Long time coming, I have finally wrapped up all of the class story for Rylan, my smuggler and main toon in SWTOR! I feel like it could've been executed better in some places but I loved the premise and the ending. Rylan feels like that Republic has finally vindicated him and gave him the proper honors for his service that should've been done many years ago. He was surprised that the Supreme Chancellor and other leading figures presented him the highest civilian honor in the Republic, even though Master Sumalee assured him he would be recognized for his victory against the Voidwolf.
This moment meant something bigger for Rylan. The days of an estranged war veteran, forced to make ends meet braving the underworld was now past and he was now recognized as a professional privateer and invaluable operative by the Republic. If it weren't for Master Sumalee, he thought, it wouldn't have been possible. She not only cleared his name but vouched for him to remain on as a Republic privateer, ending up his sponsor.
Working for the Jedi? It was mesmerizing for Rylan and his crew, no could make that up, but he felt indebted to Master Sumalee for what she did for him. And to have the chance to fight alongside the Jedi? It was a high honor, for he always had a reverence for them since was a boy. Sure there were things in the Order he disagreed with, but the Jedi Rylan got to meet and cooperate with he felt steadfastly did their part in serving the will of the Force and their role as guardians of peace and justice.
With his service record restored, false charges cleared and life reestablished, the future would see Rylan on the front lines of the war, but he had his new allies and friends on his side. Both in high and low places! His crew, Master Sumalee as well as Alilia and her group of scoundrels were those he could turn to with uncertain times approaching.
This took me a while! Rylan was a hard toon to develop. He is a hero but being one is hard. Good deeds often do not go unpunished, and Rylan had to fight through political corruption, bureaucracy and the treachery of the underworld to rebuild his life. His pragmatism guided by his morals, military training and experiences as a smuggler were key to that. The three-year long ordeal that started with a swindler making break with his ship and price on his head for weapons he didn't steal was finally over, and Rylan in the end got wealth but more so new friends, his honor back he deserved, and the true freedom he longed back for many years.
The class story ends with Rylan being commended for defeating the Voidwolf and securing the pirate fleet's cooperation with the Republic forces, then him and his crew discussing what will happen next before they leave Corellia for further adventures. I love how it nicely wraps up the story and ends with a small ensemble of characters getting back to their lives after celebrating their accomplishments.
I'm curious what would Artek think of Rylan, like if they were both in the Alliance?
Heya! Thanks for the ask!
By the time of the Alliance, I think Artek and Rylan would definitely get along. Both of them are jaded veterans who've seen the worst of the Sith (and war in general) and struggle to balance virtues and pragmatism, so I'd imagine the two could find a sense of kinship there.
Hell, I'd imagine on some nights, they find themselves drinking at the base's cantina, sharing old stories and experiences with one another. Artek definitely understands the things Rylan's been through and would sympathize with him.
I do really like Rylan as a character, so I do like imagining the types of interactions he and Artek would have.
And hey, both are snarky as hell, so they'd get along fairly easy lmao.
Hi Blackberry! i'm curious what you think of the direction I'm taking Rylan's character development coming into chapter 2?
hmmm 🤔🤔
balmorra is cool and akaavi is cool. as a result I'm kind of guarunteed to be biased haha
I think it's interesting that Rylan trusts Akaavi even through she nearly killed a bunch of people by blowing up a prison. It suggests that perhaps his moral compass is not quite as straight as I was led to believe.
In general, I really like the dynamic of two characters with issues and trauma not being perfect but ending up bonding and having sympathy for one another. See Galen @ Arcann which is actually somewhat of a similar dynamic, albeit on a much larger scale~
"careful treading is in order" was such a snappy way to end that one post, I appreciate the dramatic-ness of it
I also think it's interesting that Rylan is suspicious of the moff. There are quite a few storylines in SWTOR with a republic mole who is an Imperial officer, and I can't say I've ever seen one defect. I wonder if Rylan's inherant distrust of the Empire might be making him biased here, or maybe even the fact that he relates to Akaavi. Biased characters with skewed moral compasses will ALWAYS be my thing so *chefs kiss*
as always with any character or media, I hesitate to make generalizations when I haven't seen the whole arc. This isn't anything against you it's just easier to analyze any character stuff when I can also put it in context. but these are my thoughts so far, make of them what you will~
I'm on the finale of Rylan's class story which I'll be doing tomorrow and I love Master Sumalee!
She is a Jedi but I love her sarcasm and snarkiness that sets her apart from her fellow members! Sumalee is so silly and I think she's cute! One of my favorite Old Republic era jedi! It doesn't look like she appears much in the expansions but I feel like she continues to work closely with Rylan for many years and understands how he operates. She isn't a typical Jedi but I feel she still closely adheres to the Jedi code as it stands so I doubt she'd be into romance with anyone even if both wanted so, although I see her and Rylan forming a close platonic friendship.
