Post by Dr. Jake on Dec 24, 2013 1:32:22 GMT -5
[Making my return, though I'm more than a bit rusty.]
Name: Ru’Nalani
Age: 23
Race: Twi’lek
Birth place: Ylesia
Height: 5’6”
Weight: 124 lbs
Eye Color: Yellow
Hair Color: N/A
Appearance:
Attractive, but not atypical. Runa first heard the words when she was being priced by a Trandoshan slaver. Short, slender and only slightly curvy, Runa’s figure does little to dispel the stereotypes afforded to her people. Her face is ovular and her features soft. Her people are famous for their exotic skin colors, but Runa’s charcoal gray is far less exhilarating. Her skin is contrasted by pale yellow irises, though they are far from the glowing gold of the Dark Side. Rather than the voluptuous, sexy lips of a dream-woman, Runa has rather thin lips, often curved into a coy smile or a focused grimace.
When the question of wardrobe is raised, Runa rarely has much to say. She prefers darker, conservative clothing, characteristics that are foreign to her species. Black, khaki, gray, navy, and pale yellows serve her just fine, whether it is in the form of a feminine blouse or a utilitarian jacket. As long as it’s unrestrictive and reasonably elegant, Runa will wear it. Whenever footwear is concerned, Runa frequents a pair of nondescript, black slip-ons. Secretly, the Twi’lek wishes to own a beautiful Alderaanian-style evening gown with matching jewelry and heels.
Whenever necessary, she carries along a small backpack with her lightsaber, provisions, and spare clothing. Her lightsaber is a simple silver canister of little note, yet a crimson spectacle when ignited.
Personality:
In a (compound) word, passive-aggressive; Runa is certainly a strange creature when it comes to the inner workings of her psychology. She isn’t passive or weak, nor is she blatant or rash. She’s just…Runa. Though she may be livid or overjoyed, the Twi’lek will never show it. She is usually civil and coy, and always sarcastic.
She is often quiet, and not very engaging. The Twi’lek will engage in small talk, but does not function well when confronted directly. She prefers to analyze problems and pursue a subtle, light-handed course of action. As one can imagine, this can lead her to be exceptionally manipulative.
Runa is smart. She could not accomplish much of anything if it were not for her wit and poise. Nothing unintentional ever escapes her mouth. She enjoys learning and has a wide array of interests. Her fields of study range from practical to abstract, and she has a special fondness for art and nature.
Unfortunately, her observant and comparative behavior does come at a price. Runa is a tad insecure, and lacks confidence. Her feelings of inadequacy, loneliness, and hyper self-consciousness stem from hurtful experiences, and a tendency to constantly compare herself to others. These insecurities are fairly normal, but they pose a greater danger to Runa’s sanity because she has no healthy way of venting. Because of this, she is prone to private fits of anger and depression, but these fits rarely last more than a few hours. She has found that music helps soothe her woes, and it helps her stay focused and level-headed. Runa also enjoys nature in all forms and has a deep appreciation for wildlife.
Profession: Gray Jedi/Fringer
Mastery Level: Apprentice
Previous Faction/Rank: N/A
Equipment: Clothes, various provisions, utility knife, datapad,
Starship: N/A
Skills:
Languages: Basic (fluent) Huttese (advanced) Lekku (basic)
Basic Stealth
Survivalism (Arboreal)
Lightsaber: Single hilt, single phase
Color: Red
Practiced Lightsaber forms:
Shii-Cho: 4
Shien: 3
>>Sub-form Backhanded: 2
Force-Sensitive Attributes:
Telekinetic: 4
Telepathic: 5
Body: 3
Sense: 3
Protection: 4
Healing: 2
Destruction: 0
Specialized Powers:
Force Stealth
Attributes:
Physical Strength: 4
Intelligence: 7
Speed: 6
Leadership: 4
Unarmed: 4
Melee Weapons: 1
Ranged Weapons: 2
Bio:
Ke’nala was one of the lucky ones. Lucky for a slave that is. Not only was she beautiful, she was a dancer. She was spared the menial labor of the kitchens, which were always busy in the palace of Brogga the Hutt. The Twi’lek’s fortune went beyond that though, as she had made a friend outside the palace. The Twi’lek had gained the favor of a young smuggler, Ular, on one of his trips to the palace. She instantly fell in love with the kind and gentle scoundrel, as he provided a reprieve from the callous and cold life of slavery.
One thing led to another, and Kena discovered she was pregnant several weeks after her lover had left the palace on a spice run. She hid it the best she could, but after a few weeks, rumors began to circulate around the palace. Naturally, she was worried about what would happen to her.
Just before the Major Domo ordered a pregnancy test, Ular returned from a successful run. After briefly conferring with his lover, he convinced Brogga to compensate him with Kena rather than the 7,500 credits he was promised. The Hutt reluctantly conceded, and Kena was a free woman.
She and Ular promptly left the palace to start a new life on Ylesia. There, Ular had a friend that worked for the port authority and secured a decent job (ironically) as a customs officer. After several months of sometimes uncomfortable conditions, Kena gave birth to a slightly premature, but healthy baby girl.
Since the birth took place in a shady clinic in Hutt Space, Runa’s connection to the force was not discovered by means of a midichlorian test. She was simply taken home to the family’s tiny studio apartment.
Runa’s first couple years were relatively normal. She began learning Lekku, Basic, and some Huttese. Her mother spoke little of her people’s tongue, so she never bothered to pass it on to her daughter. Ular worked almost every day, but made time for his daughter in the afternoons.
Despite these relatively safe, stable conditions, Ylesia was in Hutt Space. No young girls were ever safe. The young family could not afford to move. Luckily for Runa, she had been noticed. Elezar was a former Jedi healer who decided to spend his last years travelling the poorer regions of the galaxy helping those in need. He just so happened to be in the very clinic that Runa was born in, and immediately felt her force presence. She was not particularly strong in the force, but undoubtedly trainable.
