Faction Star Temple, Redux || Ascendancy

[Oriadne Hallas]

♪ Because This Must Be - Nils Frahm ♪
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When the answer came from the man to her right, rather than the barkeep she’d asked the question of, her arm lowered and she turned her attention to the speaker. In that moment, her focus cleared as to who… or rather… what had just addressed her, but when he expounded on what ‘Amber Reserve’ was, with a chuckle, she too let out a few notes of a laugh. Laughter was a contagion she didn’t mind, when it managed to grab her. Instances too few and far between, for far too long.

“A pleasure, Hisashi,” came the effortless reply given to countless names, over centuries, as she settled into a side-sit to give him a fuller measure of her attention, brushing back the length of her cloak to hang comfortably, unintentionally showing a glint of a hilt, ”My name is Oriadne Hallas.”

Her students and other Jedi had called her Master Hallas, but here it was hard to say how her identity might be perceived, particularly as an outsider, thus far. She couldn’t be effectively idle for forever, and would have to get on with it, whether the bulk of her feelings regarding being here at all had resolved or not. This was permanent.

“I’m… new around here?”

That wasn’t a question. It was just strange to say, given her particular circumstances of… oh, I’m far older than I look. That was one way of putting it. Her brow furrowed, and she gave a firm smile, glancing at the wall of bottles again.

“To be honest, I’m open to suggestions that won’t sit me down,” she said, plainly, “if you have any, Hisashi. I haven’t had a drink in about nine-hundred years, so I’m a little out of date on what’s good.”

Unbeknownst to him, that was a literal nine centuries, no hyperbole. She hadn’t really had a drink since before the First Battle of Geonosis. The last anniversary she and Aron had truly celebrated together, in fact: he’d managed to get his hands on a really nice vintage of Alderaanian wine that year, and Thane, her eldest, was to be thirty years old, the following year.

“But nothing…” she wrinkled her nose, “...fruity. That’s my only request.”

She hadn’t yet been able to bring herself to find out what exactly had happened to her husband and children, despite logically knowing that they were most certainly gone. It was hard enough putting away her ring, to begin with, and she found herself absently thumbing the space it used to occupy, now and again.

Hisashi

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

WEARING: xxx
TAG: Lunara Azure , Yeshua , Finnea Virlee

The chill of a familiar presence tickled at the back of the wolf’s neck. While he would not allow her to see it, the Archon smiled briefly at his friend’s presence. No doubt there would be some volley of sarcasm between them, the other being their preferred target. It was the light and witty banter Gerwald had come to appreciate, the telling sign that he would never truly be alone.

He feigned offense when the woman robbed the tumbler from his hand and took a drink of his whiskey. His eyes could not help but notice Lunara had chosen an outfit which was as attractive as always. It would be a lie to say he did not find the blond to be beautiful, but their friendship was the sort Gerwald dare not act on whatever impulses he could entertain. Once a friend lost, always a friend lost.

“Terrible,” his deadpan reply came. “You are trying too hard.”

The wolf chuckled and turned his attention back to the crowd.

“We both know that life is never this merry. How many parties have we attended to escape the truth of what awaits us when the night is over? The Knighthood is dissolved, and tomorrow the Medjai hunt monsters to make way for the expansion plans of the Dominus.”

He had changed in his years absent. Yes, Lunara had found him, and she had made her sentiments known about how he had disappeared and letting everyone think he was dead. His time among his kind, the other Lupo, had shown him the horrors of the human condition in ways he did not dream possible. The wolf still had his own demons to fight, but the atrocities he had witnessed, the Lupo half transformed and skinned alive, did not simply vacate his mind when he wished it.

“We have been spotted it seems,” he indicated Yeshua and his companion Finnea Virlee . “You will get your way after all. You may pull me away from the shadows. I shall oblige my duties to the crowd.”

He offered his arm to the blonde as he made his way to the pair.

“Good evening… are you just arriving?”​

 

[Yeshua]

Methinks the lady doth protest too much.

Now, while the Vampyre was in no great hurry to descend to the surface, his Signifer made his unwillingness look small. Over the years that the duo had worked to lead the Jericho, Yeshua had come to know her quite well. As a professional, she was easily the voice of reason and the glue which kept the ship running effectively. Off the clock? She made him happy beyond measure. And so it was that he knew she would take some convincing. It wasn't as simple as snapping his fingers and pulling rank - not that he would ever dare to try with her.

That was a one-way ticket to the couch, after all.

"Listen...I'll make it up to you, yeah? Name your price."

