Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic: Eradication (Bios)

[Josh]

Working title, seems punchy enough.

Anyway, post your filthy, vile characters here. Plus anybody who actually comes up with a ray of sunshine.

[rhoenix]

Working title, seems punchy enough.

Anyway, post your filthy, vile characters here. Plus anybody who actually comes up with a ray of sunshine.

What are you looking for at far as stats? Like, how granular are we going to be here?

[Josh]

Just bios for now. In terms of statting up I'm still figuring out how rules-y I'm going to be. In cooperative parties I tend to prefer straight freeform and trusting in the players to give their characters ups and downs. If we're going to have potential in-party issues I may go more rules-y to avoid cowboys and indians-style arguments.

[General Havoc]

Just bios for now. In terms of statting up I'm still figuring out how rules-y I'm going to be. In cooperative parties parties filled with raving psychotics hell-bent on killing one another for reasons nobody can understand I tend to prefer straight freeform and trusting in the players to give their characters ups and downs. If we're going to have potential in-party issues I may go more rules-y to avoid cowboys and indians-style arguments.

Pretty sure I just fixed that for you.

[Lys]

Hey, Princess Geta is not a raving psycho. She is prideful, despises weakness, and doesn't like Sith, but her personal grudge is with a specific Sith Lord and all of her servants and retainers. If other Sith would like to join the murder party, and knowing Sith politics there will be plenty of those, then so much the better. Besides, she is a warrior, she will respect anyone whose fighting strength and spirit is strong.

Anyway, shouldn't this discussion go in the other thread?

[Josh]

Yep. Bios from here on, y'all.

[rhoenix]

Name: Corvin Meviello
Affiliation: Jedi (former Sith)
Specialization: Guardian (ranked Knight)

Description:
A tall human male brown hair kept short, and green eyes. If combat is unavoidable, he prefers to use the Force (if needed; primarily for things such as Resist Energy) and unarmed combat to subdue foes - though if he is pressed, he will draw first one lightsaber, and then both if truly necessary.

Lightsaber Style: (totally unnecessary, but whatever)
Against single foes armed with lightsabers, Corvin draws from both Djem So and Makashi techniques - maneuvering smoothly and dodging as often as he parries, though his parries are often pretexts for a counter-attack designed to end the fight with one strike. Against foes with blasters however, he leans much more into Shien techniques to deflect incoming shots where he can, or defend others with a woven blue barrier of light that protects all behind it from incoming fire.

Notable Skills:
Despite his background, Corvin views getting into a fight as a failure - he will often attempt to talk down opponents, or de-escalate a tense situation with diplomacy rather than resorting to his fists, or his lightsabers. Despite heavy training for such an eventuality, he views his training as preparing for the worst, while always working toward the best.

Despite his training, Corvin mostly uses the Force to improve his senses, awareness, and precognition, and rarely uses it to influence others unless he doesn't see any alternative.

He also has fairly strong technical skills and knowledge, able to repair or replace most equipment. With time and resources, he can even improve a given device if he spends enough time with it, though he doesn't often have the extra time to do so.

Background:
Corvin Meviello was born on a relatively quiet world known as Verec, known mostly for yvek-hair cloth, which is known for retaining heat well in cooler climates, while allowing cooling in warmer ones. It is also known for its tea exports, though not for much else, other than high mountains and steep cliffs overlooking the vast seas.

Shortly after his twelfth birthday, Corvin was abducted while walking the plains between mountains, involuntarily becoming an apprentice to a Sith Lord known as Darth Malaise. For the next five years, he learned the ways of the Force through rage, through pain, through grief, through regret, and through fear, learning all of them from the cruel ways of his Sith Master. Darth Malaise was a Sith Marauder, and taught Corvin in those same ways.

It was shortly after his seventeenth birthday that his Master was badly injured while attempting to kidnap a member of a royal family on Alderaan, and Corvin, now thinking of himself as Darth Malicus, slew his Master shortly before they entered Darth Malaise's ship to escape Alderaan.

Darth Malicus, now feeling the adrenaline from the fight and what he just did fade away, was faced with doubts as to where to go, or what to do next. Unable to quite decide, he claimed the ship as his own and chose to return to Verec, to see how his family had fared in the past five years.

He returned to see his family's small house smoking.

Landing the ship quickly, he raced to the home, and found the corpses of his parents, neither of which were armed. Searching the rest of the house for his sister, he saw fingernail-marks on the floor leading out of her room, and signs of a desperate struggle - but she herself was absent.

Quickly looking for clues as to where he had gone, he found a datapad that had been dropped, showing an inventory taken, along with the location for their home base, once he triangulated the coordinates properly. Running back to what was now his ship, he lifted off and raced toward what appeared to be the pirate's base camp.

He confidently and coldly marched up to their encampment, feeling angrier than he ever had in his life - and considering his rather brutal training at the hands of Darth Malaise, this was a statement worth making.

