Naga Sadow-Week4

I see the contestants are making their way out onto the starting grid. This article was originally created as an entry for a Tenth Great Jedi War competition and is not official DJB canon content. It is preserved here for historical purposes only.

Eos Holocron
Production information
Creators	Justinian Khyron Star Chamber
Created	15 ABY
Owners	Dark Brotherhood
Gatekeepers	Various Grand Masters of the Dark Brotherhood
Known locations	Dark Hall, Eos Dark Hall, Antei
Physical and technical specifications
Shape	Pyramidal
Color(s)	Black & Gold
Material(s)	Black Adegan Electrum Neuranium
Width	4.5 inches
Height	6 inches
Protection type	8 Gatekeepers
Usage and history
Contents	The secret knowledge of the Grand Masters
Heritage	Star Chamber
Era(s)	Dark Brotherhood Era
Affiliation	Star Chamber
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Usage instructions

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Source

Adapted from the template found at Wookieepedia -> Holocron Infobox

• Removed Wookieepedia-centric coding, altered to work with Brotherhood Wiki scripture
• Template will be called via {{Holocron}} if the Template is to be used permanently by the Brotherhood

The Eos Holocron, sometimes simply called the Black Holocron, was a master holocron created by Justinian Khyron after the Second Great Jedi War. It has contained the knowledge and teachings of each Dark Lord of the Sith to walk the halls of the Star Chamber since his time. Some Brotherhood Historians believe that Grand Master Khyron found a long lost Sith Holocron, possibly the Dark Holocron, and after studying from it he created a palimpsest that he would later use to make the Eos Holocron. This Lost Holocron’s connection to both Dark Lord Naga Sadow and Jedi Master Odan-Urr along with the coincidences, like House Naga Sadow being founded in the same year Khyron took the Iron Throne or Grand Master Muz Ashen allowing the Acolytes of Odan-Urr to live under the shroud of the Brotherhood, are evidence it may have been the Dark Holocron that Khyron obtained. Unlike most holocrons the Eos Holocron has many Gatekeepers. Each Grand Master that has placed his knowledge or teachings into it has become a Gatekeeper for future Grand Masters to learn from. Engraved along the top of the holocron is the phrase “Ipsa scientia potestas est” meaning “Knowledge itself is power” in Aurebesh.

Physical Appearance

"Let all who gaze upon this Holocron remember our creed... and tremble in fear."

―Justinian Khyron

The Eos Holocron was forged from a rare black Adegan crystal matrix, which was unnaturally treated by Sith alchemy and sorcerous powers and forced to grow far beyond its natural limits. It is pyramidal in shape, resembling other Sith holocrons, and is adorned with a solid cap of electrum, with further strands of electrum worked up the sides of the Holocron to act as a golden framework. The design was intentionally chosen by Justinian Khyron to be a subtle reminder of the true owners of the Holocron; the black and gold trim marks the Eos Holocron as a possession of the Grand Masters of the Brotherhood. The Holocron is unnaturally heavy for its size; it weighs substantially more than a normal human being could possibly lift without the aid of the Force. Stars and galaxies swirl across the smooth surface of the black crystal, moving with a perverse life of their own- an outward sign of the power and knowledge contained within. The overall effect gives the impression that the user is staring into a dark mirror of the galaxy, tainted and twisted by the dark knowledge encapsulated within the Holocron.

When it is being used, the Holocron's appearance changes; the stars swirling across the obsidian surface blaze brightly enough to cast a whitish-blue aura around the user. As they continue to access the Holocron, the stars leap out into the aura to surround the user with slowly drifting holographic galaxies, and the secrets of the Holocron are projected before the user's eyes.

Characteristics

Created by a combination of Krath sorcery, Sith alchemy and the technological knowledge of Justinian Khyron, the Holocron divulges information differently than most other Sith holocrons. Each Grand Master to possess the Holocron after Khyron added the distilled essence of their own knowledge to the Holocron, treating it as a repository for the most sensitive and classified information that the Brotherhood holds. As such the Holocron, unusually, contains more than one Gatekeeper- the knowledge of each Grand Master is guarded by an artifical consciousness of that particular Grand Master, who can choose whether to pass on their teachings to the current holder of the Holocron. One of the first tasks that a new Grand Master, upon assuming the role, must undertake is asserting his dominance over the gatekeepers inside the Holocron, in order to access the secret knowledge of those who came before him and better prepare himself for the challenges of becoming Grand Master.

The teachings vary according to the particular interests and ruling style of each Grand Master; current Grand Master Muz Ashen's contribution to the Eos Holocron details ruling through raw power and his own development of his powers to that end, for example, while the teachings passed down by former Grand Master Aristan Dantes focus on the advantages of stealth and secrecy and the benefits of deception.

History

The Black Adegan

"Our names will live forever in the black heart of this new holocron."

