Ask Sullust At cuyir Mando

[Van'Aria Solus]

To become a Mandalorian was difficult, it meant dedication, clairvoyance, a instilled and calm collected mind that accepted no error in ones judgement, it was not a Race, it was not a Creed, it was a way of life, and abandoning ones previous life to become one of the most feared Warriors in the Galaxy was the dream of many a daring young man and woman alike, it was a life of pure freedom, of idealogy unfettered where ones actions defined oneself rather than status or amount of credit, alluring and promising it was also a harsh life, not many a Mandalorian survived into their elder ages that was simply a occupational Hazard that was a given.

Responding to a Anonymous hail Van'Aria was approached by a mysterious contact that wished to know more of the Mandalorians, their name she knew not but with the fact that it should be no mystery what the Mandalorians were she assumed there was yet another misguided soul looking for guidance in her and that she only reluctantly obliged without seeing what she dealt with first.

She struck a Rendezvous with the Contact on Sullust, a unforgiving and relatively remote Planet that would serve as the crucible of character for the one that so desperately wished for guidance, far out into the barren corners of the Planet she ventured where she eventually stopped bringing her ship down, she was alone this time around, her Vod she had sent to a nearby encampment to oversee other chores whilst she did what she did best.

Figuring it would be quite some time until their Contact arrived, finding a sizeable rock to perch upon she sat down crosslegged placing her weapons on either side of her in a almost zenlike state as she began pondering various things, the future of Mandalore was always on her mind that aswell as the Solus'Alor, he was a thought that seemed to not want to escape her and it bothered her for she did not understand why, the Man acted albeit differently with the same gears that drove her and it made her pause at times rather than question his movements.

Then her thoughts went to another topic, if she should rise to the task and bring what is needed to their people, she felt as though it was necessary but at the same time felt as though her place was in providing for her People not telling them what and what not to do, even if that exactly exemplified a Leader all that more, it was ever always that those that do not wish to lead end up being leaders in the end.

But there were many a stone to step over, many a thing to consult and many more wrongs to right before her vision would come to true fruition which did not mean that she would stop at a single thing to make it a reality, she may be a single voice, but she was a powerful voice, one with purpose, one that did not let itself be silenced.

@Tenia

 

[Raanil 'Nuz 'Vez' Chal]

Raanil was sober.
For the first time in a long time, neither alcohol nor spice clouded his brain.
Given these factors, he wondered what had prompted him to make the absurd decision to travel to Sullust, a planet of rocky deserts and active volcanoes.
There he was to meet his mysterious contact, who had been pointed out to him by his Mandalorian accomplices after his escape from Nansham.

His imprisonment on Dromund Kaas had broken him: in body, in the form of an almost useless leg, and in mind, through long lonely nights, with no company but his thoughts and a painful detoxification.
Until, once free of Imperial care, emaciated, weak and dazed, he had decided that the universe was too brutal to face alone. He needed allies, and he could no longer afford to look for them in the criminal underworld, where every new encounter could mean a stab in the back.
The considerable amount of credits earned in the service of the Zann Consortium was gone, as was the possibility of a quiet retirement as a cantina owner.
He needed trusted allies.
Ironic, that the possibility of finding them was born in a maximum security prison.

Sullust's mephitic air made it difficult for him to breathe and irritated his good eye, as he limped across an ash desert.
The chiss wondered if the Mandalorian, a member of a culture that valued strength above all else, wouldn't reject him after a brief glance at his condition.
He was a good shot, and skilled in hand-to-hand combat, though he was less so than once; but at the moment he looked more like a vagrant than a warrior.

After what seemed like an eternity, he finally saw a figure emerge from the sulphur fumes.
It was perched on a rock, in the middle of nowhere, like a statue from a lost civilisation.
The markings on her beskar armour spoke of ancient battles and atavistic warrior knowledge.
Van'aria Solus raised her head, and stared at the newcomer through the t-shaped visor.

@Bread
@Van'Aria Solus

 

[Van'Aria Solus]

"What makes a Warrior?"

Her voice rang out as her gaze met his, it was a question only few knew the answer to, each and every soul found a different answer but only those that truely knew had braved the storm, had lost, had fought. To be a Warrior is to fall, to rise, and to fall again an endless cycle until ones last ember is snuffed out, for that is ones purpose.

"A curious question is it not? Your people should know it, for they are few yet some of you were the fiercest the Galaxy has ever seen."

