King of Korriban
- Intent: [ To create a Sith Temple and place of power on Korriban ]
- Image Credit: [ MidJourney | Me! ]
- Canon: [ Dathka Graush, the Sith King ]
- Permissions: [ N/A ]
- Links: [ Reclamation — The Scouring of Korriban ]
- Nexus Name: [ Gates of Graush ]
- Nexus Alignment: [ Dark ]
- Location: [ Planet: Korriban | Valley of Golg ]
- Affiliation: [ Darth Caedes | Sith Order ]
- Size: [ Large ]
- Strength: [ Strong ]
- Accessibility: [ The Gate of Graush is hidden at the Northern-most end of Korriban's Valley of Golg. The valley itself, an ancient burial ground for the Sith Empire (c. 7,000 BBY), spans over fifty miles near the planet's equator. The Valley of Golg is but one of many burial valleys constructed on Korriban by the ancient Sith Empire. At one point, the valley's canyon floor descends as deep as 1,200 meters and is untouched by Korriban's chilly sun. It's lined with tombs similar to those in the Valley of the Dark Lords and covered in runes of protective Sith magic. The valley was particularly notable for containing the tomb of Sith King Dathka Graush.
The Gates of Graush are somewhat more hidden and arcane, disguised by Sith magic to appear as though merely the valley's end, cleft in rock. In order to gain access to the Gates, one must conduct a dark and powerful ritual, the site for which is located at the Valley of Golg's Northern-most edge, carved into the valley floor. There lies an archaic astral chart depicting the lunar movements of six of Korriban's seven moons. At the site's center, amidst vastly detailed, hand-engraved astral charts, rests a massive and heavy stone orb representing Korriban's seventh moon, Chwûqmidwanottoi (in the Sith tongue). Upon the orb are ancient runes of Sith magic, designed to absorb the touch of the Force and feed upon dark side power, ultimately resulting in the gathering of enough of that power to open the Gate of Graush. In the Sith language, secrets and riddles are inscribed about the valley, detailing an intricate ritual designed to mimic the cyclical lunar eclipse of Korriban's seventh, red moon. When Horuset is at its zenith, the orb representing Chwûqmidwanottoi must be lifted high into the sky, whilst succumbing to the effects of dark side Lightning and flame conjured from the Force. The result is that Horuset's light is blotted out by the large stone sphere, effectively creating a lunar eclipse within the valley's depths. The runes across the orb make this difficult however, consuming and weakening Force techniques used to lift and charge it, necessitating the combined efforts of numerous, powerful Force Sensitives in unison. Once the Gate of Graush has been opened, the rock of the valley's end literally peeling away to reveal an entrance, its guardians, the ghosts of Korriban's ancient Sith, rise from their tombs to feed and infect. Only techniques of the Force can be used to dispel these beings, their bodies made of sand and burial ash, and impervious to the effects of conventional weapons such as the modern blaster. These shambling specters will feed upon those who dare trespass upon these sacred grounds, serving only the Sith. ]
Sith Hieroglyphics Found Throughout the Seventh Moon's Lunar Charts:
"Moruun hoth kyr'amal Korriban, korun'aa Shi'norun ashala ashkad rai domun Sha'halet orokur darik'shir kash Skotre as'eyn skorathal dalovun Jensa vor'en korath Korriban'kir moril." | "Beneath the eclipse of Korriban's seventh moon Illuminated in the roil of storms of lightning Set aglow in the pale glaze of fire In the blood of that which dwells in darkness You may enter the Maw of Korriban's underbelly." |
Sith Hieroglyphics Found Upon the orb of the Seventh Moon:
"Lifted to the heavens, the seventh moon gleams, A crimson— [ As it aligns, darkness veils the land, Unlocking the gate with lightning's command." |
- Description: [ The Gate of Graush, located at the Northern-most end of the Valley of Golg, opens to an immense network of sprawling tunnels which reach for miles and connect numerous subterranean crypts, Sith temples, and hidden repositories of Sith artifacts. The Valley of Golg was largely desecrated by the Ashland Crusaders who later came to occupy the planet, such that tombs lay in ruins and massive statues depicting ancient Sith lay defaced and in pieces. Inside the tunnels, miles of precisely cut stone architecture form treasuries and walkways, vast open expanses containing temples, tombs, museums, natural catacombs, and an immeasurable variety of cultural art samples taken from the Sith's most ancient Empires. Some of this art, carved along massive walls, into murals, mosaics, stone reliefs and statues, depicts the valor of the ancient Sith Empire, their knights cleaving passages with their very own weapons over the course of lifetimes. ]
"Korriban in general and the Valley of the Dark Lords [including the Valley of Golg] specifically were nexuses of the dark side of the Force due to the long-term presence of the Sith Lords."
