Post by somedude on Mar 27, 2010 22:54:18 GMT -5
Name: Norkos
Race: Nelvaanian
Age: 43
Height: 6' 3"
Weight: 215 lbs (on Nelvaan); 253 lbs (on Coruscant)
Appearance:
As a Jedi, Norkos wore the traditional robes of the order. As a Nelvaanian, he wore the loincloth of a hunter and nothing else, except for the geometric patterns on his upper body that were the symbols of his ascent into manhood.
Image
Birth place: Nelvaan (Istenno in his language), in the tribe-village of Vadasza
Faction: Jedi Order
Rank: Knight Guardian
Bio: Norkos was born into a typical family of the Nelvaanian tribe/village Vadasza (the village and tribe share the same name), which meant that he was raised in a nursery by the female elders of his village and never knew his father or mother. He was an unremarkable pup, despite his Force sensitivity (which was seen only by the village shaman, Vallasos). Because there is little conflict within Nelvaanian tribes, and pups are never exposed to situations more dangerous than they can handle, there were no means for these abilities to manifest themselves.
Starting at the age of two, pups are allowed to move around outside the underground caverns where the tribes make their homes, although always under the supervision of a retired hunter to keep them safe from Nelvaan’s more dangerous wildlife. On one such day, when a three-year-old Norkos was stalking a particularly elusive ragcsa (a squirrel-like creature), a Bothan Jedi Healer named Bahuuk Tu’Hun made an emergency landing near the village on her way to Ryloth, seeking fuel.
Although the technologically primitive Nelvaanese were unable to directly assist the Jedi, she was able to use her knowledge of plants to synthesize an organic fuel in sufficient quantities to get her to her destination, where she could replace it with a more suitable product. In her scouring of the plains she ran across young Norkos, and was very impressed with him. Other Nelvaanians, while not entirely unaware of Bothans, saw them rarely and were very wary of her. This youth, however, stared her down proudly and fiercely, and she recognized the faint swirling of the Force around him. With that revelation she pleaded with the village Chieftain, Torzs-Fonok, to allow her to take the child back to Coruscant for proper training. He was initially unrelentingly opposed, refusing to give up a child of his tribe to outsiders, but Vallasos spoke of the boy’s abilities and urged the Chieftain to reconsider. On the advice of his shaman, Torzs-Fonok finally relented.
After explaining everything to Norkos, with the aid of Vallasos, the pair departed Nelvaan for Ryloth. Bahuuk was only on Ryloth for a courier mission, albeit an important one, to deliver a recall message to a Republic spy in a Twi’Lek slaver ring, and left shortly afterwards. Upon arriving back in Coruscant, Norkos was tested by the Jedi Council and deemed fit enough, barely, to enter training as a youngling.
Norkos struggled with the training, which was in areas he had never had to use on Nelvaan. In particular he struggled with basic Force skills, such as telekinesis. He fared considerably better at combat training, even faring surprisingly well at blaster deflection. It became very clear to his instructors that, although he was a below-average Force-user, he had the potential to be an outstanding warrior.
Norkos made no friends during his training, keeping himself to himself in the Nelvaanian way. He was also encountering two very serious problems: language, and weight. Nelvaanians were very rarely exposed to other races, so Norkos spoke only fair Nelvaanese and a weak smattering of Bothese. His lack of language earned him teasing from some of the crueller younglings. Although teasing was something completely foreign to him, and he understood little of it, the sense that they viewed him as inferior was enough to kick his competitive drive into high gear; every night after training, until he was 16, Norkos would sit in the library for hours cramming Galactic Basic into his skull.
He was also having a problem with his weight. Gravity on Nelvaan was significantly less than on Coruscant (15% less, in fact), so Norkos was finding it difficult to move around with the same agility that he had back on his homeworld. As much as he tried strength training to enhance his natural strength and overcome the barrier, he was finding it increasingly difficult. Totally by accident, during a telekinesis class, he found that he could apply the principles he learned in class to his own body, making him lighter. He was really just levitating his entire body structure a few micrometres, but as far as he was concerned he was reducing the force of gravity on his body.
Despite many problems, Norkos managed to succeed in his youngling class, and was taken as a padawan at age 13 by the same Jedi who found him, Bahuuk Tu’Hun. As part of his padawan initiation ritual, he crafted his first lightsaber in the standard style with a blue blade to honour his species. In his training with her, he studied the Ataru form of lightsaber combat extensively, taking advantage of his natural speed and agility, but he also dabbled in Soresu, testing his super-human reflexes to the extreme.
When Norkos was 17, he and Bahuuk were sent on a mission to investigate a report of Mandalorian activity on the remote world of Nex Humas. The reports turned out to be true; a small band of Mandalorian mercenaries had set up a camp on the planet. Although they posed no significant threat to the Republic, they did not take kindly to Jedi visitors. Bahuuk was able to subdue the clan through the Force long enough for the two to make their escape, but not before a Mandalorian sharpshooter destroyed Norkos’ lightsaber and was beaten to death with his own rifle by a provoked Nelvaanian. Unknown to Norkos at the time, Bahuuk had stored a piece of Mandalorian iron on her ship, before they left, as a gift for her promising student.
