Aafke Haran'jai
Clan Haran'jai
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: Provide a companion for Aafke Haran'jai, as is custom of this Mandalorian clan.
- Image Credit: Raph Lomotan
- Role: Companion, War-mount, Guardian.
- Links: Clan Haran'jai, Zanbar.
- Age: 8 years old.
- Species: Kad'uliik
- Height: 1,67m at shoulder
- Length: 1,82m
- Weight: 350kg approximately
- Appearance: Hodayc is, as every member if its species, one large, predatory cat native to Zanbar. Having been born in the lowlands, Hodayc sports a big, muscled and stocky body, which together with his height and length make him seem like one furry, extremely intimidating war tank. His fur is primarily of a dark golden tone but is heavily marked with black stripes and dots, which cover almost every single inch of his upper coat and flanks. The underside of his body is much lighter, almost white, and heavily furred as well as his neck and chest. He sports an impressive pair of canines that overlap his lower jaw, the cheeks of his powerful muzzle not long enough to cover the last inch of them. One of his most characteristic features, that set him slightly apart from the rest of his kin, are his marking and the sideburn/beard that grows alongside his muzzle.
- Hodayc has powerful pairs of paws, with a dangerous set of claws to match them. Aafke has permanently dyed a patch of his hair (found at his left rear) with the sigil of clan Haran'jai in a dark red color. The dye might fade a little with time and she retouches it when it does.
- Name: Hodayc, meaning cunning in Mando'a.
- Loyalties: Aafke Haran'jai, Clan Haran'jai.
- Notable Possessions: Hodayc does not have any armor or tack as of yet, Aafke prefers to ride directly on his back. Aafke made him a long collar out of beads, broken fang pieces and the occasional feather. The collar hangs loosely around his neck.
- Personality: A sly and resourceful creature, Hodayc gave his owner a very hard time when she was trying to tame him and bond with him. With a judging nature and an observant eye, this Kad'uliik often makes humanoids think twice about the true potential of the animal's intelligence. As long as he keeps to the company of his master and the Haran'jai clan, Hodayc is a fairly calm, laid-back feline who does not impose much of a resistance to anything. Because of the patience in him, he became a favorite plaything of the clan's younger members. However, as every member of his species does, he still has a very strong instinct that can be triggered from a moment to the other, and in him it reigns primarily as his unstoppable territorial, jealous and zealous defense over his young owner and the people he has learned to identify as his owner's family. Cold and infinitely mistrustful of strangers, Aafke happened to chose a big-cat that resembled herself in personality, only that taking everyone of her characteristics to the extreme, both for the best and for the worse.
- Training: Having been tamed by Aafke and having formed a very deep bond with his Mahanaim master, Hodayc has been trained to follow several commands. Seeing as how Aafke can imitate many of his sounds without much effort, she has decided to train him through movements and feline-sounds rather than through direct, spoken commands. This allows for a more personal, unique communication between the animal and the girl. Hodayc has been trained to ride, fight and hunt alongside Aafke as well as to guard the Clan and its members. He has also been known to track and retrieve objects/prey.
- Combat Function: Hodayc, as a predator, was naturally a force to be reckoned with as far as fighting goes. With immense strength, speed and a dangerous pair of canines and claws, Hodayc will definitely jump into battle if he feels himself or his owner threatened. Aafke usually rides with him into battle, having learned to maneuver the Kad'uliik's movements with her legs and knees or stalks her prey with him, usually surrounding it and performing surprise attacks as long as none of them have been noticed. However, it needs to be remarked that despite his strength and agility, Hodayc is still a soft bodied animal as long as he does not have any other armor to protect him he is vulnerable to any sort of kinetic damage.
Born in the lowlands of Zanbar, Hodayc grew up in the wild and became, like any other of his species, a powerful predator. He was around five years old when Aafke was deployed to perform the main rite of passage in her tribe: taming a Kad'uliik. The Mahanaim had already encountered many felines by the time Hodayc caught her eye. It had been the pattern on his skin that had called her attention, reminding her of the pattern she could see in her own eyes. And she had decided she wanted to bond with that male Kad'uliik. The one that would make her pay hell for his loyalty.
The feline was incredibly smart and outdid her on many occasions, forcing her to retreat into safety so as not to face a gruesome death under his intimidating jaws. But she never gave up. Day after day, night after night she watched him and tried to approach him. If he moved she followed. If he hid himself away from days, in hopes the humanoid would get bored and leave, she waited. Many times she was forced into a confrontation with the massive beast, trying to hurt him as little as was possible while taking quite a beating herself.
It took time, a lot more than she had anticipated. But with it, he grew accustomed to her presence. She became an every-day nuisance, one he would simply bare and try to ignore. To her, this meant improvement. Soon after, she started hunting for him. Bringing in game much smaller than the one he consumed himself, but the gestures started forming a solid floor between the two, even if she was still not allowed to approach him. She called him Hodayc, the cunning one, because of his intelligent and sly nature. She never strayed too far away, almost as if she was clinging onto the image of the feline seeing as how she couldn't return to her tribe until she had completed this task.
Almost a year had passed by the time the Kad'uliik had accepted the passive approach of his humanoid. She did not fight him and submit him, she was too respectful of the beast to do that. And he had started to grow respectful of her too, in the face of her effort and determination, and calmness. The deal between them was set in a day that almost ends in tragedy. Aafke had been exhausted for over a large course of months to claim him, so she was in no place to confront a small enclave of young Kad'uliik, younger than Hodayc, who had decided to make easy game out of the Mahanaim. She held her own for as long as she could, but underfed and underslept and with little more on her side than her will to survive, there was not much going in favor of the young Mandalorian. Until a certain big cat decided to protect what he, in that very moment, had decided was his from then on-wards: the girl. With the help of Hodayc, she was able to fend off the aggressors. They never parted ways with each other after that, and after a couple of months more spent simply bonding with him, she returned to the clan riding on the back of the cunning Kad'uliik.
