OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Minion for Kaida.
Image Credit: Here. Tineye and google image search give me no results, so this the closest to a source link I could find.
Role: Qadiri officer, Kaida's protege. Chanadi is an assault specialist and tactical leader. She also serves as a point of view character for dissident Qadiri.
Permission: Can use Firemane stuff because I own the company.
Links: Qadiri, Choir of Angels, Ardent Duty.
PHYSICAL INFORMATION
Age: 45
Force Sensitivity: Non-Force User.
Species: Qadiri.
Appearance: Chanadi is of average height for a Qadiri female, but is well built and strong for her kind. Growing up in a tropical climate has given her a dark, bronze skin tone. As a career soldier her tanned skin is scarred by numerous wounds. She has pointed ears and dark hair. She cuts her hair short so it is easier to maintain on campaign. Her eyes are a pale green, exotic to an outsider but quite common among the Qadiri. She usually wears armour or uniform. Outside of duty she dons casual, but non-frivolous, practical attire.
SOCIAL INFORMATION
Name: Chanadi Jai Himoul.
Loyalties: Kaida Taldir, Shadow Knights (lore submission), Shadow Knights, Court of the Shadows, Vanguard of Duty.
Wealth: She is a Shadow Knight officer and gets paid accordingly, but the rebels are not rich. However, during a mission she came across a cache of loot, consisting of gems. She kept it concealed out of fear that it might be taken away despite being spoils of war. So while it is generally assumed that she is a jumped up beggar, she has a stash of treasures which is both very useful for her, but also rather hard to use. She's saving for hard times and thus mainly draws upon it for emergencies or very important purchases. Kaida has figured it out, but not done anything about it.
Notable Possessions:
- Talon Vibrodagger.
- AV-1S Scout Armour
- Sarzmigar Mk2
- Kusak Heavy Blaster Pistol
- ZX miniature flame projector.
- MkI Bolter / APE Boltgun Ammunition
- Neural Band
- "Talaetha's Sarzmigar Primer - Master the Blessed Polearm in 10 Easy Steps". And as readers of the book add "10 easy steps, and 90 hard ones." Given to her by Kaida to educate her. Some people start reading with Spot or ABC books. Kaida starts them with a weapon's manual.
Chanadi speaks Eldarai and Zandri, the most common Qadiri language. She understands Basic, but is not fluent in it. She is better at reading than speaking it. Chanadi came late to literacy, since she was born a peasant girl and her former masters did not think common grunts needed to know much, but has caught up.
Personality: Driven. That is a good word to describe Chanadi - or at least a start. Chanadi was born a peasant girl, then conscripted to serve in the army of her Queen. There she was held back due to her low class origins and had to endure the snobbery of high class fops, though she proved herself in military engagements. After her people were exposed to the outside world, she decided to seize the opportunities this offered. She caught the eye of Seraph Kaida Taldir and eventually followed the taciturn Eldorai when she went rogue.
Chanadi is a dedicated, brave soldier, very focused and has a good work ethic. Because she holds herself to high standards, she expects the same from those under her. Her low class origins and the snobbery she faced due to them have given her a bit of a chip on her shoulder. Thus she feels a good deal of resentment against those who were born into the lap of luxury or who enjoy privileges she regards as unearned. As a a result, she displays a bit of a vindictive streak when she finds herself in a position of power over the privileged who used to scorn and dismiss her. She also feels some resentment against Force-Users who get preferential treatment and special privileges due to their powers. This does not translate into hatred or burn the witches attitude, she is simply eager to prove she is just as good and has earned her way up. Her attitude can make her come across as a bit bossy.
Not content with being a lowly footsoldier, Chanadi is ambitious and eager to prove herself. It was her conscientious attitude and willingness to think outside of old patterns that first got her Kaida's attention. The Qadiri is curious about the outside world and eager to learn new things. She is making a notable effort to catch up and be 'modern'. This includes becoming literate in standard galactic languages, as extremely few non-Qadiri speak hers. She gets rather excited about discovering and learning new things.
