Vedya Gasald was a female Sarkhai Sith Lord who lived during the New Sith Wars. A rare Force-sensitive in her species, she rose to become a Sith Overlord under the Council of Five.
Biography
Rise to Power
According to Chelshgodrû Brokkodd, a Sith spirit entombed on Guudria, a young Vedya Gasald sought out the Tomb of the Brokkodds. She promised to send victims to Chelshgodrû so he could complete a ritual allowing his reincarnation; in return, his consort Ragathna would accompany Gasald and help her gain power.
Gasald eventually rose to the rank of Sith Overlord. Her territory encompassed a large part of the southern Slice, and she was often at odds with Darth Saleej, whose territory was nearby. She commanded an armada of ships and soldiers from her flagship, the Kiss of Death. Though strong in the dark side of the Force, she preferred to rule through manipulation and inciting competition among her subordinates rather than direct intimidation, and was not above using her beauty and sexuality to control her (primarily male) subordinates; exactly which ones actually became her lovers was not clear, even to those who were. Though she often stroked their egos to inspire their loyalty, she had no actual concern for any of her minions, considering them playthings and means to her ends.
The Corellian Run Campaign
By 1,387 BBY Gasald's right hand was the Theelin Sith Lord Halicon Karzded. In that year she received the Council of Five's blessing for an ambitious campaign on the Corellian Run, starting at Milagro. She successfully persuaded the Council Lords to impose on Darth Saleej to lend her three of his finest warriors—Darths Hokhtan, Vandak, and Alecto. She was undeterred by the presence of Zirist Lakalt, commanding her forces to eradicate him too. Throughout the ensuing campaign, Gasald deployed Saleej's Sith in ways that endangered them, though the interference of Mali Darakhan and a team of other Jedi Knights resulted in only a single Sith Lord's death—that of Darth Vaszas, Gasald's own foremost general.
After Darth Alecto assassinated Supreme Chancellor Phnyong, Gasald pressed her advantage, conquering Gamor and staging for an assault on Allanteen Six and its critical shipyards. She captured Allanteen Six in mid-1,386 BBY, but lost Milagro and Halicon Karzded a little over a month later when Mali Darakhan recaptured the planet.
Over the following months, Gasald was forced to give Trayvin Osydro a cut of her supplies to compensate him for moving goods through his territory. She stewed over the insult, but bided her time as her fleet was repaired and bolstered under the supervision of Darth Kra'all. Her intelligence chief, Celop Faro, reported that Tirien Kal-Di and his Padawan were on Circumtore, seeking to buy a nuclear bomb from Runganna the Hutt. Vedya made no attempt to intervene, but activated one of her assets to serve another purpose.
Late in 1,386 BBY, Darshkére approached Gasald, and the two joined forces to trap the Seventy-Second Republic Battle Group at the Battle of Eriadu; the combined Sith force demolished the battle group and slaughtered its personnel. In return, Darshkére submitted to Gasald's rule and gave her his territory; she rewarded him by anointing him as a Sith Lord and taking him as her latest lover.
Allanteen
In acquiring Darshkére's territory, Gasald picked up the production and refinery capital at Eriadu, which she immediately set to producing material needed for starships. With Eriadu replacing Milagro, Allanteen's shipyards once again began building up Gasald's war fleet, and she directed her council of Sith Lords to draft plans for pursuing the war deeper into Republic territory, with Corellia the crown jewel in her envisioned conquests.
As the Sith worked, Celop Faro approached Gasald, having been contacted by Lezascan Wisté; Wisté reported that Tirien Kal-Di was at the head of a Jedi plot to assassinate Gasald, brewing on Pelagon. Gasald tasked Faro with orchestrating the downfall of the Jedi strike team; she accepted Wisté's terms of sparing him, his son Amaani, Kobold Baliss, and (overall) the Tapani sector, but insisted on Kal-Di's death.
