The Priest Kings of Khel.

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.
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