Koyi was raised as a slave on Dromund Kaas, alongside her older sister Sien'a. The two were often inseparable, and each other's closest bonds throughout their lives - when Sien'a lost her husband, Koyi supported her in raising Kiel, and when Koyi fell pregnant, Sien'a cared for her. When whispers of a slave rebellion reached them, the pair were conflicted - worrying about the danger a failure could cause their daughters, but also fearing them spending any more of their childhood enslaved, they decided to take the risk. In the end, it was Kiel and Nima alone of their family who would taste freedom. Sien'a died in the attempt, and Koyi herself was left behind, urging the children to take their chance and escape. She endures a lonely existence til the day her Force sensitivity is made apparent, and she is swept up in the fervor of becoming Sith.
Koyi throws herself into her training for a time - the teachings of the Sith, and the freedom to utilize and draw strength from the emotions repressed over the years, are a balm to her. She very nearly forgets herself - she is ashamed, when she thinks back to that time, that she became so distracted by her newfound freedom that thoughts of her daughter fall almost to the wayside. She knows Nima and Kiel escaped the camp that night, but their fates afterwards are completely unknown to her - she only knows that they did not get captured immediately, or they would have been brought back to the same camp they escaped from. Her attentions pivot immediately to finding any information possible about either of their whereabouts. The moment she finds a lead on where Nima could be, she executes her plan: stealing a ship and a lightsaber from her master, she flies to Taris for their long-awaited reunion.
(image taken with a grain of salt... she is about 13-ish at present)
Koyi’s young daughter, who escaped Dromund Kaas and fled to Coruscant with her cousin Kiel. Upon discovering Nima’s Force sensitivity, Kiel made the difficult choice to give her to the Jedi. Nima missed her family, but thrived in the Temple, excitedly throwing herself into her training with the Force. She was soon placed with a Master who encouraged her cheerful, helpful nature; the pair began traveling the galaxy aiding in humanitarian efforts. It was on Taris where things went wrong: ambushed by a swarm of rakghouls, Nima was told to hide while her master attempted to fend them off - and was swiftly overwhelmed. Nima hid in terror for several days as her master endured the terrifying, painful process of rakghoul infection - unsure of how much of her master remained, and fearful the rakghouls would return, Nima dared not venture out. Her savior became Tarst, who stumbled on her hiding place purely on accident, rescuing her and putting her master out of their misery. Without any better ideas, Tarst ends up taking Nima with her - meaning to drop her off somewhere as soon as she can, but then things start heating up for her, Nima starts feeling comfortable on the ship, the two grow attached… and eventually they realize, though the situation isn’t quite ideal, they've begun to consider each other family.
Unbeknownst to them both, Koyi has been hot on Nima’s trail - she reaches Taris just as Tarst is leaving it, finds Nima’s master’s body, hears that a girl matching Nima’s description just left the planet in the company of an armored Mandalorian - and immediately assumes said Mandalorian has kidnapped her daughter. What follows is a race across the galaxy that Tarst is only vaguely aware of - Tarst is doing her best to disguise her tracks to avoid Republic attacks, and inadvertently hides them both from Koyi, as well. It's likely only when her name is cleared that her guard drops, and Koyi is finally able to confront her. Tarst realizes that, oh, that crazy Sith(?) she's caught a glimpse of through her last couple planets has actually been hunting her down (and... is trying to steal her adopted baby Jedi?), and Koyi realizes the terrifying Mandalorian who kidnapped a Padawan actually saved her daughter's life - the latter realization, of course, doesn't happen til they've made a valiant attempt to fight to the death about it. Koyi was hoping to take Nima someplace they could settle down together, but Tarst is determined to work out some sort of co-parenting arrangement, and despite the initial distrust manage to build up mutual respect and eventually, admiration. (Nima is very excited when her moms stop dancing around each other and finally commit to a relationship; neither seemed to realize exactly how much she'd inferred about them...)
A Sith Alchemist with a talent for altering flesh and augmenting power, Isthaya is a dangerous friend and a terrifying enemy — and the borders between both are often blurred. Though ostensibly not a very high-ranking Sith Lord, Isthaya has amassed a large power base built on favors and emotional manipulation - she offers powerful boons to those desperate and willing to risk themselves, but is sure to call those favors back tenfold. Isthaya plays the game of Sith power amassing by making herself irresistible - she finds those who she makes emotionally attached to her the best, most manipulable pawns.
Saakash's Padawan, Vijai had always looked up to her; they were overjoyed when Saakash chose them as her Padawan. They are naive, but enthusiastic - especially about history and archaeology. Though she was proud that the Barsen'thor of the Order chose her as her Padawan, she's ultimately fairly insecure about her place in the Order, and whether she'll ever be able to live up to any of her Master's achievements. Saakash, for her part, tries to protect them from the dangers she's facing, knowing world-ending threats are not the place for a Padawan learner - but they can sense when they're being pushed aside, and their feelings of inadequacy only worsen. When Saakash is frozen in carbonite and presumed dead by most of the galaxy, they're shunted between several different Jedi; none of which, they fear, know what exactly to do with them. When Saakash is found alive, Vijai should feel relieved - but as she's drawn into her role as Alliance Commander, she seems to have less and less time for them.
As the conflict against the Eternal Empire rages on, so too do her feelings of doubt - though she never outwardly displays these feelings, caught up in her fears that if she shows them, it's proof she's not good enough to be the Barsen'thor's Padawan. All of this makes her quite vulnerable to manipulation - around this point, I think Isthaya may be scoping out the Alliance, deciding if it has anything to offer her, and finds in Vijai a golden opportunity to manipulate its Commander by corrupting and stealing away her Padawan. She encourages Vijai's doubt and growing resentment toward Saakash and other Jedi for not being there for them when they needed her, and convinces them that she alone has their best interests at heart...
