Vellis San Tekka, a male human, held a prominent position within the San Tekka clan. This family was instrumental in charting novel paths through hyperspace for the Galactic Republic, accumulating substantial wealth as a result. Living during the High Republic Era, he shared a compound on the planet Naboo with his husband, Marlowe.
In the year 232 BBY, Jedi Knight Elzar Mann and Jedi Master Avar Kriss paid a visit to Vellis and his spouse at their home located on the planet Naboo. The Jedi sought their assistance in projecting the subsequent occurrences of the Emergences, which were substantial debris fragments originating from the Legacy Run freighter. These fragments were ejected from hyperspace at velocities approaching lightspeed due to the Great Hyperspace Disaster. Consequently, the two men consented to dispatch their top analysts and programs to aid Keven Tarr in the development of his proposed system designed to compute the timing and positions of these Emergences.
Furthermore, the Jedi inquired whether they considered the disaster to have been triggered by the Legacy Run encountering another spacecraft or an alien object within hyperspace. However, both Vellis and Marlowe firmly maintained that such a scenario was impossible, asserting that nothing could be encountered within hyperspace. Nevertheless, the couple privately entertained the suspicion that the incident might be connected to Mari San Tekka, a San Tekka clan member possessing extraordinary abilities who had vanished long ago. Later, the pair visited the completed array and gave advice to Chancellor Lina Soh regarding the Great Disaster, and subsequently hired Tarr to work for them.
Vellis San Tekka, a male human, entered into matrimony with Marlowe San Tekka, a descendant of the San Tekka clan. The clan possessed considerable affluence derived from hyperspace prospecting, largely attributed to Mari San Tekka, a family member capable of sensing and discovering hyperspace routes known as Paths, who ultimately disappeared. Vellis and Marlowe cultivated a friendship with Senator Izzet Noor of the Galactic Republic, who held the belief that their knowledge of hyperspace was unparalleled. The couple resided together within a picturesque compound situated on the planet Naboo.
In the year 232 BBY, Jedi Master Avar Kriss and Jedi Knight Elzar Mann visited Vellis and Marlowe, prompted by Senator Noor, who directed the Jedi to them due to their hyperspace expertise. Vellis welcomed them to be seated and mentioned that they had just sampled one of his preferred beverages, the attar of spinsilk, extending an invitation for them to try any other drink they desired. Kriss and Mann elucidated that a technician hailing from the Hetzal system named Keven Tarr was endeavoring to construct a navidroid array capable of computing the timing and location of the Emergences. These Emergences were debris fragments exiting hyperspace at near-lightspeed as a consequence of the Great Hyperspace Disaster. Displaying genuine concern for saving lives, Vellis proposed dispatching their most skilled navulators—hyperspace specialists—along with their distinctive algorithms capable of modeling hyperspace routes, with the expectation that they could refine Tarr's system.
Eventually, Mann revealed that their purpose also included seeking to comprehend the underlying cause of the Great Hyperspace Disaster. He presented the San Tekkas with a theory held by the Republic: that the Legacy Run, the freighter that had disintegrated within hyperspace and triggered the event, had collided with another object inside hyperspace and fractured while attempting to maneuver around it, providing Vellis with a datachip containing all pertinent information. Vellis rejected the hypothesis, asserting that it was illogical since encountering other ships or any other object within hyperspace was impossible, rendering such a maneuver unnecessary. Instead, Vellis and Marlowe proposed that a mutiny aboard the transport or a ship malfunction had precipitated the incident. Despite Mann's adherence to the hypothesis, both Vellis and his husband persisted in asserting that a near-collision was implausible and reassured them that the disaster was likely an isolated occurrence, although Vellis consented to examine the data they furnished.
The Jedi departed shortly thereafter, leaving the couple to contemplate the possibility that Mari San Tekka was responsible for the events, a possibility they intentionally concealed from the Jedi. Vellis expressed to his husband his profound hope that she was no longer alive. Unbeknownst to them, the elderly woman had indeed survived, kept alive by Marchion Ro, a member of the Nihil marauders who had deliberately instructed a Stormship to traverse the Legacy Run's path, thereby instigating the disaster.
The San Tekkas subsequently journeyed to Hetzal Prime's Rooted Moon to observe Tarr's navidroid array, which he had constructed with the assistance of their hyperspace modeling tools and twelve of their navulators, and which was capable of predicting new Emergences. During one such event, the Republic recovered the Legacy Run's flight recorder, which substantiated that the freighter had indeed encountered another vessel within hyperspace. When consulted by Supreme Chancellor Lina Soh, Vellis conceded that what had transpired should have been impossible. However, they both maintained that the event was merely a freak accident. Nevertheless, they advocated for an immediate investigation into the Nihil's peculiar utilization of hyperspace. Acting upon this intelligence, Republic Defense Coalition forces, along with Jedi assistance, engaged the Nihil at the Battle of Kur, culminating in a Republic victory. In the aftermath of the conflict, the San Tekkas recruited Keven Tarr to work for them and in their interests.
At some point before 231 BBY, Vellis and his spouse became deeply involved in the Church of the Force, a religion that had gained traction on Naboo and maintained long-standing ties with the San Tekka clan. They mentioned it in passing to their niece, Jordanna Sparkburn, around 231 BBY when she was providing a situation report. She became intrigued by it and mentioned her uncles and their involvement with the religion while discussing why people such join organizations with her ex-girlfriend, Sylvestri Yarrow.
Centuries later, Lor San Tekka, a descendant of Vellis and Marlowe, rose to prominence as a renowned explorer. He joined the Church of the Force and allied himself with the New Republic, the Resistance, and Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. He assisted Leia Organa in locating the Jedi when he went missing.
Vellis, like his husband, possessed pale skin, blond hair, and blue eyes. However, Vellis's facial features exhibited sharper and more angular characteristics compared to Marlowe's. Vellis maintained a relaxed demeanor while conversing with Master Kriss, which Kriss attributed to his privileged existence. He extended a remarkably warm welcome to the Jedi into their residence, even offering them refreshments. Yet, he and his husband prioritized preserving the privacy of their family's secrets and withheld certain information from them, even resorting to lying. Nonetheless, they refused to permit the galaxy's inhabitants to suffer due to the Emergences and provided substantial assistance to the Republic, with Vellis expressing his belief in it by employing the slogan "We are all the Republic." Although Kriss acknowledged that both Vellis and Marlowe had concealed information from the Jedi, she regarded their contributions to the Emergences task force as sincere and generous.
Like other members of his family, Vellis possessed expertise in hyperspace and was celebrated for his profound knowledge of the subject. He was also capable of communicating discreetly with his husband Marlowe, silently exchanging thoughts and information that even Jedi Master Kriss could not perceive.
Vellis San Tekka made his debut in the 2021 novel The High Republic: Light of the Jedi penned by Charles Soule. Soule initially mentioned him in an interview for a StarWars.com article on July 23, 2020, and his image first appeared in the second episode of Star Wars: The High Republic Show on March 29, 2021.