Tomb of Marka Ragnos

Carved into the rock face of the lower valley, the tomb of Sith Lord Marka Ragnos was actually built by the Sith Lord Tulak Hord long before Ragnos's reign. Upon Ragnos' death, a funeral procession climbed the massive stair case which led deep into the heart of the tomb. Following the burial, rival Lords Naga Sadow and Ludo Kressh dueled upon the tomb's outer courtyard as both Sith vied for Ragnos' title. The tomb was sealed and Ragnos' slaves buried with him, and with Sadow victorious the Sith Empire was led to war with the Galactic Republic. The Empire was utterly ruined during the costly war with the Republic as Sadow retreated and a portion of the Empire fled to Dromund Kaas. The Republic's leader Supreme Chancellor Pultimo ordered the destruction of Korriban and saw to the bombing of the Valley of the Dark Lords; the tomb lay buried under sand and rubble for millennia as the spirits of the Sith seethed under the surface of the ruined world.

Several centuries after the fall of the Sith Empire, Darth Revan returned to the known galaxy as the head of an Empire and took up residence on Korriban during the Jedi Civil War. When Revan was captured by the Jedi Order and realigned with the light side of the Force, he returned to Korriban in the guise of an acolyte and infiltrated the rebuilt Sith Academy there. During his stay, he explored Ragnos' tomb fighting through the many tuk'ata which guarded the entrance, as well as some droid protectors. Retrieving an ancient relic from the tomb to impress the Headmaster of the Sith Academy, Uthar Wynn, Revan abandoned the tomb in favor of searching the nearby tomb of Naga Sadow.

During the Dark Wars just a few years after the disappearance of Revan his old ally, Meetra Surik returned to Korriban in search of the Lost Jedi; in her search she noted that the tomb of Marka Ragnos had been badly damaged by intense sandstorms and its entrance blocked. Millennia would pass and the tomb would go on hidden under sand and debris as the Sith were driven from the galaxy and the Jedi Order maintained a strict quarantine of the planet.

When the True Sith Empire returned to Korriban at the beginning of the Great Galactic War, teams were sent into the Valley by Darth Thanaton to excavate the tombs and ruins and restore the Valley to its prestigious existence. Teams entered the tomb of Marka Ragnos and cleared out the rubble as they searched for ancient artifacts and tools of power. By the time of the Cold War, the Sith had uncovered the tomb's reliquary and the burial chamber; though the ceremonial entrance remained buried in the rock face. Despite the progress, many of the acolytes and slaves working in the area went mad and roamed the massive forecourt attacking all those who neared the tomb.

During the Cold War, many Sith, especially young acolytes still in training, visited the tomb as part of their training. Aside from those who went mad inside the tomb, Sith deserters occupied areas attacking the apprentices more successful at the academy then they had been. At this time the future Emperor's Wrath traveled into the tomb of Ragnos to slay the Beast of Marka Ragnos as part of his trials. Sith acolyte Kallig, also went there to acquire a Sith holocron that no Sith had been able to acquire in thousands of years.

Millennia later a group known as the Disciples of Ragnos repaired the tomb at great expense, uncovering the main entrance which had not seen the light of day since before the Jedi Civil War. Resurfacing the interior rooms and relighting the torches within, the Disciples were able to pose a threat to the Jedi Order of the era for sometime, culminating in an aggressive assault on the Valley by the Jedi. Seeking to resurrect Ragnos one of the Disciples' leaders, Tavion Axmis, used the Scepter of Ragnos to enter the tomb and call out the ancient Sith Lord's spirit which quickly possessed her body. Jedi Knight Jaden Korr hunted down Axmis and was able to slay her and banish the spirit of Ragnos forever. Sealing the tomb's entrance, Korr ensured that Ragnos would never return and the Disciples were quickly destroyed and the crisis ended.

A massive, sprawling tomb with many deep chambers and traps, the tomb of Sith Lord Marka Ragnos was made of stone and stood over the lower area of the Valley of the Dark Lords on Korriban. Located along the southern wall of the Valley, the tomb's main entrance was located at the top of a steep staircase which terminated at a small platform. The rock around the tomb's ceremonial entrance was carved in the likeness of the deceased Sith from the waist up; his open palms rested on either side of the platform and large fires could be lit on either. Within the ceremonial entrance was the grand burial chamber. A long corridor lined with statues of nodding kings seated on their thrones loomed over passers-by, leading into an opulent chamber which ended in a larger then life statue of Marka Ragnos, seated on a massive throne.

The secondary entrance was located on the ground level of the Valley and was known as the burial grounds, as it housed the tombs of Ragnos' slaves and servants. During the time of the Cold War, the area had been infested by tuk'ata, including a mutated beast which proved to be of great interest to Sith Lord Renning. Nearby was the entrance to the reliquary which was frequented by many Sith acolytes and academy deserters alike. Deep within, Ragnos had crafted a massive pyramid to hold his holocron for all eternity. Placed at the apex of the pyramid, the holocron could only be freed with the dark side of the Force exerted through a true Sith.

A number of different layouts and appearances have been given to the Valley and the tombs that exist therein in various publications. In this article, the layout of the tomb as seen in Star Wars: The Old Republic is described as it is the latest source to describe it visually.

• Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic: Prima's Official Strategy Guide
• Star Wars: The Old Republic Explorer's Guide