Xalark's Manual on the Qo

[Zarquon]

I

Description

Xalark’s Manual on the Qo, or the Manual, is a set of manuscript believed to have been written by hand of one named Xalark. While the original manuscripts were said to have been handwritten, saner minds with access to them have at times transcribed them into textual and holographic data that could fit conveniently into a datapad.

The Manual is publicly published, and may be assumed to be retrievable by any from the dark corners of the Holonet.

Preface

Over a thousand years ago, two sovereignties ignorant of one and the other thrived in their isolation. When that ignorance ended, it was inevitable that one of the two will perish. Amongst the most unworthy of Xendor’s heirs then happened to claim the Stygian Crown, and under his ineptitude were we the vanquished. Our foes displayed a brutal cunning which they have since squandered - they wrought flames upon our worlds, and with blistering cosmic fire burned weakness from our sands. Our temple-cities were broken, our sacred fanes pillaged, and few workings of our Zuguruks or the tribes of the Massassi endured.

We lost much, then, and have since remained ill heirs of Xendor’s legacy. Even after we have reclaimed Korriban, the scarlet jewel that is the womb and tomb of our empire, the first and last of the Nache Bhelfia, we have continued to sow the seeds of our own ruination. From tumorous Dreshdae pulsed a festering trickle of smugglers, mercenaries and bounty hunters who robbed the tombs of our legacy, oft with the complicity of acolytes that have the audacity to name themselves Sith. The artifacts and relics of our once-great people are stolen from we the scions of these scarlet sands, to finance a war that the foolish believe may be won by credits, plasteel and ore.

We were more, once. We will be, again. I pen this manual to remedy what we have become. Laboriously and painstakingly have I undertaken to unearth that which we were once was, that the Sith may be led back upon the Qo that they have so forgotten. What I have recovered, in fragments and in parts, I return to we Siths that we may be restored. This manual seeks then to provide Sith acolytes with an understanding of what it means to be Sith, and to articulate a curriculum by which they may journey down the Qo. We will be true to the Qotsisajak once more, and the secrets of Sith sorcery and alchemy will be returned to us.

We were Siths, once. We must be, again.

The Qo

The Qo, or the Way, is better described than defined.

At its heart is an understanding that creation is fundamentally flawed. It is harsh, cruel, and unkind. It is filled with misery, pain and suffering. We who live are ever afflicted by imperfection, shackled be it by our mortal coil or by the dictates of those who would bind us; to labour, to servitude, to slavery. Amongst the living, however, are those rare few who are gifted with an attunement to the Qyasik, to the Force. We who bear the mark of those sensitive to the Force find ourselves capable of bending creation to our will, to exert change upon creation, and to rise above our base mortality.

Those gifted with this sensitivity are viewed with envy, with mistrust, and most of all, with fear. The Jedi’s answer to the galaxy’s fear is to subjugate themselves in obedience to their lesser, to pledge themselves as protectors of a Republic that barely tolerates them, of a populace of ingrates, to be soldiers of politicians in gilded senates. The Jedi’s answer to their own power is to shackle themselves to asceticism, to deny their emotions, to subdue their passions, and to necessitate detachments. They fear attachments because to be attached to creation, one must confront its many flaws and miseries, and one cannot confront them while being powerful without wanting to change creation. And so, the Jedi’s answer is the death of their selves, to preserve a flawed creation.

The Sith’s answer, the Qo, is to embrace that attachment, to demand that creation be more of itself, and to reach for the power that allows creation’s stasis to be usurped. At the heart of each Sith is a desire to change, to be more, to want. One who had been powerless demands the power to overthrow his oppressors. One who had been enslaved demands the power to emancipate herself, and others who were held in bondage. One who had been impoverished demands the power to tear down the gilded thrones of corporatists and seize for himself their gleaming lucre.

