A graveyard for the darkest of the Sith Lords

[Lord Depravious]

[member="Muad Dib"]

Lord Depravious stood among the sands on Korriban - the ancient homeworld of the Sith. The world had now become nothing more than a giant tomb for the Sith of Old - and only the most prestigious of Sith could have the honor of being buried here. This also held a sort of macabre which enticed Lord Depravious to the planet. That and the arid nature of the planet.

He could lose himself for days in the sand dunes of Korriban and not be found by a single soul unless he wanted them to find him. The macabre of the planet was more than just a feeling created from generations of dead bodies piling up in the crypts of Korriban - but it literally fed the Darksided nexus of the planet. To a normal force user they may feel overwhelemed by this power, or even be unfocused by such an immense darksided presence. To the trained force users of the Sith Order though, this was home. Lord Depravious could literally taste the taint of the nexus - and how bitter sweet the bogan feeling was as he fed from it.

He took a deep breath in - the arid air filling his nose with sand and the arid air of the planet. This nostalgic feeling helped him center himself in the force. He had put an open broadcast to any Sith on Korriban for an honorable challenge. In the days of old he fashioned himself as the "Lord of War" but anymore he was hardly the lord he used to be and he knew he needed to gain the respect of any fellow Sith if he were to make headway in this new order.

At his side he held his massive halberd - the Sith runes on the edge of the blade and down the shaft illuminated a bright red whilst he stood upon the sands of Korriban - the darksided nexus fueling the runes as well. At his side still snug in its sheathe sat the curved hilt of his Sith Sword. While he enjoyed both weapons, the Halberd was definitely his favored - simply because he enjoyed the feeling of flesh being carved by such a weapon.

He was the first to arrive and he didn't expect anyone to even show - especially since the Sith no longer owned this world. Regardless, he stood outside the Valley of the Dark Lords in await for a true challenge.

 

[Muad Dib]

He knelt on one knee as he scooped a mound of the planet's surface in his gauntleted hand. Dry, red sand filtered between fingers and was caught by the wind which scattered the cascading sand. As the grains were tossed into the obscurity of non-conformity he looked up into the darkened sky. Lightning flashed across the horizon, blue on a black canvass he chuckled lightly as he rose to his feet.

The man turned and looked down the slope of the valley knowing instinctively where he was going. He had been on this planet many times and despite it's current affiliations he still knew the Nexus intimately. Sliding down the sides he leaped from rock to slab until he reached the bottom. Pausing a moment he tightened the strap that ran across his chest which kept the sword scabbard from sliding along his back.

Moving down the valley he felt the presence seeping I to his bones. The Darkside was prevalent here. Not just prevalent but overwhelming and nearly tangible. It moved around and through everything and just as the force moved and existed in all things so too here on Korriban did the Darkside permeate and consume all.

As the waves of energy washed over him he sighed and opened up to the massive saturation that the planet offered to those willing and able to open up to the raw power and not be destroyed. The man's blue eyes glowed as in the distance he saw and felt the other presence. Continuing to walk he closed the distance between the two of them.

 

[Lord Depravious]

[member="Muad Dib"]

A deep breath, followed by the sense of someone approaching. Lord Depravious turned his head to the side slightly to where the stranger was approaching from. He had called for an honorable fight - he wasn't here to murder any of his brethren - well, at least not today he wasn't. He was doing this to stretch his muscles you could say. It had been quite some time since he had a fight worth having - he was hoping today would be the day.

He wanted his prey opponent to first know what they were walking into - after all this was meant to be an honorable duel right? So, in turn he slammed the blunt end of his halberd into the sand so that the blade would be sticking straight up. While bladework was certainly the mans strong point; he wasn't in any way lost to the old ways of manipulating the force - nor the new ways some of the newer Sith have used it.

Shaidin took a deep breath - centering himself in the force before on the exhale he allowed his hatred and fury spill out into his force presence before extending it out across the sands to where surely the opponent approaching could feel the malice in the man he was about to face.

The very sand below him seemed to shift a bit as he allowed his chagrin to expand through the aura of force surrounding him. To those seeking a fight with the warmongering Sith Lord this would act as a beacon - not one to stay away from; but to flock to.

Once he had thoroughly made his presence known with an overwhelming show of power in the force he reached his right arm back over to the Halberd; and he clasped his fingers around it tightly pulling it from the sand.. Waiting to see if this stranger approaching would take it as a warning, or a sign of a good fight.

 

[Muad Dib]

[member="Lord Depravious"]


He paused as the Sith plunged his weapon into the sands. Then, like a tidal wave, the presence of the man washed out from him. Gritting his teeth slightly at the magnitude of the aura he felt the power within the Sith. Hate, anger, fury all boiled from the Sith in such an impressive magnitude Muad could do nothing but applaud lightly, the faint sound of his gauntleted hands colliding. The maelstrom felt would melt the bravest foe into a pool of fear. But for him it was not so. It foretold of a glorious battle.

"That was beautiful. Simply beautiful."

Opening himself up to the force he responded in kind allowing the other man to sense who he was. Rage and peace, fear and tranquility, hate and love. All these were part of what made the Mad Knight tick. The darkside of the force permeated his presence as an eternal shadow. But it was the madness that was truly intoxicating and overwhelming.

Chuckling lightly he reached over his shoulder and pulled the double edged straight sword from it's sheath and swung it once to loosen his arm a bit. The blade carried it's own presence in the force revealing it was more then just a simple sword but a force imbued blade. The faint blue hue of the weapon matched the Mad Knight's own eyes.

"Muad Dib."

His introduction as he began moving toward the Sith in slow steady strides. He raised the blade up to his brow and gave a salute. Muad grinned again knowing that this was going to be fun.

 

[Lord Depravious]

Lord Depravious inhaled sharply as he felt the dark aura pour over him. All of the emotions flooding through his mind, it was truly an amazing feeling - the one you have right before a fight truly for your life. This man exemplified all of the qualities of a warrior - but was he a true warrior?

If there was anyone who could find this out - it was Lord Depravious. As the man approached saluting and stating his name; Depravious spun the halberd around his back before bringing it into position at his side - the blade facing downwards and the end of the shaft ran up along his back. He gave the man a simple nod to his name before stating is own before what he had hoped would be a glorious battle.

"Shaidin Kamari, also known as Lord Depravious self proclaimed Lord of War."

The Halberd that Shaidin held thirsted for blood and hungered for the flesh of a combatant. The feeling was practically tangible; as if the weapon had a mind and force presence of its own. The spear tip at the end of the Halberd lightly drug along the sand as Depravious made his first steps towards his opponent.

The closer he grew to [member="Muad Dib"] the more heightened his instincts became. His face went from its naturally stoic posture to a more predatory and fierce scowl at his opponent. His predatory instincts were on high alert, and he now smelled prey in front of him. The grip on his halberd tightened as he took a stronger step towards his opponent, the duel beginning.

 

[Muad Dib]

Seeing the deftness of the Sith's movements with the halberd as he spun the weapon smoothly behind his a voice in his mind whispered caution. But the roar in his soul shouted challenge. The man's name and title warned of a Sith made from experiencing death ... Death at his hands. But rather then frightening Muad it kick started his adrenaline filling him with anticipation of the fight that was about to be joined. The Sith's face changed to that of a predator, eyes piercing, jaw elongated, teeth slightly bared, brow furrowed and to any sane it would have had them back pedaling for what was written on the countenance was surely death.

But with a grinning snarl Muad accepted the challenge with a song in his heart dedicated to chaos. As the force flowed through him he felt his senses heightening and expanding. His body filled with power and focused energy. And as his presence sang out in a cry of violence about to be joined, so too did the sword in his hand begin to hum. Forged in the depths of Tython by his own hand and infused with his spirit it was as though the blade longed for combat just as his master. The cut through the air nearly whistled with joy.

Nearing the sith he saw the other man step more lively toward him and so Muad gained in his stride as well. The anticipation of joining blades and seeking one another's blood had driven him to almost a fevered pitch of desire. So as the distance closed he began to sprint the final dozen yards so the deadly dance could finally be joined and play out to the tempo of their beating hearts.

As the distance finally ended between the two Muad took the initiative of the first strike. A lazy over hand strike from above with his right hand while still in stride, it would connect, be deflected, or be side stepped. But he was already planning on following up with a horizontal slash from left to right as he attempted to close in with [member="Lord Depravious"] to decrease the effectiveness of the longer ranged weapon.

 

[Lord Depravious]

[member="Muad Dib"] had accepted his challenge in the greatest way that a Warrior could - in a full on charge right back at him his heart and soul pumping into the very tythonian forged blade he carried. He could feel this mans desire for chaos, his desire for a worthy opponent on the battlefield. This was the type of person you wanted on your side during a war - the type of Sith that would stand side-by-side you on the front lines and shoulder to shoulder with you as you carve through your enemy. The people that sought the battle, thrived on it - they were the Sith that Depravious was looking for in the order.

There was no turning back now, not for either of them - and it was precisely that feeling that Depravious thrived on. As the two men approached each other Depravious saw the Sith Knights blade raise high into the air - an obvious bait into something. Due to the Halberd being at a diagonal angle down to his side - The Sith Lord immediately slammed his front right foot down into the sand bringing his body to a hault.

He brought a heavy handed slash directly into the air upwards at the mans overhanded strike. Unlike the overhanded strike described as lazy, Lord Depravious's underhand parry was met with his full strength. Within the sand his feet became like a mountain ontop of the arid desert planet. His muscles tensed and his eyes began slightly more blood shot. The intensity within his face and his body could be literally seen when he brought the axe of the Halberd directly into the mans blade.

When their blades hit in the parry it was as if the air around them stood still for a moment - the sand particles in the air just frozen in time floating before their faces and weapons. A spark and the Halberd was brought back with precision and skill closer to his body as his stature leaned backwards on his heels.

He planned to stab outwards immediately after in a flurry of stabs. Dumping his malice and anger into each and every one of them - to truly test this mans merit and to see if he could have the gumption to block any one of the strikes coming at him. This left only a few options, Muad could continue with his original plan of cleaving, attempting to out dodge the strikes, or try and parry into a counter.

The strikes would reach their destination and Depravious would make sure of that as his muscles tensed ready to go for the game ending shot at any moment. If nothing else this could serve the purpose of keeping the man at a distance with the Halberd.

 

[Muad Dib]

When he brought the sword down in it's lazy arc it was met with the halberd. The two weapons vibrated through the force of their clash and for a moment time, indeed, seemed to stand still. [member="Lord Depravious"] stared with eyes turning slightly red as streaks shot through them. Muad bared his teeth in a silent snarl as his own glowing eyes blazed an even brighter luminous blue.

As the two were locked in that moment that seemed to transcend time their auras clashed like two storm fronts struggling against one another for supremacy. But as it was the case in nature so was it in the Force as the two fronts of rage, anger, and darkness seemed to merge. A greater storm brewed from the union of their darkness.

And then the moment passed as Lord Depravious disengaged the blade of the halberd and began his attack in determined, ferocious thrusts. Muad pulled the sword close deflecting the attacks, giving several feet at the ferocity of the onslaught. His boots moved back in steps as the Mad Knight gave ground.

After another, consecutive, parry another strike came once again for his chest. Having established a short rhythm of defensive parries Muad changed tactics. Reversing his right hand grip on the hilt of the sword he pivoted on his left leg, parrying the halberd thrust out of line with his body and continued his spin.

Left arm extended during the spin to attempt to hammer his gauntleted fist into the left side of the self proclaimed Lord of War's face while following through with the spin to slice horizontally into what would hopefully be the other man's back. Muad would be aiming at the small of the back where typically armor ended due to the need for mobility and flexibility and potentially slice deep enough to sever skin, muscle, tendons, and conceivably the spine.

 

[Lord Depravious]

Parry parry parry rang off in his mind as Depravious continued his onslaught into the mans midsection with his halberd. He was counting the times that the man could block each one of his ferocious blows. He knew from the start though - that if nothing else this man called himself a warrior. He couldn't be put down like some meaningless dog. Depravious also knew through his years of training and warfare that what was coming next was a counter.

Depravious watched as the man flawlessly countered his blow and spun on his feet - rotating both blade and fist towards him - for what could be a duel ending blow. With his halberd still fully extended he knew that there could be no way this incoming blow was parried - at least not within the realm of realism or without the usage of Force Body.

Instead of giving in like cowards would, or freezing in the moment Lord Depravious acted almost instantly, swinging his halberd away from [member="Muad Dib"] giving himself momentum while his body crouched low to the floor. As his body spun he brought his leg out in an attempt to sweep the man. With Muad's body already being mid spin - Depravious knew there was almost no way he could get around being sweeped when coming so close to the Sith Lord.

In his minds eye the Sith Lord could see his next moves as his eyes began to face away from him - his leg fully extended. The moment the man was tripped by the leg sweep he could see himself bringing his second hand back onto his halberd. His body rising to its full height coming out of his spin facing directly towards the man presumably on the ground. And finally, bringing the Halberd down in a body crushing falling avalanche at the man.

 

[Muad Dib]

As Muad began his spin he lost eye contact with the Sith Lord momentarily. Knowing this would be a precarious miniscule of a second he committed to the attack. But as he was in mid spin he noticed two things.

The first was his extended left hand connected with nothing. No head, no body, no block. As he was in motion pivoting on his leg his mind raced to what he would do in the same situation. As he realized an impending leg sweep would be his choice he already felt the Lord of War's leg connecting with his own.

Feeling his leg, and only stability, removed from under him he began dropping backwards toward the ground.

The second thought that raced through his mind as he fell was that he would immediately strike. Curling his legs up to his chest he felt his shoulders connect with the ground and instead of flattening onto his back on the ground completely exposed he instead used his lower body to roll backwards from his shoulders.

Following through the roll Muad was on his knees as the halberd sliced through the air just before his face, the wicked blade splitting the air not even an inch from his nose. The momentum of his roll placed him coiled on his feet in a crouch and as the halberd shattered stone between the two men, Muad brought his sword down onto the back of the halberd as it finished it's downward arc.

In that precarious position most combatants would retreat and regather themselves. But not the Mad Knight. Coiling his legs under him he launched himself toward [member="Lord Depravious"], over their entwined melee weapons, in an attempt to give the Sith a Keldabe Kiss.

 

[Lord Depravious]

The Sith Lord felt the stone shatter under neath his Halberd. A vein pulsated on the side of his head when he realized that his Halberd didn't tear into flesh. He also knew that he couldn't launch an immediate counter attack at this short of a distance with such a weapon. And then, [member="Muad Dib"] 's blade fell on top of his Halberd and he knew exactly what he needed to do.

The counter attack was evident and he could see the mans legs beginning to lift off the ground. No one likes being knocked to the ground, especially not a Sith. Some people fight to keep their weapons in that situation, they see it as their only way of winning - a weapon is an extension of your being. Fortunately, Depravious didn't think like that he knew that his ultimate strength wasn't in his usage of the Halberd, while it complemented his strength and speed well - it was the same as using a lightsaber.

Both of his hands dropped the Halberd the instant the Knights blade fell upon the top of it. His right hand fell to his belt which held his curved lightsaber hilt. Inscribed on the bottom was the phrase, "Pandryl Kaes" a phrase to the unknowing that would seem like jibberish. And in an instant he took a step fowards igniting the curved hilt to the side, the crimson blade humming in the arid atmosphere of Korriban.

His rage was swelling as the dodged attack ran through his mind and their blades clashed. The Lord of War locked blades with the man for a moment his left hand came up to the hilt as both men bared their teeth at one another assumingly what could only be a face to face confrontation. After a moment his foot pivoted and he followed through with the blade swinging it outwards while also falling back from the man to gain his composure. Upon falling back from him his entire body posture changed from the rampaging marauder he was with the Halberd to a more composed Djem So stance. He took a deep breath while he could, assessing the mans next moves and how to counter them.

 

[Muad Dib]

Rising slowly the Mad Knight watched the other man slide back with ignited lightsaber. Before his glowing eyes the Juggernaut morphed into a more controlled djem so practitioner. Grinning Muad slowly circled the other Sith, feet avoiding the stony debris of the valley floor. Slowly he raised his sword up and sheathed it once more before reaching to his hip and pulling free his own cylinder. The external casing was scarred and pitted, the once bright sheen worn with frequent use.

Pausing in his predatory pacing Muad grinned once more, raising the unlit hilt to his brow in another salute. The first stage of combat was complete. Now it was time for their skill with the famed lightsaber. Initially his own blade, the brilliant blue hue matched the glowing eyes of the Mad Knight. Most who saw the color of the blade immediately assumed it to be the weapon of a Jedi. But those arrived to the force would feel the resonating power of the crystal within the weapon. A crystal that was once housed in a Sith holocron.

Rotating his wrist slightly he spun the azure lightsaber, reconnecting with the weightlessness of the blade. The lightsaber was similar to a sword, and yet there difference were starkly apparent. Pointing the weapon down to the ground Muad turned his body to the side taking on a Makashi stance. His years with the lightfoil and blastsword had translated to form II smoothly when he had begun his training of the lightsaber.

Grinning once more he attacked, going on the offensive initially once again.

As he moved forward, his right leg advanced while the tip of his boot caught a first sized stone and launched it toward the other Sith's chest. Following through he lunged lightly at the midsection of the other combatant, not fully extended. If the blade made contact it was going to be beautiful, but the intent was to draw the Lord of War into an attack where the smooth moves and dancing form would quickly go into effect.

(Sorry for the delayed reply. My notification never came through. [member="Lord Depravious"] )