History of the Sith

Sith Origins

    The Sith arose on a system of planets far from the center of the galaxy in a region that would one day be known as "The Outer Rim.  " The central planet of the system was most likely the world of Ziost.  A fairly primitive people, the aliens known as the Sith had several distinguishing features, including humanoid body structure, red skin, glowing yellow eyes, sharp teeth, bony chins and foreheads, and long, clawed hands.  Probably the early Sith were carnivorous hunters. 

    A superstitious people, the Sith, like other primitive races, worshipped many gods of nature, including the sun, moon, and other heavenly bodies.  Over the years, because of this worship, the Sith became masters of black magic, sacrifices, and other dark arts.  Sith magic did not consciously involve the Force, but it probably drew some of its power from that origin. 

    Little is known of early Sith social structure, but it can be inferred by studies of other more "primitive" peoples.  Like other ancient cultures, the Sith were by no means "uncivilized.  "  They probably were divided into various clans and ruled by lords or kings with warriors at the top of the social structure and slaves on the bottom.  It is not known whether their bloodthirsty nature was at this time a part of Sith society, but it is safe to say that the Sith were probably very warrior-oriented, delighting in battle. 

    Sith architecture was most likely primitive as well.  The Sith probably had temples, built of stone, and houses made out of natural material.  Ziost may have had great forests in the early days of the Republic when the Sith were evolving, but it is likely that most buildings were constructed out of stone. 

    The use of horns in Sith art and society bears special notice.  All Sith beasts are horned, and the Sith themselves have a bony body structure.  Perhaps the early Sith even had horns.  Whatever the case, the horn became an important symbol in Sith society.  Warrior armor bore horned designs and helmets were horned.  Horns were also used as ornaments in the household and for jewelry.  No known Sith art from this early period has survived, but later works also show strong use of the horn motif.  It probably had some sort of religious/mythical/superstitious significance as well.  The importance of horns in Sith belief continued in tradition until the times of Naga Sadow and the Great Hyperspace War, in which the same horned beasts and armor were used in battle. 

The Dark Jedi

    About ten thousand years before the fall of the Republic, there was an uprising inside the Jedi order.  A group of Jedi who embraced the true nature of the Force rebelled against the rest of the order.  The rebellion failed and, since the so called "light side" Jedi did not want to execute these "dark" Jedi, they simply exiled them form the Republic, hoping they would die in space.  The Dark Jedi, however, by chance or by the Force, came out of hyperspace above Ziost. 

    The Sith at that time still clung to their old traditions, worshipping the "gods" of earth and sky.  When the Jedi's spacecraft landed on Ziost, the Sith worshipped them as gods fallen from the sky.  The Dark Jedi of course saw their chance.  Using the power of the Force, they conquered the primitive Sith, adopting Sith culture as their own and ruling the proud Sith peoples. 

    The dark Jedi then discovered Sith magic.  If used in addition to the Force, they reasoned, they would be all but invincible.  According to the narrative of Lord Marka Ragnos, they then interbred with select members of the Sith race to produce more powerful Sith.  This suggests that talent in using Sith magic was in part hereditary: parents who were powerful magicians would have children who were powerful Force users.  As a result, the "new" breed of Sith were unlike any race the galaxy had seen before: great magicians who quickly climbed to the top of the Sith social structure, strong in the Force and filled with a lust for power and glory. 

The Sith Empire

    It was this lust for power and glory that led to the Sith empire.  As the Sith multiplied and learned to integrate Sith magic into use of the Force, the Sith lords grew more and more bold.  They began venturing into other systems, satisfying their thirst for glory by conquering neighboring planets, and satisfying their lust for power by incorporating them into an empire of their own.

    Some of these conquered planets may include Korriban, Khar Delba, and Ch'hodos.  (The number and names of the planets in the original Sith system are unknown.  )

    As the conquered systems grew more and more numerous, powerful Sith Sorcerers ruled over their territories as Lords, making laws, building temples, and controlling basically every facet of life in their conquered systems.  Many of the Sith probably grew fabulously rich as a result of tribute from conquered systems.  On the black throne of the Sith Empire sat the Dark Lord of the Sith, one who claimed the right to rule over all other Sith Lords.  Only the most powerful Lords dared oppose the will of a Dark Lord, and most were quickly disposed of.

