Jahir Seni Galare

Jahir Galare, Prince-Consort

An Eldritch, mind-bonded partner to Vasiht'h, married to Sediryl Galare and cousin/lover to Lisinthir Nase Galare.

Physical Appearance

Jahir is tall by most standards at 6'6". He has the classic pure white skin and hair of an Eldritch; his hair falls to his ribcage. His eyes are a honey shade of yellow-gold, and he has a square jaw. Jahir's speaking and singing voice is a tenor, and he smells like vetiver and bergamot.

Prior to his ascension, he preferred to dress in browns and caramels and creams and tawny colors; post-ascension he generally dresses in Galare blue. He is very fastidious and neat in his appearance.

Jahir has a Chatcaavan claw scars on left side of his face, and faint gray Chatcaavan claw scars along his ribs on left side; that skin doesn't flex when he breathes hard enough. He also has a burn scar on left hand, in the webbing between thumb and forefinger, acquired while cooking, and a nearly invisible scar at his shoulder where he was punctured in a duel.. Both his wrists are hypermobile, but the left is worse than the right.

Family

Jahir is the son of Jeasa Seni Galare and Kolvin Seni Galare, and the brother of Sernatailia Seni Galare, known as Amber. He is also the mindbonded partner of Vasiht'h, and the lover of Lisinthir Nase Galare.

He was married to Sediryl at the Seni manse, outside, by Liolesa and Val as officiating priestess and priest, in a traditional Eldritch ceremony (though the bride wore white, like a tenant, rather than her House colors). The troth cloth was blue fading to white at the center; on one side, an embroidered cluster of grape vines and rose blossoms for Sediryl, who had come from the most fertile of the Eldritch’s lands, and on the other, stars and a caduceus, for Jahir, who had gone offworld to learn to heal. In the pale center, a fireburst for them both, flowered mind-mages.

He will have twins, named Adaise Galare and Raenor Galare.

Biography

Jahir Seni Galare, an Eldritch lord, is the eldest son of Jeasa and Kolvin Seni Galare; he is about six or seven years older than his brother Sernataila (Amber). Kolvin was killed in a riding accident when Jahir was about ten years old and Amber about three. He was a loving brother who made every effort to ensure that Amber had as good or better possessions than himself. He was presented at court at the usual time, at about age eighteen, and attended both summer and winter courts for several years. By his own admission, he “did not seem to be accomplishing much,” and stopped attending. He was educated as was typical for a noble heir in the management of a great estate as well as the courtesies and skills. Among those was music, which became his great passion and at which he was skilled well beyond the norm.

Possessed of an acute mind, Jahir used his family’s Well feed to the Alliance’s u-banks to study through Seersana University’s open enrollment. When he found he had accumulated enough credits to qualify him to take an advanced degree in xenopsychology, he decided, with his mother’s support and encouragement, to go to the Alliance and pursue his degree. (Background from multiple books)

Mindtouch

When Jahir arrives at Seersana University, having lived more than 150 of his likely 1500-year lifespan, ("...a bit older than out usual freshman") and with nerves jangled by the close proximity of other people whose touch forces him to experience their thoughts and emotions, he learns that his request for single accommodations is denied because of space limitations. While waiting for the problem to be addressed, he takes a walk on the hospital grounds and encounters a Glaseah entangled in the jumprope being wielded by six little girls who have slipped away from their nurse. He offers to help, and eventually joins in the play. He and the Glaseah, Vasiht’h, agree to visit the children again. Vasitht’h offers to share his apartment with Jahir and smooths out the administrative details. Jahir moves in, and immediately Vasiht’h, a year ahead of him, begins his informal education in the ways of the Alliance, from mundane activities like working a shower and cooking to university practices, from working with his advisor, a Seersa named Khallis Mekora, and navigating the campus. Back in their apartment, Jahir faints, and Vasiht’h calls the emergency channel for help. Their touch exacerbates his discombobulation, but once he rouses, they recommend he go to the clinic because the greater gravity on Seersana is causing Jahir problems. Jahir follows through and is attended by Healer Lafayette KindlesFlame, a Tam-illee, who prescribes a drug regimen to compensate for the gravity, judicious rest and increased food. Because of the Veil, Jahir is unwilling to commit to coming to the clinic, so KindlesFlame suggests they meet weekly for lunch to check Jahir’s health and talk medicine.

