Post by Jenno on Nov 10, 2009 13:54:57 GMT -5
Name: Caleb Malkav
Race: Human
Age: 18
Height: 5'10
Weight: 140 lbs
Appearance:
Close up:
Birth place: Naboo/Kaadara
Faction: Sith Order
Rank: Initiate
Previous Faction: Jedi Order
Previous Rank: Youngling
Bio:
Pre-Discovery:
Caleb was an only child and born a healthy baby under the care of two loving parents. His family owned a farm not too far from the city of Kaadara where his mother, Leila, and father, Jaigo, both tended to it. However, the Malkav’s rarely scraped together enough money to spend on anything other than their strictest necessities.
Of course, married to a farmer Leila had gained skilled in the area herself but since Caleb’s birth had become restricted in terms of helping Jaigo out in the fields. Instead she took to maintaining a small patch behind their house, where she would grow their own supply of vegetables. When the desire to crawl and explore had overcome him at the age of eight months Caleb eventually managed a daring escape out of the house only to stumble upon the small patch. When a pale faced Leila finally found her son he was sat obediently still in front of the patch, calmly staring at the foods she was growing there.
Nothing noticeable came from the encounter. But in truth that was the first time that Caleb connected with the Force and thusly the plants around him but more on a subconscious level than anything else.
Once he had grown to the point his mother let him out of her sight for more than a few moments Caleb would often find his way to the vegetable patch and each time he would sit before it, staring into the ground silently for hours. Of course, Leila didn’t really understand what was going on and thought it was simply a phase he would grow out of. But that year she noticed something different about the vegetables she had harvested. Not only had they ripened a little quicker than the previous year but also the food tasted much nicer. Although she didn’t like to think that in some way her son was connected to all of this.
At the time of their next harvest the same had happened again but this time the vegetables had grown even quicker and tasted much more extravagant. Of course, at the age of three Caleb was now able to speak a little bit and at times Leila could have sworn he had said something like ‘talking plants’ but at the time had simply thought it was one of his cute combination of random words. But the thought implanted itself in her mind now.
The next year when the plants had grown about a month and a half before they were due, Leila finally decided to confide in her husband. Jaigo had noticed these things but had very little time or energy to address what he thought was going on. He wasn’t sure what was happening but was overall speculative about this supposed ‘power’. But he was willing to try and discover the truth. And so he started taking Caleb with him out into the field, although he only let the boy around one of the fields for a little while each day but come harvest the crops gathered from that field were healthier than those of the other fields.
There was little fear from Caleb’s parents about this gift of his. Of course, they told no one about it for fear of what they might think. But he was a sweet little boy who survived simply off of the love of his mother and father. His heart warming smile and little giggle convinced Leila and Jaigo that their son simply thought it was something that everyone could do he was too innocent for them to believe anything else.
When he was five Caleb faced a different route than most children, he did not go to school as his parents could not afford for him to go, nor to take him there and back every day. Instead he received a small amount of home tutoring from his mother, she was fairly well educated but teaching was not really her area of expertise. Jaigo was not too bothered by this, he wanted Caleb to carry on maintaining their farm long after he and his wife had passed on. And with the boy’s gift Jaigo foresaw their lives becoming much easier financial-wise in the future.
And so Caleb started to get used to farming, he only had a small area to cover each day but it still left him tired and exhausted, communing with the plants was becoming easier over time but still drained a lot of his concentration.
Caleb was six when it happened. One day as he was out in one of the fields with his father a bloodied and exhausted man stumbled into their field and collapsed right before the father and son who dragged the robed man to their farm house were the family raced about trying to heal him as much as possible.
It was a few days later when the man finally woke with a start, almost giving Leila a heart attack. After Jaigo had explained their discovery and recovery of the man, with Caleb’s occasional childish over exaggerated additions, the stranger explained to them how he came about being there.
Jedi Master Drae Gilran was a human watchman of the order and assigned to oversee the planet of Naboo. Recently there had been rumours of raiders not too far from the city of Kaadara who had been pillaging and stealing from some of the farms in the area. Being closest to the source of the rumours the Council sent Gilran to investigate and discover if these raiders really existed. It turned out that they did, and that they were awaiting the Jedi’s arrival. They shot his speeder before he had any idea what was going on. It was a miracle he had survived the crash and managed to find his way to the nearby Malkav farm.
Now, Leila and Jaigo had heard of the Jedi but they had never met one and nor did they expect to with the life they led, Jedi in their eyes were like mythical creatures. But now one sat in their humble homestead.
It was then that the Jedi began asking some questions about their son. This struck them as odd and also made them a little worried. Jaigo took on a more assertive stance as he questioned why the Jedi was asking about Caleb. The Jedi explained to them truthfully. When he had been injured he had followed the Force and it led him to farm. At first he was not sure why but now he could feel the Force flowing through the plants and crops much stronger in this farm than they did on any other. It was not a natural flow; it seemed almost as if the Force had been directed into the plants. Seeing as they were the two spending most time with him the Jedi had tried to search for the Force within Leila and Jaigo. It touched them like it did all beings, but not as it would a Force sensitive. Revealing that he suspected their son was force sensitive the Jedi spoke to the two parents about this. Finally they were able to talk about the secret they had kept for so long, and there was a valid reason as to why their son had this magical impact upon the plants.
