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.
Shy was born around 10 BBY on Jaemus to Deng and Runa Vandell, and her sister Finis came about 5 years after that. Her parents were a docker and a factory worker, so even as the Empire began to collapse were too poor to flee to the New Republic. They did manage to save enough to apprentice Shy as a mechanic, which is how Shy ended up off world when Imperial Bastion forces locked down the planet.
Cut off from her family and unable to get a message through to know if they were safe, or even alive, Shy fled Imperial space. Barely of age, she enlisted with the New Republic in the hopes of aiding the dismantling of the Imperial remnant and the liberation of her homeworld, serving as a fleet technician during the offensive against the Domain of Anaxes. Shy's ship was heavily damaged in battle during the campaign and she was caught in the explosion of a power conduit, badly burning her face and permanently blinding her left eye.Shy vehemently opposed the signing of the ceasefire between the New Republic and the Imperial Council, and her... animated reaction to the news landed her a stint in the brig and a disciplinary mark on her record. She finished out her tour and left the fleet just a few years after she'd joined up. Her dream of freeing Jaemus and reuniting with her family crumbled, leaving Shy drifting and alone.
In the decade after, Shy bounced from planet to planet working assorted jobs: speeder mechanic, ship's engineer, weapons technician. Her skills grew somewhat unorthodox; Shy often made repairs that for any other tech shouldn't have worked. Which meant that when a chance encounter led to Shy elbows-deep in a Jedi's busted speeder engine, it ended with an offer to train on Dantooine. Possibilities began to spiral out in Shy's mind, and a spark of something long-dead flickered inside her as she thought of her family. Hope.
- Why does your character want to be a jedi? Shy believes that becoming a Jedi will give her the chance to find her family again.
- Are
there aspects of your character’s background (people, events, places)
that were more formative to your character’s current personal
development?
Definitely her family and her separation from them. Given their location I wouldn't expect them to appear unless there also happens to be relevant developments in the metaplot, but Shy's memories of them and the ideas she's built from those memories are core driving points for her character, especially as she doesn't even know if they're still alive.
- Describe the kinds of personal relationships you might have had in your past? Despite her name, Shy's quick to strike up a conversation and well chatty. She's had plenty of friends and romantic partners, but moving around often meant that few of them became truly deep bonds.
- What is most Jedi-like about your character? What is least Jedi-like about your character? Shy cares deeply about injustice and the suffering of the disadvantaged and fights to better the galaxy. Shy's loud and often raucous. She does not well embody the picture of serenity.
- 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? Shy doesn't currently have a strong awareness of the Force, but I think
as her awareness grows she'll feel it as a vast network of interlocking
gears, the movement of any one cog affecting those around them and
rippling out across the galaxy.
- 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? I think Shy's a pretty open book.
- What elements of your character are you most excited to explore, whether narrative or mechanical? I see Shy starting out as a pretty blunt instrument, not in the sense of
being rude, but just a straightforward kind of gal who only has a
hammer and sees a bunch of nails. But then develop that into
understanding the benefits of a more nuanced approach and taking on some
aspects of a diplomatic role.
- Does your character have a long-term plan, mechanically? I have a general idea, planning to go for a tanky close combatant with
some light healing and then grow into more social capabilities.
Considering Soresu, Mystic - Advisor, and Jedi - Knight for possible
future specs. Probably focussing on Manipulate and Heal/Harm for force
powers.
- The
Dark Side tempts each Jedi differently. How does it prey upon your
character's emotional weakness and what makes them susceptible to it? Shy holds a deep anger towards the Empire from growing up non-human
under its regime, and is quick to leap to violence when they are
involved. Her family is a particular vulnerability for her; Shy's
rekindled hope of seeing them could easily be twisted into desperation.
- Would you rather start your character as an Initiate or as a Padawan? Initiate.