Darth Tormenus

""Knowledge is power.""

- Darth Tormenus Darth Tormenus, born Karaal Urann, was a Force-sensitive human male Sith Lord that was part of the Sith Triumvirate and acted as the Grand Overseer of the Sith Empire. He was born in 29 BBY on the desert planet Tatooine to two poor moisture farmers that lived near the spaceport Mos Halona. When Karaal was young, the Clone Wars erupted throughout the galaxy, and many clone troopers were sent to Tatooine to establish a camp in Mos Halona. Karaal, who was known as a thief by the time he was seven, was at one point caught by clone troopers and taken to their camp, although he later escaped by killing clones. Later, during the Great Jedi Purge, Karaal was found by Darth Albtraum, and taken in to become a Sith Lord.

After a while, after learning from four ancient Sith Lords on Korriban, he was given the title "Lord" by Darth Albtraum, and he became known as Lord Tormenus. Shortly after, he massacred every civilian of Mos Halona, which led to him being tortured and taught a lesson by his master. Eventually, he became a Darth, and not long after he traveled to the moon Dxun and obtained enhanced orbalisk armor. In 5 ABY, he and Albtraum found the planet Nebria, corrupted by dark side energies, beyond the Unknown Regions. There, they found the ancient Sith Lord Darth Nebulous, and together they formed the Sith Triumvirate, and not long after the Sith Empire.

Their Empire was built up over many decades, and by 34 ABY they had fully risen to power. They launched many attacks across the galaxy, including a siege on Coruscant, an invasion of Kashyyyk, and after six years their reign began to fade with the disappearance of Nebulous. Seeing the eventual collapse of their Empire, Tormenus left and began searching for the holocron of Darth Spitea to learn its secrets. In 50 ABY, Tormenus found Nebulous on Tatooine, and together they traveled to Korriban to see the remains of the Sith Empire's fortress, and there they rose the Ravager II from the sands. Days after Albtraum was revealed to be a secret governor of Naboo, and Tormenus arrived with Lord Rageon to plan the new Sith Empire's first plans: kill the former members of the council that failed to assist Darth Phorid.

Early Life (29 - 19 BBY)
Karaal Urann was born to two poor moisture farmers, Rerick and Salina, on the date 29 BBY, only seven years before the Clone Wars erupted. He was born a Force-sensitive, and his parents were unsure whether or not he should become a Jedi, for they needed all the help they could get there at the moisture farm, so they decided to keep it a secret for as long as possible. What they did not know could go wrong was whenever he found out about this secret, he would have a choice to make.

Karaal was told about the Invasion of Naboo, which took place a few years before he was born, at a young age. He was interested in stories and history, and wanted to learn more, although overtime his interest seemed to disappear, especially since there was no time to listen to stories as they had a farm to take care of, and it was slowly faltering.

Clone Wars
On 22 BBY, when Karaal was only seven years of age, the Clone Wars finally broke out. Karaal had heard of the recent Battle of Geonosis, and feared that the war would come to Tatooine. But, thankfully, it never did, however there were several clone troopers that would come to the nearest town Mos Halona, and patrol not only there - but also the outskirts of the town, which included their own farmstead, to make sure there was no Confederacy activity. Karaal came to hate these clones, and slowly began to develop not fear, but a pure hatred for them, in such a way that he wanted to speak up against them. At times, he even believed the Galactic Republic's politics were nothing, and needed improvement. There were even times when he pondered speaking out against the Republic.

At times, Karaal would go into town - as he was constantly told to do to get food and whatnot by his father - and see clones arresting civilians for almost no reason. Although Karaal did not care for the citizens of Mos Halona, he thought it unnecessary for the clones to be arresting these innocent people. Whenever he turned to leave the usual vendor he bought from, he would be confronted by clone troopers, and would be asked where his parents were. Karaal often improvised and lied, although at times was forced to just run - Karaal was good at hiding, while being chased.

