Jump to content

Dathomir


Tarrian Skywalker

Recommended Posts

Dark…

 

Nothing but dark.

 

The physical manifestation of death or unconsciousness was all that lingered upon his weary bones as Roene rest, seemingly inert on the ground. No thoughts prattled about his inquisitive mind. But, all around him, the planet breathed and teamed with new life.

 

Fallen animals were revived, patches of barren grass were now the golden brown or verdant green of former glory. Trees of withered bark, blew off the ash and weary flakes to reveal fresh wood beneath the surface. Leaves were growing in patches, dew lingered once more in the morning flora, and the air filtered itself in time, leaving the shroud of decay behind. Many dead still lay upon the plains and some even wept for their kin. But green things grew in their stead. They would provide the fuel that fed other generations of life to come. Such was the measure of life in most ecosystems.

 

But the Cerean rested for what seemed like forever. Even Arleigh’s light seemed to do little for him. But her persistence was vital. As the spark of his padawan’s fire grew into a roaring flame, one of Roene’s pale blue eyes flicked open. The stimulation sent a landslide of sensation through his nervous system. It almost sent him back into a state of gentle repose. But Roene held on to that bright and used it to slowly ignite the life in his body. It was an agonizingly slow process. Every joint, every muscle, every vein, and every neuron groaned in disharmony as he moved. It took a great measure of energy to even fathom sitting up straight. But he fought for every inch. He needed to get back to full strength. The Jedi would need him. Arleigh would need him. His people would need him.

 

But a prickly feeling at the nape of his neck bit at him.

 

Even as he rasped a breath and finally took a fully-seated position, the Cerean could feel something odd. The force seemed, distant. He could still tap into it and channel it through his body, but everything felt different. It felt like trying on the same jerkin after it was washed with different soap. Everything was… odd.

 

A cursory examination found a couple of physical after-effects: the former brown oak of his arm was now a bright birch white, and a few of his nerve clusters had burst, showing a myriad of different colors underneath the thin pallor of his weather-beaten skin. But, aside from that, little else had changed; or so he thought…

 

“I’m… I’m awake.” Roene muttered through tired lips.

 

A small smile worked its way across his weary expression as the cold blue of his gaze met her. “I’m glad to see you made it out okay. And, judging by the pounding on the ground - or that might just be my head - Wally made it too…”

NvFYuwm.png
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Red eyes smiled gleefully back at the Jedi Master as he awoke. The pounding was the thundering hoofbeats of a whole pack of rancors, though Arleigh was unsure as to if they were going to attack or not. She shielded the Jedi Master with her body for a few moments until they had passed and then she smiled wistfully at him.

 

“Not all good has returned to this world I think.” She stretched her thin arm towards the grown grass around a field of bones. Some very large, some very small. “And not all returned from our fight, and I think Wally was among them.” She shook her head, letting locks of auburn hair spill passed her knife pointed ears to fall upon the Jedi Master’s face like downy feathers. As she did a light rain began, soaking into a thirsty earth, and bringing life with every drop.

 

“What now Master Jedi, is your mission to guard this planet forever, or will you wander on like a hermit from world to world?” She buttoned her light white lab coat around her to shield against the startling cold.

KOpuqkg.png
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

“No,” Roene said, a wan smile creasing the edges of his weary face.

 

Though both ideas bore considerable merit -- long walks amidst the endless cosmos, unraveling depths of the force that no master had ever dreamed of; or standing guard as a bulwark for Dathomir and all those who would corrupt it -- that was not his purpose. He had a mission. And although part of his mind tugged at the hem of his worn brown robes, begging for him to stay, ironically, the stubborn willful edge of Roene’s thoughts brought him back to the task at hand.

 

Darex’s orders rang clear in his mind as if he’d received them mere moments ago. But it hadn’t been moments ago. A month had passed. What had happened in that time? Was Dashel still on Mon Cal? Did Darex have a new direction for the Jedi?

 

Questions cobbled themselves together in front of Roene like the pieces of so many jigsaw puzzles. He looked to the deep calluses of his right hand, weighing the possibilities. He knew where a lot of the edge pieces fit together. But, once he found a solid foundation, every new piece of information sought to break the only stability he had. He examined the scorched birch of his wooden left arm and found it more forgiving than he’d initially assumed. The wood was a bit more brittle than the oak it had replaced, but it was a tolerable change. Tyue was still with the Jedi, Dashel was force knows where, his people were plagued, and his task was done. What did that leave him with?

 

“First things first,” Roene commented, getting to his feet. “I have a question to ask and a call to make.”

 

The Cerean slowly began walking back to the ship, preparing a comm to Darex and nodding for Arleigh to follow.

 

“The question is: would you like to be my padawan learner?” The Cerean’s coned pate was matted with sweat, but a mischievous glimmer touched the pale blue of his eyes.

  • Like 1
NvFYuwm.png
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Arleigh Burke, once called by the surname of Nightsong and one of the last surviving nightsisters of Dathomir from the holocaust partitioned by the Black Sun, slowly trudged through the light rain behind the Jedi Master. Where grass had not yet taken root, ash and dusty topsoil formed a thick slurry that clung in black mess to her boots. Eventually swollowing the two of them and forcing her to tred barefoot like she used to when a child on this planet. Before Starlisk, before Faust, before Qaela.

 

The rain turned into a gale of wind and heavy raindrops that felt almost like hail, she was soaked to the bone when they finally arrived at the waiting ship and as Arleigh Burke sat down in the crash webbing she finally answered the Jedi Master’s question before falling asleep.

 

“Yes.”

