The Essential Guide to Force Exile/Morgedh clan Kel'nerh

Morgedh clan Kel'nerh was born on Honoghr, the devastated land of the Noghri people. Like many of his kind, he was a prodigiously talented hunted and warrior. Unlike other Noghri, though, he was Force-sensitive. This fact was lost on both him and the Imperial overseers who ran Honoghr from a distance, but it turned out to change his destiny.

In his youth, Morgedh's latent Force-usage was something inexplicable to his friends and family. He was faster, stronger, and could fight better than other trainees, sometimes too well. On one occasion, underestimating his own strength, he accidentally crippled another trainee in a sparring match after being hit by a low blow. In another altercation, Morgedh gave a sharp reply when the village maitrakh or matriarch, said his scent was off. His village's elders, unable to reconcile a string of escalating incidents where Morgedh displayed alarming power, finally exiled him in 4 ABY.

Alone in Honoghr's wilderness, Morgedh was friendless and perplexed as to why he had been forced from his home. He was resolute in his determination to redeem himself, but lived alone in the wastelands of Honoghr. His fate was about to change, though. From across the galaxy, Jedi Selusda Kraen had a vision of Morgedh possibly being turned into a powerful tool for the Empire to hunt down Force-sensitives. To forestall this occurring, Selu and his wife Milya journeyed to Honoghr to locate the Noghri warrior.

Confronting Morgedh, they persuaded him to leave Honoghr and journey to Yanibar by telling him that the master of the Noghri, Darth Vader, was a traitor and a murderer. Morgedh accompanied them to Yanibar and began his studies on how to use his Force talents. Though he longed to find a way to free his people from the tyranny of the Empire that the Kraens had revealed to him, he understood that breaking a civilization willingly bound to the Empire would be difficult. Instead, he focused on honing his skills, learning firsthand from Master Kraen and his adopted brother General Spectre Kraen. He also knew he was under constant observation, due to some lingering suspicion about his background, but endured it.

Not long after his arrival on Yanibar, the planet was attacked by the forces of the Zann Consortium. While evacuating along with the rest of the trainees, Morgedh noticed a hostile intruder advancing on the residence of the Kraens. He reached the house ahead of the intruder, the Nightsister Silri, and managed to send a message to Milya Kraen. While she raced back to her house, Morgedh and the protocol droid J7-A0 defended her daughter Rhiannon from Silri. Though Morgedh was telekinetically hurled into a tree, he survived and fended off Silri long enough for Milya to arrive and defeat the Nightsister. For his actions, Morgedh earned the loyalty and trust of the Kraens.

Over the next several years, Morgedh poured his focus into his Force-using talents, becoming a weapons master with almost unparalleled talents thanks to his prior Noghri training, hunter's instincts, and Force-training. When needed, he was sent on offworld missions, such as leading a boarding party against an Imperial bacta convoy in 7 ABY. He rapidly became one of Yanibar's most feared warriors, earning his Master's rank by 15 ABY. At the same time, he remained one of Master Kraen's most trusted warriors.

In 17 ABY, Morgedh accompanied Master Kraen and a commando squad on a retrieval mission to rescue Rhiannon after she had been caught outside the refuge by a storm. They found that she'd actually taken shelter with an Outsider named Kavlis Burke, whom Morgedh distrusted, as he did anyone unknown to him. Little did Morgedh know that Rhiannon had taken an interest in the Outsider and eventually fell in love with him. When Kavlis asked for her hand in marriage, Selu agreed under the condition that he leave her for a year to prepare a living for the two of them and to test his commitment. It was Morgedh's job to escort Kavlis from the refuge until then and discreetly monitor Rhiannon's suitor. Given his protectiveness of the Kraen's daughter, it was a job he took seriously. Kavlis did uphold his end of the bargain and earned Rhiannon's hand in marriage with the blessing of Selu, who had been apprised of Kavlis's fidelity by Morgedh.

By 18 ABY, there were few others on Yanibar who could match Morgedh in hand-to-hand combat, save for Master Kraen and his wife Milya. He went on numerous missions away from Yanibar from 18 to 19 ABY, posing a solitary bounty hunter. Outside of his duties, though, Morgedh remained reserved and solitary, preferring to pine for the loss of his home. He was withdrawn and made few public appearances save when absolutely needed.

One such appearance that he did make was after his appointment as the head of the Elite Guardians in 20 ABY. This promotion placed Morgedh in charge of the Yanibar refuge's largest contingent of Force-sensitive warriors and was considered one of the highest positions in the Yanibar Guard.

