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| {{construction}} | | {{Character |
| {{Krath charinfo
| | |order=npc |
| |image=[[Image:mitsuhide.gif|250px|Mitsuhide Akechi]] | | |image= |
| |name=Mitsuhide Akechi | | |firstname=Balthier mied Demen |
| |homeworld=[[Sif]] | | |lastname= d'Tana |
| |birth=1 ABY | | |homeworld=Reena |
| |death= | | |birth=5 ABY |
| |species=Human | | |death=35 ABY |
| | |species=Miraluka |
| |gender=Male | | |gender=Male |
| |hair=Raven Black | | |hair= Raven Black |
| |eyes=Cobalt Blue | | |eyes= |
| |height=1.78 Meters | | |height=1.80 Meters |
| |cyber= | | |cyber= |
| |allies=*[[Derev Niroth]] | | |saber= Azure |
| *[[Dismal Ryokou-Amor]] | | |form=*[[Makashi]] |
| *[[Laigerick Ryokou-Amor]] | | *[[Dun Moch]] |
| *Kalei Basai
| | |fightingstyle=*[[Dulon]] |
| *[[Keibatsu]] Family
| | *[[Hapan]] |
| |enemies=[[Kaeth]] Family | | *[[Verdanaian]] |
| |saber=Yellow
| | *[[Jeswandi]] |
| |form=*[[Ataru]]
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| *[[Makashi]] | |
| *[[Soresu]] | |
| |fightingstyle=*[[Klarin Chi]]
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| *[[Shadow Fist]] | | *[[Shadow Fist]] |
| |profession=[[Dark Jedi]] | | |profession=*Dark Jedi |
| |position=
| | *[[starwars:Saber Rake|Saber Rake]] |
| | *Gentleman Thief |
| |era=[[Dark Jedi Brotherhood Era]] | | |era=[[Dark Jedi Brotherhood Era]] |
| |affiliation= | | |affiliation=* [[Clan Arcona]] |
| *[[Clan Plagueis]] | | *[[d'Tana]] |
| *[[House Satal Keto]] | | *[[starwars:House Reena|House Reena]] |
| |ship= | | |dossier= |
| |dossier=[http://www.darkjedibrotherhood.com/dbjedi/dossier.asp?ID=6377 6377] | |
| }} | | }} |
| {{quote|Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you. |Friedrich Nietzsche}}
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| | {{Quote|Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici.|Faust}} |
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| | == History == |
| | ===Childhood: The Beginning 5 ABY === |
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| | In 5 ABY, a young Miraluka woman had lain with a smuggler by the name of [[Tyber Vorrac|Vorrac]]. She had recently begun working for one of the nobles within [[starwars:House Reena|House Reena]]. When the child was born, the young woman suffered from severe internal hemorrhaging and expired. The boy was adopted into the House and treated as one of their own children. The child was born with the exact same features as his mother, lending him a feminine look as well as vestigial eye sockets without the orbs to fill them. The man and woman who were to become his parents decided to hide the fact that he was a non-human and bound his face with silk cloth to keep his lack of eyes hidden. It would be many years before the young boy would learn the truth of things. He was named Balthier and given a place among the family. |
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| | The child, however, grew quickly and soon become more than a nuisance to those around him. Balthier was quick to learn anything new that interested him. Within months the boy was speaking in broken sentences and by the time the first year was over, there was no safe place to hide from the boy's wandering steps. |
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| | ===Childhood: The Early Years 6 ABY - 12 ABY === |
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| | Balthier’s steps became progressively more noticed as he seemed to have an utterly insatiable curiosity. Locked doors and restricted areas only served to interest the child even more. The young boy quickly found that it was relatively easy to elude detection until people were actively looking. Darkened hallways and quiet doors accompanied his silent footfalls perfectly, especially within the later years of his life. |
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| | Balthier’s childhood was quiet and mostly uninterrupted as he learned from hand selected tutors in subjects branching from politics to martial arts. The boy was particularly interested in the the thieves of ancient times, the ones who were willing to steal for the adventure and not for the financial gain as well as architecture. |
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| | The years continued their stately march and yielded a boy who’s mind was far too fast for his own good and who had within him a curiosity that always desired to find out what was on the other side of a hill or behind a locked door. The boy seemed to age much more quickly |
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| | ===Childhood: Talented Son 12 ABY - 17 ABY === |
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| | As the boy-child grew, he began to fill out the wiry, slender frame that he was unable to ever get away from. The boy began to actively exercise, his hand to hand training was progressing rapidly as the child started learning more advanced forms. Balthier's limbers began to show the signs of muscle and started to become highly toned for what little was there to be toned. |
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| | His instructors had always been sure to teach the boy that being the largest fighter was not always the way to be the best fighter. They assured him that his size would always come as more of a benefit than a hindrance to him if the time ever came that he would need to fight with his opponents in close quarters. Balthier always understood and comprehended what the teachers were saying in fairly short order. He strove to perfect his mastery of the forms he had chosen to use to protect himself. Two of these forms being the form Verdanaian and the variant form Shadow Fist. |
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| | He learned other forms, but the only form he is comfortable in aside from those aforementioned is the Bothan form of Jeswandi. His life was filled with balance and his parents were always eager to hear what he had learned the day before. |
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| | ===Adolescence: Fast Study and the Saber Rakes 17 ABY - 23 ABY === |
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| | The boy-child turned twelve and was noticed by a small group of duelists who sought out his parents, expressing an interest in teaching the young adolescent. His parents, always knowing how the child hungered for new information, agreed to allow the Saber Rakes to teach the young Balthier the rules of the duel and how to conduct ones self with dignity and honor even in the face of utter defeat. |
