Avar Kriss

Avar Kriss was a human female Jedi Master of the Jedi Order during the High Republic Era. Noble and selfless, Kriss was an inspiration to many of her fellow Jedi. She served on the Starlight Beacon, a space station on the frontier of the galaxy. Kriss was heavily involved in the aftermath of the hyperspace catastrophe known as the Great Hyperspace Disaster, when the Legacy Run split apart in hyperspace, causing fragments of the ship to crash through the Hetzal system at incredible speeds, coordinating the effort to protect the star system from the hyperspace anomalies. In the aftermath of the incident, Kriss worked with Jedi Knight Elzar Mann, her best friend from her days at the Jedi Temple, to discover how the accident occurred as well as research how to stop the continued Emergences, where pieces of the Legacy Run emerged from hyperspace to cause damage across the galaxy.
Kriss was successful in her command of the operation and eventually was given control of Starlight Beacon after it became operational. After helping to put a stop to the Drengir crisis, Kriss helped lead the Republic's response to the Nihil marauders who had caused the Great Hyperspace Disaster in the first place. As the Nihil conflict dragged on, Kriss continued to put pressure on herself and began to give into her anger. Her efforts led to the Battle for No-Space, in which Kriss, overcome with rage, tried to execute Nihil Tempest Runner Lourna Dee.
==Biography==
===Jedi of the frontier===
Born around 262 BBY, during the time of the High Republic, Avar Kriss was taken into the Jedi Order as a child, brought to the Jedi Temple on the Republic capital world of Coruscant. As a Padawan to Cherff Maota, she developed a strong connection with fellow trainees Stellan Gios and Elzar Mann,Star Wars: The Lightsaber Collection the latter of whom would become her closest friend in the Order. Kriss and Mann had an intimate relationship as Padawans that Kriss later grew out of. One of their fellow Padawans, Emerick Caphtor, later speculated that Gios was involved in the intimate side of the friendship as well.The High Republic: Trail of Shadows 3
Inseparable from Gios and Mann during their years of training, Kriss ascended through the Order, attaining the rank of Jedi Knight, and eventually, Jedi Master. Kriss often worked with Gios and Mann on the occasion that their assignments coincided. During her time as a Jedi, Kriss worked within the frontier of the galaxy. She accomplished many great deeds, which fascinated younger Jedi such as Keeve Trennis.
===The Great Disaster===
====Conclave at Starlight====
In 232 BBY, Kriss was present aboard the Starlight Beacon space station for a Jedi and Republic conclave to commemorate the station's completion several weeks before it was to come fully online. Shai Tennem, the overseer of the project and station administrator, insisted on showing the visitors every element of its construction, giving a tour of the station to Kriss and the other dignitaries, including several other Jedi and Admiral Pevel Kronara of the Republic Defense Coalition, which delayed their scheduled departure. While on the tour, they encountered the contractors Joss and Pikka Adren, who Tennem introduced to the dignitaries. Joss Adren greeted the Jedi, and Kriss responded, thanking the Adrens for their work on the station. The tour group moved on, subsequently departing the station aboard the Emissary-class Republic Cruiser Third Horizon, the vessel commanded by Admiral Kronara.
At the same time, the Great Hyperspace Disaster, a catastrophe involving the destruction of the freighter Legacy Run while in hyperspace, saw the Hetzal system come under threat from hyperspace debris, and the Republic received a distress signal sent by Minister Zeffren Ecka. Due to the delay caused by Tennem, the Third Horizon, in transit back to Coruscant with Kriss and the Jedi dignitaries aboard, was close enough to provide assistance, and was used to dispatch a combined Jedi and Republic rescue effort. The Third Horizon was diverted to the Hetzal system, and Kronara ceded control of the effort to the Jedi, with Kriss being placed in command of the operation.
====Hetzal rescue effort====
As the Third Horizon made its way to the Hetzal system, Kriss sent a message to Minister Ecka on the planet Hetzal Prime, informing the inhabitants of the system of the rescue effort. When they arrived, the Third Horizon deployed its complement of Jedi Vectors and Republic Longbeam cruisers to aid in the rescue efforts. On the cruiser's bridge, Kriss studied a projection of the Hetzal system and the assets she controlled. Kriss proceeded to float a meter above the deck of the Third Horizon bridge, reaching out to the Force to form a massive network in the Force to act as the point of connection for the Jedi in the system. She maintained a clear picture of the events through both the Force and the chatter of the officers aboard the Third Horizon. Her deep focus allowed her to monitor many events transpiring, her thoughts temporarily dwelling on her friend, Jedi Knight Elzar Mann, who was flying a Vector.
While coordinating the rescue effort, Kriss received a sense from the Duros Jedi Knight Te'Ami, piloting a Vector above the Fruited Moon of Hetzal, and used the Force to understand Te'Ami's message: that the debris contained living beings. Reaching out across the system, Kriss located ten such pieces of debris and indicated them aboard the display screen on the Third Horizon that showed the rescue effort's status. She informed Admiral Kronara and the Republic crew of their new objective, intending to save both the Hetzalians and those trapped within the debris. As the Republic crew attempted to plan rescue missions, Kriss returned to the Force, sending the message to the Jedi.
Kriss continued to assist her Jedi colleagues, feeling the pain that came with the hundreds of deaths happening around her. Sensing an even greater disturbance, Kriss entered deeper into her meditative calm to sense what it was, opening her spirit as much as she was able to. Unable to figure it out, she returned to the projection wall on the bridge of the Third Horizon with Admiral Kronara, watching Masters Jora Malli and Sskeer save a transport from a collision with a fragment. Kriss felt another wave of worry as Kronara told Chancellor Soh that they had seen the worst of the crisis. Then, suddenly, Kriss felt the hole in her senses and went to the screen again, pointing at a large fragment with no survivors on it heading towards an R-class star. She ordered a bridge officer to get a scan of the object from the Hetzalian administrators, and technician Keven Tarr responded by saying that it was a massive container of liquid tibanna. Kronara began to curse as he realized that such a collision could destroy the entire system.
