Post by Fong o'Jelly on May 10, 2015 15:41:43 GMT -5
Echo "Nudge" Tikar
Name: Echo "Nudge" Tikar
Race: Kiffar [Paternal clan: Tikar - Maternal clan: Rawk]
Gender: Female
Age: 14
Birthplace: Kiffu
Allegiance: Jedi Order
Status: Apprentice of Master Alena Stappar
Rank: Padawan
Height: 1.65 meters | 5'5"
Weight: 52 kilograms | 115lb
Appearance:The picture above is what Echo envisions to look like in the future. Confident, strong, collected and ready to face whatever is given her. And not afraid to wear clothes that reveal her skin, mostly that. Right now however, she is still fourteen and very much a teenager that still has issues to work out for herself.
Echo is of average, if not slightly smaller height than most humanoid beings at her age and has nothing very special that would make her stand out in the midst of a crowd. Or at least, she wouldn't have had anything that could make her noticeable if it wasn't for her facial tattoos that reveal from which clan she hails from. Said tattoos are of a blood red color, standing starkly against her bronze skin, drawn as a thick line over her face. She has another tattoo on her right shoulder, of the same color, representing however a far more complex design that represents her clan's name in a stylized manner, surrounded by sharp geometrical symbols as well as two ceremonial daggers that curve upwards with the name.
Her hair is black and thick, reaching her shoulders, usually pulled back in a ponytail, and rarely in a set of braids pulled back for ceremonials. The teen's eyes have been described as two large pools of caf by her friends, mostly because she is addicted to the drink since she was nine and that their personal joke was that all the caf had gone to her eyes instead of her stomach. The rest of her face could be described as pretty - she would never reach the traditional and soft beauty of her master once an adult, but she would certainly gain something exotic and proud while growing up.
The padawan is quite fond of well covering clothes and gloves. Having a preference for purple and brown shades, she is usually seen with brown pants, long sleeved shirts and a deep purple sash around her waist, along with her utility belt. In respect of her master, she wears lavender beads in her padawan braid.
As of now, Echo has two ways of holding herself - on her better days, she walks with confidence even while avoiding people and holds herself straight with shoulders set and chin high. But at her worst, which is more often than not, she tries to keep herself from standing out, preferring to stay close to walls and making sure that there is always an exit so she can flee.
Personality:Ships/Vehicles:“All you need is a little 'nudge', really. A little nudge that will put ten meters distance between you and me. So you can actually stop touching me and I stop seeing how dreadful your eating habits are.”
Echo is...a teenager. And teenagers have their bouts of angst, excitement and hormonal mood swings. And sadly for her, she has all of those rather strongly, thanks to her psychometry. And while by nature she is a rather level headed individual with firmly placed beliefs and ethical rules, her latent abilities make her unstable.
If we only take a look at who she is, she has many good traits. As mentioned above, she has a firm head on her shoulders, and is not easily swayed by her peers into doing stupid things. She has a generous heart, an optimistic outview on life and would be the first one to look for silver linings, even in most dire situations. Loyal and quick learner, she also has a healthy dose of somewhat morbid humor, probably unnecessary sarcasm and defiance in her. In the end, Echo is a relatively well balanced individual, who despite her stubbornness is always ready to broaden her horizons and to take in new lessons in life.
That is, if her species' abilities didn't ruin it by their intensity. Even gloves seem to be useless for her and thus she is continuously assaulted by 'visions' of whatever object she has touched. And this since her birth. This leads her to see and feel things that are not part of her and this in a continuous fashion, bringing her to heavy mood swings, bouts of depression, angst and anger that could lead to heavy violence and lack of control with the Force that are translated into heavy, uncontrolled force push moves.
Adding to that, she has barely started her puberty and her hormones are in full blaze of making her life even more difficult as it is. Because of this, she could be considered as a danger to others, if not simply unfit to become a Jedi. But, despite such thoughts, she is a firm believer in the Light, and holds on as tightly as possible to this because she believes it is the right path for her. Surprisingly, she has no fear of ever turning dark, despite everything.
Her greatest outlets against those moments of disorientation include cooking, lightsaber training and excessive physical training until she drops. Sleep usually seem to 'reset' her but because of frequent nightmares, she has a lot of trouble sleeping. Meditation and heavy reading materials seem to also give her some modicum of peace after some of the more painful bouts of psychometry.None.
