Artekk Explained: Tython, Shadows, and the Order of Origins

The Artekk Continuum is an AU that takes Canon and Legends concepts, and builds upon them, exploring alternate reasonings, pathways, and purposes for items, groups, and locations. While some elements will not always resonate with Canon or even EU lore, the Artekk Continuum attempts to combine the two in a way that works effectively.

#SeerofSpace

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Tʏᴛʜᴏɴ

Jᴇᴅɪ Sʜᴀᴅᴏᴡs

ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ

Oʀᴅᴇʀ ᴏғ Oʀɪɢɪɴs

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᯽ Origins ᯽

During the Great Hyperspace War, an elite collection of Jedi were gathered to seek out and destroy dark side artifacts, in an attempt to prevent the Sith from gaining more power and rising to prominence. They were considered the best of the best, the most skilled Jedi who flirted with the Dark Side in an attempt to gain a greater understanding of their enemy. While the Jedi generally frowned upon any use of the dark side of the Force, this collection held a minor exemption as it was perceived to give them an advantage over their opposition.

During the Great Sith Wars, however, this group dissolved into obscurity, reforming as the Jedi Covenant. When a near-total erasure of the group occurred during the Mandalorian Wars, however, they reorganised and relocated themselves, separating themselves from the Jedi Order and operating outside of their bounds. From this position, many of them were able to track down and eliminate potential threats to the peace of the Galaxy and the Republic, without needing to answer to the numerous demands of life as a fully-fledged Jedi Master.

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AnthonyFoti on DeviantArt

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᯽ Jedi Shadows ᯽

The rank of a Jedi Shadow fell somewhere between that of a Knight and a Master. They were not expected to train a Padawan in order to attain the rank of Master, but instead go through another series of trials altogether, often more strenuous and gruelling than their initial Knighthood Trials. Jedi Shadows were expected to be more resistant to the pull of the dark side, as their work often required them to get close to the dark side's corrupting influence. For this reason, most Shadows were considerably stronger in their attunement to the Living Force.

Jedi Shadows could advance further, becoming Shadow Masters, which was considered equivalent to the rank of a Jedi Master. A Shadow's progression, however, was not based around certain trials and skill assessment, but rather on how incorrigible they were. They would be severed from their connection to the Light, and would have to undertake the dangerous journey to the Kwa Infinity Gate on Tython. This journey was often undertaken alone, and once there they would face apparitions of pure Darkness. For a Shadow, the result of this trial was either Mastery, or death - and thus, although many Shadows would exist in later centuries, few would attain the rank of Shadow Master.

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calthyechild on DeviantArt

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Jedi Shadows and Shadow Masters were the main warriors sent out to track down and eliminate Darksiders and Dark side artifacts, and the settlements on Tython held vast collections of information on these items, as well as some of the artifacts themselves. As they would often find themselves coming up against Fallen Jedi and even the occasional would-be Sith, they needed to have mastery of combat skills as well as their strong connection to the Living Force - though sometimes, exceptions were made in favour of a particularly skilled duelist or an exceptionally attuned Jedi.

᯽ Tython ᯽

After the victory of Darth Bane and Darth Zannah, the Jedi realised that, if they were to reclaim Tython, they would need to establish permanent settlements. With the powerful Force storms and groundquakes in mind, the High Council appealed to only those Jedi Knights and Masters who focused on mastery of the Living Force, to volunteer themselves to reclaiming the planet. Within a decade, two small settlements were established close to the remnants of older Je'daii temples, with more to follow in later years.

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Mhellkior on DeviantArt

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Over the following two centuries, however, due to the unbalanced nature of the world, these calls for volunteers turned to exclusive invitations only to those who demonstrated a keen skill as a youngling and padawan, and followed the path of Consulars or Sentinels. As many Jedi who lacked the skills to successfully navigate the difficult Deep Core were often lost attempting to the Tythonian Jedi, the High Council decided that it would be best if the Tython-based group were kept secret from many in the central Order, information that was only shared to Jedi Masters who were on the Council. Within another century, the Tython Jedi had become little more than a rumour ed between younglings, almost mythical in the retellings of their existence.

Tython itself was a dangerous place to reside, with fierce rains and deadly storms of Force lightning that could kill those caught in the weather. Giant beasts often rampaged wildly in some of the more dangerous areas, creatures such as the Saarl or the Hook Hawk that required an intuitive level of teamwork to defeat. As time ed, hunting these beasts became a past time for Tythonians, often incorporating combat training into such ventures. This was one of the other reasons Tython became limited in access to outsiders - an unwary traveller might land, only for a storm to destroy their ship or systems, or a wild creature to attack before they were even able to make .

