Leps Thrist (Jedi Renaissance)

Leps Thrist was a male Nediji Jedi Master who served both the Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic during the Clone Wars. A member of the Jedi High Council during the Jedi Renaissance, Thrist had distinguished himself as a sniper during the Clone Wars and had served as a Peacekeeper for countless years before being selected to replace outgoing Councilor Diard Vads.

Early career
A Force-sensitive male Nediji, Leps Thrist was given over to the Jedi Order at a young age to begin his education in the ways of the Force. Passing through the Coruscant Jedi Temple's academy with ease, Thrist was selected by the wise Ky'lessan Jedi Master Horsatz Melivater and together they traveled the Colonies region studying the art of metallurgy and weapons crafting. Striving to become a Jedi Weapons Master, Thrist crafted his own blade out of the bone of a sea shrike he had killed on Coruscant during a hunting expedition. The green-bladed weapon saw little use during his apprenticeship, which ended in 42 BBY after he passed the Trials of Knighthood at the Temple. Working closely with his former master after becoming a Knight, Thrist crafted many weapons including a katana favored by the Je'daii of old.

Taking on the young Barabel apprentice Kels Versiol, Thrist encouraged him to find his own path as the Separatist Crisis began to plague the Senate. Taking up arms during the Clone Wars, Thrist was stationed in the Colonies and a prominent General of White Cuirass Command. Often times sought out by Grand Moff Praji for information on local cultures and their military arms in regards to hand to hand fighting, Thrist was able to lead the Republic to victory in many operations against the Neimoidian Gunnery Battalion and their master duelists. Taking up the rank of Master upon Versiol's promotion to the rank of Knight, Thrist and his former Padawan joined Jedi Cho'na Bene on the Jedi's twelve-bladed satellite above the barren world of Shrokaan. The satellite functioned as the Order most secret prison facility, and Thrist had been called aboard to analyze the blade of a cyborg recently captured by Master Tomac Moorcé's Shadow Squadron. Following the analysis, Thrist and his two comrades departed for a routine stop over at a military rest stop when they received an emergency communications from Master Mace Windu warning them that their clone troopers were not to be trusted and that the Sith had been exterminated.

Renaissance
As Thrist prepared to return to Coruscant with Bene and Versiol, they found Moorcé in a hangar on the satellite just having killed his escort of secret service members loyal to the Chancellor. Relieving the threat Windu had warned them about, the four Jedi departed together and arrived at the Jedi Temple alongside countless other Jedi returning from war torn worlds. As one of the Order's premier Weapons Masters, Thrist quickly took to helping the Order heal through repairing the blades of many Jedi who had damaged their weapons in battle. When Moorcé was named Grand Master and announced his plans to reopen the academies on Tython, Thrist petitioned the High Council to be allowed to travel there and scout out the location of the ancient Forge known as Vur Tepe. Travelling alongside Versiol and Jedi Plun Kil, the three scoured the planet from the air for four weeks until finally happening upon an ancient dormant volcano and the ruins of the Je'daii Temple of Metallurgy. Bringing in excavation teams and design specialists, Thrist and Kil oversaw the reconstruction of the Temple using blueprints and drawings obtained from the Coruscant Temple's Sacred Spire's storehouse of ancient documents.

Upon completion of the Forge in 18 BBY, the newly established Tython Grand Council was selecting members to fill seats on the body and lead each of the Great Temples. As Master Plun Kil ascended to the rank of Temple Master of Vur Tepe and took a seat on the governing body of the Tython Academy system, Master Thrist was appointed as Chief Instructor at the Forge due to his vast knowledge of different weapons and how to manufacture them. As the first students arrived at Vur Tepe Thrist welcomed them on the Temple slopes and urged them to strive for their best as they worked the forges and crafted weapons of their own. Thrist found that his largest obstacle during his first years as instructor was to quell the thirst of weapons of war by his students, all of whom had been knighted or seen the later years of their apprenticeship during the Clone Wars. As time passed the weapons the Jedi Journeyers sought to craft were more elegant and refined, as the Jedi trained more artisans then ever before. Thrist served as instructor for nineteen years until the Jedi High Council asked Thrist to replace outgoing Councilor Diard Vads. Accepting the seat, Thrist brought many new ideas to the debates on Ossus over his nineteen years in service to the High Council.

Thrist stepped down from the Council in 19 ABY to return to Tython to continue teaching for his final years. Thrist passed away within the halls of the Forge in 23 ABY and was given to the fires of the volcano over which the Temple was built as he had requested. Eulogized by his former apprentice, Grand Master Moorcé presided over the funeral and led the Order in rejoicing for the life of Master Leps Thrist.