- "I would rather sacrifice millions so that billions may live, than give darkness a chance to rise again. Never question my resolve."
- ―V'yr Vorsa, speaking to A'lora about the Civil War
V'yr Vorsa is a Neti general and peacekeeper from House Odan-Urr. Ancient by human standards, she has spent all of her life in the Jedi Order, first as a scholar and archivist, than as a general during the Clone Wars and all other wars since. She lives and fights for her friends and allies in House Odan-Urr against the Dark Jedi Brotherhood and any other threat the Dark Side may present. She is steadfast against the darkness and strong in her convictions. Her destiny is still unknown, however she has embraced her role in the ever changing tapistry that is the will of the Force.
Character History
Early life
Sprouted from a seed sometime around 300 BBY on the forest planet of Myrkr, Vorsa spent most of her young life on her home world in her natural tree form, enjoying the sun and natural tranquility of the planet. Not much is known about this part of her life since she doesn't talk about her people to outsiders, Jedi or otherwise. Occasionally she would revert to a humanoid state to travel her home world and enjoy the comforts nature gave her. Unbeknownst to her, a greater destiny awaited her in the larger galaxy.
Introductions
Sometime around 280 BBY a group of Jedi arrived on Myrkr in search of the elusive Ysalamir lizards. When they managed to capture one it was from Vorsa's own branches. Annoyed at the intrusion she shape-shifted into a large humanoid tree form startling the Jedi. Showing no hostile intentions other than an intimidating visage of a huge tree-like woman ready to stomp the intruders into the ground, Vorsa started asking questions and demanding why she was disturbed. Since the Jedi did not understand her language they were confused and unsure how to proceed until, to their astonishment, Vorsa spoke in Galactic Basic.
She talked to their leader, who was taken aback by the talking tree-woman. Amused by his apparent ignorance of her species, Vorsa laughed and her mood improved as soon as she deemed them to not be hostile. The Jedi leader had seen a Neti before in the form of Jedi Master T'ra Saa, but he had never experienced a Neti's true shape-shifting abilities firsthand and was unsure how to proceed so he did what any Jedi would do - he conversed. He explained how Ysalamir have an innate ability to "drown" the Force around them, a fact Vorsa knew of, being Force-sensitive herself, and that they need them to train their Young Jedi on how to react when their connection to the Force is cut for whatever reason. Vorsa, curious, had many question about the Jedi Order and the galaxy in general for she knew little else except her own planet. She, of course, knew of the galaxy at large and the Jedi Order but to her they were just stories from a faraway place told by elder Neti in their twilight years.
Promising her a life of knowledge and wonder in the Jedi Order if she would become one of them, the Jedi leader who's name she had forgotten by now, invited her to Coruscant. Her life changed after that, in more ways than one.
The Jedi Order
File:Vorsa-young.jpgPadawan, c. 240 BBY
Even though she was already in her twenties, Vorsa was little more than a child by Neti reckoning. She had spent most of her time exploring her planet, communing with nature or just playing around the woods with her friends and knew very little of life. She was an innocent child and thus she was deemed to still be of an appropriate age for training in the Jedi Order. They welcomed her with open arms.
Vorsa was never an excellent student, nor was she gifted in any particular area of study. She was an average student just like most of her comrades. She did, however, excel at teaching her fellow Jedi about nature and how to properly care for living things in the forest. She was also a slow learner, but then again she had many, many more years of her life ahead of her and Neti were never ones to rush.
Though her Initiate and Padawan days came and went with several different teachers, once she became a Jedi Knight she looked for a way to be useful to the Order. Not particularly adept at combat, she chose the more natural course and became an archivist and librarian, teaching students in many, many fields of study just as she had learned from her masters before. She always had her head "dug" into books, holocrons and archive data, vastly expanding her knowledge.
Some 200 years later, during the Clone Wars necessity required her to leave the safety of her libraries and archives and move her abundant knowledge and skill into the field to fight alongside the Clone troops of the Galactic Republic. That is when it all went wrong.
