- "I feel within me a peace above all earthly dignities, a still and quiet conscience."
- ―William Shakespeare
Guinevere Deschain is a Jedi from the Hapes Consortium. Orphaned by a previously-unknown plague, she was adopted by Cera Sumat, a Jedi who had taken up residence in the Consortium during the Clone Wars. Alongside her foster brother, Guinevere was trained in the ways of the Jedi. During her first trip outside of the Hapes Cluster, the Jedi and her master were attacked by a mercenary group known as Emerald Wish. After narrowly avoiding capture in an escape pod, the Hapan crashed on New Tython and was taken in by House Odan-Urr.
History
Life on Calfa
Born on Calfa, the infant who would become Guinevere Deschain was still under a standard year old when her parents were taken by plague. The baby was one of several taken to a local orphanage. At the orphanage, the baby quickly attracted the attention of Cera Sumat, a disillusioned Jedi who had defected from the Jedi Order due to the Order's attitude toward the clone armies. The baby was one of two Force-sensitive infants eventually adopted by Sumat. The other, a baby boy, was slightly younger than the girl. He was named Rombo Axelrod, and the girl was named Guinevere Deschain; both names reflected the children's respective parents.
When the plague had finished taking its toll on the local population, Cera opened an inn in the small city surrounding one of Calfa's busiest spaceports. After hiring help to run the inn, Sumat began to secretly train the children in the ways of the Force. Guinevere took to the training more easily than her brother did, though both students showed a natural affinity. When the children were old enough, they began to take on additional responsibilities in the inn and around the city. On their thirteenth birthdays, both children were given plain lightsabers that Sumat had crafted years earlier.
Over the years, Guinevere became quite skilled in the textile arts and learned to cook and bake food and brew and distill various types of alcoholic beverages. In her last year on Calfa, she started tending bar. Her foster brother became an apprentice mechanic at the nearby spaceport and worked as one of the inn's servers whenever he could. Guinevere was a quiet but sweet and generous girl who typically had only one or two close friends. Meanwhile, her brother was quite social and had a large, ever-changing group of popular teens for friends.
The Fighter
Guinevere Deschain in 31 ABYIn 33 ABY, Guinevere and Rombo entered a martial arts tournament on the Relephon Moons. The bracket tournament was open to the first 256 martial artists who entered and was scheduled to last for three local months. Deschain and Axelrod were cautioned by their master to abstain from using the Force to assist them, but only Guinevere heeded Cera's words. However, Rombo's poor martial technique could not sustain him even with the use of the Force, and he was defeated by a Kel Dorian master of Verdanaian in the second round. Observing this match convinced Guinevere to master the style herself.
Guinevere had won her first three matches using her natural agility in combination with her skill in Dulon and Hapan. Unfortunately for her, she was defeated in the round of thirty-two by a Wookiee master of Wrruushi and Teräs Käsi. Despite the Jedi's superior dexterity and solid technique, the Wookiee defeated her with an improvised submission hold.
After her defeat, Guinevere watched the Wookiee's next match, an eagerly anticipated match with a Kodran named Leasonn Zaius. The Wookiee won once again, and Deschain encountered Leasonn after his loss. The two talked at length, and the Hapan learned that Zaius was a spice-addicted minor criminal. After a second, even longer conversation, Guinevere convinced the Kodran to abandon his self-destructive ways and live a better life.
When Leasonn and Guinevere were about to part, the thugs that had traveled to the tournament along with Zaius confronted him about his decision. A brawl ensued, one that saw Guinevere use her borrowed lightsaber in actual combat for the first time. The criminals were all killed in the fight, and Leasonn would return to the galaxy and make good on his promise to change his life.
The Betrayal
Guinevere Deschain, Jedi GuardianShortly after Guinevere turned nineteen standard years old, Cera decided to take her foster children on a trip to find their first lightsaber crystals. Though both children had become notable pilots by this time, their master decided to book passage aboard a transport. The three Jedi made their way to Dantooine and found a long, narrow cave that contained a nest of kinrath. While Sumat did little more than guard the exit and defend herself, the two trainees used both the Force and their training sabers to defeat the giant insects. While Guinevere concentrated on driving away the beasts, Rombo wielded the Force like a cudgel and outright slew several kinrath.
