S U R V I V O R
NAME: Tessai
ALLEGIANCES: The Confederacy
RANK: ---
SPECIES: Near-Human
AGE: Middle-aged
SEX: Male
HEIGHT: 6'5"
BUILD: Heavyweight
EYES: Brown
HAIR: Black
SKIN: Brown
FORCE SENSITIVE: Yes
Tessai possesses the ability to disrupt Hivemind, telepathic communications.
G E N U I N E
Tessai is a competant wielder of the Force.
Tessai is far more sensitive to cold than a typical Human.
Tessai is far more susceptible to mind-altering abilities than the average Force Sensitive.
Tessai is largely out of touch with the numerous technologies of the modern Galaxy.
D E F E N D E R
Tessai was never meant to set foot on a battlefield.
Long ago, in the unknown corners of the Galaxy, a warlord rampaged across a distant world. For eons, the planet had been forgotten - and thus the cries of the people went unheard and unanswered. Those who dared to stand against him were put to the sword. And those he conquered were resigned to just as grim a fate. Every able-bodied man was pressed into his armies. Nearly every woman was pressed into his chambers. Those who were of no use became nothing short of slaves beneath his feet.
It was in this world that a woman struggled against her oppression. After the conquest of her tribe, she knew that her fate had been sealed - that escape was an illusion. But for the child that did not ask to be brought into this world? He deserved a chance. He deserved to experience life away from the demon who sired him. At the risk of her own life, she managed to spirit the newborn child away - claiming that he had perished shortly after drawing his first breath. The mother had dreamed of her child living a life of peace and joy, far away from any battlefield.
Sadly, it seemed as though battle was in his blood.
Through the efforts of his mother, the newborn Tessai was left in the care of a monastery devoted to the Light. The temple where he learned to crawl, speak, and run overlooked one of the few safe havens on the distant world. As a boy, Tessai would often accompany the monks to the walled city and would play with other urchins in the street. It was there that he made fast friends with two children about his age: Cazadora and Nimaah. Over the years, the trio became nearly inseparable...and they always earned plenty of scoldings for their troublemaking.
But, their closeness resulted in an unforeseen boon for the young boy. One day, Cazadora made an unexpected visit to the monastery alongside an extravagantly robed couple. It was at her demand that they adopt Tessai into their family, and it seemed as though the young girl always got what she wanted. At the time, Tessai did not truly understand who these people were...but they were the caretakers of the walled city and the masters of the local tribe. By this spontaneous act of benevolence, the young boy rose from ward of the monastery to literal nobility.
For as joyous as growing up within somewhat gilded halls should have been, Tessai was passively exposed to the realities which laid just outside their walls. The couple often met with their finest warriors, and the young boy would overhear the terrors of the Demon and his armies. Though he and his new sibling had the luxury of play, there was always tension within the household. Tension, for doom was steadily advancing towards their gilded walls. Tessai loved his home. He loved the family that took him in. Loved his friends. Loved the monks. And because of this, he did not want them to worry or suffer due to some damned Demon.
And so he asked to become a warrior. His tutelage was undertaken at the feet of many. Guardsmen. Soldiers. Whomever had the time after making their reports to the ruling couple. Tessai was an eager sponge that drew up every scrap of knowledge they had to share. And, by the time he became a young man, he was confident in his abilities with the blade. He was no prodigy or genius - but he knew he could at least fight if the walls ever fell. Thankfully, he never experienced such a calamity...but there was tragedy within the home.
F A I T H F U L
It was on a summer's morning that a shriek filled the hallowed halls. A servant found butchery within the ruling couple's quarters. Somehow...assailants had breached the safest home in the safest city and put to the sword the ruling couple. Thus, the burden of leading the city fell upon their sole true heir: Cazadora. Some said she was too young to rule properly and immediately attempted to convert her into a puppet. Yet, she was brighter than even the noonday sun. By her command was every guard tasked the protection of their home put to the sword. By her word were those scheming souls stripped of their riches. Cazadora proved to be a capable, and ruthless, liege.
