Character Messala, "Lord of Doubt"

[Salamander]

• 
  General Information:
  • NAME: Messala
  • ALIASES:
    • Lord of Doubt
    • Darth Transitus
    • Ghost of Jealousy
  • BIRTHWORLD: Kiva
  • AFFILIATION: The Sith Empire
  • RANK: Sith Lord; Archon of the Primyn Group; CEO of For All Seasons
• Physical Information:
  • SPECIES: Half-Bothan
  • AGE: 50+
  • SEX: Male
  • HEIGHT: 6’5” (1.96 meters)
  • BUILD: Buff satyr
  • EYES: Dark, stormy blue
  • HAIR: Reddish brown, graying in places
  • SKIN: Leathery, both in color and complexion
  • VOICE SAMPLE: Gary Golden from Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
  • FORCE SENSITIVE: Positively
• Social Information:
  • ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Neutral
  • PERSONALITY: Obsessive, Manipulative, Reserved, Practical
  • TROPES: Mad Scientist, The Grotesque, Designer Babies, Ambiguously Evil, The Wonka
  • Original NPC Sub

STRENGTHS

• Mad (?) Scientist: Messala is, first and foremost, a scientist. His origins drove him down the path of studying genetics, biology, and cytology, but he also augmented his knowledge in the field by studying Sith alchemy. Having recognized the necessity and value of Sith alchemy when it comes to bioengineering, he does not share his creator's view that the Force should be kept out of science. While he aims to push the boundaries of what is possible, he tends to be a bit more cautious when it comes to how he treats those he experiments on, taking a more active role in their training or, in the case of infants and children, raising them as a parent would. Still, one can see his experiments as a great boon or a moral travesty. He may be considered a misunderstood genius, incredibly misguided, or actually insane. After all, the Dark Side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural, and viewpoints on his experiments are sure to vary wildly.
• Technomancer: Bit of a misnomer, that - Messala likes to build complex and advanced droids as a hobby, but he notably does not practice Mechu-Deru. As a matter of fact, he has been attempting to find ways of resisting the effects of Mechu-Deru in his droid creations. His one success in this endeavor is unfortunately rather limited in its use.
• Augmented Being: From the time he was an embryo and throughout the earliest stages of his life, Messala's DNA and body were tinkered with by a group of ambitious scientists. This process granted him Force sensitivity, as well as giving him superior strength, speed, reflexes, and intelligence. Of course, he's not exactly the prettiest monster in the bestiary, but everything works and he would be considered at peak physical condition for his species.
• Master of the Force: Having achieved the rank of Master, he possesses various powers and abilities unconfined by the constraints of Light and Dark. When it comes to offensive abilities, much of his focus is on confounding and confusing his opponents by affecting their perceptions, but he can also use the Force to inflict pain and physical damage. Torture, after all, remains a useful and nigh universal tool of manipulation, though it should be used sparingly and only against those whom one knows will respond to it. He also has numerous defensive abilities, and unlike many Sith, he has no difficulty using the Force to heal wounds.

NEUTRALS:

• Mysterious Hermit: Outside of those closest to him, Messala has developed a reputation for being a weird old hermit who lives on a private estate on a remote planet. In his few public appearances, he hides his face and body to such a degree that almost no one knows what exactly he looks like. Rumors and gossip have sought to fill in the blanks. While the speculation about his looks and activities may have a kernel of truth to it, most of it cannot be proven, and Messala has shown no interest in clarifying what's true and what isn't.
• Psychological Manipulation: Messala pays very, very close attention to how his words and actions affect people. Even in casual conversation, he will watch the other person's reactions and body language, looking for points of weakness in their psyche, what they value most, and so on. He will then use this gathered data to tailor his responses and work towards manipulating them to his own ends. As such, his behavior can appear wildly inconsistent from one person to the next as he picks up on whether they respond better to subtlety or bluntness, flattery or criticism, reason or emotion, pleasure or pain. Since he usually cannot make others trust him, he will do his best to make you doubt your friends and allies, the society in which you live, your family, and yourself. On the other hand, his habit of screwing with the minds and emotions of others has the potential to backfire. Either the person he is attempting to manipulate will see through it, or a victim of his machinations will feel angry and betrayed and lash out at him.
• A Man For All Seasons: Though he identifies as a Sith Lord and has technically vowed allegiance to the Sith, Messala has no interest whatsoever in furthering the interests of the Empire. He considers himself above it all and will rarely involve himself in Sith-Imperial affairs. In fact, he isn't even fully devoted to the Light or the Dark... but that's a long story.

