Sawj Luzo

As descendants of a group of Human Sith who were stranded and colonized the planet Kesh during the Great Hyperspace War, Sawj and his older brother Flen Luzo were members of the Lost Tribe of Sith. His upbringing occurred nearly a millennium after the reign of Grand Lord Nida Korsin, who had ruled for 79 years. By this time, the Force-sensitive members of the Tribe had become the ruling elite on the continent of Keshtah Minor, dominating the native Keshiri, who had become a large serf underclass that worshiped the Sith as a race of gods known as the Protectors. Internal divisions had also emerged within the Tribe, with the Red and Gold Factions, led by the High Lords Dernas and Pallima, respectively, representing two significant political factions.

Sawj and his brother ascended through the Tribe's ranks, becoming prominent leaders within the Sith Sabers, the Tribe's equivalent of the Jedi Knights. As Sith Sabers, they also had several apprentices. Sawj and Flen shared an adversarial relationship with their fellow Saber Orielle Kitai, daughter of High Lord Candra Kitai, who was a rival contender for the Saber leadership. The two brothers were also closely allied with High Lord Lillia Venn, who ascended to the Grand Lordship in 3961 BBY. They served as her bodyguards during public functions like Donellan's Day. Lillia Venn was elected Grand Lord as a compromise candidate after the Red and Gold Factions failed to agree on a successor. As a result, Lillia, politically independent, was elected because she was the oldest High Lord, and the other Lords believed her age would limit her time in power. While the Red and Gold Factions pledged allegiance to Grand Lord Lillia, they continued to compete for her coveted position. Lillia was aware of these sentiments and ambitions and sought to orchestrate the downfall of her rivals.

In 3960 BBY, Sawj and Flen accompanied Grand Lord Lillia Venn to the Donellan's Day rake-riding games at the Korsinata stadium in the Sith capital of Tahv. They were positioned in Lillia's luxury compartment at the top of the stadium. Donellan's Day, a public holiday in the Sith calendar, commemorated the life of Nida's son Donellan, who died before his mother, ending the Korsin family line. Consequently, the heirless Nida established a merit-based succession system before her death, leading to the election of future Grand Lords from the Circle of Lords. For the Sith, this day symbolized the importance of patience in achieving successions. On Donellan's Day, rake-riding games, violent blood sports pitting teams of flightless uvak and their uvak wranglers against each other, were held at public arenas like the Korsinata in Tahv.

Before the games, the two brothers glared at Orielle, who believed they were annoyed at being unable to sabotage her. Orielle and her mother Candra were seated in the opposite luxury compartment due to Candra's significant position within the Circle of Lords, having been appointed High Lord to fill Lillia's vacancy upon her ascension to the Grand Lordship. Since Candra was not aligned with the two major factions, she became the second most important person within the Tribe, acting as a tiebreaker with the power to select Lillia's successor. Recognizing Candra's importance, Lillia publicly showed her the highest respect and invited her to public functions like the rake-riding games in Tahv.

Orielle knew the Luzo brothers had been watching for months, eager to capitalize on any mistake. She hoped that the death of Grand Lord Venn would also lead to the demise of the Luzo brothers. However, Candra warned her that they were allies for the time being. Orielle reluctantly accepted her mother's wishes but was pleased that their booth was more colorful and decorated than the others. For the rake-riding game, Candra and her daughter had sponsored Campion Dey, a rake-rider from the southlands. However, Dey attempted to assassinate Grand Lord Venn, trying to ride his uvak to her luxury compartment. Venn killed his uvak with Force lightning. The Luzo brothers then killed the would-be assassin with their Sith lightsabers. Candra and Orielle were horrified, as they had not ordered Dey to attack the Grand Lord and feared being accused of staging the assassination attempt.

Grand Lord Lillia Venn had actually orchestrated her own assassination attempt to intimidate her rivals. She intended to enslave High Lord Candra and her family as "living and breathing examples." Under her orders, Sawj and Flen Luzo executed Dernas and Pallima, accusing them of conspiring with Candra to assassinate the Grand Lord. Candra was coerced into confessing to the conspiracy under duress, becoming Lillia's eternal slave and being forced to shovel uvak manure at the zoo, a public uvak enclosure in Tahv. The two Luzo brothers and their Sith apprentices also raided the Kitai family mansion at Starfall, where they supervised the burning of the family's belongings by their former Keshiri laborers. While the Luzo brothers entered the building, two of their apprentices guarded the doorway.

