HolocronTales

Posting on AO3 | Darth Nox trilogy

[holocrontales]

Hi, I’m HolocronTales. I write a Darth Nox / SWTOR AU on AO3.

Current fic: Darth Nox: Volume One - Rise to Power Main pairing: Nox/Ashara, for now

Read on AO3: [AO3 link]

Rise to Power is the first volume of a completed trilogy. I’m planning to post the whole thing on AO3 over the coming months, with three chapters a week, usually on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Volume One follows the Sith Inquisitor story fairly closely. It begins before the game, with Nox’s childhood, family, slavery, and the arena that shaped him, then moves through Korriban and the class story from inside his head. It expands what the game leaves unsaid, adds original material around his life and Sith culture, and reaches the same endpoint as the game.

Volumes Two and Three are different. They remain in the world of Star Wars: The Old Republic, but they are original continuations rather than adaptations of game storylines. They follow Darth Nox through his time as a Dark Lord and, eventually, Emperor.

AO3 is still the main home for the fic, but I’ll post chapter updates, excerpts, occasional lore/meta, and spoiler-safe answers here.

This is a long-form character study of a villain: dark, violent, emotional, and often a lot funnier than the histories would like to admit.

Minors DNI. I won't post explicit imagery here, but I discuss heavy themes openly.

[kemendin]

Some Taris shots, love this planet.

[holocrontales]

If you forget the rakghouls. But the shots are great.

[holocrontales]

New chapter is live: Chapter 60 - Taris

Jedi and a very scared pirate lie ahead.

“Wait, Sith. Don’t leave me alone.”

-Andronikos Revel

Read it on AO3: [AO3 link]

[zetsubouzed]

✨curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal✨

STAR WARS: SKELETON CREW pencil studies. I just think they're neat.

[holocrontales]

First of all, amazing drawings!

Second, those could be the guys on the other side. Well. Not them exactly, but close.

[holocrontales]

New chapter is live: Chapter 59 - Small Deals

Nox says his goodbyes and discovers that hypertravel isn't always safe.

“I swear, they get dumber every year.”

-Andronikos Revel

Read it on AO3: [AO3 link].

[humongouskittenanchor-blog]

[holocrontales]

He's one of the ones that breathe fire.

BTW, incredibly cool dragon!

[holocrontales]

New chapter is live: Chapter 58 - Small Wishes

Nox finds his pilot. And embraces the Great Dragon persona.

“Never worked for a Sith before. You one of the ones who shoots lightning, or just the quiet kind?”

-Andronikos Revel

Read it on AO3: [AO3 link]

[holocrontales]

Sneak Peek

From the upcoming Darth Nox: Volume Two - Dream of Empire

His voice came distorted through the mask he wore always, even here. “Well met, Wrath. Late, as ever.” “Darth Marr.” She summoned an attendant with a flick of her fingers. “I’d thought you above such company.” “Yes,” he drawled. “I may not partake, but even excess has its uses.” The conversation turned quickly to the war. The treaty’s collapse had driven the arms race into full force, and skirmishes had begun spreading along the most important hyperlanes. According to the latest reports, the Empire’s supply lines were being choked. “If we can’t fuel the armada,” Marr said, “what does its size matter?” “Then we find the fuel.” “You can’t find what doesn’t exist.” “So the war is lost?” Marr shook his head once. “No. There is one hope left. But it’s too early to name.” He nodded to his side and rose. “I may call on you soon.” “I answer only to the Emperor, Marr.”

Volume One - Rise to Power is currently updating Mon/Wed/Fri.

Read Volume One now on AO3: [AO3 link]

[darkpagesworld]

[holocrontales]

Nox is having some fun at Destris's expense.

[holocrontales]

New chapter is live: Chapter 57 - Everything Bends

This opens PART SIX: HIDING

He’s well and has stuff to do.

“Let’s start again. Imagine you’ve just come in. What do you say?”

-Nox

Read it on AO3: [AO3 link]

[swtorpadawan]

Service Droids Bad-Mouthing Each other

[holocrontales]

Twovee is the superior model, no question.

[holocrontales]

New chapter is live: Chapter 56 - Black. Then White.

Things get hectic would be an understatement.

“I calculate an eighty-eight percent probability of fatality if this reckless course is maintained.”

-Twovee

Read it on AO3: [AO3 link]

[holocrontales]

From Chapter 18 - The Dashade, already up.

Being a Force conduit is... something.

