Caravan Palace

[Jairus Starvald]

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The seventh moon, called the Serpent’s Eye by the purebloods of old, had already risen to its furthest peek on the scarlet sky of Korriban. Holy land of the Sith, their homeworld and now the Throneworld of one of the Triumvir, slowly but steadily the desert world had been reclaimed by the outskirts of society and civilization under the guiding hand of him.

He had no name, at least none that any of them knew about. He had no face, at least none that they had ever seen, and last… he did not seem to have a goal - besides the reestablishing of old values and the restructure of the ancient ways.

But all of this was a moot point, because this story was not about him. It was a story about her, a young lady currently perching on the dry sandstone of one hut out of many. She was green of skin, eyes filled with mischief as she was surveying the streets that were spread underneath her heels and there was only one question that was currently roaming through the depths of her mind.

What’s there to do?

 

[Jairus Starvald]

Cerita had arrived in Korriban City two days ago and in a lot of ways it was a vacation, a way out of the common rituals of daily training sessions with Dissero. She had need of some time… off, to experience something new.

And where better to do such a thing than the sandy streets of the ancient city itself?

It was not a quiet night by any stretch of the imagination, far from her she picked up the usual cues of a living and breeding city - the cries of brawls, the soft hum of incantations in the Temple nearby, the shouts of the marketplace closing up and the peddlers packing up their wares once again.

But Korriban City was more than the sums of these regular sounds and visions, deep entrenched, underneath all the grime and sand was a darkness that could not be mistaken.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

It was all old, ancient, the currents running beneath the earth and infecting everything that walked on it - though to call it evil… was to sorely simplify a matter that was too complicated to understand by today’s standards.

Could you call a tempest that destroyed a city evil?

A forest fire?

What about a tidal wave that crashes into a shore village?

Nature escapes and transcends the common conventions, and so it was with Korriban and its capital city. It was a world of life and death, light and dark, with merchants working hard to earn a living and ancient cultists performing bloody sacrifices in the cloaks of the night.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

“Have you heard?” the sentence rocketed right through Cerita’s musings, breaking the introvert and shaking her awake again. She barely managed to restrain herself from cursing, Rave would have chastised her for slipping her guard.

“No, what is it?”

Beneath her two guards had gathered up, the flames of their torches illuminating their surroundings, but not quite reaching the height of her hiding place.

“They have stolen an artifact from the Great Pyramid.”

“You must be joking.”

At this point Cerita was suddenly very interested, the Great Pyramid served as the Palace of the Triumvir and was one of the most secure locations on Korriban.

Hell, probably of the entire Sith Worlds system.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

The fact that anyone had been able to penetrate its de- the girl shushed herself once again, trying to hear another shred of the conversation which had simply continued, without waiting on her to figure out her mindset.

“-ole place is in uproar.”

“Do they have any suspects?”

The torch of one of the guards shook noticeably as he shrugged.

“The thief must have been a ghost… or be able to climb on walls, no signs of forced entries and all the sentries are still there - none the wiser. Although…”

Cerita leaned in to hear what the guard was about to say next.

“It’s probably nothing, but rumours are a tusk was carved into the wall next to the pedestal.”

“Huh… a tusk?”

“I know! Complete lunacy if you ask me…” the voices trailed away as the guards resumed their patrol, leaving Cerita alone with her thoughts. The glint of mischief had only increased with that particular nugget of information settling itself into the pit of her mind.

A tusk.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

Throughout her Apprenticeship with Rave and Dissero there was one unifying theme that came back consistently, it was a theme that was focused on certain levels of respect - begrudgingly or otherwise, respect and perhaps even some sense of comradeship and love. All of which could be summed up with a single symbol, and you might have already guessed it.

It was a tusk.

To be more specific an entity, because calling Velok anything else than a force of nature would have degraded just how much of an impact the old Sith Lord had left on the Galaxy before dying himself. Did Cerita think that Velok was somehow… alive? That he had stolen some sort of artifact from the Great Pyramid and left a symbol of himself as some sign of humor?

