The light side of Force-comprehension

[Cathul Thuku]

"I understand. There are people for whom piloting is a good fit, others, not so much. And same goes for virtually every activity, really. What matters is knowing your strengths and weaknesses: all too many Force-users land themselves in trouble because they have poor knowledge of their limitations and of themselves. And that's what led you away from the Sith and their brutality. All too many view Sith as evil-incarnate-with-the-Force. To me, there is a place in the galaxy for the dark side of the Force, but as I am forced to acknowledge that Jedi are not purely good, so Sith should not be purely evil either. That's why I respect you: unlike most Mandalorian Force-users, Jedi or Sith, at least there is some wisdom in you. That being said, not all clans field Jedi, even less field Sith"

Wise FUs were a rare commodity, these days, but she knew better than to think wisdom is the same as intellect. And that Mandos do not have a monopoly on producing wisdom-less people. But as her viewpoint on Sith and their evil: they do not have a monopoly on evil, but Mandalorians do not one have on evil either. While certain clans are reluctant to field Jedi (Betna, Munin), others field Jedi but not Sith (Ordo). Others still do not even field FUs at all (Spar, Mantis, Vendet). Nine clans account for almost the entire inventory of Sith in Mandalorian service: Verd, Vereen, Daemon, Meran, Kryze, Rekali, Lok, Zyn'meshurok and Cholo, in descending order of acceptance of dark-sided Force-users. Together these eight clans form the Dar'jetii Narudar (lit. Non-Jedi Temporary Alliance), that is, the Sith Alliance, a catch-all term designating all the clans open to the dark side of the Force.

[member="Darth Erebos"]

 

[Shaddi]

"Wisdom is always needed to temper ones actions, just running around with a glow stick thinking one is the king of the galaxy seems to be the stable action of many a sith or jedi these days." He said with a slight smirk as he chuckled along with it. "While stomping a planet down beneath ones heel with a swift and brutal victory will get you control of it but on the other hand it also earns you the planets peoples ire. I find it perfectly better and more elegant to have an agent of mine infiltrate the government and subtly nudge the government to agreeing with you and hailing you as their ally. Though it is much more time consuming." He said as he thought on a few of the plans he had, had on some of the planets in the galaxy while he was still a member of the sith.

[member="Cathul Thuku"]

 

[Cathul Thuku]

"I have seen Jedi and Sith playing games of musical chairs with their functions: I have seen one of those Jedi be a healer one day and a fleeter the next. It may simply be because the lightsaber-heavy types are the visible part of the media iceberg; too many Force-users see Jedi or Sith service as a ticket to fame, but so many realize that intellectual types of Force-users rarely get the attention of the press"

What she did not know at the time was that the very example she brought up would ultimately be describing her own fate, but she knew that knowing where your information comes from doesn't mean you will be able to use it properly. To this end she was reminded of several high-profile Sith Lords, including Darth Centax, the last known supreme commander of the One Sith ground forces (officially listed as MIA after he triggered Directive 12 on Coruscant, but before Darth Centax was confirmed in that position, there were other more powerful Sith Lords that were considered: he is considered to be higher-profile than his skill as a Sith Lord would warrant, if only because he was the Grand General of the One Sith), upon hearing of the description according to which stomping a planet beneath one's heel was a staple action of the Sith (and also of Jedi) as far as grand strategy is concerned.

"I found it difficult to be recognized among Mandalorian Jedi because I am so different from them, and I found it difficult to get Mandalorian padawans interested in me because I have acquired a reputation in Mando-land to be much more wisdom-heavy, Force-intensive than others. Most Mandos want to be able to use a lightsaber more than they want to use the Force: I often joke that there are three ingredients for making Mandolarian Jedi or Sith: a suit of beskar armor, a lightsaber and the ability to use the light or dark side of the Force respectively"

[member="Darth Erebos"]

 

[Shaddi]

He laughed a little at that. "Well being versatile isn't a bad thing after all though such grandiose differences in function is a little.. uncommon really." He said as he began to think a little on some of the individuals that he had met with during his lifetime. With a sudden suck of his teeth he moved his hand up to his forehead as he found a blank in his memory and a slight pain come at him when he tried to dig deeper.

[member="Cathul Thuku"]

 

[Cathul Thuku]

"It may be difficult to believe but I used to be a therapist. Oh, sure some patients referred to me as a psychiatrist, but that's mostly a question of Mandalorians often conflating the two. It's surprising the amount of things a therapist can learn from its patients, but in my case, since many, many of my then-patients served in the military, I learned quite a bit about combat tactics and equipment on land and in space; veteran patients tend to either blame equipment or tactics for their traumas, or to credit them for their survival. However, knowing where one's information come from, no matter how reputable, is not a guarantee of the ability to properly use said information"

She briefly thought of why she wanted to become a therapist in the first place, and why she wanted to make the galaxy a better place. And of how she chose to practice on Mandalore, a planet known to house ruthless patients and high prevalences of PTSD, but that's mostly a function of having loads of veteran patients to choose from. It took a crusade to get the Mandalorian authorities to actually address the mental healthcare access problems.

