in the Way of the Hawk-Bat was intense and constant, with emphasis placed on precision and agility. Tamare took his Master's teachings on saber combat to heart, and to this day he practices his "dancing" with the due commitment.

Flaws/Limitations:

- Undisciplined: Koryan Lyu was a notoriously unorthodox, and often excessively lenient Jedi Master. It should therefor come as no surprise that Tamare did not learn much in terms of self-restraint or abiding by the customs of the Jedi Order under his care. Tamare is disorganised, easily distracted, nonchalant about other people's expectations, and slow to obey. This can make him an unreliable team member in many circumstances, and it is often best for everyone involved to let him work on his own, and at his own pace. - Unready for Battle: Master Lyu was more interested in languages and literature than he was in the art of war, and ultimately his Padawan followed in his footsteps in this regard. Tamare received little to no education in tactics and strategies, and the training he received in the art of lightsaber combat treated it, not as a form of warfare, but rather as an elaborate choreography. Because of this, Tamare's lightsaber technique is graceful, swift and precise, but he was not taught how to improvise with it when dealing with unexpected threats. He can use his blaster with a modicum of speed, but not with enough accuracy during split-second decisions. His understanding of the Force has enhanced his capacity to learn quickly and remember easily, but when it comes to violent uses of the Force he is average at best. In short, Tamare is in no way physically or mentally prepared for the perils of war. - Spice baby: Children born to spice abusers have commonly been associated with an innate proclivity to spice consumption, as well as neurological disorders of varying gravity, although some Jedi researchers have claimed that there is also a correlation between prenatal spice exposure and increased Force sensitivity. Tamare is, unfortunately, no exception. Both his father and mother were addicted to spices and death sticks, and their vices left their first son a sickly child, prone to erratic behaviour and manic episodes. After making the boy his Padawan, Master Lyu managed to help Tamare improve his mental and physical health through meditation, and taught him to channel his bursts of mental hyperactivity into a heightened Force sensitivity. However, this stability in Tamare's condition was brought to a sudden end by Master Lyu's disappearance. In the weeks that followed, Tamare began to sporadically consume spices and suffer from mental hyperactivity again. He became increasingly obsessed, eventually to an unhealthy degree, with finding his lost Master. These days, though the worst of the meltdown has passed, he is still tormented by bursts of manic desperation and a thirst for spice he cannot bring himself to quench, which adds another distraction to his already undisciplined mind.

Equipment:

- Blue-bladed curved-hilt lightsaber - Datapad - Utility belt - Hold-out blaster pistol

Psych profile:

On the outside, the boy from the Coruscant underworld who grew to be Master Lyu's Padawan may seem quiet and contemplative to most, a secretive person who keeps his thoughts and emotions to himself, and avoids confrontations when possible. Growing up in the undercity, Tamare learned the value of silence as a tool for survival, and as a liturgist's Padawan he was taught to use words with care. However, when he does speak, most of those who listen think him immature, spoiled and distant, and not without good reason. Master Lyu doted on Tamare, in part because it was in his nature, but also because he pitied the boy for his troubled past and poor health, and this had no small effect on Tamare's character as he grew older. He became disrespectful, albeit never maliciously so, and paid little attention to anybody other than his Master, or anything other than his studies. While not vainglorious in the least, he was unwilling to compromise when it came to personal matters, and at times showed overt disdain towards some of his fellow Padawans. Beneath this public persona, however, Tamare is first and foremost a frightened child and a grown cynic, who conceals his pains and insecurities deep within a sick spirit as he desperately tries to fulfill his self-given purpose. He constantly struggles with his self-perceived weakness, as well as the very real temptation to lose himself in spices and death sticks. When he is not trying to advoid following in the footsteps of his parents, he is loathing them in silence for their own weakness. Only his Master was ever able to gaze upon this side of him, and though his efforts helped bring Tamare a modicum of comfort and strength of character, his work was left incomplete, and ultimately undone, by his sudden disappearance. Without the man who raised him and trained him, Tamare is lost. The connection with the light side of the Force, that Master Lyu help him build, keeps him safe from going down a darker path, but the sudden solitude, after spending the latter half of his life under the loving care of his Master, is a constant torment. He continues his training on his own by listening to his Master's recorded lectures on his datapad. The sound of Koryan's voice comforts him, and the wisdom he imparts through it gives him purpose, but at the same time it fosters his growing obsession. Now that he is alone, Tamare feels that Koryan Lyu was, for all purposes, his whole life, the only thing that kept him away from the perils of the underworld, the only thing that came close to resembling a home. Therefor, every day he muses, he plans, and he follows the flimsiest leads. Finding his Master is now the thing he cares about the most now, the glimmer in the distance that drives him forward, towards the Mandalorian Wars. A part of him believes that his Master may have fled the Jedi Order to fight the Mandalorians in the Outer Rim, while another tells him that, even if he has not, the Outer Rim is his best chance of finding clues, and fighting the cruel Mandalorians is what his Master would have expected of him.

