Aradia
From SW:TOR-RP-Wiki
|
| Galatea "Aradia" Nyx | |
| Biographical Information | |
|---|---|
| Homeworld |
Arkania |
| Date of Birth |
Late in 10 ATC (3633 BBY) |
| Physical Description | |
| Species |
Arkanian (Offshoot) |
| Gender |
Female |
| Height |
1.35 Meters (4' 5") |
| Weight |
33.57 Kilograms (74 lbs) |
| Hair Color |
White |
| Eye Color |
Light green and brilliant gold |
| Personal Information | |
| Allies |
Sith Empire |
| Enemies |
Jedi Order, The Republic |
| Weapons |
Twin Curved-hilt Dual-Phase Lightsabers |
| Fighting Styles |
Modified Form II: Makashi |
| Ships |
Fervidus |
| The Force | |
| Force User |
Yes |
| Alignment |
Chaotic Evil |
| Current Masters | |
| Former Masters |
Dylan Cyr |
| Lightsaber Types |
Curved |
| Lightsaber Colors |
Blue (left), Purple (right) |
| Proficient Lightsaber Styles |
Form II: Makashi (modified) |
| Political Information | |
| Former Affiliation |
Jedi Order |
| Current Affiliation |
Sith Empire |
| RP Information | |
| Creator | |
Description
Appearance
Standing at only 1.35 meters tall, she is considerably short for even an Offshoot Arkanian, thought she carries herself in a manner that make it difficult to realise how petite she actually is. Her skin and hair are a stark white, with no pigmentation to them at all.
Her body is exceptionally symmetrical, although she is quite lean and wiry due to her physical training; her muscles are thin but strong, often making initial impressions of weakness until one actually sees the muscles flex.
While her body is noticeably petite, she is not entirely without feminine shape. Her hips are slightly larger as they lead down into her legs, but not overly so, and though her legs are strong and toned, they are not without their curves. Though her torso reflects the width of her hips, she has slightly smaller breasts than average, adding to her lean and sprite-like appearance.
If one does not look too deeply into her eyes, there is almost a sort of innocence etched into how her heart shaped face is formed. The jaw, though clearly having a squared element to it, becomes soft and rounded right along the edges, trailing down into a more rounded point of a chin. The cheekbones, though high in line, are soft and do not protrude to greatly from the face, unless one is given a sharp view from an off-centered point of view. As with the other elements of her face, the forehead is smooth with rather smooth brows that do not protrude much, though their sharp winged formation it noticeable and accented by her thin brows.
Her actual face seems just a little too large. The eyes are large and wide, their once light green tainted with the amber tones of a Dark Side user, while their creases blending in with the plane leading up to the brow, the lashes framing them are neither thick nor sparse though they are a bit long. They are spaced a bit closely to her nose, and while the nose itself is upon the slimmer side in width, it is raised quite a bit, making it seem large but not hawkish.
Like her other facial features, her lips seem slightly too wide, though this may be due to the fact that the lower lip is much fuller than the upper lip; the actual symmetry leaves the deep corners of her mouth touching about where they should below her eyes.
Distinctive Marks
She wears an ornate circlet-like band that rests above her brow, which she never removed - it may not actually be removable, as it is either extremely tight or it's elements have been physically set into her flesh. At it's center is a disc made of Osmium, engraved with several Sith sigils while a small shard of Hiridiu crystal is set in the disc's center. Another pair of small Hiridiu shards rest on either side of the disc along with two Veda pearls. In equal intervals, Osmium Sith sigils are separated along their Osmium chain by either a single small shard of Ruusan or Luxum crystal, alternating between the two crystal types; even if refined together, the resulting crystals would not be large enough to be used safely in a lightsaber.
Leading away from each side of the central disc are two twisted strands of Osmium, each decorated with the same Sith sigils and Veda pearls. These two strands lead over and down the back of her head to a single intricate braid she wears at all times, at which point they separate and begin to twist independently down the braid, creating a sort of cross pattern over the hair.
Though her skin has remained pure white, several Sith tattoos now mark her skin, blazing brilliant reds offset by black lining and accents. Her skin has also taken on a sort of darkened shadow, though it is not a pigmentation mutation, merely a reflection of her affinity to the Dark Side.
Class/Skills/Attributes
Exceptional: Force Sense, Telepathy, Force Illusion, Alter: Cause Agony
Proficient: Hibernation Trance, Tapas, Force Push/Pull, Force Persuasion, Force Fear
Basic: Force Speed, Force Deflection, Telekinesis, Force Lightning
The Hiridiu shards make using the Force bond to her Master easier, allowing for more resonant emotions and thoughts to be shared when they are in close contact, and a slightly larger radius of distant communication; it also makes it nearly impossible for Galatea to hide anything from her Master. They are too small to greatly affect communications technology, though comlinks never seem to malfunction while she is present.
Aradia (Galatea) has a natural (or unnatural, as some may put it) affinity to the Dark Side, though such a connection has made her prone to using her Dark Side abilities without meaning to when she becomes enraged - this also has made her rage quite unstable, and often she is more so possessed by her rage than in control of it. If she is pushed into extreme duress, she will create a telekinetic maelstrom using whatever objects that are not "nailed down" in the area as debris, eventually collapsing from the exhaustive use of the Force.
In the past, she was tortured with electroshock methods, and ever since then she has had trouble using the Force created lightning that the Sith are well known for. This is somewhat frustrating to her, as before the torture, she was focusing on improving her skill with the lightning and had become quite proficient with it.
Equipment/Apparel
Galatea's "circlet" is actually set into her flesh, making it removable only through surgical means; with the help of her Master, she plans on making matching bracelets of some sort once she is further along the path of the Sith.
After the destruction of the lightsabers she had made under Dylan Cyr's tutelage, Aradia was forced to start from scratch, having only a single purple Luxum crystal left after the incident with Darth Ambrose. While she returned to the curved-hilt style of saber, she also learned how dual-phase sabers were made, combining the two for her new saber. She also used a small bit of electrum for actual emitter shroud of the saber, though the small amount is barely noticeable.
