Star Wars SAGA: The Mandalorian Wars (Redux)

[Inerrant Lust]

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away....

STAR WARS: THE MANDALORIAN WARS

War! System after system has fallen
before the terrible war machine of
MANDALORE THE ULTIMATE. Thirteen
years after conquering the Outer Rim, his
crusade against the Republic has begun.

Facing this great threat, the Republic
pleads with the Jedi Order to lead the
war-weary armies, but the Jedi
Council cautions patience and pacifism
as the onslaught of the NEO-CRUSADERS
draws closer to the heart of the Republic

Against the Masters' wishes, the prodigal
Knight REVAN has rallied together a host
of his fellow Jedi to defend the Republic and
face the terrible might of the Mandalorians.

At the temple on Coruscant, the Jedi Knight
MERYNN S'JET communes with her padawans
to discuss their role in the dark times to come...

System: Star Wars Saga
Player Count: 1-3
Style of Play: Interpersonal, War
Allowed Content: Anything in the SAGA books is allowed if it's been vetted by me

Character Creation: All characters should have at least one level in Jedi... unless you intend to play something like a Republic soldier assigned to be a handler or somesuch.
Experience: Starting Level 5, Experience is increased x10 times to promote character growth both mechanically and emotionally.
Wealth: Personal items (to include lightsabers), the Republic Military will provide you with armor and equipment as needed.
Ability Scores: 32
Hitpoints/Health: Standard at 1st Level, half average at level up. (IE: Noble/Scoundel; 1.5+Con, Scout; 2+Con, Jedi/Soldier; 2.5+Con)
Other Notes: Destinies are secret. You can choose one yourself (the exact nature of the destiny can be determined later, ie; You can select Destruction... but exactly what you will be destined to destroy will be worked out later on) or allow me to select one for you. Also toying with the idea of two destinies, one chosen by the player and one chosen by me in secret- they may be mutually exclusive but both will grant the mechanical benefits if conditions are right.

OOC Notes: I intend to keep a small party, and the tone of this campaign will be fairly dark, if you know anything about the lore of the Mandalorian Wars and how they ended. Not to say that this is a foregone conclusion, but the PCs will be treading 'the dark places of the galaxy', as Kreia puts it.

Essentially, this will be an RP exploring the morality of the Force, the morality of war, and how they are compatible or incompatible with each other.

[Ghostwheel]

I... I have been wanting to play a Saga game for a while now... :-3

Thinking either some sort of soldier (Republic handler) or a wookie-turned-jedi.

[RubySlippers]

I only have the core revised rulebook and alien anthology book but am interested, could I play a Zabrak  Jedi Counselor?

The race is in the Alien Anthology Page 117-118.

[Ghostwheel]

It's the Star Wars Saga edition, so all Jedi are one class and can take talents from the Consular, Guardian, Sentinel, and Lightsaber Combat trees.

[RubySlippers]

Oh, damn, well that is kind of hard without the rules. But I only need one level of Jedi you didn't say she had to push it higher.

So same race with Jedi 1/Scoundrel 4 who left the Jedi Order to serve the Republic as an agent unless Scoundrel was changed?  She would have left on good terms just felt active service to the Republic Military was better and she never found the Code reasonable not she is scum more does what is needed. I can raise Jedi from practical experience in game likely light saber combat over other ones if that can work.

I'll see if I can get the SAGA rules.

[Inerrant Lust]

RubySlippers; Are you meaning that your character left the Jedi to join the Republic prior to the events of the campaign? I had in mind that most of the PCs would be part of a group that kind of hung out together in the Jedi Temple, and that they decide together to join. The first scene, I figure, will be in the Jedi Temple where they basically decide whether to go or to stay. At this point, it's sort of a foregone conclusion given the campaign... but I feel like it'd be a good way to introduce everyone as well.

[Miroque]

hmm... I might cook up an Cathar Padawan.. Saga combat is not best for Forums thou, as it needs maps.. but if that can be skipped somehow, I could see this be nice and dark SW campaign.

[RubySlippers]

Found the rules online, not saying where. Will read up on Jedi.

EDIT: Zabrak 5th Level Jedi with the Lightsaber Combat Talent tree as her focus. That will work and blasters are so uncivilized. 

[Miroque]

[Name] Vel´Kyn Adaris
[Race] Cathar
[Age] 16
[Class] Jedi Padawan

[Appearance]
Young Cathar, with grey fur. Her redish eyes sparkle with inner strength way beyond her years.

[Personality]
Vel´Kyn tries to keep her emotions in check. She is kind, just and polite, but when the floodgates open, her feral side takes over. Her feline heritage express itself with mild monophobia, as she never wants to be alone. She likes to be around people, yet shes quite cautious to make new friends.

Droids (all of them): Vel´Kyn has innate dislike of droids, maybe cause they have no emotions and by the sense, no soul, or maybe its because she cant roll them around her finger.

[Background]
Vel´Kyn is a new breed of Jedi, she was breed for action. Agaist foes of the Republic, may they be domestic or foreign. She might be young, but her dedication and sheer determination has driven her to exel in those few missions she has been part of. Jedi order being what it is now days, padawans were into field much sooner that they did during the peaceful times, and not to police the balance, but to quick descive strikes. Vel´Kyns racial heritage makes her more that qualified for small unit tactics, that has made her ´honorary mascot´of the unit of tropeers she got out with.
Her first mission was with her master and two demolition experts. They toke out key Pirate supply depot in lifeless moon orbiting Dargull prime, deep within Inner sector. After that, she was allowed to join operations without her Master.
She has never liked guns, but carries one for the appearance sake, trying to fit in with the grunts.

