Post by Gan Xingba on Apr 16, 2011 2:48:49 GMT -5
Name: Beren Holst
Race: Human (Alderaanian)
Age: 23
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 170 lbs
Appearance: Of relatively average height and bulk, Beren is not particularly intimidating or impressive in stature. That is not to say he is tiny. A healthy diet and a master that miraculously managed to drag him off to lightsaber training semi-regularly have kept him trim, but he is still somewhat lean and lacks a truly athletic form.
His face is young looking and relatively unblemished, though it is occasionally adorned with stubble out of simple laziness. His eyes are hazel, and his hair is a brownish-blonde jungle. Despite being only a few inches in length, it’s constantly messy. Even if he was big into the whole “grooming” thing (which he isn’t) it wouldn’t be the type to just lie down, so he doesn’t tend to bother. His most distinguishing feature is a large scar that takes up most of his left palm, earned on a mission when he was twenty.
In terms of apparel, Beren is fairly uninteresting, choosing to go with the browns, tans, and whites of most Jedi. He does, however, tend to avoid wearing a robe whenever possible in lieu of the typical tunic. When he has to wear it, he often complains on how it gets in his way and is far too “frumpy.”
Personality: Beren Holst is a young man of great intelligence and composure, possessing a calm and rational mind that rarely is lost in panic. Unfortunately, he’s also a lazy little shit that most believe will never reach his true potential. He loathes anything that involves physical exertion, be it training, chores, or outright violence, and always prefers to find solutions to problems that involve the least trouble. If it were up to him, he often claims, he'd be on some beautiful backwater world taking a nap, but the Force had other plans.
That’s the funny thing about Beren. Despite a distinct lack of a work ethic or decorum, he seems to have great faith in the Force, and a positive outlook towards life. He’s practical in that he realizes not everyone can be saved and sometimes compromises must be made, but he believes that in the end everything will work out as the Force intended. He also seems to have rather strong morals
Birth place: Alderaan
Faction: Jedi
Rank: Knight - Consular
Lightsaber: Single blade (Single phase)
Color: Light blue
Practiced Lightsaber forms:
Shii-Cho – 4
Niman – 1
Force-Sensitive Abilities or practices:
Telekinetic: 6
Telepathic: 5
Body: 2
Sense: 7
Protection: 6
Healing: 2
Destruction: 0
Specialized Skills:
Force Deflection
Attributes:
Physical Strength: 4
Intelligence: 7
Speed: 4
Leadership: 3
Unarmed: 2
Melee Weapons: 1
Ranged Weapons: 1
Force Attunement: +3
Bio:
Born to a farming family on Alderaan, Beren had an easy if quaint life for a time. Hundreds of miles away from the nearest city, he spent most of his first six years outdoors playing on the family farm. As he grew older, his parents had to constantly keep an eye on him, as he seemed eager to wander beyond the farm and into the nearby wilderness. For some reason, he seemed to have a fondness for fish, and the nearby stream was provided him with endless amusement.
Beren’s family was not poor by any means, but they were farmers in the end. He was taught basic things like reading and writing, but his family had never had any need for higher education. Beren was expected to follow the family tradition. The Force, it seemed, had other plans.
Eight months before his sixth birthday, Beren and his father were walking on the shore of a shallow creek, when Beren saw several fish swimming in the water. Apparently deciding he wanted to catch one, he stooped down by the bank and repeatedly reached his hand into the water to try and grab them. His father kept a close eye on him to make sure he didn’t fall in, but found it harmless enough and decided to watch Beren’s struggles with amusement. Struggles, that is, until the twenty-sixth attempt when much to his father’s surprise, Beren’s hand came out of the water gripping a small, flopping fish. Curious and amazed, his father told his mother of what happened when they returned home. Upon further reflection, they realized their little boy had shown remarkable reflexes for a normal boy his age. After another week of deliberation, they decided to contact the local Jedi watchman and ask if Beren could be tested.
In the end, the tests were positive, and Beren Holst was to become a Jedi.
As his tests had shown a natural affinity for the Force, Beren was whisked off to the main Jedi Academy on Coruscant with high hopes. Immediately, Beren took a disliking to the planet’s durasteel jungle. Though he possessed potential in several disciplines, his greatest strength was in the field of Force sensitivity. Already, young Beren could feel the general ebb and flow of the Force. It was what had made him feel so at peace in the outdoors of Alderaan. His home planet had possessed such serene balance, and Coruscant was a jarring change of pace. Though teaming with sentient life, the planet itself felt hollow and cold. It was at once drab and overwhelming, and from the start it affected Beren’s mood and study habits. Though quite gentle on their younger students, Jedi training regimens were still strict in comparison to what Beren was used to, and this also didn’t help matters.