Starship(s)
Fervidus, an Aurek tactical strikefighter (stored on Wyntier's Class VI bulk freighter)
Character
Appearances in Fiction
Personality
Motivations: Discovery, Understanding, Chaos
Disposition: Curious
Outlook: Resigned, cynical
Sexuality:
Likes: Research, physical combat training
Dislikes: Indecision, politics
Favorite Foods: Raw staga meat
Favorite Drinks: Kothtri
Favorite Colors: Black, silver
Hobbies: Glassmaking, Jewelry making
Positive Personality Traits: Confident, focused, intelligent
Negative Personality Traits: Reckless, cryptic, critical, relentless, paranoid, manipulative
Misc. Quirks: By and large, she does not wear any sort of shoes or boots unless required by particular technologies being used; she claims that by having her bare feet in contact with the ground, she can sense things that she may otherwise miss.
She also has an obsession with genetics, due to the way the Arkanians treat the Offshoots as they are the result of genetic experimentation on the Arkanians themselves. While she studied what she could find available via the HoloNet and various libraries she encounters, she has been unable to infiltrate the Arkanian academies to obtain the specific information she wants.
Relationships
Previous
Dylan Cyr - For the thirteen years that they were close, Dylan convinced himself that his emotions were merely paternal instinct for the child he had found and brought into the Jedi Order, however upon his death, the Knight admitted that Aradia was correct about what their feelings actually were and asked her for forgiveness. Dylan's spirit remains, watching over Aradia in hopes that she may eventually seek redemption.
Currently
Wyntier - (Details forthcoming)
Beliefs
Even before she began to follow the Sith Code, Aradia did not believe that the suppression and/or ignoring of emotion was right; this of course lead to difficulties during her time in the Jedi Order, as their teachings require the suppression of emotion. There were many times that this lead to heated arguments between the young Galatea and her Jedi Master, Dylan, as she was aware of strong feelings for the other Jedi and from the other Jedi that Dylan refused to acknowledge, though they did often influence his actions.
Her time as Wyntier's apprentice has reinforced that belief, and he has also shown her the deeper facets of what emotion and passion can do for a Force user, teaching her that the Dark Side is not about hate and anger alone - in fact, Wyntier often creates or puts Aradia in situations that cause her to experience varying emotions, so that she may learn how to use their intensity to enhance her Sith powers.
Though she does not often share it with others, Aradia believes that she was born with a connection to the Dark Side, and that it is something she cannot escape due to how deeply tied to it she is. Wyntier encourages and reinforces this theory whenever it is possible, though he had come to a similar decision when he first saw Aradia in his meditations. Dylan often, whenever Wyntier is far from Aradia, insists that she is not innately evil and that she is merely misguided.
Goals and Ambitions
At one time, the child Galatea was enamored with the idea of becoming a Jedi, not only because it would develop her latent talents but because she believed that it made Dylan happy. This ambition waned as she progressed through the training on Tython, and was eventually shattered during her early months with Wyntier.
Due to the racial prejudices from pure-blood Arkanians, young Galatea had become obsessed with genetics, learning as much as she could about them while she and Dylan traveled the galaxy, however Dylan and the Jedi Order refused to help her obtain the specific information about the Offshoot race from Arkania. When Wyntier offered her the alternative of Sith Alchemy, her interest waned greatly as it's uses were largely to create sithspawn or enhance weaponry and trinkets - the little information that Wyntier had gained from Arkania hinted that the Arkanian scientists were of much the same mind as the Alchemists, and genetics have since turned into a forgotten hobby that she rarely uses.
Aradia's attentions have turned to the possibly lost teachings of Sith Magic, an advanced form of Force use that surpasses several of the Dark Side Force abilities, though they require a deeper connection with the Dark Side that most Sith are either unable to focus upon or unwilling to sacrifice for in order to use them. The Sith Sorcerers were nearly wiped out during the Exar Kun War, and if any of them survived, they keep a low profile or their artifacts remain hidden from the Sith Empire. Determined to obtain that kind of power, Aradia constantly experiments with the limits of her current knowledge in an attempt to take her abilities to the same level as Sith Magic.
Somedays, she has the desire to be rid of Wyntier while other days she wonders if it is possible to destroy a Force Ghost like Dylan.
Quotes/Mottos
"Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion, I gain strength... How then is it that most Sith see passion only as shades of anger and hatred, when there are so many more passions to draw from?"
Theme(s)
Mozart and Madness - Savatage
Cursum Perficio - Enya
Biography
(Forthcoming - thusfar, it is quite expansive and taking a good deal of time to write, as the later half is written in tandem with my fiancee)
Early Life (10 ATC/3633 BBY - 13 ATC/3630 BBY)
Born Galatea Nyx during the later part of the year in 10 ATC, Aradia spent her early years in one of the smaller Offshoot slums on Arkania. The first three years of her life were rather uneventful, aside from the fact that she was largely cared for in a communal setting by older Offshoots who were either too old to work in the mines or had become permanently injured and could not work in the mines; most Offshoots are prepared for life as a mine worker fairly early, and the literacy in this slum did not progress past learning to read the signs found in the mining facility.
Galatea was quite rebellious at an early age, frequently disobeying or arguing with her mother in some fashion, however she never did so in front of her father. As a result, Tryphena's claims of bad behaviour were largely ignored by Xenos, who believed his daughter was a perfect child. Xenos often would over-turn any punishment that his wife laid down, if such extended past the time he arrived home from his double shifts in the mine, which further complicated things between Tryphena and her daughter.
During her third year of life, Tryphena tried to discipline Galatea for hiding the family's only hydrospanner while the woman was working on repairing a shelving unit. When the child refused to reveal the location of the tool, Tryphena threatened to send Galatea to her room without any lunch and that the child would remain there until her father returned home. The girl refused the punishment, and when her mother tried to forcefully grab her, Galatea became angry and lashed out through the Force during he tantrum.
The Force Push knocked Tryphena off-balance, however it also slammed into the already unstable shelving unit, toppling the heavy storage crates onto the woman that caused her to fall entirely before crashing onto the woman and it's prior contents. The confused and terrified Galatea ran into the streets screaming for help, however with most of the able bodied Offshoots still working, help arrived too late - Tryphena had been crushed to death by the containers and the broken shelving unit. When Galatea recounted her story, Xenos and the few Offshoots that had remained determined that Tryphena must have accidentally knocked into the shelving unit while trying to grab Galatea, and blame was largely removed from the child.
Leaving Arkania (14 ATC/3629 BBY)
Approximately one year after her mother's death, while Galatea was being taught by the old caretakers of the slum how to manage the simpler tasks at home, she sensed something was out of place. Nothing in the home was different, nor in the slum itself, however she eventually found a man sitting on a rock outside of the slum, staring at the ground intently.
