Private Phantom Faces

[Palm-Imer]

Location: Dragonne Palace, Azurine City, Illyria.
Wearing: XxX
Tagging: Adron Malvern

​

She knew these halls well. The immensity of Dragonne Palace was no longer intimidating, the darkness that awaited in some its chambers no longer inspired the same profound unease in her. Palm had not grown used to it, but it had grown familiar. There was more to it than what she allowed herself to see, for beyond the familiarity there was a growing union with it - still too weak and distant to be felt. Adron, whom she had treaded around carefully at first, was steadily growing into a trusted and esteemed figure, and in turn the geminaie was less guarded around him and had been progressively growing more receptive to his words.

And still there was a certain sense of nervousness within Palm-Imer as she made her way towards the monarch's office.

The battle over Myrkr, Orleon, Azure, Katarr and Velmor was still fresh, and even though her body had recovered nicely, Palm new with no room for doubts that the still healing slash concealed beneath her jawline - way too close to her throat - and the lack of the usual firmness in her stance due to the still present pains of battle would not go unnoticed. Her act was nearly perfect and more than enough to fool anyone into thinking she was as good as new, that she had walked into that battlefield and then came out without so much as grazing wound. But that was not reality, nor was her act good enough to fool him.

Something had happened on Velmor which she was still unsure about. She had felt powerful and unstoppable, and at the same time lacking control and clarity. A part of her expected to find answers in the King to questions she did not have the words to ask, while another was simply worried - as though her injuries were the sign of a failed test. The darkness that had crept up on her during the throes of battle had made her strong. She stood now here alive, as did the two whom she had fought to protect and she had outlived a duel with a Sith Lord. The accomplishment was nothing short of formidable, and yet a small whisper within her demanded more.

To add to the shambles that were her feelings and thoughts, there was fret. Worry that this power she had felt had been wrong - after all, the one she called her dearest friend, a Jedi, would have thought so. But why did she feel like a fraction of her being did not agree anymore?

Once again, as she often did lately, Palm pushed the topic to the back of her mind. There were other matters to concentrate on right now, and one of them was resting within a box between her gloved hands. The Sith holocron she had retrieved with Mathieu from Myrkr. Palm had felt tempted to open it as soon as she had departed the planet, but a promise made to her friend to not meddle with the object had kept her from acting upon this impulse. However, now curiosity was luring her again even when the corrupting properties of the holocron were being kept at bay by the voidstone that layered the insides of the box. It had been this same curiosity that had pushed her to bring the artifact to Adron.

Upon reaching his office, she was announced by his royal guard before being allowed entrance. Amber gaze met amethyst, and she bowed her head in greeting. "Good afternoon, your Majesty." A handful of times she had referred to the King by his name and not his title, but this had not been explicitly condoned and unwilling to show him disrespect or stretch her growing trust in him, Palm still kept to formalities most of the time. The confidence she usually held in her gaze was not there, a sensation akin to what she felt upon returning to her teacher after doing something wrong settling within her.

The only difference laid in that what had happened on Velmor would probably provoke the man's joy rather than his disapproval.

 

[Adron Malvern]

BLOOD RED​

Tags: Palm-Imer ​

The days were growing longer.

The King of Illyria had taken a break from most of his more refined hobbies and instead returned to his books. The latest topic? The Illyrian Mining Guild. Such an obscure organization that had managed to last for hundreds of years, yet never directly answer to the Crown, at least not properly. Their delegates had introduced themselves upon Adron's ascension to the throne and ensure their fealty, yet there was more to all than a warm smile and some pretty words.

His eyes scanned the pages while a single finger twirled a free lock of hair. He did not often wear his glasses, yet they were placed evenly over his amethyst eyes.

A knock at the door pulled him from his thoughts. He glanced up arching a brow before feeling a familiar echo in the Force. He smiled as he realized that Palm-Imer awaited behind the door and the smile only deepened when he felt that stirring unease behind her. How interesting. The woman who was usually so composed was now showing such cracks in her deepest being?

"Allow our honored guest in." He ordered his guard, who opened the door for Palm-Imer without hesitation. As the woman stepped inside Adron pulled the glasses from his face, folding them up before tucking them in a pocket on the inside of his blazer.

"Something has shaken you." He stated, not pretending as if he did not see the hesitation and uncertainty behind the walls of her mind. The King stood with his eyes taking to the box in the woman's slender hands. He said nothing for a moment, yet there was a notable sense of nothingness that came from the box. That was cause for some curiosity. "Here, we can talk about it in time. First let us have a drink." He said, gesturing for her to take a seat on the opposite side of his desk. The King walked over to the bar cart that always sat in the edge of the room and poured the two a fine glass of Corellian spiced winter wine.

The pale blue liquid filled a slender flute and then handed to Palm. The King stepped around his desk and took a seat before taking a sip from the glass. "When you left for business I assumed you would be gone for a few weeks longer." He informed her. "Of course, your quarters are ever-prepared now that your are officially recognized by the Crown."

"Now. I assume whatever has you feeling so off is the same reason you came here to speak with me?" He asked.
​

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[Palm-Imer]

Location: Dragonne Palace, Azurine City, Illyria.
Wearing: XxX
Tagging: Adron Malvern

​

Not so long ago she would have been surprised at how fast the King had picked up on her inner turmoil, but now she had simply expected as much. It was relieving, in a way, to know that she would not have to voice her concerns out of the blue, and he had indeed been right. Out of the people she could have approached to speak her mind, to confide in, she had chosen him. After all, Adron had been the only constant since the beginning of her veiled, dark journey.

She could hear the words that would come from any other should she have decided to go to them instead. Her fellow sol'nav would say what happened had been a mistake, a loss of her own balance, and that she must set on the path to re-find it. Mathieu...Mathieu wouldn't understand. Palm kept on telling herself that she could see the tricks of the Darkside, that she was still fully neutral - and that whatever had stirred within her on Velmor had not been completely bad, even if she knew it was risky.