Norkos was lectured on his Jedi responsibility to promote peace by the Council upon the pair’s return to Coruscant, but he was spared any disciplinary action due to the fact that the Mandalorians had proven themselves hostile by firing on him, and he argued that he had undertaken the best course of action. Shortly thereafter he built a second lightsaber, a longer one to compensate for his large hands and as a nod to the spear-wielding tradition of his species. As his training progressed, he would learn the discipline to choose the best moment to strike, instead of striking immediately.
Norkos underwent the Trials at the usual time, and passed them mostly on the strength of his combat skill and his level-headedness, despite his below-average skill with the Force. After his Knighthood ceremony, his old master Bahuuk, whom he had told what he could remember of his homeworld, presented him with the piece of Mandalorian iron she had kept for years, for him to turn into a lelek, or Nelvaanian warrior-shield. Her gesture reminded him of his obligations to his people, and in particular of the manhood ceremony he was supposed to have completed years before.
Bahuuk could sense that the conflict was weighing heavily on Norkos' mind, so she went before the Council to argue for him. They were reluctant to allow him to leave, but Bahuuk explained to them the significance of the ritual to the Nelvaanian people; if he didn't pass it, she told them, his own self-doubt would prevent him from reaching his full potential and hinder his proper functioning as a member of the Galactic society. The Council discussed it amongst themselves for several days, but they ultimately decided that they would allow him to return, for a short personal leave. Exceptions had been granted before, they told him, and it would be morally wrong of them to hinder the cultural development of one of their Knights. The only thing they requested was that Norkos leave his lightsaber behind, as a sign of good faith that he would indeed return. Always a warrior, he was loathe to part with the weapon, but the call to Nelvaan was too strong and he ultimately agreed.
If Norkos had known the full extent of the ritual he was to take part in, he probably would have forgotten the whole thing right there.
With the assistance of Vallasos, Norkos was able to convince the chieftain to let him complete the test of manhood later than the other pups of his generation, but he needed to complete a more difficult test, in keeping with his greater age, strength, and skills. Where the pups he had known in his youth needed only to fetch a scale from the mighty Horax, a massive carnivorous beast, Norkos would have to return the head of one, using only the traditional weapons of a Nelvaanian hunter. With his darda (spear), lelek, and tor (knife), Norkos set out after a Horax and managed to kill one after a struggle, using the knife to cut off its head as a trophy of his victory. The chieftain had the skull hung in the village as a monument to the tribe’s first Jedi and prodigal son.
Norkos underwent the manhood ceremony after his trial was complete, where he was officially given his darda and tor, and bruise-leech crawlers were applied to his upper body to tattoo geometric shapes around his pectorals, shoulder blades, arms, and forearms. Under normal circumstances he would also be given a shield, but he opted to use the piece of Mandalorian iron given to him by his master, painting it to look like a ferocious warrior spirit.
As part of his ascent into manhood, something he had not known beforehand, Norkos was also paired with a female mate. Nelvaanians mate for life, so even though several hunters of his generation had been killed there was only one female available for him: Noii, a fairly attractive Nelvaanian female and a fine weaver. Norkos was not informed why she had not been claimed by another hunter, but the rest of the village knew that she had admired Norkos from puphood. The Nelvaanian bonding ceremony cannot proceed unless both participants are willing, so she was able to avoid being mated to any other males.
The next many years of Norkos’ life were uneventful. He hunted nofalos and madarats (lupine and avian beasts, respectively), contributing meat to the diet of his tribe, while his mate prepared food and clothing and helped maintain the village structure. Norkos and Noii had three pups in their years together: two females, Anya and Madar, and a male, Fiug, but Norkos never knew that they were his, because of the customs of his people.
He had intended all along to return to the Jedi, first after his trophy had been delivered, then after his mating, and many times after that, but he had found himself getting caught up in the life he had left behind. Being a Jedi was a wonderful thing, and it felt like a family to him, but he couldn’t deny that life on Nelvaan resonated with him. Unfortunately, he couldn’t deny his connection to the Force either. Or not for very long.
On one particular day, twenty years after returning to Nelvaan, Norkos was hunting and stayed out past sunset, fixated on capturing a particularly beautiful and large Madarat, thinking that its tail feathers would look nice entwined in his mate’s hair. Because of his tardiness, he missed the evening meal. Unfortunately for the village, the meal consisted of nofalos who had been eating a lot of a particular type of bean plant whose leaves contained a deadly toxin. The nofalos had built up an immunity to the toxin, but those particular breasts and the beans were not native to the area, having been forced to migrate due to food shortages, so the Vadasza tribe had no such immunity. Every one of them, including Noii, were poisoned and died soon after.
