Odan-Urr/Legends

"I much prefer to read history, rather than make it."

- Odan-Urr

Odan-Urr was a Draethos Jedi Master who lived for over a thousand years between the Great Hyperspace War in 5,000 BBY and the Great Sith War in 4,000 BBY. Odan-Urr was a peaceful Jedi, who, from his earliest days as a Jedi Knight until just prior to his death, preferred studying ancient Jedi scrolls and documents to combat. A master of the powerful Jedi art of battle meditation, Odan-Urr was trained in the ways of the Force by Celegian Jedi Master Ooroo.

Odan-Urr played a massive part in the Great Hyperspace War, where Dark Lord of the Sith Naga Sadow attempted to invade the Galactic Republic with assaults on Coruscant and the Koros system, as well as other key Republic establishments. Along with his Master, Odan-Urr suffered several precognitive visions of the pending invasion, and helped to warn the Jedi Order of Sadow’s attack. Odan-Urr helped defeat the Sith on Kirrek, though his master’s life was lost in the battle. In the aftermath of the battle Odan-Urr recovered a Sith Holocron, the only one known to have existed at the time, which he kept with him at all times so that it did not fall into the wrong hands.

Odan-Urr became a Jedi Master, and for over one thousand years he was the head librarian of the Great Jedi Library on Ossus, which he founded himself; he also presided over the Jedi assembly for over six hundred years. It was among his beloved scrolls that he became one with the Force, after Sith Lord Exar Kun murdered him and stole his ancient Sith Holocron, despite the efforts of the ancient Master.

Apprentice


Some time before 5,000 BBY, Odan-Urr was born on the planet Draethos, and eventually joined the Jedi Order. He became the apprentice of the revered Celegian Jedi Master Ooroo, who required a cyanogen-filled life-support tank for survival on oxygen rich worlds. Ooroo was a Jedi Instructor at a Jedi Praxeum on a remote, mountainous planet, whose name was eventually lost to history. Unlike most other aspiring Jedi Knights taught by Ooroo, Odan-Urr did not want to make history, and was content to simply read about it. He spent almost all of his time in Ooroo’s great library on the training planet, studying a great many ancient scrolls and documents, and meditating on the Force. He had a particular interest in the history of the Sith, as well as some of the more obscure branches of the Force, including the Jedi power of battle meditation, the knowledge of which he would pass on to many students. Even after he completed his Jedi training and became a fully fledged Jedi Knight, Odan-Urr was still fascinated by legend and history, and remained with his master at the Jedi Praxeum. He did go on occasional offworld excursions, though always at the urging of his master, and always with great reluctantly. Ooroo let Odan-Urr study ancient documents of the Sith where most Masters would not, because he knew that Odan-Urr would never stray from the light.

Five thousand years before the Battle of Yavin, Odan-Urr was sent to the Koros system to help Empress Teta in her efforts to unite the seven planets of the star system. Odan-Urr was reluctant when his master told him of his task, but the wise Celegian replied that a Jedi has duties other than reading and studying. Ooroo chose Odan-Urr over the other Jedi at the Praxeum because he knew that Odan-Urr would help save lives and restore peace, even by his very presence. Odan-Urr then departed to meet with Memit Nadill, Teta’s green-skinned Jedi Advisor, in the city Cinnagar on Koros major.

