Post by Sir Aaron on Jan 15, 2010 23:24:17 GMT -5
Name: Valos Brasseaux
Race: Selkath
Age: Twenty-Five
Height: 5’2
Weight: 135 lbs.
Appearance:
Birth place: Manaan
Faction: Jedi Order
Rank: Jedi Knight
Bio:
Valos was born to a completely normal family, a family who most of their neighbors held low expectations for. Quant Brasseaux, soon to be father of Valos, married his wife, Shasha. Having no dowry to give Shasha’s father the two married against their parent’s protests; this all ready built their negative image in the Selkath society. But the two ignored this however and had their first and only child, Valos.
Quant helped manufacture vibroblades. Despite his often drunkenness and boisterous behaviors, it was often known among people he was an excellent duelist. During the day he would work among his own kind, providing vibroblades for export. But when the night rolled around, if he wasn’t in a cantina putting down a few bottles of nikta, he would often spend his time among the different visitors of Manaan and teach sparring lessons. Due to the couple’s young age, any source of income was needed.
Shasha came from a middle-class family and didn’t know much about working. When she fell in love at Quant at such a young age and married him against her parents’ advisory, her parents chose not to support her. So she took up different forms of work. From helping run kiosks and keep shops organized to helping load and unload docking bays. Despite her husband’s work his drinking was an expensive habit which meant she had to work with whatever she could find.
Yet despite all the madness that had ensued after the young Valos’ birth, the couple was happy. Because at the end of the week, Quant and Shasha could look down at the young child they held in their arms. They had a legacy that they didn’t want to have to grow up like them, brash and foolish!
Also, the new-born infant Valos was one of the few children to be tried for a recent medical breakthrough. With consent from his parents, Selkath scientists and surgeons created a way of declawing Selkath of their retractable claws. To the Selkath it removed temptation of the use of the claws and it also showed a sign of maturation of their civilization. And after the surgery went under, Valos and the other nine infants came through, no problems.
All was well in life. Quant’s drinking problem was never a problem for their home life; he was never mean or harsh, a bit immature and clumsy if nothing else. But still, the Brasseaux family had both dropped their surname though, mainly for their son. He didn’t deserve his family’s name, after the way the parents of his parents treated their children. And over the course of four years, the family was able to build up steady income and live leisurely.
But then, one day, their world was rocked when a group of strangers showed up on their door. The strangers were dressed in khaki tunics, brown robes, and strange weapons hanging from their belts. Familiar with the people they recognized from stories, they came claiming that their only son was sensitive to the Force and had the potential to be a Jedi
Immediately, his parents switched to defensive mode. They weren’t ready to see their little baby be dragged away to some foreign planet. Valos was their greatest joy. Sure, the couple was proud of their selves after they drug their selves through the condemnation of their parents, their lack of support from society, and their going from poverty to a moderate lifestyle; but deep down inside, none of those compared to the young life they had raised for four years now and hope to be many more.
So a heated dispute broke out between Quant and the three Jedi; all the while, Valos was napping his bedroom. But eventually the angered shouts of Quant echoed throughout the home into the young boy’s bedroom. Making his way to the shouts, he watched as his father lost his temper and brought it out on three strangers, all whom didn’t flitch at the insults and shouts, in fact, they seemed at peace and spoke in soft and hushed tones.
After standing there watching his father shout, his mother cry, and the trio speak, Valos made his presence known. Quant and Shasha’s head snapped quickly, surprised; the three Jedi slowly turned their heads, all ready sensing the presence of the young Force Sensitive. The Jedi who stood in the middle and seemed to be in charge, looked down at the young Selkath, smiling softly and warmly, offering a reassuring wink. It was strange to Valos at the time, but something about the man made him feel like he could trust him, he had known him as well as his parents
After Quant was able to cool his temper, he and Shasha heard out the Jedi as they explained what would happen of their child and the training he would go through, the different ways he would be able to help the galaxy and possibly his own planet in the future, and many other things. Finally, when they got done explaining his parents deep down inside knew their son in the end should go with the trio. But finally, Valos’ parents and the Jedi came to an agreement that Valos would have the choice.
The young Selkath just looked at the five adults, slightly intimidated by the tree despite the comfort that he seemed to feel towards them. So, finally removing all thoughts the young Selkath closed his eyes and just went with his natural instinct. And then it hit him! Something deep down inside him seemed to whisper, ‘Say yes!’ And after arguing with this mysterious voice for several moments, not wanting to leave his home or family, he finally came to his decision.
A gurgled, “Yes” Valos gave his answer.
Immediately upon Valos’ arrival at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant he was warmly welcomed by the other younglings. Initially, Valos was nervous, the thought of being ripped away from his parents and leaving his home and all he knew to go to some distant planet to join some organization that fought for the better of the galaxy.
And despite the warm welcome of not only the younglings but the Jedi masters, it still took some time for Valos to truly open up to all the others. He would often have to be coaxed from his living quarters for the initial week. But not long after, he slowly adapted to the sudden change of surroundings.
But, over the few years he spent at the Jedi Academy, he had problems controlling the Force, much to his embarrassment. While it seemed the Force came naturally to most of the other Younglings quite easily and naturally, Valos had trouble doing the more difficult tasks they taught the children. The more simple uses of the Force came quite naturally to Valos but trying to do more complicated tasks soon began to wear down on Valos’ nerves and cause stress and anger, two things greatly frowned upon by the ways of the Jedi.
But came as easy to him as walking did; sure it was one step at a time, but once he took that one step, the momentum carried him on, quicker and quicker. Wielding the training lightsabers came to him quite naturally and using them was quite easy. Though, that didn’t mean he didn’t have his share of burns and welts left from sparring with his classmates.
Amongst all of his training and meditation, he became close friends with a young male Rodian, named Condar. Condar’s predicament was quite close to Valos’ at the time, which gave the two something in common. So the two talked whenever they were free to and both had become great friends. Though, unfortunately for Valos, the day came when Condar, who was a few years older than Valos, was taken up by a Jedi Master to be trained even further; Condar and Valos wouldn’t meet again, until several years down the road.
The use of the Force took some time for Valos to finally do with ease, but finally when he did; it opened a whole new door for him. He was able to use the Force about as well as the average youngling, though there were many around him who seemed to excel with the Force and manipulated it with ease. For him, his strength was his lightsaber and defending himself though, which he seemed to surpass many of his fellow younglings.
Unfortunately, for Valos, his thirteenth birthday was approaching him at a quick rate of speed. And the prospect of having some mediocre job working for the Jedi Council just wasn’t exactly what Valos had wanted for himself. And quicker and quicker, this sad but true future came up on him. Finally, Valos had accepted his fate only two-and-a-half weeks from his thirteenth birthday.
But one day, Valos was approached by Mel Dollg, a human Jedi Master…
Now, taken on as an apprentice and Padawan by a Jedi Master, Valos was now able to further his education. Mel understood Selkatha and had been watching the young Valos for some time and talked to other masters about the boy’s progress. After that, he was able to come up with a training schedule, so to say, for him and his apprentice when they weren’t off doing work for the Jedi Council.
Valos’ master was well known for his expertise in usage of Soresu and Makashi, which he was also skilled in the Fore. But after much deliberation, the master found that it would be wise to teach Valos different aspects of the Force but to not focus on just that due to his lack of skill in it. It may snap after a while, but if it didn’t it would be wasted time training. So, immediately, the two struck it off, spending many days deep within the temple, in the training rooms or the archives studying historical figures and such.