That said, while these factors certainly didn’t help Beren’s chances, ultimately Beren just seemed to lack enthusiasm. This was especially true when it came to physical exercises or lightsaber training. He would oversleep, skip lessons, mouth off to instructors, and in general have to be poked and prodded to do any actual studying. The only thing he seemed to actually enjoy practicing was meditation, though it was often joked that this was because it was the closest thing you could get to sleeping without actually doing so.
In the end, it seemed to be the general consensus of the instructors on Coruscant that Beren was destined to be a bust. His lightsaber instructor, a female Rutian Twi’Lek named Nima Zebb, even dubbed him the absolute worst student she had ever taught. She wasn’t that far from the truth, either. He was absolutely atrocious with the weapon. At age ten, he was still at the level of most seven year olds. Natural ability granted him passing marks in most force disciplines, but that wasn’t enough to put up with his behavior. Something needed to be done.
So, the troublemaker was shipped off to the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine. The thought was that maybe a world more similar to Alderaan would put his mind at ease and improve his attitude. This backfired spectacularly. The peaceful fields of Dantooine called to him like a siren, and he skipped out on training even more than before. Warned about their new transfer by their peers on Coruscant, most Dantooine instructors were content to let him sleep his way into mediocrity. By thirteen, they were sure he would fail to be selected as a padawan and leave the Order entirely. It didn’t take long for that gossip to spread among the students, but Beren didn’t seem to mind. If he wasn’t going to be a Jedi, he decided, then so be it.
Unknown to Beren, one Jedi Knight at the enclave had been watching him with some interest, against the judgment of his fellows – a human male named Turin Kel. Like many, he was fully aware of the potential Beren possessed. Unlike many, however, he believed that there was a chance that it wouldn’t go to waste. So, a week before Beren’s thirteenth birthday, he decided to give the boy one last try.
As was often the case, Beren was lying in the tall grass outside the academy. He was in the middle of a very relaxing looking nap when he was woken by the approaching Kel. Beren groaned, expecting to be scolded, but the chiding never came. Instead, Kel simply sat beside him and struck up a conversation about nothing in particular. Though a little bewildered, Beren played along, and found that he didn't mind the man. The topics of discussion were trivial, but the way Kel carried himself impressed him. The Jedi Knight was at peace with himself, not trying to make himself seem more important than he was or trying to impose his will on anything. He was…harmonious.
After a while, Kel left, and Beren went back to sleep. On the next day, Kel came back, as he did the day after next, and the one after that. Still, the discussion remained casual. There was no mention of politics, philosophy, or anything of genuine importance. It was just honest, relaxed conversation. By the fifth day, Beren was waiting for him, this time wide awake. At first it was like their previous encounters, but in the midst of their usual conversation, Kel started talking about the Force. At first, Beren rolled his eyes, preparing for the scolding and zealous preaching. Yet, he couldn't help but listen.
Patiently, Kel explained how the Force didn't work by chance or accident. All things happened for a reason. Whether he liked it or not, the Force had chosen Beren as one of its wielders, and he wasn't making his life easier by avoiding his studies of it. The Force was laying out a path for him, and if he ignored it he would just end up lost and struggling to find his way in life. Even on the most beautiful day in the calmest field, he would never truly find himself at peace. Something would always be missing. On the next day, Beren became Turin Kel's padawan learner.
For the next few years, Beren trained under Kel, progressing swiftly. Learning from a teacher who he respected, and who he believed respected him, he suddenly gained a new enthusiasm for the Force. He was a fast study when he put a little effort into it, and his raw talent slowly began to manifest into usable skill. That is, when it came to simply wielding the Force anyway.
Physical training and lightsaber training was still an epic struggle. He despised going through forms and running drill after drill, and it soon became clear that at best he would be merely competent at it. But this was the one area where Kel really cracked the whip, if only for the boy’s safety.
“Until you can protect yourself from a blaster,” he said. “You’re going to train your ass off.”
Beren took this in the exact wrong way. Six months later, while being forced to train with a combat drone, Beren deactivated his lightsaber, held out his palm and attempted to deflect the drone’s stun bolt with the Force. It might have worked, too, if he had created the deflection field a little further away from his hand. Then it might have had time to actually veer away from its intended target. As it was, it didn’t, though it did dampen the blast, and what could have resulted in a desperate trip to the infirmary was reduced to a few minutes of searing pain and frantic cursing. True to his word, a stunned and bemused Turin Kel backed off on Beren’s lightsaber training, holding him to only a couple sessions a week while focusing upon training him in Force Deflection and similar defensive abilities. Though it took him nearly two years until he was at the point where Kel would allow him to attempt the technique on a mission – and even longer before he actually had to – Beren found the tradeoff well worth it.
