Ta'zhen
Kayla Kavanaugh (a.k.a. Ta'zhen, Èẓět’ǔ)
Ta'zhen has been a controversial figure in Stenza society ever since she was taken up by Saeh'han to study under him, learning about Stenza culture, language, and the way of the fight. While she kept her head down people around her debated, to her face and behind her back, about the merit of her claim to Stenza civilian status and later, citizenship. Debate reached the highest levels, especially after she survived her ordeal on Desolation to T'zu-Crae's rage. Soon she is dragged into the politics of the Nine Systems in a desperate bid for survival.
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Ta'zhen stands just under five feet tall, marking her immediately as visually distinct from the rest of the Stenza, save children. She is very toned, and missing her right arm, using a gel prosthetic to replace it. Her body is covered in scars, some older than she willingly lets on.
Body Features
Ta'zhen is most notable among Stenza for her remarkably short height and for her body temperature (normal for a human but extremely high for a Stenza).
Apparel & Accessories
The insulating mesh is Ta'zhen's second skin, over which she wears, depending on the situation, either battle armor or civilian wear, very frequently pink in color (such as her shirt).
Although she only wears them with her Ceremonial Uniform, she is the proud owner of a pair of mandibles extracted from a large Azorian insect. The mandibles reach from her waist to the floor when she is standing, and so are balanced on her shoulder blades when she wears them.
Specialized Equipment
Following her citizenship trial, Ta'zhen was outfitted with a medical gel prosthesis, which in its current iteration is outfitted with circuitry capable of operating a personal communication device, scanning objects of Stenza manufacture, and accessing data.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Kayla Kavanaugh was born in Esterholt, Ohio, in the year 1996, to Martha Kavanaugh and a man she barely ever knew. Martha would take several other husbands throughout Kayla's lifetime, and other men she never married. (Martha's relationship history follows a pattern Ta'zhen would later describe as "meet guy in bar, give him tragic line about how bad her last boyfriend was, extract pity sex, coerce into whirlwind relationship, have violent breakup, meet new guy in bar by the end of the week".)
Kayla was born with her thalassophobia, as far as she later knows, but when she was four and psyching herself up to jump into the backyard pool with her stepfather, Martha pushed her in out of impatience, nearly killing her. The incident did nothing to cure the phobia and surely worsened it. Martha was assaulted that night, and Kayla pleaded with the officers not to take her stepfather, to no avail.
She moved through school mostly uneventfully until the eighth grade. Science teacher Nat Atrella noticed her bad mood one day and talked about it with her after class. He learned that Martha was beginning to lie about family members. He filed this away for later use, but as the science fair was coming up, he decided to teach her how to use a polygraph machine, so she could learn about lying while talking to townspeople about their military service to assess the machine's reliability.
During the preparations for the fair, Martha assaulted Kayla with a stapler in an attempt to get her to abandon her project.
The night she returned from the state competition, in second place, she snuck out to try to go to a party and met Saeh'han in the fields. He chased her back to the house, only for her to attack him with a dining chair. After an additional whack, Kayla got him to stay put, at which point Saeh'han expressed admiration for her courage. Confused and flattered, Kayla asked him to teach her how to fight, and he agreed.
Soon it grew beyond teaching simple fighting techniques and into introducing her to the language, stories, and culture of the Stenza. Just before school let out for the summer, Saeh'han took Kayla to Mudewei, where Creyth offered her protection under the cultural rules of hospitality. There, she spent several years learning the language, the customs, the rituals, and further honing her combat skills. (During this time, on a hunting trip, she says that she recalled learning in school that humans evolved as persistence predators and, seemingly with no lead in, followed an injured Basket Horns across the Frozen Wastes for several hours. Shortly after starting, a strange pup started following her. She knew by then that pups were adventurous sorts and let the child stay so that she could return later with them and some food. She explained what she was doing to the pup as they trekked, until they found the Basket Horns collapsed in the snow. Kayla put it out of its misery and began the process of cutting out the heart and lungs for Hunter, as instructed. It took a while as she was just one person, but finally she was done, and made the appropriate offerings, to find the pup consuming them already. When she told this story to Saeh'han and Ŭlœsh, they tentatively floated the idea that she'd been tailed by Hunter the whole time.)
Finally, she was set for her citizenship trial, due to take place on a rocky hell planet known as Desolation, where the water is filled with flesh-eating bacteria and the air can be toxic. She was sent with a granola bar and a canteen full of (exceptionally cold) water. During a brief fight with one of the robots she had accidentally activated, some Desolation water splashed on her right arm. She was forced to use half her water supply to kill the bacteria, and then to spend the rest of her stay with a dying arm.