At his behest, Palm took her usual seat in the office and thanked him when he handed the flute. She carefully placed the box on her lap before taking a sip of the wine allowing it to calm her mind. Of course, to someone of her species, calming her nerves would be as easy as simply making the conscious decision to shut them down. But they were needed, if she had any hopes of truly understanding her concerns and whatever guidance Adron could provide.

"Thank you for hosting me, your Majesty, and I do apologize for the uncharacteristically early arrival." Palm had an unprecedented talent for keeping to her schedules right down to the exact second, except when her presence was required for longer than anticipated or, alternatively, dismissed earlier than originally expected. "And you are correct, for which I owe another apology. I do not wish to disturb you with my personal matters, but I believe you are the only one who would...understand." It was the only word that seemed right, even if it still failed to quite fit the sentiment.

"I was indeed on business, since joining the Confederacy myself my time has been cut even shorter. I was on a diplomacy task for Geminidae in Silver Concord territory when the recent invasion by the Sith began." The prelude to the disaster, she had not expected a war when she set off for a simple bureaucratic affair. "I happen to have a friend in the Order, so I stayed to fight alongside them."

"We were on Velmor, a smaller hell than Myrkr but a hell none the less." Her amber gaze rose to meet his once more, it had been lost to some corner of the room as she reminisced the recent past. "During the battle something happened to me. I lost my balance, for the first time in years." She could not put into words what she had felt, nor the doubt and the discomfort that having felt that way inspired - this was what she hoped Adron could shed light into. Make a right out of a possible wrong, even if she was not absolutely certain that it had been a wrong. It was good then, that she knew the King could simply watch into her mind and receive a better explanation than the one her retelling could aspire to provide.

He would be able to see and feel what she saw and felt, the crazed eyes of one Sith Lord Joycelyn Zambrano clashed against her own, a flash of green replacing the usual gold.

 

[Adron Malvern]

DARKNESS​

Tags: Palm-Imer ​

In some very small way Adron was envious of Palm-Imer. It was so long ago when Adron had struggled with the call of the Dark Side that now the darkness was a cold blanket wrapped around him to provide him with a sense of power. Not warmth, not stability, it promised only power. It had been years since his heart was purged of the darkness and he felt the warm embrace of the light, or even neutrality which he had toyed with during his time in the Galactic Empire. He brought the flute to his lips to take another sip as he listened to the woman.

He did not just listen to her. With every words she spoke, he combed through her emotions to find their meaning. People were so terrible at separating the emotion from their intent, although Palm was not so shaken, it was merely simpler for him to understand this way. He set the flute onto the table before nodding understandingly.

"Yes, I have heard of the conflicts." He acknowledge. He said no more. There was little more he could say without revealing certain things that were privy to his station as Exarch.

Even before Palm admitted the truth, Adron was aware to what had occurred. It spilled from the woman in precious waves of uncertainty. The Sith Lord focused his mind on these waves. Subtlety was preciously important when tampering with the emotions of others. Perhaps Palm understood that Adron had access to her mind, yet his access was also a pathway of control.

He must be patient.

When she revealed that her neutrality had not only been tested, but she had failed the test, the Sith Lord nodded his head understandingly. When Palm fell silent the Sith Lord turned his amethyst eyes to the woman with a fairly unreadable expression. "When I was still a Jedi. A very long time ago. I first lost my balance during an assassination attempt on my life. I was younger than you, of course, and far weaker. Still, I had been raised to believe the Dark Side of the Force was a taint that should be shunned and resisted. So when first I felt it calling to me I denied it."

He stood, taking the flute into his hands and taking another sip to finish off the fine liquid. "It calls to you like a song." He remarked, holding the glass up so he could inspect the fine craftsmanship that formed it.

"I sense the fear you experienced. It was genuine and with it came power. Power that you utilized, not only to preserve your life but those who hold some meaning to you." He turned his amethyst eyes from the glass to look at Palm-Imer with a questioning gaze.

"Are you ashamed of what you have done?" He wondered, yet the answer was clear. "There comes a time when all beings of principal must be tested. Will they stand by their principals that have likely guided them since birth? Or will they do what must be done?"

He did not allow her to answer.

"We do what we must. Those are the words of House Malvern, meant to signify that to protect those we love, to defend what is precious to us, we will stand shoulder to shoulder with the price of defending those we love." He said, his tone solemn yet meaningful as he looked to the woman.

"You came here hoping to understand how you should feel. Perhaps even to silence some of the doubt in your mind? This I cannot do." He told her, rounding the desk to stand before her, leaning back on the hard wood of the desk. "There is always a cost for our actions Palm. The price may be a night's sleep...or it may be so much more." He said, never allowing his eyes to shift from hers. "But to defend what is right? To protect everything we are? There are few costs too great."

"You must trust in yourself. Not just the training you were given, but trust in the heart behind your chest that told you it was time to live, not die." He told her.
​

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[Palm-Imer]

Location: Dragonne Palace, Azurine City, Illyria.
Wearing: XxX
Tagging: Adron Malvern

​

As she had always done, Palm lent an attentive ear to every word that came from Adron. She had never pictured the Exarch as a Jedi, his very presence made the thought almost impossible to form on her mind. There was one difference between their stories, but the sentiment was the same. The Order of the Soller Navah did not shun the darkside, having members that chose to lean onto it - but that was only the few that could dabble into it with no risk of falling into corruption, without losing their control and handing it over to the Darkside of the Force.

That was where her worry stemmed from. She had always stood grounded and anchored in her neutrality, and now was unsure if she had what it took to control the Darkness and not the other way around. Several people she had met during her journeys - Adron being the first - made it seem as though this was possible. But then the majority of darksiders she had met, were little more than powerful, rabid dogs. What was power without the strength to guide it? They were nothing more than pawns to a higher will...Palm did not want this fate for herself, nor the consequences it could bring upon those she cared for were she to try and fail.

We do what we must.

