Son of God
Introduction
As the wars in the Outer Rim begin to escalate, and the Sith near the border of the Galactic Alliance with little intention of ceasing their dark march towards the Core, there grows an ever pressing need to educate the next generation of military and domestic minds. In response to this heightening demand, the Conservatoire Ministry has begun to seek out greater and richer talent - focusing on the potential of its vast population of force sensitives over their privilege of position.
In spite of this, the upper class - the rich, the powerful, the most notorious of Sith lords - have pushed their prodigy into the school with an ever increasing force. To have a child, an apprentice, or an adopted son or daughter graduate top of the class is a massive boon to their political position - and with this in mind, the school has been overrun with the overtly privileged for years.
Their position has made them complicit, however, and the rise of no-name youths has created great tension in the academy. You have been enrolled with others ranging in age from 13 to 18, to bring great honor to your sponsor, your family, or your Master. Within the Sith Academy, you will be tested on all things - philosophy, economics, history, high level science, and most important, all things military and Sith.
Structure
To better represent both the philosophical and material realities of the Order, the Academy is separated not by houses or natural predispositions, but by rankings. Prior to your enrollment in the Academy, you will be given a series of tests - one for Midichlorians and Force Sensitivity, one for physical prowess, another for fighting acumen, two for mental acumen, and another for knowledge on Sith and Force ideas. The final test is a general understanding of military tactics - all of which will help guide the Provost and the Teachers within the Academy to assign you to a class ranking.
Class rankings go from 1 through 128, separated out into Cohorts. To increase your rank, you must challenge your peers to competitions - be that a duel, a challenge of knowledge, a game, or some other manner of scheme. So long as it is witnessed by a Tutor and approved, you can subvert the rankings of those above you, and trade your ranking with whoever it is you upend. To challenge someone outside your Cohort you must be at the top of your own class. You can then challenge the worst member of the Cohort above yours - meaning that if you are last in your Cohort, your position is always open to assault by those beneath you.
The First Cohort is the ranks 1-7, and are regarded as the most gifted of the entire Academy. It is these who are given media attention, watched closely by the Tutors, and given the most resources for their education. They are given full apartments, luxury goods, dedicated training droids, and a number of other details. They are often visited by notable figures in the Order to sway them after their graduation due to their potential - often referred to as the ‘Ruling’ Cohort, they are generally regarded as the true heirs to the Empire. Most notably, the highest rank is regarded as a clear candidate for inheriting the Emperorship, while ranks 2 and 3 are often considered the next generation’s Dark Council. All of those in this rank, however, are regarded as powerful tools for any Sith’s powerbase, leaving alone the potential for their own futures.
Second Cohort is made up for ranks 8 through 15. It is here where the pyramidic structure of the Academy is given its truest flavor. These students are given much in resources, albeit the lack of media attention and luxury goods, keeps them just below their better standards of living. However, because of their lower Cohort ranking, they are considered subservient to the First Cohort - rules dictating they can not challenge them for their ranking without being the highest rank in their Cohort. Further, to represent the military stratum of the Order, they are often conscripted into events and competition on behalf of their betters - leaders leading. This applies to all ranks below this, in relation to the Second Cohort, creating entire trees of student ‘military’ cliques, or as some have referred to them as ‘gangs’.
The Third, Fourth, and Fifth Cohorts are made up of ranks 16 through 31, 32 through 63, and 64 through 128 respectively. These lower Cohorts are considered average in terms of the Third, but progressively worse at Fourth and Fifth. To graduate in the bottom Cohorts is to bring shame upon your sponsor, whoever they may be, and it is not unheard of for them to be cordoned away to backwater worlds in a basic administrative position - or simply disappear altogether. The cut throat nature of these lower Cohorts is purposefully made harder with lacking resources, from cramped rooms in the Third Cohort, to basic common rooms for the Fourth and Fifth. They are given nothing, and must fight to get the respect they are owed - through their skill, manipulation, or knowledge.
