As a Force-sensitive child of the Tusken, Shefaa was noticed by the Muun Jedi master Kaf Buho, who had dedicated the latter part of his career to mediating between Tusken and settler communities on Tatooine. Since the Tusken were not citizens of the republic, Kaf had no authority to remove her from her family and send her to Coruscant for training. Nor did he wish to, knowing that such a move would earn him the undying enmity of any Tusken that learned of it. However, he reported her existence to the Jedi Council, and resolved to keep an eye on her as she grew up, making sure he was on hand to guide her if she showed signs of developing her connection to the Force on her own.

In fact, she started to show such signs quite early. Luckily, her clan was one with whom he had built a particularly good relationship, and he was the only outsider allowed to come and go as he pleased. So it wasn’t as difficult as it might have been to befriend the young girl, and although he never named the Force as such, he did begin to guide her thinking in ways he hoped would encourage the calm and responsible use of any power she discovered. Unfortunately, while Kaf was away in another part of the planet, a series of escalating events triggered conflict between her village and a nearby off-worlder settlement, ending in the massacre of her clan by a vengeful settler militia. Master Kaf arrived on the scene too late, but found that Shefaa had survived, hiding herself instinctively by means of the Force.

The remains of Shefaa's clan were no longer enough to survive as an independent community, and faced no good choices in the harsh environment of Tatooine. They would likely have to scatter and seek refuge among other clans, where they would exist on the margins, the first to suffer and die if their new community fell on hard times.

So Master Kaf offered her a choice: to return to the remains of her clan, or to let him send her off into the sky, where she would learn to wield power the way he did. Perhaps he let a touch of Force influence push her towards the latter, because he feared for her safety, and for her fate if left to develop Force talents on her own under such circumstances. Either way, she agreed. He hid her from her people, and spent some time teaching her rudimentary Galactic Basic and the uses of everyday advanced technology. Then he put her on a ship to Coruscant, likely the first Tusken in many generations to leave Tatooine.

Shefaa did not have an easy time at the Jedi Academy, at least at first. She was a little older than most new trainees, and no one spoke or understood her native language. While it was certainly not uncommon for new Jedis-in-training to suffer homesickness, few had to deal with the utter strangeness that Shefaa was surrounded by, and all while she was still in mourning for her family.

Her evident loneliness and despair prompted a debate among the Jedi masters on how best to ease her transition into her new life. Some thought she would more easily be able to leave her old life behind if she could be persuaded to set aside her people’s taboo against exposing flesh to the eyes of another. They argued that the taboo was rooted in ignorance and a closing-off of oneself to the wider universe, while the path of a Jedi must be founded on knowledge - that only by relinquishing her attachment to this practice could she find her way forward. Others insisted that as she grew in wisdom and understanding, she would find her own reasons for either continuing the practice or setting it aside, and that the choice and the meaning would be hers alone - that in the meantime, others imposing their own interpretation on the matter would be counterproductive.

Perhaps both attitudes helped her overcome her initial depression: on the one hand, she slowly grew to trust the masters who demonstrated understanding and faith in her potential. On the other, she threw herself zealously to her studies in defiance of those who suggested she could not be a true Jedi while following Tusken customs. Though she never quite excelled in academic study, she grew quickly in her confidence and connection with the Force. She truly flourished when she was allowed to study piloting, and was never happier than when she was left alone at the controls of a small craft, either traversing the emptiness of space or exploring a planet’s uninhabited places.

She was less happy in her situation after advancing to the rank of padawan. She had held out hope that she might be apprenticed to Master Kaf, with whom she had remained in contact throughout her time as a trainee. However, he felt his duty still bound him to Tatooine, and both knew that the revelation of his having sent a young Tusken off-world would irredeemably compromise his work there. Instead, she found herself accompanying one Master Doja Lan to Felucia, where the Jedi master and her new padawan were to mediate a trade dispute. Shafaa quickly became frustrated by the whole affair, disagreeing strenuously with her master on a number of points, particularly as to the weight that should accorded the interests of the indigenous Felucians.

The longer she spent dealing with Republic politics, the more frustrated she became, believing the Jedi too protective of powerful interests in the name of galactic stability. Throughout the negotiations she was reprimanded often by her master for letting her discipline slip. Finally, she sent a missive to the council begging for another assignment. When that was refused, she asked to be allowed to leave the Jedi order, expressing a desire to seek peace in solitude rather than service to the Republic. This was granted, the council judging that she had progressed enough to safely leave off the rest of her training, though not enough to leave as a full Jedi knight. She was free to seek her own path, and it was suggested that in the future she might apply to resume her training and her service, if she wished.

Later, as Count Dooku’s propaganda became an increasing cause for concern, the Galactic Senate and Jedi council both wondered whether they should not have been keeping a closer eye on politically disaffected Jedi such as Shefaa. But by then, she had made herself hard to find, and the Republic had no resources to spend on such relatively minor concerns.

Pride/disdain

Morality: 57
Conflict: 12

Christmas gift: 1 free talent (25 or down) except dedication from any talent tree