It was like a massive hand closing around his body, squeezing tighter and tighter, crushing his chest, his limbs, his skull. The pressure in his mind was unbearable, as if it meant to melt him from the inside out. Thought vanished. There was only sensation, and it was agony. He was dying. He felt his knees hit the floor as if he had been dropped from a great height. He could not hold on anymore. There was nothing left to brace against. So he let go. The blackness that took him was total. For a moment, there was nothing. No pain. No body. No space. He was nowhere, suspended in nothing. Then the Force crept back into his senses, slowly, gently, like a friend, making him aware of himself again. First his fingers. Then his arms. Then all of him. And it felt good. Perfect. Weightless. Calm. At peace. But the Force kept building inside him, filling him, flooding every part of him. As if he were a glass already full and still being asked to hold more. He had eyes again. He opened them, saw the door, and thrust out his hands. White lightning burst through him and into the lock. When the last of it left him, the door opened, and he dropped hard to the floor. Pain flashed through his bones from the impact. For one dazed second, he wondered where he had fallen from. The air?  He laughed, then ran his hands over himself, checking, feeling. He was still there. Whole. And he wanted it again. He looked at the rods, then at the lock, but the power was gone. He wished it wasn’t. Wished for that blissful void to take him again. When he rose and moved toward the door, his whole body buzzed with life. He had never felt more alive, not even when the Force-shackles had come off. Whatever the cost, he would chase that feeling again.

Darth Nox: Volume One – Rise To Power, the Sith Inquisitor's origin, told from inside his head.

New chapters Mon/Wed/Fri on AO3 [AO3 link].

[mexa-industries]

You are not prepared! Pretty old art of Illidan from 2023

[holocrontales]

Thanaton really thought he was a different villain from a different game here.

[holocrontales]

New chapter is live: Chapter 55 - Bleed

Nox faces Thanaton.

“Give in! You are not prepared. Not for me.”

-Darth Thanaton

Read it on AO3: [AO3 link]

[holocrontales]

From Chapter 42 - Fight, already up.

They were trapped with him, not the other way around.

Nox’s gaze flicked around, assessing. Forty. Maybe fifty. Blasters trained on him from every direction. “We will not be intimidated again, Sith,” the Baron said. “This is a matter of honor and duty.” A sudden chill. It wrapped around him, passed through him, settled under his skin, into his bones. Tulak Hord stood before him. “What are you doing?” Nox demanded, completely caught off guard. Beyond the ashen, translucent figure, the captain spoke. “What I was ordered to do.” He gave a curt nod. “Arrest him, men.” Two guards, one on either side of Nox, hesitated before stepping forward. They moved slowly, wary. Hord raised a ghostly hand, spectral fingers closing around Nox’s heart and mind, an icy grip that nearly froze his blood. He gasped at the shock. “Use your feelings, my blood,” Hord said. “Unleash your power.” And with that, he was gone, the chill vanishing with him. The guards had reached Nox. One placed a firm hand on his shoulder. Disoriented, his body still jarred by the sudden change in temperature, the touch on his shoulder pulled his gaze there, and for an instant it was his father’s grip, dragging him toward pain, toward powerlessness. No. Never again. The memory slipped, and the present came back. The grip on his shoulder was not his father’s, but a guard’s, and he understood. They thought they had him cornered, like an animal. They were wrong. They were trapped with him, not the other way around.

Darth Nox: Volume One – Rise To Power, the Sith Inquisitor's origin, told from inside his head.

New chapters Mon/Wed/Fri on AO3 [AO3 link]

[holocrontales]

From Chapter 26 - Within Reach, already up.

He found her.

The door hissed open. An office, similar to Zash’s old one. A desk at its center. A Sith pureblood woman seated behind it. It was her. He said nothing. Just looked. She wore a long blue-black robe that clashed beautifully with her red skin, gold piercings at her nose, long earrings catching the light. She was different. More composed. More regal. But still her. Still his Frila. She barely glanced up as she began, “Who are y—” The words died. Her mouth parted slightly, eyes widening as she shot to her feet. He crossed the distance in a heartbeat, meeting her at the side of the desk as she stepped toward him. His hands came up, cupping her face, a smile breaking across his lips. She was trembling. Shock, maybe. Disbelief. “Jed?” she whispered. “I found you.” That was all he managed before he leaned in, brushing his lips against hers. For a second, she didn’t move. Then she did. The kiss deepened fast, hands finding each other, bodies pulling close, breath catching between them as everything else fell away. It felt like Ziost again, their stolen time, the quiet corners. But this wasn’t the past. She was here. And this time, nothing was stopping them. His grip tightened, pulling her closer, urgency bleeding into the kiss. She matched him at first, then broke just enough to cup his face, breath uneven. “Jed… wait… not here.” He kissed her again anyway. She met him for a moment, then pulled back once more, firmer this time. “Wait, baby… wait.” He tried to listen. He really did. But she was right there, in his arms, and it took everything not to ignore her completely. She slipped free, and he frowned, but she caught his hand immediately, not letting him drift.  “Come on.”

Darth Nox: Volume One – Rise To Power, the Sith Inquisitor's origin, told from inside his head.

New chapters Mon/Wed/Fri on AO3 [AO3 link].