Ask Dathomir Magic Words

[Darth Stolas]

Dathomir was not the kind of place Morgan frequented. Not really because of the vast expanse of no-people that it was, he sometimes had things to do in those too. Rather because it was a big pile of mystic hoodoo-voodoo that he generally erred on the side of caution around. The whole planet looked and felt strange to him in more ways than one. Today though he had sucked up his caution and decided to head off anyway. There were things that needed doing related to Dathomir, and he knew just who to ask for help. Unfortunately the person question was annoying hard to get ahold of by standard channels.

Which was precisely why Morgan had put effort into finding her ship and following her to Dathomir. Better to ask forgiveness than permission, right?

The Karma Chameleon dropped from hyperspace and curved inward toward the planet proper, cutting through the atmosphere and heading toward a very specific spot. What was at that spot Morgan didn't actually know beyond his quarry's ship, but he figured he'd find out soon enough. Eventually his ship emerged from the clouds, coming in to land a reasonable distance from the Dynamic, which had itself only just recently landed itself. He could still see a figure in robes not far from it. That was probably good.

With little further delay Morgan stepped down the ramp of his ship dressed in casual attire aside from his utility belt, golden eyes tracking to the woman he'd been looking for. He waved from where he was and started walking over. Hopefully she wasn't the zap first type, 'cause this would probably go a lot easier if he got to speak first.

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

Renfry had returned to Dathomir again despite her better judgments. Too much had happened for her to return to her sisters, but this was always going to feel like her home. The jungles, the winds, the dangerous creatures were all what she had grown up with and was familiar with.

The sound of another ship coming in to land near hers caused her to turn, frowning at the intruder. She may have been an outcast among her people, but Dathomir was still not a place for outsiders.

She stood there, facing whoever was approaching and waited with crossed arms. A Sith? Felt like it, but no one she had met before or recognized. Who he was, why he was here, and why he was following her were all still up to be determined. She wasn't thrilled about any of it, however.

 

[Darth Stolas]

Not a bad start so far. She'd definitely noticed him but had not also decided to chuck lightning or mystery magic his way. He'd rather not deal with that just yet.

On he stepped, slipped around a bush, and began to approach. He moved casually, as if he was strolling through a nature park rather than on a shadowy death planet known for ghosts and hostile fauna. Kind of reminded him of home, actually, besides the rather standard gravity.

He stopped within conversation distance, though he also kept it respectful. He bowed slightly, keeping his eyes up to look at her before returning his straight-backed, vaguely military way of standing. Manners are important and all.


"You're the one from Dathomir, right? I need your help."

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

She watched as he approached, gaining the impression that he was a bit too confident in himself. Or perhaps she was just unhappy that someone had come to Dathomir and... followed her? It couldn't have been a coincidence that he ended up here.

And then, of course, he asked if she was the one from Dathomir. So he was tracking her. He wasn't one of the ones she'd met during the overthrow of the Forgotten, was he? She didn't recall him being one.

Figure that out yourself? What gave it away, the tattoos? she asked snarkily.

What are you doing here and why are you following me? she asked directly. If he was here to kill her then that wasn't going to work out so well for him. But let's not jump to conclusions yet. Maybe there was something else, but if he was wanting her to teach him magick - that seemed to be what everyone asked for - then this wasn't a good first step.

 

[Darth Stolas]

Morgan gave off a sheepish smile, raising his hands as if to say 'my bad'. The opening hostility was more what he'd expected and gave him something to work with. She was at least giving him a chance to explain. What a nice young lady.

"More or less, yeah. Listen, really sorry for the unannounced visit. But like I said, I need your help. There's something I'm looking for and you're probably the only one I can rely on. You'll get something out of it too, honest. Hear me out, please?"

