S'roq

S’roq was an Anzat and fallen Jedi who sought to become a void in the Force through his worship and emulation of a being he refers to as “the Maw.”

Time with the Jedi
S’roq, like many young Anzats, lived most of his young life alone from the moment he could fend for himself. However, unlike most of his species, whose proclivity for feeding on sentient life essence marked them as ‘dark side,’ S’roq had a powerful desire to do good for the galaxy. As soon as he was able, he petitioned to join the Jedi Order.

Though he was older than most new Jedi – especially so, given the slow aging of Anzati – he was allowed in based largely on the rarity of his kind attempting to serve the Light. He was given nonsentient livestock to feed on, which never quite sated him. But his Jedi training helped him to compensate for the pangs, and so it was that in 5,036 BBY / 1,383 BTC, S’roq passed his trials and became a Jedi Knight. He became incredibly close with a Zabrak Jedi named Jostok, forming a bond that brought them closer than most lifelong mates.

The Great Hyperspace War
A few short decades later, however, the galaxy was plunged into short-lived but horrific turmoil as the Sith made their debut on an unsuspecting galaxy. S’roq was one of many Jedi who fought valiantly to defend the Republic against its would-be conquerors, but the Jedi Jostok lost his life in the assault. Later, when the Sith assault faltered and was revealed largely to be illusory, S’roq was taken aback. He was amazed at the gall, the nerve, the power required to nearly conquer a powerful galactic civilization with mere illusions, real though the damage they dealt may be. He became furious that his comrade had been slain by illusions and began to seek vengeance against all Sith.

When the Jedi Council and the Republic began to enact a policy of extermination against the Sith and their Empire, S'roq rejoiced, validated in his quest for vengeance by both the moral and legal authorities he was bound to. He carried out the policy mercilessly, often succeeding where others might have failed due to the personal nature of his quest. But with every Sith confronted, S'roq made sure to kill them slowly enough to learn more of their powers, piece by piece.

When the Jedi Council learned how S'roq was conducting his duties, they were appalled. He was brought back to Coruscant for the remainder of the Sith Genocide, which he viewed as a betrayal. He refused to accept the word of the Council or their servants that the Sith threat had been wiped out, convinced - or perhaps hoping - that there were more for him to kill. Their relationship devolved rapidly, and when S'roq was caught stealing an artifact from the forbidden section of the Jedi Archives, he was exiled from the planet and the Jedi Order.

Finding the Maw
S’roq accepted his exile with what some described as pride and left to search the galaxy for more knowledge the Jedi were afraid to know after he had supposedly returning the artifact. In reality, he had used illusion magics learned from his interrogations of Sith captives and relics in order to fool the Jedi into believing the artifact was back in place. Not long after S'roq jumped into hyperspace, the facsimile of the artifact vanished.

After examining the artifact for some time, he discovered it was an ancient star map. Following the directions within led him to a seemingly-empty stretch of space in the midst of the Unknown Regions with no identifying marks other than a lonely star.

He was contacted through the Force on his arrival and given surprisingly clear instructions for a specific meditation. Unsure where he was or who he was contacting, S’roq agreed, feeling he had nowhere else to go. After completing the meditation, he looked out his ship’s viewport. Where before there had been only empty space and a solo star, there was now a planet in orbit around its sun. He flew his ship through was seemed to be a shimmering layer of frozen gasses that, on closer examination, seemed to perfectly reflect the surrounding space.

He landed in a clearing in a jungle on the planet and, as soon as he touched down, felt something he’d never experienced before. This wasn’t the calm, collected serenity of the Jedi or the scalding, destructive fury of the Sith. It was mere emptiness. At the heart of the jungle, he could feel a black hole in the Force, slowly consuming everything around it, from light and heat to life and fate.

He fought his way through a jungle filled with predators both sentient and otherwise, many of whom seemed to have been twisted by the Force in one way or another, drawn to the event horizon ahead as everything around him seemed to be.

As he neared the source of the emptiness, he passed through another invisible barrier, and where more jungle had been a moment before, a towering plateau soared into the sky. He climbed for hours, eventually reaching the top where an ancient temple sat waiting. In the center of the temple, he found the source of the sensation.

A being floated cross-legged in the air at the center of a chamber built for ritual. Around the figure, energies so thick and powerful they were visible swirled, forming eddies and maelstroms before flowing into the being at their center. S’roq absorbed the scene with his eyes, then turned to the Force and staggered. At the core of what seemed a man before him was… nothing. It was like a hole cut through the fabric of the temple, of the Force, of reality. It was like an eclipse, an emptiness ringed by blindingly bright Force energy.

