Barash Silvain

Barash Silvain was a Kage female Jedi Master who declared herself the sister of the Ikkrukkian Jedi Porter Engle. She accompanied her brother^[6] on his adventures as a gunslinger Jedi^[7] in 382 BBY.^[8] After she made a grave mistake during a mission on Gansevor, Silvain vowed to remove herself from the Jedi Order's work while still remaining a Jedi, leaving Engle to recenter her focus on communing with and understanding the Force itself.^[9] This became a practice known as the Barash Vow, which was named after Silvain.^[10]

Biography[]

Early life[]

"I remember my family, Porter. I remember my parents, I remember my siblings, I remember how it felt to be with them. I do not regret coming to the temple…but I remember what I lost. Here with you. Will you…will you be my brother, Porter Engle?"

―Barash Silvain, to Porter Engle^[5]

Barash Silvain was a Kage female^[3] born on the planet Quarzite.^[5] At some point in her life she joined the Jedi Order.^[3] Around 407 BBY,^[11] when Silvain was a Jedi youngling at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, she and a group of fellow younglings were introduced to training lightsabers. Silvain did not try to make friends with her peers on her own as she felt that she did not need any. Though that same day, she met Porter Engle who convinced her to at least try having him as friend. Subsequently the two developed a close bond, even coming to see each other as siblings eventually. The two worked together in unison complementing each others strength and weaknesses. Silvain was particularly talented in finding other minds' intentions while Engle was a talented and renowned lightsaber duelist.^[3]

BarashPadawan-THRBlade2 — A young Barash Silvain

Around 399 BBY,^[12] the Jedi Masters at the temple grew weary of their ever growing attachment to each other separating them as a consequence.^[6] The duo however pledged to willingly perform worse whilst being separated as they felt it would only be reasonable that they work together. This plan ultimately worked as they were reunited^[5] around 397 BBY^[13] in the Jedi Temple. It was when they were reunited that the Kage revealed to Engle that she was admitted to the Jedi Order at a slightly older age than usual and additionally that her species' memories started almost from birth which meant that she could still remember her family. Although she did not regret being separated from her family, she did feel like she lost something which subsequently prompted her to ask Engle to be her brother. From this point on the duo would refer to each other as brother and sister respectively.^[5]

On the Frontier[]

"Gansevor might be in the middle of nowhere, but but it's still a civilised world. We'll show up, deal with the dispute, and you can swing back through to pick us up on your way back to the Office of the Frontier. We're Jedi Knights. We're trained for this sort of thing. How bad could it really be? It'll be fine. I'm certain of it."

―Barash Silvain, to Sallee Ooph^[3]

BarashSilvain-THRBlade4Momoko — Barash Silvain

By 382 BBY, Silvain and Engle were both Jedi Knights and were working out of the Office of the Frontier, using their complementary abilities to great success. One mission took them to the Boneworld, a remote planet notable for its rich supply of ambercryst. Before they could leave, Engle became involved in a dispute between two prospectors, Dregg and Ralen, who were arguing over a satchel full of ambercryst. As Engle listened to both sides of the argument, Silvain used her intuitive abilities to discern that it was Ralen who was telling the truth. Acting at his sister's behest, Engle ruled in favor of Ralen and defeated Dregg's subsequent attack, forcing him to flee the scene. With the dispute resolved, Silvain and Engle took a shuttle off world and headed to the Office of the Frontier to choose their next assignment. Out of the 201 active petitions, Silvain chose the one that her intuition told her felt the most right - a plea from the city-state of Firevale on Gansevor which was under siege. Silvain was convinced that the Force wanted them to go there, a belief that was reinforced by the sudden arrival of Helion Volte and their Pathfinder team, who were also scheduled to travel to the Tammuz sector and offered to provide Silvain and Engle with transportation to Gansevor. Before dropping Silvain and Engle off at their destination, Volte's pilot Sallee Ooph offered to lend them an EX droid so that they might be able to send and receive communications from the wider galaxy. Silvain confidently asserted that she and her brother would easily be able to deal with the problems on Gansevor and that Volte's team should keep the droid since they were venturing into more unknown systems.^[3]

Mission to Gansevor[]

Arrival and initial conflict[]

"All we care about is justice. We'll go in, we'll find it and we'll bring it to both sides"

―Barash Silvain, to Tozen^[6]

Silvain and Engle arrived at Horatio, the planetary capital of Gansevor, and were greeted by Firevale's envoy, Seleen, who had sent the petition for help. Seleen informed the pair that Firevale, noted for its control of the planet's supply of baudraxite, had been besieged by the rival city-state of Bethune without warning. Given that the central government in Horatio had no military authority, Firevale needed the help of the Jedi in providing supplies for its starving citizens and lifting the siege. Silvain and Engle cautiously agreed to help escort a convoy of supplies to Firevale, but warned Seleen that they would have to investigate both sides more in order to ascertain how to help resolve the conflict. Together, Silvain and Engle took positions atop one of the several transports making up the convoy, with Silvain asserting that they could send the Bethunians home without a shot being fired. However, her confidence was immediately shown to be misplaced as the besieging army's guns began firing upon the incoming ships. Silvain and Engle managed to divert the missiles into nearby mountains, before ordering the convoy to turn back and land out of range. Together, they approached the Bethunian forces on foot, but were again immediately fired upon, with Silvain being struck in the forearm during an onslaught that was only stopped when Engle disarmed a group of soldiers and demanded to speak to their leader. Overawed by Engle's prowess with his lightsaber, the Bethunians allowed the Jedi to pass and meet with Field Marshal Tozen, who pronounced his annoyance at the Jedi's interference in Gansevor and informed them that the siege had occurred because Firevale had kidnapped Bethune's princess, Sicatra. Silvain told Tozen that they were not there to take sides, but to provide justice for both Firevale and Bethune, and that they would need to investigate both sides further in order to do so. She persuaded Tozen to allow the convoy to pass through the siege, while she and Engle would go and speak with the Firevale royal family. However, unbeknownst to Silvain, once they had left the encampment Tozen contacted the mercenary general Abediah Viess, who had been employed by Bethune to support the siege, and asked her to bring her forces to help secure victory. In Firevale, Silvain and Engle were greeted by Magistrate Renata and Prince Colden, who were surprised to see that Seleen had been able to arrange help for their beleaguered city. Colden informed the Jedi that Sicatra, the Princess of Bethune, was in fact his wife and that she had come to Firevale in order to seek asylum.^[6]