Her relationship with Kaida is rather professional. Her superior is not the type to let her hair down, confide in subordinates or bed them, regarding such attitudes as deeply unprofessional. Indeed, even Kaida's few friends describe her as cold, domineering and acerbic. However, while Kaida is far from a nice person, she is fair and scrupulously honest. She treats Chanadi in accordance with her actions and promotes on merit. which is something the Qadiri appreciated. Kaida is not the patient, understanding teacher type, but has assumed a bit of a mentoring role, teaching the young Qadiri about the modern Galaxy. As a result, Chanadi is very loyal to her boss. Naturally Kaida is also trying to pass on her 'wisdom' and shape Chanadi into what she believes a soldier ought to be. Perhaps she sees a bit of her younger self in the Qadiri. Teaming up with her has given Chanadi the chance to see the Galaxy and become more than she could have been if she had stayed in the services of her overmistresses.
Despite her experiences, Chanadi is a friendly, if somewhat guarded, person. All things considered, she is more personable than her boss. Then again, anyone who is not an icy glacier is. She has musical talents and does not just use them in private, but also to motivate her comrades, say during a camp fire or before the dawn of battle. Her people have an enduring love for oral poetry and performance. She has learned to sing the epic stories of the ancestors by heart and recites them with passion. She also makes a point of visiting wounded soldiers from her unit while they are in the medbay.
COMBAT INFORMATION
Weapon of Choice: Boltgun with all ammunition types. Also proficient with vibroknife, blaster, grenades and blades, polearms or staff weapons. Her preferred melee weapon is the Sarzmigar, an Eldorai polearm.
Combat Function: Chanadi is an assault and melee specialist. Highly skilled in the use of the boltgun, blaster rifles, explosives and polearms. Very talented in standard infantry operations and commando actions. Good at leading soldiers in tactical situations. Chanadi is fit and very agile. However, she is only a mortal woman, without Force powers, cybernetic augmentations or genetic enhancements. Thus she must rely on her wits, skill and tech to prevail in an engagement. If she goes up against Force-users, she may have trouble assessing potential dangers since being Force blind she does not truly understand how the Force works and must rely on past observation. She is very strong willed and thus hard to mentally dominate though.
Chanadi is a tactical, not a strategic leader. She has the usual Qadiri racial strengths and weaknesses. Qadiri form a nice balance between Eldorai and humans. They are remarkably agile, yet still able to hold their own physically. A combination of good genes and conditioning makes her tough and tenacious. Chanadi is a very good shot at medium range, but not a sniper. Like all Qadiri she has keen senses, but her sensitive hearing is a double-edged sword since it makes her more vulnerable to high-pitch frequencies such as those emitted by sonic weapons. She is not skilled as a combat pilot.
Strengths:
- Assault trooper. Chanadi is an assault and melee specialist. She is a strong, agile and robust soldier. Her racial traits give her agility, improved senses and an internal compass.
- Skilled in small unit tactics and leadership. She is talented in standard infantry, recon and commando operations. Well-equipped to lead small units of soldiers.
- Non-Force-User. She is a mortal woman and lacks supernatural powers, cybernetic or genetic enhancements.
- She is a tactical, not a strategic leader. She is good at leading units on the tactical level, but not a general, as she has not been trained in big picture strategy.
- Her sensitive hearing is a double-edged sword since it makes her more vulnerable to high-pitch frequencies such as those emitted by sonic weapons.
Chanadi was born on the Tygaran continent of Zhukathis, a region inhabited by Qadiri, though far from the Amikarese Empire. Her family were poor peasants and vassals of the Qadiri state of Multan. Theirs was a hard life, threatened by rapacious bandits and equally greedy tax collectors in equal amounts. From an early age Chanadi had to help in the fields, as the family needed all hands on deck to survive. Because bandit attacks were an ever-present threat, she was taught some survival skills.
There was little upward mobility in the feudalist state, so she would have probably stayed a peasant and eventually married a local farmboy, if Multan had not had need for soldiers. Qadiri are a warlike people and like many states, the Multani wanted to expand their domain. They were rivals with the neighbouring city of Surani. If they were not fighting skirmishes with their nemesis, they were fighting nomadic raiders.
Thus Chanadi was conscripted when army recruiters showed up at her village to entice villagers to do their 'patriotic duty' for queen and country. These recruitments were unpopular. It was hard to feel patriotic about dying in the name of exploitative nobles, who also provided the officer corps. Chanadi ended up in the so-called 6th Grand Division of Multan. Contrary to what the name might imply, this was not an elite division. Soldiers wore impractical parade uniforms, abuse was rampant and officers bought their commissions. There were experienced soldiers in the unit, but most of their leaders were fops and there was little chance of someone being promoted from the ranks. Chanadi's stubbornness earned her harsh punishments.