Though Faro assembled a kill squad, Jarkun'eir'saikal—operating on orders from Argus Z'dar, and thus outside Faro's knowledge—ambushed and killed them all, then joined the strike team in boarding the Kiss of Death. Though she deployed many Acolytes and adepts to protect the ship's reactor, Gasald kept Faro, Lord Nirrakin, a few Acolytes, and her White Guard to fight in her throne room. The Jedi appeared to challenge her, and even when Lezascan Wisté and Kobold Baliss joined her, battle erupted.
Gasald killed Amaani Wisté, Chiron Brascel, and Jarkun as they attacked her, but found a match in Tirien Kal-Di. The two fought inconclusively before Tirien managed to redirect Gasald's Force lightning back on her. Briefly incapacitated by the strength of her own powers, she was unable to stop Tirien cutting off her sword hand, or Yan Razam hacking off her entire other arm. Tirien also used the Force to destroy her voice box, but as he tried to strangle her, Narasi drew him away from the dark side and he spared her. As the Kiss of Death became embroiled in the larger Battle of Allanteen, Gasald used the confusion to escape.
A Fate Worse Than Death
Maimed and half-alive, Gasald ejected from her dying flagship in an escape pod, but it was picked up by enemy forces rather than her Sith.
Powers and Abilities
Though Gasald made a point to conceal the extent of her powers unless it was absolutely necessary, the few who saw her full capabilities, such as Tirien Kal-Di, considered her one of the most powerful Sith sorcerers in the galaxy. She was able to dominate the ancient Sith Lord Ragathna Brokkodd to her will, and could employ many esoteric and dangerous dark side abilities, such as Dopplegänger and Deadly Sight. She could conjure Force lightning at will, and could Force Crush bones and break necks with the Force.
Gasald was a master manipulator, able to intuit what motivated her various servants and use it to inspire or tempt them. She also had a pronounced gift for telepathic manipulation; rather than outright, brute force mind tricks, she could whisper suggestions with her mind that played on the desires or fears of her targets and guide them to do her bidding.
Gasald was Form II duelist of considerable skill, though she preferred to fight with her Force powers than her lightsaber.
Appearance and Personality
Shorter than most humanoids at 1.57 meters tall, Gasald had a curvy, fit, hourglass figure that many other humanoids found sexually desirable. Most such beings considered her strikingly beautiful, in spite of (and occasionally amplified by) her Sarkhai face paint. Like all Sarkhai, she had icy white skin and white hair, which made her dark blue eyes stand out all the more. She tended to dress in form-fitting clothing, though she favored no single color scheme; her curved-hilt lightsaber had gold inlay and, atypically for a Sith, bore a golden blade.
Gasald was conscious of her beauty and had no hesitation to use her charms to manipulate others, though she viewed this as a somewhat baser pursuit compared to influencing subtler or different desires. Unlike her colleague Darth Saleej, she did not like to risk herself in warfare, and usually only attacked an enemy with overwhelming force. The Jedi who survived the Allanteen mission considered her a high-functioning psychopath, devoid of empathy for others; on the other hand, Celop Faro dreaded that she had some genuine attachment to Darshkére.
Behind the Scenes
Gasald's more-than-persuasive ability to charm others into doing as she wished was inspired by Saruman from The Lord of the Rings. Unlike Saruman, however, Gasald had sufficient focus and power to bewitch multiple targets at once.
Appearances
- The Fog of War
- A Certain Point of View (Mentioned only)
- Abattoir (Mentioned only)
- Danse Macabre (Mentioned only)
- Desperate Times (Mentioned only)
- Desperate Measures (Mentioned only)
- A Flow'r, Once Fallen (Mentioned only)
- Igniting the Stars (Mentioned only)
- The Liberator (Mentioned only)
- Ascension (Mentioned only)
- Sins of the Father
- Moments of Truth (Mentioned only)
- Revenge of the Jedi
- Loyalty (Mentioned only)