Ask Serenno Those Who've Fallen

[Veles]

Cigarette in mouth, Veles extended his outstretched palm over his head and concentrated, green mist enveloping his skull. He could feel the magick as it worked, his headache slowly lifting and nausea dissipating. After a few moments, he stopped, took another drag, put it out, then threw it off the side of the cliff. There was a knock at the door just as he was getting down from the windowsill and shutting the window, and he sauntered over to the door, shirtless as he was.

The Sith Lord swung open the door expecting it to be servants here to bring new towels or something. Instead, Malou stood there in front of him. ”Good morning,” he replied, yawning. ”Yes, I think I’m—oh.” The blood rushed to his face as he looked down. Then, he disappeared back into the room. ”Just a moment!” he called out, returning after a few seconds wearing a shirt and a sheepish grin. Veles stepped out into the hallway after her and slowly shut the door behind him.

”First, I need to get something from my ship,” he declared, heading toward where he’d left it. Malou would likely have to lead the way because he would absolutely get lost, and there was no map of Castle Wessex to go off of. The hundreds of different rooms and endless corridors did not seem like a fun place to wander for days.

"How do you feel?" he asked as they walked. He doubted Malou was a very heavy drinker, and the liquor from last night would certainly be sending shockwaves through her skull with every movement. Maybe she was more resilient than he was, and wasn't feeling anything. "Physically, I mean," he added to avoid another 'fine.'

The cold morning air hit his skin as they stepped outside, and he inhaled deeply, filling his lungs with the clean mountain air. Serenno was beautiful, and the castle was beautiful, so he could see why Malou liked to spend time here. He’d been setting up camp on dark side nexuses like Mustafar and Dathomir, but maybe he should give something like this a try. It wouldn’t be too difficult to get a castle if he wanted.

Veles stopped at the entrance of his ship and tapped away on the keypad. The doors slid open, and he strode in, returning to poke his head out to Malou. ”You can come in if you’d like. I won’t be long.”

@lizziie

 

[Malou D'Amaris]

Malou turned to lead him out to the entrance where his ship remained, gliding easily through the maze of hallways. Though she spent most of her time between her room, her study, and the kitchen, she knew most every nook and cranny in the castle. She'd lived here since she was fifteen, so four years had been plenty of time for her to get a lay of the land.

"Physically? Fine. I'm hungover." She said it casually like there wasn't a consistent heartbeat of pressure in the back of her head. It was true that Malou wasn't a heavy drinker; she tended to be a social drinker more than anything. On her own, she might have the occasional glass of wine, but she preferred to drink when others were around. The downside to that was she was the most open when she was drunk. It was not uncommon for her to say or do things she didn't have the confidence or motivation to do sober. "You?"

They reached his ship, and he invited her to wait inside. The Serennian would've been perfectly happy to wait out in the frigid air, but since he offered, she followed him inside. She took in the details of the room she entered, assessing the walls, floors, furniture, and whatever else there was for her to see. Even if there were seats, she would remain standing by the entrance ramp somewhat awkwardly.

I need to get a better ship, she thought to herself, thinking of the TIE hunter she still used as her personal vehicle nine times out of ten. The champion was pretty sure there were acolytes with nicer ships than her, but Artorgias had given it to her. The idea of leaving it for something else pained her, but only a little because flying it pained her more. Between the resources in Avillion, her family's money, and her connections in the Sith, maybe she could find something better.

tag: @vamp

 

[Veles]

If Malou noticed she’s caught him off guard and the fact that he wasn’t completely dressed, she certainly didn’t show it.

”Much better now,” he replied. ”I think I can help you with that.” Once they entered the ship, he stopped at the entrance and turned toward her. If she allowed him, Veles opened his hand and placed his palm on her forehead, channeling the Shadow to purge the alcohol from her body, removing any ill effects. It was one of the best things he could do with magick, an ability that most Sith didn’t have access to since Force healing was mainly a light side skill. As the green mist enveloped her head as it had his, Malou would feel her headache easing, her face cool down and sinuses clear. The purging of her body would make her feel brand new.

It only took a few seconds, and when he was done he withdrew his hand and looked at her curiously. ”How do you feel now?” he asked, as though he wasn’t a Sith Lord and the ability would work every time.