Nothing he'd said had been a lie. In truth he didn't trust the average Sith to be able to tie their own shoes without throwing out a speech about hatred and giving them a good whipping but even that type had their uses. The thing here was that what he searched for was on Dathomir and Renfry was a native. Doubtless her magic could come in handy even if he had little interest in learning it from her at the moment. He had other things on his plate. Besides, he'd never even seen it in action personally, just heard stories.

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

Renfry continued frowning as she looked at him. He needed her help? She was going to get something in return? He was relying on her? If that was the case, then he was in a sorry state indeed. She'd come here to find a new place for herself, away from everyone else and away from the other Nightsisters.

But perhaps that could wait. Or maybe she'd simply dump this guy behind her and go back to her business if she didn't like what he had to say. He was putting on a big show of being polite, but if he was a Sith - and she was guessing he was - then that probably wasn't reality.

Sith? she asked, frowning.

Let's hear it, she said, arms crossed and finger tapping on her bicep. She was impatient, but at the same time curious. She always had a curious side to her that she simply couldn't overcome.

 

[Darth Stolas]

Well she agreed. Excellent. She also seemed suspicious but, in fairness, he was Sith. A little suspicion and paranoia kept a person alive. Morgan nodded when she asked to confirm her guess as to his affiliation.

"I certainly am. Anchante, I'm called Morgan Ali," he introduced himself, bowing his head a little and lowering his hands back down.

"I'm guessing you've heard of the Crimson Dawn? Used to have a big blade-shaped yacht during the time of Palpatine's empire. From what I could find it's last known heading before it was lost was here." He waved a hand over toward the Dathomiri landscape. Where precisely on the planet was a bit of a mystery, but that's what magic could hopefully help with.

"It was also known for its ostentatious collection of ancient artifacts and valuable materials, including several stolen from the people of Dathomir. Only seems fair I go to you first, right?" This too was truth. It was a mixture of rumor, conjecture, and the piecing together of descriptions compared to notes on other things, but still. He also did want to offer them to her in trade. He could See things very well, but tracking something this vague was outside his ability to do in what he'd consider a reasonable span of time, far from his teacher's usage of the ability. But if Renfry could help, maybe they'd succeed.

"If you have some way to track things with your skills, I think we could find it together. How about it?"

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

She had no idea what the Crimson Dawn was, but she wasn't going to let on about that right now. She was able to listen to his words and pick up what it seemed like she needed to know. There was a ship, it was somewhere on Dathomir, and he wanted to find it. She wondered if the line about it containing Nightsister artifacts was true or just something to bait her in.

You have anything more to go on than that? she asked, her mind starting to churn. She had a lot of means of doing a lot of things, but actually finding a ship on a whole planet? That was a tall order, even on her homeworld.

Morgan, she thought to herself, filing away the name in her memory should she need it.

And how'd you find out about it? she asked. She had many more questions, the floodgates trying to tear open. She always had a flow of them, but she stopped herself.

 

[Darth Stolas]

From a pouch the young Sith pulled out a shard of some greenish gemstone and held it up to see. Comparatively worthless to the much larger figure supposedly on the First Light, but it was something only native to one planet in the galaxy. And Dathomir wasn't it.

"If you're able to track something you have a piece of, or at least light a path, I can follow it no matter how dim. But I need a trail to follow first and I can't cast spells, miss. You have the better of me there," he smiled in a friendly sort of way, actually rather genuine. He knew his strengths and weaknesses well and had a sense of humility about himself despite being Sith. It came in handy in his line of work.

"As for how I found out about it, well. The ship itself was quite famous for a while. Imperial Moffs begged the favour of the Crimson Dawn, and it was even rumoured they had a force guiding them. A force here. The only decently uncorrupted report I could dig up tracked it as heading here. Nothing else. Quite a mystery, no?"

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

Renfry listened and looked at the small gemstone he produced. It was relatively beautiful and she walked over, holding out her hand to inspect it. It was a starting point at the least, though she wondered what exactly it was.

What is it? Where'd you get it? she asked, he was likely to notice that she was constantly full of questions.

