|
|
|
History of the Sith - Origins of the Sith and the Ancient Sith Empire
Part I : The Origins of the Sith
We cannot truly know how the Sith first came into existence. The events surrounding the birth of the Sith Empire was many millennia ago, and all direct records from that time have been lost. However, partial information has survived in a number of secondary sources, which have attempted to retell events of the past. If we examine all of our sources and compare their perspectives, we can at least arrive at some truth from it all.
Our best source is the testimony of those witnesses to the events themselves, either recorded in a holocron or related by that Sith’s spirit. Our most valued testimony is from the holocrons of several Sith Lords. The holocron of King Adas [TOTJC, p. 71-2], who lived in the first millennium of the Sith Empire provides a number of insights, although Adas was not himself a historian. The holocron of Darth Andendu [JCD] by contrast, is rich with information despite that Sith Lord living well after the fall of the Sith Empire. Andendu was himself a historian and archaicist, who studied and attempted to revive many traditions from the Ancient Sith Empire. The holocron of the Dark Jedi Kla is also incredibly valuable, as he has “an encyclopedic knowledge of the Sith Empire under Naga Sadow” [DSS, p. 66]. Further, the journals of Darth Revan [KOTOR] describe his encounter with the spirit of Lord Ajunta Pall, and the information he provided. Finally, and perhaps most important, we have the direct testimony of the Lady of Lettow, Arden Lyn, before she disappeared. Her perspective is limited due to when she entered stasis, with no knowledge of what came after except what we Sith were able to tell her about events so long ago.
In the wake of the Battle of Endor, when the New Republic and Jedi historians first began reconstructing the past, the only testimony they had was that of a holocron which had survived the Jedi Purge in the personal holdings of Emperor Palpatine. The holocron’s gatekeeper, Ood Bnar, told many stories of the Beastriders of Onderon, the Saga of Nomi Sunrider and the Freedon Nadd Uprising [TOTJ, FNU and TOTJC]. Other personalities in the holocron, such as Vodo-Siosk Baas [as indicated in DLOTS] and his later descendant Bodo-Baas [as indicated in DE], contributed information about what came after. As a result, the first information most of us encountered about the origins of the Sith came from those who admittedly lived thousands of years later.
These early comments gave us enticing pieces of information. According to Ood Bnar, a thousand years before he recorded his holocron, then-padawan Odan-Urr discovered scrolls describing the First Great Schism [GAOTS #0, p. 2-3], which say the Sith were the product of a schism in the Jedi Order:
| Quote: | | The ancient struggle of Light Side and Dark Side, the First Great Schism of the Jedi Knights... The Dark Jedi, finally defeated after a century of bloodshed, took their battered ships into exile... ...crossing the galaxy into the unknown... There the vanquished Dark Jedi found a primitive civilization, a new people to dominate-- The Sith! The Dark Jedi were treated as gods... ...with unlimited resources and willing slaves, the Jedi exiles forged the Sith civilization into a new Empire, bringing about a Golden Age... of evil! |
Of course, this vague description is lacking any details such as dates, the important figures in these events, or even the world(s) where this took place. It reads more like a vision of the past than an actual history, and we unfortunately do not know the origin of this scroll. However, Ood Bnar himself knows more of this history himself, and related it to the students of Skywalker’s Jedi Academy [TOTJC]. He repeatedly says the Sith have existed for more than a hundred thousand years, but we have since discovered these comments refer to the Sith species rather than the Sith Empire or the Sith Order. This in itself is notable because most species are able to develop from the earliest stages of civilization to space flight in only a few thousand years, and that early civilization typically develops about twenty to thirty thousand years after the sentient form of a species develops. Therefore, the extended period for which the Sith species remained primitive is itself a notable trait.
