Power isn't a goal though, it's a means to an end. The Sith tempt people by offering them power as a means to get whatever it is they want. Validation, safety, revenge, whatever the individual wants most. Kriea had lost her position in the Order, but she had gained a chance at happiness. What could have happened in her to cause her to give up on family and develop and obsession with destroying the Force so it could no longer manipulate events?
What did being at Malichor do to her? The others who were present and survived were broken by it. Did it break her somehow? Yusanis may have abandoned Brianna because of the shame of his infidelity, but why would her mother leave her too?
Kriea was never the raving lunatic type of Sith, though. Why give up love and family for power? What would have been such a strong motivation at that time?
If I remember correctly, Arren Kae's lover was General Yusanis*, who was slain by Darth Revan in order to destabilize the Echani. And during the chaos and tumult of war, with planets being bombed and populations slaughtered, who knows what happened to little Brianna?
*You can buy his double-bladed vibroblade from a merchant in KOTOR 1. Great weapon. My lady Revan used it right up until the end of the game, scorning a lightsaber.
So, it's possible that Arren Kae was left alone, bereft of love and family, having been thrown out of the Jedi order as well. Maybe she came to believe that the Force had done this to her, robbed her of everything good in her life for the sake of some nebulous master plan. Maybe she felt betrayed. Maybe she fell. Became Darth Traya, who would betray others as she too had been betrayed.
And later on, when Kreia encountered the Handmaiden Brianna and realised that her daughter wasn't dead after all... by then, she probably didn't care anymore. That's what the Dark Side does to you, I'm afraid.
If I remember correctly, Arren Kae's lover was General Yusanis*, who was slain by Darth Revan in order to destabilize the Echani. And during the chaos and tumult of war, with planets being bombed and populations slaughtered, who knows what happened to little Brianna?
*You can buy his double-bladed vibroblade from a merchant in KOTOR 1. Great weapon. My lady Revan used it right up until the end of the game, scorning a lightsaber.
So, it's possible that Arren Kae was left alone, bereft of love and family, having been thrown out of the Jedi order as well. Maybe she came to believe that the Force had done this to her, robbed her of everything good in her life for the sake of some nebulous master plan. Maybe she felt betrayed. Maybe she fell. Became Darth Traya, who would betray others as she too had been betrayed.
And later on, when Kreia encountered the Handmaiden Brianna and realised that her daughter wasn't dead after all... well, by then, she probably didn't care anymore.
If there was anything inside of her capable of caring for others by the end, I think Kreia showed it one last time to the Disciple/Handmaiden by telling them not to make her same mistake-- not to throw away their lives so pointlessly. Not to continue hero-worshiping, or blindly wasting their life in mindless service to an institution that would chew them up and spit them out.
Kriea was never the raving lunatic type of Sith, though. Why give up love and family for power? What would have been such a strong motivation at that time?
I disagree her entire plan to attempt to kill the Force however unlikely it was to work was itself insane. The truth is Kreia was just as insane as any other Sith just better at hiding it.
I disagree her entire plan to attempt to kill the Force however unlikely it was to work was itself insane. The truth is Kreia was just as insane as any other Sith just better at hiding it.
I disagree her entire plan to attempt to kill the Force however unlikely it was to work was itself insane. The truth is Kreia was just as insane as any other Sith just better at hiding it.
One of my favourite minor subplots in KOTOR has to do with Yuthura Ban, a teacher in the Sith Academy on Korriban. If you inquire into her past, she remembers that she was a slave who killed her master and escaped. Because she was strong in the force, the Jedi decided to train her. However, she was unable to forget the horrors of her past and was determined to rescue her fellow slaves. She came to despise the Jedi order for sitting idly by while across the galaxy billions of people were enslaved. Eventually, she fell to the Dark Side, believing that it would give her the strength to fight injustice and slavery. But then when she'd got the power she wanted, she didn't do anything with it. She joined the Sith, became cruel and selfish, helping to spread more misery and horror. The Dark Side clouded her mind and made her forget the reasons why she wanted to be powerful in the first place.
