#valkoran order

[gahmah-raan]

New character sketch. Meet Dr. Nole Breibog.

He is a scientist in the Valkoran Order and a disgraced prodigy of Machinus. After a series of accidents (from his own inventions), his only organic component is his head. He's not a villain that's meant to be taken seriously. He thinks himself a genius, but is actually a bit of a buffoon.

His design is based on an older concept for Machinus, who would later be reimagined as a droid that used to be an organic being. Him being a card-carrying mad scientist is basically a throwback to my earliest drafts of the Valkoran Empire.

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General Ven Choi

Homeworld: Dorin Species: Kel Dor Gender: Male Age: 57 years (In Episode I; 58 circa Episode II) Weapon: Heavy Blaster Pistol, Vibro-Sword Affiliation: Old Jedi Order, Rebel Alliance, New Republic, Galactic Alliance Only 9 years old when Order 66 was executed, the Kel Dor named Ven Choi had very little training in the ways of the Force and had not yet constructed his own lightsaber when he was forced to flee the Jedi Temple. Years later, he applied what little Force training he had to the aid of the fledgling Rebel Alliance and used a vibro-sword in lieu of a lightsaber. Sometime after the fall of the Galactic Empire, he was promoted to General. However, even with the rebuilding of the Jedi Order, Ven declined the opportunity to join it and catch up on his training, feeling that he's a product of a time long gone and by the logic of the old Order, felt he was too old for more training. In addition to thinking that the New Republic could benefit from a Force-sensitive tactician, he also realized that the old Order he came from was slowly compromising its values (in no small part due to Palpatine's machinations) and didn't want it carrying over into the next generation of Jedi. However, he would on occasion make visits to the academy to pass on his historical knowledge to keep the future from repeating the past. Even with minimal Jedi training, that didn't stop him from self-improving some of his basic Force abilities, such as his combat prowess. And those who were born after the restoration of the Jedi Order can sometimes go years without knowing he's Force-sensitive, just thinking he's a naturally-gifted strategist. During the Valkoran War, he would frequently aid Jedi Knight Zolph Vaelor in his missions to eliminate the Force Collective's Archfiends.

He ultimately met his end during the infamous Battle of Christophsis when he engaged Emperor Valkor in combat. He put up a good fight until Valkor tore Ven Choi's respirator mask from his face. Before Valkor could devour him alive (and keep him from becoming one with the Force), Ven took a suicide pill before he could do so. Valkor then decided not to eat his corpse as he prefers to eat his victims alive. This was followed up by the annihilation of the entire planet via Mortaqa, save for the Valkoran forces on the surface, Zolph Vaelor, and Grein.

[gahmah-raan]

Sketch for Machinus’s second redesign (the original version in the Valkoran-as-a-Sith-cult concept was a cyborg whose only organic component was his head instead of a droid).

Codename: Machinus Real Name: Cid Geero Homeworld: Glee Anselm Species: Formerly Nautolan, until he transferred his consciousness to a droid to save his own life Gender: Male Age: 3500+ years Affiliation: Old Jedi Order; Valkoran Empire Equipment: Lightsaber with hilt-guard, wrist blasters, electro-absorbers for countering EMPs and Ion weapons in his prehensile cranial tentacles, multi-jointed legs with clawed feet, dash and hover jets jets; repulsor fields Other facts: Lead tech director in the Valkoran Empire; Formerly an engineer with the Jedi Order. Due to no longer having an organic body, he's practically lost his connection to the Force. However, he's made many modifications to his body to compensate for his loss, and is just as effective a combatant as he was when he was a living being. Adopted Neur as a surrogate daughter after saving her from an abusive upbringing with the Nightsisters and created her cybernetic lekku replacements.

