Khryso Mallus is a male Chiss Sith and member of the Dark Jedi Brotherhood. He has attained the rank of Neophyte and is currently a student at the Shadow Academy. He belongs to House Ajunta Pall of Clan Plagueis. While he has held many professions throughout his life, he is now a loyal adherent to the ideology of the Sith and seeks greater power in order to life a life of opulence, decadence, and culture. While he is not the most social of beings, he prefers to work cooperatively with others to achieve a greater goal. However, he will not tolerate obstacles of any form. Some might describe him as mild-mannered, but make no mistake: he is a Sith.
Character History
Nirauan and the Imperial Civil War
Even after the death of Grand Admiral Thrawn, the Imperial forces stationed on Nirauan stayed loyal to the Empire. Although there were some among their numbers who expressed concern over new leadership, it was largely accepted that going forward, the Hand of Thrawn would persevere as an asset to the Imperial Remnant. These were the circumstances surrounding the birth of a Chiss child named Khryso Mallus. His name alone is evidence enough of the expectations set for him. While both of his parents were Chiss, they were also both loyal Imperials, his father even having served under Grand Admiral Thrawn. So, they elected to give him a more traditionally human name in style, blending elements of both of their family names together. "Khryso" came from his mother, Khrys'orr'allai, and "Mallus" from his father, Torc'ruum'allus. In this new naming convention for their family, the hopes and dreams of the two parents were thrust upon their young child.
Khryso was just shy of a year old when the Imperial Civil War came to Nirauan in force. As separate Imperial warlords and leaders began to consolidate their power and move base towards the Deep Core, minor fighting broke out between different factions within the forces stationed on the planet. Different Imperials had different commanders they wanted to follow as the Empire did its best to recover from the loss of both Grand Admiral Thrawn and the reborn Emperor Palpatine. Torc'ruum'allus, being an enlisted soldier, was involved in many of said skirmishes and met his end when a fellow soldier decided to turn on their unit, slaughtering most of them. This left Khrys'orr'allai a widow and Khryso fatherless. While the betrayals and disagreements never reached open warfare, the planet quickly had some lines drawn in it and the citizens began leaving in droves.
While, of course, Khrys'orr'allai was grieved by the circumstances surrounding her husband's death, she knew it was part and parcel of living within the Empire sometimes. One of Torc'ruum'allus' closer friends within the army, a human man named Tim Falger, decided to take Khrys'orr'allai's and Khryso's welfare over his shoulder, caring for them while they found a way to rebuild. Even after the Imperial Civil War ended and the Remnant was officially formed, however, it became clear that Nirauan was no longer the bustling Imperial outpost it once was. The Empire was a far shadow of its former self and a much diminished population did nothing to help the economy. Tim and Khrys'orr'allai eventually decided it would be in their best interest to seek out somewhere that offered more than an Imperial fortress.
Living as an Imperial
Early Childhood
in 13 ABY, not long after Khryso's second birthday, his family unit left Nirauan. Unsure where to settle, they did some planet-hopping that lasted the better part of a year before eventually deciding to settle on the out of the way planet of Minashee. Of course, still being loyal Imperials, their desire to remain a part of the Remnant played a large part in their choice. They were able to secure living arrangements in the capital city of Minsah. Tim besought the grace of Moff Luthus Tadrin, the man in charge of the sector who lived nearby the city. He was able to secure a job as a soldier and once again continued to provide for the Mallus family.
Khryso was raised by his mother as an upstanding Imperial citizen. Unlike Nirauan, Minashee and especially Minsah was almost entirely human, so Khryso and his mother stood out quite sharply. While the Remnant wasn't quite as xenophobic as its predecessor, there still was a stigma attached to the sole Chiss boy trying to blend in as if he were just another Imperial. While Khryso never faced egregious discrimination or prejudice, he also wasn't granted any favors. Everything he accomplished he had to strive for in his entirety. This sense of being an "other" also contributed to Khryso developing a somewhat reserved personality, preferring to keep his head down and avoid any trouble, focusing instead on his work or studies.
Khryso proved to be rather sharp and capable, managing to outperform most of his peers as he went through his schooling. One of the reasons for this might be his latent Force sensitivity. Since he never manifested the Force in any kind of spectacular way, nobody caught on and he was just seen as unusually keen. Most people probably chalked it up to his alien nature, although his mother figured there may be something special about him.
