Deerington Application

[of_dathomir]

Character Base

• Character Name: Tavion Axmis
• Age: Late 20s
• Canon (Date/Year Released)/Canon Point: Star Wars: Jedi Academy (2003). Canon point at her point of death, end of the game.
• Items Coming Along: Costume, Lightsaber, Scepter of Ragnos.
• Content Warnings for Character:
Violence, manipulation, torture, murder, suppression of free will

Character Background

• History: Here


• Core Relationships:

Tavion, by the nature of her life, hasn't had much in the way of 'core relationships' - at least not in the way we would conventionally define them. Hers has been a life devoid of friends - she's only ever had superiors and enemies. As such, her life and understanding of it revolves around conflict and power dynamics, as will demonstrated in the two core relationships she does have.

Desann - Tavion's erstwhile Master, Desann was a major leader in the Empire Reborn Movement. The movement was a splinter of the Imperial Remnant, obsessed with restoring Imperial power - specifically through using means based in the Dark Side of the Force. Though led by Hethrir, there is no evidence Tavion interacted with anyone outside of Desann's direct command.

Desann's philosophy was obsessed with strength versus weakness - the strong should thrive, the weak should be annihilated. Tavion seems to have inherited her Master's philosophy - and interpreted it as victory meaning strength, and defeat indicating weakness.

There is no indication that their relationship was anything other than that of commander and commanded - Desann possessed no warmth or empathy, and likely showed his apprentice none. Her world view, already likely crystallized as one of constant struggle and might makes right, was further forged. Desann's defeat and death wouldn't have shaken these views, but rather enhanced them - she had run and survived, he had died. Shameful though she held her action to have been - it meant a chance to assume power and demonstrate strength, which she readily took - never so much as mentioning Desann's name again, canonically.

A last indication that Desann's views had assumed primacy is that she did not in any way attempt to help the core Empire Reborn movement, led by Lord Hethrir, thereafter - rather making her own bold play for power that, technically, created a faction within a faction.

Kyle Katarn - A key part of Desann's plan involved the Jedi Kyle Katarn. To get him to accidentally reveal the location of the Valley of the Jedi, Desann had Tavion act as if she'd killed Kyle's partner and lover Jan Ors. This had the desired effect.

It also ensured that an angry Katarn, teetering on the edge of the Dark Side, would confront Tavion and defeat her in combat. Dangling her from a landing platform on Bespin using force grip (think Darth Vader), Tavion used her knowledge of Ors' location to barter for her life - terrified of meeting her own end. Katarn spared her, and they would not meet again before Tavion assumed her role as head of the Cult of Ragnos, re-emerging as a vastly more powerful threat.

The encounter, however, left deep psychological scars. The fear she had felt, the weakness she believed it (and her defeat) indicated - ate at Tavion. When she next met Katarn she was full of wrath, particularly targeting him and his students as part of her larger plan. Katarn's act of mercy was a driving force to her - and not in a good way.

Her last words, in fact, when fighting Jaden Korr, were: "I will not cower as I did before Katarn."

Character Personality Through Key Moments

(2+) Positive Experiences:

Tavion is Persuasive - the Corruption of Rosh Penin

One of Tavion's stronger attributes is that she is very much able to make her point of view very attractive. To some extent, this is almost a natural talent of those who utilized the Dark Side of the Force. Taking the "certain point of view" argument about truth to the extreme, they are universally willing to lie to achieve their goals - but are much better at adapting to persuade.

This was very much visible in Tavion's corruption of one of Kyle Katarn's students, Rosh Penin. Rosh was impatient, eager to make his mark on the galaxy - a fact Tavion instantly recognized when Rosh was captured. Though unseen on screen, she played into his belief that his abilities and progress were being held back, promising him rapid growth and power in return for his allegiance.

The essence of dark side corruption is always this - it works on what is already there, and the skilful corrupter works well if they remember this. Which, given how quickly and easily Tavion accomplished her goal, she very definitely is.

