Keshiri uprising in Keshtah

Around 5000 BBY, the Sith Empire starship called the Omen experienced a catastrophic crash landing on the isolated Wild Space planet known as Kesh. This occurred after a failed attempt to transport lignan ores to the forces of Naga Sadow, a Sith Lord, stationed on Kirrek during the Great Hyperspace War. Captain Yaru Korsin led the predominantly Human Sith crew, miners, and soldiers in convincing the indigenous Keshiri, a purple-skinned near-Human species, that they were the Skyborn, revered deities in Keshiri beliefs. The Keshiri geologist Adari Vaal aided the Sith, having previously faced persecution from the ruling religious elite, the Neshtovar, for her theory that tectonic plates shaped Kesh's landmasses, contradicting the Skyborn's creation narrative. Korsin convinced Vaal to assist their escape, and she persuaded the Neshtovar that the newcomers were the Skyborn returning to Kesh. Subsequently, the Sith occupied the former residences of the Neshtovar in Tahv, establishing themselves as the new ruling class on the continent of Keshtah Minor. Quarra Thayn attained a respected position in this emerging society as the "Daughter of the Skyborn" because of her pivotal role in establishing contact with the Tribe.

Although the Tribe initially intended to repair their damaged starship and return to space, the scarcity of metal on Kesh and the malfunction of their technology rendered this impossible. By 4985 BBY, many Sith had accepted Kesh as their permanent home, abandoning hopes of returning to the stars. They took up residence in a mountainside temple located near their crashed starship. While the Keshiri initially embraced the Sith as the returning Skyborn, discontent and animosity towards the offworlders began to surface fifteen years after their arrival. Conflicts between the Human Sith and the Red Sith resulted in the widespread Cyanogen silicate poisoning that claimed the lives of approximately one hundred thousand Keshiri in the Ragnos Lakes region. Ravilan Wroth, the Red Sith leader, orchestrated the poisoning of Tetsubal's water supply, resulting in the deaths of 18,000 Keshiri villagers, in an attempt to force the Tribe's leadership to abandon Kesh. However, Seelah Korsin, Korsin's wife, discovered Wroth's scheme and framed the Red Sith by poisoning four other Keshiri cities, including Rabolow. This provided justification for a purge targeting all Red Sith, ensuring the Tribe's exclusively Human composition for the next five millennia.

The Sith officially attributed the mass fatalities in the lake towns to the residents' lack of faith in the Tribe's divinity. However, Keshiri insiders with close ties to the Tribe, including Adari Vaal and the scholar Tilden Kaah, knew the truth. The Ragnos Lakes tragedy led to the formation of an underground Keshiri resistance movement spearheaded by Adari Vaal, the Daughter of the Skyborn, who came to realize the Sith were not the Skyborn. Other grievances against the Sith included the deaths of numerous Keshiri laborers during construction projects and a new decree issued by the Tribe prohibiting Keshiri from owning uvak, winged reptilian beasts of burden considered a status symbol in Keshiri society. Uvak had traditionally been used by Keshiri riders to transmit news. Following the Ragnos Lakes mass deaths, the Sith sought to control the dissemination of information throughout Keshtah Minor. This loss of status motivated several Neshtovar, including descendants of Izri Dazh, Vaal's former tormentor, to join the Keshiri resistance.

Adari Vaal's personal grievances against the Sith stemmed from the death of her eldest son, Finn Vaal, who volunteered for a Keshiri work crew on a Sith construction project. The young man fell from a poorly constructed scaffolding, sustaining fatal injuries. In an attempt to save his life, Adari transported her son to the Tribe's mountainside temple. However, Yaru Korsin was unable to save Finn's life, confirming Adari's suspicions that the Sith were not gods and that their doctors were more interested in studying the effects of Keshiri diseases on Humans. Despite her privileged position in Keshiri society and her close relationship with Yaru Korsin, Vaal was fully aware that the Sith had manipulated Keshiri religion to subjugate the Keshiri people. She sympathized with her countrymen's plight and blamed herself for bringing this "plague" upon them. For the next decade, Vaal meticulously planned to permanently expel the Sith from Kesh.

