Lord ( veermok ) Lord was the alpha male of a troop of Eriadu veermok which inhabited an area of the Carrion Plateau region of the planet Eriadu that centered around the hill known as the Spike . The human Wilhuff Tarkin encountered Lord and his troop while completing the final task in a series of tests he was set on the plateau by his family . Tarkin , who had to survive a full day on the Spike , made himself known to another Veermok , who he named Shadow , and learned the troop ' s routines . When the day came for Tarkin to climb the Spike , he ascended while the veermok slept . When Lord found the Human he became angry , but was quickly distracted by a group of veermok who followed Shadow . Shadow ' s troops then turned on Lord and killed him , after which Tarkin killed Shadow , confusing the group and allowing him to escape . Biography . A male member of the species of veermok native to the planet Eriadu ruled as the dominant male of a troop of one hundred other veermoks in the Carrion Plateau region of the planet during the final decades of the Galactic Republic ' s rule . The troop ' s territory centered on a hill known as the Spire which was surrounded by savannah and patches of woodland . Each night the veermok and his troop would venture out of the hill caves they lived in and engage in a communal hunt , after which they would feast on their kill either where they caught it or back in their caves . During the day the males of the troop would move to the tip of the Spire and lounge there , only coming down at mid - afternoon for a drink from a nearby watering hole . During the veermok ' s time as alpha male , his troop came under observation by Wilhuff Tarkin , a young human whose family owned the plateau including the veermok ' s territory . As a male member of the Tarkin line , Wilhuff had been tasked with spending long periods of time surviving on the plateau and as his final test had been told he must spend a full day on the Spike . Knowing that the veermoks would be the main obstacle he faced in surviving his ordeal , Tarkin set about learning how to best them and while watching named the dominant male Lord . The human observed Lord being challenged regularly by other males , but on each occasion the dominant emerged victorious , sometimes killing his foe but often letting them remain in the pack . While Tarkin watched , a younger male veermok with a following of its own , who the human named Shadow , often followed Lord at a respectful distance and tried to learn from the dominant male . Lord would sometimes tolerate Shadow and his followers , who retreated if the dominant even looked at them , and sometimes chase them away . To prepare for his day on the Spike , Tarkin attempted to befriend Shadow and his followers , who usually chased him away if he entered their territory , and dug a series of pit falls on his escape route . Then on the day of his attempt , Tarkin made his way to the top of the Spike while the veermoks slept in their caves . When the other male veermok arrived and found Tarkin out of their reach , as the creatures could not climb the Spire , they became agitated and hopped around in agitation , waiting for Lord . When the dominant male arrived he barked loudly at Tarkin , but before he could act further Shadow ' s followers began trying to ascend the Spike , some feinting attempts while others scrambled as high as they could . Lord attempted to control the younger males by swatting at them and drawing blood from a few . Shadow then issued a call which prompted his followers to turn and attack Lord , who was initially surprised by the trick , but began to defend himself and killed three of the males before he succumbed to the onslaught and died . Following the dominant ' s death , Shadow assumed leadership , but was almost immediately killed by Tarkin , who hurled a vibro - lance into the new leader ' s chest . Following the loss of two leaders in quick succession , the remaining veermoks no longer challenged Tarkin , and allowed him to escape from the Spire when he descended . Tarkin would later tell the Sith Lord Darth Vader the tale of he , Shadow and Lord while the pair hunted for a rebel cell that had stolen Tarkin ' s ship , the " Carrion Spike " . Personality and traits . Lord was a large veermok with dark stripes and , by the time of Tarkin ' s observations , many scars . When other males challenged the dominant , he fought to train the younger individuals , aware that he would one day have to yield his position to one of them for the sake of the troop . When Lord first discovered Tarkin atop the Spike , he stared at him with fury and what the human believed to be hatred for causing a problem so early in the day . The dominant veermok was then sent into a rage once Shadow ' s followers began attacking and he became desperate to restore order . When the other veermok turned on him he was at first to shocked to respond ; in Tarkin ' s eyes it seemed the veermok couldn ' t believe that some kind of etiquette or code of behavior had been violated . Behind the scenes . Lord was first mentioned in the 2014 James Luceno novel " Tarkin " .