Post by That's So Wizard on Apr 29, 2020 19:23:11 GMT -5
casmela ticrom.
Full Name • Casmela Nataray Ticrom
Nickname • Cassie (used by friends); The Mediator
Race • Sephi/Echani-hybrid
Birthplace • Uscru District, Coruscant
Age • 129
Gender • Female
Sexuality • Bisexual; claims to be asexual
Faction • Jedi Order
Concept • Jedi Master; Negotiator and mediator for the Jedi Order, unofficial Jedi psychiatrist, musical savant and full-time Temple Mom
Languages • Basic (pri.); Twi'leki (sec.); Durese (ter.); Rodese (understands); can understand more using the Force
Assets •
- Lightsaber; Single-phase, single blade with a pale hurrikaine crystal (▇▇▇), Casmella's saber has a very elegant design to it, meant more to compliment her status as a mediator than for actual combat use. While it certainly is comfortable for her to use, it is meant to be subtle when worn and send a striking message if presented during negotiations.
- A variety of Jedi robes and other clothing; As Casmela is expected to visit with dignitaries in many environments and subscribing to many cultures, she is allowed to keep a larger array of clothing than most Jedi in order to better fit various societal expectations. Most are in some variation of white, silver or light lavender.
- Musical instruments; Casmela retains a wide variety of musical instruments from the mundane to the exotic, often donating them to the Temple for culture studies and performances. The maintenance and playing of these instruments is a vital part of her active meditation rituals.
- Besh-77 Starfighter; Though Casmela generally tends to travel with Republic escorts on assignments or on the personal transports of various Senators, she has been given a Besh-77 for more discreet missions or when no other transport is available. In accordance with her artistic personality, she has painted it in a light violet color, with swirling patterns similar to those found on her lightsaber hilt.
Appearance
Face Claim • Jaime Murray; Defiance
Height & Weight • 5'11"; 119lbs
Overall Looks •
With her mixed Echani and Sephi blood, Casmela definitely has a very striking look; almost stark white skin with pink-purple eyes, matching lips and silvery-white hair. Looking on her one would believe her to be an Arkanian Offshoot or even a Darysi, which is perhaps partially accurate if rumors about Arkanian meddling with the genome of those particular races is to be believed. What it results in however (with perhaps a little bit of good genetic fortune), is a woman who is undeniably beautiful, even at her relatively advanced age.
As mentioned before, she is allowed a slightly greater amount of freedom in terms of clothing and aesthetics, usually to meet certain societal expectations of various cultures. However, Casmela is fundamentally still a Jedi and all of her clothing is designed to either be modest in material and cost or emulate the fashions of a Senator should she need to go undercover. Her Jedi robe is, as with most Jedi, what she wears most often and usually with the hood up and wearing simple gloves, as her skin is rather sensitive to ultraviolet light. Most, if not all of her clothing is in white, silver or a very light violet color.
Most of the time she wears her hair down in simple French braiding, though again to fit various outfits or societal norms she will adjust her look accordingly. When at the Temple or relaxing, she has also been known to let her hair free and allow it to flow naturally, as it often responds to the Force when she is meditating; wearing braids in such a situation would therefore be uncomfortable.
Personality Profile
The first thing people would say about Casmela is that she has a very calming presence, often de-escalating situations just by showing up. As such, she very much dislikes violence and fighting, instead wishing to talk problems and come to some sort of compromise; of course she understands this is not always possible and as most Jedi do she has trained in the use of the lightsaber and offensive Force powers in order to defend herself and others. Indeed, she is often sent to war-torn worlds to discuss peace settlements or ceasefires and therefore has been the subject of many assassination attempts. However, if she can avoid such, she most definitely will.
She is an avid believer that 'Form 0' is the greatest use of a lightsaber and teaches all of her students such, believing that before any instruction with the blade, one has to understand how to use the weapon even when it is not activated. Many a time, she has found herself able to halt hostilities just by showing her weapon, rather than using it.
Perhaps owing to her background as a singer and entertainer, Casmela is a captivating woman with an enchantingly beautiful voice, both for singing and for speaking. A naturally gifted public speaker and negotiator, the Council has relied upon her many times to settle disputes between various factions or broker trade agreements. Many of the Jedi, even members of the Council, come to her for clarity and perspective on certain situations in their personal lives; even if she doesn't have any specific advice to give, she seems to be very good at guiding people towards the answers they seek. Above all, she is caring and responsible, seeing every Jedi who comes through the walls of the Coruscant Jedi Temple as her charges.
