l'état, c'est moi
TRISTAN CORVAIN
Full Name: Tristan Corvain
Alias(es): His Grace, Duke of Altier, the Jedi Lord
Age: 38
Species: Human
Gender: Male
Homeworld: Altier
Character Classes: Jedi, Noble, Statesman
Ranks: Jedi Master, Duke of Altier, Head of House Corvain
Faction(s): The High Republic, Jedi Order, Grand Duchy of Altier
Force Sensitive: Yes
Force Alignment: Light
Build: Athletic
APPEARANCE
Tristan looks exactly like one would expect a Duke to look, tall, stately and in command. His dark hair is usually swept back from his face, his clothes are expensive without tipping into gaudy, and even his Jedi attire carries more tailoring than the Order's quartermaster probably intended. Navy, ivory and muted gold dominate his wardrobe, whether he's standing before the Senate or walking into somewhere considerably less civilized.At thirty-eight he's still an active field Jedi, and it shows. Years of physical conditioning have left him broader and stronger than the formal clothing suggests at first glance.
PERSONALITY & BELIEFS
Tristan was brought up from a young age to understand that he was better than most people. In the usual person that would foster a sense of entitlement. Tristan, by virtue of spending his defining years within the Jedi Order, went a different route entirely. Instead of entitlement he believed that his better lot in life meant he had a greater responsibility than most to affect positive change around him. Rather than entitled, he became more self-sacrificial. Always stepping first into the line of fire, even as a Padawan, and that trajectory only magnified as a Jedi Knight and finally as a Master of the Jedi Order.It was not all positive however. While he believed he had greater responsibility, he was still a Lord in his bones and from a young age believed that people should do as they are told. Preferably do as he told them. This created conflicts and tension with his peers and with his teachers within the Order. More often than not, they'd say that while Tristan excelled in all domains of being a Jedi, he lacked in the fundamental need for humility. With time Tristan developed the sort of diplomacy that could be described as duplicitous by some. When asked about it, Tristan thought it was rather simple: Some people do not know what is best for them. So if I need to bend the truth, to make them do what is needed, why not? Personal honor means very little in the pursuit of justice, order and the greater good.
You cannot make an omelette without breaking some eggs. A metaphor that disturbed some of his peers, but they could hardly argue with his results or his work ethic.
Tristan is incredibly opposed to the Dark Side of the Force. While for some this might come across as hatred, Tristan would always argue against that sentiment. He believes that the Dark Side and the Sith are an illness, a plague, foisted on the Force. Something that needs to be cut out, root and stem, before the Galaxy can properly heal. You do not argue with a sickness, you do not hate a plague, because these sort of emotions only make you act in foolish ways.
Simply do what needs to be done, get on with it, and accept the consequences... one way or the other.
He accepts that some costs are necessary, but he considers himself accountable for every one of them. Order a bridge destroyed to stop an advancing army, and he's also the one making sure the villages it cuts off still get supplies and the families who lost homes are compensated. Arrest a corrupt governor without waiting on the local courts because thousands are about to die, and he's the one who stays behind afterward to assist with building a legitimate government that replaces him. Ends justify the means, but as a Jedi it is your responsibility to carry the resulting fallout and make sure it does not impact those depended on their betters.
Even before he made the controversial call to combine both his noble as well as his Jedi rank, critics called him an autocrat. His decisiveness and ability to execute controversial measures for the greater good disturbed them and they believed that prodding him about his future nobility would rankle him.
But Tristan didn't mind the label.
They never called him an inept autocrat, after all.
STRENGTHS
JEDI MASTER Tristan earned the title long before he inherited Altier, having spent most of his adult life in active Jedi service, particularly in diplomacy, protection, and fighting Dark Side practitioners.FORCE OF NATURE Subtlety is available to him; it just isn't always the preferred option. Tristan carries considerable raw power in the Force, specializing in telekinesis, kinetic projection, and large-scale manipulation of his surroundings. Once he commits to a fight, walls, vehicles, debris, and occasionally the people trying to kill him tend not to stay where they started.
THE BODY IS A WEAPON Tristan channels the Force extensively through himself, enhancing strength, speed, reflexes, endurance, and physical durability well past ordinary human limits. He can reinforce his body against impacts, keep functioning through serious injury, and close distance fast enough to make melee range extremely unpleasant. It was the first Force discipline he ever took to as a boy, well before the Jedi taught him telekinesis, and it shows: knocked backward by a hit that should end the fight, he's just as likely to arrest his own fall mid-air, close twenty meters at a dead sprint, and hit the offending party physically before finishing the job with a Force blast at point-blank range. His expensive robes have hidden this from more than one unfortunate opponent.
