It was pouring.
Sheets of rain slicing down through the air, saturating New Kaas City's myriad winding streets and footpaths with a slick sheen. This was not an uncommon occurrence, for the great megalopolis on Kosqam was frequented by sudden onset downpours and lightning storms, which could dissipate as quickly as they could arise. Other landmasses, such as distant Jongaib or northerly Ridzwem, were beset by different variances in climate and terrain. The former was home to many pristine beaches, a common tourist attraction in the old empires, while the latter was wholly agrarian with windswept steppes interspaced with thick boreal forests.
But the jungles around the equator, especially the ones bordering New Kaas City, were the planet's most recognizable features. The capital itself was immense, a sprawling city-scape consuming nearly seventy percent of the continent it was placed on. Few would know that this city, aptly described as new, was not the original city from the heyday of Vitiate's empire. That city had slowly faded into ruin and decay, only improved in patchwork swaths by generations before. It all came to a end when the Mandalorians redirected an asteroid into Dromund Kaas' orbit, with Kaas City as the target. The entire city was wiped out, buried beneath the earth as the entire city sank down from the sheer force of the impact.
Darth Carnifex let out a short sigh, His thoughts drifting back to those times. He was one of the few remaining in the galaxy who could claim with any veracity that He'd once walked that ancient city, studied at it's temples, and ruled from the old citadel at it's heart. The new citadel sprawled out beneath Him, one yet marred by the hallmarks of construction. The Ashlans hadn't destroyed the old one in it's entirely, but it had been changed so drastically that it was hardly recognizable. Carnifex sought to reverse that error, and was restoring the citadel to something resembling proper Sith architecture. It was a laborious project, but it was being accomplished.
Today, however, was not about the citadel. In a way, it was not even about Dromund Kaas, though this world was vital for what He had planned. No, it was the ships in orbit above, all of great width and immense depth. They were not warships, a sight that was just as common as the lightning storms which frequented the city, but rather transport vessels. They had come from across the galaxy, and in their holds was a cargo exceedingly precious to the Dark Lord of the Sith.
The Epicanthix, those who had remained faithful at any rate. With the destruction of their homeworld Panatha, the Epicanthix people had been set adrift across the galaxy. Some found refuge in worlds similar to that of their native worlds, while others embraced drastic new environments, while others lived and died solely on their spacefaring starships. These Epicanthix followed the Dark Lord's will exclusively. They had not abandoned their ways, but rather further embraced and magnified them. They'd followed Carnifex because He had embodied all that they believed was righteous and pure, and His promise of a new homeland now brought them to Dromund Kaas.
His promised land.
They would be landing soon, in a grand display of reverence and ceremony. He'd been planning the entire event for weeks, meticulously combing over every detail. They would arrive, and they would be led through the great city to it's heart. At the base of the citadel, they would receive their magnanimous lord, and watch as He was crowned their sovereign once more. For this was to be a New Kingdom, one separate yet still tied to the old, and Dromund Kaas would be it's seat.
Carnifex smiled as the rain poured down His face.
"My children, you no longer need to wander in penance." He whispered to Himself, "I have delivered you, as I always said I would."
Several months had passed, and the city had been transformed. The skyline was still the same, save for several more high-rises that had grown in the intervening period, but there was a distinct charge in the air, an energy that New Kaas City had never quite known. Ruling with impunity gave the Dark Lord free reign to remodel the city as He so desired, and He wasted little time in reorganizing districts, splitting up larger ones into smaller new ones, and shifting the boundaries of others. The core districts remained their sense of primacy, but the outlying sectors were wholly changed.
For one thing, the city was larger than it had been. The Dark Lord had pushed the boundaries of the city until it encompassed the entire continent of Kosqam. Rather than completely pave over the jungle, as those who founded Old Kaas City would have done, the Dark Lord employed the greatest Epicanthix architectural minds to blend both city and jungle seamlessly together. These new districts He gave to the Epicanthix, to express themselves and grow as they pleased. They were not solely limited to these new lands, of course, and the Epicanthix spread far and wide across Dromund Kaas. From the harsh jungles to the biting poles, the Dark Lord's people embraced their new home and thrived in the adversity.
To all others, the world would continue to be Dromund Kaas. But to the Epicanthix, who had begun to style themselves as Ilam Bsaakik, Iron Blood, it would be Sozeal'r-Hozim, Savior's Haven. Long had the term sozeal fallen into disuse by the Epicanthix people, a title once reserved for the myths and legends of their ancient history. The last of their kind to be referred as such was Canthar the Great, the fabled uniter of the Epicanthix tribes in the age of legend. It was for him that the capital city of Panatha was named, one that was once the jewel of the Pacanth Reach. But now, a new savior had been proclaimed, and even now they chanted in His honor.
Darth Carnifex looked down over New Kaas City, to the writhing throngs so far down below. But even from the balcony of His mighty citadel, He could hear them call.
"Carnifex-Sozeal! Carnifex-Sozeal!"
Carnifex the Savior.
