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What a desolate place this is. This article would greatly benefit from the addition of proper images.
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The Temple of Plagueis on Morroth, known in other eras as Morroth Outpost J-5 and the Morroth Sith Temple, has existed for thousands of years. In that time, it has seen many different uses and masters. Originally used by the Sith Empire for alchemical research, and then as a listening post during the Great Galactic War, it has recently been reclaimed by House Plagueis as a training center for Journeymen.
History
-Coming soon!-
Layout
Ice Shelf Facade
The Temple itself is housed within and beneath an ice shelf, something that has perplexed the Dark Jedi of Plagueis as they study it. Regardless of how it came to be this way, a fifteen-foot-wide, twenty-foot-high doorway lies uncovered by the ice. Originally opened via the Force, it has since seen a control panel reheated by the reactivation of the Temple.
The door itself is painted black, but its white frame and inset nature make it almost impossible to see at distances more than half a kilometer. Nearer to the door are a pair of blaster turrets, leftovers from the Great Galactic War but serviced and reactivated by Plagueis, to defend its entry. These are trained upon any group not cleared by Outpost Galthain's control tower via remote controls installed after their reactivation. Aside from these turrets, however, the Temple's only large-scale defense comes from operations staged at Galthain.
Tiers
While initial power scans found little to nothing within the ice shelf concealing the Temple, life form readings were found within, and eventually further scans found the Temple Proper to be constructed of three tiers. These are the Upper Tier, Lower Tier, and Catacombs. While all of these were filled with built-in defenses and Sithspawned life-forms, the Upper Tier has been cleared of enemies and is being utilized by Plagueis. The Lower Tier and Catacombs are currently sealed off pending further study.
The Upper Tier houses all of the rooms currently used by
Entrance Chamber
A hallway paneled with black metal leads into a circular entrance chamber. This spiders off from five more hallways into different areas of the Temple, as well as a sixth and seventh passageway. These two are turbolifts designed to take Sith down to the lower tiers, but have been sealed off until further notice.
Aside from entrance to the Temple's areas, the Entrance Chamber acts as a nexus point for Journeymen and Equites within the Temple. Students are known to congregate here between lessons or duties, discussing events of the day or just passing the time. Soldiers with weaponry set to stun are stationed here to ensure no fights break out between Students, and Masters will assist these should the Students cut the soldiers down.
Finally, the ten-foot ceiling of each hall leading from the Entrance Chamber has blast doors designed to drop in emergencies, but aside from automatic activation or Force manipulation, Plagueis still hasn't located the controls for these. The doors are thick enough to sustain heavy blaster assault for hours, and are thick and dense enough that even lightsabers would take several minutes to cut through them. Slight denting in the durasteel floors show that these have been used before. Theory leads Plagueians to believe that Darth Plagueis, last occupant before the Brotherhood, left the doors open and let free the Temple's creatures to ensure none would survive to uncover the truth of the Sith Order in his time.
Communications Chamber
A round room with inset holo-screens and control panels has been located off of the Entrance Chamber. However, pending further investigation into the Temple's Lower Tier and control rooms, these built-in communications devices are left dead and cold. Furthermore, initial inspection of this gear has shown that once active, it will need to have diagnostics and maintenance performed immediately.
In lieu of this, the Plagueians have located and dug out the hidden communications array on the ice shelf and tied its internal components into secondary communications gear and systems. These are hooked up to external power generators, giving them a makeshift but functional communications system within the Temple. Gear from the makeshift array is all standard shining durasteel, and thus seems out-of-place in the smoothly-designed and stylized black room.
Ceremonial Chamber
Styled with a large throne, as was the norm for Sith governors in charge of the planet and for Lord Plagueis when he repurposed the Temple as his Morroth retreat, this chamber sees the Throne itself on a raised dais and toward the back of the room. Space around it seems designed to allow congregations, and as such it is now used for Dark Jedi Knight promotion ceremonies. Also, additional ceremonies such as the establishment of Mastery are performed here, along with audiences with the Quaestor during his visits to the Temple.
