Post by Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy on Jun 24, 2011 22:40:37 GMT -5
Character Permission: Jenno
5th character
Name:Teer Ka
Race: Togruta
Age: 58
Height: 5' 9" (excluding montrals)
Weight:139 lbs
Appearance:
Teer Ka is a Togruta of rather average height, with red skin, especially pronounced montrals with relatively 'flat' striping (as opposed to distinct chevrons) in a dark blue/grey shade most often (they vary by mood), three striped headtails (two falling down her front and one wide one down her back) and dark eyes the color of the night sky. A large scar can be seen on the left side of her face, a token earned in her first skirmish against a Dark Jedi. It is a long and slightly jagged slash down from near her eye to the edge of her lip, the unmistakable scar tissue of a lightsaber cut. She also has a scar, a trio of claw marks, on the right side of her neck. Her facial markings themselves are jagged and angular, very unique and distinctive.
As is fairly typical for her species, and very common for force-users, she has maintained a youthful appearance and figure. Her body is still every bit as strong as it was at the peak of her Knighthood, and it shows. While she is most distinctly no longer ‘sexy,’ she can be safely classified as an attractive older woman.
She has a tendency to appear rather stern, and she has a very commanding presence, a certain gravitas that could be captured in a good portrait. It isn't elegant so much as it is strong and forceful. Without a doubt she is a severe woman to behold, with facial features that are geared to intimidate.
Teer Ka is not cuddly or huggable, and when she smiles, ivory fangs peek out from behind her lips, usually producing something that looks more like a ferocious snarl than mirth. As a result, her facial expressions are usually somber and reserved, leading many to think she is completely humorless and perpetually disapproving.
Teer Ka wears a custom pair of Jedi robes whenever the Council is in session and whenever she has to represent the Jedi Order on official occasions. These robes are of the traditional cut, but are in a very light grey (almost white), with charcoal pants. The under-robes are a deep blue, and she wears a blue and grey Togruta sash that matches her clothing. Her utility belt contains all of the usual equipment, and she completes the ensemble with a pair of over-the-calf black leather boots.
The sleeves of her robes end in black leather bracers that extend halfway up her forearm, and her hands are invariably bare, free from gloves. The bracers serve a function, to allow her Corellian Banshee Bird to rest on her arm without sharp talons causing discomfort.
Teer also has a more traditional and sedate brown Jedi robe that she wears during training sessions, spars, unimportant missions, and travel; the various Jedi duties that do not require her most formal attire. When travelling, particularly on planets with inclimate weather, she also pairs it with a billowing outer robe, though no hood is possible due to her anatomy. However, when she is not tending to her official duties (namely in the comfort of her own quarters and leisurely passing through the Temple or enjoying recreation on Coruscant), Master Ka is routinely found in her comfortable ‘Shili clothes,’ with bare feet.
She can almost always be found with a leather bracer on her forearm and a Corellian Banshee Bird named Ashla perched on her arm or her shoulder. She generally doesn't stray far from her beloved pet now.
Personality:
Among Togruta, Teer Ka has a 'nature' that would be considered a prime example in a leader. She is semi-solitary, often seeking seclusion to meditate away from other people, though she deeply enjoys simply being surrounded by others, even if no words are shared. She is not the social butterfly, present at every gathering, but when she does make her presence known she carries a certain weight and there is a gravity to her words that resonates with those she speaks to.
Some people might call her bossy, overbearing, or rather condescending. They make the mistake of dismissing her gruff leadership style and don't appreciate her unique flavor of control. Instead of giving her the benefit of the doubt and listening they let first impressions taint the experience, and ignore the fact that Teer Ka is an acquired taste.
Indeed, the Togruta Jedi takes time to grow familiar with, being neither stunningly friendly nor giving off an especially open or huggable vibe. Her stern visage and intimidating scars generally frighten off many, but to those who do grow close to her she reveals a whole other side that cursory examination doesn’t reveal: the benevolent mother, who rules the household firmly and cares fiercely for her children, and the wise leader who always has well-thought advice to impart.
She has a tendency to be dominant yes, yet she also can be soft-spoken. She controls through her presence, and the fact that when she speaks people listen. Her voice is commanding and stern, which makes those soft-spoken and heart felt moments all the more valuable. Praise from her is always highly deserved and never given lightly, which often leads people to believe she cannot be satisfied and that nothing is ever enough for her, which is incorrect. For Teer, a nod or affirmative word is praise enough, and she rarely crosses that threshold.
Generally she simply makes her wishes known, and they are followed, a credit to her commanding presence, but on those occasions when her statements are ignored she has a variety of reactions. If a superior ignores them, she may request they reconsider politely, and if they do not she remains silent. If someone below her ignores a command, she will not hesitate to lecture them on the importance of following the wisdom of elders and leaders, particularly if the party below her is impudent or rude.
Teer is rather independent, and prefers to do things her own way more often than not, with little time or inclination for methods she considers ineffective or too round-about to bother with. It has resulted in a rather unique training style, and a demand for fierce personal loyalty, as well as an undeniable penchant for getting things done, often with unorthodox solutions. However she is not solely a lone wolf, as she also possesses an excellent group dynamic. While she holds firm to her views, she tries to find a consensus among her peers whenever possible.
Despite her independent practices, she is deeply dedicated to the Jedi Order. It commands her full loyalty, and she demands those who are loyal to her be loyal to what she is loyal to, without exception. Teer lives and breathes by the Jedi Code, believing every word and holding it as a sacred trust placed in her care. She understands every word and every interpretation, both legalistic and licentious, and she has her own well-rounded sense of what is and is not acceptable.
While Teer relies heavily on the Jedi Council’s wisdom for her understanding of the rules, she does have her own moral code that isn’t about to be changed. It is very simple and direct, simply this: Master Ka will never hurt another living being in anger, she will protect anyone innocent who needs her assistance, and she will not place any conditions upon helping another Jedi who needs her help.
Teer is rather disdainful of technology, neither particularly caring how it works or about its use. She simply knows which things to be mindful of, namely avoiding power couplings and the sorts of things that prove fatal. She has no idea how droids or blasters work and doesn't particularly care. Her opinion on most technology ranges from neutrality to borderline contempt, the latter coming into play with the sheer amount of attention placed onto new contraptions when someone could instead be studying the Force or nature. The only piece of technology she adores and understands is her lightsaber.
She's never been stupid at all, but most of her intelligence was centered on real life knowledge rather than academic prowess. But as she slowed down slightly with age, she did work to inform herself more. The result is a woman who knows a great deal about some subjects, and very minimal amounts on others. Her body of knowledge is diverse, though two topics above all else are her expertise.
The first is lightsaber combat. Teer Ka has been wielding a lightsaber for over five decades, and the use of both a single blade and a saber staff are second-nature to her, done as easily as breathing. She is an immensely skilled duelist, with forty-two Dark Jedi slain by her hand, and her experience makes her an invaluable instructor to any student, though they will quickly find she does not play ‘fair,’ adopting many of the tricks and subterfuges that Dark Jedi employ, heedless of the concept of honor in a duel. Simply put, Teer does what she has to in order to win, and she trains that philosophy.
The second topic Master Ka knows extensively is her homeworld, Shili. While she visited several times as a Knight and several more as a Master, it wasn’t until 3601BBY when she took up the position of Jedi Watchman for her planet that she truly learned what there was to know. From the wildlife to the topography and weather, Teer knows a great deal, and doesn’t hesitate to impart her advice.
Teer isn't overconfident despite appearing that way on occasion. Her confidence is directly proportionate to her experience and skills, which are extensive. If she ever comes across as cocky or complacent, it is because she has a firm idea of the exact level of skill or finesse required by a task, and knows exactly how to deliver it, and very likely she doesn’t have the time in which to explain her certainty.
Her 'better' personality traits include a quirky sense of humor that rarely emerges (her public laughter is extremely rare), a great deal of patience when it comes to topics like meditation or instruction , nerves of steel, and a certain degree of witty banter with her intimates (who are admittedly few and far between). No matter what joke is presented to her, Teer never finds violence to be a suitable topic of humor. She finds harming another being to be completely serious, and she will direct her sternest gaze to anyone she sees treating the demise of another person casually.
All of these traits take time to emerge around others, as Master Ka is generally somewhat reclusive in her personal life, preferring to cultivate a strong and successful professional life.
Teer never had many friends, even from the time she was a Youngling. Her intensity and dedication to rules and service had a tendency to drive away more carefree spirits, and those like-minded individuals who remained were carried away by the tides of life after she became a Padawan. Throughout her life, the Togruta Master dedicated herself to fighting the Dark Side, and she immersed herself so fully in that cause that she allowed her life to pass by.
Only now that she is ‘retired’ from the business of hunting and slaying followers of the Dark Side, does Teer struggle to live more normally and ‘make friends’ in the Order, hampered by both a reputation for seriousness and intensity and a nature that can be summed up as ‘semi-reclusive.’
Teer is very much conflicted by duality in the way she sees people. On the one hand, she sees the Jedi as a fraternal Order of brothers and sisters coexisting for a single purpose, relishing their unity. On the other hand, she has seen far too many betrayals by Jedi, and she has seen first-hand the rise of the Sith, recruiting so many fallen Jedi. As such, she can be wary at times, intensely scrutinizing associates for traces of darkness, ambivalent about placing her trust in unproven hands.
On Shili, Teer cultivated a rural sensibility, and has grown a type of wisdom. Her patience is deep, and she no longer sees time as an enemy, instead seeing it as merely a passing state of existence. She knows she won’t live forever, and rather than worrying about a legacy, she plans to simply do the best job she can until the day her spirit leaves her body. The serenity of life away from busy chaos has indeed nurtured patience inside her, and now she has a certain degree of insight as well, having learned of the ways to handle mundane disputes among her own people. She can usually be relied on for good and well-thought advice, though true to her tough nature it can sometimes be distasteful. Generally in a dispute she takes on the role of peacemaker, laboring to forge an agreement between the opposing parties, and she won’t hesitate to use pressure if she has to in order to help them. Teer isn’t a woman to give up easily.
Master Ka is always willing to listen, and usually hears all sides of a dispute before speaking, unless she finds the matter trivial or simple enough that she can impart wisdom without an in-depth analysis. By and large, she prefers to have all the facts at her disposal, and surprisingly for a woman with a sense of pride, she feels no qualms about admitting when she does not know something. On those occasions, she seeks out her answer and forms her own opinion from research.