Ours is not the side that concerns itself with what those with power do with that power, only that it is done. Only, that that power is sought after and that change is pursuit passionately, wholeheartedly. A Sith chases the song of want, and the Qyasik is the instrument subdued to pursue it. And yet, power is inherently uncompromising. For one’s vision of creation to come true, another’s vision of creation is rarely compatible. So, iron sharpens iron, and the two must battle. The strong rises, and the weak falls. If you can change creation, if you have the power to do so, if you can crush underfoot those who may stand before you towards what you desire, then it is your right to do so. If you cannot, step aside and train, accrue power, until you can, or until you perish.

What lies at the end of the Qo? Iron sharpens iron. Even an inferior specimen of a Dark Lord of the Sith could reach forth with his sorceries to cripple legions, or to conjure forth vast armies of the Force. In our heydays, the Mother of Monster transmuted through breeding and alchemy predators that still stalk the sands of Korriban today.

What lies at the end of the Qo is perfection. Sith’ari. When through a thousand, thousand generations of Siths, sharpening each other until the end, there will finally be a mortal being that transcends his mortality, transcends all the limitations of creation, and reshape all of it towards perfection. The Sith’ari will be the last Sith, for it will lead all Siths, and in doing so destroy us all only to remake creation in an image of perfection. Over the span of a thousand, thousand years, until the stars themselves have grown cold and die, we will through the crucible of creation make a Sith that will remake it all as the perfect being.

This is what lies at the end of the Qo, of the Siths. This is why the triumph of the Siths over the Jedi is inevitable. Over the span of a thousand, thousand generations, a triumphant Jedi will only preserve a balanced but flawed creation. Over the span of a thousand, thousand generations, one last Sith will destroy us all and raise us all from death. Peace is a lie, there is only passion, because it is in the crucible of war that we sharpen ourselves, again, and again, and again, over countless defeats and triumphs, until our chains are broken and we are freed from creation itself: and through violence reach heaven in an image of perfection.

Once you understand all this, you understand the Qotsisajak, the Code of the Sith.

The Force shall serve us.

The Force shall set us free.

[Zarquon]

II

The Holocron of Sarlo Kann

To glean the distant past from the diminished present is to peer through a murky mist and a kaleidoscope of fractured truths. I have labored over my years to piece together the fragments that may hint at the abyssal secrets of our past, and even as I caught glimpses of the twin moons and the arcane secrets of Xendor’s inheritors, they but provide an incomplete and rarely helpful picture of an unfathomably vast past. The only remedy for our ignorance, then, the keystone that is to usher us into understanding the Qotsisajak as the Jen’jidai did, is to glean that history from those who lived through that halcyon era.

The instrument by which that understanding may be conveyed is that of a Sith Holocron. A Sith Holocron is a box of crystalline lattices, housing a nigh endless trove of priceless knowledge which may only be aligned and comprehended through the precise and exhausting application of the Force. To navigate its secrets, one must wrestle with its gatekeeper, a holographic echo of the Holocron’s crafter that retains a measure of its spirit. Sith Holocrons themselves may be distinguished from that of the Jedi, for ours is forged pyramidal to reflect the angles of power that may be found within our tombs and sanctums.

My hunt for one such Holocron began with an almost innocuous text which transpired to be the personal journal of a Zuguruk architect. To decipher his hieroglyphs proved to be tedious and laborious, but the drawings which he supplied aided much, though even then I had to piece together each rune and syllable through extensive explorations across the sands of Korriban. In time, I managed to glean the subject of the Zuguruk’s industry: the building of a House of Power for a Lord of the Sith, a disciple of the Mother of Monsters herself, Sarlo Kann.

What was particularly intriguing to me was the Zuguruk’s detailing of the construction of a Holocron chamber, and of a ritual that I later understood to be a Rite of Commencement. It was this that convinced me that Sarlo Kann intended that ere her demise, she would etch her very soul into a capstone, and thereby construct a Holocron of her own. An immortality, paid for with the sacrifices of those whom she would entomb with her, to serve eternally as her guardians in eternal servitude.