Probably not.

But as she vaulted from roof to roof, tracing her steps back from the little hiding hole to the firm destination in her head, she was seriously considering backing down from the idea that was forming. There were a lot of things that Cerita was capable of… but going toe to toe with Velok was clearly, most definitely not part of this. Which didn’t mean she wouldn’t try anyway, too headstrong by half to back down from something as interesting as this.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

Now, you might ask yourself where Cerita was currently heading. Running and gliding on the Thieves’ Highway, she aimed to pay an… acquaintance a visit, one who might have a very good idea on what was currently happening in the underworld of Korriban.

Everlast’s Peace was a little store hidden within the nook of a nook, it did not have any signs, its windows were curtained and distinct symbols were etched into the post to ward off any attempts to get through ‘em with ease, you might even miss the door that was almost a part of the wall itself - if not for the distinct doorknob in the shape of a terentatek.

A terentatek that seemed to be looking right at her… did it just yawn at her?

To say that Korriban City was a strange place sometimes was to make a gross overstatement.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

Part of her wondered if she should just take the knob, hope it didn’t bite her hand off and just turn it around to open the door, but better heads prevailed in the end with her deciding to simply knock. Her fist had already raised itself, moving to do just that as a voice snapped out throughout the darkness.

“FREEZE.”

Cerita froze in the act, her head quickly spinning around to find the source of the voice, it was only after she heard the knob chuckle loudly that the girl realized her mistake.

“Reaaaaally. It sssseeeeemssss like Dissssero’s quality of educaaaaation had ssssseverely declineeeed.”

Another snort was heard before those mean eyes started glowing a little bit, perhaps sensing that his words were invoking some particular strong negative emotions from the girl he had just scared.

“Sssssshhh, no neeeeeed for that guuuuuurl. I issss juuuuussssst kiddding. You wissssh to meet Great Jonanro himself, noo?”

Cerita could only nod, she didn’t trust herself to speak just yet - afraid that she would reach out and alchemize the knob into something distinctly less intimidating and menacing. Maybe… a little piglet, or perhaps she would turn it int-

“Then you may enter.” suddenly he wasn’t hissing or pronouncing syllables in strange ways anymore, instead just a simple sentence before turning itself around… and just like that the door opened itself inwards, inviting Sarova into the sanctum of the Great Jonanro.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

The shop was much bigger from the inside than the exterior would lead you to believe, but that was the magic of Jonanro the Great - one of the finest magicians on Korriban, and if Dissero was to believe? There were only a few that could truly come close to the Great’s experience in enchantments and manipulations of the stuff that was part of thing.

Yeah, Dissero wasn’t all to specific about it. He probably didn’t understand it either.

There were a lot of bookcases filled to the brink with scrolls, books and other repositories of knowledge, Cerita had never been here before but she knew instinctively that the worth of a single book here could make and break kingdoms - which led to the question what Jonanro was doing here in a little dingy shop in the corner of a nook of Korriban City.

But as she walked through the store and her eyes finally settled on Jonanro himself… well, most questions simply evaporated on the spot.

He was big.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

And big didn’t just cut it, he was simply gargantuan. The seems of his fabric barely being able to hold the majority of his bulk and yet Jonanro moved with the grace and elegance of some kind of ballerina or a masterful duelist - whichever you prefer. Moving, yes, Sarova wasn’t entirely too sure what he was doing, but it seemed like he was sorting books and yet there did not seem to be a system towards the sorting.

Just… random placements that made no sense whatsoever.

After a while Cerita coughed, rather awkwardly. Just to get his attention.

To his credit Jonanro did not screech or start whirling his head around at the sound, instead he just finished his last movement putting an amber booklet ridden with rubies into the far end of another random bookcase before twirling around.

Literally, like a ballerina… or maybe a skilled swordsman.

Sharp beads stared from under bushy eyebrows, they took a measure of the girl and Cerita almost felt herself be weighed right there and then.

Then a warm smile extrapolated itself from the thick flaps that were supposed to be lips.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

“Ahhhh, dearest Cerita! My oh my, how much have you grown~” Jonanro practically sang that sentence, before twirling around again and continuing his practice of randomly sorting his books.

Cerita was pretty stumped at this point in time, because… well. His words implied certain things and she didn’t exactly like the implication of those words, she was about to say something against it. But once again she was interrupted, this time by a loud wheezing that seemed to be going on for an age, laughter she would later realize.

“Yes, yes. I have seen you grow up, your old Master asked me for some advice back in the day.” a meaty hand gracefully waved itself into her direction, almost to shush her words back before they were even able to procreate and make sentences.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

…for some reason Cerita wasn’t very much inclined to try and alchemize this man.

Almost as she thought that another loud wheezing could be heard.

“C’mon girl, you didn’t come here to think thoughts, you came here to speak ‘em. So speak! And be a dear, and speak up, the books are being rudely loud at this time a day.”

To this day Cerita wasn’t sure how he managed to get a word to be literally underlined in her mind and neither was she very inclined to find out… there were some things that simply weren’t meant to be found out by normal human beings. And even now Serova considered herself pretty normal, all things considered, of course.

“I… uhh… mister Jonanro. I uhh…” short sentences, Cerita. He wanted you to speak up.

“Mister Jonanro, I overheard a conversation between two palace guards.”

 

[Jairus Starvald]

This made the Magician perk up, as if he inherently already knew where this tale was moving towards, but he didn’t do anything else. Just kept on placing those books, but it was clear that there was an attention radiating from him that hadn’t been there moments before.

“They said something about a tusk, and… and… s-sir?”

Jonanro had gone eerily silent, stuck in a reaching stance that quickly transitioned into him bustling around the place, checking up on some strange chronometer that had been resting in the corner of the section before shaking his head wildly and mumbling to himself. He didn’t seem very surprised with her remark, didn’t seem very negative about it either, but there was just a little bit of concern that was palpable after checking the chronometer.

“Si-”

“Quiet.” the Magician snapped, still mumbling to himself before blinking and looking at Cerita again.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

“Oh… sorry about that, very rude of me. Yes, yes. A tusk, you will want to go to the back room, someone has been waiting for you… oh dear. I didn’t think it would be so soon, oh dear. Mhm… oh… right, remember to reverse polarities, okay? Good, good.”

He kept on prattling about, shifting through some papers and starting to make some kind of annotations here and there, and she decided to leave him there instead of asking for a clarification. It was probably nothing, so why worry about it. She walked through the shop towards the back room, his words making her a little bit curious.

Someone was waiting on her?

Who could that- Oh.

And just there, as she pushed away the curtains would her eyes fall on the figure in the chair. Anyone else might have been confused, might not have recognized that distinct silhouette, the half-cloaked features of her face.

But Cerita wasn’t anyone else, she knew who this was.

“R-Rave?” suddenly her voice was just a little bit more tiny, in stress of breaking up entirely.

The dead woman looked up from her book, those cold eyes meticulously studying Cerita and her posture, almost as if she was looking for something.

Then she nodded.

“Quite so, you better sit down. We don’t have long.”

 

[Jairus Starvald]

He lost one of his toys again, told him last time that I am not his babysitter and that he will have to figure it out on his own, but there is something about that grin of his, it makes me want to equally punch him in the throat and help him out for old time’s sake - either way, they are idiots.

Call themselves the Order of the- yeah, you guessed it. They think that the toy will allow them to resurrect him.

Is it possible? I am not really sure, did not even consider it, but I very much doubt it.

That’s besides the fact though, if anyone is gonna resurrect him it’s me or Dissero, not some inept cult that is brandishing his tooth like it means something.

No, keep my name out of the books. I already told you where to go, I’d go myself but I have a feeling it’s bigger than this little cult, I have a girl who is currently casing the spot. Get there, she will make you aware of her and then you two can solve this mess.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

And that was about how their first meeting in a long time had began and ended, heavily summarized and with a lot of things edited out for convenience sake, but you gather the general meaning. It took Cerita some time to follow Rave’s directions and get to the spot, one of the rundown temples that littered the city - because… of course a group of cultists were hanged up inside of a temple, it wasn’t like they had the ingenuity or creativity to come up with something better.

They wouldn’t be inept cultists if they had.

Cerita snuck in from one of the side alleyways, clinging to a wall and peeking from over the corner to sta- study the entry to the temple. It seemed to be fairly… well, abandoned and that only worried Certy if anything.

Not that she had the time to contemplate that notion.

“Boo.”

 

[Jairus Starvald]

Once again she got caught unaware, but this time she managed to retain some basic sense of propriety.

Instead just twitching an eye, before looking over her shoulder and noticing a girl. She had a cowl on, most of her features hidden in shadows, but there was a dagger on her hip and her boots were of finely-made leather - really good quality. So she wasn’t just some kind of vagrant, deciding to come and harass her for a while.

So either a thief or…

“Relax, twitch.” the girl finally said with a smirk, before leaning against one of the walls and giving Cerita a good once-over. “I presume miss Peregrine has told you that I am out here, yes? Good. You can call me Kailyza and before you ask… no, that’s not my real name.”

 

[Jairus Starvald]

Smirk just pronounced itself, before her gaze left Cerita and wandered over to the temple. Once settled there the smirk disappeared, replaced by a deep frown that might have carried some concern.

“Everything alright?” Cerita would at least try to be a bit civil, instead of falcon punching her into a garbage bin. That’s the least she could do for her former Master.

“Hm? Oh. Yeah, yeah, I am fine. That place just gives me the creeps.” another sneer was send to the building, before Kail looked back to the other girl.

“Look, I got paid to case the joint. It’s got two guards - amateurs though, they are hiding inside the alcoves next to the entrance. Bent over their knees though, so by now their legs must be really twisted in two dozen knots. Inside… another three, four cultists and- Okay, you could also just go in from the back door, if that’s more your thing.” she scratched her chin, before shrugging.

“You will have to probably push a little bit, especially with your… eh… posture, but I am sure it will fit if you try hard enough.”

 

[Jairus Starvald]

Falcon… pun- focus, Cerita.

“Anyway, that will get you right into the inner sanctum. They haven’t started whatever they are trying to start, but I am sure they won’t be long… I ain’t gonna be around for that though. So, good luck and toodles~”

Hand waving and all, before turning smoothly around and disappearing into the shadows of the alleyway.

She already hated that girl with every fiber of her being, but this wasn’t the time to get overly emotional or go full berserker while trying to break her face into the wall. No… that would probably be really bad for the mission parameters, yeah… really bad.

Cerita huffed, before shaking her head and beginning to move. She would circle the the building and push her way through that crevice, even if that was the last thing that she would do.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

“Calling me fat…” Cerita mumbled to herself as she crawled across the floor, leaving that hellish rift behind her. Calling it a rift was being generous even, it was more like… like… a slit! Some inept nook in the middle of- could you use inept in that sentence?

Okay, that doesn’t really matter right now, Certy. Moving on.

Farther into the room she could make out a dim pulsating light, blinking in and out of existence in crimson red with some ominous incantations going on in the background.

“Huh… that doesn’t sound good.” a voice suddenly announced.

Sarova barely managed to bite on her tongue and prevent herself from squealing out loud like a little girl, instead swiftly rolling to the side and eye whatever the- Oh, no… not shutta-face again, yep there she was.

Poo-eating grin, cloak over her head and literally too pretty by half.