Prophet of Bogan
- Intent: Finally give my cult a proper holy book.
- Image Credit: Generated using Midjourney
- Canon: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Links: Kotsûshatul Itsu, Order of Wonosa
- Media Name: Knyga iv Kotsûshatul Itsu, The Book of Broken Chains
- Format: Holobook
- Distribution: Inter-Planetary
- Length: Epic
- Description: The Book of Broken Chains is the holy book of the Sith cult the Order of Wonosa. It is largely divided into two sections, the first being a recounting of the history of the Sith up until the reign of the Tenth Sith Empire and the creation of the cult itself, and the second focusing on the cult's journey as well as the development of the Sith following the fall of the Tenth Sith Empire and into the current iteration as the Sith Order. Throughout the text there are woven lessons and somewhat biased viewports, teaching readers what or who to revere and revile. Despite the inherent bias, the actual recounting of historical events is fairly accurate albeit done so exclusively from a Sith perspective and even more especially from a Wonosan Sith perspective.
- Author: Darth Strosius, Order of Wonosa
- Publisher: Order of Wonosa
- Reception: N/A
- Eyewitness Accounts: Throughout the latter half of the text when describing events or certain parables, there are sections credited to members of the cult which did actually live through said event and can offer additional insight. Most of these come from Darth Strosius Himself but there are plenty other accounts from various members that provide great detail on the journey of the Order of Wonosa both in their actual journey across the galaxy as well as their spiritual journeys.
- Historical and Theological: While the majority of the text is dedicated to detailing the history of the Sith up to the present day, laced into the work are clear religious connotations and references. For example, some Sith are listed as "Saints" or "Icons" due to their contributions to the Sith Order as a whole whereas others are labeled as "Heretics" or "False-Sith" and are used instead as examples of corruption and decay within the Sith ranks.
- Event Name: Ruination of Zygerria
- Links: Here
- Participants: The Graug, the 10th Sith Empire, Zygerrians
- Overview: The Graug, under the leadership of Vulcanus, descended upon the world of Zygerria to ravage it and claim it for their own purposes. Despite the Zygerrians being citizens of the Sith Empire, they were slaughtered indiscriminately. Darth Strosius, as well as some of the first members of the Order of Wonosa, recount the dreadful day in vivid detail with graphic scenes of carnage and melancholy that they could not have done more for the world's populace. This is highlighted as one of the first instances in Darth Strosius's realizations that the higher powers of the Sith in the present were corrupt and tyrannical.
- Event Name: Declaration of the Sith Order
- Links: Here
- Participants: Remnants of the 10th Sith Empire, Remnants of the Sith Eternal
- Overview: Called together by the Worm Emperor on the hidden world of Odavessa, the remnants of the Sith united into the Sith Order which despite some alterations and changes exists to the present day. This founding is not described by Darth Strosius as a positive event however, rather it highlights the greed and self-serving nature of the powers that be who arrived to the event with armies and fleets of their own which could have been used to prolong the Sith Empire but which had instead been hidden away for their own selfish uses. This is listed as the shattering of any positive opinion or loyalty He may have had to the Sith's hierarchy.
- Event Name: The New Order
- Links: Here
- Participants: The Sith Order
- Overview: The end of the warlord period is declared as a new emperor crowns himself, with Darth Strosius regarding the event with disgust at the unearned title and unworthy throne that would now dominate the Sith Order. Emphasis is placed upon the crimes and betrayals of the Sith Eternal and the Worm Emperor against the 10th Sith Empire, with those sins now falling upon the newly crowned Eternalist Emperor.
- Event Name: The End of the Ouroboros Crisis
- Links: Here
- Participants: The Sith Order
- Overview: The Ouroboros Crisis, a conflict initiated by Darth Ophidia in an attempt to steal power for herself, is brought to an end by the blades of Darth Strosius and Darth Malum of House Marr. This is portrayed as a just and fitting punishment for Darth Ophidia's earlier betrayal of the Sith by assisting Empyrean in crowning himself as emperor.
- Event Name: The Failed Liberation of Tund
- Links: Here
- Participants: The Order of Wonosa, Taeli Raaf, the Centrality
- Overview: The forces of Wonosa valiantly set upon the ancient Sith world of Tund in an attempt to overthrow its existing government and restore Sith rule to its populace, an effort that was cut short by the intervention of Taeli Raaf who threatened the innocent civilians of Wonosa so that her selfish investments weren't bothered by Darth Strosius and His followers.