—Wookieepedia
—Wookieepedia
Distortion of the Force — The nexus' presence creates a distortion in the fabric of the Force for many miles, making it difficult for Jedi or other light side practitioners to sense or connect with the Force in its vicinity. For many, feelings of paranoia and fear accompany this distance from the light. The nexus of the Gateway emits an aura of fear and despair, enveloping those who enter the tunnels. It intensifies negative emotions, feeding off the darkness within individuals and amplifying their terror.
Amplification of Dark Side Energies — The nexus acts as a focal point for the dark side of the Force, intensifying its energies within the Valley of Golg and for miles within Graush's passages. Force-sensitive individuals who tap into this nexus experience an augmentation of their dark side abilities, making them more potent and formidable.
Burial Specters — The nexus' arcane properties allow Sith sorcerers to summon and dark specters from the crypts of Korriban and the depths of the Force. These creatures can be harnessed for various purposes, such as guardianship, combat, or labor, and most commonly take the form of vengeful undead built of sand and burial ash. It's said that those who perish along the valley floor are said to join the specters in their eternal watch.
Force Visions and Prophecy — The mystical energies emanating from the nexus create a heightened state of connection to the Force and its mysterious premonitions. Force users who venture into its tunnels may experience vivid and potent visions, gaining insights into the past, present, and future. To some, these visions are maddening.
Necromantic Powers — The magical properties of the nexus facilitate Sith sorcerers delving into the necromantic arts. It holds the key to Sith King Dathka Graush's mastery of undeath and immortality. Within its influence, the boundaries between life and death blur, enabling Sith sorcerers to tap into the power of resurrection, necromancy, and the further manipulation of life energies.
SCENARIOS OF ENTRANCE
| Tomb of Dathka Graush [ritual entrance] | The central chamber within the underground network, where the bodily remains of Sith King Dathka Graush lie in eternal rest. This chamber is the proper tomb of Graush, and the resting place for many powerful artifacts and instruments of Sith sorcery. If the Gate of Graush is opened through use of the proper rituals, the pathways will lead those who enter here. |
| Labyrinth of Lost Souls [trespasser entrance] | A maze-like network of tunnels, designed to disorient and trap intruders. The labyrinth is said to be haunted by the spirits of those who have perished in the pursuit of Sith knowledge, adding to its eerie and dangerous nature. If the Gate of Graush is breached improperly, or the pathways within are somehow entered by trespassers, the pathways will lead them here. |
| Chamber of Dark Secrets | A hidden room branching off from the main pathway, containing forbidden Sith teachings and dark rituals. This chamber is said to hold the darkest secrets of the Sith King Graush, and carries the dark presence of his ancient-though-timeless, twisted practices. If the depicted art is indicative of historical accounts, this location is where Rathka Graush developed the Tsaiwinokka Hoyakut spell. |
| Hall of Shadows | A vast series of hallways filled with intricate Sith murals depicting ancient battles and the rise and fall of Sith Lords. It is believed that the murals hold clues to unlocking hidden powers and forgotten Sith techniques. These halls stretch on for miles, though the decay of time has left its scars upon sections of the historical murals. |
| Chamber of Undying Flames | A chamber wherein a perpetual flame burns, fueled by powerful Sith alchemy. The chamber's art depicts dangerous, experimental rituals wherein Sith acolytes bath themselves in the fire. Many are culled, but those who emerge are shown as having enhanced abilities and resistance to physical harm. |