After the kinrath fled and the Jedi took a few moments to heal their minor wounds, the Jedi began to look for lightsaber crystals. Axelrod quickly found and settled upon a single crystal that produced a green blade. Guinevere, however, searched every inch of the cave looking for the right crystal. Guided by the Force, she discovered a pair of Dantari crystals that produced a vibrant dark blue blade.
The three Jedi left the cave and constructed a basic camp beside a stream. On the stream's banks, Guinevere and Axelrod gathered their components and, guided by the Force, constructed their lightsabers. Rombo was finished quickly, but once again Guinevere took longer to complete her work. When both sabers were constructed, the Jedi signaled the transport.
On the way back to Calfa, the transport was attacked by part of a massive band of mercenaries and space pirates known as Emerald Wish. The crew of the transport had heard that Emerald Wish was offering a bounty on all live Jedi, and the crew conspired with Rombo to collect on Sumat and Guinevere. Axelrod and the crew's reluctant cook had poisoned the two Jedi, and though Guinevere was able to throw off its effects, Cera was severely weakened. Her final act was to assist Guinevere in escaping the transport via an escape pod.
New Tython
Though Guinevere kidnapped an R2 unit from the transport during her escape, she manually entered in a series of hyperspace coordinates supplied to her by the Force. In order to survive the long trip through hyperspace, she entered a hibernation trance after shutting down the droid.
When Guinevere awoke, she was lying outside the escape pod on a terrestrial beach on New Tython. Physically drained by her long trance, Deschain was rescued by Quejo Drakai. The Jedi attended to her medical needs and introduced her to Ji, the first quaestor of House Odan-Urr. After hearing her story, the Gand asked the young Hapan to become a member of the house. Guinevere accepted and has since remained with House Odan-urr. Shortly after joining the light side house, Guinevere was appointed to be the first leader of the Lightwalkers, a team of Jedi scholars. Though she stepped down after establishing the group, she has become a cornerstone of Odan-Urr.
Personlity and Traits
For the vast majority of her life, Guinevere has lived on Calfra. Though she lived and worked in a busy spaceport, she has little experience interacting with members of other species. She is intensely curious about the biology and culture of non-humanoids races, though she knows better than to ask awkward questions of beings she doesn't know. Guinevere has always been somewhat shy and has trouble meeting new people, but she is extremely loyal and warm to the friends that she does make. Despite this shyness, she is strongly opinionated and is rarely hesitant about expressing those opinions. This bluntness can make her seem harsh, but she means no offense.
When confronted by followers of the Dark Side of the Force, Guinevere will often try to redeem the individual. If the darksider is particularly violent or engaged in deeds that Guinevere considers to be too corrupt, she will try to end that being's life. In these situations, Guinevere believes the individual to be beyond redemption and that she is doing the galaxy a favor by removing the individual from it.
Hobbies
Kaira Rohana's ecru scarf, created by Guinevere DeschainIn her free time, Guinevere enjoys weaving, sewing, crocheting, and knitting. She is very generous with her creations and will happily make articles of clothing for her fellow Jedi. One of her more notable works is a purple and silver ecru scarf made for Kaira Rohana.
She is highly interested in cuisine and loves to learn about the food and drink of other cultures. Guinevere can often be found cooking food for herself and any members of Odan-Urr who happen to be around. She specializes in smoking, curing, roasting, and grilling meats, though she has recently begun to gain fame as a baker of delicious breads.
Since becoming the leader of the Lightwalkers, Guinevere has renewed her interest in crafting beers, liquors, and liqueurs. Taking advantage of the fertile fields surrounding Takakoa Monastery, Deschain has enlisted the help of local farmers. These farmers grow herbs, fruits, hops, and other ingredients; they share some of their produce with Guinevere, and in turn, she shares a portion of the finished product with them. The rest is sold to the appropriate venues around New Tython, and some is exported off world.