The man was Dylan Cyr, a visiting Jedi Knight who was trying to avoid the attentions of an Arkanian geneticist, however before much had been said between the man and the child, Danae Xenophon located Cyr. The aristocratic pure-blood tried to shoo Galatea away, insulting the child in the manner that nearly all Arkanians do when they encounter an Offshoot, which angered the girl.
Galatea yelled at the woman in defense, and unconsciously triggered another Force Push, knocking the woman over backward. Cyr was surprised and somewhat disturbed by the display, however it was clear to him that the child possessed some ability to use the Force, and after lecturing Xenophon he turned his attention back to the little girl. During the course of their initial conversation, a very weak Force Bond was established between the two, as Galatea saw Cyr as some sort of guardian her parents had failed to be.
Concerned that the child would become corrupted by the darker influences that were part of the Offshoots lives, Cyr convinced Xenos to allow Galatea to be taken back to the Jedi Temple on Tython for formal training; while Cyr believed that he had impressed the dangers of the Dark Side of the Force on Xenos, the girl's father merely hoped that leaving Arkania would prove to provide a better life for his daughter - as far as Xenos was concerned, it was impossible for a sweet girl like his daughter to be corrupted by the Dark Side.
Before the end of the day, Cyr and Galatea were enroute to Tython. The little girl quickly became open and trusting of Cyr, and told him what happened when her mother died, blaming herself for the incident now that she knew what a Force Push/Pull was. While Cyr questioned the situation, he justified the incident as being due to a lack of knowledge and guidance, rather than a true start down the path that lead to the Dark Side of the Force and hoped that training would eliminate such incidents from the future.
Youngling Years (14 ATC/3629 BBY - 21 ATC/3622 BBY)
Unfortunately for Cyr, one of the first few individuals they encountered upon landing at the Temple was a pure-blood Arkanian Padawan who immediately voiced his concern at the Jedi allowing refuse within their sacred ground; Galatea was again angered, and before Cyr could stop her, she lashed out with a Force Push that caught the boy off-guard. The outburst immediately raised concern over the child, including having the Jedi Knight that was training the Arkanian condemn Galatea as a user of the Dark Side.
Although she had been practicing the basics of using the Force to push and pull small objects with Cyr during their trip to Tython, Galatea encountered difficulty in performing the same practice during their meeting with the Jedi Council and was only able to complete the task after becoming frustrated. The Council was wary of the girl's reliance on emotion, however Cyr explained to them her performances on the way to the Temple, described the environment that she had been surrounded by, and stated that he was convinced that training would eliminate her dependency. Eventually, the Council agreed to allow Galatea to begin training, and she was moved into the facilities used for the younglings education.
Galatea made for an average student within the group of younglings she joined, however while she slowly learned control of her emotions, she still had great difficulty controlling her abilities whenever she became emotional. She fought to hide this from the Jedi, fearing that it would cause them to send her away from Tython, although it was noticeable during lightsaber training due to the exaltation that combat caused. While she continually had trouble with basic control and many abilities related to control, Galatea excelled at Force Sense based lessons.
Shortly after her arrival, Galatea began to have horrible nightmares that she could never remember the details of. Often, she would sit up screaming in her bed, though she would not awaken until one of the Jedi assigned to the younglings intervened. There was little that could be done to keep the nightmares away, though the Council took interest in them, often having the child guided back into the dreams to determine if they were tied to the darker history of the planet. She was not the only one in the Temple's recent history to have such a problem, though only one other youngling and two resident Padawans experienced similar dreams while she was there. Cyr was against what the Council did with the recipients of the nightmares, and always tended to Galatea when she would awaken from them whenever he was on Tython.
Cyr continued to visit the youngling during this time, offering advice and words of encouragement even after finding out she was struggling with emotional control. He advised her to be careful with her feelings in combat, explaining that she would not be taught to control them while studying the basic Form I that all children were taught. She quickly grew bored with Form I, and at age 7, Galatea began sneaking into the saber training area in the middle of the night to try and learn to fight with a saber in each hand. While Cyr was visiting the Temple, he sensed the child's rush of emotion during the night, and caught her; although he was mildly amused by her thirst for knowledge, he educated her on why Younglings were taught in the progression they were, and promised to teach her the duel wield form of Makashi when she became his Padawan.
Uplifted by the promise of becoming his Padawan, Galatea redoubled her efforts even though she disliked how slowly the younglings were being taught.
The Padawan Trial (21 ATC/3622 BBY)
Though there was some debate over Dylan Cyr's request to have Galatea be assigned to him as a Padawan learner, the majority of the Jedi Council voted in favour of the request. Her test, however, was the final point of contention between Cyr and the Council, although Galatea herself quickly agreed to it out of fear they'd overturn their decision.
Her test required her to leave the Temple grounds, and seek out the source of her discomfort so that she could move past it. Cyr found this to be a badly veiled use of the girl to discover more about the planet's turbulent past, however the idea of not returning to Cyr's care frightened Galatea more than the darkness of her dreams.
Gala's test would take several days, leading her quite deep into the wild of Tython as she followed the paths she found via her nightmares. Eventually, she found the ruins of the Followers of Bogan, which were saturated with the Dark Side of the Force. Almost immediately after arriving at the center of the ruins, Gala was assaulted by the Dark Side; panicked and in great pain, Gala released a Force Scream that Cyr heard during his meditations and also knocked over several of the remaining statues and pillars in the ruins. Believing that she was being attacked by someone, the panicked girl reached out through the Force to try and throw one of the fallen statues in the direction she thought the attacker might be; her Telekinesis beyond moderate push and pulls was typically abysmal, but the young girl was surprised by how easy it suddenly was. When she still could not find the attacker but still felt the horrible pain, she increased the amount of rubble being tossed about until the physical stress from channeling that much Force power caused her to push the rubble away from herself before collapsing.
Despite passionate argument with the Council, Cyr was forbidden from rescuing Galatea from the ruins, and informed that returning on her own was part of the test. The girl remained unconscious in a light Hibernation Trance for another two days before awakening, making a slow way back to the Temple despite the regenerative properties of the Trance. Upon her arrival, she was taken to the Council.
