Mara D'Lessio Merrill
The Lesser D'Lessio
Image Source: Far Cry Primal: Jayma
Name: Kolatta
Loyalties: Kolatta is an occasional member of Mara D'Lessio Merrill's crew, and an experienced Underground operative.
Role: Kolatta has been the least technologically adept of Mara's crew, but is skilled with the gun turrets of the Scar of Ilum. When traveling with Mara on foot, Kolatta is the group's sniper, favoring low-tech bow and arrow. When not accompanying Mara, Kolatta is often found in the Kathol Outback, primarily the Temple of Binaros, or on Kilia IV at Castle Miriamele. In both locations, she teaches her culture's unique view of the Force.
Development Threads:
Note that some (the first, third, and sixth on the list) are the same threads used to submit Eiarra Denirel. However, they're quite in-depth, and neither character is exactly what you'd call transcendently powerful. These just happen to be the threads where these characters have been used.
- In Fact It Scares Us (throughout): Kolatta plays an active role in Mara's expedition to Kilia IV.
- Let's Paint The Town Red, Black, and Gold (1 post directly relevant): Kolatta is mentioned as part of Mara's crew during a raid.
- Great, She Brought Home A Sword (2 posts directly relevant): Mara mentions Kolatta and her specialty to her mother Alna Merrill.
- Eclipstica: Shade of the Past (1 post directly relevant): Kolatta participates in a tricky operation involving competing Sith Lords.
- Ten Thousand Ways That Won't Work (1 post directly relevant): Kolatta accompanies Mara to the qo'saarai tuk'ata outpost on Kelsier.
- A Sound of Thunder (throughout): Kolatta fights alongside Mara and the rest of the crew at the Ilum Enclave Massacre. She is seriously wounded by the Mandalorian [member="Ronan Vizsla"], and dragged to safety.
- Sticks and Stones (2 posts directly relevant): Kolatta is present at Castle Miriamele as Mara works and talks with Kaili Talith.
Age: 39
Species: Human
Appearance: Kolatta is a lean, scarred woman with light brown skin and graying hair. She's attractive in a weatherbeaten sort of way, aged before her time by long hard years on a pre-technological world. Though she can pass unnoticed in your average spacer clothes, she often favours furs and leather, and carries a variety of primitive weapons. A blue-gray tattoo marks her forehead. See also this.
Personality: Kolatta only speaks when she has strong feelings on a subject; she's a career hunter and sniper, not given to talking much. She isn't one for making a big deal of personal connections. If she goes out of her way to save your life, it might be your first clue that she knows who you are. She's quite close with Eiarra Denirel. As a member of her planet's highest caste, Kolatta strongly believes that she is the party member best suited to tackling the most difficult tasks, no matter how menial. Don't offer to dig a latrine she has her heart set on digging, not unless you're a stronger Force-user than she is. Kolatta is heterosexual.
Force Sensitivity: Master, but it's very important here to discuss Zahati'i culture and Force-sensitivity. Kolatta is part of the Force-sensitive D'ihi'n cast, the so-called druids of Zahat'n'ira. Her tribe names seven ranks of connection to Mother Nature, and Kolatta holds the fifth rank. She can be situated squarely in the realm of unimpressive Masters, the more so because the Zahati'i don't believe in using the Force in the same sense as the Jedi or Sith Lords do. In many respects, such as most of the Core Powers Kolatta's abilities are comparable to an Apprentice or Knight.
Weapon of Choice: Bow and arrow, stone knives, club, spear
Skills: In function, so far as the Force goes, Kolatta is mostly comparable to a Lightsider, though her planet's tradition has little to do with Light or Dark. Kolatta emphasizes the following Force abilities with a traditional somatic component involved, such as a chant or gesture.
- Beast Language
- Force Track
- Weather Sense
- Life Sense
- Plant Surge
- Crucitorn
- Alter Environment/Elemental Shaping (mostly non-combat uses)
- Tapas
- Animal Bond
Kolatta is a decent gunner, a deadly bow-and-arrow sniper, and a competent melee fighter. She is terrible with technology in all forms. Like most people on her homeworld, she venerates art, but she has very little artistic talent.
Wealth: Mara pays pretty well, but Kolatta sends the bulk of it back home to Zahat'n'ira as medical supplies.
Combat Function: Kolatta strongly prefers a supporting role. From afar, she sends arrows or inopportune gusts of wind to discomfit the enemy. Up close, she's very good with a knife or spear, but she prizes distance and mobility. Her Force abilities rarely come into play in combat, to the point where she's not normally considered a Force-sensitive. Her combat function at the Ilum Enclave Massacre is representative of her usual tactics. She served as an advance scout, moving quietly to identify the nature and distribution of the Mandalorian aggressors. She provided covering fire with her bow, only closing to melee range when absolutely necessary, and using no Force abilities in the process -- apart from the occasional opportune cave-in.
