- "For the Empire!"
- ―Motto of Clan Scholae Palatinae
Xen’Mordin Palpatine is an Adept Elder and long standing leader within Clan Scholae Palatinae. He leads Scholae Palatinae as its Consul, and sits as the current reigning Emperor of the Cocytus system, in one of the longest lasting terms seen by the clan or the Empire. His long standing tenure and absolute dedication to the Empire has resulted in him being named one of the keepers of the Legacy of Palpatine, leading him to taking the Great Emperor’s name as part of his own. He also is the founder and current Chairman of the Board for Vismorsus Industries, a leading scientific research company based in the Cocytus system.
Xen’Mordin was born as Kilan Khzon, on the planet of Coruscant to wealthy parents. Displaying a strong Force affinity, it was only as the Galactic Empire crumbled that his powers would be noticed, by the rogue Jedi, Tyler Reynolds, who wanted to teach Kilan the ways of the Force, and create a new Jedi Order. After years of intensive study, Kilan found himself deeply in love with Tyler’s other Padawan learner, Kara Venger. Her violent and brutal murder would cause Kilan to strip himself of his connection to the force, and his old life, becoming Xen’Mordin Vismorsus.
Xen’Mordin’s force connection would be restored in an agonizing and intense interaction with a dark side Force nexus. Finding a new focus in life, and embracing the power of the dark side, he let the force guide him to the Dark Brotherhood, and to the rank and file of Scholae Palatinae. Fully embracing the Imperial ideology of the clan, Xen’Mordin spent years building his resources, and manipulating events within the system to seat himself as Emperor.
Xen’Mordin fully believes in the strength of the Cocytus Empire, and believes its destiny is to follow completely in the footsteps of the Galactic Empire. He is unapologetically dedicated to this cause. Taking pride in his intelligence and ability to lead others, whether through manipulation or real loyalty, Xen’Mordin knows his greatest strength comes from the bonds with his fellow Palatinaeans.
Character History
Early Life (0 ABY - 5 ABY)
- "He can do things we don’t even understand. How could he ever be safe without proper training?"
- ―Dalinar to Zaerys
The first years of Kilan’s life was peaceful and comfortable despite the upheaval and rebellion against the Galactic Empire. There was little his wealthy family was lacking, exposing Kilan to comforts that would be sorely missed at later points in his life. Even from his earliest days he showed signs of Force-sensitivity, which placed his parents on high alert, as they lived in the heart of the capital of the Empire. But it was not the Empire that came knocking on their door, and if it had, Kilan never would have been set on the path to becoming Xen’Mordin.
The Birth (0 ABY)
Kilan’s homeworld of Coruscant
It was in the weeks following the hushed and rumored news of the destruction of the Death Star at Yavin that the Khzon family celebrated the birth of Kilan. They lived in the very heart of the Empire, Coruscant, and while the planet was quietly abuzz about the Empire’s set back at the hand of the Rebellion, the Khzon’s focus was turned inward. They were far from diehard Imperialists, but as Human upper class family, their lives were only slightly inconvenienced by the Galactic Empire. The gossip that swept the planet was largely ignored by the family.
Dalinar Khzon, Kilan’s father, was the eldest son in a long family dynasty of merchants. Second only to his own father in the company, Dalinar had taken to business just like his ancestors had. The family trade had evolved over the decades, from providing raw manufacturing materials from one side of the galaxy or the other, into a luxury item business, full of rare and exotic goods. On the capital planet, these luxury items were in high demand by the high ranking Imperials, and other upper class wishing to show off their high social standing. Dalinar himself was a stocky man, with a quick tongue, sharp wit, and hearty laugh.
Zaerys Khzon, Kilan’s mother, came from a family that sold much different types of goods than Dalinar’s, that being reprieve from life’s issues. They owned nightclubs, casinos, dance halls, cantinas, bettings halls, and more, all scattered from the core to the rim. Zaerys’ family was even more well known and well off than Dalinar’s was. In her youth she enjoyed her family’s wealth and social status to party hard. As she matured however, her fiery and dominating personality had cooled only slightly, as she stepped in to help oversee the family business, and raise her growing family.
Kilan was Dalinar and Zaerys’ fourth child. Two boys, Kiith, age ten, and Clertan, age seven. They also had a daughter, Sairia, age four. Kiith, even at ten, showed signs he would be a strong and powerful man, much like Dalinar. Loud and boisterous, he was firmly content as both eldest child, and most apparently talented. Clertan was on the other end of the spectrum, small, quiet, and reserved. Astute and observant he lived each day trying to prove himself to his older brother. Sairia, although only four, was a near mirror image of Zaerys, wildly independent and unwaveringly fearless.
Gifted (2 ABY - 5 ABY)
The family remained based on Coruscant. However, both Dalinar and Zaerys’ positions in their business led a frequent travel across the galaxy. Kilan’s toddler years were spent immersed in many cultures and environments. He played in the waters of Naboo, got lost in one of the many starships factories of Corellia after wandering off from his father, and ran in the jungles of Felucia with his siblings. These jaunts throughout the galaxy were always brief, and it was the bustling environment of Coruscant that became the foundation of Kilan’s early formative years.
These flashes of events would become only whispers of memories later in Kilan’s life, subtle impressions of the familiar. The strongest impressions came from moments where Kilan demonstrated clear force sensitivity. The slight movement of objects, rapid learning and association skills, a deep empathy and concern for others. At first, his parents would brush off the strange and seemingly unexplainable occurrences as happenstance. All of their children had shown signs of unusual ability. But, as Kilan continued to demonstrate with greater regularity and affinity, the harder it became for his parents to ignore it, and the more they began to worry.
Despite the family’s wealth, not even bribes would stop the wheel of the Empire from attempting to get their hands on a young force sensitive. They had all heard the stories of children being taken in the dead of night by military personnel, at the order of the Emperor, never to be seen or heard from again. Luckily, the Empire’s focus had been turned toward another and the Rebellion. Coupled with the family’s frequent galactic wide ventures, there no officials spent enough time around Kilan to notice anything particular about the toddler. Neither Dalinar or Zaerys could forget their own youth, before the days of the Empire, and had happened to the legendary Jedi Order.
Tyler Reynolds - The Jedi (5 ABY)
The grizzled Jedi survivor, Tyler Reynolds
The Emperor was dead. As hard as the Imperial officers attempted to squash the news, it was known. And from the moment of his death, the Galactic Empire began to fragment.Coruscant itself remained a mix of totalitarian leadership and willful defiance from the civilians. The future was as uncertain as it ever had been, but the Khzons could not help but feel for the first time years that their children’s lives were truly going to be free from the oppression of the Empire. And for the first time Kilan’s life, the burden of having his abilities was relaxed and less pressing.
However, Kilan’s abilities had been noticed, just not by the Imperials. Tyler Reynolds, former member of the Jedi Order and survivor of the Emperor’s Order 66, had sensed the five-year old’s strong force connection. The years had not be kind to the Jedi, whose paranoia had kept him alive through the Empire’s brutal crackdown against the Jedi. He was a weathered and gray old man, and it was only over the last few years of successes by the Rebellion that he had begun to feel truly alive again. And with the Emperor dead, it was time for him to act.
The stories of Luke, the last Jedi, and great war hero were known even this deep in the core. But Tyler did not trust him, a boy, who had never once stepped foot within the Jedi Temple, or learned from the Jedi Council. And more than that, he was a Skywalker, and for that reason alone Tyler wished to work to establish his own restoration of the Jedi Order. Tyler would accept only one formed on the foundation of the extinct Order of his youth.
It was to this end, that Tyler Reynolds came knocking on the Khzon’s door. With him, he brought a young girl, same age as Kilan, named Kara Venger. Dalinar and Zaerys were in the process on deadbolting the door against the grizzled old man when they saw the wide-eyed girl peering from behind the Jedi’s leg. Hearts softened, they let the pair into their home. Tyler presented a long and thought out proposal about why he needed to train Kilan, and the dangers that he would face against the dark side of the Force, should he not be given this chance to learn.
The discussion that followed became a family wide matter. Dalinar and Zaerys were torn over not wanting to lose their son, the risks he would face against the dark side, and the potential good he could provide as a trained Jedi. Kiith was bitterly angry and demanded to be given the same opportunity as his youngest brother. Clertan had read stories about the Jedi, and was fearful for his brother knowing that the Jedi were now gone. Sairia upset just for not wanting to see her brother leave. Kilan himself was unaware of the conversation going on, playing happily with Kara the whole time.
In the end, the risk of Kilan’s future without the training, and the potential good he could bring to the galaxy outweighed the the family’s desire to have Kilan stay. Kiith, refusing to accept the he too could not be trained, stormed off. A confused Kilan uncomprehending the good-byes given to him by the rest of his family was escorted out of the house by Tyler, who wanted to prevent a prolonged farewell that might trigger a change of heart from the Khzons.
Trials of a Jedi (5 ABY - 17 ABY)
- "The future of the Jedi Order rests with you two."
- ―Tyler Reynolds
Tyler Reynolds proved to be a tough and demanding mentor. His years of dedication to the Jedi Order, coupled with the years he spent in hiding following the Order’s fall, had shaped him into unrelenting man. He was never cruel, but would push Kilan and Kara to their limits, and the comforts of Kilan’s life at home disappeared overnight. What comfort Kilan would find in life would be in the arms of Kara as he learned the invaluable lessons being taught by Tyler. And it was Kara’s death that would ultimately destroy him.
Jedi Younglings (6 ABY - 9 ABY)
Kilan was too young to fully grasp the decision his parents had made for him. Overnight, gone was the comfort of wealth, and the freedom of uninhibited childhood. The first hours were some adventure to him, but then he was ready to go home. For weeks he would cry himself to sleep as they moved from hovel to hovel in the rotting slums of Coruscant’s lowest levels. Day by day Tyler chipped away at removing Kilan’s expectations of ever returning home. Kara, who had already spent several months with Tyler, was already so far removed from going home, it was all she could do to encourage Kilan to continue. More than once Tyler caught Kilan attempting to sneak away in the night.
Tyler was relentless in his passion to shape the two children into the ultimate Jedi. He was incredibly protective of them, and harsh at avoiding anything that would remotely resemble the dark side. He would wake Kilan and Kara up at dawn for morning meditation, study and training. Play took the form of furthering their skills, with Tyler inventing elaborate games for the two to work at. But anything that did not further their abilities, tested them, taught them was pushed away. In his youth, Tyler had laughed easily knowing the balance of work and joy, but there was no true joy left for him to have as a hunted man.
The skills Tyler learned in his exile and seclusion, he passed onto his two young students, in addition to the more traditional Jedi sensibility he clung so tightly to. They trained in the ways of the Force, lightsaber combat, martial art styles, history of the Jedi, philosophy, languages. They branched out into salvage, repairing and bypassing mechanics, medicine, scavenging, animal studies, politics, and more. And within a few years of daily pushing toward perfection, these lessons became largely practical more than conceptual, with Kilan and Kara being abandoned in the wilderness or heart of a city, while Tyler watched and tested them from afar.
The First Trial (10 ABY)
Naboo
In the middle of 10 ABY, Kilan and Kara faced what was the first true test on their long journey through the trials that would prove they were worthy of being Jedi Knights. It was only after demonstrating their skills and dedication could Tyler’s new Jedi Order begin in earnest. Tyler took the pair to the countryside of Naboo, not to learn of farming from those who called the area home, but to look into a corrupt local authority. Prazna Tuk, a former Imperial loyalist stationed on the planet during the height of the Empire, had sunk his own teeth into a large section of countryside, and piece by piece pushed the locals into near slave-labor conditions.
Tuk was demanding an increased taxation, and grain tribute, on top of a three-year drought plaguing the area. The local farmers were having a hard time just producing enough to survive. What Tyler had not been expecting however, were the bribed police forces in Prazna’s pocket. They had been in region for all of a day and a half when Tyler was brought into custody, for disturbing the local peace. Luckily, Kilan and Kara were able to avoid arrest, in part due to their abilities to hide, in addition to the police not thinking a pair of ten-year olds could be a threat.
