Whitley sighed in relief. Today had been rather straining, and it was only going to get worse from here. He'd figure out a way to accelerate his training later. For now, he'd just enjoy the hot shower.
Fifteen minutes later, Whitley stepped out. It was only 6 p.m, and he had the rest of the evening to himself. Whitley decided to head to the kitchen and grab something to eat. It was a good thing he told Klein that he would be busy the whole day today.
"Klein, I have a great deal of work to accomplish today before Father comes back. I'd rather be left alone. If I need food or anything, I'll ring up a servant myself. Understood?"
Klein nodded, then left to go back to his duties.
Whitley was able to nab some bread and caviar before heading to his room. As he was polishing up his improvised meal, Hadrian popped up from his holocron.
"We have some time to kill before you head off to the realm of dreams, Acolyte. Why don't we use it to continue where we left off? I know you wish to learn more."
Whitley nodded. He couldn't help it, he was completely hooked onto this. He had so many questions. What happened to the dark sided faction of Je'daii? Where did Hadrian and Samael factor into all this?
Hadrian cleared his throat, and then, images began to appear again. Unlike Samael's holographic images, these felt far more real, like illusions that surrounded Whitley, showing the events that unfolded as Hadrian spoke of them.
The scene shifted and distorted, before showing a group of red skinned humanoids, brandishing swords and spears
Before we talk about the Dark Jedi that fled Tython, we must talk about a different group. They existed long before the founding of the Jedi Order and the discovery of the Dark Side. This group was a species, known only as "Sith". The Sith species began to coalesce as a society millennia before the Force Wars of Tython. They immersed their culture in rites and lore of the dark side. Warriors and fighters to the core, they repelled many invasions of their homeworld, a planet known as Korriban. However, there came a time when the Sith were under attack by a threat that was completely different to any enemy they had fought before.
A massive Sith with charcoal skin was donning some heavy armor. After he finished putting on the armor, he grabbed a massive battle axe and started walking away.
The Sith would've faced defeat and a future in slavery, if it were not for their leader. One Sith who united the disparate nations of the Sith, and hailed as the sole leader of his people. A Sith who not only routed the invaders, but started to conquer their lands for his people.
The Sith, once fighting each other, were yelling in jubilation, as the massive Sith sat down on a golden throne.
His name was Adas, and the Sith believed that he was their God, chosen to lead them to victory until the end of time. They hailed him as the Sith'ari, their Overlord. His reign had already lasted over 300 years before the invasion, and it seemed like it would reign for 300 more. Sadly, Adas would not survive that long. He was betrayed by his friend, Yshaar Kael.
Where the brilliant towers and smiling people once stood was now a wasteland. Bodies littered the entire city.
The Sith, deprived of the overlord that united them, fell back into their old habits. They reignited the Civil Wars, and many Sith Lords, who once swore fealty to Adas, turned on each other in the effort to gain the power and title of Sith'ari. It culminated into the most horrific act of this war, when Dathka Graush, a madman even by the standards of the Sith, had his army of undead Sith destroy most of the cities of Korriban. This led to the backwards primitive cultural regression of the Sith species. The remaining Sith that had not regressed to this point left Korriban and moved their center of government and culture to the planet of Ziost.
Sand started shifting around, slowly burying the terrible sight before Whitley's eyes. A tribal group of Sith appeared, sitting over a fire.
Korriban, once a shining example of power, wealth, and culture of the Sith species, now became their tomb world for their fallen leaders. It seemed that those left in Korriban would lead a doomed existence, left to suffer by their own people, slowly forgetting how powerful they once were.
A ship appeared out of nowhere, touching down nearby. A group of hooded humanoids in dark robes walked out
But that was not to be. Those that had been exiled by the Jedi Order, and left to wander the stars, found a new home in this tomb world.
The Sith approached these hooded humanoids, brandishing spears and blades, ready to kill. One of the hooded humanoids made a grasping motion with his hand, before the leader of the Sith group started clutching his throat, fruitlessly gasping for air. The leader clawed for air for only a few seconds, before an audible SNAP was heard. The Sith leader fell to a heap, dead. The Sith group looked at the hooded humanoids, shocked, before throwing their weapons down and bowing low.
The Sith were shocked by the dark side abilities of the fallen Je'daii. They proclaimed these new arrivals to their world as Jen'jidai, or Dark Jedi in the language of the Sith.
The hooded humanoids faded away. In their place stood men and women clad in armored robes of gold. Lightning, fire, and red energy flowed through their hands, their eyes glowing various colors of orange, red, and yellow.
The Jen'jidai forged an alliance with the Sith ruler's second in command and used that relationship to overthrow the King and claim dominion over the Sith. The Jen'jidai adopted the title "Lords of the Sith" and their ruler came to be known as the Jen'ari, or Dark Lord of the Sith.
Behind the group of men and women, a red-black hexagon started to form. Starships zoomed past. Red lightning flashed, highlighting this new symbol.
And thus, the Sith Order...was born.