In 4975 BBY, Grand Lord Yaru Korsin, who had appointed himself to the position, ordered the construction of new buildings on the Circle Eternal plaza in the capital city of Tahv to commemorate the Tribe's twenty-fifth anniversary on Kesh. By this point, the Tribe had abandoned any hope of returning to the galaxy and prepared to relocate from their mountain retreat to Tahv, now regarded as the "jewel of Kesh." The Tribe numbered around six hundred individuals. Being outnumbered by the Keshiri, they relied on the Neshtovar to administer the vast continent. Adari Vaal, feigning loyalty to Korsin, attended the celebrations. Other attendees included Korsin's wife, Seelah Korsin, her elder son, Jariad Korsin (who held the title of High Lord), and their daughter, Nida Korsin. Unbeknownst to Adari and Yaru, Seelah and Jariad were also plotting to assassinate Grand Lord Korsin. After reading Vaal's mind, Seelah realized that Yaru had murdered her husband, Devore Korsin, shortly after the Omen's crash landing on Kesh. She intended to install her son, Jariad, as the new Grand Lord.

Following the ceremony, Jariad Korsin and his Sith Sabers, a ceremonial honor guard specializing in lightsaber combat, departed for the Northern Reaches, ostensibly for training. However, their true destination was the Kesh Sith Temple, where they planned to ambush and assassinate Yaru. Meanwhile, Adari and her surviving son, Tona Vaal, visited the Grand Lord's new residence, the capitol building, under the guise of Tona, a traveling stable master, servicing Nida Korsin's uvak. Nida led a club of uvak-riding enthusiasts known as the Skyborn Rangers. Like his mother, Tona was also a member of the Keshiri resistance and had developed a close relationship with Korsin's younger daughter, Nida. After exchanging pleasantries with Yaru, Adari and Tona left, claiming to have official business in Tahv. In reality, they were meeting with fellow resistance members for the first phase of their plan.

The Keshiri resistance convened at the residence of the late Izri Dazh, a former Neshtovar inquisitor who had tormented Adari. His sons and grandsons were also members of the resistance. Many Neshtovar resented the loss of their former status and influence under Sith rule, especially the loss of their uvak steeds. Adari understood that the Sith relied on uvak circuit-flights to administer Keshtah, relay information, and transport personnel and goods across the continent. Kesh's vast landmass, however, hindered them, and eliminating the uvak would cripple the Sith. She also learned that the principal Sith leaders, Yaru and Seelah, were scheduled to visit the mountainside temple the following day. Adari and her co-conspirators planned to steal all of the Tribe's uvak that day and fly them far beyond the "great eastern sea."

Many resistance members worked as stable hands or laborers, granting them access to uvak. When the day arrived, instead of tending to the uvak, they would steal them. Led by Vaal on her uvak Nink, they would sacrifice themselves by flying into the jet stream near the volcano Sessal Spire, sending them to their deaths in the ocean. The Sith, deprived of their transportation, would be vulnerable. The resistance planned to seize this opportunity, attacking the Lost Tribe and their Keshiri sympathizers with shikkar blades at night. They anticipated open warfare from the Sith, but the Keshiri would possess a significant advantage in terrain and numbers, hopefully reclaiming control of Kesh. Adari acknowledged that many Keshiri would die in the uprising, but she considered it necessary to defeat the Sith.

Adari Vaal argued that the plan would succeed due to their knowledge of uvak behavior and their prior preparations for a spontaneous uprising. The Neshtovar members of the resistance reluctantly agreed, with one commenting that it had better work since they had already sacrificed much. Following the meeting, Tona entered, expressing his displeasure at being excluded from the meeting. As the son of a Neshtovar, he believed he had the right to be present. Adari assured him that it was not a snub, but rather a precaution to limit knowledge of the details. When Tona expressed his desire to ride with his mother the following day, Adari reminded him that he had his own "job" to do. She assured him that they would meet again after their success and urged him to stay close to Nida and her Skyborn Rangers, advising him to rest well for the busy day ahead.

The following day, Grand Lord Yaru Korsin arrived at the mountainside temple, greeted by his wife Seelah, who signaled her son Jariad and his Sith Sabers to attack Korsin and his entourage. Before their coup could be executed, Keshiri stable hands, servants, and laborers at the temple, all agents of the resistance carefully placed for this day, stole all of the Tribe's uvak housed there. This commotion allowed Yaru and his entourage to counter-attack Seelah and Jariad's forces. The theft of the uvak leveled the playing field between the two Korsin factions, enabling the Grand Lord to hold out until his younger daughter Nida and her Skyborn Rangers arrived and killed Jariad and his followers. In total, the Keshiri resistance successfully stole one hundred uvak from the mountain temple.

