Darth Vexatus

"The Jedi fear what they do not understand. The Sith are not evil. People are evil. The Sith merely seek to understand the Force in all its forms—is perspective truly a crime?"

―Darth Vexatus

Xanos is the son of Jedi Knight Maziel and Viscount Haxim of House Zorrixor of Falleen. He was one of the first to be trained at Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Praxeum and is a former Jedi Knight himself.

During the Empire Reborn movement Xanos grew disillusioned with the Jedi and unknowingly fell under the thrall of the Sith, eventually leaving the Jedi order to join them. He later took up the mantle of Sith Lord and became Darth Vexatus during the Yuuzhan Vong War.

Biography

Early life (15 BBY–4 ABY)

"I fear his abilities may be the death of him."

―Maziel of House Zorrixor, shortly after the birth of her son

Born on the planet Falleen in the Mid Rim in 15 BBY, Xanos showed much potential and Force aptitude from a young age. Fearing for their son's future should the Empire learn of his heritage, Haxim and Maziel vowed to keep Xanos’s traits hidden, even from himself.

While Maziel spent most of her time on Falleen, Haxim, as one of the few surviving nobles of House Zorrixor, was frequently called away. Unlike the traditionally insular and isolated upbringing of most Falleen nobles, Xanos came to regard Corellia, Coruscant and many of the other Core Worlds as second homes. Though he still developed a traditionally Falleen sense of superiority, he also developed an equal appreciation for other cultures and ideals.

Jedi training (4 ABY–11 ABY)

Xanos was nineteen when the Empire began its downward spiral. With the death of the Emperor and Darth Vader, Maziel and Haxim decided it was safe to inform their son of his mother’s past. Maziel then began teaching Xanos the basics of the Jedi path, though found it difficult to get him to overcome nineteen years of Falleen arrogance and superiority in exchange for Jedi humility.

"He takes after you too much. Jedi and nobility shouldn’t mix."

―Maziel to Haxim

Four years after Maziel began training him, Xanos was already showing signs of promise. However, despite his strength in the Force, he lacked the attitude of a Jedi. Maziel often remarked in jest how her son took after his father too much and his high cultured aristocratic upbringing. Beneath the teasing, however, Maziel and Haxim both held reservations about what their son might become if he did not shake his pride and overconfidence.

In 8 ABY both Maziel and Haxim were killed in a pirate attack. Xanos survived, though not without scars, both physical and emotional, his right eye was permanently blinded and he suffered numerous cuts and burns. Xanos’s Jedi training was forced to be put on hold while he recovered from the attack and figured out what to do next with his life, now the sole heir and surviving viscount of House Zorrixor. He spent the next few years wandering the galaxy as thoughts of revenge slowly gnawed away at the back of his mind.

Errant apprentice (11 ABY–14 ABY)

When Luke Skywalker opened his Jedi Praxeum, Xanos was quick to enrol, anxious to complete his training and find purpose in his life. Despite his popularity, many of the other students found Xanos somewhat distant and self-absorbed, even worrying in his indifference toward issues such as use of the dark side. Many accepted this as simply the Falleen way of life, but several of the senior Jedi Knights were uncomfortable about how Xanos still harboured a grudge against the pirates who had murdered his parents. In time, they feared, this would inevitably lead him down the dark side. Despite their reservations, and with Master Skywalker’s unreserved belief in the redemption of any who had drifted astray, Xanos’s training continued, though under a close eye.

When the Chistori Dessan abandoned the Jedi Praxeum and turned to the dark side, old uncertainties returned to plague Xanos’s thoughts. He had never accepted why the Jedi feared the dark side or their reluctance to use their powers fully, a question Xanos frequently took up with his instructors.

The attack on the Jedi Praxeum in 13 ABY by the Empire Reborn, led by Dessan and his Reborn warriors, opened Xanos’s eyes. He reasoned that it was not the dark side that had turned Dessan evil, but the very circumstances of the Chistori’s life experiences and upbringing, for Dessan had been a bully at the Praxeum long before he had fallen to the dark side and started calling himself a Dark Jedi.

