Tatooine Jedi Chapter House (Jedi Renaissance)

The chapter house on Tatooine, formerly known as the Palace of Jabba the Hutt, was a large stone and durasteel complex used by the Jedi Order as a safe house and training ground for its members who operated in the. Located at the fringes of the, the structure was originally erected as a monastery of the B'omarr Order until the buildings eventually fell into the hands of two major crimelords: first an outcast and gang leader called and later Jabba the Hutt, a notorious crime lord from.

While the structure underwent many additions in the way of fortification and technological advances, the basic structure of the complex remained the same throughout its existence. Composed of a central rotunda and a taller spire adjacent to it, the ridge-side retreat also boasted an underground hangar and maintenance bay. Deep in the monastery's subterranean chambers, Jabba the Hutt made a throne room which sat on top of a pit housing a pet rancor. The Hutt used this beast for a dual purpose: protection and entertainment. At the flick of a switch, a concealed door in the floor of the chamber could deposit a threatening guest into an inescapable pit while onlookers could watch as the rancor made short work of its meal. Following the Jedi occupation, the remaining B'omarr monks cloistered themselves away while the Jedi converted dungeons and gaols into meditation chambers and strategic operations centers. The chapter house's first headmaster, A'Sharad Hett, was a native of the planet and led many treks into the Dune Sea from this facility.

Home of the B'omarr Order
Circa 700 BBY, the strict religious Order of the B'omarr monks commissioned the construction of this monastery on the fringes of the Northern Dune Sea on Tatooine. Far from any other settlements so as to amplify the monks' detachment from the universe, the environment of Tatooine allowed the Order's members to concentrate on their studies, furthering their goal of complete disconnection from all external sensation. The monks' lifestyle of solitude meant that the monastery seldom had visitors, trading occasionally with the nomadic Tusken Raiders that roamed the region, some of which joined in building the structure.

Alkhara's criminal operations
Nearly a century and a half after its original construction, the monastery was discovered by the outcast and his band of thieves. While prepared to lay siege to the monastery, Alkhara was surprised when the monks opened up the monastery to the army, allowing them to make the complex their home of operations. Because the monks were few in number and otherwise concerned with their own business, Alkhara was free to use the monastery for his own needs, such as a stronghold against the Tuskens, and a staging ground from which his people preyed on the moisture farmers of Tatooine. Alkhara continued to improve his hideout over his thirty-four year span as its steward, augmenting its corridors and great halls while his followers upgraded the living quarters and added a set of dungeons and underground chambers, with the monks' approval. He cut a road from the citadel to the Western Dune Sea and Pit of Carkoon, during this time, also adding battlements to the building, and the construction of a nine-story tower to which he gave his name.

Under Jabba's regime
It wasn't until 516 BBY that the Hutt named Jabba Desilijic Tiure discovered the citadel and ousted Alkhara and seized the monastery. Like Alkhara and his predecessors, Jabba maintained a good relationship with the monks, adding onto their monastery and generally avoiding the strange religious people. Along with plating the exterior walls with ditanium, Jabba built an expansive hangar and garage for his fleet of ships and swoops. Erecting a throne room in the subterranean bowels of the citadel, the Hutt transformed the complex into a palace. As Jabba's criminal empire grew in reputation, more and more miscreants began to occupy the palace. Jabba employed many Gamorrean guards, allowing their families to reside in a wing of the palace in exchange for security. The Hutt occupied the palace for centuries, dividing his time between this retreat, and his home on Nal Hutta.

When the Clone Wars erupted between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems, Jabba began to scheme, plotting ways to profit from the war. In 22 BBY Jabba's son, Rotta, was kidnapped by an unknown assailant which caused Jabba to turn to the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic for aid. Hoping that the Republic could win over Jabba's support and his invaluable knowledge of secret trade routes, Chancellor Palpatine dispatched Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi to negotiate with the Hutt while Jedi Anakin Skywalker and his new Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, sought out the missing Huttlet. As the Republic investigated, the leader of the Confederacy, Count Dooku, approached Jabba and convinced the Hutt that the Jedi were responsible for kidnapping the Huttlet. Dooku made Jabba suspect that the Jedi were using the Huttlet as a way of bartering with the crime lord and eventually toppling his regime, when in fact Dooku was responsible for arranging the kidnapping in the first place. An enraged Jabba was led to believe the Jedi killed his son, despite the fact the Jedi had rescued him, and ordered that the Jedi responsible be put to death. As the Jedi arrived back on Tatooine to return the infant Hutt to its parent, Dooku and his forces engaged Jedi Skywalker and Padawan Tano, however they were driven off. Having forced Dooku to flee, Jedi Skywalker turned over the Huttlet to Jabba, who graciously granted the Republic forces safe passage through Hutt Space and the Arkanis sector.