Kriss helped load refugees onto the Third Horizon as she told Kronara of her plan to deal with the tibanna. She trusted that the combined strength of the Jedi could move the container, and despite Kronara's doubts, stayed on the planet while the Third Horizon departed with the rescued people. Using her comlink, she transmitted a long message to the other Jedi, asking for their help to move the container to a new path so it would miss the sun. She felt the strain of the Jedi around her, sensing Te'Ami and many others losing consciousness and even the death of Jedi Knight Rah Barocci. As their efforts continued to fail, Kriss felt the song of the Force go silent before their push moved the container away. Kriss dropped to her knees in relief. Little did she or the other Jedi know, but their efforts were broadcast across the Outer Rim, showing their heroic efforts to the masses. Kriss thus became known as the "Hero of Hetzal."
===Emergence Task Force===
====Navidroid Array Creation====
Kriss would return to Coruscant to meet with Supreme Chancellor Lina Soh, Jedi Masters Yarael Poof, Jora Malli, and Sskeer, as well as Senator Izzet Noor, Secretary of Transportation Jeffo Lorillia, and Admiral Kronara. Soh congratulated and thanked Kriss for her efforts, who humbly accepted them. Chancellor Soh then announced her plan to enact a hyperspace closure that would shut down hyperspace lanes for well over five hundred parsecs. Soh later turned to the Jedi and tasked them with finding a solution to the continued Emergences, the name given to the instances of fragments of the Legacy Run exiting hyperspace and damaging other systems, to ensure that the Starlight Beacon was opened on schedule. She promised to allocate every resource she could to help them. Additionally, the Jedi High Council put her in charge of the Order's response to the Emergences.
Kriss went to find Elzar Mann, whom she wanted to work with on their new mission, and met with him as well as Lorillia, Noor, and Keven Tarr, the technician from Hetzal Prime. Tarr explained his theory about the Emergences, saying that most of the ship was still unaccounted for. As Noor lamented their situation, Kriss tried to restore optimism, but she only succeeded in escalating Noor's thoughts, who then shouted that he believed it was a deliberate attack and lashed out at Mann when he tried to respond to him. Kriss explained how they would be approaching the situation, saying they would first put up safeguards so planets like Hetzal and Ab Dalis, the second planet impacted by the Emergences that had seen over twenty million deaths, were protected. Secondly, they would identify the cause of the Emergences. When Tarr proposed his idea to use thousands of navidroids to form a network to help him project where the next Emergences would be located, Kriss and Mann supported the idea and Lorillia vowed to work on allocating resources for him. Finally, in response to Kriss admitting she was still curious about hyperspace on a larger scale, Noor directed them to meet with the San Tekka clan, saying they were experts on all things hyperspace.
Having tasked Jedi Master Nib Assek with gently questioning survivors of the Legacy Run to see if they could recall anything that could help the investigation, Kriss and Mann traveled to Varykino on the planet Naboo to meet Marlowe and Vellis San Tekka at their home. They drank attar of spinsilk as they waited for the two to meet them, with Kriss listening to Mann say that he would want to come to Varykino when he was too old for the Order to make use of him. Kriss did not tell him as much but she liked the idea and also mentally toyed with the idea of spending her own retirement from the Order with Mann. When they finally met the two San Tekkas, they agreed to share their expertise in hyperspace navigation and hyperlanes, including a set of algorithms that helped them model likely hyperspace routes, to help defend various systems.
Kriss gratefully told them that they would put them in touch with Keven Tarr to help him with his navidroid network as Mann asked them what theories they had about the cause of the disaster. As Mann elaborated on the theory that, despite what the galaxy knew about hyperspace navigation, the Legacy Run crashed into something while in hyperspace, Marlowe immediately dismissed the idea as impossible. Kriss sensed an impulse from Mann that let her know that Mann could tell Marlowe was lying. As Vellis backed up Marlowe, Kriss once again felt Mann tell her that they were lying. They continued to say that they could not imagine there was a problem with hyperspace itself and vowed to research more into the matter with the data Kriss handed to them on a datachip. As the Jedi departed, Mann affirmed that the pair had been hiding something, but Kriss dismissed the notion of ill intent and instead suggested they were keeping secrets as all businesspeople did.
Afterwards Kriss continued to help Keven prepare the network on the Rooted Moon in order to proceed with the possible prediction of upcoming Emergences. Once ready, Keven commenced to turn on the navidroid array along with Kriss and many other Jedi and important figures witnessing such an important event. During the process of predicting the Emergences Keven started to lose his composure due to the overheating of the system. In this moment, Kriss along with Mann helped calm Keven's emotions and hold back the high levels panic that were slowly settling in. Mann decided to experiment with his force abilities once again to try to cool off the navidroids. Kriss followed his lead and together they succeded in doing the impossible. They were able to push hot air upwards creating moisture and therefore a cloud that allowed rain to fall, cooling down the overheating navidroids. Due to their efforts, Keven Tarr's navidroid array was successful in determining future Emergences.
====Nihil conflict begins====
Kriss had assigned Joss and Pikka Adren along with Jedi Knight Mikkel Sutmani and Te'Ami to recover the flight recorder of the Legacy Run. After the successful retrieval of the recorder thanks to the sacrifice of Te'Ami, Kriss presented the final moments of the Legacy Run to the task force and Chancellor Soh. The holo projection confirmed that the Nihil were moving across hyperspace something that was deemed impossible by the San Tekkas while they were observing the videos. In that instance Kriss sensed something between them which led her to regret not pushing them further as Elzar Mann had suggested. Once the holo projection ended, Kriss summarized and discussed with everyone else present her thoughts on the Nihil and how the Legacy Run's destruction was purely accidental. In the end of the meeting Chancellor Soh assigned everyone to bring the Nihil to justice in order to prevent the Legacy Run accident from ever happening again.
