Almas Academy Council (Jedi Renaissance)

The Almas Academy Council was a satellite administrative body subservient to the Council of First Knowledge. A seven member Council, these Jedi Masters were appointed to govern the Jedi Academy on the planet Almas, within the Cularin system.

Organizations
The Almas Council was composed of seven members, five head instructors, a Coruscant emissary and the Academy Headmaster. Meeting in a torch-lit, stone chamber at the heart of the academy, the Council met annually to discuss curriculum, teaching methods, and the knighting of students. The members met around a long table, with a seat at one end for the headmaster, and one at the other for the Coruscant emissary whose duty it was to serve as the eyes, ears and voice of the Council of First Knowledge until the end of the Clone Wars. Members of the Council were the highest ranking member of their discipline within the Academy's staff, including the Master of Lightsabers, Master of Visions, Master of Wisdom, Master of Medicine, Master of Force Skills and, following the removal of the Coruscant emissary, the Master Ranger. The reasoning for their placement on the Council was to ensure that all of the Academy's disciplines were carefully reviewed by the Council during each session, and the Jedi they represented had a voice.

History
In 177 BBY, four years after the Dark Jedi Conflict plagued the Cularin system, the Council of First Knowledge decided that the Jedi Order's interests were best protected when the ancient fortress of Darth Ruin was under their control. Establishing a small academy some distance away from the barren wastes which contained the fortress, the Council opened their academy with an experimental curriculum. Accepting older students, a tradition which began with the local Tarasin, the Academy eventually began taking in adults to begin training as Jedi, although those they accepted were carefully screened. While the Academy could never accept an applicant that had already been rejected at another academy, their policies opened up the debate on whether the High Council's prohibition on older students was warranted and beneficial. Under the administration of the Council of First Knowledge for its early history, the Academy's own council was first called in 119 BBY by Headmaster Nerra Zaiveri who assembled the facility's leading instructors to provide guidance during difficult administrative decisions. Becoming a more formal institution over the proceeding years, Ziveri was succeeded in 56 BBY by his former Padawan, Lanius Qel-Bertuk as the leader of the Council and the academy's Headmaster.

Because the training of students was centralized within the Cularin system, the Council created a practice of assigning students and Knights missions known as Quests. During the training of a Padawan, the Council would assign one quest every year from the moment she is twelve years old until the moment she leaves the Academy, with a minimum of three at graduation. The quest always included the Padawan leaving the system, looking for something that the headmaster or the Padawan's mentor has asked for. The master sometimes went with the Padawan. Padawans older than fourteen who chose to remain in the Academy were to take a younger apprentice along during their quests. These trials initially included simple errands to Coruscant, Corellia and sometimes Kashyyyk; when this method showed good results and the students showed beneficial changes, the masters began to meditate in the Force and test their students with more complex and long quests in the Core Worlds, the Corporate Sector and even Hutt Space.

While the Council was charged with overseeing Jedi affairs in the Cularin system, their experimental teaching regimen was still subject to scrutiny by the Council of First Knowledge and their policies were overseen by the High Council on Coruscant. An annual sanction by the High Council ensured that students were receiving approved training, and instructors from Coruscant were often appointed to ensure no missteps were made; this inspection caused some tension between Almas and Coruscant as it often created a sense of distrust and unease in the Force. When the Confederacy of Independent Systems and the Republic went to war in 22 BBY, many members of the Council rebuffed attempts by Coruscant to gather Almas Jedi to fight in the Clone Wars. While many invoked the Right of Denial, Coruscant emissary and member of the Almas Council Master Darrus Jeht was able to send many Knights and Padawans off planet to be reassigned. Staying behind on the world to teach, Jeht attempted to ease tension with Coruscant through his position on the Almas Council.

Shortly before the end of the war, a CIS fleet appeared in Almas' orbit and attempted to lay waste to the Academy. Drawing their weapons, the Almas Council's combined strength was able to rebuff the attack and kill the Dark Jedi leading the attack with few other casualties. Invigorated by their victory though wary of the growing threat of hostilities, the Council was shocked when they received a message from the Coruscant Jedi Temple via the Jedi beacon revealing that the war was over and the galaxy was about to enter a time of peace. Speaking with Barsen'thor Tomac Moorcé, the Council was implored to shutter the academy and travel to Coruscant for an emergency conclave regarding the future of the Order. Leary as to what the High Council had planned for the Academy in the face of the fact that many of the Masters had refused to participate in the High Council's war, Qel-Bertuk eventually gave an affirmative reply to Coruscant and promised that the academy and all of its occupants would attend the conclave.

