Shannur Darkstar was a Jedi Knight about three millennia before the rise of the Galactic Empire. Her most notable work was conducted on the Outer Rim planet of Pelgrin. Pelgrin was a planet home to an extinct race of intelligent people. What attracted Shannur and others to Pelgrin was the artifacts left behind by the ancient culture. Specifically, the Oracle and Pelgrin attracted archaeologists and Jedi alike. A ten-story tall structure consisting of gears, switches, and pendulums, the edifice earned the interest of the Jedi order from the tremor in the Force that the structure produced. Early archaeologists speculated that the device was important to Pelgrin religion, spirituality, or acted as some sort of astrological mapping device.

However, the Jedi believed it served a greater purpose because of its relationship to the Force. Their theories proved correct when it was discovered that the device could only be activated by and in the presence of a Force user. When this was discovered an entire team of Jedi Knights was sent to study the device alongside the scientists and archaeologists already present. One of those Jedi was Shannur Darkstar. In her time studying the Oracle, Shannur and the Jedi came to the conclusion that the device was used in combination with the Force to foresee future events.

A Force-user meditating in the presence of the device was greeted with visions of events happening centuries or even millennia in the future. Most often the visions depicted were on the scale of catastrophic, causing some to fear the devices powers. One particular vision experienced by Shannur Darkstar was determined centuries later to foretell the rise of Sith Lord Kaan's Brotherhood of Darkness and the war against the Jedi Army of Light.