Sith (species)

The Sith, also known as the Red Sith during the time of the Old Sith Empire, were a Force-sensitive species of red-skinned Humanoids that originated on Korriban and later settled on Ziost and were enslaved by exiled Dark Jedi.

Biology and appearance
The Sith were a species of proud and violent humanoids that had evolved on the planet Korriban, a planet within the Horuset system in an Outer Rim region known as the Stygian Caldera. Sith had a larger than average number of individuals able to use the Force in their species, so high in fact that the entire species was Force-sensitive. Adult Sith characteristically had skin of a crimson-hue, however, the children of the species appeared a lighter shade of red. Sith had sharp, fierce predatory features over their bodies, as well as cheek tendrils, pointed teeth, simian mouths with small noses, and glowing yellow eyes which were covered by eyebrow-stalks. Sith also had three clawed digits on each hand, and three on each foot; two forward facing and one backward facing. The Sith were commonly left handed also, as a result their signature weapon, the lanvarok, was constructed only for left-handed use.

The cheek tendrils on the jowls of Sith that descended from their cheekbones displayed different expressions amongst their species through twitching and other movements. For example, slight curling of the tendrils showed that the particular Sith was of a rejuvenated attitude, while stroking of the tendrils was an expression of thoughtfulness. Also, quivering of the tendrils could show anger, as well as a questioning expression when coupled with raising of the eyebrow-stalks. Some Sith also had long bony chins, while others did not show this characteristic and had less prominent chins that sloped away from their mouth.

After their arrival in Sith space after the Hundred-Year Darkness, the Human Dark Jedi began to interbreed with the Sith. For nearly two thousand years, superstition, loyalty and sympathy were bred out as the two groups interbred, and qualities such as cunning, ambition and affinity to the Force were favored, which shaped Sith society over the centuries. In the Sith Empire, as time progressed Pure-blooded Sith were steadily bred out, resulting in only a few Pure-blooded Sith left in the Sith Empire by the time of the Great Hyperspace War. Depending on how much Dark Jedi or Sith blood an individual would have due to this interbreeding, would determine what characteristics showed. By the time of the Great Hyperspace War in 5,000 BBY, the majority of Red Sith within the Empire showed mainly Sith traits, although there was at least one who showed more than average Dark Jedi traits like Naga Sadow&mdash;who had among the purest Jedi lineage, with minimal Sith blood. Still, he also maintained qualities of the Sith species such as cheek tendrils and red skin. These certain Dark Jedi traits were selected for by some individuals, while others were more proud of their Sith traits and lineage.

Culture
Though they were in an almost constant state of war, their civilization was quite sophisticated; they saw these acts not as cruel or barbaric, but simply basic aspects of existence. They were notable for engaging in supposedly primitive practices such as sentient sacrifices in the name of their gods. Their constant warring led to a dwindling of the population on their original homeworld of Korriban as well as cultivated an intensely xenophobic society.

Native Sith culture included the Sith language, the consumption of bloodsoup, a rigid and stratified caste-based society, live sentient sacrifices to the Sith deities and use of ancient and arcane alchemy and magic. For the Sith, war and violence were just as much a part of the natural order of life as peace or serenity. Their social order was very rigid, and while many rose to the title of Sith Lord, only one, King Adas, attained the position of monarch. Another aspect of Sith culture, the creation of Sith holocrons to record knowledge, originates from their first contact with the Rakata of the Infinite Empire.

One aspect that originated from Korriban was the position of Shadow Hand; a title that was analogous to that of a Jedi Padawan. One of the oldest and greatest strengths of the Sith was their knowledge of sorcery. This great power allowed them to accomplish great feats such as causing stars to go supernova.

Castes
"In times long past, the Sith race proved malleable&hellip;Splitting into a meek and servile Slave class&hellip;An intelligent and nimble Engineer class&hellip;Others interbred with the early Exiled Jedi&mdash;like the ancestors of Ludo Kressh&mdash;watering down the powerful bloodlines&hellip;But most useful of all were members of the vicious Massassi Warrior class."

