Lent23 - Tajara Application

[Lent23]

BYOND Key: Lent23

Character Names: Sophia Cynthai, Kresshi Tau’ha’nor, Alsina Tau’ha’nor

Species you are applying to play: Tajara

What color do you plan on making your first alien character: Dark Gray #1e1e1e

Have you read our lore section's page on this species?: Yes

 

Why do you wish to play this specific race:

I found my way onto the wiki one day and ended up reading about the Tajara lore. The thing that caught my eye the most was the triple-faction Adhomai, as the tensions between the three stark ideologies could lead to some interesting roleplay. I also happened to be playing Contraband Police recently, and the communist themes made me really interested in the one-party system of the PRA and how it contrasts to the DPRA’s eventual goal for a civilian government, as well as the NKA’s goal of royalist rule over Adhomai.

 

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

Generally, Tajara are looked down upon as a more primitive, war-driven and idiotic race by the more populous space-borne races. This is mostly due to their lack of up-to-date technology and their lower overall number outside of Tajara-controlled space (primarily Adhomai) being a lot lower than most of the other sapient races. This is exacerbated by the fact that their capital planet is not only currently divided, but actively has a set of large, tumultuous, brink-of-war factions and a volatile state of mostly-peace.

Mechanically, they have claws, their own languages (Siik’Maas, Siik’Tajr, Ya’ssa, Nal’rasan, and Delvahhi), they take higher brute and burn damage, move faster, are less susceptible to cold, have special suit/glove/boot settings than humans, and have a certain form of darkvision.

 

Character Name: Volodymirr Morozovich

Please provide a short backstory for this character:

A relatively young Tajara at 19 years old, Volodymirr “Volod” Morozovich was a crew member on a small smuggling freighter vessel who dreamed of a better life for herself. Ever since she had turned sixteen, she had searched for a way off Adhomai, as Rou’tul was no longer a viable home after the fire bombing of 2458. She struck a lucky break when she turned eighteen, as a charismatic freighter captain named Savva Ibn’Nasir caught her stealing from a storefront while he was docked for some “trading,” and offered her a job on his ship - he could always use muscle, and a tall Zhan-Khazan like her would make a perfect bruiser. Having travelled for about a year on a freighter, she is still relatively new to space, but she spent her time learning Ceti Basic in order to understand what was going on better in their trade deals, and picked it up quickly. One day, she ended up injured and was brought to an SCC ship, and upon seeing so many advanced areas - from the bar to medical to science - she was inspired to join up. Though she is not necessarily the biggest fan of corporations - having seen what their intervention has brought to Adhomai - she sees this as a short-term solution to her freedom. Working off Adhomai and pursuing a more secure, arguably less-dangerous job than a junk contraband-trader would surely keep her safer for longer.. Right?

Prior to joining up with Ibn'Nasir on his frigate, Volod grew up in a loving home with her parents. In their private life, her parents were always very vocally against the people's republic for their increased contact with aliens, As Volod grew older, she learned of her parents' hatred for the ease the republic had with selling their land and citizens to large corporations, watching NanoTrasen quickly take the tajara workforce away from Adhomai, where much work was still needed. When she was about five years old, her parents both joined up with the Adhomai Liberation Army, as they believed that Nated'Hakhan was their only hope for a free Adhomai. During their time in the ALA, Volod's parents sought to groom her for a position in the new Adhomai by preaching the ideals of the movement in every moment they spent with her, bringing her on every tour they could get in order to give her a martial education between themselves and the officers. Around the age of twelve-to-thirteen, the word of the civilian government forming into the DPRA gave her parents an idea - combining her martial education with a diplomatic education could create a strong leader within the movement, so they passed Volod around between various diplomacy-minded individuals in the DPRA's new civilian government.

At about 15 years old, Volod faced her first true tragedy: her mother was killed when advancing forces of the S'rand'marr Coalition sought to retake a position she was holding. Her father had always claimed that she fought valiantly and secured an escape for many of the other soldiers, but Volod could not help but think that perhaps the rest of them were traitorous cowards for allowing her mother to die. The death of her mother created a stark rift in her relationship with her father as well, as his duty to the ALA only strengthened - a duty that had always taken his entire heart, leaving her feeling abandoned and left behind. To this day, Volod has a very mixed relationship with the warring Adhomian factions - though she feels a duty to the DPRA and her parents' legacy, the war has brought nothing but pain and a twisted sense of duty to the tajara people. She has wondered at some point if her feelings on the PRA and the NKA have been nothing more than propaganda spouted by her parents, but she feels validated in the grand scale actions that they have taken since she was young. More often than not, she has found their frigate on Gaka'zaal, and has still rubbed elbows with many DPRA affiliates, leading her to have at least a few contacts who are willing to help her. Plus, some of them would be interested in having a woman on the inside of the corporations..

What do you like about this character?

Being born a Zhan-Khazan groomed for leadership in a galaxy of people who will not allow them to lead is a true curse. The fact that she is essentially the ideal DPRA member, her cynicism not allowing her to fully commit to the party will also be an interesting factor into her roleplay.

How would you rate your role-playing ability?: 7.5/10

Edited July 2, 2023 by Lent23
Adding more background information (Pre frigate)

[Ramke]

Hi, thanks for applying!