One of Chanadi's first experiences was in a military operation against the Marthari raiders of the mountains. These raiders had been a great problem for many years; so great that both Multan and Surani had formed an uneasy alliance to deal with them. However, the nimble raiders avoided the lumbering columns of Qadiri soldiers until they came to a river crossing and an ancient bridge. The bridge was set to be blown up so as to make raiding more difficult, and so gunpowder was brought up and set on each of the buttresses.
However, it was here that the trouble began. The Queen's of Multan's sister was in command of that city's contingent, and she was both prideful and dismissive of the enemy's capability - a dangerous combination. Noticing a force of enemy coming down to try and skirmish with the bridge demolition she decided to move her entire force across. This was goaded by the Surani army's decision to deploy some light troops to protect the engineers. Not wanting to be outdone and claim her rivals had got 'further' than her, she deployed their entire force across the river and easily drove off the nomads. Laughingly, the Yazgid mounted raiders avoided the slow foot troops, and the Sulidar's forces became distanced from the bridge and artillery support by a frustrating chase.
When messages came back that the bridge was ready to explode, the Sulidar frustrated marched her forces back for the bridge. A force of Marthari raiders followed, firing at long range with bows, muskets and hurling insults. In a fit of pique, pride and utter stupidity, the Sulidar ordered several companies forward to drive them off. The Marthari saw easy pickings and charged. The tired and frightened troops fired too soon with minimal effect and the raiders fell upon them with lances, blades and ferocious Yazgid. The Multani fled, and this panic rippled outward, increased when more raiders appeared and charged, cutting off the panicked rabble from the bridge. Here was where Chanadi came into her own. As panic engulfed the force she rallied together a small group around the banners and led a mostly organised retreat back to the bridge with over a hundred soldiers. Artillery and the Surani allies prevented a total massacre, but this humiliation had left scores of Multani warriors needlessly butchered. Soon after the bridge was blown up, but the Multani had to endure the sight of their dead and wounded being looted and prisoners being enslaved.
In the aftermath the Sulidar deflected blame everywhere away from herself. She had the force march with no breaks in the hot sun to 'discipline' them for their failure, and handed out copious floggings and other punishments at any sign of grumbling about the conduct of the operation. Meanwhile, she almost started a war with the Surani who were quite openly mocking their 'allies'. By the time they reached Multan again nearly a third of the force was dead, enslaved or deserted, and two months later the raiders started their campaigns again further down river.
Despite her actions, Chanadi did not escape punishment. She had been able to save one of the flags, but the other was lost and she was blamed for it. So she was subjected to flogging and given menial tasks. Her punishment was increased when she criticised one of her commanding officers. Thus she was sentenced to three hundred lashings after striking a lieutenant. Suffice to say she was rather demotivated after this experience. However, she wanted to survive. If she were to desert, her family would be punished.
It did not take long for her to see action again. This time she faced Multan's perennial rival, the Surani. Prior to the battle, Chanadi went on a recon mission to scout out enemy positions. She discarded the impractical parade uniform because it made her stick out like a sore thumb and painted an obvious target on her. However, she was fined for getting mud on her coat, even though it cost seven shekels to buy. Her intelligence was discounted because of this, as she had clearly demonstrated conduct unbecoming for a soldier of the glorious Grand Division. Later she would sum up her superiors' strategy by saying it was the Sulidar's plan to move her drinks cabinet three inches closer to Suran. It involved everyone standing in a line and walking very slowly forward towards the Surani. To gain an edge over their hereditary enemies, Multan bribed some Marthari clans. Chanadi grit her teeth when she had to serve as a guard during the negotiations. The nomads ravaged the lands of Surani, but then proceeded to use their increased strength to turn on their backers.
She fought the Marthari, Surani and other threats in several other engagements. When some of Multan's peasants rebelled, she contemplated deserting, but refrained from doing so, fearing reprisals against her family. Moreover, while Multan's army was in a poor state, it had the firepower. The peasant uprising was suppressed with muskets and cannon fire. Her stubbornness and unorthodox attitudes kept her from being promoted.