Which, next to the lightsaber training, the studying of the history of the Order was a favorite past time of Valos. Even though deep down inside he knew that these stories were as real as the Force, they were so distant and far away they were like fantasy tales. Tales of struggles, triumph, darkness, good, and in the end, the light conquered the evil. Though, it hardly ever turned out happily in the end, still, the light found a way to prove victorious. And these were what drove Valos to become a great fighter. He wanted to be one of the people put down in the archives as the greatest Battle Master or fighter for the Order of his time.
And though childish when looking back, those dreams are what drove him on.
Dedicating almost every waking hour to training; he and his master would spar, sometimes he’d practice against a robot, sometimes they’d meditate in the Force, and he’d try different ways into manipulating the Force. Manipulating the Force and trying to use it was what weakened and wore out Valos the most. It put such a strain on his body, but after practice, he was able to knock down these mountains that stood in his way.
Finally, two years later, Valos and Mel received their first mission. The two were to go out and act as bodyguards for an Ithorian Senator. The senator was trying to make some peaceful negotiations between Ithor and Corellia. But it is believed that there were small radical groups on Corellia who didn’t want to see this negotiation to go through, especially peacefully.
So, the two went out to Corellia and escorted the senator from his ship to his temporary quarters on Corellia. All was smoothly the first two days; the third day was the day he was to meet with Corellian officials. All went smoothly and nothing too out of place except for a few hot-headed politicians. But the morning after the negotiation, the day they were supposed to leave, a group of rebel rousers were able to access the senator’s quarters and had it not been for the direct intervention of Mel and Valos, Ithor would have elected a new senator.
All was well and the senator was escorted back to his homeland safely with no difficulties. After the mission, the duo headed to Dantooine and spent time at Dantooine’s Jedi Enclave. There he and his master put him through a series of tests to help decide what kind of saber he was to construct. Valos dueled with a number of different people and different weapons, and even spending some time of sparring with his own master. After about a week of those, his master evaluated his pupil and offered suggestions as to what kind of lightsaber his apprentice may want to use, it was all up to Valos. After the explanation of how the lightsaber is built and works, Mel left his apprentice on Dantooine, to attend to some matters on Coruscant.
Valos had access to the small archives on Dantooine, the Jedi that were there, and any other resources he had. Taking in his master’s suggestion and reading of others, he finally envisioned his lightsaber. His lightsaber would have a curved hilt, the pommel cap holding a backup power cell, and it would have a double emitter guard. He wanted to the crystal color to be green.
The construction process began, and he started piecing it all together, at least as much as he could without the crystals. He had heard rumors of a nearby lightsaber crystal cave in which he could harvest the crystals he wanted, but he also had heard of the dangers that lie deep within it. Creatures that he didn’t want to cross, so it would be challenging. And all he had was his robes and the lightsaber his master had given him. After piecing together as much as he could without his crystals, one day he informed the masters of his intent and headed out of the enslave alone.
But the Force seemed to smile on Valos when he headed out to the crystal cave. On the way only encountering a stray horned kath hound which charged him and almost caught his side, but he just sidestepped it by a few seconds and dropped the creature with ease. But when he arrived to the crystal cave and entered, that was when he knew he was in over his head. Many little creatures resembling spiders filled the cave, as well as their eggs and nests. This was the kinrath that Valos had read about. He entered in though, careful to avoid their poisonous stingers. Having to exterminate several of the creatures he finally found the color lightsaber crystal and power crystal he was looking for.
Many scrapes, bruises, cuts, and scars later, he was back at the Jedi Enclave. There, upon request, he was left alone for most hours of the day, minus short breaks to eat, meditating. He focused on his lightsaber crystal, as if he was imbuing a piece of himself into the crystal. He used the Force to power his crystal so the crystal would function properly in the lightsaber.
There he was able to complete his brand new lightsaber. Contacting Mel not long after he finished the construction of his lightsaber, he learned that he would have a few days of resting and meditation. Which is what he did over the course of the next four days, until, of course, his master’s return.
The years added on as well as did the frustration of training and mission after mission. But slowly it began to pay off. Eventually, the missions and training that used to once wear out Valos were coming to him with ease. He was able to take match the training droid’s skill which he used to wear him out after only a few moments of sparring. Also, he was learning to control the living Force that surrounded him and everyone else. He was able to read the emotions of those around him and their intentions.
Fast forward a few years to Volan’s twenty-second year of life. He had trained many long and grueling years under his master Mel. And his master had pushed him to the limit, time after time again, and brought him through. And though there were times they didn’t get along well and Valos wanted to give up, despite his dream of being a Battle Master. But in the end, he had come out stronger and better, and was determined to be the last man standing.
That was when he decided to take on the Trials of the Jedi…
~The Trial of Flesh~
Valos’s first mission he was sent to his home planet to inspect the recent death of some Galactic Republic members. Wanting to keep everything calm and from getting out of hand, the Ahto City Officials hired the council to take care of the problem. And assuming that sending a Selkath Jedi would help keep the citizens from getting suspicious; Valos came with high recommendation from his master. So Valos went to his home city, and had to find out what happened without letting everyone know.
After talking to some of the Republic officers, he found out the person who was killed was their head scientist and she was leading a group of other scientist to create a machine that would supposedly increase the rate they collected bacta by a ten-fold. And also the machine was said to have been completely safe for the environment. The Republic was rather quick to point the finger at some Selkath radicals who didn’t agree with the constant farming of Bacta.
After talking with the city officials and getting their whole view on it as well as the Selkath groups who were accused of finding out their points of view, something immediately became clear to him. That this was going to be a long mission. Every time he got a new piece of information it immediately led to a dead end. He wondered through Ahto City for weeks upon weeks, becoming greatly irritated. He was running in circles, literally. The city officials wanting to side with the Selkath, the Selkath wanting to blame the Republic, the Republic wanting to blame the Selkath, and with word slowly leaking out among the citizens, things were becoming hectic.
After what seemed like running around for two-and-a-half weeks in circles, some news came up. A small group of Selkath supporters of the scientists who were also rumored to be working with them were found dead in their homes. The casualties now counted up to eight; one Republic scientist and seven innocent Selkath trying to help the Republic.
Now, growing weary and angered by the events, Volas was more determined than ever now to track down this killer, whoever he work for, and bring down justice on him. Whether by Ahto City’s means or his own, this person would receive justice. And then one day, he got a lead while sitting in the cities cantina. He had spent the day walking up and down Ahto City reaching out with the Force for anyone who seemed of suspicion to him, and nothing turned up. But when the stranger approached him, he mentioned knowing the hideout of the killer.
The reason all of Valos’ searches turned up empty was because his target was hiding in the sea of Manaan, which was so vast and great that it could take him years to cover it all. Until the mysterious stranger offered the tip to look in the Hrakert Rift; it was rumored there was a lot of activity going on down there and that people claimed seeing a shadowy figure hanging out around there for some time as of late.
So the next day, he headed off to the Hrakert Rift, and sure enough there was a little cavern where someone had set up a small encampment. Valos spent a few hours at the cavern waiting for his victim to return back to his base and not long after, the sound of splashing water and dripping water as his target climbed out of the ocean and was now standing on the ground of the cave, Valos made his presence know.
After a short confrontation, Valos learned that the killer was a Selkath, and that he wasn’t hired by anyone, he was acting on his own nature. During the confrontation, the Selkath proudly bragged of the kills he had bagged. The scientist, three Seklath siblings all in their mid-twenties helping with the project, and two male Selkaths as well as their spouses; and one of those husband and wives happened to be his parents. He was quite proud he had eliminated any of the ‘fools’ who supported the scientists who were ‘destroying’ their planet.
