Jedi Order

The Jedi Order is a noble monastic and nontheistic religious order united in their devotion to the light side of the Force. With a history dating back thousands of years before the rise of the Nihil, the Jedi Knights—noted for their lightsabers and natural ability to harness the powers of the Force—stood as the guardians of peace and justice in the Galactic Republic. The Order was originally established on Ahch-To in the Unknown Regions. In later years, the Jedi Grand Temple on the Core World Coruscant served as the hub of all Jedi activity in the galaxy. The Temple was also a training school for younglings and Padawans, who learned the ways of the Force under the supervision of Jedi Masters, twelve of whom were elected to serve on the Jedi High Council—the Order's highest governing authority. The High Council's staff officers were the Grand Master, who functioned as the leader of the Order and was a title reserved for the wisest Jedi Master, and the Master of the Order, who served as the Council's appointed leader. The Jedi Code governed the Order's way of life; therefore, every Jedi was duty-bound to observe and uphold the Code or else risk banishment from the Order's ranks.

Culture

The Jedi Knights were a noble order of Force-sensitive protectors—united by their ability to use the Force—who upheld peace and justice in the Galactic Republic for over a thousand generations, carrying out what they sensed to be the will of the Force as its instruments. As keepers of the peace, the Jedi Order undertook diplomatic missions on behalf of the Galactic Senate, and pursued interplanetary criminals across the galaxy. Whereas the Sith—the historic enemies of the Jedi Order—harnessed the dark side of the Force for power, the Jedi followed the ways of the light side of the Force. The Jedi Code, along with a collection of other foundational texts, guided the Jedi way of life, governing the behavior of individual Jedi to the philosophy and training regimen of the Order as a whole. Though the Jedi worshipped no specific deity, the Chosen One played an important role in Jedi prophecy and mythology. The virtues of the Order included compassion, generosity, peaceful resolution, and spreading justice.

Public Agenda

The Jedi Order was regarded as a mysterious organization throughout its history. The Order was ingrained in the public consciousness of the galaxy as a result of its strong ties to the government of the Galactic Republic, but was nonetheless inscrutable to the general public. However, those who encountered the Jedi were awed by their Force abilities. Nevertheless, the Jedi were celebrities of their time, a status reflected by Jedi-themed holodramas as well as stories written about the Order. The Archivist, a historian who studied Jedi lore prior to joining Crimson Dawn, believed that to most people the Jedi exemplified the moral virtues that were affiliated with the light side of the Force, making them both loved and hated by the galaxy that they served. During the High Republic, the Jedi actively worked to be part of local communities in addition to helping them. However, the Path of the Open Hand cult spread its influence by claiming all who used the Force were violating the energy field from its freedom, claiming that each use of the Force to solve a problem created an equal or worse problem elsewhere. The people of the planet E'ronoh were divided on the Jedi, with some believing they were miracle workers while others looked down on the Order as a group of Republic-backed outsiders. The arrival of the Path galvanized anti-Jedi sentiment on E'ronoh.

History

The precursors of the Jedi were the Dai Bendu, but the Jedi Order itself was founded in the distant past on planet Ahch-To by the Prime Jedi. At the dawn of their order, the Jedi came into possession of Ilum, an ancient planet encased in ice and littered with kyber crystals, the heart of the Jedi lightsaber. Considered the Jedi Order's most sacred world, its ancient Temple would eventually host the Gathering, a tradition that would continue up until the fall of the Order. As the Jedi were spread throughout the galaxy, they acquired a vessel called the Crucible that would ferry students to Ilum so that they could perform the Gathering. It would become the base of the architect droid, Professor Huyang, for over a thousand years as he instructed on lightsaber designs and kept records of every single Jedi weapon created. During this early period, the Order also established itself on Ossus, Jedha, Xenxiar, and other worlds. Later, some Jedi scholars argued that a number of locations could be considered the birthplace of the Order. The scholars argued that Coruscant, Jedha, and Ossus as well as worlds shrouded in myth, such as Tython and Ahch-To could all be considered candidate worlds for the Order's birth and the location of the first Jedi temple.