#dakhri

[catpella]

Ishev 1, Hadrea 5, Dakhri 9

1.an overheard conversation about your OC – Ishev

“He's sohandsome!”

“He really lookslike a good soldier. No wonder they put him on recruiting posters.”

“I know he'd makeme sign up for the Army.”

“I heard he's aJedi now.”

“I didn't knowadults could just become Jedi.”

“I guess he's aspecial case.”

“They're celibatearen't they? What a shame.”

“There goes somany people's hopes of marrying him and  becoming Alderaanianroyalty.”

5.letters between two of your OC’s companions about them – Hadrea

Ishev,

I know you did warnme that Hadrea is still upset over the loss of her mother. I've triedto be as nice as I can to her. I've apologized. I've tried to ignoreher. I've tried to engage her in pleasant conversation. But did youever ask her to be nice to me? Every time I leave my rooms togo to the kitchens or the library she's lurking outside and throwinginsults at me, and I'm becoming paranoid about dinner.

Also, there is ahidden speaker somewhere in my room playing songs from the RepublicArmy Band's Death To The Empire albums 1 through 4. Can you come fixthis?

Auriva

Dear Auriva,

I will come find thespeaker.

Hadrea isn't goingto poison you. She will come around and find that you've redeemedyourself and are actually a good person, I'm sure. Until then, I'llhave another talk with her about not waging psychological warfare onpeople I like.

Ishev

Ishev,

Have you had thistalk with her before?

Auriva

Dear Auriva,

I routinely have towarn Hadrea against waging psychological warfare. She rarely listens.

Ishev

Ishev,

...comforting. Not.

Auriva

9. a futurehistorian’s account of your OC’s actions – Dakhri

It is well-known tohistorians of the Force that different traditions have very differentways of handling individuals with a psychological trauma that rendersthem damaged or unstable, and that some are significantly moreeffective in their methods than others. The Jedi Order is the largestRepublic-affiliated organization for Force-sensitives, but there aremany who consider its approach to healing its members to be the leasteffective of all.

There are manyaccounts of Jedi who suffered traumatic events that left scars ontheir psyches during the Great Galactic Wars I and II, and whoreceived inadequate treatment to recover from it. In the best cases,these Jedi received care from other groups and were able to overcometheir issues. In many cases, they had to treat themselves withinadequate support. In the worst cases, these Jedi were unable tohandle their traumas and several fell to the dark side and inflicteddamage on others around them.

This historian'sopinion is that the most effective organization for handlingForce-sensitives damaged by wartime trauma during both Great GalacticWars was the Massani aliit, based on Iridonia. The aliit was knownfor producing a high number of skilled combatants and for providingthem with the correct kind of support to recover from any woundsphysical and mental sustained during it.

One example of theJedi Order failing their own is that of Dakhri Massani. She wascaptured by the Sith Empire while still a Padawan and imprisoned inImperial space for eight months before she escaped. She was treatedfor her physical wounds bu the Jedi Order, then cleared to return toaction and promoted to Knight. Her career in the War wascharacterized by an extremely high success rate of missions she wasassigned to, and she was known for never abandoning or leaving behindpersonnel.

However, the traumaof her capture by Imperials fostered a growing hatred of them thatfostered a weakness to the Dark Side in her. When a Republic basecontaining her husband was captured by an Imperial special operationsteam, she single-handedly invaded it, killed all hostiles, andrescued the captured personnel. Her combat display at the time wasdescribed as violent, brutal, and dark-sided by Republic survivors,but her rescuing of key personnel prevented the Imperials from takingHaruun Kal.

It was only afterthe Haruun Kal incident that the Jedi Order realized that somethingwas wrong with her. They pulled her off of active duty and intendedto treat her fall to the Dark Side but individuals close to herinsisted on sending her back to the aliit instead. The aliit was ableto help her recover, bringing her back from the edge of the darkside. She later returned to the Jedi Order to teach as a combatinstructor on Tython, but was never again sent into combat againstthe Sith Empire.

