The Sith’ari
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To create an inter-faction galactic spanning Dark Side Cult to seep into roleplay and provide intrigue for any character Light or Dark aligned.
- Image Credit:
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Darth Carnifex
for the Mandate Diagram - Religion's Symbol is mix between Sith Eternal and Sith Order symbols from Wookieepedia spliced together and edited by myself using Photopea.
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- Canon: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Links: N/A
- Religion Name: Church of the Dark Side
- Religion Type:
- Force-Based
- Dark Side Pantheon
- Sith Cult
- Formed From:
- Influence: Major
- Influence Area:
- Symbol:
Here
- Description:
- The Church of the Dark Side is a galaxy spanning faith consisting of non Force-sensitive individuals among the galactic populace led by cabals of Force-sensitive members of the Sith Order. Adherents of the religion perceive the Force as a river of power, dragging sentients along it with little choice of free will - Fate in its most potent form. They believe that only the Sith are capable of breaking this endless tide; beings empowered to change the very nature of fate itself using the intense and infinite strength of the Dark Side to do so. To preside and control the Force itself is to be akin to divinity, to be worthy of worship - but even more so that the greatest among them should be canonized as walking Gods, unburdened by the shackles of reality. These Believers are fierce followers of this Sith religion and revere the power of the Sith Lords- seeking to spread the teachings of the Sith to all corners of the galactic stage in order to 'break the chains' of all those who heed the call of the Sith’ari.
- Founder(s):
- Darth Bane
- Prophesied Sith'ari, invented Rule of Two and founded Order of Sith Lords
- Darth Bane
- Membership:
- With a wide and diverse base, the Church of the Dark Side is a simple religion to join - simply understand that we are slaves to the Force, acknowledge that the Dark Side is the only path to power in the galaxy, and embody the fate-breakers; to fight for one's right to self determination, to follow in the steps of the Dark Lords that came before, to carve one's own path from the soft underbelly of the Galaxy itself. There are no restrictions, only principles one must adhere to truly become one of the awoken, the Children of the Bogan.
Yet, where many religions may have non force sensitives preach it - only those attuned to the Force have the ability to hear and preach the word of the Bogan. Force- Attuned beings gather in dark circles, blessed by the touch of Bogan, so that they may free their brethren from the shackles of fate. In the end, one cannot raise themselves higher than a Pontiff without becoming Sith.
To be canonized within the Sith Pantheon, one must do more than simply transcend the bindings of the Force; but to truly bring it to its knees. Those Sith, regardless of ‘rank’, are considered for Canonization only when they have proven themselves to the Sepulchral; through their deeds, their strength, their wisdom - until they have proven themselves far beyond the traditional aspects of their constituents.
When one has been considered for Canonization, they are given a the Trial of Sainthood; where in the Sepulchral offer the potential candidate the Ashes of Korriban - made up of the remains of ancient sith lords personalized to the nature of the of the candidate in question. For those of strength, they may consume the ashes of one such as Malgus - for those of Knowledge, Revan - for Sorcery, Valkorian. The depths of which are up to the individual, made manifest by the Sepulchral.
Once taken, the ritual will begin; and for seven days and seven nights the Sepulchral will embody and embolden the Sith, imbuing them with the strength of the Dark Side until there is nothing but power left within them. While the ritual is taking place, the Sith will experience endless nightmares - facing their greatest fears, their harshest pains, the hardest challenges they will have ever faced; all to insure they are truly capable of overcoming the Force, to prove they are above the mediocrity of life itself.
And once they have proven such, they will awaken. Eyes open to a world they now transcend, made Living Gods walking by the will of the Bogan, treading fire as the Sith’ari assists them with transitioning into a state of transcendence. It is through this that the yet unseen chains are broken, and the full dark side potential of the Sith are awoken - so that they may exist as a Living God for others to not only behold, but to aspire to become.
Those who do not awaken, however, will be entombed deep below the Red Gate; forever stuck in the nightmare of their visions, forever cursed to live their life of torture and solitude. A fate befitting the unworthy.
- With a wide and diverse base, the Church of the Dark Side is a simple religion to join - simply understand that we are slaves to the Force, acknowledge that the Dark Side is the only path to power in the galaxy, and embody the fate-breakers; to fight for one's right to self determination, to follow in the steps of the Dark Lords that came before, to carve one's own path from the soft underbelly of the Galaxy itself. There are no restrictions, only principles one must adhere to truly become one of the awoken, the Children of the Bogan.
