Long before the Galactic Empire, in fact tens of thousands of years before the Old Republic, I suppose it was in the days of early hyperspace, a group of force-sensitive monks, the Bendu, I believe, became the first human settlers of the planet Tython.

You've never heard of Tython, have you? I don't know myself if it actually exists anymore, but I believe... yes, I believe it was somewhere within the Deep Core of the galaxy. It was there that these monks disembarked, after a great pilgrimage where they gathered other force-sensitives like themselves, and spread out across the face of this planet. There were no Jedi in these days- they did not yet exist, but they were coming. The seeds of their order began with those Bendu monks. You see Tython was an ancient planet even then, and rich in the Force- both the light and the dark. When those settlers arrived, so full of light were they, that they disturbed the balance of the planet, creating a phenomenon that is unique to Tython- a force storm.

Now there were two moons in the night sky of Tython, the first was bright, always bathed in light, and so it was called 'Ashla', which means light. The second was forever shrouded in shadows and so it was called 'Bogan', the word for dark. It was by their observations of these two moons that the Bendu came to understand the planet Tython could only be at peace when the light and the dark were balanced. In fact, so devoted did they become to this notion, that whenever any monk seemed to stray too far towards the light or the dark, that monk would be banished to the opposite moon, where he or she would meditate until they again found their balance.

They lived well on Tython, spreading out across continents and building nine major temples, and the planet was at peace, until Cress Thul was born.

Ah, now I've said something you recognize. You know the name Thul. I suppose you've heard of the House of Thul, haven't you? You must be thinking that the House of Thul belongs to that planet of the sad fate, Alderaan, and it is no more, and you are correct, of course

At any rate, at the moment Cress Thul came into being, so did one of the strongest Force storms that had ever been seen on Tython. It did not stop for three weeks. Fearing for their lives, many of the planets inhabitants fled to the two moons. A council was called at the largest of the Bendu temples. There, they realized that there had been a great imbalance, a strong shift to the dark, and it wasn't long before they discovered the cause.

Cress Thul had been born to a woman who had never known a man. He was conceived purely through the power of the Force, and he appeared to have the greatest capacity for darkness that any had ever seen.

Now to be filled with darkness is one thing, and to have a great capacity to be filled with darkness is entirely another- at least that's what several of the monks decided. There were others among them, however, who felt that balance could only be regained by slaying the child. The first group argued that to slay an innocent baby was a great act of darkness, and that it could possibly cause the storms to worsen until the planet tore itself apart.

And so they argued amongst each other. They could not agree on the fate of the child, and the storm raged on around them, until the third hour of the third day of the council. At that time, the most beautiful lady that any of them had ever seen, entered the great hall of the temple, and when she spoke, the storms abated.

You want to know what she said? Well, no one can be certain of her exact words. It is said that she had a voice as clear, and sweet and loud as a bell, and whatever she said, it caused them to give the baby to her.

Who was this great lady? I can see how curious you are, don't try to deny it. She is given no other name in stories besides 'The Lady', in some places though, she is called the Great Lady, or the Shining Lady- but Bimms are known to exaggerate a little bit here and there, and I feel 'The lady' describes her well enough. No one knew where she had come from or who she was, but some storytellers will say that she was perhaps the last remaining Celestial in our galaxy. Yes! Celestial- that legendary race of old. The great architects, the great powerful and mysterious ones. I don't tell it that way myself, because all the stories say that the Celestials were gone by then. Perhaps she was a descendant of them, for she was very powerful, and she never seemed to grow old.

At any rate, the Lady took Cress Thul from the council and disappeared with him. It was said that she brought him to live deep below the surface of the planet, in a cave more expansive and beautifully fashioned than any palace. The boy was raised by her servants, and he soon grew into a young man who was kind in heart, brilliant in mind, and powerful in the Force. You see, she was great and powerful in the light, and she cancelled out the darkness that would have grown in the boy.

But now, our story becomes a sad one. The lady was said to be an immortal, eternally beautiful and ever unchanging, and what do you suppose happened when the boy became a man? Well, she was eternally beautiful, after all, and what man can resist a shining perfect woman of eternal beauty? Not Cress Thul, by any means. He was deeply in love with her. So deeply, in fact, that he could not imagine a life without her. His only dark thoughts were the ones where it occurred to him that he might someday be separated from her. But when that day came, he left by his own choice.

