Ask Dathomir Magic Words

[Darth Stolas]

Morgan resumed smoking in peace, watching the two women converse over tribal matters and the uninvited guest apparently hiding in the trees. A rival, by the sound of things. The Knights of Ren had also at one point referred to the dark side of the Force as the 'Shadow', though Morgan had little context for the terminologies of the Dathomiri. He seemed unbothered by the obvious disbelief and suspicion from Sile and even offered a cheery little wave as she departed. Morgan had spoken the truth, as he often did, and it mattered little whether she believed him.

The young Sith observed Renfry's reaction to Sile's departure but made no comment himself, instead standing from his seat and tossing the remains of his cigarra into the coals of the fire. A quick pat-down determined he had all his things where they should be on his person. The darkness of this planet made it difficult for him to track anything on his own, so he would once again be relying on Renfry to find the man until they got close enough.

"I am ready," he replied and turned away to hop back on his bike, the engine revving smoothly to life. He looked up at Renfry for a moment, head tilted as if to consider her from a different angle. He smiled.

"Sile seems nice. I like her."

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

Renfry had made sure that everything was in place, and with that, she prepped the speeder to leave. She heard him declare he was ready as well before making a comment about Síle. Renfry paused for a moment before snickering slightly.

She is, she said. She couldn't quite tell if he actually liked her or was being sarcastic. She hadn't exactly been the most polite when interacting with him, but she was not always like that. At least not with those she knew.

With that, they set off. She had an idea of where the man would be hiding. She knew the mountains held an old temple of sorts that was perfect for someone to take refuge in. That was where she headed, coming to a stop after only a short travel and looking up at the building. It was built into a mountain as well and turned to look at Morgan.

I have a feeling we'll find the intruder in there, she said. She reached out and felt this place was thick with the Spirits, her eyes beginning to glow as she watched them pass here and there across the Veil. That was why the temple was built here.

What do you feel on this world? she asked, almost seeming more interested in an off-topic question than the mission at hand. She had grown up here and had a different sense of this world than most. She had helped the off-worlders defeat the Forgotten, but hadn't really spoken to them. She wondered what one of them felt when they walked here.

 

[Darth Stolas]

He had no further comments on the matter of Sile, only nodding in agreement to Renfry's brief confirmation. They started up their journey again, speeders flying once again through the trees with Morgan idly humming some old jazzy tune beneath it all.

Then they stopped before yet another mountain, though at least it wasn't another crashed ship jutting from it this time. Some kind of ancient temple loomed over them, built into and from the very mountain's stone. Morgan's head tilted and his gaze flicked across the empty air, something or other distracting him from immediately responding to Renfry's assertion. Whatever it was, he made an affirmative noise.

"I'm inclined to agree," he said at last and began to step forward, though he stopped when his quest companion asked something. Morgan turned to look out into the trees, brows furrowed in a pensive expression. He turned to look at the stone, worn and covered in fallen leaves and moss. To the sky, gloomy and full of clouds. He shrugged.

"The stifling weight of nostalgia," he said at last, then turned to look back at Renfry, grinning wryly. "And humidity." He turned away then to walk up the stairs of the temple, leaving the young woman to puzzle out what he actually meant.

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

Renfry looked unamused by his reply to her question. At first she took it to be some sort of a snarky response, but then began to think a bit further. He had very... predatory features, and while she knew nothing about his homeworld, she wondered if it was similar to Dathomir.

She considered pressing him on it further, but opted to abstain for the moment, filing it away with her other question to pester him about later.

He went toward the stairs and she went as well, pausing as they reached the door inside. Well... more of a doorway. There was human-sized archway that led inside and she crossed the threshold, immediately feeling the intensity of the darkness that resided here. It wasn't just the power of the planet, but someone siphoning that energy for themselves. How could the Clan Mother not have known or done something about this?

There was a momentary flash of anger within her but she kept pressing forward, coming a few moments later upon a being. He was hooded with tattered robes and sitting at a bonfire with a sword sticking out of it. That didn't really make sense, but sure.

She glanced over to Morgan, a hint of anger still in her eyes and spoke quietly.