I knew then that I had to find her tomb, and that upon finding it I shall unearth her own Holocron from within its depth. Over a year did I spend on that monumental task to no avail, for records were sparse and the geography of Korriban had changed over the centuries. Instead, I found my answers, as now belatedly I understand is only fitting, within the Force. It was the discovery that our every deed and our every tug at creation left behind a ripple, and what is an ocean but a multitude of drops? So I gleaned the shape of a reflection, a dark echo of the Force. The Odojinya.

It dawned upon me, then, that a Rite of Commencement would invariably leave behind an echo of its own. One, that if I am to dare venture within the Odojinya itself, I could trace. It was a treacherous and perilous thing to undertake, but my efforts elsewhere have been to naught, and desperation burns in my vein with a desire to rival hatred. Reagents and ritualists alike need I gather, and the former I procured as thimbles of blood from those whom I took measure of, won through battle or cunning, while the latter I convinced with the strength of my vision.

In time, the pieces were gathered, and when they were in place, I began. Deep within an unearthed fane, steep with the cloying sweetness of the Dark Side, we tore apart the veil between worlds and dared to brave the Odojinya itself. Foes beset us, specters of an age before ours, and a malignant presence that dwelled within the webs. Through halls of memories and glimpses of architectural wonders now lost to us we forged forward, until finally we came upon the Holocron’s reflection in the Odojinya. A titanic guardian we bested, there, and with our triumph did I lay claim to the soul of the Holocron.

That claim branded in me an unerring knowledge of the Holocron’s, of the tomb’s, whereabouts, as certain as a compass may glean the poles. Armed with that knowledge, I gathered what allies I may, spent the meager credits I have accrued and amassed to I a small army of those who either hold true to the old way of the Qo, or are competent enough that I can disregard their lukewarm faith.

Towards the tomb we journeyed, across the seething and scarlet sands. The Qyasik ever conspires to coincidences that test those with ambition, and it was no coincidence that we came upon the tomb only to find that another Sith had reached it first. Lord Khol, he claimed to be, though he and his were felled before our might. On closer inspection, it transpires to my great amusement that they had expended much effort in trying to breach the tomb to no avail, for neither lightsaber nor blasters nor artillery may break that which was sealed by Sarlo Kann herself. But I, who had claimed the soul of the Holocron, could, and so to my will was the tomb opened, the tomb unsealed.

Of what we encountered within, little of it shall I pen here, though those who dared venture within may speak as they wish. Suffice to say, we are but children in the shadows of the old masters, for they have twisted life and death to become their servants. We endured curses and chambers that tested us in trials of fire, and faced creations that darkened the Qyasik with their mere presence. We faced the facets of Sarlo Kann and endured her wrath, for she had sought to master death and for all that she fell short, her undying minions yet persisted through the eons to take our measure. None who survived what resided within did so without scars.

But at its heart, we found what we sought - the Holocron of Sarlo Kann. It has been retrieved, and now I shall pry from the Mother of Monster’s own disciple what we are due. The Sith Order will be restored, and rediscover the Qo that was lost to us. We were more, once. We shall be so, again.

Plaque of Honor

Many of those who dared the ritual and the tomb did so under pseudonyms and guises, for fear of the turbulence of the ongoing war that rages between the Emperor-Regnant, Darth Malak, and the Emperor-Claimant, Lord Valerius. Still, I shall honor them in the name they chose.

Of the ritualists,
Ril Varan, for standing sentinel,
Dabash,
Diana,
Isrtho,
Katya,
Mahalan,
Saaraiderriphan,
and Xa Dakrun.

Of those who braved the ancient tomb,
Teksa’fenn, a medic of gifted prowess,
Alexander,
Aloe,
Diana,
Einya,
Griever,
Howl,
Isrtho,
Kamhila,
Larry,
Mahalan,
Vera,
and Saaraiderriphan et co., two aides unknown.