Like all Knight and Padawan pairs, the two would be sent on missions across the galaxy. Kel was classified as more of a guardian, and a skilled one at that. While missions that could involve some form of combat were avoided for Beren’s first few years, in the end they were inevitable. In fact, given the tumultuous state the galaxy found itself in, they became increasingly common. At first, as one might expect, Beren struggled mightily on those missions. He was overly cautious and often Kel had to tackle the brunt of the work. As a result, Beren found himself doing extra training and even Kel occasionally lost his patience with the boy.
When Beren was seventeen, this culminated in Kel receiving a blaster bolt to the back during a mission on Fondor while trying to deal with half a dozen mercenaries at once. It missed his vital organs and he was able to provide enough healing through the force to continue on the mission, but it was still enough to leave an impression on Beren. He’d seen the danger coming, but had been too slow to react, too hesitant. Turin Kel was the one person who had put faith in him, and he was letting him down. Beren resolved to never let that happen again.
Their next mission was to Balmorra. The pair had been sent to investigate the thefts of several large shipments of military class weaponry from the factories there, and had managed to find the location of a meeting between the thieves and a potential buyer. Resolved to justify his master’s faith in him, Beren foolishly charged in before Kel was ready, and while he managed to incapacitate the surprised thieves, he was shot in the shoulder by the buyer. Fortunately, Kel managed to swoop in and rescue him before more damage could be done, and the mission was at least a partial success.
On the shuttle back to Dantooine, Kel explained that helping on missions didn’t have to mean charging in like a guardian. Beren Holst wasn’t Turin Kel. It just meant letting go of one’s fear and hesitation and helping in their own way.
“Just relax and fulfill the role the Force has lain out for you,” he explained. “Let it guide your hand.”
From then on, Beren showed a marked improvement in his performance. While Kel would still handle the work on the front lines, Beren would provide him constant support with the Force. When things went right, Kel’s impressive martial skill and Beren’s talent in the Force proved a devastating combination. They were more than a match for the low level missions that Beren had failed at in years past. So, when Beren was twenty, Kel decided it was time for them to lend a hand in more important matters. For instance, the brewing conflict with the Mandalorians and other threats to galactic peace.
It was during this time that Beren had his first encounter with a Dark Jedi while on a mission to Yaga Minor. They were assigned to protect a war hawk politician who had taken an aggressive stance against the expanding Sith Aristocrats, urging the people of Yaga Minor to prepare for war. Though an extremist and often at odds with Jedi policies, nevertheless the Council recognized the man would be in danger and assigned Kel and Beren to protect him for several months. After two uneventful months, the politician was suddenly attacked while on a trip to the market. Caught by surprise, Kel was thrown over ledge by the Dark Jedi’s initial attack, leaving Beren and the politician alone. Beren managed to stall the Dark Jedi by sending several thousand credits worth of goods hurtling in his assailant’s direction, but it was not enough. Finding a hole in Beren’s barrage, the Dark Jedi whizzed past the padawan and struck down the fleeing politician before Beren could react.
Her mission was complete, but hubris and sadism compelled the Dark Jedi to linger and play with her new padawan toy. Deciding she wanted to see him squirm, the Dark Jedi sent a torrent of Force Lightning in Beren’s direction. Desperately, Beren held out his left hand and to hold it off. Surprised and irritated, the Dark Jedi slowly poured more and more of her power into the attack. Beren was forced to one knee and cried out in pain as the lightning burned into his left palm. Yet still, he just barely held it off.
The struggle continued, and Beren felt that he was finally on the verge of passing out when a lightsaber suddenly came out of nowhere and decapitated the Dark Jedi, ending the assault. Kel hobbled out of the shadows on a broken leg just in time to see his student collapse upon the ground, his left hand smoking. As he rushed made his way to his student’s side, Kel couldn’t help but smile when he found that Beren was very much still conscious. He was just too lazy to pick himself up again. After this mission, Beren would forever carry a scar on his palm.
Time passed, and while Beren and Kel took on missions of increasing importance, none were ever quite as dangerous as that encounter on Yaga Minor. That is, until that fateful day that would forever live on in the eyes of many Jedi – the attack on Dantooine.
Caught in the Enclave when the attack started, Kel immediately recognized the need for a retreat, and he and Beren assisted in getting the younglings to the ships. Beren himself acted as a walking shield, deflecting blaster bolts and using the force to kick up dust for cover as they ushered the children onto the transports. He was so exhausted that he barely remembers the trip to Coruscant. He does, however, remember his surprise when Turin Kel immediately recommended him for the Jedi Trials.
