Lord Aequitas
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The Valorum Tales
Chapter 1 – Noble Beginnings
It was a normal day on Coruscant. In his speeder, Senator Confucius Valorum was going to the Grand Deliberation Chamber for an important meeting with other Senators. However, this was no ordinary Senator. He was a highly respected Senator, from a highly respected family. He was also Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Fiscal Affairs; an advisory committee on finance to the leaders of the day. He looked around impatiently. At that exact moment, the sky darkened and it began to rain. Not the best of beginnings to what would be an interesting day. A few minutes away was the place where Senator Valorum lived with his family. It was a plush villa and he ensured his family lived comfortably. However, it was not just Confucius who was interested in politics. His wife, Tamantia, was also in politics. She was the chief aide to the Senator of Naboo and also came from a respected family. Unfortunately, she had recently taken leave as she was pregnant with their third child. To her, this pregnancy was different to her last two. It seemed to be easier. Her other two children were currently on Naboo, being schooled. Partis was six and the Valorum’s oldest child. As Partis was Confucius’ oldest child and son, he was to be trained in politics. Confucius and Tamantia’s other child, and daughter, was Helentara. She was four and the apple of Tamantia’s eye. Tamantia loved children and was excited at the prospect of having her third.
Confucius was entering his office when his secretary walked up to him. She was a serious woman who the Valorum family respected highly and often invited for dinner. “Senator Valorum, we have just received a message from the hospital. Tamantia has just been admitted; her water has broken. Your child is on its way. I have cancelled all appointments.” Thanking her, Confucius ran out the door of his office and straight through the hallways of huge domed building. In fact, he was in such a hurry; he knocked over a Gungan Senator. Getting into his speeder, he rushed to the hospital which was conveniently five minutes away. Having arrived, Sen. Valorum was greeted by a medical robot and shown to the room where his wife was due to give birth. Fifteen minutes later, Tamantia gave birth to a beautiful baby son. Confucius looked down at the new addition in his family, “Supremo. That’s your name: Supremo. Supremo Finis Valorum. You will rise to great things.” Unbeknownst to the family, Supremo was a Force-Sensitive and would indeed rise to great things; things which could alter the galaxy.
This material has been written by High Prophet Aequitas aka High Historian Aequitas aka Darth Aequitas aka Aequitas for the purpose of the online forum thedarksithlords.myfreeforum.org aka TDSL. This piece may only be copied or shown on other sites with the permission of said author.
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Lord Aequitas
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Chapter 2 – Early Life
Supremo’s birth was welcomed by both families, especially by the Valorums. This was the second son of Confucius who happened to be the eldest in the family. As Partis was already being groomed to go into politics, Supremo was to most likely end up on Eriadu where the family had other interests. That was the workings of the Valorum family. They planned their children’s futures while they were babies. Supremo’s mother, Tamantia, was of the Appo family from Naboo. The Appo family was extremely well respected and dabbled in many aspects of people’s lives. They welcomed the new arrival as they hoped that he would increase the family’s wealth once he got older. Both families were to be proven wrong of course as Supremo would grow up to become neither. The other, more innocent members of Supremo’s family were his siblings: his brother Partis, 6, and Helentara who was 4. They loved the new arrival into the family and couldn’t wait until he was bigger so they could play. Neither family thought that Supremo was a Force-Sensitive because there had never been a Force-Sensitive in the Valorum family. Therefore, the newly-born child’s future as a Jedi was definitely ruled out. After the birth of her children, Tamantia usually stayed in Naboo. With Supremo, it was to be no different. Tamantia stayed on Naboo with Supremo for 8 months after which she returned to Coruscant to continue working for the Senator of Naboo. Supremo however, stayed on Naboo. His parents decided that Supremo would stay on Naboo to be schooled; the same as his siblings.
From the age of 8 months to 4 years old, Supremo lived a very normal lifestyle. He learnt how to speak and walk pretty quickly. The first major crush to hit Supremo, though, was when he was 4. His brother, Partis, had turned 10 and was to leave to go to Coruscant to live with his parents as he had finished his schooling. Unfortunately, Partis never made it to Coruscant. Soon after leaving the atmosphere of Naboo, the ship he was travelling on was shot down by space pirates. The family were traumatised. Confucius had lost his eldest son. Tamantia decided that, for the safety of her family, she would have her children schooled in Coruscant. For the Valorums, it now seemed that Supremo would follow his father into politics. Confucius thought this way and his loving wife, Tamantia agreed. Back in Coruscant, Helentara finished her schooling at the age of 8. She would go to the Valorums in Eriadu for the remainder of her childhood. Supremo never saw her again. He was 4. He was also an incredible learner, being able to pick things up quite quickly. From the age of 6, he often travelled with his father to work in the Grand Deliberation Chamber, though, never entered the room where the Senators met. At 10 he finished his schooling. It was at this age that he was to be taught politics.