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| | These lessons were particularly difficult for the young man to master. Standard etiquette was a breeze, but the things the Rakes were teaching the the boy seemed almost inhumanly compassionate and selfless. The Rakes taught him that the females of any species were to be treated with respect as though they were ones own mother. The males of each race were to be treated with respect and honor as a potential comrade or as a competitive suitor for the attentions of a chosen woman. |
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| | The young Balthier understood the lessons, but it was many years before the practices actually came into play as they were lessons to be learned the hardest way of all; through pain and error. The young teenager practiced his styles with various weapons as he trained to duel with the older members of the group. |
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| | Within two years, Balthier had become well known as one of the preeminent duelists of his family and of that select group of older gentleman. He had beaten all of them at least once and bore the title of Saber Rake, shortly followed by the presentation of his first lightfoil. |
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| | The victories were short lived, however as the young man soon found several things that didn’t seem to fit with the stories of his life. His parents both had hair the color of spun gold, his brothers and sisters bore the same hair color. Their eyes were the softest blue and they skin bore a darker complexion than most within the area due largely to the fact that his family was always out of doors during the day. |
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| | Balthier had a head full of raven black hair, his skin was pale and bore the color of freshly cleaned alabaster. He had no eyes, but that never stopped him from being able to see. His parents had called it a gift. That he was connected to the Force in ways that they never could be. |
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| | Anger and rejection began to fill the young man’s heart as he searched for the truth of why he was so radically different from the people he called his parents. After several months of searching, he had found his answer. The bones of a long dead Miraluka woman were buried in their private cemetery which made no sense as there was no blood from that sub-species within the family. |
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| | Further digging revealed that the woman was Balthier’s mother who had died during childbirth shortly after the nobles had agreed to care for the child. The young man touched the silk cloth covering his eyes and wept silently for the life he never knew and what was lost for him to have such splendor. |
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| | The tears soon dried and he went off in search of his family. A heated argument ensued which ended with him striking down the man he called father with the ever present lightfoil at the Miralukan’s side. The shock of what he’d done barely had the time to wear off when his mother charging him with a blade drawn with the intent of removing the man’s life. An act of desperation flared Balthier’s temper once again and he lashed out with the weapon in his hand, cutting down his mother as well. |
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| | Before his siblings could find out what had happened, the young man fled from the estates and boarded the nearest ship offworld. He had found mention of a place within on of the large tomes his father had kept of the Dark Brotherhood. Resolutely, the young man turned his back on his family and on Reena, departing for the unknown and for the Brotherhood. |
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| ==History== | | ===Adulthood: Reunion 23 ABY=== |
| ===Childhood===
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| The past of Mitsuhide begins in 2 BBY, when two young force sensitive people met each other and wed. Their names were Michael and Cristina Ryokou. In 3 BBY, they gave birth to their first son, Dismal. In 1 ABY, Mitsuhide was born and showed the greatest promise at an early age. He spent his time teasing his older brother soon after he could talk and was continually correcting his schoolwork. There was little that Mitsuhide could not do within an instant of learning of it. Five years later, the youngest brother, Thorin was born. In 10 ABY, tragedy would strike the young family. While the brothers were spared their lives, the parents were killed while on a transport mission in the Corporate Sector. Mitsuhide, away at school did not learn of the tragedy for many, many years, only that his parents and brother were missing. Thorin was not so fortunate. On the day tragedy struck, Thorin was with a babysitter, and his parents fate was quickly realized by the young four year old's guardian. | | Balthier soon joined Clan Plagueis where he was approached by an older man known as Kal Vorrac who claimed that the two were half-brothers by way of their father, Tyber Vorrac. The young man vehemently disagreed even to the point of genetic testing to find if the two were produced by the same father. Balthier had since found that his parents had deceived him and knew that he was not human, but to have a brother was unthinkable. The urges to strike the man down were hard to quell seeing as the older Vorrac respected the Miraluka a great deal for some strange reason that was never revealed. |
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| | Before the results of the tests could arrive, the Clan was plunged into a bitter war with itself as the Ketoans and the Kunar continued their battle for dominance. Having been one of the Kunar at the time, Balthier and Kal faced off on the field of battle. Having been formally trained in dueling and in the Force, Balthier made short work of the newly minted Knight and Vorrac's left arm was mangled in the brutal fight that ensued. High-force impacts created excessive strain on the joints that lasted for rest Kal's time with said arm. |
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| | While the two were conversing one day, the results from the tests came in proving the two were, in fact, brothers which caused the Tapani a serious level of grief that perpetually confused the older brother. As the time passed, the brothers became closer regardless of which house they served in within the Clan of Plagueis. They saw the fracturing of the Houses and knew that it would eventually fall to them to repair the damage. |