Afterwards a coalition task force was created with Admiral Kronara leading it. Kriss was in the Jedi ship Ataraxia when the New Elite, led by Kassav Milliko, and several Nihil ships appeared in the Kur Nebula . Once the battle initiated she was instructed by Jora Malli to connect all the Jedi that went out in the Vector squadron. In the middle of the conflict the Nihil started jumping in and out of hyperspace quickly which caused the destruction and death of several Jedi. Kriss greatly felt this as she was connected to all of them directly, however this did not stop her from using the force to figure out how the Nihil were flying and fighting. Kriss shared this information through the force to the other Jedi in the Vectors helping and guiding them to possibly anticipate the Nihil movements. This tactic was of great help in the victory that ensued. The battle was later known as the Battle of Kur
Once the battle was over they all returned to Starlight Beacon for the opening ceremony. Here they commemorated the fallen Jedi and all of the other deaths that occurred previous to the event. Kriss and Mann left Gios on their own and went to take a stroll and have a conversation about where they would go next. Mann finally getting recommended for Jedi Master and Kriss being assigned the commander of Starlight Beacon would mean that they would not be able to see each other as often. Kriss was saddened by this as both have an undeniable connection through the force that is not compared to any other relationship that she has experienced before.
===Marshal===
Following the dedication ceremony of Starlight, Kriss spoke with the Jedi Estala Maru, asking if he was able to locate Master Sskeer, Maru informed her that he could not, and Kriss expressed concern over Sskeer, having been unable to hear him within the Force. Kriss was approached by Grand Masters Yoda and Pra-Tre Veter, who she had not expected to arrive quickly at the Beacon. Veter brought up the discussion of Kriss' future path, and Kriss assumed the Grand Master was offering her a place on the Jedi High Council, which she refused. However, Veter informed her that the Grand Masters were not intending to offer her a place on the Council. Veter instead offered Kriss the position of marshal of the Starlight Beacon, surprising Kriss with the proposal. After the dedication ceremony, she said goodbye to Mann, now a Jedi Master, who was returning to Coruscant.
The morning after the dedication, Kriss was present at a briefing alongside the Supreme Chancellor and Admiral Kronara regarding the Battle of Kur. The Adrens were invited, as the Republic officials wanted to know how their Longbeam, the Aurora III, had delivered a significantly above-average performance during the battle.
Kriss was later contacted by Sskeer, who had followed a scrambled distress signal to the Kazlin system with his former Padawan Keeve Trennis and the Kotabi Jedi twins Ceret and Terec, to a damaged cruiser that was left drifting in deep space after a Nihil attack. As Sskeer explained that the Nihil had attacked the ship, which had been commanded by a Hutt, that had been transporting Vratixia renanicus, a type of barley. Master Maru informed Kriss that the ship had come from Sedri Minor, so Kriss sent Sskeer and Ceret there while Trennis and the injured Terec waited for her and Jedi Knight Vernestra Rwoh to join them onboard. There, Kriss spoke with Trennis about Sskeer, with Trennis saying that he was filled with rage. Kriss initially said that the young Jedi should have told her, but then admitted that she had also failed to sense the turmoil in the Trandoshan Jedi Master. Then, Terec collapsed, and, supported by Rwoh, told Kriss that they sensed something terrible had happened to Ceret. Kriss contacted Sskeer to learn what had happened, and the Trandoshan realized that Ceret had disappeared into the barley field.The High Republic (2021) 2
Kriss subsequently traveled to Sedri Minor aboard the Ataraxia herself, sending Rwoh back to Starlight with the Hutt's corpse to do an autopsy while the Marshal and Trennis followed up on the investigation. Terec's condition worsened, and they began to rave about encroaching darkness as the cruiser landed on Sedri Minor. Kriss restrained the ranting Kotabi while attempting to get them to calm down, simultaneously scolding Sskeer for being of little help and losing Ceret. Trennis, on guard duty, learned from a few of the colony's residents that several people had disappeared and went off to investigate without telling anyone. After Terec had fallen unconscious, Kriss and Sskeer learned that Trennis had gone off when the colony's antagonistic Speaker, Kalo Sulman, barged onboard the Ataraxia and demanded to know her whereabouts. Sulman, suspicious of outsiders, demanded the Jedi leave, and Kriss ordered Sskeer to stay with Terec before suggesting to Sulman that they go looking for Trennis together.The High Republic (2021) 3
While searching, Kriss heard Trennis calling for help from underground: she had discovered a large sinkhole and, exploring it with a child named Bartol tagging along, had discovered Ceret and one of the missing residents, Julus, trussed up in roots, although the Rodian child was already dead. Upon waking, Ceret had been acting strange and warned Trennis just before they were attacked by a Drengir, a member of a species of carnivorous plant-like beings. Kriss broke a hole in the ground with her lightsaber and leapt down, slicing the Drengir in two as she told Trennis that she had heard her. Trennis told her to worry about Ceret, who was under the Drengir's influence, and Kriss was able to reach out with the Force and remind them that they were Jedi, causing them to release Bartol. Ceret told Kriss that the Drengir had been too powerful to fight, but as Trennis attempted to reassure the child, the halves of the injured Drengir healed into two separate creatures which chanted that there was no escape. The Drengir were joined by an an infected Sskeer, who had fallen under their influence while watching Terec, cornering the three Jedi.