While Tyler attempted to free himself, Kilan and Kara went to work. They were going to do what none of the locals, or even Tyler himself, could do. Bring Prazna out into the open to be dealt with. Together they worked in tandem, distracting guards, accessing safe houses, sabotaging droids. They wreaked havoc with a wide array of childish and immature pranks and disruptions in only the way children could. This had the effect all childish behavior does on adults, it made Prazna angry. This anger culminated when they managed to release a hot steaming pile of shaak droppings in the face of Tuk’s newest mistress as she arrived at Tuk’s residence.
This event, following three days of non-stop hindrances to his men, thrust Prazna into direct action. Backed by his most loyal and brutish followers, he made his way to the town center. By this time, the news of these disruptions had spread like wildfire over the populace, who had turned out in a massive crowd to see what would happen next to Tuk and his thugs and because Tuk had also promised anyone not in attendance would be labeled as co-conspirators.
While Tuk and his men had been distracted by the many disruptions Kilan and Kara were able to bring about, Tyler was able to make his escape. When Tuk arrived to the town center, he arrived to a crowd that was riled up from Tyler’s passionate call to arms to seize back their lives. What Tyler had not anticipated was just how angry and down trodden the locals were, and just how much of a frenzy they flew into when Prazna finally appeared.
Prazna’s men turned and ran on the spot, not about to face off against the entire local population. Prazna himself was not so lucky, and was captured quickly by the mob before he could escape. The locals began to tear at his clothing, kicking, scratching, punching, all wanting a piece of retribution for the cruelty he had shown them. It was at this point Kilan stepped in between the horribly wronged civilians and the corrupt Tuk. This action of a child caused the crowd to instantly fall into silence. Kilan despised Prazna, and what he had done to the people here, but he couldn’t let the crowd kill Tuk. He would protect him because it was the right thing to do.
The Second Trial (12 ABY)
Kashyyyk
Kilan’s second trial took place early in the year of 12 ABY. Tyler had begun a more rigorous training schedule as Kilan and Kara aged, throwing the pair deep into combat and tactics, which he hoped would help them survive in a galaxy that was constantly trying to kill Jedi. Their days ran late into the night, and their mornings started very early. The stress they were experiencing began to take its toll.
Seemingly unaware, or underestimating the physical and mental weight his wards were experiencing, Tyler took them to the forest planet of Kashyyyk. The home of the mighty, and often wrongly enslaved Wookiees, would teach Kilan and Kara two things. How to be honorable warriors, and that it is possible to learn without a clear ability to communicate, as neither of them knew a single word of Shyriiwook.
The first days were rather enjoyable for the preteens, who always loved being able to see new locations and distant worlds. The Wookiees of the village they stayed at were exceptionally welcoming of the two, and has a standing respect of Tyler, based on the previous sacrifices of Jedi on their behalf. But even the welcoming care of the Wookiees did little to stymie the continue wear on Kilan and Kara.
A week after arriving on the planet, Kilan was traversing the forest floor with a Wookiee warrior, Nagkazza, “Heroic Spirit”. The warrior had taken an immediate liking to the young boy, and had taken him away from the village to show him how to track prey for food. Kilan sensed something wrong, moments before they were attacked by a large and bulking beast from the shadows. He managed to shove Nagkazza out of the way moments before the beast’s mouth snapped shut around the space the Wookiee’s head had been. Eyes fixed on Kilan, the far smaller and weaker of the two, the beast thrashed out with its tail striking them away from each other. Nagkazza slammed into a nearby tree, head first where he fell unconscious. Kilan landed in a bush, several ribs cracked. Before he could react the beast was upon him.
Kilan fell in and out of consciousness as he was dragged along the forest floor. The beast had a vice like grip with its mouth on his right leg, and was sending a powerful toxin into Kilan’s bloodstream. He came back into consciousness at the sound of a loud screech. The beast let loose its hold of his leg, and turned to face something coming out of the shadows. Kilan made out the blurred movement of something even bigger attacking. The larger predator left Kilan alone, and dragged the remains of of the beast with him to feast on. Kilan was left alone and completely defenseless on the forest floor.
The poison and delirium from his injuries began to affect him on a larger scale. He began to have visions while whispers in his ears spoke of dark tidings. He saw Kara laying lifeless, eyes wide. Caught in their reflection was the silhouette of a laughing man. Then came an exploding ball of fire that turned into the shape of bird. There was a hall of blood, and Kilan could hear the crunching of bone as he progressed close to a vacant throne.
When Nagkazza and Kilan didn’t return at dusk to the village, Tyler and the Wookiee’s knew something had happened. They found Nagkazza quickly, as the warrior was finally returning to consciousness. Disorientated he insisted on helping in the search to find Kilan, refusing to return to the village. It was nearing dawn by the time they were able to find Kilan, motionless in a pile of his own blood. He stirred slightly as they approached, and they noticed he had grabbed hold of a stick to ward off several smaller animals that had approached him in the night.
For five days Kilan was left in a fevered delirious state, visions and nightmares haunting him all the while. And even when the toxin had finally been cleared of his system, it took several more weeks before he was healthy and stable enough to be moved from the village. Tyler lauded him a true hero, acting on the will of the Force to save Nagkazza’s life.
The Third Trial (14 ABY)
Corellia
It was on the planet of Corellia that Kilan learned why Tyler was so distrusting and paranoid. Not just from the extinction of the Jedi following the Clone Wars, but of people in general and their selfish natures. Tyler had been bringing Kilan and Kara off and on since he had taken them under his wing. Both had the correct assumption that the planet was in fact Tyler’s homeworld. It was here Tyler had taken them following Kilan’s injuries on Kashyyyk. They returned again in 14 ABY to stay for a period of six months. This time was spent at their host’s estate, and working on ships in one of the factories their host owned.
The Bertoths were a family dynasty of engineering masters. Steffen, patriarch of the family, was a 14th generation engineer. It was from him that Kilan and Kara learned much of about mechanical workings for both ships, and droids. Steffen’s wife, Yllara, was an elegant and sophisticated woman who taught the finer points of high society to the pair. They had a single son, the nineteen year old Calu, who quickly fell into the role of “older brother: Kilan had not had since leaving his own family.
Calu was the definition of a cool older “brother”, teaching Kilan how to pilot, sneak out of the estate, where to get alcohol, how to make minor explosives, and many other activities. Kilan, in returning, wishing to impress Calu began showing off some of his force capabilities. Spurred on by the endless possibilities force abilities presented, Calu pushed Kilan even further down the road of rebellious behavior.
Six months into the stay, everything changed. Calu took Kilan cross continent under the pretext of wild party with other bored upper class teens. However, it was not the sand beaches of the coast that Calu took Kilan, It was to a remnant of the Galactic Empire, held high in a skyscraper under the guise of a corporation. Calu had sold Kilan’s abilities out for a hefty sum of credits.
The Imperials had no desire to part with their credits however, they shot Calu at point blank range right in the heart, killing him instantly. Kilan knew he would face a similar fate, or be taken to be turned into a weapon for these Imperial Loyalists. Giving himself over to the promptings of the force, he turned and ran as fast as he could. He threw himself one of the upper story windows and fell in a cascade of broken glass, landing with a thud on the roof of a passing transport. Clutching for his life, he held on as the transport put distance between him and the skyscraper. The instant it touched down in a landing port, Kilan was off into the shadows of the population before anyone could tell he had been there.
He was able to get a hold of Tyler, who came and found him at once. The trip back to the Bertoths’ estate was filled with a silence of three parts. There was the silent but concrete disappointment coming from Tyler over Kilan letting his guard down, and ignoring the caution he had been taught for years. There was the silence of the conversation to come, with the Bertoths, whose only son had just been murdered. Finally there was the silence of Kilan’s own outstanding guilt over allowing any of this to happen. Mercifully, Tyler spoke with the Bertoths without Kilan present. He had been sent to gather his belongings as rapidly as possible, along with Kara’s. Yllara’s scream could be heard from the other side of the estate. It was a long time before Kilan was able to look Tyler in the eyes.
The Fourth Trial (16 ABY)
Coruscant’s Underworld
Kilan experienced his first true taste of the power and seductive properties of the dark side of the Force on his home planet of Coruscant. After over a decade of being each other's support under Tyler’s tutelage, it was impossible for Kilan and Kara not to develop a romantic connection. Through a willful ignorance, Tyler chose to overlook the increasingly obvious interest the two had in each other. Deep down he knew the harder he pushed to keep them apart, the closer they would become. And that would only lead to losing them both, and the decade of time he could never recover spent training them.
It had been years since the trio had ventured back to the planet, and for all its shiny towers and power it had held in the galaxy for generations, it had its fair share of dark corners and downtrodden just as any other planet in the system. It was in the grimy, dank, dark underworld of Coruscant. While working to help the more honorable of the poor in the slums, Kara became separated from Kilan and Tyler. It wasn’t uncommon for one of them to end up wandering off as they ventured through the streets, but after several minutes of not being able to locate her, Kilan and Tyler grew worried. They knew the kind of men that called these levels home.
Kilan tried to remain calm, and keep his mind attuned to the Force in his efforts to locate Kara, but as the minutes ticked by, the harder that became. When it reached the point Kilan thought he couldn’t handle it any longer, they rounded a corner onto a poorly lit side alley that attracted little attention from those walking on the main walkway. Even among the smell of piss, shit, and garbage, Kilan was able to pick up the fruity undertones of Kara’s shampoo. And that is when he saw her.
She had been drugged, syringe still sticking out her neck. Limp like a ragdoll, her limbs flopped about as a small gang of three men pawed, grabbed, and ripped at her clothing. For the first time in his life, Kilan experienced true rage, and with it the crashing power of the dark side. As his rage rolled over his mind, he lunged forward toward the men. In a blur of fast movements he took down two of the men with a quick and surgical precision before they even noticed he was there. The center man, the clear leader of the trio, managed to turn to put his arms up in defense. In his rage Kilan wasn’t even aware of how he was moving, primal fury over taking his senses. The third man didn’t last long. Even after he fell, Kilan didn’t stop, punching him over and over. Blood, flesh, teeth, and spit flew as he landed blow after blow against the man’s face.
But then he saw Kara stir slightly out of the corner of his eye, and he froze. He paused for just a moment as his mind caught up to the action he had taken. He lowered his fists and grabbed a small bacta pack from his pocket, spraying the salve on the man’s face. Tyler came running up, winded at trying to keep up with Kilan. He put a sympathetic hand on Kilan’s shoulder, understanding all too well the pull to the dark Kilan just experienced. It was an inevitable event for any Force-sensitive person. Kilan picked up Kara and they took her to recover in a safer location.
The Final Trial (16 ABY)
A Nexu
Kilan’s final trial, and days as an apprentice under Tyler, took place on the planet of Cholganna. High above the planet’s surface they made their approach in a rickety old ship, it was functional, but barely so. As they broke the atmosphere, the engine blew, sending the ship spiralling out of control in a freefall. With only seconds to spare in grabbing some belongings they trio jumped into their individual escape pods and ejected from the ship.
Kilan awoke in his pod seated upside down, hanging by its emergency chute in one of the many tall trees of the forest. It swayed slightly in the wind. He carefully and slowly moved to position himself right way up. Head rushing from the blood flow, he slowly opened the escape pods door and was relieved to see it was only a few feet to the ground. He gathered what few supplies there were in the pod and jumped gingerly out of it. It was dusk, and light was fading fast. Kilan was aware of the dangers of the planet, none more-so than the Nexu that originated from this planet. He had seen one up close when he was 12, as it ripped a man’s head off in the fighting pits of Skurrada IV. It was an experience he had not forgotten.
Alone, small set of emergency supplies, his lightsaber, a glowrod, and his wits, Kilan had to act quickly if he was to survive the forest. He pulled the escape pod to the ground, and used its secure metal casing as his shelter for the cold night that was fast approaching. His attempts to use the pod’s communicator failed him, several key parts having been stripped from it years ago. He knew Tyler’s and Kara’s pods had launched out in similar directions as his own. Through the Force, the most he could sense was their presence to the North-East. Dawn came slowly in a night of unrestful poor attempts at sleeping. The distinct sounds of claws against metal had kept him awake several times throughout the night.
