Dev Shadows of Atrisia

[Junko Ike]

The warmth was there and the floor went from tile that was cold to a fluffy rug... comfortable and soft... fur that wrapped around her feet that kept them warm as Junko was walking with a nod of her head. She could see the walls were ornate but this was a passageway into a private chamber that she would be able to use. The passage opened into a larger chamber and it was beautiful... thick fur rugs, tapestries and a massive bed set up in the center... large doors that led off and there was heavier locks for the doors and the passageway. Junko could see security was important as virtually nothing would be able to get through the doors if they were locked and while she saw a window it was closed as well but there was a larder with the remnants of food and drink.

"It is like a really luxurious panic room... like really lap of luxury... food, drink, sealed doors and window and enough space that one could have several guards without being crammed in." Miyoung said it while she was walking around and there were smaller alcoves designed to house servants or guards... a stocked armory that was full of weapons from swords, spears and bows to exp;losive for holding off an army within the narrow area. She could see the jar'kai blades that had been designed and it gave her a rough idea of the time line as before the jar'kai blade became an iconic part of Atrisia they did use swords and spears. THe shields having the emblem of the Emperess and it was an empress now that she could see it as she knew the empress of amber from stories about her beauty.

 

[Junko Ike]

"THe Amber Empress." Junko said the name or at least the title.. like many the royals eventually became their title with their names being lost to history or rarely recorded and known... it was a legend of a ledger within the Keisai whom recorded the history of Atrisia being at the courts of everything... being there to witness history. Junko was thinking about the things she knew of the Amber empress and the tales were mostly average she had been loved but not overly she had been fair and harsh at times but wasn't one to stand out... what she could remember were the stories of her reclusiveness.. she could go on pilgrimages with her handmaidens for years at a time and the chamberlain would be effectively running the Imperial court.

Miyoung looked at her and spoke. "I know that name but she didn't do much... she was said to have had a palace in the north but we have never been able to find it if it is there." Junko nodded in agreement... that was the biggest thing... no one knew where her palaces were... where her retreats were or where she had gone. It was a big secret thing that everyone would have so there was an air of mystery about her. The Chamberlain never seemed ambitious enough to seize power in those years and was loyal to the point most suspected something either nafarious like her children were being threatened or that she had been in love with the empress. "That is just it no one as far as we know has found these palaces... her places she would go to for years."

 

[Junko Ike]

Junko was looking at more of it.. this chamber was a bedroom but also part of a fortress and the view from what she could see of the window here looked out on the side of the mountain.. a beautiful vista but it was also smartly made so climbing to it would be next to impossible.... with a look at the sheer cliff that has been made smooth and was looking like a mist net style mesh at the window that functioned as an optical camo itself.. there might have been other windows like this allowing one to look out but the view from outside would be one of seeing the mountain. She could understand why these places were hidden and how now though... assuming others followed similar designs.

"If this is a template for the design quality of her other palaces... we might be able to find them or explore and search... it would be a major find if we were lucky historically but hard to say." The jedi princess was looking for more of it in her mind and they might have passed such places in her travels... the remote places, the most beautiful.. all of them held the potential to be just this.. to be a palace of the amber empress and one of her secret retreats. "This is an impressive design though a small palace with only her closest friends or staff... a chance to be with only the ones she wanted... but it does make me question what she was doing this far out."

 

[Junko Ike]

Miyoung seemed to be thinking about it and nodded. "I could see that but she was an odd one, all history said she was smart but she would disappear for long periods of time... then do some things that mostly just maintained Atrisia and the position of the royals but didn't change much and then she would go away again. Some emperors might have not done much either but they usually had some epic story tied to them and what they were doing or lack of what they were doing." Junko listened to her and she wasn't wrong.. the Amber empress wasn't known for her policy she was known for her absence and trips... but she wasn't hated as she didn't just take from everyone and disappear she mostly seemed to just be gone.