One day, on a hot, busy day on the moisture farm on 20 BBY, Karaal decided to visit Mos Halona to steal food for himself. His parents were not caring too much about him at the moment, because of all the work. In town, the place was overrun by clone troopers. Deciding he would have to be stealthy, he acted casual and walked normally along the street, taking food from vendors as he walked, and stuffing them in his pack. Eventually, clone troopers stopped him and asked for identification, and to see what was in his pack. When Karaal said he had none, and there was nothing in his pack, they tried to take the pack, although he resisted and began to run. They gave chase. They quickly managed to apprehend him, and started taking him to their nearby fort.

There, at the fort, Karaal was being held in a prison cell and was about to be interrogated. But as the questioner entered the cell, he found that Karaal was nowhere to be seen. Karaal then silently murdered the man and managed to sneak out. He was also forced to kill the two cell guards, and the feeling upon doing it made him feel good. He then escaped the fort, and stole a speeder to return to Mos Halona, where he sat under Tatooine's suns and ate the food he had stolen twice now. Then he returned to his farm, where he hid the speeder, in case he would need it in the future.

It was around this point that Republic activity slowly began to cease, and soon enough there were only a few clones on Tatooine that were stationed there for the remainder of the Clone Wars - or until called back to the front. Thankfully, they were eventually, and Karaal was able to continue stealing whatever he wanted without being caught by the clones.

Great Jedi Purge
On 19 BBY, Karaal was slouching back, eating food at home, when there was a ring at the door to his home. Grunting, he rushed to the door, where his father was yelling at a group of red-armored clone troopers. Karaal cursed, and noticed that these were shock troopers. They were asking to surrender the moisture farm, or else they would open fire. Although, many of them seemed to be looking at Karaal more than having their blasters pointed at Rerick. Rerick refused, and they aimed to open fire, but Karaal took up his pike and murdered the first one, who was unable to give the order.

Karaal continued to kill all of the clones, and was eventually lead outside, and was separated from his family. Soon, he was surrounded by the shock troopers, who pointed their blasters at him, but a voice ordered them to lower their weapons. The shock troopers returned to the moisture farm and held Karaal's parents down - making sure they saw or heard nothing. Then, a man in a fancy suit approached Karaal and spoke to him. He said he wished to show him what he could really do. He told Karaal that he was powerful in the Force, and that he could use it to wipe out those he despised. Karaal agreed to go with him, and as they left Tatooine with the shock troopers aboard a Sith shuttle, Karaal asked the man who he was.

He replied that he was Vhiran Dalanos, the governor of the planet Naboo. They traveled to Naboo, where Karaal lived in a great palace with Dalanos, and acted as a son to the public eye. But in reality, he was now the Sith apprentice of Dalanos, whose name was also Darth Albtraum, the former apprentice of Darth Plagueis.

Lessons of the Sith
Dalanos trained Karaal in the training courtyard of his Naboo palace, and Karaal lived well. He was wealthy, although he often stayed within the palace grounds - only to continue training, which he enjoyed. Although one day, Dalanos told Karaal he would have to pass the next part of his trials, and would have to travel to the world Moraband, the ancient home of the Sith, and was to learn from however many Sith Lords possible, via the holocrons inside their hidden tombs. If he passed this test well, he would be raised to the rank of Sith Lord.

Karaal traveled to Moraband with ease, and there he walked through the great Valley of the Sith Lords to find the many ancient tombs of the Sith Lords. The first one that he came across was the Tomb of Darth Revan. Karaal entered the tomb with a hint of fear in him - although on the outside he was covered in a layer of courage. He found the holocron deep in the back of the tomb, activated it, and an image of Darth Revan, with that menacing Mandalorian mask, appeared and began to teach Karaal what he knew. He said the Sith had to be ruled by a single leader - and if he failed, then another had to rise and take up the mantle. The strong ruled - the weak served.

Once finished with Revan, Karaal left and began to travel to the next tomb. As he did, he thought that there being only one leader could not always be a good idea - but the strong did indeed rule, and the weak served. He then soon entered the tomb of Darth Bane, a more recent Sith Lord from around 1,000 BBY. Karaal, having learned about Bane, looked up to him and had an interest in him, and therefore looked forward to what he had to say. After learning from Revan, he felt less terrified to enter the Sith tombs, so he entered Bane's with pride and dignity, prepared to learn from yet another great Sith Lord. There, Bane taught about the Rule of Two - and that equality was a lie. Karaal agreed that there could be no such thing as equality as a whole, although a small bit of equality was always fine. And the idea of the Rule of Two - it had worked in the past, and even now it still existed, just not as much it seemed.

