Dominion Shadows in the Bayou | SO Dominion of Dagobah

[Aspect of Resolve]

Even as the Sadow Campaign aims to claim significant portions of the Mid Rim, Inner Rim, Colonies, and Core Worlds for the Sith Order to the north, the reclamation of systems lost when the Planetshift occurred has also become a priority for the Dark Council. To begin, the Sith have quietly begun expanding to the east, with Dagobah slated as the first world to be reclaimed, with the eventual goal of expanding further out in the worlds that were once slated to be taken in the Velgrath. Dagobah doesn't promise much if any resistance, given the lack of a planetary government or military to oppose the Sith, but there are other opportunities to be had within the swampy world.​

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Old battlegrounds and new insights alike that could prove very useful for the Sith Order indeed, or at the very least useful to whomever is bold enough to lay claim upon them first. Ghosts of pasts both seen and long since forgotten in both physical and spiritual form dwell upon the planet's surface, yet alongside these husks lies potential both buried and blatant. All shall be seized for the Sith once again as they had before as opportunists and vultures descend upon Dagobah with fervor and intent. Its wildlife and landscape have proven robust enough to recover since our last dominion over the world reigned, but the scars left in our wake greet us all the same.​

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Securing Dagobah and its mysteries have already proven to be a complex affair in the past, but one that was well worth the effort then and even moreso now as a stepping stone towards striking into the underside of the High Republic and beyond.​

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As Dagobah is once again placed under the control of the Sith Order, the Sphere of Research and Science under the purview of Darth Arcanix has expressed interest in the swamp world's prolific flora and fauna. While more permanent facilities need to be established on the planet, the Lady of Secrets has arranged a showcase of sorts for aspiring alchemists, bioengineers, and sorcerers to partake in, with prizes and prestige on the line. The rules are simple: alchemize, adapt, or mutate one or more of the local creatures or plants of Dagobah and submit them for review by the judging panel. ​

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Spoiler: Eligible Base Creatures and Plants

Flora​

Adder Moss​

Blackvine​

Cyanoberry​

Exploding Mushroom​

Gnarltree​

Lahdia Plant​

Rootleaf​

Stickle Tree​

Swamp Squash​

Yarum Seed​

Yoghurt Plant​

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Fauna​

Accipiptero​

Bogwing​

Butcherbug​

Dagobah Python​

Dragonsnake​

Elephoth​

Jubba Bird​

Knobby White Spider​

Leaf-tail​

Morp​

Nharpira​

Nudj​

Pikobi​

Scrange​

Spotlight Sloth​

Sleen​

Smooka​

Swamp Slug​

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Sentient Species​

Hepsalum Tash​

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The Cave of Evil, created when a Bpfasshi Dark Jedi was struck down by a Jedi Master centuries ago, has long been a place of darkness on Dagobah, offering those who venture within it glimpses of their future…for a price. With the Sith Order regaining control of the planet, it has opened the opportunity once again for Sith seeking guidance on their paths to explore its dark depths. But beware, the Dark Side of the Force never willingly relinquishes answers, and not all visions are as they seem to be. Something or someone may be siphoning the dark energies for their own use…​

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During the Sith Order's early wars with the Rimward Trade League, Dagobah was one of the worlds that had hosted a Jedi Temple and had been a place where a last stand had occurred for its defenders. The brave droids of Helix Privateers had spearheaded the assault, only to be met with clone troopers that inflicted significant damage upon the droid army. In the massive battle, X16 munitions were used, and the resulting ecological damage created an area around the battlefield known as the Dagobah Ash Wastes. Many droids, weapons, and munitions were left on that barren battlefield, a tempting trove for anyone who would dare brave the irradiated, broken landscape. Teams have been authorized to enter the Ash Wastes to recover whatever they can, but it would appear that the Sith Order is not the only one seeking the lost war materials…​

 

[Helix]

Objective III: Scavenging Parts
Equipment: Himself
Tags: OPEN

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Helix looked out over the ruined and tortured landscape of Dagobah appraisingly. The sheer scale of the destruction still held a sense of quiet awe for him. It had been good fun, and the site of his worst (and so far, only) real defeat in the 900s.

He'd never learned who commanded those doggedly determined soldiers. He'd also never learned what their total casualty numbers had looked like, or indeed, if any at all had survived to fight another day. As likely as not, none of these mysteries would ever receive an answer. All he knew for sure was that they'd taken the worst he'd been able to give at the time, and still stood tall, despite their own terrible losses.