It was rare that he felt useful, but Veles was always glad to help. It was rare that his abilities ever came in handy, but the times they did they proved invaluable. Many forgot that sorcery was not just about lightning and occult rituals; it was just as much shamanism, healing, divination, and many other things just as much as it was the evil, dark parts. If anything, magick was purer than normal uses of the dark side, which gave him the access to a unique set of tools for a Sith.

He left Malou there and strode down the hallway into his bedroom. Veles tapped a button on the wall and it sprung open, an entire closet within that was filled with stacks of cigarette packs that stretched from the floor to the ceiling. He reached out and grabbed one like it was a massive game of jenga and then closed the wall and headed out. The Dathomirian reached Malou and nodded.

”Now we can get to business.” She might have thought he had to grab some important tool for the sorcery, like the bones of some long-extinct creature or a jar of an old man’s dying breath, but that was not the case. Sith Lord have habits, too.

The two exited the ship and began to make their way down just as they had last night, strolling much more calmly and actually able to stand without stumbling. Veles looked out at the sights stretching in front of them for kilometers. ”Do you ever wonder if the first Jedi Exiles had been to therapy, would the Sith even exist?”

Probably the strangest question that a Sith Lord could ask, but Veles thought things up randomly sometimes, the ideas and hypotheses interjecting in his head when he was high. Besides, it was a good question.

@lizziie

 

[Malou D'Amaris]

Malou stood awkwardly while he placed his palm on her forehead, though she relaxed as she felt the toxins begin to be purged from her body. It was an odd feeling, how the headache slowly dissipated and the weight in her face melted away. At the same time, it made her a bit uneasy, as she found physical touch around her face uncomfortable. When he asked her how she felt though, the Miralukan simply smiled and said, "Better, thanks."

While Veles disappeared off to grab something from his room, Malou let her mind wander. The first place it went was traveling with her late master, which brought an unhappy pain back into her chest. It wasn't as deep though, and there was a bit of relief knowing that one day it would just be a dull ache from time to time. The woman didn't dwell on that too long before her mind returned to her plan for the day. She and Veles would soon depart back off into the forest, walk the same path, and confront the entity that liv within the seven rings. To think a wrong turn led to that. Malou wished she would've taken the right path down to the lake rather than the one which she stumbled onto, but it was what it was.

He returned with what looked to be a pack of cigarras in his hands, to which Malou suppressed a frown, but said nothing. Artorgias had been a heavy drinker, though she supposed the effects of either spice or tabac were less inhibiting than alcohol. Though she'd accepted his offer last night, she had no intention of picking up smoking.

"Down to business," Malou repeated, stifling a yawn as the two exited his ship and began to retrace their steps from the night before. She pondered on his question about therapy as they walked, not quite sure how to answer it. "I'm sure that one way or another, something akin to the Sith would've risen." There was the whole "no darkness without light", "everything must be balanced" bullshit the great philosophers liked to gab about. She figured she could probably ask something similar about herself. If my father had gone to therapy, would I be Sith? The answer was still probably yes unless he would've sent her off to the Jedi. It would be uncharacteristic of him to care about the ruthlessness of the Sith, she sneered to herself. The man was a jerk.

Malou wanted to ask Veles if there ever had been a chance that he might've joined the Jedi or someone other than the Sith, but then she remembered that he had been born on Dathomir. So instead she asked, "What do you think of the Jedi?" It was an open-ended and intentionally broad question. She'd met a few Jedi before—Ruzaan and his friend Tiberius—and she'd yet to find a reason to feel the hatred other Sith had for them. The Sith just didn't care about them as long as no individual stood in the way of her own goals. Even then, hate was a strong emotion. The only person she'd ever felt it for was her father, and herself.

tag: @vamp

 

[Veles]

He let Malou walk just a bit in front because he had no idea which way they were supposed to be going, simply following her since nothing looked very familiar in the daytime. Then again, he hadn’t been able to see much last night either.

She was right, because even if it hadn’t been the Sith, fate would have had it that another similar group would have risen. The Jedi would not have existed uncontested for millennia, though he did wonder what the Galaxy would look like if they’d never existed in the first place. What if the Force hadn’t existed in the first place? It sounded strange, like asking “what if intelligent life didn’t exist?”

”You’re asking the Sith Lord what he thinks about Jedi,” he echoed with a sly grin. ”I hope your schedule is clear for the next few days because we will be here for a while.” As they stepped into the elevator, he took the time to more properly think about the question and gather his thoughts. He'd been raised from birth to hate the Jedi. The only things he heard about the Order until he left Dathomir were negative things. The only things he ever heard about were their failures, the horrific consequences they had over the Galaxy. Clearly, he was biased, and he knew that, but he saw truth within that bias. As the elevator began its descent, he opened his mouth to speak.