Ood Bnar only makes one other reference to how long ago early events of the Sith Empire took place. He relates that King Ommin, Queen Amanoa and their apprentice, Novar, had access to the holocron of an early Sith Lord. King Adas had used his knowledge of the Dark Side to conquer his homeworld “more than two dozen millennia ago.” Presumably this holocron was part of the legacy of Freedon Nadd, recovered by Arca Jath and kept from Exar Kun [DLOTS #2]. It is certainly a different holocron than the one Lord Kun subsequently took from Odan-Urr, as that is the one Odan-Urr had recovered at the end of the Great Hyperspace War, a thousand years earlier [FOTSE #6]. However, students of history must mourn the destruction of the holocron Exar Kun used, as Odan-Urr described it as containing more than a hundred thousand years of Sith lore, indicating the personality recording of an ancient Sith historian who knew the traditions of the Sith species before the arrival of the Dark Lords [TSW #1].
Another hint of the events of the First Great Schism comes simply from the popular expressions of the Corporate Sector. That region of space overlaps heavily with the ancient Sith Empire, and many people living in the area still swear by “Xendor’s Minions”, one of the Dark Side groups that preceeded the Sith. According to their legends, the Dark Jedi Xendor led the Legions of Lettow, an ancient group of Dark Side adepts, and it was out of their destruction the Sith were born [THG, TPS, RD, and 1974 drafts of the Star Wars script using “Sith” and “Legions of Lettow” synonymously, similar to how “Jedi” and “Bendu” are alternately used in early drafts].
However, once a more thorough study of ancient history commenced, and truth amongst Palpatine’s propaganda began being confirmed by older sources of information, it was discovered that a fairly complete picture had emerged. Both Jedi and Sith holocrons with more information about that era emerged, and gave some greater insight on the First Great Schism [SWE, POTJS and DSS]. The versions of events are very similar between these sources:
| Quote: | | [PTOJS] 25,000 BBY: When armies of tyranny, such as the Legions of Lettow, tried to carve empires of fear and hatred from the civilized systems of the galaxy, the Jedi opposed them. ... During this earliest era, a group of Dark Jedi rose to challenge the Jedi Order. The Dark Jedi were driven from the Republic after a century of battle, eventually resettling on an uncharted world already occuped by a species known as the Sith. |
| Quote: | [DSS] 25,000 BBY: Sometime during this ancient period, the first dark side uprising took place. The battle between the forces of light and darkness lasted more than a century. Eventually the dark side practioners were driven into exile beyond the edge of known space. Far from the influence of Republic or Jedi Order, the Sith Empire was born.
The vanquished Dark Jedi found a primitive civilization called the Sith. This species welcomed them as gods, and the darksiders dominated them. With new resources and willing slaves at their command, the exiled Jedi forced the Sith Empire, beginning a golden age of evil thousands of light years from the farthest borders of the Republic. Each side forgot the other as millennia passed. The great schism that divided the early Jedi became a legend. |
When more information was recently uncovered about the Sith Empire of Darth Revan [KOTOR I & II], this included his description of the spirit of Ajunta Pall. The spirit was disoriented and unfamiliar with its surroundings, but still had some strong memories of what had happened while Lord Pall was alive. He was among the last generation of the Dark Jedi who fought in the first Great Schism, and part of the group that landed on the Sith homeworld and founded the Sith Empire. However, the spirit expressed such remorse over betraying its Jedi masters thousands of years earlier, that Darth Revan finally sickened to continue to listen to it, and used the power of the Dark Side to drain its energy out, leaving nothing.
Subsequently, Revan’s most notable teacher in the ways of the Force found a Jedi exile who had disappeared since the Mandalorian Wars, and the exile left us a similarly detailed record as Revan’s. The exile describes this teacher as a Jedi historian who became a powerful Sith Lady, Darth Traya, and so the information which has survived from this knowledgeable source is especially useful. She tells us that the Sith Lord Tulak Hord was a contemporary of Ajunta Pall, and was in her estimation, the most powerful warrior to ever wield a sword or lightsaber. She also taught the exile about the first Great Schism, giving the same information as repeated by the other sources, but disputing the version of Kla’s holocron on an important point:
| Quote: | | In their hearts, they never forgot the Jedi. The hatred for the Jedi Order burns in their veins like fire, and echoes in their teachings. |
So according to one Jedi historian turned Sith Lady, the Sith may have lost the navigational information to find the Republic, but they maintained their knowledge of the Jedi. This may well explain the extreme reaction many Sith had towards Republic explorers millennia later. However, these collected bits of partial information is all the records we have of how the Sith Empire first began.
