Blight

This affliction, the blight, was hypothetically considered a disease that caused desiccation, possibly linked to the Nameless species. It impacted all matter, encompassing living entities like people, animals, and plants, as well as inanimate objects such as landscapes and structures. Matter affected by the blight lost its color and vitality, transforming into a calcified husk resembling carbon mineral substances like rock, pumice, or ash. The blight's effect mirrored the Nameless' impact on Force-sensitive individuals. Those sensitive to the Force perceived the blight as devoid of life, as if the Force actively avoided it.

The blight exhibited a chalky gray color, marked with white lines, suggesting a diseased state. On skin, it manifested as a scab-like growth with jagged edges and tendrils, seemingly attempting to expand. Land consumed by the blight retained its shape, preserving the outlines of terrain and flora, but with all color and life extracted. The blight's edge was uneven, resembling a slowly spreading liquid. In certain areas, the blight appeared to crumble or disintegrate. From space, blighted land appeared shadowed and enveloped in white and gray.

The blight would eventually kill living organisms it infected, but the process was gradual, spanning several hours. Medical treatments such as rejuve and hydro-gel proved ineffective in healing those affected; the only way to halt the blight was to remove the afflicted body part. Individuals infected with a small patch of blight experienced no pain or sensation.

The blight, appearing sporadically across various worlds, propagated slowly through contact with infected matter. It was not airborne, and unlike mold, it did not spread via spores. Biologist Elping Tsoo further observed that the blight did not resemble a fungus or ameboid parasite; instead, its aftereffects seemed akin to a sprayed weapon. Even then, Tsoo, perplexed, admitted his ignorance of the blight's true nature. Upon encountering blight victims, he was uncertain whether they were consumed by the blight or transformed into it. Preventing the blight's spread was possible by removing the affected part and containing it in stasis within a containment field, although its effects could still extend to matter within the field.

The rate of transformation varied depending on the type of matter, including crystalline and natural volcanic structures versus metallic alloys. The blight could consume living beings at a similar rate to land. The blight's spread was imperceptible over short durations, yet its nature gave the impression of movement. It consumed not only the surface of terrain but also spread underground. Terrain beyond the blight's boundary remained healthy until the affliction reached it; similarly, unaffected body parts of an infected individual remained unharmed.

In 382 BBY, during a mission to Planet X to gather Nameless eggs for use against the Jedi Order, the Path of the Open Hand encountered the Under-Dwellers. Bokana Koss, a member of the team, experienced a disturbing Force vision about a forthcoming "blight" that would be unstoppable, warning Guide of the Open Hand Marda Ro that the Force would be "chained" and "no more" after its arrival. He further noted that the Under-Dwellers sought to spread as a "blight upon the galaxy's lands." Koss believed the Under-Dwellers desired the mission's success to initiate their blight, but one of the creatures attacked and ended Koss's vision.

By 228 BBY, during the Galactic Republic and Jedi Order's conflict with the Nihil marauders, the blight had begun to spread randomly across worlds in the galaxy. In that year, it appeared on the moon of the Outer Rim planet Arli, within the Nihil's Occlusion Zone. The blight expanded, consuming part of a valley near the city of Birage, including the Iliri Spine ridge and the land containing the family manor of the San Tekka family members residing on the moon. It also desiccated the cave systems beneath the valley, causing waterways and rivers to dry up. Within weeks, the blight covered approximately half of the moon, with resident Harth Sparkburn predicting its consumption of the entire moon within three more weeks.

The residents of Birage attempted experiments on the blight, throwing various objects into it as a test. However, lacking proper equipment, they couldn't determine the infection's pattern or speed. Tiliqana, Birage's head medic, tried to collect blight samples using medical waste procedures, but her containers were destroyed, and she was infected, ultimately dying from the affliction. After realizing its effect on animals and people, some residents managed to escape, but the Nihil eventually prevented further departures, leaving three starships in orbit. The residents suspected Nihil involvement in the blight, but even the pirates were wary of it.