"How are the Jedi not hypocrites? They fear what they are just too afraid to embrace themselves. Is a lightsaber any less a weapon than the Force itself?"

―Viscount Xanos of House Zorrixor, Jedi apprentice

The revelation further complicated the Falleen’s training. After taking the issue up with the Masters, only to be dismissed, Xanos grew isolated. His anger took root at being dismissed as mistaken and over the following year he made every effort to prove the truth of his words. He progressed faster than many of the other students and was already more powerful than some full Jedi Knights however, despite his abilities, the Masters still chose not to knight him, believing he did not yet have the temperament to be a Jedi.

The resurgence of the Empire Reborn in the form of the Disciples of Ragnos saw those Jedi fit for battle dispatched to Korriban to deal with the threat. There, in the ruins of the ancient Sith Empire, Xanos lost faith in the Jedi order. Having been repeatedly told the dark side was wrong, only to now bear witness to the slaughter of countless Sith cultists for no reason other than for being Sith, he decided upon the inherit hypocrisy of the Jedi doctrine.

"It is not the dark side the Jedi fear. It is power. They fear the truth: the dark side is more powerful. They are just too proud to admit that they have been wrong all these years."

―Xanos

When the battle was over, Xanos did not return to the Jedi Praxeum with the others, he remained behind to search for answers. Tavion, Dessan and Palpatine may all have been mislead, but he was certain the Sith belief itself was not inherently evil.

Embracing the dark side (14 ABY–15 ABY)

"Why are the Sith evil? Do they not want order and justice the same as the rest of us? Anakin Skywalker was once a Jedi too, does that make all the Jedi evil as well?"

―Vykan, Dark Jedi

Xanos found his answer in an Umbaran named Vykan. The prodigal Jedi met Vykan several weeks later whilst scouring the abandoned tombs. Vykan claimed to be on Korriban assessing the damage caused by the Jedi attack and agreed to take Xanos back to Yavin 4. When he left, Vykan gave Xanos a datacard and told him that if he truly wanted answers he should follow its instructions.

Upon his return, the Masters reprimanded Xanos for his actions and accused him of endangering the order. However, despite his errors, recent events had cost too many Jedi lives, and Xanos had at least returned to answer for his actions. Though they recognised how close he already was to the brink of the dark side, they agreed to knight him, hoping it would bind his loyalty more tightly to the Jedi order. The Masters plan paid off, Xanos’s knighthood stopped his imminent departure. However, Vykan’s words had a lasting effect on him and, though the Jedi order now seemed willing to recognise his talents, there were still questions he wanted answered. Central of all, what had become of the Sith?

Xanos’s worries were put on hold when he was sent to mediate a conflict near Eriadu. It was to be a simple arbitration between the planetary authorities and a local smuggling ring. However, when he got there, things turned sour. The meeting had been a setup and the smugglers intended to assassinate several of the representatives attending the meeting, some of whom were in the employ of rival gangs. Xanos successfully pacified the situation, but not before every member of the smugglers’ delegation lay dead.

"How dare they lecture me about killing? They who devote their life to the extermination of the Sith or any other Force-based sect that disagrees with their teachings? If they think they can cage me they are fools."

―Xanos, Jedi Knight

While the Eriaduans were pleased, the smuggling ring swiftly being consumed by internal power struggles, the Jedi were far from happy. Accusing the wayward Jedi Knight of allowing his hatred for pirates and other criminals to get the better of him, they condemned his actions and questioned whether Xanos had already fallen and if they had just been too blind to realise it. Though Master Skywalker conceded that it would be wrong to simply expel Xanos like some of the others suggested, he consigned Xanos to the Praxeum, accepting that it would be against the order’s interests to send him on further missions until he let go of his anger.

"Fear leads to the dark side. Isn’t that what they always say? Why is it okay for them to be afraid of the dark side then?"

―Xanos

Though he would never outwardly betray his emotions, Xanos was furious. As far as he was concerned, he had done what was necessary, had he not the smugglers would have maintained their monopoly on the Eriadu system and gradually tightened their grip, and innocents would have suffered. The Jedi were wrong, he was sure of it. A few days later, using the details left on the datacard Vykan had given him several months earlier, he decided it was time to go in search of answers, alone.