- Naga Sadow - referring to the split of the Sith into the four different castes/sub-species: Slave caste, Engineer caste, Kissai and Massassi.

The Sith society was very hierarchical, utilizing both a rigid caste system and a stratified rank structure to put its subjects in their proper place. Due to how long Sith society has separated the Sith into castes (across approximately 130,000 years), each caste is sometimes referred to as a sub-species of Sith. All Sith castes were red-skinned humanoids with distinctly sharp, predatory features and tentacle beards. Among the Sith, the stroking of a right cheek tendril was a sign of thoughtfulness. After interbreeding with the Dark Jedi exiles, the original members of the species became known as Red Sith. Their caste system included a meek and lowly Slave caste, a skilled and intelligent engineer caste, the priestly Kissai caste, and the war-like Massassi caste.

The following were notable castes present amongst the Sith:
 * Slave Caste : Sith slaves were the meek and servile sub-species of the Sith and therefore the lowliest caste in Sith hierarchy. Pure blooded Sith slaves had only three digits on each hand unlike the other Sith castes, but after the fusion of bloodlines with the Dark Jedi Exiles, the Slaves seemed to have four digits. They worshiped the Sith Lords as gods, and were often used as sacrifices. The Sith Lords used them for slave labor. When a Sith Lord died, his slaves were buried alive with his body in his tomb on Korriban.
 * Engineer Caste : Sith engineers built and maintained Sith technology, including droids and starships.
 * Massassi Caste : Massassi were the warrior caste of the Sith. This was because Massassi tended to be taller and stronger than the other Sith castes, this combined with the natural Sith aggression made very efficient and vicious soldiers for the Sith military. Massassi were not very intelligent but they could be trained well enough to carry out complex battle plans and maintain their equipment, starships, and weaponry making them very useful to the Sith Empire. The Massassi's loyalty had to be earned but once it was they were unswervingly obedient to the Dark Lord of the Sith; they were also loyal to the individual Sith Lord they served, though this loyalty was secondary to their loyalty to the Dark Lord.   The Massassi also had a complex language of their own, which may be related to the Sith language.
 * Kissai Caste : The Kissai were the priest class in the Sith caste system and were known to study the nature of the Dark side of the Force and practice of ancient Sith magic and alchemy. The Kissai were just as ruthless as the Massassi, but they were more intelligent, observant and lacked the physical advantages that Massassi possessed.

Technology
The Sith art of alchemy allowed them to imbue objects as well as living beings with the Dark side. Due to their great skill in sorcery and magic, the Sith often created Talismans in order to focus their concentration as well as to further tap great amounts of Dark side power. Such artifacts were often used during long elaborate rituals and allowed a sorcerer to temporarily enhance their abilities. These constructs often took many different forms ranging from crystals to amulets. After encountering Jedi attempting to use their talismans for the Light side of the Force, the Sith developed ensnarement talismans which, when used, turned their users to the Dark side. This in turn led to Sith artifacts being outlawed following the destruction of the Sith. In addition to these artifacts, the Sith long ago developed healing talismans after a revolt led by Naga Sadow which led to pure blooded Sith finding means to provide an advantage to their faction. Healing talismans worked by fastening natural healing processes but at the expense of the user's connection to the Force. Another talisman was the shield talismans that worked by absorbing any form of energy attack and using that as a power source for the relic. Following the destruction of the Sith Empire, the Jedi discovered that talismans were very difficult to destroy due to different means employed in obliterating them - some made use of the destruction of physical components while skilled Jedi Masters were sometimes needed to remove the reservoir of Dark side energy in the relics and some were even capable of only being destroyed by the Dark side only. This led to certain talismans being hidden while others were placed in hazardous locations such as nebulas or stars in order to prevent them from falling into anyone's hands.