Fading Imperial Influence
In 18 ABY, the Imperial Remnant's power took a drastic hit due to its conflict with the New Republic. Fortunately, Minashee remained one of its holdings. This did, however, bring about a subtle change throughout the populace. The Remnant was now the underdogs in the galaxy, forced to scramble to stay together. Things only grew more worrisome when the next year a treaty was signed that officially ended the Galactic Civil War. Minsah now hung heavy with the air of a defeated peoples. Much of the Imperial pride and will that had inhabited the planet began to drain, even from Khrys'orr'allai and Tim. Khryso, however, still being young, could only see this as a sign of weakness on the part of the Imperial Remnant. Clearly, if the Empire was as great as he had been taught, they wouldn't have allowed themselves to be defeated. Therefore, as he grew, Khryso didn't develop the aggressive loyalty to the Empire that his parents had hoped for him. Unfortunately, he found the archives of Minashee to be dreadfully lacking when it came to non-Imperial topics.
Due to his reserved nature, it never became clear to anyone outside of his family how uninterested in the Remnant Khryso had become. His family, however, was a different matter. Khrys'orr'allai was heartbroken by the discovery, however, Tim decided to take a more active approach in making Khryso a loyal Imperial. He began to show and teach him things about his job as an Imperial soldier, even going so far as to convince Moff Tadrin to meet the then 10 year old Khryso. Surprisingly, the Moff was impressed with the surprisingly sharp boy and the two struck up a friendship. Khryso spent a fair amount of time at Moff Tadrin's palace learning about culture, leadership, and warfare in their talks. He even gained access to a wider wealth of information to study.
While Khryso appreciated the time he spent talking with and learning from Moff Tadrin, it did little to change his mind. Thankfully, being in the officer's presence alone was enough to assuage the fears of his guardians and Khryso soaked up whatever he could like a sponge. He came to admire the Moff's lifestyle, although from his perspective it wasn't something that was attainable under the current weakened Imperial Remnant. However, he now had something to strive towards. As he entered his teenage years, however, the peaceful world of Minashee would be turned on its head.
Yuuzhan Vong Invasion
In 25 ABY, the Yuuzhan Vong came to the Tadrin sector. Khryso was only 14 at the time, but due to the severity of the oncoming invasion, he was drafted into the Imperial military, as was his mother. He was barely into boot camp before the Vong swept towards Minashee, planning to add it to their growing empire. The fighting was intense and Khryso found himself subject to many a close call. After over a year of fighting, they were able to repel the Vong from Minashee. The warfare, however, did shatter Imperial control of the system, leaving many deaths, including Tim Falger and Khrys'orr'allai. The planet was left in ruins and Moff Tadrin focused his efforts on rebuilding. Khryso decided to stay behind and help until he reached his majority.
For the next few years, as the rest of the galaxy was fighting the Vong, Khryso worked under Moff Tadrin to restore Minashee to its former glory. During this time, he ended up falling for and dating Lena, one of Moff Tadrin's daughters. The relationship wasn't entirely serious and was mostly two teenagers enjoying themselves. Khryso considered for a time about the possibility of a future there. He was interested in attaining an opulent and cultured lifestyle like the one the Moff sported. What better way then to become part of the family? However, it quickly became apparent he was just being foolish. He could see the concern on Moff Tadrin's face when they kissed in front of him. He was a member of the original Empire and it was unsurprising he wouldn't be entirely receptive to his daughter being with a non-human. Just another stark reminder of the weaknesses of the Empire.
Khryso decided to leave a year early, at the age of 17. His relationship with Lena was surprisingly easy to break off, confirming his suspicions that it was just an adolescent fling. His work under the Moff had allowed him to earn enough credits to make his own way for a short while, although that would run out soon. The Yuuzhan Vong War was deep into its third year, so for the time being, Khryso fell in with some mercenary groups to help in bringing the galactic conflict to an end. In fighting the Yuuzhan Vong for no government in particular, Khryso officially left his Imperial citizenship behind and became a citizen of the greater galaxy.
Young Adulthood
Khryso fought up until the end of the war in 29 ABY. Once the fighting had finally died down and the galaxy was doing its best to get itself back in shape, Khryso realized he needed some time to discover a proper path for himself. He stayed on with the mercenary company, although, rather than fight with them, he elected to take a more clerical role. One particular mission, however, forced him back out on the front lines to get the mercenaries out of a tight spot. One of the newer members, who had fought with the Galactic Alliance during the Yuuzhan Vong war, commented on how a lot of the way Khryso moved and acted seemed a bit similar to some Jedi he had seen. This gave Khryso pause and he thought back throughout his life, suddenly coming to his own internal realization that he may be Force sensitive.
