Anatoli Meranov

From SW:TOR-RP-Wiki

"Master Anatoli is perhaps the most unorthodox master we've seen in quite some time."

~Jedi Master Adaris Velaar commenting on Anatoli

Contents 1 Appearance 2 Early Life 3 Jedi Training 4 Life as a Master 5 Death 6 Legacy

Appearance

Like most Meranovs, Master Anatoli sported dark brown hair which he kept slicked back, and a clean shaven face. He frequently wore tan jedi robes covered by a dark brown cloak. Unlike most other Meranovs, his clothes were frequently rumpled, from restless nights sleeping. His face was always gaunt and he frequently had dark circles under his eyes which is attributed to the lack of sleep he received from constantly pursuing his research.

Early Life

Anatoli was the second son of Ivan and Irina Meranov, and, as is the custom, he was sent to study with the Jedi Order at the age of 6. Anatoli flourished at the Jedi Academy, he thoroughly enjoyed learning new things, both physical and intellectual. His teachers often remarked at how quickly he was able to grasp a subject and begin delving deeper into it, to uncover hidden meanings and uses for the knowledge. This endless pursuit of knowledge was formed early on in his life, as he was commonly known to read voraciously from any and every source imaginable. He also enjoyed exploring the hidden areas of Talus, trying to discover their secrets. His father once remarked that it seemed the greatest joy in Anatoli's life was knowing things, especially if it was something few other people knew.

In addition to his early pursuit of knowledge, Anatoli had one other major event in his early life, one not quite as pleasant. At the age of 4, he was stuck by a terrible illness that left him in ill health for the rest of his life. It is speculated by some, that it is this frailty which led him to love learning and the acquisition of hidden and forgotten knowledge, since, for a significant portion of his young life he was forced to remain indoors. Though against all recommendations by his doctors, Anatoli did take up exploring again when he felt he was ready, and continued to explore strange, forgotten, and oft-times dangerous places, though it usually led to several weeks of recuperation. He claimed that not exploring would be giving into weakness and frailty, two things which a Jedi could not afford to do.

Jedi Training

Anatoli's Jedi training was very traditional in almost every way. He was the padawan of Jedi Master Seequay Kinto, a renown Jedi chronicler. Throughout his Jedi training Anatoli was allowed to sift through much of the vast Jedi knowledge collected on Coruscant. He was also able to experience much that the galaxy had to offer as he followed Master Kinto. The one area in which Anatoli was said to be severely lacking was any sort of combat skill. He was a marginally good lightsaber duelist in his younger years, and also had some marginal talent with the force, but he was still below average. As he progressed, however, Anatoli gave up practicing both the Lightsaber combat forms as well as practicing controlling the Force. Master Kinto was often seen rebuking his otherwise gifted pupil for never remembering to bring his lightsaber.

After becoming a knight at 25, his disregard for all things related to combat increased, and he was seen to spend most of his time researching in the Jedi Archives. After spending nearly 30 years as a Jedi Knight and seldom leaving the Archives, he began to go out on wild, and sometimes dangerous, expeditions. Several of these expeditions yielded several sets of undiscovered ruins, one of which contained an ancient Jedi holocron. For his outstanding work in this matter, he was granted the rank of Jedi Master, and named one of the Chief Librarians of the Jedi Archives.

Life as a Master

After being named a Jedi Master, Anatoli used his new found title and position to access the most restricted of the Jedi Archives. He became even more reclusive as he studied the Archives endlessly. He began going out to mysterious, uncharted planets that were only vaguely mentioned in the Archives. He is credited with adding a great deal of knowledge to the archives, as his expeditions not only yielded new ruins, and new civilizations, but he was frequently able to chart planets more accurately, and to update many of the Jedi's outdated records. While this contribution is still relatively small, in terms of the Jedi Archives as a whole, it became Anatoli's life's work. Over the course of 15 years, he eventually was able to read, or skim, most of the Archives data. Growing bored with sitting in the Academy he began his own experiments with a unique gift he possessed, the manipulation of matter with the Force. While most Jedi since have agreed that the power is next to useless in practical terms, Anatoli was convinced that the power could be used in a way that was useful to the Jedi. His experiments took him all over the galaxy, and he was eventually one of the most skilled matter manipulators known, though the skill still lacked any real practical purpose.

Anatoli turned this study into his life's work, and began even more intense research into the topic, advancing his study and power to the point where he was known to remark "I see matter as you see clay, something that can be shaped, molded, and crafted according to my will." His eventual goal was to be able to advance the power to the point where manipulation of large tracts of land would be able to be moved shifted using the force, sadly this goal remained out of his reach, despite his many travels and years of study. As he neared the age of 74, Anatoli compiled all of his years of research on his the unusual matter manipulation, as well as his studies of ancient ruins and the forgotten knowledge they contained into one holocron, which he offered the Jedi. Much to his surprise the Jedi refused to accept his holocron, unless he was willing to redact the portions of his research regarding his unique talent to manipulate matter, their reasoning being that, since the ability served no practical purpose, there was no reason to allow it to clutter the official archives. Master Anatoli was outraged by this outcome, and the rejection of one of his major areas of research. He therefore refused to allow the Jedi access to any portion of his holocron, instead sending it back to his family on Talus. He then left on another mission through which he hoped to find a practical use for his power, to prove the Jedi wrong.

Death

It should be noted that as Master Anatoli embarked on this mission, the Great War between the Galactic Republic and Sith Empire was raging across the galaxy. Without regard to his own safety, Master Anatoli departed for the front. He hopped from planet to planet, hoping to find a use for his power for over 2 years, finally settling down on a promising world, he began experimenting heavily using the Force. Unfortunately, he'd forgotten to take into account that other Force Users could potentially be near by, and it was during one of these Force Experiments that two sith troopers were dispatched by a Dark Jedi to his location. Master Anatoli was ambushed by the troopers, and attempted to use his matter manipulation as a defense, it quickly became apparent that the power had little to no use in battle, and he reached for his lightsaber, ignited it, and immediately realized that he had not practiced the forms in over 20 years. The two Sith troopers quickly dispatched the nearly defenseless Jedi Master, and rejoined their squad. Several days later, the Jedi Master's body would be recovered by Republic troops, and sent back to Talus.

Legacy

While he is considered an unorthodox and unconventional Jedi Master. His contributions to the knowledge and accuracy of the Jedi Archives are quite substantial. His constant exploring and analysis allowed the Jedi to update several hundred out-of-date records. Furthermore, his holocron is said to contain some of the most detailed and accurate re-constructions of several ancient alien civilizations. His contributions to the Jedi Order are certainly noteworthy, even if they are a bit mundane. He also had the distinction of being one of the only members of the Meranov Family to become a Jedi Master.

In addition to his contributions to the Order, he inadvertently affected the attitude of every Meranov Jedi that has followed him. After his untimely death, it became a clear fact to all Meranov Jedi after him that a deep understanding of knowledge was important, but even more important was a deep understanding of Lightsaber combat. In that regard, most Meranovs that have become Jedi after him, have become fairly renowned lightsaber duelists, including the newest Meranov to become an initiate, Pyotr Meranov.