Post by Hand Soler on Oct 28, 2009 4:18:05 GMT -5
Name: Irad Demiar
Race: Human
Age: 42
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 159
Appearance:
Birth place: Corellia
Faction: Jedi
Rank: Jedi Knight: Guardian
Bio: Born on Corellia, Irad went through the same process that all other Jedi candidates go through, and at much the usual times. It was clear early on that Irad had a natural affinity for the Force, even at the earliest age that it could be determined. Countless times he astounded the Masters at how quickly he picked up certain things, such as properly wielding a lightsaber. As he aged, his affinity only strengthened, multiplying at a near EXPONENTIAL rate. It was clear from the point he made youngling status that he was going to be a very skilled Jedi when he finally made Knight status. This didn’t take long, and it came with vast consequences as can be seen if one simply listens to his story.
Irad’s parents were a very happy couple, and were ecstatic when they found out that Irina, his mother, was expecting their first child. The two of them, Irina and her husband, Corean, both made many, many preparations for the coming child, and to make sure that the child was well cared for. With Corean’s shipping business, and Irina’s embroidery and sales of fine fabrics, money would not have been an issue, no matter HOW expensive the child got.
Of course, when Irad was born, his entire family was there, not just his mother, but both sets of grandparents, numerous aunts and uncles, as well as several cousins. His birth was welcomed by many in the family, even though most of them were not there. Some were on Coruscant, others on various other sundry worlds, and only a few on Corellia. As a family as wide branching as the Demiars, it was somewhat IMPOSSIBLE to get them all onto one planet at the same time, on such short notice.
Unfortunately, there was a sadness marring this joyous occasion for the Demiars. Irad’s father had been killed in a pirate attack on his personal freighter, which he only flew on special occasions, and for special loads. One such load had attracted the pirates’ attention, and the result was catastrophic, nearly costing Irina her entire fortune. Thankfully, the rest of the family stepped in to keep things solvent, and Irina set about happily raising her newborn son.
For the first year and a half, everything was perfectly normal, and Irina was overjoyed at having a child of her own to raise after watching her two sisters raise their own children. But unfortunately, it was not to last for very long. What she didn’t know was that Corean’s grandfather was a Jedi, and that power resided in Irad’s blood. The first Jedi came when Irad was only a year and a half. The Jedi was turned away flat, told never to come back.
It took another six months, before Irina realized that refusing to have her son trained would be a wrong done to not only him, but to his father’s family as well. So with great reluctance, she turned Irad over to the Jedi Knight that came at her request, when Irad was two years old, and watched with tears in her eyes as her son was taken out of her life forever.
It didn’t take long for Irad to fall into the learning of a Jedi, even though from time to time he still wondered what his parents had been like, who they were, what it was that they did for a living. But with all the training he was putting in with the Masters and the other Younglings, he didn’t really have a whole lot of time for thoughts on that.
In the beginning, Irad struggled with the tasks that were set to ALL the younglings. But within three years, he was one of the top younglings, but not THE top. Of course, there was always someone better than him, but he didn’t care about that. Many times, once he was able to fully comprehend what was happening, Irad was heard to remark, “I don’t care if someone’s better than me. So long as I have the strength to do what must be done, I care not.”
This remark actually got him in trouble once or twice, but it was minor trouble. After all, that sort of remark could very easily be looked upon as the first step toward walking a darker path, as a lack of concern for how strength is gained will often lead to a blindness of just how it IS gained. With all that was going on, and all that he was showing promise in, it wasn’t much on anyone’s mind to discourage his progress. After all, a youngling as enthusiastic as Irad was was BOUND to make a good Knight some day.
Even as a youngling, however, Irad excelled in a few areas. He was much stronger and faster than the other younglings, due to exercises he had worked out on his own. This was complimented, when Force training began, by an uncanny knack for telekinetic powers. The Jedi Council soon realized that what they had here was the makings of a skilled Jedi Guardian.
But rather than make the mistake of accelerating his training and putting him into Padawan status unprepared, they kept his training on course, keeping him with the appropriate age group.
But for Irad, the promotion to Padawan couldn’t come soon enough. He was tired, by age 10, of constantly being stuck with other children, because that is how he saw it.
As much as Irad was looking forward to promotion, it soon became clear that he might have been physically prepared for the demands a Padawan must deal with, but mentally there was some doubt. Of course, it started as Padawan-Master relationships usually do, with Jedi Knight Kiyana Zhat'sharif choosing him as her Padawan from amongst all the others.
Kiyana, in a way, served as a surrogate mother for Irad, since he had been taken from his mother before he could form a clear attachment to her, as was the custom. So it became much of a mother-son relationship between them. Kiyana was always patient, never charging straight ahead into ANYTHING. She contemplated EVERY course of action and the potential consequences, and then acted on the one she thought was best.
Though Kiyana didn't notice at first with the truly diplomatic missions, but as they progressed to missions where combat could occur, she soon realized that he took too much time on occasion deciding what he would do. On one occasion in particular, where a particularly touchy negotation dissolved in a shooting match, hesitation almost allowed a blaster bolt to take Kiyana's head off. Fortunately, the Force was easy enough to reach for Irad, the saber came up QUICKLY, BARELY deflecting the bolt away from her as they stood back to back.
