In Search of Knowledge (PM for Invite)

[Fane Magnus]

Location: Eadu
Outer Rim Territories



Fane Magnus gritted his teeth as he narrowly manoeuvred his ship between the numerous mountains in his path, his hands gripped white at the controls of his Jast Whisperlite Shuttle as he battled the gales lashing against his ship. The poor ship had already suffered some damage from where Fane’s reflexes had been too slow, or his piloting too clumsy, though fortunately, it didn’t appear to be anything more than superficial. A small relief in an otherwise stressful situation.

He hoped it was all worth it.

It had taken over a year to find anything concrete, chasing rumours and errant whispers from one side of the galaxy to the next, but it seemed he finally had something solid in terms of its location and, more importantly for Fane, a way to land that didn’t have his ship becoming intimately familiar with the side of a mountain.

Fane swore and his ship shook, having been hit a small fragment of rock he had failed to see fall from one of the numerous jagged stone pillars that dotted the landscape, once again, the damage was fortunately minimal. Wiping an errant bead of sweat from his brow, he scanned the surrounding area hoping to pick out his intended target.

“This isn’t working,” he thought to himself knowing it was foolish. He knew that the longer he spent blindly searching through dense clouds, the more likely it would only get him killed, struck by the lightning or falling rocks. Frustration began to well up inside his chest.

“Stop” he shook himself, this was no time to lose focus. Fane closed his eyes, his hands relaxing at the controls. Pushing away the stress and frustration within himself, he began to focus on his own heartbeat.

“Breathe…just breathe,” he told himself, feeling the beating of his heart slow to a calm rhythm.

“Reach out”

He pushed his senses outward, feeling the familiar embrace around him – the Force. He pushed on, beyond his ship. To the whirling storm, howling gale and pounding rain outside, to the rocky faces of the mountains, the splashing rain, the –

“Wait…there!”

Twisting his hands suddenly, Fane’s ship took a nosedive heading down towards a gap in between the jutting rocky landscape. He had felt it. He had found it. Below him stood the outline of a structure – or structures, it was hard to tell. The building melded into the landscape, mirroring the rocky outcropping of the surrounding mountains. Combined with the thick clouds and mist that often blanketed the planet, it was almost impossible to differentiate between the building itself and the surrounding area. But it was there. He could see it now.

Taking his ship lower, Fane managed to land heavily upon a nearby outcrop, its surface is worn smooth by the wind and rain. Quickly covering himself with his brown travelling cloak and pulling up his hood, Fane almost leaps out of the cockpit to gain a better look at his find. Exiting his ship, he was immediately assaulted by the weather, the storm grabbing at his cloak and hood in a determined attempt to tear it from his body. Using his arm to help over his face and preserve his hood, Fane fought his way forward towards the edge of the outcrop, just overlooking the structure he had found.

A temple.

He didn’t know how old it was, and the weather seemed to have stripped any identifying features of architecture away outside of its bare shape. But there was no mistaking the purpose, he had felt it.

Reaching out through the Force again, Fane cast his senses over the temple, muffling the storm in his ears. He probed and searched, standing there for some time, oblivious to the chaotic weather around him.

“Yes,” he thought “…there is something there, but nothing living I hope”.

Before he could make his way down, however, Fane froze. The Force echoed.

A presence, old, strong, powerful, neither light nor dark. Something different something else. Fane turned his eyes away from the temple, the echo had come from a different place, a different part of the planet. Something Fane had never felt before.

“Focus,” he told himself “find what you came for first”. Turning back towards the temple, Fane tensed a little. The presence would have to wait, as he lept down from the outcrop towards the temple below.

 

[Fane Magnus]

The Temple turned out to be much larger than it had initially appeared. It had been built into the mountain itself, allowing for grand sweeping halls and a maze of corridors and other smaller rooms. Some places were easy to identify, including a training hall, meditation chamber, bedrooms and other living quarters. With many other rooms, however, it less easy to establish the purpose, having been stripped bare of any identifying marks or equipment. Whether this was by scavengers or time was difficult to tell, given the temple was in such a poor state of repair.
Stepping over the rubble of a wall that had caved in, Fane let out a quiet sigh to himself. He’d seen more than his share of ruins during his time travelling the galaxy, ships, temples, even entire cities given over to the elements or crushed in a long-concluded conflict. Though these things were often little more than scrap metal or stone husk, it always struck him as a lost opportunity. It was the failure of a galaxy to right itself and preserve what had been built.