Elezar contacted an old associate of his, a Gray Jedi by the name of Daro. The man was looking for an apprentice, and Elezar had agreed keep his eyes peeled. It took him a few years, but when Runa was four, Daro finally arrived.
He began by telling the Twi’lek parents about their daughter’s special gifts. The middle-aged Cerean offered to take her, free of charge, from Hutt space and train her to foster her talents in a safe environment. The downside, he told them, was that they would not likely see the girl for years if at all. Kena was overjoyed at the chance to relinquish her baby girl to a safer, more stable future. Ular agreed with far more reluctance. So, at the age of four, Runa began her new life.
As soon as they boarded the ship, Runa’s training began. Daro began by telling her about himself. He was former Jedi who had left the Order because of an affair with a woman (he told her otherwise). Feeling no less obligated to the force, he decided to take on an apprentice after a few years of wandering the galaxy. He also told her of the Force, midichlorians, and the Jedi. Like any young child, she was utterly enamored by the tales of Jedi saving whole planets and nobly defending the Republic.
They were bound for Cerea. Daro inherited a small estate there when he left the Jedi Order, and it was there that Runa would be trained. When they arrived, Runa was amazed at the planet’s natural beauty and preserved state. This would inspire a lifelong respect for beauty and ecology in the young Twi’lek.
Daro’s estate was completely devoid of polluting technologies and droids, so many of the conveniences of Galactic life were unavailable to them. The Cerean thought this was a great opportunity to mold Runa into a more rugged force-user.
Her first years of her training were spent on the basics. Meditation and lessons on the history of the force and the galaxy filled her mornings. Once she had eaten a small meal, she practiced her reading, writing, and arithmetic. The girl was a quick study, and could soon read and write Aurebesh and speak Basic, as well as some Huttese. She was also interested in the history of the Republic and the Jedi, especially their origins and the Tionese War. Afternoons were spent on either more meditation or walks through the jungle where Daro taught her to feel the raw life energies of the ecosystem. It was overwhelming, but Runa eventually learned to feel and recognize specific force signatures.
Her life was pretty routine for the next several years, and she made real progress on both her conventional and Force lessons. Eventually, her master began teaching her more advanced force practices, like how to pick up and throw objects, communicate through the force, sense emotions, heal minor injuries, nurture plants, and a plethora of other useful, if basic powers.
Her favorite areas of study were art, history, and arithmetic. Though she was not an exceptional artist, she enjoyed reading of the symphonic masterpieces of Chandrilla, Alderaan, and Coruscant. She loved to gaze at Daro’s collection of beautiful landscape paintings (the collection was assembled by his father, who was a major patron of such works).
She was not particularly prodigious with Shii-Cho, but Daro recognized her agility and grace and set her on the path of Shien. He knew some of the form, but his specialty was Soresu. Nevertheless, he endeavored to teach the child Shien. She always had a retort, answer, or excuse for everything, so he reasoned it a good fit.
When Runa was ten, a strange woman and boy arrived on Cerea. Both were Human force-users. She turned out to be a friend of Daro’s from the Order. Her name was Nelani, she had been a sentinel in the order, specializing in the arts of infiltration and stealth. As it turned out, she was the reason Daro left the Order, but Runa is not aware of that even presently. The boy was her apprentice, Jace. The Human was a few years older than her, and had shown great talent with Soresu and Telekinesis.
Runa soon became aware that the strange Humans would be joining them and that she and Jace were going to train alongside one another. Though she was a scared and confused about the whole ordeal, the Apprentice said nothing.
Jace had his own lightsaber and that greatly irritated Runa. Sometimes, at night, she would use the force to silence her footsteps and slow her breath so that she could sneak into his room and hold the majestic tool and weapon. Noticing her envy, Daro waited until Runa was twelve before he began helping her build a lightsaber.
He gave her the components, but told her that she must find her own crystal. Believing it a good opportunity for the two to bond as master and apprentice, Daro suggested Nelani take Runa to the crystal caves of Dantooine to find it.
Nelani reluctantly agreed and the two set out on their journey. Though the Human was cool and spoke little, Runa learned some things about her, such as her affinity for concealment and discretion. The prospect of hiding oneself from others greatly interested the young Twi’lek. They began talking about the technique and even practicing a bit on the way to Dantooine.
Once they arrived on the planet, it took them a week to find the caves. During this time, Runa got her first taste of combat. They were camping out with a group of farmers in the Khoonda Plains when a group of Kath hounds decided to attack them. Though the farmers did their best with the limited weaponry they had, it was Nelani’s Jar’Kai that saved them from the predators. Though she was frightened and disturbed by the violence, Runa was further excited by the sight of the lightsabers in action. She couldn’t wait to have her own.
Luckily, she wouldn’t have to wait much longer. The next day, the Gray Jedi found a smaller, more secluded cave with only a few crystals. Much to Nelani’s concern, Runa was immediately drawn to the only red crystal in the cave. It reminded her of the days when she would don her mother’s old red bathrobe and pretend it was a dancing dress. It also contrasted her skin with terrible beauty.
They made haste to return to Cerea, where Runa was told to meditate on the crystal for as long as need be. She sat in seclusion, several kilometers from the estate, in the jungle. There, she was at peace and surrounded by the natural beauty of the force.
It took her four days to “bond” with the crystal and another three to assemble her lightsaber properly with the parts she had been given. In the end, she was immensely proud of the crimson masterpiece, viewing it as her greatest accomplishment to date.
With a real lightsaber now in her grasp, her swordsmanship improved greatly and her learning progressed much faster than before. This was partially due to Jace, as he made an excellent sparring partner. His Soresu proved a formidable match to her beginner Shien.
It was also around this time that the Apprentice’s bodies began to change, they began to resemble adults. Runa grew into a slim, attractive girl. Jace did not grow to be exceptionally tall, but he was well built and better looking than average. As their bodies changed, so did their emotions. Each of their masters, in true Jedi fashion, had warned them against emotions such as passion, anger, and love. But alas, they were teenagers, and their hormones were uncontrollable.
