Sabra Shulvu, the Silent Knight

Its strength is to offer eight distinctive story tracks (one per character class). Here is a version of the Jedi Knight track, covering the first 15-ish levels before class specialization kicks in. As such there are S P O I L E R S for Tython.

Since this is a RPG, Sabra is but one possible version of the Jedi Knight, who is extensively customisable.

As often when we present “sample” video game Player Characters, the profile includes additional sections about the game universe.

This profile is best read after the Jaevna Shilo profile (which has a primer about the Old Republic era) and the Meeyelle Mahr profile (which has a primer about the Jedi Order).

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• This profile features a sample or customized Player Character. See our video games writeups FAQ for more.
• This profile assumes a specific video game playthrough. See our video games writeups FAQ for more.
• This profile features tabletop RPG mechanics about the video game’s gameplay. See our video games writeups FAQ for more.
• This profile features non-canon hypotheses about in-game events and mechanics. See our video games writeups FAQ for more.

Background

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Sight without sight

The Miraluka species  is extremely close to Humans. It seems likely that they are an evolutionary offshoot.

The main, immediately noticeable difference is that Miraluka people have no eyes. They have but vestigial depressions on their face where Humans have eye sockets.

There are other, more subtle genetic differences. Thus, while Humans and Miraluka can easily interbreed, this is not medically recommended. Cross-breed children are likely to present genetic ailments.

There is only the Force

Miraluka “see” using the Force. They generally have a higher degree of Force sensitivity than most Humans. As a result, their history has been entwined with that of the Jedi Order for centuries.

Of course, most Miraluka folks aren’t Force-sensitive enough to become full Jedi. But their culture make them excellent associates in, say, administrative and logistics positions. This is because Miraluka religions and stories have always incorporated the Force.

“Force vision” seems nearly indistinguishable from physical vision. For instance Miraluka can watch holos or read a plaque. But they can’t see those extremely rare creatures not connected to the Force and acting as Force black bodies. They also can’t “see” in areas where the Force has been suppressed.

Society

The Miraluka population is a diaspora. They have long since lost their homeworld to the unstability of its star. They do not seem to have a large population.

Click for a larger version.

Still, at this point of history there are far more Miraluka folks than during later eras. After the collapse of the Old Republic, the Empire will proceed to exterminate Force sensitives, which will mean a genocide for Miraluka.

Miraluka societies resemble a family more than they resemble a Human society. To emphasis that they see themselves as a part of a collective, they usually wear some sort of mask or veil. It symbolises their community and downplays their individuality.

As a side effect these also allow knowledgeable non-Miraluka to recognise where a Miraluka comes from. And since these ornaments hide the absence of eyes, they avoid making Humans uncomfortable.

Soundtrack

Her stare is louder than your voice / Because truth doesn’t make a noise.

Available for download on Amazon .

Powers & Abilities

Sabra is an incredible swordswoman. Even as a brand-new padawan with but a training sword, she was a better fighter than most fully-armed, fully-trained Jedi Knights. And that was before receiving *any* Jedi training.

For instance she defeated on her own the entire Flesh Raider  Force-sensitive warrior cadre that had killed the Jedi Laotah. Even though their leader was now armed with Laotah’s lightsabre.

She has developed on her own a primitive variant of the Ataru sword fighting techniques. The Jedi Order officially calls the Ataru style “Form IV lightsabre combat”. Form Four is a high-tempo, acrobatic, aggressive form of fighting. An Ataru duellist channels the Force into great speed, coordination, agility and jumping ability.

Her techniques also apply to hand-to-hand combat, though she normally fights armed.

Use the Force, Sabra

Albeit Ms. Shulvu is exceptionally strong in the Force, her abilities are entirely framed by her obsession about lightsabre combat.

• She can use Force telekinesis. But 90% of it is about enhancing the speed and power of her movements in combat.
• She can theoretically use Force persuasion. But her handicaps make that point moot.
• She can of course sense ripples in the Force. But these are Miraluka abilities she was simply born with.
• She can perform minor forms of Force healing. But it’s nothing a doctor couldn’t achieve with a well-aimed ℞.

No sight, no voice, no problem

Sabra lives with a number of hindrances, probably caused by genetic defects since she is 25% Human. The main one is that she is mute. However, her limited ability to communicate is almost entirely compensated by :

1. Her strong presence.
2. The fact that auto-translators understand the main sign languages.

The Jedi Code

Ideally, the Jedi serve the Force by defending peace, life and harmony. They act as defenders, never as lords. They strive to live detached and monastic lives of study and meditation, as much as their responsibilities as guardians will allow.

