Bethany Kismet
A Light In the Dark
Affiliation: The Order of the Sacred Lotus
Rank: Jedi Master
Species: Human
Homeworld: Corellia
Gender: Female
Age: Appears mid-twenties
Height: 4'11"/1.48m
Eyes: Green
Hair: Black
Force Sensitive: Yes
Bethany's Theme
WEAKNESSES
- Small- Bethany is physically small. Doesn't take much to toss her around.
- There is Good in Him, I've Felt It- Bethany is always looking for the good in people. Even the darkest heart holds something redeeming. While she's not naïve (under any circumstances) about evil in the galaxy, she will often give too many chances for someone to prove themselves, often at great cost to herself.
- Force Deficits/Mediocre Jedi - While her reputation says one thing, reality is a different story. Bethany is not a particularly powerful Jedi in most respects. When it comes to the Force, she is, in most cases, solidly middle of the road, and in many cases, actually deficient. She has no ability whatsoever to interfere with another person's mind with the Force- any mentalist type abilities that affect others are strictly barred to her. She is also unreliable when it comes to telekinesis and related abilities.
- At Any Cost - Bethany will strive to always do the right thing. And for her, the right thing is the path of least harm. With that in mind, she has, time and time again, put herself at risk in order to achieve what she sees as the path to peace. It's not that she never learns- it's that she still considers it worth it.
- No Exchanges or Refunds - Getting used to a new body of flesh and blood, after half a millennia of existing as a spirit, is going to take a lot of getting used to. She is not comfortable in the limits of a human body, and this will impact her ability to act and react to physical stress.
TRAITS:
-/+ Compassionate - The core of Bethany's beliefs is compassion. She can find a common ground or connection with almost anyone. She genuinely cares about the potential of every life she meets. This can be both a strength, or a weakness, depending on the situation.
-/+ Pacifist - While she will voraciously defend herself or those who need her protection, Bethany has never directly taken a life, and never will. As such, she fights largely defensively.
-/+Connected - While not "powerful" in the Force, Bethany is deeply connected to it. She sees and feels things others miss, seeing the Force for the web that it truly is, and the ways her own actions, and the actions of others, affect it. As such, she does not see the Jedi (or Force Users in general) as any more important than anyone else- they exist in a balance, and when that balance is upset, it touches them all. This makes her a natural Empath, with all of the good and ill that goes with it.
STRENGTHS:
+Healer - Bethany's primary skills as a Jedi focus on healing. While there are limits to what healing with the Force is capable of, Bethany pushes those limits to their outer edges.
+Indomitable - Though small in stature, Bethany is big in spirit. She will always keep fighting, always keep trying. It takes enormous feats to stop this pint-sized Jedi in her tracks.
Now, she wasn't always a Jedi. Though some stories claim that she was raised from birth by the Jedi on Naboo, the truth is that she was born in adverse circumstances in Coronet City, on Corellia. She came to the Jedi as a young woman, in a time of war and strife. Trained as a healer, she took the mantle of "Peacekeeper", and strove to leave the galaxy she touched better than it had been before.
The galaxy never ceased to surprise her- both to her joy and to her dismay. She offered safety to those in need, and kindness to those who had never known a gentle touch. She offered steel resolve in the face of injustice. Her friendships were strange, and ultimately, her loves stranger. She functioned on the premise that she always had enough to share. Enough what? Enough time, enough love, enough compassion. She was not naïve, not blind to the darkness of the galaxy. Instead she saw it, and fought. Always fought.
The lessons she learned about being a Jedi she passed on to others. She was never too proud to learn herself in turn. And when the time came to make the ultimate sacrifice, to put aside her life in order to save a planet from ruin, she embraced it, passing on her mantle to others.
Merged with the sentient forest of Zonama Sekot, for over five hundred years, Bethany Kismet was at peace.
Until someone decided they needed her again.
Role-play Sample, From The Purification of Naboo
Jedi Temple
The Central Garden
It was a teaching experience. It was a learning experience. A dozen Jedi sat in a loose circle around a single figure, the sound of her voice soft, but carrying well over the rustling of leaves, the song of the wind. Though the garden was quiet, it was not silent, the sounds of life all around them. Some of the Jedi in the gathering had closed their eyes, listening to her voice. Others sat with eyes open, but only barely seeing that which was right in front of them.
"Sentient kind has not woven the web of life," Bethany spoke, her voice weaving them together as surely as the Force did. "We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect. Listen. Let the Force, the life of all living things, move through you." As she spoke those words, she slid within the Force, wrapping each of them in turn in to the Meld, feeling each individual turn toward the group within the Force, and sigh, almost wordlessly....
"Force teach me quiet ~ as the grasses are still with new light." Ryori breathed the words with a quiet steel, a strength and resilence as her mind joined the meld. She offered those same qualities to the meld, and the bond became stronger because of it.
"Force teach me suffering ~ as old stones suffer with memory." The sound of Corrie's voice moved slowly, ponderously and halting, but with a deep solidity that grounded the meld with a sense of the infinite. The timeless.