Such attachment comes at a price, however. The Council is well aware how deeply she cares for the people she meets, which is why she has never been offered a Council position herself and has never asked for one. Seeing her friends leave for the War and knowing some would never return plagued her like a wound for many years and she still holds a great deal of sadness in her heart as a result.
Her caring nature is why, for many years, she was placed in charge of the childcare facilities in the Temple, where children had been taken for future training but were not old enough to begin yet. Those who grew up in those halls looked to her as a surrogate mother but she left that post just as the War broke out, unable to stomach being so close to children who she felt would most likely suffer the same fate. Even though she loves social occasions and being around others, lately she has taken to singing or playing instruments in her quarters alone to try and meditate through her weighty emotions.
Yet throughout her life she has saved countless lives through her shrewd and cunning wordplay, even writing and presenting treaties that would eventually bring systems into the Republic, or on the other hand ensure their independence against encroaching industrialism. She has a great love for all beings in the Galaxy and enjoys experiencing the different cultures and ideas of the people she meets, exciting that sense of adventure within her. In many ways, even at 129 years old, she is still a young girl at heart.
Background
Father •
Mother •
Siblings •
Full Siblings
- Darla Arro (née Ticrom), 121, entertainer - sister
- Ganna Ticrom, 119, author - sister
Half Siblings
- Deshnar Ticrom, 139, Sephi/Echani-hybrid, Eshan senate assistant - half-brother
- Dorn Ticrom, 82, Sephi/Arkanian-hybrid, Republic Navy Captain - half-brother
- Miriam Ticrom, 41, Sephi/Echani-hybrid, slave (Sith) - half-sister
- Phera Ticrom, 41, Sephi/Echani-hybrid, slave (Sith) - half-sister
Other Important Connections •
Masters
-Aubow'seguh, 87, Female Twi'lek- deceased
-Felin Ala, 81, Male Anx- deceased
- Shovaah Moho, 450, Male Prell, Grand Master of the Jedi Order
Apprentices
- Kaasa Rasi, 61, Female Togruta
- Marda Hollun, 45, Female Human
- Samara Garus, 31, Female Echani - left the Order
-Jorin Garus, 31, Male Echani- deceased
-Margot Uliam, 22, Female Human- deceased
Overall History •
#1 - the diamond in the rough.
"How different would my life have been had I not left that stage...?"
Most who join the Jedi Order have very similar stories. Those born in the Republic were tested and with the consent of the parents, taken to the Temple to be trained. Those outside of the Republic relied on chance encounters with a Jedi to be found. Despite being born in one of the most prestigious parts of the Republic's capital, Casmela experienced the second.
She began her life one of the many children of famed singer and entertainer Thordeve Ticrom. A forceful personality on and off the stage, he pressed the children of all of his 'marriages' to be his backing singers, musicians or dancers to the point of outright punishing and abusing them when their concentration slipped for even a moment. It was only natural that, no matter how Force Sensitive they were, he wasn't going to allow the Jedi to take a source of his revenue. Her mother was a simple serving girl who had been coerced several times into doing 'favours' for Ticrom and eventually forced to marry him as she bore his children. Of all of their children, Casmela was the most apt for performance and was groomed from an early age to be her father's replacement.
A stunningly beautiful voice and visage even so young, Casmela became a child star incredibly quickly, often performing alongside her father, mother and siblings as a family act; eventually gaining Thordeve's ire as he believed she was trying to upstage him. When she sang, it was as if people became enchanted, enamored with her voice and beauty to the point of obsession and the feeling of so many people scrambling to make her a star or get on her good side was overwhelming.
As the performances grew more frequent, so did her father become more controlling and demanding. Passing into her 7th year an incident occurred that would change her life forever. The crowd of people that surrounded her only seemed to be growing larger and she was starting to realize that her influence was something odd and unnatural, not simply some need to please a future celebrity.
During one of her performances at the the Coruscant Opera House, a fight broke out in the audience. Normally this would be resolved by security but as soon as one flared up, many seemed to appear all over the opera house, all of them attempting to clamber towards the stage; some to protect her, some not. Security couldn't keep the peace and the resulting chaotic riot gave her a chance to escape. Her mother, ever the practical soul, managed to steal a speeder and she and the children all headed for the lower levels.
A few weeks of living rough on the streets only seemed to make Casmela's powers more evident. People flocked to give her things, whether that was credits or food or at one point even a place to stay. As much as she was grateful, something about it felt wrong, like she wasn't in control of her influence on people. Once again she began to isolate herself, starving as she refused even to take food from her mother, thinking that her influence was going to affect her too. She didn't know what to do.
