The Dark Forces Saga, Part 6

Outcasts and Megalomaniacs Welcome

By By Abel G. Peña and Jason Fry

We present the sixth in a series of articles adapting the world of the Dark Forces PC game to the Star Wars Roleplaying Game. If you missed the earlier installments, you can catch up with Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4 and Part 5.

In the thousand years since the Light and Darkness War devoured the beauty of the world of Ruusan, the Valley of the Jedi - - death bed to dozens of thousands Jedi and Sith - - has enchanted dreamers, pariahs, and megalomaniacs of every stripe, a beacon of hope for even the maddest of minds. Innately, all its pursuers understand one thing: to touch the power of the valley is to heal the agonizing rift between the cosmos and their own sundered souls.

Many have sought the Valley of the Jedi, but few have found it. One was Lord Hoth's former apprentice Johun Othone, who set up vain shrines in the valley in honor of his beloved master. Another was the Sith Lord Darth Zannah, who returned to the valley years after abandoning her brother there during the Battle of Ruusan and engaged her sibling in a final deadly confrontation. The valley has had few visitors since, but two of the most recent were power-hungry individuals of the worst kind: the treacherous Dark Jedi Jerec, and an outcast from Luke's New Jedi Order, the reptilian Desann.

Jerec, Dark Jedi

Mistakenly believed to be a blind Human, the man known as Jerec is actually a Miraluka and was born without physical means of sight. But, fatefully, he was not born blind to the Force. Jerec came to the attention of the haughty Jedi Jocasta Nu during her days as an archaeologist for the Jedi ExplorCorps, and was taken on as her Padawan learner. Jerec learned a great deal under Nu's tutelage, inheriting not only much of his master's supercilious bearing and delicate mannerisms, but also her love of knowledge. Nu encouraged her apprentice never to stop searching for answers, as many were found only by the most ardent seekers. Watching his Force powers grow with the learning he accumulated, Jerec slowly came to understand that knowledge truly was power. And realizing there was always more to learn, Jerec's appetite for knowledge became insatiable.

After training his Padawan Ameesa Darys to knighthood and becoming a Jedi Master, Jerec felt he had exhausted all that the light side of the Force had to offer. During the Clone Wars, he traveled with a group of Jedi artifact finders to the Unknown Regions in search of other sources of wisdom. After being caught by the Imperial Inquisitor Tremayne, Jerec declared his allegiance to the Empire, and joined the Inquisitorius himself. He also studied the Dark Force religion of Palpatine's Prophets of the Dark Side. It was from the prophet Lord Cronal, father to the sorceress Sariss and the man later known as the shadowy Dark Side magus Blackhole, that Jerec learned of the Valley of the Jedi. To him, it seemed a fabled place that promised to grant him understanding unlimited, a place steeped in the Force-power of thousands and thousands of Sith and Jedi spirits.

Jerec remained very busy in the time leading up to the Battle of Endor. For a time, he became governor of Kyle Katarn's homeworld Sulon, having an extravagant palace built in honor of himself. Jerec's ambition also drove him to seek out a mind-controlling monster called Spore in order to create an army of slaves, though the beast instead destroyed Jerec's Imperial Star Destroyer Vengeance. Jerec had the ship's computer core salvaged from the wreckage and transferred to a new Star Destroyer called the Vengeance II, though with its predecessor destroyed, the numerical amendment was infrequently applied. Jerec eventually ordered the ship's captain to join Admiral Ozzel's Death Squadron, as the Dark Jedi already had a Super Star Destroyer being built to accommodate his unceasingly swelling ego.

Besides gathering a number of quasi-loyal Dark Jedi over the years, Jerec also became a billionaire by attracting wealthy silent backers. One of them was Grand Moff Ardus Kaine, using his right to grant exemptions from Inquisitorius audits. After the second Death Star's destruction, Jerec and several other Inquisitors joined Grand Moff Kaine's Imperial faction under the title Great InQuestors of Judgment.