Norkos, when he returned with the bird in hand, was devastated. Sensing that Istenno was punishing him, though he knew not for what offence, Norkos gave his tribe, and especially his family, a traditional cremation, doing his best to recreate the rituals that were normally presided over by Vallasos, the shaman, and left the village. He travelled to the ice caps, where Bothan traders siphoned run-off to sell on the galactic market, and stowed away on one of their ships. He hitchhiked his way from Nelvaan to Bothawui, to Derra IV, to Thyferra, to Commenor, and finally to Coruscant. His Basic had deteriorated more than a little, but he still intended to return to the one palce where he knew he could atone for the offence that had cost him his family: the Jedi.
It had been many years, true, and he had broken the Jedi code in many ways, but as the Council had said when they gave him leave to go in the first place: exceptions had been made in the past. Norkos could not believe that the highest and noblest order in the galaxy would refuse a truly repentant wanderer, especially given his wish to do good and atone for his offences
Lightsaber: Single bladed with a longer-than-usual handle, about 60 cm, wrapped in leather, and a beautiful green Madarat feather (Click)tied to the end
Color: Blue
Practiced Lightsaber forms:
Shii-Cho [4]
Makashi [N/A]
Soresu [1]
Ataru [3]
Shien / Djem So [N/A]
>>Sub-form Backhanded [N/A]
Niman [N/A]
>>Sub-form Jar-kai, or Dual Wield [N/A]
Juyo [N/A]
Double Bladed Combat [N/A]
Force-Sensitive Abilities or practices:
Telekinetic: 3
Telepathic: 1
Body: 4
Sense: 1
Protection: 3
Healing: 4
Destruction: N/A
Specialized Skills: Combat-based moving meditation (instead of finding inner peace through normal meditation, he finds it in kata training)
Attributes:
Physical Strength: 6
Intelligence: 7
Speed: 8
Leadership: 3
Unarmed: 6
Melee Weapons: 7
Ranged Weapons: 4
Force Attunement: +6.5
RP Sample: Norkos lay, belly down, amongst the tall grasses of the Nelvaanian plain. His lelek, with its brilliant red and white paint, was curled beneath him; his darda lay slightly to his side, clutched in his clawed hand. He was the hunter, a shadow on the plain, and his black eyes peered out of the grass at his prey.
The Horax was enormous. It was almost ten times his own height, and easily fifty times his girth. He watched the creature yawn; each one of its teeth was as large as he was. The entirety of this beast would not have fit inside the cavern village of Vadasza, even if the entrance could have admitted him.
Norkos lay, breathing, never blinking, his eyes not leaving the beast for a second. He thought back to the lessons of Master Tu’Hun, and knew that it was not time to strike. It was too early in the day, the beast was fresh and ready. He would wait.
The beast began to move, slow lumbering steps drawing its massive bulk out of the trees and towards food. Norkos moved with it, slithering snake-like along the ground, causing only the barest rustling of the grasses. He watched and followed as the beast crawled to a mud plain and snared a siltcrawler, crushing it between massive teeth. Food was good, it would tire the creature, make it drowsy.
Norkos could sense his own hunger, but he willed it down. His trial would not end for food, and the Horax would not discover him for his aching stomach. He was Jedi, he thought proudly.
The beast continued on, unaware of the hunter following in the grass. It swallowed more siltcrawlers, attempting in vain to satisfy its monstrous hunger. As the sun rose higher in the sky, and the heat grew greater, it sought out another mud plain, but not for food. The Horax immersed itself in the mud, slathering it over blue fur and powerful muscles.
Norkos watched, the sweat beading in his own fur. It dripped into his eyes, but he did not brush it away. He did not blink. He was the Hunter and he would not abandon his prey.
Finally, as the sun lowered into the western sky, the Horax trudged back to its home. Norkos followed diligently, relying more and more on his sensitive ears as the sky darkened. Even as the beast settled in for the night, he waited calmly and patiently, his lupine eyes glowing faintly in the dark, drawing in as much ambient light as possible, his ears focused on the breathing of his prey.
Finally, as the moon rose in the sky, Norkos knew his time was near. The breathing of the beast had levelled, becoming a low rumbling hum; it was at peace with itself, at its most defenceless. Norkos curled his legs beneath his body, raising his hindquarters slowly into the air, concentrating all of his strength into his powerful legs. His hand tightened its grip on his darda and he drew his lelek close to his chest. With a whispered prayer to Istenno, the Great Mother, he released all of the energy stored in his mighty femoral biceps and launched himself towards the slumbering creature.
He was a spear in the wind; sharp, concentrated, and fast, hurtling through the air towards the fantastic Horax. As he approached, he made a miniscule change to his trajectory and plummeted straight towards the neck of the beast, outstretching his darda and plunging it deep into the cords of the Horax’s neck.
