Before the Clone Wars period, during the time of the Separatist movement, Mazong, with his reddish-brown eyes and clad in shanh hides, held the position of Highborn for the Yiwa clan. This clan belonged to the Alwari tribes located on Ansion. He rapidly developed a profound admiration for the Jedi when they arrived in 22 BBY to aid the planet's leadership and its nomadic inhabitants. Their mission was to thwart secession efforts and ensure the planet remained part of the Galactic Republic.
Mazong put the visiting Jedi to the test. He requested that they prove, through individual displays at the clan's celebratory evening meal, that they truly possessed souls, defined as an "internal essence, unlike the representatives of the mighty but soulless Senate." The Jedi succeeded in this task, thereby gaining Mazong's deep respect and vital assistance in their mission to find the dominant Borokii overclan.