- Event Name: The Kaggath
- Links: Here
- Participants: Darth Strosius, Darth Malum of House Marr
- Overview: Darth Malum of House Marr challenged Darth Strosius to a Kaggath, an ancient duel to determine who would supersede the other as a rising power within the Sith Order. Despite His best efforts, Darth Strosius is slain and His death sends the Order of Wonosa into a period of depression and chaos until His eventual return. Surprisingly Darth Malum, unlike most other contemporary Sith, is not portrayed as a traitor or tyrant but rather as a necessary evil. A reluctant but justified executioner that killed Darth Strosius so that He could receive enlightenment from the Dark Side itself.
1. The Qotsisajak: This expansive text opens with the Sith Code.
2. The Cradle of Sith, Korriban: A summation of the Sith species and their homeworld Korriban, mostly detailing their culture and practices which would become foundational for the later Sith.
3. The First Sith Lords: Recounting the Jedi Exiles, which the text refers to as the First Dark Council, which would venture to Korriban and integrate with the Sith there. This also encompasses the first Golden Age until the death of Saint Marka Ragnos.
4. The First War and the First Fall: Details the Great Hyperspace War and the subsequent calamity that befell the ancient Sith and their empire as it fragmented and diminished. Particular emphasis is placed upon depicting the Core and the Jedi as parasitic and tyrannical despots which the Sith were attempting to overthrow in order to enlighten the galaxy with worship of the Dark Side.
5. Embers and the Second War: Recounts the various enclaves of Sith after the end of the Great Hyperspace War as it leads up to the Great Sith War, this is told as a sort of epic story that ends in tragedy as the Sith are once again defeated. However it does hint at the stirrings of Sith powers both old and new.
6. The Folly of Jedi: This section recounts the Revanchist movement which led to a new Sith Empire as well as the Sith Triumvirate which supplanted it. Revan's Sith Empire is described as being somewhat controversial, although the Sith Triumvirate is recounted in a much more positive way given their success in almost destroying the Jedi Order. Overall this is not framed as another Sith War like the previous chapters but rather as proof that the Jedi have always been corrupt and that even without the legacy of the Sith to guide them, true adherents to the Force's will shall always emerge to cast down the heresy of the Light Side.
7. The True Sith Empire and the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Wars: This details the survival of the old Sith Empire and its resurrection in the form of the True Sith Empire which struck out against the Galactic Republic and managed great successes against their foes. Emphasis is put on great figures within the Sith Empire which are labeled as Saints for their heroic deeds, idealizing this iteration of the Sith as the greatest of them all. Unfortunately it too ends in tragedy but only after a long and prosperous reign.
8. The New Sith and the Great Betrayer: This chapter describes the subsequent New Sith Wars, labeling the entire period as the Sixth War, and does its best to detail the various fragmented factions within the New Sith until the rise of the Brotherhood of Darkness which is seen as a potential resurgence of the True Sith ways once again. Only to end in what the text describes as the Great Betrayal of the Heretic Bane and the establishment of the blasphemous Rule of Two.
9. The Dark Times: This chapter is relatively brief in comparison to the previous entries, describing the lineage of the Rule of Two while decrying it as an affront to the Sith and constantly highlighting its failures not as tragedies but as expected outcomes due to its self-defeating nature. This chapter leads directly into the next, recounting the lineage all the way up to Darth Plagueis the Wise.
10. The Great Plan and the Galactic Empire: Coming right from the previous chapter, this one details the Sith plans that led to the Clone Wars and the rise of the Galactic Empire under Darth Sidious. This is not portrayed as a Sith Empire as it is a product of the Rule of Two and no efforts to introduce the Sith ways to the galaxy were made, thus it is depicted as fairly controversial and its eventual downfall is seen as inevitable due to its lacking foundations.
11. The Last Sith: Rather than being a recounting of history in detail as with the previous chapters, this one describes the Sith organizations that existed in the wake of the Galactic Empire in no particular order. Organizations such as the original Sith Eternal, the Knights of Ren, the Prophets of the Dark Side, the Lost Tribe of Sith which was mentioned earlier in the 'Embers and the Second War' chapter, and the original One Sith to name a few. Given the contradictory nature of these organizations and their history as well as the rather murky history of the galaxy in general at this time, this chapter is more of an anthology rather than an outright recounting.
12. The Cleaned Slate: This brief chapter recalls the Gulag Plague and describes it as a necessary evil, paving the way for new Sith Empires to rise in a galaxy that had long since thought them extinct.
13. The 8th and 9th Sith Empires: Recounts the first of the new Sith Empires to emerge in the galaxy after the Gulag Plague, detailing their structures and their wars against the wider galaxy as they established themselves. The 9th Sith Empire, known as the One Sith Empire by most sources, is seen as superior to the 8th in the text as the 8th would be the first to crown one of the current great enemies and traitors of the Sith as an emperor, Carnifex.