Kilan examined the muddy footprints around the pod once he finally left it. There were at least three separate sets of nexu footprints that circled the pod. With a general bearing of where Tyler and Kara were, he set out into the trees, trying to remain as quiet as possible. Every snapping twig and crunching leaf made his adrenaline spike. Even with his lightsaber, a full pack of nexu could kill him apart with ease.
Twice Kilan saw the slinking shadows out of the corners of his eyes. The third time he was alerted by a roar, and the searing pain of a clawed foot ripping through his back. He turned and struck down the beast with his lightsaber, as he did so another lashed out from the shadows, tearing at his back again. He sliced that nexu down as well. The third, smelling the seared flesh of its packmates, growled and retreated into the shadows. Bleeding profusely, and barely able to stand, Kilan broke into a run, mind focused on the force signature of Tyler and Kara, his only hope of surviving was finding them.
Kilan stumbled from the trees into a clearing and right into the arms of kara. Tyler had found her the evening before, and they had set out South-West to find him at first light. While Tyler went to activate a functioning emergency beacon, Kara set to stitching Kilan’s back. Tyler himself, still shaken from the crash landing of his own escape pod, truly looked his age for the first time. He knew his days of widespread travel were at an end. The unkind years of his rough life had finally caught up to him. He knew there was little left he could provide to his proteges. Once they had been rescued, and wounds properly examined, he unceremoniously declared them at the end of their training, ready to live as Jedi Knights. The next morning when Kilan and Kara awoke, he was gone.
The Alleys of Nar Shaddaa (17 ABY)
Kara Venger
While Kilan and Kara knew they would have to eventually find students of their own, they postponed it, unsure of how to proceed without Tyler’s guiding hand. He had strongly emphasised that they were key to restoring what he saw as the one true Jedi Order. For months they traveled from planet to planet, much as they had done with Tyler, helping people where they could, but avoiding drawing unwanted attention. They existed in a state of limbo without Tyler to direct them. There only consolation to no longer having Tyler to rely on, was they they no longer felt the overwhelming guilty the accompanied their love for each other.
It was in this state of no guidance, that they found themselves on Nar Shaddaa. The Smuggler’s Moon had always been home to the wretched and vile, but it was also home to those who had no way out. With several rival Hutt ruling the planet, several major conflicts had broken out on the streets of the moon. Turf war had little respect for the innocent, and it was for them, that Kilan and Kara arrived to do what they could in aid. But the longer they stayed, the more attention they received, so much so they decided to leave the moon immediately for their own safety.
A dark and powerful storm was cutting through the smog and haze of the moon as they attempted to make their way to a nearby spaceport. The usually bustling outside walkway was nearly abandoned from the heavy torrent of rain and wind. Both felt a queasy urge from the Force in the pits of their stomachs, a feeling they attributed to the general violent nature of the turf war they had placed themselves in. In a particularly strong burst of wind, a totally unnatural force slammed into Kilan’s chest sending him flying down the long wet walkway.
Kilan stumbled to his feet as quickly as he could, fully knowing only the Force could have hit him with such power. In a flash of lightning he saw a hooded figure quickly approaching Kara, who had her back turned to the figure, eyes locked on what happened to Kilan. The figure activated a red bladed lightsaber, and drove it through Kara’s chest, vaporizing her heart and killing her instantly. The blade shut off as quickly as it had turned on, and Kilan felt time slow as he slipped and slid in the wet. Kara was falling, steam rising from the gaping hole in her chest.
The hooded figure jumped off the walkway, as Kilan finally got the traction he needed to run toward Kara. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a open top speeder fly away, roof closing as it sped into the darkness. Kilan fell to his knees and slid the last few feet to Kara’s side. He cradled her head in his lap hoping it was just a nightmare, and then he screamed in agony. He screamed until his throat got too raw to make any more noise, and then screamed some more. He fell into a daze, a mixture of despair, pain, and rage.
Vismorsus Rising (17 ABY - 19 ABY)
- "I have been pushing you toward this moment, your whole life. It is your destiny."
- ―Mikal Yathik
Unable to cope with this sudden loss of the woman he loved, Kilan died as well on the surface of Nar Shaddaa. Like a phoenix out of the ashes of his former life, Xen’Mordin Vismorsus would face his own trials and sufferings on the route to becoming the man he was meant to be. As hard as he tried, he could not shake the involvement of the Force in his life, and this would push him to the Dark Brotherhood, and to the place he would finally call home, the first he had since leaving his family at the age of five.
The Phoenix (17 ABY)
Xen’s Sigil - A Stylized Phoenix
Kilan became unware of what was happening around him. He ensured Kara’s body was sent to her family, a mix of unwilling and unable to accompany it to speak with them in person. Every concrete memory he had in life had involved Kara in some way or another, and without her, he was broken, crippled by the weight of an existence without her support. Unable to continue, but lacking the strength to take his own life, he underwent a process far more lasting and dangerous.
Using what little credits he had, found a dirty, and rank room to rent for a few days. It was bordering on needing to be condemned, but it was secure, and that is all Kilan needed. He locked himself in and for several days, the door remained sealed tight. He rejected his life, his memories, his connection to the force. Letting the agony and despair was over him, everything he that made him, him washed away in the tide. When it was finished, Kilan Khzon was truly dead. A man woke up on the rusty and sticky floor, dressed, and left, only taking a single photo of Kara as a final tether to his old life. A new name, a new history, a new life coming with him. A man left as Xen’Mordin Vismorsus.
Several days later, Xen’Mordin managed to convince a desperate ship captain that he was a skilled enough mechanic to handle an aging freighter, the Dauntless Traveler. At least good enough to keep it flying to anywhere else. The previous mechanic on the ship had struck it rich in a casino three days prior, and the Hutt who ran the casino, saw to it that the man never received his winnings. Jumping at the opportunity to get off the toxic Smugglers’ Moon, Xen took it without hesitation.
The Mundane (17 ABY - 18 ABY)
The Dauntless Traveler, was no mere freighter, which is what Xen’Mordin would come to call a secondary trait for the ship. It was first and foremost a smugglers’ ship. This fact became apparent within hours of stepping on board. It was an older ship, prone to mechanical faults, which came to occupy most of Xen’s time. What knowledge he didn’t have from his rudimentary training, he stayed up late at night studying. Seeming competent enough, and proved to be trustworthy, he was kept on the ship as part of its full time crew.
The first weeks were the hardest. Xen’Mordin was still adapting to being Xen and not Kilan. His own false history kept playing over and over in his mind, refusing to acknowledge the lies, and the truth of his fast. He was initially very distrustful of the crew. But they were kind enough, and didn’t ask too many questions, so day by day Xen came more comfortable in his own skin. He had no reason to remain on the ship, other than having no reason leave it. This was what fate had delivered to him, so it was a smuggler’s life for him. His single photo of Kara went untouched in the bottom of the pile that was his small trunk of belongings.
Xen’Mordin took great lengths to prove himself to the crew, taking on additional jobs to his constant work as a mechanic. He helped cook, clean, move cargo, took extra watch duties, presented ideas for possible new avenues for jobs, and more. Anything that he could do to keep busy, his mind focused, and his crewmates happy. No job was too demeaning or dangerous for him to be willing to do. Some of the crew initially thought this was suspicious, Xen’s constant and unrelenting willingness to take the most mucky and disgusting jobs left all of them increasingly fond of him. For Xen the more he lived and the more he did as this new man, the more Kilan became a distant memory.
The Nexus (18 ABY)
The Ancient Sith Temple
After a year, Xen’Mordin had become accustomed to life without the Force, and was fully beyond ever recognizing Kilan as part of his history. No one, not even Tyler Reynolds himself, would have been able to point to Xen and say he had once been the Jedi Kilan Khzon. Not only had he fully become Xen’Mordin, Force-free and everything, he was now making a life for himself. He was an integral part of the crew of the Dauntless Traveler. He had made massive improvements to the overall quality of life onboard the ship, not only for safety and functionality, but creature comforts as well. His dedication to the ship and crew, alongside his soaring popularity with the crew had secured him a position as second-mate.
The rather eccentric captain of the ship, was fond of dropping the ship into remote systems in between jobs, some of which had no documented records of being visited according to their ship’s computer. If there was abandoned or forgotten treasures to be found, that was both an adventure to be had and money to be made. The crew by and large supported this, as long as there was a steady supply of regular work to be had. It took them to exotic places, and occasionally brought some good extra credits to spend or stories to tell. However, it was the planet they arrived at shortly after Xen’s one-year mark on the ship that changed everything.
On an undocumented planet, in a remote system in the Outer Rim, they found a Temple. It was ancient and sprawling, but still clearly standing despite the millennia it had spent in solitude. The forest of the planet had long attempted to fully reclaim the space, but the forest had failed. The instant they picked it up on their sensors, the entire crew became abuzz with excitement. Ancient relics of a long dead civilization would fetch more credits than they could make in a year's time. Xen’Mordin was the only crew member who remained silent, his eyes locked on the images of the temple. It felt familiar, almost like it was calling him home.
The crew’s demeanor changed as they ventured by foot to find the main entrance of the temple. Each felt an unnatural chill run up their spine, despite the lush warm of the surrounding tropical climate. The chatter turned from excitement, to caution, to refusal to proceed. More and more of the crew voiced concern, ultimately leading to them deciding to abandon their venture. They all had heard the stories of evil corrupting a location. There was no doubt in their minds that this place was indeed, evil. Xen’Mordin however was burning with an indescribable need to enter its halls. He waved off the call to return to the ship and ventured on alone.
The temple entrance was open, the interior edges of the door frame worn far less than the exterior stone. It had been opened recently. Xen’Mordin stepped slowly, but undeterred. He entered the main chamber, a massive open area, with its ceiling stretching all the way to the top of the pyramid structure it resided within. Rays of sunlight fell through cracks and holes in the decaying roof, giving illumination to a faded but intricately designed mosaic on the floor of the room. Cast in directly in one of the largest rays of light, on the far side of the room, was an altar with something held up, resting carefully upon it.
Xen’Mordin made his way forward, and as he crossed the middle of the chamber, he stepped right over the center of the mosaic on the floor of the room, the whole planet began to shake. Lightning from a cloudless sky sparked and arced all around the temple complex. In the central hall itself, Xen was struck again and again as he lay upon the seal on the floor, powerful bolts of pure dark side energy surging through him. This temple was resting above a Force nexus, one of incredible dark side energy.
That dark side energy surged through every cell in Xen’s body. He experienced a pain unlike any he had endured before. As the might of the force coursed through his body, his repressed memories, training, and life as Kilan came flooding back. After what felt like an eternity of pain wishing for death, it ended as suddenly as it had started. As he lay on the ground, gasping for breath, Xen’Mordin was able to comprehend the true nature of the temple, and that his connection with the Force had been completely restored to him.
Tied Up in Strings (18 ABY)
The Ancient Sith Lightsaber
Xen’s mind became at war with itself. On one side was the friendly ship mechanic, Xen’Mordin, and on the other was the vortex of painful memories of a man he no longer was. He let his mind battle it out, unknowing which side would prevail. He moved based on instinct and the direction of the Force, a comforting connection now that it was back. He reached the altar that was resting on the far side of the hall, and was able to recognized what was resting upon it. It was an ancient lightsaber, coated in dust, unused and waiting for centuries for a new owner to claim it. Xen’Mordin grabbed it, and felt like he had just found something that had been missing from him his whole life. It was like it was made just for him.
Xen’Mordin stared at it, absorbing its ancient construction, its brutality, and its still visible stains of blood in the metal work. His focus was interrupted by the sound of clapping, from a hooded figure who was stepping out of the shadows at last. Without turning back, Xen knew with certainty that this was the same man who had killed Kara the previous year.
