Ri'tir

Art by Li Didkovsky

## Darth Doctrous

*" '― Through power, I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken.' I argue, dearest, simply this. The Sith are particularly inept when it comes to the realm of death, so perhaps we should stop defending the premise that the code demands we try to drive ourselves extinct. Infighting is redundant in this age of the Empire, think of where the Republic would be if we hadn't been murdering each other for them. Victory is over our enemies, not ourselves. Our binding is this cycle of near extinction we've been in for centuries."*

― Darth Doctrous, in debate with his collogue Darth Deeskor

Summary Paragraph

## Biography

### Spurned Questions

Darth Doctrous was born on the outer rim planet of Sluis Van, under the birth name Ri'tir in 3692 BBY, a decade proceeding the Sith Empires return. Little is known of to Ri'tirs childhood or the conditions of his recruitment into the Empire, all that is known is he was taken during the Empires invasion of Sluis Van by an unknown Sith invader. The context of Ri'tirs training and rise in the Empire is unclear but it is apparent he was educated in a way that led him to have a deep adoration for the Sith code and history as by the year 3676 BBY he had been recruited as an Inquisitor to Sphere of Sith Philosophy.

Ri'tir was one of a sizable group of inquisitors who traveled the galaxy insuring that all Sith in power were following the Sith Code and philosophy to the letter. Because Ri'tir was not a human or pureblood he was not allowed to take charge in any official manor, instead he was the assistant to a much older Sith named Lord Philion. Philion was compared to other Sith of his time, racially very progressive, while he certainly did not treat Ri'tir as a full Sith he did fear that he may one day earn his place among them, and thus he ensured that Ri'tir remain a tool to be used and put away, rather then any sort of apprentice who could rise up against him. So Ri'tir was trained solely to interrogate captured Sith whom Philion wanted answers from, and this was something Ri'tir became quickly proficient in. Ri'tir was not one to torture, he preferred to physiologically tear someone apart through the use of mind altering substances and subtle force manipulation until their brain could no longer decide for itself what the correct option was, usually leading them to reveal things they would have kept secret as long as they deemed possible.

During the period between the Great Galactic War and the Cold War Philion and Ri'tir were assigned to weed out and dispose of any on all followers of Revan who had infiltrated the Sith Academy of Dromund Kaas. They entered the academy Philion posing as a replacement Overseer for another who had apparently angered a Darth with the handling of certain acolytes, meanwhile Ri'tir was given a private interrogation chamber where he would remain out of sight of any staff and interrogate all suspects Philion sent him.

It was several weeks before Philion produced any results, evidently the infiltrators were good at keeping secrets, but Philion was better at extracting them. Ri'tirs fist victim was human overseer, drug into his chamber by a squad of royal guardsmen, they explained that he attempted to recruit Philion into the cult of Revan and to avoid drawing the attention of other Revanites, Philion had accused him of trying to steal one of his students for a Sith Lord to recruit, and attacked the poor cultist. Ri'tir immediately got to work, once the man was bound to the table he began asking him confusing questions about his work. A needle concealed in one of the mans restraints injected a mental fogging agent, causing his tongue to loosen, as it did he asked questions pertaining to the cult. The overseer began to indulge in his beliefs, expressing that both the light and the dark could lead to the breaking of chains, and that any Sith could become something more. He also expressed is distain for the anti-alien sentiment that made the empire so small. Ri'tir couldn't help but become intrigued by this perspective, he asked several clarifying questions about the philosophy -partially to gain the mans trust, and also to plug his own curiosity-. Finally, he asked the overseer who else was in service to Revan's cause -using the force to fog his logic as much as possible-, the man willingly gave a small list of staff and students who had been indoctrinated into the cult.

Upon receiving Ri'tir's target list Philion locked down the school, summoning an excessive force of Royal Guardsmen to help him in detaining the Revan cultists. Some resisted, most did not, each were quickly brought before Ri'tir and Philion and interrogated to learn of other Revanites, only one other student was named. Once the interrogation was completed each of the Revanites were removed from the academy and shipped to separate correctional facilities to be indulged in the Sith Code. Once the Revanites had been dispatched Philion and Ri'tir returned to Vaikan Spaceport to report to their master Darth Aruk about their troubling findings. Once Philion had given his report he turned to Ri'tir and stated that based on a holorecording of Ri'tir's interrogation chamber he believed he had become a sympathizer of the Revanites, and such should be reeducated in the Sith code. Ri'tir protested, arguing his track record of loyalty to the Empire, but his alien word was nothing compared to Philions. Ri'tir was given no ultimatum, but rather ordered to indulge in the code or be executed, he naturally chose the former, going willingly.