However, the Luzo brothers failed to capture Orielle Kitai, who had left the stadium to return to her family estate. She witnessed the sacking of her home, which she had foreseen in a Force vision during her second day as a Sith Tyro, the lowest level in the Tribe's hierarchy. Orielle narrowly escaped capture and fled with her uvak Shyn to her friend Jelph Marrian's farm in the Marisota River region. Jelph, an enslaved Human horticulturalist specializing in fertilizers for Keshiri farmers, had provided Orielle with dalsa flowers during Donellan's Day. She sought refuge with him, and Jelph agreed to shelter her.

After several days, the Luzo brothers learned of Orielle's location from Keshiri traders who frequented Jelph's farm. They flew to Jelph's farm and slaughtered Shyn, who was housed in a stable, claiming that slaves were not allowed to own status beasts. When Ori entered the barn to aid her uvak, she encountered the Luzo brothers. When Orielle threatened to kill them, Sawj retorted that they had already killed two High Lords earlier in the week and were unwilling to dirty their hands with a slave. When Orielle protested the killing of her uvak, Sawj reminded her that the Sabers were responsible for maintaining law and order, and that slaves were not allowed to keep uvak. Orielle was about to charge at the two brothers until Sawj's big brother Flen retrieved a saddle bag containing two scrolls.

Flen announced that the two brothers had come to make a trade with Orielle. Orielle read the two scrolls and discovered that her mother had confessed to conspiring with the Red and Gold Factions to assassinate the Grand Lord. When Orielle retorted that they could have gotten anything under duress, Flen acknowledged that this had been the case. Flen also announced that Lillia Venn would be appointing three replacement High Lords of her own to block any moves by her rivals. Based on Flen's voice, Orielle deduced that the two brothers were likely candidates for replacement High Lords due to their loyalty to Venn. Flen then demanded that Orielle surrender her lightsaber on the grounds that slaves were not allowed to hold lightsabers, which were another status symbol on primitive Kesh.

When Ori refused to cooperate, Flen reminded her that her mother had told them that she would cooperate and would suffer even more if she refused to do so. Flen then added that Candra was already suffering and threatened to send the Sith Sabers to burn down Jelph's farm and kill the "farmer boy." The Sith Sabers already had orders to do so if the two Luzo brothers did not return with her lightsaber. While the two Luzo brothers did not care how slaves lived their lives, they still insisted that she yield her lightsaber. To emphasize their message, Sawj and Flen ignited their lightsabers in unison. Outnumbered and wanting to save the life of her friend, Orielle yielded her lightsaber to the Luzo brothers. Sawj then confiscated Orielle's lightsaber. Prior to departing on their uvak, Flen also left Ori with a shovel to mark her new career as a slave. They then flew away laughing at their defeated rival.

Ultimately, Sawj and Flen through their actions unleashed a chain reaction of events which led to their deaths. Humiliated, their rival Orielle Kitai descended into a fit of rage and damaged Jelph Marrian's farm and belongings in the process with her shovel. While rummaging through his barn, she found a starship beneath his mound of manure. This was a "Kesh-shaking" event because the Tribe had no access to hyperspace travel since their ancestors' first arrival in 5000 BBY. Orielle believed that this new technology would allow her people to return to the stars and her family to restore their fortunes. In fact, her "farmer friend" Jelph Marrian was actually a Jedi Shadow and a member of the Jedi Covenant, a secret Jedi faction that was determine to prevent a repeat of the Great Sith War. Orielle traveled to Tahv where she encountered her mother in the zoo and shared her discovery.

Candra reluctantly told her daughter to contact Gadin Badolfa, an architect who was closely connected to the leaders of the Red and Gold factions. She also gave Orielle the secret passcode to indicate a "Kesh-shaking discovery." From Badolfa, Orielle learnt that the two Luzo brothers had been promoted to the position of Sith Lords to reward them for their loyalty. Orielle also encountered Jelph, who had come to look for her, and the two reconciled with each other following a brief but fiery argument. Orielle and Jelph then returned to the latter's farm by uvak in an attempt to hide this discovery from the High Lords. Unknown to Orielle or Jelph, Candra secretly contacted Grand Lord Venn and alerted her to the meeting in exchange for "improved working conditions." She did not believe that her daughter's discover existed and did not believe that the other High Lords would come. Lillia then traveled with her entourage including the two Luzo brothers.

