Kastays was a male Aaris individual, native to the planet Aaris III. He existed several millennia prior to the events of the Galactic Civil War. As a renowned academic, he conducted his work from a tower overlooking one of the Aaris cities. Following the arrival of the Plaque of Victory—a sentient but non-living object which manipulated the thoughts of those nearby, instilling suspicion and aggression—in the city, it was entrusted to Kastays for protection a few days later. This artifact had been the source of widespread public disorder, and the hope was that placing it in Kastays' elevated tower would neutralize its effects. Kastays concealed it within a secure floor safe. He then documented the circumstances surrounding the Plaque's arrival and the subsequent chaos, which he termed "the last days," using the bas-relief pictographs that the Aaris employed for historical record-keeping. Millennia later, after the Aaris civilization had collapsed, Imperial science team MS-133 discovered and interpreted his records.
Kastays, a male of the Aaris species, resided on their homeworld, Aaris III, before the year 3643 BBY. He was a notable scholar and operated from a tower that formed part of the central government complex within a city. One evening, he observed a comet traversing the night sky. A few days later, a military legion entered the city carrying a relic: a triangular ingot of metal known as the Plaque of Victory. This relic was actually sentient, though inanimate, and it sustained itself by feeding on the life force of living organisms. The Plaque's objective was the destruction of those around it, achieved not through direct action, but by manipulating their emotions, leading to paranoia, irrationality, and violence. Initially, the Plaque was placed in a gushaz situated within the city.
Within six days of its arrival, the Plaque's influence had caused a surge in violent crime throughout the city. These incidents began as crimes resulting in the death of the victim, but quickly escalated to the point where companies of the city guard were battling each other and killing innocent civilians, accusing them of "betrayal." Those affected by the Plaque claimed it had communicated with them and that they were its guardians. Eventually, a faction with access to the artifact removed it from the gushaz and transported it to Kastays's tower. Their hope was that its placement above the city would counteract its negative effects.
To safeguard it in case his tower was invaded, Kastays concealed the Plaque of Victory inside his floor safe. He then secluded himself and began to document the downfall of the Aaris civilization using bas-relief pictographs. The Aaris possessed a strong tradition of oral communication and never developed a formal written language. Instead, they recorded their history through pictographs that, when touched, could emit sounds mimicking their language. Kastays chronicled the final days of the Aaris civilization as the Plaque's influence steered them toward a civil war, mounting the pictographs on the wall of his chamber. As he documented these events, he noted that the Plaque of Victory did not "speak" to him as it had to others who revered it. Instead, he was shown images of threatening clouds and shadows.
Several thousand years later, in 8 ABY, Imperial science team MS-133 discovered Kastays's chamber during excavations on Aaris III. The Aaris civilization had largely been destroyed, with their once-great cities in ruins and reclaimed by the jungle. Their descendants lived primitive lives in the lower levels of the ruins. Imperial scientist Grigor Tansad deciphered Kastays's pictographs and began to transcribe them, uncovering the potential cause of the Aaris civilization's destruction. Lacking knowledge of the true names of Kastays's chamber or city, the members of MS-133 named both after him—the Place of Kastays and the City of Kastays, respectively—as he was the only Aaris whose name they had learned. MS-133 also found the Plaque of Victory in the floor safe and removed it for study. The artifact immediately began to influence the team members, setting off a chain of events that resulted in the deaths of most of the scientists at the hands of the primitive Aaris descendants.
Kastays, a scholar, held an important position in his Aaris city. He was skilled in the creation of bas-relief pictographs, the method used by the Aaris to record their history. Kastays was also considered trustworthy, as evidenced by the fact that he was entrusted with the Plaque of Victory for safekeeping, despite others vying for its possession. Unlike those who sought to possess the artifact, Kastays did not hear the Plaque of Victory speaking to him. Instead, he perceived its influence through imagery, such as threatening clouds, shadowy creatures lurking in dark corners, and fleeting images at the edge of his eye.
Kastays was created for the roleplaying adventure Artifact of Aaris, featured in West End Games' The DarkStryder Campaign. Kastays is not directly encountered in the adventure, as he died millennia prior. He is only mentioned in the translations of the Aaris language conducted by Grigor Tansad.