Windos Helkin Tarentae

"And thus Krath created the universe in the palm of his hand."

―From Windos' "Book of Krath"

Windos Helkin Tarentae is a scholar and a preacher. He grew up following false religions and teachings. Upon discovering Krath, the one true god, Windos sought out the Dark Brotherhood where he finally found his place in the universe. His life is a tale of tragedy and triumph, light and dark.

As he aged Windos relied almost entirely on the Force but after a vicious and nearly fatal, battle with a group of Yuuzhan Vong he now finds himself in a foreign body which has left his connection with the force severely limited, and is struggling to adjust in order to serve his clan to the extent he had before.

Character History

Early Life

Windos was born to Van Helkin and his wife Cynthia on the 1st of Elona, 47 BBY in the Fobosi District on Coruscant. He was baptized the very next morning by a priest of the Flames of Umate. Later that year his family moved to The Works, where his father had substantive holdings in a large production factory and also regularly traveled to the Senate District on less than legitimate business. His mother was a modest woman, who busied herself helping to teach and care for homeless children of The Works. He had an elder brother whom had died in 49 BBY.

Van Helkin, having spent his life working his way up from nothing and placing a high value on education, sent Windos to the best schools available on Coruscant in hope that he would attend the Diplomatic Institute. Windos always found himself being repressed in school; seeking but never finding challenge.

In 29 BBY at the age of eighteen, Windos accepted his father’s wishes and enrolled in the Diplomatic Institute. However he felt uneasy there, questioning if he wanted the life of a politician, and after only half a year’s study, Windos dropped out. After hearing his father lecture him for many hours, he reluctantly enrolled in the Coruscant College of Law where he studied for the following three years and received his Bachelor of Laws mid way through 26 BBY.

Windos could not shake his feeling of unease and decided against a career in law, instead sought answers. At the age of twenty one he traveled to the Manarai Mountains where he was once baptized. The priests of the Flames of Umate welcomed him with open arms. For the first time in his life Windos felt as if he had found his place, seeking answers to unanswerable questions. Naturally his father was furious with his son’s waste of a good education.

Devotion

Umate Peak, home of the Flames of Umate.

Windos dedicated himself to the Flames of Umate; devoting himself to long hours in prayer and fasts. He tried pleasing Coruscant’s inner spirit through dedication, but it only forced him to see holes appear in the religion. He would often make mention of the spirits lack of presence. He once described this period of his life as his ‘personal turmoil in the light.’

Joffre Pemberton, the priest that had personally baptized the young devout many years earlier, decided that Windos need more responsibility and gave him guard duty on top of the many hours of prayer he already practiced. Windos loathed his time walking the grounds of the Monument Plaza but endured it, still holding onto the hope of pleasing the inner spirit.

Mid Life Crisis

In 22 BBY, approximately a month before the outbreak of the Clone Wars, a terrorist threat was made on Monument Plaza which forced local security to evacuate everyone, including the Flame of Umate who saw the protection of the plaza as their job. He took the ejection as a sign and, having not found fulfillment, decided to leave the Flames behind and once again seek answers.

Windos spent the next year and a half drifting on various freighters avoiding the conflicts that engulfed the galaxy and in 20 BBY found himself on Empress Teta where nearly 4,000 years earlier the Krath Cult had taken over the planet.

During his time on the planet he found two texts that took his interest, one was an ancient leather bound book written in a language of unknown origin. The second was a script of the tails of a magician-god which had been told to the young Keto cousins who latter started the cult in his name.

Windos became obsessed with the story of Krath and believed that he was an all powerful being that had once created the universe. Every day he would try to decipher the leather bound book, convinced it was a bible of some sort that could teach him the secrets of all existence. The secrets of the text never revealed themselves and Windos was beginning to give up on everything, including life.

Late one night, while Windos gave a last ditch attempt to read the tome, a mysterious figure lurked in the shadows. The figure knocked Windos out, bound him and sowed him aboard his ship.

The Dark Brotherhood

Windos never found out who had kidnapped him, even so he quickly accepted the Dark Brotherhood. He quickly achieved promotions within the structure, finding his niche within the order named after the patron God. He was originally assigned to House Cestus which was promptly closed after being over run by undead creations.

After a sort tenure with House Tridens, he transferred to House Gladius and found a comfortable position with The Keepers of the Night but was soon thrust into leading the unit.

Windos struggled with the added responsibility but soon found his feet, forcing those under him to strive to become the best that they could be and gave them a helping hand at every perceivable occasion.

He soon found himself taking on a large project for Spears Tarentae at the Shadow Academy helping to restructure the institute and upgrade its systems. Windos juggled his dual responsibilities with ease, earning many accolades in the process even achieving knighthood, but hungered for a higher position within the Clan structure.