Junko was looking at more as she came to the massive bed and it was impressive... bigger then hers which was made so that she and well all of her handmaidens could sleep in it... a staple of Atrisian royals as one joked as several beds across Atrisia were that massive and that decadent that they could hold several dozen adults easily. Junko could see the carved posts of it from wood and it was beautiful designs that were still preserved same as the rest of the room. the mesh over the window keeping largely everything out as the sheets were there as well as some bowls that had rotted fruits at one point but they were so degraded it just was a stain.

 

[Junko Ike]

JUnko was investigating more of it... checking out what they were able to find here and searching for any clues.. she was guessing that it had been used by someone else aside from the empress but there was no clear evidence just the idea that there had been food and things stored here.... maybe... "Maybe she wasn't retreating to places like this." Junko thought about it and she came here yes but maybe this place was built for someone else and she was able to get here.. a retreat as it were. "What do you mean?" Miyoung said it while they were looking over at Junko and she had some fo the silk sheets that were still intact with minimal dust.

"So okay try and stay with me... the amber empress would disappear to a palace like this alirhgt but initially we assumed she was coming here randomly or just because... maybe there was someone being moved among these palaces if there are more we could find... someone she wanted to keep hidden from the people or the royals and she kept coming back." Junko was thinking about it and didn't commit to the idea as she could change her line of thinking. There was more then likely the chance she would be wrong but if there were more palaces that had been made then... hmmm they might be able to do a lot more.

 

[Junko Ike]

Junko's theory was mostly being told to Miyoung who took it in and nodded. "I mean princess it is not a terrible theory... a means to think about at least and if she wanted to spend her time secretly with someone... well she was the empress... she might have been doing any number of things by herself." Miyoung was checking out and looking at more of the things around them.. the bedchamber was large but it went out into a massive gallery that connected specifically to a throne room and barracks. WHile the palace was big and grand it was also condensed and streamlined so not to take up massive amounts of space being built into the mountain.

The gallery chamber though just off of the main hall was filled with art and statues.. pieces they had never seen before and there was another window looking out on the mountain range. The light filtering in for them to see and checking everything out as JUnko nodded to herself with a smile on her face. "NOw this is my type of place.. art and culture." SHe said it and the statues were beautiful, many of the drones brightening up the areas of it with alcoves in the place of torch sconcesthat could be seen. She would have to do more with this as it wasn't a place they could just not use.. she would leave a team and some droids but getting it up and running for the sanson in the area to be able to use.

 

[Junko Ike]

JUnko and Miyoung were looking at other parts of it.. the gallery had one fo the ancient maps of Atrisia from the era and they were overlaying it with the maps they had of current Atrisia which factored in tens of thousands of years... bringing everything from locations to cities and comparing them to mark anything that might be different or new in non-populated areas first and then populated areas... they had discovered temples and chambers in some cities but it was finding places like this that showed them usually others across the planet. THe Ai in the visor and drones that was working quickly started mapping and comparing it as locations were marked... nothing big but they seemed to be secluded.

"Hmm are they maybe other places like this?" Miyoung said it while she was doing and seeing the same thing with her visor as the hardlight band was over her eyes.. the soft lighting from it casting in the darker room but they could see everything perfectly. Junko was looking around at the rest of the room and seeing some of the art as well as some weapons that were highly exotic and unpractical in a fight but they looked interesting and a guard posing with them might draw attention... but to master them wasn't really an option... she knew several types like this and wouldn't be able to check out all of it. "There could be, this seems to be a gallery of antiques and art."

 

[Junko Ike]

Miyoung was looking at more of it and she moved to some of the artwork as her hands dusted off the pistures. Oil painting that had held for thousands... tens of thousands of years and were still quite beautiful compared to others that she knew would have degraded. The colors in the shadows were stark but JUnko could make out the traditional Atrisian form and how it was slim, muscled and pale... beauty standards had not changed as much compared to many in the years. Junko could see other pictures that were similar in design and must have been from the same artist... maybe or it might have been the style as it looked highly realistic.

