- "Heh, as if I ever say anything quotable..."
- ―Eilen
Eilen Ru'tyari is a Force-sensitive hybrid, the offspring between a Bothan mother and a Selonian father. She is a member of Clan Arcona, serving aboard the Voidbreaker as a saboteur and a starfighter pilot. What she lacks in talent for direct combat, Eilen makes up for in versatility, a thrillseeking spirit, and an endlessly awkward charm, of sorts.
Physical Description
Eilen is a hybrid born of Bothan and Selonian parentage, and has a combination of physical aspects from each side. The heavily mixed shape of her face almost resembles a ferret's, as does her tall and lanky silhouette. The eyes in particular sport a Bothan's more typical mammalian form, and almost seem to glow in their pale shade of purple. Her other predominantly Bothan features include her high-rising, pointed ears, and her fur pattern, which is primarily colored a dark, dull brown. In contrast, the most prominent Selonian traits are her thick, pointed tail and digitigrade, three-digit feet. She is quite tall, due to her Selonian roots, and her body is lean with the sinewy muscle of both species.
Like most Bothans, Eilen's fur grows thickest and darkest on her head, except for her face, on which it is very short and pale. Eilen's "hair" is a thick, tangled mess that waves outward in nearly all directions and tends to fall over the right side of her face, covering her eye if not managed. Random streaks and spots in her hair are dyed maroon and white.
Biographical History
Hybrid Origins
Eilen is a hybrid child born between a Bothan mother and a Selonian father. Her mother, Lonae Ru'tyari, was an agent within the Bothan Spynet who helped liberate a captured Selonian named Rosica, who had long been inducted into the Spynet as a spy. To her surprise, Rosica was a rather dependent individual who was unable to safely return to his home, and thus sought a new shelter with somewhat assisted living. After some debate, Lonae almost reluctantly opened her home on Kothlis to him, as she had already learned how to manage many of his quirks. In time, however, they grew close, and eventually birthed fraternal twins: a girl and a boy, respectively named Eilen and Eiro.
As their mother maintained her busy and often hectic life with the Bothan Spynet, Eilen and Eiro were largely raised by their father in their earliest years. Given his own upbringing in Selonian culture but limited exposure to the larger galaxy, Rosica made for a surprisingly multi-talented but socially inept parent — something that passed on to both of his children in varied ways. When it was discovered that the twins were both Force-sensitive, however, he and Lonae knew they were reaching their limits as parents.
Lonae soon brought an old friend back into her life: a Kel Dor trader named Baro Jath, who had stood with her long ago under the oppressive force of the Galactic Empire. Not only did Lonae trust him with her life, but Baro was also the only Force-user she knew directly, and he could potentially teach her children to manage their apparent powers. Although he claimed to be neither an expert nor a great teacher, without much experience with the Jedi Order before it fell, he made an arrangement with Lonae and offered his best to act in place of a Jedi Master for them. Eilen and Eiro would hardly remember a time in their youths before Baro taught them some of their earliest lessons about the Force, though he always remained quite vague toward their queries about his own life.
As the twins grew and developed, one of the few differences between them became the focus of their attention. Eiro was always able to reign in his imagination and remain focused on what was in front of him, while Eilen’s daydreams and aspirations about what life could be ran wild. The two were educated from home and didn’t leave for much more than their lessons with Baro; during those rare opportunities out in the world, Eilen began stepping aside, and soon sneaking off, just to see what was beyond their small world. The sights of ships leaving from a spaceport near their home became the subject of her greatest fascinations, while even the thrill of doing magic became a normality to her.
Life Uprooted
The course of Eilen’s life completely changed at the age of 11. Lonae was covering a dangerous case for the Bothan Spynet, when her identity became compromised, putting her and her family at risk. When she tried to gather Rosica and her children to immediately go into hiding, Eiro was training with Baro, but Eilen had run off elsewhere. As everyone split up to search, Rosica found her shipwatching from one of her secluded spots. Her developing Force-empowered senses could feel the alleged danger right then, but it quickly escalated. Lonae’s newfound enemies had found her trail before she and her family could escape, and Rosica had been tracked. He died trying to protect Eilen, and gave her enough time for Baro to find and rescue her.