Their beliefs in the light side of the Force do not always align with mainstream modern versions of “good”. For instance the Jedi code favours the collective good over the individual good. It also has the Jedi keep all emotions (including love, curiosity, spontaneity or pleasure) at arm’s length.

They also reject materialism. And as Sabra’s friend Meeyelle once said “the Order protects peace. Not freedom.”. In D&D terms , the Code is more Lawful than Good. If there existed a society ruled by the Jedi it would be extremely conformist.

Easily they flow, quick to join you in fight

A key driver behind the no-emotion thing is that Force-sensitive individuals (and particularly those strong enough to become Jedi) are vulnerable to the temptation of the dark side of the Force. Strong emotions, which to a normal person would be just that, are akin to a toehold for what some have compared to a malign, corrupting intelligence.

The Jedi must thus live by strict rules and steel-hard self-discipline every minute. The Order will ruthlessly reject pupils who do not meet stringent requirements of emotional control. Some would describe this rejection of even positive emotions as fanatical suppression of their humanity.

History – pre-game

(This History section is original rather than something covered in the game. It is but one of the possible, imaginary takes on the Jedi Knight Player Character.)

Sabra Shulvu comes from an ancient and nearly extinct Miraluka nation. It has less than 200 members left. Their traditional mask is a very low tech affair using stitched leather, for the simple reason that is just that old a tradition. It was developed on the homeworld in the earliest stage of civilisation.

Click for a larger version.

This community was further weakened during the Great Galactic War. Sabra’s father died when she was but a baby, falling in battle at Ord Radama. Her mother was forced to flee the advancing Empire, and ended up on the streets of Coruscant . Mrs. Shulvu had lost everything but her daughter, and was now separated from her kind.

Sabra was born mute and sickly, perhaps because her grandfather was Human. She also evidenced para-autistic symptoms.

That her mother could keep her alive was remarkable. Shashira begged on the street and took every single odd job she could to buy food and medicine. She also received some help from overwhelmed citizens’ associations. These provided relief to the refugees where the government and more xenophobic charities wouldn’t.

The sound of silence

The brother of another mute migrant child taught Basic Signage Ten to Sabra. This is a sign language based on the Basic lingua franca and useable by persons with 10 fingers or a close equivalent. Basic Signage Ten is understood by nearly all translation software, allowing fluent signers to communicate unhindered.

As a little girl Sabra tended to simply sit there without doing anything. When dragged off the floor she would participate to the chores and errands of the squatting community her mother was with.

Shashira eventually found a battered holocomm  in the trash. She gave it to her daughter to commemorate a religious festival. Sabra now spent her time watching shows. But *only* documentaries about galactic history, the martial arts and the history of the arts. For years.

Most squatters called her “the mutant”. But they generally liked her since she was helpful once poked, unobtrusive, and didn’t eat much.

By age 8 Sabra started demonstrating extraordinary Force sensitivity. She chiefly used the Force to relieve chronic pain for her mother and other squatters suffering from their squalid living conditions. It was often gout, or an equivalent.

As she grew up the mute girl started developing her own form of unarmed fighting, based on holos, the Force and self-taught meditation. From a modern PoV, it sort of resembled Isshin-Ryu karate .

Blind sculptress

At 13 Sabra discovered a squat where she could be on her own. She would spend most of her days there but come back to her mother’s squat in the evening. This ruined flat was on the border of the territory of a particularly savage gang, which everyone avoided.

The point of this new squat was to build a large, hot fire. That would have been far too dangerous at the main squat. Sabra used it to make scavenged metallic rods red-hot and pliable. She then telekinetically manipulated these into forming intricate, abstract wire-frame sculptures representing the Force.

She eventually showed some of her work to a volunteer from the Undercity Assistance refugees relief association. The activist managed to sell several sculptures to collectors. The benefits were used to purchase chemical toilets and other supplies for the squat Shashira was with.

At age 14, Sabra was attacked by a marauder. The boy was attempting to pass his initiation ceremony with the nearby gang by bringing back a head. He attacked the Miraluka in her private squat, using an old vibro-sword . The unarmed Sabra killed him within seconds, simultaneously taking out one of his knees and his throat.