"What made me want to practice therapy, and later want to rebuild devastated worlds, was because I always felt that the Force wanted me to make the galaxy a better place, and I practiced on an underserved planet with ruthless patients at first: they truly needed help and I knew it. Because Jakku, my world of birth, is an inhospitable world, I wanted out of the misery of such a desert planet. Mental healthcare practitioners on Mandalore had a high turnover rate and had to look for those off-world. Although the galaxy can be unpleasant sometimes, often those who survive the tragedies deserve a chance to return to anything resembling normalcy, but I do know that a complete return to normalcy may not always be possible. I usually am one to give a chance to people unless proven otherwise. Sure I was nowhere near the best therapist in the galaxy, but Mandalorians are truly ruthless: one of my patients beat my ability to do therapy, using generous applications of beatings and of dark-sided Force-powers, forcing me to stop practicing therapy. One question though: how important is mental health to the residents of Shawken?"

[member="Darth Erebos"]

 

[Shaddi]

"Well there is something about the Shawkenese people that I've found quite amazing endured through the sith occupation and rule. The Shawkenese value Nobility, Integrity, courage, benevolence, compassion, respect, honesty, sincerity, honor, duty, loyalty, self control and self improvement, a way they call Kensei. They believe that to master the body one must master the mind and to master the mind one must master the body. It is quite the interesting thought to it and since mental and physical health are all integral to this heritage they are quite prominent." He said as he thought on it.

"Though I'm sure you wouldn't want to stay here and listen to a very long lecture on Shawkenese heritage and culture." He added with a slight smile.

[member="Cathul Thuku"]

 

[Cathul Thuku]

"I'll respect as much. I just wanted to make sure that the whole deal respects the local culutre and that you understood why I wanted the reconstruction project to put the needs of its users at its core. Now I understand why the municipal authorities on Shawken seemed not to levy a lot of restrictions as to the layout of the rebuilt cities"

She knew about how could construction projects, or other projects that, for one reason or another, could be perceived as invasive, fail if the project itself failed to respect local customs. That's what sank Cademimu as a Beaches of the Dark Side destination: Star Tours failed to understand local culture and practices. But most Jedi Ambassadors or Diplomats stationed on a particular planet were to make the best efforts to understand their station's cultural practices. Just that real estate developers may wish to hire a local consultant or two for things like these, before the actual construction begins.

[member="Darth Erebos"]

 

[Shaddi]

"I can understand that fine. Putting in some parks with spots for some of the training schools to train in the open air wouldn't be hated I assure you. With the schools that have popped up reviving the martial arts, sword styles and simply even the meditation in motion arts that have resurfaced after the fall of the One sith. The Shawkenese all value nature and in some of the mountains around here, there are carved flat "floors" where some of the Shawkenses got together to train and practice their ways. Though please do not misunderstand, even though the Shawkenses do practice quite a bit of martial arts they are by no means a dedicated warrior people, to them it is simply a way for self improvement and some even use it to simply clear their heads in moving meditation, not unlike what force users sometimes do."

He said with a smile and with a few button presses on the holo table cam a list of construction masters, consultants and even architects that all belonged to the Shawkenese race.

[member="Cathul Thuku"]

 

[Cathul Thuku]

"What's on the holotable is just one bid from a local architectural firm, covering just one region. A general contractor hires sub-contractors, for each local sub-contractor to be hired, there is also the requirement to use as much local materials and labor as possible. But, so long as these two constraints are respected, all local construction contractors, engineering consultants and architects are fair game, so long as their bids 1) respect local cultural practices and 2) they do not make attempts to bribe each other or us. But yes, since martial-arts schools as self-improvement are part of Shawkenese culture, I expect several bids to feature one such park or tow for each region covered"

Here was her chance to put her ideas into practice. There was obviously a lot of regions to cover, and she knew that poor urban planning would lead to disastrous results, often known among Mandalorians as brusselization. Even though the proper definition of brusselization technically refers to wanton demolition of historically significant architecture, more than other forms of inharmonious urban planning, other sins of urban planning that she knew about and felt the need to actively avoid were mostly densification-related, more than any real loss of architectural or cultural heritage, because she realized that the One Sith dealt a lot of damage to this area. And the ruler used to be a high-ranking One Sith official, she knew as much.

[member="Darth Erebos"]