To the shock of everyone, and perhaps most of all T'zu-Crae, she returned alive. Saeh'han removed her arm and designed its gel replacement. She took a new name as a citizen of the Stenza empire: Ta'zhen (a name version of the Stenza word for "tiny", which Tzim-Sha had called her before her ordeal). She was fully adopted into the Clan of the Lost and joined their military unit (she still hadn't shaken the idea that she had something to prove).
Her first tour was spent on Azor, and lasted just under a year. While there, among many other things, her effort to save Tzim-Sha's life resulted in their entrapment behind enemy lines. Their two-week escape back to the Stenza line involved hiding in caves and supplementing rations with the native enormous bugs. It also included sharing secrets: Ta'zhen spoke about the time her mother tried to kill her with a stapler, and Tzim-Sha mentioned the death of his entire clan (she noted his victory in this matter). Following this, she was the subject of another minor firestorm when she was promoted to Fourth Officer, to be mentored by Siah'ywe until his death.
She then spent much of a year outside of Mundeen, the capital of Muxter, after requesting a transfer away from duty on Albar. She and Tzim-Sha designed The "Muxteran Prisoner" Gambit but, after one sleepless night too many and as a consequence of the efforts of learning Muxteran language and culture for the gambit, she asked to transfer out. Tzim-Sha found a placement for her in the engine tech team of the Annihilator.
Tzim-Sha also set Ta'zhen up with Testho, per mating season customs, and two years later, she helped him construct the gathering coils and smuggle them to Earth ahead of his Leadership Challenge. Shortly after this, when he was revealed to have disappeared, leaving behind only his transport pod, the coils, and a partially empty canister of DNA bombs (about which Ta'zhen had no prior knowledge, despite otherwise being a party to the plot), she volunteered to go to Earth for her own search effort.
Gender Identity
Ta'zhen identifies as female, as signified by a feminine name per the grammar of Mudeweian Stenza, but her small size has slotted her into a fair few male "gender suggestions", causing her to view gender as optional.
Sexuality
Lesbian
Education
While on Earth she only reached a middle-school level education, she finished out on Mudewei and was by many accounts a diligent student. She caught up to her apparent peers in only a few years, and following her citizenship trial, continued educational pursuits, learning Muxteran and a trade as an engine technician, to say nothing of training with the military.
Employment
Ta'zhen joined the military under the banner of the Clan of the Lost because at the time she thought that was what one does. While her deeds on Azor earned her a promotion to Fourth Officer (and later Third Officer after Siah'ywe's death in combat) and a life-long bond with Tzim-Sha, following being stationed at Mundeen she transferred out into civilian work. She was hired on as a ship's technician aboard the Annihilator, where she found a form of mental peace working with her hands, and furthered her studies. She has since learned two more languages, along with a better understanding for the inner workings of a Stenza engine and the accompanying subspace drives.
Accomplishments & Achievements
She attained citizenship through her ordeal on Desolation, which cost her both her right arm and most of her ability to perceive herself as human outside of very basic biological facts. Her citizenship has also afforded her the opportunity of military service where, through clever use of pattern recognition, not attracting undue attention, and an escapade behind enemy lines on Azor with Tzim-Sha (then First Officer), she was first promoted to Fourth Officer before assuming the role of Third after Siah'ywe's death. Ta'zhen was content with this, having observed the First and Second officers routinely challenge each other and decided that she wasn't cut out for it. However, these antics left her with much of the responsibility for coordinating troop movement and maximizing enemy casualties while minimizing their own.
In civilian affairs, she is a well-regarded food hunter, able to keep pace with all but the most athletic Stenza and an equally capable archer.
Failures & Embarrassments
The item for which she feels most guilt is the knowledge that somewhere, someone is in stasis because she refused to go quietly into that good night (and, consequently, that she is the reason T'zu-Crae is the current leader of the Stenza empire, rather than Saeh'han, who was originally sent to capture her). To her mind, all of T'zu-Crae's actions while leader are, on some level, her fault.
Intellectual Characteristics
Exceptionally blunt, but she absorbs almost everything. She has learned several languages during her time with the Stenza. She also comprehends the basic principles behind Stenza space travel, subspace, weaponry, and robotics, though she cannot tell you the math behind them. She can assemble for you a subspace drive, for example, but be unable to tell you how to calculate subspatial coordinates.
Morality & Philosophy
Ta'zhen has deeply internalized Stenza concepts of appropriate social behavior, including the hospitality code, taboos on self-deprecation (and by extension deprecation of the group), and the role of a blood sibling. She takes ideas like social good and "giving back" very seriously, and also believes that she must prove herself "deserving" of a place in the community, either by showing her mettle or paying it forward in some way, and oftentimes both.
Personality Characteristics
Savvies & Ineptitudes
Ta'zhen has been able to pick up Mudeweian Stenza and the principles of use for many forms of Stenza technology very quickly, as well as veritably absorbing cultural concepts like a sponge.
On the other hand, she is terrible with pure mathematics, as well as certain forms of applied mathematics, considering them too abstract to work with.
