Star Forge

This one will be short but sweet.

The Star Forge was a giant automated ship yard used by the Rakata to, of course, construct ships. It was intended to create the ships for the most powerful army of all time. It was constructed by the Rakata Infinite Empire 30,000 years BBY. The Star Forge drew energy from a nearby star and combined it with the power of the Force to create an endless supply of ships, droids, and other materials they used in their conquering of the Galaxy. However, the merciless Rakata used slave labor to construct it and the Star Forge fed off of their evil ways, and became a tool of great Dark Side energy. Eventually the Star Forge began controlling even the Rakata with the power of the Dark Side. This led to the ultimate destruction of the Rakata. The Star Forge was destroyed years later by Darth Revan, the conflicted Jedi turned Sith, as he was somehow able to repress his own Dark Side abilities to keep from being corrupted by the quasi-living structure.

Qymaen jai Sheelal

Tonight is a kind of two-fer. That's right, tonight we get to learn about two things. The subject of discussion is a known character in the Star Wars universe and is a special request of a friend of mine. Check her out at aaronsmum.blogspot.com.

Qymaen jai Sheelal is a Kaleesh male from the planet Kalee. Kaleesh are a spiritual people who believed that one who did good deeds in life became a god in the after life. They are a reptilian humanoid species with reddish-brown skin and for fingered/toed, clawed limbs. Their faces bore many tusks and their nostrils often stretched from their noses to their eyes. Kaleesh also had pointed ears. They built numerous temples and erected statues to the holiest of Kaleesh after their deaths. For Kaleesh war was essential and sacred. Honor led to many vengeance battles among their tribal social structure. Most Kaleesh were warriors, who, even though they fought amongst themselves constantly, would band together against any common enemy. It is from a common bond that one of their most famous warriors arose, Qymaen jai Sheelal.

Sheelal was a vital part of Kaleesh survival against the Huk in the Huk War. Born on Kalee Sheelal immediately learned the art of war. His skill on the battlefield during the Huk war led to god-like status among his people, even before his death as was custom. It was during this time that he met a master swordswoman that he fell in love with, Ronderu lij Kummar. The two fought valiantly together during the Huk War, but ultimately Ronderu was killed. Distraught Sheelal renamed himself Grievous and fought the Huk off of Kalee and swarmed them on their own homeworld. Overpowered by Grievous, the Huk enlisted in the Republic for help and Jedi were sent to drive back Grevious and his elite to Kalee where they were left to starve.

Grievous was desperate to help his people and took a job as an enforcer for Intergalactic Banking Clan. However it was not long before word got to Grievous that the Huk had once again invaded Kalee. Immediately he arranged to leave the IBC and return to his homeworld on his ship the Martyr, but by leaving he would pay a hefty price. The IBC Chairman consulted with Count Dooku and had a bomb placed on the ship. It exploded, but Grievous survived the explosion and resulting crash. The Chairman had Grievous apprehended and reconstructed his body with cyborg parts. He then gave the new and improved Grievous to Count Dooku to be used as a weapon in the upcoming war planned by Dooku.

Grievous was made Supreme Commander of the Confederation and wreaked havoc on the Republic for three years during the Clone Wars. He was trained in the art of Lightsaber dueling by Dooku and because of his cyborg limbs, was able to wield four lightsabers simultaneously. The lightsabers he used were said to have been taken from the many Jedi Grievous killed. His superb leadership skills kept the Republic reeling and drove fear into the hearts of many with Operation Durge's Lance, a massive strike on the Core planets.

In 19 BBY Grievous succeeded in taking Chancellor Palpatine from his office on Coruscant and held him captive. However, before he could flee, the Republic Navy led by Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker boarded his ship and freed Palpatine. It came at a great loss, Dooku was killed by Skywalker. Unable to keep military control in the Core after Dooku's death, Grievous fled to Utapau and tried to regain control of the battle. He was followed by Obi-Wan Kenobi and after a harsh duel was killed. The confederacy fell soon after.

Grievous death was not good news everywhere, however, as on his homeworld of Kalee a great statue of his cyborg self was erected in a holy temple. He had, at least to the Kaleesh, become a god after all.

Ulic Qel-Droma

Here's a little Star Wars "ancient" history for you. Today's topic is a character from the Old Republic Era of the Star Wars universe.

Ulic Qel-Droma was a young Jedi Knight human, who like most heroes was tragic. He was born to a Jedi mother on Alderaan and had a brother named Cay. Ulic was found to be strong in the Force and was sent to train under Arca Jeth. In 4,000 B.B.Y., he along with two others, was sent to the planet Onderon to resolve the Beast Wars conflict. However, things are not as they always seem. Once there they found the leader of the uprising, Queen Amanoa to be a darksider. With the help of Arca Jeth they were able to destroy Amanoa and her influence on Onderon.

At least that's what they thought.

Two years later, the Freedon Nadd Uprising began. Again Ulic and Cay were dispatched to take care of the problem. After killing their King, who had been aided by Nadd's spirit, Onderon was finally free.

Upon arriving home Ulic found that two new darksiders were threatening an entire star system. He was sent to dispose of the threat with his newfound love Nomi Sunrider, but was met with heartfelt defeat when his master was killed and his fleet destroyed. Driven to desperation, Ulic joined their ranks as a supposed Fallen Jedi and over time actually came to believe in the ways in which he practiced.

Ulic became a Dark Lord of the Sith, second in rank only to Exar Kun the man who had shown him the true power of the Dark Side. Together they went on a rampage igniting one of the fiercest battles with the Sith the Jedi had ever faced, the Great Sith War. Their plan was simple, conquer the galaxy.

And they were nearly successful.

Near the end of the war Ulic battled his brother Cay. Distraught with his brother's betrayal of the Force, Cay had no choice but to duel Ulic. They fought furiously, ultimately leading to the death of Cay. Grief-stricken by his mistake, Ulic immediately denounced the Dark Side, but not before Nomi Sunrider, his former love, cut him off from the Force. Permanently. Broken, Ulic wandered the galaxy for nearly a decade afterward.

It wasn't until he met Nomi's daughter Vima that he would be truly redeemed. Shortly after his redemption Ulic was killed by a spacer named Hoggan, but like all great Jedi Ulic became one with the Force. His spirit would survive on for nearly 3,500 years before he met and gave advice to another tragic character Anakin Skywalker, the boy who would become Darth Vader.

Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes

What a better way to start off a Star Wars blog about obscure topics and characters than with Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes. They are the band inside the cantina Luke and Obi-Wan visit during "A New Hope." And they play that same song, over and over.

Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes is an all Bith (that's their race) band famous for their somber looks, and even more somber hit "Mad About Me" which plays here in this cantina.

Just in case you do not know, Bith are a peaceful and highly evolved species from the planet Clak'dor VII. They are an intellegent race that tend to take to professions involving science or technology. Their large heads make them stand out and often have pale pink or yellow skin. They have large bulbous black eyes that can see even the minutest of details in an object. As a result they are very short sighted.

An average Bith is between 1.5-1.7 meters tall. Due to their dependency on technology, Bith do not reproduce naturally. Instead they bring their genetic material to a DNA computer and children are "grown" for a gestation period of a year.

Bith do not sleep as they have evloved past the need for sleep. Instead they enter a light medatative state and get enough rest in 4 hours that a human or other race would get in 8.