In the cannon of the Star
Wars movies there was only one order of Jedi presented to the audience (that
being the order that Obi-Wan and Yoda belonged to...) and while that was a good
thing the expanded universe painted an entirely different picture of the Jedi
than the movies ever did. I really blame George Lucas for this, I understand
that he didn't want someone else to give us his version of the Jedi, but if he
was going to be so tight fisted about the matter than he shouldn't have allowed
anyone to do anything with the Jedi at all. I love that I am now reading how
Luke had decided to change the order and make it more open and fluid, rather
than being so formal. (This was the explanation they gave to try and explain the
vast differences between the books and the movie orders) Even in the course of
the expanded universe books Luke's order is greatly different than what we are
shown, we're also told about a Corellian order that was drastically different
than the typical order that met on Coruscant even going so far as to wear
different colored robes and have different beliefs. With all of this in mind
when it came time to put together an academy in the Mutt Squad game I tended to
take the 'Harry Potter' approach to it and actually set about making different
Jedi Orders.
Listed below are the various orders and their slight differences.
The Lucasians:
These are the Jedi that you see in the movies and the order that Obi-Wan
Kenobi and Yoda belonged to.
The Lucasians are not permitted to have
possessions of any type. They take strict vows of poverty and celibacy as well
as be told they are not permitted to have friends or loved ones. This is why the
Lucasians are gotten at birth (or within the first nine months, never later than
that) so that they won’t form attachments of any type to anyone, including their
parents as they are / were literally trained from birth. Also Lucasians strictly
follow the rule of ‘One student, one master.’ The Old Jedi Order was an
ancient and noble monastic peacekeeping organization unified by its belief and
observance of the Force. Throughout the Galaxy the Lucasian Jedi were the most
famous of the various organizations that relied on the Force for their power.
Wielders of a mystical energy and the vibrant signature lightsaber, the Jedi
Knights were revered as august guardians. Ideal brokers of peace, Jedi took
swift, decisive action, possessed a calming demeanor, and were equal parts
thinker and warrior; they were the epitome of serene power, wisdom, and
patience. The Jedi Order, with its long, involved history, saw its members come
to be the protectors of the Galactic Republic over the millennia in which that
democratic union rose to prominence. The sworn enemy of the Sith, the Jedi Order
was virtually destroyed by them during the Great Jedi Purge. Members of this
order included Luke Skywalker,
Mara Jade-Skywalker,
Leia Organa-Solo and others
trained by Luke at his two academies (Tatooine and Yavin-IV.)
L'ordine del Sorto:
This order, based on Dantooine, didn’t believe in separating the child from
its parents or that a Jedi was supposed to live a monastic life, otherwise how
would the Force flourish without the replenishment of the life that creates it?
You could hold a job and even gather money (enough to support yourself and your
family) but beyond the basic needs was generally frowned upon. While the
Lucasians strictly followed the ‘One student, one master’ rule in L'ordine del
Sorto it was possible to take more than one student at a time, although that was
generally frowned upon. This order was virtually destroyed during the great
purge as the Dantooine academy was bombarded from orbit during the execution of
Order 66 was carried out. The order would have died out completely if not for
the survival of Ulric Nunis,
Kenzil Truett and
Caleb Quint through the
Jedi Purge. It was through their survival that they were able to train
Akiva Rostoni,
J.S. Boggins and
Stromgald Caballa
who in turn would go on to help train a host of new young Jedis:
Otas (Tak) Sands,
Shubquix Rendilli,
Kae' Cabala,
Jaalib
Brandl,
Drex Marr,
Ao-Ki (Wald) Jinn,
Kallistar (Kalli) Enijfer,
Lady Selorna d'Anjou,
Tuval and
Strom Minigrod
who continue on the traditions of the order and wear the distinct robes that
marked the order differentiating them from the Lucasian order from Coruscant. It
should be noted that sometime after the events chronicled during "The Fall of
the Light" (50 years after the battle of Endor) that the Jedi Academy on Yavin-IV
and the Jedi as an order seemingly died out or were driven to extinction. It was
only through Oa-Ki Jinn
and his apprentice Dirka
Kimalamala J. Nahathmaq that the order managed to survive and returned to
serve the Republic and the universe at large. Both Oa-Ki and Dirka Nahathmaq
were both members of the L'ordine del Sorto.
L'ordine del Sorto
by the way is Italian and means ‘The order of the Rose’ based off the old
Sean Connery movie ‘The name of the Rose’, I did this because
Ulric Nunis (the master
who revived this order) was
based off of Sean Connery.
The Corellian order:
This order (talked about in the book "I, Jedi") was never given a name, they
were considered to be somewhat loners as they didn't associate much with the
Coruscant based (Lucasians) order, they were also headstrong and somewhat brash.