Jordanna Sparkburn and Cair San Tekka, members of the San Tekka family, traveled to Arli's moon aboard the cruiser Brightbird to find Jordanna's relatives. After evading Nihil vessels—which didn't follow them into the atmosphere—they flew over the blighted landscape, unable to comprehend the affliction, before landing at Birage. They were greeted by Harth and other residents, who initially hesitated to discuss the blight but eventually explained what they knew.

When Jordanna expressed a desire to see the blight firsthand, Harth led her and San Tekka to its edge. While inspecting the blight, the terrain collapsed beneath them due to the desiccation of the caves below, pulling Jordanna and Harth down. San Tekka helped rescue them before they fell, but in doing so, he unknowingly touched the blight, which spread to his hand's knuckle. After avoiding the landslide, the trio realized the cave system extended under Birage, prompting them to rush back to rescue the residents. The remaining population of Birage boarded the Brightbird and escaped the moon, evading the Nihil in orbit.

In hyperspace, Harth's daughter Peach noticed the blight on San Tekka's hand. As the Brightbird's passengers panicked, San Tekka recalled everything he had touched, including Peach and parts of the ship. While San Tekka suggested isolating himself in an escape pod and launching after exiting hyperspace, Jordanna proposed amputating the hand, reasoning that since nothing else he had touched was changing, the rest of his body might be safe. San Tekka retrieved a beam-generated containment field, and with Harth and his wife, Essren, assisting, Jordanna used her Merry Maker laser blade weapon to sever the hand. Harth activated the containment field, trapping the blight—which had nearly consumed the forefinger by that point—in stasis.

Despite San Tekka's concerns about the attempt's effectiveness, he survived the amputation of his blighted hand, which was completely consumed within two hours. After escaping to the planet Seswenna, Jordanna, sickened by the blight and unsure whether it was a Nihil superweapon or an unknown entity from Wild Space, resolved to deliver the hand to the Republic and the Jedi. Storing the containment field in a plastic alloy case, Jordanna gave the blight sample to Jedi Knight Vernestra Rwoh after escaping the Occlusion Zone, informing her about the affliction.

Rwoh brought the blight sample to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, delivering it to the Jedi Council. It was then passed on to Knight Reath Silas, who was investigating the Nameless with former Jedi Azlin Rell. He presented the blighted hand to Rell, who initially thought it was from a Jedi killed by the Nameless. Silas clarified that it wasn't a Jedi's hand and that no Nameless were present. Upon hearing Silas's description of the blight, Rell declared that something was coming for "them." Silas inquired whether Rell meant the Nihil or the Nameless, but the former Jedi shook his head, uttered a name, and laughed when the Knight demanded to know.

Eventually, Silas and Rell discovered a connection between the Nameless and the blight. While Grand Master [Yoda](/article/yoda] acknowledged their lead, suggesting that recent events might be interconnected, he ordered them to suspend their investigation temporarily to travel to Banchii, where Rell's old journal was located. On that world, the Drengir species, naturally connected to the dark side of the Force but seemingly forced into slumber after the battle on Mulita, had re-emerged. Since then, the Drengir—sharing a collective consciousness known as the root-mind—became aware of the blight, which they identified as diseased roots spreading across the galaxy. Realizing the blight was near Banchii, the Drengir re-emerged and possessed local corpses, using them to warn the people of Banchii to flee.

When Rell, Silas, and Yoda arrived on Banchii, he sensed fear from everyone, including the Drengir, whom Rell deduced were afraid of the Nameless or something worse. Eventually, a Drengir emerged with the possessed bodies, using one to warn the Jedi of the blight's approach and urge everyone to escape. However, their discussion was interrupted by the arrival of Nihil forces under Ministry of Advancement scientist Niv Drendow Apruk, who brought Nameless with him.

The blight was first hinted at in the 2023 novel The High Republic: Path of Vengeance, penned by Cavan Scott as part of the Star Wars: The High Republic multimedia initiative's Phase II. It later appeared in the novel The High Republic: Defy the Storm, authored by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland and released on March 5, 2024 as part of the initiative's Phase III. The blight received its first visual depiction in the short story "Tales from the Occlusion Zone: Pathogen," written by Lydia Kang, illustrated by Jake Lunt Davies, and published in Star Wars Insider 225 on April 30 of that year.