Approximately one year following her departure from the Path of the Open Hand cult after its demise in 382 BBY, the Evereni named Marda Ro initiated a quest to locate other members of her species. Her search commenced within a tavern situated in a town on the world of Dantooine, where she questioned a man concerning any Evereni sightings. Subsequently, Ro departed the tavern, intending to pursue the information he provided. Around 379 BBY, her pursuit was disrupted when she observed a Jedi traversing the market where she was present. Ro ambushed the Jedi and transported him to her spaceship, the Gaze Electric, where she offered him as sustenance to the Force-devouring being referred to as the Great Leveler.
Later on, Ro made her way to the planet Ryloth, where she encountered an Evereni utilizing the pseudonym "Isren." At Ro's urging, Isren imparted additional knowledge about Evereni, but declined to become a part of her organization of brigands. Ro persisted in her search for Evereni and eventually managed to find the Evereni siblings Vika and Velya Faer at a spaceport circling the gas giant Siquay. She extended an invitation to the Faers to board the Gaze, and the pair educated her about Evereni, their traditions, and further aspects of their language. During a banquet held on the Gaze, Ro's colleague Alirya made an attempt on Vika's life, who survived the assault and killed Alirya in response, only to be shot by Ro for the killing of the human. Faer's brother was enraged by her passing, but Ro succeeded in pacifying him and persuading him to join her, taking Alirya's place.
Ro subsequently documented the occurrences of her search in diaries she created for her future generations. By 252 BBY, Ro's great-great-grandson Marchion Ro had listened to her journal, notably the entries regarding her quest. In 228 BBY, Marchion recalled that the journal detailed his great-great-grandmother's hunt for Evereni while replaying the messages.
The Evereni race existed in harmony with their native planet Everon until a catastrophe shattered their civilization, resulting in generations of warfare. In 500 BBY, the few remaining from the conflicts abandoned Everon to avoid obliteration. The survivors then encountered other conscious races and, despite initial hostilities, assimilated into the interstellar society to endure.
More than a century later, by 382 BBY, the Evereni relatives Marda and Yana Ro were members of the Path of the Open Hand sect situated on the planet Dalna. In that year, the Path participated in a conflict that led to the cult's conclusion. During the battle, Marda engaged in an altercation with Yana, severing Yana's appendage. Following the battle, Marda seized the Gaze Electric, a vessel belonging to the Path, and departed. She dedicated the subsequent year utilizing the Gaze's records to locate Path members who were not present on Dalna during the cult's downfall. Ro deceived several of them—including her human partner Alirya—into joining her, thereby establishing the groundwork for a piratical group that would eventually evolve into the Nihil.
Around 381 BBY, Ro initiated her search by visiting the earliest town on the Outer Rim Territories planet Dantooine. There, she acquired a nail file crafted from the skeleton of the irisophant creature and visited a local pub within the town. Inside, Ro requested a cup of tea and a mug of local ale, leaving them on the table as an invitation to others. The Evereni garnered stares from others and a Devaronian confronted her, leading her to retaliate by throwing the ale in his face. The Twi'lek Fori Nagor passed by Ro and paused upon noticing the girl was an Evereni before quickly moving on.
Eventually, Ro noticed a man across the room, who kept glancing at her during his conversation with a Rodian companion. Ro inquired about where he would search for Evereni, recognizing him as someone familiar with her people. The man and Rodian stated they would not search for Evereni, but the man reluctantly added that he had seen two on a space station near the moon Pantora. Ro exited the pub and began strategizing how to utilize the lead to track the Evereni mentioned by the man. She was followed by Nagor, whom she confronted elsewhere in the town and recruited into her group of pirates in exchange for a kiss.
Around 379 BBY, Ro was searching for Evereni at a trading post on a celestial body. A Jedi was walking through the trading post, and the Evereni approached him after noticing him. After asking if he had a student, Ro assaulted him when he replied in the negative. She kept the Jedi alive and took him to the Gaze in a transport. On the Gaze, she was greeted by Alirya and two other subordinates—the Ozrelanso Rox and the human Milan Stor. While Alirya expressed concern about Ro, who was covered in the Jedi's crimson fluid, the Evereni instructed the trio to follow her.
Ro led them to the ship's sick bay, where the Force-consuming monster referred to as the Great Leveler was housed. Rox dropped the Jedi and Ro deactivated the force field keeping the Leveler in the room. The Jedi awoke and attempted to flee, but slipped on his own blood and the Leveler transformed him into a lifeless shell while Ro observed. Afterward, she went to the Gaze's main hall, where she stored the Jedi's laser sword in a hidden compartment in her seat of power and had a conversation with Alirya.
Later, Ro traveled to the Outer Rim Territories planet Ryloth after spending a year chasing rumors and legends because she heard of an Evereni hunting lylek creatures in that world's tropical jungles twice in one moon cycle. She instinctively picked one of the hubs near the jungles and booked a tourist accommodation there. After having no luck asking expedition groups and safari guides, Ro visited a drinking establishment and ordered fermented milk tea. Eventually she spotted an aged Evereni leaning against a wall and drinking hot alcoholic beverage.
Upon approaching him, he invited her to sit and began speaking in the Evereni language before switching to Galactic Basic Standard because Ro did not speak the language. The Evereni introduced himself under the alias "Isren," meaning "old uncle" in Evereni, and refused to disclose his name. Ro bought him meat and broth while he shared liquor with her and educated her about Evereni culture and origins. Isren believed Ro was a legacy of the Evereni people and told her that was something he trusted, despite being distrustful otherwise, though still chose not to join Ro's group when she asked him.