Unification wars
Odan-Urr arrived on Koros and met with Memit Nadill outside his hangar. Odan-Urr warned Nadill that this was his first such assignment, and that he was more of a scholar than a warrior. Nadill responded that so far warriors had been unsuccessful against the pirates and rebels of Kirrek, and that a scholar may be more effective. Teta had managed to unite and bring peace to six of the seven planets of the system she ruled, but her attempts to defeat the rebels on Kirrek had been disastrous. They had managed to drive back all attempts to attack them, and had recently begun firing on any ship, be it civilian or military, that flew within range of their weapons. Nadill accompanied Odan-Urr into Teta’s military command center as the Empress begrudgingly announced that another full scale military assault would be the only way to gain control of Kirrek, though she feared the casualties would be astronomical for both sides. Odan-Urr then told Nadill and the Empress of battle meditation, an old Jedi art that he had learned about in his studies. The young Draethos told the others that the power would not only give Teta’s forces victory, but would also lower the death toll for the two armies. Battle meditation could drain the morale of enemies and boost the morale of allies, and skilled users could foresee an outcome that they desired. Memit Nadill agreed to use the power, and asked Odan-Urr to teach him as they travelled to Kirrek. Odan-Urr was slightly taken aback at the suddenness of it all, but he agreed to accompany Nadill to Kirrek and help the war effort with his battle meditation.

Odan-Urr taught Nadill the ancient art, which the Jedi Advisor quickly mastered. They arrived on Kirrek, and together they used their power, breaking the spirits of their enemies while boosting the morale of the Tetan forces. Eventually, Teta's men looked like they would prove victorious, eventually breaking the blockade set up by the Kirrek pirates. Although many lives were saved, the broken-spirited rebels became desperate, and attempted to take down as many of Teta's men as possible, even at their own expense. This was something Odan-Urr had feared, though the rebels were eventually defeated, and their leaders eventually reached an agreement with Teta. Odan-Urr had played a massive part in ensuring Teta was victorious, though he was greatly distressed by the death and destruction he had witnessed. He was particularly upset at the death of two humans piloting a supply ship that had been caught in the crossfire and had crashed. Memit Nadill reassured the young Jedi Knight that it could have been a bloodbath but for Odan-Urr's battle meditation, and that he should never forget that.

Although Odan-Urr wished to return to his studies in the tranquil Jedi Praxeum, Ooroo was impressed with how well his student had performed, and assigned Odan-Urr to help Teta and Nadill restore order to the newly unified worlds. Odan-Urr then accompanied Teta at many gatherings and parades to show the people of Koros that the Jedi Order supported their Empress. Odan-Urr, however, eventually grew tired of the attention and crowds. After one such procession, Odan-Urr and Memit Nadill rescued two siblings, named Jori and Gav Daragon, from two elite assassins hired to kill them by the Cha'a merchant Ssk Kahorr, who was owed money by the two siblings. The two humans were cornered by Kahorr's assassins when Odan-Urr and Nadill intervened, ordering the mercenaries to leave Jori and Gav alone. They refused, and attacked the two Jedi with their primitive Jedi. Using his lightsaber, Odan-Urr lashed out at one of the assassins, killing him, while Nadill sought a more peaceful resolution: he disarmed the assassin and allowed him to flee. The two siblings also left. Odan-Urr was deeply ashamed of his vicious actions; his people were predators and he was acting on instinct.

Visions
Later that evening, back in Teta's chambers, Odan-Urr had a vision of the funeral of Dark Lord of the Sith Marka Ragnos on the Sith mausoleum planet of Korriban, and the repercussions for the Republic that would ensue. In the vision, Odan-Urr saw two aspiring Sith Lords, Naga Sadow and Ludo Kressh, duel for Ragnos's throne. Sadow wanted to expand the borders of the Sith Empire and wage war on the Galactic Republic; Kressh, however, wanted to remain hidden from the Republic, and felt that a war with such an enemy would be devastating for the Sith. During Sadow and Kressh's vicious fight, the spirit of the late Marka Ragnos appeared, telling the two Sith that though the Sith Empire was at the height of its power, the fate of the Empire hanged in the balance. He then told Sadow and Kressh to choose their battles wisely, for if they made the wrong decisions, all would be lost for the Sith Empire. When Odan-Urr awoke from the nightmareish dream, he quickly rushed to find Memit Nadill, so he could share the details with the Jedi Advisor. Odan-Urr eventually met Nadill with Teta in the Empress's chambers, and recounted the dream, and then told them his interpretation of it. Odan-Urr remembered his studies of the Sith back with Ooroo, and knew that even though most had forgotten about them, the Dark Jedi banished from the Republic over a thousand years earlier still posed a great threat to the Republic. Nadill trusted his young companion where many would not, and asked Teta to raise the matter at her next visit to the Galactic Senate on Coruscant. Although she did not understand the Force, Teta trusted her advisor and agreed to talk to the Senate about Odan-Urr's vision when she visited there in three days time.

