The Jedi Exiles

[Star Wars Legacies]

The Exiled

History
Exile Sects
Philosophy
Exile Ranks


History of the Jedi Exiles​

For thousands of years the Jedi Order existed, weak and crippled by compassion and a misplaced sense of duty to the lesser beings of the galaxy. The galaxy displayed a fake respect of the Jedi while galactic governments used them towards their own ends as peacekeepers and mediators in their struggles. But a few ambitious and insightful Jedi recognized the full potential an Order could be, the potential to bring absolute peace and prosperity to the galaxy through the power given to them by the Force.

Delving deep into the mysteries of the Force, these Jedi abandoned all restraint. This action uncovered a deeper understanding of the Force and unfathomable power. Through their studies, they learned that a Jedi could tap into their less savory emotions, drawing on their fear, anger, and pain to manipulate the Force in ways that to their knowledge had never been done. With true power at their fingertips, these wayward Jedi grew powerful, seeking to twist the very essence of life itself to their command using this Dark Side of the Force.

The Jedi grew fearful of these powerful individuals, deeming them Dark Jedi and conspiring against them. Afraid of their potential, the Jedi gathered in secret, deciding to cast out that which they feared. And so they, along with every one of their disciples, were herded onto ships and exiled to the far Southern Outer Rim. This was a mistake that would shake the galaxy to its very foundation. In their weakness, the Jedi removed the only thing preventing the now exiled Jedi from reaching their full potential — oversight.

Free from the prying eyes of the Jedi Order, the Jedi Exiles continued their innovation in the Dark Side of the Force in earnest. The denizens of the Southern Outer Rim were their test subjects, abject to the merciless experiments of the Exiles. Their bodies and minds were twisted into obedient beasts, weapons to one day carry out the Exiles vengeance on the Jedi Order. Vast armies of subservient abominations, drug-addled slave soldiers, mindless war droids, powerful dark side adepts, and heartless mercenaries and pirates were raised to ravage the Outer Rim. These armies were commanded by the most powerful Exiles, who proclaimed themselves as Lords over their servants and slaves, superior to all who they deemed lesser than them.

Invasion​

The Exiles had a singular goal: revenge. They did not conquer and build empires, instead leaving only a burning and broken Southern Outer Rim in their wake as their armies advanced towards the Republic. Delighting in the slaughter and burning of worlds, the Exiles rarely established any permanent infrastructure in their invasion, preferring to take what they needed from a world before moving on in their invasion. Leaving shattered infrastructure and devastated populations, the civilizations of the Southern Outer Rim were left with a long and harsh recovery to regain their former standings and security.

The invasion moved as a scourge through the border worlds of the Republic, meeting little resistance beyond unorganized Jedi and overwhelmed planetary defense forces. Ravaging the Republic border worlds, the Exile armies did as they had done in the Outer Rim, plundering what materials and sentient beings they needed to fuel their war machine. They left only ruined infrastructures and devastated populations behind to begin the long and slow road to recovery. The ease of victory wouldn’t last however, as both the Republic and the Jedi Order recognized the threat that the Exiles posed, forming their own militaries and fleets to defend against the onslaught.

The war ground to a halt. Hard fought battles dragging out planet after planet, decade after decade as the two sides clashed at every turn, the overwhelming power of the Exiles slowly but inevitably pushing further into the core. Battles raged across the planets and stars, leaving few worlds of the Republic unscathed. Hyperlanes clogged with the burnt out hulks of warships, left adrift in the aftermath of massive fleet battles. What planets weren’t directly touched by the Exiles destruction were swiftly drained of resources as the Republic dumped everything into the fight, doing nothing but slow their inexorable march towards Tython.

