At long last, I arrive. Yeesh! I spent hours on these two!
Name: Edessa
Age: 31
Gender: Female
Species: Arkanian Offshoot
Alignment: Neutral
Rank / Occupation: Former Jedi Knight/ Mercenary
Bio: Though this Arkanian Offshoot was given a different name at birth, her parents renamed her Edessa - which means "triumph" in Arkanian - when she was taken for training by the Jedi at four years of age. But even at this young age, the Jedi found her difficult to train, for she had already begun to develop her own opinions of right and wrong based on what she had seen her parents endure. For Arkanian Offshoots are considered a 'lesser race', often doomed merely by their DNA to be employed in hard manual labor.
Two years passed and Edessa's training progressed slowly. She was at least two years behind many others her age and many masters began to doubt she would ever make a decent Jedi. It seemed that, for all her sensitivity to the Force, she would never learn to fully use it. Just when they were about to give up on the girl, another girl, two years Edessa's elder made an effort to befriend her. This girl was the Princess Kerrina of Velmor.
It seemed that close friendship was all Edessa needed, for it became suddenly easier for her training to progress. If she struggled with anything, Kerri knew exactly what to say for the concept to make sense to Edessa. Within six months, Edessa was outperforming her age group and began to train with Kerri's.
At ten years of age, Edessa was taken as the Padawan of a newly Knighted Jedi, one who had known the same kinds of difficulty during training as Edessa experienced during her early years. Under this man, Edessa continued to improve. Finally, at age twenty-seven, she was Knighted.
Only one year later when the Clone Wars broke out and the Jedi became military generals, Edessa left the Jedi Order, saying, "This is not the Jedi Order I trained in." Nonetheless, she parted from the Jedi on friendly terms, occasionally agreeing to help out in the war efforts. Most of her time was spent in meditation and practicing her skills.
The next three years brought about dramatic changes in Edessa's character, for as she watched the galaxy from a distance, she saw it falling into ruin. Gradually, she realized that the Jedi may have been right in thinking that their involvement was necessary for success in the Clone Wars. The Republic offered her a commission as a general and the Jedi were willing to welcome her back, but events were set in motion that prevented this from happening.
As Edessa was on her way to rejoin the Jedi, she was intercepted and captured by some of Dooku's followers. Dooku and his Dark Jedi tortured her for four weeks before she realized that the only way out of this situation would be to act as though their torture were getting to her... an act she realized would take her dangerously close to truly falling to the Dark Side. But, she was determined to escape, and so the act began. Shortly thereafter, Dooku began training her. Six weeks later, she stole a shuttle and barely escaped with her life. Somewhere along the Corellian Trade Spine, her shuttle's hyperdrive failed. Weakly, she called through the Force to Kerri. Only a few minutes later, Kerri's flagship dropped out of hyperspace and rescued Edessa.
When Edessa had been brought on board, Kerri explained that she'd had a series of dreams over the last two months, which had detailed Edessa's capture, torture, training, and escape. It was for that reason, her flagship was so close; Kerri had ordered a slight detour to pick up her old friend.
Kerri and Edessa traveled together to Kerri's destination. Once there, Edessa joined in the fighting, but her fighting style now showed evidence that she'd touched the Dark Side and never come fully back. Kerri urged her to stay, hoping she could bring her friend back, but Edessa refused.
"Once a white cloth has been tainted, it is never truly white again," she said. "I am gray now, and gray I shall ever be. Farewell, Kerrina. May our paths cross many times to come."
With that, she left, embracing what she'd become. She remained in contact with the Jedi, but continually refused to be reinstated as one of them. Now, this is her life. She travels alone, going wherever she feels she can be of use in the effort to end the war. Occasionally, she'll take assignments from the Jedi.
Appearance: Image: Edessa (
http://images.wikia.com/starwars/images/4/4d/Jaraelarkohred.jpg)
Name: Kerrina
Age: 33
Gender: Female
Species: Human
Alignment: Republic
Rank / Occupation: Jedi Knight, Princess of Velmor
Bio: Kerrina was born into the royal family of Velmor, but at birth, she was identified by a visiting Jedi as being highly Force sensitive. One year later, the Jedi returned and when he left, he took the little girl with him. As she was taken as an infant, she had not been able to become accustomed to the way of life around a palace, so the Jedi training went much easier. She did not have to worry about the fact that lifting objects into the air with the Force was 'not normal'; in the Jedi Temple, it was normal.
Because she did not have the mental limitations of children brought into training at an older age, Kerri found the Jedi training relatively easy. And when Kerri was eight years old, she discovered a new talent. Over the last two years, Kerri had seen the masters struggling with an Arkanian Offshoot called Edessa. Though she could not exactly describe why, Kerri understood instinctively why the Masters could not successfully train Edessa.