Immediately filled with rage, Valos charged forward, lightsaber in hand, ready to kill the Selkath where he stood. But immediately, the other Selkath was clearing expecting an assault, though not from a Jedi and withdrew a blaster. In Valos’ blind rage and charge, the other Selkath got in a shot on Valos and shot his left food. The smell of burning flesh filled the small cavern, and Valos went down in a howl of pain. Valos find made his way to his feet, using the wall as a prop, lightsaber in hand, the other Selkath just eyeing him suspiciously.
It was now or never… He had to avenge the death of his parents… He had to slaughter this monster! Who treat life so lightly and on then boasted of it! He had to… But suddenly a voice filled his mind. ‘There is no ignorance; there is knowledge. There is no passion; there is serenity. There is no chaos; there is harmony. There is no death; there is the Force.’ The voice repeated the Jedi Code over in his head, tears filled his eyes, and he could hear his master telling him about what happened when hatred and vengeance over took one. Finally, gathering himself, he looked down at the other Selkath. And a moment later, two more blaster shots were fired off.
This time, using the Force to reach out, Valos was able to deflect the two blows, one hitting the other Selkath in the shoulder and the other in the leg. The two deflected shots was enough to take down the other Selkath in which then Valos brought him back to Ahto City, half conscious, and made him stand trial. Though, he knew he would have gained more satisfaction from killing the man, he at least could rest easy knowing all that were killed would honorably be remembered.
Leading his parent’s funerals, he spent an extra day in Ahto City, meditating in the Force and knowing his parents didn’t die but just came one with the Force and they were now supporting him at all times. His over-coming of his parent’s death and his flirting with vengeance and the dark side taught him much. And with that, he passed his first trial.
~Trial of Courage and Trial of Skill~
The next trial, Valos took part in unknowingly. After returning to Coruscant, it was said that there was someone within the temple, a knight, who was starting to negatively influence some of the younger members of the Order and trying to corrupt them by spreading around word that using emotion to fuel their power in the Force would give them greater power. That they had so much untapped potential they could use if they would just let their emotions fuel their power. And despite the handful of Younglings who stood fast to the Jedi Code, there were those who were also easily swayed.
And it didn’t take long for Valos to find out the source of the problem. It was a human Jedi Knight, who he found in the Room of a Thousand Fountains. He was alone, but the aura that emanated off of him was pure hatred and anger. Feeling that the Council easily could have taken care of this, Valos figured they wanted to put to test one of their own, to show the ones running amuck that the way of the Jedi was stronger than that of the dark side of the Force.
Confronting the young man, he just laughed at Valos’ accusation. He then revealed that they didn’t work alone; there were quite a few other than him. He explained that, in fact, he wasn’t the one that started it, but his eyes were opened by their leader. That he was blind to how strong the dark side could empower one, that good had always prevailed and all that. But after he had learned that by mixing in his training as a Jedi minus the self-discipline, and adding in his emotions, he could master powers that were banned, and still work for the good guys.
Valos though, did everything within his power to assuage the Jedi Knight. He tried to show him how the way of the Jedi was far greater. For using the Force the way the other Knight was a one way path down a life he didn’t want to get into. Though the boy was going in it with a good intention, in the end, it didn’t matter how good his intentions were, he would become corrupted, dark, and evil. His mind would be plagued with horrid thoughts and the chains of darkness would have all ready bound him. But the boy just scoffed at the help Valos offered.
A moment later, three more Jedi Knights entered into the giant greenhouse, wondering around, as if admiring the flora and scenery. But suddenly, a moment later, they made a swift movement off the stone path and into the clearing where Valos and the other Knight stood. The four knights together, two humans, a cerean, and finally… Condar? The Rodian and old friend of Valos now stood before him. The black beady eyes of the Rodian stared at him, and Valos could feel the hatred and power surrounding him through the Force.
Valos offered all four the chance to turn from their ways before it became their masters. They would serve a master far crueler than any Jedi. But they all scoffed at him and mocked him. He knew what they were doing. They were trying to anger him, they wanted him to unleash his rage, they were trying to prove to him that emotions was a far easier road to take and far more powerful. But his mind snapped back to the killer he had taken care of Manaan. Through his mistake there, he had learned much.
So, keeping his cool, he had to regretfully inform the quartet he was going to contact the Council immediately and have them come and punish the four accordingly. But as soon as Valos pretended to reach for his datapad, he felt a great surge in the Force throw him backwards as if a great gust blew him like a feather. He was reaching for his lightsaber, knowing they would attack him if they felt threatened.
Immediately the other four ignited their blades and charged at him, Condar, their leader, heading the charge. As soon as they got within a few feet of Valos, Condar motioned for the trio to wait; he had wanted to do this alone. And with that, he dove into the air and came down at Valos with a vertical cut. So Valos lifted his hands above his head, holding the blade horizontally and barely blocking the blow. He then threw himself to the left and spun around in time to feint a slash to Condar’s head and really brought the blade down to strike his foe’s left leg.
Hoping he had moved quick enough to land the blow, he didn’t, Condar had barely had enough time to jump out of the way of the blade and brought down his blade diagonally on Valos, unsuspectingly. Ducking in time, it occurred to Valos had his head been shaped more round than flat, he would have been missing the top half of his head. But not wasting any time to think, he charged forward towards his foe lightsaber in hand.
Condar made a feint to the left, and ended up throwing himself backwards before propelling himself forward when Valos made an attempt to slice at his foe when he moved left. This was dodged by Valos who knocked his foe’s feet out from under him. But his duel was far from over, one of the humans charged towards Valos, informing Condar he was going to help, but within a moment, the skill used against Valos just moments ago, now sent the human knight flying into a tree, rendering him unconscious.
Holding his blade down over Condar’s chest, Valos stood over him, and didn’t have the least bit of a triumphant grin on his face. It was far more grim than proud. He then offered his friend one last chance to change from his ways to join the good side. If he refused he would be forced to the call the Council no matter what. But being so focused on Condar, suddenly, the fist of the other human came crashing into the side of Valos’ head.
Now, Condar was on his feet and the human and cerean were charging forward. Barely having enough time to gather his bearings, he had to avoid the attack of all three. They all three moved and attacked together in different postures yet moved like they were one. Valos was shocked to see how skilled the three were and yet so young. He continued on fighting though, giving his all, until finally he saw a gap in the cerean’s fighting style and was able to disarm him. Immediately the boy went from great brave fighter to a nervous, defenseless young man.
Using what little of his strength he had left from the endless fighting, Valos kept on deflecting blows from Condar and the human. But slowly, he could feel his body was beginning to give up. He was used up a large portion of power removing the threat of one of the humans and an even larger amount to disarm the cerean. And what little he had was being converted to give him strength. And for one second, he felt his strength falter and the human knight took the chance to send Valos flying into a rocky outcrop. His last image was Condar walking up to his limp body, nodding his head as if ashamed by Valos.
He woke up several hours later, in much pain. Someone had saw the skirmish going on and went and warned several masters who arrived just moments after Valos was knocked out. Mel proudly congratulated Valos for being courageous enough not only to confront his own friends but to take them on. And on top of that, he had skillfully and courageously fought against Jedi Knight, more skilled than he and older than he. And though, the fight caused damage to the Room of a Thousand Fountains, it would be repaired with ease and no one was seriously injured. But best of all, he did everything in his power to keep from killing them, instead trying to lead them back on the right path.