The Battle of Tython would become known as one of the bloodiest and most ruthless battles in the war. Fleets clashed in orbit, turning the void around the planet into a graveyard of metal skeletons. The Exile’s hordes soaked the planet's sacred ground with the blood of Jedi and Republic soldiers as burning warships fell from the sky and force storms ravaged the planet. Pushing the majority of their foes into retreat, the Exiles assaulted the temple on Tython, overrunning the defenders. With the taste of victory on their lips, the last remaining original Exiles foolishly led the charge into the temple to kill the Grandmaster of the Jedi. This would be their downfall as the Jedi Grandmaster’s trap was sprung, the temple burying all who remained inside. With the last progenitors of the Exiles dead, the knowledge of how to create and control the vast armies of abominations was lost. With their armies uncontrollable or decimated by the rapidly strengthening force storms of Tython, the remaining Exiles salvaged what they could and retreated, leaving behind a vast horde of monstrosities to be consumed by the storm.

On the retreat, their armies crippled and fleets deserting, the Exiles were no longer the force of desolation and destruction that they once were — but even a cornered beast has fangs. Without any permanent bases to fall back to, they continued much as they did on their approach to Tython, burning worlds and enslaving populaces to serve as disposable armies. However, there was a newfound desperation to their actions. Fleeing through the as of yet untouched Eastern Mid Rim, the Exiles jump around, system to system to the border of the Republic in a series of tactical retreats, often times coming under assault on a planet by the emboldened Republic and Jedi forces mere hours after their own landfall.

Hosts of untrained, scared and unwilling slave soldiers were left to hold the line while their Exile masters fled in full retreat. These armies were quickly routed and captured by the Republic, but they served their ultimate purpose of allowing their masters to escape into the freedom of the Eastern Outer Rim. It was a calculated risk by the Exile leaders, abandoning their armies to the Republic, but one that ultimately paid off. The Republic, after nearly a hundred years of pitched warfare, was tired of sending their young men and women to slaughter. With their infrastructure crumbling and destroyed, the Senate voted to end the war and disband the Grand Army of the Republic, shrinking their borders and abandoning the fringe worlds to their fates while the wealthier coreward worlds turned their attention to rebuilding.

The Ilum Deception​

As the war moved into the Outer Rim, the scale shifted. Unable to recover their former numbers, the Exiles couldn’t create and maintain the desperate hordes of slave soldiers that had once filled the battlefields, though not for the lack of trying. Skirmishes and guerilla tactics became the mainstay of the war as the dwindling Exiles devised a plan to once and for all destroy the enemy that they had been plotting against for over a hundred years. Receiving secret Jedi information from an unknown benefactor on how to find and take the sacred crystal world of Ilum, the Exiles forces trickled away from the main arena of battle, leaving their weaker or less crafty brethren to die on the Jedi’s blades as they moved to strike at Ilum.

Using a ritual provided to them by their unknown benefactor, similar but sinisterly different than the process by which some of the Exiles bled their lightsabers red, the fallen Jedi poured the darkside into a massive kyber crystal. The Jedi seemingly brought everything they had to bare against the Exiles defilement of their sacred world, engaging the Exile army under the eerie red glow of the crystal. Minutes before the weapon was ready to be unleashed, a strike force made up of some of the most powerful Jedi in the Order, including the new Jedi Grandmaster himself, Syresh Lapar, cut through the defenses around the crystal to disrupt the ritual. Following a heated duel in which the Exile Warlord and his sorcerers were cut down, Syresh revealed himself to be the unknown benefactor, betraying his allies and unleashing the concentrated darkside energies from the crystal to wash across the planet, cutting down Jedi and Exiles alike.

Aftermath​

Cowering in whatever shelter they could muster, the surviving Exiles fled the battle as soon as the raw darkside power of the crystal subsided. Unorganized, selfish and petty, the Exiles were quick to part ranks without a leader powerful enough to keep them in line, preferring to seek their own power rather than answer any rallying calls. Fleeing to the Outer Rim, a few groups of Exiles began to congregate once more, though the events at Ilum led to a distinct split in the ideologies of the Exiles. Only two common goals united all of the Exiles, an unending hunger for vengeance against the Jedi, and the thirst for power, though the latter is a matter of much contention as individual Exiles vie against each other for ultimate power. With their numbers depleted much as the Jedi, few Exiles are willing to risk open warfare. Instead, assassination, ambush, and other underhanded tactics have become the primary means of warfare as they seek to once and for all end their war in the only way it can end. The complete and utter destruction of the Jedi Order and all who would call themselves Jedi.

