Zalor Anneri

Zalor Anneri
Biographical information
Homeworld	Naboo
Born	144ABY
Physical description
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Height	5'6"
Hair color	Blond
Eye color	Blue
Skin color	Caucasian
Chronological and political information
Era(s)	New Republic Era
Affiliation	Jedi Shadows
Known masters	Chris McDonald Erris Anneri (briefly, to teach him healing abilities) Dash Burik Vos (unofficially, as a mentor)

[Source]

Zalor Anneri is a young Jedi Padawan whose destiny as the new Chosen One of the Jedi has only just begun to make an impact on the galaxy. He started out as just a son of a farmer on the peaceful planet of Naboo, and within the course of only six months, became one of the most promising Jedi hopefuls in the galaxy, showing off an impressive amount of power, an iron will, a kind heart, the ability to learn things quickly, and a clear, strong connection to the Force. He currently resides with his friends on the Forest Moon of Endor, and is a member of the small league of Jedi known as the Jedi Shadows.

Biography

Early Life

Zalor Anneri is the second son out of three children of Darek and Erris Anneri, who resided on the planet of Naboo. Erris Anneri, Zalor's mother, was the child of legendary Jedi Master Barask Anneri, also known as the "Negotiator" because of his likeness in appearance and demeanor to Obi-Wan Kenobi. Barask himself was well known throughout the galaxy for his travels and adventures, and it was destined that his children may one day have the same fortune. Darek's real last name is unknown, but it is said that because Erris was once a Jedi Master, he took on her last name in hopes that someone would recognize them and take note of their family business, hoping to lead his family out of the life of poverty that his father and mother before him had brought to him. Erris herself was a Jedi Healer in the days before the Jedi vs. Sith war, and was also renowned for her kindness and healing abilities. When the war between the Republic and the Yuuzhan Vong had finally been won, Erris decided that her time as a Jedi was over, and moved back to her home planet, settled down and married. Darek and Erris had three children, the oldest was a son they named Wedge, the second they named Zalor, and the third was a daughter who they named Marith. Zalor, Wedge and Marith were the best of friends, and always looked out for one another throughout their childhood days.

Zalor's early life on the Anneri farm couldn't be more humble. Zalor grew up as any normal farmer's child with his brother and sister, helping to tend his father's crops and vineyards, as well as his Kaadu which they used for transports around the fields of Naboo, since the family could only afford one speeder. Zalor very rarely ever stepped foot outside his homeland, and when he did, it was only to go to work in the neighboring capital city of Theed. When he got to be a teenager, it became his responsibility to run his family's produce shop which was located in the main square of the sprawling city. It is there that he met the old man Tryn, owner of the Ja'raak Inn, and the two of them became friends as Zalor would often stay the night at the Inn after a busy day of work at the booth. Tryn eventually became Zalor's grandfather figure after Barask mysteriously disappeared and was never heard of for several years.

It was also here at his job in Theed that Zalor met the frieghter pilot and hot-shot Evan Azzameen, the son of the legendary Rebel pilot, "Ace" Azzameen, and the owner of the famous Corellian YT-2000, the Otana. When Zalor first became the owner of his father's produce shop, Evan had become one of his regular customers, as Evan, who had always been an avid drinker of Tarisian Ale, decided it was time for a change and had acquired a taste for Blossom Wine, which Zalor's father brew. As Evan's visits to Naboo became more and more frequent, Zalor and Evan developed a strong friendship. It is through listening to Evan's adventures that Zalor learned of the vastness of the galaxy, which he had not known of before. Zalor decided that one day, he himself would go out and see the galaxy for himself.

Another of Zalor's friends that he met on Naboo was a young Twi'lek girl named Asha Tailarani. Asha was but a homeless street urchin who lived in the back alleys of Theed and worked for a crime lord named Arvik Kang as a part-time hijacker and hacker. When the meager pay she got wasn't enough, she would steal produce from the various farmer's booths in Theed to keep from going hungry. When one day, she was caught by Zalor stealing from his booth, Zalor's kind heart prompted him to let her have what she wanted from his booth free of charge from that day forward, as he obviously pitied her situation. Asha was touched by Zalor's act of kindness, and would return from day to day to meet Zalor and have her dinner. Asha eventually became a frequent visitor to the Anneri household as well.

