User:Thefourdotelipsis/wip

Reuinted
"I want to be as great as you are, father. I won't ever forget you."

- Jaalib Brandl

Jaalib Brandl was a Human male born to the Jedi Knight and actor Adalric Cessius Brandl and an auburn-haired woman circa 17 BBY. Adalric abandoned the family while Jaalib Brandl was still very young, and his status as a Jedi was kept hidden from the boy; the Great Jedi Purge, in which agents of the Galactic Empire hunted down and killed Jedi persisted throughout the galaxy. Growing up in the settlement of Kovit, Trulalis, Brandl nonetheless came into contact with people who knew his father, such as Otias Atori, who had served as Adalric's task director during his career as an actor. Despite his mother's protestations, Brandl was shown holorecordings of Adalric's work as a stage actor&mdash;his mother eventually joined her son in watching the material, although she would inevitably break down crying with each viewing. Atori explained to Brandl that his father had pursued a higher calling offworld, hence his absence&mdash;the young boy aspired to achieve the same heights of performance however, and sought to emulate his father's career. Another of Brandl's childhood exploits was visiting the outdoor theatre of Khoehng Heights, five kilometers from Kovit. The young boy would also try his hand at writing his own tragedies.

In 5 BBY, Brandl and his mother wandered the streets of Kovit, and were enjoying themselves until Brandl's mother was startled by a dark figure. Brandl had never seen the man before, and quizzed his mother, who by now was distraught. Instead of responding, she held her son close and made her way across the common, away from the figure. By the time they got home, Brandl's mother was in tears, confirming for him that the figure had been none other than his father, Adalric. The man's return, however, prompted consternation from the residents of Kovit&mdash;Brandl overheard one individual, Menges, preparing to use his ship to drive the outsiders away. Brandl's mother was skeptical that Menges would take action at all, but Brandl thought otherwise.

He ventured out into the forest to find the ship that Adalric had arrived on, the YT-1300 light freighter Kierra. The young boy hid and watched as Adalric and the bounty hunter who the ship belonged to, Thaddeus Ross, prepared to depart Trulalis, Brandl's father sensed his presence, and bade him to come out. Brandl approached with caution, and upon inspecting his father's appearance, he confirmed that Adalric was indeed a Jedi Knight. At first Adalric queried Brandl as to who he was&mdash;the young boy angrily identified himself as the man's son, before becoming fixated on Adalric's lightsaber. Brandl was hesitant to touch it before being encouraged by his father, but the young boy quickly moved onto the intent of his visit&mdash;to warn Adalric and Ross. The bounty hunter overheard the warning, and barked at his ship's droid consciousness to pick up her sensor readings.

At that moment Menges struck, an explosion roaring through the forest. Brandl, though protected by his father, was traumatized by the incident, and Ross urged Adalric to depart lest Menges kill them with the next pass. Adalric could not promise that he would ever return to Trulalis, and Brandl understood&mdash;he signaled his intentions to follow in his father's footsteps when he came of age, performing offworld and reaching what he perceived to be his father's level of greatness. Bidding a tearful farewell, Brandl then dashed into the forest, returning to Kovit. Unbeknownst to the young man at that time, Adalric was actually an Imperial Inquisitor who served Emperor Palpatine, hunting down Jedi and murdering others without a shadow of remorse. Adalric had recently gone rogue and was on the run from High Inquisitor Antinnis Tremayne&mdash;shortly after leaving Brandl and Trulalis behind, Adalric had feigned his own death in a thermal detenator blast.

Soon after, Imperial reprisals came to Kovit. Stormtroopers arrived in the settlement and performed a wholesale massacre, killing the inhabitants and the Banthas used for transport. Brandl's mother died protecting him from the Imperial troops, and the town was left empty. Adalric returned soon after, and buried the dead, among them Brandl's mother near the Kovit theatre in a graveyeard called The Barrows. Then, adopting Otias Atori's name as an alias, he raised Brandl by himself in the theatre. At this stage, Brandl's name entered the civilian database for the first time. . Adalric briefly educated his son in the Jedi arts, particularly meditation and the use of a lightsaber. The training was undertaken with the use of candles, as Adalric instructed his son to light the wicks with his blade without marking the wax of the candle proper. In time, the young man became an adept user of the Jedi weapon.

