D'urban Wen-Hurd

D'urban Wen-Hurd was a Tholothian Jedi Knight who served the Jedi Order during the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic and Confederacy of Independent Systems. She was promoted to the rank at a mass Knighting Ceremony held at the Jedi Temple several weeks after the beginning of the war alongside a cohort of other Knights including Anakin Skywalker, Keer Stenwyt, Olana Chion, and Cyruss Okent. During her training as a Padawan, Wen-Hurd had been notable for her skills in dual-wielding twin shoto lightsabers.
After her knighting, which was overshadowed by news of a bombing on the neutral planet Cato Neimoidia, Wen-Hurd's first mission, which she co-led alongside Skywalker, was to deliver much-needed aid supplies to Langston, a planet recovering from a recent Separatist attack. The two Jedi Knights were accompanied by the 302nd Battalion of clone troopers and, at the personal request of Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, five Jedi younglings so that the children could become accustomed to being around the clones if the war was to drag on.
Initially taking the lead with Clone Commander Theo, Wen-Hurd also shared babysitting duties with Skywalker. During their journey, Skywalker befriended the conflicted Initiate Mill Alibeth. After the group reached Langston and began their mission, Skywalker discovered that his former Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, had gotten into trouble while investigating the cause of the Cato Neimoidia bombing. Skywalker, Alibeth, and the astromech droid R2-D2 thus slipped off to rescue Kenobi without informing Wen-Hurd, who subsequently reported Skywalker's disappearance to Master Mace Windu.
==Biography==
===Knighting===
D'urban Wen-Hurd was a member of the Jedi Order during the final years of the Republic Era.Star Wars: Timelines dates the events of Brotherhood to 22 BBY. Timelines also dates the fall of the Galactic Republic to 19 BBY, meaning that D'urban Wen-Hurd was a member of the Jedi Order during the final years of the Republic Era. Throughout her training as a Padawan, Wen-Hurd was notable for her twin shoto lightsabers. In 22 BBY, after the outbreak of the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems, the Order found itself in need of more Jedi Knights for the war effort, as the Jedi had wound up in command of the new Grand Army of the Republic, a clone force secretly ordered on behalf of the Republic. The Jedi thus began rushing to knight Padawans who were deemed ready.
Weeks into the war, Wen-Hurd was part of a cohort of Padawans who were knighted in a ceremony held at the training courtyard of the Jedi Temple on the planet Coruscant, underneath the Great Tree. Along with Wen-Hurd, Anakin Skywalker, Olana Chion, Cyruss Okent, Keer Stenwyt, and several others were promoted at the ceremony, which was conducted by Jedi Master Mace Windu and Grand Master Yoda. The ceremony was attended by all of the new Knights' former mentors who were available, including Moragg Bomo and Siri Tachi, as well as other Padawans and younglings. A group of Republic dignitaries, including Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, senators, and clone officers, were intended to attend as well, but news of a recent attack on the neutral world of Cato Neimoidia prevented the Chancellor from attending in person, although the Jedi were initially unaware of the reason for his lateness. During the ceremony, Wen-Hurd stood to Skywalker's left as Windu gave a speech on the new Knights' duty to the Jedi and Republic during the unprecedented time of war.
===First duties===
Palpatine appeared by hologram at the end of the ceremony with word of the bombing, and the Padawans and younglings were escorted out of the courtyard while the Masters and Knights, both experienced and new, remained to discuss the situation. After a Clone Commander reported on the scope of known casualties in the attack, Yoda noted that Cato Neimoidia was neutral, and Palpatine confirmed that Senator Lott Dod of the Trade Federation, a Neimoidian corporation that worked with both sides of the war, had been informed of the bombing. Yoda asked the newest Jedi Knights for any insight. Stenwyt speculated that the perpetrators could have been Republic loyalist guerrilla fighters who had gone rogue, while Wen-Hurd suggested that bounty hunters, hoping to drive demand for their own services, had been responsible.
Amid further discussion, the Jedi observed a broadcast from fallen Jedi Count Dooku, the Separatist Head of State, in which he proclaimed Separatist innocence in the attack and challenged Palpatine to prove the Republic's innocence by personally visiting Cato Neimoidia. Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Jedi High Council's newest member, urged the Chancellor not to go and was given one day to come up with a new strategy, after which the gathering dispersed. The day after the ceremony, most of the new Knights, including Wen-Hurd, attended a reception in the Chancellor's office, where he personally congratulated and thanked the Jedi for their service in defending peace and justice.
On the second day after their knighting, Wen-Hurd and Skywalker were dispatched on an aid mission to the planet Langston, which was recovering from a Separatist attack that had been repelled by clone forces. The two were to deliver supplies that included food, bacta, first aid, shelter, and infrastructure to an embattled mining district on Langston's largest continent. Both Jedi Knights were accompanied by the 302nd Battalion under Clone Commander Theo and Captains Sparks and Raptor. However, at the personal request of the Supreme Chancellor, the group were also accompanied by five Jedi younglings so that the Initiates could become accustomed to being around the clones in case the war lasted for an extended period.
