Any examination of the Sith Empire, and indeed the world of Star Wars: The Old Republic, would be sadly lacking if no mention was made of Ajunta Pall. His story begins some 3,300 years Before the Treaty of Coruscant (BTC), during the Hundred-Year Darkness and the war between Jedi and Dark Jedi. Ajunta Pall was one of the Dark Jedi who fought against the Jedi Order. When the century of conflict finally ended with the defeat of the Dark Jedi at the Battle of Corbos, Pall was one of the few Dark Jedi to have survived.
While many in the Republic cried out for the execution of the survivors, the Jedi Council opted to take the high road and permitted the defeated Dark Jedi to live out their lives in unknown space, where it was hoped they would see the error of their ways and return to the service of the Light. Instead, the Exiles emerged from a blind hyperspace jump near a habitable planet known to its red-skinned inhabitants as Korriban.
The native Sith were a primitive people despite their strong natural Force sensitivity, and Ajunta Pall and his followers lost little time in subjugating the race and setting themselves above them as "Jen'ari" or Dark Lords. The Sith, however, did have some Force techniques the Dark Jedi did not, and Pall and others learned much Sith Alchemy from their new subjects. Using this, they were able to use the Force to bend life to their will, modifying organisms to be more ferocious, harder to kill and more receptive to control.
Ambition and lust for revenge, combined with confidence in their new powers, impelled some of the new Dark Lords to mount a new attack on the Republic that had cast them out. Ajunta Pall objected on the grounds that this would only serve to alert the Republic to the presence of the Sith, but many ignored him and attacked regardless. The attack was ultimately a failure, though the Jedi were unable to locate Korriban and retaliate.
Monstrosities were not the only thing that Sith Alchemy allowed the new Dark Lords to produce; it was also necessary to create the now-legendary Sith Swords. These swords were somewhat akin to the katanas wielded by the ancient Jedi, but infused with the Dark side of the Force. Blaster bolts and even laser beams could be deflected by the blade, and some were dusted with cortosis to allow them to parry lightsabers. One of the most well-known of these blades belonged to Ajunta Pall.
The sword of Ajunta Pall was a double-bladed weapon of great power that Pall himself came to believe had been instrumental in his corruption. When he died, his sword was sealed inside Pall's tomb in Korriban's Valley of the Dark Lords, where it remained for three thousand years, until the redeemed Revan made his way to Korriban while on his quest to find the Star Maps.
As players of Knights of the Old Republic will remember, inside the tomb Revan confronted Ajunta Pall's spirit. In the ensuing conversation, Pall gave Revan the details of how the Sith had nearly destroyed themselves through years of power struggles on Korriban. Revan convinced the Sith ghost to turn to the Light side of the Force in the end, and Ajunta Pall's tortured spirit was finally put to rest. Revan took the blade with him (as well as Pall's warning to be wary of it), but its whereabouts are currently unknown.
Players will be able to follow in Revan's footsteps inStar Wars: The Old Republic; Ajunta Pall's tomb is one of the places that starting Sith characters will get to explore on Korriban, as demonstrated in the Developer Walkthrough on the official site (at about 8:58).
Ajunta Pall is a figure rich in lore; he was one of the primary figures in the Hundred Years War, and rose to even greater notoriety when the Dark Jedi arrived on Korriban; in many ways, he was one of the founders of the Sith Empire. It is great to see that BioWare will be making use of his story.
Sources
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Ajunta_Pall (Header image source)
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Sith_Empire
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Hundred-Year_Darkness
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Exiles
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Ajunta_Pall's_tomb
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Ajunta_Pall's_blade
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Sith_alchemy
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Sith_sword
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Posted 8/12/2011 10:13:47 AM- View User Profile
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Posted 8/10/2011 5:20:03 PM- View User Profile
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Posted 8/10/2011 6:10:51 PMThe sizes of those areas have been somewhat smaller than Ajunta Pall's tomb, so I see no problem. And it being a long hallway basically? Well, it is a tomb, not much point in side tunnels and other rooms. Aside from traps of course, but I believe the KotOR version had those things anyway.
Charming... yes? http://imgur.com/r6WrI
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Posted 8/10/2011 7:25:02 PM- View User Profile
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Posted 8/10/2011 4:52:58 PM- View User Profile
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Posted 8/10/2011 4:21:51 PMI found a misspell in the article:
"Blaster blots and even laser beams could be deflected by the blade, and some were dusted with cortosis to allow them to parry lightsabers."
I assume it's supposed to say "Blaster Bolts"
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Posted 8/10/2011 3:58:09 PM