Tomb of Freedon Nadd

"Freedon Nadd was seduced by the dark side. He apprenticed himself to a Dark Lord of the Sith. After his death, his tomb became a focus of dark side energy, and so his power passed from generation to generation."

- Arca Jeth

The Tomb of Freedon Nadd was presumably created in the year 4,400 BBY, after Freedon Nadd's physical death. Located on Onderon for nearly four hundred years, it was later moved to Onderon's moon Dxun in 3,998 BBY in an attempt to rid the planet of the taint of the dark side. After being visited by the Dark Jedi Exar Kun in 3,997 BBY, the tomb would remain unvisited for nearly four decades. The tomb was an influential location in 3,951 BBY during the Sith Civil War, where a number of Sith forces were defeated by the Jedi Exile. It would later be found and explored by Darth Bane, who believed he might learn the secret of creating Holocrons from the tomb's contents. Freedon Nadd's sarcophagus inside the tomb was actually a Force nexus, with its contents being the focus of potent dark side energy.

Structure
"Those cursed Jedi will never find me here, heheheh...buried within the depths of the palace, with the Tomb of Freedon Nadd."

- Amanoa.

The tomb of Freedon Nadd was originally located in an underground cave, deep in the catacombs under Queen Amanoa's Royal Palace of Iziz, Onderon's capital city. The cave was cold and dark, and only accessible by tunnels that Galia confessed to having no knowledge of. It radiated with the power of Sith magic. The original tomb only consisted of the Dark Lord's massive sarcophagus, which in turn housed his biological remains. The sarcophagus was made of heavy stone, and also covered with a heavy slab of stone. In the cave, Amanoa had the coffin propped up by unknown means. In reverence or worship, she would throw herself on the coffin or at its feet, while calling on the power of Freedon Nadd.

History
"May the dark power that he taught my husband and all our ancestors fill me now!"

- Amanoa, invoking Freedon Nadd's spirit



In 4,000 BBY, when the forces of Iziz went to war against the combined might of the Jedi and Modon Kira's Beast Riders, Amanoa quietly sneaked away under her palace to Nadd's tomb, and drew fully on the power of the dark side focused in his remains. Chanting his name, Amanoa invoked Nadd's spirit and used its power to cause panic and terror amongst the armies of Beast Riders. But when confronted by the light of Master Arca Jeth, the shadow of Nadd's spirit was driven from the tomb. Amanoa died, the shadow having been driven from her as well.

To purge the dark side from Onderon permanently, Arca planned to relocate the sarcophagus along with Amanoa's coffin to Onderon's nearby moon, Dxun. He surmised that the moon's natural fauna would be more than sufficient in deterring any would-be grave robbers. But before the sarcophagi could be moved, they were stolen by the Dark Jedi Warb Null and his army of Naddists, who surprised the Jedi from below with a massive tunnel-boring war machine and confiscated the coffins, retreating with them into the tunnels underground. Master Arca and Ulic Qel-Droma, led by Queen Galia, followed the Naddists underground where they discovered Warb Null and King Ommin, who was alive and, much to their horror, in league with Freedon Nadd's spirit. Though Ommin was able to subdue and capture Arca with his Force lightning, the Jedi Master was eventually rescued by a team of Jedi Knights. Ommin was killed, and Nadd's spirit was finally removed from Onderon. Arca took the sarcophagi of King Ommin, Queen Amanoa, and Freedon Nadd, and finally moved them to Dxun. Building an actual mausoleum of Mandalorian iron, Arca sealed the tomb and placed it in a remote area of Dxun, to be hopefully left undisturbed.

Structure


Following the Freedon Nadd Uprising in 3,998 BBY, his tomb was moved to the nearby moon of Dxun by Arca Jeth immediately after the uprising was quelled. The new building was constructed of Mandalorian iron, thereby making it nigh-impenetrable and impervious to lightsabers. The tomb also contained the sarcophagi of King Ommin and Queen Amanoa, which were much smaller in size and dark side potency than Nadd's own coffin. Over time the surrounding area became saturated with the dark side, so much so that vegetation ceased to grow and only vile creatures ventured close. These creatures were the native wildlife of Dxun, vicious predators who devoured anything in their path. Like its former location, the interior was cold and dark, attributed to the strong dark side power of Freedon Nadd's spirit.

History
"This is it. This place is the source of the strange pull I felt. It's dangerous but...magnificent at the same time. I feel like I'm standing on the threshold of the future...my future!"

- Exar Kun

In 3,997 BBY, it was discovered by Exar Kun who managed to break in after finally penetrating the wall with his lightsaber. Upon entering he was confronted by Freedon Nadd's ghost, who directed him to the scrolls hidden under his bones. The scrolls pointed Exar Kun to Korriban, where he would be reunited with Nadd, apprenticed to him and acquire tremendous Sith powers. After the second death of Freedon Nadd, his spirit was banished to Chaos, and the tomb would remain undisturbed for little more than thirty years.

In 3,951 BBY it was critical to the outcome of the Second Battle of Onderon. While the Jedi Exile had to bolster the Royalists on Onderon, she put one of her companions in charge of an expedition to stop a sect of Sith loyal to Darth Nihilus.



The Sith presence was tracked by Mandalorians under Kelborn, as Mandalore was journeying with the Exile in a quest to reunite the scattered clans. Kreia recognized a greater threat in what seemed to be merely a staging base, and counseled action against it. Three of the Exile's companions eradicated the Sith from the tomb of Freedon Nadd while a squadron of Mandalorian warriors led by Xarga took control of the base, Freedon Nadd's lightsaber was removed from his sarcophagus after the ritual the Sith were performing in the crypt was stopped and the threat to Onderon and the Republic was vanquished.

About three thousand years later in 990 BBY, Darth Bane traveled to Freedon Nadd's tomb in search of potential secrets for creating holocrons. Entering the tomb, Bane was displeased to learn that someone had been there before him, though he did not know how long ago. Disillusioned at first, he thought that his trip had been for nothing, until he happened upon an undisturbed chamber, sealed with thick slab of Mandalorian iron. At first Bane was not able to enter the room, but then he used the Dark Side to throw the door across the room. Then, he saw that the room held its own holocron. Bane soon learned that the holocron was not the only thing housed in that room. The secret chamber was infested with Orbalisks, tiny crustacean-like creatures that feed on the power of the dark side. When Bane tried to remove the holocron, two of the orbalisks attached themselves to him, one to his chest and the other on his back. Lord Bane remained in the tomb for four days while he delved into its crystal lattices, after which he left the tomb and Dxun with the holocron as well.

Behind the scenes
The tomb of Freedon Nadd was first introduced in the Dark Lords of the Sith story arc of the Tales of the Jedi series of comic books, published by Dark Horse Comics. The burial site would later be given a full treatment in the computer and video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lorda, developed by Obsidian Entertainment, which serves as a key plot element within the game's storyline.

Facing the Sith Master and his two Dark Jedi, the Exile's companion in charge of the mission is recognized as Force-sensitive, and is offered the chance to embrace the dark side and the power that they were harnessing to control the beasts on Onderon and Dxun.

If the leader of the expedition has training in the ways of the Force, he or she has a chance to acquire new powers in the tomb, drawing upon a pair of dark side energy nexuses that could be found in the tomb. The first nexus offers the power of "Slow", while the second can grant the power of "Affliction", provided neither power has yet been chosen by that character during level-up. Alternately, if the character chooses to control their emotions and successfully resists, a temporary bonus to strength and constitution stats can be earned.

Appearances

 * Tales of the Jedi: Dark Lords of the Sith
 * Tales of the Jedi (audio)
 * Tales of the Jedi: Dark Lords of the Sith (audio)
 * Tales of the Jedi: The Freedon Nadd Uprising
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
 * Bane of the Sith
 * Darth Bane: Rule of Two