I could probably track it, she said. She didn't need to ask what was in it for her, nor did she feel the need to assert that she would be taking a portion of the prize. She probably shouldn't have been so prepared for confrontation - he'd done nothing to warrant it - but perhaps that was what concerned her. Subtle evil was a more nefarious evil in her experience. She'd told Asminys that one time, after all.

She stepped back, putting a bit of space between herself and the man. She cupped her hands with the gem in them and held them up over her mouth. She quietly whispered a simple spell and then threw her hands into the air, her finger holding the gem in place.

A small orb of green energy flew into the air and started floating off in another direction. It was the same spell she had used when corrupting the nexus, simple but effective and useful.

We have our heading. We'll need speeders. The jungles aren't friendly, she warned. She had no idea if this guy even knew how to survive in the jungles, but she headed back to her ship to gather her speeder bike. Hopefully he had one of his own.

 

[Darth Stolas]

The young Sith tilted his head when Renfry asked where he'd gotten the bit of gem. Well, might as well be honest about it, right? He happily handed it over before answering.

"Some dead man. Trust me, he deserved his fate," he replied in a neutral tone, then leaned back a little to watch the fireworks. Sure, to ordinary eyes there was a bit of green light that launched off in a direction. But beyond his kind's advanced eyesight was how he saw through the Force. What'd she'd just was in a way quite complicated despite the relative ease of doing it. Where one might see an orb, he Saw a trail of twisting lights that pulled at the orb itself. Object entanglement through space, maybe? Whatever it was, it was impressive.

"Most impressive. Knew I could count on you, miss." Morgan hummed a trilling down-note in a satisfied sort of way as he turned back to his ship to retrieve his Starhawk. He hopped on, slipped some goggles over his eyes, started it, rumbled back out to the more open area where the spell was cast, and flashed Renfry a charming smile.

"Not to worry. I'll rely on your expertise."

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

Hm, she grunted at his response about getting it from a dead man. She didn't seem particularly disturbed by the revelation and was also unconvinced the man had deserved it. Maybe he had, but she didn't really care.

Yes, I'm pretty amazing, she said, actually smiling for the first time. It was a beautiful smile that most would find disarming, but still held a hint of danger to those who were extremely perceptive.

As they mounted up their speeders, she saw him smile as well. Everything about the interaction was... interesting.

She shot off in the direction the spell had indicated, knowing that it could be several hours they had to travel to reach where they were going. There was limited danger to those who were traveling by speeder, but she knew when they stopped, it would be far more dangerous.

They traveled for quite some time and she stopped several times to recast the spell and reaffirm their heading.

When they finally came to a stop, she was glad to be out of the seat of the speeder bike. They were in an area known as the Badlands. The name probably didn't need a great deal of explaining. It was known for being the breeding ground of a particularly dangerous type of insect-like creatures that were highly territorial. There was very little of value here.

It's somewhere nearby, but mind your step, we don't want to wake the locals, she said. @Mr. Teatime

 

[Darth Stolas]

Tracking down a Nightsister to use magic to convince her to track an old ship? Tedious and troublesome. Actually convincing her to do it? Potentially dangerous. Seeing her smile, even with that Dark energy lurking behind it? Absolutely priceless.

Morgan hummed to himself as they traveled, drowned out by the sound of the speeders and the rushing wind. Goggled eyes looked out over the gloomy landscape, rich with life and threats in equal measure. He had only known Renfry for a few short minutes but he strongly suspected she was something of a reflection of Dathomir. Danger and beauty entwined together in the shape of a young woman.

Yeah, definitely reminded Morgan of home.

They arrived and the other Sith hopped off his swoop and pulled the goggles off his head, taking a moment to sweep his hair back into place away from his eyes. His nostrils flared as he picked up the scent of fauna mixed in with the wood and rot of the native flora.

