Bethlamore: History

Pre-History

Bethlamore's history of habitation dates back to roughly 32,000 BBY, when the Infinite Empire of the Rakata stumbled across the barren, lifeless planet and began to terraform it. Once habitable, the Rakata colonized Bethlamore and began growing great jungles and building monuments to their power, including a strange, experimental stargate in the Ayrid Hai River Valley sometime near 30,000 BBY. They abandoned the world circa 25,200 BBY, the era in which the Infinite Empire collapsed due to plague and civil war. The plague and the war left Bethlamore heavily scarred, destroying the majority of the Rakatan constructions and much of the world's jungles.

For the next twenty millenia, life on the world continued to struggle onwards, untouched by sentient beings. Around 5,500 BBY, some Sith came to Bethlamore through the Rakatan gate which linked Bethlamore to the Sith world of Carrackoon. The Sith built a shrine around the gate, and attempted to colonize the harsh, ruined world. But they failed, their colonies barely lasting 150 years. Once again the world of Bethlamore was left uninhabited by anything more than the struggling flora and fauna left by the Rakata.

Rediscovery

In 3,914 BBY, approximately 1,500 years after the Sith colonies failed, an Ithorian herdship lost in Hyperspace was pulled back into Realspace in the Baphomet system. Impressed by the two terrestrial planets in the system, Bethlamore and Eden, they traced their way back to Ithor to tell their people about this wonderful world. After some short debate, the Ithorians decided to keep the existence of the system a secret. They returned to Bethlamore and Eden to begin terraforming and colonizing the two worlds. Attempting to make the world more livable, the Ithorians introduced various species of flora and fauna from across the galaxy, including Ithor, to the jungles of Bethlamore. They also created some specially engineered species, designed to stabilize the fragile ecosystem. The jungles grew and florished with the Ithorians' gentle touch.

Roughly 100 years later, non-Ithorian fringers and explorers discovered the Baphomet system, and they returned to charted space to tell of the wonders of Eden and the now-florishing jungles of Bethlamore. Colonists began to trickle into the system, much to the Ithorians abhorrence, and they settled at the northern end of the Ayrid Hai River Valley, at the foot of Mount Ayrid. The community that forms at the foot of Mount Ayrid would later become Sytas, the site of which is now the Ayrid Hai Spaceport.

After observing and tending to the jungles of Bethlamore for over 400 years, the Ithorians embedded a specially constructed herdship, the Mother Jungle, into the crust of Bethlamore in the Ayrid Hai River Valley. The herdship was seeded with native flora and fauna from Ithor, as well as more genetically engineering flora and fauna they had designed to complement Bethlamore's evolving ecosystem. They hoped that the genetically engineering species they introduced would allow the native Ithorian species to integrate into the ecosystem better. For the most part, they were right, though Bafforr trees mostly failed, except in the Great Jungle region in the lower Ayrid Hai valley. The Ithorians continued to tend to the jungles, and helped the new species grow and evolve. The ecosystem balanced, and for the first time since the Rakata, the entire surface of Bethlamore was florishing with life.

For the next two millenia, life was good on Bethlamore. The colonies grew and the population increased in size, until somewhere around 2,000 BBY the city of Sytas emerged as a florishing metropolis. However, a darkside cult leader by the name of Driasdan came into the public eye around the same time. He gathered up groups of Force sensitives into his cult and disappeared with them into the jungle. This cult, the Sircledemor (Circle of Death in Olys Corellisi), fell out of the public eye for nearly 600 years, until they re-emerged during Sith rule.

Sith Rule

Three Sith, pursued by Jedi forces, fled from the fringes of Sith Imperial space. They lost the Jedi pursuit by making a blind jump, but their jump yanked them out of Hyperspace in Bethlamore's gravity wells. The small fleet of the Sith, which was made up of their warships 'and their slave transports, crashed into the surface of Bethlamore, in the Ayrid Hai valley. The survivors, including the three Sith themselves, abandoned their craft, salvaging them so that they could begin settling on the planet. Each Sith founded a kingdom and declared his or her self Dark Lord/Lady.

Because of this, the three Sith descended into in-fighting and began warring against each other. The kingdom of Sith Lord Adher Zion, the largest of the three kingdoms, captured and ravaged the city of Sytas in 1,483 BBY. Soon after, the smaller two kingdoms united together to attempt the utter destruction of Adhe Zion's kingdom, threatened by his power and newly expanded empire. They failed in their offensive, though soon afterwards Adhe Zion's empire split in half when Zion's two oldest sons both attempted to seize power after murdering their father. The wars eventually embroiled most of the southern continent, resulting in the Sith taking the Ithorians and the colonists as slaves.