14. The 10th Sith Empire and the Ninth War: Recounting the reign of the Tenth Sith Empire, this chapter puts emphasis on the success of the empire as a result of the common folk and the lower ranking Sith while labeling the Zambrano rulers and their Dark Council as pitiless butcherers and hedonistic tyrants. This chapter covers the majority of the Tenth Empire's reign until the early stages of what the wider galaxy would call the Third Imperial Civil War but what in this text is simply described as a continuation of the Ninth War.
15. The Origins of Wonosa: This chapter begins by telling a somewhat vague tale of the early life of the slave who would become the Prophet of Bogan Darth Strosius, recounting His birth into slavery on Kessel and His struggles in chains until His eventual escape through His blessing by the Dark Side. After which with His newfound freedom He ventured to the Tenth Sith Empire to learn more about the gift that He now possessed, being brought under the tutelage of Darth Ophidia. His early trials are documented clearly with input from Darth Strosius Himself providing insight into His initial impressions and awe of the Sith Empire.
The chapter hits a real stride as it begins recalling His service in the Ninth War, excerpts from recovered mission reports and His own recollection of them painting a picture of an empire desperately fending off attacks from enemies both internal and external to the extent of waging war on the entire galaxy. Even in the victories mentioned in the text however there is an underlaid sense of dread and melancholy, as the ending to the conflict has already been written plenty of times before and indeed was already written even as Darth Strosius threw Himself into it.
There is something of a climax within this chapter when the Ruination of Zygerria occurs, an event which sowed the seeds of doubt into the mind of the young Darth Strosius not only for the empire's leadership but for the fate of the war in general. This disaster did however lead directly into the First Sermon which would become the foundation of the cult that would blossom into the Order of Wonosa. At this point the text gains more personal recounting from cult members as it describes the initial days of the cult as well as the continuing Ninth War, but it also marks the start of more overt religious parables that come to dominate the next few chapters.
16. The Great Collapse: The end of the Ninth War and the Tenth Sith Empire seemed to come silently at first in this text, a creeping evil which had pervaded the previous chapter but which now struck not as a storm but instead as a breeze. A fall that wasn't evident until it had already occurred. The First Exodus of the cult is recounted here, painting the Order of Wonosa as the last Sith of the Tenth Empire cast adrift into the stars in order to avoid their encroaching foes. Anecdotes about the pilgrimage that the cult made throughout the stars following the end of the Ninth War comprise the majority of this text but this is also when the three main tenets of Wonosa, Kerstas, Tikras, and Wonosa itself, are described in depth.
This chapter concludes with describing the foundation of the current Sith Order on the world of Odavessa by the Worm Emperor, with Darth Strosius recalling His shock and righteous anger at seeing how composed and powerful the remnants of the Sith were as an affront to the desperate situation not only of His followers but also of the Tenth Empire in its final days. This is where He declares the new Sith Order as a pale imitation of the great Sith of old, led by the same incompetent and tyrannical rulers that had ruined the last empire, this is also where He declares that the fate of the Tenth Empire would not befall this burgeoning one. The final words of the text here describe the founding of the cult's new home on Formos and their goals of reforming the Sith Order and vanquishing the galaxy's chains.
These "chains" are listed here as follows: The Parasite, The Heretic, The Jedi, and the Core.
17. The Resurgence: This recounts the initial years of the Sith Order, led by the Worm Emperor and then the brief warlord period following his demise, all the while describing the cult and Darth Strosius's own expansions in power and influence in the Outer Rim as they begin their war on crime. This culminates in the crowing of Empyrean, heir of the Worm Emperor, as the new Emperor of the Sith. Darth Strosius is explicit in His disgust and refusal of this coronation, finding the existence of this Eleventh Empire as entirely unofficial and nonexistent. Thus the Sith Order is the name that is continually used throughout the text despite some other contemporary writings calling the current iteration of Sith the Eleventh Sith Empire.
This does however lead into a brief conflict against Carnifex and his forces which Darth Strosius eagerly partook in, detailing His desires to see the Zambranos and their followers brought to justice for their failures in the previous empire. The sparing of Carnifex and his Kainate however severs any faith or goodwill that Darth Strosius had in the reign of Empyrean, decrying the two as parasites which would inevitably damn the Sith Order to falling just as the Tenth Empire had done.
Nonetheless Darth Strosius continues to participate in the rise of the new Sith Order, then detailing how Darth Ophidia had betrayed them all by siding with Empyrean and then beginning the Ouroboros Crisis to try and strike at the weakened Sith Order for her own means. While initially playing along with His master in order to gain more influence among her followers and strike at the Eternalists and Kainites, eventually Darth Strosius and His fellow apprentice Darth Malum of House Marr do indeed turn against their former master and cut her down in order to bring an end to the internal conflict of the Sith Order.