Talismans were not the only Force empowered artifacts that the Sith were capable of creating. They had long ago learned that the usage of the Force created ripples that could be sensed by others which led to the creation of Force masks in order to hide this emanation from others. In addition, they were also capable of creating potent toxins such as Sith poisons that weakened their targets from the influence of the Dark side. While these were many forms of common artifacts used by the Sith, there were certain relics that were unique and created by individual Sith Lords. This had led to several specially craft items such as the Gauntlet of Kressh the Younger, Muur Talisman, Dreypa's Oubliette, Eye of Horak-mul, Helm of Dathka Graush, Scepter of Ragnos, Sword of Ieldis and the Heart of Graush as well as the Yoke of Seeming.

During ancient times, the Sith often made use of tomes and manuscripts to record their knowledge. These scrolls and tablets contained teachings on how to learn certain techniques ranging from alchemy to weapon crafting to magic. It was only later that the Sith began to adopt holocrons as teachings tools. One piece of technology that did not originate from the Sith was holocrons which had been originally adapted from the Rakata. Following this event, holocrons became a preferred method of storing Sith teachings though were considered rare. By transferring a portion of the users personality into the device as well as imbuing it with the Force, they were capable of creating a Gatekeeper that was a sentient presence that interacted with future users. As the different creators of holocrons had different specialities, it meant that these data storage devices often contained aspects of a single field of Sith lore. This had led to the side effect of certain Sith teachings being lost because the knowledge was either never recorded or destroyed. Those holocrons that had survived over the years either fell into the hands of dark side acolytes or remained within the sanctuaries of the dead Sith Lords. Their usage also had a corrupting influence on those that accessed its forbidden knowledge. While holocrons were used, manuscripts and other means of containing Sith teachings were also used. Such relics included the Epistle of Marka Ragnos, the Codex of Karness Muur.

Sith alchemy was also regularly used in the creation of weapons such as Sith swords. These blades were one of the earliest weapons made by the Sith and were remarkably effective. Such blades were treated so that they were reinforced to withstand any blow which allowed them to combat lightsabers. Their unique creation also meant that they were capable of surviving for thousands of years and in perfect condition. The ancient Sith Lords of Ziost were known to had made use of Cortosis-weave to create Sith Tremor Swords; a powerful vibroblade melee weapon. In addition, they made use of Sith alchemy to enhance the strength as well as destructive power of blade weapons such as Sith war swords. A primitive ranged weapon created by the Sith was the Lanvarok that was originally used as a hunting tool. In contrast to weapons, the Sith also crafted dark armor which provided additional protection for their wearers and were crafted to meet the individual requirements of their user.

This talent in Sith alchemy also extended to create biological weapons which allowed them to genetically engineered creatures to become tainted abominations. Such feats were used to engineer the Tuk'ata that served as guardians for various Sith tombs. In fact, the ancient Sith Empire made use of this art to create Chrysalis beasts that were used as guards as well as pets to various Sith Lords. They even engineered weapons to be employed for sieges such as mutating Silooth in order to break enemy defenses.

Sith were noted for considering the construction of structures and edifices to be a work of art. They felt that such buildings were an extension of their creators personality. This had the resulting effect of preventing enemies from being able to properly chart the internal structure of such sanctuaries and provided the Sith a tactical advantage. Such techniques were also used to create focusing chambers designed to amplify a Sith Lords power. This allowed the Sith to create vessels such as the Sith Meditation Sphere that were imparted with a level of sentience as well as the capacity to magnify Force power to great levels. More grander scales of their technological abilities included the creation of Force-empowered superweapons such as the Dark Reaper that was constructed during the years of the Great Hyperspace War.

Early civilization
Around 100,000 BBY Sith civilization evolved on the planet Korriban, living barbarically, and using the dark side of the Force. The Sith had a natural symbiotic relationship with the dark side. They feed on it and empowered it, developing and perfecting techniques of the dark side through it, that were once thought impossible&mdash;such as sorcery. Though they had great power, the Sith were not united, and lived in tribal “circles”, lead by one or more Sith sorcerers who were responsible for the safety and protection of their people. The state of war between the Sith nations on Korriban was common in Sith society, but this existence was treated as one on par with peace and serenity by the Sith people. The Sith people did not, or could not differentiate one state from another, and this, including other barbaric practices, were accepted into Sith society not as being antagonistic or contrary, but integral to their lives. They could not see these barbaric practices they undertook as anything else but their only way to live, their ultimate existence.

