Mad Sounds

[Jairus Starvald]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Cerita blinked once.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]For one, she was still a little bit tired from the sheer exertion from channeling the Force for such an extended duration of time, but then she blinked again and the realization was slowly dawning on her on what that actually meant.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Her expression would change from confusion to bafflement and then sheer awe. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]One could never accuse Sarova from not holding the proper amount of respect for [member="Dissero"], in fact the amount of respect she had for Dissero would have been enough to power an entire city for at least a year or more.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]But most of the times she had kept that quite under the lid, no need to make Di any more cocky than he already was. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Anything more and he might start to grin and wink at me.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Di… that’s…” she had forgotten the proper addition of Master, that’s how interesting this object had become to her. “It’s amazing.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]She sniffed in the air.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Magicka?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“How did you manage to pull it off?”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]And just like that Cerita had turned from awestruck back to eager to learn and soak up any knowledge offered to her. [/SIZE]

 

[Dissero]

"Brilliance has its perks."

His grin was easy and mildly teasing.

"You'll recall that some holocrons, artifacts and ancient sites are protected by spells and dark sorcery. Sith might be eager to watch others fail by overindulgence but there are those who guard their secrets as fiercly as I do. The idea and practice of enchanted or cursed artifacts isn't new, but rarely has it been done with the purpose of use by the common galactic citizen. Would you like to see it in action?"

Of course she would.

"Set it on the floor at the center of the chamber...good. Now step back here by me and speak these words loud and clear," he leaned over and whispered the words postum gyvizas into her ear.

"Oh, and Cerita, you'll want to brace yourself."

[member="Cerita Sarova"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Dissero"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]A suspicious eying enfolded for a moment.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Because Cerita was not a stupid person, that was probably why Dissero and her got along so well, in the grand scheme of things she didn’t need to have things explained more than once or twice if it was really some kind of esoteric application.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]So she dug her heels in, bracing herself against the coming force. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]She had filled it with a lot of energy, even if Tutaminis wasn’t exactly the most efficient transfer of energy and her Force Push wasn’t the strongest out there? That was still a lot of kinetic energy that would get thrown at her when she said those words.[/SIZE]

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

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Postum Gyvizas.[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]” good pronunciation, if slightly country.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Moment the last syllable rolled off her tongue, Cerita attempted to jump to the side - thinking that she could just dodge the kinetic energy, and not realizing… it was actually omni-directional.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Que a green lady getting thrown off her axis and slammed into her master.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“O-ow.”[/SIZE]

 

[Dissero]

Que the pair of them landing in a heap on the floor about thirty feet away.

Dissero grunted. Cerita may have taken the brunt of the wave but he'd taken the brunt of the fall and wasn't quite sure which had been worse. Especially since her elbow ended up nailing him in the gut and her oddly thick plant skull had smashed his nose.

"Wow," the remark was oddly breathless for a man of such stature as he lay there bleeding from the face.

"Good job. You know," snnnrrrk, "all collaborative parts considered. It malfunctioned..."

[member="Cerita Sarova"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Dissero"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Not s-sure.” long-extended groan followed, where the plant lady with the thick head tried to disentangle herself from her master, before rolling off of him and eventually landed with her back against the cold durasteel flooring.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]It felt nice, the cold.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Seemed to- ugh, my head. It’s like I smashed it against a thick wall - seemed to work quite fine to me.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Another groan.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Cerita rubbed her brow and felt something sticky.[/SIZE]

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

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]That would take a few ages to wash off, she really hoped nothing of it had gotten on the fabric of her clothes, it would be a whole new drama to try and get that out of there. But somewhere between the pain there was a bubbling feeling of pride coming from Sarova.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]That had been [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]her[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px] push.[/SIZE]

 

[Dissero]

Yes indeed, that had been all of her push.

"You broke my nose with that head."