When the mission was over, she went before the Council and asked for some additional time away from combat situations to take more time to train Irad and help him speed up the decision process. She was granted this time, and she used every minute of it, whether Irad was awake or not. When he was sleeping, it was usually because she had mentally exhausted him in throwing scenarios at him and requiring him to make a snap decision on it as if he was actually IN the situation. She sought to instill the very method she used to make snap decisions into Irad, and it was clear, even though it may not have taken COMPLETE hold, it did make an impression.
It was clear that the additional training had helped. Perhaps a little too much. Rather than being unsure of himself and slow to act without consideration, he seemed more brash, more headstrong. But all in all, it got results when they were needed. It was clear that the Guardian training would be the right one for this young Padawan, and that was all the more evident as he continued to make headway in his own personal studies.
But what no one knew was that all the time he spent off by himself on some out of the way roof, he was never really alone. Of course, no one would know it, because he didn’t really talk much, outside of acquiring information on potential risks on an upcoming mission.
The trouble started on a mission to a back water world. Unable to save a young woman from dying, a young woman who reminded him of SOMEONE, someone he couldn’t place, he sank into a bit of a mild depression, mellowing out slightly, no longer as headstrong as he had been. Even after returning, and getting advice from his master on how to cope, everyone noticed something a bit… off about him. Nothing wrong per se, but just not right either.
He sighed, shaking his head. This was a room of the Temple he had never been in before. It DEFINITELY had him confused as to what was going on. His right hand held loosely to his dual-phase saber, and the left hovered near his shoto, the one he had been given by Kiyana the day he finally managed to, through a stroke of luck, put her on her back in a sparring match. Even HE admitted that it was only dumb luck that she had lost her balance on a slick patch of grass.
But she had insisted on gifting it to him nonetheless. So he had accepted, as would be expected by ALL of the Jedi Council.
But his thoughts were cut off when he felt a very familiar threat pinging away at his mind. He swore, the dual phase saber in his hand igniting, as the shoto shot out to his hand and ignited. "Vornskrs," he hissed. "What in the name of the stars above are the Jedi doing keeping vornskrs down here?"
He sighed, and settled into a low crouch. But then he felt another tingle accompanied by a grating sound, and the tingle grew stronger. "What in the..." But that was as far as he got, as a pair of vornskrs chose that very moment to attack. He almost didn't get out of the way in time, and was reminded of that by a triple set of claw marks that ripped into his back, sending him to his knees in intense, searing pain. He ALMOST didn't remember that this was a holo-simulation. But it sure as HELLS felt like it was real. Swearing, he shook his head, grunting slightly.
Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, and time itself seemed to slow. When he opened his eyes again, he smiled, standing back to his feet. "You want to taste my blood? This day you will have a nasty fight on your hands," he hissed, and simply stood there. This time, though, when one of them lunged at him, it contacted only empty space. He had already whirled to the side, kicking at the side of the creature before spinning out of range of the retaliatory claw swipe. He laughed.
"Is that the best you have?" Leaping, he landed on the creature's back, driving its lower jaw into the hard-packed ground beneath him, knocking it out. "One down without killing it," he said softly, and turned...
Only to realize that the second vornskr had vanished from sight. "Oh no you don't," he muttered, and his eyes closed. This was something he wasn't accustomed to, but he knew how this was going to end.
When the vornskr lunged, thinking it would be striking the back of an unexpectant meal, it quickly realized its mistake when that lunge took it right into a vibrating shaft of blue-green light. "Not today, cat," he muttered, and deactivated the saber. Looking at the four doorways, he sighed. "Which one is which? Ah. That one," he said, and headed through the doorway.
As soon as he stepped through the door, he swore, and stopped dead still. He was in a room -- if you could call it that, as most of the floor wasn't even there. There was a ledge large enough for a single person to stand on in front of the doors on either side, and a narrow ledge -- almost too narrow to cross -- over the middle of a massive pit.
Moving forward slightly, he looked over the edge, and grimaced. That was a LONG drop. And he doubted even HE would be able to slow himself enough to not break any bones. Shaking his head, he pulled back from the pit, looking across at the other door. Too far to jump, even with assistance from the Force.
Sighing, he took a step forward, clipping the lightsabers back to his belt. "This is NOT going to be fun," he muttered. Heights like this TERRIFIED him to no end. Half the time, a distance of more than twenty feet to solid ground had him shaking. This was a GREAT DEAL more than twenty feet.
Closing his eyes for a moment, he sought that calm center that ALL Jedi learned to find very early in training. When he found it, his eyes opened, and he stepped out onto the narrow ledge.
He teetered there for a moment, sure he was going to fall, but he managed to find a balance, and slowly, steadily, started making his way across the narrow beam. It took him some time, and since he had no timepiece, he couldn't tell HOW MUCH, but he finally made it across, leaning over with his hands on his knees once he made it across. "Dammit. Who's bright idea was that?" he said as he pressed the plate to open the door to his third test.
When he walked into the dark room, he shook his head. "Gotta be Flesh," he said softly, looking around at the darkness, which turned to pitch black as the door behind him closed with a hiss. "Oh, just BEAUTIFUL!" he muttered, shaking his head. His hand reached for the saber on his belt, but then shook his head, instead clasping his hands in front of him while he waited silently for whatever was next.
