Vur Tepe

"Whatever Anil Kesh can imagine Vur Tepe can make real."

- A popular saying by members of the Je'daii Order.

Vur Tepe, or the Forge was one of nine temples of the Je'daii Order located on the verdant world of Tython. A large metal structure, the temple at Vur Tepe was located along the mouth of an active volcano along the Tythos Ridge. A place of study, students learned the ways of the Force through metallurgy and the construction of tools and weapons. After the Force Wars which ravaged Tython, the Je'daii abandoned the temple and the world for millennia. When the old stewards of Tython returned as the Jedi Order during the Cold War between the Galactic Republic and the resurgent Sith Empire, the Jedi located the ruins of the ancient Forge and adapted the remaining structure to the construction of lightsabers.

History
When the philosophers and scholars from across the galaxy first arrived on Tython, they were brought forth from the stars on giant pyramidal constructs called the Tho Yor. These nine massive ships scattered across the planet and landed in separate locations, releasing those held within to settle the planet. The Tho Yor themselves would serve as the very foundations for these travelers' new homes and places of study.

One of these Tho Yor deposited it's passengers on the slopes of an active volcano along the Tythos Ridge. The Tho Yor remained aloft in the sky looking down at the volcano as the early Je'daii Order established a massive metal and stone temple on the lip of the active caldera. A monument to the art of metallurgy, the students of Vur Tepe would craft their weapons in the fires of the volcano; the bottom of the temple formed an interior dome which harnessed the heat from the flowing lava to power the forges. The temple itself, a rust-colored zigurrat which rested on four sheer support walls, was crowned with several barrel-shaped smokestacks that belched out smoke created in the fires of the Forge.

Within the halls of Vur Tepe the Je'daii focused on practical applications; focusing on the ways in which the Force could be applied to create or improve physical things. The temple enjoyed a good working relationship with neighboring Anil Kesh, the Temple of Science. The technology in the temple enabled the early Force-users to imbue their katana with the Force and make the material extraordinarily strong and razor sharp. The Je'daii Temple Master, the Je'daii who served as steward of the facility and oversaw its functions, instructed students in the finer points of craftsmanship and encouraged new discoveries. In 25,793 BBY Master Tem Madog, a Cathar, was the Temple's overseer.



In the wake of the destructive Force Wars which ravaged Tython, the fledgling Jedi Order abandoned the world, leaving all their temples to crumble and disappear over the centuries. After several millennium had passed, the Order returned to their ancestral homeworld when the Great Galactic War between the Sith Empire and the Galactic Republic drove the Order from their home on Coruscant.

Sending scouts out into the wilderness, the Order rediscovered the ruins of Vur Tepe, known only as the Forge to the Jedi of the era. All that remained of the once mighty fortress was a small stone chamber at the foot of the now dormant volcano, accessible by a small ruined staircase. After a trying ten month search for the ancient edifice, the Jedi cleared the debris from the site and began to restore the vine-covered monument to working order. Using the ancient technology, the Order updated its working mechanism to make the site suitable for the construction of the modern lightsaber. Because of the treacherous journey to reach the spot, only the most hardy Padawans attempted the trek.

Behind the scenes
Although the Jedi Forge was first revealed in The New Essential Chronology, author Dan Wallace stated in 2005 that the concept was already developed for a future source yet to be revealed. 

Appearances

 * Star Wars: The Old Republic