    The power of Sith magic was one of the most prominent reasons for the Sith's long reign of power in the galaxy.  The place of magic in Sith society was an ancient one long before the Dark Jedi came to Ziost, and combined with the power of the Force, many new spells and uses for the magic were created and discovered. 

Dark Lord Marka Ragnos

    After a century of ironhanded rule, the ninth and greatest Dark Lord of the Sith, Marka Ragnos, had died.  The ensuing power vacuum sparked a great struggle, a brewing civil war that could tear apart the ancient and powerful Sith Empire.  Hungry factions convened on the mausoleum planet of Korriban as Ragnos was laid to rest among the towering tombs.  Even under the shadow-filled skies, the funeral held great pomp and splendor, as the sacrifice of Sith slaves heralded the completion of a spectacular new tomb.

    At the grave site, the two strongest Sith opponents confronted each other.  Naga Sadow, eager to expand Sith power, dabbled in unproven magical and alchemical techniques, while his rival Ludo Kressh, content with the existing foundations of their empire, was loath to risk any folly that might cost them everything.

    At the doorstep of the new tomb, Sadow and Kressh engaged in a bloody duel, until to their astonishment the image of the fallen Dark Lord appeared as a spectral herald, the last gasp of his life force.  Cryptic and ominous, the departing shade of Marka Ragnos announced that the fate of the Sith Empire would depend on the outcome of their conflict.  His warning fell on deaf ears.

Naga Sadow and the Great Hyperspace War

    Millennia after the Dark Jedi conquered the Sith, the Republic was rising to its full power.  Exploration was being conducted into the unknown reaches of the galaxy and hyperspace explorers, men and women who mapped new hyperspace routes, abounded.  Hyperspace exploring was dangerous and many times suicidal, as the explorers would spin random coordinates onto the nav computer and then follow the path, hoping to end up lucky.  Most of the time, they wound up dead, flying their ships through a star or planet or black hole.  This, however, did not deter the young and adventurous from following the same example, for the luckiest explorers became wealthy.

    In that time, two young teenagers, Gav and Jori Daragon, stumbled upon the Sith Empire in an alarming series of coincidences.  The seven worlds of the Empress Teta system had just been united in a series of wars, in which the parents of Gav and Jori were killed while smuggling supplies to the soldiers.  The two decided to set out on their own and become hyperspace explorers.  However, it did not work out quite as they had planned.  After selling a disastrous route to a merchant who vowed revenge, Gav and Jori fled from the Teta system.  With nowhere to go, they entered random coordinates and headed off into the unknown.

    Of all the times to arrive in the heart of the Sith empire, this was the worst.  Down on the planet's surface, the funeral of the ninth Dark Lord of the Sith, Marka Ragnos, had just ended, and two powerful Sith lords, Naga Sadow and Ludo Kressh, were facing off in a duel to the death to decide the next Dark Lord of the Sith.  In the middle of this confrontation, Starbreaker 12 arrived at Korriban.  Lost and curious, Gav and Jori Daragon had barely survived their headlong plunge through hyperspace, and now they needed to gather information on the newly discovered world.  Without trade possibilities and resources, their expedition would be useless.

    Instead of negotiating trade agreements, the Sith took Gav and Jori hostage and then called a council of the Sith lords, asking what should be done.  Kressh suggested that it was an invasion from the Republic and that the two should be destroyed immediately.  But Sadow disagreed, saying it was instead a time of expansion and conquest for the Sith Empire.  He was unable to convince Kressh, however, and the Sith Lord and his followers left in a rage.

    In the days that followed, Sadow carried out his devious plans.  Obtaining strange Republic weapons such as a blaster from the Daragon's ship, Starbreaker 12, he staged attacks on the prison where Gav and Jori were being held.  In the process, he killed his old ally Simus and hid Gav and Jori in his secret fortress while pretending that it was a Republic attack.  The Sith Empire erupted into chaos, and as expected, Sadow's followers elected him tenth Dark Lord of the Sith, pleading with him to protect them from the Republic invasion they thought was coming.

