A Blessing and a Curse

[Phylis Alince]

Lavina put the weapons in a bag which she carried with her. Thus disarmed, the Angelii stepped aside. They were led along the passage, now with just Lavina and the Angelii behind them. As they passed through the door closed behind them with a snap.
"You will now go to Chief Minister's office. We will meet her...your word Overseer perhaps is best. She is expecting you."

Phylis glanced at Siobhan and winked. "Sounds like fun," the Jedi said innocently. What was she up to?

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

Overseer, why does that sound kinky to me? Siobhan wondered to herself. She raised an eyebrow at Phylis' seemingly 'innocent' comment. The coy tone did not fool her at all, but she could hardly play twenty questions right now.

"Mine or yours?" she asked just as innocently. They were led down a long, ostentatious corridor in the ziggurat, which was bustling with activity at this point in time. Civil servants and guards, most of them women, and noblewomen passed them. Quite a few shot them rather suspicious glances, to be expected from the isolationist Eldorai.

The interior of the ziggurat seemed to be built to impress, the corridors were long and wide, as if anyone passing through was meant to feel small and overwhelmed, reminded of their place in things. They passed portraits of past Star Queens, each of them undoubtedly priceless in terms of value. Angelii, as beautiful as they were lethal, stood sentinel, clad in cuirasses and wielding halberds, stone-faced but watching the movements of anyone who passed by.

Finally she came to a halt in front of the Chief Minister's office. The guards blocking their entrance passed on word of their coming and the doors were opened.

 

[Phylis Alince]

Inside was a severe looking Eldorai woman in an imposing back outfit which probably made Siobhan very happy. Lavina and the two Angelii saluted her, then turned back.
"This is Overseer Mahaska. She does not speak your language so I shall translate," Lavina said. "She asks why you have come to Kaeshana."
"We have come to help find the Arithdae Codex."
"She says, why would you want to do that? This is an Eldorai problem, not one for outsiders."
"I do not want to steal it, I want to find it and use the information in it. I am a historian and researcher. I always am searching out lost things and bringing them to light."
"She says, what if we do not want you to search for this? This is an important artefact."
"We will be sensitive. Besides, if it is lost now, what harm will looking do? At best we find it, I make some notes and leave, at worst I don't find it and we leave."
There was a long, pointed conversation between the two. Finally Lavina turned back to them. "It is allowed, but I will stay with you at all times to ensure nothing...undue...happens."
Phylis smiled. "Grashae nal ronima, Orisha Mahaska."
There was a look of surprise in the Overseer's eyes, but then she looked away and beckoned them to leave.
"Come, Siobhan..." Phylis said softly.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

Siobhan followed Phylis out of the office, leaving the Overseer with the imposing looking outfit that certainly made Siobhan very happy, behind. She had the distinct impression that things would not go that smoothly, in fact the exchange had just strengthened it.

However, that was why she was here. "Well, that went well," she commented softly, not being snarky for once. By the standards of her usual negotiations it had. "So where are we off to now? Going to examine records in their archives?" she asked. This was Phylis' arena. Siobhan was there to make sure nothing untoward happened.

 

[Phylis Alince]

"Hmm, yes. The archives of the Eldorai are said to be very impressive."
"They are," Lavina said. It seemed that Eldorai pointed ears were not just for decoration. "That is where we go now." The other two Angelii peeled off and left them alone with Lavina. Despite that, they had the feeling that more Eldorai were not very far away....

A vast underground vault was where the archives were kept. Rack upon rack of them were stored. Some were on paper or parchment, others on vellum, clay or stone, still others were data crystals. Phylis looked like she'd gone to heaven, but she knew Siobhan would be less impressed.
"Look, I'll be a while, stay with Lavina and chat."
"I should stay with you," Lavina said slowly.
"I'll keep within sight, I promise," Phylis said with angellic innocence, and eventually the Eldorai agreed grudgingly.

When they were alone, Lavina looked at @[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]. "You are not a Yedai?"

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

The look on Phylis' face was equal to that Siobhan would have at the prospect of of a good 'debriefing' with her beloved Tegaea. Or perhaps the prospect of violent mayhem. The Master was off in her fifth heaven, for her part Siobhan was grateful about the chance to stay out and have some smalltalk.

She shook her head at the question, smiling slightly. "No, I used to be, then I left. I've got the Force or...what was the name again...Sciia," her pronouncation of the Eldorai word for their powers was a bit awkward, but nonetheless she managed. "My teacher was an Eldorai actually. Adril Tythorin," she spoke the name with reverence. "I learned all about how to use my powers from her. Now I'm with the Omega Protectorate. We've got our own cadre of Sciians."

 

[Phylis Alince]

Lavina looked approving at the use of their word, and then the mention of Adril Tythorin. "I know Adril. She was always very strong, very fierce. She always thought she knew best. But if she trained you, that is good. I have not seen her in many years. We heard that slavers had taken her, and we were angry, but we learned she had escaped and gone to the Yedai. Her family were very angry. Where is she now?"
News obviously hadn't reached Kaeshana about Manaan and the Cthulu-esque creature which Adril had fallen to destroy.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

Siobhan was silent for a brief moment, then responded. "She died during our last mission together. There was an evil cult of, well, you can call them Sciians I guess. They used a ritual to raise an abomination and it wiped out an entire city. Adril...sacrificed herself to destroy it. I'm alive because of the choices she made."

 

[Phylis Alince]

Lavina bowed her head. "My apologies, Lady Kerrigan. She was a brave Eldorai." There was silence for a moment.

Finally the Eldorai looked at her. "You were close, I see. Were you her laestra?"

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

Siobhan was a bit surprised by the question. Given Eldorai notions of being the pure race, she could imagine that many would look down upon a human being with one of their own. Judging by Silaqui's reaction.

However, she was not going to wethennishly deny it either! So she nodded her head. "Yes," she answered confidently. "We became lovers close to the end of my apprenticeship. She was a great, fierce woman. I would've done anything for her."

Needless to say she brushed over the fact that, as much as she had loved Adril, their relationship had been a melodramatic, draining rollercoaster. Of course, while Siobhan loved Tegaea with all her heart she was still the founder, president and general secretary of the Adril Is Awesome Club, so her words were heartfelt.

 

[Phylis Alince]

Surprisingly Lavina nodded. "You must be a worthy warrior if she chose you," she commented. And that seemed to be that from her. She clearly wasn't that ideologically wedded to the notion of Eldorai superiority.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

Siobhan lips formed a broad smile at the unexpectedly nonjudgemental reaction. Oh, I like her. Business, Siobhan. Darn. "Thanks. We certainly took down our share of evil scum," she said happily. "So you are with the Angelii? Adril told me some stories about them."

 

[Phylis Alince]

"I am sure she did," Lavina said knowingly. "I suppose she left you with the impression that we are all brainwashed and paired with another Angelii who becomes our lover and who we fight to the death for. It is incorrect. That is always what the palace guards do." She laughed, it seemed there was a friendly rivalry there.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

"You mean all the thrilling bedtime stories I got told if I was a good girl aren't true?" Siobhan asked in mock shock, laughing. "My innocence has been stolen." She felt herself loosening up a bit at the banter.She certainly told me they're not to be messed with. Well, I can see that myself. What kind of battles have you been in?" she asked.

 

[Phylis Alince]

Lavina shrugged. "I do not like to discuss my battles much. Mostly they have been against cowardly slavers, pirates and outsider criminals. Sometimes I have fought beasts in the sea. None of it has much great honour. The offworlders are cowards who flee rather than fight us if we show we can resist. The monsters are mere animals. I have had little experience of true war!"

From her armoured hand came a small flame, not unlike Adril's power over fire.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

Siobhan nodded, noticing the small fireball forming in Lavina's hand. The Eldorai were fortunate about existing in an isolated corner of space that had not yet been ravaged by true war, but she kept that thought to herself.
"True war's on the horizon for most of the Galaxy. From an empire of Sciians called the Sith. They're savages, scum whose use their powers to butcher, pillage and enslave and happen to rule most of the east, if you can call it ruling. Adril fought them, she trained me to fight them," Siobhan responded, true passion could be heard in her tone.

Realising she had been rambling and wanting to introduce some levity, she indicated the little flame. "What a coincidence. That was Adril's power. Almost made me sort of jealous I didn't have the talent for it," she said with a chuckle.

 

[Phylis Alince]

"We have heard of the Sith. They are a formidable adversary, but they are a long way away and no threat to us for now." Lavina closed her hand and the flame winked out. "It is the most common of the Sciiac elements. Others can summon lightning, others ice, others can move the ground like an earthquake. It is different from what the Yedai use, I hear."

"I would like to see the stars some day. Is it very different from here out there, on your world?"

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

Well, they did not keep their males in bondage, though Omega was quite amazonian, and in certain places they had this weird idea that people should not gain power purely because of birth.

But it might be best to keep politics out. Besides, Siobhan was just a bit sexist as well, so despite her republican leanings she didn't mind men being put down that much! "And I'd gladly show you the sights," Siobhan said with a wink. "Fondor's less picturesque, it doesn't have the vast forests and the ocean Kaeshana has and I guess the buildings are less beautiful, no white stone. But the the actual city's quite impressive, billions of people live and work there. Colossal towers, shipyard upon shipyard teeming with workers. We've got the third biggest shipyards in the Galaxy. Coruscant, that's where the Republic has its capital, is a planet covered by a city, full of gigantic skyscrapers that reach out into the sky. Really, you could live your entire life living up high and never see the surface."

Which, incidentally, also meant that those living up high never got to see the wretched conditions the inhabitants of the slums of Lower Coruscan lived in, but that was besides the point. "You know, if you want a challenge, Kashyyyk is the place to go. That's where the Wookiees live, big furry creatures, but honourable and they can rip off even a strong soldier's arm and beat them to death with it. The locals make their homes on gigantic trees and the ground of the planet's covered by misty forests filled with great beasts. A challenge even for a Sciian or a Yedai," she smirked slightly, clearly speaking from personal experience.

Siobhan was perhaps not the person to hire as tourist guide.

 

[Phylis Alince]

Lavina nodded. "It is amazing that you are talking about different worlds. There is so much to do and see even on this planet without even beginning to think of other worlds." She sighed, perhaps a little melancholy. "Perhaps it is too much for me to handle. Perhaps it is too much for me to experience in one lifetime. But then, Adril did it, so I guess I can as well!"

They were interrupted by Phylis returning. She looked between them. "Am I interrupting anything? I have some information on the Codex!"

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

"Yes, you can," Siobhan said, mainly because this writer likes to make meta references. "If the past years have taught me anything, it's that life takes unexpected turns. Couple years ago I never would've thought I'd be standing here in this position. Where there's a will there's a way, you just gotta seize chances," she smiled encouragingly.

Then Phylis chose just this moment to return from her librarian heaven. Yes, you sort of are. Couldn't you have spent a few more minutes nerdgasming over the archives? Siobhan unkindly thought to herself. "No. Let's hear it. What have you found out?"