Ș̮̖̘͓̺̞̤̳e̠̫̻n͈̤̳̥̞̣̯t̲͈̰̘ͅr̹i̪̥̦̯̮e̯̖s̖͈͉̥̦̤̲̦̝ ̼̬̮o̭̱̰̺f̥̟͈͍ ͚̣̦S̟̤̞̬̮ͅțo̹͕̲̭͖̫̯̬̮n͎͙e͍̗̠̬
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To create an interesting new Sithspawn for Writers to use in order to keep those pesky Jedi from stealing their secrets and to Eclipse the Light™
- Image Credit:
Source: Here
Origin: Dark Souls: Design Works
Artist: I couldn't identify the individual artist who created this piece, so the only ones I could credit would be From Software's concept artists. - Canon: No
- Links: N/A
GENERAL INFORMATION
- Name: Kageja iv Akmuo | Sentry of Stone
- Designation: Semi-Sentient
- Homeworld: Telos IV
- Language: Unable to communicate
- Average Lifespan: A decade to a century without additional feeding of Force essence.
- Estimated Population: Scattered
- Description:
While the sentries remain still, undisturbed by unwelcome guests, they appear just as any other stone statue. There may be the odd off-coloured crimson spot, but largely unassuming. This facade is kept up at all times around those who were bonded with the sentries, however, it is broken around those who are not, giving way to the fierce and unrelenting nature of the sentry. When moving it is possible to see dark mist emanating from the cracks within the stone of the sentry and any blood bonded with it begins to glow a faint crimson. The creature's movement itself is fluid, comparable to that of a living creature, but it moves more slowly and with less intelligence and grace.
PHYSICAL INFORMATION
- Breathes: Doesn't breathe
- Average height of adults: Varies, depends on the chosen statue, though usually ~2m
- Average length of adults: Varies, depends on the chosen statue, though usually ~1m
- Skin colour: Dark Grey - Black
- Hair colour: N/A
- Distinctions: Unlike most living creatures within the galaxy the Kageja iv Akmuo remain standing where they were created for most of their lives. They stand eternally watchful, guarding whatever their creator has placed under their protection. Their bodies are composed entirely of stone, save one crystal embedded deeply within the creature.
- Races: N/A
Strengths:
- Stubborn as a Rock: The Kageja iv Akmuo will stand watch over the territory they have been tasked guarding until their spirit fades or they are destroyed.
- Rock Solid: The rock Kageja Kargeja are made of is naturally durable and strong, though through the alchemical process it becomes even stronger, capable of withstanding several blaster bolts and even a glancing blow from a lightsabre, while offering some resistance to a lightsaber's cut, rather than allowing it to pass through like a hot knife through butter.
- Powerful: Due to their sheer mass the Kageja iv Akmuo can inflict great damage with their attacks, a punch of a 2m tall sentry being enough to shatter the bone of a human being where it impacts.
Weaknesses:
- Mobility of a Mountain: While they possess great strength and durability, the material they are made from also weighs them down considerably, making it impossible to accomplish great acrobatic feats or complex manoeuvres and causing them to move at a speed comparable to that of a walking human. Additionally, their immobility and speed is reflected in their attacks. While the strike itself can be at a high speed, the preparation usually takes a second and attacks are rarely more than one-directional swings or smashing.
- Eternally Watchful: The Kageja iv Akmuo can move away from the spot they were tasked to guard during a combat encounter, however they will always return to it and stay perfectly still, standing where they were created until such a time when their tasks as guardians require them to move again.
- Beings of the Force: The only way for the Kageja iv Akmuo to know what is around them is to sense it using the Force, similar to Miraluka. This means that Force Dead creatures and those that repel the Force, such as Ysalamiri and anyone within their bubble, will go undetected due to the lack of a presence within the Force. Force weakening effects make it harder for them to "see" their target, similar to a creature with eyes having blurry vision, while being inside the bubble of an Ysalamiri or any other Force Nullifying effect would cause them to freeze in place, as if they were stone again, coming alive again over the span of a minute or two when they are brought out of the field. Though the time they spent inside the field would weaken them, requiring them to feed far earlier than usual afterwards.
- The Select Few: The sentries will attack anyone who hasn't undergone the ritual of binding, which involves a piece of themselves (usually blood) being permanently bound to the stone of the sentries through the Dark Side.
- Creatures born of the Dark Side: Beings who are strong in the Light Side of the Force will attract great attention from the sentries, as their mere presence causes them metaphorical pain that manifests in a driven need to eradicate the source of the Light. Sufficiently powerful Light Side Force Users, such as Jedi Masters who radiate the Light may also have an effect on the sentries that causes their movements to be slower than usual, as the Dark Side essence within them has to contend with the radiating power of the Light Side. This also makes them susceptible to powerful Light Side abilities such as Force Light, which would instantly cleanse the essence trapped within the sentry, effectively rendering it harmless.
