Star Wars: The Sith War - Setting and Background Primer

[Sen. Cruith'ne]

The current Galactic Year is 1882 BBY. You don't call it 1882 BBY, of course, thanks to that 'B' in 'BBY', but it shouldn't come up a whole lot.

The past several hundred years have seen little progress in the Galaxy. Those of you who have studied history should know that several hundred years ago, the Republic was on the verge of collapse after a series of prolonged battles with a clan of spacefaring warriors from the Outer Rim known as the "Mandalorians". At first, taking only small colonies on the far reaches of the Galaxy, they slowly began to move inward, causing stress on the Republic. Feeling this pressure, the Republic eventually asked the Jedi Council - then at the height of their power - to intervene, though the Jedi denied them, for reasons known now only to a select few.

As the fighting became more intense and the Republic felt the fear of the Mandalorians coming to their own borders, it was two Jedi by the name of Revan and Malak who defied the council and, taking some third of the Jedi as their disciples, fought back against the Mandalorian threat. During a series of bloody and gruesome battles that followed, Revan and Malak fought against not only the Mandalorians, but the Jedi Council as well, who became convinced that Revan and Malak had fallen to the Sith, something that Revan and Malak both had come to admit.

The final battle of the now-called Mandalorian Wars took place on Malachor V, an isolated planet on the Outer Rim. There, Revan was killed by his apprentice, Malak, who seized control of the Sith. The Mandalorians had been all but exterminated, and the Jedi had been whittled down to a handful, who scattered to the far reaches of space to hide.

Shortly thereafter, there arose another Jedi, thought lost, calling himself Revan, who sought to unify the shattered pieces of the Republic and piece the Jedi Order back together. Revan failed on at this second task, but did great good throughout the Galaxy before slaying Darth Malak and disappearing suddenly from the Galactic stage.

It was only a few short years later when a new group of Jedi entered the equation, claiming to speak for the old Jedi Council and the last of the fallen Masters. Over centuries, they built the Jedi back up into a respectable order, doing much good to aid the rebuilding of the Republic, still reeling from the aftermath of the Mandalorian Wars.

That was over five hundred years ago. Now, the Jedi are once again the sagelike and benevolent advisers to a mostly whole Republic. But all is not well. Once again, the Mandalorians bark at the edges of the Galaxy, having also recovered from their centuries of defeat. And worse still, rumors abound throughout the Galaxy that the Sith may have returned; some even claim to have seen them with their own eyes.

It is a time of fragile peace in the Galaxy, but even now, the winds of war carry charnel scents on the coming horizon. The peace will be short-lived. All that remains is to see who breaks it.