Zakuul

**Zakuul** is a mysterious planet located in Wild Space that served as the capital planet of the Eternal Empire and currently serves as the Capital of the Sith Dominion. To keep the planet hidden, the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Magice, would pass legislation that all records of Zakuul must be deleted from the Navicomputers. To reach the planet, the pilots, and navigators would need to either happen upon the planet by chance or remember the coordinates.

Furthermore, the coordinates are only revealed to a select few and only known to those with no other affiliation than the Sith Dominion, thus the mandalorians, nor the hutts know about this planet.

## Description

A world with a significant Southern Ocean and swamps that cover the planet's surface, including the Endless Swamp, a semi-solid area filled with massive, overgrown trees. The planet also has a unique connection to the force, being balanced between the light and dark side of the force, similar to Odessen. Zakuul is home to an immigrated Human population along with the native Iknayid, but other creatures are also present and even adapted to their environment, such as the swamp rancor. The planet possesses advanced technology, with several cities spread throughout the world.

## History

### Ancient Times

Zakuul was once a backwater planet located within Wild Space, possessing almost no contact with the rest of the galaxy due to its position. But early in its history, the builders of Iokath conquered the planet to be one of the many worlds to be used as live testing sites for their weapons. The early Zakuulans eventually immigrated to the planet and lived there, becoming a superstitious people who lived in tribes led by three Force-sensitive leaders known as Matriarch, High Shaman and Champion. In those early days, the Zakuulans believed in a deity known as Zildrog who was a mentor and guide to warriors and could gift unto them the Breath of the Dragon, a spiritual boon.

But sometimes during this age, an event occurred, the final battle between the Eternal Fleet and the Gravestone. At the end, the Eternal Fleet was shut down and the Gravestone, left in the Endless Swamp. By the height of the Old Ways, the Zakuulans had become a nihilistic people who worshipped a pantheon of gods. Chief among them being Izax the god of death and Ultimate Devourer who expressed his power through the pain of his followers. They believed their fate tied to the Old Gods, and those who thought against this were branded a demon and exiled from society to the Endless Swamp alone as outcasts. But a prophecy said that a Demon Saviour would rise above the pantheon and slay Izax bringing about a new era; several centuries later, Vitiate appeared on the world, tempted by rumours about the Eternal Fleet's new annihilation of Wild Space's population. He discovered Zakuul and decided to make it the home of his new empire; taking over the body of a powerful warrior named Valkorion, he claimed himself as the Demon Saviour and began building from the foundations of the Endless Swamp to create his new empire.

### Ascension

After Valkorion's victory over the Old Ways, he united the various tribes across the world and took their force sensitive leaders, re-purposing them into the Knights of Zakuul, an order meant to protect their homeworld. The first city on Zakuul was named the Old World, but it was not grand enough for Valkorion, and so he continued adding onto it over and over until finally developing into the Spire. He developed their sociology and purpose for generations, allowing them to become scientists and people of science rather than of brutal warriors that they had been before his arrival. But even so, they held a connection with the Old Ways. He used the Scions to locate the Eternal Fleet using their visions and created the Eternal Throne, a starscraper that took an entire generation of Zakuul's best minds to build to reactive and control the ships. Once activated, he took over other planets by the nascent Eternal Empire, expanding its influence to a sizable portion of Wild Space.

Afterwards, an almost limitless number of resources began entering into Zakuul including credits and raw materials needed to expand it further and develop its military technology, which was based off the Eternal Fleet in many aspects. Each citizen of Zakuul wanted for nothing, given a monthly stipend of credits that would make them among the elite class of any core world. But during this time, the Old World turned into a place where they could live out their darker fantasies of violence and various other suitable things that they craved before returning to the Spire. For almost a hundred years, the Eternal Empire was at peace, with the Eternal Fleet rarely being active apart from a small handful of ships to collect the resources. At least until the assassination of Valkorion.

### Downfall

After the Battle of Zakuul, the Eternal Empire collapsed and was replaced by the Eternal Alliance, who assumed control over Zakuul. Though the planet submitted to Alliance rule, the people attempted many revolts around the time of the War on Iokath. Following The Outlander's Mission to Nathema in 3629 BBY, the Zakuulans, no longer seeing the Alliance as a threat with the Eternal Fleet and Gravestone destroyed, separated from the Alliance to form their government. The Exchange also established operations on Zakuul following the Invasion of Ossus. By this time, the planet was ruled by a council of the most influential individuals which held absolute power. The council was generally viewed as weak and ineffective with many seeing it as little improvement over being ruled by the Alliance. Eventually a group of Knights, led by former Exarch Cyruwil Nelmfai, instigated a coup which saw all of the councils members, as well as their allies, killed and replaced by an even smaller group of religious fanatics. Zakuul became a theocracy, its laws dictated by the new High Justice, the first since Princess Vaylin held the rank. With the Knights of Zakuul in power, the planet was subject to many purges that aimed to eradicate the memory of defeat against the Alliance. Offworlders, Alliance sympathisers and critics of any kind were murdered, often in broad daylight, in the event which became known as the Great Purification.

Under the iron fist of the High Justice Nelmfai, Zakuul cut itself off from the rest of the galaxy voluntarily and even outlawed any hyperspace travel to- and from the world. Visitors would be imprisoned immediately or simply shot out of the sky. The Exchange assimilated into local criminal gangs due to the loss of contact to their wider operations and their name was forgotten just as quickly. As the ages passed, Zakuul would once more descend into myth and legend and become a forgotten planet, struck from the annals of history.

### Dark Ages

The planet would continue to be ruled by this small group of religious zealots who restricted access to information greatly and suppressed dissent with military might. This tyranny prevented the planet from ever properly recovering and Zakuul was left a shadow of its former self for many centuries. Its vast factories were slowly shut down one by one and the worlds population began to dwindle. When the sun reactors which had powered the Spire for centuries began crumble and deactiv, the great city was abandoned in favor of the dangerous endless swamp. It was during this time of great misery that the prophecy of Valkorions return began to take hold. The people had long abandoned their old pantheon of gods but the spiritual essence of their civilization remained and the memory of their greatest leader fueled the desire for change. The knightly elite that ruled Zakuul began to embrace this prophecy to the point where each and every decision they made was done so in order to bring about his return or to please their coming Emperor when the time came.

One High Justice in particular took a proactive approach to the prophecy, having concluded that Valkorion would only return when Zakuul was once more worthy of his leadership. While vast amounts of knowledge were lost by this point, the Zakuulans desire for perfection was not. The old droidfactories were once more reopened and repurposed, the previously closed ruins of the spire were salvaged in order to rebuild the other cities and attempts were made to rediscover Zakuuls ability for space travel. It took decades for progress to be made but eventually the planet regained some semblence of a civilized world. While the secret of the ancient sun reactors remained lost, Zakuul Systems managed to manufacture space-cabale vessels once more.

### Rediscovery

Millennia later, the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Magice would rediscover Zakuul and conquer it as the new capital of the Sith Dominion until he was ready to retake Ziost. Initially he was met with fierce resistance, especially from the Knights who had controlled the planet for thousands of years. His immense power in the force however overwhelmed any who dared oppose him. Seeing their armies and cities be subjected to force storms, many began to suspect the Sith was in fact the reincarnated Valkorion who had returned to rule Zakuul again. The majority of Knights began to submit to their conqueror and those who didn't were slain - either by the Sith or their former comrades who branded them as heretics.

Zakuul now stands as the capital of the Sith Dominion, with the city of New Dreshdae as the heart of the planet. Magice would reinstate the Sith Council as the governing body of the dominion in the form of a five-member council housed within the Obsidian Citadel, his new seat of power. Despite having lost their absolute power over the planet, most Knights were content with Magices rule. In their eyes, he had fulfilled their prophecy and was leading Zakuul into a new age. High Justice Kalan Sunfell remained the leader of the Knights of Zakuul but his authority over the planet is now only second to King Magice as well as the Council.

## Military

Zakuul had its own military force since before the Sith Dominion invaded the planet, but grew in size since the Dominions conquest.

### Zakuulan Soldiers

   The Zakuulan Soldiers formed the backbone of the infantry-heavy Zakuulan armed force and are among the newest additions to the Sith Dominions. Their armour is very loosely based on the armour of the Ancient Knights of Zakuul from the time of the Eternal Empire, with a more bucket shaped helmet. The armour is almost entirely black and noticeably thinner than the Sith Troopers that came to Zakuul with Darth Magice. While the armour of the Zakuulan soldiers was originally gold and white in colour, their new allegiance to the Sith Dominion saw it change to black and red. Most zakuulan soldiers are with blaster rifles with very few specialised weaponry mixed in.

### Sith Blackguards

The Sith Blackguards are members of the Sith Dominion who protect the Obsidian Citadel on Zakuul, they only rarely venture far from it. They serve as part of Zakuul's security force and report directly to the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Magice. The Blackguard is comprised of various Sith Lords hand-picked by the Sith Council from the remnants of the ancient reconstituted Sith empire. They now serve a similar function as the Zakuulan Horizon Guard of old despite consisted entirely of offworlders.

Blackguards wear black armour underneath a long red scapula, and red masks with protrusions on each side. The most elite of the Sith Blackguards had larger shoulder pads and wore thicker armour, every Sith Blackguard is a powerful force user and each undergoes the most brutal training, designed personally by Darth Elinguis. Sith Blackguards are not allowed to enter the inner sanctum, although they can physically open the doors. The Elite Sith Blackguards are, however, allowed to enter, but only in emergencies or when they are posted within, they are also allowed entry if they are answering their master's call.

### Sith Shamblers

Sith Shamblers are grotesque dark-side beings that mindlessly wander the perimeter of the Obsidian Citadel, and outside the walls. They are undead humanoid predators based on the zombies created on the Sith tombworld Korriban by Dathka Graush's sith alchemy. They serve as guardians of the Obsidian Citadel alongside the Sith Blackguards. Their prime directive is to eliminate any intruders, their limited intelligence allows them to use basic melee weapons. As they shamble about the citadel and its walls, their route is impossible to predict.

Shamblers attack any sentient being that looks at them for more than a second, thus several unprepared sith blackguards have fallen prey to these beings and join their number as shamblers. To date, not a single Elite Sith Blackguard has been turned into a shambler.

## Trivia

* As Zakuul's last appearance was in 3628 BBY, and only ever appeared in Star Wars: The Old Republic, it is likely that the planet has been forgotten by the Republic since that time, meaning the Galactic Federation Triumvirate would not know about the planet's existence.