Serran crossed his legs on the floor, eager to hear the information that he was about to get from Kleptos.
"To begin, you should know about me. I attended the sith academy on this planet with Darth Bane. We didn't know each other but everyone knew of him. He had come to the academy with no knowledge of the sith and everyone looked down on him. After coming here, he returned to the academy stronger than ever. After the war that he ended, I stayed on this planet and became the protector of Korriban's sith history. Now for what you wanted to hear. This remote, foreboding planet was the original homeworld of the Sith species. The Valley of the Dark Lords is an area of Korriban that contains numerous monuments serving as crypts for deceased Darks Lords of the Sith. The largest monument in the valley is this one, the tomb of Darth Bane. This Sith temple is the largest monument in the Valley of the Dark Lords, a corridor of ancient monuments that serve as crypts for the deceased Dark Lords of the Sith. When the brotherhood was formed, we abandoned this area under Lord Kaan's orders since almost every tomb has been robbed from by grave-robbers and the jedi. Not much is known about the Valley of the Dark Lords." Kleptos explained.
"I'm guessing the jedi didn't want the sith to learn the secrets of the dead. You mentioned earlier that Bane came here and became stronger, is that right? How did he?" Serran asked.
"No one knows. The Sith Empire was founded in thousands of years ago by exiled fallen Jedi fleeing the Battle of Corbos, which concluded the Hundred-Year Darkness. The fallen Jedi landed here on Korriban. Using their training in the Force, the fallen Jedi amazed the Sith and elevated themselves to god-like status on Korriban, becoming the rulers of the Sith people. As years passed, and interbreeding occurred between the Fallen Jedi and the Sith, the term "Sith" came to mean not only the original inhabitants of Korriban, but also their fallen Jedi masters. Until the rise of Naga Sadow, the existence of the Sith Empire was unknown to the Galactic Republic." Kleptos explained in detail. He didn't want to get sidetracked and was focused only on the important details that Serran had asked for.
"Who was Naga Sadow?" Serran asked.
Kleptos sighed. "Naga Sadow was a master Sith alchemist and Dark Lord of the Sith who, thousands of years ago, took the Sith Empire to the brink of galactic domination in the Great Hyperspace War. A half-breed Sith from Ziost, Sadow was trained by the Sith warlord Simus and ruled over a secret citadel on the moon Khar Shian, where he became one of the most powerful Sith magicians of his time. A member of the Sith Council under the reign of Dark Lord of the Sith Marka Ragnos, Sadow's preached an expansionist philosophy that put him at odds with much of the isolated Sith Empire's establishment. Sadow was considered a major candidate for Dark Lord after Ragnos' death, leading him into a power struggle with conservative rival Ludo Kressh that only ended with the surprise arrival of two explorers from the far-off Republic. Sadow saw opportunity in the two explorers—siblings Gav and Jori Daragon, and used the suspicion and fear raised by their arrival to foment war with the Republic."
"So he was an important Dark Lord. I get it. Now back to the Valley of the Dark Lords." Serran said eagerly, filled with excitement and determination to learn all about the secrets of the sith.
"Under the pall of Sith magic, this desolate world became more hellish and dangerous. The Sith Lords erected huge palaces and burial complexes to honor their fallen Dark Lords. After the fall of the Sith Empire, the planet lost much of its prominence in the galaxy, eventually falling off the galactic starcharts for a thousand years. Despite the belief the Sith as a species became extinct after the end of the war, isolated enclaves of Kissai and Massassi existed on the planet over a millennia after their empire's fall. After the fall of Darth Malak, the ancient tombs within the Valley of the Dark Lords were plundered by grave-robbers. Each tomb was once infused with the history and heritage of the old Sith Empire, containing great mysteries and powerful relics of the Force. Many broken, charred corpses littered the plains of Korriban during this time, virtually all that remained of the Sith who once inhabited the world." Kleptos continued.
