Open Clear as Crystal

[Alienor Pom Blodau]

Burinjina​

The caves on Burinjina were a sudden hive of activity. It hadn't taken very long for the Jedi to clear out the remnants of the gundarks that the field trip had found, before establishing a token presence in the caves. A source of kyber was something to be mindful of, ensuring that the next generation of younglings and padawans could get their crystals somewhere safe. There was also research and investigation to be done. How far did the caves go? Was there anything different about this Burinjinian kyber compared to other stocks the Jedi had?

And what was behind that door?

Alienor Pom Blodau had stayed behind to help with the continued set up. Partly out of her eternal need to be helpful, but partly in order to get her own kyber crystal. Whilst she had felt the pull inside and heard the formless music brushing at the edge of her periphery, she hadn't felt any great call yet. Even as she moved past the growths and spikes of kyber in the caves, willing one of them to speak to her... it didn't. That was disappointing. She hoped that she hadn't been nearly smashed by rocks for nothing.

A couple of the knights who'd arrived to investigate the place further were in deep debate about the door that had been found. A quiet, friendly argument as the two decided what the best course of action could be.

"It's obvious. It seeks someone strong in the Force to prove their worth."

"Nonsense. The droid that the padawan found clearly had some link, it's technological in nature."

"If you were correct, we would have found some system linked to it. We did not."

Alienor rolled her eyes. They had been debating the same thing amongst themselves for the last twenty minutes, ignoring everything else whilst she catalogued kyber. By the time they get through that door, I'll be Grandmaster. There was nothing to do but continue on with the work and hope something would catch her.

 

[Vayla Mirana]

Spoiler: Music OOC

Gundarks. Vicious, ferocious, carnivorous creatures—but not much of a match for a Jedi Knight and her lightsaber. This one didn’t have sixteen claws but she did have two good hands as she danced with her blade throughout the cave.

It was a bit of practice, all things said and done, and now there she was, in the darkness beyond the entrance, uncertain of where to head next.

It wasn’t so dark, granted, with the lights of kyber crystals illuminating the cave; from sapphire to azure and all manner in between. It was beautiful, to say the least; a more colorful contrast to her white robes, which were yet streaked in blue.

Otherwise bereft of much life, at least so far encountered, surrounded more by rock and mineral, except for this odd insect crawling along Vayla’s arm. Hello, my friend. Six-legged, tiny, creepy-crawly to some, but not an enemy to this one.

It left her shoulder, hopping off for the floor, on a mission. The woman was on her own, having joined this expedition to assist as much as protect. Voluntarily, of course, but for her it was no less mandatory.

The bug was a bit of a distraction amid the debate of the other two knights. “If I may,” Knight Mirana interjected into the conversation between her contemporaries. “The Burinja are known explorers of these cave systems, to the point of religion for the Force.”

She had their attention. “I wonder if a number kept treasure and other things hidden within from the Sith who invaded this planet.”

“What of it?”

“Droid. Force.” Vayla shrugged toward the door. “It could just as much need a key as a passphrase. Speak 'friend' and enter, maybe?” She spread her lips, but nothing happened. Not entirely unexpected.

She sighed, but not in forfeit. "What do you think?" She asked a Padawan working on her catalogue. Alienor, as Vayla remembered.

@Charndley

 

[Alienor Pom Blodau]

A Pantoran knight had arrived, fresh to add to the interminable argument that the two others had. She raised a good point, though. If the native Burinja were worshippers of the Force, then it leaned more to that side of things.

What did Alienor think? Not very much. She leaned slightly more towards the 'Force' theory for the door, but who could say? She'd been given the work with the kyber crystals, assuming it was for the more senior members of the Order to find their way through ancient doors.

"The runes," Alienor replied, looking up from her datapad. "If we work out what the runes mean, then there might be some clue how to open it. There was the old datapad too." She'd heard some of the other Jedi talking about it as they investigated the caves more. "Ancient model, they couldn't get a proper port to power it with. Might have something... if the body is from the same period as the door."