"Copy, tracking" he replied in a low, clipped military tone. His golden eyes flashed in the low light as they looked around, the pupils reflecting light like a cat's at night. Nothing immediately dangerous so far as he could tell, but he was still going to stick near Renfry. Best not play games here. Here, this close, there was a faint trail he could follow and pointed off in a direction that lead through a series of trees.

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

She threw a glance back at him. She didn't recognize whatever species he was, but she sensed something... wild about him. It was that same draw she couldn't bring herself to get over: danger.

Mm, so serious, she said, commenting on his curt, militaristic reply. Of course it was good that he took himself seriously - they were in danger after all - but she couldn't keep herself from sassing her new companion.

Are you always so serious, Morgan? she asked as she bent down, placing her hand against the ground. She could sense the turmoil in this place. The residual fear of prey that had been dragged to a catastrophic death.

She stood, seemingly unfazed by the feelings as she began walking forward. This pace was her home, and she felt more comfortable here than anywhere else in the galaxy. Over large roots and under low branches, she moved quickly through the jungle until she reached the base of a cliff and ran her hands along it. There were deep gouges in the rock face and she guessed they were from the crash of a ship. They were close, then? Something told her it would not be so easy as finding a ship when all was said and done.

 

[Darth Stolas]

Morgan turned to look at at Renfry, golden hawk's eyes glinting dangerously. Then he offered a fanged grinned and his expression softened. Maybe this was the time for a game. Just a little one.

"Aha, not at all, just force of habit. Would you prefer I praise your skill? Or perhaps the bright light of power behind those beautiful eyes?" He followed on behind her as she moved further on, the scents of death and rot growing stronger as they tracked the invisible trail toward their quarry. Maybe this would be more fun than he'd hoped after all.

"Wax poetic of the Shadow that follows in your wake, maybe? I've got some options, here," he finished, careful to keep his voice at a reasonable volume considering where they were and mirroring well enough where she stepped and how. He walked up beside her to look at the stone wall and tilted his head at it, an eyebrow raised.

"Well that's good." He looked around again for a few seconds, turning in place, then frowned irritably. "The trail is hidden. Follow the tracks?" he asked her, indicating the gouges with his hand.

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

Oh yes, he was quite a bit more fun like this. This was a game she enjoyed oh-so-much.

Oh, you're such a charmer. Enough to make a girl swoon, she said with a smile. She liked him, but she knew that he was likely no less dangerous than any of the other Sith she had met.

Feel free to keep complimenting me all day... and night, she said, quirking an eyebrow for a moment at him before turning back to what she was doing. Her hand brushed over the gouges in the stone and nodded.

Yeah, she agreed, heading along the path that they went. Her eyes dropped down and she saw the tracks of animals - or the insectoids more specifically - and pointed to them. They arced off in the other direction from where the gouges went, and was glad for that.

She could see shards of metal and pieces of starship hull that were scattered all over the area before she came upon... well, it looked like it might have been a ship once. It also looked like it had slammed into the mountain and been mostly buried in a rockslide.

Does that look like the ship you're looking for? she asked. It looked totally empty, like not even the insects had made it inside. Perhaps something or someone had kept them out this whole time. She had an eerie feeling and wasn't sure she wanted to find out.

 

[Darth Stolas]

Oho, aha! This game was much more fun with two players. Morgan hummed softly from his throat, pleased with where the 'conversation' was going



"I would do so unfettered, I enjoy the hunt and chase. But," he started brightly, stepping close quiet and quick like a stalking cat from where he'd been standing, looking directly over Renfry's shoulder at the gouges she brushed and speaking low behind her ear. A rumbling, baritone purr that edged the line just shy of a feral growl.


"If you volunteer yourself, even better." Then stepped back away, his face an expression of playful challenge, all sharp-toothed grin and shining eyes. After a moment he looked away to follow where Renfry's went toward the ground. Tracks of a species he wasn't terribly familiar with, but now that he saw them he recognized the rest of the embedded steps more easily. They went away from the gouges. That was probably good.