[gahmah-raan]

Neur - Ex-Nightsister Seferite

Given that it's close to the end of the month, this is the last Pride Month sketch I've got (but that doesn't necessarily mean I'll stop drawing LGBTQIA+ characters after that). In case you're unfamiliar with Twi'lek sexual dimorphism (or you didn't notice the ears), Neur is a transgender woman. Subject Name: Neur Homeworld: Dathomir Species: Twi'lek-human hybrid (cyborg) Gender: Female (transgender, AMAB) Age: 400+ years (biological age: 22) Affiliation: Nightsisters (outcast); Valkoran Empire (defected), Seferite Order (current) It's been about 9 years since I last drew Neur (while I didn't always intend for Neur to be trans, her having round ears like a human was always part of my character notes). And given that there's been a year in-universe since Episode II, I've decided to give her a bit of a design update. Aside from the fact that she has her ears uncovered (although her headdress does allow for attachable ear covers in case she needs to keep a low-profile), Machinus has not only shrunk down her cybernetic lekku so that they're less cumbersome in combat, they're now purely decorative, as the neurological components have been condensed and reintegrated closer to her brain. Of course, she still struggles with dissociative identity disorder due to her childhood lobotomy. She also has a magenta lightsaber crystal, which is one of the closest things to a naturally red lightsaber crystal (most red crystals are either synthetic or kyber crystals that have been "bled" out using a Dark Side ritual). In case you're asking about the logistics of a trans Nightsister, my headcanon is that they are trans-inclusive despite their storied misandry. The abuse Neur got from them was purely due to specieism towards non-humans at the time she was born around (this was before they created the Dathomirian Zabrak species through cross-breeding). In the modern age, the Nightsisters simply use magic in lieu of gender reaffirming surgery. And this also doesn't necessarily conflict with the misogyny exhibited by her more aggressive alter in Chapter 4 of Episode II. Showing prejudice towards a certain gender because of abuse by said gender doesn't necessarily have any bearing on gender identity.

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Doctor Nole Breibog - Valkoran Weapon Scientist

Subject Name: Nole Breibog

Homeworld: Ockla Prime

Species: Human (cyborg)

Gender: Male

Affiliation: Valkoran Empire/Order

The son of Valkoran nobility, Dr. Nole Breibog was a former student of Machinus, the Valkoran Empire's former top engineering scientist. However, Machinus considered him to be one of his worst students (and that's not a claim he makes lightly since Machinus is over 4000 years old). Many of his inventions were often deemed impractical at best. In fact, Breibog lost most of his original body (save for his head) as a result of his own incompetence.

Near the end of the Valkoran War, Breibog remained loyal to the Valkoran Empire while his former teacher sided with the split off Seferite Order, and was the only one of Machinus's students to do so. Going into the Forceless War, he's one of the few leaders the Valkoran Order has left. While he has a reputation for mediocrity, he has somehow created a cyber-virus that can imitate Forceless possession, giving the Forceless Collective a means in which they can possess computers and droids. He continues to experiment with his virus on Aut Matok, a planet inhabited by a race of mechanical lifeforms known as the Matoki.

In spite of his incompetence, Breibog has delusions of being a genius. He also has a grudge against the Jedi Knight Zolph Vaelor, even though Zolph does not remember him at all. Befitting his ego, he seeks to take Zolph down personally to gain Emperor Valkor's approval, even if it means making serious tactical blunders.

Due to his head being his only remaining organic component, he is capable of disconnecting it from his robotic body it it's incapacitated. His head can move around on a small set of legs hidden in his neck before attaching himself to another droid's body or a powered battle suit.

Trivia: Breibog's design is based on older concepts for Machinus. Instead of being a full-body cyborg, Machinus would eventually be revised into a droid with an organic consciousness.

[gahmah-raan]

