The story takes place approximately 4,000 years before the rise of the Galactic Empire. Darth Malak, a former Jedi, Dark Lord of the Sith, and Darth Revan's former apprentice, has unleashed a Sith armada against the Republic. Malak's aggression has left the Jedi scattered and vulnerable; many Jedi Knights have fallen in battle, and others have sworn allegiance to Malak.
The game opens with the player's character—the player can choose a face and be male or female (canonically a male[4])—awakening aboard a Republic ship, the Endar Spire, which is under attack by Malak's forces over the city world of Taris. Republic soldier Trask Ulgo soon arrives and informs the player character that they are under attack. Fighting their way to the escape pods, Trask and the player character are soon confronted by Sith Lord Darth Bandon. With no other options, Trask sacrifices himself while the player continues to make their way to the escape pods. The player character soon meets up with Carth Onasi, a skilled pilot and Republic war hero, and they escape the doomed warship.
Crashing on the surface of Taris, the player character is knocked unconscious, and Carth pulls them away from the wreckage. After suffering a strange vision, the player character awakens in an abandoned apartment with Carth, who explains that Taris is currently under martial law by Malak's forces who are currently searching for the Jedi Knight Bastila Shan, known for her mastery of battle meditation, a Force technique which strengthens one's allies and weakens one's enemies during battle. Carth and the player character go in search of her and manage to meet new companions along the way, such as the Twi'lek street urchin Mission Vao and her Wookiee companion Zaalbar. The group eventually finds and rescues Bastila from the Black Vulkar gang. With the help of utility droid T3-M4 and Mandalorian mercenary Canderous Ordo, the group escapes Taris aboard the star freighter Ebon Hawk, moments before Malak's fleet decimates the planet's surface in a vain effort to kill Bastila.
While taking refuge at the Jedi Academy on Dantooine, the player's character trains to be a Jedi, discovers a "Star Map," and learns of the "Star Forge," the probable source of Malak's military resources. The player's character and their companions search planets across the galaxy—Dantooine, Manaan, Tatooine, Kashyyyk, and Korriban—for more information about the Star Forge, gaining new companions along the way such as the Cathar Jedi Juhani, assassin droid HK-47, and 'Grey' Jedi Jolee Bindo. Through the course of their travels, the player will eventually discover their character's true identity—the brainwashed Darth Revan, whom the Jedi Council on Dantooine took in and subjected to memory modification so that he would no longer be a threat to the galaxy, the various visions they had been experiencing being Revan's memories. Darth Revan had been injured when attacking a Republic planet because Darth Malak turned his ship's guns on his former master, intent on usurping him. Because Bastila was aboard Revan's ship with a Jedi strike force, she was able to heal him and bring him to the Jedi Council on Dantooine. Her actions lead to the force bond between her and Revan, which plays a role later in the game.
Depending on the character's alignment, upon ultimately reaching the Star Forge, they either defeat the Sith (the light-side path) or usurp control from Malak (the dark-side path). A light-aligned character is hailed as a saviour and hero; a dark-side character stands before the remaining Sith forces as the new Dark Lord of the Sith.