Barracks
Originally a storage room of some sort, the cluttered crates and boxes within this area have been cleaned out. While the Directorate analyzes and catalogs all things found within, durasteel frames have been built throughout for bunk beds. These have simplistic cot mattresses placed atop them, making for uneasy and uncomfortable sleep. The mattresses are low-cost, in the event of inexplicable damages and bloodstains.
Journeymen within the Barracks aren't allowed many things, but each uses one of the temporary footlockers set beneath the beds. These hold robes, small personal items, and important documents or datapads. It's been known to happen that Journeymen with soldier assistance will smuggle contraband in or act out against other students, and yet strangely, only monthly inspections are done and no surveillance exists within the room. This is for the purpose of testing Student loyalty, though any prolonged anger or violence sensed within is quickly put down, meaning Student subterfuge must be carefully and briefly carried out.
Exercise Chamber
Bearing simple workout equipment such as weights or bars bolted to the ceiling or walls, along with a number of ropes hanging from rings bolted into the ceiling, this room is used by all Students but is the sole home of Apprentices. Under orders from the Taskmaster, they are worked out to and beyond their physical limits every day, many of them left exhausted and some of them injured. Apprentices have even been seriously injured or have even died within this chamber, the former sent away to heal and then enlisted on Sigil 2 while the latter are dealt with in the Mekduaa pits. This is all part of Plagueis' grueling regime of weeding out the weak.
Students who survive past the gauntlet of Apprentice training, or who are already strong enough to surpass it instantly, are given different training regiments. Except for those who are out of the Temple with Masters or on assignment, however, all Journeymen and even several Equites utilize the Exercise Chamber as a part of their daily life. Every Prospect sees time in here each day, though some less than others. Outside of Taskmaster approval, however, no Student can enter this chamber outside of their schedule. This prevents tired Equites from being surprised by fresh groups of Students looking for advancement.
Practice Chamber
Full of training remotes and plasteel dummies, as well as walls covered in racks of plasteel swords, staves, and other practice weapons. Upon request of the Taskmaster, Students can also be given more-exotic practice weapons such as whips or thrown weapons, but this is subject to approval. Students in this room practice combination attacks and basic techniques taught by the Taskmaster and other Masters against plasteel dummies. These dummies are built with durasteel joints and frames, to ensure they survive the training; due to the Force-sensitive bursts that Students sometimes exhibit, even these are broken from time to time.
Though Students learning new techniques and styles often practice here, this area is generally used by Novices, who supplement their physical training with basic practice once strong enough. Acolytes will also see some practice in here, but it is drastically reduced and usually reserved to using a training saber against a remote. It is commonplace for the Taskmaster to walk between the practice dummies as Prospects train, giving them advice or telling them their mistakes as they train. Due to the practice nature of the weaponry here, though, fights that break out here are allowed to be fought, but only until a Student is beaten. After that, the fight is broken up and the practice resumes.
Sparring Circle
A round chamber once full of supply crates and extra parts long-since rusted, this area was cleaned out for Acolyte usage. As Masters and the Taskmaster observe, Prospects with training weaponry spar against each other. They practice moves and techniques, either with plasteel weaponry or with training sabers. At the end of each session, Prospects here are given drills and lessons by the Taskmaster. Once per day, there is a Challenge Period.
In the tradition of the Korriban Academy during the time of Kaan's Brotherhood, Students and Prospects are allowed to call one another out for one-on-one contests. The Challenge Period ends after either an hour or the Taskmaster calls a stop to it, whichever comes first. Prospects vying for the attention of Masters and the ascension to Protector will often challenge their peers to impress the Equite Dark Jedi present.