The lady... was dying. But Albion, did you not just say that she was immortal and unchanging? Yes, I suppose I did, and I suppose she might have stayed that way, but for one thing. The years she had spent as the counterbalance to the black hole of darkness that still resided in Cress Thul's heart, had drained her very life force. When he discovered this, and when he realized that there was no way to save her, he fled from her side, fearing that his presence would only kill her faster.

He fell into a sort of madness after that, which I suppose one does when they destroy the only thing they love in all the world. With the lady's light fading, and the darkness growing inside of Cress Thul, the planet Tython again raged with Force storms. The Bentu drove Cress away and he, angry at his fate, and determined to control what he could in this life, took up the very bad habit of raising armies and decimating other planets.

He did so many bad things, in fact, that news of his escapades reached his dying lady even in her cave.

She had loved him as well, you know. Loved him enough to die for him, but she could not allow him to destroy entire worlds. The lady came up with a plan. It is said that in her veins, flowed a shining liquid metal that pulsated with light. She cut her wrists, and from her own blood she forged a single arrow.

Now this act weakened her greatly, and as she chased after Cress Thul, she became weaker still. By the time she caught up to him- on the planet Delaya in the Alderaan Sector, I believe- she could barely stand on her own two feet. It was said, that in her last act, she drew her bow, nocked her arrow, and fell dead before she could fire it.

If I have made Cress Thul seem like a bad man before the death of his lady, I can only compare what he became afterwards to a howling monster. He seemed to have lost all his reason. He burned entire cities to the ground, devoured continents, his actions caused more than one planet to become uninhabitable. Can you imagine the hatred that must have festered inside of him? Especially when he realized that the Lady he had loved above anything else, the Lady who had once happily offered her life to save his, had tried to kill him.

He took that arrow, by the way. He took that arrow and never let it out of his sight. Now some folks will tell you that he held onto it for one reason and one reason alone- he was an awfully hard fellow to kill. Remember, he was born with a great capacity for the dark force, and once it was filled, I suppose he was probably as powerful as any sith lord that has ever lived. There were many who believed that the Lady's blood arrow was the only thing that could kill him, and so there were many plans to steal the arrow and stab him with it. But I think there was another reason as well. He had loved her, after all, and when she fell dead, they found only her clothes. Her body dissipated into the Force, so if you will humor my romantic notion, I believe that the arrow was the only thing he had left of her. I think he didn't just keep it with him out of fear, but out of some sort of love as well.

Now I've mentioned that there were many plans to steal the arrow. I would bet he foiled two or three a week. No one had even laid eyes on it- but then, Cress Thul made a mistake. He set his mind to conquering Tython-

"So the blood arrow was more or less a weapon that he kept with him at all times because he was afraid someone would use it to kill him," Rey said as she exhaled a deep sigh. "Thanks. I suppose that's all I really needed to know."

"No, not at all! Well, yes, at first- but you see, there's more to this story. There's more to it than that. The blood arrow wasn't something that-"

"Cut to the end. Did the blood arrow kill him?" Rey demanded.

"Er- I suppose one could say that... uhh... well in a way, I suppose it... just listen to the story-"

"Did it kill him?"

"Yes, eventually, but not in the way an arrow normally does," Albion admitted.

Rey threw back the rest of her drink, and stood up. The dark and smoky tavern was filled with low conversation and hooded figures. She could feel speculative eyes and dark thoughts. She did not like this place.

"Come on. We've wasted enough time here, and I've still got to find the slave market," she insisted.

Albion finished his drink as well and followed her out to the street. A slow-moving caravan of banthas loaded down with goods was taking up most of the street, impeding the flow of foot traffic.

"I wouldn't head that way," Albion suggested. "You won't find a slave market at the city center. They change locations every time. Slavers tend to favor abandoned buildings in out of the way places which-"

The Storyteller was interrupted by the frightened cries of a bantha which came from the back of the caravan. A few seconds later more cries were heard, and the animals nearest them began to move faster, causing the crowds to surge forward as well, and many people to cry out in alarm.

Albion stepped into the street and hopped unto a cart, shielding his eyes he stared into the distance.

