Pulas

The Pulas was a black, fist-sized crystal that radiated dark side energy. Over the years, the Pulas was wielded by various members of the Sith Order, until it disappeared around the time of the Ruusan campaign. The crystal subsequently lay abandoned inside a Sith fortress on the planet Almas for centuries. Around 31 BBY, the Pulas was rediscovered by a group of Jedi researchers who were exploring the citadel, and the artifact was taken to the Almas Academy, a Jedi academy that was located on the world. However, the facility's headmaster, Lanius Qel-Bertuk, feared that the Jedi could not keep the Pulas safe from the clutches of a group of Sith cultists who were active on Almas, and he arranged for the crystal to be transported to the Jedi Temple on the planet Coruscant for safekeeping. Though the cultists attempted to steal the Pulas while it was en route to Coruscant, the artifact was successfully relocated to the Jedi Temple.
==Description==
The Pulas was a fist-sized, black-colored crystal that had forty facets. The relic radiated dark side energy and was considered to be a Sith artifact.
==History==
The Pulas was wielded for generations by various members of the Sith Order, powerful users of the dark side of the Force, and it eventually disappeared around the time of the Ruusan campaign at the end of the New Sith Wars.The New Essential Chronology The crystal came to reside within a Sith fortress on the planet Almas in the Cularin system, where it lay undisturbed for centuries. Around 31 BBY, a team of Jedi researchers led by the Wookiee Jedi Master Kirlocca undertook an expedition into the depths of the Sith fortress and discovered the artifact. However, the Believers—a Sith-worshipping cult that was active on Almas—learned of the researchers' discovery and were determined to claim the Pulas for themselves. As the Jedi were transporting the crystal en route to the Almas Academy, a Jedi training institution situated on the world, a group of Believers attacked the researchers and tried to steal the artifact, though the Jedi defeated the Believers and successfully brought the crystal to the Academy.
The Jedi studied the Pulas, and while they were uncertain as to the exact powers that the crystal possessed, they recognized the relic to be dangerous, and the Believer attack helped persuade the Academy's headmaster, Jedi Master Lanius Qel-Bertuk, that the Believer presence on Almas made it unsafe for the artifact to be kept on the world. Qel-Bertuk contacted the Jedi High Council, the governing body of the Jedi Order, and after some negotiation it was agreed that the Pulas would be transported to the Jedi Temple on the planet Coruscant for safekeeping. However, the Believers continued with their efforts to steal the Pulas. During the first night the artifact was housed within the Almas Academy, a band of Believers broke into the school and attempted to seize the artifact. The cultists were again unsuccessful, and the group all committed suicide to avoid capture by the Jedi.
Realizing that the Believers would likely try to interfere with any attempt to move the Pulas off-world, Qel-Bertuk devised a plan to hinder their efforts, and he summoned spacers from across the Cularin system to Almas, assembling a fleet of over 250 vessels. The Almas Jedi obtained a large number of Mandalorian iron boxes, and each box was loaded onto a different ship, with one box containing the Pulas and the others serving as decoys. Only Qel-Bertuk knew which vessel was carrying the Pulas, and he hoped that the Force-deflecting properties of the Mandalorian iron containers would confound any efforts by the Believers to use the Force to sense which box housed the relic. Once all of the containers had been loaded onto their respective ships, the fleet departed from Almas and set a course for Coruscant. As the fleet passed through the Cularin comet cloud, while it moved toward the edge of the Cularin system, a Believer-operated Z-95 Headhunter surreptitiously pursued a ship in the fleet that the cultists suspected was carrying the Pulas. The Headhunter attempted to cause the purported Pulas-carrying ship to collide with a comet fragment, which would allow the Believers to recover the artifact, but the starfighter did not succeed with its mission, and Qel-Bertuk's fleet made it to the edge of the Cularin system and entered hyperspace.
The fleet eventually arrived on Coruscant, and the Pulas was transported safely to the Jedi Temple. However, the cultists incorrectly believed one ship that was carrying a fragment of the destroyed dark-side-imbued city Conkesta within its Mandalorian iron box to actually be transporting the Pulas. When the ship landed on the city-planet, the Believers attacked the vessel's crew and made off with the box, which they subsequently took back to their hideout in the Coruscant Undercity.
==Behind the scenes==
The Pulas was created by Morrie Mullins and was integral to the plot of Coruscani Dawn, a 2002 roleplaying adventure that formed part of the Living Force campaign. The adventure debuted at Celebration II, a major Star Wars fan convention that was held in Indianapolis, Indiana, and the adventure contained different endings for those players who completed the module during Celebration II and those who played it after the event. During Coruscani Dawn, the player characters roleplay as the Heroes of Cularin, a band of freelance agents who are among the spacers hired to assist with the transport of the Pulas. For players who played the module at Celebration II, the Pulas was contained within the Mandalorian box that was shipped to Coruscant by the player characters. During that series of events, while en route to Coruscant, the player characters were tempted by the dark side of the Force to open the box containing the Pulas, and on arrival on the planet, they disembarked on Platform 3107 with the box. The players then attempted to recover the box that had been stolen by the Believers, and the players had the option of either leaving the Pulas's box at the platform in the custody of Jedi Knight Devan For'deschel or taking it with them as they pursued the cultists.
After the player characters confronted the Believers in the Coruscant Undercity, the Heroes of Cularin journeyed to the Jedi Temple, where they handed their box over to Jedi Master Mace Windu in the High Council Chamber. Windu then informed the player characters that the box contained the Pulas, and he thanked them for their efforts. However, for players who played the adventure after Celebration II, the Heroes of Cularin transported a fragment of Conkesta rather than the Pulas itself. This article presents the series of events faced by players who played Coruscani Dawn after Celebration II because the short story Felanil Baaks, Jedi Artisan indicates that the post-Celebration II storyline is likely the canon series of events.Felanil Baaks, Jedi Artisan indicates that the Heroes of Cularin are in possession of a Coruscani lightsaber, an item that the player characters obtain only in the post-Celebration II Coruscani Dawn storyline.
==Appearances==
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==Notes and references==
Category:1st-century BBY archaeological discoveries
Category:Sith crystals