”I think there is no reason for a Sith to feel anything less than absolute dislike for the Jedi, if not outright hatred. They exist in anti-thesis to us, and it is the very base of their creed to deny what we embrace. They have shown, over the entire history of their order, that they will not tolerate us, and so I see no reason we should tolerate them.”

”They are cowards, idealists, and treat each other as though they are droids. The journey from Padawan forward is nothing more than an indoctrination process that will see the Jedi turned into another emotionless drone that echoes the same stale message about peace and unity that has been broadcasted for so long.” He thought of the Sith who fraternized with Jedi, a phenomenon that has been happening since both orders began to co-exist.

”A Sith friendly to a Jedi is like a rancor friendly to a womprat. It may flow smoothly for some time, it might lull both into a false sense of security, but when it comes to it, true nature will prevail.” The elevator dinged as they reached the ground, and stepped out. They began to make their way deeper into the forest and down the path, and he could vaguely notice the discoloration of the flora growing more and more obvious as they got closer, until trees without leaves began to crop up every once in a while. He remained silent for a bit upon realizing he’d been talking for a while, letting Malou speak as well. When he became engulfed in some tirade or other, he had the tendency to do that.

@lizziie

 

[Malou D'Amaris]

It is a bit silly to ask a Sith Lord what he thinks of the Jedi, Malou supposed to herself after Veles' initial comment and sly grin. He continued after some time to think and gave her an answer in the ballpark of what she expected him to say. Even after he explained, Malou still couldn't bring herself to feel that way about the Jedi. She could maybe conjure up a mild dislike for them. Maybe.

What did cause her to reflect was his bit on friendships between the parties. She thought of her and Ruzaan, though after the events on Shili, she wasn't sure where they stood. They hadn't spoken since, and to be honest, she hadn't thought about him since then. I wonder how he's doing? Had he thought of her since?

"Fair," was all Malou said in response to his rant as the elevator doors dinged open to the fresh, Serennian air. She moved forward with his, her feet finding the same path they'd traveled down the night before. This time, no longer under the effects of alcohol, Malou quickly noticed the decaying flora that deepened the closer they got back to the rings of rock. When they reached it, everything was exactly how they'd left it. The rock in the middle was cracked, the rings were split all but one, and there were no sounds of life around them.

"What now?" The champion could still feel the faint whispers from before, threatening to pull her in as they did before. She was not tempted like last night though, as she now understood what the calling led to.

tag: @vamp

 

[Veles]

The air on Serenno was warmer than it had been last night, but nevertheless chilly to Veles, who was unaccustomed with the climate in these mountainous parts. It was fresh, much more than most planets he’d been to.

The corrupted swath of forest was dead silent when they arrived much as before, eerily quiet. There was not so much as an insect prowling the grounds. Still, he could feel a presence, buried deep as if underwater. It was strong but chained, and it was not hard to infer why it was trying to find a host.

Now what? Veles glanced around, scanning the treeline before replying. ”Now we look for clues.” He could try his luck with psychometry, but he had no idea which item would be best, and he was not going to be touching the stones near the center with a seven foot pole.

The Dathomirian turned his focused gaze down onto the rings. Everything was just like they had left it, and he could even see the skid marks in the ground, a powder like ash laying mildly disturbed by their footsteps. Veles closed his eyes and opened himself to the Force, letting its waves flow through him, his senses heightened. There was nothing at first. And then —

His eyes snapped opened and his head craned toward Malou. ”We have to go down,” he declared, and before he could even finish the last word, the ground beneath them gave way, collapsing down in a flurry of dirt and sticks, the two Sith dragged down along with it. It took some time for the dust to settle, and when Veles could finally open his eyes and see without being blinded, he saw they were too far from the surface to be able to climb out. The area around them was just a circle the size of the clearing, but there was what seemed to be a tunnel into a cave in the wall. For a moment, he considered.

”I think the only way is through.” At least they would find out the source of the anomaly.

@lizziie

 

[Malou D'Amaris]

The ground broke beneath them, and both Malou and Veles fell with it. The woman did her best to keep her footing, but the slide of rock and dirt eventually got the best of her. Her leg got caught under something, then one thing led to another and the Serennian ended up completely submerged in the debris. She had enough sense about her to fill her lungs, and once the dust settle, Veles would watch as she crawled out. The dark red of blood trickled out from her nose, and with a very grumpy expression, she wiped it from her face.