“Hurry up Supremo!” Senator Confucius was walking quite quickly through the corridors of the Grand Deliberation Chamber with his son, Supremo walking slowly behind. Confucius was heading to his office to meet with the Ambassador of a planet in the Outer-Rim. Since the birth of his son 10 years ago, Sen. Valorum had been promoted to Chairman of the Inter-Relations Committee. It was now his job to sort out any problems between planets. Supremo was to be listening in on this meeting as it was hoped he’d follow in his father’s footsteps some day. “Coming, Dad”, Supremo muttered. He liked politics. However, he didn’t like meeting the people from the different planets. They spoke to him as if he was a youngling. He often surprised them though, to his pleasure. He often quoted treaties and told them where they had overstepped the rules. Whenever he did this, Confucius smiled and agreed. He knew his son would be powerful in politics someday. He drilled the notion of striving to be best in Supremo from a young age. The notion that to be the best you have to do whatever you must to get what you want. They had reached the office. “Now son, we are meeting a very important Ambassador. He comes from a planet that has a lot of resources. Try not to upset him.” Supremo had a knack for angering most of the officials they met.
2 hours later the Ambassador left Sen. Valorum’s office with a smile on his face. He had heard of the Senator’s son but thankfully he had said nothing during this meeting. In the office Confucius was looking at his son, “Why didn’t you point out he broke 3 rules? Did you miss them?” Supremo looked up at his father sleepily, “No. I just felt not to mention it. Something told me not to...” Confucius dismissed this as nothing. However, unbeknownst to him, this happened to Supremo quite frequently.
For the next two years this was routine. Everyday he went with his father to the office and sometimes listened in on discussions. At 12, Supremo was appointed Chairman of the Youth Advisory Board. This was a board made up of 10-15 year olds across the galaxy. This was Supremo’s first jump into politics. He was not going to be at this position for long though. At 13 his father, as Senator for Coruscant, appointed Supremo as his chief-aide. This was very unusual, however, everyone knew of Supremo’s ability. As his father’s chief-aide, he was able to sit in on congress in the Grand Deliberation Chamber. It was here that he became even more engrossed in politics. He listened to every word spoken and was able to refute them just as easily. Which he didn’t do of course, rather, he told his father. He was his father’s chief-aide for 3 years. At 16, he was appointed to the Judiciary; this of course being done by connections but also because of his prowess. For 2 years he sat on this panel of judges before being appointed to High Judge in charge of Fraud. Unfortunately, his decisions here would affect his life completely.
This material has been written by High Prophet Aequitas aka High Historian Aequitas aka Darth Aequitas aka Aequitas for the purpose of the online forum thedarksithlords.myfreeforum.org aka TDSL. This piece may only be copied or shown on other sites with the permission of said author.
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Lord Aequitas
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Chapter 3 – A Drastic Change
Supremo’s appointment to High Judge in charge of Fraud was one of the proudest moments in Confucius’ life. However, it would also prove to be Confucius’ downfall. Supremo’s avid rise in politics did not go unnoticed, however, by the Jedi. They could not figure out why, unbeknownst to Supremo he was able to conceal his force-sensitivity cleverly. The newly appointed High Judge Supremo was a born politician as those brought before him were soon to learn. He knew when they were lying and, strangely, was able to persuade them to tell the truth. He had grown to love politics, as well as the history behind it. He loved history and went to the many libraries. It was in one library that he found an old Terran language and became to teach himself bits and pieces. He found a word once, meaning equality and justice; aequitas. That word had a weird feeling on him, he would recall many years later. In fact, that word would become very important and would stay with him for the rest of his life.
