Cylla Narami

"People see what they want to see and believe what they want to believe. At the same time, people want to find me and are unable to, and they always believe me, yet they do not want to. Strange, is it not?"

- Cylla Narami

Cylla Narami was an Umbaran spy working for Emperor Palpatine until his death during the Battle of Endor. She then left Coruscant and recruited Gidius Zyle in her plan to take over the Empire.

Service to Palpatine (6 BBY-4 ABY)
Cylla Narami came to be a spy in service to Emperor Palpatine through unknown means, although it is possible this had something to do with Sly Moore, rumored to be a distant relative of Narami. Her position in Palpatine's employ was not unlike an Emperor's Hand, although she herself did not call upon the Force and served more in an intelligence capacity, as with many other Umbarans in Imperial service.

As was typical of her species, Cylla craved power and sought any method she could for possible advancement. She has implied blackmail and corruption as methods she used to achieve her position. She also kept careful tabs on Palpatine while carrying out the work he set her to. By carefully monitoring the Emperor himself, she became privy to secrets usually denied to even his closest advisors, including Darth Vader himself.

The Emperor's death caught Cylla by surprise as much as anyone. It also put her in a very unique position. Like many close to the Emperor, she faced the danger of being purged by any number of the would-be successors to his reign. On the other hand, she had acquired a wealth of knowledge to use in her own bid for power. While most of her fellow Umbarans fled for their home in the Ghost Nebula, Cylla decided to turn crisis to opportunity.

The Zyle Twins (4 BBY-)
Among the many secrets Cylla uncovered in her work for Palpatine, she discovered the plans the Emperor had put into motion for the twins Gidius and Ralia Zyle. Palpatine had long ago arranged for the twins to be his contingency plan for Sith successors if Vader were ever killed or turned against him. Taking this knowledge, in addition to a holocron from his vaults, Cylla set out to recruit Gidius as her first agent.

Though Cylla intended to rule the galaxy herself, she planned to do so from the shadows. To this end, she arranged for Gidius to be her front man. If anything would go wrong--or if anyone decided to attack her faction--Gidius would be the target instead of her. She also believed the name of the Zyle family would be useful for rallying the Empire to their side. In addition, knowing the power Palpatine believed the twins to have, she decided Gidius' own abilities would come in very handy.

With the holocrons and stolen files, Cylla was able to convince Gidius to join and trust her by helping him rescue his sister from exile on Dathomir. From there, she secured her position as Gidius' lover and closest advisor, coming before even his own sister, closest friend, and bodyguard. She continually proved her value through both her intelligence training and natural guile, becoming the team's chief source of information and agent of stealth when it was required.

As the Zyle faction rose to power, Cylla retreated into the shadows, although her power did not decline. She continued to rule through her favorite puppet, himself now a Sith Lord, as their quest for galactic domination continued.

Abilities and Traits
Cylla's training as a spy and assassin were the abilities she tended to fall back on most. Though not a dominant physical presence and rather frail by appearance, she was an exceptional combatant with years of experience on her side. She was an expert marksman and could conceal herself and her weapons until the moment called for action.

In addition to her stealth capabilities, Cylla possessed the typical Umbaran talent for controlling others. Her ability to lie and to prod others to follow her commands bordered on the ability of Jedi mind tricks. As with her control over the Zyle twins, she was usually able to convince her followers that what they were doing was entirely in their best interest. Most of the time, these subjects were led to believe what they were doing was their idea to begin with.

Resources
Cylla employed a number of resources, both mundane and exotic. Most of her personal armament, including light body armor, was concealed beneathe an Umbaran Shadowcloak. Her primary weapon, a Merr-Sonn Model G8 blaster rifle with fixed vibrobayonet, was often in hand and at the ready beneathe the robe, totally unbeknownst to her adversaries.

As a master of disguise, particularly an alien walking the circles of a Human-centric society, Cylla often disguised her appearance. She would often don a blonde wig and the olive-colored uniform of an Imperial officer to appear as an attractive Human female. However, because her name was not well-known, she rarely used an alias when masquerading in this fashion. Her greatest limitation in this guise was her light sensitivity; because she had to protect her eyes from harsh lights, she prefered to wear dimmer goggles at any time she was in daylight or when violence was possible.

Due to the time she had spent at Imperial Center, Cylla also possessed a wealth of knowledge in both physical and intangible form. She knew many of the Emperor's darkest secrets, as well as those of many of his servants, and also came into ownership of his personal items ranging from weapons to holocrons.

As she continued to consolidate power, Cylla began to surround herself with a team of loyal bodyguards. These men were typically Stormtroopers, although she eventually adopted agents she refered to as the "Omega Guard." In every form, her bodyguards were totally loyal to her, willing to lay down their lives--or take the lives of others--at her slightest whim.

Behind the Scenes
Though Cylla's companions were created as twisted mirror reflections of the heroes of the original Star Wars trilogy, no obvious match exists for Cylls herself. Instead, she combines traits of both Obi-Wan Kenobi and Lando Calrissian. Like Obi-Wan, she is the one who recruited the central character and set him on his path, but unlike Kenobi she is not a Force-using individual. Similarly, she shares Lando's roguish behavior and was often mistrusted by her peers. She is, of course, also a different gender and species from both characters. This was intentional to create broader diversity among the group.

Her name is pronounced Si-lah Nur-ah-me.