The next tomb Karaal went to was the tomb of Darth Plagueis, one of the greatest Sith Lords that ever lived in the galaxy. He lived not too long before Karaal even, and he was also the master of Karaal's master, Darth Albtraum. Plagueis taught that a good Sith had to first gain power over themselves, then slowly move on to greater things, until they finally reached the galaxy. Although Karaal agreed with this, he figured there was something more than just this ... but what did matter most was taking the past, and then casting it aside.

The final tomb Karaal had to enter was the tomb of one of the most dreaded Sith Lords who ever lived. It was at this tomb that Karaal felt reluctant to enter, but fear would not hold him back, it never would. He proceeded to the tomb of Darth Nihilus. Here, Nihilus taught about the power that consuming worlds held. He taught the true power the dark side could give to one, and the destruction it could provoke. Pleased, Karaal left and figured that maybe one day he could follow in Nihilus' footsteps, but first he would have to return to Dalanos and tell him what he had learned.

Back on Naboo, Karaal approached Dalanos in his meditation chamber, and told him everything. He said he looked up most to Darth Bane and Darth Nihilus, and that he knew one day he could follow in their footsteps if he only had the dark side at his side. At these words, Darth Albtraum turned to Karaal and told him to kneel. Pleased with his apprentice, Albtraum rose Karaal to the rank of Lord of the Sith, and he became known as Lord Tormenus.

Massacre at Mos Halona
Tormenus was sent by Albtraum on a mission to Tatooine, to Tormenus' home town of Mos Halona. But there, Tormenus felt the dark side rushing through him, urging him to end the lives of all the people there. He knelt atop one of its tall towers, wondering what to do, until he soon finally decided to leap down, activate his red-bladed lightsaber, and began to murder everyone he could see, and feel in the Force. He even murdered the livestock, he killed every living thing.

As he went on his rampage through Mos Halona, he only felt rage and fury. He cared not what consequences would come about. Besides, he made sure to kill every witness he could find, and after the initial massacre, he used the Force to find that no one had escaped, and that everyone was dead. He wanted to destroy Mos Halona completely, but he figured that could draw more attention, so he soon decided to leave, abandoning the original mission.

Back at the Tribune, Tormenus informed Albtraum of his murder spree, and that he felt strong in the dark side at that moment. But Albtraum was unhappy, and said that his ignorance could have begun a rebellion - Tormenus said he made sure no one got away and that there were no witnesses, but regardless Tormenus was electrified with lightning by Albtraum. When he was eventually released, he told Tormenus not to go down that path again. It was then that Tormenus, for the rest of his life, thought before doing something such as this - which led to him becoming an expert strategist.

Investigation on Naboo
Recent happenings regarding terrorists on Naboo caught Albtraum's attention, and he figured this would be a good time for Tormenus to redeem himself, after the incident at Mos Halona. After informing Tormenus on what had been happening, which included bombings and other protesting near and in Theed. Tormenus reassured Albtraum that in his own eyes, he had already redeemed himself, and he went on with his new mission.

Disguised as a normal Naboo citizen, Tormenus walked the streets of Naboo in the hopes that he would find something, although at first he found nothing. But using the Force, he did manage to find out about a secret gang hideout, in a long, hidden alleyway. Making sure to stay hidden, Tormenus infiltrated the hideout, and eventually came a cross what appeared to be a secret meeting.

Finding out about a plot against Albtraum, Tormenus started returning back to Albtraums' mansion, but was interrupted by a gangster. He was taken captive, and taken to the gang leader, whose identity Tormenus could not tell - although he would not know anyway, because he had not taken an interest in the outside world of Naboo. Asking who he was, the gangster punched Tormenus, which angered him. But he did not retaliate, and instead insulted the gangster, who ordered that he be killed.

