Vesper Syl'tine

= Vesper Syl’tine (draft) =

Vesper Syl’tine is a 16-year-old Bothan male. He is 1.5 meters (4’11”) tall and 41 kg (90 lbs). His fur is orange with lighter bands – resembling that of a tabby cat. His snout is smaller than average – certainly not flat, but remarkable for the species. Although science does not support any association of these physical traits with mental capacity or personality, the combination of orange tabby coloration and flat face is traditionally associated with Bothans who are unusually easy to deceive and manipulate. Stereotypes being what they are, few Bothans (and even fewer people of other species) will openly admit to buying into them, but there are countless jokes (most meant in good fun, some mean-spirited).

History
Vesper was born to Tina Syl’tine and Matu Krew’das on the university planet of Rhinnal. As a child on a Core world, his Force sensitivity was identified before he could walk, but his mother objected to surrendering him to the Jedi so young. Calling upon her family political connections in the Senate and the Bothan Council, she was able to delay this separation until he was nearly five. Although he had received all the benefits of an early education his family’s wealth could buy, Vesper’s Force skills were woefully behind those of his peers at the Jedi Academy on Kamparas. It helped little that his attention tended to wander, nor that he was prone to audacious feats of dishonesty – most of them less successful than he would have liked. Some Jedi masters felt certain Vesper would never attain the mastery of a padawan, much less a Jedi, and while they did not convey this to him intentionally, the young Bothan picked up on the undercurrents and grew more unruly in consequence. He took to sneaking away from his classmates and instructors so often that few bothered searching for him during these disappearances, less because a Jedi could not easily track a youngling but because doing so wasted so much time that could be spent on students who were still in the classroom as to make it hardly worth the effort.

When Vesper was ten, Kamparas received a visit from Zernvik Akawoi – a Jedi Sentinel from Coruscant searching the academy’s archives as part of an investigation. During one of Vesper’s disappearing games, the boy picked a hiding place in the woods where it turned out that Zernvik had taken to practicing his Shien style lightsaber forms. These were sufficiently different from the styles Vesper had seen his instructors use that he watched them with interest. Zernvik took note of the youngling watching him but did not confront him, much less reprimand him. Vesper soon found himself on a transport bound for the planet of Coruscant. Although Zernvik had never regarded himself as a teacher, he had seen something of himself in the young Bothan and thought he would be happier and more successful in an urban environment. Vesper attended the usual classes for younglings at the Jedi temple, but Zernvik took him on as an unofficial padawan, letting the boy accompany him on stealth and intelligence-gathering missions on Coruscant. And by the time Vesper was 12, he had become Zernvik’s official padawan.

Despite his fondness for Vesper, Zernvik was not the most attentive instructor. Aside from their daily lightsaber practice, most of the new Force skills Vesper learned he picked up as he went during the pair’s periodic missions in Coruscant’s seedy underbelly. The Sentinel had caught the scent of a Sith plot at the very heart of the Galactic Republic and was engaged in the meticulous process of identifying dark side agents and working his way up the chain to the source of the disturbance.

Although the Jedi Council was aware of this hidden threat, they had kept it largely secret from the other Jedi (to say nothing of the public at large) for fear that it would betray the limits of their foresight. The Council did not hinder or openly dissuade Zernvik, but nor did they shield him from the criticism of other Jedi who had come to regard the Sentinel as something of a paranoid crackpot. This sentiment only intensified after the Battle of Geonosis, which sent Jedi far afield to fight the Separatists, while Zernvik was permitted to remain on Coruscant, ostensibly to prevent assassination and sabotage there. The Sentinel’s paranoia grew, although he shared less and less with Vesper as the Clone War dragged on – less because he distrusted the padawan than that he feared the knowledge could be forced out of his apprentice (bad enough that mere association already made the Bothan a potential target for abduction and interrogation).

Two years into the Clone Wars, when Vesper was 15, Zernvik disappeared. Spread thin as they were, the Jedi did not have the resources to spare on an extensive search. Vesper’s initial insistence that whatever Zernvik was investigation might be more important than the outcome of any battle in the Clone War was met with skepticism, at best. The Republic was at war, and many other Jedi had died in that war; Zernvik was just one more casualty in the fight against the Separatists. To all appearances, Vesper sank into grief and despair – dangerous emotions, according to Jedi philosophy, but no one had time to counsel a padawan in the middle of a war. He was assigned to assist in teaching basic lightsaber techniques to younglings at the Jedi Temple – hardly a full-time job. The few Jedi left on Coruscant were too busy (and generally too important) to take on a new padawan, either. This left Vesper with a lot of free time, which he largely spent by disappearing into Coruscant’s entertainment and university districts.

Vesper had some designs on picking up the trail where his master had left off, but although he knew some of Zernvik’s contacts, he lacked the Sentinel’s years of experience. Instead, he found himself making friends with other young adults, including Bela Rel’mei, who turned out to be one of his cousins (and the daughter of one of Bothawui’s senators). Through her, Vesper reconnected with members of his family he had not seen in a decade (and in some cases, had never met at all). Vesper was no fool. He knew from Zernvik that the Bothans had an extensive spy network. He suspected that they were using his cousin to recruit him to feed intelligence on the Jedi to Bothawui. But he also recognized that he could potentially use his family connections to continue his missing master’s mysterious investigation. So, he decided to play along – providing seemingly innocuous information to the Spynet in exchange for leads on the whereabouts (or fate) of Zernvik, as well as the trail he had been following before his disappearance.

