Ashin Varanin
Professional Enabler
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[SIZE=9pt]OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]The origins of the warrior society1 known as the Knights of Ren stretch back into the Unknown Regions. Roughly eight centuries ago, a man named Cronas Ren visited the hidden jungle world of Varunda IX, and constructed a stone sanctum for private training. Cronas, one of Supreme Leader Snoke’s several apprentices,2 needed a quiet place to meditate on the inner conflict that formed the heart of his power in the Dark Side. Cronas, by another name, had grown up in the Church of the Force, and was the grandson of a Jedi Padawan who survived the Purge. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Where a Sith might have fought for complete commitment and focus, Snoke’s teachings encouraged Cronas to embrace cognitive dissonance, and dwell on the opposition between the Dark Side’s techniques and the ancient Jedi ways.3,4,5 His guilt became motivation, he accepted the conflict as insoluble, and he sought for honesty with himself as he strove for greater power. To him, the new name Cronas Ren became a symbol of constant tension between his reinvented self and his former identity, rather than a straightforward attempt to erase the past. Instead, he clung to the elements of his former life that spurred the most powerful emotions within himself, and found a shaky balance between accepting and rejecting his past and his better self. This volatile mindset permitted the Knights of Ren great but unpredictable strength. Cronas came to accept Snoke’s dark teachings as a natural synthesis, arising from the thesis and antithesis of the Jedi and the Sith. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]At his private citadel, Cronas considered the purposeful oxymorons and radical acceptance at the heart of what he had learned. He found inspiration in the jungle’s attempts to reinvent, destroy, and re-integrate the structure he had built. His partially-overgrown home became a symbol of order’s constant battle with chaos -- the weaponized, innate contradiction so vital to the power of the Ren. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Cronas Ren eventually died during the conflict between the Resistance and the First Order. An Ithorian family used his home as theirs for several generations. In the ensuing centuries, they and other incidental residents kept the jungle from swallowing the stone complex. A young Jedi Knight named Ashin Varanin stumbled across it years before the end of the Dark Age and the start of the modern era. Chilled, she left the mysterious temple to its own devices. Only later, as Dark Lord of the Sith, did she return to Cronas Ren’s sanctum and looked on it with new eyes. Later still, years into her retirement and living without an alias or another’s face, she took up residence there. She found Cronas’ records insightful and refreshing, apart from his utter deference to his Master, the Supreme Leader of the First Order. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]CITATIONS[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=9pt]OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION[/SIZE]
- [SIZE=9pt]Intent: A training and meditation spot for Ashin[/SIZE]
- [SIZE=9pt]Image Credit: “Atrium of Demigods” by Yeghor Gallagher, found at https://www.artstation.com/artwork/q3ROn[/SIZE]
- [SIZE=9pt]Canon: N/A[/SIZE]
- [SIZE=9pt]Links: None[/SIZE]
- [SIZE=9pt]Structure Name: Sanctum of Cronas Ren[/SIZE]
- [SIZE=9pt]Classification: Ruin[/SIZE]
- [SIZE=9pt]Location: [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]Varunda IX[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt], about 100km north of [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]New Habat[/SIZE]
- [SIZE=9pt]Affiliation: Ashin Varanin[/SIZE]
- [SIZE=9pt]Accessibility: The Sanctum of Cronas Ren is small, obscure, remote, and low in visibility. Determined visitors will probably find it just fine.[/SIZE]
- [SIZE=9pt]Security: Ashin lives here. Also, there’s a shield generator for emergencies.[/SIZE]
- [SIZE=9pt]Description: The Sanctum of Cronas Ren is a small stone temple complex, partially swallowed by the jungle. [/SIZE]
- [SIZE=9pt]Library - This basement chamber, only recently unsealed, contains the personal writings and collection of Cronas Ren. Like Kylo Ren, Cronas held great telekinetic power, and was skilled in mental intrusion. Like other ancient Knights of Ren, Cronas was skilled in the use of ranged weapons; as a result, his writings describe useful combinations of blasterfire and telekinesis.[/SIZE]
- [SIZE=9pt]Training Area - This overgrown courtyard has seen lightsaber duels, ranged weapons training, telekinetic destruction, and so forth. Ashin teaches here on occasion, when the right students present themselves. [/SIZE]
- [SIZE=9pt]Residence - Ashin lives here; naturally, her wife [member="Spencer Varanin"] and daughter [member="Ibaris Varanin"] are welcome also. [member="Ria Misrani"] has free rein of the place too, hairballs notwithstanding.[/SIZE]
