Marcus Moreau was a former Jedi Master character from the days of old. Founder of the Jedi Alliance, watchman of New Holstice, and creator of the old SWRP Dice HUD.
Biography
Marcus Moreau was one of the original Jedi in Second Life. He helped found several orders of Jedi, most notably the Jedi Alliance on New Holstice.
Master Marcus was also the creator of the Great Library, first on Anoth and then moved to its original ancient home of Ossus. This is a one-stop place for almost all SL SW materials. Some places have their own libraries, but the Great Library of Ossus hosts anything common to the entire community. It was Master Marcus' mission in life to create, maintain, and improve upon this library.
Master Marcus was thought to have passed away in June of 2008 at over 200 years of age, having served as a model Jedi for many years. His legacy was not just the Library or his friends' memories, but also the Tome of the Old Jedi. This was his lasting testiment to the times of old and the foundation of all SL Jedi. Further, the ruins of New Holstice still prevail today.
Awakened Master Marcus, Talus, 2009
Recent information indicates that Master Marcus has returned from the Netherworld after 20 years of being thought dead. The Old Jedi Order on Talus found him on Rhen Var unconscious, his supposed death and recent history a mystery to all.
The ruins of New Holstice are home to an ancient temple, a memorial to Jedi past, and a newly-constructed home for the current watchman. If you are a True Jedi in search of privacy and sanctity, contact Master Marcus for more information. A recent Galactic News article has been written on the area, but Master Marcus has yet to speak with them.
Marcus then reunited with old friend and consult Master Leonardis. Together, they hoped to bring some organization to the Jedi throughout the galaxy and peace to Ossus. However, that time would have to wait.
Master Marcus, New Holstice, 2011
After several attempts at working with the various orders of the galaxy (see Conclave on New Holstice, GNN Article on Conclave Failure) and advising on the new Galactic Senate, Marcus realized his efforts were fruitless.
He traveled to his old friends on Ruusan, meditating, pondering, discussing, and listening to the will of the Force with patience. Eventually, Marcus knew he had to join the Jedi here - it was his home. Upon acceptance by the Council, Marcus was inducted as a Master at Large into the New Order of the Jedi.
Origin of Marcus as a Jedi
Marcus was a wanderer in this galaxy... going from place to place, looking for a purpose. He had begun to learn of the Jedi ways and wanted to know more. It was by happenstance that he ran into Greg Manhattan one day, and he began to show Marcus things.... Lightsabers, the Force, the ways of the Jedi of the past. Marcus was born during the Rebellion years and thus had to learn much from books and holocrons.
Master Skywalker's teachings also taught much eventually when they were uncovered... But it was an interesting time when there were so few resources... Master Manhattan and Marcus basically took the shambles of the Jedi Temple, combined with the Jedi Honor, and formed the Alliance. Marcus was thrust from a mere learner into a leadership role in years... (months in real time) and soon became what you might call Grand Master, although he would say he was merely the "speaker" for the Council.
Fall of the Jedi Alliance
From an interview on Yavin IV:
- There was one order... a gathering of Jedi you could say, called the Jedi Temple, under Master Nakio. But that was not much like an order we see today... There was chaos and disorder and a need for strong leadership... that was about when I came onto the scene. Master Greg Manhattan and I had met a few Jedi, including Nakio and some of his folks, and attempted to form a more organized order. But we needed more... umpf. It was at this time that we came across a relatively new order Jedi Honor, under Master Marymac and Master Obaanah. We joined with them as the Jedi Alliance and moved to the Sirious system and eventually New Holstice.
- Was I the first Jedi? No. Am I the eldest today? Probably. But one thing I pride myself in is starting the true Jedi way in this galaxy..." A Jedi should not have or enjoy pride, but Marcus feels good that he could start something that impacted so many people.
- So the first Jedi Order was probably Jedi Temple led by Master Nakio. The first real organized Jedi Order with a safe haven, academy, and proper facilities and council was the Jedi Alliance... but I may be getting ahead of myself.
- The events that led to the breakup of JA were two-fold. First, we had some unrest in the order. Knights felt they were not listened to and we still had a ways to go to get things truly organized. We tried, and made some great changes and strides... but we just could not adapt timely enough. And second, a couple Masters had reached the end of their ropes... Master Manhattan, my long-time friend, went into hiding, and Master Rickin turned to the dark side... it was a real hit to my soul, to my being as a Jedi Master...
- It may have seemed like an easier time with basically just DLoTS and the Jedi Alliance, but it was not. Think about taking all the orders today and combining them... think about all the ideals, dress codes, academy practices, leaders, padawan relationships, intimacy allowances... the list goes on. We had to contend with that, albeit on a much smaller scale. There were several who wanted their own way... the old order 'KOTOR' came out of a group of Knights from the JA. I believe 'Jedi Unity' also spun out of some Knights and a master or two from the JA or early NOJ days.