Depending on whatstories you hear, Dakhri Massani may be remembered as a brilliantfighter (by Republic accounts of the war), as the Jedi Butcher ofHaruun Kal (by Imperial troops), or as a skilled combat trainer (bymany Jedi). To this historian, she is an example of how the JediOrder fails to take adequate care of its wounded, and as a cautionarytale of why the Order needs to listen to other Force traditions if itis going to insist on sending its members to fight in the Republic'swars...

[deathcupcake]

Nothing like 14 levels earned in an evening with friends.

[catpella]

Dakhri: The wrld, the devil, the fool

The World: When has one of your character’s dreams come true?

The Fool: When has your character been excited to start a new journey?

(Answering these together.)

The birth of her children is a good moment. It was a new journey she was happy for, and it felt like a dream. There were a few complications with Moya because there was a part of her afraid she couldn’t love her child because of parentage - but then she held her daughter and realized she loved her and it was fine. With Thrasis she was in a perfectly happy, contented place at the time, and everything was sunshine and rainbows even with the war going on. Even though her relationship with her children is rather strained and not the best, as long as they’re alive and happy, it is good.

(That doesn’t mean she doesn’t pitch an absolute _fit_ when her children brings home ex-Sith. She loves them and wants them to be happy, she just has a giant blind spot shaped exactly like the Imperial emblem. But seeing her children happy with their partners, holding any grandchildren that result, will eventually warm her heart and bring her peace. She’ll probably be a better grandmother than she was a mother.)

The Devil: Does your character ever neglect their wild side?

Do you mean: the last decade? Probably Dakhri’s biggest problem is that she has some trouble managing her so-called wild side (aka impulses/instincts/desires (don’t call them passions around her, sounds too much like Sith)). Her capacity for rage and violence and bad things is terrifying to her, and she’s had trouble disentangling fun impulses from problem ones. Ever since she got the “sit down and come back to the Light Side” talk she’s been trying to be suppressed and calm, and while it’s taken away the rage-filled explosions, people who knew her during the war can also attest that she seems a bit more hollow - like many of the good things dropped away as well.

[catpella]

29, 30 - Auriva, 5, 23 - Dakhri, and 25, 34 - Thyrea!

Do they have any deep dark secrets?Auriva

29.) What’s their favorite food? 

Dumplings of any kind; meat, veggie, steamed and fried and boiled, preferably with a sweet or a savory dipping sauce.

30.) Do they like to boogie? Do they dance to that good old cantina band? 

It’s something that’s fun to do, but it’s not her favorite genre. Cantina music isn’t bad on nights when she wants to dance and flirt.

Dakhri

5.) What planet do they now call home? Either where their stronghold is or where you headcanon they live at.

Probably Iridonia. Iridonia is where she was raised and where the aliit is, and where she has spent lots of positive, happy time. Tython is also a place she spent a lot of time, of course.

23.) Do they like their role in their current situation? ei: if they are a Sith do they like being in the Sith order?

She likes being a Jedi on the light path far more than she likes the alternatives she’s seen. Her captivity on Korriban showed her what being Sith would be like; her strong slide towards the dark side during the war showed her what being a dark Jedi would be like.

Thyrea

25.) Do they have any deep dark secrets?

34.) Any major flaws?

I’m answering these together because they’re basically the same. Maybe how much she struggles with rage and hate? Thyrea struggles with the impulse of “just burn them all, let them all die, I hate them, I want them eradicated” towards the Sith and the Empire. Her aliit background (time with so many Force-sensitives) means she knows that that is something wrong in a way that a lot of her fellow soldiers don’t. And she tries to be better than that desire when she can. But the struggle with rage and fury and vengeance is something she hates about herself, and it’s part of why she a.) was so blind to Dakhri’s backslide for so long and b.) why she flew off the handle when she had to confront it.

[catpella]

Evens for Dakhri!