### Knowledge Forbidden

The years Ri'tir spent in the correctional facility had the opposite effect as intended. He already knew all the answers, he knew what to say to make the administrators happy, all he had to do was meditate on the code. This time he spent on the code gave him a great deal of time to think, to think about what he had heard, and what he wasn't meant to hear. The Revanites were a band of naïve fools certainly, but Revan unique view of the force certainly rewarded him. And why were the Sith so worried about differing perspectives on the force, well of course he knew why, his training had taught him such "Fracturing of the faith meant fracturing of the Empire," the logic was sound enough, but Ri'tir was beginning to feel that the dark council may not have known as much about the force as they claimed, perhaps even Emperor Vitiate wasn't as knowledgeable as they said. Ri'tirs questions were without answer here, but he was now determined to find the answers he sought, though dedicated research.

By the time Ri'tir was released the cold war was already in full swing, which very quickly made the Sith significantly for accepting of alien Sith, thanks in large part to the demand for more warriors. Ri'tir was not admitted back into the service of Darth Aruk, effectively making him a free Twi'lek to pursue what he wished, thus he decided to make a pilgrimage to Korriban to seek wisdom from the old Sith. When he arrived at Korriban he immediately requested entry to Ajunta Palls tomb so that he might read the inscriptions on the walls and perhaps even commune with the darkness there to understand the old ways. Unfortunately he was denied entry, with the reason that only those admitted by overseers or Lords would be granted entry. Ri'tir was becoming frustrated with the amount of knowledge he was being denied over and over again. Thus he decided to find a tomb that was not under the control of the Sith Academy. He chose the tomb of a Sith Lord named Lady Hicorous, a Sith alchemist and servant turned traitor of Naga Sadow who apparently created several weapons she intended to use against him. As the brief tale went she was not one to keep secrets, telling the wrong person of her plan who reported to Sadow, leading to a brief confrontation between the two where she was easily bested.

The tomb was very far from the Valley of the Dark Lords, explaining why it was notably untouched by acolytes and archaeologists alike, however, when Ri'tir arrived he found that it had become inhabited by a small Sith powerbase. Imperial troopers adorning orange symbols guarded the entry way, but were very unwell from the scorching heat, Ri'tir found his blades clean cut through each of their dry necks oddly satisfying. He descended in the tomb find inscriptions of her tail on every wall, exactly what he sought. He discovered as he read that the Sith tradition, prior to Naga's ascension lacked to driving ambition that a Sith is expected to have, furthermore, Sadows suggestions of Sith expansion was ostracized by many Dark Lords of the era. This confirmed his suspicions about the current philosophy, it was anything but essential for a Sith to become great.

Ri'tirs reading led him to the main chamber of the tombs, a dome shaped chamber illuminated by flood light lights that looked to be going dim from battery loss. Bodies of a dozen Sith lay scattered about. Hicerous' coffin sat undisturbed in the center of the room, around it were three pedestals, each holding a pyramid shaped holocron. Each carcass seemed to have been killed by these holocrons judging by the way they looked to have been fleeing the center of the chamber. Despite the presence of death in this room Ri'tir could feel a another force circling the room, it become strong and then week in cycles. The closer he become the more powerful the presence became until he felt a burst of air and chill strike his chest, filling his lungs and then his energy. This spirit, -no *these* spirits as he felt multiple- fought his inner being, tearing away at his mind, he could feel his energy slip away and his life leave his body as he fought to live, until he felt a sort of piece come over him. Instead of fighting he released the energy, and immediately it ceased and what he thought were spirits become dormant auras. A trap to deter the Sith, most of whom would never let themselves be killed. Ri'tir collected these trapped holocrons and also unsealed Hicerous' coffin. All that remained was her armor at this point, which he took for himself as well.