"Who are Kissai and-"
"I will cut off your arm if you ask another question that I barely know the answer to." Kleptos threatened. He continued. "This valley would not be inhabited by Sith until the former Jedi Knight Revan entered the valley with his apprentice Darth Malak with their own Imperial host. Reestablishing the Sith Academy at the valley's back wall, the Sith began churning out Sith to fight in Revan's war with the Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic. When Revan was captured and redeemed by the Jedi, he was dispatched to Korriban in the guise of a Sith apprentice and infiltrated the academy in order to gain access to the tombs. Retrieving artifacts such as Ajunta Pall's blade and the holocron of Tulak Hord, Revan escaped the valley undetected. He was a traitor to us but he is long dead now."
Kleptos smirked as he got to the part that he knew the best. "As the New Sith Empire and the Republic battled ceaselessly for generations, the Sith remained separated from their origin world. Under the leadership of Sith Lord Skere Kaan and his reorganized Brotherhood of Darkness, the Sith took back Korriban in a stunning victory which left all Jedi and Republic soldiers on the battlefield dead. They found the valley desolate, having been largely ignored by generations of Sith; dark siders during the New Sith Wars seldom if ever visited the site as centuries of looting and conflict had largely destroyed anything of value. Under Kaan's leadership and the works of Lords Qordis and Kopecz, Korriban was reinvigorated and the academy reopened in a new building. Many attended this academy and we devoted ourselves to fighting in the war and bringing the sith to victory."
"As the Sith flocked to Korriban and sent hundreds through the academy system, the valley remained largely abandoned, as the Masters believed it to be empty of all relics or secrets that could aid in the war effort. Nonetheless, Bane had defied his masters and came here to learn the secrets of the sith. I do not know what he learned but something did happen to him. But, as you know, the darkside energy in this valley doesnt exist anymore." Kleptos said. "That is all I know."
Serran felt both satisfied by all of the knowledge he had gained and dissatisfied that that was all he gained. "Kleptos, teach me the ways of the Sith. Make me stronger." Serran demanded.
"Why do you want to become stronger?" He asked the young sith.
Serran remembered the battle between him and Meera. She had been so much stronger than him. His defeat was embarrassing. "There's someone that I need to kill. She's grown much stronger than me in such a short time."
"A jedi?" Kleptos asked.
"Yeah, a jedi." Serran responded.
Kleptos nodded his head. "I accept. Your training starts now."
Serran smiled. "Give me your lightsaber." Kleptos demanded.
"What?" Serran asked, confused to why his new master needed his lightsaber. He handed it over anyway as a sign of respect.
Kleptos grabbed onto the lightsaber and ignited the red blade. He examined it for a few moments. "You bled the kyber crystal recently didn't you?" He asked.
"Yes, I did. I bled it a few days ago." Serran said confidently.
Kleptos extinguished the blade. "You did an awful job bleeding the crystal. You rushed it and didn't focus on the bleeding properly." Kleptos insulted.
"How can you tell?" Serran asked.
"The blade is slightly flickering, the glow it emits isn't red enough, the darkside energy in the crystal is weak and the crystal is trying to heal itself. You failed miserably. You need a new lightsaber." Kleptos explained harshly without sugar coating anything.
"You don't have to be so kriffing harsh." Serran groaned. How did I manage to screw it up so badly?
"Your first part of being my apprentice is to make a new lightsaber. Don't come back here until you've gotten a new lightsaber and bled the crystal properly." Kleptos said as he got up and crushed Serran's lightsaber.
Serran then got up and left the temple. He went into Gossec's starship and input coordinates. The quickest way to make a new lightsaber was to go to Ilum. Almost all of the jedi younglings would go to Ilum to aquire their very own kyber crystal. This would be his first time going to Ilum since he had a mephite kyber crystal.
Farewell, Gossec. It was a pleasure meeting you.
Authors Note: There will not be a chapter posted next week due to personal reasons. See you all in two weeks!