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| | ===Adulthood: House Satal Keto 23 ABY - 24 ABY=== |
| | {{Quote|Brother, this cannot continue and we both know it.| Balthier to [[Kal di Plagia Vorrac|Kal]]}} |
| | The younger of the two brothers was soon selected to be the Quaestor of House Satal Keto. The oldest was currently serving as the tenured Aedile, assigned to assist the Tapani with all matters. The secret held between the brothers at that time continued to remain deep within the shadows that the younger always seemed to enjoy manipulating. Childish delight always seemed to accompany the brothers schemes and soon the two agreed to assist one another in the rebuilding of their home, starting with Satal Keto. |
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| Mitsuhide would eventually be adopted by one of his school-friends families. Learning the way of the sword became the focus of his life, and it would be many more years before he learned the truth of his parents. Mitsuhide's childhood from then on is something that is well known. He was raised by a family of warriors who protected had protected their village for generations. His childhood was largely dominated by respect from the other families of the village, so his childhood was lonely as he was taught he was superior to them. Because of this, he is slow to make friends even so many years after he had lost his feeling of superiority. He never had friends growing up, due to the fact that his family was revered. This simple fact is the reason he still has few friends and spent most of his childhood mastering his family's arts.
| | As the brothers grew in strength, the Consul and Proconsul took notice and were afraid that their own positions were not secure as the Ketoans had clearly secured their power base within the House. The approach of the Consul was treated with trepidation and derision from both brothers, though nothing was voiced. Balthier was asked to step down from his position and join the regular troops. |
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| On the days that he was not training with his blade, Mitsuhide began to learn to dance. He found great enjoyment in this, find the solace from some terrible loss that had been completely blocked from his mind. He always knew he didn't belong in this village, but it was his home and he knew the people he lived with as his family. In his dances, his movements always showed a deep sense of sorrow that nothing could contend with. He spent so much time dancing and practicing his swordsmanship, that he severed all human contact. Something he would find later was a defense mechanism from his parents' deaths.
| | The Prelate did just this, falling once more into the shadows to wait and strike when the moment was correct. |
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| He grew up quietly and quickly, soon leaving his 'home' after he had reached the age of sixteen. He left not because he wanted to, but because he simply had an urging to be elsewhere. From his home on Dantooine, he left on a transport to Corellia and from there he worked various odd jobs. He learned how to pilot small spacecraft from the spacers in the port and cantinas, eventually learning everything he could and bought his own ship. He fell in love with a Z-95 Headhunter which was in absolute shambles. He spent the next six months rebuilding every part of the craft, before one day he simply vanished.
| | ===Adulthood: The Shadows and the Vong 24 ABY - 27 ABY=== |
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| ===Adolescence===
| | The Prelate rejoined the regular troops, still preaching about class differences and that sitting in ivory towers would not protect the regular men from the dangers of the world. He often asked the question: Why do they deserve this protection? What good have they done for us? |
| Mitsuhide's adolescence is shrouded in mystery and rumors. Some have heard reports that he killed more than a hundred men in a single battle, even more say that he has died before and risen again due to an unclean end. All that is really known, is that Mitsuhide dropped of the radar of all living beings from the age of seventeen to twenty. He doesn't speak of his journeys, his findings nor his life during that time. Due to this silence, people have only been able to speculate what he has done. The truth behind it is simply this. He lived only by his blade and knew that he would die by it. He traveled much of unknown space and in doing so, it has left his mind slightly unraveled. He was alone and faced the blackest of nights with not a soul to talk with. Many times, he nearly found himself sucking space because of the dementia he began to suffer from. His movements had become erratic and his thoughts thirsted only for his death. He stared into the abyss and it looked deep into his soul. He began to lust for violence, a lust that would not be quelled for many more years to come.
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| He became almost barbaric in his ways of fighting, the fluidity of his movements lost for sheer power of the swing; another process that would take many years to revert from. He had lost much of his taste for dancing, his taste for flair. His fighting style was no longer graceful, it was simply brutal and deadly. He traveled for another year and a half before he would return to known space, his mind, however, would never be the same as it was before his departure.
| | The attitudes of the regular troops were harder to sway as they had all been trained thoroughly to protect the Dark Jedi, not the regular men and women. The Prelate's words were heard and the people help him in favor over the ones who rested within their places of power. They demanded that the Feudalistic leaders come out of their towers and share in their pain caused by the Vong. They demanded that the leaders help with the repairs of the sacked villages and the destroyed towns, pleading for refugee camps to surround the castles of the Dark Jedi. Most notably among the protestors and the one calling for change was the blindfolded face of the youngest Vorrac. |
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| His silence, in his mind, is well deserved for this subject. No one would understand his life during that time, so he remains reticent about it.