To fuel all of her hobbies, Guinevere will often venture away from New Tython in search of supplies and inspiration. Her housemates have learned to regard her wanderings as a peculiarity, though they know that if she is needed, Guinevere will return to them with all haste.
Powers and Abilities
As a Jedi, Guinevere is able to use the Force. She is skilled in many areas and strives for a balance between offensive, defensive, and utilitarian abilities. In combat, Deschain's preferred method of fighting is to use the Force to distract and deceive her opponent while utilizing her lightsaber in close combat. She is considered one of the most skilled Soresu adherents in House Odan-Urr, though the Hapan has recently begun to study Makashi. If able to do so, she'll take advantage of any opportunity to bring her martial arts abilities into play as well.
Guinevere is fully literate in Hapan and Basic and understands Binary. She is a fair mechanic when working on both her X-wing and bike and can perform basic maintenance on her droid.
Possessions
GoldenEye
GoldenEye, Guinevere's R2 unitThe first of Guinevere's significant possessions is her astromech droid, an R2 unit called GoldenEye. The droid was obtained during her escape from Emerald Wish. After arriving on New Tython, GoldenEye was given a full memory wipe and is still rebuilding her personality. Despite this, GoldenEye has already formed a strong bond with Guinevere. She considers the droid a friend rather than a possession or servant.
GoldenEye is equipped with many tools common to the astromech type of droids. She has a buzz saw, a claw arm, a periscope, an internal comlink, a computer interface, a fire extinguisher, a polarity sink, a fusion welder, a shock arm, an oil injector, various sensors, and a hologragphic recorder and transmitter. Thanks to Guinevere, GoldenEye also has a cooling compartment for storing a beverage or two, a detachable translation screen, and a magnetic tow cable.
As per her standard programming, the droid speaks and understands Binary and understands Basic. Guinevere has taught much of the Hapan language to her, and she has upgraded GoldenEye by trading for and installing software that allows GoldenEye to understand Ryl, Bocce, and Huttese.
Final Heaven
Final HeavenThe second item that Guinevere calls her own is an X-wing that has been christened Final Heaven. Upon joining with House Odan-Urr, the Hapan was allocated the X-Wing. When she first placed her hand upon the fighter's metal hull, the Force informed the Jedi of the fighter's past.
The X-wing originally belonged to belong to a pilot who was stationed aboard an MC40a light cruiser during one of the last battles of the Yuuzhan Vong War. From what Guinevere could divine, the pilot was killed aboard the cruiser before he could launch the fighter and fight back against the Yuuzhan Vong. After the war, the X-wing was considered to be obsolete and sold as surplus in 30 ABY.
The buyer was part of a group who would fly escort for hire. For approximately the next five years, the X-wing was flown all around the galaxy. Guinevere picked up on a few skirmishes with other fighters, though most of what the Jedi could sense was unremarkable service. Eventually the escort group either retired or fragmented, and the X-wing was brought to New Tython and sold.
The starfighter has had its two upper laser cannons replaced by ion cannons; otherwise, Final Heaven is a standard T-65 X-wing. Its custom paint job was done by Habib Ali. As a pilot, Guinevere the serves multiple functions in service to the house. Moreover, she frequently uses the craft to run errands that take her away from New Tython.
Celestial Fury
Celestial Fury The final significant item that Guinevere can lay claim to is a wheeled bike called Celestial Fury. Jacob Turner, the chief mechanic of House Odan-Urr, began planning for the Celestial Fury in 33 ABY. However, Jacob lacked the resources and materials required to build the bike.
When he came into the house's service, Jacob became friends with a Jedi and pilot named Guinevere Deschain. She agreed to provide him the means to build the bike, and in the middle of 35 ABY, Guinevere traded for enough raw materials for the bike's construction. Jacob completed the bike in early 36 ABY and presented the bike to Guinevere on her birthday. She dubbed it the Celestial Fury in honor of the thunderstorm that was raging that day.