The Death of Ajunta Pall
Around 6893-2 BBY, the Jen'jidai submitted to the authority of Tulak Hord after he had chased Dreypa out of the Stygian Caldera. The Sith Magnus would later come to be remembered by the Sith people as the ideal conquer and warrior, and many, most notably Naga Sadow, would envy his achievements and seek to replicate them. His claim to fame was his conquest of over a hundred worlds in his lifetime alone. In less than half a century, the Sith Empire expanded in size from only a few dozen systems to almost two hundred. At this point, the Empire stretched from one end of the hyperspace disrupting nebulae at one end of the Caldera to the other. The Empire would not again reach such a size until the life of Marka Ragnos almost two thousand years later.
The reason for Hord's success was in part the economic and structural power base created by the Jen'jidai when they sought to create a new and stable government out of the barbaric Sith tribes who inhabited Korriban before their arrival. However, it was not just the industrial framework that led to the Empire's expansion, but Hord's own power and leadership abilities. This is why upon his death, the Empire would drastically decrease in size.
However, before he could begin his campaigns, he had to take care of an old enemy, Ajunta Pall. Several years previously, Pall had stepped down from his role as Dark Lord of the Sith in favor of a quiet retirement upon one of the plateaus of Korriban. From what historians can gather based off extant records and Pall's own writings, he saw the title of Dark Lord as a mere role, one of many which he played throughout his life. However, once the government and with it social and economic power structures were in place, he saw no more use for this role. In many ways, Pall saw the act of creating a new society out of the barbaric tribes of Korriban as a way of performing, on a small scale, what he tried and failed to do on the Galaxy as a whole. Once the structure was in place, he could retire in peace. Perhaps he saw it as some type of atonement for all the evils he unleashed upon the Galaxy, although, given the famines and purges that followed when Muur and the other Jen'jidai took over, even this last act ended in more bloodshed. And it was this society that came to be bound to the will of the one person he never wanted to see in power again.
In the year 6892 BBY, Hord began to search for where Pall was hidden. Upon retiring, Pall had scattered all references to the plateau that he retreated to. He did not want to be followed, and he did not want one of his overly ambitious rivals to surprise him. Yet, it is impossible to hide for long when one has the resources of an entire planet at one's disposal, and within months Hord located Pall.
Pall's home was a small farm located upon one of the more fertile plateaus of Korriban far away from the Valley of the Dark Lords and the seat of Sith power. Hord considered destroying the homestead from orbit with turbolasers but decided against it. He wanted to visit Pall himself, to watch him die both for personal satisfaction and to make sure that he was dead, so he boarded a shuttle and rode down, landing a few hundred yards away from the house.
According to Hord's logs, Pall was waiting for him when he arrived. The former Dark Lord's face and body showed signs of age far beyond his fifty five years. According to reports, the body appeared to have blistered and burned long ago before healing, as if in his youth he had experienced prolonged exposure to hard radiation. However, what they were seeing was not the scars of radiation but of the Force.
Hord approached Pall and asked in amazement what someone of his talents was doing on a farm. Pall replied that he was trying to salvage what little he could of a life and warned Hord that one day he would realize that he had suffered a similar fate if he continued down his chosen path. Hord asked what he was talking about, and Pall explained that it was ambition, the will to strive and change the world that would one day consume him. Pall said that he had heard of Dreypa and his failed ambition and said that Hord's fate would be the same as Dreypa's.
Hord did not want to hear it, and he ignited his lightsaber. With a sigh, Pall did likewise. The fight was short and brutal. Throughout the fight, Pall attempted to use his superior power in the Force to his advantage, but unlike in their first duel, Hord was ready. He had trained and was able to counter Pall's own attacks as he concentrated on pressing his assault with the lightsaber. In the end, Pall was cut down, the lightsaber bisecting his chest straight through his heart and lungs. He was dead before he hit the ground as his body bled out.
After the fight, Hord ordered Pall's body to be embalmed and prepared for burial. He was determined to give Pall a king's funeral. However, this was obviously not to honor his memory. Instead, Hord hoped to solidify his own power and reputation by emphasizing how great Pall was with the implication being that Hord, as Pall's slayer, was greater. However, Pall was not buried in the Valley of Golg as all previous Korriban kings were. Instead, Hord symbolically buried Pall underneath his palace in the Valley of the Dark Lords. Due to Korriban's history, Pall was far from the first to be buried there, but he began the tradition of all post-Hord Dark Lords to see burial in the Valley of Dark Lords as the highest honor.
The tomb was built into a cave in the side of the Valley. Pall's mummified body was buried with his swords on his person. Overlooking the sarcophagus was a statue of the Dark Lord and guarding the entrance of the tomb was a series of war droids that had been created by the Star Forge. Finally, the entrance to the tomb was sealed with a large black obelisk. A final statue was erected above the entrance to the tomb overlooking the Valley and the Sith capitol. At the base of the statue and above the tomb's stone doorframe was the name carved in the ancient Sith tongue. It read 'The Jen'ari- King of Kings: Look on My Works Ye Mighty and Despair.'
