The Quest Knights were a group comprised of ten Jedi Knights within the New Jedi Order. Their formation occurred in 44 ABY, and their purpose was to discover the location of the powerful Dagger of Mortis. The formation of this group happened directly after the Jedi's conflict with the Lost Tribe of Sith reached its end, and the entity Abeloth of the dark side was destroyed. Abeloth was a member of the Force deity family known as the Ones. The Jedi decided to prepare future generations in case Abeloth returned. Grand Master Luke Skywalker was aware that the Dagger of Mortis was previously used to kill members of the Ones during the Clone Wars. Even though the location of Mortis was unknown to the Jedi, it was their only hope to permanently eliminate Abeloth. Consequently, Skywalker dispatched the Quest Knights on a quest to locate the Mortis monolith which served as a gateway to the planet of Mortis, hoping to find the Dagger there.
Around 100,000 BBY, the being known as Abeloth – the only mortal of the powerful Force-sensitive family of the Ones who inhabited a jungle planet within the Maw – consumed from two Force nexuses located on the world, namely the Pool of Knowledge and the Font of Power. This act transformed her into a dark side Force deity with the intention of destroying civilizations throughout the galaxy. The Ones then imprisoned Abeloth on that planet before relocating to the planet Mortis. However, they met their demise during the Clone Wars when the Jedi Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi arrived there on a mission.
Therefore, when Abeloth escaped her imprisonment in 44 ABY, no one remained to impede her. As the Lost Tribe of Sith emerged and initiated a war against the New Jedi Order, Abeloth launched her own scheme to seize control of the galaxy. Ultimately, the Jedi were victorious against the Tribe. With assistance from the Galactic Alliance and two Sith – the apprentice Vestara Khai and Lord Darth Krayt – they managed to defeat Abeloth by destroying her physical forms in a duel within the Force realm of beyond shadows, an attack on the New Jedi Temple, and a battle at the Font of Power. Despite Abeloth's destruction, she quickly began to regenerate, leading the Jedi to realize that she had not been truly defeated.
Luke Skywalker, the Jedi Grand Master, had learned about the events on Mortis during the Clone Wars from his Master, Yoda. He remembered that the Ones could only be permanently eliminated using the Force-imbued Dagger of Mortis. Since the location of Mortis was unknown to the Jedi, Skywalker established the Quest Knights with the goal of finding the Mortis monolith, a structure in space that served as a pathway to the planet, and retrieving the Dagger of Mortis. This would equip future generations to defend against Abeloth's inevitable return and prevent her from devastating civilizations in the galaxy. The Ten Knights began their singular mission in StealthX starfighters from a hangar onboard the Super Star Destroyer Megador in 44 ABY. They immediately dispersed and piloted their respective ships in ten different directions to commence their search.
The Quest Knights were a collective of ten Jedi Knights belonging to the New Jedi Order. Each member was provided with their own StealthX starfighter.
- Ohali Soroc [2]
The Quest Knights made their debut in Troy Denning's Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse (2012), the ninth and concluding book in the Fate of the Jedi novel series. In Apocalypse, none of the Knights are individually identified, until Soroc's appearance in Crucible.