Invasion of Alanciar

In 2975 BBY, the Sith Tribe on Keshtah invaded the continent of Alanciar (also known as Keshtah Major) and successfully conquered the Keshiri population there, who were known as the Alanciari. The conquest of Alanciar, also called Keshtah Major by the Sith, had been one of the goals of Grand Lord Varner Hilts who had ushered in the Hilts Restoration in 3000 BBY. The Tribe managed to find a way to cross the ocean after the High Lord Edell Vrai managed to develop a fleet of airships, which were held aloft by gas-filled bags and propelled by tethered beasts known as uvaks. The invasion was preceded by a reconnaissance mission led by Vrai, which had sustained heavy losses at the hands of the Alanciari.

Unknown to the Tribe, the Alanciari were prepared for the Sith since the Keshiri Herald Adari Vaal had managed to escape Keshtah and warn the Alanciari of the threat posed by the Sith. Thus, the Alanciari developed a militaristic society based on resisting any invasion. Despite these losses and the poor intelligence available on the Alanciari, Vrai's rival High Lord Korsin Bentado chose not to await Vrai's return from the continent and instead led the Ebon Fleet on a full-scale invasion. The Ebon Fleet was a fleet of sixty military airships. As before, the Alanciari destroyed the intruders with their ballistae. However, Bentado and several Sith survivors managed to regroup and infiltrate the Alanciari capital of Sus'mintri where they slew the entire War Cabinet, Alanciar's military government. This deprived the Alanciari military of their centralized military command and enabled the Sith to control the capital's main signal station. The Alanciari were unaware about this development.

Bentado then rebelled against his liege Grand Lord Hilts and attempted to use the Alanciari ballistae to shoot down Hilts' airship so that he could create a "Second Tribe" on Alanciar. However, he was stopped by Vrai, Quarra, and his own Keshiri assistant Squab, who was actually an agent of Hilts. Squab personally executed Bentado while Vrai took control of Bentado's followers and the signal stations. Ultimately, the Sith were able to conquer Alanciar with minimal resistance after Hilts managed to manipulate the Alanciari man Jogan Halder into convincing his people that the Sith were not a threat but were in fact the benevolent Protectors, legendary deities in Keshiri religion. He also claimed that the Sith had wiped out the Destructors of whom Vaal had warned years before. As a result, the Alanciari peacefully submitted to Sith rule.

Background
The Sith Tribe on Kesh were the descendants of a group of offworld Human Sith who had become stranded during the Great Hyperspace War in 5000 BBY. Under the leadership of the first Grand Lord Yaru Korsin, the Sith conquered the Keshiri living on the continent of Keshtah Minor by claiming to be the Protectors, ancient gods in Keshiri mythology. While the Keshiri woman Adari Vaal had initially collaborated with the Sith since it provided her with the opportunity to improve her social standing, she came to oppose the Sith offworlders following the mass poisoning of Keshiri villages during the Red Sith Purge in 4985 BBY and the way that the Sith exploited her people as slave labor. In 4975 BBY, Adari Vaal led an unsuccessful uprising on Keshtah which coincided with an unsuccessful coup d'etat against Grand Lord Korsin by his estranged wife Seelah and her son Jariad.

Adari Vaal's uprising failed after her son Tona Vaal betrayed the Keshiri resistance by leaking news of the planned uprising to Nida Korsin, the daughter of Yaru and his successor to the Grand Lordship. Vaal and a thousand of her followers fled across the turbulent western sea to a new continent known as Alanciar. By the end of the journey, only Vaal and three hundred of a her followers had survived and landed on a remote offshore island. Eventually, Adari and her followers made contact with the Keshiri living on Alanciar. Vaal succeeded in warning the Keshiri living in Alanciar about the threat posed by the Sith Tribe. She became a revered figure in Alanciari civilization and was known as the "Rock of Kesh" and the Herald. While she later passed away, Vaal's memory and legacy was preserved in a historical tome known as the Keshtah Chronicles and Observance Day, a holiday held every ten years where passion plays focusing on the threat of the Sith were staged in many Alanciari cities, towns, and villages. Thus, successive generations of Alanciari were indoctrinated to regard the Sith as a threat to their freedom and way of life.

Over the next two millennia, the Alanciari developed a highly-militaristic society over the past. The Alanciari were led by a centralized military government known as the War Cabinet. They also developed an intricate network of semaphore signal stations, large anti-aircraft ballistae capable of downing enemy aircraft, and a large industrial base. In addition, the Alanciari made use of Force-sensitive individuals as thoughtcriers, who were capable of sending messages through the Force. Most importantly, the Alanciari developed a large and well-equipped citizen army that was based on conscription. Galactic Basic Standard also replaced the Keshiri language as the main lingua fracas of the Alanciari. Adari Vaal wanted the Alanciari to know the language of the Sith in order to prepare them for contact with the offworlders. Thus, the Alanciari were very well-placed to repel any Sith invasion of their homeland.

Meanwhile, the Sith Tribe continued to rule Keshtah Minor. While they still had aspirations of returning to the stars, many had resigned to the fact that Kesh was now their new homeland. Following the Night of the Upside-Down Meteor in 3960 BBY which killed the reigning Grand Lord Lillia Venn, the Tribe descended into nine-hundred-and-sixty-years of civil warfare known as the "Time of the Rot" which devastated Keshtah. In 3000 BBY, the Caretaker Varner Hilts succeeded in ending the Time of the Rot after he discovered a map at the Kesh Sith Temple which confirmed the existence of another continent beyond Keshtah Minor. Hilts succeeded in reuniting his divided people by making the goal of reaching "Keshtah Major" an important part of the Tribe's agenda. Under the leadership of his chief engineer High Lord Edell Vrai, the Tribe experimented with developing a reliable and safe means of reaching Alanciar. Following twenty-five years of failed experiments with long-distance uvak flights and watercraft, Vrai managed to develop airships that were held aloft by gasbags powered by hydrogen and propelled by uvaks, winged reptiles native to Kesh.

In 2975 BBY, Lord Vrai obtained permission from Grand Lord Hilts to lead an overflight reconnaissance of "Keshtah Major." His plan was to fly east of Keshtah Minor and then return by crossing the small ocean to the west coast of his home continent. This reconnaissance mission consisted of three airships: the Candra, the Lillia, and the Dann Itra.

Appearances

 * Lost Tribe of the Sith: Pandemonium