Sith Empire/Legends

"Across the reaches of the galaxy, through seas of dark stars, rivers of whispering black shadow from the Republic's ancient past. Evil history we had thought forgotten."

- Jedi Master Ooroo

The Sith Empire, later the Old Sith Empire, was a rich and powerful empire established by Dark Jedi banished from the Galactic Republic after their defeat at the Battle of Corbos during the Hundred-Year Darkness. The Jedi exiles fled to the remote world of Korriban. After conquering it, they interbred with the native Sith species through the art of Sith Alchemy and began a long period of building and expansion. The Sith Empire developed in complete isolation for two thousand years before it eventually rediscovered the Republic.

Under the leadership of the Dark Lord of the Sith Naga Sadow, the Empire invaded Republic space during the Great Hyperspace War, but it was defeated. The Sith Empire was believed to have been destroyed by Republic forces during the Second Battle of Korriban, but in fact survived due to a single Sith Lord who escaped to the Unknown Regions. There, this new Sith Emperor, whose rule lasted for well over a thousand years, rebuilt the Sith Empire and struck back against the Republic in the Great Galactic War in 3,681 BBY.

Origin
Around the year 6,900 BBY, exiled fallen Jedi&mdash;fleeing from the Battle of Corbos, which concluded the Hundred-Year Darkness&mdash;landed on Korriban, a desolate world inhabited by the relatively primitive but unusually Force-sensitive Sith people. Using their training in the Force, the fallen Jedi amazed the Sith, and elevated themselves to god-like status on Korriban, becoming the rulers of the Sith people. As years passed, and interbreeding occurred between the Fallen Jedi and the Sith, the term "Sith" came to mean not only the original inhabitants of Korriban, but also their fallen Jedi masters. Thus was the Sith Empire born, with nearby Ziost becoming the capital, while Korriban became a sacred mausoleum-world.

The Golden Age of the Sith
"Once we were mighty Jedi of the Republic, brothers in the Force but the Great Schism between the Dark side and the Light turned Jedi against Jedi. Our ancestors were defeated, driven off, cast out! But we turned our exile into victory, here on the far side of the galaxy. In these unblemished worlds we found the Sith people treated us as Gods! After many centuries some of us have interbred with the Sith while others still bear true Jedi blood. Our Sith Empire is great, rich, and powerful. This is our Golden Age."

- Dark Lord of the Sith Marka Ragnos

Eventually, the Sith formed an immensely rich and powerful empire built upon sorcery and dark side fueled technology quite possibly adapted from the scattered ruins of the earlier Infinite Empire of the Rakata. At its height, the Sith Empire contained at least 120 worlds.

Over the centuries, the Dark Jedi exiles were forgotten by the Galactic Republic even as all records of the Republic were lost by the Sith. The two civilizations thrived in isolation, each ignorant of the other. The Golden Age of the Sith came to an end with the death of Marka Ragnos.

The Fall of the Sith Empire


Circa 5,000 BBY, Gav and Jori Daragon, two young hyperspace explorers, found Korriban accidentally while establishing hyperlanes. Thus the Sith Empire, led by Naga Sadow, rediscovered the existence of the Republic, and decided to conquer it and so the Great Hyperspace War began. After an assault on Coruscant, the Sith were defeated and forced back to Korriban. When Sadow arrived, Sith forces loyal to his rival Ludo Kressh attacked Sadow. Kressh was killed, and the Empire might have survived, but Sadow's fleet was then attacked by the forces of the pursuing Republic. Sadow sacrificed most of his fleet in a successful escape attempt that led the Republic to believe Sadow had been killed. The Sith were defeated.

True Sith
"You thought that the corrupted remnants of the Republic, the machines spawned by technology that Revan led into battle were the Sith? You are wrong. The Sith is a belief. And its empire, the true Sith Empire, rules elsewhere. And Revan knew the true war is not against the Republic. It waits for us, beyond the Outer Rim. And he has gone to fight it, in his own way."

- Kreia, to the Jedi Exile

After the conclusion of the Great Hyperspace War and the dissolution of the Sith Empire, one Sith Lord managed to escape and hide in the Unknown Regions along with his most trusted Dark Lords and took on the title of Sith Emperor. Using dark rituals, the Emperor prolonged his life and his undisputed rule.

In 3,951 BBY, Kreia told the Jedi Exile that this mysterious order had been in existence for tens of thousands of years and were silently waiting in the Unknown Regions during the time of the Jedi Civil War.

According to Kreia, the "true Sith" had existed for millennia prior to the rise of the concurrent Sith Empire. Kreia stated that both Malachor V and the graveyard planet, Korriban, had once been planets at the edges of that mysterious Empire, and that while these "True Sith" had forgotten those ancient worlds of the dark side, they would remember.

Following the Jedi Civil War, Revan vanished from known space, supposedly to search for and destroy this order. Later, the Jedi Exile would also leave known space to fight alongside Revan. The results of their mission are unknown, but almost three hundred years later, the "true Sith" returned. Under the leadership of the Sith Emperor and his Dark Council, they invaded the Republic and started the Great War. After decades of fighting, the war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Coruscant, which was signed after the Sith sacked the capital. The Republic was forced to give up many systems to the Sith and a Cold War began between the Republic and the re-established Sith Empire.

Re-emergence
The Sith Emperor would live for well over a millennium. In that time he rebuilt the Sith Empire, using new technology to create a mighty military. His goal was to avenge the defeat of the Great Hyperspace War and reestablish the Sith Empire as a major power.

300 years after the Jedi Civil War, the Sith Emperor saw his chance, and ordered the invasion of Republic space, igniting the Great Galactic War. The invasion caught the Republic completely off guard. Over the next hundred years, the Republic, aided by the Jedi, constantly battled the Sith. In the end, several Sith Lords and an elite imperial army led by Lord Angral attacked Coruscant. This attack saw the planet bombarded, the Jedi Temple destroyed, and six members of the Jedi High Council killed. The Republic was left with no choice but to surrender, and signed the Treaty of Coruscant.

The Sith Empire was once again a galactic power. During the years following the treaty's signing, tensions mounted between the Republic and Sith Empire, and they came to the border of another war.

Government and Politics
The leader of the Sith Empire was the Dark Lord of the Sith. The Sith Council was a body of advisors to the reigning Dark Lord of the Sith. It consisted of ten members made up of Sith Lords within the empire. Each Lord on the Council personally ruled over a dozen worlds. This Council convened in a great citadel on Ziost.

By the time of the Great War, the Empire was ruled by a Sith Emperor, with the Dark Council filling the role of the pre-Hyperspace War Sith Council.

Economy
The Sith Empire was far smaller than the Galactic Republic, but much wealthier and more centralized, and in possession of unique and potent technologies. The Sith Lords allegedly controlled the riches of a thousand species.

Society and culture
Culturally, the Sith Empire was very different from that of the Republic, being much more ecumenically driven than its counterpart. The Sith Empire was hierarchical, utilizing both a rigid caste system and a stratified rank structure to put its subjects in their proper place.

Slave Caste

Sith slaves were the lowliest caste of the Sith. They worshiped the Sith Lords as gods and were often used as sacrifices. The Sith Lords used them for slave labor. When a Sith Lord died, his slaves were buried alive with his body in his tomb on Korriban.

Engineer Caste

Sith engineers built and maintained Sith technology, including droids and starships.

Massassi Caste

Massassi were the warrior caste of the Sith. They were unswervingly obedient to the Dark Lord of the Sith; they were also loyal to the individual Sith Lord they served, though this loyalty was secondary to their loyalty to the Dark Lord.

Kissai Caste

Kissai were the priest caste of the Sith. This was most likely where the mages and other practitioners of their ancient and mysterious magic were placed.

Sith'ari Caste

"Sith'ari" was the title translated "Sith Lord" in Basic. They were the leaders of the Sith. Each Sith Lord has his own slaves and his own army of Massassi. The first Sith'ari was King Adas, who ruled all of Korriban. Following his death, many Sith'ari fought each other in constant civil wars, each ruling only a fief.

