Irridonia Jaina and the Tombs of Tash Taral (Order of Fire)

[Tempest]

[member="Karrigan'Xalda"] [member="Maiev"] [member="Shamira Karuto"] [member="Nima Tann"]

Tempest nodded encouragingly to Maiev. It was a chant not unlike the one her people had once used when she was little. Shamanist cultures always had a better connection to nature than those in the modern galaxy. Occasionally Tempest missed it, but not everything else.

Her group for this expedition was a fairly balanced mix. She and Nima were obviously the most experienced. Therefore, she immediately put together some teams in her head.

“Nima, take Xalda under your wing please. Her skills should complement yours well.” It would also place the a less experienced member with the other Master.
“I’ll take Shamira with me, naturally. Maiev, I’ll be relying on you to use your skills to give us information about where we’re going. Tash Taral is harsh and the animals are not exactly friendly, so being able to locate – or placate – them is an advantage.”

That handled, she smiled to the team. “Right, I’ll go get dinner prepared. Maiev, can we have a quick word in the galley? Nima, in that sachel by the console are some briefing materials and intel reports. Lay them out for me. Shamira and Xalda, can you help her please?”
She wondered briefly if Xalda was literate in Basic. She’d soon find out as she headed for the kitchen.

 

[Karrigan'Xalda]

[member="Tempest"], [member="Shamira Karuto"], [member="Maiev"], [member="Nima Tann"]


Xalda raised her head slightly when she heard her name was mentioned. Then her eyes found those of the purple skinned Mistress. Her eyes drifted once again to the priestess/shaman/mystic. Once again, she had the feeling there was more to her than met the eye, but she did not process this further.


Assignments had been handed out, she'd been teamed up with the purple alien. Wait, what? Paper ork? Obediently, the Xioquo got up from her chair and approached the console. Opening the sachel, she began to lay out the reports the dark skinned Mistress had mentioned. None of what was written on them made any sense to her. It might as well have been written in some kind of esoteric script.


Which was exactly what it looked like to Xalda. She tensed, trying to decide whether being honest would reduce her status or not. Picking up some of the stuff, she passed it over to Nima. "This one cannot read this," she admitted. Literacy was not considered important for slaves in Xioquo society.

 

[Maiev]

She listened as Tempest organized their small group into pairs. Maiev nodded slightly at the woman's suggestion, a more supportive role over combative. While she was certainly a sight when in a fight, her skills were focused on aiding others, bolstering them or providing further help in the form of nature and beast.

Maiev made a mental note to meditate before their arrival. If there was going to be a need for beast taming, then she'd need to clear her mind as much as possible beforehand.

"Understood, I should be able to get a lay of the land once we're there."

<Well you won't be alone at least, you're technically paired with me.>

Yeah, for twenty-nine years and counting.

<Aww, don't be like that. We've always had fun haven't we?> Maiev stopped herself from physically rolling her eyes, but Kalax-Ra was correct, had been since the day she had been born. If she hadn't been there, she would've likely have died in the Dathomir Wilds.

She looked at Tempest with a curious look when the woman asked to speak with her. Maiev gave her a nod and followed the woman off the bridge and towards the ship's gallery. As they stepped in, the witch had a look around briefly; a continuation of her fascination about the ship. Her gaze returned back to Tempest.

"What did you want to speak about?"

<My credits are on it's either about Elpsis or myself.>

[member="Tempest"] | [member="Karrigan'Xalda"] | [member="Nima Tann"] | [member="Shamira Karuto"]​

 

[Nima Tann]

Nima nodded to Tempest's words as she assigned them into groups, then turned her gaze to the Xioquo, who she finally learned the name of. She was naive, probably from the lack of experience in the outside world, but of course, she hasn't seen her in a battle yet. When it came to social interactions, Nima wasn't the best herself.

