SpeciesGenderAgeAppearanceReni stands at 6'0 and weighs 175 pounds, body corded with the lean, ropey muscle typical of Mirialans. Her light green skin is dotted with various large tribal tattoos, most of her own making. She is also the proud owner of numerous scars, the most notable being a trio of jagged scars stretching diagonally from hip to mid-torso and a ragged circular scar on her right shoulder from a blaster bolt. Reni favors the standard Jedi robes, with no particular flair. She's just happy to wear them.
RankPersonalityReni is a woman undergoing a great transition. Growing up, the Mirialan was gregarious, quick with a joke, and full of passion and energy. Reni still possesses all of these qualities, but they have become muted as she seeks to find her place in the galaxy. Once, she had been so sure of her fate that it may as well be written in the stars. After several setbacks and hardships, Reni has started to reevaluate herself and the world around her, becoming more introspective.
Reni's time in the military shattered her illusion of the New Republic as a shining beacon of hope for the future. She saw first hand how men and women were sent to slaughter and be slaughtered. Now, she places all her faith in the Jedi Order, largely because of their commitment to nonviolence. Reni's belief in the sanctity of all life in the galaxy, engrained into her at a young age by her tribe's shaman, has only strengthened since joining the Order. She is still tortured by those she killed and those she lost during her military service, and looks to the philosophy of the Jedi's code to help her find peace.
Reni's disdain for violence colors much of her personality. Believing deeply in the oneness of all life through the Force, Reni's personal code holds life above everything else. She will go to great lengths to save any living creature, and only kills as a last resort. When she must, it affects her profoundly. She is also a strict vegan, refusing to eat or wear animal products, and loves all creatures great and small.
Still, much of the old Reni remains. She is friendly, possesses a positive outlook, and loves humor and practical jokes, even if hers may be somewhat lacking. Reni enjoys a friendly physical competition and has a passion for music, both making it and discovering new types. Despite her experiences and beliefs, Reni is still young, remaining very naive and trusting of almost anyone. The Mirialan is also honest, almost painfully so, which often gets her into trouble. Yet she harbors a deep hatred inside of her, which Reni knows she will have to confront.
The young Mirialan despises the Sith, a hatred formed at a young age when force-sensitive children were stolen away in the night by Sith searching for new apprentices. Her hatred festered on Veldont when she encountered Sithspawn, animals malformed and reshaped by Sith alchemy. This corruption of the Force and the natural world, both of which she holds to be sacred, solidified Reni's abhorrence for all worshippers of the Dark side. She knows that harboring this hate is not the Jedi way, and understands it will have to be confronted, but tries to hide her resentment nonetheless, and it continues to grow.
LightsaberReni wields a simple, single-bladed lightsaber composed of a light metal alloy, with the grip partially wrapped in synthetic leather. The crystal is standard green, chosen because she claims it matches her complexion. Nothing too fancy for this Padawan.
SkillsForm III: Reni is hesitant to use a lightsaber at all, but when she must, the apprentice prefers the Resilience Form. The tight, defensive posture compliments her physical and mental strengths, and allows her to tire her opponents out so she may end a fight without the loss of life.
Scout: Reni's youth spent traveling the wastelands of Mirial and fighting with the 1st Recon have taught her how to move in silence, track almost anything, and find her way across many types of terrain. Her growing connection to the Force has deepened these skills as well, using it to detect nearby life and sense previous presences.
Healer: The young Mirialan honed her skill as a healer long before joining the Jedi Order, studying under her tribe's medicine woman. She has a good grasp of herbal medicine, is able to set broken limbs, and if all else fails, can call upon the Force to mend wounds. Reni surpasses most other apprentices in this field, but has yet to reach a Jedi Knight's competency.
EquipmentReni doesn't have much in the way of worldly possessions, and she prefers it that way. She held on to a pair of macrobinoculars from her time with the 1st Batallion, keeps a comlink on hand, and has a tribal tattoo kit stashed away somewhere. She also owns a g'ali, a simple Mirialan wind instrument similar to a ney, but that's the extent of her personal belongings.
WeaknessTechnophobe: Reni grew up cloistered away from the rest of the galaxy, and even after a stint in the military remains wary of and unfamiliar with technology. She struggles to operate even the most basic datapad, and strongly distrusts droids since they aren't connected to the Force. Even space travel disturbs her to some degree. It is doubtful she'll ever be a great pilot, or perhaps even a pilot at all. Though Reni became an excellent marksman in the 1st Recon, she loathes blasters now, only using them as a last resort. She is more likely to pick up a bow than a slugthrower.
Pacifist: Reni comes from a peaceful herding tribe, whose religion focused on the interconnectedness of all living beings through the Force. As such, she learned not to take any life lightly. Her time in the Republic Army left her with a bitter taste in her mouth and an abhorrence for killing. She takes the Jedi's commitment to nonviolence very seriously; Reni goes above and beyond to resolve conflicts without bloodshed, or at least without the loss of life, which can often be dangerous. Any life Reni takes will doubtlessly cause her serious anguish.
Chewed-Up: Reni's three-year stint in the New Republic Army left her with some considerable injuries. Physically, an old blaster wound on her right shoulder and a relatively recent trio of ragged scars on her abdomen cause her varying amounts of discomfort, the scarred flesh feeling tight and sore. This combined with the usual wear-and-tear a foot soldier's body undergoes makes Reni feel about ten years older. She's developed a routine of stretching and meditating to heal these old injuries, but it is unlikely the aches will ever fully leave her. Reni is also haunted by the soldiers she was unable to save, the Imperials she killed, and above all, the cruelty of the Sith. Reni harbors a hatred for those fallen to the Dark Side, and knows she will have to overcome this if she ever wishes to fully heal and become a Jedi Knight.