There came the unavoidable truth. No matter the doubt she held, it had given her power and she had used it to achieve her end. Here she stood, alive after going head to head against a Sith Lord, as were her friends. Palm could only come to the conclusion that Adron was right. In the end, would she have done things differently if she had that choice? The answer was a simple no. Even now she knew, that if for any reason she found herself faced against Joycelyn Zambrano again her intent would be just the same as it had been on Velmor. She had threatened that which Palm loved, and that was something her heart would never forgive.

Perhaps, as he had said, it was time to trust herself. For one day, it would be time to pay the cost.

She took another sip from the flute before nodding. "I don't regret doing what I did, I don't feel shame either. But I had a very clear idea of who I was until recently, and that seems to be changing - even if I feel it should not." That was her fear put into the simplest of words. Coming to terms with the fact she no longer knew herself as well as she did upon leaving Geminidae. Knowing that, if that was true, it meant she had changed...or perhaps never truly understood herself at all.

"Thank you." Her eyes returned to him, honesty shining behind them. Adron had been the only person she could have approached, and his words once again seemed right. She wouldn't find answers to the questions that plagued her in him, and still he managed to feel like a guide. But now, she wouldn't hold him any longer with her own worries - even if she was grateful that he had allowed her to confide in him. There was, after all, another reason why she had hastened her visit to Illyria.

"There is something I would like to show you." She placed the flute to the side, before her hands came forward to place the closed box on top of the table, right before him. "I found it during a mission on Myrkr....for some reason I have not yet been able to discern," She opened the box, and suddenly what had been feeling like an intense nothingness in the Force was suddenly a corrupt and dark presence. Perhaps as strong as the King's, even though the source of it was nothing more than an artifact. A holocron. "this was within an abandonned Jedi temple."

 

[Adron Malvern]

POWER​

Tags: Palm-Imer ​

The Sith Lord could understand the girl's worries, yet they were still something he felt as distant memory. His eyes searched her carefully as she spoke before finally speaking in an even tone to the woman. "We all are what we must be. Over time this can change...or sometimes it may not. Contrary to most beliefs, this is not always something we can control." He explained to her.

When Palm-Imer set her flute to the side in favor of the box she'd brought with her the man could not help but show some interest in what the girl had brought. He could feel the void of the Force that echoed out from the box and it set him on edge. There were few objects in the galaxy that could create such a blank feeling and as Adron gazed down at it he felt that emptiness invade the confines of his own being. He said nothing, yet when the box was opened he allowed the cold chill of the Dark Side to wrap around him.

His lips curled into a knowing smile for a single moment before his eyes turned to Palm curiously.

"Now isn't this a treat?" He said softly. His free hand hovered over the relic that laid within the box. The Force pulsed out as if two opposing forces clashed together. However they did not create a pulse of destruction, instead there was an odd comingling of darkness that was birthed from the union. The Holocron would then hover up from the box and into the air only a few inches above the man's hand.

"This is a Sith Holocron." He remarked, though he briefly craned his eyes at the piece. The Holocron would begin to glow with a powerful crimson aura. The light was practically blinding for one such as Palm or those not attuned to the Force. The Sith Lord's hand waved over the holocron and the light slowly faded from the room.

"No. Perhaps not a Sith Holocron...it is certainly of the Dark Side however." He explained to Palm before slowly lowering the device back into the box, steadily shutting the box once again.

"Most impressive." He said with a knowing smile before looking to Palm curiously.

"Well...would you like to come with me and find out what lies inside?" He asked. He took the box from his desk before settling it back down into Palm's hands with an arch of his brow. "The Force led you to this. The Jedi often allowed themselves to become stewards to the darkness, whether they knew it or not. It was that ignorance that often led to the culling of their kind. They kept darkness so close to the breast...without ever understanding how it worked." He said simply.
​

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[Palm-Imer]

Location: Dragonne Palace, Azurine City, Illyria.
Wearing: XxX
Tagging: Adron Malvern

​

She had expected him to be intrigued by the artifact, his own curiosity and the way the two dark presences melded onto one another in some kind of sinister peace seemed to reignite her own. Palm remembered well the very moment she left Myrkr behind. While aboard the Vagabond the need to know what lay hidden within the holocron threatened to consume her - she had every intention of attempting to open it and see for herself. But she had made a promise to someone she cared about, and she had managed to fight the tempting whispers and keep her word.

Today, however, she would face them again. After Velmor, the outcome did not seem so certain.

Her golden gaze squinted as the holocron began to glow in a blinding red light, clearly enticed into life by Adron's presence, only to return her eyes to it once the flash was subdued by the very one who had caused it. And then the dreaded question came. Did she want to learn what the holocron kept hidden? Was it worth it?

Her mind dragged her back to the moment in which she held it for the first time. The fragile thing held a power to corrupt the likes of which she had never seen. It had been merely a second that took her to secure it within the void stone box, and only that was enough for it to make her despair. The Force had tried to show her, or warn her, of something - but the anguish was too strong for her to understand it. It was only a blur in her mind, one she had tried to forget for fear of the feeling it had awoken.

But now, after Velmor, the fear was no longer as strong. The threat of the darkness was not just daunting - it was mesmerizing. She believed herself still able to pull away, or perhaps she didn't want to acknowledge that she could not.

"I would like that, yes. I tried discovering who it might belong to by accessing the Athenaeum but found nothing," The Great Archive of the Sovereignty was, for the most part, one of the better kept secrets of the Consors System. Milennia of studying or even...acquiescing artifacts, relics, books and data in general from other cultures and from all corners of the galaxy had turned it into a collosus of invaluable and irreplaceable knowledge. Most knew it simply as a museum of the highest reknown. But those who really had access to its true database, knew that it was so much more than that.

She pushed the thought of Mathieu away. Palm had promised she would not fall, and right now she thought herself capable of keeping her word. She just needed to know - it was her responsibility to. The fact that it would satisfy the hungering curiosity was simply an added bonus.

"I did consider that. The Soller Navah also safe-keep holocrons, light-sided, dark-sided or otherwise...but what I find strange is that this one wasn't in a vault or otherwise protected. One would believe the Jedi would either destroy it or keep it where it would never be found," Her eyes moved away from the box to meet Adron's, "It was right next to a Jedi holocron, to be found alongside it." Clearly that had been the intention of whoever had last seen them.