Before their adventure would start though, first they needed to go through some paperwork. Unbuckling herself, she got up from her seat as well and moved towards the console. She took some reports and before putting them away, she skimmed them through. They contained information about the planet itself, the air conditions, possible lifeforms, some important locations etc. Of course, the reports were from the researcher's perspective so there could be more than what was written in the them.

She was about to put the reports down when suddenly, more reports! "Uhmm... okay, let's see what they are about!" She said to Xalda with a nod, learning one more thing about her. She quickly went through the information written in them. Some of the files contained more information about the planet, and the tomb itself. She explained them to the Xioquo as she read. Some of the files though, were much more interesting."It seems like these are the chat logs between Firemane and the research group." She continued to read. "From what I understand, we are not dealing with a possession case. The group seem quite sane with their responses until the last minute. And the connection gets cut suddenly when they were in the middle of their last report. This means they were caught by surprise." Then she took a datapad. Activating it, data from the probes that were sent to investigate this sudden disappearance were displayed.

They didn't contain any information that would help them though. It only raised more questions.

She realized that the datapad also contained a little video recording from the last report of the research group.

"...we've secured a route to the tomb... we will start the retrieval process as soon as..." Then suddenly, a sharp voice was heard and the video turned static. "It proves my last point, I guess." She said, looking at the Xioquo. "If only it was a bit more clear."

[member="Karrigan'Xalda"] [member="Shamira Karuto"] [member="Maiev"] [member="Tempest"]

 

[Shamira Karuto]

There wasn’t much Shamira could do to hide her smile to moment she was mentioned to be Tempest’s partner for the mission. Obviously, this was to be expected due to their mistress and padawan relationship. But the Togruta genuinely loved working with her mistress. In a few months, she had already learned so much from the woman, and every moment she could be around her was moments she was learning.

When their groups to doll out some duties, shamira left her post from leaning on the back of the cockpit and approached the front where her species cousin was sitting, and the dark skinned elf was starting to head over. Her grimace was also hard to hide when Xioquo mentioned that she couldn’t read. It hurt her, as she quite the heart for the less fortunate. Not to say she viewed the elf as less fortunate, but illiteracy was quite a hindrance.
“Well at least we know were not dealing with too many angry spirts trying to kill us, or make us kill each other.” The Togruta attempted to interject a bit of humor into the extremely dark situation. From what she had seen, most everyone was feeling pretty dark about the whole experience. If she could lighten the mood whatsoever, even at her own expense, she would take it. A team less stressed was one that could respond to emergencies quickly.

[member="Nima Tann"] [member="Maiev"] [member="Karrigan'Xalda"] [member="Tempest"]

 

[Karrigan'Xalda]

[member="Maiev"], [member="Nima Tann"], [member="Shamira Karuto"], [member="Tempest"]


Xalda was positively surprised when Nima did not mock or chastiste her. This probably said a lot about her past superiors. Suffice to say her former mistress had not been kind. There was a reason Xalda was illiterate - and constantly referred to herself in the third person. Indoctrination was very hard to shake off. Especially when to go against had led to beatings. Her brand had yet to be removed.


"They must have been attacked by beasts," she suggested. "Or perhaps someone else sought the secrets of the tomb." It sounded all very familiar to the Xioquo. Dark tombs, monsters, struggle over mysteries and secrets. She caught the grimace from Shamira. The alien's efforts to lighten the mood were rewarded with a thin sort of smile.


"Yes, that is an upside. This one encountered those driven mad by evil spirits once. It was not pleasant." Her attention was soon drawn to the computer screen when the datapad played a video recording, using the wonders of technology she was only starting to understand. All appeared normal on the surface...but her keen eyes, adjusted to the darkness, picked out a detail others might have missed.


"There, there's a shape there. Hidden in the darkness. It's humanoid-shaped," she pointed at the screen of the talking machine. The features of the figure could not be made out, for they were obscured by a shadow and a hood that covered their face.

 

[Tempest]

[member="Karrigan'Xalda"] [member="Maiev"] [member="Shamira Karuto"] [member="Nima Tann"]

Unfortunately the spirit’s metaphorical credits would be lost, as Tempest did not know about the hidden spirit, and wanted to get work out of the way first before discussing Elpsis.

“Your expertise in the field of Alchemy and other Sith items are going to be something I’m going to rely on, Maiev,” she said softly. “The tombs are likely to be guarded by Sith magic or alchemy. We’re going to need to know how to counteract it.”

If this seemed like a strange thing to mention in private, Tempest got the food out and busied herself nonchalantly for a moment.
“So…how’s Elpsis?” she asked in an deliberately innocent and offhanded tone. “I’ve not seen her for a while, been hard to organise it. Is she…well?” she asked awkwardly.

In the main area of the room, one of Captain Porter’s crew had been adjusting the holodisplay, and Xalda was able to discern a shape there.

Further scans, as Nima had said, showed that suddenly the signals from the camp had been lost.

 

[Nima Tann]

Nima was too focused on the information to hear Shamira's joke, but giggles and laughs from some of the crew in the main room could be heard. If Nima heard the joke though she would say it would be easier if there were angry spirits trying to possess them, and then probably laugh with the crowd afterwards because it would be rude not to.

"Wait... that's it!" Nima said excitedly, then turned to Xalda. "Good find, Xalda!" And then she called the one who was adjusting the holodisplay. "I want to find the identity of the hooded figure. Make the image more clear, find what the hood is made of and where it comes from... anything that would tell us something about the figure. You have until Tempest returns with the food to find me some valuable information." She said with a nod. One would figure out that Nima on the job was not the same with her usual self. It was a very useful mask to have.

The video was not clear, that was for sure. The image quality was blurry, and the sound quality was less than optimal. Only one with very sharp ears would understand what was said in the video clearly.

Wait...

"Xalda, I am going to play the video once more. I want you to listen, and tell me if you hear anything unusual." And then she played the video again, giving the datapad to the Xioquo. Once the sharp voice was heard and the video turned static, Nima activated her lightsaber.

"Did you hear anything like this?"

[member="Karrigan'Xalda"] [member="Tempest"] [member="Shamira Karuto"] [member="Maiev"]

 

[Maiev]

Maiev took up a spot by one of the walls, leaning against it as she watched Tempest move about and prepare the food.

"I can do that," she began with a nod. "But such matters do take time to unravel, though that ultimately depends on how complex the constructs are. Sith Alchemy tends to make a mess of natural law."

<It would also help if we knew as much about the tombs as possible, we could prepare ahead of time in that case.>

"I'll have to read up on any information you have on the tombs. Even the smallest details go the long way, but knowing just who was buried there would be a great help too." She agreed with Kalax-Ra's words, and relayed them as such.

Though in the wake of that, Maiev raised an eyebrow, noting the awkwardness as she watched the woman move about.

<Ooooh, family tension maybe?> Maiev rolled her eyes slightly, deciding to ignore the spirit.

"Yeah, Elpsis was doing fine. Was in good health when we parted." Though that was relatively speaking, given the pair had certainly got their fair share of bumps and scrapes while on Felucia. But ultimately the empath was fine by the time they went their seperate ways.

[member="Tempest"] | [member="Karrigan'Xalda"] | [member="Nima Tann"] | [member="Shamira Karuto"]​

 

[Karrigan'Xalda]

[member="Nima Tann"], [member="Shamira Karuto"], [member="Maiev"], [member="Tempest"]


The technicians did their best to improve the quality of the image. It was blurry and the sound quality was less than optimal. As a matter of fact, it was appalling. You had to have very sharp ears to hear clearly. Coincidentally, Xalda was an elf. Those pointed ears actually served a useful purpose beyond being the object of certain sexual fetishes for some people. Their utility was a trait shared across all Eldorai sub-races.


When the video played, she heard the sharp hiss of a laser sword. It matched the sound Nima's lightsabre made when it was ignited. However, there was one key detail that was unexpected. "Yes, this one heard it. It sounds like the noise your...glowing sword makes," she said eagerly, but frowned, looking a bit pensive. "But it's coming from another direction on the...machine image, not from the hooded figure," she pointed at the datapad. "Another one is hidden. There must have been two attackers," she concluded.

 

[Tempest]

[member="Karrigan'Xalda"] [member="Maiev"] [member="Shamira Karuto"] [member="Nima Tann"]

“Thank you, Maiev. I’ve been trying to get back to seeing her again but…things have been busy.” And awkward. “I’m going to try and get in touch with her when we get back. If you wanted to come along then I’m sure she’d not mind.”

“As for who, I had some ideas about that…come back through with me.”

The came out carrying the food and set it down. However, it seemed like the team was already making progress. She smiled encouragingly at Xalda.
“Two shadowy attackers, one with a lightsabre. Certainly not Jedi. My bet is on Sith either protecting or seeking the tomb for their own ends. That’s logical since it’s a Sith tomb. That’s just doubly complicated matters.”

Going to another bag she produced a data card and handed it to Maiev. “The tomb owner is unknown, but there were numerous inscriptions on the tomb and surrounds which Wisdom never got a chance to translate. I’m not sure if anyone here can speak ancient Sith, but that might give us a clue.”

The food doled out was not exactly appetising in look, but was somewhat tasty in a processed way.

 

[Nima Tann]

As they were investigating the video once again, [member="Tempest"] and [member="Maiev"] returned with the food.

With a nod to Xalda for her help, she turned to Tempest. "That's the most possible case." She answered, then a sigh escaped her lips. Since nobody brought any information about who those attackers might be, they were going in half blind. They didn't even know if there was a third attacker. Still, some was better than none.

When Tempest asked them if they knew how to speak ancient Sith, Nima stood silent, as she had no clue.

Meanwhile, everyone started to come together for the food. The food didn't look as appetising, but would be enough for a while.

[member="Karrigan'Xalda"] [member="Shamira Karuto"]

 

[Shamira Karuto]

[member="Nima Tann"] [member="Tempest"] [member="Karrigan'Xalda"] [member="Maiev"]


Shamira could tell her joking mood wasn’t the best received. It was probably to be expected at this point, and honestly she felt a little bad for it. Shaking it off, she approached closer the holorecording as the trio continued to listen to it.
She decided to keep quiet for now, and let the other two teammates do the talking. Doing so allowed her entire attention on the recording. This, in turn, helped confirm to her that both Nima and Karrigan’s thoughts were right. There were two attackers, and one, a sith. “I agree. From what I can hear, there’s little doubt in my mind that we have multiple attackers on our hands.” It had been a while since she had fought her first sith back on bespin. The thought of getting to face another duelist, this time with her skills a bit more honed, sent excited chills down her spine.
This was confirmed by Tempest walking in, nodding and agreeing with the trio’s sentiments. When she produced a stone tablet, Shamira, like Nima, kept quiet. She knew little of sith artifacts, and mentally made another note to research at least the basics when she got back to the Ashira’s Dawn. Sitting at the corner of the table, she pulled a bowl of what her mistress had cobbled together, but waited to eat until everyone else had their turn to grab their own rations.

 

[Maiev]

"I'll take you up on that offer, I'm sure it'll be fine." Maiev said, a small smile on her face as she continued helping Tempest with the food.

<And perchance to see the awkwardness unfold before our eyes? Oh, I can't wait.> She wasn't entirely sure whether the spirit was being sarcastic there or not.

After about another minute, the pair were walking back out the gallery carrying the food. They laid it out around the table as the others got themselves settled for the meal. While the food wasn't exactly the fanciest, Maiev wasn't going to complain. Sustenance was sustenance, no matter the taste. Albeit the witch had yet to eat any of it so maybe that would be incorrect.

As they finished placing down the various plates, Maiev took the offered datacard and immediately pulled out a datapad. It took a moment for the device to boot, and subsequently insert the card. But when it did, her screen was full of snapshots of various bits of inscription that were presumably from the Sith tombs.

"I can have a crack at translating it." Maiev was very much of the mindset that to fight an enemy, you need to spend time understanding it too.

"Kalax? Can you help me translate this?"

<Hmm, let me have a look.>

Maiev silently took her seat as her eyes remained glued to the datapad. Slowly, she began to mumble slightly, mentally translating the words before speaking them outloud along with Kalax-Ra's assistance here and there. Ultimately it was nothing more than grand pronouncements and proclamations of the Sith. There were a couple pauses as Maiev reached several points where bits of the text had been desecrated.

"Unfortunately, it doesn't tell us much. Other than the fact that whoever resides in this tomb, either wanted to remain nameless or someone hated them enough to erase their name from these texts."

[member="Tempest"] | [member="Karrigan'Xalda"] | [member="Nima Tann"] | [member="Shamira Karuto"]​

 

[Karrigan'Xalda]

[member="Nima Tann"], [member="Shamira Karuto"], [member="Tempest"], [member="Maiev"]


There were various ways to react to the prospect of battle. Especially when the opposition in question would probably turn out to be at least two dark wizards. Who may or may not have minions at their disposal. Moreover, an accursed tomb world would have plenty of other hazards.


However, Xalda's reaction was clear. "This one is feeling a bit excited," she blurted out. "This one would relish the chance to gut a Sith and lay their head at the Karishzar's feet. Perhaps take their glowing sword as a trophy. May She guide us to victory. We shall gain honour by smiting our foes."


The smell and the sight of food caught her attention. By the standards she was used to, it was appetising. Besides, sustenance was sustenance. Grabbing herself a bowl, she sat down and began to dig in, manifesting the appetite of someone who must have been deprived for long - and was not used to decorum. She did not seem to understand the purpose of these strange devices humans called spoons, forks and so on. After all, the spirits had given her fingers for a reason.

 

[Tempest]

[member="Karrigan'Xalda"] [member="Maiev"] [member="Shamira Karuto"] [member="Nima Tann"]

Tempest raised an eyebrow at Xalda’s words. “I think the Karishzar would prefer other things at her feet,” she commented dryly. It was amusing to see the Xioquo eat slop like it was the finest dining. The Underealm must have really been hard if this seemed appetising!

“Thank you, Maiev. It confirms what we got back from Wisdom. So let’s look at what we know. A previously unknown and unopened Sith tomb was discovered. The team is attacked just before they would open it seemingly by other Sith. Coincidence? I suspect the camp had an insider who gave away information or one of the locals is in league with the Sith.”

“Bottom line, but the time we get there the tomb might well be already plundered. If not we’ll continue the research and protect any new teams sent out. If it is we’ll try to find out who it was who attacked our team and get justice for that if we can.”

“Any final questions or comments? There’s a lot of unknowns here so we’ll have to all be on our guard. If you see something strange tell someone.”

She prodded her own bowl. She knew she should eat it, but perhaps a blindfold was the best accompaniment.

 

[Nima Tann]

Innuendos! Ughh... With an awkward smile, she continued to eat her food.

Also, they couldn't get any information from the datacard, but it wasn't as surprising at this point.

Listening to Tempest summarising what they knew so far, she joined the talk. "They might be gone already, because Wisdom said in her last holorecording that they already cleared a path towards the tomb. Or, some might be still alive and stalling our attackers. Hopefully the latter."

The idea of someone being a traitor... brought some memories back. But it was a possibility they couldn't ignore.

"We don't know who we are facing, but if they managed to get past the guards, it means they are strong. We should be careful, no need for actions that can put the group in unnecessary danger."

As they continued planning what to do, they were getting closer to the planet. In fact, they were only a few minutes away from their destination, so these would be their last words before landing.

[member="Karrigan'Xalda"] [member="Maiev"] [member="Tempest"] [member="Shamira Karuto"]

 

[Shamira Karuto]

[member="Tempest"] | [member="Nima Tann"] | [member="Karrigan'Xalda"] | [member="Maiev"]


She attempted to not stare, but the grey elf eating her food without utensils did make the Togruta feel slightly uneasy. She wasn’t trying to be rude, it was just unusual for her to see such primitive behavior within firemane. The initiate couldn’t help but wonder how long the girl had been within the Order. It couldn’t have been long if she still ate like that.
Shaking off those thoughts, her focus returned to her own food, which she began to eat heartily. She seemed to be the only one of her group that didn’t mind eating the murky looking food. That much was obvious from how they picked at it. Shamira just shrugged and went about eating the odd tasting meal.
Allowing Nima to finish her thought, and to swallow another mouthful of the food, the initate spoke up, patting her belt for effect. “Make sure to bring your gas filtration masks. Tombs like this back on Shili sometimes held some nasty poisonous gases that can really hurt your lungs.” Content with her warning, Shamira leaned back in her padded seat, pulling up her knees to rest her chin on while she listened to everyone else speaking.
While they were almost there to the planet, Shamira did have a few more things she would like to get done, namely get to know the curious alien beside her, who seemed to have finished shoveling the food with her fingers into her mouth.

 

[Maiev]

Maiev let out a short chuckle at Tempest's comment to Xalda, and her eyes fell on the Xioquo. She watched as the woman dug into her food with her bare hands. That simple action told a lot more than it showed. Of someone who was not use to society, Xalda's apparent appreciation on the food; looking at it was though it were a five star meal, indicating the woman rarely ate anything more substantial than that.

As the witch consumed another spoonful, she mutely disagreed. To her it wasn't the most tastiest thing to eat, but made no outward reaction to it.

"Caution is the obvious key, we'll be heading into an unknown place with an unknown foe going against it. Given that they waited for the team to get close to opening it, would indicate that they couldn't do it themselves. That potentially rules out the chance they're associated with whoever is buried in the tomb." She paused, eating some more before resuming. "Could mean that they too lack the knowledge of how to proceed deeper. If we're lucky, the tomb's defences managed to get some of them too."

She continued to listen to what everyone else had to say. Nodding towards Shamira and her suggestion. Poisonous gas, or something to that extent was a common sight in Sith tombs. Usually laid out as a trap, or a trigger should some unaware adventurer trip something they shouldn't have. Preparing ahead of time, with a filtration mask on hand was a very smart move.

Finally finishing her bowl, Maiev pushed the object away slightly and leaned back against the chair. Maiev thought to meditate, but time had passed by quite quickly since.

"How long until we're due to arrive at Tash Taral?"

[member="Tempest"] | [member="Karrigan'Xalda"] | [member="Nima Tann"] | [member="Shamira Karuto"]​

 

[Karrigan'Xalda]

[member="Maiev"], [member="Tempest"], [member="Shamira Karuto"], [member="Nima Tann"]


Xalda was more than a little naive...but not completely. "The Karishzar likes it when this one uses her mouth on her feet. She makes lovely noises," she responded to Tempest in a strangely innocent tone. "But by taking the skulls of her fallen foes, she would gain their strength," she added in a tone that made this seem blatantly obvious, in between digging into her food with the enthusiasm of someone who'd clearly been deprived a good deal. It did not escape her attention that one of the aliens with the strange headttails, the one who had introduced herself as Shamira, was staring at her.


Xalda wondered if there was something in her face. It did not ocur to her that not using the strange, frankly unnecessary utensils might be considered a breach of decorum. She licked her fingers, then wiped them clean with a tissue. She nodded curtly when the two aliens and the Priestess spoke about the need to be vigilant. "This one heeds your words. We shall face worthy challenges. This one looks forward to it," she felt more than a little nervous, but for now excitement won over. At the Priestess' query she looked puzzled, for she had no clue how long the void ship needed to travel.


And so at this stage we shall use the time and tested plot device commonly called the time skip, since this thread already has two pages. Flash forward, and the ship would drop out of hyperspace and slip into orbit and then things would start going...wrong.