He decided then to part ways from the mercenaries and made his way to Coruscant, where he knew the New Jedi Order had a temple. Being the most prominent Force-using organization, he knew his destiny might lie with them. However, once he arrived at the Jedi Temple and spoke with some of the representatives there, he realized that the organization was not for him. Their rules seemed rather restrictive and he wasn't sure how limiting they would be on his ambitions. However, they did confirm for him that he was indeed Force sensitive.
He decided to stay on Coruscant, as it was in the process of a massive rebuilding effort after the Vong had control of it and had quite seriously damaged the planet's infrastructure. He worked as a grunt; building, cleaning, and doing whatever was asked of him as Galactic City was pushed to return to its former glory. In his spare time, he studied what information was available on the Free Market about the Force and did his best to try and teach himself how to control it. He quickly found that states of heightened emotion seemed to help in this endeavor, and he began on his path towards the Dark Side.
Searching for Destiny
After years of toiling away on Coruscant, Khryso began to grow anxious, eager to make something of himself. With a slight understanding of the Force under his belt, he felt he should follow that path and see where it took him. The Jedi weren't for him, he knew that much. There were, however, other options. He knew from his life in the Empire that Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader had both been practitioners of the Force. They weren't Jedi, however. Which meant their power had come from another source. Information on other Force-using Orders was hard to come by, at least for the average citizen, but Khryso spent the better part of a year doing as much research as possible. What little fruit he yielded solidified his resolve.
Taking all the money he had saved up, he hired a pilot. It took almost all of the money he had managed to save up, but in 34 ABY, Khryso Mallus finally left Coruscant. With the help of his pilot, for over a year Khryso searched the galaxy for clues on the Sith. Unfortunately, his pilot wasn't interested in spending so much time searching the galaxy. They were mostly a commercial pilot and they had a life back on Coruscant they wanted to get back to. However, Khryso had spent the vast majority of his capital on securing this ship and he couldn't let it go that easily. Rather than give up on his search, he was forced to relent and kill his pilot, taking control of the ship for himself. It wasn't long after this that his search led him to the Unknown Regions.
In 36 ABY Khryso managed to stumble across the Aliso system. His ship was immediately accosted by forces he wasn't familiar with and he was taken prisoner. It was revealed to him that he had discovered the Dark Jedi Brotherhood. It didn't take much deliberation for him to realize this was the destiny he had been seeking. He requested to join the ranks of the Sith and, upon completing some basic tests, was granted entry into House Ajunta Pall of Clan Plagueis.
The Shadow Academy
Khryso was immediately shipped out to Arx to study at the Shadow Academy there. He quickly applied his full concentration to the lessons, advancing through the ranks as fast as he could manage. In a matter of months he had ascended to the rank of Neophyte. He stayed at the Academy afterwards, continuing his studies while he learned the ropes of this new society.
Physical Description
Khryso is a Chiss with a toned athlete's build. He has the standard light blue skin of his species, along with the glowing red eyes. His eyes are somewhat narrow and deep set, but not overly small. The bridge of his nose is thicker than average, but it doesn't look overly bulky or large thanks to the more standard size of his nose tip and nostrils. His mouth is on the small side, with thin lips only further accented by how firmly he tends to keep them pressed together. His jawline and chin are quite hard and pronounced. His hair's blue color is so dark it comes across as black. It has a thick volume to it and its waviness is evident because he keeps it neck-length. However, it is kept neatly trimmed and maintained, usually tucked behind his ears. His neat mustache is kept relatively short and gentlemanly, but it is clearly a shade or two lighter in color than his hair. His face is clear and unblemished.
Generally, Khryso will be very neatly put together, with his clothes firmly pressed and kept sparkling clean. He prefers dark colors, mostly blacks and purples, but will allow lighter colored highlights if it suits him. He prefers to look professional and barely ever dons casual-wear, even his pajamas having a measure of posh to them. He prefers cloth over leather and will often swath himself in robes and capes. Hats and other head-wear are generally considered out of the question, however, unless a hood or helmet is necessary for stealth or survival. Although, as soon as able, he would prefer to remove them so they do not mess up his carefully styled hair. Gloves are a must have in most situations, again, preferring cloth over leather. He likes to keep the material thin, however, so as to keep the effect on his sense of touch minimal.