But nothing happened. So he started pacing, walking carefully until he sensed a wall in front of him, only to turn and pace in a different direction. This went on for about an hour or so, he was pretty sure. By now he had a pretty good idea that the room was a square room with 50 feet to a side. So he paced off into the exact middle of the room, settling into a meditative stance, before taking a deep breath and retreating within himself.
He had no idea how much time passed while he waited, but what he DID know was that he was playing the last mission over and over again in his head. Critiquing his own actions, making sure they would be up to Kiyana's standards -- HIS standards actually, since she had drilled them into him since day one.
But then he paused. 'What am I doing? I'm going over this to see if I could have made it go quicker? What kind of a Jedi AM I? That's not the Jedi way. Speed is not the answer. Speed can complicate things at times.' He shook his head within the meditative trance, not even realizing that the door on the far end of the room had slid open silently, and Kiyana was now kneeling in front of him, as well as THE Master of the Jedi. This time, his voice rang out with the train of his thoughts. "No, that's not a Jedi's way. I should be thinking of how I could have made that turn out BETTER. How it could have ended better. How we could have avoided that whole emotional breakdown from the mayor. Not how we could have avoided the whole thing. I have to do better. I WILL do better."
But when his eyes snapped open, he sighed. "I failed, didn't I? I didn't get them all."
Kiyana looked at the other Master, and simply smiled. She spoke, her voice soft, her words coming slowly. "I'd say Jedi Knight Irad Demiar doesn't realize that the first room was TWO tests in one, wouldn't you, Master?"
The much older looking Jedi smiled. "No. But he does now. Congratulations, Knight Demiar. As soon as you have had a chance to rest from this FOUR DAY Trial, you will be expected to begin thinking about who you would like as your Padawan. Until then, go get some rest."
Irad stood, bowing deeply. "Master Kiyana, Grandmaster, thank you both. I think I'll go get something to... to eat, and... and then..." But with that, his eyes slid closed, and his body dropped from exhaustion. He had never even realized it had been FOUR DAYS since he had entered this MAZE of a Trial.
When Irad was 22, he was finally gifted with Knight status, as well as his own Padawan. Of course, this was a surprise to him, as he had not expected to be given a Padawan straight out into Knighthood. But he made the best of it, once again traveling all over the galaxy, this time as the TEACHER rather than the student.
He seemed to throw himself headlong into Knighthood and all it entailed, but his Padawan, [insert name], sensed something constantly troubled him. What no one knew -- what he never told ANYONE, not even his Padawan, was that once again, his mind was plagued by thoughts of his unknown parents. Of course, these were no thoughts to be running through the mind of a Jedi Knight, so he buried them as deeply as he could, trying not to let them rule his mind.
It was clear that it worked for a time, as he quickly handled every mission that was handed to him and his Padawan with minimal fuss, less bloodshed, and even LESS violence. But it wasn’t to last, as everything else in his life to this point.
It wasn’t until a mission nearly cost his Padawan her life that he began to seriously doubt his own abilities, and start looking for other sources of power. But as always happens with such instances, this search led him to the Dark Side. But with a thirst for power born of a desire to not cause any more near death experiences, he delved into forbidden teachings on remote planets, and soon, even his Padawan knew something was wrong, SERIOUSLY wrong with him.
But he was never cast out of the Jedi order. Rather, he left after a particularly vicious argument with his old Master, and took what he had learned, leaving the Order behind. But before he left, he went to his Padawan, and apologized to her for being a poor Master.
When next he settled down, he was a completely changed man. His eyes had turned a permanently bloodshot red, and his body was wracked by bloody coughs. But he never truly realized what was the cause of these issues, at least not until it was very nearly too late.
Of course, as is the way of such paths to power, it was a slippery slope. Irad fell deeper and deeper into the pit of the Dark Side, until it consumed every molecule of his being. It seemed that Irad would forever be lost to the Dark Side, and so he was for the longest time. Lost within his quest for power, nothing seemed able to reach him, not even the cries of those he once protected.
It took completely losing his mind and massacring nearly an entire village for Irad to realize that he had fallen to the Dark Side. But he did not have the will to turn away from it until a confrontation with his old master. This confrontation caused him to realize that he did indeed have the will to survive, and to return to the way he once lived.
This confrontation served to test every single boundary that Irad had set for himself, and then proceeded to cross over time and time again. First, it tested his willingness to mow through several other people to get to his master. Second, it tested his willingness to strike when an opponent had no hope of defending. Finally, it tested his willingness to sever ALL ties with his past.
Unfortunately, he failed all these tests. He ordered the crowd to disperse, using Jedi suggestion to clear them. He gave Kiyana a chance to draw her own saber before attacking. And finally, even after he had disarmed her, sending her saber flying across the courtyard where they were fighting, he refused to strike her down. The report that Kiyana filed stated that just before he walked away, he said one simple line. "I will not fight my family."
After the confrontation with his master, Irad spent the next fifteen years traveling world to world, spending a few months on each one. He told no one why he was doing this, but in his heart he knew he was searching for his focus.
He eventually, somehow, found his way back to Corellia, and there he found his mother. Or rather, his mother found him, by the fact that he looked every bit like his father. This was the turning point in his travels, nearly ten years after he started, and it proved to be one of the most pivotal meetings in his life.
