From a lecture by Lyon Destrier, to the
New Jedi Academy:
I am sure that you all can tell me of the origins of the Jedi,
of the first to manipulate the force, and the trials and
tribulations of those early experimenters. Still, it is important
to remember the force has always been here, since the first self
duplicating compound formed, and maybe even before. It is as close
as the universe can get to eternal, and there have been those that
feel the force, for as long as there has been life. Those that
feel the force can use it, for good or ill.
An example. The Priest Kings of Khel. (you might want to
take this down) Khel. A cluster of 17 stars, 21 habitable
planets. Inhabited by a unique alien race, the Ammeites. They
emerged on one of the worlds, and expanded to the others during
their early atomic age. The Ammeites were ruled by a hereditary
monarchy for several thousand years. All fairly typical stuff in
the age before the Warlords.
Here's where things get interesting. The priesthood of the
Khel had long posited a metaphysical energy field, similar to our
conception of the force. Several generations after the planets
were all settled, the priests of Khel began to experience the true
power that the force has.
Beginnings are dangerous things. When a being first feels the
force, first learns it's powers, that is when he is most vulnerable
to the pull of the Dark Side. The same is true of a race, or a
sect, or any group. Without tradition, without awareness of the
true dangers posed by the Dark, it becomes something that is
investigated, rather than something shunned at all costs.
The early writings of the priests of Khel show us the signs of
a group falling under the Dark Side's sway; a glorification of
passion, discussion of channelling emotion, rather than letting
them flow over and past you. As an aside, the Ammeites were a
methodical race. We have nearly complete records of the priests of
Khel because of that reason. The number of other races whose
histories ended in this manner can only be guessed at.
Continuing the history of Khel. The priests had always kept
away from the politics of their race, but as they fell deeper and
deeper into the grasp of the Dark, that changed. One of the first
areas that the priests became involved in was prophecy, oracleism,
fortune telling. We all know the limitations on this sort of
procedure. As master Yoda always put it, "Always in motion is the
future." By it's very nature, the future cannot be accurately
viewed, as it can be changed. I myself was visited by any number
of apocalyptic visions of the galaxy under the Emperor, and these
obviously have not come to pass.
Still, you have all experienced the images that the force
sends, I assume. I don't have to tell you that these images are
intense, detailed, and often come true. The kings of Khel soon
began to consult with the high priests regarding matters of state.
It was only a matter of time, given the nature and powers of the
priests before they took control of the government, eventually
supplanting the royal line, becoming the unquestioned rulers of
Khel.
Under the hereditary kings of Khel scientific development had
proceeded at pace. Under the priest kings, it came to an absolute
halt. They saw how FTL travel would bring Khel in contact with
other cultures, and could lead to a loss of power on their part.
In addition, the hereditary kings ruled by standard mechanisms of
government: Military might, manipulation of the various loci of
power, chains of loyalty, and suchlike. The priest kings ruled
through the corrupt might of the Dark Side. Those in power that
even thought about rebellion found themselves stricken mad, their
consciousness blasted by an acolyte observer in the service of the
Priest King.
After they gained complete control of the now perfectly static
Ammeite society, the Priests continued their research and
experimentation in the powers of the force. For thirty thousand
years the Priest Kings ruled Khel with an iron fist, developing
powers that have never been seen in the galaxy again; forms of
mass hypnosis, manipulation of thought processes on a permanent
level, improved focus of visions of the future, and finally,
transfer of spiritual essences.
This last area proved the end of the Ammeites. The Priest
Kings discovered a method of sustaining life beyond death. When a
priest king died, their souls were kept in their bodies through
sustained sacrifice of young Ammeites. The dead continued to
increase in number, soon outnumbering the living priests,
maintaining their intellects, despite certain physical decay. At
this point they decided that they had no need of the living
priests. Several thousand former Priest Kings of Khel stood
against the living remnant. The disturbance in the force that this
conflict created still echoes in the very stones of the worlds of
Khel.
The dead triumphed, but their rule was a short one. The
number of Ammietes that survived the conflict was not great enough
to sustain all of the undead Priest Kings, and none would give up
life in favor of the others. Another battle would be pointless, as
the corollary damage to civilians would finish their society even
faster. Any attempt at some sort of formal combat was doomed to
failure due to their self acknowledged lack of control over their
emotions.
The Priest Kings of Khel entered their final age. Their
massive work of prophecy, the Seeings of Future Days was completed.
The Book of Ways, a compilation of the hundreds of unique powers
and rituals that the Priests had developed was finally set down in
written form, and numerous other books of secret knowledge and
philosophy were written. The end for the Priest Kings came shortly
after the last living Ammeite was sacrifices for a conclave of the
undead Priest Kings. They lost their long held grasp on the
universe soon after that, perishing utterly, though there are
rumors and legends about surviving Priest Kings. The worlds of
Khel were discovered by Old Republic scouts at least a million
years after they had been scoured of life.
Archaeologists pieced together the story of the Priest Kings
of Khel to a remarkable extend, due to both to the skill of the
scientists involved, the methodical nature of the Ammeites, and the
compulsive record taking of the Priest Kings, especially in their
last age. The various works of the Priest Kings survived without
any missing pages. Apparently, they used their future seeing
abilities to determine locations were the books would both survive
and be found.
These works, despite the knowledge they contain were not
studied by Jedi more than cursorily. The traps contained in them
are too deadly, and they can corrupt even the most knowledgeable
Jedi Master. There was even a move to suppress these works on the
general market, but the impenetrable style of these works made that
a moot point. They are so boring that only a serious student would
be interested in them, and students of that sort would find a
suppressed text to be of even greater interest.
The Seeing of Future Days is particularly disturbing, for
while it isn't entirely accurate, it does predict any number of
events that have come at least partially true. It is these partial
truths that can lead many astray, causing them to see truths into
those sections of the work that were not supported at all by
events. Faith in these prophecies leads directly to faith in the
vision of the Dark Side, and descent from the light is inevitable
after that point is reached.
The primary lesson that can be learned from this group is
simple, really. The early priests of Khel were not evil. In fact,
they had as high motives as the early jedi, and could very well
have become as powerful a force for good as our august order. The
Dark Side is infinitely seductive, and can lead even those with the
best intentions astray. You must watch yourselves, for those few
of us that are left simply don't know enough about what to look for
to properly monitor you. And yet, you have our traditions, you
know what is the light and what is the dark. Choose Light, and may
the force be with you all.