KOpuqkg.png
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 7 months later...

y40hXdh.png

 

The Forging of the Nightsisters of Myrkengodi

 

Pt 1. The Council

 

The Apprentice stood still before the seven women, all older, all wearing a mix of hide and dark capes. Their white hair dirty, filled with twigs, and unbrushed, giving the elders of the combined tribes a haggard appearance. Talketa their leader, whom Telperiën had known a decade prior was laughing at Telperiën’s own appearance. Their voices mocked her beauty, the lack of blemishes that harried their ideas of the darkside. But Telperiën had seen much more horror in the depths of Korriban and on Onderon that she could not find it in herself to fear these old women.

 

Talketa was jabbering on in the language of the High Dathomiri to her fellow coven leaders. Though the seven were arrayed before her beyond the large bonfire that cast cruel shadows in the cave, their figures were diminished by the light. Telperiën was not impressed by the haggard witches, or the flock of young children and old ladies at her back that were all that was left of her people from the black sun’s wroth. The children, some odd two hundred of them aged from the very young to the middle teens could be salvaged from this wreck of a society, the rest would have to be judged for their worth. Those before her, in their shamanistic robes, wearing totems, and carrying staffs that were wrapped in poisonous thorns would need to be taught humility.

 

The old witch leaned forward towards the fire and spoke at last to Telperiën, her voice cracked and withered, and her grey white hair tangled in the crown of the witches, a woven crown of thorns.

 

“Tell me child of the Nightsong, why should we not just kill you? Your blood is tainted child, you come with the marks of the Sith upon your skin, and we will not bow to the king beyond the stars.”

 

Telperiën stayed silent, her eyes flexing between their natural purple and an unnatural yellow hue. The silence provoked her to anger as Telperiën unslung the bow from her back. Two guards started forward but were waved back from her by the coven council. Gilgramoth spoke next, the youngest of the council, some sixty years old and her face covered by the purple blotches of long force use.

 

“We do not fear the bow, nor do we fear you Ar-Pharazon.”

 

Her smile was filled with just righteousness, and she spat out Telperiën’s surname with disgust.

 

Telperiën only grinned.

Tel.png.2b2713b149ad183d24a4b9a423368e48.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In the cold depths of space, a lone frigate bearing the emblem of the spider cruised along through the swirling abyss of hyperspace upon its return to its homeworld. Aboard this ship, lost in the horrifying nightmares of her past, a single Melodie dreamt of revenge and destruction upon those whom had laid waste to her people. The ship its self, barely held together by an amateur's wit, rattled and shook as it went, threatening to tear apart at any given moment. But she did not care. For in her mind, her death would follow that of the ship upon its return, paying forward the loss it had caused her and her people.

 

Yet, fate would hold a different plan as Eve slept away the night, her Reel companion Lucif coiling his form around the young woman as she laid there in comfort upon his cold blooded scales, his ever watchful gaze and slithering tongue tasting the recycled air around them for danger. A single word sparked in the distance, causing Lucif to raise his head just as the hyperdrive caught fire and the ship rocketed out of hyperspace in a fierce explosion, part of the ship dislodging as reality set in and clawed at its frail form. Eve's gaze shot open in a frenzy as she pulled herself from atop Lucif's coiled form and tried to make it to the cockpit to try and make sense of what was transpiring.

 

But she was no real mechanic, nor was she anything resembling a pilot, and as she neared her destination, it took all Lucif possessed to keep her from being ducked into the vacuum of space as the ship began its decent into the pulling gravity of a nearby planet. From the momentum of their exit from hyperspace combined with the planet's gravitational pull, Eve's whole world went from peaceful nightmares of revenge and hatred into a fiery spin of death as the ship spun it's way into the upper atmosphere of Dathomir, bits and pieces dislodging as it plummeted toward the planet below. And as her gaze caught sight of what she believed would be her resting place, darkness enveloped her conciousness.

 

But death would not claim her this day as the ship came to a terrifying skid, her unconscious form wrapped tightly within the coiled form of her companion and their position within the ship. And as the frigate came to a stop against a towering mountain side, hours would pass before either would awaken and move, Lucif's tightened muscles going limp as he too succumbed to the darkness that overcame their minds. Slowly the smoke would settle, the remaining metal falling as time passed to reveal the ship's remaining innards after the dust extinguished what fire remained. And Lucif would once again carry another scar in protecting his charge, his blood trickling from the metal that pierced his scales and muscles.

 

Within time, Eve's gaze would once again open, seeing first hand the ball of durasteel that remained of the frigate that once bore the Spider's emblem, now no more than a gaping hole of molten metal. Rising from within her companion and fighting the aching of her fragile form, she steadied herself as best she could, attempting to make sense of what had transpired as the memories lingered just beyond her grasp momentarily before some of it reeled back in and her gaze shifted toward the injured Reel. Quickly rushing to his side, she noticed and withdrew the metal that pierced her friend, using some herbs she had to try and force the bleeding to stop. Yet fortunately, nothing vital had been cut and Lucif would eventually heal in time. Bandaging him as best she could, Eve turned her gaze toward the planet the surrounded her, wondering where they had landed. The navigational charts, along with the cockpit and most of the ship laid splintered across their recent, covering too many miles to count. And with night beginning to fall, there were little options they could pursue at the moment. Anger boiled within her, for Onderon, the planet from which this ship originated, was likely light years away.

