KOTOR Files: Kistra Horain

Species: Arkanian society and history are among the most complex in the Old Republic. At different times in its history, Arkania has belonged to both the Republic and the Sith Empire and played important roles in each. Knowledge and research are extremely important to the Arkanians, and they are highly skilled academicians and scientists. It is therefore not surprising that Arkania would become a main repository of the history of the Sith Empire, as well as home to vast libraries of information from across the galaxy.

Arkanians are not afraid to profit from their research and high intelligence. Arkanian corporations amass wealth by bringing key medical treatments and technology to the market at opportune times. Many in the galaxy find the Arkanians arrogant and aloof. They are horrified by the direction of some Arkanian research, particularly their work in genetic engineering. Indeed, the Arkanians are known to have transformed entire species over the course of generations, often tot he detriment of the species.

Even the Arkanians have not been off-limits to research and genetic engineering. Specific subspecies, such as Arkanian Offshoots, were engineered for specific tasks. However, the Offshoots are less hardy and shorter lived than the original Arkanians -- a trait not helped by occasional attempts by racist Purebloods to wipe them out. They also differ in physical appearance, typically in skin tone, eyes, and ears. Reactions to Offshoots vary within Arkanian society. Much to the horror of the occasional outsiders who visit Offshoot communities, some Arkanians regard them as merely tools or as a slave species. However, such feelings are not universal. Many regard the Offshoots as an example of the cruel consequences of Arkanian corporate greed.

Personality: Arkanian Offshoots do not share the arrogant attitude of their genetic cousins. They are highly confident of their own abilities, nevertheless.

Physical Description: Both Arkanians and Offshoots are bipedal humanoids with near-Human appearance, with white hair usually worn long. Arkanian eyes have no visible iris or pupil, a trait not shared by the Offshoots. The Offshoots have pure white skin and might display other lesser genetic anomalies. The Arkanians also have only four clawed digits, whereas the Offshoots' hands have five fingers.

Homeworld: The frigid and inhospitable world of Arkania, in the Perave System of the Colonies Region.

Personal history of Kistra Horain: Arkanian Offshoots do not live in the same world as pure-blooded Arkanians. There are no towering cities of crystal, enclosed in a warm atmospheric bubble to keep the snow at bay during the world's recent ice age. There is hardship, there is work, and there is pain.

All three of those elements can be found at the hands of purebloods relegated to oversee the camps under the auspices of "relief efforts." In all likelihood, these are Arkanians who have somehow drawn the ire of the ruling body, and must work penance by being in close proximity to the Offshoots. By a very young age, Kistra had learned to stay away from anyone with colour in their cheeks. She used her wits and her latent Force abilities to survive, especially after her parents were forcibly taken away to work in the diamond mines. They never returned, and Kistra knew better than to ask after them. Like so many others, they were simply gone.

So Kistra lived on the streets, stealing anything she could sell for food, the head of her own small gang of ruffians. One day, she spotted a robed stranger walking purposely down the road, and caught a glimpse of metal. Her stomach growling, she attempted the new trick she had taught herself, and willed the metal to unhook from the belt and come to her.

It almost worked. But the stranger grabbed her wayward lightsaber in mid-air, startling Kistra no less than the revelation that the stranger was blindfolded. And though Kistra ran, utilizing every hiding spot and trick she knew, the stranger was able to follow her, unerringly. Exhausted, she allowed herself to be captured.

The robed figure was not yet out of surprises, however. Instead of taking Kistra to the magistrate, they took a swoop bike to a city on the far side of the world, where there were loud arguments about her fate. At first, Kistra believed she had attempted to pickpocket the wrong person, but gradually she realized *she* was not the one in trouble. After many hours, the stranger approached her, introduced herself as the Jedi Knight Alora Embrul, and asked the impossible: if she would like to become a Jedi.

There was nothing for Kistra on Arkania. Her gang had precautions in case one of them was taken, especially her; she sent a message letting them know she was OK before leaving that world forever.

The next ten years were hard, but it was work of a different sort. She was always warm -- why did other species always keep things so warm? -- but she learned a lot from many different Jedi Masters. The academy at Coruscant believed in learning by doing, and she was able to accompany many Knights and Masters on their missions to right the wrongs in the Galaxy. She spent long hours writing letters to Alora. Sometimes there were answers, other times just silence, punctuated by frequent if brief visits to check on her progress. It was Alora's advice that kept Kistra at the academy for another few years before her promotion to Padawan, allowing her to excel in her classes, gain confidence in using the Force, and encourage her to mostly forget the morally questionable lessons of her youth.