When hailed by the pirates, he coldly gave him his terms - though at the time, he wasn't entirely sure why he approached it this way, instead of simply attacking. He told them to let her go, or all of them would die that night.

They mocked him for his terms, and he allowed the rage to settle over and through him - through he noticed his sister's startled look at the sight, and he noticed her fear. This... made him feel ashamed, through angry at the entire universe for frightening his sister - and he attacked the pirates.

It was over with in mere minutes, though the shocked and terrified look on his sister's face haunted him. "Your eyes," she said, trembling. "What happened to you?"

He said that it was a sign of his power that allowed him to rescue her, and she shook her head, now indignant as well as frightened. "I'm not going anywhere with you, looking like that. What happened to you?" she asked.

It was then, of course, that the Jedi showed up.

When they appeared, he attempted to introduce himself stolidly as Darth Malicus, but his sister looked at him incredulously, and informed them that his name was Corvin.

The fact that the bright yellow glint of the Dark Side began to fade from his eyes the moment she began to speak did not escape either of the Jedi, who stayed, and talked with the two of them more, surprising Corvin by their actions and their words. Eventually, he agreed to allow them to take his younger sister to be trained at the temple, and he would go along to keep an eye on her.

He realized at the time that the Jedi had readily agreed to keep an eye on him, but they weren't pushy about it.

It was several months later, after he began to enjoy the quiet beauty of the temple, peace began to steal into his soul, though he had to admit that he was growing bored most days. One of the Jedi who had brought them to the temple, a Master Kalindra Koros offered to spar with him, seeing that he was feeling a bit restless. They sparred with their lightsabers for hours, though within the first minute Corvin knew he was hopelessly outmatched.

He had thought of Darth Malaise as being a strong lightsaber duelist, but he learned very quickly that his old Master had absolutely nothing on Master Koros, who constantly pushed him to adapt and learn. He was very surprised to learn that as a Miraluka, she was blind - and he was even more surprised to learn that this was no detriment to her whatsoever. Indeed, she gently chided him for not paying enough attention when she caught him off-guard during their sparring matches, which happened far more than he wanted to admit.

By this point, his sister Calia had begun her Jedi training in earnest, though the two still found time to talk, and get to know one another again.

Corvin sparred with Master Koros several more times, each time having to rely on a cool head to spot her patterns, and have a chance of defending against them. If he drew on his anger during a fight, he wasn't aware enough to be able to match her rapid repositioning - and so, without fully realizing the implications at the time, he began to draw on the calm and peace around him to keep pace with her.

Shortly after that, she invited him to meditate with her, to help him to face the demons within himself that could obstruct the flow of the Force within him. Agreeing with that reasoning, he began to join her for daily meditation sessions as well as their sparring sessions.

It came as a surprise, though not an unwelcome one at this point, when she broached the subject of him becoming her student. He took a few days to think about it, realizing to his surprise that despite all the tales about the Jedi that he'd been taught by Darth Malaise, he felt at peace for the first time within the quiet walls of the temple, and moreover, wasn't worried about his sister any longer. She was growing by leaps and bounds, already leaning in the direction of becoming a Sage, with her intuitive understanding of the Force.

Two days later, he found himself kneeling in the Jedi Council chambers, patiently allowing Master Koros to braid his hair in a Padawan's braid, setting his path to become a Jedi Guardian, like his new Master. It wasn't until then that he found out that she was the Weaponsmaster of the temple, having mastered all seven forms of lightsaber combat. After he got over his surprise, he found that he wasn't as shocked as he might have been - she did rapidly switch styles during sparring matches after all.

It was then that his training began in earnest - and much of it still included Master Koros gently chiding him for being blind, which heartily encouraged his development in being able to use senses other than sight, most especially being able to see through the Force.

Corvin had fallen to the Light - reclaiming his birth name, and his sister in the process. And he found that this didn't disturb him in the least.

Notable Possessions:
- Two long-bladed lightsabers, both with slightly curved handles. One has a blue-green blade, the other has a darker blue blade. They are typically holstered in specially-designed pouches on his chest, typically covered by his robes.
- Comm unit
- As a Jedi, other resources are typically available upon request.

[White Haven]

Corac Verron
Species: Miralukan
Jedi

"I have been down the dark path. Once was too often. Never again. Never again."

Light. Dark. Even for one who sees the Force directly, it can be tragically hard to tell the difference at times. Oh, to be sure, sometimes it's clear, sometimes it's as clear as the edge of a knife.

And sometimes it depends on who holds the knife.

Corac's master in both the Jedi Order and among the Sith was a man by the name of Andel Kain. As a Jedi, Kain was first a young Padawan Verron's teacher, and then later his mentor as a Knight. As with many such pairings, they were assigned together, fought together, rose together.

Fell together.

Andel's fall, when it came, was dramatic in all the ways that Corac's was not. A cruiser stolen. A temple crushed, sheared apart, boiled to molten glass. Peace is broken. Jedi are slain, bystanders are slain. A student dragged down into darkness, almost as an afterthought. Corac was taken utterly by storm, the underpinnings of his entire experience simply knocked out from beneath him in a matter of hours. Andel Kain stood beneath him, so far beneath, ready to catch him as he fell. The two descended into darkness together, abandoning the Jedi Order for a murky life among the Sith.