History:

Nineteen years ago, a pale woman with blue hair lay squirming and moaning on an old hospital bed covered in soot and mold, breathless. Her heart frantically beat to the rythm of the undying machinery of this sunless city. A human hand covered in scars and filth clutched hers, almost as pale as hers, for it had been dwelling in the deep darkness of this forsaken place for its entire life. His whispers and her cries were drowned out by the mechanical cacophony beyond the walls of the clinic, a music of the lifeless, the artificial. In this sunless city, the only times you heard the sound of life were the times when it was being tormented, or ended. Hours passed by, a tired Kiffar nurse their only occasional company, and the endless night seemed to only grow longer. Then, the long, painful wait was over. A child was brought to the galaxy, as beautiful as its mother, and as quiet as its father. A boy with a weak body and a stubborn spirit. Tamare, his father named him. An ignorant bastardisation of an old, proper name in a tongue from a far-away system, but it would do. The Coruscant underworld was no place for sucklings. Vermin, monsters, and monsters in the skin of sapient beings ruled over the dark, narrow alleys, that seemed to swallow all those who dared passed through them, the rusting grand machines that the world above had forgotten, the pipes clogged with corpses, both old and new, and the run-down apartments where outlaws dreamed of reaching the light above through the blood of the weak. The boy lived, however, and he grew. In time, he learned, and then he climbed upwards. A shrewd little urchin, a well-spoken and mild-mannered murderer once said to his parents, his gloves covered in dried blood, as they watched the boy sitting atop a metallic tower, many feet closer to the light above than the other children of the undercity. His parents did not take pride in that. They could never take pride in bringing a child to this world of foul shadows, or raising an urchin, however clever their urchin was. They could never take pride in having their spice-tainted blood course through the veins of an innocent, preserving their curse for another generation. So consumed were they by their own demons, that they never realised that their son he had been able to understand the cries of a Rodian whore as she was being tortured in an alley, behind the ruin they called "home", despite the fact that their sweet, sickly Tamare could not speak Rodese. Tamare lived through seven years of darkness before he finally found a way to the world above, after quietly searching for it in solitude while his parents lay recovering from a night spent in the company of spice and death sticks. He went alone, for he had learned not to trust the other children. He had seen children in the alleys, far more vicious than most grown outlaws, crushing each other's skulls over the flesh of plump rats, picking up old flasks of cheap adulterated spice to quench their innate thirst, and imitating the cruelest outlaws in games that always ended in bloodshed and promises of vengeance. The world he found above had little sunlight. Most of its light was artificial, colourful, and it was as dizzying as it was exhilarating. The sound in this world had life in it, with laughter aplenty. There was no machinery to conceal the lively voices of those who walked past the clubs, theatres and hotels. He saw no small amount of thieves, slythmongers and crooks, but here they masked themselves. He saw no bloodied limbs being displayed on the streets as a warning, or mothers screeching for the children they had lost to disease, cruel men, or their own madness. It was there, on the streets of the Uscru Entertainment District, where Tamare first felt it, a nameless entity, incomprehensible for his young mind, yet somehow familiar. It was powerful, and overwhelming so, to the point of making him lose all notion of where he was. For an instant, he thought he had glimpsed an image, a sight through somebody else's eyes, but it was gone in the blink of an eye, and he was kneeling on the floor as this bright new world passed by in a frenzy once again. For two years, the life of the boy with blue hair and golden eyes was divided between sneaking through the shadows of the undercity, every day an ordeal to avoid the most horrifying deaths, and skittering through the lights of Uscru, just basking in the maddening sights and noises, and collecting trinkets, his parents none the wiser about his escapes. He lost himself completely in his explorations, never speaking to any strangers in Uscru, even those that seemed friendly, nor to his neighbours in the undercity, having long since learned the value of silence. Nobody made enemies out of those who said nothing. Tamare sated his growing curiosity about the universe beyond the underworld by watching and listening to the pedestrians, the pickpockets and the slythmongers. With every new fragment of knowledge, his thirst for more grew, and with that thirst the energy he had felt the first time he reached Uscru felt closer and closer to him, until he began to constantly have his thoughts interrupted by visions of what was happening around him. He saw how assassins neared their targets, how prostitutes stealed from their clients, how bartenders lied to agents of the Coruscant Security Force, and how some people felt an excruciating hunger Tamare knew all too well as they passed by the slythmongers, all through their own eyes. Uscru became his home, the place where death seemed too distant for him to fear it with every step he took. All changed soon after Tamare turned nine years of age, as he sat on a dark corner by a theatre in Uscru, marveling over a playbill for a