| | The Feudalists left their towers and dispersed the mobs gathering at the gates to their palaces. The Consul had Balthier apprehended and sentenced to life imprisonment within a block of carbonite. The prisoner was simply known as "Prisoner 4N-CHR-98" there were never any other words to signify who this prisoner was and as such, he was lost to time for the next six years. |
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| ===Adulthood=== | | ===Adulthood: Imprisonment 27 ABY - 33 ABY=== |
| Upon his return to Known Space, Mitsuhide learned of the [[Dark Brotherhood|Brotherhood of the Dark Jedi]]. Finding some small amount of joy in his heart, his lips twisted into a vicious smile and he set the course for the Shadow Academy on Lyspair. His intelligence, it seemed, had not dwindled during his time out in the Unknown, but his demeanor was greatly changed. Within the first six months of joining the Brotherhood, he had smothered six of his fellow pupils and felled another two. He quickly rose through the ranks to Protector. He sat at that rank for many years, seemingly unable to advance further. This, of course, enraged the young man to no end. He almost immediately began to work twice as hard on his studies. During this time, the [[Dark Brotherhood]] was breaking ties with the Emperor's Hammer. Mitsuhide sided with the Hammer for a time, before finding that they simply could not feed his needs of power. Contacting the then Grand Master Firefox, Mitsuhide approached him with a humble heart and asked to be allowed into the true Brotherhood.
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| With open arms, he was welcomed into the ranks of [[Clan Naga Sadow]]. He served faithfully under the [[Keibatsu]] brothers, [[Muz Keibatsu Sadow]] and [[Nekura Manji Keibatsu]]. He rose quickly through the ranks, reaching Knighthood faster than he imagined possible. The brothers saw his talent and made him the [[Battleteam leader]] of the Avatars of Darkness. Excelling marvelously at this new position, Mitsuhide found himself at the forefront of this once dead [[battleteam]]. Soon after, however, Mitsuhide suffered from a sense of restlessness and left his home behind for a time. Just before his departure, [[Consul]] [[Korras Tarentae|Korras Aquillarum]] promoted him to [[Krath Priest]].
| | At the end of the Vong invasion, the Consul Aabsdu Dupar and his Proconsul Ethran Isradia captured the Tapani and had him encased in carbonite as a highly dangerous citizen. His tenure was long indeed as the time for the aging Balthier stopped as the rest of the world continued to move forward. |
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| With his new robes in hand, Mitsuhide thanked his leaders for the honor of serving under them and he promised to be back soon. Some few months later, he hungered once more for the company of the Dark Jedi. Returning to [[Clan Naga Sadow|Naga Sadow]], he found himself conflicted with feelings of indifference and struck out once more. Spending a few brief months in [[Clan Tarentum]], Mitsuhide eventually settled into [[Clan Plagueis]] under the leadership of [[Proconsul]] [[Aabsdu di Plagia]] and [[Consul]] [[Aristan Dantes]]. Soon, [[Aristan Dantes]] found himself taking [[Grand Master]] [[Jac Cotelin]]'s place as the Grand Master of the Dark Brotherhood. With Aabsdu now leading [[Clan Plagueis]], Mitsuhide once more felt the restlessness arise.
| | Time passed as the Tapani slumbered within his prison of carbonite. He was checked constantly by the wardens to ensure that the eternal slumber of the man was not interrupted or cut short by a malfunction with the controls. Soon, the wardens stopped coming as the tides of Plagueis turned away from the Feudal era and then the Stratocracy. |
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| After several months, Mitsuhide returned once more to [[Plagueis]]. He spent his time now as [[Clan Envoy]] and as the [[battleteam leader]] of [[Exar's Shadow]]. Soon afterwards, he resigned from team leader to focus solely on his duties as Clan Envoy. Soon after, he was promoted to [[Krath Archpriest]] and then made [[Quaestor]] of [[House Satal Keto]]. This venture, however, did not last long. The summit feared another uprising and Mitsuhide was summarily forced to resign from his position. This incurred a great rancor from Mitsuhide and he vowed that one day he would see the Clan that had spurned him fall. He wished no ill will on the members of the clan, nor the clan itself. He would simply be there at the point of it destruction to laugh.
| | In 33 ABY, the carbonite prison was opened to reveal the defiant Balthier. His half-brother, Kal, had located him after years of searching the archives. Finally, the laborious task of the older Vorrac paid off and the Prelate was located deep within the prison’s vault. The awakening was painful for the man, as his body had been encased for six long years. |
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| Departing once more, Mitsuhide left Brotherhood Space and was not heard from for many months. Where he went, no one knows, but he simply will not talk about it. He gone for the better part of a year, this time his return to [[Clan Plagueis]] was met with deceit and lies. He was brought in as though there was no wrong done in the past and he felt he had the chance to flourish once more. This was not so, however, when the [[Aedile]] of [[House Satal Keto]] [[Alaris Jinn]] confronted Mitsuhide about a small matter with a [[Guardian]] named Kara Rohana. Ignoring this officious windbag, Mitushide continued with business as usual. He took on an apprentice, [[Kalei Basai]] and began instructing her in the ways of the Force and of the Sword.