It is speculated among some historians that some of these practices, such as the consumption of blood soup, was due to an interaction been Sith and Anzati cultures at some point in pre-history. The Jedi Volfe Karkko was fond of remarking to the Jedi Knights that the Anzati&mdash;his own species&mdash;"remember the very first Sith" after studying a Sith Holocron. However, beyond his claims, there is no further evidence to support this theory.

During this time the Sith recorded information in scrolls, tomes and tablets. These contained dark knowledge, such as writings describing dark side Force powers, Sith alchemy, the construction of Sith weapons and artifacts, and treatises on the domination and destruction of others. However, many of these ancient writings were imbued with the madness of those who wrote them, and the knowledge was capable of driving those who were unprepared to insanity.

In 30,000 BBY, the pre-industrial Sith society on Korriban fought off an invasion by the Killiks. By this time it was known that the Sith already had a great knowledge of the depths of the Force’s power, specifically the rage and revenge that lead to the dark side of the Force.

Sith’ari
Civil war between Sith nations on Korriban continued for many thousands of years, but eventually, Korriban would be united under the rule of a single Sith&mdash;Adas. Adas was raised as a chosen being due to the unusual nature of his charcoal colored skin, and he grew into a powerful being, demonstrating great skill in fighting as well as great intelligence. Adas also had an extreme talent for Sith magic. Forging his own massive battle-ax through the use of Sith alchemy, Adas led the unification of Korriban’s warring nations. Though with much bloodshed, Adas united the disparate nations of Korriban into a single kingdom, becoming an inflexible and undisputed leader of the Sith around 28,000 BBY. Adas became the King and God of the Sith as his reign continued, he earned the title of the overlord known as the Sith'ari&mdash;the perfect being. Adas became the first Sith Lord. Eventually, his people came to believe that his reign would be eternal, and that Adas was immortal.

Adas had been ruling three hundred years when the dark sided invaders of the Rakatan Infinite Empire arrived on Korriban. The Rakatans hid their ultimate agenda from Adas, and tried to lull him into their confidence by teaching them new technologies such as how to build and store knowledge inside a device known as a Holocron. Eventually however, the Rakatan's tried to conquer the Sith people, and the Sith’ari rose to repel the invaders with the indomitable will of his people behind him. During this time of war, it was known that the Rakata also took at least one prisoner—Raspir, who was once a court magician of King Adas, but was imprisoned inside a Rakatan mind trap. Adas took his battle-ax to the invaders, and managed to outsmart the immensely powerful Infinite Empire despite their advanced technology, eventually conquering the conquerors. However, in order to secure freedom for his people, Adas was forced to sacrifice his life to guarantee victory for the Sith.

With Adas’s death, and without his unifying influence, the Sith once again plunged into the previous state of war, with reigning combatants arrogantly proclaiming themselves the new Sith’ari. Over time, the title of Sith Lord as it was translated became relatively common amongst the Sith. With Korriban devastated by the Rakata, and with the constant war all over the planet, the Sith were forced to relocate the Sith capitol to the planet Ziost using new Rakatan Force-based technology the Sith had obtained. There, the priestly Kissai caste oversaw the rebuilding efforts. The Sith prospered, forming and expanding their Empire to nearby planets like Jaguada, as well as to planets further out such as Malachor V and Arbra. But the Rakatans’ did more than just giving the Sith new technology, they gave the Sith the concept of the dark side of the Force, which conflicted with the Sith’s spiritually serene lives of warring, sentient sacrifice to their gods and sortilege. However, some Sith priests interpreted the death of their Sith’ari, the death of Adas as a sign to reject the Sith concept of life. Declared as heretics, they were banished by the Sith, finding their way through the Force to the world of Tund using Rakatan hyperdrive technology, forming a pureblooded Sith society of sorcerers, based on their beliefs after their Rakatan encounter. The Sorcerers lived what they viewed as perfectly harmonious lives, and practiced magic, ontology and science, through the Force. They&mdash;like the Rakatans&mdash;believed that all sentients were Force-sensitive, as well as claiming that the omnipresence of the Force proved that the division of the Force (or what they called "the Unity") into true opposites was a falsity. It was at this time that recorded history began for the Sith.

