Darth Hâskath

Art by Moric Dar

*"I see it in your eyes... a desire to fight back, to push me away with your dainty, little hands and smash my skull against that pedestal. But that's not your reality, is it? You cannot know that satisfaction, for it you try to resist me, to run from me, I shall unleash a torment upon you the likes of which you cannot comprehend. I dare you to try, no, I want you to, for what will follow can only bring me incomparable pleasure. I owe you for that. Perhaps... perhaps this is love...?"*

― An intoxicated Darth Hâskath to Qwenn Gallia

**Darth Hâskath** was a Pureblood Sith Lord who served under Darth Arctis as the head of the Sphere of Ancient Knowledge's Korriban Chapter during the Great Galactic War. Before being bestowed the title of Darth, he earned the name **Hyalwohâsk** (To Crave One's Anguish) as a young boy through various displays of sadistic and psychopathic tendencies, especially involving the physical and emotional torture of those who considered themselves close to him. Born into a bloodline that dated back to the conclusion of the Hundred-Year Darkness, and a family of significant wealth, Hyalwohâsk was given every resource imaginable to succeed as a Sith, embracing the darkest parts of himself and choosing to feed them at every opportunity. As he grew older, he realized the benefits that would accompany a public facade, one which would advertise a strong and loyal member of the order whose interests aligned with those of his superiors. In lieu of this realization, he chose to bury his true, horrible nature in the shadows of his past by brutally murdering his entire family.

Although an animal lurked just beneath the surface of his blood-red eyes, Hyalwohâsk became a favorite of Overseers and the Lordship alike. He naturally slipped into the role he had created for himself, becoming an astute study of Sith tradition and ritual. It would not be long before he was discovered by Darth Arctis, acting Dark Lord of the Sith in control of the Sphere of Ancient Knowledge. Arctis desired an apprentice as interested in the accumulation and extensive study of Sith relics as he was, and so devised a plan to test his young apprentice's dedication to the cause. The intrepid Hyalwohâsk was sent into the Tomb of Marka Ragnos, fully aware of the fact that he would need to go head to head with the ancient Dark Lord's Sithspawn Terentatek, aptly named the Beast of Marka Ragnos, in order to collect an old holocron from the cavernous depths of the temple. Hyalwohâsk did indeed return with the holocron in question, but not all in one piece. Arctis was impressed to see that the Beast had taken his apprentice's leg, and yet, he still stood strong in the face of incredible pain. He had made ample sacrifice in service of the preservation of knowledge, and thus, was dubbed a Lord of the Sith. It was not traditional for a master to so quickly elevate a student to the rank of Lord, but in truth, Arctis had a great many projects in the works, and although he most certainly valued the traditions of the Sith, felt the ambitious and intelligent young Pureblood could be put to better use serving as head of a confidential branch of operations based on Korriban. Hence, the Sphere of Ancient Knowledge's Korriban Chapter was established. Hyalwohâsk, despite now having to live with a cybernetic limb, had achieved the level of status he needed to indulge the malignant demon within his heart.

In the year 3652 BBY, soon after the Sacking of Coruscant, a Mirialan Jedi Consular by the name of Qwenn Gallia defected from the Jedi Order and elected to join the Sith. With her, she brought a series of documents relating to the history and structure of the organization in hopes that, if analyzed, they could help bring the end of the Jedi. Darth Arctis' agents alerted him of the arrival of sensitive documents on Dromund Kaas, and, not wanting to call unwanted attention to the matter, had the Mirialan woman sent to Hyalwohâsk on Korriban. Although some information proved enlightening to Arctis, the majority was information the Sith had already acquired. Regardless of this fact, Hyalwohâsk greatly enjoyed the time he spent with Gallia, although he struggled to admit it as a result of his nature and speciesist indoctrination. He would offer her the position of his first apprentice, and falling for the compelling and charming act he had perfected, she would accept.

Over the course of the following decade, Gallia would be subjected to physical and psychological abuse at the hands of the Sith Lord, which wasn't uncommon within the order, but his twisted affection for her and the self-hatred that grew within him as a result of being attracted to a 'lesser creature' caused him to lash out in cruel and unusual fashions. All the while, Hyalwohâsk grew more powerful, eventually being granted the rank of Darth and electing to alter his Sith name to better reflect his status, becoming Darth Hâskath. Eventually, Gallia would prove stronger and more resourceful than he had imagined, becoming so vital to the Korriban Chapter's operations that even Arctis took notice of her efforts and pushed for her promotion to Lordship. Hâskath desired to subjugate her forever, as was his nature, but would never admit that to his master, and so, Qwenn Gallia escaped his grasp. He was disappointed, until he learned that she had chosen to stay with him on Korriban. Together, no longer involved in any regard beyond the professional, Gallia and Hâskath would begin a personal quest to search for the lost lightsaber of Exar Kun. Initially uninterested in the weapon, Hâskath was convinced by Gallia that bringing the artifact to the Dark Council would disseminate his good reputation across the Imperial leadership, and could only lead to greater influence. They quickly discovered, however, that balancing Arctis' tasks with their own objective proved too difficult for the two of them alone, and so, they each initiated their individual searches for a new apprentice.

In the absence of Gallia's subjugation by his hand, Hâskath had grown increasingly restless to satisfy his inner darkness. Through her, he had discovered his own demented form of love, which in reality was a potent combination of racism, self-hatred, and sexual desire, and he desired to replicate that relationship. In an attempt to experience a similar sense of satisfaction, he had employed the services of multiple slave trade and sex trafficking groups across the Empire... it was to no avail. Instead of pursuing a more traditional approach to finding an apprentice as Gallia would, Hâskath utilized a Zygerrian contact to discreetly travel to the Outer-Rim Territory of Ryloth, where a slave auction was being held. There, he encountered the rebellious Twi'lek Sinya Freykaa, who displayed a strong connection to the Force while trying to escape her captors. He recognized in her a similar quality to that of Gallia, and so promptly purchased her from the present representatives of the Zygerrian Slave Empire. Initially revolted by him, Sinya allowed herself some hope of a better life when he explained that she was to be his new Sith Apprentice. It wasn't long after the conclusion of her first assignment that she discovered that hope was greatly misplaced.

Together, Hâskath and Sinya, as well as Qwenn Gallia and her new apprentice Ardaius, would come to form the second iteration of the Korriban Chapter, with the efforts of the Sith Lords' apprentices being focused primarily on joint missions in search of Exar Kun's lost blade. He and Gallia would occasionally accompany them, but while her attention became increasingly consumed by the efforts of her personal quest and instructing both apprentices, Hâskath was primarily concerned with tasks assigned to him by his own master. As time went on, he became increasingly impatient with Gallia's allocation of resources towards a hunt that he decided wasn't making sufficient progress, and became more of an obstacle to his old apprentice than was wise. It was his own arrogance, ego, and malformed love for her that clouded his judgement over the years, for unbeknownst to him, Gallia had long planned for his destruction. Ever sense her days as his apprentice, she had elected to retune and refine his cybernetic attachment, which due to where it met the nerves on his leg, would sometimes cause discomfort. Within his leg she had placed an electromagnetic pulse, and kept it maintained for over 20 years until she deemed the time to be right. One fateful evening, she met Hâskath in his chambers as she had for countless nights prior, only this time, he sensed something was different. By the time Gallia had made her move, he was already crippled and in terrible agony. He fell to floor, reaching out with the force to grab his weapon, only for both of his limbs to be promptly severed by the Mirialan's crimson sword. Pure, unfettered hatred emanated from her like a tumultuous storm - it was as if she had lifted a veil between him and her true feelings so that he could experience them in the final moments of his life. As she choked the life out of him with her boot, she bent down and met his monstrous eyes for one final time. "If not for all that you had done to me, the loathing you inspired, I could never have risen to become the Sith that I am today. I owe you for that, Master. Now I thank you for this *incomparable* pleasure." In the end, the monster was nothing compared to the woman he had scorned.