User blog:Brandon Rhea/Chronicles of the Great War update

This is the first of many blogs that should chart the development of the upcoming Chronicles of the Great War series, a series of a few Alternative Star Wars Saga novels loosely based on the events of the first timeline on TheStarWarsRP.Com. Beginning just after the events of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II – The Sith Lords, Chronicles of the Great War begins by showing the rise of the Third Sith Empire and the reorganization of the Jedi Order after the disastrous Mandalorian War and Jedi Civil War. As the series progresses and the Great Territorial War begins, the stories will focus on the forces of the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order fighting against the Third Sith Empire. Other factions involved will be the Mandalorian Clans and the House of EbonClaw of the Chiss Ascendancy.

The series is going to focus on a lot of characters and their growth during the Great Territorial War, and the focus will be put on Ussej Padric Bac, Kit Corwin Rendar, Damien Nightblade, Remer Ather and Dexon Kyjar, as they’re all vitally important to the impending destiny of the entire galaxy. I also put a lot of focus onto Josham Kavar, Adena Qel-Droma and Stavan Jetzt. Many of the users from SWRP will be able to contribute when it comes to the development of their characters.

One of the major aspects of the series will be the mythology of an ancient group of relics that supposedly pointed the way to a trove of knowledge "that could put the Jedi Archives to shame". The quest for these relics will be one of the recurring stories throughout the series, beginning even in the first novel, Aftermath. Some of the storyline of the quest is inspired by the fourth season of Smallville, mainly with the basic idea of a group of relics coming together to point the way to a large store of knowledge, though the vast majority of it is original content. While it is known that the relics in Smallville ended up forming the Fortress of Solitude, I have yet to reveal what the relics in Chronicles of the Great War are capable of doing.

Aftermath will be the first novel of the series, written after I complete writing on Star Wars: Episode I - The Chosen One. It’s been in pre-production since Spring 2008, and I released it as a short story in April 2008. I retracted it shortly thereafter since I wasn’t happy with it, and it wasn’t very well received as a short story anyway. I have started to write the novel in script format, though, and it’s coming along nicely. It begins a week after KOTOR 2, and focuses on the immediate aftermath of Kreia’s assault on the Jedi Council, which Kavar survived. The novel is also focused mainly on Kavar and Jetzt, the latter of whom has just returned from being a prisoner of war, as well as the early years of the Rendar family and the beginning of an internal struggle in the Sith Empire.

One aspect of Aftermath that I’m looking forward to is how it immediately intertwines the destinies of many characters. Let me first say HERE BE SPOILERS; if you don’t want to be spoiled for Aftermath, turn back now. During Aftermath, there’s a speeder crash on Corellia involving numerous drivers. In one car is the ten year old Ussej Padric Bac, who had been taken into the Jedi Order years earlier. He’s in a speeder with his master, Brarh Kefle, who is driving. Both of them have been in hiding from the Sith, and are relatively unscathed in the crash. The passengers of the other speeder, though, are gravely injured. They are Corwin Rendar and Jeyna Rendar, the latter of whom is seven months pregnant. Jetzt gets to the scene and heroically rushes them to the hospital where they both die, although the doctors are able to save the couple’s prematurely born daughter, Laili Jeyna Rendar, who will later be the love of Ussej’s life. Ussej and Brarh go on to return to the Jedi Order once it’s reconvened after the events of Aftermath. This is one example of three major characters (Ussej, Laili and Jetzt) being semi-introduced to one another very, very early on.

After Aftermath will be three short stories: Union will deal with the creation of the Third Sith Empire, an untitled story will show events unfold on Onderon that will impact events later in the series, and Sacred Oath will deal with Jetzt’s inauguration as Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic. The next planned novel will be set just after Sacred Oath, and it’s titled The Chancellor’s Bidding. One week after his inauguration, Jetzt calls a delegation of Jedi to his office, including Ussej and Damien Nightblade, to tell them about reports he’s been given regarding a situation in the Uvena system. He believes that a flow of weapons indicates the reemergence of the Sith, and while the Jedi are skeptical they send Ussej and Damien to investigate it. They end up finding themselves in the middle of a war between Uvena Prime and Uvena III, and at the end of the war they follow the trail of weapons all the way to Korriban, where it’s revealed that the Sith orchestrated the war in order to gain the weapons for themselves. Ussej and Damien barely make it out alive, and after they return to Coruscant Jetzt declares war against the Sith, plunging the galaxy into the beginning of the Great Territorial War.

This is going to be a fun series for me to write, especially considering the development that I’m going to be able to accomplish with my flagship character, Ussej Padric Bac. In the beginning, he’ll be an optimistic and newly minted Jedi Knight who will eventually be hardened by war. Tragic and unforeseen circumstances will come to turn him into someone who is plagued by paranoia, and this nearly turns him to the dark side of the Force. However, despite his irrational behavior at points, he is able to return from the brink and becomes a respectable person in the end. Although he will certainly have personality quirks, some of which cause damage to his relationship with Laili over the years, he eventually is able to achieve a state of compassion and leadership that allows him to fulfill his destiny and become the Shaman of the Whills on Ashlan Four. His skills in the Force and with a sword will also grow. He will have average abilities with a lightsaber as a new Jedi Knight, although he will eventually develop into a more hardened warrior that has above average fighting skills. He’s also going to learn from Damien Nightblade a form of combat called Rizen, which is known only to a few people in the galaxy as Damien himself created it.

That’s all I can think to say for now. Hopefully you guys will be as excited as I am to see this series! Thanks for reading, and I hope you’re not too spoiled! :D

- Brandon