With the loss of Dantooine and the Sith pressing many locations, the Jedi were starting to feel pressed. Perhaps this factored in to why they accepted Beren into the trials, and also accepted his actions on Dantooine as passing the Trial of Courage, and his would on Yaga Minor as passing the Trial of Flesh. Beren didn’t mind if that was the case. As his master always said, “It was the will of the Force.”
That left the Trials of Skill and Spirit. Despite petitioning to take the Trial of Skill last, as he knew it would be the most challenging for him. Beren was forced to face his greatest challenge right away.
This was known, and as a result it was decided to make this first trial particularly difficult. Beren was left in a constantly shifting maze to face a single foe: a Sith simulacrum. Using the maze to his advantage, Beren managed to evade and hold off his assailant by mastering the maze’s patterns and timing. When forced to clash sabers, he would focus on deflecting his opponent’s blows until he could lash out with a powerful force push to give himself time to retreat, knowing he would last no more than a few parries against an opponent that so vastly outclassed him with a saber.
Even with such a well-executed strategy, he did not escape damage. He found himself slammed into walls, nicked on his arms and shoulders by particularly powerful blows that were difficult to block and in general worn down until he had almost no energy left. Indeed, he was probably less than a minute away from finally being struck down when the test was called off. If it had been a real Sith of that skill with mastery over the Force, he surely would have been killed immediately, but since it wasn’t, Beren’s strategy proved just clever enough to carry him through the trial alive.
Despite his condition, Beren found himself right at home during the Trial of Spirit. Thanks to his natural inclination towards Force sensitivity and a firm belief in the will of the Force, the Trial of Spirit was passed after a day of serene meditation, and soon after, he was officially made a Jedi Knight.
The newly knighted Jedi is still fresh from the trials, and thus far has only participated in missions where he was in a large team. The Council, unsurprising, does not completely trust his ability to self-command. However, with the threats of the Sith Aristocrats, Dark Jedi and Mandalorians growing ever stronger, the Jedi will likely be forced to utilize every Knight at their disposal.
Even the lazy ones.
RP Sample:
Cold. That was what this planet felt like. It was enough to make Beren feel unwelcome. More importantly, it made napping rather difficult. At least Taris was better than Coruscant, though not by much. While Coruscant was much larger, Taris also had some rather disturbing history. In the scheme of things, it hadn’t been that long since Darth Malak had glassed the surface of the Outer Rim world, and the whispers of death still lingered faintly on the wind.
To get one hundred percent pure relaxation here, Beren found he had to dull his senses much like one would do during meditation. Of course, during meditation, one generally wasn’t sprawled out on a bench in the middle of the garden of the local Jedi compound. It seemed that this was something that would not go unnoticed, as Beren soon felt the approach of two souls. One was unfamiliar, but the other he knew. Even so, his eyes remained closed, and his posture unmoving.
“I’m meditating,” he announced as the pair approached him.
“That doesn’t look like meditation, Knight Holst,” the unfamiliar voice – a female – said.
He was quick to reply. “It’s a special kind.”
“Yes, it’s called the Lazy Bantha, I believe. I’d rather say Knight Holst is a specialist at it.”
At the sarcastic interjection of the familiar voice, Beren opened his eyes and tilted his head just enough to catch the smile of Turin Kel – his former master, and now officially a Jedi Master in the Order. It had been some months since they’d last seen each other, as they’d both been off on their own separate assignments. It was good, perhaps even relieving, to see Master Kel again. There had been that lingering doubt that after the Trials about how often they would meet again, and Beren was glad that they did not seem to be drifting apart. For now, though, he feigned surprise most unconvincingly.
“Oh, hello there, Master Kel,” he greeted. “What brings you here?”
The Jedi Master shrugged. “Just passing through on my way back to the Core Worlds. What about yourself? I’m told you returned from your mission on Gargon several days ago.”
“I was taking a small break,” Beren answered casually, his eyes turning up towards the sky. “It was a lot of work.”
“I thought the mission to Gargon was a purely political?” asked the confused third party, who Beren had previously identified as a tall Zabrak.
“Like I said, a lot of work.”
Beren returned his gaze to his the interrupting party and grinned. Kel chuckled. The Zabrak looked less amused. With a melodramatic yawn, Beren slowly sat up and shifted his position so that he was now facing the pair. He still did not stand up, however.
“You had me put on another assignment, didn’t you?” he asked Kel.
Kel nodded.
“Sithspit,” Beren sighed.
Dejectedly, the Jedi Knight stood up from his seat and trudged over towards his Master, and the three fell in step with each other as they made their way back towards the main complex. Apparently, the serious Zabrak woman was to be the team leader of his next assignment, and had added Beren to the roster at Master Kel’s request. Splendid. They were off to a great start in that relationship.
Taris truly was a terrible place to take a nap.