Equipment:Stats:Lightsaber and Shoto:Her main lightsaber, the first one she built while in her first month as a Padawan. The color crystal brings forth a spring green blade, that stands starkly out to her usual angsty and brooding attitude as of late. The hilt is however uncommon, compared to the crystal color. Made with a honey colored wooden casing and silver buttons, Echo has spent quite some time in carving the wood with various designs and symbols that mostly imitate plants.
Her shoto however has a strange crystal color, imitating that of her master: a light lavender color. The built however is still very different from that of her master and made out of wood as well. This shoto is a dual-phase built and while Echo hasn't had any use for it as of yet, the Force has guided her as to build it that way. The crystal used for this weapon is a rare adegan crystal that she received from her Master.
Both weapons are of great value for her, but mostly because of the tedious and near excruciating amount of time she needed to meditate upon while trying to construct them. But the Force she had felt while doing so had been so peaceful that her mind had found near perfect peace - an echo of sorts remains of this, influencing her while she trains and fights.
Datapad:
Her personal datapad on which she saves all of her personal observations, her journal as well as informations she and her master could possibly need in any kind of mission. It is also full of holo novels that she reads in her free time.
Bantha plush toy:
While she doesn't carry it around with her everywhere she goes, she does own an old plush toy. Said toy is called Chawaki and would probably benefit from a good fix and wash. However, as it is the only object in her whole life that hasn't been touched by another being than herself, she isn't keen on allowing a professional to take care of it.
Strength - Average
Agility - Average
Intelligence - Above Average
Charisma - Below Average
Force Stats:
Telekinetic- Novice
Telepathic- Novice
Body- Novice
Sense- Apprentice
Protection- Unskilled
Healing– Unskilled
Destruction– Unskilled
Combat Training:
Hand to hand combat - Novice
Blasters - Novice
Force TrainingBattlemind - NoviceOther Training:
She knows near nothing about this. However, it is part of her training with Jedi Master A. Stappar. While she cannot truly make use of it as of yet, she seems to have a budding gift for it.
Psychometry - Apprentice
A latent ability from her species, however out of norm with her. And while it could and should be considered as a blessing, it is however a curse for the young kiffar. Uncontrollable so far in strength when she actively uses it and against objects filled with strong emotions, the girl is near continuously assaulted by visions that her psychometry give her. This often result in heavy mood swings, aggressive reactions and even fainting in worst cases, followed by nightmares. However, unconsciousness and sleep seem to be the only ways for the girl to regain some form of control over herself - or wait for several hours, whichever is better.
However, aside from the lack of control she has, the visions she receives are very precise, clear and detailed and do not seem to need much more but a brief touch to reveal what an object could possibly carry as 'memory'. She does not seem to have any troubles to get readings from objects used by multiple persons, as Echo has proven that she is more than capable of distinguishing each user from each other.
Piloting - Apprentice
Mechanics - Apprentice
Astrophysics - Apprentice
Languages - Novice [Basic - fluent ; Shyriiwook - fluent]
Cooking - Adept
Lightsaber Training:
Shii-Cho- Apprentice
Makashi- Untrained
Soresu- Untrained
Ataru- Untrained
Shien/Djem So- Untrained
>>Sub-form Backhanded-
Niman- Novice
>>Sub-form Jar-kai- Novice
Juyo- Untrained
Double Bladed Combat- Untrained
Biography:Discovery [0-3]Echo Tikar was born from a large family, full of siblings, cousins, uncles, aunts and grandparents. When she was born, she became her mother's favorite, with whom she shares a great resemblance she has been told. One of her family members, who served in the Healing Corps of the Jedi Order recognized the signs of a force sensitive in her almost right away, something that elated and saddened the clan. For it meant that the Force had blessed their line again, but also that their child would no doubt leave them almost as soon as the man would leave for Coruscant.
At first, they decided to wait until she was three years old. However, this plan was nearly immediately shattered after a week. Echo could not stop crying and seemed to suffer heavily of nightmares and nearly died a few times from shock. Her uncle quickly discovered the pattern, especially after she accidentally touched his lightsaber and started to scream in pure terror. Her psychometry was not treating her kindly and he doubted that traditional methods would help her, as covering her in cloth did not help.
The final decision of her going to the temple as soon as possible was when she woke up from a nightmare and nearly drove herself into a psychic shock. Qylo Rawk beseeched her parents to let him take her to the temple, something her mother refused adamantly.