He quickly returned to the academy, there he sought out a visiting Sith archeologist who held the title of Darth. He explained to the lord that he knew of a tomb that held untold lore about the ancient Sith, and in exchange for some credit and the title of Lord he would reveal its location. This pragmatic Sith lord agreed, granting him the title of Lord, and later crediting him in his report to the academy. While the research going to another was a waste to Ri'tir, quickly taking for himself the title of Lord, rather then having to prove himself to a representative of the sphere of ancient knowledge seemed far more practical in the long run. He would now have unopposed access to almost all Korriban and Dromund Kaas tombs for further research, and more importantly more philosophical dives.

### Unpaid Patience

In the years following his ascension to Lord, Ri'tir gradually built up a name for himself in the realm of archeology, more so gaining rapport with many piers through his decision to remain entirely independent from the government funded archeological sect, allowing his digs to reap all the credit for their finds, and publish them unblemished regardless of how his finds painted the Empire and the Emperor. Alongside his tomb studies Ri'tir also continued to expand his views of the force and the Sith Order as a whole. With every publication Ri'tir sent out criticizing and redefining the Sith Code the higher tension between he and the Sith became. The main truth of Ri'tirs Sith definition was that the breaking of chains was not intended to implore infighting, but rather primarily to support an apprentices ascension to being the master, and secondarily how the Sith Order should approach opposing governments such as the Republic which had a history of beating the Sith nearly to death time and time over. This view became popular with many younger Sith, many becoming allies and servants of Ri'tir, however, very few held any sort of power within the Empire, any in the Imperial structure who may have supported his view were likely silenced by concern of retaliation from the dark council.

Following the battle of Ilum the Dark Council increased funding for the Sphere of Sith Philosophy to combat the rise of Sith reformists such as Darth Malgus and Serevin, which very quickly led to Ri'tir being visited by an group of Inquisitors who arrested Ri'tir an imprisoned him on Balsavis. There Ri'tir was interrogated by his old master Lord Philion, who was now one of Aruk's most trusted advisors. Philion tortured Ri'tir for months, seeming to have no notable motive aside from punishing his former assistant for betraying the Sith Code. By the time Philion ended his 'interrogation Ri'tir had abandoned all claims to his philosophy and had broken to the point of begging for his own demise. Philion had planned to torture Ri'tir to death but he was apparently vetoed by someone beyond his authority, though Ri'tir was never informed of whom it was. Someone feared that Ri'tirs death would be a call to arms for his followers, leading to a small scale rebellion, or perhaps even some would seek to be dark council members to legislate the change of doctrine. Instead Ri'tir was forced to ally his powerbase with the Sphere of Ancient Knowledge, essentially forcing Ri'tir to continue his archeological research under the eye of Darth Nox, using Nox's recent ascension to the Dark Council as an excuse to explain Ri'tirs sudden change of heart towards accepting government assistance.

Ri'tir, now nearly insane due to the mental torture he endured, threw himself into his work, discovering four previously undiscovered tombs on Korriban, marking him as one of the most successful archeologists in the latter half of the cold war. Ri'tir's monumental finds and his vast knowledge of the Sith history and doctrine gained him a vast amount of respect and after the republic attack on Korriban he was given the title of Darth Doctrous, being placed in charge of rebuilding the Korriban archives and served briefly as the headmaster of the academy during the rebuilding process before being replaced with a more trusted Sith historian. Doctrous remained an educator on Korriban, administrating many of the tomb related tests that acolytes would perform in their journey towards Sith-hood.

When the Eternal Empire attacked Korriban Darth Doctrous fled the academy, hiding himself away in a sand buried tomb. Darth Atroxa's drawn out defeat led to the Eternal Empires occupation of Korriban, during which time Doctrous mediated in this dark, spirit-less tomb. This extended period of silence gave Doctrous an opportunity to reassess where he stood, his mind returned constantly to the Sith code and how it failed the Empire. When the Sith Empire surrendered to the Eternal Empire the occupation quickly ended and the Empire returned to their world. The return of dark side presence informed Doctrous that he was safe to leave his hole, but instead of returning to rebuild the academy once more he returned to the Imperial capital of Dromund Kaas where he learned that the entire dark council, save for Darth Vowrawn and Darth Acina had been eradicated. With Darth Nox apparently dead, and the entire sphere in disarray Doctrous saw opportunity to gain further influence. He returned to a far more watered down view of his previous philosophy, trying to rally despairing Sith around a new philosophy. In time many began to follow him out of desperation, some studying his old publications and others following his spoken word. When Acina proclaimed herself Empress she began to make frequent rallying speeches, some, Doctrous noticed, including some of his own published works, including condemnation of anti-alien sentiment and the dissuading of further Sith infighting. Doctrous contacted one of Acina's servants, asking about the affiliation of this content, the servant denied that Acina knew anything about Doctrous' research.

