Faction A Test of Wit and Valor [RNR]

[Joro Kal'nath]

ATTIRE: Jedi Robes
The Hotties: Lily Decoria | Bea Laseen
The Notties: Lysander von Ascania | Zaiya Ceti
The Bosses: Briana Sal-Soren | Lorn Reingard | Lossa Aureus

Of course when he offered to help the fake noble decided to mouth off about it. Joro didn't understand why the kid had such a problem with people, probably issues with his family life, but that didn't endear him towards him.

"I would care about your thoughts on my hair, boy, if your face didn't remind me of the ass end of a Hutt," he said without batting an eye.

Someone from the temple appeared to collect Cerys, who appeared to be down for the count, something he found unfortunate. He wanted to compete against her, beat her. Their little rivalry had been growing, and while they verbally sparred with one another, he held no ill will towards the Togruta. There were things that troubled her, and he recognized that, which was why he'd even bothered to harangue her in the first place. She needed help. Maybe he wasn't the best at helping, but at least he tried.

Zaiya eventually made her way up and he pulled her out of the pit, but declined to do the same for Lysander. In fact, he stood up and looked down into the pit with disdain. Sure, Zaiya smelled awful and was covered in glitter, and now so was his hand, but he didn't care so much about that. What made him angry, and yes, he was angry, was the way that Lysander acted. So, he reached out with the Force at the pit wall, intending to collapse some of it down onto him.

Then he turned away, and started for the caves himself.

"Zaiya, since your team is a man down, should we consider merging the teams into one to work together?" he asked as he walked. "No rule against us working together."

 

[Lysander von Ascania]

Team 1: Zaiya Ceti
Team 2: Bea Laseen Joro Kal'nath Lily Decoria
Enemies: Briana Sal-Soren Lossa Aureus
Neutral but probably cool: Lorn Reingard

​

“Yeah yeah, I’m sure, Zaiya Ceti of the New Jedi Order,” he drawled. His tone dripped with sarcasm. "I mean.. what would this life be without a little friendly competition? That's what keeps people sharp. From everything I've gathered in the Jedi Library back on that giant dumpster known as Coruscant, all the greats of any field thrived on competition. So.. of course you wouldn't understand.” An eyebrow raised. "Why are you always so serious, though? You’re so strange sometimes..”

His focus broke while observing another figure make a sudden appearance. There was a touch of uncertainty; he strongly disliked people interjecting themselves into his conversations. But as he watched the redhead assess the Togruta, he assumed she some sort of ally. "Only because you said please." His voice was light. The Padawan then shot a sidelong glance to Zaiya, hopefully inspiring her to understand proper manners since respect was clearly a foreign concept. When the stretcher arrived, he just stood by, keeping to himself.

Lysander’s emerald orbs lifted up towards the Falleen who had offered assistance earlier. He dismissively shook his head and shrugged off any ideas of having preferences. “Honestly, there ain’t nothin' wrong with Hutt booty,” he stated, his voice confident.

Shifting to the glowing discs that were summoned, he began to follow suit seconds after the Lovalla began ascending, ready to finally get out of this pit. Before he could even gain momentum, a rumble began shaking all around. A disturbance rippled against the walls, and he could see rocks begin tumbling down. It was then a rush of adrenaline began to launch him forward with more urgency.

Upon reaching the last disc, he leapt towards the ledge, feeling his body begin to betray him, threatening to throw him back into the pit. For a second he struggled, but as he summoned every ounce of strength possessed, he was finally able to claw his way out.

The Falleen was already moving towards the caves, and Lysander paused. A thoughtful expression appeared across his youthful features. While it may have not seemed like it, he did actually remember most of the rules, word for word. Purposeful injury to a teammate will result in immediate disqualification.

The blonde chuckled lightly, assuming they wouldn’t be a team after all. It would be a shame for the boy’s efforts to be in vain after such a chivalrous display. He’d also sort of forgotten about the redhead with Cerys but figured if she slipped into the pit so effortlessly, she could do the same with finding her way out. The galaxy had been known to work in mysterious ways.

