Stav Kesh

This article is about the Je'daii Temple Stav Kesh, also known as the Temple of Martial Arts. You may be looking for Stava, a martial art.

For other uses, see Kesh (disambiguation).

"You have the morning to perform breathing exercises, acclimatize to the altitude. After lunch your training begins. This afternoon, Force breathing."
"Breathing? I thought this was the Martial Arts temple."

―Master Tave and Dalien Brock^[1]

Stav Kesh, the Temple of Martial Arts, was one of the nine Je'daii Temples of the Je'daii Order on the planet Tython. A temple-city fashioned from sandstone, Stav Kesh was built on the slopes and peak of a mountain in the Ice Giant Range, a mountain range on Tython's continent of Kato Zakar, and it sat above where the Tho Yor pyramid ship that had brought the first pilgrims to the Ice Giants in 36,453 BBY was buried in the mountainside. Constructed by the year 36,019 BBY, Stav Kesh was one of the stops along the Great Journey that all Je'daii Journeyers took, and its inhabitants and Temple Master taught martial arts, weapon combat, and other forms of combat to all who came to the Temple.

Description[]

"Your first training session in Stav Kesh is almost at an end. This evening you will prepare food, scrub the kitchens, and then return here to clear the training yard of snow and mud. You might also visit the Tho Yor and meditate for a while. Meditation is a part of fighting. Centering yourself, finding and ensuring your balance."

―Master Tave^[1]

Stav Kesh was a large stone temple-city located in the Ice Giant Range,^[2] a range of mountains on the continent of Kato Zakar on the planet Tython.^[1] The Tho Yor pyramid starship that brought the first pilgrims to the Ice Giants in the year 36,453 BBY buried itself in the mountains, and the Je'daii Order built their own temple structures nearer the summit. The primary parts of the Temple were two large structures built into the side of the mountain, with flat tops and sides that slanted down the mountain, and a cylindrical tower rose on the right side of the temple proper. Open courtyards for combat training took up much of Stav Kesh's upper exterior.^[4]

Sandstone buildings were constructed all the way up the mountain's slope, forming buttresses and cliffs of smooth stone, and windows and balconies dotted the surface of the mountains. A waterfall ran down the surface of the mountain and the city, and an incredibly long staircase ran from the plains below to the top of the temple. Canvas window shades and pennants of dozens of colors were also a common sight, and the Force had a particularly strong presence at Stav Kesh. A significant cave system existed beneath the Temple which was warmed by magma lakes, and the Je'daii maintained hydroponic gardens there where they grew fruits and vegetables.^[1]

History[]

"No one can fight without balance."

―Temple Master Rupe^[1]

Training at Stav — Je'daii training at Stav Kesh.

In 36,453 BBY, the Tho Yor Arrival occurred—the eight Tho Yor pyramid starships brought Force-sensitive philosophers, warriors, scientists, artists, and scholars of many species from across the galaxy to the planet Tython and scattered the pilgrims across the surface. One of the Tho Yor traveled to the Ice Giant Range, a range of mountains^[4] on the continent of Kato Zakar,^[1] and deposited its passengers before burying itself in the mountains.^[4] By the year 36,019 BBY, Stav Kesh—the Temple of Martial Arts—had been constructed by the Je'daii Order, as the pilgrims called themselves, and it was one of the nine Je'daii Temples that had been constructed around or near the seven other Tho Yor and the ninth and largest Tho Yor. By that time, the Je'daii had established the tradition of the Great Journey, which saw young Je'daii known as Je'daii Journeyers travel the surface of Tython and visit each temple.^[1]

Stav Kesh's inhabitants developed the martial arts form known as Alchaka while training to perfect their martial arts abilities and their connection to the Force. Many Je'daii jokingly claimed that Alchaka had been developed simply to keep warm at Stav Kesh. Weapons training was another discipline taught at the temple, and Stav Kesh tested the weapons developed by Vur Tepe, the Je'daii Forge.^[3] Rupe was the Temple Master of Stav Kesh around the year 27,987 BBY, and Temple Master Vor'Dana became Temple Master sometime before 26,012 BBY. Vor'Dana was still Temple Master by the year 25,997 BBY, and sometime during Vor'Dana's time as Temple Master the Je'daii fought and killed thirteen Sand Assassins in the Great Hall, a structure built deep in the mountains.^[1]

By the year 25,802 BBY, the Temple Master of Stav Kesh was a Talid named Lha-Mi, and the Noghri Tave served as assistant Temple Master. One of the Je'daii Masters at Stav Kesh, the Zabrak Kin'ade, developed a machine known as the Darrow sphere several years before that. The Darrow sphere, a predecessor to the later training remote used by the Jedi Order, was a small sphere that acted as a sparring partner for trainees and delivered stun charges on contact. The sphere saw significant use at Stav Kesh, and one of Kin'ade's students nicknamed the sphere "Je'daii's bane." In 25,802 BBY, the Journeyers Lanoree and Dalien Brock arrived at Stav Kesh, and they joined a group of Journeyers who were already being trained by the Temple's instructors. During one training session with the Darrow sphere, Dalien Brock—who was not Force-sensitive and in fact despised the Force itself—tried to use a blaster against the sphere when he became fed up with it, and several trainees were almost killed in the chaos when the unskilled Brock opened fire aimlessly.^[1]

Master Tave fighting Sek'nos Rath, Shae Koda, and Tasha Ryo.

Brock lied about the event when questioned, but despite his sister's protests, the Masters at the Temple could sense that Brock would never be a Je'daii and did not want to be one. The two spent several weeks at Stav Kesh before departing, and Dalien was trained separately by Master Tave when the other Journeyers were instructed by Kin'ade in the use of Force weapons. On the last day that the Brocks and several Journeyers spent at the temple, they were shown a demonstration fight between Lha-Mi and Tave in the Grand Hall before they were made to fight each other in practice bouts.^[1] Tave and Lha-Mi were still serving at Stav Kesh by 25,793 BBY, when Tave oversaw the training of three Journeyers—Sek'nos Rath, Tasha Ryo, and Shae Koda—in the courtyards atop Stav Kesh.^[2]