After a year of spending much of his time pretending to carouse (and fine, actually carousing) with his friends, Vesper was still no closer to solving the mystery of Zernvik’s disappearance than he had been at the start. However, his investigation hadn’t been entirely fruitless. He knew that the Sith – long thought extinct – had returned and that one of them was somewhere on Coruscant. Moreover – and perhaps more disturbingly – the dark lord had a spy on the Jedi Council. This last made it almost unthinkable that he could go to the Jedi with this information. Anyone who believed him (and no guarantee that any of them would) might be the Sith agent.

As the story begins, Vesper is at a revel with a handful of his friends. He has spent the last week puzzling over whether there is anyone at the Jedi Temple he can trust is not a Sith agent but hasn’t come to any decision yet.

Friends and Family
The grandson of a member of the Bothan Council and the nephew of Bothawui’s Senator, Vesper has family connections to wealth and influence, although he has had little opportunity (and little cause) to call upon them. While most of these include a lot of detail about shady dealings and questionable connection, Vesper really knows nothing about them (other than Bela, whose motives he at least suspects).

Zernvik Akawoi: A Jedi Sentinel and Vesper’s master. His fate is left deliberately vague. He probably died, and finding out how and why could be an interesting mystery to solve. If he somehow survived, his sudden reappearance (and explanation for his absence) could also be interesting. The Ne’er-Do-Wells: Vesper keeps company with a few dozen people near his age. Most are the children of senators, diplomats, and other notable figures throughout the Republic. Collectively, they have little in common other than an excess of money, spare time, and powerful family connections. But they have some fun, forge peer bonds that will likely be valuable later, and don’t cause that much trouble.

Bela Rel’mei: One of the Ne’er-Do-Wells and Vesper’s cousin, who is of an age with him. Senator Polo Se’lab is her father. She is an active member of a Bothan Spynet on Coruscant and has ambitions of following in her mother’s footsteps running Spynet post. She has decided that recruiting spies inside the Jedi Temple would prove her skill to the Spynet.

Polo Se’lab: Vesper’s uncle by marriage and the Senator of Bothawui. Polo is a cautious politician unwilling to attract undue attention to himself, and he has abstained from most politically complicated votes – including the ones granting Chancellor Palpatine emergency powers to address the Separatists. He is particularly interested in keeping Bothawui neutral in any conflict and maintaining his (and his family’s) proximity to power to ensure his people’s (and especially his own) interests are protected.

Rhea Rel’mei: Vesper’s aunt (his father’s sister) and Polo Se’lab’s wife. Rhea works for the Bothan Independent Treasury at a post on the banking planet of Aragau. This is only partially a cover for her role running a Spynet post there. She is not the sole reason that the Bothan Independent Treasury has a reputation for corruption, but she’s far from a countervailing influence, either. She wants nothing but success for her daughter (Bela Rel’mei) and has set up the young woman very well on Coruscant.

Vina Syl’tine: Vesper’s maternal grandmother has sat on the Bothan Council for nearly as long as his mother can remember. In addition to her political position, Vina is the matriarch of her clan and has dozens of grandchildren and great grandchildren. Although she is interested in the successes and travails of her more far-flung offspring (particularly if these lend the Bothans more leverage, such as by running Spynet posts on Core worlds), she regards her primary duty is to those on Bothawui. Vina is willing to put in a good word for any member of her family when it costs her nothing, but she can’t be expected to compromise her own interests to protect all of them; her time and resources aren’t unlimited, after all.

Hatti Syl’tine: Vesper’s mother and professor of pharmacognosy at a university on Rhinnal. While she is a legitimate academic, she also uses her position as a front for a drug-smuggling operation. Most of the proceeds go to the Bothan Spynet where they fund bribes to informants and officials alike.

Barthimal Fil’vi: Vesper’s father works at a political think tank on Rhinnal that serves as a PR mouthpiece and speech-writing engine for several prominent Republic politicians, including Chancellor Palpatine. In fact, in his line of work Barthimal has acquired the nickname “Palpatine’s speechwriter,” for while he isn’t the only one working to ensure the Chancellor’s success in moving public sentiment, he is responsible for several notable speeches, including Palpatine’s humble acceptance of emergency powers at the start of the Clone Wars.

Jari Syl’tine: Vesper’s older sister is a junior clerk on a large merchant freighter. Although she has protective feelings toward the brother she barely got to know before the Jedi took him away from the family, Jari doesn’t have the resources to provide him much help – being neither wealthy nor influential. She serves the Spynet in a small way by reporting on the cargo, crew, and rare passengers that her ship carries, but it is hardly a glamorous form of espionage, especially given the captain’s insistence on running an entirely above-board operation without even a whiff of smuggling illegal or unsavory cargo.

Liona Rel’mei: Vesper’s cousin and Bela’s older sister, Liona works for a high-profile architectural and planetary terraforming firm based on Jerrilek. The firm recently received a request for proposal to design a palace on a suitable plot of land on Byss for Chancellor Palpatine. As she often serves as a logistical specialist for such projects, Liona currently divides her time between Jerrilek and Byss to ensure the smooth flow of human resources and necessary materials between the two planets. This is easily the firm’s most important and lucrative sales lead, and its officers will do everything in their power to ensure that they secure the contract to construct the Chancellor’s ostentatious palace.

Kamparas Jedi: Vesper hasn’t been on Kamparas in several years. Some of his classmates (including a few he regards as friends) are currently studying at the Jedi academy there for a semester, where they will focus on skills ranging from wilderness survival to data collection and storage. This seems like an obvious safe refuge, since the Jedi tell students that the academy’s location is a secret known only to themselves. Sadly, this isn’t at all true, and it will be one of the first places targeted by the Purge.