Synnda V'ehsz

✦ Backstory

At mere days old, his parents realized their infant was Force-sensitive. Afraid and unsure of how to deal with it, they sent him to the Jedi, where he was soon taken to live in the Temple on Coruscant. It was there that he would spend his childhood, raised alongside a number of other younglings - most notably, Leo Vetiko who would go on to one day become the Jedi Battlemaster. From healing, to lightsaber combat, languages and cultures, he quickly picked up on the basic training he was put through as a child and quickly excelled past his peers. What little free time he allowed himself was often spent in the archives reading. His skills and prowess with the Force quickly blossomed into something he had to learn to control, lest he accidentally harm another youngling or Master during training.

At twelve, he was apprenticed to Master Kila. She was a young Jedi, having barely been Knighted a few years before, and quickly learned that she had very little to teach Synnda. Still, she did what she could with his training. That is, until the Sacking of Coruscant, when Synnda was thirteen. The pair mainly protected a group of medics until troops could reach them, and it was shortly after that Kila recieved an urgent holo: The Temple was under attack and needed immediate assistance. Taking her speeder, they were soon shot at by Imperial bombers overhead. Kila didn't survive, while Synnda was gravely injured. His injuries resulted in a four-month stay in a hospital where he was barely conscious until two weeks in, the loss of his left arm and leg, left heart needing replaced with a cybernetic, and extensive scarring that would cause him pain for years to follow. After his release, he had to significantly slow down his training as he recovered, and never had a consistent mentor as he was shifted about in the hopes of one of them being able to actually teach him something.

Finally, the Council decided that Yuon would be his final Master, and the one to put him through his Trials. So, he was sent to Tython to finish his training. On Tython, he found an ally in Qyzen Fess - and though they didn't always see eye-to-eye, Synnda grew to greatly respect him and saw him a dear friend in a very short time. With Qyzen at his side, he goes on to finish his training and be Knighted - only to immediately be cast into the role of protector as Yuon collapsed during his Knighting, plagued by an unknown illness. Synnda would spend the next months finding out what the mystery illness was, how to "cure" it, and then tracking down a number of other Jedi also plagued by it. By the end, he was exhausted and weakened, barely able to stand on his own two feet, as the "cure" actually involved him taking that darkness into himself to shroud the affected Masters from it.

During this time, he slowly expanded his crew, one such member including Lina Tophrik - twin sister to the Havoc Squad commander - who'd insisted on sticking around to act as the crew's healer with its lack of a proper one. Her relationship with her Jedi status was complicated due to her age when she joined the Order, so Synnda took it upon himself to help her learn what she didn't know; her unofficial teacher, as it were, despite her being quite a bit older than him. With the help of his team, he was able to find the source of the plague - Vivicar - possessed by a violent spirit. Rather than strike him down, and knowing that doing so would result in Synnda being forced to hold onto the plague for the rest of his life, he freed Vivicar and sent him to Tython. After the plague was dealt with, he was named Barsen'thor - and was only the third to ever exist. The shielding would leave him touched by the dark side, and spending the rest of his life ignoring its whispers and trying not to use it even as it tempted his every waking moment.

He was soon sent on his next mission: To hold the Rift Alliance together, and convince it to help the Republic. Despite his youth, and that he was still recovering from the weakening effects of the shielding technique, he proved to be an excellent negotiator and peacekeeper, keeping even the more explosive personalities of the Rift leaders from getting too upset. The death of one of the Rift leaders would lead him to taking Tobus' daughter as his first official Padawan after she'd been given time to properly grieve.

Finally would come the discovery of the Children of the Emperor. Synnda would feel guilt for striking them down, unsure if it was the right move and if the affected Children even knew what they were doing. But, he also knew it was necessary. That the Children were a danger, and that if he couldn't find a way to get through to them, then his choices were limited. That is, until he discovered Master Syo as one of the Children. He had great respect for Syo, and had looked up to him from the time he was very young - Synnda had a hard time believing it even when he saw it for himself. When they finally confronted each other on Corellia, he tried one last time to get through to the Master, after a brutal duel that nearly got them both killed. Unfortunately, Synnda - still struggling with the effects of the shielding, and with keeping his Force abilities in check - ended up killing Syo when he went in for another attack. Though that left the Children as dealt with, the guilt would gnaw at Synnda for a very long time. Syo's death would leave an open seat on the Council; it was offered to Synnda, who hesitantly accepted.

