Damaris Viell was a singer who worked at Jabba's palace and was friends with the human Jess. Before her time working for Jabba, she had been caught by a gang of raiders in the Outer Rim. None of her peers knew much about her life before Tatooine. Viell often experienced what Jess understood as "visions" and would speak about things that had not happened yet or that had already happened that she could not have possibly known about. Other members of Jabba's court speculated that she had brain damage or was addicted to spice, although Jess eventually came to think that Viell was in tune with the Force.
The night Leia Organa attempted to rescue Han Solo, Viell was awake and watched Solo emerge from carbonite, seeing the two kiss before eventually be caught by Jabba. Viell and Jess were conscripted to clean up Organa and dress her in a dancing-girl costume. Back in the courtroom, as the members of the palace fell asleep, Viell experienced a vision that night and proclaimed that her chains would not hold her. Jess, believing that Viell was capable of predicting such things, asked if she was going to tell Organa, to which Viell shook her head. Angrily, Jess asked what use her power was if she was not going to use it to comfort or save people. Viell explained that she did not know if what she was experiencing was the Force or not, saying that sometimes she went somewhere in her head. The next day, Organa and her friends would escape Jabba's clutches.