Gilran asked to speak with child alone for a little bit and the parents obliged. Gilran asked Caleb about his gift and how he went about using it, to which the child responded as best he could. He described it as if he was talking to the plants and they would talk back. For some reason they warmed to him and in turn he found he could have an impact upon them, making they grow stronger, healthier and faster. It was just something he could always remember being able to do. This, and a brief test, confirmed Gilran’s belief, the child was force sensitive and was able to use the Force in order to alter the plants around him. It was a rare gift in the Order and it was rarer still for such a gift to manifest so early in one’s life.
At this point in time Caleb was six, almost too old to being training as a Jedi, but there was still hope. Gilran was convinced that the Force had led him to that farm so that he would discover the boy’s potential and send him to the temple for training as a youngling. However, the parents were uncertain, for Jaigo this meant letting go of what would most likely become their strongest source of money, the boy’s gifts would increase their influx of money several times over. But he wasn’t sure if he wanted to confine the boy to the life of a farmer, not when there was so much out there that he had the opportunity to do and explore.
They were interrupted though before a final decision could be reached. Noises from outside alerted them all to the arrival of some unwelcome guests. Finally the raiders had made their move on the Malkav farm. But this was no coincidental strike; they had discovered and followed the Jedi’s tracks until they eventually discovered the farm. And then they prepared some men to attack the farm at night.
Master Gilran told Jaigo to hide within the house and keep his family safe whilst the Jedi left to take care of the aggressors. Using the cover of darkness Drae took down as many of the raiders as he could stealthily before he finally had to ignite that mesmerising cyan of his. Caleb could just about follow the flow of the blade as he watched from inside the house, he could feel the Force as it flowed through the Jedi and through his tool, it was much more different than his experiences with the plants. The feeling was more wild than the serenity he felt, it excited him.
Drae managed to beat back the raiders for a time but knew that if they were not dealt with swiftly they would no doubt return. He confronted the Malkav’s one last time, asking if they would allow their son to become a Jedi. Of course, now with the few things he had seen of this Jedi Caleb wanted to join, making sure his parents knew.
Finally they submitted and the three were separated, Caleb swore that one day he would return to see them when he became a Jedi Knight, to show that their son had become someone they could be proud of. The three of them remained in a teary embrace for a few minutes before finally Gilran led him to Kaadara. With the raiders to attend to Gilran passed Caleb into the care of a Knight who had been on world at the time for different reasons. This Knight would take Caleb to the council on Coruscant and relay Master Gilran’s words to them.
Caleb was tested by the twelve who sat in the chamber and soon he was entered into the Order to study as a Youngling, dreams of becoming a Knight still strong in his mind.
Youngling:
At first Caleb was rather conscious about his acceptance into the Order, the lifestyle he knew and the one he had to adopt were quite different from one another. On the farm he would rarely see anyone else, he had nobody he really called ‘friend’ but it hadn’t bothered him back then because he had the plants to talk to.
But the Temple was so busy with life and activity that he was severely shocked by the culture change. In only few minutes of arriving he had seen more people than he had ever since he’d lived on the farm. Everybody wore long elegant robes or clean and well-adjusted tunics. The young child’s filth and hole-ridden shirt was met with speculative and downtrodden looks.
But as he started to get into the flow of lessons things began to change. His mind was open to the Force as he learnt all the different aspects of it. When he could begin to move things with his mind he was amazed, his excitement grew has he grazed through the surface thoughts of other younglings. But there was more, he could alter his body, jump higher, move faster and hit stronger. He could affect his senses, distinctively hear the sound of a pin dropping in a nearby room, see the intricate details of a blooming flower as it would explode in a burst of life. At times he could even foresee things, quick subtle movements of a training partner and the feint they would throw before following up with an intended strike. There was more, so much more and he loved every minute of it.
His classes were frequent as he learnt about the very beginnings of the techniques he hoped to develop throughout his time as a youngling. In the early years of his training he was making good progress as a Jedi.
Things changed once again as he started to socialise with his fellow younglings a bit more. Most had been in the Order longer than him or had attended some form of education before they were discovered. They were more intelligent than Caleb and they liked to point this out when he struggled with the teachings of their masters. He wasn’t inherently dense, he had simply lacked the starting steps to further his learning and children being children, even if they were Jedi, would poke fun at his failures and the difference between Caleb and the collective group. To them he was little more than a ‘simple bumpkin’.
Soon Caleb found himself becoming more depressed about this lack of progress when it came to making friends. Of course, his shyness had not helped when it came to first impressions. Now a number of his fellow younglings thought him to be a bit of a recluse, they believed that contact with them was the last thing he wanted. How far from the truth that was. Caleb was lonely, he was often busy the only free time he had was spent in his room, but he did not even have a single plant in there. He craved for interaction with someone, anyone. Instead he was becoming the target for many of the childish jokes and taunts. He was not the kind to stand up to these cruel words; he just found another corner to hide in so that he could shy away from all of it.
Fortunately, before things could get really bad for him he was moved to Dantooine for a little while, due to a special training session that was taking place.
It wasn’t too long since his acceptance into the Order that he was assigned to this training event, he was seven and the year he had spent in the temple had seemed to span longer than his time on Naboo. He felt so confined during his training, all his life he had been in an open environment, acres of fields spanning as far as the eye could see. Now there were walls everywhere.
