#qyzen

[wildcreativemastermind]

SWTOR: Jedi Consular Companions

Listen, I like the Jedi Consular story in SWTOR. It was the first story in the game I completed, and I still enjoy replaying it. I downloaded the game to play a Jedi, and the consular story gives, at least I think it gives, a better Jedi experience than the Jedi Knight story does. The big drawback for me however, is the companions.

We'll start with Qyzen, the first companion. He's a trandoshan and friend of the PC's master. At first, I actually liked him. The thing of him declaring the pc to be the Scorekeeper's Herald was not good, and I really think shouldn't have been there in the first place, but it was a single drawback. The Jedi Council is shown to have concerns about Qyzen and Yuon's (pc's master) friendship. When I first started playing, that last point got some eyerolls out of me. I've seen the movies, I know Jedi are allowed to have friends. However, on this 2nd playthrough, I'm fully on the Jedi Council's side concerning Qyzen, if anything my opinion is harsher than theirs'.

Qyzen, as he is, should not be allowed at the Jedi Temple. This guy has hunted Wookies for sport and shows no remorse for doing so. He doesn't believe hunting wookies is wrong. What if there are any wookie Jedi? Padawans? Initiates? Younglings? Their safety is more important than Yuon's or Qyzen's feelings, get him away from the Temple and off of Tython.

What I think should've been done with Qyzen: honestly, he doesn't need that many changes, two are all that are needed. 1. no calling the pc Scorekeeper's Herald. This never made sense, the pc is not trandoshan, not part of trandoshan culture, and does things that many Jedi could do. A nickname does make sense, both in universe and from a game development standpoint. I think something like "young hunter" (possibly "master hunter" later) would make more sense. It would be an acknowledgement of the Consular as a fellow and friend in a transdoshan way without placing undue importance on them.

2. don't have Qyzen be a wookie hunter. This is really the big one. It would resolve a lot of the issues that are created by Qyzen's presences as it is in the game. Maybe there's a group of trandoshans who think there should be limits on what can and can't be hunted, sentient species can't be hunter the same way animals can. Qyzen could have been part of this group (or even still is). This could even tie into Qyzen's side quest later of the wookie killing trandoshans based on information from a trandoshan. In the version I'm suggesting, the trandoshan who gives the wookie info on who to kill is telling the wookie to kill trandoshans who have sworn off hunting wookies. The wookie kills these trandoshans anyway because they're blinded by vengeance. When Qyzen and the Consular encounter this wookie, they could help get said wookie off the vengeance path or kill them to avenge the dead trandoshans.

We'll do Tharan next. Why is he there? He could find excitement, and probably be happier, without the Consular. He doesn't seem to like much about the Jedi, especially not their using the Force. I interact with this guy and I wonder why he doesn't try to find excitement and adventure elsewhere. Surely it couldn't be that hard for him to get his own ship.

My ideas for Tharan: scrap him, introduce him many planets later, or change his character to fit someone who'd hang out with Jedi.

Ideally, I think he should be scrapped, I simply do not find him likable. If we're going to change him instead, I think I have a solution. Make him a scientist who used to study the force. Instead of seeing something he doesn't understand and being rather averse to it, he wants to understand how it works. His dreams and aspirations on this were crushed by not finding enough funding, or something else happened to prevent him from studying the force. Working with the Consular on Nar Shadaa could than reawaken that ambition, and maybe he could use the Consular for his research (if they consent of course), it would give a clearer reason for him to travel with the Consular specifically. And maybe Syo and Fain tried to help with that study back in the day. It would change Tharan's focus, but it would make his extensive time around Jedi make more sense and explain why he'd have an anti-mind trick device (is that really part of exo-tech? that bit struck me as odd). Perhaps Tharan's working on Nar Shadaa could have been him seeking the most profitable work he could get since he couldn't fulfill his ambition. He could still have his tech knowledge, it just wouldn't be his main interest.

Now for Zenith: Zenith on his own is okay, not great but okay. He doesn't quite have the glaring issues some of the others do. My problem with him isn't really him, so much as that he's yet another companion who doesn't approve of the Jedi Consular acting like a Jedi. I think if we had at least one companion before him who did, I'd have a better opinion of Zenith.

