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Character
"I was drawn from the dust to serve the Ashla, and when my service has ended, to dust I shall return."
│ Basic Information │
| Name | Cedric Cyr Grayson
| Titles of Note | Defunct Titles: Lord Imperator of the Grayson Imperium, King of Coruscant, Archlord of Ession, Commander of the Rebel Alliance
Active Titles: House Grayson Patriarch, Jedi Master, Last Knight of Ession
| Profession | Jedi Master, Jedi Guardian specialization
│ Homeworld │ Ession
│ Force Sensitivity│ Yes, heavily attuned to the Light Side of the Force
│ Voice Sample │ Reiner
| Character Theme(s) |
Current: I See A Darkness
Past: Carolus Rex
│ Physical Information │
│ Age │ 30
│ Gender │ Male
│ Height │ 5'10
│ Weight │ 210 LBS
│ Eye Color │ Blue
│ Hair │ Black
│ Complexion │ Caucasian, particularly pale
│ Distinguishing Marks │Tattoo of the Jedi Order's emblem on his right shoulder.
| Appearance |
Once, Cedric was a handsome man. He stands at an average height, though his figure is stocky and naturally muscular. One might best describe him as sturdy. His features were patrician in nature, a strong jawline, a slightly upturned nose, and kind blue eyes that earned him many an admirer. That beautiful face was ruined with the passage of time: the nose broken, the eyes dimmed, the skin shredded from shrapnel and carbon scoring. Age and experience have chiseled Cedric's outer appearance to reflect the man within: a dogged warrior-monk, more than happy to bear a thousand scars should they be earned in the service of his people.
Not a vain man, Cedric is generally garbed in a rather simple form of Jedi Robes that the Essonians utilized. It differs little from the norm, save for its black color, and its blaster resistant qualities. If he is not seen in the trappings of a Jedi, it is in that of a soldier. The Jedi Master is just as often seen in his order's regalia as he is in his war-gear, clad in plates of darkened phrik and ceramite bolted over an old Jedi uniform. The armor is nearly as old as Cedric, and dozens of scars have been scored across its once pristine craftsmanship.
| Traits |
There are few figures as controversial as Cedric Grayson. Born to the Jedi Master and later Sith Lord Cyril Grayson, the boy was set on a tumultuous path before he ever drew his first breath. After his father's demise on Atrisia, Cedric was crowned as the child king of his father's homeworld of Ession, and named leader of the galactic military alliance known as the Dominion. Fortunately the people of Ession were not imbeciles, and elected [member="Veiere Arenais"] to serve as regent until the boy came of age.
The majority of the lad's youth was spent studying at the Essonian military academy, training under a number of different force masters hailing from a dozen different force sects, and learning the art of governing from his cousin. The boy excelled in his lessons, and was found to be something of an old soul with the weight of the galaxy already upon his shoulders by the age of ten.
With every aspect of Cedric's life preplanned for him before birth, there was little time for him to simply be a child. The youth that resulted from this strict regime was a cold, callous, and calculating strategist, but one that severely lacked in basic human social skills. That changed when he was introduced to [member="Lysandra"], a young force sensitive girl that his father had chosen to be his future wife.
The two got along in an odd sense, though Lysandra's mental instability made Cedric choose to ignore his father's wishes. He kept her in his life as a friend and confidant, and when he turned sixteen and was crowned Archlord of Ession, she stood by him.
A rapid expansion of the Dominion followed. Cedric, having learned from his father's open minded attitude, allowed practitioners of the Dark Side to live within the Dominion's borders as equals. For a time, both Jedi and Sith served alongside one another to help expand the Dominion's borders. All was going well until a Sith Knight by the name of Antherion betrayed the Dominion and opened it to assault from a group of cultist known as the Primeval. The brief and bloody conflict with the Primeval was devastating for the Dominion, and such losses were only expounded upon when relief efforts sent to Mandalore were met with the slaughter of civilian volunteers by the Mando organization called Deathwatch.