Tavion is Intelligent - the Apprentice Alora and the Cult of Ragnos

Tavion's intelligence is aptly demonstrated by the fact that, within a year of Desann's death, she had gathered up his remaining Reborn warriors (people artificially granted Force abilities) and welded them together with newly-empowered disciples to create the Cult of Ragnos, with herself as the unchallenged head.

What this shows is that without an active master keeping her in check, her own abilities at organization and control rapidly come to the fore - and keeping a literal army of lightsaber-wielding force warriors in line is a herculean task that amply demonstrates her savvy and cunning.

This is further demonstrated by the loyalty of her apprentice Alora - a Lethan Twi'lek. Usually, in Star Wars canon, there are signs of tension between master and apprentice - and in fact the entire Sith Order for a thousand years or more is based on that as a key feature. There is no sign of that tension between Tavion and Alora, demonstrating a relatively unique difference.

By whatever means this was achieved, it indicates cleverness and intelligence on Tavion's part to both organize and ensure loyalty at multiple levels.

(2+) Negative Experiences:

Tavion is Violent - The Sceptre and the Cult

Tavion, like all dark side users, has no aversion to violence - and as with many of her ilk, it is in fact her first choice in solution to a myriad of problems. This is amply demonstrated by her acquisition of the Sceptre of Ragnos.

Tavion found the Sceptre on the planet Commenor, held by an antiquities trader - and her immediate solution, rather than buy or steal it, was to murder him.

The Cult of Ragnos which she created is a larger example of this - using and exploiting violence to their own ends, including working with other, related violent groups such as the Imperial Remnant, mercenaries, and criminal syndicates. A small example within this is that in order to distract Luke Skywalker and the Jedi from her opening gambits, Tavion uses the Sceptre of Ragnos to shoot down a civilian shuttle filled with future Jedi trainees - an act of violence to reach her own ends.

Violence is a first, last and often only resort for her.

Tavion is Fuelled by Rage and Wrath - the Katarn Problem

By its very nature, the Dark Side of the Force requires negative emotions to fuel it. The stronger the practitioner, the more they need to maintain it. Tavion rose very quickly - which means as a result the emotions that fuelled her had to rise commensurately. Primarily, her rage and wrath.

In her specific case, this is generalized around the person of Kyle Katarn. In her mind, his act of mercy in sparing her life provokes unending rage at herself, for being weak enough to be in that place in the first place. At the core of her building the Cult of Ragnos is that motivating rage.

She expresses that hatred towards Katarn and his students - but of course she, herself, is the intended target of it. Which is what makes her so dangerous. Another example of this is Darth Vader - in another piece of Star Wars canon, faced by a clone of Darth Maul, the former manages to destroy and kill the other. The clone Maul asked what Vader could possibly hate enough to destroy him - and Vader's response was simply "myself."

Tavion functions much the same, which makes her dangerous and volatile in the same way that Vader was. It has the potential to fuel positive drives as well - but primarily it grants her both power and the determination to use it without hesitation.

Deer Country Attributes

• Canon Powers: Tavion has the full range of Force powers that is natural to any Force-user, but her natural skills are strongly dark-side based. Violent push/pull abilities, life-essence draining force lightning - these augment her telekinesis and movement abilities, all of which are significantly beyond human level.

• Blood Type: Vileblood
• Omen: A Dathomirian Rancor
• Blessed Day: July 12
• Patron Pthumerian: The Reckoning
• Blood Power Manifestation: Shadow Blending - can quite literally melt into the shadows, emerging from them and travelling unnoticed linked shadows. Not immune to telepathic or magical detection.

Writing Samples

One: Here
Two: Here

The Player

• Player Name: C
• Player Age: 38
• Player Contact: c_for_characters on Plurk
• Permissions: Here.

Other Characters

Korra, Delilah Dirk

Link to Character 1 overall AC: Here
Link to Character 2 overall AC: Here