Nearly 100 years after the three Sith crashed on Bethlamore, the Sircledemor emerged from the deep jungles and declared war on the Sith kingdoms. The four kingdoms fought one another as well as the Sircledemor during this period, though the primitive cult took most of the damage and losses in this conflict. The wars between the Sith and the Sircledemor raged for almost 100 years, by the end of which the Sircledemor were mostly enslaved by the Sith and the cult was thought to have ceased existing.

The wars continued, lasting over four centuries after the Sith's arrival. Finally, a single warlord, Herite Zion-Callas, was born to the rulers of the two scions of Adhe Zion's kingdom. He united his family's kingdoms and went on a war spree, dominating the remaining two kingdoms and uniting the Sith on Bethlamore under one flag. With an iron fist, his dark rule lasted for a quarter century, until the Army of Light came...

Army of Light

Herite made it a priority after taking power to assemble the remnants of the crashed starships on Bethlamore to have them studied and reverse engineered. Along with parts and knowledge taken from the ruins of Sytas, he constructed a small fleet of warships. Satisfied, he sent out a scout to make contact with the outside galaxy again. The scout soon reached Sith space, exiting Hyperspace in a warzone. The scout had jumped into the midst of a battle between the Brotherhood of Darkness and the Army of Light. The Brotherhood of Darkness told the scout to summon his master, and he did. Herite returned a day later with his ragtag fleet to find the battle over, the Brotherhood momentarily victorious. The leader of the Brotherhood, Lord Kaan, drafted the Bethlamorian Sith into his order by force, and commandeered Herite's fleet. Herite, disgraced, returned to Bethlamore.

However a Jedi strike force led by Lord Hoth, sensing weakness in a Sith member world, attacked Bethlamore. The advanced ships of the Army of Light easily tore through the ragtag defense fleet which had secured Bethlamore, making their way towards the surface. Lord Herite and his relatively primitive defenders fought to the last, arming themselves with alchemically-enhanced blades and what few lightsabers they had. They were soundly defeated by the more advanced forces of Lord Hoth and his Army of Light. Herite fought to the last, eventually defeated in one-on-one combat with Hoth.

The remaining Sith, mostly minor dark side priests and warriors, fled into the jungles where the Sircledemor had once hid, laying in wait. The Army of Light secured Herite's capital, which was based around the Great Temple of Adhe Zion, and freed his surviving slaves. The Jedi forces went through the jungle and razed most of the Sith temples and shrines, though there were some which they refused to touch, such as Herite's Temple of the Shadow Vines. Satisfied that Bethlamore was secure, they began converting the Temple of Adhe Zion into a Jedi stronghold.

The freed slaves went on to start constructing the cities of Adiemus and Ayrid Hai, with help from the Jedi and the recovering Galactic Republic. They become a Republic colony, and began the process of rebuilding after the long period of Sith rule. The Jedi which the Army of Light left behind decide at this time to form an Academy of the Force in the temple they have taken as their base.

Membership in the Republic

By 1,000 BBY the cities of Ayrid Hai and Adiemus were well established. Adiemus became the colonial capital, while Ayrid Hai set itself up as a spaceport and started to attract new colonists to Bethlamore. The two cities grew and flourished over the next few centuries, attracting more and more people to the Ithorian garden world. Meanwhile, the Jedi and the Ithorians tried to get a handle on the runaway evolution of Bethlamore. They attempted to remove and reverse the taint of the Sith on the environment, though they were not entirely successful. These first few centuries were a golden age for Bethlamore, with the Jedi and Ithorians discovering new medicinal and therapeutic uses for the world's unique flora and fauna.

952 BBY marked a milestone, as the Ithorian-dominated government of the Republican Colony of Bethlamore was dissolved, a constitution was written and approved, and open elections for the new government, the Federation of Bethlamorian States, were held. The new government was still Ithorian-dominated, but less so than its colonial predecessor. The first achievements of the new government included designating large portions of Bethlamore's unscathed jungle as federal reserves and creating a strong safety net for its peoples, with health care for all, unemployment benefits for those out of work, pensions for the elderly, et cetera.

Over 500 years after the liberation of Bethlamore from Sith rule, the Jedi Order removed most of its presence from Bethlamore and shut down their training academy in the Temple of Adhe Zion. Opting to make the temple a simple Jedi Chapterhouse, they left a single Jedi to be the steward of the temple, Master of the chapterhouse, and Watchman of the Baphomet system. This Jedi Master took on an apprentice, to whom he passed stewardship of the temple and Bethlamore. This Jedi tradition continued for nearly 300 years before the Order removed the last steward from Bethlamore, closing the chapterhouse and leaving the temple abandoned.