Danotooine immediately came across as a planet he liked much more. Sure there was the confined aspect such as the one in the Temple on Coruscant, but this enclave still belonged to the Jedi, for a youngling such confinement seemed to be a necessary part of his training. Dantooine was green, almost as green as the fields back home, Caleb had had enough of the grey box which he lived in and on Dantooine he felt a lot more at peace with himself.
There was a large gathering of Jedi upon the planet, all of varying ranks, younglings, padawans, knights and masters and once again Caleb would catch himself staring in awe at some of the Knights, the figurehead of light he aspired to become.
Their task was an unusual one, after all it was special training, they were working on a technique which involved communing with animals through the Force, soothing them, calming their inner instincts until you were able to be at one with each other through the Force. That was the concept at least. However, not many were able to really grasp the technique, the same applied for Caleb, at first anyway. He tried ever so desperately to follow the instructions of the teacher but he could sense that the connection was not being made. After a number of failed attempts he decided to try it his own way, approaching the creature in a similar fashion to all those plants he had connected with before.
He calmed his mind, his breath, his soul, and naturally allowed his spirit to connect with that of the animal. It could feel it as if it were an extension of his own body; he could read the primal instincts. He could even touch them, stroke the creature’s mind and lull it into serenity like a mother to her child. But he wasn’t taking such a dominant role in the creature’s mind, he listened to what it wanted, what it needed, and when Caleb held out his hand the creature took the food from it gently, as trusting as a dog to their life-time owner.
This happened for the next few days, until he was taken back to the temple to continue with his normal training, but he never forgot about Dantooine and that connection he obtained with a number of different animals during his stay.
It was when he was returned to his classes that he began to feel left out again, not part of the groups which formed between younglings, he was alone, an object for the others to throw their childish and hurtful words upon. Still his lack of intelligence was the focus point of their taunting.
As time progressed things seemed to get only worse for Caleb, he started falling behind others in his classes; he was no longer making any progress. He turned eight and still he was the same as he had been a year ago, nine, and, apart from his small progression in the ways of healing and knowledge of anatomy, still nothing. He felt as though he was stuck, his talents frozen and unable to thaw no matter how intense the heat he applied was.
His teachers were getting worried; a case such as his was not one they were used to. After all, he was gifted in two rather unique areas and quite skilled when it came to healing but anything else and some of the newer younglings might even be further ahead in their training than him.
As his attempts at extra training failed time and again Caleb turned his attention to the archives instead. Day after day he would sit in the vast library of knowledge and read and read and read, finally putting his mind to use. Caleb had never been inherently lacking in intelligence, he simply was not given the same chance as the others and now as he pulled from training manuals Caleb found himself able to understand the thoughts and concepts behind a number of techniques, including what many would consider the core ones. However, any attempt at trying these techniques would end unsurprisingly in failure.
There was another aspect of his studies which kept him interested. History, the tales of Jedi long dead, heroics and chivalry which Caleb dreamed of recreating and surpassing. To save lives, to save worlds, to make a grand and important impact upon the universe and to have his name be remembered for generations, these stories helped fuel the fire of his ambition and desire, there were so many tales that he was amused for a long long time.
Before he knew it he was twelve and approaching thirteen. Nothing much had changed, he was doing well with his healing abilities, a little above average but nothing extraordinary, he was able to hold his own in a duel for at least a few minutes before succumbing to his opponent but apart from that he was still as skilled as a freshly trained youngling. Most would see this as the limit to his abilities, but there were a few who had stumbled upon him in the Room of a Thousand Fountains as he communed with the numerous plants that surrounded him, he did not know if there was a single one he hadn’t connected with since his arrival at the temple and, predicting his looming departure from the temple, he would miss this place more than any other. It was so grand and vivid, so many different plants to learn about, for each was different.
Also, in the last three years his constant studying had had an obvious effect upon his mental capacity, no longer were his fellow students able to slate him for his lacking intelligence for it had passed their own a long while ago. Instead they shifted their focus onto the subject of his skills, or lack thereof, but he cared little for their words anymore.
No master showed much interest in him, his lack of ability in most fields meant he’d be a large liability in any mission, which was a deterrent for most. Some of his teachers had hoped that Caleb would be picked up by a healer who might see the potential he had in that area, but they were a rare breed and finding a master in that field of expertise in the end turned out to be frivolous.
Caleb’s exit from the Order was rather dull and uneventful, one night he just vanished from the corridors and archives. No longer would he appear as the passing stranger in the lives of these Jedi any longer. He was presented with three choices, to join the medical corps, the agricultural corps or to return home. Of course, the last option was that which he refused to do, he had sworn that he’d return as a Jedi Knight. Until he reached that status, he couldn’t go back. The medical corps would more than likely involve a lot of work with Jedi, no doubt these interactions would just serve to remind him how he’d failed to get where they had. So in the end he chose the agri-corps, believing that with his gift he might actually do a lot of good.
He didn’t even say goodbye to the temple.
Agri-Corps Worker:
Caleb found himself shipped to the outer rim to a planet called Bakura, there was very little there but enough space to provide the agri-corps with a good number of fields to harvest. In all honesty, it was one of the smaller agri-corps facilities, there were some that had workers numbering in the thousands, this facility was more of a testing to see if the planet could bring forth a good harvest.