Race: Human (Alderaanian)
Age: 23
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 170 lbs
Appearance: Of relatively average height and bulk, Beren is not particularly intimidating or impressive in stature. That is not to say he is tiny. A healthy diet and a master that miraculously managed to drag him off to lightsaber training semi-regularly have kept him trim, but he is still somewhat lean and lacks a truly athletic form.
His face is young looking and relatively unblemished, though it is occasionally adorned with stubble out of simple laziness. His eyes are hazel, and his hair is a brownish-blonde jungle. Despite being only a few inches in length, it’s constantly messy. Even if he was big into the whole “grooming” thing (which he isn’t) it wouldn’t be the type to just lie down, so he doesn’t tend to bother. His most distinguishing feature is a large scar that takes up most of his left palm, earned on a mission when he was twenty.
In terms of apparel, Beren is fairly uninteresting, choosing to go with the browns, tans, and whites of most Jedi. He does, however, tend to avoid wearing a robe whenever possible in lieu of the typical tunic. When he has to wear it, he often complains on how it gets in his way and is far too “frumpy.”
Personality: Beren Holst is a young man of great intelligence and composure, possessing a calm and rational mind that rarely is lost in panic. Unfortunately, he’s also a lazy little shit that most believe will never reach his true potential. He loathes anything that involves physical exertion, be it training, chores, or outright violence, and always prefers to find solutions to problems that involve the least trouble. If it were up to him, he often claims, he'd be on some beautiful backwater world taking a nap, but the Force had other plans.
That’s the funny thing about Beren. Despite a distinct lack of a work ethic or decorum, he seems to have great faith in the Force, and a positive outlook towards life. He’s practical in that he realizes not everyone can be saved and sometimes compromises must be made, but he believes that in the end everything will work out as the Force intended. He also seems to have rather strong morals
Birth place: Alderaan
Faction: Jedi
Rank: Knight - Consular
Lightsaber: Single blade (Single phase)
Color: Light blue
Practiced Lightsaber forms:
Shii-Cho – 4
Niman – 1
Force-Sensitive Abilities or practices:
Telekinetic: 6
Telepathic: 5
Body: 2
Sense: 7
Protection: 6
Healing: 2
Destruction: 0
Specialized Skills:
Force Deflection
Attributes:
Physical Strength: 4
Intelligence: 7
Speed: 4
Leadership: 3
Unarmed: 2
Melee Weapons: 1
Ranged Weapons: 1
Force Attunement: +3
Bio:
The Early Years
Born to a farming family on Alderaan, Beren had an easy if quaint life for a time. Hundreds of miles away from the nearest city, he spent most of his first six years outdoors playing on the family farm. As he grew older, his parents had to constantly keep an eye on him, as he seemed eager to wander beyond the farm and into the nearby wilderness. For some reason, he seemed to have a fondness for fish, and the nearby stream was provided him with endless amusement.
Beren’s family was not poor by any means, but they were farmers in the end. He was taught basic things like reading and writing, but his family had never had any need for higher education. Beren was expected to follow the family tradition. The Force, it seemed, had other plans.
Eight months before his sixth birthday, Beren and his father were walking on the shore of a shallow creek, when Beren saw several fish swimming in the water. Apparently deciding he wanted to catch one, he stooped down by the bank and repeatedly reached his hand into the water to try and grab them. His father kept a close eye on him to make sure he didn’t fall in, but found it harmless enough and decided to watch Beren’s struggles with amusement. Struggles, that is, until the twenty-sixth attempt when much to his father’s surprise, Beren’s hand came out of the water gripping a small, flopping fish. Curious and amazed, his father told his mother of what happened when they returned home. Upon further reflection, they realized their little boy had shown remarkable reflexes for a normal boy his age. After another week of deliberation, they decided to contact the local Jedi watchman and ask if Beren could be tested.
In the end, the tests were positive, and Beren Holst was to become a Jedi.
The Problem Child
As his tests had shown a natural affinity for the Force, Beren was whisked off to the main Jedi Academy on Coruscant with high hopes. Immediately, Beren took a disliking to the planet’s durasteel jungle. Though he possessed potential in several disciplines, his greatest strength was in the field of Force sensitivity. Already, young Beren could feel the general ebb and flow of the Force. It was what had made him feel so at peace in the outdoors of Alderaan. His home planet had possessed such serene balance, and Coruscant was a jarring change of pace. Though teaming with sentient life, the planet itself felt hollow and cold. It was at once drab and overwhelming, and from the start it affected Beren’s mood and study habits. Though quite gentle on their younger students, Jedi training regimens were still strict in comparison to what Beren was used to, and this also didn’t help matters.