The being lowered itself to its feet and the swirling energies around the room died down. It introduced itself as another Anzat named Ginungagap, formerly known as Zelashiel the Blasphemer. Ginungagap welcomed the younger Anzat to Ma’ehmaq and told S’roq that he accepted the younger man's service. When S’roq managed to point out that he hadn’t offered his service, Ginungagap simply replied, “And I didn’t ask.”

Serving the Void
S’roq began to train under Ginungagap and to serve him, learning that he had created numerous powerful variations of Force Drain that allowed him to live seemingly indefinitely without feeding as most Anzati must. However, millennia of direct Force consumption had had side-effects. His increasing Force power has collapsed in on itself, turning him into the black hole in the Force S'roq had witnessed. This had its benefits along with its drawbacks, but a far worse consequence was a deteriorating body that left Ginungagap seemingly incapable of conducting many of the experiments he seemed obsessed with.

S’roq’s job was simple – to become Ginungagap’s hand and voice in the galaxy, bringing him news, updates, relics, and ideas that Ginungagap could not glean from his frequent and powerful visions. S’roq understood that he was far from the only servant doing these jobs for Ginungagap, nor the most powerful. Ginungagap didn’t bother hiding these facts from his new servant and used them as motivation to keep S’roq returning, hoping for an edge on his rivals. S'roq never spoke to any of the others for more than a few moments as they crossed paths in service to the Void.

Ginungagap needn’t have bothered. S’roq was enchanted by the power Ginungagap wielded so effortlessly and became obsessed with learning to control it, convinced that if and when the Sith returned, this knowledge would allow him his vengeance. He served his master (known also as The Maw, The Wanderer, and Ariva Ofek) for almost one and a half millennia in this fashion.

When the Sith Empire did indeed return to initiate the Great Galactic War, S'roq was too deeply enthralled to Ginungagap to act. Ginungagap had shown him the depths of power that could be attained, and S'roq knew that if he couldn't even be the strongest of the Void's Apostles, he would likely fail to end the Sith Empire's threat.

Obtaining Freedom and Knowledge
Ginungagap abruptly changed the pattern of his existence about a decade after the Treaty of Coruscant. He had a series of visions that seemed to disturb him and ventured off with a ship full of Mah'ehmaqi warriors and no explanation. S’roq continued going where Ginungagap couldn’t or wouldn’t, infuriated that his master had refused to share whatever had required such a response.

After a handful of years he realized that Ginungagap hadn’t returned to Ma’ehmaq in some time. Though he could typically feel Ginungagap’s presence in his mind no matter where he was in the galaxy, S’roq realized that he felt unburdened by the void’s attention.

When he went looking for his master, S’roq found that Ginungagap's trail went cold near Yavin IV. Quickly returning to Ma’ehmaq to take what he could, S’roq managing to find a holocron of Ginungagap’s. He abandoned the rest of the trinkets he’d gathered and fled the planet with his prize in tow after a quick stop by the temple's central database, where he erased all mentions of one of Ginungagp's outposts - Kehver, where S'roq planned to make his home.

Arriving in the outpost system and navigating through the its deadly maze of intense radioactivity, S'roq landed on Kehver, an empty world of sand, some simple lichens, and mostly-breathable air. The outpost there, which was equal parts listening post, research laboratory, and cemetery for its past overseers, provided S'roq with largely up-to-date information on galactic events and enough Force relics and raw materials to further his plans.

In his haste to become an all-consuming and seemingly-unstoppable Void like his master, S'roq skipped and modified steps in the process that the holocron laid out for following Ginungagap's example. He knew that without his master, he could rely on no one but himself to end the Sith Empire and was desperate to be powerful enough to do so.

Failure and a New Beginning
For ten years, S’roq focused all his time and attention on emulating his former master’s transformation, but his desperation to stop the Sith Empire as soon as possible led to cut corners and skipped steps. When S'roq began the ritual that was supposed to collapse his Force-presence into a void, he was knocked unconscious. Centered on him, a massive surge of Force energy washed out across Kehver and space, damaging dozens of the already-barely-functioning security droids.

This supernova of Force energy attracted the attention of the Sith Imperium, which was nearby after fleeing the fall of Solaria. A team of a dozen or so touched down at the base on Kehver, the only structure on the world, and fought two squads of defense droids and a massive Force beast before happening across the hidden ritual room in which S'roq lay. His Force-presence was in flux and appeared to be building up energy for a second surge.

