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Power of the Jedi Sourcebook

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The Planet of Twilight A Web Enhancement for the Power of the Jedi Sourcebook

Lying quietly in the Chorios system, Nam Chorios is a deeply conflicted world. It was a prison colony, then a planet for political exiles, and still later a despot-controlled mining planet. Ruled by a seemingly endless parade of petty warlords and vile dictators, kept isolated by its own native religious fanatics, and infested with tiny, disease-carrying insects, Nam Chorios is a highly unpleasant world to visit. People live there nonetheless, and with the end of Imperial rule, powerful corporations have begun to take an interest in exploiting the planet's vast mineral wealth.

History

Nam Chorios was largely uninhabited until just over 750 years before the Battle of Yavin. A few settlers -- mostly political refugees from the infamous Grissmath Dynasty -- arrived to eke out a living by gathering and exporting minerals. Calamities and misfortune befell them at every turn. Some fifty years later, the Grissmath Dynasty set up a penal colony on Nam Chorios, though this didn't require much more than installing gun stations on the planet's higher peaks to prevent unauthorized ships from leaving. The already-scarce water supplies became even scarcer as Nam Chorios was forced to support more inhabitants and the Grissmath kept sending more prisoners.

Generations came and went on Nam Chorios as the Grissmath Dynasty faded away. Supply ships came less and less often. Many were infested with horrible black insects known as drochs. The prisoners and even the guards of Nam Chorios were slowly dying. However, the former penal colony became a real settlement as the children and grandchildren of guards and prisoners cooperated to ensure their mutual survival. Widely spaced farms drew together to form villages and towns. Though the people of Nam Chorios had bested their environment, they still only managed to endure at a subsistence level.

Everything changed when a lone farmer named Theras declared that he had a vision. He had dreamt that the crystal formations of Nam Chorios spoke to him, warning him not to allow ships to leave the planet under any circumstances, lest the drochs escape. Most people thought that Theras, who had always been a crackpot, had finally snapped. The green-and-purple crystal spires that dotted the landscape were curious, even beautiful -- and perhaps a little dangerous, considering the occasional electrical arcs that shot between them -- but obviously, they were only rocks.

Even so, Theras attracted a few followers. Like him, they believed that something was wrong with the odd little black insects. In time, the Therans had become a major cult, but it wasn't until they seized the old Grissmath gun stations that the populace really took them seriously.

Power Struggles Shortly after this event, a young Hutt named Beldorian journeyed to Nam Chorios, ostensibly to investigate the Theran movement. When he arrived, Beldorian (who had trained as a potential Jedi) sensed that Nam Chorios itself was a potent nexus for the power of the Force. After his own relatively meager abilities were increased tenfold, he decided to stay and seize power. He became Beldorian the Splendid, ruler of Nam Chorios -- though, for a Hutt, he was a relatively benign dictator.

Beldorian's rule only lasted a few years. At the onset of the Clone Wars, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine used special emergency powers to send political rivals into exile around the galaxy. One of these was Seti Ashgad, a charismatic hyperdrive designer with political aspirations. Seeing that Beldorian the Hutt had no real interest in ruling Nam Chorios -- as long as his desires were satisfied -- Ashgad seized control of the planet, becoming its unofficial ruler. But Ashgad soon realized that Beldorian had only been a figurehead for a more insidious figure, an evolved, humanoid droch that called itself Dzym. Before long, he too was under its control.

Much like Beldorian, Ashgad was willing to allow Dzym a certain amount of control in return for temporal power. Both he and Dzym wanted to leave Nam Chorios -- Ashgad to step into the power vacuum created by the death of his old foe, Palpatine, and Dzym to spread the droch across the galaxy. Ashgad soon learned that the droch carried the extremely potent Death Seed plague, the disease that had wiped out the Grissmath Dynasty. The Death Seed plague was, in reality, the effect of several droch feeding off the life-energies of a single host all at once. It was usually fatal within a few minutes. Dzym had learned how to feed through the droch. He knew that if he managed to send

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droch to every planet in the New Republic, he could become immensely powerful.

