Dying Wisdom [Dawnguard | Jedi Alliance]

[Zak Dymo]

The Pantoran was the last to board the air skiff.

As soon as he was aboard, the Aelvar at the helm lifted off, seemingly eager to return them to the Temple of Dawn and be done with this fool's errand to the Lake of the Dead.

The amphistaff slithered along the child's slender frame, uncoiling from around the boy's body as it dropped to the deck and then moved away on its own, to peer out from the side of the skiff as the world moved beneath them. As it did, the violet-haired youth turned to look up at the man. "Oh, yeah," Boo replied easily. [member="Zambrano the Hutt"] had been the embodiment of the Riftborne sect, and someone that Boo had followed into battle at the command of his Host Lord.

Deus vult, as they said.

"I was with the Primeval at Wayland," the child supplied. That was probably the easiest way to answer the question. The storied Battle of Wayland, when the horde of the Primeval had swept across the United Clans of Mandalore in a bloody carnage that had cut a swath through Mandalorian space. A victory that had been made possible only through the sadistic tactics of the Riftborne. The unrelenting murder and merciless savagery, all in the name in the gods. It had been the resurgence of their religion. A golden age in which the Creation of Sargon had been praised from Bastion to Lorrd to Ziost. Their name spoken with fear by the god-less savages that dared stand in the path of the Host Lord.

Before the dark times.

Before Mirial.

The Battle of Wayland had also taken place before [member="Théodred Heavenshield"] had been born, some thirty odd years past. And still this was a mere boy.

Or was he?

As the child moved over beside where the serpent-like biot was peering over the side of the skiff, Kahne might well have gotten the impression that the Pantoran was not what he appeared to be.

[member="Kahne Porte"]​

 

[Théodred Heavenshield]

Although mindful of the fact that Valkyri in the Eastmark would never had seen such a thing as his ship, The White Hart, there was little time to ponder the consequences considering the illness had taken hold so effectively and quickly. With a cool hand Théo touched down on the waters of the Great Maw, off the coast line near Austrvegr and piloted it as close as possible to the shore. He jumped down into the water and waded his way through the bobbing fishing boats now anchored and empty, fishing nets strewn unkempt as if abandoned and up ahead the village was ghostly still. The narrow streets empty.

It made him sick to the stomach the stench in the air, decay and death lingered everything touching everything, and like anyone with a strong connection to the force could sense it all around him. He looked to the skies half expecting to see ships with medical supplies screaming over head but nothing, not yet anyway, but the silence was just heavy and sat hard on the soul.

On the beach, Théo noticed more boats pulled ashore and left lapping against the peddle beach. He walked toward the nearest one, pulled at the nets bundling them up to absently throw into the boat, as if that would help it's owner. Another net ripped with a gaping hole with the tail of a fish tangled in it web, it was white and smelled most foul which he assumed was the result of a day or two in the heat. He walked to another boat, this one tired and laden with a catch still in the net. The catch was not fresh, again abandoned but this time Théo jumped aboard and looked around the boat. For the most part everything appeared in order, nothing out of the ordinary happened here apart from the fish.

He was about to leave to go find someone in the village that could explain what had happened to the boat and direct him to the sick people, when something caught his eye. The glimmering of white almost silver flash in the net, as the sun played upon it. Kneeling down next to the catch, Théo noticed the Lak, mostly healthy and pink all rotting except for one which was silver in the scales. Théo cut the net and the rotten fish spewed out onto the deck, and as the load spread so too the silver Lak. His brown narrowed, he knew this was not natural for the fish and with the point of his knife, Théo cut the corrupted flesh and as soon as air touch the foul contents of it's insides, it took all his strength to keep his own stomach.

One of the healers from the Dawnguard that had accompanied him, came up behind him. "My Lord?", concern in his voice. Théo waved his concern away and stood drawing in a deep breath before speaking. "Can you get samples of these fish back to the Fortress immediately, take my ship", he instructed as he leaped off the boat and headed toward Austrvegr.

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

​

CORELLIA DIGITAL SHIP
T R A N Q U I L I T Y
ORBIT OF MIDVINTER

"Now entering the Beornskald System, General."

The behemoth starship slid out of hyperspace, sliding with a grace that belied it's massive size. Turning his head up, the tow-headed boy took a moment in which to orient himself to the information on the overhead displays. The console before him lit up, supplying a holographic detail of the planetary system. The Tranquility was approaching the planet in the third orbital position around a yellow star.

Sor-Jan had been here just one other time before. A strange thing, being that he'd spent a rather considerable amount of time surveying Tash-Taral and conducting business on Laekia, both of which were relatively near the Valkyri homeworld.

Master [member="Thurion Heavenshield"] had been fighting undead of a type. Nasty business that. Perhaps the reason why he'd not visited again.

"Standard orbit," the boy instructed, with a momentary glance toward the helm. Turning toward the com-scan officer, the boy added, "And then open a channel."

"Channel open, General."

Now he had to decide what to say. Sorry, we heard you were ill? Just what exactly did one say for these sorts of things? Was hello really the way to go with it?

"This is Sor-Jan Xantha of the hospital ship Tranquility. We are standing by to assist you."

That was about the best he could come up with.

 

[Thirdas Heavenshield]

As Nida spoke he quickly hid his hand holding the flower behind his back, hoping she did not notice. He felt like a complete tool, especially given the grim situation they were currently in. "Oh, I'm... I'm so sorry. That must have been terrible," he tried his best comforting her. He had seen his own share of death this day, though he had yet to be present when someone's life faded before his eyes. All he'd done was haul lifeless bodies unto carts, and to be honest that was bad enough. Any more and he would likely have cracked under the horrid conditions. "He is with the Gods in Beornskald now, with his mothers and fathers."

"No, I'm fine," he assured her in response to her now worrying about his health. "I've been here since the initial outbreak, I don't think it's contagious just by being in the same room or even touching them. Must be something else, like... I don't know, food poisoning or something," he shrugged, not really knowing what to do or say to make things better. He had very limited medical knowledge and he was no soothsayer like Nida. But he would do whatever he could to help.

By now he figured he must look rather silly standing there with one hand behind his back, and so with immense awkwardness he revealed the lone flower in his grasp, which by now had lost much of its former splendour, all bent and sad-looking. His throat ran dry as he attempted to speak. "When I saw you, I... I wanted to give you this. It's stupid, I know." He could not longer maintain eye-contact as he handed it over to her, hoping she would accept his gift. "You don't have to keep it or anything..."

[member="Nida Perl"]​

 

[Connor Harrison]

Midvinter had been a perfect place to allow Connor time to return to the Force. He had discovered it again in surviving some harsh terrains and climates around the planet in his explorations, keeping an eye and ear out for all things Heavenshield. While he had been welcome to the planet, there was still an awful lot to do in gaining their trust and respect again. After that, it was time for the Silver Jedi and then the galaxy.

Months had passed but now there seemed to be something bigger than simply wasting time; an epidemic of a virus sweeping across villages and ravaging civilians. Connor had heard from the Dawnguard – a splinter cell of Jedi he didn’t know much about – that this virus was in danger of spreading across the planet if left untouched. He had seen planets eaten from the inside out by viruses and what it did to life. It extinguished things without remorse or regret, and that wasn’t something Connor wanted to return to the galaxy to see.

Offering to be a point of contact for those coming to his closest known location, Austrvegr, a trawler had dropped medical supplies for him to protect and wait for said Dawnguard to meet and distribute. There was little else he could do in a place he didn’t know very well except wait off from the shore. A mist was rolling in, and it was cold. And quiet.

Connor stood before two large crates, resting his back on them as he saw a large ship come into view and touch down out on the water. Arms folded over his front, he stood in his navy and crimson tunic, crimson cowl and faceguard. The faceguard was new, and carved from the skull of a beast that tried to maim Connor days after leaving the Heavenshields for exploration in the wilderness. The beast had four huge fangs, one lost in the struggle, and eyes that hard bore into human man when attacked. A thick black mane remained rooted to the bone that Connor fashioned into a makeshift throw, hanging over his shoulders.

The skull rested over his head; a fearsome and almost primal look that protected him, kept him warm partly around his neck, and, secretly, he looked somewhat intimidating.

[member="Théodred Heavenshield"]

 

[Théodred Heavenshield]

The Eastmark felt like and looked like the land that time forgot, even by Midvinter standards. Although in the years that the Heavenshields had been here introducing the Valkyri to new ideas and new technology some parts of the continent was untouched by this, unspoiled in a sense, and Théo had to admit it was rather intriguing and held romanticism in the old way of life. He suspected that even when his parents and grandpapa had returned they encountered a culture more advanced in thinking than these people, if Jarl Hagen was anything to go by. Théo looked forward to the day in which his uncle, the King would meet the man, he had to smile at the idea.

As he approached the end of the village, just keeping bay of the mist that rolled in from the great maw a sense of a man he knew prickled amidst the force, Théo recognised the signature immediately, Master [member="Connor Harrison"]. As if second nature, Théo turned his gaze toward the man standing by crates with the Dawnguard sigil burned onto them, nowhere near enough medical supplies for the affected people. As he came closer, his eyes narrowed as if to try and make out what was different about the man and he soon realised he was wearing some sort of skull. Connor looked like he had been swallowed feet first down the gullet of a creature and by the looks of it, Connor had had a run in with a Frir, Midvinters great long toothed cat.

"Nice hat", he said with a smile of amusement just as the thick mist over took him and shrouded them both. "After this is over I would like to hear the story of how you came by it". He shot out his hand to shake that of the man before him.

"That's all they could spare huh?", he pointed to the crates, which were never going to be enough. At this time, the comm opened and interrupted and the voice of a young man, a child perhaps? informed them all of his arrival. [member="Sor-Jan Xantha"] now why do I know that name?

"Sor-Jan Xantha of the Tranquility this is Théo Heavenshield. Assistance required at these co-ordinates, look forward to your arrival". He answered the com immediately and when he arrived, Théo would brief them both on the situation here in Austrvegr.

 

[Connor Harrison]

Pushing back off the crate as a figure came over, Connor saw the familiar face of [member="Théodred Heavenshield"] – a man who he’d fought alongside in the past but come across again more recently on his visit to Midwinter. With a less than amused smile, Connor reached out and shook the Jedi’s hand.

”It’s not a hat,” he said, ”but it keeps my head warm and I’m trying to embrace this primeval look you lot have. Plus it’s tough and I’d rather this crack first than my head.”

As Théo made contact to the ships above, Connor stood by the crate and rested his hand on the edge of one.

”I’m not going to lie, but I’ve no idea what’s going on. I was in the area and some Dawnguard reached out to me and wanted me to protect this first drop until someone got here. I assume it’s a virus or something? Are there any others involved, an external threat or is this something natural?”

 

[Thyrian Hearthfire]

Thyrian responded to her bidding with a stoic nod, as was his way. "Be careful, Sister," he cautioned her and looked her in the eye, his own pair of flames flaring up for emphasis. She was his only sister, after all, even if only by law through her marriage to his brother. While venturing into another's mind seemed risky, he did follow and later marry a woman who excelled at doing just that, so the concept was not exactly new to him. The King kneeled down by the patient's side and placed his arms across her torso and legs respectively, to forcefully hold her down if it came to that.

As soon as Coci began her work the woman's body tensed up something fierce, clearly affected by her presence and trying to resist. Then as it progressed came the trembling followed by violent spasms of arms and legs, and Thyrian had to put all his strength and sheer weight into keeping her from wriggling so much as to interrupt Coci's intrusion into her mind. Eventually he was forced to straddle the poor woman's legs and use both arms to push her torso down against the table, as if the two were conducting some sort of exorcism of demons. Though he had no time to take a look around him to verify, their procedure inevitably caught much attention from the large hall as people both ill and well watched with a mix of hope and horror.

"She is at peace for now."

Bit by bit Thyrian eased off on applying pressure, making sure that she was indeed put into a deep slumber. He got down from the table and wiped beads of sweat off his brow, caused more so out of nerves than exhaustion. "Nice work," he told her with a friendly pat on the shoulder, and as he now looked around him people returned to what they were doing one by one. "Though I take it you're not going to put all these people into stasis?" He couldn't imagine the drain it would put on her, not to mention the time it would take for one person to go around doing them one by one. "Yet we are no closer to finding a cure," he turned to Coci with frustrations flaring up. "Odiir's arse, I have never felt so useless! How can I call myself 'Protector of the Realm' when I'm powerless to protect my people?"

[member="Coci Heavenshield"]​

 

[Nida Perl]

Nida exhaled a trembling sight of relief at hearing that Thirdas was alright. Really, this whole thing was a nightmare to her—but so many of the other healers were good at staying in the here and now, and she hadn’t seen any of them break down. It didn’t occur to her that they could have done the exact same thing that she was doing right now, sans the…flower?

It took a few blinks for her to refocus her attention on the unexpected gift while quickly wiping her damp cheeks with the sleeves of her robe. “This is for me?” She sounded a bit incredulous while gingerly reaching out and taking the flower. Upon closer inspection, the stem was bent and it seemed to be missing a few petals. It was certainly strange to be given a gift in such circumstances, but Nida’s heart soared just learning that he’d thought of her. Even though her own family was kind to her and made sure that she had felt accepted, Nida was always thoroughly surprised when gifted something.

“Thank you, Thirdas.” She beamed up at him, eyes glistening with a few unshed tears. Despite the flower’s imperfections, she found it to be simply beautiful, and held it beneath her nose for a few moments. “It smells lovely.” Carefully, she tucked the blossom behind her ear, the vibrant gold standing out against the dark violet of her hair. Her smile faltered when she remembered where they were, and what they were doing. Suddenly she felt guilty for feeling so happy among all this travesty.

“I am glad to see you again Thirdas—and to hear that you’re well. You’re correct in that it doesn’t seem like this is spread by contact with patients, so they must have acquired this infection another way. Either way—it’s appearing to be…to be fatal in nearly all cases.” Her eyes swept towards the ground as the feeling of helplessness crept up on her again. Somehow, having Thirdas here made her feel better. “Do you…have you heard anything? About a cure?” After all, he was far more acquainted with Midvinter than she was, and the High King’s nephew.

[member="Thirdas Heavenshield"]

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

Coci followed his gaze around the Hall to all the people there watching the struggle of the woman and what she had performed. This was strange to them even now after years of contact with not only Offworlders but people (and some of their own) who could use this thing called the force. It was not so much suspicion anymore, but they were still uncertain of it, still held a sense of fear about the nature of it. And they had a right to that opinion, considering that they had also met with beings that used the force to devastating consequences against them. She gave Thyrian a weak smile at his praise and he was right to think that she would be able to do this for all the sick, she would be drained of power quickly and unable to help further.

"No not all of them, but those that are close to the danger of death", she put it that way, there would be more to the decision as her power and skill limited to time. She shook her head with the thought of what she would have to do from here on in. No one should be placed in a situation where you decide who lives, and who dies. But this is when the strength of true leaders come to the forefront, the hard decisions are placed on their shoulders and they either crumble and fall, or draw the strength to do it.

Coci knew he felt this way, useless against the tide of this virus, just like she does. She placed her hand on his face, and could feel the heat within his body from the internal flames that were ever present. "Thyrian, we are fighting against something that ... ". she was interrupted by the comms, an open channel from the Dawnguard to all the leaders of Midvinter, across all channels.

"This is Jedi Knight Alvers of the Dawnguard. A sample of Lak has been sent to the labs of the Dawn Fortress. On examination and testing, the fish is contaminated with a virus which has corrupted the Lak. Samples taken from blood of victims of the mysterious virus has resulted in a match. The source of the virus effecting the people of Midvinter is the Lak, I repeat the virus' source is the Lak". The urgency in his voice apparent. Jedi Knight Alvers instructed them how to identify contaminated Lak (though the silver scales) and strongly suggested that all fish be gathered and destroyed.

There was hope, she looked at Thyrian with a sense of relief, at least they had the source of it, but still no closer to the cure. "Now you have something to do Thyrian", she grinned somewhat.

​

[member="Thyrian Hearthfire"] | [member="Boo Heavenshield"] | [member="Nida Perl"] | [member="Kahne Porte"] | [member="Connor Harrison"] | [member="Thurion Heavenshield"]​

 

[Théodred Heavenshield]

"I think you have embraced that look a little too much", Théo grinned, even he would not wear such a thing and only few Valkyri do as far as he has seen in his life. But there would be time enough for stories later, which he hoped to do once this was sorted one way or another. Théo nodded in understanding and appreciation for the help Connor was prepared to offer them, even not knowing what was going on or the dangers of the situation.

"Come lets get these supplies into the village and see exactly what is going on here", he turned to start off with Connor by his side. "The situation as we know it, is that there is a sickness which is effecting everyone but mostly attacking the young and the frail. It attacks the mind, from what I have seen and heard, causing hallucinations, pain, causes aggressive behaviour and finally death", he briefed him as they walked. Austrvegr looked like a ghost town, eerie silence all around them and not a soul in sight, although Théo could sense people and they held a strong fear within them. Not surprising he supposed, but Connor and himself would have to be careful, people act in strange ways with fear as a motivator, and furthermore they are strangers.

"Austrvegr is the hardest hit, from the reports and by the looks of it, they were right", he approached what would be the villages grand hall, small by comparison to Thainbroek and New Himmeldal but it was the best place to start looking for people and answers. "Word of warning Connor. The people in the Eastmark are .. different to the rest of Midvinter, they are more protective in their isolation and might not welcome outsiders which includes me". Not just those off worlders but anyone from the outer marks.

Before they could enter, the comms opened up and Théo and Connor would hear the open message sent from the Dawn Fortress. It was the fish, contaminated by this virus. At least they could do something about any further out breaks. Théo replied on the open channel, "We need to organise groups to destroy all fish stocks across Midvinter. I have seen the contaminated fish, identified by white scales but that does not mean the rest of the stocks are safe". It would be a large undertaking but a necessary one.

"Damn fish should have known", he mumbled to himself.

​

[member="Connor Harrison"]​

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

​

CORELLIA DIGITAL SHIP
T R A N Q U I L I T Y
ORBIT OF MIDVINTER

"Théo Heavenshield?"

The young Anzat stood on the bridge of the ship, as though trying to place a face to that name. He knew Thurion and Coci, of course. And he seemed to recall a girl named Nina, as well. But Théo?

Of course, this was only his second time visiting Midvinter. It was possible that there was an entire extended family of Heavenshields that he was unaware of. "Inform the hangar to prepare my ship," the boy said, before taking his leave of the bridge. "And then begin disbursing medical shuttles to each of the major settlements," he added, just before passing through the blast doors.

By the time that he had traversed the massive ship and boarded the Alderaan Queen, news about the lak discovery was starting to circulate the comm frequencies. He had no idea just what a lak was, but it seemed to be some kind of native fish.

Exiting from out of the carrier, the YT-2400 light freighter slid down beneath the clouds, following the coordinates that this Théo Heavenshield had provided him. Before long, the Alderaan Queen was soaring over a settlement of some kind. Through the canopy, the Anzat could see two figures in conversation.

The boy guided the Queen down to a landing field, strolling out of the ship toward the two figures. "Théo Heavenshield, I presume?" the youngling knight ventured, with a nod toward the dark haired man.

"I heard about the lak. The medical personnel I've brought with me can run samples up to the lab in orbit to try and develop treatments."

[member="Théodred Heavenshield"] | [member="Connor Harrison"]​

 

[Thyrian Hearthfire]

The touch of Coci's hand against his cheek riddled with deep scars managed to soothe him for the time being, else he would likely have let his anger bubble over which was something he had tried to avoid since assuming his father's throne. Having family around always helped, and Coci was just that. The flames erupting from his eyes died down, and he settled his own hand upon hers as he offered her a soft smile. She was about to tell him something when they were interrupted by a message over comms, sent by one of the Dawnguard. "Good news at last! I'll deal with it, you take charge here and do what you can to ease their suffering," he told her and swiftly turned on his heel and headed for the exit, brushing past men and women on the way out.

"Yggve! Baul!" He summoned two of his captains as he rushed down the steps towards the town below. "We know the source of the sickness. The shipment of laks is contaminated, they've taken on a silvery shimmer to their scales." The two men look at one another with bewildered faces. "But there is no telling whether the rest of the shipment is contaminated or no, so we'll have to get rid of all of it. Have every available man comb through each city sector; I want every last barrel found and brought to the centre of town, do you understand?" Both men nodded. "Good, then get to it. I'll get a pyre constructed meanwhile. We will burn away the source of this sickness." They saluted and rushed off, leaving Thyrian to get started on the pyre.

He did not resort to calling others to his cause, but rather undertook the hard work himself. Massive tree trunks were gathered one by one, carried by the King's own hand. Some were even telekinetically hovering alongside him, allowing him to gather several at once. He knew it would take some time to find and bring every barrel of fish in the city, so there was no need to hurry along with the construction by accepting the help of bystanders. Moreover, it was something he felt he needed to do on his own.

While putting together the pyre, the first barrels of fish began to appear. "Just put them on top as they are. Barrels come cheap, we will just have to do without fish for the time being." In the span of an hour his captains reported that every last barrel containing fish had been found, according to the shipment records dating back the last couple weeks. The Master of Commerce had been very thorough in his books, thankfully.

"Everyone, stand back!" With his arm extended a fan of flames erupted from the palm of his hand, engulfing the pyre and setting the barrels alight within seconds. The smell of burning fish was nauseating, but everyone agreed that it was preferrable to the plague that had taken hold across many parts of Midvinter. "Here's hoping the others received the same message," he spoke his thoughts aloud, primarily thinking of his brother in the Westmark. "Coci, the source has been neutralised," he contacted her over comms. "Smell will be hard to get rid of, but at least there won't be any more sick than we already have."

[member="Coci Heavenshield"]​

 

[Théodred Heavenshield]

The ship that landed close by was not one he recognised, he looked to Connor with a hard look within it a warning before he turned to face whoever would come from it. The last time unknown ships had arrived on Midvinter they had brought with them, Sith. Théo had been but a child that day but the memory of it and what their arrival had done to his homeland was still very fresh. He was not suggesting that Connor had done this but rather the hard look warned him to be prepared just in case trouble was about to land. Théo could not sense any darkness or ill intent but that did not mean there wasn't, it is easy to hide ones true intentions within the force.

Seems Jarl Hagen was not the only one wary of outsiders.

A young boy approached them, but this did not lower Théo's guard, he knew small boys can 'pack a punch' equally as strong as he when it comes to the use of the force and this one was powerful. A good part of Théo curious about it, the presence of the force in this boy was old. "Indeed I am", he greeted the young man as he stopped to stand with them. And who are you? He was aware that mother had sent word to the Jedi for help and the way he spoke next offering services to the sick made Théo relaxed somewhat. "Any help would be greatly appreciated .. err .. Master??". he had to be a master, this one was very strong in the force.

Théo pressed the doors to the grand hall which swung open with easy, the three of them met with a wall of stench that would suffocate the sense, in side people lay dying with only a few capable of offering aid and comfort to them, it was clear they were overwhelmed by the constant stream of people coming to the hall for help. Théo raised the back of his hand to his nose trying to stifle the smell as he entered and his stomach threatened to erupt. No one came to confront him, they were all to weak and there was a sense they had given up and hold invite death with open arms. Among the sick was the leader of the small village now incapacitated unable to form any resistance to intruders.

A tired face of a girl trying her best to help looked at Théo and the others before turning back to her work, as useless as it was, she did not speak, there was no reason to.

It was time for action, "I am no healer, if either of you are your job is here. Samples of the fish have been sent to the Dawnguard Fortress", he turned to the young man, "Your people will have full access to the facilities and sample taken to your ship. Connor we need to find all the fish in the village from the boats to every house in the village and have them taken to the edge of the village and destroyed". He took in a deep breath trying to gain fresh air.

"I will go and find all the dead", they had to be dealt with promptly or one sickness would be replaced with another. Before leaving however, Théo placed a hand on the shoulder of the young man and Connor alike. "Thank you both", he said most grateful for any help.

​

​

[member="Sor-Jan Xantha"] | [member="Connor Harrison"]​