Masurigis background

This is my first and most certainly futile attempt to create a reasonable and logical character back story for this game. If you are masochistic enough to read it please comment on it and give me a hint if you see something that shouldn't be here.




Why an Echani one might ask? There is little lore to back it up but to me echani are a flip side of the same coin Mandalorians are on. Both cultures embraced war for a reason, but have a completely different approach to it. Mandalorians have a philosophy of strength, conquest and natural selection. Echani approach is more of an art, searching for truth of all life as all that lives if born, fights and dies. Its more.. peaceful? I like that approach more then the mindless malice of Mandalorians. I like that echani living a life of constant fighting are more of a peaceful race... I like the irony in it hehe.

For me tho the reason both of the races embraced combat is the same- survival. The difference is Mandalorians channel it outwards bringing war to other worlds while echani do it inwards... Making it the basis of communication in their culture.

They are also frigin cool

Anyway... Lets begin.






Born on the outer-rim planet of Elerion Masurigi led quite a quiet and uneventful life. Masurigi lived in a little settlement far from the reaches of cities filled with scum this planet was famous for. Her parents settled there after their her mother got pregnant. Masurigi had 2 siblings. Both older the her- twins. A sister named Kariomi and a brother- Atko.

Both her parents were a part of a mercenary group altho only her mother was the one fighting. Her father was a weapons technician. They took a part in the Sith- Republic war where they first met. But one cannot raise children on the battlefield- not even echani, so they found a quieter place far from that conflict.

Both true to echani tradition they raised their children keeping true to the teachings of their race.

Combat played a huge role in every day of Masurigis life. Rigorous training took much of their time. Constant sparing with older siblings and her mother when almost always she was the one taking the beating... Forced her to train even harder and made her tough as nails one could say. She was shorter and weaker then her siblings and had to learn to rely on her speed and wits to be on par with them.

This was not without an effect on her personality. She grew to be disciplined and ambitious... But it also tought her how valueble are the lessons one learns when he looses.

She rarely spent time with people her age. She became something of an outcast due to her echani upbringing. She never put much importance to words and that made straight forward, honest, taciturn. Its also hard to have friends when you're method of getting to know them is fighting with them... But she was always fascinated by other cultures. How they play and act their lives out playing the roles, twisting words. Many of them didn't know how much their body language sold the out. Revealed their true motives.

The years went on by fast. She grew up to be a true echani warrior. But combat was not the only thing she learned. Her father had a little shop which he worked in fixing things for the locals and making/selling and repairing weapons and shields. The whole family worked there and soon she knew allot about both weapons and shields. She wasn't the best at fixing things though. She preferred to train her fighting to one day match her siblings and maybe even her mother!

Soon her siblings were all grown up. Her brother left home soon after as he always was the adventures type. He always wished to travel the galaxy... See the core... Look for some challenges out in the world to further his skill... He moved out to the city and soon left the planet with a mercenary band.

Masurigi envied him. She always looked up up him and never beat him in battle... Now her victory was far away travelling the Galaxy. She decided to follow his footsteps. She trained hard waiting for that day and when her time came... She left her home...






Masurigi left her home when she was 18. Her parents didn't stop her as their parents never stoped them. She followed her brothers footsteps and went to the big cities of Elerion. Elerion is a planet of gambling, chance and opportunity. Not much she took from home. Some clothes, a durasteel sword and a shield belt made specially for her by her father. A belt that didn't look like a shield belt at all to anyone that wasn't familiar with echani technology. The few credits that she took from home didn't last her to long but a planet like this always needed people skilled with a weapon.

She didn't look impressive... not in the warrior sense of the word. She always relied on speed and agility more then strength. She was quite short and thin... . Always dressed in light maybe a bit baggy clothes that granted freedom of movement. She wore her hair short, even boyish sometimes for purely practical reasons...

She wasn't unattractive though. Her pale skin combined with white hair and big blue eyes made her loo quite exotic...But didn't make her look like a warrior.

Not much to say that it took her a while to get money. She wasn't interested in any "normal" work... And her looks made getting any job that required fighting difficult. Who would want to hire a bodyguard that looked like a small farm girl? If she was going to go off this planet and follow her brother...She needed to prove her worth... Advertise one would say.