~Trial of the Spirit~
The final test for Valos, was the Trial of the Spirit, a truly terrifying and difficult task for any one. Valos was to look deep down inside himself and go down a path of self-discovery. And the place that they went to was Manaan. They went back to Valos’ hometown. In fact, they went back to the house he was raised in, and there he was to spend a few days meditating. And though, he had overcome the death of his parents, still the anger and hatred from his previous trials was there. He knew it would always be there, waiting for an opportune moment as when to strike. And when he entered in to his home, immediately a dark feeling filled him.
Anger filled his eyes and he was alone, no one would know what happened. Even his master vowed to stay away, it was all up to Valos to go down that path of self-discovery and see for himself what was to happen. He went to his room as a child, his parent’s room, the kitchen his mom would spent much of her time in cooking or keeping up with the family’s account, the dining room where most the time they would all come together and feast while recalling the day’s events. The happy memories that filled his mind though immediately were flooded over by darkness and anger.
A lone datapad sat in the middle of the living room. In fact, it sat in the very seat he sat in from when he was last at this home. It was there he sat when he listened to the Jedi’s offer. He walked over and played the datapad. The voice of a female suddenly broke the silence, she was explaining all of her plans for the new bacta retrieving machine when there was a muffled explosion and her attention was turned to the doors which another explosion seemed to be placed on and a moment later there was a more audible explosion followed by the crumpling and clanging of metal.
Suddenly the female’s voice began to beg for mercy. She begged for whatever just came into her lab to spare her. She offered credits; she offered to keep her mouth shut about what happened, she offered anything. And suddenly, an all too familiar voice chilled Valos to the bone. The Selkath he confront so long ago merely laughing maniacally and explained how he was going to kill her and her supporters. Then with a scream of horror and pain, blasters drowned out the scream until it died down to silence and the sadistic laugh.
Within a few moments of that the datapad played a voice he knew far too well. It was his father, but his father sounded so much better than he used to. When he was drunk so often his voice would slur and words would be ran together, now he spoke quite well. His mother’s voice echoed in behind her husband explaining the scientist’s death and plan of what to do to protect their selves. Several other voices chimed in and they all discussed they were going to hide in the very house that Valos stood in.
But a moment later, the doors opened and there came that same cold voice, a voice that seemed to lack all emotion and remorse. A voice that didn’t belong to anything that seemed to have a soul. It was a shell of what used to be a Selkath. Several blaster shots were fired off and women screamed. While the men, including Valos’ father charged the man with the blaster, but he was far too quick for them. Blaster shots fired off. And from the way the room looked, either it was cleaned up after their deaths or else the shooter had a clean shot on all of them.
Now, standing there, clenching the datapad, Valos trembled. He regretted leaving his family now, knowing he would have had the chance to protect them from that madman. Had he thought to search outside the city sooner for the killer, had he not joined the Jedi, had he done so many things more, he could have done it. But he didn’t. And it was too late. Because he wasn’t the only too lose his parents. Several people lost their mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, friends, so much more… And it was too late.
Valos flung the datapad against the wall and just fell to his knees, gripping his head. The anguished screams of the victims filling his head, the words of Condar’s propaganda trailed not far behind. And the chains of hate threw their selves around Valos. He had opened up a can he didn’t want to, and at the rate he was going, he was past the point of no return. Pain filled his head and he beat the floor of the home, crying out.
Suddenly, he looked up, and there standing before him was a tall figured draped in a black robe. He caught a glimpse of the scarlet tunic below the robe. The figure looked down on him, the presence of darkness emanated like an aura off of him. Fearing that this was the dark presence that Valos could feel as soon as he entered the apartment, he went to grab for his lightsaber. But it wasn’t there!
Next thing he knew, the figure reached for the hem of his hood and threw it back, revealing the face of a selkath. The selkath’s face was withered and worn by anger. His face saw the deep lines of wrinkles all over and his eyes were empty. The form looked down at him and after a few moments it occurred to Valos that the one standing before him was someone he knew quite well. Someone near and dear to him, for it was himself.
Slowly the wrinkles spread more and more growing deeper and deeper on him like ice splitting. And slowly it began to wince, its face curled into a look of pure pain. And finally Valos’ image dropped down to the floor, facing the real Valos. Valos being on the floor as well, his image pulled itself next to his ear and whispered one word. That one word echoed throughout his mind for several minutes before his eyes shot open. He was lying on the floor, he had been unconscious. He had taken him only a few moments to realize what had happened. He had had a vision, and it was of him, in the future.
The Force had shown him what would become of him had he continued on down the road he was on. Had he left the darkness that was wrapping its chains around him continue, he would let that anger slowly become his cruel master just as Condar had. After words, he spent time, meditating in the Force, as he had learned so often to do when he seemed to have problems. And after spending some time meditating, he left his home, leaving it where it belonged. In his memories, they were good ones, but it was in his past, he had the present to worry about, much less the future.
Approaching Mel, he explained the events that happened and with that, the duo headed off to Coruscant. Valos had proven himself as a skilled enough Jedi Padawan to proceed to the rank of Jedi Knight. The trip to Coruscant was a sad one though, because knowing there was so much more he could have learned from Master Mel, he knew that he would always have the memories of their several years together. But despite all the deep discussions they had and the thoughts Valos had, the one word his image told him rang out still so clear…
‘Change…’
~Knighthood~
Upon their return to Coruscant, Valos spent time in a chamber directly below the Hall of Knighthood. There he spent a day alone, in complete silence and peace, communing with the Force through meditation and other means. And then, finally the next day arrived. A nervous Valos was taken to the Hall of Knighthood where there, he was formally inducted into the Jedi Order as a Jedi Knight. And with that, he had many difficult decisions of his life he had to make now.
Lightsaber: Dual-Phase, curved hilt
Color: Green
Practiced Lightsaber forms:
Shii-Cho: 5
Makashi: 4
Soresu: 2
Ataru: N/A
Shien/Djem So: /A
>>Sub-form Backhanded: N/A
Niman: N/A
>>Sub-form Jar-kai: N/A
Juyo: N/A
Double-Bladed Combat: N/A
Force-Sensitive Abilities or practices:
Telekinetic: 5
Telepathic: 5
Body: 5
Sense: 4
Protection: 3
Healing: 3
Destruction: 1
Specialized Skills: None
Attributes:
Physical Strength: 6
Intelligence: 5
Speed: 5
Leadership: 4
Unarmed: 4
Melee Weapons: 6
Ranged Weapons: 4
Force Attunement: 3
RP Sample:
Valos stood before the Jedi Temple, trembling nervously. The leader of the three Jedi that had came to his home and offered to take him away to this place called Core-ew-sont wanted to take him to the Jedi Temple to train and become a Jedi. He didn’t know anything about a Jedi, Coruscant, or anything else. And when he saw the splendors of the Galactic City and the Jedi Temple, he was in a cross between awe and horror. He had never seen anything like it before. Now, standing before the great temple, the head of the Jedi squeezed Valos’ hand assuringly and offered him a soft smile.
Then Valos thought, this older Jedi must have known what it was like to have to leave his family at a young age and walk up to this same building. So finally mustering so courage, Valos stepped forward and into the large building. It was truly amazing on the inside, a beautiful work of art. People bustled to and fro; most of them were dressed all alike just about. Many of the people varyied in different shapes, sizes, colors, textures; but still all their clothing, though different colors, the clothing had the same appearance.
“What have I gotten myself into…” Valos spoke in his native tongue, trying to not be overcome with fear.
Race: Selkath
Age: Twenty-Five
Height: 5’2
Weight: 135 lbs.