02. Best friend: There was a time when it would have been bothYza-lir and Thyrea.  Her friendship with both of them has gonethrough periods of being colder right around the time of the Treatyof Coruscant. Dakhri still hangs out with Thyrea and involves her inmany aspects of her life and will come to her about many things, butright now she doesn't have anyone she trusts closely enough witheverything.

04. Favorite color: Dakhri likes brown. She thinks it's anunderappreciated range of colors. Her favorite is the really warmbrowns.

06. Ideal mate: Do not ask this question to her face. You'll getpunched.

(She and Yza-lir were so well suited when they were a couple. Hegrounded her worst impulses and reminded her of compassion and thegood things in the world when she saw bleakness; she provided passionand energy to his world, and he admired her strength in continuingdespite the challenges thrown at her. They were able to be eachother's rocks.)

08. Favorite food: Whatever the SW universe equivalent of crispy porkpotstickers is called.

10. Favorite music: The playlists Yza-lir made for her.

12. Biggest fantasy: Living a life where she wasn't captured onKorriban and hadn't made terrible choices on Ord Radama.

14. Biggest regret: The debacle on Ord Radama where she massacredthose Imperials. It was absolutely the wrong thing to do. She knowsthat now, and she's ashamed of the fact that she failed the lightside so badly, and horrified about the fact that she was capable ofthat level of bloody, unthinking violence. There's a small part ofher that doesn't regret that she saved his life, even if it cost hereverything, because he was her husband, and she loves him more thanshe loved her soul.

16. Last thought: “Whoever assigned me to watching the saberpractice of the ex-Sith is trying to break my last nerve.”

18. Biggest insecurity: If she's qualified to still be a Jedi afterthe terrible things she's done, or if she's too broken to be avaluable person.

20. Role Model: I don't have an idea for this.          

[catpella]

The morning light is rosy and soft outside, a sharp contrast with the darkened studio. Yza-lir unlocks the door and flicks on the light, moving to the wall to watch from safety. Without a word Dakhri ignites her sabers, the familiar snap-crackle and buzzing sound filling the air and echoing around the empty room.

The copper blades glow bright and pure, slicing through the air effortlessly. She twists and turns far faster than she should be able to, guided by the Force running through her, empowering her to great feats no one without it could hope to reach. Her movements are fluid and graceful as she dances through the space.

The Force changes her from the woman he knows every inch of so well into something he doesn't understand.  Dakhri is transcendent when her sabers are in her hand. Watching her blades draw trails of light across the room is like staring into the light that overwhelms with its purity and sustains you, making you forget there is anything else to the world. The movement of her body is a glimpse into the radiance of the universe itself.

Just like that, the momentary spell breaks as she shifts from the warmup patterns to actual combat moves against invisible foes.  He recalls how he's seen those sabers slice through the bodies of Sith and Imperials on the battlefield. He watches her now, training for the inevitable next battle, the moment when she will call on the Force to cause destruction, sundering tiny bits of the universe from itself as she ends life after life.

If her play is the light of the sun, a glimpse into unity and purity, then her war is the fire that burns fast and bright, devastating what is in its path before it extinguishes and leaves only darkness and ash behind. The imagery makes Yza-lir shudder, goosebumps rushing over his skin.

She stutters in her moves, her sabers coming far too close to her face before extinguishing and leaving a hush falling over the space. Within a second she is by his side, reaching for his hand. “What is it?” , she asks, curling his fingers into hers.

He is gratified that there is concern in her tone, not anger. He's seen her be furious before when interrupted. “Do you have to actually practice today? I like what you were doing before… one of the light-dances, wasn't it?”

“The opening to one I've wanted to perform for years,” she confirmed. “I want to keep working on it when there's time. Today, though, I have exercises.”

“Just for today, take a break. Work on the light-dance,” he says, his tone almost pleading.

“I really need to master this before we go to Ord Radama.”