That said, while these factors certainly didn’t help Beren’s chances, ultimately Beren just seemed to lack enthusiasm. This was especially true when it came to physical exercises or lightsaber training. He would oversleep, skip lessons, mouth off to instructors, and in general have to be poked and prodded to do any actual studying. The only thing he seemed to actually enjoy practicing was meditation, though it was often joked that this was because it was the closest thing you could get to sleeping without actually doing so.
In the end, it seemed to be the general consensus of the instructors on Coruscant that Beren was destined to be a bust. His lightsaber instructor, a female Rutian Twi’Lek named Nima Zebb, even dubbed him the absolute worst student she had ever taught. She wasn’t that far from the truth, either. He was absolutely atrocious with the weapon. At age ten, he was still at the level of most seven year olds. Natural ability granted him passing marks in most force disciplines, but that wasn’t enough to put up with his behavior. Something needed to be done.
So, the troublemaker was shipped off to the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine. The thought was that maybe a world more similar to Alderaan would put his mind at ease and improve his attitude. This backfired spectacularly. The peaceful fields of Dantooine called to him like a siren, and he skipped out on training even more than before. Warned about their new transfer by their peers on Coruscant, most Dantooine instructors were content to let him sleep his way into mediocrity. By thirteen, they were sure he would fail to be selected as a padawan and leave the Order entirely. It didn’t take long for that gossip to spread among the students, but Beren didn’t seem to mind. If he wasn’t going to be a Jedi, he decided, then so be it.
Master and Student
Unknown to Beren, one Jedi Knight at the enclave had been watching him with some interest, against the judgment of his fellows – a human male named Turin Kel. Like many, he was fully aware of the potential Beren possessed. Unlike many, however, he believed that there was a chance that it wouldn’t go to waste. So, a week before Beren’s thirteenth birthday, he decided to give the boy one last try.
As was often the case, Beren was lying in the tall grass outside the academy. He was in the middle of a very relaxing looking nap when he was woken by the approaching Kel. Beren groaned, expecting to be scolded, but the chiding never came. Instead, Kel simply sat beside him and struck up a conversation about nothing in particular. Though a little bewildered, Beren played along, and found that he didn't mind the man. The topics of discussion were trivial, but the way Kel carried himself impressed him. The Jedi Knight was at peace with himself, not trying to make himself seem more important than he was or trying to impose his will on anything. He was…harmonious.
After a while, Kel left, and Beren went back to sleep. On the next day, Kel came back, as he did the day after next, and the one after that. Still, the discussion remained casual. There was no mention of politics, philosophy, or anything of genuine importance. It was just honest, relaxed conversation. By the fifth day, Beren was waiting for him, this time wide awake. At first it was like their previous encounters, but in the midst of their usual conversation, Kel started talking about the Force. At first, Beren rolled his eyes, preparing for the scolding and zealous preaching. Yet, he couldn't help but listen.
Patiently, Kel explained how the Force didn't work by chance or accident. All things happened for a reason. Whether he liked it or not, the Force had chosen Beren as one of its wielders, and he wasn't making his life easier by avoiding his studies of it. The Force was laying out a path for him, and if he ignored it he would just end up lost and struggling to find his way in life. Even on the most beautiful day in the calmest field, he would never truly find himself at peace. Something would always be missing. On the next day, Beren became Turin Kel's padawan learner.
For the next few years, Beren trained under Kel, progressing swiftly. Learning from a teacher who he respected, and who he believed respected him, he suddenly gained a new enthusiasm for the Force. He was a fast study when he put a little effort into it, and his raw talent slowly began to manifest into usable skill. That is, when it came to simply wielding the Force anyway.
Physical training and lightsaber training was still an epic struggle. He despised going through forms and running drill after drill, and it soon became clear that at best he would be merely competent at it. But this was the one area where Kel really cracked the whip, if only for the boy’s safety.
“Until you can protect yourself from a blaster,” he said. “You’re going to train your ass off.”
Beren took this in the exact wrong way. Six months later, while being forced to train with a combat drone, Beren deactivated his lightsaber, held out his palm and attempted to deflect the drone’s stun bolt with the Force. It might have worked, too, if he had created the deflection field a little further away from his hand. Then it might have had time to actually veer away from its intended target. As it was, it didn’t, though it did dampen the blast, and what could have resulted in a desperate trip to the infirmary was reduced to a few minutes of searing pain and frantic cursing. True to his word, a stunned and bemused Turin Kel backed off on Beren’s lightsaber training, holding him to only a couple sessions a week while focusing upon training him in Force Deflection and similar defensive abilities. Though it took him nearly two years until he was at the point where Kel would allow him to attempt the technique on a mission – and even longer before he actually had to – Beren found the tradeoff well worth it.