As a member of the Council, Synnda was often one of the first to head into the dangerous conflicts that arose throughout the galaxy. From aiding the evacuation of Makeb, to being one of the primary forces warding off the Dread Masters' influence on Oricon, to finally the Revanite situation that would have him allying with people he never thought he would: Darth Nox, Lord Wrath, and the Grand Champion. On Yavin, he was primarily the one tracking patrol routes and striking at smaller groups from the shadows before they even knew what was happening. It was on Yavin that he truly struggled with the temptation of the dark side - forcing himself to resist seeking out spirits, resist using that side of the Force, allowing other teams to deal with more violent situations for fear of what would happen if he lashed out.

It was on Yavin that he truly met Chakem (rather than simply seeing him in passing) - the medic on the Grand Champion's crew - for the first time after rescuing him from a Massassi cage. Against his better judgement, and perhaps in part to his inner struggle, he forged a relationship with Chakem over the time they were on Yavin. Synnda knew it was a bad idea - Chakem's crew was primarily contracted by the Empire, after all, while Synnda was not only Jedi, but on the Council. But they still developed a close bond, and Synnda would occasionally sneak away with Chakem to endulge in some alone time. Despite the fact he shouldn't have had such a relationship, it was likely in part because of Chakem that Synnda didn't turn to the whispers on Yavin.

He'd again feel deep guilt, upon finally encountering Revan and dueling her with some of the others. Synnda, nearly being struck down, lashed out through the Force in a final attempt to save himself and the others; the air was squeezed from her lungs, ribs broken, and the others inncorrectly believe it was Nox who crushed her windpipe. He never admits to being the one to cause her the injuries, but a few seem to know. He left Yavin in a hurry after his wounds were tended to, soon rushing instead to Ziost upon Theron's call. On Ziost, he works closely with Aaz'n and Leo to keep corrupted forces from attacking the rest of the team while they're working. Ziost's destruction would hit him especially hard; his deep connection to the Force, as well as his own corruption, making it feel as though the air was stolen from his lungs.

When the Emperor disappears into unknown space, Synnda has returned to Tython to report everything he's encountered to fellow Council-members. His debrief is cut short by Marr (to the surprise of the other Councilors) calling his holo - and informing that he'd found the Emperor's location. By the time Synnda reaches Marr's location, the battle has come and gone; Synnda can only help to round up escape pods around the ruins of Marr's flagship.

Zakuul's invasion brings Synnda to help Jedi flee to Ossus, using his own ship to strike against Eternal Fleet ships to keep them away from the evacuees. His crew gradually scatters (Nadia, ordered to Ossus by Synnda; Tharan and Zenith, leaving by their own accord; Qyzen, ordered away so he couldn't be captured as Synnda maneuvers got increasingly more risky; Lina, distraught at her twin going missing and more subject to lashing out and putting them all in danger so left on Coruscant). It left him with just Felix. The pair was eventually captured and separated. Synnda didn't know where Felix was sent, but the Jedi ended up in a high-security prison on Zakuul.

He waited quietly. Listened. And when he overheard the location Terrin was being kept, broke himself out with alarming ease. He'd go on to help form the Alliance, break Terrin out of her carbonite prison, and (to his surprise) end up her second-in-command. He was reunited with Chakem during that time, but discovered he'd thought Synnda dead and eventually began dating Koth. Synnda accepted it, and was happy so long as they treated each other well - though was surprised when both approached him wondering if he'd want to try a relationship as the three of them. He drifted farther away from both the Republic and Jedi over his time with the Alliance, eventually leaving his Council seat altogether and helping to form the Alliance Paladins, which he became one of the leaders of.

Synnda would eventually go on to take on a few students to teach the shielding technique to: Attros, Hera, Parrakh, with Lina and Nadia also requesting to learn it. His lifelong fight with the corruption it had caused him, as well as the other stressors his body has endured, was causing his hearts to slowly fail as he got older. He knew he needed someone to hold the plague at bay when he passed - but he refused to allow a single person to ever have to go through what he's spent his whole life fighting with. He hoped that having multiple students hold the plague would make the effects lesser.

He passes shortly after his students have learned the technique, as if that were the only reason he was hanging on as long as he did. The were on a remote planet when it happened, and they create a small tomb in a nearby cave for him to be his resting place. The tomb on Chandrilla would be a red herring, Hera's resting place rather than Synnda's, so that his power in the Force could never be used against anyone. His tomb would be discovered over 3'000 years later, by Farsc and her crew in their attempts to find where the Alliance disappeared to. Farsc would be one of the first people in history who Synnda's lightsaber didn't react violently toward when he took it from atop the stone coffin.