State of the Exiles​

The Exiles could never fully be considered a unified order, merely power hungry darksiders bound together by a common enemy. Without an ever present enemy and threat to their existence, the Jedi Order just as broken and scattered as the Exiles, there is even less holding their lust for personal power in check. Split between wishes to begin a campaign of conquest, hunt down the last remaining Jedi, build their own power and delve deeper into the darkside to rediscover the secrets of the Dark Side, as well as ideological differences on the nature of the darkside, the Exiles are far from a united force, split into different sects or Orders.

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Exile Sects​

Despite their natural tendency to seek power over others, the Exiles still find safety in numbers, even if those numbers may turn on them at any given moment. Without any clear ideologies or codes, the Exiles have a tendency to gather in groups of like-minded individuals that share a common path to power with each other. These groups are loosely bound and lack any concept of loyalty, respecting only power, though they have begun to call themselves Orders in their own right.

Exile Templars​

Remnants of the once great Exile armies, the Templars are the most militant minded of the Darksiders. Recognizing that their former tactics of blind aggression and untamed passion ultimately led to the downfall of the Exile armies, the Templars have tempered their wild rage. Caging the beast within they seek to turn the darkside into a tool and weapon to amplify their already impressive physical prowess in order to crush all who would oppose them, Jedi, Exile, or anyone else who would stand in their way.

With their passions turned into weapons guided by their iron wills, the Templars have turned their attention towards conquest. No longer simply wishing to burn, enslave, and move on as the Exile armies of the past, the Templars wish to crush all opposition to their rule and to create a kingdom of their own making, ruled by the strong. However, there is only room for one ruler, and those who do not rise to the task must either serve or die.

Exile Marauders​

The Exile Marauders were feared throughout the galaxy during the war. Ruthless warriors who have given themselves fully over to the darkside, they were known for their combat rage as they charged into the thickest battles, heedless of their own safety, disregarding the lives of their slaves. Unlike their Templar brothers, the Marauders disdain the idea of caging their dark passions and bloodlust, preferring to continue as they did during the war, reaving their way through the galaxy.

However, with their numbers greatly diminished, such practices would be suicidal. No longer having the numbers, ships, or military capabilities to take worlds, they set their eyes on smaller targets. The Outer Rim is ripe with settlements, trade posts, and other small and poorly defended locations. Pillaging and burning, the Marauders dream of the past and eagerly work towards a future in which they can once again burn and enslave entire worlds.

Exile Inquisitors​

Residing in the shadows, creeping in dark places, the Inquisitors are what remains of the recruiting arm of the Exile armies. Once tasked with seeking out force sensitive children to be stolen, or weak minded Jedi to be broken and turned, the Inquisitors are masters of deception and seduction. With the breaking of the Exile armies, the Inquisitors continue much as they had, scouring the galaxy for new recruits to stopper the ever diminishing numbers of the exiles.

But without masters to direct them, they have begun to work towards their own goals as well. Infiltrating society throughout the galaxy, encouraging crime and corruption at every turn, they seek to spread the power of the Dark Side to every corner of the galaxy while defaming the name of Jedi. To this end, many Inquisitors eschew the usual blood red saber, or otherwise keep on hand the saber of a dead Jedi, often posing as Jedi throughout their travels.

Exile Assassins​

The foot soldiers of the shadow war against the Jedi, the Exile Assassins come from a variety of backgrounds, but all have a common goal — the complete and total eradication of the Jedi. Nothing matters more to them than this end, and little else occupies the corrupted minds of the assassins as they hunt their quarry. Masters of stealth and the quick kill, Assassins hunt down Jedi without mercy, as well as those who would support the Jedi or even seem as if they might.

Utterly without mercy or any shred of human decency, the Exile Assassins have given themselves fully over to the darkside, savoring the brutal efficiency in which they cut down their prey. The methods of the Assassin are varied, some stalking prey silently from the shadows, others causing chaos in a way to lure the Jedi to salve the wounds they cause. It is the resolve and devotion to slaying their lightside brethren that truly defines an Exile Assassin, not the methods by which they do so.

Exile Sorcerers​

Darksiders who eschew physical combat in favor of the force, the Exile Sorcerers have committed their lives to the study, and more importantly the command of the darkside. Seeking to understand its most intricate secrets, these Sorcerers delve the depths of its mystery, without remorse or regret for the suffering caused by their actions. Often carrying out cruel experiments on unwilling victims, or stretching the fabric of sane reality itself, the Sorcerers often tread the thin line between sanity and madness that dwells at an uncertain place in their studies.

Despite their passion and hunger for knowledge and power, most Sorcerers acknowledge that even they have limits. They master the mysteries of the Darkside with a cold detachment, wary of letting the very thing they seek control over to consume them. The Darkside is a tool to them, one to be wielded carefully and with precision. Many Exile Sorcerers have watched their fellows dive too deep too swiftly into the seductive eddies of the Darkside, only to lose themselves completely to its power.

Exile Arcanists​

The Exile Arcanists were once Sorcerers who have given themselves over completely to the darkside. Withering husks of their former selves, their minds and personality have been forever twisted by the dark forces with which they toyed. Now the playthings of the Darkside, it is hard to say which of their thoughts and actions are truthfully theirs, and which spring from the utter corruption that plagues their minds. Many Arcanists bodies have begun to atrophy due to the corruption, though the Darkside allows them to function well enough as they continue their obsessive quest for knowledge and power.

These Arcanist seek to follow in the footsteps of the original Exile Warlords, seeking the power to twist and command life itself to their very will. Whether by their own experiments or seeking out the knowledge of the dead Exiles from generations past, they will let nothing come between them and ultimate power within the Darkside, even as the Darkside rips their minds and bodies asunder.

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Exile Philosophy​

Unlike the Jedi Order, The Exiles have no code to which they bind themselves apart from the code of power. The strong embrace the Dark Side and rise in power, while the weak are overtaken and fall to the wayside. This is how it has been for a century and this is how the Exiles continue to look at the galaxy.

Each of the Exiles seeks to build their own power, attempting to tear down those stronger and more powerful than them in order to make way for their own ascension to power. Those who are not strong enough to cut their own path to power seek masters of those more powerful than them, ever eager to usurp them as soon as they have gleaned every scrap of knowledge that they can from those more powerful than them.

While the Jedi are guardians of peace and justice, the Exiles are bringers of death, war, and carnage. They spread the Darkside like a disease across the galaxy. Burning, killing, and maiming wherever they go; enslaving, dominating, and conquering as their twisted hearts desire. Having left the Jedi and embraced the Darkside, they look upon the emotional neutrality of the Jedi code as pure foolishness. Their emotions have given them power, and they fully embrace the hatred and passion that fuels their use of the force.

While the Jedi abandon attachment, the Exiles fully support conquest and possession. They take the property of those weaker than themselves and hold tightly to whatever they can possess. While feelings of empathy and love have no place in their cold and wretched hearts, they cling possessively to whatever few individuals stoke their passions, though in their darkness they would see their lovers, friends or family dead before they would allow them to become a weakness or allow another to possess them

With their obsession with power, many Exiles have fashioned themselves as deities or lords, declaring themselves as gods to those weaker than them, especially those without the Force. This selfishness and corruption, placing themselves above the sanctity of life itself is a spiraling process, the lust for power leading many to believe that life itself should twist at their whim, actively seeking to corrupt it and bend it to their needs and desires.

In recent times, the Exiles have seen themselves begin to split. The different groups of Exiles have no agreement regarding how their campaign should be executed, or even how the Darkside should be viewed and used. After the destruction of most of the Exile forces at Ilum, the Exiles scattered, bickering amongst themselves. Some saw their defeat as a wake-up call, believing that they had lost themselves completely to the Darkside; that they should treat it as a tool and a weapon, but not lose themselves in its power. Others firmly believing that their loss came from a lack of devotion, that in order to attain true power they must give themselves body and mind to the darkside, letting it corrupt them fully to guide their course for the future.

This has caused even further dissension than they previously saw, with warriors of each group in open disagreement, many believing now is the time to begin to build forces, fortify and claim territory, while others wish to continue their scorched-ground campaign, rampaging across the galaxy as a scourge against life itself. This disagreement with one another and the subsequent strife has resulted in more than a few clashes of blades.

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Exile Ranks​

Exile Apprentice​

The height of the Exiles arrogance and contempt for the Jedi, an Exile fully trained in the ways of the Darkside and the art of lightsaber combat carries the name of Apprentice. Intended as a direct insult to Jedi training, the Exiles boast that their Apprentices are more than a match for a fully trained knight, even though they have received similar levels of training. The talents and skills of an Apprentice vary greatly, with the different Orders of the Exiles valuing different skills and abilities. Whatever their training, they are highly competent in their field of study.

There is no room for weakness among the ranks of the Apprentice, and after nearly a hundred years of the Invasion, the surviving apprentices are hardened warriors, skilled assassins and powerful sorcerers. Eager to continue inflicting their will upon the galaxy, these Apprentices have joined together in Orders of like-minded Darksiders. These Orders are in no way united, and often come to blows over ideological or methodical differences, ensuring that only the strongest survive in their mission to destroy the Jedi and force the galaxy to bow to their strength. Ever obsessed with power, many of these Apprentices seek to usurp the Exile Masters and take their title for themselves, or seek alternative paths to Mastery by building their own power.

With their numbers greatly reduced by the war, the Exile Apprentices seek to build their power and continue the destruction of the Jedi, thought the paths to power and destruction vary wildly. Templars, Marauders, Inquisitors, Assassins, Sorcerers and Arcanists, these Exile Orders all seek to establish themselves as the most powerful, whether through military might, the spread of corruption, or mastery of the Darkside. The only common uniter that continues to bind the Exiles together is their ever-burning hatred for the Jedi, and their quest to wipe them from the face of the galaxy.

Exile Master​

No longer at the bottom of ranks, these Masters of the darkside are some of the most powerful beings in the conglomeration of the Exile Orders. Their skills as warriors, assassins and sorcerers have shown their power is to be respected by fear or jealous admiration. Apprentices who dare to defy orders from the Masters will meet a fate to their dislike.

Those who reach Master have built their power through decades of training and with a more natural inclination towards the darkside of the Force; their own wills are strong, looking to use the Force to their own needs and continue to corrupt and destroy an Order who cast them out. Masters are willing to wield their power in order to achieve their own goals and ambitions. They may be more opinionated of the Warlords that lead them but are willing to do their bidding until they are powerful enough to expel those who tower above them.

Exile Warlord​

While once commanding grand armies of slave soldiers, war droids, darkside abominations, and Exile warriors, the rank of Warlord is simply not what it used to be. With their armies shattered and much of the Exiles knowledge of the Darkside lost due to the deaths of many of the most powerful Exiles, many of whom jealously guarded their knowledge, the Warlords are a shadow of their former glory.

Their own power is threatened by the rising power base of the Apprentices and Masters as rumors of growing dissatisfaction and impatience grow in the minds of the darksiders. However, their strength should not be underestimated, as many of the Warlords hold onto rare knowledge for the chance of greater power, as for now, they chose to use as their own.

Exile Overlord​

The Exile Overlord is not chosen through a diplomatic vote as the Jedi Grandmaster is. It is a title won through power and conquest, with only the most power Exiles ever holding the title, constantly wary of their inferiors who would try to usurp them for its power. Held only by the strongest, most powerful, and most knowledgeable in the Darkside of the Force, the Exile Overlord is a force of death and destruction on the battlefield.

The title of Exile Overlord is currently unclaimed, with the Exile Warlords eyeing each other suspiciously. None of the Warlords are willing to put a target on their backs by claiming the title, while also being unwilling to allow another to claim the title uncontested.

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