Like all Knight and Padawan pairs, the two would be sent on missions across the galaxy. Kel was classified as more of a guardian, and a skilled one at that. While missions that could involve some form of combat were avoided for Beren’s first few years, in the end they were inevitable. In fact, given the tumultuous state the galaxy found itself in, they became increasingly common. At first, as one might expect, Beren struggled mightily on those missions. He was overly cautious and often Kel had to tackle the brunt of the work. As a result, Beren found himself doing extra training and even Kel occasionally lost his patience with the boy.
When Beren was seventeen, this culminated in Kel receiving a blaster bolt to the back during a mission on Fondor while trying to deal with half a dozen mercenaries at once. It missed his vital organs and he was able to provide enough healing through the force to continue on the mission, but it was still enough to leave an impression on Beren. He’d seen the danger coming, but had been too slow to react, too hesitant. Turin Kel was the one person who had put faith in him, and he was letting him down. Beren resolved to never let that happen again.
Their next mission was to Balmorra. The pair had been sent to investigate the thefts of several large shipments of military class weaponry from the factories there, and had managed to find the location of a meeting between the thieves and a potential buyer. Resolved to justify his master’s faith in him, Beren foolishly charged in before Kel was ready, and while he managed to incapacitate the surprised thieves, he was shot in the shoulder by the buyer. Fortunately, Kel managed to swoop in and rescue him before more damage could be done, and the mission was at least a partial success.
On the shuttle back to Dantooine, Kel explained that helping on missions didn’t have to mean charging in like a guardian. Beren Holst wasn’t Turin Kel. It just meant letting go of one’s fear and hesitation and helping in their own way.
“Just relax and fulfill the role the Force has lain out for you,” he explained. “Let it guide your hand.”
From then on, Beren showed a marked improvement in his performance. While Kel would still handle the work on the front lines, Beren would provide him constant support with the Force. When things went right, Kel’s impressive martial skill and Beren’s talent in the Force proved a devastating combination. They were more than a match for the low level missions that Beren had failed at in years past. So, when Beren was twenty, Kel decided it was time for them to lend a hand in more important matters. For instance, the brewing conflict with the Mandalorians and other threats to galactic peace.
It was during this time that Beren had his first encounter with a Dark Jedi while on a mission to Yaga Minor. They were assigned to protect a war hawk politician who had taken an aggressive stance against the expanding Sith Aristocrats, urging the people of Yaga Minor to prepare for war. Though an extremist and often at odds with Jedi policies, nevertheless the Council recognized the man would be in danger and assigned Kel and Beren to protect him for several months. After two uneventful months, the politician was suddenly attacked while on a trip to the market. Caught by surprise, Kel was thrown over ledge by the Dark Jedi’s initial attack, leaving Beren and the politician alone. Beren managed to stall the Dark Jedi by sending several thousand credits worth of goods hurtling in his assailant’s direction, but it was not enough. Finding a hole in Beren’s barrage, the Dark Jedi whizzed past the padawan and struck down the fleeing politician before Beren could react.
Her mission was complete, but hubris and sadism compelled the Dark Jedi to linger and play with her new padawan toy. Deciding she wanted to see him squirm, the Dark Jedi sent a torrent of Force Lightning in Beren’s direction. Desperately, Beren held out his left hand and to hold it off. Surprised and irritated, the Dark Jedi slowly poured more and more of her power into the attack. Beren was forced to one knee and cried out in pain as the lightning burned into his left palm. Yet still, he just barely held it off.
The struggle continued, and Beren felt that he was finally on the verge of passing out when a lightsaber suddenly came out of nowhere and decapitated the Dark Jedi, ending the assault. Kel hobbled out of the shadows on a broken leg just in time to see his student collapse upon the ground, his left hand smoking. As he rushed made his way to his student’s side, Kel couldn’t help but smile when he found that Beren was very much still conscious. He was just too lazy to pick himself up again. After this mission, Beren would forever carry a scar on his palm.
Time passed, and while Beren and Kel took on missions of increasing importance, none were ever quite as dangerous as that encounter on Yaga Minor. That is, until that fateful day that would forever live on in the eyes of many Jedi – the attack on Dantooine.
Caught in the Enclave when the attack started, Kel immediately recognized the need for a retreat, and he and Beren assisted in getting the younglings to the ships. Beren himself acted as a walking shield, deflecting blaster bolts and using the force to kick up dust for cover as they ushered the children onto the transports. He was so exhausted that he barely remembers the trip to Coruscant. He does, however, remember his surprise when Turin Kel immediately recommended him for the Jedi Trials.
