Private Hear it Sing

[Darth Ophidia]

Darth Strosius

His first footstep found solid purchase, but the whole thing felt unsteady.

The metal reinforcements creaked rustily and a loose chain slapped against the side of the stonework when the wind could no longer bear to swing it.

One more and he had left solid ground and was at the mercy of the bridge's integrity.

The wind flared with the next step, threatening to push him over, then suddenly abating.

It was almost as if the wind was testing him, mocking him.

One more, a loud whine, then another: nothing.

One more step, two, three, four, five, six. He was nearing the peak of the bridge. There were chunks missing of one side, but a metal sheet had been bolted over to keep it together.

One more, the chain slapped against the side of the bridge again.

Another.

He was close to safety, then a stone let out. The metal sheet whined as it bent from the weight of the falling bricks. the chain hanging over the side was within reach and seemingly bolted to the far side of the bridge.

 

[Darth Strosius]

Darth Ophidia

Alisteri was already regretting this course of action, but it was far too late to try and turn back. He had committed to crossing this bridge, and he didn't even entertain the thought of what would happen if he returned to the ship as a failure.

The wind broke him out of his thoughts, his focus momentarily broken until the gust had passed.

He took a breath and another step, focusing all of his efforts on willing the bridge to stay solid as well as willing his own body to continue.

He was even almost able to convince himself that he wasn't in danger for a moment or two.

That moment passed as quickly as that one stone had fallen.

A string of muttered curses left the young man as he heard and felt the metal sheet whine, a sense of urgency and frustration arising in his stomach.

He hadn't been killed by a Jedi, he certainly wasn't going to be killed by a bridge.

Alisteri's gaze landed on the chain and he steeled himself again. All or nothing, he supposed. He began moving again, far quicker this time as he attempted to grasp the chain and rush across the bridge before any more of it gave out.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Darth Strosius

The bridge gave out behind him, stones tumbling end over end into the nothingness and pulling metal reinforcements with them. The chain functioned as a secure hold, but truth be told he did not quite need it.

Just barely, sand was back under his feet when the stones stopped tumbling.

Looking back, there were probably less stones falling than he would have assumed. The bridge looked worse for wear and more treasonous now that he had crossed it, but there were oddly still bits intact.

The path ahead seemed oddly straightforward: Steps winding around the base of the mountain.

As Alisteri continued on, he would find that the other side of the mountain flattened out to a plateau covered in sand. In the middle of the plateau stood a singular, black obelisk of immense Force presence. It was foreboding and alluring at the same time, making the mountains themselves appear insignificant.

Between the obelisk and Alisteri stood a familiar, slender figure in robes of black and blue, eyes of embers in a face of ash. She watched him unblinkingly, not unlike the many Kissai figures he had seen on his way.

"You are late."

 

[Darth Strosius]

Darth Ophidia

Alisteri grunted as he skidded to a stop on the other side of the bridge, waving off the small cloud that he had kicked up as he glanced back at the bridge.

He could have sworn that more stones had fallen than what he saw now, but he didn't think too much on it.

There still had to be some way to get back after all.

After another moment or two of catching his breath and slowing his heart rate down, he continued on. He was relieved to have a relatively simple path ahead, but it did cause him some suspicion.

That was until he saw the obelisk, of course.

The young man stopped on the plateau as his gaze wandered over the black obelisk, his mind tensing as it accidentally prodded and felt the Force that it seemed to exude.

Alisteri was quick to begin walking again as he noticed the figure ahead however. He slightly bowed his head in respect as he approached, coming to kneel before her once he was about a meter away.

"My apologies my master. I have brought the Jedi's weapon, although the crystal is currently...occupied." He spoke as he set the compass and the lightsabre down, similar to the offerings that the statues had near them.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Darth Strosius

"So you figured out how to use it"

Ophidia looked at the disk and it shifted under her gaze. Leaning down, she pinched the blue crystal between her ink-coloured fingertips. "The blade is the heart of the Jedi.; the crystal is the heart of the blade." "Kyber crystals resonate with the Force. They both direct and empower energy that is transferred through them." A spark of blue electricity arced from her fingers as she touched the crystal, then pulled it from its seat.