Xen’Mordin turned to face the man, as the figure pulled back his hood, revealing a vile and twisted face. It was etched with scars and burns and age. The figure introduced himself as Mikal Yathik. With glee, Mikal explained that he had been the one manipulating Xen’s entire life to bring him to this moment in this temple, for Xen to embrace the dark side and take on his destiny. Mikal was the one who had supplied Prazna with the shady connections on Naboo to take power. He was the one, who using powerful Beast Control mastery, had sent the predator on Kashyyyk after Xen. He was the one on Corellia who had suggested to Calu that there was a big reward for anyone who turned in a dangerous force sensitive. And of course it was he who had killed Kara on that rainy walkway on Nar Shaddaa.
Before Xen’Mordin could attempt to lash out in vengeance against Mikal, another man stepped out of the shadows, a man whose face was familiar. It had grown older, more worn, crueler, but Xen knew that face, it belonged to his oldest brother Kiith. Kiith in his rage at being rejected by Tyler Reynolds, had found himself his own master in Mikal Yathik. Kiith’s eyes bore none of the warmed and affection he had shown as a child, they were now cold. Without uttering a word, Kiith activated his own lightsaber. Xen’Mordin was forced to defend himself with the only weapon he had at hand, the ancient lightsaber. Remarkably its warped blood red blade snapped to life even after all these years. Body still aching, and mind still at war with itself, Xen was forced to remember his training quickly as he defended himself against an onslaught of attacks from his own brother. Kiith’s style was aggressive on a level Xen had never experienced, simple, basic, and unyielding in form.
Then it ended. It was either fate, luck, or the will of the Force, Xen’Mordin landed a blow against his brother’s left shoulder, cutting down toward his right hip. Before the blade completely cleaved Kiith in two, its power cell finally died. Kiith’s body landed unceremoniously on the floor with a dull thud. Xen felt no remorse, no pain, no loss at having just killed his own brother. All there was for him to feel was rage. He turned his focus back to Mikal, who was now laughing. Mikal turned to leave, congratulating Xen’Mordin on embracing the power of the dark side, and finally moving forward toward his destiny as a Sith.
Xen’Mordin tightened his grip on the ancient lightsaber, and looked down at it. The hilt itself was a weapon, elegant and cruel, the pommel featured long sharp protrusions, clearing having been used to take lives, just as the red blade had. Xen leapt, augmented by the Force, and drove the hilt deep into Mikal’s back. Xen stabbed again and again, becoming drenched in the man’s blood in the process. Mikal screamed, but eventual fell silent. Even in the silence Xen’Mordin kept driving the blade into the man, relishing in his revenge.
Antei Bound (18 ABY)
Back on the Dauntless Traveler, Xen’Mordin cleaned himself up. He lied to the crew, saying he had been attacked by a pack of beasts in the temple, and that he had been forced to beat them back. The crew, stomachs still churning from being in proximity to the temple agreed to leave the planet immediately. Their own desire to leave clouded their judgment in pressing Xen about why there was just so much blood on his person.
Xen’Mordin spent most of the following days resting. His body was weak from the events in the temple, and his mind was still attempting to reconcile the two sides of his personality. But despite his best efforts, he could not get them to fit together into a single mentality. So he was forced to learn how to deal with it enough to function. The crew of the ship, luckily gave him space, still believing he had nearly died at the hands of a violent creature in the temple. In between the periodic check-ins to establish he was still breathing, he was given the time he needed to formulate a plan. There was only one thing he trusted, the Force. He knew it was the only thing that could fix him, and make him stronger. Deep in meditation, he felt the call, the call from something out there across the galaxy just waiting for him.
Eventually being able to function as a presentable sentient being again, and armed with a plan, Xen’Mordin went to work to find what was calling to him. Being the primary mechanic, and with free range of access to the ship, and in particular the engines, Xen had no trouble disabling the ship. They had been in hyperspace when the engines died, and the ship was left adrift in deep space. Xen’Mordin made a good show of a urgent but focused attempt to diagnosis what was happening to the engines. He had swapped out a critical part with the an old spare he had from replacing it months prior. He had made it look extremely damaged, beyond repair, while the still working part was hidden away. The ship was officially dead in deep space, and Xen had no intention of repairing the ship any time soon. Distress calls were made, but without an apparent replacement part, all the crew could do was wait for aid.
Stuck with nowhere to go, Xen’Mordin slowly isolated members of the crew killing them. Some were killed quickly, flushed out an airlock, others were bloodily carved apart, corpse left on display for the remaining crew to see. The fear started quickly, and as members of the crew were slowly and unexpectedly murdered, that fear grew into hysteria. Xen faked his own death, and took the the shadows and crawl ways of the ship, he knew better than anyone else on the ship. The remaining crew turned on each other, each knowing that only that they themself could not be the killer on the ship. Eventually only one remained, the captain, locked up in his private quarters. Xen’Mordin took his time in finally luring the man out and killing him slowly.
Finally alone on the ship, each of the crew carefully accounted for and removed, Xen’Mordin repaired the hyperdrive. Taking time to enjoy his solitude on the massive ship, Xen took his time going through the crew’s belongings and supplies before making his way to the bridge. When he finally did, there was a cryptic message waiting for him. It contained a single point of coordinates. What he was looking for had found him first. When he arrived at the isolated and sparsely populated system the coordinates pointed to, a second message was delivered, directing him to a remote moon of one of the system’s gas giants. The Dark Brotherhood was waiting.
Imperial Indoctrination (18 ABY - 19 ABY)
Xen’Mordin at the time he joined the Brotherhood
Xen’Mordin was taken through the mysterious Shroud to the Antei system that hid within it. There he was sent to the Lyspair, a moon in orbit around Antei to be tested at the Shadow Academy. Xen’s first several weeks there were brutally punishing. Rusty from his the regular practice he had under Tyler Reynolds, his force abilities and combat skills were lacking. More than that, he was still living in agony as his mind held together in a fragile and misshapen way. Xen became dedicated to the Force, and in the power of the dark side and the ways of the Sith. When he had adequately satisfied the professors and trainers of the Academy, Xen was issued placement in one of the great clans of the Brotherhood.
Xen’Mordin was sent to the Cocytus system, the home system of Clan Scholae Palatinae, a small isolated system near the borders of Hutt space. He joined the ranks of House Caliburnus, and begun to learn the ways of a system spanning Empire, and a ruling royal class. Scholae Palatinae itself believed its origin could be traced back to the Force-sensitives that guarded Emperor Palpatine’s greatest artifacts and secrets. From his first day there, Xen was exposed to the heavy Imperial propaganda that filtered everything experienced by the citizens of the system.
He was placed under the tutelage of a Nautolan referred to as Warhunter. Warhunter pushed Xen’Mordin hard, forcing the young man to hone his skills he had learned under Tyler, and expand beyond what he thought possible. Within months Xen was on par with where he had been at the end of his time with Tyler Reynolds. At the forefront of every aspect of his training however, was the reminder of the greatest success the Sith had ever known. The might of the Galactic Empire, and Palpatine’s brilliant sweep to power and destruction of the Jedi Order. While the members of the clan demonstrated their own typical Sith tendencies, that quest for power was hardcoded to the set of ideals of serving one’s own desires, and the good of the Cocytus Empire.
For Xen’Mordin, the power hungry tactics and games fed the parts of his mind that were twisted by the might of the Force nexus. The higher calling of serving the Empire, however, spoke to the other parts. While his split mentalities made it hard for any member of Scholae Palatinae to get close to him, both pushed him forward in a constant effort to better himself. At the times he was exceeding his own expectations, the more at peace his mind was. And that was a comfort that he could not put a price on.
The Manipulative (20 ABY - 28 ABY)
- "We must do this, no one else has the capacity. And they will never see us coming."
- ―Xen’Mordin to Impetus
Xen’Mordin quickly went to work integrating himself into Clan Scholae Palatinae. Taking the power questing of the Sith, the glory of the Galactic Empire, and his own ambitions as his motivation, he would work ceaselessly to achieve his goals. He would take fervent study of Emperor Palpatine’s life and strategies. This study would push Xen, along with the help of some closely trusted allies, into playing a long game to seat himself upon the throne. Taking years of preparation and works, this singular goal dominated his actions for nearly a decade of his life.
A Leader (19 ABY)
Impetus M’Nar
Xen’Mordin had only been in the Brotherhood and a member of Scholae Palatinae when he received his first example of the treacherous nature of the Dark Jedi he now called his brothers and sisters. A rift had formed in Scholae Palatinae, with member turning against member. Caliburnus entered a standing feud with another house of the clan, Dorimad Sol. Scholae Palatinae’s third house, Acclivis Draco, withheld from the combat as war seeped through the entire system. After a bloody and violent conflict, Xen emerged in as a highlighted member, recognized clan wide as a capable warrior, and leader.
This internal conflict within the clan, begun a snowball effect for Xen’Mordin. He was already taking the Imperial ideals to heart, and saw this conflict within the Empire itself as a show of poor leadership and drive from the top levels. While he himself knew all too well the lust for power, there were too many enemies outside of the clan to spend their time fighting amongst themselves.
It was following this house feud, that Xen’Mordin was offered an opportunity to help shape the clan as a leader, directly offered by the sitting Emperor, Timbal. Xen was made Aedile of House Caliburnus. It was in this position that he met Impetus M’Nar, a young Twi’lek, who had been named as the Quaestor of the House. They were soon joined by a Neti named Ood Bnar, who would serve as the House’s Rollmaster.
Impetus and Xen’Mordin were both intelligent, young, and highly driven. They both quickly orientated to the life of a leader within Scholae Palatinae, and brought much needed stability to the stumbling Caliburnus. This included a shocking upset victory against the consistently praised House Acclivis Draco during the events of Contention. But Caliburnus occupied just a small corner of the Empire, located on the planet of Ptolomea. Whatever skills and powers they amassed on this planet, did little to truly demonstrate their capabilities.
The weeks turned into months, and both Impetus and Xen’Mordin began to quietly express frustrations from the shortcomings and glaring flaws weakening the clan’s hold in the system. Cocky, headstrong, and determined, the two began to formulate a plan. They took inspiration from Emperor Palpatine himself, and his brilliant manipulation of the Republic into giving him more and more power willingly, finally seating himself as Emperor by thunderous applause. Confident that their combined intellect and skills would allow them to adapt to roadblocks in their plan, they began their long con to take control of the entire Empire.
The Sword (20 ABY)
The hilt of the legendary Caliburnus
House Caliburnus was named so, after a mythical and ancient lightsaber, the permeate the legends of the native people of the Cocytus system. The members of House Caliburnus were regarded as the sword, skilled warriors, in comparison to the dragon of Acclivis Draco and the sun of Dorimad Sol. The validity of the myth surrounding the lightsaber had been in question for years. The stories were just that, stories used to bolster the members of the house in a shared belief. What the members of Scholae Palatinae didn’t realize, was that no one had ever attempted to properly piece together the history of the lightsaber in its entirety. An artifact such as that would be an incredible find for the Empire.
It took a little more than two months of researching for Xen’Mordin and Impetus to not only validate that the lightsaber existed, but pinpoint its exact location. It was in a temple deep in the dark jungles of Ptolomea. If it was found, it would clearly be a sign of one’s right to command the House. However, Xen and Impetus did not wish to find it for themselves. Those well versed in the lore of the lightsaber knew it was always coupled with a terrible price upon those vain enough to try to wield it as their own. Xen and Impetus wished to allow another to claim it, and ultimately further destabilize the entire system. This would begin the first phase of their plan.
News of the true existence of the lightsaber was leaked to the House, through Ood Bnar, thinking it was his own work that validated its location. Multiple groups of interested parties began to prepare, knowing if they could retrieve the lightsaber, control of the house and all of Ptolomea would be theirs. According to plan, Xen’Mordin began the venture to find Caliburnus in the same party as Impetus, only to publically betray her, by going to help a vain and power-hungry man, Thran Occasus, retrieve the blade.
Thran came to trust Xen’Mordin largely thanks to this singular act, believing falsely that Xen was a loyal and controllable tool to be used in his own quest for power. This betrayal also added further cover to Xen’s and Impetus’s plan, for there would no way the two would be working together following such a public betrayal. Thran assumed the mantle of Quaestor for House Caliburnus, Impetus left the house to return to Acclivis Draco on Antenora, and Xen’Mordin turned his own efforts to the next steps of their plan.
