Käärme Äslajästä

Template:Improving

**Käärme Äslajästä** (/ˈkɑːrˌmeɪ æsˈlɑːˌjæs.tæ/; *KAR-may as-LAH-yas-ta*)—a Bunduki language *nom de guerre* translated into Galactic Basic as the "**Serpent from Äslajä**" and sometimes Basicized as **Kaarme Aslajasta**—was a Force-sensitive Human male from Äslajä on Bunduki active during the last decades of the Great Peace of the Republic.

A Steel Hand of Palawa and Force Warrior, Äslajästä notably achieved mastery of several schools of unarmed combat, including Teräs Käsi, Broken Gate, and the Echani martial art. Living up to his chosen alias, he also showed particular promise in the usage of Force powers related to the clandestine subtleties of espionage and assassination and demonstrated proficiency in Force stealth, Force mask, and Force conceal.

## **Biography**

### **Early life**

A younger scion of one of Bunduki's noble houses, the Human male who eventually adopted the Bunduki language *nom de guerre* "Käärme Äslajästä" was surrendered as an infant to the monastic Followers of Palawa in residence on the planet upon discovery of his latent Force sensitivity. Raised as one of the Followers' Steel Hand warriors specializing in the Teräs Käsi martial art, Äslajästä ascended to full membership in the group upon his formal investment as a Steel Hand around the age of twenty-two standard years.

### **Follower of Palawa**

Despite his prodigious martial abilities, he achieved greater renown among the Followers for inadvertently discovering a way of artificially forestalling aging-mediated decay. Similar to the dark transfer technique developed by Cade Skywalker centuries later, Äslajästä's technique made use the advanced Palawa hibernation trance in conjunction with Force healing to stimulate the regeneration of chromosome telomeres, counteracting the effects of aging and memory loss in the Human body. Though regeneration on such a level required concerted mental discipline and years of time in unbroken meditation, the power of the composite Force ability was such that it was fully capable of reversing aging in the practitioner.

### **Travels abroad**

Äslajästä eventually departed his native Bunduki to pursue advanced instruction in other unarmed combat disciplines among varied Force traditions. His subsequent perambulations across the galaxy led him to study various martial arts among the Force Warriors and Jal Shey. Despite the longstanding animosity between the Followers of Palawa and Jedi Order stretching back to the destruction of Palawa, Äslajästä eventually humbled himself and sought instruction from the Order as well. Though too old to merit inclusion into its ranks, Äslajästä received some informal instruction from various Jedi during his time at the Jedi Temple, learning the Broken Gate martial art from Ilena Xan and other Jedi Masters in exchange for sharing his knowledge of the Palawa hibernation trance and Teräs Käsi.

## **Personality and traits**

### **Physical appearance**

Like others from his native homeworld of Bunduki, Käärme Äslajästä possessed fair skin, black hair, and a unique iris pigmentation uncommon among most Human ethno-linguistic groups in the galaxy. Like the ancient Steel Hand of Palawa Arden Lyn, Käärme's eyes were of a gold coloration. Inspired by his chosen alias, he bore a heavily stylized vine snake tattoo that coiled around his right forearm and employed several shades of red, green, and gold ink. A form of concrete poetry, the vine snake's body was composed of the text from the Bunduki language translation of the Ithorian poem *Life's Memories* by Soshu Londahl.

## **Equipment**

### **Armor**

As a Follower of Palawa trained as a Steel Hand, Käärme Äslajästä wore the traditional black Palawa tunic of his order. This close-fitting tunic, similar in style and form to the robes favored by members of the Jedi Order, was closely tailored to his form so as to not hamper his ability to engage in Teräs Käsi, the Palawa martial art requiring agility and a full range of motion. Following his perambulations across the galaxy, Äslajästä eventually commissioned a set of Palawa robes woven from Verpine fiber threads, steel cloth, and ArachSilk to offer increased protection against conventional energy discharge weapons of both the ranged and melee varieties. This robe was notable for its vine-silk accents around the cuffs and collar, the cost of which equaled the listing price of a small starship.

### **Weapons**

Though a master of varied martial arts and schools of unarmed combat, Äslajästä was not above the use of conventional ranged and melee weapons when required. Inspired by his encounter with the Ysanna during a trip to Ossus in search of Jedi artifacts, Äslajästä embraced the use of slugthrower weapons. The tactile nature of the ammunition used by such weapons enabled Äslajästä to control the bullets' trajectories through the Force in much the same way as he had seen the Ysanna do on Ossus. He was particularly fond of the Tof Soren Hunting Rifle and the Czerka Adjudicator pistol, among others of a similar design.

## **Behind the scenes**

This article assumes that the Bunduki language is a
The name "Käärme Äslajästä" is more or less grammatically correct Finnish for "Serpent out of/from Äslajä," given that the elative case ending "-stä" may be used to indicate place of origin as well as movement away from a location. Seeing as the character only adopted the *nom de guerre* upon departing Äslajä, both "Serpent originating from Äslajä" and "Serpent moving away from Äslajä" are correct translations of the pseudonym.

## **Notes and references**

1. ↑ Humans from Bunduki in Expanded Universe canon have consistently exhibited unique iris pigmentations, with *Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi* depicting Arden Lyn's eyes as gold and *The Clone Wars: The Way of the Warrior* portraying Jeter Snahl's as purple. This tacit precedent was followed for this article.
2. ↑ *Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi*
3. ↑ *The Clone Wars: The Way of the Warrior*
4. ↑ Template:Hnn
5. ↑ *The Essential Guide to Warfare*, p. 16
6. ↑ *Legacy 1: Broken, Part 1*
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Template:CSWECite
8. ↑ *Power of the Jedi Sourcebook*, p. 17
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 *Jedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force*
10. ↑ *Yoda: Dark Rendezvous*
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 *Shadows of the Empire Sourcebook*, p. 49
12. ↑ *Star Wars: The Old Republic*