Induction into the Shadow Academy (15 ABY)

"Those who think the Sith died at Endor are fools. Was Lumiya just an illusion then? Flint? Carnor Jax? The people who want to believe the Sith are gone forever are just too scared to accept the truth: we never left."

―Vykan, Sith warrior

The details provided by Vykan were suitably cryptic. It took Xanos the better part of two months to follow the various leads and clues to finally track down the answers the Umbaran had promised. Ultimately, they brought Xanos to the hidden training center on Eos called the Shadow Academy.

There, in the secret corridors of one of the last remaining bastions of the dark side, Xanos discovered the truths that had so long eluded him. The Sith had survived. Like Lumiya before him, Kane, one of Palpatine’s surviving Hands, had declared himself Dark Lord of the Sith and founded a new Sith order, this time one not governed by the Rule of Two.

Welcomed into the Shadow Academy, Xanos quickly demonstrated the power he already wielded. Within a few weeks the already experienced acolyte caught the eye of envoys of Clan Naga Sadow. Not long after, Xanos found himself packing his bags and preparing for a new life as one of the many apprentices to Sith warrior Manesh, one of the Clan’s leaders.

The Remnant and the dark side (15 ABY–19 ABY)

"Perhaps it was fated the remnants of two empires should work together? But do not be fooled, my apprentice, we are the true power behind the throne, regardless what we might tell them."

―Trevarus Caerick, Krath priest

Already a gifted Jedi Knight when he had enrolled at the Shadow Academy, Xanos climbed the ranks of the brotherhood quicker than most. He was fortunate, perhaps, that Astronicus Dlarit, officially the governor of Sif, and a considerably gifted Sith warlord, had only formed Clan Naga Sadow a year earlier as a home for wayward souls. By all public accounts, the clan was nothing more than a branch of the Dlarit Corporation, specialising in the training of their elite guard.

Less than a year after he joined, Manesh took Xanos as his protégé and shortly after he was inducted formally into the Sith order as its newest warrior. After years of being held back, Xanos’s abilities finally seemed to be getting put to good use. He even caught the eye of the clan’s current consul, its representative on the brotherhood’s ruling body, the Dark Council, Trevarus Caerick. Trevarus, a gifted Krath priest, decided to take Xanos as his apprentice.

The subsequent years saw the brotherhood’s relationship with the Imperial Remnant brought under strain. Torn apart by internal power struggles, what remained of the Empire was slowly unravelling, even as the Sith rebuilt in its shadow. The relationship hit breaking point when Archibald Zoraan, then Dark Lord of the Sith, tried to declare war on the brotherhood’s allies. The coup failed, dismissed as madness by the clans, but the damage was already done.

During this time, Astronicus Dlarit, viceroy of the Dlarit Corporation and overlord of Clan Naga Sadow, received a vision from the spirit of the ancient Dark Lord, declaring the overlord his true heir and naming him Astronicus Sadow. The revelation emboldened the clan, revealed to no longer simply disciples of the ancient Sith Lord, but led by an actual living descendent, the clan began to thrive. By now, Xanos had served both the clan and the Dlarit Corporation as a powerful ally, finally being chosen in 18 ABY to serve as consul himself.

After becoming the clan’s public face, or, more officially, the Dlarit Corporation’s public face, Xanos began to take notice of the rot that was developing at the heart of the Empire’s remains. Even now, the humanocentrism of the Remnant was still apparent, with many dismissing the Falleen as quickly as they might a Wookiee. Like the Jedi and the Republic before it, Xanos’s faith in the Empire began to falter.

"An alien? When did we start promoting your kind? I guess even the Empire has to make sacrifices."

―Unknown Imperial officer, addressing Xanos

After realising that he was not alone in his views, Xanos joined forces with Trevarus Caerick to begin the search for a new base. As luck would have it, Trevarus already had a place in mind: the Orian system, a system he had discovered some years earlier. As they worked to position the clan in order to break away from the Empire, others made similar preparations throughout the brotherhood, at the behest of the Dark Lord himself, Grand Master Firefox. Combining their resources, the former viscount and Astronicus Sadow, the Dlarit Corporation viceroy, began to secretly establish a new capital on the planet Sepros, the ancient home of Urias Orian, a Sith Lord of the old Sith Empire.