We're killing him, she said simply. Hopefully he didn't want the man for anything because she was ready to spill blood.

 

[Darth Stolas]

Morgan moved up the stairs, eyes on the doorway ahead. He followed through just behind Renfry, sharp eyes sweeping the room. They flicked across the air and he walked forward on his own, the path entirely clear. Whoever was here might as well have lit a neon sign leading directly to him, a sentiment Renfry seemed to share in.

The two of them came upon a man, sat down and deep in concentration. A bonfire was lit, and beneath the shadow of his hood he seemed deep in contemplation, perhaps regarding his own lost humanity. The skin was sallow and pale, unsuited for the power he was taking in. Morgan's expression shifted into one of distaste and disapproval.

Plus, who sticks a sword into a fire? That was just disrespectful.

"Agreed," he answered without looking over, the silver undertones of his skin already shifting to the surface. His right hand rose up and the Force rose with it, the burning fire at Morgan's core reaching out to instill its will upon the world. He commanded the flame, the bonfire before the hooded man flaring to life, and it rushed to consume the figure in a sudden rush of heat and hungry, flickering fingers.

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

Good, then that meant there wouldn't be any arguing about it and she could wring the life out of him with her own two hands. She felt the Shadow shift under Morgan's focus and the fire flashed in a puff, singeing the man who adeptly rolled forward and to the side, snatching the sword from the fire.

Indeed, his skin looked decrepit and Renfry would have pondered what happened to him if she weren't already moving to attack.

Her hand glowed green and she bent over, slamming it into the ground. An explosion like green fire erupted from around her and suddenly the room came alive. The phantoms of beings long dead swept down from above and began to tear at the man's clothes and flesh. Bright red blood poured out, but the man seemed unconcerned.

He lunged forward at Morgan, slashing down with his sword, its size - dare she even call it impractical it was so large - giving him a considerable advantage over either of their bladed weapons.

 

[Darth Stolas]

Morgan was, admittedly, a somewhat delicately looking young man. Slender and lithe and using a very indirect and esoteric style of saberwork, it was easy to assume he didn't have much raw physical power at his disposal. Doubtless the robed figure and his oversized ritual blade had made the same mistake as the pair of Sith whose crystals now made up the core of his lightsabers.

While the man retrieved his weapon, two petar were grabbed in iron fingers and brought to bear in high guard, chin tucked and right leg forward balanced on the ball of his foot. The paired weapons activated, edges alight with crimson energy, essentially bronzium knuckles with curving blades on either side.

The robed figure moved in, seemingly heedless of Renfry's sorcerous assault, and swung his door on a stick down toward the young Sith. Morgan stepped in and left, right petar swinging right in a sharp parry that collided with the end of the sword in a shower of sparks, sending it down at an angle to crash into the floor. His left arm dropped to waist height and, following the twisting of his body, shot forward in a liver blow that cracked ribs with inhuman speed and power. The top blade clipped the robed man's arm on its way in, then the petar turned horizontally and cut with the bottom blade to burn a deep smoking line across the man's ribs.

While the punch had some effect, the man was clearly reinforced by the Force. He stepped away and the sword came around again in a massive horizontal swing. Morgan continued to follow his own momentum, twisting and rolling away and under the blow to come back to his feet outside of range, the blade just barely passing overtop. Morgan glared at the man, a growl rumbling deep in his throat. He was durable, but Morgan had his attention for the moment. He wouldn't mistake him for a waif again.

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

Renfry watched Morgan fall into his dance with the other man. That stupid sword would no doubt cleave either of them in half in a single hit, but she didn't plan for that to happen.

She backed off as the spirits began to subside and looked for an opening. Or rather, she was looking to give Morgan an opening. Her hands began to glow green once again as she backed up to the corner of the room.

She let the energy of the room wrap around the man's swinging arm just as she'd done during her fight against the Grandmaster. Opening up opportunities for others to strike was her preferred game plan in fights like this. While she could maneuver herself, she much preferred to let others do the sword twirling.

She slowed the arm enough to hopefully offer a saber strike to Morgan since she could see that the punch had been about as effective as the lacerations that already covered the man. But a good old fashion bisection... that was an opportunity.

 

[Darth Stolas]

The strange robed man's arm began to slow on the backswing, and Morgan could see the shades of power grasping at the limb to prevent a proper follow up. The young Sith's wetwork training kicked in, as well as a little something he'd picked up more recently.

Morgan's hands shot forward, the two petar spinning in glinting arcs toward the robed man's face. The Firrerreo himself followed just behind, hands dropping down to his belt and knees bent to sink low to the ground. The robed man's sword was dragged forward through Renfry's effort, the sharp instincts of a fighter resulting in an attempt at both a block and a dodge while he tried to fight off the influence to his arm. Which was what Morgan was counting on.

He dropped and whirled in with a kick as the twin knives flew in front to horizontally slash toward the neck of his enemy, the target focused on an attack toward his face. Morgan's boot cracked against the man's forward knee, causing him to stumble forward as the petar loudly clanged off the oversized sword's guard. The young Sith re-planted and rose up, hand drawing a lightsaber from his belt and swinging up to meet the man at the waist. Crimson plasma ignited mid-swing, rising to cleave through the forward-falling sword wield and burning through to the other side.

Morgan pivoted and switched his feet to turn back around quickly, now on the other side of the man, blade ready for a second blow that didn't really seemed to be necessary. The maneuver had left him mauled, bisected at the waist and trying desperately to claw himself away from the two Sith. With an expression of mild distaste the Firrerreo stepped forward, lifted his leg, and kicked his foot down onto the back of the dying man's neck. He pressed down to crack and crush the bone, grinding his boot back and forth as if disposing of some loathsome insect, and then turned to Renfry.

The young Sith grinned, fangs and golden eyes glinting in the light of the dying fire.

"Dead, as requested."

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

Renfry held the man in place as Morgan moved like lightning, leaving the man torn up in multiple places within seconds. The final crunch of the bones of the man's neck snapping was the final note of the melody.

There was a furious look in her eyes as she approached the body, flipping it over with her foot and promptly spitting on the face.

Good, she said, finally taking a breath and looking around the rest of the room.

Her blood was pumping hard and she could feel her heart pounding as she wandered over to look at the fire. It appeared to be mundane, and yet he'd somehow managed to leech off of Dathomir's power. It was confusing and upsetting.

But her mind was drifting away from that now. The thrill of the fight was still in her and her mind turned to... other things. It brought about another question.

Why didn't you kiss me? she asked, turning to look at him. Actual answer, please, she said, expecting some evasive response as seemed to be his wont.

 

[Darth Stolas]

The crimson lightsaber deactivated and was replaced back on Morgan's belt clip, the young Sith stepping off the dead man to retrieve his petar from the ground. He retrieved a cloth from a pouch to clean the blood from the one that had bit into flesh and then tossed the rag into the fire. The twin knives found their way back onto belt clips and he bent down to retrieve the oversized weapon the man had used.

Morgan lifted it from the dusty stone in a hand, fingers in a tight grip around the hilt. He turned it this way and that, examining it carefully. Certainly he could carry it, but it was so unwieldy even so. What a stupidly large sword. Gold eyes wandered to the fire, narrowing at it. Just an ordinary fire. He decided to keep the sword and let the flat sit casually against a shoulder.

He made to wander deeper into the temple, but paused when Renfry asked her question. Morgan turned to look at her, expression a mix of bemusement and mild irritation.

"I didn't want to," he replied matter-of-factly, raising a brow toward her. "Do I need another reason?"

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

Oh yes, of course he was going to be difficult. She had expected nothing less, but she wanted an answer. She had apparently misread something or else... well, she wasn't sure. That was why she was asking, and she was undeterred by his mild annoyance.

You don't find me attractive? Or were you not flirting with me? she asked genuinely. Nightsisters were woefully lacking in anything akin to training on courtship. If you wanted someone and they wanted you, then that was that. Evidently that wasn't the case with the rest of the galaxy?

She wasn't asking to be a pest, per se, but it was also evident she had no intention of dropping the issue without getting a real answer. "I didn't want to" was rooted in something, and understanding that would be beneficial to future interactions between she and him or... well, pretty much anyone else.

