- "I found a dark bar and sat in the corner, as usual, nursing a fermented milk tea."
- ―Marda Ro, in her journal
A dark bar with plaster walls was located in a hub near the equatorial forests of the planet Ryloth. At some point no earlier than 379 BBY, the Evereni pirate leader Marda Ro visited the hub in search of others of her species and, after failing to find any leads elsewhere, headed to the bar. There, she met an Evereni going by the alias "Isren," who taught her about Evereni culture and history. Ro later mentioned the bar in a journal entry she recorded for her descendants, which her great-great-grandson Marchion Ro had listened to by 252 BBY.
Description
- "He leaned back against the dingy plaster wall."
- ―Marda Ro, in her journal
The bar was located on[1] the Outer Rim[2] world Ryloth in a hub for game hunters—one of several such hubs around the planet's equatorial forests. The bar was dark and had plaster walls that Marda Ro—the Evereni[1] founder of a group of pirates who would eventually become the Nihil[3]—regarded as dingy.[1]
History
- "My name is Marda Ro. I am looking for more of us."
- ―Marda Ro, to Isren
Marda Ro, who visited the bar
At some point no earlier than 379 BBY,[4] Marda Ro visited the hub in search of others of[1] her[5] species after hearing rumors of an Evereni hunting creatures known as lyleks in the equatorial forests. Unsuccessful at obtaining leads elsewhere, she visited the bar. There, she ordered fermented milk tea and waited in the corner, listening to ghosts of the dead whisper in her ear. She eventually spotted an aged Evereni leaning against the wall with a bowl of liquor. Ro approached him and he began speaking to her in the Evereni language before switching to Basic as Ro did not speak Evereni. The Evereni introduced himself under the alias "Isren"—an Evereni word meaning "old uncle."[1]
Because Ro had grown up outside of her species' culture and was curious about it, Isren drank liquor with her and taught her about their customs, history, and language. In return, she bought him meat and soup. At the end of their conversation, Ro asked Isren to come with her; however, he ultimately refused, and the two Evereni parted ways. Ro later mentioned the bar in a message she recorded for her descendants.[1] By 252 BBY,[6] during his youth, Ro's great-great-grandson Marchion Ro had listened to her journal, including the entry that mentioned the bar.[5]
Behind the scenes
The bar appeared in a flashback in the short story "A Closed Fist Has No Claws," written by Tessa Gratton and published in the 2023 young-adult anthology The High Republic: Tales of Light and Life as a part of the Star Wars: The High Republic multimedia project.[1]
Appearances
- "A Closed Fist Has No Claws" — The High Republic: Tales of Light and Life (and audiobook) (First appearance) (In flashback(s))
Notes and references
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 "A Closed Fist Has No Claws" — The High Republic: Tales of Light and Life
- ↑
Ryloth in the Databank (backup link)
- ↑
Interview with Tessa Gratton: "A Closed Fist Has No Claws" (TALES OF LIGHT & LIFE) on the Friends of the Force: A Star Wars Podcast YouTube channel (October 6, 2023) (backup link)
- ↑ The segment of "A Closed Fist Has No Claws" depicting a Jedi's death onboard the Gaze Electric takes place around 379 BBY per the reasoning here. Marda Ro met "Isren" after the Jedi's death; therefore, she must have met him no earlier than 379 BBY.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The High Republic: Temptation of the Force
- ↑ "The Lie" chapter in The High Republic: Eye of the Storm 1, which includes Shalla Ro's death, features Asgar Ro's ascension to Eye of the Nihil, an event dated to 252 BBY by Star Wars: The High Republic Character Encyclopedia. As The High Republic: Temptation of the Force establishes she introduced Marchion Ro to Marda Ro's journal, he must have listened to it by that year.