Two years later, Corac walked into a Jedi enclave clad in a simple black robe, surrendered his lightsaber, and voluntarily submitted to the authority of the Order. Quite some time passed before an inquiry could be completed, and quite a bit more time, years again, before the Jedi Order would trust him out of direct supervision again, before they could accept that it wasn't all a lie, a trick of some kind. In all that time since his return, he has almost never drawn his saber with intent to use it in anything other than training, and even then sparingly.

Even years later, the Jedi do not fully trust Corac, a state of affairs that causes him some discomfort, but for which he cannot fault them. That lack of trust no longer manifests as 'keep your enemies close' paranoia, not years on, but more frequently as 'assign him someplace we can forget about him for a while, have him see if he recognizes any faces from his Sith days.'

Hence Vaganus.

Gameplay notes:
Corac is a lightsaber duelist by both training and inclination, but since his return to the Order he has very rarely displayed that talent in any sort of company. Instead, he behaves as if he were a particularly novice and poorly-trained consular, relying on his relatively underdeveloped abilities with direct Force manipulation. At the best of times, his telekinesis and telepathy are underdeveloped, but during his career among both Jedi and Sith he has honed the use of short-term precognition into a fine art, one coupled with his natural force-sight as a member of the Miralukan species. Where others see an object, Corac sees a trajectory extending briefly forwards and backwards across time, describing an arc through which the object flows. This focus on the Force as a tool for reading movement through time is part of what lead him to miss any warning signs prior to the fall of Andel Kain; his specialization has come at the cost of an underdeveloped ability to read intent and emotion through the Force.
He carries two lightsabers, one a blue-bladed one symbolizing his reforged connection with the Jedi, and his old, red-bladed saber, kept as a reminder.

[General Havoc]

Working on mine.

[Cynical Cat]

"I will take from the Sith all of their lore and all of their secrets. I will hunt them through fire and darkness and even up into the light. I will go to places the Jedi fear to tread and into the dark fortresses where the Sith imagine themselves safe. Under the lights of gleaming moons and dying stars I will hunt them and I will kill them. The Sith wrecked my world and turned me into a weapon and now the Force has set me free. I am coming and my rage and hate are with me."

Name: Mylus Kairn
Race: Human
Gender: Male

History:

Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength, I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken.
The Force shall free me.

The biological and industrial resources of captured worlds are fed into the Sith war machine. Those who volunteer to serve are given higher status positions, providing motivation to turn coats and informers to serve their masters well and keep the yoke on their neighbors' necks. Choice is not given to all. Some are so valuable they must serve. So it was with Mylus Kairn.

Force sensitives are too valuable to given the luxury of choice. The temptations of power are dangled in front of them and the cruel spur of survival among the carnivore apprentices drive them to make hard choices. Compromising choices. Only a few don't make them. They fall. The rest devour them and rise above their bodies. Defection is almost unthinkable. That much blood cannot be washed away.

Mylus rose to the front of the cannibal pack and stepped over the bodies of his rivals, but he never forgot who it was that put chains upon him. The ancient Sith and Jedi may have splintered over philosophical disagreements regarding morality and freedom, but that was nothing to him. He was strong in the Force, strong in hatred, strong in rage, and quick to grasp the terrible arts of the Dark Side. He knew his enemy.

He hunts the Sith and all of their allies with the intent of toppling the order and setting their empire aflame. On Riormen he clashes with Jedi Master Yalvick, resulting in an uneasy truce. Mylus is too full of anger to be admitted to the Jedi Order and too full of hate to want it. He's dangerous, a loose cannon in a galaxy at war but his targets are the Sith and their allies. For now the Jedi have far more pressing issues, although not all might agree

Appearance: Mylus is a bronze skinned human male in good physical condition. His eyes are dark and he grows his hair long and in a braid down his back, in opposition to the shaved head he been forced to have as a slave. He wares a dark cloak and suit of blaster resistant fabrics.

Skills: Mylus has some basic training in martial arts and a somewhat greater experience in pit brawling. He is a competent astrogator and pilot, but it is in the Force that he truly excels. The more sophisticated arts of far seeing and precognition are where his skills are the weakest as his anger clouds out his control. Brute telekinesis, combat precognition, physical enhancement, inducing terror and obediance, force lightning, these are the skills where he is frighteningly proficient. To a lesser degree his is dangerous with a lightsaber as well. He lacks the mindset to excel at such formidable styles as Makashi, Soresu, or Trakata, but he is quite skilled at Djem So and increasingly proficient at Juyo. His grasp of Sokan is quite good, leading him to use the Force to gain the upper hand when dealing with skilled lightsaber duelists.