- [SIZE=9pt]Speeder Bay - A stone overhang covered in vines shelters a handful of landspeeders and swoop bikes, which Ashin uses for her commute to [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]New Habat University[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt].[/SIZE]
- [SIZE=9pt]Shield Generator - An emergency shield generator linked to a sensor array protects the Sanctum from, say, air strikes and orbital bombardment. [/SIZE]
- [SIZE=9pt]Catacombs - A few tunnels wind their way out from the Sanctum. Their entrances are carefully hidden. They’re useful as emergency escape routes, storage space, and access lanes to deeper caverns.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]The origins of the warrior society1 known as the Knights of Ren stretch back into the Unknown Regions. Roughly eight centuries ago, a man named Cronas Ren visited the hidden jungle world of Varunda IX, and constructed a stone sanctum for private training. Cronas, one of Supreme Leader Snoke’s several apprentices,2 needed a quiet place to meditate on the inner conflict that formed the heart of his power in the Dark Side. Cronas, by another name, had grown up in the Church of the Force, and was the grandson of a Jedi Padawan who survived the Purge. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Where a Sith might have fought for complete commitment and focus, Snoke’s teachings encouraged Cronas to embrace cognitive dissonance, and dwell on the opposition between the Dark Side’s techniques and the ancient Jedi ways.3,4,5 His guilt became motivation, he accepted the conflict as insoluble, and he sought for honesty with himself as he strove for greater power. To him, the new name Cronas Ren became a symbol of constant tension between his reinvented self and his former identity, rather than a straightforward attempt to erase the past. Instead, he clung to the elements of his former life that spurred the most powerful emotions within himself, and found a shaky balance between accepting and rejecting his past and his better self. This volatile mindset permitted the Knights of Ren great but unpredictable strength. Cronas came to accept Snoke’s dark teachings as a natural synthesis, arising from the thesis and antithesis of the Jedi and the Sith. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]At his private citadel, Cronas considered the purposeful oxymorons and radical acceptance at the heart of what he had learned. He found inspiration in the jungle’s attempts to reinvent, destroy, and re-integrate the structure he had built. His partially-overgrown home became a symbol of order’s constant battle with chaos -- the weaponized, innate contradiction so vital to the power of the Ren. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Cronas Ren eventually died during the conflict between the Resistance and the First Order. An Ithorian family used his home as theirs for several generations. In the ensuing centuries, they and other incidental residents kept the jungle from swallowing the stone complex. A young Jedi Knight named Ashin Varanin stumbled across it years before the end of the Dark Age and the start of the modern era. Chilled, she left the mysterious temple to its own devices. Only later, as Dark Lord of the Sith, did she return to Cronas Ren’s sanctum and looked on it with new eyes. Later still, years into her retirement and living without an alias or another’s face, she took up residence there. She found Cronas’ records insightful and refreshing, apart from his utter deference to his Master, the Supreme Leader of the First Order. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]CITATIONS[/SIZE]
- [SIZE=9pt]1) “Kylo’s helmet is based on the battle gear of the Knights of Ren.” - Star Wars Character Encyclopedia p.115[/SIZE]
- [SIZE=9pt]2) “Kylo Ren is the most gifted apprentice of Supreme Leader Snoke, a mysterious figure steeped in dark side knowledge who commands the First Order from a distance.” - Star Wars: The Force Awakens Visual Dictionary p. 26[/SIZE]
- [SIZE=9pt]3) “He follows his own path, encouraged by Supreme Leader Snoke to use the heritage of both the light and dark sides. These contradictory disciplines create a great conflict within Kylo.” - Star Wars Character Encyclopedia p.115[/SIZE]
- [SIZE=9pt]4) “Having studied Jedi skills as well as arcane dark side lore, Kylo Ren is the embodiment of conflict, drawing upon contradictory teachings and deriving power from discord. Ren has taken pains to bury his past, though he uses the unpleasant emotions that stir within him when reflecting upon his youth to fuel his anger and dark powers.” - Star Wars: The Force Awakens Visual Dictionary p. 26[/SIZE]
- [SIZE=9pt]5) “‘It is where you are from. What you are made of. The dark side—and the light. The finest sculptor cannot fashion a masterpiece from poor materials. He must have something pure, something strong, something unbreakable, with which to work.’” - Supreme Leader Snoke, Star Wars: The Force Awakens (novelization)[/SIZE]