And Tessai eagerly became her enforcer. As her brother, he swore an oath to protect her better than those who had protected their parents. He devoted his entire being to the cause and personally cultivated a trusted guard for his sibling. As time moved ever forward, the young man looked beyond the walls with ambition. He would not settle for the Demon to march upon them, he would cut their momentum before they ever saw the walls of his home. His ambitions saw fortresses and outposts build in all cardinal directions. They became beacons for the local peoples...and a weapon to stall the advances of that vicious enemy.
For years, he prepared for a storm he was sure to come...but never did the thunder roll across the skies. Rather, horses rode under a black banner and halted before the gilded gates. The riders bore the sign of the Demon and asked to parlay with Cazadora. Rather than admit them into their home, the meeting took place within the monastery. Tessai knew not in that moment, but it was on that day that he stared a blood sibling in the eye. The lead warrior spoke of an ancient legend: of needing to sacrifice a pure maiden lest the world be consumed. He asserted that the Demon had no desire to rule over a blighted world, nor did he hunger to tramble the last safe city underfoot.
Peace everlasting would be assured if but two sacrifices were made. One, a pure maiden of the city would be offered to stay the fabled darkness from rising; for purity did not exist among the Demon's horde. Two, Cazadora would agree to take the lead rider as her spouse - and in doing so secure true peace between their lands. Tessai wanted to rend the man asunder for daring to bring such madness before them...but the monks stayed his hand. They spoke to the validity of the legend. And deep down, Tessai and Cazadora both knew that their best of the present would only stall the Demon. Their preparations were not enough for a total victory.
G U A R D I A N
In the end...the hard choice was made. Survival, for the city and for the entire world was chosen. Cazadora took the Demon's heir as her mate and a familiar maiden was chosen to be sacrificed. It was the first in so long that Tessai had laid eyes on Nimaah; and overall he hated the circumstances. He hated the strength of the Demon. Hated the sacrifices they had to make. But, he played his part. By day, he stood by Nimaah's side as she tarried at the monastery, batheing in the Light they had to offer. By night, he stood watch over his sibling - waiting to root out any treachery on the part of her new spouse.
And, though it did not fall from the lips of the Demon's heir himself...Tessai heard the whispers. Those who rode with him and tarried in their city muttered when they thought none were about. In the shadows, they praised the Demon's plot - to take control of the maiden immediately after her sacrifice. To use the calamity to spread his dominance across the stars. Tessai knew better than to act brashly with this information. He shared what he knew with his sister and the maiden in secret, hoping to form some semblance of a strategy against them. Nimaah was confident in her ability not to be controlled, yet Cazadora was aflamed. The peace they had bought was but a move on the chessboard - the city and her people were but the means to a disastrous end. With the calamity in his control, what peace would there be?
Tessai urged his sibling not to act on the information just yet, and though she gave her word in the moment his advice was not followed. Cazadora soon confronted her spouse with the information - but with no evidence aside from hearsay and the threat of war, nothing became of the accusation. With their cards prematurely played, the Demon's heir played his own. Cazadora soon joined her parents in a manner identical to their fall. And the Heir turned the court against Tessai. He called the accusations lies of ambition and painted the "good brother" as man who wanted nothing more than power. In that moment, Tessai had his fill. He and the Heir clashed, but he was no match for the seasoned veteran. He was dealt a grievous blow and barely managed to escape the city alive.
Tessai practically crawled back to the monastery, where he plead for Nimaah and the monks to flee. Without them, the Calamity would not fall into the Demon's hands - and thus the planet had hope. Nimaah refused to leave, even as the Heir's men advanced on the monastery. With blade in hand, she bargained her own life for Tessai's - threatening to conclude her own if they did not comply. In the end, she departed with them, despite Tessai's protests. That was the last that he saw of her. The last that he honestly could recall. His wounds were so immense that even the monk's skilled hands only stalled the inevitable.
He was meant to die...but battle was in his blood. Continued in The City of Flesh and Bone