The Trials
With the loss of Dantooine and the Sith pressing many locations, the Jedi were starting to feel pressed. Perhaps this factored in to why they accepted Beren into the trials, and also accepted his actions on Dantooine as passing the Trial of Courage, and his would on Yaga Minor as passing the Trial of Flesh. Beren didn’t mind if that was the case. As his master always said, “It was the will of the Force.”
That left the Trials of Skill and Spirit. Despite petitioning to take the Trial of Skill last, as he knew it would be the most challenging for him. Beren was forced to face his greatest challenge right away.
This was known, and as a result it was decided to make this first trial particularly difficult. Beren was left in a constantly shifting maze to face a single foe: a Sith simulacrum. Using the maze to his advantage, Beren managed to evade and hold off his assailant by mastering the maze’s patterns and timing. When forced to clash sabers, he would focus on deflecting his opponent’s blows until he could lash out with a powerful force push to give himself time to retreat, knowing he would last no more than a few parries against an opponent that so vastly outclassed him with a saber.
Even with such a well-executed strategy, he did not escape damage. He found himself slammed into walls, nicked on his arms and shoulders by particularly powerful blows that were difficult to block and in general worn down until he had almost no energy left. Indeed, he was probably less than a minute away from finally being struck down when the test was called off. If it had been a real Sith of that skill with mastery over the Force, he surely would have been killed immediately, but since it wasn’t, Beren’s strategy proved just clever enough to carry him through the trial alive.
Despite his condition, Beren found himself right at home during the Trial of Spirit. Thanks to his natural inclination towards Force sensitivity and a firm belief in the will of the Force, the Trial of Spirit was passed after a day of serene meditation, and soon after, he was officially made a Jedi Knight.
Knighthood and the Future
The newly knighted Jedi is still fresh from the trials, and thus far has only participated in missions where he was in a large team. The Council, unsurprising, does not completely trust his ability to self-command. However, with the threats of the Sith Aristocrats, Dark Jedi and Mandalorians growing ever stronger, the Jedi will likely be forced to utilize every Knight at their disposal.
Even the lazy ones.
RP Sample:
Cold. That was what this planet felt like. It was enough to make Beren feel unwelcome. More importantly, it made napping rather difficult. At least Taris was better than Coruscant, though not by much. While Coruscant was much larger, Taris also had some rather disturbing history. In the scheme of things, it hadn’t been that long since Darth Malak had glassed the surface of the Outer Rim world, and the whispers of death still lingered faintly on the wind.
To get one hundred percent pure relaxation here, Beren found he had to dull his senses much like one would do during meditation. Of course, during meditation, one generally wasn’t sprawled out on a bench in the middle of the garden of the local Jedi compound. It seemed that this was something that would not go unnoticed, as Beren soon felt the approach of two souls. One was unfamiliar, but the other he knew. Even so, his eyes remained closed, and his posture unmoving.
“I’m meditating,” he announced as the pair approached him.
“That doesn’t look like meditation, Knight Holst,” the unfamiliar voice – a female – said.
He was quick to reply. “It’s a special kind.”
“Yes, it’s called the Lazy Bantha, I believe. I’d rather say Knight Holst is a specialist at it.”
At the sarcastic interjection of the familiar voice, Beren opened his eyes and tilted his head just enough to catch the smile of Turin Kel – his former master, and now officially a Jedi Master in the Order. It had been some months since they’d last seen each other, as they’d both been off on their own separate assignments. It was good, perhaps even relieving, to see Master Kel again. There had been that lingering doubt that after the Trials about how often they would meet again, and Beren was glad that they did not seem to be drifting apart. For now, though, he feigned surprise most unconvincingly.
“Oh, hello there, Master Kel,” he greeted. “What brings you here?”
The Jedi Master shrugged. “Just passing through on my way back to the Core Worlds. What about yourself? I’m told you returned from your mission on Gargon several days ago.”
“I was taking a small break,” Beren answered casually, his eyes turning up towards the sky. “It was a lot of work.”
“I thought the mission to Gargon was a purely political?” asked the confused third party, who Beren had previously identified as a tall Zabrak.
“Like I said, a lot of work.”
Beren returned his gaze to his the interrupting party and grinned. Kel chuckled. The Zabrak looked less amused. With a melodramatic yawn, Beren slowly sat up and shifted his position so that he was now facing the pair. He still did not stand up, however.
“You had me put on another assignment, didn’t you?” he asked Kel.
Kel nodded.
“Sithspit,” Beren sighed.
Dejectedly, the Jedi Knight stood up from his seat and trudged over towards his Master, and the three fell in step with each other as they made their way back towards the main complex. Apparently, the serious Zabrak woman was to be the team leader of his next assignment, and had added Beren to the roster at Master Kel’s request. Splendid. They were off to a great start in that relationship.
Taris truly was a terrible place to take a nap.
