The Galactic Empire

[Rebirth]

The original Church of the Dark Side submission, created during the days of the Brotherhood of the Maw (2021), could use an update now that it's the state religion of the Galactic Empire. Here is my proposed update to the submission, drawing from Galactic Empire threads so far and open to feedback. I'd especially like to get input from Da'Razel and other active Church of the Dark Side writers!

I'm extra open to info on / thoughts on the symbol for the church and inspo for a top image! Also very open to expanding the Membership section with more info about Saints, the priesthood, etc. I gathered a few details about rings and robe colors, but didn't feel like I had enough for a good paragraph yet.

PLACEHOLDER - IMAGE GOES HERE

"Today, Coruscant. Tomorrow, another, and another still, until the galaxy itself is an altar,
a spectacle of our faith, a testament to our Lord."
- Da'Razel , Imperial Saint​

OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION

• Intent: To flesh out the state religion of the Galactic Empire.
• Image Credit:
• Canon: Church of the Dark Side (Spiritual Successor)
• Permissions:
• Links:

GENERAL INFORMATION

• Religion Name: Church of the Dark Side
• Religion Type: Imperial Cult, Force-Based, Dark Side Pantheon
• Influence: Major

"This can be the first of many. Civilizations conquered not by battle, but by sermon.
Not by conquest, but by conversion. An Empire of believers, for our God-Emperor."
- Da'Razel , Imperial Saint​

Influence Area: The Church of the Dark Side is the official state religion of the Galactic Empire - and the only faith permitted to be practiced within its borders. Reverence of the Emperor and His Saints is mandatory for all citizens. Blasphemy is punishable by reeducation, a process that not everyone survives. Beyond the borders of the Empire, adherents are much rarer, and must practice in secret - most other governments ban membership in the Church of the Dark Side due to its subversive nature, with cultists always seeking to expand the Emperor's dominion of the galaxy.

Anyone who spoke otherwise was put to the wall. Anyone who spoke word of the Light Side
of the Force promptly disappeared, even in private. Jedi were hunted.
- Casi Braste , Dark Side Elite​

Symbol: [ If your religion has symbols or icons that are associated with it, include or describe them. ]

Description: The Church of the Dark Side, once a shadowy cult associated with the Neo-Imperials of the Final Dawn and the secretive New Sith Order, emerged from the shadows in the early 900s ABY as the state religion of Darth Solipsis 's Dark Empire and its successor state, the Galactic Empire - though it was founded in secret decades earlier. It exists as an instrument of population control similar to Emperor Palpatine's Commission for the Preservation of the New Order (COMPNOR), but substitutes open reverence of Sith teachings for COMPNOR's more secular emphasis on civic pride, militarism, and humanocentrism.

"We will weave the Church of the Dark Side into their daily lives.. subtly, at first.
Statues erected in public squares, just similar enough to not give way to their Sith connections.
Sermons whispered in markets, disguised as simple parables of strength and order.
Propaganda broadcasts extolling the 'discipline' of the Empire, but tied directly to the Sith."
- Janus Vipsanius , Chief Minister​

The Church of the Dark Side preaches that the Force is a river of power in which the fates of all sentient beings are immersed. Most beings are carried helplessly along by this river's powerful current, leaving them with no control over their own destinies. The Jedi, according to Church teachings, passively accept the river's course - even though it leads untold trillions to misery. Only the Sith are able to fight the current through the Dark Side, embracing the power of their passions to break the chains of fate. Controlling the Force, and defying its will, makes the Sith worthy of worship.

Soon, the formalities would give way to the day’s defining act: the execution of captured Jedi loyalists.
To him, their end was not a cruelty, but a correction; a severing of the last threads of
a creed that had preached restraint while the galaxy rotted.
- Redak Boyd , Imperial High Commissioner​

Parables of ancient Sith Lords make up much of the scriptures of the Church, but they are included for a specific purpose: each is written to foretell the coming of Darth Solipsis , whom the Church hails as the Sith'ari - the prophesied greatest of all Sith, the one to lead them to glory, then destroy them, then restore them even greater than before. Emperor Solipsis, according to Church doctrine, is the ultimate and final culmination of thousands of years of Sith struggle and doctrine. He is like a steadfast rock in the river of the Force, diverting its course in order to reshape destiny as he sees fit.

