Mala-Tam Zarraat was born on a small world in what is known as Unknown Space about 15 years after the destruction of the first Death Star. Her world, Caeliath, had been settled centuries before, after the Great Hyperspace War, by an offshoot of the Sith. They believed that the ways of the Sith could be used for the good of others, not the corrupt ways of the Sith Empire, and were exiled for what was called heresy, running before they were executed.
They struggled with passion and the Dark Side, trying to balance the light and dark, to reconcile the powers and methods of the Jedi and the Sith. Some succeeded, some failed. All were learned from by the next generation. And so the generations passed.
As they did, others came to the world - questers after knowledge, those who felt the pull of the Force, refugees and accidental travelers. Not all who came knew the Force, but they brought news and knowledge of the greater galaxy.
One of the groups was a group of Chiss exiles, sent from the Ascendency for their sensitivity to the Force and resistance to serving in the manner of the Ascendency. By that time, Caeliath had become a myth in the Unknown Regions, a refuge for some. The elements of a dozen different Force traditions besides the Jedi and Sith left their mark on the training. A few generations later, into the clan Zaarratt, a child was born of the mixed human and Chiss blood: Mala-Tam (or in the Chiss format, Malat’amzaar’raat). She was born with the sensitivity to the Force many had, and was stronger than most.
At the age of two, she was apprenticed to Master Torqom Voq, and began her training. Unlike the Jedi, she was not separated from her parents, and until the age of ten, she breakfasted and had her evening-meal and slept in her parents home.
Master Voq, a Zabrak, took up her training in physical skills and meditation, graduating her to basic lightsaber training and, in a way she found curious, cooking. Through these, she plumbed the mysteries of the Force in ways that fit her particular set of talents.
While Caeliath had the students and masters of a dozen Force traditions, it was not rich in some resources. One of these was crystals she could use to build her own lightsaber. The next time a trader came to Caeliath, she left on it to find her own crystal and build her lightsaber.
She emerged into the Outer Rim to find that the Empire had fallen, and the First and Final Orders after it. There had been an attempt to recreate the Jedi, and they, too. had gone away. Not speaking the words “Jedi” or “Sith”, she posed as a wandering refugee from a world that the First Order had devastated.
It took a year to find the crystal, on a small, barren, burning world used by some smugglers as a base (and the former fortress of Darth Vader), in a remote part of the Outer Rim. Over the course of a week, she aligned the crystal through the Force, infusing it with her emotions and her will, then placing it into the housing with the power of the Force. And then, with her new lightsaber hung from her belt, she made her way off-planet and into a greater galaxy, to search for her own path and any lost knowledge she could bring back to her homeworld.
Powers and abilities: Mala-Tam is trained in a Sith-adjacent Force tradition, with the powers one can achieve when one is strong in the Force. She is an expert duelist with her lightsaber, which she constructed herself. She is also strong in its telekinetic and sensory talents, being able to lift large objects slowly, or move smaller ones faster, depending on her emotional state.
She also has considerable skill in a form of Sith force manipulation referred to as “Alchemy”, which allows her to manipulate and reconstruct items in unusual ways with the correct items to mix together. She also knows how to use it to create elixirs to help someone recover quickly from wounds, diseases, and poisons, but they usually have some minor side effects (discoloration of the wounded area for a few days, a diminished sense of smell for a few days, excessive perspiration for the cure of a poison or disease, or perhaps the temporary dyeing of the tongue and fingernails of an unusual color.)
As a result of her master’s opinions in training, she is also a gourmet cook.
Her training in lightsaber combat is primarily in what the Jedi referred to as Form VII, or Vaapad, an aggressive style focused on attack and quick wins. (The best known user of this style was Jedi Master Mace Windu.) She also has been trained in the styles called Shii-Cho and Ataru, specifically to make sure she would be able to survive.
She is absolute crap at the psychic manipulation powers of the Sith and the Jedi, partially from a lack of talent with that particular part of it and partially because she believes strongly in the idea of the Sith Code, which talks about how use of the Force brings freedom, to the point she finds it distasteful to even consider using it.
Mala-Tam has yet to try to use some powers, including things like the Force Lightning known to be used by many Sith. She may just never have been angry enough to use it… yet.
Weaknesses: due to her training, she’s terrible at diplomacy and negotiation, and doesn’t understand bartering at all. (Why, does she think, don’t people just say how much things cost, is that so hard?) Her temper can flare when she gets frustrated or discouraged, which can be problematic in a Force user. She is a creature of passions, so can be distracted by a particularly good looking person, or an item she decides she wants. And if you try to take her orange-bladed lightsaber, she will remember you and she will hunt you down, even if you give it back.
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