</Name:> Talen-Jei
</Species:> Trandoshan
</Age:> 34
</Planet of Origin:> Trandosha
</Prior Occupation:> Big-Game Hunter, Slaver (Briefly)
</Personality:> On first impressions, Talen-Jei comes off as 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 companion and friend.
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 he believes it is his role to play. 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.
A seasoned and experienced hunter, Talen-Jei possesses a resourceful and quick mind that allows him to make fast decisions with ease and operate well under stress. His experience is matched 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 15 years before the infamous Great Jedi Purge that would lead to the rise of the Galactic Empire, Talen-Jei's life was unique since he was a mere hatchling. Raised on the Trandoshan homeworld of Dosha, Talen-Jei's father, Deekus, was a skilled hunter and explorer, dedicating many of his earlier days to exploring the galaxy in search of prey before settling back on his homeworld to start a family.
Frequently accompanying his father on hunting trips as soon as he was able, Talen-Jei learned 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. He believed that his people had lost their way over the centuries, mistaking sadism and wanton slaughter for religious devotion. Taking these tenants to heart as he matured, Talen-Jei and his father both were soon shunned by much of Trandosha's general populace.
When Talen-Jei reached the age of 11, a young-adult by Trandoshan standards, Deekus took him to the neighboring planet of Kashyyk to observe Wookiee culture and tradition; a move all but unheard of amongst Trandoshans. Deekus did not view the hairy mammals as rivals or enemies like many of his kind did, but instead saw kinship between the two species: skilled hunters and honorable warriors, seeking a place in the galaxy.
Immersing himself in the hunting rituals and ceremonies of the Wookiees, Talen-Jei was eventually allowed to participate in some of the rituals himself, hand-crafting a Wookiee Ryyk blade for himself, something that would have shaken the moral fiber of both Wookiee and Trandoshan relations.
Remaining on Kashyyk for a number of years, the peace Deekus had found for him and his son would soon be shattered as the newly-born Galactic 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 to those who resisted. 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 as one would hunt beasts, to treat them as animals instead of sapient creatures. The years took their toll on him, and though his perception and thoughts had been clouded, in his heart he still held onto the dead whispers of his father. Talen-Jei lost himself for a time, becoming an increasingly 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 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.
Talen-Jei became a nomad, journeying from planet-to-planet either performing odd jobs, or participating in hunts wherever he could find them. Though saddled with regret and despair at his former actions, Talen-Jei looks towards the future in search of a way to finally redeem himself.
</Useful Skills:>- Superhuman strength, durability, and resilience.
- Heightened vision that can see into the infrared range.
- Master hunter and survivalist, with extensive experience in tracking, trap-making, and trailblazing.
- Powerful hand-to-hand and melee combatant.
- Skilled marksman.
- Possesses a notorious 'hunter's instinct.'
</Weaponry & Equipment:> </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 demonstrated a slight attraction towards humanoid females, finding them aesthetically pleasing.
-Also unlike many members 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 and possible manifestation of the Scorekeeper that aids the worthy hunter.
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