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- "Many traditions are dying."
- ―A'Yark
A'Yark, previously known as K'Yark, was a female Tusken Raider tribal leader. She was the daughter of Yark and the adoptive sister of K'Sheek, which made her the aunt of A'Sharad Hett. A'Yark was known as Plug-eye by the settlers and moisture farmers in the area; after losing an eye to infection, the missing eye was covered by a red crystal.
Biography[]
Early life[]
A'Yark was born the youngest of six children. When three of her siblings died, her father, Yark, abducted Human female K'Sheek, who was nearly an adult when A'Yark's family took her in. A'Yark was responsible for teaching K'Sheek the ways and words of the Tusken Raider, and she learned how to speak Basic from K'Sheek. Yark allowed both A'Yark and K'Sheek to learn the ways of the warrior, guessing correctly that K'Sheek would learn the Tusken ways faster, and he defended his daughters from criticism.[1]
When they were older, Sharad Hett joined the Tusken Raiders and married K'Sheek. Life continued and K'Sheek eventually gave birth to A'Sharad Hett. After her adopted sister disappeared during a sandstorm and her father died, A'Yark took a Tusken Raider named Deen as her spouse and gave birth to her own children.[1]
When Jabba the Hutt began to incite war between the Humans and Tuskens of Tatooine as a way to sell off his stock of antiquated blasters, the fight claimed the life of her eldest son, who was six cycles old. Her tribe as well as others followed Sharad into battle against the Hutt. During the battle she lost both her spouse and her brother-in-law. She believed that Sharad's son had disappeared[1] when he was taken into the Jedi Order.[2] A'Yark, a widow with only two children left, had not originally sought the role of War Leader, but she rose to take the mantle when no one else did.[1]
Losses continued after that incident; another son died and one of her eyes was taken by an infection from a wound she received. She replaced the missing organ with a crystal that was a gift from Sharad, which led to the settlers calling her Plug-eye.[1]
She saw how the loss of a mightier tribe of Tuskens,[1] killed by Anakin Skywalker,[3] affected her tribe, leaving behind only her village. A'Yark tried to raise the morale of her Tribe by example and later by daring exploits. This backfired due to Orrin Gault and the Settlers' Call Fund.[1]
Seeing the Force in action[]
After a disastrous raid A'Yark's group retreated to The Pillars. She then heard from a youngling that two people were riding an animal through the dunes again. She ordered the others to start while she went out to deal with the intruders.
A'Yark took position on a dune and saw two humans, a girl and a woman, both riding dewbacks. Then, a bearded man riding an eopie arrived and pulled the girl from her dewback. The woman's dewback tripped, flinging her off. The beast was about to crush the woman, but it suddenly stopped just short of her. After seeing this unnatural occurrence, she took cover behind the dune. She needed to know what was the cause of what she had seen and who did it. She didn't believe it was the man, who she named Hairy Face, since she saw no reason for him to put himself at risk for either of the women.
Believing that the woman had tried to tame the wilderness of Tatooine since she was on a mountain Dewback in the dune region, combined with the Tusken raiders' view that living beings only helped themselves, A'Yark believed that it was the woman who performed the feat she saw. She then resolved to kill the woman, but before she could, she felt a tremor in the sands. Realizing that it was one of the Sarlacc children was waking up due to what happened earlier. Knowing the human could be found again and believing that this might be what they need to regain their defiant spirit, she decided to head back to her tribe to share the information.[1]
Comet Run Day battle[]
Later she led an assault on Dannar's Claim, in the beginning the Tuskens had the upper hand, but after the intervention of Ben Kenobi and the raising of the Settlers' Call Fund alarm, the members of her raiding party fled. The members of the Fund pursued and massacred them at Hanter's Gorge. Among the casualties was her son A'Deen, who she tenderly built a stone pyre for. Learning that the bearded man had known Sharad Hett, through the discovery that he had a lightsaber, A'Yark allowed the man and the woman to pass by her lands unharmed.
Following a later skirmish with a Krayt dragon, Orrin Gault, who was badly injured, was forced to help A'Yark repair a stolen water vaporator for her people to survive off of.
Behind the scenes[]
A'Yark was the first known female Tusken Raider warrior, who made an appearance in Kenobi.
Appearances[]
- Kenobi (First appearance, simultaneous with audiobook)
- Kenobi audiobook