The Creation of Jorus Travar

Jorus is my favourite character, and based on the reactions I got when he died, he appears to be a favourite among other CaC2ers. Today I thought I'd give you a look into the original inspiration of the Shadow of Umbara.

The reason I created Jorus is because I wanted a Jedi character to interact with the other protagonists in CaC2, as at that time Jaraal was my only active character. I created the profiles for Ari Erinnen and Jorus Travar in the same document, Ari first. For Jorus, I drew inspiration from various places.

I recently realised that I took Jorus's name from the Star Wars Random Name Generator, which includes names from canonical Star Wars characters as well as random Star Wars–style names. As such, Jorus's first name would have come from Jorus C'baoth, a canonical Star Wars character…at least, I guess, canonical until Star Wars: The Force Awakens smashes years of once-canonical Star Wars material.

I credit Xyerra Tirith's profile with making Jorus into who he is. Some of the inspiration from Jorus I drew from Xyerra, mainly the Master who left the Order to marry (although in Kyra's case, Kyra was exiled several years after marrying in secret and had no intentions of leaving). The death of Shiebrynn (who was at that time unnamed) naturally followed on from Jorus thinking of leaving the Order to marry, as I wanted Jorus a Jedi, and this in turn affected his personality. Xyerra's profile also inspired the position of Jedi Shadow, which Xyerra has hopes of becoming.

At that time, I had no idea there were Jedi ranks beyond Padawan, Knight, Master and Grand Master. Being the insanely curious person I am, I looked up Jedi Shadow on Wookieepedia and discovered these pictures, which ultimately led to the creation of Jorus Travar.

These pictures obviously affected who Jorus would become. The double-bladed green lightsaber is a dead giveaway. And the Shadow's posture and general mood in the first picture also helped to inspire Jorus's mindset as an instrument of wrath and judgement. Feel scared yet, Essa?

For Jorus's species, I merely opened up a list of different alien species on Wookieepedia and scoured them for one that would fit him, eventually deciding on Umbaran. This detail inspired Jorus's appearance. I actually wrote something like "See the picture of the Umbaran on its Wookieepedia page—that's what Jorus's face is like" in Jorus's original profile. Many of Jorus's traits and abilities came from the Umbaran species, among them his ability to read minds, his natural talent for silence and stealth, and his baldness.

This is Jorus's original profile, copied from the CaC2 thread.

Name: Jorus Travar
Pronunciation: JOUR-oos trah•wahr

Age: 26
Gender: Male 
Position: Jedi Shadow

Race: Umbaran (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Umbaran )

Appearance: See the profile picture for Umbaran—that's his face; he wears a dark grey cloak and dark green armour underneath.

Personality: Silent and watchful, calculating and sad.

Armour: Dark green, hidden beneath his cloak.

Weapons: Double-bladed green lightsaber.
Abilities: Stealthy, silent and powerful in the Force; can immediately sort out a situation and carry out the best role he can.

Weaknesses: Sad history. Dislikes people questioning him about that history. 
History: Once considered leaving the Jedi Order to marry the woman he loved; however, she was slain by Sith Troopers, and he threw himself back into his training to become a Jedi Shadow. He received the honour at a young age.
Other: His Master was a human Jedi Consular named Kyra Solari, who left the Order to marry, which led to his own considering of leaving to marry.

If you're wondering, Shiebrynn's name first appeared when Jorus answered a tag on my writing thread. It was a name I took from a list of names I had saved for further use, and I originally planned to use it sparingly in CaC2 and later reuse it for a different, unrelated character. Little did I know how significant Shiebrynn would become in my expanded universe.

Jorus never took a Padawan, remaining a Jedi Knight until his death at the hands of Matrus. He did help to mentor Cald Arenna during the Koros War, a major pre-CaC2 event in my expanded universe. Jorus also intended to take Kian Shekk as his Padawan, but died before making those intentions clear to the Council.

Today, Jorus Travar remains my favourite character of my own and of any other author's characters, among such other notable figures as Rudolf Rassendyll from The Prisoner of Zenda, Cruedwyn Creed from Legends of Karac Tor, Merodach from The Staff and the Sword Trilogy, and Ty from Stasis (as well as others I can't think of at this moment). His impact on CaC2 was major and even now affects Cald, Tarmys, Kyra and other characters of mine who knew him. I hope you've enjoyed having this look into the creation of Jorus Travar, the Shadow of Umbara.

Dmitri Pendragon
Jedi Artisan

(Although not part of the original inspiration, this picture could literally be of Jorus. Especially considering the fallen enemies in the background.)