    However, Kressh found out about Sadow's deception and launched an attack on the Dark Lord's fortress.  Little did Kressh know that Sadow had been waiting for this moment, and that the Dark Lord of the Sith actually had two fortresses and the one that Kressh was attacking was a decoy, a fake.  Separating Gav and Jori, Sadow convinced Jori to flee back to the Republic before Kressh destroyed them.  Jori left in the Starbreaker 12 without knowing that Sadow had attached a homing beacon to it, thus letting him find out the location of the Republic.  After she was safely past Kressh's force, Sadow then launched an attack from his real fortress on the dark side of Khar Shian and used his Sith magic to turn the slaves of Kressh's followers against them, thus destroying most of Kressh's reinforcements.

    After defeating Kressh's force, Sadow began teaching Dark Jedi skills to Gav and made the boy head of his fleet.  He then made plans to attack the Republic, using Sith magic to project images of ships to make his fleet seem larger than it really was.  The Sith invasion fleet set out to conquer the Republic.

    The unexpected conflict spread across the Republic like a Storm.  Relentless and unpredictable, the Sith fleet devastated the Republic defenders and tore through whole sectors of the galaxy.  Finally, the combined Republic fleet made a major stand around the flare-active red-giant star Primus Goluud.

    Sadow used is mastery of the Force in combination with powerful Sith technology to trigger the core of Primus Goluud to explode and fled back to the Sith empire.  But more trouble awaited him there.  He found that Kressh had not been killed after all and had declared himself the Dark Lord of the Sith in Sadow's absence and had exiled Sadow from the empire.  As the two Sith fleets met in battle, the Republic ships arrived.  Jori Daragon, true to her word, had returned to destroy the Sith with the help of Empress Teta and her Jedi advisors.  Sadow knew he was beaten, but as a last parting gift, he again made the Sith slaves turn on their masters, killing Kressh and all his followers.  He then destroyed pursuing Republic forces by exploding the double star of Denarii Nova.

    Of all his former glory, Naga Sadow retained only a single ship and his Massassi crew.  The Dark Lord set his ship down on the jungle moon of Yavin IV where he entombed his warship in a vast temple and left the Massassi behind as guardians.  Using Sith technology and sorcery, he managed to cocoon himself in a chamber that placed him in suspended animation.

Kalakin and The Endurance of the Sith

    Dark Lord Marka Ragnos had returned in spirit form to warn his successors of their own foolishness, but he had foreseen the fall of the Sith Empire for many years prior to his death.  In one of his campaigns of conquest he felt the pulling of the Force and he altered his route to the far edge of the galaxy.  There he discovered a dim orange star and a single large planet, shrouded in thick clouds of ash and dust.  Carefully descending through the thick clouds he found a blackened rocky planet with very minimal life and few resources to sustain it, its water putrid, and its vegetation coarse.  However, the planet was home to a species of primitive sentient humanoids.  Although their environment had made these people extremely tough, they were timid and meek.  The species that called themselves Kalaka, would not challenge him and they were hardly worthy of it.  When Ragnos approached them, they cowered and prayed to a being they called Varak.  Ragnos picked a Kalaka up by the throat and demanded to see this Varak; the others, trembling and weeping, pointed the direction to Varak Tor, the fortress of their god. 

    Ragnos took several Kalaka with him across the rocky terrain and they soon came to the foot of a towering plateau.  The rim of the plateau supported massive walls, over two kilometers tall and bristling with towers and spires.  Rising from the behind the gigantic walls was a colossal fortress, stretching upward from a vast base and disappearing in the ash clouds above.  Hordes of brutal Kalaka rushed out from behind immense gates and down huge stairs and ramps cut in the rock of the plateau to destroy the visitors.  Ragnos held out his hands and unleashed his wrath.  Hundreds of the attacking Kalaka were flung backward from the force of the attack, but hundreds more swarmed in to take their place.  Ragnos lifted his hands and the ground shook.  The Kalaka hesitated at the ferocity of the Dark Lord of the Sith.  Ragnos took advantage of their confusion and leapt through the air on the winds of the Force hurling blasts of lightning and bolts of his rage.  The Kalaka fell to their knees and moaned for Varak.  Several of the warriors retreated into the fortress and Ragnos followed them unopposed down winding corridors, through vast chambers, and up endless stairs into the heart of the fortress.

