USH'S STAR WARS GAME- The truth behind the Syphar n Kalar...
The first Star Wars Campaign revolved around the efforts of the Dark Side players to discover the ancient secrets of the Sith, whilst Palpatine manipulated the Jedi players into taking care of these potential rivals (after the Council foresaw that pursuing the Dark Siders would bring no good... as indeed happened).
The centrepiece of this Galactic chase was a place known as the 'Mausoleum of Demnos', of which legend said was invisible to all but worthy Sith acolytes, to whom it would appear and the spirit of Demnos would teach his secrets to.
That was the legend; part of the job of the players (other than finding the place) was to try and work out what the truth behind it all was. A long story short- they were never really happy with the answer. Bwahahaha.
But from the point the Mausoleum became part of the plot onwards, this thread:
... remained stuck upon the Star Wars RP area in order to invite discussion and speculation about what the Mausoleum would actually end up being.
Well, folks, we have now come to the equivalent point for the second Campaign! Whilst the Campaign has spent a lot of time messing around iwth the Dark Siders just trying to surivve and shenanigans with the Feds, in the end you cannot beat a good old fashioned ancient Sith plotline (especially with Dark Siders playing) and this is where the story will be steering once more.
At the time of writing, the Dark Siders have discovered that the mystery behind the big Campaign plotline this time is something called the 'Syphar n Kalar', known as the SnK for short.
The story behind the SnK comes from a truly ancient source writing about something older still. Long ago, a man named 'Daemora of Ciceronicus' wrote a highly sensational piece of work called "A Political History of the Nations of the Sith' back during the very, very first time that the Sith invaded the Republic. It was an attempt to record the history of this mysterious new threat before their contact with the Republic.
But although ostensibly a historian, Daemora was more interested in telling a good story than doing serious historical work, and in his times researching he tended to just pass on any story he heard as fact. It was one of these stories that told of this 'Syphar n Kalar', something of such immense and unstoppable power that it brought to an end a mighty planetary siege that had previously been going on for seven years. The story says that after the Syphar n Kalar was used, this endless battle was brought to an abrupt finish in just three days. This led to victory in a massive Sith civil war. The name is all the detail Daemora gives- no idea of what or who it was.
Most serious historians doubt the existence of such a thing- if the Syphar n Kalar really existed, why was it never used again? An unstoppable weapon would have been handy against the Jedi, for a start. However, something about the story has caused much debate in the millennia since Daemora mentioned it, from Sith cultists, jedi historians and even the occasional warlord alike. And references to the SnK turn up every so often, in old writings and recordings... but none pre-dates Daemora's account, and hence it has always seemed likely that they were all just passing on what he said.
But now the Dark Siders have received corroborating evidence that suggests the SnK really DID exist- and furthermore that someone is making serious progress in tracking it down. And so they have begun the process... of tracking it down themselves. And although they do not know it yet, this is a race which the Light Sider players are going to be joining, eventually.
Here is the deal. Unlike last time when you knew nothing of the truth of the Mausoleum until you got there, this time not only is it possible to find out accurate info about the SnK beforehand, it is in fact essential else you will never find it. During gameplay you will pick up certain rumours about what the SnK was, or what it did, or how it worked etc. These rumours should help build up a coherent picture of the truth of the SnK. The problem is... not all the rumours will be true. In fact a good deal of them will be false. It is incumbent upon you as players to work out which ones are right, and hence focus your search in the right direction. if you start looking in the right places, you will start to pick up better and better rumours. If you look in the wrong places, you'll receive more fakes.
This is a process that will take a long time, of curse. So... feel free to speculate away! Incidentally, whilst I am recording all the info here, obviously Light and Dark Siders can only act upon information that their side has received.
__________________
"We've got maybe seconds before Darth Rosenberg grinds everybody into Jawa burgers and not one of you buds has the midi-chlorians to stop her!"
"You've never had any TINY bit of sex, have you?"
BtVS
Last edited by Ushgarak on Feb 12th, 2011 at 10:29 PM
The Dark Siders have so far found several generic rumours about the SnK and have not begun the process of deciding which ones are true or not yet.