"I guess so," she grumbled, still doing her best to dust herself off. She considered the tunnel in front of her, then the sky above them. There really was only one way to go, huh? After giving herself one more pat-down of her clothes, the woman began to walk forward into the tunnel.

It didn't take much walking before the two stumbled upon what seemed to be a cavern of sorts. Of sorts because it wasn't all that big, and she couldn't tell if it was manmade or not. The walls were too smooth to be completely natural, at least. It looked vaguely lived in, which wasn't concerning at all.

Malou continued to walk into the cavern, though she stopped suddenly to throw her hands above her head. She threw them down to the side, sending a giant spider tumbling away instead of falling onto her head. It was a Serennian farm spider, which were never that big. Unfortunately—and she found this out when she reached to her belt to find nothing—the champion had not remembered to bring her saber.

It clicked its mandibles at her after it regained its footing, then advanced towards her. It looked vaguely mutated like it had spent too long seeped in the Dark Side. A flash of orange light, flame sweeping out from her open palm, solved the issue, and the scent of a burning spider exoskeleton filled the air.

"Well, we're in the right place."

 

[Veles]

Malou did not seem particularly happy about their circumstances, and truth be told, he wasn’t either. Investigating the source of the disturbance was their goal, but on their own terms, not collapsing right into the den of some terrible abomination.

The cavern around them did look a bit lived in and the walls were very smooth, as though it were a pod made directly in the ground through unnatural means. The perfection was unnerving, because anything that was done this properly was clearly done by some powerful being or entity. He was not keen on meeting anything.

They did begin to advance deeper into the cavern despite his instincts urging him to turn around. It was definitely something to do with the place itself as well, a dark side so dense that it permeated, instilling a sense of dread and terror that he stifled. He knew how to handle himself in places of great darkness. He was a Sith Lord, after all.

When they stopped in the cavern, he was about to say something when Malou lifted her hands above her head and cast something aside, and his eyes followed toward the massive spider. His heart skipped a beat as he realized what he was looking at, until he realized that he had the power to quite literally vaporize it. Malou beat him to it, incinerating the creature as he reached for his lightsaber, which he had brought with him, just as he did everywhere.

He’d gotten to get a good look at the arachnid, but he studied its charred corpse for a moment. Yes, the dark side did emanate off of it, as though it had been living in an irradiated area. Veles stood back upright from the leaning position he’d taken.

”This is definitely the place,” he declared, as though it were not already obvious. The Dathomirian looked around. There was nothing else in the cave. There was no other entrance or exit, no sign of any path to the surface. It was strange, because that meant there had been no opening before the ground collapsed under them.

And perhaps that was true. Perhaps the Force had mandated that they go down this exact path. He would not be shocked or surprised. Still, it made him wonder what they were supposed to be learning from the experience. Unless they were not meant to learn anything, and it was simply another in a long list of tests put forth by the dark side.

Motion in a corner of the chamber caught his attention, a shifting he felt within the Force like movement out of the corner of his eye. Veles raised his hand up and green light burst from his palm, illuminating the entire cavern. It took just a moment for his eyes to adjust, but when they did, he felt his heart drop through his chest.

There was a creature there, standing at its full height of about seven or eight feet, its skin waxy, limbs lanky and thin. It stood there, frozen in place. Then, it shifted. And began to crawl toward them on all fours.

@lizziie

 

[Malou D'Amaris]

Creepy shit was just as creepy when you could see the ways in which it moved. The way its limbs contorted in the wrong direction to fall to the ground, the way its neck curved backward to lock onto them, and the way its hands and feet both bent at awkward angles to run forward inspired a full-bodied cringe through her. It didn't run any faster than either of them could, but it moved a lot quicker than it should.

Her first thought? Hell the fuck no. Her first reaction? Also along those lines.

It descended upon them, and as it did, Malou prepared herself. She reached out in the Force, hoping to slow it, but felt resistance coming from the creature. Whatever this thing was, it was sentient enough to connect with the Force. When it lunged for her she ducked, then pushed her hands upward into its abdomen as it went over her and channeled the Force into the punch. It let out a pinched, breathy scream as her fist connected, but was still able to catch itself as it landed.

Instead of turning around to go for her again, it swung an arm in Veles' direction, aiming to sweep him aside.

tag: @vamp