Kaleth (Jedi Renaissance)

Kaleth, or the Temple of Knowledge was one of nine Great Temples of the Je'daii Order, and later the Jedi Order, and was home to the largest Archives facility in the galaxy. Located on the lush and dangerous world of Tython, the Temple was found close to the coast of the continent of Talss. A large stone structure with four large, square towers, the Temple at Kaleth served as a repository of knowledge and wisdom for many generations. After the devastating Force Wars, the Je'daii left Tython and others came to live in the ruins of the ancient fortress-city. By the time the Jedi Order returned to their ancient homeworld during the Cold War between the Galactic Republic and the resurgent Sith Empire, the temple at Kaleth was no more than ruins. Abandoned once more after the Cold War ended, the Order would return in the wake of the devastating Clone Wars to rebuild the Temple to its former glory and endeavored to make the collections there more expansive then any other knowledge bank in the galaxy.

Pre-Republic era
Long before the Tho Yor arrived on Tython with the first Force-sensitives that would form the Je'daii Order, a civilization of Kwa inhabited the planet, constructing temples and structures on the forested planet. Eventually the world was depopulated and the Kwa temples fell into ruin. When hundreds of philosophers and scholars from across the galaxy first arrived on Tython in 6,463 BBY, they were brought forth from the stars on giant pyramidal constructs called the Tho Yor. These nine massive ships scattered across the planet and landed in separate locations, releasing those held within to settle the planet. The Tho Yor themselves would serve as the very foundations for these travelers' new homes and places of study.

One of these Tho Yor landed near the Tythos Ridge, and would come to be known as Kaleth—a Je'daii word meaning "sanctum". The philosophers, calling themselves the Je'daii Order, established a stone structure below the massive floating ship, encasing within it the ancient ruins of one of the Kwa temples. Above all other temples on the world, Kaleth was the most important as it served as the meeting place of Je'daii leaders and a convocation center for the entire Order. Kaleth was where critical matters arose, where decisions were made and judgement rendered on behalf of the entire Order and the location of the Je'daii's vast library. For this reason, when the Despot War erupted in the Tython system, the forces converged on Kaleth during the climatic close of the war.

At all times a Je'daii Temple Master served as steward of the facility and oversaw its functions. In 25,793 BBY Master Kora Ryo, a Twi'lek, was the Temple's overseer. During his research, the Zabrak Je'daii Master Ters Sendon discovered the ancient Kwa temple deep in the lower levels of Kaleth and stumbled upon an ancient holocron of the Kwa philosopher A'nang. With the assistance of Je'daii Journeyer Tasha Ryo, the holocron was activated and its gatekeeper offered to give of its knowledge. After years of study and peace, the Force Wars erupted between members of the first Jedi High Council and the heretical Master Rajivari. Rajivari and his followers holed up in the Temple of Knowledge as their former brother and sister Jedi converged on them. While Rajivari fled, his followers all perished leaving behind only data files containing their final moments. At the conclusion of the war the Jedi Order abandoned Tython, leaving Kaleth and the other temples to crumble.

Despite this, other Force-wielding civilizations from the nearby worlds in the system would attempt to recolonize Tython. Taking up occupancy in the old Temple of Knowledge, Kaleth became a city of sorts, with each successive government attempting and failing to bring Kaleth back to its heyday. Two such rulers were the Forceful Lord Maravada the Silent and later Avamarivash the Warrior-Poet. Despite their different ruling styles and ideals, both their reigns eventually came to an end and the city remained in ruin, their legacies sealed away within the ruined Chamber of Speech.

Exploration of Ruins
Following the rediscovery of Tython by Jedi Master Satele Shan, the Jedi Order relocated their headquarters to their ancestral homeworld to replace their Coruscant Temple destroyed at the end of the Great Galactic War. Upon locating Kaleth, many Jedi believed it would be an ideal foundation for their new Temple. Despite this, the Jedi High Council decided that it would be more wise to study Kaleth from a distance and chose to construct their new Temple in a nearby valley just north of the site. Setting up an archaeological camp at the site of the ruins, the Jedi were startled to find ancient wardroids that attacked any who entered the site; if Jedi designed the droids, why were they killers? Unbeknownst to Tython's new residents, the droids had been designed by the ancient Jedi Weapon Master Tem Madog to protect the First Blade, the template for the modern lightsaber. Master Till'in led the team that sought to discover the reason for the droids' attacks and hoped to unlock the mystery surrounding the ancient fortress.

