Iril'dor Rai

[Brand]

Iril'dor Rai​

​

"Do not meet hate with hate.
Meet it with purpose."
Qui-Gon Jinn

Courage. You could ask a thousand beings to define the term, and they would all give you a different answer, but the same meaning would be conveyed. What is courage, really? In the truest sense of the term it is the ability to do something that frightens one. As a Jedi, this word means so much more to me now.

Humble beginning ushered in a kind of fame as I was inducted into the Jedi Order. My studies were effortless, and the vice of pride had gripped it's icy claws around my destiny. Had it not been for those who cared about me I could be writing this story from a very different perspective.

As a Padawan I craved respect, acknowledgement, and I would do whatever it took to achieve my notion of success. For as much as I clung to my image of what the perfect Jedi was, my reality would soon be shattered. I entered the Trials and my illusions of Knighthood were dashed as, to my astonishment, I discovered what failure meant.

I was not ready, not close. I fell into a cloud of bitterness that threatened to consume me lest for the careful tutelage of my masters, and I returned to the Trials a year later more prepared and a truer representation of what a Jedi should be.

My passion for the lightsaber was discouraged from my youngest days in the Order, but the Council saw fit to guide me along my journey as a Guardian and, later, a Weapons Master and finally as the Battlemaster. As a Knight I was mentored closely by an Iridorian lightsaber instructor who taught me more about the philosophy of the Force than the skills I would need to become one of the foremost combatants in an order of peacekeepers.

I rose steadily through the Order's ranks, a hawkish voice in the monastic organization. I sought daily after the peace and understanding of the Force to temper the chaotic lifestyle I had chosen. I devoted my livelihood to the mastery of not only the lightsaber but other weapons, and bloodshed dominated my life. When surrounded by battle it is never easy to walk the path of light, but through the guidance of those far wiser than me and dedication I was able to stay firmly planted on the narrow path.

Courage can also be described as strength in the face of pain or grief. I thought I knew what it meant to be courageous and to possess valor after charging headfirst into numerous gory engagements, but I would not take the true meaning to heart until I met Naomi. A Kiffar girl, she had been beaten, abused, and broken in her childhood but had sought the Jedi out on her own after the legendary tales drew her to the galaxy's capital.

Drawn to her, I took up not only a master-apprentice relationship with her but a bond that would change my outlook on life and the Force. I watched this girl grow in the Force, and in doing so I grew in the Force.

She became fit to handle tasks on her own nearing the jump to Knighthood, but I placed too much responsibility on her. In retrospect I was careless, stupid, and foolish to allow her to investigate the drug dealer that had reputedly been selling to one of her peers. Naomi would go on to discover a chain of dealing that extended much farther than I or the Order could've anticipated.

The Thursday seemed much like the hundreds of others I had awoken to, except that Naomi was gone, permanently. I left immediately, a Jedi Knight scorned, a dangerous combination. It did not take me long to track the cartel down, and I hack and slashed my way to the holding cell to find a mortally wounded girl lying in a prison cell.

Inside was the cartel's head, a balding man of forty who stood over her with a bloodstained leather whip and a small but powerful blaster. I was confronted with a decision. The man posed no threat to me or Naomi (the damage had already been done), and for all I knew at the time my young apprentice would still be saved.

Time slowed. Little did I know that the first time I would ever face the reality of courage was in a damp gray cell in Coruscant's belly. I was faced with two options. Strike down the man in anger, end his puny existence and do the galaxy a favor, or take the path I had been trained to and secure him into custody and risk my padawan's life in the process.

The glint in Naomi's eyes told me she had already made the decision for me. The slight nod towards the man, the demanding look on her face, made me realize I could not give in to the dark path I was treading. The hardest thing I have ever done was shut my lightsaber down, throw the slaver into stasis, and carry both my apprentice and this pitiful excuse for a human out of the cavernous depths of Coruscant's underworld.

Naomi died soon after, and the criminal was sentenced to a few hundred years of prison and hard labor, a fitting but unsatisfying end. I learned that day that anyone can wield a weapon... but reason is a much more difficult tool to wield.