In the end, it was Echo's own father that stole the child in the night and placed her in the arms of her uncle, begging him to take care of his baby girl. The healer gave him his word and returned as soon as possible to the temple.
Echo's life in the temple was somewhat better. Her unconscious force pushes were less violent and restrained by the creche masters and healers that seemed to surround her nearly all day and night. Her items were also very carefully prepared, attempting to avoid giving them any sort of impression of emotions or memories - this was nearly completely successful, however the fact she could not have a private room and would have to share items with other children did put a dent in this plan. However, she was allowed a single item of herself, that no other child would ever touch, but herself. This gave her a great amount of relief at night and before the age of three, Echo seemed to have managed to at least settle down in the evening for a whole sleeping cycle.
Early childhood [4-8]
Echo did not, however, settle well. Not until she found her best friend at the age of five. Children are observant and had quickly noticed that the Kiffar was strange and that it could be dangerous around her. She could cry suddenly for no reason, or laugh or even try to hit everyone around her. She would always apologize, but it frightened the younger ones and in the end she was simply shunned by her peers.
This did not deter her however. She remained attentive in class and took on quickly to any kind of physical activity. She had a lot of endurance and loved the early lightsaber classes the most. She was also an avid reader, soaking in any kind of history books she could get her hands on. It didn't take long before she started reading things beyond her age, or solving force puzzles that were part of the older initiates games. However, her seemingly speedy development and intelligence were only spurred until she met Gungi, a young wookie that joined the creche at the age of five.
Echo and him got immediately along. Her sudden mood swings did not scare or bother him and as he only wore his pelt and never clothes, the Kiffar never read any sort of imprints off those. Gungi was outgoing, excitable and it left a good impression on her. As quick as she became the wookie's friend, her isolation and 'genius' vanished. She turned into a relatively normal child, or as normal as her psychometry allowed her to be. Her most violent outbursts were held back by her friend whenever she got physical (Gungi would always be stronger and taller than her, giving him an unfair advantage) and the creche masters seemed to have learned how to read her and stop any kind of force pushes she could accidentally perform.
At the age of six, Qylo Rawk came to her with the proposition to give her the traditional Tikar tattoos. The brunette did not hesitate to accept - while she knew she would never be allowed to become close to Qylo and would never see her family again, she did wish to get closer to them. The process was lengthy and even painful, as she refused to be sedated for this.
When it was finished, Echo found herself proud of the Tikar mark on her face and while Gungi didn't stop teasing her about the silly grin she sported, the girl could not help but feel that having gotten through this process without any breakdown was a major victory.
This victory was short lived however, as children seemed to become rowdier and even more tactile than before in her age group. Anger, tears from scrapes and sudden disagreements surrounded her continuously and filled all the objects and even the walls and floor of the creche. It disoriented Echo and more than once she had to be quarantined from her peers, even Gungi, as to find some peace of her own back. Eventually, the creche masters had her follow more meditation lessons, in hope it would give her some rest and help her deal with each crisis with more calm and control. The best result she got out of it was that she was far less fidgety than her peers when she needed to enter a meditative state - to the point that she could enter one when and wherever she wished. Not that it did her much good aside from pushing the time for the inevitable explosive results from her psychometry.
As for her psychometry, while her control remained non-existent, the visions she received became more precise and she could slowly force herself to see more if she pushed for it. Echo also discovered eventually that she could distinguish each and every user of the object, even those who had scarcely touched it. This didn't help however with her emotional state and made everything even more difficult for her to handle.
The Choosing [9-13]
Echo and Gungi grew relatively shunned away from their peers. The other children didn't feel at ease around her and it wasn't unusual for bullies to throw things at Echo. While her and her friend's dodging skills did get honed by those attempts, it didn't make their lives any easier. However, both formed a strong bond and their spirits learned to face hard times without breaking. And while these were only the challenges of young children, it did put a good base for future, possible crisis. The two kids immersed themselves into books and discovered that both had a passion for fast ships - heaps of books and data pads were read by them and more than once the librarians of the archives had to forcefully remove them at curfew. They also took on extra classes - mostly to keep themselves busy and out of the creche with most of the other younglings. Everything worked for them, from cooking to shooting with blasters to learning the most boring moments in diplomatic history and driest astrophysics theories. They even received a few piloting lessons but without ever truly using a ship - they were too young and the padawan in charge wasn't all that fond of the idea of ten years old using some of the Temple's ships.