The surviving family found sanctuary, but they never fully recovered from Rosica’s death. Eilen came to blame herself and began slacking in all aspects of her life, even staying home when Baro sporadically visited to try and offer his continued lessons. When Lonae’s own stress hit a breaking point, she guilted Eilen for not staying closer to Eiro in light of the recent events, and subsequently let it slip that she also blamed her daughter for Rosica’s death. Lonae didn’t have a chance to try repairing the damage before Eilen ran away from home.
Baro once again found Eilen, and managed to comfort her as a mentor. When she refused to go back home, he considered the circumstances and soon contacted Lonae about a new arrangement. Until it was safe to return home, Baro was willing to shelter Eilen and Eiro on his own starship, keeping them away from Lonae’s ongoing troubles while he trained them further. She was reluctant and defensive, but Eiro convinced her that he could be strong enough for himself and Eilen with Baro’s help keeping them safe.
Eilen and Eiro adopted the name Jath in place of their mother’s compromised surname, and to anyone who asked about the strange trio, Baro had adopted them. The short time both twins were aboard his ship was frugal and protective, but the unfettered access to their mentor was a helpful change of pace and a welcome distraction. More importantly to Eilen, they were traveling the stars in a spaceship. Between the difficult moments internalizing the loss of her father and general way of life, she was able to find some joy in living out her dreams.
The twins were eventually called back home, and Eiro was prepared to return. Eilen, however, remained stunningly anxious at the thought of facing her mother again. Through further familial drama, it was ultimately decided that Eilen could continue to live with Baro for the time being, who promised she would be cared for like his own daughter. Eiro reclaimed his mother’s surname, but Eilen maintained Jath, and the twins parted ways with a heartfelt goodbye.
Outer Rim Travels
(Coming soon...)
DJB History
Settling into Arcona
After over a decade under Baro's care, Eilen sought the opportunity to further her training in the Force and take her life's direction into her own hands. Baro was sad to see her depart, but helped connect her to Clan Arcona in the Dajorra System. Last he knew, its ruler, Atyiru, had a reputation for compassion for hybrid beings, and it was a little known fact that the system was under the control of Force-users. They learned upon making contact that this famed Atyiru was deceased, but Eilen would still be welcomed as an apprentice. Baro and Eilen shared a heartfelt farewell before she departed.
Eilen quickly settled into Estle City on Selen as an apprentice to Ruka Tenbriss Ya-ir, an atypical Sith of exceptional compassion and friendliness. Their bond become more like that of siblings, with Ruka filling in many gaps where Eiro had been years ago. Although Eilen initially moved into apprentices' quarters in the city's Citadel, an associate of Ruka named Satsi Tameike quickly took a liking to Eilen and offered her a place to stay alongside Ruka in her beach home. Satsi's vulgar and lewd lifestyle made for a strange home life, at times, but she took care of Eilen like a part of her family.
As her training continued and her affiliation with Arcona expanded, Eilen was assigned to a battle team aboard the Voidbreaker, under the direction of House Qel-Droma. Operating out of Port Ol'val, a shadowport carved out of an asteroid on the outer rim of the system, Eilen found ease and familiarity fitting into their pseudo-criminal lifestyle as privateers. In addition to her adept piloting skills developed over the past decade, Eilen's criminal history alongside Baro also yielded talents in slicing and handling explosives. Her team often saw her hauling backpacks loaded with tech equipment and bombs attached to multiple detonators.
Roughly four months after her initiation, Eilen completed her training with Ruka and her supporting peers within her House and Battle Team. In pursuit of something more thrilling than a standard ceremony, Ruka pulled Satsi and even Baro to join him for an atypical knighting, disguised as an attempt to kidnap Eilen. She nearly killed Satsi in self-defense with a telekinetically redirected dagger before the disguises were dropped. Her 'captors' collectively appraised her talents, and she was promptly knighted and given a kyber crystal to construct her own lightsaber.
Life in Dajorra
During her time training, Eilen was already spending most of her free time chasing thrills around Estle City. Many of her hours went toward jumping rooftops and fixing up a junkyard speeder, often joined by Ruka for both. Although knighthood bestowed new responsibilities on her, there were also newfound freedoms that only expanded her exciting activities. Swimming in Selen's oceans and overclocking her speeder to race through rugged terrain were some of her favorites, but she always enjoyed resting under the stars or in her bunk with a book at the end of her day. While she never went for sports, Eilen followed racing events, and often expressed a desire to participate.