As the year progresses, Jahir becomes more integrated into university life. His classes interest him, and he enjoys regular get-togethers with their quadmates, Brett (Seersa) and his flatmate Lucrezia, (Luci, a Harat-shar), Merishiinal (Circaana) and his flatmate (???). Vasiht’h introduces him to new foods, and he is enthralled by ice cream. The two also begin regular visits to the six little girls they met jumping rope: Kayla and Meekie (Tam-illee), Amaranth and Persy (human), Kuriel (a Seersa), and the fragile Nieve (also Seersa).

As the year passes, Vasiht’h begins to notice flashes of a connection between what Jahir is thinking in his own mind, beginning with music after an outdoor choral concert. Jahir, who has decided to stay in the Alliance after his schooling, is deciding between the medical and the clinical tracks, while Vasiht’h is floundering and starting down the research track, a poor fit. Jahir enrolls in Clinical Management, a medical track course, and Patient Assessment. Both courses challenge him, the former when an accidental collision involving several fellow students causes him to lose consciousness, and the latter when the professor humiliates him in front of the class for being unreadable. Interestingly, he has no trouble touching and even holding the little girls at the hospital. While he is still deciding, during a visit to the children, fragile Nieve dies in Jahir’s arms. He turns to Vasiht’h for comfort, and finally asks about the mental connection he’s experiencing. Vasiht’h explains mindtouch and how it has the potential to develop into a permanent mindline – a very rare and intimate connection. He and Vasiht’h are invited to attend Nieve’s funeral, a great honor, and there her grandmother gives Jahir wise counsel. Jahir decides to commit to the medical track. Vasiht’h is concerned because of the toll on Jahir’s stamina. He, too, has been struggling with his research, using his esper talent to reduce people’s stress level while they sleep. He struggles with not contaminating the study, because the subjects want to talk with him about their problems.

Jahir, in order to finish the medical track coursework within two years, embraces a grueling course load starting the summer after his first year. Before that, he gives Vasiht’h two weeks of vacation fun, and the mindtouches grow in frequency. The summer workload is intense, and Jahir is successful, leading KindlesFlame to suggest he apply for the coveted residency at Mercy Hospital on Selnor. At summer’s end, Vasiht’h begins to withdraw from Jahir, protecting himself because he knows Jahir will leave for his residency. Both continue their weekly visits to the children, which Jahir will not give up, even with his demanding schedule. Jahir begins to dream of a garden whose flowers rot before they can bloom. He weeps in his sleep, and Vasiht’h comforts him using the esper technique underlying his research. The dreams continue, and Jahir wakes to find Vasiht’h asleep in his room on more than one occasion. Over the winter holidays, their quadmate Lucrezia, who has previously confided her romantic troubles to them, tells them that she has broken the relationship off. They offer to have her stay overnight, and when she falls asleep on the sofa, together Vasiht’h and Jahir calm her dreams. While doing so, a nascent mindline forms, and for the first time, they can hear each other mentally. Both are unnerved, and Vasiht’h fears he has offended Jahir. In his last semester, Jahir, doing shadow practicums with real patients, comes home drained and begins to rely on Vasiht’h to buoy him back up. Vasiht’h realizes that the mindline is growing stronger, and since they will necessarily be separated, decides he has to be replaceable to Jahir. Jahir wins both the residency at Mercy Hospital in Heliocentrus on Selnor and the one on Seersana at General. Vasiht’h tells Jahir he should go to Selnor, believing it important that Jahir find out if he can handle the demands of a medical psychology career. On the last night, Jahir asks Vasiht’h if he can hug him. Jahir leaves, and Vasiht’h is heartbroken. He dreams Jahir’s dream of the gardens with dying flowers, and, realizing that Jahir needs him, determines to follow Jahir to Selnor.

