Candra Kitai, a Force-sensitive Human woman, was born on Kesh as a member of the Lost Tribe of Sith. By 3960 BBY, her daughter, Orielle, had risen to prominence as a Sith Saber. The Kitai family owned an estate called Starfall, located to the south of Tahv, the Sith capital. After Lillia Venn became Grand Lord, Candra was elevated to the position of High Lord, granting her a seat on the ruling Circle of Lords. Politically independent, Candra did not align with either the Red Faction or the Gold Faction, led by fellow High Lords Dernas and Pallima, respectively. This neutrality made Candra the second-most influential figure in the Sith Tribe, as she held the power to choose Lillia's successor should the elderly Grand Lord die.
Lillia, unwilling to relinquish power to potential rivals, viewed Candra, along with Dernas and Pallima, as threats. In 3960 BBY, Lillia orchestrated a plot against Candra, using Campion Dey, the Kitai family's sponsored uvak wrangler, to stage an assassination attempt during the rake-riding games held on Donellan's Day. As planned, Campion Dey attacked Lillia but was killed after serving his purpose. Candra, due to her sponsorship of Campion, was implicated and accused of conspiring to assassinate Lillia. Under duress, she confessed to plotting with Dernas and Pallima, who were also executed, to assassinate the Grand Lord. Candra and her entire family were enslaved as punishment, and all their possessions were destroyed in a public bonfire.
Adding insult to injury, Candra was publicly humiliated by being forced to shovel uvak manure at the zoo, a public enclosure in Tahv. Lillia further consolidated her power by appointing three of her supporters, including the Luzo brothers Flen and Sawj Luzo, to the Circle of Lords as High Lords. Meanwhile, Candra's daughter, Orielle Kitai, sought refuge with her friend Jelph Marrian, a slave and horticulturalist who owned a farm near the Marisota River. Orielle discovered that Jelph was secretly a Jedi from the Galactic Republic who possessed a hyperspace-capable starship, a discovery Orielle believed could restore her family's fortunes. Upon returning to Tahv, Orielle revealed her discovery to her mother, Candra, who was despondent and resigned to her fate.
Despite her despair, she instructed her daughter to contact Gadin Badolfa, an architect and associate of the other High Lords from the Red and Gold factions. Orielle followed her mother's instructions, reunited with Jelph, and returned to the farm to conceal his secret. However, Candra, disbelieving her daughter's story, informed Grand Lord Lillia about the meeting in exchange for "improved working conditions." Consequently, none of the other High Lords arrived, and Lillia discovered Jelph's ship. However, the Grand Lord and her entourage were killed in an explosive event known as the "Night of the Upside-Down Meteor," which also destroyed the starship and the farm. Following Lillia Venn's "disappearance," Kitai was named the new Grand Lord. Her only significant act during her brief reign was closing the zoo where she had been forced to work. Meanwhile, her daughter Orielle and her Jedi friend Jelph survived and began a new life in the jungle highlands of Keshtah Minor.
Candra Kitai was a woman of the Human species and a member of the Lost Tribe of Sith, a group of Human Sith who governed Keshtah Minor, a continent located on the Wild Space planet of Kesh. Born around 4010 BBY, she reached the age of fifty years by 3960 BBY. Her life spanned over a millennium after the Tribe's ancestors, led by Captain Yaru Korsin, arrived and subjugated the native Keshiri, a purple-skinned Near-Human species, by claiming to be the Protectors, the ancient gods of Keshiri religion. Candra eventually married an unidentified Sith man, and they had a daughter named Orielle Kitai, who became a prominent member of the Sith Sabers, the Tribe's equivalent of the Jedi Knights. As Humans and Sith, Candra and her daughter enjoyed privileged lives. Candra resided with Orielle and their Keshiri slaves in a mansion at Starfall, a country estate situated south of Tahv, the largest settlement on Keshtah.
In 3961 BBY, the elderly High Lord Lillia Venn ascended to the position of Grand Lordship following a dispute between the Red and Gold factions within the Tribe. Many, including Candra and Orielle, considered Lillia a weak candidate due to her advanced age. Subsequently, Candra was appointed to the Circle of Lords to fill Lillia's former role as High Lord. As a politically neutral figure and a tie-breaker between the two factions, Candra became the second most powerful individual in the Tribe. She was widely regarded as the one who would select Lillia's successor in the event of the Grand Lord's death. Meanwhile, Orielle rose to the position of Sith Saber and was also expected to lead the Sith Sabers in the future. At that moment, the future seemed bright for Candra and her daughter.
