Thracia Cho Leem (Jedi Renaissance)

Thracia Cho Leem was a female Human Jedi Master serving the Jedi Order as a member of the Jedi Grand Council during the Jedi Renaissance. The Temple Master of the Bodhi, Temple of the Arts on Tython following the end of the Clone Wars, Leem taught Jedi Journeyers the arts and the way the Force manifested itself through music, writing, and sculpture. While viewed as a Gray Jedi by some before the war, Master Leem maintained a good relationship with the High Council and was highly recommended to her position as Temple Master.

Biography
A Force-sensitive Human, Thracia Cho Leem was discovered on the planet Affa through standard testing by the Galactic Republic before being delivered to Coruscant in order to be educated in the ways of the Force by the Jedi Order. Arriving at the Jedi Temple, Leem was sorted into a clan where she preferred to work alone on projects and did not take to working with others. After being selected as Padawan to the Dashade Jedi Master Orrrt Zevin, Leem and her master set out on a two year-long journey mission which tried all of the young girl's training and knowledge of the Force. Working on the planet of Dagelin Minor in 76 BBY as the government of the world attempted to control the dhuru fly population, Leem and Zevin warned the President that importing brown nafen bats from Bogan was a misstep due to their highly venomous bites. Disregarding the Jedi's warning, the government imported the bats as a type of pest control and unintentionally exposed the planet to the Hardan plague. While Leem and Zevin attempted to control the spread of the plague, their efforts proved futile and vast swathes of the population were dead within a fortnight of the initial batch of nafen's arrival on the world. By the end of the infestation, 98% of all Dagelinians were dead and the survivors were forced to live in shanties outside the ruins of their former cities. Their mission a failure, the Jedi returned to the Temple to await reassignment.

Having traveled to the crystal caves of Ilum to construct her blue-bladed lightsaber, Leem wielded the weapon with ease and grace, though preferred to spend her time practicing the healing arts. Dedicating much of her time to assisting in the Halls of Healing, the memories of the events on Dagelin Minor pushed her to learn all that she could and fine-tune her skills to properly provide for the afflicted citizens of the galaxy. When Leem was a senior Padawan she encountered the young Padawan Mace Windu during a mission with her master. Pairing with Windu and his master on the planet Dweem, the team of Jedi assisted in the evacuation of the planet and the investigation of the Terrible Glare, an event which led to the devastation of the planet and its populace. During the investigation afterwards into the nature of the Terrible Glare and its relationship with the Jedi schismatics from the distant past who organized under the same name, Leem and Windu formed a lasting friendship which could survive the distance which fell between them most of their early careers.

Knighthood
In 63 BBY, Leem reported to the Temple on Coruscant to undergo her Jedi Trials. Passing with an air of confidence and a mind for unorthodox maneuvering through her challenges, Leem was elevated to the rank of Jedi Knight and deemed eligible to begin independent study and take solo missions in the greater galaxy. As she began her studies as a Consular, Leem split her time between the Order's chapter house on Rhinnal and the praxeum on H'ratth where she grew in the healing arts and garnered the respect of her instructors and peers. During her time away from Coruscant, Leem began to get her first taste of the hypocrisy which plagued the Republic. Traveling between worlds either ignored or forgotten by the Republic, she began to question why the Jedi High Council or the Council of Reconciliation had not stepped in to help the worlds in need that had been abandoned by politicians and the bureaucracy.

Taking on a young Ji-Ad Sarain as her first Padawan two years after her own knighting, Leem and the young Human boy worked closely to understand the healing nature of the Force and create healing crystals. Together on a mission to Xo, Leem and her student were tested against the highly-religious Zanibar and their practice of ritual sacrifice of sentients. Faced with such a people, Leem questioned whether such practices should be allowed to continue and if not, who was going to force the Zanibar to forsake their religious beliefs? When the High Council decided that inaction was the best action, Leem began to seriously question the collective wisdom of the High Councilors for the first of many times. Opting to distance herself from Coruscant to avoid the corruption she believed was festering in the Senate and even within the polished halls of the Temple itself, Leem and Sarain took up residence on Ord Janon where Leem and her student took to healing the sick and attempting to raise awareness regarding the ill-effects of pollution on the world. While lobbying against the large corporations who controlled the government and enforced a lax environmental safety agenda, Leem met a young political activist named Marcius Helk and the two married in secret and conceived a child. While Padawan Sarain found this violation of the Jedi Code amoral at first, Leem explained that her attachments had not led her to the dark side and the birth of her first child quickly warmed Sarain to the idea that Leem's actions had not begotten evil but brought about a wonderful birth.

