#aifenn

AIFENN

The Hero of Tython (Jedi Knight). Present during the sacking of Courascant as a padawan. Pardon my candle analogy, but this Miraluka will burn himself at both ends just to keep others warm (threat, promise.) He genuinely believes that there is a spark of good inside everyone. When discomfited, he defaults to being very polite... Underneath all of that, he does have a sense of humor, he tends to banter with his enemies if he knows them well enough. He believes strongly in not letting his emotions control him, although he does FEEL them. Like a good jedi, he tries to release his emotions into the force, or at the very least not let them effect his judgement in the field... He is not always successful. He is a dutiful commander with a gentle side he isn’t often allowed to indulge. Belives wholeheartedly in the Jedi and the good they are trying to do. Has attached himself as something of a guard to Sh'Iloh, which helps fill the void his padawan-brother Fenley left when he defected. Yes he IS attached, but he's quite hard on himself, so he thinks that it's the least of his sins. This is what happens when you take a guy who wants to be a temple guard and protect people but ends up being really good at dueling and killing because he has trauma related to being an overachiever (thanks, Fenley...)

Additionally, he has an RE-1 scout droid that serves as an assitive droid for him, as he cannot see holograms. It’s an excitable little thing that can often be found scuttling up and down his armor, or bouncing along behind him. It is a chipper and curious little fella. 

SH'ILOH

The Jedi Sage (Consular). An emotionally distant Jedi seer with an intense and powerful connection to the force – the cosmic force, specifically. This leaves them physically weak and often strains their body. Hear me out: being a ceaseless conduit for the will of the force takes a toll. The force loves them and it SUCKS. Have you tried to pour a waterfalls worth of water through a straw? That’s how Sh'Iloh feels all the time. It is frankly exhausting. It also lets off a sort of invisible signal to others: people consistently report their hair standing on end, and a pervasive feeling of being watched while in Sh'Iloh’s vicinity. 

Their force visions work like this: They can see the branching paths that lead to different futures – most clearly for turning points involving them. This can be something huge or just what the different choices at breakfast will lead their day to be like. It’s on 24-7. They often experience a feeling of deja-vu, and feel disconnected from the present, meaning they make logical and emotionless strategic decisions. It’s always a surprise to them when people show they genuinley care or hold strong feelings for them. Always trying to shift the future down the path that will most greatly benefit the most people. Is somewhat disillusioned with the Jedi order, but prefers it to whatever experiments the Sith would undoubtedly subject them to.

DUSTROS

Darth Vindictus (Sith Inquisitor) is an ex-slave that clawed his way up the ranks to become a Darth. He is surprisingly tolerant of those whose company he enjoys, has a dark sense of humor, and keeps careful tabs on both his friends and his enemies for reasons he prefers to let people sweat over. He also holds a vicious grudge and he ALWAYS gets even. Lobbies against slavery on the council for largely socio-political-economic reasons, so he doesn’t have to get into his feelings about having been a slave. He carefully considers his choices before making decisions, except in the case that one of his options is to kill a slaver, in which he will do it every time he has the opportunity. He has loads of unresolved issues and he’s not going to go to therapy about them, ever. Fun fact: He and Fenley fake dated when both of their positions were more precarious in the Empire to distract from their individual secret workings and it was hilarious. 

CYRESK

Cipher Six (Imperial agent) is a Chiss who used to be a member of Csilla's Secret Police before being reassigned to work as a spy for the Chiss’s Imperial Allies as a Cipher agent. Before being sent to the Empire, he volunteered to have his memories erased so that he could not be caught as a double agent. He deeply resents his past self for this, but you'll never get him to admit it. As he hardly remembered his old self, it's only fair that he build his new self off of the bones of the memories he has left and various habits and personality traits from covers on his missions. For example, he decided to always see his targets off with a smile. It's only polite, after all!

His personality is smiling and playful by default. He likes interesting and contradictory things and people, and he enjoys pressing people's buttons to see what sort of reactions he'll get. He dislikes being honest with people about himself, because he sees that as handing over information that can be used against him. He carries out his jobs flawlessly in order to get away with various shenanagins on his missions and so that Keeper stays off his back. He blames his best missions on Cipher 9 to avoid drawing the attention of the Dark Council - which works for a time, but not forever. He's eventually scooped up by Darth Vindictus to serve as his left hand – both gathering information and tying up loose ends. 