In 3960 BBY, Candra Kitai's life took a turn for the worse. That year, Candra and Orielle attended a rake-riding game held at the Korsinata stadium, a large public venue in Tahv. Rake-riding was a violent blood sport that pitted grounded uvak, winged reptilian beasts of burden native to Kesh, and their riders, known as uvak wranglers, against each other. This event commemorated Donellan's Day, a public holiday honoring Donellan, the son of the Tribe's second Grand Lord, Nida Korsin, who ruled for seventy-nine years. Donellan died before succeeding his mother, ending the Korsin family line. Nida then instituted a succession system based on meritocracy, a tradition that continued for generations. The Kitai family sponsored Campion Dey, an uvak wrangler from the southlands.
On that fateful day, Candra and Orielle were given a luxury compartment in the Korsinata stadium, near Grand Lord Lillia Venn's. The Kitais had spent eight months planning their compartment to rival those of other High Lords. Orielle had purchased flowers from Jelph Marrian, a Human slave and horticulturalist who lived on a farm on the Marisota River and sold fertilizers to Keshiri farmers. Other notable guests included Dernas and Pallima, the leaders of the Red and Gold Factions, and Flen and Sawj Luzo, Lillia Venn's close allies and bodyguards. Despite the Luzo brothers' rivalry with Orielle's Saber corps ambitions, Candra insisted they be friendly for the day.
Shortly after the games began, Campion Dey unexpectedly disengaged and attacked Grand Lord Lillia Venn. Dey rode his uvak up the grandstand toward the Grand Lord's box. However, Lillia used Force lightning on his uvak, causing him to fall and be killed by the Luzo brothers. Although Candra and Orielle were not involved in the assassination attempt, they immediately became suspects due to their sponsorship of Dey. Candra was arrested and charged with plotting to assassinate her liege. Under duress, she confessed to conspiring with the Red and Gold faction leaders to murder and overthrow Grand Lord Venn. Dernas and Pallima were quickly executed by the Luzo brothers, but Candra was spared so the Grand Lord could make an example of her.
As punishment for their alleged "treason," Candra and Orielle were enslaved by Grand Lord Lillia Venn. Under the Grand Lord's orders, their possessions were removed from their house by their own Keshiri laborers and burned in a public bonfire, witnessed by many Sith and Keshiri. To survive, Candra pledged her "eternal loyalty" to the Grand Lord and was forced to shovel uvak manure at an uvak exhibit facility known as the zoo. Orielle escaped to Jelph Marrian's farm. Unknown to them, Jelph was a Jedi Shadow stranded on Kesh after a crackdown on the Jedi Covenant, a secret Jedi faction seeking to prevent a recurrence of the Great Sith War. Jelph theorized that the Grand Lord had staged the assassination attempt to gain political advantage and make an example of Candra and her family. He argued that if Lillia had not staged the attempt, Candra and Orielle would have been executed, not enslaved.
Despite the Kitai family's downfall, Grand Lord Lillia was not finished with Orielle. She sent Flen and Sawj Luzo, designated as replacement High Lords, to deal with the former Sith Saber. After learning Orielle's location from Keshiri traders, they went to Jelph's farm while he was away. The Luzo brothers killed Orielle's pet uvak Shyn on the pretext that slaves could not own uvak, a status symbol in Keshiri Sith society. They also presented scrolls claiming Candra conspired with the Red and Gold factions to murder Venn. Finally, they forced Orielle to hand over her lightsaber by using her mother Candra's "suffering" as leverage. They threatened to raze Jelph's farm if she did not submit. Orielle reluctantly surrendered her lightsaber and was given a shovel to mark her new status as a slave.
Enraged, Orielle destroyed Jelph's garden and belongings. While rummaging through the manure pile in his barn, she discovered a hidden starship beneath. This starship was an Aurek-class tactical strikefighter, used by the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order. Orielle realized the starship could restore her family's fortune because it was a "Kesh-shaking" discovery that could change the Tribe's fortunes. For over a millennium, the Tribe had been stranded on Kesh since the arrival of the Omen and the Tribe's forebears. Successive generations of Sith on Kesh had always wanted to return to the stars and conquer the galaxy. Without waiting for Jelph, Orielle returned to Tahv. When Jelph returned, he realized Orielle had discovered his "secret" and decided to stop her from revealing it to the Tribe.
During this time, Candra Kitai suffered through two weeks of forced labor, shoveling uvak manure in an uvak exhibit facility in Tahv known as "the zoo," as her daughter called it. This facility had been founded as a special wildlife park to honor Nida Korsin and her Skyborn Rangers, the Tribe's air force. It had previously housed several predator species native to Kesh. However, the Sith had long since driven them to extinction by using them for blood sports. To add insult to humiliation, the zoo's authorities deliberately contaminated the uvaks' food, causing them to become ill and defecate frequently. As a result, Candra was forced to work long hours cleaning the animals' enclosures and was only sometimes allowed to sleep in an empty stall. Due to her harsh working conditions, Candra's styled hair became shaggy and unkempt. Since she was not given any change of clothing, her ceremonial gown from Donellan's Day was now frayed and soiled.