"They can power a great many things, but this one-"

She smiled viciously as she offered the kyber crystal back to him, then rose back up to her full height. The twinned sabres at her sides became visible as she put her arms out and behind her back. It would seem his offerings were not wrong, but she would not be taking them. They were to be used in a task ahead, and were useful in getting him to this point.

"My apprentice must wield the weapon of a Sith." "And the weapon of a Sith is not given." It is taken - That much was implied.

Before him, he had most of what he would require in terms of raw materials, but she had plans to show him what more could be done, what new knowledge he could harness.

"Come."

Ophidia turned to the plateau of sand, but stopped at its edge. With a metal piece affixed to her left fingers, she cut her forearm and squeezed out a few drops of blood into the sand. The sand shifted, as though a great tentacle wiped the blood away, then disappeared beneath the sandy depths. She looked at Alisteri, then stepped onto the sand, toward the obelisk.

She had paid her toll to the guardian.

 

[Darth Strosius]

Darth Ophidia

Alisteri watched his master with a look of both surprise and anticipation on his face, his eyes widening slightly as she simply plucked the crystal from the device. He had been hesitant to handle the thing with his own hands, mostly due to the presence in the Force that it held. This hesitation was quickly swept aside as she offered him said crystal, as he took it into his hand without trepidation.

He spared a glance at the crystal as it sat in his palm, closing his fingers around it as his gaze shifted up to watch Ophidia. His eyes landed on the weapons at her side for a moment, nodding as she spoke.

It didn't take much to assume what she meant.

He quickly gathered up what he had set on the ground, securing everything back onto his belt except for the crystal. He wanted to hang onto it for the time being.

The apprentice slowly followed after his master, an expression of confusion spread across his face as his eyes tracked the drops of blood onto the sand. His expression didn't change when the blood seemed to be wiped away. He glanced back at his master, walking up to the spot that she had stopped at and stopping there as well.

He fumbled with a pouch on his belt, producing a small utility vibroblade from it after a moment. The crystal in his right hand and the blade in his left, he shifted the sleeve on his right arm up a bit until his skin was exposed. A quick cut and a small intake of breath later, and his blood dripped onto the sand just like Ophidia's had.

Alisteri watched the sand as he stored the vibroblade back onto his belt, taking a step onto the sand ahead of him after he seemed satisfied with what he had offered.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Darth Strosius

The sand shifted, the blood vanished.

The two Sith, master and apprentice, moved freely over the sand until they reached the presence of the obelisk. It was a tall, black spire, topped with a pyramid that pulsed in the Force, like a heart of darkness beating slowly. Down its four faces were sigils of red crystal, held in the black stone by seams of gold. Ophidia called the Force to her and closed her eyes as she focused. Her palms turned up and her fingers curled like talons as she focused the dark side of the Force and channeled toward the obelisk. It resonated with her, its surfaces seemingly losing its faint colouration until there was no reflection, just a dark slash in reality. She reached out and touched it, and blue sparks arced between her fingertips.

The thunderstorm from before had begun to overtake the mountain peaks, casting a shadow over the sand as the Sith Lord spoke a single phrase.

"Taka zeech ma toka duuwaj."​

A doorway opened from seeming nothingness on the other side of the obelisk, like twin doors receding into a darkened room. Ophidia looked at Alisteri, a smile creeping over her lips. she turned back and touched the air between the doors. The air reacted with red lightning, like a blaster going off at point blank: It was a ward. Ophidia clenched her fist, then spread her fingers, and the force field dispersed.

"We are awaited." "Come."

Stepping inside the doors, she was swallowed by the darkness. An inkling foretold that they doors and force field would not remain open for long after her.

Inside was a room formed of dark stones, decorated with seams of gold and glyphs of red stone. The symbols followed the corners of the wall and the ceiling, each surface mirroring the other with hexagons and triangles. Even though there was no apparent light, every detail was plain to see, as if some ambient, sourceless light revealed them. Ophidia stepped to an hexagonal section in the middle and clasped her hands behind her back. Ahead of them was a court of empty chairs; thirteen seats of different design.

 

[Darth Strosius]

Darth Ophidia

The apprentice did his best to hide the sigh of relief that escaped him as he freely walked on the sand, rolling his sleeve back down to hide the wound.

