Teikhos Ta’var, né Teikhos Seleukides, is a male Zeltron Jedi of Odan-Urr. Teikhos grew up on Zeltros, but spent his early twenties bouncing between several short-lived odd jobs. In 33 ABY, Jedi Knight Edgar Drachen brought him to New Tython to train under Clan Odan-Urr.
Character History
Before the Jedi, 9–33 ABY
Teikhos had a fairly uneventful childhood on his people's homeworld, Zeltros. By his early teens, his daily life consisted of half-hearted study for entrance to the New Republic military academy and chasing after tourist girls. Ultimately, Teikhos proved more devoted to the latter and failed his entrance exam.
Without a social support system or any marketable skills, Teikhos set off for the Hapes Consortium. Using his charm and Zeltron looks, he found a niche as arm candy for various Hapan noblewomen. He used his lovers to work his way up to an increasingly cushy lifestyle, but each step forward moved him deeper into the dangerous realm of Hapan politics. After getting on the wrong side of the wrong people, Teikhos feared for his safety and left the Hapes Cluster.
Teikhos then followed the Rimma Trade Route south and worked a number of short-lived odd jobs across various systems. He was a cabana boy on Woostri's white-sand beaches, a bartender on a cruise ship based out of Gerrenthum, a Guilea smuggler on Cerea, and, least successfully, a bounty hunter based on Bakura.
Odan-Urr, 33 ABY–Present
While chasing his first bounty, Teikhos met and befriended Jedi Knight Edgar Drachen of Clan Odan-Urr. Teikhos returned with him to Seher on New Tython, where he trained in the Force under the guidance of House Satele Shan. He excelled in many aspects of his training, including academic study and lightsaber training, but had difficulty reconciling the restrictive serenity of the Jedi Code with his personality and life experience. During this time Teikhos took a hard line attitude towards freeing captured Sith who had been enslaved by the Seherob, and helped the Sith Lyra Sann escape without the knowledge or approval of his clan. Sann slew her master in the escape using Teikhos' lightsaber, and the Jedi helped her destroy evidence of his involvement.[1]
Towards the end of his training, Teikhos was assigned to Strike-Team Ooroo under the command of Jafits Skrumm. House Shan's summit believed that Ooroo's focus on direct action would provide a useful outlet for Teikhos. Teikhos was one of the last of Odan-Urr’s Jedi to be knighted on New Tython.[2]
Jade, Hylon, Teikhos, Zoe, Cade, and Aura Ta’var
During the Lotus War, Teikhos was actively engaged in the battles on Florrum and Nancora, where he settled into service as a bulwark and champion for Odan-Urr’s forces.[3]
Following his marriage to Aurora Ta’var in 37 ABY, Teikhos settled into a position at the Jedi Praxeum, as the position in Kiast allowed him more time with the increasing number Ta’var children. His duties were, however, fulfilling in themselves. Teikhos trained Tassk Adroc to knighthood, despite the Togorian’s own troubled past and lingering self-doubt.[4] Less successfully, Teikhos was one in a series of Jedi who attempted to instruct Vez Hirundo, only for the Mirialan to storm off in mutual frustration.[5][6]
Although he found a new sense of purpose and serenity in life as a father and teacher, Teikhos’ considerable martial skills still found occasional use. He participated in the Battle of Voraskel Palace in 38 ABY.[7] The following year, he joined then-Shadow Lord Lucine Vasano on Arx at the invitation of Headmistress Ciara Tearnan Rothwell Tarentae as part of the SARLACC initiative. Faced with a maddened Krayt dragon, the pair—at Teikhos’ urging—disregarded instructions to main or kill the beast and instead destroyed the Arx Colosseum’s control room, putting a temporary end to the experimental beast fights.[8]
Description
Appearance
Teikhos is tall and lean, with long, wavy, very dark blue hair, indigo eyes, and the red skin typical of Zeltrons. He wears his hair tied back; if he doesn't, it tends to all end up in his face regardless of how many times he attempts to tuck it behind his ears. His face is long and lean, with cheekbones you could cut glass on. He keeps clean-shaven. Although it doesn’t take much to bring an impish twinkle to his eye, his default expression is the thousand-meter stare familiar to many a sleep-deprived young parent.
Teikhos takes pains to keep himself tidy and well-groomed, almost to the point of foppishness.
Personality
Teikhos’ newfound roles as a teacher and father have sobered him up a bit, metaphorically if not literally. However, old habits die hard. Teikhos fears being boring at least as much as he fears being a bad influence and he’s easily baited into mischief provided that it doesn’t harm anyone.