One day she passed out and was barely breathing, quite obviously sick. Her sister, in desperation, begged a passing Jedi for help, who was able to take her to a local medical center to allow her to recover. While there Casmela (who the Jedi nicknamed Cassie), told her about the influence she had on people and how it felt like she was controlling them without meaning to. The Jedi understood right away that she was Force-sensitive and petitioned the High Council to allow her to come to the Temple for training to protect her from her father.
The Council reluctantly agreed, much thanks to the curious mind of Grandmaster Moho, taking her in and alerting the authorities to Thordeve's abusive nature. Within weeks his career was finished and the resulting lawsuits allowed the rest of her family some degree of comfort. As much as Casmela was sad to leave her family, she felt it was for their own good. After all, she didn't want her powers to accidentally hurt them.
As a Youngling she was rather unremarkable besides her ability to make friends easily. Her fellow students often were eager to pair with her during group exercises, though she passed a lot of that off as her natural ability to influence people through the Force. It took her a long time to realize that wasn't the case. She could no more affect their mind than a feather could move a wall. They were all powerful with the Force as well and her ability to affect their mind was weakened or outright nullified. For the first time in her life she felt comfortable, knowing that she wasn't hurting the people around her.
#2 - a new beginning.
"I learned to use my voice to save entire worlds, to end wars..."
Surprisingly, it took some time before she found a Jedi willing to train her. A large proportion of Jedi Knights refused seemingly because she did not really excel in any area of study.
The quest to find a Master was, in a way, a test. She had demonstrated a way with words before and an ability to bring people to her side in arguments that was very rare in any being, much less a potential Jedi. Yet that talent was still raw and unrefined, driven by pure instinct rather than careful guidance and training. Retraining such a mind that had been conditioned to do things a certain way was the very reason Jedi tended to try and encourage students to be more self-confident and not fall into habits. Yet the willingness to learn was by all accounts there; she only had to find someone willing to give her a chance.
She found someone in the most unlikely place possible. Doing errands around the Temple one day she delivered something to the daycare center, the elderly matron and overseer of the center being a very experienced Jedi Master herself, if an unconventional one. Aubow'seguh, once a radical and wild Twi'lek Jedi Knight that skirted dangerously close to the Dark Side, now a tired and humbled Jedi Master in charge of quite literally raising the next generation of Jedi. She had been on so many adventures and investigations and missions of all types and Casmela became fascinated by her stories.
Eventually, Aubow'seguh agreed to train her, if reluctantly. After all, she was rather old now and in no real condition to be teaching anyone to wield a lightsaber, yet her command of the Force was legendary, especially when it came to Force Empathy. Her tutelage combined with Casmela's seemingly natural talent created the perfect team. She learned to understand the most base emotions from the minds of the children in the daycare and eventually progressed into the more nuanced minds of teens, then adults, then the elderly.
Fundamentally her training was so different to that of every Jedi, simply because all of the things that Aubow'seguh wanted to teach were philosophical in nature. Casmela was taught to explore the mysteries of the Force, to expand and most importantly harness and focus her natural abilities. For most, the first real test of a Padawan is to construct your lightsaber but it took Casmela over five years of training with Aubow'seguh for them to finally make the trip to Ilum. Her instruction in lightsaber combat was generally left to other Jedi, as her Master physically could not train with her.
For over a decade the two trained, taking care of the daycare together and raising these young, Force Sensitive children. Very rarely did they ever leave the Temple, so swamped were they with their responsibilities there, yet when they did it was usually to settle minor court disputes or on some cases to retrieve more Force Sensitive children on Coruscant. Casmela's life revolved around those children and seeing them grow up and be accepted by Masters was her greatest joy. She knew she would outlive most of them simply due to her Sephi heritage yet seeing them succeed was, to her, the very definition of the Jedi Order. Compassion.
Then, as all beings eventually do, Aubow'seguh joined the Force. A simple death; old age and infirmity. She had been suffering aches and pains and lingering illnesses for years and had told no one, instead preferring to focus on her work and on training Casmela to replace her.
However, there was still the issue of her trials; after all they could not leave the daycare in the custody of a Padawan, even if she was by this point reaching around 30 years of age. Sensing the great potential that flowed within her, Grand Master Shovaah agreed to supervise her training until she was ready to take the trials. In only a short few months she learned so much from the wizened old Master. The art of using the Force to shield oneself and others, the subtle ability to influence the outcome of a situation without turning on your saber and most important to harness that deep love of people she had and turn it into a skill. It was then that her ability to influence people with words really came to fruition.