She started practicing day and night with the vibro-sword, completely abandoning sculpture for several years.

Master Bakarn

Sabra Shulvu was eventually discovered by the Jedi Knight Syo Bakarn . Bakarn had returned to Coruscant to buy supplies for the reconstruction of the Jedi Temple on Tython.

During a lull in the process Bakarn, a noted Force healer, left for the lower levels of Coruscant to offer care to ailing refugees. His second stop was in Sabra’s neighborhood.

Click for a larger version.

As a migrant crowd congregated around the Jedi, Sabra approached Bakarn. She requested a sparring duel once he was done. Sensing her strength in the Force, the intrigued Syo agreed. After buying a pair of hard plastic rods in a nearby junk emporium, the pair fought for two hours in a back alley.

The young Miraluka gave an exceptional account of herself – floating like a butterfly, hitting like a garbage truck. Impressed and nursing a nasty welt across his face, Syo recruited her to become a youngling on Tython .

Youngling

Sabra was reluctant to follow. But Master Bakarn arranged for Shashira Shulvu to be hired as an office lady  with the Jedi liaison office in the Senate.

He finally won the lass over when he pointed out that on Tython Sabra could be trained in the Jar’kai combat form. Most Jar’kai fighting involves wielding a pair of lightsabres. Unsurprisingly, these are advanced, demanding techniques.

He also explained that given her exceptional strength in the Force and her martial prowess, she likely would be made a padawan within months.

This was a bountiful week for the Jedi Order. Not only was Sabra Shulvu stronger in the Force than any youngling before her in decades, but mere days later another youngling, one Meeyelle Mahr, was sent to Tython. Mahr was even stronger in the Force than Shulvu, albeit less martially adept.

History – in-game

Master Din

Within minutes of arriving on Tython, Ms. Shulvu was caught in a battle. Brutal humanoid locals, the Flesh Raiders, were attacking a Jedi training ground. Though equipped with but robes and a training sword, Sabra met them in battle head-on with decisive results. She then pushed on as Jedi reinforcements came in and secured her rear.

While rescuing a captured Jedi apprentice, Sabra came across a young Human Dark Jedi. He was the student of an unknown master. Though the man had an actual lightsabre, Sabra engaged him in combat with her training sword to save the Jedi apprentice. She was forced to slay her opponent.

Master Orgus Din of the Jedi Council  then came in. The pragmatic, soldierly Din hadn’t had a padawan in more than 10 years. Yet he made Shulvu his apprentice on the spot after exchanging about five sentences with her.

Sabra had been on Tython for less than six hours.

The living weapon

Master Din found the design of the young Dark Jedi’s lightsabre puzzlingly familiar, and began investigating. He suspected that the master of Shulvu’s dead opponent was behind the Flesh Raiders’ deadly attacks.

Click for a larger version.

Having gauged Shulvu in seconds, the old warrior provided “training”. What that meant was throwing her in the general direction of Flesh Raider activities. Din counted on her to survive and overcome while he investigated other leads.

This suited Sabra just fine. During her first week on Tython practically the only two things she signed at Master Din were either “at once, master” or “wilco, master”.

During these adventures, Sabra acquired her best friend ever – an unusual astromech droid, T7-01.

Pilgrims

Master Din also had Youngling Shulvu support the Pilgrims, a local Twi’lek  community. The Pilgrims’ presence on Tython was illegal and the Jedi Order was thus forbidden by law to help them.

However, Flesh Raiders attacks had killed numerous Pilgrims. Master Din decided that enough was enough, and it was time for a change. He detailed Sabra to defend the Pilgrims and fix the bad blood between them and the Order.

Youngling Shulvu’s reaction to being ordered to break the law, engage in difficult ambassadorial work she had not training in, defend an entire village by herself and conduct various strike and recon missions on her own against unknown forces without a real weapon was of course a single “yes master”.

Heroine of Tython

Most onlookers wondered whether Master Din had become insane or prematurely senile. But he had perfectly gauged just how badass his brand-new pupil was. Defeating multiple Flesh Raider attacks by herself, Sabra made significant progress in gaining allies among the embittered and scared Pilgrims.

Din and Shulvu eventually realised whom the mastermind behind the Flesh Raiders was. It was Master Din’s previous padawan, Bengel Morr .

