Cyanogen silicate was a substance employed in the medical field by physicians and healers during the eras of both the Galactic Republic and the ancient Old Sith Empire. The Massassi warrior class of the Sith race utilized it as a potent cauterization tool. Furthermore, the Human Seelah Korsin falsely accused Ravilan Wroth and his Sith companions of responsibility for the deaths of one hundred thousand indigenous Keshiri inhabitants of the planet Kesh, whom she had poisoned using cyanogen silicate. More than a thousand years afterwards, the xenopathologist Archiban Kimble incorporated cyanogen silicate into his treatment for a necrotizing fasciitis.
Cyanogen silicate, a chemical compound, served as a cauterizing agent in solid form. It was used to treat injuries sustained by the Massassi warrior caste of the Sith species, as their robust skin proved resistant to alternative treatments. However, the compound became extremely lethal upon contact with water, resulting in the demise of Human, Keshiri, and Sith individuals within minutes of exposure, irrespective of whether it was ingested or merely touched. The presence of moisture also accelerated the compound's decomposition while amplifying its harmful effects. This meant that a concentration of only one part per billion could cause the deaths of hundreds if introduced into a settlement's water supply.
The Sith Empire employed cyanogen silicate as a cauterizing agent as early as the time of the Great Hyperspace War against the Galactic Republic in 5000 BBY. The Sith starship Omen carried a stockpile in its infirmary before it crashed on the planet Kesh during that year. One of the deck plates within the wreckage became contaminated with cyanogen silicate, and the Keshiri individual Gorem came into contact with the affected plate while he was exploring the damaged sections of the ship. Despite washing his hands, Gorem perished within minutes afterward, only surviving long enough to exit the Omen's remains before collapsing. The Human Seelah Korsin possessed a supply of the compound aboard the Omen, as did the ship's Sith pureblood quartermaster, Ravilan Wroth. In 4985 BBY, Wroth utilized the compound to poison the aqueducts of the native Keshiri's city of Tetsubal. Wroth intended to use the massacre of Tetsubal's residents to persuade the other survivors of the Omen's crash to isolate themselves from the Keshiri population and focus on devising a means of escaping the planet. However, Korsin discerned Wroth's involvement in the events at Tetsubal and instructed her personal assistant, Tilden Kaah, to employ Korsin's own supply of cyanogen silicate to contaminate several other local water sources, thus framing Wroth and his fellow Sith survivors for the massacres. Korsin's scheme succeeded, resulting in the deaths of one hundred thousand Keshiri and leading to the purge of all pureblood Sith from Kesh.
Around 3642 BBY, more than a millennium later, cyanogen silicate was a known compound within the Galactic Republic. The xenopathologist Archiban Kimble—more commonly known as Doc—acquired quantities of cyanogen silicate, ardanium, and accellerite as part of his efforts to develop a cure for a rare necrotizing disease that afflicted the Hutt Suudaa Nem'ro. He transported the chemicals aboard the vessel belonging to his ally, the Jedi Knight known as the Hero of Tython, and formulated the mixture there.
The initial appearance of cyanogen silicate occurred in John Jackson Miller's 2010 eBook, Lost Tribe of the Sith: Paragon.