Naive: Despite her worldliness, Reni is shockingly innocent. She believes that almost everyone has goodness in them and means well, and this trusting nature frequently leaves her open to exploitation. Reni is also quite ignorant on matters of culture, politics, history, and science, and has much to learn compared to other apprentices.
Background Reni was born on the planet Mirial, a cold, desert-like planet largely ignored by the rest of the galaxy. Reni's people were a nomadic, semi-primitive tribe, constantly on the move to find new pastures for their livestock and to avoid Imperial eyes. Mirialans had a higher number of Force-sensitive offspring than many species, and this often drew the attention of Sith lords seeking new apprentices. Rumors spread of cloaked figures snatching Mirialan children in the night, almost to the point of superstition among the tribes. It was best, they determined, to keep a low profile, especially for those Force-sensitive among them.
Life on the desert planet was difficult, but Reni's childhood was made easier by her tribe. Entirely communal in nature, children were raised by the collective. Thus, Reni had not two parents, but many, and more brothers and sisters than she could count. Like many tribal Mirialans, they practiced a primitive religion that combined nature-centered animism with the Force. As such, Reni knew from a young age that she was Force-sensitive, and was taught to hide this from outsiders at all costs. It was said the Empire had servants even among other tribes.
As a youth, Reni was taught by her elders herding, leather tanning, tracking, and even marksmanship. However, among these practical skills, Reni also learned how to live. Dancing, singing, storytelling, comradery, and a love for all things natural. She was also instructed in the ways of the Force in the tribe's rudimentary ways, and Reni discovered she had an affinity for healing. She earned her first tattoo, a series of diamonds across her cheek and nose, after healing one of her brothers when he was gored by a rampaging Bukund bull.
The tribe made rare, but necessary trips into the cities that dotted Mirial, trading hides and meat for goods they couldn't produce. It was in these marketplaces that the young Reni met her first love, a human named Linac. Months or years would pass before they could reunite, but the young lovers remained faithful to eachother. Ultimately, it was the Galactic Civil War that tore the two apart. Linac joined the Rebel Alliance the first chance they could, and that was the last time Reni saw them. Perhaps Linac died fighting, or perhaps they'd simply forgotten Reni. She hoped it was the latter.
Reni's sorrow eventually faded, but the memory of Linac did not. Reni came of age, and it was time for her to leave the tribe, for a time. A rite of passage to earn her place among the elders, to achieve great deeds, and maybe earn some new tattoos along the way. She could only think of one path to take. The New Republic Army. Reni told herself it was a way to pay back the Republic, where she no longer had to hide her powers, and children weren't stolen in the night by Sith. She also remembered how Linac had spoken of the Rebel Alliance; swaggering, rugged freedom fighters finding adventure all over the galaxy, bathed in glory. She signed up.
Life in the New Republic Army wasn't quite what Reni expected. The culture shock alone could have killed her, going from the primitive, tribal life to sleek starships and light speed. However, her background proved useful to the Republic, and she found herself embedded with the 1st Reconnaissance Batallion, a fighting force that specialized in scouting rugged terrain on inhospitable planets. Swift, silent, and dangerous. Reni continued to hide her Force sensitivity, unable to shake the outdated cultural norm, but proved herself in other ways during training. She was an excellent scout, able to move in complete silence, and able to read terrain like none other.
The fighting 1st deployed throughout the galaxy, rooting out Imperial holdouts hiding in jungles, mountains, and deserts on Republic planets. It was hard work, but not particularly dangerous; the holdouts were typically so depleted of supplies that they willingly surrendered. If not, the 1st Batallion simply called in the big guns, another Republic Army force meant for brute force assaults. Two years into her military career, and Reni felt like she'd found a new tribe. She'd also treated herself to a couple of new tattoos. Then, the Siege of Veldont.
The Outer Rim planet was a tree-cloaked backwater, but it was Republic territory and the locals had reported some Imperial activity deep in the forest. This far out from the Imperial core, they didn't expect much resistance from the starved-out soldiers.
The intel must have been wrong.
Instead, the nimble 1st Reconnaissance Batallion stumbled across a veritable fortress, far beyond anything they'd encountered before. Imperial defenses opened fire on the soldiers almost the second they laid eyes on it. Unable to extract, they called for backup and dug in. Thus began five months of brutal trench warfare, as Republic soldiers continued to drop into the planet and get chewed up by the well-supplied Imperial soldiers. Reni watched her closest friends ripped apart by blaster fire, trying to heal those she could, but most died. Then their replacements would arrive, and they died too. Rather than surrender, the Imperials made a final counterattack, revealing what they'd been so desperate to defend. Sithspawn, lab-grown abominations twisted beyond recognition through the dark side. The creatures cut through the Republic forces, almost routing them before they were finally encircled and put down, with Reni receiving a near-fatal wound from one's claws. The 1st Recon suffered an 83% casualty rate.
After the siege, Reni, along with most of the other survivors in the battalion, were quietly mustered out by the Republic Army. Reni spent most of her savings traveling through the galaxy's backwaters, drinking, gambling, and trying to forget. It wasn't until a fight broke out in a cantina that things changed. A young Zabrak had been shot through the chest over cards, and Reni knocked the gunman out cold before desperately laying her hands on the dying woman to revive her. Completely exhausting herself, Reni brought the Zabrak back from the brink. A man in flowing robes pulled Reni aside. He was a Jedi knight, and told Reni that her skills were being wasted here; he extended an invitation to the New Jedi Order, and Reni eagerly accepted. Perhaps she'd earn some new tattoos.