    Huge doors, made of ancient black metal swung open and Ragnos entered the throne room of Varak.  At the end of the giant chamber was a throne of dark stone, ornamented with Kalaka skulls.  On the throne sat Varak, ancient, withered, unmoving, and dead.  The Kalaka watched from the doorway in horror as Ragnos grabbed the rotting corpse and tossed to the floor and they cowered at his feet as he assumed his place on the throne.

    Ragnos returned to Ziost, and told the Sith Council nothing of Kalakin, as the planet was known.  He summoned his closest Sith Lord, Lagroth, and told him of the fall of the Sith Empire that was to come.  He commanded Lord Lagroth to establish a sanctuary within the fortress of Varak Tor so that the Sith would endure forever.

Freedon Nadd

    Six hundred years after the conclusion of the Great Hyperspace War and the apparent collapse of the Sith Empire came Freedon Nadd.  This ancient student of the Force was amazingly open and willing to touch the Force when he was first trained by the Jedi Masters on Ossus.  However, he was completely unprepared for his first true test; the Jedi Masters passed him over for promotion to a full Jedi Knight.  He was confused, his instructors had praised his skills yet they denied him the reward for his efforts.  He sought answers from, Matta Tremayne, a Jedi Master he considered to be the most serene.  Even though he had not been trained by a Sith, Freendon could detect the lies of the Jedi.  When he spoke out against her, Tremayne challenged him.  In his anger, Nadd struck down the Jedi Master and in his fury he left the Jedi Order to find solace with the Sith. 

    He became proficient in the use of the Dark Side Sith magic, but could progress no further than apprentice, since the reigning Dark Lord was still young only one Dark Lord could rule at any time.  Even for a Sith his hunger for power was too great, serving under the Dark Lord was not enough to satisfy his appetite.  This frustrated Freedon Nadd to the point that he rebelled against the Sith.  He should have been destroyed for his insolence, but he was extremely powerful and the Dark Lord decided to wait. 

    Nadd traveled to Yavin 4, where he resurrected the ancient spirit of Naga Sadow.  The ancient Dark Lord taught Nadd Sith Sorcery and gave him skills and weapons that other Jedi could not withstand.  Sadow intended to use Nadd to return to power, but he felt strong enough, Nadd destroyed Sadow's spirit and set out to become a Dark Lord.  He traveled to Korriban to complete his training, and later took a wealth of Sith artifacts with him from Korriban to Onderon.

    The peaceful people of Ondernon had been plagued by terrible creatures from Dxun, an erratic moon.  Nadd, he began to teach the Sith lore to the Onderonians at Iziz, allowing them to fight back against the beasts and simultaneously establishing himself as their ruler.  But as with any ruler, he had numerous internal enemies, which he and his loyal followers disposed of.  The Jedi Knights learned of his 'atrocities' on the planet, and sent a task force out to bring his reign to an end.  There was a pitched battle, and eventually Freedon Nadd was defeated.  However, his Sith teachings had been accepted by the Onderonians, and Nadd's bloodlines were extended during his stay, so the power of the Dark Side has never left Onderon.  Nadd himself managed to preserve his spirit, locked away with the Sith artifacts he worked to obtain.

The Beast Wars of Ondernon

    The Dark Lord was right in his decision to banish Freedon Nadd.  The decendents of Nadd remained in power on Ondernon and would serve to divert the attentions of the Republic and the Jedi.  King Ommin became obsessed with the Force, it was not enough to with the ways of his ancestors, Ommin had to go to the source.  He summoned the spirit of Freedon Nadd and began to learn Nadd's vast knowledge of Sith Sorcery.  He kept this learning from his wife, Amanoa, who was reluctant to embrace the ways of the Dark Side, however she gradually began to follow her husband's teachings and eventually began to call on Freedon Nadd herself.  King Ommin delved to deeply to quickly into the power of the Force, and he paid heavily for his greed.  Within a few years he was unable to stand on his own power, requiring the support of a durasteel exoskeleton.  As he withdrew from the public view, his rule fell to Queen Amanoa.

