Asog Temple

The Asog Temple was a temple complex located on the moon of Kasiya. It served as one of several centres of influence for Sith and other Dark Side-aligned members of the Taldryan Republic. The Asog Temple was located in the eastern Karufr Highlands.

The Asog Temple's Halls of Ceremony.

Name

Initially, the Asog Temple was simply known as the “Kasiya Sith Temple”. The Taldryanite Sith informally referred to the complex simply as the “Kasiya Temple”, which sometimes caused confusion with the Kasiya Jedi Temple.

Further investigation by Taldryanite explorers revealed several prominent references to “Asog” inscribed around the temple in ur-Kittât. Thus, Taldryan personnel began referring to the temple as the “Asog Temple” for convenience.

History

The origins of the Asog were unclear. The commonly-accepted explanation was that Emperor Palpatine’s agents built the temple complex sometime between the Empire’s discovery of Kasiya and Taldryan’s arrival in the Caelus System in 36 ABY, shortly after the destruction of the Sith Eternal. However, the structures use an architectural style from approximately 5,000 BBY. It’s unclear whether the style was evidence of an older origin of the Temple, or simply an affectation of Palpatine’s.

The Asog Temple was left largely unexplored in favour of the temple complex on Ostara until 39 ABY, when ion storms made the Ostara temple inaccessible. The Taldryan Republic turned its attention more fully to the temple complex starting in 40 ABY. Initial scouting reports showed signs that the temple was in regular use, but any traces of who those users might have been proved elusive to the Taldryan investigators.

In 41 ABY, there were reports of skirmishes between bounty hunters from the Amur Plains and an unknown faction. It was widely assumed that said unknown faction was the same group making use of the Asog Temple. However, the faction has avoided contact with Taldryan assets, and the inhospitable nature of the Karufr Highlands makes further exploration difficult.

Location

The Asog Temple was located at the southern edge of the Karufr Highlands, in the Hultou River Delta. Its proximity to bodies of water has helped sustain life in the otherwise harsh environment.

Due to its distance from Biask Canyon, the Asog Temple was less affected by the Orb of Pomojema’s manipulations than other areas of the Karufr Highlands. However, the southwards migration of both the desert worms and the lava flows posed significant long-term challenges to maintaining the temple complex.

As expected from a Sith structure, the Asog was saturated with Dark Side energies. The fluctuations in the Force left by experimenting with the Orb of Pomojema have yet to show any significant impact on the temple complex.

Residents

As of 41 ABY, the Asog Temple complex itself was controlled by the Taldryan Republic. The presence of powerful Sith on the Taldryan Summit kept the temple primarily under Republican influence, though the legendary intrigues of the Sith made that influence far from guaranteed.

The presence of a mysterious and potentially hostile faction in the nearby Karufr Highlands risked becoming a thorn in the Asog Temple’s side. The Taldryan Republic took steps to investigate and neutralise the threat.

Structures

Like many Sith temples, the structures that made up the Asog Temple complex were constructed from black stone. Some, particularly the Halls of Ceremony and Halls of Ritual, were illuminated with torches or Force-imbued crystals to grant an appropriately dark ambience.

Most of the buildings at the Asog Temple meet all current technological standards. Only the Halls of Ritual have been left in a mostly-original state, due to concerns that manipulating any Sith enchantments placed upon it would cause unexpected reactions with the Force in the area.

Halls of Automata

The Halls of Automata were dedicated to the Discipline of the Techweaver. A variety of workshops offered facilities for working on all manner of gadgetry, ranging from Sith alchemy-imbued metals to the construction of holocrons and Sith war droids.

Halls of Ceremony

The Halls of Ceremony served as the administrative complex of the Kasiya Temple. The largest and most centrally-located of the temple’s sections, they featured a large amphitheater where the head of the temple could address its occupants. The Halls also contained reception rooms, offices, and housing for temple staff. The reinforced basement housed the power generators, computer core, and communications and sensor systems for the entire temple.