In 20 BBY, the Sith servant known as Savage Opress forcibly struck a deal with the Hutt Grand Council, bringing them into the fold of the Shadow Collective as patrons. While not working overtly for Opress, the Hutts agreed to fund his armies in exchange for anonymity. Jabba allowed Opress to stage troops at the palace after the Clone Wars ended, maintaining a small garrison of former Confederate droids, Death Watch troopers and other member soldiers of the Collective. As Opress and key members of the Shadow Collective went into hiding during the initial aftermath of the Clone Wars, the army staged at Jabba's palace went unnoticed despite their frequent training missions out in the Dune Sea. Rumors of an army began fomenting among Jabba's rivals on the planet and these whispers quickly caught the attention of the Jedi High Council on Ossus. Eager to shutdown the Hutt criminal and slaving empire operating out of Hutt Space, the High Council decided a strike against Jabba would be the first in the systematic destruction of the entire Hutt regime.

Staging a strike team around the planet in 10 BBY, the High Council activated its agents placed in the palaces months prior in order to begin their seizure of the planet. Giving the an hour's notice before striking, the High Council hoped to avoid ruining ties with the bounty hunters as their target was slavers. Led by Grand Master Tomac Moorcé himself, the strike team managed to secure the upper levels without much violence and forced a standoff in the throne room of the Hutt himself. Discovering the Shadow Collective's continued existence when faced with their troops, the strike team members were able to cut through the troopers' defense and ensure none escaped to warn their hidden masters. During the chaos, Jabba's majordomo Bib Fortuna had hoped the Shadow Collective troops would defend the palace. Realizing they would lose and hoping to survive the Jedi assault, Fortuna drew a holdout blaster from his robes and executed Jabba at point-blank range. When the fighting ended, Fortuna was taken into Jedi custody and the palace taken for the Jedi.

A place of meditation
Following the death of Jabba, the Jedi cleansed the palace of the Hutt's unsavory house guests. Dismissing the Gamorrean guards, the Order arranged for them and their families to relocate offworld to find new employment. While the Bounty Hunters' Guild was unhappy that several of its members had been killed in the fighting, they Guildmasters agreed that the Order had acted reasonably and had attempted to alert those guild members in the area to the danger. Allowing the B'omarr monks to retain their cloister in the highest levels of the palace, the Order converted the series of buildings into a place of meditation for members of the Order. As a chapter house, the complex was administered by a headmaster who oversaw the day to day functions of the facility and looked after the welfare of the occupants. Used largely as a retreat and way-station where Jedi Rangers active in the area could resupply and rest, the chapter house boasted no academy or training staff outside of a few skills trainers who would educated Jedi in new abilities discovered on Tython.

Central Rotunda
A large, squat rotunda topped with a ditanium-reinforced cupola, the chapter house was accessed via a torch- and brazier-lit stone corridor which led from the main entry portcullis on the facility's northwestern side. The large durasteel door which had served as the main entrance to the palace since its construction was removed by the Jedi Order in favor of an open entrance, ray shielded to keep out sand. Massive sand stone pillars rose up in the mouth of the entrance like massive teeth, each one emblazoned with a banner displaying the symbol of the Jedi Order. The main entrance corridor led into the structure's central chamber known as the, a vast and cavernous place that was filled with an eerie silence. Prayer banners hung from the ceiling, gentle swaying over the multi-tiered chamber used as a place of worship for the disembodied brains of enlightened B'omarr monks. Reposing in niches along the tiers that made up the chamber, the center of the room was occupied by a floor-to-ceiling supports for the rotating ventilation wheel, which shifted the otherwise still air to keep the rotunda cool. This area of the chapter house was avoided by Jedi and allowed the monks to conduct their meditations in peace. The room was encircled on its exterior by a ceremonial concourse that ran underneath the cupola; meditation stations were scattered along the walkway which gave an unobstructed view of the Dune Sea. The upper portion of the cupola was made up of several smaller rooms used strictly for maintenance, defense, and the everyday technical needs of the complex. Among the rooms located here was a hydroponics chamber for the growth of aquatic animals used in the kitchens. Off of the main corridor, small interior courtyards were lined with archways leading to corridors and stairwells which descended deeper into the complex.