Brandl learned out of what he felt was a misguided sense of loyalty, and was reluctant to pursue further teaching. At the same time, Adalric was reluctant to provide it. On occasion, other Force-sensitives would come to the planet seeking tutelage from Adalric, but no such instruction was given. Jaalib Brandl still had his heart set on being an actor, and so he studied under Adalric, putting the lightsaber skills he had learned to good use in any stage fighting required. His father's temperament and predilection to the dark side of the Force had been prevalent when he first returned, but the process of being sole guardian of the young Brandl gradually eased his temperament over the 5 year period. In due course, Brandl began his acting career offworld, but kept his home in Kovit with Adalric.

The Edijan-Prince
"Long&hellip;live&hellip;the King!"

- Jaalib Brandl, quoting Uhl Eharl Khoehng

In 0 ABY, Brandl was performing in a small theater on Iscera, in a play entitled For the Want of an Empire. The play entailed a duel, allowing Brandl an opportunity to display his swordsmanship. Brandl's role was that of a tragic character, much like the ones Adalric had played in his heyday, who worked his way through the tiers of government, ultimately discovering rife corruption and bureaucracy afflicting that which he serves. In the third act, Brandl's character became a domineering autocrat, determined to destroy all who opposed him. After the final performance before Iscera's winter, Brandl was approached outside the theater by one smitten audience member&mdash;a young woman named Fable Astin. The woman slipped across the ice and into his arms, before complimenting him on his swordsmanship and performance. Brandl received the compliments warmly, but as time was pressing on him had to leave Astin behind to depart for Trulalis.

Returning to Kovit, Brandl began studying his next role: that of the Edijan-Prince in what Adalric considered the greatest tragedy ever written&mdash;Uhl Eharl Khoehng. Adalric's performance in the same role was among those that Brandl had idolized as a youth, and in attempting to play the part he struggled to reach the same level as his father. Adalric reassured Brandl, however, that the role was the most difficult ever conceived, and whoever could master it was assured of greatness as a thespian. In the forthcoming production, Adalric would take the role of the titual Uhl Eharl Khoehng, a trickster king who deceives the Edijan-Prince into swearing fealty after having effectively tricked the prince into sending all of his people to their doom. As he rehearsed in the Kovit theatre with his father, the pair were interrupted by the arrival of Astin, who had tracked Brandl. In a panic, the young man approached the woman and demanded to know what she was doing in Kovit&mdash;despite Adalric's curiosity and protestations that his son mind his manners, Brandl did everything he could to get Astin to leave immediately. Adalric took further interest however, sensing the Force in the girl and noticing that she had been injured in a recent fight. He bade Brandl to take the newcomer to a comfortable room, as he had decided that she would stay the night. Although he maintained his reservations and anger at the development, Brandl obliged.

Knowing how dangerous his father was, and that Astin sought tutelage from on how to defeat another Force-sensitive opponent, Brandl urged her to leave, warning that she would learn nothing from Adalric. Irritated by Brandl's belligerent attitude, the young woman refused, and demanded to know where the older man was. Brandl begrudgingly directed her towards The Barrows. The young man watch clandestinely from afar as Astin was instructed in the art of using a lightsaber by Adalric, via an exercise involving wax cylinders and ball bearings placed atop them. Eight hours later, Astin returned to the theatre, sopping from the rain and the lengthy, arduous exercise, having found Adalric's tasks to be impossible. His mood had softened&mdash;he prepared a bath and food for her, although Astin demanded a degree of privacy upon taking the bath.

