Ask Down the Rabbit Hole

[Soleil Altan]

MUSIC​

There'd been one of several puzzles of sorts Sol'd sought to solve, inquisitive toward the patterns he'd found in old books, records, and writing. Recently his research hobbies had actually gotten him somewhere, some coordinates to a word past generations of the Jedi Order tried to bury. Pulling from different libraries and archives he'd finally discovered a set of coordinates for the dualistic planet, Auratera. All on his own.

Problem was, he was an academy acolyte and had about as much authority as your average thumbtack. So he needed someone with a bit more oomph behind their name to actually go. Which was where Raphael Valtiere came in. According to what Sol'd found the planet was practically soaking in the Force and had some extremely old temples on the surface, possibly even more. What Champion wouldn't be interested in that, right?

Which was how they'd gotten here in the first place. Auratera was a planet nearly always bathed in sunlight from two suns. One that it orbited, and the other that was simply there. Despite this, it wasn't overly hot, with seasons determined by relative distance. True, dark night only came when one sun eclipsed the other. Settlements were rare and far spread out, with only one notable spaceport, Senoloro. They'd have to find the temple from there.

Across Auratera the many trees were turning shades of orange, red, and brown. Autumn was here, cooling the air and lending bright splashes of color amidst the greenery. Sol rather enjoyed the views.

It was immediately obvious that the planet thrummed with the energies of life in the Force. It was in the earth and the air all around. Sol, sensitive to Force impressions, was still getting used to it as they departed the ship. He'd worn his field gear and backpack, expecting there wasn't much in the way of city living in this far-away backwater.

First thing's first: Find some locals who knew what the fuck was up with the temples. Unless Raphael disagreed, he supposed.

@Orbit

 

[Raphael Valtiere]

A discovery had been made by one of the Acolytes and Raphael had been chosen to be the one to accompany him. The prospect actually didn't bother the Sephi as he had his own personal interest in this. Various temples were scattered across the surface of the planet, the force that hummed through the air only reinforcing that fact. There was an opportunity on the planet, it just had to be sniffed out.

Landing at the only viable spaceport, Senoloro, the Sephi exited from his Starblade. The craft locked itself once he got out, his icy gaze scanning the locale around him as it reminded him of a planet he had just visited recently. Dressed in his typical attire, his black and gold coat billowed in the wind as the climate barely bothered him.

Both of them had brought their own ship and landed in their separate hangers but still met outside where the exits conjoined and led further into the spaceport. Raphael would stand out easily, his figure towering over anyone he walked past. His stride carried purpose and he made his way straight toward Sol. The Sephi would halt a respectable distance away from the Acolyte, no words being shared as his silver optics would just flick up and down the child for a quick inspection.

It had been the first time the two met and he wondered if this would just be a wild goose chase. It would be up to the Sephi to determine if his findings were of actual worth or not.

Sol didn't greet himself, Raphael unaware of him being mute, and in return remained silent too. When a couple of moments of this silence passed, the Sephi simply turned his gaze away as one of his ears flicked and caught something. It was a man standing around a speeder-bike and speaking with a merchant, pelts loaded on the back as he came back from a hunt.

With a peek toward Sol, Raphael walked that afterward without warning. By the time he arrived, the man had turned around and found the Sephi peering at him. "You're visiting the villages. Let us join as your protection." A subtle application of force was applied. The man glanced between the two Sith before he nodded, "Of course." The man would load onto his truck speeder and gestured to the others to do the same.

 

[Soleil Altan]

The first thing Soleil noticed about this Raphael character was that he was stupidly tall, forcing the much shorter Wrean to crane his neck in order to see the dude's face. He promptly gave up on doing that and moved on with his life, silent as ever. His version of a basic greeting looked kinda like a quick, lazy salute that turned into a small hand wave.

In the middle of Sol looking at some local bird species he'd been distracted by, Raphael wandered off and Soleil turned to follow. He didn't try too hard, though, walking at his normal pace until he got to the local man and his speeder truck. His brows rose appreciatively at Raphael's bit of trickery and he climbed right up into the vehicle without complaint.

Transport acquired! Now they just needed some spare info and to actually get where they were going without something strange happening. Simple. Hopefully. Soleil sat across from Raphael, the pair of them looking slightly ridiculous from the size disparity if nothing else. The silent acolyte pulled a small flip-top notebook out and got to a relevant page, a pencil that'd been stored in its rings scratching acrosss paper.

Ask about temples? I'll try birds, the note Sol held up toward Raphael said in semi-neat handwriting. Meanwhile, he looked up toward the sky, squinting through the sunlight and trying to find one of those birds he found. The one from the spaceport actually seemed to be coasting along air currents following the now-moving speeder truck.

The planet's temples were truly, truly ancient. A ridiculously long time ago the Jedi and Sith orders fought over the planet and its nexus, leaving ruins and new temples behind in an endless cycle. This only stopped after the planet was forgotten through some creative records editing, but its existence couldn't be totally erased. It was a strange planet, and old archives still told tales of old battles and its especially unusual vergeance in the Force.

@Orbit