His first 3 years as High Judge was relatively normal however, at the age of 21, something terrible happened, which Supremo blamed on the Jedi. As Supremo approached the age of 22 and his 4th year as High Judge, he got a call from the head of the Judiciary. Sen. Confucius Valorum was up on fraud and corruption the next morning; a tip from a reliable source. He asked Supremo to leave the case; because it was personal. He refused. The next day, Supremo began the trial of Senator Confucius Valorum. The trial would not be finished by him. 5 months into the trial, the Prosecution had finished up their case; it would soon be the turn of the defence. Supremo, now 22, was extremely stressed. He decided to go out to a small bar.
The bar had a few people in it; about 15 – 20 beings. As Supremo finished an Onderon ale, he noticed a lone person – with a lightsaber. A Jedi, he thought. Suddenly, a burst of energy went through him and he ran over to the Jedi with incredible speed, and anger. Then, though it felt he didn’t hit him, Supremo had his hands outstretched with the Jedi sprawled against the wall. Now, with everybody looking at him, Supremo rushed out of the bar. A few seconds later, an odd looking being with long white hair stepped out of the bar. “Go to Kuat. You will be safe from the Jedi there. Go now, I will deal with this incident”, with that, he stepped back inside. Supremo ran to his hangar where his Naboo Yacht was. The Yacht was given to him by his Grandmother for his 21st birthday. Jumping in, he told the crew that was always on hand to rush to Kuat, not to stop for no-one.
Little did he know, of course, he had used the force against that Jedi, that the white-haired man was a Dark Lord of the Sith and that he was on his way to the Sith capital where he would be trained by one of the finest Sith that had ever lived.
This material has been written by High Prophet Aequitas aka High Historian Aequitas aka Darth Aequitas aka Aequitas for the purpose of the online forum thedarksithlords.myfreeforum.org aka TDSL. This piece may only be copied or shown on other sites with the permission of said author.
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Lord Aequitas
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Chapter 4 – End of Normality
As Supremo boarded his yacht, he had floods of thoughts in his head. What have I done? How did this happen? What am I going to do? He told his crew to head for Kuat. Kuat, he thought, Kuat. Why Kuat? But more importantly, why am I listening to the stranger? Supremo had felt a connection with Kuat from the moment it had left the strangers mouth. He sat uncomfortably in his seat. He had only been given the yacht for his birthday and was still getting used to it. He ran his hand along the teak desk as he shook. “I attacked a Jedi”, he said aloud, “Am I a fool?” He brought his hand down on the desk as hard as he could; making a picture fly off the desk. He sighed and, as he reached for it, was surprised to find it fly into his hand. “What the hell just happened here”, he thought to himself. He recalled a similar incident in the bar, when he had his hands outstretched; the Jedi flew across the bar. Now, something similar had happened. He knew the Jedi could do this. Suddenly, something occurred to him, “I can use the Force”, he whispered.
He slumped back in the chair in astonishment. That white-haired man must have known. That is why he sent me to Kuat. Does he use it too? Supremo was worried. He wondered what would happen if the Jedi caught up to him and why Kuat was safe. He decided to take a rest and press his robes. However, he needed to visit the bridge first.
As he walked to the bridge he felt weird. Stopping at the doors he was about to mutter the word Open, however he didn’t. Raising a hand, he swept it to the side. Amazingly, the door opened. None of his crew noticed of course. “Captain, when we get to Kuat, announce me as High Judge Supremo. Tell those who answer that I was asked here by a man with shimmering white hair. He did not leave a name but they may know him. I will be in my room”. With that, he turned and left, using his hand again to open the door. It was amazing, he could use the force. But, opening doors seemed to be all he could do; for the moment anyway.
A few hours later, he awoke as the ship landed. Changing into his finest robes, he walked into the hallway. Nodding at his two footmen, they opened the door. He was shocked to see that some people were already there. A young human walked to the door. “Hello there”, he said with a sly smile, “I’m Relak Sal Maven, apprentice to Lord Legacy. Lord Tarna already contacted him but unfortunately, he was too busy, so he sent me instead.” Supremo stood there in awe. Relak, however continued, “He told my master that you attacked a Jedi, you knocked him out apparently. Cool. Well, we have to get you to the Office of Citizenship and get you all signed up. Another of the Sith Lords will meet you there. Oh, welcome to the Eternal Empire.” Supremo smiled but stopped when he realised something. “S-Sith? Empire? So, is that what I’m going to be, a Sith?” he enquired. Relak looked at him wickedly. “If you survive you will”. Supremo smiled weakly and beckoned his footmen. It’s going to be a long day, he thought to himself.
