Ramke's Tajara Application

[Ramke]

BYOND Key: Ramke

Character Names: Freya Sandstrom

Species you are applying to play: Tajara

What color do you plan on making your first alien character: Cream or a darker variation of it

Have you read our lore section's page on this species?: I have read the vast majority of this species' lore pages.

Why do you wish to play this specific race:

I find their background/history interesting and unique. Unlike other races (barring perhaps Unathi), they allow for a recently uplifted race that has suffered through a lot of ideological changes, wars and revolutions to be immersed into a completely alien environment. As I intend to play a Njarir'Akhran from the New Kingdom of Adhomai, I feel like the contrasting technological development levels and different ideologies would allow for a lot of interesting interactions and character growth on the Aurora. The currently evolving political scene allows for a lot of progress in terms of character development, too, which contributed to me deciding to write this application.

Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human:

Primarily their history and background. Tajara come from a stratified society that faced a recent technological uplift and complete political upheaval. They are an alien in Tau Ceti - unlike humans that are native to the system - and face discrimination and challenges that derive from that. With the difference in technology (at least compared to the NKA), they may be unfamiliar with a lot of things that are commonplace and "normal" to the average Tau Ceti resident. The same can be said with their view of other races, as they have only just brought up to speed with the rest of the galactic community.

Character Name:

Valetzrhonaja Nayrragh'Rakhan

Please provide a short backstory for this character:

Valetzrhonaja was born into the Njarir family Nayrragh'Rakhan - based in the rural outskirts of Dolor that were part of the Duchy of Dolor's nobility - a year after the end of the first revolution - 2432. By that time, the family had effectively collapsed after having lost all of its wealth, titles, holdings and many family members to the tides of revolution. What was left of the now-obscure family had scattered in various directions; some remnants sought shelter with those that would still welcome them - old business partners, acquaintances or anyone who took pity - and some chose to migrate elsewhere to avoid discrimination and the Hadiists' watchful eye. After catching wind of small groups of Njarir heading north to establish underground communities in the wild, Valetzrhonaja's parents followed suit, travelling towards Northern Harr'Masir. The region was remote enough to allow the settlement to avoid being discovered, as long as everyone exercised caution.

Valetzrhonaja spent her early years in the small community, watching the population to grow from just a few Njarir to a over a dozen. Some care was spent into educating the youth of the settlement and a senior took up the role of teacher, providing rudimentary education to those that lacked it. The disgraced nobility taught stories of the olden days when they were in power, glorifying themselves and accentuating the horrors of the revolution. Despite the self-centered songs of praise, the lack of technology made them adapt very medieval ways of living, resorting to herbal medicine and manual work for all aspects of their life. As with most Njarir, the community followed S'rand'marr, and ensured that the religion and its traditions were taught to their children, including Valetzrhonaja, as well. With hand-crafted huts and small Earthen-root farms, the small community survived up until Vahzirthaamro Azunja's rebellion and the beginning of the second revolution in 2450, where the community was discovered by NKA revolutionaries that were sweeping the area for Hadiist outposts. The ensuing confrontation displayed high tensions, but eventually the revolutionaries stood down, realising they were simple civilians. Despite expectations of being shot or imprisoned then and there, the revolutionaries instead briefly explained what happened over the course of the years they lived in isolation. They then requested the settlement to take up arms against the PRA with them, promising them to restore their old status should they accept. The majority, including Valetzrhonaja, agreed.

Valetzrhonaja was been selected to become part of a sapper unit, undergoing general and engineering training before being deployed into the backline as a support unit that would later further reinforce and garrison the Dymtris Line. She served up until the status quo ended in 2458, where she received crippling bullet wounds as a result of the failed PRA offensive on the defensive line. She was discharged from service shortly after, as reduced lung function proved to be difficult to overcome with the medicine available to the army at the time. As a result of both her and her family members' service in the Royal Army, Neyrragh'Rakhan were officially recognised to be part of the New Kingdom's nobility.