I have a few questions and comments relating to the backstory:

On 28/06/2023 at 21:56, Lent23 said:

During their time in the ALA, Volod's parents sought to groom her for a position in the new Adhomai by preaching the ideals of the movement in every moment they spent with her, bringing her on every tour they could get in order to give her a martial education between themselves and the officers. Around the age of twelve-to-thirteen, the word of the civilian government forming into the DPRA gave her parents an idea - combining her martial education with a diplomatic education could create a strong leader within the movement, so they passed Volod around between various diplomacy-minded individuals in the DPRA's new civilian government.

Could you clarify how this would have played out to Volod? Bear in mind, despite the DPRA being the most progressive in terms of rejecting the caste system, there would still be discrimination against Zhan in leadership roles at the time. It might be better to change this.

Volodymirr (inspired by Vladimir?) is a very masculine name, could add an -a to make it more feminine. Alternatively, you can always try to kitbash names together by just typing random stuff into the Siik'maas translator and constructing a name from the words there.

 

As well as some questions:

1) What religion does Volod follow, and how much does it matter to her?

2) What role will Volod work as aboard the Horizon?

3) Does she support any particular political parties in the government? Would she support juntas or the civilian government?

4) You mentioned Volod is questioning whether her impression of NKA/PRA are propaganda. What does she currently think of Royalists, Hadiists and their regimes?

[Lent23]

3 minutes ago, Ramke said:

Could you clarify how this would have played out to Volod? Bear in mind, despite the DPRA being the most progressive in terms of rejecting the caste system, there would still be discrimination against Zhan in leadership roles at the time. It might be better to change this.

It was mostly her parents' wishes to have her trained, and I imagine she would have been given to more relatively low-ranking Zhan soldiers/civilians in order to try to facilitate something, but never really getting too far! I'm always down to simply retcon it away completely, but as it stands it's more of a point-of-view type of thing for her - she feels as though she was given a good, leadership opportunity. This would only increase her apparent sense of entitlement with the continued perceived mistreatment of Zhan aboard SCCV ships, as they're still to this day not allowed to do anything that many consider the "successful" parts of departments - the leadership.

5 minutes ago, Ramke said:

Volodymirr (inspired by Vladimir?) is a very masculine name, could add an -a to make it more feminine. Alternatively, you can always try to kitbash names together by just typing random stuff into the Siik'maas translator and constructing a name from the words there.

I'm partial to Volodymirra, personally! She could then accept "Volod" "Mirr" or "Mirra" as nicknames.

14 minutes ago, Ramke said:

1) What religion does Volod follow, and how much does it matter to her?

To a human, she goes between describing herself as "non-religious" or "non-practicing," but to another tajara she would describe herself as having been "raised Ma'ta'ke by her parents." She does not actively worship anymore, but her parents' view of Mata'ke as a Zhan is something she holds pretty close to her heart, as she believes it's a sign that Zhan aren't meant to just be low-caste laborers.

19 minutes ago, Ramke said:

2) What role will Volod work as aboard the Horizon?

She is looking to pursue a job in a basic field like operations or security. She believes that operations may be an easier position for her, as she believes her small criminal past may have a higher chance of coming out when subject to the scrutiny of a security position background check.

21 minutes ago, Ramke said:

3) Does she support any particular political parties in the government? Would she support juntas or the civilian government?

She was raised by parents who were avid followers of Nated, and her father today finds himself as a Follower of Nated, She does not hold the same love for Nated, and finds the party itself ironic, holding the idea that Nated himself does not want to be in command, and that he wants diplomatic oversight. Volod considers herself a a moderate of the Free Tajaran People's Party, as she believes that Adhomai should be united under a singular strong government, but she also believes that cooperation with aliens is inevitable, as they cannot truly live isolated. She is not inherently against corporations, as she is supportive of tajaran businesses, but cautious what the un-regulated greed might bring. She has found herself considering the National Adhomai Worker's Party, as they are a much more people-based party, but finds that her overall goal to see Adhomai united under the DPRA is too great to justify switching parties. Overall, she would like to see a united Adhomai under the DPRA that then transitions into a more civilian-based government.

28 minutes ago, Ramke said:

4) You mentioned Volod is questioning whether her impression of NKA/PRA are propaganda. What does she currently think of Royalists, Hadiists and their regimes?

As her exposure to ideas surrounding the NKA/PRA has historically been through extremist soldiers including her parents, she sees the NKA as little more than a step backwards for adhomai, as the world has truly moved past the need for nobility and kingdoms. From what she has heard about the PRA, they are just fascist overseers who want nothing more than to keep their power at any cost - The one thing that is unforgivable that the PRA has done so far has been giving tajaran jobs away to corporations and what amounts in her head to selling "slave labor" from the adhomian population to large alien corporations. As a moderate, she does not inherently hate aliens, but she would like to see tajaran society as a whole be much more united and strengthened, and she sees the bickering between the three factions as an overall weakness, allowing aliens to take advantage of all sides.

[Alberyk]

Sorry for the delay. I have nothing to ask, besides taking into consideration what Ramke said.

Application accepted.