See, That Farmer Wasn't Crazy The droch had no effect on the people of Nam Chorios, because light weakened the tiny insects. Thanks to the power of the mysterious crystal formations all over Nam Chorios, the world was bathed in a constant dusky light, even at night. This had been the source of the vision that Theras had experienced so long before. Intelligent crystals called tsils were trying to keep the evil droch from spreading throughout the galaxy.

Unfortunately, Seti Ashgad's political ambitions were slowly killing off the crystalline lifeforms. Ashgad, a brilliant technician, had learned that the "spooks" or "smokies" (as the locals called them) made excellent hyperconducting computer chips. These could be used to operate pilotless starships, such as the deadly "needle fighter," or act as processors for humanlike synthdroids. Both of these technologies were developed and manufactured by the Loronar Corporation, which desperately wanted to mine the tsil. The gun stations of the Theran faction constantly repelled them until Ashgad offered to take over the gun stations and give Loronar free access to strip-mine the smokies. In exchange, he wanted control of the Meridian sector -- the sector in which the Chorios system lay.

Ashgad delivered on his promise by creating the so-called "Rationalist Party" to oppose the isolationist Therans. He even arranged a diplomatic meeting with Leia Organa Solo, ostensibly to discuss bringing Nam Chorios into the New Republic. Instead, he brought along Dzym and handful of synthdroids and released the Death Seed plague on Organa Solo's ship, killing the crew and allowing him to abduct her. Ashgad took Leia back to Nam Chorios as insurance against New Republic military interference. Meanwhile, the Death Seed plague spread to nearby Nim Drovis and a handful of other worlds. Ashgad hoped that would keep the New Republic busy long enough for the Imperial fleet under Admiral Daala's command to seize the sector. Once Daala was in control, she would hand over the Meridian sector to Ashgad, and he could make good on his promise to give the Loronar Corporation access to Nam Chorios.

Unfortunately for Ashgad, Leia Organa Solo was not the only Jedi on Nam Chorios. Leia's brother, Luke Skywalker, had arrived on the planet seeking his lost love Callista, who had come to the twilight world in hopes of regaining her lost Jedi powers. With Leia fighting him from within his stronghold and Luke and Callista challenging him from outside, Ashgad's plan was doomed to fail. He managed to capture and disable one of the gun stations, cutting a path for his ship to escape with a cargo hold full of tsils and drochs, but Ashgad didn't consider that Skywalker could use the Force to communicate with the tsil aboard his ship. Convinced of the danger the droch posed to the galaxy, the tsils exercised the only defense available to them. The electrical storms they generated when the Force flowed through them were powerful enough to ionize electronics. They sacrificed themselves to destroy Ashgad's ship, with Dzym and the drochs aboard.

Description

Nam Chorios is a bleak, gloomy planet, composed mostly of barren deserts and rocky mountains with little in the way of arable land. Most of its scarce water lies underground. The only resources in abundance are the tsil, but even those were off-limits after they were known to be sentient.

The largest settlement on Nam Chorios is the town of Hweg Shul, where Seti Ashgad kept his stronghold (as did Beldorian the Hutt before him). Hweg Shul is only a few kilometers in length and has a population of just over eight thousand. Much of its population actually dwells underground, working or living along the subterranean water seams that enable them to grow their own food. The other settlements of Nam Chorios - including Ruby Gulch, Thurmik, and Salvation Point -- operate on a similar scheme, with anywhere from 10 to 25 percent of the population established below ground along the water seam that brought the settlers to the area.

Scattered across the landscape at a distance of perhaps 250 kilometers apart is a grid of gun stations, built on the planet's highest natural mountain peaks or located in artificial towers constructed long ago by the Grissmath penal system. These stations house just over twenty people and are always manned, though the weapon systems are usually computer-controlled. Only when the weapons crews are not busy elsewhere do they actually take direct control of the surface-to-orbit laser cannon batteries. A ship no larger than a B-wing (size Tiny and smaller) can generally make it down to the surface and back up into space with a better-than-even chance of survival. Bigger ships (Small-size or greater) are quickly targeted and destroyed.

