Vegath Tist

Vegath Tist was a salt-addicted male Arcona and an outcast from his family. A speculator, Tist spent much of his life traveling the galaxy dabbling in get-rich schemes and questionable endeavors in an effort to make his fortune and keep himself supplied with salt. Trading on his skills as a miner, he eventually made his way to Kal'Shebbol, the capital of the Kathol sector in the Outer Rim Territories. Shortly after the liberation of the planet by New Republic forces in 8 ABY, he signed onto the crew of the CR90 corvette FarStar as a mineralogist. The ship was on a mission to track down the former ruler of Kal'Shebbol, Imperial warlord Moff Kentor Sarne, and neutralize the threat he still posed to the region. Tist served on the ship, and participated in the Battle of Kathol, helping to liberate the planet from its ruler, the bio-engineered insectoid known as the DarkStryder, and defeat Moff Sarne and his forces. Tist stayed on the planet following the conflict, hoping to learn a Ta-Ree ability&mdash;a manifestation of the Force practiced by the native inhabitants&mdash;to cure him of his salt addiction.

Early life
Vegath Tist, a male Arcona, was addicted to salt, a common condiment that acted as a powerful hallucinogen to members of his species. He required a daily consumption of at least twenty-five grams, or he started to suffer from the early stages of withdrawal. At some point, he was cast out and shunned by his own family for an unspecified deed, although his intense addiction may have been the cause. Tist began to travel the galaxy, seeking his fortune by getting involved in various get-rich-quick schemes and investing what money he made into scams that always failed. He claimed to be a geologist by profession, and while he did possess some mining skills, he was hardly the expert he claimed to be.

Eventually, Tist ended up in the Mestra system, in the Minos Cluster of the Outer Rim Territories, which had one of the largest asteroid belts in the galaxy and was rich in durelium ore. He was forced to mine the asteroids as an indentured servant, but eventually managed to flee the system with whatever he could steal. Making the short journey from the Minos Cluster to the Kathol sector, Tist ended up on the capital planet, Kal'Shebbol, where he fell in with a local crime boss. His time as a miner and geologist had given him extensive experience with explosives, and he traded his knowledge and skills for salt to feed his addiction.

Serving aboard the FarStar
The New Republic liberated Kal'Shebbol in 8 ABY, driving the Imperial warlord Moff Kentor Sarne from the planet. However, he had escaped the planet with the bulk of his fleet, and the New Republic organized a mission to track him down. Forced to utilize a heavily modified CR90 corvette named the FarStar that had previously served in Sarne's fleet, the New Republic could not spare much manpower to crew the vessel, so an open call was put out to the civilian population of Kal'Shebbol to assist them. Seeing an opportunity to get out from under the influence of the crime boss, and the possibility of making some money, Tist signed on to the mission. He claimed to be a mineralogist to improve his chances of being selected for the mission.

Tist served on the FarStar during its mission through the wilderness of the Kathol sector, assisting the expedition in any way he could. Months after launching from Kal'Shebbol, the FarStar tracked Sarne to the Kathol system, where the Moff had gathered the bulk of his forces. Sarne had allied himself with the DarkStryder, a bio-engineered insectoid entity that ruled the system's main planet, Kathol, in a mutually beneficial pact. The DarkStryder wanted hyperspace technology so that it could leave Kathol, while Sarne wanted the exotic technology that the DarkStryder produced to augment his military forces and wage war against his enemies. To land on the planet Kathol undetected and investigate both Sarne's presence on the surface and the DarkStryder itself, Captain Kaiya Adrimetrum decided to simulate a meteor shower by redirecting some of the system's asteroids, then using them as cover for the FarStar descent. Tist was part of the team, along with the Guudrian pyromaniac Boom, that primed several asteroids with explosives to nudge them out of their orbits and toward the planet, using his knowledge of demolitions and mining techniques. The tactic was successful, and the corvette made planetfall undetected.

A member of one of the initial landing and reconnaissance parties sent out by Captain Adrimetrum, Tist met with several of the indigenous species. The recon teams learned that many of the species on Kathol were the result of genetic engineering experiments by the DarkStryder, who had created each species on Kathol to serve it in some way, and each was designed to fill a certain role. Because of Tist's Arconan physiology, several of the tribes believed that he was a new and superior product of the DarkStryder's genetic engineering programs, and regarded him with awe. After Captain Adrimetrum succeeded in uniting several of the indigenous species into a coalition to oppose Sarne and the tyrannical DarkStryder, Tist participated in the subsequent Battle of Kathol. Despite the destruction of the FarStar, the New Republic force liberated the planet from the control of the DarkStryder and ended the threat of Moff Sarne.

Following the battle, Tist remained on Kathol as the honored guest of one of the native Yapi tribes, a genetically bred warrior race. Having learned of Ta-Ree magic, which was a manifestation of the Force unique to the planet, Tist hoped to learn an ability that would cure him of his addiction to salt.

Personality and traits
Vegath Tist was addicted to salt, a trait common among the Arcona, and obtaining more of the substance dictated the majority of his actions. Due to his addiction, his eyes had turned gold, which showed his problem to those around him. He carried his stash in a pouch around his neck, and constantly fiddled with it. He could easily be taken advantage of if promised more salt; the crime boss he worked for on Kal'Shebbol gained Tist's knowledge of explosives in exchange for the supply of a common condiment. When he left Kal'Shebbol on board the FarStar, Tist had one kilogram of salt in his pouch, enough for forty days at his minimum level of consumption, although he was confident of resupplying his stash during the mission. Despite this, Tist knew that his situation was no good for him, and finally sought a way to break his dependency on it, even if it was to put his faith in Ta-Ree teachings.

Tist was also unafraid to bend the truth slightly, exaggerating his own skills and talents to make himself seem more experienced that he really was. This allowed him to take positions and take advantage of opportunities that he may not have normally had access to. Tist was always looking for the quick payoff, or a way to earn credits quickly, and often put his faith in suspect endeavors.

Behind the scenes
Vegath Tist was created for The DarkStryder Campaign, a Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game supplement, as a member of the FarStar support crew. He was not featured much in the following supplements&mdash;The Kathol Outback and the Kathol Rift&mdash;but gained several mentions in the final sourcebook of the series, Endgame. Although players were free to develop Tist as they wished during the campaign, both The DarkStryder Campaign and The Kathol Rift specifically stated that he was to be kept alive during the events of the campaign since he would be developed further in Endgame. In the Gamesmaster Crew Notes section of Endgame, Vegath Tist's entry states that a "Suggested Development" for the character would be to remain on Kathol and try to cure his addiction to salt by studying the Ta-Ree teachings. This article assumes that Tist remained on the planet as suggested in the sourcebook. Tist's name was later mentioned in the 2003 sourcebook Ultimate Alien Anthology, as an example Arcona name.