Ten years before, during the Sacking of Coruscant, the young Nautolan had been traumatised by the carnage and destruction as the Empire obliterated the Jedi Temple. Morr survived the onslaught by the thinnest margin, but was separated from his master. Din also got out of this by the skin of his teeth.

Driven to the Dark Side, Morr decided to destroy the Jedi Order. He would then replace it with a new Order of darksiders who would fight the Sith with far greater ferocity and passion than the Jedi did. He plotted for years, training a padawan of sorts. This pupil was the Human youth whom Sabra had been forced to kill shortly after her arrival.

A few years after the destruction of the Temple, when the Order rediscovered Tython and had a new Temple built there, Morr sneaked planetside. He then trained the dangerous Flesh Raiders. Over the years he made them into his army. Morr even trained those among them who were Force-sensitive to become crude Force-using warriors.

Bengel Morr

Bengel Morr worked in secrecy until he thought he had enough manpower to take out the Order.

Turning the Pilgrims against the Jedi to open a new simultaneous front was a secondary aspect of his strategy. The main thrust apparently was to have so many cells of Flesh Raider warriors as to force the Jedi to spread themselves far too thin.

Jedi + T7. Click for a larger version.

Jedi interference (and particularly that of Youngling Shulvu and Youngling Mahr) stymied but didn’t entirely cripple Morr’s master plan. In particular, he exploited the fact that the new leader of the Pilgrims was young and inexperienced. The leader’s mother — the previous matriarch of the Pilgrims — had died of old age days before.

Morr convinced scared Pilgrims to lean on the new matriarch to side with him rather than with the Jedi. As Morr rightly argued, the Order had until recently consistently failed to help the Pilgrims. This reluctant treason resulted in the capture of Master Din and his apprentice.

However, the new matriarch couldn’t bring herself to execute Ms. Shulvu given all her good deeds. Pro-Morr Twi’lek paramilitaries attempted to force her hand. This left Sabra with no choice but to kill them to save her own life and that of the young matriarch.

Duel

Aghast over having betrayed the Jedi through rank social pressure, the matriarch allowed Shulvu to find Bengel Morr. Sabra came in in time to prevent him from ritually slaying Master Din.

Morr was now a fairly powerful Knight. But he realized a smidgen too late that the wet-behind-the-ears girl facing him was faster and more skilled than he was. Sabra even managed to take Morr alive with a weird, rapid-fire sequence of kicks and knee strikes after locking his guard upward.

Master Din told the Council that he considered these events to have been a successful Trial for Shulvu. Without further procedure, he made her a full padawan entitled to build and carry a lightsabre. Sabra had been on Tython for roughly a month.

At the New Temple

Padawan Shulvu studied intensively with Master Din and other Jedi instructors at the Temple. She retained her obsessive focus on swordswomanship. Sabra :

• Quickly progressed in learning official Form IV lightsaber combat.
• Picked up Jar’kai techniques with impressive poise and precision.
• Outgrew within days the traditional droids-based combat simulation exercises.
• Made rapid headway in mastering Form V and Form VI as well as her “native” Form IV.

Master Din continued to largely let her be outside of their gruelling sparring sessions, considering that he had little to add.

Swordswoman born

However, during that time the Jedi Council increasingly sensed darkness on Coruscant. Master Din advocated for action early on, and the other Masters (particularly Master Kiwiiks ) came to agree.

Master Kiwiiks left with her padawan to start investigating. As soon as she made troubling findings, Master Din whistled up his own padawan and left for Coruscant.

(In the game the training and specialization happen magico-instantly when leaving Tython. Here I assumed that there was actually a sizeable gap between the end of the war on Tython and the departure for Coruscant. For both the Jedi Consular and the Jedi Knight storylines).

Description

An athletic Miraluka lass in her late teens, with well-tanned White skin and grey-white hair. Her traditional mask is made of brown leather with crude stapling and straps.

During much of this era she wears typical Jedi youngling clothing. Her training sword in an over-the-shoulder sheath. This is not practical, but Sabra uses the Force to telekinetically ready her sword. This is so fast it practically teleports into her hand.

Sabra wears shiny lip gloss. Her favourite brand is very popular among young women on Coruscant since it tastes *really* good. Feeling down ? Just suck your own lips a bit for a shot of yummy.

Sabra approaching the reactivated Forge. Click for a larger version.

