Carnifex's entourage approached the portcullis, the Nightsister Matron
Pom Stych Tivé
awaiting them. With a wave of his hand, he bid her join them as they passed through the threshold and into the darkness of the keep. Once members of the Knights of Ren had made their lair in the fortress, themselves adherents of the Dark Side with a special reverence for the ancient Vader. What remained of their order was the barest of scraps, not that Carnifex would mourn their apparent demise.
They were poor heirs to the legacy of a Sith like Vader, in any case, they were not even Sith.
He spied the hooded figure of
Taeli Raaf
also entering the castle. Their relationship had become strained ever since he had partaken in the attack on Csilla, a move when she had heavily criticized both vocally and by refusing to read his communications for several days. He would endeavor to mend that divide later, but for now, he needed his attention to be sharp and clear as they entered what was ostensibly a viper's nest.
"Stay close to me," Carnifex huskily whispered to his companions, "This is not a welcome gathering, remain vigilant."
Carnifex and his group walked through the various other groups which had congregated in the great hall. Members of many other Sith factions were in attendance, including those of the Warlords, the Eternals of the Worm, and even members of the Empire he had once ruled over as Emperor. He wondered what they thought when they saw him, their former sovereign, standing tall amidst enemies on all sides. He had the briefest sliver of hope that it inspired some measure of confidence in those who might have faltered in his absence.
Regardless, his mind was attuned to the future.
To the Kainate.
Their host called all of the assembled to attention and began assailing them with a prepared speech regarding this very congregation and the events leading up to it, chiefly the aforementioned attack on Csilla. Carnifex had heard similar rhetoric before, he had even penned some himself when he was Emperor, so this did not have the desired effect on him as it would a less seasoned acolyte. But, perhaps that was the point, this was to entice new followers into the faith and embolden their conviction, not convince a wizened elder like himself.
His eyes darted to the left, there was movement in the shadows. He could smell something. Not a smell in the traditional sense, this had nothing to do with his nose but had everything to do with his senses in the Force, and there was something that didn't belong.
Then the fortress rumbled, and Carnifex had his answer.
"It appears the hors d'oeuvre have arrived," remarked the Butcher King, spoken just as the shadow under his feet appeared to melt away and split off into over a dozen slivers of darkness. Those slivers rushed across the floors and walls, traversing the distance between the great hall and the point of incursion within a matter of moments. Everything that passed before them was transmitted to Carnifex through the mystical link they shared, and so Carnifex quite literally saw all and knew all from what these shadows observed.
"Heh," an almost uncharacteristic display of amusement from the normally stoic and emotionless Dark Lord, "Mandalorians."
Not entirely unexpected, if one was to be serious. With so many Sith in congregation in one isolated location, it was almost certain that their location would have become known to those Mandalorians seeking retribution for the destruction of their people. Carnifex had his suspicion that one among the Sith could have given them that information, perhaps even their own host, but he only had his own intuition as a basis for that.
Nevertheless, Carnifex's hand briefly touched a device clipped at his waist, where the chain codes of the most notable deceased Mandalorian tribal chieftains, military leaders, and spiritual guides had been deposited.
There was always room for more to be added.