Monday, February 1, 2010

3959-3956 BBY: Iridonian Darkness


The Sith are coming…..

(again)

It is a time of Jedi Civil War. Across the galaxy, invading forces of the Sith Empire attack the unprepared planets of the Old Republic. Led by the fallen Jedi turned Sith Lords Darth Revan and Darth Malak, Sith fleets claim planet after planet. Betrayal is everywhere as Jedi battle
their former brethren, corrupted by Sith teaching and the dark side. Still reeling from the divisiveness of the Mandalorian Wars, the Zabrak homeworld of Iridonia struggles to purge itself
of surviving Mandalorian splinter groups. Now a respected member of the Republic, the former Mandalorian ally is a prime Sith target to disrupt the forces of the Republic, if not the Republic itself. The Sith are coming . . .

This is the opening crawl to the Iridonian Darkness RPG game adventure. With regards to Star Wars history, we have moved ahead approximately one year. There is a lot to comment on considering this adventure, and it seems that since the end of the Mandalorian war, much has changed in the annuls of Star Wars.

Before I get into the meat and potatoes of this particular piece of history, there is much I want to address that is impregnated within the opening crawl of this adventure.

Firstly, it seems that with the start of this story, Star Wars history has moved from one era to the next. No longer are we situated within the Mandalorian Wars, but we have entered the history of the Jedi Civil War. From a textual perspective, and accounting all sources taken in chronological order, there has not been much information presented telegraphing this change. What I mean to say is irrespective of the miniatures RPG adventure Onderon Cutoff, which alludes to the winding down of the Mandalorian conflict, there have been no sources that clarify how Star Wars history has come to this particular rocky period. With that being said however, I have still to read KOTOR issues 49 and 50, and these two issues could explain the beginnings of the Jedi Civil War, and why Malak and The Revanchist are now referring to themselves as Darth Revan and Darth Malak.

Malak and Revan are characters we have become familiar with inside of the KOTOR series, and it seems that these two have completely fallen to the darkside, and have taken on new monikers. Not only are Malak and Revan’s new names endlessly interesting, but both of these individual’s choices have dichotomized not only the Jedi order, but the entire Republic. What is more, this is the first time in Star Wars Chronology that the honorific title of “Darth” is being used. From a chronological perspective no Dark Lord of the Sith prior to this time has used the title of Darth. Not Ajunta Pall, not Freedon Nadd, not Exar Kun and Ulic Qel-Droma – no one. Which begs the question: how did their transformations occur?” (I talk a little bit about this in my posts on the Sith War, and how I thought it interesting that a name change did not take place when the above characters mentioned ‘fell’ to the darkside).

Many questions arise here. When did they become Sith? How did they come about the titles ‘Darth’? Where did they collect these Sith forces from? Has there always been a Sith Empire or Civilization waiting in the wings for renewed leadership to collect them? How did they educate themselves on the teachings of the Sith? How did they go from pulling the Jedi into a conflict against the Mandalorians, to leading a new conflict against the Jedi and the Republic? Like I said, many questions arise during this conjunction in history.

Brining my thoughts back to the text at hand, Iridonian Darkness is a story about a group of heroes from the Republic attempting to, initially, rid the planet Iridonia of its remaining Mandalorian presence, but then fighting to stave off the invasion of the Sith forces. At the centre of the story is a Jedi Knight by the name of Duqua Dar. He is teetering on the brink of darkness, and if not for the efforts of the heroes of the story, may succumb to the allure of the darkside.

Without giving too much of the story away (for those reading this that may want to play the adventure in the future), the group of heroes (the game is designed for heroes level 4 to 5) head to Iridonia, the Zabrak homeworld, to clear out the remaining Mandalorian forces. Along the way, one of their group, Duqua, is seduced to the darkside by Acaadi, a Sith adept and manipulator. Duqua’s turning is not complete however, and it’s up the actions and words of the heroes to sway him back to the ways of the light.

My favorite part of this adventure is when the heroes come face to face with Duqua. How they engage with him dictates whether or not he turns to the darkside, or if he realizes the error of his arrogance, and once again embraces the light. It’s at this point in the adventure where the heroes can enter into a philosophical debate with Duqua, and with their ideas, try to convince him of ‘the truth’. I think that this would be super fun to RP. A great discussion could ensue.

Hopefully at the end, the heroes save the day and manage to save Duqua and Iridonia from the threat of the Sith. The adventure features many twists and turns for the heroes, and seems like it would take more than one night to play.

For my next post I’ll be moving on to another RPG source – Czerka 431. Until then my friends, may the Force be with you.

2 comments:

  1. I can see how, if one didn't know much about this time period already, moving from "Onderon Cutoff" to "Iridonian Darkness" could seem abrupt. The first KOTOR game is to blame for this. It begins with the war already in full swing, and the backstory to Revan, Malak, the Sith, etc. is revealed as the game progresses. More recent sources tend to take that backstory for granted, so we haven't seen much of it elaborated on (with the notable exception of "The Betrayal of Darth Revan"). So, rest assured, many of your questions will be addressed once you reach that game.
    As for the Darth title, there have been mentions of it prior to Darth Revan. In the KOTOR comics, for example, Haazen tells Lucien that he considered calling him Darth Sion. Revan is the first major character to have the title, though (at least so far).

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  2. Darth Sion! - I totally forgot about Haazan's reference.

    We both know the Darth title will be retconned to an earlier date in some future Star Wars work.

    Ahhh retcons....I have a bad feeling about them.

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