Casting his eyes over the end of the last hallway, Fane concluded his exploration and turned back towards the main hall. It was always important to scout the ruin thoroughly before proceeding into its depths, failure to do so could mean running afoul of an ambush of more recent residents or previously dormant security system. Fortunately, the temple retained its abandoned nature, with no such system or lodgers making themselves known. The only sounds that met Fane’s ears were the continual patter of rain and occasional clap of thunder from the storm outside.

The main hall was little more than an open space at this point, dotted with piles of rubble and worn pillars, it was placed at the central part of the temple, with many stone archways serving as entrances to other parts of the complex. It was through one of these archways that Fane sought his objective, one of the last arches, tucked off to the side behind one of the many stone pillars.

Climbing a small set of stone stairs, Fane found himself in a medium-sized room. Though like many other rooms this was bare, he did not need any items to determine its purpose. He could just imagine the many seats positioned around the edge of the room, all facing towards the centre. A council Chamber. It was here that the pull was the strongest.
Stepping into the centre of the room, Fane knelt and traced his hand over the smooth grooves that lay there. Whatever inscription or artwork that had once been there had been worn away, leaving on those shallow marks he felt now. They were almost unnoticeable in the dim light of his torch, but they were the tell-tale sign that he needed.
Reaching out with the force, Fane grasped at the presence he had felt outside the temple. The sound of pouring rain and thunder faded away to slight whispers as he felt down, deeper and deeper into the depths below him. He knelt there for a few minutes, searching and probing until he found what he was looking for. Calling the Force again, Fane willed it to pull and he heard and addable click as the ground began to rumble around him.

Dust was kicked up from the floor as it moved around him, slabs sliding into hidden compartments to reveal a spiralling staircase circling the floor around him, old mechanisms creaking and groaning after an unknown time laying dormant.

Though reluctant to admit it, excitement began to bubble in his chest as he stood. Uncovering secrets to these forgotten places always seemed to make him feel so eager, in spite of the potential danger it could contain.

Descending down the staircase carefully, Fane paused for a moment when he heard a particularly worrying creak but continued on when no more sounds were heard. The staircase was shorter than he had expected, and after only a minute he arrived at its end in a lower chamber.

It was smaller than the chamber above, maybe only able to fit three or four in at a single time, and it was mostly bare like the rest of the temple, save for a single altar in its centre. Fane, however, paid little attention to the altar itself, being far more preoccupied with what rested on top of it.

On top of the altar lay an object with a black outline and a deep blood-red core. It was shaped like a pyramid and emitted a fair red glow, not unlike the colour of its centre.
A Sith Holocron.

Fane stepped forward. This was what had been hidden here? Why? Had an order of Sith hidden it away? Or had it been an order of Jedi? Fane frowned, he knew there were some sources of Sith knowledge even Jedi didn’t destroy, but it was rare. In all likelihood, this was a Sith temple, perhaps a small offshoot order from millennia past, and the Holocron was their knowledge.
Slowly, Fane lifted his arm and reached out with his hand, extending his fingers. The Holocron lifted from its resting place, before slowly floating over into his outstretched hand. Sighing quietly, Fane placed the Holocron in one of is deeper pockets before turning and exiting the chamber, allowing it to be sealed again.

Returning to the main hall, Fane watched as it was briefly illumined by the lightning, casting his shadow against the walls of the temple. He could feel it again, that calling presence through the Force, and it wasn’t the Holocron. As he suspected, something else rested on this planet. Donning his hood once more, Fane exited the temple, the rain outside still pouring as hard as it did when he had arrived. Using the Force, Fane propelled himself onto the platform that held his ship, turning his eyes in the direction he felt the call had come from.

He had no idea what else lived on this world, but he hoped it held answers.

 

[Fane Magnus]

Tracing the source of the call took him further than he expected. By the time he had reached what he had assumed to be the source, he had travelled almost to the other side of the planet. It had taken some careful manoeuvring between the rocky outcrops and seemingly ever-present storm with his ship for him to reach his destination.

If he had known that it would have taken him so far, he would have breached the atmosphere and re-entered from space. It would have been gentler on his ship.

Fane allowed his ship to descend shakily into an open clearing, encircled by rocky pillars forming a natural defence from both the constant wind and any hostile elements upon the ground.

Glancing out through the cockpit, Fane couldn’t see anything through the rain. There was no light to indicate a home, or person through the heavy rain. Simply piles of rocks indistinguishable from those found of the rest of the planet.

But he knew whatever had called him was here. He could feel it.

Exiting his ship, his face obscured by his hood, Fane approached the centre of the clearing. His eyes swept across the area, still unable to locate the source of the call. Finding no other alternative, he called out.

“Hello?” He called, unsure if his voice carried beyond the presence of the storm.

Whatever response fane had been expecting, it wasn’t what answered. There was a sudden rumbling under his feet, one which caused the stones around him to shake and let loose smaller fragments from their bodies, the ground shook with increasing intensity until, all at once, a wave of the force itself swept over the clearing, forcing Fane to shield his face with his arm and sweeping away the rain and even the wind itself and leaving only silence in its place.

Looking out over his sleeve, Fane could see the clearing had become quiet, eerily so, but that the storm still raged beyond the stone pillars that lined the clearing. A silent island in the middle of a storm. Fane braced as the rumbling began again, but this time he could see the rocks in front of his physically poodoo and move, dislodging themselves from their place as a giant rocky monolith with two eyes, a flat nose, and a long beard emerged, rising up from the outcrop.

The creature was massive, towering over Fane and being almost as tall at the rocky outcrops themselves. It moved slowly, deliberately, fully knowing that its size dominated the clearing in which it resided. The rocks on its back and arms perfectly matched the rocks of the planet, offering itself easy camouflage among the land that was dominated by such rocks.

“Hello,” the creature said its great voice booming while also somehow seeming gentle “I see you’ve answered my call at last wielder of the Ashla.”

Fane was unsure how to reply, the towering rock-like creature was clearly Force-sensitive, but he had only ever read of such beings in books and old datapads. He had never actually met any himself. Reminding himself that he had been spoken to, Fane answered:

“You called me?” he said, questioningly

“I did” the creature replied, “you are not the first of your kind to visit this world, and it always interests me when they do.”

“I see” Fane replied, “but, who are you?”

“Me?” the creature seemed almost amused “I am the one in the middle, the Bendu. What do you call yourself?”

“Fane Magnus, a Jedi Knight”

“Well, Fane Magnus Jedi Knight, what brings you to this place?”

Fane hesitated for a moment, feeling the Sith Holocron in his robe. The use of the term Ashla meant light, so it made sense that “the one in the middle” meant the Bendu was what many called a Grey Force user. Not hostile by any means, but not always friendly either. Deciding to trust the Bendu, he reached into his cloak and pulled out the Holocron, holding it out so that the massive creature could see it.

“Ah” the Bendu replied “I suspected you had found that”

“You knew it was here?” Fane said

“Indeed, I have lived here long enough to know much of this planets secrets.” With that, the Bendu stretched out its massive hand, gently lifting it from Fane’s palm with the Force calling the Holocron into his own hand. “Though if you had expected something exceptional within its teachings, you are sure to be disappointed.”

Fane removed his hood, taking care to meet the creature in the eye.

“I hadn’t decided what I was going to do with it” he admitted, “but it was better to be put somewhere safe than left where someone could use it to do harm.”

“I see” the Bendu replied, tilting its head slightly “and what makes you think it could be used to do harm to others if you do not know what it contains?”
Fane kept his face blank, it was a fair question. “Sith Holocrons aren’t exactly known for holding pleasant uses of knowledge. They focus on personal strength, power, most often at the expense of others.”

“Always?” the Bendu queried

“I don’t know” Fane admitted, “But its often enough they should be treated with caution.”

“Wise enough words I suppose” the Bendu hummed “though perhaps I do wonder if you extend the same level of caution to those artefacts of the Ashla as you do with the Bogan.”
Fane kept quiet, they both knew that he didn’t.

“Power is always a heavy weapon to bare” the Bendu said, leaning closer to Fane, bring its great face down towards him “Many times have those of the Ashla faced the consequences when they felt their power was less worth the caution with which they treated the Bogan. You, at least, seem driven more by practicality than the fear others of your kind have for the Bogan, but we weary, Fane Magnus Jedi Knight, for that path holds as many twists and pitfalls as any other.”

Fane broke his gaze, he knew what the Bendu said was true, but he couldn’t help but feel a little chided. He was broken out of his thoughts when the Bendu began to speak again.

“You did not ask what was in the Holocron.”

Fane looked back up “You said yourself that it contained nothing exceptional, I assume you meant it’s something the Sith always know.”

“Indeed” the wizened creature replied “An ability well known among the Bogan, and some of the Ashlar too. A means to harness the power of storms and throw it at their opponents.”

“You mean lightning” Fane had seen the technique on his travels, mostly at the hands of Sith. It was a cruel technique, one that they used to inflict pain on countless people.

“Ah, you know it,” the Benu said, “but your reaction would indicate it hasn’t been a pleasant experience for you.”

Fane caught himself, it hadn’t realised he was being so open with the Bendu. Or, rather, perhaps he had underestimated exactly what the Bendu could see.

“Does it scare you?” the Bendu asked.

“No,” Fane replied “but I don’t trust it. I’ve seen too many use it to inflict pain on others. To draw out their suffering and cause as much misery as they could for their own enjoyment.”

“And is that the fault of the technique itself, or simply the user?”

“It’s hard to see how hurling lightning at someone would ever be a positive experience”

The Bendu chuckled “Is that right?” The Bendu lifted its head towards the sky, looking at the storm clouds that encircled the clearing.

“Storms are a natural part of life” it began “A process like fire or water. It holds conflict and destruction, yes, but it has its place in this universe as everything else does” The Bendu’s great eyes looked back down towards Fane “it is neither inherently good nor bad, like the Force it simply is. It is the user of such an ability that ultimately decides its purpose. Always the user that decides their path”

Fane looked at the clouds where the Bendu had. He was unsure what to say.

“Sit” the Bendu instructed mentioning to a nearby rock “I shall teach you the technique, only then can you really decide its purpose.”

Fane sighed quietly and started towards the rock. What exactly had he gotten himself into?

 

[Fane Magnus]

A hooded figure stood out among one of my many rocky outcrops that made up the surface of Eadu, watching one of the rare clear days the planet had to offer.

If anyone had told him that he would find a home of a stormy planet in some isolated part of the galaxy like Eadu, Fane would have told them they were probably right. What he had not imagined, however, was the level of introverted hermit that situation implied. He wasn’t sure how long he had spent on the planet itself, his ships calendar had malfunctioned some time back and he yet to find sufficient justification to take the time to fix it. What he did know, however, was that it had been there long enough to grow used to even the most violent storms the planet had to offer, and that was probably a sufficient indicator by itself.

He wasn’t entirely by himself mind, the Bendu had proven to be sufficient company when it decided to reveal itself to him, though when it would decide to do so was decidedly erratic. Sometimes they would speak every day, others the great rock creature would disappear for weeks at a time, leaving Fane to practice its teachings or occupy himself by exploring and repairing the disused temple he had stumbled upon. There were times where the Bendu had actually offered assistance in this, moving a particularly heavy boulder of cleaning away rubble, but this was rare. Parts of the temple still lay in ruin, and he was sure there were other part that still lay undiscovered, but Fane had succeeded in clearing out the main fall and some of the bedrooms – repairing the damage and turning the spaces into some resembling a livable building. He had even called in some old favours from people he had helped to send supplies and materials, turning it into a more long-term base of operations for himself.
Should he ever decide to leave the planet, of course.

His training with the Bendu had similarly progressed, even if he didn’t agree with its methods. Once Fane had progressed to absorbing energy, the Bendu had chosen to shock him with lighting of various intensity, ranging from small static shocks to great and more visible quick bolts in an attempts to help Fane master the ability in a more “organic” setting. More than once Fane had been unable to act accordingly, and received a shock as a result. Much to the Bendu’s amusement.

The holocron Fane had found had remained unused, left in the Bendu’s possession. Though Fane had considered destroying the artefact, he had found himself too pressed by the Bendu’s lessons or teaching to broach the conversation – something he was sure was intentional. Though thinking back to the creatures talks on balance, Fane was sure that this was the way the Bendu justified Fanes own presence here – keeping something dark in response to the light. As it was, the Bendu seemed to currently in the midst of one of its disappearing acts, having not made an appearance in over a week.

Fane sighed quietly, turning back towards the temple. While he would most certainly return to the planet, it may to time to re-establish contact and see what was going on in the wider galaxy.