Mindline

Almost immediately upon his arrival at Selnor, Jahir realizes that the gravity of the planet, much heavier than Seersana, is going to pose a problem. His first stop is Mercy Hospital’s walk-in clinic, where he learns from Healer Gillespie, a Hinichi, that the acclimatization regimen he underwent on Seersana means there is risk if he opts for additional courses of the treatment. His other choice is a medically supervised diet and exercise regimen to mitigate his Mediger’s Syndrome, not the way he had anticipated launching his Mercy residency. He reports the next morning and meets a human named Griffin Jiron, the Nurse who will supervise Jahir’s residency. Also present is a second resident, Miss Valani, an Asani who is assigned to Healer Parkenfields in physiological support of psychological health. (Note: Medical personnel who trained on Terra are Doctor and Nurse; those who trained in the Alliance are Healer and Healer-Assist or Hea.) Jiron immediately realizes that Jahir’s case of Mediger’s Syndrome is severe and may be an issue, though Jahir assures him that he will cope. Jahir is assigned to Dr. Grace Levine in crisis care because of his chemistry specialty. Dr. Levine appears stunned by his appearance but quickly gathers her composure. When Keren, a Seersa, accidentally plows into Jahir, sending Jahir into a touch-induced faint, Levine is even more concerned, but Jahir makes light of the situation.

Jahir attends his first physical therapy session at the gymnasium pool the next morning, where he meets Shellie Aralyn, an Asanii, and Paga, a Naysha, who comprise his therapy team. Though Jahir has never swum, he is entranced by the relief the water provides. Arriving at the hospital, Jahir meets Radimir, train Yulij, a Harat-Shariin senior healer-assist, and Hea Paige Nettlesdown, a Karaka’An. Also on shift are volunteers Baird Ghardhoff, a Hinichi priest, Shelvi, a pantheistic sect Harat-Shariin, and Jared Weldt, a human social worker. Radimir explains that Jahir will rotate between the emergency room (triage) and crisis care extended stay. His first shift passes swiftly, and Jahir manages his work well, though he is physically taxed. He is also puzzled by an unresponsive patient whose aura appears dense and flat. On his way out, Jahir pushes the elevator button for the roof on impulse and discovers a place where he can look across the city and into the night sky and feel connected. (It is, perhaps, Jahir’s earliest sense of the Pattern.) The next day, the unresponsive patient is still in the crisis care unit. Jahir works with Hea Maya FirstOnSite, a Tam-illee who becomes distressed when they receive a pregnant Tam-illee whose waters have broken early, because her own sister has lost two babies. Jahir is understanding of her distress, and she is encouraging of his work. Still, Jahir finds himself asleep against a wall at one point, a sign of the toll the gravity and the work are taking on him.

Jahir’s third day finds the unresponsive patient still there; he touches the human man and notices that beneath the stillness is a sludge. Healer Jonsen asks Jahir to let him know if he senses anything, but the patient dies soon after. At the end of his shift, an exhausted Jahir is waylaid by Dr. Levine, who offers her help if Jahir has any issues about the death. Jahir notices that she is offering her help specifically, but is reassured when she claims that she does this with all the new residents. At the end of his first week, Jiron and Radimir call Jahir in for a how-goes-it; both appear to be tense and chagrined by Levine’s offer to help Jahir following the patient death. When Jahir asks, Radimir brushes it off as Levine being driven.

