Early Life
Rafe Laroque was born in the backstreets of Canto Bight, far from the gilded casinos where the galaxy's elite wagered fortunes. His mother worked as a croupier; his father was unknown, rumored to have been a gambler who lost more than he won. Rafe grew up watching wealthy patrons play with the lives of those in debt, learning two lessons early: how to read a table, and how to know when the house was rigged.
He showed his first signs of Force-sensitivity while still a child, subconsciously nudging dice, influencing outcomes, and sensing tells. By the time a Jedi mediator discovered him, he already had the reputation of being "too lucky for comfort."
Jedi Training
Rafe's Jedi training was… unconventional. Though he was taken to a temple, he never lost his gambler's swagger. He studied diplomacy, Soresu defense, and the subtler arts of the Force, but his teachers constantly chided him for his irreverence. He believed rules were tools, not shackles.
Instead of perfecting dueling katas, Rafe invented tricks:
- Charging sabacc cards with stored energy.
- Using psychometry and influence to read cheaters at a table or calm tempers before they flared.
Ultimately, he became more rogue than orthodox: a Jedi in name, but a free agent in spirit.
The Making of the Jack of Blades
His defining moment came on Nar Shaddaa, where he famously freed indentured gamblers from a Trandoshan enforcer by winning, and then rigging, a sabacc game. When violence broke out, he flicked his charged cards and unsheathed his saber with effortless flair.
From then on, his legend spread. Some say he could cut a blaster bolt in half with a single card. Others claim he once wagered his lightsaber in a hand of sabacc... and lost, only to reclaim it three hands later. Truth or myth, one title followed him everywhere:
The Jack of Blades.
Current Activities
Rafe drifts across the galaxy in a beat-up courier yacht called the
Double Down, playing mediator where credits or lives are at stake. He works outside any official Jedi Order but often lands in the same orbit:
- Freeing indentured workers.
- Smuggling relief supplies under the guise of "gambling winnings."
- Sabotaging warlords' coffers by turning their own games against them.
He rarely kills, preferring non-lethal precision, but those who've tried to cross him know the violet glow of his blade is no bluff.