75196401_876440456210803_2971411180634366772_n.png.7d1045ce91932a34f1faf6a1d547ae87.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Eyes in their hundreds stared at the lamellated armour that stretched across Telperiën’s back like a second skin. The expensive Sith armour was held together and bonded to the skintight jumpsuit that she wore, the lamellated scales duly reflecting the firelight in hues of green and dark crimson as the muscles on her back arched as her strong mailled arms brought the bow into its curve. The kyrat bone tip of the yew shaft shoveled into the ground as she held it in place against her boot, one hand brought the hemp cord from the grounded edge to the other end of the bow as she bent it into its shape. The apprentice of the Spider was strong and the bow itself was nearly two meters in length, which while bent into its bow configuration still came to rest an inch above her temple. She finally spoke when the bow was placed before her and the bag of arrows opened and tied to her waist.

 

“Then I will challenge you seven. The Herald of the King Beyond the Stars against the leaders of the Coven of Nightsisters.”

 

Her yellow eyes flashed as she grinned as they smirked back at her. There was so much that she had learned in the years she had been gone from this backwater world. Learned at the hands of the King which they so easily dismissed. A backwards culture for a backwater world. They would need updating, and the Sith would not let their children, no matter how backwards, remain in destitution and obscurity. This was the Age of the Sith. And they would not be left to cower in caves while their brethren rose to the noontide of their power. For she was the Herald of the King, his apprentice, and she would bring these people to heel, and she figured it would only take seven lives.

 

The crowd grew silent at her back as the seven stood, beginning their attack. She held up he hand as she grabbed a bodkin with its wicked point.

 

“And you will be silent before his glory.”

 

Their chanting had begun and the room begin to fill with static electricity as they called down their magiks into a storm.

 

“Korrastan-”

 

And the bow sang, its arrow carried in the arms of the force.

Tel.png.2b2713b149ad183d24a4b9a423368e48.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That first night on Dathomir was likeliest the loneliest that Eve had ever felt before. Even back on Yavin 8 after the aftermath of the Melodie genocide, she didn't feel this way, whether it had been a sense of creature comforts or her sorrows that plagued her. But here, upon this distant planet, sitting alone in the wreckage of only hope she held for revenge, Lucif injured and his condition unknown to her with only the anger of her own stupidity keeping her warm, Eve felt it. It was a mixture of sorrow, anger, despair, and heartlessness as the darkness within her began to grow. It felt as if all she had to hold onto now was her survival and the emblem that melted away upon her crash. And hold onto it she would, etching it into not only her mind, but her heart as well.

 

As the night sky filled with stars, she sat in silence, her mind remembering that night so long ago still fresh upon her memory. She would survive this set back. She would find a way off this unknown planet, and she would destroy the one that owned this ship. And when that was done, well, she would return to Yavin 8 and destroy the cowards whom hid away in their underwater protection and watched effortlessly as their kin were slaughtered by the planets creatures. This was why she left. This was why she sought revenge. Through this, she would grow stronger. Through denying her heritage, she would come to know the means of her people's destruction. And this is why her heart gripped tightly upon the knowledge of revenge. The lives of those lost would not be left in vain.

 

Hours passed as she sat there brooding, contemplating her situation and her means of destroying those whom destroyed her. And she would devote her life and, if need be, sacrifice it to achieve her goals. Little did she know that the answers she sought laid upon this very planet along with her, the darkness within her pulling toward it, or rather, her. Scooting across what remained of the ship's floor, Eve placed her hand upon Lucif's head to check on him, the Reel slithering his tongue upon her touch but unable to move through his pain. As the moonlight met her eyes, they glowed within the shadow that hid their forms, her gaze having adjusted to the night. When morning came, she would go out in search of food and maybe civilization. But for now she would watch over her friend and prepare for the day ahead.

75196401_876440456210803_2971411180634366772_n.png.7d1045ce91932a34f1faf6a1d547ae87.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

As the self contained storm within the cave became a crackling inferno of whipping winds and static electricity that caused every hair to stand on end on Telperiën’s bare forearms. The storm beat at her, buffeting her in its wind as the crowd behind her cried out in terror. It was that terror that Telperiën held onto like a vice. The terror, the anger, all of it held her firm against the storm. Step by step the young daughter of the Golden God strode forward, her bare feet finding purchase on the rough surface of the cave’s ground.

All the while the bow sang, its arrows carried in the arms of the force. Slithering tendrils of her presence arced out in a multifaceted approach, carrying the arrows true to their targets. The slashing pain of the bow string cutting deep into the scab in her arm and slinging blood in a fine mist to cover the fletching of each arrow. She could have angled her arm better so that the bite of the hemp rope was not so painful, but the reason was twofold. The pain sharpened her mind and her blood on the arrows allowed her to concentrate fully upon them and bend them with her mind. Covering them with the force and blood to pierce the breast of the leader of the council. As Telperiën spun her counterspell.

På Helvegen

Lightning arced towards Telperiën and she held up a long fingered hand which was covered in the scars and calluses of a bowman. It would take everything within her to resist the coven.

Tel.png.2b2713b149ad183d24a4b9a423368e48.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The dark hazel of the morning sky began to illuminate her surroundings as Eve began to stir. Without realizing it, she had managed to doze off against the cool scales of Lucif's form. But his stirring was what had shot her awake as he slowly slithered to an exposed portion of metal in hopes of catching the earliest of morning Ray's. Eve simply looked on at her companion, his motions speaking of the pain he was in, yet determined nonetheless. They were seemingly alone upon the planet, the sounds of night eerily quiet for such a dense terrain. Even had noticed its quietness, and judging by the Reel she traveled with, there was no sense of immediate danger surrounding their makeshift encampment. Rising, Eve and Lucif's gaze caught one another, unspoken words left lingering in the air between them as she gathered some things and she set out for the day and leaving the Reel to his healing.

