Star Wars PBP musings

[Josh]

See, I knew Havoc had at least a good ten paragraphs in him.

I'll get my notes on when I get home, then throw up the opening and let you all get in there to start gnawing on each other.

[Cynical Cat]

A couple of comments on the Lightsaber forms. First, didn't mention that Form V was intended to compensate for Form III's lack of offense. No mention of Sokan, Jar'Kai, Trakata, orTrispzest. No mention of Niman being a foundational form, easily integrating force power use into its style (one of the reasons its so popular with non-saber specialists) or tying into Jar'Kai.

[rhoenix]

A couple of comments on the Lightsaber forms. First, didn't mention that Form V was intended to compensate for Form III's lack of offense. No mention of Sokan, Jar'Kai, Trakata, orTrispzest. No mention of Niman being a foundational form, easily integrating force power use into its style (one of the reasons its so popular with non-saber specialists) or tying into Jar'Kai.

Eeesh, fair enough - I'll edit and such when I get home to include the other forms.

[Lys]

See, I knew Havoc had at least a good ten paragraphs in him.

He's cheating, it's a copy and paste job of his character sheet from a SW game five years ago.

[General Havoc]

He's cheating, it's a copy and paste job of his character sheet from a SW game five years ago.

Oh really? Go back and compare the two Lys, and I think you might be surprised...

[Lys]

Bah, I'm not going to let something like facts stand in the way of my assertions!

[Josh]

Much excellent.

I'm going to start the IC thread momentarily. What I'll need from everyone is to establish their presence on-planet and in New Altos. Like where your character is at and what they're up to.

Some information on New Altos:

Population: ~70,000
Tech base: Somewhat below galactic standard, a hodgepodge of ancient technology and modern equipment haphazardly grafted onto it. At least the shields work.
Amenities: Three hotels, in various states of neglect and disrepair, little-used. Some restaurants and bars scattered about.
Starport: Placed at the edge of town, no hangars. At least it's under the shield that at least works.

Travelogue info

Vaganus:

In all the time I’ve traveled, I’ve tried to find virtues in each stopover. In these times when the entire galaxy seems devoted to either bouts of grand destruction or else preparing for the next bout of grand destruction, one has to take time to find virtues to appreciate just to stay sane.

Vaganus stretched this effort of mine to its limits. The best I could say for it is that it has a small parts foundry that was able to fabricate the parts needed for the Celestial Wanderer to repair its balky hyperdrive.

At least for a while. Longtime readers of this article know that’s always a tenuous proposition at best.

Of Vaganus itself, what can I say? Inside city’s deflectors, light beats down in shimmering waves, a product of the elaborate filtration needed to protect against the harsh solar radiation that would otherwise make short work of more delicate species than those that wander the barren landscape. That light will shine for quite some time, twenty-five standard days that bake the soil around the cities. Then it will go dark an equal period, bringing on a frosty chill that coats the landscape around the cities in a rime of ice as the temperature plunges far below what most beings can survive.

Cities. Perhaps my humor is too obscure. Truthfully, there is one such locale vaguely worthy of the term ‘city’ on Vaganus, New Atlos. There is a "fascinating" story of what happened to the original Atlos that any of the residents will be all-too-happy to fill you in on. To save you the boredom: pirates, crash landing, massive explosion, no more Atlos.

These simple-minded people can make pirates boring. Quite the accomplishment, in my experience. Perhaps the radiation shielding isn’t as effective as advertised, or perhaps inbreeding has dulled the wits of the population, but beyond simple-minded larceny there seems to be little spark or vitality among the natives. They remain the same multi-racial hodgepodge that likely were condemned to this world at some point in murky past, for what unspeakable crimes I cannot say.

Certainly it’s impossible to imagine that some aspiring colonists would ever, ever look at this garbage ball of a planet and say to themselves “Yes! This is the world to contain our hopes and aspirations of a new beginning! This will be the place where we bring our families with dreams of prosperity and a glorious new civilization!”

Or perhaps it was simply selected by a visually-impaired species.

Ventures outside the city are necessarily limited and require protective equipment. Assuming that one does not care to spend a goodly amount of time regenerating in kolto after the trip, in any event. However, beyond the actual work conducted by the natives. This primarily is mining and scavenging, because it does seem that somehow this planet managed to accumulate an useemly quantity of debris and junk under mysterious circumstances. The orbital bands around the world are likewise scattered with the remnants of shattered warships, though no recorded battles of the late wars have ever taken place here and frankly it’s impossible to imagine what would ever inspire any rational being to fight over this world in the first place.

If the harsh conditions weren’t enough, the native wildlife would further recommend against pleasant strolls in the wilderness. During my brief excursion I saw (at a safe remove, thankfully) massive eight-legged creatures racing across the landscape, devouring anything too small and too slow to resist. The natives call these Rock Spiders, a forgivably uninspired name that seems to crop on just about every world to be applied to some multi-legged arachnoid creature or another.