However, then came a turning point in her life. Khajwar was a distant continent, but its natives had heard rumours about the sky people who had come to Tygara, though contact with them had been sporadic. But eventually the Eldorai Matriarchy turned its eye towards their distant kin. Star Queen Tirathana VII dispatched a delegation to visit these distant lands and establish diplomatic contact. It was led by her trusted advisor, Countess Serene Tarai. The military contingent responsible for protecting the diplomats was under the command of the notoriously stoic Seraph Kaida Taldir.
Initial contact was awkward. Fearing that they were invaders, the Qadiri soldiers fired upon the party. However, then the Eldorai demonstrated their firepower. The Qadiri did not have gunships and shattercannons, after all. After the initial misunderstanding had been resolved, both parties agreed to negotiations and the Eldorai were invited into Multan. The Vizier tried to enlist them as mercenaries in the struggle against Surani. Countess Tarai responded diplomatically, but secretly assigned Host Leader Vaena Askari to visit the 'dastardly' Surani and get their view of things. Meanwhile, Kaida was ordered to inspect the Multani Grand Division.
She was not impressed. As a matter of fact, she was apoplectic. So much that she beat the Bashar of the unit with a musket. Chanadi was present when the pale outsider criticised the state of the division and the way it was led. Very reluctantly, the Vizier put Kaida in charge of whipping the unit into shape. First, Kaida ordered everyone to go on an eight mile run, knowing their fancy uniforms would make this impractical. Then she sacked most of the Division's officers. Some received a flogging.
Chanadi displayed initiative, for she was the first to run after discarding her impractical gear. She also proved capable during marksmanship training. Kaida took notice and made her responsible for training those who had been unable to keep up. Then the soldiers were paired up and ordered to fight each other in melee. However, Chanadi's zealousness made her enemies. No one likes a teacher's pet, after all! So some jealous soldiers ganged up on her and tried to lynch. Noticing this, Kaida intervened when she saw Chanadi had been cornered. She punished one of the would-be lynchers by maiming her ear. She warned soldiers not to cross her and said that they would be judged on merit. She also warned Chanadi not to think that she was her favourite. Chanadi accepted this, feeling happy that someone recognised her. The Vizier was deposed after trying to poison the Queen to replace her with a younger, more compliant niece.
More drills followed. Chanadi often returned to the barracks too exhausted to do much of anything, but she felt it was worth it. The soldiers received more practical camo outfits and slugthrowers. These were archaic by galactic standards, but better than what they had been using till now. Meanwhile, the Eldorai had managed to ingratiate themselves with the Queen of the Surani and her Nawab, after helping them against raiders. When the time came for the Surani and Multani to do battle, the Eldorai refused to fight their comrades. This was forced an uneasy, fragile peace, as both realms wanted to enjoy the benefits of outsider tech. Of course, hostilities did not vanish over night. Both states continued to intrigue against each other and gain a competitive advantage.
The Eldorai military delegation was able to induce Chanadi's Multani superiors to promote her. She was made a platoon, later a company leader. However, she still faced resentment from those above and below her. Her scrupulous honesty, dedication to discipline and efficiency made her enemies. In some cases resentment became outright hostility. During a battle with rebels who had taken over a Multani fortress, a fellow officer was suspiciously 'delayed' in coming to her aid. However, despite the lack of reinforcements, Chadani was able to take the castle.
The Multani army bombarded the fortress with artillery, but thedefenders had cannons of their own, and they had an obvious height and therefore range advantage over the attackers' guns. Following the advice of an old Qadiri sergeant, she proposed using sappers to remove the defenders' advantage. The plan was approved, but she received little support against enemy forays. However, she used sappers to dig trenches, allowing the guns to be brought up close enough to supppress the defenders on the fort's bastion. A tunnel was dug from the forward-most sap up to and under the fortress wall.
Underground fighting was intense, as the rebels dug their own tunnels to attack the loyalists from below. There was furious underground and trench fighting with bayonets, hand grenades, pistols and blades. Chanadi led the commando that placed gunpowder and ignited it, causing a tremendous explosion that destroyed the wall. She was injured during this action, but it permitted the attacking infantry to breach the fortress and seize it. However, her rival, who had given her little support and stormed the fortress at the last moment, took credit for the success and her commanding officer supported this despite knowing the truth. It helped that her rival was a Force-user and the scion of a noble family.