Long jungle strolls and sparring matches sometimes ended with a discreet kiss, their curiosity never truly being satisfied. One day, while the adults were out attending to some business, they made love. It was awkward and exhilarating, like ecstasy and torture all at the same time for Runa.
They weren’t quite the same after that. They still sparred and made small talk, but the midnight kisses and intrigue were gone. Secretly, Runa had fallen in love with him, clouded by emotions and lust. Being very honest and direct, Jace eventually told her up front that he was sorry for what had happened, and that he did not want to pursue a relationship. Outwardly, she reacted exactly how he expected, with concurrence.
But secretly, she was distraught. She had given up her virtue, her innocence, for him and he had the nerve not to love her? It didn’t make sense to her. Runa would stay up for hours sobbing, absolutely in pieces over the incident. Her master noticed when she was lagging behind with her training, and confronted her about it. She made up an excuse for Daro, and quickly realized her folly.
From that moment on, she vowed to construct a fortress around her mind. The apprentice quickly became adept at hiding and restraining her emotions. She fabricated an entirely different person: the visible Runa. She was polite and respectful, but the real Runa was quietly bitter and controlling.
She would manipulate even the most minor of situations for mere amusement. When someone crossed her or disagreed with her, she would openly lament or concede, but manufacture payback in various forms. It all became a game for her. Now, this isn’t to say she still didn’t care for her masters or Jace, she just received a great deal of amusement from being unseen. In fact, she had completely gotten over her incident with the Human by the time she was 17. She loved Daro like a father, and Nelani as a more distant aunt or step-parent.
Once she decided to hide and suppress her emotions, Runa remained devoted to her studies of the force, becoming an adept telepath. Also during this time, she began to utilize a backhand variant of Shien. Her master knew little of the technique, but she preferred it over the orthodox form so he made no protest.
Nelani began to teach her the basics of concealing one’s self in the force. She also learned to make herself harder to physically detect through a combination of practice and force techniques. Her second master taught her how to pick simple locks as well, despite limited opportunities for practice.
When it came to her sparring performance, she was better rounded and a more graceful duelist than her fellow apprentice, but was no match for his force powers. He was found to have a stronger connection to the force than her, but he lacked her abstract cleverness and agility. To augment the latter, Runa began to train rigorously in the jungle, using both the force and her body to fly from tree branch to tree branch.
Feeling a bit secluded and out of touch from the community, Daro decided that the group of maverick Jedi would begin to serve the isolationist Cereans. They would help mediate disputes, track down criminals, and help the Council of Elders protect the environment of the serene planet.
Most of the “assignments” were petty disputes, but the Cerean master felt that negotiating would expose the apprentices to a larger variety of people and teach them vital interpersonal skills. Though not particularly patient, Runa was diplomatic and analytical (in addition to having a killer poker face), so she did well enough with mediation. Jace was far less passive, preferring quick and practical arbitration. A few times, they were threatened with violence when words could not soothe an angry party. Twice, Runa had to ignite her lightsaber to dissauade violence. Another time, it could not be avoided and a man on the losing end of an arbitration drew a blaster on her. Thinking quickly, she ignited her crimson blade and redirected the bolt (by accident) before the man’s feet. She played it off as intentional, and the man continued the talks without violence.
Rarely, they would be asked to investigate unregistered or random landings in the region. Since she was increasingly skilled with stealth, Runa was assigned many of these missions. Usually, she would find wreckage from a small satellite or exploring droid. Other times, she would find small spacecraft that landed on the planet intentionally. When that was the case, Daro or Nelani took over, something that irritated Runa greatly.
Their training continued, and both apprentices continued to grow in their knowledge of the force. Runa thought about her future often. When would her training be complete? What would she do then? These questions irritated the young Twi’lek because they would keep her up for hours and hours on end. She quieted her anxiety by taking long walks in her fortress of solitude, the jungle. It brought her a bit of simple happiness to revive a decaying plant or encourage a young bud to bloom.
When Jace turned twenty one, both masters concluded that his training was complete. When he was told of this, the blonde-haired Human asked to be given time to meditate. He eventually decided that he would leave Cerea to explore the galaxy and carve out his niche on another world. His parting was emotional, but Runa did not deviate from her apparent nonchalance. When he left, she only hugged him, smiled, and gave a standard good bye and good luck. Truthfully, she was a little upset because she would be forced to spar with Nelani and Daro from then on.
As a sort of testament to her friend and one-time lover, she showed a renewed interest in his specialty, the third form. She began to practice it regularly, learning more from Daro as well. An entire year passed, Runa training hard the entire time so that she too could complete her training. Unfortunately, she never would. Just a year after Jace left them, Nelani disappeared.
Suspecting a minor reason for the sudden disappearance, Daro did not panic and waited a few days. Those few days passed slowly, and they eventually began scouring nearby settlements for anyone who had seen the Human. Someone in a larger town thought he saw a woman matching her description in the small spaceport, but he wasn’t sure.
After investigating further, Daro discovered that she bought passage to Riflor. This concerned him greatly since she made no mention of any such plan to him. The Cerean decided to find her. He was afraid, however, that there might have been too much danger involved to take Runa along, and commanded her to keep the estate safe. Naturally, she protested fiercely, but in the end, he got his way.
So, Runa did the only thing she could do. She waited and waited, and she waited some more. Days quickly became weeks. Weeks became months. She was beginning to get very worried about her masters, and the boredom nearly killed her. After three months, Runa defied her master. She hired two good friends of Daro’s to keep the estate up, and set off in search of him.
The Twi’lek girl, so young and naïve, could have never contemplated the incredible difficulty that her mission entailed. Her only lead was Riflor, and that’s where she set off to first. Using some money Daro had given her for emergencies, Runa chartered a visiting freighter to bring her to the nearby planet.