Since her discharge from the military, Valetzrhonaja was left aimless. She spent the following years recovering from the stresses and wounds from military life, and enrolling into university to further her studies into engineering, with the long-term goal of assisting in administration of construction projects mandated by the crown in Kaltir. During this time, Valetzrhonaja delved into the history of her people, and her family, to pick up more from her ancestors and learn the traditions of old. She has also learned Ya'ssa as a result of the house of Azunja actively promoting it as the official language of the Kingdom, obesssively following the trend of nobility that now enveloped her mind.

After the Armistice of Shastar was signed, a small plot of land in the area south-west of Dymtris was granted to the Neyrragh'Rakhan family, with her parents are the land owners. She expected to receive something herself, but was left disappointed after realising she would, in the end, remain an unlanded noble and in uphill competition for being the heir to the land. Her older siblings had made it very clear that they wouldn't support anyone else getting the title, including Valetzrhonaja. After realising her situation, she was livid. To have spent nearly a decade trying to achieve a higher status, only to be let down at the crescendo, was soul-crushing. She decided to stay in Kaltir, looking for new opportunities to further her standing. At the same time, NanoTrasen had started establishing itself in Kaltir, and began offering sponsorships for further education in exchange for remaining employed at the megacorporation for a set number of years. Despite interaction with the xenos being a very strange ordeal, she didn't mind the corporation's presence. Instead, she sought to take advantage of the offer and, in the long run, return to Adhomai with prestigeous education and experience.

By the beginning of 2462, she had went through a NT-mandated course to learn Ceti Basic, and found herself on an NT shuttle to Biesel, where she started working and studying for her doctorate in Engineering on an apprenticeship scheme at the Hongsun Park Engineering Institute. Her place of residence was in Phoenixport, in close proximity to the Institute.

Her place of employment, however, eventually changed to the NSS Aurora as a state of emergency was declared and more emergency staff were requested on the station.

What do you like about this character?

Unlike my other character that was mostly neutral on everything and had first character syndrome, this one would allow for a lot of opinions and stories to be generated just from the backstory alone, hopefully making it more interesting to talk and interact with. The character is sensitive about a few issues (claims to nobility, the revolution due to the backstory), with flaws to back that up. She's likely to end up in heated arguments with Hadiists, for example, which seem to be the most populous on Aurora.

Moving from growing up in the wilderness to a space station in human space in the span of twelve years is a huge jump, and having the character start adapting to human culture after their experiences seems like a fun challenge to build on.

How would you rate your role-playing ability?

I'm far from the best, but I believe I can roleplay quite well. 7-8/10

Notes:

Feel free to ask any questions or concerns, I'm also available on Discord: Ramke#5458

Edited November 26, 2020 by Ramke
Changed religious backstory after discussion. Many thanks to DeadLantern for helping clear it up.

[MattAtlas]

You're a pretty good player. I remember the days where you only played pAI, then engineering apprentice, and I did end up telling you eventually that it was just a matter of time until you branched out to a different species first and a command application later. You're a solid roleplayer, a very chill person all around and someone I have a lot of fun playing with. I have no doubts that you'd play this character extremely well.

However!

One thing you didn't touch upon is your character's religion. What religion does your character follow? How much does it matter to them? What do they think of Tajara who believe in other religions?

[Ramke]

I've altered the backstory slightly to reference the S'rand'marr religion (misread the religion pages previously), and I suppose I can answer it more in-depth here.

Valetzrhonaja follows the S'rand'marr religion, as this is something she had grown up with during the time spent in the wilderness. It matters as much as it is her world view, and as the early community followed the religion's traditions, their practice carried over to her as well.

Other Tajara who might have different views/religions are fine, as long as they don't try to shove it down her throat. She believes that her belief is the correct one, and that it would be poor form for her to try to convince other Tajara as Ma'ta'ke and S'rand'marr are both somewhat similar, and common in the NKA. Tajara practicing Raskariim (or xeno religions) would put her off greatly, and make her think that they are either mentally ill, or lost.

Hope that answers it, thank you for the comments!

[MattAtlas]

Fine enough for me! You have my endorsement.

[Alberyk]

This application shows good knowledge of the lore and uses it properly to create a character. Application accepted.