The planet had broken before its defenders did, that much was certain. One could easily see the ruination from orbit.

The rad-winds shrieked and howled through the canyons and dunes of the Ash Wastes, as they'd apparently started calling it. A fanciful name, and one Helix was ambivalent towards. It wasn't the fact that he'd lost that bothered him. He'd learned a great deal from that defeat, and had used the lesson to improve gaps in his strategy and arsenal.

What bothered him was the wind. He could almost swear it echoed with the screams of the dying and the howl of old phosphor-blasters. Helix wasn't prone to superstition, despite aligning himself with the galaxy's largest cohort of sorcerers. He was, however, increasingly prone to nostalgia.

As he walked, his foot clunked against something, half-buried in the fine dust. Stooping, he picked it up, brushed it off with one hand, and studied it.

The headpiece of a long-obsolete B1H model stared back at him, blackened by flame and scoured smooth by the violent dust storms that now plagued the region. He'd lost thousands upon thousands of these here. Some of his earliest soldiers, comparatively crude by his current standards, but they had gone in, obeyed, and been destroyed.

They were not the only things he'd lost here. Almost the entire army had been eradicated, leaving far too few to help assault the Jedi temple. He'd been forced to scurry away with his proverbial tail between his legs.

For their part, these machines deserved better. Helix was not particularly attached to his soldiers. He could always build more, after all, and his factories belched millions off the line with every passing cycle. All newer, sleeker, and deadlier droids than the B1H.

What he could not build was combat experience. Some of these machines had data dating back hundreds of years, and some had even stood beside him when he'd still worn the colors of the long-dead CIS.

They'd earned a chance at resurrection, if nothing else. Their memory and personality data would be copied, placed into newer bodies, and their service would resume.

Helix tossed the disembodied head over his shoulder, where a gangly, twitching creature caught it. There were many of the things, all gruesomely misshapen. Their wordless groans and snarls would probably have been irritating, if he'd been able to hear them over the wind. "Spread out." He ordered. "We've got a lot of dirt to cover, and I want as much of this salvage recovered as possible." Thankfully, he'd not been so stupid as to leave this task up to the Blightspawn. Ranger Droids were here too, split into small, nimble reconnaissance fireteams.

None of these would be bothered by the constant ticking of their internal rad-counters, thankfully. This was a teaching moment as much as a chance to recover the fallen. The lesson would likely be lost on the cyborgized corpses, but not on their droid handlers.

"Oh, and..." he added, almost as an afterthought. "Kill any unidentified personnel you see here. At least if they're not Sith. Our fallen brothers deserve better than a trip to a salvage depot or a junk shop."

 

[Darth Carnifex]

The Crestfallen lowered itself down towards the wide landing terrace with a deepening whine, slowly rotating as it descended. Its engines blasted the surface with swirling air, sending loose water skittering across the platform and tearing moss from the seams of the surrounding structure. The great upper terrace was a broad stone platform carved directly into the highest tier of the ziggurat, its surface marked by landing guides etched deep into the stone. At the far end of the terrace, a monumental staircase climbed toward the summit sanctum, its steps broad and steep, flanked by heavy buttresses and grim Sith glyphs carved into the weathered ferrocrete.

This was the Black Gate, a colossal fortress half-sunken into the fetid bogs of Dagobah. It had been constructed at the command of Darth Carnifex some years ago after He'd wrestled control of the Sepulchral and created its four modern dicasteries, but with the Stellar Convergence the planet of Dagobah had slipped out of the Sith Empire's control. Now they've returned to reassert authority, and the epicenter of such authority had been the Black Gate.

Darth Carnifex emerged from the Crestfallen, striding down the boarding ramp flanked by a multitude of Crownguard and Sepulchral priests from every dicastery. Awaiting Him were other Sepulchral priests, hallowed members of Sepulchral Necromancia, one of the dicasteries of the Sepulchral priesthood. Undead creatures, skeletal and rotting, shambled about the layered terraces of the Black Gate, a mindless army arisen to patrol and safeguard the Black Gate's outer surface. There were even more in the marshes surrounding the fortress, buried beneath sludge and slime.