Possessions
CY-ZR Technical Assistant Droid
Former slaving vessel Light Freighter Pacer. Somewhat upgraded. Numerous blood stains on the decking.
Plain Red Lightsaber, matte black casing.
Light Armour clothing and cape.
A dozen razor edged metal triangles.
Communicator and utility belt.
Sith holocron.

[LadyTevar]

Name: Trysana Jrobb
Species: Mirialan
Sex: Female
Appearance Green skinned humanoid with grey hair and eyes. Tiny diamond-shaped ochre tattoos dance under her eyes and up the bridge of her nose to her forehead.


While all the Holos talk about tension on the border, or a crisis on that planet, regular folk are still just out there trying to do a job and make enough creds to cover the bills. Some toiled in factories, some sat at desks, but Trysana Jrobb got one of the fun jobs -- piloting. Sure, there were hotshot pilots, if you listen to the cantina braggerts they were as common as dust. Trysana did not brag. She stood by her reputation with a good ship that got you and your cargo were you were going with no muss, fuss, or bother.

Her ship, the Orduin's Exalt, was not new but the whole line was known as good, dependable steady transports. Built for the average cargo shipment, the semi-circular ship had a large hold, crew cabins for four beings, and guns on dorsal and ventral sides for deterent against pirates. Trysana's profit from her first twenty runs went into improving the Orduin as much as she could, updating the shields, the wiring, and buying things the Orduin hadn't come with -- like an Astromech droid named 2N-T3, a loading pad/runabout, and a Protocol droid named 8F-O9. Trysana might be a good pilot, but outside of Basic and her birth language, the majority of her language skills stayed in the 'how to curse inventively' area. Besides, 8F-O9 could cook.

Trysana's reputation as a dependable pilot was hard-earned. The majority of her cargo was straight out trade goods, non-perishables, and the occasional passenger. What the passenger had in their personal cargo was their business, as long as it didn't interfer with Trysana's business. The one time someone tried to have her run slaves, Trysana was very thankful for the upgraded shields as she told them no in as many languages as she knew while blasting her way out. That little incident tilted her rep a bit -- some refused to give her work anymore, but some approved and opened new doors.

Doors like the one leading to Trelyar Hiffin, a Bothan tradesmaster, who needed a good pilot to quietly pick up a passenger from Vaganus in the Grey Zone. Not surprising, anyone with brains would leave that hellhole as fast as hyperspace could take them. Trysana tended to avoid Vaganus, there were better planets where she could get paid for hauling cargo for those beings who were doing private salvage operations on the battlefields left behind.

Still, the advance was plenty to pay for more upgrades to the Orduin, as well as maybe get a hauler-droid. So Tryana, 2N-T3, and 8F-O9 hit hyperspace for Vaganus.


Possesions
2N-T3, Astromech droid. Co-pilot. Slicer
8F-O9, Protocol Droid, Speaks 85 languages. Chef. Complains when made to lift cargo.
The Orduin's Exalt. T-series transport freighter.
Blaster
Light armor for dangerous situations
Utility belt, with comm unit and other tools

[Hotfoot]

Name: Kio Joon
Race: Kel Dor
Affiliation: Jedi Knight, Baran Do Master
Specialization: Consular

Description:
Relatively tall for even the Kel Dor, Jedi Kio Joon stands at just under two meters in height. His skin a rusted orange, his antiox equipment stands out with the slight blue coloration it has. His eyes are silver, common amongst force users of his people, but are hidden by the gear he wears to survive in what is considered "Normal" atmosphere to many other races in the Galaxy. He wears the robes of a Jedi, plainly and without assumption. While many other Jedi may now wear armor, he continues to dress simply, despite the dangers in the galaxy. His voice is deep and mechanically adjusted by his breathing apparatus, often causing others to mistake him for a droid before they see him. Despite this, he does not rely on his race's telepathy overly much, as that brings with it another set of issues to overcome.

Background:
Kio Joon is a Jedi, having been trained from an early age to adulthood in the Jedi Order, with occasional trips back to his homeworld to study the arts of Baran Do as well. His connection with the Force is strong, and he is one of the most talented diviners of future events in both the Jedi and Baran Do order. While he is not yet a master, in part due to his growing displeasure with the increasing militancy of the Jedi Order, he believes it is his destiny to rediscover ancient secrets of the Force he believe could save the Jedi Order, and perhaps even the Sith.

Kio Joon and his master, Jocah Kaber, are members of a moderate movement within the Jedi Order, one which is losing support with each passing year due to constant conflicts with the Sith. Recently, his master was brought to the Council under suspicion of being a Sith sympathizer, and while it was revealed that his trial, like many before, were a Sith plot brought about by Jedi who later defected to the Sith, the damage had already been done. His master had been relegated to peacekeeping operations, and in his care, Kio Joon had been given even more time to focus on his meditations on the Force, including the currents of the present, the ripples of the past, and the form of the future. As with all visions of the yet to come, they alter and shift with the eddies of the Force, and the emotions of those nearby can affect them. One thing, however, was clear. He must travel the galaxy, following the Force to his Destiny. To do otherwise was to risk the destruction of the Jedi Order and the ascendency of the Sith.