When she arrived, she was overwhelmed. She had grown accustomed to the solitude and relative quiet of Cerea’s clean cities and jungle. Loud, bustling crowds of aliens she had only read about were enough to overwhelm her, but the impossible quest she had undertaken on top of that nearly pushed her to a nervous breakdown. She avoided this by meditating every morning and afternoon on the rooftop of the tenement she was renting from. She learned to tune out the numbing, raw force energy of the planet and adjusted quickly. When her funds began to dry up, Runa began to worry. She took a part time job as a waitress to help pay the rent and her living costs, though she kept her force-sensitivity a secret. Her main job was still searching for clues though.
Just as she was about to give up hope, she overheard a Mirialan talking about a Cerean Jedi that had passed through asking lots of questions. She used the force to subtly sway his attention to her and purposely waited his table. She made sure to unbutton the top of her shirt as an insurance measure. Needless to say, he noticed and he waited until her shift was over to take her back to his ship. As it turned out, he was a smuggler that had been impounded on the planet for the past several months. He had noticed Daro in the spaceport, asking many questions.
To get this information, Runa had to do some very sexual things she is not proud of. But, it paid off in the long run, for she visited the space port and found out that her master’s next stop was her home planet of Ylesia, in Hutt Space. When he was finally allowed to leave the planet, the smuggler offered her free ride to the planet since he was bound for Nar Shadaa anyway. Though she accepted his offer, Runa expected that he wanted more sex.
When she finally arrived on her home planet, Runa seriously considered trying to find her parents, but she ultimately decided against it. She wanted to focus on the search for Daro. Unfortunately, the trail went cold on Ylesia, even after she investigated every force-related occurrence she could get her hands on.
With her faith waning, Runa was left with little option but to leave Ylesia. Hutt Space was cruel, exceedingly so to unprotected Twi’lek females. She searched high and low for passage off the planet, but most freighters were either full or far too expensive. As her situation became more hopeless with each passing day, Runa fell into a depressive slump.
Runa again found work as a waitress, something she despised deeply. She worked in a seedy corner restaurant where she received quite a bit of unwanted attention, but made enough to survive and rent a room from a Gran woman nearby.
Even with her hectic life conditions, the Twi’lek still made time for training. She’d wake early in the morning to meditate in a discreet location. Once she was centered, Runa would practice her lightsaber forms as well as force techniques. During this time, she became adept at shrinking her force presence and began shrouding her aura at all times as a precautionary measure. She hadn’t forgotten Daro’s lessons on Dark Jedi and was afraid of being discovered by one.
Never was she so grateful for her combat training than her time on Ylesia. Due to the lawless nature of Hutt Space, gangs ran free and unrestrained on the planet. Her first encounter was with a drunken Trandoshan who refused to leave the restaurant at closing time. Runa pleaded with him, but he only became more and more belligerent. After several minutes, he attacked her with his claws. She was able to evade his clumsy swipes. Though she tried to avoid using the force in public, Runa’s hand was forced and she force pushed the Trandoshan into a wall, then onto the ground. He limped off disappointed, and Runa continued with her duties with an air of nonchalance as the other workers gaped at the seemingly delicate Twi’lek.
Another encounter with a pair of Humans did not end so well. While returning home from work one night, an already irritable Runa was confronted by two very sketchy looking “businessmen.” They claimed to be salesmen, but she sensed that something was very amiss. Curious, Runa appeared to let her guard down. No sooner had she done so that they drew weapons and attempted to capture her. One of them swung at her with a club weapon, knocking her down and breaking a rib. Before she hit the ground, Runa was filled with adrenaline and rolled away from her attackers. In half a second, her lightsaber was in her hand and ignited. The men hesitated for a second, but the Twi’lek did not. She turned the tables, forcing her attackers to become victims. She dismembered an arm from one of the attackers and force pulled the second onto her lightsaber, skewering him. The first collapsed in pain and attempted flee while the other was killed instantly. Confused and afraid, Runa ran.
When she returned to her room, Runa sat on her bed for an entire hour before moving. She couldn’t process that she had just killed someone. But through that flowering guilt she knew one thing. She needed to get the hell off of Ylesia. She was sure that word would get out of a force-user lurking around the area; then the bounty hunters would come. A female, Twi’lek Jedi was a fine thing to own and almost any Hutt would be proud to call her his slave. She quickly gathered her things, paid her rent and was gone by sunset of the next day.
After a bribe and a convincing wink, Runa was able to stowaway on a freighter just as it was about to take off. She had no idea where it was headed, but was grateful to be off of Ylesia.
RP Sample:
Ylesia was a sketchy place. The thought had crossed Runa’s mind a thousand times. Though it was her home planet, she still felt uneasy while walking down a back alley or unlit street. Of course, she was a well-trained, lightsaber wielding force-user, and was quite capable of self-defense. Still, the dark, shady streets of the city made the young Twi’lek feel very uneasy.
She was walking home after getting off of work. It had been a long day at the restaurant, and she was ready for a warm shower and a soft bed. So, rather than take the longer, safer way, Runa decided to take a shortcut through a seedier part of town. She had been there a few times before, but avoided it when she could. If she stuck to the street and avoided the back alleys, she should be fine. Besides, it was half past ten, she figured most of the trouble makers would be in their respective hole-in-the-wall establishments.
Runa continued walking for a few minutes until her silent gait was interrupted by the sound of a body hitting the ground. She froze and her heart nearly dropped as she noticed a heap of man, a Wroonian, thrown onto the sidewalk. Runa immediately fell into a low crouch and had her hand on her lightsaber. She stood in this manner for an entire minute before she relaxed and slowly approached the apparent corpse.
Then the corpse stood up. Obviously very alive, the man stammered something and reached toward one of her lekku. Runa recoiled instinctively, but almost laughed out loud when she realized he was no threat at all. The Wroonian was undeniably inebriated, and was reaching for her for support. Instead, he fell to the ground with a distinct thud.
Runa could not help but chuckle at herself. Only moments before she had been scared for her life, and now she was standing over some poor, harmless sod. She tried to resume her walk but felt guilty for leaving her “friend” out in the street. Cursing herself quietly, Runa grabbed one of his legs and dragged him to an adjacent cantina. She propped his torso up against the building’s cheap siding and slipped a few credits into his shirt pocket.