"We do not seek to restore. We seek to reveal. This is not the echo of a fallen dream.
These are not the shadows of an empire. This is its final shape, stripped of hesitation."
- Shannic Wulf , Grand Vizier​

In the wake of that rock, sheltered from the relentless pull of fate, stand the citizens of the Empire. They are not Sith, and thus not strong enough to break the current on their own, but the Emperor's presence weakens the river enough that the ambitious can forge their own destinies. They can do this through imitation of the Sith: striving for individual excellence without concern for morality, keeping a strong faith in the Emperor and the Dark Lords who foretold his coming, and recognizing the power of their passions. Yet all this must come within the framework of absolute loyalty to the Empire.

"Fear binds them. Faith will mold them. Together, they will learn not only to obey… but to believe.
The Dark Side offers them salvation, whether they recognize it or not."
- Janus Vipsanius , Chief Minister​

Through devices such as the Vox Aeternum, and through the presence and rituals of dark clergy, the dogma of the Church of the Dark Side is constantly reinforced on all worlds the Empire controls. To show exceptional faith and devotion is a path to advancement. To deviate from reverence of the Emperor, or obedience to His church, is a dire crime. The state-mandated faith has been deliberately engineered as the glue that binds together the diverse systems of the Empire, a method to rapidly reeducate conquered populations into obedience... and to produce zealots eager to fight for the Emperor.

"You who have freed yourselves from your shackles.
You who have embraced destiny.
You who serve eternally our eternal Lord...
May your blades pierce the lie of peace.
May your passion grow with every stroke of your weapon.
May you be blessed by our Lord's strength,
and in return, bring strength to His fold.
May His guidance deliver you victory.
The Emperor shall set you free."
- Da'Razel , Imperial Saint​

SOCIAL INFORMATION

Founder: Engineered by Darth Solipsis .

"His will has never left us. Only were they too blind to perceive its design.
We are sharpened by fire. The galaxy sickens and cries out for control.
For clarity. For deliverance from the illusion of freedom."
- Janus Vipsanius , Chief Minister​

Membership: To be a citizen of the Galactic Empire is to be a member of the Church of the Dark Side. Membership is mandatory, and any blasphemy - even something as simple as failure to show the proper respect and devotion to an image of the Emperor - is dealt with harshly. Joining the clergy is another matter. Many are holdovers from prior incarnations of the cult, having served in the days of the Final Dawn and the Dark Empire. Others are more recent, identified by the Office of Imperial Truth for their deep devotion to the Church's Creed and thereafter inducted into the priesthood.

She had been raised among ash-faced clerics and hooded surgeons,
taught to revere pain as revelation and secrecy as salvation.
She had been speaking liturgy before she was old enough to lie.
Now, she was a senior matron of the Church, a steward of its hidden vaults,
and one of its unofficial majordomos.
She wore the skull-ring of her father, still blackened at the edges.
- Iris Tirall , Senior Matron​

Sacred: Above all else, the Emperor - Darth Solipsis - is the sacred figure of the Church of the Dark Side. Solipsis is venerated as the Sith'ari, greatest of all Sith, breaker of fate and reforger of the galaxy. The Emperor is strongly associated with fire; He is often visualized as an everburning flame, melting away all impurities, searing corruption and weakness to ash. Similarly, He is often depicted as a sun, a vast and burning celestial body around whom the entire Empire orbits. His Dark Side Elite and the Saints of the Church are bound to Him, empowered by Him, manifestations of His will.

They said he had died. That the ship was gone. That nothing could have survived.
But Wulf knew better. The flame that vast would not be extinguished by metal or velocity.
Not Solipsis. Not the Sun. To her, that was what Solipsis was.
He was Sun and nebulae. The power of atoms colliding with the fury of collapsing stars.
He was the culmination of the Dark Side, not merely a wielder, but its will, shaped into form.
He was purification. Through flame. Through destruction. Through truth.
- Shannic Wulf , Grand Vizier
​

Blood, pain, and struggle are also sacred to the Church of the Dark Side. The Church preaches that existence is a contentious struggle, a battle to seize one's potential and choose one's own fate - a battle that has a limited number of winners. Pain is a reminder that you are alive and striving. Struggle is to be embraced. The unearned mercy and compassion shown by the Jedi, who seek to minimize pain and struggle, only cheats people of the opportunity to grow and reach their true potential - and upsets the rightful hierarchy of the galaxy, in which the strong rule and the weak are ruled over.

