Related Links: The Obsidian Temple of the Dark Jedi
Those searching for a human incarnation of "Star Wars" imprint, need look no further than Archangel Baldur. A very brief resumé of the Archangel would list him as a Master of Order in the second aegis of the Obsidian Temple, and one of the key people in the Order of the Hallowed Mission, with a Force - controlled clone in Imperial Intelligence. He is also a proud PC owner.
Born somewhere between the releases of "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi," Baldur is one of the thousands of people across the world whose relationship with the Galaxy Far Far Away is so intense and personal that the word "fans" can barely be used to describe them. In a sense, they are co-authors.
The Obsidian Temple is an Internet-based club with a fluctuating number of members (currently around 300, a few of them University students), devoted exclusively to extending the universe of "Star Wars" beyond the tidbits of social structure provided by the three available installments. Thebsidians socialize by meticulously keeping and exchanging diaries written entirely "in character" of their Star Wars alter egos.
"We get people from Germany, Russia, Iraq even," Baldur said in an interview with The Michigan Daily. "Some stay, some don't. There's an unchanging Inner Circle, however."
When asked to outline in brief the state of the universe inhabited by the Obsidian Temple, Baldur said that: The time is about 15 years after the end of "Return of the Jedi." Emperor Palpatine is dead, naturally, and the Empire is a disorganized mass of scattered fleets. The Rebels have proceeded to establish The New Republic, a "puny bureaucracy."
The Obsidians are a group of the dark-side Jedi-based on the planet ("Moonlet, actually") Daemon in the Ambarri system.
So, ever run across the now-middle-aged Luke Skywalker? "No," Baldur said.
The rules of the game are simple, even though the principal story has been so obsessively developed that newcomers have a hard time adjusting to the "realities" of the place. The Obsidian Magna Carta makes a few things clear from the beginning. Profane e-mail exchanges are prohibited. Those engaging in such activities are executed (which means another member writes a graphic story about their death, and the offenders are subsequently banished from the mailing list and the IRC channel).
Baldur's knowledge of the club's history runs back to June 3, 1996: This is the date when one Melan Pyr and his righthand-man, Gita ("a quiet, cryptic, evil creature") branched off from the much larger "Emperor's Hammer" society and formed the Temple.
"Pyr's real name is Ronald Kugel, he lives in Pennsylvania," Baldur said, when asked whether he knew anything about his fellow Obsidians' real-life personae. How old is he? "Forty-two. That's what his wife told me," Baldur said.
The evil Gita is 12. A head of another aegis (Temple's division) is 32, and, "judging from his e-mail address, works in some kind of a veterinary facility."
Baldur estimate that the amount of Net posting done by Kugel/Pyr takes about 10 hours a day. "If he quits, the Temple is in danger. I don't think anyone can replace him. It's just too hard a job."
An obligatory question about the "Star Wars" re-release followed - won't it be like an edition of the Bible with a couple extra verses?
"No, I think it's great they are redoing it. It needs more aliens. That part of 'Star Wars' was always the underdeveloped one."
Can the 1999 release of a completely new episode mess up the perfectly constructed world of the Temple? "I doubt the Club will still exist," Baldur noted. "We've been active for eight months, and that's pretty long."
At the present moment, however, the Obsidian Temple appears to be in fine shape. The members have managed to conquer two neighboring star systems. Back in our dimension, they keep a total of about 30 homepages.
"I personally maintain three," Baldur added. "A lot of people prefer giant clubs where you don't have to do anything. You advance in rank just by e-mailing the headmaster. Our club has no real-life benefits of any kind. All you get is respect."