When he arrived his training saber was taken from him, probably stored somewhere in the facility. And after a day’s respite, which involved tours and brief instructions of how things worked, he was on the fields. Of course, his gift gave him an advantage over others as he would use that to help stimulate the growth, so he was allocated a number of fields which he alone would work on, to increase efficiency.
Things were quiet upon the distant world and, although it reminded him of Naboo, Caleb began to realise how much he missed the hustle and bustle of the temple, it made him feel as though he was actually doing something, progressing in one form or another. On the farm he felt stuck, time passed, shifting through night and day but he no matter how many days passed he stayed the same. Of course, this connection with the plants day in and day out was certainly helping to once again further his skills in the area. During the first few weeks he felt unable to move after a day’s work but eventually he would be able to withstand the constant demand of work and his capacity to communicate with the plants also grew.
Not many workers found a great deal of pleasure talking to one another, too easily would memories and stories about their time in the temple surface during their conversation. It was easier to just focus on one’s work instead, that way they wouldn’t have the time to think about the temple.
But Caleb thought, he thought a lot and each time he did so he felt contempt rumble within him and with each memory the shakes would grow more violent. He was touched by anger, a red hot hate which burned his innards time and time again. But there was little he could do about it.
He was 15 when things began to take a turn in his life, for the two years or so he had been on the planet things had been quite dull. Caleb had taken an early lunch one day after finishing work on a field, on his way back out something caught his attention in one of the fields, moving towards it he discovered one of the native creatures, it seemed like one had somehow found it’s way onto the farming land. They were wild beast and often unpredictable, at times they could be friendly at others they might simply ignore you or they could use their speed and claws to a deadly extent.
Freezing instinctively Caleb could only stare as the creature gazed into his own eyes; the teenage labourer couldn’t derive the creature’s intentions as its actions were quite similar to his own. He knew that leaving the creature here or going to tell someone would mean that there was a potential risk roaming around the facility. And so he resorted to the lesson he had learned long ago, touching the Force he sunk into that communing trance and reached out to the creature’s mind. He sensed confusion, hunger and the instinct to protect itself with those thought he could understand. Caleb reached out to the creature, and tried to calm the beast gently lulling the creature in an attempt to have it back down. However, before he knew it, thoughts of anger, frustration surfaced in his mind and the feelings from these thoughts seemed to transfer to the creature, which broke Caleb’s focus by lashed out with its claws.
All in all Caleb was lucky to survive, any deeper and the attack might have claimed a lung, maybe even his heart. But luckily, those in the area heard his yell and rushed over to him, the sudden appearance of all these people send the creature running off (although it would later be killed by the security task force). Those that gathered all helped to clear up the bloody mess that was his chest. And as they healed him, with his own added contribution, he could help but feel frustrated, once again he had failed, this time in an area he was supposed to be good at, better than most, special. His eyes met briefly with those of a Twi’lek as he lay their, the pained grimace on his face masked by the rage in his eyes. He recognised her from the Temple, she had been in some of his classes, she was one of the few who decided against picking on him, which was something he appreciated greatly. But he remembered how she’d vanished from lessons and he wouldn’t really see her after that.
The healing was done relatively quickly with their combined effort, but the three claw marks would leave him a nice scar across his chest. As the workers returned to their work Caleb remained upon the ground thinking, about how coming to this planet had done nothing, about how he missed the archives of the temple, how he missed his parents, how he’d a new shirt. It was whilst he lay there that the Twi’lek from before approached him and after a little introduction Caleb came to know that her name was Looma. They talked, at first just after a while that escalated until they were talking about everything and anything. Something between them just seemed to click and they were able to help each other more than they probably knew.
For almost two years they spent a lot of their time together when not working on the field, they would often sneak away during lunch break or after working hours into the nearby forest. They spent time talking, opening their hearts to one another whilst at the same time Looma tried to help Caleb with his training in Force abilities. Not much progress seemed to have been made but recently he had started to notice that he was able to move things easier through the Force. Naturally he assumed this was due to Looma, telekinesis was, after all, her strongest area.
Caleb found himself falling for her, someone who understood him and didn’t seem to force themselves to put up with him. He thought it lucky when he discovered she had similar feelings to his own. Things between them advanced beyond the realm of friendship. Things became a lot more pleasant on the fields after that and the days no longer seemed so trivial.
However, the training had rekindled the aspiration with Caleb and he was beginning to feel the tug of his ambition. He still wanted to become that man; the one would be an important figure throughout the galaxy. The boy was fast beginning to outgrow his shell.
Lightsaber: Training Saber
Color: Blue
Practiced Lightsaber forms:
Shii-Cho - 2
Makashi – N/A
Soresu - N/A
Ataru - N/A
Shien / Djem So - N/A
>>Sub-form Backhanded - N/A
Niman - N/A
>>Sub-form Jar-kai, or Dual Wield - N/A
Juyo - N/A
Double Bladed Combat - N/A
Force-Sensitive Abilities or practices:
Telekinetic: 2
Telepathic: 1
Body: 1
Sense: 1
Protection: 1
Healing: 3
Destruction: 0
Specialized Skills:
Plant Surge
Animal Friendship
Attributes:
Physical Strength: 5
Intelligence: 7
Speed: 6
Leadership: 2
Unarmed: 4
Melee Weapons: 2
Ranged Weapons: 2
Force Attunement: 0
RP Sample:
Race: Human
Age: 18
Height: 5'10
Weight: 140 lbs
Appearance:
Close up:
Birth place: Naboo/Kaadara
Faction: Sith Order
Rank: Initiate
Previous Faction: Jedi Order
Previous Rank: Youngling
Bio:
Pre-Discovery:
Caleb was an only child and born a healthy baby under the care of two loving parents. His family owned a farm not too far from the city of Kaadara where his mother, Leila, and father, Jaigo, both tended to it. However, the Malkav’s rarely scraped together enough money to spend on anything other than their strictest necessities.