Where there is gambling there are arenas. And vice versa. What could be a better way to prove her worth if not by fighting professionals?

She was laughed at when she tried to sign up for the biggest local fighting arena. It was ran by Hutts and it was bloody. An arena always attracted attention but for a while now the business was bad... The Mandalorian blockade was over but it still was felt in the outer rim worlds.

A scrawny echani girl would surely would attract some customers if not for a laugh then for the massacre? Thats what the organiser though.

When she got out for the first match... Everyone laughed. The guy she was facing was bigger then her... and looked like quite the killer. Compared to her he was a monster...

When it ended... Noone was laughing. The guy laid unconscious on the ground... And she wasn't even bruised.

After this incident she obviously attracted allot of attention. After a while her face was recognised by many on the planet... They even gave her a nickname... "Snowflake"- Sure she was small and looked harmless or even to some beautiful...But if you weren't careful soon you would find yourself out cold under a ton of snow. ()

She fought in the arena and she not only found it fun and good practice but a good way to earn money. She advanced in the ranks. Winning some and loosing some. An some say she had a chance for the arena champions tittle but someone gave her another offer...

Her name was Xian Saren. She was twi'lek and a small time spice dealer. Spice was a good business. She had money to offer. Allot of it. What she wanted from Masu was simple. Protection and certain "fear factor". Masurigis face was recognisable. She proved herself on the arena. She became something of a celebrity. Having such a bodyguard would let the twi'lek roam more freely. Expand her business.

Spice was not Masus problem. The twi'lek offer seemed solid enough and it sounded ambitious enough to attract Masus attention. Sure the arena was good practice and all... But this was the real deal... A real job when her training could be put to the test. She agreed.

For a longer while things were great. The business was booming and not many tried to challenge the "Snowflake" . Those who had were real fighters. Not the arena type showman but people with murder in their eyes that meant business. Masurigi wasn't a thug. Her only buisness with the twi'lek was protecting her and so she did and she did her job good without any deaths... But the time had to come when Masurigi killed for the first time...

As further as the twi'lek pushed the market the more attention from the more serious "businessman" they attracted. Normal intimidating "beating up" technique didn't seem to work that well any more. And when they stepped on someones toe seriously one day they sent a real professional.

This Mandalorian was a veteran... He knew everything about them. A true bounty hunter. He had tools specially prepared to face them. Only by sheer determination and maybe a lucky flook she managed to kill him... It cost her allot though. The client survived... But she herself barely escaped death...

The Mandalorian had with him something of a relic. A tool from the times almost 300 years past. Masurigi only heard about it but never saw it. A Mandalorian Melee shield. Nobody used those these days!

She kept it. As a reminder to always be prepared. A reminder she is not invincible. And the reminder of the first death by her hand... And... and useful tool!

She spent a month licking her wounds. That fight left a few scars not only on her body.

A year has passed since she met Xian, The Mandalorian was a proof that they pushed to much. Even the ambitious twi'lek has seen this. Also times were changing. The sith were tightening their grip on the outer rim world, slowly taking control of the lesser important sectors. Soon they will come and seize the planet. The twi'lek decided it was time to move out and find new opportunities.

From the time Xian met Masurigi her business has grown allot. They both earned allot of credits. Xian made allot of contacts here and there concerning both the spice trade and other shady business. Masurigis fame spread even more after the Mandalorian incident... She grew a reputation and that had its good and bad sides....

In this year also Masurigi heard some news about her brother and the merc band he joined. The news was unclear about which side he worked for... But that didn't matter. He was out there. Fighting.

After Masurigi got better Xian announced they were moving-one could say- up. Their destination was Nar Shaadda. Xian had a good business relationship with the hutts Masu knew... And the Dan of thieves itself was a good and safer place to disappear for a while and start anew.

They packed up... Hired a smuggler for a handsome fee to keep him quiet about their destination... Masurigi met her sister and parents for the last time. And left... Nar Shaadda was waiting.





