The Seers of Ufalio were a Force-sensitive tradition on their eponymous homeworld, Ufalio, in the Unknown Regions.
Powers and applications[]
All the Seers of Ufalio were Force-sensitive to various degrees, and they developed their abilities along a very narrow path. All Seer powers were devoted to precognition and prophecy. Most Seers developed very refined powers in this discipline, able to foresee the future with uncanny accuracy. A few Seers developed a skill roughly analogous to Aing-Tii flow-walking and were able to view the past, though the majority of Seers were disinterested in this attribute of the Force, remaining doggedly focused on the future. Some also developed the shatterpoint skill, and could intuit what results different actions would produce from a given starting point.
However, the Seers were a devotedly pacifist order, and did not apply their powers to combat. As a result, they had neither interest nor skill in telekinesis, and their shatterpoint powers were confined to prediction of the future, not manipulating physical objects.
History[]
Force-sensitives existed among the Ufali for millennia, but the Seers as a united, contemplative tradition only emerged circa 1,400 BBY. The Seers recruited members from all nations and cultures on Ufalio, bound together by their common abilities and submission to religious discipline rather than national or linguistic loyalties.
By 1,100 BBY, different nations were calling on the Seers to interpret their futures and give them advice; within a century, they had become indispensable, given a small but self-sufficient parcel of land to govern and paid liberally for their advice. However, their powerful status was not to last, due to the fallout of two major internal divisions.
The first was the breakaway of roughly fifteen percent of the Seers, who wished to expand their powers and rule themselves. They sought to intuit how to bring down other nations, and while they were unable to convince the order as a whole to support them, they did manage to rally many of their non-Force-sensitive servants to their cause. The War Seers, as they became known, fought a short and destructive war along two continents until they were finally annihilated by the combined armies of three other states. The failure of the War Seers to foresee their own defeat also cost the Seers in general, as the public at last became aware that there were limitations to their vision.
Shortly after the defeat of the War Seers in 943 BBY, the main body of the order was wracked with further internal strife, as some protested the Seers even taking sides with governments, as they felt it both denigrated their power and betrayed their oath of pacifism and neutrality. The Seers argued for many weeks over the issue, with many "purists" favoring a complete withdrawal from societal affairs, while many leaders of the group (especially those who had profited from governmental sponsorship) stood by the status quo. Their ability to see the future only complicated the discussion, as both sides claimed that their views would benefit the Seers most in the long run.
In the end, the issue was solved for them; the allied nations who had crushed the War Seers pressed their campaign, stripping the Seers proper of their independent territory and most of their accumulated wealth. The Seers retreated into solitude, using what money they had left to purchase private land for themselves, which became the Enclave of the Seers. Those who refused to accept the new, isolationist stance were exiled by their brethren; though many of them tried to market their services to the nations of Ufalio, the Seers remained widely distrusted and most of these renegades died alone in exile.
The Seers remained in their Enclave for centuries, gradually being relegated to obscurity. They admitted women as members of the group in 612 BBY, but this brought only a small increase in their international prestige; indeed, many saw the move as either a gimmick to regain publicity, or unworthy of note because it was simply catching up to where they should have been all along. Though Force sensitives who experienced visions would seek out the Seers for membership in the group, the majority of Ufali viewed them as antiquated mystics, and some as outright frauds or religious fanatics. The Seers occasionally experienced persistent visions, and when many of the brothers saw roughly the same thing, they would share these visions with the public. However, most of these were dismissed as hoaxes or coincidences, even when they came true.
This changed in 122 ABY, when Ufalio was visited by the Golden Empire, with Rin Sakaros herself at the forefront of the landing force. The Seers had predicted not only the landing of a being from off Ufalio itself, but also Rin's skin color, lightsaber color, the number and description of beings in her landing party (including Tariun Sakaros, Sorrik, Chindal, and a number of Royal Guards), and even what Rin was wearing, down to the clasp on her cloak. The Ufali were persuaded to join the Empire, and a good many of them began to look at the Seers with new eyes.
Rin and Tariun, having learned of the prophecy, sought out the Seers and explained the nature of the Force to them. Several of the Seers volunteered to join the Order of Keltrayu, eager to explore the universe, expand their abilities, and finally put their skills to use for the community at large. However, many others remained on Ufalio, using their new understanding of the Force to further refine their visions and perceptions.
Organization[]
The Seers were a monastic community, whose members were called "brothers" (and "sisters", when women were allowed into the group). They were led by senior brothers and sisters called Priors; the leader of the entire order was the Grand Prior.
The Seers spent much of each day in meditation, trying to settle themselves into the flow of the Force and perceive the future. They also conducted various chores around the Enclave, though many even used these tasks as a channel for moving meditation.