Ask Dathomir A Jaunt Into Wickedness

[Zactar Hakka]

...Outpost Resh, Southern Dathomir... | ...1953 hours...
​

A wind kicked up and swirled dust and sand across the craggy surface, lightly lit in the red light that bathed much of the planet. There was little one could hear over the howl of the wind, twisting and whining through the rocky spires and valleys between them. The landscape was jagged and twisted, as were the planet's inhabitants by popular opinion, and though the climate was surprisingly comfortable, any visitors could feel the darkness lurking deeper within. Zactar held a brown hooded robe tightly closed around him, protecting him from the battering of the sands. He marched doggedly on to the dimly lit bunker entrance in the distance, hoping no one, nightbrothers or otherwise, was nearby. He really didn't have the clearances to be here but hearing of the ruins contained within drove him beyond his better judgment. It was a curiosity for magic and alchemy that drove him to the Sith to begin with, and if there was anywhere he would find the answers he sought, it would be here: deep in Dathomir. If nothing else, it would be a suitable place to further ponder the mysteries of the Force and tap into the unknown, he hoped.

The exterior blast doors of the bunker were left open with abandoned crates still strewn about the entrance, and the interior doors were firmly closed ahead with a glowing pad to their right. With the sweep of his left hand, Zactar reached out through the Force and formed a telekinetic grip around the door, sliding it partially open and similarly lifting a nearby crate and floating it into position to lodge the door open with his right hand. Thankfully the state of the glowing pad to the right didn't appear to change, so Zack assumed some modicum of safety and stepped on and over the crate and into the ruins. A breath of the musty air and absence of footprints told him this place hadn't been visited in quite some time, but he wasn't looking for company. Quite the opposite, in fact. He started in further, one hand on the lightsaber at his belt as his eyes shifted around the stone caverns and ledges within.
D e e p e r . . . , something called to him, beckoning him further into the ruins, daring him to follow. He had to find some answers here.

@HoneyMagpie

 

[Asena Zeev]

This planet. It felt...sick? Sick and stagnant. Wading through its jungle was enough to make Asena feel just as ill. Deep down, she shouldn't have come here but with her master missing in action, it fell to her (his padawan) to continue his work. Still, she needed to tread carefully. Not only was this enemy territory but Dathomir itself was tainted right to its core. If her presence was discovered, it would surely mean death. The nightsisters weren't exactly the most welcoming of women; they were, after all, a ghastly sect of force users and their connection to the dark side was troubling for the young nautolan. If there was any sort of conflict, she'd be in real danger.

Despite knowing for well of the risks, Asena pressed on, traversing the land as quick as she could. She had landed her borrowed space craft some distance away, intent on remaining as concealed as possible; it hid her arrival from prying eyes but it certainly delayed exploration.

Finally arriving at the supposed location, the nautolan took a moment to assess the situation, her position high amongst the cliffs giving her a rather good advantage. So the information had been right, an old base had been rediscovered and it was only a matter of time now before excavations began. Strange though, she didn't see any guards of sorts, or even security. Were the dark ones so arrogant to assume no one would oppose them? Possibly. Try as she might to get a sense of the bunker, there was simply too much interference, her essence but a spark amongst a sea of black.

Wannabe shadow that she was, she opted for a more covert approach. Rather than enter through the mouth of the structure, Asena instead made use of its more obscure passages. She would bypass the main halls and instead go in search of its antechambers. That is where the troves were sealed.

Time to search for some answers...

Spoiler

Asena's sense of direction - 19/20
Asena's spidey senses - 3/20

@Burpee

 

[Zactar Hakka]

With the pull of the darkness below calling him, Zactar opened his senses to the Force as he continued to stalk deeper down the cavern. Something at the edge of his sense tickled his attention initially, but that droning pull - the darkness - drowned his senses and beckoned him on without regard. Between his own imposing stature and the heft of his armor, Zack left deep imprints in the scattered areas of the ground that weren't solid stone. He momentarily thought to cover his tracks with a quick telekinetic wave of the Force, but the intoxicating presence called him on.

In half of a daze, Zactar followed tunnels zig-zagging every which way, some appearing carved and some natural. As the area began to open up, massive crumbling stone pillars stretched maybe fifteen, twenty meters to the ceiling, intricately carved but details worn away with time. There was an archway up ahead but blocked by a large mass of rubble. Zack scanned around the room, searching for some clue as to what this place might have been, and spotted some carved text in a depression in the wall. It was not a language he was familiar with, but it felt significant to him.

After curiously studying the slightly shimmering text, Zack cautiously reached out his left hand and touched his gloved hand to the text, which did not at all react in a way that carvings normally do. With nary a warning, flames erupted from the stone depression with a mighty roar and blasted out in a cone, engulfing Zactar as he failed to dive out of the way. Shit. SERIOUSLY shit. Zack laid stomach-down against the stone floor, his greying beard and eyebrows singed and his face charred. Most of the pain was in his left forearm. Though the armor on top of the forearm protected it from the brunt of the fire, the unprotected underside took a good roasting and was barely tingling with feeling. Zack scrunched into a sitting position against the cave wall, holding his burnt arm in front of him with his other. He sincerely hoped no one was nearby, as the sound of the apparent trap would likely draw their attention.

Spoiler

Accuracy/breadth of Zactar's Force Sense: 12
Zactar's reaction versus fireball: 8

@HoneyMagpie