While hiding on the Harbinger, a Republic cruiser, the Exile is sedated by an HK-50 assassin droid to be delivered to a crime syndicate called the Exchange, who have put out a bounty on live Jedi. The Exile is rescued by Kreia, with whom the Exile forms a Force Bond, and the droid T3-M4 on the Ebon Hawk, and the three flee the Harbinger as it is hijacked by a squad of Sith assassins. However, their ship is damaged during the escape by the Harbinger's gunfire, and they eventually arrive at the Peragus Mining Facility. Teaming up with smuggler Atton Rand, the group escapes to the planet Telos IV. While hiding out on Telos, they encounter Atris, a surviving member of the Jedi Council who sentenced the protagonist to exile ten years prior. After settling a dispute regarding the Exile's past sentence, Atris forms an uneasy alliance with them, instructing them to seek out other surviving Jedi in order to rally against the Sith. The Exile then travels to four worlds to find reclusive Jedi Masters and either beg for their aid or kill them in revenge for being exiled, depending on player choice. As the Exile continues their journey, they are joined by several individuals in their quest.[17]
After finding all the Masters, the Exile travels back to Dantooine and learns that the countless deaths at Malachor V resulted in the Exile unconsciously giving up their connection to the Force, which then became the teachings of the new Sith. If the player aided the Jedi Masters, they prepare to strip the Exile of their Force connection permanently, as the Masters fear that these teachings could result in the actual death of the Force, but Kreia reveals herself to be the former leader of the Sith and murders them all in retribution. If the player killed the Jedi Masters, Kreia attacks the Exile and leaves. Tracking Kreia to Telos, the Exile fights and defeats a corrupted Atris, from whom it is learned that Kreia plans to strengthen a massive wound in the Force made ten years prior. This wound had been created by the Exile during the Mandalorian Wars, when they activated a superweapon in order to end the battle on the planet Malachor V, causing mass death and destruction. Before following her to Malachor V, where Kreia had since rejoined the Sith as Darth Traya, the Exile stops a Sith invasion of Telos, defeating one of Traya's former apprentices, the Sith Lord Darth Nihilus. On Malachor V, the Exile is separated from their companions and fights through hordes of monsters on the planet's surface and the inhabitants of a large Sith Academy who survived the cataclysm. On the final floor of the academy, the Exile kills the Sith Lord Darth Sion and confronts Darth Traya in the planet's core.[17]
The Exile defeats the Sith Lord, but before Traya dies, she delivers a prophetic vision of the future pertaining to the player's companions and the worlds that were visited over the course of the story. Depending on the Exile's alignment, they either order the destruction of Malachor V, escaping before it is destroyed, and travel into the Unknown Regions in search of Revan (light side), or remain on Malachor V as the new Dark Lord of the Sith (dark side).[17]
The Cathedral of the Deep is the original resting place of Aldrich, Devourer of Gods. His followers, the Deacons, are devoted to sealing away the horrors of The Deep, and the Cathedral owes its existence to this goal. Evangelists were sent to the Undead Settlement from here to spread their message to its inhabitants, and to retrieve Undead as sacrifices.
The path leading up to the Cathedral arrives at the Cleansing Chapel, in which you can find the Notched Whip. The Cleansing Chapel is a hub, reachable from many points within the Cathedral. In this chapel, purification rituals were performed, evidently on the subjects retrieved from the Undead Settlement.
The Cathedral is surrounded by an immense graveyard where Reanimated Corpses and Infested Corpses rise continuously from their graves. The Grave Wardens are tasked with keeping them under control. The graveyard leads to the Cathedral's front gate, but it is closed. An adjacent path leads across the rooftops, through which you can reach a side entrance. An elevator back to the Cleansing Chapel is close by.
Inside the Cathedral's enormous main hall are two Giant Slaves, each sitting amid a pool of sludge that hinders movement. One is surrounded by numerous pieces of Writhing Rotten Flesh, which can greatly impede you while trying to fight the giant. It guards a stairway to a raised plateau with an altar to Aldrich, with several enemies apparently worshiping here. Beyond the altar is the room containing Aldrich's coffin, guarded by the Deacons of the Deep. For this battle, you may have the choice to summon a variety of friendly phantoms.
From the plateau, there is an elevator leading to the main gate and a stairway to the second level. This can provide access to Rosaria's Bed Chamber via a moveable bridge. However, another path, leading over the Cathedral's higher balconies and over the rafters, can be accessed by taking a lift close to the Cleansing Chapel. This lift can be reached through a path on the left side of the main hall.
In front of Rosaria's Bed Chamber are numerous Man-grubs which will attack you, but one of them will remain passive. Killing it yields the Red Sign Soapstone. Inside the chamber you will find Rosaria, Mother of Rebirth, and possibly Ringfinger Leonhard depending on your actions.
Although wild varieties of the vine were most probably native in the Palatinate region, the Romans brought the cultivated vine and winegrowing techniques around 1 A.D. Several Roman landhouses (villa rusticae) were found in the Palatinate region, for example near Wachenheim and Ungstein.
The Flurbereinigung restructuring of the 1980s raised the quality of the area's vineyards to modern standards and by the end of the 20th century, Palatinate wines were garnering international notice for their quality.[2]