Päläwaläinen/2

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Päläwaläinen (/ˈpæˌlæˌvɑːˈlaɪˌnɛn/; PA-la-vah-LEYE-nehn)&mdash;a nom de guerre derived from the ancient Palawa language word for individual Followers of Palawa (literally "Palawan" or "Follower of Palawa")&mdash;was a Force-sensitive Human male from Bunduki active during the last decades of the Great Peace of the Republic.

The Force user known as Päläwaläinen was born a member of Bunduki's nobility and raised by the monastic order of Force users known as the Followers of Palawa. A student of history, Päläwaläinen developed anti-Jedi sentiments on account of both the Jedi Order's ancient destruction of Palawa and the numerous intragalactic wars for which its members were responsible. As such, Päläwaläinen pursued a specialization in Teräs Käsi, a martial art developed by the Followers of Palawa to combat the Jedi, and eventually ascended to mastery of the discipline as a Steel Hand of Palawa.

As a Forceful Teräs Käsi practitioner with a dislike for the Jedi, Päläwaläinen was hand-picked by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine to teach Teräs Käsi to the Grand Army's clone assassins, specialized clone soldiers tasked with executing the contingency order related to the possibility of Jedi insurrections against the Republic. Päläwaläinen participated in the Great Jedi Purge alongside his clone soldiers, though he came to regret the part he played in the rise of the Galactic Empire and eventually retired to Bunduki. He died in 3–4 ABY, defending his fellow Followers of Palawa from a pair of concurrent attacks by disgruntled fellow Steel Hand Arden Lyn and the Imperial forces of Dark Jedi Yun.

Early life
The Human male who eventually adopted the nom de guerre "Päläwaläinen" was born a younger scion of one of Bunduki's noble houses in the settlement of Äslajä sometime prior to 100 BBY. Upon discovery of his latent Force sensitivity, the infant was surrendered to the Followers of Palawa, an ancient monastic order of Force users who resided on the planet. During his protracted tenure in residence among the sect, the young Palawan was immersed in the Followers' traditional academic study of the the Force and midi-chlorians, trained in the history and literature of the cultures of the Pacanth Reach, and instructed in the varied traditions and philosophies of other Forceful sects. The young nobleman eventually elected to pursue formal induction into the order as an initiate, forsaking all his outstanding claims to inheritance and noble titles alike.

A student of the Followers' history and of galactic history more generally, the Palawan became particularly critical of the Jedi Order, blaming its members both for the destruction of the Followers' ancestral homeworld of Palawa in an ancient war and for the countless galactic conflicts that followed. Like many of the galaxy's denizens, the Palawan declined to distinguish between the Jedi and such dark-sided traditions as the Legions of Lettow and Sith, opting instead to consider such sects as little more than Jedi offshoots born of opposition to the Order's adamant refusal to permit interpretations of the Force that differed from their own. As he came to consider the Jedi as little more than perpetual threats to galactic peace and security responsible for many of the galaxy's ills, the young Human eventually elected to pursue a specialization in Teräs Käsi, a Forceful martial art developed by the Followers of Palawa to combat the Jedi. He eventually ascended to full mastery of the discipline at some point upon coming of age, meriting formal investment as one of the Steel Hand of Palawa warriors.

Forceful research
Despite his considerable martial prowess, the Steel Hand achieved greater renown among the Followers for several discoveries related to his independent study of the Force. In addition to Teräs Käsi, the Followers of Palawa were notable for their work in the fields of Force meditation and trance-mediated hibernation. In their quest to understand the Force's essential nature, the Followers developed the Palawa hibernation trance, an advanced technique that plunged the practitioner so deeply into the Force's embrace that the resultant meditation could last decades. The young Palawan inadvertantly discovered a way of artificially forestalling aging-mediated decay in his own meditative sessions. Similar to the dark transfer technique developed by Cade Skywalker centuries later, the Palawan's technique made use the Palawa hibernation trance in conjunction with Force healing to stimulate the regeneration of chromosome telomeres, counteracting the effects of aging and memory loss in the Human body. Though regeneration on such a level required concerted mental discipline and years of time in unbroken meditation, the power of the composite Force ability was such that it was fully capable of reversing aging in the practitioner.

