All That is Destined Must Come Together First

[Boethiah]

"I begged and I suffered;
the Gods set me free."
-- The First Prophet

For some dreams set one free from the slavery of life. An escape from pain, hunger, despair, and all unkind things.

But what if your dreams do not set you free? Awaking in turmoil each night, Anja wishes to sleep less and less. The once sought comfort of a bed is now the taunting prison of anguish. So much so that she'd rather pain from tire than suffer once more at the hands of dementia. She searched the galaxy in need of a cure for this ailment yet she knew its cause. Befitting enough her impairing affliction is the price of otherworldly powers; to achieve knowledge that no one else has obtained.

Be that as it may she was still the Host Lord of The Primeval, their harbinger of truth and leader of the faithful. Personal missions had been a distraction from their collective's goal to seek out and find the lost Gods of their pantheon. Whilst she sought for what she could not find her enemies have slowly begun to prepare for war.

Vjun​

​

Of all worlds in the galaxy, Vjun was not the most hospitable. Acid rainfalls, war, madness, death... All of this has overshadowed any symbol of hope or optimism on the world. What lifeforms do make their home here are rugged and dangerous and the only human settlement is but a shadow of what it once was. So many disasters have struck the galaxy in recent times but all suffer on Vjun. Yet this was one of the many worlds the First Prophet had set foot on during his long thirty-two year exile, The Primeval's first pilgrimage since being driven off Umbara millennia ago.

What hope she had lied in the secrets of her master. If he could live beyond the years of any mortal then she may find a cure by walking his path.

Anja's shuttle landed, clouds gathered overhead.

"It's going to rain soon..." She mumbled under her breath.

Clad in simple armour she walked down the landing ramp and left the starship behind, taking a narrow stone path through a canyon of needle-like rock formations and plateaus. Caverns and nooks were woven through the winding pathways and shadowy ravines. Despite the obvious dangers, this actually was one of safest places on Vjun and a popular hiding spot for pirates, outlaws, and exiles. Few came to Vjun and the canyons had many places to keep one safe from the acidic rainfall.

Yet curiously enough despite the possibility of encountering someone dangerous the Host Lord was unarmed. Making her way to wherever she intended to go, the back of her figure disappeared around a corner.

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]

 

[Asemir]

Ugh, he thought. This place is absolute feth. It was a barren wasteland, reeking of sulfur and acid. Had it not been for the filters built into his armor, Asemir knew that his nostrils would be stinging from the latent hydrogen protons filling the air. As it was, the nanomachines making up his armor were working hard to repair themselves after the morning misting of acid rain. His perch didn't offer much protection from the elements, but the Forgotten was used to that. It hadn't been an ideal choice, but the contract said his target would be arriving within a five hour window, and so he had staked out the spaceport.

As fethful as this rock was, it wasn't all that alien. Its desolate environment almost reminded him of home, minus the terrible atmospheric conditions, of course. Null VI had a variety of climates (ideal for training the Inquisition's special forces), and he remembered a half-year survival course based out of the planet's badlands.

It was feth, and this place was feth. Home.

A status rune on his HUD blinked to life, alerting him to his armor's need for replenishing its supply stores. The nanomachines had to obey the laws of physics and could not repair themselves without a constant supply of raw materials. He sighed and tightened his grip on the old-fashioned slugthrower rifle. After popping his target, he'd need to find some titanium or iron or germanium.

A shuttle landed and Asemir hoped it was his bounty. The contract hadn't specified what ship his target would arrive in, just a name, description and hologram of his prey. As the craft disgorged its passenger, he magnified his helmet scanners and saw that it wasn't his target. He frowned in disappointment but kept his rifle on the figure. Something about her was interesting.

She was humanoid, clad in mundane armor. What he could see of her flesh was pale, but at this range it wasn't enough to allow him to identify her species. His armor AI tried to run a scan but there were not enough datapoints to even hazard a guess. Overall, she was pretty normal except for her posture. The way she walked. It carried ... confidence. Command. Authority. Rarities among the inhabitants of Vjun.

Asemir glanced at the armor status rune. It wasn't one hundred percent, but it wasn't anywhere near levels that might indicate malfunction. He tapped into the planet's spaceport communications web, ran a small hacking program and found the shipping manifest. No other scheduled arrivals for some hours. That put his prey well outside of the window specified in his contract.

What a surprise, intel is wrong. The Forgotten muttered a curse and rolled onto his back as he began to break down his rifle. There was no sense in staking out the spaceport now. He would stalk his prey on foot. It really didn't matter how he caught his mark, just that he did. It was a good excuse to get out of the elements and find some shelter. He didn't want to be caught in a full-blown storm of acid.

Plus, this would give him a good excuse to find out about that woman. She was different, and it might prove useful to develop some more connections.

[member="Anja Aj'Rou"]

 

[Boethiah]

The sound of thunder could be heard rolling off in the distance. Darker, thicker clouds scaled overhead and began to block the sun almost completely. The afternoon turned to dusk and the smell of sulfur and other acidic elements lingered. She almost couldn't help it, each time she sniffed the air her nose wanted to get a longer whiff of it. Intoxicating as it suddenly was for the woman she felt her nostrils flare, forcing her to cough as her breathing regularized in the foreign atmosphere.

Her path continued as the rock steps descended ever-so-slightly in a winding pattern. It was hard to believe such a place was carved out naturally by the acid rainfalls and strong winds, if it weren't for the lurking dangers one could admire its beauty. Only for a moment did the witch stop. Having no sensors or equipment to speak of it was impossible for the Host Lord to tell who was there but she did--if only for a second--feel the presence of another somewhere off in the distance. Who or whatever it was did not seem to be an immediate danger but it did remind her that she was not alone out here.

She walked and walked for many minutes until finally the winding path opened up into a natural causeway. On either side of the narrow strip of land were swampy pools of acidic water caught after the latest rainfall, rather than drying up the liquid sank into the soft soil and dripped into the caverns below, likely how many of them were formed over long periods of time. It was even possible that the floor beneath her could crumble just from the sudden weight of her body pressing against its archaic, acid-ridden foundation.

The storm continued to grow closer, the distant sounds of thunder became louder and the time between the flashes of light and crackling booms were lessened with each passing minute. The wind above swished quietly, some places of the canyon created natural suction so from time-to-time she'd be hit with a light current of air and given a whiff of the acidic elements once again. With her curiosity for Vjun temporary sated, her mind wandered back into focus. Her pale blue eyes noticed that the causeway lead towards an opening into what seemed to be a cavern. Perhaps there are secrets that lie inside.

With her thoughts gathered, Anja carried onward and began crossing the natural causeway; her feet careful as to not step into one of the puddles.

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]

 

[Asemir]

OOC:
Not sure where we're going, but, hey, that's the fun, right?

IC:
The woman continued through the canyon, and Asemir stalked her. He kept a safe distance, far enough away that she wouldn't notice yet close enough that he wouldn't lose her. He moved methodically, choosing his steps carefully and with the ease that came with thousands of hours of training and real-world experience. His armor did the rest, cloaking him in the shimmering field of its mimetic effect, the nanomachines doing their best to hide him amongst the environment. It wasn't a perfect effect, it never had been perfect, and the misty atmosphere didn't help in the slightest.

Even so, despite his technological and practical advantage, Asemir knew that this hunt was different. The woman never let on that she suspected she was being followed, but the Ingr'Nysk knew that she knew. It was a sixth sense, just a subtle little tickling in the back of his mind, but it was a sensation that he had learned long ago to trust.

And so, when the woman journeyed away from the settlements, he doubled his caution. He efficiently and quietly broke down his rifle and stowed it in the pack strapped to his back. He worked his way around the acid pools and willed his hands away from his sword.

There was no threat. Yet.

She seemed to pause at the entrance to a natural cave, a cavern carved into the rock face of the canyon. No, it wasn't carved, he decided. It had been dissolved. The reminders of that mechanism lay all around him and her, small and large pools of acid that hissed as the caustic liquid ate at the minerals of the ground.

The woman carried forward and Asemir sighed. Following someone underground was not what he wanted to do. Space was limited and escape avenues nonexistent. There were too many possible switchbacks, places for ambushes and killzones. He'd have to move much closer than he wanted. He should stay out here, let the woman be.

But, he had seen how many decades of life? He was nearing his first century of existence. He had experienced, been part of, so much destruction. So much fighting and killing. Was he really that worried for his own wellbeing? Did he even care that much anymore?

Shrugging, Asemir gave the woman a few minutes' head start before he made his way down the cliff top and continued to follow her.

[member="Anja Aj'Rou"]

 

[Boethiah]

The cave entrance was marked by fewer puddles of acidic water, a damp air flowed within and the stench of sulfur was stronger and it seemed there were other scents in the mix as well from unknown sources. It didn't take too long for Anja to realize she was being followed... Even if someone did mask themselves in the force or with technology, there was always something there to let her know. Was it intuition? She had no answers for this feeling but it lingered enough to rouse her suspicions.

As she entered the cavern she began to walk its lengths, her right hand reached out and the touched the moist surface of the rocky wall; her fingers dragging along. Tendrils of the darkside began to implant themselves and left an invisible mark as they did so. Most force-sensitives would be able to sense that something was there but only those experienced in the bizarre nature of magicks--more archaic methods of the force--would be able to tell exactly what it was. To say the least the markings were like a proximity mine that projected trickery upon the mind of those who pass by, making them see strange things such as creatures that vanish in the corner of their eye or fluctuating light. It wasn't a terribly powerful 'spell' but it did cause mischief on the unsuspecting.

With her hand pulled away she continued to walk before coming to an opening, there she noticed a small and mostly flat formation sprouting from the cavern floor. Walking over to it she took a seat, hopefully to see who it was that followed her. Yet she did not know how smart or crafty they might be and potentially put herself at risk.

(OOC: My goal is just to see where this goes but if you'd like a less organic objective we can think of something )

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]

 

[Asemir]

The cavern was dark but not completely devoid of light. Bioluminescent fungus and bacterial colonies feeding off the sulphur-rich pools cast an eerie glow through the cave. It was more than enough light for Asemir's armor to utilize to enhance his vision, not that he was truly using his eyes anyways. Instead, he found himself reaching out with the Force, using his sar'kera to project the environment in his mind. It was a technique taught to him and mastered by him early in his training, a necessary skill to survive the hellish Temple grounds. You either learned to see by the Force or you died blind. It was the way of the Forgotten.

As he followed the mystery woman's path, Asemir kept his mind focused and open for any traps or ambush opportunities. The Force told him where the woman was, always a few hundred meters ahead, and no threat appeared in the vicinity. The crevasses and narrow passages could have been excellent ambush positions, but he sensed no one. The small, built-in magnetic resonance sensor suite in his armor also supported what the Force told him. The cavern, made entirely of stone, silicon, and carbon, was devoid of any metal. No one with arms was waiting for him.

As good as his technology was, as skilled in the Force as he was, Asemir missed the mark that his target left for him. His mind picked it up as an anomaly, but he was a master in the ways of warfare, not a Force sorcerer. He paused when he came across the rune but, not recognizing for what it was, dismissed the unease as just a niggling thought in his mind.

Ten meters later, the first image flickered at the corner of his eyes. Asemir froze, throwing out his senses to capture whatever had moved, whatever had been caught in his peripheral vision. He detected nothing, except for the woman. His helmet sensors showed no signs of life. He waited for a count of thirty before continuing forward, unease creeping into his mind.

His vision started to flash, the greenish world of light amplification fading in and out. Asemir again froze, blinked several times and then mentally commanded his armor to deactivate the enhanced imaging suite. His vision cleared, replaced by darkness and the dull glow of the lichens. But even that started to fluctuate, as the natural light flashed from the fungus blue to yellows and reds.

The Forgotten stopped completely, and again searched his surroundings. He saw nothing, except that the woman had stopped her travels. She was ahead about fifty meters. He ignored what his eyes were telling him and turned his attention to his environment. No one was here. His sensors showed nothing. His armor-status runes showed green, no malfunctions.

Asemir tightened his grip on his songblade. This was... different. Unusual. But not completely alien. Something was messing with his mind. As if to prove that fact, another phantom flashed at the corner of his eye, but he sensed no presence. Aside from the woman, he was alone in this cavern.

Smiling grimly, the Forgotten came to the realization that something - or someone - was playing with his mind. Whether it was the Force or some toxin in the air, he didn't know, but now that he had identified the threat, he was reasonably sure he could beat it. His armor detected no poisons in the air, and even if there was something confounding his lungs, he could purge it from his body using the Force techniques he had learned on the Sith planet Arcanix.

And if these hallucinations were Force in origin, then it was probably whatever had triggered his unease several hundred meters back, and, well, he could deal with that too. Having shared his brain with a Force specter for over half his life had taught him ways to compartmentalize his mind and build surprisingly resilient walls against any mental attacks.

He took a deep breath, willed his breathing to normal patterns, and focused his mental projections, rebuilding and reinforcing the mental fortress he had constructed long ago to contain Sera, the Force specter. It took a couple of minutes, just long enough for the buttresses and walls to repel the effects of whatever Force-trap he had set off.

Asemir rolled his shoulders as the hallucinations faded. There was still the occasional whisper of movement, of flashing, the lingering effects of the mental attack, but they were ignored. He had many years of practice with ignoring pieces of his mind. He started forward again.

Asemir found the lady sitting on a rock formation. A stalagmite? Or something, he wasn't sure. He wasn't a geologist. His sword was drawn, but held in a neutral yet ready stance. He was here because of curiosity, not aggression.

"Hello," the Forgotten said, his voice clear and devoid of any artificial modulation from his armor. "I assume the trap back there was your doing?"

[member="Anja Aj'Rou"]

 

[Boethiah]

Curious.

She wasn't confident that her little trick would do more than rouse the annoyance of the stranger whom was following her. Of course; she didn't expect them to shake it off so easily by the time he had caught up. That either meant one of two things... Either he was of a species with a resilience towards mind tricks or that they were a trained force-user. Due to the armour she could not tell which it was and her own ignorance towards the force meant she couldn't perceive his signature unless he allowed it.

Surprised by his contentment, "It was my doing, yes." She replied in placid confidence. "Now... Who is it that not only follows me but doesn't seem to trouble themselves with worry of what I might do?" Her question was only half rhetorical. Of course she wanted an actual answer as to who he was but she didn't really care too much about why he was seemingly okay with the entire situation. Was it any of her business, anyway? She wasn't going to tell him much about herself; probably.

The stench of sulfur was stirred up as a mild breeze passed through the cavernous room. Anja's eyes were pale, if he could see well enough in this dark, and lacked signs of vibrancy or emotion... They were somewhat empty, as is with most Umbarans. The biggest difference between her and others of her race was that she did not shave her head bald is customary with those from Umbara.

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]

 

[Asemir]

OOC:
Sorry this took so long. Complications at work, sick wife, baby who's decided it'd be cool to start waking up every two hours instead of sleeping through the night... Yeah, it's been a long week. lol

IC:
The truth or a lie? What should he do? It was second nature for him to offer a lie, a misdirection, something to conceal the truth and hide who or what he really was. It was his trade, after all. Secrecy and subtlety were his tools. But that was also from a lifetime ago, a different vocation, a different age.

"I am Asemir Lor'kora," he said after the half-second of pondering. The truth, he decided. "I don't worry because I've been alive for far too long, and if you've seen what I've seen, done what I've done, you learn that there's more to life than self perseverance. There's risks and gambles, and life isn't worth living unless you take one or both."

The ingr'nysk slowly circled around the room. His senses were naturally extended, wary of other Force traps, but he was mostly relaxed. He detected no immediate threat, no aggression radiating from this woman, but he still held his sword in a neutral-ready stance.

"I admit," Asemir continued, "it probably wasn't courteous of me to follow you, but curiosity got the better of me. You don't see many people on Vjun who wander off the main roads into the wastelands." The Forgotten stopped pacing. "And since I've told you a little about me, what about you? Who are you? Why this hike into this cavern?"

[member="Anja Aj'Rou"]

 

[Boethiah]

Truthfully the witch did not expect such a forward response from the stranger. Sensing no deception in his words, either because he was a clever liar who could hide it well or because he was simply telling the truth, Anja at least would give him the benefit of the doubt. That was only partially because he was being honest with her, the rest was due to the fact she had nothing else to go on.

A subtle sigh escaped her lips as the Umbaran exhaled, "I am a scholar, a seeker of knowledge and what I'm doing in this cave... Well, I'm not chasing down strangers." She spoke in half truths; nothing she said could be called a lie but hardly revealed concrete information.

"Do you always follow people into dark caves?" She played on what he said earlier.

The storm clouds outside began to twist in the skies above as they always do on Vjun, the static charges in the air caused thunder to crack loudly off in the distance as acid rainfalls made their way to the canyon. Luckily the many caverns would protect them from any inevitable harm and with him he may have been easily protected by his armour. Still their conversation lingered on until either of them decided to make something better of their time.

Anja remained silent, her eyes merely stalking him as she wondered who he was.

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]

 

[Asemir]

She spoke in tones that hinted at exasperation. Asemir took her words to be mostly truthful but he guessed they couldn't be the full truth. Only children ever told the full and honest truth to strangers. Everyone else was either too cautious or jaded to be that open to someone they've never met.

"No, I don't always follow people into caves, or small spaces for that matter." Asemir thought a moment. "At least, usually, not without good reason. I mean, this isn't my first time chasing someone into a hole, but those other times always came with orders or were otherwise compelling. Today, right now, curiosity got the better part of me. Plus, talking to you down here sure beats getting soaked in the acid rain above.

"So, what kind of knowledge are you seeking? I wasn't aware that Vjun was known for its treasures of lost knowledge."

[member="Anja Aj'Rou"]

 

[Boethiah]

He was smarter than she expected, not that she assumed him unintelligent... Few people cared to know of the nature of the worlds they set foot on. Cloudy eyes turned to him, his armour was in full detail to her eyes which could see very well in darkness. "There is knowledge everywhere, whether misplaced or forgotten... Some of it is beneficial to myself, so I seek it out." She explained to him.

It was odd to find someone who didn't lie to her, or didn't seem to be lying to her for that matter.

"I'm looking for a way to heal my mind," she started to speak but her eyes became visibly puzzled on the subject. She may have not been a liar but she was hardly this revealing.

Of course she couldn't disagree--having a conversation, despite her lack of social interest, did fair better than being soaked in acid.

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]

 

[Asemir]

"What's wrong with your mind?" Asemir asked. Why was it that so many people had injured minds? the Forgotten mused to himself. He had encountered many in his travels. In fact, he himself had had a fractured personality, but that had been "cured" so many years ago. Quite forcefully and not a good experience, but it had been for the best.

He thought to his struggle with Sera, that Force entity that had occupied his soul since birth. He had learned to live with her, but it had taken all of his mental acuity to lock her away and keep her from taking over and possessing his body. It was a relief that she was now gone.

"Is there something, or someone on Vjun that will provide healing?" The Forgotten paused, considering what he was saying. Why was he going down this path of conversation? Perhaps it was empathy. Or something. "Can I assist you in finding whatever it is that you're searching for?"

[member="Anja Aj'Rou"]l

 

[Boethiah]

Anja took a moment to think on that herself. It wasn't a difficult subject for her to speak of in the sense she didn't want to, but she hadn't the clue how.

How does one begin to explain what is affecting them? For a second she began wondering on why she felt comfortable in his presence, nearly forgetting that he was a stranger to her. Even if she wasn't she didn't have simple conversations with anyone; no one was close to her and she kept it that way.

"Maybe. Or at least knowledge," she responded to his first question.

The second one he asked came to her as a surprise, "Assist me?" Why would a stranger assist her, she wondered. "How are you able to help?" It was the clear question for her to ask; if he could truly help her she wished to know why. No deception was found found in his words, if he was being honest with her and truly did wish to offer his assistance...

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]

 

[Asemir]

[member="Anja Aj'Rou"]

"That depends on what it is you're searching for. If you need someone to snatch something from security, I can help with that. If it's protection, I can do that too." His armor shifted silently, seamlessly, as the Forgotten shrugged. "At the very least, I'm an extra body that can help with any heavy lifting."

Asemir thought back to her first comment. It had lacked conviction, had been unsure. "Do you know what you're looking for? Are you sure there's something here for you?"

 

[Boethiah]

"I am never certain." She answered honestly and quite plainly at that.

There wasn't much from her as far as explanations go but she'd at least say what she had to. "I have dreams like lifeforms but lately mine have been utterly real. It was slow at first, little things... I'd dream of walking through thorns and wake up with small cuts... Then it got progressively worse." She ended a bit abruptly but she truly didn't know what more to say.

Still; deep down inside she could appreciate the lend of assistance. Stranger or no stranger, she couldn't recall a single moment when anyone was this generous.. But then it struck her.

"Are you a mercenary, what gains do you get from assisting me?"

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]

 

[Asemir]

"A mercenary?" Asemir thought that over. "Sure, I guess I'm a technically a mercenary. I complete jobs for money. It's really just something I do now to keep busy.

"But what am I getting out of helping you?" He shrugged. "I've lived for a long time. I've fought in countless wars, fought against the strongest of Sith. I've seen friends and allies die. I've had to kill too many people. I've seen enough of the galaxy.

"I guess I'm offering to help because it's something good that I can do."

[member="Anja Aj'Rou"]

 

[Boethiah]

"So you're looking for a noble cause, then?" She asked of him.

If not noble, then at least maybe he's looking for something that isn't money, something fulfilling. "I will gladly accept your help, only I'm not sure what you can do to help right now." Anja didn't even know how to help herself in this case. The acidic rainfall dripped down through the cracks in the caverns, sulfur continued to fill the air to the point where it almost hurt her lungs to breathe.

The pain wasn't there, however. She didn't consider to think about it even as a droplet hit her skin and left a white mark. Her mind was elsewhere.

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]

 

[Asemir]

"A noble cause. You could say that." Asemir took a look around the cavern, noting the increased dampness and acid rain dripping from the stalactites. The storm was probably draining into the cavern system.

"Well, if you want to get out of this cave and into some proper shelter, I can help with that. I have a ship." The Forgotten found a broken stalagmite and took a seat. "Other than that, do you know what you're searching for? What led you into this cave anyways?"

[member="Anja Aj'Rou"]

 

[Boethiah]

"Records," she began to explain...

Sitting up from where she stood, Anja paced back and forth in the cave; her ears listened to the thunder as the clouds passed overhead. "There are secrets on this world left relatively untouched; perhaps one of them may reveal a cure." She finished her elaboration.

Anja stopped pacing directly parallel to him and turned her head, "Is your ship far?" She asked, her voice echoing throughout the cavern. The roaring thunder became more distant as each second passed, it seemed things were beginning to clear up for now but the unpredictable weather of Vjun proved dangerous even still. At any point those clouds may return and the witch somewhat foolishly forewent any sort of protection against the sulfuric rainfall.

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]

 

[Asemir]

OOC:
Still waiting to hear back from my apprentice to see if he's interested in joining.

IC:
"My ship is pretty close. It's actually sitting in the spaceport, in a hangar. Sheltered from the mess above." He thought a moment. How much did he really trust this woman? Was she safe? Common sense said no. His training said no. But, he'd also come to learn that sometimes, logic didn't always take precedence. Sometimes, something greater trumps common sense.

"We can head to my ship, if you'd like," Asemir offered. "It beats sitting down here, getting dripped on by acid. From there, we can go over any records you have or come up with a game plan."

[member="Anja Aj'Rou"]