Standing in the rear of the Great Hall of the Jedi Temple, the Masters of Almas were sufficiently shocked when the High Council unveiled Moorcé as the Order's new Grand Master. More startling was Moorcé's proclamation that the Almas Academy's experimental curriculum had been a success and that it was to be adapted within the new Jedi Grand Academy that was to be constructed on Ossus. Following the conclave, the Masters were summoned individually to the Chamber of Judgment to stand before the Council of Judgment for evaluation. Removing Qel-Bertuk as headmaster and reassigning Master Jeht to other duties, the Almas Council was left leaderless and tasked with restructuring the academy to serve as a new Ranger academy. As one of the first Ranger Academies, Almas would continue to serve as it had for years; sending Jedi out into the system to protect its interests and those of its inhabitants. However, as part of a new goal by the High Council, the Academy's Headmaster would be the system's Watchman and set the standard for future Ranger academies that were to be built in every system.

Members of the Council
{|class="wikitable sortable"
 * Name||Species||Date of joining||Date of leaving||Role||Replacing||Replaced by
 * Twi'lek||119 BBY||56 BBY||Headmaster||N/A||Lanius Qel-Bertuk
 * Lanius Qel-Bertuk||Human||56 BBY||19 BBY||Headmaster||||Worma Triblen
 * Wookiee||42 BBY||21 BBY||Master of Lightsabers||Unidentified||Devan For'deschel
 * Devan For'deschel||Human||21 BBY||19 ABY||Mistress of Lightsabers||||Unidentified
 * Ti-Amun Tiro||Khil||49 BBY||13 ABY||Master of Wisdom||Unidentified||Unidentified
 * Alzo Jurahi||Lorrdian||62 BBY||13 BBY||Master of Visions||Unidentified||Unidentified
 * Gila Yarg||Tarasin||21 BBY||6 ABY||Master of Medicine||Unidentified||Unidentified
 * Rayfe Rollan||Zeltron||31 BBY||28 ABY||Master of Force Skills||Unidentified||Unidentified
 * Darrus Jeht||Human||22 BBY||19 BBY||Coruscant Emissary||Unidentified||Charlena Unic
 * Charlena Unic||Vurk||19 BBY||22 ABY||Master Ranger||Darrus Jeht||Unidentified
 * Worma Triblen||Arcona||19 BBY||48 ABY||Headmaster||Lanius Qel-Bertuk||Unidentified
 * Alzo Jurahi||Lorrdian||62 BBY||13 BBY||Master of Visions||Unidentified||Unidentified
 * Gila Yarg||Tarasin||21 BBY||6 ABY||Master of Medicine||Unidentified||Unidentified
 * Rayfe Rollan||Zeltron||31 BBY||28 ABY||Master of Force Skills||Unidentified||Unidentified
 * Darrus Jeht||Human||22 BBY||19 BBY||Coruscant Emissary||Unidentified||Charlena Unic
 * Charlena Unic||Vurk||19 BBY||22 ABY||Master Ranger||Darrus Jeht||Unidentified
 * Worma Triblen||Arcona||19 BBY||48 ABY||Headmaster||Lanius Qel-Bertuk||Unidentified
 * Darrus Jeht||Human||22 BBY||19 BBY||Coruscant Emissary||Unidentified||Charlena Unic
 * Charlena Unic||Vurk||19 BBY||22 ABY||Master Ranger||Darrus Jeht||Unidentified
 * Worma Triblen||Arcona||19 BBY||48 ABY||Headmaster||Lanius Qel-Bertuk||Unidentified
 * Worma Triblen||Arcona||19 BBY||48 ABY||Headmaster||Lanius Qel-Bertuk||Unidentified
 * Worma Triblen||Arcona||19 BBY||48 ABY||Headmaster||Lanius Qel-Bertuk||Unidentified