―Justinian Arcanious Khyron

Lord Khyron, the creator of the Eos Holocron

When the Star Chamber first began to convene in secret in 14 ABY, they realised they needed to find a way to preserve their teachings for future generations. The Grand Masters scoured the archives on Eos, in search of the knowledge of how to distil their essence onto a Holocron, for the ancients Rituals of Invocation had been lost to antiquity. This, however, was only the first half of the problem, for the Grand Masters also realised they needed to acquire the necessary components, many of which required elements rarely found in the galaxy anymore, chief of which was the central crystal that would serve as the vessel for their collective knowledge. To this end, when Justinian Khyron left the Iron Throne in 15 ABY, he travelled the galaxy in search of various artifacts and relics that might be used. In a spark of luck, though possibly dark insight, he located what the Sith Lords had been searching for: a rare crystal, one unnaturally forged of black Adegan.

However, the crystal was very nearly lost when the convoy on which the Grand Master was transporting his new collection back to Eos was raided by a group of pirates from Cordona, forcing Khyron to hurry back to the Minos Cluster and rally the clans to recover the crystal from the pirates. It turned out, however, that the black Adegan had already been stolen by Clan Ar’kell, whose defiance of Khyron’s rule had been goaded by Lord Crona, the former Grand Master who Jac Cotelin had exiled from the Brotherhood years earlier. Having heard about the crystal from his spies, the Other had hoped to use it to craft his own holocron. However, the brave warriors of House Ektrosis managed to board the corvette transporting the crystal and delayed it from jumping to hyperspace for long enough to allow Khyron himself to arrive and take back the crystal from the rogue Consul who had tried to steal it.

With the crystal safely back in his hands, Khyron went about completing the holocron that the Star Chamber had long desired to imbue with their combined memory and knowledge. Installing the black Adegan inside an electrum and neuranium shell, in which it would serve as the core matrix, Khyron became the first gatekeeper of the new Eos Holocron and went about recording his understanding of the dark side and the secrets that might one day aid his successor.

Equals are not always "equal"

"Power cannot be shared; those who try to be equals will always turn on each other. There can only be one Dark Lord!"

―Lord Zoraan, giving his reason for refusing to work with his predecessors

The Holocron was lost after the original Dark Hall was destroyed when Zoraan released the Force Storm that killed him

With the Eos Holocron now complete, the Star Chamber had ensured the survival of their influence, long after their own lives expired, and the Holocron was stored in a chamber deep beneath the Dark Hall on Eos, for which it gained its name. When Khyron stepped down, he passed on the knowledge of the holocron to Thedek, who in turn became its next gatekeeper, and so did the cycle of the Star Chamber’s continued influence continue, as had been the plan. However, after the unexpected departure of Thedek a year later and the subsequent rise of Warlord Zoraan from Clan Tarentum, the Star Chamber’s carefully lain plans began to unravel. Unwilling to listen to the wisdom of his predecessors, Lord Zoraan all but disbanded the Star Chamber and began to horde the lore and ancient knowledge which they had assembled for himself, amongst these being the Eos Holocron. Unlike the Star Chamber, Zoraan looked more to the teachings of Darth Bane, believing that it was impossible for Sith Lords to work together as "equals". As the Grand Master became more and more reclusive, his private experiments and research into the dark side began to twist his mind and turn him insane, resulting in the uprising that led to his death.

But in Zoraan’s downfall, not only was the Dark Hall itself destroyed, but the location of the Eos Holocron never passed on to his successor. Consequently, when Chi-Long ascended to the Iron Throne to repair the damage that had been done from the recent insurrection, the Eos Holocron remained lost, its location unknown, and for now the power of the Star Chamber continued to ebb away.

Found

Firefox rediscovers Holocron. Star Chamber reformed. Knowledge helps with Antei, Exodus, etc. Firefox begins sharing knowledge with key Elders, i.e. the Seven, to avoid the knowledge being as easily lost again in future.

New Era

Gatekeepers help with Post-Exodus stuff like reorganising how Houses/Orders organised work to make Iron Throne's centralised control stronger, etc.

Omancor Crask during the Reclamation of Antei.

Lost On Antei

"Sound the retreat. Initiate the Baraata Option."

―Darth Sarin during the Battle for Antei.

Despite the precautions taken by Darth Firefox to ensure that the knowledge contained within the Holocron would not be lost in future, the onset of the Yuuzhan Vong War saw the Holocron snatched from the Brotherhood's grip once again. During the hurried retreat from Antei following Operation Second Darkness and the Yuuzhan Vong Incursion, there was no time for Darth Sarin to recover the Holocron from the vault beneath the Dark Hall in which it rested, and it remained there- locked away, hidden and inaccessible to anyone but members of the Star Chamber. During the Brotherhood's long exile from Antei, the Holocron was largely forgotten by Darth Sarin and the other Grand Masters who had congregated to formulate a battle-plan for the Reclamation of Antei; their focus lay on the more immediate problem of regaining their planet from the alien invaders and erasing the stink of their failure. For their part, the Yuuzhan Vong had little interest in recovering the Holocron; their lack of Force-sensitivity made it useless to them, and during their occupation of Antei they neither knew of the Holocron's existence nor mounted any search for it.