Finally talking about companions I like, let's talk about Felix. Felix himself is fine, good actually. He's the only Jedi romance I actually like (I'm squicked by master/padawan romances, and Doc is just awful). The problem with Felix isn't Felix, the problem with Felix is that he shows up far to late. He's the first companion the Consular who fits the bog standard playthrough and is one of the romance options, and yet he doesn't appear until the last planet of chapter 2. This means he doesn't get the time he needs to be explored, as his own character or his relationship with the Consular.

Given his being a love interest and having the Sith holocron in his head that does absolutely nothing during the class story, Felix just screams underexplored to me. The fix with him, introduce and make him a companion in chapter one, maybe he could be on Tatooine so he could still be on a miserable middle of nowhere planet. And do something with the holocron during the class story, maybe we run into a Sith who knows about the holocron in Felix's head, and Felix and the Consular have to work together to deal with the problems that come from this. The love between Felix and the Consular (whether friendship or romance) could be used to help him in this. Also, don't end his romance with marriage. Instead, just have him and the Consular agree for them to be permanent, it accomplishes the same general goal without doing something that would make certain the Consular would have to leave the Jedi.

Now for Nadia, I like Nadia as a character, but there are some problems, especially with her as a love interest. The big issue with her, like Felix, is that she becomes a companion to late in the game. I think she should have become a companion at Quesh. This would allow her and her and the JC's relationship more time to develop.

As for the Nadia romance, it has so much wrong that I'm seriously considering saying it should be thrown out. The game's romances in general have power imbalance issues, but JC/Nadia has got to be one of the worst in this regard. I can ignore it with Felix cause it's not highlighted (it also helps that Felix is the one pursuing the Consular), but I can't do that with Nadia.

Okay, so the JC becomes her Jedi master and she starts to see the male JC as something of a father figure. This would have been genuinely adorable if she wasn't expressing romantic interest in the JC, and soon after her father's death.

Another part of the power dynamic in this is that Nadia is a Senator, she is the JC's boss. This doesn't get highlighted in the game with Nadia specifically, but it is the case.

Honestly, Nadia just shouldn't be a romance option, so much would have to change to make it not concerning that I don't even want to bother.

But what about male consulars? Shouldn't they get a romance option? A female one since this game came in 2008 and queer romance wasn't gonna happen?

Ok, genderbend Tharan and make her the male Consular's love interest. Keep Holiday, she could be a friend and assistant instead of a girlfriend (maybe there could be subtle hints of Holiday and lady Tharan being friendly exs) No I'm not elaborating more on that.

[swtor-lewau-legacy]

((just imagine everyone at the base on Odessen aside from Qyzen and Tharan finding out the Consular impersonated a Sith twice, despite the fact that the second attempt didn't work out as well as they'd hoped ("How was I to know that particular Imperial trooper would be more insightful than the others?") and in their best Imperial accent, just

and Vette's just honestly impressed that they not only had the confidence to pull it off but they also didn't get killed in the process...))

[chaos-enchanted]

It’s a shame we never got to have companion comments for the SoR expansions. I mean I get why (especially when whoever my character has gotten with in the class story gets immediately cuckholded by the time I see Lana or Theron). But like, there’s so many companions I imagine would have some funny/memorable moments in SoR, the most obvious probably being Scourge, but also: - Tharan meeting Theron

- Talos absolutely losing his mind with excitement in Yavin (I know he does during the Alliance recruitment quest but still)

- Doc being disgusted yet intrigued by the Selkath experiments (he’d probably steal some tech if he can though, same with Tharan)

- The absolute drama that would go down between Jakarro and Qyzen (tbh you’d probably have to break up that fight)

- Someone (probably Theron) commenting on the smell from being stuck in a room with both Bowdaar AND Jakarro

- Kaliyo would probably just straight up quit, and if not I think she’d at least enjoy using the turret in the Rishi fp (same with Tanno Vik)

- Torian and Akaavi would also have an absolute whale of a time going after the Revanites

- Andronikos being pretty much at home on Rishi (he would 100000% enjoy the whole pirate ruse and definitely the outfit)

I know there are a heap of others and I’d love to hear what you think should also be added to the list!

[lord-sutherland]

Star Wars: Battlefront 2 (SWTOR)

So many Swtor mods for BF2!!!

[tinybuggyart]

My Kiss a Chiss entry in the SWTOR art discord ft. ...chiss consular that doesn’t even have a name

[swtorramblings]

“Herald, this clothing is strange. It is heavy and will reveal my location to the enemy.”

“Well, yes, that’s the... I mean, you look good. Don’t worry about it.”

