Welcome to your liberation, you slave to the prison of sanity. Your petty HoloNet Uplink shall be our herald of fear. It cannot be deactivated now. Submit to the whispers of terror gnawing from within. Embrace your salvation through madness.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WvlqY9iUl4[/embedyt]
ORICON
Astronavigation Data: Oricon system, Corva Sector, Outer Rim region
Orbital Metrics: 384 days per year / 22 hours per day
Government: none
Population: no permanent population
Languages: Sith
Terrain: lava flows, badlands, mountains
Major Cities: none
Areas of Interest: the Dread Ruins, Darth Vitus’ compound, various shipwrecks
Major Exports: none
Major Imports: none
Trade Routes: none
Special Conditions: volcanic conditions require protective equipment, and a lingering darkness threatens to taint anyone sensitive to the Force
Background: A remote moon far from any major hyperspace routes, Oricon is a volcanic moon forever tainted by heinous Sith experiments. Originally selected by the ancient Sith Lord Vitus as a secluded home for alchemical research, the world served as a sort of proving ground for weapons powered by the Dark Side. The moon was most notably used as a base for the Dread Masters, a six-strong cabal of Sith Lords during the time of Vitiate’s Sith Empire. Over the years Oricon’s rocky, volcanic landscape has been blasted by the energies of these tests into a shattered hellscape.
Oricon is host to many shipwrecks and a sizable debris field in orbit. Many warships were destroyed during a major battle against the Dread Masters. Some of these hulking wrecks hang in low orbit above the moon, while most have crashed onto the surface. These wrecks are primarily ancient starships, but a few modern vessels have joined the graveyard, the remains of failed looting expeditions.
Alchemical abominations roam the world, congregating at sites of dark side energy. These twisted beasts survive by drawing strength from these energies, but they remain hungry for live prey. Unprepared missions to Oricon, thinking the world lifeless and rich in salvage, have been surprised by savage attacks. Most such missions have ended in total failure, their ships added to the graveyard. A trickle of lone survivors have returned to civilization over the centuries, but generally so stricken by madness that few details could be gleaned from the survivors’ paranoid rantings.
As with many worlds linked to ancient Force wielders, Oricon does not exist on any official starchart. References to the system’s proximity to a “Seat of the Empire” administrative sector provides one clue. Rumors occasionally spread of yet another failed expedition to Oricon, leaving the possibility of tracking down survivors in an attempt to distill the moon’s location from the ravings of the insane. It is also whispered that the Empire’s own Force wielders, the secretive Inquisitorius, retain accurate charts of ancient Jedi and Sith worlds so that they may keep watch in the name of their Emperor.
THE DREAD RUINS
All that remains of the Dread Fortress, these expansive ruins of stone and durasteel still resonate with a dark power. Constructed by thousands of slaves during the reconstituted Sith Empire of Vitiate, this citadel was home to the Dread Masters’ research into the mysterious Phobis devices. Fragmented histories say the Dread Masters turned against their Empire, and were eventually dispatched by a desperate alliance of Republic and Sith operatives. The fortress was destroyed, but the world proved too dangerous to be cleansed.
The fortress is now a shattered ruin on the top level, home to alchemical beasts and the mangled remains of would be archaeologists and scavengers. Deeper within, the ruins are a maze of twisting corridors and collapsed tunnels. Protected by more than mere traps, each defensive measure was designed to use fear as a weapon. Cruel devices designed to kill interlopers in horrifying ways serve as tools of demoralization against survivors; it was the Dread Masters’ wish to have each step forward take a toll on the attacker’s sanity. Beyond the physical threats, the ruins are protected by an intense aura of fear and darkness. It is within these halls that the Dread Masters’ lingering power is most strong. Only the most disciplined can escape this mind twisting force. For those who succeed, the inner most vaults remain untouched, a powerful incentive to risk one’s life and sanity.
Christopher Hunt
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