Having spent most of her life in a dampened cave of darkness, Eve was unfamiliar with most of what she saw. And given her adaption to the darkness, her eyes strained to hinder the rising sun as the day would eventually progress. Like her heart, her element was of darkness and that was what she preferred. But she also knew that the best chance of their survival laid within the sun of the day. For today though, she only set a goal of a few clicks away, just enough to find necessities. And as each day would follow, should they not have any luck, she knew she would have to venture farther and farther away. But for now, her goal was set and simple, bringing her back to best before the sun would hit mid-day.

As for Lucif, he simply basked in the warm rays of the sun, letting his body temperature rise and speed up his metabolism so that he would heal with each passing day. The wound would sting, of course, but like all of his species and any animal of sentience semblance, natural courses were often the most prevailing of paths. No gain without pain as one would say. His strength would return and his wound would become but a scar upon his form, but for today, warmth would be his only goal. Yet he could sense something upon the horizon even if Eve could not, a sense of dread that matched that of the young Melodies' own and he sensed a purpose as his tongue flickered in the air. As for Eve, she simply walked the path set before her.

75196401_876440456210803_2971411180634366772_n.png.7d1045ce91932a34f1faf6a1d547ae87.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Telperiën placed her bare foot against the withered skull of Talketa, the leader of the coven. With a quick pull of her hand and a push of her foot, the long wicked arrow withdrew itself from the left eyesocket of the fallen nightsister. The grinding slurp of the arrow against eyesocket and brain echoed in the small antichamber and the Herald of the King Beyond the Stars finished her work. The coven had been defeated, their leader felled, and with that done the Sith would begin their force civilization of these brutes.

_______________________________

Some time later, the Apprentice walked on bare feet through the forest, her Amethyst eyes catching sight of Eve. Her voice was like gravel as she hailed the girl. With a breath she could smell the potential on the girl. So she broke into a run and skidded to a halt next to the Melodie.

“Where art thou going stranger? I have not seen one such as you around Dathomir before.”  She pointed to where her ship was coming in to hover some hundred yards ahead of them in a clearing among the bracken and fallen rocks. “If you wish to leave this place, you need only follow.”

And with that the daughter of Ar-Pharazon broke again into a run, disappearing up the ramp.

 

@Chaotic Tranquility 

Feel free to Join me aboard my ship. 

Tel.png.2b2713b149ad183d24a4b9a423368e48.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And so it was, that fateful day that Eve and Telperiën first met, that Lucif first decided to join his companion upon the stroll. It had been nearly a lunar month since they had crashed upon this planet, and now that Eve had removed his bandage and revealed the newest addition of scars upon his scales, the Reel felt compelled to join his ward, especially with the young one one wandering so far from their shelter. It was still tender to the touch as he slithered along side the Melodie, his head hidden beneath the lower laying grass, his massive form taking the predatorial approach should they encounter any threats, or even lunch. But for Eve, the day seemed different since its beginning.

When Eve awoke that morning, she felt a strong urge to embark toward the mountain pass she avoided just the day before, its sheer cliffside and narrow trail placing her in an uncomfortable position should she have become a target. But with Lucif besides her, her nerves settled quite a bit despite her curiosity aching to explore what laid beyond it. After gathering her things, including the crude primitive spear she had forged from parts of the crashed ship, the two embarked upon the journey toward the east. As usual, Eve made a quick stop at a local brook to catch breakfast and gather drinking water, but this day, after gathering the water, she noticed that the water began to run red and smell of iron, causing her to toss aside the water and Lucif to coil in suspension. But when they noticed no real threat, they continued on.

Once they cleared the mountain pass and entered the valley below, Lucif could sense the aura of darkness beginning to loom again as he felt days before. It nearly mimicked Eve's own heart, and it felt powerful, placing the Reel upon his guard. Yet, the familiarity of it made the beast use caution of attacking. Eve's gaze shifted toward him as she noticed his unease, yet not a word was spoken about it as she trusted his judgement and she too took guard as they entered the treeline below. Hours seemed to pass as their journey led them further than they had ever been, mid-day now having long passed and the eve had began to take hold upon the sky above. Eve's eyesight began to waiver as the brightness tried to overtake her sensitive sight, but she had noticed that she had began to adapt to it easier, which was why she had recently began to stay away longer. So much of her had began to change within her since they had arrived upon this planet. And despite never have seen a soul nor a means of leaving it, the darkness within her heart only slumbered for the time. She still wished to find the origin of the ship bearing the spider emblem, but she had began to grow content with the ease of their life here. And that was when Telperiën entered the picture.

Eve stood in stillness as her gaze stared upon the woman before her, her hand gripping tightly the spear in which she held, yet still in its native stance. The young Melodie, the glimmer of the sun lighting his glare as she listened to the woman speak. Yet she remained silent, only turning her gaze toward Lucif when the girl departed, his tongue flickered in the grass as his gaze only remained forward. Eve could see that he sensed something about her, yet he did not attack or reveal himself, causing her to wonder. As for Lucif, once Telperiën departed, he began to slither in the direction she had pointed out, Eve following in tow.

It was only once aboard the ship that Eve spoke, the sense of darkness and innocence intertwined in her tone as she spoke. "Dathomir? That is the name of this planet? She questioned as Lucif coiled around Eve and laid his head upon her shoulder, his tongue flickering in almost unison of her speech. "We crashed here only a moon ago."

75196401_876440456210803_2971411180634366772_n.png.7d1045ce91932a34f1faf6a1d547ae87.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

The lone shuttle slipped out of hyperspace over the dark planet of Dathomir. Once a thriving society of light side witches, now in the dark ruin that remained, the Nightsisters prowled. In the years since the massacre and subsequent planetwide forestfires, the wetland jungle had returned. Dark plateaus of ash still jutted out of the bright green of the wetland, and no trees older than Telperien stood except on the isolated southern continent. But to Telperien it was home, and the bumpy ride towards the surface gave her and the apprentice time to talk. 