However, the Holocron would soon be targeted by a foe more suited to make use of it. Unbeknownst to the Brotherhood, the Epicanthix Jedi Master Omancor Crask had claimed Antei and fortified it with his army of droids after a biological weapon decimated the Yuuzhan Vong forces. Crask took up residence in the Dark Hall, claiming the Iron Throne as his own. The Jedi Master, due to his former role as a Sith Lord by the name of Darth Carnus, could sense the presence of the Holocron beneath him and devoted much of his time to locating and securing the artifact, but he was unsuccessful; the wards and sanctions placed on the Holocron by the Grand Masters of old were sufficient to keep it hidden from Crask's greed, and the entrance to the Holocron's vault was well-hidden enough to confound Crask's attempts at locating it. Crask's search for the Holocron was interrupted by the return of the Dark Brotherhood, who made planetfall on Antei and began the fight to take back their home. The Holocron forgotten, Crask concentrated his efforts on winning the battle against the Dark Brotherhood.

Rediscovery and Revelations

Muz rediscovers the Eos Holocron beneath the Dark Hall on Antei.

"Worthy of my name? Yes. But you have not yet learnt the true power of the Dark Side, Sithling."

―The Gatekeeper of Naga Sadow, to Darth Ashen

The damage sustained by the temples and great halls of the Brotherhood during the reclamation of Antei was substantial, and following the conclusion of the conflict and the ascension of Muz Ashen to the position of Grand Master with the death of Darth Sarin, a programme of rebuilding was high on the agenda. The Dark Hall itself had taken heavy damage during the fighting, and when the full extent of the damage was surveyed, the workers discovered a sub-chamber beneath the main hall which had been revealed by the explosions from an orbital bombardment. A featureless block of black stone stood at one end of the chamber like an altar, radiating cold and a palpable sense of malice. Upon it stood the Eos Holocron, somehow locked into the stone. Darth Ashen, as the reigning Grand Master of the Brotherhood, was able to free the Holocron from the obsidian monolith and began to study it- the secrecy surrounding the Holocron had hidden it from the most confidential records of the Brotherhood, forcing Darth Ashen to re-discover the knowledge and information catalogued within the Holocron.

During the course of his study Muz, raised and honoured as a Son of Sadow, discovered something new and surprising about the Holocron- it was in fact a palimpsest, a new Holocron created from the remains and basic structure of a pre-existing Holocron from which much of the information had been removed. The Black Adegan had been used for a much earlier holocron created by one of the Sith Lords of the Golden Age of the Sith, a fact that Darth Ashen confirmed after the articial consciousness of Naga Sadow appeared to him as another gatekeeper, recognising his Sadowan lineage even as it belittled his command of the Dark Side. This discovery makes the Holocron into an even more important part of the collected knowledge of the Brotherhood; it contains not only the teachings of many of our most celebrated Grand Masters, but also the fractured and incomplete knowledge of Sith Lords from an age long gone. Prior to the current conflict, Darth Ashen has been working with some of the most distinguished and knowledgeable scholars from the Krath order, trying to rediscover all of the secrets buried within the Holocron and to discern how those secrets might be turned to the advantage of the Brotherhood. Many of their findings are detailed below, although it is indisputable that there are greater depths to the Holocron which have yet to be uncovered.

The gatekeepers appear after the Eos Holocron is activated by [whoever dude looks like]

Contents

"Knowledge" (better term?) of the Grand Masters

Not entirely sure if they need full blown subheaders or not, but... depends how much people add to each?

Justinian Khyron

Insert quote(s)

Firefox

Insert quote(s)

Jac Cotelin

Insert quote(s)

Darth Sarin

Insert quote(s)

Darth Ashen

"A warrior-sage on my homeworld once summed up the philosophy of true power in a few words relating to armed combat; 'The true Way of victory is the craft of defeating the enemy in a fight, and nothing other than this. Whatever weapons, whatever techniques you must use to achieve that goal are justified under the Way.' His words ring true for followers of our creed; to rise to prominence, you must make use of every weapon at your disposal to crush and destroy your enemies. Demoralize their spirits, destroy their will to fight and crush them into the depths, whether by blade, by the Force or by political machinations. Only then can you claim true victory and know that your failure will not come back to haunt you. Present a fearsome face to the world and you will halt many conflicts before they begin; potential enemies will reconsider an attack if they can see the full scale of the repercussions that you will levy against them. You must always cultivate strength in yourself to force obedience in others- signs of weakness will encourage the treacherous, and failing to retain tight control will empower them. In strategy, your spiritual bearing must not be any different from normal- remain calm, and wield your hatred and fury like a blade to cut through your enemies."

— Muz Ashen, On Power

Palimpsest

Blah, blah, blah, describe what a palimpsest is (see Wikipedia). Muz realised the Black Adegan was actually part of a much older holocron, blah, blah, blah, some fragmented, incomplete records from earlier uses still seem to remain, blah, blah, Krath scholars trying to reconstruct what might have been imprinted on the Adegan crystal prior to Khyron reverse engineering it and turning it into his own Holocron.

[Insert fuzzy Sith Lord who might be on it]

Nothing too specific... just like the sort of fuzzy images you used to get when you recorded over a VHS tape too many times?

Trivia

• Created by Clan Naga Sadow for the Week Four event of the Tenth Great Jedi War