The beast roared in pain and flung its head wildly, causing the hunter to lose his grip on the spear and be flung onto the plain. He rolled as he hit the ground, coming up on his feet in a crouching position and spinning, shield raised to defend himself from the angry beast.
The Horax turned towards the thing that had harmed it, staring it down with bloodlust in its eyes. Norkos stared back evenly, feeling its pain through the Force. Pain or no pain, this was now a fight for survival, beast against beast. There would be only one victor, and only one survivor.
The beast roared a deafening roar, shaking the very particles of the air, but Norkos did not move an inch, except to tighten his grip on his lelek. The beast, clearly unused to a creature not fleeing in fear at its rorar, not to mention a creature attacking it to begin with, shook its massive horns menacingly and charged, moving at an incredible speed that belied its massive size.
As the creature approached, enormous paws shaking the ground as it ran, Norkos, in one fluid motion, dove out of its path, drew his tor from its sheath on the inside of his shield, and plunged it into the creature’s leg, tearing out a horrific gash as it continued to run. It screeched in pain, turning about-face with an agility that Norkos had not expected, and clipped him in the back with a horn. The force of impact threw Norkos to the side, and the uneven surface of the horn, born out of an entire lifespan, opened a nasty line on his skin.
Despite this injury, Norkos rose back into defensive position almost instantly; he had no time for pain: if he surrendered to it, the beast would take him.
Although his strike had been a relatively minor one, compared to the size of the creature, it had nevertheless weakened it and it moved much slower than it had before. Norkos’ sharp eyes combed the beast and spotted the handle of his darda which, miraculously, was still intact in the creature’s neck. His eyes were drawn to the beast’s and he felt a connection to the creature, a connection that could only be formed between two creatures who have shed primal blood for their own survival. He felt this, but he knew that he must still defeat this enemy.
This time, he did not wait for the beast to charge; Norkos let out an almighty warrior-scream and ran towards the beast who, startled, nevertheless charged back at him. Norkos threw his lelek to the side and took to running on four legs, powerful forearms propelling him forward at still faster speeds, until he launched himself at the creature.
Instead of taking the full force of the collision, Norkos slowed his flight by grabbing the Horax’s horn, his sharp claws digging into the surface, and launching himself once again, onto the beast’s head, he ran full out along the length, oblivious to the creature’s sounds of pain as his claws dug into flesh, until he reached the spear and wrenched it free, releasing a torrent of blood that covered him and the beast, matting his fur uncomfortably. But Norkos still ran, digging deeper with his claws to compensate for the frenzied actions of the Horax, who was shaking its head wildly to dislodge the thing that was causing so much pain.
Norkos leapt from the beast’s forehead, landing in the well of its horn and turning to face it, brandishing his darda and baring his teeth in a vicious roar. He saw the Horax’s eyes narrow on him, seeing him clearly for the first time, before he put them out with two quick jabs of his spear before leaping off into the grass.
The beast roared in pain and began thrashing violently, trying vainly to stomp out its attacker. Blood flowed freely from its neck and from the sockets of its eyes, creating macabre tears that dripped off of its scales and onto the plain. Norkos spotted his lelek and ran to pick it up, knowing that he would need all of the protection he could get against the creature in this state.
The Horax, hearing Norkos’ footfalls through its pain, careened after him, intent to destroy him, and Norkos only barely managed to raise his shield in time to stop the massive talons, which nonetheless raked large gashes in the primitive wooden shield, and onto Norkos’ arm. Throwing away the now-useless shield, Norkos rolled under the beast and stabbed his darda up desperately, piercing it many times through the chest, trying to find its heart.
The beast roared and screamed, moving this way and that to get away from the stinging, but Norkos was more agile than the severely injured monstrosity, and was finally able to embed his darda almost entirely into the creater’s chest, piercing its heart.
He knew of his success when he heard the beast let out a piercing scream that nearly shattered his eardrums, and he threw every ounce of strength he had into propelling himself out from under the beast before it crushed him in the fall. Unable to support itself any longer, the creature collapsed, driving the spear even further into itself, and releasing a torrent of blood out of its mouth, coating the plain in a horrible ocean of red. A low gurgle was also released, as the creature drowned in its own blood.
Norkos watched it carefully, breathing heavily from his exertion, his blood mixing with the blood of the Horax and dripping from his fur. He didn’t move a muscle until he heard the laboured breaths of the creature stop entirely. He approached the fallen beast, picking his tor from the grass where it had fallen, and lay a weary hand upon its head. ”Bocsass nekem, testver; a nemes lelked eggye Istenno vegul,” He mumbled in Nelvanese: forgive me, brother; your noble spirit is one with Istenno at last: the prayer of the hunter.
Norkos raised his tor above his head and, as he began to remove the head of the Horax, he felt a great sense of relief wash over him. He was back with his people, a Jedi protector to his tribe. And, what was more, he was a Man.