    After the Jedi defeated Freedon Nadd centuries before they abandoned Ondernon, caring little about the future of the people.  The citizens of the walled city of Izis were again beset by the horrible creatures from the Dxun moon.  Exiled political criminals began to ban together to form armies and learning to control the beasts, they began to use them as flying mounts.  The spirit of Freedon Nadd warned Queen Amanoa that the ever escalating conflict would lead to her demise if it full scale war was not averted.  Desperation led her to call upon the Jedi for help.

    It was Master Arca Jeth that accepted the challenge; however, a powerful user of the Force in his own right, Arca felt the challenge beneath him.  Instead of responding personally he sent three inadequate students, Ulic and Cay Qel-Droma and Tott Doneeta.  When the three Jedi apprentices arrive, Queen Amanoa is shocked and justifiably disappointed that Master Arca did not choose to come himself.  However accepting any aid that was given her, she introduces her daughter, Galia, and explains the situation of the Beast Riders.  In that moment the Beast Riders crash through the throne room's dome and attack.  The Queen shelters Galia and rushes her down a corridor in retreat.  While Ulic fights the intruders in the throne room, Cay and Tott follow the group of commandoes that pursued the Queen.  The inept Jedi fail and Galia is abducted.

    The Jedi track the captors back to their stronghold, having their ship shot down en route.  The Jedi trek through the jungle and storm into the stronghold in the midst of the marriage of Princess Galia and Oron Kira, son of the leader of the Beast Riders.  The Jedi fools believed the lies of the treacherous Galia, who told them that she was marrying Oron Kira to unite the warring factions.  They could not see that if Galia desired a peaceful solution to the war, she would not have allowed Royal Protectors to be slaughtered nor would the Beast Riders be organizing to launch their final devastating assault against the innocent people of Izis.  The Jedi betrayed Queen Amanoa and joined the Beast Riders.  They take Oron and Galia back to the city.

    When the Jedi and their new allies arrive before the Queen, they demand her surrender.  When she learns that her own daughter has married the Oron and is now in league with her enemies she becomes enraged.  She summons the power of Freedon Nadd to destroy her enemies.  Under such a devastating attack of Dark Side energy, Galia and the weakling Jedi flee down a secret passage; in their haste they abandoned Cay Qel-Droma, leaving him to face the Queen alone.  He bravely, but foolishly, commands Amanoa to dispel the darkness she has unleashed, but several Royal Protectors rush to the aid of their monarch and in the battle Cay looses his arm.

    Suddenly the Beast Riders attach in their full fury.  Queen Amanoa, sensing the overwhelming power of the enemy that has laid siege to her city, withdraws to the mausoleum of Freedon Nadd.  There she uses her powers to aid her forces by weakening her enemies' will to fight.  The Dark Side weights heavily on the invaders, sickening and confusing them.  Just when it seemed that the invasion would be thwarted, Master Arca Jeth descends to the battlefield.  Master Arca would not commit himself to helping the Queen, but when his own treacherous students were in danger he decided the matter was worth his personal attention.  Even though Amanoa was strong in the Force, Master Arca had been studying for far longer and his abilities were vastly superior.  He casts off the Queen's spell and the tide of battle swiftly changes.  Within moments the city falls.

    Arca quickly locates Queen Amanoa at the tomb of Freedon Nadd.  He surrounds her with a field that severs her connection with the Force.  The Queen collapsed to the floor, robbed of her life.

The Naddist Revolt

    Master Arca and his students remained on Ondernon to enforce their ban of Sith rituals.  But the power of the Sith is not so easily repressed.  The Jedi were affected by oppressive shadows of the Dark Side, Master Arca most of all.  Attempting to banish the spirit of Freedon Nadd from Iziz forever, Arca ordered the sarcophagi of Nadd and Queen Amanoa to be removed from their tombs and taken to the Dxun moon.

    As the funeral procession neared the royal spaceport a massive war machine erupts through the surface of the spaceport.  Former members of the royal army, remaining loyal to the usurped King Ommin launch an assault on the Jedi.  An imposing figure in full black armor, Warb Null, the leader of the revolt, ignited his lightsaber and confronts the Jedi. Master Arca is attacked by an invisible blow and the Jedi rush to his aid.  During the confusion, the Naddists steal the sarcophagi and then withdraw in their huge mining machine.