Returning his attention to the only teammate left, he lifted a hand in attempt to wipe away more of the glitter that clung to his face. “Thanks..I guess,” he muttered. Speaking the words, even if they were the bare minimum, felt painful. Lysander took a second to scan the air around them, searching for more of the drones. He wasn’t quite done with Briana just yet either. Glancing back at Zaiya, he conjured a smirk. “I’ll follow you, but that doesn’t mean you’re the leader now, okay?”

He refrained from mentioning anything that may lay ahead, since she could find herself being the bait.

 

[Lily Decoria]

Team: 2 (aka Hotties)
Outfit: Jedi Attire
Equipment: Training saber and bo staff
Tag: Bea Laseen | Joro Kal'nath | Zaiya Ceti | Lysander von Ascania | Briana Sal-Soren | Lossa Aureus | Lorn Reingard

The other team eventually got out of the pit, though Lily was surprised since they were still bickering. Lily was truly concerned if they would be prepared to handle war if they could not figure out a way to work together to simply handle an obstacle course. War was much worse than anything they were facing here, Lily knew that from plenty of experiences she had encountering enemies of the Jedi.

Then Joro decided that going against the spirit of the competition and joining sides with Zaiya was one approach. Lily rolled her eyes at him, "you clearly forget one of the rules of the course. We have to reach our designated endpoint, otherwise they will win and all you have done is demonstration you are willing to help the opposition win over your own teammates, which is not really playing the role of a team player."

The first team to successfully retrieve their flag and return to the designated endpoint wins.
All members must finish to claim victory.

There was offering a helpful hand to people in need and then purposefully sabotaging your own teammates. And it seemed that Joro was willing to do the latter since he had been the one dragging to help the trio stuck in the pit in the first place.

"Bea, lets head forward. If Joro is not going to be a team player, letting him sabotage our chances further isn't something we should allow him to do." Lily turned to her other teammate and nodded towards the caves which was the next part of the trial. They had delayed their progress enough already and she was not going to keep delaying their opportunity for victory.

 

[Zaiya Ceti]

Outfit: x x x | Equipment: x x x x x x x x x x | Weapons: x x x
Interacting with: Lysander von Ascania
Always Watching: Briana Sal-Soren Lossa Aureus Lorn Reingard

Zaiya's skin flared with a chaotic ripple of grey streaked with jagged streaks of canary yellow and lavender, alarm and frustration crashing together as she spun to face Joro Kal'nath .

"Wait, what are you doing?!" she demanded, her voice sharp with disbelief. Her features twisted into a mix of incredulity and confusion, and her patterns shifted again, the greys deepening like storm clouds gathering.

Her eyes darted quickly to Cerys and Knight Chiara, both still in the pit but thankfully unharmed. And, of course, Lysander -- completely unbothered and still as insufferable as ever -- had managed to claw his stinky glitter covered self out of the pit. That didn't erase what just happened. Not even close. Zaiya turned back to Joro, her skin shifting into a brooding blue gray as she tried to piece together his reasoning...or lack of it.

"Cerys and Knight Chiara are down there!" she said, her voice tight with restrained frustration and confusion. On one hand, Joro had offered help. On the other hand, he acted in a way that could have harmed others.

Her lips thinned, and she added in a more serious tone, "I don't care how obnoxious Lysander is; you could've seriously hurt someone, Joro! "

The frustration bubbled up again, threatening to overwhelm her, but Zaiya took a steadying breath. Slowly, the hues on her skin softened, settling into calmer blues. She shifted her focus to Lysander, who was busy brushing glitter off his face with a look of exaggerated wounded pride.

"You okay?" she asked, her tone brisk as her eyes scanned him for any signs of injury. He seemed fine, just rattled, and unfortunately, that smirk of his was still firmly in place. Of course it was.

Then Joro spoke, suggesting they merge teams. Zaiya froze midstep, her skin shifting abruptly to a sharp, golden glow of suspicion.

"Merging teams?" she repeated, her voice edged with surprise, but firmly shook her head, "No. We were placed in these teams for a reason... and part of the rules is to complete them together." Just off in the distance, Zaiya caught sight of Bea Laseen and Lily Decoria , Joro's teammates.

"You should go back to them." Her gaze flicked to Lysander, who was clearly preparing some sarcastic quip. She cut him off before he could open his mouth again.

"Lysander," she said firmly, her tone brooking no argument, "let's focus on getting through this. If you're sticking with me, then act like we're on the same side. And stop pretending I'm some kind of buzzkill."

She gestured toward the caves ahead. "If there's danger up there, we're going to need all of our skills to make it through. And if you're serious about working together, then prove it."

Without waiting for a response, she strode toward the caves, the glitter on her boots catching the dim light with each step. Over her shoulder, she called back, "Let's go. We're wasting time."

 

[Bea Laseen]

Team: ???

Holy Shariya on a toilet, this was a shitshow.

Cerys was down for the count, Pinkie and Blondie seemed to hate each others' guts, and Joro was ignoring his actual teammates while flapping his traitorous gums. Bea did get a kick out of Zaiya yelling at him, though. Girls ruled.

"Bea, lets head forward. If Joro is not going to be a team player, letting him sabotage our chances further isn't something we should allow him to do." Lily turned to her other teammate and nodded towards the caves which was the next part of the trial. They had delayed their progress enough already and she was not going to keep delaying their opportunity for victory.

A symbolic first place was better than nothing. At least Lily had functioning brain cells.

"You're right, let's go. They're probably all tired from falling in the pit of shame and arguing, let's take advantage!"

Bea grabbed Lily's hand and sped off towards the caves, using the Force to boost her speed and agility so they could get ahead of the others. She was confident Lily could keep up. "Try not to fall behind, stinkbug," she yelled back at Joro.

Joro Kal'nath Lily Decoria Zaiya Ceti Lysander von Ascania Briana Sal-Soren Lossa Aureus Lorn Reingard​

 

[Joro Kal'nath]

ATTIRE: Jedi Robes
TAGS: Zaiya Ceti | Lysander von Ascania | Bea Laseen | Lily Decoria | Briana Sal-Soren | Lorn Reingard | Lossa Aureus

Probably he shouldn't have done what he did, but his intent hadn't been to collapse the whole pit, just to cover Lysander in dirt and make him a muddy mess when combined with the glitter and stink stuff. Cerys and the Knight would be just fine and everyone's freakout was unwarranted. So was all of their talk and reactions, which only served to show him that none of them was ready to actually be a Jedi. Not in his eyes.

"Ridiculous," he said as he turned back from his path and returned to the pit. "None of you understands what it means to be a Jedi. You're so absorbed in winning a competition that you don't see that we are all Jedi and that we shouldn't compete against each other. That's the whole point of this exercise. They pit us against each other to see what would happen and you all took the bait because you think this is harmless. Cerys, I'm willing to bet, does not find this competition harmless.

"There is danger about us. We could have worked together to reach the end and won together. Jedi aren't supposed to strive for victory but for peace and harmony. Competing against each other does not bring harmony, it sows discord. If you all wish to continue, I bid you good luck, but I withdraw from this competition because I will not be party to this discord."

Maybe the fall had knocked some sense into him. Or maybe he was just disgusted by the way the others were acting like children. It didn't matter. He looked down into the pit at Chiara and Cerys.

"Least the odds will be even now. Can I assist you in getting Cerys out of the pit?"

 

[Briana Sal-Soren]

Tag: Joro Kal'nath , Zaiya Ceti , Lily Decoria , Bea Laseen , Lysander von Ascania ​

Chiara watched the scene between the Padawans unfold in contemplative silence, using the Force to create a barrier shield around herself and the injured Togruta when Joro decided to use the Force to bring more of the pit down on their heads. Conditions were bad enough without adding literal dirt, and potentially more bacteria, into her wounds.

Then, one by one the Padawans went on their way after saying their piece, leaving herself and Joro.

