Ziost/Legends

Ziost sometimes referred to as the "Gateway to the Empire" in the days of the Old Republic, was a rocky world and potent focal point of the dark side of the Force located in the Ziost system, a star system in the Sith Worlds region of the Outer Rim Territories's Esstran sector. It was an adopted homeworld of the Sith species. Connected to other nearby worlds by the Nache Bhelfia hyperlane, Ziost was considered one of the five sacred Sith planets and served as a capital of Adas's Sith Empire and the Old Sith Empire.

Originally a thickly forested world with a warm climate, Ziost had suffered from an ice age that leveled the vast woodlands after the most Sith, including but not limited to Kissai priest and Massassi warrior castes, relocated there in 27,700 BBY, leaving their desolated homeworld Korriban as a vast tombworld after the death of their leader Adas. As a result, the planet was transformed into bitterly cold tundra with an arid climate, covered in ice, and became very similar, in landscape, to Korriban.

Eventually it became a major Sith buffer world during the days of Vitiate's Sith Empire before being forgotten entirely.

Description

Astrography

Ziost was the primary planet of the system of the same name, a star system located up north within the Stygian Caldera nebula in the Sith Worlds region of the Esstran sector in the Trans-Hydian portion of the Outer Rim Territories. It distantly orbited a sun and was in turn orbited by two moons. It was considered one of the five sacred Sith planets, along with Khar Delba, Rhelg, Krayiss II, and Korriban. Those five planets were linked by the looping hyperlane called the Nache Bhelfia—Ziost fell between the lesser worlds Nicht Ka and Ch'hodos on the route.

Geography

Ziost was a frigid world.

A terrestrial world, Ziost was originally covered with vast thick forests and possessed a warm climate. Around 27,700 BBY, however, an ice age leveled the vast woodlands as well as most evidence of civilization on the planet. As a result, Ziost was transformed into bitterly cold tundra with an arid climate, and its surface covered with rocky terrain, ice-encrusted mountains, glaciers. It had at least one ocean, with brackish water.

Flora and fauna

Ziost was a home Sith pincerbugs and scorpions.

History

Exiles

Ziost would later be considered a neutral planet, where various Sith warlords could convene to discuss the future of the Empire, with hundreds of lesser worlds falling under its sway, including industrial Korriz, eerie Dromund Kaas, ambitious Ch'hodos, battle-scarred Ashas Ree, and the distant world of Malachor V.

Golden Age of the Sith

Duel of the Sith

"I fight for the Sith Empire, Naga Sadow…you fight for yourself!"
"I fight for the future…and the future is now!"

―Ludo Kressh and Naga Sadow

In 5000 BBY, Dark Lord of the Sith Marka Ragnos died after more than a century of iron-handed rule. Ragnos' funeral was held shortly after, with Kressh leading the funeral procession as they laid Ragnos to rest in a tomb in the Valley of the Dark Lords. After the tomb was sealed, Naga Sadow challenged Ludo Kressh to a duel for the title of Dark Lord before the tomb. Neither would get the chance to claim a victory, however, as Marka Ragnos' spirit appeared with a warning: the Golden Age was nearing its end, and the Sith would need to fight the correct battles or else be destroyed. As the Sadow and Kressh pondered the dead Dark Lord's words, they were interrupted by an unexpected sight: a starship of unknown origin descending into the Valley of the Dark Lords. When the ship landed, two Humans disembarked, proclaiming themselves to be emissaries from the Galactic Republic interested in setting up a trade relationship with the Sith civilization. The pair—Gav and Jori Daragon, in truth fugitives who had chanced upon Korriban after making a blind hyperspace jump to escape trouble on their native Koros Major—were swiftly seized as spies. Although Kressh wanted to kill them immediately, Sadow thought the Daragons could be the key to new Sith conquests, and had them imprisoned for questioning on Ziost.

Council's decision

For Sadow, the Republic was a vast new field to conquer, but it could also be a unifying force for an increasingly split Sith Empire, and a distraction from political weaknesses on the homefront. With the Daragons in chains, Sadow met with the rest of the Sith Council at Ziost's Sith Citadel to discuss their fates. While several of the Council agreed with Kressh that the visitors should be put to death, Sadow made an impassioned plea to keep them alive, as their knowledge of the rest of the galaxy could lead to greater Sith domination and control. Sadow knew well the value that Humans could bring, as he had made good use of the scientific skills of the descendants of Human Tapani refugees that had been enslaved by the Sith generations before, and often included Humans among his entourage.

Despite Sadow's plea, the Council still voted to kill the Daragons. Meanwhile in the prisoner level in a fortress, Gav Daragon struggled to keep his optimism, noting that all great explorers occasionally fell upon hard times, while Jori thought it could have been worse. Finally, the two were approached in their cell by a Sith Lord named Simus, who informed them that their fate had been decided: they were to be executed as soon as possible. Gav was irate at this news and protested that they had not been given a fair trial and that they had given the Sith no information whatsoever, but these complaints fell on deaf ears. Unbeknownst to the Daragons, however, Naga Sadow had formulated a plan to free Gav and Jori, so as to bring about renewed contact with the Republic.

Prison break

"Summon all my loyal Massassi, gather weapons, prepare the ships. We must strike Ziost fast and hard."

―Naga Sadow

Sadow and his followers raided Ziost, leaving no evidence but a Republic blaster.

