I really like the idea of spinning out the Mandalorian War like this, with the potential to carry it forward should we ever reach that point. It carries echoes of the Trojan cycle to me … a familiar tale told by others, but reinvented by a new teller for a different audience, a reflection on the subject matter that itself carries a reflection of those who seek to find something within it. Or maybe I'm just exhausted and waxing far too philosophic? Probably! It's been a long week and it's still only Monday! So. I've played the Old Republic games and used to read quite a lot in the extended universe, though I'm over a decade out of date at this point (I'm sure that'll show!) and probably have forgotten much. Still, I have a deep fondness for Star Wars and would absolutely love a chance to do some writing in the universe, and specifically within such a rich time period. I also want to say up front that my free time is usually kinda limited so if we get to a point where you're comfortable accepting my character, I likely can't commit to much more than a post a week. Less of a rapid-fire hotseat barrage of posts and more of a slow burn, with time to think and write and collaborate and act upon the result. If that ain't gonna work, let me know and I'll bow out! :) Anyway, enough rambling. Here's my character sheet. --- [i]"If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, who am I? If not now, when?"[/i] --- [hider=Kujata vil Turazi][h3]Basic Information[/h3] [b]Name:[/b] Kujata vil Turazi [b]Age:[/b] 38 [b]Sex:[/b] Male [b]Jedi Rank:[/b] Padawan/[b]-Knight-[/b]/Master [b]Lightsaber Type:[/b] Single bladed lightsaber, red crystal. [b]Theme Song (first time I've done one of these!):[/b] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sSbkA-xd7M [h3]Appearance[/h3] Kujata is on the taller side of the human average but not monstrously so. He bears the heavy muscles of a man who keeps in shape and is no stranger to combat; his skin bears the marks of many battles narrowly won to back up the suggestion of his frame. He is dark-skinned and of amber eye, with little in the way of hair. Young though he is, there are faint glimmers of grey at the temples of his ill-kempt raven hair, and it dots the scraggly black beard that engulfs his jaw as well. He often eschews the “humble” attire of the Jedi Order and instead dresses in accordance with whichever world he's recently spent the most time on. More often than not that ensemble comes with some manner of cloak, but failing that then his attire leans towards open and breezy outfits that would not interfere with his range of mobility. He possesses very few personal items, and limits the ones he carries on him to an old, weathered datapad and a trio of lightsabers that hang from the thick, worn belt at his waist. One of these lightsabers is a thing of midnight hue and deadly, elegant grace – his personal lightsaber. The other two show signs of great care but general disuse, and they almost never leave his side. The last of his personal items is a belt pouch full of scraps of cloth traced with curving script. These, he does not share. [h3]History[/h3] Born to a family of adequate means, Kujata never wanted for much in his childhood. The world he called home – Rith – was an old one, buried in vast, ancient stone buildings and aggressive vegetation that would see all that moulding history claimed beneath its embrace. A place of calm and meditation with little in the way of interaction with the galaxy at large. Some would consider the world well-suited to study and reflection, but others would look past the surface to see a humble truth – only a handful of cities support life amidst the endless ruins and jungle, whilst the rest serves as the tomb of a civilization lost to time. It was only pure happenstance that Rajak's life would ever veer from the slow march towards a death upon the planet of his birth. A Jedi Knight – pulled far off course and seeking refuge from a band of wayward pirates – called upon the port of Rith and was welcomed grudgingly to the surface. There she spent time amidst the locals and toured their flickering libraries and crumbling ruins, fascinated by a glimpse at a history and distance impossible to fathom in a galaxy increasingly interconnected and drawing ever smaller around her. This Knight, a twi'lek named Terzeh'halam, took to using young Kujata's father as a guide in and around the city. It was not long before she realized that her guide's son was strong in the Force and a good candidate for tutelage. After long discussions that went far above Kujata's head it was agreed that he would be trained, and Kujata's ties to his old life summarily severed. Life was as life is amongst the halls of Coruscant. Never making a name for himself nor socializing much with his peers, Kujata nevertheless proved himself a willing and capable student. When the time came for a Knight to claim him as a Padawan it was Terzeh who came calling, thinking of herself more a mother to the young boy than anything else. The pair of them spent a great deal of time engaged in exploration and Outer Rim diplomacy and young Kujata grew up quickly in that environment. But the true test came during his eighteenth year, when the galaxy was consumed by the grasp of darkness and the horror of a war of deep ideologies and truly impossible proportion. The Great Sith War was one he and his master could not avoid, and so were drawn inexorably in to a scale of conflict that Kujata had never dreamt of encountering beyond the books that filled his datapad. Before the final curtain fell on the brutal play he lost not just his master, but most of those he'd ever cared about. Where once he'd had a buoyancy to him, a lightness of being, there was left instead a dark