- Religious Hierarchy:
- Sith'ari
- Chosen Vessel of Bogan, Supreme Being
- Once-Chosen
- Former vessels of the Holy Ichor, the spirit and power of the Sith'ari.
- Canonized Sith
- Any Sith who has ascended beyond earthly limits, they have been immortalized as Living Gods of the Dark Side, empowered by the Trial of Sainthood.
- The Sepulcharl
- Ascended priests chosen from the most powerful and gifted Sith Sorcerers in the Galaxy. Each member of this august body undergoes a secret ritual to empower them with the will of Bogan, to guide the highest levels of Church in accordance to such an honor.
- Pontiffs
- Force-Attuned priestly figures, conjurers and soothsayers. Those who heed the word of Bogan and spread it's teachings.
- Enlightened
- Those who embody the teachings of the Church, acolytes of the Dark Side.
- Believers
- Initiated, but not fully broken away from the complacency of the Force.
- Uninitiated
- Those who have not yet heard the call of Bogan.
- Sith'ari
- Reputation:
- Cells have sprouted up throughout the galaxy to varying degrees, primarily in Sith-backed regimes or regions of space heavily steeped in Sith history. This does not exclude the Core Worlds or the Inner Rim where it is demonized by planetary governments and unaligned galactic powers. As a Sith Cult it is illegal in nature to gather and deal in the religious tenants of the Sith, therefore it is outlawed despite continued popularity in secret.
- They are viewed as violent, sinister radicals and malevolent worshippers of the Sith to those aligned with the Ashla. Despite the fact that everyday individuals can become entranced by the seductive ideals of the cult and the enrichment of one's life through it's tenants.
- To those affiliated with Bogan, the adherents of this religion are righteous, devout followers seeking genuine freedom from spiritual oppression from which only the Sith can provide under the reign of the Sith'ari. Members can be anyone from a corporate ceo to a janitor on your local luxury corvette, they are everywhere and operate with tge utmost discretion.
- Deities:
- Dark Side of the Force
- Sith'ari
- Chosen Vessel of the Dark Side, Head of the Pantheon
- Once-Chosen
- Former vessels of the holy ichor, the spirit and power of the Sith'ari.
- Canonized Sith
- Saints who have transcended the limits placed upon them and ascended by passing the Trial of Sainthood. Those that survive are deemed Living Gods to those that hear the Dark Side's call.
- Sacred:
- Valley of the Dark Lords, Korriban
- Dark Temple, Dromund Kaas
- Sith Citadel, Exegol
- Wreckage of the Second Death Star, Kef Bir
- Sith Relics
- There are many things the Church of the Dark Side consider sacred, but few things it considers sacrosanct. Individualistic and based entirely on the Patron Saint one wishes to worship, what is or isn’t against the rules of a certain deity is up to the deity; and much is true for what one can consider sacred. Charity, slaughter, love, death - each could be labeled sacred and sin at the whim of a deity, based on the priest, and based on what one wishes to believe it is.
For those few things the Church considers sacred, however, is the ancient worlds of the Sith. Places around the galaxy that their ancestor gods once walked such as Exegol, Korriban, Ziost, or Dromund Kaas to name a few; but the list expands greatly to any planet blessed with the touch of the Dark Side. Even places such as the Maw, or historic areas such as Kef Bir are held in high regard for what these places hold or had transpired within them. Still yet, artifacts and relics of Sith both living and dead are appreciated for their history, the latent power that yet exists within them - collected and archived where safe, worshipped where able, and utilized by the most powerful of their Order; but more than any planet, any artifact, the Church holds a single practice above the rest.
The most holy tradition beyond the rituals and practices of the Sith as a whole, is the Kaggath. Honor duels built on imposing dominance on another - agreed to standards that the Sith'ari themselves must proceed over to ensure it is followed without hesitation, or in the case of the Mandate of Bogan, the Sepulchral who both empower the ritual of transfer, and contain its dark energies between the two forces. A kaggath is the determining factor in any battle between divinity, and it is held the highest standards.
- Dogma:
- The Code of the Sith
- Following the Code of the Sith, it brings each of its lines together to form the mainstay pillars of the faith -
Peace is a lie.
There is only Passion.
Through Passion I gain Strength.
Through Strength I gain Power.
Through Power, I gain Victory.
Through Victory my chains are Broken.
The Force shall free me.
First, Peace is a Lie. Many misunderstand the concept on principle, but it is the foundational statement of the entire faith; that passiveness, peace and trust in what fate decrees is paramount to death. The Force has no love for you, no care to see you free of the shackles that bind you; and will drag you into mediocrity, into a painful, lonely death you will never escape from. It is through this that one can understand that Peace is a Lie, by realizing that complacency to the Force’s whims makes one no more than cattle, a slave, and unworthy of self determination.