[Zarquon]

III

The Sith Academy

The cradle of the Sith is Korriban, and the cradle of our Order is the Academy. It is from the Academy that springs forth the generations of those who bear the mantle of Sith, and it is in the Academy that these trainees are to be taught. Our histories. Our powers. Our secrets. Yet, the Academy has been rendered into a festering pit of rot and contempt. Its trainees are complicit with the smugglers of Dreshdae, bartering our history and legacy for credits and blasters. What had been a towering symbol of our power has been reduced into a decrepit monument of hubris.

The Academy must be reformed. Structure must be imposed. There are those who would abandon it, and establish anew an academy elsewhere, be it in Viscara, in Dathomir, or the throneworld of Ziost. Some of these desires stem from the political schism that has riven the Sith Order. Of these ambitions, I can only regret their necessity, and respect their want. But, I refuse to relinquish Korriban, the first and last of the Nache Bhelfia, whereupon we first sowed the seeds of empire.

Here in this Manual shall I set out the reforms that I believe must be made, the structure and curriculum of those who seek to don the mantle of Sith.

Structure of the Sith Order

The Sith Academy’s primary purpose is to produce mantled Siths with a firm foundation with which to pursue their ambitions. Herein lies my exposition on the skeletal structure of the Sith Order, and what may be expected of a mantled Sith. Nevertheless, the nature of a Sith itself defies such rigid structure, and it is not unknown for a Sith to ascend without care for any such strict adherence. If one is strong and powerful enough, one is welcomed to break even the curriculum of the Sith Academy.

Dark Lord of the Sith
Only one dons the Broken Crown, and reign from the throneworld of Ziost. Strike him down, and claim the mantle for your own, if you are strong enough. If not, he is sovereign. Such is ever the nature of the Sith: the strong rises, the weak falls, as we reach perfection through violence.

Darth
A Darth has neared the apex of power amongst the Sith Order. A Darth must have established a fearsome reputation and a substantial powerbase, with Lords answerable to him, if not entire fleets and worlds. He must have mastered facets of personal power, be it alchemy, sorcery, swordsmanship or war leadership that makes him uniquely supreme in that domain amongst the Order.

Lord
A Sith Lord must have established a powerbase, and have apprentices who reach across the stars to enforce his will. He must have reached mastery in at least one facet of personal power, and have contributed substantially to the Sith Order’s ambition of conquest and empire. One who has specialized in a path may be referred to as a Lord Warrior, a Lord Marauder or a Lord Inquisitor.

Sith
A mantled Sith aspiring towards lordship should now begin building his own powerbase, taking apprentices, and pursuing his own ambitions more ferociously with the might and resources of the Sith Order behind him. Still, there are those who abhor the duties and responsibilities of a Lord, and seek instead the perfection of self; mastery over their swordsmanship and sorceries in service of the Empire. A Sith may also hereon decide to specialize, as a Warrior, a Marauder or an Inquisitor.

Acolyte
An acolyte has mastered the Central Six and developed his proficiencies in lightsaber combat as an aspirant. Now, he sets forth upon the path of mastery towards a domain that would form the heart of his specialty, be it the Force or the saber, be it sorcery, alchemy, a particular lightsaber form, or even a unique Force power. Thereafter, he is to embark upon the forging of his own lightsaber, and to take the measure of his foes and rivals alike.

Aspirant
An aspirant is at the beginning of his journey upon the Qo, towards learning the ways of a Sith. Here, he is to begin developing an understanding of the Sith Code, crystallized his ambition in the Odojinya, and mastered the Central Six that forms the foundations of his Force powers: Telekinesis, Force Sense, Force Barrier, Force Control, Force Confusion and Dark Healing. He must have developed a proficiency for Makashi, to battle other Siths and Jedis, and Shien, to battle those reliant on blasters.

Epithets

Epithets are used in conjunction with a Sith’s position in the structure of the Sith Order. They represent either additional opportunities as well as responsibilities that not all Siths may desire in their journey along the Qo.

Apprentice
An apprentice pledges his fealty to a Sith of a higher title in exchange for a direct connection to a source of knowledge and power. He speaks with his master’s voice, and is an instrument of his master’s influence and authority. Not all Siths choose to become an apprentice to another for this reason, although it is believed to be a quicker path to power. An apprentice is considered part of his master’s powerbase, and an apprentice who fails to reflect well on his master can quickly earn his master’s ire.