"I don't see it, but I can hear it," he called. "Some thick-headed dolt is trying to drive a speeder through this. Ah, now I see it! What's he doing? He's going to cause a stampede if he's not-"

Rey leapt back as a small speeder shot by her, leaving frightened yelps and shouts of indignation in its wake. It turned onto a side street in front of them, disappearing as quickly as it had come, but as it turned, Rey saw a flash of purple from the moving parcel thrown across the back.

"Was that..." she began.

"Talya?" Albion finished. "Yes. I think we've found those slavers you were looking for."

He leapt down from the cart, but Rey had already started running. She turned the corner and immediately had to dodge a cart full of vaporizer parts and a knot of very upset moisture farmers. In the distance, the speeder turned again, and as Rey raced after it she turned to look back for Albion.

As Talya had once said, he was not a fast runner, though he was obviously trying hard to keep up. His face was very red, and his cheeks puffed from hard breathing, but he gave her a grin. Rey scoffed and turned just in time to see the spilled bushel of camba-fruit in her path. She leapt, clearing it easily, but was forced to duck and roll as the tail of a dewback swung toward her. The next time she glanced over her shoulder, Albion had disappeared.

Rey turned the corner at a full run, and found herself, for the first time since arriving on Lothal, on a completely abandoned alleyway. She could hear her hurried footsteps echoing down the street. Glancing from side-to-side, she noted that no sign of life came from any of these buildings. They seemed to be imperial-era structures and had probably been abandoned since the fall of the Empire. This was where a slave market would be!

The speeder had disappeared, but she soon discovered something else that caused her legs to move even faster. There was a disturbance here in the Force. There was a great surge of fear and uncertainty and pain. There was darkness, and it surely came from the terrified beings who were held chained and caged for the perusal of others.

She came at last to a tall, domed building that seemed to be in the process of falling apart. Scraps of metal had fallen away in places, exposing the construction beams, and broken glass lay scattered across the street below, a testament to all the missing windows. There was no sign of the speeder, but all of the doors to the building had been sealed by sheets of metal bolted across them... all but one. The sheet metal lay on the ground beside it as though having only recently been pried off. This would be the entrance to the slave market, she was certain. This was where she would find the Knights of Ren. She was about to nock her arrow.

Stepping cautiously through the doorway, she heard the murmurs first. Dozens and dozens of low voices arguing, agreeing, commenting in many different languages, and beneath those, voices muffled by gags- crying, pleading...

A long corridor opened into the domed great room which must have once been a main assembly hall of the old Empire's government. The tiered seating had been removed, and the main floor now appeared to be a series of log flat steps descending to a level floor where speeders and pack animals waited for retrieval while their masters made their purchases. The slavers organized themselves by steps. On the first step, clusters of beautiful Twi'lek girls sat back to back, their arms bound together. Beyond them were captive species that even Rey couldn't identify- they seemed to have tentacles for arms, but even these were bound in iron cuffs and chained to rings in the floor. She recognized humans among the captives, but was surprised to see Wookies in cages- she could not imagine how anyone could catch and keep a Wookie, they were extremely powerful and not at all opposed to defending themselves.

Through this market of misery moved the buyers, stopping to examine the living wear, bidding, laughing with others. Most of them she couldn't identify- they were shadowy figures in a hooded cloacks like her own- a few Hutts, a handful of Zygerrians, and... and... Jaila!

Jaila... the Knight whose apprentice she had slain on Baudere. Jaila who would have killed her had Kylo Ren not intervened when he did. She wore her full armor, carrying her helmet under her arm, and as she walked, her attention seemed to be focused on a row of kneeling slaves. From time to time she would stop in front of one and nod slightly to one of her companions who would then begin bargaining for the slave she had indicated as she continued her inspection. If she could find out where those slaves were going, she could, perhaps, with a little wave of her hand, slip in among them without attracting any attention, and make her way back to Baudere.

Just below her, voices were raised in heated argument, an argument that was beginning to draw attention. Looking down, Rey almost let out a shriek of irritation. Albion had found Talya, bound hand to foot, and was now arguing with the slaver who stood beside her.

"And I say that is MY companion whom you've only just now stolen from my ship!" Albion argued, stamping his foot. "How dare you! How dare you think you can do such a thing and get away with it!"

A chorus of laughter from those assembled around them was his answer.

"Release her at once, or I'll, I'll... Rey! Rey, I've found her! Rey!" Albion yelled, spotting her above the masses.

On the level below Albion, Jaila had paused, and now spoke with one of the black-robed apprentices who followed in her wake. Were they done? Were they going to leave?

