As the three suns of the planet Thra, the Great Sun, the Rose Sun, and the Dying Sun,
align once every thousand trine, a shaft of pure light strikes the Great Crystal, the
beating heart of Thra.
Great, wondrous things happen during these Conjunctions, and it was during the second
of it’s kind that life on Thra would be changed forever.
The urSkeks, the once benevolent other-worldly rulers of the land attempted to return to
their own plane and were instead split, their kind, generous spirits being separated from
their avaricious, violent selves.
These twisted creatures of greed and anger, the Skeksis, seized control of the Great Crystal
and with it Thra itself, declaring themselves the Lords of the Crystal.
While numbering only sixteen, the Skeksis maintained total authority over Thra.
They had inherited from their urSkek predecessors a wealth of knowledge, but lacking any sense
of self-restraint, slowly devolved into a society built on pettiness, flamboyance, and
a wasteful attitude towards life.
The Skeksis enjoyed lives of senseless luxury and lavish festivities.
Such opulence was paid for through the tithing of their subjects.
The native races of the world, the Gelflings and Podlings, were fooled into believing they
could not survive without their Lords, and acquiesced to their every demand.
In exchange, the Skeksis promised to “protect the Crystal”, while in reality their rule
was only harming it.
Total control over an entire world was not enough for the Skeksis however.
They strove for more power, even amongst themselves.
Court life was filled with shifting alliances, favours, and manipulations as each Skeksis
attempted to curry favour with the Emperor.
A Skeksis’ standing within the court could shift dramatically within only hours, and
his fortunes could reverse just as quickly.
Despite the erratic hierarchy within the court, each Skeksis had a particular role within
their society.
Absolute authority rested with Emperor skekSo, but it was not uncommon for a Skeksis to interpret
his decrees in a way that suited their machinations.
Management of the castle itself was the responsibility of The Chamberlain, who typically delegated
most of the tasks to the Gelflings who directly served the Lords, who were further commanded
by the Slave Master.
The Treasurer and the Scroll-Keeper managed the tithes and documented history respectively,
though their accounts were often falsified and rewritten to please or harm other Skeksis.
It was skekZog, the Ritual Master, however, who held the most power after the Emperor,
as he was responsible for the ceremonies and scripture the Skeksis followed.
With his position came the ear of the Emperor, and Skeksis would often go to skekZog with
news of the betrayals and failures of other Skeksis.
skekTek, The Scientist was the only Skeksis who actually spent most of his time working,
constantly experimenting with the Crystal and the creatures of Thra.
Through his experiments the Garthim soldiers were created, a crude graft of the industrious
Gruenaks and the hive-minded Arathim Silk Spitters.
Further tests resulted in the Crystal Bat spies, who could fly over Thra magically transmitting
what they saw back to their master’s fortress.
skekVar, the General, oversaw the military force of the Lords of the Crystal, which was
made up of soldiers from each Gelfling clan.
The Lords of the Crystal also maintained a sort of Royal Guard, with Gelflings from all
across Thra coming to serve and protect their Lords.
Perhaps the most dangerous individual among the Skeksis was the one they named skekMal,
The Hunter.
Bloodthirsty and brutal, skekMal roamed Thra freely, rather than involve himself in the
machinations of court.
His cruel work led even the other Skeksis to fear him and tales of his deeds were told
all across Thra, with many convinced he was too terrible to actually exist.
While each Skeksis had chosen or been relegated to a specific responsibility, they all shared
one desire: to achieve the ultimate power - that over death itself.
They were terrified beyond measure of their own mortality, a fear instilled in them from
the moment of their creation over a thousand trine ago during the First Conjunction of
Thra’s suns.
When the Great Crystal was lit by the power of Thra’s three suns, eighteen beings of
light entered through it into Thra.
These were the UrSkeks, majestic creatures from another world cast out for their heretical
views.
They brought with them a knowledge of architecture, astronomy, and culture, and like gods, brought
about an Age of Harmony.
Their voices sang out, deep and sonorous, destroying the mountain encasing the Crystal
and building a glorious crystal fortress around it.
The UrSkeks knew they could not return to their world until the next Conjunction, and
so they waited.
Nine hundred and ninety-nine and one trine later, the UrSkeks readied to purify themselves
by the light of the Conjunction and return home.
They invited delegates from across Thra to witness this event.
Just as the suns aligned one of the UrSkeks heard a haunting Gelfling melody which, for
the briefest moment, brought a sense of longing and cast doubt on their decision to leave.