Admon Onae - Ancient Freedom Fighter

Name: Admon Onae Homeworld: Muriga Species: Unknown Gender: Male Age: Unknown (25,050 years at the youngest) Affiliation: Paladins of the Plamora, Murigan Resistance An ancient warrior from Muriga, a planet in a distant galaxy and the capital of the true Valkoran Empire, also known as the Forceless Collective, or more accurately, the Order of Yalbdalaoth. He and Valkor Vangeli were once Paladins of the Plamora, an extinct order of warrior that defended Muriga and served the Plamora, or more commonly known as the Force. When Valkor was turned into a puppet of the Deathborne symbiote (better known as Forceless) identified as Yalbdalaoth by his religious extremist father, Hazral Vangeli, Admon Onae dedicated many lifetimes to ensuring that the Order of Yalbdalaoth was defeated and that his beloved is vindicated in the eyes of history and not seen as the monster who enslaved multiple galaxies. However, after over 25,000 years, Onae's body grows weak and frail, and has only survived this long thanks to the power of the Plamora. Likely to die at any time, he seeks a successor... and he seems to have found one in the once-dead Jedi, Dynn Manthis. The weapon he wields is known as a plasma brand, a superheated metal blade that cut through most material, powered by a kyber crystal and charged in a scabbard. It's a more archaic variant of a lightsaber. Mortaqa's lightscythe was built in a similar process to the Murigan plasma brand to provide an intimidating curved blade, but with more advanced parts.

[gahmah-raan]

Arcidus unmasked. This is also the cover art for Star Wars: Paranormalities: Episode II - Chapter 12: The Messenger

Name: Aiken Cremas (Codename: Arcidus) Homeworld: Saleucami Species: Human Gender: Male Age: 3500+ (Biological age: 25) Affiliation: Old Jedi Order (formerly), Valkoran Empire (formerly), Seferite Order Weapons of choice: Stealth lightsaber (AKA Darksaber), sniper rifle, blaster pistol, Flamusfracta (AKA Force Combustion) Vehicle: Phantom Razor Maesterus's apprentice from back when they were part of the Jedi Order and his most-trusted agent in the Valkoran Empire, exhibiting loyalty only to Maesterus. His most unusual Force power is the ability to cause anything to combust into flames, which can be incredibly dangerous to both the user and those around him if not properly tamed and has caused him a deal of early childhood trauma, including accidentally orphaning himself before being taken in by the Jedi and being trained in social isolation.

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Profile: Ze'emilin'asana Codename: Mortaqa Homeworld: Nar Shaddaa Species: Chiss (endangered purple-eyed sub-species) Gender: Female Age: 3500+ years Weapon: Lightsaber (formerly), Lightscythe Affiliation: Old Jedi Order, Valkoran Empire, Forceless Collective (unconsentingly) The younger sister of Ze'grein'aradi (or Grein as most call her), Emilin has been through many lifetimes' worth of pain and suffering. She was born on Nar Shaddaa after her mother and sister fled from the Chiss homeworld of Csilla to escape a series of ethnic cleansing on accusations of 'witchcraft'. Eventually both she and her sister were discovered by the Jedi Order and accepted for training (although at the time, nobody knew what species they were). Following the end of the Mandalorian Wars, she, Grein and several others followed Jedi Knight Seferin Vaelor - Grein's betrothed and later her husband - to the Unknown Regions planet Ockla Prime after he was exiled, met the enigmatic character Valkor and created an empire consisting of many people disillusioned with their own governments, whether from the Republic or the Sith Empire. Unfortunately, the Valkoran Empire wouldn't be the utopia it seemed to be on the surface. After the clinically insane outcast Sith Lord Masochus came along with his emotionally tormented apprentice, Balos Oiren (who would later be known as Armogeist), Emperor Valkor's plans for galactic conquest via a group known as the Forceless Collective started to surface. She and Grein learned of this, but Emilin was caught by Masochus and Valkor while Grein was forced to flee. She was then possessed by the Forceless Archfiend, Facadma. She was officially listed as having been killed in an accident, when truth, she spent centuries in isolation being physically and psychologically tortured by Valkor, Facadma and Masochus. In addition to being consciously aware of her possession and unable to speak out (even via telepathy), forms of torment included distorting her visual perception (by making her see the world through the perspective of a three-eyed mask), taunting her with the idea that her sister won't come back to save her and cutting her breasts off while she was still conscious. But none of these compared to Facadma combining her powers to make her harvest the living Force from creatures on a planetary scale every so often, as she was often forced to endure the torment of other beings denied the opportunity to become one with the Force. She eventually got her release more than 3,500 years later near the end of the war between the Valkoran Empire and the Galactic Alliance, liberated from Facadma by her distant nephew, Zolph Vaelor (who was almost purely human due to the Chiss genes being thinned out from generations of human breeding) and working alongside her sister Grein, who cheated death and persevered through the regret of abandoning her just to see to it that she was eventually freed and the Forceless Collective defeated. Facadma's death at the hands of both Zolph and her brother-in-law, Seferin (AKA Maesterus) then followed after hers.

