Talisman of Krath
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The first mention of the Talisman in Tetan literature dates back 30,000 years.
The Tameht[edit]
The Holy Smiths of the Tameht tribe were commanded by their god, Krath, to fashion a sacred object that would allow them to communicate with him. They forged the Talisman as directed. Krath had instructed a single hole of hexagonal shape to be drilled into the base of the Talisman. He told the Holy Smiths to set a strange crystal in it. Thus the Talisman was created.
These Smiths became the Priesthood of Krath. They alone were able to communicate with the god of their people, and he with them. However, the early Krath Priests fell victim to insanity and demonic possession. It was not long before they began to understand why. They reasoned that the balance of the object was too precarious, and using the same crystalline substance, they drilled two additional holes in the base of the Talisman and set the crystals within them. This seemed to restore the balance to the object and the rash of possession and insanity abated.
The Talisman was passed down from the Tahmeht to their successor civilization, the Zfana and finally to the Mshanyata people who rose to power a mere 12,000 years ago. The Mshanyata Krath Priests removed the two diamond shaped crystals, returning the Talisman to its original form, apparently believing that by doing so, they would unleash the true potential of their god.
The Makalasa & Mshanyata[edit]
During the flowering of the rival Makalasa Culture about 6,000 years ago, the Mshanyata had become a group whom their enemies regarded as soulless and possessed. It was during this time that their god Krath earned his reputation for evil. The War of Five Thousand Days brought an end to the followers of the god Krath. The Mshanyata were destroyed by the Makalasa, and the Talisman was lost for a millennia.
The Krath Order[edit]
When Satal Keto and Aleema founded their Krath, and began experimenting with Sith magic, Keto had the Talisman in his possession. As a child, he had heard the legends of the power of the Talisman, and like everyone who dreamt of power, he hoped to one day possess it. The object had been lost for several thousand years, yet somehow, Satal Keto was able to find it and make it his own.
The legends told of the Talisman being able to allow the Krath Priests of early Tetan culture to communicate with their god. They were said to be able to accomplish this by turning the Talisman over in their hands in elaborately choreographed dance of movements, known only to them. Keto was convinced that in conjunction with the Force powers he wielded as a student of Sith magic, he would be able to do even more with the object than those ancient Force-ignorant priests could have imagined.
Before they gathered their followers, Satal Keto and his cousin Aleema were able to unlock a secret held within the Talisman. Using their powers of telekinesis, they found that the manipulating of the object without touching it allowed for a greater throughput of the Force. Through studying ancient accounts, meditation and trial and error, they were able to recreate the movements which contacted the ancient god. They expected him to be an integral part of their plans, and named themselves for him.
Krath had promised them great power, and began to teach them the “turns of the talisman” necessary to produce certain spells. Unfortunately, the events which would soon sweep the royal pair and their followers into the course of history and eventually utter annihilation, prevented them from learning anything more than the rudiments of the magic involved. After conquering the Empress Teta system, Aleema placed the Talisman in a vault in the Iron Citadel, for safe keeping... intending that she and Satal would return to unlock the rest of its mysteries. They never returned in body.
After Satal Keto’s murder, his spirit returned to the object, being partially possessed by its master, the god Krath. The spirit of Keto coiled itself around the Talisman, and sealed itself and its possession within the vault. Keto’s spirit waited for four millennia for an opportunity to live again. Wrapped around the object, Keto could see far into the future. There he saw his opportunity for life. He found the most powerful group of Dark Jedi since the fall of the Sith, residing on a moon about a hidden planet on the Outer Rim of the galaxy: The Dark Brotherhood of Jedi. Out of their numbers, he chose the only one who would come to him... a High Priest of the Krath.
Rediscovery[edit]
Melan Pyr heard his call. He didn’t know what was in store for him, but was determined to go to the planet Cinnegar and find out. Pyr and his companions traveled to Cinnegar, opened the vault and retrieved the Talisman and some other treasures, and returned to the Dark Brotherhood. It was not long before he realized that Satal Keto himself had stowed away within the Krath Priest. By the time of Satal Keto’s final destruction, Pyr had understood the potential of the Talisman.
Pyr began experimenting with the Talisman, first performing the ‘turning of the talisman’ spell to open communication with the god Krath. Possession is a dangerous thing. Very often, the one being possessed is unaware of what has happened until it is too late. It would have been the case for Pyr had he not learned his lesson from his experience with Satal Keto. During his first attempt to communicate with Krath, he felt a connection being made from the other side... one which would allow Krath to come into our dimension and reality, through Pyr. He was not about to allow that to happen, so he purged his initial hold on him and made no further attempts with the object.
When Melan Pyr became familiar with the Force Crystals, he immediately recognized the jewel object embedded in the base of the Talisman. Shaped in the hexagonal form of a Sith Rune, that jewel was in fact a crystalline form of vjunite. He filled the two empty holes, and for the first time since his first experiment, he performed the ‘turning’, making contact with Krath safely.
The diamond shape when separate, forms eight sides, as in the rune magic developed and used by Krath predecessors. When turned on their ends and overlapped, they become the overlapping squares that also form the basis of that magic. As the Talisman is spun, the squares overlap each other at certain points.
Krath - Being of the Force[edit]
Krath lives within the force, born of it, born on it, yet unable to make use of it. Krath somehow anchored himself to a thread of temporal laid out upon a plane of infinite space. By doing this, he was able to reach out and make himself known to the early Tetans. Yet, he paid a dear price. He is bound to a single thread of time, unable to deviate from it, he is tossed to and fro by the Force along the same events across an infinity of space. That which sustains him, infinity possibilities of space and time, is denied him. This is why he seeks corporeal existence.
Pyr and some other Krath Priests discovered many possibilities for the Talisman. One was, with the right ‘turning’ of the Talisman, space and time is possible. Only one ingredient was needed... the magic of the Nightsisters’ Rite of the Shadows.
The Rite of the Shadows is, like all sorcery, mystical when not fully understood. Yet those who understand it, know that it is little more than the most elaborate of computations. These computations that have allowed them to project their powers over any distance in space to any destination, are incredibly complex, which accounts for the prolonged rituals involved.
The Talisman, when turned correctly, has the effect of binding Krath to one particular coordinate in an infinity of possibilities and along any point of a single timeline, for this is his domain. With the threat of two way transfer nullified by the addition of the diamond shaped crystals, the Rite of Shadows can be initiated to determine an overview of the intersection of space along that timeline. You may then move objects, including yourself, to any point in time along the thread.
Lost[edit]
Melan Pyr was exiled from the Dark Brotherhood after his brief and unrecognized time as the Grand Master. He took only one possession with him, the Talisman. He then founded the Secret Society of Obsidian Temple of the Jedi and the Talisman is their symbol.
When the Krath High Priest of the Dark Brotherhood feels a Krath member has proved himself worthy, he presents that Jedi with his own talisman. Even though it is a replica of the original and is not as powerful as the original, it serves Krath members well, as it is the power of the individual Jedi that holds the true power of the Dark Side not the talisman.
Sources[edit]
- Krath.doc by KP Bob-Fett
- EH Newsletter Archive
- Dark Side Compendium Current & Archive