Vel´Kyn plays around the Galactic Holonet when ever she has time, hanging out on the popular hotspots and hubs socializing with other wanna-be slicers. Last year, she has kept comppany with young Miss Delacour, Coruscant born slicer-wannabe. They met in at one of the holonet tri-ball tournaments, and quickly became holo-pals. That connection soon became more. Both of them looking for an lifeline to vent out their fustration for the current galactic stituation.

[Gear]
Lightsaber (green), credits (??), Ulitily belt, Commlink, Wristcomputer, Holonet goggles

[Character Sheet]

[Inerrant Lust]

Miroque; I dig it. Looks good.

I suppose I should post my own character, who has been training padawan(s) for about 11 years. She may also take on another's student if, say, their master would not go to war. Since I wanted to involve some amount of romance (or sex, as it happens to be), I would have liked at least one of her proteges to be male.

Merynn S'Jet

Appearance:
A striking woman, beautiful by human standards and almost obscene by Twi'lek standards, with a pair of head tails that extend almost down to her rear. A colorful pink with striking crimson eyes and freckles upon her cheeks. Lithesome and graceful, with wide hips and a generous bosom, she has been considered a peerless beauty and the cause of many wistful sighs and lewd thoughts for the hormonal teenagers in training within the Jedi order.

Personality:
Merryn can be indecisive and leinent. She has aroused the concern of a few other Knights by tolerating actions in her padawans that most would not. Though she is habitually influenced by others' emotions, she refuses to acknowledge them publically, often speaking falsely or not at all about what she feels in her heart. As a social chameleon, Merryn naturally develops emotions and feelings in tandem with others around her, by virtue of the Force's influence. While never particularly intellectual, Merryn's keen sagacity remains unaltered when she takes on the emotions of those around her. This has allowed her to control these feelings well enough that it never gave the Jedi Order reason to be concerned about this emotional transference. Yet many argue that she has never been truly tested...

Backstory:

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

The Jedi Knight Val'taros returned to Coruscant from a mission one day in 3981 BBY with an adolescent twi'lek in tow. He asked that the council permit her to undergo the training of a Jedi. She sat empty, blank, and almost serene as they tested her. The masters searched her feelings and found it to be as if they were staring into a mirror. This girl, known only as Merryn, had a strange power with the force.

Unconsciously, she used the force to reach out to others and adopt their feelings and sensations as their own. This was reason enough for the Council to not permit her entry into the order. Val'taros pleaded, citing that the Force would not grant her such an ability to go unused, that she had a destiny to fufill. He was wholly opposed, to the point that Merryn began to subscribe to that feeling as well. But the lone voice of Jedi Master Sunrider spoke out on her behalf, and after a long time of deliberation- the rest of the Council were persuaded to allow Merryn into the order, directly under Val'taros' tuteledge. If only for a provisional period of one standard year.

Merryn's empty and receptive mind was almost like a blank slate. She posessed a few languages, higher end cognitive abilities, but a limited knowledge of her own life prior to meeting Val'taros. She was strongly aware of her nature, and could tell when the emotions of others were being projected upon her. This did not lessen these feelings any, but it did not conceal them from her awareness either.

Val'taros found that the young twi'lek could utilize this natural ability as a training aid, transferring his own knowledge and experience into the young girl's receptive mind. Devoid of other distractions, the young Jedi-to-be took in the Jedi precepts with as much conviction as he himself posessed. When Val'taros brought her back before the councila year later, they were indeed impressed with her mastery over herself and the force, and she was given their blessing.

Now a woman, Merryn was something of a rising star within the order by the year 3877 BBY. With her receptive mind and Val'taros' attentive training, she learned at an accelerated rate and was becoming rapidly the equal of her peers, if not outright surpassing them. Val'taros argued that Merryn had all her adult life been undergoing the Trial of Insight, supressing the emotions of others within her heart and seeing what was objectively true about her own situation.

To confirm this, a Jedi Council observed as the twi'lek female sat before them and was asked to identify the feelings of those among her in the room. She first explained the surprise and dismay felt by Val'taros, for he believed the test too harsh to pit a mere padawan against the closely guarded hearts of Jedi Masters. Then Merryn went on to say that Master Tokare was pleasantly surprised with her quick assessment. Then she spoke of Master Lamar, who contemptously felt that Master Tokare wasn't guarding his emotions on purpose to make the trial easier for the young padawan. As Merryn related the humor Master Stusea found in the rather characteristic and frank revelation of her peer's inner workings, she was interrupted before she could finished. Her first trial was complete.

During a mission with Val'taros in 3975 BBY, Merryn found herself set upon by a pack of Tuk'ata. Outnumbered and seperated from her master, the twi'lek Jedi fought the sithspawn off until her master could arrive. When the Jedi Knight found his apprentice bleeding profusely and nearly dead, he slew the creatures and rescued his student. While still unconscious from her injuries, the Council determined that Merryn could have easily ran away from the creatures rather than face them, allowing them to endanger one of the civillians that the Jedi were asked to accompany. For this they determined that she passed her Trial of Courage. For her wounds, it was determined that she had passed her Trial of Flesh.

In 3973 BBY, while on a mission with Val'taros, Merryn found out that the Tuk'ata that nearly killed her two years prior... had in fact been under the domination of her master. That he had fallen to the Dark Side of the Force, and in setting the sithspawn upon her, he had hoped that it would endanger her to the point that she would give in the Dark Side's power, and use it to defend herself.

Merryn had known for years of her master's... feelings for her. She had assumed that he was unaware that she knew, when in reality he was purposefully projecting his emotions onto in an effort to make her return them. When Val'taros determined that her self-imposed barriers to emotion were too strong, he sought to erode them. In his jealousy and desire for her heart, the fallen Jedi sought to subtley bring her towards the path of the Sith; the path of unrestricted emotions. Once she gave in fully to her feelings, he believed that she would fall for him when their feelings combined.

