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ten_fwd application
Jul. 5th, 2014 12:00 pmYour name or online alias: Famine
Your email: nova.puppets@gmail.com
Another preferred means of contact: AIM/Plurk: novatierrie
Character's Full Name: Tora Ziyal
Character's Canon: Star Trek: DS9
Character's Journal Name:![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
blindadoration
What would you like your character's tag to be?: Tora Ziyal
In 300-500 words total, tell us your...
Character's background (their past and present):
Ziyal is the illegitimate daughter of Gul Dukat, conceived during the Occupation of Bajor when Dukat was commanding Terok Nor. Her mother was a Bajoran, Tora Naprem. She was born in 2353, and her childhood was spent on Bajor during the death throes of the Occupation.
It was fairly unremarkable, really. Until she was 13 she had a comfortable home life, cared for by Dukat from afar and kept out of public view entirely. He would occasionally come to visit the two of them and there was genuinely love in the relationship, despite it coming from an awful place. But Naprem never told Ziyal that she should be ashamed of her Cardassian heritage or her father, so despite being the child of two warring races, she was fairly comfortable with her identity between the two.
In 2366, at the age of 13, Ziyal and Naprem were both put on the Cardassian transport ship Ravinok, their intended destination the neutral planet of Lissepia where they could live in peace following the end of the Occupation. But the Ravinok never made it to its destination. It was attacked by a Breen warshp and forced to crash land on a planet rich in dilithium, its survivors--including Ziyal--forced to labor in the Breen's dilithium mine on the planet.
Ziyal spent the next six years hoping that her father would hear of her fate and come to rescue her. The other Cardassians there, though, told her that if Dukat ever did come, it would be to kill her to secure his political position and standing with his legitimate family. When he finally did come with Major Nerys in 2372, that was very nearly what happened. Instead, after Ziyal said that she would rather die than be without him, Dukat changed his mind and took her with him out of the mines.
That decision was a death-knell for Dukat's career. He was stripped of his position and reassigned to captain a Cardassian freighter, and his wife took their children and left him. Ziyal was ostracized on Cardassia as well for her half-Bajoran heritage and her position as an illegitmate child--something Cardassian culture frowned upon greatly. She left Cardassia with her father aboard his freighter. After a skirmish with the Klingons invading Cardassian space at the time, Major Kira convinced her and Dukat that it was best for Ziyal to come live on DS9.
On DS9 she grew close with Kira as well as Elim Garak, the only other Cardassian on the station. It was because of this close friendship that she refused to leave DS9 in 2373, and Dukat disowned her for the decision. When the Dominion War began in earnest, Ziyal was sent by Kira to live on Bajor and enrolled in university, where she discovered a talent for art. But she felt alone on Bajor as well, so when her father came back and tried to reconcile with her, Ziyal went back to DS9 with him.
Her father's ruthless nature was beginning to be quite evident to her when he imprisoned the Ferengi Rom and refused to pardon him when she asked. She helped Quark break all of the Federation-sympathetic resistance out of the prison cells they'd been put in so they could prevent the Dominion from destroying the mine field the Federation forces had erected before they evacuated the station, then left to find her father. She admitted her guilt in the escape, told him that she couldn't leave with him, and that she loved him--and was then shot and fatally wounded by Dukat's second as a traitor.
Character's personality:
Ziyal is an optimistic, friendly, and infinitely forgiving young woman who wants nothing more than to reconcile the two halves of her identity--she wants to use her skills and talent to bring Cardassia and Bajor together, because she thinks that is the only way that she can find a place she truly belongs.
She's certainly a lot stronger than she appears to be, with her preference for beautiful dresses and feminine things, and she's willing to do anything to protect the people she cares about. She wanted, for instance, to learn how to fight when her father took control of the Klingon ship, so she could defend him and herself. But she also is capable of realizing when someone she cares about has gone too far, which she started to do with her father just before she died.
She's just as loyal to family as any Cardassian would expect, but also fiercely loyal to her friends, which is a trait more closely held by Bajorans. There's quite a lot of internal conflict there. What she hasn't quite learned is how to identify herself on her own terms, and balance that with her conflicted heritage.
Due to the way she grew up, sheltered from everyone and then a prisoner and slave laborer, Ziyal's identity and personality are in flux in a way that probably isn't expected of someone her age. She has no idea how to define herself and is struggling to create bonds outside her family and a select few friends, because hell if she knows how to make friends.
Character's skills/abilities/powers: Ziyal is a skilled artist and is actually surprisingly strong for such a slight girl.
Since she's half-Cardassian she has a tolerance for extreme heat, and due to her Bajoran genetics she's also not as susceptible to cold as a full Cardassian.
Other than that she has no special abilities and certainly not any powers.
Any special equipment your character is bringing along? This includes weaponry, magic items, etc.: None.
Are you bringing your character toten_fwd from another game? If you are, which game?: No
If you answered yes above, briefly summarize how they were changed by and what challenges they faced in the climate of their previous game(s): N/A
Why do you want to play this character in Ten Forward, and what do you plan to do with them? Ziyal didn't get much exploration in canon, and I'd like to carry through with some of what I think would have been her mental place, being a prisoner for as long as she was, as well as her relationship with her father. She's searching for a place to belong--and I think she might actually find that on a Starfleet ship.
I'd also like her to start exploring more of her identity on her own, not guided by other people. She needs to define herself on her terms.