| Vault of Forbidden Relics | A heavily guarded vault that houses ancient Sith relics, including weapons, artifacts, and talismans imbued with dark energy. These relics are often used by Sith acolytes and apprentices to harness the power of the dark side. The floor, walls, and ceiling are heavily laden with protective runes capable of conjuring storms of lightning and fire, and the surrounding hallways are thick with deadly traps of a more physical nature. Those wearing the Amulet of Graush walk unhindered by these dangers. |
| Chamber of Sithspawn | A breeding ground for twisted and abominable creatures created through Sith alchemy and dark rituals. These creatures serve as guardians and protectors of the underground domain and pose a significant threat to anyone who dares to venture too deep. |
| Shrine of Immortality | A sacred site where Sith acolytes and aspirants come to commune with the spirits of ancient Sith Lords and seek their guidance in their pursuit of immortality. It is said that the Shrine holds the key to unlocking the secrets of eternal life. Art surrounding the shrine depicts the Sith King Graush replacing his heart with a crystal, thereby achieving eternal life. |
| Throne Room of Darkness | An opulent chamber where powerful Sith Lords once held court and made fateful decisions that shaped the course of Sith history. The throne at the center of the room is said to grant immense power to anyone who sits upon it, but at a great cost. |
| Nexus of Chwûqmidwanottoi | A central chamber at the pathway's deepest point where the dark side of the Force is said to converge. It is a place of immense power, where the boundaries between life and death blur, providing Sith sorcerers with access to potent energies. |
| Chamber of Eternal Damnation | A cursed chamber where those who failed in their service to the Sith were banished. The chamber is said to be haunted by vengeful spirits. |
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
DID YOU EVER HEAR THE TRAGEDY OF THE KING OF THE SITH?
Long ago, on the planet of Korriban, ancient home world to the Sith, dwelt a powerful Lord of the Sith named Dathka Graush— a male Sith sorcerer whose life predates the Battle of Yavin by more than seven millennia ( c. 7,000 BBY ). In the midst of Korriban's cyclical wars and waves of civil strife, Graush wielded a chilling blend of both brutality and fear, reuniting the disparate tribes of the Sith into an empire and becoming a master at dismantling those who would oppose him. As the dust settled from his new Empire and many victories, Graush was named King and ascended to the esteemed position of Sith Overlord among his people, to be hailed in the Sith'ari.
However, those powers learned from the battlefield were but the beginnings of the new King's arcane endeavors. Unleashing the maddening depths of Sith magic and the secrets of alchemy, Graush devoted himself to refining a spell of unimaginable power— the necromantic Tsaiwinokka Hoyakut. With this dark incantation, King Dathka accomplished the unthinkable. Drawing upon a great power at the heart of Korriban, he breathing life into an an undead legion, sworn to heed his every command and forever bound by the dominance of the dark side.
But this was not enough, for he desired true immortality, to break the chains of time. In a daring and chilling ritual at the deepest tunnel in Korriban's crust, he surrendered his heart, which was extracted from his chest, to make way for a powerful crystal artifact. This malevolently charged gem resonated with the dark side of the Force, and bound him to a body made eternal, un-aging, and unbreakable through Sith sorcery.
The annals of Graush's Empire are riddled with art and depictions of dominance and fear, yet still his reign came to an end— the cunning orchestrations of assassins who ultimately claimed the life of the Sith King. Hailed by his people, Graush's remains were entombed within the ancient and greatly revered Valley of Golg, where they were to be hidden deep within the embrace of Korriban. From those tombs, his dark legacy endured, becoming the stuff of legends and cautionary tales, whispered in hushed tones by those who dared to tread in the bloody footsteps of Sith King Graush.
ITS NOT A STORY THE JEDI WOULD TELL YOU. IT'S A SITH LEGEND.