The Drengir then captured Avar, Keeve, Ceret, and Bartol, ensnaring each in vines and suspending them on the tunnel walls. Kriss attempted to break through the Drengir's hold on Sskeer, reminding the Trandoshan of his duty as a Jedi to protect innocents and demanding that he release the captive group. However, Sskeer rejected her words and made the tendrils holding her in place cover her mouth to silence further entreaties. Sskeer then proceeded to tell the group of the Drengir's history, including their imprisonment by the Sith and their eventual release. Though Kriss had failed to reach her fellow Master, Sskeer's former apprentice Keeve also spoke to him and did manage to overcome the Drengir influence on his mind. Avar and the other Jedi were freed by Sskeer, and together they leapt into action, cutting down the Drengir to free Bartol from their clutches as well.The High Republic (2021) 4
The group returned to the surface of Sedri Minor, and Avar confronted Kal Sulman about the Drengir infestation with the aid of Sskeer and Keeve. Sulman denied any knowledge of the Drengir, and as an irate Sskeer demanded that he admit the truth, Kriss received a transmission from Estala Maru informing her of the Drengir attack unfolding on Starlight Beacon. Simultaneously, a Hutt vessel arrived on Sedri Minor, broadcasting a message that they had come to free the planet's inhabitants. As the ship landed, its owner Myarga Anjiliac Atirue disembarked, flanked by a pair of rancor-riding Gamorreans. The Hutt claimed dominion over the world for the Hutt Cartel.
===Enemies to allies===
Avar approached Myarga and, speaking in Huttese, attempted to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the delicate situation. She learned from the Hutt that Kal Sulman's secret had in fact been a contract between the people of Sedri Minor and the Hutts, trading grain from the former for a promise of protection and security from the latter. Kriss's negotiations were interrupted by Sskeer. The Trandoshan, falling again under the sway of his Drengir infection, attacked Myarga with the vines the Drengir had grown in place of his missing arm. The Hutt then ordered her army of mercenaries to attack the Jedi. As the battle began, Kriss spoke to Estala Maru over her comlink again, requesting aid from Starlight Beacon. However, the beacon's own Drengir infestation had grown rapidly and Maru informed Kriss that no reinforcements could be sent. Avar then told Sskeer to release Myarga in hopes that the Hutt would call off her attack. Sskeer ignored Avar's words, and instead the brawl between Trandoshan and Hutt was interrupted when Keeve severed the Drengir vines sprouting from her former master and Avar levitated Myarga in midair with the Force.The High Republic (2021) 5
As Myarga turned her attacks toward Kriss, the Jedi tried reason with the Hutt again, warning her of the threat posed to both sides by the Drengir. To illustrate her point, Avar had Maru re-transmit distress calls from Starlight Beacon to her own comlink. Avar let Myarga hear the calls pleading for help against the newly arisen Drengir from across the frontier. Among these was a call from Bilbousa. Hearing that even Nal Hutta was besieged prompted Myarga to listen to Avar at last, but the Hutt still rejected the Jedi's warning that neither force could face the Drengir alone. When Avar declared her intent to leave Sedri Minor in the hands of the Hutts as Myarga had first demanded and let them deal with the Drengir themselves, Myarga finally relented and ordered her troops to fight alongside the Jedi against the Drengir, who had emerged from their underground lair and closed in around the settlement as the battle between Myarga's forces and the Jedi had raged. Avar and Myarga then fought side by side until Keeve and Sskeer drove the Drengir across the galaxy to retreat, deceiving them through the Force and Sskeer's link to their collective root-mind into believing that their prey was rotten and would poison them if eaten.
===Defending the frontier===
Despite the reprieve won on Sedri Minor, the Drengir threat persisted. After their retreat, the Drengir eventually resumed their spread across hundreds of planets on the galactic frontier. Marshal Kriss continued to lead the Jedi response to this threat. To the dismay of some Republic officials and even fellow Jedi, Avar also continued to work alongside Myarga against their common enemy. Months after the initial Drengir awakening, the Jedi and Hutt forces faced the Drengir on the Outer Rim planet Daivak, seeking to protect settlers from the ravenous plants. Avar, Terec, and Ceret joined Myarga on the planet's surface, Kriss and one of the bond-twins riding a pair of Myarga's rancors into battle. While the alliance did save some of the settlers, others were discovered already dead in their homes, ensnared in Drengir vines and fully drained of nutrients.The High Republic (2021) 6
Eventually Avar and her companions found themselves being overwhelmed by the Drengir. Kriss's rancor mount was pulled down and the creature was executed by Myarga before it could be infected or fed upon by their enemies. Avar rebuked the Hutt for her callousness and reached out Starlight Beacon, asking for every Jedi on the station to be sent to reinforce the team on Daivak. As the battle raged and the Jedi on the beacon prepared to go to the Marshal's aid, Avar was shocked to sense Keeve Trennis's Force presence entangled with that of the Drengir. Communicating again with Estala Maru on Starlight, Avar learned that Keeve had been infested by the Drengir tendrils implanted in Master Sskeer. The young Knight, seeking a way to save her former master from his own infestation, had deactivated his stasis field on the beacon and been attacked by the Drengir part of him.
Now contained within the reactivated stasis field, Keeve and Sskeer were attempting to use their connection to the root-mind against the Drengir and find the heart of their network. With the aid of Maru and archivist OrbaLin, Keeve and Sskeer traced their connection back to the first Drengir, the Great Progenitor. The Great Progenitor lashed out at keeve through the root-mind, and to save his former Padawan, Sskeer ripped out his Drengir arm and broke the telepathic link between the Jedi and the Drengir. As this happened, the Drengir fighting Avar on Daivak began to scream. Maru relayed word to Kriss about the reason for the Drengir's distress. While linked mentally, Keeve had uncovered the location of the Progenitor: the planet Mulita in Wild Space.