One night, she received a visit from Orielle, who knocked out the sentry guarding Candra. During their brief reunion, Orielle told her mother about the starship she had found at a farm near the Marisota River and asked how she could use it to their advantage. While Candra was skeptical and had resigned herself to fate, she reluctantly told Orielle to contact the architect Gadin Badolfa, a friend of the Kitai family. Through Badolfa, she could contact four High Lords from the former Red and Gold factions, which had been weakened by the assassination attempt, and invite them to the farm to see the ship for themselves. Badolfa assured Orielle that the High Lords could help her free Candra from Venn's clutches, which Orielle realized was more important than restoring their former positions in the Tribe. However, Candra did not believe her daughter and secretly informed Lillia Venn about the meeting in exchange for what she termed "improved working conditions."
Orielle arrived at the farm, accompanied by her friend Jelph, who hid out of sight while Orielle called out to the High Lords. Instead, she was confronted by Grand Lord Lillia Venn and the Lords Sawj and Flen Luzo. Venn immobilized Orielle with the Force and informed her of her mother's betrayal. Venn also explained that she had allowed Gadin Badolfa to deliver Kitai's messages since she had planned to use their presence at the farm as an excuse to execute them for treason. However, none of them turned up since they were either skeptical of Orielle's discovery or believed that it was a trap set by the Grand Lord to eliminate their factions. While Venn entered Marrian's starfighter, Orielle was rescued by Jelph and led toward the river. Meanwhile, Venn powered up the starfighter, unaware that Marrian had created an anti-theft system for the vessel, consisting of proton torpedoes and thousands of kilograms of ammonium nitrate-based explosives. As Venn ascended, the torpedoes detonated, killing Venn, the Luzos, and the guards. Orielle and Marrian fled the farm, which, along with the entire bank, sank into the river as a result of the explosion.
Following Lillia Venn's death, Venn's rivals attacked her supporters and then each other. While Orielle left everything behind and lived the rest of her life in secrecy, in a hut in the mountains with Jelph Marrian and their three children, Candra succeeded Lillia Venn as Grand Lord of the Lost Tribe of Sith. Her only notable achievement during her brief tenure was the closure of the zoo of Tahv, where she had been forced to work as a slave during the last days of Lillia Venn's reign. Candra ultimately failed to prevent the Tribe from descending into a millennium of anarchy and strife known as the Time of the Rot.
Despite her limited legacy, in 2975 BBY, an airship used by the Sith during the conquest of another continent on Kesh, Alanciar, was named in her honor in an effort to rehabilitate the past of the tribe. The Candra had a soapstone facsimile of Candra Kitai fastened outside the gondola's hull. This airship served as the flagship of High Lord Edell Vrai, a talented mathematician and engineer who had led the Tribe's efforts to develop a technology that could reach Alanciar. During the Candra's first flight to Alanciar, it was pursued and destroyed by the Alanciari air force.
Like many of her fellow Sith Tribe members on Kesh, Candra Kitai was ambitious and sought to rise to a position of power within the Tribe's hierarchy. She also adhered to the Sith Code, which emphasized self-glorification and embracing the dark side of the Force. However, she was unwilling to use assassinations to achieve her goals and was horrified when her family's sponsored uvak wrangler, Campion Dey, made an unsuccessful assassination attempt against the ruling Grand Lord Lillia Venn, unaware that the latter had staged her own assassination attempt to eliminate her political opponents. Candra also did not share the beliefs and policies of the Red and Gold Factions, which led her to remain politically independent within the Circle of Lords.
While Candra loved her daughter Orielle, as a Sith, she prioritized her own self-interest. When Orielle shared information about the starship she had discovered on Jelph Marrian's farm in an attempt to save her mother and restore their family's position, Candra disbelieved her daughter and thought she was lying. Instead, she traded this information to her family's enemy, Lillia, in exchange for "improved working conditions" at "the zoo," where she had been forced to shovel uvak manure for two weeks. Candra was so troubled by her memories of the "zoo" that she closed it down after becoming Grand Lord following Lillia's death during the Night of the Upside-Down Meteor.
As a member of the Lost Tribe of Sith, Candra Kitai was Force-sensitive, like her daughter Orielle Kitai. Due to her high status and political connections, Candra ascended to the office of High Lord by 3961 BBY. By the age of fifty standard years, Candra had grey hair that was carefully concealed by Keshiri beauticians. Due to her harsh working conditions as a slave, Candra was physically exhausted, and her hair and clothes were unkempt.
Candra Kitai first appeared as a supporting character in John Jackson Miller's eBook Lost Tribe of the Sith: Purgatory, which was first released on October 25, 2010. She later made a brief appearance in its sequel, Lost Tribe of the Sith: Sentinel, which was released on February 21, 2011. Candra was briefly mentioned in the final novella of the Lost Tribe of the Sith series—Lost Tribe of the Sith: Pandemonium, which was first released on July 24, 2012. These works constitute her only known appearances in the Star Wars Expanded Universe.