This orders robes were 'Hunter Green' in color. During the time of the Old
Republic, Corellian Jedi usually remained within the Corellian Sector. They were
also known for using Jedi Credits (a dozen or so of which were minted when a
Jedi became a Master and were given to the Jedi's former Master, favored
students, and close friends and family) and for their familial bonds, despite
the Jedi Council's rules governing marriage and raising families. It was not
unusual to see Corellian Jedi working alongside CorSec officers, and they often
eschewed Jedi apparel for more inconspicuous street clothes. When they did wear
Jedi clothing, they wore a type unique to Corellian Jedi that included
emerald-sleeved tunics. They garnered a reputation among Corellia's smugglers as
being cold and uncaring of anything but following their duty.
Corran Horn was a member of the Corellian order and while
Drex Marr was trained
by the L'ordine del Sorto he often wore colors denoting his Corellian nature and
eschewed the robes as soon as he became a Jedi Knight.
The Sith
The Sith were a sect of dark side Force users bent on conquering the galaxy and
destroying the Jedi. They were characterized by their single-minded lust for
power and the brutal methods they were willing to use in order to acquire it.
The sect existed in many diverse forms throughout galactic history. Originally,
the Sith were a humanoid species that interbred with a group of exiled Dark
Jedi, but after the rise and fall of that people, the meaning of the term 'Sith'
evolved. In time, the Sith would not be identified by their race, but by their
dedication to the ancient Sith philosophy. Both
Darth Valious and
Darth Bane were Sith.
It should be noted: The primary difference between Sith in the Kilb-iverse
and the cannon Star Wars universe is the following...In the course of the Cannon
Star Wars universe (always referred to as 'The Luca-iverse'...) it was revealed
that there were only ever two Sith at a time after the great Sith wars (largely
chronicled in the Dark Horse Star Wars comic mini-series) and thus when
Palpatine and Anakin died there were no more Sith to be found. Personally I
never liked the idea that there were just two Sith roaming around the universe
against an army of Jedi Knights. Obviously the Sith won a temporary victory but
in the end the Jedi returned.
If you read over the Dark Empire source book you'll find a lot of Sith acolytes
that were trained under the Emperor and while I have no problem with acolytes
this seems to be a slight contradiction to the one master, one apprentice rule.
The other problem I had with this was that rule seemed to be more of a Jedi
belief. The Jedi's held it and enforced it on a regular basis and I'm to believe
that the Sith would do the same?
No, I don't now or didn't then believe that the Sith would play nice and hold to
one apprentice. My idea for the Sith was based on the rumor that there were
thirteen Sith masters and that Palpatine happen to be the strongest. I figured
that with thirteen masters came thirteen apprentices, but while there was a
loose configuration of Sith, these guys wouldn't work together as a team because
they really didn't like one another but they would work towards common goals
with each ruling over their own little fiefdom.
All of the Sith powers were versions of the Lightside powers, twisted and made
evil by the Darkside of the force. For instance 'Transfer Force' became 'Animate
corpse' which allowed for some interesting and entertaining fun during one
adventure.
There you have the explanation of the Kilb-iverse Sith.
The Witches of Dathomir
The Witches of Dathomir (also referred to as either Dathomirians or Dathomiri)
were human Force-sensitives native to the planet Dathomir. They were also known
as the Daughters of Allya in honor of the wayward Jedi Knight Allya, who was
banished to the planet around 600 BBY, and who they regarded as their
ancestress. By the time of the Galactic Empire, Allya's descendents had divided
into female-dominated clans that were named after regional landmarks. Each clan
had a unique set of rules regarding Force usage, but all the clans held one rule
above all others: "Never concede to evil".
Kirana Ti was the only
Dathomiri in the Academy during the course of my campaign.
The Tyia
The Tyia was a faith, a philosophy, and a way of knowing the Force. It taught of
holding a high regard for peace and life. It came to the planet Revyia around 30
BBY, after an independent freighter brought a missionary of the Tyia faith to
the planet. Its message appealed to the indigenous Revwiens, and became widely
accepted amongst them, to such a degree that the Tyia was widely seen as native
to that culture.
Tyia practitioners were known as Thuwisten, taking their name from the Tyia's
prime tenet that one should seek "personal harmony with one's own Tyia so that
other Tyia forces may join to form a bond-circle, a joining of spirits called
'Thuwisten', complete in their utter harmony." Indeed, Thuwisten believed that
individual introspection was key to knowing the ways of the universe.
Tyia-practicing Force users were taught to control their personal Force through
ceremony and meditation. Their focus on their inner Force resulted in Thuwisten
having a heightened awareness of the skill the Jedi knew as "Control"; however,
a Thuwisten found the use of the "Alter" ability to be a more difficult and
time-consuming practice than the Jedi. Nonetheless, many Thuwisten regarded the
Jedi as true masters of the Tyia.
Mal-Thorin was a Revwien
master of Tyia who came to live and ultimately died on the backwater planet
named Earth.
Between the 'Fall of the Light' And the 'Dark Times' (Between 50 and 125 years
after the events at the battle of Endor) the Jedi Order all but ceased to exist
and other factions began to spring up including...The Cabalists, The Lukasians, the Traditionalists as well as the Pasha-Sith, The Sisters of Aludri,
The Sisters of Crete and The order of the Crushing Wind all of which will be
further chronicled as this page is updated.