===Attack on Mulita===
In preparation for her response to the Drengir, Kriss asked Estala Maru to put out a call to all Jedi who would be available to assist her on Mulita. Maru explained that many of the Jedi who fit Avar's criteria were currently occupied with the Nihil and the preparations for the Republic Fair, to which Avar responded to by reminding him that the Drengir were dangerous and had to be dealt with to ensure safety on the Frontier.The High Republic (2021) 7
Avar, with the help of many other Jedi, including Cohmac Vitus, Reath Silas, Sskeer, Terec and Ceret and many others, launched an assault on the Drengir Root Mind on Mulita. Before Keeve Trennis, newly acquainted with Orla Jareni, could arrive to help the others, Avar headed off into the forest to face the Great Progenitor. Keeve and Terec went into the Forest to help Kriss, but found her to have been captured by the Great Progenitor. The two Jedi fought against the Progenitor, who explained that she intended on using Master Kriss to lead the charge across the Galaxy and spread the Drengir, with the help of the Jedi. Trennis and Terec, after being caught in the vines of the Great Progenitor, explained that Avar Kriss brought all of the Jedi together, and that when they were together they could do incredible things. It was then that the rest of the present Jedi used the force to free Avar, Keeve and Terec from the Progenitor's grasp.The High Republic (2021) 8
With everyone free of the Drengir vines, OrbaLin and the bond-twins, Terec and Ceret, began assembling stasis-field generators around the Great Progenitor, much to the dismay of Myarga the Hutt, who believed that they should just kill her. Avar ordered the Hutt Cartel to lower their weapons, to which Myarga lashed out and attempted to kill the Progenitor herself, but her plan was thwarted by Keeve Trennis. It was then that Reath Silas activated the stasis-field generators, trapping the Great Progenitor in the field. Orla Jareni stated that they would store the Progenitor in the Bogan Vault on Starlight Beacon. Defeated, Myarga, along with the rest of the Hutt Cartel, fled the planet, thus ending the alliance between them and the Jedi.
Avar's comlink then buzzed, alerting her of an incoming transmission from Estala Maru. She explained to him that the Jedi had defeated the Drengir, and asked him to inform Stellan Gios of their success. Maru, not believing his own words, told Kriss that he was actually calling her regarding the Republic Fair on Valo. He explained to Kriss that the Nihil had returned, and had successfully attacked, and destroyed, the Fair.
===Responding to the Nihil===
Some time after the attack on the Republic Fair, Avar Kriss met with several other Jedi who were currently onboard Starlight Beacon. She informed them of a major victory against the Nihil. She then handed over to Stellan Gios, present only via holo, who announced that the Nihil were being defeated on several different fronts in multiple skirmishes, and that they were now on the run. Estala Maru then pitched in, explaining that the Jedi had identified Lourna Dee to be the Eye of the Nihil, who had recently died during the Battle of Galov, although both points were, unknowingly, incorrect.The High Republic (2021) 9
Avar asked about the rumours that Lourna had been replaced as the Eye, to which Stellan replied with multiple possible candidates: a Talpini, that being Zeetar, and another, unknown individual, who had only been identified in a garbled transmission. Stellan also said that they didn't have any evidence to support the idea that Dee had in fact been replaced. Kriss then told all who were present that Starlight's Chief of Security had intercepted intel suggesting that the Nihil forces were massing in the Soola system. Stellan decided that there were no Nihil in that area, as it had been checked by the Republic on multiple occasions. Avar countered his point by pointing out that they had swept over Valo, believing it to be completely safe, even though in the end the Nihil had decimated the Fair and hundreds of its visitors. She then asked to send a team to Zallo, to follow up on the intelligence, but Stellan ordered her to stand down. It was then that Keeve Trennis came to Avar's side, telling Gios that she believed a swift and decisive offensive against the Nihil to be the most suitable course of action, but Stellan stood his ground and denied the request, right before leaving.
Not long later, Kriss devised a plan to infiltrate the Nihil. Her plan consisted of two Jedi, Keeve and Terec, going undercover, pretending to be Nihil who were under attack from the Ataraxia. When the plan was set in motion, Orla Jareni, onboard her ship, the Lightseeker, reported in with Starlight, informing them that her sweep of the Soola System came back with no Nihil activity to report. Just then, a Nihil stormship, the Ransacker, jumped out from hyperspace, with Trennis and Terec aboard. The two ships then engaged in a, staged, dogfight. The stormship damaged one of the Lightseeker's engines, rendering it unable to move efficiently. Orla sent a, staged, distress call to Avar, who was currently in hyperspace onboard the Ataraxia. The ship arrived in real-space, ordering the stormship to stand down and surrender, to which Keeve responded to by sending her own distress call to the Nihil. The Ataraxia sent out Vectors, led by Sskeer, to engage the Nihil ship. Avar questioned whether or not it was a good idea for Sskeer to be leading the Drift, as he was still recovering from multiple traumatic experiences, but Sskeer decided that he need to make amends for his past mistakes. It was then that Nooranbakarakana informed Kriss of incoming Nihil craft, who had responded to Keeve's distress call.
To fully gain the trust of the Nihil, Keeve shot down a Vector; one which was being remotely controlled from onboard the Ataraxia, to make it seem like the two Jedi truly were Nihil and nothing more. A larger Nihil craft then locked magclamps onto the Ransacker, before jumping back into Hyperspace with Keeve and Terec.
===Infiltration of the Nihil===
Keeve and Terec were successfully brought to Xais, a Nihil Warcloud Forge. They were greeted by Zeetar, and when asked what Tempest they belonged to, claimed to be remnants of Pan Eyta's. Zeetar, not fully convinced, ordered Keeve and Terec to kill Myarga the Hutt, who had recently been captured by the Nihil.
Onboard the Ataraxia, Ceret informed the rest of the Jedi of Terec and Keeve's progress by using their bond-twin connection. Ceret told Avar that Terec was worried that was Keeve Trennis was playing a dangerous game, one that had something to do with Myarga. Avar asked Ceret if Myarga was involved with the Nihil, to which they replied by saying that they weren't entirely sure as of yet. Kriss then told Nooran to follow the coordinates provided to them by Ceret, to which he complied.The High Republic (2021) 10
Back on the Warcloud Forge, Keeve and Terec tried their best to buy themselves time to allow Avar to arrive on the planet, but they ran out of luck when Myarga told Zeetar that the two were actually Jedi, not Nihil. They engaged the Nihil forces, but were stopped when Lourna Dee showed up. Ceret told Avar of the revelation of Dee's survival, as she had been presumed to have died previously. Lourna then unveiled a box containing the power of the Great Leveler to Keeve and Terec, a box which, when opened, overwhelmed Keeve, Terec and Ceret with fear.