CILVOE

A smuggler with Republic sympathies, a deep dislike of Chiss and it’s class system, and the owner of a very fast starship. He often pretends to be Pantoran in Republic space and hides his eyes just because it’s easier than explaining he is a Chiss – and safer, because he does not want the Ascendancy to come after his ass for helping out the enemy of their allies. Often smuggles stolen medical supplies and weapons, but has a fondness for plants. Acts first, thinks later, and tends to find himself in situations he could not begin to imagine being in. Sometimes he feels that his life is a comedy and he’s wearing a jester’s hat. 

Additionally, he is very cute and a complete lightweight, which has often led to dancers at cantinas doting on him and treating him like a little brother figure. He tries to come off as competent and serious, if not a little intimidating, and it almost always backfires on him. His cuteness cannot be contained and I will not let anyone overlook it so it's game over for him. 

LACHLANN CARID

Lachlann of clan and house Carid, Mandalorian bounty hunter and all around problem solver. They come from a traditional clan that prizes honor, and so they act strictly in accordance with Mandalorian values and the Resol'nare: Education and armor, self-defense, our language, our leader - all help us survive. As a Cathar foundling, they do acknowledge that being Mandalorian after the Mandalorian's destroyed their planet and most of the population is... Complex. But it is what it is.

17. How do they cope with the knowledge of their own mortality, or the morality of their loved ones?

cipher agents aren't known for living long lives. he'll do what he can to stave off death, but he knows the reality of the situation he's in. AND he's actually a double-agent for csilla, so... that would absolutely shorten his lifespan if it got out.

as for the mortality of his loved ones. uhhh... [looking at ev'entri and agent!naylan. cover your ears you two] if he dies first he doesn't have to worry about it. he has no idea how grief would affect him because he doesn't remember experiencing it as his life before the memory wipe was erased, and people who die around him are generally people he is killing intentionally. personally? i do not think he would take it well. he hates being honest so he'd probably try to bottle it up and fail miserably. for a spy, he sure is himself rather than using a mask... can't help that...

21. How would they react if they learned that some of their memories were not as they remembered them?

badly :)

he has been controlled by hunter and the SIS before with the IX Serum. which is actually a little ironic as he does use the SLV-16 serum to force obedience and truth out of a runaway republic soldier before... but at least that didn't mess with their memories. it freaks him out badly to be controlled in this way, and even moreso to know that his memories of this having been done to him were taken from him. he's got specific issues with that, given his everything... he literally chooses to inject himself with a serum that will either melt his brain out of his ears or make it so he can never be controlled in this way again at his breaking point.

so if it was a case of tempering, see above. if it was a case of him misremembering, he'd probably want to examine why. he likes to collect information, so was it a situation where he was influenced by his own feelings? was there a distraction? he would want to find the truth of it for himself

and now onto aifenn. my beautiful house massiff of a jedi. his friendly dog energy is unrivaled...

10. Do they feel like their life is one they chose, or one forced upon them?

great question! he was taken to the jedi along with another miralukan (haha, yes, it WAS fenley) when he was three or four. he doesn't remember much of his life before that... a woman's laugh, the feeling of dirt and plants under his fingers... he suspects they were farmers, but he's never looked for sure.

his life with the jedi is more a matter of practicality than fate. he was force sensitive and they know how to raise force sensitive children and keep them safe. he was especially happy when he was younger and with his first master. he was a mischevious padawan, playing pranks and getting into and out of trouble with his bright smile. he had no trouble making friends, and the younger children quite liked him. he felt like he was where he was meant to be.

and then his home and his master were ripped from him and he never really got over it. he got on well enough with master satele and really enjoyed having fenley as his padawan brother... it brought back some of his goofy and mischevious habits from his own early days at the temple to attempt to make fenley smile. fenley... brought him a lot of joy and companionship in what he considers to be the darkest time of his life. they are brothers in everything but name.