The Aftermath of the Clone Wars
During the Clone Wars, Vorsa found a new self - a warrior self. She wasn't particularly fond of this, but it was a necessity at the time. The war dragged on and more and more Jedi were needed to lead the army. As a Jedi General, she fought on several mayor battlefields such as the battles of Jabiim, Duro, Coruscant and most notably, Kashyyyk.
When Order 66 was issued she was on the Wookiee home world, alongside her friends and masters, fighting against the innumerable droid armies of the Separatists. She was flying with her squad on a transport just over a large lake at the moment her troops turned their guns at her. She managed to kill two of them but a laser blast shot her in the arm and she fell from the transport, twenty meters into the frigid water. The transport circled twice and when they found no sight of her, flew to base.
In truth, Vorsa had survived the shot and the fall thanks only to her advanced physique. She had instinctively "cocooned" herself in a tough bark-like shell that absorbed the fall. Bloodied, wounded and aching she dragged herself from the lake and dug roots in a nearby glen of tall trees. There she remained for many years, slowly recovering from near-death injuries.
Kashyyyk
File:Vyr-awoke.jpgAttikabukk. Friend among the Wookiees, circa 2 BBY
In later years, from time to time, Vorsa would revert to humanoid form and spy on Imperial troops stationed on Kashyyyk. She even befriended a clan of Wookiees led by Chieftain Attikabukk which in Shyriiwook means "First guide". He was an aging but strong leader who desperately tried to protect his clan from the greedy hands of the Empire's slavers. They mostly lived on the lowest parts of the great Wroshyr forests where the Imperials rarely ventured and only did so in force. She found peace again with the Wookiees and seemed to forget the troubles of the galaxy at large.
She did, however, gather as much information she could from the Wookiee scouts and became very proficient in their language, Shyriiwook. In this way she found out about the Rebellion and their exploits and also about the young Luke Skywalker, who's surname she knew well. She wept when she heard Alderaan was destroyed and cheered when Luke Skywalker destroyed the Death Star. And every so often she would hear rumors about old Jedi emerging and vanishing, mostly due to Darth Vader's vigil.
In 4 ABY, after the Battle of Endor she finally managed to leave Kashyyyk and travel the galaxy, though she occasionally settled down for several months at a time to regain her energy. Ship life had an adverse effect on her due to her nature. This time of her life was a time of discovery and searching for purpose. Only years later would she discover her new home, in House Odan-Urr, but before she ever heard of them, she came to be in the New Jedi Order on Yavin.
New Jedi Order
- "We make war because we must; they make war because they know no other existence."
- ―Vorsa, about the Vong
Vorsa traveled to Yavin's fourth moon where Luke Skywalker, son of the now redeemed Anakin Skywalker, made his Jedi Training facility and began founding a new order to protect the galaxy. This new Jedi order, Vorsa found, was a lot less conservative in its studies of the Force and its relationship with the Republic. They were defenders of peace, yes, but less rigid in structure and laxer in teaching their students about the dangers of the Dark Side of the Force.
File:Jedi archives.jpgDuring the Vong war, 28 ABY
Vorsa found them to be unrefined versions of the old Order and, though she understood that it was created under different circumstances, she pleaded with their teachers to implement a more rigid form of Force training. Some would call it brainwashing or indoctrination, some would call it ignorance and some would simply state that that kind of mentality ruined the old Order in the first place.
With the majority against her way of thinking, Vorsa seemed to remove herself from politicking and squabbles and proceeded to meditate on her own thoughts. She began having doubts about the old way she was so accustomed to. That is until Skywalker's Jedi started turning to the Dark Side more and more. She was always there to help but also to warn students not to follow in their fellow's footsteps.
She lost several students when Desann and his Reborn attacked the Jedi Temple and then again when Desann's apprentice Tavion and her cult of Ragnos rampaged through the tombs on Korriban. These events shook her to her core, so much so that she began losing faith in her abilities to train others.
File:Nem Yaman.jpgNem Yaman, 28 ABY
During the Vong war all her doubts receded into obscurity as the Jedi united to fight off the threat. She was often at the forefront of the fighting but more so in the praxeum and training grounds, defending the young initiates and apprentices. She came to believe her role was that of a teacher and defender of the young and inexperienced and she finally found her purpose. However, during the fighting, her own Padawan, a Kel-Dor named Nem Yaman, was slain by Vong assailants. Heartbroken, Vorsa would not take on a Padawan for many years. She became increasingly protective of he students after that.