Also around the same time, the Ithorian population was finally outnumbered by the non-Ithorian population. While Ithorians still remained the largest percentage of the population for another 400 years, humans eventually surpassed them to become the largest portion of the population by a small margin. The consequences of this took several years to become evident, but eventually the Ithorian stranglehold on the government was broken. After this era, the government of Bethlamore took a swing to conservative politics, rolling back many of the safety net programs established with the Federation.

By the last century prior to the Clone Wars, the Federation of Bethlamorian States had taken a turn towards moderate politics: some years the liberals ruled, some years the conservative parties ruled, but most of the time the government was formed by coalitions between the moderates and either the liberal or conservative parties, depending on the political climate at the time. Some of the old safety net programs were restored, but not many. Bethlamore's golden age ended around this time, and unrest was flowing through the veins of the population. The Sytas Uprising which took place in the Ayrid Hai Spaceport 50 years before the Clone Wars resulted in the deaths of 30 sentients, mostly illegal immigrants, who were protesting Bethlamore's strict immigration laws. Because of this and several other incidents, the Federation eventually relaxed their immigration laws. By the Clone Wars, they had one of the largest refugee-to-citizen ratio in the Republic, and had one of the easiest naturalization programs in their sector.

Clone Wars

See main article

Before the War

Just prior to the start of the Clone Wars, Bethlamore's conservative parties had solidly seized control with a special election in 24 BBY, followed by accusations (mostly true) of rigged elections. Though not the first time either side had come into power through shady methods, this event came at a particularly partisan time and Bethlamore became polarized, teetering on the brink of civil war. The two coalitions traded barbs at each other and deadlocked legislation with filibusters while they began arming private militias in secret. The situation was highly tense by 22 BBY, with the conservative government in talks with the Confederacy of Independent Systems to leave the Republic and join the Separatists, who saw the planet as having strategic value due to its bacta and kolcta production capabilities. If the relations between the two parties were bad before the start of the wars, the weeks after the Battle of Geonosis made the tensions even worse.

The situation reached crisis level in 21 BBY, when the government closed its borders to refugees, and forced out any pro-Republic refugees who had fled Separatist worlds after they withdrew from the Republic. The liberals, infuriated by this move, mobilized their militias in an attempt to force the Prime Minister out of office. Using this as an excuse to crack down on civil liberties and withdraw from the Republic, the conservatives claimed that the liberal coalition had attempted to assassinate the Prime Minister and Governor-General. They declared martial law and seceded from the Republic. Joining up with Count Dooku's fledging Confederacy, they worked on tracking down and imprisoning the leaders of the opposition. The liberal coalition mostly got their leaders out of harms way and fled to to nearby Republic-held world of Corona with the majority of the Bethlamorian Rangers and portions of the Planetary Security Agency.

On Corona, the Republic, hurting from the sudden loss of a key bacta and kolcta supplier, offered their assistance to the Bethlamorian exiles. They set up a conference, during which the Corona Accords were signed, creating a pro-Republic government-in-exile, Sovereign Confederation of Bethlamore. The Republic armed the exiles and supplements their forces with foreign fighters. The Confederation forces busy themselves with the preparations for assaulting their homeworld.

Meanwhile, the Confederacy moved a droid army, commanded by rogue Jedi Master Carius Dali and rogue Jedi Padawan Jace Starkiller, onto Bethlamore. The two Separatist commanders began a campaign to take the other worlds of the Greeop Sector due to their close proximity to the Rimma Trade Route. For a month the Separatist offensive in the Greeop Sector went mostly unchecked, until a Republic counteroffensive slowly forced the Separatists back to Bethlamore. The Bethlamorian Civil War officially began on 14:8:4 when the Grand Army of the Republic, led by Jedi Knight Lucius Aurelius and Jedi Padawan Garrett Starkiller, landed near the capital, Adiemus, with forces from the government-in-exile, the Bethlamorian Confederation.

Beginning of the Bethlamorian Civil War

Once planet-side they joined up with local liberal and pro-Republic militias, and began recruiting for allies in Ayrid Hai's underworld. The main militia, the People's Liberation Army, became the Bethlamorian Confederation's main army. The PLA, along with the GAR, fired the first shots of the war when they moved on Adiemus the same day as their drop. The battle for Adiemus lasted three days, and ended with the Clone troops and the pro-Republic forces taking the city. The resolution of the battle was immediately followed by a Separatist counter-attack, one which was easily resolved within 24 hours. Adiemus had overthrown its Confederate masters and was securely in Republican control, with the Federation withdrawing to Ayrid Hai, their new capital. The largely pro-Republic residents of Adiemus celebrated their liberation by the Republic with celebrations and calls to arms. The Civil War had begun (or as the Nationalists call it, the War of Leftist Aggression).

