Dia Shak
From An Evolution in RP :: Database
 | |
Personal Information
| |
| Name: | Dia Shak |
| Age: | 24 |
| Species: | Twi'lek |
| Affiliation: | Neutral |
Physical Description
| |
| Gender: | Female |
| Height: | 6'2" |
| Skin Color: | Rutian (Blue) |
| Eyes: | Silver grey |
Family
| |
| Mother: | Seela Shak |
| Father: | Adon'zhian |
| Sister: | Nahri Shak |
Awards
| |
|
| |
Contents |
History
Seela’Shak
Seela'Shak was the daughter of a reasonably successful trader operating from the Kala'uun Spaceport. A rebellious child and highly curious, Seela would often disappear for days on end to explore the labyrinth that is the Twi'lek city. Because of this, her sudden disappearance after being captured by slavers went almost unnoticed for several days -so long that any hope of rescue was slim. She was sold to a Pleasure House, where she was put to work as a dancer.
That at least was the story told to her daughter, Dia. Seela felt that her capture was a cruel was to make a start and decided to leave the life she had come from behind her. As such she brought Dia up believing that there was nothing for her on her mother's homeworld worth going back for. In reality Seela had left behind a loving husband and a new-born daughter, as well as another lover, all unaware of the reason behind their loved ones disappearance and the existance of the new child, Dia.
For there were people she had loved and left behind on Ryloth. Married at 18 to a male only a few years her senior in an desparate attempt to halt her explorings, Seela had a happy enough marriage, one that was soon blessed with a child. It was two full years before her wanderlust flared and the maze-like tunnels of their home called to her. It was on the long walks she took through the labyrinth that she met someone new, someone completely different to the husband she left at home to take care of their daughter and his business. Adon'zhian was an emerald green twi'lek, a spacer stranded while his ship underwent major repairs. He was everything she had wanted to be, space-wise and experienced. Seela found herself slipping away more and more often to meet him and hear tales of what lay beyond the space-port. Slowly their relationship developed beyond simple friendship and Seela realised that eventually Adon's ship would be repaired and she would have to make a choice -the family she loved or a life amongst the stars.
That choice was violently ripped from her when she was captured by slavers as she made her way home from a meeting with Adon one fateful day. She got her wish granted in a twisted way. Taken to the space port in secret, she finally got to see the stars up close, what little of them she could see from the small windows in the cell she was crammed into with other females captured during the same raid. Sold to a mobile pleasure house, Seela's proud bearing and disgust for her new trade were broken down methodically until she had resigned herself to her new life.
Childhood
The slavers and her new masters didn't realize that the rebellious youth they had captured was nearly two months pregnant, to the spacer twi'lek Adon'zhian. When the babe was born Seela entrusted her care to the maintenance workers of the station she was held on, reasoning that no male would trouble themselves with those working behind the scenes. To an extent she was right. Dia grew up unbothered by the males of the world she lived in. Swamped by enough layers of clothing to disguise her inherited gracefulness and form whenever she left the sanctuary of the kitchens, the young girl escaped notice for the most part. Mother and daughter spent as many stolen hours together as they could. Seela would spend free afternoons passing on as much knowledge about her home world as she could remember, anxious that her daughter didn't grow up ignorant of her history. From the mishmash of cultures on the ship Dia picked up smatterings of different languages which have come in useful, but although Seela tried to teach her daughter their native tongue, the lessons were few and far between, leaving Dia with only a basic grasp of the language.
The Escape
Dia spent 17 years of undisturbed peace in the kitchens, her existence known only by the maintenance workers and the other dancers, who all treated her as a daughter. The peace was shattered early one morning when a drunken Republic Lieutenant accidentally stumbled into the kitchens, only to discover Dia, free for once from her normal thick layers, dancing absently to herself as she prepared the morning meal. Thinking her a new purchase, he decided to use the discovery to his advantage. In a blind panic as the inebriated man advanced on her, she reacted instinctively, throwing a nearby bottle at him. The impact, combined with his intoxicated state, knocked him out cold. Believing she had killed the man now lying at her feet, Dia fled for her life, only taking the time to gather up her few belongings and leave a note explaining what had happened for her mother.