The War gave a sense of community and friendship to all Jedi from the New Order, but not long after their enemy was defeated and the galaxy returned to normal, the squabbles returned. At the end of the Swarm war when Luke Skywalker decided to distance the Jedi Order from the Republic, Vorsa left feeling she had less and less to contribute and that her own way of thinking didn't coincide with the Order's. She stayed in good relations with the Masters on Yavin despite their different opinions and would aid any Jedi of the New Order should they ever need assistance. Her own path, however, was not the same as theirs. She would find a new home, and a new purpose.
She had heard rumors of a second Order, one more in line with Jedi teachings before the Empire's rule, created by several Jedi Masters who survived the Purge. She traveled the galaxy, following any clues she could find. For months she searched, moving from one planet to the next, until at last on Corellia, she found an old freighter captain called Corvus Gallian who led her to the Odanites and her new home.
Home away from home
- "The one constant in the universe is change. The wise adapt."
- ―Anonymous
File:Vyr-Ataru.jpgDuring the battle of Jaguada, 37 ABY
Not long after joining their ranks, the Odan-Urr Jedi gave Vorsa the responsibility of leading one of their elite teams - The Knights of Allusis. It was a great honor, a great responsibility and an eye-opener for Vorsa. The Jedi of Odan-Urr were in a bad place when she joined, assailed by many enemies - Cy Thuron, The Brotherhood, The One Sith. But seeing that their leaders, Liam Torun and A'lora Kituri, gave their best to follow the Jedi Code, and having established friendships with many of the other Jedi in the House, she gave her best to help her comrades.
The first time she commanded the Knights into battle was on the planet Jaguada where the One Sith and the Brotherhood clashed. Their objective was retrieval and safe transport of artifacts from the planets ancient Sith temples. They failed in their mission due to the enemies overwhelming force and had to retreat.
On Dromund Kaas, the ancient capital world of the Sith Empire of yore, she commanded the Knights again and under the guidance of their leaders, the Odanites managed to gain a small victory. Hurt, scarred but still breathing, they maintained a presence on the planet, much to the dismay of their enemies.
Master and Commander
- "There are certain things in war in which the General alone comprehends the importance. It is not his right, but rather his responsibility to send thousands to their deaths if millions will prevail. That is the heaviest burden of command, and it must be shouldered, alone."
- ―Anonymous
After the battle for Dromund Kaas, Vorsa was acknowledged for her contributions and given and even bigger command - that of a Jedi Commander of the 1st AAC "Kota's Fist". The full weight of responsibility was left squarely on her shoulders as she was given command of all of the House's armored assets. She accepted this responsibility stoically and would do her duty diligently and with pride. However the emotional response to this was very very different. Again, she was back in the Clone Wars, "fighting the good fight". She had doubts about the House's current state of mind. It was very much war-oriented and leaning further away from the Old Order's teachings.
Her command was not the only responsibility she was given. A young Padawan and Dark Side convert named Ryan Neale who had, until then, trained and studied mostly by himself, was paired with Vorsa for his final training and eventual Trials. Eventually she befriended her Padawan and is very protective of him in front of his peers. However she did become strict with his studies, be they reading of sword fighting. Ryan proved to be a hard-working student and she respects him immensely for keeping his darker emotions in check when faced with bad mouthed students. They train daily, concentrating on rehabilitating Ryan after his long years with the Sith.
The Fading Light
- "Faith is a powerful force indeed. We have our own faith – not in one of our number raised to godhood, but in a mutual destiny that cannot be denied."
- ―Vorsa, to a Brotherhood agent sent to kill her
Following the death of Morotheri an the subsequent murder of Orv Dessrx d'Tana, the Brotherhood engaged assassins, bounty hunters and any other gun-for-hire to eliminate the Jedi threat, rising from Odan-Urr. In this tumultuous time, Vorsa was confronted by an assassin of her own - an agent named Reddwin Fox, who had worked for the Grand Master for many years and was utterly devoted, and loyal to the point of worship. He had infiltrated Kota's fist and had operated under cover for month before he made his move.