Race: Nelvaanian
Age: 43
Height: 6' 3"
Weight: 215 lbs (on Nelvaan); 253 lbs (on Coruscant)
Appearance:
As a Jedi, Norkos wore the traditional robes of the order. As a Nelvaanian, he wore the loincloth of a hunter and nothing else, except for the geometric patterns on his upper body that were the symbols of his ascent into manhood.
Image
Birth place: Nelvaan (Istenno in his language), in the tribe-village of Vadasza
Faction: Jedi Order
Rank: Knight Guardian
Bio: Norkos was born into a typical family of the Nelvaanian tribe/village Vadasza (the village and tribe share the same name), which meant that he was raised in a nursery by the female elders of his village and never knew his father or mother. He was an unremarkable pup, despite his Force sensitivity (which was seen only by the village shaman, Vallasos). Because there is little conflict within Nelvaanian tribes, and pups are never exposed to situations more dangerous than they can handle, there were no means for these abilities to manifest themselves.
Starting at the age of two, pups are allowed to move around outside the underground caverns where the tribes make their homes, although always under the supervision of a retired hunter to keep them safe from Nelvaan’s more dangerous wildlife. On one such day, when a three-year-old Norkos was stalking a particularly elusive ragcsa (a squirrel-like creature), a Bothan Jedi Healer named Bahuuk Tu’Hun made an emergency landing near the village on her way to Ryloth, seeking fuel.
Although the technologically primitive Nelvaanese were unable to directly assist the Jedi, she was able to use her knowledge of plants to synthesize an organic fuel in sufficient quantities to get her to her destination, where she could replace it with a more suitable product. In her scouring of the plains she ran across young Norkos, and was very impressed with him. Other Nelvaanians, while not entirely unaware of Bothans, saw them rarely and were very wary of her. This youth, however, stared her down proudly and fiercely, and she recognized the faint swirling of the Force around him. With that revelation she pleaded with the village Chieftain, Torzs-Fonok, to allow her to take the child back to Coruscant for proper training. He was initially unrelentingly opposed, refusing to give up a child of his tribe to outsiders, but Vallasos spoke of the boy’s abilities and urged the Chieftain to reconsider. On the advice of his shaman, Torzs-Fonok finally relented.
After explaining everything to Norkos, with the aid of Vallasos, the pair departed Nelvaan for Ryloth. Bahuuk was only on Ryloth for a courier mission, albeit an important one, to deliver a recall message to a Republic spy in a Twi’Lek slaver ring, and left shortly afterwards. Upon arriving back in Coruscant, Norkos was tested by the Jedi Council and deemed fit enough, barely, to enter training as a youngling.
Norkos struggled with the training, which was in areas he had never had to use on Nelvaan. In particular he struggled with basic Force skills, such as telekinesis. He fared considerably better at combat training, even faring surprisingly well at blaster deflection. It became very clear to his instructors that, although he was a below-average Force-user, he had the potential to be an outstanding warrior.
Norkos made no friends during his training, keeping himself to himself in the Nelvaanian way. He was also encountering two very serious problems: language, and weight. Nelvaanians were very rarely exposed to other races, so Norkos spoke only fair Nelvaanese and a weak smattering of Bothese. His lack of language earned him teasing from some of the crueller younglings. Although teasing was something completely foreign to him, and he understood little of it, the sense that they viewed him as inferior was enough to kick his competitive drive into high gear; every night after training, until he was 16, Norkos would sit in the library for hours cramming Galactic Basic into his skull.
He was also having a problem with his weight. Gravity on Nelvaan was significantly less than on Coruscant (15% less, in fact), so Norkos was finding it difficult to move around with the same agility that he had back on his homeworld. As much as he tried strength training to enhance his natural strength and overcome the barrier, he was finding it increasingly difficult. Totally by accident, during a telekinesis class, he found that he could apply the principles he learned in class to his own body, making him lighter. He was really just levitating his entire body structure a few micrometres, but as far as he was concerned he was reducing the force of gravity on his body.
Despite many problems, Norkos managed to succeed in his youngling class, and was taken as a padawan at age 13 by the same Jedi who found him, Bahuuk Tu’Hun. As part of his padawan initiation ritual, he crafted his first lightsaber in the standard style with a blue blade to honour his species. In his training with her, he studied the Ataru form of lightsaber combat extensively, taking advantage of his natural speed and agility, but he also dabbled in Soresu, testing his super-human reflexes to the extreme.
When Norkos was 17, he and Bahuuk were sent on a mission to investigate a report of Mandalorian activity on the remote world of Nex Humas. The reports turned out to be true; a small band of Mandalorian mercenaries had set up a camp on the planet. Although they posed no significant threat to the Republic, they did not take kindly to Jedi visitors. Bahuuk was able to subdue the clan through the Force long enough for the two to make their escape, but not before a Mandalorian sharpshooter destroyed Norkos’ lightsaber and was beaten to death with his own rifle by a provoked Nelvaanian. Unknown to Norkos at the time, Bahuuk had stored a piece of Mandalorian iron on her ship, before they left, as a gift for her promising student.