 

[Darth Stolas]

The young Sith smiled a certain kind of smile, the kind with slightly narrowed eyes alight with mischief and fangs bared. Slowly he stepped toward Renfry, the way he walked shifted from his usual light-footed stride to something that possessed the easy strength and casual grace of a feral cat. He stopped within a meter of Renfry, golden orbs burning dangerously.

"You are attractive," he affirmed, head tilting slightly and shamelessly looking over the woman's body in the distant, analytical way of an art appraiser. "That does not mean I have an interest in kissing you, and I do not engage in," he waved a hand dismissively, "Crude breeding while I am working, for practical reasons. Your being injured is likely."

Morgan took another short step forward, eyes moving back up to Renfry's in the same motion. His head tilted slightly, appraising her expression and the lines of her face. "If it is to happen, it will be on my terms or not at all. If it is a prize you seek, ask sweetly when the task is done." He maintained eye contact for several seconds and his smile suddenly turned to something friendly and inquisitive, demeanor shifting back to something more human.

He was appreciate of Renfry's help, or else he wouldn't have even considered the prospect at all. But the young Sith allowed few to touch him without some kind of express permission, and he was quite sure Renfry had little idea the kind of physical strength he could bring to bear during such an act. She'd conceded the game to learn the rules, but there was always time for another.

"Does that answer your question?"

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

She was familiar with that look he gave her, and not only was she not disturbed by it, she found it exciting and thrilling. She laughed slightly at his term "crude breeding," not indicating she found it offensive. It was nature. People tried to overcome it, suppress it, put it aside, but it was always there.

Her being injured? That was an interesting statement to make and made her quirk her eyebrow. Dathomirians were quite durable people, and her curiosity was piqued.

Promises, promises, she said quietly. Though she didn't particularly fancy the idea of asking nicely. Instigating or capitalizing on someone else's interest was one thing, but she wasn't in the habit of asking nicely for things. Hm, she thought to herself.

It does. Very enlightening, she answered, finally relenting - for now - from her slew of questions.

Certainly is a shame that you don't want to, though, she said with a coy smile before turning and walking further into the temple. Surely the man's belongings would be here somewhere, likely hidden, as they hadn't been on him at the time. She wondered what else he might have taken for his own that they could find. What else he'd stolen.

 

[Darth Stolas]

Morgan tilted his head slightly in a confirmatory nod, then turned on his heels to follow along as they headed deeper into the temple. He had no comment to offer, not finding it a shame at all. It was simply the way it was, and he didn't bother to question his own preferences for intimacy overmuch.

Now the man was dead and what he'd been doing was done, it was much easier for Morgan to listen to everything else going on in the background. There was a song there, deep and echoing, beneath the hundreds of other voices that suffused the temple. The Firrerreo followed the sound, abruptly turning from the main atrium down a hallway that lead to what was probably once a ritual chamber.

Laid out in apparently random arrangements were a vast variety of items. Bits of old Mandalorian armour, books, statues, bags of survival supplies and clothes, scrolls, and so on. Most were only worth credits or cultural value, but the crimson pyramid laying disrespectfully on its side in a corner was certainly not. The old, leather-bound book beside it that leaned against it similarly had value all its own, as did the large and dimly glowing crystal orb beside it.

Morgan frowned. "Such disrespect," he muttered, approaching the pile of three objects, leaning his new sword against a wall and clearing a space on a nearby table to place the three artifacts neatly atop.

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

Renfry made her way down the same hall to the rather large area where the man had kept his stash. She was surprised at just how much was here. Armor, weapons, books, trinkets she didn't recognize, and more. At the far side of the room she spotted the holocron and Morgan made his way over there promptly. She was curious about it of course, but there were many other things to search as well.

He seemed to be full of that, she said in response to him. She had no remorse over killing him. She wondered if she might find something to explain who he was or what he was doing here among the remnants of his belongings.

She began to rummage through his more personal belongings when something caught her eye. To the side of his things were a pair of talismans that she recognized to be of Dathomirian origin. Perhaps this was what Morgan had referred to when he'd spoken of artifacts from Dathomir.