The girl did not remember what occurred in the Temple, and Cyr had only been able to feel her emotions during the encounter. At the Council's request, he guided Galatea into a trance, allowing their Telepathy to expand to a broader range; together, the pair recounted to the Council what occurred in a calm, detached manner. Once the Council realised the recounting was complete, Cyr was ordered to break the trance, which caused Gala to scream and collapse a second time.
When the girl was awakened, she could remember what occurred, and quickly told the Council that the entire event had left her wary despite how easy it had been to accomplish something she had trouble with. After she was dismissed, Cyr was warned by the rest of the Council that Gala may not be able to overcome her brush with the Dark Side of the Force, ordering him to do whatever may become necessary if she began to fall as their condition of her tutelage by him. Dylan begrudgingly agreed, and requested to be allowed assignments that would keep the pair off Tython and away from the ruins; his request was granted.
Life as a Padawan (21 ATC/3622 BBY - 23 ATC/3620 BBY)
The pair traveled through the majority of the Core worlds. Cyr continued Gala's training in Form II, augmenting it with Jar`kai, allowing her to work with two blades instead of one. While she was quite good with the combat style, she never became very exceptional with lightsaber combat. Their Force Bond strengthened due to their largely unchecked emotions, though Cyr often rationalized such to be a natural protection one feels for their Padawan, having never had a Padawan before.
During their travels, Gala began to have visions of a man who seemed to be made from ice like Arkania but colder, several of which were not visions as Wyntier was following and tracking the pair, revealing himself whenever the Padawan was sent out alone. Several times, she could hear his voice offering her the freedom to have her intense emotions or offering her the truth behind her encounter in the ruins. The being also suggested keeping the encounters a secret from Cyr, however when she discussed it with her Master, he advised that it was probably an echo from her encounter at the ruins, and to not give in to it.
During an isolated flare up of fighting between the Sith and the Jedi on Ord Mantell, Galatea became separated from Cyr. She was nearly killed when a pair of Sith overpowered her, however the man from her visions appeared behind them, cutting them both down before informing her that if she wished to survive the battle, she would come with him. Despite the fact he was obviously a Sith, Galatea followed the man, thrown off-guard by what she perceived as an act of valour. Together, they fought their way back to the Class VI ship that belonged to her savior, and the two left the planet before they could be attacked again.
Once the fighting was subdued, Cyr realised that Gala was off-planet, and contacted her via their Force Bond. Upon discovering she had been rescued by the man from her visions, Cyr frantically warns her to remain on guard while beginning his pursuit of the pair; Galatea told him that she felt the man could be redeemed, considering he did not permanently harm any of the Jedi that attacked him during their escape, to which Cyr claimed that the man was just trying to confuse her so that she would trust him.
The Honoured Prisoner (23 ATC/3620 BBY - 25 ATC/3618 BBY)
Wyntier keeps several steps ahead of Cyr's pursuit, gaining ground as the Jedi Knight is forced to take care of other assignments from the Council, which puts a strain on Cyr being able to respond to Galatea's attempts to reach out to him through the Force. The Sith quietly used Cyr's inability to track them and his frequent silences against the Jedi in his subtle campaign to turn Gala to the Dark Side, slowly convincing her that Cyr was too bound to the Jedi Order to ever return her devotion.
Although she is technically a prisoner, Wyntier does little to treat her like one beyond locking her in the ship during the times they were on Republic or Jedi friendly worlds, otherwise he merely advised her of the fact they were on Sith worlds or planets that were unfriendly toward Jedi, letting her make her own choices upon what to do. He also gave her the choice of remaining in her Padawan robes, or receiving other clothing; after a few days of trying to keep her robe clean, she requested other clothing and was surprised when the clothing was of a far higher quality.
Galatea continued to try and progress with her training without Cyr's instruction, and after watching a few of her practice sessions, Wyntier began offering her advice on her technique. Eventually, the Sith began teaching her about some fairly neutral aspects of the Force that she would have learned from the Jedi, and she begins to practice them as well. Wyntier provides an empty section of his converted cargo bay for Lightsaber practice, continuing her training with Makashi while carefully introducing concepts from the darker Juyo, helping Galatea to use many different emotions while engaged in combat.
During their travels, Wyntier reveals his beliefs about emotions, carefully countering the strict limitations the Jedi have instilled into Gala's mind concerning them. The two engage in many discussions on the subject, with the Sith always turning the conversation away from the possibility that such a lack of restraint might lead to the Dark Side; although the Padawan is wary, Wyntier proved several times that he did not suppress his emotions, but he did not allow them to control him either - something that was quite different from what the younger Jedi were told about the Sith.
After reviewing the ship's log of HoloNet accesses, Wyntier discovered that Galatea had an intense interest in genetics, and he begins to carefully make her aware of the fact that there are techniques to manipulate genetics through the Force that were far more capable than what can normally be accomplished. While interested, the Padawan remained more focused on obtaining the specifics of Arkanian genetic manipulation, though Wyntier understood why it was so important to her.
Slowly, Galatea began to attempt the various abilities and concepts that Wyntier presented with less resistance to them, and carefully the Sith began to move her teachings away from the neutral aspects of the Force and onto the darker aspects of the Force, masking their deeper meanings from her. When she took a liking to the ability to create even minor illusions, Wyntier began to center her lessons around the subject, encouraging her to try more and more complex illusions over the course of her training.
The Sith continued to compel Galatea's emotion, lifting more and more of her trained surpressions as the months turned into years by encouraging her to act upon and express her intense feelings, especially the frustration and hopelessness that Cyr's gradual decline in contact created; eventually, the Padawan abandoned the hopes that her former Master would rebel against the Order and succeed in finding her. Upon the two year anniversary of the battle at Ord Mantell, Galatea approaches Wyntier about continuing her training as his student.
The Return to Arkania (25 ATC/3618 BBY)
Wyntier offers to assist Galatea in obtaining information on Arkanian genetic techniques, revealing the nature of the Omwati to his apprentice even though she had never heard of them before meeting the Sith. They prepare a false identity for Wyntier, and the Sith pays for several documents to be falsified while they are on Nal Hutta, documents that would verify his claims of being the investigating agent of a private corporation interested in funding the Arkanians' research.
Galatea returned to the slums, gathering several samples of Offshoot blood to be used for later testing, instinctively finding her way back to where she had lived over ten years before. Vague memories returned to her as she stood outside of the dilapidated home, compelling her to enter the house and explore; she finds that the shelving unit that killed her mother was never replaced, recalling what happened that day and realising exactly what she had done however she was unable to recall why she had gotten angry at her mother.
