The artifact

"The artifact" is an irregularly shaped, vaguely polyhedral chunk of some sort of matte black mineral. It is relatively small, fitting neatly in an average humanoid's palm, but extremely heavy for its size (Encumbrance 3). It is faintly warm to the touch.

The dying Firith Mobak entrusted the artifact to the PCs and made them promise him they would take it to Damasa Kovani. According to Damasa, the artifact permits access to a backup containing the full contents of the Jedi Archives. The "why" and "how" of this phenomenon is still being studied by the PCs.

The artifact is currently stored in a hidden storage compartment inside Vic Dantor's pressurized methane chamber on board Rogue Ronto when it is not being actively studied.

Established Facts

 * The artifact appears to have been assembled out of several different kinds of materials. It would require closer study to determine exactly what those materials are. (Vic's Education roll, session 01)
 * The artifact is somewhat reminiscent of a Jedi Holocron, but it is not like any holocron anyone has ever seen before. If it does contain stored information in some form, it's likely that understanding and/or accessing it would require a combination of mechanical knowledge and Force abilities. (Efnir's Lore roll with Triumph, session 01)
 * When Efnir meditated in the presence of the artifact, he was able to touch it with his mind and to discern that it was connected to the Force in a way that inanimate objects usually are not. He sensed an emotion of surprise from it, but knew he would need to be more attuned to the Force before he could commune with it in a deeper fashion (game terms: he needs a higher Force rating first). (Session 03)
 * One of several materials incorporated into the artifact is a crystal stolen from Korrda the Hutt on Nar Shaddaa. (Session 03)
 * By accident, Efnir and Vic discovered a concealed port in the base of the artifact that allowed them to connect it to a computer terminal. While 3D6 stated that most of whatever was stored on the artifact was too heavily encrypted to access, it was able to play back three holovids of Firith. (Session 03)
 * While in meditation, Efnir had a vision of the energy/presence inside the artifact reaching out toward something very far away, but being unable to touch what it was reaching for - not because of any innate blockage within the artifact, but because of some external factor. (Session 05)
 * Somi Amersu thought the artifact is what allowed her to communicate with Lilikai Singan, due to the fact that Efnir had his vision at the same time she made contact with Lilikai. (Session 05, theory later refuted)
 * A crystal from the planet Zoph is another component of the artifact. (Session 06)
 * Many things learned during session 07:
 * Vic rigged a scanner and speaker on the base of the artifact. He can monitor any signals coming or going from it, as well as transmit any voices from whatever is speaking inside it in a form that can be heard by anyone.
 * When a Force user communes with the artifact, it causes signals to be sent through hyperspace. It also draws substantial power from sources around it (such as Rogue Ronto's engines).
 * Based on Somi's theories, Rhen tried to use the artifact to amplify her connection to Sekar Mirah. She failed, but made a connection with someone who resembled Firith instead. Rhen, Efnir, Somi, and Vesper Syl'tine joined their Force abilities to try to make contact again, and discovered that the presence inside the artifact indeed claimed to be Firith but did not know he was dead. He reiterated that the PCs should give the artifact only to Damasa, and that Damasa's former padawan Zernvik Akawoi might have more information about her whereabouts.
 * Session 13 discoveries:
 * The Force-sensitive PCs connected with the artifact again to ask the Firith presence inside whether they could trust Zernvik to be told about its existence. The artifact said that they could. When they leaned into the connection it was still trying to make, they got the image of a mass of squirming tentacles blocking them. This image had aspects of light and dark Force energy surrounding it.
 * Vic connected electrodes to Efnir while Efnir communed with the artifact. He identified patterns of brain activity that seemed to correspond with Efnir accessing the artifact, and additional patters that seemed to correspond with something within the artifact influencing Efnir's brain activity in turn.
 * Zernvik now knows everything the PCs know about the artifact. He did not know Firith was constructing it. He theorizes that Firith may have wanted Lilikai to bring the artifact to Damasa as a way of repairing an interpersonal rift between them.
 * The PCs told Lilikai in general terms what they know so far about the artifact - Firith built it and told them to take it to Damasa, it's made out of a lot of different materials, it might be some kind of storage device, it shows them Firith's memories. (Session 17)
 * Interesting times with Lilikai and the artifact in session 18:
 * Lilikai recognized many components of the artifact as being items that she, Firith, and Damasa had collected together.
 * After being shown the holovids of Firith recorded on the artifact, Lilikai remembered that Firith had previously expressed concern about how, if Damasa's prophecies of the fall of the Jedi Order were correct, the Jedi Archives might be "a single point of failure." She theorized that he might have been trying to create an additional backup of some sort of information.
 * According to Lilikai, Firith did not actually know very much about how to integrate technology with Force artifacts; that was more of Damasa's department. This might be why the artifact behaved unpredictably (draining power, not providing direct answers to questions, etc.).
 * Lilikai was initially reluctant to touch the artifact, saying she didn't think it wanted her to. However, after Rhen told her that Firith had originally intended to give it to her, Lilikai said she felt she had to try to connect to it. As soon as she did so, there was a huge power surge and she was knocked away from it. Vic's speaker recorded Damasa's voice saying, "YOU'RE NOT WELCOME HERE."
 * Session 20 discoveries:
 * After viewing the last artifact vision, the Force-sensitive PCs briefly interacted with the Firth-like entity inside it. Artifact!Firith said he had no more pertinent memories to share and apologized for not sharing the truth of Damasa's prophecy about Lilikai sooner. He also said he felt something inside the artifact was blocking him from sharing or knowing more.
 * Vic found the block in question and could tell it would need both technological and Force knowledge to overcome, so he involved the Force-sensitive PCs in a second artifact seance. Inside the artifact, the Force-sensitive PCs saw the same "wall of tentacles" Efnir had seen before, and everyone but Rhen pushed through it. On the other side they encountered a vast dark presence combined with images of fire and lava; before they could leave it noticed Somi and especially Vesper (to whom it said, "I see you, Jedi," the same as the Mirror had). Outside the artifact, the data breaker pulled down a massive index that seemed to describe the entire potential contents of the Jedi Archives before the failsafes Vic had set up shut it off to prevent it from draining all the ship's power.

Visions from the artifact
Periodically, the Force-sensitive PCs have experienced shared dreams that appear to be drawn from Firith's memories, preserved somehow within the artifact. The non-Force-sensitive PCs can hear the voices and sounds that take place in these visions by way of the speaker Vic set up, which is also set to record the sounds. When Reevo Tetsu and Master Quiet were aboard Rogue Ronto, they experienced the visions as well, suggesting to the PCs that anyone Force-sensitive would likely see the visions if in close enough proximity to the artifact.

Shared dreams in the order the PCs experienced them - numbers after show the chronological order of the memories:
 * An adventure with Damasa (3)
 * Firith and Zernvik (5)
 * A message from Damasa (1)
 * A philosophical debate (4)
 * A warning from Yoda (6)
 * Damasa and Firith (8)
 * A celebration (2)
 * The last artifact vision (7)