For now.
18. The Tenth War: This chapter follows the Sith Order as it begins its wars against the wider galaxy as well as highlighting the expansion of the Order of Wonosa out from their new home on Formos into the Outer Rim. Much like the '10th Sith Empire and Ninth War' chapter this one is mainly composed of anecdotes and mission reports as the Sith Order revealed itself to the galaxy at large and began the Tenth War to bring about Sith dominance.
Closer to the end however it begins laying the foundations for the next chapter as it details the treacherous betrayal of Taeli Raaf during the attempted Wonosan Liberation of Tund. Taeli Raaf would be listed alongside Empyrean and Carnifex as one of the preeminent parasites of the Sith Order and as one of the Dark Councilors of the last Sith Empire her part in its downfall had already been noted in previous chapters but was emphasized again here, correlating the Wonosan efforts and their sabotaging as the same betrayal that the parasites had done against the Tenth Empire.
19. The Great Loss: This chapter is portrayed not unlike ancient mythological tragedies, with Darth Strosius playing the central role as a the tragic hero that is doomed to fail. It mainly consists of His conflict against Taeli Raaf which not only resulted in the loss of Formos but also bloomed into a struggle against the Kainate as well, with the heartbreaking capture of the Disciple of Faith serving as a gut punch before the final entry of the tragic story.
The Kaggath between Darth Strosius and Darth Malum of House Marr serves as the crescendo of this chapter, a recounting of the fruitless yet noble struggle of Darth Strosius against an empire which has not only betrayed Him but also itself. Darth Malum is His executioner, depicted a cruel twist of the powers that be but one that was necessary so that He would not be executed by an unworthy foe. Darth Strosius perishes and His followers mourn Him with dread and anger in equal measure, anecdotes detailing how the Order of Wonosa splintered and began lashing out at the Sith Order and the scum of the Outer Rim in a desperate attempt at preserving the memory of their beloved leader.
20. The Prophet Returns: The death of Darth Strosius was a tragedy, but a necessity. For His resurrection would mark a turning point not only for the Order of Wonosa but for the galaxy at large. Enlightened in death by the Dark Side itself before being returned to the mortal plane, the newly dubbed Prophet of Bogan would return to His faithful and reunite them once more with newfound purpose and a divine mandate.
The shifting of the galaxy is noted here as occurring in the wake of His revival, the Force itself cheering for its liberator by shuddering in anticipation and sending all of His foes scouring to recover their lost worlds and hyperlanes. In this chaos the Order of Wonosa is destined to rise, guided by the steady hand of their Prophet as He moves to mantle the Dark Side itself and become an avatar of the Force's Will. The breaking of chains is not simply a goal, it is a reality.
The Prophet of Bogan shall one day ascend to the Avatar of Bogan and with His almighty strength He shall cast aside the chains, for He shall crush the Parasite, vanquish the Heretic, extinguish the Jedi, and break the Core, and in doing so He will uplift the Rimward downtrodden into new heights of prosperity in the arms of the Sith.
For He has returned, for He is destined to be born again just as He lives again, for He is soon to be the Force Made Flesh.
21. Assorted Scriptures: This chapter is another anthology, composed of writings and teachings not otherwise already embedded in the text and which have been gathered from priests and common worshippers of the Order of Wonosa alike.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
The Order of Wonosa had never had much need to record their own teachings to any real degree. The Sith Code and the Three Tenets of Kotsûshatul Itsu were the only official writings that the cult relied upon and taught from for essentially its entire history until Darth Strosius was cut down. With His demise, the need to recall His words and lessons so that they weren't forever lost became very apparent and thus the writing of the Book of Broken Chains began. Initially it was simply a written record of the Order of Wonosa's and Darth Strosius's own history as well as a proper documentation of their beliefs as taught to them.
However the need for context and the desire to preserve the various examples of great Sith throughout the history of the galaxy expanded the work into a historical documentary of sorts, detailing the Sith in all their various forms and describing how they exemplified or betrayed what it meant to be Sith. When Darth Strosius returned to His cult He was pleasantly surprised by the in progress work, soon taking it up as a personal project and incorporating His own knowledge and commentary into the text as well as the tales of the oldest and current Wonosan members who had lived through such events.
The completed Book of Broken Chains, known as the Knyga iv Kotsûshatul Itsu in its Ur-Kittat translation, is a very new and recently published work that has thus far only really been distributed among the ranks of the Order of Wonosa. With their history and practices now codified however, spreading them to previously unenlightened populations would theoretically be all the easier and as such holofeeds and recordings of the work being read as well as more copies of the initial holobook have began being produced at a rapid rate.