Vaal's group was joined by another flock from the east of Keshtah. Across the continent, Keshiri resistance members stole the Tribe's uvak from their stables. Although there were not enough riders, wild uvak were attracted to the calls of elder males, often owned by Neshtovar, many of whom had joined the resistance. The resistance had also planned their routes to funnel every free uvak towards Sessal Spire. Once all the uvak flocks had gathered, Adari intended to order her uvak Nink to give the nesting cry, signaling all the uvak to fly into the jet stream above Sessal Spire and disappear into the ocean. However, the uvak flock from the Sith capital of Tahv never arrived.

By nightfall, over a thousand Keshiri had gathered at the foot of the Spire, followed by five thousand riderless uvak. While many uvak had joined her group, Adari was disappointed that it was not the massive wave she had anticipated. At midnight, a lone rider from Tahv arrived with the news that her younger son, Tona, had revealed the resistance's plans to Nida Korsin the night before. Using this information, Nida prevented the Keshiri resistance from stealing Tahv's uvak flocks. After securing Tahv's uvak, Nida and her Rangers traveled to the mountainside temple, crushing Seelah's coup. With this, Nida had thwarted two threats to the Tribe: one external and one internal. Although her father Yaru eventually succumbed to his injuries, he designated Nida as his successor and delivered a testament that would become the Tribe's founding document.

After sharing this news with her supporters, Adari flew Nink into the jet stream above the Spire, followed by her entire entourage, unwilling to live under Sith rule and fearing retribution from the Tribe if they returned to Keshiri society. The turbulent atmospheric conditions caused many of the Keshiri rebels and their uvak to perish. However, Vaal and three hundred survivors reached a barren island in the "great eastern ocean." Her beloved uvak Nink also died during the journey. Meanwhile, Nida's forces found no trace of the Keshiri rebels, assuming they had plunged into the volcano crater. The new Grand Lord concluded that the Keshiri resistance no longer posed a threat to the Tribe's survival.

The failed Keshiri uprising on Keshtah marked the last resistance by the Keshiri on that continent to Sith rule. Over the following centuries, the Tribe solidified their domination over Keshtah, which remained the only known part of the planet to them. By this time, the uprising was remembered among the Keshiri population as a cautionary tale that the choice of destiny was only a luxury reserved for the Protectors, and not their Keshiri servants. The cost of arrogance for a servant was isolation. However, some Sith like Orielle Kitai disagreed with his viewpoint and regarded Adari Vaal as the greatest Keshiri of all time for defying their predestined fates. Following the events of 4975 BBY, Nida Korsin reigned as Grand Lord for seventy-nine years and her reign was remembered as a "golden age" in the histories of the Tribe. Prior to her death, she instituted a meritocratic system of succession where future Grand Lords were elected from among the seven High Lords of the Circle of Lords.

By 3960 BBY, the Keshiri living on Keshtah had become a large underclass of serfs with many working as laborers, farmers, domestic servants, and even bar owners. By then, Sith society on the continent was divided into four main social groups: the Tribe, non-Force-sensitive Humans, disenfranchised Human slaves, and a large Keshiri serf class. Human members of the Tribe who fell out with the authorities were often condemned to generational slavery. Keshiri living on Kesh were still barred from owning uvak and were not allowed to join the Tribe. Following the death of Grand Lord Lillia Venn during the Night of the Upside-Down Meteor, the Sith Tribe descended into almost a millennium of civil war and anarchy known as the Time of the Rot, which saw many of Keshtah's cities fall into ruins. Many Keshiri were forcibly impressed into the armies of the various Sith factions.

In 3000 BBY, the reformist Varner Hilts ascended to the Grand Lordship and managed to re-unite the Tribe by discovering a map at the mountainside temple which revealed the existence of a second continent. To honor the memory of his loyal Keshiri aide Jaye Vuhld, Hilts also allowed Keshiri to join the Tribe as Sith Tyros and Sith Sabers. This enabled Hilts to build a large following of Keshiri supporters, who remain devoted to the Tribe.