But if you pick the right dialogue options, you can redeem her, bring her back to the light, and give her a second chance to do the right thing. (Which is why I tend to visit Korriban last out of all the Star Map locations, so that she won't die when the Sith attack Dantooine.)
If there was anything inside of her capable of caring for others by the end, I think Kreia showed it one last time to the Disciple/Handmaiden by telling them not to make her same mistake-- not to throw away their lives so pointlessly. Not to continue hero-worshiping, or blindly wasting their life in mindless service to an institution that would chew them up and spit them out.
It might be cut content-- but when the party is on Malachor and they attack her, after she beats the Handmaiden/Disciple she launches into a little spiel.
Councilor Brianna jolted in her chair as the door to her quarters chimed. Turning away from the terminal she'd been staring at to the door, she hurriedly dabbed both eyes with her sleeve. "Enter!"
Bastila opened the door and stepped inside, softly closing it behind her. She offered Brianna a gentle smile and a concerned look.
"Was there something I can help you with?" Brianna asked.
Bastila shook her head. "Brianna, I could sense your feelings halfway across the compound. I'm here in case you need a friend."
Brianna let slip a slightly shuddering sigh. "Thanks. I just...family is hard."
Bastila nodded and took a seat. "It is."
Brianna looked at the floor. "Are...do you ever worry that something awful will happen to your son, and you'll lose yourself? I keep thinking about what happened to my mother, how the old Order would use it as an example of why we shouldn't make connections with others."
A flash of sorrow crossed Bastila's face, and she nodded as she spoke quietly. "I have given the matter much thought. It was very difficult when Revan left. The pain is there still. It is difficult to imagine the pain I would feel if I lost my son as well."
Brianna looked up in surprise. "Do you think the old Order was right?"
Bastila shook her head firmly. "No. It is difficult to imagine the pain of such a loss, but instead of turning away from it I've made myself try. I believe the key to not losing oneself in grief is to find acceptance. To accept and treasure the bonds we make with others for however long they last, and then to let them go with our blessing when their time is over. To see this as the way of the Force. Of life."
Brianna did not respond to that for a long moment. Instead she looked over at the terminal screen she'd been staring at; the Archive file on her mother.
"I think your mother became Darth Treya because she couldn't find that acceptance. She found anger in her grief and wanted to lash out at that which she felt was ultimately responsible. The Force itself."
"Emotion, yet peace," Brianna said, returning her gaze to Bastila. "Passion, yet serenity."
Bastila nodded. "It is right there in the Code. We may feel without losing ourselves. We can love, and accept loss as a price gladly paid for it. We can know grief, and find acceptance. Perhaps it is safer to cut ourselves off from feeling, but that is not truly living. And by denying life, I think we would deny the full beauty and scope of the Force as well. We must live, and prepare as best we can for grief, and when it comes allow those who care for us still to be our comfort and strength. The old Order was at its best when we treated one another as one great family. There is room for family large and small in the Order and in the Code. There always was. I have come to believe we should embrace our connections with others, and grow as people and as Jedi for it. To find the Light in the full scope of life's positive experiences instead of hiding from them all because we fear endings. Prepared and supporting one another, we shall not falter."
Brianna found herself offering a small smile. "The doctrine of Bastila Shan, Jedi Master."
Bastila laughed. "Perhaps."
Brianna looked up and let her thoughts drift, thinking of the future. "You might be on to something."
Bastila quirked an eyebrow. "Oh?"
Brianna lowered her gaze again. "The Council hasn't really discussed what we should be teaching the students about attachment. We've been reconsidering other doctrines of the old Order, and with the wave of new recruits coming from Jedi who had families despite the old doctrine, now might be the best time."
Brianna stood. "Will you come with me to speak with Bao-Dur?"
Bastila's smile was genuine as she stood. "Of course."
Pity we didn't get Zayne and crew out of this since it was an opportunity, but Voik's not read the kotor comic so sadly probably inevitable. I shall just have to imagine Bastilla and Jarael talking about Malak very awkwardly.
Councilor Brianna jolted in her chair as the door to her quarters chimed. Turning away from the terminal she'd been staring at to the door, she hurriedly dabbed both eyes with her sleeve. "Enter!"