[the-empires-weapon]

Price of Rebirth

Story for my JC, Suzuka Hamasaki. Takes place pre-Voss; major spoilers ahead.

There was no reason to believe that Senator Tobas Grell was anything but healthy. His chest moved steadily in time with his breaths. His eyes were open, blinked regularly. His body showed no sign of fever or malaise. And his skin remained a healthy shade of white common for the Sarkhai.

But he was gone, somehow, still, after days away from the hands of that sith Lord Stark. No matter what I tried to do, no manner of medicine or meditation or healing powers of the Force, I couldn’t make him regain his mind. I reached and reached as far as I could, and even farther still to try and retrieve his sense of self, but though I thought I could see it deeper down in the depths of his own mind, it was retreated, and cold. I could not even touch it.

I pulled out of my focus on a seat by the side of my own bed, where Senator Grell laid. He looked the same, no worse yet no better. He remained plump and vivid as ever, due to the drip and the IV strapped to his arm that Tharan had wheeled in from the medical bay. His body wasn’t deteriorating, no - but I could sense him disappearing and fading. A healthy body yet a broken mind, further broken by its own comatose.

“He doesn’t look any better.”

I lifted my gaze to the doorway. Nadia stood there, clutching at her sleeves and biting at her lower lip. I shook my head.

“I’m doing everything I can, Nadia.”

“There has to be more! Anything! Maybe I- if my powers-!” she fisted her hands tighter in her own robes, so much so I worried that they might rip. Ferocious tears bloomed in her eyes; she blotted at them with her sleeves. I raised a hand to try and give her a gentle push, motivation to leave, but I could feel her resist. I could see the look in her eyes turn even angrier.

“You’re trying to push me away, Master Suzuka!”

“There’s nothing you can do right now, Nadia. I need time.”

“We don’t have time! We need my father back! I need my father back!” she stomped her foot, hard enough for the floor to suddenly dent. She glowed with the Force. It was clear she wouldn’t leave of her own volition - so I reached out with my mind, and found Alauni’s.

Nadia is upset. I need you to take her away.

Nadia glared at me, and I gave her an even stare in return. Silence prevailws among the sound of the engine and the general noise of the ship. Yet, I heard footsteps approach, and watch a pale green hand touch Nadia’s shoulder.

“Nadia, we need you in the conference room. There are certain treaties you should overlook.”

Nadia whirled on her heel and spat in Alauni’s face. “I don’t want to go over treaties-!”

“Go with her, Nadia. There’s nothing you can do here.”

“I’m not leaving! I’m not leaving my father’s side while he’s-!” Nadia stopped with her lower lip trembling. I heard heavier footsteps from outside. I watched as scaled arms grabbed Nadia, and Nadia shrieked. “NO! PUT ME DOWN, QYZEN! FATHER!!”

I listened to the footsteps receding, along with the sounds of Nadia’s screams, down the corridor and away. I sighed. Alauni peeked her head in the doorway, and gave me a look.

“She’s still grieving, Barsen’thor.”

“She still hadn’t accepted that she may have to be the Senator now.”

We gave each other an even look. Alauni nodded, and disappeared out the door. The door phased shut behind her. Though for as at-odds as we had been when we first met, I thanked, we’d become better acquainted, enough so that she respected my privacy. For that, I was grateful.

I got up from my chair and paced.

I need a solution. Now.

Though it was clear that Tobas Grell was remaining, in some amount, healthy, it was also abundantly clear that his daughter was not. It was clear in how little she ate, how little she slept, and how often she’d come to my room looking for hours and hours of silence simply staring at his body. Her cheeks were becoming hollow; she was already rail-thin, but I could sense her thinness beginning to reach extremes, body fighting to hold onto slim remnants of fat and muscle. She spoke with nobody. She did nothing but argue. And the duties of Senator for Sarkhai lay in tatters on the conference room’s floor.

It was abundantly obvious that the matter of Tobas Grell had to be settled immediately, not just for his sake, but for his daughter’s. But no matter the manner or method I reached for, it all seemed to fail. Medicine did nothing for his mind. My meditations on his mind did little else but push his consciousness to retreat further. And no manner of shielding would step between the extremity of his trauma and his rational mind.

The carpeted floor cushioned my bare feet. The recycled air smelled of must, weeks away from any planet to pull air from. All lights seemed muted, my own mind in a daze from all my attempts at ease. And my eyes felt heavy with the loss of sleep I, too, had experienced.