The next attack was a two-prong attack from the outer edges of the system to attempt to control the space around Bethlamore. The Republic and the Separatists battled for control of the Baphomet system for 28 hours, after which the Separatist fleet withdrew to lick its wounds. The Grand Army of the Republic launched a second planet-side attack, this time on the Takoi Province. Fighting there was particularly fierce, lasting a month before the province was temporarily secured under Republic control. Elsewhere on Bethlamore, there was a two week lull in combat planetside, during which the Separatist fleet attempted multiple times to pry control of the Baphomet system from the Republic.

In Ayrid Hai, the Republic-loyal Luto Crime Family was wrestling for control of the spaceports busy underworld. Alongside a rebel cell suppied and funded by the People's Liberation Army, the Luto family was doing an excellent job in seizing more territory for their operations and destabilizing the pro-Confederate government's new capital. Soon they made their first major move, essentially taking control of Idlewood and the Port Town's so-called "Black Sector". Signaling to their Republic masters to move on the spaceport, the Luto Crime Family waited for the anarchy of combat so they could dominate illegal activity in the spaceport...

Operation Deep Jungle

Those two weeks of on and off space combat were hell for the Republic's naval forces, but by the end of it all, they had resecured their control over the Baphomet system. Taking another week to regroup, they attempted to fend off minor Separatist offensives aimed at their holdings of Adiemus, whjich held, and the Takoi Province, which fell. Deciding the time was right, Jedi General Lucius Aurelius revealed his plan for taking the strategic, both in military-function and for morale purposes, Ayrid Hai Spaceport. He called this plan Operation Deep Jungle, and it involved an invasion corridor that ran up the Ayrid Hai River Valley, through the Ty'Rae Province, along the western bank of the Ayrid Hai River to the crossing near the Temple of Adhe Zion. According to the plan, they would take the temple and move north along the South Road to Ayrid Hai, where they would capture the city.

At the end of their week of regrouping they began making their way north, meeting resistance at Adiemus' northern borders. Though they easily broke through Separatist lines, they had to fight their way north, using air strikes to clear the path ahead of the heaviest resistance. Within a week they had crossed through the Gap of Moda, after which they easily passed through the Alyssian Fields, meeting only minor resistance until they entered the Great Jungle. Once inside the Great Jungle they were brutally attacked by droid forces, forcing them back into the Alyssian Fields. For two days they battled, until finally they broke through Separatist lines and made their way into the Great Jungle.

They moved north for a whole day with no resistance, until that night the Republic forces and the Bethlamorian rebels hit Galard Hill, another Separatist/Bethlamorian government stronghold, and a defensively sound entrenchment. The coalition forces engaged them in battle for a full three days. Once victorious, the Republic-aligned forces paused for a day to rest, taking the chance to resupply their troops via air drops. That night, before they could fully secure the hill, they were attacked by the droid armies, forcing them back several miles. The Seperatists refortified the position, but the GAR and their allies attacked again, and broke through within the day. After this, they divided their troops: some would fortify the hill to serve as a rearguard, while the rest would advance north to the Temple of Adhe Zion. The assault force continued onwards, moving along the banks of the Ayrid Hai, meeting little resistance they couldn't handle for the 3 day trip up the river.

Tokai Province

Meanwhile, the coalition forces in Tokai Province were faring worse than their counterparts. Having lost control of the city 3 days before the launch of Operation Deep Jungle, they found themselves forced back to their outlaying bases at the edge of the province. They immediately launched a counter offensive, working to undermine Confederate control of the province by launching a guerrilla disturbance campaign. Some of the activities they undertook in the name of liberating the province bored on terrorist war crimes, though such acts were never prosecuted by the Galactic Republic or the Empire which followed.

Almost two weeks after the fall of the city, the Republican forces were once again at Tokai'edo's outer boundaries, launching the Third Battle of Tokai'edo. The dizzyingly bloody battle lasted four days, the Republic victory coinciding with Operation Deep Jungle's first victory at Galard Hill. The Republic, as with its previous occupation, had trouble with local resistors, but less this time than the previous. The Republic quickly forced the Seperatists to the very fringes of the province, capturing the remaining suburbs within a day of their victory in the city.

