Order of the Jedi Bendu of the Ophuchi

"The chosen people deserve to be free. They deserve to be free to serve and to protect the common people of this galaxy under my protection."

- Yahweh

The Order of the Jedi Bendu of the Ophuchi was an ancient and noble monastaic peacekeeping organization dedicated to serving and protecting the people of the Ashlan Expanse and the Old Republic until a schism broke it apart fifteen thousand years before the rise of the Galactic Empire. Before it's decline, the order was unified through its belief in Yahweh, the God of the Universe, and his omnipitent presence that the founder of the order, The Skywalker, referred to as the Force of Others. Wielders of this mystic energy and signature long swords, the Jedi Bendu were revered as guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy.

Solving major crisis' such as the Ashlan Civil War and the conflict with the minions of Xendor Taral, the Jedi Bendu had come to be trusted above all else by the citizens of the Republic. In the final year of their rule, they challenged the legality of many programs set up by Supreme Chancellor Contispex. In order to end the threat to his rule, Contispex manipulated many on the Council of Masters into reforming their code into a more loyal system. However, two council members, Zios Malachor and Adena Qel-Droma, spoke out. Qel-Droma eventually gave in to the new reforms that gave birth to the Jedi Order, but Malachor and his followers fled to the Ashlan Expanse and formed the Bendu Order on Kal'Shabbol.

A very religious people, the Jedi Bendu had an ancient set of prophecies that had been written by The Skywalker in the years before his death. The descendants of Jonathan Bac, first Supreme Chancellor of the Old Republic and one of the strongest Jedi Bendu supporters, went on to fulfill many parts of the prophecies. After the creation of the New Jedi Bendu Order, many of their people also went on to fulfil the prophecies.

The Force of Others
"The events of the beginning were lost in a sea of corruption and scandal."

- Ussej Padric Bac III

In the beginning, there was nothing. Volcanoes spewed over the newly formed worlds, no water or habitability in sight. However, things began to change rapidly for the next million years. Life arose on a multitude of worlds and flourished. This life brought forth the Force of Others, an energy radiated by all living beings. Even as living beings died, the Force they generated remained intact. And so, the Force of Others grew to become the living essence of the galaxy itself. Being a part of the great cycle of life, the Force of Others had two aspects: creation and destruction. Each of the parts balanced against the other, and the Force came to know itself.

On Had Abaddon, the family of King Melchizedek had ruled over the world for hundreds of years in a long lasting and beloved dynasty. Melchizedek had two sons. His oldest son, Achab Tahrea, was the natural son of the monarch and his wife while his youngest son, Jedi Bendu, was adopted after they found his crashed escape pod twenty kilometers away from the palace. The two brothers grew up as the best of friends, but when Jedi Bendu was eighteen years old they began to drift apart. Jedi Bendu became distant, constantly meditating and praying to the gods of their religion while trying to find his way in life.

Shortly after his nineteenth birthday, Jedi Bendu began a pilgrimage away from his home. During his journey, he sensed the living energies of what he called the Force of Others, as they had grown strong enough to actually be detected and manipulated by a living being. He studied for years, coming to see this new way. His aura and his powers grew stronger day by day until he made his way to the top of Mount Sky, the tallest mountain in the entire Ashlan Expanse, let alone Had Abaddon.

On the peak of Mount Sky, he was confronted by two aspects of the Force of Others. The first side, the Light Side, let him bathe in righteousness and nobility. He named this aspect the ‘Ashla’, a word that meant ‘bringer of hope’ in the ancient Ashlan language. However, the second aspect was the life-taking one. It quickly responded to what the Ashla had done. It too called out to The Skywalker and he named it the ‘Bogan’, a word meaning ‘bringer of death’ in the ancient Ashlan language. The Bogan sought out the holy one in an effort to twist his mind into doing evil deeds, increasing the energy of death in the galaxy. However, the Bogan had not yet learned the ways of seduction so it could only try to compel The Skywalker to comply.

The Skywalker proclaimed that he did not fear the Bogan, saying that he would not betray his people to his personal temptations. The Bogan tempted him for some time, but The Skywalker’s strength prevailed. Realizing that it had failed, the Bogan quickly diminished itself in strength, thus bringing balance to the Force of Others and giving the Ashla its rightful title as the true way.

Path
Becoming a Jedi Bendu required the most profound commitment and an astute mind. First and foremost, one must have been raised within the Ashlan Expanse or, later, within the aforementioned area or the planets occupied by the Galactic Republic. The Jedi Bendu would rarely seek what they thought of as outsiders for training. They firmly believed that anyone who had experienced worlds outside of their jurisdiction would have been tainted by a plague of corruption that could not be rectified.

