One of the purest expressions of the dark side of the Force

[Jantar Keltainen]

“Is that my gift? Am I a Sith sorcerer?”
– Darth Zannah

Some watched holovids, or if wealthy enough, visited the theatre. Jantar was left cold by both experiences. Yes, she enjoyed a glass of something fizzy and vintage – but she also loved a hot dog and a beer. Having a good time was the connection, not the cost of the entertainment.

And as for watching actors or – heaven forbid – reading? Nothing could leave her colder. So why had she been ensconced in her bedroom for four days solid, lying on her massive bed and doing nothing but poring over document after document.

The plush carpeted floor of her gigantic bedroom was almost invisible, given it was covered with fimsis, tomes, datacrons and datapads.

‘The Force manifests itself in many different ways. Every individual has strengths and weaknesses – talents they excel at and others that are more difficult.’

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

Jantar had reached the point in the document where Bane was explaining something to a twelve-year-old Zannah. Jantar had already read that several months previously, Bane had unlocked a new data bank of information in Freedon Nadd's Holocron. Though he wouldn't tell her what he had uncovered, he had added a new element to her training shortly after his discovery. Every two or three days he would put her through a series of rigorous tests and challenges designed to evaluate her command of different aspects of the Force. Jantar’s own master had put her through the same battery of assessments.

‘Some possess raw elemental power; they can unleash storms of lightning from their fingertips, or move mountains with their mere thoughts,’ Jantar read. ‘Others are more gifted in the subtle intricacies of the Force, blessed with the ability to affect the minds of friend and foe alike through the arts of persuasion or battle meditation.’

‘A rare few have a natural affinity for the dark side itself. They can delve into the depths of the Force and summon arcane energies to twist and warp the world around them. They can invoke the ancient rituals of the Sith; they can conjure power and unleash terrible spells and dark magics.’

‘You have the potential,’ Bane had told Zannah and he gave her a thin leather-bound manuscript. In it were his notes from information he’d retrieved from the Holocron, a list of powerful spells that he’d transcribed into the tome.

‘They will help you focus and channel your power for maximum effect... but only if you study them carefully. To unleash your full potential you will have to do much of the study and research on your own. It will be…perilous.’

The thought of exploring the dark and dangerous secrets of Sith sorcery alone filled Jantar and Zannah with equal dread, but the chance to achieve a power beyond the abilities of their Masters to comprehend was a temptation neither could resist.

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0p_1QSUsbsM

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

Sith sorcerers were not always Sith Lords and vice versa. Jantar understood this. If she had a choice…well, she’d be both. But ego aside, it was impossible to be anything other than honest with herself. If she was to make a choice, she would pick Sith sorcerer each and every time.

And she concluded, from her extensive reading, two clear facts. Firstly, that Sith magic was much like swimming. You couldn’t learn it from a book. And the second? That too few sorcerers considered more than one viewpoint. They would typically access one tome or one Holocron and declare themselves sorcerers.

Jantar knew there was more to it. Much, much more.

She would retrace the steps of many Sith and seek their knowledge – Freedon Nadd and Darth Zannah of course. But also Exar Kun, the Sorcerers of Tund, Darth Wyyrlock, Darth Andeddu, Sith Lord Vitiate, the Nightsisters – and many more besides.

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aENX1Sf3fgQ

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

One thing drew her interest more than any other as she read – the recounting of Darth Bane’s meeting with Rain – soon to be Darth Zannah.

More specifically, the documenting of the encounter with a group of looters that took advantage of the Thought Bomb.

Jantar read and re-read the passage – on the face of it a seemingly innocuous confrontation – one where the forming of a relationship between Jantar and Zannah was the focus. But as she cross-referenced with other information and the timeline of Bane’s actions, she came to a logical and entirely exciting conclusion.

Zannah made a discovery. Why she was drawn to it, Jantar could only speculate – but that was exactly what she did. She surmised the item drew Zannah’s attention due to the dark-sided energy it must have exuded. Yes, the Force might have been at play – matching the fitting recipient with the one things she would later covet – but Jantar finally dismissed this as too far-fetched a notion.

It was a thin, leather-bound manuscript – apparently hidden under a pile of trinkets – items that were more deserving of catching the eye.

She dutifully handed her find to Bane.

The latter became excited due to the fact it gave a location. But Zannah’s interest was in the content of the manuscript.

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bymLrAXm5Qk

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

The volume was thin, a few dozen pages, and the cover inscribed with arcane words traced in blood-red ink. It was in the tongue of the ancient Sith – which Jantar knew she now had to learn.

And the contents were written in delicate script in the same blood-red ink – as well as elaborate illustrations. And the margins of each page were apparently filled with handwritten notes in Galactic Basic. And who knew who else might have added to them since then?