Norkos was lectured on his Jedi responsibility to promote peace by the Council upon the pair’s return to Coruscant, but he was spared any disciplinary action due to the fact that the Mandalorians had proven themselves hostile by firing on him, and he argued that he had undertaken the best course of action. Shortly thereafter he built a second lightsaber, a longer one to compensate for his large hands and as a nod to the spear-wielding tradition of his species. As his training progressed, he would learn the discipline to choose the best moment to strike, instead of striking immediately.
Norkos underwent the Trials at the usual time, and passed them mostly on the strength of his combat skill and his level-headedness, despite his below-average skill with the Force. After his Knighthood ceremony, his old master Bahuuk, whom he had told what he could remember of his homeworld, presented him with the piece of Mandalorian iron she had kept for years, for him to turn into a lelek, or Nelvaanian warrior-shield. Her gesture reminded him of his obligations to his people, and in particular of the manhood ceremony he was supposed to have completed years before.
Bahuuk could sense that the conflict was weighing heavily on Norkos' mind, so she went before the Council to argue for him. They were reluctant to allow him to leave, but Bahuuk explained to them the significance of the ritual to the Nelvaanian people; if he didn't pass it, she told them, his own self-doubt would prevent him from reaching his full potential and hinder his proper functioning as a member of the Galactic society. The Council discussed it amongst themselves for several days, but they ultimately decided that they would allow him to return, for a short personal leave. Exceptions had been granted before, they told him, and it would be morally wrong of them to hinder the cultural development of one of their Knights. The only thing they requested was that Norkos leave his lightsaber behind, as a sign of good faith that he would indeed return. Always a warrior, he was loathe to part with the weapon, but the call to Nelvaan was too strong and he ultimately agreed.
If Norkos had known the full extent of the ritual he was to take part in, he probably would have forgotten the whole thing right there.
With the assistance of Vallasos, Norkos was able to convince the chieftain to let him complete the test of manhood later than the other pups of his generation, but he needed to complete a more difficult test, in keeping with his greater age, strength, and skills. Where the pups he had known in his youth needed only to fetch a scale from the mighty Horax, a massive carnivorous beast, Norkos would have to return the head of one, using only the traditional weapons of a Nelvaanian hunter. With his darda (spear), lelek, and tor (knife), Norkos set out after a Horax and managed to kill one after a struggle, using the knife to cut off its head as a trophy of his victory. The chieftain had the skull hung in the village as a monument to the tribe’s first Jedi and prodigal son.
Norkos underwent the manhood ceremony after his trial was complete, where he was officially given his darda and tor, and bruise-leech crawlers were applied to his upper body to tattoo geometric shapes around his pectorals, shoulder blades, arms, and forearms. Under normal circumstances he would also be given a shield, but he opted to use the piece of Mandalorian iron given to him by his master, painting it to look like a ferocious warrior spirit.
As part of his ascent into manhood, something he had not known beforehand, Norkos was also paired with a female mate. Nelvaanians mate for life, so even though several hunters of his generation had been killed there was only one female available for him: Noii, a fairly attractive Nelvaanian female and a fine weaver. Norkos was not informed why she had not been claimed by another hunter, but the rest of the village knew that she had admired Norkos from puphood. The Nelvaanian bonding ceremony cannot proceed unless both participants are willing, so she was able to avoid being mated to any other males.
The next many years of Norkos’ life were uneventful. He hunted nofalos and madarats (lupine and avian beasts, respectively), contributing meat to the diet of his tribe, while his mate prepared food and clothing and helped maintain the village structure. Norkos and Noii had three pups in their years together: two females, Anya and Madar, and a male, Fiug, but Norkos never knew that they were his, because of the customs of his people.
He had intended all along to return to the Jedi, first after his trophy had been delivered, then after his mating, and many times after that, but he had found himself getting caught up in the life he had left behind. Being a Jedi was a wonderful thing, and it felt like a family to him, but he couldn’t deny that life on Nelvaan resonated with him. Unfortunately, he couldn’t deny his connection to the Force either. Or not for very long.
On one particular day, twenty years after returning to Nelvaan, Norkos was hunting and stayed out past sunset, fixated on capturing a particularly beautiful and large Madarat, thinking that its tail feathers would look nice entwined in his mate’s hair. Because of his tardiness, he missed the evening meal. Unfortunately for the village, the meal consisted of nofalos who had been eating a lot of a particular type of bean plant whose leaves contained a deadly toxin. The nofalos had built up an immunity to the toxin, but those particular breasts and the beans were not native to the area, having been forced to migrate due to food shortages, so the Vadasza tribe had no such immunity. Every one of them, including Noii, were poisoned and died soon after.
