Prophets of the Dark Side
The Prophets of the Dark Side, also known as the Secret Order of the Emperor, are an existing cult from Legends.[1]
History
Early history and rediscovery by Palpatine
At some point during the height of the Empire, Supreme Prophet Kadann had a vision of Nefta attempting to assassinate Palpatine and usurp his throne. When Kadann informed Palpatine of the vision, the Emperor gave Nefta a choice between death and exile; he chose the latter, going into exile on Odacer-Faustin.[2]
Late Galactic Civil War and the Church of the Dark Side
After the Battle of Endor, the Prophet Cronal used the false Prophets and the Church of the Dark Side as means of gathering information and influencing galactic events. When Palpatine returned in his clone body, Cronal sometimes carried out his wishes, as when he had the false Prophet Gornash order Church of the Dark Side member Sigit Ranth to go to Kuat to help make the unfinished Eclipse hyperspaceworthy. One of Cronal's main collaborators within the Church of the Dark Side was the media mogul Mahd Windcaller, who used intelligence and prophecy supplied by Cronal to script the holo series The Jedi Prince.
When Azrakel invaded Space Station Scardia, hoping to kill the true Kadann, he instead found the false Prophets and killed them all, except for the false Jedgar's young apprentice Locor. Azrakel then returned to Grand Admiral Makati's star destroyer Steadfast, where he waited until the false Kadann returned to the station. Azrakel killed the false Kadann, taking the boy Ken with him aboard Steadfast; the only survivor of the false Prophets was Locor, who was taken along by Mammon Hoole who mistook him for Ken. Locor would later call himself Orloc.[2]
Fragmentation
The true Prophets of the Dark Side, who considered Cronal a traitor to their cause, had gone into hiding on the planet Bosthirda, where they had made an alliance with the Dreaming Vineyard, a sentient plant that covered most of the planet's main continent. The Vineyard's psychoactive grapes enhanced the Prophets' foresight and enabled them to communicate telepathically with each other as well as with the Vineyard itself. As a precaution, Kadann had Bosthirda's moon mined to explode. The true Gornash trained numerous young apprentices in the Prophets' temple, among them Delk.
One of the few true Prophets who had not retreated to Bosthirda was Merili, who disappeared eight months after the Battle of Endor. When Kadann learned of her disappearance, he was disappointed but not surprised, as he felt she had always burned too hot.
When Gornash had a vision about Palpatine having survived Endor, Kadann looked into the strands of time – a process he conceptualized as "Sleeping" or "going to Sleep" – to find out more about the exact manner of Palpatine's death. The result was inconclusive and the experience proved traumatic for Kadann, causing the Supreme Prophet to become increasingly reluctant to go to Sleep. Kadann had also long learned to avoid looking for Cronal's presence while Sleeping, thinking of him as a "knot in the fabric of the universe" and likening him to a navigational hazard. High Prophet Jedgar, by contrast, observed the shifting futures almost constantly, keeping Kadann informed about their enemies' attempts to confuse him by killing numerous false Kadanns during their hunt for the real one.
When Jedgar saw Cronal die at the Battle of Mindor, both he and Kadann were surprised. Kadann was about to go to Sleep to see for himself when the Vineyard announced to the Prophets that ships had arrived in the system. Gornash's apprentice Delk had foreseen their arrival a minute before it happened. In response, Kadann gave the order to blow up the moon, despite the Vineyard's plea to the contrary.
During the ensuing Battle of Bosthirda, most of the defensive action was done by the Vineyard, which flung Makati's torpedos back at the Torpedo Sphere which had fired it, causing Makati's fleet to retreat. However, Azrakel made his way to Bosthirda in a spaceship on which Ken had stowed away. Kadann had the Vineyard catch Azrakel and bind him to the floor, with his lightsaber caught in a separate vine. When the vine let go of Azrakel's lightsaber as a result of Ken convincing it to let the Prophets die, Azrakel used it to cut off Jedgar's arm; but Kadann caught the lightsaber and held it against Azrakel's throat. Using the Glove of Darth Vader, Azrakel grabbed his lightsaber by the blade and wrenched it from Kadann's grip. Azrakel then beheaded the Supreme Prophet, but not before Kadann burst his heart, ensuring his death.
Immediately afterwards, Lumiya and Carnor Jax, who had been hunting the Prophets at Ysanne Isard's and Sarcev Quest's behest and with the assistance of Nefta, arrived at the temple, killing off the vines surrounding it using defoliant spray. After cutting off Azrakel's hand with the Glove of Darth Vader, they went on to kill the remaining Prophets.[2]