JEDI HoloNet

Of course, reading about a caste-based society built on underhanded dealings and subterfuge can only prepare you so much for the consequences of such a system. I will never understand how the Umbaran became such a prominent and rich society, and likely those secrets will remain guarded from me until my time in the galaxy has reached it’s end.

When I first met the child, it was under strict orders of secrecy. While I was never told outright who her Mother or Father were, I had my guesses. I was brought to Iziz, a metropolis nestled in the otherwise tangled mess of a jungle that is Onderon. From there, we travelled by hover-craft to a small villa some kilometer’s from the city’s protective walls. There in the humid jungle, nestled beneath the shadows of the canopy, was where the girl had spent her short life. Perhaps she has never known another of her kind, and I sometimes wonder if she ever will. Day and night she is attended by a small retinue of private tutors and handmaidens, all living in this villa and participating in raising this daughter born of strange and mysterious circumstances.

One wonders how much of a being’s identity is dependent on the nature of it’s birth. Izar, for that matter, seems unlike most children, but what child have I met during this line of work that does? Surrounded by adults, and without the influence of other’s her age, the girl’s affect is quite serious for a child of only 6. Already I can sense the natural proclivity for reading the intentions and emotions of other beings that Umbaran are rumored to have. Regardless of if the abilities of true umbaran are superstition or not, the child has an uncanny way of interacting with me. While she seemed wary of my presence at first, I soon saw her behavior change. It was almost as if she could tell what my purpose in the villa was, despite seemingly having little knowledge of the Jedi or their machinations. In my days there, I could feel her watching me in her own secretive manner, just as I watched her.

The blood test was merely a formality. I could feel the latent pull of the force around the girl from the moment we met. As much as I tried to piece together her history from her caretakers, this effort was futile. Each had been hired under secrecy by some middle agent, and was paid handsomely to remain there. Despite myself, I felt quite sad that the girl had been so sequestered. This feeling would not have affected my decision to take her to Ossus; no, this I would have done regardless, though I will not lie and say that I don’t have hopes that among our order she may experience a more fulfilling childhood surrounded by children her own age.

With the child in tow, we left the twilight estate and traversed the jungle back to the space-port in Iziz.

~Excerpt from a report submitted by Jedi Watchman, Ciela Windsun

My tenure with this order has been long, and I fear my time on this plane soon comes to an end. Chilling words to notate, certainly, but I approach oneness with the force with a certain level of excitement. This isn’t out of a morbid fascination, or some such base drive. Nearly 4 centuries I have lived, and I look back at my life and harbor little regret. Many times I have been offered positions of prestige and greater responsibility, and many times I have turned them down, preferring to live the simple life of a scholar and teacher. Eleven padawan. This is the number I have taken under my wing and raised to their eventual promotion, or separation with our order. I think back on them fondly, for learning was my greatest passion in life, and our students teach us much more than our elders ever could. My one regret, and the reason I have made this entry in my holocron public to our council on Ilum, is as follows: I did not realize that my time would come so soon, and my twelfth student is still young.

When I met young Izar, She was an initiate freshly arrived from Ossus. A quiet girl, I often found her hiding in my archives seeking the relative peace and quiet they provided. In classes, the questions she asked were creative and challenging, and this was the first I heard her really speak, for she did not seek out the company of other children. Strangely, I found her to be an old soul, more content with sitting in silence or sharing a quiet chat with some of our more elderly members. It was through these chats that we became close. When the girl reached an age I deemed appropriate, I took her to be my padawan, and through this connection she has thrived. I believe she’s a very private person, there are some lines of her thinking that even I am not privy to despite the closeness we’ve share over the years. She is extremely adept at guarding her own thoughts from others. Perhaps this is some protection method she learned in childhood, or owed to her heritage as Umbaran. Regardless, in my time I tried to encourage her to open up. Allow herself to experience closeness and confidence with other members of our order, beyond only me. In this, I fear I have fallen short. She still approaches all with that guarded nature, that secretive watchfulness, the probing stare.

Thus far, we have practiced extensively her proclivities with the force. Telekinesis, Self Healing, and Protection from Maligned Force Powers. I took a chance on her, and have taught her the basics of Telepathic communications and how to Trick the Mind to hide her presence or her thoughts. She has thus far never used this power irresponsibly, and I have warned her time and again how serious knowing these powers can be. Her training has otherwise been taken care of by our other masters, for I am much to old to instruct her in the ways of Physical Fitness and Combat Readiness.

My humble request to our council, here on Ilum, is that I be allowed to share my last days with Izar. I do not want to spare her seeing a being reach it’s end. This will be my final lesson, to her and to all of my pupils who even now travel and gather here by my bedside as I feel myself drift further from this mortal coil.

~From the Holocron of Jedi Archivist, Vosht Boruk, Head Archivist of Ilum, Deceased 417.08 ABY