Norkos, when he returned with the bird in hand, was devastated. Sensing that Istenno was punishing him, though he knew not for what offence, Norkos gave his tribe, and especially his family, a traditional cremation, doing his best to recreate the rituals that were normally presided over by Vallasos, the shaman, and left the village. He travelled to the ice caps, where Bothan traders siphoned run-off to sell on the galactic market, and stowed away on one of their ships. He hitchhiked his way from Nelvaan to Bothawui, to Derra IV, to Thyferra, to Commenor, and finally to Coruscant. His Basic had deteriorated more than a little, but he still intended to return to the one palce where he knew he could atone for the offence that had cost him his family: the Jedi.
It had been many years, true, and he had broken the Jedi code in many ways, but as the Council had said when they gave him leave to go in the first place: exceptions had been made in the past. Norkos could not believe that the highest and noblest order in the galaxy would refuse a truly repentant wanderer, especially given his wish to do good and atone for his offences
Lightsaber: Single bladed with a longer-than-usual handle, about 60 cm, wrapped in leather, and a beautiful green Madarat feather (Click)tied to the end
Color: Blue
Practiced Lightsaber forms:
Shii-Cho [4]
Makashi [N/A]
Soresu [1]
Ataru [3]
Shien / Djem So [N/A]
>>Sub-form Backhanded [N/A]
Niman [N/A]
>>Sub-form Jar-kai, or Dual Wield [N/A]
Juyo [N/A]
Double Bladed Combat [N/A]
Force-Sensitive Abilities or practices:
Telekinetic: 3
Telepathic: 1
Body: 4
Sense: 1
Protection: 3
Healing: 4
Destruction: N/A
Specialized Skills: Combat-based moving meditation (instead of finding inner peace through normal meditation, he finds it in kata training)
Attributes:
Physical Strength: 6
Intelligence: 7
Speed: 8
Leadership: 3
Unarmed: 6
Melee Weapons: 7
Ranged Weapons: 4
Force Attunement: +6.5
RP Sample: Norkos lay, belly down, amongst the tall grasses of the Nelvaanian plain. His lelek, with its brilliant red and white paint, was curled beneath him; his darda lay slightly to his side, clutched in his clawed hand. He was the hunter, a shadow on the plain, and his black eyes peered out of the grass at his prey.
The Horax was enormous. It was almost ten times his own height, and easily fifty times his girth. He watched the creature yawn; each one of its teeth was as large as he was. The entirety of this beast would not have fit inside the cavern village of Vadasza, even if the entrance could have admitted him.
Norkos lay, breathing, never blinking, his eyes not leaving the beast for a second. He thought back to the lessons of Master Tu’Hun, and knew that it was not time to strike. It was too early in the day, the beast was fresh and ready. He would wait.
The beast began to move, slow lumbering steps drawing its massive bulk out of the trees and towards food. Norkos moved with it, slithering snake-like along the ground, causing only the barest rustling of the grasses. He watched and followed as the beast crawled to a mud plain and snared a siltcrawler, crushing it between massive teeth. Food was good, it would tire the creature, make it drowsy.
Norkos could sense his own hunger, but he willed it down. His trial would not end for food, and the Horax would not discover him for his aching stomach. He was Jedi, he thought proudly.
The beast continued on, unaware of the hunter following in the grass. It swallowed more siltcrawlers, attempting in vain to satisfy its monstrous hunger. As the sun rose higher in the sky, and the heat grew greater, it sought out another mud plain, but not for food. The Horax immersed itself in the mud, slathering it over blue fur and powerful muscles.
Norkos watched, the sweat beading in his own fur. It dripped into his eyes, but he did not brush it away. He did not blink. He was the Hunter and he would not abandon his prey.
Finally, as the sun lowered into the western sky, the Horax trudged back to its home. Norkos followed diligently, relying more and more on his sensitive ears as the sky darkened. Even as the beast settled in for the night, he waited calmly and patiently, his lupine eyes glowing faintly in the dark, drawing in as much ambient light as possible, his ears focused on the breathing of his prey.
Finally, as the moon rose in the sky, Norkos knew his time was near. The breathing of the beast had levelled, becoming a low rumbling hum; it was at peace with itself, at its most defenceless. Norkos curled his legs beneath his body, raising his hindquarters slowly into the air, concentrating all of his strength into his powerful legs. His hand tightened its grip on his darda and he drew his lelek close to his chest. With a whispered prayer to Istenno, the Great Mother, he released all of the energy stored in his mighty femoral biceps and launched himself towards the slumbering creature.
He was a spear in the wind; sharp, concentrated, and fast, hurtling through the air towards the fantastic Horax. As he approached, he made a miniscule change to his trajectory and plummeted straight towards the neck of the beast, outstretching his darda and plunging it deep into the cords of the Horax’s neck.
