Yanna grew up on Ryloth as part of a large loving family, with two brothers and three sisters. Part of a small, fringe village far and away from most of Twi'lek society (actually part of an organized system by Ryloth to push for repopulation of old population centers--the village itself used to be populated but was abandoned a century earlier). She didn't have an easy upbringing on the frontier, but it was one of peace and calm. She had brief relationships with several others when she was a teenager, supported her family through a brief wave of illness, and more. Unfortunately, that distance from society also made it easy for promising crime lords to take action as they pleased (particularly the Hutts, who were a constant threat to Rylothi peace). When the distinctive whirring of speeders arrived and all hails failed, her parents pushed her to run, and run she did. She never witnessed the fate of her village, because within just hours of her running, she was captured, knocked out, and carted away to be sold as a slave. The man who would be her master had her lekku removed as a show of force and to break her will. It only hardened her resolve. Biding her time, she waited for the fateful day to come and upon personally meeting the man who bought her, she beat him within an inch of his life and escaped. Unfortunately, due to the grey legality of the act, the many ways that slavery is legalized (contracts, indentured servitude, etc.), and bribes, a warrant was put out for her arrest and she was soon found. Within the seedy court systems, she was tried and sentenced to 10 years for aggravated assault. Shipped offworld to a prison, she ingratiated herself within the wonderful prison community. Her time in prison was probably the hardest, but also the most life-changing. She was beaten, raped, stabbed, left for dead herself, and more. But she became hardened, and she proved her worth to a gang led by a Rodian woman named "Badee," affectionately called "Count Badee." Badee forged Yanna into a survivor, a fighter. Yanna was not a winner--she was still a prisoner and not on top of the world by any means. But when her foes thought they could put her down, they would always have to wonder if this would be the time they wouldn't get to walk away. And that fear alone kept Yanna safe and warm. Yanna killed several people during her time in the prison system, but due to the lack of oversight, Badee's influence, and any veritable evidence of her involvement, she was never held accountable for them and her sentence was not prolonged (though any chance of early release was certainly dashed). Yanna also became well-versed in the art of drug smuggling, and the Ryloth specialty ryll became a standard item pawned off to the prison inhabitants. Yanna was officially released exactly 10 years after her sentencing, and she stepped out of the prison's gates a stronger and tougher woman than when she entered. She reflects on it with no regret--everything she did was a part of her journey, and all of it was to survive. She is thankful to Badee and to the many gang members who helped her grow as a person. Yanna's only regret, in fact, is not actually killing her captor all those years ago. He survived, and though his death likely would've meant the same for her, she regrets allowing the man who demeaned and abused her live. She believes the only reason she wasn't even killed by him or someone working for him was to save face--retaliation would've meant admitting that he had been brought down by a twi'lek slave. The courts reacted by prosecuting a crime, but a hit would've meant that she had done something worth getting hit for--and he wouldn't admit being brought low by her.

Yanna is out for survival, and for pride: she will NEVER let herself fall, because doing that would show that she lost, that her suffering was too much, that in the end she wasn't good enough. Her daily motivation is to prove to herself that she is strong enough to continue on for the rest of her life. She doesn't need to become the biggest and the greatest--she just needs to show everyone who ever doubted her that they were fucking wrong.

Green-skinned Twi'lek, slim, left lekku (head-tail) jaggedly cut off several inches from the base of the skull. On the relatively flat surface that is mostly all scar tissue is a rough prison gang tattoo, as well as several small marks (equivalent to, say, the teardrop; marks of people that she killed). Her remaining, right lekku is short/small for her species. She wears heavy clothing and hides her body, for the most part. She does not cover or hide her lekku nub, because it is hers and a part of her as much as anything else.

"I may have suffered to earn this, but it is my pride that keeps it. I will not back down and let him win. I will not submit. I am not scared to tell the world that I have suffered. I am only scared for them when they decide to take issue with it."

In truth however, she hates the stub and many of the signs of her troubled past. She views them with loathing. "This? This is my everything! I have nothing else! Just this fucking thing, broadcast to the world! The Twi'leks only see me for this fucking disgrace on my head! The Republic only sees a criminal and a murderer who won't reform! Everything I have is wrapped in this fucking nub and everything I have amounts to jack shit!"