- Eternal Hunger: While the essence that powers these sentries will last them several years, they still require to be fed new Force essence periodically, especially after the sentries become active for a while, as actual movement consumes large amounts of stored essence. Once the sentries run out of essence they cease all function and become mere statues once more.
CULTURE
- Diet: Force Essence
- Communication: N/A
- Technology level: They possess no technology to speak of, using merely their own stone to attack or defend themselves with.
- Religion/Beliefs: N/A
- General behaviour:
All Kageja iv Akmuo remain perfectly still for most of their lifetimes, breaking their eternal slumber only if they sense a creature with a presence in the Force that is not "bonded" with the sentry itself. For each creature from within the galaxy has a signature in the Force that is unique to them. This is how the Kageja iv Akmuo tell apart who they attack and who they don't. Once awoken by an unwelcomed presence they stop at nothing to destroy the target, pursuing it until either it or the intruder is destroyed.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Kageja iv Akmuo are both alive and dead. Unique creatures that fuse inanimate flesh made of stone with the living properties of the Force, they are abominations of life in their own right and stand as another testament to Sith Alchemy's pushing of the boundaries between life and death. Embedded within each one of them is a crystal imbued with the essence of a living creature, though twisted and decayed as it may be, its new body radiating the Dark Side through the Force.
The process to create these sentries of stone is a long and arduous process that requires the sacrifice of a living being of at least beast-like intelligence. The creature's essence is harnessed and then transferred into a receptacle, usually a crystal with a connection to the Force, such as those found in lightsabres. Once the crystal has received the essence of the being and the instructions given, a dark ritual is performed on the statue chosen as the crystal's host. This ritual sees the stone embedded within the stone of the statue through the use of the Dark Side that twists and manipulates the rock to take the crystal deep into the statue. At this point the crystal merges with the rock, the essence contained within flowing through the entire statue rather than just the crystal alone, powering the sentry and delegating the crystal to the role of a catalyst for the essence the sentry has within it.
The essence of a single being will usually be enough to create a sentry of about human height. Larger ones would require exponentially more essences to create, making it ill advised to attempt to create sentries exceeding 5 or 6 metres in height using only one creature's essence, as they will usually fade and die within weeks or days. Instead, it would take a dozen or two beings to create sentries of these sizes, as well as an equal amount every few years to keep them from dying out.
This periodic "feeding" of Force Energies is required to keep the sentries alive. This happens due to the imperfection that is caused when the crystal is merged with stone. For as the two materials become one, the Force Essence within the crystal is fed into the stone, turning it into more of a power source comparable to a heart, rather than turning the statue into a vessel like the droid body is for an Iron Knight. The essence then begins powering the stone in a similar way to a power pack in a blaster, or perhaps more aptly put, like the Force feeds an Energy Vampire. Without further sacrifices or absorption of Force Essence from those it kills, the sentries' power will fade and they will become nothing but statues again. The amount of Force Essence needed is similar in quantity as that needed to create the sentry. Larger sentries must be fed this essence approximately every decades, while the ones at about the size of humans only need new essence approximately every century. These figures are estimates and presume no activity during the time periods stated, as the sentries consume high amounts of their essence whenever they do begin moving.
During his experimentation the original Sith also attempted to extend the amount of time a sentry could operate by giving it multiple crystals, however, every crystal bonded with the stone beyond the first turned a deep crimson before shattering and leaving a structural weakness within the stone, so they refrained from further experimentation in that aspect.
After the sentry is created it will remain where its maker indicates and guard that spot for the rest of its life, not moving unless someone not "authorised" is within its vicinity. This "authorization" happens first with the creator, who must pour a droplet of his own blood over the crystal powering the creature and merge blood and crystal so that part of themselves becomes part of the sentry, indicating to it who must never be attacked. Any additional person who might wish to be seen as associates of the creator must take a small amount of their blood and merge it with the stone using the Dark Side, giving it a piece of themselves so that it recognises their Force Signature. Simply splattering blood onto the sentry will not suffice, as a ritual similar to its creation is required to bond a Force Signature with it.
The inventor of the technique to create these stone monstrosities was a Sith Lord who lived long before the Galactic Dark Age, though his knowledge was lost for many centuries after his death, only rediscovered very recently by a now deceased Sith, killed by his apprentice. The knowledge to create these statues is now only available in three ancient scrolls, each a copy of the other, imbued with the Dark Side to keep those not worthy of seeings its contents, such as Jedi or weak apprentices. The mechanism used to accomplish this is ink that remains invisible until the Dark Side is channelled into the scroll, revealing the text inscribed upon its parchment.