Vismorsus Industries (21 ABY - 26 ABY)
There was a comforting sense of anonymity in no longer having the burden of leadership. Xen’Mordin was free to pursue the foundation that he would take the throne of the Empire from. As he watched Thran shake House Caliburnus crazy, he was able to focus on establishing himself as a popular and exemplary citizen of the Cocytus system. That is, at least, the image he made public, as the citizens had no need to know about the framing, torture, and murdering that he took up to progress his goals. After amounting a small horde of credits and contacts in the system, he was ready.
Xen’Mordin founded his own company Vismorsus Industries. Having proved himself to his clanmates on multiple occasions, and having pulled together his own resources, along with ones directed to him by Impetus, Vismorsus Industries took off like a wildfire. The core company established itself as a scientific research company, with branching ventures into manufacturing, trade goods, and every other service imaginable. Xen had inherited his parents affinity for the business world, and even without the bribes, blackmail, and blessing of the clan, it was quickly a viable company.
While Xen’Mordin had bigger plans for both his company and the Empire itself, his new found wealth allowed him to appear overly generous with the civilians. Xen spent money out of his own pocket to provide more affordable housing, medical centers, feeding the hungry, and expanding the system’s education system. The later became a huge boon for Xen’s plans as he was able to directly recruit from the improving schools into his company. Improving his public image, and the continued wellbeing of the company came to occupy much of his time.
The better his public image, the more he was able to push his company into the development of things that were of benefit to the clan, and the Empire’s control. Research ranged from mind control serums, fear toxins, advanced weaponry and machines, new droids, computing software, and more. As long as he supplied goods that improved the lives of the civilians, the less than reputable developments went overlooked by everyone.
Because of this, Xen’s biggest threats to his long term plans for the Empire and his company was not from any outside person or group, but from himself. While he had come to fully embrace the identity of Xen’Mordin as his own, and was a fully dedicated Sith and scholar of Emperor Palpatine, his painful past still left him with a fractured mind. Xen’Mordin was still a broken man, both Xen’Mordin and Kilan at all times, and those sides were in a constant struggle to end up on top. This threw him from one mood to another, a icon for the civilians to the cruel and power hungry Sith. Xen knew if he was going to continue to build his reputation in the Cocytus system, he would need to find a way to make peace with himself.
Secret Agent Man (22 ABY)
Xen'Mordin in 22 ABY
Xen’Mordin spent most of his time developing and leading Vismorsus Industries, but he could not deny that life outside the Cocytus system was just as important as within, or that Scholae Palatinae had its own needs to be dealt with. The Imperial Scholae Intelligence initiative had been recently founded by Impetus, and while many believed the two despised each other, this powerful Intel agency proved to be invaluable to progressing their plans.
ISI provided resources and information vital to their plan. Seated firmly within its upper ranks, Impetus could redirected intelligence to suit their needs. Information on competing companies, areas of strongest propaganda effect, contacts of ill repute, and more were passed in secret to Xen’Mordin. And when they needed a blind eye on their own dealings, ISI found itself largely preoccupied by other pressing matters. Xen would have to make many trips out into the galaxy at large. Expanding his company, dealing with threats to the clan, recruiting members, and more would occupy his time. These ventures would also always result in some spare time for Xen to disappear for an evening to meet with contacts outside of the system that had been identified as useful by Impetus within the ISI. These individuals with a wide set of skills, and a lust for the credits Xen could now bring them.
These contacts and mercenaries were utilized multiple times by Xen’Mordin over the following years. However, as useful and productive these missions were in advance his own plans, and establishing himself as a reliable face within Scholae Palatinae, there was another reason he came to relish these trips. They took him away from the Cocytus system, and away from the eyes of the public who would recognize him. He was free to move unrestricted. He came to appreciate the twisted irony in the fact that the system he was seeking to control, was a prison for what he was on the inside, and what one half of his mind raged for on a daily basis.
The Restoration (24 ABY)
The top levels of Coruscant
Xen’Mordin had finally reached the limit of his capabilities to function. The chasm that divided his mind had become too much to bear. His days were spent locked away in his quarters, cramming as much work as he could in the few moments of lucidity he would experience in any given day. He barely slept, barely ate, and by shutting himself away, many in the clan began to suspect that his body was finally giving away to the high pressure schedule he had been keeping.
Fueled by his refusal to die, and sustained solely by the power of the Force, Xen’Mordin left the Cocytus system behind, and returned to his home planet of Coruscant. The planet held little personal meaning to him now, having been almost two decades since he had ever called it home, but he couldn’t deny he felt drawn to return to the planet deep in the core. Xen found a cheap room to stay in, and locked himself away, waiting for the Force to guide his next actions. It was in one of his rare outings for food, in a moment of lucidity, that he was recognized.
It was his elder sister, Sairia, that called out to him by his old name, Kilan, in the busy streets. He stared blankly back at her, she was older, eyes full of certainty that she had found her brother. Xen’s mind went back to his last family encounter, his brother’s body still decaying where it fell in the temple. Sairia was not what Xen’Mordin needed to heal, she only brought more confusion and pain. Xen also had no way to even begin what had happened to him or who he was now. He pushed Sairia aside and disappeared into the crowded walkway.
Xen’Mordin spent the next few hours, drinking the afternoon away in a nearby cantina. Drunk, he stumbled back to the tiny place he was staying at. He came to a stop just outside of the door. Xen could sense clearly someone was inside the room, waiting. Someone he had not seen for many years. Tyler Reynolds found his student at last. He must have had some inkling of what had happened to Xen, sensing him when Xen returned to the planet at last.
Tyler begged in a feeble and useless way for Xen’Mordin to return to the light. Instead of listening to the old man’s plea, he turned the argument around back at Tyler, blaming him for leaving them in the first place, for not preparing them adequately, for ripping them from their families in the first place, and a million other things. Kara never would have died if Tyler had not taken them both as padawans. Kilan never would have suffered and died. Xen’Mordin would never have been born, if it had not been for the old man. The more he yelled at Tyler, the better Xen felt.
Tyler realized there was no more reasoning with Xen’Mordin. His apprentice Kilan was truly dead, and this Sith before him needed to be dealt with before bring destruction to the galaxy. Xen had been waiting for Tyler to come to this realization. It was a cramped duel, brutal, relentless. Tyler showed his age, while Xen showed his fatigued and weakened state that his unstable mind had reduced him to. But in the end, Tyler had no hope, Xen’Mordin was young and had years of honing his dark side capabilities. Xen slayed his former master and mentor. With Tyler dead as his feet, Xen collapsed into his bed and spelt for three days.
Waking to the smell of rot setting into Tyler’s corpse, Xen’Mordin gathered his belongings and left. For the first time since his powers were restored by the Force nexus, Xen felt whole, complete, free of internal conflict. He was able to accept his grief, his rage, and in killing his former master, Xen’Mordin was able meld with Kilan, and fight no more. Kilan was Xen’Mordin, and Xen’Mordin was Kilan, and he would not let anything prevent him from reaching his goals, not even himself.
The Cause and The Usurper (24 ABY)
Late in 24 ABY,following the retaking of Antei, one of the most critical moments needed to fully destabilize the system occurred. The newly appointed Emperor, Lucien the Fearless had come into power with a shaky grip on the system. It was time to allow a more volatile individual take control to push the Empire to the boiling point. To do that, Xen’Mordin made use of the many contacts he had made over the past several years.
Thran Occasus, just as power hungry as he had been on Ptolomea when searching for Caliburnus, had found himself sitting as Lucien’s right hand man, Proconsul of the clan. Xen’Mordin had maintained a long standing relationship with Thran over the last several years. The relationship existed from Thran’s belief that Xen’Mordin was subservient and easily malleable. Xen did whatever was required to fuel that belief. This was a radical difference than Thran’s attitude toward Impetus, who in order to ease Thran’s mind toward a coup to take the throne, faked her own death and disappeared from the system. She and Xen met one last time to ensure he would send a message, an ad looking to hire capable scientists, when he had succeeded in taking the throne, letting her know it was time to return.
Xen’Mordin spent weeks planting various tidbits of information, and ideas in Thran’s head. But it did not take long before Thran was certain he had arrived at the conclusion himself, that it was time to go all in and take the system. To back Thran’s attempt to take the Empire, Xen provided further information of a terrorist organization known as The Cause,, that would be capable of aiding Thran to usurp the throne. This organization was, of course, created by Xen’Mordin and Impetus over the last several years, paying its members a hefty fee to do as they were told. Xen also enjoyed the jest that Thran was totally unaware of the origin of the terrorist group’s name. They were there for a cause, the only cause Xen cared about, putting himself on the throne.
Thran used The Cause to sow terror in the system, and in the process broke Lucien’s frail grip on the system. Lucien disappeared, and Thran had managed to take the throne for himself. The Cause disappeared without a trace the instant Thran was able to secure the throne. Self-assured of his right to rule, Thran titled himself The Usurper. Most remarkable was the low number of soldiers and civilians killed in the smoke and mirrors that were used to disrupt the system. However, the panic that had generated was real enough, and the memories of a unified front against the horrendous terrorists would play a hand years later when Xen’Mordin himself used The Cause to become Emperor. He made sure they were paid well, on top of the money Thran had thrown at them, and they disappeared as if they had never been there.
Spoils of War (26 ABY)
Landmap of Salas V
Thran’s rule had proved to be more disrupted than either Xen’Mordin or Impetus could have predicted. The Emperor’s party-hard lifestyle had put a sour taste in most of the members’ mouths, while doing little to curb his declining approval rates in the system. Many members left the clan just to get away from the vain Usurper. Those who stuck around were left attempting to patch the disarray that had taken over the Cocytus system.
This disarray reached a critical point when in 26 ABY, the Grand Master, Muz Ashen declared all of the Brotherhood were to venture to the distant planet of Salas V to participate in a mighty Rite of Supremacy, the planet’s control a shiny gem to be awarded to the victors. Thran ordered all of Scholae Palatinae’s forces to the planet surface, looking to be the first Emperor to expand the Empire outside of the Cocytus system.
Many members of the clan fought hard, pushing themselves and the military to seize the planet. But Thran was nowhere to be seen, and his Proconsul, Angelo Dante, had his hands full. In the end, without a fully focused central leadership to rally the clan, the individual efforts of a few proved to only be moderately successful. When the dust settled, and the violent Killiks of Salas V were destroyed, Scholae Palatinae sat embarrassingly outclassed by nearly every other clan in the Brotherhood.
Xen’Mordin witnessed this defeat first hand. He made a strong showing himself on Salas V, but kept himself cautiously out of major danger for the entire war. Dying at the hand of an insect would have been a horrible way to end when he had done so much to take the throne. A greater air of dismay took over the fracturing clan, and while it hurt to see the Empire in even a more broke state, Xen knew it ultimately would be for the greater good that this happened.
The Dragon (27 ABY)
The seal of House Acclivis Draco
Xen’Mordin knew it was time to begin to position himself within the clan for his final push to take the throne. He had spent years building up a solid reputation in clan, and within the system, but it would not be enough to take the throne. He had to prove himself as a leader for the rest of the clan to fully support him. He accepted the position of Aedile within the great House Acclivis Draco alongside the newly appointed Quaestor Exodius. Exodius, a Trandoshan, who had been a long standing member of the Dragon House, and a proud and fearsome individual, proved to be a lackluster Quaestor.
Control of the House was immediately offered to Xen’Mordin, who graciously accepted the position of Quaestor. Acclivis Draco had been long recognized as the strongest and most capable of the clan’s three houses. It was based on the harsh desert planet of Antenora, which was a wildly different climate than Xen’s estate back on the capital planet of Judecca. The planet was divided up under control of multiple warring tribes, which Xen immediately started to work with to unify the planet, establishing a plan that would later be executed brilliantly by Koryn Thraagus.
Xen’s own control of the house would prove to be just as brief as Exodius’s however. Just a few months after accepting the position of Quaestor, Angelo Dante, resigned his position as Proconsul. Dante had been the one who had held together the fracturing clan under Thran’s rule, and his resignation put Xen’s final goals within grasp. However, his plans were thwarted by Thran picking a member from Clan Plagueis to succeed Dante’s position as Proconsul. Ood Bnar, the once dutiful Rollmaster who served in House Caliburnus with Xen’Mordin and Impetus years before had decided to return to the Empire.