Xenos returned home while she was still there, immediately demanding to know why Dylan Cyr had contacted him over a year ago to inquire if the Offshoot had seen his daughter. The bitter young woman told her father that Cyr's promises had been hollow, and that the Jedi's inquiry had been equally hollow. Xenos informed her that he had sent Cyr a message before approaching her, and expressed his disappointment at her decision to abandon the Jedi Knight for one of the perverted Sith, citing that he had higher expectations of for her since he sacrificed so much for her to leave Arkania.
Enraged by her father's implied insults at Wyntier, Galatea lashed out with the Force, creating another small maelstrom out of the few furnishings and trinkets within the home. Object after object battered her father, bruising and tearing at his skin and hair while blocking the old Offshoot from escaping; the assault quickly wore down her father's body, and he slowly sunk lower to the ground until a rusted hydrospanner impaled his torso, tearing one of his lungs. When Xenos finally collapsed, Galatea repulsed the debris away from herself, the force of her focused push in such a confined space causing the walls to collapse.
Wyntier had felt the disturbance in the Force when she began her maelstrom, however he did not arrive until the house had begun to collapse. The Sith deflected the collapsing rubble from his apprentice, and to stop any further destruction, he pulled away all of her thoughts so that she fainted. As he collected his apprentice from the destroyed shack, Wyntier noticed a broken and bleeding Offshoot staring up at him from the rubble, muttering curses with his dying breath. He had little time to bother with figuring out the man's words, all too aware that if he felt Galatea's actions through the Force, the Jedi at the Enclave very well may have as well.
Once in the safety of hyperspace, Wyntier revived his apprentice and began to lecture her on why using any sort of large scale maelstrom and repulse in such a structurally unstable building was not a wise idea, adding that such a display so near a Jedi Enclave was unwise as well before finally asking what caused her outburst. When Galatea explained what had happened, and that the man was her father, the Sith interrupted their lesson long enough to have their docking records wiped from the Arkanian system - the Omwati were somewhat rare, and with the death of Xenos, it would be easy for Cyr to put the pieces together.
Wyntier off-handedly mentions that many Sith believed the cold blooded murder of one's relatives by using the Force was the turning point in the path toward the Dark Side, even though he personally felt there was no significance since she had been separated from her family over ten years before. To Wyntier's confusion, Galatea began giggling hysterically, though tears began to fall down her cheeks despite the sound she was making; she was amused that such a thing was considered a turning point towards the path of the Dark Side, as she had killed her mother with the Force during a tantrum when she was three years old.
The incident created the belief in Galatea that she was naturally meant to follow the Dark Side, believing that it was the source of her difficulties during her training on Tython, which only lead her to hate Cyr's loyalty to an Order that was too blind or too confident to realise such a thing; when she challenged him with these concepts via their weakening link, his responses left her bitter and even more convinced that he was a slave to the failing Jedi Order.
The Sith Apprentice (25 ATC/3618 BBY - 27 ATC/3616 BBY)
Galatea fully accepts Wyntier as her teacher, embracing his teachings with a vigor that he had not seen from her since her single attempt at deciphering the markings on her cheek. The young woman casts of her prior life, burning her Padawan robes as a symbol of her commitment to her new life, and her contact and connection with Cyr begins to wane rapidly. Wyntier offers her the name of Aradia, and she accepts the name without question, although Wyntier explains to her the significance of taking on a new name when starting down the path of the Sith, emphasizing that she must leave the past in the past from now on.
The pair return to Korriban, taking residence in the holdings that Wyntier had left abandoned during his pursuit and corruption of Aradia. Several droids have kept the interior immaculate, and Dia makes several remarks about the sterility of the building; Wyntier establishes that the entire estate will be kept in the condition she saw, and that anything less will not be tolerated.
Wyntier then explains exactly what he expects from her as his apprentice, highlighting the fact that it is not about how powerful she becomes in the Force itself, but how much she understands the Force and what he teaches her. She is advised that it would be a mistake to attempt to accomplish something when she was unsure of what exactly it was she was meant to do, and that he expects her to come to him for clarification or assistance rather than finishing the task incorrectly. He then explained to her that should she fail to do so, or should she continuously fail to understand what his lessons meant, she would be met with punishment; however, Wyntier had little belief that it was necessary to torture his apprentices as most Sith did, and assured her that she would not be subjected to any such torment if she did not deserve it...except for a single time.
Before Aradia could question him, Wyntier turned on her and used the Force to turn each nerve ending in her body into a conduit of pain. As she had within the ruins on Tython, Dia screamed into the Force during that brief moment of pain, disturbing many of the other residents of Korriban and the distant sleeping Jedi, Dylan Cyr, before collapsing from shock. The Sith moved her from the floor of his training room and into the bed in what he intended to be her quarters during their stays on Korriban, focusing his telepathy to gently guide her back into the waking world.
When she awoke, the apprentice's eyes widened at Wyntier's proximity, and she reflexively backed up into the wall the bed was placed next to. Sighing, Wyntier shook his head and again explained to Aradia that it would be the only time he would subject her to such agony, so long as she continued to be intelligent and understanding as opposed to over-confident and reckless. Once he had her attention again, he began to instruct her how the agony was caused, teaching her how to use the very weapon he threatened her with; he lead her outside so that she could experiment upon the local wildlife.
Once several days had passed without Wyntier causing agony to Aradia, she slowly began to trust him again. While perfecting her new techniques, the Sith explains to her why they have largely stayed in isolation, even after returning to the center of the Sith Empire: that his fellow Sith often do not understand the truth behind their power, nor that there is more to passion than mere anger, fear and hatred and that their focus is lost when they engage in petty games of 'king of the hill'. Aradia is surprised that the things he had been teaching her were not favourable among the other Sith, and realises that to an extent, the Jedi were right about the majority of the Sith.
No subject or ability is taboo with Wyntier, whether it be about the Force or about other academic studies, and Aradia's education expands rapidly from just the Sith teachings. Her Master introduces her to the concept of Sith Alchemy, however when she learns that the majority of it's applications and practices are only for the use of monster-making or minor enhancement to weapons or clothing, her interest in genetics returns to the 'traditional' methods of the Arkanians however it slowly becomes more of a hobby than a focus.