As Trulalis entered autumn, Astin's training by Adalric's hand continued, while Brandl continued to hone his performance as the Edijan-Prince. The young woman began to depend on Brandl's support and comforting words during the arduous process. One day, the young man was startled by a commotion in the theater antechamber, as his father was viciously lambasting Astin for his failure to heed his teachings. Brandl comforted the woman yet again, and sent her away from a bath, while Adalric confided in his son that he found the girl impossible to teach. Amused by the similarities in master and pupil's opinions on one another, Brandl took the opportunity to begin an impromptu rehearsal of Uhl Eharl Khoehng with his father, demonstrating the work he had put into the performance since that had last practiced. Afterwards, Adalric departed on a trip that would take several days. Brandl went to Astin's room and consulted with her. She claimed that Adalric had not yet tried to sway her to the dark side of the Force, but she needed to resume the exercises.

Revealing his father's absence, Brandl invited Astin on a picnic in order to atone for his brusque attitude when she had first arrived on Trulalis. She felt by now that Brandl's attitude had been justified, interpreting it as him trying to protect his father from her, as she revealed that her own upbringing had been quite similar. Her father, a Jedi pupil of her mother, had been slain when she was very young, and so the duty of raising her and training her in the Jedi arts had fallen to her mother. As the town was bereft of transportation after the Imperial attack, Brandl and Astin were forced to hike to their destination, Khoehng Heights. There, after they completed their meal, the young man showed Astin the outdoor theatre, flirting with her and regaling her with the tale of Uhl Eharl Khoehng, for which the location was named. Noticing a set of candles, Astin requested that Brandl impart some of his lightsaber skill to her, and run the young woman through an emulation of Adalric's exercises. Brandl obliged, finding the error in her technique and using physical guidance of Astin to correct it. Sharing a kiss as the instruction was complete, the pair departed and returned to Kovit.

When Astin resumed her training under Adalric she was enthused by the progress she was making, and felt that her master was encouraged as well. Brandl continued to work on the final stages of his and Adalric's production of Uhl Eharl Khoehng, and was soon sent by his father to Iscera to prepare for the play's opening. The young man noticed, however, that his father had recently made a trip to Byss, the pleasure world of Emperor Palpatine. Realizing that Adalric intended to present Astin to Palpatine as a gift, Brandl quickly returned home to find that Astin had confronted her pursuer, the Dark Jedi Vialco. Using the techniques she had learned, the young woman had defeated her attacker, but Adalric had tricked her into slaying her opponent after he was disarmed. Brandl's father had then destroyed both Vialco's shuttle and Astin's own ship, an X-wing starfighter.

Hoping to rescue Astin, Brandl contacted one of her associates, the Socorran Deke Holman, who landed his YT-1300 light freighter the Prodigal at Khoehng Heights and awaited rendezvous. Entering the Kovit theater without attracting his father's attention, Brandl found the distraught Astin in her room. Informing her of his father's plans to take her to Byss, he urged her to leave the theatre and follow him to Khoehng Heights. As Astin and Holman were reunited, he urged the pair to depart without him. Drawing a parallel between his own life and that of his current role, the tragic Edijan-Prince, Brandl explained that he would have to stay to prevent his father's pursuit. Astin bade him a tearful farewell as the Prodigal departed, leaving Brandl to confront Adalric, who had just arrived at Khoehng Heights himself. Lambasting his child's arrogance, Adalric began choking Brandl through the Force, before abruptly releasing him. As Adalric turned back for Kovit, Brandl continued his parallel of his own life and that of the Edijan-Prince, reciting the character's last line from the play, conceding his fealty to the trickster king.

Fashioning a new narrative
"That's not part of my plan. In this scene, the heroine's father must die."

- Jaalib Brandl

In the wake of betraying his father on Trulalis, Jaalib Brandl became a servant of the Emperor himself, becoming a Dark Jedi and utilizing the powers of the Force to execute the Emperor's will. Brandl served Palpatine as his father had done up until the Emperor's death at the Battle of Endor, after which he continued to serve the Empire in an official capacity. He also maintained his career as an actor, building a reputation and acclaim that held him as second only to his father as a tragic performer. Brandl's reputation as a commander of troops was also impeccable. The young man eventually began to tire of his service to the Galactic Empire, and sought to disassociate himself from his masters in a dramatic fashion. Knowing full well that he would be re-educated and returned to service given his Dark Jedi status, rather than merely pursued and executed as any other deserter would, the young man schemed to place himself in a position where he would never be welcomed back. In 9 ABY he was assigned to oversee the Imperial evacuation of the city Ariana on Garos IV, which was about to be invaded by opposing New Republic forces.