Teer has had only one relationship in recent history worth noting, which was training her fourth Padawan, Sirius Kelrune. While he spent only a short time with her as she honed him into a sword for the Jedi, they played a major impact in each other’s lives. Teer taught him to be a duelist, to be strong and self-reliant, and he helped her regain confidence in her abilities as a teacher. It was mutually beneficial, and slowly withdrawing from his life to allow him independence was not an experience she savored, but the moment when he was Knighted ranked as one of the prouder moments in her life.
The mixed legacy of her Padawans has taught Teer valuable lessons. The Togruta Weapons Master had been forced to learn wisdom in the hardest way possible, and her style of instruction and outlook on life has been carefully honed by her trials. From her first Padawan she learned to embrace patience, and from her second she learned the value of scrutiny. Her third taught her devotion, and her fourth taught her the most important lesson yet: compassion.
It is safe to say that Teer Ka has finally reached the stage in her life where wisdom is attainable, though she would never profess to be wise herself. The stern Jedi Master does not think of herself as a great hero or a sage, merely as a duelist who does her best to serve the Jedi Order in whatever capacity it needs.
As a Councilor, Teer Ka sets aside her personal opinions quite often in order to force herself to look at the bigger picture. She is also highly cognizant of the fact that she is a new Councilor, and hasn’t been serving for long, and she sees herself on the Council primarily to provide insight rather than to instigate decisions herself. Consequently, the Togruta Jedi does not take a ‘leading’ role, instead casting herself as the familiar second-in-command, doing her best to serve as an aide to the Grandmaster.
In every session, Teer tries to live up to her childhood dream, and she asks herself not ‘what would Teer Ka do?’ But ‘what would a great Jedi do?’ She challenges herself to live up to the trust placed in her, and while her advice and thoughts aren’t always conventional and are sometimes brusque, she is much more reserved than most people would have expected from her reputation.
The end result is that Master Ka is surprisingly sedate in the Council, and usually rather quiet unless specifically asked a question or when she feels she has an especially valuable piece of insight to contribute.
Birth place: Shili
Faction: Jedi
Rank: Master (Weapons Master), High Councilor
Lightsaber: Double-bladed, quite ornate in appearance. It is silver, embossed with navy blue detailing and black grips. Among the detailing, running along the length of the hilt are a series of bars that serve as memories for all the Dark Jedi she's killed. Currently the number stands at 42.
Color: Sky blue
Practiced Lightsaber forms:
Shii-Cho 5
Makashi
Soresu
Ataru 5
Shien / Djem So 5
>>Sub-form Backhanded
Niman
>>Sub-form Jar-kai, or Dual Wield
Juyo 4
Double Bladed Combat 5
Force-Sensitive Abilities or practices:
Telekinetic: 5
Telepathic: 3
Body: 8
Sense: 8
Protection: 5
Healing: 1
Destruction: 0
Specialized Skills: Force Valor.
Attributes:
Physical Strength: 5
Intelligence: 5
Speed: 5
Leadership: 8
Unarmed: 7
Melee Weapons: 2
Ranged Weapons: 1
Languages: Basic, Togruti
Bio:
Teer Ka was born into a family of hunters far from the developed centers of Shili, and her medical check-ups were conducted by the village healer, which meant no midichlorian count was taken either at birth or in her early childhood, and with one Jedi Watchman for the whole planet, it was likely that Teer would have gone undiscovered if not for a fortunate occurrence.
Her childhood was spent rather normally for a tribal and undeveloped life on Shili. There were few conveniences, and legs were the preferred method of transportation. Blaster rifles and the occasional archaic speeder had proliferated, but things were still very much the way they always had been, a low-tech existence devoid of frills. However, little Teer enjoyed herself immensely.
She was helping prepare game for the dinner table as soon as she could walk. She learned to toddle around quietly, and how to catch, kill, and eat a thimiar (a small rodent and food staple) by herself, which was the very first accomplishment she was actually proud of.
Her mother, Odali Ka, was a healer, and her father Araj was a hunter, both common professions. Odali was easily the pick to succeed the wise woman, which was often a topic of conversation.
At the age of four, a group of human hunters arrived in the village seeking instruction on how to fight an akul, the massive apex predator of Shili. Some of them were total idiots who were likely to wind up dead, but the second-in-command was a very cunning grey Jedi, whose name Teer never could remember. He was on good terms with the Order, having left years previously as he felt a certain disagreement with the Order over philosophy.
As soon as he laid eyes on the girl he could tell she was very strong in the force. Many Togruta were force sensitive, but she was so strong she stood out visibly, and he knew that she had the potential to become either a great Jedi or a terrifying Sith.
He had no interest in conducting training on his own, but he was no friend to the dark side and was unwilling for her to get scooped up by any passing Dark Jedi who saw the girl's power. He decided to quietly tip off Teer Ka's parents to their child's force sensitivity so they could choose whether or not to send her to the Jedi, though he campaigned heavily that they give up their child to the Order.
They listened carefully to his words. They'd heard peripherally about the Force, but once it was explained to them they were ecstatic that their daughter could be in complete attunement with the life force of the galaxy. It was the ultimate connection to nature in their eyes.
They hiked to the nearest hovertrain stop, then piled on to head to a hospital in one of the few developed areas of Shili. There Teer was given a full and complete medical exam and it was revealed the grey Jedi had been correct, her midichlorian count was extremely high. The Jedi Order was informed, and word came back that the girl would be accepted.
By her sixth birthday she was at the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine, training as a Youngling.
Ironically given her future prowess as a Guardian, she had trouble wielding a saber at first. Her own childhood wielding assorted sticks as melee weapons meant she had to unlearn everything she had learned.
One-on-one instruction with a saber instructor quickly brought her back to the proper pace, and with permission she continued the lessons. Soon she was ahead of the other Younglings and indisputably was the best swordsman. They were forced to pit her against older opponents in practice so as to keep things balanced.
Her force abilities didn't develop nearly as quickly, with only her senses becoming finely tuned. That built off of her own natural abilities of spatial awareness. The result meant sneaking up on her was all but impossible, and that she had an uncanny ability to find things and people in spite of even the best attempts to hide.
Gradually her body abilities improved as well, she learned to use the force to guide her movements and bolster her own abilities. It made her the perfect candidate for Ataru, though she was only able to dabble with it for a short while without instruction.
In terms of relationships, she was hardly the social butterfly of the group. Neither was she the loner. She was in the middle of some things and left out of others. Her relations were cordial with most, but she made few very close friends, not all of whom survived the 45-plus years between their Youngling days and the present.
Teer was always the ringleader in her circle of friends, and it showed in her natural inclination toward leadership. Despite being devoted to her friends, she had no qualms telling them exactly what to do, even if it angered them.
She always considered herself second-in-command to the nearest authority figure, a trait which never disappeared with time. Youngling Ka cast herself as the enforcer, as the aide. Some resented her for her excellent relationships to the Instructors, and felt she was ‘sucking up.’ Teer ignored their complaints and clung stubbornly to authority and to rules.
Her own social circle consisted of just four other children. Reem Krotan was one, a human boy with sandy blonde hair and a strong sense of humor, he was the closest thing she had to a best friend, though he was selected as Padawan almost a year before she was, and his master left behind the Dantooine enclave for an extended period, delaying their reunion.
The other three children were a Tholothian girl named Lasa, who was clearly Consular material, a Twi’lek boy named Komad who had the makings of a fine investigator (no other Youngling ever succeeded in lying to him), and an Arkanian girl named Arzi, who was aloof as could be.
At 12, she was unsurprisingly selected as a Padawan by a skilled Guardian who relished the prospect of passing on his skills to the young Togruta.
He was a Zabrak named Crove Valen, a thirty year old Guardian whose last Padawan had died when they were separated on a mission. He was determined to train his next Padawan better, and Teer was the perfect candidate, his shot at creating a legacy that would outlast him. His goal was to make her a great Jedi.
In their very first meeting, Crove asked Teer what she wanted to do when she grew up, and the Togruta girl didn’t hesitate to answer. She told him with certainty that she wanted to serve on the High Council, and he’d smiled and told her to never give up that dream.
Her Shii Cho was already excellent, so he started her out on Ataru to see if she was ready for it. The acrobatics of the style appealed greatly to her, and she developed her body abilities in tandem with the lightsaber form.
Her focus on the force always centered on body skills and sense skills. Gauging distances, being aware of threats, learning to react even before something happened, running faster than she was able to normally, and leaping with astonishing power all had the kind of combat applications she was interested in. Everything Corve drilled into her as related for the combat he knew she would face in her life.
She simply made assumptions. She was a Guardian-in-training, learning to be a defender of the Republic and the Order. She didn't need to bother with the mysteries of the force. Once her body weakened with age, she would delve into her mind and unlock knowledge of the force then. In the meantime it was a distraction for her, a diversion from her training.
Rather than balance her training, Valen simply allowed her to become even more of what she already was, polishing the end result rather than broadening it. He knew Teer would be a swords-being, one of the greats in the Order. The rest didn’t matter so much to him.
Every day started and ended with saber training. Intense saber training. It met the demands of both cardio and strength, and it improved her skills. In the middle of the day came a practice on sense abilities. The Togruta would be blindfolded and she'd be required to tell the exact number of people in a room. As she improved, Valen covered up her montrals as well and forced her to rely purely on the force. Fortunately it was a handicap she never actually had to deal with. Then came lunch, and afterwards a session reading up on mission reports in the archives or helping Younglings practice Shii-Cho.
As a Padawan she had difficulty realizing the chain of command was simply two. Second-in-command was last in command. And with her mentality it was awkward having no one 'below' her, she craved the chance to provide guidance.
But she adapted and found herself instructing older younglings in saber combat in her limited spare time. She always loved authority and loyalty to authority. Not once in her life would she ever question the Jedi Order's authority, though she would find herself in violation of its rules once during her Knighthood.
By the age of 18 she'd mastered Shii Cho and laid a firm foundation in Ataru. By 22, she started to learn Shien. And at 23 she was ready for Knighthood.
At 14, she built her lightsaber. Her master encouraged her to abandon the training saber as soon as he was fully confident she could handle a lethal weapon with the finesse he expected of her. He wasn't disappointed, and he realized they could abandon diplomacy and goodwill visits for more potentially dangerous missions as soon as she made her own blade.