thing, a hateful thing possessed of memories no child that young should see. Of deeds that stained his hands red. His survival and subsequent damage was a vexation to those in the higher offices of the Temple. With care and patience he was led back from the brink of the madness that gripped him and – for lack of a better task suited to his skills in war and violence – was assigned the task of assisting in the purge of Exar Kun's faithful, wherever they hid. Gradually the hunt was set aside and Kujata – along with those like him – were reassigned to other places, far from one another and from the places of learning at which they might influence the young Jedi within. And so for a great deal of time Kujata has wandered the Outer Rim, living again the life he once had with his old master. Serving the Temple through words and striving to keep to the ways of peace, to the ways of balance. But scars never fully heal, and the damage done will never fade. It is a living thing, a constant reminder, a memory that aches in him and one he cannot bear to part with … for to part with the memory of the darkness is to part with the memory of the light within it, and the sacrificed made by those he loved. Very soon the edge he walks will grow thinner. Soon he will once again be faced with a conflict of unimaginable scale, and all that he was will vie with all that he is, and who he will become remains to be seen. [h3]Personality[/h3] Kujata is a man defined by a time in history, and has lived the course of his years in reaction to it. War has an immense impact on the young who live through it (or fight within it), and Kujata is no exception. As such he can sometimes be withdrawn though rarely cruel or abrasive. He works best in a situation without much oversight and is inclined more towards violent solutions than peaceful, despite his fervent wish for it to be otherwise. He was trained in and walks the path of the Sentinel, and tries his best to embody that balance. Despite this lofty calling and his quest towards the perfection of the self, he rarely succeeds in controlling his inclinations towards isolation and disdain towards those unwilling to think and listen. It should also be said of him that despite his service record and the deeds he has done for the Temple, he has been asked to recuse himself from the selection of a padawan, cut off from the natural progression and growth that is inherent in the structure of the Jedi Order. It does not outwardly bother him, but feeds the darker thoughts that he wrestles with in the depths of his mind. Merely one more flaw laid upon him, and he has yet to determine how to take it. The isolation afforded by his remote postings do serve as something of a balm to him, however, so he takes the good with the ill. In being so far from home and rarely in direct personal contact with those of his Order, he often finds himself slipping here and there from the rigid precepts of the Temple, and often allows himself vices that a Jedi Knight ought not to indulge. Amongst these is an affection for fine wines and the various intoxicants supplied by the galaxy's less civilized worlds. [b][i]Likes[/i][/b]: Quiet, flutes, the color pink, rain on a summer morning, the hum of a ship in motion, the taste of mulled wine, the scent of places long lost to the passage of civilization, thoughts below the surface, victory. [b][i]Dislikes[/i][/b]: Pretension, the faithful, those who cannot embrace contradiction, wool, being the focus of attention, closed minds, swimming, ranged combat. [h3]Skills / Abilities[/h3] Kujata is fairly strong in the Force but weighs its use heavily, having seen first-hand what reliance upon it can unleash. There is a great deal of fear in him for the temptation of power that surges with connecting one's self to the world, and even the Light carries a risk in his heart of hearts. As such he is technically skilled in the use of most of the generic forms and patterns of the Force, but not particularly comfortable using them. Only those he can rely on in battle are those he can summon at a moment's notice. Beyond the Force as a tool, he also has a great deal of practice in mortal combat using lightsabers (and occasionally other edged weaponry). He whetted his blade on the battlefield has has triumphed over many capable warriors in his time, both during the war and in the decades since. He disdains ranged weaponry in most of its forms and is thus barely competent with them, though bowcasters do bring him some manner of joy that he can't properly express. One use of the Force that Kujata cannot properly control is that which comes into play in conversations. He is not the most diplomatically minded individual but his words carry the weight of his connection to the world around him, and others tend to listen when he speaks. Though that depends a great deal on him having something of worth to say. [b][i]Strengths[/i][/b]: Lightsaber swordsmanship, combat applications of the Force, preventing himself from getting dead-ed from social ineptness. He is a very aggressive duelist, and shows a complete willingness to go for the kill. He is also fairly well versed in stealth techniques and field repairs on simple to more complex devices. [b][i]Weaknesses[/i][/b]: Sometimes overly self-reliant and wary of the Force, which slows his reactions when the Force is required. Cynical to the point of social aggression at times, which can bleed through into a quickness of action and the unleashing of violence when it's nowhere near the best solution. Very skilled with a blade but not very gifted in ranged combat, and he rarely wears any sort of armor. [/hider] --- Whew. I swear I used to be able to draft up characters way faster than this. I'm getting old, methinks. Or out of practice. :lol