Nadill and Odan-Urr accompanied Teta to Coruscant three days later. Odan-Urr had never been to the capital before, and was in awe over the sheer magnitude and population of the city planet. Nadill, who had been on the planet previously, told Odan-Urr that the Force was strong on the capital, but so was the politics. The two Jedi and Teta then entered the great Senate Hall to speak with the assembly. Odan-Urr wanted to address the senators, as well as a small group of Jedi who had attended, himself, but Teta knew politics far better than the young Jedi, so she gave the warning. She told the assembly of Odan-Urr's dream and what it meant for the Republic, but the senators were highly skeptical, reasoning that these were simply bad dreams, and that they had far more important things to worry about. The trio left, dejected, though Teta pledged her full military support to the defense of the Republic.

When he returned to Koros, Odan-Urr remained worried and distressed with what was happening, and spent much time studying the scrolls in Teta's library. One day while Odan-Urr was studying, Memit Nadill arrived in the library, and summoned him to Teta's audience chamber. Odan-Urr was apprehensive with having to meet with Teta first; he was expecting to have to go on another parade, but Nadill persisted and Odan-Urr was pleasantly surprised when he reached Teta's chambers, where Master Ooroo was waiting for his young apprentice. The old Celegian had also been plagued with dreams of the Sith, and had made contact with the three Jedi Knights present at the senate meeting. He contacted Teta to learn of Odan-Urr's progress, and when he heard that Odan-Urr had been having visions too, he immediately came to see his apprentice face to face. Odan-Urr was delighted to see his master again, though he expressed his displeasure at not being able to return to his studies; Ooroo replied that a Jedi Knight must learn action as well as knowledge. Odan-Urr's master then told him that should the Republic confront the Sith Empire, a devastating war would ensue; a war that would cross the fabric of hyperspace. Teta then led the others out onto a massive balcony and showed them her army, vowing never to let her system to fall to outside invasions.

Odan-Urr was looking at ancient scrolls with Memit Nadill in Teta's chambers when a female youth jumped from a window down in front of Teta. The Empress has survived many attempted assassinations in her time as ruler of Koros, so she initially thought this young girl was a particularly bold assassin. The young girl, whose name was Jori Daragon, fell to her knees and sobbed as Teta had her guards take the young girl away, but Odan-Urr's attention was caught when Jori mentioned the Sith Empire. He beckoned for the girl to be released, and then she told him how she and her brother had set foot in the Sith Empire. Hyperspace explorers, they had entered random co-ordinates into their nav-computer and ended up on the planet Korriban. Naga Sadow befriended the two siblings, before forces Jori to flee without her brother during a skirmish between the forces of the two competing Sith Lords. She had returned to Cinnagar on her ship, but was arrested for the theft of her ship. She had managed to escape and thought that Teta was the only person who could help her. Odan-Urr knew this evidence could sway the senate and the Jedi Order. Sadow, however, had placed a tracking device on Jori's ship, and was ready to launch a full scale invasion on the Republic.

Great Hyperspace War
Memit Nadill traveled to Coruscant to meet with the Jedi Knights, while Odan-Urr and his Master helped Teta prepare for the attack on Cinnagar. Odan-Urr and Ooroo were to depart for Kirrek, where Odan-Urr had previously defeated the marauding rebels. The rebels had since pledged their allegiance to Teta in an attempt to gain amnesty for their actions, and were fighting against the Sith alongside Teta's force. Before he left, Odan-Urr gave a spare lightsaber to Jori Daragon, who wished to aid the effort to repel the Sith. Odan-Urr did not want to face real combat, and was worried about all the suffering and destruction that the war would inevitable cause. Ooroo, however, remained calm, and attempted to help his apprentice feel the same, telling him that even though he was in a tank, the Celegian would also be helping the war effort. Odan-Urr eventually calmed down, and knew that the pardoned rebels and Teta's men would triumph over the Sith, and the exiled rebels on Ronika, the prison planet of the system, would soon arrive to act as reinforcements.