Teer returned to Dantooine in the search for a crystal, and found just the right one in a force-concentrated cave. For the technologically challenged Togruta teenager, putting together the lightsaber was awkward. She'd prepared the hilt well in advance, a nice silvery model with substance to it, capable of a comfortable two-handed grip.
She filled the crystal with herself over the course of three weeks spent in the darkness of the crystal caves. It became a part of her, an almost physical extension of her body.
On her third try she set the crystal correctly and the lightsaber functioned.
On her way out, she ran into a pair of very angry kath hounds who looked as though they wanted nothing more than to sample Togruta for dinner. Overconfident in her new abilities, she misjudged the strength she needed to land a killing blow. She succeeded in making the first one even angrier.
It lashed out with a claw that caught her on the right side of her neck. It was to be the first scar of many, though only two would be visible while in her robes.
She recovered from her mistake and dispatched the hounds, making a mental note that simply because a lightsaber cuts doesn't mean it cuts with no force applied. It marked the moment when she realized power was truly essential, and that the real encounter went far beyond the practice she'd grown accustomed to.
There were two other especially noteworthy instances in her life as a Padawan. The first was a series of seemingly-empty threats aimed at a mid-level witness against a petty crime lord pending trial for fraud. Everyone had assumed it was simply a matter of bluster, but it had still warranted an escort.
And it was good they had an escort, a pair of assassins showed up just outside the Palace of Justice on Rendili. In a quick and pitched battle, the two Jedi successfully protected the witness and dispatched the assassins. It was Teer Ka's first blood, and while she regretted the deaths, Crove taught her that she had no choice. In a fight, you could emerge victorious or you could fail, and the price of failure was often too high.
The second incident involved a Jedi archivist who was collecting a valuable holocron documenting the ancient Sith to keep it away from the clutches of Dark Jedi. But some Dark Jedi also had an interest in it, craving the knowledge in the hopes they could set up their own enclave and restore the legacy of the Sith.
They faced off on a remote world in a skirmish that tested the abilities of both master and apprentice. Each was pitted against a single foe, Guardian and Padawan against Marauder and Acolyte.
Teer's use of Ataru was a great asset, and by staying in constant movement she prevented her foe from landing lethal blows. But she didn't emerge unscathed, the opponent's lightsaber caught her on the side of her face and tore into her. It was extremely painful and left a mark she would carry for the rest of her life as well as count for her Trial of the Flesh.
The Togruta Padawan played up her reaction to create the illusion of weakness, then slashed her blade from the side as her foe raised his lightsaber for a killing blow. He was sliced cleanly in half at the waist and fell to the ground dead, with his spine severed.
Teer Ka was able to apply a kolto patch to the wound, but the blade had already cauterized the gash it had made. She could only ease the pain and prevent infection, the white scar was permanent.
Outside of her combat, her whole world was training, with her Youngling friends appearing less and less frequently in her life. Crove was her primary source of companionship, and she took her knowledge from him, heeding his gruff wisdom and seeking to emulate his strength and resolve.
He was like a father to her, and he taught her everything he could. Even her fresh scar didn’t bother him, and when he led her into a second encounter with a Dark Jedi he was pleased to discover her training had much improved, as she dispatched her foe quickly, exploiting a mistake he had made.
Her Trial of the Flesh had already been completed in her first encounter with a Dark Jedi, and the Dantooine Council agreed her second duel had demonstrated her Skill.
That left the Trials of Courage and of Spirit.
To complete the Trial of Courage, Crove Valen deliberately made a point of putting his Padawan and himself into dangerous situations with the knowledge that some sort of bravery was bound to occur and fulfill the requirement. He was completely right, on Eriadu, Teer Ka climbed out of an air speeder and jumped from it onto a passing hovertrain running along its tracks. The seemingly suicidal leap was a narrow calculation that put her right in a fleeing Dark Jedi's path. If not for her force abilities, the fall would have splintered her bones like toothpicks. The fact that she gambled on her limited abilities to accomplish the mission was seen as bravery enough, and the Trial was considered completed.
The Trial of the Spirit was considerably more difficult than the ability-based Trials. Teer Ka meditated only rarely, which meant she had even less available time to receive a vision.
But the meditation grove on Dantooine was a strong place in the Force, a focal point of its power. Her master called upon a close friend of his, a Consular, to come observe the session of meditation and provide a little 'boost' to her concentration. He did, and her meditation went deeper than ever before.
She was battling a Dark Jedi, one that seemed familiar to her despite being nothing but a shadowy blur. It knew all her styles, but she also knew all of its. It was a total stalemate, and no matter how much effort she put into the battle, the shadow remained. She couldn't kill it. Finally she gave up and simply stood there watching it, observing. The longer she waited, it coalesced into a figure. First its arms and legs formed, then a head, then montrals. Color sprang into it, then clothing. And in an instant it was her own reflection clad in robes of black.
She emerged from the vision, sweating heavily. She described it to both her master and the Consular observing. They refused to tell her what it meant, leaving that determination to the Togruta Padawan herself.
She wracked her brain for hours, thinking it through. It took her two days and one sleepless night to reach the conclusion that the battle epitomized her own inner struggle between darkness and light. She could never banish the dark entirely, only fend off its attacks and keep it in check.
It irritated her, but she realized it was a fact of life. Once she described her realizations and described the steps she needed to counter the danger, the Trial was completed. She was knighted in a traditional ceremony and given much more liberty than she was used to ever before.
The experience also convinced her to focus more on meditating. It became a daily habit for her, one she would always keep as her first bulwark against the dark side.
Early on in her knighthood, Teer Ka made the decision to learn the use of a double-bladed lightsaber. It was something she'd always wanted to try, and her increased independence gave her the opportunity to do it. With her natural skills and the right instruction she was able to catch on quickly.
(It took many years, but she was eventually able to master the weapon and gain the title of Weapons Master. It is one she wears with pride today.)
Despite her scars, the young Knight was still considered to be rather attractive in her youth, with supple curves, smooth skin, and a striking face that people did not forget. It also proved to be the one time she strayed from the rules she believed in so loyally.
Reem Krotan, one of her Youngling friends joined her on a mission to Ryloth. He'd been her proverbial right hand as Younglings together, and her chief 'partner in crime.'
Teer had not seen Reem since her Trial of the Flesh and its disfiguring scar, and she felt the desire to make up for lost time.
On the way there, alone on the ship, they started to reminisce about the past. Reem mentioned how Teer Ka had grown steadily more beautiful each time he saw her, despite her scar. He reached up to trace it with his finger. They started to kiss, and one thing led to another.
The next morning they woke up in bed together and the Togruta Knight was furious with herself for her moment of weakness. She realized she'd allowed herself to be vulnerable on that front, but it was too late to change it. She'd slept with a childhood friend, she'd violated the Rules.
Both Jedi realized it had been a mistake and vowed never to speak of it, and never to see one another again after the mission out of concern their passionate relations could have further impact.
They never did see each other again. Reem Krotan was killed by a Dark Jedi ten years later, one which Teer Ka hunted down and killed in return. It wasn't revenge, it was business. But it was business that gave her a sense of relief. Business that she enjoyed immensely.
She wondered whether Krotan might have lived if she'd been by his side, and she couldn't help but blame herself for shunning him.
After that early failure, Teer redoubled her devotion to the Order. She was determined to offset her own transgression by training a Padawan into a top-notch Knight. One who would follow the rules, and would follow her specifically. She would address her own flaws in them, and that meant demanding unquestioning loyalty to the Jedi Order and to her.
Teer Ka's unique training style and emphasis of personal loyalty had mixed results among her Padawans. While one became a successful Knight, two of the first three were killed, one by the Jedi Master's own hand.
Her first Padawan was a young Zabrak girl named Oresa Dejar. Dejar had strong potential as a Guardian, the very reason her master had selected her. Though her swordsmanship excelled, she was too headstrong and impulsive. It was a major battle to reign her in and keep her under control. She developed a personal loyalty to Teer, but it was conflicted. Oresa strayed, and she was disobedient. Every time she ignored her master or defied instructions, she regretted it honestly and apologized.
Oresa had a great deal of luck on her side though. No matter how dangerous or stupid the risks she took were, she narrowly scraped by.
The highlight of their time together was another battle with a Dark Jedi, in which the bold Zabrak made a few serious mistakes. In the first place, she didn't follow the plan her master had laid out. Rather than attacking from the right side once Teer Ka had engaged the enemy, she attacked from the center. First. By herself.
If not for the fact the Dark Jedi was caught by surprise, Oresa would have been sliced completely in half. Instead, her arm was nicked by the blade and she dropped her saber.
Teer Ka force-pushed the Dark Jedi away from her Padawan and unleashed a Djem So onslaught to drive him away and keep him too off-balance to imperil Dejar further.
It was furious and intense, but it was short. Her approach to combat, namely a powerful assault geared to end a battle as soon as it begins, was successful and the skirmish lasted just under two minutes. If Oresa had followed the plan, it could have been a third of that.
Teer Ka lectured her non-stop, but she couldn't get through to Oresa. The girl was convinced she was invincible, and while she felt guilty for disobeying Teer, they both knew that it would happen again.
It proved fatal when the Togruta took Oresa to her home planet of Shili for training. Upon learning the apex predator on the world was the akul, the ambitious teenage Zabrak planned to surprise her master by slaying one and gathering its teeth as a trophy.
She grossly overestimated her skills, and the akul tore her to shreds before her master could arrive to help her.
Teer slew the creature herself, took its teeth for a headdress, and carried her Padawan's tattered corpse back to their encampment. She created a pyre there and burned it to ashes.
She was sad. Very sad and very disappointed, in both her dead Padawan and herself. While Oresa would have lived if she'd been more loyal, Teer Ka still blamed herself for not training her well enough to defeat the predator and for not reaching her in time to rescue her. She saw this as her great failure. It had been her opportunity to succeed, to prove she was a capable master, and instead she’d done so poor a job that her Padawan had been killed.
There were a few quiet years between Padawans in which she meditated long and hard while redoubling her personal training. But she ultimately decided to take a new Padawan, to try again.
This one was a human boy named Keln Frand.