"She looks beautiful." Miyoung spoke as they were looking over everything there and she took it all in. There was more artwork and Junko stopped moving the droids to light up the area around them as she saw torch sconces directing them to put glow rods and the room itself opened up. THe light around them as the center of it had two area... one a lounge and the other an area for the canvas to sit on a stand. "It is a studio... I think maybe the AMber empress was an artist compared to what some of the others saw... she might have painted all of these which brings more questions." There was a chime and Junko looked at the droid who was scanning pictures and statues. "Results say ninety eight percent chance these are all the same person."

 

[Junko Ike]

They were all the same person? Junko heard it and reading the results only made her more curious... she was someone of either great importance or there was the chance the Amber empress was incredibly vain and this was her... there were not images of her mostly stories and records... she was one of exceptional beauty when she was seen. Though her posing for this many pictures and statues was a strange thing to do... Junko was checking her memories and trying to think of something that would go better for them. "If it is someone who was close or improtant to the empress then we should try and find something... anything to learn their name."

"And if it is the empress then well maybe try to figure out if she was vain and this was all vanity or if this was something else." She wasn't certain but there was always a chance that the empress herself had had some obsessed stalker and the gallery was to well hide away the art... she might not have been able to burn and destroy it but sealing it away somewhere no one else would be able to see it... that was always a possibility. Miyoung was looking at her and at some of the images as she spoke. "You think the empress had a stalker making art of her like this? It looks rather posed and intimate." She said it and was looking at some of the other pictures that had been painted as they went around.

 

[Junko Ike]

Junko thought about it more and there was always a chance this wasn't the extreme.. but then one could never know... she knew there were dangers with stalkers but there was always the chance something innocent and regular turned dangerous... otherwise why hide all of this... or was she the one who was obsessive? She had dozens of pictures of the same person posed in different styles, different things... some of them classical and some of them modern for the time. Junko could see few deviations in the designs or subject but then she found a few that were groups of women... a few risque but mostly everything looked beautiful.

"I am more curious though about who she is... maybe someone of importance or someone loved but these all seem to be completed and locking them away like this a crime as it could have been part of the history and richness." She said it and Miyoung was looking at her as she ducked into an alcove and came up looking at JUnko for a moment holding something up. "Well she could have been wearing something like this... damn I will admit I thought your bikini was skimpy but these take it to a whole new level." JUnko looked at her and then at the outfit or lack of outfit it was mostly metal pasties and some string but it would cover up the important bits.

 

[Junko Ike]

"My bikini is not skimpy... it just is there to make sure I am not water logged and walking around the palace covered in soggy clothing." JUnko said it and stood there straight backed with a look at the girl as she thought about it. She had a reason for anything she did or wore it just so happened that well her swimsuit was nothing to debate in many cases. The empress had said something but didn't care as much.. just an observation and JUnko usually wore it when visiting a world like spira or even zeltros here. The terraformed moon of Yoshiwara was proving to be quite a place to see and would be one to visit as she kept up with progress.

"Yes of course princess, it is tactically chosen and not just because you enjoy showing off your body." Miyoung said it with aa roll of her eyes that was more playfully done then anything.. she wasn't going to argue and Junko offered a smile when she laughed a little to herself. "Well that is certainly true, we have a lot to work on though... as I think I am losing some of my systerious edge if you are starting to figure me out this fast." SHe had a better look on her face when she was looking at Miyoung and at the art... "Though now when we get back to the palace well I think I know what we should do."

 

[Junko Ike]

Miyoung had the benefit and curtesy to blush with that as she struck a pose for Junko. "Oh so you want me to pose for you just like that... as one of these Atrisian girls?" Her grin was wide and she looked at some of the group images that had been painted with detail... the women were all beautiful and the scenes well she didn't know how they had managed to hold position for so long but each of them were painstakingly detailed in their muscle and shape. Shadows, curves and from what she could see the area in the images was the bedchambers... the vista behind them showed the mountains in twilight. She showed it off to Junko though as there was a doorway in the room.

"What do you make of that?" She said it and JUnko was already moving with her as they brought the image and re-entered the bed chambers finding the angle. Grooves in the floor where a set up could be done to hold the canvas for painting and JUnko motioned for one of the droids to find just the right angle and map it. WIth the window in the background that was oppsite the doorway and they found it. The panel to open it in ancient Atrisian script but Junko worked on it as the lock was somewhat simple... pushing down the main one and the air puzzle generated a sound that needed to be tuned properly with the combination of stones.