Approximately a year after the Battle of Endor, however, Jerec was contacted by the former Prophet Blackhole, who revealed that Emperor Palpatine was in fact alive and watching galactic events from the Deep Core at the center of the galaxy. Blackhole charged Jerec with finding the fabled Valley of the Jedi for the glory of the Emperor, and Jerec pledged his submission to the reincarnated dictator, giving Blackhole the Vengeance II to take back to the planet Byss as a sign of his commitment.

What Blackhole couldn't have known, however, was that Jerec was already searching for the valley on behalf of not only the Pentastar Alignment but also his old mentors, the true Prophets of the Dark Side. Resembling a Divoran holochess grandmaster, Jerec pulled resources from all three parties while playing each side against the middle, intending to be the only true victor. Once he secured the coordinates to the Valley of the Jedi, Jerec converged on the site with his Dark Jedi.

Ultimately, all of Jerec's pupils were killed by the Jedi Kyle Katarn, but the price was worth the reward. Jerec at last gained access to the valley, and for one lucid moment, absolute omniscience was his. The will of the Force, Chaos, the ancient civilizations of the Rakata and Xim, what lay beyond the galactic barrier, and the origins of the universe - - Jerec understood them all, and endowed with Force powers beyond imagination, he would have ruled accordingly.

However, during this rapturous illumination, Kyle used an ancient Force technique to sever Jerec's connection to the Force with a wall of pure light. Kyle then proceeded to cut the Dark Jedi down, sending Jerec's soul screaming toward Chaos alongside the Sith spirits of a thousand years hence. Thanks to his enlightenment, Jerec was well aware of the torture without respite that awaited him there.

Jerec: Male Miraluka, Jedi Guardian 8/Jedi Master 3/Imperial Inquisitor 4; Init +4 (+2 Dex, +2 species); Defense 26 (+14 class, +2 Dex); Spd 10 m; VP/WP 108/15; Atk +16/+11/+6/+1 melee (5d8+2/19–20, lightsaber) or +16/+11/+6/+1 (2d8+2, double-bladed vibroblade), +16/+11/+6/+1 ranged; SQ authority, favored enemy (Jedi Consular) +2, Force secret (Battlemind, Force Defense), Force sight, deflect (defense +3, attack –3, extend defense and attack), quick reaction, resource access; SV Fort +14, Ref +12, Will +12; SZ M; FP 7; DSP 15; Rep 8; Str 14, Dex 15, Con 15, Int 14, Wis 13, Cha 14. Challenge Code H.

Equipment: Lightsaber, Jengardin double-bladed vibroblade.

Skills: Computer Use +6, Intimidate +10, Knowledge (Jedi lore) +8, Knowledge (Sith lore) +6, Read/Write Basic, Read/Write Miralukese, Read/Write Sith, Speak Basic, Speak Miralukese, Speak Sith.

Force Skills: Affect Mind +6, Battlemind +10, Enhance Ability +6, Enhance Senses +5, Farseeing +5, Force Defense +9, Force Grip +8, Force Strike +11, Move Object +14, See Force +10.

Feats: Blind-Fight, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (lightsaber), Force-Sensitive, Weapon Group Proficiency (blaster pistols, simple weapons).

Force Feats: Alter, Aware, Burst of Speed, Control, Dissipate Energy, Focus, Force Lightning, Hatred, Knight Defense, Lightsaber Defense, Master Defense, Sense.

A Miraluka, as pictured in the Ultimate Alien Anthology.

Special Qualities: Quick Reaction - - Despite their general lack of coordination, a Miraluka's reaction speed is superior to that of most other species. Miraluka gain a +2 species bonus on initiative checks.

Force Sight - - Miraluka are blind to all wavelengths of light. However, their ability to see through the Force allows them to sense their surroundings as though they could see normally, allowing them to attack and make skill checks without suffering penalties for blindness. Using Force sight is a free action and costs a Miraluka no vitality points.

Desann, Jedi Outcast

When the Chistori Desann murdered a fellow Jedi trainee, Jedi Master Luke Skywalker was reminded of why Yoda had insisted on training Force-sensitives from an early age.