Taking action, Tormenus used the Force to throw the gangsters, while making it look like he did not use the Force, and then he started leaping on the walls of the buildings, back and forth, until he got onto the roof of one of them, and he made his way to the mansion. He informed Albtraum of what he found, and he was told that he had redeemed himself in Albtraum's eyes. Then Albtraum told him that he had one more thing to do, before he was on the verge of becoming a Darth.

He had to put his old life behind him completely.

Murder on Tatooine
"Rerick Urann: 'My son, what are you doing?'""Tormenus: 'Fulfilling my destiny.'"Tormenus traveled to Tatooine, to his old moisture farm, aboard his private starfighter. He landed just in front of his old home, where his parents sat, watching the sunset. But when they saw the ship landing, Rerick stood up and approached the ship as its cockpit opened up. Tormenus stepped out of it and pulled down his hood, revealing his identity. Rerick was not struck by fear, but rather felt happy that his son had returned to his home. But he had not known why. But instead of embracing his father, Tormenus grabbed Rerick by the throat and held back his arm, activating his lightsaber. Rerick asked what he was doing, and Tormenus answered that he was fulfilling his destiny. He thrust his lightsaber through Rerick, ending his life, and then a scream came from his mother, Salina. But just as she had started, Tormenus used the Force to shut her mouth, silencing her, and then he used the Force again to pull her to the blade of his lightsaber.

After ruthlessly murdering Karaal Urann's parents, Tormenus turned back to his starfighter and sat once more in the cockpit. He looked down at the lifeless bodies of Karaal's parents, and told himself: ''Whoever Karaal Urann once was does not exist. He then returned to Albtraum, inside the bridge of the Tribune''. There, Tormenus was made a Darth by Albtram, and he became known as Darth Tormenus.

Journey to Dxun
Wishing to follow in the steps of Darth Bane, Tormenus took his starfighter to Onderon's largest moon, Dxun, a jungle moon. There, he traveled to the well of darkness, near the tomb of Freedon Nadd, and there he found a group of orbalisks, what he had come for. Making sure to leave his arms bare, they suddenly fell onto him, and began to use their thousands of tiny teeth to attach themselves to him. Slowly, overtime, they spread out across his body, and he was forced to use a Force ritual to stop the orbalisks from covering his head, hands, and the lower half of his legs.

Finally, with new orbalisk armor - which was capable of protecting him from anything except Force lightning - he was prepared to leave Dxun. He returned to the Tribune and decided to keep his armor secret, and only mentioned it to Albtraum, although did not show him.

Building a New Empire
The Dark Council

Siege of Coruscant
Darth Tormenus led the Grand Fleet against the Republic blockade in a fashion where he would move one flagship to the front, then move it back and replace it with another in a cycle until the Republic blockade was finally defeated, which came quickly. In the end, the invasion was a massive Empire victory, and the Jedi Order was just about completely destroyed, and the Senators and Chancellor were murdered. The Grand Master was executed aboard the Ravager.

Invasion of Kashyyyk
Tormenus was part of the ground team to assault Kashyyyk.

Personality and traits
""Where I come from, I learned to deal with you bastards. Therefore, that means I won't even give you a chance to run.""

- Darth Tormenus, Lord of the Sith

Darth Tormenus was cold and relentless, and he was always sure to drive fear into the hearts of his enemies, and make sure it stayed there. He was sure to never let an opponent of his get away from a battle, and if he did catch them, he would either kill them slowly, or feast upon the greatness of only torturing them. But he was not always unforgiving, and he was not heartless. Although he cared for little things, he believed that pure destruction was not always the answer, and that dominance was what a Sith needed. There were times, because of this, that he disagreed with what Darth Nebulous suggested for battle strategies, as he had the power to consume entire worlds in the dark side, just as he did with the planet Nebria. The only problem, Tormenus knew, with dominance was that rebellion was always an answer for their enemies.

During his early years, Tormenus was nothing but a thief. But killing was something he enjoyed, especially when he killed clone troopers - which he only did whenever necessary. But during his early Sith years, up to the Massacre at Mos Halona, he was ignorant and enjoyed killing for no entire reason, and only for the good feeling it gave, as he felt the dark side strong in him in those moments. Now while it was strong in him during those times, he was taught by his master, Darth Albtraum, that such actions could easily lead to rebellion, and that it could destroy whoever was responsible for such heinous acts. It was at that point that Tormenus knew how to think before fighting, which later led to him becoming a master strategist, and this was the reason why he became the Grand Admiral of the Sith Empire. Tormenus was also a good engineer, which led to him designing many parts of his armor, and much of the weaponry in the Sith Empire.

