Mind Your Manor pt1: The Assessment

Alastair Valkyrion · Dec 19, 2018

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VALKYRION MANOR GROUNDS---SERENNO---1100 HOURS GALACTIC STANDARD TIME

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Alastair stood outside his family home, loking at the moss and ivy covered masonry. It was crumbling in some places. He had not been back here in a very long time, not since he left to go to the Sith academy on Korriban.

Now his parents were dead, his childhood friend was gone and no one knew where. Restoring the manor to it's former glory was the first step in Alastair's plan to bring the Valkyrion name back to it's proper importance, and then at the very least double that.

He had contacted an assassin that he had met on a couple occasions (@Axym) to accompany him, he knew he could handle his own fights but he figured backup couldn't hurt. Whether the man would show up was another question.

For now all he could do was wait and see, looking at his home and planning what to do next. He would need contractors, he had heard of a group that was somewhat less than reputable. But he was resourceful and had confidence that he could convince them to work properly, and for a low low price.

Sythe · Dec 20, 2018

Sythe walked up to where the man was standing. He made no attempts to hide his presence, he was expected, and to hide from his now employer would’ve been silly.

Sythe’s eyes followed the man’s gaze toward a very old, and very rundown building.
“Is this place yours?” he asked. He probably already knew the answer, but he felt that he should start a conversation with the man if they were going to be working together.
“And why am I here?” This was the real question. The building needed repair, but Sythe wasn’t a carpenter, nor a contractor. And he wanted to know if being there was worth his time... and skill.

@One For Sorrow

Alastair Valkyrion · Dec 20, 2018

Alastair almost jumped at the silent and sudden arrival of Sythe, even though he had contacted the man and expected him to be here.

"It is," he responded, "And you are here because I have heard there have been some hooligans around and I wish to have backup in case there are. Not that I can't handle it myself, I just prefer having someone else to share the fight with."

He was no coward, he just liked to have backup. His particular method of fighting benefited from having someone to take the attention from him while he did his sorcery.

"Now then," he said as he pulled an ornate key from an inner pocket of his coat, "Shall we see what the damage is?"

Sythe · Dec 20, 2018

“Backup. Got it.” Sythe replied. He wasn’t there to build, he was there to “pursuade”... which suited him just fine. In fact he preferred fighting to talking.

“Lead the way.” He said as Alastair pulled the key from his pocket. He fell into step slightly behind and to Alastair’s right side.
“Do you expect heavy resistance?”

Alastair Valkyrion · Dec 30, 2018

By the force! A full sentence. Alastair thought to himself jokingly. Sythe was a man of few words, but the Valha sorcerer got the feeling once his respect was earned he was a staunch ally.

He unlocked the door and pushed it open, it swung well enough but the hinges screached like a startled mynock and the sound caused a small rat-like creature to scurry away in fear.

"Hopefully not." he paused as he waved his hand and the rat thing popped like a balloon "Mostly vermin I would imagine."

He looked around the entryway of his familynhome, he had grown up here. He remembered the splendor of how it once was. Now the cobwebs and broken boards almost made him sad.

"However I do not yet know how my parents died, it may have been nefarious. If someone killed them I imagine they would like to finish off the bloodline, couldn't hurt to have a friend in that case."

Alastair chuckled a little as he called the Assassin a friend, he got the feeling Sythe was not the type to make such connections.

@Axym

Sythe · Dec 30, 2018

“A friend?” Sythe replied. A friend wasn’t what he was looking for, or what he needed.
He was there to do a job... and he would do that job as long as he was paid, or until the job was done.
“I will kill whoever you want. But I’m not here to make friends.”

He stepped into the manor and looked around. The place had seen better days, but the walls were sound and intact. It would make a good base of operations if Alastair could fix it up.

“You mentioned squatters from earlier. Shall we find them?”

@One For Sorrow

Alastair Valkyrion · Dec 30, 2018

"Fair enough." Alastair stated simply, there was no sense discussing it any further.

"Not just yet.." Alastair muttered as he wiped some dust off of a bannister and rubbed it between his thumb and forefinger. "For now we pretend they aren't here and perhaps at a later date we will....persuade them to work for me."

Sythe · Dec 30, 2018

“I can persuade them.” Sythe said dryly. He didn’t like to wait, but this was Alastair’s domain, and he wouldn’t do anything to mess it up for the Sith Sorcerer.
“So what are your plans for this place anyway?”

@One For Sorrow

Alastair Valkyrion · Jan 8, 2019

"Good. And as for my plans, living here for starters. This was my family's home, I grew up in it. I intend to restore it to its former glory." Alastair looked around as he spoke and began to -carefully- walk up the grand staircase. His footfalls creaking through the old halls as he went. He did not care if anyone that was there heard them, this was his property after all. Whatever state it was in.

"I intend to collect many a relic here. It will become a base of operations for myself and those i trust."

It was going to take a lot of work. But Alastair knew of some semi-shifty contractors that could no doubt be strong-armed into working for a reasonable price. If not for free.

