The Abyss compasses, alternatively referred to as Wayfinder compasses, represent devices conceived by Jedi Master Santari Khri during the High Republic Era. These compasses emerged as part of a research initiative by the Galactic Republic on the planet Koboh. Utilizing the navigational records from the uncharted journey of fellow Jedi Master Dagan Gera, the compasses' purpose was to guide voyagers safely through the perilous Koboh Abyss, thereby enabling access to the concealed realm of Tanalorr.
Several centuries prior to the Imperial Era, the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order jointly established a research outpost—under the direction of Jedi Master Santari Khri—on the planet Koboh and its satellite. The aim was to facilitate the investigation of a lethal stellar anomaly in proximity, known as the Koboh Abyss. Initial attempts to navigate the Abyss proved catastrophic, nearly causing the Republic to abandon the project. However, the distinguished Jedi Dagan Gera volunteered to venture into the Abyss alone, charting an unexplored course.
Remarkably, Gera survived, discovering the idyllic world of Tanalorr concealed within the Abyss. Drawing upon the data from Gera's expedition, Khri engineered the Abyss compasses, which were designed to guide a starship safely through the Abyss's treacherous pathways.
Following the Nihil marauders' attack on Tanalorr and the subsequent order to evacuate the planet, the Jedi Council mandated the destruction of all Abyss compasses. Their reasoning was that the Nihil must have acquired one to traverse the Abyss. Nevertheless, three compasses remained unaccounted for; however the only intact one was kept by Khri herself. As the compasses were systematically destroyed, Gera's resentment toward the Jedi Council for abandoning the planet he had deemed his new home intensified into a deadly rage, leading him to murder several Jedi who were attempting to destroy the compasses.
Gera returned to the lunar facility to retrieve the final compass from Khri and return to Tanalorr; however, Khri refused to relinquish it. The ensuing confrontation resulted in Khri severing Gera's right arm. She then ordered that he be placed in the Forest Array's Rehabilitation Wing in a bacta tank to be given a second chance at life, as she then placed the compass within her personal observatory above Koboh's surface.
At a later time, an Emergence caused Koboh's moon to shatter, triggering a cataclysm on the planet below, which prompted the Republic to evacuate. Subsequently, Khri instructed ZN-A4 to descend underground, reach the Forest Array, and awaken Gera, delivering a final message from her—seek Khri out, or continue his obsession with Tanalorr. After giving this final order, she left the planet. Zee was, however, trapped within the Chamber of Duality under rubble for the next two hundred years, Gera remaining in stasis and the compass remaining in the observatory untouched.
In 9 BBY, following Cal Kestis's crash landing on Koboh, he discovered Zee beneath the Rambler's Reach Outpost, who entrusted him with her mission. Subsequently, Kestis awakened Gera, who resumed his mission to return to Tanalorr.
Gera soon located the final compass and journeyed to Khri's observatory, closely pursued by Kestis and his ally Bode Akuna. In a final confrontation within the observatory's Grand Oculus, Kestis and Akuna killed the fallen Jedi. Although the compass sustained damage during the duel, it remained repairable. Kestis and Akuna then departed for Jedha to seek the assistance of Jedi Master Eno Cordova, whom they believed capable of repairing the compass.
While Cordova successfully repaired the compass, Akuna betrayed Kestis and the crew of the Stinger Mantis to the Galactic Empire and murdered Cordova, stealing the compass. Akuna intended to use Tanalorr as a sanctuary for himself and his daughter Kata. He was also a former Jedi and a reluctant mole from the Imperial Security Bureau who disagreed with Kestis and the Mantis crew planning to use the planet as an endpoint for the Hidden Path, as he believed it would endanger Kata. After retrieving his daughter from the ISB base in the Nova Garon system, Akuna set off for Tanalorr, pursued by Kestis and the Mantis crew. After Kestis found an alternative way to reach Tanalorr, he and Akuna fought one final duel in the ruins of the Jedi temple on the planet, resulting in Akuna's death.
Kestis then took possession of the final Abyss compass for the Mantis crew and intended to utilize it to transform Tanalorr into a haven for those persecuted by the Empire.
The Abyss compass was conceived for the 2023 video game Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, playing a pivotal role in the game's narrative.