Darion Idel (The Old Republic)

## Darth Arthus

**Darth Arthus** was a Human male Dark Lord of the Sith and senior member of the Order of Revan who served the Sith Empire during the Cold War and the latter two iterations of the Great Galactic Wars. Born **Darion Idel**, Darth Arthus was the eldest child of Admiral Teodorek Idel and his wife Comarila. Raised on Drumond Kaas with his younger brother and sister, Arthus was the only one of the family to be Force-sensitive and was sent to Korriban in his teens to train at the Sith Academy, where he secured a place as Darth Baras' apprentice, serving as the enforcer of his will. On a mission to infiltrate the mysterious Order of Revan from within, Arthus was seduced by the Revanites' code and views, which nearly mirrored his own private view of how the Sith should use the Force. He turned in a Sith amulet taken from Darth Charnus to his apprentice Sarbor, claiming he took it from the master of the order, convincing Charnus' apprentice that his master was a heretic; Charnus was executed by the Dark Council following this 'reveal', ending the Sith's investigation into the cult and allowing the Order of Revan to thrive in peace and mystery. Soon after, he hunted down the Jedi Padawan Jaesa Willsaam and took her as his own student to spite her teacher Nomen Karr, who ironically succumbed to the dark side of the Force during his duel with Darion. Following his success, Baras made Darion a Sith Lord and set him on the task of renewing hostilities with the Galactic Republic.

Continuing his plans to ascend the ladder of leadership and reform the Empire from within, Darion was the arbiter of Plan Zero, an Imperial decapitation attack on Republic leadership that eliminated the members of the Republic War Trust, a cabal of the four most senior Republic military leaders. Following the beginning of the Second Galactic War, Darion would aid Baras in killing his own Sith Master, Darth Vengean, which allowed Baras to take Vengean's place on the Dark Council. However, Baras turned on his student and tried to kill Darion on the planet Quesh, but survived and was recruited by the Emperor's Hand. Anointed by the Hand as the new **Emperor's Wrath**—the personal enforcer and executioner of the Emperor's will—Darion was tasked with stopping Baras' plans to declare himself the Emperor's Voice and thus the de-facto leader of the Empire. Darion proceeded to systematically destroy Baras' servants and machinations before slaying his former master himself during a meeting before the Dark Council, earning him the position of Darth. Darion continued serving as the Emperor's Wrath to Vitiate in the ensuing conflict, helming a new force known as the Black Legion and served on the front lines for most of the war. Midway through the war, after the Battle of Yavin 4, it was revealed that the Sith Emperor was attempting to consume all life in the galaxy, and thus Darth Marr declared him a traitor and rechristened Arthus the **Empire's Wrath**.

Roughly six years after the war began, Arthus and Marr led a joint Imperial-Republic task force to Wild Space in search of the Emperor, only to walk into a surprise attack by the Yuuzhan Vong, an extra-galactic species led by Simricch, another identity of Vitiate. The battle was a loss for the expedition fleet and Darion ensured the escape of his apprentice before being captured along with Darth Marr, who were taken to Simricch and offered as a sacrifice to the Supreme Overlord. However, the two were able to make a daring escape attempt; Arthus watched as Marr died to secure his escape from the Worldship and spent the next three months on an unknown world evading the Yuuzhan Vong. Found by his old friend and lover Lana Beniko, Darion returned to the known galaxy to find it in chaos.

## Personality and traits

Lord Arthus had a distinct personality among the ranks of the Sith. A fierce warrior, Darion also delved into the schools of philosophy and extensively studied the history and teachings of both the Sith and Jedi. This knowledge, combined with his personal experiences of his adversaries (Sith and Jedi alike), helped shape his worldview that exposed the flaws of the two orders and led him to adopt a moral code somewhere in the grey areas of the spectrum. His encounter with the Revanites and initiation into the Order of Revan only reinforced these ideals; it was then he set his life goal to achieve balance, true balance, of the light and the dark in order to create a new order and reform the Empire from within. This pursuit would be his life's work.

Darion differed from many upper echelon Sith in that he rejected the idea of the undesirability of aliens on the basis of genetics, instead adopting the position of judgement through character, though did feel that the Imperial culture and its people (Human and alien alike) were superior, and rejected the Republic idea of equality among all species just as fiercely. He believed the Imperial identity was a set of values that transcended race or creed and believed devotion to the Emperor, the rule of law and individual respect among its people were the traits most desired for a civilization. As such, Darion saw much in common with respect to aliens alongside his comrade Darth Malgus, who frequently employed alien mercenaries to aid him in his goals and took a Twi'lek woman as a wife. Among the alien races Darion held the greatest respect for were the Chiss (allies of the Empire in their own right) and Twi'leks (a race of people he believed showed incredible courage even in the most desolate of times).

Arthus was a Sith that saw strength in more than just the martial aspect of the word. He saw strength in scholars who documented Sith history and teachings, in teachers who imparted knowledge on the citizenry, and in parents who raise generations of Imperials that will further their way of life. To Arthus, Imperial meritocracy was more than just power-playing, backstabbing and murdering your way up the ladder; it was a system by which those who sought to elevate themselves to whatever position they desire should be awarded every opportunity to do so without barriers, provided they show the necessary abilities. Arthus believed that the Sith, for too long, preached the idea of a warped meritocracy that manifested itself through murder and sabotage that, while perhaps advancing a particular Sith's position in society, weakened the Imperial structure as a whole. This was one of the main grievances Arthus had with the Sith leadership before his rise to prominence.

## Politics and ideals

### Imperialism

Darion was a die-hard Imperial that believed deeply in the virtue of the Imperial mission, in pacifying the galaxy under an Empire of law and order that acted as the dominant voice to prevent the chaos that so often plagued the Republic. He believed that Imperial culture was superior to that of any other in the galaxy, and desired its exportation to all conquered regions so that eventually a true galactic Imperial citizenry may be

Darion was a die-hard Imperial that truly in his core believed in the Imperial mission, in pacifying the galaxy under an Empire of law and order with a dominant voice to prevent the chaos that so often plagued the Republic. He believed in an Imperial monarchy, an authoritarian leadership style, and the focus on meritocracy and social mobility of all classes of people. Darion, although loyal to Emperor Vitiate (before his betrayal that is), was secretly frustrated with the Emperor's style of leadership, that being an apathetic or an absentee landlord that rarely did his duty in keeping the Empire running efficiently, and was disgusted with the Dark Council's repeated attempts to undermine each other and weaken the Empire as a whole. Darion wished for true power to rest with the Emperor, and the Emperor must play an active role in his Empire, or he is no longer fit to rule.

## Powers and abilities

Darion was trained in simple tutorial basics with a training droid in his early years, but it wasn't until his uncle began sparring with him that Darion was encouraged to develop his own methods. Before becoming an acolyte, Darion was able to defeat his elder cousin in a duel. Through his training at the academy on Drumond Kaas, Darion learned a basic familiarity with several forms of lightsaber combat and was adept at recognizing them in his opponent's style and techniques. He adopted a reverse-grip style and specialized in a very aggressive form of Juyo that combined a random and unpredictable style of saber attacks laced with sudden Force-based attacks, which would be unleashed in a midst of complex lightsaber sequences.

Darion's use of unorthodox reversed hilt lightsaber forms paired with two lightsabers made him rather unique within the Sith Order, many of which made use of brute strength to overpower opponents. Instead, Idel utilized rapid and unrelenting attacks in order to overwhelm his opponent early, as his build was less physically strong as many of his Sith compatriots.

## Possessions

* **Ancient Lightsaber**: Arthus' first lightsaber was acquired during his Sith trials on Korriban, in the Tomb of Naga Sadow. True to its name, the lightsaber was of very old design that was used by Sith over a millennium earlier, and its original owner is lost to history. It was created with a red lightsaber crystal, typical of the Sith, and served him satisfactorily throughout his initial mission

## Romances

### Lana Beniko

Arthus met Lana Beniko while she was the advisor to Darth Arkous. The two immediately felt a connection to each other and

### Cellvanta Grathan

Arthus encountered Lady Grathan after being sent by Darth Baras to kill her son. However, when tracking Beelzit down, Cellvanta bartered with Arthus for her son's life, asking him to instead kill her husband so she can take over the estate. Lord Arthus obliged and