Ema

Ema was a Corellian humanoid female who hailed from the Core Worlds planet Corellia. When her parents died around 15 BBY, she was recruited into the White Worms criminal organization in Coronet City as a scrumrat. Two years later, Ema was promoted to the position of Head by the White Worms' leader, Lady Proxima, and began enjoying her newfound power. The girl especially despised her predecessor as Head—the scrumrat Qi'ra—and went out of her way to make the latter's life miserable.
In the following weeks, Ema took great joy in slowly starving Qi'ra by controlling her food allotments and wearing the former Head's fur jacket around her as a prize. Over time, she begrudgingly increased Qi'ra's food rations when the other girl proved herself a successful thief. The new Head began assigning herself the easiest duties while also taking the time to learn to navigate the tunnels surrounding the White Worms' den. While reporting on the day's pickpocketing haul to Proxima, Ema did not mention Qi'ra's contributions unless forced to by the crime boss, always angered when she was required to expound further.
Not long after, Ema helped prepare to stage a raid on a Corellia shipyard, hoping to steal control boards and Imperial credits from the facility at Proxima's direction. When Qi'ra came to Proxima's den to report to the leader, Ema attempted to deny her entry. However, the scrumrat punched the Head and moved past her, leading the girl to resent her predecessor more fervently. Ema participated in the shipyard raid, escaping when the endeavor went awry and was unsuccessful. Upon her return, she plotted to kill Qi'ra with her bare hands and assaulted the other girl in the White Worms' den. Qi'ra fled and led Ema to the room containing the cages of the organization's Corellian hounds, setting them loose on the Head and letting the beasts kill her.
==Biography==
===Orphaned on the streets===
The Corellian female Ema was a humanoid born around 27 BBY. She hailed from the Core WorldsStar Wars Galaxy Map planet Corellia, living with her parents and enjoying a well-fed childhood for several years. However, when her parents died around 15 BBY, Ema was left to fend for herself on the harsh streets of Corellia. Not long after, she attempted to steal a supply crate off the back of a speeder owned by the White Worms criminal organization. However, when she failed, one of the Worms' Corellian hounds attacked her, leaving her with scarring injuries. 
Afterward, Ema was recruited into the organization as a scrumrat thief and worked under the children's leader—Head Qi'ra, serving the crime boss Lady Proxima and living in her Coronet City den. Despite the potential opportunities to progress in the White Worms hierarchy, the girl declined to become a hound handler due to her traumatic experience with them before joining the group. For the next two years, Ema lived in Corellia's sewers and struggled for food, shelter, and basic necessities within the White Worms. She eventually gained a fearsome reputation as a tyrant among the younger scrumrats by competing with her colleagues. 
===Taste of power===
In 13 BBY, Qi'ra and fellow scrumrat Han attempted to escape Proxima's service on Corellia—however, only the latter managed to flee, and the former was brought back to the White Worms' den for punishment. When Proxima demoted Qi'ra from her position as Head, the crime boss gave the position to Ema and allowed the girl to move into her predecessor's sleeping area. Hours later, Proxima allowed Ema to pick Qi'ra's punishment to make an example of her. Delighting in her first taste of power, Ema elected for the Grindalid enforcer Moloch to torture Qi'ra with his electric shockstaff. After Proxima deemed the punishment complete, the scrumrats converged on Qi'ra to take anything of value from her. Ema fiercely pushed her way to the front, helped by fellow scrumrat and hound handler Rebolt, and knocked a few of the younger children away from the melee.
Once others recognized Ema, they backed away from Qi'ra's fur jacket and allowed the Head to have it, not wanting to anger the person now controlling their meals. She then issued a piercing whistle and led the scrumrats to the dining hall for dinner, callously telling her predecessor not to bother showing up as no food would be given to her. The new Head then took on the task of allotting food portions for the rest of the scrumrats as she pleased. Afterward, Qi'ra pulled herself off the ground and went to her former sleeping area, noticing Ema had already claimed the space for herself. There, she and fellow scrumrat Jagleo discussed Ema's promotion to Head, with the latter commenting on their new leader's traits.
===Embracing power's perks===
In the following weeks, Ema settled into life as Head of the White Worms scrumrats. She continued to delight in Qi'ra's misery, severely starving the other girl by reducing her food portions and taunting her by parading around in her predecessor's former fur coat. The new Head enjoyed the perks of her new position by assigning herself easy jobs, such as inside guard duty for Proxima's den and getting first servings at mealtimes. In her spare time, she also took the time to learn the layout of the tunnels surrounding the White Worms' den and how to navigate them. Over time, Ema begrudgingly increased Qi'ra's rations due to her successes in pickpocketing on the streets of Coronet City, despite the latter not complaining to her superior by asking for more. Meanwhile, Qi'ra—who had been sold into enslavement to the Corellian trafficker Sarkin Enneb by Proxima—continued to participate in scavenging crews alongside the scrumrats.
Each time Proxima held court in her den, Ema detailed the day's pickpocketing haul—taking care not to mention Qi'ra's contributions. However, the younger scrumrats would grumble during the reports, forcing a seething Ema to expound on the other girl's contributions to their work. One day, after Ema finished her report, Qi'ra wondered whether Proxima was waiting for her to attempt a coup against the new Head but assumed nothing she did would change the Head's hatred of her. Not long after, Proxima and Enneb worked together to stage a raid on a Corellia shipyard, hoping to steal control boards and Imperial credits from the facility. Ema and several of the older scrumrats prepared several boltholes and dead drop points for smuggling routes for the stolen goods, jealous of Qi'ra and Jagleo's assignment to work with Moloch's preparation team.