After a series of words, the pair began to duel. Merryn was outmatched by the experienced Jedi Knight, unable to best him. Furthermore, he sought to use the Force to weaken her resolve and project more of his emotions onto her. Ultimately he could not overcome her mental barriers and gave into his jealousy and rage. It became apparent that he was going to fight to kill, to deny the galaxy of the woman who denied him. Eventually, these feelings overwhelmed her barriers, and the two fought with all the ferocity of the Dark Side.

In the end, she was no match for the seasoned warrior. Val'taros brought his blade to bear, pouncing upon the opportunity to decapitate the twi'lek. This attack would have left him open to a thrust from Merryn's lightsaber to his heart. He could have easily blocked it, but chose not to. Rather than allow both of them to die, however... Val'Taros, in one last final act of compassion for the woman he loved, deactivated his lightsaber and it passed harmlessly by while Merryn drove her blade through his chest to the hilt.

Ultimately, when the events of that day were related to the Dantooine Council, who then offered it up to the Jedi High Council in Coruscant for review. In a seven to five vote, it was deemed this feat was worthy of both the Trials of Skill and Spirit; for defeating a powerful Jedi Knight, and resisting her own emotions as they were being manipulated. Many on the Council objected, saying that she won only by the grace of Val'taros' mercy, and that in the end his anger transferred into her heart and caused her to impale him fatally when a non-lethal option was available.

By 3973 BBY, Merryn was shrewd, calculating, skilled, and at peace with the force and herself. She was a Jedi Knight and began to train padawans of her own until 3962 when she had a chance meeting with the Jedi Knight Revan...

[Miroque]

So, I take it, I can go constructing an sheet?

[RubySlippers]

Sarana Fry'tha
Gray Jedi

Image

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Character Sheet

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

ABILITY SCORES
Strength 10  (+0)
Dexterity 18  (+4)
Constitution 13  (+1)
Intelligence 12  (+1)
Wisdom  14  (+2)
Charisma  13  (+1)
4th Level Ability Increases to Dexterity and Wisdom

FEATS
Force Sensitivity
Weapon Proficiency (lightsabers)
Weapon Proficiency (simple weapons)
1st Level - Weapon Finesse
Jedi Bonus Feat 2nd Level - Dual Weapon Mastery I
3rd Level - Force Training
Jedi Bonus Feat 4th Level - Martial Arts I

TALENTS
1st Level - Block
3rd Level - Deflect
5th Level - Redirect Shot

RACIAL ABILITIES
Movement 6 Squares
Heightened Awareness: May re-roll any Perception Check but must keep the result.
Superior Defenses: +1 Species Bonus to All Defenses
Automatic Languages: Basic, Zabrak

LANGUAGES
Basic
Ryl
Zabrak

JEDI ABILITIES & POWERS
FORCE POINTS  <7>
POWERS
Battle Strike
Mind Trick
Surge

SKILLS  [3 pts./Level]
Initiative (Dex)  8 Ranks + 4 Dex =  +12
Perception (Wis)  8 Ranks + 2 Wis =  +10
Use the Force (Cha)  8 Ranks + 1 Cha =  +9

HIT POINTS  55

DEFENSES
Reflex Defense  21
Fortitude Defense  18
Will Defense  19

DAMAGE THRESHHOLD  18

BASE ATTACK  BONUS  +5
Melee BAB  +5
Ranged BAB  +9

WEAPON
Lightsaber, Double Bladed 
Single Blade  AB +9, DAM 2d8, Type Energy & Slashing
Double Bladed  AB +4, DAM 2d8/2d8, Type Energy & Slashing
(has weapon finesse substituting dexterity for strength for attack bonuses)

Appearance: A pretty member of her species with facial tattoos of a celestial wind theme to fit her personality and Jedi fighting style, is fit, five feet six inches tall and fit from her training but focuses most on her quickness and deftness afoot. She doesn't wear Jedi robes favoring comfortable and appealing clothing for her figure in Jedi Grey. She wields a violet double-bladed lightsaber using an older design with added batteries and sturdy casing suitable for reliable combat. She may use it one or two handed as needed.

Personality: A Jedi of action she is working on her own style she calls the Celestial Wind Form focusing on defense and unorthodox tactics and as a Jedi follows a path mastering the Lightsaber the weapon of a Jedi although has a long way to go. But she is not a good fit she follows the philosophy of the Living Force over the orthodox approach and has no interest in going up the ranks if they call her a Knight or Master or not it doesn't matter to her. One would call her Grey Jedi she won't use the Dark Side but is not exactly like other Jedi either. She is interested in female companionship and would like to marry someday if someone can put up with her being a Jedi.

Backstory: Discovered young she was trained as a Jedi by the Knight Jorune Fen a human and Jedi philosopher not devoted to combat and went through combat training at the hands of other Jedi deciding to focus on becoming a master of the lightsaber with her powers supporting the use of it. She did go on some mission largely supporting her master doing diplomatic missions and promoting peace. But when it failed she used her skills with her weapon to good effect defending her master and others. Her last four years was spent in the rim regions where her master worked against the Mandalorian threat slowing their advance for some time until they managed to kill him in a devastating ambush without her there, he insisted she go back to the Jedi Council with a disk of his activities and the threat turning it over to the Jedi Council and the Republic Military leaders on a list. Likely seeing his death and to protect her and the vital information she carried. Now she wants to go back and continue her masters work.

Equipment:  Double-Bladed Lightsaber, Utility Belt

Credits:

[Muse]

Hiya! 

I remember really liking it when we tried this before.  Am I too late to apply? 

[Inerrant Lust]

Muse: Not too late.
Miroque: By all means, go for it.
Ruby: Looks good.