The Palawan likewise applied both his knowledge of the Followers' history and his grasp of hibernation trances to the development of offensive Force powers. He was familiar with the details surrounding the supposed death of Arden Lyn, an ancient Steel Hand of Palawa the Palawan idolized for leading the Legions of Lettow against the Jedi Order during the First Great Schism. According to contemporary accounts, the Jedi Grand Master Awdrysta Pina had killed Lyn by slowing and stopping her heart, an act the young Palawan attributed to an offensive application of a meditative trance. He theorized that the Jedi's underlying technique had involved both forcefully compelling his opponent's body to enter a state of hibernation and slowing bodily functions to the point of death, though he incorrectly assumed the Jedi had intentionally stopped Lyn's heart entirely. Through careful practice on a number of volunteers constituting the more daring members of the Followers, the young Human inadvertantly reverse-engineered and redeveloped the restricted Jedi technique of morichro that allowed him to subdue opponents without violence.

Travels abroad
After many decades spent in study with the Followers of Palawa or in protracted bouts of deep-sleep meditation, the Palawan eventually elected to depart his native Bunduki to retrace the steps of his hero Arden Lyn in her transgalactic travels from Bunduki to Ossus in the years prior to 24,500 BBY. It was during this time that he adopted the nom de guerre "Päläwaläinen," an ancient Palawa language word meaning "Palawan" or "Follower of Palawa" that was used to refer to members of the group during their tenure on Palawa. Its use permitted him to conceal his true identity and identify himself with the ancient martial incarnation of the group as it existed prior to the destruction of Palawa. Though he confided his true name to certain trusted allies, he was nearly universally known by his pseudonym alone during his time off Bunduki.

Tracing Lyn's route as it mirrored the perambulations of many generations of Followers preceding her, Päläwaläinen's travels took him first to the Outer Rim world of Pelgrin, a barren planet that had once hosted a species responsible for Force-based technological feats older than those of the Celestials by millions of years. It was here that he found the Oracle, an ancient clockwork tower known to provide intense visions to certain Force users. The tower precinct, as a site under the joint jurisdiction of the Jedi Order and Galactic Republic, was patrolled and studied by a handful of Jedi and a number of Republic scientists. Though the Jedi tolerated the presence of artists, journalists, and other visitors on the planet, Päläwaläinen was not allowed to approach the Oracle despite his protestations. In response, he applied his aptitude for Force stealth, a rudimentary Force power in which he excelled, to sneak into the complex's top story. He received no vision from the Oracle apart from the inexplicable sense of peace the structure's activation generated in the Force, and though he felt the profound desire to meditate, he was forced to flee upon discovering that the Oracle's distinct humming had alerted its Jedi guardians to his intrusion.

Päläwaläinen's subsequent perambulations in the general direction of Ossus brought him into a chance encounter with the Force Warriors, a roving Force sect vaguely associated with the Jedi whose members wandered about the galaxy in search of enlightenment and balance. Though he disliked their inclusion of Jedi members, Päläwaläinen found many kindred spirits among the unorthodox group, whose members focused on developing emotional control and self-mastery through meditation and the practice of Forceful martial arts. Päläwaläinen freely shared his knowledge of Teräs Käsi with the Force Warriors in exchange for instruction in the traditional Jedi arts of Broken Gate and Bakuuni Hand, eventually developing a proficiency in the martial arts around the time of his formal induction into the group. He remained among the Force Warriors in their wanderings for many years, though he eventually departed their company to conclude his wanderings on Ossus.

Republic recruitment
Päläwaläinen spent little time on Ossus, repelled as he was in his investigations of the Great Jedi Library's ruins by the native Ysanna caretakers. After a significant portion of a Human lifetime spent abroad in the greater galaxy, an aged and wizened Päläwaläinen eventually returned to Bunduki and entered into a protracted hibernation and healing trance. He emerged over a decade later rejuvenated and youthful, having earned the acclaim of the Followers for demonstrating the unparalleled potency of the meditative healing ritual he had developed in the days of his youth. Confident in the success of his technique, he shared the details of its implementation with his most seasoned fellows, and spent the next few years instructing the Followers in the varied skills and insights he had gathered from his perambulations abroad.