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Gahmah Raan - Draw Me Like a Twi’lek Girl

This is also the cover art for Star Wars: Paranormalities: Episode II - Chapter 11: Deranged.

Profile: Gahmah Raan Homeworld: Krishar Species: Krishari Gender: Male Age: 32 Occupation: bounty hunter / mercenary Vehicle: Vriknash The Krishari - a race of repto-mammal humanoids - aren't exactly a primitive species, but they haven't reached their space age either due to the presence of the Forceless Archfiend, Xixixix hindering their mental growth for 25,000 years. Gahmah Raan became the first of his kind to travel the stars when, several years before the Yuuzhan Vong invaded the galaxy, a starship crash-landed on Krishar and he killed and ate its pilot over a misunderstanding. He would later name this vessel the Vriknash. At a very young age, Gahmah's father, a high priest to Xixixix - also known as the mad god in Krishari culture - constantly tried to "enlighten" to his son by directly exposing him to the creature in its temple. Xixixix's presence already drove the Krishari somewhat mad on a global scale, but being directly in front of the creature made him deranged even by his species usual standards. Such symptoms included mood swings, quick temper, alleged schizophrenia, an inconsistent grasp on the flow of time, and "delusions" of things that no other beings can see or hear. However, being self-aware of his own symptoms - and exploring the galaxy later- ironically made him saner than most of his people. Eventually, his father was devoured by Xixixix and he was no longer at risk to going further insane. Before launching into the stars, he chose the huntress Nazeen Dym as his mate, who somehow managed to avoid the insanity Xixixix put in her ancestors entirely. Working as a bounty hunter, Gahmah refused to take jobs for crime syndicates such as the Hutts, seeing the job as being as nothing more than glorified leg-breaking. In addition to fighting for the Galactic Alliance during the Vong invasion, he occasionally took jobs for the Valkoran Empire, mostly personal missions on Maesterus's orders and away from the eyes of Valkor. In addition to becoming a self-proclaimed rival of Boba Fett (who, much to Gahmah's dismay, doesn't know anything about him), he also developed an aversion to another bounty hunter sometimes hired by a separate part of the Valkoran: Gestroma, who was known for killing everything that got in his away and sometimes abducting people for personal reasons. Gahmah Raan may have demonstrated several instances of psychopathy during his career, but he never saw mercenary work as a justification for mass murder. Gahmah's natural abilities as a Krishari have aided him significantly throughout his career. In addition to quick reflexes and combat abilities, he can regenerate lost body parts, undoing the (many) injuries he's received throughout the years. Without it, he probably would have died a long time ago. However, regeneration does not equal immortality, as Krishari can still be killed in a way that cuts them off from their regeneration and die of old age. He's also Force sensitive, but that ability is barely trained and seems to only use it for mundane utilities since he doesn't want devotion to the Jedi Order to impede his goals of getting his people into galactic civilization (and possibly future generations away from Xixixix's influence). Aside from his work with the Alliance and the Valkoran, Gahmah Raan's career was full of bizarre incidents. On Endor's forest moon, he was captured by miniature primitive creatures and had one of his eyes eaten by them while it was still connected to his brain. On Ord Mantell, he got his face bitten off by a Karkaradon after drinking too much and flirting with him (and that ended with the Karkaradon getting his tongue bitten out as well). He also claims to  have killed a sarlacc, but it's unknown if it's merely a jest to get Boba Fett's attention (other attempts at getting his attention include mocking certain aspects of Mandalorian culture, such as some of them refusing to acknowledge that there ever were pacifists in their history or exaggerating their capability of defeating Force users).

