Sel-Makor

The origins of Sel-Makor can be traced back to ancient times, specifically when the Sith initially invaded the planet Voss. At that time, the planet was inhabited by only one native species, the Gormak, whom the Sith disregarded as they began exploiting the planet's resources. However, the Jedi attempted to expel the Sith from Voss, which caused irrevocable changes to the planet and the Gormak. Seeking allies among the natives, the Jedi agreed to instruct some Gormak tribes in the use of the Force, but the Gormak were unprepared for this knowledge. Over a few generations, these tribes underwent significant evolutionary changes, resulting in a new species called the Voss. The Jedi tried to teach the Voss how to manage their emotions and new abilities, but instead, the Voss attacked the Sith on the planet, exposing the new species to the dark side of the Force. This exposure led to the dark side manifesting in a Sith structure on the planet, and this entity eventually became known as Sel-Makor as it developed intelligence.

Sel-Makor started to thrive on conflict and misery, which strengthened its dark side powers and spread corruption throughout the surrounding area. This entity, which developed a masculine persona, warped the minds of creatures and beings within its reach, turning them into its fanatical servants. The area under Sel-Makor's dominion became known as the Nightmare Lands, and the ancient Sith complex that the entity occupied was called the Dark Heart. Shortly after its creation, Sel-Makor captured the spirits of two Gormak who had been taught by the Jedi, Damek-Ol and Nemok-Ta, and imprisoned them within slave bodies. Damek-Ol was confined to the body of a Dashade, while Nemok-Ta was placed in the body of an Abyssin, and these two became avatars of Sel-Makor's power.

Following the extermination of the Sith, the Voss established the city of Voss-Ka on the planet's highest peak, and the Jedi either died out or left. Those Voss who could use the Force to foresee the future became known as the ruling Mystics, and the Voss commandos were responsible for protecting the city. Meanwhile, Sel-Makor fueled the Gormak's bloodlust, inciting the much more numerous species to attack their cousins over the centuries, allowing it to feed on their dark emotions.

Around 3645 BBY, during the Cold War between the resurgent Sith Empire and the Galactic Republic, the planet Voss was rediscovered by the galaxy at large. Upon learning about the Voss' prophetic abilities, the Sith Emperor orchestrated an Imperial attack on the planet while his agents abducted one of the Mystics. The Voss used their powers to obliterate the attacking fleet from orbit, and both the Republic and the Empire established diplomatic missions on the planet, hoping to entice the powerful species away from their neutrality.

Simultaneously, a Sith Lord named Darth Baras began plotting to seize control of the Empire, initiating a long-term scheme against the Emperor. After learning about Sel-Makor's existence, Baras met with the entity and promised it the Emperor's powers in exchange for imprisoning the Emperor when Baras managed to lure the Sith ruler there. Knowing that his ruler was inhabiting the body of a Voss, as the Emperor existed by possessing hosts known as the Emperor's Voices with his consciousness, Darth Baras learned that the inner chamber of the Dark Heart was a place where no Voss could leave after entering.

Both galactic powers ignored the Voss' warnings about entering the Nightmare Lands as their Cold War continued, and Sel-Makor quickly brought those who entered the region under its control. At some point during the Cold War, a Gormak named Jokull entered the Nightmare Lands and traveled to the Dark Heart, venturing into the caves known as the Dark Hollow and the Grim Warrens—two of Sel-Makor's most powerful locations. However, instead of consuming the Gormak's mind as it had done to so many Voss, Sel-Makor chose to awaken Jokull's species' natural ability—the power to see visions like the Voss. Horrified by his corruption and viewing all Voss as tainted by evil due to their powers, Jokull returned to the Gormak Lands and became king of his people to wage war on the Voss—ensuring that the Gormak would never be corrupted as he was.

In an attempt to forge an alliance with the Voss, both the Republic and the Empire provided aid to the Voss in their fight against the Gormak. The Sith assisted the Voss in destroying Gormegan-1, a starship being constructed by the Gormak under Jokull's orders, and the Republic helped the Voss destroy the cannon the Gormak were building to use against Voss-Ka. However, in the process, the Voss discovered Jokull's ability to see the future, and they enlisted the help of outsiders to retrace the Gormak king's steps in the Nightmare Lands. In the Dark Hollow, an outsider fought and killed the Dashade avatar, while another defeated the Abyssin avatar in the Grim Warrens, and the Voss soon learned the truth about their species' creation.

Throughout the Cold War, Darth Baras began to feed the Emperor information about Sel-Makor's powers, tempting the Sith ruler with the dark entity's mysterious abilities, until the Emperor finally decided to investigate around 3640 BBY. Arriving on Voss disguised as a Mystic, the Emperor entered the Dark Heart only to find himself trapped as Baras had planned. While Baras began preparations to declare himself the Voice of the Emperor and therefore the supreme ruler of the Empire, the Emperor was forced to battle Sel-Makor for control of the Voss body he was inhabiting. Weakened by the loss of his avatars and desiring the Emperor's unimaginable power, the entity prevented him from releasing his spirit by committing suicide and attempted to suppress the Sith's mind.

Fortunately for the Emperor, Baras' apprentice had been appointed the new Emperor's Wrath at the Emperor's request by agents of his Hand, and the Emperor was able to communicate his situation to Servant Two of the Hand in a moment of strength. The Wrath, whom Baras had tried to kill at the beginning of his coup attempt, traveled to Voss and was able to locate the Emperor in the Dark Heart after gathering the Blessing of Oneness and the Pendant of Bone needed for entrance. The Emperor ordered his Wrath to kill the Voice and free his essence, but Sel-Makor refused to allow his prize to escape and seized full control of the Voice's body. The Wrath was forced to battle the possessed Voice and the dark side phantoms that Sel-Makor conjured, but managed to defeat the entity and drive him out of the Voice long enough to slay the Emperor's host.