Spoiler: Basic Information

Basic Information​

Name: Iril'dor Rai
Gender: Male
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 188 lbs.

Faction: New Jedi Order
Rank: Battlemaster, High Councilor

Force Powers:
- Telekinesis
- Force Speed
- Force Push
- Force Pull
- Affect Mind
- Electric Judgement
- Force Valour
- Revitalize
- Shatterpoint

Lightsaber Forms:
Form III - Soresu: Mastered
Form IV - Ataru: Mastered
Form VII - Vaapad: Mastered

Equipment:
- Jedi Lightsaber x2
Icy blue and crimson. Both hilts can be connected to form a double bladed lightsaber. Internal Force activated ignition.
- Ultrachrome Greatsword
- Jedi Robes
- Combat Suit

 

[Dmitri]

You are not using Bratak again? I liked him; oh well. Also, Thursday is not a SW calendar day, I believe. They use a different calendar.

 

[MightyPants]

Correct, Weiss. The week in the galactic standard was: Primeday, Centaxday, Taungsday, Zhellday and Benduday. God bless Wookieepedia :CHappy

 

[Brand]

Galak? I like him too but he doesn't really fit the bill as Battlemaster. If I was Prime Envoy I would revive him, but...

and yeah, I was just winging it with the Thursday thing. I'll change it soon.

 

[Teynara]

You are not using Bratak again? I liked him; oh well. Also, Thursday is not a SW calendar day, I believe. They use a different calendar.

Correct: Primeday, Centaxday, Taungsday, Zhellday and Benduday. If you're wondering why there are only five, it's because the SW Galactic Standard Calender is divided into 368 days, with months divided into 7 weeks of 5 days each.

EDIT: Beat me to it, Mighty! Darn it.

 

[Brandon Rhea]

You can't master that many lightsaber forms.

LIGHTSABER/SWORD FORMS:
Add in the lightsaber/sword forms your character knows as he/she learns them. Please keep in mind the rules for knowing lightsaber/sword forms. At the Jedi Padawan and Jedi Knight skill level, you may only know one form. If your character reaches the Jedi Master skill level, you may know two forms. If a character becomes the Faction Leader or is at the Jedi Council skill level, they may know a third form but it is preferred that they do not have a mastery over the third.

You can master a maximum of three.

 

[Brand]

My understanding was that Battlemasters were exempt from that rule, specifically that I'd seen Battlemasters in the past with all forms mastered. I'll trim it down to three.

 

[Brandon Rhea]

I don't recall that exception having been made, so that may have been something that was overlooked. ICly it makes a certain level of sense to say that they are a master of it all, but in the RP it makes for an overpowered character who can attack with and defend against anything when it comes to lightsaber combat. Proficiency is fine, just not perfection.

 

[Brand]

So when instructing I can use the view that I have a proficient knowledge of all forms, but when engaging in combat I'll limit myself to the three listed? I think that's what you're saying, works for me.

 

[Dread]

I don't know if there was an exception made for all Battlemasters, but Will's Battlemaster from the 4th timeline was allowed to have them all.

 

[Matty]

I'm deferring to Bac's judgement on this. Keep it at three for PvP. Anything more would make your Battlemaster unbeatable. OP characters ruin the fun for everyone.

If you're teaching a saber class, you can always have your character rely on holocrons and other texts.

 

[Toska]

I'm deferring to Bac's judgement on this. Keep it at three for PvP. Anything more would make your Battlemaster unbeatable. OP characters ruin the fun for everyone.

Wait, how does having more than three lightsaber forms make him unbeatable in PvP combat? My understanding of freeform dueling is that written forms make little difference unless you know the nuance of every attack.

 

[Matty]

I don't recall that exception having been made, so that may have been something that was overlooked. ICly it makes a certain level of sense to say that they are a master of it all, but in the RP it makes for an overpowered character who can attack with and defend against anything when it comes to lightsaber combat. Proficiency is fine, just not perfection.