Writing Sample #1:
Test drive link
Your email: nova.puppets@gmail.com
Another preferred means of contact: AIM/Plurk: novatierrie
Character's Full Name: Tora Ziyal
Character's Canon: Star Trek: DS9
Character's Journal Name:
blindadorationWhat would you like your character's tag to be?: Tora Ziyal
In 300-500 words total, tell us your...
Character's background (their past and present):
Ziyal is the illegitimate daughter of Gul Dukat, conceived during the Occupation of Bajor when Dukat was commanding Terok Nor. Her mother was a Bajoran, Tora Naprem. She was born in 2353, and her childhood was spent on Bajor during the death throes of the Occupation.
It was fairly unremarkable, really. Until she was 13 she had a comfortable home life, cared for by Dukat from afar and kept out of public view entirely. He would occasionally come to visit the two of them and there was genuinely love in the relationship, despite it coming from an awful place. But Naprem never told Ziyal that she should be ashamed of her Cardassian heritage or her father, so despite being the child of two warring races, she was fairly comfortable with her identity between the two.
In 2366, at the age of 13, Ziyal and Naprem were both put on the Cardassian transport ship Ravinok, their intended destination the neutral planet of Lissepia where they could live in peace following the end of the Occupation. But the Ravinok never made it to its destination. It was attacked by a Breen warshp and forced to crash land on a planet rich in dilithium, its survivors--including Ziyal--forced to labor in the Breen's dilithium mine on the planet.
Ziyal spent the next six years hoping that her father would hear of her fate and come to rescue her. The other Cardassians there, though, told her that if Dukat ever did come, it would be to kill her to secure his political position and standing with his legitimate family. When he finally did come with Major Nerys in 2372, that was very nearly what happened. Instead, after Ziyal said that she would rather die than be without him, Dukat changed his mind and took her with him out of the mines.
That decision was a death-knell for Dukat's career. He was stripped of his position and reassigned to captain a Cardassian freighter, and his wife took their children and left him. Ziyal was ostracized on Cardassia as well for her half-Bajoran heritage and her position as an illegitmate child--something Cardassian culture frowned upon greatly. She left Cardassia with her father aboard his freighter. After a skirmish with the Klingons invading Cardassian space at the time, Major Kira convinced her and Dukat that it was best for Ziyal to come live on DS9.
On DS9 she grew close with Kira as well as Elim Garak, the only other Cardassian on the station. It was because of this close friendship that she refused to leave DS9 in 2373, and Dukat disowned her for the decision. When the Dominion War began in earnest, Ziyal was sent by Kira to live on Bajor and enrolled in university, where she discovered a talent for art. But she felt alone on Bajor as well, so when her father came back and tried to reconcile with her, Ziyal went back to DS9 with him.
Her father's ruthless nature was beginning to be quite evident to her when he imprisoned the Ferengi Rom and refused to pardon him when she asked. She helped Quark break all of the Federation-sympathetic resistance out of the prison cells they'd been put in so they could prevent the Dominion from destroying the mine field the Federation forces had erected before they evacuated the station, then left to find her father. She admitted her guilt in the escape, told him that she couldn't leave with him, and that she loved him--and was then shot and fatally wounded by Dukat's second as a traitor.
Character's personality:
Ziyal is an optimistic, friendly, and infinitely forgiving young woman who wants nothing more than to reconcile the two halves of her identity--she wants to use her skills and talent to bring Cardassia and Bajor together, because she thinks that is the only way that she can find a place she truly belongs.
She's certainly a lot stronger than she appears to be, with her preference for beautiful dresses and feminine things, and she's willing to do anything to protect the people she cares about. She wanted, for instance, to learn how to fight when her father took control of the Klingon ship, so she could defend him and herself. But she also is capable of realizing when someone she cares about has gone too far, which she started to do with her father just before she died.
She's just as loyal to family as any Cardassian would expect, but also fiercely loyal to her friends, which is a trait more closely held by Bajorans. There's quite a lot of internal conflict there. What she hasn't quite learned is how to identify herself on her own terms, and balance that with her conflicted heritage.
Due to the way she grew up, sheltered from everyone and then a prisoner and slave laborer, Ziyal's identity and personality are in flux in a way that probably isn't expected of someone her age. She has no idea how to define herself and is struggling to create bonds outside her family and a select few friends, because hell if she knows how to make friends.
Character's skills/abilities/powers: Ziyal is a skilled artist and is actually surprisingly strong for such a slight girl.
Since she's half-Cardassian she has a tolerance for extreme heat, and due to her Bajoran genetics she's also not as susceptible to cold as a full Cardassian.
Other than that she has no special abilities and certainly not any powers.
Any special equipment your character is bringing along? This includes weaponry, magic items, etc.: None.
Are you bringing your character to
ten_fwd from another game? If you are, which game?: NoIf you answered yes above, briefly summarize how they were changed by and what challenges they faced in the climate of their previous game(s): N/A
Why do you want to play this character in Ten Forward, and what do you plan to do with them? Ziyal didn't get much exploration in canon, and I'd like to carry through with some of what I think would have been her mental place, being a prisoner for as long as she was, as well as her relationship with her father. She's searching for a place to belong--and I think she might actually find that on a Starfleet ship.
I'd also like her to start exploring more of her identity on her own, not guided by other people. She needs to define herself on her terms.
Writing Sample #1:
Test drive link