Short-lived Victory

Operation Deep Jungle's assault force reached the Temple of Adhe Zion a day after setting out from Galard Hill and they engaged the enemy. This bloody and destructive battle raged for a full five days before a Republic victory, though the ancient temple itself only sustained minor damage. At the end, as the last droid fell, the Republic realizes that with their forces stretched thin between the Temple and Galard Hill, they would be over-stretching themselves to attempt to take Ayrid Hai without reinforcements. Reluctantly, they call for assistance.

But the victory was short-lived: Operation Deep Jungle's request for reinforcements was thwarted when the strategic Tokai Province fell to the Separatists the next day. The news was a blow, but not as much as the Separatist offensive launched against them later that day. In a sixth of the time it took them to capture the Temple, it was taken from them by a droid legion from Ayrid Hai. The GAR and the PLA withdrew to Galard Hill, hoping to ride out the storm and make another attempt on the Temple.

That hope was thwarted, however, when two days after their victory, the Separatists unleashed a large fleet on the Baphomet system. In a mere 12 hours, the Republic forces retreat in defeat, pulling offworld and out of the system to minimize losses and regroup. The Bethlamorian rebels were left to stand alone against the newly energized Federation of Bethlamorian States and their Confederate masters. They did not despair, however, and fell back into hiding for the most part, centralizing all of their obvious military might in Adiemus and on Galard Hill. Despite their victory, the next week was marred for the Separatists by uprisings around the globe of war weary citizens, previously loyal to the Federation of Bethlamorian States. The rebels decided to utilize this to their advantage...

Recovery

Ten days after the Separatist reoccupation, the People's Liberation Army launched a surprise assault on the Tokai Province, taking advantage of the unrest there to do what the Republic could not: gain popular support for an attempted occupation of the province. A week into their offensive on Tokai'edo, the Grand Army of the Republic arrived in-system with a massive strike force, and they quickly took control of the Baphomet system. Ground and air forces rained down on both Bethlamore and Eden, reinforcing pro-Republic rebels on both worlds. Legions of troops from the GAR dropped on Tokai'edo to assist with the assault, while others reinforced the strongholds of Adiemus and Galard Hill. Within the next two days, Tokai Province fell to coalition forces, with massive rioting and looting thwarted by forces from the People's Liberation Army. Within the addition of Tokai's pro-Republic forces, the coalition war machine roared back to life.

From Galard Hill, a large assault force moved northward to the Temple of Adhe Zion, this time personally led by Jedi General Lucius Aurelius and his Padawan, Garrett Starkiller. Three days after the fall of the Tokai Province, coalition forces engage the Separatists at the temple. During the battle, the two rogue Jedi, Master Dali and Padawan Jace Starkiller, personally lead the forces of the Confederacy. Brother faces off against brother as the two Padawans battle amidst the destruction of the engagement. Twenty-four hours later, as the dust settles, the Republic finds itself victorious, with the two rogue Jedi on the run. The Republicans now have a forward base for their assault on Ayrid Hai. Satisfied, they take the next day to rest and regroup.

The End?

Two days after their victory, on 14:10:12, the Republican coalition reach Ayrid Hai and the Battle of Ayrid Hai begins. The first day of the battle went badly for the coalition, with heavy losses on the city's outskirts. However, the Luto Crime Family saved the day by sabotaging the droids in the city, shutting them down and leaving the organic forces of the planetary government to defend the city. The battle raged onwards for another six days, with heavy losses on both sides, before victory was declared by the Republic on 14:10:19.

Demoralized by their loss, the Federation of Bethlamorian States began to dissolve at the seams, with previously loyal soldiers deserting their posts in the face of the advancing coalition forces. The Separatists abandon the world to its fate as Carius Dali orders his forces to retreat, against the wishes of his superiors. Total victory was declared two days later, following the Republic securing the remaining provinces and installing the Sovereign Confederation of Bethlamore as the planetary government. A military draw down begins as the Republic focuses its attention on other worlds. They leave peacekeepers and a small contingent of troops to assist in securing Bethlamore. The civil war continued despite this, with the remaining forces of the old planetary government going underground and waging a guerrilla war on the Confederation.

Guerrilla Warfare

Three weeks after their victory, the Republic withdrew all of its troops but the peacekeepers who were battling the Separatist rebels alongside the new government's Planetary Defense Force. Meanwhile, the dominant force in the transitional government, the People's Liberation Army, peacefully dissolved into two liberal socialist political parties, the Socialist Alliance of Bethlamore and the Liberal Democratic Party. Both parties continued to field militias however. The civil war seemed to be dying down.