This material has been written by High Prophet Aequitas aka High Historian Aequitas aka Darth Aequitas aka Aequitas for the purpose of the online forum thedarksithlords.myfreeforum.org aka TDSL. This piece may only be copied or shown on other sites with the permission of said author.
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Lord Aequitas
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Chapter 5 – Interesting Encounters
Supremo weaved through the crowds guided by this strange young person before him. He had lost his footmen long ago and his hopes of finding this Citizenship place rested with this Relak person. Supremo has heard of these people; the Sith. Jedi has often regarded them as users of another side of the Force. The side they called the “Dark Side”. However, Supreme was always a fair person. He never, well, hardly ever would be more appropriate, judged people on how they acted, or looked and, more importantly, on what people said to him about them. So far, the Sith seemed nice enough – if this Relak person was anything to go by. He kept his eye on Relak as he dove through the throng of people gathered in what seemed to be a central square.
Relak was average sized for his age. He seemed quiet enough; at least for Supremo’s tastes he did. Supremo did not like noise. “Excuse me, Master Sal Maven, but where are we going and why?” he managed to say as they broke through the crowd into a much quieter area. Relak turned to his with an odd look on his face; surprise almost. “Please, I’m not a Master yet. I am just an apprentice. You can call me Relak. Like I said, we are going to the Office of Citizenship. You have to be registered into the Empire; I think Lord Tarna arranged everything.” He smiled at Supremo. Supremo, on the other hand, looked back at him in dumbfounded. “Registered into the Empire?” he echoed, “Why? What happens? Do I sign something?” Relak chuckled at the strange politician. “Yeah, it’s like immigration; sort of. Umm, what happens is: you go, sign up and tell them how you got here and then, because you are force-sensitive, you will get to choose a Master. Ok?” Supreme nodded; he would have to choose a Master. A Master to teach him what though? “A Master? What will he, or she, be teaching me?” Relak turned around, once again. “Look, please be quiet. We’re almost there. It will be all explained. Don’t worry, by Nihilus, you’ll have enough to worry about before long.
Supremo nodded before realizing what Relak has said at the end. He was about to enquire some more when they entered what seemed to be another large square area. “There”, Relak said pointing at a large, white, imposing building, “That is the Office of Citizenship. Let’s go.” With that, Relak trotted off towards the magnificent building. Supremo hesitated for a moment before following him. He could feel this weird, yet somehow comforting feeling buzzing all around him as the people, both humans and not, bustled around him. He wanted to stop for a moment to take it in, but seeing Relak trot towards the door of the building, though better of it and ran after him. Although not unfit, Supremo was only 22, he was not used to have to run. He was not used to having to do much exercise really. He was a noble and a politician. At least, that was his mindset.
Having caught up with the agile young Relak, Supremo breathed a sigh of relief. He would have to get more exercise in. He watched as Relak stopped at the door, just a few paces ahead of him. He motioned to open the door. “Wait”, said Supremo, “Why not use the force?” Relak smiled at him. “I never do”, he said with a wink. With that he opened the door and motioned for the Supremo to enter ahead of him. He did and thanked Relak. His mouth widened in awe as he stood in the middle of the Office of Registration. The architecture was amazing as was the design. But, it was also the variety of species of beings that he could see. He never saw this many even in the Grand Deliberation Chamber. The Sith Empire must be vast indeed. He looked at Relak. “What do I do?” Relak looked at him. “Wait”, he said simply. And wait they did until a droid came over to where they were seated. Relak told Supremo what to do and told him how to do it. With that Relak muttered something about studies and left. Supremo filled out the form and submitted it into the droid who disappeared as quickly as he had come.