Those were Yeshua's famous last words. They got the Engineer to agree to go to the surface, but he had no idea what prize she would attempt to cash in. That was a situation he would have to deal with when the 'festivities' were over. Until then, the Vampyre procured for himself a glass of wine whilst conversing with the white-haired woman. "Stardust isn't especially useful for hunting...monsters..." The word was difficult to say aloud. After all, there were plenty who considered his kind to be monsters. Yeshua then found himself immensely grateful that the Medjai were now apart of the empire. Lest he wake up to one of their blades against his throat.

"I've neglected to ask...what are you seeking? You know I'd move the world to help you find it."

In the moments that followed, their slow trek led them closer to the Archon and the Medjai Lord. Though rude, the Vampyre caught the tail end of the Lupine's lamentations via his own inhuman senses. Something, more or less, about the Medjai being used as tools for the Dominus' ambitions. Did the man not realize they were surrounded on all sides by cults, raiders, and other monsters that wanted to eat them? Yeshua hid his displeasure behind a sip of his wine before offering an elegant grin.

"Good evening! That we are. Thank you for opening your home to us." he began. "I am Yeshua, Centurion of the Regnum Star Legion. And this is my Signifer, Finnea Virlee."

Finnea Virlee , Gerwald Lechner , Lunara Azure​

 

[Hisashi]

Hair of Fire.

Perhaps it was the sake running fresh through his veins. Perhaps it was the laughter which reached his ears. The Demon could not quite put his finger on the source - but the moment reminded him of her. Outside of the Sal-Soren family, there was a single entity who had allowed to draw near. One who almost contradicted the cruel nature of nobility in Hisashi's life. But. Just like all who had used him as a hound of war, she too revealed her true colors. She played him for the fool, always running back into the arms of more noble killer.

The shinobi refreshed his cup, demanding his mind not to remember. And as quickly as the thoughts came, they were banished back into the abyss. In their place, Hisashi also turned in his seat slightly so that his full attention was upon the newcomer. She called herself Oriadne, and to date that was a name he did not recognize whatsoever. Not from the Knighthood or otherwise. The reason for this was clarified in her next breath, she was new to their midst.

"I see." he began. "Then welcome to the Medjai, friend." The Demon said, offering a genuine nod. At face value, he now took the woman to be a new addition to their midst. But in a mere moment's time, his eyebrows hit the ceiling. Nine hundred years? Well, in the grand scheme of things...they did contend with literal gods as their day job. A nine hundred year old woman wasn't the weirdest thing he'd seen among the Medjai.

"You appear young for nine hundred." came his remark - which he was certain she had heard ten thousand times over by now. But, he did not dwell on this. It was impolite to focus on women's age, or so the Sal-Soren household told him. Hisashi didn't get the big deal. For a moment, he pondered what sort of beverage might suit her fancy before reaching over the bar. He procured a small cup identical to his own and poured a bit from his own sake bottle.

"Here, this is not fruity. Nor will it put you down. It is...smooth." He then offered the cup to the woman.

"Have you taken your vow yet?" The question was relatively standard for members of the Knighthood. It was a step that new inductees or initiates did upon entry. For Hisashi, it was a simple conversation piece. For a new face...it might have been akin to being a fish out of water.

Oriadne Hallas​

 

[Luna Evanstance]

Bazaar

The young woman said nothing as Abel responded to her hair tugging. A wicked grin crossed her features- shifting the scar on her cheek and her verdant gaze was playful despite the feeling of being completely melted. “You grow used to it after a while,”

Commenting lightly on the topic as it shifted to something cool and in this case fruity. Luna wasn’t one to enjoy things such as fruit and vegetables and her usual diet consisted of food that was bantha steaks and booze. But at the moment, the idea of something cool and possibly refreshing sounded appealing for a change. “You know how I be feelin’ about fruit but I suppose there’s a first time for everythin.”

Opting to give it a try, Luna hooked her hand under Abel’s arm and weaved about others around them, and stood in front of the stall. Choosing something that looked the least damaging to her tastebuds to try, she waited for him to choose before placing the credits on the vendor’s counter space before forking a few pieces, giving it a good sniff, and finally deeming it ‘safe’ enough to eat.

After thoughtfully consuming the first few bites, the young woman gave a small shrug and a smirk. “Maybe it’s the heat or maybe this particular fruit is not all that bad.” Luna grew quiet as they shifted away from the vendor and began their original task of keeping cool while mulling about.

“I’m just here to follow you around and enjoy the view,” her verdant gaze made it very clear just what view she was enjoying. “As long as I can be keepin’ cool, I’ll look at just about anything.” She gestured to a few of the more unique options that seemed to be about.

