Zauber

Zauber is a member of the Kaurmati species, a race of long-lived exothermic reptiloids native to the planet Kaurma.

All Kaurmati are Force-sensitive to a degree, but Zauber was a prodigy. Born 500 years BBY, he was taken in and trained by the Jedi Master Paja, who was known somewhat as a rogue among the Jedi Council.

Paja was a Jedi Archaeologist, and trained Zauber among the ruins of many ancient civilizations. He instilled in young Zauber a love for the past, including the past of the pre-Ruusan Reformation Jedi. Indeed, it was Paja's fascination with the ways of the ancient Jedi that caused the rift between Paja and the Council.

About 475 BBY, Zauber and Paja traveled to the dead world Shee'ol in responce to a message from Paja's friend, the Jedi Master Doba. Doba and his padawan, a human named Shakhor, had uncovered evidence of an ancient and powerful alien race on Shee'ol.

Soon after their arrival, Shakhor murdered Master Doba in his sleep and stole their ship. Paja and Zauber followed, and were attacked by Shakhor. In the ensuing battle, Paja was mortally wounded, and Zauber destroyed the Hyperdrive on Shakhor's vessel. Contacting Shakhor to demand his surrender, Zauber discovered that the radiation from Shakhor's damaged engines had severely disfigured him. Shakhor's ship vanished in a burst of energy, and was presumed destroyed by the Jedi Council. Zauber, however, harbored a suspicion that Shakhor had escaped somehow.

Since his training was not complete before the death of Master Paja, the Council decided to assign him a new Master to prepare him for The Trials. The only Master available and willing to take him was the current Jedi Battlemaster, who instructed Zauber in the use of the incomplete Juyo style.

After achieving the rank of Jedi Knight, Zauber participated in several conflicts. He also spent the next 300 years attempting to "complete" the Juyo style of combat.

A few years before the Naboo Incident, Zauber was travelling alone in a small cruiser when his ship malfunctioned. He later came to believe that his vessel was sabotaged, possibly by the then Senator Palpatine, who would have wanted to get rid of as many Jedi Masters as he could before his plans began in earnest. Left without a working Hyperdrive or communications, he took the only course left.

The Kaurmati are capable of entering a prolonged hibernation period. Using the Force, this hibernation state can be prolonged for decades if needed, though this is considered dangerous and is rarely attempted. Zauber decided it was worth the risk, and set his ship's course for the nearest known outpost, which was still decades away without the use of Hyperspace. He then set the ships life support to its bare minimum, and programmed the ship to accelerate to maximum sublight and then shut down the engines. He then entered his hibernation state.

His ship was found 25 years later by a colony of Uas'sid. They took him in and nursed him back to health. Dismayed by the destruction of his fellow Jedi, Zauber remained with the Uas'sid, hiding and perfecting his completed varient of Juyo, Jun-Sai, and hoping to find a padawan to teach it to.

Zaubers personality is generally friendly, but he is haunted by survivors guilt over the death of so many Jedi while he was hibernating. He can be somewhat ruthless in his training techniques, but this is because he believes that "The only way to strengthen steel is to temper it with fire."

He stands over 1.5 meters, has green skin that has become gray in places with age. He is well muscled for his advanced age because of his intensive regular exercise. He has a long beard from his chin, and tufts of gray hair from behind his "cheeks". His eyes are amber-colored. Kaurmati have two fingers and a thumb on each hand, and two toes on each foot. A flexible, segmented shell protects their back and chest. He has some Kaurmati and Jedi glyphs shallowly carved into his shell, the equivalent of tattooing for his people. He typically wears the brown robes of a Jedi, leather sandals, and carries a wooden walking stick. He weilds a blue-bladed lightsaber, the hilt of which is composed of Duranium with copper accents that have aquired a patina with age.

"Evil never dies. Darkness never retreats. In the cracks and the crevices of our Galaxy there are monsters undreamed of by our modern civilization. I've been there. I've seen them. They exist in the spaces between things, in the folds of existence where we cannot find them. Sometimes they cross over, sometimes they manifest, and all Hell breaks loose. Only this is not Hell, nor Heaven. This is pure evil, pure entropy, pure destruction. This is the end of everything, and I've been fighting it tooth and claw since I was old enough to hold a lightsaber." -Zauber Jedi Masters Old Republic Jedi Order 66 survivors Alien Jedi Reptillians