Essential Atlas Extra: The Knight Errant Gazetter

This exclusive article serves as a companion to the Star Wars: Knight Errant comic series, now available from Dark Horse Comics. It serves to introduce the setting and history for comics readers and readers of the forthcoming novel, due out in January from Del Rey Books. See more supplements to Star Wars: The Essential Atlas.

To: Chancellor Genarra, Jedi Master
From: Vannar Treece, Jedi Master
Re: Operation Influx

Your Grace,

This cartographical survey and field report serves as a supplement to the informational material already filed regarding Operation Influx, soon to commence. As you know, I have already assembled a number of Jedi volunteers for this latest mission. And while my efforts are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Jedi Council or the Republic, I intend now, as in all the past occasions, to keep both bodies fully apprised. We do all serve the same goal: preventing the warring Sith Lords on the Outer Rim from advancing on the Republic.

The purpose of Operation Influx is simple: the interdiction of baradium production by the Sith Lord Daiman. Recent intelligence from a high-quality source in the Grumani sector indicates Daiman has discovered on Chelloa what would be considered, for Sith space, the mother lode of baradium, a compound used in a wide variety of explosive devices. With the mines on that world deep within the Daimanate now ready to begin shipping to Daiman's war forges nearer the front lines, we propose to take a portion of Chelloan production offline before it alters the balance of power in the region. Should Daiman exploit Chelloa's riches to its full potential, his stalemated war with his brother, Odion, could well end in a Daimanite victory. A decisive advantage to any Sith Lord in the region holds peril for the Republic, ultimately.

Operation Influx involves three stages:

• insertion into Sith space, arriving at Oranessan, a Daimanite transport center;
• the raid on Chelloa, itself; and
• extraction via a direct hyperspace lane to neutral space.

My young aide, Kerra Holt, has already described the tactical portions of these stages in detail to the Defense Ministry. A copy of the briefing has been forwarded to Your Grace. The material that follows is familiar information, in large measure: a basic overview of the territory and its history, so far as it is known, followed by reports on a selection of other notable systems in the region. We certainly do not expect to visit any locations beyond Oranessan and Chelloa; navigation between most of these worlds is highly difficult, even where connecting hyperspace lanes exist. But since the deactivation of the subspace relays in the area by the Republic as a defensive measure long ago, very little is known about what powers hold sway in the sector. Knowledge of key locations is an important part of being prepared.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The dire conditions facing the Republic today require little amplification on my part. It is difficult to recall another time in history when so many factors have gone against those working to promote peace and good will.

There is little need, for example, to describe our long years of war with the newly risen Sith Lords on the Outer Rim. The Grumani sector is one such nest of evil, but today's map of the galaxy shows many disparate areas under Sith control, like cancerous lesions. Alongside the Republic Navy, the Jedi Order sought to stem the tide by making stands on world after world, Republic-affiliated or not.

But such efforts fell short, partially due to another factor: plague. If the Sith threat is the fire, the Candorian Plague proved a deadly and effective accelerant. Even the noblest defenders cannot stand long when their own bodies fail them. Systems under quarantine could not be defended -- and Sith Lords more interested in conquest than the well-beings of their own warriors took advantage. World after world fell to the Sith conquerors.

Exceptional times call for exceptional measures. One such measure came when the Republic turned to Jedi for political leadership. Jedi Chancellors such as Your Grace have served to guide both the Republic and Order through many a storm.

Another such measure was more extreme. controversial, and, sadly, probably necessary. Drawing a security cordon around the Core, the Colonies, and part of the Inner Rim, the Republic deactivated the hyperspace relays beyond. Both navigational and message relays were affected. Instantaneous communication with most of the Outer Rim ceased -- as did communication between those Rimworlds. No longer would the Sith Lords be able to easily exploit the existing Republic systems to speed their own conquests; hyperspace couriers came back into use across much of the galaxy.

Perhaps more importantly, the action robbed the Sith of access to the constantly updated Republic database of hyperspace lanes. Many smaller vessels depend on hyperspace buoys to provide information as to their own location and other destinations; now, in many cases, Sith fliers are limited to the coordinates they bring with them. Scouting missions have revealed that some Sith Lords have constructed their own rudimentary hyperspace relay networks (in some cases, reverse-engineering or reactivating our own buoys), but thankfully, that has been a limited phenomenon. Most Sith genuinely do not know what lies beyond the stellar horizon -- and that has greatly added to the protection of the Republic. Our "firewall" is one of void and interstellar dust, using the vast distances between stars to slow the Sith spread.

