By Jason Dietzel
The Order of Shasa got its start in the year 3,956 BBY, during the Jedi Civil War. The founder, a Selkath named Shasa from the planet Manaan, formed the Force group after being secretly lured by the Sith to join their ranks. Shasa and her followers trained within the Sith Embassy, preparing to help the Sith with their conspiracy to overthrow the Manaan government by replacing key government officials with the Sith-trained Selkath youth.
The plot was discovered by the amnesic Revan, and when Shasa learned of the Sith’s plan to undermine both the Selkath youth and the whole planet, she helped the Jedi expose the ploy to the Manaan government. As a result, the Sith were punished with sanctions on kolto.
Following the Jedi Civil War, Shasa realized the Selkath could not rely on the Jedi or the Sith if they were truly to remain neutral in galactic affairs. To ensure this independence from outside sway, she felt it best to form the Force organization dedicated to maintaining Manaan’s neutrality. Along with the other Force-trained Selkath, she formed the order around the concepts of peace and defense.
The Order of Shasa made their base in the mining station Revan investigated, and left abandoned, deep in the Hrakert Rift. Unfortunately, due to the Sith influence most of the early students experienced, many soon returned to the temptations of the dark side and sought to twist the order into a dark side group. Though hesitant to get outsiders involved, Shasa eventually contacted trusted Jedi and the Jal Shey to help her rid her order of its dark side influences.
However, the Order of Shasa’s neutrality would only last a few centuries. During the Galactic War, circa 3,638 BBY, the Order of Shasa aligned with the Order of Revan. In a secret underwater facility, the Order of Shasa helped the Revanites conduct experiments using Rakatan technology. Eventually the facility was scuttled after a Republic-Imperial task force infiltrated the laboratory. Many adepts of the order were killed defending the underwater base.
The Order of Shasa did survive the ordeal and helped Manaan remain neutral for millennia. It wasn’t until the rise of the Galactic Empire did the order once again become beholden to an outside force. Though ranking about two hundred members, the Order of Shasa was no match for the Empire when they occupied Manaan.
Despite the occupation, most of the order was able to evade Imperial forces for years, hoping to eventually drive the Empire off their world. Their opportunity seemed to present itself when a cloaked Jedi offered them detailed information on a key location to strike. The mysterious Jedi, whose only quality was the use of a rebreather respirator, provided the order with detailed information and encouraged them to attack.
The Selkath, eager to drive the Imperials off their world, infiltrated the facility and easily dispatched the guards. However, a bloodlust came over all the members of the order and they quickly turned on the guests of the resort. Only when everyone in the resort was killed and their rage subsided did the “Jedi” reveal himself as Darth Vader, complementing their strength for seeking revenge and condemning them to servants of the Empire. It is unknown what became of the order following the fall of the Empire.
Shasa constructed her order based off the Jedi, with each adept being paired with a master. Depending on the skills of the adept, training could last anywhere from months to years. A core tenet of the order was keeping Manaan safe. Part of this training included learning the history of their species, was passed to them by Storytellers. Their training culminated with the construction of a fira.
Much like the creation of the lightsaber for a Jedi padawan, the creation of the fira was central to the rite of passage of the Selkath of the order. The fira was a curved sword, crafted with a cortosis alloy to resist a lightsaber’s blade. The Selkath would venture into the deeps to find components to create their fira, often finding debris from the old Hrakert Rift station, destroyed by Revan during his time on the planet.
The Order of Shasa became experts in Force powers concerning the mind. They were extremely proficient at detecting deception and developed a mind-affecting power that allowed them to disorient or confuse opponents. The effects of this power, known as Progenitor’s Call, could last for hours before wearing off. Given their aquatic environment, the order also developed superb telekinesis skills, drawing on the natural wave patterns of their surroundings to augment their abilities.
Though Shasa and many in her order first appeared in the video game Knights of the Old Republic, they were not officially identified as the Order of Shasa until The Old Republic MMO video game. The order is also referenced in other sources, including online articles on Wizards.com, and in the Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia.
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