The redhead gave him a kind smile at the offer, as a war orphan who’d been adopted and raised by an Echani warrior and at a constant disadvantage, she knew well enough how to get herself out. “That’s really alright, but thank you. EmmDee should be along at any moment.”

As if on que, the unmistakable sound of droid feet on stone and rock came lumbering towards the pit, a hover stretcher not far behind him.

“See? Right on time.”

Once the hover stretcher was lowered down, Chiara got to work. It was clear that she’d done this hundreds of times before, and would likely do it hundreds of times again in the future, securely attaching the spinal collar to the girl's neck and then carefully rolling her over to apply a spinal board to her back to ensure proper alignment. Once the Togruta was properly immobilized, Chiara used the Force to lift the girl onto the bed and strap her down at the right pressure points.

“Okay EmmDee, she’s ready for lift off!” She called up, stepping back as the droid activated the hover mechanism and watching as the stretcher rose smoothly out of the pit.

Once the coast was clear, Chiara exhaled and pushed the Force into her feet, jumping to latch onto the first root sticking out, beginning her own ascent by using any outcroppings and natural footholds until she reached the top.

She dusted off her robes, violet gaze drifting back to Joro. Chiara knew she wasn’t supposed to intervene in any way, but as someone whose job it was to perpetually put people back together, it felt wrong to leave things as they were.

"You know," she began softly, "I understand why you might be frustrated, but… I think you should go back to your team — part of this test is to see how well you respond when things don’t go your way, and whether we can still value others, even when they might make mistakes or frustrate us. If you think you have a better way, you’re not going to prove that by walking away from your team, who might very well need you.”

With a final nod, she turned to MD, signaling the droid to proceed. No one could force the Padawan to go meet up with the others, but Chiara hoped he would at least reconsider. “Good luck with whatever you choose, Joro!” she said with cheerful encouragement before walking away.

[Chiara Exit]

​

 

[Lysander von Ascania]

Team 1: Zaiya Ceti
Team 2: Bea Laseen Joro Kal'nath Lily Decoria
Enemies: Briana Sal-Soren Lossa Aureus
Neutral but probably cool: Lorn Reingard

​

When she asked if he was okay, Lysander’s upper lip curled into a snarl, as if he’d bitten into something sour. Paired with the twitch of an eyebrow, it gave him a comical expression. It was meant to speak volumes without a need for words, but of course, he already had a few at the tip of his tongue. “Yeah, ok, continue pretending that you actually care.” He shook his head. “Your acting skills are impressive.” All it did was remind him of the realm of courtly politics when he was younger. He’d seen his share of people acting pretentious.

To no surprise, she managed to display everything he disliked about her within a matter of seconds. The Lovalla clearly had a need for control, which was part of what led to his constant frustration around her.

The moment she took off running, he began trailing behind, but only for a moment. It felt unnatural to be following, so he quickened his pace until he was next to her, but also maintaining a small distance between them. “Zaiya Ceti,” he said back finally, his tone firm as well. “That tone of yours? It might work on Hapes, but it has no place here on Naboo.”

Lysander's irritation simmered beneath the surface. “You always act like you’re in charge, like you know better than everyone. Just like at the training grounds last week when you caused a scene.” As they ran, he motioned towards her with a dismissive wave. “You talk about sticking with you, as if I’m the one who needs you for this. That’s not how this works."

As usual, the air was filled with growing tension of disagreement.

He cast a glance back up into the sky, searching for the drones that had been following their movement. His mind was silently calculating, their trajectory, their patterns, every detail he could absorb.

The blonde Loth-cat's endurance was holding up at least; that much was undeniable. He was able to maintain both a steady and calm breath.

As they continued toward the caves, their pathway snaked ahead. He chuckled to himself. “And I really must know..why are you so worried about wasting time? You’ve already made it clear you’re not competitive. So.. why hurry if you’re not trying to beat the other team?" He rolled his eyes. The Padawan's tone dripped with sarcasm. "Is there something else at stake here, Captain Buzzkill? Could it just be your inflated ego that everyone else fails to see?”