The two Luzo brothers and the Grand Lord flew on their uvak to Jelph Marrian's farm, intending to see this "Kesh-shaking discovery" and to kill those other High Lords that had come. They managed to fly their uvak in a V-shaped formation and tapped into a jet stream, which allowed them to arrive at their destination before Orielle and Jelph. Upon landing, the two Luzo brothers and their Sith Sabers quickly secured the perimeter and found the starship in the barn, just as Candra had told them. Knowing that the visitors were present, Orielle attempted to mislead the visitors by claiming she had found a sack containing four blasters, a technology that was unknown to the Tribe. Meanwhile, Jelph hid behind the bushes. Upon meeting the newcomers, Orielle quickly realized that these were not the High Lords but were actually the Grand Lord and her followers. She was quickly captured.

The Grand Lord then called into the barn. Sawj and Flen then opened the stable doors behind Venn, revealing the Jedi starship. Sawj revealed that the Tribe's leadership had allowed Badolfa to deliver Orielle's messages to the other four other High Lords. He then revealed that Orielle's mother had already made another deal with the Grand Lord in exchange for "improved working conditions." While Lillia had wanted to execute the other High Lords for treason if they came, she was happy with her prize. Sawj watched while his older brother led their Grand Lord through the excavated manure toward her discovery. Lillia was triumphant that she had lived to see the day that the Tribe discovered a starship. She then commented that she had spent years reaching the pinnacle of power only for others to think it was time for her to die. When the Luzo brothers tried to assure her of their loyalty, she brushed them off and vowed to conquer the stars.

Unknown to the other visitors, Jelph had managed to use the Force to levitate the sack of blasters towards him. Ori witnessed this and heard Jelph's telepathic call but did not inform the others. At the right moment, she fell down to the ground and surprised her captors. This distraction gave Jelph enough time to emerge from the farmhouse and open fire on Venn's entourage. The Sith Sabers were unfamiliar with blaster technology and a few were struck down. The remaining Sith attempted to use their lightsabers to deflect the blaster bolts. Ori took advantage of the chaos to break free and steal one of her captors' lightsabers. Meanwhile, Venn entered the Aurek starfighter's cockpit while the Luzo brothers guarded the barn's doorway. Jelph and Orielle then fled into the Marisota river. Since the stable's doorway was large enough to accommodate wide-winged uvak, Lillia and her followers thought that they would be able to drive the starfighter through it.

As the starfighter hovered towards the exit, Sawj and Flen suddenly realized that the vehicle was still connected to its moorings. In fact, two mono-filament cords had been tied around the starfighter's landing struts. These cords were in fact part of an ingenious anti-theft system which had been constructed by Jelph to destroy the starfighter and its occupants in the event that it was discovered by the Sith. These lines were connected to two proton torpedoes which were surrounded by thousands of kilograms of ammonium nitrate based explosives. The resulting explosion destroyed the Aurek starfighter and the barn exploded; killing the Grand Lord, the Luzo brothers, and the remaining Sith Sabers. The ensuing explosion also leveled the surrounding riverbank and wiped out all evidence of the farm and its occupants. Thus, in one stroke, the two Luzo brothers along with their main ally, Lillia Venn, were wiped out completely without any trace. Lillia's death triggered a millennium-long power struggle known as the Time of the Rot which devastated much of Keshtah Minor.

Sawj Luzo, much like his Sith brother Flen, embraced the Sith ideology of self-glorification and demonstrated proficiency in lightsaber combat. He maintained a strong relationship with Flen, and both aspired to lead the Sith Sabers. The brothers were both large and barrel-chested. Driven by their ambitions, they viewed their fellow Saber Orielle Kitai as a rival, striving to humiliate and break her. They treated her with disdain and reveled in her suffering. Furthermore, Sawj and Flen were notorious for their cruelty and their readiness to kill without hesitation, as evidenced by their execution of the assassin Campion Dey, the High Lords Dernas and Pallima, and Orielle's uvak Shyn.

Sawj Luzo and his brother Flen made their debut as minor antagonists in John Jackson Miller's two eBooks, Lost Tribe of the Sith: Purgatory and its sequel Lost Tribe of the Sith: Sentinel, which were initially released on October 25, 2010 and February 21, 2011, respectively. These appearances represent their only known presence in the Star Wars Expanded Universe. Most of their lines are conveyed through the perspective of Orielle Kitai, one of the two primary protagonists in the series.