It was almost as if she spoke not on first impression but rather as if she spoke to his soul directly, she was headstrung, her voice commanding authority yet wisdom it was as though he approached something mystical something completely unknown to him, the stories of Mandalorians are often clouded, blurred and different from what is truth she knew that truth, every single one of them, singed onto her skin, singed onto her mind for aslong as she remembered the memory was alive.

Her hands came up to rest on each respective knee as her back straightened out, eerily unmoving she was locked onto him like a turret, unmoving and unrelenting with a ravenous sense of devouring every detail he gave with the smallest of movements.

She could see he was broken, either physically or mentally, he was looking for answers, a path to walk but it was not so simple as to just direct him onto a path, he must be willing to choose his path and in order to be able to do that he must understand himself, reflect upon himself for a Warrior that does not know himself... not believe himself will crumble on the first threat he faces.

"What do you seek?"

@Tenia

 

[Raanil 'Nuz 'Vez' Chal]

Van'Aria's voice sounded strangely metallic and almost disembodied from under the helmet.
This, combined with Raanil's exhaustion, soon convinced him to abandon any intention of responding ironically to the Mandalorian's pomposity.
The warrior's eyeless gaze dispelled any doubts about the absurdity of the situation, and pierced the chiss chest like an icy spear.
The Mandalorian's question had already confused him.

What did it mean to be a warrior?
Raanil had never asked himself that question, except perhaps subconsciously.
From a very young age he had learned to handle weapons, but he had been driven to it by tradition, by the will of his family, it had not been his decision.
He had been taught that his duty was to defend his home, his clan and his people, but now the first two no longer existed, and the third was but a distant memory.
Yet he had never considered stopping fighting, even without a cause other than his own survival.
Fighting was the only thing he was truly capable of.

Van'Aria came to his rescue, turning the question into rhetoric.
Her eyeless gaze continued to stare at the chiss, and he felt stupid and naked standing there in the ashes.
An impulse stronger than himself, Raanil lowered his gaze. The Mandalorian exuded an aura of ancient power. It was not so much the power of that single figure, but of all that it represented.
In front of the chiss stood not only Van'Aria Solus, but the projection of a thousand-year history. Through the eyeless gaze stared the taungs who had tamed the mythosaurs, Mand'alor the Indomitable who had faced Ulic Qel-Droma, the warriors who had died by the thousands fighting on Malachor and Dxun, down through the dark years of the galactic empire.
The silence continued, and the chiss automatically, without knowing why, knew that he had to kneel.
Finally Van'Aria asked him a second question.
< What do you seek? >
the question disconcerted him much more than the previous one.
Protection. Belonging. Appreciation.
The concepts flashed through his mind, but there was something else behind them.
The words casted long shadows and obscured the truth.
Raanil ignored the sensation and voiced the three concepts, speaking almost without realising it.
The Mandalorian's eyeless gaze was fixed on him. Van'Aria tilted her head slightly to one side, and the chiss realised he had made a mistake.
The mandalorian knew that he had given her a true answer, but not the truth.

@Bread
@Van'Aria Solus

 

[Van'Aria Solus]

In response to his Words, she rose. Her previously motionless Frame turning to motion, she did so methodically as if there was no pressure of time posed on her, she was calm... preternaturally calm, she had nothing to fear from the man, he was barely in fighting shape and even if he did wish to kill her he would be toe to toe with a Mandalorian, something one would not easily best with a single shot.

"Rise."

She spoke naturally, her hand swooping up as if she gestured him up, he had no purpose kneeling afore her, if there was one thing he would need to learn was that respect is shown in many ways, but not subservience.

"You speak of things given by a Family. Yet you know who we are? We are Mandalorians. We fight, we kill, we die. Death is part of our day to day life, we do not get to cherish feelings such as Love often, nor do we know the concept of being complacent."

She at this point was circling around him, the mistful sulphuric vapor surrounding them concealing her if only slightly, it gave her all that more that ghostly supernatural appearance that her words commanded, she knew how to make an impression to spurn someone for in order to craft the best out of someone one must know them.

"There is no word in our language for what the galactic standard describes as Hero, nor is there a word for such things as being content. Aay'han... Bittersweet, that we know. We cherish life where we go and in the moment, the present is our quarry and the past our teacher."

She came to a halt infront of him, it was mayhaps two steps of a distance between them as her body turned to a metaphorical stone, expressions dulled it felt as if they were absent entirely, the visor of her radiated into him, judging him, evaluating him, what did he have to give? Or more importantly... what could he become?

"Remove your Hat."

It felt like she ordered him... no. It was an Order, her Voice resonated with that selfsame purpose as before, she would look upon the man that would cast aside all to be forged anew before considering the possibility only then would she be able to truely see into him and gauge what was ahead.