Gungi got chosen at the age of eleven as a padawan learner by a Mon Calamari Jedi Knight. While the choice could seem strange because of the great differences between their species, Echo had to admit they were well matched. The Mon Calamari knew exactly how to handle the exuberant wookie and the boy had no troubles to take in the amphibian habits (that could include spending far too much time on water planets without giving him a chance to get dry) of his master in stride.
However, despite the joy she felt for her friend, she was now alone most of the time. Gungi and his master had rarely time for themselves, and the only times she could see her friend again was when he was present for classes. She missed him dearly and the loneliness did weigh heavy on her soul.
It was no surprise that no master or knight would want her as padawan learner and Echo doubted that even the Agricorps would want her presence. Her psychometry was still out of control and she had no idea of what to do with it. Her emotions were wild and she had become brash and even more recluse than she was already. She didn't dare to touch anyone any longer, not even the creche master who had looked after her since her infancy and tended to cling to her bantha plushie more than a budding teenager should. She was nearing her thirteenth year and expected to be told any day that she was to be shipped off to wherever the council saw fit.
It was a shock when Alena Stappar, Jedi Master that was recently put on the council, came forth and asked her to become her padawan. The woman was breathtakingly beautiful and Echo felt inadequate and scruffy next to her. Not to mention that she had doubts, mountains of them and feared that the only reason she was taken in was out of pity.
However, she knew there wasn't much else of a chance in life for her as things went - and despite her fears and knowledge that she had heavy expectations put on her back by accepting the padawan title of master Stappar, Echo stepped into that role without an ounce of regret.
Crystals and growth [14-now]
Building her first lightsaber had been an exhilarating exercise. The caves of Ilum had been breathtakingly beautiful that even the cold hadn't deterred her in her enthusiasm. And for once, the place did not retain any memories she had no desire to see or feel. Her mind and spirit had been clear of burdens for the first time in her life and the only resulting emotion she had felt was gratitude towards the master she had still troubles to fully accept.
Master Stappar was a kind woman, but demanding as a teacher should be. Echo found herself struggling to keep up with the expectations she felt that hung above her head and kept the feeling of inadequacy before the beautiful half-blood morellian. But, the woman showed a lot of patience and when she had brought her student to Ilum with other padawans, Echo discovered with certainty that her place was next to her.
The first lightsaber came out to be a surprise. While the trek to find her first, bright yellow adegan crystal hadn't been all too unusual or too difficult, the hilt however became quite a curiosity. Wood after all, wasn't all too common material used for lightsabers, but after meditating for long hours on the subject, Echo couldn't feel herself using cold metal beneath her fingers. Nature always brought her some relief and feeling the warmth of the wood in her hand made everything easier.
The month that followed the trip to Ilum, Echo's psychometry seemed to have reduced in it's intensity. The brunette basked in the relative peace she found. However, it also allowed her to discover some more about herself. While she learned a lot by touching things, she seemed to have picked up some habits of others inadvertently. One of them brought her to have to build a second saber.
However, as she progressed in her training, Alena Stappar noticed that the girl kept on moving herself as if she was feeling a void in her other hand. More than once the kiffar moved as if she was going to brandish another lightsaber - it was pure instinct. After discussing it with her padawan and the teachers that took care of the lightsaber classes, it was decided that Echo had to return to Ilum once more for another crystal.
But, things were to go differently. Another jedi master invited the duo to go to Lothal with him and his own student, a shy zeltron named Haley. They would enter the temple as two individual teams - the temple would test their teamwork and if indeed the students were truly ready. Haley was a newly taken padawan, and Echo hoped she was already trustworthy enough to be taken to 'the temple of no return' of both the master and the student.
They went first into the temple of Lothal. Lothal would demand the Master and the Student to use the Force so they can open the door. This was the easy part of the test, for the rest laid upon the student's shoulders and the trust the master had in them.
Echo wasn't informed of this. She simply trusted Alena Stappar to guide her true and only wished to feel the peace she had had on Ilum. But Lothal didn't give her this and instead forced her through a nightmare that involved her powers unleashing and harming those she had befriended. It hurt and truthfully, more than once, Echo though she fell and wouldn't stand back up. In the end, it was because she didn't want to disappoint Master Stappar that she managed to get through this and both master and student reopened the doors of the temple to leave it.