Eventually, the Sith species largely abandoned the planet Korriban and it became a ceremonial tombworld, however populations still remained in the form of religious cultists. Over the thousands of bloody years, the Sith Empire filled valleys across Korriban with the tombs of the Sith, making them even larger and more impressive as the years went by. These vast cemeteries contained hundreds of tombs belonging to Sith Lords or other powerful dark side users that were built both on and hidden underneath the surface of Korriban. One of these valleys was known as the Valley of Golg, an example of the many “Valleys of the Sith Lords” that covered the planet at this time. They continued to expand their Empire, encompassing worlds like Krayiss Two building a Sith library-temple there by 14,000 BBY, where Sith sorcerers would come to meditate and reflect on their experiments&mdash;evolving Sith techniques and manipulation of the dark side over time. As far back as 8,000 years before the battle of Yavin, humans and other Republic species fled during the Tapani Dynastic Era and found their way into Sith space where they interacted with the Sith, though due to the properties of the Stygian Caldera which made hyperspace navigation extremely difficult there, the Sith Empire was largely kept secluded from the rest of the galaxy.

Over 7,000 years before the battle of Yavin, one Sith conqueror known as Dathka Graush and his forces initiated and won one of the cyclical wars on Korriban, leaving most the planet’s cities devastated. Graush continued to rule on Korriban for 50 years, a rule characterized by his cruelty and the terror he brought to the Sith people on Korriban&mdash;even by Sith standards. Graush was eventually assassinated and entombed in the Valley of Golg. At the point of his death, the self-proclaimed Sith Lord had been in control of two-thirds of Korriban.

Exile
In Republic space, around this same time some of the more ambitious Jedi in the Order opened themselves up to the dark side of the Force. They experimented with it, and found they could use it to literally bend life itself, able to transform and mutate creatures to their will. These "fallen" or "dark" Jedi, as they were known, had previously conducted their dark studies in secret, and were persecuted for their beliefs and defying the Jedi Council. But these Dark Jedi soon emerged in great numbers, and declared themselves free of the will of the Jedi Council, starting the Second Great Schism. Three years later, they rebelled against the Jedi Order as a whole, and a war erupted between them. The Jedi constantly battled against these Dark Jedi, forbidding their experiments and practice of their dark side knowledge. While at the same time the Dark Jedi continued to convert Jedi to their cause.

The war between the Jedi and the Dark Jedi continued for one hundred years, and was finally ended at the battle of Corbos, where the Jedi, in greater numbers, overwhelmed the Dark Jedi, forcing the survivors to surrender. Unwilling to execute their prisoners, the Jedi chose to purge their names and all evidence of their existence from galactic records, removing them symbolically. The Jedi herded them onto a drone ship with no weapons or navigational devices, and banished them into a previously unexplored region of the Outer Rim, far beyond the boundaries of the Republic. Their defenceless ship drifted through hyperspace, guided by the dark side of the Force, and finally emerged upon the planet Korriban.

On Korriban, the Dark Jedi were astonished to find the native Sith as Force-sensitive. The primitive, religious, superstitious, and barely civilized Sith there attempted to terrify the Dark Jedi with crude and imaginative, but impressive illusions through Sith magic. The Dark Jedi took particular interest in their techniques of drawing power from the dark side, and sought to learn it. The Sith felt that they should prevent the outsiders from obtaining their dark side secrets, and so continued to try to prove themselves against the Dark Jedi. However, the Dark Jedi proved to be more intelligent and stronger than even the greatest sorcerers of these primitive Sith, and with their Force abilities, lightsabers, and superior technology, they continued to persist. The Dark Jedi stole the Sith people’s knowledge of sorcery and then used it against them. Though, even when defeated the Sith demonstrated honor, the Sith people eventually became the unwilling thralls of the Dark Jedi. The Jen'jedai&mdash;as they were known in the Sith language&mdash;then used the help of the reigning overlord’s Shadow Hand to lure the self-proclaimed Sith King into their confidence, and destroyed him. The astonished Sith never anticipated the sequence of events that lead to the downfall of their Sith’ari, and readily accepted the Dark Jedi exiles as their masters, bestowing upon them Adas’s Holocron. The Dark Jedi declared themselves living gods and kings over the Sith people, and Ajunta Pall&mdash;who had personally slew a dozen Jedi at the mining world of Corbos &mdash;was first to earn the title of Jen’ari, or Dark Lord of the Sith.