Appearance:
Birth place: Manaan
Faction: Jedi Order
Rank: Jedi Knight
Bio:
~Birth~
~Birth to Four Years-of-Age~
Valos was born to a completely normal family, a family who most of their neighbors held low expectations for. Quant Brasseaux, soon to be father of Valos, married his wife, Shasha. Having no dowry to give Shasha’s father the two married against their parent’s protests; this all ready built their negative image in the Selkath society. But the two ignored this however and had their first and only child, Valos.
Quant helped manufacture vibroblades. Despite his often drunkenness and boisterous behaviors, it was often known among people he was an excellent duelist. During the day he would work among his own kind, providing vibroblades for export. But when the night rolled around, if he wasn’t in a cantina putting down a few bottles of nikta, he would often spend his time among the different visitors of Manaan and teach sparring lessons. Due to the couple’s young age, any source of income was needed.
Shasha came from a middle-class family and didn’t know much about working. When she fell in love at Quant at such a young age and married him against her parents’ advisory, her parents chose not to support her. So she took up different forms of work. From helping run kiosks and keep shops organized to helping load and unload docking bays. Despite her husband’s work his drinking was an expensive habit which meant she had to work with whatever she could find.
Yet despite all the madness that had ensued after the young Valos’ birth, the couple was happy. Because at the end of the week, Quant and Shasha could look down at the young child they held in their arms. They had a legacy that they didn’t want to have to grow up like them, brash and foolish!
Also, the new-born infant Valos was one of the few children to be tried for a recent medical breakthrough. With consent from his parents, Selkath scientists and surgeons created a way of declawing Selkath of their retractable claws. To the Selkath it removed temptation of the use of the claws and it also showed a sign of maturation of their civilization. And after the surgery went under, Valos and the other nine infants came through, no problems.
All was well in life. Quant’s drinking problem was never a problem for their home life; he was never mean or harsh, a bit immature and clumsy if nothing else. But still, the Brasseaux family had both dropped their surname though, mainly for their son. He didn’t deserve his family’s name, after the way the parents of his parents treated their children. And over the course of four years, the family was able to build up steady income and live leisurely.
But then, one day, their world was rocked when a group of strangers showed up on their door. The strangers were dressed in khaki tunics, brown robes, and strange weapons hanging from their belts. Familiar with the people they recognized from stories, they came claiming that their only son was sensitive to the Force and had the potential to be a Jedi
Immediately, his parents switched to defensive mode. They weren’t ready to see their little baby be dragged away to some foreign planet. Valos was their greatest joy. Sure, the couple was proud of their selves after they drug their selves through the condemnation of their parents, their lack of support from society, and their going from poverty to a moderate lifestyle; but deep down inside, none of those compared to the young life they had raised for four years now and hope to be many more.
So a heated dispute broke out between Quant and the three Jedi; all the while, Valos was napping his bedroom. But eventually the angered shouts of Quant echoed throughout the home into the young boy’s bedroom. Making his way to the shouts, he watched as his father lost his temper and brought it out on three strangers, all whom didn’t flitch at the insults and shouts, in fact, they seemed at peace and spoke in soft and hushed tones.
After standing there watching his father shout, his mother cry, and the trio speak, Valos made his presence known. Quant and Shasha’s head snapped quickly, surprised; the three Jedi slowly turned their heads, all ready sensing the presence of the young Force Sensitive. The Jedi who stood in the middle and seemed to be in charge, looked down at the young Selkath, smiling softly and warmly, offering a reassuring wink. It was strange to Valos at the time, but something about the man made him feel like he could trust him, he had known him as well as his parents
After Quant was able to cool his temper, he and Shasha heard out the Jedi as they explained what would happen of their child and the training he would go through, the different ways he would be able to help the galaxy and possibly his own planet in the future, and many other things. Finally, when they got done explaining his parents deep down inside knew their son in the end should go with the trio. But finally, Valos’ parents and the Jedi came to an agreement that Valos would have the choice.
The young Selkath just looked at the five adults, slightly intimidated by the tree despite the comfort that he seemed to feel towards them. So, finally removing all thoughts the young Selkath closed his eyes and just went with his natural instinct. And then it hit him! Something deep down inside him seemed to whisper, ‘Say yes!’ And after arguing with this mysterious voice for several moments, not wanting to leave his home or family, he finally came to his decision.
A gurgled, “Yes” Valos gave his answer.
~Youngling Years~
~ Four to Thirteen Years-of-Age~
Immediately upon Valos’ arrival at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant he was warmly welcomed by the other younglings. Initially, Valos was nervous, the thought of being ripped away from his parents and leaving his home and all he knew to go to some distant planet to join some organization that fought for the better of the galaxy.
And despite the warm welcome of not only the younglings but the Jedi masters, it still took some time for Valos to truly open up to all the others. He would often have to be coaxed from his living quarters for the initial week. But not long after, he slowly adapted to the sudden change of surroundings.
But, over the few years he spent at the Jedi Academy, he had problems controlling the Force, much to his embarrassment. While it seemed the Force came naturally to most of the other Younglings quite easily and naturally, Valos had trouble doing the more difficult tasks they taught the children. The more simple uses of the Force came quite naturally to Valos but trying to do more complicated tasks soon began to wear down on Valos’ nerves and cause stress and anger, two things greatly frowned upon by the ways of the Jedi.
But came as easy to him as walking did; sure it was one step at a time, but once he took that one step, the momentum carried him on, quicker and quicker. Wielding the training lightsabers came to him quite naturally and using them was quite easy. Though, that didn’t mean he didn’t have his share of burns and welts left from sparring with his classmates.
Amongst all of his training and meditation, he became close friends with a young male Rodian, named Condar. Condar’s predicament was quite close to Valos’ at the time, which gave the two something in common. So the two talked whenever they were free to and both had become great friends. Though, unfortunately for Valos, the day came when Condar, who was a few years older than Valos, was taken up by a Jedi Master to be trained even further; Condar and Valos wouldn’t meet again, until several years down the road.
The use of the Force took some time for Valos to finally do with ease, but finally when he did; it opened a whole new door for him. He was able to use the Force about as well as the average youngling, though there were many around him who seemed to excel with the Force and manipulated it with ease. For him, his strength was his lightsaber and defending himself though, which he seemed to surpass many of his fellow younglings.
Unfortunately, for Valos, his thirteenth birthday was approaching him at a quick rate of speed. And the prospect of having some mediocre job working for the Jedi Council just wasn’t exactly what Valos had wanted for himself. And quicker and quicker, this sad but true future came up on him. Finally, Valos had accepted his fate only two-and-a-half weeks from his thirteenth birthday.
But one day, Valos was approached by Mel Dollg, a human Jedi Master…
~A Master of My Own~
~Thirteen to Twenty-Two~
Now, taken on as an apprentice and Padawan by a Jedi Master, Valos was now able to further his education. Mel understood Selkatha and had been watching the young Valos for some time and talked to other masters about the boy’s progress. After that, he was able to come up with a training schedule, so to say, for him and his apprentice when they weren’t off doing work for the Jedi Council.
Valos’ master was well known for his expertise in usage of Soresu and Makashi, which he was also skilled in the Fore. But after much deliberation, the master found that it would be wise to teach Valos different aspects of the Force but to not focus on just that due to his lack of skill in it. It may snap after a while, but if it didn’t it would be wasted time training. So, immediately, the two struck it off, spending many days deep within the temple, in the training rooms or the archives studying historical figures and such.