A focus of these Challenges is that the battle ends only when one contestant cannot fight any longer. As long as only training weapons and the skills of the Student or Prospect are used, anything goes. Occasionally a Student or Prospect tries to show mercy, but in true Sith fashion, Masters quickly and violently finish the battle for them before sentencing the Student to a period of grueling workout as a penance. These displays are meant to be a brutal, quick showing of why mercy is unacceptable, as well as a showing of what will happen should the Prospects or Students rebel. Occasionally, these displays have been known to kill Prospects or Students.
Medical Center
Full of medical droids and supplies, this area holds several gurneys, occupied at any given time by Students or Prospects with broken and damaged bodies. These will be tended to ensure their survival and return to training, but even here they receive little comfort. Pain relief is only given when absolutely necessary or in extreme cases, a lesson for the Prospects and Students about the price of failure. Great care is taken here to ensure that Students are kept alive, though the Dark Jedi of Plagueis have been known to delay or even deny a Student or Prospect the right of the Medical Center. Unless they can bring themselves to the Center, many Students are left to their fate. Only in cases where the Student or Prospect is rendered broken and unconscious, but not dead, will they be brought to the room's two bacta tanks.
The mass of equipment and supplies within this room is all sterilized durasteel, along with bright lights mounted above the gurneys. These clash with the dark chamber, whose only lighting came from several large glass containers of green fluid. Lit from within by low-power bulbs, these hold a mass of intravenus tubes and other cables that make onlookers wonder what was grown in them. This room was selected intentionally for the treatment of wounded Prospects and Students, thus ensuring that they are uncomfortable while they are treated and instilling a need to never fail again.
Training Center
Initiates at the Shadow Academy on Lyspair are gathered up by Plagueian Dark Jedi and troops when assigned to House Plagueis. From here, they are made to stand within a MAAT while boarding a Plagueian capital ship and then being transported to Morroth. Once there, the Initiates are dumped into the snow a kilometer from the Temple and led by a Dark Jedi using Tapas to defeat the cold. They are given no provision or safety gear and are taken in fair weather; many Initiates die or try to flee to safety, ultimately ending up buried in Morroth snowdrifts.
Those that survive, regardless of their condition, enter the Temple and are welcomed as Apprentices. They are shown to their bunks in the Barracks and are given the night to rest and recuperate, along with any medical attention they might need. The following day, or as soon as they are healthy, the Apprentices become Prospects and are taken to the Exercise Chamber. Here, they are worked out to and beyond the safe limits of their bodies. It is a process that kills or wounds many, but ultimately grinds out strong Dark Jedi. Upon reaching the acceptable fitness, Prospects reach the rank of Novice and are shown to the Practice Chamber. Here they learn the techniques and movements of their specific weapon choices, as well as their first lessons in lightsaber combat. When finally ready to use their combat forms against others, the Prospects are given practice weaponry and training sabers and reach the rank of Acolyte. They then find their way to the Sparring Circle, where they face off against one another.
Prospects that prove themselves to the Taskmaster and the Masters by dominating their fellows are accepted as Protectors. These are given two choices; a Protector can either undertake the tutelage of a Master, or can become an independent Dark Jedi of Plagueis. All three choices lead to some training time on Sigil 2, but the latter often sees the newer Dark Jedi thrown into gauntlets of difficult missions and harrowing tests. Few survive these, and as such most choose to become Students under a Master. Masters will see the Student learn to utilize an armory lightsaber and the Force in its basic elements, taking them on a few missions until they become Guardians. After Guardian, a Student is often put to tests that can seriously injure their bodies or break their spirits. Finally, as Jedi Hunters, Students go through the final stages of training before being sent on their own to build lightsabers and prove themselves.
Students that succeed in these tasks are acknowledged by the House in the Ceremony Chamber, and are recognized as Dark Jedi Knights. At this point, they may either take on a Student of their own or continue as an independent Dark Jedi. Even so, the gauntlet of Temple life often sees many return to practice skills, exercise, or even just socialize at the place where they became strong.