While the delicate Jedi healed themselves in bacta or meditations, the Dark Side Elite -
the Emperor’s chosen and most revered - knew no such cotteling ways. Brutal efficiency
was their approach to health care, enacted with the cold precision only a droid was capable of.
Severed limbs were stitched shut without anaesthesia, while trauma patients were clamped
to the operating table to restrict movement during open chest surgeries. And yet, there was not
a cry or whimper to be heard. The Dark Side Elite embraced the pain,
knowing it was the price they paid in their service to the Sith’ari.
- Khronas , Dark Side Elite​

Dogma: Revere the Emperor, reshaper of the galaxy, and the Dark Lords who foretold His coming. By His will, He has broken the shackles of fate, freeing His subjects to rise according to their merits and their ambitions. Reward His beneficence with absolute loyalty, and serve the Empire with all your strength. Prove your worth, and you will rise. As for those who lack worth, do not pity them. To claim that all beings are created equal is to deny reality - there are those who are meant to rule, and those who are meant to be ruled. Each citizen will find their rightful place in the Emperor's design.

"Merit. There's a foreign concept that's been on its way out of fashion for a while now.
This aligns with the only 3 words I've ever found any merit in: War, Death, Rebirth.
We have the war, clearly. Death is occurring as we seek. Rebirth will be those of merit.
Were the galaxy ordered on merit and not credits, how truly different it will be…"
- Maestus , Mawsworn Warlord​

The Dark Side of the Force is a matter of willpower. It represents taking the initiative, embracing one's passions, striving for the life you desire instead of meekly accepting whatever scraps fate deems fit to dole out. This is the truth that the Jedi, and other moralizers, wish to hide from the galaxy: life is struggle, existence is competition, and where there are winners, there must also be losers. Do not be restrained from reaching your full potential by pity and compassion for the undeserving; embrace your victory over them. Let the Emperor's example inspire you to strive and rise.

"The power of the dark side is an illness no true believer would wish to be cured of."
- Vireth of Kuat, quoting Darth Plagueis​

Reputation: By now, people across the galaxy are familiar with the Empire's state religion - and it is one that most look upon with dread. Outside governments typically ban membership in the Church, as faith in the Emperor and service to His regime are one and the same. The Sith Order dismisses the Church's claims that Solipsis is the true Sith'ari, while the Jedi seek to liberate Imperial citizens from the burden of their forced religion and the horrors it engenders. All watch warily for any Church activity, for wherever the cult rears its head, Imperial Star Destroyers may soon follow.

"They've dressed conquest in the trappings of faith."
- Aurelian Veruna , King of Naboo​

MEMBERS

• Darth Solipsis
• Da'Razel
• Vireth

HISTORICAL INFORMATION

"The die has already been cast. This is nothing but the pieces falling where they may.
A kind of domino effect he set into motion long, long ago."
Maestus , Mawsworn Warlord​

The origins of the Church of the Dark Side lie in the histories of the many constituents that merged together in its creation - a blending of minds brought together after the Fall of the One Sith Empire by Darth Solipsis . Elements from the Krath Revivalist Movement, the One Sith Deep Core remnants, and dozens of other pro-Sith loyalists gathered together under the watchful gaze of the Sith Master who would one day claim the title of Dark Lord for his own. Solipsis took on the identity of the Dark Voice, a sinister prophet whose words gathered together a great horde of savage tribes in the Unknown Regions - the Brotherhood of the Maw.

This was the price of rebirth. The old world would be buried so that a new one could rise,
obedient and pure in purpose. The end of a rotted age.
- Shannic Wulf , Grand Vizier​

It was here they manipulated their way into a place of belonging and secured power for themselves until the unification of the church with the Greater Imperial Remnant of Derix Tirall . This was the origin of the secretive Neo-Imperial Final Dawn. Revealing himself in his true persona as a Sith Master, Solipsis plotted with Tirall to create a master plan for galactic conquest. They were later bolstered with the addition of Imperial assets from the Deep Core under Marlon Sularen . This secret force of Imperial conquest was hidden amidst the tribes of the Maw, concealing their plan behind a screen of savage and destructive conquerors.

Belief had been turned into truth, fate exorcised in favor of reality.
They were looking upon His work, and the galaxy wept at the coming.
- Vireth of Kuat, Imperial Architect​

Accumulating material and wealth with each raid the Brotherhood enacted, the powerful sect grew exponentially, reaching out to influence Core World politics and corporate lobbyists within the Galactic Alliance. The Final Dawn amassed a powerful fleet and army with agents scattered throughout both Maw Space and beyond, pushing the Brotherhood's crusade through clandestine efforts so that a new order may rise from the ashes of their conquest. Each area the Brotherhood would wage war on, the Church of the Dark Side would touch with its unholy sermons, spread by the hand of the Final Dawn.