“I need to watch my wife dance,” he counters, squeezing her hand and ignoring the way her claws scratch his palm. “And let me take some holos.”

“Why the holos?” she asks.

“Because I want a record of how beautiful you are,” he says. He doesn't know why it's so important that he have one, but he knows deep in his bones that he needs it.

“A holo of me being clumsy?” she says with a laugh.

“Trust me, you weren't clumsy. You were radiant,” he tells her. “I just want to see if I can capture some of that.”

She sighs, but he knows he has her. “All right. Today is off. Because my lovely husband asked so nicely.”

His lips twitch in a smile. “And for your gracious agreement, you can have anything you want from me later.”

Her brow lifts. “Anything? You might regret that, love.”

“I will regret nothing you ask of me, my wife,” he says solemnly.

“Start your holo then,” Dakhri says, stepping back and igniting her lightsabers again.

(In the times to come, when they don't speak for years and the gulf between them is immeasurably wide and dark, the images of her bringing light and movement to the still studio will be an anchor to sustain him through his dark nights.)

[catpella]

Met Dakhri Massani. She’s a decorated hero of the first war, now a weapons instructor for the Jedi Order. Her early capture by the Sith left her physically and emotionally scarred. Too much buried anger flows through her to allow fighting on the front lines again. Her goals are to keep her students alive and mentor those who come back broken, hoping she can remake them - even if it’s too late for herself. Parent of Moya and Thrasis, estranged from her husband Yza-lir.

[catpella]

3, 9, 20 for Dakhri, 8, 13, 22 for Yza-lir?

Dakhri:

3.) Something they’re proud of

She’s proud of her ability to train her students. When she teaches someone who’s particularly gifted with their lightsaber(s), when she sees someone who’s in one of her advanced classes not because they’ve been sent to, but because the genuinely want to learn, and they have genuine skill at learning. When she sees them struggling to master something, and it clicks. Those moments give her pride.

9.) A memory of their lover

His patience and tenderness will always astound her. The sex has always been good, and she has more than enough pleasant memories of that. But she also remembers the tender moments when he curls up against her chest and their hearts beat as one, when he rubs her back and braids her hair, loosens her muscles. She misses all the times they touched just for the joy of remembering that they had bodies and were together.

20.) Something comforting

When Dakhri gets stressed out, she finds comfort in the physical, in pushing her body so that she’s focusing on that and not her worries. Moving through sequences of saber moves, defeating a sequence of training droids, doing an intensive physical workout routine, sleeping with Yza-lir back when they were in a relationship. But mostly beating up tons of training droids, if there are any available.

Yza-lir:

8.) A memory of their family

It’s been two decades since he introduced Dakhri to his family on Corellia. But the memory still brings a smile to his face. He’d told her that his mother was an Inspector in Corellian Security, and that his father taught computer security at a University. But he’d left out the fact that his grandmother was a Master of the Green Jedi. Just because he wanted to see how she’d react to it.

Spoiler alert: she was very startled to find a Force sensitive in his family, as she’d been interested in the idea of a family gathering without any Force-users.

(It was a great trick.)

13.) Their lowest point

The days after the attack on Ord Radema. He’d been captured by top-tier Imperial commandos and beaten very badly. Then he’d seen his wife brutally slaughter said Imperial commandos, and now she was being taken back to Iridonia to receive treatment for what looked a lot like a fall to the Dark Side. And partly that last part was his fault, since he and Thyrea had been responsible for covering up Dakhri’s condition.

If it wasn’t for having to take care of the children - and he did want to be allowed to take the children with him to Corellia - he might have given up entirely.

22.) When they were content

He was always happy during the periods of downtime during the war. Especially when he and Dakhri got simultaneous leave, either back to Iridonia or to Corellia. Spending time with his wife and their children never failed to lift his spirits and make him happy. Whether they were adventuring to the Zoo, or just sitting around in an apartment eating dinner and watching bad HoloNet films, it was all good.