His planning and execution were near-perfect, and he would have killed Vorsa were it not for a trooper from her Armored Column who jumped in front of the attacker, sacrificing himself for his commander. When the man was caught, he exchanged words with her before biting down on a poisoned pill. Confident the threat to her and her men had ended, Vorsa grieved the loss of one of her men and organized a funeral pyre for him in the oldest traditions of the Jedi order. Even if he wasn't a Jedi, in his last moments he acted like one, Vorsa had told her men at the funeral.
The ordeal with the assassin played out just as the unit was readying itself for an attack on Xlopora City where their mission was to search the ruins for an ancient Sith sword. It was a gret risk, exposing themselves, but an even greater risk allowing the Brotherhood to have the weapon.
File:Vyr-torture.jpgTortured by Omega, 37 ABY
During an away mission on the planet of Varonat, Vorsa and her X.O. Kah Manet were, in an attempt to make contact with an Odanite agent, ambushed by a well armed and organized group of mercenaries. They called themselves Alpha's Omega and their intentions were made clear when they attempted to ransom the two back to House Odan-Urr. As a reply, Councillor Liam Torun sent the rest of the Knights of Allusis on a daring mission to rescue the two leaders.
However, under the leadership of Zak Sallis one of the lieutenants in Alpha's Omega, the mercenaries orchestrated a daring plot. They never intended to ransom the two Odanites. Finding the Odanites' hidden base of operations was their true goal. They submitted both Kah and Vorsa to grievous torture to find what they were looking for, but when the two Jedi would not bend nor break, their plans changed. Their intent became to capture the whole team and submit them to questioning. In this they succeeded, after an ordeal and several of their men dead at the hands of the Knights.
The Jedi were imprisoned on Omega's ship, the Diligence, where they were tortured and bled dry of information. Brought back to their homeworld of New Tython, they would be left to fend for themselves. Vorsa herself took the brunt of the interrogation, being the leader and the one who knew more than the rest. Left in a miserable state and without the soothing effect of the sun's nurturing rays, Vorsa was left to die, along with the rest of her team.
Purity Rock
The Knight, incarcerated in Purity Rock, managed to cooperate with the Harakoan, Colonist and Dac prisoners and start a revolt. While they struck from the inside, Strike Team Ooroo with the help of Turel Sorenn and Mirus Hi'ija, The Titan, attacked from the outside. The situation soon escalated into a full scale war between the prisoners and Thuronian forces stationed at teh facility. With the help of the Jedi, most of the prisoners escaped and fled into the mountains and desert.
It was Aerin Taggart and several other comrades that found Vorsa in the interrogation wing. She barely held to life, infused with various sickening poisons. Only the sun's rejuvenating rays helped her heal and recuperate enough to help the escape effort. With her mind hazy from the drugging and her power rejuvenated Vorsa unleashed hell upon the guards and soldiers inside the Prison. By herself she toppled a security tower, squeezing it's supports with her mighty tree trunks. As the battle continued more and more Harakoans escaped, untill at last the floodgates were breached and the prisoners felt the free air of their planet once more.
After the mission Vorsa relinquished her duties as Knight-Commander to find a place for meditation and inner dialogue. Her experiences in the prison, it would later appear, had an adverse effect on her state of mind.
Liberation of New Tython
- "I shall not kill you, Butcher. But I need not save you."
- ―Vorsa, to a Blue Butcher before he was torn apart by Harakoans
It was only after her Quaestor, Liam Torun, sent out a call for war that Vorsa came out of hiding. She had lived among the escapees, teaching them how to stay undetected by Thuron's army, but also learning their ways. It was there that she discovered about a tribe on the far away continent of Milli'ea - Iwu Koraha Mahue, the desert people.
