Kirlocca

Kirlocca was a renowned Wookiee male Jedi Master who served the Jedi Order as an instructor of lightsaber technique during the last decades of the Galactic Republic. Raised on the planet Kashyyyk, during his youth Kirlocca was enrolled as a Jedi and trained at the Almas Academy on the planet Almas in the Cularin system. He eventually became a teacher at the Academy, training countless students.
Around 31 BBY, Kirlocca and the Almas Jedi faced a series of challenges as a result of the rising power of the dark side of the Force in the Cularin system brought about by the emegence of the Believers, a powerful Sith cult. While Kirlocca was leading a Jedi camping trip into the desolate Almas Wasteland, several Jedi accompany the expedition fell to the dark side. They turned on the Wookiee and the rest of their party, and Kirlocca barely escaped with his life. Kirlocca later recovered the Pulas, an ancient Sith artifact from a Sith fortress on Almas, and he assisted with an effort to transport the relic to the Jedi Temple on the planet Coruscant, to keep it out of the hands of the Believers. Roughly ten years later, during the Clone Wars, Kirlocca was killed while confronting the Dark Jedi Raik Muun aboard the liner Luxury. Kirlocca's passing was mourned by many across the Cularin system and a series of festivities were held to celebrate his life.
==Biography==
===Early life===
Kirlocca was a Force-sensitive Wookiee male from the planet Kashyyyk who lived during the waning years of the Galactic Republic. From an early age, Kirlocca underwent combat training in order to defend his homeworld, and as child he shattered his first ryyk blade—the traditional weapon of his people—while saving the life of a playmate. In about 56 BBY,The Living Force Campaign Guide states Kirlocca arrived at the Academy shortly before the disappearance of Nerra Ziveri, an event that is dated to 24 years before the Invasion of Naboo. As The New Essential Chronology places the Invasion of Naboo in 32 BBY, Kirlocca's arrival at the Academy can therefore be dated to circa 56 BBY. while at an age at which he was still considered young by Wookiee standards, Kirlocca ventured to the Almas Academy, a Jedi training institution situated on the planet Almas in the Cularin system, to enlist into the Jedi Order. Though he was older than most prospective Jedi trainees were on joining the Order, the Academy's Twi'lek headmaster Nerra Ziveri recognized that Kirlocca was strong in the Force and accepted him into the Academy.
Kirlocca specialized within the order as a Jedi Guardian, a combat-oriented Jedi specialism, and over the following years he went on to become a skilled adept in the art of lightsaber technique. He took on several Jedi Padawans as his students, and eventually attained the rank of Jedi Master and was appointed as the Almas Academy's Master of Lightsabers. In this role, Kirlocca was responsible for educating students at the Academy in the usage of lightsabers. He also helped to teach students to perform basic Force exercises and oversaw some areas of the Jedi Trials, changes that students underwent at the conclusion of their training a pre-requisites to achieving Knighthood.
During his tenure at the Academy, Kirlocca instructed countless young Jedi and he became good friend's with the Academy's headmaster, Lanius Qel-Bertuk. Kirlocca taught lightsaber technique to the Jedi student A.J., who became one of only a limited number students whom he trained in the art of dual lightsaber combat. Kirlocca also took a special interest in the training of the Zabrak student Nek Lawsirk and believed that had he still been taking on personal trainees of his own rather than instructing students as part of the Almas Academy's training program, he would have accepted Lawsirk as his Padawan. After the Jedi student Raik Muun developed a romantic interest in Lawsirk and attempted to ignite a relationship with him, counter to doctrines of the Jedi Order, Kirlocca judged that Muun was unsuited to the rigors of Jedi life and dismissed her from the Academy. Muun blamed Kirlocca for her expulsion and departed the Cularin system, vowing to have revenge against the Almas Jedi.
