Vara Nreem, a female Human, held the rank of Jedi Knight during the era of the Old Republic. Driven by the conviction that she could unlock the secrets held by the Sith without succumbing to the influence of the dark side, Nreem journeyed to the planet Krayiss II circa 4000 BBY. This was due to the planet's prior discovery to host traces of an ancient Sith presence. Nreem eventually located an ancient Sith obelisk, establishing contact with a spirit of the Sith that was 10,000 years old. This entity was confined within the walls of a library-temple, which itself was contained within the obelisk's circular structure. Nreem believed she had successfully deceived the Sith specter into revealing its secrets during their communication; however, the Sith was not fooled and launched an attack on Nreem. In the moments before the Sith ghost killed her, Nreem came to the realization that she had underestimated the power of the dark side of the Force, and her own arrogance toward her adversary had been the cause of her death.
Driven by a desire to uncover the mysteries of the Sith, and confident in her ability to do so without yielding to the dark side, Vara Nreem, a Jedi Knight, meticulously studied the details of the planet Krayiss II. The Jedi Order had long suspected that an ancient Sith presence lingered there. Coinciding with the onset of the Great Sith War around 4000 BBY, Nreem embarked on a voyage to Krayiss II, determined to unearth the hidden Sith knowledge.
Upon arriving on Krayiss II under the cover of the planet's dark night, Nreem followed the Force to a Sith obelisk of black color. It appeared to absorb the light emanating from the planet's twin moons in orbit. Recognizing the obelisk as her objective, Nreem began to recite a series of incantations she had acquired during her travels, aiming to gain entry to the obelisk's contents. After repeating the chant several times, the ground around her trembled as if struck by an earthquake. Keeping her focus on the obelisk, Nreem observed as the ground surrounding her split open, revealing an ancient Sith library-temple, with the obelisk transforming into the temple's central spire. She recalled reading that a library-temple had once served as a sanctuary where powerful sorcerers of pure Sith blood could meditate and record the knowledge they gained through their spells and experiences. As the temple completed its ascent from the ground, she noticed that its front was adorned with a pair of massive double doors, their edges embellished with Sith markings that served as both warnings to intruders and repositories of dark side power.
Nreem soon found that the double doors were guarded by the spirit of an archaic Sith Lord, whose head was crowned with spikes and whose body was draped in a voluminous robe. The spirit confronted Nreem, leading her to believe that she was there to challenge the dark side. However, Nreem responded by stating that she did not adhere to the traditional classifications of the Force, and that she believed only in the one Force; a deception she hoped would persuade the spirit to impart the secrets of the Sith. Nreem quickly realized that her attempt to deceive the Sith spirit was futile, as the Sith openly ridiculed her, her ignorance, and her attempt to extract information that had remained hidden for millennia. Drawing upon the power of the dark side, the Sith spirit summoned the spirits of three beings, all trapped in perpetual agony—beings, Nreem soon realized, who were the specters of three Jedi Masters previously defeated on Krayiss II.
At that moment, the spirit of the Sith Lord revealed their true plan to Nreem. They had allowed her, and other Sith hopefuls, to find them; they had allowed her to summon them from the depths of Krayiss II; and they would decide her fate for believing she could deceive them. The Sith further informed her that she was neither the first Jedi to attempt to learn the Sith's secrets, nor would she be the last. Knowing that she would be forced to defend herself, Nreem drew her lightsaber from beneath her Jedi robes in an attempt to shield herself from the spirit who sought to claim her. However, her lightsaber passed harmlessly through the ghostly specter advancing on her, and she was unable to fend off the spirit as it prepared to kill her. Realizing that the spirit of the long-dead Sith was about to kill her and trap her in an unending afterlife of pain, as had happened to those who had come before her, Nreem finally understood the arrogance with which she had approached the situation; her final thought was a wish that she could warn other Jedi from similarly underestimating the power of the dark side of the Force.
Vara Nreem was a Jedi Knight of high ambition who was under the impression that she could outsmart the Sith into giving her their secrets. She thought that she had the talent and strength in the Force to make this happen, so Nreem went to Krayiss II because she thought there was an ancient Sith presence there. But Nreem's lack of knowledge about the dark side's power, along with her overconfidence, let the Sith spirits on Krayiss II trap her. This trap had also caught many other Jedi before her, and it allowed the Sith to take her life. Nreem only knew that her own failures as a Jedi had led to her downfall right before she died.
George R. Strayton made the character Vara Nreem for the West End Games roleplaying game sourcebook called Tales of the Jedi Companion. Inside this book was a short story without a title about Vara Nreem and her encounter with the Sith spirit on Krayiss Two. This story didn't have a name until it was reprinted for Star Wars Insider 88 in an online extra on Hyperspace, where it was named A Tale from the Dark Side. This online extra also gave the year the story took place, 4000 BBY, which wasn't in the Tales of the Jedi Companion originally.
In the Star Wars Rebels episode "Twilight of the Apprentice" Ahsoka Tano says "taka zeech ma toka duuwaj" in Ur-Kittât from an obelisk.