@Axym

Sythe · Jan 8, 2019

Sythe nodded as he followed Alastair further into the manor. The boards underneath their feet creaked with each step making him wonder if the manor was even worth saving. He thought that even the slightest breeze would blow the whole thing down around them, and maybe Alastair would be better off striking a match to it all and rebuilding from the ground up.
But this wasn't his home. Sythe didn't grow up there and didn't have any attachment to the crumbling ruin of a house. He was there to help.
When Alastair mentioned relics, Sythe's ears pricked up. "What kind of relics exactly?"

@One For Sorrow

Alastair Valkyrion · Jan 8, 2019

Alastair had a feeling the mention of relics would pique the assassin's interest, he knew the manor didn't look like much right now. But the thought of vaults and shelves full of books and relics, that had to be enough to get any Sith worth his saber interested.

"All sorts. Amulets. Weapons. Armor. Books," he paused and half turned to Sythe with a wry grin, "Holocrons." The sorcer continued through the manor, noting a large hole.through the floor of one of the bedrooms.

Entering a large study he almost cringed at the state of the room. Cobwebs, dust, all manner of books in varying stages of decay. This manor had been abandoned for far longer than he had thought.

"What a disgrace."

Sythe · Jan 8, 2019

"Holocrons." Now that peeked Sythe's interest. "I have been searching for one as well. I think I mentioned it when last we met. What do you know of them and how to acquire them?"
He was never known to be subtle, and so his question was direct and to the point. They had both agreed to help each other search for holocrons… but Sythe hadn't heard if Alastair was successful in finding one as of yet.

@One For Sorrow

Alastair Valkyrion · Jan 18, 2019

"Indeed. And I know only what I have read, acquiring them depends entirely on how they were hidden. Opening one and gaining the secrets held within....much more difficult. Though that still depends on the one who made it." Alastair explained, he had such a thirst for knowledge. He knew the only things that could come close to satisfying it would be a holocron. He didn't even care who's, it could be one made by a Jedi. As long as it held knowledge Alastair wanted it.

Alastair continued through the manor, checking room after room and noting repairs that needed to be completed on a datapad as they went.

Eventually they came to the forge, an old stone room with anvils and workbenches all centered around a massive forge with several sets of bellows. "Ahh. Memories." he muttered as he looked around before turning to Sythe "This forge once produced some of the finest weapons and armor in the Empire. There isn't much here anymore but you are welcome to anything you like."

@Axym

Sythe · Jan 18, 2019

Looking around, Sythe decided there wasn't anything of value that he really wanted from the old room. He merely followed Alastair around on his "tour" of the manor.
He was more interested in the artifacts that Alastair was talking about. He wanted one in particular, but the Sith would take anything he could that would help him accomplish his goals.
He also thought that Alastair would become more than just an acquaintance... Which was an odd thing to think about. Sythe was never one for friends, but this sorcerer may be someone he could accept in that fashion... maybe. Sith were never ones to be trusted, and Alastair was no exception. Sythe would be careful, no matter where their alliance would lead.
"So how do we find the artifacts?" he asked.

@One For Sorrow

Alastair Valkyrion · Jan 19, 2019

Alastair led Sythe out of the forge and went down to the vaults underneath the manor, empy and cobwebbed. The stone chipped in places but otherwise in tact.

"We have to find clues. Most force users with the patience to create and hide an artifact tend to leave hints...breadcrumbs if you will... as to where they have hidden them. For some it is a way to remember where they put them for later, for others closer to death it is a way of ensuring they only fall into the hands of one who deserves them." the Vahla explained. He had done lots of reading on the subject of artifacts during his time at the Sith academy on Korriban.

Eventually circling back around to

Alastair Valkyrion · Jan 19, 2019

Ooc: woops. Accidentally hit post.

the main entryway, Alastair stopped to finalize his notes in the datapad.

The floors all needed replacing, some walls needed to be re done. A huge hole in the roof needed to be fixed and the cellar needed to be broken into-though he hadn't yet because he had a feeling that's where the squatters were hiding, he had plans for them- some of the stonework needed to be fixed, and he wanted the bellows in the forge to be made automatic.

Once done he slipped the datapad into a pocket inside his coat. "There. Lots of work to be done. Know anyone who can help me strongarm some less than reputable contractors into working for a ...we'll say fair....price?"

@Axym

Sythe · Jan 19, 2019

Sythe grinned. It wasn’t a happy one, but one more laced with a sick pleasure of what could happen.
This is what he cane for... not for a tour, but to help rid the mansion of squatters. He relished the idea of punishing them for even thinking about living in a place that was not their own.
“I’m sure we can work something out. Do you want them alive?”

@One For Sorrow

Alastair Valkyrion · Jan 20, 2019

"The squatters we leave alone for now. I have plans for them and so far they aren't hurting anything. The contractors on the other hand? As long as there are enough left to do the work you may butcher them until they cooperate." Alastair walked out of the manor as he spoke and locked the door once Sythe was out with him, slipping the key back into one of his coat's many hidden pockets.

It was going to take quite a bit of work, and Alastair thought he might need to get a third involved to make the negotiations go his way. But he was committed to restoring his home, and so it would be done.

/end thread

@Axym