Exile

Feeling a sense on ambiguity and heeding a need for new responsibilities, Windos followed promises of leadership opportunities to Clan Arcona. Though he resented turning his back on his home he stuck with his new clan through a Great Jedi War and made a number of allies he still hold dear to this day.

Though he was never granted a position of power within Arcona, Windos learnt a great many lesson and hastily returned to Tarentum after hostilities has settled down and transfers were once again permitted by the Master At Arms.

Prime

Windos behind a pile of books in the Tarentum library.

Windos worked within his clan for a short about of time before deciding to leave for a period of a little over half a year to pursue his own personal study into the darker side of the Force.

On his return, Windos took up any portfolio he could, the elderly man taking on his old position of Tetrarch of his battle team. Though his position remained the same and many of his old allies and friends remain, the clan had largely changed. His original house had reopened, the clan leadership had completely changed and his unit had largely fallen to inactivity.

Feeling a pang of responsibility, Windos agreed to accompany his house summit and a select few house mates on a mission to Samur to retrieve some mysterious shards which held great amounts of power.

The mission was plagued with infighting, open conflict with their sister house, Cestus, and combat with Yuuzhan Zong. Windos fell in combat and was nearly killed; he was saved only by the quick actions of his old friend and student Kazarelth Talismarr.

Rebirth

"And through Krath, one can live forever."

―From Windos' "Book of Krath"

Windos’ wound were substantial, the medical staff informed of Castle Tarentum gave him only a day or so left to live. Not wishing to loose a good friend and asset to the clan, Anshar Kahn Tarentae ordered agents of the clan to obtain a suitable vessel and requested that Sith Bloodfyre make himself available to perform a necromantic ritual.

Gallus Octavius, you young Yridian was abducted from his community and brought to a private chamber within the castle where Windos and Bloodfyre waited. The ritual was grueling for all participants, leaving the Sith Master drained and Windos in a coma in his new body.

Windos’ old body was frozen and put into storage in the lowest level of Castle Tarentum and the Krath remained in a coma for two full weeks. When he finally woke, he found a deafening silence greet him as he tested his connection with the force. This caused Windos to fall into a great depression, feeling as if he wouldn’t be as great an asset to his clan. Finally he decided to test the capability of his body and found that while the Force seemed to have lost him, he was more than physically capable of being able be useful in new, and possibly improved, ways.

Miscellaneous Descriptions

Physical

Windos, now possessing the body of a young Yridian; Gallus Octavius, is nondescript. He is a median weight and height and can easily pass through a crowd unnoticed. His body is lean and toned, supposedly the result of several years spent performing manual labor and many hours swimming. His muscles are wiry and move with an uncanny speed.

Having been bald for over three decades, he now keeps his jet black hair cut to a reasonable length, never grooming it and letting it fall as it wishes. His face is chiseled and frames two brilliantly blue eyes. Windos believes that Gallus must have been something of a ladies man prior to their lives collided.

Personality

Reclusive, Windos prefers not to be around other people. He feels that interacting with other unnecessarily will distract him from his studies. He can grow very attached to objects he deems sacred and has also been known to fall for members of opposite sex, but has sworn this will never repeat after the death of his fiancé over 40 years ago. Above all else Windos believes in the supremacy of Krath; his one true god.

Weapons

Lightsaber

Windos’ current saber crafted by the Herald's staff

Windos' first saber was gifted to him by Welshman Corsair Tarentae as part of his impromptu promotion to Dark Jedi Knight during the Phoenix Crest incident. It had been kept in a secure safe within its former owner's office. Windos is still yet to return this saber.

His first and only attempt to create a lightsaber produced a simplistic silver and grey hilt. There is no switch on the hilt’s surface; instead it reacts to subtle Force manipulations within extremely close proximity. The synthetic crystals housed within the saber’s hilt produce a standard length, violet, blade.

When Windos was elevated to Archpriest he approached Muz Ashen Keibatsu, the Herald at that time, to request he crafted a new saber to replace Windos’ poor personal attempt. What he received he considered to be a piece of art, almost too beautiful to be tainted by the gruesome realities of battle.

It was a mainly chrome shaft, with bands of intricate inscriptions and was capped with a majestic red orb and produced a violet blade in homage to his order.

DJB Facts

Positions Held

Aedile of House Gladius
Tetrarch of The Praxeum
Magistrate to the Head Master
Fiction Staff Member
Tetrarch of Keepers of the Night

Trivia

Lowest ranked member to recieve an Amethyst Kukri.
Karel affectionately refers to Windos as a fruit.