A Legacy of Zambranos [Darth Vornskr]

[Nikolas Faselli]

Panatha
Vain Hallow Citadel
@[member="Darth Vornskr"]

The Zambrano dynasty... Tyrant of the Pacanth... these were the few thing which came into the mind of Maria, an exiled member of the family, when she started travelling to the home of Epicanthix species.

Being but a weak woman in the ways of the Force, she was still much like the tyrant who resided on Panatha. Being as cruel and evil as he was - well, maybe not that evil nor that cruel - she hoped her cousin doesn't think she is a simple person. She had a citadel of hers on a magical planet, after all, and she had slaves, so she had some power, right?

Maria did not have a ship of her own, so she had had to borrow her father's to visit her family member. It was a bit exciting to go for a visit, yet it made the woman nervous. She had never met Kaine Zambrano, so she didn't know what to expect. Neither did she know how he would welcome members of her own family. Having heard, that some powerful dynasties have fallen because of one person who was too selfish and coward to allow any family, Maria shivered.

Awful.

Having landed not too close to the Citadel, but being still quite close, she was sure, that Kaine has either noticed her or maybe one of her minions has. Either way, she already set her steps towards the front door of the building like it was her own home. This construction was beautiful, though in the opinion of hers, it was not good enough. Yes, Arx Mortis was basically a place full of death, yet also full of beauty of Crystalsong and she couldn't expect something on Panatha look the same, but...

"Kaine, come out..." Maria spoke playfully like she were playing hide and seek with the man, trying to find him.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

For a few moments, silence. Had Kaine ignored her calls, was he not going to let her in? After those few moments passed, that seemed to be the case. However; a rumbled echoed across the barren landscape surrounding the citadel, and then the monstrous skull-esque portcullis began to open it's mouth, fog billowing out from beneath it's sharpened teeth. The portcullis slammed open, no light penetrating the darkness within, but soon enough the sound of metal upon metal reverberated through the dead air. There he appeared, the Tyrant of the Pacanth, and the undisputed King of Panatha, Kaine Zambrano, strolled out from the darkness and into the light to meet with his wayward cousin. A cloak of regal crimson and ebony billowing around him as he walked against the coastal wind that came from the southern bay of the peninsula the citadel was situated upon, and the slightest glimmer of reflective metal gave away the armor hidden underneath the robe.

The Tyrant's hair was wild in the whipping wind, black as the night flecked with aging gray, but still as long as it had ever been. The course beard upon his face had grown as well, becoming thicker and more noticeable against his pale, corpse-like skin. His eyes were sunken, and blood-shot flecked with sulfuric yellow, typical of an individual who had delved too far into the Dark Side. None else followed the Tyrant out into the field, for none needed to. The Tyrant had proven his warrior prowess dozens of times over, and he needed no aid against his own kind. Not that he expected his cousin to try and kill him right then and there, she was too smart for that, or at least Kaine hoped. Once he had reached a point where he was but a few meters from Maria, did he stop and call out, "Greetings, dearest cousin. It has been a long time since one of my own has come looking for me, it is usually the other way around. Tell me, what brings you to my domain?"

His voice was dark, haunting, and a booming baritone. It held an air of noble intelligence, and his words were articulated perfectly. But that wasn't what made his voice so intimidating, but rather the echo that laced his voice. It was as if another voice was trapped behind it, trying to assert it's dominance but failing every time, giving his voice the much needed creep required to send the shivers down most people's spines.

@[member="Maria Zambrano"]

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

@[member="Darth Vornskr"]

And then, there he was... the tyrant himself was standing but a few steps from her. His voice, frightening yet majestic like a Zambrano's voice should be, echoed in the head of Maria even after he had stopped talking.

"So you are a master of your own citadel as well? How enlightening..." she said with her own low voice which frightened the servants of her own domain, which is not even a tiny particle of the land her cousin - the tyrant - has. She was intentionally avoiding the question at first, but then, as she looked directly into the emerald eyes of the man, she continued her speech.

"I have come to seek your acceptance as you are, like I can see, the most noble of the current Zambrano dynasty."

Wearing the dark dress of hers and holding a staff decorated with skulls made her look more like a slaver than a queen, which she actually wasn't. As she had no influence and nobody to rule, she was indeed but a slaver.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Kaine chuckled, "Indeed? Our family for too long has been divided between myself, my uncle, and my aunt. I seek to undo this, and bring our family together once more as the true royal family of Panatha. I have secured the throne, and now I only need to secure the family." He said waving an arm invitingly towards the blackness beyond the portcullis, but high above the ramparts one could see a curious flocking of Vanr Honor Guards. They had recently congregated, curious as to who their liege-lord was meeting with in person alone and unguarded by his Honor Guard. However; they would not move from their spots unless the Tyrant gave them the order, which of course he wouldn't in this circumstance. That didn't mean that the Vanr would be any less suspicious about Maria because of it, they were always suspicious of strangers to the castle. Especially after strangers from their world came and brought upon it's apocalypse.