Silvain's investigation[]

"Porter. Convince the Bethunians to leave, to return to their city. This is wrong, this whole thing is wrong."
"Are you certain?"
"I am certain."

―Barash Silvain and Porter Engle^[5]

Before discussions could proceed further, Firevale's alarms announced the arrival of Viess and her mercenaries in the skies above the besieging army. The threat of Firevale's anti-air defenses prevented Viess from launching a bombardment from above, but the number of mercenary and Bethunian soldiers and guns threatened to make short work of the city gates.^[5] As these guns began to fire once more, Silvain sent Engle down to distract the attackers and buy time while she investigated the nuances of the situation further. Engle was able to persuade Tozen to briefly halt the barrage with the promise that Silvain would locate Princess Sicatra, while in Firevale's palace, Silvain and Colden met with his mother, Queen Keraan. Keraan argued with her son, blaming his irresponsible love affair as being the cause of the siege, but they were then interrupted by the arrival of Sicatra herself. Silvain took Sicatra out of the throne room to get her side of the story, with Sicatra telling her that she and Colden had decided to live in Firevale because the people of Bethune would never accept a king from Firevale, largely due to Firevale's stinginess with the supply of baudraxite. Sicatra also claimed that she had fled so suddenly because she was pregnant and feared for the future of her child, which would have been taken from her at birth and given to someone else to raise as a result of its Firevale blood. Wholeheartedly believing Sicatra, Silvain contacted Engle and told him to persuade the Bethunians to end their siege and return home. Yet at this moment, Tozen and Viess agreed to resume hostilities, with Tozen agreeing that Viess and her mercenaries would be allowed to plunder Firevale for twelve hours once it fell.^[5]

A disturbing twist[]

"Every person who dies down there or in the city can be laid at the feet of you and your husband. You are responsible for all of this. But then…so am I."

―Barash Silvain, to Sicatra^[9]

As Engle attempted to halt the efforts of the besiegers and defeat Viess, the bombardment caused mass destruction and death within the walls of Firevale. Colden and Keraan argued about how to respond to the renewed onslaught, with Colden arguing that they should open the gates and Keraan countering that such an act would force her to abdicate. Silvain argued that Engle would prevail and force the mercenaries to retreat but, unbeknownst to her, at this point Viess betrayed Tozen and had him shot due his reticence to intensify the bombardment and raze Firevale to the ground. As the rate of fire from the Bethunians and mercenaries increased, a mortally-wounded Tozen contacted Sicatra and informed her of what had happened, causing the princess to become distressed. She then let slip the truth to Silvain, admitting that she and Colden had orchestrated the siege so that Colden could take power from his mother and then include Bethune in the baudraxite trade. Even Sicatra's pregnancy had been fabricated in order to engender sympathy from Silvain herself. These revelations led Keraan to attack her daughter-in-law, although Silvain was able to use the Force to prevent the Queen from landing a blow. Sicatra then gave a speech to the Bethunian troops below the city walls, exhorting them to turn against the mercenaries who had betrayed Tozen and threatened to destroy their world. Sicatra's speech was successful, forcing Viess and her soldiers to flee the battlefield and bringing an end to the siege, but a bereaved Silvain informed the Princess that her actions had nevertheless led to the mass death and destruction that had occurred, while Silvain herself also bore responsibility for what had happened.^[9]

The Vow[]

"I cannot trust myself. I cannot allow you, or any other Jedi, to trust me. Not until I know I am hearing the Force clearly again. I will go."

―Barash Silvain, to Porter Engle^[9]

With the conflict resolved, but at great cost, Silvain and Engle debriefed together. She informed her brother of Colden and Sicatra's deception and how she had fallen for it.^[9] Engle attempted to comfort her and suggested that they head back to Horatio in order to get picked up by Helion Volte's pathfinder team, but Silvain instead decided not to go with him. She felt immense guilt for ordering Engle to engage the mercenaries, thereby escalating the conflict, because she had believed Sicatra's story. Silvain told her brother that she needed to listen to the Force; she could not allow Engle or any other Jedi to trust her until she was certain that she was hearing the Force clearly again, and therefore she would take no further action on behalf of the Jedi Order. Silvain's personal commitment, which would become known to posterity as the Barash Vow, was relayed to the Jedi High Council by Engle who, when asked as to where his sister had gone, professed that he did not know.^[9]

In 228 BBY,^[14] — approximately one hundred and seventy-one years after Barash took her vow — General Viess claimed that she knew where Silvain was located while the Mirialan was attempting to escape from Porter Engle.^[15]