This action offended Xen’Mordin greatly, who would hold this grudge against Thran for years. However, unknown to him at the time, this action worked out in his benefit, as it put the pieces in play for an even stronger claim to take the throne than he would have other wise. An edict from the Grand Master himself would see Xen’s time as Quaestor cut short.
Infection (27 ABY)
Csilla
Xen’Mordin would frequently leave Antenora and return to Judecca as part of his duties as Quaestor. It was his job to represent his House to the Clan, and his job to ensure the planet of Antenora ran in harmony with the will of the Empire. It was in 27 ABY, during one of these ventures to the Capital, that Xen arrived to a completely silent and inactive Palace. As he departed his ship, and opened the doors leading from the hanger to the Palace, a fine green mist poured out of the doors. Xen jumped back and held his breath, certain it was a toxin, but it was too late. He was infected, just like everyone else in the palace.
He found staff and Clan members in the halls of the palace. Each unconscious, but alive in a coma-like state. Xen’Mordin rushed to the advanced medical center in the palace. With the aid of the medical droids he was able to isolate the toxin, and learned he had a natural resistance to its effects. He would ultimately succumb to it like the others, but he had hours with which he could attempt to generate an antitoxin. He learned there was a viable one to be created, but required compounds that were only found in the rare snow flowers from the homeworld of the Chiss, Csilla.
Xen’Mordin took the most direct route to the planet he could, not caring to be noticed, or stopped by the Chiss military. He knew the instant he entered the system, he would be noticed. Already feeling the drowsy and lethargic symptoms of the toxin taking hold, he jumped intra-atmosphere from hyperspace, nearly crashing his ship. He gathered as many of the flowers as he could carry, and returned to his ship to get back to the Cocytus system before it was too late.
As Xen’Mordin broke the atmosphere of the planet to jump away, he was flanked by many fighters ships of the Chiss, who were demanding he stop and be taken in for questioning. When Xen didn’t respond, they opened fire as he jumped to lightspeed, damaging his ship, but not enough to destroy it. Xen’Mordin was forced to crash the damaged vessel in the hangar bay of the Palace. He dragged himself and the flowers, off the ship and attempted to make it back to the medical center. He was just down the hall from it when he finally fully succumbed to the toxin’s effects.
Xen’Mordin awoke three days later in a bed in the medical center. One of the medical droids had gathered the flowers Xen had on him when he collapsed down the hall, and generated the antitoxin to begin treating the infected. All those who were affected had been returned to full health, but the source of the toxin self was never fully determined.
Logo of Scholae Palatinae
Grand Marshal of the Empire (27 ABY)
Thran Occasus had vanished, and Ood Bnar held tightly to the top control of the Clan and Empire. Then came word direct from the Iron Throne itself. The power and backing of Clan status was being removed from all Clans in the Brotherhood. This meant the immediate closing of all Houses and termination of the leadership positions. Scholae Palatinae was forced to reorganize.
This edict however also came with the direct replacement of Consul and Emperor, which was given directly to Ood by Muz Ashen. The Neti was faced with an impossible situation, a unit full of members outraged at the offense of losing their resources from Clan status, and a system full of people on the brink of revolt from the pain and suffering that came under Thran’s rule.
Ood as the new Emperor was named Ood the Hardwood, and had to name his second in command, and Grand Marshal for the system. Xen’Mordin and Ood had worked together years before in House Caliburnus, and Ood recognized Xen’s natural talent as a leader. More than that however, the Grand Marshal was head of the entire military for the clan and system. Xen’s efforts in the many Brotherhood wide battles over the last years made him a recognized and respected face to all of the military personnel.
Where Thran had been bold, brash, and brazen, Ood was quiet, quaint, and quiescent. Xen’Mordin came to realize Ood’s presence was more of a blessing than a hinderance of his master plan as the Neti’s leadership approach would allow Xen to seize control with the full backing and support of his clan, and the citizens of the Empire.
The Neutralization (28 ABY)
Judecca - Capital planet of the Cocytus System
The Cause returned in a loud and stunning fashion. Hospitals, manufacturing plants, schools, town squares, military depositories, even some of Xen’s own company facilties and warehouses, all targeted in a series of highly planned out attacks. If the damaged and death caused from these terrorist attacks hadn’t whipped the entire system into a frenzy, some might have noticed the ease and consistency with which the terrorists were able to strike. The over the top and threatening holovids that followed immediately after every attack kept the eyes of the public away from how it happened, and focused who did it.
But fear held strong, and rage from within the clan at an old enemy returning to mock them once more. The time had come for Xen’Mordin to play his winning hand. He was paying the members of The Cause quite handsomely for their efforts, not that any would live to spend the credits by the time it was done.
Ood was invisible, practically as if he wasn’t there at all. Xen’Mordin allowed this to be noticed by everyone in the system, letting the issue rise to a boiling point of a civil revolt before he himself led the charge of public appearances backed by the military personnel needed to route out these terrorists. The mighty arm of the Empire struck hard and fast. The clan members fueled by their anger at the terrorists ensured the victory was complete and absolute. Even as the terrorists being rounded up, and summarily executed, Xen was using his own resources to build up the damaged parts of the system. By the time the last of the terrorists had been rounded up, Xen was able to issue the order for the immediate imprisonment of Ood Bnar for failing his people and his clan in the terrorist attacks.
Xen’Mordin took the throne with an unprecedented backing and approval rate from the citizens of the Cocytus Empire. As he moved to the position of Quaestor for the House, his support there was near universal for his strong and swift hand at dealing with threats against the House’s well being. He took for himself the tyrant title of Xen’Mordin the Manipulative, and turned his sight on establishing the Empire as a lasting force in the galaxy.
The Emperor (28 ABY - Present)
- "I dream of an Empire that eclipses even Palpatine’s."
- ―Xen’Mordin upon taking the throne
Xen’Mordin wasted no time settling into his role of Emperor and leader of Scholae Palatinae. His rule marked one of the longest and most consistent periods of a ruler both the in the Cocytus system, and for Scholae Palatinae. Organizing a massive modernization to the Empire, and a demonstrating a continued unwavering loyalty to the Empire and Clan, few wished to depose him of his rule. This was a near unimaginable feat for a society and culture built upon the betrayals and backstabbing.
The mask worn by Xen in all his Brotherhood duties
Imperialization (28 ABY)
By the time Xen’Mordin took the throne of the Cocytus Empire, he had spent years researching both Palpatine’s life, and the rising of the Galactic Empire. Palpatine had been able to hide his identity as Darth Sidious, and so too, must Xen. To the public he was the attractive and charismatic leader they needed and believed in. To the Brotherhood however he was the cold and calculating Sith, face shielded by by a mask bearing the sigil of Scholae Palatinae.
This radical split between the public Emperor and the hidden Sith of the Brotherhood would dominate Xen’s lifestyle for years. But it was far from the most radical actions he would take. He ordered the immediate dissolvement of the high royal class that had plagued the Empire with unnecessary bureaucracy. Planetary rule was given instead to Planetary Governors. The Governors in turn reported to the System Moff, a position he gave for Scholae Palatinae’s Rollmaster to handle. The Imperial Senate, a venue for the populace to be heard was cut and gutted in several stages spread out over several years. Nearly every aspect of the Empire was rebranded and made uniform.
Xen’Mordin also took actions in the private sectors as well. He nationalized multiple large corporations that provided crucial goods and services throughout the system. Multiple educational and research facilities were taken in as part of a new government wide push for education, but with reinforcing Imperial ideals and loyalty. The banking and finance systems came under strict review and control. The entirety of the media was immediately restructured and restricted to fit a pro-Imperial agenda, and to direct any attention away from events that would negatively impact the view the citizens had on the Empire.
Retaliation (29 ABY)
In what would be the first of many tense situations against rival Brotherhood unit Naga Sadow, occurred early in Xen’s reign. Long standing Palatinaean, and one of the keepers of the Legacy of Palpatine, Angelo Dante, was tasked to accompany the sitting FIST, Fremoc Pepoi, on a mission to the Alsakan system. They were tasked with hunting down the Jedi Michael Halcyon, who had on several occasions been a proud serving member and leader within Scholae Palatinae.
While Angelo and Fremoc succeeded in locating the rogue Jedi, he was aware of their presence. Following a quick duel, and thanks largely to incompetent actions of Fremoc, Angelo was killed, and Michael escaped. Angelo’s body was returned home to the Cocytus system, where Xen’Mordin gave his burial every honor and status within the Empire, befitting a fallen hero. Xen’s mind however was focused on retaliation. Fremoc was a long standing member of Naga Sadow, and despite his position on the Dark Council, Xen wanted revenge, a desire echoed by all in Scholae Palatinae who had served with Angelo.
Attacking a member of the Council outright would have gotten himself killed, as Grand Master Muz Ashen was insightfully protective of his Council members, and especially of those who hailed from Naga Sadow, his own home unit. Knowledge of this didn’t stop some, as an estranged Scholae Palatinae member, Cado H’darr, was killed trying to take revenge into his own hands.
It was following this a bomb was detonated in a hangar, sent clearly to kill Fremoc. However, Fremoc was spared from death, and was merely injured in the blast. His son, Thomas, however was killed. While it was impossible to directly link Xen’Mordin or anyone else in Scholae Palatinae for the attack, everyone knew the parties involved, and why it happened. Before any further escalation of the issue could arise, the Grand Master, Muz Ashen, called all of the Dark Council and unit leaders together to make it abundantly clear that any further acts of aggression would face immediate repercussions.
The Invasion of New Tython (29 ABY)
New Tython is where the Jedi of Odan-Urr had taken refuge
The Grand Master had different plans for the aggression that was boiling between all the units of the Brotherhood. For months the clans had tolerated Lord Ashen’s unorthodox unit, Odan-Urr, a band of Jedi loyal to the Iron Throne. That tolerance was about to break out in war, as the dark side clans went to New Tython, refuge of the Jedi. The Invasion of New Tython, began and each of the long standing units of the Brotherhood left their systems behind looking to exterminate the Jedi.
For Xen’Mordin, and much of Scholae Palatinae, the fight was a more personal issue, for the traitor Michael Halcyon was among those leading the defenses of the Jedi on the planet. Xen led the foray for his people, placing the continued reconstruction of the Empire on hold. With the aid of his Grand Marshal Archangel, and System Moff Rayne, the massive progress made could wait for revenge to be had.
Unexpectedly however, the Jedi were not alone on New Tython, with an arsenal of Mandalorians arriving as the invasion began, being paid heavily to defend the planet. Amongst the Mandalorians was Maximus Raidoner, yet another betrayer of the Empire and Scholae Palatinae. Xen’Mordin was robbed of issuing punishment for the traitors Michael and Raidoner, but was satisfied they met their violent end all the same.
The spoils of the war were enough to squash any feelings Xen’Mordin had about not being the one to deliver the killing blows on the two traitors. Enough plunder was taken from the planet for Scholae Palatinae to purchase a new space station to replace their worn Dynasty Station. The much larger and more capable Dynasty II was purchased and place in high orbit around the planet of Ptolomea.
Battle over Sepros
The Orian Incursion (30 ABY)
The war on New Tython helped breath a new energy into the members of Scholae Palatinae. The Palatinaeans’ strong showing had given a massive confidence boost, much needed after their faltering and weak attempts under the rule of Thran Occasus. And it was with this confidence in mind that Xen’Mordin knew they had to keep momentum forward, or risk plunging back into the abyss.
It was at this point that Xen’Mordin was approached by Tra’an Reith, the leader of Plagueis, one of the other units in the Brotherhood. Tra’an and Xen both wanted to maximize their units standing, and to do so, that meant weakening one of the others. They decided Naga Sadow was a prime target, weakened from a poor showing on New Tython. Xen, still stewing from the death of Angelo, wanted nothing more than a legitimate fight against the cowards of Naga Sadow. To invade Naga Sadow’s home, the Orian System, was something he could not pass on. He also knew it would provide a great opportunity for Plagueis to be weakened by Naga Sadow, allowing him to strike both down.
