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I see the contestants are making their way out onto the starting grid. This article was originally created as an entry for a Tenth Great Jedi War competition and is not official DJB canon content. It is preserved here for historical purposes only.
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| The Sunrider Ring
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| General Information
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| Homeworld:
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Orax
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| Species:
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Shard
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| Birth:
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Circa 4,050 BBY
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| Known locations:
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| Physical Description
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| Shape:
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Asymmetrical ring
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| Dimensions:
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- Width: 8 mm
- Thickness: 1.8 mm
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| Weight:
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9.2 grams
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| Chronology & Political Information
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| Affiliations:
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| Wielders:
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| Eras:
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| [Source]
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- "We must trust in the Force."
- ―Nomi Sunrider
The Sunrider Ring is a living Shard, whose Force-sensitivity has allowed it to influence individuals, communities and cultures since its genesis towards the end of the Post-Manderon period. It first came into the possession of Nomi Sunrider, a Human Jedi who went on to become the Head of the Jedi Order. The two Force-sensitives shared the experience of the Great Sith War, a vicious conflict which matured their wisdom and refined their dedication to the Light side of the Force.
Eventually the Shard parted ways with Nomi Sunrider on New Tython. On this primitive planet the ring was found by a tribe of Harakoans, who established a religion around the ring's telepathic abilities and prophecies of the future. The ring used the devotion of its followers to prepare the Harakoan tribes for a great deluge of brutal warriors on New Tython, a war which the ring had seen in one of its visions. In 35 ABY the ring finally revealed itself to the Jedi of House Odan-Urr, with the intention to assist them in their fierce struggle for the survival of New Tython.
Pre-New Tython History
- "As long as there are Jedi Knights, there is hope."
- ―Nomi Sunrider
Nomi Sunrider, first "wielder"
The Sunrider Ring began its life decades before being given to its first and most well-known owner, Nomi Sunrider. The ring is in fact a naturally occurring Force-sensitive crystal formation otherwise known as a Shard. The precise circumstances of its “birth” are a mystery, as is its uncommon appearance as a small ring-shaped crystal. Raised on the planet of Orax in the Outer Rim Territories, it was part of a larger group of Shards. Nestling itself close to its larger brothers and sisters as it slowly grew into its current form inside one of the planets many hot springs, it lead a quiet and peaceful life, submerged in the currents of the Force. Eons passed by as the Shard population grew and group-clusters waxed; unlike its siblings who grew and sprouted offspring, this lone Shard had ceased growth when it reached the size of a common finger ring. This also caused it to be unable to sprout offspring and contribute to the Shard population.
It remained on Orax until 4,019 BBY, when Andur Sunrider stumbled upon the planet during a mission to investigate a disturbance in the Force, sensed by his master Chamma. The young Shard, who was at that time one of the few Force-sensitive members of its species, sensed Andur and the Force imprint that he left upon the planet. The Shard beckoned out to Andur, whose Force sense allowed him to pick up on the Shard’s location. What he found was a small, teal, crystalline ring, unbeknownst to him a living, sentient creature. Thinking it a perfect gift for his wife, he brought it with him back to the Jedi Praxeum on H’ratth.
And so it came to be that the young, nameless Shard found its way to Nomi Sunrider. From the very first time that Nomi touched the Shard, a powerful Force bond was formed between the two of them. Following her husband's murder by a group of criminals, Nomi was visited by his Force ghost which urged her to pick up his saber and follow the Jedi path. Nomi reluctantly retrieved Andur's fallen lightsaber and attacked the criminals, driving them from the scene; all the while the Shard sensed her grief and guilt. She took it upon herself to continue Andur's dream and traveled to Ambria in the Stenness system; here she would train under the careful eye of a Tchuukthai Jedi Master named Thon.
While furthering her training under Thon, Nomi was sent to Onderon to stop the Naddist Revolt alongside several other Jedi. It was during this Jedi campaign that Ulic Qel-Droma fell to the dark side and joined Exar Kun thus triggering the onset of the Great Sith War.
Its true nature still unknown to all sentients throughout the Galaxy, the Shard was able to join Nomi on her countless journeys and battles, learning in much the same manner as any regular Padawan. Nomi’s own devotion to the Light Side of the Force had its effect on the Shard as well, slowly permeating its core in the gentle warmth of the Light. Partly through the influence of the the Shard’s own stalwart connection to the Light side upon Sunrider, she became known as one of the most respected Jedi of all time.