Likes & Dislikes
Ta'zhen took to pups almost immediately upon being introduced to them, to the point she could not resist the urge to coo over them (when she first learned the "no baby-talk" rule). As a consequence, she is very accepting when they decide to pile on top of her for sleep, and has found this a very useful sleep aid over the years.
Virtues & Personality perks
Ta'zhen maintains a cool exterior and head in the face of nearly any crisis. This does not keep her from expressing emotions, nor from becoming overwhelmed by them, but does allow her to manage circumstances as they arise.
Additionally, she places a high value on children and childcare, a value seeded by her past and crystalized and given words by her interaction with Stenza culture. It factors into her assessment of others, and her interactions with children and their parents or caretakers. When it comes to her siblings, she feels a sense of duty toward them, especially the youngest of them.
Vices & Personality flaws
Ta'zhen's method of dealing with deep and complicated emotional questions is to physically relocate herself with a shadow of a hope that these problems will go away.
She also maintains an interesting relationship with the value and concept of a life (including if it is acceptable to kill someone). While this code was adopted from more traditionalist aspects of Stenza society and is seen as a virtue within that context it causes her problems outside that context.
Personality Quirks
Ta'zhen has a tendency to flick her middle finger with her thumb (on her left hand) if particularly nervous. She also has a "thinking face" as described by Erin Kavanaugh which consists of staring at nothing in particular while her eyes dart around in a noticeable fashion.
Hygiene
Due to the fact that without the insulating mesh she risks freezing to death, Ta'zhen only bathes when she has access to hot water. Periods between this can range up to a few weeks.
Social
Family Ties
Cornelius Kavanaugh
Martha Kavanaugh
Patrick Kavanaugh
Erin Kavanaugh
Alyssa Kavanaugh
Ryan Kavanaugh
Elle Kavanaugh
Jake Kavanaugh
Religious Views
She has adopted the Stenza religion, which views the stars in the sky as corporeal manifestations of numerous but by and large distant gods. Because these gods are not wont to meddle in the affairs of mortals and those two that do are widely viewed as all-benevolent (but not all-powerful), she believes it is safe to honor them (compared to the interesting interpretations of Christianity that come from some sides of her Earth-based family).
Speech
Ta'zhen has a tendency to say "scheiße" in place of its English variant, "shit".
Relationships
History
Developed while behind enemy lines on Azor. In the three years since they have not had many opportunities to address the social requirements of their attachment; instead they spent that time planning for the next challenge for leader together. Ta'zhen was willing to overlook his dishonest practices, and in return he offered her a position close to him should he succeed. He disappeared, and immediately upon reappearing, she made arrangements to save his life.
Nicknames & Petnames
typically insults like "tiny" or "ignorant slut"
Relationship Reasoning
forged in fire
Shared Secrets
Ta'zhen knows that Tzim-Sha's entire clan died at the hands of Raida. Tzim-Sha knows just how many of Ta'zhen's numerous scars are from her old life.
Legal Status
considered siblings
History
Testho helps save Ta'zhen's life from an assassination attempt, and upon seeing who it is became fascinated. She had heard about, but never seen, the human, and wanted to know more. Ta'zhen, for her part, was struck by Testho and would happily start conversations with her. Over time, Testho became involved, at first through circumstance and then by choice, in Ta'zhen's attempt to overthrow the current regime.
History
Cort often babysat his granddaughter when she was younger, working to be a positive influence in Ta'zhen's life and generally being cool. He introduced her to Aliens, and would tell her stories about the sixties, from hippies and drugs to the Vietnam War itself. He believed it would do no one any good to shy away from the gory details, instead delivering them in as much of an age appropriate manner as he could manage. He blamed Ta'zhen's mother Alexis when Ta'zhen disappeared, and was soon after declared dead. Dumbstruck to see her again, he almost immediately welcomes her back.
Nicknames & Petnames
"Kiddo"/"Papaw"
Current Location
Species
Honorary & Occupational Titles
Third Officer
Professions
Previously Held Ranks & Titles
Year of Birth
2477
22 Years old
Circumstances of Birth
born on Earth, third child of seven
Birthplace
Esterholt, Ohio, Planet Earth
Family
Spouses
Testho
(lover)
Siblings
Alyssa Kavanaugh
(sister)
Elle Kavanaugh
(sister)
Erin Kavanaugh
(sister)
Patrick Kavanaugh
(brother)
Children
Current Residence
Pronouns
she/her
Gender
female
Eyes
ice blue
Hair
shaved
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
pale white
Height
4'11"
Weight
112 lbs
Aligned Organization
Other Affiliations
What an interesting character. I feel so sorry for her that she had a bad start in life, but she seems to be in a better place now. I love that she has become at home as a Stenza citizen.
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My MC's a good bean, and definitely doing a lot better than she was. Stenza culture did wonders for her self-esteem.