B E A C O N
Throat Full of Glass
Ziost
Six thousand years ago the Jedi Order unwittingly created the greatest threat to that they would ever face. A schism, one that rocked the archaic order to the very core, began when Jedi began delving deeper into the mysteries of the force than their backwards leadership believed "right". An Order that claimed to protect the people of the known galaxy, that forced themselves into the role of arbitrator of right and wrong, became aware of a small sect of their own that trusted more heavily in the force than they did, in a group that sought to end the suffering of the galaxy - to solve the riddle of death, to create new life, and unravel the mysteries of the very force they used. The Jedi saw this and they realized that such a change in the galactic way of life would endanger their iron-clad grip on society, that the new age of Jedi Knights could potentially challenge their authority and cast them from their proverbial thrones - but did they do what might have bettered the galaxy? Did they even think twice about what the ramifications of eternal life might be?
No.
The Jedi Order demanded they cease their activities, they persecuted those who experimented and flirted with the darker, unknown, fringes of the force. The Order pushed their own away until at last the only bridge between the vast difference in perspectives was name, and name alone. Thus began the Second Great Schism, or, as the Jedi call it, the Hundred-Year Darkness. It was a one hundred year war that saw the challenging of the Order's core tenets by the youths, that saw an uprising against the Order's restriction of knowledge, the anger with the archaic belief that keeping the truth from their youth would keep the galaxy safe from the abuse of such knowledge. Jedi Padawans and Knights, even Masters, rose up against the status quo, they slew their own teachers that denied them of the truth, amassed an army not only of rogue Jedi but of the true masters of the force. Those that the Order later called Dark Jedi, the Jedi that unlocked the secrets of the Dark Side and learned to warp and pervert life to suit their own needs.
Many worlds that the Jedi called home were home to battles in this war which pitted Jedi against Jedi, those who sought knowledge against those who sought to withhold it. Massive creatures, Leviathans, and other creatures borne from the dark side, ravaged entire worlds during this tumultuous era, one which led to the rise of a very select, core, group of these rogues - these Dark Jedi. The likes of Ajunta Pall, XoXaan, Karness Muur, Remulus Dreypa, and Sorzus Syn would survive their comrades to see their names engraved in the annals of history as the surviving leaders of this rebellion against an oppressive order.
Unfortunately, given their sheer numbers and the reluctance of so many to join in the endeavor to fight on the side of knowledge and truth, the rebellion ended with a victory for the Jedi Order and exile for those Dark Jedi that participated. So arrogant were these Jedi, allowing their foes to survive and lick their wounds through exile from known space, that they believed their enemies would simply cease to be an issue if they were to be expelled from known space - that they, nor their successors, would never return and destroy them in retribution for their ignorance. The Dark Jedi soon found themselves on the planet of Korriban, the homeworld of the Sith species, where they conquered the natives and formed the ancient Sith Empire - and the Order which sat at its heart. At the helm of these Jen'ari - Dark Lords - was Ajunta Pall, the man that the Kissai believed was a manifestation of their god, Typhojem. It was Ziost that the man took as his home and capital of his new empire, and it was Ziost that would be the place he died - though his body was interred on Korriban in the Valley of Dark Lords.
Vitium had drilled the history of their order into [member="Mala Arar"]'s head for much of the time the two had been together as teacher and pupil. It was important, at least as far as Vitium was concerned, for the Sith to know who they were, to have a grasp of why they existed, in order to ensure that their purpose was never lost, and that they were never swayed by the Jedi that fought against them. It also instilled a sort of hatred within young acolytes for the Jedi that constantly attempted to snuff their order out. History, not simply for the sake of history but of their ancient predecessors and the powers they wielded, also provided inspiration for the youth, gave them goals to meet - and artifacts to seek out.
Though the Sith Lord had been to Ziost before - even died and returned to the living on its surface - she had never came to the world for the specific purpose of locating an object with great cultural significance for the Sith. In keeping with her emphasis on the importance of their origins, Vitium had brought her apprentice - formerly known as Mala Arar, now simply a nameless acolyte until she earned her new identity as something more than a tool - to the ancient Sith world in search of a very specific artifact that contained knowledge which the Sith Lord believed would assist her apprentice in her growth and training.
