Don't Trust Me

[Arage Bao]

Imperial Palace Outskirts, Bastion

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]A solitary figure immaterialized out of the void. Traversing the ley lines and moving from [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]then[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px] to [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]now[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px] had always been a cumbersome affair, no matter how many times he had done it - it still proved to be an annoying experience that brought as many complications into the game as possible, almost as if reality itself was trying to stop him from moving about.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Quite annoying.[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px] [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]The figure dusted himself off softly, taking in the view of the Imperial Palace and he couldn’t help but roll his eyes just a little bit. He still remembered being here all those years ago, or rather a few years ago if they were going by this particular timestream. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Ain’t that awkward.” the man would mumble, before straightening himself out and wandering over to the front gates of the palace. Soldiers moved to intercept him almost immediately, Gulandi warriors and the Golden banner - not that he would know. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]A beast of a man would storm by his own warriors, probably an eager lieutenant or something. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]STOP. Who are you?![/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]” He didn’t seem to be all that pleased about the incursion.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]The figure smiled and waved his hand, his mind extended itself from his own corporeal form and infiltrated theirs, taking control over all their mental faculties before answering them. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“My name is Jared Ovmar, would you kindly escort me to the Host Lord?”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Drool dripped, eyes stared blankly and nods were all prevalent. They started moving.[/SIZE]

 

[Boethiah]

Unexpected visitors have been far more frequent as of late...

She recalled only a short time ago that a man named Cedric Dorn had entered her halls with a proposal of his own. So now yet another ambitious individual has come to witness the audacity of The Primeval and likely achieve something... Whatever they hoped to achieve, they'd surely be ready to offer something in return or be a fool for not doing so.

Anja sat in her private chamber as usual, curtains covered the glasteel windows and rather plain furniture sat around in the unadorned room that she made into her living quarters. The woman sat at the end of her bed, in her hands was a book that she's seen many times before; a book with no name and no origin. Her eyes scanned the bizarre markings, the pages were not read like you would with your eyes... It connected with the reader, the spoke to you inside your mind in subtle whispers. Of course all knowledge comes at a price, in this case that would be the price of nightmares.

A knock at the door, "You may enter," she spoke without ever removing her eyes from the page.

The door swung open heavily and entered one of her many servants, "Your Worship, an --" He would be cut off.

"Another visitor?" Still she read the pages, her voice was soft and quiet; oddly so considering the circumstances. "Send them in."

[member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Anja Aj'Rou"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]The walls held memories for him, memories of old and yore - it seemed so long ago that he had come here, partied amidst the butchers, privileged and curiosa of the Primeval, so long ago that he had ravaged a Danger Arceneau against the walls… [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]not the Danger Arceneau, but it was a lot of fun nonetheless… [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px] [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]So many memories that were flooding in, the Tion Hegemony, Marek and Tyrin, Rave… and all the others that had been his friends, associates, partners and allies. The Lords of the Fringe was beckoning to him once again, but his instinct told him that even that was gone now; before the realization settled in that it had been him who had finally broken it, shattered it into pieces. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]He still felt them, at the edge of the unknown and right within the borders of the Primeval. It seemed that they were doing fine anyway, building up a life amidst the magicks, blood and faith of Wild Space.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Two doors opened themselves at the wave of his hand, behind him [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]his[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px] entourage sticked to the walls and waited what would happen next.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Jared Ovmar, former Lord of the Fringe and former player of the game, entered the chambers of the Host Lord and the doors slammed shut behind his figure. His eyes wandered across the room, there wasn’t much in the way of aesthetic, but that was always the case with these kinds of people. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Just the way of the world.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]The once Sith Lord wandered into the room proper, found himself a chair and settled down. Leg crossed over the other his gaze was finally attracted by the book in her hands, a book that brought a smile to his lips.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Ah… a fascinating read, is it not?” Jared would finally say.[/SIZE]

 

[Boethiah]

She was not interested in petty games, "You have a name -- a guest should always announce who they are by name." She spoke plainly to the man, her eyes as of yet did not leave the pages of her book. This wasn't a sign of disrespect or disinterest; she was multi-tasking.

Anja was not a woman who usually accepted guests into her own home, the Imperial Palace was a structure equaled only by its cousin on Coruscant, a structure that later became capitol for the corrupt Republican governments of the core that ruled the world after the fall of the Empire, now that it was in Sith hands she knew not and cared little for the purpose it served there. She didn't even appreciate the marvel of where she was... Bastion the most defensible world in the galaxy; night impenetrable defenses and one of the few remote fortress worlds.

Her fingers turned the paged, she awaited an answer.

[member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Anja Aj'Rou"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]And yet games were all that he had left. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Do I?” the Sith Lord would reply with a coy smile, before leaning deeply into the chair and closing his eyes, simply enjoying the silence for a while. One might think that Jared had had enough of silence for a lifetime, ages of traveling from here to there and exploring everything that reality had to offer wasn’t exactly a group-bounding thing, and yet even now as the Sith had returned to his own realm of the living?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]He found that he somewhat missed that eerie silence.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]After a few hums Ovmar realized that perhaps he should be more… polite? He had already trundled into one of the heaviest protected fortifications of the Galaxy as if it was nothing, furthermore simply [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]walking[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px] into the rooms of the Host Lord herself… again as if it was nothing. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]It was simply one of those things that he would have to get used to, that he wasn’t alone anymore and couldn’t just run around and spread chaos [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]like it was nothing[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]. He would need to be slightly more pleasant about it. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“I would apologize about losing my manners, but I never really had any to begin with.” the Sith would shrug, his eyes still dreaming other dreams, before it finally came. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“As for my name, they used to call me Jared Ovmar.”[/SIZE]

 

[Boethiah]

"You've come here before..." She was referring to a time when many of the Sith and Techno Union had shown up for an event.

Her mind went through the book slowly, not missing a single detail from the page she was now on. What she was actually learning? That was the unique part... You didn't learn like you did anything else, it wasn't a matter of reading and then understanding... You understood immediately, but not at all, it was like being given a puzzle -- you knew what it was about but you still had to put it together to receive the full meaning.

Continuing, "And why do you come here now?"

[member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Anja Aj'Rou"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]You have come here before… [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]And she didn’t even know how true those words were, probably never would know either, but that was the deal when you were [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]dealing[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px] with one such as Jared Ovmar. He rarely showed all the cards that were in his grasp, just the nature of the game.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Hmm.” the Sith Lord hummed softly to himself. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Why had he come here? Right here and now? [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]What was there to do here, besides annoy the Host Lady in her own rooms and poke some fun at her? Of course that was its own little gain, but there had to be something else that had interested him, right? Ovmar wouldn’t have come here with at least a few plots in mind.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Probably.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“I wanted to see the Host Lady for myself, outside of the public facade.”[/SIZE]

 

[Boethiah]

"Disappointed?" She replied.

Anja was not much the monster that people made her out to be, she wasn't dozens of meters tall, she didn't breathe fire from her mouth, and surely entire cities didn't collapse under the weight of her feet. She was one person, one woman, and although she was a powerful one at that it didn't change the fact one bit that she was no less flesh, bone, and blood than everyone else. She probably put on her pants one leg at a time too--if she actually wore pants.

When she wasn't wearing her armour, she was in her robe, it wasn't a regal nor did it scream nobility, it was actually a sign of humility. She didn't adorn herself in jewels or gold; nothing about her positioned her above the desperate. For the leader of an entire religion she was quite... Quaint.

[member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Anja Aj'Rou"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Didn’t have any expectations to be disappointed about, love.” Ovmar would reply from his lazily seated position.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]He had met hundreds of dignitaries, royalty, nobility, those who had been born rich and those who had made their fortunes by clawing their way to the very top of the pyramid. His mind held the memories of the Dark Lord and… [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]others[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px], no to say that he was disappointed was to assume that Jared held any expectations whatsoever to this generation.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]A misguided assumption.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Hmm… do you behave in such fashion because you think you should, or because this is all that you are?”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]This is all that you are - was that judgement in his words? Did he somehow think that she should have… more to her than what she was radiating right now? Or was it simply how he portrayed it, a simple construction of sentence that didn’t hold anymore meaning to it than what it directly asked.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Good question.[/SIZE]

 

[Boethiah]

An interesting question, no doubt.

The Host Lord didn't behave in such a fashion because she made a conscious decision; nor was that all she truly was. Emperors had servants and dedicated artisans whose entire purpose was to pick out the right colours, gems, and fabrics to adorn them for their day-to-day politics. Everything was a statement, a message, and millions of credits--if not more--had gone into the process of deciding what shoes to wear or whether or not they need to smile as they walk up to the stand or hold steadfast.

She had none of those things. She didn't have an expert on fashion or culture, she had no one to tell her which colours were most likely to create a positive attitude or if she had to smile or frown, no one to tell her how loud to speak and no speech writers to groom her into something she wasn't. Anja was not a monarch and she certainly wasn't a politician, she was leader out of necessity and not of birthright or careerism. Did that assure she was less corrupt? Maybe not but it did offer an answer to his question.

"No," one word to answer both.

[member="Jared Ovmar"]