Gnost-Dural was a Kel Dor Jedi master during The Old Republic era. He was the keeper of the archives and the Orders formost expert on the Sith .He was also the former Master to Darth Malgus's apprentice, Darth Karrid. Despite being a historian he was still one of the most powerful and skilled Jedi of the era.
ACCOLADES:
She had witnessed his lightsaber skills during there battle; now it seemed she was intent on finding some explanation in his weapon.
―Star Wars: Old Republic Annihilation (Page 306)
"I heard tales of your great battle prowess while I was on Tython." She told him.
―Star Wars: Old Republic Annihilation (Page 232)
Master Gnost-Dural's appearance was intimidating and unsettling. But Theron knew he was one of the most respected and honored Masters in the Order.
―Star Wars: Old Republic Annihilation (Page 109)
Having reviewed the file the Jedi sent over, however, Theron knew he was more than a mere historian. Gnost-Dural was also an accomplished warrior; he'd been battling the Sith ever since their startling reemergence on the galactic stage, longer than Theron had even been alive.
―Star Wars: Old Republic Annihilation (Page 110)
"You've got quite the little operation going." Theron said appreciatively, "For a Jedi Historian, you make a pretty good spy."
―Star Wars: Old Republic Annihilation (Page 131)
TELEKINESIS
At the same time he used the Force to pick up the two others [soldiers] and send them crashing into the ceiling before letting them drop back down to the floor.
―Star Wars: Old Republic Annihilation (Page 231)
The Jedi responded by lashing out with the Force, hurling the four heavily armored soldiers several meters back down the corridor.
―Star Wars: Old Republic Annihilation (Page 230)
The Jedi stepped in front of Theron and batted away the blaster bolts before using the Force to hurl the guards back around the corner. From the grunts and groans it was clear they had slammed into the other members of the team hard enough to inflict real damage.
―Star Wars: Old Republic Annihilation (Page 311)
Gnost-Dural stood up and reached out with the Force, using it to pick the surviving soldier up and pull her out into the open. She flew several meters through the air before landing on the exposed ground.
―Star Wars: Old Republic Annihilation (Page 153)
He saw the second guard reaching forward to hit the alarm, he knocked him back with a powerful Force Push.
―Star Wars: Old Republic Annihilation (Page 308)
Knowing he was running out of time, Gnost-Dural switched tactics again. He thrust out with a powerful Force Wave sweeping them both [Darth Karrid's apprentices] off their feet.
―Star Wars: Old Republic Annihilation (Page 236)
Gnost-Dural uses force choke to intimidate a soldier, but I honestly don't think he would kill or even us this ability under any normal circumstances.
The guard hesitated but held her ground, and he realized that she needed more convincing. The Kel Dor extended his hand while simultaneously reaching out with the Force to applied a faint pressure on her windpipe.
She threw her hands up to her throat and her eyes went wide with terror as her oxygen supply was cut off. After a few moments he released his hold, causing her to fall to her knees as she took in deep, desperate gulps of oxygen.
―Star Wars: Old Republic Annihilation (Page 229)
SABER THROW
Before they even hit the ground he had sprung to his feet, charging towards them as he threw his lightsaber sidearm. The spinning blade struck the nearest of the foes, slicing through the chest plate of his battle armor and into his vulnerable flesh beneath.
―Star Wars: Old Republic Annihilation (Page 230)
He threw his lightsaber in Darth Karrids direction, sending it end-over-end on a direct line with his target. The Falleen parried the attack with her own blade, though she was force to take a step back to absorb the impact.
―Star Wars: Old Republic Annihilation (Page 238)
At the same time, Gnost-Dural hurled his lightsaber down the hall, striking down a guard who'd dared to peek around the corner.
―Star Wars: Old Republic Annihilation (Page 312)
SPEED
Gnost-Dural was little more than a blur of motion and movement as he raced through the corridors of Reaver Station. The imperial soldiers he flew past reacted with a mix of surprise, curiosity, and alarm, but he came and went so fast that none of them fully realized what had happened. Left in his wake, they exchanged a few puzzled glances with their friends, then laughed off the odd but seemingly harmless encounter as their minds convinced them that the person who'd just ran past couldn't possible have been moving that fast.