Bastila opened the door and stepped inside, softly closing it behind her. She offered Brianna a gentle smile and a concerned look.
"Was there something I can help you with?" Brianna asked.
Bastila shook her head. "Brianna, I could sense your feelings halfway across the compound. I'm here in case you need a friend."
Brianna let slip a slightly shuddering sigh. "Thanks. I just...family is hard."
Bastila nodded and took a seat. "It is."
Brianna looked at the floor. "Are...do you ever worry that something awful will happen to your son, and you'll lose yourself? I keep thinking about what happened to my mother, how the old Order would use it as an example of why we shouldn't make connections with others."
"I have given the matter much thought. It was very difficult when Revan left. The pain is there still. It is difficult to imagine the pain I would feel if I lost my son as well."
Brianna looked up in surprise. "Do you think the old Order was right?"
Bastila shook her head. "No. It is difficult to imagine the pain of such a loss, but instead of turning away from it I've made myself try. I believe the key to not losing oneself in grief is to find acceptance. To accept and treasure the bonds we make with others for however long they last, and then to let them go with our blessing when their time is over. To see this as the way of the Force. Of life."
Brianna did not respond to that for a long moment. Instead she looked over at the terminal screen she'd been staring at; the Archive file on her mother.
"I think your mother became Darth Treya because she couldn't find that acceptance. She found anger in her grief and wanted to lash out at that which she felt was ultimately responsible. The Force itself."
"Emotion, yet peace," Brianna said, returning her gaze to Bastila. "Passion, yet serenity."
Bastila nodded. "It is right there in the Code. We may feel without losing ourselves. We can love, and accept loss as a price gladly paid for it. We can know grief, and find acceptance. Perhaps it is safer to cut ourselves off from feeling, but that is not truly living. And by denying life, I think we would deny the full beauty and scope of the Force as well. We must live, and prepare as best we can for grief, and when it comes allow those who care for us still to be our comfort and strength. The old Order was at its best when we treated one another as one great family. There is room for family large and small in the Order and in the Code. There always was. I have come to believe we should embrace our connections with others, and grow as people and as Jedi for it. To find the Light in the full scope of life's positive experiences instead of hiding from them all because we fear endings. Prepared and supporting one another, we shall not falter."
Brianna found herself offering a small smile. "The doctrine of Bastila Shan, Jedi Master."
Bastila laughed. "Perhaps."
Brianna looked up and let her thoughts drift, thinking of the future. "You might be on to something."
Bastila quirked an eyebrow. "Oh?"
Brianna lowered her gaze again. "The Council hasn't really discussed what we should be teaching the students about attachment. We've been reconsidering other doctrines of the old Order, and with the wave of new recruits coming from Jedi who had families despite the old doctrine, now might be the best time."
Brianna stood. "Will you come with me to speak with Bao-Dur?"
Bastila's smile was genuine as she stood. "Of course."
- Request Republic Guard in Dantooine Praxeum (40 PP)
- Introduce a new Battlemaster, to coordinate with the Republic Army and Navy in case of War (40 PP)
- Ask the Dantooine Planetary Museum to return the Jedi Artifacts they purchased from Salvagers (150 PP)
- Deploy Jedi Liaison to University of Alderaan (20 PP)
- Deploy Jedi Liaison to University of Coruscant (20 PP)
- Deploy Jedi Liaison to Corellia University (20 PP)
- Send a Jedi with a Republic archeological expedition(15 PP)
- Destroy the Sith Holocrons, now, as the Republic requests you do (+30 PP)
--
-Request Republic Guard in Dantooine Praxeum (40 PP)
Hitherto, the non-Jedi defense of your Praxeum has consisted of the Khoonda Militia-- which was fine when the largest threat was a Kath hound or Laigrek getting into the academy. Now, though, you are concerned that Czerka might find something a bit meatier to throw your way.
The Reublic sends a full Batallion in response, reinforcing both Khoonda and the Praxeum itself. The 515st is a new unit, but it has all the bells and whistles you'd expect of Republic Military Units.
You hope they won't be needed anytime soon, though.