Conquest and expansion
The Sith took to worshiping and devoting their lives to their new masters, who honed their battle arts with new Sith knowledge and expanded their reach from Korriban to neighboring worlds and star systems. Eventually, all of the Sith in previous Sith Empire space were brought under the rule of the Dark Lord of the Sith. Ziost was taken as the capital world, where the Dark Lord would reign from, and fortresses were built there with towering spires, from which the newly-proclaimed Sith Lords ruled. New starships and weapons were constructed, and with their new knowledge of Sith alchemy, new creatures were produced. Under the rule of the Dark Lord of the Sith, the crude, ridged and highly stratified Sith caste system remained in place, based off their many subspecies. Particular interest was given to the Massassi warrior class, which the Sith Lords used as foot soldiers for their new developing Empire. Armed with their new Massassi warriors, weapons, and sorcery, a number of ambitious Sith Lords sought revenge against the Republic, and so analyzed the navigational computer from the ship that had brought them to Sith space, and reprogrammed it for a trip back to the Republic, against the Dark Lord's wishes. These Sith Lords and their new armies were not heard of again in Sith space, and failed in their attempt to conquer the Republic, only succeeding in revealing that the Dark Jedi exiles had survived in an unknown region called Sith space, and had took to calling themselves Sith after the species they had conquered.

The Sith Lords that did not go back to the Republic found that other than being able produce new creatures through Sith alchemy, they were able to produce offspring with the Sith people via alchemical means &mdash;starting with the Massassi subspecies. So, these remaining Lords mingled their Jedi blood with the Sith people, and for almost two-thousand years this process continued, with characteristics such as superstition, loyalty, and sympathy being bred out. In contrast, qualities such as ambition, cunning, and raw power in the Force were encouraged throughout the generations.

As time progressed, the magocratic Sith Empire, lead by a council of Sith Lords, and a single ruling Dark Lord, rapidly expanded their territory, sprawling across entire sectors of the galaxy, though they largely remained in the Stygian Caldera. As they expanded, the Sith came into contact with many planets, and as a result, Myke, Arkanian, and Kruskan cultures all show hints of Sith influence. They even came across Tund, where Sith-Human hybrids settled alongside the Pure-blooded Sith sorcerers that had found their way there millennia before. By the end of the Empire’s expansion they encompassed hundreds of worlds, rivalling the Republic, from Dromund Kaas, to Ashas Ree, Korriz, Ch’hodos, and even the distant, early Sith world of Malachor V. Each of the ten Sith Council members were also personally in control of a dozen worlds each. But of all the planets under Sith control, there were only five sacred Sith planets: Ziost, Khar Delba, Rhelg, Krayiss II, and Korriban.

Sith society evolved and advanced over this time, discovering new ways to manipulate the dark side if the living Force, in their new ordered Empire, ruled by militarism and reverence for the dead. The Sith existed in a state of continual conflict, with Sith Lords raising private armies against their rival Lords, and in their efforts to gain the position of Dark Lord from their reigning ruler. Most inhabitants lived in their ridged, caste determined lives, that still continued to exist after the union of Jedi and Sith blood. Slaves worked hard to build tombs for their Lords, and many millions died over the many years in numberless, violent wars within the Empire. Sith Lords were pre-occupied with warring against each other and cowing other civilizations within their range. As a result, not much attention was given to expansion into the Republic, and travel between it and the Empire was extremely rare. Those few who did stumble into the Empire were unable to escape due to the Stygian Caldera’s unique properties, and found themselves as slaves to the Sith Lords of minor status. Over generations, the rulers of these immigrants would continually change, and eventually, they would forget where they came from, and called themselves Sith too. Being extremely xenophobic, the Sith Lords seldom let them rise to any position other than lowly slaves under their rule.