―Star Wars: Old Republic Annihilation (Pages 227-228)
The Jedi responded by lashing out with the Force, hurling the four heavily armored soldiers several meters back down the corridor. Before they even hit the ground he had sprung to his feet, charging towards them as he threw his lightsaber sidearm.
―Star Wars: Old Republic Annihilation (Page 230)
From this quote Gnost-Dural is atleast 4 strikes per second but I would put him at 5 or 6 because this took place in LESS than a second.
The apprentice blocked two overhand strikes, but then overreacted when the Kel Dor feigned a third, leaving himself vulnerable down low. The Jedi turned his wrist and spun to his left, reversing the direction of the blade too quickly for the apprentice to recover, and removed him from the battle with a deep slash across the midsection that nearly severed the man in two.
The entire sequence took less than a second...
―Star Wars: Old Republic Annihilation (Page 318)
Keep in mind with this next quote that there is a trained force wielder in the room.
Gnost-Dural reacted with the superior reflexes and blinding speed of a true Jedi Master, already in motion before the others even realized something had gone wrong.
―Star Wars: Old Republic Annihilation (Page 307)
TELEPATHY
Gnost-Dural had some use of the jedi mind trick. He can only effect weak willed subjects.
"No cover for us." He said, waving his hand in front of him in an almost hypnotic gesture. "We're friends of the owner."
―Star Wars: Old Republic Annihilation (Page 197)
SENSE
Gnost-Dural did not have his eye goggles during this period and couldn't open his eyes due to his sensitivity to oxygen rich environments.
Careful not to do anything that might draw attention of the pure-blooded apprentice he sensed in the room with him, Gnost-Dural drew upon the Force to grant him a picture of his surroundings. The first thing he sensed was the battle raging outside the ship; the Republic fleet had come to Duro! But it didn't take him long to realize they were outmatched, and he knew if he didn't do something the battle would be lost.
He turned his heightened perception inward, allowing him to construct a highly detailed picture of his holding cell.
―Star Wars: Old Republic Annihilation (Page 306)
BLASTERS
All though not a weapon he carries around or opts for he is very capable of wielding a blaster effectively
Gnost-Dural crouched on one knee, drew his blaster, and shot the first one as he came racing around the corner, killing him instantly.
―Star Wars: Old Republic Annihilation (Page 153)
Gnost-Dural shot her before she could even get to her feet.
―Star Wars: Old Republic Annihilation (Page 153)
He scrambled over to the door and poked his head around the corner, his weapon ready. Two of Pressik's men were down; the captain and the others had turned there attention to a figure firing at them from the shadows just beyond the door leading to the stairwell...
"Its me," The voice of Master Gnost-Dural called out, careful not use any names. "Are you hurt?"
―Star Wars: Old Republic Annihilation (Page 165)
SOME TIME TELLING POWER
Gnost-Dural is able to keep track of time via the Force. He could use the Force almost like a stop watch and even after recovering from unconsciousness he could tell just how much time had past.
Despite Karrid's torture, however, he felt his perception of time and space- an awareness born of being closely attuned to the universal power of the Force- returning. A little more than ten hours had past since the attack on Karrid's inner sanctum;
―Star Wars: Old Republic Annihilation (Page 264)
Lightsaber Skills
For an in depth explanation on Gnost-Dural's lightsaber forms you should check out the blog that I made on that subject here: http://www.comicvine.com/profile/wildbantha88/blog/gnost-durals-lightsaber-skills-styles/100861/
But for those of you to lazy to do so, here is the short version.
Gnost-Dural is a highly skilled master of lightsaber combat and had skill in all seven forms of lightsaber combat. He was a master of Soresu, Niman, Juyo, and Djem So, and was skilled in all the other forms of lightsaber combat.
His typical response in combat was to open up with Niman and from their he would switch styles as needed to take full advantage of the changing conditions of combat. As a master skilled in all seven forms he was highly skilled in spotting weaknesses in his opponents style and taking appropriate action to tae full advantage of them.
Overall he is an absolute master of lightsaber combat and a very high caliber opponent.
Gnost-Durals Battles
The sizzle and hum of clashing blades echoed off the walls of the cavernous chamber as Karrid's apprentices engaged Gnost-Dural. There attacks were basic variations on the Makashi style, a precise and economical lightsaber form designed for maximum result with minimal movement by stressing jabs and thrusts.
There skill was raw; like Karrid much of there training had focused on developing the unique abilities required to their Master command the Ascendant Spear. They were still able to call on the fury of the dark side to move with astonishing strength, and speed, but they hadn't mastered the subtle art of allowing the Force to guide there blades. They were wielding the weapon instead of allowing it to become an extension of themselves.
Nevertheless, they were relentless in their attacks, and there were two of them. Gnost-Dural was forced onto the defensive to ward off the attacks, occasionally slipping in quick maneuvers drawn from the more aggressive Ataru form to keep them off balance.
Darth Karrid merely observed the battle at first, keeping a safe distance from the deadly blade of her former Master while his focus and energies were drained by her apprentices.
Realizing he would eventually wear down if he allowed the duel to become a duel of attraction, the Kel Dor countered with Djemn So, the fifth of the seven recognized lightsaber forms. Concentrating his counterattacks exclusively on the physically smaller female sith, he unleashed a series of savage blows, driving her into a stumbling retreat.
For an instant he was left completely exposed to her companion, but the unexpected ferocity in Gnost-Dural's sudden switch in tactics caught him unprepared. He hesitated a fraction of a second before thrusting forward, giving the Jedi enough time to leap aside, even as his Sith opponent tripped over her own backpedaling feet and fell to the floor.
Gnost-Dural lunged forward to deliver a coupe de grace, but his momentum was suddenly reversed, and he found himself sailing backward as Darth Karrid hit him with a powerful Force Push. He was able to roll into a back summersault as he hit the ground and spring back to his feet, but his brie advantage was lost.
Knowing he was running out of time, Gnost-Dural switched tactics again. He thrust out with a powerful Force Wave, sweeping them both off there feet. But before he could finish off his prone opponents Karrid unleashed a blast of crackling dark side energy in his direction. Gnost-Dural leapt clear, the deadly blue lightning scorching the floor where he had been standing an instant before.
He threw his lightsaber in Darth Karrids direction, sending it end-over-end on a direct line with his target. The Falleen parried the attack with her own blade, though she was force to take a step back to absorb the impact. Gnost-Dural was already in motion, charging past her apprentices before they could scramble to their feet. His lightsaber flew back into his outstretched palm as he fell on Karrid.
He had trained her in Niman, the sixth and most balanced form of lightsaber combat. Malgus might have taught her other styles, but when faced with Gnost-Durals ferocious assault she instinctively fell back on the form she learned before all others. Niman lent itself well to the Jedi ways, eschewing naked aggression for balance and economy of motion that relied on focus and precision. As a Sith Lord who drew her strength from channeling the raw emotional fury of the dark side, the style compromised Karrid's abilities. The effect was minimal, but it was more than enough for Gnost-Dural to exploit.
He used a quick shove with the Force to send her off balance and brought his lightsaber in high to strike at her shoulder. When she raised her own blade to block the blow, he dropped low and took her feet out from under her with a sweep of his leg.
Karrid toppled over, but the Jedi was forced to turn his back on her to engage the female Sith as she leapt to Karrids aid. They exchanged a quick series of blows- plenty of time for Karrid to regain her feet. But instead of attempting to finish Gnost-Dural off by attacking from his flank, however, she retreated from the melee, putting the preservation of her own life above the opportunity to finish off her opponent.
The male Sith joined in a second later, and Gnost-Dural switched to the defensive Soresu form. He could sense fatigue seeping into his muscles: the toll of the battle was wearing him down, fractionally slowing his blade and leaving him more vulnerable to the Force attacks of his enemies. An instant latter the door swooshed open and a dozen Imperial guards spilled into the room.
Karrid held up a hand to indicate they should hold their fire.
"The outcome is inevitable." Karrid called out to him as he fought off the twin attacks of her apprentices. "I sense your exhaustion. Throw down your weapon and I will let you beg for mercy."
Gnost-Dural didn't expect to win the battle. From the moment he decided to board the Ascendant Spear, he'd known defeating Karrid was a near impossibility. But he wasn't about to surrender and grovel at her feet-if for no other reason than that if he did, she would be suspicious and his true plan would never work.
