Tallas

"The other Padawans let me know who I am. I've been picked on since I arrived here. 'Sith boy', 'Datho' or even 'black-face'. Didn't think I'd make it until Master Eil took me on."

- Tallas telling Jeden Vesal and Kit Fisto about the bullying he recieved.

Tallas was a Dathomirian Zabrak and Jedi Padawan alive before and during the Clone Wars. While highly intelligent and devoted to the Order, Tallas was nonetheless bullied by his fellow Padawans for being a Dathomirian Zabrak, a race who throughout history had either supported Sith, or had become Sith themselves. This abuse was noticed by the Chief Archivist of the Order, Master Liko Eil, who was an Iridonian Zabrak. To protect Tallas - and to prove a point - Liko took Tallas as a Padawan.

Early life
Born on the arid planet of Dathomir, Tallas' Force-sensitivity was discovered early on, but suppressed by Tallas' parents, who didn't want to attract the attention of the dreaded Nightsisters of Dathomir. However, Tallas was discovered not by the Nightsisters, but by the Jedi, in the form of Master Mace Windu, who had used a holocron that tracked all Force-sensitive children in the galaxy. Mace took Tallas to the Jedi Order, making Tallas the first Dathomirian Zabrak Jedi in centuries.

Tallas took an interest in lore from a young age, and made visits to the Temple library in his spare time. However, this was also used as an escape. Due to being from Dathomir, a planet famed for spawning Sith for thousands of years, other students picked on Tallas, whispering insults and even sometimes to fairly physical abuse. While his trips to the library often sheltered him from such incidents, it was still common, and he couldn't do anything about it, too nervous to tell any high-ranking Jedi.

Becoming a Padawan
At the age of 13, after being part of an Intiate class under Master Oppo Rancsis (who Tallas was indifferent about), the Zabrak was to be selected as a Padawan by a Jedi Knight or Master. One Jedi Knight, the archivist and Iridonian Zabrak Liko Eil, took interest in Tallas' love of lore, and took on Tallas as a Padawan, unknowing of the bullying Tallas recieved. For three years after, Liko focused on teaching Tallas how to become an archivist, with multiple trips to the Temple library, something that Tallas loved.

Eventually, Liko witnessed the bullying at hand, watching as Tallas was almost attacked by two other Padawans who were jealous of his 'easy job', only to be stopped by Liko. The two Padawans were relegated to becoming Temple Sentinels, while Liko spoke with Tallas about the abuse, finally learning of what Tallas had to face almost daily. However, Liko never told Tallas of the bullying he himself faced during childhood due to his wish to become an archivist instead of one of the more 'active' Jedi in the Order.

Clone Wars
In 22 BBY, when Tallas was 16, the Clone Wars erupted between the Republic and the Confederacy of Indepedent Systems - better known as the Seperatists - after the arrival of a huge Clone army to aid the Republic. The war caused both Tallas and Liko to worry, with Tallas fearing the carnage it would ensue, and Liko frightened that Tallas, who was now made to attend compulsory lightsaber duelling lessons, would be sent to fight instead of becoming an archivist. When Liko was kidnapped by the Seperatists (though later rescued by his long-time friend, Jeden Vesal), the fear only grew worse as the Senate called for all Jedi to take action.

Liko, now a Chief Archivist and Jedi Master, managed to convince the Jedi High Council not to send Tallas immediately to war after the Consular's Council (which Liko was a part of) voted against the action. Should Tallas go into combat, Liko would first have to give permission, despite Tallas now showing to be a skilled lightsaber combatant. Nonetheless, Tallas continued working to be an archivist, doing all he could to aid his Master in the Library and the Archives.

A New Friend
In 20 BBY, when he was aged 18, Tallas was introduced to Koses Lik-Har, the new Padawan of Jeden who the latter had rescued from a dark side-using group on Korriban. The boys quickly befriended each other, each learning of their past struggles and facing the bullying of other Padawans together. The friends would often talk for hours, and while this cheered up Liko and Jeden (who were happy to see that their Padawans now had friends), they had no idea that it went further than that.