Defenses and Political Outlook
Military rumors speak of a place where Foxtrot Uniforms are trained in Jusadih, but the location is never openly acknowledged or discussed. When asked, Officers with the knowledge will redirect the soldiers to their orders, while others who do not know are taught to do the same. Revealing the Temple to anyone but a Foxtrot Uniform is an act of treason on high, and thus is rewarded with a public execution for "Exposing Classified and Dangerous Intelligence". It is a place not even openly referenced in communications, being codenamed as "Icebox".
Naturally, so important a complex will have defenses. Primarily, the Temple has been guarded in recent years by the reactivated Outpost Galthain. This Outpost has kept outsiders from nearing or entering the Temple and has given Plagueian Dark Jedi a safe place to study the structure. However, with the recent events of Plagueian history causing violent reform within the Jusadih System, operations staged from Galthain have seen the Upper Tier of the structure violently emptied. Against the advice of certain Krath, Supreme Commander Kal di Plagia Vorrac ordered that the operation take place, clearing the area for Plagueian use but possibly destroying or compromising certain points of research.
Should the Temple fall to attack, forces posted at Galthain will move to immediately defend. Should they be overwhelmed, communications from Galthain will relay requests for assistance to an orbiting spacecraft. One of the Naval Command's vessels is always present over the planet for just such an occurrence. Following being overwhelmed, reinforcements will land at Galthain or the nearest available Outpost and work to fight back any attackers. As a matter of last resort, "Code Whiteout" will be broadcast across any Naval vessels present and repeated clearly three times. This Code commences the immediate orbital bombardment of the Temple and any other compromised sources of Brotherhood knowledge by all present and available vessels until nothing remains but a crater.
Impact on Morroth
Originally seen as products of evolution on the ice world's surface, recent revelations about Jusadih's unstable nature and the time elapsed since Morroth's freezing have rendered life on the planet impossible. Sufficient time for complex life to evolve on the planet simply hasn't passed. Even so, certain fauna exists on Morroth, and only recently has the revelation occurred to Plagueians that the life on the world was created by the Sith. In particular, the following species were created by the Sith as experiments in ice-planet assault, possibly for the conquering of planets like Hoth and Ilum.
- Wyrms, whose huge serpentine bodies contain potent heat-releasing organs and fluids for fending off the cold, are known to chew and melt tunnels through the ice. They seem to be heavily-modified versions of Blenjeel's Sand Burrowers and emanate a dark aura from their Sithspawned origins.
- Koth'Ata, smaller creatures observed traveling in packs across the surface and only recently named, seem derivative of the Tuk'ata found on Korriban. They are known to terrorize smaller mining operations and speeder groups along the planet's surface, but are largely scavengers. They mostly live in caverns beneath the planet's surface.
- Mekduaa, stationary creatures that share enough genetic characteristics with Sarlacc to be derivatives, are known to fill a specific region of Morroth's surface. However, their growth is clearly stunted by design to encompass only ten-foot-wide pits, devoid of tentacles or other extensions. These metabolize very slowly and were probably attempts at base defense, but are unique in their static nature because Plagueis can use them to dispose of bodies.
- Wurrump, apparently a larger, modified form of Wampa, live largely in tunnels and caverns beneath the world's surface. It seems that they and the Koth'Ata battle in a cycle of scavenging and hunting one another, though the Wurrump are clearly the more-intelligent species and have even been seen to use bones as weaponry. The name of the species came from mining colonists to the planet and has been in standard usage ever since.
Naturally, all of these species live in isolated areas and have low populations. No species has yet been found that can fly on Morroth or survive its blizzards without going underground, and no active species on the planet is docile enough for Plagueians to approach without being attacked. Recent discoveries have found that these creatures were bred within the Temple, and that all active exterior populations were released when Darth Plagueis abandoned the Temple. Any further species has yet to be discovered.