Mara D'Lessio Merrill
The Lesser D'Lessio
"She's a Merrill. Maybe someday she'll be the Merrill."
NAME: Mara D'Lessio Merrill
FACTION: The Kathol Outback, Kilian Rangers
RANK:
SPECIES: Half Corellian human, half Zeltron
AGE: Youngish
SEX: Female
HEIGHT: Smallish
WEIGHT: Smallish
EYES: Brown
HAIR: Brown
SKIN: Brownish pinkish
FORCE SENSITIVE:
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STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES (Required: 2 Weaknesses Minimum) :
- (+) Mara is a Merrill; she's been doing instinctive astrogation since she could fly, and she's been flying since she could talk in complete sentences. Her instinctive navigation talents may not match her father's, but she can find a purveyor of greasy foodstuffs anywhere.
- (+) Mara's two greatest influences have been her adoptive mother, the mechanic, salvager and shipwright [member="Alna Merrill"], and the Warden of the Sky [member="Chloe Blake"]. Her two main babysitters and guardians have been the Wookiee [member="General Beyyr"] (her father's longtime copilot) and the Kushiban [member="Miktik"], his chief mechanic. She is absolutely at home in the guts of basically any kind of freighter or transport.
- (+) Mara was taught hand-to-hand by her father, Chloe, Hylocereus and Fable Merrill, shooting by her father and mother, sword and knife play by her aunt Rave, sabre combat by the Yavin IV instructors and Codi Zrgaat, and Makashi by Aleidis Ijet Zrgaat. She has better killer instinct than her father.
- (+) Mara has a degree of her birth mother's Zeltron telempathy, which has been known to beat your average Force-masking and even Taozin amulets. Between that and being raised by a Lorrdian, fooling Mara just isn't a thing.
- (+) Due to her experiments with Sithspawn antivenins, testing them on herself in many cases, Mara is highly resistant to various Sithspawn venoms and Sith poisons.
- (-) Mara is young, small, and physically weak by any kind of adult standard.
- (-) Mara is half-Zeltron and was not raised by Zeltrons; as a result, she has little control over her pheromonal abilities.
- (-) Mara has watched her parents and friends cheat death for her entire life. She's bluffed her way into insurgencies and out of Sith hostage situations; she's gone blade-to-blade with a Sith Master. She feels immortal.
- (-) Mara was shot in the back by overzealous good guys while she was doing their jobs for them. A handful of years later, she was one of the few survivors of the Ilum Enclave Massacre. She suffers from PTSD, depression, and bitterness, and is not quick to trust people based on their colour scheme. This has been the defining challenge of her young life.
(+/-) Mara is accounted a Master because of her emotional and spiritual growth, good judgment, and ability to keep her head while both winning and losing at serious combat, not because of any transcendent ability in the Force. She is still quite young, and one just plain doesn't get astonishing top-tier power unless one's name is Skywalker or one is willing to pay a heavy price. When it comes to the choice between power and insight, between throwing stones and reading ripples, or between hearing a whisper and shouting, Mara has generally chosen insight.
ESOTERIC ABILITIES
Apprentice Knight Master Specialist
Instinctive Navigation/Astrogation |||||| |||||| |||||| ||
Healing |||||| |||||| |
Concealing Force Signature |||||| |||||| |
Dampen/Sever Force |||||| |||||| |||
Projected Fighting |||||| |||||| |||
Technopathy |||||| ||||||
Force Shield |||||| |||||| |||
Tapas |||||| |||||| |
RACIAL ABILITIES
Empathy (Zeltron) |||||| |||||| |
Kinetic Communication (Lorrdian) |||||| |||||| |
Gesaril Carving |||||| |||||| ||||||
Crystal Crafting (Upari, Lorrdian, Kasha, etc.) |||||| |||||| |||||| ||||
INFLUENTIAL TRADITIONS
- Wardens of the Sky - Born and raised
- Jedi - Trained at the Jedi Academy on Yavin IV; was Padawan to Barsen'thor Aleidis Ijet Zrgaat
- Kilian Rangers - Long-term residence on Kilia IV as an adult
- Oswaft - Communed with a spirit
- Fallanassi - From Aleidis, learned how to navigate through/despite high-level White Current illusions
- Kathol Liberation Ring
- Ankarres Healing Crystals
- Arri'Ryyk Blades (with Upari crystals)
- Twi'lek Lorrdian Ornaments
- Zeltron Smokestone Pendants
- Mara's Speeder Truck (with Kasha stones)
- Hearthcrystal
- Lifeweb Spyglass (with thaissen crystals)
- Orbalisk Antivenin
- Hssiss Antivenin
- Pelko Antivenin
- Grip of Enlightenment (originally a Rave Merrill design)
- The Jurgoran Staves (from a prototype by Rave Merrill)
- Steelbreast Root (breeds large ones)
- The Vergence Lensforge
Mara generally wears spacer coveralls, liberally festooned with dirt and engine grease. She's one of those kids.