Nomi leads the Jedi order
At some point during her lifetime, Nomi stumbled upon a lush, undiscovered world inhabited by a primitive tribal species. It is widely believed that prior to this event, the Shard had developed the ability to telepathically converse with Nomi and was eventually left behind upon this world--whether this occurred of its own volition or Jedi Sunrider's choice has led to a heated debate among many historians and specialists. Though they had separated ways, the Force bond between the Shard and the Jedi remained strong until Nomi’s eventual death. The Shard, however, continued to live on, into a new age upon Harakoa where, despite the natives' lack of full Force sensitivity, it communed with them much in the same way a modern Force user might instill a thought or idea in the mind of a pleb.
Harakoan History
Epic of the Sun-Rider (Harakoan: Kōrero Tairitenga Tama-nui-te-rā)
Warchief Whenua trained from a young age as a Warrior-PriestHarakoan legend states that in the rocky hills of the northern-central mountain range of Owyhyee, a small, now extinct tribe once made their homes. They worked with the minerals, rocks and gems they found deep in the mountain caves, creating the finest jewelry available to the archaic tribes. This finery traded well amongst the region's clans and led to a sincere, honest and prosperous life for the tribesmen. Their work was passed down through the generations (many modern Harakoan artists who work with gems and gold cite this tribe as the source of their teacher's teachers), remaining largely unchanged and undisturbed until a rainy or snowy (here versions of the legend diverge in opinion) day when their first contact from off-world arrived in their village.
Nomi Sunrider left her mark on the tribe, her mere arrival forcing them to question everything they believed in. After spending many weeks in meditation and living amongst this peaceful community the Shard-ring with which she had been bonded for many years, according to Harakoan legend, desired to remain with the gemworking tribe, while Nomi, who was nearing the end of her life, sought to lead the Jedi Order into a new age. According to some versions of the tale, the nameless Shard never chose to tell the full reason for its decision. The reasons might not have been known to Nomi, but the creature felt it would soon (at least by Shard standards) be needed on this world and by its people.
The legend continues by stating that it was this choice which helped shape a race that was still in the process of developing. The day the ring came was the watershed for the small tribe of gem crafters, as they were known. On that day the shaman of the tribe received a vision of a future with the ring as guide and teacher. All versions of the tale are consistent in insisting that the ring spoke to this witch doctor, reminding him him that, though he was pure and honest, he could be so much more to his tribe, and even the species as a whole (historians and sociologists insist this chapter is the source of the modern Harakoan speciesist movement). The ring foretold of a Harakoan that would appear in the distant future, who would unite the shattered tribes to create a strong world-nation and that the shaman would be the very first stepping stone into that future.
Practically overnight this small village of jewelers was transformed into a religious center, serving the entire region and staffed by gemcrafters-turned-warrior-priests who revered the ring and issued the doctrine of this new, but growing religion. Nomi Sunrider also continues to play a role in the legend. The "people" (in the original Harakoan oral tradition the word literally means "people of the world", further lending credence to the idea that this portion of the legend still heavily influences modern Harakoan politics) felt she was a messenger from the stars who had brought their savior to guide them and they sanctified the day she came with a special feast which became known as the Feast of the Sun. As time went on, the ring became increasingly more sparse with what it showed the Harakoan people. The Shard wanted to warn them of the dangers to come, but otherwise not dramatically influence the race and so as time progressed, the visions became fewer in number. However, the warrior-priests would remain with the Shard, looking to it for guidance.
New Tython, the ring's resting place
Post-Epic History
For the next 3,000 years or so the Harakoans worshiped the Sunrider ring. They revered the Ring of the Sun as a profoundly sacred religious artifact and believed the ring contained the voice of the God-Who-Rides-The-Sun (Harakoan: Ra-Kaike-Atua). It is in this religious tradition that even many modern Harakoan children are educated and villages all over the content of Owyhyee still have children chosen to become a Warrior-Priest of the Sun. To be chosen was a merit which brought (and still brings) great honor to families of the selected. These children travel to the ruins of a small mountain village where they would begin their training in an ascetic life (note: many modern historians doubt the ruins are the actual location of the village referenced in the legend). Though the ruins are guarded by dozens of priests only the oldest witch doctors ever see the ring itself, visiting a cave in the snowy cliffs high above the ruined village in which the ring has supposedly chosen to dwell. According to these shamans they offer simple sacrifices of meat and fruit before receiving the relic's wisdom.