Aradia quickly develops something of an addiction to Wyntier, from his presence, his intelligence, his teachings and his attention toward her; the dynamic of her training is much more open and their bond much more powerful due to her rapidly weakening restraint of emotion, however it remains nothing more than an addiction and possibly false desire born out of loneliness and their nearly constant interaction.
During this time, Wyntier begins to gather the materials he will need to create a gift for Aradia, however due to the nature of the gift, he could not begin construction of it until he had all of the required pieces. He presented a design to Aradia for a circlet, explaining that as she learned each major lesson he had to teach her in regards to the Force, he would add to the circlet; by the time it was completed, she should be nearly finished her studies as an apprentice. The drawback to the gift is that each piece must be fused into her skin using basic Sith Alchemy, and Wyntier reveals a secret band of dark crystals he uses for his lightsabers, each fused into his upper arm. Aradia agrees, and they begin the slow process of fusing each piece into her skin until the base part of the circlet is finished.
Once the basic part of the circlet is finished, Dia notices an increased depth to their Force bond, finding it easier to speak into Wyntier's mind as well finding it is easier to hear his replies. She also discovers that the range at which she can still telepathically communicate with her Master has increased during one of his very infrequent times away from Korriban without her; although she is unaware of it, the fading bond with Cyr becomes even more silent, the stronger Force bond overshadowing it. Dia is not, however, aware of the fact that Wyntier can access any part of her mind whenever he pleases, making it impossible for her to hid anything from the Sith Master.
An End of Conflict (27 ATC/3616 BBY)
Towards the end of their fourth year together, Wyntier felt that Aradia had become advanced in her training and dedicated to his teachings to a point where it was time to force an ending to the conflict that was created by Dylan Cyr's continued efforts. He begins to track the Jedi, and under the guise of following new research, the Sith pair often dock at the same locations as Aradia's former master.
Initially, Aradia does not leave the ship during their time planetside, instead devoting her time to her studies and practices despite Wyntier's encouragement to take advantage of the various starports and cities they visit. Wyntier himself spends much of his time away from the ship, which eventually draws his apprentice out of hiding; Aradia feared that Wyntier was either searching for another apprentice or another woman, despite holding no claim or power over him on either account.
The more she ventured out into the starports, the more her Master seemed to remain on the ship, and Aradia decided to use his actions against him by spending all of their time planetside outside the ship. Wyntier was amused by her possessiveness, and spent his some of his time musing if it was something that she would have developed naturally, or if it was a side affect of their six years of being Force bonded.
With the Sith remaining on the ship more often, Dylan Cyr grew bold and tried to confront Aradia several times when he sensed her presence on the same planet. The first few occasions, she cited chance at being the driving cause of their encounters, and would immediately do everything in her power to evade Cyr long enough to conceal and stealth herself from him using the Force. It took a tremendous amount of concentration to maintain both abilities simultaniously, but after times of being forced to do so, it began to become easier for the unsettled woman.
After two months of consistent incidents with Dylan, Aradia was growning suspicious and frustrated. She was suspicious that either Wyntier was aware of Cyr's presence at each of their stops, or that Cyr had finally resumed his attempts to find her after nearly five years of failure. She was quickly growing frustrated with the Jedi's insistance that she was not truly Sith, despite her numerous citations of proof and evidence to the contrary; Cyr simply could not believe that she was unredeemable, and pressed her for philisophical conversations that she had no desire to participate in. He was still clearly more bound to the Jedi Order than to himself, which was something Aradia had come to view as a weakness - he still could not admit to his true feelings as they went against the Jedi's supression of emotion.
The Sith pair returned to Ord Mantell, though the planet was going through one of it's more quiet phases. There were several points of investigation they needed to cover, and so they split up after agreeing to return to the battlesite where Wyntier had first rescued Aradia. Wyntier never truly went to investigate anything, instead finding somewhere close to the battlesite to meditate and follow both his apprentice and her former Master.
It was not long before Cyr found Aradia, the Jedi again confronting her about her fall to the Dark Side, although this time he actually began to spout many misconceptions the Jedi had about the Sith, claiming that they did not sound like things that would come naturally to Aradia at all. The Sith apprentice retorted that Cyr did not understand a thing about the Sith, and that there was more to cause intense passion than just anger, fear and hatred; she followed up her statements by pointing out that Cyr had no understanding of what real passion was, as he had spent his life pretending that he was unaffected by it.
Storming out of the rubble, she left the Jedi staring in shock at her heated words. It had been some time since her feelings for Cyr had surfaced, and their intensity had caught the Jedi off-guard as he felt them through their dying bond. The emotions sparked a realisation within Cyr, and he finally understood why Aradia had never returned to him, and the Jedi knew that he had failed her as more than a teacher. He began to trace the path that she had taken, although he could not actually see where she had gone, but he could still distantly feel where she was.
Cyr broke over the side of the hilll that his Padawan had nearly been killed on, stopping short when he saw the cold Omwati standing beside Aradia. Finally confronted with the corruptor of the girl he had always cared for, it took everything in the Jedi's power to keep from striking the other man down in vengance. The Sith taunted Cyr, recalling all of his failures as a Master and as a sentient being, reminding him of each time he sacrificed "Gala" for the will of the Jedi Order. The two began to argue over which of them had the right to train Aradia, and it was not long before they both drew their weapons, the argument becoming physical.
Wyntier was a superior duelist, having been driven by his Master to learn multiple forms of combat while Cyr had only ever focused upon Soresu; it was not long before the Sith overpowered her former Master, however as Wyntier moved to make his killing blow, he found his saber blocked by two familiar blades. Aradia locked his saber between both of hers, berating him for thinking that it was his right to kill Cyr before claiming that if the Jedi's life belonged to anyone, it belonged to her. Wyntier disengaged his saber, knowing that the girl would not betray him, and stepped back before ordering her to chose to end the conflict by killing Cyr. Her Master's weapon no longer a threat, Aradia disengaged her own sabers and turned to face Cyr.
Through their telepathy, the Sith reminds Aradia of the vast differences between her two lives, claiming that it she may chose between the life she once had and the life she had now without immediate reprocussions from himself. While his thoughts sounded confident, she could feel the truth of his words, reflecting on everything that had happened since the day she met the Jedi outside of the slum.