Keln had considerably more discretion than his predecessor did, and knew how to follow instructions. He learned his lessons well, and he did as he was told, which was all Teer thought was necessary.
He was dutiful enough that Teer Ka grew to trust him. She gave him a free reign sometimes, certain he was following her instructions to the letter. He was superficially so loyal and devoted that she allowed herself to become complacent. His gifts of flowers from time to time made her smile, and she felt at ease with him.
Unfortunately, Teer's lack of telepathic prowess meant she was unable to break through the barriers of secrecy her Padawan had built up. He seemed different somehow, but she dismissed it as growing maturity. Truth be told, it was the seed of darkness in him growing slowly.
She lobbied hard for him to become a Knight (Though the rank of Master was not offered to her by the Council yet), and was successful despite the concerns of others that his loyalties lay more with her than with the Order. As it happened, they were right.
In his first year as a Knight, Keln took a Padawan. In the second year, he went missing and his Padawan was found dead in an alley. Teer had assumed a Dark Jedi was to blame, that he had somehow killed the Padawan and imprisoned Keln Frand. The Togruta was given the privilege to investigate, and she managed to track down the path of the Dark Jedi she was pursuing.
She encountered him on Vendaxa, only to find that he was her apprentice fallen thoroughly to the dark side. Teer demanded he return to the light and ordered him to hand over his lightsaber and come quietly. For the first time he denied her. Instead he pleaded with her to join the dark side of the force, to come with him and learn new power.
But his persuasion was in vain, Teer Ka was too firmly devoted to the Jedi Order to be swayed. She ignited her double-bladed saber, he ignited his. His loyalty to her didn't extend to following her back to the Order, but he promised to make her death 'quick and painless.'
The battle was chaotic. The student had learned well from his master, and he knew her tactics. But the master also knew those of her student, and knew his weaknesses quite well. She'd spent years correcting them, and now she exploited them.
She summoned up all her power and unleashed an onslaught that overwhelmed her Padawan. Her Ataru never let her stay in one place long enough for Keln to hit her, and her primitive Juyo was still more than capable of giving her an unpredictable edge. He simply couldn't see what she was planning to do. And with one leap directly over him, she dipped her right lightsaber blade and severed his head.
As she had with her last Padawan, she carried his corpse with her to a secluded place and burned it on a funeral pyre.
It was her most bitter taste of betrayal, and led to her conviction that those following the dark side had to be eliminated, chief among them those who betrayed the Jedi. It also led to her habit of paranoia and intense scrutiny of those around her.
When she returned, she gave a full report to the Dantooine Council and accepted full responsibility for her former Padawan's fall to the dark side and ultimate death. She argued it was her own poor instruction that had doomed him, and she even offered to surrender her saber and leave the Order if requested.
Instead they told her she was now a Jedi Master and that after she was at peace she should take another Padawan.
At first she thought the entire Council had gone mad, but she yielded to their judgment out of loyalty. In time though, she recognized the wisdom to their decision. The true mark of her success was that she had been able to remain devoted to the Order instead of to individuals. And that she hadn't let bitterness cloud her. True, she was wearied and cynical. But she wasn't bitter or consumed from within by dark emotions.
She assisted in saber training at the Dantooine Enclave, providing instruction to Knights seeking to refine their forms. From time to time, she would walk into Youngling clans practicing and simply watch them. The scarred and rather intimidating Jedi Master had a tendency to alarm the Younglings, which caused her visits to be few and far between.
One day while haunting a Youngling clan she focused on a young Mirialan girl practicing with a training remote. Something about the way she moved the saber showed a natural grace and ease with a blade that was quite noteworthy. But there was something more that Teer could almost but not quite see around her. She promised herself she'd monitor the Youngling's progress.
So she did. She stalked the little girl for a full year. Finally one day the girl approached her and asked why she was being followed, and why she'd been followed throughout the year.
Teer Ka told her honestly that she was being watched as a prospect for a possible Padawan.
Rather than be alarmed or excited, the girl simply said "I see," and continued studying. And that was the moment when Teer knew she had a Padawan.
The girl's name was Hira Jevor, and she was to become a success story enough to counter some of the Togruta Master's failures.
The Mirialan had an enduring patience, great poise, and the graceful movements of an expert martial artist. Teer Ka took them and refined them, pairing the potential with her own experience and abilities.
The result was one of the very best young Knights in the Order, one who ultimately became a Sentinel and would have a very distinguished career, rising to become a High Council member in the distant future.
Their missions together were numerous, and were among the absolute hardest the Order had to offer. Rescue missions, escort details for the highest levels of the Republic government, hunts for Dark Jedi, and always more in-depth training.
It was here that Teer Ka perfected her own skills. Hira was the perfect foil to her, obedient in the best ways of her last Padawan and spirited in the best ways of her first. Iron sharpened iron, and it gave them both a fine point.
Her age had started to weigh on her mind, but Teer was given a second wind with the advent of a new skill: Force Valor. She learned to channel her body-enhancing abilities into her combat mindset, and the result was impressive. She was able to move with lightning speed and agility, enhancing every ability into a polished, refined, and deadly package. It took years to perfect, but in the end she added it to her arsenal of abilities.
Though her force abilities lacked balance and still had room for growth, Teer's saber skills had essentially reached their peak. She was truly a Master in fact as well as title.
She was allowed the honor of bestowing knighthood upon her Padawan, after which she was content to let things unfold on their own. It was difficult at first to not 'meddle' in the life of her Padawan, but loyalty to the Order outweighed personal loyalty. She stopped trying to manage Hira's life.
Without another Padawan, the Togruta Master carried out independent missions for several years and focused on her swordsmanship. She built off of her foundation styles and worked tirelessly to improve the Juyo she'd been practicing at a low-level for years, building up a combat-proven claim to fame as one of the great sword-beings of the Jedi Order.
It was in this time that Teer relocated to Coruscant, settling into the Jedi Temple and allowing herself a dual mission, playing the role of both weapons instructor and hunter of Dark Jedi.
The missions she was assigned were among the absolute hardest to be found, and they earned her the nickname and reputation of 'The Dark Jedi Hunter.'
Across the galaxy she traveled around specifically seeking out and engaging Dark Jedi. She excelled at it, racking up numerous kills. It became an unhealthy fixation. Everything for her hinged on hunting down and killing followers of the dark side. It was an existential crisis. Wipe out them lest they wipe out the light. She used the force for more than defense, she attacked with it.
No reservations, no quarter. Battle to the death.
She became a crusader.
The rise of the Sith especially displeased her. The fact that Dark Jedi now had a banner to rally around where they couldn't be touched aggravated her. Due to her almost-personal vendetta against Dark Jedi, she was kept away from the Sith border, and consequentially Rhen Var and Dantooine during the battles there, out of fear she might do something rash. It was a calculated decision that reserved her for her standard task of seeking out and hunting down enclaves of Dark Jedi inside Republic space.
Teer had to fight sadness and anxiety when two of her childhood friends were killed in the fall of Dantooine. To make matters worse, her elderly former master had also died in the Sith invasion, effectively wiping out the last remnants of the friendships she’d made early in life.
To distract herself from the war, she took on a Padawan again, this time a human teenager named Sirius Kelrune, who had lost his previous master to the Dark Jedi. Teer resolved to turn him into a sharp instrument, a tool of war. But as her experience with him grew, she began to embrace a softer side.
It was at this time that she obtained her most intimate and faithful companion, a Corellian Banshee Bird that she named Ashla, after the light side of the Force. Teer bonded deeply with the avian, and the two became extremely close. Her excursions to the Temple rooftop to let her pet fly were excellent breaks to avoid worrying about the war.
On a mission to Umbara, Sirius lost his arm, and Teer began to doubt herself and her leadership again. She became increasingly detached, and she might have had serious trouble had it not been for one incident that jarred her into a lifestyle change.
After a botched assassination attempt on a Republic politician, Teer made a swift pursuit to Hutt space, where she engaged a small group of Dark Jedi. She was able to defeat them, but her final challenger was a child, no more than ten years old. In defense, Teer took the child's arm, but the experience scarred her horribly, and she began to rethink her life as an instrument of destruction.
For the first time, Teer Ka wanted something more than fighting. She realized that after forty-two fallen Dark Jedi to her name, she had no more desire to kill. She was sick of it, sick of the high cost of fighting. She wanted to get away from death, to find some peace and some solitude in which to recover.
She was 58, no longer a young woman, and she saw that she’d come to the conclusion of that path. While she wasn’t ready to curl up and die, the Togruta woman didn’t want to have to fight anymore. She looked into new paths, and she found the current Watchman of Shili was stepping down.
Teer Ka volunteered for the role, and after Sirius was Knighted, she moved to her homeworld and took up the duties of Watchman, enjoying her new life and living at a slower pace.
Just a few happy, but lonely, months after becoming Watchman, the Jedi High Council took note of Teer’s progress and growth, and extended her an invitation to fill a vacant seat. Ecstatic, the Togruta Weapons Master accepted, and returned to Coruscant.
Currently, she sits on the Council and continues to serve in a variety of ways, providing regular lightsaber instruction to anyone who asks, dispensing what advice she can, and occasionally going on missions that require a Councilor.
RP Sample:
The smell of smoke was wafting through the air in the early morning hours, the result of cooking fires in a small village. It was the smell of an early childhood much like Teer's. Possibly identical even, though she was never sure which village she'd been taken from. It could very well have been this village, though the name Ka was hardly common here.
The sights matched the village smells exactly. Smoldering fires, small huts with children peeking out at their visitor. There were skins hanging on frames, being turned into leather. It was a functional tribal village, the very picture of Shili.
It was Teer's responsibility to protect these people, her people. She was the Watchman for Shili now, dedicated to preserving the peace and recruiting more children into the Jedi Order. It was for that reason that she had come on a circuit of all the villages on the continent, looking for force-sensitive children. Given the strong Togruta connection to the Force, it was unsurprising she'd found one already in a single week of searching.
A child looked at her lightsaber from behind a door and she waved at him with a smile, saying a few soft words in the melodious Togruti language. He smiled back before darting back inside.
It was not until Teer reached the resident healer's home that she could sit down and be comfortable, and then she began the long process of engaging in formalities that would allow her to inspect the children, taking blood samples and reaching out with the Force to see if a seed was ready to sprout.
As it happened, she would be taking one more little boy today, sending him off to learn the ways of the Force.
5th character
Name:Teer Ka
Race: Togruta
Age: 58
Height: 5' 9" (excluding montrals)
Weight:139 lbs
Appearance:
Teer Ka is a Togruta of rather average height, with red skin, especially pronounced montrals with relatively 'flat' striping (as opposed to distinct chevrons) in a dark blue/grey shade most often (they vary by mood), three striped headtails (two falling down her front and one wide one down her back) and dark eyes the color of the night sky. A large scar can be seen on the left side of her face, a token earned in her first skirmish against a Dark Jedi. It is a long and slightly jagged slash down from near her eye to the edge of her lip, the unmistakable scar tissue of a lightsaber cut. She also has a scar, a trio of claw marks, on the right side of her neck. Her facial markings themselves are jagged and angular, very unique and distinctive.
As is fairly typical for her species, and very common for force-users, she has maintained a youthful appearance and figure. Her body is still every bit as strong as it was at the peak of her Knighthood, and it shows. While she is most distinctly no longer ‘sexy,’ she can be safely classified as an attractive older woman.
She has a tendency to appear rather stern, and she has a very commanding presence, a certain gravitas that could be captured in a good portrait. It isn't elegant so much as it is strong and forceful. Without a doubt she is a severe woman to behold, with facial features that are geared to intimidate.
Teer Ka is not cuddly or huggable, and when she smiles, ivory fangs peek out from behind her lips, usually producing something that looks more like a ferocious snarl than mirth. As a result, her facial expressions are usually somber and reserved, leading many to think she is completely humorless and perpetually disapproving.
Teer Ka wears a custom pair of Jedi robes whenever the Council is in session and whenever she has to represent the Jedi Order on official occasions. These robes are of the traditional cut, but are in a very light grey (almost white), with charcoal pants. The under-robes are a deep blue, and she wears a blue and grey Togruta sash that matches her clothing. Her utility belt contains all of the usual equipment, and she completes the ensemble with a pair of over-the-calf black leather boots.
The sleeves of her robes end in black leather bracers that extend halfway up her forearm, and her hands are invariably bare, free from gloves. The bracers serve a function, to allow her Corellian Banshee Bird to rest on her arm without sharp talons causing discomfort.
Teer also has a more traditional and sedate brown Jedi robe that she wears during training sessions, spars, unimportant missions, and travel; the various Jedi duties that do not require her most formal attire. When travelling, particularly on planets with inclimate weather, she also pairs it with a billowing outer robe, though no hood is possible due to her anatomy. However, when she is not tending to her official duties (namely in the comfort of her own quarters and leisurely passing through the Temple or enjoying recreation on Coruscant), Master Ka is routinely found in her comfortable ‘Shili clothes,’ with bare feet.
She can almost always be found with a leather bracer on her forearm and a Corellian Banshee Bird named Ashla perched on her arm or her shoulder. She generally doesn't stray far from her beloved pet now.
Personality:
Among Togruta, Teer Ka has a 'nature' that would be considered a prime example in a leader. She is semi-solitary, often seeking seclusion to meditate away from other people, though she deeply enjoys simply being surrounded by others, even if no words are shared. She is not the social butterfly, present at every gathering, but when she does make her presence known she carries a certain weight and there is a gravity to her words that resonates with those she speaks to.
Some people might call her bossy, overbearing, or rather condescending. They make the mistake of dismissing her gruff leadership style and don't appreciate her unique flavor of control. Instead of giving her the benefit of the doubt and listening they let first impressions taint the experience, and ignore the fact that Teer Ka is an acquired taste.
Indeed, the Togruta Jedi takes time to grow familiar with, being neither stunningly friendly nor giving off an especially open or huggable vibe. Her stern visage and intimidating scars generally frighten off many, but to those who do grow close to her she reveals a whole other side that cursory examination doesn’t reveal: the benevolent mother, who rules the household firmly and cares fiercely for her children, and the wise leader who always has well-thought advice to impart.
She has a tendency to be dominant yes, yet she also can be soft-spoken. She controls through her presence, and the fact that when she speaks people listen. Her voice is commanding and stern, which makes those soft-spoken and heart felt moments all the more valuable. Praise from her is always highly deserved and never given lightly, which often leads people to believe she cannot be satisfied and that nothing is ever enough for her, which is incorrect. For Teer, a nod or affirmative word is praise enough, and she rarely crosses that threshold.
Generally she simply makes her wishes known, and they are followed, a credit to her commanding presence, but on those occasions when her statements are ignored she has a variety of reactions. If a superior ignores them, she may request they reconsider politely, and if they do not she remains silent. If someone below her ignores a command, she will not hesitate to lecture them on the importance of following the wisdom of elders and leaders, particularly if the party below her is impudent or rude.
Teer is rather independent, and prefers to do things her own way more often than not, with little time or inclination for methods she considers ineffective or too round-about to bother with. It has resulted in a rather unique training style, and a demand for fierce personal loyalty, as well as an undeniable penchant for getting things done, often with unorthodox solutions. However she is not solely a lone wolf, as she also possesses an excellent group dynamic. While she holds firm to her views, she tries to find a consensus among her peers whenever possible.
Despite her independent practices, she is deeply dedicated to the Jedi Order. It commands her full loyalty, and she demands those who are loyal to her be loyal to what she is loyal to, without exception. Teer lives and breathes by the Jedi Code, believing every word and holding it as a sacred trust placed in her care. She understands every word and every interpretation, both legalistic and licentious, and she has her own well-rounded sense of what is and is not acceptable.
While Teer relies heavily on the Jedi Council’s wisdom for her understanding of the rules, she does have her own moral code that isn’t about to be changed. It is very simple and direct, simply this: Master Ka will never hurt another living being in anger, she will protect anyone innocent who needs her assistance, and she will not place any conditions upon helping another Jedi who needs her help.
Teer is rather disdainful of technology, neither particularly caring how it works or about its use. She simply knows which things to be mindful of, namely avoiding power couplings and the sorts of things that prove fatal. She has no idea how droids or blasters work and doesn't particularly care. Her opinion on most technology ranges from neutrality to borderline contempt, the latter coming into play with the sheer amount of attention placed onto new contraptions when someone could instead be studying the Force or nature. The only piece of technology she adores and understands is her lightsaber.
She's never been stupid at all, but most of her intelligence was centered on real life knowledge rather than academic prowess. But as she slowed down slightly with age, she did work to inform herself more. The result is a woman who knows a great deal about some subjects, and very minimal amounts on others. Her body of knowledge is diverse, though two topics above all else are her expertise.
The first is lightsaber combat. Teer Ka has been wielding a lightsaber for over five decades, and the use of both a single blade and a saber staff are second-nature to her, done as easily as breathing. She is an immensely skilled duelist, with forty-two Dark Jedi slain by her hand, and her experience makes her an invaluable instructor to any student, though they will quickly find she does not play ‘fair,’ adopting many of the tricks and subterfuges that Dark Jedi employ, heedless of the concept of honor in a duel. Simply put, Teer does what she has to in order to win, and she trains that philosophy.
The second topic Master Ka knows extensively is her homeworld, Shili. While she visited several times as a Knight and several more as a Master, it wasn’t until 3601BBY when she took up the position of Jedi Watchman for her planet that she truly learned what there was to know. From the wildlife to the topography and weather, Teer knows a great deal, and doesn’t hesitate to impart her advice.
Teer isn't overconfident despite appearing that way on occasion. Her confidence is directly proportionate to her experience and skills, which are extensive. If she ever comes across as cocky or complacent, it is because she has a firm idea of the exact level of skill or finesse required by a task, and knows exactly how to deliver it, and very likely she doesn’t have the time in which to explain her certainty.
Her 'better' personality traits include a quirky sense of humor that rarely emerges (her public laughter is extremely rare), a great deal of patience when it comes to topics like meditation or instruction , nerves of steel, and a certain degree of witty banter with her intimates (who are admittedly few and far between). No matter what joke is presented to her, Teer never finds violence to be a suitable topic of humor. She finds harming another being to be completely serious, and she will direct her sternest gaze to anyone she sees treating the demise of another person casually.
All of these traits take time to emerge around others, as Master Ka is generally somewhat reclusive in her personal life, preferring to cultivate a strong and successful professional life.
Teer never had many friends, even from the time she was a Youngling. Her intensity and dedication to rules and service had a tendency to drive away more carefree spirits, and those like-minded individuals who remained were carried away by the tides of life after she became a Padawan. Throughout her life, the Togruta Master dedicated herself to fighting the Dark Side, and she immersed herself so fully in that cause that she allowed her life to pass by.
Only now that she is ‘retired’ from the business of hunting and slaying followers of the Dark Side, does Teer struggle to live more normally and ‘make friends’ in the Order, hampered by both a reputation for seriousness and intensity and a nature that can be summed up as ‘semi-reclusive.’
Teer is very much conflicted by duality in the way she sees people. On the one hand, she sees the Jedi as a fraternal Order of brothers and sisters coexisting for a single purpose, relishing their unity. On the other hand, she has seen far too many betrayals by Jedi, and she has seen first-hand the rise of the Sith, recruiting so many fallen Jedi. As such, she can be wary at times, intensely scrutinizing associates for traces of darkness, ambivalent about placing her trust in unproven hands.
On Shili, Teer cultivated a rural sensibility, and has grown a type of wisdom. Her patience is deep, and she no longer sees time as an enemy, instead seeing it as merely a passing state of existence. She knows she won’t live forever, and rather than worrying about a legacy, she plans to simply do the best job she can until the day her spirit leaves her body. The serenity of life away from busy chaos has indeed nurtured patience inside her, and now she has a certain degree of insight as well, having learned of the ways to handle mundane disputes among her own people. She can usually be relied on for good and well-thought advice, though true to her tough nature it can sometimes be distasteful. Generally in a dispute she takes on the role of peacemaker, laboring to forge an agreement between the opposing parties, and she won’t hesitate to use pressure if she has to in order to help them. Teer isn’t a woman to give up easily.
Master Ka is always willing to listen, and usually hears all sides of a dispute before speaking, unless she finds the matter trivial or simple enough that she can impart wisdom without an in-depth analysis. By and large, she prefers to have all the facts at her disposal, and surprisingly for a woman with a sense of pride, she feels no qualms about admitting when she does not know something. On those occasions, she seeks out her answer and forms her own opinion from research.
Teer has had only one relationship in recent history worth noting, which was training her fourth Padawan, Sirius Kelrune. While he spent only a short time with her as she honed him into a sword for the Jedi, they played a major impact in each other’s lives. Teer taught him to be a duelist, to be strong and self-reliant, and he helped her regain confidence in her abilities as a teacher. It was mutually beneficial, and slowly withdrawing from his life to allow him independence was not an experience she savored, but the moment when he was Knighted ranked as one of the prouder moments in her life.
The mixed legacy of her Padawans has taught Teer valuable lessons. The Togruta Weapons Master had been forced to learn wisdom in the hardest way possible, and her style of instruction and outlook on life has been carefully honed by her trials. From her first Padawan she learned to embrace patience, and from her second she learned the value of scrutiny. Her third taught her devotion, and her fourth taught her the most important lesson yet: compassion.
It is safe to say that Teer Ka has finally reached the stage in her life where wisdom is attainable, though she would never profess to be wise herself. The stern Jedi Master does not think of herself as a great hero or a sage, merely as a duelist who does her best to serve the Jedi Order in whatever capacity it needs.
As a Councilor, Teer Ka sets aside her personal opinions quite often in order to force herself to look at the bigger picture. She is also highly cognizant of the fact that she is a new Councilor, and hasn’t been serving for long, and she sees herself on the Council primarily to provide insight rather than to instigate decisions herself. Consequently, the Togruta Jedi does not take a ‘leading’ role, instead casting herself as the familiar second-in-command, doing her best to serve as an aide to the Grandmaster.
In every session, Teer tries to live up to her childhood dream, and she asks herself not ‘what would Teer Ka do?’ But ‘what would a great Jedi do?’ She challenges herself to live up to the trust placed in her, and while her advice and thoughts aren’t always conventional and are sometimes brusque, she is much more reserved than most people would have expected from her reputation.
The end result is that Master Ka is surprisingly sedate in the Council, and usually rather quiet unless specifically asked a question or when she feels she has an especially valuable piece of insight to contribute.
Birth place: Shili
Faction: Jedi
Rank: Master (Weapons Master), High Councilor
Lightsaber: Double-bladed, quite ornate in appearance. It is silver, embossed with navy blue detailing and black grips. Among the detailing, running along the length of the hilt are a series of bars that serve as memories for all the Dark Jedi she's killed. Currently the number stands at 42.
Color: Sky blue
Practiced Lightsaber forms:
Shii-Cho 5
Makashi
Soresu
Ataru 5
Shien / Djem So 5
>>Sub-form Backhanded
Niman
>>Sub-form Jar-kai, or Dual Wield
Juyo 4
Double Bladed Combat 5
Force-Sensitive Abilities or practices:
Telekinetic: 5
Telepathic: 3
Body: 8
Sense: 8
Protection: 5
Healing: 1
Destruction: 0
Specialized Skills: Force Valor.
Attributes:
Physical Strength: 5
Intelligence: 5
Speed: 5
Leadership: 8
Unarmed: 7
Melee Weapons: 2
Ranged Weapons: 1
Languages: Basic, Togruti
Bio:
Teer Ka was born into a family of hunters far from the developed centers of Shili, and her medical check-ups were conducted by the village healer, which meant no midichlorian count was taken either at birth or in her early childhood, and with one Jedi Watchman for the whole planet, it was likely that Teer would have gone undiscovered if not for a fortunate occurrence.
Her childhood was spent rather normally for a tribal and undeveloped life on Shili. There were few conveniences, and legs were the preferred method of transportation. Blaster rifles and the occasional archaic speeder had proliferated, but things were still very much the way they always had been, a low-tech existence devoid of frills. However, little Teer enjoyed herself immensely.
She was helping prepare game for the dinner table as soon as she could walk. She learned to toddle around quietly, and how to catch, kill, and eat a thimiar (a small rodent and food staple) by herself, which was the very first accomplishment she was actually proud of.
Her mother, Odali Ka, was a healer, and her father Araj was a hunter, both common professions. Odali was easily the pick to succeed the wise woman, which was often a topic of conversation.
At the age of four, a group of human hunters arrived in the village seeking instruction on how to fight an akul, the massive apex predator of Shili. Some of them were total idiots who were likely to wind up dead, but the second-in-command was a very cunning grey Jedi, whose name Teer never could remember. He was on good terms with the Order, having left years previously as he felt a certain disagreement with the Order over philosophy.
As soon as he laid eyes on the girl he could tell she was very strong in the force. Many Togruta were force sensitive, but she was so strong she stood out visibly, and he knew that she had the potential to become either a great Jedi or a terrifying Sith.
He had no interest in conducting training on his own, but he was no friend to the dark side and was unwilling for her to get scooped up by any passing Dark Jedi who saw the girl's power. He decided to quietly tip off Teer Ka's parents to their child's force sensitivity so they could choose whether or not to send her to the Jedi, though he campaigned heavily that they give up their child to the Order.
They listened carefully to his words. They'd heard peripherally about the Force, but once it was explained to them they were ecstatic that their daughter could be in complete attunement with the life force of the galaxy. It was the ultimate connection to nature in their eyes.
They hiked to the nearest hovertrain stop, then piled on to head to a hospital in one of the few developed areas of Shili. There Teer was given a full and complete medical exam and it was revealed the grey Jedi had been correct, her midichlorian count was extremely high. The Jedi Order was informed, and word came back that the girl would be accepted.
By her sixth birthday she was at the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine, training as a Youngling.
Ironically given her future prowess as a Guardian, she had trouble wielding a saber at first. Her own childhood wielding assorted sticks as melee weapons meant she had to unlearn everything she had learned.
One-on-one instruction with a saber instructor quickly brought her back to the proper pace, and with permission she continued the lessons. Soon she was ahead of the other Younglings and indisputably was the best swordsman. They were forced to pit her against older opponents in practice so as to keep things balanced.
Her force abilities didn't develop nearly as quickly, with only her senses becoming finely tuned. That built off of her own natural abilities of spatial awareness. The result meant sneaking up on her was all but impossible, and that she had an uncanny ability to find things and people in spite of even the best attempts to hide.
Gradually her body abilities improved as well, she learned to use the force to guide her movements and bolster her own abilities. It made her the perfect candidate for Ataru, though she was only able to dabble with it for a short while without instruction.
In terms of relationships, she was hardly the social butterfly of the group. Neither was she the loner. She was in the middle of some things and left out of others. Her relations were cordial with most, but she made few very close friends, not all of whom survived the 45-plus years between their Youngling days and the present.
Teer was always the ringleader in her circle of friends, and it showed in her natural inclination toward leadership. Despite being devoted to her friends, she had no qualms telling them exactly what to do, even if it angered them.
She always considered herself second-in-command to the nearest authority figure, a trait which never disappeared with time. Youngling Ka cast herself as the enforcer, as the aide. Some resented her for her excellent relationships to the Instructors, and felt she was ‘sucking up.’ Teer ignored their complaints and clung stubbornly to authority and to rules.
Her own social circle consisted of just four other children. Reem Krotan was one, a human boy with sandy blonde hair and a strong sense of humor, he was the closest thing she had to a best friend, though he was selected as Padawan almost a year before she was, and his master left behind the Dantooine enclave for an extended period, delaying their reunion.
The other three children were a Tholothian girl named Lasa, who was clearly Consular material, a Twi’lek boy named Komad who had the makings of a fine investigator (no other Youngling ever succeeded in lying to him), and an Arkanian girl named Arzi, who was aloof as could be.
At 12, she was unsurprisingly selected as a Padawan by a skilled Guardian who relished the prospect of passing on his skills to the young Togruta.
He was a Zabrak named Crove Valen, a thirty year old Guardian whose last Padawan had died when they were separated on a mission. He was determined to train his next Padawan better, and Teer was the perfect candidate, his shot at creating a legacy that would outlast him. His goal was to make her a great Jedi.
In their very first meeting, Crove asked Teer what she wanted to do when she grew up, and the Togruta girl didn’t hesitate to answer. She told him with certainty that she wanted to serve on the High Council, and he’d smiled and told her to never give up that dream.
Her Shii Cho was already excellent, so he started her out on Ataru to see if she was ready for it. The acrobatics of the style appealed greatly to her, and she developed her body abilities in tandem with the lightsaber form.
Her focus on the force always centered on body skills and sense skills. Gauging distances, being aware of threats, learning to react even before something happened, running faster than she was able to normally, and leaping with astonishing power all had the kind of combat applications she was interested in. Everything Corve drilled into her as related for the combat he knew she would face in her life.
She simply made assumptions. She was a Guardian-in-training, learning to be a defender of the Republic and the Order. She didn't need to bother with the mysteries of the force. Once her body weakened with age, she would delve into her mind and unlock knowledge of the force then. In the meantime it was a distraction for her, a diversion from her training.
Rather than balance her training, Valen simply allowed her to become even more of what she already was, polishing the end result rather than broadening it. He knew Teer would be a swords-being, one of the greats in the Order. The rest didn’t matter so much to him.
Every day started and ended with saber training. Intense saber training. It met the demands of both cardio and strength, and it improved her skills. In the middle of the day came a practice on sense abilities. The Togruta would be blindfolded and she'd be required to tell the exact number of people in a room. As she improved, Valen covered up her montrals as well and forced her to rely purely on the force. Fortunately it was a handicap she never actually had to deal with. Then came lunch, and afterwards a session reading up on mission reports in the archives or helping Younglings practice Shii-Cho.
As a Padawan she had difficulty realizing the chain of command was simply two. Second-in-command was last in command. And with her mentality it was awkward having no one 'below' her, she craved the chance to provide guidance.
But she adapted and found herself instructing older younglings in saber combat in her limited spare time. She always loved authority and loyalty to authority. Not once in her life would she ever question the Jedi Order's authority, though she would find herself in violation of its rules once during her Knighthood.
By the age of 18 she'd mastered Shii Cho and laid a firm foundation in Ataru. By 22, she started to learn Shien. And at 23 she was ready for Knighthood.
At 14, she built her lightsaber. Her master encouraged her to abandon the training saber as soon as he was fully confident she could handle a lethal weapon with the finesse he expected of her. He wasn't disappointed, and he realized they could abandon diplomacy and goodwill visits for more potentially dangerous missions as soon as she made her own blade.
