Master Zen is the Archivist of Yavin IV and sits on the council of the Kalway Order of Jedi
Biography
Life Before the Jedi
Zen was raised on Manda by his father who worked for the Baobab Archives, and when he came of age, he became a traveling scholar for the Baobab family wandering the galaxy seeking out new knowledge to be added to their collection.
It was on an expedition on Ando Prime where through a chance encounter while lost in the mountains, he found a scroll detailing the final construction of the lightsaber. While he knew the lore of the Ashla and the Bogan, it was the finding of this document that lead him to Ruusan.
Training on Ruusan
Zen applied to and was accepted to be trained by the New Order of the Jedi on Ruusan, where he was apprenticed to Master Brihan Takacs. He served as a Knight on Ruusan and became a curator of the Ruusan Museum of Art for many years. Though many called him "Master Zen" during his time on Ruusan, he was never awarded the rank of Jedi Master.
Lost in the Deep Core
Zen left Ruusan and took a ship into the deep core seeking relics and information on the origins of the Jedi. Unfortunately, during his exploration, his hyperdrive became non-functional. He spent years pushing his sublight engines to their limits, and even traveling near light-speed there was no hope to escape the deep core. He was able to repair his hyperdrive to the point where he could take a single, risky blind jump, but it would be the last journey that hyperdrive ever made. He trusted in the Force and jumped into Hyperspace uncertain of where he would emerge.
Finding a home on Yavin IV
Zen's ship exited Hyperspace in the Yavin system, having been drawn there by the Force. When he landed on Yavin IV, he was greeted by friends long lost and made new friends. He was accepted into the Kalway Order of Jedi and took an appointment as Archivist. The first thing he added to the collection was the Scroll of Ando Prime, which he removed from the Ruusan Museum of Art before leaving for the deep core. It resided there to this day.
Zen thrived on Yavin IV, taking padawans and training them to knighthood. He was elevated to the rank of Master and eventually became a Council Master.
Zen and the Codex of Budhilla
Many years ago, Zen had discovered a Huttish urn near the valley of the Jedi on Ruusan, it was unremarkable other than it being out of place as there was no evidence of the Hutts ever having a presence on Ruusan. As it did not have much relevance to the study of Jedi history and Force Lore, it sat unexamined in his collection for many years.
Recently, there had been suspicious attention to this urn. One being offered an exorbitant amount of credits for this piece and then offered the full amount just to image it. After that, Zen examined the urn and found that it contains some sort of object, but the removal from the urn would have irreparably damaged it.
Prompted by the Force, Zen arranged for the urn to leave his possession and it came into the Hands of Anda the Hutt, the leader of the Hutt Council, and the most powerful being in Hutt Space.
While the urn was in Zen's possession he was able to ascertain how the document within could be safely retrieved. It was revealed that the urn was in fact a puzzle containing an object, however, the puzzle could only be opened from the inside or the object it held would be utterly destroyed. The Urn is Hutt Make, but the puzzle was the work of a Jedi, akin to a lock on a holocron, but much more complicated. This shows that not only was there peace between the Jedi and the Hutts at one time, but even cooperation.
In exchange for opening the Urn, Zen along with Masters Iria Tuqiri, and Jesma Pearl entered into negotiations with Anda Kajidii for what became the Nar Shaddaa Accords. This treaty lifts the ban on Jedi in Hutt Space, though we must operate under certain restrictions.
With the Nar Shaddaa Accords settled, the puzzle was opened, requiring a mastery of moving objects with the Force. It was five sequences of five simultaneous movements and rotations in five different directions, requiring Zen to do these complex movements without any visual reference.
The Encasement opened like a flower with the last move, revealing the Codex of Budhilla, a document so important to the Hutts, that it cannot even be conveyed in words. The Codex is the foundational document of Hutt Culture and now with it found after being lost since the invasion of the Yuuzhan Vong, reformations are expected to sweep through Hutt Space.
The Encasement of the Codex of Budhilla was given to Master Zen to keep and display in the archives of Yavin IV and held in reserve in the case that the codex ever needs to be hidden again.
It would be remiss if mention was not made of one great failure of this mission. During negotiations, Anda had chained to her, a young slave who was being punished for being an abolitionist. The slave silently let known that she sought the help of the Jedi. Negotiations for her release were unsuccessful. At the announcement of the Nar Shaddaa Accords and the retrieval of the Codex of Budhilla, the slave was publicly executed, having been found guilty of terrorism under Hutt Law. We were powerless to prevent this, having been disarmed (as were all who were in attendance) and publicly stating in the accords that Jedi would uphold the law. This slave will be remembered in the archives as a reminder that Jedi are not all-powerful, and that they must learn from our failures.
Her name was Numa.