Post by Satsu on Apr 22, 2019 17:57:58 GMT -5
 Character Name Full Name •Vahan Tsai Nickname • The Vornskr Race • Echani Birthplace • Eshan Age • 24 Gender • Male Sexuality • Hetero Faction • Jedi Concept • Jedi Guardian, Weary Survivor, Reluctant Hero [Rank-2] Languages • Basic, Binary Assets • Dual phase telescopic long-handled standard blue lightsaber, utility belt (rebreather, grapnel cords, credits etc), various vibroblades and other edged weapons collected from various planets (notably the three push daggers he wears in his sleeve, boot and behind his utility belt), one full set of battle armor (well used, heavily scarred) Appearance Face Claim • Harry Lloyd (specifically as Viserys Targaryen) Height & Weight • 5'11” 168lbs Overall Looks • Slight and unassuming but for the long flowing white hair which cascades nearly down to his shoulder, one might be forgiven for thinking that a stiff breeze might bowl the young man over, Jedi robes have that kind of unflattering effect which masks an otherwise sinewy and athletic form. Not unlike many a Jedi who keeps up with their combat drills. A veteran of the war from start to finish Vahan bears many small scars as evidence of near misses and one particularly horrific knot of scar tissue in his left shoulder from a blaster bolt taken in the Battle of Coruscant. A master of his own expression if of nothing else, Vahan rarely gives obvious cues as to his mood or thoughts to anyone who isn't either an Echani themselves or have known him for several years. Such things, if they reach his face at all normally pass quickly and almost imperceptibly, giving way to his more usual stern but stoic facade. Opting for less standard attire than many of his peers, Vahan usually wears significantly darker shaded robes, dark brown or dark grey with a high stiff decorative collar on the latter, usually secured with an obi over which he wears his utility belt. Other than that his other standard apparel includes a thick spun hooded cloak and tough wearing shin high brown leather boots. Personality Profile Precise would be the best word. The thing which makes Vahan not just a great swordsman but also a worthy Jedi is undoubtedly his exacting nature. He may not be the strongest or the swiftest or even the smartest but if there can be one thing said of the Echani it is that through The Force or through his own senses he notices every little thing. The type of person who treats a new face to a long lingering stare rather than even a cursory greeting, his eschewing of and frustration with social niceties tends to put people off. He is nonetheless an incredibly perceptive an insightful individual, though bold and brazen to the point of rudeness, he has a particular talent for cutting right down to the heart of any given matter. Meticulous in his disposition, holding himself and those around him to a seemingly impossible high standard, he does not happily countenance failure and is loathe to dole out idle praise. Many perceive this to be some form of conceit on his part, his reputation as a prodigious duelist being by now well known, but he is in fact a humble man who believes wholeheartedly in the Light Side of the Force. He also believes however that whether predetermined or not, every single being has a role to play in the Galaxy at large and that Jedi in particular in light of the great gifts given them by the Force ought to be nothing less than exemplary. Background Father • Rama Tsai, 53, Bounty Hunter/Mercenary/Warrior (Deceased) Mother • Yuddha Tsai, 54, Echani Martial Arts Instructor Siblings • Yaksha Tsai, 29, Sith (Younger siblings, two sisters and one brother, all alive) Other Important Connections •Lhas Obera, 307, Jedi Master Overall History • Part I – The Winning Edge Born on the Echani home world, the second son of a respected warrior and a venerated martial artist, Vahan was an odd child from the start. It was not unusual for Echani children to be quiet, but given good reason they would still cry. In this regard Vahan was no different, only it quickly became apparent that the crying would come before whatever the cause was. His mother had seen things like this before, in those students she had taught that seemed to move in anticipation of an opponent rather than response. After some degree of testing it was determined that not only Vahan, but his elder brother Yaksha and even their mother possessed a higher degree of Force sensitivity than was normal. It was supposed that through her the brothers must have been descended from some forgotten family of Force users and as such the Jedi were keen to be able to train them. Though he respected the Jedi greatly, their father Rama had only two children at the time and would allow only one to be taken so that his lineage would be secure. Given this ultimatum the Jedi determined the much younger and more reserved Vahan would be a better fit for the Order. The young Echani showed talent in controlling his growing power in the Force to be sure, but perhaps predictably his real talent began to shine through some years later when introduced to the basics of lightsaber combat. Perhaps it was that the young Echani seemed to notice everything around him and that he was operating under the misapprehension that everyone else did as well, perhaps it was out of a sincere wish to improve, or perhaps it was for want of any other appealing distraction; whatever the case even as an Initiate, Vahan would drill relentlessly. While the others in his group took much needed respite from their training he would take