Headmaster
The Headmaster is steward over the Sith Academy on Korriban, and manages both its overarching policies and its day-to-day operations. Another Sith or his apprentice may challenge him for the title, in a Rite of Vykti-Metra, with the victor assuming the title of Headmaster and the vanquished dethroned.

Overseer
An Overseer is an instructor at the Sith Academy, and is appointed by the Headmaster. Not all Overseers are Lords, with some being merely mantled Siths. They usually have a specialization, be it in inquisition techniques, sorcery, alchemy, a particular or multiple lightsaber forms, or even subjects such as history, philosophy and war.

The Investiture Ceremony

Once a month, or at appropriate junctures, the Sith Academy shall hold an investiture ceremony. All who are of the Academy are to attend unless demands weigh heavily upon their time, while alumni are issued invitations. During this ceremony, fresh Aspirants shall be introduced, while worthy Aspirants and Acolytes shall be elevated. Masters may declare their choice of apprentices, and those who seek to be apprentices may make known their ambitions.

An Investiture Ceremony is when a Sith may make his claim to Lordship, and face any who should challenge his or her claim. It is also during the Investiture Ceremony that the Headmaster or an Overseer may be challenged in a Rite of Vykti-Metra upon the end of his tenure, or surrender it by absence or by choice to become emeritus.

[Zarquon]

IV

Aspirant

An aspirant at the beginning of his journey upon the Qo should begin an understanding of the Sith Code, crystallize his ambition in the Odojinya, and gain a basic proficiency in Makashi and Shien as well as the Central Six; Force Telekinesis, Force Sense, Force Barrier, Force Control, Force Confusion and Dark Healing. Once that is accomplished, an aspirant may undergo the Trials of an Aspirant, which upon success would entitle him to be mantled as an acolyte of the Sith Order.

The Sith Code and Ambition

• A lesson, lecture, colloquium or discussion on the nature of the Sith Code. This should conclude with an exploration of one’s ambition, of what led one to pursuing the mantle of a Sith - what is it that fuels you, what is it that empowers you, that motivates you to push ever onwards, to reach perfection through violence? This is perhaps the most important part of an aspirant’s path; refer to the Coda on Ambition below.

Force Sense

• Develop an innate sense or sight of the Qyasik, of the Force, that permeates Creation and which we are gifted above the mundane to be capable of manipulating it. To some, it appears as stars in a hungry void. To others, like a web of chains or threads or strands to be pulled or tugged. To yet others, an ocean of currents and waves to guide or be swept along. How you comprehend Creation is a personal experience, but this is the first step towards a primitive and necessary understanding of Force Sense.

Force Telekinesis

• Through one’s sense of the Qyasik, to begin the basic manipulation of creation by toying with its strands. This usually manifests as a push or a pull. The finer your control, the more finesse with which you can manipulate objects. The stronger you are and the deeper into your ambitions and passions you can draw, the more impact your will has upon creation. This is the basis of Force Telekinesis, and a basic tool in a Sith’s arsenal.

Force Control

• To manipulate creation beyond is but a facet of a Sith’s ability to manipulate creation itself, for a Sith is himself part of creation. It is therefore necessary for a Sith to be capable of reaching within, and empower himself, drawing the Qyasik to himself to lend power to his blows, a greater awareness to his instincts, and an unnatural endurance. The more a Sith can draw from the Qyasik, the finer his control, the greater he can reach beyond his physical limitations. Referred to as Force Body by some, this forms the basis of Force Control.

Dark Healing

• Once a finer form of Force Control is achieved, a Sith can push his unnatural endurance a step further and develop the ability to perform a Dark Healing. Through the overcoming of pain and pushed further beyond the constraints of blood, flesh and muscles with the Dark Side, a Sith can all but cauterize open wounds, force them to be stitched closed, or knot muscles that are torn apart, embracing the shard of him that is beyond mere mortality. Such healing is never without a price, and rare is the Sith who endures without a constant companion of pain and aches, of itches and agony that burn as a result of repeatedly defy creation’s demand that his mortal form expire.