Legacy
In the aftermath of the Great Hyperspace War the Republic and the Jedi destroyed many Sith strongholds and Sith Lords, Jedi Shadows were tasked with the destruction of Sith teachings and Artifacts. The sheer thoroughness of the Republic and Jedi in exterminating the Sith Empire in the aftermath of the Great Hyperspace War was criticized by many as rivaling that of a Bothan Ar'krai. The Republic and the Jedi destroyed the Sith Empire and thought they were extinct, but despite their efforts, the teachings of the Sith were preserved over the years and would continue to haunt the galaxy over the millennia. Unknown to many, Naga Sadow managed to escape and his Massassi crew that served him continued to live on their new home of Yavin 4 where they constructed the Massassi Temples for him. Naga Sadow conducted cruel experiments on his Massassi and they were mutated into hunched creatures through Sadow's powers. After Sadow's death, the Massassi eventually devolved into a primitive society. Other Sith Lords also managed to escape the aftermath of the Great Hyperspace War and fled to worlds such as Thule and Vjun, while another made random Hyperspace jumps in desperation to escape, and after twenty years he and his armada would come across the forgotten world of Dromund Kaas. There he used dark rituals to prolong his life and rebuilt the Sith Empire to its former glory to eventually have revenge on the Republic and the Jedi in the Great Galactic War. Despite the attempts of the Jedi Order, two relics remained behind namely the Sith holocron of King Adas as well as the disembodied spirit of Naga Sadow who resided on Yavin 4. These two relics of the Sith were later used to empower fallen Jedi Freedon Nadd and bring about the Freedon Nadd Uprising until this new breed of Sith was defeated.

These would later be used to corrupt the Jedi Exar Kun who became the Dark Lord of the Sith after being anointed by the spirit of Marka Ragnos who made the fallen Jedi Knight Ulic Qel-Droma Kun's apprentice. In addition, Sith teachings were uncovered by Aleema Keto and her cousin Satal Keto who used them to form the Krath cult. Together, these forces instigated the devastating Great Sith War which saw many Jedi fall under the corruption of the Sith and destruction following their wake until the eventual defeat of Exar Kun. In his last act before he was defeated, Kun used the great power of the temples on Yavin 4 as well as the life force of every one of the Massassi to preserve his essence within the Great Temple. This act saw the virtual extinction of the Massassi population on the moon. Despite this being the case, a number of Massassi had been taken off world by this point where some join the resurgent Sith Empire or remain on the fringe in order to live their lives in peace while some sought to get revenge on the Sith for the abuse they had suffered. Also, not known to many, there were several scattered settlements of both Massassi and Kissai that existed on Korriban at this time.

By the time of the Great Galactic War, the overseers at the Sith academy on Korriban were members of the true-blood Sith species. Due to their history of association with dark side Force-users, the word 'Sith' went on to be used by many dark side organizations not connected with the original Sith species, even though they still existed.

Behind the scenes
For the Thrawn Trilogy, Timothy Zahn initially intended the Noghri to be the Sith, but was told to change that by Lucasfilm. It is also rumored that originally the Yuuzhan Vong were intended to be exiled Sith, but that this was changed prior to the New Jedi Order series.

Appearances

 * Tales of the Jedi: The Golden Age of the Sith
 * Lost Tribe of the Sith: Precipice
 * Lost Tribe of the Sith: Skyborn
 * Lost Tribe of the Sith: Paragon
 * Tales of the Jedi: The Fall of the Sith Empire
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
 * Timeline 7: Peace for the Republic?
 * Star Wars: The Old Republic, Blood of the Empire Act 1: Shades of the Sith
 * Yoda: Dark Rendezvous
 * Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
 * Exile
 * Crosscurrent
 * Star Wars Legacy 30: Vector, Part 11

Notes and references
Sith (Spezies) Sith (especie) Sithowie (rasa) Ситы Sithit (laji)