anything suitable to hand and work over and over the movement of Form I they had been shown, little by little polishing his skills with a saber until he outstripped his peers utterly. Even so there was not a hint of pride or even conceit in his demeanor and when questioned on his progress in this field he would provide the somewhat non-committal answer that something in his movement 'still wasn't right.' Whatever his own thoughts his prowess had attracted the attention of several Knights and Masters to whom it was obvious that he was exceptionally gifted in the Force and a natural Duelist as well. When it came time for his group to be chosen as Padawans or else to join the Service Corps there were a half dozen Jedi Guardians champing at the bit to take such a talent under their wing, ultimately though it would be the Pau'un Jedi Master and Consular, Lhas Obera to take him on. Despite a difference in their priorities the Master and Padawan gelled well, Vahan always being observant and mindful of the elder Jedi's actions and Master Lhas being wise or experienced enough to read subtle clues which the Echani gave off to belie his mood. There were perhaps only two major stumbling blocks in their time together. The first was not uncommon but presented particularly strongly in Vahan's case; being raised in the nurturing environment of the Jedi Temple he was quite used to being able to share his thoughts and feelings freely, couple this with uncommon insight and an acerbic tongue created a problem which would make Master Lhas' life quite a bit more difficult for years to come. The second was far more easy to see coming and yet caused quite a bit more friction within the pairing. Of all the styles in all the Galaxy why would such a gifted duelist ever need to focus on Niman? The Diplomat's Form might have been broadly effective but it was hardly what legendary swordsmen were made of. Time would eventually prove Master Lhas to be wise, where some Guardians struggled to maintain their connection to the Force in the heat of battle and found significant difficulty integrating their powers into live combat these things came more naturally to Vahan than they otherwise would. Though she could not have known at the time Master Lhas would save his life many times over the course of the coming war by her insistence alone. Much of their work took them along the Galaxy's trade arteries such as the Rimma Trade route or thee Hydian Way, in the case of the latter it became increasingly apparent the dissatisfaction many Republic policies had caused, Core centrism was nothing new but neither was the resentment which it bred and leaving it to fester would come back to bite the whole Republic in ways no one was yet able to fathom. The problem at hand, which no one in the Deep Core seemed to want to acknowledge, infected even their work as Jedi and more than once he would walk away from diplomatic missions wondering whether they had better served the Force or the Senate house. Needless to say his burgeoning agitation with politicians was well on its way by this time. By 3604 it had become obvious that the Galaxy would soon sustain a period of significant unrest, many Consulars were dispatched to the northern sectors to mediate the widening rift between them and the central Republic authority and it was during one such mission to Serenno in the latter part of the year in which Vahan recalls being told flatly 'yours is no longer the only game in town.' He had wondered at the Count's odd phrasing at the time, more and more the Dark Side had seemed to surround these worlds but he had taken that as a result of the widespread unrest. He would realize too late that the erstwhile Count was referring not to the Republic, but specifically to the two Jedi before him. No one was prepared when the first strikes happened. Even if they had been the Council was at first loathe to commit the Jedi to such a war. Intercession in a solely political dispute was not their place, he could understand that. It made it none the easier to have to stand by idly while planets were ravaged by the horrors of war, nor to attempt mediation across the gulf of stricken corpses which resulted. Then Taris happened. Then Taris died. Part II - The Way of the Vornskr The Galaxy had changed overnight, one day their remit had been evacuations and humanitarian aid, the next Vahan was sitting to have an armor set fitted. The voices advocating for patience and diplomacy it seemed had been suddenly and brutally silenced, now there was only the war. Ord Mantell, Corsin, Bogden; the Republic seemed to lose ground at every step and Vahan walked the road right along with them, no matter how many Sith he cut down there always seemed to be more. One Jedi Padawan and one lightsaber wasn't enough to sway the tide of such a conflict, but the more he fought them the more he learned, the more he understood. This unorthodox tutelage did not go unnoticed however and after a particularly strong showing on the shattered world of Bogden the Council had some questions for him regarding his increasingly frequent use of Form VII techniques. Many considered it to be a Sith style altogether and the idea of a mere Apprentice no matter of what age or maturity toying with such things made them excessively tetchy when it came to such things. While the point was made that better Jedi before him had strayed from the path as a result, if he insisted on learning such things then he would have proper training. Seconded back to the Temple on Coruscant, Vahan underwent a