| | The Prelate awakened slowly some weeks after his long sleep within the stone. His mind was clouded and his muscles weak and unaccustomed to the movements it took for movement of even the simplest of tasks. His brother Kal was there every day, helping the Miralukan to understand the extent of what had transpired during his six year slumber. |
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| Soon after, Mitsuhide's old friend Derev Niroth was made [[battleteam leader|Commander]] of [[Exar's Shadow]]. During a sortie against the Yuuzhan Vong, Derev was gravely injured. When donors were asked for, Mitsuhide was the first to step forward and the results from the blood tests came back that they shared the same genetics from both parents. Mitsuhide had found his brother he thought long gone. Waiting until Derev was healed, Mitsuhide told him of the doctor's discovery. Unbelieving at first, Derev searched through the Force and found that Mitsuhide was indeed telling him the truth. The brothers had been reunited at last and it would be a long time before the two would become separated again.
| | The Feudal Era had ended with a man named [[Braecen Kaeth]] ascending to power and dissolving the previous government in favor of something called the Stratocracy. This lasted for a few years and the man left the mark on the system with a prison being named after him. Balthier found this to be extremely bizarre as great men would build schools and not prisons. |
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| Soon, [[Derev Niroth|Derev]] applied and became the [[Quaestor]] of [[House Marka Ragnos]]. Allowing his brother to leave, Mitsuhide stayed in Plagueis with his apprentice and future wife, [[Kalei Basai]]. Soon, though, events would arise that would cause the Archpriest to leave his home and be inevitably drawn back to Naga Sadow. He would confront [[Braecen Kaeth]] the [[Consul]] of Plagueis and express his distaste for a [[Guardian]] being made Aedile. Braecen, after hearing this, flew into a rage and demanded that Mitushide vacate his clan. Without further hesitation, Mitsuhide beseeched the [[Master at Arms]] and asked to be transferred into Naga Sadow. His apprentice was soon to follow as she would soon become villanized by Plagueis and ultimately made to feel as though she were already gone.
| | The Stratocracy had ended in past few years with Kalidraad taking power in his brother’s place. He used the power attained there to locate the Miralukan through the old records kept by the Feudalists. The days slowly slipped to years as the older Vorrac became nearly obsessed with finding his brother and freeing him. |
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| Now, Mitsuhide spends his days faithfully watching over his younger brother. Having never been there in the past, Mitsuhide took great pains to ensure that his little brother’s safety was one of his primary concerns. He had once been enemies with the man, but was the first there to help save Derev’s life. He had found almost immediately that they were in fact, full brothers. Waiting until he had recovered, he told Derev that they were brothers. As soon as Derev had found the truth, the two had become instantly inseparable. Finding that he had a brother forced him to recall the memories he had suppressed as a child to save himself from the anguish of losing everything.
| | As the debriefing ended, the Prelate stood and held his hand out to Kal. He informed the Last Son of Plagueis that they did not need someone like him anymore. An old revolutionary’s opinions and tactics die hard. He bid his brother farewell and departed from Jusadih, embarking on a journey that would carry him to his home on Reena as well as very few stops until the he reached the Unknown Regions. |
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| When Derev left for Naga Sadow, their former Clan, Mitsuhide felt as though he were missing half of himself. He had only found Kalei days before his brother’s departure and she managed to keep him from leaving Brotherhood space again. On the eve of their anniversary, he had gotten into a heated fight with the Consul of Plagueis, Braecen Kaeth. Informing his lover that he was leaving the Jusidah system, he told her that he was returning to his home in Marka Ragnos, a House in Naga Sadow. Departing from Plagueis, he settled into Marka Ragnos once more. Soon after, the Ryokou brothers, Derev and Mitsuhide, found like minded people and brought them into their family. Of these were Mitsuhide’s wife, Kalei, as well as Dismal and his apprentice Laigerick.
| | ===Adulthood: The Wanderings 33 ABY - 35 ABY=== |
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| Shortly after Ryokou-Amor was made, the family went out on a vacation of sorts. The events of which led to Mitsuhide’s change in appearance. His raven black hair had become white as snow and his dark brown eyes had become pale green, like emeralds in the light. Even his demeanor had changed. He was no longer the easily irritated man he was; his entire demeanor became calm and collected. His thoughts were only on the importance of family and his drive to protect that which he called his own deepened to the point of nearly being its own religion.
| | Balthier flew his ship slowly as to refrain from attracting too much attention to the ship he had borrowed without permission from one of the residents under the purview and protection of the Clan. He travelled extensively, his movements never suspicious and also proper. The young man never had a set direction in mind, but simply travelled the galaxy in search of good times and decent conversation. |
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| His devotion to his brother was even greater now, rivaled only slightly by the devotion to the rest of his family. His wife was his primary concern closely followed by his younger brother. Derev had become a keystone in his life and he was going to do everything possible to protect that. He would become the perfect shield for his wife and brother, giving his own life before either of them even saw the danger.