A Jedi Bendu’s life was one of sacrifice. Those who showed an aptitude for the Force of Others began their training in life no later than their thirteenth birthday in the Great Jedi Bendu Pyramid on Coruscant. From the beginning, they were expected to always keep a strong sense of self-discipline, faith and prayer in their lives. Emotions such as hatred, anger and fear were expected to be used only at the proper times. Emotions such as kindness, compassion and love were expected to be used at all times. Unlike the Jedi of later years, they did not believe those emotions to be self-destructive, but rather healthy when used properly as they would not build up and unleash themselves in great quantities at the wrong time. Because of this, very few Jedi Bendu ended up walking the path of darkness. Those who did were simply selfishly seeking power.

As an apprentice, a Jedi Bendu would be taught the powers of the Force of Others, the intricacies of the Ashla and the Bogan, the history of the galaxy and the philosophies that all Jedi Bendu lived and died by. They would be taught the art of the sword, though that would not be until later in their training. The leaders of the order felt that the more one knew about philosophies and powers, the more naturally the student would be able to perform with a sword.

When a student did, in fact, reach the point in their training where they would use a sword, they would be required to use far greater focus. Students would practice the rubrics of swordplay against other students with soft blades. Due to the weight of the weapons, they would need heightened awareness to condition their attunement to the powers of the Force of Others.

At the end of training, those who were ready to be promoted to Knighthood would be faced with the challenge of completing the Trial of Wills and the Trial of Fear, two rigorous ordeals that would test the student physically and mentally. Then and only then would they become a Bendu Knight. All of the aforementioned information would have been given to a hopeful when they were beginning their training and if they felt that they could not rise to the challenge, they would be allowed to turn back without anyone thinking less of them. If they were up to the challenge, their training would begin and their names would be added to the Holy Book of Names.

Religion

 * Main article: Jedi Bendu Religion

The religion practiced by the Jedi Bendu was much like the later religion of the Bendu Order, both very different from that of the Jedi Order. The Jedi Bendu recognized and worshiped Yahweh, the God of the Universe that dwelled on a planet called Heaven in another dimension of space and time. Yahweh was the omnipotent presence that was also called the Force of Others, the power used by the Jedi Bendu, Jedi, Bendu and other factions that practiced the arts of the Bogan.

Yahweh had spoken to a man named Jedi Bendu on the highest peak of Mount Sky on Had Abaddon and dubbed him The Skywalker, as he was the only man who was able to walk to the peak of the mountain and live to tell the tale. Yahweh also allowed his chosen people, those being creatures sensitive to the Force of Others, to manipulate his divine power for good and noble deeds. However, once he allowed the good and righteous to access his power, it opened the door to allow the darkness of the galaxy to tap into it. This led to the creation of groups such as the Sith Empire and the Dark Guardians of Lettow.

Many Jedi Bendu and non-Jedi Bendu alike were known to have challenged the existence of Yahweh. Though it was universally recognized that the Force of Others did exist, many did not believe that The Skywalker spoke to Yahweh because, as they put it, “no God in our existence would be foolish enough to allow mere mortals access to his unlimited power”. Such claims were always dismissed by Jedi Bendu and religious scholars.

Despite recognizing that The Skywalker did speak to Yahweh on Mount Sky, many Jedi Bendu Masters did recognize the truth about the passing on of stories. They spoke of how in situations where a collection of stories reached far into the past, the historical truth could have been blended with myths, legends, propaganda, inaccuracies, mistakes, omissions, additions and interpretations. They believe it to be an important park of their task to separate fact from fiction in the early accounts. Regardless, it was nearly unanimously agreed by Jedi Bendu and scholars alike that the tales told by the proclaimed “children” of The Skywalker more or less accurate.

Another major difference between the Jedi Bendu and the two orders that it spawned was that the Jedi Bendu did not have any form of official code. Instead, the order utilized a set of sacred prayers that spoke of Yahweh, The Skywalker and various other religious events and individuals. The prayers would later be recognized, and added to, by the Bendu Order. The Jedi Bendu believed that having a code, regardless of whether it was a set of rules or a prayer, would be too restricting for its members. Therefore, they allowed them to practice the official prayers or their own personal prayers whenever they saw fit.

Prophecies
During the forty years between the Jedi Bendu exodus and The Skywalker's death, he received eight distinct visions about over a dozen people that took part in history for almost ten thousand years, starting with Ussej Padric Bac. The prophecies were written within his sacred journals and were later recorded into the Journal of the Whills by the Order of the Whills.

Behind the Scenes

 * The Jedi Bendu Order was created using the limited information given by George Lucas in the original drafts of The Star Wars about The Skywalker and the formation and philosophies of the Jedi Bendu.
 * The basic information about The Skywalker confronting the Light Side and the Dark Side and dying with his twelve children by his side is based off of The Journal of the Whills by Brendan J. Whalberg.
 * Yahweh is the same Judeo-Christian God worshiped on Earth.

Appearances

 * The Beginning: The Legend of The Skywalker
 * The Beginning: The Legend of the Jedi Bendu
 * The Beginning: Dawn of the Republic
 * Shadows of the Jedi: The Legend of Ussej Padric Bac
 * Shadows of the Jedi: The Legend of Ussej Padric Bac II
 * Shadows of the Jedi: The Legend of Ussej Padric Bac III
 * Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Beginning