Supremo sat waiting for some time before a sombre looking man shuffled towards him. Supremo would later find out that he was not a force-sensitive which would account for his responses. “Excuse me, are you....Supremo Finis Valorum”, he asked timidly. Supreme looked at him and answered politely. “Yes sir, I am.” The little man, who sported some facial hair smiled before muttering something slightly inaudible. “Excuse me”, Supreme said, leaning in a little closer. “What did you say?” The man looked at his feet and spoke a little louder, “You are not allowed to use the title of High Judge, sir, or any other title here unless it is earned, sir”. Of course Supremo was slightly shocked. “What? I did earn that title! I have been a High Judge in Coruscant for a few years now. I earned it!” The man stepped back a little before bowing and running to the nearest man he could find. The man then pointed at Supremo and shuffled away. Supremo’s chest tightened at the sight of this new man who approached him. “Good Day to you Mr...Valorum. My name is Darth Marix; I am the Grand Admiral of the Sith Imperial Navy. I am also one of the members of the Council which oversees new members. Today, I am on duty. I believe there is a small problem. You see, you say here that you have titles which are: “High Judge”, “Your Honour” and “My Lord”. Unfortunately, these titles are invalid here as they have not been earned. There are only a few titles you can use here. “Darth”, “Lord” and “Dark Lord” are the main ones. There are others, but you do not need to know them yet. I am afraid that you must use no title at the moment.” Marix looked at Supremo with no expression. He was polite, yes, but Supremo still did not understand why titles valid other places in the Galaxy, were not valid here. He stood up to look at the man, who was quite taller than him. “Excuse me, Darth, but those titles are valid. As I said to the other man, I have earned them and I do not care if you do not like them, I will use them. Now, I did not come here out of pleasure. I came here because a man asked me to. A man who has been referred to as Lord Tarna. I wish to speak with him.” Supremo spoke quickly, but clearly. Marix was about to retort when there was a flurry of excitement. Apparently, it seemed to Supremo, an important person had entered. He hoped it would be this Lord Tarna person. It was not. Instead it was a man, very important and noble looking, who had entered. Supremo knew it was someone very important; this man had a lot of guards around him. And, although he wanted to finish this quickly, Marix turned from Supremo and saluted this man. At once, the man strode over to the Grand Admiral while Supremo stood there, helpless to watch. “Grand Admiral, please report. Have we a plethora of new Sithlings?” Marix bowed before replying. “My Lord, indeed we do. In fact, I am dealing with one now. This is Supremo Valorum”, he said carelessly, motioning to the Supremo who, still standing there, was growing impatient. “We seem to be having some difficulty explaining to him that titles are earned. He refuses to relinquish his title of High Judge among others. He is proving to be quite stubborn.” He looked at Supremo. “Mr Valorum, this is the Emperor of our Grand Sith Empire, Dark Lord Shadow. Bow before him and show some respect”, he ordered. Supremo thought about telling him to stuff it but, if these people were anything like the Jedi, he thought it best not to anger them. He bowed in the direction of the man who Marix called the Emperor. “Good Day, Emperor”, he muttered before bringing his head back to the level of the other men. The Emperor looked at Supremo directly in his eyes. “Supremo. In my eyes, which frankly are the only ones that matter, the titles you hold do not exist. Now, because of that, you won’t be using them. You’re starting anew. You will be trained as a Sith and, once that is done, you will receive a new title. That is clear and that is the end of the little debate. You will not now, or ever again, use the titles you have presented.” He turned back towards the Grand Admiral. “Grand Admiral”, he said simply before walking away.
Supremo did not say anything as he watched this man walk back through the throng stopping every so often speaking to someone. He turned back to Marix after some time. “I do apologise Grand Admiral. I relinquish all titles”, he said grudgingly. Marix nodded before calling the small man back to his side. “Good. Please, finish with Mr Valorum here.” The Grand Admiral then swung around and trotted to the side of the room, disappearing through a door to the side. Supremo looked down to see the small man smiling at him. “Now, Mr Valorum, I am glad to say you have been approved. You must now go to the building across the street to start your application process for apprenticeship. I wish you the best of luck”, he added, looking up and down Supremo with a smile. Supremo thanked the man before gingerly walking through the crowd and out the door where, to his surprise, Relak was waiting. “Hello again Supremo. Did you get approved?” Supremo nodded before walking down the steps. “Great”, Relak said before jumping down to join him, “See that building over there? You go there to get a Master to teach you in the ways of the Sith.” Supremo nodded again. He was getting quite irritated. He was beginning to wish he was back on Coruscant in his plush villa. “Thank you”, he said to the young apprentice, “But I’m sure you have other duties to be doing. I think I can find my way now. Good Day to you, Relak. Good Day.” He did not wait for Relak’s reply but instead began wading through the mass of people in the square. It was indeed the day of a new life.
This material has been written by Grand Mage Aequitas aka High Historian Aequitas aka Darth Aequitas aka Aequitas for the purpose of the online forum thedarksithlords.myfreeforum.org aka TDSL. This piece may only be copied or shown on other sites with the permission of said author.
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