A long, gurgley sigh followed his comment as Dissero slowly reached up to his nose and touched at it tenderly, wincing, "Oh, that smarts..." Dark, almost black blood seeped down across the sides of his face and back into his hair. He snorted then spat off to the opposite side.

Hnnngh- KCCHK. Fixed, and judging by the casual nature with which he snapped it back he'd done this a few times before.

"Well, technically speaking, it did work just fine. But it's set with three separate charges that should go off one at a time, not all at once. By my guess, that was casual Master-level equivalent Force Push." The cold floor did feel good but now he was driven to leave it. Dissero slowly pushed himself to his feet and recalled the Aoelocron into his hand with the Force, grimacing as he looked at it.

"Shattered...damnit. I'm running short on throw away crystals."

[member="Cerita Sarova"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Dissero"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Huh.” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]By now it would be a pretty reasonable assumption that Cerita wasn’t exactly a hundred percent right now, mostly because she wasn’t in awe over the project, wasn’t apologetic about his nose and was currently making snow angels in the durasteel flooring.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Or attempting to at least.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Hmmmmmmm.” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Nope, still making steel angel gestures with her arms and legs.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]A single touch of clarity hit her suddenly, breaking through the confusion and the muddy thoughts that were currently enwrapping her mind. It was a singular thought, a brilliant underlining of utility, a moment that should be written down in history as Cerita’s number one contribution to the entire project they had just tested out.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Might wanna try to turn it from a radial-projection into one focused direction.”[/SIZE]

 

[Dissero]

"The problem with that - and it is a thought that occurred to me during the initial design - is that a focused direction has a recoil, just like a rifle, which dampens the overall power of the blast. Sure you could rig it with a high-density magnet, but then you add to the weight and bulk of the item and a magnet doesn't work where it can't latch on. Radial blasts have a higher likelihood of destroying the product in the process, but I can alchemize the crystal trappings to prevent that. Low-quality crystals will shatter, like these, but higher quality crystals could withstand multiple uses and recharges before that happens..."

At this point the man was thinking aloud, something he'd come to do once he learned that Cerita was a very good assistant for bouncing ideas off of.

"In order for a focused direction to work, you'd have to coat the backing with a Force Dampener ... that's not impossible, but that lacquer isn't exactly easy to produce and the costs would be double. Triple even."

[member="Cerita Sarova"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Dissero"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Mhmhhmhmmmmmm.” Cerita would purr in acknowledgement.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]She was usally one of the best walls to bounce ideas off, but today wasn’t a regular day. Try to get your head cracked against the nose of one of the finest Alchemists of the Galaxy, she was still seeing [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]things[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px] in her vision. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]A pink unicorn here, some twins there and the color orange definitely came back a lot of times now. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“I suppose… you. Hmm.” she thought about it. [/SIZE]“Got a point there, boss?”

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Cerita coughed softly.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“How’s the nose?”[/SIZE]

 

[Dissero]

Dissero itched at his nose, his ramblings having subsided for a more internalized conversation with himself.

"Eh?" Nose? Oh.

"Healed," he replied casually, "how's your photosynthesis?"

Because when your student was a planet you had to crack a plant joke every now and then.

[member="Cerita Sarova"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

And it would be then that the Angel making would subside followed by Cerita rolling on her belly and staring daggers at [member="Dissero"] - at least for a moment or two, before she rolled her eyes and chuckled just a little bit.

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Laugh it up, fuzzball.” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Cerita coughed softly, the vision slowly returning to her eyes and head clearing just a little bit again. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Alright, what are we doing now?”[/SIZE]

 

[Dissero]

"Lunch," Dissero replied, "obviously."

Can't think on an empty stomach when you had a choice.


Some time later in the lounge of Grievous' Castle overlooking the foggy gorge beyond, Dissero sat on the couch contemplating this project, chewing on a tender piece of bantha steak, staring at the blown Aoelocron that sat unassuming on the coffee table before him.

"It's too complicated," he said rather suddenly, an odd choice of words for the man who had created one of the galaxy's most complicated system of locks and measures on his vaults. Itching at his chin he took another bite of his meal, "Single use, rechargable, one command word. Should have just stuck to the original plan I guess ... I'm not used to marketing to the non-Force sensitives."

[member="Cerita Sarova"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Dissero"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Obviooooouuuuuslyyyyyy~” Cerita repeated after him, drawing out every syllable as long and annoying as possible, just to show [member="Dissero"] how much of a brat he currently was. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]That was the beauty of their relationship - after everything was said and done, after all the training and experiments were done and cleaned up? There was enough time to be snarky against each other without her having to be afraid of him electrocuting her… or alchemizing her on the spot. Didn’t really have that with Valik and only a [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]little[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px] bit with Rave.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Just shows that people are all different, even when they work in the same field.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Especially if they work in the same field.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Cerita herself was currently munching on a special diet she had formulated for herself, banadurai leaves from the southern hemisphere of Vassek, royally coated with a glucose-fructose subtract mixed in the labs beneath and with a royal dressing made of- [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Well, you don’t really want to know.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]It was pretty tasty, but Dissero always had the strange idea to curl his nose up and stare at her mouth as she was working it away… almost as if he couldn’t believe that she was actually eating it all up, without it being part of some sort of bet.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Mhhuhuhuuhhhhmhmm.” Cerita would nod widely, showing her approval of that line of thought.[/SIZE]

 

[Dissero]

The Alchemist blinked at Cerita and her meal, "It's like you're eating lawn trimmings..."

Always a comment from the carnivore. He bit into his own meal with added fervor, making mild effort to ensure she saw those elongated incisors doing their job.

"Plus," he chewed, "you shouldn't speak with your mouth full. Very unladylike."

Ah, the do as I say and not as I do Mentoring technique. It was strong with this pair.

He knew the original design of the Aoelocron worked. He'd crafte three models so far and aside from cracking low-grade crystals the framework was solid. Higher-grade centerpieces would hold just fine, he just didn't want to risk them until he'd worked out the kinks. Perhaps now he could start crafting this model in higher numbers; get them out for live testing in the field ... Force Push was a power easy to charge and could be replicated by any Apprentice-level Force user with a basic command of the skill.

"I want to get together about a dozen of these single-use 'crons charged with Force Push and get them out into the hands of some local Mercs. I'll show you how to craft them down in the forge. Other than the Alchemy used to reinforce the metal frame of the 'crons there isn't anything you aren't capable of in that respect. Crystallurgy is pretty easy to learn if your meditation skills are up to par. Once we get these out for some live testing we can see what needs improvement. After that I want to start charging them with other Force Powers... Plant Surge, Force Fear, Levitation ... I can probably get my sister to help craft some for Force Light."


....

If she gardens her own meals does that count as playing with her food?

Chewing, he eyed her strangely.

[member="Cerita Sarova"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Mmhmhmhmmm, the dressing had that perfect texture of crystallized glucose-fructose mixed between each other, and oh god… the Banadurai leaves were just [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]perfect[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px] - all fresh, cherry and giving out that aroma of green wonder to your tastebuds. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]She would certainly have to share that recipe with Amo- Oh crap, he was saying something. What was Dissero saying, something about Force Light, Crystallurgry… did he want to teach her how to perfectly crystalize the glucose for her sweets? Nah, that can’t be it… oh crap, this was about that Aoelocron.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Bits by pieces the filtered background dialogue [member="Dissero"] had been having with himself streamed back into her consciousness from her subconscious, making her aware of what he had just told her. Cerita kept on chewing for a little while.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Nothing’s wrong, Certy. Just chewin’ ‘em leaves before speaking - just like her Master dun told her… EVEN IF HE WAS BEING A HUGE [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]HYPOCRITE.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Food worked away, she nodded and just caught that strange look, which prompted her to raise her eyebrow at him.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“You know me, Di. I am always up to learn something new… want a bite?” dutifully she extended her bowl to him.[/SIZE]

 

[Dissero]

Dissero hanked a fork into his bantha steak and held it up, waggling it at her, "And ruin my appetite? I don't think so Miss Ficus." He promptly shoved the rest of the steak into his mouth and chewed blissfully.

Probably a good thing he never told her about his allergy to flower pollen.


~~~~


"Crystallurgy is one of those skills that transcends alignment. It's use is one of the most widespread through Alchemy of any type of skill. Primarily we've seen it used for the crafting of Holocrons - crystalline lattice as well as the hearts of many holo and datacrons. They can be seen used as amulets and in other types of jewelry for various methods, typically by Force Imbuement, a very useful Jal Shey technique."

The workshop was a room tied to his forges, separated by a single wall. The heat down here was quite intense, but not so terrible as the forge room itself. Dissero emptied a bag of several cut crystals onto a worktable.

"To start, you're going to practice on whole, cut crystals with a technique I call Cleansing. Cutting a crystal invariably adds flaws to them, what you'll be doing is meditating on the crystal itself and finding those microscopic flaws. It's important that we find and cleanse or fix them, otherwise..." Dissero placed the blown Aoelocron on the worktable, the crystals within shattered and cracked beyond worth of repair, "they end up like this."

"This is not to be mistaken for Attuning a crystal, which you may have some experience doing in the crafting of your lightsaber. These crystals are not meant for personal items, so we don't want to Attune them to anyone."

[member="Cerita Sarova"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Dissero"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Crafting your lightsaber.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Your lightsaber.[/SIZE]

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

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

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Until this point Cerita had been quite the enterprising miss Ficus, making mental notes in her mind as he went over the various details - filing them away for future reference, but all of that faded away into the background noise as her indignancy took ahold of her current mindset. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Outward she still projected that calm and peaceful exterior, giving little nods and a quirky smile here and there for extra measure, [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]but hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]And Cerita Serova was clearly a picture of righteous scorn and indignation, the only thing that would have to be decided was her Master’s fate in this utmost important situation.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]It was then that it came to her… he had always avoided the little garden with flowers that she had established, when she had come and claimed the abandoned rooms in the West-sections of the castle, [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]until[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px] now Cerita had never really wondered about it all that.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]But now it seemed… [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]strange.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Cerita thought back, hadn’t his nose been a little bit sniffy that one time she had come out of her gardens for her daily lessons with him? It seemed it was time to stuff his cushions with some residue pollen from her gardens. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]This brought a bright smile to her face.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Yes, that seemed like the prudent measure to make in this situation.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Oh, right… lessons.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Excuse me, Master.” the green girl would finally chime in. “Could you please repeat that last portion? I found myself… pondering the ramifications of Crystallurgy and how it will help me in my further studies.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Straight face, Certy.[/SIZE]

 

[Dissero]

As one would come to learn after spending any length of time with Dissero, the Alchemist was often a bit off...

...in his own world. Lost in thoughts.

It was not odd for him to be somewhat disconnected from the world around him in areas that did not immediately pertain to him or his current projects. Cerita, for instance, though his current student, had been the student of another before him. A student of a very dear friend, no less, whom he had known to be as great a warrior as she was an Alchemist and inventor.

So naturally, as he didn't take after his mother in every aspect, the Alchemist came to certain conclusions.

Certain assumptions.

One such assumption was that Cerita had, in her time studying under Rave Merrill, crafted a lightsaber.

The next assumption was that she never really used it. That was just fine by him. Dissero had several of his own but rarely did they see use anymore. His days as a warrior on the battlefield had been overcome by the hellish tasks taken upon himself. Besides, he knew plenty of accomplished Force Masters that had never crafted nor even touched a lightsaber in their lifetime.

The lightsaber doesn't make the Force User.

So when Cerita did nothing but make strange faces at her Master (and this alone was not wholly unusua by any means either) he thought nothing of it. Clearly she'd made a lightsaber with Rave and clearly she'd never opted to use it. Either due to the lack of necessity in her current training or, perhaps due to sentimental value. Maybe the next time he went crystal hunting he'd have her along and help her craft a new one.

One that wasn't tied to the death of her former Master.

Poor Cerita. She must really still be hurting.

No wonder she couldn't bother to pay attention. Too busy thinking about Rave's awful, gruesome fate. Should he hug her? Pat her gently and say there, there?

That seemed a bit odd given the locale.

Dissero cleared his throat, "Attunement - used for personal items such as lightsabers or protection amulets. We aren't seeking to attune these crystals as they will not be used as personal items. Today we are simply cleansing. So far as your future studies go, the meditative skills required for proper and complete Cleansing are something of a workout. If nothing more it will help you become more aware of unseen faults within alchemized processing ... also, should it interest you, it is a good way to start learning Art of the Small."

[member="Cerita Sarova"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Dissero"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Yesssss, she would stuff his cushions full with pollen… hmm maybe Cerita could even alchemize them for some extra [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]bamf[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px], just something that would increase the intensity and potency of the molecules. Hehehehe, he would be sniffing, sneezing and the proud owner of a drip nose for at least a week! And it wouldn’t be hard to do either, not with the fact that they did not possess any help in this castle - he did have that trophy waifu of his, but Cerita doubted that Ve-[/SIZE]

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

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Vero? Verzie? Verina? What was her name again?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Well, it doesn’t really matter anyway. She seemed to be… hmm… perhaps nice wasn’t the right adjective, but she wasn’t entirely too bad; not a Rave in any sense of the word, but the girl was pretty. [/SIZE]

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

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]But somehow Cerita doubted that the waifu was much of a household gal, so it wasn’t strange that with Dissero being… exactly what he was, that all the household work went to her. She didn’t want to live in a pig’s fest, so doing the dishes, cleaning up after the experiments and even making up the beds was her duty.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Didn’t really mind to do it thoug-[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Feth, right. Lesson time now, righteous justice on a later point.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Cerita nodded, Art of the Small was a known quantity for her, Valik had used it numerous times during their training sessions, but… she wasn’t exactly good at it. Never really had the time to train it with the dozen and more things to learn too.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“I am definitely interested in learning more about Art of the Small, but let’s start… heh, [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]small[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]. Cleansing.”[/SIZE]

 

[Dissero]

"Good. We'll put it on the lesson plan for another day."

After I've Knighted you, perhaps. Dissero smiled. Cerita was never short on the eager to learn end, a quality of hers he quite admired and adored, for she was much like him in that respect.

"So, let's begin. Starting small... Choose one crystal," he waited for her to make her choice before clearing the others away from the work area, "place your hands on the table at either side of the crystal without physically touching it. Your hands will represent the platform upon which your energies will focus into the crystal," Dissero stepped away to give her plenty of space. Not that she needed it, but he always found having open space around him made for easier meditation and connection with an object when doing this sort of work.

"Close your eyes, proceed with your meditation. Clarity of mind first. You cannot hope to successfully cleanse the fractures of a crystal if the mind is fractured with thoughts. Find your breathing, discover the flow of your energy. Control it. It must be calm but consistent, resolute," his voice trailed off in a way that without purposefully listening to it one might not know whether he spoke physically or telepathically. It ebbed and flowed seamlessly, a technique he learned for the use of Enchantments.

"Focus your energy at your center ... direct it down through your arms and into your hands. Let it build just slightly, create a flow in a circle around the crystal and slowly bring it in. Keep the energy steady, calm ... now allow it to pool into the crystal, each and every imperfection and microscopic fault must be filled."

[member="Cerita Sarova"]