During the liberation offensive on the Thuron Empire Vorsa assumed the roll of general once more, leading her troops on the eastern wall of Menat Ombo and into the It'kla District Ruins. It was there that she finally caught up to the Vorlem Tytis, better known as the Blue Butcher. In that moment, seconds before she would plunge her saber into the monsters gut, there was a very real battle inside Vorsa. Her Jedi training, her morally and ethically pure conscious mind waged a war against her unconscious need to take vengeance on someone - anyone - for what Thuron's interrogators had done to her in that prison. It seemed to her that every second was an hour being played out in her head. In the end she stayed her hand, but had the conscious mind won, or had she simply find her pray unworthy? Not even she knew.
Exploring the wild
After the liberation efforts, and all the administrative responsibilities she had as a general, had passed Vorsa decided to explore New Tython. It wasn't only to escape into solitude once more, where she could contemplate and think clearly, but also to return to nature and find her place again. She had spent too much time on starships, standing over tactical displays and unit reports. It was tiresome.
On the continent of Milli'ea she found the desert tribe one of her Harakoan companions was talking about. She had lived away from the tribe, but always kept an eye and ear on them to learn their ways. The language was foreign but had enough similarities with the standard Horakose to learn quickly. Not a even a month after she arrived on the continent, she had made first contact. The Korahaii, as they called themselves, were a welcoming people. They enjoyed the company of guests - especially those with strange new items to trade or knowledge to spread. Indeed Vorsa was an enigma to them. They had never seen her kind before and her very nature was alien to them. She rarely transformed herself while among the tribe so as not to disturb them. She did however learn their language even quicker while communicating with them. She even took it upon herself to learn their ways and become part of the tribe.
Personality
Vorsa is a woman of few words. She dislikes small talk and rarely speaks unless she has something meaningful to say, an effect of her advanced age, and a long and hard life. She keeps a calm and balanced demeanor at all times, even during combat. A cold head in the heat of battle is, in Vorsa's opinion, preferred to rushing.
Due to her, in human terms, advanced age Vorsa sometimes seems utterly emotionless to her comrades in battle. She has learned, through the many wars she participated in, that the few that die on the field are nothing in comparison to the millions and billion at risk should the Jedi, as a whole, fail. She is, quite to the contrary, a very empathic being and she senses other people's suffering more profoundly than others. She is, by her very nature, more connected to the Living Force and her long life of training has sharpened that sense to a point.
While she is an adept combatant and strategist, Vorsa is primarily a diplomat and will pursue peace talks before any kind of battle. She does however adhere to the motto "A diplomat without an army at his back is doomed to fail.", so she usually supports a show of force against her opponents. Though oftentimes even she drops the diplomatic facade if the situation has gone out of control, such as the situation on New Tython during Cy Thuron's reign.
Philosophies and Beliefs
Jedi Meditation
File:Vorsa-Meditation.jpgDeep in meditation
As a Neti, Vorsa has come to prefer meditation as a means of calming herself and reflecting on her actions. She usually meditates in her natural tree form, though oftentimes the situation doesn't allow for it. In these cases, when she is aboard a ship for example, she remains in her humanoid shape.
The meditation she utilizes oftentimes helps her overcome her dependency on sunlight - something she would die without. Though she usually gets enough exposure during her time on different planets, and even aboard ships, she is often denied this basic need. Meditation helps her control her biological functions and stay in a state of near-hybernation.
Physical training
Though her race is usually more sluggish than the average near-human species, Vorsa has managed, through many years of hard training, to speed up her body's reactions. She is adept at dodging incoming blows and what she cannot dodge she can deflect.
Her natural shape shifting ability gives her an opportunity few races have. [She can become a static barrier in the form of a large tree, defending her allies from any harm. or she can transform into a quadrupedal animal-like creature, in which case she can cover vast distances in a fraction of the time it would take for a normal human.
File:Vorsa-Teaching.jpgTeaching her Padawan
She is an adherent of the old proverb "A healthy mind in a healthy body.", by which she lives and teaches. All her apprentices and Padawans must stay in shape, both mentally and physically. It is a daunting experience for most, but those that can keep up with her demands, receive a friend and mentor for life.
Library work
Vorsa is a skilled librarian, and though her librarian duties are long behind her, she often comes to the library to read authors long lost to the sands of time. Her favorite book is The Journal of Master Gnost-Dural which she often reads to reflect on the Jedi of old and their battle with the Sith - a topic that often bothers here these days.