Morgan followed behind as they moved off and frowned with slowly increasing irritation as they came across individual pieces of ship, followed by the what a clearly a wreck. It was the ship at some point before it had landed front-first into a mountain. That was not good.


Not to mention the vaguely ominous feeling around it.


"That's it. What a piece of junk," he replied with a resigned sigh and began to slowly walk foward, eyes scanning over the area around it. He had a bad feeling about this.

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

Renfry could feel his breath against her ear and against the side of her cheek, the feeling make her heart skip a beat. She suppressed a smirk, washing the instinct away by the time she turned to glimpse him from the corner of her eye.

Promises, promises, she said quietly, hand reaching back to brush momentarily against the front of his thigh before she walked forward and began to follow the trail again. She'd get what she took.

When she saw the ship she couldn't argue with his assessment. It was a piece of junk and half buried by the rocks after the last hundred years.

She made her way over to the ship, running a hand on the side of it as well but finding no visible hatches. It felt... alive to her touch. Like there was something here.

She closed her eyes a moment and focused on Dathomir, opening them once again and they were now glowing green. On Dathomir, the Veil between worlds was thin here and she could see the Spirits passing around, and yet here there were none. Residue of something or someone seemed to remain.

She closed her eyes and opened them again, returned to their yellow hue and she turned to look at Morgan.

Laser sword, she said, pointing toward the empty section of the hull and hoping he had a saber to cut their way inside.

She suspected that some Spirit - ancient and powerful - had made its home here and kept away all else: insectoids, Nightsisters, and other Spirits. Perhaps it guarded the artifacts or perhaps it was merely coincidence. Either way, she doubted they would avoid facing it down.

 

[Darth Stolas]

His eyes turned back to the ship itself and as he came up behind Renfry. He looked over the hull, narrowing his eyes at it. He could See something, Hear something, but it was muddled, low, clouded. Something was here, but he didn't know if it was alive or not.

His Sight snapped to Renfry and his eyes followed it. He watched her, noting under his direct attention the lack of strange shapes that had danced around her before. Echoes clung to the ship where she looked, distant and disparate sounds. Interesting. Then he frowned again. Cut into the ship? Well, he supposed it was already a giant mess. Why not.

Morgan reached down to his belt and unclipped one of his lightsabers and stared daggers into the metal hull, tilting his head slightly, moving slightly left and right as if he was trying to get an angle to see something through a foggy window.

"I suppose I must."

The crimson blade snap-hissed to life in his two hands and was plunged into black hull. He adjusted his footing slightly and pulled, steadily burning a wide, tall U-shaped hole into the ship. Once he was done the blade retracted and replaced on his belt. He raised a hand and placed his boot on the panel.

He kicked forward to dislodge it from the structure and the fingers of his hand curled and twisted, the Force wrapping it around and causing it gently touch down on the flooring inside the cut-into hallway. The formerly fancy carpet burned and smoked where the hot metal made contact. Another thing to replace, but certainly not the most expensive.

"After you, miss. I'll watch the rear."

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

She watched him cut a hole in the ship and kick the door in before stepping back.

Mmm, I'm sure you will be, she said, clearly implying something with her tone. She ducked down and stepped inside the ship, eyes scanning over the entire room they entered into. The ship... it must have been huge because they were only in the first room and she got the impression there was much more to it than this.

She stepped out onto the carpet, the whole room was tilted due to the crash, and there were bones littering the room. Whatever had caused the crash, it seemed to have been bad. No wonder no one ever heard anything from these people ever again.

The bodies had decomposed years ago, but there was no sign of wildlife making it in here. She continued slowly and carefully through what looked like the "main room" that was the most packed by bodies.

Across the room, something moved, a bowl of some sort flew directly at Morgan and would slam into his face if he didn't move. Yet there was no sign of who or what threw the item.