Tarkaal

Tarkaal was a 51-year-old Jungle Felucian shaman who lived aboard the Triumphant. Like all members of his species, he was force-sensitive, and frequently used his abilities to support the Brigade on the battlefield. He was known to be both peculiar and esoteric. His idiosyncracies were compounded by the fact that he only spoke in his native tongue, despite understanding Galactic Basic just fine. Moreover, he was telepathic, which theoretically enabled him to communicate with whoever he wanted no matter what language they spoke. Why he chose to use this ability only on a select few remains a mystery.

Biography
The Felucia of Tarkaal's youth was only just recovering from the corruption brought about by Maris Brood in 2 BBY. A large portion of the Felucians had been slaughtered, either by the Galactic Empire or Galen Marek. The Ancient Abyss, the center of Felucian culture and religion, had been badly wounded, bringing morale to an all-time low. The few Felucians that remained were struggling to drag the planet and its ecosystem back into balance with the Force, a task made even more difficult by the sudden dearth of shamans. Nevertheless, Jedi Master Shaak Ti's teachings managed to survive with the few that were left, and with their guiding light the Felucians were slowly pulling the planet back from insanity.

Born into the Felucian warrior caste in 0 ABY, Tarkaal began learning to hunt at the early age of 9. Every young warrior was taught to use the Force to bolster both their defensive and offensive capabilities. The most fundamental technique was the erection of force barriers for protection. This was something all Felucians learned to do by second nature very early on in life. Warriors were further taught to imbue whatever weapon they had at their disposal with the Force, making them much more efficient. It was during this training that Tarkaal gained a thorough knowledge of Felucian poisons and developed a fondness for poisoncraft that he retains to this day. Through the Force, Tarkaal became such a prodigal hunter that the Shamans took notice. At the age of 11, he was placed under their tutelage so that he might learn the ways of the Force, lest he stray down the path of the dark side.

As a shaman apprentice he learned even more about alchemy, applying his knack for poisons to herbal medicines. He soon learned how to cloak himself in the Force, making him nigh invisible. Most importantly, he was taught to feel the Living Force around him and to channel it into advanced forms of healing as well as devastating attacks. It was also during this training that he carved his staff from a rancor's bone, the trusty weapon that would serve him well for the rest of his life, and how to communicate with others using telepathy.

Yuuzhan Vong Wars

 * "Great Mother An'etia... Where have you gone?"
 * ―Tarkaal

By the age of 26, Tarkaal was a respected shaman, and Felucia was almost back in balance with the Force. However, in 27 ABY, the planet fell into the claws of the Yuuzhan Vong. They invaded two days before the grand Taktuk Takka festival was to begin, and their reign was brutal. Felucians were used as slaves, subjected to terrible experiments, and occasionally outright murdered. Tarkaal was among the Felucians who managed to avoid capture by hiding deep within the Ancient Abyss. He took up the mantle as leader of his people after the former Matriarch and final remaining chieftain died, and lead them in many a raid against the Yuuzhan Vong camps in vain attempts to liberate their brethren. He perfected such techniques as Force Blast, Battle Meditation, Force Camouflage, Force Body, Force Bellow, and Force Drain. During one particularly heated battle with the Vong, he even managed to manifest Force Lightning, though it is unlikely he did so on purpose and rather accidentally cast it in a fit of rage.

The Vong's occupation of the planet was ended late in 29 ABY, when Talben Foelin and his brigade of Galactic Alliance troops came to liberate the planet. Tarkaal fought alongside Foelin during the four-day Fourth Battle of Felucia, and stood victorious with him at its conclusion. Despite his hand in the Felucians' triumph over the Vong, the other shamans, which were again few in number, grew worried that Tarkaal had grown too close to the Dark Side. While Felucians who fall to the Dark Side were normally thrown into the Ancient Abyss to be executed, they instead allowed Tarkaal to go into exhile. Tarkaal chose to serve out his sentence with Foelin, whom he had come to respect.

Exhile
Tarkaal's travels with Foelin first brought him to Naboo, where Foelin learned of his family's passing and his inherited fortune. He would tend to Foelin during his month of solitude, and later join him on the Triumphant. There, Tarkaal would run errands for Foelin and occasionally provide him council. It was also not unheard of for him to accompany the clones on missions.

On one such mission, he went with the 29th Platoon and Veckley Az'klia to the planet Ylesia, where they encountered space vampires and Black Sun agents on board a crashed Imperial ship. Originally split into two teams, with Tarkaal being on Team 1 with Blaze and Chev, the two groups met up after realizing how dangerous the ship had become. Foelin dispatched Ashley and the 30th Platoon and ordered the 29th to rendezvous with them, but Veckley disobeyed orders and ran off on his own, followed closely by Storm, eager for adventure. Blaze sent Tarkaal to look after them. They almost immediately encountered Black Sun mandalorians, and Veckley and Storm rushed into combat without a second thought. The ensuing battle caused enough of a ruckus to alert the horde of vampires, and upon their arrival the mandalorians fled, leaving the trio to fend for themselves. Tarkaal initially had some success communing with the creatures, but Veckley and Storm were so filled with bloodlust that they attacked the creatures head on and Tarkaal was forced to use Force Drain to pacify the vampiric beasts, inadvertently killing the entire horde. After Tarkaal notified the group that the creatures' natural thirst for blood was being supplemented by the influence of a Sith, the three of them chased the Mandalorians. Eventually they wound up in the hangar bay, where they found Debra the sole survivor of a Black Sun attack. She was barely clinging to life, with blaster wounds all over her body, but Tarkaal was able to nurse her back to health and saw her safely delivered to the newly arrived medical staff before going to help Storm, Veckley, and Blaze hold off a marauding war droid. This was the start of Tarkaal and Debra's friendship.