Quite what lay behind the door sparked the imagination. Cooler kyber? A secret weapon? The tombs of long-lost Jedi?

"If there is a word, it's unlikely to be in Basic?"

@Die Shize

 

[Vayla Mirana]

Rudimentary, menial labor, one could say of the task that carried that Padawan’s hands. Cataloging kyber crystals was, of course, no measly or simple thing.

Yet, in comparison, there was a lack of balance between that Padawan and her Knight companions, one that Knight Mirana had elected to bring to light with her question.

Vayla couldn’t help but smile wide. Alienor was intelligent and quick to express it. Whatever the Pantoran’s own theories, her moment of amusement had permitted the young woman her own involvement in the conversation.

“Quite right, I wager.” The other two Knights looked quiet, contemplating possibilities, if ready to debate yet again. “What’s Burinja for ‘friend’?" Meant as much in jest yet again.

“Bellok.” A Knight said. Nothing happened. As expected.

Vayla stepped closer to the door meanwhile, studying the runes. “Multiple cultural dialects. Tribal words in all manner. These symbols look as ancient as the Force.”

A bit of an unimaginative comparison, perhaps, but that mattered less than getting the door open. “Datapad. Droid. Perhaps the latter has a port for the former. Where was it seen?”

A Knight stated the distance. “We had no need to take it with us. Useless trinket.”

Vayla denied herself a roll of the eyes. “I suggest the two of you keep researching these runes. Try ‘cupcake’ instead of friend. Alienor, what do you say we fetch the missing pieces and see if we can't find a passphrase?”

@Charndley

 

[Alienor Pom Blodau]

The droid and the datapad were a lot more concrete of a lead than just speaking random words at a door. Even if it didn't work out, it'd get her out from the endless argument of the two knights. Nodding at Vayla, Alienor slipped the cataloguing datapad into her satchel. The work could always continue later. The crystals were certainly not going anywhere.

"I think I heard one of the other padawans on the trip say the droid walked off somewhere in the caves once we'd found the main deposits of crystals. Somewhere in the tunnels," Alienor offered, brushing her hands down on her coat. "I'm not sure what happened to the datapad though?"

Luckily, one of the knights chose that moment to be mildly helpful. He pointed over to a nearby table, where the Jedi had been laying whatever odd bits they'd found. "Everything that was found was put on there for checking out and cataloguing." Alienor took the opportunity to walk over and crouch down, pushing past a few errant rocks and ore samples to find the ancient datapad. It looked like an old kid's toy, all mouldering plastic and specks of rust rather than anything technological. Did screens used to be that low-def and small?

Alienor showed it to Vayla before nodding towards the tunnels. "Are we going?"

@Die Shize

 

[Vayla Mirana]

Well now, that certainly helped narrow things down. Datapad in hand, there was only one quarry left to search for in these caves. Unfortunately, it sounded like it would be moving more than stationary, but it would be found.

“Ancient trinket indeed,” Vayla was in agreement with the datapad looking like a stone club to a lightsaber, without a port for power. “Hang onto it, Pad.” A habit of expression for a Padawan, but Alienor was welcome to ignore it or voice her discontent. Either way, finders keepers, to some extent.

Backpack around her shoulders, the Knight kept her hands free, ready to ignite her own lightsaber if the occasion called for it. This cave network was extensive, and on their way in the group as a whole had passed more than one pitch black tunnel without ever looking back.

However, exploring caves was one of Vayla’s favorite activities. “I usually go solo when it comes to spelunking.” She aimed to break the cavernous quiet with a bit of conversation. “Environments like these permit me as much freedom to think as a meditation chamber...while offering the occasional danger.”

The pathway was lit by crystals, their simple yet elegant glow never lost on her. “And you?” Knight, Padawan, just two Jedi walking along and talking.

“I wonder, while cataloging that kyber, what color lightsaber did you picture?” An honest prompt of thoughts, and casual, but Vayla may be far off the mark based on the response.

@Charndley