"It seemed... out of place."

 

[Adron Malvern]

OPEN​

Tags: Palm-Imer ​

With Palm-Imer's agreeance, the Sith Lord flashed a very rare, yet genuine smile, It was the study of knowledge that had driven Adron to the Sith to begin with. All of the questions he'd had within the Jedi Order seemed to be answered by the power of the Dark Side. Adron took the box into his arms before gesturing for Palm to follow him. They turned into the main hall and the man spoke with an interested tone. "Sitting alongside the rest of the Jedi Holocrons?" He questioned.

"Do you know why it is that the Jedi and Sith alike are always so easily fooled?" He asked, turning his eyes back towards the woman with a slight smirk along his lips. "Because both the Jedi and Sith believe they know the truth of the Force. What very few realize is that the truth of the Force cannot be realized through dogmatic eyes and narrow visions."

Adron led the two of them through an open courtyard which seemed to separate the Palace proper from a secondary hall which led to a large atrium on the side of the grounds.

They found themselves approaching a set of large doors with golden emblems sprawled upon the ebony stone. The King glanced over to a palm-scanner on the side of the door, still speaking as he rested his hand on the pad. "It is this hubris that makes them easily deceived." The final words were spoken lower and more meaningful. "You can quite easily trick someone when you show them something that they believe is exactly what they wish to see." The door's before them parted, revealing two of the armored knights of the King's guard. The moment their eyes set upon their King they each bowed their head in deference.

"Your Highness." They greeted in unison.

"Secure the Library. None may enter until I declare it." He ordered them. The two knights nodded obediently before stepping aside so the two could enter into the chamber. As Palm and Adron stepped within the chambers they were presented into a lift. "This building is my personal Library. Ever since leaving Serenno I have made it my passion to find and study various holocrons from nearly all faiths and factions. Jedi, Sith, Mandalorian Knight, Imperial Knight, and others. However, finding a Holocron and unlocking it is merely a single piece to the great puzzle." He revealed to her.

"Below is where I keep most of the holocrons." He said as he ushered the woman onto the lift with him. As the doors shut, the lift began to rise and he looked to Palm with a soft smirk. "Above is something greater..."

When finally the lift came to a stop, Adron stepped forward, causing the door's to the lift to open and reveal a single metal chamber.

The floors were a pristine black marble, however the walls and ceiling were formed from a specialized form of songsteel. Behind the songsteel panels were a number of kyber crystals which gave the room a deep presence within the Force. The moment that Adron stepped inside the Dark Side within would become amplified ten fold, filling Palm's very lungs with the dark power. Adron stretched, drawing his back into a deep pull as the darkness filled him.

"Now. Let us begin." He stated. The man set the box on the ground, pulling the Holocron from within. Once he pulled it out, the crimson light would begin to shine once again, yet this time the lights danced upon the songsteel panels, creating a blood red aura within the room. Adron loosened the tie around his neck as he stepped into the center of the room, the holocron floating a few inches above his hand as he walked.

Throwing his tie on the ground below him, Adron held both of his hands to either side of his body while the holocron began to float over his head. Thin purple strands of lightning began to erupt off of the man's fingertips in small wisps as he tapped into the dark side of the Force.

When next Adron spoke his voice was deep and unnatural, bouncing from one wall to another.

"I am Darth Malphas. King of Illyria and Master of the Dark Side. I command you release your knowledge to me." As the crystal matrix within the device began to glow brightly Adron gazed up at the holocron before whispering softly. "Reveal yourself..."
​

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[Palm-Imer]

Location: Dragonne Palace, Azurine City, Illyria.
Wearing: XxX
Tagging: Adron Malvern

​

Palm followed diligently, as she always had. She found his words to be truthful, after all, she had been tasting the results of limiting one's view of the Force in the recent times. Whenever that feeling she could not quite place to let go of her usual control, to trust the flow of the Force through her with her emotions and allow it to make her powerful - there seemed to me so many more variables to it than the ones that the Soller Navah were willing to contemplate. Even if she knew the risk, even if she did not wish - right now - to embrace a power, there seemed to be so many different paths, and meaning and options that went unanswered by simple restraint.

She offered an acknowledging nod of her own to the two Royal Guards, admiring the building and then the inside of the library when she was granted entrance. It was no surprise by now that the King and Queen had excellent taste, and Illyria did justice to their standards and views. When he mentioned that something even more special than a countless library of invaluable holocron awaited above them, Palm couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in surprise. All she could do right now was wait until the door to the lift opened again - and prepare herself for whatever it could be that laid behind them.

Another dark chamber was not something she had expected. It clung onto her as though it wanted to pierce through her skin and infect every corner of her being, a silent but sharp breath escaped through her lips while she tried to adjust to its domineering presence. Velmor suddenly felt more fresh than it had before, the darkness that had been kindled into life and then put out regaining its flame - inspired by the surrounding presence. Her golden eyes reached out to Adron, nervousness shining behind them. She knew he would be able to feel it, her immaculate neutrality suddenly tilted towards a certain end of the scale. Barely, but enough to be noticed when compared to the perfectly grey presence she usually established.

But there was no time for questions or reassurances.

The red light filled the room in a bright glow as she stood behind Adron, slightly to the side so that she could see the events unfolding before her clearly. The holocron slowly began unpiecing itself - plates gliding against one another until the pyramid opened to reveal the inner crystal. As Adron's voice made itself heard the crystal began growing brighter and brighter, bathing all in its bloody glow and it seemed as though the darkness, the very Force itself, began to spiral around them, creating a macabre swirl around the room with the crystal at its center.

Reveal yourself.

And suddenly it all stopped. There was only silence. Even the Force appeared to have vacated the chamber for a moment, if it were not for the extremely faint presence of the kyber crystals that lined the walls and the ones belonging to the Illyrian King and the Geminian Ambassador. The calm before the storm.

