A Tower's Time Without End [The Primeval]

[Venris Helion]

[member="Anja Aj'Rou"] [member="Dara Gola"] [member="Lord Daemos"]

Whoever he was closing in on...he could feel the ripples in the Force around them, reacting to the presence of this one impressively powerful individual. Venris was not amateur despite his lack of formal training...but he was having second thoughts on whether or not this person may need his assistance at all. There was another presence, closer to his level and just a little further off, one of those he'd felt who stuck out compared to the near mindless drones.

Venris slid to a stop as he came into view of the being who had landed less than a minute ago. It was a woman, humanoid, exact race hard to determine at first glance...

He revealed both of his hands for her benefit, hoping she would not immediately perceive him as a threat. He tilted his head up towards the fading smoke trail left by her destroyed vessel before looking back at her. He reached up and tugged the scarf away from his face. "And here I thought that people say I'm the one with a dramatic flair for making an entrance."

Sensing the patrolling soldiers closing in, barely a minute off now, Venris glanced over his shoulder briefly. The other force signature was much closer, maybe seconds off, and he didn't know if its owner could be trusted anymore than the woman before him could be. "Look, I'd like to spend the next few minutes establishing that I am not in any way allied with the people who shot you down but unfortunately I don't have that sort of time. Do you suppose we could just skip that and get to...um..." He gestured with one hand as if searching for the answer. "Running for our lives?"

 

[Dara Gola]

Dara felt another presence as she approached the site where she saw the first person crash. She slowed for a moment and she felt a surge in the force as she crashed through a set of dead bushes and found both of the force signatures standing directly in front of her. She had to fight the urge to ignite her lightsaber, they both had signatures that were much darker than she had sensed from a distance and she wasn't really sure how to proceed.

She had gauged instantly that they were different that the patrols that were quickly moving towards them, they felt normal and both of them looked worried. " I have no idea who either of you are, but you're not like those 'things' on patrol." she looked towards the man and nodded, "You mentioned running, I think that might be a good idea." She remembered that she had the hilt of her lightsaber in her hand, but it was neither the time nor the place to worry about it, they would have to deal with that problem when it.

She could feel the patrols coming closer, their odd signatures left an alien feeling in the force as they approached. She kept turning her head, trying to find what group was the closest. They had precious little time to get underway and she hopes that the fact that they had a common enemy would be enough to keep them from fighting long enough to figure out a way out of this mess.

[member="Anja Aj'Rou"] | [member="Venris Helion"]

 

[Matreya]

Damien rose from a crouch, his eyes on the woman whom had landed recently. She had a jump fetish, he was guessing, similar to Zaiden during his reign as Lord of the Gods on Val'hala. But Zaiden needed no jump pack, nor did he land without grace! However, he was comparing someone he had yet to meet, to someone he knew well - this may have simply been a mistake. From his perch among the treetops, Damien glanced south, then North, quickly taking in all directions, where he could sense yet reassured his mind of, the many patrols on the ground around them.

Calling down with his mental assets, he whispered into the minds of his allies, "I will attempt to drive those to the East away!" then, gathering the energies amassed to him through the evisceration of an entire township, with the consummation of their Soup, and that which came from a long journey as a Knight, combining with his dual Talismans of Concentration he reached out to grip the weakest minds, from which he would succeed easiest.

Whispering to these, he told them they heard noises to the south. At first there was resistance, then that changed, they called to their allies, and he waited to see if they would move out.

[member="Dara Gola"] [member="Venris Helion"] [member="Anja Aj'Rou"]

 

[Orkamaat]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLhzGXLRvuM​

The steady drip drip drip of blood against the polished black stone was naught but background noise to ears that had heard the sound of their own bones breaking, the sound that flesh makes just before it gives out and rips like finely threaded cloth.

A faint smile curled his thin lips, and his orange eyes moved from the book — yes, book — in his grasp to the source of the incessant trickle. The fiery gaze followed the rich crimson droplets as they fought for liberty at the tips of mangled fingers, finally breaking free only to splatter against the smooth obsidian beneath his feet.

'Twas the softest of sighs behind his back that alerted the tall, lanky man to another presence, and he pivoted on his bony heels, the long nails of his toes scraping against the even floor. He steepled his thin fingers in front of his seemingly frail frame, the pale skin in sharp contrast with the deep purple of the heavy robes adorning his body.

He waited, patient as only an immortal can be, until the priest finally pushed open the doors to his cell, eyes downcast in respect and fear. Awe.

"What brings you here, Brother Samuel?"

His voice was even, easy like the stellar winds, yet still pregnant with something profound beyond the years he showed. Despite the gaunt, sharp lines of his face, despite the unhealthy circles under those burning eyes, Orkamaat looked oddly… alive.

Or perhaps it was just the lighting.

"There are reports of intruders, High Priest," he swallowed, finally daring to raise his gaze from the black mirror beneath him. "Unknown, potentially very powerful and… dangerous entities."

It was that final, uncertain emphasis that made the rangy man look directly at the kneeling priest, and something, infinitesimally minute as it was, moved in those ineffable eyes. "You may go, Samuel," he dismissed him with a small gesture of his hand, putting him out of mind as the sound of his footfall rang down the stairwell.

With a few long strides, the tall creature crossed the room, weaving his way among the hanging corpses and to the nearest window. Like a bloodhound, the anzat sniffled the air, taking in a deep lungful of the conglomerate of aromas that drifted around the tower.

An appreciative hum escaped his throat as he closed his eyes, relishing the taste of powerful entities in his mouth.

It was time.

[member="Anja Aj'Rou"] | [member="Dara Gola"]| [member="Venris Helion"] | [member="Lord Daemos"]​

 

[Boethiah]

Anja looked to the first face she saw. There was no suddenness in her movements as the man spoke. Was it a plea she heard? Or perhaps he just didn't wish to concern himself with more than he could grasp. After all this was a rather mysterious world and the camp of heretics did nothing less than add to that mystery.

Before she had a chance to reply or react to him there was another voice, this one belonged to a woman. Like the man she began to speak and judging from how she commented on what she said meant that she was there long enough to have at least heard the latter parts of his conversation. It's not every day that the Host Lord is caught by surprise, her senses were still thrown off from her fall and she had only just caught her train of thought. Without hesitation she turned from them and began to walk towards the heretic camp.

"Running? Suppose you do run, the airspace is now locked down -- the fastest ships in the galaxy won't escape. Besides I have a warship above; we're fine." She spoke confidently with a calm tone of voice. Definitely not the tone used by someone who had just fallen out of the sky quite literally.

Then it seemed there was another... Telepathic communication was not uncommon amongst force-users and it's not an ability Anja was unused to either.

What do you mean? She tried to make of what he was saying but at the least she could count him an ally; for now.

[member="Dara Gola"] | [member="Venris Helion"] | [member="Lord Daemos"] | [member="Orkamaat"]

 

[Matreya]

Damien chuckled to himself, "A scout party to the East, I mde them hear sounds in other directions! It masks our presence here." He sent to the woman in charge. Leaping to another tree, simarly placed yet following the woman's path, he landed nimbly, gripped the trunk, then swung about until he was on the opposite side.

Looking down, he watched the group move slowly. It reminded him of the days when he was Czar, leading missions to kill, with the strength to crush steel in his hands, while maintaining directly the singular Telepathic ability of the group! Why these memories popped into his fore-thoughts he couldn't be sure...maybe simply the similarities.

Like those days though, they were definitely in enemy territory. And again it would seem he was the watchman.

[member="Venris Helion"] [member="Dara Gola"] [member="Orkamaat"] [member="Anja Aj'Rou"]

 

[Venris Helion]

[member="Anja Aj'Rou"] | [member="Dara Gola"] | [member="Lord Daemos"] | [member="Orkamaat"]

Okay...this woman certainly didn't seem traumatized, scared or even winded by her near death experience. If anything she shook it off more easily than he would have if he'd been in her position.

What caught Venris' attention was the sudden telepathic intrusion, which he had to force himself to not instinctively fight against. He was no stranger to telepathic group conversations, but he didn't like it when somebody else initiated it uninvited...even if that someone appeared to be on their side.

Venris glanced at the Twi'lek and shrugged. "Well...I guess we can just follow the very scary lady and the mysteryious voice in our heads. She's heading the way I am anyways and its better than dealing with the-" He paused as something said by the woman who had fallen from the skies registered in his mind. "Wait...that's your warship in orbit?"

Venris tensed, finding it hard to sort out the situation before him. "Are you...with the Primeval?" If she was then why had the Primeval ground forces here opened fire on her shuttle? Maybe his crew had been mistaken...or maybe he was the one who was gravely mistaken.

Despite his reservations, he followed after her. She was heading towards the encampment, which was his intended destination anyways, and it did not seem like she considered him an enemy...as of yet anyways. Either way, he wasn't going to wait around in the middle of nowhere waiting for more patrols to stumble upon him all alone when there could be strength in numbers.

 

[Gorba the Hutt]

A repulsor-pond carrying a gelatinous blob sprouting writhing tentacles and eye stalks emerged near [member="Anja Aj'Rou"]. The repulser-pond, more of a large hover chair with some water in the middle, sported some damage evidenced by the strained whir of the repulser as it struggled to keep the amorphous being aloft while chasing down the Host Lord.

The blob in question was an Iyra. Not entirely uncommon, though certainly one of the odder sights in the galaxy for bipedal species to witness. The Iyra's stalk eyes swept this way and that. No mouth was visible.

"Greetings," he burbled wetly, voice slightly muffled, "I seem to have survived yet another perilous mishap."

[member="Venris Helion"] | [member="Lord Daemos"]

 

[Dara Gola]

This was turning into a worse idea the longer that Dara was on the planet. There were the strange cultists, the freaky drum beating, and now a collections of beings that she could only imagine where all trouble on their own. Throw in telepathic communication and it was something that only existed in a holodrama, and yet here she was, living it. she looked between the lady and the man and shrugged. The strange woman seemed more annoyed at falling out of the sky than anything else, and the man seemed fine with going along with whatever plan she was going to devise.

Her assessment of the situation was getting worse with every passing minute. First she knew that someone with this much power didn't just fall from the sky, regardless of what she had seen. Secondly there was a strange voice communicating with her telepathically, followed closely the the appearance of another force user in this unknown man. Add in a dead planet and a crazy cult, along with the repulsor floating tentacle monster and Dara was convinced this was the worst possible scenario to be in. No even the craziest ideas thrown around when she was a youngling were even close to this reality.

Shrugging Dara responded, " Well, as crazy as it sounds, I guess we follow the scary lady." She had no idea what to expect from all of this, and had to be content with the fact that it would all be solved eventually. If what the woman had said was true, there was no escaping without figuring this all out, and she seemed to know exactly what was happening. She slumped a bit in her stance, her face taking on a slight frown. This entire scenario wasn't something you could train for, she just had to react and hope for the best. She sighed deeply and followed [member="Anja Aj'Rou"] towards whatever they were heading into

[member="Bal'gul"] | [member="Venris Helion"] | [member="Lord Daemos"] | [member="Orkamaat"] |

 

[Matreya]

Damien paused his march amongst the treetops, cocked his head to the side, and stared off into the distance - seemingly at nothing. But in reality, like a radar system, Damien was looking through his minds eye at the surrounding area. The patrol to the East had begun moving back towards them...

On guard. They are coming back around! Damien shouted downward to the people he currently viewed as allies. Leaping high into the air, the ancient Sith pulled his knees tight to body, and began a forward flip. Slowly rotating, his inertia gained quickly, until he was flipping so fast his image was a rotational blur.

Plummeting through the spaces, he passed between branches that moved away of their accord. Rocketing faster and faster, all the while flipping quicker, Damien sought out the nearest opponent. At the last second he straightened his body, and performed the hardest hitting drop kick he had done in years - the momentum carrying him so powerfully, that the moment his feet connected, there was instantaneous crunching from the rib cage caving in.

While the man flew away from the attack, dead before his feet left the ground, Damien righted himself with a flourish of telekinesis, summoning Kalligs Scorching Saber to his palm with a snaphiss that brought the brilliant red blade to life. Sweeping it from right to left, then downward reversed, before the same again, he effectively cut a massive Z across the nearest body.

Hurling a powerful burst of wind pressure, Damien knocked the body to pieces and shoved the other remaining warriors to the ground. Deactivating the saber, he waited for the men to rise again. Holding the saber loosely, he contemplated using it in his traditional Trakata form combined with Juyo, but figured that so many men would be a bit much for the technique...

Laying the saber hilt back against his belt, Damien reached over his shoulder and gripped the hilt of Tantibus and drew the massive blade free. Utilizing the Fear Poison, the 4 feet 11 inches of blade and massive girth, a combination attack would likely demolish all enemies around himself.

[member="Dara Gola"] [member="Venris Helion"] [member="Bal'gul"] [member="Anja Aj'Rou"] [member="Orkamaat"]

 

[Gorba the Hutt]

Bal'gul blinked one stalk-eye lazily in the direction of the man with the very large sword.

"That...frippery...looks heavy," he said to [member="Anja Aj'Rou"], voice the slow, swampy ooze of molasses, "Don't you think?"

 

[Orkamaat]

The creature atop the tower —in more ways than one — turned its gaze from the narrow window and back to the interior of the circular room. A pale tongue sneaked out between his lips as he assessed the hanging bodies like a prospective buyer might inside a slaughterhouse. A bony finger came to tap his chin in thought, the man seemingly unconcerned by the goings on. The reavers in the lower reaches of the structure were doubtless already getting their fix to 'bring them closer to God', preparing to rush out and promptly die as they impaled themselves on the invaders' swords.

He let out a soft sigh and nudged a body aside, moving on to assess the next until he found one that was still breathing; barely, but it mattered little. His agony would come to an end in mere moments.

With a popping, wet sound, the slits of flesh in his face split open, a pair of probosces curling out towards the hapless victim. Orkamaat cupped his head in his long palms, a gesture that would seem almost loving, were it not for the pair of sharp tentacles that burrowed themselves in the nose of his meal, weaving through the conchae until they pierced the thin bone of the skull base and sank into the brain.

His fiery eyes fluttered closed, thin lips parting when a small noise of pleasure escaped his rangy chest, the intercostal spaces hollowing against the paper-thin skin when he inhaled again. With his hunger sated for the moment, the priest retracted the probosces again, donning his overcoat and letting it settle with a small shrug of his shoulders.

The weight was a small comfort against the tempest of change that was about to shake his tower, but Orkamaat had weathered many a storm in his long existence; this, too, would pass. His long nails made a tinny sound as he dragged them along the cool metal of the rail, his strides as silent as the whispering of a breeze along the narrow hallway. He descended, one step at a time, as if he were in no rush at all, calm and composed even when he knocked on the door of their leader.

Brother Lutenán.

"I trust you've been informed of the situation?" asked the anzat once the man appeared in the doorway, meeting those pale blue eyes with an impassive expression.

"So I have, Orkamaat," the taller of the two replied, as always neglecting to show him any respect. Rude. "Why are you here?"

"The eternal question, no? I would indulge you, but we've more pressing matters to address," the sharp line of his lips twitched at the corners, a purposefully failed attempt to imitate a smile.

"Shall we, Father Lutenán?"

[member="Bal'gul"] | [member="Anja Aj'Rou"] | [member="Dara Gola"] | [member="Lord Daemos"] | [member="Venris Helion"]​

 

[Boethiah]

Anja was a bit surprised to see that these two were quite clueless with where they were. She had assumed they, like her, were here to stop the cult but when she realized they weren't associated with any of her Warlords or The Primeval in general... Well, the situation changed greatly.

The witch looked to the man who spoke. "I am," she said the words slowly so that there was no chance of mistaking them. She began to continue walking, the same being from earlier was still using telepathic communication with her and the group. Suddenly just as she was about to walk off, with or without them, another surprise revealed itself in the form of a hovering blob. A rare yet familiar sight; [member="Bal'gul"] was actually someone she was glad to see, an ally among strangers.

Just as she was about to say something, the man from earlier who spoke inside her head had finally revealed himself in an effort to slay cultists that had managed to walk around unnoticed by the rest. His movements were intricate and smooth without much interference from nature. Then he drew his sword-like device from his back.

Looking towards Bal'gul, "I don't think we have time for a physics lesson, let's move." Her last words were addressed to all of them; without anymore distractions they could finally work their way towards the colossal tower off in the distance. The dead trees cascaded under the sky, causing a web of shadows to form throughout the forest as pockets of light managed to find their way through the gaps in the branches. If they still had leaves it wouldn't be a bad guess to consider that the forest floor was comfortable in darkness.

Foregoing further hesitations, Anja walked through the forest ahead of them.

[member="Venris Helion"] | [member="Orkamaat"] | [member="Dara Gola"] | [member="Lord Daemos"]

 

[Venris Helion]

[member="Anja Aj'Rou"] | [member="Dara Gola"] | [member="Lord Daemos"] | [member="Orkamaat"] | [member="Bal'gul"]

Venris tried to process everything as it occured around him. The arrival of both the strange creature exchanging words with the Primeval woman and the swordsman hard at work dispatching the enthralled warriors nearing them, the increasing amount of people he had not expected to run into and most of all the fact that member of the Primeval was apparently being attacked...by members of the Primeval. Nothing was what it seemed to be as far as he could see and the lack of clarification was beginning to become tiresome. If anymore mystery visitors just popped out of nowhere to conveniently help them he would be packing it in and going back to his ship to get away from this crazy system.

"Did half the force users in the quadrant invite themselves here at the same time?" He muttered to himself.

Then the woman identifying herself as a member of the very cult he had been aiming to steal from commanded them to keep moving.

"While we've the time, could you clear something up for me?" Venris asked, following along and keeping alert, reaching out with his senses to make sure no more of these thralls would get near without being detected. "You're part of the Primeval...and apparently so are the very people who are sending this cannon fodder our way, the same people who occupy that tower and more importantly shot you down. I'm not familiar with the Primeval's ways but, and pardon my language...what the kark is going on right now?"

 

[Dara Gola]

Dara listened to the pair of force users as they talked, she was as confused as everyone else was by the events of the last few hours. They had apparently been joined by a member of the Primeval, which was odd considering that the group on the ground attacking them was supposedly from the same faction. She followed along at the back of the group, content to be part of the group, but knowing that she wasn't a member of this group. If she could find a way to slip off, she probably would.

Listening to this man talk she wondered if it was a way for him to fight the nervousness that came with the situation, she was just as nervous as he was, probably more, but she wasn't ready to chat, especially with the amount of dark side energy that everyone else seemed to radiate such dark auras.

Now that the group was bigger and she wasn't alone so she felt more confident in using her force powers, mostly because the people she was trying to avoid were now her companions on this new adventure. She checked the pistol at her belt, making sure it was at full power and that it would release from it's holster when needed. She had no idea what was ahead of them, but with the way that they treated the Primeval forces that tried to land, she was sure it was going to be anything but a warm welcome with open arms.

[member="Venris Helion"] | [member="Anja Aj'Rou"] | [member="Orkamaat"] | [member="Bal'gul"] | [member="Lord Daemos"]

 

[Boethiah]

Anja understood that things were odd to the outsider, but asking such questions were well beyond his place in the grand scheme of things. She walked further through the trees and towards an opening, not further off was a path that lead to where the rogue sect made its base of operations around the mysterious tower. She felt in her own mind a growing sensation that suddenly went away as they entered the edge of the forest. Whatever that feeling was before it had vanished and now she couldn't even remember what it felt like, only that it was there.

"I am of The Primeval, they are not." She answered honestly to the question.. Sort of. She never elaborated who she was within The Primeval or that the cult she was hunting used to be of The Primeval.

The Host Lord looked back to her followers as if to silently ask, are you ready?

[member="Venris Helion"] | [member="Dara Gola"] | [member="Bal'gul"] | [member="Orkamaat"] | [member="Damien Daemon"]