Rumour 1: Any Force Sensitive being can learn to use the Syphar n Kalar
Rumour 2: The Syphar n Kalar only appeared to be human
Rumour 3: The Syphar n Kalar was a Cult. The details of the Cult are long lost but one fragment about it remains- The writings of the order are hidden where there is no night
__________________
"We've got maybe seconds before Darth Rosenberg grinds everybody into Jawa burgers and not one of you buds has the midi-chlorians to stop her!"
Question: Are all dark siders able to join, or just a few. Since I just joined.
__________________ As i walk the surface the pains scream through me. The darkness within fuels me. I master the Dark Side I am the darkness and you shall succumb to my will.
Rumour 1 sounds too generic to be that much important. The fact that it would not be useful for someone not Force Sensitive is kind of logical and not of dire importance -after all we are all force sensitive. 3 is most detailed.... As I said planet with two switching suns could be a place with no night? Or similar natural phenomenon?
Wouldn`t we get a lot info by allying with the Lady?
__________________ Yet the lies that Melkor, the mighty and accursed, Morgoth Bauglir, the Power of Terror and of Hate, sowed in the hearts of Elves and Men are a seed that does not die and cannot be destroyed; and ever and anon it sprouts anew, and will bear dark fruit even unto the latest days.
"… his name is Melkor, Lord of All, Giver of Freedeom, and he shall make you stronger than they."
Sauron to Ar-Pharazôn
Last edited by Lord Melkor on Dec 23rd, 2008 at 09:35 PM
I submit my traditional suspicion that the current MacGuffin is, in fact, the Triforce.
With the first rumor, the SnK would have to be either some sort of Force-manipulated device, or an ability or teaching, some different way of using the Force.
The second rumor... it seems the least likely, but I don't want to dismiss it out of hand. It would be some sort of individual that appeared to be human... which could mean many different races, or even a droid. This is the most generic rumor, I think.
The third rumor would mean the SnK was a cult, but then what purpose does this cult serve? Either they were themselves special, which given the passage of time would not make the SnK extremely not useful for us, or they held some sort of power, which would seem to overlap with the first rumor.
In either case, what place has no night? Something or somewhere very close to a star, perhaps. Or maybe half of a planet that revolves at the same rate it orbits, so that one side is never-ending day.
__________________
WARNING: The above post may contain sarcasm and/or sophisticated satire. Any psychological damage sustained is purely your fault.
Or even, as Gallador suggested, a place with two suns that just replace each other when one passes... which would be freaking weird and I think it would break physics.
regarding the third rumor that it was a Cult.... maybe there could be a link between that Cult and the Lady`s "sect"?
Okay, what do people with high Jedi Lore know about the artifacts that only Force Users could use, to try and verify that rumour? I mean, there must a logical basis to approach these rumours, right?
What basic things do we know of Darth Malphas that could be of relevance? Are there records that he was hunting for ancient lore that much?
__________________ Yet the lies that Melkor, the mighty and accursed, Morgoth Bauglir, the Power of Terror and of Hate, sowed in the hearts of Elves and Men are a seed that does not die and cannot be destroyed; and ever and anon it sprouts anew, and will bear dark fruit even unto the latest days.
"… his name is Melkor, Lord of All, Giver of Freedeom, and he shall make you stronger than they."
Sauron to Ar-Pharazôn
Use whatever EU source you like for things that only work for Force users. So far in the entire mythology of my game, no such thing has existed- at least, not on a spiritual level. Avalar had a more practical approach (doors where the switches were internal and so needed the Force to open them).
The problem with accurate information about the Malphan Wars is that a good deal of the galaxy burned during the time, and the Sith themselves disliked keeping records. But Malphas was an extremely knowledgeble Sith, that much people agree on. He was very much a Yoda type.
__________________
"We've got maybe seconds before Darth Rosenberg grinds everybody into Jawa burgers and not one of you buds has the midi-chlorians to stop her!"
I almost want to discount it as a Cult but maybe say that whatever it is, it is possible that it is hidden in such a place. But who knows, we need to gather more info.
These early hints are simply from various literary or historical accounts that you guys (mostly Gallador) have determined as good sources. Previously, despite the quality of the source, Gallador would have said "They are probably just parroting Daemora." But now he's saying... he wouldn't automatically rule out these ones being true.
__________________
"We've got maybe seconds before Darth Rosenberg grinds everybody into Jawa burgers and not one of you buds has the midi-chlorians to stop her!"
KMC Community Forums
Dec 23rd, 2008 12:09 PM