Chanadi was one of the Qadiri officers who got the chance to attend the Eldorai Academy in New Santaissa. Presumably her superiors saw this as a good way to get a troublesome officer out of the way. In all fairness, the poor treatment she received was not just motivated by snobbishness, but also by the fact that she was seen as being too close to the Qadiri's new lieges. Enrolled at the academy, she later served in the somewhat patronisingly named Qadiri Auxiliary Corps. She was angered by the racist sentiments of several Eldorai and humans, who looked down on the 'sand babies' and 'forestlings'. However, she stuck to her guns and refused to bend or fawn. She had an altercation with an Eldorai officer.
However, being removed from her homeland broadened her horizons. By Qadiri standards Multan was a large, impressive city, but compared to New Santaissa it might as well have been a village. She was awed by the technology of the outsiders, especially their spaceships. She could not help wonder why her own people had been left behind and been unable to catch up. Kaida visited her here and there, taking an interest in her protege's progress and giving her gruff advice. At Chanadi's request, she took the young Qadiri on a trip to space. When Chanadi grew frightened as Tygara vanished, Kaida's solution was to cuff her to her seat and force her to face her fears. Kaida also gagged Chanadi because the noise annoyed her. Empathy was not and had never been the frost elf's strong suit. Nonetheless, she gave Chanadi some foreign books to read and gifted her a boltgun and a Sarzmigar. The latter had once belonged to a battle sister of Kaida who had perished in the Xioquo War.
Not all of Tygara's natives were pleased by the global peace the Eldorai Matriarchy and Firemane sought to enforce on the planet. It was, after all, an imperial peace. Centuries-old grudges did not vanish overnight just because the new overmistresses willed it so. Thus Chanadi saw action against rebel forces. Among other things, she saw in the Krolis War. This was a conflict about who should be Saoshyant, the high priestess of Kashara, the supreme goddess of the Qadiri pantheon, and about whether the church or the state should have the authority to appoint high officials of the Kashari church through investiture.
Eventually she returned to Multan. By now she was far less willing to accept the status quo, having been exposed to alternate ways of doing things. It transpired that her old unit had been given to a political appointee. Chanadi was struck with garrison duty in a distant outpost. Chanadi joined a rebel group that sought to bring about change through a guerilla campaign. Ironically, its members included Marathi raiders she had once fought against. Chanadi put the skills she had learned and her knowledge of the inner workings of the Multani army to good use. She distinguished herself in several raids on governmet bases and arsenals. The renegades took revenge on hated aristocrats, landlords and tax collectors.
However, though spirited the rebels lacked outside support. Then she got an unexpected visit from Kaida. By now the taciturn Eldorai had deserted the Matriarchy's services and joined the Shadow Knights, a group of Eldorai dissidents and survivalists. Kaida was grumpy about their factionalism and internal politicking, so she'd decided that she should go headhunting on Tygara and recruit capable minions who could help her get things on track and whip recruits into shape. In any case, she'd remembered Chanadi. However, her former protege made it a condition that the Shadow Knights would help those among her comrades who wanted to depart leave, too. Though outwardly grumpy about having to bargain, Kaida was actually pleased by the loyalty Chanadi felt towards her comrades.
Thus the young Qadiri got to see the stars. However, while life among the Shadow Knights had its benefits and was in a number of ways more egalitarian, it was not an utopia. The rebels had their share of political hacks, racists, fanatics and fools, but she did not let this dishearten. She also had to adjust to life in space, as the renegades were primarily a spacefaring people with a nomadic way of life. She also trained Qadiri recruits and helped them adjust to the modern way of doing things. To make best use of her skills, she was given a unit of Qadiri shock troops.
She also became acquainted with Ylaea Althena, a former Jedi turned Rogue and one of Kaida's few close friends. Ylaea helped her get used to her new life and told her stories of her adventures, along with some embarrassing childhood stories Kaida would rather forget ever happened. Her superior Kaida has been given a roving commission and her own frigate by the Archon and Chanadi has been attached to her command. Since her departure from Tygara, Chanadi has fought in a variety of skirmishes against raiders, Kraal as well as internal Eldorai conflicts. The rest of her people would eventually leave Tygara, too, as the planet was evacuated in the second exodus.
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