| | The time slipped by and the Prelate barely even registered his absence until he was contacted by a ghost from the past. An old friend had contacted him informing him of the coming vendetta and requested that since he was not attached to any of the Houses that he join Revan and support them. The Miraluka agreed and soon departed the Unknown Regions, setting course for the Dark Brotherhood once more. |
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| ==Positions==
| | The time that followed the Vendetta was different for the young man. He always seemed to feel like something was wrong, as though no matter his choices, he simply did not fit in with those he had cast his lot in with. As it happened, the young man requested placement within the Clan of Arcona where he found himself accepted and treated fairly. |
| *[[Krath]] [[Tetrarch]] of Avatars of Death (Avatars of Darkness)
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| *[[Rollmaster]] of [[House Gladius]]
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| *[[Rollmaster]] of [[House Tridens]]
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| *[[Rollmaster]]/[[Envoy]] of [[House Exar Kun]]
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| *[[Rollmaster]]/[[Envoy]] of [[House Satal Keto]]
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| *[[Krath]] [[Tetrarch]] of [[Exar's Shadow]]
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| *Clan Envoy of [[Clan Plagueis]]
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| *[[Eclectic Pedagogue]]: Krath Core
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| *[[Quaestor]] of [[House Satal Keto]]
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| *[[Krath]] [[Tetrarch]] of Dark Inquisitors
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| ==Achievements== | | == Positions == |
| | * [[Krath]] [[Tetrarch]] of Avatars of Death (Avatars of Darkness) |
| | * [[Rollmaster]] of [[House Gladius]] |
| | * [[Rollmaster]] of [[House Tridens]] |
| | * [[Rollmaster]]/[[Envoy]] of [[House Exar Kun]] |
| | * [[Rollmaster]]/[[Envoy]] of [[House Satal Keto]] |
| | * [[Krath]] [[Tetrarch]] of [[Exar's Shadow]] |
| | * Clan Envoy of [[Clan Plagueis]] |
| | * [[Eclectic Pedagogue]]: Krath Core |
| | * [[Quaestor]] of [[House Satal Keto]] |
| | * [[Krath]] [[Tetrarch]] of Dark Inquisitors |
| | * [[Rollmaster]] of [[House Ludo Kressh]] |
| | * Mythology Professor of the [[Simus Institute]] |
| | * [[Aedile]] of [[Odan-Urr|House Odan-Urr]] |
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| *Began construction on [[Umbra Arx]] [[Exar's Shadow]]'s Base of Operations | | == Achievements == |
| *Dark Maven - Service Degree | | * Began construction on [[Umbra Arx]] [[Exar's Shadow]]'s Base of Operations |
| *Dark Savant - Service Degree | | * Dark Maven - Service Degree |
| | * Dark Savant - Service Degree |
| | * Dark Maven - Philosophy |
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| ==Trivia== | | == Trivia == |
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| [[Category: DJB Characters]][[Category: Clan Naga Sadow]] | | [[Category:Deceased Characters]] |
| | [[Category:NPCs]] |
- "Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici."
- ―Faust
History
Childhood: The Beginning 5 ABY
In 5 ABY, a young Miraluka woman had lain with a smuggler by the name of Vorrac. She had recently begun working for one of the nobles within House Reena. When the child was born, the young woman suffered from severe internal hemorrhaging and expired. The boy was adopted into the House and treated as one of their own children. The child was born with the exact same features as his mother, lending him a feminine look as well as vestigial eye sockets without the orbs to fill them. The man and woman who were to become his parents decided to hide the fact that he was a non-human and bound his face with silk cloth to keep his lack of eyes hidden. It would be many years before the young boy would learn the truth of things. He was named Balthier and given a place among the family.
The child, however, grew quickly and soon become more than a nuisance to those around him. Balthier was quick to learn anything new that interested him. Within months the boy was speaking in broken sentences and by the time the first year was over, there was no safe place to hide from the boy's wandering steps.
Childhood: The Early Years 6 ABY - 12 ABY
Balthier’s steps became progressively more noticed as he seemed to have an utterly insatiable curiosity. Locked doors and restricted areas only served to interest the child even more. The young boy quickly found that it was relatively easy to elude detection until people were actively looking. Darkened hallways and quiet doors accompanied his silent footfalls perfectly, especially within the later years of his life.
Balthier’s childhood was quiet and mostly uninterrupted as he learned from hand selected tutors in subjects branching from politics to martial arts. The boy was particularly interested in the the thieves of ancient times, the ones who were willing to steal for the adventure and not for the financial gain as well as architecture.
The years continued their stately march and yielded a boy who’s mind was far too fast for his own good and who had within him a curiosity that always desired to find out what was on the other side of a hill or behind a locked door. The boy seemed to age much more quickly
Childhood: Talented Son 12 ABY - 17 ABY
As the boy-child grew, he began to fill out the wiry, slender frame that he was unable to ever get away from. The boy began to actively exercise, his hand to hand training was progressing rapidly as the child started learning more advanced forms. Balthier's limbers began to show the signs of muscle and started to become highly toned for what little was there to be toned.