"When you look upon me. What do you see?"

@Tenia

 

[Raanil 'Nuz 'Vez' Chal]

Van'aria rose from the rock on which she sat with deliberate slowness.
Her gaze never left Raanil, and when she told him to rise, the chiss felt the Mandalorian's eyes press into his back like a boulder.
Still, he returned to an upright position, vulnerable again under the lash of Sullust mephitic air.
The warrior began to circle him, her neutral voice enunciating points of the creed.
She told him about the incompatibility of the concept of hero with the Mando'a language, and what it meant to be a Mandalorian.
Raanil did not aspire to be a hero, nor did he understand its appeal to most cultures in the galaxy.
There were no heroes on Csilla: each individual was merely part of a mechanism whose purpose was the greater good of the Ascendancy.

This mindset he had grown up with also helped Raanil understand Van'Aria's second point: sacrifice.
A warrior must be prepared to suffer, both mentally and physically, for the goal he had set for himself.
What the chiss lacked was precisely this, something to aspire to.
Loyalty to his group, belonging, were things his culture shared with that of the Mandalorians. But that was not enough.
What was he looking for in a new family, and why was he looking for one among the Mandalorian people?
True, he shared with them the centrality of fighting in life.
But fighting was part of dozens of cultures in the galaxy: he could have joined the Gungans, or the Gamorreans, or the Twi'leks.
The Sith, the Jedi.
No, anyone but them.

Van'Aria commanded him to remove his armoured hat, which partially hid his face.
Raanil obeyed, revealing his badly shaven head, which was covered in light pink scars.
The Mandalorian made no comment, but stared at him in silence.
Again her eyeless gaze oppressed the chiss chest, and he had to make an effort not to fall to his knees again.
Raanil wondered what the warrior was seeing now.
The scars that ran across his skin, his blind eye and wounded leg were pages from a book that spoke of many battles, most of them lost or paid for dearly.
But Van'Aria's gaze went beyond the tortured body and peered into it.

Finally, the Mandalorian questioned him again.
< When you look upon me. What do you see? >
Raanil pondered whether to speak to the woman about the voices of her people, but finally decided to answer more directly.
< A guide, a preserver >

@Van'Aria Solus
@Bread

 

[Van'Aria Solus]

She peered into him for what seemed to be a lifetime, it was a part of evaluating his words even after he had spoken them, time mattered not in this exchange, if she elected to she would wait multiple days before forming an answer but she would not torture the man afore her so, the reason being that he came to her with a purpose, a purpose she could not see clearly, if he was meant to meet her she would not cast him away lightly.

Even despite that she thought of it to cast him away, he was old, older than her she assumed and she knew not if he had a purpose still on the battlefield, but discipline seemed to be drilled into him from the very beginning of his life, you could feel it there was a difference in the way he behaved, the way he stood and the way he spoke even if his submissiveness could be seen as weakness it was not subservience, it was a respect, A respect to a way of life akin to that he knew from birth.

"You have walked a long way to stand afore me. You have cast off all you have for a life that you know will give you everything once and then take it all away again."

She grew quiet as his answer came in, closing her eyes she let those descriptors sink in, she felt a purpose that was unlike that of the call to battle, no. She felt as though a thousand eyes rested upon her wherever she stood, that a thousand voices would speak to her if she could only listen and that a thousand burdens would lay upon her if she elected to carry them.

She knew all too well that the life she intends to follow will bring her to her knees but she did it regardless, not for herself, for her people, to be the Memory to be... what was once and will always be.

"Sometimes I dream. Afloat in the Galaxy I am unburdened, unbothered, free. There I can see it, where all began, Mandalore. And above it the Guiding Stars, our Leaders past, I can see them in my dreams, but never can I hear them speak. Never a sign, only that selfsame watchful gaze that I transfer in kind. Perhaps that is what they want."

She turned her frame around to walk back to the Rock she had previously been sitting on, she gazed down at the Weapons she left there, each... just a tool, she knew how to clean them, use them and pass them on but that was not something that would return Mandalore to its former glory, no.

"Do you know of the Trials and Tribulations ahead of you?"

@Tenia

 

[Raanil 'Nuz 'Vez' Chal]

The woman never gave any indication about the correctness of Raanil's answers.
Not a word, not a nod of denial, not a sign of assent.
She would simply remain silent for long, interminable minutes and then ask the next question.