The Great Exodus (19 ABY)

"The Empire has betrayed us, joined hands with the Republic and their Jedi. The time for this alliance has ended."

―Lord Firefox, Dark Lord of the Sith

Not a year after Xanos’s ascension as consul, Lord Firefox, the reigning Dark Lord of the Sith, together with Star Chamber, the secret council of Dark Lords who had come before, declared the brotherhood’s independence and broke away from the failing remnants of Palpatine’s Empire.

Clan Naga Sadow’s flight from the Phare system proceeded exactly as planned. Months of planning came to fruition when Dlarit Corporation transports, loaded full with supplies, personnel and the clan’s sacred relics, took to the skies, making a hasty withdrawal before the Imperial forces could mount a defense. The Sith had secured their freedom, however, at the back of his mind, Xanos could not help but feel something was missing. He had led his clan to a great victory, sparing them from whatever fate would befall them as the Empire was assimilated into the New Republic, a fate he was all too familiar with from his experiences on Korriban years before. Yet, despite all this, he felt they had failed, the Sith had somehow failed, and that it should never have needed come to this.

"Are we not to blame somehow? We had the whole Galaxy in our grasp, and yet, still, we let it slip through our fingers. Can we really blame everyone but ourselves for our failure? We must not have been strong enough."

―Xanos, Sith warlord

Xanos’s doubts only served to strengthen his resolve that the Sith must become stronger. The Jedi had failed to maintain order, now the Sith themselves were equal in blame. Over the next year, as the new governor-general of Orian, Xanos oversaw the construction of the new city of Seng Karash on Aeotheran. In time the city would serve as the capital of the Dlarit Corporation, and the source of new troops to swell the ranks of the budding Dlarit Security Force. However, it was all still irrelevant to Xanos, the Empire had had more military might than any government in history and still it had failed. Armies and warships were not important, the dark side had been spread too thin, and it was time to replenish it.

Heirs to an empire (20 ABY)

"You of the future hear me well. You have chosen... now you are the chosen."

―Naga Sadow, Dark Lord of the Sith

As the clan continued to rebuild after the relocation from Phare, the Dlarit Corporation began tightening its grip on the Orian system. The ruins of Sepros were excavated, revealing a network of ancient tunnels connecting the temples. The clan leadership established a new Sadow Palace, home to the overlord, his consul and the clan’s ruling household. At the same time, the city of Seng Karash expanded, new mines being opened every day, while in its shadow, on the dark world of Tarthos, a new army of warriors began their instruction.

In the midst of all this, the clan overlord, Astronicus Sadow, received another vision. The spirit of Naga Sadow beckoned his heir to bring his strongest disciples to the Sith tomb world of Korriban. There, in the ruins of the ancient Sith Empire, the ancient Dark Lord bequeathed his legacy to three others, Raistlin Majerus, Trevarus Caerick, and Xanos himself. Casting aside his last ties to a former life, Xanos became an heir to the Sadow name, a Son of Sadow, instilled with the power of the ancient Sith Lord.

The conquest of the Anteian Nebula (20 ABY–21 ABY)

"Victory is ours, the war is over. The Shroud belongs to the dark side once more."

―Admiral Xanos, Sith adept, fleet commander of the Anteian Navy

The Falleen’s strong devotion to the Sith way had not gone unnoticed. In 20 ABY, Lord Firefox called on the warlord to serve as high warrior and warmaster of the Sith order. The elevation saw Xanos join the ranks of the Dark Council on the brotherhood’s homeworld of Antei in the Antei system. As commander of the Anteian Navy, the next year saw Xanos directing the ongoing campaign to bring Antei Prime’s neighbours under the brotherhood’s unified control.

The action culminated in the invasion of the Antares system and the attack on the Antaran shipyards. The Antaran pirates mounted an impressive resistance but it was no match for the combined might of the clans. After almost two years of fighting, the entirety of the Anteian Nebula finally belonged to the brotherhood. For his part in securing the fleet’s victory, Xanos was elevated to the status of full Sith adept.