The campaigns of expansion had exhausted the Dominion's military and its young leader. Cedric had participated in every conflict of the expansion crusade, and the stress had begun to wear on him. The fleets were recalled, and the crusade halted so that the people of Ession could enjoy the fruits of their labor.
Unfortunately things would not be so peaceful. A group of cultists dedicated to worshiping the Netherworld utilized a powerful artifact known as the Nercuzin to tear a hole between reality and the empyrean over the world of Meridies. The Dominion fleet moved to respond as hordes of Sithspawn and other unnatural creatures tore through the planet and its neighboring systems. The conflict was a short lived, but casualties were terribly high. The low morale of the military was dealt a death blow upon their return to Ession. The majority of the Sith had absconded with valuable technology and left the government in a state of chaos while the military had been away, and the collapse that followed was unavoidable.
The Dominion fell, and Cedric fell into a deep depression. Lysandra had gone missing, and the Sith were allowed to expand unhindered in the wake of the Dominion's fall. Cedric found himself searching for a purpose. He found that purpose in his ancestor's old Jedi holocron, one that chronicled his family's long and storied service to the Jedi Order. Resolved to finish his training and become a full fledged Jedi Knight, Cedric began his quest to better his understanding of the Force.
He traveled to his family's ancestral home of Ruusan and found the Graywall, an ancient fortress built by his ancestor during the conflict with the Brotherhood of Darkness. Here he spent a year learning about his roots, truly coming to understand Jedi philosophy, and softening his heart to better serve the people. At the end of his tenure, he underwent the Jedi Trials and dueled with a premonition of his former friend and regent, [member="Adron Malvern"]. Once the trials were completed, Cedric was named a Jedi Knight, and gifted the Blade of Ruusan. The Blade was his family's ancestral weapon, and served as a living nexus of the light side of the force.
Shortly thereafter, Cedric left Ruusan to assist the Galactic Alliance during the battle of Dagobah. There he fought alongside his padawan Mirax Eygen to prevent the Sith from taking the planet. Unfortunately Mirax was murdered by a Ren Knight, leaving Cedric's faith in his own abilities shaken. While trying to secure her body for burning, the knight was captured by imperial soldiers, and sold off to the Hutts to serve as a gladiator.
He spent half a year fighting in the pits for the Hutts' entertainment, but he refused to kill a soul. The torture he underwent for that refusal was often and excruciating, but his faith in the Light helped him hold true to his ideals. That faith only grew as the Republic Remnant fought its way through Hutt space and freed him. For a time, Cedric served with the Republic out of gratitude, and helped lessen the influence of the Hutt Cartels in that region. While he did agree with the Republic's ideals, he could not remain with them so long as the Sith threatened his homeworld.
After spending a few months assisting his saviors, Cedric set north for home. He gathered loyal friends and allies from across the galaxy such as
Alyson Halle
,
Cenric Marus
,
Wyatt Morga
, and many others to oppose the Sith Empire.After months of training rebel soldiers, gathering needed supplies, and preparing a proper plan of aggression, the rebels made their first strike. They hit the world of Jaminere, and managed to take a Sith comm hub long enough to transmit their message of freedom across Sith space.
The Sith retaliated by invading Ession. Rather than simply take the world, they committed an act of genocide and worked to slaughter any civilians they came across. It was an atrocity that shook Cedric to the core, and threatened to send him into the depths of depravity. It was only the intervention of his friend Wyatt that kept him from embracing that pain, and helped him to find his faith once again in the face of such a terrible tragedy.
A full scale invasion of the Sith bacta world Dubrillon followed, where Cedric finally confronted Antherion, now known as Darth Vesper, for his betrayal. The conflict was a bloody and heated one, but Cedric refused to strike the Sith Lord offensively. His newfound faith in the Light had shown him that there was a capacity for good in Antherion, even if the man did not see it.
Their duel lasted far longer than most Jedi could have survived acting purely defensively. It was words, not strength of arms, that won the day. Antherion was made to see the results of his actions via a mental link he had forged with Cedric near the end of the duel, and those results tore at his heart. To Cedric's dismay, the Sith Lord ran rather than come back to the Jedi with him, though Cedric knew that would not be the last time they would see one another.
