Rylithe the Assassin

Rylithe was born into a harsh existence on Hutta. As a Cathar she was considered an exotic pet-slave and sold to a relatively unknown Hutt while still a baby. As a teenager she was part of a bargain this ambitious Hutt made with an Exchange boss on the Outer Rim. It was during this time that she met the one she still considers her only true friend to this day – a Chiss girl named Liss’cha. The stories they told each other and the small, deviant ways they devised to rebel against their masters without being caught – those were the happiest times of Rylithe’s life.

Those times ended suddenly when their owner set up a meeting with a Sith Lord. Rylithe and Liss’cha were both forced to attend in dancer uniforms as tokens of their master’s wealth. Accompanied by his apprentice, the Sith Lord expressed great interest in the slave girls, speaking more with them than with the boss throughout the meeting. Rylithe was terrified that she and her dear friend would be sold to these cruel and evil creatures, but before any transaction could be concluded the meeting was rudely interrupted.

A Jedi Knight seemed to leap from nowhere to battle the Sith Lord. As the apprentice moved to help his master, Rylithe saw her friend Liss’cha reach her arms out in desperation. To the Cathar’s amazement the Sith apprentice was lifted off his feet and flung several yards away. Whatever Liss’cha had done gave the Jedi Knight enough time to defeat the Sith, and Rylithe had never loved her friend more than at that moment. Not having dared to move during the fight, Rylithe saw the Jedi turn to speak to Liss’cha. Delighted at their good fortune, she rose to run toward them and congratulate her friend, but was struck by a blow to her head. She fought to stay conscious, but only succeeded long enough to hear a deep voice tell her that he had felt the power she and her friend possessed.

When she woke, she was held prisoner in the familiar shackles of a slave-trading hold of a small starship. Unlike other times in her life, she was alone as a prisoner. When her captor finally showed himself, she was surprised to recognize the Sith apprentice from the meeting. He patiently answered all of her questions: his name was Juntak, he was taking her to Korriban, he did not intend to keep her as a personal slave. Once she hesitated with a question, however, he began to brutally torture her. When she would scream at him to stop, he would answer cryptically, sometimes encouraging her to embrace the pain and fear, other times seeming to marvel at some strength he claimed to feel in her.

Several times he visited with no further words or explanation for his continued sessions, inflicting pain such as Rylithe had never imagined before. As they docked at Korriban, Juntak came into the holding cell for one last horrific torture session, and Rylithe found the clarity to ask him why he kept doing this to her. The Sith Pureblood stated flatly that the sessions gave him no pleasure, but they would give her an edge, a head start, when she arrived at her destination. He offered nothing more, and Rylithe endured the final moments of his abuse in gritted silence. As Juntak finally left her for others to collect, he had an odd request: to remember what he had done on their trip.

She soon found out that he had taken her to a Sith academy, to learn their brutal ways or be crushed underfoot. She quickly but grudgingly realized the apprentice had been right – his harsh treatment had been the perfect preparation for her new life. As she studied her rival students, she silently made herself three promises:

To remember the apprentice as requested and track him down

To take revenge by mastering the evil powers before her and turning them against her new teachers