After one of her silences, however, the Mandalorian opened up to him.
Her voice became softer and more sympathetic, and it seemed to Raanil that even the metallic rumble faded.
Van'Aria told him of her dreams, and through them, the chiss sensed her anxieties and concerns. The desire to become a compass for her people and the desperate search for a north that remained hidden and distant despite her best efforts.
For the briefest of moments, the warrior's beskar armour melted away and before Raanil's eyes remained only a girl in search of direction.

But the feeling was short-lived. Van'Aria quickly pulled herself together and her body was once again enveloped in layers of steel and weapons of death.
The woman returned to sit on the rock, her back straight and martial.
< Do you know of the Trials and Tribulations ahead of you? >
Raanil considered the question. He had learned to wait before giving the Mandalorian an answer.
He knew that being accepted would not be easy, that the woman would test his fighting skills, as well as his mental stamina.
The chiss hoped that his injuries would not hinder him so much that he would fail the tests Van'Aria would present to him.
Finally he replied cautiously.
< I know they will be demanding trials, but I do not know the nature of them.
I am prepared to face whatever you deem necessary to prove my intentions >

@Bread
@Van'Aria Solus

 

[Van'Aria Solus]

"Do you?"

She gave back in retort, it was a bold statement, an incredibly bold statement to be precise, to assume that all the tribulations ahead he was ready for she doubted, but he could be shapen, he could be molded, all she had to do was reheat the iron, bend it anew and fold it however many times she had to she did not know, it could be an easy craft or it could be one that exceeded her skill.

"If you intend to walk this path, you will learn to speak a new language, one that will be yours to carry. You will enter the fold as my peer, and I will be the one to shape you."

She did not know what he expected but it was clear that she chose people very carefully out of the reason that what she passed on differed from the norm, there was more than just the usual Mandalorians drills, each Teacher differed in their approach and in this case it wasn't any different, what he could more than likely expect was that with her he would learn things even some other Mandalorians were not privy to.

"Do you truely wish for this?"

She asked him directly and sternly, this was the final and very clear question she had for him for once set on the path there was no return other than shame and death, the weight of the words could be practically felt, it was a point of no return and he had to make a choice.

@Tenia

 

[Raanil 'Nuz 'Vez' Chal]

Van'Aria for once answered directly to the chiss.
The abruptness of her reply definitely hid the simple girl Raanil had glimpsed just before.
However, despite the woman's apparent outburst, her next words seemed to confirm that she intended to take charge of his training, despite the fact that the chiss had not yet been able to give her a satisfactory answer regarding his reasons for joining the warrior culture.

Perhaps, Raanil thought, Van'Aria would return to the matter later, when his mind and body would be more malleable under the hammer of her questioning.
She instructed her new student as to what she would require of him: to learn a new language, the Mando'a language, and through the new words he would have to forge a new identity.
He would have to melt all his weaknesses into the forge of the Way, and incorporate them not as slags, which weakens and breaks steel, but as joints, around whose thickness it leverages.

It would be a long and painful process, from which, however,he would emerge new and gleaming.
Raanil was tired of shying away from his past, tired of drowning it in alcohol and numbing it with spice.
Finally, guided by Van'Aria, he would face his own demons.
It would be a long and painful process, but there was nothing more he wanted.
So when the woman asked him the final question, the broken warrior had only one answer
< I do >
And a clarity had returned to his eyes that had long since disappeared.

@Bread
@Van'Aria Solus

 

[Van'Aria Solus]

"You will leave all behind. Name, Profession, Designation. Friend, Lover and Enemy. For once you fall into this Fold you will emerge not as whom you are today."

She slowly rose once more this time holding her hands imperatively infront of her abdomen folding them together patiently, she peered into him penetratingly and just when she glimpsed what seeemed to be his soul she made her decision, the decision that would change this man's life forever.

However she wondered if he could let go of what he will leave behind or be weighed down by it, he knew the dedication he would have to put himself through in order to keep pace with her and even more so the ambitions she had in her mentees, she unlike others was a fierce Teacher one that only stopped when the Body was about to break.

"Very well."

She concluded taking a step forwards, her hands came up to clasp together before gesturing outwards as if she proclaimed something.

"ni kyr'tayl gai sa'ad. I know you as my Brother and herefore adopt you. You shall be known as my Vod until you earn your Steel, and once you do, you shall be made known to the Alor and be truely inducted into the Family. Then you may choose your destiny."

Her Voice carried duty in it, when she spoke in her mother-tongue Mando'a it felt as though she had spoken forth a vow, which she did, she pledged to adopt the man even if he were older than her, she would take it upon herself to train this man, shape him and set him upon the path until he may walk on his own.