All these females. How do you think our characters will know one another, you think?

[RubySlippers]

I'll work on my character sheet.

I like the rules. Are there any useful supplements covering lightsaber combat?

She likely knows many Jedi but mine is more a Gray Jedi think Qui-Gon Jinn just does her own thing but respects the Jedi Code.

[Muse]

Try Jedi Accademy Trainnig Manual, Ruby.  :)

See also talens for the Jedi Knight Prestige class.  :) 

[RubySlippers]

I'll check it out.

EDIT: Will be going logically for Jedi Knight as a prestige class a master of lightsaber forms. 

[Miroque]

@Muse: Problem is, that characters are lv5.. not much need for PrCs at this point.

@RubySlippers: Core book has all we actually need governing Saber combat.

@Inerrant Lust: Will do...... working on it... And I think our characters know each other from the temple.

[Miroque]

Modified my application post. Added Sheet link.

[CarnivalOfTheGoat]

Hey there Lust! It has been a while.

I don't know if you recall Shaala Dal from your very first instantiation of the game back in 2011? I might try going over and tweaking her a bit. I seem to recall her original history was in PM, I'll see if I still have it somewhere.

I need to double check her sheet and be sure it complies with the current spec. Definitely a 32-point build, but I think in the prior campaign setting we had far more leeway on personal equipage, it having gone super-military, super-fast.

Mmmm. Found it. VERY long. Seriously. I WARNED you it was long.

(Some notes:
1. I wanted to create an introvert who was in the process of becoming an extrovert.
2. The introversion seemed to fit well with the idea of naivete' which otherwise existed with those raised by the Jedi. What I had in mind a somewhat haughty, aloof, inwardly proud girl struggling a bit with Jedi humility and learning to be more open and communicative.
3. Somewhere in there I got the idea into my head that a diplomat would be intriguing, but Togruta aren't (usually) very subtle (though I came up with a way they could be very subtle diplomatically: treat it like a hunt).
4. I'd been playing around with the idea of a sneaky Bothan jedi at first but I discarded it. Then I realized that there couldn't be anyone better than a Bothan to learn political machinations from and that character became this character's Jedi Master.
5. Somewhere in there I got muddled into 'less diplomat, more agent' after looking at a few of the other players' characters which were emphasizing non-combat jedi. That put me back onto the 'aggressive hunter' line with the Togruta.
6. After some fiddling about, I went ahead and started her as a Noble rather than taking the 'Combat Training' feat which you supplied. I felt it was appropriate to the 'agent' idea I had in mind, giving her some more skills and languages as well as pistol training but not armor training. I had in mind the idea of her training being intended to result in something of a bodyguard/asset to a Jedi Consular.
7. One of the things I struggled the most with in writing, as Shaala's story changed and her character grew, was that lurking in the background was the idea of 'What game-destiny is this going to result in?' And unfortunately, this became something of a sticking-point with me, so much so that it stepped on my writing rather hard for a few days. I could see Corruption being an issue: more than most (non-Bothan) Jedi, she is willing to bend the truth to accomplish what she feels needs to be done, and she manages to talk to most people not by expressing herself, but by expressing what she believes they expect to hear. That may be unclear. It goes back to half of her life being spent very much as an introvert whose occasional observations were dismissed by those around her as 'childish'. I could also see Redemption being an issue, given that this is very much a person who is struggling to 'come out of her shell', a sort of 'delayed adolescent' due to being sheltered first by her family on Shili, and then by the isolation of Jedi training, during which she moved through several cultures to gather diplomatic experience, but was never a part of them. She is usually short-spoken, although in the 'Trial' portion of all this crap she gets a bit longwinded, but I attribute that to the fact that she has been reading all this stuff and knows the formalities and is falling back on the formalities rather than feeling stuck and tongue-tied about what to say, since it isn't personal.)

Something worth remembering: the official Bothan Spynet doesn't exist at this point in time but they did have a military intelligence branch and Bothans will be Bothans...

======================================

The Dal clan enjoyed quite a bit of success as off-world traders and diplomats, finding elements in the art of high-stakes negotiation which mapped well to the traditional Togruta affinity for the hunt; patient tracking and study of potential prey, the slow and careful stalk, finding the best ground for the battle and driving the prey to it, and the inevitable rush of the 'kill'. One of the best known and best-connected diplomats of the family, Mahrja Dal, is currently a senior Jedi Knight-Consular, and one of the order's several representatives to the Republic Diplomatic Corps.

Shaala Dal was born on the family's estate outside of Corvala on Shili in late 3982 BBY. From an early age it became apparent that she was unusually imaginative, but as she grew beyond an age where childish imagination was seemly, others' reactions to her caused her to become extremely shy and individualistic for a Togruta. While she enjoyed the hunt and participated aggressively in it, she did not seem entirely attuned to the rest of the pack. By the time she was nine years of age, her shyness had made her practically reclusive, and the concerned clan elders negotiated appointments with a wide variety of the renowned expert doctors and mental specialists for the girl. Unfortunately, most of their efforts only led her to be more secluded, and while stealth and silence were commendable skills of any hunter, and a certain degree of individuality was a great asset in a hunt leader, the use of such traits to avoid one's own clan and family was well beyond the pale.

Half a year into this cycle of intensive, albeit caring, poking and prodding, Shaala's grand-aunt, Mahrja, returned to the clan's hunting territory and was introduced to the girl. Mahrja did not even need to enter the room before recognizing the 'problem' for what it was. Shaala was Force-sensitive, her imaginings were an entirely real perception of the Force, and a large part of her aloof shyness and distance were due to years of being surrounded by others who were unwilling to believe her 'fancies'. Mahrja dismissed the doctors immediately and assigned the training of the almost silent girl to one of her Jedi companions that very day.