As stated by these eldest priests, several hundred years ago the ring bestowed upon them a bleak vision of the future in which it saw the fall of an order of great warriors of the light--children of the God-Who-Rides-The-Sun. These holy figures were supposedly exterminated by an evil spirit the Harakoans call The Dark Father (Harakoan: Pokere Hākoro). Many of faith claim this vision is proof of the ring's existence and that it was describing the--at the time--future Jedi Purge, though the more skeptical academics among the Tythonians and Harakoans claim this is merely a coincidence. Following this revelation the Shard lay silent for many years, leading the Harakoans to fear that they had upset their god and that its dormancy was a sign of anger. Many of the Sun Altars which are now tourist attractions for the Tythonians were built during this time of silence, presumably to appease the angered god (ironically this slump in revelation led to a vast expansion in the population of believers subscribing to the Sun-Rider religion). A particularly dark and uncommonly gruesome episode of Harakoan history involved a period of a decade during which virginal youths were sacrificed at these Sun Altars to appease the God-Who-Rides-The-Sun.
Subsequently, a period of great storms and floods ravaged the countryside and many villages were swept away. According to the eldest shamans their offering of human sacrifices had actually enraged their god, incurring his wrath in the form of natural disasters. In a panic many of the largest Sun Altars were destroyed and the bloody offerings ceased, eventually ushering in a time of ecological and religious calm.
This peace lasted through to 10 BBY, when a single girl born to the name Tarhar was summoned by the elder witch doctors, supposedly at the behest of the ring itself, due to her exceptional intelligence and wit and a profoundly deep spirituality. The Shard sensed her birth and beckoned the ascetic Warrior-Priests living in the ruins to bring the girl before it. Young Tarhar was 5 years old when the priests finally located her and brought her to the village. Summoned into the windswept cave, she was unaware of what was to come. What is known is that even the eldest, most high-ranking of the shamans was not permitted to enter the cave with Tarhar. According to Harakoan versions of history, when the young girl emerged from the cave she wore the ring wrapped around two fingers--large as it was. The Shard prophesied to the shamans that this girl was the Star Child (Harakoan: Kotiri Tautahi), who would unite the tribes to form a single nation, and that an entire race of "dark ones” would soon be upon them.
The Shard and Tarhar now faced the challenge of reforming Harakoan traditions in less than a lifetime. The eldest of the Harakoans would not see this new age although they acknowledged themselves as laying the foundation for the generations to come. Now was the time for all of them to learn the skills of the warrior-priests. Males and females alike would begin their training in the same year they learned to walk. Tarhar also prepared the Harakoans to expect the return of the God-Who-Rides-The-Sun's children, as they were the ones who would bring peace, order, and harmony through the fires of war. The priests did not always understand the duo's reasoning, but they did as they were told by their tiny prophetess and tinier prophet.
This has been the way of life for the Harakoan tribes for the past 45 years. When the first Light Jedi arrived on New Tython, the ring told Tarhar to keep it hidden from them, and to go into hiding herself. The Sun God knew that he and Tarhar would be needed again in the near future, but for that age to come, they must first pass through darkness.
Recent History
The Shard would not have itself be discovered without first making sure its new keepers were honorable in their intentions. Like the Jedi of countless generations past, the Jedi of House Odan-Urr would have yet another similar trial to pass in order to harness all of its knowledge. Though different from the Knighthood trials, these would test not the repetition of the Code, nor the adherence to specific beliefs of the Council. Rather they would be compared to its first master, whom it still felt connected to through the force: Nomi herself.
Since discovery by the now High Council of Odan-Urr, the ring itself is a brief but nearly invaluable glimpse into the past. Nomi herself witnessed one of the most dramatic and historical wars the galaxy has ever known; the Great Sith War. Though the Council itself knows full well the timeline of events, timeless records of that period have either been lost or scavenged by Jedi and Sith historians across the age, hoarding their collective knowledge in grand libraries and private estates. Since the ring is a living being, and through the Shard's telepathic abilities as a creation of the force, it has since shown its side of the saga.
