Knight in Matte Armor Pt. 3

[Darth Victress]

.

MUSTAFAR
​

In continuation of Knight in Matte armor pt 2.

The ritual had been completed, the brewed stew had been poured over the two armor pieces and both had submerged into the pool of blood that lay within the cavern. The armors would soak for several hours, absorbing the dark magics that lay within the essence of the green fluid. However, their work was not yet complete. In order to provide a catalyst for the force forging, they had to embark on one final task: appease the spirit which guarded these caverns.

It was a rare knowledge that sith alchemists typically drew their powers from the conduits of their surroundings. Mustafar was such a realm, a locus of the dark side and it was easy to understand why the Dark Councilor had selected this location for the ritual. However, in order for the conduit to bolster the powers of the alchemist, the spirits guarding such abilities had to first be appeased. The sacrifice of the Sith slaves and draining of their blood was the first step, the second would be the two Sith themselves and whether they could complete the satisfactory requirements.

Arianna motioned to Milo as the armors were soaking in the blood, "Come.." She said, lifting the hood of the ebony cloak over her head as she grabbed a small purse filled with potions and moved towards the numerous tunnel systems. "Destiny awaits us.."

@vamp

 

[Darth Parox]

Victress was quite clearly enjoying herself, and Milo was not surprised. It was well known throughout the ranks that alchemy was one of her strengths—she had even chosen to lead over the bio-sciences sphere before moving on to take military. What Milo could not understand, however, was why she was enjoying this so much. Perhaps it felt freeing, but memorizing so many incantations and rituals could not possibly be fun. Alchemy seemed, overall, a boring subject to Milo, one he had never bothered to delve into. It was far too mystic for his liking, especially after certain events in his life.

He wondered if she felt the tension in the air too. He wondered if Victress disliked him the same way he disliked her. So far, the woman had behaved the same with him as she had with everyone else, which—despite the witchy and mysterious-wanna be banthashit—was welcomed. Spending a week with someone that acted cold and harsh would have made the process of claiming this armor ten times harder than it had any right to be. It was, partly, also one of the reasons he had been so amiable with her. "Amiable," although the word was used loosely here; he had not shown hostility. That had been as friendly as they'd gotten.

When she strolled out of the chamber and left their armors there, he cast a brief glance toward the two sets soaking in the concoction, then headed off after her. She had not wandered too far down the network of tunnels when he stepped out of the cavern, and Milo followed close behind. There was no conversation between them as they walked, and he honestly wished there was—though he knew that would not be possible. They had never been friends, and they had no reason to become friends now. They were two Sith, helping each other in a mutually beneficial partnership. Nothing more, nothing less.

@Faded Truth

 

[Darth Victress]

.

Victress navigated through the dark caverns slowly and cautiously, Mustafar had been previously regarded as a dangerous place and while many of the beasts had already been slain in previous centuries it still remained a locus for the dark side and would be considered as such. Victress didn't really have a strong opinion on Milo either way, unlike the other Darths, her interests lay in only her position, the Empire, and the dark side. A devout Sorceress, she had filled her thrill with pursuit of her emotions and the connections to the intricacies of the force, though all notably vile and corrupted. So much that unlike others who could often times hide their aura, hers was always palpable and resonated with a sphere of chilling death.

They arrived into what appeared as a clearing, a narrow river of lava stood about 15 meters away from them and the Darth turned to face towards it. Tossing the bag to the ground, she removed a vial of Black Root and consumed it before beginning the next phase. "The powers I will require to finish the ritual are ones that I do not possess..so we must borrow them..." She said, a slight smirk coming to her face as she knelt towards the ground as if paying respect to an unseen liege lord. Closing her eyes, the darkness swirled around them relentlessly, plunging the chambers with an unwelcoming cold silhouette as the wails of tortured souls echoed through depths of the cavern.

The lava soon began to manifest a physical form in front of them, rising out of the fluid as the dark powers that create this sanctuary were now in effect to greet its intruders..