WEAKNESSES:

• Behind the Mask: The alterations to his DNA were not entirely successful, resulting in genetic defects. Most of the effects have been mitigated by medicine and alchemical alterations, but one thing that has not changed is the sheer ugliness of his physical appearance, which is severely deformed. As a result, he almost never appears in public without a mask or disguise of some sort.
• Impossible to See, the Future Is: The most glaring of Messala's limitations is his complete inability to see into the future, including danger sense (precognition) and Force visions. He can't predict an opponent's attacks before they come; he can only react to them. Luckily, his reflexes remain sharp despite his age.
• Lack of Vision: Messala tries, he really does, but he still suffers from a stunted imagination and limited creativity. Because of this, he tends to leech off the accomplishments of others, particularly scientists, and he is most definitely a follower, not a leader.
• Beyond the Pale: Though it may be difficult for many to understand, Messala actually wants to be an outcast, stalking the fringes and margins of society. He truly revels in being a freak of nature. Not in the sense of wanting to simply be himself, but by being something else entirely, a perpetual deviation from the norm, a mysterious and undefinable stranger to everyone he meets. Consequently, even among the more niche and "accepting" communities, he remains a steadfast outsider with few friends.
• Daddy Issues: Messala has an... interesting relationship with his creators, particularly the one he perceives as his "father", Taranis Kuhl. His obsessive pursuit of the man borders on lunacy. It is unclear whether he is seeking revenge, his "father"'s love, or something else entirely.

APPEARANCE:

"This one was clad in... something that looked to be more at home in a circus, and his voice reminded her of a spice dealer she met on Nal Hutta a few years back." - Mi'la Undari, "Operation: Dark Vergence, Fire Rising"
​

Most people have never seen Messala's face, as it is typically hidden behind a helmet, hood, or a holographic disguise suite.

His true form is hideously ugly, with a gnarled, caveman-like face, sharp yellow teeth, leathery skin covered in coarse reddish hair, pointed ears, and devilish horns. Though he is Half-Bothan, his satyr-like appearance seems unnatural as a curse; the animal parts may as well have been sewn on in a mockery of man’s ascent to bipedalism. Coupled with his scratchy, horribly damaged voice, he looks and sounds like a monster.

It used to be much worse, however. In his younger years, Messala was severely deformed and suffered from a number of health issues resulting from birth defects and injuries inflicted upon him by slavers. Access to advanced medicine allowed him to receive treatment for his maladies and reconstruct his broken body. He chose not to undergo cosmetic surgery to make himself look pleasing to the eye, however, nor does he have any interest in modifying his body to an extreme extent with alchemy or cybernetics.

He has a penchant for wearing metal hoop earrings in his pointed ears.

 

[Salamander]

BIOGRAPHY:

​

Messala was created in a lab as part of the experiments under Project Warlock. He was genetically engineered by Dr. Raehith Daanruano, at the time a brilliant young medical student. Daanruano was uncertain how it happened, but blamed himself for the errors he found in Messala's DNA. He requested to destroy the zygote he had created, but was overruled by Taranis Kuhl, the head of the project. Testing proved that the zygote was both viable and Force sensitive, therefore Taranis considered it a success despite the high likelihood of genetic abnormalities and birth defects.

