Darth Mortan

"Darth Mortan?" "A Sith Lord, often goes hunting for ancient artifacts. I assume he's begun working with Imperial Intelligence after I defected." "Should we be wary of them?" "You should be terrified."

- Salovan, Ciniriel and Vidril Vesal talk about Darth Mortan.

Darth Mortan was a Sith Inquisitor and historian during the Great Galactic War and the Cold War, both between the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire. Tasked by the Dark Council with searching for Sith artifacts lost during the Great Hyperspace War, Mortan made a name for himself as a cruel, malicious and sadistic man, a near-parallel of his later apprentice, Lord Balg. Whilst often working alone or with the aid of his apprentice, Mortan was known for recruiting the help of other Sith or agents from Imperial Intelligence, though he often gave them the more suicidal missions he dared not do.

Born on Dromund Kaas some time between 60-50 BTC (3713-3703 BBY), Mortan was accepted into the Sith at a young age and was sent to the Sith Academy on Korriban, under the brutal tutelage of a woman known as Overseer Matriarch. Matriarch believed that the best way to erase fear was to force it upon her acolytes, and so regularly tormented them. In Mortan's case, this included being thrown into a pit of snakes and cutting off the tips of his toes with a vibroblade. By the time he was 15, Mortan was growing to resist the pain, and come 16, was beginning to enjoy it.

Mortan was made the apprentice of a seclusive Sith Pureblood woman called Darth Ilera, who was surprisingly compassionate. Ilera was disgusted by the actions of Matriarch, believing that being Sith should be a life of freedom, not one necessarily of evil, and tried to heal Mortan of his warped personality gradually. Just as it seemed to be working when Mortan was in his early-20's, Mortan discovered that he was becoming more powerful as he grew older. After ignoring Ilera's lessons for some time, he eventually dueled his Master in the Imperial Citadel on Dromund Kaas, eventually killing her with a sustained burst of lightning so powerful it shut down the power in Kaas City for hours. At the age of just 24, Mortan took on his name and the position of Darth.

Mortan took an interest in Sith artifacts, and for decades began searching for lost Sith artifacts predating the Great Hyperspace War. Even when the Empire went into open war against it's ancient enemy, the Galactic Republic, Mortan continued his many endeavours, many of which became more gruesome than first predicted. The worst was on Balmorra, where Mortan wiped out an entire village of nearly 2,000 with an enormous surge of Force-lightning after they refused to aid him in his search for a holocron, laughing maniacally as he killed men, women and children.

Following the end of the Great Galactic War (which was thought by most to be a Sith victory), Mortan decided to take an apprentice, a quiet but skilled lightsaber wielder named Lord Balg. Balg assisted Mortan in more of his artifact hunts, often serving as the Sith Lord's muscle. Balg was sickened by the actions of his Master, though knew that he was still not strong enough to face Mortan's might in the dark side of the Force. Mortan knew Balg would one day try and kill him, and started growing paranoid.

In 9 ATC (After the Treaty of Coruscant), Mortan heard about Cipher Three, an Imperial Agent who had acheived some fame after helping supress a rebellion on Nar Shaddaa and eliminated a terrorist cell located underneath Kaas City. Mortan had heard that a clan of Jawas had stolen a Sith artifact, and not only wanted to get the artifact back, but also get vengeance on the Jawas. Cipher Three met with Mortan, and when she questioned his order to exterminate the Jawas, Mortan choked her into submission, something that Balg witnessed, though didn't tell his Master his own views.

After a month, Cipher Three managed to locate the Jawas, retrieving the Sith artifact (the rumoured lightsaber crystal of Marka Ragnos) and wiped out the Jawa clan after learning that they attacked innocents on Tatooine. Mortan travelled to Tatooine to retrieve the crystal, thanking Cipher Three for her co-operation, which the Agent was repulsed by (though she didn't show it). Before leaving with his Master, Balg warned Cipher Three to keep away from Mortan, fearing that he was growing more ruthless by the minute. Touched by the kindness shown by a Sith Lord, Cipher Three thanked Balg, while Mortan returned to Dromund Kaas.

Barely a month later, Cipher Three vanished on Tatooine, and was later revealed to be attempting a defection. After another Intelligence associate, Lord Jurus, was killed by Jedi Knight Vidril Vesal and his half-brother, the pirate Salovan, Intelligence fell into chaos, all while learning that another Agent, Watcher Four, had also gone missing on Corellia. Intelligence sent one of their Ciphers, the Chiss known as Leeo, to track down Watcher Four (Leeo was now under the control of a brainwashing serum), while Mortan and Balg travelled there also in secret, in the hopes of capturing the Vesal family, Cipher Three now revealed to be Salovan's sister, Ciniriel.

After one of Mortan's assassins failed to kill Corellia's main politician, the Bith Governor Wol, as well as Salovan, Leeo then was found by Vidril in an outlying settlement abandoned by the Empire when they seceded Corellia to the Republic a week before. As the Sith operation crumbled, with Marsa still not located by either side, Salovan's droid, T4-O6, disabled an Imperial Intelligence probe droid, finding out the locations of a Watcher Agent on the planet as well as the involvement of the Sith. Leeo was captured and the alien Watcher Five was killed, while Marsa was thought to be hiding in an abandoned Imperial outpost. While Ciniriel and Sal searched for Marsa, Vidril and fellow Jedi Jarn Walon went after Mortan and Balg.

In the ensuing battle, the Jedi and Sith dueled fiercely. Mortan managed to knock Vidril unconscious, though soon lost an arm to the lightsaber of Walon. Balg, suddenly having a change of heart, impaled his former Master, killing him, before surrendering to Jarn just as a Republic commando team arrived to search the area. With his Master dead, Balg stated his intention to abandon the Sith, revealing that he had only obeyed them through fear of death. Marsa was found and integrated into the Republic and Balg was put inot Jedi custody, while Mortan's body was shipped towards Imperial space, a grave reminder by the Republic of what would happen should they infiltrate Republic territory again.

Personality and traits
Cruel, sadistic and terrifying beyond any measure, Darth Mortan was viewed even by the most radical Sith Lords to be a true sociopath. Possessing no remorse or kindness, Mortan acted for his own gains, and enjoyed nothing more than seeing others suffer, often at his own hands. Despite the attempts by Darth Ilera to cure Mortan of his madness, the attempts proved futile, and Mortan remained an evil and twisted man until his death.

Mortan was also exceptionally paranoid, especially after he took Balg as an apprentice. Thinking he could be killed at any moment by an opponent on the Dark Council or by Balg himself, Mortan soon began limiting himself from his own tasks, hiring underlings or Imperial soldiers and Agents to carry out his work, thinking that only those who were brainwashed into being loyal wouldn't stand against him. This paranoia proved to be true, as it was Balg who eventually killed Mortan on Corellia.

Physical characteristics
Approaching his twilight years by the time of his death, Mortan was short, wrinkled and crooked. While he was agile in combat - often using the Force to help him stay agile - his usual behaviour showed him to be frail and slow, and it was obvious that his past experiences had likely aged him in advance, as well as lowered his life expectancy. For a decade before he died, Mortan held a bent walking stance, often shuffling around when he moved, and it was not surprising to see the towering Balg have to slow down considerably to stay with his Master.

Mortan wore Inquisitor's garments of red, black and purple. He used a single lightsaber with a red crystal, though rarely used, preferring to use his potency in the Force should he be left to fight an opponent. His eyes were yellow, tainted by the dark side, and his skin was pale and veiny, the veins themselves near-black.