Instead of purifying their souls and opening a portal home, the eighteen UrSkeks were split,
divided into two; the gentle, compassionate urRu and the avaricious and power-hungry Skeksis.
Freshly born, full of youth, and seemingly without memory.
Desperate to secure their place in this new order, the Skeksis turned on their other halves,
attacking and killing two.
The two halves of the UrSkeks remained linked however, and for each urRu that died, a Skeksis
also perished.
Unable to kill their benevolent counterparts, the remaining sixteen Skeksis banished the
sixteen urRu from the castle and turned their anger on the Great Crystal, striking and shattering
it.
A shard of the Crystal separated, to be lost for a thousand trine.
The once clear Crystal, a bright and pure representation of Thra, turned a deep purple
and the residents came to know it as “the Dark Crystal”.
The Skeksis busied themselves with securing power over the residents of Thra, rebalancing
the social structure of the native Gelflings.
To keep the Gelflings subservient, weakened, and separated, the Lords of the Crystal divided
them into seven clans, each headed by a matriarch known as a Maudra.
The All-Maudra was the highest Gelfling authority, an individual through whom the Skeksis made
their commandments.
Thus began the Age of Division.
Thra quickly settled into this new status quo, with Emperor skekSo, the most radiant
and energetic of the Skeksis, leading them through this new age.
He hosted tournaments, feasts, and parties, and the Skeksis revelled in their riches and
grandeur.
This era of decadence would not last.
Gradually, the vitality of the Skeksis withered, leaving them sickly and closer to death.
skekTek, the Scientist began experimenting with the Dark Crystal, attempting to funnel
it’s power to extend their life and rejuvenate themselves.
His ultimate success came when skekTek discovered the Dark Crystal could be used to drain the
life force from a Gelfling and distill it into an elixir.
The Lords of the Crystal rejoiced in this new power, for they could now cheat death
at will.
But as the Crystal was used for such evil purposes, its corruption spread out from the
castle, twisting the land and creatures around it in what would come to be known as the Darkening.
When the Gelflings learned of their master’s new use for them, they formed a resistance
movement, determined to protect themselves and overthrow the corruption of the Skeksis.
The Skeksis met the Gelflings in the battlefield at Stone-in-the-Woods, relying on their superior
size and strength to subdue their former vassals.
What the Skeksis had not realized however, was that the Gelflings had uncovered an ancient
and powerful weapon, the Dual Glave, which contained the missing shard of the Dark Crystal.
The Gelfling hero Rian struck down skekVar the General and the Skeksis retreated.
In the wake of this victory came a Prophecy, and with it’s fulfillment would come the
healing of the Crystal, a feat that could be accomplished by Gelfling hand, or else
by none.
In response, skekTek and skekUng created a new army, the Garthim.
These corrupted abominations resembed giant beetles, single minded and unnaturally strong.
They held a single purpose, to gather as many Gelfling as possible and bring them back to
the castle to be harvested.
The Garthim War lasted until the Skeksis believed they had completely wiped out the entire Gelfling
race.
Without Gelflings to harvest for their life energy, however, the Skeksis turned to the
lower race of Podlings to extend their lives.
Of weaker will and intelligence compared to the Gelflings, the Podlings produced insubstantial
elixirs hardly able to sustain the strength of the Skeksis.
The extermination of the Gelflings had made the Prophecy impossible to fulfill, but had
also destroyed the only means the Skeksis had of staving off death.
Eventually, Emperor skekSo lay sick and dying, clinging to life with the same avarice he
possessed in his youth.
The remaining eight Skeksis waited for his death and began fighting amongst themselves
to select his replacement.
When skekSo finally perished, a new ruler was named during the Trial by Stone, a form
of ritual combat to prove a challenger’s strength.
skekUng, the Garthim Master, won out over the Chamberlain skekSil, who was stripped
of his robes and banished from the castle.
But the Skeksis could not escape the Prophecy they had worked so tirelessly to prevent.
Their downfall came not long after, by the hand of two Gelflings who miraculously escaped
the Garthim War.
Through their efforts the Dark Crystal was healed, returning to its original form.
The Skeksis too were harmonized with their other halves, crossing back through the Crystal
to their own world.
For the entirety of their existence the Skesis were a dying race, ruled by a dying emperor
and imprisoned in a dying land.
But what was sundered and undone is once more whole, the two made one.
The Templin Institute investigates the factions, nations, and organizations of alternate worlds.
If you’ve enjoyed this video and would like to join The Templin Institute, consider pledging
to our Patreon Page.
Along with increased security access, you’ll be able to vote in polls to determine future
topics, get custom wallpaper every week and receive some other exclusive rewards.