The small group of Jedi were making their way in a roundabout fashion to Bothawui, following up on a series of rumors involving assassination of Bothan agents. It was nearly a year before Shaala landed on Bothawui. It was here that she met the Bothan Jedi Guardian, Kirav Lya'lar, on one of his occasional trips to his homeworld.

It was here that she found her Master.

----------------------

BOTHAWUI, 3972 BBY

Something gave a bloodcurdling scream in Shaala's ear and she tumbled out of bed away from it, reaching for her practice sabers and then pausing as she saw the tip of her Master's blade dip down between them and her hands.

"You've got the right idea, but you're slow." The Bothan said mildly. "And you're not paying good attention to your surroundings in your sleep."

He shut the saber off and walked back to the door of the small room. "It's alright." He added in a kindly tone. "We'll work on it in the morning, Shaala. Get some sleep."

She crouched shivering on her pallet, sheets twisted around her. She was supposed to sleep after that?

At least she was going to be paying close attention to her surroundings for the rest of the night.

----------------------

BOTHAWUI, 3973 BBY

The young Togruta sighed and shook her head, striped tails flailing the air in muted irritation. "It's not a code of behavior. Not really. Is Master Odan-Urr being poetic?"

Kirav looked up from his dataslate and quirked his ears at the apprentice. "Why do you think that?"

"Well, it isn't truth, is it?" Shaala began to rinse out the brush she had been using to ink the intricate Draethic characters of the Librarian's writing. "There is emotion. Emotion is real. We can feel it."

"Set that aside. Do not permit yourself to become so stymied by what is in front of you that you cannot see what precedes and follows it. What is the next line of the Code?"

"There is no ignorance, there is knowledge." Shaala shook water from the fragile brush with a careful flick of her wrist, and Kirav noted that, despite her irritation, she was reflexively treating it with the delicacy it deserved.

"And?"

"And that's obvious, Master."

The Bothan let the dataslate drop into his lap and propped his long jaw on one clawed paw, elbow braced against the arm of his chair. "Then tell me about it."

"Master? Ah... Well... Knowledge is the obvious solution to ignorance."

"Really. Is that all it is?"

"Well..." Shaala paused, having carefully placed the drying brush upright in the weighted base where it resided.

Kirav flicked an ear dismissively when it became apparent she wasn't going to continue. "Most sapient races have at one time or another devoted entire conflicting schools of thought to arguing with each other in regards to what the true nature of knowledge might be. Perhaps you will solve their conundrum for me another time. Meanwhile, let's go back a step. How are you considering the second line differently from the first?"

"Ah...Am I?"

"You certainly are." Kirav smiled a little. "Consider: you contested Odan-Urr's interpretation of the Code by saying that emotion is real. But when you quoted the second line you did not for a moment pause to protest that ignorance is real."

"Well, but the relationship between ignorance and knowledge is obvious."

"It is? You'll have to explain it to me some time, but before you do, I should enjoy hearing you try to apply the same mental process to the first line."

"You're suggesting that the difference between emotion and peace is the same as...Ah..." The Togruta started to continue, then paused and closed her mouth a moment, thinking. "So...Peace is a 'solution' to emotion?"

"'Solution' suggests that there is a problem which needs to be solved. This is not always the case. Say instead, perhaps, 'a response'."

"But it's the correct response for a Jedi?"

"Your words and preconceptions are narrowing your view again. You are terribly, terribly concerned with things being correct or incorrect, Shaala, and you're afraid to give a potentially wrong answer. You are quite tied up with exclusive dualities. Perhaps peace is simply a response which most lets a Jedi become aware of the flow of the Force around her."

"This is very frustrating!"

"Frustration is an emotion. So is pride. You're very intent on being proud of yourself, and when you feel you are being challenged, you become frustrated. Is it helping you? The frustration? No? Mmmm." Kirav gently set the dataslate on the table beside him. "Try not to feel frustrated if it isn't helping. Is knowledge preferable to ignorance?"

"Well, of course."

The Bothan's ears rose quizzically. "'Of course?' But knowledge can be extremely frustrating. Quite often, the more we learn, the more questions we find ourselves having to ask. Consider the knowledge that one is ignorant. That is a knowledge, yes? Is it frustrating?"

"I feel like my own ignorance is all that you are willing to teach me."

"I'm willing to teach you all that I know, but that has its limits. I'm trying to help you to learn to teach yourself, which will help you to deal with the many things that I do not know. What you're being taught and what you choose to learn are not always the same. It might help you to see what else you can learn other than the obvious." He picked up the dataslate and padded over to one of the shelves, carefully filing it away among several others. "The next time that you feel frustrated, try to be comfortable with where you are. Try to be aware of what can be learned rather than worrying about what you believe others think you should be learning. Try to find other lessons to be learned from your situation." Kirav paused at the door. "...And while you're considering that, try to find your lightsabers. I hid them somewhere this morning and I don't believe you've even noticed their absence."

He glanced back over his shoulder. "And do your best not to become frustrated. You have admitted that it does not help."

----------------------

TARIS, 3967 BBY, PRIMEDAY, WEEK 7, COURT 917 OF THE LAW

"So, Adjudicator." The man closed the door behind Shaala, sealing her into the closely confined room with the other seven humans and the long, bench-like table at which they gathered. The walls were lined from floor to ceiling with traditional texts; books printed on blocked and pressed vegetable fiber. The spine of each 'book' was labelled only with a number. They were mostly symbolic, of course, any of those present could use a dataslate to look up in seconds any phrase in all the volumes gathered in this place.

There were seven-thousand, four-hundred and ninety-two volumes. Shaala knew.

"Prelate, Sir?"

