Qel-Droma Temple

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History

The structure that serves as the Qel-Droman temple on Arconeae Primus is still a point of some contention, as well as anger. The building itself is an amalgamation of the technological and the ancient, bearing little resemblance to the ancient tomb House Qel-Droma once called home. During the exodus from the Emperor's Hammer, House Qel-Droma was forced to almost literally cut and run, taking what they could with them in the way of documents, artifacts and databases. The sum total knowledge amassed by the House since its inception had to be placed into two categories: invaluable and expendable. And as no Krath deems any knowledge to be expendable, the hasty decisions made during the migration were both painful and costly. At the same time, the very temple that had served as home and archive for the noble House as well had to be abandoned, left for the pale splinter group within the Emperor's Hammer to deal with as they pleased. Thus the loyal of Qel-Droma traveled far to the quickly acquired Dajorra system, armed with the bulk of their collected knowledge, but with no repository in which to store it, and no home in which to live.

Upon arrival on the sphere that would come to be named Arconeae Primus, the Krath found a jungle and swamp covered world, whose only distinguishing features were sporadic ruins indicating some long lost civilization that had once dwelled on the world. It was at one of these ruin sites, a fairly clear area in the jungle, approximately 1km square in size that House Qel-Droma decided to construct their new home. Focusing on a large, fairly intact structure left over from the previous inhabitants of the planet, the Krath first raised the pre-fabricated Garrison base acquired during their flight from the EH territories. The building was constructed within, and in some cases around, the existing structure. This makeshift base of operations served well as a temporary shelter for the Krath and their many treasures, but the limitations of the garrison building soon began to show as the elements and native predators of the area began to slowly ware away at the building and its pre-fabricated materials. But by this time, other planets in the Dajorra system had been explored and colonized by the Clan Arcona, and one of them, Arconeae Secundus, was discovered to hold a primitive culture of sentients. The Krath seized this opportunity, and had a large workforce shipped to their jungle world. Once there, the Krath invaded the minds of the simple beings, charging them with the task of constructing a home and monument worthy of their new masters. Over months of back-breaking and treacherous labor, the slaves cut new building blocks from the surrounding mountains, and used the modern technology of their new masters to meld metal and stone into a mighty fortress.

Grounds

The grounds of the temple adhere to the general shape of the pre-exiting ruins. Light jungle terrain stops suddenly at a foundation of flat yellowed stone, whose ancient cracks have been filled-in with modern permacrete, giving the expanse a strange "gold-with-silver-veins" appearance in the glint of the setting sun.

First Floor

From the flat foundation one comes to a raised area accessible from a short but wide staircase to the main entrance. Just in front of this staircase are three perfectly intact obelisk stones; remnants of the lost civilization. The markings on these are, as of yet, undecipherable. They were preserved during the temple's construction because the Clan elders felt that, in an abstract way, the three pillars were representative of the three Orders of the Brotherhood. Just to the right of the three pillars is a separate raised dais, whose only unique feature is a large statue of Ulic Qel-Droma. The statue had been nothing more than a plain chunk of stone leftover from the ruins. But shortly after construction on the temple concluded, someone took the time to carve out a representation of the Dark Lord of the Sith, apparently with a lightsaber.

Ahead from the top of the stairs the main archway leads to a long, wide hallway, lined with rows of irregularly spaced pillars. Most of these are original structures of the ruins, but approximately every third pillar is a durasteel replacement, most having holo-portraits of famous Arconans installed on their surfaces about 5 feet from the floor.

At the end of the main entry hall is a roughly square room whose center is taken up with what has come to be called the "Reflecting pool." Part of the original ruins, this pool has, since its discovery, contained none but the clearest and purest of water. The Krath have yet to fully explain the source of this water, or how its purity is maintained in the shallow pool. Nevertheless, the reflecting pool has come to be a popular location for meditation within the temple.

Forward from the reflecting pool is a long, dark stairway that slopes gently into the earth and into the depths of the temple. Various sensors and security devices have been installed along this stairwell, programmed to detain, and if necessary destroy, anything the central computer does not recognize as authorized personnel. The stairway is completely unlit, and has no hand railings. No one is precisely sure what lies at the bottom of the large spaces on either side of the staircase; even Force-enhanced senses seem to be blocked from investigating them. One of the first tests of any initiate of the House is to reach the bottom of the staircase using the barest sense of the Force as their only guide through the treacherous darkness.

Lower Floor A

Once reaching the bottom of the staircase, large durasteel doors open into a huge enclosed area, nearly the size of a standard city block. The majority of the area is taken up by secluded study areas, made up of large tables, comfortable chairs, and lit with soft glow lamps. But the centerpieces are the two formidable vaults at the far side of the room. These are the highly prized archives of House Qel-Droma. Case upon case, shelf upon shelf of scrolls, artifacts, and datacards hold the tales, researches, and discoveries of countless Dark Jedi and Sith throughout known history. The vaults themselves are essentially huge boxes made of a permacrete/durasteel mix, seamlessly melded into the bedrock of the temple's foundation. Huge doors are programmed to seal the vaults immediately upon either threat of fire, invasion, or any other potential catastrophe.

Past the archives is a short hallway, whose most immediate destinations are the only recognizable remains of the original pre-fabricated garrison: two large barracks buildings, now part of the temple's overall structure. Each building contains two rows of living quarters, and a central area for dining, studying, and general socialization. Each private room is supplied with a bed, storage locker, and personal facilities, and can be customized to a certain extent by the current tenant. The barracks serve as the initial home for all incoming House members, up until the rank of Dark Jedi Knight is attained. At that point, the Dark Knight can opt to find or build his own dwelling outside the temple. But regardless, a handful of rooms are always kept "open" for any member's usage, should their studies require them to spend extended periods of time in the temple.

