Sith magic

"So that the energy we've been feeling&mdash;Sith magic, a power with all the corrupting influence of the dark side of the Force!"

- Wedge Antilles

Traditionally, Sith magic, also known as Sith sorcery, was a specific set of dark side Force abilities first developed and practiced by the ancient Sith species. However, the very name of the Sith was later adopted by the Dark Jedi Exiles of the Hundred Year Darkness, who combined the Sith's magical practices with their own experiments into dark side power to create even more arcane rituals and alchemical sciences. Sith magic, while as much a part of the dark side as such endowments as Force lightning, was accessible only to those Force-sensitives whose dark side connection was intrinsic in nature. Through the recitation of spells, execution of hand gestures, and or the handling of various artifacts, darksiders were able to channel the raw power of the Force's malevolent side to warp minds, alter their environments, and obliterate whatever obstacles stood in their way. Males who achieved mastery were known as Sith sorcerers, magicians, or wizards, while female adepts of Sith sorcery were referred to as Sith sorceresses or witches.

The application of Sith magic was prevalent among the citizens of the ancient Sith Empire, and its disciplines were adhered to throughout the expanse of galactic history. Sith magic predated even the inception of the longstanding Galactic Republic. Its bellipotence was realized up to and through the Great Hyperspace War of 5,000 BBY, and beyond the Great Sith War a thousand years later. Proponents of Sith magic were still active following the end of the Light and Darkness War in 1,000 BBY, and its mystique survived the through the fall of the Republic in 19 BBY. Sith sorcery became less popular while the galaxy was embroiled in civil war, although Force-sensitives learned to harness its power from obscure temples on long-forgotten planets and moons. By 137 ABY, the magic of the Sith was studied by the foremost loremasters of Darth Krayt's One Sith Order.

Power
"How can one individual command such power?"

- The Huntress, awed by Darth Zannah's spell of concealment

By those against whom it was dispatched, Sith magic was described as the the full destructive strength of the dark side of the Force. It was every bit a part of the dark side as conventional Sith powers, and many sorcerers were capable of working their elaborate spells in tandem with traditional Sith talents. The magic of the ancient Sith was a complex practice that assaulted an individual's psyche in ways that were both difficult to comprehend and defend against; only a being possessed of considerable willpower had any hope of resisting its effects. When subjected to its power, some Force-sensitive beings felt as though the dark side, when applied through Sith magic, was consuming their life energy. Others felt as though all their strength was being siphoned, and grew pallid as they became physical weaker. Some sensitives without any training in the ways of the Force perceived Sith magic as an musical undercurrent, one that compelled them to seek out the source. The feeling grew more intense as they were drawn closer to its origin. Beings began suffering from headaches, and the dark power began to manifest visibly in a manner akin to the ripple effect of disturbed water. Jedi Knights felt oppressed both physically and through the Force when the intricacies of Sith magic were in effect. Its debilitating power could be countered, however, by a Force-user skilled in the art of Jedi battle meditation.

Those who practiced Sith magic found its power as a viable means of bringing their goals to fruition. Members of the planet Onderon's Naddist Sith cult, many of whom were seasoned magicians, believed themselves to be indomitable so long as the power of Sith magic was theirs to command. Sith magic could be used for a variety of purposes through a number of techniques, ranging from mind and reality-altering spells to powers that impacted the physical world directly. Some sorcerers applied Sith magic during their endeavors to prolong their own lifespans. Despite the various reasons individuals aspired to learn the ways of the dark side, two common themes were found in all those who subscribed to the study of Sith magic: reaching their full Force-potential, and the pursuit of ever-greater power.

Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Bane believed that beings with a true affinity for Sith magic were few and far between. To him, Sith magic was an arcane expression of the dark side's might, one that even he, the prophesied "Sith'ari", was unable to manipulate. To King Ommin of Onderon, the power to command Sith magic was only attainable after breaching a barrier that resided deep within himself. At the behest of his Sith Master Freedon Nadd, Ommin was required to abandon fears and doubts, lest through them he was consumed by the power he sought to control. According to Nadd, Ommin was only able to penetrate that barrier by fully embracing his hatred of everything&mdash;including the dark side of the Force. Once he accomplished that goal, Sith sorcery granted Ommin an amplified sense of his environment; he was able to influence the malevolent sensations of millions of beings and fill those unsuspecting individuals with a hatred that was not their own. Such an exertion of dark side power was not without its side effects, however; mastery over Sith sorcery demanded that Ommin sacrifice motor control over his body in exchange for access to the new plateau of dark side power.