fenley leaving of course, shattered him and satele. he pushed himself to become a perfect padawan. gentle and kind as usual, but no mischief. no playing. only extra time in the salles and the archives. passing all of his classes with flying colors. he can tell satele blames herself, again (i love satele being kind of a fail mom to theron, so i gave her more sons to do that to). he wants to prove to her that she's not a bad jedi, that it wasn't her fault (probably because he thinks it was HIS fault for not noticing the signs.)

so if his current fate as a weapon of the jedi order has been forced upon him, the one forcing it is himself. he could say no. he could ask to be a temple guardian. he just doesn't feel he deserves it.

wow i'm learning a lot about aifenns issues today, thanks for coming with me on this journey

11. Do they have any recurring nightmares?

he has plenty of memories to have terrible nightmares about, unfortunately. the sacking of the coruscant temple is a big one because he was actually there when it happened, and he saw malgus kill his first master, ven zallow, while escaping with a few of the younger padawans that had also been sent away. he sees that moment in his dreams, and finds himself unable to help, to call out, to do anything for his master other than watch his fall... just frozen in place, eternally standing witness and feeling his training bond snap over and over. it weighs on him.

he also has nightmares about fenley leaving the jedi! he wasn't actually there when it happens, and he doesn't know what he would've done if he was, but he imagines different aftermaths. being ordered to hunt fenley down, or worse, seeing master Satele cut fenley down.

there are also nightmares of moments he had with fenley. memories of fenley reaching out and aifenn not being enough. not being able to see what was happening at the time, how fenley felt so isolated amongst the others, the growing rift between their master... just memories with the benefit of hindsight.

he has some from the class story too. the emperor, especially, because fenley was so close to the man and he never even knew it... what if something happened?

so basically, his nightmares all involve him believing he's failed other people and lambasting himself for it through his dreams. he doesn't have nightmares terribly frequently, but when he does, they tend to be bad.

12. Do they possess a secret that would destroy them if found out?

yes haha he surely does... if you want to know... he has a training bond with his old padawan-brother Fenley that neither of them have broken. even though they are now on opposite sides of a war. and Fenley is the Wrath of the Empire. The jedi council would NOT be happy with him if they found out that he's attached enough to have kept it (and kept it up) all these years... There's a reason he's not a master, and he will say attachment is the least of his sins if you ask him (being a weapon as the jedi knight instead of growing up to be a temple guard and protecting people like he felt he was meant to be...) but yeah. He tried very hard to play the perfect padawan for Satele after Fenley left and THEN went on to be whatever the order needed him to be, which was, well, a sword (rather than a shield...) so i think it would be doubly shocking to find out he has it.

Fenley knows, of course, but he's not sharing either. they're usually distant enough to get a sense that the other is alive and not much more than that, so it's not a regular issue.

AND MORSRAUT... THE NEWEST ONE. WE SUPPORT WOMEN'S WRONG AND YOU PICKED SUCH A QUESTION FOR HER TOO...

3. Do they believe in fate or free will?

funny question to ask the girl that killed the king and stole his crown because she felt it was the only way to avoid dooming her people to either slavery themselves or an endless war with the hutts.

was it always meant to be this way and there was nothing mors could do to stop it, like a destined tragedy? or is this a problem of circumstance, an issue of mandalore's own making that got out of control?

i would say that she believes that artus was destined to be mand'alor. the whole situation, a child (sidenote: i want to say artus was 15? same as king arthur... i was originally going with younger, but i think putting an unstable teenager in charge of an empire is funny. yeah deal with this and puberty.) killing their slavers with the mask of the mand'alor, accidentally avenging the old one -- it's something out of a storybook. and artus has an air about him, something that makes people want to believe in him. whether that's natural or the ka'ra at work through him, it's hard to say, but mors believes that mandalorian's were led to him for a reason. that the old mand'alor died exactly how he was meant to.

its hard not to believe, if you see artus with his people. a boy king whose heart bled for his new people. who made time in his court for anyone to address him regardless of status. who once got on his knees to hug a woman who had lost her son, a complete stranger to him, just because she was one of his and she needed someone.