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The blight was the term used to refer to an affliction that arose during the High Republic Era. Speculatively referred to as a disease, the blight affected matter, living or otherwise, and drained it of life, leaving it a calcified husk, similar to the effect that the Nameless creatures had on Force-sensitive individuals. The blight spread through contact, slowly consuming whatever it touched.

Although a coming blight was foreseen in 382 BBY, the affliction had begun to spread across worlds of the galaxy by 228 BBY. In that year, it emerged on the moon of Arli, whose residents were trapped on the moon by the Nihil marauders. San Tekka family members Jordanna Sparkburn and Cair San Tekka traveled to the moon to find the former's relatives, but the latter was inadvertently infected with the blight, which slowly calcified his hand. The two were able to cut San Tekka's hand off and isolate it within a containment field, preventing the spread of the blight. Sparkburn delivered the blighted hand to Jedi Knight Vernestra Rwoh, who brought it to the Jedi Council. The hand was later given to Knight Reath Silas, who presented it to former Jedi Azlin Rell during their investigations into the Nameless.

Description[]

Effect and appearance[]

The affliction known as the blight was speculatively referred to as a desiccating disease. The blight affected all types of matter: living beings, including people, fauna, and flora; and non-living matter, such as natural terrain or structures. Matter that was consumed by the blight had the color and life drained from it until it was left a calcified husk, resembling a carbon mineral substance, rock, pumice, or ash. The effect of the blight was similar in nature to that had by the Nameless creatures on Force-sensitive individuals. To Force-sensitives, the blight felt dead, as if the Force unnaturally eschewed it.^[1]

The blight appeared a chalky gray color, streaked with lines of white as if diseased. When present on skin, the blight appeared as a scab-like growth, featuring rough edges with hooks or tendrils as if to pull itself larger. Land consumed by the blight retained its shape, keeping the silhouettes of terrain features and flora, but with all color and life drained. The edge of the blight was uneven, with the effect causing it to seem like a slowly-spilling liquid. In regions, the blight appeared to crumble or disintegrate. From space, blighted land appeared shadowed and swathed in white and gray.^[1]

The blight would eventually kill living beings it infected, but death was slow, taking numerous hours. Medical substances such as rejuve and hydro-gel were ineffective at healing those affected—the blight could only be stopped by the removal of the afflicted body part. To an individual infected by a small patch of blight, the affliction did not cause any pain or sensation.^[1]

Transmission[]

Emerging randomly across worlds,^[2] the blight slowly spread through contact with afflicted matter. It was not transmissible via air, and unlike a mold, the blight did not travel like spores.^[1] Biologist Elping Tsoo further noted that the blight did not resemble a fungus nor ameboid parasite, with its aftereffects instead appearing closer to some kind of sprayed weapon. Even then, that sprayed weapon comparison was made by a perplexed Tsoo, who confessed he had no idea what he was dealing with. Upon being faced by blight victims, he was unsure if the victims were consumed by the blight or transformed into it.^[3] It was possible to prevent the spread of the blight by removing an afflicted part and trapping it in stasis within a containment field, although its effect could still spread to matter within the field.^[1]

The transformation rate varied between various types of matter, including crystalline and natural volcanic structures versus metallic alloys. The blight could consume living beings at a similar rate to land. The spread of the blight was too slow to see over short periods, although its nature made it appear as if it was moving. The blight did not only consume the surface of terrain, but also spread underground. Terrain past the boundary of a blighted region remained living and healthy until the affliction spread; similarly, any body parts of an infected individual that had not yet been reached by the blight were unharmed.^[1]

History[]

A day to come[]

In 382 BBY,^[4] while on a mission to the world of Planet X to collect Nameless eggs for use against the Jedi Order, the Path of the Open Hand encountered the Under-Dwellers. One member of the team, Bokana Koss, also experienced a maddening and horrifying Force vision about a coming "blight" that nothing would be able to stop, warning Guide of the Open Hand Marda Ro that the Force itself would be "chained" and "no more" after what was to come. He further remarked how the Under-Dwellers wanted to spread and would do so as a "blight upon the galaxy's lands."^[5]

A blight upon the galaxy[]

Appearance on Arli's moon[]

By 228 BBY,^[6] during the time of the Galactic Republic and Jedi Order's conflict against the Nihil marauders,^[1] the blight had begun to randomly spread across worlds within the galaxy.^[2] In that year,^[6] the blight appeared on the moon of the Outer Rim planet Arli, within the Nihil's Occlusion Zone territory. The blight spread to consume part of a valley near the city of Birage, including the ridge known as the Iliri Spine and the land hosting the family manor of the San Tekka family members who lived on the moon; it also desiccated the cave systems underneath the valley, causing the waterways and rivers to dry up. In a matter of weeks, the blight had spread to cover around half of the moon, with resident Harth Sparkburn expecting that the entire moon would be consumed within three more weeks.^[1]