"I speak from experience, Apprentice, when I say that you will learn the most through experience. I can teach you a thousand different ways to hold a lightsaber, but it will amount to nothing if you do not face another in combat to learn what is practical and best for you." Vitium said, the small transport they flew in on hovering several kilometers above the ground as they flew towards the ruins of a small keep that once held a long-deceased lord of the Sith. "Once we have completed this short detour we will arrive at my stronghold on Khar Shian, and there we will begin your formal training as a Sith that aspires to be more than a mere acolyte of the dark side." She explained. The Sith Lord imagined that her apprentice might wonder why she opted to take the acolyte on a hunt for something amidst ruins on Ziost, and if she were in her shoes she would have likely thought the same, and though she had very specific reasons and wanted to not influence her apprentice's perspective just yet, it was also a rather good idea to explain why Mala was being thrown into danger - twice now - without formal training. Vitium, herself, had participated in the battles on Empress Teta and Alderaan without a large degree of formal training - still a mere acolyte on both occasions - but had came out better because of it. Although her initial ability to use the force was muddled, as she lacked training, and her saber combat relied largely on intuition due to a lack of rigidity and no knowledge of the seven saber forms, the Sith Lord had a better grasp of her master's teachings because she already had a basic experience with them and thus had an easier time learning than her fellow acolytes.
Mala, she hoped, would have an easier time in a similar manner - although Vitium had every intention of playing the part of a guiding hand rather than simply throwing her to the wolves as her own master had to her originally. Unlike Atrisia, however, Ziost would be no apocalyptic warzone. The master and apprentice were on Ziost to recover an artifact, perhaps two, and only deal with whatever obstacles the two would happen upon. There would be no duel between two masters that would leave Mala to fend for herself and rely on an interloper, and there would be no massive battle between light and dark. As far as the Sith Lord was concerned, it would simply be the pair on the path for a trinket that would aid in her apprentice's growth and a few quick deaths along the way.
"Long ago, at the dawn of the Sith Order, the Jen'ari - the Dark Lord - Ajunta Pall kept his capital on Ziost. Though the actual city itself has been lost to history and rebuilding, the old keeps and fortresses of ancient Sith Lords have infamously stood the test of time and persisted through millennia. Our target will be the small keep, a castle of sorts, that once housed the Dark Lord of the Sith. There we will take what might be of importance to us, and I daresay to you, and we will leave."
"This shouldn't take very long, either."
Ziost
Six thousand years ago the Jedi Order unwittingly created the greatest threat to that they would ever face. A schism, one that rocked the archaic order to the very core, began when Jedi began delving deeper into the mysteries of the force than their backwards leadership believed "right". An Order that claimed to protect the people of the known galaxy, that forced themselves into the role of arbitrator of right and wrong, became aware of a small sect of their own that trusted more heavily in the force than they did, in a group that sought to end the suffering of the galaxy - to solve the riddle of death, to create new life, and unravel the mysteries of the very force they used. The Jedi saw this and they realized that such a change in the galactic way of life would endanger their iron-clad grip on society, that the new age of Jedi Knights could potentially challenge their authority and cast them from their proverbial thrones - but did they do what might have bettered the galaxy? Did they even think twice about what the ramifications of eternal life might be?
No.
The Jedi Order demanded they cease their activities, they persecuted those who experimented and flirted with the darker, unknown, fringes of the force. The Order pushed their own away until at last the only bridge between the vast difference in perspectives was name, and name alone. Thus began the Second Great Schism, or, as the Jedi call it, the Hundred-Year Darkness. It was a one hundred year war that saw the challenging of the Order's core tenets by the youths, that saw an uprising against the Order's restriction of knowledge, the anger with the archaic belief that keeping the truth from their youth would keep the galaxy safe from the abuse of such knowledge. Jedi Padawans and Knights, even Masters, rose up against the status quo, they slew their own teachers that denied them of the truth, amassed an army not only of rogue Jedi but of the true masters of the force. Those that the Order later called Dark Jedi, the Jedi that unlocked the secrets of the Dark Side and learned to warp and pervert life to suit their own needs.
Many worlds that the Jedi called home were home to battles in this war which pitted Jedi against Jedi, those who sought knowledge against those who sought to withhold it. Massive creatures, Leviathans, and other creatures borne from the dark side, ravaged entire worlds during this tumultuous era, one which led to the rise of a very select, core, group of these rogues - these Dark Jedi. The likes of Ajunta Pall, XoXaan, Karness Muur, Remulus Dreypa, and Sorzus Syn would survive their comrades to see their names engraved in the annals of history as the surviving leaders of this rebellion against an oppressive order.