classic play being performed inside. Comfortable in his solitude, and engrossed by the words and the colours printed on the plastic and paper, at first he did not feel the orange eyes that were staring at him, or the mind behind them. It was only when he suddenly caught a glimpse of himself from afar that he realised somebody had noticed him at last, an event he had been dreading since he had first stepped onto Uscru. The half-Theelin's golden eyes searched for this person, and soon he found himself staring at a tall Togruta, with dark red and white skin, and white and blue montrals. He wore a brown robe, and his face was that of an adult, albeit a relatively young one. As the Togruta walked towards him, he gave Tamare a small smile, one behind which Tamare found no malice. The Togruta stood above Tamare for a moment, gazing down at him in silence, before kneeling. He placed a large red hand over Tamare's knee, and began to speak, his voice soft. He asked for his name, his age, his place of birth, whether he knew what the Togruta was, and since when he had been able to delve into the minds of others. Tamare only gave him silence at first. Words could become death in the underworld, he knew, and as nonthreatening as this Togruta was, Tamare did not trust him. He remained unmoving, his eyes upon the Togruta's. He seemed hurt by that, but his tone remained soft as he told Tamare his name and rank. He was called Koryan Lyu, and he was a Jedi Master. He asked again, and this time Tamare nodded shyly, and muttered his name and age, barely parting his lips as he did so. He then pointed below with a dirt-covered finger, and the Jedi understood. Master Lyu spoke to him for a while longer, his smile never vanishing as he talked of the Force, Force sensitivity, and having grown up in a downtrodden neighbourhood himself, and with the same powers as Tamare. He then departed, leaving Tamare with a credit chip and the promise that they would meet again the following week. The Jedi Master kept his promise, much to the untrusting Tamare's expectations, as the two met once again on the same corner near the theatre. This time, the Jedi Master brought treats and a hologram that spoke about the Force, both of which the boy relished with joyous awe. This time, Tamare spoke a handful of words more, speaking about the underworld and asking questions about the Jedi, and as they parted he allowed Koryan to hold his hand for a few seconds as farewell. Over the course of six months, Tamare and Koryan continued to meet on Uscru, a bond slowly forming between the two as they learned more about each other. In time, Koryan began to speak about rectruiting Tamare, while the boy tried to prove his power by translating what nearby pedestrians said. His quiet, suspicious exterior slowly chipped away by the nonchalance beneath Koryan soft tone, Tamare soon became fascinated with the Jedi Master, and the life of the Jedi as he described it. On the end of the sixth month, Koryan made his decision, and accompanied Tamare to the undercity one last time. There he told his parents that their son would become a Jedi, a decision both of Tamare's parents reacted to with tears of joy and regret. Joy, because their only son would be taken away from the darkness they had raised him in, and regret, because their spice abuse had driven their son away and left him with scars. Leaving all his possessions behind, save for the gifts Koryan had given to him over the course of their meetings, a suddenly conflicted Tamare left the underlevels for the last time. Koryan Lyu's decision to recruit an urchin from the lower levels was met by his fellow Masters with skepticism. Though Tamare showed irrefutable signs of Force sensitivity, and Koryan attested to his speech comprehension with enthusiasm, many felt his upbringing and glaring personality flaws would make him difficult, if not outright impossible to train. As a Jedi Initiate, Tamare did not quite prove the other Masters wrong. Indeed, though he did show some promise, and there were no visible signs him being at risk of falling to the dark side of the Force, he was moderately antisocial at best, and frustratingly unruly at worst. He passed most tests with no more visible effort than most, but struggled when it came to working with his fellow younglings, or during tests that demanded close attention and discipline. It was only after Koryan Lyu, going against custom, began to personally tutor him during their free time that Tamare was deemed ready to be raised to the rank of Padawan. It was upon both Koryan and Tamare's stubborn insistence that the Jedi Council agreed to place Tamare under Koryan's tutelage as Master and Padawan, their personal bond unbroken during Tamare's time as an Initiate. As Master Lyu became fully dedicated to making Tamare a true Jedi, they grew even closer. Being a Liturgist, Koryan had spent most of the previous years in the Jedi Temple, studying ancient tongues in the Archives, and only occasionally did field work, visiting distant systems to add new dialects to the Archives. In that regard, he focused his efforts in giving Tamare a rich academic education, mostly to give the boy an outlet for his talents, and to give them an enviroment as devoid of stress as possible. More practical endeavours were cast aside, Koryan seeing them as potential triggers for his fragile Padawan. In the years that followed, Koryan's efforts bared fruit. While Tamare did not befriend any of his fellow Padawans, he did begin to open his mind to his Master, until the two of them became comfortable with having their thoughts and feelings read by the other. Their joint meditations brought them closer, and gave the boy peace of mind. He learned to control his powers and his temptations, and his training in the Way of the Hawk-Bat strengthened his body. As time passed, there were but a few incidents, most of them minor, while Tamare learned new languages and joined his Master during some of his research trips to the Outer Rim. As Tamare traversed through his teenage years, Koryan became more and more doting, giving him the nickname "Rada", after a type of bird from Shili, and allowing him to abandon the Padawan robes in favour of a more personal outfit. On occasion, the two would visit Uscru together, and spend a night or two distracting themselves from their life in the Temple, either by going to the theatre or visiting a club. The relationship between Tamare and his Master raised a significant amount of eyebrows in the Jedi Order as the half-Theelin neared his coming of age, as some Masters worried that Koryan had allowed his fondness for the youth to blind him from his duties as a Jedi Master. Although he repeatedly proved himself to be academically brilliant, and capable enough on the field, many were not sure he was ready for Knighthood, given how he still lacked real combat experience, and he was rumoured to have run away from the Temple whenever he lost control of his disorders. Tamare finally had his first and, as of yet, only real fight as a Jedi shortly after turning sixteen, when he accompanied Koryan and other Jedi Liturgists on a mission to study an ancient variant of the High Galactic language in a planet near Hutt Space. There, while visiting and archaeological site, they were attacked by Hutt-funded treasure hunters. During that battle, Tamare proved his worth as a Padawan, using his gifts to control the flow of battle, using his telepathy and memory to keep their enemies at bay, fending off their attacks with swift precision, and lead them towards the perfect spots for a counter-offensive. When the dust settled, he had captured one of the treasure hunters, and maimed another two. Tamare and Koryan's return to Coruscant was marked by the appearance of a sudden tension in their relationship, one that none of their fellow Jedi could comprehend. Although they still spent most of their daily lives in each other's company, it was said that, for some reason, Koryan had barred Tamare from reading his mind again. Tamare's training continued, as usual, but even after the fight against the treasure hunters he was still far away from becoming a Jedi Knight, even by his Master's own admission. Frustrated, Tamare devoted himself all the more to philology, and two years later, at long last, he voiced his intention to become a Liturgist and work alongside his Master for the rest of his life, a commitment that seemed to alleviate the strain in their relationship, and persuaded the Jedi Council to allow Tamare to go through his first trial of Knighthood. Tamare's Trial of Skill was formidable, pitting him against a simulacrum of a pair of particularly vicious Sith Lords, but he ultimately succeeded in overcoming both, getting him one step closer to becoming a Jedi Knight, after years of stagnation. The trial over, Master and Padawan began to prepare for the Trial of Courage that would inevitably follow, spending more time in meditations to ensure Tamare would be able to resist fear and live through whatever the Council would decide... but, for Tamare, the second trial would never come. Nobody quite knew what to make of it, and theories ran rampant through the Order when it happened. The only certainty was this: In the middle of a short mission to Corellia, Master Koryan Lyu had vanished, leaving nothing behind but his own shocked Padawan. Nobody within the research party that had accompanied them knew what had happened, and only vague, and often conflicting rumours, were what they got from the inhabitants of Coronet, where they had been staying. Many claimed they had seen him being taken by bounty hunters in a club. Others said that he had drowned himself in the sea. The only one that felt true to the grief-stricken Tamare, however, was the claim that he had ran away, to fight the Mandalorians. Whichever rumour was true, however, the truth of the matter was that Tamare had lost his master, and for the first time in a decade he had nobody to turn to. Once he returned to the Temple, Tamare did not leave his chambers for days, and when he eventually did, it was only to spend weeks in the Archives, where he alternated between continuing his studies and searching for clues of his Master's whereabouts. With no way to know if Koryan was ever going to return, the Jedi Council could not bring itself to assign a new Master for Tamare, nor force him to go through the Trial of Courage. In the months that followed, Tamare's behaviour became far more erratic and antisocial than ever before. He only ever spoke to Liturgists, and only rarely. He showed less and less interest in continuing his training with the passage of time, and as news of the atrocities committed by the Mandalorians reached the Temple in Coruscant, his devotion to the Order seemed to slip away with them. It could be said that Revan's call to arms saved Tamare from losing himself completely, and the risks that such a thing would have entailed. Though he had never met Revan in person, Tamare's Master had mentioned the rogue Jedi in the past, and in its desperation his spirit instinctly clinged to the hope that, somehow, the Revanchist movement could lead him to Koryan Lyu. The galaxy was burning, and his Master was probably out there, fighting the Mandalorian scourge in the name of justice, and his Padawan could do no less than follow. So it was that Tamare, a half-Theelin Padawan, came to join IRSOG...

Relationships and Acquaintances:

(Work in progress)