Driven by an insatiable hunger for forbidden power, the sorcerous Sith King, Graush, embarked on a harrowing quest which took him deep into the very bowels of Korriban. With unwavering determination and the labor of many thousands, he delved into the planet's primal crusts, driven by the call of Korriban's sacred core vergence— an elusive sanctum where the ethereal barriers ordinarily separating life from death were tantalizingly fragile.
Within the heart of these tunnels, Graush orchestrated a ritual of unspeakable darkness, the echoes of which still reverberate through the Force to this day. As he stood before the primordial forces of utter darkness, the King's beating heart was deemed to be unworthy, a symbol of mortality's chains. In an act both grotesque and awe-inspiring, Dathka commanded his chest be split open, thereby exposing the very core of his being to the heart of Korriban.
From the depths of his greatest, most fiendish Sith minds, using all three alchemy, sorcery, and technological genius, a heart built of crystal was created for the great King, Graush. With the eerie grace of Sith zealotry, this new heart was delicately interwoven into the vacant cavity of his chest, where once Dathka's heart had been. At the height of this sinister sorcery, the nexus' arcane energies seeped into every fiber of Graush's being, forever binding his soul to the realm of undeath and immortality. His mortal coil shed, King Dathka transcended the limitations of human existence, summoning his powers to build temples and art, and tunnels which reached for hundreds of miles beneath the surface of Korriban, digging down to the world's core vergence.
Yet, the repercussions of this nefarious act were not confined to Graush alone. The currents of the dark side that permeated Korriban were forever altered by the force of his ritual. As if answering the call of his dominion in the dark side, the very fabric of the planet's ethereal tapestry contorted and contended, shaping a nexus of immeasurable power. From this twisted wellspring, a profusion of necromantic energy surged forth, washing over the Vally of Golg and the surrounding mountains to bestow an unholy vitality and the lingering shadows of the deceased.
HISTORICAL SUMMARY:
In pursuit of dark knowledge, the Sith King Graush bored into the crusts of Korriban in search of the planet's core vergence, an area where he believed the veils between life and death were thinnest. There, he performed a sinister ritual wherein his heart was replaced with a crystal and he was bound to undeath and immortality. The power of the ritual forever warped the currents of dark side on Korriban, forming a nexus and wellspring of necromantic power.
However, those powers learned from the battlefield were but the beginnings of the new King's arcane endeavors. Unleashing the maddening depths of Sith magic and the secrets of alchemy, Graush devoted himself to refining a spell of unimaginable power— the necromantic Tsaiwinokka Hoyakut. With this dark incantation, King Dathka accomplished the unthinkable. Drawing upon a great power at the heart of Korriban, he breathing life into an an undead legion, sworn to heed his every command and forever bound by the dominance of the dark side.
But this was not enough, for he desired true immortality, to break the chains of time. In a daring and chilling ritual at the deepest tunnel in Korriban's crust, he surrendered his heart, which was extracted from his chest, to make way for a powerful crystal artifact. This malevolently charged gem resonated with the dark side of the Force, and bound him to a body made eternal, un-aging, and unbreakable through Sith sorcery.
The annals of Graush's Empire are riddled with art and depictions of dominance and fear, yet still his reign came to an end— the cunning orchestrations of assassins who ultimately claimed the life of the Sith King. Hailed by his people, Graush's remains were entombed within the ancient and greatly revered Valley of Golg, where they were to be hidden deep within the embrace of Korriban. From those tombs, his dark legacy endured, becoming the stuff of legends and cautionary tales, whispered in hushed tones by those who dared to tread in the bloody footsteps of Sith King Graush.
An elaborate tomb was constructed for Dathka Graush in Korriban's Valley of Golg. Located near Korriban's equator, the millennia-old tomb metropolis at Golg was one of the many "Valleys of the Sith Lords" scattered across the planet. Graush's and the other tombs that were erected in the Valley were lined with stonework carvings and runes of protective Sith magic. The late King's personal crypt was in a part of the Valley utterly devoid of sunlight, within a large cavernous gallery, wherein the shrines and respective pictograms of fourteen Sith sorcerers were kept. The largest shrine of all contained Graush's sarcophagus, where his actual remains had been entombed with a sword, an amulet, his holocron, and his crystalline heart.