The Republic has thus managed to preserve a good deal of what our civilization has accomplished. The same, sadly, cannot be said for the locations outside the cordon, where great libraries and storehouses of ancient wisdom have been taken by Sith invaders, destroyed, or both. Technological advancement has, in large measure, stagnated in areas under Sith control. There is little commercial incentive for innovation; some Sith areas have no units of exchange at all, with all manufacturing done by slave labor or droids.

There are corporations that continue to function under Sith rule; as will be seen, some Sith Lords permit firms to continue functioning in their space, provided they reap the rewards. The Republic has strongly encouraged all corporations with operations in Sith territory to withdraw behind the cordon, not just for the safety of their employees, but so that current Republic technology does not fall into Sith hands.

So the Republic survives, though much smaller than it had once been. (The popular term "rump Republic" is distasteful, but does describe what remains.) The Jedi spend much of their year at the frontier, with only some of their time devoted to their traditional duties of keeping order on Republic worlds. Republic military forces battle valiantly to protect the frontiers from further encroachment -- and while engagements continue, the good news, if it can be called that, is that many of our opponents seem more interested in fighting each other than invading the Republic. Prolonging this period of disunity among the Sith is one of the goals of my efforts in general, and Operation Influx in particular.

THE GRUMANI SECTOR SITH: THE STATE OF PLAY

The exact number of Sith Lords in the Grumani and surrounding sectors remains a mystery. The Sith are not an organization like the Jedi Order; all that one has to do to become a Sith Lord is take the name -- and then, presumably, survive the wrath of those who would deny anyone else that title. While history records single figures with the title Dark Lord of the Sith, such as Marka Ragnos, who could exercise control over other Sith Lords, in today's times there appears to be no such central figure.

Through the deactivation of the Republic subspace communications relays (and thus, access to our database of hyperspace coordinates), the Republic has both prevented the spread of Sith contagion -- and, paradoxically, made it easier for upstarts to claim the Sith Lord mantle. Since the Sith themselves do not always know what conditions are in neighboring regions, it is relatively easy for rivals to stake their claims. This unfortunate consequence is well known to the Republic and Jedi, and accepted as worth the price of protecting the galaxy. The Sith are better divided than united!

A complete record of known Sith Lords active in the region would be long and outside the purview of this report, but it will suffice to say that few areas have seen more leadership change than the Grumani sector. The embattled planet Verdanth has, by the best count, been under the control of 17 different self-declared Sith Lords just in the last century!

In the last generation, however, one of the most important figures is certainly Lord Chagras. While no less bloodthirsty than his rivals, Chagras used cleverness to bring huge swaths of space under his control -- and is still regarded by refugees who lived under his rule as the lesser of several evils. (This is a turn of phrase, of course; evil is evil.) As Chagras consolidated power, attacks on the Republic increased in frequency; attentions turning from internecine struggle to the true desire of all Sith, galactic domination.

But eight years ago, Chagras evidently died under circumstances that have yet to be explained. There are no mass media in Sith space, no historians of any repute to record what happened. In short order, much of the sector plunged back into chaos, with upstarts -- including some who had previously fought in Chagras' name, like Lord Odion -- seizing large tracts of Chagrasi territory to form their own domains. While the Republic is perhaps safer from threats coming from the Grumani sector now in the post-Chagras years, it cannot be denied that the suffering of the unfortunates there is unimaginable. A battlefield is no place to call home.

Several of the powers currently occupying the Grumani sector are described below. A word about terminology: many, but by no means all, of the Sith territories in the Grumani sector are described by placing the suffix -ate after the Sith Lord's name. Thus, the territory of Daiman is known as the Daimanate; Odion, the Odionate; and so on. In the case of Sith Lords whose names end with a vowel, the suffix -nate is used, such as in the case of Bactra's realm, the Bactranate.

The adjectival form of these realms is created by the use of the suffixes ite and -nite. Thus, a Daimanite vessel, a Bactranite city, etc. While the adjective alone can be used to refer to a follower of one of the Sith Lords (such as, an Odionite), the term is most properly affixed to adherents, and not subjects. Daiman's slaves are not Daimanites; they are simply unfortunates!