So he travels in search of lost teachings of not just the Jedi, but of all Force traditions, looking for a solution to the divide between the Jedi and the Sith, hoping to avoid further bloodshed and darkness.

Notable Possessions:
One Lightsaber, Blue
Jedi Robes
You Don't Need to See His Identification
C2-R2 Protocol Droid
Good Standing with the Jedi Council

[General Havoc]

Name: Ryassek ("the White")
Race: Rodian
Affiliation: Sith

"A man pleads for your aid in solving some difficulty. The Jedi teach that you must give it to him, without question, for the path of the Jedi is selflessness. The Sith teach you must spurn him, without question, for he must make his own strength. Both are fools, as is any man who tells you to follow dictum without question.

The TRUE Sith accepts the gift he is being given, and understands why. The man requesting aid is offering you the strength and experience that will come from solving his dilemma. The false Sith would have you cast that gift aside! Fools! The TRUE Sith accepts the gift, gains the strength, learns the lesson, and rather than increase the power of another, he undertakes to increase his own."

Description:
A small, wiry, Rodian, Ryassek is an Albino. His reptilian skin is pale white, and his eyes naturally a pinkish red. His movements are precise and carefully controlled, his head perpetually inclining this way and that slightly, his eyes darting around a room even when at rest, taking in as much as he can about his surroundings. He normally dresses in layers, typically a light set of dark grey clothing over which he wears vests, belts, parkas, jumpsuits, or combat armor as the situation requires it, often accompanied by a long (for him) open coat.


Background:
Despite rumors to the contrary, not every Sith began life as a Jedi acolyte. Defections and betrayals may generate the most attention, the cycles of vengeance and agonizing pursuit, but many, if not most Sith, come into their Force inheritance by methods different than those of the Jedi only in tone and ferocity. So it was with Ryassek. A child of dirt-poor slum-dwellers on an overdeveloped city world with a marked hostility towards non-human life, Ryassek's force sensitivity, perceptable at a young age only to other Force-wielders, was all that distinguished him from the other pickpockets and urchins that scraped desperately by in the undercity of his world. Had his planet been controlled by the forces of the Jedi order, Ryassek might well have found himself immured within the Jedi temple to emerge one day as a newly-minted apprentice. But shortly after his birth, Ryassek's planet was conquered by the Sith Empire. And so rather than become a Jedi, Ryassek was spirited away at a tender young age to join the ranks of their arch-enemies.

Given everything, the Jedi might have been the lucky ones.

Training for Sith acolytes is no less stringent than that afforded to Jedi Padawans, but considerably more brutal, yet Ryassek took to it like a duck to water. It wasn't that he was the fastest or the strongest or the smartest or even the most filled with rage and hatred, but more that he, almost alone among his fellow kidnappees, discovered in the Sith something he had not ever known before. The Sith teachings, brutal though they might have been, were the first bits of formal schooling he'd ever encountered, indeed the first system of organized thought that he had ever conceived of. When the Sith beat him, and told him that it was to make him strong, he believed them, and found, to his surprise, that it was so. When they tortured and commanded him to weaponize his formerly-impotent rage and contempt, he found that he could. So it was that within months of being kidnapped, Ryassek latched onto the Sith teachings in a way he had never before had an opportunity to latch onto anything, readily hurling himself into his lessons and training like a Rodian possessed, breathing the Sith code with his very air until it was his armor, his weapon, and his very life. By the third year of his training he was at the top of his age-group, a rising star recognized as such by every instructor at his training facility. This recognition did not make his life easier, but by then he did not wish it to. Conflict and challenge was the root of power, and through power he would gain victory, and break his own chains. It was not long before his every thought and action was in inexorable pursuit of that goal.

Such, at least, was likely the intention of his masters, but the end result was almost certainly not, as Ryassek's pursuit of the true essence of the Dark Side of the Force began to lead him into areas that most Sith wanted nothing whatsoever to do with. The more he learned about the philosophical underpinnings of the Sith, the more he began to notice... discrepancies... between the theory and the practice. The Sith Masters stressed the virtues of strength, power, and freedom, all while binding themselves into a monolithic hierarchy that rigidly commanded their allegiance. They spoke of the virtues of conflict, of building strength and via strength, achieving freedom, yet assembled armies of slaves, minions or apprentices to engage in conflicts for them, passing up the opportunity to gain power and handing it to another. Discrepancies led to doubts, and doubts led to questions, questions which his masters had no answer for. If cruelty, which bred anger and hate, was a means to gain strength, why did the Sith dole it out in such liberal quantities for the most perverse reasons rather than reserving it for themselves? If peace was a lie, and passion the only truth, then why were emotions beyond the range of anger, hatred, or fear regarded as anethmatic, when even the smallest child knew that they were just as potent as any? And once on the path to pondering and asking heretical questions, Ryassek found it impossible to stop, regardless of what compulsions were placed upon him, until ultimately he faced the most dangerous question of all. If the Sith way, as the masters understood it, was the only truth, then why was it that the mightiest Sith Lords of all history, Revan, Ulic Quel-Droma, even Exar Kun himself, were not pure, unleavened Sith like himself, but former Jedi, armed with the evident power that their passionless, ascetic existence had somehow paradoxically granted to them.