Which, next to the lightsaber training, the studying of the history of the Order was a favorite past time of Valos. Even though deep down inside he knew that these stories were as real as the Force, they were so distant and far away they were like fantasy tales. Tales of struggles, triumph, darkness, good, and in the end, the light conquered the evil. Though, it hardly ever turned out happily in the end, still, the light found a way to prove victorious. And these were what drove Valos to become a great fighter. He wanted to be one of the people put down in the archives as the greatest Battle Master or fighter for the Order of his time.
And though childish when looking back, those dreams are what drove him on.
Dedicating almost every waking hour to training; he and his master would spar, sometimes he’d practice against a robot, sometimes they’d meditate in the Force, and he’d try different ways into manipulating the Force. Manipulating the Force and trying to use it was what weakened and wore out Valos the most. It put such a strain on his body, but after practice, he was able to knock down these mountains that stood in his way.
Finally, two years later, Valos and Mel received their first mission. The two were to go out and act as bodyguards for an Ithorian Senator. The senator was trying to make some peaceful negotiations between Ithor and Corellia. But it is believed that there were small radical groups on Corellia who didn’t want to see this negotiation to go through, especially peacefully.
So, the two went out to Corellia and escorted the senator from his ship to his temporary quarters on Corellia. All was smoothly the first two days; the third day was the day he was to meet with Corellian officials. All went smoothly and nothing too out of place except for a few hot-headed politicians. But the morning after the negotiation, the day they were supposed to leave, a group of rebel rousers were able to access the senator’s quarters and had it not been for the direct intervention of Mel and Valos, Ithor would have elected a new senator.
All was well and the senator was escorted back to his homeland safely with no difficulties. After the mission, the duo headed to Dantooine and spent time at Dantooine’s Jedi Enclave. There he and his master put him through a series of tests to help decide what kind of saber he was to construct. Valos dueled with a number of different people and different weapons, and even spending some time of sparring with his own master. After about a week of those, his master evaluated his pupil and offered suggestions as to what kind of lightsaber his apprentice may want to use, it was all up to Valos. After the explanation of how the lightsaber is built and works, Mel left his apprentice on Dantooine, to attend to some matters on Coruscant.
Valos had access to the small archives on Dantooine, the Jedi that were there, and any other resources he had. Taking in his master’s suggestion and reading of others, he finally envisioned his lightsaber. His lightsaber would have a curved hilt, the pommel cap holding a backup power cell, and it would have a double emitter guard. He wanted to the crystal color to be green.
The construction process began, and he started piecing it all together, at least as much as he could without the crystals. He had heard rumors of a nearby lightsaber crystal cave in which he could harvest the crystals he wanted, but he also had heard of the dangers that lie deep within it. Creatures that he didn’t want to cross, so it would be challenging. And all he had was his robes and the lightsaber his master had given him. After piecing together as much as he could without his crystals, one day he informed the masters of his intent and headed out of the enslave alone.
But the Force seemed to smile on Valos when he headed out to the crystal cave. On the way only encountering a stray horned kath hound which charged him and almost caught his side, but he just sidestepped it by a few seconds and dropped the creature with ease. But when he arrived to the crystal cave and entered, that was when he knew he was in over his head. Many little creatures resembling spiders filled the cave, as well as their eggs and nests. This was the kinrath that Valos had read about. He entered in though, careful to avoid their poisonous stingers. Having to exterminate several of the creatures he finally found the color lightsaber crystal and power crystal he was looking for.
Many scrapes, bruises, cuts, and scars later, he was back at the Jedi Enclave. There, upon request, he was left alone for most hours of the day, minus short breaks to eat, meditating. He focused on his lightsaber crystal, as if he was imbuing a piece of himself into the crystal. He used the Force to power his crystal so the crystal would function properly in the lightsaber.
There he was able to complete his brand new lightsaber. Contacting Mel not long after he finished the construction of his lightsaber, he learned that he would have a few days of resting and meditation. Which is what he did over the course of the next four days, until, of course, his master’s return.
The years added on as well as did the frustration of training and mission after mission. But slowly it began to pay off. Eventually, the missions and training that used to once wear out Valos were coming to him with ease. He was able to take match the training droid’s skill which he used to wear him out after only a few moments of sparring. Also, he was learning to control the living Force that surrounded him and everyone else. He was able to read the emotions of those around him and their intentions.
Fast forward a few years to Volan’s twenty-second year of life. He had trained many long and grueling years under his master Mel. And his master had pushed him to the limit, time after time again, and brought him through. And though there were times they didn’t get along well and Valos wanted to give up, despite his dream of being a Battle Master. But in the end, he had come out stronger and better, and was determined to be the last man standing.
That was when he decided to take on the Trials of the Jedi…
~The Jedi Trials~
~Twenty-Two to Twenty-Five Years-of-Age~
~The Trial of Flesh~
Valos’s first mission he was sent to his home planet to inspect the recent death of some Galactic Republic members. Wanting to keep everything calm and from getting out of hand, the Ahto City Officials hired the council to take care of the problem. And assuming that sending a Selkath Jedi would help keep the citizens from getting suspicious; Valos came with high recommendation from his master. So Valos went to his home city, and had to find out what happened without letting everyone know.
After talking to some of the Republic officers, he found out the person who was killed was their head scientist and she was leading a group of other scientist to create a machine that would supposedly increase the rate they collected bacta by a ten-fold. And also the machine was said to have been completely safe for the environment. The Republic was rather quick to point the finger at some Selkath radicals who didn’t agree with the constant farming of Bacta.
After talking with the city officials and getting their whole view on it as well as the Selkath groups who were accused of finding out their points of view, something immediately became clear to him. That this was going to be a long mission. Every time he got a new piece of information it immediately led to a dead end. He wondered through Ahto City for weeks upon weeks, becoming greatly irritated. He was running in circles, literally. The city officials wanting to side with the Selkath, the Selkath wanting to blame the Republic, the Republic wanting to blame the Selkath, and with word slowly leaking out among the citizens, things were becoming hectic.
After what seemed like running around for two-and-a-half weeks in circles, some news came up. A small group of Selkath supporters of the scientists who were also rumored to be working with them were found dead in their homes. The casualties now counted up to eight; one Republic scientist and seven innocent Selkath trying to help the Republic.
Now, growing weary and angered by the events, Volas was more determined than ever now to track down this killer, whoever he work for, and bring down justice on him. Whether by Ahto City’s means or his own, this person would receive justice. And then one day, he got a lead while sitting in the cities cantina. He had spent the day walking up and down Ahto City reaching out with the Force for anyone who seemed of suspicion to him, and nothing turned up. But when the stranger approached him, he mentioned knowing the hideout of the killer.
The reason all of Valos’ searches turned up empty was because his target was hiding in the sea of Manaan, which was so vast and great that it could take him years to cover it all. Until the mysterious stranger offered the tip to look in the Hrakert Rift; it was rumored there was a lot of activity going on down there and that people claimed seeing a shadowy figure hanging out around there for some time as of late.
So the next day, he headed off to the Hrakert Rift, and sure enough there was a little cavern where someone had set up a small encampment. Valos spent a few hours at the cavern waiting for his victim to return back to his base and not long after, the sound of splashing water and dripping water as his target climbed out of the ocean and was now standing on the ground of the cave, Valos made his presence know.
After a short confrontation, Valos learned that the killer was a Selkath, and that he wasn’t hired by anyone, he was acting on his own nature. During the confrontation, the Selkath proudly bragged of the kills he had bagged. The scientist, three Seklath siblings all in their mid-twenties helping with the project, and two male Selkaths as well as their spouses; and one of those husband and wives happened to be his parents. He was quite proud he had eliminated any of the ‘fools’ who supported the scientists who were ‘destroying’ their planet.