When Acina announced to the Sith that she had reformed the Dark Council to five seats Doctrous saw opportunity to finally reform the Empire as the seat of Sith Doctrine was presently vacant. He quickly announced his plan to take the seat and a following quickly formed to support his ascension, however he was quickly opposed by a rival Sith named Darth Anathel. Doctrous heavily opposed Anathel as he was a known perpetuator of Sith infighting, and old doctrine, and Doctrous used this as a political weapon. Ultimately though Acina refused Doctrous' claim, sighting his two accounts of incarceration and forced servitude to the sphere of of Ancient Knowledge, all of which being attributed to anti-Empire conduct. The Empress did not necessarily condemn Doctrous' past doctrine or actions, but she would not allow him to take a position of power, instead filling the seat with Darth Anathel. Doctrous was enraged by the outcome and openly condemned Anathel and Acina, regarding them as puppets to Arcann. He was quickly silenced and the speech was hidden from any public transmissions that could reach the Eternal Empire.

### A Matter of Principle

While Doctrous' mouth had been sewed shut with condemnation and threats, his archeological work was far from over. He returned to digging in to tombs of Dromund Kaas, discovering secrets Vitiate had planted long ago. As Doctrous' efforts failed to produce results, so did his will to continue begin to diminish, until finally he chose to end his research on Dromund Kaas, instead he went to Manaan, purchasing a small estate and and remodeling it into a museum and library to display his past few decades of research. It was here where Doctrous would spend all of his time for the next few years, opening his museum to all Sith in exchange for a rather nauseating fee.

While visitors were not frequent, the few who did come usually stayed for multiple weeks to even months as to make the most out of their pilgrimage, nearly no one ever came twice. The exception to the rule was a Sith Lord named Darth Deeskor, an Imperial governor known for defeating her father, Darth Extrovous in a Kaggath. Deeskor would visit for weeks at a time, picking a specific topic to study and delving into it religiously until Doctrous' archives were empty to new knowledge. Doctrous and she grew to be close friends, -as chummy as Sith can be- often having conversations about Deeskors most recent passions or Ri'tirs past archeological exploits. With time their conversations evolved into philosophical discussions, and often heated debates. While the two didn't agree fully on much of the Sith doctrine -Deeskor holding a close affiliation to Acina's new philosophy- the two equally held malice towards the old Sith traditions and hoped for their demise within the Empire.

Upon Empress Acina's death and the ascension of Darth Vowrawn -A known perpetuator of old Sith Doctrine-, Vowrawn visited Deeskor on her planet of Rhen Var. The two discussed for some time the consequences this would have on the Empire as a whole, both agreed it was nothing of value. This assumption was confirmed in their minds when Darth Malgus reemerged as the Empires Wrath, leading an Imperial siege on the Jedi colony of Ossus, showing that Vowrawn would allow traitors to lead the Empire to destruction. The final straw was the Imperial defeat on Corellia, neither were surprised that a battle led by a traitor would fail miserably. Both were enraged to discover that Malgus had gone missing following the battle.

Deeskor, in a calculated rage summoned a group of the Empires few remaining Sith Lords, whom she believed were not blindly subservient to the Emperor and called on them to begin a new initiative to dethrone Vowrawn and reassess the dark councils leadership strategies. In this meeting Doctrous spoke openly for the first time in years on his disagreement with the current interpretation of the Sith code, pointing out its blatant self destructive properties. When the meeting abjured only a handful of the Sith who had been summoned chose to side with Deeskor, the rest went on their way, vowing to condemn any actions Deeskors new Union would take against the Emperor. Those who remained agreed to form the Progressive Union for the Empire

Following the Unions formation Deeskor and Doctrous began traveling the Empire, performing speeches almost daily in opposition to the Emperor, not calling for his downfall, but for his resignation in light of his atrocious handling of the military, but with each event more rallied behind the Union, silently growing their backing. This time Doctrous would not be silent, now with the backing of a healthy opposition movement he made a vow to Deeskor that his testimony would be silenced only with his death, this for him was not a movement, it was a matter of principle.