DUKE OF ALTIER Tristan rules four systems, which makes money, ships, officials, soldiers, estates, intelligence networks, and political connections resources rather than aspirations.
WEAKNESSES
ARROGANCE Tristan has spent his whole life being prepared to make decisions and live with the consequences, so he has very little instinct to defer just because someone tells him he should. He can listen, compromise, even admit he was wrong. But convincing him that someone else should make the final call is another matter entirely.JEDI LORD The nickname started as a whisper, and not a fond one. Watching a sitting Jedi Master rule as an unchallenged autocrat, permit no dissent, and allow nothing but the Light within his borders made more than a few people uneasy: a quiet fear that this was the old pattern reasserting itself, the Army of Light exterminating worlds and purging systems in the name of destroying the Dark Side. Tristan has never formally claimed the title, and he's never bothered correcting anyone who uses it, some take as an answer in itself.
NO QUARTER FOR THE DARK Tristan's stance on Sith organizations is severe even by wartime Jedi standards. His certainty that the Dark Side must be uprooted wherever it takes hold makes him inflexible at exactly the moments when restraint might have accomplished more.
RESPONSIBILITY Tristan doesn't easily let go of people he considers his responsibility, and anyone paying attention has a fairly obvious lever to pull because of it.
INVENTORY
Lightsaber: A purple lightsaber with an ornate hilt shaped as a draconic maw.Ducal Signet of House Corvain: Symbol of his authority as Duke of Altier
Jedi Attire: Tailored, naturally
Formal Ducal Attire: For occasions where Jedi robes would be considered underdressed
Personal Vessel: Chromium luxury shuttle manufactured on Naboo.
HISTORY
Tristan Corvain was the heir of the late Duke of Altier, and was taught by the Jedi from a young age, always with the understanding that he would one day return to Altier and assume his rightful position as its next Duke. The arrangement was meant to maintain a good connection between the Jedi Order and the Altier sector, and for a long time, that's exactly what it did. As a boy he showed little interest in sitting still and levitating rocks. Fencing, riding, climbing, and physical competition suited him far better, and his first instinct with the Force was always to turn it inward rather than outward. Telekinesis came later, taught properly by the Order. The physical world came first and even to this day it is his most natural instinct.Even now some people joke that for a Duke and a Jedi Master, he sure seems to love digging out the fisticuffs.
Few people were surprised when Tristan was named a Jedi Master. Force of will, deep personal sacrifice, and a willingness to put his life on the line to protect other Jedi and civilians made him, by most measures, an exemplar of the Order's best traits. It was considered a shame that he'd leave the title behind when his father passed, but everyone agreed they were lucky to have him until then.
Nobody expected what would come the day his father died.
When the time came to ascend as the next Duke, Tristan declined to put down his Jedi title. He was already a controversial figure before that decision: lacking humility, arrogant and never hesitating when deferring was the natural decision. A staunch protector of the Light, but one that viewed the Dark Side not as a natural extension of the Force, but a sickness that should be eradicated utterly. After the decision, that criticism only grew louder.
The Grand Duchy of Altier encompasses the whole of the Altier sector, four systems run as a monarchy without a king. Nominally, every noble house holds equal stature; in practice, everyone understands that the Duke of Altier has the first and last word on any matter. Until recent years, there was no democratic representation, only limited private enterprise, and laws strict enough to keep firm order.
The ones who knew him best, were not surprised that Tristan changed none of it. He enforced the laws of his nation with an iron fist, played the game of nobility with a velvet glove, and kept his bond with the Jedi Order as the most important pact between state and church. His government was strict and centralized, but on some measures it worked: corruption was punished severely, officials were expected to actually do their jobs, and strategic industries stayed under close state control. The Light was the only thing permitted in his Grand Duchy, and it was around this time that some people began, quietly, to call him the Jedi Lord.
He ruled as an undisputed autocrat until the last few years, when pressure from the High Republic forced him to bend. Some measure of representative democracy has since taken root across his worlds, to a degree. Even now, Tristan is widely seen as an autocrat operating within a democratic system. But his loyalty to the Light, to the Jedi Order, and to the High Republic remains absolute. He would do anything for them, and that is precisely why they are hard-pressed to push back on him too hard in turn: few in the High Republic want to see a corporate oligarchy take root in the rich worlds of Altier, or a weak nation sitting in the heartland of the Republic if democracy took hold there and failed.