​

Abel Denko

 

[Oriadne Hallas]

♪ Because This Must Be - Nils Frahm ♪​

The corners of her lips curled as he took her words to mean age, and she stifled another laugh, but she didn’t have it in her to correct him. It was enough that she had managed to mention her time-displacement so casually, at all, with all that it meant, and she wasn’t even sure herself how she should state her age, or if it even mattered. It didn’t, usually, unless you had a short lifespan, which most beings in the galaxy did, at least in her time, and she was sure that was likely still the case.

“Thanks,” she said, turning her attention away from the bottles again, with an amused smile, and no indication whatsoever that she had heard those very words before… because she hadn’t, “The Force has something to do with it, I imagine," said with a conspiratorial glimmer to those words. One way or another, those words were true.

When he offered the cup, poured from his own bottle of sake - his ultimate answer to her request - she took it, gratefully, “Thank you, but what…” and lifted the cup to her nose, the scent awakening memories that drove her gaze back to the shinobi, “...ah, sake...” Slowly, she took a sip, savouring it, and swallowing, becoming briefly pensive: only twice had she been to Atrisia itself - once as a padawan, and again as a knight, both as a guest of the Jedi Watchman of the time, Eijiro Masuda, a friend of her own master, while investigating gang activity that was beyond Eijiro’s expertise and purview. She took another sip, a distant look touching her face as she tried to put a finger on the particular taste of the beverage, after so many years between tastings, “...Honjozo?”

But not even a beat later, he asked if she had taken a vow, yet. What…? What vow? Oriadne put down the cup, “I... think you’ve misunderstood me,” she started, "but what I meant to say is I’m new to this sector, to Verun. So, I’m afraid I’ve taken no sort of vow, Hisashi," her brow knit lightly, "To be honest, I don't know much of the Medjai beyond the name, and snippets of conversation, regarding them, that I've overheard since my arrival."

Hisashi

 

[Lunara Azure]

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Wearing: This​

Tagging: Gerwald Lechner | Yeshua | Finnea Virlee ​

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"Curses, you know it's hard to achieve that broodiness that you seem to have picked up. Obviously you're going to have to teach me so I can look down at the city standing on a gargoyle and utter dire statements."

The blonde graced her friend with a soft smile as she slid her arm into his, reaching up with one hand to adjust his collar for a moment before resting her hand on his arm. A single slender digit poked him lightly in the side, an almost playful gesture to pull him from the path that he was wandering down.

"Life may not be this merry, it may be torturous and devastating but…that doesn't mean that this isn't important. That we don't need this. This affirmation. We need to remember that there are some good things left in the universe, that people can still laugh. If nothing else it reminds us what we're fighting for. Fighting for revenge, for…vengeance just leaves you feeling empty. Trust me, I've been there. I'd rather fight so they can laugh, so no-one else has to feel like us."

For a moment Lunara lifted her head to glance at the Lord Commander, blue eyes seeming to glow as they caught the light. She'd seen the hardness of the galaxy, was constantly reminded of it but tonight was meant to be different. A soft sigh escaped her lips as she glanced over at the other pair, reaching up to adjust Gerwald's collar one last time before settling her hand on his arm again.

"Remember, you're the boss, if you're grumpy then all the knights will think something is wrong. Try to smile…for me?"

It was so easy to fall back into the old habits, her old training and instincts coming to life again. Dealing with public perception, worrying about how onlookers would think, had been a core part of her training for many of her formative years. The room may be different, the people different but the lessons she'd learnt were the same. Bright blue eyes flickered over the man introducing himself as the blonde bowed her head gracefully.

"Lunara Azure, one of the Medjai Lords. Thank you for coming out, it's nice to see some fresh faces tonight instead of the usual crowd."

 

[Finnea Virlee]

Yeshuas question of what she was looking for had her turning her head to read his expression only to make her question herself for a second as a sting of what could only be happiness warmed her blood and made her smile soft. He had been right i front of her for years when she finally found him. Maybe this other...thing... she was looking for was right in front of her too? "I don't know what I'm looking for, actually. I already have you." She gave a quick smile of amusement as they kept walking down the hallway together. Perhaps her joke was just to cover up the fact that she was aiming high, that her mind could never be satisfied nor her anxiety ever be gone.

