[TOR] Vilidius K'laro - Reporting

[Vilidius]

Begin recording.

This is report number 472 in my weekly series.  To the attention of the Jedi Council.

I am pleased to report that I have detected no Sith activity on this planet or in this sector.  This is not surprising as there is, in fact, very little activity of any sort.  These outer worlds are primarily populated by unadvanced species with small settlements of traders, smugglers, criminals, and drifters.  The planet where I'm stationed doesn't have much of value, in terms of interplanetary trade, which means that only the lowest and most desperate end up here.

For the sake of the Jedi archives, you may be interested to know that there is a local drink called "Tolyantil."  It is made with fermented mushrooms, tastes awful, and tends to induce hallucinations.  It's also excellent value for any Jedi on a budget.  The locals here consider celibacy to be abnormal and a strong indication of mental illness.  Don't worry - they would probably consider me abnormal under any circumstances and so I have not been tempted to break my oaths.  Also, they have poor personal hygiene and a high incidence of venereal disease.  Regardless, in the interests of learning from other cultures, we may wish to consider the possibility that they're onto something.  I recommend thorough investigation into whether or not Jedi celibacy is contributing to a decline in our sanity. 

Along with my next payment, please see about throwing in something extra to allow me to commission a new set of robes.  During the course of my investigations I had the misfortune of encountering quite a lot of vomit.  I would hate to disgrace the reputation of the Order by seeming at all disreputable in my attire.

Respectfully submitted,
Vilidius K'laro

End recording.

[Vilidius]

Begin recording.

This is week number 475.  I am pleased to report, yet again, that I have not encountered any sign of Sith in my sector.  For a time I strongly suspected an evil presence in the settlement here.  I followed the local shipping agent for three days in order to thoroughly investigate his activities.  As it turns out he isn't evil - he simply favors a goatee.

I note that my stipend has been deposited in my account and I am grateful.  While it aids in my undercover work to be seen haunting the marketplace after it closes in search of discarded fruit, past a certain point it damages my credibility in the unlikely event that I need act as a Jedi.  I have made the acquaintance of a local entrepreneur who informs me that one can make a surprisingly good living by collecting junk for recycling.  He offered to show me the ropes as it were.  I've told him that I still have an occupation, at present, but I'll keep his proposal in mind.

I note that my pay did not include any additional stipend for proper Jedi robes.  I have compromised and asked a local tailor to see about making something from readily available materials.  I'm frankly a bit skeptical about a Jedi robe made out of horrath hair (the horrath is a large, stupid, indigenous animal with coarse but prolific hair) but there's something about the idea that appeals to me.  I'm told that horrath garments are naturally quite water resistent.

I hope that this intelligence from the Outer Rim may be of service to the Order.

Respectfully submitted,
Vilidius K'laro

End recording.

[Vilidius]

Begin recording.

This is my report from week 477.  No Sith activity, as one might well expect.  Now onto the topics of interest.

My horrath hair robe is remarkably heavy and itchy.  It also still smells somewhat of horrath.  All the same, it is a good all purpose garment and the promise of rain resistance was not a boast.  It is monsoon season now and I've had some good use from it.

The reaction of the locals here has proved ... interesting.  During the cycles of my residence at this outpost I have been considered eccentric and possibly unbalanced by the indigenous tribes.  My celibacy, in particular, has been a point of some difficulty.  Now, by adopting such an unusual manner of dress, I have apparently tipped the scales from mere eccentric to absolute madman.  And several of these tribes regard madness as a sign of divine communion.  They believe I have insight into the will of their Gods and may speak with them directly.

This unusual situation is not without its benefits.  As a holy lunatic I am entitled to public support.  I have refused to move my residence into the hut they wished to provide for me but they regularly bring me gifts of food and strong drink.  I accept the later only to be polite, of course, but the fact remains that I haven't eaten so well in some time.

I am occasionally called upon to adjudicate in disputes.  In the past two weeks I have interceded in three marital disagreements, one case of trespass, an attempted robbery, and several issues expressed in languages I simply cannot understand.  Although I have attempted to offer reasoned and impartial advice on every occasion (in the last several cases this took the form of asking in vain for an interpreter) I have since learned that my judgment was never heeded on that basis.  The locals, rather, have interpreted my will based on who I looked at longest, the tone with which I addressed each party, and in one case based on a moment when I coughed at an odd time.  I admit, this has deflated my enthusiasm for paying close attention to the details in each case.

Most recently, one remote tribe traveled some distance to the outpost seeking my help.  They were terrified of livestock mutilations that were occurring in their herds.  I agreed to go and I surveyed the situation.  I viewed the carcasses of several badly mauled animals and heard that many others had disappeared entirely.  Several herdsmen were missing also.  The tribe was in danger of starvation but they were unwilling or unable to face down the beasts hunting their herds.  Once I had examined the fields, seen their animals, and heard their stories, the tribe was immensely pleased and bade me good journey.  Their only desire, after all, was that I relay their situation to the Gods so that they could do something about it.  They offered me food which they badly needed for themselves but I managed to convince them I was fasting.

I returned after dark to face whatever beasts might be hunting the herds.  I concealed myself well but I needn't have bothered.  The tribesmen were too scared to be outdoors and the "beasts" were hardly subtle.  They were actually thieves and rustlers from another settlement.  Their methods were clear; mutilate a few animals and steal the rest, trusting superstition to ensure they were not suspected or opposed.  I dispatched two of them and sent the rest running in fear of their lives.  Even the rustlers here are not terribly sophisticated and may never have seen a lightsaber before.  They may wrestle with a few superstitions of their own for the next long while.