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Masochus. This piece is also the cover art for Star Wars: Paranormalities: Episode II - Chapter 10: Defector

Other titles: Darth Masochus Homeworld: Dromund Kaas Species: Sith Pureblood Gender: Male Age: 3500+ years Affiliation: Sith Empire (formerly), Valkoran Empire Born in the xenophobic True Sith Empire during the time around the Mandalorian Wars, Masochus is considered insane even by their standards. In addition to deriving pleasure from pain and flaying himself alive (even down to the bone, with only his vital and sensory organs, and some connective tissue intact), he was known to order civilians and soldiers to his office to flay them alive and display them on his wall regardless of whether they've displeased him or not. He also had an apprentice, who would later be known by the name Armogeist, and said apprentice would have rather had nothing to do with him. Eventually, he was banished from the Empire (and stripped of his Darth title) for his actions and insanity, as well as Armogeist by association. Eventually, he and Armogeist were called over to Ockla Prime by Valkor and joined the Valkoran Empire. However, being in a group where most of the leadership were former Jedi, Masochus was unpopular with even the civilians, yet Valkor tolerated his insanity as long as he was able to restrain himself. Now, he works as Valkor's top bio-chemist, including the creation of Forceless organisms. Because of his self-inflicted mutilation, he solely relies on the Force to move his body and to speak. As a result, his movements almost resemble that of a macabre marionette. Only the Dark Side of the Force and his compulsive hatred for everything has kept him alive. Other abilities he's demonstrated include reanimating corpses with the Force.

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Project GESTROMA

As this is also the cover art for Star Wars: Paranormalities: Episode II - Chapter 9: Lab Rat, I’ve also included the logoed version for archival purposes.

Subject: Project GESTROMA Real Name: Unknown Homeworld: Despayre Original species: Unknown (mutated beyond recognition) Gender: Male Weapons: Rotary blaster cannon, thermal detonators, concussion rifle, cortosis-chain grappling cable, various body acids Affiliation: Galactic Empire (formerly), Himself Occupation: Bounty Hunter Born of unidentifiable parentage from the inmates of Despayre, the life of the being now only known as Gestroma could be described as nothing short of a tragedy. At adolescence, Gestroma was taken from his parents in the Imperial penal colony to a reactivated Techno Union bio-weapon laboratory on Nelvaan. The previous Skakoan scientists having experimented on male Nelvaanian warriors late in the Clone Wars, the Empire secretly restored the lab for their own use and experimented on slaves and convicts. Gestroma was subject to such experimentation and transformed beyond recognition from whatever species he started as, now bearing features such as three eyes taking up almost his entire face and a gaping maw on his abdomen. The mutations also resulted in several psychological disorders, making him violently insane and somewhat sadistic. Not long after his mutation, his homeworld - along with his parents - was destroyed by the superweapon constructed in orbit: the Death Star. Afterwards, the Empire retrieved a parasitic blob-like creature from the asteroid field created from Despayre's remains, either somehow surviving the obliteration or taking refuge in the debris. The scientists then injected it into Gestroma's blood to better understand its properties, but the symbiote and Gestroma came to a mutual agreement, and the symbiote accepted Gestroma as a "Herald". Days after injection, Gestroma broke free and massacred most of the laboratory staff, also making them vulnerable to an uprising from the local Nelvaanians, whose memories of the Techno Union's horrors were still fresh. This resulted in the Empire abandoning the planet and leaving the laboratory for Gestroma's own use. However, rather than immediately take advantage of it, he decided to lay low and make some credits working as a mercenary, but he had grand plans to punish the human species, mainly a result of the Empire being a humanocentric establishment. That didn't keep him from taking pleasure in killing human bounties in incredibly horrific ways or kidnapping them for later experimentation at his hideout. Using his credits, he had gained hold various types of mutagens to work with, although some of them mutated his prisoners into forms that were biologically unfit for combat. As a starting point for his eventual army, he created a defense force for his base from salvaged Separatist battle droids, including models that weren't stationed on Nelvaan during the war, such as gargantuan Octuptarra droids and BX Commando Droids making up his infantry - Gestroma realizing that the common B1s and OOMs were too far from intelligent to be of use to him. In the present, he has taken contracts from the Valkoran Empire despite the fact that there are humans in their build-up (but he may not care if that's hypocritical since humans are the most common species in the galaxy). However, with the rise of the Forceless Collective and the fact that the symbiote is a Forceless, he has become a major target for the Jedi Order and Galactic Alliance. And artistically, I've decided that Gestroma should have four-fingered hands.