Mara's scars are numerous. She has a cut on her left knee and a bite-mark on her left thigh, as well as lightning burns on both legs, all courtesy of [member="Darth Abyss"]. She has three parallel, horizontal lines on her right cheek from a splash of molten glasteel and partially-reacted trihexalon, thanks to [member="Calina Ovmar"]. She has a number of blaster scars on her back from a Rebel Alliance friendly fire incident, and several cuts and burns from Mandalorian weapons at the Ilum Enclave Massacre.
BIOGRAPHY:
The story of Mara's conception is, perhaps, best told by her godfather, Lord Protector [member="Sarge Potteiger"], who most certainly was not Lord Protector at the time. [member="Thessa Kai"] has been known to have some insights also. Suffice it to say that Mara has never met her birth mother, who was not the mothering type. Jorus raised Mara alone, then with the help of Chloe Blake, his longtime associate and platonic love interest. When Mara was very young, Jorus partnered with, and then married, Alna D'Lessio. Though Mara began to consider Alna her mother, she remained close with Chloe, and learned the skills and mindset of a Warden of the Sky in the process.
Mara spent the next several years accompanying Jorus and/or Alna and/or Chloe and/or her aunt Rave (now deceased) on various jaunts, or growing up on Q-27. She has visited most of the Levantine worlds, toured as a Warden, trained on Yavin Four, and traveled the length and breadth of the super-hyperlane that her parents named after her. Her main haunt outside Levantine space is Dingo Darr's Chop Shop/Karkin' Ribs on Ord Mantell.
She embarked on a bit of a galactic tour, supervised by the Wookiee known as Beyyr, her father's longtime copilot. Cobbling together a bluff out of old stories, she finagled her way into the Rebel Alliance, but was quickly shuffled off for being really, really young. Another time, on Zeltros, she was taken hostage by the Darksider known as Duvain, as a weapon against the Jedi Masters Joshua DragonsFlame and Karen Roberts. When the Jedi shrugged and decided that her death was probably the will of the Force, Mara was unamused. When a Mandalorian attacked Duvain and kicked Mara in the gut, she was less than thrilled. And when her mother came in to resolve the situation with a shotgun, Mara decided what to do with her life.
Around this point, she realized that when she became an adult, she would almost certainly inherit a fortune in credits, capital, and stock from her parents and aunt. She hadn't been told this, but figured it out on her own, and it seemed like fun.
In the meantime, she made her own friends, generally known as the Brat Pack. Some of her most lasting friendships involved the Talith kids, her closest peers. Knighted young, she became one of Kaili Talith's teachers. She began introducing Kaili and selected others to the techniques and ethos of the Wardens of the Sky, and taught instinctive astrogation to the Brat Pack in general.
As a young Knight, she journeyed to Lameredd in Rebel Alliance territory, to see what the Alliance had made of itself. She happened to be near a military airfield when it came under attack by a terrorist. As the Rebel response lagged, Mara took it upon herself to intercept and capture the perpetrator. In a brutal fight, her hand was broken and she sustained numerous small injuries. Out of nowhere, a circle of Rebel Alliance troops surrounded both combatants and opened fire. Mara was shot in the back. Her life was saved by a Brat Pack compatriot and a remorseful Rebel commander. She eventually made a full physical recovery. However, she faced depression and post-traumatic stress. She disappeared from a leadership role in the nascent Covenant, and to one extent or another lost contact with many of her childhood friends.
At some point in this period, she acquired the legendary Ankarres Sapphire at auction, and began to study crystallurgy.
When her father retired from being Master of First Knowledge, as well as his position at the Levantine Astronautical Academy, she took a job with Baobab Astrography. She participated in Underground operations, including a recon/rescue operation in the Tython system.
Eventually, however, she could no longer avoid the responsibilities of her Force-sensitivity and her stock portfolio. She began to get involved in Iron Crown and the reformation of Stargo Forge Works. She took up residence in Castle Miriamele on Kilia IV, learning from the Kilian Rangers of the Tionc family, as well as the Jem Wyzen holocron.