Messala was carried and born from a voluntary surrogate. She apparently died in childbirth. The circumstances surrounding her death are murky and unclear. After Messala was born, he was cared for by a Twi'lek nurse named Zinnia Julep, whom he saw as his mother. The child suffered from a host of health problems and deformities, as Daanruano had predicted, but with proper medical care he was able to survive and thrive in his first few years of life.

Following the departure of Taranis Kuhl amid the Sith takeover of the project, Zinnia managed to smuggle several of the children offworld, Messala among them. In an attempt to ensure that they stayed out of Sith hands, she rapidly dispersed them, quite literally handing them off to anyone who would take them. Thus, Messala wound up in the hands of slavers.

"'I suspected you were once a slave from the moment we met. It was something about your stance, your walk. You were always hunched over, and you rarely looked anyone in the eye. Why you would ever want to return to such a miserable life, I don’t know.'" -Nefretiri, "The Coronation Ball"​

He spent most of his childhood as a slave, where he was further mutilated and deformed by his captors as punishment for disobedience. Eventually he was sold to Tevye, the manager of a traveling circus. Tevye put the by now hideous Messala on display in the freakshow, where he was stared at by spectators in a constant and never-ending stream of mockery and humiliation.

His one respite was the beautiful Omie, a Togruta/Near-Human hybrid who suffered from a comparatively mild deformity. Omie was romantically involved with Aylmer, a talented but morally conflicted alchemist. Trained by the Sith, Aylmer had turned away from their doctrine, only to wind up using his skills and knowledge to create artificial creatures for the freakshow. Messala endeared himself to Omie, who sympathized with him. Aylmer likewise pitied Messala and indulged the boy's interest in alchemy, taking him on as an unofficial apprentice.

Aylmer and Omie continued to work for the circus after their wedding and the birth of their son Errol. But marriage and fatherhood made Aylmer restless - he had never been at peace with his chosen profession anyway - and he had become increasingly obsessed with Omie's deformity. He convinced her to let him try removing it with alchemy, arguing that she would be released from her service to the circus and the young family could seek out a better life elsewhere. He succeeded in making her truly "perfect" - at the cost of Omie's life.

Following Omie's tragic death, Aylmer bound his wedding ring with a void stone and vowed to never practice alchemy again, much to Messala's frustration. No longer of any use to the circus, Aylmer and the infant Errol were thrown out. Messala escaped the circus and went looking for them in the wilderness of Ambria. By the time he found them, Aylmer was past saving, but Errol was alive. Messala took the child with him and left the planet... or tried to.

Instead, the two were captured by Erictho, the self-titled Witch Queen of Ambria. Threatening to drain Errol of life unless he yielded, Erictho convinced Messala to become her slave. Over the next few years Messala would gradually learn all of Erictho's ways. Eventually he killed her by cutting off her head, then fled the planet with Errol.

It was at this point that Messala, weary of the Force, found himself on a planet called Chaldea. Beautiful, peaceful Chaldea harbored the Chaldean Academy, where Force sensitives learned how to block out the Force. Messala enrolled himself there, wanting to forget and forge a new life for himself and Errol. It was there that he met Persis, a blind woman who suffered from debilitating visions of the future. His relationship with her was the one time he found his love requited... but it was not to last. He had come to Chaldea during a very turbulent time in the planet's history, right at the beginning of the Chaldean Civil War. Messala found himself on the side of the rebels who wanted to secularize their planet's government and shed the political influence of the Chaldean Potentium. He participated in the bombing of the Academy's west wing, resulting in the deaths of hundreds. Ashamed of himself and with all his friendships and relationships in shambles, Messala once again was forced to wander.

He became a mercenary, fighting in any army that would take him. His travels took him to Ankhypt, where he helped to defend the planet from the forces of Mythos. It was there that he first became truly interested in the Dark Side of the Force as practiced by the Anubian priests and sorcerers.

More will be added here later as the roleplay progresses.