Because of his "strange powers," Desann grew up ostracized from his own people and was forced to fend for himself. Eventually, however, he was found by a trader who brought the reptilian youth to the Jedi training facility of Master Skywalker.

At last among similarly gifted beings, Desann finally felt accepted. But old habits die hard. The shell of his personality, developed like a protective carapace after so many years of being treated like refuse, quickly set back in, and as Desann's Force powers grew, his true colors began to show. Desann patronized weaker students on a regular basis until one Jedi trainee, Havet Storm, stood up to Desann. After Havet's bold confrontation, Desann never bullied another student at the Academy again. In fact, after murdering Havet, Desann left the Academy altogether.

Eventually, Desann crossed paths with Imperial Admiral Galak Fyyar, who promptly took the Chistori to meet his obscure master, the Procurator of Justice Lord Hethrir. Despite the Procurator's prejudice toward aliens, Lord Hethrir made Desann his right hand in his Empire Reborn, reasoning that even Emperor Palpatine had made some exceptions.

Hethrir entrusted Desann with training a number of his Empire Youths, individuals who had shown a potent Force-sensitivity and devotion to Hethrir's cause and had been specially "purified" by a demigod known as Waru. Desann took one of these Youths, Tavion, as his apprentice. He even experimented with imbuing Human Empire Youths who had little to no talent in the Force - - chosen by Hethrir due to the magistrate's racist philosophies - - with dark side powers using atrusian crystals and Sith alchemy.

Lastly, Hethrir tasked Desann with finding a fabled Jedi valley made known to him by his ally, Inquisitor Tremayne. Tricking the Jedi Kyle Katarn into revealing the location of the Valley of the Jedi, Desann led his band of trainees to the Force nexus on Ruusan, quadrupling their innate powers with the residue of the ancient Jedi sprits. To these specially empowered Empire Youths Desann gave the name the Reborn.

Desann and Kyle had multiple hazardous confrontations, during which each combatant attempted to persuade the other to join his cause. In the end, Kyle chased the Dark Jedi to the temples of Luke's Jedi academy on Yavin 4, where he and Desann engaged in furious lightsaber battle for a final time. Only Kyle emerged alive from the conflict.

Desann: Male Chistori Fringer 2/Jedi Guardian 5; Init +2; Defense 20 (+7 class, +2 Dex, +1 natural); Spd 10 m; VP/WP 42/14; Atk +8/+3 melee (3d8+2/19-20, lightsaber) or +8/+3 ranged; SQ bonus class skill (Intimidate), barter, cold-blooded, deflect (defense +1, attack -4); SV Fort +9, Ref +9, Will +3; SZ M; FP 6; DSP 13; Rep +4; Str 15, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 13, Wis 11, Cha 10. Challenge Code D.

Equipment: Encrypted comlink, lightsaber, Doomgiver.

Skills: Intimidate +4, Jump +3, Knowledge (Empire Reborn) +6, Pilot +5, Read/Write Basic, Read/Write Chistori, Search +3, Speak Basic, Speak Chistori, Spot +3, Survival +2.

Force Skills: Battlemind +6, Enhance Ability +5, Fear +3, Force Defense +3, Force Grip +4, Force Strike +4, Heal Self +2, Move Object +4.

Feats: Alertness, Armor Proficiency (light), Cleave, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (lightsaber), Force-Sensitive, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Weapon Group Proficiency (blaster pistols, blaster rifles, primitive weapons, simple weapons, vibro weapons).

Force Feats: Alter, Control, Hatred, Lightsaber Defense, Rage, Sense.

Special Qualities: Cold blooded - - The reptilian Chistori are very sensitive to cold climates. If exposed to extreme cold without proper gear, a Chistori immediately suffers a –2 penalty on initiative checks. Every ten minutes of exposure causes a temporary reduction of –2 to all ability scores. If the Chistori's Constitution is reduced to zero, he dies. If any other ability score is reduced to zero, the Chistori falls into a coma. Once returned to a warm environment, a Chistori that has not already died will fully recover (regain all lost ability points) after 30 minutes.