Yet also around this time, under the tutelage of one Jedi Master Felin Ala, she developed a style of combat relying heavily on the principles of Form III: Soresu and her Force Empathy to predict a targets attacks and either turn it against them or defend herself from them. While she was still by no means a lightsaber master, nor did she really have a great love of utilizing it in the first place, in a pinch it became a very valuable asset to have.
One day, a protest appeared outside of the Jedi Temple, a crowd of people who demanded that the Jedi stop 'stealing' children. Seemingly motivated by a disgruntled mother who had felt pressured into giving up her son for training, she had gathered enough friends and supporters to stage a protest to try and get her son back. The Temple of course returned her son to her but by the time they did, the crowd had gotten so restless that they demanded compensation for the emotional damage caused. When the Temple refused to give such, the anger in the protest began to bubble and overflow, ready to turn into a riot.
Perhaps realizing the opportunity, Grand Master Shovaah instructed Casmela to calm the crowd, pulling all of the other Jedi back other than the Temple Guards for her protection. Standing atop the stairs, she began to speak, her lilting voice carrying across the crowd. They slowly quieted themselves and listened, even the Temple Guards turning themselves to hear her speak. She fielded questions and answered their concerns one by one, eventually earning the trust of the crowd enough to speak one-on-one with the disgruntled mother herself.
Having been the one to preside over the child in question, she decided to take her into the Temple and show her the daycare where her son was being raised and after much deliberation and discussion, she not only agreed to disband the crowd but also once again gave her son up to the Order, believing this to be a much better place than a simple waitress could provide.
To the Jedi Council, that act was more than enough to count as one of her Trials; she was well on her way to becoming a Jedi Knight.
Her other Trials also passed without major incident, though they were much more exotic in nature than she was used to. While she had rarely, if ever, left Coruscant before now, she was being sent to distant worlds to settle and mediate disputes, speaking to dignitaries of many different foreign cultures. As much as she enjoyed the adventure, she knew where her talents lay; always trying to bring a safe, peaceful end to any conflicts.
Before long, the Council were ready to declare her a fully fledged member of the Jedi Order at the age of 32 and for a time she returned to the daycare center to take care of the children. Over the years she saw so many of those children grow up to be extraordinary Jedi but she never took an apprentice herself, quite content with doing her part just as Aubow'seguh had done before her.
Increasingly she was being sent on missions that took her away from the daycare however, the Order starting to rely on her talents more and more as the Galaxy so very slowly started to become uneasy. Of particular note, she ended a coup attempt by a rival family on Naboo trying to seize the title of Queen by offering a fair compromise of power, she successfully defended the jungles of Devaron from an incursion from Czerka Corp. attempting to utilize the uninhabited space to create factories and advised several senators when settling a dispute on Onderon when one of their rulers attempted once again to cede from the Republic.
She was gaining quite a reputation and track record for being an excellent negotiator and while at the Temple, many had come to rely on her encouraging words and support. Yet, it took her a full four and a half decades to finally accept a Padawan for training.
#3 - the weight of the world.
"So many I have saved, yet the few I have not weigh on me still..."
Kaasa Rasi. The woman who was almost Casmela's doom. Something Cassie had always struggled with was attachment, which was only natural having been brought into the Order so late; yet it was doubly so due to her Force Empathy. Feeling and knowing most of the things someone was experiencing from a very young age tended to make her become very invested in seeing them succeed. She understood their flaws and strengths, their concerns and confidences. She had quite literally seen a lot of them grow from their most basic state to a fully grown adult. Hell, a few of the people she'd raised in the daycare now sat on the Jedi Council.
Much of the Temple considered her a friend, so when one lost themselves to the Dark Side or passed away, she felt it like a punch to the stomach. The juxtaposition of her being able to end wars, famines and crises with treaties or words and yet being unable to save the people she cared about most. It was a struggle she felt like she had to face every single day; often feeling a personal responsibility for the Jedi in the Temple, even if she wasn't technically in a position of official responsibility.
A Youngling came to her one day, a female Togruta, around 10 years old. She was ready to become a Padawan but a Master had no selected her yet. Casmela felt something from her almost immediately, something very strong, an impossibly deep connection to the Force. Yet, she could also sense a need for wild adventure, a need to be a hero. An idealized image of a Jedi in her mind. She reminded Cassie so much of her old Master and the stories she told.
