Krath/Legends

"I thought the Sith teachings that were here had been contained. Apparently I was wrong."

- Arca Jeth

The Krath were a secret society founded by dark side dabblers Aleema and Satal Keto in the year 3,997 BBY, in the Empress Teta system.

History
"I'll bet they don't even understand what they've unleashed, and that makes them all the more dangerous."

- Cay Qel-Droma

The cult was formed by a cadre of bored young aristocrats of the Tetan nobility, led by Satal Keto, the heir-apparent, and his cousin Aleema. They named the cult after a magician-god from the fairy tales of their youth. For some time, the Krath secret society was of little note and played no major part in Tetan politics. All this changed shortly after the Naddist Uprising on Onderon. The catalyst for this change was the influence of the spirit of the former Dark Lord of the Sith Freedon Nadd, who took an active interest in Satal and Aleema. He became their Master and progressed them quickly down the path to darkness, and taught them many of the secrets of the ancient Sith.

Fuelled by the ambition of the dark side, the young aristocrats began plotting their rise to power. Aleema and Satal engineered a palace coup in 3,997 BBY, encapsulating Lord Keto in carbonite and murdering all nobles and guildsmen opposing them. They created a new order on Teta, replacing the previous governmental institutions with the monolithic rule of the Krath, based on the ruthless oppression of all dissent. A minor civil war broke out, as certain Tetan factions chose to rebel, but the Krath proved victorious thanks to Aleema's magical talents, despite an attempt to intervene made by the Galactic Republic and the Jedi.

Fearing to lose the initiative, the Krath then seized the opportunity when the Jedi assembled en masse on Deneba, sending in Krath War Droids - powerful War Droids designed for the task of slaying Jedi - disguised as servant droids. These attacked the Jedi, killing Arkanian Master Arca Jeth. This in turn made his apprentice, Ulic Qel-Droma, determined to infiltrate and destroy the cult.

However, Aleema came to know of Qel-Droma's intentions. Against the advice of Satal, she inducted the powerful young Jedi into the Krath, sensing his great Force potential. She eventually succeeded in converting him to the dark side, making use of her womanly wiles. The jealous Satal then attempted to have the rogue Jedi assassinated, but he was himself killed by Qel-Droma, who took his place as co-ruler of the Krath.

Shortly thereafter, the planet was visited by Exar Kun, who desired the sole leadership of the emerging new dark side empire. To this end, he attacked the two darksiders, but was interrupted by the spirit of the millennia-old Dark Lord Marka Ragnos, who advised them to ally instead of competing. Thus was formed the new Brotherhood of the Sith, of which the Krath became an integral part, under the rule of Sith Lord Qel-Droma.

This signaled the beginning of the true greatness of the Krath. Within six months, the Tetans had conquered large territories and imposed several defeats on the now-strained Republic military. Qel-Droma's alliance with the Mandalorians led by Mandalore the Indomitable further strengthened the cult's influence.

During this same period, the Krath order constructed a number of temples upon many of the worlds they invaded and seized during the Krath Holy Crusade of the Great Sith War. Such temples were renowned for their extraordinarily deep taint by dark side energies, and the guards fortunate enough to have been chosen for duty at these temples were granted the use of Holy Battle Armor, which only served to increase their reputation as fanatics. Many cynics, however, dismissed such fervor, noting that guard duty was often times the safer course of action when compared to the casualty rates wrought by participating in the Krath's numerous military slave raids.

However, as its military campaign met increasing and determined Republic and Jedi resistance, the Krath/Sith alliance began to fall apart due to internal tensions; Aleema began a campaign of more or less open infighting, causing Qel-Droma's capture by the Jedi and murdering his Tetan supporters. Once freed by Kun, the rogue Jedi retaliated by sending Aleema on the mission that would prove her doom. When Qel-Droma was eliminated by the Jedi Nomi Sunrider and Kun was defeated by a combined Jedi armada and presumed dead, there was no one left to lead the Krath, and the cult quickly fell apart from internal strife.

Those few Krath that survived the end of the Great Sith War were scattered across the Outer Rim, mainly in the regions around Korriban. Some Krath eventually joined old Sith settlements, while others continued to exist on their own, delving into depths of the dark side. During the following decades, Jedi and Republic forces occasionally clashed with these isolated pockets, who no longer had the benefit of ancient Sith teachings or access to the technology left behind in the Empress Teta system.

Sebban Keto would later quietly re-establish the Krath in Cinnagar, several thousand years after the deaths of Aleema and Satal. Palpatine studied the Krath teachings in his search for mastery over the dark side. Leia Organa Solo learned about the Krath while using a knowledge-filled Jedi Holocron.

Description
The Krath were an unusual combination of direct influence from Sith spirits and reclaimed Sith learning. None of the early Krath received formal Sith training. Instead, they pieced together techniques from artifacts and occasional input from powerful Sith spirits, learning how to use ancient Sith amulets, project massive and destructive Sith illusions, and wield Sith sorcery. Female members of the Krath Cult were called Death Witches.

Behind the scenes
Chris Avellone has claimed that the Krath did not appear in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords because the word "Krath" "seems to mean something pretty bad in French". In fact, it sounds like the word "crasse" which means organic dirt.

Appearances

 * Tales of the Jedi: The Freedon Nadd Uprising
 * Tales of the Jedi: Dark Lords of the Sith
 * Tales of the Jedi: The Sith War
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
 * Star by Star

Notes and references
Krath Krath