@vamp

 

[Darth Parox]

Mustafar was beginning to grow on Milo, which was good, since he was going to be negotiating its membership within the Empire in a few hours. This had been a sort of errand he'd been forced to run on the planet before the meeting. He would have planned to do it after, but if the meeting went sideways and they had to use lethal force, it would take some time before the planet became safe to navigate. Killing one's leadership generally lead to a few days of cat-and-mouse, where Imperial forces had to run around killing any opposition as well. It was tedious, and why Milo had opted for diplomacy.

But the dark side presence in the caves was unmistakeable. He could tell this planet was a nexus, and it made him even more convinced it belonged within the Empire. It would be blasphemy to let such a dark planet fall into the wrong hands, like Dathomir had fallen to the Mandalorians. He was snapped out of his thoughts by Victress throwing a bag down.

She took out a vial and drank from it, and Milo could not help but wonder what it was she had just ingested. It tasted awful, no doubt, and seemed to have no immediate effect on her. She knelt in front of him, facing some unknown force, and he half expected the dead to rise to serve her. Instead, the room turned eerily dark, and he could hear ghostly howls tugging at him. Milo looked around and his hand flew to his lightsaber, but he realized plasma would not help them. Instead, he drew a Sith sword sheathed at his hip, watching as the lava rose into silhouettes. "I don't suppose they're here to help?"

@Faded Truth

 

[Darth Victress]

.

The lava formed silhouettes continued to materialize into humanoid shapes, resembling that of a large Goblin with massive trunk and a head seemingly connected to the torso without its preference of a neck like appendage. The lava soon cooled into what appeared as an artificial flesh covering, pinkish but echoed with a sinister force presence. Its voice was bellowed and gruesome, shattering the very tranquility of the cavern as it ushered out a command. "Kneel!" It roared, the groan thundered through the passageways and nearly collapsed under the weight of its scream.

The Dark Councilor glanced at Milo for a moment, smirking, "Depends, assistance may occur in many ways. It is here to facilitate our purpose.." She said, attention shifting towards the force manifestation as it took its final form. The command was brutal to swallow but slowly she acquiesced, lowering her body to one knee and she hoped that Milo would do that same...

The force beast snarled and drifted backwards, seemingly floating rather than standing on the cavern floor. "The powers you seek...what shall you use them on? Young Sith..." The force spoke, a question that it floated to the both of them rather than directed at anyone in particular.

@vamp

 

[Darth Parox]

Milo sometimes forgot that conducting business with sorcerers required that he participate in what he had heard many Acolytes affectionately refer to as "edgy ooga booga stuff". He would normally find the term edgy in itself and a poor attempt at humor overall, but they were entirely correct. That was exactly what they were participating in right now, and he had to go along for the ride if he really wanted his armor. He'd come far—from Dathomir to Mustafar, which is no short journey—so he supposed he may as well finish the job.

The creature that materialized seemed about as friendly as a cobra that had been woken up from a nap, and certainly behaved like one. His eyes tracked it as it floated around the room, snarling and yelling. With a frowning grimace, he slowly lowered into a kneel, after a few seconds of considering whether he wanted to upset whatever demon was helping them with the armor. His eyes remained fixed on it even as he bent the knee, his face hard.

"As protection against our enemies," he replied, which was just a tad better than "dark side stuff," which he'd been tempted to say. "We have proven ourselves to be capable champions of the dark side; we are here to claim what we deserve."

@Faded Truth

 

[Darth Victress]

.

The dark councilor remained silent, observing the interaction between the Demon and Milo. Seemingly, the creature was more interested in the Sith Lord than it had been in her, its bloodlust drawn to the natural powers and affinity that Milo's drast ancestry bestowed upon him. Arianna was born merely a commoner, but Milo, his blood was pure and still possessed essence of the once great Empress. A fiery tendril reached forward and plunged itself into Milo's chest, but oddly, it would cause no damage. The tendril was a manifestation of the force itself and linked itself with the aspiring Lord's lifeforce.

The memories of the Sith Order would flush before his eyes, as the creature looked down and asked. "Champions you are..but what shall you do with this power? Shall you advance your own hungry ambitions or will you slay enemies in the name of our one, true Goddess?"

@vamp