Teras Kasi Archive

History of the Teräs Käsi

The order of the Teräs Käsi is a secret organization born from the belief that near infinite power, regardless of the intention behind it, should not go unregulated. The Teräs Käsi - bluntly, did not trust the Jedi to police themselves.

The Teräs Käsi was founded thousands of years ago, during the last of the great wars between the Light and the Dark. The final decisive battle between the two great forces occurred in the Pacanth Reach, devastating the planet of Palawa itself. The victory was attained, but at momentous cost to the civilian population. The Jedi Council, deeply saddened by the outcome of the events, nevertheless deemed it 'acceptable losses'. The battleground was not one of the Order's choosing, the evil had to be stopped, it was one planet against thousands - there was no choice.

The civilians that survived the battle saw it differently.

The meager handful of survivors relocated to the nearby world of Bunduki. The remaining Palawan concluded that so much force, so much power - in the hands of one people, regardless of how well intentioned and regulated. They vowed never to let happen to others what had happened to them. They began the study of the mind over the body, how to master self from without and within. They forged themselves to be a force capable of dealing with Jedi, should the need arise. It took generations to conceive and implement the plan, but the Teräs Käsi martial arts were born.

Since that time, the order has grown strong. During the heights of the Old Republic, the exact number of Teräs Käsi masters is unknown - but the number was estimated to be from several hundred up to slightly more than a thousand. Of course the number of Teräs Käsi practitioners are considerably less during the reign of Palpatine and his Empire. During the era of the New Republic, the order is growing again, but has yet to fully recover.

About the Teräs Käsi

Although not they quite as all-powerful and versatile as the Jedi arts, the practitioners of Teräs Käsi are formidable in their own ways.

There is one basic fundamental difference between the two schools. Instead of drawing on the Force for power, Teräs Käsi users draw on the power from inside themselves. By using the power from within, they are able to have more control and fewer restraints. Since practitioners of Teräs Käsi draw from what is inside, they become what they are. Unlike the Jedi, since the Force surrounds and penetrates all life - which has good and evil, so there are light and dark sides of the Force.

A master of Teräs Käsi must be able to command their own bodies in addition to learning the external arts. As such they are able to ignore pain, control disease and poisons within themselves, focus on injured areas and accelerating their own healing, and summon great strength to release it in one blow. The Teräs Käsi are also exceptionally attuned to the ebb and flow of the Force - if not actually out and out Jedi material. This attuned nature of the Teräs Käsi not only allows them to be aware of Jedi and Force Users, but also makes them exceptionally resistant to uses of the Force.

Mastery of the teachings of Teräs Käsi also imparts one additional benefit - a long life span. Not immortality - no matter how long you live, how far you run, you can't escape the hand of death forever. However, a master of Teräs Käsi can live several hundred years - and many of the order often do so.

Operating in secret, even beyond the notice most Jedi (it is unknown if the Jedi Council knew or suspected of the existence of the group) the Teräs Käsi have set up a network of temples and training facilities. These facilities are scattered throughout the galaxy, often hidden in plain site - small monasteries and temples are the order's natural appearance.

With this network, they watch the Jedi. Mostly they are unneeded, but when one steps out of line, the Teräs Käsi are there.

Occasionally there are beings able to cross over between the two groups, masters both versed in the Jedi arts and the ways of Teräs Käsi. These individuals are extremely rare, however. Although it may seem a conflict of interests - the watcher in the very order they watch - but what better place to monitor and observe than from within.

Then the purge came. The order, although not targeted by Palpatine, was also caught up in the madness of the destruction of the Jedi Order. However unlike the Jedi, who were in the public eye, the Teräs Käsi managed to avoid the near total extermination the Empire meted out. Unfortunately the very secretive nature of the Teräs Käsi that saved them from extermination left the few survivors adrift and without resources.

The destruction of the Teräs Käsi may not have complete, but it was crippling. Only a handful of Masters survived - more than the Jedi order, but not by many. The Teräs Käsi have survived adversity before - have had to deal with persecution and extermination before. As a precaution against the destruction of the order, the Teräs Käsi was segmented into cells, much like a guerrilla war might be fought. Eventually, one or two branches of the order would survive.

During this period, the most notable of the Teräs Käsi masters came to the spotlight - Arden Lynn. As one of the last remaining masters of Teräs Käsi, Arden was cornered by Vader and offered a chance at survival - provided that she assassinated key members of the Rebel Alliance. The plot failed, and presumably Arden Lynn was executed by Palpatine for her failure - although this is conjecture, since no records of her, her execution, or her current status existed when Coruscant was taken by the New Republic. Owing to the resourcefulness of the master turned mercenary, she very well may have successfully eluded the Empire after her failure.

Thanks to Arden Lynn's attempt on his life, Luke Skywalker is fully aware of the existence of the Teräs Käsi order. He may not know all of the details, but he has put together enough to know that the Teräs Käsi could be invaluable on rebuilding the Jedi Knights. Their perspective on the original order of Jedi Knights, plus their unique insight to the ways of the Force could be very useful indeed. As such, Master Skywalker is actively seeking the order and it's members.

The Teräs Käsi, however are not eager for this contact. They realize that the Anakin/Vader paradigm had finally done more than tip the balance of power between light and dark. It had freed the Jedi Knights of the protocol, rituals and methods that had suffocated them and slowly rendered the order less and less effective. To impart the old knowledge and old ways upon the new order would be to unnecessarily shackle them. They must learn their own way - right or wrong.