Force Barrier

• An amalgamation of Force Telekinesis and Force Control, a Sith begins to develop ways of avoiding, deflecting and altogether blocking blows or blaster-shots. Through the Qyasik, creation itself seems more predictable, the actions of others a hair easier to read, a blade more easily deflected an inch aside, or one’s legs reacting just a shade quicker to leap away. Known in its more primitive form as Force Evasion, a master of Force Barrier would eventually come to be capable of blocking a lightsaber with his hand, or create an unseen wall to ward away a storm of blaster bolts.

Force Confusion

• All the above but lay the framework and foundation for one’s interactions with creation through the Qyasik, but the most important of these is to touch the minds of others. It would be sufficient for an aspirant to display a basic grasp of Force Confusion by stunning a foe into confusion and inaction for a few seconds, for even that would require great strain and effort, and be resisted by a foe with even some middling capabilities in guarding his mind. In this basic form, this is sometimes referred to as Force Stun.

An aspirant ought to beware: proficiency in the Central Six is not mastery. There is yet a long way yet. A true master of Force Confusion could entice a legion of his foes to turn upon each other. One who has delved deeper into an understanding of Force Telekinesis could lift a starship. One who has come to supreme knowledge of Force Control and Dark Healing may well seem impossible to slay, surviving and enduring injuries that would be fatal even to an ordinary Sith.

Lightsaber Forms

• When the stars were younger, the Siths were more fond of their runeblades than the lightsabers of this age. Yet, the draw of a glowing stick has evidently drawn more favor, and one would be a fool to deny it. Therefore, a Sith should be minimally competent in a number of lightsaber forms. To begin with, an aspirant must learn Shii-Cho, which sets the foundations of his understanding of lightsaber forms and combat. Thereafter, he should begin developing knowledge of Makashi, the Contention Form, for other Jedis and Siths are the first of your two most likely foes to face, and Makashi is the duelists’ form. Finally, an aspirant should come to start building the basics of his knowledge in Shien, the Perseverance Form, for rather than fleeing at the sight of us, many fools decide to aim a blaster instead and pray that their blaster bolts make contact. Your objective is to educate them as to the folly of fighting instead of flight, and endeavor not to have to teach that lesson twice.

Makashi

• Makashi is the Way of the Ysalamiri. An aspirant but need to be capable of maintaining a proper footwork, swinging his blade without hurting himself, blocking the blade of another, and finding the right timing to riposte with a series of piercing stabs; known too as a Shiak.

Shien

• Shien is the Way of the Krayt Dragon. An aspirant but need to be capable of maintaining an awareness of his surroundings, of those that may be targeting him with hostile intentions, and react so naturally that his body moves before his mind catches up. It is enough to be capable of blocking at least half a volley of blaster fire. More sadistic instructors are known to repeatedly fire a blaster at the stun setting at an aspirant to motivate him into proficiency in Shien, though the use of a Marksman-C training remote is banal but far more efficient. Less amusing, however.

An Aspirant’s Trials

To graduate from an aspirant to that of an acolyte of a Sith Order, an aspirant must demonstrate the above to the satisfaction of at least a mantled Sith. The Sith must then vouch for the aspirant in an Investiture Ceremony, at which point another mantled Sith may question or demand a similar if shorter demonstration from the aspirant. Should the aspirant succeed, the aspirant would be elevated to that of an acolyte.

A demonstration to the satisfaction of a Sith can come in many ways, and rare is a Sith who would test an aspirant the same way. The most common is a duel, between two aspirants, followed by a task that has to be accomplished - usually a retrieval, say, of a reagent or a specimen of wild animal or even the abduction of some nameless unfortunate to be spent in the Sith’s experiments. In this way, the Sith’s own ambition is furthered even as the aspirant’s is, to the gain of both.