The combined forces of Teta and commander Llaban, the leader of the former pirates, formed a perimeter around a great stone citadel, wielding a wide variety of primitive weapons. Hundreds of Sadow's warships flew in the sky, sending down thousands upon thousands of Sith pods, each filled with well over a hundred expertly-trained warriors. The Sith attacked on huge Sith war behemoths and Sith war worms, charging for the citadel, ordered by their leader, Shar Dakhan, to tear down the great building and leaving nothing but rubble. After much fighting, the re-enforcements from Ronika had yet to arrive, and the Massassi, a group of elite Sith warriors, were giving the Republic many casualties. Odan-Urr had tried using his battle meditation, which had helped him before, but Massassi possessed a kind of single-minded fury that Odan-Urr could not sway at all. He became very worried, and asked his master how would they fight such a vast enemy. The old Celegian told his apprentice that they would fight them to the best of their abilities, with the Force as their ally.

Old version of article
"To be brave in battle proves nothing. Bravery itself proves nothing. A Jedi should be prepared to put aside fear, regret and uncertainty and either fight, run, surrender or die."

- Odan-Urr

Odan-Urr was trained by the ancient Jedi Master Ooroo on the planet Ossus, and was content to simply study the history of the Jedi and the Sith before being dispatched to the Koros system to aid Empress Teta in uniting Kirrek in the final battle of the Unification Wars. Together with Memit Nadill, Odan-Urr used his battle meditation to defeat the marauding rebels on Kirrek and bring peace to the Koros system.



While on Koros Major, Odan-Urr had a nightmarish vision of Marka Ragnos' death and the war it would begin. He was taken to Coruscant by Teta, in order to alert the Galactic Republic to the impending danger. Unfortunately, the Republic ignored Odan-Urr's vision, disregarding it as the delusion of a young and inexperienced Knight. Teta, however, was not as demeaning, and mustered her own armed forces to prepare for a Sith attack.

As the Sith attacks began, Odan-Urr joined his own Master, Ooroo, in the defense of Kirrek against Naga Sadow's Massassi forces. When the tide began turning to the Sith forces, Ooroo sacrificed himself to kill them off with the cyanogen atmosphere in which he lived. His dying words to his student were prophetic, telling the young Jedi that he would become one of the most ancient Jedi ever. Odan-Urr stood by Empress Teta's side throughout the Great Hyperspace War, and assisted in the destruction of Naga Sadow's Sith Empire.

After searching the wreckage of Sadow's ship, Odan-Urr found the Sith holocron and took it with him to Ossus, where he founded the Great Jedi Library. Odan-Urr later presided over the Jedi Assemblies for more than 600 years prior to the assembly on Deneba to discuss the rising dark side tide and the Krath. In his time on Ossus, Odan-Urr became increasingly focused on academic pursuits, but still found time to train incoming Jedi, like Nomi Sunrider. As Odan-Urr grew in experience and renown, he aided in the development of the Jedi Code, including writing influential teachings.

But his possession of the dark holocron did not go unnoticed. Exar Kun infiltrated the Ossus facility, killed Odan-Urr, stole the holocron and claimed that Odan-Urr had proclaimed him a Master before his death. Appropriately, Odan-Urr died surrounded by his books.

Appearances

 * Tales of the Jedi: The Golden Age of the Sith
 * Tales of the Jedi: The Fall of the Sith Empire
 * Tales of the Jedi: Dark Lords of the Sith
 * Tales of the Jedi: The Sith War

Notes and references
Odan-Urr Odan-Urr