The human stared at her with that faint little smirk he manifested whenever he thought he was being paid attention to. "This Court has learned that you are not, after all, even a real Jedi."

Shaala mirrored the man's smile carefully. "Ah. There must be some confusion. I never stated that I was, nor did any of the documentation that was provided to you. I believe if you look, you will see that I am listed as 'An Adjudicator representative of the Jedi Order.'" She straightened her robe gently. "I do apologize if there was some confusion."

"But you have no authority!"

"I have no authority as a Jedi, Sir. You accepted me as an Adjudicator of this Court. I am one until this case is resolved."

The man puffed himself up, hooking his thumbs in his belt. "But you were accepted under false pretenses! We agreed to a representative of the Jedi!"

Shaala quietly recited Odan-Urr's third precept in the back of her head. "I am a representative of the Jedi, Prelate Mavin." The Togruta spread her hands. "...And an Adjudicator of this Court until this case is resolved."

The Prelate glowered. "You will accept our counsel, of course, being unfamiliar with the Law."

"I will listen respectfully to your counsel, and judge as I see fit, in accordance with the Law."

One of the other men at the long bench spoke up. "You've been here less than a week, how do you presume to judge?"

"I have studied your law for the past month. The Adjudicator consults the Law, then judges as the Adjudicator deems appropriate thereby."

"A MONTH?" Laughter rippled down the bench. "Young lady, there is not one other person in this room who has devoted less than forty years to the study and enforcement of the Law of our world. You dare to come here and pass judgement?"

The Togruta clasped her hands slowly, gave her shoulders a small shrug to shake the sleeves of her robe down around her folded hands, hiding them. "You invited a representative of the Jedi to do so and I have accepted."

"This Court will not be mocked by your alien ways. Are you familiar with the penalty for holding the position of Adjudicator in contempt?"

Shaala moved past the man's arm to the top shelf at the right side of the room. She looked along the shelf, then exhaled slowly, letting herself feel the threads of the Force which tangled together in this room. Kirav would not approve, but...

The book slid out carefully, hovered in midair before her and opened to the sound of several sharp inhalations from the humans. "Preceps 19-55:" Shaala read, "Should the Adjudicator not respect the Law as it is written, or flaunt the Law to the benefit of their person, or that of any other person save that person which the Law determines to have been harmed,"

Prelate Mavin stepped past her and plucked the heavy book out of midair, slamming it closed and glaring at her.

Shaala continued as if not noticing the book had been removed "...The Adjudicator may be subjected to the same penalty applied to the one who has done greatest harm."

The room was silent a moment, then one of the other Prelates murmured "Alien witch." beneath his breath.

"I will neither disrespect nor flaunt the Law, Prelate Hyssia. I am familiar with the penalty. I am familiar with the Law."

Mavin's smile was frozen and hostile. "This is the trial of a murderer, Adjudicator. The penalty for murder is death."

Shaala regarded Mavin calmly for a moment. "It is the trial of a sapient of undetermined guilt, Prelate. I will judge nothing until evidence has been presented." She smiled faintly. "But if you warn me that I may be killed for a mistrial, I thank you for your concern. I was aware."

----------------------

TARIS, 3967 BBY, CENTAXDAY, WEEK 7,

The Cathar was an immense bulk of ungroomed fur and burning eyes, its wrists and ankles locked with binder cuffs.

"You stand accused of murdering a human." A human. Shaala didn't flinch, but the Law of Taris was specific.

The Cathar simply stared down at her. There was no fight in it. No aggression. "Yes." it rumbled.

The Togruta tilted her head curiously. "And you admit this?"

"Yes."

Shaala studied the huge, feline creature. Puzzlement. Sadness. Patience. A surprising amount of patience.

"Is there anything you would say in your defence?"

"No."

Shaala bit her lip briefly, then turned to regard Prelate Mavin, who was watching her, still smirking. "This seems...Straightforward." She murmured. The Prelate chuckled and turned away.

The Cathar's rumble seemed to fill the air of the prison-block with distant grasslands thunder. "They took my daughter. The police said I must come with him. Come here."

"He said something would be done." The Cathar continued, as Shaala turned back towards him, away from Mavin's sudden glower.

"When will you help me find my daughter?"

----------------------

It felt strange to Shaala, seeing her master this way. A tiny hologram. And yet his force of personality still came through it and it was impossible to do anything but treat him with the utmost gravity.

"There is a problem, Master. Did you know what you sent me into?"

"If there had been no problem, you would not have been sent. What is your concern?"

"The Law here, Master. It has been bent and warped in recent centuries. There are two worlds here. The humans, above, and all other sapients, below. The humans control the Law, and the Law favors them."

"I knew of this, yes. And?"

"And the case I have been 'given'." Shaala paused a moment, considering. "A human has been killed by a nonhuman."

"So you have ascertained?"

"He admits his guilt. The sentence is death."

"And the problem is?"

"There is another crime here, Master. Two, perhaps."

"By their Law? Or by your judgement?"

Shaala had thought about this very carefully. "By their Law."

"Trust your feelings, Apprentice. I trust you."

----------------------

As Adjudicator, Shaala had the ability to review and demand as much evidence as could be found. She spent a week, going about the lower levels of the massive city, speaking to those who knew the Cathar, those he had worked for, those he and his small family had rented from.

Then she went into the Upper City, among the humans. She wore the Adjudicator's rosette which permitted her passage and cooperation anywhere in service of the Law. She studied records and made records, for it was the nature of the Adjudicator's badge that it recorded everything in its presence, at all times, and could not be tampered with. Times. Places. Recordings.

Finally, she went to a small hotel by one of the great docking bays through which the traffic which had sustained Taris in its glory days still moved, sluggishly. She placed a call to the Port Police, then knocked on the door of a room, was unsurprised when a scruffy human answered it.

