Darth Glovoc

Darth Glovoc was a male humanoid Sith Lord who served the Sith Empire during the Jedi Civil War. In the final years of the conflict, Glovoc led several highly successful campaigns against the Galactic Republic. Although considered a brilliant commander, he was also believed to be somewhat insane, spending the majority of his free time in deep meditation and taking on the self-proclaimed title of "Lord of the Mind's Eye."

At the end of the Jedi Civil War and Darth Malak's death at the hands of the redeemed Revan, Glovoc abandoned the Sith to seek out the planet Nyriaan based on a vision he had experienced during his meditation. However, upon their arrival at the distant planet, Glovoc's forces were attacked by a Republic strike force. In the ensuing battle, Glovoc's flagship, the Dying Sun, was badly damaged and crashlanded on Nyriaan. Glovoc and some of his crew survived, but were now stranded on Nyriaan. The Sith Lord placed himself in stasis inside an oubliette, awakening roughly every hundred years to take stock of his people. Over the years the remaining Sith survivors eked out an existence on Nyriaan, coming to worship Glovoc's imprisoned form as their god. In 132 ABY, Galactic Emperor Darth Krayt heard rumors of the Dying Sun final resting place and dispatched an agent to investigate Nyriaan; after the Sith descendants' encounter with him, they decided to move Glovoc's sleeping form to a more secluded location.

Jedi Civil War
Darth Glovoc was a Sith Lord and commander in the Sith Empire during the Jedi Civil War. Glovoc was a valued member of the Sith during the final years of the conflict, and he was responsible for several victorious campaigns against the Galactic Republic. Although Glovoc was respected as a brilliant commander, he was often left to himself, as many in the Sith forces considered him to be insane. Hoping to divine the answer to the Sith Empire's ultimate victory, Glovoc spent a considerable amount of time in deep meditation, and he declared himself the "Lord of the Mind's Eye."

The day before the climactic duel on the Star Forge and the death of Darth Malak, reigning Dark Lord of the Sith, Glovoc received a striking vision in a dream. Within his mind, Glovoc viewed a distant world covered entirely in thick, dark clouds, traced with bolts of purple lightning. After awakening, Glovoc was consumed with the desire to visit and conquer the mysterious planet. Convinced that the dark side was calling him to discover something there, the Sith Lord decided to seek out the mysterious location. Pinpointing a world in the Luire system that matched his vision, Glovoc left the war behind, and executed those who challenged his interpretation of the vision.

Arrival at Nyriaan
Glovoc's ship, the Interdictor-class cruiser Dying Sun, entered hyperspace on a course for Luire. During the trip, Glovoc continued his favored pastime, hoping to more accurately pinpoint the planet from his dream. The Sith Lord's meditation eventually led him to the planet Nyriaan, a world that matched his vision; however, further reflection failed to reveal what lied below the dark clouds on the surface, as Glovoc soon discovered that use of the Force was difficult within the planet's vicinity. Although frustrated that he was unable to decipher what was drawing him to the world, Glovoc became even more desperate to reach Nyriaan and understand his vision.

After exiting hyperspace, Glovoc was informed by his captain that they had arrived in the Luire system. The Sith Lord immediately set out for the fifth planet in the system and opened scanning systems to reveal everything possible about Nyriaan. However, the sensors on the Dying Sun inadvertently attracted the attention of a nearby Republic strike force. Glovoc's concentration on his ultimate goal kept him distracted, and his force was caught off-guard by the Republic ships. Despite the element of surprise, Darth Glovoc's crew were battle-hardened warriors, and they fought desperately against their Republic enemies. As a result, the ensuing battle was costly for both sides. Although Glovoc's forces were able to destroy three Republic cruisers and countless starfighters, they sustained massive fire from torpedo volleys, disabling the Dying Sun. The Republic forces, not wishing further casualties, left the badly damaged craft to drift toward the clouded world below where it would be unable to control its descent.

Existence on a dark world
As the Dying Sun plummeted to the surface of Nyriaan, several escape pods were jettisoned from the dying craft, crashing on the surface below. The damage to the Interdictor-class cruiser caused Glovoc's flagship to fragment into several pieces during the descent. Despite the breakup of the ship, some of the crew survived the crashlanding, remaining in the fragments of the Dying Sun that did not disintegrate completely. Although their numbers were considerably decreased, the surviving Sith united under Glovoc's tyrannical leadership. Unable to leave the isolated world, Glovoc took steps to prolong his life. Through the use of an oubliette, the Sith Lord placed himself into suspended animation. Initially, Glovoc would limit these slumbers to around one hundred years, awakening briefly to gauge the progress of his people before returning to the oubliette. As the years passed slowly, Glovoc's Sith disciples became increasingly twisted and inbred, and their Sith Lord's awakenings became more infrequent.

Over the years, Glovoc's people discovered that the planet interfered with the use of the Force. Although the weather seemed partly to blame for this phenomenon, Glovoc's disciples came to believe that something within the world was causing this interference. The Sith also occasionally encountered Nyriaan natives, but they were known to attack intruders to their camp, causing other individuals on Nyriaan to leave them alone. At some point, Darth Glovoc abandoned his visits to his people entirely. While in perpetual stasis, his depraved followers began to idolize him as a sleeping god, labeling him "the Dying Sun." Glovoc's followers would often sacrifice inhabitants of the planet at the feet of a stone altar, atop which was the statue of a humanoid figure.

Into the future
In 81 BBY, several interested parties, including the Corporate Sector Authority, House Reena, and House Mecetti, established several permanent settlements on the planet's surface in an effort to stake a claim to the valuable resources of Nyriaan. Over the years, the increasing number of people settling the world caused Glovoc's eternal sleep to be disrupted. His peaceful sleep became more restless, but he was not able to awake after so many years in stasis. The Sith Lord's followers attempted to awaken him from the oubliette, but they were unsuccessful.

In 132 ABY, during the rule of Galactic Emperor Darth Krayt, Sith agents of the One Sith uncovered rumors of the final destination of the Dying Sun. Krayt, hoping to find Sith artifacts, including Sith holocrons from the time of Darth Revan, decided to dispatch one of his followers to Nyriaan to investigate. Darth Vurik, using the information from his master, discovered the Sith settlement on the world, encountering the inbred survivors of the Dying Sun. Vurik attempted to locate Glovoc's sleeping form, but the Sith settlers desperately opposed him, sacrificing themselves to keep their sleeping god safe. Despite killing several of the Sith protecting Glovoc's body, Vurik was prevented from his ultimate goal due to the interference of fugitive Jedi who were hiding out on Nyriaan. In the ensuing clash, Vurik wounded several of the Jedi and killed one of them, but he was forced to retreat. During the battle, the Sith settlers acted quickly, moving Glovoc's oubliette to a new hideout. Vurik, ashamed by his defeat, decided not to immediately report back to his master, hoping that the use of bounty hunters would allow him to eliminate the Jedi and finally locate Darth Glovoc.

Personality and traits
Darth Glovoc was an important member of the Sith Empire during the Jedi Civil War, considered brilliant and valued for his efforts against the Galactic Republic. However, his loyalty to the cause came second to his own desires, and he readily abandoned the cause when a vision came to him during one of his many meditation sessions. Due to his obsession with meditation, other Sith considered him to be quite mad. He had a short temper and absolute faith in his visions, immediately executing those who would contradict his interpretation of the Nyriaan vision, and could subject a being to a slow death if sufficiently enraged. After becoming stranded on Nyriaan, Glovoc proved to be a harsh but effective leader, helping his followers to survive over following millennia. However, his presence caused his servants to become twisted in body and spirit. Over his long life, Darth Glovoc eventually became unconcerned with the physical world, entering a perpetual state of stasis within an oubliette. However, his influence on the Sith was so strong that they eventually began to worship him as a god, naming him after their destroyed ship, the Dying Sun.

Powers and abilities
Darth Glovoc was talented in abilities of the mind, so much so that he fancied himself as the "Lord of the Mind's Eye." During the Jedi Civil War, he spent much of his free time in deep meditation, trying to find the key to the Sith's ultimate victory against the Republic. Toward the end of the war, he received an epiphany in the form of a striking Force vision, one that filled him with an overwhelming desire to investigate the world that he saw. As vague as his vision was, he was sure that the dark side was telling him something was there, but upon reaching Nyriaan Glovoc found that his mental probes could not breach the planet's cloud layer, as something was interfering with his use of the Force.

Behind the scenes
Darth Glovoc was introduced in the Wizards of the Coast resource book Galaxy of Intrigue, as part of the background for the planet Nyriaan. There appears to be something of an internal contradiction with the text concerning Darth Glovoc. An outline of important dates on Nyriaan mentions that the vision of the planet experienced by Glovoc occurs in 3,957 BBY and the later battle above the world takes place in 3,956 BBY. Although it is possible that it took a considerable amount of time for Darth Glovoc to reach the world from his vision, the text also mentions that the dream took place "on the eve of Darth Malak's death at the hands of Revan." Since it is established that this duel took place in 3,956 BBY according to several sources, including The New Essential Chronology and the Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide, it appears that the date for Glovoc's vision could not have taken place in 3,957 BBY unless the death of Darth Malak took place on the first day of the new galactic year.

Since Galaxy of Intrigue is a supplement to the Star Wars Roleplaying Game, the text accounts for the possibility of Glovoc awakening from his millennia-long stasis. If he does regain consciousness, it is claimed that he will bring his followers together and leave the planet on a mission of conquest. Since the book does not definitively say one way or the other whether Glovoc regains consciousness, this event is not necessarily canon.

While the statue set atop the sacrificial altar is never stated to be one of Glovoc, a depiction of the statue in Galaxy of Intrigue somewhat resembles the Sith Lord.