- It was hard, and it did not last as long as we had hoped (probably a good year in real time)... but we were strong, we were organized, and we turned out some fine Jedi, many of whom thrive today as beacons of the Light. What happened after the JA fell though... a mini Big Bang of sorts. KOTOR, Jedi Unity, and NOJ were the big groups... I myself went into hiding to focus my energies on what went wrong. When I returned, it was briefly to KOTOR but then to no order in particular. NOJ welcomed me back for a time, and then JGP and Ossus. But as you can see, once the Alliance fell, the multitude of orders began.
Hope for the future
From the same interview on Yavin IV above:
Master Moonsoo asked, What led up to your passing to the force?
- Age? Marcus chuckled. I thought I was done with this life... I had grown weak on Tatooine, I lived in a hut similar to that of Master Kenobi long ago... it might have even been his. The Force was ready for me and I was able to let it take me, much like Master Yoda before me. *Marcus flicks Yoda's necklace around his neck*
- But the Force was NOT done with me... decades later, it spit me back out on Rhen Var where Master Azlum and Master Tal found me. I am not sure why I returned from the Netherworld, something I speculate on in my Tome, but I hope I help others with this second chance.
What does that second chance mean? Marcus has yet to figure that part out. Patience and the Will of the Force will guide him to the answer - of that Master Marcus is sure.
Details
Master Marcus was an old man, and showed the signs of age. He was white and grey haired, with matching beard. He used spectacles for his eyes and a walking staff. Could he use the Force to help him instead of using these two aids? Probably. But as long as they are not a major hindrance, he allowed his body to age.
Upon his awakening on Rhen Var, he had a slightly more youthful look and feeling. However, he had returned to his pre-death condition.
While he walks with a staff, uses glasses, does not carry a lightsaber, and refuses to fight in almost any scenario, Master Marcus' unity with the Force is nearly unmatched. He can defend and heal like no other, and he can fortify his companions by imbuing them with the power of the Force. He is a keen lightsider, unable to be swayed by the dark side or its followers, even en masse. In fact, his powers have made New Holstice a true sanctuary for Jedi and followers of the Light - Sith and darksiders lose most of their abilities there, even in numbers.
Attributes
(See table at right for basics)
- Jedi Strengths: Diplomacy, Force Empowerment, Healing, Seeing
- Age: Approx. 240 - born a bit before Battle of Yavin
- Parents: Daren and Casa Moreau of Mos Eisley, Tatooine
- Writings
- Tome of the Old Jedi, Vol 1: Lessons
- Tome of the Old Jedi, Vol 2: Concepts
- Tome of the Old Jedi, Vol 3: The Diamond Concept
- Revised and recompiled into a single work available here.
Affiliations
- New Holstice, Jedi Spirit & Former Watchman
- Great Library (Anoth, Ossus), Founder & Former Administrator
- Jedi Alliance, Founder & Former Council Master
- KOTOR, Former Master
- Jedi Guardians of Peace, Former Master
- Old Jedi Order, Former Master
- LME Jedi Order of Light & Innocence Order of Jedi, Consult
- Ossus Praxeum, Former Council Master
- New Order of the Jedi, Former Master at Large
- Galactic Liberation Alliance, Former Jedi Commander
- SWRP Dice HUD, Creator/Owner
Key Current Locations
Death
Master Marcus finally realized what he was brought back to do. He had completed three major projects in his lifetime, but had one left to complete. He had a vision - a vision of the freedom of Uvena Prime and his death as well.
Eventually, in what would be a final battle between the Galactic Liberation Alliance and the locals against the Revenant Armada, Marcus gave himself to the Force so that he could free those innocents. This excerpt came from the GLA newsroom.
All across the battlefield, heroes on both sides of the conflict waded through death, leaving hundreds of bodies in their wake. Despite facing overwhelming odds, the Resistance made the Armada pay heavily in manpower and equipment for their advances. And just as they were being driven into a corner, destiny found one of their most prominent members - Jedi Master Marcus Moreau. The most ancient and powerful Jedi still alive, he had come to Uvena Prime to help the Shistavanens, and helped them more than anyone, himself included, had ever imagined. In one final and incredible act in a long life, Master Moreau gave his life in the creation of massive Wall of Light that sent dark aligned beings all over the planet scattering.
So far reaching were its effects that Force users all across the galaxy felt the Jedi's death. Armada fleets fell into disarray in the Uvena system for hours before retreating, badly damaged, to the far side of the system. This was in the face of reinforcements that had finally arrived from the Republic, the Tetan empire, and several Mandalorian clans. All at once, the tide of battle had been reversed, and exhausted Shistavanens and GLA personnel both took back territory that had been lost to the Armada during the week.
Marcus moves on to a different part of the cycle of his life in the Force. Some say he may wonder New Holstice and the galaxy as a Force Spirit. But only time will tell.
Obituary from Supposed Death on Tatooine
Master Marcus, New Holstice, 2008
I am writing this as a personal friend and colleague of the late Marcus Moreau, who ((ICly)) passed to the Force recently. Some of the readers will be wondering why all the fuss has been made, 'who was this Jedi whose death people are writing about', 'why should I care?'.
Let me explain to you the significance of my friend's life...