The war of the Sith kings (21 ABY–22 ABY)

"We will have revenge on the Lords of the Sith. We will have revenge on the ones who exiled us."

―Jac Cotelin, while under the control of Okemi, Sith King of Antei

The brotherhood’s brief spout of order and stability was to be short lived. Unbeknownst to the council at the time, the war throughout the Shroud had awoken Okemi, an ancient Sith Lord who had been exiled from the Sith Empire millennia before. Indeed, it was Okemi who had first formed the Star Chamber and founded the Sith civilisation on Antei. Under the cover of the recent war, Okemi had secretly corrupted several members of the brotherhood leadership, including Jac Cotelin, who was, at the time, filling in for the Grand Master while he was away on business with the Imperial Remnant.

The next six months saw Okemi’s influence spread throughout the brotherhood. Like a parasite, Okemi exerted his Force-presence over anybody his mind came into contact with, dominating them like puppets to further spread his influence. Jac Cotelin and the Dark Jedi Master, Kem-Shu Maeda, served as his primary hosts, corrupting whole swathes of the brotherhood.

Eventually, Xanos managed to get off Antei, having been stuck there since Jac Cotelin ordered the system’s closure, and managed to get word to Lord Firefox. Upon his return to brotherhood space, the Dark Lord assembled a force from the remaining loyalists, those who had not yet lost their minds to Okemi’s control, and launched an assault on Antei. Firefox squared off with Jac Cotelin, chasing him off before finally making his way to Okemi’s hidden chamber and putting an end to the ancient Sith Lord once and for all.

As the Grand Master battled inside the ruins of the ancient Star Chamber, Xanos took up arms against Kem-Shu Maeda. However, despite all his power, the high warrior was bested and left for dead, leaving Maeda free to escape. The war was over, Okemi, the great King of Antei had fallen, but to Xanos it had all been for nothing.

Exile (22 ABY)

"How could I not be strong enough? Has the dark side abandoned me?"

―Xanos, Sith adept

The fight with Maeda had opened Xanos’s eyes and left him scarred. The injuries he had sustained kept Xanos confined to a bacta tank for the better part of a month and had forced him to renounce his position as he healed. Even when the wounds were healed, the emotional scar left the Sith adept lost and confused. Xanos could not help but wonder whether the dark side had abandoned him.

The adept chose not to return to Orian, instead venturing to Korriban in the hopes the dark side would shed some light on his predicament. However, the halls of the ancient tombs remained silent and Xanos beheld no visions of Sith Lords or their kin. He feared the dark side had truly betrayed him, deserting him for his failure to defeat Maeda.

The following months saw Xanos touring the worlds of the old Sith Empire. Vjun, Dromund Kaas, Khar Shian; none yielded answers. However, upon arriving at the planet Ziost, Xanos sensed something different. Unlike the other worlds, Ziost felt alive. The Sith may have long since died out, but still the planet pulsed with the dark side, the forest that spanned its surface alive with dark energies. The planet called to him, as if welcoming him home, one Sith to another.

"The dark side is a fickle mistress, my student. Succeed and it shall reward you. Fail and do not expect any aid."

―Trevarus Caerick, Krath Master

Despite all the trials he had faced, Xanos finally had made his way to Ziost, the Sith throneworld. There, in the ancient Sith citadel, seat of power of the Sith Empire for millennia, Xanos discovered the holocron of Tulak Hord. At long last, the Sith adept had found what he was searching for.

The holocron, an ancient device used to record the maker’s thoughts and memories, contained a vast repository of knowledge detailing the lost lightsaber arts, techniques unused for centuries. With the contents of the holocron of Tulak Hord his to master, Xanos was convinced he would never again suffer as he had at the hands of Kem-Shu Maeda.

The discovery marked a turning point for the Sith adept. Xanos’s life had been balanced on a knife-edge, coming sheer inches from death. Xanos vowed never again to allow his life to be placed in such jeopardy. He was no longer just fighting to bring order and security to the galaxy, but for his own survival. And he would do everything necessary to ensure it.