From 6,900 BBY to 5,000 BBY the Sith Lords collectively ruled the Empire through a governing body known as the Sith council; each member of the Council had a personal fleet. Sith Lords used the dark side of the Force to inflict misery, suffering, and corruption. They were also tasked with preserving the lore of the Sith by passing all their knowledge on to their heirs. While they did not enter combat as often as lesser Sith (preferring to Massassi), they were the most fearsome of the Sith as they were the keepers of the Sith's greatest secrets and wielders of its most potent sorceries.

Following 6,900 BBY, the Sith'Ari interbred with the Jen'jidai, resulting in a mix of Ancient Sith and baseline Human species traits, resulting in many losing the low-light vision which most Ancient Sith possessed. Following the fall of the Sith Empire in 5,000 BBY, Sith of other species continued to use the title "Sith Lord" for powerful Sith masters but did not equate it with the word "Sith'ari"; the word "Sith'ari" took on the approximate meaning "Chosen One" with later Sith, referring to an unidentified individual who would fulfill a particular Sith prophecy.

The Jen'ari

"Jen'ari" was the title translated "Dark Lord of the Sith" in Basic. Jen'ari were the greatest and most powerful of the Sith'ari. There was only one Jen'ari at a time, who was the head of the Sith council and ruler of the Sith Empire. The original Jen'ari were Jen'jidai; later Jen'ari were Sith'ari who assumed the title after the death of the previous Jen'ari, defeating any rival claimant to the title in combat (often resulting in death or at least disfigurement).

Many Jen'ari had partial Jen'jidai ancestry, which supposedly made them more powerful in the Force. After the fall of the Sith Empire, the title "Dark Lord of the Sith" was used by both the leader of the Sith Order (such as Exar Kun or Revan) and his apprentice (such as Ulric Qel-Droma or Malak), although it is uncertain if the title "Jen'ari" remained in use in any capacity, or was abandoned for the title "Darth".

Animals in Sith Culture

 * Corrupted snake
 * Hssiss
 * Sith familiar
 * Sith pincerbug
 * Sith hound
 * Sith tracking device creature
 * Ziost lobster
 * Ziost Scorpion
 * Ziost reptavian

Non-military Technology

 * focusing chamber
 * meditation chamber
 * Sith holocron
 * Sith sarcophagus
 * alchemical apparatus
 * Sith poison
 * Sith amulet
 * Sith talisman

Warbeasts

 * Sith war behemoth
 * Sith warbird
 * Sith war rhino
 * Sith war mountaineer
 * Sith war worm
 * Silooth

Starships

 * Derriphan-class battleship
 * Sith drop ship
 * Sith escort gunship
 * Sith Meditation Sphere
 * Sith personnel carrier
 * Sith shuttle
 * Sith starfighter

Droids

 * Sith Elite Warbot
 * Sith Slayer Droid
 * Sith Sentry

Weapons

 * Sith lanvarok
 * Massassi sword
 * Sith sword
 * Lightsaber

Military Garb

 * helmet
 * cloak
 * dark armor
 * Massassi battle armor

Astrography
The region of the Galaxy that the Sith Empire ruled was known as Sith Space. It contained at least 120 inhabited worlds, including:


 * Ambria
 * Arkania
 * Ashas Ree
 * Athiss
 * Ch'hodos
 * Dromund Kaas
 * Jaguada
 * Jaguada's moon
 * Kalsunor
 * Khar Delba
 * Khar Shian (a moon of Khar Delba)
 * Korriban
 * Korriz
 * Krayiss II
 * Malachor V
 * Rhelg
 * Thule
 * Sivvi (a moon of Thule)
 * Vjun
 * Yavin
 * Ziost

Behind the scenes
Sith war mountaineers and Sith warbirds may be different artistic interpretations of the same creature; this seems plausible given the very different artistic interpretations of Sith war behemoths. Sith war worms may be simply Force illusions rather than actual animals, or may be the silooths described in roleplaying sources, although roleplaying sources have never illustrated silooths and the description of a silooth may make such an identification impossible.

Appearances

 * Tales of the Jedi: The Golden Age of the Sith
 * Tales of the Jedi: The Fall of the Sith Empire
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
 * Star Wars: The Old Republic
 * Darth Bane: Rule of Two
 * Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
 * Star Wars Legacy 30: Vector, Part 11