===Darkness on Almas===
Around 31 BBY,The Living Force Campaign Guide states that the Living Force campaign commences one year after the Invasion of Naboo, an event that is dated to 32 BBY by The New Essential Chronology. As such, the events of Tilnes Rising can therefore be dated to circa 31 BBY. the Thaereian military and the Metatheran Cartel, two major power groups in the Cularin system, engaged in unauthorized construction in the tunnels beneath the surface of the moon Tilnes, which triggered a series of groundquakes on the world. Sensing a disturbance in the Force, Kirlocca and Lanius Qel-Bertuk rallied together a relief team and ventured to Tilnes to assist with rescuing inhabitants of the moon who had been affected by the quakes. As the two Jedi Masters traversed the rocky surface of Tilnes, they encountered the rogue Thaereian officer Osten Dal'Nay and the Heroes of Cularin, a band of freelance agents who had been investigating the source of the quakes, just as they emerged from the mouth of a cave under fire from Thaereian pursuers. Kirlocca aided the freelancers in combating the Thaerians and helped Dal'Nay to escape his attackers. Qel-Bertuk placed Dal'Nay under the protection of the Jedi and the renegade officer went on to found the Cularin Militia, a loyalist military force that opposed the Thaereian military's presence in the Cularin system.
Kirlocca later led a group of several Jedi Masters, Knights and Padawans on a camping trip into the Almas Wasteland, an inhospitable desert region of the moon, to teach them in advanced survival training. As the Jedi settled in for a night in the desert, the Ithorian Knight Syr Tal-Soten arrived at their camp from a patrol bearing unexplained wounds and Kirlocca had the other Jedi tend to his injuries. Mid-treatment, Tal-Soten became overcame by a dark side presence emanating from a Sith fortress situated at the center of the Wasteland, which had recently been occupied by the Believers Sith cult. The Ithorian denounced Kirlocca and claimed to have had a vision that Kirlocca would betray the Almas Academy and the Jedi Order, then attacked the Wookiee Jedi Master. Several other Jedi in the group were similarly overcame by the fortress' dark aura and turned on Kirlocca as well, while only the Sullustan Master Synred Vols and the Human Padawan Misha Quor-Din moved to defend him. Vols sacrificed himself and held the fallen Jedi attackers at bay while Kirlocca and the other unafflicted Jedi fled over the edge of a cliff. Kirlocca and his party then took flight across the desert, with their attackers giving chase
Following an attack on the museum Remembrance Hall by the Believers, Lanius Qel-Bertuk recalled all Jedi in the Cularin system to the Almas Academy. When Kirlocca and his expedition did not respond, Qel-Bertuk became concerned for their well-being and sent out several search parties to look for them. The fallen Jedi eventually caught up with Kirlocca and the Wookiee sent Padawan Quor-Din to hide while he made a final stand against their attackers in a clearing at the base of a cliff. Standing among the bodies of several fallen comrades, Kirlocca wielded two lightsabers in frantic combat against Tal-Soten and the Jedi Trevon Rey and Seeth'tal. The Wookiee fought defensively and attempted to avoid harming his former colleagues while staying alive. The Heroes of Cularin, who had joined in Qel-Bertuk's search effort, found Kirlocca's roar and came to his aid. With help from the agents, the fallen Jedi were eventually subdued. Weary from his ordeal, Kirlocca collapsed from exhaustion and extracted by the Jedi back to the Almas Academy to rest.
