Barnabas Vim

"The Force has not abandoned you. It cannot. Where there is life, there is light."

―Barnabas Vim^[1]

Barnabas Vim was a legendary human Jedi Master who was the Master of Padawan Vix Fonnick.^[4] A long time before 382 BBY,^[5] Vim traveled with^[4] his^[2] Padawan to the planet Angcord in search of the Echo Stone.^[4]

Biography[]

Finding the Echo Stone on Angcord[]

Sometime before 382 BBY, Barnabas Vim and his Padawan Vix Fonnick traveled to the planet Angcord in search of Force artifacts.^[4] They had been drawn to Angcord by a legend that told of a gem capable of amplifying one’s connection to the Force; the gem had allegedly been hidden on the planet to keep it away from the Sith, and its powers had sustained the world ever since. However, there had been no communications from Angcord to the outside world for many years, and as Vim and Fonnick approached they felt a disturbance in the Force. They were hailed by the planet’s ruler, the Lady of Angcord, who informed them that she feared the world was dying. When they landed, the Lady told them that crops had been failing and trees withering, however her Pilgrim Warriors reiterated their faith in her and performed a demonstration of their Force powers. Fonnick angered the First Pilgrim by stating her disbelief that they could use the Force as Jedi did, causing Vim to reprimand her for not thinking before she spoke.^[4]

The two then accompanied the Lady to an amphitheater to observe the Pilgrim Warriors create visual displays through their control of the elements – mind-painting. Both Vim and Fonnick were astounded by what they saw, with Vim professing that he had never witnessed a group of Force-users work so cohesively together. The Lady then volunteered to show them the source of Angcord’s power, taking the Jedi to see the Echo Stone kept in a sanctum beneath the city. Fonnick let slip that they were looking for Force artifacts, at which point the Lady and First Pilgrim became defensive, worried the Jedi meant to take the stone away. Vim attempted to assuage their fears, stating they would only do so with Angcord’s consent. The Lady then told the Jedi of the planet’s history and relationship with the stone; the first settlers had promised to protect the stone, and, in return, it would protect them. But Vim suggested that they had misunderstood the stone’s nature, positing that it had 'lied' to them, the idea of which outraged the First Pilgrim, who threatened the Jedi with violence until Vim managed to persuade the Lady to give him time to meditate on the stone.^[4]

VimFonnickAngcord-THRAQOTJ — Vim and Fonnick on Angcord

That night, Vim went into a meditative sleep, during which he had a dream that made him realize that closeness to the Force did not spare individuals from death, but rather that dying provided meaning to an individual’s life. He realized that this very fact of life was inherent in the stone’s gift to Angcord. Waking up, Vim urgently summoned a meeting with the Lady, informing her that the stone was indeed draining the planet of its vitality. Faced with the wrath of the Pilgrim Warriors, he explained that the Force was made up of both the dark and the light, and that the stone was a conduit for both. Vim argued that the stone had not only poisoned Angcord through the Dark Side, but that it had also affected the Lady herself. She denied this, but when Vim tried to sever her connection to the stone she lashed out, with the Pilgrim Warriors also attacking the Jedi. Both Vim and Fonnick were hard pressed to hold off the attacks but managed to do so until Fonnick was able to bring her lightsaber down upon the stone and shatter it into fragments. This act immediately made the Lady come to her senses, and she agreed that the Jedi must take the remnants of the stone away from Angcord. Vim concurred and promised that the Republic would come and bring aid to the planet. He and Fonnick then departed, with Vim stating that they had to split up; he would take one shard to the source of the stone’s power in order to better understand it, while she would deposit the other fragments across the galaxy. They both hoped to avoid the shards being brought together by the wrong person.^[4]

Legacy[]

Around 382 BBY, Jedi Knight Azlin Rell, investigating the mysterious deaths of Zallah Macri and Kevmo Zink on Dalna, read about Vim and Fonnick's experience with the Echo Stone in the Jedi Archives at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. Rell realized that the stone likely had something to do with what had happened.^[4]