The book was no doubt a forerunner to a Holocron. If Jantar’s research was correct, it contained a compilation of the history and teachings of Freedon Nadd.

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QyoRzZrF00

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

Freedon Nadd, a great Sith Master who had lived many thousands of standard years ago.

The Dark Lord of the Sith was born on the planet of Onderon 4400 BBY. Interestingly he studied as a Jedi on the planet Ossus, with Matta Tremayne as his master.

His lust for power eventually made him kill his master. Finding Naga Sadow’s tomb, he then trained as a Sith, under the Dark Lord himself. Being taught many powers and secrets of the Dark Side, Nadd eventually killed Sadow, becoming far more powerful than him. As a spirit, centuries later, Freedon Nadd would lead an Uprising with the aid of King Ommin, Queen Amenoa and Warb Null. And afterwards, he would teach Exar Kun, another young Jedi turned Sith.

Instructing Kun proved to be Nadd’s downfall, however. One day, Kun recovered the old amulets and gauntlets of Naga Sadow himself, and used them to kill Freedon’s spirit.

But it was one thing to know of the historic existence of something, but quite another for it to still be in existence – and yet another to locate it.

As ever, Jantar started with the Invisible Market.

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iiryJwvDtc

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

Maybe Jantar was pleased that she turned up nothing on the illegal markets. Sometime sit was too easy to simply turn up at a house, steal the item, and leave. The thrill of a chase, of a treasure hunt – it certainly appealed.

But the overwhelming fear that warred with that thought was that, if it hadn’t been bought or sold, it no longer existed.

So, she came to the inevitable conclusion that, in order to progress, she needed to retrace Bane’s steps. There was no record of him ditching the book, nor of him passing it on. So, at some point he’d either stored it away with other documents, or decided he no longer needed it. And the earliest he could have decided he no longer needed it was on Dxun.

So she chose to bypass Ruusan and head straight for the tomb itself.

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI9Zm3BaQFg

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

For many centuries the tomb of Freedon Nadd had been lost, hidden by the Jedi so that the followers of the dark side could not seek to gain guidance or power from the Sith artefacts sealed inside.

Of course, every Sith, Dark Jedi and Jedi had visited the place since. Jantar wondered if they sold tickets – and wannabe tomb robbers had to form an orderly queue to gain entrance. Maybe there was a height restriction, or more likely a midi-chlorian count restriction. And would Jedi and Sith queue separately.

She was mentally wandering now and knew she had to return her focus to the matter in hand.

Eons ago, the beast moon of Dxun had shifted in its erratic orbit until it came dangerously close to its parent planet. As the moon continued on its orbit, the atmospheres separated again. But once each year they touched.

Centuries later, the orbits finally shifted again, freeing Onderon from the deadly kiss of Dxun. The once-great Freedon Nadd had ruled Onderon for a time, and the ancient nobles, King Ommin and Queen Amanoa, had also used Sith secrets to cement their rule. Ommin and Amanoa had been entombed beside Freedon Nadd here on the beast moon. Years later Exar Kun, the Dark Lord of the Sith who had first resurrected the Sith Brotherhood, also came to Dxun, raiding Nadd’s ancient tomb in search of dark side secrets.

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qtb11P1FWnc

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

The dyspeptic green moon hung directly within Jantar’s navigational circle. Though squeezed and cracked by tidal stresses, Dxun was overgrown with a cancerous covering of wild life-forms, twisted jungles infested with predatory creatures more horrific than even a Sith could ever imagine.

Jantar had researched the moon’s long dark side history and hoped to find some clues on her quest here on Dxun. Did she expect to find the journal? No. If it had been anywhere, it would be in the tomb – and too many had trodden its passageways for anything of note to be left behind.

Jantar descended into the harsh, bright light of the Onderon sun. In this solar system, only one planet was habitable – Onderon itself – and it held a grouping of four erratic moons, including the Dxun.

Finally, the ship sliced through the upper layers of Dxun’s atmosphere.

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHXtCJjkMV0

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

antar concentrated as her ship hit the turbulence of Dxun’s heavy cloud cover. Even at a safe pace, she coluld hear the creaks and groans as the hull sliced through the thick atmosphere.

Below she could see nothing but trees. Some were no doubt forest and others formed part of a swamp. Fortunately the location of the tomb was now common knowledge and Jantar headed towards it, seeking an obvious place to land.

She found a small clearing – glad she did not bring a larger ship – and set down as carefully as she could. She could hear branches brush against the hull in places, but she’d landed it in one piece.

“Me, one – Bane, nil,” she said out loud and collected her cloak before she exited the ship.