Fear of Sith magic
"Not all knowledge is pure; some is touched by evil. There are secrets that must remain hidden; forbidden teachings that should remain forever buried. There is a dark side to the Force. Unchecked it brings death and destruction. The Council of First Knowledge is sworn to keep this terrible power from being unleashed, but the influence of the dark side is scattered throughout the galaxy, as are the tools it uses to spread: ancient texts of Sith sorcery; amulets imbued with malevolent energy; tainted crystals that can corrupt the minds of the innocent. Sometimes these artifacts are discovered by accident, and they fall into the hands of unsuspecting victims. They become agents of the dark side, wreaking havoc across the galaxy&hellip;unless we get to them in time. We are trained in the handling of dark side artifacts. Some can be destroyed, but others are too powerful and must be safeguarded."

- Jedi Master Obba, 980 BBY

Since the days of the old Republic, Sith magic has elicited fear from the Jedi. Members of the Order actively pursued practitioners of Sith sorcery, and took painstaking measures to hide, destroy, or contain the artifacts that assisted Sith magicians in their conjurations. Even though the Republic had forbidden its practice by the time of the Freedon Nadd Uprising, worshipers of the ancient Dark Lord ignored the prohibition and implemented his ancient enchantments against the soldiers of the Republic Navy. By the time of the Jedi Civil War, which ended in 3,956 BBY, legislation had been drafted into law by the Galactic Senate which banned all things Sith. Prior to the end of the Clone Wars in 19 BBY, the Anti-Sith bill had been rendered void, as the Senate had since introduced new laws which strictly forbade religious persecution of any sort, including adherence to the ways of the Sith.

In the waning years of the their Golden Age, some Sith feared the power commanded by the more prominent sorcerers of their Empire. Sith Lord Naga Sadow's forages into previously unexplored avenues of Sith lore and ritual were looked upon with scorn by his detractors, who openly challenged his idealistic ambitions. King Ommin, a man in the lineage of Freedon Nadd, was at first fearful of the sheer scope of Sith magic in his early experiences with it. Darth Bane, a Dark Lord who succeeded Naga Sadow some four thousand years after, was also wary of Sith magic because he had no affinity for it. He nonetheless allowed his apprentice Darth Zannah to indulge herself in its mysteries, and warned the girl about attempting to use her charms against him, lest Bane destroy her. By the time of the rise of Darth Krayt's One Sith Order, Sith magic had been all but consigned to obscurity. When it did resurface, however, in the form of a alchemically-created plague, the loremasters of Krayt's Order were confounded by the sudden outbreak of a scourge that was thought to have been eradicated for millennia.

Altering the perceptions of another
"Ulic&mdash;What's the matter with you guys&mdash;? Why weren't you fightin?''" "The dark side&hellip;it's eating at our life force&hellip;Sith magic'' is at work&mdash;"

- Dace Diath and Ulic Qel-Droma

Many abilities that fell within the scope of Sith magic allowed individuals to influence the mental and sensory perceptions of other sentient beings. The domination of another's mind and will was possible through magical enchantments, and the more steeped in the dark side an individual was, the easier it became to subdue the will of another. Larg-scale mind control was evidenced by Satal Keto's complete mental authority over the pilots of his Krath Chaos starfighters during the First Battle of Empress Teta, and Exar Kun's puppetry of the entire Senate assembly during the Trial of Ulic Qel-Droma.

A false light side aura concealed a darksider's dark side aura with one of light, allowing them to infiltrate light side locations, and fool lightsiders into believing them to be one in the same. Illusions were lifelike, astral projections, of whatever the conjurer desired. The illusions touched all of an individual's sensory perceptions, and only through concentration on the Force was an individual able to perceive them as being false. Memory rubs erased or rewrote select memories of any intended target. Conjuring a spell of concealment through Sith magic allowed the caster to hide or cloak the presence of one or multiple individuals. Summoning an individual's fear caused the victim to experience their worst fears to the point of hysteria. It is a very powerful ability, and the duration and intensity vary depending on the caster.

Protection
"The walls are lined with stonework, covered in carvings Babbnod says are&hellip;well, I can hardly believe it, but she says they're some kind of protective magic. Sith magic."

- Captain Naz Felyood, referring to Korriban's Valley of the Dark Lords

An aura of uneasiness ability that projects a field of discomfort around an individual to ward off non-sentient creatures or cause extreme discomfort in sentient beings. Ludo Kressh created the gauntlet of Kressh the Younger to protect his son from harm. Haazen later wore the gauntlet and used it to protect him from the attacks of Lucien Draay. Sith magic protected the entrance of the room within Freedon Nadd's tomb that hid his holocron. In the Valley of the Dark Lords on the Sith homeworld of Korriban, ancient magic was utilized in the protection of the tombs of deceased Sith Lords.

Acts of physical violence
"The magic of the Sith is even more powerful than we thought! Not only can we create illusions, but&mdash;''" "We can blast our enemies into dust''!"

- Satal and Aleema Keto

A bolt of hatred was an iridescent sphere of energy that tormented its victim the pain and hatred of thousands of tortured souls. Dark side webs were nets of Force energy that constricted around its victim to sever their connection to the Force. A mist of pure dark side energy in the form of tendrils that was capable of causing immense mental and physical pain, and even the instant disintegration of flesh and bone. A Force blast was a concentrated beam of pure dark side energy projected at objects or opponents, that sometimes caused flesh burns, but caused the caster no pain.