According to the natives, these are less of a concern than the Rock Biters, creatures ranging from the length of an arm to over twenty feet long, possessed of chameleon abilities to conceal themselves in the desert and snatch hapless passerby into their crushing jaws.

The predominant airborne predator is, as you might guess, the Rock Bird. I didn’t even ask at that point, I simply returned to New Atlos and the minimal comforts of my hotel. I did however see one during a trip to one of the smaller settlements, the charmingly named Dry Well. It seemed rather more reptilian than avian to me, but I was forced to admit that it was a fairly impressive creature.

I am no scientist, but over the course of my travels I’ve gained some familiarity with the concepts of ecology, and the existence of such land-based megafauna in such a seemingly desolate environment is at least worthy of some examination.

By someone with more tolerance for for abysmal hellholes than myself.

Next time, sublighting to Irilandis may just be worth it.

Dewdrll, A Wookiee Among the Stars

[Marcao]

This is version 1. It will get ironed out over time I just wanted to have something on paper.

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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 telepathy, 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 (Modified)
Astromech Droid "V1-P3R"
Blaster Pistol

[Hotfoot]

Because I'm helpful

[Josh]

Because I'm helpful

Yeah, I actually wrote it up on that first but I couldn't find a way to embed it in BBcode.

It's funny listening to the John Williams theme. It takes me back to the old skating rink, of all places. This was before TESB even came out, and when they wanted to pump the adrenaline in the rink they'd hit the Star Wars theme and we would go fucking NUTS. All the kids would hit the gas and we'd be flying around the track, crouching down to blast away at invisible Stormtroopers. Good times.

[Cynical Cat]

The Sith Holocron is there for several reasons.

1) It's something my character would steal, over multiple dead bodies because it contains Sith secrets.

2) They have guardians who control access to their knowledge, which allows cool verbal duels with Josh over access.

3) They allow the GM to drop whatever hints/secrets he wants through them.

[rhoenix]

Added the unnamed techniques & forms to my post earlier, just FYI.

[Josh]

Btw, you're approved Marcao.

[LadyTevar]

Good gods, am I going to be the ONLY Non-Jedi??!?!?

[Lys]

Of course not! There is one Sith and two non-Sith Dark Siders! ^_^

[Charon]

Good gods, am I going to be the ONLY Non-Jedi??!?!?

If I find time to not beat my head against a wall in frustration I will be submitting a non-Jedi.

[LadyTevar]

Good gods, am I going to be the ONLY Non-Jedi??!?!?

If I find time to not beat my head against a wall in frustration I will be submitting a non-Jedi.

Non-Jedi, or Non-Force-user, as Lys so helpfully pointed out...

[Hotfoot]

Had there been more, you know, non-Sithy-McSithersons, I would have likely made a non-Jedi, but noooooo, everyone had to be like, "No, I don't want to be a Jedi, zey are boring, ja? I want to be something that doesn't sell out."

[LadyTevar]

You have a point there, Hotfoot. I knew that Cyncat would be one, he's always taking the Dark Horse. Lys does it because she likes being a bad girl. Havoc plays the outsider because he enjoys throwing everyone off-kilter (See Hornet, Mini-Former)

You, I remember you had a great Character from the game five years back. You and Garvin were a great team of mercs, Zabrek and Wookiee. Marcao was a Mandorian we'd picked up. That was a good game, that just died off. :(

[Hotfoot]

I was tempted to bring back that character, believe me.

[White Haven]

Jury's still out on Corac!

[LadyTevar]

I was tempted to bring back that character, believe me.

Why not? He was fun, handy with weapons, and Havoc's already bringing his back, so there's presidence LOL!

[Hotfoot]

Because with all the Force philosophy that will be slung around, I'd like to have a character to add an interesting perspective on the Light Side based on, well, being a light sider. One that I feel is overlooked and often ignored, which should make for more interesting conversations with converted Jedi and Sith, and for the same.

[General Havoc]

Havoc plays the outsider because he enjoys throwing everyone off-kilter (See Hornet, Mini-Former)

That is a vile and malicious slander which is entirely partially somewhat untrue! In part. If you squint at it. A lot.

VILE SLANDERS!

[Hotfoot]

He even has a theme song for this sort of thing:

Spoiler: show

Yo Jovian!
He'll fight for freedom wherever there's trouble.
GI Jovian is there.

It's GI Jovian against TITANS, the enemy
Fighting to save the day.
He never gives up.
He's always there,
Fighting for freedom over land and space

GI Jovian- A real Jovian hero
GI Jovian is there

GI Jovian is the codename for Jupiter's daring, highly trained special mission force.
It's purpose, to defend human freedom against the TITANS.
a ruthless, terrorist organization determined to destroy the world.

He never gives up.
He'll stay til the fight's won.
GI Jovian will dare.

GI Jovian- A real Jovian hero
GI Jovian