What if I left his mind alone, I wondered. Would he return, of his own volition? But no: it would take weeks, nay, months, for him to regain a sense of consciousness again, never mind the full strength of his self-will. And what would be of Nadia then? Nothing but such a long period to continue waiting, to continue fasting, to continue to push her body to impossible limits. She’s falling deep into her grief, I thought to myself. Grief was such a strong motivator. I remembered it well, mourning the deaths of my own parents.

I stopped in front of a mirror, one illicit within the realm of the Jedi. I stared at my own tired eyes, at the rumples of my lounging robes, at the disarray of my hair. I looked no worse than Nadia, for sure. But I looked weak. The truth was, even my own attempts were beginning to wear down my own mind. I could only keep up such presence for so long, and my power was beginning to wane. What more could I do, what more than what I’d already done?

Deep down, I knew.

There remain the rituals to return the dead to the living, Suzuka.

My eyes widened at the mirage behind me. The common mirage I’d seen since I was young; the mirage I’d developed alongside my own sense of the Force. A black shadow, churning with the red of blood, mimicking my own silhouette, outstretching its hand. I felt my body stiffen. I held my breath, for hope of hiding my own fear.

You know there are darker and deeper rituals to bring him to the surface again, and you know you have the strength to perform them.

I close my eyes and take a deep inhale. My mind rifles through all the titles of texts I’d held in my hands, all the forbidden words that my eyes had taken in for my mind to comprehend. Texts that were never to be in Jedi libraries, or Jedi teachings. Texts that were, be it dangerous to say, even sithlike in memory. Yes - yes, I could remember, could remember the words and the ingredients and the incantations to make a mind return. I could remember the bloody sacrifices to bring somebody from the brink. I could remember the warnings, of the Force’s weight, and its desire to consume the user whole.

I remember feeling the Force’s full weight, and feeling strong.

“But what would I do,” I said aloud, “If it failed?” For there were punishments for Jedi who failed, oh, were their punishments. Even greater numbers of Jedi, stronger ones, had come together for such a task and failed. The abominations of the Sith fell upon them, and worse. Horrific contortions and constructions of ugly creatures, bent and bred from the Force’s most deadliest feedings, surviving solely through the sheer will to live, surviving through pain and a distinct heartlessness that came from the suffering no man could ever imagine bestowed. Stronger Jedi than I have fallen, I thought, yet the option remained. Remained, in the hand of the Dark Side that sought to take my own.

I suddenly remembered Balmorra. The president, and his own mind destroyed. Then, there had been no hope of his recovery, nothing but a slow and painful death in which he’d be unable to pass on his position to another. But Zenith and I, we had made it work, had pieced enough of his mind together with the barest of technologies to give him the strength to pass his title on.

And then after, when nobody had seen, I’d . . . laid him to rest.

But we didn’t have that technology upon the ship, I thought to myself. But Grell’s position would be passed on, regardless, to his daughter - that I remembered. If this were Balmorra and the same scenario as before, all would be done. All done, except for . . .

. . . and that would end the suffering. For all of us.

I opened my eyes. They were a solid green in the mirror. The figure of the Dark Side remained, but I turned from the mirror, away from its gaze, and walked past it to the head of my bed.

Senator Grell’s eyes were still open. I reached out with both my hands, shaking, and laid them over his gaze. I tried to pretend that my voice didn’t shake too.

“I’m deeply sorry, my friend. And . . . to you. Nadia.”

***

Screaming. I sat up from my bed in the core of the ship in the dark of the night. I can hear it, loud and clear, as well as the flooding of the Force from the bedroom of my ship.

“FATHER’S GONE! HE’S GONE - NO, ALAUNI, NO! I CAN’T DO THIS! FATHER!”

The sobbing was gross, gross and violent. But I was awake, and everybody would come to me now, I knew it. I shake my head, and push myself out of bed. I gave what I thought to be a quick glimpse to the mirror across from me, and nearly fainted at what I saw.

My eyes were the color of a poisonous purple.

I blinked once, and it cleared back to their normal, healthy green. I stood and stared in shock - maybe in awe. But the noise escalated, the screamings growing worse, and I simply sighed as I finally turn away, and left my room and to the stairs.

This had been my choice, I remembered - the choice to end the suffering, before it caused further chaos.

And if the result was to brand me a sinner . . . I would take it.

[lord-sutherland]

For the Scorekeeper!