The crystal formations comprise the only other interesting feature of Nam Chorios. Resembling short green-and-purple chimneys, the tsils form together in clusters all across the planet, periodically emitting sparks or (occasionally) great arcs of electricity. The sparks are mostly harmless, but the larger electrical discharges can stun a fully grown Human. This occurrence happens so infrequently and with so much warning that the populace has learned how to avoid the explosions.

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Force Storms of Nam Chorios

The tsils are natural Force amplifiers, magnifying the energy of life along with the light of Nam Chorios. While this feature makes them attractive to Force-users seeking more power, it also makes them dangerous because they exercise no control over their effect on the Force.

Whenever a Force-user employs a Force power anywhere on Nam Chorios (or even up to two kilometers from its surface), the Force-user gains a +20 bonus to his die roll, and damage rolls are doubled. However, the use of the Force on Nam Chorios creates such a strong reaction in the tsils that they are unable to contain all the energy and must vent the excess in the form of sudden, violent electrical storms.

These "Force storms" spread away from the nearest concentration of tsils (1d4+1 km away, determine direction randomly), traveling across the surface of Nam Chorios for a number of kilometers equal to the Force-user's total skill check (or twenty kilometers, in the case of Force feats). The spread is relatively slow, however -- only about 50 meters per round. The effect passes in 2d4 rounds.

Force storms take the appearance of a "crawling" wave of electrical energy, traveling along the ground at a height of no more than a meter. Wherever the energy touches a living being, the affected victim must make a Fortitude save (DC 15) or suffer 1d4+1 points of Strength damage. "Old-timers" who have lived on Nam Chorios all their lives gain a +5 situation bonus on this check. Most others quickly learn to seek high ground. (If a storm actually manages to kill someone in its path, the GM may decide to give the character who set it in motion a Dark Side Point.)

More disturbingly, Force storms randomly redistribute the power of the Force as a kind of Force Whirlwind (see Chapter Five: Feats, in the Star Wars Roleplaying Game). Though these most often occur in desolate areas, the GM can simulate the random nature of this effect by ruling that whenever someone rolls a "1" on a Fortitude save against the Strength damage effect, a brief Force Whirlwind appears, centered on that person. Everyone within 4 meters of that person suffers a -4 penalty on attacks, skill checks, and ability checks for one round and takes 3d4 points of damage (Reflex save, DC 20, for half damage).

Few beings on Nam Chorios realize that the "electrical storms" are in fact generated by use of the Force. The few Force-users who come to Nam Chorios quickly learn not to use the Force except in dire emergencies, since they cannot control the subsequent storm. The unleashed energy can be deadly to those unlucky enough to be in its path.

Adventure Hooks

During the Rise of the Empire era, the heroes might come to Nam Chorios to investigate rumors of highly valuable programmable crystals illegally mined for use in droid starfighters. Unless the heroes arrive separately in Tiny or smaller ships, they come under fire from the Theran-operated gun stations. Even if the heroes arrive in ships small enough to evade the automated laser cannons, the Therans respond with deadly force against ships that linger too long in the atmosphere. Once on the ground, the heroes must avoid roving Theran fanatics and salvage gangs, as well as the "security forces" of Beldorian

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the Splendid, the Hutt who now rules Nam Chorios from his stronghold in Hweg Shul. Eventually, the heroes discover that heavily armed mining droids are covertly dropping down to the surface in pods to gather spooks, then firing loaded pods back into space. Is the Trade Federation collecting the pods in orbit over Nam Chorios, or is someone else pulling the strings on this operation?