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My very first design of Hiriss Moraana, as she appears in Paranormalities: Episode II.

Homeworld: Coruscant Species: Half-Human, Half-Mirialan Gender: Female (intersex) Age: 21 Weapon: Double-bladed lightsaber (green blades) Affiliation: New Jedi Order, New Republic, Galactic Alliance Relatives: Dynn Manthis (cousin; pure human; status: deceased; cause of death: Forceless mutation) Born from a Mirialan father and a Human mother, Hiriss had very little connections to the Mirialan culture, and as a result, has very few tattoos. Joining Luke Skywalker's Jedi Order at a young age, she got her younger cousin, Dynn Manthis, enlisted into the Order as well after saving her from some criminals that orphaned her. Early in the Valkoran War, Dynn was confirmed to have defected to the Valkoran Empire (albeit secretly as a double agent). Despite learning of her cousin's defection, Hiriss continued to fight against the Valkoran. Late in the war, Dynn was possessed and horribly mutated by her replacement arm, which was actually a Forceless symbiote. Dynn's lover, Zolph Vaelor, was forced to kill her when he cut the arm off to save her from a fate worse than death. Hiriss didn't learn of her cousin's fate for six months, because Zolph was so traumatized by the circumstances that he tried to avoid bringing it up until he was almost killed by a Dark Side hallucination of the mutated Dynn on Dagobah. It was before that mission that Zolph met Hiriss, and it was after it that he learned of her relation to Dynn. After he told her the truth about her cousin's fate, Hiriss became more determined to end the threat of the Forceless Collective.

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A sketch of Juganak, which also serves as the cover art for Star Wars: Paranormaities: Episode II - Chapter 3: Remorse.

Subject Name: Argem Nylek (Codename: Juganak) Homeworld: Alpheridies Species: Miraluka Gender: Male Age: 3500+ (biologically in his 50's) Affiliations: Old Jedi Order (formerly), Valkoran Empire Weapons: Light-claymore A former Jedi Council member and the master of Seferin Vaelor (AKA Maesterus), now serving as a commander in the Valkoran Empire under his former apprentice. While he possesses unnatural strength (enough to lift objects much larger than him with his bare hands), Juganak is also quite intelligent and level-headed.

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A late 2012 sketch of Arcidus (in fact, it’s almost 10 years old). This is also the cover art for Star Wars: Paranormalities: Episode II - Prologue: Raid.

An additional bonus, Arcidus’s profile.

Name: Aiken Cremas (Codename: Arcidus) Homeworld: Saleucami Species: Human Gender: Male Age: 3500+ (Biological age: 25) Affiliation: Old Jedi Order (formerly), Valkoran Empire (formerly), Seferite Order Weapons of choice: Stealth lightsaber (AKA Darksaber), sniper rifle, blaster pistol, Flamusfracta (AKA Force Combustion) Vehicle: Phantom Razor Maesterus's apprentice from back when they were part of the Jedi Order and his most-trusted agent in the Valkoran Empire, exhibiting loyalty only to Maesterus. Not even Emperor Valkor can order him around. His most unusual Force power is the ability to cause anything to combust into flames, which can be incredibly dangerous to both the user and those around him if not properly tamed. This power has caused him a deal of early childhood trauma, including accidentally orphaning himself before being taken in by the Jedi and being trained in social isolation.

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Late-2011 to early-2012 concept art for the prologue of Paranormalities: Episode II. In order:

The Charros IV Valkoran outpost, Zolph Vaelor’s Episode II redesign, and Sergeant Will “Phoenix” Helms. Also, as a bonus, an alternate fourth-wall-breaking line for Helms.

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2011 concept art for the Krantisi arc of Paranormalities: Episode I. In order: the “Death Star Forge”, the Krantisi disruptor field temple, Dynn Manthis in near-total Forceless possession and mutation, and a Valkoran Gigantoise-class Fortress Tank. The design for the last one is a few steps away from my final vision of the Fortress Tank, which includes a giant space cannon.