Xanos’s fall to the dark side was complete; now all he required was mastery.

Homecoming (22 ABY–24 ABY))

"I have seen the worlds of the Sith Empire; set foot in the halls of the citadel on Ziost. Who among you have done the same? Who among you have the right to challenge me?"

―Xanos, Sith adept, upon his re-ascension to consul

To be continued.

Titles and Possessions

• The modified Helix-class light interceptor Crimson Star is Xanos's personal craft.

  File:Helix.gif

  Xanos's modified Helix-class light interceptor Crimson Star

• Xanos is one of the two Masters of the Inner Order of Clan Naga Sadow, along with his Master, Trevarus Caerick.
• As a fully trained Sith Master, Xanos is recognised as a member of the First Echelon.
• Xanos retains a personal retreat on Aeotheran, though he rarely uses it, prefering to travel.
• One of the few Sith Lords outside the Grand Masters, Xanos has taken the title Darth Vexatus as his own.
• Admiral ret, Galactic Empire
• Admiral ret, Dlarit Security Force
• High Admiral ret, Anteian Navy

DJB Facts

• 3rd Dark Prophet since the Exodus
• 23rd Deputy Grand Master of the Dark Brotherhood
• 9th Sith High Warrior of the Dark Brotherhood
• 13th and 16th Consul of Clan Naga Sadow
• 9th and 15th Proconsul of Clan Naga Sadow
• 3rd Quaestor of House Ludo Kressh
• 3rd Aedile of House Ludo Kressh
• Commander of Diamond Squadron of House Ludo Kressh

Trivia

• The name Xanos was originally a corruption of the name Xanatos, a unit from MechWarrior 4.
• The name Zorrixor is an anagram of Xizor with a few additional letters inserted.
• The name Vexatus is derived from the word vexation meaning to annoy or a state of irritation.
• Xanos spent a collective total of 791 days as Consul.
• Xanos joined the Dark Brotherhood on 12th August 1999
• Xanos originally used the name "Goatham", his surname from real life, but eventually changed it in favour of something more appropriate.
• Malik Sadow suggested that Xanos should take Darth Goatzard as his Sith name.

Unknown	Commander of Diamond Squadron 16 ABY	Unknown
Kale	Aedile of House Ludo Kressh 16 ABY	Scithe
Manesh Sadow	Quaestor of House Ludo Kressh 16 ABY-18 ABY	Scithe
Daihok	Proconsul of Clan Naga Sadow (first term) 18 ABY	Trevarus Caerick
Master Caerick with unknown apprentice	Apprentice of Master Caerick 18 ABY-23 ABY	Himself as Master
Keldorn	Consul of Clan Naga Sadow (first term) 18 ABY-19 ABY	Himself
Himself	Consul of Clan Naga Sadow (first term) Governor General of Orian Adjutant General of the Dlarit Security Force 19 ABY-20 ABY	Jonuss Sadow
Tron Sadow	Son of Sadow with Tron Sadow, Trevarus Caerick, Manesh Sadow, et al. Overlord of House Ludo Kressh 20 ABY-?	Incumbent
Desio Predator	Sith High Warrior of the Dark Council Fleet Admiral of the Anteian Navy 20 ABY-22 ABY	Sith Bloodfyre
Korras	Proconsul of Clan Naga Sadow (second term) Lieutenant Governor of Orian 22 ABY	Muz Sadow
Malik Sadow	Consul of Clan Naga Sadow (second term) Governor General of Orian Adjutant General of the Dlarit Security Force 22 ABY-24 ABY	Korras
Kir Taldrya Katarn	Deputy Grand Master of the Dark Council Shadow Hand of Lord Cotelin High Admiral of the Anteian Navy 24 ABY–26 ABY	Aristan Dantes
Kaine Mandaala and Telaris Cantor	Prophet of the Dark Side with Kaine Mandaala and Telaris Cantor 26 ABY–?	Incumbent
Kane with Khyron, Paladin, Firefox et al.	Sith Lord with Kane, Khyron, Paladin, Firefox et al. 26 ABY–?	Incumbent