Ceret, still onboard the Ataraxia, told Avar that they had lost their connection to their bond-twin, Terec. Ceret stated that Terec was gone, and Avar asked them if Terec had become one with the Force, but Ceret's only response was that they would attempt to re-establish the connection between the two. However, upon trying to do so, Ceret began to succumb to the fear and pain instilled within Terec by the contents of the box, and they began turning to an ashy husk, one which began fading away. Sskeer asked Avar what was happening to Ceret, but she did not know, and she said that she could no longer hear their song in the Force. Ceret swiftly got to their feet and threw Nooranbakarakana out of his chair on the flight deck of the Ataraxia, repeating that they desperately had to reach Xais and rescue Terec now. Ceret then began changing their course so that they were heading to Xais.The High Republic (2021) 11
===Arrival at Xais===
Upon arriving at Xais, Ceret placed themself into a Hibernation trance, slowing their bodily functions and placing themself on the edge of life and death. Avar tried to reach out with the Force to see if she could sense them, but ended up realizing that Ceret was neither dead or alive, but instead they were just simply "missing."
As the Ataraxia descended into the atmosphere of Xais, Nihil ships began to open fire upon it. In response, Kriss and Sskeer headed to the hangar to board some Vectors and deal with the opposition directly, whilst Nooran and Galdros stayed onboard the Ataraxia. As the pair quickly made their way to the ships, Avar once again asked Sskeer if he was in the right condition to fly out into a war zone, but instead of answering her, he told her that nothing would stop him from rescuing Keeve from the Nihil.
The two flew out into the air when Nooran informed Avar that of the position of the Warcloud Forge. The Ataraxia provided cover to the Vectors as they made their way into the Forge, hoping to rescue the other two Jedi. As they reached the Warcloud Forge, Sskeer saw the Ransacker on a landing pad beneath them, which told him that they were in the right place, but Avar still couldn't sense either of them. Multiple other Nihil ships flew up to meet the Jedi, but Sskeer blew one up, much to Avar's discouragement, before jumping out of his Vector mid-flight and crashing it into the ground. Sskeer single-handedly took on a large group of Nihil, whilst Avar desperately looked for a place to land her Vector and get down there to assist him.
===Confrontation with Lourna Dee===
Lourna, after spotting Sskeer cutting down the Nihil, encouraged Zeetar to get away from the Jedi, as she knew first-hand that Sskeer could be ruthless. When Zeetar refused and tried to take Sskeer on himself, Lourna left him behind and ensured that Dr. Uttersond had safely taken the Leveler away from the Jedi forces. He told Dee that everyone was ready to depart the planet, and that they were just waiting on her.
Zeetar quickly realized that Lourna had been right, as Sskeer instantly beat him in combat, and was demanding that he tell him what he did with Keeve. It was at this moment when Keeve located Sskeer, and stumbled to his side, still shaken up by Lourna's box. She quickly informed Sskeer about Terec's worsening condition, and Avar believed that Terec may not be able to be saved.
Avar then spotted a larger Nihil ship taking off; the ship that had Lourna Dee onboard. Avar, powered by the Force and her own sheer will, attempted to use the Force and drag Lourna's ship back down to the ground, refusing to let her slip through the fingers of the Jedi and the Republic once again. Kriss was struggling to make the ship budge, and so called for Sskeer and Keeve to help her. Sskeer told Avar that Keeve was not in a suitable condition to use the Force, especially for something as monumentous as this, but Avar insisted that the Force would provide. Avar summoned all of her might, all of her willpower, to bring Lourna back down, but eventually the ship got free of Avar's grip, and escaped atmosphere.The High Republic (2021) 12
Not willing to give up that easily, Kriss contacted the Ataraxia and told those onboard that they had to track the fleeing ship so that they could figure out where Lourna was escaping to. Sskeer argued against her, telling her that they had to return Keeve, Terec, and Ceret to Starlight Beacon as soon as they could to attempt to treat their injuries. This resulted in Avar lashing out at the Trandoshan, telling him that he was in no position whatsoever to advise her on what to do, as he ignored her earlier instructions and killed many Nihil against her command. Kriss told him that his actions were not worthy of a Jedi, and demanded that he give over his lightsaber. Sskeer hesitantly complied, and Avar stated that he was now relieved of all Jedi duties pending the judgement of the Council on Coruscant.
===Back to Starlight===
After their failure on Xais, the Jedi group returned to Starlight Beacon. Some days later, a small group of Jedi gathered to discuss the transfer of the Beacon to the planet Eiram. Stellan Gios and Estala Maru discussed the relief effort for the planet after it had been hit by a continent-wide cyclone, laying waste to it. Meanwhile, Avar rested her eyes due to exhaustion as the rest of the Jedi were deep in conversation.
As the conversation continued, Kriss cut it off, abruptly changing the topic to the Nihil response. She asked if the Ataraxia had yet been fitted with a Nihil Path Drive that had been salvaged from the Battle of Galov. Maru told her that Jedi Goonral Monshi had completed the installation earlier in the day. Avar continued, explaining to the small group that the Path Drive contained the location of the main Nihil Base, and that their assault will go ahead. Stellan urged her to reconsider, as the Jedi Council recommended that great caution was taken in all future matters concerning the Nihil, but Avar rebuked his point, telling him that time was very quickly running out for them.
She then brought up a holo of a platform suspended in open space and protected by vacuum shields, explaining that this was the Nihil Base located in No-Space, called the Great Hall of the Nihil. Stellan once again told her to hold off, suggesting using a captured Nihil ship as a scout beforehand, but Avar reminded him that the Nihil have attacked themselves and the Republic at large time and time again, and that this time, instead of sneaking around and infiltrating them, they had to be better than them, and they had to confront the Nihil head-on as soon as they possibly could. Avar then ran off, shouting back to Stellan that the Ataraxia would be prepared for launch. Stellan, still not physically present, only there through hologram, called out for her, but she was gone.