She picked them up to inspect them. One was a necklace and bore the resemblance of a wolf on it. A talisman of transformation, then, she assumed. The other item - a ring - had a central gem that swirled in the light, evoking thoughts of a blizzard. Perhaps a talisman of ice, then? It was fascinating and exciting, and she had to pull herself from her inspection to see how things went with Morgan.

All of this was owned by some gangster? she asked in surprise and skepticism.

What was his fascination with Force users? she asked.

 

[Darth Stolas]

Morgan took his time looking over the three objects he'd placed before him, starting with the book. With a delicate touch it was taken up and opened, slender fingers turning a page over. Much was in a very old and regional Basic script that he could read just fine, but some bits were in a more specialized language he only understood pieces of. He skipped ahead a bit, landing on a page about a pair of deities, before closing the tome and placing it next to the orange orb.

"A very important gangster with powerful connections," he corrected, picking up the crystalline sphere and turning it carefully in his hands. This one he did not personally recognize, reflected in a pensive expression, but the sound it made in the Force was by now easily familiar. Morgan placed it back on the table, cradled in its pedestal, and turned to look over at Renfry again with the open book in hand.

"I believe he had a fascination with any rare object." He flicked through several pages of the book. "This, ah," he paused, narrowing his eyes at an array of symbols. "Seeing stone, belongs to Dathomir's people." He shut the book and held it up for Renfry to see.

"As does this Book of Shadows, no doubt."

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

Renfry made her way over to look at the objects that he indicated belonged to her people, taking special interest in the book. She took it gently and began to look through its pages, knowing she would have been more than happy to simply sit down now and spend hours poring over it.

It doesn't hold any interest for you? she asked curiously and then glanced at the holocron. She supposed that was the prize he had come for, but there was always more to be learned.

Going to open it and find out whose it was? she asked. She would have been lying if she'd said she wasn't curious. After all, they'd come all this way for it. She still wasn't sure that he didn't actually know, but perhaps he truly didn't. Was she turning into a skeptic?

 

[Darth Stolas]

He turned away from Renfry when she took the book, eyes back on the holocron. Her questions were not immediately addressed, the young Sith stalking around the table with his sharp gaze looking at and through the object. His boots settled in place on the opposite side and only then did golden eyes flick back up Renfry.

"It does. But I intend to keep my word." Morgan indicated the book with a hand. "I will not take it." He let that statement hang in the air for a moment before returning his attention to the holocron. In answer to her question the young Sith reached out his hands, pressing silk and iron fingertip against the sloping sides of the pyramid.

His skin shifted a deeper silver and his eyes burned like miniature suns, alight with fire and fury. Power and will flowed into the holocron, a call for it to open and reveal the gatekeeper. For a few seconds nothing happened.

Then the crimson sides glowed, and a faceless figure robed in black rose up above the object. It was vague and indistinct, and the voice that rumbled from within the folds of the cloak was as average as could be. The only colour shown were the pair of shining points of yellow light where a person's eyes might be, which turned to regard Morgan.

"You seek knowledge?" the gatekeeper asked. "And the power that follows," the Sith replied, to which the gatekeeper nodded and disappeared back within the pyramid. Morgan's fingers left the crimson sides of the holocron, which steadily returned to a docile clear. After a moment he looked over at Renfry.

"It is not a personal record, but a repository. Who built it matters little."

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

She didn't expect him to take it, but she wondered if perhaps he would have tried to extract something from it for himself nonetheless. She certainly wasn't going to bring it up, however, if he opted not to.

She watched him open the holocron, the gatekeeper appearing all at once. The concept of holocrons fascinated her. She had seen them before but she was still relatively new to the concept on the whole. One of those would have been useful to hold all of her spells and rituals, but she had a feeling they were no small task to create. If they were, then there would have surely been many more of them.

She was skeptical of saying that it didn't matter who had made it. What if they were incompetent? She supposed if that was the case they wouldn't have had a holocron in the first place.

She set the book down and turned her attention to the holocron, waiting to see what it would say or do. She couldn't deny that she was quite curious to know what knowledge it held.

I read they're keys sometimes as well, she commented, wondering if this served that function as well.