"You are crew from the Hungry Chuba? One of your fellows was killed two weeks ago, by a Cathar?" Two policemen from the Port stepped up behind her, but they had seen the rosette badge held up where it could see everything that transpired around it.

"Yeah. You killed that murdering bastard Cathar yet?" The door opened wider and a miasma of alcohol and drugs drifted from within. There were four other humans looking out now.

"Where is the Cathar's daughter?"

"What are you talking about? How dare you?!"

"I dare on the Authority of the Law, as an Adjudicator." Shaala turned to the policemen. "I will search this room."

With one of the officers holding the door open, the Togruta walked straight past the spacers, paused a moment in the room and turned slowly, her eyes half-closed, then picked up a bag against the wall. As the spacers complained to the policemen, she turned it out on one of the filthy beds. Wrinkled clothing, and a small pouch.

Without fully understanding why, she half-turned, letting one of her lightsabers drop from her sleeve into her palm, activating it, and brushing it upward just as the spacer triggered his holdout blaster, ricocheting the bolt into the ceiling. The blade hummed loudly in the room, and she levelled it at the man, igniting her second lightsaber a moment later. "Arrest these men. Impound their vessel under the Authority of the Law."

The small pouch held an assortment of feminine jewelry, easily a handful of baubles, none of any true value...But two of the earrings matched the description the Cathar had given.

----------------------

TARIS, 3967 BBY, ZHELLDAY, WEEK 9, COURT 917 OF THE LAW

Prelate Mavin arched an eyebrow at Shaala as she closed the door of the chamber behind her. "It has been two weeks. You have had long enough to investigate a case in which confession has been obtained. Are you ready to have the Cathar executed? We do not tolerate murder here."

"As you say, Prelate, confessions have been obtained. What has happened here is very straightforward." Shaala dropped the series of recordings onto the bar. "Honored Prelates. A series of new crimes has come to light, in connection with the killing of the human offworlder Jin Rik by the Cathar citizen Mhero Nuum. Crimes which amount to nothing less than conspiracy and treason."

"What are you saying, offworlder? The murderer has confessed to the killing of Jin Rik."

"I am Adjudicator here. Mhero Nuum has confessed to killing Jin Rik, but it was not murder."

"This is an outrage!"

"Mhero Nuum killed Jin Rik in defense of his family. By the Law. When the life of a man's child is threatened, and he has no recourse to officers of the Law, he may defend his child."

"I caution you once, Adjudicator, out of respect for the Jedi which you represent. He had recourse to the Law. Instead he hunted a man down and tore him to shreds. Before witnesses."

"He had access to the Law, but no recourse to the Law. The Law failed him. He reported the kidnapping of his daughter. He reported it four times. He was told that as there were no human witnesses to corroborate his account, that there was no crime to be investigated."

"We do not permit good men's names to be dragged through the muck by a lie..."

"Prelate Janid Mavin, you have held this office for close to one hundred and forty years."

"I..."

"I would direct you to the seventeenth book of the Law, the three-hundred nineteenth passage, about interfering with an Adjudicator."

"You dare."

"I will uphold the Law. As you have not. Laws that have been in place less than one century are subject to review if they supersede or countermand prior laws. This is in the very first book of the Law. Also in the very first book of the Law it is written that no Law shall contravene the Laws of the Republic, and most specifically the Galactic Constitution. Said Constitution outlaws slavery and declares that all sentient lifeforms are equal and must be treated as such. Eighty-eight years ago you signed into the Law regulations which reserved certain rights to humans and denied others to all non-human sapients." Shaala paused and turned towards the man. "These regulations are void and not a part of the Law. Mhero Nuum has the same rights to the Law as do you. The Law failed him."

"You have flaunted the Law to your benefit, Prelate. Officers are even now retrieving the Cathar's daughter and the other slaves which you have purchased from your estate."

Shaala lifted the Adjudicator's rosette. "The confessions of the slavers you contracted with are on record. The records have been reviewed. The transactions have been verified. You are in violation of the Law, Janid Mavin. You have purchased and owned slaves, and denied them their rights to equal treatment. More, you have denied similar rights to millions beneath this city. In Adjudication of the Law, I find you guilty. The appropriate sentencing may be found in Book three-seventeen, page twenty-two."

Shaala placed the rosette on the table, sliding it into the notch reserved for it so that the recordings within were immediately backed up to every other courtroom on the planet. "I declare this case closed. Remove the criminal."

----------------------

TARIS, 3967 BBY, BENDUDAY, WEEK 9,

"I was contacted by two Prelates of the Law, today, Apprentice. From the way one spoke for you and the other spoke against you, I believe you have done very well."

"I've done nothing, Master. Mavin is sentenced, but he is one man. The regulations may change, but how they treat others will not."

"On the contrary, while not much may change today, this case will provide some leverage for those Prelates who do wish to see change and equality. Taris has been most of a century becoming what it is today. Will you only admit success if it changes back overnight? Worlds do not move immediately."

"It does not seem like anything is changing today, Master."

"Then consider something that did change today. Mhero Nuum has his daughter and his freedom back. I understand he has been trying to contact you. Unsuccessfully, I might add. Odd. I had no difficulty getting through."

"I do not know what to say to him, Master."

"Then do him the courtesy of listening to what he has to say to you. Are you going to dismiss him because he is only one man, with one family? Are you so fraught with prideful insistence that you must save an entire world that you cannot treat one person who you did save as if their salvation mattered?"

----------------------

BOTHAWUI, 3967 BBY, CENTAXDAY, WEEK 17

"A Jedi Council. I seem to recall that one of the precepts of the Code forbade a Jedi from ruling others...Were they Jedi or not."

"They say they are concerned about the training of Jedi, Master. Look at Kun, and Qel-Droma."