 

“So tell me Camik, what do you still have left to learn?”

Tel.png.2b2713b149ad183d24a4b9a423368e48.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

“ journey into Lordship”

 

Hearing those words put a bit of a gleam into his eye, a hungry one at that. She never did say what that planet was, but it didn't’ matter this wasn’t going to be a beach getaway. 

 

She kept talking, specifically on the top of their Lords and Masters. ”I can't’ answer what their deeds and accomplishments are and frankly it doesn't matter. It is our job to surpass them and drive the order forward into new heights. That can be standing on the shoulders or the backs of those that came before us.”

 

His mindset had been shaped by his previous master, but bringing up those thoughts right now would not help him in the least. This was someone new and he had to adapt to meet her expectations. 

 

”You never said your name, what shall I call you?” it was a question that had multiple levels on it but he needed to know. The more he could get out of her the better he would be and if was on the wrong footing with her because of a slight then that would make things that much harder. 

 

Now they were off to the jungle, something his fur did not relish but this was never intended to be a vacation.

v7G1vaY.png
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Telperien smiled ruefully as she looked out of the viewport towards the distant and descending marshes and jungle which stained the planet with dark splotches. 

 

“My full name is Telperiën Tar-Myken Darksong Ar-Pharazôn.” She let her hand absentmindedly run across the leather armour she wore until it found the sheath of a knife, where the nervous fingers found purchase and ceased their wandering. “My Father was the great Dark Lord Ar-Pharazôn the golden, of which there are many tales that I will not tell. He is dead and destroyed now, laid low by the Jedi order and their exorcists.” Her fingers twitched again and then were still. “My mother was the matriarch of the Nightsong Clan of nightsisters. A clan that now lies also buried and destroyed.” She looked back to Camik and smiled.

 

“I am a Nightsister, and I restored the covens from their despair. But there is much work yet to be done.” She pointed to the rocky mountains that they were slowly approaching. “Welcome to Dathomir Camik. My home, as bleak as it is.” 

 

The bundle of other nightsisters who had served Telperiën gathered eagerly around the viewport so that the pair of Sith were pushed back. 

 

“Then we will make you a mighty lord of the Sith.” She looked up as the ship settled on its landing struts. “Do you have any further questions? Or should we let them come in their due time as we go?” She shrugged on a heavy pack from one of the compartments and gestured to Camik to take the other that stood beside it. 

Tel.png.2b2713b149ad183d24a4b9a423368e48.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Camik listened to her give him far more information than he had been expecting. Despite listening to her explanation it did raise more questions about his future, but those were questions for a latter date. He looked around at his “bleak” surroundings.

 

”I have seen more bleak places, but then I have seen less. Either way we are not here to sight see. I think any further questions I might have will be either answered later or have a better time to ask. For now let us get down to training.” 

 

Now that he was no longer stranded on that desolate planet and back under the tutelage of someone that presumably knew more than him he was eager to see what he could learn.

v7G1vaY.png
Link to comment
Share on other sites

“Indeed.” 

 

Her rough voice fell flatly against the dank air and the light drizzle of pale rain. There was little wind in the marsh plains, so the air tasted stale and dark. She took a deep breath and sighed. It was home, and she loved it. They continued their walk in silence as they waded through the muck and mire until she spoke again after an hour. 

 

“Find me hunger Camik. Reach into the force. The hunger is here stalking us.” 

 

For a rancor had smelled them several miles back and had begun its long stalk.

Tel.png.2b2713b149ad183d24a4b9a423368e48.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Camik listened to what she said and was a little confused at first. She said find the hunger but was that a physical entity or something that was deep inside himself. Was this a weakness or a strength?

 

Camik cleared his mind and reached out with his feelings. This was not the time to let his feelings run wild, that would come later first he needed to isolate what he was looking for. 

 

He could feel things all around them, lessons that his previous Master had taught him. Despite pushing his feelings to the side he could feel the frustration of his instructions being so vague. The frustration burned through his calm and fed his anger. His anger was a slow burn nothing that was even sensed from a casual observer but it was there giving him strength. 

 

With his anger lending power to his senses, he could feel the life around them. From the smallest creature to the larg… well that must have been what she was talking about. He could feel a large creature coming towards them. It was a creature of unending hunger. Nothing could sate its hunger though it seemed to have sensed something that it thought might feed it. The creature was coming towards them.

 

Camik looked at Telperiën raising one eyebrow then looking in the direction of the creature.  ”What is that?” he asked her, his tone interested but unafraid.  

 

Edited by Camik Rhonik
v7G1vaY.png
Link to comment
Share on other sites

“That.” Telperien whispered as she set her pack down beside her and withdrew a long wicked arrow from the bag at her hip. She placed it point down in the mud beside her. “Is a Rancor. It looks to be just shy of its mid twenties, and look at that.” She pointed to the smaller rock like form that huddled against the large creature. “It has a cub to protect.” 

 

She leaned down and withdrew a long stave of yew from her pack and set one horn tipped end against the side of her boot. Her amethyst eyes watched the two forms as the mother rancor considered its own approach. Then she dipped her hand into her pouch to take out a long cord of waxed hemp. 