Divination
"Freedon Nadd. for years I worshiped your name. For a lifetime I served the memory of your dark power. Now, in the name of my husband King Ommin, in the name of his ancestor Freedon Nadd, I call down the power of the dark side upon these foes!"

- Queen Amanoa, invoking the power of Freedon Nadd

Invoking spirits summoned the spirit of a deceased darksider, usually to augment the requesting Sith magician with the deceased's power.

Disrupting nature
"THE BATTLE IS LOST. LOST. YOUR STRENGTH IS GONE. YOUR WILL IS GONE. YOUR LIFE IS PAIN. SURRENDER."

- The whispers of Amanoa's summoned darkness

Creating supernovas through Sith magic allowed the conjurer to effectively control and purge the core from a star, thereby causing a stellar explosion. This ability had the potential to backfire on the conjurer. Summoning darkness created visible, palpable waves of literal darkness, accompanied by a loud roaring sound.

Users
"A rare few have a natural affinity for the dark side itself. They can delve into the depths of the Force and summon arcane energies to twist and warp the world around them. They can invoke ancient rituals of the Sith; they can invoke power and unleash terrible spells and dark magics."

- Darth Bane

Sith magic predated the formation of the Galactic Republic, a governmental institution that served the galaxy for twenty-five millennia.Jedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force Adas, an ancient Sith king who died circa 28,000 BBY, was a reputed master of Sith magic. Dathka Graush, a king who succeeded Adas more than twenty thousand years later, also had a flair for Sith enchantments. Roughly fifty years after Graush, Dark Jedi outcasts from the Jedi Order conquered the Sith species, and incorporated the species' magical practices into their own dark side rituals. The Sith Lord Karness Muur was one such individual who, though Sith magic, developed ways to extend his lifespan far beyond what was natural. Around the time of the Great Hyperspace War, Sith sorcery was widely dispersed among the Lords of the Sith Empire. Ludo Kressh, Marka Ragnos, and Rin Shuuir were among them. Perhaps the most famous of that era was Naga Sadow, whose studies into the nature of Sith magic were a cause for concern among his fellow Sith Lords.



Many sorcerers recorded their magical formulas in tomes, scrolls, and holocrons, and many more learned to tap into that ancient power through intense study of those artifacts. Such was the case with Freedon Nadd who, prior to apprenticing himself to Naga Sadow, amassed a wealth of Sith knowledge from the holocrons of both Adas and Darth Andeddu. In the tradition of the Dark Lords who preceded him, Nadd recorded the sum of his sorcerous knowledge within the recesses of his own holocron. The Jedi attempted to prevent the spread of Sith magic by entombing Nadd's remains and his abundance of Sith relics in an impregnable sepulcher on Dxun, Onderon's fourth moon, but were unsuccessful. Despite the Jedi Order's best efforts, Nadd trained two aspiring Sith, Aleema Keto and her cousin Satal, in the ways of dark side magic, and both became proficient magicians under Nadd's guidance. Sith magic was then disseminated throughout the Empress Teta star system by way of the Ketos Krath organization, whose knowledge came from ancient texts and antiquities gifted to the Ketos by the ghost of Freedon Nadd himself. Nadd also took another as his apprentice, the fallen Jedi Exar Kun, whose aptitude with Sith magic far exceeded Nadd's expectations. After inheriting Nadd's position as Dark Lord of the Sith, Kun joined forces with the Krath and together they brought Sith magic to bear against both the Jedi and Republic in the Great Sith War.

The Sith Brotherhood was ultimately defeated over Yavin 4. However, the magical practices to which they had subscribed resurfaced, this time in the form of Karness Muur's spirit and his Muur talisman. In 3,963 BBY, Celeste Morne, A Shadow working undercover for the clandestine Jedi Covenant, acquired Muur's talisman, and was given access to its magical ability to transform Force-sensitives into Rakghouls; a form of Sithspawn that transmitted their eponymous plague through their bites. Morne continued to wield Sith magic for nearly the next four thousand years, her lifespan greatly extended because of both the Muur Talisman, and extended periods of time spent in stasis.

A twelve-year old Sith apprentice named Zannah began to study Sith sorcery in 996 BBY. The foundations of her power were built upon the spells of Freedon Nadd, which her Master, Darth Bane, had transcribed from Nadd's holocron. Bane provided Zannah with other sources of sorcerous knowledge, and by 980 BBY, Zannah&mdash;who had collected her own sources of knowledge over the past decade&mdash;had achieved mastery over Sith magic.

Behind the scenes
The concept of Sith magic was first conceived as a plot device for the second installment of the third Tales of the Jedi story arc, Ulic Qel-Droma and the Beast Wars of Onderon.