Just as it had gone the Darkside of the Force returned, more powerful and overbearing that it had been before, so much so that the very chamber seemed to moan under the strain that it put, and Palm's heart began to race slightly as the disturbance it cause rippled through the force with the strength of a calamity. The red glow from the crystal became blinding before beginning to recede...no, not recede, to condense itself in the center of the crystals. And soon enough even the own glow from the kyber crystals around them seemed to be sucked into the holocron's own - ripping the chamber of its glow and strength. Next it absorbed the swirl of darkness around them, until the room was rendered cold, and void, and dark and silent for a second time.

"Adron?" Palm's voice would reach out to the Sith Lord's mind - she could no longer see him and although she could feel his presence, something was happening which she could not understand. Palm had never heard of a holocron behaving in this manner...she had never heard of a holocron that carried this much power within it.

A slow, distant chuckle resonated within the chamber. A voice unbodied and sinister. To break the darkness, two red orbs began shining this time, with all the brightness they had just stolen from their surroundings. "You command..." The voice seemed to have a derisive tone to it. In the opposite end of the chamber a figure began forming.

This was no regular gatekeeper.

An old woman stood before them, dark and translucent and with eyes as red as a scorching inferno. Raw power rolled off of the figure in waves, the Force in its purest expression. No, this was no gatekeeper. This was a Force Ghost.

"A Master of the Darkside...I shall be the judge of that, boy. How has my holocron found its way to your hands?" ​

 

[Adron Malvern]

OPEN​

Tags: Palm-Imer ​

When darkness meets darkness prophecy is realized.

The words of Adron's oldest and greatest mentor rang in his ears as he watched the shadows flow into the center of the room where the Holocron floated. The Sith Warlord Kruel Zing was many things, yet his power to foresee the future rivaled all, even Darth Metus, the Sith who completed Adron's training. The Sith stepped back from the Holocron yet he was something different from the being who had commanded it's opening. Palm-Imer called out for him and his eyes turned ever so slightly to gaze back at the woman who had brought the holocron.

"Be silent." His words were dutiful and filled with purpose, no matter how curt. His hand came up, gesturing for the woman to stay back from him before his eyes finally turned back to the Holocron.

When the ominous laughter began to fill the room Adron's eyes quirked as he inhaled softly. This was something he had felt once before, years ago when he found the Holocron of his late master. Now it made sense. The power that echoed from this holocron was easily the strongest the Sith Lord had ever felt come from a device as simple as this. No, the Holocron was but a home, a prison meant to house more than knowledge.

It was then he recalled Kruel Zing's final words spoken to him, words he recited to his memory.

"Death is but a barrier to greater power." He spoke as the crimson orbs shattered through the darkness, bearing down on Adron.

There was that feeling. One he had not felt since the last time he challenged his Master and failed to properly show the truth of his power. The feeling that the being before him was a pure being of the Dark Side. Still, that feeling did not cause hesitation or even defiance, it was nothing more than a breeze of discomfort to come and go.

He listened to the woman's words and he could not help but draw his lips into a thin line at the way she called him boy.

"Your holocron laid within a Jedi Temple on Myrkr. A curious place for a device that is so thoroughly drenched in the Dark Side. The Jedi were fools but I cannot believe they would have left such a powerful relic accessible, even in their doom. Which means the Holocron was secreted into the temple after the destruction of the Jedi. So tell me...."

"Who are you and why did you lock yourself within this Holocron?" He demanded, his eyes set upon the Force Ghost intently.
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[Palm-Imer]

Location: Dragonne Palace, Azurine City, Illyria.
Wearing: XxX
Tagging: Adron Malvern

​

Palm's only response was a nod, eyes narrowed down in the position of the Force Ghost as she heeded Adron's gesture indicating to stay back. The darkness bit at her, forcing her fists closed at her side and urging her to resist the instinct to cower - or to let that inkling of darkness within her grow into something bigger. Neither were viable options to her at the moment, and so she resorted to her only weapon, the enormous willpower that she harbored, forcing herself to remain calm and collected even in the face of the greatest threat she had ever perceived before.

Meir Greim. The Shadow Dread of Myrkr. Darth Saytris. Names known only by the very few who survived her, for the Sith Lady had ensured that her legend, no matter how great, remained in the limbo between myth and reality to dissuade those who would seek her under the intention of demanding her tutelage or attention - not unlike the young man that stood before her now. Those who wished to seek her would have to prove themselves capable of finding her for in life she had no time to waste on the worthless. And now, in death, she'd have to weed them out herself.

The Force Ghost remained silent for a moment, taking her sweet time to look upon the King and the woman that lingered behind him. The furiously bright gaze of the Sith ghost glided between them a few times, before settling on Adron. "Is this one your charge?" Her eyes fell upon Palm once more, and the geminaie could feel as though a cold fist had just grabbed a hold of her very heart and squeezed it. The elder woman clicked her tongue. "No...she is not." One glance had been all it took, the inkling of darkness in the geminaie was painfully evident to the Sith Lady - but it was unremarkable.

Potential wasted. Power misguided. She had no patience left to open the eyes of the blind - only to rip the eyelids of those who already embraced the Dark so that they might see it fully. The ghost seemed to grow more tangible with every passing second, so much so that only keen eyes would notice the slightest transparency to it. What seemed to be a cane supported the slightly hunched woman, and when she began moving the sound of the cane hitting the floor and the shuffling of her robes could be heard, as if she was really there.

The crone approached the King, circling Adron and taking a closer look at him with no care if her proximity would be interpreted as a threat or not. Like an appraiser evaluating a potential valuable, to decide whether it had worth or was nothing more than a pretty looking piece of trash. "The holocron was where I willed it to be. No Jedi had a say in it. The dead rarely do..." Her last apprentice, another failure that many a coward fool would have wanted to call powerful, had seen to it under her orders that no one was left alive to interfere with her last wish. That her holocron awaited discovery besides the joke that were the Jedi's teachings.