--
-Ask the Dantooine Planetary Museum to return the Jedi Artifacts they purchased from Salvagers (150 PP)
Getting to leer at your graves has, essentially, been how the government of Dantooine has paid for itself-- and it is not happy to give up those artifacts, at all. They want the creds.
But not as much as you want the desecration of the dead to stop.
And so it flows back to you, carried and protected in a convoy of modified, heavily armed transports, protected by you and the entire Order.
And you must admit, it is a find.
Firstly, of course, there are generic artifacts ripped from people's quarters. Journals, gear, lightsaber parts-- you name it, you found it. What looks like a third of a set of coordinates was in there too, to go with the ones you found earlier. And of course, there are a number of holocrons as well, from Jedi you did not even know created Holocrons. Master Sunrider, Master Oodan-Ur, and Master Vodo-Siosk Baas all left behind holocrons, which were located in the Enclave and which the Scavengers ripped from their homes.
(+70 Knowledge, Holocrons of Oodan Ur, Nomi Sunrider, and Vodo-Siosk Baas Recovered, ??? increased from 1/3->2/3)
However, there are things you recognize not as artifacts but as future designs.
Firstly, the Jedi Council tossed about making Telos even more of a fallback location-- most of it is pretty worthless, but one of the designs you can use is...well, you'll call it the Forge. Essentially, it would channel the Force even more potently through Initiates as they craft their lightsaber, allowing them to make better lightsabers-- and, you suppose, other weapons. Even just knowing how to create such a thing will make expanding the Academy into a proper Fortress clearer. (+20 Telos)
And then, of course, there are the plans of Dantooine.
The Council has kicked around expanding Dantooine into a full temple since Vodo-Siosk Baas first created it and began training students. It will not be a carbon copy of the Temple on Coruscant, however. Instead, they have several different plans to be looked over and considered-- though most were originally designed at least twenty years ago, they would serve as a fine base for your final design, even if there are improvements you can make. (+20 Dantooine)
--
- Deploy Jedi Liaison to University of Alderaan (20 PP)
- Deploy Jedi Liaison to University of Coruscant (20 PP)
- Deploy Jedi Liaison to Corellia University (20 PP)
You send Initiates to the universities which have plundered your tombs, seeking to reclaim that which is yours. There are artifacts, holocrons, lightsabers being paraded about like...like common museum trinkets!
The universities are loath to lose them, any of them, but you manage to come to a deal which allows the Initiate you send to record and copy as much of the data as possible. Master Mical also manages to convince their administrations to part with a few Holocrons, though he can't quite pull off Brianna's strategy of "threaten them obliquely to give you back what is yours you damn graverobbers."
(+6 Knowledge per turn from studied artifacts, gain Holocron of the Unknown Jedi, Holocron of Sar Agorn)
--
-Send a Jedi with a Republic archeological expedition(15 PP)
There is an expedition planned to head to some of the Rakatan ruins on Dantooine-- the Republic never did get to see it as deeply as it wanted, nor, for that matter, did the Jedi.
Zono Varr, one of the new Initiates, helps the Republic team pierce through the defenses of the Rakatan facility. He finds a number of artifacts-- an ancient Force saber hilt among them-- which should help the Order grow, though an annoying number are claimed by the Republic, and much of the rest holds the taint of the Dark Side, and can mostly function as a road map in what not to do.
(+5 Knowledge, Zono gains extra experience)
--
- Destroy the Sith Holocrons, now, as the Republic requests you do (+30 PP) [/Spoiler]
The Justice exits in the Maravara System, an old fortress of the Pius Dea.
The plan is simple enough. You have loaded every single one of the Sith Holocrons you found in Atris' study into an escape pod, and you're going to shoot them into a star. Anything not instantly destroyed should still be impossibly hard for all but the most dedicated Sith to recover.
Mical has not managed to discover the creator of every one of these cursed artifacts, but you know at least one of them is the Holocron of Freedon Nadd-- you were there on Dxun, you stood in his tomb, you know what it feels like.
And it is among them. The feeling you get around it-- if you could taste the color of fire, that would be about it.
Suffice to say, you will be happy to see it destroyed.