"She learns differently than you teach," Kerri would often say in her attempts to explain the problem. Discouraged with her own failure to communicate to the Masters, Kerri approached Edessa and did something the Masters had never done. Kneeling behind the younger girl, Kerri put her hands on either side of Edessa's head and began to meditate. Through this 'joined meditation', she was able to communicate the way Edessa needed to hear things. In addition, a bond between them was forged.
From that point on in their early years of training, Kerri and Edessa were rarely seen apart. Due to Kerri's ability to aid in Edessa's training, the Masters were unwilling to assign specific masters to either girl at first. Then, a young Knight took Edessa as his Padawan, convinced he could do the job. Shortly thereafter, Kerri was also assigned to a Master.
Into her teenage years and beyond, Kerri's training progressed rapidly. She seemed to grasp concepts that took others her age somewhat longer. By twenty-five years of age, she was Knighted. Three years later, she took on a Padawan of her own, a young girl named Mera. One year after Mera's training began, the royal family of Velmor spoke with the Jedi for two reasons. The first was that they were having issues with one of the shipping companies upon which they relied most heavily for their imports and exports. They hoped that a Jedi might be a suitable negotiator, for things were beginning to get out of hand. Their second reason was that they hoped their Jedi negotiator could be their Jedi daughter. Though it had not been custom for the Jedi to see their families during or after their training, Kerri and Mera were sent to Velmor for the negotiations.
Master and apprentice were welcomed into the royal palace with great honor and treated like family. For both Kerri and Mera, this was a little unsettling, as they had become accustomed to the Jedi lifestyle of having very little in the way of personal possessions. But the royal family insisted on caring for them and to make the situation as comfortable as possible for the royal family, the Jedi allowed themselves to be treated - and dressed - like royalty. Kerri was even given a simple, gold tiara to signify her ties to the royal family.
Negotiations went through smoothly and though the royal family wanted Kerri and Mera to keep the clothing they had worn, Kerri told them, "Keep it for our next visit." The only thing she consented to taking was the tiara. When they returned to the Jedi Temple, she intended to place it somewhere in her living quarters, but the Council told her that, now that she had made such a deep connection with her family, she should continue to wear the tiara in their honor. She continues to wear it to this day.
Almost directly after Kerri and Mera returned from Velmor, Kerri was a joyful witness to her dear friend Edessa's Knighting. During the next year, they went on a few missions together. Then, the Clone Wars broke out and their ways parted, for Kerri's feelings on the war lined up with the Order's feelings; this war would not be won without Jedi involvement.
Kerri became a general and saw many successes in battle. One year passed with Kerri and Mera going on military missions. On one such mission, they encountered three Dark Jedi. Though they were able to defeat their enemies, Mera was fatally wounded and died in Kerri's arms. There, on the site of her Padawan's death, Kerri had a terrifyingly lifelike dream.
In the dream, her good friend Edessa was overpowered by Dark Jedi, bound and carried away. Since she had just lost her Padawan, the timing of this dream could not have been worse. Broken, Kerri returned to Coruscant for some intense meditation sessions and counseling with what few Masters remained there.
By the time the sessions were completed, three weeks later, Kerri had seven more dreams. Each one was slightly different, but they all showed Edessa having been captured and being tortured. After consulting with the Masters about the dreams and learning that Edessa had intended to come back to the Jedi almost a month earlier, Kerri concluded that Edessa had indeed been captured and Kerri was witnessing the truth through dreams and through their bond.
The dreams continued for a little over a month longer and Kerri witnessed Edessa's training. The final dream came when Kerri was on her way to her next assignment in the war, and it showed Edessa's escape. Through Edessa's own eyes, Kerri saw the coordinates at which the shuttle had failed and ordered the flagship to take the minor detour to get there.
When they arrived, they learned that Edessa had only just arrived as well, and they took her aboard. Kerri explained her dreams and encouraged Edessa to come with them and participate in this part of the war effort. Edessa agreed and once there, she joined in the fighting. But her fighting style now showed evidence that she'd touched the Dark Side and never come fully back. Kerri urged her to stay, hoping she could bring her friend back, but Edessa refused.
"Once a white cloth has been tainted, it is never truly white again," she said. "I am gray now, and gray I shall ever be. Farewell, Kerrina. May our paths cross many times to come." Kerri returned to the Jedi and told them of Edessa's choice. Though they disagreed with Edessa's words that she could never fully come back to the light, they accepted her decision.
Appearance: Image: Kerrina (
http://images.wikia.com/starwars/images/c/c4/MarasiahFel.jpg)
It has been a year and a half now since Kerri and Edessa last saw one another. Kerri is on her way to Utapau to look for the Confederacy leaders there, and though Edessa is no longer a Jedi, the Council called upon her to be there as well. She has agreed and will meet Kerri and the clone detachment.
((Tepe, I believe I've fulfilled the Jedi requirement for the mission... even though Edessa isn't necessarily a Jedi any longer... well, you tell me. Either way, I think we can start this now :p ))