Wen-Hurd offered to take the lead with Theo regarding the dull logistical tasks, leaving Skywalker to supervise and entertain the younglings in a storage room aboard the Republic Cruiser the group was traveling on. Dealing with the task, Skywalker realized he had been tricked so Wen-Hurd could avoid babysitting. Skywalker eventually entertained most of the children by manipulating his lightsaber with telekinesis, thinking that Wen-Hurd's acrobatic fighting style would have made her better at such a task. He ordered the younglings to meditate on the demonstration, believing that Wen-Hurd owed it to him to take on the next round of babysitting if simple tricks did not continue to suffice to entertain the Initiates. Skywalker then set out searching for Mill Alibeth, a Zabrak Initiate who had snuck off without him noticing. He discovered that Alibeth was attempting to cut herself off from the Force because being around combat even indirectly made her feel unwell, and gave her some advice to help her control her abilities.
===Skywalker's disappearance===
Wen-Hurd later took over babysitting duties from Skywalker, eventually giving the younglings a demonstration of her lightsaber skills and acrobatics after running out of other ways to entertain the Initiates. While doing so, she gave Alibeth permission to meditate in a different storage room off of the main corridor. Skywalker, hoping to further help the Initiate, decided to bring Alibeth down to the surface of Langston and went around the ship looking for the girl, learning her whereabouts from Wen-Hurd.
Later, upon returning to the cruiser, Skywalker became aware that Kenobi, his former Master, was in trouble on Cato Neimoidia; the negotiations between the Republic and Confederacy regarding the investigation of the Cadesura district bombing had led to an arrangement requiring Kenobi to go on the mission alone, denied contact with the Republic and Jedi Council for the duration. Skywalker had slipped Kenobi an encrypted comlink for emergencies, and while attempting to contact the Jedi Master, he discovered the comlink had fallen into the hands of another: Separatist agent Asajj Ventress. Skywalker resolved to rescue Kenobi from the danger he was in and ventured back to Langston with Alibeth and his astromech droid, R2-D2. The trio acquired a nondescript starship there, the freighter Norriker, and set off to Cato Neimoidia without informing Wen-Hurd or the clones.
Skywalker's absence was eventually noticed when he, Alibeth, and R2-D2 failed to return from Langston, and Master Windu was made aware of the situation. Once it was discovered whom Skywalker and Alibeth had acquired a ship from, Windu attempted to contact the Norriker. Skywalker avoided answering the communications console for as long as he could, but Alibeth eventually persuaded him to do so after discovering that no one knew the two had left. Feeling that he could handle an annoyed Wen-Hurd, Skywalker answered only to discover the caller was Windu. He asked the Jedi Master to pass on his apologies to Wen-Hurd and the 302nd before claiming ion storms were interfering with the signal in order to deactivate it. Skywalker and Alibeth's mission was ultimately successful.
==Personality and traits==
D'urban Wen-Hurd was a Force-sensitive member of the Tholothian species. Unlike most Tholothians, who had cranial scales from which grew fleshy head-tendrils, Wen-Hurd had long hair, which she sometimes flicked over her shoulder. When asked for her insight on the Cadesura disaster, Wen-Hurd speculated that the attack could have been perpetrated by individuals with self-serving motives.
Although Wen-Hurd was willing to show off for the Jedi Initiates who came along on the mission to Langston when she was charged with watching the younglings, she was not fond of having to babysit and ensured that Skywalker got the first shift minding the children. During her turn watching the younglings, she allowed Mill Alibeth to go off to meditate in private. When Skywalker snuck off from Langston on an unauthorized rescue mission, Wen-Hurd chose to make Mace Windu aware of the situation. Skywalker believed that he could easily handle an annoyed Wen-Hurd and that he could smooth over any objections she had with vague, blustering language.
==Powers and abilities==
Wen-Hurd was skilled enough with the Force to be promoted to Jedi Knighthood early in the Clone Wars. She could use her Force powers to perform gravity-defying maneuvers such as running along walls. Wen-Hurd's unique lightsaber combat style incorporated Jar'Kai, the art of dual-wielding,Knights of Fate alongside acrobatic moves and daggerlike slicing, which made her stand out during her training.
==Equipment==
Wen-Hurd wielded a pair of twin shoto lightsabers—one blue-bladed and one green-bladed—in combat. She wore a pair of large, glare-reducing spectacles strapped around her head.
==Behind the scenes==
D'urban Wen-Hurd first appeared in the 2022 novel Brotherhood, written by Mike Chen. The character was named after Chen's friends Diana Urban and Wendy Heard. Chen stated that Wen-Hurd's spectacles were inspired by both women wearing glasses, and her short lightsabers for stabbing action were inspired by the "stabby-stab" books the two authors wrote. The author indicated that he was in contact with Urban and Heard while drafting Brotherhood and that the addition of Wen-Hurd's character was an Easter egg of thanks for helping him stay on pace.Email from Mike Chen — Used with permission
==Appearances==
*Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade 
*Brotherhood 
==Notes and references==
Category:Individuals of unspecified gender
Category:Individuals with she/her pronouns
Category:Jedi Knights of the Jedi Order
Category:Tholothians