His instructors had always been sure to teach the boy that being the largest fighter was not always the way to be the best fighter. They assured him that his size would always come as more of a benefit than a hindrance to him if the time ever came that he would need to fight with his opponents in close quarters. Balthier always understood and comprehended what the teachers were saying in fairly short order. He strove to perfect his mastery of the forms he had chosen to use to protect himself. Two of these forms being the form Verdanaian and the variant form Shadow Fist.
He learned other forms, but the only form he is comfortable in aside from those aforementioned is the Bothan form of Jeswandi. His life was filled with balance and his parents were always eager to hear what he had learned the day before.
Adolescence: Fast Study and the Saber Rakes 17 ABY - 23 ABY
The boy-child turned twelve and was noticed by a small group of duelists who sought out his parents, expressing an interest in teaching the young adolescent. His parents, always knowing how the child hungered for new information, agreed to allow the Saber Rakes to teach the young Balthier the rules of the duel and how to conduct ones self with dignity and honor even in the face of utter defeat.
These lessons were particularly difficult for the young man to master. Standard etiquette was a breeze, but the things the Rakes were teaching the the boy seemed almost inhumanly compassionate and selfless. The Rakes taught him that the females of any species were to be treated with respect as though they were ones own mother. The males of each race were to be treated with respect and honor as a potential comrade or as a competitive suitor for the attentions of a chosen woman.
The young Balthier understood the lessons, but it was many years before the practices actually came into play as they were lessons to be learned the hardest way of all; through pain and error. The young teenager practiced his styles with various weapons as he trained to duel with the older members of the group.
Within two years, Balthier had become well known as one of the preeminent duelists of his family and of that select group of older gentleman. He had beaten all of them at least once and bore the title of Saber Rake, shortly followed by the presentation of his first lightfoil.
The victories were short lived, however as the young man soon found several things that didn’t seem to fit with the stories of his life. His parents both had hair the color of spun gold, his brothers and sisters bore the same hair color. Their eyes were the softest blue and they skin bore a darker complexion than most within the area due largely to the fact that his family was always out of doors during the day.
Balthier had a head full of raven black hair, his skin was pale and bore the color of freshly cleaned alabaster. He had no eyes, but that never stopped him from being able to see. His parents had called it a gift. That he was connected to the Force in ways that they never could be.
Anger and rejection began to fill the young man’s heart as he searched for the truth of why he was so radically different from the people he called his parents. After several months of searching, he had found his answer. The bones of a long dead Miraluka woman were buried in their private cemetery which made no sense as there was no blood from that sub-species within the family.
Further digging revealed that the woman was Balthier’s mother who had died during childbirth shortly after the nobles had agreed to care for the child. The young man touched the silk cloth covering his eyes and wept silently for the life he never knew and what was lost for him to have such splendor.
The tears soon dried and he went off in search of his family. A heated argument ensued which ended with him striking down the man he called father with the ever present lightfoil at the Miralukan’s side. The shock of what he’d done barely had the time to wear off when his mother charging him with a blade drawn with the intent of removing the man’s life. An act of desperation flared Balthier’s temper once again and he lashed out with the weapon in his hand, cutting down his mother as well.
Before his siblings could find out what had happened, the young man fled from the estates and boarded the nearest ship offworld. He had found mention of a place within on of the large tomes his father had kept of the Dark Brotherhood. Resolutely, the young man turned his back on his family and on Reena, departing for the unknown and for the Brotherhood.
Adulthood: Reunion 23 ABY
Balthier soon joined Clan Plagueis where he was approached by an older man known as Kal Vorrac who claimed that the two were half-brothers by way of their father, Tyber Vorrac. The young man vehemently disagreed even to the point of genetic testing to find if the two were produced by the same father. Balthier had since found that his parents had deceived him and knew that he was not human, but to have a brother was unthinkable. The urges to strike the man down were hard to quell seeing as the older Vorrac respected the Miraluka a great deal for some strange reason that was never revealed.
Before the results of the tests could arrive, the Clan was plunged into a bitter war with itself as the Ketoans and the Kunar continued their battle for dominance. Having been one of the Kunar at the time, Balthier and Kal faced off on the field of battle. Having been formally trained in dueling and in the Force, Balthier made short work of the newly minted Knight and Vorrac's left arm was mangled in the brutal fight that ensued. High-force impacts created excessive strain on the joints that lasted for rest Kal's time with said arm.
While the two were conversing one day, the results from the tests came in proving the two were, in fact, brothers which caused the Tapani a serious level of grief that perpetually confused the older brother. As the time passed, the brothers became closer regardless of which house they served in within the Clan of Plagueis. They saw the fracturing of the Houses and knew that it would eventually fall to them to repair the damage.
Adulthood: House Satal Keto 23 ABY - 24 ABY
- "Brother, this cannot continue and we both know it."