Of course, married to a farmer Leila had gained skilled in the area herself but since Caleb’s birth had become restricted in terms of helping Jaigo out in the fields. Instead she took to maintaining a small patch behind their house, where she would grow their own supply of vegetables. When the desire to crawl and explore had overcome him at the age of eight months Caleb eventually managed a daring escape out of the house only to stumble upon the small patch. When a pale faced Leila finally found her son he was sat obediently still in front of the patch, calmly staring at the foods she was growing there.
Nothing noticeable came from the encounter. But in truth that was the first time that Caleb connected with the Force and thusly the plants around him but more on a subconscious level than anything else.
Once he had grown to the point his mother let him out of her sight for more than a few moments Caleb would often find his way to the vegetable patch and each time he would sit before it, staring into the ground silently for hours. Of course, Leila didn’t really understand what was going on and thought it was simply a phase he would grow out of. But that year she noticed something different about the vegetables she had harvested. Not only had they ripened a little quicker than the previous year but also the food tasted much nicer. Although she didn’t like to think that in some way her son was connected to all of this.
At the time of their next harvest the same had happened again but this time the vegetables had grown even quicker and tasted much more extravagant. Of course, at the age of three Caleb was now able to speak a little bit and at times Leila could have sworn he had said something like ‘talking plants’ but at the time had simply thought it was one of his cute combination of random words. But the thought implanted itself in her mind now.
The next year when the plants had grown about a month and a half before they were due, Leila finally decided to confide in her husband. Jaigo had noticed these things but had very little time or energy to address what he thought was going on. He wasn’t sure what was happening but was overall speculative about this supposed ‘power’. But he was willing to try and discover the truth. And so he started taking Caleb with him out into the field, although he only let the boy around one of the fields for a little while each day but come harvest the crops gathered from that field were healthier than those of the other fields.
There was little fear from Caleb’s parents about this gift of his. Of course, they told no one about it for fear of what they might think. But he was a sweet little boy who survived simply off of the love of his mother and father. His heart warming smile and little giggle convinced Leila and Jaigo that their son simply thought it was something that everyone could do he was too innocent for them to believe anything else.
When he was five Caleb faced a different route than most children, he did not go to school as his parents could not afford for him to go, nor to take him there and back every day. Instead he received a small amount of home tutoring from his mother, she was fairly well educated but teaching was not really her area of expertise. Jaigo was not too bothered by this, he wanted Caleb to carry on maintaining their farm long after he and his wife had passed on. And with the boy’s gift Jaigo foresaw their lives becoming much easier financial-wise in the future.
And so Caleb started to get used to farming, he only had a small area to cover each day but it still left him tired and exhausted, communing with the plants was becoming easier over time but still drained a lot of his concentration.
Caleb was six when it happened. One day as he was out in one of the fields with his father a bloodied and exhausted man stumbled into their field and collapsed right before the father and son who dragged the robed man to their farm house were the family raced about trying to heal him as much as possible.
It was a few days later when the man finally woke with a start, almost giving Leila a heart attack. After Jaigo had explained their discovery and recovery of the man, with Caleb’s occasional childish over exaggerated additions, the stranger explained to them how he came about being there.
Jedi Master Drae Gilran was a human watchman of the order and assigned to oversee the planet of Naboo. Recently there had been rumours of raiders not too far from the city of Kaadara who had been pillaging and stealing from some of the farms in the area. Being closest to the source of the rumours the Council sent Gilran to investigate and discover if these raiders really existed. It turned out that they did, and that they were awaiting the Jedi’s arrival. They shot his speeder before he had any idea what was going on. It was a miracle he had survived the crash and managed to find his way to the nearby Malkav farm.
Now, Leila and Jaigo had heard of the Jedi but they had never met one and nor did they expect to with the life they led, Jedi in their eyes were like mythical creatures. But now one sat in their humble homestead.
It was then that the Jedi began asking some questions about their son. This struck them as odd and also made them a little worried. Jaigo took on a more assertive stance as he questioned why the Jedi was asking about Caleb. The Jedi explained to them truthfully. When he had been injured he had followed the Force and it led him to farm. At first he was not sure why but now he could feel the Force flowing through the plants and crops much stronger in this farm than they did on any other. It was not a natural flow; it seemed almost as if the Force had been directed into the plants. Seeing as they were the two spending most time with him the Jedi had tried to search for the Force within Leila and Jaigo. It touched them like it did all beings, but not as it would a Force sensitive. Revealing that he suspected their son was force sensitive the Jedi spoke to the two parents about this. Finally they were able to talk about the secret they had kept for so long, and there was a valid reason as to why their son had this magical impact upon the plants.