He managed to tell the team to take him to a throne in the cliff-side suite of rooms nearby. Resting on it, it pumped enough energy - Force and otherwise - into S'roq to stabilize his Force presence. Far from the void he'd wished for, his core was more akin to a neutron star than a black hole - and the damage done to his Force connection by the failed ritual had severely weakened his ability to draw on the cosmic energy.

Coming to, S'roq verified that the Sith surrounding him were not members of the hated Empire. On further confirming their own hatred for the Empire, S'roq joined them. Having been discovered and weakened, he believed it the best move to ensure his vengeance.

Two-Year Time Skip
With his damaged Force connection, S'roq began anew in the Sith Imperium, learning their philosophies and histories as an acolyte. Without his previous Force-prowess, the only thing that set him apart from his fellow students was his age and his experience, neither of which amounted to much in the few combat missions he attended during this time.

Likewise, given that his life-sustaining rituals required significant strength in the Force, S'roq began to age slowly, unable to fully counter the march of entropy in his weakened state. His hair turned gray, and if he hadn't begun to repair the damage to his Force connection he may have died in short order.

Luckily, through the training and aid provided by the Imperium, S'roq managed to heal the wound at his core significantly. He soon rose to the rank of Sith Lord, a title he found as ironic as it was gratifying.

Void Returned
Having attained the rank of Lord, S'roq had begun to feel at home in the Imperium, his raw sense of humor and optimistic nihilism often painting him as eccentric but approachable. It wasn't long, however, before he learned that his greatest master and greatest fear had found its way to the Imperium - Ginungagap had returned.

Facing Ginungagap, S'roq was assured that his loyalties wouldn't be tested. Ginungagap told him that it was his intent to make a home in the Imperium as well; that the Imperium's wealth of knowledge and unique Force experiences made it a worthy ally.

Personality
S'roq began life determined to do the galaxy good, but until the Sith Empire revealed itself, he didn't know what form that good would take. When the Empire took his friend from him, he decided that his purpose was to end this dark threat forever. The Council's interference left S'roq's vengeance unfulfilled, and he became obsessed with seeing an end to the Empire that he always suspected had survived.

His dedication to this mission is matched only by his confidence that he will eventually succeed. Of the lessons imparted to him by Ginungagap, none was more inspiring than the importance of patience. With time, enemies weakened, foes died, obstacles decayed. As an Anzat who could sustain his life without losing his mind to the hunger that claimed so many of his people, S'roq knew that time was on his side as much as it hampered others. No matter how many years, centuries, or millennia it takes, S'roq knows he will be victorious.

Unfortunately, other than inspiring immense confidence, the lesson was otherwise lost on S'roq. His desperation to avenge the only being he ever loved overshadowed everything he was and did, and led to many cut corners that could not afford to be cut.

Though impatient, S'roq was well-educated and intelligent, which was often expressed through dry, subtle humor. Full conversations with him often left others unsure how much of what he had said was a joke or deadly serious. His expression rarely changed.

Physical
As an Anzat, S'roq remained significantly stronger and faster than most normal human beings despite being far older than many of his species, often matching humans at the pinnacle of their ability. His senses were highly attuned to the area around him, augmenting his Force awareness, and he possessed prehensile proboscises that hid in subtle pouches on his cheeks and allowed Anzati to consume the gray matter and life essence of other beings. His proboscises had been little-utilized since he joined Ginungagap, but he was careful to exercise them regularly to avoid muscular atrophy.

Even without the Force, he was incredibly adaptable to a wide variety of temperatures and environments and was difficult to detect, given his species' lack of body heat or recognizable pulse and the Anzati obsession with stealth.

Force
Like all Anzati, S'roq made use of a powerful form of hypnosis. While traditionally used to calm prey during feeding, S'roq typically used it to slip by others unnoticed or to stun someone. Aside from his innate biological talents, however, most of his Force techniques are unusable in his weakened state.

S'roq learned a variety of Force Drain techniques from Ginungagap and utilized these to prolong his life, though he was also known to employ them as a method of torture. He also expanded his knowledge of illusion magics under Ginungagap's tutelage and learned various attack spells, like Darkshear and the ability to summon and control dark side tendrils, though he rarely used the latter given its complexity and requisite concentration.

S'roq was also well-versed in the typical knowledge of a Jedi Knight, able to use common abilities like telekinesis, telepathy, empathy, sense, and various physical enhancement abilities. His time hunting Sith taught him a number of darker techniques, including Force Lightning, Force Choke, and Force Crush.