- ― Balthier to Kal
The younger of the two brothers was soon selected to be the Quaestor of House Satal Keto. The oldest was currently serving as the tenured Aedile, assigned to assist the Tapani with all matters. The secret held between the brothers at that time continued to remain deep within the shadows that the younger always seemed to enjoy manipulating. Childish delight always seemed to accompany the brothers schemes and soon the two agreed to assist one another in the rebuilding of their home, starting with Satal Keto.
As the brothers grew in strength, the Consul and Proconsul took notice and were afraid that their own positions were not secure as the Ketoans had clearly secured their power base within the House. The approach of the Consul was treated with trepidation and derision from both brothers, though nothing was voiced. Balthier was asked to step down from his position and join the regular troops.
The Prelate did just this, falling once more into the shadows to wait and strike when the moment was correct.
Adulthood: The Shadows and the Vong 24 ABY - 27 ABY
The Prelate rejoined the regular troops, still preaching about class differences and that sitting in ivory towers would not protect the regular men from the dangers of the world. He often asked the question: Why do they deserve this protection? What good have they done for us?
The attitudes of the regular troops were harder to sway as they had all been trained thoroughly to protect the Dark Jedi, not the regular men and women. The Prelate's words were heard and the people help him in favor over the ones who rested within their places of power. They demanded that the Feudalistic leaders come out of their towers and share in their pain caused by the Vong. They demanded that the leaders help with the repairs of the sacked villages and the destroyed towns, pleading for refugee camps to surround the castles of the Dark Jedi. Most notably among the protestors and the one calling for change was the blindfolded face of the youngest Vorrac.
The Feudalists left their towers and dispersed the mobs gathering at the gates to their palaces. The Consul had Balthier apprehended and sentenced to life imprisonment within a block of carbonite. The prisoner was simply known as "Prisoner 4N-CHR-98" there were never any other words to signify who this prisoner was and as such, he was lost to time for the next six years.
Adulthood: Imprisonment 27 ABY - 33 ABY
At the end of the Vong invasion, the Consul Aabsdu Dupar and his Proconsul Ethran Isradia captured the Tapani and had him encased in carbonite as a highly dangerous citizen. His tenure was long indeed as the time for the aging Balthier stopped as the rest of the world continued to move forward.
Time passed as the Tapani slumbered within his prison of carbonite. He was checked constantly by the wardens to ensure that the eternal slumber of the man was not interrupted or cut short by a malfunction with the controls. Soon, the wardens stopped coming as the tides of Plagueis turned away from the Feudal era and then the Stratocracy.
In 33 ABY, the carbonite prison was opened to reveal the defiant Balthier. His half-brother, Kal, had located him after years of searching the archives. Finally, the laborious task of the older Vorrac paid off and the Prelate was located deep within the prison’s vault. The awakening was painful for the man, as his body had been encased for six long years.
The Prelate awakened slowly some weeks after his long sleep within the stone. His mind was clouded and his muscles weak and unaccustomed to the movements it took for movement of even the simplest of tasks. His brother Kal was there every day, helping the Miralukan to understand the extent of what had transpired during his six year slumber.
The Feudal Era had ended with a man named Braecen Kaeth ascending to power and dissolving the previous government in favor of something called the Stratocracy. This lasted for a few years and the man left the mark on the system with a prison being named after him. Balthier found this to be extremely bizarre as great men would build schools and not prisons.
The Stratocracy had ended in past few years with Kalidraad taking power in his brother’s place. He used the power attained there to locate the Miralukan through the old records kept by the Feudalists. The days slowly slipped to years as the older Vorrac became nearly obsessed with finding his brother and freeing him.
As the debriefing ended, the Prelate stood and held his hand out to Kal. He informed the Last Son of Plagueis that they did not need someone like him anymore. An old revolutionary’s opinions and tactics die hard. He bid his brother farewell and departed from Jusadih, embarking on a journey that would carry him to his home on Reena as well as very few stops until the he reached the Unknown Regions.
Adulthood: The Wanderings 33 ABY - 35 ABY
Balthier flew his ship slowly as to refrain from attracting too much attention to the ship he had borrowed without permission from one of the residents under the purview and protection of the Clan. He travelled extensively, his movements never suspicious and also proper. The young man never had a set direction in mind, but simply travelled the galaxy in search of good times and decent conversation.
The time slipped by and the Prelate barely even registered his absence until he was contacted by a ghost from the past. An old friend had contacted him informing him of the coming vendetta and requested that since he was not attached to any of the Houses that he join Revan and support them. The Miraluka agreed and soon departed the Unknown Regions, setting course for the Dark Brotherhood once more.
The time that followed the Vendetta was different for the young man. He always seemed to feel like something was wrong, as though no matter his choices, he simply did not fit in with those he had cast his lot in with. As it happened, the young man requested placement within the Clan of Arcona where he found himself accepted and treated fairly.
Positions
Achievements
- Began construction on Umbra Arx Exar's Shadow's Base of Operations
- Dark Maven - Service Degree
- Dark Savant - Service Degree
- Dark Maven - Philosophy
Trivia