A civil conflict among the Chiss families took place at some point by 28 ABY, as a result of which the number of Ruling Families in the Chiss Ascendancy went from nine to four.
According to the account given by Aristocra Chaf'orm'bintrano in 35 ABY, the aftermath of the Third Vagaari War saw the Ruling Families of the Chiss Ascencancy recruit a labor-force from the hive-minded Killik nests. In spite of extensive precautions, two of the Families who resided on the planets Catlia and Massoss respectively became Joiners in the Colony, and three others became heavily dependent on Killik labor; a "disagreement" arose with the other surviving Families, who had been less compromised by the Killiks, and who allied with Syndic Mitth'raw'nuruodo's Household Phalanx to remove the three Killik-dependent lineages from power.
However, the account given by Chaf'orm'bintrano is not without its problems, and may be at least partially misinformation: Formbi himself was a member of the Chaf family, a lineage that was not among the list of four Ruling Families cited in a study produced by the University of Sanbra in the last years of the New Republic. All that can be said for sure is that the number of Ruling Families was apparently reduced substantially by 28 ABY, and at the same time, the rogue Chiss warriors of the Household Phalanx previously affiliated with the Empire of the Hand appear to have integrated themselves into the Chiss Expansionary Defense Force.
The 2005 novel Dark Nest I: The Joiner King states that what occurred was not a civil war, and although the involvement of the Household Phalanx suggests that some level of military operations did take place, it is not clear whether the hostilities between the Ruling Families reached the level of a full-scale conflict.
While the 2009 reference book The Essential Atlas states that of the Nine Ruling Families, four Ruling Families of the planets Sharb, Noris, Schesa, and Ornfra fell on the losing side of this conflict and two Ruling Families of the planets Catlia and Massoss became Joiners, the 2005 novel Dark Nest I: The Joiner King states that only three Families were part of the dispute. Since it would be impossible for four Ruling Families—Csapla, Nuruodo, Inrokini, and Sabosen—to remain standing by 28 ABY if six Ruling Families fell during this conflict instead of five, this article assumes the latter source is correct. It's unclear what happened to the Mitth family of Copero, Chaf family of Sarvchi, and the Brast family, but all of them were no longer Ruling Families.
- The Essential Atlas
- The Unknown Regions