The Daimanate: One of the successor states to the Chagras Hegemony, the Daimanate is ruled by Lord Daiman, a relatively young human who believes himself to be the creator of the universe. With Darkknell as its capital, the Daimanate includes systems such as Alphoresis, Gazzari, Nilash, Tergamenion, and the aforementioned Chelloa. The Daimanate contains many important resource worlds and several planets devoted to the production of armaments. As the borders of the Daimanate have shifted, our scouts report an increased employment of mobile factories to keep production close to the battle lines.

Recent scouting missions have confirmed the spread of Daiman's cult of personality to many subject worlds, with statues and holographic displays advertising his deranged philosophy. Hardcore Daimanites who are trained in Sith skills are employed as "Correctors" to keep the peace in Daiman's inner systems -- and to "correct" those who differ from Daiman's strange view of the universe.

The Odionate: Another successor state carved from the former territory of Lord Chagras, the Odionate is ruled by Lord Odion, Daiman's older brother and hated enemy. Lying between the Core and the rest of the Grumani sector, the space that is now the Odionate is well known to many Jedi veterans. It is a sprawling area whose borders are largely undefined -- and it is unclear what the present capital is, or if there even is one. The latter possibility -- that Odion has several bases of operation -- squares with his method of operation; his military forces have no ranks whatsoever.

Odion practices species segregation within his realm, forcibly assigning beings to those jobs he deems their kinds to be best at. But the most notable -- and loathsome -- feature of the Odionate is Odion's death cult. Just as his brother depicts himself as the universe's creator, Odion longs to be its destroyer -- and many of Odion's warriors long for nothing more than a glorious death. Special units within Odion's force, including the Thunder Guard and Lightning Guard, have been observed to be nearly suicidal in their attacks, striking with reckless abandon.

Odion is rumored to maintain a mobile manufacturing center of his own, a modular space station known as The Spike. However, its location is unknown, as is its true size.

The Bactranate: An aged Quermian, Sith Lord Ayanos Bactra rules an expanse abutting space known to be under Daimanite control; its borders may reach the Odionate. Recent information places the capital of the Bactranate on Jutrand.

Intelligence on the Bactranate has been relatively easier to come by, given the nature of the regime. Unlike other Sith Lords who dissolve corporations and enslave their workers, Lord Bactra sees them as assets, allowing him to extend his spiny fingers into parts of Sith space he cannot militarily dominate. The Bactranate contains many resource worlds of note, including Sarrassia.

The Chagrasi Remnant: While many of systems formerly under the control of Lord Chagras have since fallen to other Sith Lords, intelligence reports suggest that a number of systems cling together, holding out against invaders. It is unclear whether the Remnant actually has a single overlord or even a functioning government. This is one of the difficulties in sifting intelligence so far removed from the source: it's possible the "Chagrasi Remnant" may simply refer to an area, and not an active Sith power.

There are, sadly, countless other areas under the sway of other Sith Lords; the aforementioned simply covers the known players in the immediate region.

SYSTEM PROFILES

Much of what is presented about the systems below is from before Sith occupation. The term used below for this knowledge, "Republic-era," does not imply past Republic membership; not all these worlds were previously affiliated. Rather, it serves as shorthand for a time when Republic citizens were able to move freely in these systems.

Alphoresis: Remembered in history books as the plagueworld, Alphoresis was the site of the infamous Breath Stealing eleven centuries ago which claimed the lives of every child under eight years of age. Since repopulated, some speculate it has succumbed to Candorian Plague under the chaotic Sith environment that is tearing apart the Grumani sector.

Aplooine: Smothered in black ash up to 300 meters deep, Aplooine possesses only a scattering of stable landing points atop weathered mountains. It lacks a breathable atmosphere but has harbored colonists since the Kymoodon Era due to its position on the Duros Space Run.

Aquilaris: Aquilaris is, sadly, well known to this writer; it was one of the last planets on which I was able to mount an active defense ten years ago, before most Republic forces withdrew. (My assistant, Kerra Holt, resided there.) An aquatic paradise with lovely equatorial beaches and polar fjords, Aquilaris was a resort world for many years; in the waning years of the Republic foothold in the Grumani sector, it provided a home to many refugees fleeing Sith outrages.

Byllura: A forested world, Byllura was once one of the more beautiful destinations in the Grumani sector. On the main continent, rivers flow down from a raised central plateau to the oceans, making for a number of amazing waterfalls. Republic engineers crafted one large river delta into a series of terraces, creating the capital city, Hestobyll.

