Hoth: Blood and Ice

[Dapper Dog]

Sith Training

Sith of the Empire tend to be trained in one of two ways, traditionally by a master from a young age that will eventually introduce them to the major Sith society and by attending one of the Sith Academies. The traditional method has fallen out of favor in this era but is often practiced by Sith in the frontier or ancient Sith lines to preserve family secrets.

Traditional Sith training tends to be one on one, where the student learns at the feet of the teacher that is also their Master to be. This can produce astounding results and a powerful bond between teacher and student but is also very time intensive for the Master and often pulls them away from other plots they may have in motion.

In this modern era attendance at one of the Sith academies is the norm for most young Sith. Once identified as a Force sensitive they are sent to either Dromud Kaas or Korriban, there are other smaller training academies but these are the main two funnels for most students with the school on Korriban being considered the premier training ground. Attrition is high, students rarely wash out, mostly they die either due to accidents in training, fellow crafty students, or in the plots of higher ranked Sith. Typically the early training is steeped in educational knowledge and Sith philosophy with physical conditioning, then comes combat training ad then honing one’s connection to the Force. Students will often stay at these Academies for about a decade or so of training before they are sent off world for the final steps of their training in the field.

Once a Sith graduates from the Academy they are placed with a Master, often a Sith that ahs taken interest in them long before they finished their training. Scoring an apprentice from the Korriban or Dromund Kaas Academy is considered a great honor as these young Sith tend to excel. Sith education is brutal and deadly, more so for those from disenfranchised backgrounds than those of respected birth. Sith education is also inherently unfair in this regard as those from poor backgrounds tend to have more obstacles placed in front of them especially if they are nonhuman scum. These hurdles actually produce stronger Sith, though it is not an intentional outcome by any means.

The Empire maintains a meticulous database of all active Sith, technically one does not need to be in the database to claim the title of Sith but without this they will be considered suspect and can even be killed with no repercussions if not Imperially recognized.

One would think that all Force users would be welcome but that is not the case, Force Users found as adults are executed, it is a standing order of the Empire to eradicate any non-Sith Force Users. This also means those individuals who are Force Sensitive but prove to have a weak connection are executed as well, only the best are allowed to be called Sith. This attrition rate means that although the Sith have a a slight advantage with higher Force Users in the Empire, most die either due to training or being too weak and thus keeps their numbers fairly close to the small cadre of Jedi of the Republic.

Only the best can be Sith.

With the new regime there has been a focus on more mystical matters for training, martial arts are still prized but the study of the metaphysics and theory of the dark side is much more prized. The training tends to infer a more religious fervor and prizes zealotry to the Dark Side over most things.