When Zalor was 16 years old, he began to have mysterious dreams, and started to develop special abilities. He found that he could see things before they happened. He found it strange that only he had these abilities, as his brother and sister never showed any signs of developing these powers themselves. When his mother Erris found out about them, she remembered her father's research about the Chosen One of the Jedi, and decided to find whatever information she could about it. She also knew there were others that might find out about Zalor, and she would need to retrain herself to use the Force. And so, she mysteriously disappeared one day, leaving for the outskirts of the galaxy to try to find information about Barask's research, and for her private Jedi re-training. Darek never understood why Erris left, and remarried eventually after she could not be found for 3 years.

From Farmer to Jedi

Things began to turn for the worse for Zalor when Lord Zulataan, who had once been Barask's traveling companion in the days before the Jedi and Sith war, discovered that Zalor was Erris Anneri's offspring, and had special abilities that his brother and sister did not have. Fearing that Zalor might become the next Chosen One and one day thwart the plans he had for the galaxy, he decided to have Zalor killed. One night, three Mandalorian raiders broke into his house, killed his entire family, and burned down the entire farm in an effort to get rid of Zalor. However, Barask's voice spoke to Zalor and guided him to take his lightsaber, a special lightsaber which Barask himself had built, which was hidden in Zalor's bedroom, and to leave Naboo. Zalor frantically grabbed Barask's lightsaber, his satchel which held a few changes of clothes and some money, and was able to escape before the raiders could catch him. With nowhere left to go, and his farm and home destroyed, Zalor was instructed by Barask to go to Dantooine and join the ranks of the Jedi. Zalor did, and that same night, he got on board a public transport bound for Dantooine and left his home planet, completely emotionally broken from what had happened.

As the will of the Force would have it, when Zalor finally arrived at Dantooine, the first Jedi Master he met was a Mandalorian Jedi by the name of Chris McDonald. Chris was a member of a small, secret society of Jedi known as the Jedi Shadows, a group that secretly investigated the actions of the Sith as spies. Zalor explained his situation to Chris and declared that he wished to be a Jedi like his grandfather before him, and asked to be Chris's apprentice. Chris agreed, and it was then that Zalor's adventures truly began.

Life as a Padawan

As Zalor began life as a Padawan with the Jedi Shadows, he became eager to begin his training. He was initially excited to become a Jedi, and would continously hound Chris to teach him to fight with a lightsaber. Despite his enthusiasm, Chris chose first to teach him the ways of the Force and show him how to tap into his inner power. Much to Chris's surprise, Zalor picked up on many of the basic concepts of the Force quickly, and proved to be a quick and willing learner. Anytime he was not training with his master, he was by himself studying books on the history of the Jedi and their Force techniques. Disappointed with his Master, he eventually found a tutorial on Shii-Cho lightsaber fighting style, and was a frequent visitor to the training room, brandishing his grandfather's lightsaber. It is rumored that this is how Zalor taught himself to use a lightsaber.

Aside from Master Chris, Zalor came in contact with other Jedi Masters. The most prominent of these was Grand Master Dash Burik Vos, the head of the Jedi Shadows. Zalor found it hard to get along with the abnormally tall and powerful Jedi Master, due to Dash's somewhat grumpy and secluded mood, but truth be told, it was Dash's more intense training and discipline methods that truly honed Zalor's skills as a Jedi. Master Vilor, although he had only joined the Shadows two years after Zalor had, also became a close mentor of Zalor's. The Yodakin Jedi Master quickly advanced to become the Jedi Shadows' head battle and tactics Master, and was also an expert swordsman. Much to Zalor's surprise, within several months of his arrival to Dantooine, his real, biological mother, Erris Anneri, returned from the outskirts of the galaxy to Dantooine and the Jedi Shadows. Having heard that her sons powers had begun to awaken, and he had learned much about being a Jedi, she quickly returned to Dantooine, excited to see his progress. Much to Zalor's surprise and happiness, mother and son were reunited. Erris quietly explained to her son why she had left when she did. However, she did not at this time, reveal anything about Barask's research concerning the legend of the Chosen One; nor did she hint that Zalor could be a potential candidate. She knew, deep in her heart, that he would find out soon enough. Upon her arrival to Dantooine, she made the decision to rejoin the Jedi and became the Shadows' head medical expert and Jedi Healer. Zalor also met another strange, yet powerful Force-user, Darth Negue Ragnos. Although Negue was a Sith, he was so unlike a Sith that Zalor initially mistook him for a Jedi Master. Negue was very good friends with Master Dash, and Zalor would often see the two talking and visiting constantly. Although Negue did not have much influence over Zalor's early life as a Padawan, he would become very important later.