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ua2k52n_Bvw

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

Stepping from the ship, Jantar was free to examine her environment from the ground. Things always looked different from this perspective.

The thick forest canopy above blocked out most light; even though it was midday she found herself bathed in twilight. Still, she didn’t need her eyes to see clearly.

Reaching out with the Force, she took closer stock of her surroundings. She was in the very heart of the forest; the trees went on for hundreds of kilometres in every direction. And as she probed the surrounding foliage for signs of life, she sensed a host of deadly and voracious beasts. Jantar decided to make a move, before one of the jungle residents decided to figure out what position she held in the food chain.

She wasn’t afraid. Even before Nadd’s tomb had been hidden here, the ancient Sith had been drawn to Dxun. The Jedi condemn it as a place of evil, but Jantar recognised it for what it really was: a world infused with the power of the dark side.

She felt strong here but knew the creatures prowling the wilderness would be drawing on that same power. It was their habitat after all, and it would be ingrained in their DNA after countless millennia of evolution.

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlCBiFbtqAI

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

She turned to established her bearings and then found it. Under a kilometre away, she sensed a concentration of power. It radiated dark-foce power like a beacon emitting a homing signal.

It was Nadd’s tomb, and now that she was here, Jantar was pleased she had come. Even if she did not find what she came for, she needed to undertake some form of pilgrimage – to earn what she sought.

She marched in a perfectly straight line, taking the most direct route possible to her destination, occasionally using her lightsaber to hack and hew a path through the thick undergrowth that barred her way.

Keeping one corner of her mind focused on following the route to the tomb, she focused the rest of her awareness into a state of hypervigilance. As in most forest ecosystems, the creatures that had evolved on Dxun were masters of their environment. More than a few had quite likely developed the ability to camouflage themselves, blending not only into the branches and trees but into the ever-present hum of the dark side that hung over the forest, as well.

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyQUCYl-ocs

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

It took longer than expected to hack through the jungle to reach her destination, but finally she was there. It was a small clearing in the forest in which no vegetation grew. An irregular pyramid of flat, grey metal rose up to a height of twenty metres from the heart of the clearing.

The ground ahead was nothing but dirt and mud; no living organism could nourish in the shadow of Nadd’s crypt. Even the plants and trees bordering the clearing were stunted and deformed, corrupted by the dark side power that clung to the remains of the great Sith Master in death. The tomb itself was a disconcerting shape; the walls of the pyramid were set at odd and jarring angles, as if the stone of the crypt had been warped and twisted over the centuries.

There was a single entrance to the structure, once upon a time there was no doubt a door that had once been sealed but had been removed by so many hopefuls, seeking the secrets of Nadd’s final resting place.

Jantar wondered what it would have been like for Bane, to stand where she was now and to see the ghostly figure of Kaan standing by the entrance. Back in a time when there were things to find here.

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0Kv6vxZwL8

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

Despite knowing the passages had been walked on by more Sith and Jedi than she’d had hot meals, Jantar was still wary. Who knew what ancient or even recently laid traps might still be lying in wait.

She fished into her pocket and pulled out a glow rod and then stepped into the crypt itself.

The ceiling inside the pyramid was low – she was right about the height restriction – but she was short enough not to have to duck as she went in. Using the glow rod for illumination, she found herself inside a small antechamber, with passages leading off in three different directions.

Shrugging, Jantar decided to start with the one on the left.

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnkHf069fvA

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

Room by room she searched the pyramid, finding precisely what she expected – nothing of value. Jantar wondered how many famous Sith had walked where she stood now. There was Jantar of course. And Exar Kun.

With uncharacteristic patience, she continued her search, winding her way through the passages. She wondered which room housed the Holocron that Jantar found. In truth, it could have been one of many – for they were all identical. Empty.

Having covered every room, Jantar headed to the exit. Stepping out into the light, she stopped sharply. Ahead of her was what she presumed was a Jedi. The green saber blade was a dead giveaway.

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z15pxWUXvLY

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

“Peace is a lie. There is only passion.
Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength, I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory my chains are broken.”

She only said it to annoy him. There was something about Dun Möch that she loved. It was something she’d taken naturally to, a part of her life even before she knew she was Force sensitive.

The two combatants circled each other, by this time Jantar had activated her own saber – it’s yellow blade humming in her hand. Then she both stood still, in standard ready stances.

Jantar lunged out with a simple overhand strike, but the Jedi responded with a quick parry to deflect the blow to the side. There was a crackle and hum of blades of pure energy crossing, then, immediately the combatants spun away from each other and resumed their ready positions.

The Jedi rushed forward, his blade ascending diagonally from right to left in a long, swift arc. Jantar managed to redirect the impact with her own weapon, but lost her balance and stumbled back. The Jedi tried to press his advantage, his saber arcing up from left to right. Jantar used her pace to spin out of harm’s way, backpedalling quickly to create space. The Jedi broke off the half-completed sequence and settled back into the ready position.