Another low laugh came from the crone. Locked herself. His last question would not be graced with an answer, at least not yet.

"Darth Malphas," She repeated the name, before looking at Palm once more, "Speak your name, child." She addressed the geminaie, the tone in her voice and her presence making it abundantly clear she would see her command answered.

"Palm-Imer." Palm kept her answer short, before returning to her silence. The woman snickered, half in derision, half pleased to know that the one that seemed so wasted did not carry the sacred title of the Sith.

"I have no interest in you." The brashness of the comment was nothing but an afterthought to the woman as she dismissed the younger one's presence. She would leave her to be influenced by someone other. "Now, as for you...We shall see." Red met amethyst, finally stopping her slow walk around Adron to stand before him. "Tell me, young man, have you killed your Masters?" There was no curiosity in her voice, simply the demand to be made privy to the fact, a simple yes or no.

Her evaluation of the man had begun.

 

[Adron Malvern]

DARTH​

Tags: Palm-Imer ​

This woman.

That insufferable indifference was certainly something to raise the King's ire. His eyes loomed over to the Holocron while he drew his lips into a thin line. Were it not that the woman possessed something of worth he would destroy the device and let all shadows of this faded being be drowned in the nether of the Dark Side. Yet, there was a cost for power.

He saw her eyes loom over Palm-Imer and then he felt his ire rise once again. He had conjured a powerful shield around his thoughts to keep them hidden from the crone, yet a wanting eye was enough to cause his own to shine with the darkness of the Force. Palm-Imer was not his charge, not yet, she was a project yet an improper tampering from this woman could quickly break the hard work the King had undertaken. That would merit the destruction of this unnamed ghost.

He did not speak. He had nothing to say as of yet. The woman seemed to slowly breach the barriers of life and death.

So she has such talent? He wondered, his eyes drifting to the cane and the soft taps they left in pace with her movements. As she approached him the place between worlds grew thinner and the Dark Lord of the Sith felt a subtle tug from deep within him. At first he wondered if this was the result of the old woman's tampering. Did she believe she could breach his defenses so easily? Powerful she may be, yet he was the Sith of Malphas, not to be underestimated.

Yet this pull continued. Without the knowledge of either Palm-Imer and most likely outside the notice of the Sith woman before him. Adron realized this pull from the darkside was not an outside Force. No, it was something else deeper within himself. A shadow hidden within a shadow. He settled his mind on the matter before turning his eyes to see the woman question Palm once again. The woman's snickering tone was something that caused Adron himself to wonder just how high this cost may be?

When she asked had the King of Illyria killed his masters it took him a true moment to consider her words. Adron had endured many masters, both Sith and Jedi. Those who had crossed him and were of no longer any use? Dead. Those who were still of use? Alive.

"Some yet live. Those who are still of use to me." He spoke a simple truth. Darth Metus remained alive and well.

That was a life he would not take, not until the time and conditions were met. Doing so before then would be nothing but foolishness and needless betrayal.
​

​

 

[Palm-Imer]

Location: Dragonne Palace, Azurine City, Illyria.
Wearing: XxX
Tagging: Adron Malvern

​

The old crone remained silent for a moment, the stern expression on her weathered and worn features remaining unreadable and inexpressive. The thorough effects of the darksides influence were evident in her, the marks of one that had lived under the embrace of dread and power for too long. It was then that she raised a hand, and the darkness in the room responded to it immediately, the tides of it rushing towards the younger woman in the corner of the room.

Palm felt as though a spear pierced her chest, coldness shooting up from the non-existent wound until it dominated her mind. The geminaie put up a struggle, a lot more merit to it than the one Greim had expected of her. But the result was the same. Consciousness abandoned the Ambassador, and the Sith Lady had the courtesy of not allowing her body to gracelessly drop to the floor - but instead simply be laid by the pillar behind her back. Her words would only be for the man before her.

"Interesting choice, Darth Malphas. I myself have not the patience for unwilling students." She had hunted them down while still living, and they had either learned or perished. There was no room for half choices, not that she would allow. One look into the younger woman had been enough for the Sith to see the traces of the tampering within her, the prints belonging to the man. While the topic had inspired the elder's interest, it was not something she would waste time prodding upon. At least not today.

The crone then moved again, apparently finding no effort in it despite her frail appearance - or perhaps it was just that the dead were not bound by the earthly restrictions of old age. There was no way of knowing. The spectre moved around the room this time, scrutinizing it all with an icy stare. She had all the time in the galaxy, and the energy she had just stolen from the geminaie seemed to invigorate her further - even if she had not gone as far as to harm her. "I am Darth Saytriss," the legendary name of the hunter Sith was now spoken, "and you are standing before the Vornskr holocron. My holocron." Perhaps among the most unique creations of the darkside to be found.

"I have preserved my very self in it. This, is my legacy." Unlike most holocrons, petty attempts at passing on snippets of loose topics, this was the very essence of her being. Her last sacrifice, her everything. Meir did not believe in pieced knowledge, nor did she believe in the foolish insanity that was storing it behind an incomplete gatekeeper to be found and used by the first lowly worm that happened to wander across it. So she had waited, and she had devised this artifact for many years. Bringing it to completion upon her very death, that it may never be an end until she deemed it so.

"Many have stood before me as you do now. Demanding my knowledge." She said, stressing the King's inital request once more. All of them had been worthless, unlicked cubs. Blind, purposeless even with the power they held. None had ever been graced with her secrets. Not one of them. The darkness that loomed around, shrouding her in an imposing power seemed to do nothing but increase with every moment the phantom spent outside its holocron.

"Do you believe yourself worthy of it, Darth Malphas?"​

 

[Adron Malvern]

MALPHAS​

Tags: Palm-Imer ​

The rush of the Dark Side was noticed by the Sith Lord and he embraced it wholly. Where the Sith Lady's power would flow past him and consume Palm-Imer his expression would not change at all. His attention remained fastened on the Ghost who had emerged from the Holocron. Although his eyes turned to Palm he quickly sensed she was in no immediate danger and the unconscious state she had been put in was merely a push for privacy? The things that were to occur did not concern the young woman from Geminidae...not yet.

When the woman spoke of Palm-Imer, Adron's response was pointedly direct. "If the New Sith Way is to thrive then patience is not something I may view as an option. She is young and her homeworld is far different from the standing galaxy, but there is a deep want in her heart and only this path will ever truly sate that thirst."

"Darth Saytriss. A pleasure." He responded with a novelty nicety that may have been something preferred by the living. However it was completely authentic. The Sith Lords and Ladies of old were something more than those who stood now. Those Sith now were muddled in complacent routine and viewed the galaxy as a sandbox for them to enjoy their days. Adron was not so fooled. He knew the truth of the Sith was the very word the old crone had just spoken. Legacy.

Her words did not intimidate him, however he felt there was no use in attempting to deceive or intimidate her.

She was dead. Her tethers to the known galaxy rested in the Force alone, nothing more. Which meant her knowledge could only be earned, not ripped from her as he often preferred.

Then the question came and Adron did not hesitate in his answer. "I am worthy of your teachings." He assured her.

"No, actually it is not just that I am worthy..." He corrected, before his eyes were set upon the woman.

"It is my right." He challenged.

"If the Sith are to evolve and become more than the dogmatic, pitless, worms they are now there must be a new vision. My vision. I have watched the galaxy closely and the Sith Order and all those tethered to the Dark Side have lost their sight. The same rings true for the Jedi. Carnifex had his chance as did my own Master, they squandered it." He revealed.

"So now the knowledge of the Sith is mine, as no others hold the sight to see past that which is directly before them."
​

​

 

[Palm-Imer]

Location: Dragonne Palace, Azurine City, Illyria.
Wearing: XxX
Tagging: Adron Malvern

​

The shadows from the room seemed to warp at the old crone's command, and across the King near one of the corners of the chamber, what seemed to be a modest, obscure chair formed - the ghost sat down, hands cradling the handle of the wooden cane, carved to display a vorsnkr's roaring face. It was indeed strange, that a force ghost would go to the trouble of making itself comfortable. Perhaps Adron's suspicion was very much right, and the elder Sith before him had many more secrets to keep than the ones she was purposefully letting on.

He declared himself worthy, and the crone listened to his arguments in silence - sapphire eyes locked on him in that very same unreadable and scrutinizing expression, as though it was within her power to pick him apart with just a glance. Unlike many Sith, Darth Saytriss did not need to rely upon her powers to read people, even if ripping through the walls of their minds could be just as easy. She noted the confidence in Adron's claim - the arrogance. It was not a novelty, for the woman in all her years had yet to meet a humble Sith.

The problem was that this arrogance was more often than not, backed by nothing other than empty words and deluded grandeur.

"You speak with authority on the matter - it raises the question of whether it truly is a Lord of the Sith behind your words...or just a King, another one of many." The sharp tongue of the crone made her judgement known once more. Every Sith believed himself to be the greatest, never had anyone answered her question saying they were not worthy. Indeed, the crone would have ripped them apart if they had - daring to come before her and ask for that which they admittedly did not deserve.

However, the crone did not disregard all that was said. She reached through the Force, feeling the Darkside expand around her to unprecedented lengths - the power that had earned her most of her fame and renown alongside with the prowess of those who studied beneath her and her ruthlessness towards them. And she found it wanting. A scowl began to form in her features, this was unacceptable. The Sith had degraded themselves in the recent times, as Malphas claimed, and this did nothing but raise the crone's suspicion.

Meir Greim would rather see her legacy lost into the void than in the hands of some incompetent fool. A Sith was the maker of themselves, one legacy would always kill another. It was their way. Ambition and power was their way.

"Tell me of your vision, young one." This time there was no derision in the monicker, just the authority and habit of an elder. The man had raised her curiosity, now it was a matter of seeing if he could back his claims. "Have you the power to see it realized?"

 

[Adron Malvern]

DESIGN​

Tags: Palm-Imer ​

Perhaps Adron had spent too long of his life in positions of authority. It tended to give him the thought that he was always right. He'd consider shifting his views if only they were proven wrong. So far this had not been the case.

"One of many?" He asked curiously before his lips drew into a knowing, purposely arrogant smile. "No, I assure you I am one of a kind." He promised her before waving his hand dismissively at his own comment. "The galaxy shifts at the behest of the power of a King. A Sith Lord with the mentality of a farmer will only ever know how to grow destruction. A Sith Lord with the mentality of a King has the ability to rule destruction. That is what I intend to do."

When Darth Saytriss revealed her interests, Adron had a rare moment to share some small sliver of his grand design with the woman before him. Why? Because her ability to influence the world was limited, because she had not interest in him past his ability to support her legacy, and because her Holocron was easier destroyed than her power was controlled. The Sith Lord stood across from Saytriss and was thoughtful as he spoke on the plan he'd crafted. "I watched how the Jedi inspired their people with hope and how the Sith subjugated their own with fear. You can imagine which was the more effective. Hold a blaster to a man's head and force him to give you every credit he has and he will do it. Also the first chance he gets he'd take that same blaster and destroy you with it. Now, take that same man and show him a vision he can believe in, fight for. Well, he'd give you every credit without a second thought, happily so."

"The people of the galaxy are no different from my own people. They want something to follow, however they want to believe it was their idea, their design, their choice to follow it."

"When I subjugated this world thousands were put to death and scores more had their wealths removed. Yet they dubbed me the King of the people because I took portions of the credits I took for them and redispersed them. I built a foundation based around defending those under me. Not because they are precious to me, but because they are my people and their fate falls under my own design. Yet, from their perspective I am a charismatic King with a love for his people. Let them have their illusion. They sing prayers for me in the night and die content."

"The Galaxy follows a consistent flow. Rise and fall, I need only watch and wait. Anticipate the gaps of power and influence and fill them with myself." He explained.
​

​

 

[Palm-Imer]

Location: Dragonne Palace, Azurine City, Illyria.
Wearing: XxX
Tagging: Adron Malvern

​

The old crone remained silent and unmoved as Darth Malphas answered her question, recounting about his ambitions and some of what had been achieved by him thus far. If the Sith Lady was impressed or found his reply wanting could not be discerned by her expression. That ever present scowl was nothing short of an impenetrable vault, the ruby-colored fire of her eyes burning any trace of emotion into ash before allowing it to surface. Unrushed to grace him with a reply of her own, Meir Greim carefully contemplated his every word and manner of delivery.

"A puppeteer, you would play the role of a deity." The elder simplified his words into one simple sentence. A shaper of his people's lives, a blinder of truths, it did not matter whether he would be replacing them with horror filled nightmares that would gift him their fear or well-crafted dreams, realistic enough to be passed as realities that would have him perceived as a generous giver and dutiful warden. He was clever, that much she would give him. But he was appeared overconfident and that could be a fatal flaw - her question now was whether she could make him grow and weed out that which would damage her own legacy.

As well as what he would do with it. His perceived entitlement to it, after all, cautioned the Sith Lady that she might have a fickle one in her hands. Hunt knowledge, learn it and allow it to wither in the corners of the unused mind. No. Shallow learners had no right to her secrets, nor would they ever.

There was only one question in which she would undoubtedly find her answer. Darth Saytriss could pick a person apart down to their very foundations based on this question alone. Her wrinkled hands tightened her grip on the cane for a second as she readjusted herself, one long exhale coming from the force ghost before she spoke up again - judging eyes still attempting to dissect him.

"You have taken on apprentices," It was stated as fact, how the crone could have known besides whatever it was she managed to see within Palm-Imer was a mystery but given her story it was not surprising that she could so easily categorize people as either teachers or students. The truly great were both, and it was time to discern whether this King could accomplish such a task. She had no use for one as deluded as to believe there was no more to learn, no more to give. The Sith were individualistic and sought power for themselves, Saytriss herself included, but once their life had expired, a true Sith was nothing if not what they had left behind.

Leaving behind a proper Sith, an extension of their power transformed, was the maximum feat in the eyes of the old woman. She would make sure whoever learned from her would pass on what was taught. "What are them in your vision? What are they to you?"

The one laying unconscious not far away from them could be a good example, his work in progress. Were his apprentices just the gains that the completion of his schemes would represent, or was there more?

 

[Adron Malvern]

APPRENTICE​

Tags: Palm-Imer ​

A deity.

What an interesting way for her to put it. In hindsight, yes that was true enough. He wished to have the same effect on those under him as a god would. However, he could never present himself as such. Gods and deity's were too far removed from the ones who brought them praise. It made them too abstract, too unreal for the mass of the galaxy to agree upon it. Still, Adron made sure to remember the words the woman spoke. Even if she chose not to share her power with him then her words were some lesson alone. All knowledge had its place and he was keen to utilize all that he could.

She mentioned his apprentices and Adron turned back to see the woman who laid upon the floor in a still position. Adron gazed out at Palm-Imer before considering the words of the Dark Lady who was before him. "Legacy." He said, before turning back to the woman who had questioned him so. "The Dark Side takes us all. Sooner or later we must become one with the Force. When I am gone and my dust settles what is left? I was older when I learned the truths of the Force and the Dark Side. Imagine what could be of my legacy if those I teach hold the potential to be greater than me." He explained to the Darth.

"I imprint on them, teach them, and show them the true path. They offer me their power as my hands in return." He told her. Finally he looked to the old woman before running a hand through the flat of his hair. "Your teachings would become theirs." He said to her, anticipating the train of thought that the woman had no doubt been following. Young he may be, yet Darth Malphas could read the woman simply because she held no stake in covering her intentions. "I teach only the worthy, same as you." He promised her.
​

​

 

[Palm-Imer]

Location: Dragonne Palace, Azurine City, Illyria.
Wearing: XxX
Tagging: Adron Malvern

​

Slowly, as the young man's words progressed, a smile began to stretch the Sith Lady's thin lips. It was sharp and looked cruel, it looked knowing. She had pressed him for answer and she had found them acceptable. Perhaps, and only perhaps, there was a future for her teachings here - in him and in those that were still below him. He had ambition and he was deeply rooted in the darkside. There something other than emptiness between his ears, and although his arrogance would need to be dealt with, the Sith Lady knew it could become justified.

If he was the student he claimed to be.

Meir Greim could see they shared common grounds on many aspects. Much like him, the legend-like woman had chosen an ambition which did not involve chopping at her fellow Sith in pursuit of one day having a fancy tomb erected on Korriban. No, she had been above their petty squabbles and misuse of the great power true Sith were entitled to. Instead she had made her home in another planet were darkness needed to plant its seeds. Much like he described, she had waited and made her moves expertly whenever the opportunity demanded until her influence was where she wanted it to be. Be it a person, a place, or even the very nature that had surrounded her and fed her longevity.

The waiting game was a game deviced for greater minds. Darth Malphas seemed to understand this. He seemed to comprehend there was more to the Darkside than just the power over the life and death of lesser beings. This alone was a quality she had found sorely lacking in most individuals. Power to the those who wanted it for power's sake was no more than trash. Used and meaninglessly discarded. But to those of a more refined view, in hands capable of more than vengeance or whims, it was the tool that would shaped the galaxy into their view.

"Very well, Darth Malphas. I have found your answers satisfactory." The crone finally ended her moment of silence, expressing her approval in a less than enthusiastic way. But it was approval none the less, and it was granting the Sith Lord what he had originally wanted. "I shall reveal to you the knowledge I cultivated during my lifetime, but rest assured that this privilege, this right you claim...I will take it from you should my opinion of you change. I would rather see my legacy ended than in the hands of an incompetent."

"If you are to be my student I will expect the same from you that you expect of your own." It also went without mentioning that the force ghost would watch carefully over the progress of Adron's own apprentices. Anything that she could judge would be judged, the elder did not need to voice this for it to be evident.

"Now, let us see what this New Sith Way has taught you..."