"I didn't come seeking victory." He said.
Karrid's head tilted to the side as she searched for the meaning behind his words. Failing to grasp it, she turned to the soldiers arrayed just inside the door.
"I want him alive," she told the captain.
Gnost-Dural used the last of his dwindling strength to call on the Force for on final sweep that sent him hurtling over the apprentice's heads towards his former Padawan.
The attack was doomed to failure; there were a dozen ways Karrid could have avoided or repelled the attack. But she didn't even have to react as the soldiers opened fire with a dozen blasters all set to stun. The bolts knocked the Jedi from the air and sent him slamming hard to the ground. His lightsaber fell from his paralyzed fingers, and extinguished as the hilt clattered to the ground.
―Star Wars: Old Republic Annihilation (Pages 236-240)
Gnost-Durals next two fights take place after he was tortured for hours and driven to the brink of insanity. Although he did have time to spend in reflective meditation, mending the damage he could, I doubt he repaired all of the damage. Although I was originally under the impression that his torture was purely mental, it does sagest in this next quote that his body was also damaged as well.
Gnost-Dural had spent the hours since Darth Karrids last visit in quiet, reflective meditation. As per the Sith Lord's instructions, the interrogators had spared him more torture with Mekhis's infernal machine. The respite had allowed the Jedi to calm and focus his mind, subtly drawing on the Force to refresh and restore his ravaged body and spirit.
―Star Wars: Old Republic Annihilation (Page 305)
Gnost-Dural reacted with the superior reflexes and blinding speed of a true Jedi Master, already in motion before the others even realized something had gone wrong. He landed on his feet, his lightsaber flying from the corner and into the outstretched palm of his right hand, the blade springing to life with a sharp hiss. At the same time his protective goggles flew up into his left hand and he yanked them into place.
One of the interrogators slammed his hand on the button to activate the machine, but with the prisoner already free of his restraints nothing happened. His partner reacted with more sense, pulling his pistol. Darth Karrid's apprentice made the wisest choice of all. She turned and fled out the door.
The guard with the pistol fired, but Gnost-Dural batted the blaster bolt aside. He saw the second guard reaching forward to hit the alarm, and knocked him back with a powerful Force push. Two quick steps closed the distance between them in the small room, and he ended their lives with a pair of clean, efficient cuts of his glowing blade. Then he raced from the room in pursuit of Karrid's apprentice, ignoring his jedi robes and clothes still lying in the back corner of the room.
He saw her disappear around a corner at the end of a twenty-meter hall, and he gave chase. She was waiting for him as he rounded the corner, her own lightsaber drawn. She tried to impale him, hoping his momentum as he came barreling around the corner would carry him right onto the deadly tip of her outstretched blade. But Gnost-Dural twisted to the side; her thrust only traced a thing line across the topmost layer of his bared chest. Ignoring the smell of his own charred flesh, he retaliated by driving his elbow into the Sith's jaw, sending her stumbling back.
She threw up her lightsaber in a defensive stance to hold him off, but one-on-one she was no match for the Kel Dor. He came at her with a flurry of intense strikes drawn from Juyo, the highly aggressive seventh form of lightsaber combat designed specifically to overwhelm a lone opponent in a one-on-one duel. The chaotic patterns and haphazard sequences picked apart the Sith's defenses in a matter of second, the battle ended with Master Gnost-Dural plunging his lightsaber through her chest and out the other side, impaling her as she had originally tried to do so to him.
―Star Wars: Old Republic Annihilation (Pages 307-309)
In this next fight Gnost-Dural is fighting one of the apprentices too Darth Karrid and two Sith Lords, Lord Quux and Lord Ordez, who swore fealty to Darth Karrid.
Gnost-Dural rushed his three opponents, hoping to put a quick end to the battle. His blade flickered and danced as his body went into a series of spirals and leaps. Darth Karrid's apprentice―the one he'd fought before―retreated, but the two new comers met his assault head on, driving him back with their aggressive counter attacks.
Realizing he wasn't just facing raw apprentices this time, the Jedi switched to a more defensive strategy as his enemies pressed forward. The Sith's purple blades came at him from all angles, a high slash from the right; a low cut from the left; a pair of diagonal chops. The human's massive double-bladed lightsaber was more direct, crashing down in repetitive series of overhand strikes as he tried to bludgeon his way through Gnost-Dural's guard.