"Supreme Excellency," gurgled the head priest, their grotesque features hidden behind thick cloth and bandage. "Long have we awaited this day, of your glorious return." The priests kowtowed as the Dark Lord approached, professing their fidelity through acts of physical obeisance. Carnifex made no acknowledgement of their submission, vocal or mental. Such acts were so ubiquitous that they've long since stopped being noteworthy, they had become a foundation of life.

What He did do, however, was fix the head priest with a long and steely gaze. "The Ossuary," rang out the Dark Lord's voice, velvety and thick with authority. He needn't even specify His command, the priests interpreted it from that simple phrase alone. They bowed again and turned to guide their Lord deeper into the fortress.

To its darkest depths.

 

[Lirka Ka]

VISIONS AND VOICES
TAGS: Lysander von Ascania

When time allowed, Lirka Ka considered herself something of a tomb raider. She had no great use for many of the baubles and trinkets that plagued Sith existence, and the sites of power and evil that littered the Galaxy in their passing were not fonts of might for her, instead they sat closer to curiosities. The force was nothing but a whisper in her wretched being, she was the void: an eidolon of the Darkness Beyond Darkness she had come to venerate and battle against in equal measure.

But sometimes, indulging in her curiosities was just work. “The Caves of Evil” (a name that bemused Lirka ever-so-much) represented quite the point of interest in these wretched swamps. Certainly the Once-Sephi had quickly come to realize she was less than built for this sort of soggy earth - each footfall upon the soil that sat too close to the bogs had her leave a deeper and deeper imprint into this world.

What a horrid little place. Helix had the right idea when he had bombed it, irradiated it, and left a scorching mark with none of these general annoyances in it. She had deemed salvage collection beneath her station today, so here she now stood: gazing into the abyssal blackness of the cave’s gaping maw. Arms crossed over her chest as those gleaming slit-lenses of her helmet seemed to analyze the vines, mud, and rocks for something

Lirka was a less than trusting monster - and cave diving always seemed like a good way to get buried beneath the soil. For now, the monster waited. Leering at what may lie within as the “pilgrimage” of the Sith slowly made their way to this almost-holy site.

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[Lucette Raaf]

Lucy had always loved little adventures with her grandmother.

Although this particular outing left something to be desired.

Kai had already backed out, something about his cloak. Lucy had rolled her eyes at that. Her sisters had opted not to go as well; none of them were particularly interested in the sort of dark arts their grandmother was known for.

Still.

Dagobah.

She exhaled softly, folding her arms as she gazed out across the murky expanse below. At the very least, there would be something to learn here. The world's prolific flora and fauna would offer ample opportunity, whether under her grandmother's guidance or, more likely, in her absence.

Lucy glanced over at her.

"I assume this is one of those situations in which I'm meant to learn on my own," she said, tone even, already halfway resigned to it. "I suppose Tibbers and I can manage something."

At her side, her first creation, part dog, part shark, sat with quiet, unnatural patience.

The shuttle began its descent, the swamp rising to meet them in a haze of green and shadow. Lucy turned back toward the viewport, watching as the trees stretched upward through the mist.

"By the way, Granny," she added, almost as an afterthought, "Viers proposed. I accepted."

A beat.

Lucy did not turn around.

"Well," she said lightly, already moving toward the ramp, "I'll be off now."

The moment the shuttle touched down against the mud-slick earth of Dagobah, Lucy descended without hesitation, boots meeting swamp with quiet resolve.

Taeli Raaf ​

 

[Neryn Ka]

Objective: Visions and Voices
Tags: OPEN​

Neryn yawned as he stretched his wings, catching a thermal and spiralling higher into the air.

He was supposed to be here for a reason, but yet again found himself distracted. The so-called "Cave of Evil", once so alluring in prospect, now seemed pale in comparison to just one more minute up here.

An endless sea of glowing, brilliant life-candles, broken abruptly by the Ash Wastes in the distance. If he regretted one thing about the allegiance that fate had determined for him, it was that the Sith always destroyed anything they touched.

Neryn fancied that he had an eye for beauty, and Dagobah was beautiful, at least up here, far above the mud and trees and wriggling swamp parasites. As likely as not, it would all look like the Ash Wastes one day. Just an endless expanse of radiation-blasted rock and sand.

They were so... boring, as a whole. Such a lack of vision. How fortunate he was, that the Creator-Mother had seen fit to endow him with a little more perspective. Such was his burden to bear.