The shy zeltron never returned from her own test. Neither her or her master exited the temple, even after three days of waiting. Both Stappar and Echo mourned them before returning home. On her way, they both observed the crystal she had gotten, Alena through the Force, Echo with her eyes. The lavendar color made the teen grin happily - it was similar in shade as that of her master's saber and it cemented her place at the woman's side. No more doubts about the righteousness of their partnership plagued Echo.
The building of the shoto, that would become her second lightsaber and allow her to start training in Jar'Kai, went just as easily as with her first one. The wooden hilt was still out of the norm, however this time it didn't come over as a surprise.
With her second blade in her possession, Echo found herself to finally find her true place among the Jedi. And while she had still years to go, if not a lifetime before she could become just as good as her Master, the kiffar had no more doubts any longer if she could face her life or not.
Roleplay Sample: .Echo's breath took the form of a white cloud in front of her face. Ilum was freezing cold and nothing, not even the thick clothes she wore, seemed to warm her up. But the lack of warmth was a soothing balm for her usually agitated spirit. The stones held no memories, except for vague impressions of successful and unsuccessful padawans and knights who had come to collect their crystals.
She had touched the stone walls of the cave with reverence right after entering it through the main gate. Her time was limited, as the ice was forming back already, threatening to lock her up in the caves, but she could not help herself to stop from touching these walls that she was visiting this sacred place.
Master Stappar had shown no reluctance to allow her padawan to go to Ilum barely a month after accepting her as her padawan. While others had taken it with surprise and even disapproval, for it was 'too early', the woman had understood that Echo had to go.
The walls and the Force urged her to move on. While her first instinct was to press her forehead to the cool walls and enjoy the peace and quiet she would receive from them, Echo had to face true trials before getting her crystal.
Taking a steadying breath, the kiffar stepped forth, deeper into the crystal caves of Ilum.
The deeper she entered the caves, the less light there was. She passed many crystals, but none of them felt right. Cold and lifeless before her, while the Force kept on nudging her to go even further into the shadowy depths of this place.
Until, in some long forgotten corner, she felt a thrum of warmth, beckoning her. She quickly ran towards it, knowing that she didn't have much time to linger or hesitate. Echo's fingers grasped around a green crystal, smaller than her original one. It was beautiful and reminded her of her the grass and new leafs in the Temple gardens.
And that was when it hit her. Suddenly, she saw many things, too many, old memories and imprints she had felt in the past, all of them bombarding her until she fell on the floor. Many emotions flooded through her, mostly anger and despair. She couldn't stop seeing these things - Echo had never found any kind of control over her psychometry visions. But unlike other times, she could not release the offending object to give herself a chance to calm down and meditate, even for a sparse few minutes.
A scream tore itself out of her throat. She was angry, furious and rage was pounding through her blood. She wanted to hurt, to kill, to break something or someone. She was sick of this, always in pain and fighting with herself. She never had a single day in her life where she didn't have strangers intrude upon her mind, dictating her emotions. Until she had moved to Stappar's apartments in the blissfully empty feeling padawan room and the peaceful common room and kitchen of the woman, Echo had always been seen as a nuisance. Dangerous, unfit. And it had been until the last moment that the beautiful Jedi Master had taken her in.
'A pity case.' her mind supplied. 'You're not even wanted. A pet project, to see if she can fix you and reap the rewards.'
She recognized that voice. One of the initiates that hadn't been chosen with Echo had accused her of having stolen her spot. And then thrown so many things she had owned at her, forcing the girl to know and feel and remember what the lost togruta had felt. It was a voice that often came back, speaking in spite. And often overruled her common sense.
'See, you're too weak to resist delusions. Unfit to become a Jedi indeed. You should have refused and gone to the archeology corps after all!'
"NO!"
The outburst shook her out of the heavy thoughts and memories. Breathing harshly, Echo finally managed to release her iron tight grasp on the crystal, staring at it. It was softly humming again, cooling the anguish and anger, turning it to a peaceful emotion. The Force seemed to be pleased and pressed her to go back to the exit before it was too late.
The kiffar smiled softly then, realizing that she had passed the crystal's test. She would become a jedi and would never give truly in her anger. She would have a lot of problems, would probably never be able to reach the same sense of peace as her Master, but...but she would still remain in the Light and serve the Order with pride and joy.
A grin came forth and she slipped the green crystal in her pocket before dashing off, feeling that she only had a short time to return. She couldn't wait before she could tell Master Stappar about her self discovery.