The moon of the glorious jewel was a wretched hive of scum of the galaxy for many. For her it was an amazing and breathtaking sight. She was born on a planet mostly covered by lush forests... This moon... It looked like it had no concept of the colour green. It was dark.... smelly and wretched. But in a way fascinating.





TBC...

Nar Shaadda is a Ecumenopolis a planet city. It was not exactly like Masurigi expected... She heard stories of such places. One could say legends... Of Coruscant... Of huge sprawling and shining towers, rich, covering the whole planet.

This was not the image before her eyes. Nar Shaadda was the exact opposite.

But this planet was heaven to many.

Xian had contacts. Hutts were running a lucrative business and the war made it even better... For a while at least. Refugees from all over the galaxy when the war has struck made their home on this planet. Many mercenaries, deserters, Mandalorians from the broken blockade. The city was getting crowded slowly.

The business was booming at the start. Xian with the help and approval of the Hutts and with her own personal charm took up more and more enterprises. Spice was the start but weapon trade and even slavery came after.

Masurigi was still there protecting her from competition. But she wasn't the only one Xian hired by now. Still there was a mutual trust between them. Xian never broke the contract... Never expected Masu do to anything other then protect her. Loyalty. Masurigi valued that.

Masu herself did not approve of slavery... But the times were what they were...

The competition wasn't brutal. Everyone got a share of the... pie.

This was also the time when Masurigi saw her first Jedi... or was it a Sith? She didn't see or understand the difference. But many of them came in and out of the city. They sometimes fought... Mostly between each other. She witnessed a few of those and she was more then impressed with their skill... It seemed the stories she heard were at least half true. They had those swords... those Lightsabers. They were fast... like they knew their enemies next move before it happened.
Their skill was incredible and their weapon... Not something Masurigi wanted to face with her normal sword.

A year has passed almost quietly... Masurigi didn't have much work. She was almost bored as only a few attempted to face her employer. There was no need as this was a time of prosperity for all the organisations operating on the planet. Everyone got his share and there was enough of the market to go around... But times were changing.

Masurigi herself... Tried to keep herself busy. Some practice at the arenas... Some stalking of Jedi/sith... Researching the subject of force wielders as best as she could... She learned of Cortosis and learned a few anti- jedi techniques that were out there. Its wasn't easy and cheap to get a hold of those...But she had the money... And she had her Twi'lek employer with contacts.

Still getting cortosis was the hard part... Both Jedi and Sith did their best to keep it out of reach of others. It was also rare on its own. She never could get a hold of it...

One after another the outer rim planets fell to the hands of the sith and Nar Shaadda was getting more and more crowded. As the sith were closing their grasp on the outer rim the business was getting worse. Things started to get dangerous as the peace between the organisations was braking as all were after the last pieces of the pie. The sith made it extremely hard to do business... The republic tightened its borders even more to...

On Nar Shaadda things started to get more... dangerous. Everyone started to jump at each others necks. In no time the Smugglers moon was in the state of war between many criminal factions inhabiting it. In between those conflicts allot of inner conflicts arose. Backstabbing is a natural way of advancing in this type of world...

This whole ordeal made Masurigis job allot harder. When you know the business well you can predict who your enemy will be. But Masurigi was just a bodyguard of a quite ambitious Twi'lek criminal. It didn't take long for Xian to cross a line and release hell she never expected...

This inner war on Nar Shaadda didn't look like it was going to end soon... Masurigi noticed her employer to be more and more paranoid. She even tried to force her to be her assassin at one occasion. She was getting skiddish... And Masurigi herself was thinking of just leaving this planet. She was getting quite annoyed.

But this one night at the end of the second year on Smugglers moon someone chose for her.

It all went down quite fast.

She was wakened up by and explosion. Someone was storming her employers apartments! With much haste she went to the twi'leks room... but she wasn't there. The guards Xian hired quickly joined the attackers and Masu was left to fend for her own. Instinctively she charged the attackers thinking they must have kidnapped Xian... But there were to many of them...Way to many.
Confused and largely outnumbered she had to run.

For the next few days she hid in the crowd.

She desperately searched for information... And what she found shook her to the core. From the scarps of info she got it seemed that both her and Xian were marked as traitors by the Hutt. The rumour on the streets was that Xian worked for Jedi... or Sith... Against the Hutt. The details were sketchy but it seemed Xian left Masurigi as bait to escape herself...

