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The Iron Citadel was a massive palace at the heart of the Royal District of Cinnagar. Home to the ruling monarch of the planet Empress Teta and the seat of government in ancient times, the Iron Citadel was conquered by the Krath cult during the Great Sith War and was a source of great terror to the populace of Empress Teta during the war. By the time of the Galactic Empire, the Iron Citadel had passed into legend, with many outside the system doubting that it ever existed at all. Nobles on the planet insisted that it formed the foundations of the modern Cinnagar Royal Palace, with others believing that it was buried deep beneath the modern cityscape and serving as a shrine for surviving Krath loyalists.
History[]
Established as a residence for the royal family of Koros Major, the Iron Citadel was a gargantuan facility at the heart of the city of Cinnagar's Royal District. Named for its iron battlements, the Citadel was a testament to Koros' military prowess as it had never fallen to enemy forces. The seat of the famed Empress Teta, it was from the Iron Citadel that Teta waged the Unification Wars and improved the political system within the entire Koros system. Having repelled invasion and infiltration by rebels, the Galactic Republic, Mandalorians, and the Jedi Order, the Iron Citadel was eventually violated by the Krath cult during the Great Sith War. Having murdered their parents and secured the throne for themselves, Satal and Aleema Keto formed the Krath cult and converted the Iron Citadel into their command center. From their war room, the Ketos initiated the Krath Holy Crusade that swept the system and the region.
Satal Keto tortured Ulic Qel-Droma in the dungeons deep within the bowels of the Citadel, where political dissenters were ritualistically hanged from cavern walls. After Qel-Droma gained the trust of Aleema Keto, he was permitted access to other parts of the facility, though still a guest without permission to leave. While within the Citadel, Qel-Droma confronted Satal Keto on a balcony where he fought and killed the leader of the world. As the new joint leader of the Krath with his lover Aleema Keto, Qel-Droma commanded the forces within the Citadel and had its weapons systems upgraded to better defend the palace from Republic assault. When the Dark Jedi Exar Kun entered the Citadel unbidden, Qel-Droma dueled the former Jedi to a draw before the long dead Sith Lord Marka Ragnos named them Dark Lords of the Sith. The Iron Citadel's fate after this monumental occasion remained lost to history; some accounts described the Citadel's destruction by the Republic forces during the ejection of the Krath from Empress Teta. Others claim that the Citadel formed the foundations of the modern Royal Palace at the heart of the Royal District, claiming the twisted block of iron at the heart of the Palace's gardens is a portion of the battlements from the Citadel's walls. Still others spread a rumor that the city had swallowed the Iron Citadel, and that it still stood intact beneath the city surface as a shrine for those Krath loyalists that still existed millennia removed from the Great Sith War.[1]
Despite being regarded as a legendary site, treasure hunters during the Imperial era believed that they could make a fortune by finding the remains of the Citadel and raiding its contents. Among the rumored artifacts to be housed within the ruins were the lightsaber crystal of Ulic-Qel Droma, the Krath translation talisman of Satal Keto, and an operational Basilisk war droid.[1]
Appearances[]
- Tales of the Jedi – The Golden Age of the Sith 0 (First appearance)
- Tales of the Jedi – The Golden Age of the Sith 2 (As Palace of Empress Teta)
- Tales of the Jedi – The Fall of the Sith Empire 1 (As Empress Teta's Palace)
- Tales of the Jedi – The Fall of the Sith Empire 2
- Tales of the Jedi – The Fall of the Sith Empire 3
- Tales of the Jedi – The Fall of the Sith Empire 5 (As Imperial Palace of Cinnagar)
- Tales of the Jedi – Dark Lords of the Sith 4 (As Citadel of the Krath)
- Tales of the Jedi – Dark Lords of the Sith 5 (First identified as Iron Citadel)
- Tales of the Jedi – Dark Lords of the Sith 6
- Tales of the Jedi – The Sith War 3
Sources[]
"Straight from the Horse's Mouth: A Guide to the Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi Universe, Part 2" — Star Wars Insider 27- Star Wars Encyclopedia
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
- Nexus of Power