The beast roared in pain and flung its head wildly, causing the hunter to lose his grip on the spear and be flung onto the plain. He rolled as he hit the ground, coming up on his feet in a crouching position and spinning, shield raised to defend himself from the angry beast.
The Horax turned towards the thing that had harmed it, staring it down with bloodlust in its eyes. Norkos stared back evenly, feeling its pain through the Force. Pain or no pain, this was now a fight for survival, beast against beast. There would be only one victor, and only one survivor.
The beast roared a deafening roar, shaking the very particles of the air, but Norkos did not move an inch, except to tighten his grip on his lelek. The beast, clearly unused to a creature not fleeing in fear at its rorar, not to mention a creature attacking it to begin with, shook its massive horns menacingly and charged, moving at an incredible speed that belied its massive size.
As the creature approached, enormous paws shaking the ground as it ran, Norkos, in one fluid motion, dove out of its path, drew his tor from its sheath on the inside of his shield, and plunged it into the creature’s leg, tearing out a horrific gash as it continued to run. It screeched in pain, turning about-face with an agility that Norkos had not expected, and clipped him in the back with a horn. The force of impact threw Norkos to the side, and the uneven surface of the horn, born out of an entire lifespan, opened a nasty line on his skin.
Despite this injury, Norkos rose back into defensive position almost instantly; he had no time for pain: if he surrendered to it, the beast would take him.
Although his strike had been a relatively minor one, compared to the size of the creature, it had nevertheless weakened it and it moved much slower than it had before. Norkos’ sharp eyes combed the beast and spotted the handle of his darda which, miraculously, was still intact in the creature’s neck. His eyes were drawn to the beast’s and he felt a connection to the creature, a connection that could only be formed between two creatures who have shed primal blood for their own survival. He felt this, but he knew that he must still defeat this enemy.
This time, he did not wait for the beast to charge; Norkos let out an almighty warrior-scream and ran towards the beast who, startled, nevertheless charged back at him. Norkos threw his lelek to the side and took to running on four legs, powerful forearms propelling him forward at still faster speeds, until he launched himself at the creature.
Instead of taking the full force of the collision, Norkos slowed his flight by grabbing the Horax’s horn, his sharp claws digging into the surface, and launching himself once again, onto the beast’s head, he ran full out along the length, oblivious to the creature’s sounds of pain as his claws dug into flesh, until he reached the spear and wrenched it free, releasing a torrent of blood that covered him and the beast, matting his fur uncomfortably. But Norkos still ran, digging deeper with his claws to compensate for the frenzied actions of the Horax, who was shaking its head wildly to dislodge the thing that was causing so much pain.
Norkos leapt from the beast’s forehead, landing in the well of its horn and turning to face it, brandishing his darda and baring his teeth in a vicious roar. He saw the Horax’s eyes narrow on him, seeing him clearly for the first time, before he put them out with two quick jabs of his spear before leaping off into the grass.
The beast roared in pain and began thrashing violently, trying vainly to stomp out its attacker. Blood flowed freely from its neck and from the sockets of its eyes, creating macabre tears that dripped off of its scales and onto the plain. Norkos spotted his lelek and ran to pick it up, knowing that he would need all of the protection he could get against the creature in this state.
The Horax, hearing Norkos’ footfalls through its pain, careened after him, intent to destroy him, and Norkos only barely managed to raise his shield in time to stop the massive talons, which nonetheless raked large gashes in the primitive wooden shield, and onto Norkos’ arm. Throwing away the now-useless shield, Norkos rolled under the beast and stabbed his darda up desperately, piercing it many times through the chest, trying to find its heart.
The beast roared and screamed, moving this way and that to get away from the stinging, but Norkos was more agile than the severely injured monstrosity, and was finally able to embed his darda almost entirely into the creater’s chest, piercing its heart.
He knew of his success when he heard the beast let out a piercing scream that nearly shattered his eardrums, and he threw every ounce of strength he had into propelling himself out from under the beast before it crushed him in the fall. Unable to support itself any longer, the creature collapsed, driving the spear even further into itself, and releasing a torrent of blood out of its mouth, coating the plain in a horrible ocean of red. A low gurgle was also released, as the creature drowned in its own blood.
Norkos watched it carefully, breathing heavily from his exertion, his blood mixing with the blood of the Horax and dripping from his fur. He didn’t move a muscle until he heard the laboured breaths of the creature stop entirely. He approached the fallen beast, picking his tor from the grass where it had fallen, and lay a weary hand upon its head. ”Bocsass nekem, testver; a nemes lelked eggye Istenno vegul,” He mumbled in Nelvanese: forgive me, brother; your noble spirit is one with Istenno at last: the prayer of the hunter.
Norkos raised his tor above his head and, as he began to remove the head of the Horax, he felt a great sense of relief wash over him. He was back with his people, a Jedi protector to his tribe. And, what was more, he was a Man.