However, once the invasion began in earnest, Xen’s fellow leaders and advisors strongly urged to turn on Plagueis, allowing Naga Sadow and Plagueis to wear each other down before taking both out. While this had been Xen’s plan from the beginning, he put up a fight against it, solely to let his fellow members be sated with the belief they held some control over the direction they would take. Much like Palpatine had killed Darth Plagueis, he desired to see Scholae Palatinae remove the stain of Plagueis’s legacy for good.
Palatinaean forces held back greatly during the initial assault in the Orian System, allowing Plagueis to spearhead the attack. Xen’Mordin didn’t even need to order this to happen, as Tra’an, confident in his own forces pressed the issue to be given the lead in the attack. As Sadowan forces pulled back to regroup, Xen issued his order 66, and the entirety of the Palatinaean Military force came in behind Plagueis.
Naga Sadow launched their counterattack, and Plagueis took heavy losses, including their Star Destroyer, the Ballista, which was left to defend their hasty retreat from the system. Xen’Mordin attempted to block the retreat of the Plagueians, they managed to escape, though severely wounded. With the Plagueis fleet withdrawing from the conflict, Xen’Mordin ordered his own forces to retreat without further escalation against the Sadowans.
Horizons (30 ABY)
Xen'Mordin around the time of the Horizons Plague
It was not long before another crisis would bring Scholae Palatinae, and the Empire, to a possible extinction, this time at the hands of a old face wielding an impossible weapon. A former Grand Master Zoraan had returned, escaping the death so many believed he had fallen to. With him he brought the powerful infection of Lysu Thren’s Horizon Plague, rediscovered millennia after it was developed.
The plague spread like a wildfire, infecting every system the Brotherhood controlled. It was subtle at first. Lowly ranked Journeymen demonstrated capabilities beyond even the most powerful among them. By the time it was noticed something was amiss, it was too late. The Journeymen were the first to turn mad, depraved. Many were cut down by the fearful and more power Equites and Elders of their clans, not realizing the infection had already taken hold of them.
Within the capital city of Ohmen on Judecca, riots erupted in the streets. Xen’Mordin ordered an immediate system wide lockdown, but it was no good. The plague had been perfected, the ultimate weapon, stripping the Dark Jedi of their powers. Xen’Mordin could do nothing but watch the plague tear apart his Empire. As the Empire was consumed, Zoraan, along with One Sith forces attacked. And then Xen succumbed as well unable to stop them.
The loss of the Force was something Xen’Mordin had first hand experience with. In that regard he was well prepared for the blinding and crippling experience that was to lose it. On the other hand, it was a reminder of the darkest moments of his life, and the pain he experience in losing it, and gaining it back.
Ultimately, when it seemed the plague was due to be the killing blow to the Brotherhood, a cure was created. Xen’Mordin was one of the first to receive it, as a leader of one of the main seven units of the Brotherhood, he needed to start restoring order immediately.
Always Two (30 ABY)
The process of restoring order to a system is no easy task, not when it involves neighbors turning on neighbors. In the months leading up to the Horizons Plague, a new member had begun to make his way through the ranks of Scholae Palatinae. Evant Taelyan, who had studied political science, and had a practiced hand at the art of propaganda, had already taken up residence as a key member of the now smaller and more focused battleteam, Caliburnus.
Evant’s ambition, skill, and force affinity was apparent, and it was his skills at propaganda that first brought him to Xen’s attention. While he assessed Evant from afar, following the chaos of Horizons, Xen’Mordin was forced into action. Evant quickly tackled any obstacle Xen’Mordin placed in front him, under Xen’s tutelage, Evant rose quickly to the rank of Knight, and was placed as head of Caliburnus.
While many master and apprentice pairings resulted in a bitter animosity and hatred, the ambitions of the two men along with their compatible personalities led to a smooth and easy relationship. The tiered power status between the two would fade as they embarked on the long quest for ultimate power in the years that followed, no longer the Master and the Apprentice, but the friends and equals.
It was as they headed into combat of the Crusade, that Xen’Mordin also placed Evant in charge of the operations of Vismorsus Industries, which was pushing the boundaries of scientific discovery.
Xen'Mordin during the events of the Dark Crusade
The Crusade (30 ABY - 32 ABY)
Recovering from the failed attempt of Zoraan and the One Sith that followed him, Grand Master Muz Ashen declared it was time to venture forth from the nests made in their home systems, and to strike out against the One Sith. More importantly, to attack them on their own home turf. The One Sith had taken up residence on dozens of planets, all with significant Sith history and lore.
What followed was a fast pace endeavor of what came to be known as the Dark Crusade. Xen’Mordin and the rest of Scholae Palatinae were plunged into an unprecedented level of conflict. One where they were forced to let the Empire of the Cocytus system languish with only marginal and periodic oversight.
Nfolgai (30 ABY)
The Sith World of Nfolgai
The first planet Scholae Palatinae ventured to was Nfolgai. The planet was suspected to be the resting place of Sorzus Syn, a famous sith alchemist, renowned for creation of Sithspawn. Xen’Mordin was among those on the ground who waged war against the One Sith, and their planetary leader, Yobd Nan. Following assaults at the Temple of Sorzus Syn, and the frozen crashed ship the Render, the planet ultimately fell into Brotherhood control.
Rhelg (30 ABY)
Following the successful capture of Nfolgai, Scholae Palatinae ventured to the planet of Rhelg. The planet contained a known fortress built by Ludo Kressh, the Sith Lord who ruled during the Great Hyperspace War. The planet also featured a bizarre Force anomaly, a fact only discovered, after the forces of the Brotherhood arrived to take the great fortress, and raid the armory of its Ancient Sith weaponry.
Brotherhood forces preparing on Bhargebba
Bhargebba (30 ABY)
Xen’Mordin led Scholae Palatinae to the planet of Bhargebba following the successes of Rhelg. It had been discovered that it was the home to great forge of Loka Dan, an ancient Sith smith. The forge was full of great artifacts, from Sith swords to [[starwars:Sith_amulet|Sith amulets, all of which would help empower the Empire’s army. However, the forge was protected by hired Mecrosa Order Assassins in addition to the One Sith forces stationed there. The bloody ordeal ended with the forge captured, and its vaults pillaged.
Ashas Ree (30 ABY)
Ashas Ree was the next planet on Scholae Palatinae’s war path. Home to the lavish temple built by Sith Lord Garu. But beyond the rich and ornate art and artifact, there was another reason Xen’Mordin was eager to arrive on this planet. The ancient records indicated Ashas Ree was the first planet Sith Lord Freedon Nadd, visited following his fall to the dark side of the Force. And it was on this planet Freedon Nadd found a powerful nexus of the Force. Remembering well what he experienced previously in a similar nexus, he knew having direct access to one would be a valuable asset.
Korriz (30 ABY)
Scholae Palatinae found its greatest victory during the Crusade on the planet Korriz. The planet had been a frequent stepping stone for the Sith Empires of old, and was home to a workshop of the skilled alchemist and magic weaver Tritos Nal. Where each of the previous planets fought on had largely been a collective effort between multiple units of the Brotherhood, Scholae Palatinae went on to conquer Korriz relatively unaided.
Dromund Kaas (30 ABY)
Home of one of the ancient Sith Empires, Dromund Kaas
It was at this point Xen’Mordin had a critical decision to make. Two of the most important planets of the ancient Sith were on the line. There was the holy planet of Ziost, and there was the seat of the Sith Empire, Dromund Kaas. Xen’Mordin backed by a popular opinion of his fellow Palatinaeans directed the attack toward Dromund Kaas. It was here Xen and Scholae Palatinae would have their first real chance to face off against the mysterious One Sith Lord Esoteric.
Bosthirda (31 ABY)
The frantic pace of the Crusade slowed as they entered the year 31 ABY. Finally allowed a chance to balance life back in their own systems, and continue to push the One Sith back toward total extinction, the next planet came as Bosthirda. All members of the Brotherhood saught one prize above all others Revelation, the ancient blade wielded by Ferran himself, the founder of the Obelisk ideology. Xen’Mordin and the rest of Scholae Palatinae ultimately lost out on retrieving the blade to the forces of Taldryan.
Begeren
Begeren (31 ABY)
The next stepping stone to eliminating the One Sith was the planet Begeren. The planet was most noted for the many monuments that dotted its surface, and the treasures that were stored with them. It was said a hundred thousand slaves had died to build the great monuments. To see them in person was awe-inspiring, and Xen’Mordin couldn’t help but feel miniscule compared to what the full might of the Sith had managed to accomplish.
Nicht Ka (31 ABY)
The uninhabitable planet of Nicht Ka was the last outpost between the Dark Jedi Brotherhood, and what remained of the One Sith forces on Korriban While uninhabited, a hexagonal fortress built by cultist worshipping Freedon Nadd, was the sole refuge from the inhospitable atmosphere of the planet. It was here Warb Null’s mythic armor and unconventional lightsaber had been sent following Warb’s death at the hands of Ulic Qel-Droma. Following the defeat of the One Sith on the planet, the long push of the Crusade was at its end, and the final war against the One Sith was ready to begin.
For a Better Tomorrow (31 ABY)
Not one to forget the past, along with a need of new field ready medical supplies, weapons, toxins and serums, it was on the bitter march of the war that Xen’Mordin made good on his promise to Impetus so many years before. He placed out the call for the brightest and best scientists, pulling in all he could. Not a single one, however, was a Twi’lek. Xen and Impetus had no contact in the years since he helped her fake her death, and now it seemed perhaps his friend and ally had succumbed to some other end.
None in the clan paid the scientists and attention. Xen’Mordin had been diverting the best of the scientific minds from the Imperial Academy on Judecca since before he took the throne from Ood Bnar. Hiring outsiders was just another push to advance their capabilities. Among these outsiders was a Togruta, named Elincia Rei. None realized, not even Xen himself, that this was none other than Impetus M’Nar, returning to her home at long last.
Looking Home Campaign (31 ABY - 32 ABY)
The frantic pacing of the Dark Crusade slowed following the siege of Dromund Kaas. While there were many battles still be fought on the march to Korriban, it was in 31ABY that Xen’Mordin was once again able to focus in on the glory of his Empire. The near complete year he and the rest of Scholae Palatinae had been absent, the civilians had forgotten the why the Empire ruled, and the remaining civilians leaders had gone bold without the military backing of Scholae Palatinae to keep them in line. And it was in that year a group known as the Scions of Cocytus, backed by a religious cult The Order of the New Dawn, began to infiltrate the system.
The Scions were lead by a fanatic Fias Zhan, a man who believed it was his right to rule the Cocytus Empire. He was there to wage war on Scholae Palatinae, and attempt his own personal vengeance against Xen’Mordin, whom he viewed as a filthy imposter.
The Ptolomea Deposition (31 ABY)
Ptolomea first planet to be disrupted by Fias Zhan
The planet of Ptolomea was a key planet for Scholae Palatinae’s military efforts, home to their greatest military training grounds, and the launching point from which much needed supplies and reinforcement would be sent from while they were on the warpath. However, as the Crusade progressed, these shipments and vital supplies dwindled. The conflict that arose out of this became known as the Ptolomea Deposition, and marked the first of several major offensive moments Scholae Palatinae had to undergo to restore order to their home.
Ptolomea had been under the rule of a man named Lou Khebe. A vain and power hungry man, Lou had not once attempted to act outside of Scholae Palatinae’s demands in the years he resided over Ptolomea. But now, he was self assured the false Empire had no real authority over him. Evant Taelyan, knowledgeable about the planet from his time leading Caliburnus, organized an offensive to return to the Cocytus system and remove Khebe from power.
Xen’Mordin gave a singular order, Khebe must die as a message to any others in the system who would dare rebel against the Empire. In the end it was the unassuming scientist Elincia Rei who managed to kill Khebe. Khebe’s rebellion fizzled out with his death, and in his place, a more appropriate, and loyal leader was installed, Jaran Pendragon. Xen’Mordin found Elincia’s methods of poisoning Khebe interesting, and place an order with Imperial Scholae Intelligence to begin to monitor her. He knew there was more to her than met the eye.