Teer returned to Dantooine in the search for a crystal, and found just the right one in a force-concentrated cave. For the technologically challenged Togruta teenager, putting together the lightsaber was awkward. She'd prepared the hilt well in advance, a nice silvery model with substance to it, capable of a comfortable two-handed grip.
She filled the crystal with herself over the course of three weeks spent in the darkness of the crystal caves. It became a part of her, an almost physical extension of her body.
On her third try she set the crystal correctly and the lightsaber functioned.
On her way out, she ran into a pair of very angry kath hounds who looked as though they wanted nothing more than to sample Togruta for dinner. Overconfident in her new abilities, she misjudged the strength she needed to land a killing blow. She succeeded in making the first one even angrier.
It lashed out with a claw that caught her on the right side of her neck. It was to be the first scar of many, though only two would be visible while in her robes.
She recovered from her mistake and dispatched the hounds, making a mental note that simply because a lightsaber cuts doesn't mean it cuts with no force applied. It marked the moment when she realized power was truly essential, and that the real encounter went far beyond the practice she'd grown accustomed to.
There were two other especially noteworthy instances in her life as a Padawan. The first was a series of seemingly-empty threats aimed at a mid-level witness against a petty crime lord pending trial for fraud. Everyone had assumed it was simply a matter of bluster, but it had still warranted an escort.
And it was good they had an escort, a pair of assassins showed up just outside the Palace of Justice on Rendili. In a quick and pitched battle, the two Jedi successfully protected the witness and dispatched the assassins. It was Teer Ka's first blood, and while she regretted the deaths, Crove taught her that she had no choice. In a fight, you could emerge victorious or you could fail, and the price of failure was often too high.
The second incident involved a Jedi archivist who was collecting a valuable holocron documenting the ancient Sith to keep it away from the clutches of Dark Jedi. But some Dark Jedi also had an interest in it, craving the knowledge in the hopes they could set up their own enclave and restore the legacy of the Sith.
They faced off on a remote world in a skirmish that tested the abilities of both master and apprentice. Each was pitted against a single foe, Guardian and Padawan against Marauder and Acolyte.
Teer's use of Ataru was a great asset, and by staying in constant movement she prevented her foe from landing lethal blows. But she didn't emerge unscathed, the opponent's lightsaber caught her on the side of her face and tore into her. It was extremely painful and left a mark she would carry for the rest of her life as well as count for her Trial of the Flesh.
The Togruta Padawan played up her reaction to create the illusion of weakness, then slashed her blade from the side as her foe raised his lightsaber for a killing blow. He was sliced cleanly in half at the waist and fell to the ground dead, with his spine severed.
Teer Ka was able to apply a kolto patch to the wound, but the blade had already cauterized the gash it had made. She could only ease the pain and prevent infection, the white scar was permanent.
Outside of her combat, her whole world was training, with her Youngling friends appearing less and less frequently in her life. Crove was her primary source of companionship, and she took her knowledge from him, heeding his gruff wisdom and seeking to emulate his strength and resolve.
He was like a father to her, and he taught her everything he could. Even her fresh scar didn’t bother him, and when he led her into a second encounter with a Dark Jedi he was pleased to discover her training had much improved, as she dispatched her foe quickly, exploiting a mistake he had made.
Her Trial of the Flesh had already been completed in her first encounter with a Dark Jedi, and the Dantooine Council agreed her second duel had demonstrated her Skill.
That left the Trials of Courage and of Spirit.
To complete the Trial of Courage, Crove Valen deliberately made a point of putting his Padawan and himself into dangerous situations with the knowledge that some sort of bravery was bound to occur and fulfill the requirement. He was completely right, on Eriadu, Teer Ka climbed out of an air speeder and jumped from it onto a passing hovertrain running along its tracks. The seemingly suicidal leap was a narrow calculation that put her right in a fleeing Dark Jedi's path. If not for her force abilities, the fall would have splintered her bones like toothpicks. The fact that she gambled on her limited abilities to accomplish the mission was seen as bravery enough, and the Trial was considered completed.
The Trial of the Spirit was considerably more difficult than the ability-based Trials. Teer Ka meditated only rarely, which meant she had even less available time to receive a vision.
But the meditation grove on Dantooine was a strong place in the Force, a focal point of its power. Her master called upon a close friend of his, a Consular, to come observe the session of meditation and provide a little 'boost' to her concentration. He did, and her meditation went deeper than ever before.
She was battling a Dark Jedi, one that seemed familiar to her despite being nothing but a shadowy blur. It knew all her styles, but she also knew all of its. It was a total stalemate, and no matter how much effort she put into the battle, the shadow remained. She couldn't kill it. Finally she gave up and simply stood there watching it, observing. The longer she waited, it coalesced into a figure. First its arms and legs formed, then a head, then montrals. Color sprang into it, then clothing. And in an instant it was her own reflection clad in robes of black.
She emerged from the vision, sweating heavily. She described it to both her master and the Consular observing. They refused to tell her what it meant, leaving that determination to the Togruta Padawan herself.
She wracked her brain for hours, thinking it through. It took her two days and one sleepless night to reach the conclusion that the battle epitomized her own inner struggle between darkness and light. She could never banish the dark entirely, only fend off its attacks and keep it in check.
It irritated her, but she realized it was a fact of life. Once she described her realizations and described the steps she needed to counter the danger, the Trial was completed. She was knighted in a traditional ceremony and given much more liberty than she was used to ever before.
The experience also convinced her to focus more on meditating. It became a daily habit for her, one she would always keep as her first bulwark against the dark side.
Early on in her knighthood, Teer Ka made the decision to learn the use of a double-bladed lightsaber. It was something she'd always wanted to try, and her increased independence gave her the opportunity to do it. With her natural skills and the right instruction she was able to catch on quickly.
(It took many years, but she was eventually able to master the weapon and gain the title of Weapons Master. It is one she wears with pride today.)
Despite her scars, the young Knight was still considered to be rather attractive in her youth, with supple curves, smooth skin, and a striking face that people did not forget. It also proved to be the one time she strayed from the rules she believed in so loyally.
Reem Krotan, one of her Youngling friends joined her on a mission to Ryloth. He'd been her proverbial right hand as Younglings together, and her chief 'partner in crime.'
Teer had not seen Reem since her Trial of the Flesh and its disfiguring scar, and she felt the desire to make up for lost time.
On the way there, alone on the ship, they started to reminisce about the past. Reem mentioned how Teer Ka had grown steadily more beautiful each time he saw her, despite her scar. He reached up to trace it with his finger. They started to kiss, and one thing led to another.
The next morning they woke up in bed together and the Togruta Knight was furious with herself for her moment of weakness. She realized she'd allowed herself to be vulnerable on that front, but it was too late to change it. She'd slept with a childhood friend, she'd violated the Rules.
Both Jedi realized it had been a mistake and vowed never to speak of it, and never to see one another again after the mission out of concern their passionate relations could have further impact.
They never did see each other again. Reem Krotan was killed by a Dark Jedi ten years later, one which Teer Ka hunted down and killed in return. It wasn't revenge, it was business. But it was business that gave her a sense of relief. Business that she enjoyed immensely.
She wondered whether Krotan might have lived if she'd been by his side, and she couldn't help but blame herself for shunning him.
After that early failure, Teer redoubled her devotion to the Order. She was determined to offset her own transgression by training a Padawan into a top-notch Knight. One who would follow the rules, and would follow her specifically. She would address her own flaws in them, and that meant demanding unquestioning loyalty to the Jedi Order and to her.
Teer Ka's unique training style and emphasis of personal loyalty had mixed results among her Padawans. While one became a successful Knight, two of the first three were killed, one by the Jedi Master's own hand.
Her first Padawan was a young Zabrak girl named Oresa Dejar. Dejar had strong potential as a Guardian, the very reason her master had selected her. Though her swordsmanship excelled, she was too headstrong and impulsive. It was a major battle to reign her in and keep her under control. She developed a personal loyalty to Teer, but it was conflicted. Oresa strayed, and she was disobedient. Every time she ignored her master or defied instructions, she regretted it honestly and apologized.
Oresa had a great deal of luck on her side though. No matter how dangerous or stupid the risks she took were, she narrowly scraped by.
The highlight of their time together was another battle with a Dark Jedi, in which the bold Zabrak made a few serious mistakes. In the first place, she didn't follow the plan her master had laid out. Rather than attacking from the right side once Teer Ka had engaged the enemy, she attacked from the center. First. By herself.
If not for the fact the Dark Jedi was caught by surprise, Oresa would have been sliced completely in half. Instead, her arm was nicked by the blade and she dropped her saber.
Teer Ka force-pushed the Dark Jedi away from her Padawan and unleashed a Djem So onslaught to drive him away and keep him too off-balance to imperil Dejar further.
It was furious and intense, but it was short. Her approach to combat, namely a powerful assault geared to end a battle as soon as it begins, was successful and the skirmish lasted just under two minutes. If Oresa had followed the plan, it could have been a third of that.
Teer Ka lectured her non-stop, but she couldn't get through to Oresa. The girl was convinced she was invincible, and while she felt guilty for disobeying Teer, they both knew that it would happen again.
It proved fatal when the Togruta took Oresa to her home planet of Shili for training. Upon learning the apex predator on the world was the akul, the ambitious teenage Zabrak planned to surprise her master by slaying one and gathering its teeth as a trophy.
She grossly overestimated her skills, and the akul tore her to shreds before her master could arrive to help her.
Teer slew the creature herself, took its teeth for a headdress, and carried her Padawan's tattered corpse back to their encampment. She created a pyre there and burned it to ashes.
She was sad. Very sad and very disappointed, in both her dead Padawan and herself. While Oresa would have lived if she'd been more loyal, Teer Ka still blamed herself for not training her well enough to defeat the predator and for not reaching her in time to rescue her. She saw this as her great failure. It had been her opportunity to succeed, to prove she was a capable master, and instead she’d done so poor a job that her Padawan had been killed.
There were a few quiet years between Padawans in which she meditated long and hard while redoubling her personal training. But she ultimately decided to take a new Padawan, to try again.
This one was a human boy named Keln Frand.
Keln had considerably more discretion than his predecessor did, and knew how to follow instructions. He learned his lessons well, and he did as he was told, which was all Teer thought was necessary.