"Force teach me renewal ~ as the seed that rises in the spring." There was a certain spring in that voice, as Ahote joined his words to theirs. There was a harmony in that light and youthful expression, a playfulness that was lacking but brought the meld up to new heights.
"Force teach me to remember kindness ~ as dry fields weep with rain." Her son's voice was a clear whisper, full of compassion and concern. Rian reached out, taking Corrine's hand, and drawing that resistant mind in to the meld with his, adding the twins and their untapped abilites to them all.
"Force teach me courage ~ as the tree that stands alone." Corrine's voice was stronger than he brother's, stubborn and willful. It bolstered the backbone of the meld that was already supplied by Ryori, as well as drawing a flame of passion higher that had already existed between different members of the meld.
"Force teach me humility ~ as blossoms are humble with beginning." Passion cooled slightly, enveloping them all in that now ever encompassing compassion that had been offered before, reinforced and bolstered as the next Jedi added her words.
"Force teach me acceptance ~ as the leaves that die each fall." Mercureus's deep and solid voice joined them, surprisingly calm and gentle from such a giant of a man. He offered that calm and wisdom, the acceptance of whatever they would find, both in the Web and within themselves.
"Force teach me caring ~ as mothers nurture their young."
"Force teach me limitation ~ as the ant that crawls on the ground."
"Force teach me freedom ~ as the eagle that soars in the sky."
"Force teach me to forget myself ~ as melted snow forgets its life." Bethany's soft tones completed the circle, offering a path she had walked before, the familiarity of what they were about to do. In that same moment, she offered one more gift. The gift of letting go as she opened the circle of Naboo to the gathering.
It was not the first time she had led a group in to the very soul of a planet. She had led nearly forty other Force users in the reclaimation of Caamas, and this was not nearly so strenuous. There was no rebirth here, simply a guided exploration of the web of life of Naboo. She had brought other Jedi, one or two at a time, deep in to the subconscious, living soul of the planet they resided on. Padawans all, they had come out of the experience changed, contemplative, and better understanding of the fact that no action could be taken that would not affect the whole.
Naboo opened like a spring flower beneath their combined consciousness. The sapphire and emerald gem, spinning in the silence of space was not truly isolated, but merely a speck within an enormous web that included every living and dying and birthed and destroyed being in the galaxy. But these Jedi focused for now on this miracle of life that surrounded them. Each would experience something different, some thread that would speak to them deeply, only to then be woven in to the group's consciousness as it flowed through them.
"The forests, they speak," Corrine whispered, the thread from her brother hitting her first. They all saw a flash of green, of laughter, the rough bark of ancient trees harsh against palms and the smell of decaying leaves thick and rich and redolant in their noses.
"The birds in the air, the winds offer guidance," murmured another, and they each felt the joy of flight, the capering momentum of shore birds as they dove and reeled, calling in mournfully joyous tones to eachother.
"The waters live," came another voice in soft awe, "The creatures know the waves, and the waves know them, it speaks their names-"
The sensation of lifeblood waters, cold and crisp and enveloping was shattered by the hard grip of something sinister. One of the children, Bethany couldn't tell which, screamed as a dark, roiling raged through them, choking them, drowning them.
Bethany reached out to the group, gathering them up within the Force. They only touched that darkness for an instant, the barest of heartbeats, but it had violated their circle, ripping like a dull knife in that instant before Bethany forcibly shunted them back into themselves. It was harsh, it was painful, but she had no choice. She cried out, a dozen voices with her as she closed the doors within the Force. Still bound together, still reeling, she slowly started to deconstruct the meld, letting each person go as gently as she could after such an experience. It was exhausting as she lightly unwound each bond.... all but her bond to Corrie. That she left intact for the moment, needing his stability as her eyes opened.
For a heartbeat, she saw out of both of their eyes. Her own flickering about the recovering gathering, his on her. She shook her head, closing her eyes again for a moment.
"What just happened, Master Kismet?"
"I... I don't know," she whispered, slowly trying to stand up, but her legs failed her, knees buckling. "I don't know.... but something horrible has come to Naboo."
Story Tracker:
Where interested parties visit Zonama Sekot, and the forest gives them fire.
Where Bethany starts her new life with a risk and a prayer.
Where a young man learns not to believe everything he reads and Bethany gains a Padawan
Where Bethany finds Zerka, and remembers what "annoyance" feels like.
Where Bethany is surprised by how much what she already knew could hurt.
Where Atrisia calls, and Bethany makes an unexpected connection.
Patterns begin to emerge and discoveries are made.
Placing the first stones, Bethany decides to build something- the Order of the Sacred Lotus
Tea with a new friend.
A first interaction with the Padawans of OSL
Donations begin to come in to support the Sacred Lotus
OSL moves to help on Mandalore, after the planet's core is destabilized.
The situation is far from straight forward.
Peaceful moments.
Even small conflicts yield great suffering
A beach is just a small desert, right?