 

[Junko Ike]

JUnko focused her mind as she was looking at the lock and she knew how to do it.. she had even with matsu taken it apart to learn what she could about it. That way they would be able to better understand and basically get into the ancient locks if they needed to. JUnko touched the keystone of it and heard the sounds she needed as it began to shift and touched the different ones as the air blew through aand slowly started to morph and tune itself. She was working on it and Miyoung took an interest in how it was handled but the droids were not very helpful with it.. the panels were harder to scan then most knew and she got it.

"Just a little more." She said it while looking at what they had there... checking on it and her progress by touching the stone next to the keystone and it would sound the original tune so she got an idea of how to make the air flow... then Junko slowly moved another and adjusted it to better resonate. Once it matched she could hear the click of the lock disengaging and the doorway opened. Revleaing a small room but it was filled with more art and pictures... she had expected treasures sure but these were... well Junko looked at some of them and realized what she was seeing with a small blush to her face when Miyoung joined her. "Oh my."

 

[Junko Ike]

Junko and Miyoung were looking at many of the treasures within and it was enough to even make Junko blush a little which got a look from Miyoung who giggled to herself. "Look at your cheeks... even you find this excessive and what is that for?" She said it pointing from the cheeks of the princess to the thing in front of them as Junko looked at it and she wasn't certain... it was certainly... big. "I am not sure but all I can think looking at it is damn and this might explain one or two thing." Junko though was documenting all of it for science and blady blady blah... she was important enough to make sure all of this could be explained.

"I am certain whatever the Amber empress used this for it was important... maybe... okay I got nothing but that she had all of this and the pictures does tell me that whatever she did wasn't entirely making her a hermit." Junko said it while looking at Miyoung who had found something else that was strange but she was holding it up and trying to figure it out. "Ah I think it goes like this." She demonstrated it with a look on her face where she would be able to use it and Junko laughed checking over it and some of the others. "We can play around with them later for now see if there is anything here or if it is just her closet of toys."

 

[Junko Ike]

Miyoung was looking at her and had a grin appearing on her face. "Alright princess, we'll see if there is anything important in here that might be abel to be used." She was looking at Junko but put the things away as they were searching around and looking at everything here. The jedi princess was wanting to find some of the things that they had before she moved to some of the shelves and it wasn't all toys.. there was some artifacts one could say were unique... treasures from other regions of Atrisia... tokens maybe of battle or conquests? She wasn't certain about them but she was trying to figure out what they had here.

"Well these are here... they might be from conquests, some of these look like they were from the horselords and some from the southern isles compared to the others. It might be gifts or riches she was given." Miyoung looked at her and shrugged. "Or given what we have seen... she got trinkets from her lovers." That got a look from JUnko but yeah she really was looking at the evidence presented from everything that they were finding and the jedi princess had some conclusions... the Amber Empress was a lover of well everything to the point she might have had conquests in each nation. She didn't know if the empress had diplomatic ties but likely diplomatic lovers in each region.

 

[Junko Ike]

"I don't know, maybe it was more romantic.. each one an unrequited love that came with her and she couldn't be with them because of obligations... that is why she had this palace... and maybe others. Where the formalities of station could be removed and they could just be." Miyoung was looking at her and it was times like this that Junko saw the little girl in her... the hopeless romantic who wanting to have everything be sunshine and rainbows for what they were doing. It brought her attention around though and Junko was able to see much more.... "Maybe... I won't say no but that is quite an idea and story." SHe offered a smile to her though and placed a hand on her shoulders.

Miyoung though seemed to think about it and well Junko could feel in the force the wheels turning in her head as she seemed to be thinking about more of it and the ideas... she loved the idea of tragic love and that narrative would fit many of her own ideals as Junko continued to walk around and search the small chamber. There was some other artwork for them. She could see some of the images and she was able to see much more going out of it as the drones scans were working and displaying for her. The artwork was extensive around the palace... several more galleries most featuring the same woman still but there was others like statues and murals painted on the ceilings.

 

[Junko Ike]

THe painted ceiling was masterfully done and Junko was able to see a lot more... it stretched out and extended across the entire hall she was in. A look over at Miyoung brought some of her attention though to more fo the smaller rooms. Where it looked like beds were set up for handmaidens... she knew that design and there was another that led into a guard barracks. "Plenty of weapons." Junko could see the spears and bows but also all of the swords and early technological wonders they had developed. Early blasters were not very effective but as a means of reverse engineering space based technology that crashed.

Junko was looking at more things they had here... the armor was dated but confirmed her theory about the amber empress... they could see more insignia's and they were able to find more information with letters from some of the guards talking about their time with the empress and how she had chosen them to protect this place. Where she was kept.. the woman in the pictures maybe? She couldn't be certain but it seemed the palace had been set up to house and protect them... sealing them away from the majority of the outside world save when the empress came to visit or brought guasts. No men or women were allowed to touch or speak to her.

 

[Junko Ike]

Junko stopped where she was though and found a seat.. the letters were collected from years but she was reading them and being able to set a sort of tone for herself. She was checking out more of it and smiled to herself reading it. "Hmm listen to this." JUnko held the on as she got Miyoung's attention. "We were brought in the middle of the night deep into the mountains, the empress was not with us but a select few of us were told we would be protecting her and that which was most important to her." SHe was reading more of it and there was a lot there but these had never been sent they were just here collected.

"The empress met us as we came inside of the mountain, her palace hidden and it did not look like a palace. She greeted us, she fed us and gave us new armor. Orders were sent that were were protecting a woman... someone whom to the empress was more important then the lives of all Kitel Phard.... we were her guardians and no one was allowed to touch her male or female among us... she was beautiful but she had eyes only for the empress... her skin golden with black tattoo's, smoky eyes and hair all around her." JUnko looked at one of the pictures and could see the woman she was guessing without the body paint and tattoo's... no the tattoo's were likely decorative and paint as well.

 

[Junko Ike]

"Hmm reading this and looking at it I think she might have been a concubine at one point, ancient rulers used to paint them with gold and ink so if anyone else touched them it would be seen... a way to eliminate lovers or competitors." She was looking more at the picture and the letters and trying to paint a picture for herself as it were of what had happened... a concubine in her own palace with guards... an empress who frequently took trips and vacations to see her... maybe but that was no problem.. there had to be something more to it. Junko wanted to try and figure it out but there were a number of possibilities as she delved back into the letters.

"The weeks turned into months, here in the mountains... the guards are the only ones keeping company. THis woman she doesn't leave her chambers often.. we have rarely seen her though a few of the guards have seen her servants... which only adds more questions. THe empress comes here to her... shouldn't it be the other way around unless she was someone important?" The words were interesting but she was finding a little more to it... maybe this was the only palace she had... it was secluded enough and secured. "We can hear her though at night singing, playing her instrument and rarely some of us have seen her dancing in the moonlight in the garden."

 

[Junko Ike]

Junko's interest was peaked about it, a chance to really learn more but this soldier wasn't the best and the letters were never sent even though whomever he was writing to seemed important. Whatever had been happening here was an important thing for the time and the empress. 'We have been protecting more, the empress even comes up here more often and stays for months on end it seems. Filling the halls with sounds and painting... we are often refilling her paints and replacing the brushes more now. Or making clays for statues, I never knew she was that artistic." So junko was looking at it... the painting and art were from the empress of this woman like they suspected.

"Hmm well that is one mystery solved." Miyoung said it while listening and she was looking over some fo the other letters that had been found... mail was well stacked in many cases here. They were all important and it seemed whatever the method used no one responded to them but some kept writing and some stopped after a time. "This one here is interesting." Miyoung said it and held one up as she was reading it. 'The empress welcomed us today, allowing the guards into the inner section of the palace. She was having a group of ladies from the various lords in the region and her handmaidens. It was a different party and all of us female guards were present to make sure no one entered."