Upon returning to the ship, Tarkaal observed the interrogation of the Brigade's new prisoner, the ever-agreeable Kazdan, before finding Sergeant Storm getting high on a stim pack in the cargo bay. Seeking to help her, he took the stim pack and telepathically provided her with a vibrant vision of his homeworld as it appeared before the Yuuzhan Vong invaded.

Later, when he, Veckley, Blaze, Debra, and Storm were assigned to search the Gifted Gate for baradium missiles, he was instrumental in providing the initial distraction. In the midst of the brawl, he followed the team into the warehouse and kept the guards busy while the rest of the gang searched the place. He was dismayed when Storm and Veckley concomitantly beat a Weequay to near death, but did not step in for fear of Veckley's wrath.

Following the mission, Storm would seek out Tarkaal in search of more of the drugs she believes he gave her after the previous mission. He is surprised to find that she now knows about hodno berries without him telling her about them. Curious, and seeing an opportunity to teach Storm about good and evil, Tarkaal takes Storm back to his chambers and gives her a placebo before giving her another vision, this time a scene of his village ending with the Yuuzhan Vong attack. Debra walked in on them almost immediately afterwards, and Storm kissed her. The now flustered Debra, believing that Tarkaal had actually given Storm drugs, became very disappointed with the Felucian, and would regard him with mixed feelings for some time.

Appearance


Like all Jungle Felucians, Tarkaal was possessed of four arms—two main arms with four webbed, suction-cup-tipped fingers, with two smaller arms protruding from their undersides equipped with three long, dextrous fingers. His legs ended with four webbed toes, also tipped with suction cups. His head and face were shrouded in flexible, luminescent tendrils. When he was training to become a warrior, he was covered in blue fluorescent paint, but upon becoming an apprentice shaman the blue paint was replaced with dark red, and finally with bright red when he rose to full-fledged shamanry. He still currently exhibits his bright red decorum, but he has needed to replace the paint with different substrates over the years, making it less fluorescent.

Just prior to the Yuuzhan Vong invasion of his homeworld, Tarkaal stood at a towering 2.0 meters (6' 6.7") tall due to his affinity with the then-thriving ecosystem. However, after the invasion the Force was again disrupted and he shrank down to his current height of 1.9 meters (6' 2.8") tall. He currently weighs approximately 85 kilograms (187.393 lbs). He usually only wore his loincloth, but he does possess a couple more garments.



Personality and Traits
Tarkaal was eccentric, noble, and curious. As a gifted child, he always saw it as his duty to protect and guide those who were less capable than him, and that sense of purpose stayed with him his entire life. Like all Felucians, his own emotions were reflected back on him by the Living Force, amplifying them. However, Tarkaal's deep connection with the Force caused the effect to be extremely pronounced in him, at times producing truly epic mood swings. Over the years, he learned to control his feelings, but even the slightest slip could send him into a bout of tears, a prolonged fit of laughter, or a berserker fury.

Skills and Abilities
Tarkaal had an affinity for the Living Force. Through it, he was able to hurl compressed balls of air, turn invisible, enchance his combat capabilities, throw up shields capable of withstanding blaster fire, and drain and grant life energy. It also enabled him to communicate telepathically, although he rarely did with non-Felucians. Other force-sensitives could more easily understand the thoughts he transmitted, though he was skilled enough that non-force-sensitive targets would still catch his drift.

He had a sizeable knowledge in poisons and medicine, augmented by a decent understanding of biology and a discerning nose. This made him an excellent doctor, though how efficient he is compared to an official medical facility is complicated. Without the Force, Tarkaal's usefullness is relegated to setting bones, applying band-aids, and concocting antidotes. With the Force, he has the potential to cure ailments that elude medicine, as well as extremely severe wounds, but whether or not he succeeds depends on the severity of the wound, the strength of the Living Force in the area, and his own level of fatigue.

Physiologically, Tarkaal could breathe underwater and was a proficient swimmer. His suction-cup-tipped appendages allowed him to scale most surfaces. Moreover, all Felucians were talented at communing with wildlife, and Tarkaal was no exception. He frequently used this ability to tame the wildlife of his homeworld, especially the mighty rancor.

His staff was also notable. Its origins as a rancor bone already gave it lightsaber resistant properties, but when imbued with the Force it enabled Tarkaal to defend himself against both Yuuzhan Vong amphistaves and lightsabers alike. Along with this trusty weapon he would usually carry various medicinal ingredients, especially on the battlefield.

Trivia

 * Jedi General Talben Foelin, Sergeant MVA-1138 "Storm", and Captain Veckley Az'klia were some of the few people Tarkaal would communicate with telepathically.
 * Tarkaal's Dungeons and Dragons alignment was Lawful Good.
 * Tarkaal was known for getting stuck in the turbolift.
 * It wasn't clear whether Tarkaal actually understood Basic or if he simply read the mind of the speaker to comprehend the meaning.
 * Tarkaal had some difficulty pronouncing st, z, sh, j, v, and f, as those sounds weren't used in the Felucian tongue. It was entirely possible for a Felucian to learn to do so, but due to age and lack of practice Tarkaal never got used to the phonemes.
 * Storm's feelings for Debra may have been brought on by Tarkaal's feelings for his wife, Galaoka, which Storm experienced in her second vision. Food for thought.