Private Ancient Truths, Modern Myths

[Darth Vindictus]

The doors to the Temple of Greater Contemplation split open, crumbling into heaps of broken stone in the main entry hall. Standing just beyond the threshold, hand outstretched and still invigorated by the Dark Side of the Force flowing through him, Darth Vindictus stared into the depths of the Temple, a small smile on his face. A dozen Legion of the One soldiers rushed through the opening, flashlights on the end of their blasters casting arcs of light into the shadowed depths of the Temple as they advanced. They were the first expedition party to enter the Temple in over three centuries, and there was no telling what they might find hiding within the vast catacombs of the place. Vindictus followed after them, slower, intent to take in the scenery first.

His discovery of the Temple of Greater Contemplation had been an accident. During his travels across the Outer Rim, he had stumbled upon an ancient burial site, within which held the remains of a Jedi. It was the first clue that set Vindictus on the journey that led him to the discovery of the Temple, an expedition that proved fruitful after nearly a year. Coming to stand before one of the two massive statues of ancient Jedi Masters in the entrance of the Temple, Vindictus rested his gloved hand on its surface. After a year of searching, it felt good to finally be able to physically touch the thing that had held part of his concentration.

Closing his fist slowly, the stone statue before Vindictus began to shake at first, and then crack. Great fissures ran up its length, splitting open centuries of lost history in the blink of an eye. By the time he had fully closed his fist, the statue was on the verge of collapse, and a simple sideways movement from his clenched hand sent it toppling. It crashed into the lake that surrounded the Temple with a roar of disturbed water and crashing stone, showering Vindictus in a spray of cold water. The smile on his face grew wider, and he turned to head further into the Temple. Before he went too far, though, he remembered the other Sith that had made the journey with him.

Turning his head slightly, the hood of his robes obscuring his features save for his yellow eyes, Vindictus called out to Rylan Caedes just outside the Temple entrance itself. "Come, my friend. Let us explore the history of our enemies."

 

[Rylan Caedes]

Temple of Greater Contemplation

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Rylan let his eyes trace over the craggy exterior of the former Jedi Temple. Despite the amount of time since it was last inhabited, he could still feel the essence of the Light side coming from within. He was half of the mind to be petty and deface the edifice outside, he even went as far as to reach out with his feelings and pull a few chunks of stone and began to cause them to orbit his body slowly.

"Come, my friend. Let us explore the history of our enemies."

"Sounds illuminating." His voice had a slow drawl to it as a smile crept across his features. He flicked his hand towards the water and the stones flew from their orbits to skip across the surface a few times before sinking.

He then stepped forward, his step surprisingly light and graceful considering the armor he wore.

The transition from outside to inside was limited, the temple having been designed to allow as much natural light as possible. The light glinted off of items in the walls, which Rylan initially ignored as he viewed the writings on the walls. The dialect wasn't one he was entirely familiar with, but he was able to parse things out based on context clues. Rylan stepped closer and the light hit off of the items in the wall again and drew his attention.

"Oh, that's interesting." He spoke aloud, turning to look at all of the walls. "Shards of crystal." He raised a gauntletted hand and extended his feelings. "If I am not mistaken, these shards are from lightsabers." Next to the shards were words that held little context in and of themselves, so Rylan wasn't able to parse exactly what they were, but he thought he had a good idea of what the shards represented, and it caused him to grin more.

Darth Vindictus​

 

[Darth Vindictus]

Vindictus halted his own progress further into the temple at Rylan Caedes words, turning his head to look back. Frowning, he extended a gloved hand out, and several crystals flew from the wall into his hand. Glancing down at them, Vindictus turned them slightly in what little light they had, before turning his hand sideways and letting them fall to the ground. There were many crystals here, far more than Vindictus would have originally assumed. This Temple once housed a considerable number of Jedi it seemed.

"It seems a violent end had befallen the Jedi of this Temple..." Turning back around, Vindictus began to push further into the Temple. He passed several statues set into the stone surface of the corridor, each depicting a long dead Jedi Master. In between the statues, openings led into circular chambers, several of which had Legion of the One soldiers exploring them. Vindictus was just about to pass one of the classrooms when a feeling brought him to a halt. Turning, he stepped down into the classroom and walked across its smooth floor to a display case set upon a small marble pillar. Inside the glass case was a helmet, ancient in design, but with strong influences of the Sith about it.

He placed his hand on the glass case, and the glass began to vibrate for a moment before shattering entirely, shards flying in every direction. Reaching in to the now empty space, Vindictus lifted the helmet up and inspected it. After several seconds of thought, he turned the helmet around and pulled it on. Surprisingly, the helmet still had power and came to life. Data began to flow across the lenses of the helmet, in a language Vindictus could not read annoyingly, but otherwise in good order.

Walking out of the classroom, Vindictus turned to face Darth Draehl, gesturing at the helmet. "What do you think?"

 

[Rylan Caedes]

Temple of Greater Contemplation

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"It seems a violent end had befallen the Jedi of this Temple..."

"Indeed, it does." The smile on Rylan's face grew slightly as he contemplated the shards. They could be used to clinch turning the temple from the light, but if he were to bleed them right now it would hold little effect. Pausing a moment more, he made a mental note to return to these once further work had been done.

He noticed that Darth Vindictus had moved to a hallway where it looked like several classrooms had been, along with a few meditation rooms. Rylan took a look down the hallway, walking slowly along its length and reaching out with his feelings. There was something about this hallway that looked off, and he was going to use the Force to help him ferret it out. On the left-hand side, there were two classrooms followed by a meditation chamber, followed by two classrooms before the next intersection. On the right-hand side, there were two classrooms followed by a long space of blank wall, followed by two more classrooms. The obvious place for something to be hidden was the blank wall. It was a large enough space that there could be a hallway or room behind it, and while there might be such a room, it wasn't what felt off. His senses drew him to the space of wall between the meditation room on the left-hand side and the classroom that came after it. He drew closer to it as he heard glass shattering from the classroom beside it. Rylan turned as Darth Vindictus stepped from the room.

"What do you think?"

The Sith Knight took a look at the helmet and offered an appreciative nod.

"I'm not a historical expert, but I can sense the dark side in that artifact. Clean and deadly lines..." Rylan looked up at Vindictus. "It is beautiful. Does it function?"

Darth Vindictus​