She usually spends time in the library with her Padawans, teaching them the wisdom the authors passed down through the ages. This ties in well with her teachings about the Living Force and how one must keep his mind in "the now" but always be mindful not to make the same mistakes already made in the past.
Notable relationships
Ryan Neale
Ryan is a redeemed Sith and Vorsa's first Padawan since Nem Yaman. She is aware of his past and also of his status in the House. Oftentimes he is shunned and booed out of social gatherings and even common conversations. She has come to be overprotective of him in these situations, often scolding other students and peers alike.
Though his stay in the house has been nothing short of revitalizing for him, Vorsa tends to give Ryan tasks of ever increasing difficulty to test the young man's resolve. However, she acts around Ryan, it is apparent to all but the blind that she cares for the young man and is willing to help him overcome his darkness.
Aerin Taggart
Aerin is Vorsa's second apprentice. The Neti took the young Zeltron under her wing after realizing the struggles the girl had in the House. In a time of war and death, Aerin was a young pod, waiting to bloom; an as yet unwritten book, ready for ideas - and this made Vorsa nervous. She communed with her friend, A'lora Kituri, and for the first time asked the Togruta to try and divine the future. What A'lora saw, she would not reveal, but she asked Vorsa to train the girl to "prevent" what will happen. Confident in her friend's abilities and wisdom, Vorsa took Aerin as her Padawan.
The Zeltron girl progressed rapidly through Vorsa's teachings. She was of a truly bright and open mind that soaked in like a sponge. It wasn't long before her Trials were complete and Aerin, no longer a Padawan, became Vorsa's sister in the Order. Vorsa still has a certain anxiety about Aerin's future and the teachings she passed down to her, however such is the nature of the Force, and she willingly accepts it.
A'lora Kituri
Councillor Kituri was the first Jedi Vorsa met when she arrived in the Will-o-wisp with Corvus Gallian. Her demeanor towards the Neti, at first distanced due to her heritage, has become friendlier over time. During the battles in the Corellian system, the young Togruta came to confide in Vorsa with the problems of command.
Oftentimes the two would carry out missions together to the point where they became synchronized in their movements and thought while connected through the Living Force. Vorsa has become A'lora's faithful adviser and friend ever since. Of all the Jedi in the House, Vorsa has the strongest link with the nature-loving Togruta.
Liam Torun
Councillor Torun is a man wise beyond his age. His insight in the Force is much more profound than Vorsa's, which is curious due to her advanced age. However, Liam has spent a lifetime contemplating the Force on a level Vorsa has yet to reach.
More often than not, the two would sit in silence in the meditation chamber aboard the Arthoss and commune with the Force, exploring it's great depths together. He has become as close to a master as Vorsa had since the fall of the old Order. Though he seems old and withering, Liam is in fact at the peak of his understanding of the world, and Vorsa has the will to learn from his wisdom.
Turel Sorenn
Turel Sorenn is Vorsa's protégé in the Knights of Allusis. Having stepped down from Knight-Commander immediately after the events at Purity Rock, Vorsa was pleased to hear that Turel received the position in her stead. Vorsa had a protective, almost motherly instinct towards Turel, and was always there when he needed help. She had stayed on the Strike Team as an adviser to the young Knight-Commander, a position she bore with great pride.
Since then Turel has joined Arcona, and while she believed he is still a Jedi, Vorsa has heard rumors of his fall to the Dark Side. While these rumors are speculative at best, she fears the day she will meet Turel on the battlefield and learn the real truth. She fears the outcome of that battle more than the war.
DJB Facts
Positions Held
Outstanding Achievements
Trivia
- IC Vorsa has an Iranian accent and a deep voice similar to actress Shohreh Aghdashloo
- The character of V'yr Vorsa will never refer to herself by her first name but will always use her surname, Vorsa, instead
- In the same manner, the player role-playing Vorsa (me, that is) will use the name V'yr(or variation) on IRC to refer to himself so it can be easier to distinguish OOC and IC
- It's all a bit confusing but you'll get used to it :)
- For former positions and achievements go to User:Vyr vorsa