                                Star Wars 

                           Wizard's RPG Stories

          source : http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=starwars/newsarchive
          upload : 10.IV.2006


     Friendship in the Order

     Scenario Supplement for Twilight Storm

     By Morrie Mullins

     Former Living Force Plot Director and Campaign Designer

     Former Living Force Plot Director and Campaign  Designer  Morrie  Mullins
presents the latest in our monthly series of  supplements  to  the  campaign's
newest scenarios. In "Friendship in the Order," Master Lanius offers his views
on relationships and attachments that Jedi may form - - for good or ill.  This
supplement ties into the February Living Force scenario, Twilight Storm.

     As war rages across the  galaxy,  the  Jedi  have  been  pulled  in  many
directions at once. Some, feeling the disquiet that runs  through  the  order,
have taken it upon themselves to  collect  the  knowledge  and  philosophy  of
certain Jedi to record for future generations.  In  addition  to  interviewing
remaining members of the Council, much of the compiling, editing, and refining
of information is being done on Almas, well away from  the  struggles  at  the
galactic center. The faculty of the Academy has been involved in many ways, as
have the Padawans, in the gathering and sharing of information.

     Master Lanius Qel-Bertuk has been  interviewed  for  this  project  on  a
number of occasions. While his views are often  controversial,  he  remains  a
respected member of the Jedi Order. This transcription  contains  elements  of
his thoughts on a topic many Jedi find oddly confusing - friendship.

     A hologram of Master Lanius appears. He has his hands folded beneath  his
chin, elbows propped up on his desk. He stares off into the distance  in  what
might be a Force trance. Slowly, his eyes come back into focus, and  he  looks
toward the viewer. A voice - - not his - - speaks.

     Questioner: Hello, Master Lanius. Thank you for seeing us.

     Master Lanius: It's my honor. Thank you for asking me to contribute.

     Q: Your reputation is such that even had circumstances not dictated  that
we come to Almas, we would have spoken with you. We  are  simply  sorry  about
the... timing of this particular conversation.

     [Lanius nods, and for a moment a frown tugs at his mouth.] ML: These  are
difficult times for everyone. If anything, that makes it more necessary for us
to record what we know, as well as what we feel.

     Q: You are quite renowned as an advocate of the  living  Force,  are  you
not? The idea that we should trust our intuition is not always a popular one.

     ML: It does depend on who you ask, I suppose. But, yes, I suppose that  I
do sometimes espouse some atypical views. [He smiles.] If my  atypicality  has
anything to do with my being here, on this wonderful  planet  with  all  these
wonderful Padawans, then I cannot help but believe that my own  intuition  has
served me unfailingly well.

     Q: Indeed. As one who strives to be in constant contact with those around
you, and with the galaxy as a whole, this must put a great strain on you.  How
does one maintain contact without forming harmful attachments?

     ML: You choose interesting words. "Harmful" attachments. That presupposes
that there is such a thing as a "harmless" attachment, which I'm  not  sure  I
agree with.

     Q: Please, elaborate.

     ML: Gladly. The notion of attachment is one of needing something that  is
outside of us for completeness. But we learn, as we grow in  the  Force,  that
there is nothing of the material  world  that  we  "need,"  no  single  person
without whom we could not exist, were they to leave  our  lives  unexpectedly.
[He closes his eyes for a moment and nods to himself, then reopens his  eyes.]
It is a challenge. For all of us. But attachments weaken  our  resolve  to  do
what is best for all  living  beings  and  cause  us  to  think  more  of  our
individual selves.

     Q: Is the individual self not important, then?

     ML: It is. We are all important, because we are all part of the Force.  I
heard something Mother Dariana said recently that struck a chord. She  told  a
story of her childhood and of killing another creature with the Force  because
she was so attached to the idea of living.

     Q: But self-preservation is natural, and the will of  the  Force,  is  it
not?

     ML: Life and death are both the  will  of  the  Force.  Sometimes,  self-
preservation is right. Other times, the death of  one  may  better  serve  the
many.