CURRENT WHEREABOUTS:

Messala lives at his private residence, Tintagel, on the remote planet Cophrigin V. He avoids public appearances like the plague and generally keeps to himself.

 

[Salamander]

PERSONAL BELONGINGS:

• Equipment/Gear:
  • Paranoia - A meat-red, intricately corrugated suit of armor. Its design is meant to hint at the Bryn, a dragon, a flayed human, a devil - you look at the details of the armor and can't quite tell what it is.
  • Regret (Sword)
  • Suspicion (Lightsaber)
  • Messala's ring (left hand ring finger)
  • Mysterious ring (right hand ring finger)
  • Auger Personal Shield
  • Holographic disguise suite

Tintagel - Private residence, located on Cophrigin V.

SCIENTIFIC APPARATUS
Cell Substructure Splicer

SHIP:

 

[Salamander]

For All Seasons Holonet Storefront

 

[Salamander]

THREAD TRACKER​

Act I: To Spy My Shadow In the Sun

Do You Know Where Your Children Are? - Arimanes Bosch, now posing as the archaeologist Nimdok, runs into the real Nimdok's daughter seemingly by chance, and quickly deduces that the girl is being held captive. Of the two suspects, the woman, Thetis Suzerain, manages to escape, while the man, Elwick Wesley Fenton, is arrested. During interrogation, Fenton mentions that Thetis is working for someone called "the Lord of Doubt" before he succumbs to poison and dies... COMPLETED
Wondering About Wonders - Inanna Hoole, an old friend of Nimdok's, begins to investigate Miri's abduction and captivity. She pays a visit to a pair of twin seers, Willow and Ivy, and asks them to help her locate Thetis. They track Thetis to Tower Vandiir on Dromund Kaas, where they witness her being tortured by the Lord of Doubt over a "mistake". The Lord of Doubt notices them watching and a confrontation occurs in which the twins and Inanna are barely able to escape. COMPLETED
The Silver Tower - Inanna Hoole meets with AMCO to ask him for security footage of the Lord of Doubt torturing Thetis inside a private room of Vandiir's nightclub, Passion. Vandiir refuses to help her until she does something for him. COMPLETED
This Ancient Autumn World - Red travels to the abandoned Project Warlock facility on Kiva in hopes of learning more about the Lord of Doubt's origins, only to be confronted and captured by two of Messala's agents, the Sith Knight Thetis Suzerain and the biot Daphne. IN PROGRESS
Heart of the Universe - Messala unleashes the biot Bithia on his creator. Possessed by the spirit of Nimdok's late wife, she has been programmed to protect him and do anything he asks... too bad Nimdok can't seem to appreciate the gift. COMPLETED

Act II: Grim-Visaged War

Hush Please - Messala and Vaslav Florescu, one of his Children, travel to Krayiss II to fight interdimensional monsters unleashed by the grief of Darth Prazutis over the death of his wife, Darth Alekto. COMPLETED
Operation: Dark Vergence, Fire Rising - Messala shows up on Onderon to look for an ancient underground lab. He encounters a Twi'lek Jedi who has lost her connection to the Force. They fight and Messala successfully destroys her cybernetic lekku, albeit at great physical cost. They then have an awkward conversation that ends with Messala leaving. COMPLETED
The Last Word - A direct followup to Fire Rising. Messala finds his destination, an ancient abandoned laboratory. But he is not alone. COMPLETED
Into the Electric Castle - Messala receives Darth Xanesh as a guest at his home. ABANDONED
The Coronation Ball - Messala wheedles his way into the First Order's coronation ball in pursuit of Inanna Hoole. COMPLETED
Return of the Jedi - Messala defends Korriban from the GA and fights a Jedi Padawan. COMPLETED
A Chaldean Tale (short story) - Messala steals a baby Bamarri. He needs to stop stealing babies, this is getting to be a serious problem. COMPLETED
Nobody's Fool - Having lost Cophrigin V to the Bryn'adul, Messala goes into hiding at a secret Primyn Group lab on Dahrtag, where he makes arrangements to create a strange new being. COMPLETED
And Let the Feast Begin - Messala travels to Sivvi at the advice of his Oracle Shard, where he kneels before the monster mash and pledges himself to the graveyard smash. COMPLETED
Wretched Children of the Abyss - For his first mission with the Lords of the Sith, Messala helps break into an FU prison and saves a bunch of Jedi. COMPLETED
A Growing Cabal - Messala and Darth Empyrean visit Ardana Vorco to convince her to the join the Lords of the Sith faction. COMPLETED
Epoch - Messala and Vaslav attend a LOTS feast. IN PROGRESS