It is unknown what condition the planet is in now. As one of the worlds of the Chagras Hegemony, it is suspected to have fallen to Lord Daiman or one of his immediate neighbors. Sith despise all that is good and beautiful; is it beyond hopeful to think they might have left Byllura's wonders intact?

Chelloa: The keystone to Operation Influx, Chelloa was well known to Republic colonists as a pleasant agrarian world. It fell to Lord Chagras late in that ruler's reign, and has since fallen under the heel of Lord Daiman. Previously not of strategic importance, recent intelligence has revealed the discovery of rich veins of baradium beneath its surface.Situated well within the Daimanate, Chelloa is reasonably protected from Odion and any of Daiman's other neighbors; any attempt to seize it would be suicide, so far from any attacker's supply lines. But with a known hyperspace lane to the Republic frontier nearby, a quick raid there could well delay its baradium operations.

The population of Chelloa is known to have decreased significantly over the years, as Chagras and Daiman have moved many of its residents to work and fight near the frontiers. Known remaining settlements on the planet include Jenith, which sits at the foot of a large mountain range; Picomith; Arboth; and the garden vale of Clains.

Cmaoli Di: With the lower Hydian now largely impassible for great stretches, proud Cmaoli Di has lost its status as the gatekeeper of the Brema sector. At last report the Council of Makers and Spinners had brokered neutrality with both Lord Daiman and Buruun the Bloodbringer, the Sullustan warlord who controls much of Brema space.

Darkknell: Once an important world in Outer Rim commerce, Darkknell is located in the Knel'char system, a triple-star formation. Knel'char I is the aging and decaying parent star; Knel'char II and III are extremely weak stars, orbiting each other as they make their distant circuit around Knel'char I.

Darkknell turns slowly, completing one rotation every thirty-two hours. Depending on latitude and season, this makes for very long days and nights; it's unknown whether the planet gets its name from such nights, but it's a good guess. A source of iridium and other strategic elements, Darkknell was home to several corporations and a sizable population including humans, Duros, Sullustans, and other species before falling to the Sith.

After the fall of the Chagras Hegemony, Lord Daiman took the planet for his capital, expending enormous resources and many lives to reshape the largest city, Xakrea, to suit his whims. According to interviews with refugees fortunate enough to escape, Daiman has constructed a large heptagonal fortress in the city known as the Sanctum Celestial.

Fiviune: A dead, silent world, Fiviune's surface is a jagged mass of tumbled rocky plates broken by spiky crags. Rumors abound that an ancient civilization once ruled Fiviune before it was destroyed under circumstances now recalled by none.

Fostin Nine: The ninth moon of ink-black Fostin is blessed with a layered atmosphere of valuable gases, each a different color and each at a different elevation. Its air is presumably still mined with scoop-ship flyers, though it is unlikely that tourists still come to view the sky paintings stirred up by its seasonal tempests.

Gallion: Gallion is one of the larger planets with a rocky surface to be found in the sector. Interestingly, the low density of the planet results in significantly lower gravity, resulting in a planet where the proportions of life are often titanic.

Gazzari: It is unclear who currently controls Gazzari; the inhospitable world is near the constantly-moving frontier between Daiman and Odion's territories -- and not far from the Bactranate. Republic surveys of Gazzari years ago found a breathable atmosphere, greatly polluted by ash from the planet's many volcanoes. Its terrain features ridges and craters, with spires formed by acid rain. Tectonically active, the planet receives a large number of meteor strikes owing to its presence in a stellar nursery. Republic industry never found its way to Gazzari; it's a planet only the Sith could love!

Greeve: A heavy-gravity farm world, Greeve's simple people have been considered the yokels of the Grumani for centuries, but have also supplied countless armies with much-needed muscle.

Heptooine: One of the oldest relics of Republic colonization in the Grumani sector, Heptooine subsisted for millennia as a frontier outpost until civilization sprang up around it. I fear that the Sith have accomplished what entropy could not, and that Heptooine has reverted to barbarism after long decades of war and famine.

Jutrand: To the best of our knowledge, the megalopolis of Jutrand is the current capital of the Bactranate. Completely rebuilt after stone mites leveled the city-planet during the Hundred Year Darkness, Jutrand boasts hundreds of corporate headquarters -- while the citizens dependent on those corporations struggle to survive on a diet of alley lichens.