     Q: Let's shift the topic a bit, back toward  attachment.  You  know  many
Jedi. Do you consider any of them to be your friends? [There is a  long  pause
as Master Lanius considers the answer. He stares straight ahead, a  half-smile
on his face, as he thinks.] ML: Every Jedi - - every Master, every Knight, and
every Padawan - - is my friend. There are very  few  beings  who  embrace  the
light side of the Force - - or who, at the very least, abjure the dark - - who
I would not call "friend." But the question you ask goes beyond that, and gets
at a core issue in our approach to how we may serve the galaxy. Because if  we
call beings "friend," then do we not imply that we  have  some  attachment  to
them, that we love them and  value  their  lives?  [He  leans  forward,  hands
clasped.] And, if this is the case, is this not a weakness that  can  then  be
exploited? Are we not failing to serve the will of the Force as best we can?

     Q: They are your questions, not ours.

     ML: I've spent a lot of time thinking about  these  things.  I've  spoken
about them with individuals who came to me from outside the order,  trying  to
explain the Jedi Code to them. It's very difficult to help someone who has not
attempted to live the Code understand what it means. We  are  not  emotionless
creatures. We feel. Being a Jedi does not rob us of the emotions with which we
were born. We are simply no longer dominated by them.

     Yes. I love my friends. The Jedi are my friends.  Many  non-Jedi  are  my
friends. I love all of them equally, or as equally as a flawed being  is  able
to do so. "Twilight Storm" Summary  Master  Lanius  needs  an  old  friend,  a
Twi'lek Jedi, brought back to Almas. Given the state of the  galaxy,  standard
means of communication are not working between Almas and Ryloth, and he  needs
volunteers to make the journey.

     Q: Yet there is no attachment, with this love?

     ML: If there is, then it becomes an attachment to all living  beings,  to
all life. The troublesome sort of attachment, which we teach our  Padawans  to
avoid, is the attachment to one person, one  thing,  at  the  expense  of  any
other.

     Q: Even the self?

     ML: There was a story I heard once, about a man who wanted  to  find  the
Force. He believed he could reach a place on a  faraway  planet,  or  maybe  a
moon, where he would find a swirling white cloud made of pure Force energy. He
traveled the galaxy from one side to the other  in  search  of  this  swirling
white cloud. He left his life behind, he left his family behind, and  he  left
his children behind. All of his friends, all of his valuables, everything that
had ever meant anything to him. He traveled by freighter, doing  manual  labor
as he hopped from one planet to the next. He would  get  off,  ask  questions,
describe the cloud, and then find a new freighter.  He  never  held  onto  the
disappointment of his failures, but they became many. I  couldn't  even  guess
how many planets he visited, how many languages he must have spoken, how  many
times he must have pushed himself to go  on  and  try  just  one  more  world,
because there he might find the Force.

     Q: And did he? Is there such a cloud?

     ML: I don't know if the cloud exists. But I know that he never found  it,
and that he died old and disappointed. Do you know why he never found it?

     Q: You speak as though we were Padawans.

     ML: No, I speak as though you were Jedi. Why did he never find it?

     Q: Because it was inside him all the time.

     [Lanius cocks his head and chuckles.] ML: Whatever the Force is, wherever
it comes from, I can guarantee you that it  is  not  a  swirling  white  cloud
inside of any single individual.

     Q: But the Force is in all of us.

     ML: Correct. But that's not the reason why he didn't find it.

     Q: Then why?

     ML: Because, for all of his leave-takings, for all the things he  removed
from his life, he retained one attachment, one thing that he valued above  all
others. Ironically, his attachment was to the Force itself,  and  for  it,  he
gave up what could have been a productive life  to  chase  a  dream  across  a
galaxy.

     [He leans forward.] Friendship in the Jedi Order is  one  aspect  of  our
philosophy. We are all part of the Force. As Master Yoda says, it surrounds us
and penetrates us. All of us. The friendships that we have should be the same.
So, no: Friendship is not forbidden. It is part of who and  what  we  are.  We
work together. At times,  we  may  fight  together.  Sometimes,  we  even  die
together. But we do not die to save another Jedi. We die - - if we  must  -  -
knowing that all life is sacrosanct. We are all, every one of us, vital to the
will of the Force.