===Failed power trip===
After learning of potential Imperial interference with the initial raid plan, Qi'ra went to inform Proxima of the development. Ema—on sentinel duty for Proxima's den—tried to deny the other girl entrance and scorned her. Upon the girl's continual refusal to let her pass, Qi'ra punched her and stepped over the girl's body toward the door. However, the crime lord dismissed claims of Imperial interference as hearsay and refused to change the plan. As a result of Ema's failure to guard the den well, Proxima did not allow the Head to have dinner that night. She began to despise Qi'ra even more than before, ranting about the raid to her colleagues.
Fellow scrumrat Syke came to confront Qi'ra about the day's events, and the pair talked about Ema's irrational behavior and why the latter had punched their Head. The latter explained what had happened earlier in the day, confirming Ema's lack of dinner was due to their incident. Not long after, the White Worms attempted to raid the shipyard for the control boards, which Ema participated in. However, the endeavor ultimately failed, with the Head and Qi'ra being two of the only older scrumrats to escape. Ema was injured during the raid and missed the next instance Proxima held court, which her peers noticed.
===Mauled by the hounds===
Ema made plans to kill Qi'ra, jumping down on the other girl from the sentinel's alcove above the entryway to Proxima's residence. Seeing that the Head intended to kill her with her bare hands, Qi'ra fled through the den's underground tunnels. Too enraged to notice where they were headed, Ema continued pursuing her enemy as she shouted insults at her, wishing a painful death on her. When Qi'ra taunted her in return, the Head became further infuriated, following her into the room where the White Worms' hounds were kept in cages.
Now overcome with fear of the hounds, Ema warily insisted that the other girl could not remain in the room forever. However, Qi'ra brandished the cage control device in her palm, leading the Head to beg for her life. Qi'ra briefly considered having mercy on her but realized Ema would forever despise her either way and set the hounds loose on her. Ema fled from the creatures in fear, eventually dying when they caught up to her and mauled her to death. Afterward, Moloch was displeased that Qi'ra set his hounds loose due to having to calm them. When brought to meet with Proxima and Enneb, she mentioned Ema's death to the hounds, indicating that the former Head had feared them and letting those present imagine her grisly end for themselves. Later, after Qi'ra had left the White Worms and began serving the Crimson Dawn criminal syndicate, she reflected on how much stronger she was compared to when Ema attacked her.
==Personality and traits==
After being left to fend for herself on the streets of Corellia, Ema quickly developed a tough and calculating demeanor to survive. As a White Worms scrumrat, she developed a fearsome reputation amongst her peers as a proud tyrant. When Proxima first promoted Ema to lead the scrumrats, she quickly realized she enjoyed wielding authority and exacting cruelty by doling out punishments. The new Head became even more feared by her underlings, as she now controlled when and how much they would be allowed to eat. She worked efficiently to establish herself in her new position and keep it by ensuring that competitors for the role were brought to heel. Ema despised Qi'ra with a passion, actively going out of her way to make the girl as miserable as possible by starving the girl and wearing the girl's former fur jacket around her to flaunt it.
Ema often chose not to give Qi'ra credit for her pickpocketing contributions in her reports to Proxima. However, the crime boss sometimes showed favor to Qi'ra to pit her and Ema against each other, deeply infuriating the latter and making her jealous. Qi'ra, meanwhile, felt the girl misused her power as Head and was on a power trip. Ema was willing to go to great lengths to achieve her goals, eventually wishing to murder her enemy with her bare hands and make her suffer a painful death. With her mind clouded with rage, she was unable to think clearly and made rash decisions, leading to her demise.
After being attacked by them before joining the White Worms, Ema formed a deep fear of Corellian hounds. Her typically haughty and fierce demeanor crumbled when confronted with the beasts, and she took great pains to avoid them. Ema felt unsafe around the hounds, even in her sleeping chambers, choosing to angle her bed toward the door so she could see them if they approached. When faced with death by the hounds, she was willing to beg Qi'ra to spare her life despite being enraged with the scrumrat moments before. Ema had a stocky physique compared to most members of the White Worms, owing to her well-fed upbringing.
==Skills and abilities==
Ema was proficient in hand-to-hand combat compared to her peers, easily able to move aside smaller scrumrats in scuffles. By the time of her promotion to Head, she was physically fit and able to manuever through Corellia's vast network of underground tunnels efficiently. Though she often struggled with containing her anger, Ema was able to contain her outbursts and present reports to Proxima as her position required. Ema proved capable of keeping the scrumrats under in line by engineering them to fear her formidable presence, relying on ruthless techniques to secure her position of power. The girl felt capable of killing Qi'ra with no weapon, though she ultimately was unsuccessful.
==Equipment==
The scrumrat fought and scraped by for everything she owned, including her clothing and other necessities. Upon becoming Head, she took Qi'ra's fur jacket for herself and wore it often. Ema also donned the badge of Head while in the position and claimed the best sleeping chamber in the White Worms' den, including its sparse contents.
==Behind the scenes==
Ema appeared in Crimson Climb, a 2023 young-adult novel written by E. K. Johnston. In an interview, Johnston reflected on Qi'ra's resentful feelings toward Ema, despite the former not being able to act on them outright. The author also noted that Ema's death scene was the first time Qi'ra realized what she was capable of in the pursuit of self-preservation.
==Appearances==
*Crimson Climb 
==Notes and references==
Category:Females
Category:Humanoids
Category:Individuals with she/her pronouns
Category:Scrumrats