Halls of Life-Shaping

Although equipped as a medical lab, the Halls of Life-Shaping were hardly devoted to the care of the sick and injured. Their primary purpose was experimentation in the use of Dark Side rituals to manipulate living organisms, including the creation of Sithspawn and Sith warbeasts. This included alchemical facilities dedicated to the development of Sith poisons and potions.

The Halls' main floor acted as the Temple's emergency medical facility. It contained modern biotechnologies like bacta tanks, diagnostic tables, and medical droids, allowing those Sith interested in healing to develop their skills. Students from the Bellorin Academy and the Taldryan military's medical corps sometimes spent a semester at the Halls of Life-Shaping, training in trauma medicine. Those with the mental fortitude to endure gained a great deal of experience in treating all manner of grievous injuries, whether inflicted by the brutal Sith training methods or an experiment or ritual gone wrong.

A carefully-monitored security hub stood on the opposite side of the Halls from the rest of the Temple complex. Beyond that point, every room and hallway was environmentally sealed and equipped with ion-disruptor field emitters capable of shredding organic matter at the molecular level. All four sub-Halls were buried underground, with access strictly limited to a single turbolift for most Halls and two (a personnel lift and a cargo lift) for the Hall of Monstrosities. The experiments conducted in the Halls of Life-Shaping were too dangerous to be treated with any less care.

The Hall of Ichor catered to alchemists who developed poisons and other nefarious substances. The Hall of Contagion provides facilities to study infectious disease, and required a full hazmat suit and decontamination cycle to enter or exit. The Hall of Transfiguration had facilities for Taldryanite Sith to manipulate their own and others' bodies, whether through gene-splicing or Dark Side rituals. Finally, the Hall of Monstrosities was the Asog Temple's menangerie. It contained holding and stasis facilities for dangerous natural predators, and equipment to create eldritch abominations like Sithspawn and Sith warbeasts.

Halls of Ordeal

The Halls of Ordeal served two parallel functions: as a testing ground for trainees at the Kasiya Temple, and as a prison and interrogation complex. Sith Seekers used the Halls of Ordeal to refine their skills in coercion. There were also meditation rooms available for those who enjoyed using the victims’ screams as a backdrop for their contemplation.

Halls of Ritual

The Halls of Ritual were dedicated to the performance of Dark Side rituals other than alchemy or metallurgy. As these workings could often be dangerous to the participants, the Halls of Ritual were situated a distance away from other parts of the temple complex.

Halls of Tomes

The Hall of Tomes served as the repository for Taldryan’s collection of Dark Side knowledge. Taldryanites of the Arcanist and Sorcerer Disciplines often spent their time here, poring over snippets of mystical lore. It also contained classrooms for teaching Sith apprentices.

Halls of Warfare

The Halls of Warfare were dedicated to those who thrive on the battlefield—Taldryanites of the Ace, Juggernaut, and Marauder Disciplines. It's one of the few places in the otherwise Sith temple that proudly flew Obelisk blue on its walls, to honour the warriors of House Dinaari.

The Hall of Contention allowed Taldryanites to hone their skills in single combat. It came equipped with all the standard features of a training dojo, including practice dummies, instructor droids, and a wide variety of weapons. Shooting ranges and a "kill house" for close-quarters combat training occupied several upper floors of the Hall of Contention, allowing Taldryanites to train with the military units they fought alongside. Finally, the Hall of Contention included several flight simulators, allowing Sith pilots to hone their skills in the cockpit.

The Hall of Armaments allowed Taldryanites to maintain and modify the personal weapons they carried into battle. Naturally, lightsaber forges were the heart of the Hall of Armaments. There were also massive foundries for crafting weapons and armour to be imbued with Sith alchemy, and ritual spaces for doing so. Other workshop spaces contained tools and parts for working on blasters (especially Taldryan's beloved Bryar pistol), slugthrowers, explosives, conventional melee weapons, and many other weapons.

Other Structures

In addition to the main structures, the Asog Temple includes mundane facilities such as student accommodations and several starship hangars, each capable of holding a light freighter.