The residents of Birage attempted to perform experiments on the blight, throwing various items into the affliction as a test. However, without proper equipment, they were unable to determine the pattern or speed of infection. Tiliqana, Birage's head medic, attempted to collect samples of the blight using medical waste procedures, but her containers were destroyed and she was infected by the affliction, which eventually killed her. After realizing it could affect fauna and people, some of the moon's residents were able to leave, but the Nihil eventually prevented any further escape, leaving three starships in orbit. The residents suspected that the Nihil were possibly involved in the blight, but even the pirates themselves were wary of the affliction.^[1]

Discovery of desiccation[]

Jordanna Sparkburn and Cair San Tekka, members of the San Tekka family, traveled to Arli's moon in the cruiser Brightbird in order to locate the former's relatives. After evading the Nihil vessels—who did not follow them into the atmosphere—the pair flew over the blighted landscape, unable to make sense of the affliction, before landing at Birage. There, they were met by Harth and the other residents of the city, who at first did not wish to speak of the blight but eventually explained what they knew of the affliction.^[1]

When Jordanna wished to see the affliction for herself, Harth led her and San Tekka to the edge of the blighted land. As they inspected the blight, the terrain collapsed beneath them—a result of the caves below having been desiccated—taking Jordanna and Harth with it. San Tekka assisted in rescuing the pair before they fell, but in the process unknowingly touched the blight, which spread onto the knuckle of his hand. After avoiding the landslide, the trio realized the cave system also spread under Birage, rushing back to the city to rescue the residents. The remaining population of Birage boarded the Brightbird and escaped the moon, evading the Nihil in orbit.^[1]

Lending a hand[]

In hyperspace, however, Harth's daughter Peach noticed the spot of blight on San Tekka's hand. As the Brightbird's passengers panicked, San Tekka recalled everything he had come into contact with, including Peach herself and parts of the ship. Although San Tekka suggested that he would isolate in an escape pod and launch after exiting hyperspace, Jordanna proposed amputating the hand, noting that as nothing else that he had touched was changing, the rest of his body might be safe. San Tekka retrieved a beam-generated containment field, and with Harth and his wife, Essren, assisting the process, Jordanna used her Merry Maker laser blade weapon to cut off the hand. Harth activated the containment field, trapping the blight—which had had nearly consumed the forefinger by that point—in stasis.^[1]

Although San Tekka was concerned their attempt was ineffective, he survived after the amputation of his blighted hand, which had been completely consumed within two hours. Once they had escaped to the planet Seswenna, Jordanna was determined to deliver the hand to the Republic and the Jedi, sickened by the sight of the blight and unsure whether it was a Nihil superweapon or unknown entity from Wild Space. Storing the containment field in a plastic alloy case, Jordanna handed the sample of the blight to Jedi Knight Vernestra Rwoh after escaping the Occlusion Zone, informing her about the affliction.^[1]

Rwoh brought the blight sample to the Jedi Temple on^[1] the planet^[7] Coruscant, delivering it to the Jedi Council. It was eventually passed on to Knight Reath Silas, who was investigating the Nameless with the assistance of the former Jedi Azlin Rell. He presented the blighted hand to Rell, who at first assumed it was from a Jedi killed by the Nameless; Silas informed him that not only was the hand not a Jedi's, but no Nameless were present. When Silas described the blight, Rell declared that something was coming for "them." Silas asked whether Rell referred to the Nihil or the Nameless, but the former Jedi shook his head and uttered a name, merely laughing when the Knight demanded to know.^[1]

Behind the scenes[]

The blight was first alluded to in the 2023 novel The High Republic: Path of Vengeance, written by Cavan Scott^[5] as part of the Star Wars: The High Republic multimedia initiative's Phase II.^[8] It later appeared in the novel The High Republic: Defy the Storm, written by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland^[1] and published on March 5, 2024 as part of the initiative's Phase III.^[8] The blight was first visually depicted in the short story "Tales from the Occlusion Zone: Pathogen," written by Lydia Kang, illustrated by Jake Lunt Davies, and published in Star Wars Insider 225^[9] on April 30 of that year.^[10]

Appearances[]

• The High Republic: Path of Vengeance (First mentioned, simultaneous with audiobook)
• The High Republic: Path of Vengeance audiobook (Mentioned only)
• "Tales from the Occlusion Zone: Pathogen" — Star Wars Insider 225 (First pictured)
• "Tales from the Occlusion Zone: Family Ties" — Star Wars Insider 226
• The High Republic: Defy the Storm (First appearance, simultaneous with audiobook)
• The High Republic: Defy the Storm audiobook
• The High Republic: Temptation of the Force
• The High Republic: Temptation of the Force audiobook
• The High Republic: The Edge of Balance, Vol. 3 (Mentioned only; in the opening crawl)
• The High Republic: Into the Light
• The High Republic: A Valiant Vow

Sources[]

• This Week! in Star Wars New High Republic Crawl | This Week! in Star Wars Dispatch on the official Star Wars YouTube channel (backup link)

Notes and references[]