However, the ever-ambitious Sadow still had the galaxy on his mind, and he put a plan in motion to rescue the explorers and bring the rest of the Sith Council around to his side. As Sadow watched from his secret fortress on Khar Shian, a Sith soldier loyal to Sadow snuck into the Daragons' ship and stole a pair of Republic blasters. Once the weapons were in hand, Sadow quickly raided Ziost with a small strike team. At the time, the Daragons were at their most distraught, huddled together and lamenting their fate. Gav surmised that he should have continued his Jedi training and bemoaned the fact that the random spin of the navicomputer coordinates had brought them here. When he heard the Massassi coming, he straightened up and vowed not to go down without a fight. However, they were greeted not by executioners, but by Naga Sadow, who had freed the Daragons and killed all witnesses using one of the Republic blasters, including his old teacher, Simus.

Sadow left the weapon behind at the scene, and departed to allow the rest of the Sith Lords to draw their own conclusions. Sadow deposited the Daragons at his secret citadel on Khar Shian, before promptly returning to Ziost to see if his strike had had the effect he desired. Sadow arrived to find that everything had gone according to plan: the Sith Council was in a panic, and the Republic was to blame. Feigning shock at Simus' death, Sadow loudly proclaimed that it was time for the Sith to strike back, and officially announced his intentions to seize the title of Dark Lord. To Ludo Kressh's horror, several of the Sith Council backed Sadow's claim, and Kressh left in a huff with his supporters, proclaiming that he would become the true Dark Lord. Not willing to let this stand, Sadow ordered his supporters, each of whom controlled a dozen worlds, to call their ships and warriors to battle. Things had come to a head, and Naga Sadow and Ludo Kressh were finally going to war.

Consolidating power

"All of the Sith Lords, from Ziost and from their own systems, all swear allegiance to me."

―Naga Sadow

Naga Sadow receives his mark of Lordship on Ziost.

In the meantime, Sadow split the Daragons up, keeping Gav Daragon with him on Khar Shian and sending his sister Jori to his decoy fortress on Khar Delba. In Gav Daragon, who had once been a low-level initiate of the Jedi Order in his younger days, he found someone with a strong, if untrained, talent in the Force. Sensing promise in Daragon, Sadow took him under his wing as an apprentice and began to teach the young man Sith magic. With all-out war with Ludo Kressh looming, Sadow had a traditional tattoo applied to his forehead by Sith pincerbugs, an act which most believed made his claim to the seat of Dark Lord official. Soon afterward, he received information that Ludo Kressh had his men guarding the Daragons' captured ship, the Starbreaker 12.

Realizing an opportunity, Sadow sent several of his Massassi warriors to kill Kressh's guards and seize the ship, leaving no witnesses and leaving Sadow's emblem behind at the scene. Sadow's Massassi flew the Starbreaker 12 back to Khar Delba, getting there just before Kressh attacked the world, just as Sadow had foreseen. Having planned for this eventuality, Sadow allowed Kressh, backed by the forces of his allies Horak-mul and Dor Gal-ram, to batter his fortresses on Khar Delba with a rain of laser fire from their battleships. Naga Sadow emerged victorious after calling in his secret fleet from the far side of Khar Shian to counterattack Kressh. In the following months, Khar Delba was rebuilt and was established as the center of Naga Sadow's power as he gathered a force to invade the Galactic Republic, in a conflict that became known as the Great Hyperspace War.

A world lost

Around 23 ABY bounty hunter Zekk, ran into Dengar on the planet while the rival bounty hunters were searching for Bornan Thul.

Locations

Sith Citadel

The Sith Citadel was the central meeting place of the Sith Council.

During the Golden Age of the Sith, the prisoner level in the frozen ice caves of fortress' lower levels held Gav and Jori Daragon, while, in the levels above, a great debate raged among the Council concerning the Daragons' future. It was also here that Naga Sadow had a traditional tattoo applied to his forehead by Sith pincerbugs, an act which most believed made his claim to the seat of Dark Lord official.

Behind the scenes

Ziost first appeared as the "central world of the Sith" in third issue of the comic miniseries Tales of the Jedi: The Golden Age of the Sith, which was written by Kevin J. Anderson, and published by Dark Horse Comics on December 11, 1996.

Ziost versus Korriban?

Though Ziost was established as the original Sith homeworld in Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi — The Golden Age of the Sith, many sources described Korriban as the Sith homeworld. It was the "public" capital world of the Sith Empire during the era of Darth Revan, but was a mausoleum-world for millennia beforehand and would return to such a state not long after.

The controversy was put to rest in the article Evil Never Dies: The Sith Dynasties by Abel G. Peña, which clearly established the Sith originating on Korriban and relocating the capital to Ziost before the arrival of the Dark Jedi exiles during the Hundred-Year Darkness, though the Dark Jedi exiles themselves landed on Korriban.

From the article Evil Never Dies: The Sith Dynasties:

Without Adas' unifying influence, wars once again raged for rule of the Sith people, with the reigning combatants arrogantly claiming the title of Sith'ari, and eventually forcing a relocation of the Sith capitol to the planet Ziost. Eventually, almost two-dozen millennia after Adas' death, a proper successor to Adas seemed to come at last. Known in Republic space as the Exiles, traitorous Jedi defeated in a galactic war called the Hundred-Year Darkness arrived on Korriban and cowed the Sith people with their astounding Force abilities, lightsabers, and superior technology.

Appearances

• Tales of the Jedi – The Golden Age of the Sith 3 (First appearance)
• Tales of the Jedi – The Golden Age of the Sith 4
• Tales of the Jedi – The Fall of the Sith Empire 1 (Mentioned only)
• Young Jedi Knights: Delusions of Grandeur