Second, There is only Passion - once more simple, but it is the second step in understanding the purpose of the Church and the Faith. Passion is one’s own nature, their beliefs, their hopes, their dreams - it is all the love one feels, and all the hate, gathered together to form the individual. To abandon Peace is to abandon complacency, and by breaking the Force’s will one is left with only themself and their passion. It is the vessel that will keep one alive in the tumultuous world without a guiding hand, but necessary to find one's true self.
Third is the statements, Through Passion I gain Strength, through Strength, Power, through Power, Victory - each a different step in themselves to complete ones transition from a ball rolled to a beast climbing. Passion encourages one to find their own strength to survive without the Forces’s guiding hand - the simplest step in finding ones foundational strength in the world. Through that strength of individual, one gains power - the ability to change the world around them, begin to break the fate weaved for them. Through this power, they gain Victory - Victory over the Force, over fate itself and the strings that bind.
Through Victory, my chains are Broken. Simple, but effective; the line that one understands when they have broken free of foreign intervention, crafted their own destiny and set themselves on a path to self determination. It is through the Victory one gained over the Force’s machinations that their chains are broken, the chains of destiny - and it is the moment of self realization that truly begets the purpose of the entire religion.
The Force shall free me, words misunderstood often to believe The Force is assisting oneself - but on the contrary, the statement is a command. The Force SHALL free me, for it knows of your strength and your purpose within the Galaxy, that it no longer has its iron talon claws deep in your flesh. The Force fears you, knows that you are an individual no longer within it's reach, and that cows such a force into place.
It is through this simple code that the Church of the Dark Side finds it's strength - passing these words and teachings onto it's believers fully and truly. For those who had ascended, embodied the Code and felt the touch of the Bogan, they are canonized as Patron Saints of the Dark Side, Living Gods walking among mortals for their strength over the very Force itself, bending it to their very will. These are beyond the simple teachings of the Code, but walking embodiments of it's success.
And above them all, ranking them on merits, is the Sith’ari - he or she who embodies the very nature of the Sith Code and the Bogan as the avatar of the Dark Side itself. It is their purpose to lead the Church and its believers to galactic domination. This is the destiny that the Sith’ari seeks to fufill, serving as a symbol to aspire to for the Order as a whole, actively forging stronger Sith through hardship and strength. The process of darwinism manifest, but each concurrent generation stand on the shoulders of those giants that came before - reaching higher and higher until the Order fulfills its goals.
- Following the Code of the Sith, it brings each of its lines together to form the mainstay pillars of the faith -
- The Sith'ari Prophecy
- Mandate of Bogan:
- The belief in the words of Darth Bane, "The Force is not fire. It cannot be passed from one user's lit torch to another's, and another's, until an entire hemisphere is illuminated with the blaze of a million lights. The Force is venom, if it's potency is poured into many cups, it loses it's potency and becomes an irritant. Yet pour those cups back into a single vessel and you will have the power to stop a Krayt dragon's heart."
- There can only be one ruler of the Sith, in an age where the Rule of Two is nigh possible and the Rule of Order only stifles development, a single vessel of power to embody the Sith. A religious hierarch to unify the Sith and guide them while giving them their autonomy to claim their own power.
- The Code of the Sith
- The Sith'ari is the perfect supreme being, foretold to destroy the Sith and build them anew, stronger. Darth Bane has long been foretold to be the Sith'ari of legend, the reincarnation of the mighty king Adas, under this system of governance the prophecy of the Sith'ari is fullfilled yet again in his image. The spiritual ruler of the Sith and embodiment of the Dark Side is proclaimed Sith'ari, he/she will reign installing a new order upon the galaxy until that reign suffers from stagnation and weakness. All who rise must at some point fall, the Mandate of Bogan, the will of the Dark Side is passed onto another who through adversity becomes powerful enough in their own right to challenge the Sith'ari in a Kaggath to the death.
- A new Sith'ari is proclaimed by the Sepulchral, the predecessor then surrenders their strength and passes on their spirit into the successor along with all those who have come before in a ceremonial ritual held on the planet Exegol.
- The cycle repeats, the Sith endure.
MEMBERS
- [Placeholder]
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
[ Include a description of the religion's history here. Describe who created it, when, how and why it was created, any historical events and memories tied to the people who follow this religion, major events, etc. ]
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