Ask Korriban Malleus Maleficarum

[Zoya Viktrov]

Zoya prided herself on the fact that few things were grave enough to unnerve her. She had grown up on a world that mostly consisted of the graves of ancient Sith, after all. But this audience was different. To her knowledge, the Empress didn't ordinarily meet with Acolytes. They were too far down the food chain to warrant her interest. Still, Zoya was adamant to meet her. The Empress wasn't just the most powerful Sith in the Empire. She was the most powerful witch on Dathomir—perhaps ever.

She felt bad for not telling Darth Raze about this audience. She was grateful he had taken her under his wing, and she had already learned so much at his feet. But there were some things only a witch could teach another, and if she was to truly learn how to use Sith magick, she would need to learn from someone who had built their reputation on mastering it. Even if the Empress could give her just one lesson, she could take that back to Raze and use it as a foundation for further study.

Yet, as she reached the rendezvous point—a decaying Sith temple jutting out of the desert wastes like a thorn out of dead skin—she found her confidence beginning to slip. The rumors she had heard about this witch... She had killed the Eternal, a nightmare in the dreams of every Sith, with such ruthlessness that few dared to speak the details. Zoya could not afford bad impressions. She could not make this woman her enemy. It was essential she got this right.

When she got to the foot of the steps leading into the temple, she dropped into a kneel, bowing her head to wait for the Empress to emerge. She hated being prostrated in front of anyone. It wasn't her style. But a Sith had to know their place, and her's was certainly the supplicant here. @Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

There were two reasons that Renfry had finally agreed to take this meeting. The first was that despite her own experience, there was always more to be learned. She knew of Sith Magic, and she was curious how it differed or was the same as the magic this woman used. She knew that Korriban felt very similar to Dathomir even if darker and more desolate, but it was not Dathomir.

The second reason was that she was Raze's apprentice. Renfry knew that Tia had long ago graduated from needing a proper master, and she hadn't expected to hear the rumors of Emryc taking on another apprentice. She was curious who the woman was.

Renfry was reminded why she didn't really care for Korriban as even in the shade sweat began to bead along her forehead. The other woman arrived and knelt before her, and Renfry's head tilted to the side slightly as she looked at the woman, weighing and measuring her for a moment.

Come inside, she said, waving her hand for the other woman to follow her. She descended downward, heading inside the temple where the air was cooler the deeper they went. It was carved into caves and deep paths that led in curious labyrinths beneath the ground.

You worked hard for this meeting. Not without reason, I imagine, she said. She didn't feel introductions were really in order at this point. The meeting wouldn't have occurred if neither of them knew the other.

@Mockingjay

 

[Zoya Viktrov]

Zoya scurried after the Empress. The inside of the temple was indeed cooler than the humid outside air. But the air inside also had a staleness to it, smelling a bit like an old basement that hadn't been open in decades. The dust tickled her nose, and she was reminded that, while she loved her homeworld, she also hated it. She longed for a life outside it. A life Raze had given her. A life she now had to keep.

"Yes, my lord," she replied, keeping just a few respectful paces behind the Empress. She had gleaned Darth Andruil had some connection to her master, but she didn't dare presume the Empress' affections for Raze extended to his pupils. "I am in need of your guidance. Lord Raze is an exceptional teacher, but there is much he cannot teach me. If I am to be useful to the Sith, to my master, to you, and to myself, I need to learn more about this power sleeping within me."

Your unique abilities position you to be a powerful wielder of the Force without ever needing to pick up a lightsaber, Raze had said.

It was time to understand what he meant.

"You are the only Sith I know who walks the arcane path," she continued. "It is a path which I too wish to follow. That is why I sought you out. To ask for a lesson. Even if it is only one. You are my best chance at understanding why this planet whispers in my skull."

And why it took my sister from me.

The thought rose unbidden within her, but she chose not to speak it. She did not speak of her twin to anyone, rarely even herself. Yet everyday she was reminded that her growing strength in the Force had been what ultimately stripped the life from her sister's flesh. She was determined to make that sacrifice worth something, even if it meant subjecting herself to the most terrifying Sith in the galaxy. @Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

Renfry's alarm bells went off almost as soon as she spoke. Not because of the "yes, my lord" but because of virtually everything that came afterwards. There were very few in the Sith Empire who knew the full extent of the relationship between herself and Emryc, and she would keep it that way. But that relationship meant she had taught him many things and vice versa. She had given him her grimoire to study and learn magick. He had unfettered access to her homeworld, and those things meant that she knew something: Emryc was more than capable of teaching her about magick.

And if he knew how and hadn't that either meant he had decided she wasn't ready or she hadn't inquired. Either one meant she was going around Raze's back.

Without warning and as she often did, she spun. She came to a dead stop and the other woman would almost walk into her as she glared at her. Her naturally golden eyes blazed with fire as she looked at the other woman.

For a long moment, she was silent, looking at the other woman without flinching.

I'm not going to undercut your master, she said. She didn't explain how she knew because she didn't feel any need to. Don't come here asking me to teach you things because he won't, she said, a clear anger in her tone. It would suddenly become quite apparent that they were down here deep in a tomb where no one would come to help her.

She caught glimpses of the other woman's mind. A side effect of the power differential between the pair. I don't have answers for you about your dead sister, either, she said bluntly.

Unless you're going to get his permission, I think we're done here, she said.