ITS NOT A STORY THE JEDI WOULD TELL YOU. IT'S A SITH LEGEND.
Driven by an insatiable hunger for forbidden power, the sorcerous Sith King, Graush, embarked on a harrowing quest which took him deep into the very bowels of Korriban. With unwavering determination and the labor of many thousands, he delved into the planet's primal crusts, driven by the call of Korriban's sacred core vergence— an elusive sanctum where the ethereal barriers ordinarily separating life from death were tantalizingly fragile.
Within the heart of these tunnels, Graush orchestrated a ritual of unspeakable darkness, the echoes of which still reverberate through the Force to this day. As he stood before the primordial forces of utter darkness, the King's beating heart was deemed to be unworthy, a symbol of mortality's chains. In an act both grotesque and awe-inspiring, Dathka commanded his chest be split open, thereby exposing the very core of his being to the heart of Korriban.
From the depths of his greatest, most fiendish Sith minds, using all three alchemy, sorcery, and technological genius, a heart built of crystal was created for the great King, Graush. With the eerie grace of Sith zealotry, this new heart was delicately interwoven into the vacant cavity of his chest, where once Dathka's heart had been. At the height of this sinister sorcery, the nexus' arcane energies seeped into every fiber of Graush's being, forever binding his soul to the realm of undeath and immortality. His mortal coil shed, King Dathka transcended the limitations of human existence, summoning his powers to build temples and art, and tunnels which reached for hundreds of miles beneath the surface of Korriban, digging down to the world's core vergence.
Yet, the repercussions of this nefarious act were not confined to Graush alone. The currents of the dark side that permeated Korriban were forever altered by the force of his ritual. As if answering the call of his dominion in the dark side, the very fabric of the planet's ethereal tapestry contorted and contended, shaping a nexus of immeasurable power. From this twisted wellspring, a profusion of necromantic energy surged forth, washing over the Vally of Golg and the surrounding mountains to bestow an unholy vitality and the lingering shadows of the deceased.
HISTORICAL SUMMARY:
In pursuit of dark knowledge, the Sith King Graush bored into the crusts of Korriban in search of the planet's core vergence, an area where he believed the veils between life and death were thinnest. There, he performed a sinister ritual wherein his heart was replaced with a crystal and he was bound to undeath and immortality. The power of the ritual forever warped the currents of dark side on Korriban, forming a nexus and wellspring of necromantic power.
c. 7,050 BBY — Discovery of Immortality Rituals: Through extensive experimentation and forbidden rituals, Dathka Graush discovers a dark path to immortality within the liminal spaces between life and death. This revelation marks a turning point in Sith history, as many Sith sorceries developed thereafter commanding the powers of undeath are majoritively attributed to Graush's ancient discoveries.
c. 7,000 BBY — Construction of the Sith Gateway: Sith King Dathka Graush oversees the construction of the Gateway of Graush in the Valley of Golg. Using his mastery of dark sorcery and Sith rituals, he carves out a vast network protective runes into the valley's walls.
c. 6,982 BBY — The Rise of Sith Sorcerers: The existence of the Gateway and the knowledge of Dathka Graush's immortality rituals attract aspiring Sith sorcerers. The Valley of Golg becomes a hub of dark sorcery and occult practices, with Sith apprentices flocking to study under the tutelage of Graush's disciples.
c. 6,950 BBY — Wars of Succession: As the power of the Sith Empire wanes, the Valley of Golg becomes a contested territory among rival Sith Lords. The control over the Gateway and its subterranean network becomes a strategic advantage, leading to numerous subterranean wars of succession and power struggles.
c. 900 ABY — Rediscovery in Modern Times: After centuries of obscurity, the ancient Sith Gateway of Graush is rediscovered by a group of Sith, led by Darth Caedes, Zal Aditi, Elmindra Xitaar, and Kyraj.
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