Finally finished the Ilum series of quests on Rylan, my smuggler toon! I just loved how when he finally catches up to Arkis, there's a choice for the toon to immediately blast the weapon controls when he fires the flux cannon on a capital ship. Of course Rylan isn't intimidated and he promptly takes the death ray out of Arkis' hands, bang!
Of course Arkis isn't too pleased and he summons HK-47 in cause Rylan means business. Malgus knew what the privateer was capable of and he tried to find henchmen that matched him in power. The harder they fall.
Today I wrapped up my SWTOR smuggler Rylan's adventures on Voss! I loved the class story and world story questlines. There were a lot of parts of the storylines that didn't make sense going together. Like Rylan getting in trouble for going into the Nightmare Lands when he had a legitimate reason to be there as part of a Mystic's vision where he would end the threat of the Gormak to the Voss. But all the more material for my headcanon of his adventures on the planet!
Voss at the time of renewed war between the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire, stood in the middle. It was a neutral planet dealing with its own problems. Vulnerable to outside interlopers, it's neutrality in the middle of the conflict presented opportunities for Sith spies and organized crime to exploit that for their own ends.
The Republic sought Voss as an ally in the war effort, a goal challenging in itself. The local people was very independent and did not interfere in the affairs of outsiders unless they were directly threated or became an issue for their community. The Voss also had their security forces stretched thin trying to hold back a group of technologically adept barbarians called the Gormak, whose attacks have escalated as of late.
Rylan was already flying toward Voss on a mission to dismantle a vile animal and bioweapons trafficking ring belonging to the unyielding crime lord, Rogun the Butcher. The Republic's foreign ministry sought an opportunity to recruit the Mirialan to help advance the Republic's diplomatic goals on Voss, the Voss leadership would consider alignment with the space-faring state power in return for aid in resolving their local troubles.
Coming from Mirial, a planet where the Force played a central part in spiritual life, Rylan was personally vested in working with the Voss and the Republic's diplomatic mission. His original goal of breaking up Rogun's operations became just one of many adventures he would go on during his time on the mysterious world.
Rylan attempted to penetrate the traffickers through a fake purchase deal arranged by a friendly contact in the syndicate that helps sell their abominations to customers. It would be a few days before the deal was to go down, putting other matters in priority.
There were reports of disappearances in the area around the main temple for the training of the Mystics, the main rulers of Voss whose clairvoyance guided their leadership and governance of their people. Rylan learned a Sith Lord was alleged to be behind the vanishments, who were Voss individuals known to have failed the Mystic trials.
Helping to uncover the Sith intelligence plot to corrupt and train the failed Voss as Dark Side warriors, he responded to an emergency distress call from the ruins of an old Jedi settlement under archaeological study. After the Imperial attackers were driven off, the Sith Lord claimed responsibility and revealed his location in a bunker down south. The failed Voss were freed and eventually taken in by the reluctant Jedi, seeking to protect them from further attempts to turn them into Sith.
Rylan undertook the trials himself in preparation for fulfilling a prophecy where he would be instrumental in the Voss achieving victory over the Gormak. The Mystics spoke of a civil war and the need to get the bottom of what was provoking and make difficult decisions to end the fighting, even though it would be costly. The visions of the Mystics were always right, the Mirialan learned, and he wanted to do right by the Voss.
The deal with the animal traffickers went down the day after his trials. Rylan managed to find out their names, but he was forced to escape with Akaavi's help after they attempted to spring a trap and get him in trouble with the Voss. They exposed and forced to go into hiding, Rylan found himself having to literally pose as carbonite cargo to get inside their hideout.
When unfrozen, he was surprised to be greeted by one of the traffickers he confronted earlier, Gormak Zak. A man who lived among the Gormak, Zak turned against the traffickers after finding out they had wronged his tribe by setting foot into the forbidden Nightmare Lands with some of his people.
Following an operation to capture Jokull, the King of the Gormak, Rylan found out in another of the traffickers' hideouts that their operations expanded deep into the Nightmare Lands. Not only that, the Sith were also interested in the beasts, which Rylan thought they looked to train and use against the Republic and Jedi. Such revelations angered him. Rogun not only had crossed the Voss deeply by turning the wildlife into bioweapons, but also for them to end up in the hands of the Sith, such horrors would not go unanswered for.
King Jokull had also been corrupted by the curse of the Nightmare Lands, gaining powers of clairvoyance like those of the Voss Mystics. To find out the source of the madness in those dark woods and stop the exploitation of such corruption by Rogun, Rylan would have to confront things the seasoned smuggler's never seen before.
He undertook a Voss ritual to shield himself from the dark forces that turned less fortunate souls to savagery, and found out a truth he couldn't imagine, even with keeping an open mind.
An expedition deep into the Nightmare Lands revealed that a mysterious being named Sel-Makor was behind the curse that turned most who stepped into it agents of suffering and pain, turned the beauty of the woods into a haunted grove of gnarled wooden spire branches, and made monsters out of the animals who called it home. The lands were his domain, and all the cursed people and monsters were controlled by him and acted on his will.
The being that Sel-Makor used as a host revealed the ghost of a long-deceased figure whose story only made it more complex, the Voss and Gormak were not seperate peoples. Back in the day, they used to be one and united blessed with Mystic powers until fighting over how they should be used broke them apart. Rylan was taken aback by this, but it was the truth, even if the Voss may see it as outright heresy.
He caught up with traffickers in their lab demonstrating the beasts to the Sith. They along with their abominations were both dead after a tough fight. Making the long trek back to the outpost on the border of the Nightmare Lands, the echoes of screams and anguish still kept Rylan on edge until he was out of that cursed place.
In the end, he would reveal the truth of the Voss and Gormak's origins to the Voss' ruling council of Mystics known as The Three. They of course were in denial. Yet they realized that the threat of the Gormak was over if it meant understanding they were also Voss just as much. King Jokull had always been a Mystic, the curse of the Nightmare Lands awakened those powers. The Three chose to maintain their independence but would expand diplomatic ties with the Republic. They'd lean more to the their side and become more protected against incursions by the Empire into their homeworld.
King Jokull as the war chief of the Gormak would stand trial before a tribunal of Voss adjudicators as the main one responsible for sowing death and destruction on Voss through civil war and scheming to expand the influence of the evil plaguing the Nightmare Lands. Rylan provided testimony on the actions of the Sith and the gangs to exploit the people and the local wildlife as tools of war in outside conflicts.
Adjudicator Mirev-Ka: "For levying war among our people, conspiring to condemn our homeworld to the evil of the Nightmare Lands and attempting to corrupt our people and wildlife to seek others' blood, you owe a great debt. You will serve the Voss and as King of the Gormak, you will help end this war."
It was found by the tribunal that Jokull as the ruler leading the Gormaks was accountable for these crimes, they all had occurred under his watch. His sentence would be aiding the Voss in their process of settling the conflict with the Gormak through a winding diplomatic gauntlet to end their perpetual war.
Rylan helped the Voss in service of the Republic because of his experiences growing up as a Mirialan. He believed they should remain an independent people free of the influence of the dark side. Closer ties to the Republic would allow the Voss to be better protected against the Sith conquerors. They also had the prospect of open a potential source of study for the Jedi to expand their knowledge of the Force. The Voss way was one of many different ways of understanding the energy field that brought all life in the galaxy together.
As for Gormak Zak, he had to lay low or also face the tribunal. However, the news of the truth about the Voss and Gormak being once one people divided by struggles for power was a complete shock. He at first denied it. He'd realize eventually that it was really the case. The Gormak he considered family could tie their heritage back to the ancient Voss, like the modern Voss they had fought so long and hard against.
Maybe he'd embrace the truth that there was hope his family could live a better life out of forever trapped in fear and pain. Hopes brought by the acts of Rylan Hesper, who would move on to confront Rogun after his own long war with the crime lord. In the end for the Voss and Gormak, it was the truth that brought them the hopes that finally there would be peace for the planet they called home...
motivated by a talk I had with @lanabenikosdoormat and an ask I sent to @blackberry-command-cap, I took some time to think of a the description of my SWTOR toon Rylan's homeworld, Mirial!
Star Wars sources don't offer much on the homeworld of the Mirialan people beyond some basic facts. The planet is noted as having deserts and a climate that can be cold and dry. Desert planets we see in the galaxy are often noted as being barren wastelands with no rain, plant life and rough living for fauna and denizens. I thought that something different could be done with Mirial.
The Mirialans are well-attuned to the Force and the spirituality around it, which can be reflected in the natural characteristics of the planet they call their home. Much unlike the desolation of Korriban or Tatooine, Mirial has a varied and thriving biodiversity.
From time to time, rain storms rolls across the canyons, mountain foothills, sands and plains, letting beautiful desert flowers bloom alongside cacti and tough trees. Rivers, streams and lakes help to cultivate farms, orchards and a town with adobe-like constructions, palm trees and rugged splendor. Warm colors and blue skies complete a portrait of the natural scene.
The temperature can be cold at night as it is hot during the day. Winter and autumn bring snow and gales while spring and summer bring the rains that dot the brown sandy expanse with specks of bright flowers.
I thought much of the Southwestern US like in Nevada and Arizona, and my trip to the Grand Canyon to base the idea for Mirial's geography and settlements. With desolation and remoteness the norm for Star Wars desert planets, I felt this concept for Mirial's climate and geography offers something different from that. The town I described here I like to think is where Rylan grew up in his childhood.