Immediately filled with rage, Valos charged forward, lightsaber in hand, ready to kill the Selkath where he stood. But immediately, the other Selkath was clearing expecting an assault, though not from a Jedi and withdrew a blaster. In Valos’ blind rage and charge, the other Selkath got in a shot on Valos and shot his left food. The smell of burning flesh filled the small cavern, and Valos went down in a howl of pain. Valos find made his way to his feet, using the wall as a prop, lightsaber in hand, the other Selkath just eyeing him suspiciously.
It was now or never… He had to avenge the death of his parents… He had to slaughter this monster! Who treat life so lightly and on then boasted of it! He had to… But suddenly a voice filled his mind. ‘There is no ignorance; there is knowledge. There is no passion; there is serenity. There is no chaos; there is harmony. There is no death; there is the Force.’ The voice repeated the Jedi Code over in his head, tears filled his eyes, and he could hear his master telling him about what happened when hatred and vengeance over took one. Finally, gathering himself, he looked down at the other Selkath. And a moment later, two more blaster shots were fired off.
This time, using the Force to reach out, Valos was able to deflect the two blows, one hitting the other Selkath in the shoulder and the other in the leg. The two deflected shots was enough to take down the other Selkath in which then Valos brought him back to Ahto City, half conscious, and made him stand trial. Though, he knew he would have gained more satisfaction from killing the man, he at least could rest easy knowing all that were killed would honorably be remembered.
Leading his parent’s funerals, he spent an extra day in Ahto City, meditating in the Force and knowing his parents didn’t die but just came one with the Force and they were now supporting him at all times. His over-coming of his parent’s death and his flirting with vengeance and the dark side taught him much. And with that, he passed his first trial.
~Trial of Courage and Trial of Skill~
The next trial, Valos took part in unknowingly. After returning to Coruscant, it was said that there was someone within the temple, a knight, who was starting to negatively influence some of the younger members of the Order and trying to corrupt them by spreading around word that using emotion to fuel their power in the Force would give them greater power. That they had so much untapped potential they could use if they would just let their emotions fuel their power. And despite the handful of Younglings who stood fast to the Jedi Code, there were those who were also easily swayed.
And it didn’t take long for Valos to find out the source of the problem. It was a human Jedi Knight, who he found in the Room of a Thousand Fountains. He was alone, but the aura that emanated off of him was pure hatred and anger. Feeling that the Council easily could have taken care of this, Valos figured they wanted to put to test one of their own, to show the ones running amuck that the way of the Jedi was stronger than that of the dark side of the Force.
Confronting the young man, he just laughed at Valos’ accusation. He then revealed that they didn’t work alone; there were quite a few other than him. He explained that, in fact, he wasn’t the one that started it, but his eyes were opened by their leader. That he was blind to how strong the dark side could empower one, that good had always prevailed and all that. But after he had learned that by mixing in his training as a Jedi minus the self-discipline, and adding in his emotions, he could master powers that were banned, and still work for the good guys.
Valos though, did everything within his power to assuage the Jedi Knight. He tried to show him how the way of the Jedi was far greater. For using the Force the way the other Knight was a one way path down a life he didn’t want to get into. Though the boy was going in it with a good intention, in the end, it didn’t matter how good his intentions were, he would become corrupted, dark, and evil. His mind would be plagued with horrid thoughts and the chains of darkness would have all ready bound him. But the boy just scoffed at the help Valos offered.
A moment later, three more Jedi Knights entered into the giant greenhouse, wondering around, as if admiring the flora and scenery. But suddenly, a moment later, they made a swift movement off the stone path and into the clearing where Valos and the other Knight stood. The four knights together, two humans, a cerean, and finally… Condar? The Rodian and old friend of Valos now stood before him. The black beady eyes of the Rodian stared at him, and Valos could feel the hatred and power surrounding him through the Force.
Valos offered all four the chance to turn from their ways before it became their masters. They would serve a master far crueler than any Jedi. But they all scoffed at him and mocked him. He knew what they were doing. They were trying to anger him, they wanted him to unleash his rage, they were trying to prove to him that emotions was a far easier road to take and far more powerful. But his mind snapped back to the killer he had taken care of Manaan. Through his mistake there, he had learned much.
So, keeping his cool, he had to regretfully inform the quartet he was going to contact the Council immediately and have them come and punish the four accordingly. But as soon as Valos pretended to reach for his datapad, he felt a great surge in the Force throw him backwards as if a great gust blew him like a feather. He was reaching for his lightsaber, knowing they would attack him if they felt threatened.
Immediately the other four ignited their blades and charged at him, Condar, their leader, heading the charge. As soon as they got within a few feet of Valos, Condar motioned for the trio to wait; he had wanted to do this alone. And with that, he dove into the air and came down at Valos with a vertical cut. So Valos lifted his hands above his head, holding the blade horizontally and barely blocking the blow. He then threw himself to the left and spun around in time to feint a slash to Condar’s head and really brought the blade down to strike his foe’s left leg.
Hoping he had moved quick enough to land the blow, he didn’t, Condar had barely had enough time to jump out of the way of the blade and brought down his blade diagonally on Valos, unsuspectingly. Ducking in time, it occurred to Valos had his head been shaped more round than flat, he would have been missing the top half of his head. But not wasting any time to think, he charged forward towards his foe lightsaber in hand.
Condar made a feint to the left, and ended up throwing himself backwards before propelling himself forward when Valos made an attempt to slice at his foe when he moved left. This was dodged by Valos who knocked his foe’s feet out from under him. But his duel was far from over, one of the humans charged towards Valos, informing Condar he was going to help, but within a moment, the skill used against Valos just moments ago, now sent the human knight flying into a tree, rendering him unconscious.
Holding his blade down over Condar’s chest, Valos stood over him, and didn’t have the least bit of a triumphant grin on his face. It was far more grim than proud. He then offered his friend one last chance to change from his ways to join the good side. If he refused he would be forced to the call the Council no matter what. But being so focused on Condar, suddenly, the fist of the other human came crashing into the side of Valos’ head.
Now, Condar was on his feet and the human and cerean were charging forward. Barely having enough time to gather his bearings, he had to avoid the attack of all three. They all three moved and attacked together in different postures yet moved like they were one. Valos was shocked to see how skilled the three were and yet so young. He continued on fighting though, giving his all, until finally he saw a gap in the cerean’s fighting style and was able to disarm him. Immediately the boy went from great brave fighter to a nervous, defenseless young man.
Using what little of his strength he had left from the endless fighting, Valos kept on deflecting blows from Condar and the human. But slowly, he could feel his body was beginning to give up. He was used up a large portion of power removing the threat of one of the humans and an even larger amount to disarm the cerean. And what little he had was being converted to give him strength. And for one second, he felt his strength falter and the human knight took the chance to send Valos flying into a rocky outcrop. His last image was Condar walking up to his limp body, nodding his head as if ashamed by Valos.
He woke up several hours later, in much pain. Someone had saw the skirmish going on and went and warned several masters who arrived just moments after Valos was knocked out. Mel proudly congratulated Valos for being courageous enough not only to confront his own friends but to take them on. And on top of that, he had skillfully and courageously fought against Jedi Knight, more skilled than he and older than he. And though, the fight caused damage to the Room of a Thousand Fountains, it would be repaired with ease and no one was seriously injured. But best of all, he did everything in his power to keep from killing them, instead trying to lead them back on the right path.