There was no time to recuperate after Dubrillon - the Sith Empire launched a full scale assault on the Rebel Alliance fleet over Gree immediately afterword. The battle was a long and bloody one. The fleet was boxed in by interdictors, forcing the majority of ships to make a final stand. Evacuations saved some, but the majority were wiped out, though they gave as good as they got. Cedric happened to be one of those survivors, and quietly called for the dissolution of the alliance shortly thereafter upon learning of his padawan Cenric's disappearance.
The Jedi Master returned to the Essonian fleet that had gathered over Ruusan. There, the Essonians prepared over the course of a year, calling fro their people from across the stars to rendezvous with the fleet. Forces were gathered, new ships built, and weapons forged. Cedric spent this time finishing the remainder of his studies of the Trials of Mastery and making political ties with several warlords within the core.
The Essonians mobilized after Cedric found his fire rekindled by
Loske Treicolt
. Taking the woman as his padawan, Cedric led his legions alongside the allied warlords against the remnants of the Core Imperial Confederation on Coruscant. The conflict was not a long one - the Essonians and their allies overwhelmed the defenders quickly, whom either surrendered in exchange for positions within the new regime, or were hunted down in the aftermath of such. Cedric Grayson was crowned Lord-Imperator a day later, and renamed the confederation to the Grayson Imperium, announcing promises of equal rights and representation in the process. With his power consolidated over the jewel of the core, the Lord-Imperator began to set his sights to the worlds beyond his small realm.
Unfortunately for the Imperator, elements from within and without were not content with his rule. Control over the House of Lords was a difficult endeavor on its own, and unpleasant relations with the High Republic nearby only served to make that control ever harder to grasp. It was only Cedric's charisma and will that kept the Imperium's leadership together, and when he the moment he was removed, it collapsed. Wounded during a conflict with a mass of creatures from beyond the material realm, Cedric was placed in a coma. Those that sought unity with the Republic took swift action, quickly overthrowing the Essonian military, ousting any loyal to the Grayson house, the Ashla, or Essonian values, and abolished the monarchy. Cedric's life's work was undone in a matter of days, and the people whom he had led from the lowest of lows to the very center of galactic culture, cast aside now that they were deemed of less use.
Democratic rule was established, and the Essonians denied the fruits of their labors. When Cedric awoke, it was with a fury.
Laid low, the Imperator took on the Barash Vow, in hopes of reconnecting with the living force, and discerning what path forward might be best for him and his people. The Vow took him to the galaxy's darkest places, where only dredges and the damned walked. For months, he served any whom he came across, eschewing all things, save for his vow to the Force and the people of the galaxy.
That vow was broken when he felt a grand betrayal through his force bond. The woman he had come to love betrayed him, taking to the arms of another man in his absence. Devastated, Cedric's faith slipped for the first time in his life. He allowed the whispers of the dark places to wriggle into his mind, and for a moment, he knew only hatred.
The actions that followed were out of character for the Essonian, and he is wont to recount them. Left to his own devices, Cedric became a beast. He cursed his god, spat upon the years of service he'd given in her name, and reveled in his disgust with his former allies.
There was no one to be trusted. Every soul he'd sought to protect had betrayed him. His, and the sacrifice of his brothers and sisters, had been for nothing. It was only the Light that kept him from becoming the beast he had begun to embody. The Ashla came to him at his lowest point, as he spat hatred and vitriol toward those that had wronged him, and showed him the truth.
They were all naive. Like children, unfit to make decisions for themselves, let alone for the kingdom his people had forged. He could only trust his own, and those that had sworn to eternal service in the Ashla's name. All others had proven themselves to be infidels. With new purpose in his heart, Cedric set forth from the jungles of Odessen, a new blade in hand, new war-plate clad upon his body, and a renewed faith that would never be shaken again.
The galaxy would be cleansed.
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