In the meantime, Keshiri sailors from Alanciar rescued Adari Vaal and the surviving Keshiri exiles. These sailors identified themselves as the Alanciari. Vaal rose to prominence as a highly esteemed figure within Alanciari society, attaining the status of a national hero. She issued a warning to the Alanciari regarding the threat posed by the Sith residing in Keshtah Minor. Consequently, the Alanciari transformed their society into a highly militarized one, orienting every facet of life towards the detection and repulsion of a potential invasion by the Sith, whom they regarded as the Destructors of legend. The Alanciari developed a well-equipped and well-trained defense force, supported by a vast industrial base and a network of semaphore signal stations and thoughtcriers. While in exile, Vaal authored a book entitled Keshtah Chronicles, which detailed the culture, war strategies, and utilization of the dark side of the Force by the enemy. This book became mandatory reading for all children and adults on Alanciar. A festival known as Observance Day was held every ten years to commemorate the ten-year timeframe of Vaal's secret resistance against the Tribe. Most importantly, this holiday involved a theatrical recreation of Adari Vaal's first visit to Alanciar on uvak-back which served to constantly remind the Alanciari of the threat posed by the Sith.

In 2975 BBY, the Tribe finally invaded Alanciar. Initially, Edell Vrai, a Sith High Lord, led a reconnaissance mission to scout Alanciar. However, Alanciari ballista and uvak-riders intercepted and shot down his airships. Despite this setback, Vrai and five other Sith survivors managed to capture two Alanciari soldiers—the signal officer Jogan Halder and his lover Wardmaster Quarra Thayn—and also managed to commandeer the Alanciari harvester Mischance. The Sith were able to recruit both of them with Halder being tricked into becoming the Tribe's "ambassador" to the Alanciari and Thayn becoming Vrai's guide for a reconnaissance mission into Alanciar's interior. Despite the poor intelligence available on the Alanciari, another High Lord Korsin Bentado led an invasion of the continent. However, the Alanciari shot down his airships and wiped out the Ebon Fleet. Undeterred, Korsin's forces regrouped and infiltrated the Alanciari capital of Sus'mintri where they assassinated the entire War Cabinet, the military leadership of the Alanciari. Thus, the Sith had gained control of the highly-centralized Alanciari government and military with the Alanciari population remaining unaware of this development.

However, Korsin then mutinied against his liege Grand Lord Varner Hilts and attempted to create his own "Tribe" on Alanciar. He also attempted to order the Alanciari ballista and uvak-riders to attack Hilts' airship Good Omen, which was travelling to Alanciar. In the end, Korsin's mutiny was defeated through the combined efforts of Vrai, Thayn, and his own Keshiri aide Squab, who was secretly serving Hilts. As a result, Hilts and his airship were able to land safely in Alanciar. Jogan Halder then convinced the Alanciari that the Sith did not actually pose a threat to them but were in fact the Protectors. While acknowledging that "servants" of the Destructors were present among the Tribe, he claimed that these malcontents had been defeated one day after Adari Vaal's departure to Alanciar. Halder also claimed that Bentado and his Ebon Fleet had actually been servants of the Destructors, who had been banished by the "good" Sith. Edell Vrai was meanwhile portrayed as an agent of the Protectors who had been sent to apprehend these criminals while Quarra Thayn was portrayed as his well-trained Alanciari companion who had helped defeat Bentado.

Finally, Hilts completed this charade by disguising himself as the "Kesh-born" minion of the Bright Tuash, an avian Keshiri deity. Hilts claimed that Adari Vaal had been his daughter, who was a good but misguided herald. He expressed remorse that the Sith had not been able to save the War Cabinet and sent relief workers from Keshtah to promote good will and reconciliation with the Alanciari. As a result, the Alanciari peacefully submitted to Sith rule. With the "unification" of the two continents, the last known Keshiri resistance to Sith domination over Kesh collapsed. Despite her efforts to drive the Sith from Kesh, Vaal would be remembered by Keshiri on Alanciar as a misguided herald who had led Alanciar into two thousand years of collective madness. Following the invasion, only a few Alanciari like Quarra, who knew about the true nature of the Sith, still revered Quarra. With the conquest of Alanciar, the Sith gained access to a continent rich in lumber and wooden sailing ships, which enabled them to explore and dominate the rest of the planet.

The Keshiri uprising in Keshtah was introduced in John Jackson Miller's e-book Lost Tribe of the Sith: Savior, which was released on April 27, 2010. It served as a subplot to the main narrative, which centered on the power struggle between Grand Lord Yaru Korsin and his estranged wife Seelah Korsin. Most of the events related to his uprising was told from the point-of-view of Adari Vaal, the main Keshiri point-of-view character, who first surfaced in the second novella Lost Tribe of the Sith: Skyborn.