Hiding aboard the earliest-leaving ship, Dia set off on the first of many journeys she would take, existing between ports at the mercy of captains and their crews. At first she ran blindly, believing herself a wanted criminal and terrified of what punishment would be inflicted on her if she was caught, but once she realized that no one was coming after her, she began to enjoy her nomadic existence.
Coruscant
About a year into her new life she stowed away on the ship of a blonde captain who didn't take kindly to the unpaid passenger. The human had unceremoniously booted the young twi'lek off as soon as they hit the hanger bay on Coruscant, leaving Dia to find alternative accomodations. Nightfall had seen her wandering through the then-unknown city with not a clue as to what to do with herself.
She had spent most of the evening moving further and further down the levels, instinctively moving to avoid any patrolling law enforcers. Dia hadn't even heard the group of men come up behind her, not until they were close enough to grab her. Her first thoughts had been of the trooper's body she had abandoned not two years before and she panicked, frantically repeating 'it wasn't me, I didn't do it, it wasn't me' over and over again until one of them backhanded her sharply across the face.
"I don't give a frak what you didn't do," He growled. "We've warned you alien scum before not to come around here." She had recovered somewhat then, recognizing the trouble she had landed herself in. The young twi'lek had heard of the xenophilia that was rampant on the city planet, but hadn't really belived the situation was as bad as she was experienceing now. Dia made a desparate scramble for the lift a few meters away but a sharp kick propelled her to the ground, and she hit it hard, grit embedding itself in her cheek. She spun onto her back in time to see the tallest man flick open a lighter. The flame had danced in his dark eyes as he advanced on her.
A grey twi'lek had found her later, huddled behind a dumpster writhing in agony from burns peppering her sensitive lower lekku and arms, interspersed by cuts and large welts. "The Works is no place for the likes of you" he had said, hauling her up and all but dragging her along behind him to the upper levels and the nearest medi-centre. Dia hadn't had the energy to struggle away from this stranger of her own race, and had wordlessly accepted his help. She had collapsed before they had made it more than two levels higher, her battered body giving out on her, forcing the man she would later know as Jark to carry her to the centre. She was treated with brisk efficiency, slapped with a few bacta packs and unceremoniously jettisoned back into the care of the man who had brought her there. Jark had taken her back to his appartment and cared for her long after she needed it. In the quiet hours of her new stationary existance he taught her how to dig through the holonet for information hidden from prying eyes, and how to do the same to private computers. She was a quick enough student, tucking away everything she was taught, not missing anything. They became close, first as friends, then as lovers, but the feelings and the growing dependance she had for Jark scared her.
On the spur of a moment, she left one night, using the skills he had taught her to sneak past the alarm systems Jark always set and aboard a small private shuttle headed off planet. The grey twi'lek had noted her absence almost before she was gone and sent her a desparate message, which she ignored. Dia had spent the first few days of that trip crying her pain out, much to the confusion of the captain, suddenly saddled with an emotional twi'lek too upset to tell him more than her name. She flew with him for a while, and many captains after him, adding the friendly ones to her newly created information network. It was three planets before she had the strength to contact Jark and try to explain why she had done what she did. He was furious, confused and more than anything hurt by her actions, refusing to talk to her until one day she turned up on his doorstep, clutching a worn bag and with a batch of fresh wounds, asking for her old bed back. It had taken him time to understand that she couldn't stay with him, especially since Dia herself didn't know why, but by the time she had healed again he let her go, leaving her with promise after emotional promise that she laughed off, uncomfortable with such open declarations of his love.