She stood over the kneeling Jedi, waiting for him to speak the words she could feel within his heart, but Cyr remained silent, looking up at her with a strangely calm expression. Aradia did not realise that she had begun to cry as she silently placed the hilts of her sabers against Cyr's torso; when he still remained silent, she ignited the blades briefly, leaving them on just long enough for the Jedi's chest to be pierced. As his life faded, she heard him whisper that she had been right, asked her to forgive him for failing her, and claiming her tears were all the proof he would ever need to know she did not belong with the Sith.
Cyr's admission only after her blades had ignited pained Aradia deeply. Believing the circle was now complete, Wyntier ordered her to dispose of the body before joining him on their ship, citing that he was not sure if the Jedi traveled alone or not. The Sith then left her, intentionally blocking their bond until she returned to him later on that evening.
Once Wyntier was gone, Aradia broke down over the body of Dylan Cyr, simply crying for several minutes before lifting his body without any use of the Force. After finding a clearing in a nearby dying forest, the woman built a pyre for her former Master, carefully digging through his robes until she found the only piece of jewelry that Cyr ever wore before igniting the dry wood. The flames burning higher, Aradia pulled the necklace over her head, hiding it beneath her clothing as she watched her former Master's body begin to burn.
Dylan's spirit was drawn by the incident, his incorporeal form becoming brighter as the flames devoured his body, and he made his former Padawan aware of his presence by commenting on how much Wyntier would dislike her choice in 'disposing' of his body. Aradia is confused by his presence, having thought that a Jedi could only pass into the Force in such a manner if they were prepared for it; Dylan explained many things about the death of Jedi and Sith alike before offering to teach her how to use her concealement and cloaking techniques to hid his medallion so that she could take it with her, without Wyntier ever learning of it's nature. The Jedi also explained the affects the hiridiu crystals in Aradia's expanding circlet upon the Force bond with Wyntier, making her understand that there could be no secrets she herself could keep from him as long as she wore them. He also explained that for at least the foreseeable future, she would be able to call out to him whenever she needed his help, and he promised that he would be able to keep their conversations a secret from the Sith.
Aradia accepted his offer, though she claimed not to know whether or not she would ever need to speak to him, as her betrayal of him should make it clear where she actually belonged; Cyr continued to not accept that answer, claiming he now knew for a fact that she was capable of redemption. Agitated by the words of her former Master, the young woman bid his spirit goodbye as the pyre began to smoulder, its flames spent.
She returned to their ship, and found Wyntier waiting patiently for her in her room. Aradia confronted him about the secret behind his gift, and the Sith openly admitted to knowing what the hiridiu crystals would do, adding a reminder of the benefits they granted her as well. He in turn confronted her about the secret she had been keeping for nearly seven years, breaking down her instictually created cloak around the marks on her cheek. Further confused, having expected the Sith to know about the medallion, Aradia explained that she had hidden it for so long, it was more of a reflex like breathing and sleeping so she had forgotten about it.
Wyntier recreated the sigils using illusions generated by the Force, reshaping them slowly before her eyes until they revealed themselves to be nothing more than twisted and distorted Sith writing that spelled out his name. Aradia immediately accused him of attacking her in the Bogan ruins, but her Master quickly dispelled her accusations by sharing what had happened to him in the months leading up to the day of her Padawan trail. The Sith emphasised that he had long been searching for more than a mere apprentice, he had been searching for someone to forge into becoming his equal without the lack of loyalty that most Sith had for one another, and the Force had revealed her to him as she faced the remnants of the Bogan's legacy.
The Sith admitted to being possessive, explaining to Aradia that after witnessing her trial and finding one of the aspects he believed to be a truth for a Sith used so effortlessly, he refused to allow anyone else the chance at having his apprentice; the marking had been intentional, and necessary, creating the start of the bond they had been sharing for the past seven years.
Her feelings became conflicted, and the Sith left her to meditate upon the events of the past few months and upon the revelations that had been made that evening. Aradia had been nearly consumed by her grief, destroyed by her guilt at killing Dylan Cyr seconds before his confession, but felt the faint glimmering spark of hope beginning to reform behind her loss.
Abduction and Recovery(28 ATC/3615 BBY)
Wyntier introduces Aradia to rumors about the lost Sith Magics after she shows extreme promise in creating illusions, an ability that was advanced at some point by the Sith Sorcerers. They return to Korriban, beginning their research within the libraries and databanks of the Sith Academy.
The pair had not frequented the Academy very often in the prior years of Aradia's training, and her lasting apprenticeship with the Omwati coupled with rumors that she had killed her first Jedi lead to an increase in interest from not only her peers but also her Master's contemporaries.
One such individual, Darth Ambrose, took it upon himself to disrupt her apprenticeship. Ambrose had a long standing history with Wyntier, having assisted his Master in murdering Darth A’Moales and later using the research they had stolen as his own after the Omwati had tracked down and murdered Ambrose's Master. The Sith Lord held a grudge, despite the prestige the research had garnered, and would often attempt to discredit and undermine the older Sith Lord.
After learning of Aradia, Ambrose decided to humiliate his rival by making the apprentice his own. The researcher offered her information pertaining to her current research of the Sith Sorcerers, using spices to drug the young apprentice while she was reviewing his personal libraries. Ambrose then escaped Korriban with his prize, though his ship was badly damaged by an attack from Darth Malickai, the Sith torturing Aradia in an attempt to break her will during their flight to the Nespis VIII Space Station.
Shortly before arriving at the space station, Ambrose learned that a bounty had been placed upon him, it's sum totaling the exact amounts he had in his personal accounts. Using his Kissai retainers as proxies, Ambrose used the last of their personal credits to attempt to repair the ship, only to secure passage to Vjun on a transport freighter when the repairs began to take too long.
Wyntier arrived after Ambrose and his Kissai had departed with their captive, causing further damage to the ship so that the Massassi the other Sith Lord had left behind would be incapable of bringing the ship to Vjun. Malickai bypassed Nespis VIII, instead heading straight to Vjun where he set up a trap for the hapless transport while arranging for ground support in case Ambrose got by them.
Confronted by the Dominion upon exiting hyperspace, the transport captain surrendered immediately, unaware that they were carrying any form of fugitives with them. Ambrose and his Kissai along with their cargo jettisoned to the planet below before the boarding party arrived, crash landing upon the surface less than a day's walk from the spaceport. He sent the Kissai to hide when he felt the presence of Darth Malickai, the two fighting after the Sith Lord attempted to eliminate the troops that accompanied Malickai; Ambrose was defeated when Malickai unleashed agony on his nervous system, cutting off his hand to end the duel before torturing Ambrose into unconsciousness.