Content with her random act of kindness, an amused Runa strode away with a coy grin on her face.
Name: Ru’Nalani
Age: 23
Race: Twi’lek
Birth place: Ylesia
Height: 5’6”
Weight: 124 lbs
Eye Color: Yellow
Hair Color: N/A
Appearance:
Attractive, but not atypical. Runa first heard the words when she was being priced by a Trandoshan slaver. Short, slender and only slightly curvy, Runa’s figure does little to dispel the stereotypes afforded to her people. Her face is ovular and her features soft. Her people are famous for their exotic skin colors, but Runa’s charcoal gray is far less exhilarating. Her skin is contrasted by pale yellow irises, though they are far from the glowing gold of the Dark Side. Rather than the voluptuous, sexy lips of a dream-woman, Runa has rather thin lips, often curved into a coy smile or a focused grimace.
When the question of wardrobe is raised, Runa rarely has much to say. She prefers darker, conservative clothing, characteristics that are foreign to her species. Black, khaki, gray, navy, and pale yellows serve her just fine, whether it is in the form of a feminine blouse or a utilitarian jacket. As long as it’s unrestrictive and reasonably elegant, Runa will wear it. Whenever footwear is concerned, Runa frequents a pair of nondescript, black slip-ons. Secretly, the Twi’lek wishes to own a beautiful Alderaanian-style evening gown with matching jewelry and heels.
Whenever necessary, she carries along a small backpack with her lightsaber, provisions, and spare clothing. Her lightsaber is a simple silver canister of little note, yet a crimson spectacle when ignited.
Personality:
In a (compound) word, passive-aggressive; Runa is certainly a strange creature when it comes to the inner workings of her psychology. She isn’t passive or weak, nor is she blatant or rash. She’s just…Runa. Though she may be livid or overjoyed, the Twi’lek will never show it. She is usually civil and coy, and always sarcastic.
She is often quiet, and not very engaging. The Twi’lek will engage in small talk, but does not function well when confronted directly. She prefers to analyze problems and pursue a subtle, light-handed course of action. As one can imagine, this can lead her to be exceptionally manipulative.
Runa is smart. She could not accomplish much of anything if it were not for her wit and poise. Nothing unintentional ever escapes her mouth. She enjoys learning and has a wide array of interests. Her fields of study range from practical to abstract, and she has a special fondness for art and nature.
Unfortunately, her observant and comparative behavior does come at a price. Runa is a tad insecure, and lacks confidence. Her feelings of inadequacy, loneliness, and hyper self-consciousness stem from hurtful experiences, and a tendency to constantly compare herself to others. These insecurities are fairly normal, but they pose a greater danger to Runa’s sanity because she has no healthy way of venting. Because of this, she is prone to private fits of anger and depression, but these fits rarely last more than a few hours. She has found that music helps soothe her woes, and it helps her stay focused and level-headed. Runa also enjoys nature in all forms and has a deep appreciation for wildlife.
Profession: Gray Jedi/Fringer
Mastery Level: Apprentice
Previous Faction/Rank: N/A
Equipment: Clothes, various provisions, utility knife, datapad,
Starship: N/A
Skills:
Languages: Basic (fluent) Huttese (advanced) Lekku (basic)
Basic Stealth
Survivalism (Arboreal)
Lightsaber: Single hilt, single phase
Color: Red
Practiced Lightsaber forms:
Shii-Cho: 4
Shien: 3
>>Sub-form Backhanded: 2
Force-Sensitive Attributes:
Telekinetic: 4
Telepathic: 5
Body: 3
Sense: 3
Protection: 4
Healing: 2
Destruction: 0
Specialized Powers:
Force Stealth
Attributes:
Physical Strength: 4
Intelligence: 7
Speed: 6
Leadership: 4
Unarmed: 4
Melee Weapons: 1
Ranged Weapons: 2
Bio:
Ke’nala was one of the lucky ones. Lucky for a slave that is. Not only was she beautiful, she was a dancer. She was spared the menial labor of the kitchens, which were always busy in the palace of Brogga the Hutt. The Twi’lek’s fortune went beyond that though, as she had made a friend outside the palace. The Twi’lek had gained the favor of a young smuggler, Ular, on one of his trips to the palace. She instantly fell in love with the kind and gentle scoundrel, as he provided a reprieve from the callous and cold life of slavery.
One thing led to another, and Kena discovered she was pregnant several weeks after her lover had left the palace on a spice run. She hid it the best she could, but after a few weeks, rumors began to circulate around the palace. Naturally, she was worried about what would happen to her.
Just before the Major Domo ordered a pregnancy test, Ular returned from a successful run. After briefly conferring with his lover, he convinced Brogga to compensate him with Kena rather than the 7,500 credits he was promised. The Hutt reluctantly conceded, and Kena was a free woman.
She and Ular promptly left the palace to start a new life on Ylesia. There, Ular had a friend that worked for the port authority and secured a decent job (ironically) as a customs officer. After several months of sometimes uncomfortable conditions, Kena gave birth to a slightly premature, but healthy baby girl.
Since the birth took place in a shady clinic in Hutt Space, Runa’s connection to the force was not discovered by means of a midichlorian test. She was simply taken home to the family’s tiny studio apartment.
Runa’s first couple years were relatively normal. She began learning Lekku, Basic, and some Huttese. Her mother spoke little of her people’s tongue, so she never bothered to pass it on to her daughter. Ular worked almost every day, but made time for his daughter in the afternoons.
Despite these relatively safe, stable conditions, Ylesia was in Hutt Space. No young girls were ever safe. The young family could not afford to move. Luckily for Runa, she had been noticed. Elezar was a former Jedi healer who decided to spend his last years travelling the poorer regions of the galaxy helping those in need. He just so happened to be in the very clinic that Runa was born in, and immediately felt her force presence. She was not particularly strong in the force, but undoubtedly trainable.
Elezar contacted an old associate of his, a Gray Jedi by the name of Daro. The man was looking for an apprentice, and Elezar had agreed keep his eyes peeled. It took him a few years, but when Runa was four, Daro finally arrived.