In 57 BBY Leem decided it was time to move on from their life on Ord Janon and left her husband and child with a comfortable life in politics and traveled with her student to the world of Aquilaris Minor where they studied the rich history of the world and its former rule by the Sith. Leem taught Sarain how to disguise his identity, both visually and within the Force, and encouraged him to enter into private establishments disguised as other people and interact with their colleagues and family to train himself for undercover missions. In 53 BBY, Leem decided that Sarain was ready to face his Trials of Knighthood and the pair returned to Coruscant Temple to submit to the High Council for judgement. Pleased with Sarain's progress but not with their extended absence, the High Council permitted Sarain to take the Trials much to Leem's delight and the Council praised her when the man emerged a Jedi Knight. As she parted from her former student, happenstance or the Force led Leem down to watch the Apprentice Tournament which happened to be ongoing during her brief return to the Temple. There she was thoroughly impressed by the skills of the young Human girl Seenlu Kir and quickly approached her with an invitation to study as her Padawan. Kir eagerly accepted Leem's offer and they departed the Temple the following week.

Early on in Kir's apprenticeship, the pair was assigned as part of a task force led by Jedi Knight Mace Windu and Master Aqinos and his Iron Knights to travel to Arkania at the behest of the besieged Arkanian Dominion. As the Dominion was beset by renegades protesting the practice of bioengineering on sentients, the Jedi were compelled by Republic law to assist the lawfully installed government and put down the rebellion. Leem, while participating, heavily criticized the High Council for assigning the mission, as well as condemning the Dominion's practices. While still great friends with Windu, Leem stated her regret that she had become involved and claimed that ignoring her feelings and simply following orders would not be a mistake she made twice. Taking Kir with her to her planet of origin, Affa, Leem met a woman named B.D. Hahvad who claimed to be a medium and capable of farsight. Hahvad predicted the coming of a Forceful child born of flesh and death who would cause the ruination of worlds if not trained by Leem herself. To prove her trustworthiness, Hahvad presented Leem with an egg which she predicted would hatch into a strong Jedi Knight. Excepting the egg, Leem began to seek out this child to prevent the prophecy from taking the darker path. Together with Kirs, Leem was able to find a dark echo in the Force emanating from an old estate in the suburban townships of Affa. Using clues from the Force, Leem was able to determine that the house would play a role in the coming of the prophecy and she would need to stand as a steward to the nexus of dark side energy.

Indeed, Master Leem was somewhat of a rogue. Taking predominantly female Padawans, the diminutive woman roamed the galaxy, returning very rarely to the Coruscant Jedi Temple. In fact, Master Leem violated the Jedi Code's ban on attachments frequently, marrying several times and giving birth to sons and daughters on several worlds. Despite this, Leem never received censure from the High Council; the august body continued to allow her to teach apprentices and carry her lightsaber.

One of Master Leem's most prized Padawans was the Fosh Jedi Vergere. Having been with Vergere the moment she hatched, Leem took the avian as her apprentice and raised her to the rank of Knight. Therefore, when Vergere did not report back after departing for Zonama Sekot in 29 BBY, Master Leem petitioned the High Council to dispatch a rescue team to find her wayward apprentice. Assigning Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi and his young Padawan Anakin Skywalker, the team searched for evidence of Vergere on the planet. When the two returned to Coruscant, they concluded that Vergere had been taken by beings known as the Far Outsiders and that she was beyond the Order's reach. Not long after, Master Leem left the Order without stating her reasons, this time for good. Maintaining contact with the Temple, Leem no longer served the Republic, but the Force.