Aradia's body had been badly damaged by the torture she received as well as over two days without food or water while Ambrose was attempting to flee from the Dominion and the Penitence by booking passage on the public transport. Much of the resulting trauma was beyond the point of being repairable without sacrificing much of her mobility and neural network functions, so Wyntier revisited older research projects, coming to the conclusion that if they were to remove all of the damaged tissues and use nanogen droid enhanced bacta (as a cover for Sith Alchemy) after, Aradia should recover most if not all of her former mobility and neural structure.
Research in hand, the three Sith left Vjun for Thyferra, where the recently discovered bacta was produced. On their way there, Wyntier began intensive training with Aradia on the finer points of telekinesis, in case their attempts to heal her failed as well as working with her telepathic abilities - the electroshock torture had caused great difficulty for her speech centers, and the young woman refused to speak vocally whenever possible because she hated how her words slurred. During their days of travel she also watched Wyntier and Malickai sparring, while Wyntier was training the Warrior in the ways of Battle Precognition; they also began work on designing new lightsabers for the apprentice, as Ambrose had destroyed her old sabers and Wyntier was only able to recover the hurrikaine gem from their scraps.
While Wyntier and Malickai enjoyed Coronet City over the thirty six hours they were planetside, "Tryphena" travelled to the Corellian Jedi Enclave.
During her time there, she was able to obtain all of the information she could find in their libraries on lightsaber construction, which was slightly different from the information she recalled seeing at the Korriban Academy, yet more familiar due to the fact she had created her sabers originally while she was Cyr's Padawan. However, it was not without it's own price that she was not expecting.
Between "Tryphena's" noble volunteering as a patient for a new medial procedure and her natural intelligence and presence within the Force, Aradia found that the Corellian Jedi had started taking an actual interest in "Tryphena". She was invited by the Grand Master, Rikard Halcyon, to return to the Enclave and remain as long as she liked; Halcyon's son, Jerrik, developed something of a crush on "Tryphena", giving Aradia his Jedi Credit that his father had given him years before as well as a kiss before she left the Enclave the following morning.
Upon her return to Coronet City, the three Sith obtained a few hours of rest before leaving the sector to continue their way to Thyferra. Unbeknownst to Aradia, Grand Master Halcyon contacted the Thyferran Enclave, alerting them of "Tryphena's" arrival, her injuries sustained while fighting a Sith on Columus, and her noble work with the local bacta facility that would be taking place; the young woman was met by several Jedi Knights at the spaceport, escorted to the facility while all of her lodgings were taken care of at the Enclave itself. Neither Aradia nor Wyntier had been expecting the interference from the Jedi Order, and they found themselves largely separated and unable to communicate even through their Force bond while planetside.
Aradia was forced to spend the night in the Enclave, although the next three days of her life were spent within a sterile laboratory in the bacta facility Wyntier had found to test the nanogen technology with. After placing his apprentice in a medically induced coma, the Omwati "doctor" began to surgically remove all of the damage tissues from her body, including removing the majority of the soles of her feet. The Jedi Knights that had escorted "Tryphena" watched from the attached observation lounge during the entire process, though only one looked at more than the workstation screens. Once the tissue had been removed and her arm had been rebroken and set, "Doctor Vahn Durholm" placed her inside the bacta tank he had prepared, activating both the nanogen droids and the alchemical Sith runes hidden by the monitoring equipment.
The young apprentice nearly died when Cyr attempted to contact her through her distorted coma induced dreams, disrupting the alchemical part of the treatment with his presence. Wyntier was forced to reach through their bond to stop the dream, though his actions were largely felt as a wild distressed attempt to stop the girl from dying. "Doctor Durholm" immediately had words with the Jedi afterward, essentially banning them for the remainder of "Tryphena's" treatment. The Omwati himself barely slept during the entire time Aradia was in the Bacta tank, surviving off a lot of caf and brief 30 minute naps every so often.
After nearly three days in a coma, the regeneration of most of her damaged nerves and something akin to sensory deprevation, Aradia awoke to find all of her senses - including her connection to the Force - heightened to an extreme that she could not handle. At the insistence of "Doctor Durholm", she retreated to a recovery room while Wyntier presented the findings and results of the procedure to the board of directors and the Jedi guests. Unfortunately, Wyntier was forced to return to their ship alone, and "Tryphena" was taken back to the Enclave.
"Tryphena" convinced the other Jedi, who had noticed that "Vahn" was Force Sensitive yet without any sort of control or training, that she had a vision of the Omwati falling to the Dark Side, and impressed upon them that the Force leading her to Thyferra was not only so that she could be healed, but so that someone could get through to "Vahn" and train him properly. After they discussed the situation, the young "Jedi Knight" left the Enclave, meeting a seemingly irritated "doctor" before the Class VI freighter left Thyferra.
The Sith Magics (28 ATC/3615 BBY - 30 ATC/3613 BBY)
Dramatis personæ
Tryphena Nyx - Mother (deceased)
Xenos Nyx - Father (deceased)
Jedi Knight Dylan Cyr (deceased)
Sith Master Wyntier
Sith Master Darth Ambrose (deceased)
Sith Warrior Malickai DeWinter
Jedi Padawan Jerrik Halcyon
Jedi Master Rikard Halcyon
Jedi Knight Saundre Bellingre
Sith Lord Arrio Bhairava
SW-TOR
During the events leading up to the release of SW:TOR and for some time after, Aradia will be tracking and researching the Sith Magics while coming close to creating her own similar style of Force use. She will eventually learn or develop some form of Summon Fear, Concealment, low-level Force Blast, and Illusion Casting though she will only ever become highly proficient at Illusion Casting and Concealment.
Legacy
Eventually, Aradia will pass on her knowledge to an apprentice, preserving everything she discovers or creates for generations to come.
Behind the Scenes (OOC Information)
Played by What Famous Person: Summer Glau
Factoids: Aradia was the name of the Greek goddess of Witches.
Xenophon is Greek for 'strange voice'.
References
External Links:
[Wookieepedia] - I've honestly lost count of what all pages I touched while developing this character...