He began by telling the Twi’lek parents about their daughter’s special gifts. The middle-aged Cerean offered to take her, free of charge, from Hutt space and train her to foster her talents in a safe environment. The downside, he told them, was that they would not likely see the girl for years if at all. Kena was overjoyed at the chance to relinquish her baby girl to a safer, more stable future. Ular agreed with far more reluctance. So, at the age of four, Runa began her new life.
As soon as they boarded the ship, Runa’s training began. Daro began by telling her about himself. He was former Jedi who had left the Order because of an affair with a woman (he told her otherwise). Feeling no less obligated to the force, he decided to take on an apprentice after a few years of wandering the galaxy. He also told her of the Force, midichlorians, and the Jedi. Like any young child, she was utterly enamored by the tales of Jedi saving whole planets and nobly defending the Republic.
They were bound for Cerea. Daro inherited a small estate there when he left the Jedi Order, and it was there that Runa would be trained. When they arrived, Runa was amazed at the planet’s natural beauty and preserved state. This would inspire a lifelong respect for beauty and ecology in the young Twi’lek.
Daro’s estate was completely devoid of polluting technologies and droids, so many of the conveniences of Galactic life were unavailable to them. The Cerean thought this was a great opportunity to mold Runa into a more rugged force-user.
Her first years of her training were spent on the basics. Meditation and lessons on the history of the force and the galaxy filled her mornings. Once she had eaten a small meal, she practiced her reading, writing, and arithmetic. The girl was a quick study, and could soon read and write Aurebesh and speak Basic, as well as some Huttese. She was also interested in the history of the Republic and the Jedi, especially their origins and the Tionese War. Afternoons were spent on either more meditation or walks through the jungle where Daro taught her to feel the raw life energies of the ecosystem. It was overwhelming, but Runa eventually learned to feel and recognize specific force signatures.
Her life was pretty routine for the next several years, and she made real progress on both her conventional and Force lessons. Eventually, her master began teaching her more advanced force practices, like how to pick up and throw objects, communicate through the force, sense emotions, heal minor injuries, nurture plants, and a plethora of other useful, if basic powers.
Her favorite areas of study were art, history, and arithmetic. Though she was not an exceptional artist, she enjoyed reading of the symphonic masterpieces of Chandrilla, Alderaan, and Coruscant. She loved to gaze at Daro’s collection of beautiful landscape paintings (the collection was assembled by his father, who was a major patron of such works).
She was not particularly prodigious with Shii-Cho, but Daro recognized her agility and grace and set her on the path of Shien. He knew some of the form, but his specialty was Soresu. Nevertheless, he endeavored to teach the child Shien. She always had a retort, answer, or excuse for everything, so he reasoned it a good fit.
When Runa was ten, a strange woman and boy arrived on Cerea. Both were Human force-users. She turned out to be a friend of Daro’s from the Order. Her name was Nelani, she had been a sentinel in the order, specializing in the arts of infiltration and stealth. As it turned out, she was the reason Daro left the Order, but Runa is not aware of that even presently. The boy was her apprentice, Jace. The Human was a few years older than her, and had shown great talent with Soresu and Telekinesis.
Runa soon became aware that the strange Humans would be joining them and that she and Jace were going to train alongside one another. Though she was a scared and confused about the whole ordeal, the Apprentice said nothing.
Jace had his own lightsaber and that greatly irritated Runa. Sometimes, at night, she would use the force to silence her footsteps and slow her breath so that she could sneak into his room and hold the majestic tool and weapon. Noticing her envy, Daro waited until Runa was twelve before he began helping her build a lightsaber.
He gave her the components, but told her that she must find her own crystal. Believing it a good opportunity for the two to bond as master and apprentice, Daro suggested Nelani take Runa to the crystal caves of Dantooine to find it.
Nelani reluctantly agreed and the two set out on their journey. Though the Human was cool and spoke little, Runa learned some things about her, such as her affinity for concealment and discretion. The prospect of hiding oneself from others greatly interested the young Twi’lek. They began talking about the technique and even practicing a bit on the way to Dantooine.
Once they arrived on the planet, it took them a week to find the caves. During this time, Runa got her first taste of combat. They were camping out with a group of farmers in the Khoonda Plains when a group of Kath hounds decided to attack them. Though the farmers did their best with the limited weaponry they had, it was Nelani’s Jar’Kai that saved them from the predators. Though she was frightened and disturbed by the violence, Runa was further excited by the sight of the lightsabers in action. She couldn’t wait to have her own.
Luckily, she wouldn’t have to wait much longer. The next day, the Gray Jedi found a smaller, more secluded cave with only a few crystals. Much to Nelani’s concern, Runa was immediately drawn to the only red crystal in the cave. It reminded her of the days when she would don her mother’s old red bathrobe and pretend it was a dancing dress. It also contrasted her skin with terrible beauty.
They made haste to return to Cerea, where Runa was told to meditate on the crystal for as long as need be. She sat in seclusion, several kilometers from the estate, in the jungle. There, she was at peace and surrounded by the natural beauty of the force.
It took her four days to “bond” with the crystal and another three to assemble her lightsaber properly with the parts she had been given. In the end, she was immensely proud of the crimson masterpiece, viewing it as her greatest accomplishment to date.
With a real lightsaber now in her grasp, her swordsmanship improved greatly and her learning progressed much faster than before. This was partially due to Jace, as he made an excellent sparring partner. His Soresu proved a formidable match to her beginner Shien.
It was also around this time that the Apprentice’s bodies began to change, they began to resemble adults. Runa grew into a slim, attractive girl. Jace did not grow to be exceptionally tall, but he was well built and better looking than average. As their bodies changed, so did their emotions. Each of their masters, in true Jedi fashion, had warned them against emotions such as passion, anger, and love. But alas, they were teenagers, and their hormones were uncontrollable.
Long jungle strolls and sparring matches sometimes ended with a discreet kiss, their curiosity never truly being satisfied. One day, while the adults were out attending to some business, they made love. It was awkward and exhilarating, like ecstasy and torture all at the same time for Runa.