Since Zalor felt uncomfortable staying in the Enclave, Chris's girlfriend, the bounty hunter Shayda Fett agreed to let Zalor stay aboard her ship, the Slave 5. Zalor would learn to make friends with Shayda this way, since when he wasn't training, he was always in his makeshift room he had set up aboard the bounty hunter's Firespray. Shayda was pleased that Zalor kept the ship clean during his stay there, and grew attached to the young Padawan through this unusual relationship.

Sirus Ofilian's Jedi Purge

Among all the Jedi Masters Zalor met during his time as a Padawan, the one who Zalor felt the most uncomfortable around was Master Sirus Ofilian. The strange looking Jedi Master acted and sounded like a normal Jedi Master, and would even kindly give Zalor advise when he needed it. Sirus even offered to take Zalor as his Padawan. However, Zalor didn't trust Sirus, and chose to be Chris's Padawan instead. Sirus did not object to his decision. However, only a week after Zalor's initial arrival, Sirus mysteriously dissappeared and left the Shadows. Two days later, he returned...with an entire Sith army and fleet behind him. Clearly, he had fallen to the Dark Side. Although to this day, it remained a mystery what Sirus's intentions were to attacking the Shadows, he made it clear that he would begin purging the galaxy of all Jedi, and he had decided to start with the Jedi Shadows.

Fortunately, around the time Sirus had begun his decent down the Dark Side, an old friend of Zalor's reemerged. It was a fateful day that led Evan Azzameen, old-time friend of Zalor and captain of the Otana, to make a shipment to the planet of Dantooine. By the will of the Force, Evan bumped into his old friend Zalor on the planet's surface, and the two were reunited. Wanting to get reacquainted with the farmer boy now turned Jedi, Evan was able to stay with Zalor on Dantooine for a few days. Fortunately for Zalor, his arrival could not have come at a better time. When Darth Sirus launched his major assault on the planet of Dantooine, a mass evacuation of the Jedi Shadows Enclave was issued. Sirus's troops assaulted the Enclave, and a large scale ground battle ensued. During the assault, Chris, his girlfriend Shayda, Zalor and Evan fought their way out to the hangar. However, Zalor and Evan ended up getting separated from Chris and Shayda, and were forced to leave without them. Zalor joined Evan aboard his ship, the Otana, and the two made a daring attempt to fly through the blockade above the planet. By the skin of their teeth, they succeeded in escaping the planet, and they made their way to the planet Naboo, Zalor's home world, where they would take refuge.

Learning Zalor's True Destiny

Upon arriving at Naboo, Zalor and Evan decided to head to the ruins of Zalor's home, so that Zalor could mourn his family's death, and recover anything of value that may have survived the attack on his homestead. After Zalor paid his respects, the two young men searched the rubble. That's when they recovered something unusual - a datapad that had been hidden in Zalor's room and had not been recovered until now. Zalor discovered that the datapad contained the notes of Barask Anneri concerning his study of the legend of the Chosen One. He learned that like the Skywalkers, the Anneris were a special family of Jedi destined to play a vital role in bringing balance to the Force. When Barask could not keep himself from falling to the Dark Side, he passed the role onto his male offspring, which he foresaw would be Zalor. Zalor also learned of the true power that lay in his grandfather's lightsaber. Suddenly, he realized why the Sith would try to kill him. It was possible they knew already that he was the one. Zalor knew that he had to find Chris and the other Jedi masters so that they could help decrypt his grandfather's notes and decide for sure whether or not Zalor was, in fact, the next Chosen One of the Jedi.

Upon leaving the ruins, Zalor and Evan were confronted by a mysterious masked bounty hunter. The bounty hunter indicated that he had found the remains of Barask Anneri, still in his ship which had been shot down over the swamps of northern Naboo. The bounty hunter was also able to identify his killer as Alia Nur, a Sith assassin who worked for a shady, mysterious Sith Lord only known as Zulataan. He tracked Zalor back to his home after finding Barask, and brought with him a holopad which Barask had recorded, containing his last words alive. As Zalor viewed the holopad, the message his grandfather relayed was the piece of the puzzle Zalor needed:

Zalor....this....is your grandfather. Barask Anneri. If....if you ever find this holopad, please...listen to my words :carefully. You.....are a special boy.....much more special than you or your parents may think......*the holopad is damaged :and cuts out often* you.......................save the Jedi................the Chosen O.................take my :lightsaber................bears the mark of the Anneri fam....................don't let :anyone.....................................

With this information, it became clear that Zalor was more than just an average Padawan, and now he needed to know what this information meant. Zalor and Evan immediately left the ruins and returned to Theed, where they would make preparations to locate and meet up with Chris and the other Jedi refugees.