Eilen continued living predominantly with Satsi after she was knighted, until the woman's many enemies from over the years dropped a bomb on her home. Ultimately, there were no casualties, and Satsi later set up a studio home next to her new housing for Eilen so they could stay close. While this would serve as a new home for her on Selen, the radical event motivated Eilen to enlist as a starfighter pilot for Arcona, which brought her to live mainly aboard the Voidbreaker. Although this limited her chances to enjoy living on Selen, Eilen put her life savings toward buying out her starfighter, which gave her new openings for space-bound hobbies.
Due to her limited social life in all stages of her youth, Eilen was quickly established as an awkward link in all of Arcona's circles. People knew her for stumbling over her words and frequently failing to compose herself around other women, most of whom in the Clan she found attractive. This and her inexperience with relationships led to many of her peers treating her as innocent and unknowledgeable, which only frustrated Eilen more and pushed her toward solitary behaviors, even in a crowd. However, her desire for love and support from close friends eventually won over, and Eilen spent the better part of a year trying - with limited success - to express her interest in Leadra Halcyon, which was only more awkward by the fact that she was the Voidbreaker's captain, at the time. After Leeadra retired from her captain's position, she and Eilen got together, and maintained a steady relationship for roughly a year.
As her attempts to develop a better social life went on, Eilen became accustomed to meeting her peers at bars. Having once been mostly avoidant of alcohol, it started to become a bit more of a regular thing to meet over, and Eilen slowly began to drink more, as a result. With inebriation offering an unexpected reprieve from her anxieties and bottled-up problems, she became somewhat alcoholic. That was, until a drunken escapade turned into a loud public feat of embarrassment, and she began to recognize what this new habit was doing to her in the painful sobriety that followed. Eilen restricted herself afterward, but drinking was still a hard habit for her to fully break.
Baro always remained only a call away when Eilen needed guidance in life, and the wisdom he had to offer continued to help her solve new problems and conundrums in her life.
Reconnection
With her confidence growing and her trauma becoming a more readily accepted part of her past, Eilen eventually worked up the courage, and the desire, to see her mother again. Baro was reluctant to give her the coordinates to her new home, but yielded in hopes that it would help Eilen confront her past. Her reunion with Lonae got a rocky start, but the two were able to reconcile long enough to spend a day together, catching up.
A few months later, Eilen was surprisingly contacted by a plea for help from Eiro, who she learned had followed their mother's steps and joined the Bothan Spynet. Eiro was following a criminal organization developing chemical warfare, when his identity had been compromised. In need of a place to hide, Eilen and Baro brought him to the Dajorra system, where he temporarily took over Eilen's roles. Meanwhile, others in the Spynet picked up Eiro's trail, leaving lesser vacancies that Eilen opted to fill on his behalf. With a blessing from the Voidbreaker's new captain, Karran Val'teo, and a mutual understanding of a break-up with Leeara, she departed. Eiro soon left to rejoin her when he was safe again, but Eilen didn't return to Arcona for nearly half a year, spending that time working alongside Eiro and reconnecting as siblings.
Something Fixed, Something Broken
The declaration of the Fourteenth Great Jedi War brought Eilen back home to Arcona to help her new home. She served as a starfighter pilot in the space battles over Arx, joined as well by Baro, who was determined to ensure her safety. While Eilen received no major accolades, she gained the sense that she could, indeed, protect her people.
It became apparent upon returning home that Eilen's time with Eiro, and occasionally around Lonae, turned out to be a much needed start toward healing her long-stifled personal problems. Fitting over the months into the different social dynamic around Eiro's newfound people helped her recontextualize her time with Arcona, and Eilen came back to her House and Battle Team with a much-needed spiritual rejuvenation. She had also been through two short flings with other women while away, which helped her break down considerably less around her attractive peers. Although her dynamic with Leeara became rather strained after returning home, Eilen found herself actually engaging socially with her many other slight crushes, rather than tensing up and making an escape when they acknowledged her, as he'd infamously been known to do before. Her stutter had diminished as well, but none of her awkward quirks were completely gone; people still knew her as, "a bit of a fumbling mess hoping for a hot date". Meanwhile, Eilen was far more prepared to put her unique traits forward, and began dying her hair and changing her dress to express this visually. Furthermore, she was fully sober committed to avoiding alcohol.