Past the barracks areas, the hallway begins a steady angled climb back towards ground level, and the next feature is the Communications Room. Here is housed the most state-of-the-art in communications technology. The Comm Room not only monitors HoloNet broadcasts and manages all incoming and outgoing communications of House and Clan members, but it has also been specially modified by the Arconan Krath. Unique to Qel-Droma is the fact that the Comm Center is also tapped into a long forgotten Imperial Ubiqtorate data stream, which not only allows for the most secure encryptions in the galaxy to be available to the House, but also provides access to many classified Imperial records. Despite this advantage, the Arconan Krath still struggle to crack into Emperor Palpatine's personal files pertaining to the Jedi and, more importantly, the ancient Sith.

Past the Comm Room is a voice coded, secure passageway. This leads to the area of the temple containing the private quarters of the House Quaestor and Aedile. A long hallway extends parallel to both rooms, and is adorned with various Clan artifacts, trophies, and intricate busts of Quaestors past. At each end of this hallway a large and powerful security droid stands guard to intercept any potential intruders. Both the Quaestor's and Aedile's chambers are large and heavily fortified, and the interiors of each are furnished to the occupant's wishes. A second, larger security door at the end of the hallway leads back to the reflecting pool, and the entrance of the temple.

Moving back to the archives room, a second passage on the south side leads to what has come to be called the Honor Room. Once the temple was completed, this room, an entirely intact chamber from the original ruins, was found to be a strong focus of dark side energy. While the reasons behind this focus is currently unknown, the plain chamber has become the location in which the ceremonies to elevate House members take place. Rumor has it that being granted a new title in the energy-filled room imparts some additional Force power to the honoree, but this has yet to be proven in any way.

Past the Honor Room, the hallway angles steeply upwards, leading back to and above ground level, terminating in the entrance to a broad staircase. This leads to the second level of the temple. The stairway was designed so that many House members could ascend at one time.

Added Facilities

Shortly after the House Qel-Droma Phyle War, the House Temple’s architect, Vassan Rokir, undertook a number of additions to the temple, to better accommodate the growing numbers in the House, as well as to mark the anniversary of the Brotherhood’s division from the Emperor’s Hammer.

Laboratory

Off a newly made hallway from the entrance to the summit quarters, the Lab is a multi-purpose workspace for House members. Reserved on request, the laboratory is stocked with supplies both technological and alchemical, depending on the needs of the user. Anything from lightsabers to poisons could be created here, with the proper ingredients.

Meditation Centre

This hollowed-out area down the hall from the Laboratory is reserved as a sound proof, secluded area for members to conduct either individual or group meditative sessions. Several members sit within this room in complete darkness, in order to better commune with the darkness that resides within, and without.

Conference Room

Down a newly made hallway from the staircase leading to the Oval Dome, a formal conference room has been added. This room is intended for use by Phyles or summit members to conduct more private conclaves than would be done in a wide public area, such as the Oval Dome. It may also be reserved by interested parties for private debate or conversation on the dark side itself, or discussion of special research projects.

Storage Room

Down the hall from the Conference Room, a storage room has been added to warehouse food supply stockpiles and extra equipment, should Arconae Primus be cut off from Clan supply lines for any unforeseen length of time. The room also acts as a supplementary archive of many non-rare items from the House archives.

Phyle Monument

Constructed to pay tribute to the superior Phyle of the House, the Phyle Monument to Dark Orb has been placed near the main entrance of the Temple.

At the top of the long staircase, visitors arrive inside a huge oval dome, whose size rests atop the majority of the temple's lower floors. This dome is supported by a ring of gigantic pillars that sit around the inside perimeter of the dome. The interior walls are covered in large murals depicting both House and Clan successes in battles and discoveries past. Otherwise, the dome remains as mostly empty space. The Oval Dome acts as the House's multi-purpose room. When not used for full House meetings, the dome can be reserved for training initiates in the use of the Force, lightsaber dueling, and meditation.

History Mk.II

Shortly after the third Sith War of the modern era, House Qel-Droma initiated an internal conflict to, essentially, "cull the herd" for those worthy to hold a place as the most valuable and honored of the Krath in the House. The conflict was long and arduous, with the two Krath Phyles fighting to become the favored denizens of the recently constructed House Qel-Droma Temple. For over a month in the first quarter of the Dark Brotherhood year 1 A.S. (1 year After the Split) tyro fought tyro amid the stone hallways and jungle surrounding of the temple, all in an effort to impress their superiors, and themselves, of who was most worthy. When the haze of battle cleared, the results were indeed very, very close. But a winner was chosen, and it was the Dark Orb. Designed by Vassan Rokir, Aedile of Qel-Droma, who had as well designed the Qel-Droman temple itself, the monument rest near the entrance to the temple, displayed prominently for all who come and go. The base of the monument was carved from a block of solid, black rock mined from the nearby mountains. The plaque reads "Dark Orb," the letters made from the durable golden glitterstone and set into a base of wrought durasteel. The base also houses a repulsorlift field generator, which leds itself to the rest of the design. Set on either side of the flat, square top of the monuments base are two angled spikes of a polished platinum/durasteel mix. These spikes each represent Knowledge and Power, the two basic virtues of the Krath Order. And floating between the two spikes, thanks to the aforementioned repulsorlift field, is a large sphere of violet Corsuca stone. Polished to a mirror finish, the sphere is set to rotate in time with the rotation of the temple's homeworld, Arconae Primus. Qel-Droma Temple - © 2003-2004 Vassan Rokir and Clan Arcona of the Dark Jedi Brotherhood