Jahir’s swim therapy progresses, and his relationship with Paga expands as they communicate via computer and Paga says that he senses Jahir may love the water in a similar way as himself. Jahir is still experiencing problems, however, and losing weight. Healer Gillespie programs his medical bracelet to alert him to eat something from his calorie-dense diet. Reporting for his shift, Jahir learns they’ve received another unresponsive patient. He leaves his shift both mentally and physically exhausted. Back at his apartment, he is surprised by the door chime and opens the door to find Vasiht’h, who blurts out that he was wrong to let Jahir go alone and won’t ever leave him again unless Jahir tells him to go. Jahir tells him he would never tell him nor want him to go; the mindline fuses, and they fall into an embrace. Vasiht’h is appalled by how thin Jahir is and immediately sets about taking care of his friend. He suggests that Jahir give himself two months to see if he can adjust to the gravity and the workload. The apartment is tiny, yet Vasiht’h is surprised to find that Jahir would prefer that they share the bedroom, and that Jahir cares for him as much as Vasiht’h cares about Jahir.

TO BE CONTINUED

[NOTES: Killed a man in a duel before he left Escutcheon for the Alliance: "A maiden at the summer court had been seeking relief from her over-managing mother and aunt. We found an alcove to sit in and talk. That was all. But we were seen and aspersions were cast on her, so I called those who maligned her to account. We dueled. He put his tip through my shoulder, but I fought on until I sliced him. So honor was satisfied. My wound, though more serious, healed. His developed infection, and he died." Further: "I did not even care for the woman--she was the daughter of one of the Queen's enemies! I was fighting Galare's enemies when I threw down the challenge."

Agreed to help train the mind-talented Eldritch of sufficient power, at Val's request. ]

Family

• Son of Jeasa Seni Galare and Kolvin Seni Galare. Brother to Sernataila (Amber) Seni Galare.
• Father of twins Adaise and Raenor

Quotes

• "We move from strength to weakness and come around again to strength, and that movement is a sign of life. Were we always strong, were we always weak, did we never trade roles, we would be souls impervious to the world around us. And then how would we change? How would we grow?"

• "Because I am the one who will willingly go to your cruel hand and kiss it for gratitude, and you will deny me nothing."

• "Do not doubt yourself, Ambassador, for your cousin still loves you."

• "We are all worthy of love, no matter what we've done lately to earn it."

• "I try not to make promises unless I know I will keep them."

• "Sometimes one needs the surgeon's touch, not the therapist's."

• "A skilled musician makes many promises with the fingers on the frets of a lute."

• "I think you measure your worth in your utility, Nase's Heir... and we know that we are disposable when we are no longer of use. But we don't need to be useful to be worthy."

• “We all feel pain, but we create our reasons for suffering, or for transcending it.”

• /We come, cousin. Your lover says to leave some of the enemy for him… and his Queen says that today the wingless will retake the sky./

• "No one can break me... No one but myself."

Trivia

• likes mornings
• likes walls
• prefers swimming as exercise
• loves ice cream

Names

Himself

• Gentle Guide (the Queen Ransomed)
• Silence Between Stars (also sometimes Silence Among the Stars)
• Voice in the Silence
• My Delight (Lisinthir)

Other People

• calls Vasiht'h 'my dear' and 'my love' and 'ariihir' and 'beloved' and 'my brother'
• calls Sediryl 'my heart'
• calls Lisinthir 'Hunter' and 'my-better' and 'cousin' and 'Lin' and 'Imthereli' (it's complicated)
• calls Val 'Teacher'

Body Language

• Habitually compensates for the height difference between himself and Vasiht'h by sitting or kneeling.
• With Sediryl, has a habit of not just holding her hands, but subtly caressing them.

Musical Instruments

• A gifted musician, Jahir plays most stringed instruments, including lute, guitar, violin, cello, harp, and lyre. He also plays both woodwinds and brass; his weakest point is percussion. His favorite instrument is the piano, at which he is a virtuoso.

Notable Property

• A wooden box of alien hardwood, resinous and deep, holding a scalpel-like knife (may be currently kept by Lisinthir)
• An asymetically stylized jeweled swan mask in platinum, mother-of-pearl and blue