He was dutiful enough that Teer Ka grew to trust him. She gave him a free reign sometimes, certain he was following her instructions to the letter. He was superficially so loyal and devoted that she allowed herself to become complacent. His gifts of flowers from time to time made her smile, and she felt at ease with him.
Unfortunately, Teer's lack of telepathic prowess meant she was unable to break through the barriers of secrecy her Padawan had built up. He seemed different somehow, but she dismissed it as growing maturity. Truth be told, it was the seed of darkness in him growing slowly.
She lobbied hard for him to become a Knight (Though the rank of Master was not offered to her by the Council yet), and was successful despite the concerns of others that his loyalties lay more with her than with the Order. As it happened, they were right.
In his first year as a Knight, Keln took a Padawan. In the second year, he went missing and his Padawan was found dead in an alley. Teer had assumed a Dark Jedi was to blame, that he had somehow killed the Padawan and imprisoned Keln Frand. The Togruta was given the privilege to investigate, and she managed to track down the path of the Dark Jedi she was pursuing.
She encountered him on Vendaxa, only to find that he was her apprentice fallen thoroughly to the dark side. Teer demanded he return to the light and ordered him to hand over his lightsaber and come quietly. For the first time he denied her. Instead he pleaded with her to join the dark side of the force, to come with him and learn new power.
But his persuasion was in vain, Teer Ka was too firmly devoted to the Jedi Order to be swayed. She ignited her double-bladed saber, he ignited his. His loyalty to her didn't extend to following her back to the Order, but he promised to make her death 'quick and painless.'
The battle was chaotic. The student had learned well from his master, and he knew her tactics. But the master also knew those of her student, and knew his weaknesses quite well. She'd spent years correcting them, and now she exploited them.
She summoned up all her power and unleashed an onslaught that overwhelmed her Padawan. Her Ataru never let her stay in one place long enough for Keln to hit her, and her primitive Juyo was still more than capable of giving her an unpredictable edge. He simply couldn't see what she was planning to do. And with one leap directly over him, she dipped her right lightsaber blade and severed his head.
As she had with her last Padawan, she carried his corpse with her to a secluded place and burned it on a funeral pyre.
It was her most bitter taste of betrayal, and led to her conviction that those following the dark side had to be eliminated, chief among them those who betrayed the Jedi. It also led to her habit of paranoia and intense scrutiny of those around her.
When she returned, she gave a full report to the Dantooine Council and accepted full responsibility for her former Padawan's fall to the dark side and ultimate death. She argued it was her own poor instruction that had doomed him, and she even offered to surrender her saber and leave the Order if requested.
Instead they told her she was now a Jedi Master and that after she was at peace she should take another Padawan.
At first she thought the entire Council had gone mad, but she yielded to their judgment out of loyalty. In time though, she recognized the wisdom to their decision. The true mark of her success was that she had been able to remain devoted to the Order instead of to individuals. And that she hadn't let bitterness cloud her. True, she was wearied and cynical. But she wasn't bitter or consumed from within by dark emotions.
She assisted in saber training at the Dantooine Enclave, providing instruction to Knights seeking to refine their forms. From time to time, she would walk into Youngling clans practicing and simply watch them. The scarred and rather intimidating Jedi Master had a tendency to alarm the Younglings, which caused her visits to be few and far between.
One day while haunting a Youngling clan she focused on a young Mirialan girl practicing with a training remote. Something about the way she moved the saber showed a natural grace and ease with a blade that was quite noteworthy. But there was something more that Teer could almost but not quite see around her. She promised herself she'd monitor the Youngling's progress.
So she did. She stalked the little girl for a full year. Finally one day the girl approached her and asked why she was being followed, and why she'd been followed throughout the year.
Teer Ka told her honestly that she was being watched as a prospect for a possible Padawan.
Rather than be alarmed or excited, the girl simply said "I see," and continued studying. And that was the moment when Teer knew she had a Padawan.
The girl's name was Hira Jevor, and she was to become a success story enough to counter some of the Togruta Master's failures.
The Mirialan had an enduring patience, great poise, and the graceful movements of an expert martial artist. Teer Ka took them and refined them, pairing the potential with her own experience and abilities.
The result was one of the very best young Knights in the Order, one who ultimately became a Sentinel and would have a very distinguished career, rising to become a High Council member in the distant future.
Their missions together were numerous, and were among the absolute hardest the Order had to offer. Rescue missions, escort details for the highest levels of the Republic government, hunts for Dark Jedi, and always more in-depth training.
It was here that Teer Ka perfected her own skills. Hira was the perfect foil to her, obedient in the best ways of her last Padawan and spirited in the best ways of her first. Iron sharpened iron, and it gave them both a fine point.
Her age had started to weigh on her mind, but Teer was given a second wind with the advent of a new skill: Force Valor. She learned to channel her body-enhancing abilities into her combat mindset, and the result was impressive. She was able to move with lightning speed and agility, enhancing every ability into a polished, refined, and deadly package. It took years to perfect, but in the end she added it to her arsenal of abilities.
Though her force abilities lacked balance and still had room for growth, Teer's saber skills had essentially reached their peak. She was truly a Master in fact as well as title.
She was allowed the honor of bestowing knighthood upon her Padawan, after which she was content to let things unfold on their own. It was difficult at first to not 'meddle' in the life of her Padawan, but loyalty to the Order outweighed personal loyalty. She stopped trying to manage Hira's life.
Without another Padawan, the Togruta Master carried out independent missions for several years and focused on her swordsmanship. She built off of her foundation styles and worked tirelessly to improve the Juyo she'd been practicing at a low-level for years, building up a combat-proven claim to fame as one of the great sword-beings of the Jedi Order.
It was in this time that Teer relocated to Coruscant, settling into the Jedi Temple and allowing herself a dual mission, playing the role of both weapons instructor and hunter of Dark Jedi.
The missions she was assigned were among the absolute hardest to be found, and they earned her the nickname and reputation of 'The Dark Jedi Hunter.'
Across the galaxy she traveled around specifically seeking out and engaging Dark Jedi. She excelled at it, racking up numerous kills. It became an unhealthy fixation. Everything for her hinged on hunting down and killing followers of the dark side. It was an existential crisis. Wipe out them lest they wipe out the light. She used the force for more than defense, she attacked with it.
No reservations, no quarter. Battle to the death.
She became a crusader.
The rise of the Sith especially displeased her. The fact that Dark Jedi now had a banner to rally around where they couldn't be touched aggravated her. Due to her almost-personal vendetta against Dark Jedi, she was kept away from the Sith border, and consequentially Rhen Var and Dantooine during the battles there, out of fear she might do something rash. It was a calculated decision that reserved her for her standard task of seeking out and hunting down enclaves of Dark Jedi inside Republic space.
Teer had to fight sadness and anxiety when two of her childhood friends were killed in the fall of Dantooine. To make matters worse, her elderly former master had also died in the Sith invasion, effectively wiping out the last remnants of the friendships she’d made early in life.
To distract herself from the war, she took on a Padawan again, this time a human teenager named Sirius Kelrune, who had lost his previous master to the Dark Jedi. Teer resolved to turn him into a sharp instrument, a tool of war. But as her experience with him grew, she began to embrace a softer side.
It was at this time that she obtained her most intimate and faithful companion, a Corellian Banshee Bird that she named Ashla, after the light side of the Force. Teer bonded deeply with the avian, and the two became extremely close. Her excursions to the Temple rooftop to let her pet fly were excellent breaks to avoid worrying about the war.
On a mission to Umbara, Sirius lost his arm, and Teer began to doubt herself and her leadership again. She became increasingly detached, and she might have had serious trouble had it not been for one incident that jarred her into a lifestyle change.
After a botched assassination attempt on a Republic politician, Teer made a swift pursuit to Hutt space, where she engaged a small group of Dark Jedi. She was able to defeat them, but her final challenger was a child, no more than ten years old. In defense, Teer took the child's arm, but the experience scarred her horribly, and she began to rethink her life as an instrument of destruction.
For the first time, Teer Ka wanted something more than fighting. She realized that after forty-two fallen Dark Jedi to her name, she had no more desire to kill. She was sick of it, sick of the high cost of fighting. She wanted to get away from death, to find some peace and some solitude in which to recover.
She was 58, no longer a young woman, and she saw that she’d come to the conclusion of that path. While she wasn’t ready to curl up and die, the Togruta woman didn’t want to have to fight anymore. She looked into new paths, and she found the current Watchman of Shili was stepping down.
Teer Ka volunteered for the role, and after Sirius was Knighted, she moved to her homeworld and took up the duties of Watchman, enjoying her new life and living at a slower pace.
Just a few happy, but lonely, months after becoming Watchman, the Jedi High Council took note of Teer’s progress and growth, and extended her an invitation to fill a vacant seat. Ecstatic, the Togruta Weapons Master accepted, and returned to Coruscant.
Currently, she sits on the Council and continues to serve in a variety of ways, providing regular lightsaber instruction to anyone who asks, dispensing what advice she can, and occasionally going on missions that require a Councilor.
RP Sample:
The smell of smoke was wafting through the air in the early morning hours, the result of cooking fires in a small village. It was the smell of an early childhood much like Teer's. Possibly identical even, though she was never sure which village she'd been taken from. It could very well have been this village, though the name Ka was hardly common here.
The sights matched the village smells exactly. Smoldering fires, small huts with children peeking out at their visitor. There were skins hanging on frames, being turned into leather. It was a functional tribal village, the very picture of Shili.
It was Teer's responsibility to protect these people, her people. She was the Watchman for Shili now, dedicated to preserving the peace and recruiting more children into the Jedi Order. It was for that reason that she had come on a circuit of all the villages on the continent, looking for force-sensitive children. Given the strong Togruta connection to the Force, it was unsurprising she'd found one already in a single week of searching.
A child looked at her lightsaber from behind a door and she waved at him with a smile, saying a few soft words in the melodious Togruti language. He smiled back before darting back inside.
It was not until Teer reached the resident healer's home that she could sit down and be comfortable, and then she began the long process of engaging in formalities that would allow her to inspect the children, taking blood samples and reaching out with the Force to see if a seed was ready to sprout.
As it happened, she would be taking one more little boy today, sending him off to learn the ways of the Force.