The Jedi Master met and repelled each and every attack, holding his ground behind a near-impenetrable wall of defense. Even with the apprentice joining the fray he didn't waver―the Soresu style, when performed perfectly, could keep numerous attackers with a variety of styles at bay indefinitely...or at least until exhaustion and fatigue forced Gnost-Dural to make a mistake.
That was the draw back of Soresu: it demanded a passive role―it could delay defeat, but it couldn't bring victory. And at three against one, his enemies would not need long to wear him down. Fortunately, despite the impressive skill possessed by two of his three opponents, his foes were not attacking him as a group. They lacked unity of purpose. They didn't time or coordinate their attacks, occasionally even getting in one another's way.
Gnost-Dural was able to exploit this single flaw to his advantage, drawing both of his more skilled opponents in at the same time by dipping his right shoulder and letting his blade slip a fraction too far away as he parried one of his third foe's clumsy thrusts.
Both seized the chance to come at him hard, looking to exploit the perceived vulnerability, allowing Gnost-Dural to spin quickly away in the opposite direction. Suddenly bereft of their shared target, the two Sith were forced to pull back and abort their attacks to keep from getting tangled up with each other, momentarily leaving the apprentice at Gnost-Dural's mercy
He wasted no time in disposing of his lesser opponent. The apprentice blocked two overhand strikes, but then overreacted when the Kel Dor feigned a third, leaving himself vulnerable down low. The Jedi turned his wrist and spun to his left, reversing the direction of the blade too quickly for the apprentice to recover, and removed him from the battle with a deep slash across the midsection that nearly severed the man in two.
The entire sequence took less than a second, but even so Gnost-Dural barely turned back in time to ward off the next wave of attacks from the two more dangerous warriors. Once again he fell into the precise, effective moves of Soresu to battle them to a standstill. But he could already feel fatigue creeping in, the intensity of the combat wearing him down despite the sustaining power of the Force.
―Star Wars: Old Republic Annihilation (Pages 316-318)
Master Gnost-Dural saw Darth Karrid leave her pod and head toward Theron, but he wasn't able to break away from the duel with the two Sith Lord's. As fatigue had whittled away the Jedi's speed and concentration, he's stopped being able to stand his ground. The relentless pressure of his opponents had slowly driven him backward until they had him against the wall.
Despite what was happening all around them, their battle had raged on unabated. With single-minded focus his enemies ignored the alarms as they began to ring out. The explosions that rocked the ship and made the entire room shake had given them no pause. But the blast from inside Karrid's command pod was so near and so loud that it snapped the attention of all three combatants away from their duel.
Over the loud speaker a voice rose above the alarms, giving the order to abandon ship. Gnost-Dural knew the imperial soldiers outside trying to cut through the door would heed the call, but he wasn't so sure about the two Sith in the room.
"You can stay here and finish me off as the ship crumbles around us," the Kel Dor said, gasping for breath. "Or we can call this a draw and make break for the escape pods."
The pureblood raised both his purple blades as if ready to continue the fight, but quickly changed his mind when his partner turned and raced towards the exit
―Star Wars: Old Republic Annihilation (Page 324)
Something to note is that all of the lightsaber duels he was shown in took place on a powerful dark side nexus.
The power of the dark side all around him was impossible to ignore; it seeped from the very walls of the Ascendant Spear, a twisted creation of a brilliant yet diseased mind.
―Star Wars: Old Republic Annihilation (Page 305)
He could feel evil and corruption enveloping him, growing steadily stronger during his decent, and he knew it wasn't because of his former Padawans presence. When Darth Mekhis had created the Ascendant Spear, she'd use a combination of experimental technology and Sith alchemy to imbue the ship itself with the energies of the dark side. By the time Gnost-Dural stepped into the turbolift that would take him to the black-heart of the vessel, he was feeling physically nauseated from the effects.
―Star Wars: Old Republic Annihilation (Page 230)
I hope you enjoyed this respect thread. Gnost-Dural is one of my favorite jedi from the Old Republic era, not only because of his skill and power, but because he is a cool character all around. Im eager to hear what you think.
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