"Rey, it's me! Hey, down here!" he called, waving an arm frantically at her.

"Kriff," Rey growled.

Gritting her teeth, she jumped down to Albion's level and strode quickly across to him. She had lost sight of Jaila, but if she moved quickly, she might still be able to catch up to their group.

"Let her go!" Rey demanded, while still walking towards the slaver- a corpulant, blue-skinned man with a single long head tail.

"You lot are nothing more than a bunch of thieves, making up a story like that. Let her go? Ha!" he growled.

"One of your men snatched her right off of our ship! You can't do that!" Albion insisted.

"Where do you think slaves come from, little man?" laughed someone in the crowd.

"I'll only say it once more, let her go," Rey repeated.

"No," the slaver growled.

Moving so fast, that no one had time to react, Rey snatched her light saber, ignited it and cut through the chain securing Talya's arms to her legs. By the time Talya screeched, Rey had already snatched her by her shoulder and pulled her to her feet.

"Get back to the transport!" she snapped. Talya nodded.

"See... you can't just do things like that," the slaver drawled, taking a step towards her. "There's rules here, and you've broken them."

The crowd of onlookers had changed in an instant from leering to menacing, the circle around her and Albion grew tighter and smaller. Rey swung her blade up to point at the slaver's throat.

"Let...us...pass," she said, enunciating each word.

"Oh my. What do we have here?"

Rey froze, recognizing the voice. Her plan of slipping in with the slaves the Knights took and even of taking Kylo Ren by surprise would now have to be scrapped. The crowd parted to allow Jaila and her entourage of hooded apprentices to approach.

"The filthy scavenger. Kylo Ren's little pet, isn't it? I can't remember your name," Jaila smiled. She nodded to one of her apprentices. "Take her."

Rey swung her blade to point at the first apprentice who moved toward her. She could not fight them all, but what she could do... there was so much dark energy here. Fear, and hatred and pain... all of it... she could draw that power in and... and... she wanted to do it. She wanted to destroy every one of those evil slavers, that entire market even, but that meant destroying Talya and Albion as well as countless other innocent slaves.

"Let my companions go, and I won't fight you," Rey conceded, dropping her blade. Perhaps she had lost the element of surprise, but she was still going to Baudere. That was enough.

Jaila's eyes moved moved over Talya and Albion.

"Release the Theelin, but keep the Bimm, he's got a spark in him, I suppose," Jaila decided.

Talya took a step backwards and eyed Rey tentatively.

"What are you waiting for?" Rey asked. "Run."

The purple-haired girl looked as though she might cry for a moment. Albion smiled reassuringly and nodded his agreement. Talya ran, stumbling to get out of that place, while those around them began to lose interest in the scene and went back to their tasks.

"Bring me her blade, and made sure you bind her well. She's slippery and Force-strong" Jaila ordered her lackeys. She too turned to walk away.

Rey allowed her arms to be secured and her light saber to be snatched, as she was shoved into a procession with other slaves acquired by the Knights of Ren. Albion walked just ahead of her, and two of Jaila's apprentices walked beside her- one on either side.

"Where do you think they'll take us?" Albion called back.

"Baudere," Rey mumbled.

"Haven't heard of that one before. Huh. Is it far?"

"I think so," Rey agreed.

"Well, there is a bright side then," he suggested.

"Is there?" Rey scoffed.

"If it's a long trip I'll have time to tell you the rest of the story, right?"

Rey heaved a long sigh in response.

Now, as I've said, many people plotted to get that arrow and kill Cress Thul with it, but none had managed to accomplish this- that is, until he returned to his homeworld, Tython. I don't actually know why he returned there. Maybe he was angry at having been forced off years before, or maybe in his mad and twisted mind, he blamed them somehow for his Lady's death, but I do know what he intended to do there. He intended to conquer that planet and make it the center of his Empire.

He might have done it too, if not for one brave Tython- his own mother. History does not record her name either. When he was born, she had tried to hide him from the Bendu Council, fearing that they would know he was the cause of the storm and slay him. Like almost any mother, her instinct was to protect him, but when she saw what he had become and what he planned to do to their home, she knew that she would have to be the one who destroyed what she'd brought into the world.