A Coda on Ambition

A Sith is driven by his passion, a strong desire burning within him to achieve something. It could be dominion, over others, or a territory, that grows to a desire to conquer. It could be the pursuit of personal power and perfection, though even this can take on many dimensions: one might seek to be proficient in Sith alchemy and forge a powerful Sith rune-sword, or transmute flesh into new monstrosities, or become a master of Makashi. It could be vengeance, be it more generally, such as against the Republic and the Jedi for the wrongs done to the Sith Order, or more personal, such as that of a slave who became a Sith might have for slavers.

A Sith’s ambition ought be pursuable without the direct intervention of the Academy or his superiors along the path. Want to become a master of Makashi? Seek out and challenge Jedis and Siths whom you meet, to take their measure, learn your flaws and better your knowledge of the blade. Want to forge a legendary blade in blood and sorcery? Procure through blood, credits or influence rare and unusual reagents with which to forge, and hone your skills by crafting for others, building a reputation as a master forge-smith. Want to seek vengeance against the Jedi Order? Push for policies and initiatives that hinder them, that better the Sith Empire in its war against the Republic. Want to establish a library on Sith culture, literature and histories? Seek out scraps of those knowledge, preserve them, grow them and guard them, writing books or anthologies or collections on them.

Additionally, it is ideal if a Sith’s ambition runs parallel to the more standard structure of the Academy and its curriculum. It is presumed that all Siths seek to progress, to forge a lightsaber, to rise in the hierarchy. That is universally applicable. A Sith’s personal ambition ought to be precisely that: personal. What is it that the Sith pursues between lessons and classes, between colloquiums and competitions? If he is nothing but another faceless, nameless Sith in a covenant of the hungry, then the Sith would never rise up to anything worthy and beyond an aspirant. It is even worse if a Sith becomes apprenticed to a master, and then becomes nothing but a leech, reliant on his master for all his progress. Such a Sith is but a tool, crafted by another’s will. Your master should be your tool, a resource by which you pursue your ambition, but one who subsumes you into his.

Generally, a Sith’s ambition ought to involve change, be it of himself or the world around him. A Sith dedicated towards maintaining stagnancy and the status quo is but in the limbo of a living death; inevitably, a stronger Sith comes by to slay him, and take the throne he is warming, or he is slain by the other vagaries of fate. This is, indeed, the natural outcome of a Sith who has reached the extent of his capabilities and ambitions, to become a whetstone that sharpens the iron of future Siths.

It is an unimportant that a Sith’s ambition may even be at odds with other Siths, with Siths higher on the hierarchy or even the Sith Empire. It is on a Sith to advance his ambitions despite of opposition, and let iron sharpen iron. It is for him to overcome those who would seek to stop him, or fail in the trying. If he survives the failing, then it is on him to try again. Indeed, it is inherent in the nature of the Qotsisajak that there ought be conflict. A Sith is not entitled to victory. It is for him to strive and struggle to gain it.

Finally, a Sith’s ambition may change. It is a natural product of growth and discovery, that as time transpires and more is learned, what is sought by a Sith in one instance of his journey may be different from when he is further down the road. It may be entirely different, for example, a Sith may have fallen in love, only for his beloved to perish, and his ambition transforms from a pursuit of self-perfection to that of vengeance. Or, it may expand; a Sith may begin desiring power, in establishing his own dojo of blademastery, only to as time passes on seek the mantle of an Overseer, then the Headmaster, then command over a legion in the Sith Empire itself to pursue a campaign of conquest.

[Zarquon]

V

Ambitions, continued

A Sith…

• … cyberneticist seeking to amalgamate the sciences with Sith sorcery, to create monstrous constructs blending flesh and steel, or to elevate mortal flesh with metallic immortality. She pays mercenaries to capture live specimens, from animals slowly to sentients, to amputate and experiment on them.