 

“So.” She grunted as she bent the yew stave cross her thigh, connecting both ends with the hemp cord. “I will kill the cub, then you deal with the mother. Its hungry now, but after the cub dies, it will be angry as well.” She talked as if murdering a defenseless animal was nothing at all. She leveled the longbow and pulled the arrow from its resting place. “You need to exploit these emotions. Use them as you fight with her until you can grasp her mind. Then subdue. Bring her under your will completely” 

 

She bent the bow, her muscles bulging along her arms and back as the grey feathered arrow came to rest along her chin. She loosed a second later and the long thing blade of the bodkin punched through the small rancor cub’s brain stem. Dropping it with silent precision that was broken by a horrendous roar from the mother rancor. 

 

“Now show me how a Sith subdues his prey.”

Tel.png.2b2713b149ad183d24a4b9a423368e48.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Subdue. That was the key to this assignment. It would have been easy to just kill the rancor but he needed to bring it to heel. It was a task he was infinitely familiar with but not from this side of the submission. He would need to be fast and strong willed. He needed to have the Rancor focus on him as he was about to be the only thing in the Rancors world. 

 

Of course it would be easier to let the Telperiën be the focus and he attack the beast from its blind spot but where was the fun in that. He understood the theory of subduing a mind with the force but he wasn’t sure of the latest effects and using such underhanded methods might not have the lasting effects he wanted. It might imprint on Telperiën after all.

 

Camik grabbed an arrow out of quiver and bounded forward towards the screaming Rancor. He could feel the anger radiating from the beast. Hunger no longer mattered to the beast only the rage. The rage was heavy and oppressive but was nothing that he had not felt before. He did not suppress his own emotions but let them fuel him. He thought about what he was about to do and how it was done to him. This did not give him compassion but instead enraged him even more. This was the state of the universe. The strong survive the strong have power. Power makes you the victor and never again will the chains ever be around his neck. 

 

The Rancor took a swipe at him as he got in close, it was not anything with any kind of power to it though simple size and mass would make Camik fly if it connected. He quickly dodged under it feeling the attack as it came towards him, letting him get even closer until he was able to stab the Rancor with the arrow. Simply using the arrow as a dagger would not do anything to a beast of such size but it would make it focus on Camik.  This was the weapon that killed its young. 

 

With such realization dawning in its eyes Camik poked it again before jumping back out of reach of the beast. He ensured that there were a few trees between them before his real work began. This was just the opening salvo of the attack, something to make Camik its focus and now that it was focused on Camik, he reached out with his feelings. His Will was stronger than a mindless beast, he let his own anger and hatred fuel that Will. He pushed out the feelings of being subjugated and forced to serve onto the beast making them heavier than the rage it was feeling. Its will did not matter, Its rage did not matter, its grief and hunger were all secondary to the Will of Camik

 

All of those feelings were compressed and placed into a single word as he enforced them onto the Rancor. His voice was quite, merely a speaking voice but it carried with it the voice of command. A sound Masters use when speaking to their slaves. A voice that expects to be obeyed or there will be consequences 

 

”Stop” 

v7G1vaY.png
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Beast stopped dead in its tracks. It’s thin, beady eyes staring at Camik with a mix of straight hostility and hunger. Its thick claws stretched and clasped at the air, as if it was grasping the man himself, to bring him to a bitter end in a toothy maw. 

 

“Camik.” Spoke Telperien, her fingers tracing the edges of the black fletching of one of the arrows. “You have stopped it, you have begun the process but you must find another approach. Brute force does not control a mind.” 

 

Her voice was a stern whisper. 

 

“You must come alongside it, guide it. Manipulate its feral emotions. Use its anger, use its rage. Use its hunger!” 

Tel.png.2b2713b149ad183d24a4b9a423368e48.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

”No brute force does not control a mind, brute force crushes a mind.” he said with almost a whisper almost to  himself. Crushing the beasts mind was not what he wanted to do but it was the first step. He had stopped the beast in its track it was no longer trying to kill him but he did have its full attention. 

 

Camik started at the beast and did not blink. He was a Cathar dominance was something he was born into. He and his people might have been subjected, their true nature had only been suppresses not removed. He took this lesson as he began to use the force to press himself onto the beasts mind. He could feel its hunger and rage and he used it. He used the image of himself and the rage teh beast felt and started to overlay a different emotion to it. He tied the rage the beast felt for Camik specifically and twisted it. He worked to change what triggered the emotions. Hunger would now only be sated when it would be directed by Camik. Rage was no longer directed at Camik but rage was now for everyone but Camik. He could see that Camik was doing protecting it, and looked out for it. 

 

Camik worked to bring this beast into his Pride. 

 

As he did this Camik let loose a roar. It was a primal sound and one that he had felt he had needed to be done. With that roar he let loose emotions that he built up over his life. The roar was primal, something that all beings would feel in their primal brains. With that roar he cemented himself into the beast social structure and placed his own dominance over it. Camik was the Alpha here and his will would not allow for anything but complete subservience.

 

Edited by Camik Rhonik
v7G1vaY.png
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The great beast stooped its neck in obeyance of its new master and Telperien let out a laugh as she unstrung her bow. She recollected her arrows from where she had stuck them and motioned back to Camik. 

 

“It is a good time to rest now and to meditate. Make us a fire to warm us using only the force. While I prepare our meal.” 

 

She crouched at the side of the dead young Rancor and began to quickly skin and degut the beast as she kept her amethyst eyes on the Sith across from her and his now very large companion. 

 

“Focus your emotions into explosive energy, but first find us timber and kindling.” 

Tel.png.2b2713b149ad183d24a4b9a423368e48.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Camik couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Make a fire? He couldn’t remember the last time he had to make a fire to keep warm. Usually he would just go inside and adjust the heat. But as he thought about it he couldn’t remember seeing much in the way of buildings to provide that heat. Perhaps this training was in a remote location and the civilization was elsewhere. 