Kamasto: A frigid world revolving around a forlorn orange dwarf, Kamasto housed the monasteries of the Mani before their schism, and has occasionally served as the site of ill-fated attempts at diplomacy.

Nakrikal Singularity: This black hole tugs on the fabric of hyperspace, sometimes addling the navicomputers of starships passing down the Sanrafsix Corridor. We are giving this part of the sector a wide berth; our mission will be perilous enough as it is.

Nilash: I have read the Ithor Outreach anthropological narratives from before the war; the inventiveness and spirit of the tree-dwelling Nilash natives is inspiring and their ability to form telepathic group minds is remarkable. Has Daiman preserved anything of their culture? Nilash is a known source of anthracite and Daiman would surely raze its jungles to build war factories.

Obica: Located in the western reaches of Grumani sector, Obica isn't considered particularly strategic by any of the known parties at odds in the region. But the world is noteworthy as the holy world of the Spumani, a site of annual pilgrimages and seemingly semi-annual wars. Centuries ago, access to Obica was controlled by the feared Scholastic Guardians, who would interrogate visitors to ensure they were members of the Spumani faithful. The current state of affairs on Obica is unknown.

Oranessan: Cloud-shrouded and stormy, Oranessan is the first step in our planned raid to Chelloa. Near the termini of many hyperspace routes -- including, conveniently for us, one leading on a winding path to the Republic frontier -- Oranessan is known from past scouting missions to be a busy place: a Daimanite dispatch station for support vessels departing to Daiman's frontiers. Relatively far from the Odionate, Oranessan is lightly defended.

Oranessan was originally scouted as a target for a Jedi raid itself. When news of baradium-mining operations on Chelloa was received, we reworked our existing plan to make an Oranessan operation the first stage of our attack on Chelloa.

Phaegon: A mining world long exploited for its minerals, Phaegon has been a frequent prize for warmongers. Analysts doubt the planet still holds anything of value.

Qi Lozar: A blazingly hot desert world, Qi Lozar has long been a haven for refugees, hermits and others seeking to escape inconvenient pasts. Those seeking passage to Qi Lozar must bargain with smugglers or entrust their lives to the reckless hyperspace scouts of the Grumani Hydian.

Samhar: A verdant, emerald-green forest world, Samhar has traditionally held itself aloof from the region, paying more regard to their own intrigues than to Republic Chancellors or Sith Lords. The near-human Samhari have few friends in this region, and little is known of their fate.

Sanrafsix: Fortunate, tragic Sanrafsix sits at the intersection of the Duros Space Run and the eponymous Sanrafsix Corridor. Because this hub of trade and cosmopolitan cultural exchange could not maintain quarantine during the first year of the Candorian outbreak, it ultimately isolated its groundside population to inevitable death. The orbital stations of Sanrafsix are presumably still in business, though which Sith Lord holds sway here is a matter of debate.

Sarrassia: The Sith are the enemies of life itself, yet I will allow that isolated and accidental good can sometimes result from their rule. The religious war that has devastated Sarrassia since the rule of Chancellor Am-Ris is reportedly at an end under the rule of Lord Bactra, who has kept the Grumani Hierophants in check and barred Spumani Crusaders from pursuing their typically sanguinary quests. Though Bactra cares only for the planet's deposits of Sarrassian iron, I am grateful for any circumstance that lessens bloodshed.

Syned: Lord Chagras' reach in his day extended all the way to this inhospitable world, a planet shrouded in ice. Located in a cluster of blue newborn stars, Syned was captured relatively recently, in astronomical terms, by its weak sun. As such, the planet spins rapidly, turning a complete rotation in a little less than four standard hours. A heavy molten core far beneath the surface counter-balances the planet's fast rotation to produce a standard gravity environment.

While there is a thin atmosphere, environment suits are needed to survive life on the surface. Said surface has a tortured appearance, with shattered ice sheets broken by ancient tectonic activity frozen into place. Physicists expect the planet to eventually tidally lock to its parent star, thawing the dayside.

Tanta Aurek: Tanta Aurek derives its name from the fact that it and Tanta Besh appear to be a double star in the skies of Obica, though the two systems are actually far apart. Tanta Aurek's primary world, Scelepas, was once a motley trade world dominated by merchants from Cmaoli Di, but has since descended into grinding poverty.