It was only a few weeks after her return that things took a turn for the worse on Selen, as an eldritch presence within the Force overtook what was meant to be a post-war vacation for the Clan. Many of Eilen's peers were subjected to mind-affecting powers that drove them against their own wills, with one such victim being Ruka. Eilen was trying to rush combat equipment and medical supplies to the scene of the threat, when Ruka had regained control of himself after hurting a dear friend, Zujenia. Desperate to prevent himself from doing more harm, Ruka threw himself over a cliff, but Eilen, who happened to be hauling a jetpack, flew after him. When she caught him, Ruka demanded she let him fall, and in the moment, Eilen was overtaken by the memory and guilt of her father's death. She landed Ruka safely and convinced him to let her take him to get help, but the flurry of negative emotions devastated her. As a surrogate brother who she'd trusted with her trauma, Eilen had a difficult time talking to Ruka again long after she got him away from that presence, which the rest of her Clan managed to ward back from their home.
While keeping her distance from Ruka, Eilen's friendship with a Clanmate named Sera Kaern helped to fill the void. Over the following months, it blossomed into a romantic attachment - one of a few, for Sera, who helped Eilen determine that she was open to polyamory, as well. However, Eilen's growing attachment to her came with a few moments of envy (and guilt over feeling that envy) any time Sera hooked up with someone more attractive and capable than herself. It became apparent over time that she still had inner problems to work on, and she started fighting herself to give Sera more space.
After feeling let down and alone at a festival thrown by her Clan on Selen, Eilen confronted herself by opening up to Ruka about her recent distance from him. She affirmed that he'd opened up a wound she thought was healed, but that she hadn't been fair about it, herself. Ruka later showed her the early makings of a racing speeder and promised to enter her in an event the year after, assuring that he wasn't going anywhere. Eilen gifted him a suit of mechanic's coveralls after, and they began to rebuild their sibling-like relationship.
Jath No More
The following summer saw the spark of all-out-conflict between two of Arcona's allies, the ex-Imperial Sevarian Principate and their former prisoners comprising the newly founded Tenixir Revenants. While neither side had Eilen's full support, many of her fellow Arconans and the majority of the Voidbreaker jumped to the aid of a Principate splinter group calling themselves the Harmonists, seeking to make amends with their enemies and only apprehend those who still posed a legitimate threat - in opposition to the remainder of the Principate, which was out to exterminate the Revenants for good. As the Revenants also splintered into multiple groups, one seeking full retribution while another sought to accept their losses and break away for good, Eilen determined that the politics behind the overall conflict were too uncertain for her to definitively pick a side, and the best she could do was ensure her people survived as they dove into the conflict.
To that end, Eilen was joined by Baro for a sabotage mission to stop a Revenant vessel that was en route with supplies and reinforcements to the heart of the conflict, a direct threat to her friends on the front lines. The two infiltrated the vessel and planted EMP charges across the ship to disable it for capture, but as they were making their escape, Baro took the detonator from Eilen and ejected her in an escape pod. He unveiled through telepathy as she drifted away that he had come to ensure she wasn't hurt, but also to counteract her sabotage mission. Having lived through the time of the Empire, Baro could not let a rising power rekindling their beliefs gain traction, even if it meant betraying his adopted daughter.
What Baro hadn't realized was that Eilen always programmed multiple detonators. She had a spare, but she was also forced to make a choice between her guiding father figure's dark warning and the safety of her friends. It put a fresh hole in her heart, but Eilen chose her friends and detonated the EMP. She later learned through Force divination that Baro was still alive, even as an infiltrator among a compromised vessel, but she found herself too emotionally broken-up to reach out beyond that. After carrying her adoptive father's last name for fifteen years, Eilen dropped the name Jath. Some months later, after another visit with Eiro, she reclaimed her birth-given name, commemorating her rebuilt connection with her twin and committing to being the person she was born to be, flaws and all.