From 20 to 22 ABY, Morgedh was personally asked by Master Kraen to oversee the training of four young Force-sensitive athletes, including Selu's son Ryion and his nephew Zeyn, for an infiltration mission to Coruscant during the Galactic Games. As their coach, he trained them in their various events with assistance of other experts. He focused primarily on instructing Ryion Kraen in the galactic octathlon, specifically the hand-to-hand fighting and shortstaff disciplines, while also providing a leadership figure to the other young competitors.

When the time came to journey to Coruscant for the games, Morgedh accompanied the four young people and supervised them as best as he could while trying to shield them from outside influences and inquiries, particularly those of the New Jedi Order. Ryion and Morgedh had a close run-in where Jedi Master Luke Skywalker himself attempted to speak to Ryion and Morgedh, but the two sent him packing with claims of being Zeison Sha bearing a grudge against the Jedi. While the young athletes were there to compete, it was Morgedh's job to keep them safe and their cover as just Zeison Sha competitors from rustic Yanibar intact. In actuality, the elder Kraens had come along to do some spying of their own and had no intentions of revealing Yanibar's true nature.

Late in the competition, Morgedh saw one of his athletes injured when Ryion Kraen dove in front of a blaster bolt aimed at Leia Organa Solo, the New Republic Chief of State. Swiftly identifying the would-be assassin, Morgedh disabled him, then disappeared after security arrived to apprehend the assailant. He then stayed by Ryion's side, ready to defend the young Force-sensitive even as Ryion was taken for medical treatment. Ryion's selfless act earned the Yanibar refuge immunity from inquiries from the New Republic and Jedi Order towards Yanibar, a far greater achievement than the mission had hoped to obtain. Morgedh and the rest of Yanibar's entourage then returned home.

Origins
Morgedh clan Kel'nerh was derived from a character from the precursor freeform RPG that inspired Force Exile. The original iteration of the character was a named Morged Kellner, a cyborg human bounty hunter in the vein of Boba Fett crossed with Master Chief of the Halo series. Kellner was the protagonist of many of the storylines, with Sarth Kraen serving as an important side character providing weapons and technology. One such storyline involved Sarth sending Morged to look for his long-lost Jedi brother. That character concept eventually led to Selusda Kraen.

Atarumaster88 decided to re-invent Morged when he was planning out the Force Exile series beyond book three. The character was reimagined as a Force-sensitive Noghri warrior brought into the service of the Yanibar refuge in Force Exile IV: Guardian. Atarumaster88 also intended for Morgedh to help fill the gap created by Spectre's death in terms of a reserved martial figure. In terms of sheer ability, Morgedh outclassed Spectre once his training was completed, but had less overt personality.

Originally, he was intended to have a larger role in Force Exile IV: Guardian but it was reduced due to other plot considerations. This resulted in Morgedh having less character development than planned. A short story that delved into the horror genre involving Morgedh and Selu Kraen being stuck on an Imperial Redesign ship was also canceled in favor of the Deception on R'alla story arc, leading to Morgedh's character again being neglected. He played a small role in Rogues and Paladins and Through Her Eyes, but finally received more of a role in Champion of Yanibar as the coach, instructor, and guardian for the four Yanibar competitors.

Role and development
Morgedh's role is primarily that of a solitary dedicated warrior. He is unwaveringly loyal and exceptionally skilled in combat, but reserved. He has a dry sense of humor that occasionally surfaces, but is typically serious. By and large, Morgedh's character has shifted somewhat since his introduction in Force Exile IV: Guardian. In his youth, he was more open-minded and easily swayed by emotion. Before his full integration into Yanibar, he was yearning for a place to belong. Once he was accepted, Morgedh shifted all his attention to becoming the best member of the Yanibar Guard possible. His maturing and training have taught him to be more stolid, as well as more suspicious. For most of Yanibar's residents, Morgedh remains a cryptic figure, a quiet reminder of the deadly capability that lies within the protectors of the refuge.

Portrayal
Morgedh's portrayal was accomplished using a picture of a generic Noghri from the The Essential Guide to Alien Species. This source has been previously used for other Force Exile characters, notably the smuggler captain R'hask Sei'lar.

Appearances

 * Force Exile IV: Guardian
 * Rogues and Paladins
 * Through Her Eyes
 * Champion of Yanibar
 * Force Exile V: Warrior