In the weeks that followed it became clear that Khebe’s actions were not of his own ambitions. At the time they didn’t know it, but Khebe’s rebellion had been the first action in a long game being played by Fias Zhan in his bid to claim the system, and the Empire, as his own.
The desert planet of Antenora saw a quickly rising rebellion
The Antenora Rebellion (32 ABY)
In the days before the Cocytus Empire held the entire system, the desert planet of Antenora was ruled by warring tribes. The most powerful and proud of these tribes was known as the Pacre Datship, who followed their Ognerate Emperor, and his religious council, The High Glyph Priests. When Scholae Palatinae arrived and unified the entire Cocytus System into a single cohesive Empire, the leaders of the Pacre Datship were imprisoned. Following the failed uprising on Ptolomea, Fias Zhan freed the Pacre Datship Emperor and Glyph Priests, promising them a free Antenora. They went on to rally the people of Antenora into Rebellion.
While the forces of Scholae Palatinae ventured to Antenora to put an end to the rebellion, and bring the Ognerate Emperor and Glyph Priests to justice, Xen’Mordin remained at the Imperial Palace on Judecca. It was there he received the first of many taunting and brief holovid conversations with Fias Zhan.
Not all of the tribes unified behind the Pacre Datship, and with their aid, the members of Scholae Palatinae quickly quelled the rebellion, killing the Ognerate Emperor, however several of the High Glyph Priests escaped into the vast deserts of the planet. Xen’Mordin had the currently sitting system Moff, Koryn Thraagus remain on the planet coordinating more unification under the oversight of the Hoka Dachu tribe.
The Cainian Strikes (32 ABY)
Caina is a largely industrial and populated mainly by the blue collar class
At first, the strikes on Caina seemed to be no more than a normal labor dispute, organized by the hard working industrial people of the frozen planet. Xen’Mordin paid it little attention at first, as he was organizing a system wide manhunt for Fias Zhan, hoping to stop the aspiring Emperor from causing more mayhem. However, as the days went on, the strikes grew, and riots broke out. Xen’Mordin ordered the military to the planet to restore order with a strong show of force, reasserting the Empire’s image of control and safety for the system.
However, when the military arrived they realized it was far more than a labor dispute. Fias Zhan, and his Scions, had been operating of the planet this old time. There were dozens of abandoned labs, warehouses, and training facilities hidden in the frozen plains of the planet. To make matters worse, these were locations built and installed by Scholae Palatinae itself, but had been forced shut down as their resources were stretched during the Crusade.
Zhan, and his followers, had discovered locations of these abandoned facilities and put them to work. For months they had been operating in the discarded remains of the Empire’s ventures. While using them, the Scions built up a good working relationship with the poorly educated population of the planet. It was just a matter of time before the Scions were discovered using these facilities, and to cover their retreat from the planet, Zhan had organized a series of strikes.
The stragglers of the Scions were either killed in the conflict, or taken as prisoners for aggressive questioning. Xen’Mordin furious that ISI had failed to notice these facilities were in use, ordered a more intrusive manner of surveillance in the system. He then replaced the director of ISI, leaving the failed and disgraced former director to starve to death in the deepest cells of the Palace. Scholae Palatinae extracted what information they could from what was left in the facilities used by the Scions.
Sigil of the Scions of Cocytus
The Wrath of Zhan (32 ABY)
Xen’Mordin devoted all the resources available in the Empire to find Fias Zhan, and put an end to Zhan’s disruptions in the system. Through a series of public escalations, and broadcasts, Zhan made his presence known to the entire system. An attack was imminent, and with no solid leads on Zhan’s location, Xen ordered an immediate blockade of Judecca, and had all able bodied members of Scholae Palatinae report to the capital city of Ohmen to defend it, and the seat of the government, the Imperial Palace itself.
Then Zhan attacked, while his forces invaded the planet, and laid siege to the city of Ohmen, he crashed a heavily modified freighter straight into the main entrance of the Imperial Palace. He and his forces flooded into the palace, quickly overwhelming Xen’Mordin and his Praetorian Guard. They were forced to retreat into the sublevels of the palace, levels utilized only by Scholae Palatinae, and not the government that ruled the system. He was trapped, barricaded in the sublevels of his own palace, and with no way to directly contact his people.
Up on the surface, the members of Scholae Palatinae, and the military of the system made its push through the city of Ohmen to retake the palace. In their way were the forces of the Scions, including mutated berzerkers. As they progressed closer to the Palace, Zhan released a fear toxin that took over the city. Luckily, Elincia Rei had been studying samples gathered from Caina. She was already in the process of creating an anti-toxin when the Scions attacked. With that, Scholae Palatinae was able to take the palace back, and allowing Xen’Mordin to return to the fight.
In the throne room he faced Zhan in a lightsaber duel, which was interrupted by falling chunks of the duracrete ceiling. Zhan was pinned and injured under the rubble. Xen’Mordin, injured and enraged, took one of the smaller chunks of duracrete and used it to bash Zhan’s head in until all remained was a bloody pulp of flesh and broken bone.
A Brotherhood Divided (32 ABY)
The Civil War ravaged the surface of Korriban
The unity that has tied the Brotherhood together through the length of the Dark Crusade could not last. Knowledge of the true nature of the Crusade came to light. Muz Ashen had been using it, not just to expand the Brotherhood’s influence, but to gain crucial information and artifacts needed complete the Rite of Obscuration, making him an immortal Lord of the Sith. This rite was put to a halt by quick action from Jac Cotelin, but the process rendered the home of the Brotherhood, Antei, ruined and desolate.
To complete it, Muz and his followers ventured to the Sith Homeworld of Korriban, the last refuge of the One Sith they had slowly been eradicating. Other units of the Brotherhood, including Scholae Palatinae, followed the former Grand Master Jac Cotelin to stop Lord Ashen. Xen’Mordin knew the costs for immortality, and was firmly against anyone but himself achieving it. The Brotherhood erupted into war on the surface of the planet, a battle of three sides, The One Sith, The Loyalists of Muz, and the Rebels of Jac.
Xen’Mordin led the charge for Scholae Palatinae, venturing deep into the ancient Sith Academy, and eventually out into the Valley of the Dark Lords. The battle lasted weeks, and when it finally finished, Darth Pravus rose to replace Muz Ashen as the Grand Master. The rite had been prevented, and Korriban had its fill of blood for the time being.
Palpatine’s Legacy lives on in Scholae Palatinae
Keeper of the Legacy(32 ABY)
One of the first actions of Darth Pravus was to reinstate all the former clans back to their full access of supplies and resources. With the full backing of the Dark Council, Scholae Palatinae was able to return home, once again a Clan and stronger than ever. The Cocytus system swiftly fell back into a state of advancement and Imperialization under Xen’s continued leadership.
Now regarded both as the longest serving leader of the clan, and most radically loyal to the Empire, it was time for Xen’Mordin to be properly recognized as one of the great keepers of Palpatine. For years those known as the keepers of the Legacy of Palpatine, had functioned in secret, staying isolated and separate from the rest of the clan.
However new guidance from Kell Dante, who had been awarded the title as a continuation from his father, Angelo, knew it was time for the keepers to adopt an active role in shaping the Clan they called home. To this end, Xen’Mordin and Archangel were named as the newest keepers of the Legacy. Xen’Mordin adopted the surname Palpatine in his Brotherhood functions, his right as a keeper to do so.
Forgotten (33 ABY)
Emperor Vismorsus
Thousands of years before Scholae Palatinae would exert its rule over the Cocytus system, the Infinite Empire ruled supreme. The Cocytus system became their living laboratory, rich with resources, and a spectrum of habitable planets. The power and reach of the Infinite Empire was a common research subject in Scholae Palatinae, and to that end, Xen’Mordin founded the Cocytus Historical Society, headed by his good friend Polis Jones.
What no one in the clan knew is that their past endeavors would come back to haunt them, as a group known as The Evanescent would find backing from a surviving High Glyph Priest, and bring the might of the Infinite Empire to the modern day.
Entanglement (33 ABY)
Xen’Mordin had not forgotten the threat the surviving High Glyph Priests on Antenora posed. For months he had devoted resources to locating the last remnant of Fias Zhan’s destabilization of the Empire. They had turned the remains of the Pacre Datship into a loyal army, and their leader became the Emperor they recognized, Vanis. He was working with the leader of the Evanescent, Lord Onasi, but what they were planning, no one knew.
It was in a meeting of Scholae Palatinae’s full summit and advisors that Polis Jones, came storming in, disheveled with the information they needed. The Infinite Empire had used the system as a biological playground, and in the process created monsters unfathomable destruction, monsters that still lived, slumbering in hibernation.
Xen’Mordin organized a rapid deployment of Scholae Palatinae’s member to find further information on these Old Gods, as the natives referred to them, and took off to Antenora himself to inspect the findings in person.
He and his foolishly thought they had disrupted the full plans of Emperor Vanis and the Evanescent, however the widespread meetings of their forces was a mere distraction. Deep in the jungles of Tetralibros on Ptolomea Vanis and Onasi ran a trial run of the awakening ritual, causing thousands and thousands of beasts seemingly made of shadow to appear on the planet’s surface.
Deception (33 ABY)
Xen’Mordin put Ptolomea on an immediate lockdown, and issued immediate evacuations from the countryside to the more defendable cities that dotted the planet’s surface. He gave command of the defenses against these monsters to Kell Dante. Unknown to his fellow Palatinaeans he had stacked the deck in their favor. He had placed two of his top ISI operatives, Ashlyn Neka, posing as Mira Spar a close associate of Lord Onasi, and Silus Cherra, posing as Chaz Carlton a close advisor to Emperor Vanis.
Much of his time was spent coordinating supplies and military personnel to Ptolomea. When he wasn’t publicly spurring the civilians of the system into action and demonstrating his kind and caring heart, he was poring over reports and artifacts being sent to him by Polis Jones.
Eventually, he was able to piece together enough of the awakening ritual to know where the complete ceremony would take place, a long lost forgotten temple on Antenora. More importantly, the knowledge that killing the individual who had awoken the monsters on Ptolomea would also send them back to the abyss. He gave the order to attack the temple and sent word to his operatives.
Ashlyn successfully killed Lord Onasi in the middle of the ritual, just as the military of the Empire broke into the temple complex. Silus managed to wound Emperor Vanis prior to being injured himself due to falling rubble. Xen’Mordin arrived just in time to prevent his soldiers from killing the pairs. While Vanis escaped yet again, Xen felt there was little chance he could pose a real threat now that they had prevented the awakening of the Old Gods.
Monstrosity (33 ABY)
Xen’Mordin was very wrong about underestimating the resourcefulness of Vanis. Vanis underwent a more radical ritual, sacrificing his own people to the Old Gods, turning them in to deformed and lumbering monsters themselves, before setting out into the mountains of Judecca to offer the final piece. While Xen scrambled to deal with the transformed Pacre Datship filling into the city of Ohmen, Vanis completed the ritual.
On the planets of Antenora, Judecca, Ptolomea, and Caina 4 different sets of monsters awoke. Vanis was eventually caught, and being uncooperative, Xen’Mordin killed him in a brutal display of telekinetic power. However, unlike the earlier ritual, the death of Vanis did little to hinder the fearsome Old Gods left behind by the Infinite Empire.
It was thanks to a small strike team, making a desperate attempt for knowledge found a still hibernating Rataka scientist, whom Xen’Mordin was about to force torture into providing the information to reverse the awakening ritual. The Empire was saved, but barely, and the damage left by the great monsters would leave a permanent scar on the planets they ravaged.
It was in Xen’s attempt to bounce the Empire back from such a nightmarish attack that Polis Jones arrived once again in his office, this time bearing a Sith Holocron, one that had been found deep in the Forgotten Temple of Antenora. Xen’Mordin gave explicit orders that Polis never breath a word of this discovery to anyone.
Nobody Expects the Inquisition! (33 ABY)
Formation of the Inquisitorius links to Evant as VOICE
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Xen using his telekentic abiltiies
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