This section will cover any major updates to the character's story as the campaign unfolds.
- Please provide a brief (at least one short paragraph) backstory for your character.
Eyton grew up among the stars. Her parents are long haul freighter pilots, raising their five kids aboard The Under Endless Stars as they made their way across the galaxy. Technically, they were based out of Coruscant, but the Kella clan never spent more than a couple weeks there every few months, picking up the next haul and restocking. Eyton wouldn't have had it any other way.
Her parents' love of piloting passed to their eldest daughter, and soon after she turned 19, Eyton waved them and her little siblings goodbye and went off to find her own fortune in the galaxy. Unlike her parents, who were content with their clunky but homey freighter, Eyton wanted to be in the cockpit of a starfighter. She’d watched the dramatic holos of the great fights between starfighters, the dogfights in space that turned the tide and won the battles, and she was determined to not just be like them, but to be the best of them! Eyton contracted with the Mining Guild for a few months, providing security from pirates (and the occasional rival). She loved the freedom she found in her fighter, the way the galaxy all fell away when she sped through the stars. And she was good at it. Barely old enough to have her own license and she somehow managed to pilot circles around most people. But most people isn't everyone, and Eyton wanted to be the best.
Even in the remote mining colonies, rumors of the Jedi abilities reached her ears. Of particular interest to this budding pilot were the rumors of their speed and abilities behind the wheel, not to mention the fact that some of the best starfighter pilots in the galaxy currently called the Temple home. Something tugged at her, a feeling that what the Jedi could do sounded a lot like what she could do. She thought it was at least worth a trip to check out, and one visit to the Temple later, Eyton had her suspicions confirmed: She was Force Sensitive. She finished out the length of her guild contract and moved to Dantooine, ready to find whatever waited for her among the Jedi. And of course to prove that there was no one as good as her in a ship! She managed to talk her long time friend Erii into coming too, and there was part of her that was grateful that even if the Jedi were new and unknown, she at least had a friendly face among them. - Why does your character want to be a jedi? Eyton is still figuring out what it means to be a Jedi. In her very incomplete view of them, being a Jedi means being the best at what you do. So from that perspective, if she could be a Jedi, why wouldn’t she? She wants to be the best pilot she could possibly be, and the Jedi seem to be the way to get there!
- Are
there aspects of your character’s background (people, events, places)
that were more formative to your character’s current personal
development? The two most formative aspects of Eyton’s background are her family and their ship. To her, ships are home. The smell of engine grease and rumble of a hyperdrive are comforting to her, and she was practically born with a spanner in hand, always helping keep The UES up and running. She feels most comfortable in a ship out among the stars, but the only place she’s ever felt really uncomfortable was deep underground. Something about so much between her and the sky felt wrong.
Growing up, it was just her and her family. Growing up on The UES meant she didn’t have the chance to get to know that many people deeply, but that was okay with her. She had her best friends in her siblings, and what could beat that? She still has a hard time figuring out how to open up to other people, mostly because making friends isn’t a skill she’s really had to learn. She’s friendly, for sure, but getting beyond the surface level is difficult for her. - Describe the kinds of personal relationships you might have had in your past? Eyton has had a lot of surface level friendships and relationships. She has trouble connecting with people that aren’t her family because she usually never stuck around any one place long enough. There’s a few people that she clicked with and kept up long distance friendships with, like Erii, but for the most part she breezes in and out of people’s lives.
During her time with the mining guild, she made a few rivalries with people. They were all constantly competing for best routes and details, and only by being the best of the bunch did you get what you wanted. In particular, there was a male Twi’lek pilot named Ziddeb Sonn who signed a contract at around the same time as her. They had a rivalry that led to each of them becoming better pilots, until Eyton started to slowly but surely edge him out as the best of them. She wasn’t particularly gracious in her winning, soiling their friendly rivalry and souring Ziddeb against her. It’s her one regret when leaving the mining guild, and something she’s now nascently aware of that she needs to watch out for about herself.
Her relationship to her family has shown her that she’s deeply loyal when someone does manage to make a connection with her. Her little siblings might annoy her sometimes, and she could do without her parents being a little worried about their baby setting out in the galaxy, but there’s nothing she wouldn’t do for her family. When Tanza wanted to see her favorite band on Coruscant, Eyton scrimped and saved for months to afford the best tickets they could get. When Javan was young and wanted to stay around his big sister all day, Eyton would always make time to read to him and hold his hand as they walked around and checked whatever cargo The UES was carrying. - What is most Jedi-like about your character? What is least Jedi-like about your character? Eyton’s most Jedi-like characteristic is her drive to better herself. By the time she’s achieved one goal, she’s already looking forward to the next, never content to settle for mediocre. Her least Jedi-like characteristic is the fact that her confidence can pretty easily sway over to arrogance. She’s often of the opinion that no one can do a better job than her, which can lead to some butting heads and unwillingness to compromise.
- Does your character have a strong idea of the Force? Do they experience it in a certain way or is it a mystery to them? No, Eyton doesn’t have a strong idea of the Force at all. She doesn’t understand the esoteric or philosophical side of the Jedi at all, and really has more of a vague idea of them as a force for good in the galaxy and a place to be trained and honed.
- Some
characters have dark (or great) secrets that they keep locked away from
even their dearest friends. Does your character harbor a great regret
or a secret aspiration that is central to their character? Nope! No special secrets on this one.
- What elements of your character are you most excited to explore, whether narrative or mechanical?
Mechanically, I think engaging with space/flying/vehicles is going to be both very interesting and very challenging. It’s not an aspect of the system that I’m familiar with, so I’m looking forward to being forced to learn it since it’s the narrative core of Eyton (at least at the beginning). Narratively, I’m really looking forward to exploring someone who was a big fish in a small pond and getting humbled by realizing how much bigger the galaxy is than her little view of it.
- Does your character have a long-term plan, mechanically? Eyton does not have a long term plan mechanically. Because her backstory is a little bit more simple, I’m looking forward to seeing where the narrative takes her. Will she end up focusing more on the support aspect of things and maybe take up crafting? Will she learn that she likes to jump into the fray and take up a combat tree? I’m not sure yet!
As far as the Force, I think learning to connect with it and others on a spiritual level is going to be a very interesting narrative arc for Eyton. Her parents are down to earth (metaphorically anyways) people who have always been focused on the here and now and their little slice of the galaxy and their family, and they passed that viewpoint down to Eyton. Being forced to expand her point of view and realize that because of her gift in the Force, she has a responsibility as a Jedi to the galaxy will be a tough moment for her, but one I’m looking forward to! - The
Dark Side tempts each Jedi differently. How does it prey upon your
character's emotional weakness and what makes them susceptible to it? Eyton’s emotional weakness is Arrogance, the moment when her pride turns from confidence and acknowledgement in her own accomplishments to an expectation that she’s the only one who could do something. The Dark Side preys on her belief that she can and should do things with the belief that she’s the only one who can, that no one else can be trusted with it. If she’s not careful, that arrogance can make her mean and untrusting as the Dark Side tempts her.
- Would you rather start your character as an Initiate or as a Padawan? Initiate, please! Eyton is still figuring out what the Jedi are about, so it doesn’t make sense for her to be a Padawan just yet.