Gilran asked to speak with child alone for a little bit and the parents obliged. Gilran asked Caleb about his gift and how he went about using it, to which the child responded as best he could. He described it as if he was talking to the plants and they would talk back. For some reason they warmed to him and in turn he found he could have an impact upon them, making they grow stronger, healthier and faster. It was just something he could always remember being able to do. This, and a brief test, confirmed Gilran’s belief, the child was force sensitive and was able to use the Force in order to alter the plants around him. It was a rare gift in the Order and it was rarer still for such a gift to manifest so early in one’s life.
At this point in time Caleb was six, almost too old to being training as a Jedi, but there was still hope. Gilran was convinced that the Force had led him to that farm so that he would discover the boy’s potential and send him to the temple for training as a youngling. However, the parents were uncertain, for Jaigo this meant letting go of what would most likely become their strongest source of money, the boy’s gifts would increase their influx of money several times over. But he wasn’t sure if he wanted to confine the boy to the life of a farmer, not when there was so much out there that he had the opportunity to do and explore.
They were interrupted though before a final decision could be reached. Noises from outside alerted them all to the arrival of some unwelcome guests. Finally the raiders had made their move on the Malkav farm. But this was no coincidental strike; they had discovered and followed the Jedi’s tracks until they eventually discovered the farm. And then they prepared some men to attack the farm at night.
Master Gilran told Jaigo to hide within the house and keep his family safe whilst the Jedi left to take care of the aggressors. Using the cover of darkness Drae took down as many of the raiders as he could stealthily before he finally had to ignite that mesmerising cyan of his. Caleb could just about follow the flow of the blade as he watched from inside the house, he could feel the Force as it flowed through the Jedi and through his tool, it was much more different than his experiences with the plants. The feeling was more wild than the serenity he felt, it excited him.
Drae managed to beat back the raiders for a time but knew that if they were not dealt with swiftly they would no doubt return. He confronted the Malkav’s one last time, asking if they would allow their son to become a Jedi. Of course, now with the few things he had seen of this Jedi Caleb wanted to join, making sure his parents knew.
Finally they submitted and the three were separated, Caleb swore that one day he would return to see them when he became a Jedi Knight, to show that their son had become someone they could be proud of. The three of them remained in a teary embrace for a few minutes before finally Gilran led him to Kaadara. With the raiders to attend to Gilran passed Caleb into the care of a Knight who had been on world at the time for different reasons. This Knight would take Caleb to the council on Coruscant and relay Master Gilran’s words to them.
Caleb was tested by the twelve who sat in the chamber and soon he was entered into the Order to study as a Youngling, dreams of becoming a Knight still strong in his mind.
Youngling:
At first Caleb was rather conscious about his acceptance into the Order, the lifestyle he knew and the one he had to adopt were quite different from one another. On the farm he would rarely see anyone else, he had nobody he really called ‘friend’ but it hadn’t bothered him back then because he had the plants to talk to.
But the Temple was so busy with life and activity that he was severely shocked by the culture change. In only few minutes of arriving he had seen more people than he had ever since he’d lived on the farm. Everybody wore long elegant robes or clean and well-adjusted tunics. The young child’s filth and hole-ridden shirt was met with speculative and downtrodden looks.
But as he started to get into the flow of lessons things began to change. His mind was open to the Force as he learnt all the different aspects of it. When he could begin to move things with his mind he was amazed, his excitement grew has he grazed through the surface thoughts of other younglings. But there was more, he could alter his body, jump higher, move faster and hit stronger. He could affect his senses, distinctively hear the sound of a pin dropping in a nearby room, see the intricate details of a blooming flower as it would explode in a burst of life. At times he could even foresee things, quick subtle movements of a training partner and the feint they would throw before following up with an intended strike. There was more, so much more and he loved every minute of it.
His classes were frequent as he learnt about the very beginnings of the techniques he hoped to develop throughout his time as a youngling. In the early years of his training he was making good progress as a Jedi.
Things changed once again as he started to socialise with his fellow younglings a bit more. Most had been in the Order longer than him or had attended some form of education before they were discovered. They were more intelligent than Caleb and they liked to point this out when he struggled with the teachings of their masters. He wasn’t inherently dense, he had simply lacked the starting steps to further his learning and children being children, even if they were Jedi, would poke fun at his failures and the difference between Caleb and the collective group. To them he was little more than a ‘simple bumpkin’.
Soon Caleb found himself becoming more depressed about this lack of progress when it came to making friends. Of course, his shyness had not helped when it came to first impressions. Now a number of his fellow younglings thought him to be a bit of a recluse, they believed that contact with them was the last thing he wanted. How far from the truth that was. Caleb was lonely, he was often busy the only free time he had was spent in his room, but he did not even have a single plant in there. He craved for interaction with someone, anyone. Instead he was becoming the target for many of the childish jokes and taunts. He was not the kind to stand up to these cruel words; he just found another corner to hide in so that he could shy away from all of it.
Fortunately, before things could get really bad for him he was moved to Dantooine for a little while, due to a special training session that was taking place.
It wasn’t too long since his acceptance into the Order that he was assigned to this training event, he was seven and the year he had spent in the temple had seemed to span longer than his time on Naboo. He felt so confined during his training, all his life he had been in an open environment, acres of fields spanning as far as the eye could see. Now there were walls everywhere.