In secret, Tallas and Koses began a relationship, keeping it secret from everyone else. Knowing their love was forbidden, the two continued, thinking that since they were unlikely to be killed as the Republic gained the upper hand in the War, they would have no reason to fall to the dark side. In the open, they seemed like best friends, but in secret, they were lovers, hidden from the Order.

Farewell
Eventually, Koses went on his first mission, going with Jeden to investigate possible Jedi artifacts on Kashyyyk, which was neutral in the war and so posed no threat. Arriving on the planet, the pair discovered battle droids, thinking they were Jedi and Sith, fighting each other in the jungle. Learning that Asajj Ventress was behind the entire thing, the Republic sent forces to Kashyyyk in case of an impending invasion. However, Jeden feared that the Jedi artifacts on Kashyyyk could fall into the hands of Count Dooku. Despite these fears, Liko refused to go to Kashyyyk due to his pacifist nature, and so he reluctantly sent Tallas instead.

Tallas arrived on the planet and went with Jeden and Koses into the jungle, hoping to find the artifacts before the droid fleet - which had been detected - arrived on Kashyyyk. However, the group instead found Asajj Ventress, and seeing her take the artifacts, boarded her ship back to her cruiser.

Death
On the cruiser, the three Jedi recieved additional aid from Nightingale Squad, the personal squad of four elite Clone troopers Jeden commanded. Storming the bridge, the Clones took on the droid guards while the three Jedi faced off against Ventress and her bodyguards, lent to her by General Grievous. While Jeden was a skilled duellist even among Masters, Koses and Tallas began to struggle due to their inexperience.

Just as Ventress was about to lunge at Koses, Tallas shot towards her, striking her ankle and blocking her path. In fury, Ventress focused her attention on Tallas, eventually impaling him with one of her lightsabers, before she fled to an escape pod elsewhere in the ship. Tallas then died in Koses' arms, whispering a final confession of love before dying, to the despair of Koses. As the Clones tried to chase Ventress, Jeden and Koses took Tallas' body from the ship, sending it to Coruscant while they went to fight the invasion of Kashyyyk.

After a funeral for Tallas in the Jedi Temple - which Liko, Jeden and Koses attended - Koses admitted to Jeden alone of the Padawan's shared love. Koses expected to be berated, only to learn that Jeden had in fact fallen in love with a female Padawan when he was younger. Jeden warned Koses not to let the grief linger, before leaving Koses alone with Tallas' body.

Personality and traits
Tallas was shy from childhood and even into his late teens. Preferring the seclusion of the Temple library to anything else, Tallas was similar in almost every way to his Master, ranging from his love of lore to his pacifistic nature. The only difference was that while Liko eventually gained the strength to confront his bullies, Tallas never made it that far, sometimes relying on the protection of either Liko or Koses when something got out of hand.

Tallas found comfort in many things. Once was lore, whether it was finding out new knowledge or reading about what was already known - his favourite subject matter was anything preceding the Great Hyperspace War, according to himself. Another thing was being with Koses, one of the reasons why he fell in love with his fellow Padawan. The two often shared stories of their past experiences, and Tallas was unwilling to go anywhere with Koses, even dying in his arms.

Physical characteristics
Being a Dathomirian Zabrak, Tallas had black and red skin, with multiple horns on his head and yellow eyes, all features which caused him to be picked on. Tallas was far from the tallest person around, being small for his age throughout his life. Tallas was also never the strongest Padawan, relying on agility when he fought with a lightsaber, though despite lacking any muscular strength, he was quite athletic.

Tallas almost always wore a dark-brown, near-black robe, which he began wearing simply because it matched his skin colour, and also to mock his bullies. Due to not being an active field Jedi, he didn't wear any protective gear such as pauldrons or armour braces, often not bothering in wearing gloves, though he did wear soft, comfortable shoes for traversing the Temple. During his mission to Kashyyyk, however, he did don some leather armour and combat boots.