They weren’t quite the same after that. They still sparred and made small talk, but the midnight kisses and intrigue were gone. Secretly, Runa had fallen in love with him, clouded by emotions and lust. Being very honest and direct, Jace eventually told her up front that he was sorry for what had happened, and that he did not want to pursue a relationship. Outwardly, she reacted exactly how he expected, with concurrence.
But secretly, she was distraught. She had given up her virtue, her innocence, for him and he had the nerve not to love her? It didn’t make sense to her. Runa would stay up for hours sobbing, absolutely in pieces over the incident. Her master noticed when she was lagging behind with her training, and confronted her about it. She made up an excuse for Daro, and quickly realized her folly.
From that moment on, she vowed to construct a fortress around her mind. The apprentice quickly became adept at hiding and restraining her emotions. She fabricated an entirely different person: the visible Runa. She was polite and respectful, but the real Runa was quietly bitter and controlling.
She would manipulate even the most minor of situations for mere amusement. When someone crossed her or disagreed with her, she would openly lament or concede, but manufacture payback in various forms. It all became a game for her. Now, this isn’t to say she still didn’t care for her masters or Jace, she just received a great deal of amusement from being unseen. In fact, she had completely gotten over her incident with the Human by the time she was 17. She loved Daro like a father, and Nelani as a more distant aunt or step-parent.
Once she decided to hide and suppress her emotions, Runa remained devoted to her studies of the force, becoming an adept telepath. Also during this time, she began to utilize a backhand variant of Shien. Her master knew little of the technique, but she preferred it over the orthodox form so he made no protest.
Nelani began to teach her the basics of concealing one’s self in the force. She also learned to make herself harder to physically detect through a combination of practice and force techniques. Her second master taught her how to pick simple locks as well, despite limited opportunities for practice.
When it came to her sparring performance, she was better rounded and a more graceful duelist than her fellow apprentice, but was no match for his force powers. He was found to have a stronger connection to the force than her, but he lacked her abstract cleverness and agility. To augment the latter, Runa began to train rigorously in the jungle, using both the force and her body to fly from tree branch to tree branch.
Feeling a bit secluded and out of touch from the community, Daro decided that the group of maverick Jedi would begin to serve the isolationist Cereans. They would help mediate disputes, track down criminals, and help the Council of Elders protect the environment of the serene planet.
Most of the “assignments” were petty disputes, but the Cerean master felt that negotiating would expose the apprentices to a larger variety of people and teach them vital interpersonal skills. Though not particularly patient, Runa was diplomatic and analytical (in addition to having a killer poker face), so she did well enough with mediation. Jace was far less passive, preferring quick and practical arbitration. A few times, they were threatened with violence when words could not soothe an angry party. Twice, Runa had to ignite her lightsaber to dissauade violence. Another time, it could not be avoided and a man on the losing end of an arbitration drew a blaster on her. Thinking quickly, she ignited her crimson blade and redirected the bolt (by accident) before the man’s feet. She played it off as intentional, and the man continued the talks without violence.
Rarely, they would be asked to investigate unregistered or random landings in the region. Since she was increasingly skilled with stealth, Runa was assigned many of these missions. Usually, she would find wreckage from a small satellite or exploring droid. Other times, she would find small spacecraft that landed on the planet intentionally. When that was the case, Daro or Nelani took over, something that irritated Runa greatly.
Their training continued, and both apprentices continued to grow in their knowledge of the force. Runa thought about her future often. When would her training be complete? What would she do then? These questions irritated the young Twi’lek because they would keep her up for hours and hours on end. She quieted her anxiety by taking long walks in her fortress of solitude, the jungle. It brought her a bit of simple happiness to revive a decaying plant or encourage a young bud to bloom.
When Jace turned twenty one, both masters concluded that his training was complete. When he was told of this, the blonde-haired Human asked to be given time to meditate. He eventually decided that he would leave Cerea to explore the galaxy and carve out his niche on another world. His parting was emotional, but Runa did not deviate from her apparent nonchalance. When he left, she only hugged him, smiled, and gave a standard good bye and good luck. Truthfully, she was a little upset because she would be forced to spar with Nelani and Daro from then on.
As a sort of testament to her friend and one-time lover, she showed a renewed interest in his specialty, the third form. She began to practice it regularly, learning more from Daro as well. An entire year passed, Runa training hard the entire time so that she too could complete her training. Unfortunately, she never would. Just a year after Jace left them, Nelani disappeared.
Suspecting a minor reason for the sudden disappearance, Daro did not panic and waited a few days. Those few days passed slowly, and they eventually began scouring nearby settlements for anyone who had seen the Human. Someone in a larger town thought he saw a woman matching her description in the small spaceport, but he wasn’t sure.
After investigating further, Daro discovered that she bought passage to Riflor. This concerned him greatly since she made no mention of any such plan to him. The Cerean decided to find her. He was afraid, however, that there might have been too much danger involved to take Runa along, and commanded her to keep the estate safe. Naturally, she protested fiercely, but in the end, he got his way.
So, Runa did the only thing she could do. She waited and waited, and she waited some more. Days quickly became weeks. Weeks became months. She was beginning to get very worried about her masters, and the boredom nearly killed her. After three months, Runa defied her master. She hired two good friends of Daro’s to keep the estate up, and set off in search of him.
The Twi’lek girl, so young and naïve, could have never contemplated the incredible difficulty that her mission entailed. Her only lead was Riflor, and that’s where she set off to first. Using some money Daro had given her for emergencies, Runa chartered a visiting freighter to bring her to the nearby planet.
When she arrived, she was overwhelmed. She had grown accustomed to the solitude and relative quiet of Cerea’s clean cities and jungle. Loud, bustling crowds of aliens she had only read about were enough to overwhelm her, but the impossible quest she had undertaken on top of that nearly pushed her to a nervous breakdown. She avoided this by meditating every morning and afternoon on the rooftop of the tenement she was renting from. She learned to tune out the numbing, raw force energy of the planet and adjusted quickly. When her funds began to dry up, Runa began to worry. She took a part time job as a waitress to help pay the rent and her living costs, though she kept her force-sensitivity a secret. Her main job was still searching for clues though.
