Penrylik grew up on the Besalisk homeworld of Ojom, a frozen ocean planet just on the edge of the Deep Core. Despite the Besalisks' lack of interest in Galactic politics, its proximity to the Deep Core threatened to draw an Imperial presence, so they turned to the Hutts, who used their influence to keep the Empire away from their planet. Penrylik was one of many athletic young Besalisks drafted into the Hutts' service in order to repay their "generosity."

Penrylik was lucky in two ways. First, in that she was an impressively capable fighter and genuinely enjoyed proving herself in combat, and second, in that her community was pledged to the kajidic of one Popara the Hutt, who treated them more like vassals than slaves. In the employ of the kajidic, Penrylik served as muscle advancing their aims in a variety of ways on many, many planets. In fact, she has been to so many planets for such brief, fast-paced encounters that they tend to blur together in her mind. Something that did stick in her mind, however, was the fates of planets that fell entirely under Imperial or Hutt control; neither was very pleasant for the general population.

Traveling so much and getting into violent scrapes so often caused Penrylik to build up close ties to the other criminals in the same little squad of thugs. They were mostly a mix of Basic and Huttese speakers, resulting in Penrylik gaining the nickname "Penny," which speakers of both languages evidently found easier to pronounce. Notable comrades from her criminal days include: Karrack, the solitary Gank, who befriended her after being insulted (how many times is a matter of dispute) and attacking Penny, who impressed the killer by holding her own, and a Klatooinian pilot by the name of Saradok, who had a penchant for ill-advised aerial stunts. Karrack is the one who installed Penny's prosthetic eye and imparted on her an appreciation for what one could do with an eclectic hodgepodge of technology. Saradok convinced her that just getting to the fight could be fun in its own right.

While Penny enjoyed the fighting, that was not all her work entailed. Over time, all of the shakedowns, the extortions, and the trafficking wore on her. Plus, there just wasn't any challenge to it anymore, and she was getting bored with the routine. She started looking around for other work, and Popara, realizing that a bored, overly competent purveyor of mayhem is a dangerous problem to have and usually an expensive one to remove, decided to release her with his blessing and a good reference rather than make an issue out of it.

Quest: Thrill. Ideology and concerns about the future of her homeworld aside, what motivates Penrylik to put her life on the line is the sheer adrenaline of combat. She lives for the rush of battle and the prospect of testing herself against all manner of dangerous situations. Fighting two cred thugs just doesn't do it for her anymore, but she figures that going after the Empire will furnish some suitable challenges. If she gets some good stories out of it, all the better.

Morale (0): Penrylik is used to operating within a tight-knit "family" of ne'er-do-wells, and she sees keeping the group's spirits high as one of her main tasks. Her criminal connections are often helpful in getting the sort of "party favors" and "refreshments" that can help a unit take the edge off a hard situation, and her flamboyant behavior on the battlefield can be inspiring in its own way.

Penrylik, a.k.a. "Penny"

Other known aliases:
"The Amazon from Ojom"
"The Brute Squad"
"Dinosaur War Goddess" (don't ask)

Penrylik is an imposing Besalisk a little over 2 meters tall with tattooed arms and a fondness for flashy jewelry. She normally adopts a casual, easy-going stance, but can tower with the best of them when intimidation is called for, a posture that is accentuated by the feathery mane descending from her nape. She bears a large facial scar stretching across her right eye socket, which contains an obviously prosthetic replacement. Penrylik has a loud, raspy laugh bordering on a squawk which is heard often by anyone anywhere in her general vicinity.

Despite her casual stance and lack of military discipline, she has a natural grasp of small unit tactics and is often the first to react when a fight breaks out, usually springing to attack while positioning herself to protect her allies, trusting them to back her up. This is also an indicator of her generally guileless nature, despite the aura of a toughened street thug which tends to cling to her. It often does not occur to her that her allies may not have her back with the same enthusiasm with which she has theirs, and she is generally terrible at lying. Since she does not often make threats she is not willing to follow up on, this has not been a great encumbrance to her criminal career.