"Yes, yes. Look at the two dramatic failures. Please ignore the hundreds of successes. Do you want to go to this school of theirs?"

"I'm entirely comfortable here, Master."

"Yes. Yes, you are. And that is a problem in itself. That does it. We're going to Coruscant."

----------------------

CORUSCANT, 3963 BBY, BENDUDAY, WEEK 2

"I'm going."

"Someone clearly must, but I shall not."

"You can't stop me."

"Perhaps that is true." Kirav watched as his Apprentice darted around the apartment, putting together a -- thankfully -- small traveling bag. "What is more significant, however, is that I will not stop you."

"You think I should go?"

"No. I do not. But neither will I forbid you to go." The Bothan gets out of his chair, paces across the room and hops onto another chair to reach atop one of the tallest bookcases, from which he withdraws a box of plain, unpolished wood. "I was saving these for a different occasion, I think, but today is what it is, and this occasion will do."

"What?" Shaala looked over at him, puzzled.

Kirav set the box on the table and gestured his apprentice to sit opposite him. "Go ahead. These have been waiting for you for a long time."

Shaala lifted the lid of the box and paused a moment, catching her breath, before finally placing the lid aside. "Oh. Ah. They're beautiful." She lifted up one of the matching dueling sabers, its lightweight, elegantly curved form plated in a dull, utilitarian grey that did not reflect the light. A length of fine cable depended from it, terminating in a thin bracelet.

"When the time comes, you will make your own. That time has not come yet, and I had hoped to give you these at a time when I could better teach you how to truly bond them to yourself, but I have great faith in you."

"You were saving these for..." The Togruta regarded the Bothan, wide-eyed.

"For your knighting, yes. That day is not today. But I believe that if you come back, you will come back a knight. So do not leave them behind. They have been yours since shortly after we met."

"Thank you." She breathed it. "Come with me, Master? Please?"

"I shall not. I have heard the same things you have heard, but while there is little wisdom in the Council's determination to do nothing, there is also little wisdom in charging off to do battle without forethought, in the wake of outrage over a dead world and a dead people. There are many worlds that still live, and they need Guardianship, not vengeance." He looked intently across the table at his damp-eyed apprentice. "You can promise me that this is not about vengeance, yes? Nor will you let it become so? The dead have moved on as their lives required, as a part of the Force. Killing the living on behalf of the dead will doom you." This last is said with such gravity that she almost shivers, meeting his gaze.

"I, no...No, Master. It isn't that."

"Can you tell me why?"

"I...I don't know if I can." She leaned back, the curved grip of the lightsaber resting across her hands. "It's about...Do you remember that one Cathar?"

"On Taris. Yes. You saved his daughter." Kirav tilts his ears forward slightly. "Ah. You never spoke to him, did you?"

"No, Master."

"And now instead of running away for fear of what he might say, you are running away from fear of what he might have said."

Shaala nodded mutely. "Something like that."

"Shaala...Shaala... Suppose he had known what you think he knew? Suppose he had told you, then? Would you have tried to lead some crusade to the Outer Rim, to find this planet where you had never been, that you knew nothing of, to tell people 'the Mandalorians did this.'?"

The Togruta chewed her grey lower lip.

"Shaala, you want very much to do something great. You want to make a difference in some vast way. For a long time, noone believed in you. You think you are a grain of sand, and you want to turn the wave instead of be tumbled by it. The truth is more that you are a pebble in a stream, and wherever you go in the stream, its ripples will flow around you, and you will affect them. Sometimes you will be able to see the immediate effects, such as the Cathar and his daughter. But the greatest effects you will have will take place far beyond you and what you can see, where the small changes you have made in the stream permit or deny the flow of greater currents. I tell you, you have done this and you will continue to. Few if any of them know your name, but there are thousands on Taris today whose lives are in some small way better for what you have done. They may not know your name, but they believe in you, and they believe that what you did was right and meaningful."

Kirav sighed quietly. "I hope that before you return, you have found the strength to believe in yourself, and to understand that you have done great things, and that you will do great things, and that there is no need to seek them out, for they will always flow around one who follows the guidance of the Force as it touches her heart. Those people believe in you. I believe in you."

The old Bothan leaned forward as the crying young Togruta embraced him across the table. For a long time, there was companionable silence, but when the morning came, the apartment was filled by a still deeper silence, and it was a lonely silence indeed.

...Or, as there was some talk about there being only females, I imagine I could cook up a male character, though I have less experience, for obvious reasons.

[Muse]

*waves to Carny*

Hi.  I'm working on one, actualy. 

Was hoping the ladies could tell me how alien is too alien to be atractive. 

I was going to propose a Zabrack guy, then I noticed Ruby's gal had that species  Wasn't sure if she'd wnat me overlapping. 

I think Lust, at least, thought an Ithorian was too alien.

So maybe I'll give a miraluka guy a go? 

[Miroque]

EWOK!

[CarnivalOfTheGoat]

Hi Muse!

If the purpose of the boy is to get his docking game on then I suppose something like an Ithorian is probably a bit outre' for most folks.

Honestly, most of the Star Wars aliens aren't terribly sexy to me. They're either humans with prosthetic foreheads or they're waaaaaaaay out there. I ended up going humanish for my jedi.

You could always invert the standard trope and go for a Twi'lek dancing boy. Don't see many of those. >_>;

Or if you don't want to have to worry about your jedi shaving his legs, there's always the wookiee option.

[Miroque]

I say again , EWOK!

but to be honest, any near human might do.. and when you think of it, Jedi Code prevents personal relationships of all kind...

[RubySlippers]

Well for now but that book has force techniques to back up lightsaber combat forms useful for later.

I still want to work on my own form combining enhanced defense and offense later on the book will help there.