Because of this structure, the Academy is known for its violence. While the Conservatoire Ministry has put academic laws in place to prevent the death of other students, it would be a lie to say students do not die in ‘accidents’ behind the great black walls that surround the academy. It has been often said that those in the upper cohorts are nigh untouchable due to the political backing they quickly get, turning some of the worst students into violent tyrants of their peers. Others, faced with this struggle, keep their heads down and eventually fall into the lower Cohorts to be forgotten about - unable to cope with the pressures of hierarchical struggle.
Intention
Due to the antagonistic structure of the Academy and its Cohorts, students are highly encouraged to plot and strive to undermine their betters. Ranks are open to be upended through the entire year of education, meaning even at the last second of the educational year, someone could come after the very top of their class. With this in mind, one must choose their friends well, and their enemies even better.
If you make an enemy greater than you can handle, you could cause serious problems for you and your allies in your attempts to top the school rankings. Additionally, there are numerous events throughout the year where one must collect a team - and in these events, the chance you could be harmed or even killed grows exponentially based on who exactly you’ve made angry. Have a problem with someone who has both the Tutors and a Dark Council member backing them? Chances are, you might just disappear.
With this in mind, outside influences are often found to be involved in the happenings of the school. Although it is technically against academic law set out by the Conservatoire, Sith Lords across the Empire subtly interject their influence by meeting with students, sending them gifts or smuggling them tools to better augment their chances at succeeding in the school. In addition to students, the Sith of the Order are given perfect chances to influence the rankings to get the youngest of their order on their side early on - to benefit their position in the Empire first and foremost.
Character Creation
To be a student in the school, it is highly encouraged you create a new character, however established characters are allowed given they are within a certain age. The restrictions are 13 to 18, and must be Force Sensitive. In addition, to be enrolled in the Sith Academy of Jutrand, you must have a sponsor - but that is up to you to decide who or why.
You are free to get the sponsorship of a current sitting player, or to create an NPC of your liking using either the open worlds the Sith have conquered, or some other manner of background. Keep in mind that who your sponsor is can have profound effects on who your friends are, who your enemies will be, and how your tutors might interact with you.
The Academy only enrolls the greatest of the Empire. The very minutia, the greatest of billions, must be skilled exceptionally in their various skills. Are you a genius of your time? A prodigy of Sword combat or the Force? What is important is you are defined by how good you are - but you don’t have to be the best. Often, someone with middling skills can make up for this with their Sponsor, and it is highly encouraged you find the balance between your character’s abilities, and the political backing they have. The more conflict and restrictions they might have to face, the more interesting the possible storyline you’ll write.
Character Involvement
If your character does not meet the requirements of the student enrollment, you are still able to participate. In addition to students, we will need teachers overseeing students, participating in plots and schemes to raise your favored students to new heights, and interacting with Sith outside the school to better involve the entire Order in this subplot. A Sith Tutor raises up the next generation, but they are corrupt - they want to raise the ones they see the most potential in higher than the rest.
For others, you are free to find favored candidates and support them however you’d like. There are certain limitations to how far you can go, such as not assassinating other students just for the sake of raising your favored student (as long as they are in the school’s grounds, at least. Festivals may or may not be free games.). Past that, you are able to give media attention, make deals with prospective students, give them books, gifts, weapons, armor, or anything you can imagine that might indebted them to you and raise their standing in the greater academic rankings.
There is no limit to what you can imagine, and what plots you can participate in.
Arcing Storylines
Due to the academic structure, there will be reasonable SO Staff oversight of how the arcs play out. That is not to say this is predetermined or otherwise controlled, but to rather say we have events and possible storylines in store for those that participate. Murder of other students, corrupt Tutors, Sepulchral involvement, so on and so forth. Each of these will be in response to how the story goes, and what occurs in our various threads.
However, not all threads will be DM’ed or otherwise controlled. You will be free to write your stories as you so wish - but it is a requirement you give the SO Staff a summary of your actions so that we can help guide the story overall for everyone. Your character’s actions can be secret, but you are under constant watch by the Teachers - they will understand what you’re doing, even if its behind closed doors, and while they might know the specifics, they will know who you’re plotting with.
We will give small plot points and thread ideas for you so that you can respond and write stories in response to how the School changes throughout the year, and will encourage the creation of NPCs through crowd sourcing. If you have any questions regarding the DM lite approach, feel free to tag me in the discord at @HateMailPersonified.
Last edited:
