Unreviewed Malachor V [Canon]

[Darth Virelia]

Malachor V

OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION

• Intent: To expand Malachor V's Codex entry for use as the central setting of the Dark Court's Shadow Spire campaign, providing a foundation for faction RP and world-building. This sub will likely be expanded upon in the future as stories a written.
• Image Credit: [X]
• Canon: Malachor V (Wookieepedia).
• Permissions: N/A.
• Links: Lord Dravik [X], The Dark Court [X], Darth Virelia [X]

GENERAL INFORMATION

• Planet Name: Malachor V
• Demonym: Malachori / Malachoran (rare; most residents are transients or scavengers)
• Region: Outer Rim Territories
• System Name: Malachor System
• System Features:
  
  • Malachor II
  • Malachor III
  • Malachor V
• Location: [X]
• Major Imports: Foodstuffs, medical supplies, manufactured equipment.
• Major Exports: Salvaged wreckage, scrap metals, dark side artefacts.
• Unexploited Resources: Vast ore veins beneath ash canyons, ancient Sith war machine wreckage, Dark Side artifacts buried under tectonic scars.

GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION

• Gravity: Standard
• Climate: Arid, storm-prone, toxic ash prevalent
• Primary Terrain: Jagged canyons, fractured plains, crashed war machines, volcanic ridges, ruins of ancient cities
• Atmosphere: Type II (breathable with assistance; high toxicity and ash storms)

LOCATION INFORMATION

• Capital City: None (planet is fragmented, lawless, and largely ungoverned)
• Planetary Features:
  
  • Ash Canyons: Shattered valleys filled with constant storms and scavenger guild fortresses.
  • Wreckage Fields: Plains of collapsed starships and Mandalorian War relics, contested by scavengers.
  • The Hollow Rift: A massive tectonic scar, site of the Mass Shadow Generator detonation.
• Major Locations:
  
  • Collapsed Sith Temples: Half-buried ruins where cults and scavengers seek lost knowledge.
  • Guildhold Bastions: Fortresses of scavenger guilds, stitched together from ship plating and slag.
  • The Shadow Spire (in construction): A fortress-temple being raised by the Dark Court, still incomplete but infused with ritual power.
• Force Nexus: Yes.
  
  • Intent: Reflect Malachor V's canon history and its role as a Dark Side wound.
  • Nexus Name: The Hollow Rift
  • Nexus Alignment: Dark
  • Size: Large (dominates entire canyons surrounding the Rift)
  • Strength: Strong
  • Accessibility: Known to scavenger cults and Force-users; hazardous storms and war machines guard approach.
  • Effects: Heightened aggression, hallucinations of past wars, visions of betrayal. The longer one remains, the more unstable the mind becomes.

POPULATION

• Native Species: None.
• Immigrated Species: Humans, Twi'leks, Rodians, Trandoshans, and others drawn by scavenging.
• Population: Sparse (tens of thousands spread in nomadic or scavenger groups).
• Demographics: A fractured mix of scavengers, mercenaries, cultists, and transient outlaws.
• Primary Languages: Galactic Basic, Huttese, Binary, Sith (among cultists).
• Culture: Survivalist, violent, and opportunistic. Scavenger guilds rule fractured territories through intimidation and resource hoarding. Cults worship Malachor's ruins, offering sacrifices to "the Ash Wound." Daily life is brutal, centered around salvage, barter, and constant skirmishes.

GOVERNMENT & ECONOMY

• Government: None; fractured scavenger guild dominions.
• Affiliation: Nominally independent; de facto dominated by Lord Kaelen Dravik and his scavenger lords. The Dark Court has only just arrived.
• Wealth: Low (scrap-based economy).
• Stability: Low. Endless guild wars, cult skirmishes, and environmental hazards keep the planet in turmoil.
• Freedom & Oppression: Technically free; practically oppressed by guild warlords and cult leaders. Survival is the only law.

MILITARY & TECHNOLOGY

• Military: Disorganized scavenger guild forces (raiding bands, salvaged droids, jury-rigged starships). Lord Kaelen Dravik commands the largest warband, making him the de facto ruler.
• Technology: Galactic Standard, though degraded. Most tech is scavenged, repaired, or stolen.

HISTORICAL INFORMATION

Malachor V's legacy is one of devastation and memory etched in stone. Once an arid but habitable Outer Rim world, it became a critical battleground during the final stages of the Mandalorian Wars. In the year 3960 BBY, a Mass Shadow Generator was activated during the climactic battle above Malachor. The superweapon collapsed fleets, shattered the planet's surface, and warped its very crust. In an instant, billions perished, and Malachor was reduced to a broken husk. Its fissured landscape, jagged canyons, and tectonic scars are still felt as a wound in the Force today.

In the centuries that followed, Malachor became synonymous with ruin. Sith acolytes and wanderers seeking forbidden knowledge occasionally returned, drawn to the residual power of the planet's Dark Side nexus. Some built temples or outposts, but these were eventually consumed by war, natural collapse, or scavengers. By the time of the modern era, little remained beyond fractured ruins and buried artifacts whispering of darker ages.

Scavengers were the first to make Malachor a home again. Drawn by the wealth of salvage—collapsed warships, ore veins cracked open by tectonic upheaval, fragments of Sith technology—they formed scavenger guilds, violent and nomadic collectives who fought over territory and resources. Over time, these guilds became the dominant force on Malachor, building fortresses out of slag and shipwrecks. They ruled without law beyond the strength of arms, trading scrap to offworlders through the black market.

Inevitably, cults of the Dark Side also grew among the wreckage. Some worshiped the Hollow Rift as a wound in reality itself, performing sacrifices to appease its visions. Others saw themselves as inheritors of the Sith who once walked Malachor. These cults remained fractured, often warring with scavenger guilds or each other, but they added to the planet's grim mystique.

In recent decades, the balance of power shifted with the rise of Lord Kaelen Dravik, a former Sith marauder turned warlord. Claiming the title Lord of Ashes, Dravik united many scavenger guilds under his banner through a mixture of charisma, brutality, and fear. He declared Malachor his dominion, ruling from the largest of the guild fortresses. Though his grip is not absolute, none have yet challenged his claim openly.

Now, in the current age, Malachor finds itself once again at the center of a storm. The Dark Court, led by the exiled Darth Virelia, has come to the world to forge a throne in secret. The construction of the Shadow Spire has begun, its foundations bound to the Dark Side nexus. This arrival has destabilized Dravik's dominion and sparked conflict across the canyons. Guilds splinter, cults grow restless, and scavengers whisper of shadows moving among the wreckage.

Malachor's history has always been one of destruction and rebirth through suffering. Whether it will now serve as the heart of a hidden empire, or as the grave of those who dared to claim it, remains to be seen.