In the aftermath of the affliction of Kirlocca's camping class, the Jedi drove the Believers from the Sith fortress and placed the citadel under guard. The Wookiee led a team of Jedi researchers on an expedition into the depths of the fortress and there they uncovered the Pulas, a powerful Sith artifact that had not been seen since the time of the Ruusan campaign during the New Sith Wars.The New Essential Chronology On their return journey to the Almas Academy, the Jedi were attacked by Believers and successfully fended off the cultists, preventing them from stealing the artifact. During the first night that the Pulas was held in the Academy, the Believers staged a second unsuccessful attempt to seize the relic, which prompted Lanius Qel-Bertuk to make arrangements for the artifact to be transported to the Jedi Temple on the planet Coruscant, for safekeeping. To prevent the theft of the relic en-route to Coruscant, the Jedi hired a fleet of 250 starships and placed a Mandalorian iron on each vessel, with one box containing the Pulas and the others acting as decoys. Kirlocca assisted with overseeing the loading of the boxes and aided by the droid administrator E1-6RA, he handed over the boxes to starship crews from a repulsorsled on the outskirts of the city Forard, near to the Academy, where the starships had been docked. When the Heroes of Cularin—who were also assisting in the transportation effort—arrived at their ship to take-off from the Academy, Kirlocca greeted them and handed them their allocate Mandalorian iron box, then left to assign out the rest of the boxes. The undertaking was ultimately a success and the Pulas was safely hauled to the Jedi Temple.
Not long after the shipping of the Pulas off of Almas, Lanius Qel-Bertuk agreed to a request from a reporter to be interviewed regarding the recent emergence of the Believers. Kirlocca offered to meet with the reporter as well and the Jedi hostd an audience with the reporter in Qel-Bertuk's personal chambers at the Almas Academy. During the meeting, with a translator droid present to speak to the journalist on his behalf, Kirlocca discussed the level of threat posed the inhabitants of the Cularin system by the Believers and highlighted the recent success of the mission to Coruscant.
===Confronting the t'salak===
After the seizure of the ancient Sith artifact the Darkstaff by the criminal Len Markus, the temporal effects of the staff caused the Cularin system to disappear from the galaxy for ten years. The system reappeared circa 21 BBY amid the tumultuous Clone Wars, a conflict between the Galactic Republic and the breakaway Confederacy of Independent Systems, and numerous Jedi from Almas were called up to fight in the Republic's Grand Army. Lanius Qel-Bertuk and Kirlocca were left as the only resident Jedi Masters at the Almas Academy to oversee the school's training program, with a reduced staff of Jedi Knights remaining behind to assist them. The Jedi Master Devan For'deschel was also assigned by the Jedi High Council on Coruscant to temporarily assist Kirlocca and Qel-Bertuk with running the Academy during the time of transition.
Concerned by the recent developments in the Cularin system, Kirlocca spent much time in mediation to reflect on the state of affairs. Qel-Bertuk sensed a disturbance in the Force within the system, which he and Kirlocca discussed on several occasions. Kirlocca was uncertain how the disturbance would be resolved; he continued to meditate in search of a greater understanding of what could have caused it and wrote in his personal logs about his concerns. Kirlocca sensed pain emanating from the settlements of the Tarasin people on Cularin, a sentient species native to the world and believed that the dark side of the Force was going in strength among the students of the Almas Academy. He was also concerned by rumors that a fallen Jedi had recently joined the ranks of the Believers.
In this troubled time, the t'salak, a Force-sensitive creature of unknown origin, was uncovered on Cularin and captured by the Tarasin of the Jaraana irstat. The Almas Jedi sought to study the creature in order to seek a way to destroy or permanently contain the creature. Mother Morad'Ka, the matriarch of the Jaraana, agreed to let the Jedi take the t'salak and Kirlocca dispatched his former student, Nek Lawsirk to collect the creature. Unbeknownst to Kirlocca, Raik Muun, now a Dark Jedi, had returned to the Cularin system and she captured Lawsirk and collected the t'salak herself. Muun disguised herself as Lawsirk and over the next few weeks staged several attacked and extortion attempts against inhabitants of Cularin in an attempt to discredit the Jedi Order.