Suspicions inevitably grew around Ryassek as he became more and more open with his questions, his criticism, and his ever-evolving theories. Some denounced him as a Jedi sympathizer, but the opinions of the weak-minded he cared nothing for, and increasingly he was defining everyone engaged in "the old hypocrisy" as such. Be it borne of simple ignorance, an unclear definition of 'power', or something as mundane as habit, the other Sith would not see the obstacles they were putting in their own way as they sought, at least in theory, for power, relying on the old standbys of armies, slaves, and empires, all things he saw only as fresh chains to lay in the place of the old. Mastery over others was subjective. The essence of power was not.

Unable to find the answers he sought from his masters, Ryassek turned to the secrets of the past, seeking out and finding caches of forgotten lore and theory. The writings of several long-dead Sith Lords, including Darth Treyus, and hidden writings Exar Kun himself known only to a few, were finally what crystallized his realization. The Sith of his day, the very ones who had taken him into the study of the Dark Side of the Force, had failed. They had failed to look beyond their own horizons and preconceptions, failed to master their fears and emotions, as any Sith must, and let themselves instead be mastered by fears of loss or death or being seen as weak by their fellows. Rather that pursue power by any means necessary, they had fallen to dissipation and latched onto the show of power rather than its reality. Ryassek, committed Sith as he had now become, would not, could not permit himself to do likewise. The philosophy of the Sith, the study and use of the Dark Side of the Force, these things were literally all he had in the universe, the bedrock on which he had anchored his very identity, the shining beacon drawing him onwards and upwards towards the pinnacle of perfection. Without the Dark Side of the Force, he was nothing but another scarred, beaten Rodian slave. With it, he was free.

And so, as was probably fated from the beginning, Ryassek left the Sith. He left without announcing his intentions to anyone, having made enough discoveries on his own to recognize what he needed to do. The sheer power of the fallen Jedi like Exar Kun, relative to that of pure Sith like himself, led him to decide that the only way he would unlock the secrets of the "pure" power he sought was through understanding the contradiction of the Light Side of the Force. Weaker than the Dark Side though it might be, there was evident power within it, and power of any sort was worth pursuing. And so like so many of his fellows, he began hunting for Jedi, albeit not for the same reason that most Sith did. Having grown up a Sith, he had never once met a Jedi not fated for instantaneous execution once the "demonstration" of his masters's torture techniques was complete. To understand how it was that these self-same Jedi, who rejected everything the Sith held true in the world, could possibly become the mightiest powers in the galaxy upon embracing the Sith doctrine, he knew he would need to find one in the field, and learn from it, by hook or crook. In the middle of a bitter war, and without hope of passing to a Jedi as anything but what he was, he nonetheless set out to try, dodging Sith assassination squads and bounty hunters along the way, driven fully by his certainty that in following strange, chimerical path, he might at last unlock the truth that had eluded all of the Sith for so long.

For be it through the Jedi, the Sith, or any other means he can find, Ryassek will one day be the one, TRUE, Lord of the Sith. And on that day, at last, he will be complete.


Personality:
Were it not for the fact that Ryassek publicly and proudly claims to be a Sith, and the arsenal of powers he wields, people who met him would have great difficulty determining just what actually he is. Certainly his behavior is not that of most Sith, for he follows what he believes to be a higher, "truer" path. Determined, intellectual, and affecting a refined sensibility, Ryassek is nevertheless a Sith to his very bones. He wields his emotions like razor-sharp weapons, fueling his terrible and devastating powers. The major difference is the goals he sets his powers to, and the philosophy he espouses in wielding them. Unlike most Sith, Ryassek is neither overflowing with cruelty nor consumed with a need to inflict pain and suffering upon other beings. It is not altruism that stays his hand, but his philosophical viewpoint on the subject, for having suffered both cruelty and hardship in his own life, he respects the value of such things as teachers of lessons, ones which he feels the Sith are all-too-eager to dole out to others, weakening themselves at the hands of their victims. Absolutely dedicated to personal power, and with no interest in spreading war and destruction wantonly about, 'like a child throwing a tantrum', Ryassek has nothing but contempt for Sith unwilling to question the orthodoxies that keep them imprisoned. Strength comes from action, experience, and trial, and consequently, rather than cause misery and pain to those around him, he even goes so far as to offer aid to people in need (sometimes even for free!), not because he wishes to help others, but because he wishes to gain for himself the strength that comes in facing whatever challenge they are unwilling to face themselves.