 

Not wanting to freeze he went his new pet out to bring back wood. It could use its massive claws to splinter off kindling. 

 

Camik stood staring at what would be the fire and thought about how he would have to start the fire. He was told to focus his emotions into an explosion but would that even work? Could he treat his emotions as a weapon like that?  Sure he could use them to hurl someone across the room but there is no heat with that. 

 

He stood there deep in thought while the Rancor shredded a log creating a pile of kindling. Eventually he raised a hand signaling for it to stop, it did without question. 

 

He focused his emotions, creating a tight ball with them, he needed to excite the air with this. With another roar he released the ball sending it into the kindling. 

 

There was no thought of failure as he did only that he would treat this as a new weapon to be used.

v7G1vaY.png
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Anger was a constant in the young man’s heart, the roiling emotions that buffeted him in every direction keeping him barely in control. Could a man live for long in such a fashion? Telperien had known many men, and had watched many more fall to the blades of the Jedi Order. That passionless cult of reason and sexlessness. The Sith in their ‘wisdom’ rejected such methods, instead seeking to dominate through pure will of anger and emotion alone. 

 

In such things they rejected the natural order. They killed for fun and for pleasure. They did not hunt, they did not kill to survive, they killed for the joy of killing. She had seen wild rancors do much the same, and always the mothers of clan darksong had put them down. For it had been better to snuff out the wild brutality than to wait for it to turn its jaws upon their friends and allies. 

 

Perhaps in time the Sith would learn the lesson of nature. But for now they would run rampant, killing millions if not trillions like at coruscant. She was grateful to her former master for his strength to keep the Sith in check, and at the same time dreaded when the galactic leash would slip. 

 

They were sitting in the aftermath of one of those rampages after all. And though the low brush had grown back, the charred remains of trees could still be seen toppled here and there like discarded children’s toys. The remnant of wrath. 

 

The fire started with a splash of yellow orange flame that quickly fed into a roaring blaze. She smiled up at Camik and quickly fashioned a skewer that she placed near the fire so that the rancor meat could roast. 

 

“You did well Camik. Now meditate and tell me of the source of your emotions. What brought you the anger or hate or lust that drove this fire?” 

 

A giggle sounded from the edges of the brush as a few young women pushed their way through the scrawny branches. They were Sisters of her clan and they spoke no further words but sat silently, hungry eyes watching the meat roast against the golden flames.

Tel.png.2b2713b149ad183d24a4b9a423368e48.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Taking a stealth ship on what would hopefully amount to a friendly fact-finding mission seemed like overkill; especially for two Jensaarai emissaries. Instead, The Sarlacc and Svata had been able to transition to a battered YT-1210 freighter designated the Glassy Dawn. The ship’s sensor suit being a boon to their current mission.

 

Dropping into the relatively still atmosphere, The Sarlacc surveyed the world before them, shaking his head in disbelief. “Such devastation. Such a waste.” Tapping the scanner, he pondered the readings with a bit of confusion. “There ought to be more signs of civilization here Brother Svata, but there isn’t. What knowledge was here may be lost I fear. Even so, there is new knowledge to be gained so as to ensure this never happens again.”

 

”Do you see that?” the Duros pointed to a blip on the scanner, the Nightsister fortress, unbeknown to our Jensaarai ninjas. “Survivors perhaps? Looks like maybe a couple scouts or adventurers out here,” he pointed to the glowing campfire and duo of life signatures nearby as the ship zoomed low over the surface of the devastated world; mere meters above the short scrub growth. “We’ll land a short distance away. We do not want to scare the locals until we can learn more about them.”

 

Settling the ship in a small clearing, the ashy surface squished beneath the craft’s landing gear. The landing ramp descended and the two Jensaarai strode out. With his weapons slung across his usual spacer’s attire, The Sarlacc did not loom like an armored emissary from a little known force tradition. Instead, he was any other spacer. 
 

With his booted feet in the charred so of the world, The Sarlacc inhaled deeply. “Do you smell that brother? The force flows oddly here. This world has been touched by darkness. The Saarai-Kaar mentioned some forms of sorcery about this place. Be on your guard. Let the force be your guide. Trust it before and beyond your senses and scanners. We do not know what darkness that may attempt to overwhelm us.”

 

Carrying himself away from the ship, The Sarlacc tugged at the flowing ebb of the force, drawing both Svata’s and his own presence back upon himself. Even if they were not actively seeking to remain undetected, there was no sense broadcasting who they were without cause.

 

SARLACC.png.d67534d888be534b1f950759a08ce1fd.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Camik watched the flames burn. The firelight could always be hypnotic and it allowed him to ignore the giggling newcomers easier. Telperien didn’t seem to be bothered by their presence so he could only assume that they were welcome. Or he would be directed to kill them later. Perhaps he would anyway he wasn’t sure. His mind was clear as he delved into her question. 

 

When he finally spoke his voice was calm, no anger in it just that of a story teller reading from a data pad. ”Much of my anger and rage comes from my time as a slave. There is enough raw emotions there for me to draw upon for a lifetime.  My previous Master … encouraged me to use other emotions as well but anger simply is too easy to not use it. Then having other events such as being sent to a desert plant on a wild goose chase and forgotten simplest adds to my inner pool. But for starting the fire. There was some rage, in that ball of emotion but much of what I have been working with this day is pride. I am a Cathar. Our bodies are warrior perfection and be it a Rancor or a fire it will bend before my will.”

