Ancient Foundations

[Sarias]

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An image would render onto the screen displaying an artists depiction of Adas's Holocron taken from the Archives.

Synopsis
This essay will combine the knowledge garnered personally on the matter to discuss a myriad of topics regarding the ancient sith. Such topics being: King Adas's reign, ancient sith society, ancient sith values, influence of the ancient sith pantheon, future influence in the modern era, comparisons between rulers and so on. This is an adaptation of the task set by Overseer Nyrithe, taking the chance to address multiple ideas she suggested instead of one.
King Adas
The Ebon King. Born with charcoal skin, Adas was prophesied as being the "Sith'ari" or "Overlord" in the Sith tongue. A great being chosen by the dark side to reign over the Sith and usher in a golden era. It would be remiss to say that he did not live up to his birthright.
In the only way the ancient sith could respect, Adas united the tribes of the Sith through a series of bloody conflicts eventually earning his place as the apex of sith society. Due to his feats, renown and prophesied stigma, the ancient sith didn't find it hard to rally under him. Hailing him as their true King.
It is said that Adas ruled with a ruthless, stubborn, manner. Inflexible in his morals and philosophy and cruel to those that deserve it. He spat on the weak and enslaved the foolish idealists that occasionally came across his wrath. I actually believe this is what allowed him to rule so effectively. He ruled through worship. Through fear. Through respect. A combination instead of an exclusive one. In essence, he personified what a true Sith should rule like.
His life demanded these things. His charcoal skin made the religious worship him as an avatar of Typhojem, head of the Ancient Sith Pantheon and pure entity of the dark side incarnate. His iron fist and ruthlessness inspired fear from the weak that would sometimes infest their society. His combat abilities, standing as apex of the sith, and habit of slaying his enemies in duels and drinking their blood to honor their demise, demanded respect from his followers.
I would like to note how impressive of a ruler King Adas was. Given their culture it was incredibly rare for a Sith to live as long as 300 years, thus for him to live AND rule for such a time goes to show just how effective he was in reigning. To not succumb to betrayal, combat, Sith politics and more is a feat not many can achieve, only being seen in a small few of other rulers. Such as Marka Ragnos and our former Emperor. The fact he ruled for so long no doubt helped solidify those that worshiped him as Sith'ari. Given the prophecy was to say that he was immortal and would rule forever, I can imagine how some would very well be tempted to believe it after so many years.
After centuries of rule, Korriban was visited by the advanced Rakatan aliens. Masking their true intentions of enslaving the Sith race under the guise of teaching. Though after this was found out by the Sith's wise ruler King Adas, the Sith retaliated in a full war. Adas took up both battle axes to push back the Rakatans alongside his forces, which eventually lead to their defeat and the Sith seizing the Rakatan's ships to push their conquest to nearby worlds. Such as Ziost, Malachor V and Tund. At some point during this conflict, Adas lost his life. His cause of death is currently unknown, though it is presumed he died in combat.

Ancient Sith Society
Sith Society was divided into a caste system for organization, widely known knowledge among modern day Purebloods:

• Kissai - Upper echelon of the Sith. The highest of the caste groups. Priests and spiritual leaders than delved into sorcery, alchemy and dark magic. Heavily endorsed the Ancient Sith Pantheon and their beliefs and rituals.
  
• Zuguruk - This caste consisted of Engineers and creators. Notably Sith that specialized in designing, building and maintaining the limited technology and inventions that the ancient sith had.
  
• Massassi - The warrior caste, consisting of specifically larger and more athletic members of the species. For what they lacked in intelligence they made up for in their tall, vicious and impressive combat abilities. Essentially, valuable foot soldiers, but nothing more than that - foot soldiers.
  
• Grotthu - The lowest of the caste groups. The slaves. Worshipping their superior lords and used for their only use, slave labor, sacrifices, and sometimes even buried alive with their masters once they pass away.
  
  

The Ancient Sith were an incredible species bathed in the dark side that flourished on Korriban, thus it was said that their customs and traditions are said to be accurate depictions of those that were truly connected to the dark side - the correct path. Conflict is the solution to stagnation and the source of growth. The ancient Sith knew this perfectly and had it encompass their everday life, at the cost of instability and lack of sheer organization that came with such primitive attitudes. Note that after the unification of the varied tribes of the sith under King Adas, a lot of their previous instability was fixed.
When the Exiles came across Korriban, Sorzus Syn watched the ancient sith to codify their species philosophy. In which she noted the genius of their lives of conflict, explained in what we know now as the Sith Code...or the Qotsisajak in the Sith tongue.