I confess, I haven't felt so useful in quite some time.  Which is why I am disappointed to learn that I am to be moved to yet another remote sector.  Of course I would never suspect this timing is deliberate and there is no way the Council could even know I have become useful to the people here.  But perhaps through some tremor in the force it was sensed all the same.  I do of course understand we have a reputation to uphold and cannot be seen going around solving mundane problems every day.  If people came to rely upon the Jedi Order and to trust us in this way, who knows where it might end?

Once again, I commend the wisdom of these primitive people to your attention.  They have no knowledge of the force and think me quite insane, yet they care for my needs and allow me to intercede in their lives for their betterment.  Once, the Jedi Order once had humble aspirations very similar to these.  If only we had remained content with no more, perhaps the Republic would be in a better state than it is.

My next report will come in transit to my new posting.  As always, I live in service.

Vilidius K'laro

End recording.

[Vilidius]

Begin recording.

Special report week 478.  Orders received and acknowledged from the Jedi Council.  My shuttle is diverting to an Outer Rim transit hub, at which I will commission long distance transport to Coruscant and await further instructions.

Instructions from the Council were maddeningly vague, but I gather I am expected to serve as an additional "resource" to be deployed at need.  There was reference to a Defender class interceptor (reconditioned) that would be assigned to me on Coruscant.  I remember how they rolled those things off the assembly line like they were landspeeders, several decades ago.  It's a serviceable class of ship.  Not surprised it's still in circulation.  The fact that I am, by contrast, is more surprising.

The coded portion of my transmission indicates the Council is contemplating a move off Tython and a return back to the Capital.  Apparently security there is badly compromised.  To that I'd reply that it's about bloody time.  I don't know how the Council imagines we can serve any goal by isolating ourselves.  The long-standing debate about our role in any conflict - whether emissaries of peace or reluctant warriors - is moot when it comes to this strategy.  We can't do anyone any good in any capacity if we simply hide.  But that's a debate I waded into, and lost, a long time ago.

I've been removed from Jedi politics for so long I can only speculate on what anyone might be thinking.  But the dangled offering of being recognized as a "Master," something so long denied, suggests ... I don't know.  Desperation?  I fear the Order has lost its way.  I've said that more than once in the past.  But why would anyone imagine I need a carrot to coerce me back into active service?  When have I ever refused?  Treating titles as a reward to be brokered, treating service as something that must be bribed - these are not the true ways of the Order.

Truthfully, it matters not.  Years ago I learned to accept I am in no position to bend the path of the Order.  Perhaps the sense that any one Jedi can do so, whether a Master or not, whether on the Council or not, even leading it ... perhaps that is all conceit.  What matters is that the Council chooses to place me again in a position where I can do more good.  So be it.  I hope they don't expect I've learned to be less than honest in my dealings, however.  We'll both be disappointed if so.

The Defender is a warship.  I was good at the controls of one, once.  I imagine I'll have the opportunity to find out if my skills have deteriorated.  At the worst, I suppose, I can't be any worse in space combat than I've ever been at politics.  And even if I am, at least I'll die useful. 

All of which is respectfully submitted to the Masters, Council Members, and Politicians of the Jedi Order.  My instructions are received and acknowledged.

Vilidius K'laro

End recording.

[Vilidius]

Begin recording.  Week 481.

I've only just arrived on Coruscant.  The planet brings back memories.  Few of them good.  And I've clarified that my instructions from the Council are coming from middle tier bureaucrats who are barely old enough to remember the war, much less to have fought in it.  My apologies, to the middle tier bureaucrats who may be reviewing this report.  In order to present you with context, for any future orders I may be issued, I am including a copy of my report from 10 years ago.  This is the first and only time I have refused an order from the Council.

This is Vilidius, acknowledging receipt of coded transmission.  Attack on the Temple on Coruscant noted.  Severity of causalities noted.  Emergency situation fully understood.

I cannot, I repeat cannot, accept reassignment to track and engage Imperial forces.  I understand that successful action at this time might result in a more favourable peace treaty and add to our bargaining strength at negotiations.  But I have my own crisis on hand here.

My last assignment was to locate force sensitive children for training.  I found a small colony of Miraluka living in a refugee camp after being displaced in the recent conflict.  They were already traumatized by the return of so much darkness, and the elders most capable of guiding their children were dead.  There were three among them of unusual talent and sensitivity.  They trusted me to bring them to the Order.

News of the attack on Coruscant has only just reached me, but the general sense of what happened is known throughout the galaxy to anyone with the sensitivity to feel it.  I knew what was happening.  So did these children.  I can't describe the state they are in, at present.  Two are catatonic and one is half mad.  I simply cannot leave them and I certainly cannot bring them with me.

I am heading to Tython.  I will deal with whatever consequences may be assessed at that time.

The children lived.  Two are in training now, as I understand it.  The third I've not heard of in some time.  The Treaty of Coruscant was punishing to the Republic and by extension to the Order.  Perhaps some well-timed counter-strikes would have made the difference.  We'll never know.

What I do know then, as I know now, is that we cannot prioritize battle over the safety of innocents.  If that ever becomes our way we will be devoured from within.  I also know it isn't popular to say as much.  But I'm happy to allow more ambitious Jedi to worry about what's popular.

Vilidius K'laro

End recording.