Danotooine immediately came across as a planet he liked much more. Sure there was the confined aspect such as the one in the Temple on Coruscant, but this enclave still belonged to the Jedi, for a youngling such confinement seemed to be a necessary part of his training. Dantooine was green, almost as green as the fields back home, Caleb had had enough of the grey box which he lived in and on Dantooine he felt a lot more at peace with himself.
There was a large gathering of Jedi upon the planet, all of varying ranks, younglings, padawans, knights and masters and once again Caleb would catch himself staring in awe at some of the Knights, the figurehead of light he aspired to become.
Their task was an unusual one, after all it was special training, they were working on a technique which involved communing with animals through the Force, soothing them, calming their inner instincts until you were able to be at one with each other through the Force. That was the concept at least. However, not many were able to really grasp the technique, the same applied for Caleb, at first anyway. He tried ever so desperately to follow the instructions of the teacher but he could sense that the connection was not being made. After a number of failed attempts he decided to try it his own way, approaching the creature in a similar fashion to all those plants he had connected with before.
He calmed his mind, his breath, his soul, and naturally allowed his spirit to connect with that of the animal. It could feel it as if it were an extension of his own body; he could read the primal instincts. He could even touch them, stroke the creature’s mind and lull it into serenity like a mother to her child. But he wasn’t taking such a dominant role in the creature’s mind, he listened to what it wanted, what it needed, and when Caleb held out his hand the creature took the food from it gently, as trusting as a dog to their life-time owner.
This happened for the next few days, until he was taken back to the temple to continue with his normal training, but he never forgot about Dantooine and that connection he obtained with a number of different animals during his stay.
It was when he was returned to his classes that he began to feel left out again, not part of the groups which formed between younglings, he was alone, an object for the others to throw their childish and hurtful words upon. Still his lack of intelligence was the focus point of their taunting.
As time progressed things seemed to get only worse for Caleb, he started falling behind others in his classes; he was no longer making any progress. He turned eight and still he was the same as he had been a year ago, nine, and, apart from his small progression in the ways of healing and knowledge of anatomy, still nothing. He felt as though he was stuck, his talents frozen and unable to thaw no matter how intense the heat he applied was.
His teachers were getting worried; a case such as his was not one they were used to. After all, he was gifted in two rather unique areas and quite skilled when it came to healing but anything else and some of the newer younglings might even be further ahead in their training than him.
As his attempts at extra training failed time and again Caleb turned his attention to the archives instead. Day after day he would sit in the vast library of knowledge and read and read and read, finally putting his mind to use. Caleb had never been inherently lacking in intelligence, he simply was not given the same chance as the others and now as he pulled from training manuals Caleb found himself able to understand the thoughts and concepts behind a number of techniques, including what many would consider the core ones. However, any attempt at trying these techniques would end unsurprisingly in failure.
There was another aspect of his studies which kept him interested. History, the tales of Jedi long dead, heroics and chivalry which Caleb dreamed of recreating and surpassing. To save lives, to save worlds, to make a grand and important impact upon the universe and to have his name be remembered for generations, these stories helped fuel the fire of his ambition and desire, there were so many tales that he was amused for a long long time.
Before he knew it he was twelve and approaching thirteen. Nothing much had changed, he was doing well with his healing abilities, a little above average but nothing extraordinary, he was able to hold his own in a duel for at least a few minutes before succumbing to his opponent but apart from that he was still as skilled as a freshly trained youngling. Most would see this as the limit to his abilities, but there were a few who had stumbled upon him in the Room of a Thousand Fountains as he communed with the numerous plants that surrounded him, he did not know if there was a single one he hadn’t connected with since his arrival at the temple and, predicting his looming departure from the temple, he would miss this place more than any other. It was so grand and vivid, so many different plants to learn about, for each was different.
Also, in the last three years his constant studying had had an obvious effect upon his mental capacity, no longer were his fellow students able to slate him for his lacking intelligence for it had passed their own a long while ago. Instead they shifted their focus onto the subject of his skills, or lack thereof, but he cared little for their words anymore.
No master showed much interest in him, his lack of ability in most fields meant he’d be a large liability in any mission, which was a deterrent for most. Some of his teachers had hoped that Caleb would be picked up by a healer who might see the potential he had in that area, but they were a rare breed and finding a master in that field of expertise in the end turned out to be frivolous.
Caleb’s exit from the Order was rather dull and uneventful, one night he just vanished from the corridors and archives. No longer would he appear as the passing stranger in the lives of these Jedi any longer. He was presented with three choices, to join the medical corps, the agricultural corps or to return home. Of course, the last option was that which he refused to do, he had sworn that he’d return as a Jedi Knight. Until he reached that status, he couldn’t go back. The medical corps would more than likely involve a lot of work with Jedi, no doubt these interactions would just serve to remind him how he’d failed to get where they had. So in the end he chose the agri-corps, believing that with his gift he might actually do a lot of good.
He didn’t even say goodbye to the temple.
Agri-Corps Worker:
Caleb found himself shipped to the outer rim to a planet called Bakura, there was very little there but enough space to provide the agri-corps with a good number of fields to harvest. In all honesty, it was one of the smaller agri-corps facilities, there were some that had workers numbering in the thousands, this facility was more of a testing to see if the planet could bring forth a good harvest.