It was during the months he spent on Corellia that he learned what he now knows about his parents, and how his father died. This sparked a flame in his soul, in his heart, to see to it that as few people died in such circumstances as was humanly possible. Well, Jedi-ly possible, anyway. It was ALSO while he was here that he learned that the young woman he had failed to save had been his own younger half-sister, born some three years after he had been taken to the Jedi.
While on Corellia, he spent a lot of time on the rooftops, overlooking the city, watching the life that bustled in the streets. It was during this time of reflection that he realized that all he had done, all he had given up, was for naught if he didn't set things right. So the first thing he did was make it clear to the loan sharks that were trying to take what was left of his family's estate -- little as it was by this point -- that they were tampering with the family of a Jedi. The loan sharks didn't care that it was a Dark Jedi at the moment. All they saw were the twin lightsabers on the belt.
Shortly after this, his journey turned slightly, heading back to Coruscant. This last journey before his return took five more years of his life, but when he finally arrived, he knew things would never be the same. He had betrayed the order, turned against them, turned against their very ideals.
This was made all the more true when his own master challenged him to a lightsaber duel for his right to reenter the Jedi Order. But due to the extended amount of time he had spent thinking, he refused to allow the fight to last more than a few minutes, casting aside his sabers. But this had been the final test administered by his master.
Due to his actions during the test, he was offered reinstatement at Master level, but he refused, only accepting his Knighthood back. To this day, in the five years that he has been with the Order this time, he has been offered the promotion to Master three times, and turned it down every time, stating that someone who has transgressed as he has should NEVER be allowed the rank of Master, for the slope to the Dark Side is a slippery one, and one not easy to leave.
Lightsaber: Dual Wield (Primary is Dual Phase, secondary is Shoto Single-Phase)
Color: Primary is Blue.
Secondary is green.
The handle is the length of a hand and a half vibroblade's handle, to better accommodate the crystal switching mechanism and additional gems that reside within the handle.
Secondary Saber blade is a vibrant green. The shoto's handle is the normal length for a shoto saber, but the handle curves back slightly, to accommodate a reversed hold on the saber during combat.
Practiced Lightsaber forms:
Shii-Cho: 5
Makashi: 1
Soresu: N/A
Ataru: 3
Shien / Djem So: N/A
>>Sub-form Backhanded: N/A
Niman: 5
>>Sub-form Jar-kai, or Dual Wield: 5
Juyo: N/A
Double Bladed Combat: N/A
Force-Sensitive Abilities or practices:
Telekinetic: 7
Telepathic: 1
Body: 5
Sense: 2
Protection: 5
Healing: 2
Destruction: 2
Specialized Skills:
Attributes:
Physical Strength: 6
Intelligence: 5
Speed: 6
Leadership: 3
Unarmed: 5
Melee Weapons: 5
Ranged Weapons: 1
Force Attunement: +4
RP Sample:
He nodded, sighing softly. He knew what this meant, and he knew it was not going to be pretty. Holding out his hands, he focused on his newly-reestablished bond with the TRUTH of the Force, and extended his hands. "As you wish, Master," he said, shrugging his robe away as his sabers twitched on his belt, snapping out to his hands as soon as they were clear. The shoto handle flipped around, landing backward in his hand, the green blade extending out as the green blade ignited from the longer handle with the characteristic snap-hiss.
He snapped the longer blade up in front of his face, before dropping down into his fighting stance, the shoto held in front of him, crosswise across his chest, as the other went into a high spot, angled down and forward, much like the stinger of a scorpion.
He waited, his eyes locked on those of the Jedi Master before him, the one that was testing him to see if he had earned the right to be re-admitted to the Jedi Order. He knew this was going to be an even more difficult test than the first one he had endured, to become a Knight the first time.
He flipped backward as the Master charged, his blades thrumming through the air. He landed in a crouch, one foot planted back against the wall, and the other planted hard against the floor. His boots scuffed slightly as he pushed off, the longer blade coming down and around, intersecting with a shower of sparks with the saber of the Master before him. The two locked, staring at each other across the flashing blades, and then Irad broke the hold, flipping up and back, landing on the central walkway around the chamber.
He sighed, and shook his head. "I will not fight you. It won't prove anything. Fighting you holds no honor, no dignity. You were once my Master, my mentor... The only father I knew. I disappointed you, I know that, when I fell. But I have seen the folly of my ways." He shook his head, and dropped back to the chamber floor, deactivating the sabers, the metal clattering as he tossed them aside. "I'm done fighting you, I'm done fighting the Jedi. Fighting you, fighting your brothers -- MY brothers and sisters, before I turned on them -- is the same as fighting against the Force itself. I WILL NOT do so again," he said calmly.
The Master started laughing, and Irad's eyebrow lifted. "That was precisely what I wanted to hear, Irad," the Master said quietly, calmly, deactivating her own saber. "With that, you have passed your final test. Now, this does NOT mean you will be able to attain Master status. Due to your... distraction, you will never be allowed to progress to a seat on the Council. HOWEVER. You will be re-accorded Knight status, as you had before you left our teachings." She held out her hands, and the two cast aside sabers leapt to them, and she grinned. "And I see you've perfected the lightsaber building techniques I taught you, my apprentice."
Race: Human
Age: 42
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 159
Appearance:
Birth place: Corellia
Faction: Jedi
Rank: Jedi Knight: Guardian
Bio: Born on Corellia, Irad went through the same process that all other Jedi candidates go through, and at much the usual times. It was clear early on that Irad had a natural affinity for the Force, even at the earliest age that it could be determined. Countless times he astounded the Masters at how quickly he picked up certain things, such as properly wielding a lightsaber. As he aged, his affinity only strengthened, multiplying at a near EXPONENTIAL rate. It was clear from the point he made youngling status that he was going to be a very skilled Jedi when he finally made Knight status. This didn’t take long, and it came with vast consequences as can be seen if one simply listens to his story.
An Unhappy Birth
Irad’s parents were a very happy couple, and were ecstatic when they found out that Irina, his mother, was expecting their first child. The two of them, Irina and her husband, Corean, both made many, many preparations for the coming child, and to make sure that the child was well cared for. With Corean’s shipping business, and Irina’s embroidery and sales of fine fabrics, money would not have been an issue, no matter HOW expensive the child got.
Of course, when Irad was born, his entire family was there, not just his mother, but both sets of grandparents, numerous aunts and uncles, as well as several cousins. His birth was welcomed by many in the family, even though most of them were not there. Some were on Coruscant, others on various other sundry worlds, and only a few on Corellia. As a family as wide branching as the Demiars, it was somewhat IMPOSSIBLE to get them all onto one planet at the same time, on such short notice.
Unfortunately, there was a sadness marring this joyous occasion for the Demiars. Irad’s father had been killed in a pirate attack on his personal freighter, which he only flew on special occasions, and for special loads. One such load had attracted the pirates’ attention, and the result was catastrophic, nearly costing Irina her entire fortune. Thankfully, the rest of the family stepped in to keep things solvent, and Irina set about happily raising her newborn son.
The Claiming of a Jedi
For the first year and a half, everything was perfectly normal, and Irina was overjoyed at having a child of her own to raise after watching her two sisters raise their own children. But unfortunately, it was not to last for very long. What she didn’t know was that Corean’s grandfather was a Jedi, and that power resided in Irad’s blood. The first Jedi came when Irad was only a year and a half. The Jedi was turned away flat, told never to come back.
It took another six months, before Irina realized that refusing to have her son trained would be a wrong done to not only him, but to his father’s family as well. So with great reluctance, she turned Irad over to the Jedi Knight that came at her request, when Irad was two years old, and watched with tears in her eyes as her son was taken out of her life forever.
And The Training Begins
It didn’t take long for Irad to fall into the learning of a Jedi, even though from time to time he still wondered what his parents had been like, who they were, what it was that they did for a living. But with all the training he was putting in with the Masters and the other Younglings, he didn’t really have a whole lot of time for thoughts on that.
In the beginning, Irad struggled with the tasks that were set to ALL the younglings. But within three years, he was one of the top younglings, but not THE top. Of course, there was always someone better than him, but he didn’t care about that. Many times, once he was able to fully comprehend what was happening, Irad was heard to remark, “I don’t care if someone’s better than me. So long as I have the strength to do what must be done, I care not.”
This remark actually got him in trouble once or twice, but it was minor trouble. After all, that sort of remark could very easily be looked upon as the first step toward walking a darker path, as a lack of concern for how strength is gained will often lead to a blindness of just how it IS gained. With all that was going on, and all that he was showing promise in, it wasn’t much on anyone’s mind to discourage his progress. After all, a youngling as enthusiastic as Irad was was BOUND to make a good Knight some day.
Even as a youngling, however, Irad excelled in a few areas. He was much stronger and faster than the other younglings, due to exercises he had worked out on his own. This was complimented, when Force training began, by an uncanny knack for telekinetic powers. The Jedi Council soon realized that what they had here was the makings of a skilled Jedi Guardian.
But rather than make the mistake of accelerating his training and putting him into Padawan status unprepared, they kept his training on course, keeping him with the appropriate age group.
But for Irad, the promotion to Padawan couldn’t come soon enough. He was tired, by age 10, of constantly being stuck with other children, because that is how he saw it.
Here Comes Trouble
As much as Irad was looking forward to promotion, it soon became clear that he might have been physically prepared for the demands a Padawan must deal with, but mentally there was some doubt. Of course, it started as Padawan-Master relationships usually do, with Jedi Knight Kiyana Zhat'sharif choosing him as her Padawan from amongst all the others.
Kiyana, in a way, served as a surrogate mother for Irad, since he had been taken from his mother before he could form a clear attachment to her, as was the custom. So it became much of a mother-son relationship between them. Kiyana was always patient, never charging straight ahead into ANYTHING. She contemplated EVERY course of action and the potential consequences, and then acted on the one she thought was best.
Though Kiyana didn't notice at first with the truly diplomatic missions, but as they progressed to missions where combat could occur, she soon realized that he took too much time on occasion deciding what he would do. On one occasion in particular, where a particularly touchy negotation dissolved in a shooting match, hesitation almost allowed a blaster bolt to take Kiyana's head off. Fortunately, the Force was easy enough to reach for Irad, the saber came up QUICKLY, BARELY deflecting the bolt away from her as they stood back to back.
When the mission was over, she went before the Council and asked for some additional time away from combat situations to take more time to train Irad and help him speed up the decision process. She was granted this time, and she used every minute of it, whether Irad was awake or not. When he was sleeping, it was usually because she had mentally exhausted him in throwing scenarios at him and requiring him to make a snap decision on it as if he was actually IN the situation. She sought to instill the very method she used to make snap decisions into Irad, and it was clear, even though it may not have taken COMPLETE hold, it did make an impression.
It was clear that the additional training had helped. Perhaps a little too much. Rather than being unsure of himself and slow to act without consideration, he seemed more brash, more headstrong. But all in all, it got results when they were needed. It was clear that the Guardian training would be the right one for this young Padawan, and that was all the more evident as he continued to make headway in his own personal studies.
But what no one knew was that all the time he spent off by himself on some out of the way roof, he was never really alone. Of course, no one would know it, because he didn’t really talk much, outside of acquiring information on potential risks on an upcoming mission.
The trouble started on a mission to a back water world. Unable to save a young woman from dying, a young woman who reminded him of SOMEONE, someone he couldn’t place, he sank into a bit of a mild depression, mellowing out slightly, no longer as headstrong as he had been. Even after returning, and getting advice from his master on how to cope, everyone noticed something a bit… off about him. Nothing wrong per se, but just not right either.
The Trials
He sighed, shaking his head. This was a room of the Temple he had never been in before. It DEFINITELY had him confused as to what was going on. His right hand held loosely to his dual-phase saber, and the left hovered near his shoto, the one he had been given by Kiyana the day he finally managed to, through a stroke of luck, put her on her back in a sparring match. Even HE admitted that it was only dumb luck that she had lost her balance on a slick patch of grass.
But she had insisted on gifting it to him nonetheless. So he had accepted, as would be expected by ALL of the Jedi Council.
But his thoughts were cut off when he felt a very familiar threat pinging away at his mind. He swore, the dual phase saber in his hand igniting, as the shoto shot out to his hand and ignited. "Vornskrs," he hissed. "What in the name of the stars above are the Jedi doing keeping vornskrs down here?"
He sighed, and settled into a low crouch. But then he felt another tingle accompanied by a grating sound, and the tingle grew stronger. "What in the..." But that was as far as he got, as a pair of vornskrs chose that very moment to attack. He almost didn't get out of the way in time, and was reminded of that by a triple set of claw marks that ripped into his back, sending him to his knees in intense, searing pain. He ALMOST didn't remember that this was a holo-simulation. But it sure as HELLS felt like it was real. Swearing, he shook his head, grunting slightly.
Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, and time itself seemed to slow. When he opened his eyes again, he smiled, standing back to his feet. "You want to taste my blood? This day you will have a nasty fight on your hands," he hissed, and simply stood there. This time, though, when one of them lunged at him, it contacted only empty space. He had already whirled to the side, kicking at the side of the creature before spinning out of range of the retaliatory claw swipe. He laughed.
"Is that the best you have?" Leaping, he landed on the creature's back, driving its lower jaw into the hard-packed ground beneath him, knocking it out. "One down without killing it," he said softly, and turned...
Only to realize that the second vornskr had vanished from sight. "Oh no you don't," he muttered, and his eyes closed. This was something he wasn't accustomed to, but he knew how this was going to end.
When the vornskr lunged, thinking it would be striking the back of an unexpectant meal, it quickly realized its mistake when that lunge took it right into a vibrating shaft of blue-green light. "Not today, cat," he muttered, and deactivated the saber. Looking at the four doorways, he sighed. "Which one is which? Ah. That one," he said, and headed through the doorway.
As soon as he stepped through the door, he swore, and stopped dead still. He was in a room -- if you could call it that, as most of the floor wasn't even there. There was a ledge large enough for a single person to stand on in front of the doors on either side, and a narrow ledge -- almost too narrow to cross -- over the middle of a massive pit.
Moving forward slightly, he looked over the edge, and grimaced. That was a LONG drop. And he doubted even HE would be able to slow himself enough to not break any bones. Shaking his head, he pulled back from the pit, looking across at the other door. Too far to jump, even with assistance from the Force.
Sighing, he took a step forward, clipping the lightsabers back to his belt. "This is NOT going to be fun," he muttered. Heights like this TERRIFIED him to no end. Half the time, a distance of more than twenty feet to solid ground had him shaking. This was a GREAT DEAL more than twenty feet.
Closing his eyes for a moment, he sought that calm center that ALL Jedi learned to find very early in training. When he found it, his eyes opened, and he stepped out onto the narrow ledge.
He teetered there for a moment, sure he was going to fall, but he managed to find a balance, and slowly, steadily, started making his way across the narrow beam. It took him some time, and since he had no timepiece, he couldn't tell HOW MUCH, but he finally made it across, leaning over with his hands on his knees once he made it across. "Dammit. Who's bright idea was that?" he said as he pressed the plate to open the door to his third test.
When he walked into the dark room, he shook his head. "Gotta be Flesh," he said softly, looking around at the darkness, which turned to pitch black as the door behind him closed with a hiss. "Oh, just BEAUTIFUL!" he muttered, shaking his head. His hand reached for the saber on his belt, but then shook his head, instead clasping his hands in front of him while he waited silently for whatever was next.
But nothing happened. So he started pacing, walking carefully until he sensed a wall in front of him, only to turn and pace in a different direction. This went on for about an hour or so, he was pretty sure. By now he had a pretty good idea that the room was a square room with 50 feet to a side. So he paced off into the exact middle of the room, settling into a meditative stance, before taking a deep breath and retreating within himself.
He had no idea how much time passed while he waited, but what he DID know was that he was playing the last mission over and over again in his head. Critiquing his own actions, making sure they would be up to Kiyana's standards -- HIS standards actually, since she had drilled them into him since day one.
But then he paused. 'What am I doing? I'm going over this to see if I could have made it go quicker? What kind of a Jedi AM I? That's not the Jedi way. Speed is not the answer. Speed can complicate things at times.' He shook his head within the meditative trance, not even realizing that the door on the far end of the room had slid open silently, and Kiyana was now kneeling in front of him, as well as THE Master of the Jedi. This time, his voice rang out with the train of his thoughts. "No, that's not a Jedi's way. I should be thinking of how I could have made that turn out BETTER. How it could have ended better. How we could have avoided that whole emotional breakdown from the mayor. Not how we could have avoided the whole thing. I have to do better. I WILL do better."
But when his eyes snapped open, he sighed. "I failed, didn't I? I didn't get them all."
Kiyana looked at the other Master, and simply smiled. She spoke, her voice soft, her words coming slowly. "I'd say Jedi Knight Irad Demiar doesn't realize that the first room was TWO tests in one, wouldn't you, Master?"
The much older looking Jedi smiled. "No. But he does now. Congratulations, Knight Demiar. As soon as you have had a chance to rest from this FOUR DAY Trial, you will be expected to begin thinking about who you would like as your Padawan. Until then, go get some rest."
Irad stood, bowing deeply. "Master Kiyana, Grandmaster, thank you both. I think I'll go get something to... to eat, and... and then..." But with that, his eyes slid closed, and his body dropped from exhaustion. He had never even realized it had been FOUR DAYS since he had entered this MAZE of a Trial.
The Rise of a Guardian
When Irad was 22, he was finally gifted with Knight status, as well as his own Padawan. Of course, this was a surprise to him, as he had not expected to be given a Padawan straight out into Knighthood. But he made the best of it, once again traveling all over the galaxy, this time as the TEACHER rather than the student.
He seemed to throw himself headlong into Knighthood and all it entailed, but his Padawan, [insert name], sensed something constantly troubled him. What no one knew -- what he never told ANYONE, not even his Padawan, was that once again, his mind was plagued by thoughts of his unknown parents. Of course, these were no thoughts to be running through the mind of a Jedi Knight, so he buried them as deeply as he could, trying not to let them rule his mind.
It was clear that it worked for a time, as he quickly handled every mission that was handed to him and his Padawan with minimal fuss, less bloodshed, and even LESS violence. But it wasn’t to last, as everything else in his life to this point.
The Fall of a Warrior
It wasn’t until a mission nearly cost his Padawan her life that he began to seriously doubt his own abilities, and start looking for other sources of power. But as always happens with such instances, this search led him to the Dark Side. But with a thirst for power born of a desire to not cause any more near death experiences, he delved into forbidden teachings on remote planets, and soon, even his Padawan knew something was wrong, SERIOUSLY wrong with him.
But he was never cast out of the Jedi order. Rather, he left after a particularly vicious argument with his old Master, and took what he had learned, leaving the Order behind. But before he left, he went to his Padawan, and apologized to her for being a poor Master.
When next he settled down, he was a completely changed man. His eyes had turned a permanently bloodshot red, and his body was wracked by bloody coughs. But he never truly realized what was the cause of these issues, at least not until it was very nearly too late.
A Single Ray of Light
Of course, as is the way of such paths to power, it was a slippery slope. Irad fell deeper and deeper into the pit of the Dark Side, until it consumed every molecule of his being. It seemed that Irad would forever be lost to the Dark Side, and so he was for the longest time. Lost within his quest for power, nothing seemed able to reach him, not even the cries of those he once protected.
It took completely losing his mind and massacring nearly an entire village for Irad to realize that he had fallen to the Dark Side. But he did not have the will to turn away from it until a confrontation with his old master. This confrontation caused him to realize that he did indeed have the will to survive, and to return to the way he once lived.
This confrontation served to test every single boundary that Irad had set for himself, and then proceeded to cross over time and time again. First, it tested his willingness to mow through several other people to get to his master. Second, it tested his willingness to strike when an opponent had no hope of defending. Finally, it tested his willingness to sever ALL ties with his past.
Unfortunately, he failed all these tests. He ordered the crowd to disperse, using Jedi suggestion to clear them. He gave Kiyana a chance to draw her own saber before attacking. And finally, even after he had disarmed her, sending her saber flying across the courtyard where they were fighting, he refused to strike her down. The report that Kiyana filed stated that just before he walked away, he said one simple line. "I will not fight my family."
A Time of Solitude
After the confrontation with his master, Irad spent the next fifteen years traveling world to world, spending a few months on each one. He told no one why he was doing this, but in his heart he knew he was searching for his focus.
He eventually, somehow, found his way back to Corellia, and there he found his mother. Or rather, his mother found him, by the fact that he looked every bit like his father. This was the turning point in his travels, nearly ten years after he started, and it proved to be one of the most pivotal meetings in his life.