Following her encounter with Isren, Ro continued to seek other Evereni, wanting to meet them and gain their approval. At some point, she spent months chasing after rumors of an Evereni. However, when she learned they had only one hand, Ro broke off the search, having assumed the Evereni was her cousin Yana. Some time later, Ro and Alirya were together in the throne hall while her group was laying low following a disastrous fight between Nagor's crew and a planetary security team. During the debate, the human asked Ro about her goals, and the Evereni reminded her that she was hunting for other members of her species.
Eventually, Ro tracked the Evereni twins Vika and Velya Faer to a station in orbit around the gas giant Siquay, catching up to the Faers as they refueled. She sent three ships under her command to surround the vessel belonging to the siblings and sent them an invitation. They did not answer for a while, and Ro considered the possibility of them attempting to run away, thinking that she would have them killed if they did. Outgunned, the Faers ultimately gave in and accepted Ro's offer.
While Ro waited in the throne hall, Vika and Velya were escorted there by the Kessurian pirates Esstrop and Kortanio and introduced to the the former. During the subsequent conversation, Vika introduced herself and her sibling, and Ro invited them for food. During their meal, they talked about Evereni, with Ro learning about the Faers' family and the meaning of her family name from the siblings. Though Alirya brought them liquor, none of them drank it. After they finished eating, Ro challenged the siblings to spar; Vika wanted to fight against Ro first, and Velya offered to mediate.
Vika drew a blade and questioned Ro's choice to use rods as her weapon. Ro began to reply and attacked Faer before finishing speaking, but Faer disarmed the younger woman of one of her rods and slashed her arm open. As they continued to fight, Ro tossed Faer onto the ground onto her shoulder, getting on top of her to choke her with a stave. Faer dislodged Ro and escape the lock, however her brother stepped in and stopped the friendly match. The two Evereni women exchanged smiles and Alirya rushed to Ro to attend to the wound on her arm, while Vika asked the human to bring her the liquor from earlier. Alirya ignored the Faers until Ro convinced her to leave the injury alone and went to bring the drinks. While getting them, Ro defended Alirya from Vika's description as a sweet pet, claiming that Alirya was as important and valuable as she made herself.
The siblings stayed with Ro aboard the Gaze for several days, and while his sister explored the whole starship, Velya bounced back and forth between her and Ro. When Ro's pirates went out for a raid, they were accompanied by the two Evereni, who returned with plentiful bounty. They made offerings to Ro like her raiders did and teased both each other and the pirate leader about it, while she teased them back that it was the price for living on the Gaze. A feast was thrown in celebration of the fact that everyone returned from the raid safe and tables and benches were dragged into the throne hall for the occasion.
Ro ate on her throne at a distance from everyone, but during the feast, Vika dragged a chear next to the throne and brought Ro a small plate of pastries that a member of Nagor team had baked. Faer told Ro that her brother thinks she was beautiful and Ro asked her if she does not. While the Evereni thought about her answer, Ro nibbled on one of the finger cakes. Unbeknownst to either of them, Alirya snuck up on Faer and stabbed her from the back with a small sword. The human backed up with the dagger covered in gray Evereni blood and Faer quickly grabbed her by her neck and wrist.
She lifted Alirya off the floor by rising to her full height, then broke her wrist while Alirya kocked at her. Digging her claws into the human's throat, the Evereni dropped Alirya's dead body back onto the floor. During the chaos triggered by the altercation, Velya rushed to Vika's side to inspect her wound and Ro shot Vika with a weapon she took out of the hidden compartment in her throne.
Velya immediately turned to Ro, who pointed the blaster at him in response, while remembering Isren's lesson and what she had said about Alirya to Vika. She explained to Velya that Alirya felt her position was threatened by his sister, which led her to the attack. Ro also offered Faer the position by her side that had become vacant with Alirya's death, which he reluctantly accepted after some convincing. She offered Faer her hand and he took it, grasping her wrist. They dug their claws into each other's wrists, letting their blood slowly drip on the floor.
Later, the bodies were taken away and Ro was in the throne hall alone with Faer. Curious about how Evereni treat their dead, Ro asked Faer, who explained that the body has no value and they simply remember the name. The two drank tea and reminisced about other Evereni they had met. Ro remembered that Isren told her Evereni only meet in death and brought that fact up to Faer who informed her that they also meet in the Rystan system. Afterward, Ro finished her tea and shortly talked with Faer about how she surrounds herself by others and how she is building a legacy.
Ro would go on to chronicle her hunt in a personal account she recorded for her progeny. By 252 BBY, during his childhood, Ro's great-great-grandson Marchion Ro had listened to her memoirs in their entirety. Ro's descendants turned the pirate band she established into the Nihil and served the group as the Eye of the Nihil.
Under Marchion's leadership, the Nihil engaged the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order in a war that dealt massive blows to the Republic and the Jedi, such as establishing an area of space known as the Occlusion Zone, which was isolated from the rest of the galaxy by a barrier that blocked hyperspace travel to and from the region. In 228 BBY, Marchion listed to his great-great-grandmother's journal again while digging through his family's records stored in a storage room aboard the Gaze Electric. Listening to the chronicles, he remembered that the journal's contents chronicled his great-great-grandmother's hunt for Evereni.
Marda Ro's hunt first appeared in flashbacks in the short story "A Closed Fist Has No Claws," penned by Tessa Gratton and featured in the 2023 young-adult anthology The High Republic: Tales of Light and Life as part of the Star Wars: The High Republic multimedia project. In an interview, Gratton revealed that Ro's story was intentionally written to be the opposite of Yana's, with Ro losing her path. In another interview, she discussed that he knew they needed to have two Evereni that Ro would meet during the hunt, one who rejects her and one who embraces her. Those ended up being Isren and Velya Faer respectively, with Ro also meeting a third Evereni—Vika Faer.