Wookieepedia:Featured article queue/Week 37, 2013/0

Adari Vaal was a Keshiri female geologist who led a resistance movement against the Lost Tribe of Sith on the planet Kesh in the years after the Great Hyperspace War. A widow with two sons, in 5,000 BBY Vaal was vilified by the Keshiri public for teaching that the Keshiri landscape was created by volcanic eruptions, not by the gods as was commonly believed. Placed on trial for heresy by the Neshtovar ruling council, Vaal's home was besieged by angry mobs, forcing her to flee into the mountains. There, she stumbled upon a group of stranded Sith who had crash-landed on Kesh, led by their captain, Yaru Korsin. Korsin convinced Vaal to help them escape their dire predicament&mdash;Vaal acquiesced and led the Neshtovar to the Sith's mountain encampment. The Sith posed as the Keshiri gods known as the "Skyborn" and gained the complete allegiance of the Keshiri masses, while Vaal became an honored member of the new Sith government. Forging a close relationship with Korsin, Vaal became known as the Daughter of the Skyborn and served as a liaison between the new Lost Tribe of Sith and their Keshiri subjects.

However, all that changed in 4,987 BBY when Vaal's son Finn was killed in an accident while working for the Sith, and Korsin failed to save his life. A new opposition to the Lost Tribe regime awoke in Vaal, and she became the leader of a covert resistance group dedicated to bringing down the Lost Tribe's rule. The resistance worked in secret for a dozen years, and in 4,975 BBY Vaal decided it was time to strike. She formulated a plan of attack that would ensure her own death, as she and thousands of other riders would sacrifice the avian uvak beasts that were essential for the Tribe's hold over Kesh, setting up an armed uprising. However, when zero hour came, the number of riders was much lower than expected&mdash;Vaal's son Tona, who was privy to the plan, had fallen for Korsin's daughter Nida and had divulged the details of the plot. Vaal gravely soldiered on with her plan, but instead of leading the uvak to a watery grave, she instead ended up with about 300 surviving riders on an uninhabited island far off the coast. From there, she eventually made her way across the ocean to the previously-unknown continent of Alanciar, where she spent her final days. Vaal, who became known there as the Rock of Kesh or as The Herald, went on to be a respected author and leader in Alanciar, who warned of the Sith threat across the sea.