She went to his armies on her own, with his birth clothes and the small bassinet he had slept in for only three weeks and she told them her story, and she cried, and begged, and pleaded to see her son. For some reason, Cress Thul allowed it. Perhaps he was curious, or perhaps the idea of someone in this galaxy who might be able to love him was still and attractive idea to him. The woman through herself on the floor before him, and begged him for forgiveness, crying and saying that she should have never given him away, and that she had only done it to protect him and so on and so forth. Her actions were so convincing, that Cress Thul allowed her to stay among his followers.

It took this woman weeks. She told him secrets about the Tythans. She helped him strategize. She gave him encouragement and information and what appeared to be loyalty. She made all the food that he ate, claiming that it was the only way she could trust that no one would poison it. She made any medicine that he needed by her own hand and would allow no one else to minister to him. It took her many months, but he trusted her- as much as a man like Cress Thul could ever trust anyone- and she used that trust, to discover the location of the blood arrow.

He kept it with him at all times, attached to his leg in a special leather sheath. He took it off only when he slept, and as he slept, he held it in his arms. One night, his mother came to him with a medicine she had concocted for his headaches, and he, used to the routine by now, drank it, and fell into a deep sleep. The woman unsheathed the arrow, placed the point over his heart, and with all her strength, drove the arrow into the body of her son.

Now, I know what you're thinking... that was the end of Cress Thul, right? No! Not by a long shot. You see, here is where we learn what the Lady had intended all along. The blood arrow was never meant to kill Cress Thul. It was a creation of pure light force and as it entered his body, it burned away all the darkness therein. He was purified, reborn, and immediately horrified by everything he had ever done.

He sat bolt upright with the Lady's blood arrow sticking out of his chest, and called for his men at once. He pulled his armies out of Tython within a day, leaving all the supplies of his armies to feed and sustain the people he had besieged for so long. From then on, Cress Thul battled the Dark Force wherever he encountered it in the galaxy. He brought the first human settlers to Takodana after their planet was destroyed. He and his men abolished the slave trade on the core planets- yes, I know, I wish they'd of kept going with that as well. He fought to protect non-sentient species from the effects of over-industry on Corellia. Truly, his heroic exploits could fill volumes- and they do. Perhaps another time I will tell you about... right, right, I do have a habit of going off on a tangent, don't I?

All this he did, with the blood arrow of his lady sticking out of his chest! Yes, I know. It's strange to imagine, isn't it? For the blood arrow could never be removed or he would die, and besides, it was precious to him. The arrow was a daily reminded of that which he had loved best, and to it, he owed his salvation and his sanity. The blood arrow was his most valued treasure. He often said that it contained the most powerful force in the known galaxy, and as it turned out he was quite right.

You see in those days, the evil Rakata were building their Infinite Empire, actively seeking Force-worlds to drain of power. The Rakata were ancient even then. It is said by many that they were once slaves to the Celestials, utilized as builders in their massive constructions, but they had turned and attacked their benevolent masters, driving them out of the galaxy and taking it for themselves. When the Rakata's Force Hounds discovered Tython- you do know what a Force Hound is, yes? No?! Very well, the next tale I tell with be of Xesh, the most famous of those and- right, right. Tangent!

At any rate, in order to stop the Rakata from attacking Tython, Cress Thul attacked their forces, and the fled to Alderaan. A large group of the Rakata took his bait, followed him, and met with his armies there in the desert. Oh yes, Alderaan was a desert then. It had once been the home planet of the Killiks, who had stipped it of every last resource before abandoning it. The two armies fought with each other there, but unfortunately, the forces of Cress Thul were grossly out-numbered. When he knew that they would lose, when he knew that the Rakata would not allow them to surrender, but would kill each and every one of his soldiers before they left, he made a fateful decision.

Cress Thul, pulled the arrow from his heart and plunged it into the barren sand, and from that point, exploded so much light and life and pure Force, that the Rakata were immediately vanquished. Disintegrated, supposedly! Across the wasteland life bloomed. Grass grew instantly, flowers exploded in bursts of color, water, bubbled up from underground springs and created the lakes and rivers that were so well-known ever after.

For thousands and thousands of years, the planet Alderaan was considered to be among the most beautiful in the known galaxy. It was renown for its art and philosophy and its people were great peacemakers. The noble house of Thul took their name from the great hero, and the legacy of his sacrifice and the blood arrow lived on for eons, until that planet... was no more.