Just as she was about to give up hope, she overheard a Mirialan talking about a Cerean Jedi that had passed through asking lots of questions. She used the force to subtly sway his attention to her and purposely waited his table. She made sure to unbutton the top of her shirt as an insurance measure. Needless to say, he noticed and he waited until her shift was over to take her back to his ship. As it turned out, he was a smuggler that had been impounded on the planet for the past several months. He had noticed Daro in the spaceport, asking many questions.
To get this information, Runa had to do some very sexual things she is not proud of. But, it paid off in the long run, for she visited the space port and found out that her master’s next stop was her home planet of Ylesia, in Hutt Space. When he was finally allowed to leave the planet, the smuggler offered her free ride to the planet since he was bound for Nar Shadaa anyway. Though she accepted his offer, Runa expected that he wanted more sex.
When she finally arrived on her home planet, Runa seriously considered trying to find her parents, but she ultimately decided against it. She wanted to focus on the search for Daro. Unfortunately, the trail went cold on Ylesia, even after she investigated every force-related occurrence she could get her hands on.
With her faith waning, Runa was left with little option but to leave Ylesia. Hutt Space was cruel, exceedingly so to unprotected Twi’lek females. She searched high and low for passage off the planet, but most freighters were either full or far too expensive. As her situation became more hopeless with each passing day, Runa fell into a depressive slump.
Runa again found work as a waitress, something she despised deeply. She worked in a seedy corner restaurant where she received quite a bit of unwanted attention, but made enough to survive and rent a room from a Gran woman nearby.
Even with her hectic life conditions, the Twi’lek still made time for training. She’d wake early in the morning to meditate in a discreet location. Once she was centered, Runa would practice her lightsaber forms as well as force techniques. During this time, she became adept at shrinking her force presence and began shrouding her aura at all times as a precautionary measure. She hadn’t forgotten Daro’s lessons on Dark Jedi and was afraid of being discovered by one.
Never was she so grateful for her combat training than her time on Ylesia. Due to the lawless nature of Hutt Space, gangs ran free and unrestrained on the planet. Her first encounter was with a drunken Trandoshan who refused to leave the restaurant at closing time. Runa pleaded with him, but he only became more and more belligerent. After several minutes, he attacked her with his claws. She was able to evade his clumsy swipes. Though she tried to avoid using the force in public, Runa’s hand was forced and she force pushed the Trandoshan into a wall, then onto the ground. He limped off disappointed, and Runa continued with her duties with an air of nonchalance as the other workers gaped at the seemingly delicate Twi’lek.
Another encounter with a pair of Humans did not end so well. While returning home from work one night, an already irritable Runa was confronted by two very sketchy looking “businessmen.” They claimed to be salesmen, but she sensed that something was very amiss. Curious, Runa appeared to let her guard down. No sooner had she done so that they drew weapons and attempted to capture her. One of them swung at her with a club weapon, knocking her down and breaking a rib. Before she hit the ground, Runa was filled with adrenaline and rolled away from her attackers. In half a second, her lightsaber was in her hand and ignited. The men hesitated for a second, but the Twi’lek did not. She turned the tables, forcing her attackers to become victims. She dismembered an arm from one of the attackers and force pulled the second onto her lightsaber, skewering him. The first collapsed in pain and attempted flee while the other was killed instantly. Confused and afraid, Runa ran.
When she returned to her room, Runa sat on her bed for an entire hour before moving. She couldn’t process that she had just killed someone. But through that flowering guilt she knew one thing. She needed to get the hell off of Ylesia. She was sure that word would get out of a force-user lurking around the area; then the bounty hunters would come. A female, Twi’lek Jedi was a fine thing to own and almost any Hutt would be proud to call her his slave. She quickly gathered her things, paid her rent and was gone by sunset of the next day.
After a bribe and a convincing wink, Runa was able to stowaway on a freighter just as it was about to take off. She had no idea where it was headed, but was grateful to be off of Ylesia.
RP Sample:
Ylesia was a sketchy place. The thought had crossed Runa’s mind a thousand times. Though it was her home planet, she still felt uneasy while walking down a back alley or unlit street. Of course, she was a well-trained, lightsaber wielding force-user, and was quite capable of self-defense. Still, the dark, shady streets of the city made the young Twi’lek feel very uneasy.
She was walking home after getting off of work. It had been a long day at the restaurant, and she was ready for a warm shower and a soft bed. So, rather than take the longer, safer way, Runa decided to take a shortcut through a seedier part of town. She had been there a few times before, but avoided it when she could. If she stuck to the street and avoided the back alleys, she should be fine. Besides, it was half past ten, she figured most of the trouble makers would be in their respective hole-in-the-wall establishments.
Runa continued walking for a few minutes until her silent gait was interrupted by the sound of a body hitting the ground. She froze and her heart nearly dropped as she noticed a heap of man, a Wroonian, thrown onto the sidewalk. Runa immediately fell into a low crouch and had her hand on her lightsaber. She stood in this manner for an entire minute before she relaxed and slowly approached the apparent corpse.
Then the corpse stood up. Obviously very alive, the man stammered something and reached toward one of her lekku. Runa recoiled instinctively, but almost laughed out loud when she realized he was no threat at all. The Wroonian was undeniably inebriated, and was reaching for her for support. Instead, he fell to the ground with a distinct thud.
Runa could not help but chuckle at herself. Only moments before she had been scared for her life, and now she was standing over some poor, harmless sod. She tried to resume her walk but felt guilty for leaving her “friend” out in the street. Cursing herself quietly, Runa grabbed one of his legs and dragged him to an adjacent cantina. She propped his torso up against the building’s cheap siding and slipped a few credits into his shirt pocket.
Content with her random act of kindness, an amused Runa strode away with a coy grin on her face.