This was not cruelty. It was clarity. The galaxy had confused stagnation for peace,
corruption for balance. The Alliance had dressed decay in the robes of democracy,
and the Jedi had sanctioned it all with their sermons on compassion and restraint...
Compassion without discipline, mercy without structure; these had made the galaxy weak.
- Shannic Wulf , Grand Vizier
​

The Second Great Hyperspace War that Solipsis had launched culminated at Tython, where the Dark Lord sought to complete a ritual that would grant him extraordinary power over reality itself. But he was struck down by the Jedi Ryv before the ritual could be completed, seemingly ending his designs on galactic domination. The Brotherhood of the Maw fought on for some time, but was finally broken at the Siege of Exegol. The survivors of the Church of the Dark Side went into hiding, certain that - in time - the Dark Lord would return. They were proven right when Solipsis was resurrected by Ashin Cardé Varanin .

For five years, they drifted aboard cloaked pilgrimage vessels, avoiding Republic,
Jedi, and New Imperial detection. They operated as spiritual couriers, linking scattered dark
enclaves, spreading prophecy, and rekindling lost faith across the shattered remnants of the Empire.
This exile ended with the rise of Operation Cinder... a sacred rebirth, a storm of divine fire
summoned to purge a corrupted galaxy. Alongside other loyalists, the Church returned to the stars,
no longer hiding, but igniting flame in the name of the True Emperor.
- Da'Razel , Imperial Saint
​

Upon his return, Solipsis established the Dark Empire, where the Church of the Dark Side first emerged as a state religion. Yet it was all merely a trial run, a test of the Emperor's lingering subordinates. After several battles contesting the galactic core, Solipsis vanished, throwing the Empire into chaos. When the fragmenting was complete, Solipsis reemerged. He and his loyalists purged all who had failed to keep their faith in him, leaving only a hardened core of the absolutely devoted. And with this core, Solipsis accomplished what the Dark Empire had failed to do - he conquered Coruscant.

Solipsis had not claimed the throne to broker truces or mend broken pacts.
He had come to reorder the galaxy.
Shannic Wulf , Grand Vizier
​

Thus began the reign of the Galactic Empire, its disparate worlds bound together by a harshly enforced state religion - the Church of the Dark Side, now at the true apex of its power. Across every conquered system, the tenets of the Church began to blare from loudspeakers and to be inscribed on great plaques. Saints of the Empire and ancient Dark Lords, still revered as prophets heralding the Sith'ari, were honored with great monuments - all dwarfed by the monuments to Solipsis himself. Thus did the Empire establish an Imperial culture and identity in record time... one enforced at the point of a lightsaber.

"Bending narratives... Turning minds... Making the histrionics and the culture of the people
ours through subtle deeds... This has been the work of our Church, and it brought us
back from the brink of catastrophe and ruination."
- Vireth of Kuat, Imperial Architect


​

 

[Vireth]

"The power of the dark side is an illness no true believer would wish to be cured of."

"It is the illness of truth. Of freedom."

I think you should pick one or the other of these quotes for this section of the submission as it is the possible one that has two quotes from two different characters, which for me, does not fit thematically with the overall sub.

If you do pick my quote over the other then it would also include that Vireth was quoting Darth Plagueis which would fit into the themes of how the Church and it's followers pick or choose different sayings, beliefs or ideas from ancient Sith Lords to create their own religious views in the modern day.

I also read somewhere that you described the Church being formed in the 10th century. The current timeline is in the 9th century, and I believe that the Church of the Dark Side itself was founded in the 8th given that it was formed out of the remnants of the One Sith-- a faction that was created in the 840s.

A fantastic submission overall, however. I love how you included different modern day characters and their quotes or writing to intermix with the description and history of the organisation.

 

[Rebirth]

Vireth Thank you for the feedback!

I included the dual quote because the characters were directly responding to each other, but since I didn't do that anywhere else, I dropped the second part for consistency. I also added that Vireth was quoting Darth Plagueis.

As far as the timeline, I think I'm actually correct on this one. The 10th century ABY would be the 900s, and the 9th century ABY would be the 800s, because events like 004 ABY are in the 1st century ABY; the number of the century is always one more than the leading digit of the year. However, I can see the confusion between when the faith "emerged from the shadows" and when it was founded, so I've tightened up that language in the description section a bit.