Two months after their loss, the surviving forces of the old Federation of Bethlamorian States, the Bethlamorian Free Nationalist Party, and the Conservative Nationalist Party of Bethlamore reorganized themselves into a single political party, the United Bethlamorian Nationalist Party in an attempt at political survival in a now hostile environment. With one hand, they offered the legitimacy of their participation in the new government, while with the other hand they still fought a guerrilla war to overthrow the Confederation. The liberal alliance rejected their overtures, though the few moderates protest such a decision.

The War Returns

On 15:6:7, a large Separatist force commanded by General Dali once again invaded and occupied the Baphomet system. They overthrew the Bethlamorian Confederation, driving its leadership into exile again. They made Ayrid Hai their capital and created a puppet government called the United Nationalist Federation of Bethlamore out of the United Bethlamorian Nationalist Party. Though they attacked the Confederation's forces viciously, the pro-Republic forces remained in control of most of Bethlamore's major urban centers. With little other choice, the Confederation's leadership attempted to appeal to the Galactic Republic to come to their aid, but unfortunately the galactic government was occupied elsewhere in the galaxy.

Three months of heavy fighting ensued, at the end of which the Separatists control all of the planet except for Adiemus and Tokai'edo. The forces of the Federation were also rebuilt to their pre-war strength, mostly via droids and foreign fighters. Their control of the planet was shaky, but they ruled with an iron fist.

Liberation

The Galactic Republic finally responded to Bethlamore's calls for aid, sending a large force to free the world on 16:2:4. The fighting was fierce and bloody, raging for 12 days between the Republican forces and the Separatist forces. At the end of the destructive conflict, however, the forces of the Grand Army of the Republic and the Bethlamorian Confederation triumphed over the Separatists in the Second Battle of Ayrid Hai. The United Nationalist Federation of Bethlamore surrendered and the Sovereign Confederation is reinstated as the planetary government. Though the civil war was officially ended, some stubborn pro-Separatist rebels continued to hold out in the jungles until the Declaration of a New Order created the Galactic Empire, though some continued on for years until joined by anti-Imperial rebel forces.

Timeline of Bethlamore

• c. 32,000 BBY:
  • The Rakata stumble across Bethlamore, a lifeless world with large, oxygen-rich seas. They jumpstart the processes of life, and begin terraforming Bethlamore into a florishing jungle world.
• c. 30,000 BBY:
  • Theories commonly hold that during this time period the Infinite Empire of the Rakata built an experimental gate connecting Carrackoon, a world on the opposite side of the galaxy, with Bethlamore.
• c. 25,200 BBY:
  • Bethlamore is abandoned during the plague and civil war which rips through the Infinite Empire, but not before the Rakata, as well as the flora and fauna of Bethlamore, are infected. The planet and it's jungles survive, but barely. Life struggles onward, untampered, for the next twenty millenia.
• c. 5,500 BBY:
  • It is theorized that, around this time, the ancient Sith species stumbles across Bethlamore by accident, using a gate built by an ancient race which links the Sith world of Carrackoon with Bethlamore. The two worlds are on opposite sides of the galaxy. They build a shrine around the gate, which would later become the location of a Sith temple.
  • The Sith colonize Bethlamore, tending to the jungles for a time before the harsh life on Bethlamore wipes out the Sith colony.
• 3,914 BBY:
  • The Ithorians stumble across Bethlamore and begin to seed the jungle and tend to it. Under the Ithorians the struggling jungle florishes as they introduce or genetically engineer new species of flora and fauna.
• c. 3,800 BBY:
  • The first non-Ithorians since the Sith stumble across Bethlamore and begin to settle at the northern end of the valley in a community that would prove to be the precursor to the Ayrid Hai Spaceport.
• 3,478 BBY:
  • The Ithorians, after observing the planet of Bethlamore for over 400 years, embed a specially constructed herdship into the Ayrid Hai Valley. They use this herd ship to introduce some native flora and fauna from Ithor, as well as some genetically engineered flora and fauna they had created for Bethlamore.
• c. 2,000 BBY:
  • On Bethlamore a flourishing city, known by the Ithorians as Sytas, exists in what is now modern-day Ayrid Hai Spaceport.
  • Meanwhile, a dark sider gathers together a group of Humans and Zabraks and disappears into the jungle with them.
• c. 1,500 BBY:
  • Three Sith, hunted by Jedi, flee to Bethlamore with their slaves. Their transports crash into the surface, but they adapt and begin carving out an empire there. Essentially cut off of the rest of the galaxy by it's obscurity, these Sith lords fall into infighting. Each lord founds their own kingdom and declares war on his rivals.
• 1,483 BBY:
  • Sytas, the city at the foot of Mountain Ayrid, is conquered by the Sith of Bethlamore. The city is demolished and its people are killed or enslaved by the Sith.
• c. 1,480 BBY:
  • The Ithorians of Bethlamore are enslaved and their terraforming program becomes defunct. For the next 500 years, life on Bethlamore grows and evolves unchecked...
• c. 1,025 BBY:
  • The Sith warlord, Herite, conquers the entirely of the Ayrid Hai River Valley, and unites all of Bethlamore's Sith under one banner. He orders construction of the Black Temple of Herite (A.K.A. the Temple of the Shadow Vines), on the location of an even more ancient dark side shrine.
    
