Star Wars – The Varen Council

The current occupants of the twelve Council Seats of the Varen Council include:

• Mistress Yessa Iresha – Yessa is the head of resource allocation and logistics within Varen space. While she has no direct control over military expenditures, she does control how much gets put into the military budget each quarter. Known as a person that deeply attached to money, she is good at finding “wasted” money – although this has resulted in comments that she has traded in her lightsaber in favor of auditing people to death, much to her displeasure.
• Master Ord Cantel – Ord is the council member most likely to attend council meetings via holo. His aquatic species limits his ability to interact with the rest of the council save for the most important of affairs. Master Ord is typically the most laid back of the Council; he likes to play the devil’s advocate and expose the flaws in the plans of others. While this behavior hasn’t earned him any friends, having your plan hammered by Ord relentlessly and still getting his vote is seen as a major achievement.
• Mistress Hazel Rote – Hazel is the head of the diplomatic offices. A master of illusions, telepathy, and coercion, Hazel has managed to extend the Varen influence across the region. While seen as more than a bit heavy handed at times with negotiations, neutral parties tend to agree she’s fair if demanding. Not so neutral parties don’t tend to get to interact with her much until they’ve had an attitude adjustment.
• Grand Mistress Naga Vascud – Naga is the current head of the Council. While this entails a lot of prestige for her and her family, this actually comes down to her vote counting twice in matters of a tie. Her focus has been on economic growth and the symbols of it. The construction of the three command ships was her idea as is the current push towards capturing assets that will become strategically important after the war.
• Mistress Admiral Vera Morrowain – A Force user talented in the art of fleet enhancement and tactics. Vera has been widowed three times, but her last marriage did result in twin daughters: Farah and Karah. She is good friends with Valerie’s mother Lessa Soung from their days at the Academy. Currently is head of the Varen fleet, although this usually consists of assigning objectives to her subordinates and letting them fulfill them however they chose. Those who do well, get promoted.
• Master Zertil Soung – Lessa Soung’s father and Valerie’s grandfather. He is the first male from the Soung family to hold the council seat in two centuries. With age beginning to take it’s toll, Zertil has begun to look for a successor to take his place. Zertil has been renowned for his ability to cut through irrelevant banter and get to the heart of a matter – no matter how much someone else would like to obscure the issue.
• Master General Neer Gruber – Commander of the Varen armies and a skilled strategist. He likes to micro-manage things and makes it his personal quest to know the names of every soldier under his command. While criticized for wanting to know exactly what subordinates are doing and why at all times, he has punished commanders for following orders as opposed to sense. Ask Neer why he put someone in charge of an operation, and Neer will go into exhausting detail on the matter. Some joke that even the enemy don’t want that level of detail.
• Master Tacit Logosa – Tacit is a schemer. His plans typically reach out decades, and if rumor is true, he has detailed instructions for his successors on what to do and when. He is usually the one to propose plans within the Council and is fond of challenging opponents in games of strategy. His list of contacts is large and is frequently quite knowledgeable on obscure groups and organizations. Rumors that he knows members of the Jedi Council are frequently denied.
• Master Tieren Massud Maha Vailo – As the leader of the combined Maha and Vailo households, Tieren is a major power within the Council. The Grenkay Corps reports to him and is responsible for policing internal affairs within the Varen. It was Tieren that pushed for the expansion of recruiting efforts during the war. The appointment of Zertil’s son-in-law as the head of that project was a concession to the Soung family for support on the project.
• Master Horas Gasden – Horas is the leader of the Archives and the associated Varen network. He takes pride in the size of the Archives and is not above using construction of Varen network relays as bribes to get what he wants. His personal goal is to establish a major connection to the Republic network without the need to go through the major Hutt backchannels given the major fees the Hutts have charged. The others fear that establishing such a connection may lead to the Republic growing fearful of the level of Varen development.
• Mistress Robana Shana – Ex-wife of Klepp Brooke, Robana is head of the settlement and development departments. This typically involves terraforming efforts and containment efforts for truly annoying species. Robana’s grand plans for terraforming often set her on a collision course with Yessa Iresha. Rumors that she sterilized a planet with a particularly vexing Force predator in the wake of her divorce are as yet unvalidated due to lack of evidence.
• Master Klepp Brooke – Ex-husband of Robana Shana, Klepp learned that seeing other people while married wasn’t the best move on his part. Currently overseeing the exploration and mapping departments, Klepp has taken to participating in council meetings via holonet. While normally working towards mapping new routes and systems, the war has redirected his efforts towards watching the borders and finding new routes to Republic and Sith space.

Related Articles

• Recordings from the Holocron of Kira Keldav – Session 52 from Emergence Campaign Weblog (ruscumag.wordpress.com)
• Recordings from the Holocron of Valerie Soung – Retributions from Emergence Campaign Weblog (ruscumag.wordpress.com)
• Recordings from the Holocron of Kira Keldav – Session 50b (ruscumag.wordpress.com)
• Recordings from the Holocron of Valerie Soung – Repressions from Emergence Campaign Weblog (ruscumag.wordpress.com)