Tetsubal was a city located in the area of the Ragnos Lakes, on the continent Keshtah Minor of the remote planet Kesh. Located to the south of the planet's capital, Tahv, by 4985 BBY Tetsubal had a population of 18,000 Keshiri natives. Tetsubal was one of eight villages around the Ragnos Lakes, and in 4,985 BBY the inhabitants of the region began to harvest a type of fluorescent algae from those waters. Hoping to find a use for the algae, Yaru Korsin, leader of the Lost Tribe of Sith—comprising several hundred Humans and Pureblood Sith—that had taken power in Kesh fifteen years earlier, ordered an expedition to Tetsubal and the surrounding areas to investigate. The mission was headed by Ravilan Wroth, who had his own agenda—hoping to get Sith leadership to focus on finding a way off Kesh, Wroth had devised a plan to poison local water supplies with the chemical cyanogen silicate, creating a fake plague that would frighten the Lost Tribe into withdrawing from Keshiri affairs. He contaminated the aqueduct that provided Tetsubal with its water, killing all 18,000 of Tetsubal's residents, leaving Wroth as the only survivor. In order to contain the "infection," the remains of Tetsubal were burned to the ground. However, Wroth's treachery was discovered by Yaru Korsin's wife, Seelah, who went on to cause the deaths of the populations of the other towns in the Ragnos Lakes area and frame Wroth. As a result, Wroth and the rest of the members of the Sith species among the Lost Tribe were quickly executed. Over the ensuing centuries, Tetsubal and the rest of the towns of the Ragnos Lakes were abandoned and eventually gained a reputation as being haunted.
The city of Tetsubal was located in the Ragnos Lakes region of the planet Kesh's continent Keshtah Minor. Tetsubal, along with seven other villages in the area, was located to the south of the planet's capital of Tahv, and was the farthest away out of the eight towns in the area. Tetsubal was surrounded by walls, and a system of dirt roads crossed throughout the town. Tetsubal received its water from a nearby aqueduct, which fed into a network of troughs that ran through the streets. Many of the village's residents lived in hejarbo-shoot huts. By 4985 BBY, approximately 18,000 members of Kesh's native species, the Keshiri, called Tetsubal home.
In 5000 BBY, the planet Kesh was visited by a group of crash-landed Sith that claimed to be the gods of the indigenous Keshiri. This group of Humans and Pureblood Sith, who came to be known as the Lost Tribe, took their place as rulers of Kesh and commanded the devotion of the highly religious natives. After taking power, the Lost Tribe began a census of the planet to get an estimate of exactly how many Keshiri there were. Far to the south of the Sith crash site in the Takara Mountains, Tetsubal was among the last settlements to be counted before the Sith gave up. Fifteen years later, a group of Keshiri from the Ragnos Lakes area began harvesting a type of fluorescent algae—believing that the specimens could perhaps be used to light Sith structures, Lost Tribe leader Yaru Korsin sent a team of subordinates, led by prominent Pureblood Sith Ravilan Wroth, to investigate. Tetsubal, farthest away from the center of Sith power in Tahv, was to be visited first. However, Wroth saw that as an opportunity to put a secret plan of his into action. Using the deadly chemical cyanogen silicate, Wroth poisoned Tetsubal's water supply in order to create the appearance of a plague that he could use to pressure Sith leadership to withdraw from Keshiri affairs and focus on finding a way off Kesh. With the town's aqueduct contaminated, Keshiri suddenly began collapsing and dying, some in their own homes or by falling into water troughs and drowning. By the time Yaru Korsin received word and arrived, Ravilan Wroth was the only survivor.
When questioned about the incident by Korsin, his wife, Seelah, and his right-hand man, Gloyd, Wroth claimed that he had no idea what had happened or why. The others believed his story initially, and Wroth took the opportunity to push Yaru Korsin to isolate the Lost Tribe from mainstream Keshiri society. In response, Korsin ordered a careful withdrawal of Lost Tribe representatives from other towns—a few days after the disaster, most of the major cities on Kesh had still not heard of the deaths at Tetsubal. Meanwhile, in an attempt to contain whatever plague had stricken the town, Tetsubal was burned to the ground by a team of Lost Tribe agents. Suddenly, the seven other villages of the Ragnos Lakes were all hit with the same mysterious plague, killing over a hundred thousand Keshiri. Unlike the occurrence at Tetsubal, these were orchestrated by Seelah Korsin, who had discovered Wroth's plot and endeavored to frame him for the deaths in the other nearby towns. As a result, Ravilan Wroth and the other members of the Sith species in the Lost Tribe were systematically purged. After the events of 4,985 BBY, eight villages of the Ragnos Lakes region, including Tetsubal, were completely abandoned, and by 3960 BBY the area was commonly believed to be haunted.
By 4,985 BBY, there were about 18,000 residents of Tetsubal, all Keshiri. They mainly lived in hejarbo-shoot huts, and frequented Tetsubal's troughs with wooden pails to obtain necessary water. The city's population included nursing women who lived among the rest of the city's inhabitants. A good number of Tetsubal's natives often visited the city's restaurants and markets.
The tallest structure in Tetsubal was the town square, which featured a large sundial quite similar to the one in Tahv. Close to the town was an aqueduct, which fed a system of troughs that ran through the city's dirt roads, and itself was fed by an uvak-driven pulley system. Located throughout Tetsubal were many restaurants and markets that were frequented by the Keshiri natives. Tetsubal was surrounded by high walls with a main city gate that could be securely locked, and that was right next to the town square.