When he arrived his training saber was taken from him, probably stored somewhere in the facility. And after a day’s respite, which involved tours and brief instructions of how things worked, he was on the fields. Of course, his gift gave him an advantage over others as he would use that to help stimulate the growth, so he was allocated a number of fields which he alone would work on, to increase efficiency.
Things were quiet upon the distant world and, although it reminded him of Naboo, Caleb began to realise how much he missed the hustle and bustle of the temple, it made him feel as though he was actually doing something, progressing in one form or another. On the farm he felt stuck, time passed, shifting through night and day but he no matter how many days passed he stayed the same. Of course, this connection with the plants day in and day out was certainly helping to once again further his skills in the area. During the first few weeks he felt unable to move after a day’s work but eventually he would be able to withstand the constant demand of work and his capacity to communicate with the plants also grew.
Not many workers found a great deal of pleasure talking to one another, too easily would memories and stories about their time in the temple surface during their conversation. It was easier to just focus on one’s work instead, that way they wouldn’t have the time to think about the temple.
But Caleb thought, he thought a lot and each time he did so he felt contempt rumble within him and with each memory the shakes would grow more violent. He was touched by anger, a red hot hate which burned his innards time and time again. But there was little he could do about it.
He was 15 when things began to take a turn in his life, for the two years or so he had been on the planet things had been quite dull. Caleb had taken an early lunch one day after finishing work on a field, on his way back out something caught his attention in one of the fields, moving towards it he discovered one of the native creatures, it seemed like one had somehow found it’s way onto the farming land. They were wild beast and often unpredictable, at times they could be friendly at others they might simply ignore you or they could use their speed and claws to a deadly extent.
Freezing instinctively Caleb could only stare as the creature gazed into his own eyes; the teenage labourer couldn’t derive the creature’s intentions as its actions were quite similar to his own. He knew that leaving the creature here or going to tell someone would mean that there was a potential risk roaming around the facility. And so he resorted to the lesson he had learned long ago, touching the Force he sunk into that communing trance and reached out to the creature’s mind. He sensed confusion, hunger and the instinct to protect itself with those thought he could understand. Caleb reached out to the creature, and tried to calm the beast gently lulling the creature in an attempt to have it back down. However, before he knew it, thoughts of anger, frustration surfaced in his mind and the feelings from these thoughts seemed to transfer to the creature, which broke Caleb’s focus by lashed out with its claws.
All in all Caleb was lucky to survive, any deeper and the attack might have claimed a lung, maybe even his heart. But luckily, those in the area heard his yell and rushed over to him, the sudden appearance of all these people send the creature running off (although it would later be killed by the security task force). Those that gathered all helped to clear up the bloody mess that was his chest. And as they healed him, with his own added contribution, he could help but feel frustrated, once again he had failed, this time in an area he was supposed to be good at, better than most, special. His eyes met briefly with those of a Twi’lek as he lay their, the pained grimace on his face masked by the rage in his eyes. He recognised her from the Temple, she had been in some of his classes, she was one of the few who decided against picking on him, which was something he appreciated greatly. But he remembered how she’d vanished from lessons and he wouldn’t really see her after that.
The healing was done relatively quickly with their combined effort, but the three claw marks would leave him a nice scar across his chest. As the workers returned to their work Caleb remained upon the ground thinking, about how coming to this planet had done nothing, about how he missed the archives of the temple, how he missed his parents, how he’d a new shirt. It was whilst he lay there that the Twi’lek from before approached him and after a little introduction Caleb came to know that her name was Looma. They talked, at first just after a while that escalated until they were talking about everything and anything. Something between them just seemed to click and they were able to help each other more than they probably knew.
For almost two years they spent a lot of their time together when not working on the field, they would often sneak away during lunch break or after working hours into the nearby forest. They spent time talking, opening their hearts to one another whilst at the same time Looma tried to help Caleb with his training in Force abilities. Not much progress seemed to have been made but recently he had started to notice that he was able to move things easier through the Force. Naturally he assumed this was due to Looma, telekinesis was, after all, her strongest area.
Caleb found himself falling for her, someone who understood him and didn’t seem to force themselves to put up with him. He thought it lucky when he discovered she had similar feelings to his own. Things between them advanced beyond the realm of friendship. Things became a lot more pleasant on the fields after that and the days no longer seemed so trivial.
However, the training had rekindled the aspiration with Caleb and he was beginning to feel the tug of his ambition. He still wanted to become that man; the one would be an important figure throughout the galaxy. The boy was fast beginning to outgrow his shell.
Lightsaber: Training Saber
Color: Blue
Practiced Lightsaber forms:
Shii-Cho - 2
Makashi – N/A
Soresu - N/A
Ataru - N/A
Shien / Djem So - N/A
>>Sub-form Backhanded - N/A
Niman - N/A
>>Sub-form Jar-kai, or Dual Wield - N/A
Juyo - N/A
Double Bladed Combat - N/A
Force-Sensitive Abilities or practices:
Telekinetic: 2
Telepathic: 1
Body: 1
Sense: 1
Protection: 1
Healing: 3
Destruction: 0
Specialized Skills:
Plant Surge
Animal Friendship
Attributes:
Physical Strength: 5
Intelligence: 7
Speed: 6
Leadership: 2
Unarmed: 4
Melee Weapons: 2
Ranged Weapons: 2
Force Attunement: 0
RP Sample:
