Ask With Black Rock Bound

[Soleil Altan]

Ambria, Approaching Lake Natth
1849 local time

Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
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Most sane souls would consider Ambria a cursed place. Long ago in ancient days, during the time of the Great Hyperspace War, Ambria was rich with life and culture. A powerful and avaricious Sith Sorceress took the planet for a throne, enthralling its inhabitants to obey and build a great structure. An obelisk of bound black stone, city-wide and tall enough to reach the heavens. Hundreds of years and thousands of lives it burned away for its maker's ambition. Through the power of the Force she would bind the planet to the Dark and to herself.

She failed, completely and utterly. And in her failure so unleashed destruction on the world and nearly every life upon it. Perhaps there was a lesson to be learned, like Icarus and his wings. Infested with hungry and wrathful ghosts it lay still and forgotten for a thousand years. Until a Jedi Master landed on the barren surface and, with his power, sealed the slavering spirits beneath the waters of the only remaining body of water, Lake Natth. No natives approached the sand-lapping waves nor slept near its shore. Cursed it was, with its serpents and black water. Cursed would be those who dreamed of its depths.

Or, so it was said.

Veles and Soleil had landed on Ambria all the same, passing over the Obelisk's shattered ruin along the way. Sunset was quickly approaching over the partly underground lake complex, the magic hour the superstitious said spirits rose to gather and revel in their strange spirit fashion. Bathed in the red-orange light of the falling sun the two Sith would approach. The mystic wind went by, murmuring in melody as it rushed from within. It carried songs of promise and of terror, of fright and of tremulous delight.

Water and shadow of a wild lake, with black rock bound. And they were going to swim in it.

Soleil was as excited as full of nerves, his sensitivity to echoes and impressions in the Force near overwhelming him from this place's intensity. It left him on edge and uncharacteristically jittery, hairs on the back of his neck standing tall and eyes darting searching through shadows. He wore a standard-issue Drommund Kaas academy tunic and wide pants, not bothering with a cloak. Beneath was a short wetsuit. Unlike Veles he didn't need equipment to survive beneath the surface. In fact, not using them was partly the point for the silent acolyte.

He'd been preparing to take this trip for some time now, step by step, through reading and practice. Here's hoping he didn't die trying. Seated at the foot of the Dathomirian Sunset he waited for Veles to gather his things, leaning in an attempt to relax against his backpack.

@vamp

 

[Veles]

It was rare that someone else was interested in something like this, and although he had trudged through a very dangerous dungeon last week, Veles couldn’t say that he wasn’t excited to be hunting through a river full of creatures raised by the dark side for some artifact. It was certainly better than getting berated by everyone he ran into, especially those close to him. Was that why he was hanging out with Acolytes so much lately? Because, even though he was now a Champion, they didn’t have the authority to call him a waste of air and disgrace? Didn’t stop Altair.

His eyes peered out the window at the still waters as they approached them. It was the only spot on the entire planet that had any speck of the dark side—and it was steeped in it. That Jedi had done a relatively good job containing it from the rest of the world, but they’d be diving deep into it. Natives saw the shuttle as it passed by above their villages, the iconic long wings of an Upsilom so long after the fall of the original Galactic Empire, flying toward the most feared location on Ambria. It was a classic tale.

Veles didn’t need any equipment to swim under water, because he had the Force, but he was carrying something regardless. It was a simple rebreather that covered half of his face and would ensure he didn’t tire himself out by splitting his attention in too many directions. He had a feeling a lot of things down there would be drawing his attention.

The ship came to a stop, landing vertically, its wings lifting as it shifted into a parked position.

”Landing complete,” declared Z-3PO into the comms, and Veles nodded to the Acolyte. The two stepped out of the ship and onto the banks of the lake. There was a slight chill in the air, the night sky slowly overtaking the inferno of orange and yellow, stifling it with a light blue that seemed to get darker by the second. The stars were starting to come out, formations that he didn’t recognize.

I guess this is it, he thought. The Acolyte had brought a wetsuit under his clothes, but Veles did no such thing. Instead, he tied his long white hair into a tight bun at the back of his head and took his shirt off, casting it aside on the grass and revealing his relatively heavily tattooed torso and surprisingly muscular frame, thin as he may be. Without so much as flinching at showing half his body to a random Acolyte he’d just met, he turned to stare at the black water.

”Reach out through the Force if you get lost down there. I hope they’ve taught you how to communicate telepathically, no?” Veles stretched out one arm and then the other, limbering up. ”It’s fine, just reach out through the Force if you need help.”

With that, he dove in, the water icy but refreshing. And as he opened his eyes under the water, Veles noted that it was impossible to see through the black. It was like they were swimming in a void. He closed his eyes and instead felt his way around with the Force.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Soleil Altan]

Soleil spared Veles' naked torso a spare glance, but he was too otherwise distracted to really appreciate it. He listened to what the man said well enough, rubbing against a covered section of his arm. Another glance when telepathy was mentioned, answered with a sort of stiff shrug and an 'OK' hand sign. He could reach out with his mind, just not so much with words.

At the shore, he removed the basic tunic overlayer and unzipped his neck covering, exposing his sealed gills to the open air. He stretched a little, lean muscle flexing, bouncing nervously on the balls of his feet. Around his waist was a waterproof dive belt with his swimming gear, something he double-checked. Again. Every wave of the Force in the air he was sensitive to warned him of danger.

THEME​

The silent acolyte still dove in right after Veles, expert form and instinct sending him beneath the dark lake's surface. His nostrils sealed, his gills opened, his eyes widened in the black water. Wreans lived at the crushing depths of Wrea's oceans, devoid of light or heat. In that regard Soleil was perfectly comfortable, paying no mind to the icy water, keen eyes seeing through the black with only minimal light. For some distance, at least. He still stretched out with the Force, tentatively, trying not to get too caught up in the strange sensation of the lake all around him.

Webbing stretched from his between fingers and toes, propelling him through the water. Veles would feel him move naturally through the water, swift and agile, but not straying too far from the older Sith. These were unfamiliar waters and he was on the lookout, running on instinct more than conscious thought. As such, down the two Sith went into the abyss.

The lake was fathomlessly deep, at least from their perspective. Strange fish swam around them and freshwater eels peeked out from their rocky crevasses, darting back to safety when something got too close. There were larger things too, out on the edge of sight, Force or mundane. Most unusual, however, was a sound almost like whispers through the water.

Soleil looked around with a mixture of awe and trepidation, curiosity and ambition driving him on through any fear, fascinated by the things he'd never seen. He continued downward at a cautious pace. Without much warning, Veles would feel him begin to edge leftwards, away from another source of life that'd come closer to the two Sith.

A long, reptilian shape, lazily drifting through the water. A Hssiss dragon, which Soleil fully intended to avoid as long as possible.

@vamp

 

[Veles]

To say the water was cold was an understatement, but Veles had not explored ancient dungeons to be beaten by a little cold. A bubble was formed around his lower face, covering his nose and mouth, and he opened his palm, causing a burst of green light to erupt from his hand, an orb that illuminated the area around them. At first, there was nothing to see, just the Acolyte swimming up ahead of him, presumably scouting out the area. Veles would not have been able to keep up even if he tried to; Sol’s amphibious biology was geared specifically for something like this.

He followed, diving deeper and deeper. He could feel the pressure increase, pushing on his body as if it would crush him, but there was no way the lake was deep enough for it to get dangerous. There were other things to worry about in the waters.

Such as the Hssiss dragon that appeared in the path ahead of them. Sol went left and Veles followed, already having sensed the presence. The creature seemed to not yet notice them or perhaps it was uninterested because it paid them no mind. The two gave it a very wide berth, and it began to float away lazily in the opposite direction, away from them.

Signs that they were nearing the bottom began to appear, peppered in occasionally until he could see it in the green light. The bottom of the lake was an interesting sight; he saw the wreckage of spaceships, coated in rust, various weapons and pieces of armor, skeletons with bleached white bones that had been picked clean of any meat, humanoid ones especially. He couldn’t spot what they had come here for, but he could sense it, the telltale sign of something formidable in the Force, an object of significant power that had been here for so long.

The moment Sol stopped, Veles would swim over to catch up so that they were next to each other. Then, he pointed in the direction of the artifact and took off.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Soleil Altan]

With light to see Sol was a little more comfortable exploring, looking curiously toward the green orb Veles had summoned up. His head tilted, the light reflecting off his eyes like a cat's in the dark, seemingly fascinated with that ordinary bit of magick. He offered an 'OK' hand sign when Veles pointed and followed along, swimming in lazy spirals around Veles so as not to overtake him too much.

It was cold in the lake, but the ordinary temperature didn't bother Sol. The chill of the Shadow permeated these depths and it was that which was steadily soaking in, sending a slinking shiver down his spine. He tried not to let it distract him from their goal and took in the many forgotten things laying at the bottom. Sol swam a little closer to a particular set of armor he thought might be from way back during the Hyperspace Wars, tilting his head when a long eel slithered out from the broken faceplate to look at him.

Both Soleil and the eel looked toward Veles as he kept going. The Wrean followed along and caught up again, the sense of something heavy and cold getting stronger as they approached the wreckage of an ancient vessel. It was an ancient design, a shuttle maybe, but not one most would recognize. To Sol's consternation, he hadn't seen anything like it in all the books he'd read.

A Zeffo small craft, rotting away in the lake. Its metal bones resonated with the Shadow inside and out. Notably, and immediately concerning to Soleil, the Hssiss floating around the lake appeared to want nothing to do with the old ship. Sol sent an impression of what he sensed to Veles, of the wildlife around them keeping away from the shuttle and its strange impression in the Force. In the ocean, natives avoiding a spot usually had good reasons.

@vamp

 

[Krinn Nelthar]

Later...

This was probably the first time that Krinn had ever heard of a cursed lake, but the tales he had heard while being briefed on their destination certainly seemed ominous enough. Krinn could hardly imagine what a terrible sight the obsidian obelisk must have been during it's time. Their ship lands without issue, though, regardless of dark histories, and as the Nautolan steps clear of the vessel, all he can really think about is how heavy the air feels. There's a biting chill that isn't entirely due to the weather, an eerie sensation of being watched that crawls down the back of his neck, and yet there were only two in the area, himself, and the Acolyte that accompanied him.

Soleil had been here before, scouting the dark lake for the kyber crystals within, among other things. With the dark side of the force nearly palpable here, one might think that the Sith was in his element. He couldn't help but feel on edge, though. Uncomfortable. Sith or not, he doesn't like the atmosphere here.

"So, what did you see last time you were here?" Krinn turns toward the Acolyte with an expectant inquiry.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Soleil Altan]

With the underwater scouting repeated during the prior visit, Soleil was even better prepared for the proper expedition. He'd even managed to get an aquatic champion along with him, ensuring neither of the two Sith required equipment or concentration to handle the lake's environment. The whole place still sent chills down Sol's spine.

He turned to look at Krinn while they approached the lake itself, his new cat-shaped droid translator padding along beside him. Sol hadn't even bothered with the wetsuit this time, shifting to simple black diving shorts with legs most of the way down his thighs. "Hssiss dragons, corpses, old gear, and a really old crashed ship," he listed off through translated sign. Sol seemed somewhat distracted, his attention continually returning to the lake's dark, placid surface with a sense of frayed nerves.

Something about the water itself had left an impression in him that he couldn't quite place or put words to, but it was disconcerting. It wasn't going to stop him from diving in again, though. They had important things to retrieve from the bottom and Sol rarely balked from an adventure. "Thanks for coming, by the way." He really did appreciate it. This kind of thing needed more official backing to count for academy credits, and he could use the help anyway.

@Nevermourn