A philosopher and a scholar to the core, Ryassek enjoys debate, discussion, and other intellectual pursuits, be it games of strategy (which he tends to be rather perversely bad at, out-thinking himself more often than not), or more high-minded, even dangerous exercises. Indeed, for a Sith, Ryassek is strangely personable. He clearly believes himself superior to all other force users, but he equally strongly believes that the Jedi and Sith ways, flawed though they are, hold truths that are important for him to learn and meditate on. He is introspective to a degree almost unheard of among Sith, and meditates on his passions and weaknesses with the fervor of a Jedi, albeit towards an entirely antithetical purpose. Unlike a Jedi, he gives himself full reign of his emotions, but unlike most Sith, he tries not to restrict himself to painful or "dark" emotions, seeking to find ways to draw upon his entire being to fuel his neverending quest for personal power and enlightenment. His successes have thus far been mixed, but they do exist, and each one is, to him, proof that he is pursuing the most worthy goal of all.

Ryassek's personal philosophy concerning the Sith is perhaps best expressed in his own words:

The Sith teach that power is everything, that personal advancement is king, that strength is born through conflict. Yet in their lust for domination, they wall off entire schools of thought and deem them heretical or anathema, as though we are not strong enough to face them. If conflict breeds strength, and pacifism weakness, then there can be no excuse for such parochial fears as these. Either we are strong enough to face the truth, or we are unworthy of it. There can be no other option.

Too often, the philosophy of the Sith is subsumed in mere sociopathy and brutish bloodlust. Too often, we set ourselves up as overlords and generals and imagine this grants us power! A muscle that is not used will atrophy, and those who rely on legions of fanatics and slaves will only turn themselves into a fanatical slave of their own delusions.

The so-called Sith are masters only of hypocrisy! If emotion makes us strong, why then are we taught to employ only the narrowest range of sentient thought to guide us? Are we Jedi? Do we willingly cast aside an entire side of our beings because it is inconvenient for us to face it? We hold that cruelty is king, and mercy a fool's folly. Yet the Jedi build EMPIRES from mercy, empires which stand against the worst we are capable of inflicting upon them. If the Jedi way produces none but weaklings, then why is it they endlessly return to burn us from the galaxy? Why is it that those among us who reach the highest, stand the tallest, and burn the brightest, were almost invariably once Jedi themselves?

I am a Sith! I desire power for myself. Not for the Sith Empire, not for my self-declared Masters, for me! Power is not the means to an end. Power is the end. And I will not needlessly blind myself through fear and tradition as I seek for it. The Jedi are weak, but there is great strength hidden in their teachings, as there may be in a thousand places that my so-called peers fear to search. I will gather power and strength within myself without fear of the consequences from the short-sided psychotics who lay claim to my allegiance, and in so-doing, I will become the one, TRUE Lord of the Sith.

The Sith proved themselves superior to the Jedi because they had transcended the fetters of compassion. I will prove myself superior to the Sith in turn, by transcending the fetters of cruelty.

Notable Possessions:
One Lightsaber, Red
Light clothing, Sith Robes
Filmbook and Electrostylus
Small collection of Sith Holocrons
Small toolkit
Pazzak set

Well read and extremely literate, Ryassek lacks practical skills, and has next-to-no capacities with robotics or other technical elements beyond the basic capacity to maintain his own lightsabre and equipment. He is, however an extremely skilled orator and rhetorician, having trained himself diligently to speak Basic, Sith, and other languages without the slur to his words that most Rodians evidence. He has a passion for philosophy, particularly Sith philosophy, and loves debate, discussion, and other such pursuits as they relate to his 'unique' outlook on the universe.


Lightsabre forms: Rodians are fairly small to begin with, and Ryassek is slight even by the standards of a Rodian. Consequently, he naturally gravitated towards the Sith variations on the Makashi form of Lightsabre combat, a style which emphasizes precision and elegance over strength and power, resulting in an organic, flowing style of fighting, well suited to Ryassek's strengths. When employing this form, his fighting seems less like battle and more like a ritualized dance, as his sabre winds and spins around himself and his opponent, one move bleeding seamlessly into the next.

Early on however, Ryassek realized that the inherent limitations of Makashi Style would have to be balanced out through other means, and elected to train himself in the Soresu Form, a more deflection-oriented Lightsabre form. He is not as skilled in this form, relying on it as a secondary protection against blasters and other ranged weapons, and even when employing Soresu, his style is more fluid and open than the minimalist approach that Soresu-Masters can employ, a weakness he recognizes and is trying (so far without much success) to rectify. Still, he is quite capable of holding his own in Soresu form against most opponents.

It is worth noting that while Ryassek only possesses a single lightsabre, he has trained extensively in the two-sabre variant of Makashi-style combat. Should he manage to get his hands on a second weapon, whatever its origin, he fully intends to further his studies therein.