As you can probably guess, Casmela took her as an apprentice, even though their skills were rather mis-matched. Kaasa was bold and eager and very skilled with her saber; Casmela was, of course, not that. Yet her tempering influence was good for Kaasa, reining her in, focusing her strength, teaching her precision and timing. Yet the influence went both ways and for the first time in her life, Casmela was starting to get a little adventurous.
Kaasa grew older and stronger, becoming a fine Jedi and as she entered her early 20s, the two become much closer. Casmela saw so much of the person she dreamed she'd be when she was a girl in her apprentice; so headstrong and confident. She grew increasingly protective of her apprentice and Kaasa came to admire her in turn. Before they knew it, it had become more than companionship. Such a surge of passion was brief but sent ripples through them both, shaking the very cores. How could the Jedi Order outlaw something that they felt so strongly was right?
Two years passed, both of them trying to keep their feelings a secret, the guilt rending at Casmela's soul with every day that passed. When Kaasa eventually passed the Trials, Casmela took the initiative to end their relationship, more many, many reasons. It almost killed her to walk away from the one she loved and yet she knew it wasn't fair to either of them. They had made a commitment, living a lie like that was just going to cause them too much pain. Yet, with a Padawan successfully raised to the rank of Jedi Knight, Casmela reluctantly took the title of Jedi Master.
She and Kaasa still kept in contact, though for obvious reasons tried to keep their interactions brief and platonic; it took Casmela many years before she was able to trust herself to be fully alone with her again. Nowadays the two are like old friends rather than old lovers. The feelings are nearly forgotten but the wound they left behind is not.
From then on, she felt her confidence in her own ability to teach was shaken. Only a few years after her promotion to Jedi Master she was asked to be a member of the Jedi High Council owing to her many, many years with the Order; but she refused. How could she teach others when she herself had failed? Trusting herself enough to take another Padawan was difficult and took more than a decade of work.
A quiet, gentle young girl who she had raised in the daycare. Not spectacular by any sense of the word with a lightsaber or with the Force but with the desire to just be helpful. In taking her as a Padawan, Casmela was always cautious to keep herself from falling into the same trap as last time. In fact, choosing a girl she had raised from childhood helped immensely; she had no romantic feelings for a girl who considered her a surrogate mother. And yet the almost mother/daughter relationship they had was still dangerous and troubling. Casmela saw it as the ultimate test for them both and was determined to leave the Order should it not work out.
Luckily for them both, it did.
Not without difficulty, of course. There were moments where Casmela's protective instinct got them into trouble or caused them both to make mistakes but for the most part it restored her confidence in her own ability to teach. The two became a great team for a long time, even after her new apprentice passed the Trials. A mission to Hurrikane to settle a major political dispute earned them both matching Hurrikaine crystals for their lightsabers as thanks. The same crystals they both use to this day.
Yet the Galaxy was becoming more and more chaotic all the time. When Casmela took on her next apprentice, they manifested in the form of twins; a male and female Echani. Strong in Force Empathy, especially for each other, the pair were excellent duelists and very proficient warriors and diplomats. Perhaps not the defining Jedi of their age but significant enough to be recognized. She was incredibly proud of their progress, able to keep each other in check by using Force Empathy to balance their emotions. And yet, a weakness they all failed to realize was that such a reliance on that method would spread panic when it was severed.
War came to the Galaxy. And the twins were among the first group of Jedi to set out to take part, even before they had fully completed their Trials. Only a year later, only one of them would remain. The male twin died in a speeder crash leading a team of Republic Soldiers. His sister, overcome with grief, fought on in his name and eventually fell to the Dark Side. Yet, she did not join the Sith Order, still fighting alongside the Republic military. She renounced her vows to the Order when the ceasefire came into effect, refusing to give up the fight. No one has heard from her since.
As the war went on and the Jedi had not fully committed to the fighting, Casmela tried to take another apprentice, believing that she might be able to save one of the more vulnerable students from falling victim to peer pressure. Yet, when the call came for the Jedi Order to join the war in earnest, Casmela once again lost an apprentice. The two were attempting to negotiate a prisoner exchange, only to be lured into a trap and ambushed by the Sith. Casmela barely survived that one and her apprentice, sadly, did not.
Since then, she has renounced her position as head of the daycare center in the Jedi Temple and instead dedicates a lot of her time to music and art; often teaching others how to do the same as a meditative technique. She continues to be an instrumental negotiator for the Order but a lot of weight hangs on her soul these days. The brightness in her smile has dimmed a little and the calming effect she once had has lessened.
Perhaps, someday, that weight will be lifted but until then, she will continue to be haunted by the few she has lost rather than the many she has saved.