Communications's tower and power facility
A nine-story tower originally named after the man who ordered its construction, Alkhara, this structure contained a circular stairway that spiraled up from base to summit. Capped with a communications dome, the tower's exterior was pockmarked by hyperwave transceivers that kept the chapter house tuned into the HoloNet and the official communications networks of the Order. Jedi used this tower to stay in constant contact with Ossus as well as the countless dignitaries and planetary governments watched over by the Jedi in the system.

Just to the north of the comm tower stood a shorter rotunda that served as the main power facility to the complex. Because the above ground portion of the tower housed a holomap of the entire galaxy, the Order converted the upper levels into an operations planning center for the Rangers making use of the facility. The subterranean base was home to the palace's major power facility, with conduits running throughout the entire complex. Reached by a spiraling stair, enjoyed by the B'omarr monks and Jedi for the hours of meditative walking it provided, the power plant generated enough energy to power the facility without needing to connect to existing power grids. Deep inside the ornately decorated dome, a seemingly bottomless sacrificial pit was used to dispose of the brainless bodies of enlightened monks.

Motor pool and subterranean passages
Located below ground, the motor pool area was carved out under Jabba's orders so as to contain the Hutt's many skiffs, barges, and animal mounts. Like the rest of the palace, the motor pool hangar had a polished stone floor and a massive durasteel gate that opened onto the harsh desert land scape of Tatooine. An underground roadway stemming from the hangar made a circuitous path from the palace to the city of, a little known passage the Jedi used when patrolling the city. The motor pool came to house the chapter house's supply of starfighters, landspeeders, and personal craft of Jedi making use of the facility. Commandeering Jabba's old skiff, the Order used it for meditative camping exercises into the Tatooinian wilderness. Additional subterranean passages delved deeper into the ground then the motor pool. Long since forgotten, a chamber housing the regeneration gems of the B'omarr Order was protected by a triple set of heavy doors. The Jedi discovered these crystals and placed them within an ornate chamber used for healing and meditation by Jedi who spent extended periods in the desert.

The old throne room
A renovated B'omarr chapel, Jabba the Hutt made his throne room deep in the subterranean chambers of the palace complex. Accessed by a winding stone stair, the throne room's air was constantly filled with spiced t'bac smoke and the sounds of jizz per Jabba's delight in theatrics. Reposing on a large dais backed by a rotisserie cooker, Jabba could oversee the gathered masses he permitted to enjoy his company. Behind Jabba, his majordomo had their own private turbolift which allowed them to greet guests at the front gate, allowing for the crime boss' second in commanded to either welcome, turn away, or kill them. The likes of bounty hunters, assassins, smugglers and more filled out the often crowded alcoves of the chamber, many of whom plotted to one day overthrow the Hutt or kill him. At the center of the room, the polished stone floor gave way to a viewing grille which looked down upon a large pit where Jabba's beasts would fight, entertaining the Hutt and his depraved guests. Among the beasts were Jabba's prized rancor and a krayt dragon. A trap door in the floor in front of Jabba's dais could be opened by a trigger mechanism in the Hutt's hookah pipe, dropping threatening or otherwise bothersome guests into the pit to be devoured.

When the Order occupied the facility, the Jedi freed the captured beasts and converted their pit into a place of meditation, where Jedi could meditate amid the horrors which unfolded in the place to help form a bulwark against the dark side in themselves. The old throne room was completely renovated into a minor courtyard housing a small statue, meditation chambers and access to the upper and lower levels via several stairs and a turbolift. The old prison cells beneath the throne room were converted into meditation chambers while the boiler room that sat opposite the prison facility was used for droid repairs and refurbishing.