highly accelerated training regimen to prepare his body and mind for the rigors of Juyo proper. While some would have considered it a respite the task was no such thing, war at least was fairly simple by and large, one need only guard against the enemy but when that enemy was one's darker impulses? It was not something most Jedi would be prepared for and he understood now why such practices had fallen out of common usage within the Order. Every single day was torturous and exhausting, this was not retraining. No. Reforging. It was while battling on the tidal world of Champala in 3957 that the circle of Vahan's life would close to completion. There beside the steady crashing of the breakers he found his long lost family wreathed in darkness and he was at once struck dumb by the sight of his own face as it emerged from beneath a black shroud, as it sneered at him and his Master. Lhas had told him to go on ahead but instead he had merely stood there, the merciless tides lapping at his shins. The Sith lunged towards his teacher, erratic but with practiced precision but the Pau'un was no slouch. The fight turned and turned again as the battle raged around before finally the Sith caught her off guard with a barrage of Force Lightning, throwing her down in to the rippling tides. He had seen enough. Wild now, he engaged his elder brother who mocked his affection, his weakness, his indecision. The place should have been his, he said, his heroism, his glory; it was he the Jedi should have taken, not his meeker, younger sibling. It seemed to Vahan that he was in a dream, or perhaps a nightmare, mirrored now in his enemy and in the shifting waters, unraveling in the fluctuations of the waves as he strove against his shadowy reflection. Sith lightning and saber fire rippled along the surface of the waters until finally, in a moment of pure instinct Vahan found the moment he'd been looking for. A slash, a scream and the stink of seared flesh. The Sith, his once brother now lay at his feet, clutching the ruin of his severed arm in the rising water but it would not take him. 'Vahan, enough.' Yes Master, the reply was spoken in his mind even as he raised his saber, little realizing what the words meant, not that he shouldn't do this thing, but rather that his Master yet lived. 'Vahan, that is enough.' He saw her this time, after the fashion of a specter suspended in the darkening waters and only as he turned did he find the strength to extinguish his saber and relent. The resurgent Sith arose in fury, throwing the last of his power upon them and though he did little enough harm in his weakened state it gave him the time he needed to disappear into the gathering waves. Perhaps simply down into the deep to never be seen again, if Vahan was lucky. It mattered not, he had passed the test. He was a Jedi. In the closing days of the war where others became disheartened and fatigued Vahan seemed to fight that much harder, he didn't just fight Sith anymore, he hunted them across entire battlefields, his tenacity and use of such an unorthodox Form earning him the somewhat unappreciated moniker of 'The Vornskr' from many in the Jedi Order. Part III – The Lonely Legacy of the Dead By the start of 3595 the Sith Empire had penetrated the Galactic Core and Vahan along with several other Jedi was recalled to Coruscant to aid in the defense. Most seemed resigned that this would be a one way trip and in his heart Vahan too knew it was so, though he would never say so and not a flicker of indecision would reach his steely visage. Alongside his fellow Jedi the young Knight gave himself completely over to the will of the Force, immersed himself in it and in Juyo more completely than he ever had before. Charging out from the Temple he bestrode the battlefield as a whirling cyclone of saber blades, crashing against his enemies like a storm in the fabric of the Force. Only then something happened which no one could have predicted... He survived. The Battle of Coruscant had ended and somehow Vahan had survived. So... what then? To say that he was at all pleased by the end of the war would be untrue. Though he had indeed wished for the fighting to meet its abrupt end he had imagined that this would only come when the Sith had been blotted off the Galaxy map by a swift and sudden retribution. As he recalls he made quite a stink over the matter at the time, considering the armistice to be a betrayal of his fellow Jedi whom had been taken into the Force during the conflict's course. He understood the need for reconstruction, for consolidation and the soothing of war exhaustion which had gripped the Galaxy as a whole up until then. All these things he understood, but that didn't mean he had to like them. Small wonder really that he was dispatched to aid with the rebuilding of his native Eshan. The fighting there had not been pretty, the Sith had come in force and been made to bleed for every inch of the planet that they'd taken. Much of the Galaxy looked just like this now, he knew and even as he tried to still himself and regain his center he could not understand why anyone, least of all the Jedi High Council, would allow any chance for this to happen again. So he forsook stillness, instead focusing on his assigned mission and as he had done as a boy he drilled his Forms until his hands were raw. Again he gave himself over to its flow and yet still the Force did not speak to him. He had gone to war and it seemed he was not wholly ready to come back. Him and the rest of the Galaxy then, as the Quiet War rolled on. |