~Trial of the Spirit~
The final test for Valos, was the Trial of the Spirit, a truly terrifying and difficult task for any one. Valos was to look deep down inside himself and go down a path of self-discovery. And the place that they went to was Manaan. They went back to Valos’ hometown. In fact, they went back to the house he was raised in, and there he was to spend a few days meditating. And though, he had overcome the death of his parents, still the anger and hatred from his previous trials was there. He knew it would always be there, waiting for an opportune moment as when to strike. And when he entered in to his home, immediately a dark feeling filled him.
Anger filled his eyes and he was alone, no one would know what happened. Even his master vowed to stay away, it was all up to Valos to go down that path of self-discovery and see for himself what was to happen. He went to his room as a child, his parent’s room, the kitchen his mom would spent much of her time in cooking or keeping up with the family’s account, the dining room where most the time they would all come together and feast while recalling the day’s events. The happy memories that filled his mind though immediately were flooded over by darkness and anger.
A lone datapad sat in the middle of the living room. In fact, it sat in the very seat he sat in from when he was last at this home. It was there he sat when he listened to the Jedi’s offer. He walked over and played the datapad. The voice of a female suddenly broke the silence, she was explaining all of her plans for the new bacta retrieving machine when there was a muffled explosion and her attention was turned to the doors which another explosion seemed to be placed on and a moment later there was a more audible explosion followed by the crumpling and clanging of metal.
Suddenly the female’s voice began to beg for mercy. She begged for whatever just came into her lab to spare her. She offered credits; she offered to keep her mouth shut about what happened, she offered anything. And suddenly, an all too familiar voice chilled Valos to the bone. The Selkath he confront so long ago merely laughing maniacally and explained how he was going to kill her and her supporters. Then with a scream of horror and pain, blasters drowned out the scream until it died down to silence and the sadistic laugh.
Within a few moments of that the datapad played a voice he knew far too well. It was his father, but his father sounded so much better than he used to. When he was drunk so often his voice would slur and words would be ran together, now he spoke quite well. His mother’s voice echoed in behind her husband explaining the scientist’s death and plan of what to do to protect their selves. Several other voices chimed in and they all discussed they were going to hide in the very house that Valos stood in.
But a moment later, the doors opened and there came that same cold voice, a voice that seemed to lack all emotion and remorse. A voice that didn’t belong to anything that seemed to have a soul. It was a shell of what used to be a Selkath. Several blaster shots were fired off and women screamed. While the men, including Valos’ father charged the man with the blaster, but he was far too quick for them. Blaster shots fired off. And from the way the room looked, either it was cleaned up after their deaths or else the shooter had a clean shot on all of them.
Now, standing there, clenching the datapad, Valos trembled. He regretted leaving his family now, knowing he would have had the chance to protect them from that madman. Had he thought to search outside the city sooner for the killer, had he not joined the Jedi, had he done so many things more, he could have done it. But he didn’t. And it was too late. Because he wasn’t the only too lose his parents. Several people lost their mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, friends, so much more… And it was too late.
Valos flung the datapad against the wall and just fell to his knees, gripping his head. The anguished screams of the victims filling his head, the words of Condar’s propaganda trailed not far behind. And the chains of hate threw their selves around Valos. He had opened up a can he didn’t want to, and at the rate he was going, he was past the point of no return. Pain filled his head and he beat the floor of the home, crying out.
Suddenly, he looked up, and there standing before him was a tall figured draped in a black robe. He caught a glimpse of the scarlet tunic below the robe. The figure looked down on him, the presence of darkness emanated like an aura off of him. Fearing that this was the dark presence that Valos could feel as soon as he entered the apartment, he went to grab for his lightsaber. But it wasn’t there!
Next thing he knew, the figure reached for the hem of his hood and threw it back, revealing the face of a selkath. The selkath’s face was withered and worn by anger. His face saw the deep lines of wrinkles all over and his eyes were empty. The form looked down at him and after a few moments it occurred to Valos that the one standing before him was someone he knew quite well. Someone near and dear to him, for it was himself.
Slowly the wrinkles spread more and more growing deeper and deeper on him like ice splitting. And slowly it began to wince, its face curled into a look of pure pain. And finally Valos’ image dropped down to the floor, facing the real Valos. Valos being on the floor as well, his image pulled itself next to his ear and whispered one word. That one word echoed throughout his mind for several minutes before his eyes shot open. He was lying on the floor, he had been unconscious. He had taken him only a few moments to realize what had happened. He had had a vision, and it was of him, in the future.
The Force had shown him what would become of him had he continued on down the road he was on. Had he left the darkness that was wrapping its chains around him continue, he would let that anger slowly become his cruel master just as Condar had. After words, he spent time, meditating in the Force, as he had learned so often to do when he seemed to have problems. And after spending some time meditating, he left his home, leaving it where it belonged. In his memories, they were good ones, but it was in his past, he had the present to worry about, much less the future.
Approaching Mel, he explained the events that happened and with that, the duo headed off to Coruscant. Valos had proven himself as a skilled enough Jedi Padawan to proceed to the rank of Jedi Knight. The trip to Coruscant was a sad one though, because knowing there was so much more he could have learned from Master Mel, he knew that he would always have the memories of their several years together. But despite all the deep discussions they had and the thoughts Valos had, the one word his image told him rang out still so clear…
‘Change…’
~Knighthood~
Upon their return to Coruscant, Valos spent time in a chamber directly below the Hall of Knighthood. There he spent a day alone, in complete silence and peace, communing with the Force through meditation and other means. And then, finally the next day arrived. A nervous Valos was taken to the Hall of Knighthood where there, he was formally inducted into the Jedi Order as a Jedi Knight. And with that, he had many difficult decisions of his life he had to make now.
Lightsaber: Dual-Phase, curved hilt
Color: Green
Practiced Lightsaber forms:
Shii-Cho: 5
Makashi: 4
Soresu: 2
Ataru: N/A
Shien/Djem So: /A
>>Sub-form Backhanded: N/A
Niman: N/A
>>Sub-form Jar-kai: N/A
Juyo: N/A
Double-Bladed Combat: N/A
Force-Sensitive Abilities or practices:
Telekinetic: 5
Telepathic: 5
Body: 5
Sense: 4
Protection: 3
Healing: 3
Destruction: 1
Specialized Skills: None
Attributes:
Physical Strength: 6
Intelligence: 5
Speed: 5
Leadership: 4
Unarmed: 4
Melee Weapons: 6
Ranged Weapons: 4
Force Attunement: 3
RP Sample:
Valos stood before the Jedi Temple, trembling nervously. The leader of the three Jedi that had came to his home and offered to take him away to this place called Core-ew-sont wanted to take him to the Jedi Temple to train and become a Jedi. He didn’t know anything about a Jedi, Coruscant, or anything else. And when he saw the splendors of the Galactic City and the Jedi Temple, he was in a cross between awe and horror. He had never seen anything like it before. Now, standing before the great temple, the head of the Jedi squeezed Valos’ hand assuringly and offered him a soft smile.
Then Valos thought, this older Jedi must have known what it was like to have to leave his family at a young age and walk up to this same building. So finally mustering so courage, Valos stepped forward and into the large building. It was truly amazing on the inside, a beautiful work of art. People bustled to and fro; most of them were dressed all alike just about. Many of the people varyied in different shapes, sizes, colors, textures; but still all their clothing, though different colors, the clothing had the same appearance.
“What have I gotten myself into…” Valos spoke in his native tongue, trying to not be overcome with fear.