@Tenia

 

[Raanil 'Nuz 'Vez' Chal]

It was done. The first step in his new life had been taken.
Yet Raanil knew that the following steps would be those of a climber.
Before he reached the halfway point, his hands would be peeled, his shoes shattered and his fatigue endless.
The climb would be made slippery by sweat and blood.
The chiss, however, felt determined, despite the fatigue accumulated just to reach the place, he was ready to start immediately, even without rest.
Rest that, he guessed, Van'Aria would not grant him anyway.

The woman pronounced an oath, the words of which Raanil did not understand, but whose meaning he guessed: a definitive pact with the Way, which he could not abandon except by his own death.
The chiss swallowed. His resolve did not prevent him from being nervous and even vaguely afraid.
Van'Aria had adopted him as her foundling. The chiss did not know if this would mean that he would be a member of the Solus Clan at the end of his journey, or if she had simply vouched for him in front of the Alor.
Be that as it may, Raanil was determined not to disappoint his new mentor.

< I am ready to begin training, mistress. Tell me what my first task will be >
The chiss hoped not to be disrespectful, but he was eager to prove to the woman that adopting him had not been a mistake.
However, he knew little of the etiquette of the culture he had decided to embrace.
Another aspect on which Van'Aria would have to instruct him.

@Bread
@Van'Aria Solus

 

[Van'Aria Solus]

Mistress? She raised an eyebrow beneath that helmet, it was not the first person to call her such, she was not a lady, atleast so she thought, there were only a few awarded with such a honor in Mandalorian culture and she herself would not come from such a prestigeous background, however if that was his chosen way of addressing her it should be his to decide.

"You have taken the first step towards a Future that will be shapen by your actions. You will learn to conduct yourself in ways previously unknown to you, you will learn to fight in ways that your Ancestors would be proud of and ultimately you will become Solus, you will be a stepping stone to elevating what was once great and shall be great again."

She spoke this with very apparent honor and reverence, she believed her own words and she would stop at naught to make it happen, she was Solus and nothing would stop her from going forwards and elevating what they are even higher, Solus and the Mandalorian People were what mattered to her most not because she was raised that way but because it was part of her belief.

"We have been scattered long enough, there will be no fear from us, there will be no quarter given, We will no longer be oppressed as Mandalorians for we are War personified, nothing will keep us caged for we are Freedom and Individuality. And when the time comes even those that sought to control us will tremble at our might."

She thrust a fist up proudly as she gazed into the horizon above, something deep within her sparked and the spark itself was enough to get her going, it was however not overlong until she resettled her gaze upon the Chiss infront of her, her hand lowering she placed it firmly on one of his shoulders.

"We will begin your training elsewhere, Upon the Planet that my very Ancestors laid first claim. Mandalore."

[END THREAD]​

@Tenia

 

[Raanil 'Nuz 'Vez' Chal]

Raanil wondered what he should expect from Mandalore.
He knew it was a planet as hostile as its inhabitants, that its surface was rugged and furrowed with the scars of the countless invasions and civil wars it had suffered.
The Chiss didn't know much about the galaxy in which he found himself, but one of the rumours that circulated most often over the mouths of drunkards in the cantinas was that the planet was somehow cursed.
Well, after all, the training would not be accommodating, he didn't see why the place where it would take place should be.

It was not so much the harshness of Mandalore that worried him, however, as its location: currently the system's official position was aligned with that of the Empire, and Raanil feared the presence of stormtroopers on the surface as diplomatic representatives.
The sith were unpleasant in general, but somewhat bearable. They would be less so if they found out the chiss was an escapee from their prisons.

< Mistress, I have recently had some misunderstandings with the Imperials. Are they a presence on Mandalore? Could it complicate my training? >

Raanil did not know the disposition of Van'Aria and clan Solus towards the Imperials, so he preferred to be cautious.
For his part, once he finally became a follower of the Way, he would do everything he could to avoid dealing with the imps.
This attitude was not only due to his recent status as a fugitive, but from a genuine disgust for the empire.
Disgust that could perhaps have become a problem in his career as a Mandalorian later on.

The chiss chased the thought away, and stared at Van'Aria as he waited to hear how his new mentor planned to proceed.
Raanil had gotten his hands on a ship during his escape from Dromund Kaas, an old Nu-class shuttle.
Although he was a lousy pilot, he had also managed to retrieve his astromech from Nansham's stores. Strangely, the sith had not dismembered D3-Z1, and now both droid and ship awaited him at the edge of the ash desert.
If need be, Raanil could transport Van'Aria to Mandalore with ease.
Empire permitting.


[END THREAD]


@Bread