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Quarter-virus on DeviantArt

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As the Tython Jedi continued to study the Force and seek answers as to why the planet remained unbalanced, despite the best efforts of their most powerful, they came to realise that background radiation-like energy from the Kwa Infinity Gate had seeped through the ruins of the device, and the balance of the Force echoed through this. The storms on Tython did not represent the imbalance of the planet, but rather the imbalance of the galaxy. Recognising that this imbalance likely came about due to the large number of dark side artifacts and Jedi that had turned from their path of Light, the Tython Jedi began to leave their world, travelling far and wide to seek out and destroy any item or person that ed the Dark side's energy.

᯽ Forming the Council ᯽

At first, they encountered obstacles and difficulties in their chosen task. Destroying many of these ancient artifacts was not as simple as destroying the vessel - sometimes these objects would possess their would-be destroyers, sometimes destruction would unleash their awful powers. The Tython Jedi began to study the nature of these artifacts, rather than destroying them, and through study they began to understand more of the Force - as well as more about the histories of the Jedi and Sith. Within three centuries of re-establishing settlements on Tython, the Order of Origins was formed, seceding in part from the Jedi Order, who resented the separation but recognised it was necessary in order to prevent those lacking experience from trying to follow a path they were not skilled enough for.

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DarthTemoc on DeviantArt

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The study of these artifacts often became something of an art, with some Shadow Masters devoting their entire career to understanding the Dark side without using it. Those artifacts that could not be destroyed were instead locked away in vaults deep beneath the planet's surface, while safer copies of them were made to be kept in the vast libraries of the planet. Many of the archives held within these libraries were not accessible anywhere else, and were certainly kept independent of the Jedi Archives, as they often contained information regarding ancient Sith Rituals and techniques - knowledge that had been all but lost to the rest of the Galaxy, and should remain that way.

Presiding over the Order of Origins, the Council of First Knowledge became the leaders of Tython, and the Jedi Shadows dedicated themselves to the Order of Origins. In order to maintain a presence on Coruscant, the Council of First Knowledge formed a subsect that operated similarly to the other two Jedi Councils - Reconciliation and Reassignment - but this appearance was only a mask, and a seat from which they could assess and determine which younglings and padawans would be most suitable to be offered relocation to Tython after attaining Knighthood. Often, recruited Shadows were sworn to secrecy about the true nature of their work, and while most Masters knew of the Order of Origin's existence, Knights and lower were kept mainly in the dark. Relocated Jedi would often avoid questions from former peers by claiming they worked on long-term assignments that required them to spend significant time away from the temple.

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auravaz on DeviantArt

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᯽ The Clone Wars and The Jedi Purge ᯽

During the Clone Wars, the Order of Origins encountered more and more troubling evidence that the hidden Sith Lord was present in the Senate. They identified Anakin Skywalker's attachment to Pe Amidala during one of their surveillance operations, but chose not to report this transgression to the Grand Council. They did, however, list key of the Senate who could be this unknown Sith, warning the Grand Council. Their warnings, however, fell on deaf ears, as the Council was typically busy with the war efforts. Several Shadows and Shadow Masters with the gift of Foresight experienced disturbing visions of the fall of the Jedi Order, but their reports and claims went ignored by the Grand Council as well.

In a final, desperate attempt to protect everything they had achieved, the Tythonians cut themselves off from the rest of the Jedi entirely, eviscerating all mention of their existence in the final months before the predicted purge. Their archives were sealed into the vaults deep beneath the surface of Tython, and the access routes to them were removed, with any trace of them being destroyed. Once certain their work would be preserved, the Order of Origins returned to business as usual, while the Masters waited for the inevitable.

Though the Order of Origins survived several months into the Purge, offering one final form of resistance against the encroaching Empire, most were eventually felled. Those who did survive fled, shedding their old identities and Jedi ways in order to maintain anonymity. Many of them disappeared into the Unknown Regions, where other civilisations and planets welcomed them, while others permanently severed their connection to the Force in order to live out a "normal" life. Considering the life of a Shadow was always based in secrecy, disappearing was an easy task for these survivors - and with their network of s and connections established during their careers, even Darth Sidious would be unable to find all of them.

Through these survivors, knowledge of Tython's deep vaults full of important knowledge, and the legacy of the Jedi Shadows would continue, even long centuries after their downfall.

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ZOOLAX on DeviantArt

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