Traveling to the planet with his assistant, Lieutenant Bane Werth, Brandl had no intention of organizing a successful evacuation, and instead plotted to have the planet's Imperial governor, Tork Winger and his adopted daughter Alexandra killed. The assassination, to the Dark Jedi's mind, would allow him to break cleanly from the Empire, who would denounce the treasonous act. He nonetheless opened his operations of Garos IV with a tragic performance at Ariana's Tihaz Theatre, with Governor Winger and Alexandra in attendance, along with much of the city's Imperial staff. The play was another tale of kings, power struggles, betrayal and corruption, and Brandl, playing the part of "Dontavian," held thrall over the audience with the power of the dark side of the Force. When the performance had concluded Brandl was alerted by Werth of the Wingers' presence, as they sought to congratulate him for his work on the stage. The governor introduced Brandl to Alexandra, and offered the Dark Jedi and his lieutenant hospitality at his home. One of Winger's commanders alerted him of an ongoing issue with the local resistance&mdash;detained, the governor instructed Alexandra to look after Brandl and Werth. The Dark Jedi, however, insisted that Werth stay with Winger.

Left alone, Alexandra led Brandl to her landspeeder parked outside the Tihaz Theatre. Through the Force, Brandl found it exceptionally easy to read the young woman's mind, and he was able to ascertain a great deal about her. She had been the victim of an Imperial attack on Janara III at a very early age that had left her orphaned&mdash;that attack had been perpetrated by his father, Adalric Brandl, and so her apprehension around him was explained. Having been adopted by Governor Winger, she ultimately came to work with the local resistance and had a particular affection for Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, now of the New Republic. Intrigued by the young girl, Brandl decided to alter his plan, and only have Governor Winger fall prey to his plot. While getting into Alexandra's landspeeder, Brandl noticed a nearby tavern, Chado's Pub, enjoying a large amount of activity from both Imperials and civilians. One individual, Dair Haslip, was waving at Alexandra, piquing the Dark Jedi's curiosity. The young woman explained that he was a family friend, before the pair departed in the speeder.

Personality and traits
"Won't you follow me?" "A fleet of Star Destroyers couldn't hold me away."

- Alexandra Winger and Jaalib Brandl

At an early age, Jaalib Brandl determined that he wanted to act, inspired by the holorecordings of his father's performances on stage. He was able to deduce things that were kept hidden from him by adults, such as Adalric Cessius Brandl's identity, his status as a Jedi, and Menges' plan to attack Adalric in 5 BBY. Although he was brave enough to venture out by himself to warn his father of an impending attack, Brandl was left shocked by the confrontation itself.

Brandl's relationship with Astin was an affectionate one from the start. He teased her clumsiness on their first meeting, and although his reaction to her following him to Trulalis was one of bitterness and anger, he eventually softened to her presence, providing a stark contrast to the severity of Adalric's Jedi tutelage. Astin ultimately fell in love with Brandl, after he took her to see the sights of Trulalis and regaled her with the tale of Uhl Eharl Khoehng. He was particularly forward with Astin, taking advantage of her imperiled situation to woo her.

Powers and abilities
Jaalib Brandl was an adept swordsman, having learned from his father during his brief training in Jedi arts on Trulalis. Initially, Brandl only put the skills to use in his capacity as an actor, but even in this sense he was accomplished enough to dramatically advance the tutelage of Fable Astin in the art. The young man's presence in the Force was notable, to such a degree that other Force-sensitives such as Astin could pick up upon it when watching him perform on stage.

Appearance and attire
In his childhood, Brandl was tall for his age, and had shoulders that were seemingly too broad for his slender frame. His gait was rhythmic and coordinated, suggesting from an early age that he would develop well into a mature man. When venturing out into the forests of Trulalis, Brandl would wear clothing that matched the colour of the foliage.

Appearances

 * Shades of Gray
 * Emanations of Darkness
 * Shades of Gray
 * Emanations of Darkness
 * Emanations of Darkness