While she studied on Kilia IV, she played host to her estranged aunt, the noted alchemist and war criminal Rave Merrill. Though Rave didn't teach Mara directly, her aunt vetted the Ankarres Sapphire and the Kilian Book of Adjuration, and made alchemical modifications to the castle. Around this time, Mara invited her longtime friend and former Padawan [member="Kaili Talith"], now a Master in her own right. They studied together on Kilia IV, reestablishing their bond, and Kaili opened Mara's eyes to the tragedies of the galaxy. Mara became convinced that she needed to do much more with her money and resources. At Kaili's suggestion, Mara hired her to keep Mara from being seduced by power.
With the death of her aunt Rave on Dromund Kaas, Mara explored Rave's records and archives, at least the portion that she'd left in Castle Miriamele. She learned the principles of various Light Side-affiliated Force crafting traditions, and began to experiment with some of the rarer ones. Though she knew she'd never be able to match [member="Micah Talith"], that had never stopped her before.
Mara played a crucial role in the liberation of Coruscant, guiding a large Jedi strike team through multiple layers of Sith security. Alongside Masters such as Julius Sedaire, Meeristali Peradun, and Darron Wraith, she used the Ankarres Sapphire and its derivatives to cleanse the Force nexus at the old Jedi Temple site. Mara then threw herself into the task of repairing the damage dealt Coruscant by repeated invasions and coup attempts. She sank a massive portion of her net worth into reconstruction and relief aid, damaging her previously immense fortune.
Her humanitarian efforts were almost derailed, however, when she and her crew visited the unaffiliated Ilum Jedi Enclave. She'd gone in search of Force crystals to help cleanse Coruscant of the leftover Dark Side filth. Instead, she found herself pinned down by a huge Mandalorian raiding party. Outmaneuvered at every turn, Mara and her crew were injured and the enclave's Jedi were slaughtered right down to the younglings. Mara's PTSD returned in force. She and her crew barely survived.
She turned to any number of activities, in search of distraction and purpose. Rebuilding Coruscant, crystal experimentation, long talks with Kaili Talith, dating her old friend Hylocereus, testing Sithspawn antivenins on herself -- Mara kept busy out of necessity.
STOCK
From her aunt Rave and her parents, Mara has inherited a diverse stock portfolio.
- 10% of Silk Holdings, Tier 6, along with interest on stock dividends
- 7% of Arakyd, Tier 4, along with interest on stock dividends
- 5% of Akure Executive Interstellar, Tier 6, along with interest on stock dividends and the proceeds of selling 26% of the company
- 100% of Marvand Publishing Company, Tier 2 - sold to Nyx
- 51% of Wey'lan Dyu'tani, Tier 2 - sold to Sasori Research shortly after making Tier 3
- 100% of Stargo Forgeworks
A full share in the Foundation Trust, which owns 85% of Iron Crown, Tier 6 (purchased when ICE was Tier 5)- sold to Darell Irani
PRIMARY ABILITIES
- Instinctive navigation/astrogation/piloting
- Telempathy/mental defense
- Starship-mechanic-related technopathy
- Sever/Dampen Force
- Broad grounding in hand-to-hand combat, including Warden of the Sky martial arts/projected fighting, grappling, and shockboxing
- Broad grounding in lightsabre/blade combat, especially several variants of Makashi
- Mara was trained in instinctive navigation of one kind or another starting as a toddler.
- In her childhood, she voyaged with Chloe Blake, learning the fundamental Warden of the Sky techniques (instinctive astrogation, minor technopathy, deft telekinesis/projected fighting, emphasis on swashbuckling). She also trained briefly in blade combat with her aunt, Rave Merrill. It was around this time she began to have conscious control of her Zeltron telempathy, and of the mental defense associated with it, a quality she learned the hard way while a hostage of the Dark Side mentalist Duvain. Mara chose a vibrorapier as her preferred weapon.
- In adolescence, Mara began training at the Yavin Jedi Academy, where she learned the basics of the Core Powers, though all through a Warden lens. She learned the basics of Forms I-V during this period, and constructed her first lightsabre, a silver-bladed weapon with a chunk of Krayt pearl as the focusing crystal.
- After meeting her 'cousin', the professional fighter Fable Merrill, Mara went on a whirlwind voyage with Fable. The voyage included pirate fighting off Nar Shaddaa, prizefighting on Void Station, and terrible food on Ord Mantell. Mara emerged from the trip more competent in Force-related hand-to-hand and piloting.
