Dark Lord: Bride of Vader

Chapter 7: Expanding the Imperial Might

In loving memory of James Earl Jones
May he find rest and peace.
I do not own any of the Star Wars and DC characters and ideas represented in this work.​

The Forbidden Jungle, named by the early Almeracian settlers when they first encountered the region, was a large and expansive jungle that was in one of the large continents in Almerac's Equator. Covering most of the landmass, the jungle is credited as one of the most dangerous areas of the planet due to its dense vegetation and its menacing flora and fauna. Because of this, many attempts to colonize and tame the savage land lead to disaster. While the continent outside of the jungle was settled and populated, with its plains and numerous rivers, it was sparsely populated compared to the other parts of Almerac.

Within the jungle was one particular and irregular object, one landmark that wasn't natural in any shape or form. One obsidian-colored giant monolith that erupted from one cliff in the juggle. A monument to darkness and a fortress of shadow. Animals avoid it like the plague; birds and bugs don't dare to land on it; meandering and grazing Almeracian gazelles don't go too close to it; predators like the two-fanged leopard or even the infamous carnorite could even be considered to be afraid of it.

This monolith of dark matter was none other than Vader's new castle. A structure that ignores the mundane world and does whatever it pleases. This new fortress was very much like the one he had previously on Mustafar, by design and appearance. Vader didn't need any changes to the new one, and so he had the engineer corps construct his hidden retreat.

Vader didn't create his castle out of sightseeing the dangerous wildlife or to see the vast amount of plants; he did it out of the forbidden jungle's strong connection to the dark side. The dark side nexus was a location where Vader could mediate and conduct his dark side experiments. While it wasn't as strong on the dark side compared to the valley of the dark lords that was on Korriban or even to his previous fortress, the jungle castle will have to suffice for now to help him on his Sith goals.

There was a legend about the region the castle inhabited, which gave the fortress a nickname by some Almeracians out of so, 'Thulsa's Doom'. Thulsa, of the same name, was once a figurehead in the early days of ancient Almerac. There was very little actual evidence of his exploits, but his legend in Almeracian folklore was very large. It was said in ancient texts that Thulsa was a powerful warlock who wielded dark magic. It is claimed that he had powers to perform necromancy, summon illusions, transform himself into a giant serpent, and have other terrible powers that no mere mortal could have or comprehend. Thulsa once had a cult surrounded him that worshipped him as some sort of serpent deity. One day, through spiritualism, or prideful moronic thinking, Thulsa and his thousand strong followers ventured to the forbidden jungle so that they could claim the land as their own; none came back, and the legend of Thulsa ceased.

Thus, some Almeracians knew about the castle's existence gave the fortress the title of 'Thulsa's Doom,' for it was speculated that Thulsa died around the area where the castle was in. It was also the centerpoint of the dark side nexus.

Was it possible that Thulsa was, in fact, a dark side adept? Was the dark magic the text claimed he once had actually the dark side? Is this dark side nexus in the jungle created by Thulsa long ago purposefully, or was it made after his death, much like how a supernova is created after a star's life? Was he that strong in the force? There were many questions, but Vader found there were many mysterious that would not be answered. He found it interesting to find possible evidence of a powerful dark side practitioner, but Thulsa had left no records or journals of his teachings, in all the legend of Thulsa was useless to Vader.

He attempted to pierce the shroud that was the jungle's dark side nexus to see if the source of power originated from the exploits of Thulsa one way or the other or was simply a natural creation from the jungle, but Vader had seen no answers through the mist nor the echoes of the force said anything of the nexus' past.

Vader had little care about his castle being nicknamed 'Thulsa's Doom; it had little bearing on his life or goals. If the workers here and other places like to call it as such and respect him for owning it, then so be it.

The castle's workers mostly consisted of a new company of stormtroopers, whose armor looks like a cross between phase II clone armor and Imperial stormtrooper armor.