 

He looked away from the fire, his eyes glancing at the newcomers. ”So who are they? I am surprised to find anyone else out here, or did you bring them out here for my training?” He still hadn’t decided what he would want to do with them. Fight them, hunt them, or some other more carmel activity with them. The only thing he was sure was he wanted to complete his training. It had been neglected for so long. He could only work so much on his own in that deserted planet and now he intended to drink up all that was offered to him.

v7G1vaY.png
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 10/27/2020 at 10:06 PM, The Sarlacc said:

With his booted feet in the charred so of the world, The Sarlacc inhaled deeply. “Do you smell that brother? The force flows oddly here. This world has been touched by darkness. The Saarai-Kaar mentioned some forms of sorcery about this place. Be on your guard. Let the force be your guide. Trust it before and beyond your senses and scanners. We do not know what darkness that may attempt to overwhelm us.”

 

"Oh trust me, I know enough to know I don't know anything about this planet." Svata turned his head, taking in the wasteland. "The stories they tell about this place...Spacers know that there's something different here. Something that don't welcome outsiders. Now that I'm here...yeah, I reckon I can feel it." He inhaled through his nose. "The place is alive. Not like some vibrant green world like crazy Felucia but more like...can't describe it. A wind? A sound?" He shook his head, then snapped his fingers as the right descriptor presented itself. "Like a breath! This place...it breathes in the Force, all quiet but constant." He frowned. "Can't tell if it's sleeping or just weak. Not that we want to cross it either way."

 

He noted with a start that Sarlaac had begun concealing the pair, and he'd missed it. Guess that was a marker of the difference in skill between them.

 

"That's a different trick from the one you taught me, isn't it? I know you're there, but only because I've got eyes. Handy." Svata straightened his colorful clothes and ran a hand through his white hair to smooth it back.

 

"Now how about we go be polite and introduce ourselves?"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Telperien raised an eyebrow, an expression that was very likely lost in the firelight, as she looked into Camik’s pale face. When she spoke it was a question, a genuine one, and not the cutting question of a Sith trying to make a point. “Do those emotions make you happy Camik?” It was a leader to her next question, one that followed as easily as the Dathomiri nightsisters would have eaten the cooked rancor. “Does any of this journey make you happy?” 

 

Could power and the lust for it really make anyone happy? Her father, in his golden esteem, had burned the galaxy to find a legacy. He had taken everything from everyone he knew to establish a dynasty, but now no one spoke his name. Would Camik be the same? A great lord who is easily eclipsed by the legacies of stronger men and the cruel erosion of time? Would he sit enthroned in the tombs of Korriban another weather beaten statue with inscriptions of Ozymandian horrors? Would he too lie in state in a husk of a once great empire? 

 

She could not know. She could not see the future. That had never been her gifting. 

 

“Tasmeria. Anathia.” 

 

She pointed to the huddled women who looked hungrily at the roasting flesh before them. Their grey-gold eyes looked up expectantly to Telperiens. 

 

“They are remnants of a great house of this world.” She pointed to the girl beside the pair, a redheaded girl several years younger than Camik himself. “Kailya. Of the Whiteriver clan. They are the remnants of a once mighty society. Refugees of the destruction of the Black Sun and the Sith Lords. There are many like them in these wilds.” 

 

She gestured again and the girls carved slices of the rancor meat with small knives and bowed in turn to both Camik and Telperien before retreating back to where they sat. Eating as quickly as they could while being polite. 

 

“Do you think me weak Camik? Giving the young and destitute a home? Should I have enslaved them? What would have your old master have said?” She turned a soft smile on the girls who sheepishly returned it before looking back to their meal. Another few gaunt faces appeared at the edges of the firelight, two pale orbs that showed the horrors of the burned world. They looked desperate and hungry as well. Two young girls surviving through luck and shear determination. "What do you say Camik? What should we do with them? Feed and clothe them?" The delicious smell of the meat would no doubt attract more. 

Tel.png.2b2713b149ad183d24a4b9a423368e48.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Sarlacc nodded. “The force does seem to breathe here doesn’t it?” he agreed with Svata. As the two fell into stride with each other, he exuded a sense of peace; not on the force, which still flowed freely between them within their invisible sphere, but deeper. Life might come from the force, but peace; peace was even deeper yet.

 

“Advanced as you are in age Brother Svata, you continue to impress me. I am glad that you have accompanied me on this journey.

To bury our presence is a skill that is even more essential to the Jensaarai way. When the Jedi sought to undo us, we hid both from sight and sense. Now, we use that same skill to preserve the young and uninitiated within our ranks and to preserve ourselves abroad. Why provoke a fight where one need not be? When we are out of danger, remind me, and I will show you how to do so.

For now,” he pointed a gloves finger off towards the distance, beyond the fire-scarred scrub, in the direction of the small camp. “maybe we could introduce ourselves and see what we can learn. If we mean to foster a bond of kinship between the people of this world and our own, we can take the first step.”

 

Setting off at a determined clip, The Sarlacc and his apprentice made their way throw the underbrush and across the rocky, ashen terrain until the gaggle of women and girls and Camik came into view.

 

Tightening the sphere that contained their force signatures to barely beyond their physical forms, The Sarlacc did not even break his stride. Holding up an open empty hand to draw attention to themselves as soon as they came into sight of the fire’s flickering light, The Salracc called out warmly in Basic, “Greetings friends. Might we join you by the fire? We have journeyed from many lightyears away seeking you.”
 

The force still spoke to him, even as it hid the Jensaarai’s presence behind a wall of natural order that mimicked the world around them. Something dark lurked here. It is good the Jensaarai do not fear the dark’,  he thought, his mind reaching out to share the thought with Svata, a hint of humor shedding light into the calm and caring, yet passioned mind of the Defender.

 

 

SARLACC.png.d67534d888be534b1f950759a08ce1fd.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...