- "Do-ro'ik vong pratte!"
- ―Battle cry of the warrior caste: "And woe to our enemies!"
Varesh Shai was a Yuuzhan Vong originally from the Warrior caste. He was a member of Domain Shai, whose members were especially known for their devotion and enjoyment of pain. After his Domain was dishonoured by Shedao Shai's failure at Ithor, Varesh became determined to regain favour with the gods and fanatical in his devotion to the True Way.
Near the end of the Yuuzhan Vong War, his fanatical loyalty saw him chosen to participate an experimental escalation ceremony to become one of the Slayers: a new caste of warrior-priests specially created to combat the Jedi Knights; but whose existence some members of the Elite feared was heresy and a violation of the True Way.
At the conclusion of the war, he ignored Nas Choka's call to surrender, denouncing the Warmaster as a heretic. Varesh declared himself the new Warmaster and withdrew to Wild Space with his fleet and the Slayer's Sword, a Uro-ik v'alh battleship that served as his command ship, to continue the fight, refusing to accept the Supreme Overlord had died and executing all who dared to question his continued devotion to the True Way.
The new Warmaster rallied the survivors of various domains, chief among them being the remnants of Domain Amnan, whose worldship now hung lifeless in deep space after being left virtually crippled at Telos by the Dlarit Navy. Using the dead hulk as a staging post, Varesh led his allied forces in numerous raids along the Hydian Way as far as the Corporate Sector and into Orian Space. Still fanatically loyal to the dead Dread Lord, Varesh occassionally clashed with his chief religious advisor, Seef Lacap, often instead choosing to follow the word of his warrior-seer, Tsaak Shai, whom Varesh deemed understood battle and the will of Yun-Yammka, the Slayer and God of War, better than the high priest. Nevertheless, Seef had high hopes that when Varesh finally accepted Shimrra's fate, then perhaps he would be ready to succeed him as the next Supreme Overlord--however, for now, Seef kept her thoughts private.
As Varesh led his raids, Tolok Amnan, the commander of his main allies, was covertly inserting his hunters and Peace Brigade forces into the Orian system in preparation for Varesh's coming strike, which Tsaak believed would redeem them all in the eyes of the Yun'o. Even so, Varesh grew uneasy with his young allied commander's partnership with Eckla Muyel and her attempts to convert Jeedai to the True Way. While Tolok agreed with the attendant's plans to station her enslaved Jeedai warriors aboard Domain Amnan's vessel, Varesh vehemently refused to allow any to step foot on his ships; he already resented the reliance on the Peace Brigade enough. His position was strongly supported by Seef, but she felt he was not going far enough and that Tolok had committed heresy and so should be sacrificed; however, as usual, Varesh deferred to Tsaak, who instead ordained that Domain Amnan's support was too important, and that Yun-Yammka would understand.
After two years, come 31 ABY Varesh and his forces were ready for their vengeance against the Jeedai who had shamed them. And, like all of Domain Shai, Varesh was more than ready for holy martyrdom should his death be for the glory of the gods; for Domain Shai, pain was the most glorious of virtues. So, with all the pieces assembled, Varesh finally prepared to launch his strike...
Trivia
Varesh will feature in an upcoming Clan Naga Sadow competition later in Summer 2009.