[Marcao]

Name: Einar Lavain "Henrik"
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Affiliation: Jedi

History: Einar Lavain was born to a family bereft of a history of in the force. As a result, he was not identified as someone with a sensitivity in the force until well after this adulthood. He had always felt a pull to the stars and joined the star navy of his home system as a pilot. He rose quickly in the ranks and earned a reputation as perhaps, the most gifted fighter pilot in his generation. It was his skill that attracted the attention of the Jedi. He was found, tested, and enrolled although there were many that perceived him too old to truly excel in grasping the teachings of the order.

Einar struggled with many of his teachings. His master felt that his mind was not malleable enough and clung too rigidly to existing concepts. He could easily sense the force around him and in others and he exhibited great ease with controlling the force within his body and immediately around him. He struggled however with abilities that required him to utilize the force to alter the environment around him. His difficulties in this area were demoralizing to him and to avoid his short comings in this area he focused on the mastery of the traditional weapon of the Jedi.
Einar initially displayed little interest in lightsaber combat but his interest was piqued when he was introduced to his Jedi Masters apprentice Lisarii. Lisarii was an Echani who relished combat and fought with the grace of a dancer and the ferocity that far surpassed her frame. Initially, even with his military background in hand to hand combat he was no match for her. Over time however, his skills began to rise to the challenge. While he never managed to best her in hand to hand combat, his skills with the saber were far closer to her own. While his alter skills struggled to flourish, his ability to control his own body and channel the force inwards quickly flourished.

After seven and a half years of training alongside Lisarii and his master, his ability to best her in hand to hand combat without the assistance of the force was little more than a dream. With the use of the force and in saber combat however, he began to best Lisarii more often than not. As his training continued, he began to hone his strengths while consciously avoiding his weaknesses. He gave up on the dream of developing the sort of skills that Lisarii and his master could attain through the alteration of the force. Instead, he focused on enhancing his own body and fine tuning his control and sense abilities. His skills seemed to heighten while in space. His skills as a pilot already strong peaked even further as he pushed his body to increasing heights. He discovered that while piloting a ship, his battle meditation skills expanded allowing him to see fissures and cracks that could be exploited. He tried for months to duplicate these skills on the ground but the ability did not manifest regardless of his diligent attempts.

After a time, even with his limitations he earned the title of knight and was assigned a set of tasks away from the academy for the first time. His separation from his master and Lisarii was difficult and it perhaps planted the seeds for tragedy. Three years after having been assigned as a Jedi knight he was lured to a meeting by Lisarii. It was a reunion that he had longed anticipated and longed for. The outcome however was not what he had envisioned. Lisarii sought to sway him to explore other pathways to enhance their power. A methodology where his short comings could be breached and they could ascend to greater heights together. She did not accept his refusal and in the end, his words could not dissuade her. Their clash was intense but in the end, Einar was the last one standing. He did not allow Lisarii to die however having been taught that no one was beyond redemption. He utilized the force to keep the spark of life in her body. In doing so he inadvertently forged a bond between them that lingers to this day.

He did not speak of the specifics of what had transpired when he returned her the order. He lied to keep their secret hoping that her words and actions had been sparked from a moment of weakness rather than deep seated passions. Lisarii recovered from her wounds but would not see or speak to him. Within a week she was gone. Her escape was not without incident. A Jedi, three apprentices and half a dozen support staff lost their lives. It was only during her escape and after that he realized the bond that existed between them. The lost lives were a shocking to him and he made the decision to go after her. He left the order the very next day.

Einar has spent the last two and half years leveraging his excellent piloting skills as he seeks out Lisarii. In order to facilitate his search he has assumed the identity of "Henrik" a talented courier capable of delivering sensitive cargo to its destination for a price. His search has become an obsession and he has refused repeated attempts to return "home". At times, he can feel Lisarii through their shared link although these moments have become less common over recent months. He is not sure if that is due to a function of her distance or a reflection of his own state of mind.

Appearance: Einar stands two inches past six feet. He has dark hair and hazel colored eyes. As "Henrik" he favors dark utilitarian clothing and avoids the traditional Jedi robes. He carries a blaster strapped to his right thigh and favors knee length over coat. He is in excellent shape and lacks the bulk of someone who focuses on raw power preferring flexibility and stamina.

Skills: Einar's force powers focus predominantly inwards rather than outwards. He can easily harness the force to empower his body and mind allowing him to move and react far more quickly than many of his peers. In order to contend with the stresses of his body while under force empowerment he has developed relatively skills in force healing. In personal combat he has strong skills in battle precognition but his skills are the most acute while in space. While engaged in space combat his skills are honed to a point where at times, he can perceives fissures and fractures in the maneuvers of allies and enemies. Through the use of the force he can interact with these moments in time to gain superior positions over his enemies and allies alike. His ability to use the force to alter his environment are limited to basic telepathy, minor mind tricks, and telekinesis with relatively small objects. His push and pull skills are currently his sole area of strength in this area.

Favored Light Saber Forms: II, V

Notable Possessions:
Personal Lightsaber (Blue)
Lisarii's Original Lightsaber (Yellow)
Personal Ship: Very Fast Courier (Heavily Modified)
Astromech Droid "V1-P3R"
Blaster Pistol