Private Lost Souls

[Jairdain]

Jairdain had contacted both of her daughters to reunite her family. One of them had responded, and they were working on repairing their relationship. Her other daughter, however, had not replied and was missing. At least, Jairdain was unable to find any trace of her.

She sent out a few messages, posted a missing person report, and started hearing from people. Most, if not all, had been false leads, but her hope was still high. She got another message stating she would need to leave her home to get the information. She understood some people were reluctant to give out personal information in a message, so she agreed to meet the sender.

Being too trusting, she didn't inquire about the sender and arrived at the requested location.

Onrai

 

[Onrai]

Jairdain

A familiar face greeted her on the out-of-the-way world of Garn, outside the ancient ruins of an old temple. It was Vanessa Vantai, who hadn't seemingly aged a day since the last time they had met. Fingers popped as she eyed over the Jedi Master, not particularly surprised to have seen her once more, a smile coming to her face. "It's been a long time, Jair. We haven't seen each other since Commenor fell." She said. "How have you been?" She asked.

It would be somewhat difficult to divine exactly what it was that had happened to Jair's other daughter. Perhaps she could yet prove useful.

 

[Jairdain]

There wasn't much that could potentially scare Jairdain, and this woman was one of those things. However, they were already together, and she wasn't going to run with her tail tucked between her legs. No, she would stand her ground and face Vanessa. If she noticed, Jairdain hadn't changed much since they last saw one another.

"Life has been a series of ups and downs. I got married, had children...he died, and I'm a widow that's remarried."

Not entirely believing she had answered the question, she sat near the other woman.

"How about about, Vanessa?"

Onrai

 

[Onrai]

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry to hear that. Good you remarried." She wasn't particularly sad that Krest was gone, given that he had barged his way into her laboratory on Malachor V many moons ago to recover Jair the last time she had been kidnapped, but still, the loss of a loved one was unfortunate. "I'm alright. Dabbled in arcane things, kept my forces together. Now have a new world under my control in the Empire. The usual sort of thing, albeit I suppose I've softened a bit. Godhood tends to do that to you." She had no reason to elaborate on that - if Jair believed she was another Zambrano-esque figure seeking to ascend to godhood while still being flesh and blood, she was okay with that ignorance.

"But you didn't come here for recaps. You came here for information about your daughter. I've been able to divine that at one point she came to this world looking for something. I'm not entirely sure what, but we should most likely find it in that nearby temple." She pointed to the ruined structure in question they were near.

Jairdain

 

[Jairdain]

It slightly surprised Jairdain that her old enemy would show her any sympathy. Sensing it as truth, though, she nodded thanks to Onrai. Listening to the other woman's update, she sighed a little.

"I congratulate you, Vanessa, on your new world and on becoming softer. If you hadn't, I don't think this meeting would have gone as well as it is."

She made no comment on the godhood part and made no further assumptions about that. Drawing in a small breath of surprise, she was pleased when the topic changed.

Lowering her eyebrows a bit when Vanessa mentioned Nitya had been here, she couldn't imagine why or what had brought her daughter here. A Temple of some kind stood nearby in ruins, and she stood up.

"What kind of Temple was it?"

Onrai

 

[Onrai]

"The temple of the Order of the Terrible Glare, a Jedi splinter cult made many millennia ago." She said, looking at the ruins which had last been visited a lifetime ago. "There's not much really known about them, only that they were led by an enigmatic figure known as Rur, a former Jedi. It was said that he held such hate for the order that rejected him, he persisted for thousands of years and lured innumerable Jedi to their deaths." That much she knew was true.

Of course, she chose not to mention one of the reasons she was looking around here. Once upon a time, Rur had crafted - or been given - ancient artifacts known as soul snares, devices capable of trapping the mind and Force essence of someone for eternity. With one in her possession, it would be possible for Onrai to replicate their construction - or perhaps to use them in certain rare instances against other targets. Whether such would ever be needed was something to bother with at another point in time.

After all, they were here to find clues about Nitya.

"Shall we go? I'll even be kind enough to take the lead." She joked.

Jairdain

 

[Jairdain]

"Glare as in a dirty look? That's not something I can do or even really imagine seeing."

Her lack of sight had not held her back in life, and Jairdain was thankful for that. The Jedi had given her every opportunity, and she didn't think she had squandered them. Even the Sith had offered her some, but the Master just couldn't maintain that kind of life. She wasn't against it, though, and she hoped her former enemy would understand her better.

"Hate I don't think a Jedi would feel. So if that's the case, this isn't a true Jedi temple..."

Allowing Vanessa to finish, her information indicated it was no longer a Jedi temple.

"Lead the way, and I'll follow in your steps."

Giving Vanessa a nod, she waited for her to start walking.

Onrai

 

[Onrai]

"They're referred to in other sources as the Ordu Aspectu." She said. "Again, there's not much publicly about it, but we might as well head inside." Vanessa nodded in response to Jair's suggestion that she be the first to enter the ruins, and did so. From what she could initially see, there wasn't really much here - whatever Rur had been remained enigmatic, and there was little left over.

As they entered deeper into the ruins of the chamber, skeletons in suits of ancient armor became visible, some half buried in the muck that had begun accreting on the floor of the ruins. "Jedi. These would make fine pieces for archaeologists." She noted a need to send people out to recover it in due time.

Jairdain

 

[Jairdain]

The world around them appeared far differently to the blind Jedi. Different shades of color filled her vision, and Jairdain could follow in the other woman's steps. Toeing away some of the bones, she did not stumble as she came to stand beside Onrai.

"I highly doubt our respective people would work together for very long. What could have brought my daughter here?"

It was clear to her that these were ruins and that they had not supported society for many years.

Onrai

 

[Onrai]

"I have a suspicion."

As they headed further into the temple, hideous monstrosities flirted with the edges of their vision. The creatures, Rozzum, scuttled about, aware of who and what was present on the world of Garn in question - but not interfering. Onrai was more than willing to destroy them if they refused to cooperate, and already she had managed to subvert the Rozzums' loyalty, ensuring they would listen to and serve her as opposed to other creations. Stepping closer, they entered the core of the ruined temple: within which was a ruined stepped pyramid and a number of glistening crystals which Onrai soon moved to collect. Beneath the pyramid's rubble, large enough for a normal person to get through, was the visible sign of something hidden beneath it.

"Rozzum don't exist in this dimension. They come from Otherspace - which means there's either a means of summoning them here, or a portal that leads to otherspace in question."

Jairdain

 

[Jairdain]

Lowering her eyebrows for a few moments, she remained silent while Vanessa spoke. While the other woman had a theory, it was just that—a theory. This planet wasn't entirely lifeless, and Jairdain sensed entities around them.

"Thank you for the quick lesson. It doesn't tell me why Nitya would have been here. I have never heard of these creatures. I'm not saying she hasn't, but I thought she would have told me."

Children often kept things from their parents, and maybe this was one, but she didn't think that was the case.

"It seems to me there is a portal. I could be wrong, though."

Onrai

 

[Onrai]

"I think your daughter may have bitten off more than she can chew."

Forcing more of the debris away, Onrai's humanoid form further exposed the disabled gateway beneath the ruins of the pyramid, observing its creation. "Yes, this looks right. An Infernal Gate, a pathway to the Charnel Worlds. Jair, I do apologize for this, but I'm going to need you to spill a bit of your blood on the gate. These things are intended to be fueled by death, blood, and sacrifice - we might be able to activate it long enough to head through and see where this goes."

Silently she hoped it wouldn't be a return trip to Diyu like last time.

Jairdain