• 1,005 BBY:
  • The planet Bethlamore is captured from the forces of the local Sith lords by the Jedi Order's Army of Light. They raze the jungles and most of the Sith temples, making their residence in the Great Temple of Adhe Zion. The Jedi begin to set up an academy of the Force in the Great Temple of Adhe Zion.
• 1,004 BBY:
  • The cities of Ayrid Hai and Adiemus are founded by the freed slaves of the Sith. The large majority of the slaves go to Adiemus, but the ones that found Ayrid Hai on the site of Sytas go on to build Bethlamore's first spaceport.
• c. 1,000 BBY:
  • The Ithorians and the Jedi begin working together to cleanse Bethlamore's environment of the taint caused by the Sith. The terraforming process is not resumed, but the Ithorians and the Jedi attempt to 'weed' the garden that is Bethlamore.
  • A golden age begins on Bethlamore, with Ithorian scientists and Jedi healers making great discoveries about the medicinal properties of Bethlamore's flora and fauna.
• 952 BBY:
  • The Republic colony of Bethlamore replaces its Ithorian-dominated colonial government with a democratically elected (though still Ithorian-dominated) government, the Federation of Bethlamorian States. The first Governor-General is Ithorian scientist Tyri Endire, and the first Prime Minister is Roron Talorn, an Ithorian nature priest who later died in a fire.
• 813 BBY:
  • The city of Takoi'edo is founded on the shores of the Sea of Takoi by human settlers. It would grow to become one of the largest metropolitan areas on Bethlamore, though not the largest single city.
• 491 BBY:
  • The Jedi Order removes all of it's Jedi, save one, from the Bethlamore Temple. That one Jedi takes an apprentice and passes stewardship of temple to her when he dies. This tradition continues and the Temple of Adhe Zion remains a Jedi possession for another 200 years.
• 412 BBY:
  • The first non-Ithorian Prime Minister of Bethlamore is elected; Ghon Miclan, a Zabrak female, is the winning candidate.
• c. 290 BBY:
  • The Jedi Order withdraws the last Jedi from Bethlamore, leaving the temple abandoned.
• 24 BBY:
  • Bethlamore's conservative parties seize control of the planetary government in a rigged special election. The planet becomes polarized between the conservative and the liberal coalitions, and passing legislation becomes nigh impossible.
• 23 BBY:
  • Both sides, frustrated with the polarized political process, begin arming secret militias. The conservative government of the Federation enters talks with the Seperatist factions for protection and assistance, while the liberal coalition strengthens their ties with the Republic.
  • The pro-Republic People's Liberation Army (PLA) is formed. They would grow to become the main pro-Republic rebel cell during the Clone Wars.
• 22 BBY:
  • The conservative government begin talks with the Confederacy about full secession from the Republic. Tensions between the two factions worsen following the Battle of Geonosis.
• 21 BBY:
  • The government closes borders to any further refugees and forces pro-Republic refugees off-world. The pro-Republic rebels attempt to assassinate the Prime Minister, but fail. Afterwards, the government secedes from the Republic and cracks down on civil liberties; they join the Confederacy soon after and begin hunting down opposition leaders.
  • Members of the liberal coalition flee Bethlamore, alongside the Bethlamorian Rangers and members of the Planetary Security Agency, seeking refugee on Corona, where the Republic helps organize them into a government-in-exile, the Bethlamorian Confederation, and begins arming them.
  • The Confederacy moves a droid army and fleet into the Baphomet system, led by a rogue Jedi Master, General Carius Dali and his Padawan, Lieutenant Jace Starkiller. Bethlamore is secured under Seperatist political and military control, and Eden is invaded and occupied. General Dali uses Bethlamore as his home base as he stages raids all across the Greeop Sector, hoping to weaken Republic forces there and capture worlds for the Confederacy. He is wildly successful.
  • A month after it begins, the Republic counters the Seperatist offensive by sneaking a small army onto Bethlamore, along with the government-in-exile, to attempt and retake the planet. They join up with the People's Liberation Army and attack the Bethlamorian capital of Adiemus, thus starting the Bethlamorian Civil War. Adiemus falls, and next a Republic fleet moves in to take the Baphomet system. On Bethlamore's surface, the war rages...