Fortunately, the Sith have gained more knowledge from one of the main participants in some of the actual events. Lady Arden Lyn was trapped in stasis from the time of the “First Great Schism” until the Jedi Purge that followed the Clone War. According to the version of events she tells, she and her lover, Xendor, were from Kashi, the homeworld of Teräs Käsi [SWG #5, TOTJC, POTJS, HG and MOTK]. They were trained by the Followers of Palawa in that martial art, which considers the Force as simply an extension of one’s breath and personal energy. They were exiled from the Followers for their sadistic practices, and began travelling the galaxy, attracting followers of their own. The Force-wielding Minions of Xendor came from a number of different traditions, including the Jedi.
Once the Jedi discovered that former Jedi and other Force adepts had become Minions of Xendor, and were studying the Dark Side of the Force, they decided to oppose those teachings. The Jedi Council forbade ex-Jedi from continuing their Force training, and forbade anyone from studying the Dark Side. Rather than accept the doctrines of the Jedi Council, Xendor and his Minions formed the Legions of Lettow, warriors who would fight alongside them against the Jedi and those soldiers of the Republic they had recruited.
Early in the war, Arden Lyn confronted and defeated Jedi Master Awdrysta Pina, who before dying, attempted to arrest Lady Arden’s heart with the rare morichro technique. However, with her teräs käsi training and a Kashi Mer talisman, Lady Arden was able to transform the ceasing of her life into a stasis trance, in which she remained until revived in the time of the Jedi Purge. Some time after his lover’s disappearance, Xendor himself was killed, with his minions continuing their struggle against the Jedi, as the Legions of Lettow. The war continued on for more than a century before the Legionnaires were finally defeated and exiled.
On a side note, some thousands of years later, the Kashi star went supernova, and its traditions only survived through its colonies. The main colony is Bunduki in the Pacanth reach, which is where the Folowers of Palawa still teach Teräs Käsi. Apparently, a powerful Dark Side relic was returned to Kashi shortly before the supernova, seems to have reappeared even more recently than Lady Arden herself, with the earliest reports of it showing up around the same time as the Thrawn campaign [SWAJ #6].
Xendor and Lyn attracted many former Jedi to their cause, along with any other Force adepts with enough wisdom to see beyond the Jedi Order's imposed dualism of the Light Side and Dark Side. Along with the number of former Jedi in their ranks, there is a disturbing tendency to describe anyone strong with the Dark Side of the Force as a “Dark Jedi”. By the time the war between the Jedi Order and the Legions of Lettow had lasted a century, it seems few remembered the founders of the Dark Side army had never been Jedi. This event has ever since been called the “First Great Schism” of the Jedi Order, even though Xendor would have needed to join the Jedi before he could have split from them.
As has been described, the Lettow warriors were defeated and sent across the galaxy to find the world Ziost, homeworld of the primitive Sith species. They were treated as gods, began intermarrying with the priest caste, and their descendants conquered nearby systems, growing into the Sith Empire.
Then, 18,000 years later, an actual schism occurred among the Jedi called the Hundred-Years Darkness. The circumstances of that conflict have often been confused with the “First Great Schism”, resulting in some sources conflating the details of two events separated by millennia. The most obvious example is the recently published New Essential Chronology, produced by the Historic Council of the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances. In that work, following the “First Great Schism” of 25,000 years ago, the Legions of Lettow were simply destroyed, while the exiled Dark Jedi following the Hundred-Years Darkness of 7000 years ago found the Sith homeworld.
