Syrena Exan
Jedi Knight - Former Councilor
Homeworld: Falleen
Mentor(s): Jared Quell
Species: Falleen
Padawan(s): Kaelen Sekura, Kantha Maitri, Salvong, Var Dalledos, Claude Varron
Abilities
Malacia, flow walking, illusions, empathy, immune to mind tricks (Falleen physiology).
Biography
Born into a Falleen’s feudal society, Syrena was the child of Lady Sava and Lord Xerti Exan, two of the planets most influential individuals. Her family had played a major role in reconstruction after the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. Raised in a strict environment with her younger sister Nytha, the girls were to become the heiresses of the Exan estate. They spent much of their childhoods in finishing schools, advanced preschools, and rigorous home studies with protocol droids. Both girls excelled for their ages, showing much promise as future ladies of their land.
But as they grew older, Syrena started to become distracted from her studies. She began to see her studies as pointless, instead turning her curiosities to the world around her. Drawn by strange feelings, she would run off into the woods and swamps of her family’s estate to explore, often leaving her nursemaids and guards in a panicked frenzy. She loved to learn about the flora and fauna of her world, often showing no fear when meeting a new creature.
It was this lack of fear and careless curiosity that landed Nytha in a Bacta tank. Syrena had convinced her younger sister to venture out with her, and a large beast had attacked them from behind. Strangely the beast had run off at the sound of Syrena’s scream, but the damage had been done. Lady Sava was furious at the injury of her youngest child, and restricted Syrena to the mansion. Syrena resumed her studies with a bitter Nytha, feeling as thought someone had taken away a part of her.
Months passed, and again Syrena began to fall out of pace with Nytha. Now it was the stars and sky that intrigued her. She spent much time with an old, miniature electroscope, staring out into the galaxy wondering what was beyond her own world. But upon questioning her parents and teachers, they would tell her not to concern herself with the worlds of inferior beings. Syrena ignored them and fell even further behind in her studies as she daydreamed about exploring space.
Once again, the young Falleen child’s curiosity got her into trouble. While attending a formal function with her family, Syrena met a young servant boy who shared her interest in space exploration. Forgetting his duties, the boy led her to an unused room full of model spaceships. They played with them, pretending that they were traveling to distant unknown worlds. Lost in her imagination, Syrena began to daydream about being inside the toy ship, lifting off, flying out into space—only to be startled into reality when she realized the toy had flung itself across the room, crashing into a display case. The noise brought the host and his guests to the room. The host despaired over the broken models in the case, which had not been toys, but handmade replicas of the ships he had flown in his youth. They were Irreplaceable.
Sava and Xerti were outraged with their older child. They seemed to be angrier about her explanation than the broken models. They locked Syrena in her room, removing Nytha and her things to a separate room down the hall. They stopped taking her to parties, stopped giving her personal lessons. Syrena began to see Nytha less and less, growing apart as her sister blossomed into her parent’s idea of a perfect child. Soon Syrenas only company were her nanny and protocol droids. Even her guards were replaced with droids. She was seven years old.
Two years later, Syrena stared out the window at the stars, the small, tasteless cake her nanny-droid had brought sitting ignored on the table behind her. Her parents and Nytha were out, attending yet another social function. If they knew it was her birthday, they didn’t care. She hadn’t seen any of them in days.
Earlier that night Syrena had thought she saw a ship overhead, but where it had been headed she didn’t know. She just wished she was on it. Distracted by her wishful thoughts, she didn’t hear the door open behind her. Feeling like she was being watched, and turned around to find herself staring up at a huge man. A human man. She had never seen a real human before. Behind the muscular man, her parents stood in the doorway with stoic expressions. She could not read their expressions. The newcomer bent down on his knee and held out a massive hand to her.
“Hello Syrena. My name is Rash Loist.”
She had marveled at his ship. When they took off into space, she hadn’t been scared. When they approached Bespin, she had stared in awed silence. During the trip Rash had explained to her briefly about the Force, the Jedi, and the abilities he sensed in her. He told her a little about her new home. Back on Falleen, she hadn’t hesitated even a second when he asked her if she would go with him. It had just felt right. When they entered the massive door of the temple, her hand in his, she had gasped. Not just at the amazing construction or the various species that walked the halls, but at the feeling that hit her. This place was a place of happiness and peace, and she felt like she was home.