The Zahati'i have a strong taboo against using the Force -- 'calling on Mother Nature' -- for violent purposes. As a result, despite her specialization as a sniper, Kolatta has no Force-enhanced aim beyond that which operates through well-honed instinct. Like all ranking D'ihi'n, Kolatta has a strong connection to nature and the traditional elements, in a way comparable to the Shapers of Kro Var. Her use of the elements, however, is far less overt and blatant than Shaper techniques. A stiff breeze might knock an enemy off a ledge, for example, or a fire might abate long enough for Kolatta and her friends to escape it. At dire need, she might create a bridge of ice across a stretch of water, or shake a tunnel until it collapsed. The highest-ranking D'ihi'n have influence over the weather, and though you'll never see Kolatta call down lightning storms, she can have a powerful influence on the clouds if need be. She's much more likely to predict the weather than to influence it. Kolatta has no Jedi or Sith training: the so-called 'Core Powers' feature inconsistently in her skillset, if at all. A much closer comparison would be Dathomiri witchcraft, with its emphasis on nature and somatic spellcasting.
Notable Possessions: None of note.
History: Kolatta was born to human colonists on Zahat'n'ira, but was raised by the local Zahati'i in the southern hemisphere. Her Force-sensitivity, identified at a young age, qualified her for the D'ihi'n caste -- in other words, a life spent doing the tribe's most difficult jobs. Physical labour, deprivation, and constant challenge honed her into a deadly and experienced hunter. But more importantly, they gave her a depth of discipline that most Jedi can only envy.
When an offworld ship visited the tribe, Kolatta was selected to scout the outside galaxy and leave her home. She did so stoicly, with reluctance. Her tribe was decimated by Dredge's Horde during its string of massacres in that region of the galaxy. She took up the cause of the Underground, began sending remittances home to her tribe, and eventually carved out a place for herself in the wider universe. When a young woman named Mara Merrill decided to voyage to a low-technology world called Kilia IV, her father Jorus Merrill sent out a call for Undergrounders who could function in primitive environments. Kolatta was an obvious choice.
Much later, now an established member of Mara's crew, Kolatta was caught in the Ilum Enclave Massacre. She scouted Mandalorian positions, staged cave-ins, and laid traps to delay the Mandalorians while the Jedi children retreated. She even engaged the Mandalorians in combat, but was seriously injured, and the children were killed.
Her physical and spiritual recovery took months. She spent much of that time at the Temple of Binaros, in the Kathol Outback, an Underground-influenced region quite close to Zahat'n'ira. Though she would return to Mara's crew on occasion, and join Underground operations when necessary, Kolatta would find a new role, spreading her people's understanding of Nature and the Force. She would keep herself in fighting trim by hunting in the Binaros jungles to provide the Temple with fresh food, and keep them safe from the local saber-toothed cats.
Intent: She started as a member of Mara's crew, and grew into something else. Mostly, I'm subbing her for TKO, as a trainer in an obscure and interesting player-created Force tradition. For reference, these are the most relevant parts of the planet submission:
Every tribe there believes in the Force and it’s even more important than people’s own lives. They have their own Force training organizations, but instead of three ranks, they have six and some tribes have even more, but all of their ranks could be put together to form a system with three ranks.
The planet’s natives’ view at the Force is similar to the Living Force, but there are many differences. The biggest difference might be the fact, that they don’t call it “The Force”. They know it by the name “Mother Nature”, because they believe the Force is the nature. They have learned to use the Force to bend nature. Similar to the Shapers of Kro Var, they have learned to use it to control elements. The highest-ranking users of Mother Nature are almost powerful enough to control the weather. The key word is “almost”. They also believe the Force shouldn’t be used for fighting. They believe it is a gift by the Mother Nature. Because of that, they don’t look at the Force as a Light Side or as a Dark Side, but they see it as a green-brown pattern that flows through people. They believe the people who are Darksiders for the majority are just lost, that they have stepped out of the river and have to come back.
The society in the tribes is different. On the southern hemisphere tribes, people are divided into three ranks. The most honoured rank is the Druid (D’ihi’n) rank. The people who have this rank are the highest-ranking members of the tribe. Because they can use the Force, they often do the hardest jobs or simply act as the chiefs of the tribe.
The planet’s natives’ view at the Force is similar to the Living Force, but there are many differences. The biggest difference might be the fact, that they don’t call it “The Force”. They know it by the name “Mother Nature”, because they believe the Force is the nature. They have learned to use the Force to bend nature. Similar to the Shapers of Kro Var, they have learned to use it to control elements. The highest-ranking users of Mother Nature are almost powerful enough to control the weather. The key word is “almost”. They also believe the Force shouldn’t be used for fighting. They believe it is a gift by the Mother Nature. Because of that, they don’t look at the Force as a Light Side or as a Dark Side, but they see it as a green-brown pattern that flows through people. They believe the people who are Darksiders for the majority are just lost, that they have stepped out of the river and have to come back.
The society in the tribes is different. On the southern hemisphere tribes, people are divided into three ranks. The most honoured rank is the Druid (D’ihi’n) rank. The people who have this rank are the highest-ranking members of the tribe. Because they can use the Force, they often do the hardest jobs or simply act as the chiefs of the tribe.
