Jorak Uln

"Ahhh, what's a little mental instability between tutor and pupil?"

- Jorak Uln

Jorak Uln was a Sith Master and the former headmaster of the Sith Academy on the planet Korriban. He was one of the followers of the Sith Lord Exar Kun, and one of Kun's original acolytes, serving during Kun's reign of the Sith Empire. Following his allegiance to the Sith further, Jorak Uln later served Sith Lord Darth Revan's own reincarnation of the Sith Empire. Ironically, Uln fought and lost against Revan later on, not knowing of Revan’s true identity. Jorak was deposed by his apprentice, Uthar Wynn, forcing him to flee to the burial Valley of the dead Sith Lord's on Korriban, the Valley of the Dark Lords.

In the Valley of the Dark Lords, Jorak took up residence in the tomb of dead former Dark Lord of the Sith Tulak Hord, despite the presence of the deadly Force-sensitive beasts, the tuk'ata. Living inside the burial chamber of the Sith Lord himself, Uln was referred to as the hermit in the hills in the Academy, where his usurping apprentice had now taken up the position of headmaster for himself. Tulak Hord's tomb contained a variety of artefacts that would gain the finder power, riches or prestige from Uthar Wynn, possibly giving them full initiation into the Academy. Killing Jorak, as he was the former Master of Uthar Wynn, would gain prestige for the person who killed him too. For this reason, the tomb was visited by numerous junior members of the Academy, wishing to gain access to such treasures. Jorak, however, would capture the students and imprison them, forcing them to play Jorak's games for their lives.

Former Dark Lord of the Sith Revan returned to Korriban to search for one of the Rakatan Star Maps, the maps that would lead him to the superweapon of the Sith Empire the Star Forge. On Korriban, Revan was forced to try and gain initiation into the academy to gain access to the tomb of deceased Sith Lord Naga Sadow, where the Star Map was. Entering the tomb of Tulak Hord, to try and gain the prestige that would allow him to become a full initiate, Revan encountered Jorak. After a brief duel, Revan and his companions overpowered and killed Jorak, gaining the prestige from Uthar after his death.

Early life
Little is known about Jorak Uln's early history during his time with Exar Kun. Serving as part of his Empire, Uln chose to continue his allegiance to the Sith with the arrival of new Sith Lord Darth Revan. When the Sith Empire under Revan was created and began to grow, with the power of the superweapon Star Forge behind it, Jorak became headmaster of the Sith Academy on Korriban and took the young Sith Uthar Wynn, who would eventually become headmaster of the Academy in his wake, as his apprentice. Both of them were extremely unique in saberstaff combat. Despite being Headmaster of the Academy, in time, Jorak began to succumb to mental illness, which Uthar saw a sign of weakness in his Master. In accordance with the Sith's principles of the strong taking control from the weak, Jorak Uln was overthrown by his apprentice, Uln going into hiding.

Jorak eventually went into hiding in the Valley of the Dark Lords, the Valley in which the graves of numerous dead Sith Lords were buried in, studying the ancient ruins inside the tombs to find theories on their philosophies. He believed that the students Uthar had been training lacked the "gumption" and purity one would expect from a true Sith. Because of this, he would also capture students of the Academy and play torture games hoping to find some students who have the pluck of the old-fashioned Sith. These games involved questioning the students, and torturing them if they failed to answer the question correctly. Up to 3,956 BBY, he took up residence to the tomb of Tulak Hord, one of the ancient Dark Lords buried in the Valley

Revan
Soon afterwards, Revan explored Tulak Hord's tomb. He returned to Korriban, disguised as a Sith student, on a quest to discover the fabled Star Maps, the maps to relocate the superweapon named the Star Forge to stop reigning Sith Lord Darth Malak. Hoping to find valuable artifacts in order to impress Uthar Wynn and gain prestige in the Academy, a blademaster informed Revan of Jorak and the kidnappings, suggesting that he could earn prestige dealing with the problem himself. However, after entering the tomb Revan and his allies made their way to the chamber in which Uln had made residence, however Jorak had set a trap in the tomb which released knockout gas. This renderedRevan and his allies unconscious, allowing him to imprison them.

Revan awoke and found himself to be unable to fight back against the toxins. Jorak, not aware that he had captured the former Sith Lord he once served, made him an unwilling participant in his "test". Jorak asked Revan five questions about the Sith philosophy, after complaining to Revan about current students lack of the "gumption" and purity of a true Sith. Another student Jorak had captured however was Mekel, a competitor against Revan in the prestige trials. Jorak said that if he got them wrong he would torture him, and if he got them right he will torture Mekel, stating that Mekel wouldn’t be able to take much punishment.