Why? Was the questions on her mind. She was near Xian most of the time... She was loyal to her. She never failed. Xian was a bit strange lately... But this? Masurigi was thinking of breaking the contract with Xian but not like this! This was betrayal!

All that didn't matter now. It was a thing to figure out later... She had to run. And run far. The Hutts weren't the forgiving types... But where to hide from the Hutts?

A week later she was on Coruscant.
The whole ordeal was confusing for Masurigi... After 3 years of walking a straight line now she was left in the cold. She had to start anew. But this whole deal changed her. She wasn't about to trust anyone else soon.

She had a choice. She still had a home to come back to... Elerion was still there and although occupied by the sith its lush forests and relative distance to any important activity made it the right place to choose if one wanted to hide and not be found...

But something has drawed her to the core. She never saw it... And there were many stories about the republic capitol. Jedi had a temple here... And if she wanted to find Xian... to get to the bottom of this all (and follow her little obsession with the force sensitive combat skill) it was the right place to visit... Also it was the core! The war was far away... And the hutts have little to say in here.

But was she true? She wondered when she heard a voice ask. "Hey! You're Snowflake right!? I saw your fights on a holodisc once!..." She looked up at the Torguta smiled and nodded...

TBC in Doom Amongs the Dunes!

A good read!
It certainly helps gain an insight into Masurigi's personality and her outlook on life. It was obvious from the DatD rp thus far that Masurigi and Redwatch were the more quiet, planning types as opposed to Net'ra and Valik's headstrong attitudes, but now it makes a little more sense and gives her the rounding-off I was looking for! I admit I know next to nothing about the Echani race, but you've certainly made me want to find out more. The fact they see all forms of war in an almost artistic manner reminds me of some of the more ancient martial arts philosophies and I doubt that's coincidental.

Just how famous was she in the fighting circuit? can we call her Snowflake in the RP?

EDIT: I also just noticed how your Avatar of Masurigi looks oddly similar to my niece Alana wearing a white wig. Proof?

Masurigi:


Alana:

Thats me pretty freaked out right there.

Aliendra wrote:

She spent a month licking her wounds. That fight left a few scars not only on her body.

I read this literally and it was gross.

But seriously, great work. It gives some good insight into your character and shows us all what a little, scrappy bad*** she is. I can't wait for the next part.

BTW: LW, you have some good genes in your family

Lunarwolf wrote:

Just how famous was she in the fighting circuit? can we call her Snowflake in the RP?

Hehe... well... As BH said you have some niiice genes in that family of yours...I mean.. NIIICE.

Anyway to answer your question. Your character ever been to Elerion? If not you have no idea who she is or where she comes from. She had some "fame" locally... like a boxer in Argentina for example.. You know any boxers from Argentina? I don't... And she never made it to be a champion...

If you somehow get the info on her - and the next part of the story might get some reasons why one would have such info... then sure. You can call her Snowflake

I like it actually.. thought its a cute nickname for a killing machine

Nice Part Two, Ali! You finally found a way to get those hutts mad And good segue into DAtD!

Talk to you s...well, now.

Lunarwolf wrote:


Just how famous was she in the fighting circuit? can we call her Snowflake in the RP? Razz

Aliendra wrote:

Anyway to answer your question. Your character ever been to Elerion? If not you have no idea who she is or where she comes from. She had some "fame" locally... like a boxer in Argentina for example.. You know any boxers from Argentina?Razz I don't... And she never made it to be a champion...

Taken from Part 2 of Masurigis Background:

"But was she true? She wondered when she heard a voice ask. "Hey! You're Snowflake right!? I saw your fights on a holodisc once!..." She looked up at the Torguta smiled and nodded..."


See! I told you she was famous!

Great work on part 2 there Aliendra, a cool read. Though if I was Masurugi I would give Xian SUCH A SLAP!

I've just gotten round to reading this intro and I'm really impressed. I love the detail and the psychology behind Masu's behavior is all there. Great job role playing her!

When you gonna post this on Wiki?

Oh! you should definately do that