Many times in history, stories become conflated. How many emperors have converted to a religion after having a vision before or during an important battle? How many times has a library burned down with a story that has the same elements and lessons as other stories about a library burning? How many wars, the history of which are usually combined propaganda with actual events in any case, have details which are suspiciously like the details of other famous wars? In some cases history repeats itself, but in most cases missing details have simply been filled in with those from more familiar events.
It is strange that any official work of history left from the Galactic Empire can now be discounted without debate as “propaganda”, yet the official history published by the rival government which rose in its place can be so easily accepted. It is understandable that the NEC descriptions are confused, as all accounts of these ancient events are somewhat vague. The first problem is simply that the name of the earlier conflict makes no sense from the perspective of the Sith, as our origins were not a schism at all. Our order was founded by exiles from many traditions, only one of which was the Jedi. The Jedi then declared the practices of Xendor and his minions anathema, and waged war against us. The NEC presents this in an inverted manner, saying that the Legions of Lettow were founded to make war on the Jedi. This is only true in that Xendor trained legionnaires in response to the attacks of the First Jedi Crusade, as this “schism” is more properly called.
The NEC oddly enough has that detail correct: while it states the “First Great Schism” is between light and dark, it does not call the Legions of Lettow “Dark Jedi”. However, it then further confuses the matter by stating the Sith Empire was not founded until 18,000 years later, when the Dark Jedi fleeing the Hundred-Years War discovered the Sith species. This is plainly false, as all other sources place the foundation of the Sith Empire 25,000 years ago, following the “First Great Schism” [GAOTS, SWE, POTJS, DSS]. Further, other sources describe events in the Sith Empire in between the “First Great Schism” and the Hundred-Years War. The holocron of King Adas [TOTJC] describes his reign of 24,000 years ago as part of the Sith Empire. Ironically, another publication by the Alliance’s Historic Council, The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels, states that Republic Fleet Systems was quite famously founded 15,000 years ago to answer the threat from Sith-backed uprisings on Republic worlds bordering the Sith Empire. These events are hardly possible if the Sith Empire was not founded until 7000 years ago.
The NEC has only done what many histories have done, though, only on a greater scale. Many works have confused the events of 25,000 years ago with those 7000 years ago - we must remember that both wars happened many thousands of years before our earliest surviving records. However, while most works confuse the Legions of Lettow with the Dark Jedi of the Hundred-Years War, the NEC has actually attributed the foundation of the Sith Empire to the wrong group, creating a version of history that cannot be supported when referenced against any other works.
This is therefore what we know of Sith origins: Twenty-five millennia in the past, Xendor and Arden Lyn began a new study of the Force unencumbered by the dogma of groups like the Jedi or Palawa. Their discoveries attracted followers from many traditions, along with undiscovered adepts with no other training. However, their practices disturbed the Jedi Order, especially when many of their number left to study Xendor’s teachings, and a crusade was launched against them. When Xendor began training legionnaires who could defend themselves against the Jedi and even attack in return, the Jedi Council told the Republic that the Legions of Lettow had been founded from a schism in their order to attack and destroy the Jedi.
Early in the conflict, Arden Lyn was trapped in stasis, not to be discovered for millennia, and Xendor continued on. Eventually, Xendor was killed and the Legions of Lettow continued fighting without him. After more than a century of warfare, the Jedi finally succeeded in their crusade, and destroyed the Lettow. The survivors escaped, and crossed the galaxy to unexplored space, landing on the planet of Ziost. This was the homeworld of the Sith species, who still had a primitive culture of pharaonic kings who were treated as living gods. The Dark adepts, no longer using the name Lettow, took the position of the divine rulers over the Sith, with the greatest of their number becoming Dark Lord of the Sith. Within a few centuries, the Dark Lords had advanced the Sith civilization to an industrial space-faring Sith Empire capable of conquering nearby worlds.
_________________
Lord Scourge
(( Main Administrator ))
Dark Sith Lord of the Council, Historian to the Empress
Master to Vulpine, Sith Apprentice
Under the Dark Patronage of Lady Lumiya
"You truly are evil."
-Abel Peña, Star Wars EU writer, to me
|
|