Bac pretty much summed it up. Hence why I said I'm deferring to Bac's judgment. I want Trell to serve as my Battlemaster, but not if his character is horrendously overpowered (I am exaggerating). I want this timeline to be fun for everyone and a character constantly kicking the shit out of everyone isn't fine...on either side.

 

[Mars]

Wait, how does having more than three lightsaber forms make him unbeatable in PvP combat? My understanding of freeform dueling is that written forms make little difference unless you know the nuance of every attack.

This basically. It really doesn't matter if he knows every form ever made ever, lightsaber proficiency is way more on the writer than the character.

 

[Dread]

His character couldn't constantly win just because he lists all the forms in his profile. Who wins purely depends on skil. A padawan could beat a master, if the role player using the padawan is smarter.

EDIT: Mars beat me.

 

[Brandon Rhea]

The rule is not about whether or not the writer is able to masterfully write for a character who has mastered multiple lightsaber forms, and it never was. It’s about whether or not the possibility for that character and, by extension, the writer to be over-powered in a combat RP is provided by the rules. Whether that possibility becomes reality is inconsequential. The rule is there as a preventative measure. It’s been there for 5 or 6 years, and that’s not going to change.

 

[Brand]

This is all totally fine with me. I did not intend to make a POTENTIALLY horrendously overpowered character. Changes have been made, thanks.

 

[Mars]

The rule is not about whether or not the writer is able to masterfully write for a character who has mastered multiple lightsaber forms, and it never was. It’s about whether or not the possibility for that character and, by extension, the writer to be over-powered in a combat RP is provided by the rules. Whether that possibility becomes reality is inconsequential. The rule is there as a preventative measure. It’s been there for 5 or 6 years, and that’s not going to change.

But it IS entirely possible for someone to master all the forms. We've seen it in canon. The character, and the writer by extension, will gain no advantage at all from "knowing all the forms." It doesn't serve for much in actual combat at all, in fact despite all the battles I've been in here it's never come up.

Hell, there's been exceptions made on here. Will's Battlemaster Huang being the most memorable of them.

 

[Brandon Rhea]

But it IS entirely possible for someone to master all the forms. We've seen it in canon. The character, and the writer by extension, will gain no advantage at all from "knowing all the forms." It doesn't serve for much in actual combat at all, in fact despite all the battles I've been in here it's never come up.

Hell, there's been exceptions made on here. Will's Battlemaster Huang being the most memorable of them.

I don't recall being part of any conversation in regards to Haung. Whether I was or wasn't, though, I don't like the fact that the exception was granted.

Additionally, I didn't say anything about it not being possible in canon for a character to master them. That's not in dispute. What's in dispute is the possibility to be overpowered that can arise from the ability for a RP character to know all forms and the fairness issues that could create. Please note the key words I'm using -- possibility, can, and could. It still depends on the writer's ability to RP, but a writer with that ability would have an overly-powered character for a RP setting that should be as fair as it realistically can be.

Regardless, this really isn't up for discussion, so I consider this matter closed.

 

[BLADE]

I don't recall that exception having been made, so that may have been something that was overlooked. ICly it makes a certain level of sense to say that they are a master of it all, but in the RP it makes for an overpowered character who can attack with and defend against anything when it comes to lightsaber combat. Proficiency is fine, just not perfection.

I would clarify that logic a bit, Bac, since by the same token if two characters specialize in the same form(s), then they could conceivably defend and win against every move in the other's repertoire and therefore the battle would be a perennial stalemate. My guess is that people tend to be a bit too reductive with their fighting forms and should really concentrate more on how well they are writing/planning their moves, particularly since very few people here have actual fencing experience which would make the technical aspects of the sundry forms (such as they are) salient.

So personally I wouldn't really see a problem with certain characters having a good proficiency in most/all of the forms. They would just suffer some IC deficiencies and considering the actual role of the RPer's relative skill in PvP as opposed to the loftiness of the character's biography, I wouldn't really see a problem with it.

But that's just my two cents.