Battle of the Forge

"You're stronger than any Jedi I've known. You could redeem the order and destroy the Sith."

- Bengel Morr, after his defeat

Near the end of the Cold War between the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire, a duel occurred on the planet Tython between the Dark Jedi Bengel Morr and an unknown Padawan. The former Padawan of Jedi Master Orgus Din, Morr had gone missing after the Sacking of Coruscant ten years earlier, and it had been discovered that the Nautolan had gone insane and was marshaling Tython's native Flesh Raiders against the Jedi Order. When Morr captured Master Din and took him to the ancient temple of Vur Tepe&mdash;then known to the Jedi as the Forge&mdash;Din's current Padawan confronted and defeated the Dark Jedi.

Prelude
An unknown Jedi, the Padawan of Jedi Master Orgus Din, had been aiding Master Din and the other Jedi in stopping a invasion by the native Flesh Raiders. The Padawan, along with the astromech droid T7-O1, discovered that Bengel Morr, Din's former apprentice who had gone missing over ten years earlier after the Sacking of Coruscant, was the one behind the Flesh Raiders' increased attacks, and the pair informed Din of what they had found.

However, Din was tricked by the Twi'lek settlers of Kalikori Village into being captured, as Morr had made a deal with them: if they delivered the Dark Jedi's former master to his Flesh Raider servants, then Morr would spare the village. When Din's Padawan and T7 returned to the village, they were knocked out by the settlers,

T7 and the Padawan immediately contacted A-4P0, one of the droids at the Temple Archives, and told the protocol droid to send all of the information on the Forge to T7 right away. The pair used a tunnel behind the Tythos River's waterfall to reach Vur Tepe, the ancient temple were the first Jedi had built their swords, and fought their way through Morr's massed Flesh Raider forces.

The duel
Entering the canyon where the ancient machine stood, the Padawan found Bengel and two of his Flesh Raider Adepts at the base of the Forge's steps. The Padawan's master lay unconscious at his former student's feet. Expressing his disdain for the Padawan, Morr commanded his Adepts to kill the Jedi and retreated to watch. But when the Flesh Raiders fell, Morr drew his lightsaber began duel the Padawan himself. Surprisingly, the Padawan was able to beat the more experienced Jedi using a simple training sword, and forced the Dark Jedi to submit.

Defeated, Morr claimed that he understood his destiny now: he would be the Padawan's herald, and asked the Jedi to allow him to leave and prepare the galaxy for the Padawan's rise. The Padawan refused, however, and knocked out the misguided Nautolan. The Jedi then awoke Master Din, who congratulated them on their defeat of his former apprentice and their decision to spare Morr's life. Din gave his Padawan the components necessary to build a lightsaber, and told them to enter the Forge and craft their weapon, while Din himself took the unconscious Morr back to the Jedi Temple.

The apprentice ascended the steps and activated the ancient machine, building their lightsaber with the Force through deep meditation. But the opening of the Forge awoke a sleeping Jurgoran in one of the canyon's caves below, and the savage beast ascended the cliff to reach the narrow bridge that spanned the ravine. The Jurgoran blocked T7 and the Padawan's path to the cave tunnel they had come through, and the Jedi was forced to kill the beast with their new weapon to reach safety.

Aftermath
Because of the Padawan's bravery and exceptional skill in repelling the Flesh Raider invasion and defeating Bengel Morr, the Padawan was granted the rank of Jedi Knight by Grand Master Satele Shan and the Jedi High Council. Bengel Morr was taken back to the Temple, where he was rehabilitated by Jedi healers and healed of his insanity.

Behind the scenes
The Duel at Vur Tepe appears in Star Wars: The Old Republic, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game released by BioWare on December 20, 2011. It serves as the finale of the Jedi Knight character's storyline on the starting world of Tython. After defeating Bengel Morr, the player has three options. For light side points, the player can choose to spare Bengel and knock him out, and he will eventually appear on Corellia in Act III with other characters redeemed by the player. He also sends the player a holomessage that can be accessed on the player's ship, thanking him for saving him. There are two dark side options: the player can accept Bengel's offer and allow him to leave, or they can choose to kill him for maximum dark side points. All three options still result in the Jedi gaining a lightsaber.

After constructing their lightsaber, a Jurgoran will appear at the base of the steps. Defeating the Jurgoran&mdash;called the "Forge Guardian"&mdash;is an optional bonus quest, but the player must either kill it or be defeated, at which point they are forced to teleport back to the Temple's medcenter.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: The Old Republic