"Would you come inside and join me for a drink?"

@[member="Maria Zambrano"]

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

"It is nice, that you think of your family, not only about the realm. For sure, I have never seen our aunt, so I do not know what to think about her, but your goal is the most noble and I seek to aid you whenever my help is needed," the Witch spoke when setting her slow steps towards the inside of this majestic citadel. Most of the servants of her were human men, but it looked like her cousin has far greater minions. Without answering to the man's question - since moving already told him what she had chosen to do - she just continued her own monologue,

"These are a fine type of slaves you have here... At least I am assuming, that they are slaves of yours. It would be a shame if Tyrant of the Pacanth had mere minions who get payed or who want to serve him..." She continued her playful way of talking, trying to annoy the man just a little bit. She wanted to see his reaction.

No, she didn't want to fight, but a bit playfulness was just what this domain needed.

@[member="Darth Vornskr"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

It would be a lie to say Kaine wasn't annoyed by his cousin's playful talk, he did just a little bit, but he cracked a smirk none-the-less. "Epicanthixs are not to be made slaves, dearest cousin. I do have slaves, many slaves that is. The surrounding worlds in the Reach have abundant populations of non-Epicanthixs, such as Humans and even the occasional alien, and they are what we enslave. The Epicanthix guard you see here serves out of loyalty to me, same with the Vanr Honor Guard, although they serve me for a different reason of loyalty." He explained as he escorted dearest Maria through the hallowed halls of his mighty castle, past various scenes of debauchery and violence that seemed unbecoming of a King's abode, but to Kaine it was home sweet home. As a Sith, he believed to truly be free, one must embrace all of his passions in abundance. Sex and violence were a common occurrence in Vain Hallow, and Kaine even held secret blood rituals deep within his castle to further taint the castle with the Dark Side.

He led Maria to the grand library, where he believed she would be most comfortable surrounded by untold founts of knowledge collected by Kaine over the decades. "I thought you might like this room most of all, it houses many scriptures from before the darkness, but although my set is far from being complete it even has an incomplete manuscript of Palpatine's Book of Monsters. Although it is a copy, and uncompleted as I said, it is worthy of a read or two." While Kaine talked, a hooded servant would hobble in with a tray of two goblets, and a pitcher of wine. The servant would pour both Kaine and Maria a glass, and hand it to each of them one after the other, with Kaine's being handed out first due to him being the King and all.

Priorities, this servant had them.

@[member="Maria Zambrano"]

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

While moving through the halls of the cousin, Maria listened to his low voice and eyed the citadel. From the inside, it was nothing like Arx Mortis. Vain Hallow was, like it seemed, a place full of sex and violence, but Arx Mortis, on the other hand, could be described by order and majestic silence. Indeed, not a single soul was brave enough to fight against somebody - or even worse - have sex in the Citadel of Death. That's the primary thing which separated the two cousins.

When they reached the library, the Witch was already interested in what she might find from the room. "Do you have anything about the early times of Panatha? I'm especially interested in the era of Magnus Zambrano's reign. I have heard so little about him." She took the goblet which was lend to her by the servant. Even Maria found the servant to be fit for the position they held - even though being as low as a servant - judging by their priorities. She took some of the wine and then started aimlessly looking through some of the documentations.

@[member="Darth Vornskr"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"Most of that time was lost when the virus rampaged across the galaxy, and there are only a few manuscripts dating back to that time period. There's a data-console that has a complete databank of my library's contents, you're free to use it and borrow whatever you wish." Kaine would relax back in a large, plush reading chair situated in the central intersection of the library. He would let Maria have her fun in the library while he relaxed, but he would keep a metaphorical eye on her at all times. He could sense her wherever she went through the library, and in a far off control room a team of guardsman were monitoring the vitals of both Kaine and Maria through a series of complicated sensors build in the floors and walls. Anyone who entered the castle could be tracked via this method, along with an array of other methods.

@[member="Maria Zambrano"]

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

Maria sighed. Of course, the supreme Gulag Virus took place not too long time ago, wiping out basically most life in the galaxy, destroying powerful cultures, making knowledge nonexistent. It was a sad event. Just wandering around the library and ignoring the console, she tried to find something interesting, something intriguing. She never judged a book by its title, but by its cover. That was a weird thing about her. The Witch often understood whether she is going to like a book or not by just looking at the cover. Most of the times her assumptions were correct.

"Who is our aunt?" she asked when disappearing between two shelves. "I haven't heard much about her. Does she have her own children as well? Her own legacy?" She took a book and looked at the cover. Yes, the title was interesting and so was the book's appearance. It was most likely going to talk about an old Sith group. Unfortunately, she couldn't understand what group was it, as it was never mentioned by its name.

@[member="Darth Vornskr"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"You can hardly consider our aunt to be a Zambrano anymore. Her name is Talviane, and sometime after my eighteenth birthday she married a merchant lord from Balmorra, and abandoned her proud family name for the name of merchant filth. She's Talviane Conctilius now, and she is no longer part of our family. I care not what happens to her, nor will see to bring her back into the fold." It was clear that Kaine was bitter about what his aunt had done, at how she had forsaken their family for another bereft of noble blood or a proud lineage. It was insulting, to say the least. "Speak not of her again, she is a blemish upon our house, and I will not suffer her memory any longer." He took a drink from his goblet, letting the wine cool his temper for the time being. "Did you find a tome suitable for your curious desires?" He said as he spied the book Maria was holding next time he saw her move around the shelves.

@[member="Maria Zambrano"]

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

"I'm sorry..." Maria spoke, obviously faking regret. She then walked out of the shelves, coming back with the book she still knew not much about. There were some names, but, not being a Sith, she couldn't recognize any of them. "This particular document interests me indeed, mostly because of the confusion it causes in me."

She sighed.

"As a Darksider and the owner of this particular tome, you should know what it is about, right? There are many Darths named over here, but I know none of them. I can't even understand whether it talks about the past or about the present. There's so much Sith in it." She tried to read it and understand something, but... no. Nothing. Not knowing what it is about made her go a bit mad. Full of the names of powerful Sith, there was not much other information about this group of Sith.

Like she understood, the group held loads of power during their reign.

And then she understood.

@[member="Darth Vornskr"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Kaine took a glance at the contents, and instantly recognized the names archived down. "This book references a time to where the Sith nearly regained control over the entire galaxy, an Order kept secret for decades before usurping galactic control from an Empire that valued peace more than order and stability. Unlike the iconic Rule of Two that came before it, this group of Sith were legion... but they followed a single code, and a single vision. They were unique, to say the least. They almost succeeded, but alas they were tragically forced into the shadows by the Jedi. That seems to be the pattern with the Sith, always driven away from the raging light. No matter what, however; we come back from the brink of death and more powerful and cunning than before." He noted quickly to Maria what the other books contained, such as the Order of the Sith Lords, the Brotherhood of Darkness, and even a rare tome concerning the era of Vitiate's Empire which contained references to Naga Sadow's Empire.

Such a long legacy, yet they still had not achieved anything in nearly seven thousand years.

@[member="Maria Zambrano"]

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

"Ah... The destruction of organized Sith... The fall of the 'almighty' Sith Empire shocked the whole galaxy. These... Fel Imperium people and Republicans and Mandalorians... It was a shame for the Sith. Fortunately, I do not limit my ways with the Dark Side. And I would have expected the same from the powerful Tyrant," Maria spoke, looking at the man standing not too far away from her cousin.

"You were one of the most powerful factions in the galaxy. Yet the three factions were able to destroy you."

She sighed and put her hand on the shoulder of Kaine, trying to seem empathic.

@[member="Darth Vornskr"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Kaine cast a venomous glare at Maria as she laid a hand upon his shoulder, and if she was anyone but his flesh and blood relative he would've backhanded her with such fury her teeth would've been knocked loose. However; she was his flesh and blood relative, and that did give her certain privileges that most mortals did not have. "I do not require your sympathies, cousin." Even still, he placed his hand over her own, his expression revealing nothing of his true feelings, such was the mask he had mastered. "It was a terrible disgrace, I know. I had tried so hard to undo the mistakes of the previous Emperors, but alas I could not fix what Voracitos and Ardik had done to my beloved Empire. Lussk had potential, but he worked too slowly and failed to reverse the errors imposed upon us. I had to take matters into my own hands, but the enemy was too powerful and organized. My defeat on Dac secured the Empire's death, but I salvaged what I could and I am rebuilding slowly. We will have our revenge in time."

He released his hold on his cousin's hand, and moved to take another drink from his wine. He had grown addicted to it's sweet, rich flavor, and there wasn't a day that went by that he didn't feel it's seductive allure. It was almost as bad as his sexual vices, but between that there was a wide margin. That was for sure.

@[member="Maria Zambrano"]

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

"So you must be a really active Sith then. I have heard, that some people have decided to accept their fate and just live their humble lives wherever their home is. Yet you and your fellows seem to be really serious about bringing Sith back. I would love to help you..."

She turned around and started walking towards the shelves again.

"... but I do not think Sith is right. Sorry."

She put the tome away and started searching for another interesting one.

"Yes, I prefer to use the Dark Side of the Force, yet I do now believe, that Jedi are completely wrong... That's what makes us so different."

[member="Darth Vornskr"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Kaine couldn't believe what he was hearing, "You speak vile blasphemies, cousin. The Sith will one day rule the galaxy, and succeed where so many before us have failed. I have seen the true nature of the Dark Side in the Galaxy, and cried tears of blood in pure rapture upon beholding the truth. For years I believed that I was the one to bring the glory of the Sith to the galaxy, but I was a delusional fool blinded by my own ambitions. If only you've seen it, cousin, then you'd understand..." He sighed and drank again from his goblet, only to find it empty. For once, Kaine wasn't in the mood to drown himself with wine, and lazily handed off his empty goblet to his servant, who he then sent away. He cast a glance to the wide bay window on the east side of the library, and saw the sun begin to set on the horizon. He sighed again and rose up from his sitting position, and lightly stretched. "The day grows cold, cousin. I dare say you should stay awhile, get to know your other family."

[member="Maria Zambrano"]

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

"I'm sorry for causing such a bad mood... But it's the truth," Maria spoke. He came back from the shelves and continued, "I have come to see my family and so I will stay as long as you allow me to be here. Family is always more important than the realm and you seem to understand it. I admire it in you."

She looked at her own goblet of wine and noticed, that she had taken only a few sips out of it.

"Your family; your legacy, is far greater than mine. You have achieved something I do not have yet. Yes, I am younger and I have some time, but... You are the true heir to the Zambrano throne. And like I have come to understand today, you have the potential to become something greater than our ancestor."

She took a sip of the wine.

"It has been a good day and I hope, that you have a dinner served. If not, then maybe you could show me the bedroom which I can use during these days when I meet the rest of our family."

[member="Darth Vornskr"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"What is true and what is false is inconsequential." He said with a shrug, moving away from that topic as he didn't want to get into a philosophical argument with his flesh-and-blood cousin. He appreciated her flattery, it only further fueled his belief that he was doing the best thing for his people, and his family. "Your words sooth me, dear cousin. These last few weeks have been trying... but I am pulling through." He purposefully left out the fact that his constant Dark Side abuse was causing the rapid decay of his body, hence why he had begun to look older and older with each passing week or month. Soon enough his body would be completely spent and he would die, but before that he planned to discover a solution to his plight, and try to cheat death like Moridin and Velok were rumored to have done in ages past. However; the pathway to immortality continued to elude him, and it stressed him to no end. He would not plague Maria with his own plight for now.

"Come, cousin. I will show you to your room. Luckily it is not far from my own chamber, so you are never far from family." He said with a smile as he turned and led Maria out of the library, and towards the royal suites. He gestured to his own chamber, and then farther down the hall he stopped at the room Maria would occupy. He unlocked the door, and pushed it open to reveal a luxurious suite with all the commodities one would expect of a royal family member. A massive window led out to a marvelous marble balcony that overlooked the castle yards to the north, the hills to the west, and the sea to the east. The sun was just setting, casting radiant reds and oranges across the room as the light began to fade away. It was all very wonderful, and what not. "I hope it is to your liking, cousin."

[member="Maria Zambrano"]

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

The room was beautiful.

"I... love it! Thank you, cousin! I am sure I'll have a good night in this chamber. But before I ready myself for going to bed, I have a few questions which I hope you can answer." She walked around the room and tried to figure out where to put the few things she had brought from her home and which now resided in the ship she used. "Do you have clothes shops on this planet? Could you show me the building a bit so I could get an idea of where some kind of rooms are? Do I get my personal servant while I am here?" She bombarded the man with her questions, hoping for him to answer them as quickly as possible as she was already a bit excited about seeing the rest of the citadel.

Remembering, that she still wore a headpiece in her hair, Maria raised her hand next to her hair and took the metal piece out. It was definitely not a crown or a tiara, but it was a simple headpiece. The reason to wear it was her own citadel, Arx Mortis, and the people over there, but as she was about to stay in the residence of their family's nobility, there was no need to wear it anymore.

[member="Darth Vornskr"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"There are many tailors on Panatha, cousin. Many of which create the most exquisite outfits you've ever seen, some of which even create my wardrobe." It was true, Kaine had hired a multitude of tailors to create multiple outfits for himself, and once he had decided which ones were the best of the bunch, he murdered the unfortunate ones that did not please him so those that did could excel. "The castle is yours to explore as you wish, cousin. The guards and servants have been made aware of your presence and are ordered to not bother you with trivial matters, however; they are willing to attend to your needs should you ask them. There is only one place that I urge you not to traverse, and that is the castle dungeons. That is the only forbidden place in this castle, but the rest is open to you. On the matter of a personal servant, I will assign one to you to be with you at all times." That way, he could monitor what his cousin was doing while within his walls, which may be a tad overkill seeing as though Maria had no reason to slight him, but Kaine could never be too sure on anything these days.

[member="Maria Zambrano"]