Thousands of years before Darth Bane’s Sith Order rose to dominate the galaxy, Darth Revan
ruled over a Sith Empire of his own, waging the Second Sith War or Jedi Civil War, that
nearly destroyed the Jedi Order and Old Republic government.
Yet in 3957 BBY, Revan was betrayed by his apprentice Darth Malak, who took over leadership
of their Sith Empire.
A former Jedi hero who saved their people from a terrible Mandalorian invasion, Revan
survived this betrayal and returned to the light side, once again saving the galaxy,
this time by killing Darth Malak and shattering the Empire he helped build.
After the war, Revan disappeared for many years to undertake a vital mission searching
for the True Sith in the Unknown regions.
Meanwhile, the remnants of his Sith Empire scattered and fell to infighting, allowing
the Old Republic to regain control over much of the galaxy.
Yet the legacy of Revan’s Sith Empire was not yet lost, as three powerful Sith Lord’s
soon emerged to take the mantle of leadership for themselves.
Once a powerful Jedi Master and historian, Kreia spent so much time meditating and seeing
through the force, she lost the use of her eyesight and did not bother correcting the
issue.
A controversial figure on the very edges of respectability within the order, Kreia constantly
challenged her students with questions that made them think outside the bounds of standard
light side dogma.
Though her “freethinking” beliefs were tolerated for a time, she fell under great
scrutiny when many of her students, including her most prized pupil Revan left the Jedi
Order to wage an unauthorized war against the Mandalorian invaders wreaking havoc upon
the Republic.
Although their cause was just, the severity of the war and merciless tactics necessary
for victory caused many of these jedi to embrace the dark side.
Exiled from the order for her part in their training, Kreia felt a force echo calling
her to Malachor V, and so arrived shortly after it was destroyed with the Mass Shadow
Generator superweapon used by Revan’s forces to win a final victory in the Mandalorian
Wars.
This enormous loss of life was so devastating it created a wound in the force, meaning a
point of weakness within the interconnected fabric of force energy spread across the galaxy.
As a result, locations with a wound in the force teemed with echoes of pain and suffering
which interfered with the regular flow of energy in that region.
Often these echoes could be heard by powerful force-sensitives even from great distances,
which was what drew Kreia to the planet, where she encountered a contingent of Sith Assassins
within the Trayus Sith Academy.
Yet they did not attack her, instead presenting her with ancient documents called the Truths
of the Cosmos, containing their history and secrets of the dark side, possibly written
by pure blooded descendants of the sith people.
Immersed in dark teachings while surrounded by dark energies, Kreia quickly fell to the
dark side, coming to the alarming conclusion that the Force itself was the enemy, as it
had a will it imposed upon individuals, forcing them down a predestined path rather then letting
them chose for themselves.
While other Sith attempted to dominate the force and liberate themselves from its will,
Kreia sought to free the entire galaxy from this enslavement, believing force wounds were
the key, as the echoes within these wounds could potentially create the interference
necessary to deafen individuals to the will of the force.
Following in the footsteps of her apprentice Revan, Darth Traya proclaimed herself Dark
Lord of the Sith, reopening the Trayus Academy and reuniting many of the scattered remnant
of the Sith Order, thereby creating a base of power to facilitate her plans.
Searching for other wounds in the force for study, Kreia eventually found two powerful
Sith Lords with great potential and unique abilities, bringing them to Malachor where
they were trained as her most prized students.
The most powerful of the three, the man later called Nihilus lost everything during the
Mandalorian Wars and was present on Malachor when the superweapon was activated.
Feeling through the force all the pain and suffering endured by those who died, his body
was ravaged by a wound in the force, created within him, that caused an intense hunger
leaving him sick and in constant pain.
Encountering other survivors, he unknowingly started to drain them of their life force,
and in doing so temporarily satiated the hunger, granting him a measure of peace.
Yet this discovery was more curse then blessing, as he needed more energy with every feeding,
while the temporary relief it offered grew less and less.
Therefore, when he was approached by Darth Traya and offered a chance to drain entire
planets, he accepted the opportunity and entered the Trayus Academy.
Joining Nihilus, was Sion, a longtime Sith Lord who served as a Maurader under Exar Kun
during the great Sith War of 3996 BBY.
Developing an enormous tolerance for pain which he used it to fuel his dark side powers,
Sion was convinced he could not be killed, as even when he was struck down, he could
embrace the pain and fuel his own resuscitation, eventually requiring him to hold his scattered,
decomposing body parts together through a constant flow of dark side power.
Although this made him near invincible, it also meant he lived in unending agony, ever
eager to unleash his wrath upon an enemy.
Following the defeat of Exar Kun, Sion next joined the Sith Empire of Revan and Malak,
only to once again face bitter defeat.
After the death of Malak, Sion went to the Sith Academy on Korriban only to find the
remaining Sith fighting for dominance, ending with everyone dead or fleeing the planet.
Sion was then found by Kreia and brought to the Trayus Academy.
Hoping their unique conditions would help in her greater mission, Darth Traya taught
them all she could, but both Sion and Nihilus proved poor students.
Nihilus ultimately cared nothing for the Sith, Jedi or force, as draining worlds and satiating
his hunger was his sole focus.
Sion was similarly difficult, as he was too angry and impatient to learn anything outside
physical combat and force attacks.
With both entirely uninterested in her more philosophical teachings.
Nevertheless they were both powerful Sith Lords who completed their training and joined
Darth Traya the Lord of Betrayal, as Darth Nihilus the Lord of Hunger and Darth Sion,
the Lord of Pain, to become the Sith Triumvirate, united by their desire to unleash devastation
upon the jedi and republic.
Launching the Dark Wars, problems arose almost immediately as Nihilus and Sion grew impatient
with Traya’s more measured strategic thinking in service to greater ambitions and long term
goals, instead seeking instead to take the fight directly to the enemy, regardless of
any other considerations.
Therefore Sion and Nihilus betrayed their master and severed her connection to the force,
before exiling her from the Order.
With Traya gone, Sion and Nihilus began the First Jedi Purge, each operating independently
though remaining in a lose alliance.
Ever seeking to satisfy his hunger, Darth Nihilus went from world to world, devouring
the force energy from all living beings, while Darth Sion worked with Sith Assassins to murder
individual jedi.
With their people disappearing, and a disturbance in the force, a hundred Jedi attended a meeting
on Katarr where the issue was to be discussed.
Yet they were betrayed by Master Atris, who was falling to the dark side through her study
of Sith Artifacts, leading her to feel justified in inform the Sith of what was happening,
in order orchestrate a confrontation where the Jedi would defeat the Dark Lord.
Yet she vastly underestimated their enemy’s power, with Darth Nihilus draining the entire
planet of force energy, killing all living beings save for Visas Marr, a native Miraluka
woman who the Dark Lord sparred and took as his slave/apprentice, creating a force bond
between them.
Although she suffered a slight setback in exile from the Triumvirate, Traya, returning
to her persona as Kreia, was pleased to see her former students making progress, as the
death of the Jedi was a necessary step in her continuously evolving plans.
Yet the Sith also had to be struck down, and so she sought out yet another apprentice,
encountering a fellow Jedi exile named Meetra Surik who would prove to be her last best
hope for victory against the force.