 

[Salamander]

FORCE POWERS​

Alter Powers
Force lightning
Force choke
Telekinesis
Cleanse
Force scream
Sith alchemy
Imbue item

Mind-altering Powers
Mind Shard
Dark illusion
Memory Walk (aka "torture by chagrin")
Malicious Fury
Possession
Cleanse Mind

Control Powers
Force speed
Tutaminis
Control Pain
Control Another's Pain

Healing Powers:
Force healing
Cure Poison

(Keep in mind that this is by no means a complete list.)

 

[Salamander]

CONNECTIONS
This list will document the relationships with and opinions of this character toward others.​

Arctus Silmar - The Shaper, as he is also known, honed in on me while looking for allies in the strange future he finds himself in upon awakening from a millennia-long slumber. He clearly has much to offer the Empire, though I hope he won't waste his time on battle and glory when he should be tutoring alchemists in all his ancient techniques once thought lost to the ages. I would be his most attentive pupil.
Ardana Vorco - Like conjoined twins, the two personalities occupying Xanesh's body share a life in a way I cannot begin to comprehend. They are almost as old as the Shaper (well, closer to half his age, if I'm doing my math right...) and just as delightfully fascinating. Though I do wonder where all these ancient spirits have been coming from... tch, the Sith and their fear of death, I suppose.
AMCO - There are many people in this galaxy that I am miserably jealous of, and Vandiir is one of them. Although I am less envious of the precarious seat of power he holds as I am of the limitless supply of creative ideas that spring from his mind like Athena from the head of Zeus. You know, some day I'd like to examine that brain of his, assuming it hasn't devolved into biological goo now that he's turned himself into sentient Play-doh...
Mi'la Undari - This Twi'lek Jedi seemed on the verge of a breakdown, or perhaps a new beginning. I did not kill her, though I certainly could have. It wouldn't have been a worthy kill. She had been deprived of the Force by a Sith, and though I offered to help restore it to her, she refused. Ah well.
Jacen Nimdok - Yet another nuisance, though he at least seems to be cleverer than Inanna. If I hadn't sought revenge upon him, I wouldn't have wound up in this mess in the first place.
Leon Gallo - A Jedi Padawan.

NPCs
Nefretiri - Anubian princess in exile after her planet's fall to the Bryn. I knew her years ago when I helped to defend Ankhypt from Mythos. Her feelings for me do not match my own, but I enjoy her company well enough.
Erictho - My former master, though I was really her involuntary slave. I thought I had killed her, but now she's come back apparently just to annoy me.
Errol Aylmer - The son of my first teacher. After his parents died, I raised him. He and I have been through more together than anyone else I know.
Nineveh Aylmer - Errol's daughter. Someday I hope to take her on as my apprentice.
Thetis Suzerain - My former apprentice. She was once my favorite, but I realize now that I put far too much faith in her. She failed me more than once, and is currently imprisoned by the Jedi for her mistakes and errors in judgement.
Vaslav Florescu - One of my Children, and my current apprentice. He is kind but simple. I must not get my hopes up too high with him, no matter how brightly he shines.
Inanna Hoole - A nuisance who can't seem to keep her nose out of my business. She does seem to be fading away after the Sith chewed her up and spat her out. My spies tell me she's settled down to a nice quiet life on Erakhis, though I'll be sure to keep an eye on her.