In the Rebellion era, the heroes might be sent by the Rebel Alliance to seek out a potential ally. He's an old enemy of the Emperor, a former politician named Seti Ashgad. The Emperor exiled Ashgad to Nam Chorios for the crime of disagreeing with him. Again, the heroes must avoid the gun stations, the Theran fanatics, and the salvage gangs. If they make it to Hweg Shul, they discover that the original Seti Ashgad has died. His son, also named Seti Ashgad, has no interest in opposing the Empire if it means that his people suffer the Emperor's wrath. However, if the heroes can arrange to ship people off Nam Chorios, Ashgad agrees to turn his own considerable leadership abilities to the task. He also can supply several tons worth of highly valuable spooks.

This story has a twist, however. The heroes should realize that the Ashgad they encounter is too old to have been born after his father was sent into exile. Instead, the person posing as Ashgad's son is Ashgad himself, and he has discovered a way to restore his youth. This is secretly the work of Dzym, who feeds some of his own essence to Ashgad to keep him young and vital until Dzym's plans come to fruition.

Ashgad has a secret agenda to deliver the Death Seed plague to Imperial Center in hopes of crippling the Empire, and perhaps even killing the Emperor. He then plans to step in and seize control of the Empire -- not for the Rebel Alliance, but for his own ambitions. If the heroes have already agreed to help, can they stop Ashgad before he manages to infect all Coruscant with the Death Seed plague? And even if they do stop him, can they discover the true villain behind Ashgad's plans and stop Dzym in time?

Tsil

The tsil of Nam Chorios are a mineral-based lifeform that appear as green and purple crystals and grow in large chimney formations. Called smokies and spooks by the world's Human and humanoid settlers, the tsil are sentient and strongly attuned to the Force. This allows them to instigate electrical discharges and accounts for the high Force-sensitivity of the organic natives of the planet.

Most tsil have a peaceful, inert life, adding to the Force-enhanced nature of the ecology of Nam Chorios. There are exceptional tsil with additional Force-related feats and skills, though nothing that would rely on physical abilities they lack.

The sentient tsil were mined by the Loronar Corporation, as their crystalline matrix made them versatile components in synthdroids and needle starfighters. In the early years of New Republic, both the sentient nature of the tsil and Loronar's atrocities were revealed. Under the auspices of the New Republic, the harvested tsils have been, for the most part, returned, but there are still tsils in the greater galaxy waiting to be sent back to their home planet.

Tsil Commoner: Init +0; Defense 12 (+2 natural); Spd 0 m (immobile); VP/WP 0/12; Atk special; SQ Species traits (see below); SV Fort +1, Ref +0, Will +1; SZ S; FP 0; Rep +0; Str -, Dex -, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 10. Challenge Code A.

Equipment: None. Skills: Knowledge (any two) +2. Feats: Force-Sensitive (bonus).

Species Traits: +2 Con, +2 Wis; +2 natural armor bonus to Defense; electricity/ion resistance 15; immune to poison, disease, and radiation; electrical discharge (see below); telepathy (see below); light amplification (see below).

Electrical Discharge: Once every 1d4 rounds, a tsil can discharge electricity in a 10-meter-radius blast, dealing 4d6 points of electrical damage to all creatures in the area; a successful Reflex save (DC 15) halves the damage.

Telepathy: The tsil communicate by placing images into the minds of other intelligent creatures. A "target" can resist the tsil's attempt to place images in his mind with a successful Will save (DC 15). A new save can be made each round.

Light Amplification: The tsil store, reflect, and intensify sunlight such that the areas around them are usually brightly lit

"Hey, don't blame us for everything!"

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regardless of the position of the sun in the sky. Creatures that suffer penalties in bright light have those penalties doubled when within 10 meters of a tsil.

Special Features: Tsil are immobile and inert. They have no effective Strength or Dexterity.

Automatic Languages: Tsil have no written or spoken language.

Have you downloaded our free Power of the Jedi mini-adventure, read our interview with the designers, tried our new Force-using creature, or sampled our excerpts from the new book?

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