The Temple of Blood
was one of the Temples of Orian constructed around the central Palace of Orian. It was modified in early 32 ABY and made into the training center of Order of the Black Guard. The Temple of Blood is the most remote of the seven temples and reaching it is not an easily achieved task.
History
The Temples of Orian were constructed over five thousand years ago during the reign of Marka Ragnos in the days of the old Sith Empire. The temples were positioned in a heptagram around the central palace. Each temple was devoted to one of the seven tenets of the Final Way. Through focusing the power of the dark side through the temples Urias Orian hoped to make himself immortal.
Today most of the temples lie in ruin and the Palace of Orian utterly destroyed. The Temple of Blood was selected in early 32 ABY to serve as the headquarters and training facilities of the Order of the Black Guard due to its remote location.
Description
Built strategically in a bend of the Lost Souls River on Sepros, the temple once overlooked the vast forests to the south as an impressive monument of Orian’s might. However its location at the bank of the river proved unfortunate when in its abandoned state the damn walls eventually deteriorated allowing the river to overtake the temple walls. Over the centuries erosion brought down many of the major structures and statues including the main spire.
In the main courtyard of the temple is the base of the statue of Sith Lord Karness Muur that once stood 17 meters high. The statue would have weighed more than one thousand tons. It fell across the courtyard, due to the rising water, where its head and torso remain today.
The outside ruins of the temple have not been rebuilt at all. What modifications that have been made were to the interior only, leaving the appearance of a temple long forgotten in time.
As with all the old fortresses of Urias Orian, the Temple of Blood bears signs of the age in which it was built. The walls are shaped from a marble-like structure and possess an unnatural, sometimes unnerving, elegance, their curves flowing as if molded like clay.
There are two parts to the interior of the temple; the outer temple where the beginning initiates train in the designated facilities, and the inner temple where one can enter after proven worthy and ready to acquire the higher knowledge and insights.
The main entrance to the outer temple leads into a large hall with massive pillars fronted by four statues of Sith Lords from the days of the old Sith Empire. The temple’s orientation is arranged in such a way that twice a year the earliest sun rays shine on the back wall of the chamber thus illuminating the statues of the four Lords seated there.
Training Facilities
Once a potential candidate for the Order of the Black Guard is selected they are sent to the Temple of Blood for the first phase of training. This phase is known as “indoctrination” and consists of classroom instruction on a wide variety of topics including; procedure, interrogation, galactic law, slicing, finance, political science, etiquette, business practices, analysis, critical thinking, cross cultural studies, and special one-on-one classes on loyalty. It was a former practice to keep the recruits in phase one for a full year. This has changed. They are put through the hardest mental tests in both the Clan and the Dlarit Navy in a matter of months, or even weeks depending on the recruits current rank. This is the reason Black Guard are often changed, due to heavy mental stress and paranoia.
Phase two is known as “hardening” and consists of all manner of physical training both in enclosed gymnasiums and in the field, and field operations and skills. These courses include; small arms, heavy weapons, bladed weapons, demolitions, intense lightsaber drill, force drill, assassination technique, vehicle operations, spacecraft operations, field tactics, stealth, surviving interrogation, intelligence gathering, counterintelligence, and other classified courses.
Upon completion of these two phases of training a candidate is then ready for the final test, a test of loyalty and endurance. They are given the Mark of Honor, a physical manifestation or loyalty to the Clan given to them by the Captain of the Guard. After this simple but important ritual, the guardsmen is assigned to his respectful master for duty and given the authority to enter the inner portion of the temple.
The Temple of Blood