Towani, Cindel

• Appeared in:
  
  I
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  CW

• Species:
  Human

• Gender:
  Female

• 

From the Expanded Universe

Cindel was the youngest child of the Towani family, daughter of Jeremitt and Catarine, and younger sister to Mace. When Cindel was just five years old, the Towani family star cruiser crashed into the forest wilderness of Endor. With the starship damaged and unable to take off, Jeremitt and Caterine set out in a vain attempt to find civilization. They instructed their children to stay in the cruiser, where it was safe. As curiosity overcame the children, Mace disobeyed and took his sister to explore the nearby woods.

When the Towani parents returned, they found an empty starship. Desperate to locate their missing children, they called through the forest. Their cries attracted the malevolent attention of the gruesome Gorax. The giant, native to Endor, captured Jeremitt and Caterine, and took them to his mountain lair.

Cindel and Mace returned to the ship to find themselves truly stranded without their parents. Exposure to the strange forest moon made Cindel very sick. She contracted a fever, and things looked very bleak.

The downed star cruiser was discovered by Deej, an Ewok warrior, and his two sons Weechee and Willy. Meeting the Towani children, the Ewoks took Cindel to their home. There, Deej's wife Shodu prepared a healing elixir from native plants, helping ease Cindel's pain. As Cindel recovered, she befriended Deej's youngest son, Wicket W. Warrick. In their playtime together, Cindel taught Wicket some simple words in her language.

Ever impatient, Mace took Cindel that night to find their parents. They left the Ewok hut, trekking into the dangerous Endor night. They were suddenly attacked by a borra, a vicious boar-wolf that cornered the children in the hollow of a tree. They were rescued by Deej's family again, who killed the borra with their spears.

On the carcass of the borra, they discovered the wristband life monitors belonging to Jeremitt and Catarine. The borra was a pet of the Gorax, and the Ewoks explained to Mace and Cindel that their parents must be held captive by the giant.

To help the children, Deej and his sons sought advice from Logray, the Ewok medicine man. Through his magic lantern, Logray was able to peer into the Gorax's cave and confirm that Jeremitt and Caterine were still alive. Deej organized a caravan of Ewoks to voyage to the barren, rocky landscape of the Gorax. For each of the rescuers, Logray prepared a gift to help them on their quest. To young Cindel, Logray gave a magic Candle of Pure Light that would never burn out.

The Ewok and human adventures journeyed across the Endor landscape. Wicket and Cindel, the youngest of the caravan, rode most of the way on the back-borne hut carried by a pulga horse. There was a brief scare when the frightened horse ran off into the woods, but the Ewok lumberjack, Chukha-Trok, was able to rein in the skittish beast.

The caravan infiltrated the Gorax's mountain keep. Wicket and Cindel stayed just inside the cave entrance as the older Ewoks and Mace went deeper into the cavern. With her magic candle, Cindel was able to summon the help of Queen Izrina of the Wisties, magical fairy-folk. The spark-like sprite was able to distract the Gorax at a crucial moment. With their courage, the Ewoks and Mace destroyed the Gorax. Jeremitt and Catarine were freed.

After a few months, Jeremitt was able to repair the Towani star cruiser. Before the family could take to the stars, though, a vicious mob of Marauders attacked the Towanis and their Ewok friends. The brutish aliens killed all of the Towani family, except for Cindel, who escaped with the help of Wicket. The Marauders, led by King Terak, captured many Ewoks to take as slave prisoners back to their decrepit castle in the plains.

The Marauders were under the mistaken impression that the Towanis possessed magical power, misinterpreting their starship power source as something mystical. Since Cindel escaped, Terak ordered his underling, the Dathomirian Nightsister Charal, to bring back the child.

Wicket and Cindel braved the Endor wilderness together, surviving a harrowing brush with a condor dragon, before discovering a peaceful hut in the middle of the forest. It belonged to Noa Briqualon, a hermit also stranded on Endor, and his speedy little friend Teek. After a while, Noa befriended Cindel and Wicket.

The shapeshifting Charal lured Cindel away from the safety of Noa's hut and kidnapped her, taking her back to Terak's castle. There, Terak ordered Cindel to unleash the power of the captured Towani cruiser crystal. Unable to, Cindel was instead imprisoned in the castle's dungeon, as was Charal.

Noa, Teek and Wicket snuck into the Marauder castle to free Cindel and the captive Ewoks. Escaping with the Marauders in close pursuit, Noa and the liberated prisoners fled to the forests, where Noa's grounded starship had rested for decades. Using the Towani power crystal, Noa was able to recharge the weapon systems of the starship to fend off the Terak and his forces.

During the fighting, Terak grabbed Cindel, and planned to bargain for the power crystal in exchange for her life. Wicket was able to save the day with his trusty sling -- a well-placed rock activated a mystical ring that Terak wore on his necklace, charring the Marauder to a crisp with its unleashed energy.

The Maruader threat dispersed, and a working starship at the ready, Cindel agreed to leave Endor with Noa and return to the civilized galaxy. She tearfully said farewell to Wicket, her closest friend during these terrifying times.

Years later, as Cindel grew to be an intelligent and idealistic woman, she became a reporter on Coruscant. During the Yevethan crisis, Cindel received the so-called Plat Mallar tapes from Admiral Drayson, and leaked the story of the only survivor of the Yevethan attack of Polneye. The report was meant to garner sympathy among the people of the New Republic and the Senate. It worked.