As the Grand Admiral of the Sith Empire, and its Grand Fleet, his strategies never failed. It was after every battle the thought returned to him: I am yet to face a worthy opponent. Although sometimes he did feel that the Grand Fleet - while small in size - overpowered an opponent's fleet, because of the immense firepower. He sometimes actually wished for a worthy opponent, although he never wished for loss - victory was what led to further power. Regardless, Tormenus had many battle strategies, which included obtaining an enemy's weakness early on in a fight. His signature strategy during a battle with the Grand Fleet was using one flagship at a time, while also allowing all other, lesser star destroyers to attack an enemy fleet, at the same time. Instead of using all the ships at one time, he would use only one flagship at once, and after a while would switch flagships. Once he managed to find his opponent's weakness, or once the enemy had weakened, he would order all ships to practically bombard the enemy, which usually led to him winning a battle. Tormenus usually led from the Ravager II, although at times led from his own flagship, the Eradicator. Darth Tormenus was constantly honored for his skill, although he swept it aside, as he saw honor unfit.

Darth Tormenus was also a master at lightsaber combat. He knew all the lightsaber forms, and combined them to form his own types of maneuvering and whatnot. Throughout many stages in his fights, he would conjure Force lightning, which he was a master at doing, and when he used much of his power on it, he was a dark red color. The Force itself, such as with pushing or throwing, he also usually used at his disposal, as it helped disorient his enemy. He wielded dual bladed disc lightsabers, that had a dark, crimson color to them. Tormenus never lost his lightsabers in combat, but sometimes in long range combat, he would use his hidden blaster, which he kept holstered to his side constantly, in case of emergency - although it was still never used. He also had a flamethrower attached to his gauntlet, which was usually unnoticed by his opponents, and he tended to use that every so often in melee combat.

Armor and equipment
""Mandalorian beskar'gam. It always helps when fighting any opponent, but I prefer the orbalisk armor in lightsaber combat. It is always a life saver.""

- Tormenus, regarding his armor

Tormenus always wore his armor, no matter where he was in the galaxy, or what he was doing, as he never knew when he needed the protection. His visible armor was Mandalorian beskar'gam, Mandalorian armor, which was colored red and black. He had improved gauntlets, one of which had a built-in, modified communications system, the other of which had a built-in flamethrower that he used in melee combat. There was strong padding all over, although most of it was covered by a black cloak that he wore just about all the time, except sometimes in lightsaber combat. The cloak itself was also stronger than most cloaks, and was not destroyed as easily. Most of his armor he obtained from Mandalore and Bespin, although some parts he modified himself, as he was decent at engineering.

Although all of this was enough protection from most attacks, it did not protect him from all attacks. Beneath all of his armor was hidden orbalisk armor that he obtained on the planet Dxun. They covered his torso, upper arms, and upper legs, and while they normally would feed on the dark side within Tormenus, he was able to hold them at bay using the powers he learned from Freedon Nadd on Dxun. He was able to overcome them and became their master, and was sure to keep them around his initial body. Normally they would allow him to do anything except stealth, as they were so noticeable, although he kept it hidden beneath his other layer of armor.

Tormenus' lightsabers he always kept clipped to his belt, unless, of course, he was in combat. They had discs around them, which made them more unique - as the only other ones to use them were the Inquisitors of the Galactic Empire, and only few others. During his time, he was the only known person to use them. The kyber crystals he used were powerful, and were capable of causing an explosion large enough to destroy much of the Grand Fleet, at least the three flagships, although he used the Force to give it special wards that protected it from any possible destruction. The kyber crystals gave his lightsabers a crimson blade, which made him look not only intimidating - which was not his goal - although struck fear into his enemies. He also had a blaster that he used in ranged combat, although only rarely, which he always kept hidden underneath his dark cloak, holstered to his belt.