Her attention fell on the pair ahead of them and her steps slowed down enough to have her fall behind Yeshua a few steps, purely from old habit as his second. For a moment she considered taking a step closer to his side but once introduced as his Signifer, she kept her place slightly behind him and with her hands at a resting position behind her back and carrying no glass, Finnea bowed her head in their direction out of respect and kept silent, simply reading the room and the strangers in front of them. They could surely be trusted, any confrontation here tonight and it would surely be the start of an end but one could never be too sure. Although she was far from any security guard, just an engineer, she was alert and attentive at the very least.
--
TAG:
Lunara Azure , Yeshua Gerwald Lechner

 

[Hisashi]

Once more, the lessons of the Sal-Soren household reared their head.

It was only after the Demon had poured a portion of his beverage that he remembered the youngest's "lessons on etiquette." Though the instruction was meant for the little noble, by proxy, Hisashi was made to endure them as well. After all, he was supposed to listen to them. During those days, he was taught to ask before doing. To read rooms. To not impose. These were lessons which clashed horrendously with Hisashi's own heritage. When one was born and bred to spill blood, the luxuries of etiquette were an afterthought.

Fortunately enough, the fiery-haired woman seemed pleased enough with the offering. She raised the beverage to her nose and immediately identified it. Hisashi's lips curved into a light smile as she took a sip and then identified its brand. "You are spot on, Oriadne." he said. "I hope that it is to your liking."

At the mention of the vow, the cup was settled down upon the table. Her brow knit, a sign of light confusion perhaps? Her explanation made sense, though. He had assumed that her presence here and clear influence by the Force meant that she was a member of the Medjai. But, she was simply a new face visiting their humble abode. A rare opportunity indeed. "A thousand pardens," he said, lowering his head slightly as a gesture of apology. "let it be known you are free to rest here as our guest."

Though the conclusion of the day's events would see the doors closed to the public once more, Hisashi would take it open himself to offer the woman a place to rest her head. After all, she did have a fine appreciation for sake. When she mentioned that she did not know much about the Medjai, the Demon took this opportunity to share.

"We kill monsters." came his simple answer, punctuated by a sip of his beverage. "This world and all around it are filled with beasts - and worse, those who can control them. They try to kill the people. We protect them." The mission was simplistic enough, but there was more. A long lineage that stretched back to before the second Confederacy. But, Hisashi was not the historian type. Rather, he kept things to the point. "There is one called the Unmaker. It is...a god. A devil, perhaps. It wields great power and can lay low entire worlds. We also vow to hunt it and its minions."

From thence, Hisashi chuckled aloud. "It is...quite the day job. But the bar is always stocked."

Oriadne Hallas​

 

[Oriadne Hallas]

♪ Because This Must Be - Nils Frahm ♪​

It was to her liking, this sake, and not only out of fond memory - it was smooth and pleasing. While learning to tolerate, respect, and… detoxify drink had been part of her training, a tool in her kit particularly when undercover, she had gained an appreciation for it on her own; how it had a myriad of uses throughout countless cultures, different flavours and effects, and could facilitate bonds.

Attachments were, of course, frowned upon back then for most Jedi, other than the likes of herself and Ki-Adi Mundi, where low or declining numbers meant the restriction was lifted. Even then… it had taken her most of her two-hundred years to get around to it, but there was something to be said for waiting, when it had given her Aron.

When he mentioned that she was free to rest here, she looked down at her glass, knowing that she was going to need to figure out where her future laid; the brunt of her recovery was over with, and continuing to get stronger could be done with less involvement from those who had tended to her wellbeing. This meant she would soon need to vacate the room that had been her home these past four months, but this wasn’t immediate.

“Thank you… I might take you up on that,” she replied, her tone a tad humoured from sharing a laugh at his last words; putting her hand around the glass, she continued, giving a firm smile, “if I haven’t figured out what I’m doing with myself in the next few days. I have somewhere to stay until then.”

Lifting the glass, she took another good sip.

“Beasts?” When she thought of beasts, her mind turned to the tales and truths of dangerous creatures large and small that she had never encountered in all her years - her quarry had usually been more sapient, or inanimate, and sometimes suffused with negative, dark energy; she pursed her lips in thought - controlled how? And if not controlled, would they be less of a threat? “Sounds like there’s never a dull day, for you all.”

And gods? How many supposed ‘gods’ had there been over the millennia? She blew out a breath and willed her thoughts to stop chomping at the bit. Learning to give her mind a rest had been the greatest challenge of her life. She had always been ‘on’. Whether that was a side-effect of being a Jedi, or it was just her, was anyone’s guess.

“So, what do you do when you’re not hunting monsters and protecting innocents? Surely drink isn’t all there is…”

She took another sip, and dropped an elbow on the bar counter, planting her chin in the palm of her empty hand.

“...what is it that Hisashi does with his free time?”

Or was he like as she had been before ending up here, ‘married’ to his work?

Hisashi