Physical Description
When it was found by Andur Sunrider, the Shard was a tiny crystal in the uncommon shape of a natural-occurring asymmetrical ring. During its long life, the Shard eventually grew to be about the size of a regular ring, and strangely appeared to fit on the finger of any individual. The crystal also has a strange pulsating glow that appears to radiate from its reflective turquoise surface. Throughout its life, this Shard has also worn etchings and scratches in its outer surface during its stay with Nomi Sunrider from the many battles they faced together. On one side of the ring, a tiny crystalline formation, similar to that of a quartz, has jutted out perpendicular to the outer surface of the ring. When touched by a person, the ring will also feel exceptionally warm to the touch.
Traits & Abilities
- "I feel so peaceful when I meditate on The Force."
- ―Nomi Sunrider
Force Meld, also known as Battle Meld, is an obscure Force power that allowed a number of Force-sensitives to join their minds together through the Force, drawing strength from each other. The ring can enter a unique state of Force meld with whoever it chooses. This Force meld allows the ring to add its own Force powers to those individuals, as well as allowing the user to add their own power to the ring.
This ring possesses the power to communicate with other Force-sensitives through telepathy. In this case, the ring used this ability to converse with the Harakoan Priests and the Jedi that exist on New Tython. Through this ability to communicate through telepathy, it is almost as though it draws others to learn from it.
It was through its adept telepathic powers that the ring came to be revered by the native Harakoan people, using the knowledge it gained from its travels with Nomi Sunrider to guide the tribes towards a harmonic coexistence. The Jedi have learned from the Shard through telepathic conversations, and continue to learn from the being even to this day.
This ring possess the ability to see the past, present, and future through the Force. Although it considers spontaneous visions to be the most precise, it is able to force visions to occur to at least some extent. Through the ability to use telepathy, the ring can also show these visions to the Harakoan Priests, Jedi and other Force-sensitive beings that dwell on New Tython, in effect allowing them perceive the same visions as the ring.
This power grants the ring the ability to only be touched and worn by those that it chooses, those who it deems worthy to hold and access its powers on a more direct scale. The barrier created by the ring is of such power that it is able to repel offensive Force powers, and to an extent even lightsaber strikes.
Through this ability, the ring can channel the Force into withering blasts of light side energy that can diminish and destroy dark side energy. When directed against a sentient, they will find their connection to the dark side weakened, or in the case of weaker connections, non-existent. Force light can also be used to sever the connection between a leader and their troops if such a connection is established through the dark side.
This ability also serves as a defense mechanism again dark siders wishing to claim the ring as their own, should the barrier fail to repel them. Upon placing the ring on their finger, the light side energies will cause a severe burning sensation to occur throughout their body, while simultaneously cutting them off from the dark side of the Force for support.
Harakoan Worship
Modern Harakoan religion started with the arrival of Nomi Sunrider upon New Tython. Both her name and source from beyond the sun intrigued the primitive Harakoans, who, like all archaics, had some prior form of sun worship. In time, Nomi left the planet to continue leading the Jedi Order, but not before parting ways with her ring. The ring, who was a sentient being in its own right, reluctantly became an object of Harakoan worship. Nomi herself became known as the God-Who-Rides-The-Sun in this new religion.
Vision-prone as the ring was it had decided to stay on New Tython, believing it to be the will of the Force. Over time, the ring would pass on its visions to the Harakoan people, warning them of dangers, and guiding them towards a peaceful coexistence with the world around them. Over a span of years, a whole religious organization had spawned around the ring. Based in a mountain village on Owyhyee, the tribesmen quickly changed from simple jewelers into fully-fledged zealots, spreading word of the ring's warnings.
For the next 3,000 years or so the Harakoans worshiped the Sunrider ring. They revered the Ring of the Sun as their primary relic and connection their god. They believed the ring contained the voice of the God-Who-Rides-The-Sun and explained it as such to their children. Children from villages across the continent were inducted into the ascetic order of warrior monks.
These events were preserved in an oral tradition known as the Epic of the Sun-Rider which was not written down until hundreds of years after being originally compiled. Later myths included the prophecy of The Star Child, which told of the baring of a native Harakoan who would unite the scattered tribes into a single force before a great time of darkness. However, only the eldest shamans ever saw the ring itself, hidden as it was in a cave high above the ancient ruins.
The male dominated religion would slowly be reformed to become more accepting of female adherents, due in part to both the female-oriented Tarhar myth and the arrival of the Jedi upon New Tython (whose original leaders included women such as Jendan Morgana). With the cataclysm drawing closer, more and more Harakoans received training in the ways of war.
Trivia
- The ring was written out as a Shard in order to bridge the gap between a wearable artifact and a holocron/tome/scroll.
Wiki Team