However, Revan did not play along with Uln's game by refusing to answer the questions, which resulted in receiving several shocks of Force lightning from Jorak as 'punishment'. Despite this Revan survived the "test", much to Jorak's surprise as he never had a result where both students survived. Unsure of what to do he came to the conclusion that Mekel won and decided to let him go. However, Mekel shocked that Revan would not allow him to die, managed to free Revan by using Force Drain on Jorak. Angered, Jorak attacked them both, however Mekel, Revan and Revan’s companions were able to overpower and kill him. Jorak's death allowed Mekel to abandon the dark side and leave the Sith. Revan also found Jorak's journal and would later give to Uthar Wynn for prestige points.

Powers and ablilities
Being a former Sith Master, Jorak had a strong command of the dark side of the Force, and was trained in many techniques (including Force lightning, Force Choke and Force Drain). Like his former apprentice Uthar, he wielded a double-bladed lightsaber when pushed into Lightsaber combat, but otherwise was content to torment and kill his victims with just the Force. Jorak’s abilities with a lightsaber were considerable, however, as he was the headmaster of the Sith Academy on Korriban, a feat which required considerable skill to attain. When faced with multiple enemies, however, Jorak was eventually overpowered, despite strong resistance.

Proficient in the use of the Force, Uln also possessed the ability to set traps in order to capture students for his sadistic question sessions. In addition, Uln also possessed abilities which allowed him to fend off the tuk'ata and the bat like avian beasts that also inhabited Hord's tomb, the Shyrack.

Personality and Traits
Jorak Uln held strong beliefs in the principles and teachings of the Sith, being an acolyte of Exar Kun's teachings and Empire, as well as being Headmaster of the Sith Academy when Revan's Sith Empire grew. So believing in these principles, when Uln took up residence in Tulak Hord's tomb, he made it his personal responsibility to "train" new apprentices in the ways of the true Sith, using his torture methods. Uln actively embraced Sith teachings and principles, both as Headmaster of the Academy and recluse in Hord's tomb. Uln was sadistic in his "teaching" and activism for the Sith cause.

Even for a Sith, Jorak was mentally unstable (possibly from years of hiding in exile) as was evident by the way the power of the dark side had disfigured his face. Jorak’s games and ready admitting of his mental instability were also testament to this fact. He delighted in capturing unwary Sith students from the Valley of the Dark Lords, and would think up sadistic games then force them to play for their lives. He believed that, being the former head of the Sith Academy, he would still be remembered. He was right about the students and teachers of the academy talking about his position, however didn't expect them to consider him as an 'old hermit', which he considered slander. Jorak also had a potentially low regard for Uthar Wynn, possibly due to Wynn’s usurping of his position and driving him out of the Academy.

Uln had the resourcefulness and the ability to rise to the position of Headmaster of the Academy, Uln evidently being able to retain control of those beneath him in the Sith hierarchy until he was usurped by Wynn.

Behind the scenes
Jorak first appeared in the BioWare Star Wars Role Play game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, as a non playable character. Jorak Uln was voiced by Frank Welker. Jorak resides in the tomb of Tulak Hord, and is part of the side-quest the player undertakes to gain prestige to gain entrance into the tomb of Sith Lord Naga Sadow. Although there are multiple choices to the player’s interaction with Jorak, the light side options are those that are canonically correct. It’s technically unknown if Revan met Jorak or not, as the game can be played with Revan gaining prestige in other ways, and not entering Tulak Hord’s tomb. Jorak also appears in the Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide, although does not have his own entry.

If Revan, the player's character, follows the dark side, he or she may allow Mekel to die by answering three of Jorak's questions correctly. Alternately, the character may cooperate with Mekel to defeat Jorak Uln&mdash;gaining "Dark Side points" by turning on Mekel afterwards, or gaining "light side points" by sparing Mekel. The player can then choose to redeem Mekel or allow him merely to return to the Academy.

Alternately, Revan can also let Mekel attack and be killed by Jorak, which results in Jorak having less health for Revan and his allies to kill him. This also results in no alignment change.

The last question Jorak asks concerns what a Sith should do when he is dying: should the Sith pass on his knowledge or use his last bit of strength to strike at his enemies? In most cases, the player cannot answer this correctly, as it is a trick question. However, if the player is falling to the dark side, and if the player has already discovered that Revan never perished, then the question can be answered: "A true Sith never dies."

If the player wears the Electrical Capacitance Shield belt, then Jorak's Force Lighting won't actually harm the player due to the belt's properties of absorbing electric energy."

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic