Celestial Chalice

The Celestial Chalice was a large, round temple located in the Inner Rim planet Pijal's Pijali palace. The tall, glass-domed amphitheater was the only part of the palace complex that could be seen from the sky due to the richly forested area surrounding it. Within the palace's royal reception hall, two well-oiled wooden doors led to the Celestial Chalice's entrance tunnel. The temple's intricate inner entryway was crafted from smooth white stone originally taken from the cliffside of an ocean on Pijal. In contrast to the majority of the royal palace's decor, the Celestial Chalice was opulently decorated with ceiling gilding and a blue tiled floor.

During coronations, the temple's octagonal altar was used as a dais by Pijal's future monarch to address the planet's citizens before they were crowned. The Celestial Chalice had a large number of seats surrounding the dais from which music could be easily heard due to the chamber's echoing acoustics. At some point after inheriting Pijal's throne in 48 BBY, kohlen crystal–powered shields capable of deflecting lightsaber blades were installed in the temple to surround the Celestial Chalice's altar. Additionally, the glass panes forming the domed roof of the amphitheater were altered to become retractable at will.

Built centuries before the Republic Era to honor Pijal's gods and their traditions, the Celestial Chalice was a central part of the world's royal palace. For many years, the temple served as a venue for the Pijali monarchy's sacred ceremonies, which took place two or three times during a monarch's reign. At some point after the Pijali Princess Fanry inherited the right to Pijal's throne in 48 BBY, she made plans to seize power as an absolute monarch at her coronation by refusing to sign the monarchy's Governance Treaty initiative supported by her lord regent, Rael Averross. In preparation for her crowning, she ordered modifications to be made to the Celestial Chalice, including the installation of shields and a retractable roof. After this, the Pijali honor guard trained under the royal guard captain Deren in evacuating a monarch from the temple through its roof using dropships.

While on a mission to protect Fanry in 40 BBY, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn experienced a Force vision in which he saw the princess' coronation in the Celestial Chalice end in violence. Jinn visited the amphitheater, and after finding that his vision's details matched the physical traits of the chamber, he assumed that what he had experienced would come true in the near future. The Jedi Master briefly met the Pijali Minister Orth in the temple, finding her claim of checking the Celestial Chalice's security procedures suspicious due to how late it was at night. In return, she questioned his motives for visiting the temple when tours were given during the day. Jinn's warnings about his vision were ultimately dismissed by those he mentioned it to, including Averross and Orth. In response, Jinn refused to ratify the Governance Treaty at Fanry's coronation on the Galactic Republic's behalf, citing his vision of the temple.

When Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi explained Jinn's refusal to the Jedi High Council, they appointed him as the Republic's official representative in his Master's stead. Upset, Jinn continued to worry about his vision of violence in Celestial Chalice at Fanry's coronation. The day prior to the crowning, the temple's entrances were sealed off under Deren's orders. When Kenobi visited the amphitheater, he was refused entry by royal guards, who cited security protocols. During the coronation, several guests were escorted into the Celestial Chalice and to their seats. As regal music played, Fanry entered the temple and made her way to the room's center dais.

After swearing her loyalty to Pijal, she received a ceremonial sword from the Skykeeper—Pijal's religious leader—and was crowned queen. Fanry proceeded to stab the Skykeeper with the weapon as she ordered Deren to activate kohlen crystal–powered shields that surrounded her dais. After publicly denouncing democratic ideals and the Governance Treaty, she told her captain to eliminate several individuals who did not support her, including Kenobi and Czerka Corporation Sector Supervisor Meritt Col. Using his sabotaged kohlen crystal–powered lightsaber, Kenobi breached the shield protecting Deren and injured him. Horrified by the sight of her injured companion, Fanry escaped from the Celestial Chalice through its roof by using ascending cables to climb into a royal troop dropship with her enslaved attendant Cady.

After the princess's escape, Kenobi surmised that the kyber crystal in his lightsaber had been replaced with a kohlen crystal in an attempt to sabotage it prior to his entry to the Celestial Chalice. Jinn instructed Averross to gather loyal royal guards and have them close the airspace surrounding the amphitheater. Not long after their escape from the Celestial Chalice, Cady betrayed Fanry due to the ruler's lack of sympathy for freeing enslaved workers of the Czerka Corporation. Due to the violent outcome of the coronation, the Republic later ruled that Fanry's coronation was invalid. Before Jinn and Kenobi departed Pijal, Averross felt guilt for failing to listen to the Jedi Master's warnings about his Celestial Chalice vision.

The Celestial Chalice appeared in Master & Apprentice, a 2019 novel written by Claudia Gray. At separate points, the novel indicates that the tiles decorating the Celestial Chalice are "bright-blue," then "midnight-blue." This article documents that the tiles are blue but leaves out the shade inconsistency.