But then, that's part of the problem. While the vast majority of Sith Holocrons will be destroyed by a star, some may not be-- and the dark energies released by the destruction of such Sith workings will protect them from your vision.
As planned, the escape pod shunts away. You turn your senses on the star, and watch as, in moments, it plunges into the stars outer layer. It burns, and its evil payload-- the vast majority, certainly-- is instantly destroyed.
It feels like a storm made matter is released in a nanoangstrom of a second, but not the furious call of the dead-- just ancient evil, released. It feels like you'd imagine dipping yourself in sewage would, if your entire body was an open cut-- like something entirely unholy is seeping in. As you feared, you can no more tell if any certain Holocron was destroyed.
Then it is as if your world turns white.
You see-- you see the sands of Korriban, which you have strode as a conqueror. You see the stalk-eyed invaders driven from your lands, but only after you rip the knowledge from their minds. You feel power, you--
You wake on the floor, being shook by one of the soldiers. "Are you alright, Master Jedi?"
"We need to go, now!"
They heed your wisdom and they flee, leaving behind the star-- and whatever else may be there.
--
-Introduce a new Battlemaster, to coordinate with the Republic Army and Navy in case of War (40 PP)
Any member of the Council could serve as the new Battlemaster, except for you or Mical, but there are three in particular that come to mind as options.
[] Bastila: Trained-- and well-- in the ancient art of Battle Meditation, Bastila saved the Republic from almost certain defeat time after time in the Jedi Civil War-- and the common soldiers have not forgotten that. (Reduction in PP Cost for Strategy Coordination options)
[] Brianna: A well-trained warrior, she could pass along Echani philosophy and weapon's training to her students-- though you expect only a very particular group could make best use of it. (Bonus to Jedi Guardian/Jedi Weaponmaster Experience gain)
[] Atton Rand: Having fought as a Sith-- if a Revanite Sith-- he can help teach common soldiers how to battle them, and what strategy their foot soldiers would wield. (Bonus to anti-Sith, anti-Force Order actions)
--
[X] Brianna: A well-trained warrior, she could pass along Echani philosophy and weapon's training to her students-- though you expect only a very particular group could make best use of it. (Bonus to Jedi Guardian/Jedi Weaponmaster Experience gain)
[X] Brianna: A well-trained warrior, she could pass along Echani philosophy and weapon's training to her students-- though you expect only a very particular group could make best use of it. (Bonus to Jedi Guardian/Jedi Weaponmaster Experience gain)
[X] Atton Rand: Having fought as a Sith-- if a Revanite Sith-- he can help teach common soldiers how to battle them, and what strategy their foot soldiers would wield. (Bonus to anti-Sith, anti-Force Order actions)
We know they're out there. It's just a matter of time.
[X] Atton Rand: Having fought as a Sith-- if a Revanite Sith-- he can help teach common soldiers how to battle them, and what strategy their foot soldiers would wield. (Bonus to anti-Sith, anti-Force Order actions)
Just because I am concerned regarding the vision we just had.
[x] Bastila: Trained-- and well-- in the ancient art of Battle Meditation, Bastila saved the Republic from almost certain defeat time after time in the Jedi Civil War-- and the common soldiers have not forgotten that. (Reduction in PP Cost for Strategy Coordination options)
To help make clear what does what, I was thinking of giving the non-general facilities their own sort of progression. Like, for Guardian centers it would go something like:
Enclave->Praxeum-> Fortress
For Consulars:
Enclave->Praxeum->Chapter House
and for Sentinels:
Enclave->Praxeum->Hideout/Outpost?
[X] Atton Rand: Having fought as a Sith-- if a Revanite Sith-- he can help teach common soldiers how to battle them, and what strategy their foot soldiers would wield. (Bonus to anti-Sith, anti-Force Order actions)
[X] Atton Rand: Having fought as a Sith-- if a Revanite Sith-- he can help teach common soldiers how to battle them, and what strategy their foot soldiers would wield. (Bonus to anti-Sith, anti-Force Order actions)
Anti-Sith is a major plus and our Jedi will need a fighting chance against any future threats. So definitely Atton for me.