Tanta Besh: An uninhabited system of tumbling rock, Tanta Besh is known for its system primary, an unstable blue giant whose pulses and erratic changes in luminosity are raw material for diviners on many Grumani worlds.

Tergamenion: The darkworld of Tergamenion houses Daiman's research and production complexes that produce night-vision gear and advanced targeting systems, according to Republic Intelligence. Shutting it down would be a blow to the Daimanite, but its location is too remote.

Tramanos: This watery moon has an atmosphere high in cyanogen, explaining the presence of a Celegian colony. Yet the air is not pure cyanogen, and therefore oxygen breathers live there too with the aid of hazard masks.

Vellas Pavo: In better times, Vellas Pavo was one of a small number of planets in the area producing gadolinium, an important element used in the manufacture of superconductors. Once under the thumb of Lord Chagras, it is unknown who, if anyone, rules here now.

Ventruun: A world of canny merchants and frenzied deal-making, Ventruun is one of the few Grumani worlds where life can seem somewhat normal. But seemingly all Ventruuni intrigues lead back to Sith puppetmasters, who have made the world an arena for their contests.

Verdanth: This world has been fought over by Sith Lords so frequently that the title "Conqueror of Verdanth" seems to pass to a new tyrant every few years. Its wild jungles continue resist the colonization efforts of its transplanted refugees, but its strategic position on the Sanrafsix Corridor and near the intersection of the Grumani, Sanbra, and Bon'nyuw-Luq sectors cannot be ignored.

Whinndor: A sulfuric atmosphere and shallow seas brimming with organic molecules make Whinndor a cradle for future life. Yet its position on the border between the Daimanite and Odionite have left it a contested world, and its fragile biochemical balance may not survive the scars left by their war.

CONCLUSION

This concludes my report on Operation Influx, its zones of operation and the surrounding territories. It is my hope that our efforts can bring some small relief to those living there, while delaying future attacks on the Republic.

A personal note, if I may. It is the fashionable opinion of some in the Republic to believe that those non-Sith who still live in the afflicted areas are, themselves, to blame for their fate; that they are responsible for not rising up against those who enslave them. I am on record as believing this highly underestimates the challenge that means. Should ordinary people prevail where Jedi Knights and navies have failed? I dearly hope that can one day be the case -- but for now, it falls to expeditions like mine to show that the Sith can be defeated, and that hope can be brought to places where none has existed for decades.

Such is the challenge facing myself and my team, including, for the first time, the aforementioned (and newly knighted) Kerra Holt, returning to her home sector to fight for our cause. May the Force be with her -- and with us all.

Best regards,

Vannar Treece

HISTORICAL POSTSCRIPTS

The communication above was discovered in the Jedi archives, and tells much about the state of the Grumani sector during the times a generation before the Ruusan Reformations. While the fate of Treece's expedition -- and what followed -- are chronicled elsewhere, the following pieces of additional background may be instructive:

Proto-Sectors

The Draggulch Period of 2000 BBY to 1000 BBY saw the Republic shrink and civilization descend into chaos, with many star systems closing their borders against the darkness. The Jedi Order changed in response to the horrors of these centuries, with bands of Knights swearing to defend individual worlds and eventually regions against slavers, pirates and warlords. In some places the Jedi supported existing governments and rulers; in others, they became hereditary lords themselves, defending their people against a host of threats. The Supreme Chancellors of the time -- more often than not Jedi themselves -- divided many troubled parts of the galaxy into Jedi baronial sectors, thereby seeking to coordinate the endless struggle against the Sith.

In 1004 BBY, the Jedi Order united the baronies as the Army of Light, commanded by Lord Hoth. When the Ruusan Reformations transformed the millions of ancient sectors into 1,024 new regional sectors, many old baronial borders were carried forward into the new system, as well as a host of other cartographic artifacts from ancient surveyors' maps and former political territories.

The Children of Mani

Even before the coming of the Sith, trouble was no stranger to the Grumani spaceways. Many of the original human colonists of the region were adherents of Mani, a messianic figure who had told his disciples to seek perfection in the wilds beyond the galactic frontier. But a few centuries after settlement began to spread from worlds such as Aplooine and Heptooine, the faith of Mani was split by a schism that soon proved irreparable. The orthodox Grumani held that moral conduct could only come from Mani's directives, as interpreted by his Hierophants; while the breakaway Spumani believed Mani had made a secret directive to the elect, teaching that salvation must come from within, through constant testing of the self.