Perhaps that was why his all-knowing maker had given him wings. So that he could see the entire mess from an angle that few got to enjoy. Alas, that gift came with a curse, as the Creator's gifts always did. What went up, must come down.

He resented that he'd have to land. He resented that his hunger for the energies and visions of the cave would make him land, and do so well before he ever approached being tired. Most of all, he resented the idea of enduring misery now for gratification later.

What an absurd situation, and what an absurd universe. Alas, one had to do what one had to do.

Sighing, Neryn folded his wings inward and plunged down into a sharp dive, like a predatory bird. The wind whipped and tore at his clothes, his skin, his mane of colorless hair. The ground rushed toward him with alarming speed, promising the sweet kiss of shattered bone and leaking blood. He got as close to death as he could, savoring the rush of adrenaline, before his wings snapped open again with a sound like a whipcrack. Neryn arrested his own fall a scant few meters from the muddy ground. The sheer force of this final wingbeat caused mud and leaves to spray away from his landing, creating a small crater.

From down here, Dagobah was decidedly less beautiful, at least to his other senses. Strange cries echoed through the air toward him, and the reek of rotting vegetation was not far behind them. Still, to his supernaturally-acute eyesight, it was a wonderland of tempting morsels.

Unable to resist for a moment longer, Neryn inhaled deeply, sparking his heart to life and breathing in the Living Force around him. Plants grayed and withered, and the thrashing of aquatic wildlife stilled. One by one, the brilliant life-fires near him flickered, dimmed, and winked out.

Not nearly so satisfying as the pure, vibrant energy he could get from thinking beings, but it was a meal all the same. For a moment, the briefest of moments, it stilled the neverending hunger that tore at the edges of his diseased brain. For an even shorter moment, his thinking cleared, and a tiny spark of lucidity shone through the agony and emptiness that was his every waking instant. He put that brief moment of clarity to use. The Cave. He was here for the Cave.

The glowing talisman hammered excitedly in his heart, sending liquid flame through his veins. The heart was glowing so brightly that the outline of his ribs could be seen through the thin leather travelling garb he wore.

For a moment, he was tempted to let that hunger take over. To cut a swathe of lifelessness through this world that would put the Ash Wastes to shame.

No.

He was not his own being. Not yet, at any rate. He was a servant, created for purpose.

Today, that purpose was to learn. He was strong, yes, but directionless, unshaped, inexperienced, and as indiscriminately destructive as the magma in his bones. With luck, the Cave could give him that direction. Point him towards where he needed to be. He could certainly expect no help from the Creator-Mother. As she'd said before, she did not coddle weakness, much less tolerate it. It was up to him to fight his own battles, lest he grow weak, and be consumed.

With pain came strength, with strength, survival. Either another consumed you, or you would consume yourself, in the end.

Neryn unhooked his ornate saber from his belt, gripped it tightly enough to make his knuckles crack, and carried onwards towards the terrible darkness of the Cave.

 

[Erebus Ignosi]

TAGS: Open

For months now, the Lich Erebus Ignosi has been hard at work in the swamps of Dagobah, experimenting on the local wildlife with Sith Alchemy within the confines of his Midnight Ziggurat. You see, after being dormant for millennia regenerating from a near-fatal injury, one must test themselves and ensure their skills have not atrophied. Most of the creatures created were of little consequence, mere trifles to be created, observed, and then cast away and destroyed, but this changed when he discovered Dagobah's knobby white spider. Quite the unique, unusual creature. Erebus spent much working with the arachnid, twisting and corrupting it with Alchemy until he had a creation he was content with.

After combining the spider with near-human tissue his newest beast was born, with an armored spider carapace (hardened by Sith Alchemy of course), paralytic venom, and the ability to launch Dark Side Webs, with sentience, the ability to communicate, to follow orders. To worship. And so he ordered his cultists to begin breeding the spiders, to have more stock with which to create more Keptuvé Karis - Spider Soldiers.

And now his distant descendant Hekate Ignosi , with her ties to the modern Sith Order, informed him that they would be returning to Dagobah, to bring it back into the fold. His chance, perhaps, to join the Sith once again, to showcase his might and work his magic. Though he loathed working for anyone but himself, as any Sith rightfully should, he had to admit it certainly had its privileges. Perhaps he would scope out what the alchemists and necromancers were up to nowadays, then. There's no time like the present to catch up on thousands of lost years.