- Shortly thereafter, and not coincidentally, she was packed off to the remote planet Dayark for a few months to learn from Master Aleidis Ijet Zrgaat, Barsen'thor of the Jedi Order, as well as Aleidis' wife Codi. Forbidden to bring her lightsabre, Mara spent the six-week trip to Dayark building a new one out of spare parts and training with it. While Codi improved Mara's grasp of lightsabre combat forms, Aleidis trained Mara hard, focusing on telekinesis, staying power, the delving prerequisites of healing, and lightfoil Makashi. By this point, Mara's instinctive navigation abilities were sufficient to make her surefooted while running on rubble, or confident while piloting a small craft through a turbolaser bombardment. She was fully capable of making blind hyperjumps safely.
- After her training on Dayark, Mara returned to the Yavin Academy, with occasional visits to the Levantine Astronautical Academy, where she intended to enroll once she was old enough. She also visited the Ossus Academy and improved her Force Shield with Alen Na'Varro, a specialist in that technique.
- Mara encountered and communed with an Oswaft spirit inside a Brodo Asogan breach point (a gap in the galaxy's hyperspace shell).
- Mara lives on the forgotten world of Kilia IV, learning from the Kilian Rangers. She holds the rank of Kilian Lord.
None yet
KILLS:
None yet
BOUNTIES COLLECTED:
None yet
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ROLE-PLAYS:
As NPC/supporting character (On TGC)
Attendance is Mandatory
As NPC/supporting character (On SW Chaos):
The Blockade Job
Down And Out In The Far Far Away
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spy
Gutting All the Wolverines
The Godfather
Would You Like Some Water With That Sand?
Across the Universe
Start of a New Season
Across the Universe: To Sail Beyond the Sunset
One Day He'll Tell You 'I Found You In A Diner'
Across the Universe: The Answer is Blowing in the Wind
Gravity
As PC: (current as of receiving Master rank)
-Training Given/Received-
You Took My Daughter WHERE? - Hand-to-hand training with Fable Merrill
Building Lightsabres - Exactly what it says on the tin
Jedi Academy on Yavin IV - Training and social things
Dear Ms. Barsen'thor - Training with Aleidis and Codi Zrgaat
Brat Pack Battle Royale - Hand-to-hand/telempathy training with Hylocereus
Protective Posture - Force Shield training with Alen Na'Varro
Do You Wanna Build A Spacelane? - Teaching instinctive astrogation
Soja Up - Teaching Catherine Soja
Climbing Mount Fuji - Teaching Kaili Talith
And Some Have Greatness Thrust Upon Them - Teaching Hugh Seyley
Another Kind of Ammo - Teaching the Underground
In Fact It Scares Us - Theran Force-listening, Kilian Ranger tradition
-Dominions/Invasions/Faction Threads-
Rebel Alliance Gathering Order - Bluffs her way into the Alliance
Hear Me Baby, Hold Together - Assists in hyperdrive-related sustenance activities
Levantine Astronautical Academy Tactical Symposium and Gala - Spikes some drinks
Bark at the Moon - One Sith invasion of Telti
On Unstable Ground - Republic dominion of Mimban
In Case of Emergency - GA dominion of Thyferra
Great Convocation at Yavin IV
On the Raggedy Edge - Secures Tionne's holocron for the Jedi
Cloudy with a Chance of Sith - GA skirmish at Taloraan, dogfights a Sith Lord
-Misc/Personal Threads-
Zeltros Nights - Sith hostage; improved mental defenses
The New Generation - First encounters the Talith kids
Into The Deep End He Goes - Attacks a Mando mass murderer
Second Star to the Right and Straight On Til Morning - Ship design with Ayden Cater and her dad
Old Masters Long Gone - Yavin hijinks
Old Man Sun's Looking Down On Us - Marooned with the Brat Pack
Tossed in the Wake - Finds Fort Elsa on Kelsier; interrogates Cerita Sarova
An Unofficial Meeting - Acts as Sarge's representative to the Vitae
Racking Up Some Rebs - Interrupts a terrorist/commando raid on the Rebel Alliance and gets shot up by the Rebel Alliance
Legacy - Steals the derelict Saelari Medical Center
So you're not dead yet, as the Mandos say - Reconnects with Micah Talith and company
Train you, I will - Encounters a critter on Dagobah
Blackguard Holocron Auction - Dissero's auction
Legacy of the Bando Gora - Recon over Gehenna
Black Friday Special - Tenloss auction
Visiting Tython - Attempts to rescue some hapless travelers from occupied Tython