Mav Halo
Mean, mean stride.
Callia Rodez
The soul, secured in her existence, smiles
at the drawn dagger, and defies its point.
Birth Name: Callia Rodez (KA-LEE-ah ROH-des)
Titles: Dame
Approximate Age: Early Thirties
Place of Birth: Rhore, Cesya
Citizenship: House Cadriaan; Tapani
Affiliation: Galactic Alliance
Occupation: Jedi Master (Shadow)
Family:
Baron Diamas Rodez (Father), Dame Irenza Rodez (Mother), Lord Jorg Rodez (Paternal Grandfather), Lady Callia Rodez (Paternal Grandmother, Deceased)
Appearance
Species: Human
Gender: Female
Hair Color: Dark brown
Eye Color: Dark brown
Height: 1.68m
Weight: 57kg
Strengths & Weaknesses
+ Force User: Having been lucky enough to have been born force sensitive, Callia received some formal force training prior to joining the Galactic Alliance, being instructed in the Agents of Ossus force tradition. She has since bolstered her education within the Jedi Order, although remains a touch overly specialised despite attempts to the contrary.
+ Education: Callia benefitted from a wealth of private tutors and academic institutions, giving her a well-rounded education in galactic history, politics, languages and similar fields. Initially sheltered due to her privileged upbringing, the Galactic Alliance has afforded her a wealth of real life experience that has helped ground her further.
+ Makashi: With the noted similarities between Tapani fencing and Form II, it’s not too surprising that Callia has quickly taken to the Makashi style of lightsaber combat. Her roots are painfully obvious to any outward observer, however. Nothing will ever rid her of the distinctive flourishes and forms of the Cadriaan school.
- Obstinate: Despite successfully dodging the legendary Rodez temper, Callia unfortunately inherited the equally infamous stubborn streak. While this allows her to be tenacious in the face of adversity, it makes her understandably difficult to deal with socially when opinions differ.
- Shadow: With her background as an unwitting thief and further training in the covert arts, Callia has proven herself to be a talented and skilled Jedi Shadow for the NJO. Shouldering such a burden has not been easy on the young Tapani noble, however. There is a discernible darkness creeping into her heart, fueled by guilt and regret, that makes her weaker to the temptation of the dark side.
Background
Prologue
There was quite a stir within House Cadriaan’s upper echelons when the son of Lord Rodez married a ‘petty’ knight, the union perhaps the first in the family’s illustrious history to arise from love rather than some political machination. It is said Jorg Rodez raged for days when the news of the wedding broke. Months before he could even bring himself to speak of his son’s perceived transgression. Young and recklessly in love, it’s hard to say if Diamas felt the sting of his father’s disapproval. With his reputation as a famed saber rake and unofficial status as House champion, few discovered the courage to pose the question to him in person. Of those, even fewer remained by the time Diamas and Irenza reported the birth of their child, named Callia in honour of the late Lady Rodez.
While the dedication might have lessened some of his father’s wrath, it would be several more years before the aging patriarch could bring himself to completely forgive his son, or at least loosen his control over the purse strings. Despite this, Diamas managed to afford Callia a childhood steeped in privilege and luxury, being exposed to a wealth of tutors in fields such as court etiquette, languages and diplomacy. Her fondest lessons came from the hands of her mother, however, with the former House guard insisting that she be instructed in the martial disciplines. Initially reluctant, Diamas soon bowed in the face of his wife’s increasing demands, hiring his former fencing instructor and gifting Callia with her own lightfoil to show his support.
When she came of age, her father arranged for her to study at the prestigious Royal House of Learning on Naboo. Having spent most of her life up until this point cloistered within her father’s limited social circle on Cesya, the exposure to the nobles and other ‘well-to-do’ members of society was quite enlightening to say the least. While undeniably privileged in her own right, even she found her peers to be insufferably vapid and narcissistic beyond even the Tapani norm. Unsurprisingly, she made few friends during that first semester.
It was Vai Kanis that saved her from becoming a complete social recluse, the pair forging a fast friendship over a mutual interest in pre-gulag era history. Kanis was also the first to recognise Callia’s force sensitivity, becoming her informal ‘master’ and serving to introduce her to the fundamentals of the force. Initially reluctant to share where she had been instructed, as the weeks and months passed and their friendship solidified, Kanis would eventually reveal that she belonged to the recluse and secretive order known as the Agents of Ossus.
An initiate in the order herself, Kanis introduced Callia to the small cell that had formed on Naboo in order to continue her training, with the tapani noble soon finding herself splitting time between her studies at the Learning House and the small library the cell operated in the centre of the city.
As she was still an initiate herself, Kanis introduced Callia to the small cell that currently operated within the Naboo system in order to further her training. Soon the Tapani noble found herself splitting her time between her studies at the Learning House and those in the small library the cell operated within the centre of the city. As time progressed and she became further inducted into the order, Callia was frequently tasked with assisting Kanis in retrieving information from the Learning House. Initially simple fact finding errands, these tasks soon took a turn when they started to require the pair to break into the more restricted parts of the school’s archives.
Young and naïve, Callia foolishly complied without question, believing that she was serving a higher purpose for the order and its goals of safeguarding knowledge. It wasn’t until it was almost too late that she realised the cell was actually selling the information on to the highest bidder. Worse still, Kanis seemed to have been in on the deception from the outset, capitalising on their friendship to line her own pockets.
Feeling disillusioned and angry at the betrayal, Callia lashed out in particular Tapani fashion, utilising her family connections and the cell’s own greed to ensnare them in a scheme that would see them behind bars. Due to the Order’s innate paranoia over keeping records of its members, she skirted a similar fate when the authorities cracked down, although the suspicion alone was enough to see her expelled from the school.
Ashamed of her own gullibility and actions, many of which flew directly against House Cadriaan’s principles, Callia opted to take sanctuary in Galactic Alliance space rather than return to the Tapani Sector. There she has sought a place within the New Jedi Order.
Chapter I
The Order proved to be a crucible for the young noble. In the face of the growing conflicts, there was no time to dwell on her past misdeeds, inadvertent or otherwise. The front lines were constantly shifting back then. Calling her to one planet or the next, exposing her to the grittier truths that were prevalent outside of the relatively pampered Tapani provinces. She barely remembers the first life she took, nor the first that she saved. They have all blurred together at this point. A swirling mass that both haunts and drives her on wards, never letting herself stop for fear it would catch up and consume her.
While it may have led to her self-imposed exile, her background with the Agents of Ossus quickly proved to be invaluable at intelligence gathering. Before long she found herself entering far beyond those aforementioned front lines, delving deep into frequently hostile territory to ferret out secrets and gather intel that would help the struggle. Fighting the good fight, one shadow at a time.
Firm friendships were forged within her own 'Padawan Pack'. A bond that served her well, helping to keep her grounded as the moral and ethical landscape began to shift beneath her feet. It would also, at times, break her when such bonds were cruelly sundered. Each loss another crack in armour. All but countless by the time she finally was knighted.
Chapter II
To be written.