Return of the Jedi
While the Jedi Order eventually abandoned Tython once more, the planet drew back the Jedi once again at the close of the Clone Wars, a massive conflict which placed the Jedi on the brink of extinction. Under the leadership of newly appointed Grand Master Tomac Moorcé, the newly reformed High Council ordered the planet of Tython be reclaimed as a fortress world of the Jedi Order, autonomous from galactic governance. Searching out the ruins of the ancient Temples of the Je'daii, Kaleth's ruins were well known and construction began almost immediately. As debris was removed and jagged rocks pulverized to return the landscape to the way it once was, the Temple's structure was made of natural Tython stone to resemble the original structure. As the creation of a Grand Council of Tython was contemplated, the High Council appointed Master Rachi Sitra to serve as Temple Master for Kaleth. Stationed at the old Grand Temple of the Cold War era, Sitra consulted with fellow archivists Jocasta Nu of the Coruscant Archives, Jerec of the Great Jedi Library and Master Mezera Heepia of the Council of Site Preservation and Construction to plan what would be stored within the halls of Kaleth. As the site became habitable, the Jedi quickly began storing hand-written text in specially-sealed containers brought from Tranquility Spire on Coruscant. Bringing in the philosophical, scientific, cultural texts and exploration logs from across the galaxy, The Jedi Archivists were ready to present the Temple to the High Council almost two years after the start of the Jedi Renaissance era began. Pleased with the work overseen by Master Sitra, the High Council allowed the Temple to open and begin taking on its first Jedi Journeyers.

As the years passed, the Temple's collection expanded as members of the Order brought in new data in addition to other Force practitioners adding their own holy texts to the collections. In addition to keeping the Temple, Sitra was responsible for maintaining a specialized Noetikon assigned to the Temple just as each of the other Temple Masters did at their respective Temple. The Noetikon of Knowledge was stored within the Philosophy Tower and was to contain the history of the Temple as well as the collective knowledge of the Order as it grew from the time of the Clone Wars into the future. As the Order grew, more Jedi flocked to Kaleth as Journeyers were led there on their Great Journey.

Layout
Located just west of the foothills of the Tythos Ridge and near to the coast of Deep Ocean, Kaleth was nestled into the embrace of a gently-sloping mountain range. Accessible by two roads, one of which was called the Elarian Trail, the massive fortress was made of painted stone, arranged to create large geodesic circles in the faces of the four square towers. The four towers were connected to the Main Hall of the Temple at their base, otherwise standing separately from one another. The main entrance was located between the southwestern and southeastern towers and was made of polished dragonglass with high windows and large wrought-iron candelabras which gave the room a flickering glow. Ascending the flight of stairs to the top of the short hall, the Main Hall was located just beyond the walls of the entry way.

A massive, twelve-story hall, the arched ceiling contained a single row of domed windows allowing natural and artificial light into the hall to maintain an atmosphere without the passage of time being noted. Rows upon rows of tables and benches ran down the main hall while the Stacks soared upward on nine different levels. Wide mezzanines on the both sides of the main hall were located on the third level, while the primary transit hall was located on the eastern side's ninth level. The Archives' main working level was upon the western walls' sixth level and was equipped with labs and technology for the study of various texts, and allowed for Jedi to date the works, and use certain tools stored in the Archives' collection.

The four towers of the Temple each contained a specialized collection of texts and antiquities to help in the studies of knowledge-seeking Jedi. The southwestern tower was known as the Philosophy Tower as it contained the original works of not only Je'daii and Jedi philosophers, but also the musings of thinkers from every system and culture ever discovered. An assorted collection of Force- and non-Force-based thought, the Tower was home to the Noetikon of Knowledge and the quarters of the Temple Master. The southeastern tower, the Science Tower, was dedicated to recording the strides in scientific progress developed at Anil Kesh, Mahara Kesh and academies across the galaxy. Techniques in math, medicine, alchemy, zoology, and other realms of study were stored and collected here, including the largest collection of full skeletons of sentient and non-sentient species ranging from mammals to plant-based species to insectoids. The northwest tower contained the cultural data from all planets culled from Jedi accounts, and galactic records. Constantly expanding as Jedi began to study more and more on individual planets, the hallmark of the Culture Tower was the restored Chamber of Speech located in the subterranean levels of the Temple. A large auditorium-style chamber, the facility was designed to teach a Jedi new languages quickly and efficiently. The northeastern tower was designated for the records of space explorers and the Deep Core headquarters of the ExplorCorps. The Exploration Tower contained the Order's collective knowledge of star travel and the final resting place of the Star Maps used by Jedi Master Revan during the Jedi Civil War.