  • After nearly a month and a half of slowly winning the war on Bethlamore, the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), the Bethlamorian Confederation, and the other rebels suffer a set-back as Seperatist reinforcements arrive and recapture the system. The GAR is driven off-world and the Seperatists recapture much lost territory.
  • Half a month later, the Republic assaults Bethlamore again. They capture the Baphomet system and begin making major gains on the surface, alongside the rebels. Within 17 days the planet of Bethlamore is free of Seperatist presence, and the surviving members of the Federation of Bethlamorian States go into hiding. The Bethlamorian Confederation takes over and the Republic reduces troop levels on planet, though the civil war still goes on.
• 20 BBY:
  • The remnants of the Federation of Bethlamorian States and the conservative militias merge into the United Bethlamorian Nationalist Party. The People's Liberation Army divides into two legitimate liberal parties, both with an armed faction attached. The civil war seems to be dying down.
  • The Seperatists, led again by General Dali, reinvade and recapture the planet, driving the Bethlamorian Confederation into exile once more. They Confederates brutally hunt the rebels this time, trying to prevent pro-Republic forces from assisting the Republic, should they attempt to recapture the world.
• 19 BBY:
  • The Galactic Republic reinvades and, after a short campaign, recaptures the world. The Seperatist puppet government surrenders and the civil war officially ends, though conservative diehards continue fighting well into Imperial rule.
  • The Bethlamorian Confederation, though wary of the anti-Jedi position of the new Galactic Empire, welcomed them to their world. They soon regretted it, as they shredded the civil liberties of the average Bethlamorian once more and enslaved portions of the planets alien population. Armed resistance started spreading slowly across the planet, with former enemies joining forces in the face of the Empire.
• 18 BBY:
  • The People's Liberation Army reforms from its descendant political parties, with members of the planetary government becoming members in secret. They join up with the predecessor organization to the Alliance to Restore the Republic, known as The Resistance. They declare a hidden war against the Empire, fighting from the jungles of the planet.
• 11 BBY:
  • The Takoi Massacres take place, with Imperial forces killing nearly 3,000 Bethlamorian citizens during an anti-Imperial rally at the University of Cartus. Riots rip across Bethlamore, and before it's all over, 1,000 more are dead and 10,000 wounded.
• 4 BBY:
  • PLA "terrorists" destroy an Imperial supply base on Bethlamore. There is much secret rejoicing.
• 0 ABY:
  • Emboldened by the success of the Rebel Alliance at Yavin, open war once again starts on Bethlamore as the Bethlamorian Confederation allies with the People's Liberation Army and a Greeop Sector rebel cell known as the Rebel Squadrons.
• 3 ABY:
  • The peoples of Bethlamore throw off the yoke of their Imperial masters, winning their war to free the planet. The Empire blockades the planet.
  • The Rebel Alliance comes to the aid of the Bethlamorian Confederation, helping them drive the Empire out of the system. Bethlamore officially joins the Rebel Alliance, and they begin rebuilding their world.
• 6 ABY:
  • Bethlamore becomes part of a New Republic special administrative division known as the Republic Shield, known locally as the Rebel Squadrons due to the origin of much of the Republic Shield's armed forces. Bethlamore continues to be considered a regular member of the New Republic, but it comes under direct protection of the Rebel Squadrons' military.
  • A Jedi student is attracted to the Baphomet System in the Greeop Sector. He arrives on Bethlamore and founds the Assembly of the Force in the Great Temple of Adhe Zion soon after. He begins attracting other Force users to him and learning from them while teaching them what he knows.
  • An Imperial faction known as the Emperor's Hammer re-invades the Baphomet system: they capture Eden and blockade Bethlamore. The EH wishes to use the system as a stepping stone into the Greeop system, where RS headquarters are located, using a Hyperspace backdoor into the central system of the RS.
  • The RS forms the Allegiance Task Force to counter the Imperial threat.
• 7 ABY:
  • The Allegiance Task Force attacks the Baphomet system: a starfighter squadron known as Lancer Squadron liberates Eden, while the main task force defeats the EH task force and recaptures the system. The blockade of Bethlamore ends.
• 9 ABY:
  • The Bethlamorian Confederation comes to look to the Assembly of the Force to help them maintain order on Bethlamore, a task which the Assembly reluctantly agrees to do, at first.