• … doctor trying to cure Force plagues, or create them altogether, that he may tailor them to only affect certain sentients, or victims with certain characteristics. He conducts field-tests, pays handsomely for canisters of chemicals and syringes of viruses, and seeks to establish a laboratory from which he may keep caged his specimens.

• … assassin seeking worthy prey, marking them, watching them, and slaying them in gruesome spectacles that are intended to afflict terror into the foes of the Sith Order. She diligently works to collect bounties, and strives to learn the rare power of Force Cloak.

• … manipulator trying to cause chaos amongst the foes of the Sith Empire. He works in the shadows of Veles, inciting ambitions in Czerka, engineering false flag operations to turn the Revanites against the Jedi Order or vice versa, and strives towards the calling for a gubernatorial election in Veles so that he may support the election of a pro-Malak governor.

• … sorcerer pursuing the secrets of the Dark Side of the Force, combing tombs for scrolls and the learnings of the old master. She delves ever deeper into her arcane research, prying forth eldritch lore of spells and powers that most others might only have heard of; unleashing forth bolts of hatred, calling down incapacitating webs of the Qyasik, or even animating the dead with unnatural locomotion to pursue her foes.

• … general and tactician establishing an elite squad of non-Force Sensitives, recruiting competent mercenaries, bounty hunters, soldiers and warriors into his own personal strike force. They roam the galaxy, battling the Republic and the Revanites, aiming to crew their own capital ship and to be the tip of the spear of the Sith Empire.

• … magnate and logistician seeking to dominate and conquer with the power of raw credits, selling weapons to rebels in dissident Republic worlds or buying the loyalties of entire mercenary crew to turn on the Republic. She intimidates her rivals, and uses force and criminals to monopolize entire sectors of trade to enrich herself; with her wealth, she spends it freely on a collection of Sith scrolls and relics and artifacts, from which she draws immense power.

• … politician who has infiltrated his way into the Republic, aiming to become the Supreme Chancellor such that he may control the Republic from within. He plays factions of the Republic against each other, and incites distrust and suspicion of the Jedi Order, until the very Republic turns on their erstwhile protectors and slaughter them to the last.

• … warrior trying to become a blademaster and a master of Juyo. He actively seeks other Jedis and Siths to challenge them to duels in exotic and unusual places, where the Dark Side or even the Light Side may be strongest, to constantly test himself in alien circumstances. He teaches other Siths, and through his teachings develop a deeper understanding of the forms, and has little shame in learning from those who are better than he so that he may someday surpass them. He records every victory and defeat in a tattoo on his forearm, and he believes that he would reach perfection when his entire body is covered in tattoos of his triumphs.

• … archaeologist and historian piecing together the fragmented and oft-lost histories of the Sith people, in the hopes of establishing a museum or library that may serve as the authoritative repository of the Sith Empire. She guards it jealously, and sends out bounty hunters, mercenaries or even mobilize entire legions to retrieve what she believes is the Sith Empire’s sacred past.

• … and so on.

Only a fool believes that the Old Ways are incompatible with modern ambitions. A perfect being has mastered all the facets of mortality and transcended it such that the very galaxy can be reshaped; he is limited by nothing, and pursues everything. As iron sharpens iron, then, so must the Siths of the Sith Order master all the facets of mortality, and pursue dominion over all, that the greatest of the Sith would have mastery in all, and be Sith’ari. As a Sith, one should pursue one’s ambition, until it is spent, and then pursue another ambition, until that too is spent, all the way until one has attained perfection or has perished along the way.

Only a greater fool believes that the ambitions are rigid, and that it is impossible to mix-and-match them, or pursue more than one at a time, or develop his own ambitions altogether. The above are the fevered thoughts of a Sith, not the exhaustive list of what passions may derive.

And finally, remember that there is no end to an ambition. One can easily be an aspirant seeking to collect the histories of the Sith as scraps, all the way to becoming a Darth in command of the central and vastest collection of Sith lore. One can easily begin as a warrior measuring himself against petty foes, and end as a Darth who has few equals, in command of a loyal cadre of blademasters whom he personally trained.