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHEMkbyXFxs

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

Jantar had an advantage – well in truth two. Firstly, her latent abilities in the Force allowed her to anticipate and react to the moves of her foe before he’d even made them. Secondly, this was a dark-sided nexus.

Jantar was no master bladesman but worked hard on her skills over the past months. As this ability grew, she was able to devote less and less of her mental energy to the physical actions of thrust, parry, and counterthrust. This allowed her to keep her mind focused so she could use the Force to anticipate her opponent’s moves, while at the same time obscuring and confusing her enemy’s own precognitive senses.

Initially, Jantar had only learned a handful of sequences. Now she knew many more, and she was able to transition smoothly from the end of one sequence into the beginning of another, opening up a wider range of attack-and-defence combinations. And more options made it more difficult for a foe to use the Force to anticipate her actions.

Spinning his saber in a quick flourish, the Jedi leapt high in the air and came crashing down from above. Jantar parried the attack but was knocked to the ground. She rolled onto her back and barely managed to get her saber up in time to parry the next slashing attack. The Jedi’s blows descended like rain.

The Jedi never once looked as though he would receive a direct hit and with a masterful defensive flurry, he parried and then swept Jantar off her feet with a leg-whip, leaving them both flat on the ground.

They flipped to their feet simultaneously, mirror images, and their sabers met with another resounding clash before they disengaged once again. If Jantar’s efforts had any benefit, it was that the Jedi’s efforts had extracted a heavy toll: he was breathing in ragged gasps now, his shoulders slumping.

The Jedi rushed Jantar again. This time, however, the Sith didn’t back away. She stepped forward with a quick thrust, switching from Form III to the more precise and aggressive Makashi. The Jedi was caught off guard by the unexpected manoeuvre and was a microsecond slow in recognising the change. His parry attempt knocked the tip of the blade away from his chest, only to have it slice across his left shoulder.

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkElfR_NPBI

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

The Jedi screamed in pain as his saber slipped to the ground from his suddenly nerveless fingers.

The Jedi back-pedalled and then extended his left hand to the saber lying on the ground. It sprang up and into his palm, and he once again assumed the ready position, his right arm dangling uselessly at his side. Some learned to fight with either hand, but Jantar could tell the Jedi hadn’t yet reached that advanced stage. The weapon looked awkward and clumsy as he held it.

“Defeat is inevitable, Jedi,” she said. “I have bested you; you have lost.”

She wasn’t asking the Jedi to yield; surrender was never an option to a Sith. She was simply taunting him.

“I surrender!” the Jedi responded.

“This ends when and how I choose,” Jantar replied – clearly he didn’t understand the rules.

“You are weak,” Jantar explained, casually twirling her saber in a figure of eight pattern. “You are predictable.”

She extended a hand and dark side energy erupted from her open palm to catch her opponent in the chest, hurling him backwards.

Jantar squeezed her fist shut and, on the ground, the Jedi was writhing in agony, clutching at his throat and gasping for breath.

Jantar squeezed her fist harder, feeling the Force rushing through her like a divine wind as she crushed the life out of her foe.

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVBIfSt0lAo

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

As was common on Ambria, she was surrounded on all sides by a desolate, arid wasteland stretching out as far as the eye could see. The only features of the landscape were a few scattered rock outcroppings.

Ambria could be a harsh and dangerous world.

Jantar’s destination was clear in her mind. Jantar and Zannah set up a camp here – one where Jantar began his construction of a Holocron. Logic dictated it was a likely place to find the missing journal.

There was only one, small, problem. There were literally hundreds of caves.

Well, thought Jantar, if Zannah could learn patience here, so can I.

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pguMUFyJ3_U

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

First of all, she looked for neeks: small, reptilian herbivores native to Ambria. Only a meter in height, they stood upright on their hind legs, using their tails for balance and support. Their forelimbs were short and underdeveloped, good only for digging up shallow roots or carrying small nuts back to their nests. They had long necks and tiny heads with small, toothless jaws that resembled beaks.

But she subsequently figured that they were a poor indicator. Bane’s time was long ago, and where neeks nested now was not an automatic indicator of where they lived then.

As she searched, she was reminded of the power trapped within Ambria’s surface. The Force had once devastated this world before its power was trapped by an ancient Jedi Master in the depths of Lake Natth. Now the planet was a nexus of both dark and light side power.

For the first decade of Zannah’s apprenticeship, she had dwelled here near the shores of Lake Natth. Jantar wondered if she’d be here as long, searching for the journal.

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJy8kdNNrvI