===Preparing to attack No-Space===
Not long later, Estala Maru asked Keeve Trennis to watch over Avar Kriss, as he feared that Avar was allowing her feelings and personal vendettas cloud her judgement, as she wasn't taking advice or even considering it from anyone other than herself. Keeve felt she wasn't up to the task after what she had been through on Xais, and told Maru that she believed Sskeer would be a better fit for the role, but Maru reminded Trennis that Sskeer was no longer in a position to do so.
Afterwards, Keeve visited Sskeer to try to convince him to join her onboard the Ataraxia, so that he could help look over Avar, but Sskeer told her that it was her duty, and that he couldn't do it for her. In the Hangar Bay of Starlight Beacon, Avar Kriss, Nooranbakarakana, Monshi, and multiple other Jedi stood on the flight deck of the Ataraxia, awaiting for clearance to launch by Maru, which came after a short time of waiting. Just as the transmission came though, Keeve Trennis arrived onboard. Avar voiced her concern to Keeve that the younger Jedi may not be ready for another confrontation with the Nihil after what happened on Xaise, but Trennis told her that she wanted to see this through for Terec and Ceret, who still laid in hibernation aboard Starlight Beacon.
It was then that Sskeer appeared behind them, saying that as the Council were yet to decide his fate, he was still a Jedi, and so he would serve for himself and for the bond-twins. Avar was skeptical of Sskeer's condition, but after some persuading from Keeve, she gave in, and allowed Sskeer to accompany them to No-Space. Kriss ordered everyone to get to their stations, and Maru wished them well as they departed Starlight's hangar bay. Kriss counted down for Monshi to activate the Path Drive which would lead them directly into No-Space, and when she gave her mark, they disappeared from real-space and jumped into the unknown.
===Battle for No-Space===
When the Jedi attacked the Great Hall of the Nihil, Kriss gave into her rage, cutting off Dee's hand before preparing to strike down the Tempest Runner. Horrified, Keeve yelled for her to stop.The High Republic (2021) 13
===After the Fall===
Following the destruction of Starlight Beacon, Kriss, along with Mann, watched a hologram of the Jedi High Council speaking before other Jedi as they implemented the Guardian Protocols, which recalled all Jedi back to the Coruscant Temple. Mann believed to be a bad time as he and Kriss were in the middle of relief effort and Kriss informed him that if the Council was doing this, then the situation must be more dire than she thought. 
Three months later, Kriss, along with Engle were placed on a missing in action list, though Mann believed them to be inside the Nihil's Occlusion Zone. Indeed, Kriss continued her work as a Jedi in Nihil space, attempting to provide food to hungry citizens who were likewise trapped behind the Nihil's Stormwall and suffered from the marauders' neglect and cruelty.The High Republic: The Eye of Darkness
===Legacy===
Kriss was recorded in an interactive hologram that was stored within a Jedi holocron. In the holocron, Kriss greeted future viewers of the message, offering to guide them. During his attempt to restore the Jedi Order, the Jedi Master Luke Skywalker recovered the holocron. At the Jedi Temple of Luke Skywalker, Hennix, one of Skywalker's students, opened the holocron, viewing the holographic message left by Kriss.
==Personality and traits==
===Jedi on the frontier===
Kriss had shoulder-length blonde hair, blue eyes, light skin, and had a height of 1.73 meters (5 feet, 8 inches). Avar Kriss was a noble example of a Jedi, and an inspiration for those who worked with her, always trying to see the good in both people and situations. She was compassionate rather than dogmatic, and was ready to sacrifice herself above others if necessary. She did not wish for a place on the Jedi Council, intending to follow a different path. Life on the frontier of the galaxy and the challenges that it brought invigorated Kriss.
During the rescue mission in the Hetzal system, Kriss was disturbed by the urgency of Te'Ami's message regarding the beings trapped within the debris, but quickly calmed her emotions and regained focus. Though the effort had been complicated, Kriss saw the lives of those in the debris as important as any other. She refused to accept the idea of abandoning the beings, of destroying the pods in order to save the greater number of people, without first attempting to save them, and felt it would be achieved by believing it was possible to do so. Kriss felt that it was right to offer all Jedi permission to flee Hetzal's possible explosion and also made sure to not have her commlink able to receive orders, just in case a council member tried to order a retreat. She also felt that excessive consumption of liquor was unwise. Despite her wish to follow a different path than joining the Jedi Council, she was taken by surprise when Grand Master Veter offered her control of the Starlight Beacon. As the conflict with the Nihil began to drag on, Kriss began to put pressure on herself to bring about its end, even being willing to ignore the needs of those around her if it meant securing a victory over the marauders, and give into her anger.
===Relationships===
Kriss possessed a unique connection with Stellan Gios and Elzar Mann from their days training at the Jedi Temple together. She was particularly close with Mann and she regarded him as her closest friend. She understood him even as other Jedi saw his tactics and mentality as outlandish or impulsive. They were able to communicate nonverbally with ease, sending impulses through the Force to relay their thoughts to each other. Thanks to their close friendship, they were able to disagree in opinions without fear of it hurting their friendship. When Kriss was unable to hear Sskeer within the Force, she believed he was holding something back.
====Elzar Mann====
Avar Kriss was particularly close with Elzar Mann, and she regarded him as her closest friend. Although she never understood his reasoning of "tinkering" with the Force, she never questioned him on it, allowing their relationship to grow strong. Although several other Jedi saw his tactics and mentality as outlandish or impulsive, Kriss enjoyed his company and found him to be funny. Kriss and Mann were able to communicate nonverbally with ease, sending impulses through the Force to relay their thoughts to each other. Thanks to their close friendship, they were able to disagree in opinions without fear of it hurting their friendship.
During their time as Padawans, Kriss and Mann entered a romantic relationship, forming a unique and intimate bond with one another, which Stellan Gios would later admit that he had been jealous of. This relationship lasted until the two made a mutual agreement to keep things platonic upon their entrance into Jedi Knighthood. They remained close friends, even up to the time of the Great Disaster and on, with Kriss believing they worked well together.The High Republic: The Fallen Star
Despite their agreement to keep things professional between them, however, both Kriss and Mann still harbored romantic feelings for each other decades after ending their romance. This quickly became a source of conflict between the pair. Following the events of the Great Disaster, Elzar, after having a deeply disturbing and traumatic vision from the Force, had a few drinks too many and got too eager while dancing with Avar at Starlight's dedication reception, causing her to push him away from her. The two had a heated argument, with Avar expressing that they were no longer Padawans and therefore could no longer act in such a way. For long after that, Kriss and Mann's relationship grew colder, much to the latter's distress.
Elzar and Avar spent much of the following time separated on two different fronts in their conflict with the Nihil. Avar assumed her duty as marshal of Starlight, and Elzar was made marshal of the Jedi outpost on Valo. Elzar deeply missed Avar and their friendship, often slipping into daydreams and memories with her, most notably when forming a force bond with Ty Yorrick during the Nihil attack on Valo. Avar herself began missing Elzar, too, especially during her pursuit of Nihil Tempest Runner Lourna Dee, when she stood aboard the Ataraxia wishing Mann was at her side.
Kriss and Mann finally united following the disastrous fall of Starlight Beacon on the surface of Eiram. Upon seeing Mann emerge after crash landing in his escape pod, Avar dashed forward to meet him in a long-awaited, tearful reunion where she expressed her previous fear that he had not survived the crash. Later that day, between aiding the relief efforts from survivors of Starlight’s collapse, Kriss and Mann met once more to watch the stars and lament Stellan's demise, with Kriss finding comfort in the fact that their constellation would always remain and Gios would always be with them in the Force. 
==Powers and abilities==
As a Force-sensitive Jedi who had the rank of Master, Kriss had a strong ability to wield the Force. She viewed the Force as music, hearing the song of life and death and able to sing to it in return. Kriss possessed the rare ability to detect the natural bonds between other Force-users and strengthen the connections through a network, which she called the Song of the Force, similarly to a communications network. While the skill was rare among the Jedi, it was inexact and best used to transmit locations and sensations, though words or images occasionally came through unbidden. The Song of the Force was utilized during the Great Hyperspace Disaster, where she guided a hundred Jedi to blast the debris and fly in formation, and also work in better mental connection. Kriss permitted other Jedi to shape the meld as needed during the mission and sometimes Jedi (including Kriss herself) could sense the fear of others through another Jedi in the network. For Kriss's own part, she was able to pick out exactly where all the Jedi she was guiding were and what they were doing and feel the deaths around her. Even some Jedi outside of the normal bonds of the network were sometimes detectable to her and her will could reach out beyond a star system. Once she felt the Wookiee Padawan Agaburry sensing the fear of some of the survivors of the Legacy Run via her Force song, she was able to use the united power and perception of her song to pick out about ten of these packets of survivors. She, with the vast group of Jedi working with her, was able to in a joint effort telekinetically move a hazardous object somewhat away from a star, though unleashing the amount of light side power needed killed some of the Jedi working to protect the Republic. Kriss could also use the Force with precision: in order to aid her focus, Kriss could fold her hair into a complex knot known as a mandala with her telekinesis. She also could cause large rainfalls with the Force, summoning clouds to her bidding.
She could also use the Force to float, as she demonstrated aboard the Third Horizon upon arriving in the Hetzal system. Kriss was additionally skilled in the usage of her lightsaber, which had a longer hilt that she typically wielded in a two-handed fashion. The Jedi Master was able to sense that something was off about the Legacy Run disaster and that the situation was not exactly natural (in fact the Nihil were responsible).
Kriss was able to speak Huttese. The Jedi also was thoughtful enough to combine her powers with technological updates from a ship's systems, in order to get a more wholistic understanding when she used her Force network. 
==Equipment==
Kriss wielded a green-bladed lightsaber, composed of a cylinder of silver-white electrum. The lightsaber featured a crossguard at one end and a spiraling incised line of seastone along its length that served as both an ornament and a grip. Besides its destructive and symbolic uses, Kriss sometimes found it a useful tool for focus. She possessed a set of ceremonial, ornamental garments that included a simple white tunic, ornamented in gold, underneath a long white cape that was secured by a golden buckle in the shape of the symbol of the Jedi Order. The buckle could be pressed to release the cape in situations where it would serve as a distraction. She wore a gold circlet on her forehead, as well as brown boots. Kriss also utilized a separate set of mission attire, which included protective gear, a lightsaber holster, and wrist guards that featured a removable comlink.
==Behind the scenes==
Avar Kriss was created for the 2021 Star Wars: The High Republic multimedia project, set to feature in the novel The High Republic: Light of the Jedi, written by Charles Soule. The character was first depicted, albeit unidentified, through a holocron in a flashback within The Rise of Kylo Ren 3, a comic written by Soule, illustrated by Will Sliney, and published by Marvel Comics on February 12, 2020. After the reveal of Star Wars: The High Republic, Soule confirmed that the character seen on the cover of Light of the Jedi had featured in the comic, providing Kriss's name, which was used in a StarWars.com article published on April 2, 2020 that detailed several Jedi characters of the High Republic project. In the 2021 audio drama The High Republic: Tempest Runner, Kriss was played by Saskia Maarleveld.The High Republic: Tempest Runner
Kriss was created to exemplify the Jedi at their peak during the time of the High Republic and was an instance of the project's opportunity to explore how the Jedi viewed the Force in a different era. Soule felt that Kriss's ability to hear other Jedi through the song of the Force was a good way to bring numerous character viewpoints together in one place. As a musician, Soule enjoyed being able to write about the Force in a way that was personally meaningful through developing Kriss. Concept art of Avar Kriss in both temple and mission attire was created by Diogo Saito.
==Appearances==
==Sources==
==Notes and references==
==External links==
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Category:Females
Category:Humans
Category:Individuals with she/her pronouns
Category:Jedi Masters during the High Republic Era
Category:Marshals
Category:Starlight Beacon residents