After taking a new host on the Imperial capital of Dromund Kaas, the Emperor continued preparations for his ritual, which would consume all life in the galaxy and channel it into the Emperor. To that end, he dispatched the Sith sorcerer Lord Fulminiss to Voss, ordering the Sith Lord to utilize Sel-Makor's powers to ensure the thousands of simultaneous deaths necessary to start the ritual. Fulminiss approached a young Mystic named Valen-Da and enlisted his help to enter the Voss sanctuary known as the Shrine of Healing. Valen-Da had experienced a vision of himself and two others standing at the brink of a chasm, and saw that one of them would have to cast themselves into the pit in order to destroy Sel-Makor, agreed to help the Sith because his vision demanded it.

In the Shrine of Healing, Fulminiss learned a healing ritual from the spirits of long-dead Mystics, but he corrupted the ritual so that it twisted minds and drove its victims insane. With Valen-Da, Fulminiss followed his master's instructions and traveled to the Dark Heart in order to meet with Sel-Makor. However, the Jedi Knight known as the Hero of Tython was attempting to foil the Emperor's ritual, and the Jedi tracked Fulminiss to the Dark Heart with the help of the Voss Commando Tala-Reh. The Hero had also killed the Gormak Guardian, a massive vorantikus that Sel-Makor had been using as an avatar to corrupt the Gormak. Upon learning of Valen-Da's treachery when the Jedi and the Voss arrived, Sel-Makor ordered Fulminiss to cut down the Mystic.

Fulminiss failed, however, and fell to the blade of the Jedi Knight in battle. Valen-Da then revealed the truth of his vision to Tala-Reh and the Jedi: the Commando would descend into the pit before them, the heart of Sel-Makor's power, and destroy the entity once and for all at the cost of her own life. In a desperate attempt to save himself, Sel-Makor offered unimaginable power to the Jedi in exchange for casting Valen-Da into the pit, but the Knight refused and watched as Tala-Reh descended the steps to confront the entity. Her sacrifice counteracted Sel-Makor's powers, destroying the creature with a burst of golden Force energy and sealing the heart of power when the chamber collapsed onto the pit.

Sel-Makor originated from the dark side of the Force itself, with its primary objective being the creation of suffering to further spread its corruption. By feeding on the suffering resulting from the conflict between the Voss and Gormak, Sel-Makor's main goal was to perpetuate this conflict indefinitely. It showed no interest in galactic affairs and did not align with either the Jedi or the Sith. Although Sel-Makor attempted to steal the Emperor's powers and body, it later collaborated with the Emperor's servant, Lord Fulminiss, to annihilate the Voss and Gormak simply because the Sith sorcerer promised bloodshed and violence.

Despite possessing intelligence, Sel-Makor communicated in a peculiar manner, rarely forming complete sentences and instead using single words and short phrases. When facing death, Sel-Makor was defenseless after the death of Lord Fulminiss, and its fear drove it to beg the Jedi Knight for help. Sel-Makor offered the Hero unlimited power in exchange for killing Valen-Da, but when the Knight refused, Sel-Makor could only roar in fury and fear as Tala-Reh descended to destroy it.

Sel-Makor, an entity formed from the Gormak's initial exposure to the dark side of the Force, lacked a physical form. Consequently, it corrupted and manipulated the minds of those within its domain, transforming them into its servants and spreading the corruption of the Nightmare Lands. Sel-Makor's power was centered in a deep pit within the Sith ruins known as the Dark Heart, but its influence extended to the edges of the ever-expanding Nightmare Lands. The entity also possessed various beings and creatures to serve as its avatars and minions, enabling it to extend its power and influence beyond the Dark Heart and play a more active role in the corruption of Voss.

As a being born of the Force, Sel-Makor wielded immense power, enough to rival the Sith Emperor in a battle of wills and the Force. The Emperor, whose abilities surpassed most beings at the time, could not overcome Sel-Makor's influence and was instead locked in a stalemate with the entity over control of his body. In battle, Sel-Makor could summon phantoms and its twisted minions, but without a body or avatars, it was largely defenseless. After the death of its avatars, Sel-Makor was unable to prevent Tala-Reh from descending into its heart of power—it could only rage at the Voss Commando as she sacrificed herself to destroy it.

Sel-Makor made its debut in the video game Star Wars: The Old Republic, where it plays a significant role in various class and general missions on the planet Voss. In the Republic quest series, players encounter a Dashade "Avatar of Sel-Makor" in the Dark Hollow and learn about Sel-Makor's history from the spirit of Damek-Ol. Conversely, Imperial players battle an Abyssin Avatar in the Grim Warrens and communicate with Nemok-Ta's spirit. Sel-Makor also appears in the Sith Warrior and Jedi Knight class storylines on the planet—the Emperor is imprisoned by Darth Baras in the Dark Heart, and the Warrior is forced to battle Sel-Makor when it takes control of the Emperor's host body. Late in the Jedi Knight class storyline, the player discovers that Sel-Makor is working with Lord Fulminiss and, after defeating the Sith, is presented with the dark side option of sacrificing Valen-Da to Sel-Makor instead of Tala-Reh. If the player chooses to kill Valen-Da instead of allowing Tala-Reh to sacrifice herself (the light-side option), they must kill the Commando when she attacks the Knight in revenge, and Sel-Makor spreads its corruption across all of Voss.