Kirlocca received word of the attacks and was sent a recording by the Office of Peace and Security, a local security agency, of Muun intimidating the inhabitants of a cantina while in disguise as Lawsirk. Kirlocca was concerned by Lawsirk's supposed actions and suspected that the t'salak was behind the Jedi Knight's fall to madness. The Wookiee sent a protocol droid to summon the Heroes of Cularin to a Jedi enclave on Cularin and, speaking via a holoprojector he tasked the freelance agents with finding Lawsirk and the t'salak. The Heroes of Cularin were unable to recover the creature but learned that Muun had been impersonating Lawsirk and freed a team of biologists that she had imprisioned. The agents returned to the Jedi enclave and provided Kirlocca a report on the outcome of their mission. Kirlocca was deeply concerned by the revelation of Muun's return and request to call on the agents' services again once the Jedi had tracked her down.
A short time later, the pacific organization Sentient Beings Opposing Violence convened a conference in the Cularin system to discuss traditions of the Jedi Order that the SBOV regarded as controversial, such as Jedi recruitment policies. The meeting was held about the liner Luxury in orbit of Cularin's molten moon Rennokk and Kirlocca and a Jedi delegation attended the conference to represent the Order in the talks. Raik Muun plotted to disrupt the event and schemed to use the powers of the t'salaks to enrage the Jedi attending the conference into attacking Sentient Beings Opposing Violence, then used a recording of the attack to discredit the Jedi Order. Muun released several t'salaks aboard the Luxury and Kirlocca and two Jedi Consular Padawans stepped in to defend the over delegates from the creatures. The t'salaks used their Force abilities to enrage the SBOV delegates into turning on Jedi. Kirlocca and the Padawans struggled to keep the t'salaks and their maddened victims at bay and fought a long and furious battle against the creatures.
Kirlocca suffered numerous wounds and drew heavily on the Force to sustain himself but was wearied by the prolonged fight. Having lost contact with the Luxury, Lanius Qel-Bertuk dispatched the Heroes of the Cularin to the vessel. Just as the agents arrived on the ship, one of the Padawans was driven into an enraged state by the t'salaks and stabbed Kirlocca through the chest, killing him. Soon after, the Heroes of Cularin defeated the t'salaks and thwarted Muun's plans to frame the Jedi.
===Legacy===
Kirlocca had been loved and respected by many of the Cularin system's inhabitants and people across the system were saddened by his passing about the Luxury. Others in Cularin's criminal underworld celebrated Kirlocca's death, as the loss of such a powerful Jedi Master weakened the influence that the Jedi held in the Cularin system. Remembrance ceremonies were held across the system to commemorate the Wookiee Jedi, and several important dignitaries in the system held a funeral to mark his passing, which was intended a celebration of his life. As part of the event, several non-lethal combat competitions were staged to honor Kirlocca's excellence in life as a combat instructor, which it was hoped by Barnab Chistor, governor of the city Gadrin on Cularin, would be held annually thereafter to honor Kirlocca.
During Kirlocca's funeral, there was some disagreement among those in attendance regarding whether the celebrations held to mark his life reflected the Wookiee's wishes. Some among the Almas Jedi believed that Kirlocca would not have wanted any festivities to memorialize his life, while others considered that he would have wanted there to merriment to mark his passing to provide some brief respite to the inhabitants of the Cularin system amid the darkness of the Clone Wars that were raging across the galaxy.
Kirlocca's death left the Almas Academy in need of a new lightsaber master to replace him. The Almas Jedi attempted to recruit the Twi'lek Jedi Master Vhiin Thorla to take up the position, but Thorla turned down the role. Instead, the Jedi High Council appointed Devan For'deschel as the Academy's new Mistress of Lightsabers until a suitable permanent replacement for Kirlocca could be found.
==Powers and abilities==
Kirlocca was a master of Form I and was a fierce warrior, using his Wookiee heritage to his advantage. Despite this he was careful not to give in to his species' fighting rage. He also possessed a strong connection to the Force.
==Appearances==
==Sources==
*Living Force Campaign Guide 
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*The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
==Notes and references==
Category:Almas residents
Category:Jedi Battlemasters
Category:Jedi Guardians
Category:Jedi instructors
Category:Kashyyyk residents
Category:Males
Category:Post-Ruusan Jedi Masters
Category:Wookiees