Unfortunately, given their sheer numbers and the reluctance of so many to join in the endeavor to fight on the side of knowledge and truth, the rebellion ended with a victory for the Jedi Order and exile for those Dark Jedi that participated. So arrogant were these Jedi, allowing their foes to survive and lick their wounds through exile from known space, that they believed their enemies would simply cease to be an issue if they were to be expelled from known space - that they, nor their successors, would never return and destroy them in retribution for their ignorance. The Dark Jedi soon found themselves on the planet of Korriban, the homeworld of the Sith species, where they conquered the natives and formed the ancient Sith Empire - and the Order which sat at its heart. At the helm of these Jen'ari - Dark Lords - was Ajunta Pall, the man that the Kissai believed was a manifestation of their god, Typhojem. It was Ziost that the man took as his home and capital of his new empire, and it was Ziost that would be the place he died - though his body was interred on Korriban in the Valley of Dark Lords.
Vitium had drilled the history of their order into [member="Mala Arar"]'s head for much of the time the two had been together as teacher and pupil. It was important, at least as far as Vitium was concerned, for the Sith to know who they were, to have a grasp of why they existed, in order to ensure that their purpose was never lost, and that they were never swayed by the Jedi that fought against them. It also instilled a sort of hatred within young acolytes for the Jedi that constantly attempted to snuff their order out. History, not simply for the sake of history but of their ancient predecessors and the powers they wielded, also provided inspiration for the youth, gave them goals to meet - and artifacts to seek out.
Though the Sith Lord had been to Ziost before - even died and returned to the living on its surface - she had never came to the world for the specific purpose of locating an object with great cultural significance for the Sith. In keeping with her emphasis on the importance of their origins, Vitium had brought her apprentice - formerly known as Mala Arar, now simply a nameless acolyte until she earned her new identity as something more than a tool - to the ancient Sith world in search of a very specific artifact that contained knowledge which the Sith Lord believed would assist her apprentice in her growth and training.
"I speak from experience, Apprentice, when I say that you will learn the most through experience. I can teach you a thousand different ways to hold a lightsaber, but it will amount to nothing if you do not face another in combat to learn what is practical and best for you." Vitium said, the small transport they flew in on hovering several kilometers above the ground as they flew towards the ruins of a small keep that once held a long-deceased lord of the Sith. "Once we have completed this short detour we will arrive at my stronghold on Khar Shian, and there we will begin your formal training as a Sith that aspires to be more than a mere acolyte of the dark side." She explained. The Sith Lord imagined that her apprentice might wonder why she opted to take the acolyte on a hunt for something amidst ruins on Ziost, and if she were in her shoes she would have likely thought the same, and though she had very specific reasons and wanted to not influence her apprentice's perspective just yet, it was also a rather good idea to explain why Mala was being thrown into danger - twice now - without formal training. Vitium, herself, had participated in the battles on Empress Teta and Alderaan without a large degree of formal training - still a mere acolyte on both occasions - but had came out better because of it. Although her initial ability to use the force was muddled, as she lacked training, and her saber combat relied largely on intuition due to a lack of rigidity and no knowledge of the seven saber forms, the Sith Lord had a better grasp of her master's teachings because she already had a basic experience with them and thus had an easier time learning than her fellow acolytes.
Mala, she hoped, would have an easier time in a similar manner - although Vitium had every intention of playing the part of a guiding hand rather than simply throwing her to the wolves as her own master had to her originally. Unlike Atrisia, however, Ziost would be no apocalyptic warzone. The master and apprentice were on Ziost to recover an artifact, perhaps two, and only deal with whatever obstacles the two would happen upon. There would be no duel between two masters that would leave Mala to fend for herself and rely on an interloper, and there would be no massive battle between light and dark. As far as the Sith Lord was concerned, it would simply be the pair on the path for a trinket that would aid in her apprentice's growth and a few quick deaths along the way.
"Long ago, at the dawn of the Sith Order, the Jen'ari - the Dark Lord - Ajunta Pall kept his capital on Ziost. Though the actual city itself has been lost to history and rebuilding, the old keeps and fortresses of ancient Sith Lords have infamously stood the test of time and persisted through millennia. Our target will be the small keep, a castle of sorts, that once housed the Dark Lord of the Sith. There we will take what might be of importance to us, and I daresay to you, and we will leave."
"This shouldn't take very long, either."