Reunion with An Old Friend

As Zalor and Evan returned to Theed and made preparations to leave, Zalor had a chance encounter with Asha Taliarani, the street dweller Twi'lek girl he had befriended in his earlier life on Naboo, who he had not seen in over a year. Although the two were very glad to see one another, and though Asha was very surprised at learning Zalor had become a Jedi, they did not have time to catch up. Asha explained to Zalor that she was in trouble with Arvik Kang and needed transportation off the planet. She begged Evan and Zalor to let her come with them on their journeys. Though it took a bit of persuasion on Evan's part to let Asha aboard his ship, he reluctantly agreed and Asha was able to leave with Zalor and Evan aboard the Otana.

Ambush In Space

Using the Otana's long range scanners, Zalor and Evan attempted to reach Chris and any other Jedi that were in the Mid and Outer Rims. After roughly a day of searching and waiting, Zalor got a mysterious Force message from what he initially presumed to be his grandfather calling for help from the middle of Outer Rim empty space. Although Evan was skeptical, based on what the mysterious bounty hunter on Naboo had told them about Barask's demise, he decided to follow Zalor's directions to find Barask. To Zalor's surprise, they discovered Barask's Z-95 Headhunter out in the middle of empty space, which was where the apparent Force signature was coming from. But upon further inspection of the ship, they found that it was empty, and that its pilot was nowhere to be found. It was then that Chris appeared in his modified X-Wing, the Kandosii. Though they were initially glad to see him, Zalor immediately realized that something was wrong. Upon hailing the Jedi Master, he replied with a threat to give up Zalor to him and to join the Dark Side or die. Zalor noticed that Shadya, with her ship, the Slave 5 was not with him, and he could sense much distress, anger and fear in Chris's voice. Clearly, Chris had fallen down the Dark Side, and had set a trap for Zalor and his companions in order to dispose of them or turn them, although Zalor couldn't understand why. Wanting to find out what was wrong with Chris, Zalor refused and tried to talk Chris into coming back to the light. Chris refused, then attacked the Otana, and the two ships dueled mid-space. Although the Otana was a sturdy, fast and heavily armed ship, and though Evan and his co-pilot MK-09 were both excellent pilots, Chris's piloting skills proved to be superior. He was successful in severely damaging the freighter, and Evan was forced to run. Being indecisive under so much pressure, he left the decision of where to run to to MK-09. Evan's comical droid sidekick then punched in a random set of coordinates, and they jumped to hyperspace - not knowing where they would end up. Chris was able to place a tracking device on the Otana, and he followed them.

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Personality

"Well, it would appear I owe your apprentice my life, again. Honestly, is he like this all the time? Is he always trying to rescue people recklessly?" - Sayra Nur

Zalor is a very strong-willed, yet kind-hearted young man. He cares for everyone he comes in contact with. He has embraced the light side, and up to now, has shown great resilince to the lure of the dark side. Zalor hasn't seem to fully gotten control over his feelings, and is known to be quite stressful. Out of his stress, Zalor will sometimes have vivid nightmares and dreams, or else sometimes even, seemingly by accident, use Force Powers that many Jedi Knights haven't even mastered, hinting at the potential of his power. Zalor is also known to be somewhat clumsy from time to time, despite his Jedi training.

Despite Sayra's attempts, Zalor is not a very good pilot, and frequently sustains heavy damage to his starfighter. Sometimes, he gets shot down as a result of his poor flying abilities.

Trivia

• Zalor Anneri's name, unlike most fictional names, does not come from or is based off of anything in particular. All my character's names are built from scratch, whatever sounds good to me at the time, and seems to stick once they're in place.
• The character Zalor himself is based loosely off of Luke Skywalker, as his storyline seems to parallel Zalor's.
• When I first started role-playing in Jedi vs. Sith, I concentrated solely on Zalor. Once I found what worked for me, though, I began to move more towards a style of Knights of the Old Republic role-play. Zalor and his companions make up a sort of new-age Knights of the Old Republic adventuring party, each with his or her parallel to the game itself. Zalor, himself, is the central character...the 'Revan' character, if you will, though his demeanor is more in respect to Skywalker. Though Zalor is naturally good, if a game were ever made around him, there would be an alternate storyline where Zalor would continue to fall down the Dark Side once he begins to be haunted by the Force Demon, Vexra. Zalor could also be fitted to either be a Guardian, Sentinel or Consular, although realistically he'd be more of a Counsular, since he seems to be geared more towards diplomacy and Force Powers.