Alisteri looked up at the obelisk in awe, his eyes scanning over the various details and pondering the method of its construction. He didn't know much about relics or architecture, but it was always a minor interest of his. That interest was in particular about relics and whatnot, and this obelisk certainly aroused his curiosity.

He watched his master with interest, taking in her movements and eyeing the energy before her with a wary look. It was certainly impressive, although he had no idea what she was doing. That was of course, until the doorway appeared. He noticeably flinched away in surprise, both the doorway and the lightning catching him very off guard. He was quick to recover however, as well as quick to reel in his mind's probing lest his senses and thoughts be overwhelmed by the Force.

It took him a moment to follow Ophidia into the doorway, mostly out of surprise and shock rather than any sort of fear or hesitation.

As he emerged into the room, Alisteri spent his first few moments looking over everything. He was nearly overwhelmed by it all, but he forced himself to keep calm. It would be rude to come off as a coward after he had come so far; he had an appearance to keep up after all, he didn't intend for that image to be compromised by his own lack of tact.

Once he had taken everything in, he quickly caught up with his master, trailing behind her as he still looked around the room.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Darth Strosius

Once Alisteri caught up with Ophidia, the door was gone and the walls left no sign of it ever having been there. When he turned to look toward the chairs, they were occupied. In each of the thirteen seats sat a red-skinned figure, eyes like embers, robes of black, blue, red and gold with numerous baubles hanging off their necks, arms, facial tentacles and waists. Their forms were vaguely translucent, with skin stretched taught against their bones. Some of them had visible signs of rot and mummification, but they were all watching,

""The Guardian Court recognises you, Darth Ophidia" The figure in the highest, central chair spoke. He was the most highly decorated one as well. "-but not your company." He gestured to Alisteri, yellow eyes setting on the young man. "Who is he?"

"My apprentice." Ophidia interjected quickly, lest he spoke out of turn. "I have brought him to teach him the ways of the Sith, by your wisdom, dark lords."

She glanced over at Alisteri, a few of the ghostly Sith sneered and smirked. Some leaned to each other and whispered words.

"He knows little of our ways, but he succeeded in the pilgrimage."

She gestured for Alisteri to step forward, and if he had anything to add to the argument before the Guardian Court of the Library Temple of Krayiss Two, now was the time to speak.

 

[Darth Strosius]

Darth Ophidia

The young man could nearly feel his heart stop as he saw the thirteen figures in the chairs before them. His gaze swept over them all, their strange visage causing him more confusion than any sort of disgust. He had gotten surprisingly used to the sight of corpses, having been on a ship full of them once upon a time. Thankfully, these ones didn't have an odor that he could detect.

Alisteri suppressed the urge to flinch away or visibly move as the conversation turned to him.

His eyes idly flickered around the figures, narrowing slightly as he saw them talk amongst themselves. He didn't enjoy being ridiculed as a joke, but he didn't even entertain the idea of speaking out against them. He had little doubt that they wouldn't hesitate to put him in his place if he stepped out of line in any way.

Besides, he craved whatever knowledge they stored here.

He did his best to look confident, or at least deserving of being here, as his master spoke. His fist clenched around the crystal still held in his palm, resisting the temptation to stretch as he stepped forward and gave the thirteen figures a respectful bow.

"It is an honor to be in your presence. I have faced a Jedi in combat and lived, his weapon is in my position." He presented the crystal in his hand. "I triumphed over him, and I journeyed here without fault. I am prepared for whatever test or challenge you deem me worthy of."

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Darth Strosius

When Alisteri had said what he wanted to say, many of the figures leaned back, arms crossing and heads leaning this way or the other. The central figure leaned forward, placing his elbow on his knee and narrowing his eyes. "So inexperienced. Yet, to have slain a Jedi." he touched the facial tentacles protruding from his chin, and looked at Ophidia for confirmation.

"It is true, I ordered the deed as a trial." She added, flatly.


He straightened up, placing both palms on his thighs and looking down at them along his rotted nose.

"Then the Jedi of your age are weak."

Ophidia raised one hairless brow.

"The apprentice is given leave to peruse the Library under your watchful eye." "His transgressions are yours, Ophidia. We will not be as patient as with his predecessor." He smirked, knowingly.

The ashen lady of the Sith remained seemingly unperturbed, though her jaw did tighten for a moment. She did not respond to his comment.

The Guardian Court faded like sand carried away by strong winds, and the room was again empty. There was a moment of silence before a cracking sound. The floor shifted, then the central hexagon receded into the floor. Ophidia stood in its middle, still as a statue while the platform carried them down into the library temple itself.

"You spoke well."

As they descended, a room opened up before them. Right in front of them was a lifelike statue of the reigning Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Carnifex , whose eyes seemingly followed them through the room. Beyond that, other artwork: A skull rested on a pedestal with a brass plaque underneath it. Two statues stood facing each other, words carved into the marble beneath them. There were busts, portraits, collections of historical artefacts with details of their origin and finding by the Sith-Imperial Historical Conservation Society.

Down on the other end, another tall statue of a pale, elderly man in dark robes holding his arms aloft, sparks flew from his fingers in a sustained arc that hit a peak in the ceiling and illuminated the descending stairs and elevators beyond.

"This is a recent addition, you may peruse at your leisure."

Ophidia herself walked to the skull, looked at it briefly and almost touched it, but retracted her finger just a moment before making contact. Her eyes went back to the great statue of Carnifex, then she contined down through this, the lobby of the Library Temple.

 

[Darth Strosius]

Darth Ophidia

Alisteri steeled his nerves, keeping a straight face as the figures judged him. It was difficult for sure, but it was far from the first time he had to keep his composure. Even if he did have to dig his fingers into his palm to do it.

He resisted the urge to scoff at the central figure's words. In his opinion, Jedi were weak in any age.

A silent bow was his only response as the court made their judgement and faded away, although his composure did break slightly as the floor beneath them began moving. He still didn't care much for mobile flooring, nor did he care for those last few remarks that were made. He didn't dare ask for clarification, but his curiosity was piqued.

"I merely told them the truth master, you did the rest."

The apprentice hardly noticed his own gasp of awe as the room came into sight, his gaze wandering over the statue of the Emperor of the Sith Empire. His Emperor as well, he supposed.

Alisteri wasted little time in exploring the scene, examining and looking over the various pieces of art and sculptures that he could see. He hardly recognized any of the busts, a fact that he felt remorse for. With any luck, he would have the time to do some reading on them later.

Of course, his attention soon moved away from the artwork, and towards the library proper.

"Master? If I may ask, am I to look for anything in particular?"

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Darth Strosius

This place contained a modicum of memories for Ophidia. She remembered the days after the conquest of Krayiss Two from the Dominion, the drafting and rebuilding of the temple's top floors after the unmentionables tried to blow it up rather than let it fall into the hands of the Sith Empire. She remembered the process of alchemising the skull, believed to be of the traitor, the false sith- Well, now she knew he was a live and the skull likely not his. It irked her that the his presence had once tainted this place and her organisation.

When Alisteri returned, she turned to him, her brows raised quizzically in response to his inquiry.

"Here? No, I simply wanted you to have your fill of this room before we moved on, lest it draw you back with sights unseen." She had always thought of it as a tourist trap.

Ophidia gestured for him to follow as she went to the stairs which delved into the floor beneath. The stonework down there was different, older, and it connected to many, passages, stairways and elevators.

"I think we shall begin with the basics." "The Sith Code, our history, our purpose." She glanced down at his hand. "And, of course, the construction of a Sith's lightsabre." Her eyes flicked up again to his, then shifted to the many elevators. "Come."

She walked down the curving stairs to the lower levels.

Her hand traced the black rail gently as she walked, her steps were slow and smooth. While most bobbed up and down when descending a flight of stairs, she seemed to float. Perfectly even, perfectly balanced. She turned at the bottom of the steps and walked underneath. There were six pillars, newer ones set on the bases of old pillars, just as the shelves were new, but the floors were old. The pillars were inscribed with aurebesh.

"Stand here" She gestured beside her, in the middle of the hexagon.

"Peace is a lie, there is only passion"

she read the text on the pillar aloud, then pointed to the next as she waited for him to read the next four lines as she had read the first two. The next lines said:

Through passion, I gain strength.

Through strength, I gain power.

Through power, I gain victory.

Through victory, my chains are broken.

"The Force shall set me free." -she finished.

"This is our code, the basis of our entire order, and the truth passed on to us from masters of the past."

 

[Darth Strosius]

Darth Ophidia

Alisteri blinked in response, thankful that his embarrassed expression was hidden by his helmet. He felt rather silly, this place had impressed him. Perhaps he should look into getting some sort of mask of his own in the future after he returned this armor...

He was quick to follow after Ophidia, idly rolling the kyber crystal around in his palm as he walked down the stairs.

He nodded in acknowledgement, looking back down at his hand and feeling a small sense of pride and excitement. Stories of the lightsabres of Sith and Jedi alike had always circulated around the slaves. Jedi mostly, as they were supposedly going to be liberators of said slaves someday. Such a day would never come of course, but Alisteri didn't dwell on that thought for too long.

The apprentice stood in the hexagon, casting a wary glance at it for a moment as if it was going to move. He sincerely hoped that it would not. His gaze quickly shifted to the pillar the his master read off of, scanning over the lines of text before he spoke.

"Through passion, I gain strength."

"Through strength, I gain power."

"Through power, I gain victory."

"Through victory..." He paused, his mind flashing back for a moment to that dreadful ship. To those pirates that stole him away and sought to simply be his new slave-masters; and then to when he had slaughtered the lot of them. They had ruined his old life, and yet he was now free.

He was freed by victory, his victory.

"...my chains. Are. Broken."

Snapped out of his reverie, his attention refocused on Ophidia, nodding in response. "I have never heard of a truth that was more honest and realistic." He spoke after another moment of thought on the code. He understood it. He liked it, simple yet true with plenty of room for...unique interpretations. Not that he intended to have one of said unique interpretations of course, he liked the code just as it was written.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Darth Strosius

"Well, some of your chains may be."

She glanced at him, eyes narrow.

"A chain may be useful, for a time, so long as it takes you further and does not hold you back." Ophidia herself remembered her master, Darth Ferus. He had taught her close to everything she had known. Yet, when the time came, she broke the chain. She could sense a similar reflection happening in Alisteri. "The links of your past brought you here, and when the chain grew taut and held you back, you broke it." She knew the struggle, that much was in her words. "To struggle, to fight, to live in violence, these are stones in the very foundations of life: We kill, we eat, we grow, we kill again." She remembered her time on Rattatak, the war of the One Sith, the emergence of the Empire, all that had forged her to the Sith she was today.

"None embody this ideal more than the Sith."

Drawing a deep breath, she rolled her shoulders back a little, neck straightening in the adjustment.

"You will reflect on these words every morning before we meet; Read them, speak them, memorise them, and think about what they mean." Ophidia briskly stepped away from the pillars and to one of the many, many rows of glowing slates stacked high. She touched one, tilted it down, then pressed it back in before retrieving the one next to it. The Rattataki then turned and traced her finger over the top of a row of others and pulled out two.

Ophidia turned to him, signalling for him to come her way. "In time, learning to read Ur'kittat will be a boon, depending on how-" She looked him up and down as she handed him the holobooks "-Studious you are."

The holobooks appeared uniform in size, but their titles were vastly different. Among the ones she had plucked for him was a history text called 'Formation and Early Conquest: A Comprehensive History of The Sith Empire', as well as the small tomes 'The Universal Foundation' and 'Principles and Ethics of the Dark Side' by Velok of Toola. It made a healthy stack, but perhaps it was a test of how much he could cover and synthesise in one evening.

"Peruse these until I return."

 

[Darth Strosius]

Darth Ophidia

Alisteri felt his eye twitch at his master's comment, but it wasn't untrue. He was not fully without chains of course, but what creature was?

He contemplated her words as she spoke, his eyes narrowing slightly in thought as he reflected upon them. He supposed that she was far from wrong of course. It would be a lie to say his previous enslavement had been without some merit, and even more of a lie to claim that those pirates had only brought ruination. Violence, at least in the terms of this Empire, was still a fairly new concept to him. Killing was new. Beatings and cruelty were par for the course in his old life, but straight up murder or execution was rather rare.

He would get used to it, he decided. Adapt or die, and he wanted to live. He nodded at her words, looking over the pillar once again.

The apprentice glanced back at Ophidia as she moved, following after her without question. He had indeed traded one master for another, in the end. At least this one came with more bountiful and promising perks for his labor. He handled the holobooks with care and curiosity, looking them over whilst thankful for the helmet hiding his confusion. Ur'kittat was a very unfamiliar word, but one that Alisteri had little doubt he would come to learn in time.

The only question was that of with which tome he should begin reading first. They all drew his interest, for one reason or another, so in due time he would read through them all anyway.

Speaking of which...

His gaze shifted back up to his master after a moment of scanning the titles in his arms. "Of course, my master. If I may ask, where are you going?" He wanted to know how much time he had after all. Learning to read fast had been a necessity, but it was a skill that he hadn't used or tested in a decent while. Still, he supposed one way or another he would get through all three of them; regardless of how long he had, he still had to get through them in the end.

He decided on the history text first, it seemed one of the most prudent to be familiar with considering his desire to serve the Sith Empire.

An idle thought about the Sith Empire's education system and what it taught to its students crossed his mind, but he dismissed it as quickly as it had come. He had more important matters to focus on.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Darth Strosius

"You may not."

Though her voice was calm, flat even, her eyes were sharp as she replied.

Two things were implied: Firstly, she did not need to explain herself to her apprentice. Secondly: Some things were better if he did not know. She had said she would not lie to him, so this candor would have to be expected.

Ophidia would lie to the Jedi without a second thought, and she lived to deceive any foe that faced her and their order, but to her apprentices she preferred honesty and candor. If there was something she did not desire to share with them, then she would withhold that information. If they could not handle that kind of treatment, then they lacked what she needed in an apprentice.

And sometimes, it made them bitter. Bitterness was good. It inspired spite, which drove people to learn.

Despite her sharpness, she added in a more pleasant tone

"It will be worth your while. Trust me."

She walked away among the stacks and, in the literal blink of an eye, had vanished.

With a moment of solitude, Alisteri would find that there were more students about. There were even some droids, fetching slates and bringing them into side chambers. Some were almost crowded, some had a single occupants, and a few were vacant. The students weren't many in any sense, but more numerous than one initially would have noticed.

 

[Darth Strosius]

Darth Ophidia

Alisteri bowed his head slightly, as if in apology for asking a question. He was slightly disappointed by the lack of an answer, but he did his best not to let it show. He supposed he had some reading to occupy his mind with rather than thinking about what his master was going off to do.

He knew better than to question some people, especially if those people had any sort of power over you.

The apprentice merely nodded in reply, glancing up from the holobooks to find himself alone. Well, not completely alone. his gaze shifted around as the are was suddenly filled with the sounds of various movements and people. A moment ago, he could've sworn that there wasn't anyone else. Anyone else nearby at least, yet here they were.

To say that Alisteri was startled and confused would've been an understatement.

Had they just arrived a moment ago? Surely not, he assumed he would've heard a large group of people and droids enter this place. Perhaps he was to blame? He had been fairly distracted recently, given the influx of information alongside those accursed moving floors. Then again; he doubted that he would've been that distracted as not to notice such things.

Maybe he was starting to go deaf and blind already, some sort of radiation could have affected his senses maybe?

It took him a moment to shake off his confusion, pushing his questions and curiosity aside for the time being. He had better things to worry about other than his apparent lack of senses; like where he would find a place to read that wasn't in the middle of a corridor.

He sighed, turned on his heel towards the seemingly main hall, and began his search for a seat.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Darth Strosius

Finding a seat was easy, there were many. He could find a seat with a simple chair, table and light, and he could find a small stall with a semicircular sofa around an octagonal table. Both the desk and the table had little carvings cut into them, notes from students past acknowledging their existence. Now and then, a sleepy student stumbled off into another antechamber and closed a door behind them, presumably catching a few hours of respite.

It was strange how time passed one by when the outside world was shut away: Each minute went by like syrup, yet the hours vanished as quickly as a hot breath on a cold day.

The other students appeared disinterested in Alisteri.

They weren't avoiding him specifically, but rather avoided anyone not already affiliated with them. Their attitudes smelled of paranoia and faux protectiveness of their very important errands.

The droids that were present appeared to be very small and very quiet, so as to not disturb anyone engaged in serious research. The Sith were fickle creatures capable of much fury, it made sense not to irritate them needlessly.

The historical tome was dry, but rife with useful information concerning the Sith Empire's economic, legal, and ideological makeup.

It revealed that the Sith Emperor in fact held two separate titles: One being Dark Lord of the Sith and the other being Emperor of the Sith Empire. Hypothetically, in the event of succession, it was possible that the titles would be passed on to two different persons; at the time of the book's publishing, Darth Vornskr the Second, was the heir apparent of the Sith Empire. Her title as designated heir is the Princess of Dromund Kaas. It was also revealed that the Sith Empire had a dual capital: Ravelin on Bastion, and New Kaas City on Dromund Kaas.

The tome also spent a lot of time tying the Sith Empire up to its predecessors, drawing lines of master-apprentice relationships to the Sith Empire of Darth Moridin, Darth Voracitos, and Ashin Varanin. It also tied the Sith Empire to the One Sith as it existed in the Core, which connected them to Darth Krayt's original One Sith, while leaving a parallel line to Palpatine's Empire, which connected them all the way back to Darth Bane.

From there, the tome delved into Darth Carnifex' Rule of Order as a Sith doctrine. It was a reaction to the weaknesses of the Rule of Two and Rule of One, substituting the individual Dark Lord with the concept of the Order as embodied by the Dark Lord of the Sith. The differences were dry, obtuse, and difficult to understand.

The other two tomes provided a more practical approach to harnessing the dark side of the Force, being rife with examples and insightful commentary on applications of the Force from the perspective of a Sith.

Perhaps a full day later, Darth Ophidia returned. One moment she was gone, the next she was there, clearing her throat to gain her apprentice's attention.

"Come with me. Bring that."

She spoke as she gestured to the crystal he had earned.

 

[Darth Strosius]

Darth Ophidia

After glancing around at his options for a minute, as well as steering clear of a couple other students, Alisteri settled into one of the small stalls. A small sigh of relief left him as he sat on the sofa and placed the holobooks on the table. He could hardly remember the last time he had sat on something that wasn't the cold ground of a ship or planet.

With his body settled in his seat and his helmet off to make reading easier; the apprentice opened the historical tome of the Sith Empire and began reading.

He was just as disinterested in the other students as they seemed to be of him, thankfully. He did come to appreciate the atmosphere of the library as he delved into the holobook before him.

Nice and quiet but with just enough motion to remind you that you're alive, and everyone in there minded their own business and didn't talk too loud. If only he had some sort of refreshments, Alisteri wouldn't mind staying here for a whole week. Maybe a week and a half, there were a lot of things to read here after all.

Although the historical tome was...well a bit lacking in terms of keeping one interested while reading, the raw information that it provided kept the young man hanging on every word. His knowledge of history at all was fairly lacking, physical labor didn't call for such an education after all, so there were some events and times in the holobook that he had no idea about or what they meant. Such lack of information only served to frustrate him and compel him to read more, as if he would fine the answers that he sought in it.

He found some answers, but also found more questions. Particularly when he came across the section diving into the Emperor's Rule of Order. The apprentice spent more time on that section than he cared to admit, but in the end he came away from it with what he deemed to be a sufficient understanding of it.

Thankfully, the other two holobooks captured his attention far easier. He spent a good bit of time delving into them as well, eager for more knowledge of the Force. The commentary also intrigued him, as his past knowledge of the Force and in turn its users had never come from said users.

When Darth Ophidia cleared her throat, the young man nearly dropped his current reading material in surprise. He looked at his master in surprise, and with a slight wince. His eyes felt almost sore, how long had he been reading? It didn't seem like all that long surely...

His gaze followed her finger to the crystal, resting next to his helmet on the table. He liked to keep it close, even if it wasn't all that useful to him outside of the lightsabre and the compass. Without hesitation he grabbed it, clipping his helmet onto his belt with his other hand as he stood up with a small stretch. Everything felt a bit sore, like it hadn't been used all day. Strange, he had quite the workout earlier after all.

He gestured to the three tomes on the table. "Shall I bring them master? Or should I put them back?" He wasn't too bothered either way, he had basically finished all three of them for the most part anyway.