Recent Activities
Now, six years later, Dia has been to over 30 planets, traveling on more ships than she can remember. She has acquired reasonably level of technical skills from anyone who was willing to teach her, figuring that no captain would toss a free trained worker out the air-lock. She also has made a network of friends in many ports that she likes to keep in touch with, and has more than a few ships she travels on regularly, although she still likes to arrive unannounced -it's more interesting that way.
On a recent trip back to Coruscant, the planet she now considers her home base, Dia discovered that Jark had secretly arranged a meeting for her with a women searching for Seela'Shak. Although Dia was furious with the idea that someone was looking for her mother, and became even more so when she discovered that the searcher was claiming to be Nahri'Shak, a lost daughter, she has since accepted that what she was told during her childhood by her mother may not be necessarily true. Although still dubious about the validity of Nahri's claims, the thought of a half-sister appeals to her, and the two remained in touch as they went their separate ways to search for Seela, who is proving difficult to find.
Now
While Dia's 'gut instinct'(in actuality a very slight force-sesitivity) has been proved as a nearly fail-safe method of selecting a ship that will get her to her destination in one piece, it isn't entirely dependable. On her latest journey, the passenger transport she had selected was boarded by pirates searching for a very specific item of cargo. After an early confrontation with the boarded pirates, Dia joined forces with a woman by the name of Arien Kynshaer, who had found herself in possession of a shuttle chip and the very package the attackers were looking for. After a skirmish in which Arien was wounded, the two made it safely to Coruscant, where Jark took the shuttle off the hand, allowing the pair to search for the rightful owner of the package.
The search took them to a cantina in the lower levels of the planet, where Arien used her basic grasp of the force to aquire them a room. It was then that she was grabbed by a criminal organisation who had organised the hijacking of the transport thw two had been on. Unaware that she had the package on her, the leader forced the woman to take part in a battle to the death while drugged. Stefan Faerber, a stranger still known to the two only as 'Specter', rescued the woman and made it known that it was his job the get the package to where it had been destined.
Offering to pay the two for their efforts, he took Arien and Dia to the Rebel base, a space station where Arien recieved some medical care. Unfortunately during their time there they were once again placed in danger as they came under attak, yet again, by pirates. Fleeing once more with Specter and the injured Arien, Dia is highly uncomfortable with the situation, but a strange sort of loyalty to her new companions and the promise of credits has so far kept her from disappearing.
Appearance
Although tall when compared to humans Dia is short when next to others of her species at only 6'2. As a Rutain Twi'lek, she has the smooth blue skin and Grey eyes characteristic of her race. Her lekku are unmarked by the traditional dancers tattoos, but small scars from various encounters can be found scattered over her body.
Very rarely is Dia found in anything that isn't comfortable and covering, similar to the clothing she grew up in. Currently her favorite (and only) outfit comprises of a shirt she 'borrowed' from the last captain she traveled with, pants crammed full with as many pockets as can fit and her boots -the only article of clothing she's ever purchased. Dia prefers to travel light, and as such, doesn't carry luggage. She just permanently borrows more clothing as the old items wear out.
Personality
To the casual observor Dia is extremely friendly. She has developed a knack of nattering on for hours without revealing any of the cards she plays close to her chest. She has issues with trusting anybody because she's been fully reliant on herself for so long and has grown to like it that way. Her slight force sensitivity normally helps her to avoid ships she wouldn't want to be on anyway, but she puts that down to pure skill. She can be cocky, smug and downright annoying at times, but she has her moments. She is loyal to her friends and the people who take her in, at least until her life is threatened when she feels a need for self-preservation, and is a sucker for the underdog (this has seen her lose more than a few credits to street rat cons on various worlds).
Dia is nosy (although she prefers 'curious'), and feels a need to know everything about anything while keeping her details as unknown as possible. Her web of friends keep her up to date with the latest news from various worlds and she tucks the knowledge away in case she ever needs blackmail ammunition to get out of a sticky situation (of which she has seen plenty). She can summon the characteristic slyness and smooth talking of her race when need be and if all else fails, she sees no shame in fleeing for her life and has had plenty of practice.