Teikhos follows the Living Force and an activist interpretation of the Jedi Code. He believes in intervening to do good, regardless of the personal consequences. Like many of his fellow Odanites, Teikhos rejects some of the orthodox teachings of the late Republic. He considers possessiveness forbidden but actively seeks out attachments to encourage empathy and compassion on both ends of the relationship. He’s not arrogant enough to assume he understands the Force’s will, and doesn’t put much stock into prophecy. He serves growth, love, happiness, life; he opposes fear, anger, and misery. Teikhos has difficulty compromising on that, especially with himself, and often finds himself getting into trouble or difficult situations he could have avoided if not for his principles.
True to his Zeltron heritage, Teikhos embraces the finer things in life: well tailored and dramatic clothing, sumptuous meals, and lovely companions. He attempts to imbue his every action with the epitome of flash and style. Although it’s not very Jedi-like, this attitude helps Teikhos craft a larger than life persona. It also, however, makes him poorly suited to stealth missions or other occasions that would benefit from a more low key approach. Teikhos shares a (usually) mutual admiration for the fairer sex, tempered only by his committment to his wife and daughters. Although he keeps his hands to himself—and Aura—these days, he continues to fall all over himself in his attempts to charm and impress any female humanoid he encounters. While his motives are not entirely pure, he is more a gentleman than a scoundrel at heart and he scrupulously avoids pushing people beyond their comfort zones.
Teikhos believes in the very core of his being that a Jedi’s role is to nurture, heal, and protect the Living Force present in all creatures. Even his approach to violence emphasizes non-violence. He trains intently with his lightsaber, constantly pushing himself to consistently execute more precise and less dangerous strikes such as Sun Djem, Shiim, or Shiak to extremities. As the lightsaber is perhaps the galaxy’s most lethal weapon, inflicting minimal harm with one is a difficult feat and Teikhos will repeatedly pass up good opportunities to maim or kill his opponent.
Relationships
Aurora Ta’var
- "Perhaps I should have made myself clearer, you’re mine now."
- ―Aura Ta’var
Teikhos and Aura met shortly after the latter left the Sith for Odan-Urr, and the two clicked immediately.[9] Teikhos served as the human-raised Aura’s primarily link to the Zeltron community on Kiast and helped her to rediscover her heritage.[10]
The pair were quietly married by 37 ABY; Teikhos took his wife’s surname. Teikhos serves as the father figure to Aura’s firstborn child, Zoe, and the couple have since produced three more children: Jade, born in 38 ABY, and the twins Hylon and Cade, born in 39 ABY. During the first years of their marriage, Aura's duties as High Councillor took up much of her time. Teikhos shifted to focus less on the front lines of galactic conflict in favor of staying on Kiast with the children.
The Ta’vars are natural compliments and their relationship has served as a moderating and calming influence on both. Teikhos helped Aura managed the difficult transition from her previous life as a spite-driven Sith assassin to a Jedi instructed by the Old Republic traditionalist, V'yr Vorsa by helping her understand that emotions, while a possible pathway to the Dark Side, could also keep a Jedi fixed in their resolve. Aura’s past showed Teikhos a disturbing view of what he might inadvertently become if he didn’t moderate his own actions, and witnessing her journey to the Light proved almost like a second padawanship for him. His pathological need to please, to be liked, and to make a difference now has a more constructive outlet in the form of his daughters and the new arrivals at the Odanite Praxeum.
Much like Vorsa and her huband, Turel Sorenn, other Odanites frequently hold Aura and Teikhos up as an example of the more balanced Jedi lifestyle promoted by Odan-Urr and a counter to the stereotype of Jedi as emotionless and joyless monks. Their commitment to creating a better world for their children and each other has drawn the Ta’vars into a deeper understanding of the Light and appreciation of what Odan-Urr means for the Galaxy.
Edgar Drachen
- "This is why I don't go to bars with you anymore."
- ―Edgar Drachen
As the Jedi who brought Teikhos to Odan-Urr, Edgar Drachen was the Council’s choice to train the young Zeltron in the ways of the Force. The Council would come to question the wisdom of that decision at times, as the two men tended to encourage each other’s tendency towards action over contemplation, not to say frequent drunkenness.[11] Nevertheless, Edgar and Teikhos quickly formed a strong bond and Edgar successfully oversaw Teikhos’ training and eventual knighting.[1][2]
The pair were both well known for genuine heroics—and a very un-Jedi tendency towards avoidable fights and vice. Ultimately, as Teikhos began to question the habits he’d formed throughout his life, including under Drachen’s supervision, the pair started to drift apart. While Edgar remains a warrior for the light, Teikhos has increasingly come to view any use of his weapon as a failure.