Likewise her hairstyle is a common one among Heavy Isotope  (a style of music popular among youths of many species) female fans. Well, for those species with hair. Or an equivalent. You know.

The female Jedi Knight voiced by Kari Wahlgren .

(Ideally, Ms. Shulvu would have been lean, with a whipcord muscles physique and on the androgynous side. But going for any sort of androgyny when the character model comes with such hefty knockers ain’t gonna work. Video games.)

Personality

Sabra is one laconic person. Even though she can sign extremely quickly, she only communicates when talked to and with a minimal amount of signing.

Basic Signage Ten is also a very efficient sign language. So it’s not uncommon for her to move her hands and fingers for about two seconds, whereas the spoken translation will take 6+ times as long. Sabra signs lightning-fast since she usually “talks” to a computer translator. If signing at a person she’ll slow down to a pace where one can follow her fingers.

Most of her communication is a simple nod to acknowledge orders from her master, which she’ll execute without question or hesitation. Shulvu is partially guided by the Force, leaving her with the habit to flow with the events like a champion surfer on a wave. She only ever moves in one direction – forward.

Sunlight blade samurai nun

Sabra is utterly obsessed with swordswomanship. She practices at least five hours every single day. Usually eight. Sometimes more.

She is completely single-minded about it, making most other things unimportant. In many ways she sees herself as an extension of her weapon – or rather the two form a single entity.

The role of Master Din is to wield that weapon. Din tells her whom to fight, when and how – the “why” isn’t hugely important. What counts is the degree of perfection of each fight. Sabra trends ever upward toward some unfathomable, pure state of oneness with her lightsabre(s) and the Force.

Sunlight blade samurai nun – heavy focus gaiden

This obsession, and her distant and uninvolved behaviour make her a perfect match for the Jedi code. She feels little emotion, only striving for transcendental union with the light side of the Force through the medium of her swords.

Padawan Shulvu deeply upholds the Jedi Code. Despite her minimalistic communication, she is a strong advocate for peace, understanding and harmony. She strives to protect and defend all life, serve the greater good to the exclusion of her own, and always respect her masters.

When she does communicate, she is very nice and polite. This is often surprising to those who come to see her merely as a living weapon.

Neuro-atypical

Sabra’s brain is wired a bit differently, perhaps because of her part-Human ancestry. She has a strong obsessive-compulsive behaviour, likes rituals, and becomes awkward if she feels judged.

Her obsession with sculpture, swordswomanship and the Force stems from there. It also powers her ability to practice these during nearly every waking hour. However it has downsides as she slowly develop phobias and compulsions as she becomes older.

Most noticeably she :

• Is unable to eat or drink something with a bitter taste.
• Has a compulsion to perform non-combat actions in sets of four wherever that makes sense (and quite often when it doesn’t).
• Can’t bear having dark fabrics in prolonged contact with her skin.
• Has a marked tendency to organise jumbles of objects in sets of seven if she can.

She’s better described as being different than as being handicapped, though. She has no problems communicating with all sorts of people, interpreting emotions, doing everyday tasks, etc.. But new irrational hangups are going to keep appearing and strengthening with the years.

Beep boop (whistle) beep (trill)

Sabra considers her droid partner T7-01 to be her best friend. She was far too poor to own any sort of droid before, so it’s all new to her.

T7 doesn’t make her feel self-conscious like organic people do. She spends a lot more time talking with her droid than she ever did with anyone else, save her mother. Sabra and T7 have actual conversations, and even bits of small talk.

Sabra feels that T7 doesn’t judge her. It doesn’t consider her a subhuman migrant alien street scum, a brain-damaged freak, an inscrutably obsessive weirdo, a creepy voiceless mutant, a deluded religious fanatic or a living weapon of war.

As T7 is fond of pointing out they constitute a formidable, complementary team.

Droid communiqué

Amusingly, T7 often tries to be the “face” of this redoubtable duo. Sabra will flash-sign something brief at their interlocutors, but T7 will then attempt to play protocol droid by building upon what she said.

Of course, it will do so in old-school astromech whistles and beeps. Which is usually translated as nouns linked by logical operators. This isn’t terribly convincing, so in turn it forces Sabra to elaborate and “talk” more.

Which is of course exactly what T7 wants.

By Sébastien Andrivet.

Source of Character: Star Wars: The Old Republic MMORPG.

Writeup completed on the 4^st of May, 2017 (fittingly).