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- "Today, Tansad reported a breakthrough — he confirmed that the pictographs correspond to dates. His finds were correlated between the beginning sounds each pictograph makes, Aaris III's annual revolution, and the overall pattern and number of the series of pictographs. Subsequently Jelok has abandoned his theories on the language and is now endeavoring to assist Tansad in deciphering the sounds."
- ―From the journal of Doctor Lancer Brunou
Grigor Tansad was a male scientist who served in the forces of Moff Kentor Sarne, Imperial warlord of the Kathol sector. In 8 ABY, he was assigned to science team MS-133 which was charged with excavating extensive ruins on the planet Aaris III. During the expedition, Tansad was responsible for discovering a chamber filled with pictographs. Tansad theorized that the glyphs corresponded to a dating system used by the Aaris, the native sentient species that had apparently gone extinct several thousand years prior.
During the mission, Tansad's fellow scientist, Jelok, discovered the Plaque of Victory, a sentient inanimate artifact that sought to manipulate the beings around it by heightening their suspicions and hostility, eventually turning them against each other. As the team began to suspect that they were being watched from the jungle, they were attacked by the primitive descendants of the Aaris. Tansad was killed in the pictograph chamber by a blow to the head, and his body hidden under the rubble. Ultimately, only two members of the team, Doctor Lancer Brunou and research assistant Solla Deremot, survived to be rescued by the New Republic CR90 corvette FarStar, which had answered a distress call sent by Brunou.
Biography
- "Today our careful work paid off—Tansad discovered a way into one of the ruined metal structures in the field near the shuttle."
- ―From the journal of Doctor Lancer Brunou
Aaris III
Grigor Tansad was a male scientist assigned to science team MS-133 under the leadership of Doctor Lancer Brunou. Part of the forces commanded by Moff Kentor Sarne, Imperial warlord of the Kathol sector, MS-133 was dispatched in 8 ABY to conduct an archaeological expedition to the planet Aaris III to determine why the Aaris—the world's sentient species—had apparently gone extinct several thousand years prior. During the months-long mission, Tansad assisted his fellow team members in excavating and cataloging extensive ruins. On the forty-ninth day of the mission, Tansad discovered an entrance into one of the ruined structures. A secondary base camp was established near to the building, and Tansad—along with fellow scientist Jelok, two technicians and five troopers—began exploring the chamber.[1]
Inside the ruin, Tansad and Jelok discovered pictographs that covered the walls and emitted sounds when touched. Jelok held the opinion that the glyphs were the key to the language of the Aaris, but Tansad believed that they were, in fact, a pictorial dating system that recorded the civilization's history in an aural form. Both scientists worked on their own theories; after several days, Tansad discovered correlations between the beginning sound emitted by each pictograph, the annual revolution of Aaris III, and the pictograph's overall patterns and number. The breakthrough confirmed his theory, and Jelok abandoned his own work to assist Tansad in deciphering the designs. The next day, Jelok found a metal ingot concealed in a floor safe while clearing rubble in the chamber. Doctor Brunou analyzed the artifact at the main base camp, and decided to send it to Moff Sarne's research facilities on his capital, Kal'Shebbol, for further testing when he discovered that the ingot was composed of an unknown material and radiating energy. The artifact, in fact, contained a sentient lifeform that fed off of the life-force of living beings by manipulating their emotions, raising their hostility and suspicions and turning them against one another. Known as the "Plaque of Victory" by the Aaris, the artifact's influence had been responsible for the civil war that had caused the downfall of the civilization thousands of years prior.[1]
Shortly after the artifact was discovered, members of the team began reporting that they felt they were being watched from the jungle. Although there was no evidence of other living beings on Aaris III, the Lieutenant in command of MS-133's military detachment and five troopers entered the jungle to investigate. Blaster fire was heard an hour later, and the soldiers did not return to camp. Brunou considered recalling the expedition, but Tansad and Jelok continued their work in the chamber. Tansad continued to decipher the pictographs and enter his findings into his datapad. He translated eleven rows of pictographs, learning that the Aaris had been an industrial society that had raised large cities and were relatively peaceful, although they had fought occasional wars. He learned that the author of the recordings was a scholar by the name of Kastays, and that some of the pictographs chronicled the last days of the Aaris as they descended into civil war. Kastays' recordings described how the Plaque of Victory was discovered and the effect it had rendered on the population of the city, slowly turning them against each other before compelling them to erupt into full blown conflict. In a final effort to negate its influence, the artifact was sealed in a floor vault in Kastays' chamber high above the city. As Tansad noted his discoveries, he also commented that he had a feeling that something was terribly wrong on the planet, and that Jelok was jealous of his discoveries.[1]
Members of the FarStar crew find Tansad's body in the Place of Kastays.
Shortly after, Tansad was killed in the pictograph chamber. His skull was crushed by a heavy blow with a fist-sized rock, and his body was hidden under the rubble. The remaining members of MS-133 were unaware of his death, and Jelok only reported that he was missing from the chamber to Brunou. Following Tansad's death, MS-133 was attacked[1] by the primitive descendants of the Aaris.[2] Several assaults took place, and eventually the team was reduced to two members, Brunou and Research Assistant Solla Deremot. The pair were rescued by the New Republic CR90 corvette FarStar, which had responded to a distress call that Brunou had sent to Kal'Shebbol, unaware that the planet had fallen to the New Republic in the intervening months. The crew of the FarStar conducted an investigation into the events that had occurred on the planet, and discovered Tansad's body in the pictograph chamber, along with the rock used to kill him covered in blood.[1]
Personality and traits
- "Despite feelings that something here is terribly wrong (or is it simply Jelok's jealousy arousing my suspicions?), I am slowly discovering what happened in this ancient place."
- ―Grigor Tansad notes
Grigor Tansad was a scientist with experience in alien linguistics, able to make reasoned hypotheses and correlate findings to prove theories. During the Aaris III expedition, Tansad's theory on the nature of the Aaris pictographs proved to be correct. Despite this, he had an unnerving feeling that something was wrong on the planet during MS-133's time on Aaris III, and he believed that Jelok was jealous that his own theory regarding the pictographs was incorrect.[1]
Behind the scenes
Grigor Tansad was introduced in the RPG adventure Artifact of Aaris, published in The DarkStryder Campaign by West End Games in 1995. The adventure implies that, under the influence of the Plaque of Victory, the members of MS-133 turned upon each other, resulting in multiple deaths and the destruction of the team's shuttle. However, The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, published in 2008, confirmed that the team came under attack from the remnants of the Aaris civilization. Regardless, the adventure implies that Tansad was murdered by Jelok. Tansad's own notes state that he felt that Jelok was jealous of his work, and Tansad's body was found under the rubble in the chamber in which he and Jelok were working. Tansad had been killed by a blow to the head, and the murder weapon was nearby, still covered in blood. However, since neither source directly confirms these implications, this article only presents the information without assumptions.
Appearances
"Artifact of Aaris" — The DarkStryder Campaign (First mentioned)
Sources
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
"Artifact of Aaris" — The DarkStryder Campaign
- ↑ The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, Vol. II, p. 154 ("Jelok")