Religion was another large part of their culture which I shall embellish on further into this document. However it was a large deciding factor in some of their habits and decisions, whether these aspects were indeed real is another story. They seem to not be active in our modern era, so I am inclined to believe they are long dead or fictional. Perhaps something I will have to inquire about further with some of my more experienced superiors.
Societal norms during the time are widely lost in our modern era, but are nevertheless fascinating to talk about when discussing their culture. One such habit was that when their child was born, they'd check for deformities or inborn weaknesses. Should they find any the child is then left in the wilds to die - decided unfit to live in the harsh Sith world that required you to be the strongest to survive. Gender roles consisted of the women playing a dominant role in governing a tribe. While the men focused more on the fighting, those these were not rules that restricted either gender. Both genders can also become Sith lords or lady's.
The Ancient Sith Pantheon
My access to the knowledge of the Ancient Sith Pantheon is limited due to my current status, though through various means I've managed to acquire more details about some of it's members.

• Typhojem - Head of the Pantheon, known as the Sith god of Sorcery and the dark side itself. He is the metaphorical "father" of all purebloods. Both Ajunta Pall and King Adas were worshipped as his avatar when they ruled.
  
• Hezerkal - The Duelist, the representation of duels and single combat. Often depicted in animal form as a Tuk'ata with an iron tusk. Legends say that Hezerkal challenged an entire army to single one-on-one combat and defeated them all within twelve days. Hezerkal is furthermore often known as the rival to Zyantha. Followers of this god face their enemies in single combat and offer their opponents heads as tribute to the duelist god.
  
• Zyantha - The goddess of battle and strategy. Twin sister to Mekhath and rival to Hezerkal.
  
  
• Mekhath - The god of battle and tactics. Twin brother to Zyantha.
  
  
• Vorket - The god of assassination
  
  
• Urgak-val - The god of Tyranny
  
  
• Hes'falda - The god of manipulation
  
  
• Slythmnr - The god of wealth
  
  
• Marserha Jochor - The goddess of life
  

One question I've been pondering on recently is the effect of the Pantheon in ancient and modern sith society. I understand that their believers are dying quickly in the modern era and thus their influence now is weak. But if it affected the ancestors of the Sith then it effects how we think today, given we built from those that came before. I'm curious as to the extent that these gods played on certain historical figures, such as King Adas himself. I'm almost certain that he would've worshipped either Typhojem, Hezerkal, Mekhath or Zynatha. Though specifically which is unknown. Furthermore, would he adhere to the traditions related to followers of these gods, like Hezerkal followers that offered their opponents heads? Did these beliefs effect his decisions when ruling and if so, does that mean that the sith code and thus modern day sith are built off of the foundations of religious acts. An interesting thought.


Comparing Sith'ari
One of the many suggestions Overseer Nyrithe had is comparing King Adas and his features to that of our former Emperor. It is rumored that our former emperor had obsidian eyes, whilst we know King Adas himself had obsidian skin. It seems to be a pattern that such features are indeed signs of a significant figure that will change the future of their era dramatically. Although not explicit stated, it isn't much of a jump to assume that our former emperor's black eyes are another sign of being chosen by the dark side. A sign of being Sith'ari.
Alike King Adas, our former emperor ruled for quite an extensive period of time and was worshipped as a deity while he did. Yet their methods in ruling are dramatically different. King Adas thrived in combat and was very active in the society he oversaw, punishing the weak and killing his enemies personally, which was why it made his lengthy rule even more impressive. Whilst our former emperor remained dormant for centuries, pulling the strings from a very long, safe, distance away. This meant that unlike Adas our former emperor did not rule with respect, instead he ruled with fear and unconditional worship. Acting more as a looming threat or god-like being that watched over them.



It could be argued that our former Emperor had an even greater grip on his power due to how he distanced himself from those that served him. After all, when comparing the two rulers one needs to admit that the modern day Empire is far greater and more numerous than that of the old sith species on Korriban. I would say personally that King Adas personified that which we see as an ideal Sith, yet our Emperor was the smarter ruler, even if less ideal philosophically. Though this is a debate I hold little enough knowledge over to consider further just yet.

It is interesting to drift in thoughts about the ancient sith and their society and to learn about such feats and historical figures is of vital importance should you wish to learn about how the modern era came to be. Philosophically and literally. To my knowledge there has been no Sith closer to the personification of a true King than Adas in history...and that is what I shall take away from this entire escapade into Sith History. To be Sith is to rule. To learn to rule properly is to learn to be Sith.

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