We think he was born around two hundred years ago, for we have no records of it, and he did not know himself, but he was alive at the end of the Galactic Civil War ((in SL terms, he was the oldest of all living Jedi, having been in SWRP for the last 4 years)). The Jedi calling found him, and he was tossed into a set of circumstances far less stable than the ones enjoyed by today's Jedi. Then, the Jedi were truly few and weak, there was little unity and great danger in the Galaxy. Only one other order existed at the time, 'Jedi Temple' led by the first Jedi of the modern era, Master Nakio Reitveld.
Together with friends Masters Greg Manhattan and Hunter Shaw, he formed The Jedi Order which aimed to bring order to the chaos. The early days ((2004 in RL)) were hard and before his order was fully running, a combination of the Sith at the time, and an out-of-control and over-aggressive 'Jedi Temple' meant that the fledging Order had too many enemies and collapsed on itself, taking with it Master Shaw.
Masters Manhattan and Moreau exiled in safety for a while before deciding to revive their order again as 'The Order of the Jedi' by which time the 'Jedi Temple' had fallen. This time, since their numbers were so few and the chance of recurrence high, Master Moreau searched out the only other organised Jedi group of the time, 'Jedi Honor' and formed an alliance with their Master, Obannah Kuhr. Together, they formed 'The Jedi Alliance', which is the one and only time in the modern times that the Jedi have been united.
This Order at its height was strong, united and well-regarded, and inhabited New Holstice, a land in the desert with a giant Ziggurat for a base. For a while (until the formation of the Jedi Master and KOTOR Orders from within it), Jedi Alliance remained the only Jedi Order, and was reflected on the other side by the only Sith, The Dark Lords of the Sith, upon the planet Korriban. The stability and growth of the Jedi during this time, I argue was crucial to the future of the Jedi who followed in the large orders that came afterwards: Jedi Master (who became JGP), KOTOR, Jedi Unity and New Order of the Jedi. During this safe and stable time, great scholarly works were laid down in datapads and stored by Master Moreau and others in the Archives of the temple, and many who would later lead the Jedi were trained.
Jedi Alliance fell, of course, in the end to internal betrayal and strife, with Masters Rickin Gorilla and Neo Sion falling to the Dark Side. For a while, Master Moreau hid, once more in exile. In the time he was away, the Orders of Jedi Master, KOTOR and a new order set up by former JA Council Masters Marymac Dougall and Christopher Black - the New Order of the Jedi - filled the space that the JA had left. Undoubtedly, these three Orders and those that followed owed something to the Jedi Alliance and the work that Master Moreau and his colleagues put into it.
That was Master Moreau's first great achievement.
His second is his enduring legacy as the greatest Scholar our Galaxy has known for a very long time indeed. Always keen to put knowledge down in hard format, Master Moreau set up a library in the Jedi Alliance, which has formed the basis for most of the Jedi Libraries since. Additionally, when he returned from exile, his thoughts turned to ensuring this legacy was not lost. Fortunately, he had fled from the burning New Holstice bearing a full copy of all the datachips of the Archives. Most would have known him at this point as an old man in a hood, bearing a staff, who would travel the Galaxy and offer no trouble but inspire learning and accord. In time, he founded first Anoth Station and then the Great Library of Anoth, which was the greatest store of Galactic Lore and a landmark in its own right. Jedi, Sith and others from all factions in the Galaxy visited and used this resource. Some years ago, he transferred the contents to my home planet of Ossus, where the Great Library had been situated in ancient times. The newly restored building was the ideal housing for the collection of unsurpassed work. Whether you knew it or not my brothers and sisters, you have probably been trained in part by Master Moreau. If you do not believe me, examine the datachips in your own Order's library closely. You will see many of them will bear the hallmark of Master Moreau or have been copied from his Great Libraries. At the peak, there were Great Library outposts in Ossus, Telos IV, Taris, Kashyyyk and Mos Eisley, again a feature of his tireless quest to further knowledge.
This second great achievement of being the Galaxy renowned Scholar is not something that is likely to be matched in the foreseeable future.
It is a mark of the immense respect that Master Moreau was held in, that at the first sign of his passing, Masters from the great Jedi Orders of the JGP, NOJ, Jedi Unity and the Jal Shay rushed from their various corners of the Galaxy to be with him at the time of his rejoining the Force. Many of these senior Jedi themselves called him Master, for they all understood and respected the massive and enduring contribution he made to our way of life.
A gentle soul whom I never saw with any weapon ((though he was nonetheless a consummate RPer who believed in always been in-character and as a 'proper' Jedi)), Master Marcus Moreau was and remains an example to Jedi everywhere.
His third and final great achievement may well be the meeting of minds between the leading Jedi Orders of this day which came about around his deathbed, that they may emulate in spirit at least the unity of the Jedi Alliance.
May the Force be with you forever, old friend.
Behind the Scenes
Marcus Moreau still thrives today as a former sim owner and an avid Star Wars fan. MM has been in SL since Christmas of 2004 and was an active Jedi almost that entire time. His character had moved on, but will always be available as a Spirit. He will also continue to play an alt, as well as be an avid SWTOR player.
Feel free to ask MM about his past or anything he has done. Be sure to visit New Holstice and the Great Library, both legacies to his work.