It was during the months he spent on Corellia that he learned what he now knows about his parents, and how his father died. This sparked a flame in his soul, in his heart, to see to it that as few people died in such circumstances as was humanly possible. Well, Jedi-ly possible, anyway. It was ALSO while he was here that he learned that the young woman he had failed to save had been his own younger half-sister, born some three years after he had been taken to the Jedi.
While on Corellia, he spent a lot of time on the rooftops, overlooking the city, watching the life that bustled in the streets. It was during this time of reflection that he realized that all he had done, all he had given up, was for naught if he didn't set things right. So the first thing he did was make it clear to the loan sharks that were trying to take what was left of his family's estate -- little as it was by this point -- that they were tampering with the family of a Jedi. The loan sharks didn't care that it was a Dark Jedi at the moment. All they saw were the twin lightsabers on the belt.
Shortly after this, his journey turned slightly, heading back to Coruscant. This last journey before his return took five more years of his life, but when he finally arrived, he knew things would never be the same. He had betrayed the order, turned against them, turned against their very ideals.
The Final Test
This was made all the more true when his own master challenged him to a lightsaber duel for his right to reenter the Jedi Order. But due to the extended amount of time he had spent thinking, he refused to allow the fight to last more than a few minutes, casting aside his sabers. But this had been the final test administered by his master.
Due to his actions during the test, he was offered reinstatement at Master level, but he refused, only accepting his Knighthood back. To this day, in the five years that he has been with the Order this time, he has been offered the promotion to Master three times, and turned it down every time, stating that someone who has transgressed as he has should NEVER be allowed the rank of Master, for the slope to the Dark Side is a slippery one, and one not easy to leave.
Lightsaber: Dual Wield (Primary is Dual Phase, secondary is Shoto Single-Phase)
Color: Primary is Blue.
Secondary is green.
The handle is the length of a hand and a half vibroblade's handle, to better accommodate the crystal switching mechanism and additional gems that reside within the handle.
Secondary Saber blade is a vibrant green. The shoto's handle is the normal length for a shoto saber, but the handle curves back slightly, to accommodate a reversed hold on the saber during combat.
Practiced Lightsaber forms:
Shii-Cho: 5
Makashi: 1
Soresu: N/A
Ataru: 3
Shien / Djem So: N/A
>>Sub-form Backhanded: N/A
Niman: 5
>>Sub-form Jar-kai, or Dual Wield: 5
Juyo: N/A
Double Bladed Combat: N/A
Force-Sensitive Abilities or practices:
Telekinetic: 7
Telepathic: 1
Body: 5
Sense: 2
Protection: 5
Healing: 2
Destruction: 2
Specialized Skills:
Attributes:
Physical Strength: 6
Intelligence: 5
Speed: 6
Leadership: 3
Unarmed: 5
Melee Weapons: 5
Ranged Weapons: 1
Force Attunement: +4
RP Sample:
He nodded, sighing softly. He knew what this meant, and he knew it was not going to be pretty. Holding out his hands, he focused on his newly-reestablished bond with the TRUTH of the Force, and extended his hands. "As you wish, Master," he said, shrugging his robe away as his sabers twitched on his belt, snapping out to his hands as soon as they were clear. The shoto handle flipped around, landing backward in his hand, the green blade extending out as the green blade ignited from the longer handle with the characteristic snap-hiss.
He snapped the longer blade up in front of his face, before dropping down into his fighting stance, the shoto held in front of him, crosswise across his chest, as the other went into a high spot, angled down and forward, much like the stinger of a scorpion.
He waited, his eyes locked on those of the Jedi Master before him, the one that was testing him to see if he had earned the right to be re-admitted to the Jedi Order. He knew this was going to be an even more difficult test than the first one he had endured, to become a Knight the first time.
He flipped backward as the Master charged, his blades thrumming through the air. He landed in a crouch, one foot planted back against the wall, and the other planted hard against the floor. His boots scuffed slightly as he pushed off, the longer blade coming down and around, intersecting with a shower of sparks with the saber of the Master before him. The two locked, staring at each other across the flashing blades, and then Irad broke the hold, flipping up and back, landing on the central walkway around the chamber.
He sighed, and shook his head. "I will not fight you. It won't prove anything. Fighting you holds no honor, no dignity. You were once my Master, my mentor... The only father I knew. I disappointed you, I know that, when I fell. But I have seen the folly of my ways." He shook his head, and dropped back to the chamber floor, deactivating the sabers, the metal clattering as he tossed them aside. "I'm done fighting you, I'm done fighting the Jedi. Fighting you, fighting your brothers -- MY brothers and sisters, before I turned on them -- is the same as fighting against the Force itself. I WILL NOT do so again," he said calmly.
The Master started laughing, and Irad's eyebrow lifted. "That was precisely what I wanted to hear, Irad," the Master said quietly, calmly, deactivating her own saber. "With that, you have passed your final test. Now, this does NOT mean you will be able to attain Master status. Due to your... distraction, you will never be allowed to progress to a seat on the Council. HOWEVER. You will be re-accorded Knight status, as you had before you left our teachings." She held out her hands, and the two cast aside sabers leapt to them, and she grinned. "And I see you've perfected the lightsaber building techniques I taught you, my apprentice."
Note that the following is somewhat rushed, due to the late hour. So it won't look very prettyful, but all the right info is there. X) Okay, so, here we go:
