Dominion Tell It To My Heart | SO Dominion of Praesitlyn

[Gerwald Lechner]

WEARING: xxx
WEAPONS: Ferrum Solus | Blodmåne | Strømafbryder
SHIP: Úlfs Reiði
TAG: Oleander Webb | Madrona A’Mia | Lunara Azure | Allyson Locke | Darth Malum of House Marr | Lina Ovmar

{ Good. I am on my way. We will meet at the palace. }

It seemed the cousin ( Allyson Locke ) had done her work. Gerwald had no doubt in his mind of whether she was capable. Her reputation preceded her in many regards. The Wolf simply needed to test her willingness. It was not an easy thing for one to turn sides, but if this one would, if she was willing, then her skill set would be invaluable to the Wolf. He had been in the shadows, hiding behind others for too long. It was time that he stood in the daylight to distract from what those who followed him were doing.

The fear and panic which spread through the crowd was palpable. It drew Gerwald back to what had been done in Echnos City. They did not have a phobia device with them this time, nor a dread master to operate it. Gerwald was determined after what took place with Srina Talon that he would learn. The continual sacrifices she made to see the plans of the Order succeed demanded a high price more often than not. She did not need to shoulder the weight of it every single time.

Gerwald hoped she would have been proud of his achievements, bringing new and old together for the assault on the city. Regaining Oleander Webb had been a boon to the Wolf, and with his assistance Gerwald was certain to rise to higher places. Naturally he would bring the shadow with him. A rising tide lifted every ship, and those which attached themselves to Gerwald would find themselves elevated as a reward for their loyalty. Besides, among the Sith there were few the Wolf could call friend, and Oleander was one of them, even if their relationship was complicated.

His mastery of the mind pushed the people into a frenzy which made the seeds of rebellion which Darth Malum of House Marr and the Tsis Ka’ar had sown. Lunara Azure conducted her symphony, draining the people of thought. They did not behave as though they were irrational. Rather their actions were devoid of any thought whatsoever. They were drones at the command of the sorceress much in the same way the plant spawn obeyed Madrona A’Mia .

She had created an opening for him which had been overwhelmed by the rable. Gerwald had two choices. He could either push through like a battering ram, or he could take advantage of the makeshift siege ramp which had been created by the Neti. Normally he would be inclined to think the shortest distance between two points was a straight line, but the crowd would be a good distraction to the guards.

He pressed more power into his hind legs as he made his way up the slanted path, contorting his form showing just how agile it was. The Wolf leaped over the gate, and began to shift as he landed. By the time his feet were on the ground, Gerwald stood at his full height once more, the beast became man again.

His hammer, a gift from Lunara Azure , battered the remaining locks on the gate letting them open with ease. The riotous crowd flooded into the courtyard and began to take out the guards which had been stationed on the other side. Smiling, Gerwald walked toward the palace, to the location where he had told the others to meet him.

He opened his mind, looking for a familiar presence, one he was certain would be watching.

<< “We are better when we work together, Darth Malum,” >> his words would echo through the force should his counterpart on the Dark Council choose to accept them. << “Let this be the proof of it.” >>

As his soldiers made quick work of the gathering forces, the Wolf gathered with those he had brought into his fold. It was time for the next part of the plan. Gerwald addressed the Neti first.

“Thank you for your assistance. The creatures you command are… intriguing. You will have to tell me more about them later.”

He turned to Lunara Azure . His brow raising when he noticed her arm in Oleander’s. He offered the man a quick look before addressing the blonde.

“I believe you said you had an idea?”

 

[Kaila Irons]

​

"...you call this subtle?" She questioned, tilting to one side so that she may count the trail of bodies left by the Chiss.

This Tsis'kar was about as Kaila had expected, despite her fleeting hopes to the contrary. Arrogant, but like her master, Darth Keres, Parasideus and so many others, she was so utterly... Apathetic. Kaila hated apathy. Passion was the first tenant of their code, yet often the most overlooked, often to the detriment of oneself and those around them. If only all sith were as passionate as Empress Srina Talon was towards her empire, or as Kaila was towards her own agenda. What a golden age that could have been.

The Tsis'kar was right however, the Kainate lacked the subtly of the new order as of late, acting much the same as they had when Carnifex was still emperor. When Kaila originally joined the Sith, long before Mandalore fell and in an age where the Chiss homeworld still lived.

Interestingly, Kaila's own training had diverged from the path of an assassin sometime between those early years and now, her master having never taught her how to hide her presence from the force as he had done his other apprentices before her, such as Samara and later Adeline Noctua . But why? was the ability to remain hidden not just as important to her duty as a seeker as it was to their role as assassins? Why was he holding her back, even now?

Yet she was not incapable of other subtleties. The Tsis'kar would feel none of what Kaila did, nor could she see into her thoughts, not while she wore the mask. It was in fact quite necessary equally to that of a force cloak in her line of work. To the chiss, it may even feel as if there was not a single thought in that masked head of hers, as if she were a mere droid who somehow mimicked the outward expressions of humans.


Such as crossing her arms and standing completely still as the woman passed to engage the enemy.

She said to stay out of the way, after all. She could do the dirty work for now...

"What do you seek?"

"I think it more accurate to ask who do I seek"

She admitted with a shrug, watching the violent lightshow unfold in front of her as blaster bolts were tossed about. Kaila all the while continued to stand motionless, lightsaber having since deactivated and floated gently into her belt without even a gesture to signify the use of her abilities. What she lacked in physical subtleties, she made up for in the sorcerous arts instead. That, and in politics. In dealing.

"Just a... Missing person, of sorts. Gone for a very long time, but I'm told that... your people, are good at finding individuals, whereas I am better at finding things. I'm sure we could come to an arrangement, we both serve The Empress, after all."


Ansisa

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

​

Theirs was a game that went beyond most, as much dangerous as it was so intriguing, as much pleasurable as it held the potential for pain. It was the intoxication that drew him in, it was the hangover that drew him back. There was much in that smile, in being caught despite his measures to hide it that caused his heart to quicken its beat. There was a dryness to his lips, as she turned her full form to him, even physically, his mind wandered far too easily.

"Is it that you are so confident of your abilities, or you find Darth Carnifex to be lacking?" Malum countered, though much less a counter, and a moment of genuine curiosity, thirty years was a long time, and even disregarding that she hardly looked much older than him, either she had done an excellent job of hiding.

Or she was hardly the Butcher King's focus.

He followed her gaze out the window, for a moment idly curious at what she was looking for, to then only have a whisper cross his brow.

<< “We are better when we work together, Darth Malum,” >> his words would echo through the force should his counterpart on the Dark Council choose to accept them. << “Let this be the proof of it.” >>

Malum smirked, at the words, well that was a change of attitude, so much that Malum could hardly be certain if it was legitimate, still, he was hardly one to look a gift horse in the mouth, "You will find no disagreement from me, Lord Lechner," Yet, this brand of relationship, in such high halls of power, all was compromise. Malum had already compromised so much, if only as he thought this was the right path forward.

Could he trust that the Wolf would do the same? "Let Praesitlyn herald the friendship of wolf and raven." A friendship against who? Malum was unsure, if he could draw the Wolf's ire against any of those many who stood in direct contrast to the good of the Order, if only for many, Malum himself was one of those individuals himself.

Malum blinked away the thoughts transmitted through the force, as the mix of teasing and dark voice of Lina filtered across his ear, Malum's smirk remaining easily upon his face, "Shall we begin all our meetings with disagreement? You are late by the timetable we established, your schedule's unwillingness to compromise with mine, hardly makes you not late," He replied, with no malice in his voice, indeed, despite the words spoken, the smile hidden beneath the mask could still be heard, disarming those emeralds, that certainly, hardly, trusted this.

It was understandable, Malum hardly did either. He closed the distance between them by the end of her final words, it was a risky notion he knew, but all of this, was only as exciting for how risky it was. As one hand found itself, trailing a single raven lock, as black as his own, the other was at his mask, a brief hiss erupting out between them, as the replica dislodged from his face, returned to its place within his robes, as he gently shook his head.

An aquiline nose, thin lips pointing to the heavens, red eyes that blazed with as much danger as mirth, painted onto the canvas of a noble defined face, all framed by raven locks that fell down to his shoulders, "The most pressing matter on my mind?" He mused, their forms claustrophobically close, the very same challenge laid as their encounter so long ago, demanding that it be her that backed down, "...Well I believe I asked it already, how are you, Lina?"

The smirk widened.

Lina Ovmar Gerwald Lechner
Mentioned: Darth Carnifex

 

[Ansisa]

The barest of smiles tugged at the corners of Ansisa's lips as Kaila's lightsaber drifted back to her belt, her request to stay out of her way taken literally in every sense of the word. The security guards were gathering rapidly at the end of the hall. Her red gaze drifted their way as the girl spoke her request. Ansisa reached out to the guards, to the thermal detonators on their belts, activating them all at once.

There was an eruption of panic as they stopped their firing and sought to remove them from their belts. Ansisa stepped back round the corner out of range of the blast tugging Anathemous with her by the elbow. The explosion shook the floor and the dozen or so lives snuffed out in an instant. The disinterest she had originally shown was gone behind a manic smile. She was a killer through and through not just because of her training, but because she enjoyed it.

She turned her gaze to Anathemous again. "I serve the Tsis'Kaar, and Darth Malum of House Marr , not the Empress. I could help you find a person, easily enough, but there is the age old question to be answered first." Her head tilted "What's in it for me?"

 

[Lina Ovmar]

Lina let out a small harumph of laughter at his counter. "I never make the same mistake twice, that has no bearing on my abilities or his. If he truly wants me dead, he will come for me himself. The bounty Sarlow placed is nothing more than the tantrum of a broken hearted man."

A lover scorned, because Carnifex couldn't keep his mouth shut about her more carnal activities, because he knew if she had had her way, that Sarlow had been so utterly devoted to her, she could have turned him against his own family. His firstborn would have become a traitor to him and that was something he simply could not allow.

And so the board shifted, the pieces changed and the game went on.

Malum's movement closer was a quiet demand for her full attention, one that made her emerald eyes glitter with laughter. He made it far too easy for her. She faced him again, greeted by his slender face and glittering ruby gaze as his fingers trailed a single lock of her hair. He was beautiful, there was no other word for it.

She drew in a deep breath, exhaling with a sigh out of her nose. She had no intention of backing down, she enjoyed the attention, enjoyed that she seemed to draw this weakness out of him so easily. Her hands however, remained interlocked at the small of her back as she leaned forward.

"I'm perfectly well." she said in a low voice, her own smirk playing on her lips. "But, you didn't ask me to meet you so you could find out how I am, Malum. We can continue to play this game if you like, enjoy ourselves while Lord Lechner does all the hard work in bringing this world to heel." she brushed her nose against his, "Or we can discuss other things, like intelligence, business, or the fact that your cousin Revna is currently a captive in the Malsheem."

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

​

"Will he come for you himself?" Malum questioned, the hint of concern palpable in his voice. She had done as he had expected her to do, to turn away from him when he was his making his intentions rather clear was never her way, but there was always the chance, as low as it was, that she would be disinterested in such advances. Still, that event had not come to pass, and he was all the more thankful for it.

His hand, thus far concerned with her hair, trailed down to gently caress her cheek. His heart beat as quickly as it ever did, as mirthful rubies met laughing emeralds. A constant unspoken conversation spilling between them, through taunting looks, and all ever else, which of them was being manipulated, which one of them was the manipulator, who was the seducer, and who was the seduced?

Malum well expected that they both thought they held the advantage.

He was only unsure if that meant that neither did, both slaves to the pleasure that the other could provide them.

He held no hate for the Zambrano, beyond the fact that he was in fact a Zambrano, still, if he had treated it like the curse it was, rather than celebrating it, exploiting it, the ill-begotten gains of his father, he might have liked him far more... alas, he did know of one Zambrano that was exactly of that nature.

Malum did not much like him either.

Still, Malum could not deny there was some guilt, in the principle of what he had done... for all that they were meant to be in control of themselves, it had been far too easy, to betray sense, to betray loyalty, to be taken control of that primal beast within them, when the time had come.

Yet... even that explanation was far too easy, to throw away his agency was to throw away his culpability... if anything, he himself had been the primal beast, and he refused to refuse himself from the feast.

His other hand fell forward, coming to rest by her waist, the invisible barrier between them, that they both tempted, both teased, broken, as her smirk drew him ever closer, as she closed the distance as her words spoke sweet melody in his drums, and her nose brushed husky hot breaths against his own. He felt the tremor go up his spine, the barest excitement for all that would come next.

"...I am glad you are well..." He murmured, closing his eyes, as the hedonistic air took hold, so enticed to press her back against the wall, "...You are right, I did not... but would you be opposed to spending a rainy night in such a manner?" He replied, as the smirk ever widened, enchanted... needing to take her lips.

Only for the last of her words, to cause him to still.

Red eyes snapped open, as the flames began to whirl in crimson depths.

"What?"

Lina Ovmar

 

[Oleander Webb]

WEARING: x
WIELDING: x | x
TAG: Gerwald Lechner | Madrona A’Mia | Lunara Azure | Allyson Locke
ADDITIONAL: Darth Malum of House Marr | Lina Ovmar

"Ah, a gentleman, it's good to know that chivalry isn't entirely dead…as much as some here would like us to believe it."

Oleander shifted at the comment, almost immediately regretting his display of...he didn't even know what it was. Still, he wasn't about to shy away, already locked into the role of escort the moment she accepted. The weight of another on his arm was a strange sensation, one he hadn't felt since before he was locked away in stasis, if ever.

His brow rose as Madrona A’Mia spoke. "Didn't know there was a king," he said with a thoughtful hum. He could've left it at that, introductions were seldom important in his line of work. More often than not, anonymity was an asset. And if he truly were to be Gerwald's shadow in all things, it would be a necessity even among supposed comrades. "Oleander," he offered with no further explanation. Lunara Azure had already mentioned that name, after all. Everything else he could keep close to his chest for the time being.

And so, they progressed forward. Death kept a trained eye and even more finely tuned senses out for complications, navigating what remained of the mobs and stragglers as they made their way to the palace. The transition was made easy by the siithspawn under the Neti's control and Allyson Locke 's technological mastery. It was another strange sensation, to walk in the open rather than slink by unnoticed. His instincts egged that urge to remain hidden on, remaining rooted only by the pressure attached to his arm.

The look sent his way by Gerwald Lechner had him averting his gaze. Despite the lack of heat his body produced, Oleander could almost feel a hint of warmth gather in his ears, the urge to slip back into the shadows growing nigh-unbearable.

 

[Lina Ovmar]

Lina shrugged in response. "Carnifex is anything but predictable, but if I was to take an educated guess, I would say he is waiting for my next move. Deciding whether I am worthy of his effort to eliminate or whether I am little more than a nuisance to be ignored and brushed aside."

The longer she was underestimated and left to her own devices the more he would come to regret it. Her strength was growing, quiet alliances had been made and she was devoting more and more of herself to gaining power in more ways than one.

Lina's hands slid over Malum's waist as he drew closer, clutching gently at the fabric of his robes. She knew what lay beneath, she knew that they would both enjoy themselves, perhaps ease some of the tension that had risen for both of them. She enjoyed their game, but that was all it was to her, Lina bore no attachment to him, to her Malum was simply a pretty thing to pick up and play with on occasion.

Oh he certainly had other uses, his position in the Dark Council would make him a useful ally and the Tsis'kaar were hardly a resource to be ignored. But they were not there yet, for now their dalliances were little more than a distraction while they figured out whether trusting the other was a wise move.

It was like the shattering of glass, a tender moment obliterated into a thousand pieces as her words found their mark. Lina didn't pull away, to pull away would be to concede the match and Lina had no intention in giving ground. "Hmm. I thought that might get your attention, I am surprised you had no idea." She placed a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth. "Though I imagine that has a lot to do with the fact that Darth Strosius would not see fit to tell you, what with you intent on killing each other in this ridiculous Kaggath."

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

That they were this close, that as the colds and the rains fell from outside, they were huddled ever closer to each other, enjoying the warmth that they both exuded, despite the clothing that remained between them, that she reciprocated the intimacy of his touch, all which would have otherwise filled him with utter joy. Now, tasted entirely of ash.

Even as his mind reflexively noted down all which she said, he himself was unnaturally still, as his mind processed information that was frankly too absurd to be true.

His cousin... Revna...

"Explain. Now." Malum thundered back, a deep guttural growl escaping his throat, as his hand once so gentle by her cheek, in a flash of lightning was now held by her shoulder, pressing her back against the wall. There was no intimacy in the gesture, even as their forms were ever closer, only an unsaid promise.

She would not escape here without giving him an answer, and if it was a joke, some jape... well.

Malum did not know what he would do.

It was the mention of his appr- co-apprentice that gave him yet another moment of stillness, a stillness she exploited, as she leant forward, though it was far from a difficult motion with their breaths already melding in the air between them, laying a chaste kiss upon the border of his lips. At any other time, he might have enjoyed that so much more, he might have chased those lips that professed much, and promised so much more.

"...He knew, and he did not tell me?" It was a question with an obvious answer, it was a question said plainly, without emotion, as his grip tightened around her waist, as the vice firmed on her shoulder.

Lina Ovmar
Mentioned: Revna Darth Strosius

 

[Lina Ovmar]

Lina let out a grunt as she was slammed against the wall, something dangerous flashed in her eyes as he growled his demand at her. She had expected a reaction like this, but that didn't mean she would allow herself to be treated in this manner. Dark Councillor and leader of the Tsis’Kaar or not. He was just a boy.

Shadows spread at her back curling into wings of smoke that folded around her as she vanished from beneath his grip, reappearing back by the window, the emeralds in her eyes vanished behind glittering obsidian orbs.

"I'm getting a little tired of being used as a punching bag for other people's emotional outbursts. I had every intention of telling you everything, even before I've had a chance to report it back to the person who actually asked for me to find out more."

The smokey wings folded against her back. "But now? I'm not sure you deserve to know anything." There was venom in her tone, whatever game they had started, gone. "You're the leader of the Tsis’Kaar and you didn't even know your own cousin was taken shortly after my wedding. She's been in there for weeks, and you are so focused on this Kaggath that you have forgotten about your family."

Unkind words, perhaps too much so, but she was angry. Her anger was not born from.being slammed against a wall and made demands of, her anger was at everything. At Darth Strosius , and Darth Carnifex at Sarlow...all men who continued to underestimate her, to believe she was something small to be used.

Lina closee her eyes and took a deep breath, pushing it back down. The shadows thay danced around her stilled and vanished.

"Ask me nicely."

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

He knew the moment that her back slammed against the wall, the moment her eyes darkened to a familiar hue, that he had made a misstep. Yet, tempered with a hot anger righteous, and a cold rage unrepented, that was only prevented by unflowing by one who had spent his entire life learning to maintain his composure, contrasted with an individual that was too well naturally attuned to the Force for such lessons to ever properly take root.

Still, it was all enough that as the hot breath escaped his nostrils, he stood remarkably still, as the shadows emerged behind her back, he did nothing. Sensing little danger, as her warmth disappeared in a puff of smoke, as red eyes found themselves once at emeralds, once at obsidian, and now, simply nothing but the wooden wall.

After all, when her presence reemerged by the window, he knew he had no reason to fear.

And as her words began to wash over him, as words designed to anger him ever further, that might have once made him lash out at such salting of his newly revealed wounds. Well, even now he might have, if not for the fact that he was not so angry to completely ignore what exactly she was saying.

I had every intention of telling you everything, even before I've had a chance to report it back to the person who actually asked for me to find out more."

His appre- co-apprentice... he could not imagine anyone else. That at the very least meant that despite all that occurred, that in this instance, unbeknownst to him, they were allies still. It meant that the Lord Inquisitor and the Lord of the Tsis'Kaar were bound in this single focus... it meant that Malum would need to approach the upcoming Kaggath in a very certain way.

One which near guaranteed demise.

But if it could be afforded...

"You're the leader of the Tsis’Kaar and you didn't even know your own cousin was taken shortly after my wedding. She's been in there for weeks, and you are so focused on this Kaggath that you have forgotten about your family."

If he was facing her, she might have seen the ugly scowl that flashed across his features before he settled them down, she knew how to speak harshly, but despite the fact that his hands were crumpled into fists, nails biting flesh, as he stood with every intention to do whatever was necessary to gain the information he sought.

She, whether on purpose or not, revealed much.

Shortly after her wedding?

At a location for weeks?

Alone those two facts would mean very little, but combined, and with the third piece of information, the implicit notion that the Tsis'Kaar would know where she was if he was not otherwise distracted... was that true? She spoke out of a very specific anger herself, a frustration, but a location where she had been for weeks... a location that which Lina knew of, and that she seemed to have access to... and after her wedding.

A vision of a great spheroid filled his mind.

There was only one location that he knew of that fit the bill, a structure considered neigh unassailable by its constructor, a structure large enough to fit all which he would ever require, if such a place existed... why place her anywhere else? Especially, when he was one to have her close at hand...

Malum let out a small chuckle, yet there was no amusement in it. For all which he would have to do to survive, now even if he did, he was promised annihilation anyway.

Such was his life.

"Ask me nicely."

Malum turned his head, as she closed her eyes, as the darkness faded from her. He did not need her intelligence, he was confident of that much, and she was hardly one that could achieve him a position within the Malsheem, she was as much marked for death as he was... still... she did at least deserve something.

Malum nodded his head, "My apologies, my lady, that was conduct far befitting a Marr, and I can only hope for your forgiveness," As confident as he was of his assumption, it was at the end an assumption.

He needed confirmation, "...Alas, I have assaulted the Malsheem once, if I have to do it again to save a member of my House, I will do it again," His eyes watched hers carefully, as his mind plotted out a plan, he would need the Mors Vistra in full combat operation if he had any chance of this.

All the while...

His thoughts turned to the Empress... she had always offered him succour... maybe in this too, she might?

Lina Ovmar
Mentioned: Darth Carnifex Srina Talon

 

[Lina Ovmar]

Lina clicked her tongue in annoyance. She did not forgive him. She didn't forgive any of them. At least he had regained his composure, though she did not trust him to maintain it. The darkness that had erupted from within her faded away, obsidian bleeding away from her eyes as she seemingly relaxed.

"It's not as simple as an open assault and rescue. The cells in which she is held are deep within the Malsheem and that's assuming Prazutis does not pull her out and use her against you. Besides the Kainite propaganda being shoved down her throat and the daily conditioning she is being put through, she has a device embedded in her spine, connected to her nervous system."

Her expression darkened, remembering the pain that had spasmed across through the girl at random while they had spoken. Just because. Because he could. The arm that had once held Carnifex's mark seemed to burn with memory. Her hand twitched, resisting the urge to acknowledge it.

"From what I was able to learn before the divorce, is that Prazutis controls it and uses it to inflict pain. Anytime she disobeys, anytime she tries to turn on them, if she shows even the slightest hint of disrespect it has the power to bring her to her knees. Feth he sometimes just activates it for the sake of it. You march in there and try to haul her out, he'll likely use it to kill her. On the off chance you are able to get her out? Removing it without killing her…" She shook her head.

Lina fell quiet, letting her words sink in as she watched the rain lash against the window. She'd promised Revna she would get her out, one way or another and she would. She had hoped to be able to spend more time with her, to offer her comfort and help her keep herself, keep her hoping.

"She is strong. She will endure." she said softly.

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

There was no verbal reaction to the apology, but Malum took the darkness fading from her form and her eyes as good a sign as any, it seemed that neither was she shocked by the fact her first round of information was already known by him. He had an inkling he knew why, as the rest of her words spilt forth, a mind was fast away at work, the Malsheem had been obvious enough that she had simply assumed that information was freely known, he supposed that was reasonable enough, alas... there could have been other possibilities as well.

Still, the rest of what she revealed, he had no belief that he could piece together in any reasonable manner.

And even if could, as he felt the blood drip down his fingers, as the nails bit in deep, as his breath was growing still to a calm that was beyond him, as his eyes stared at her, the same manner in which a tiger considered prey.

He was unsure if he would have been able to use anything he determined any useful manner.

His eyes closed, seemingly lazily, yet rather than a blink, they remained closed, his mind flashing through great torrid expressions of torture, as he fully immersed himself in the possibilities of what could be occurring to his cousin, his blood, with him, apparently powerless to do anything. He had met Darth Prazutis a rare few times in his life, but every time, the black ichor that ran down his heart, was impossible to ignore.

Well now.

Oh what he would give to take off his fingers, one by one.

What he would give to watch a rat bury itself deep within his stomach.

What he would give to have his hands grip down upon that fat neck, and begin to squeeze.

Oh, what he would not give.

Red eyes burst open, the flames within burning a wildfire, at the sound of a skin moving, as for but a second he saw her arm... her arm... that had once held a rather particular piece of artwork...

...A curiosity noted, and quickly, discarded as all the while, he felt his heart aflame with kindling that the Malsheem itself would suffice.

Alas, instead.

He breathed.

"She is a Marr, there is little doubt of that..." His chest was heavy, he could feel the breaths ripple through, physically moving the structure, as he gazed into her emeralds, her sight, as much calming as it was annoying, yet still, breathing softly, his vision was no longer shaking, his heart no longer beating as if it was rushing to explode, his legs feeling as if they held up the entire world, "...I assume you have some plan, if mine is so unworkable." His voice was emotionless, speaking only what was necessary as the chill crept in from both outside the rain soaked window, and within, as the Force swirled around him.

As much as he would.

As much as he would like to sink that symbol of utter tyranny.

If even a hair of his cousin was harmed...

...Oh he did not know what he would do.

Lina Ovmar
Mentioned: Darth Prazutis Darth Carnifex Revna

 

[Lina Ovmar]

The anger rolling from him was not for her, it was almost beneath her attention. Had she been in the mood she might have tended to it offered comfort and soothed him. The steady drip of blood from his hand to the carpet seemed loud in the silence as he processed her words.

She tsked at his reduction of Revna's strength being reduced to something as simple as her namesake. “Her strength has nothing to do with the fact that she shares your name and everything to do with what she has endured in life. Her devotion to Darth Strosius holds her together far more than being recognised as one of many heirs to a Sith Lord who's been dead centuries.”

She finally turned to face him again, coldness in her expression. “I have pieces of a plan, but until I can find a way to remove that device without killing her, she stays where she is, for her own safety. At the very least she has an opportunity to learn things that no one else can teach her.”

Lina knew well enough that time in the belly of the beast did wonders for someone's strength and resolve. Revna would come out of the other side of this something greater than she was when she went in.

“You have a kaggath to fight. That should be your only focus.”

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

"Is it simply an inability to read between the lines or do you truly believe one makes allies by patronisation and antagonisation?" Malum retorted ever still, the iciness that drew forth out of his lips holding the potential to crystalise the waters that flowed easily outside of the small apartment where they had found themselves.

"We are the sum of our parts, and despite whatever insecurity you hold of those long-dead Sith Lords, it is that blood that flows through her veins, it is the devotion she holds, it is the supremacy of her will, the truth and utter weight of her identity that will keep her alive in that family's madhouse," He pulled away, turning his head back towards the door that held the escape to this complex, as her words rang in his ears, and he was reminded of why exactly that shared antipathy meant nothing if there was a fundamental inability to cooperate.

He pulled the door open, the entire building was empty, he had made sure of that, "You need not concern yourself with the outcome of the Kaggath, regardless of the victor, Revna shall be saved, I imagine you will want to leave this place by your means, but it would not be right if I did not show you the exit," He turned his vision towards her, her coldness only matched with his own, "I thank you for the information, and I hope you succeed in your objectives, I will be sure to bring Revna to you once I have liberated her from her captivity." The way in which he spoke, even he felt the cold wave wash over him, as his fingers fell into his robes.

Twitching with the need to do something erratic.

The device she spoke of. That would be the key, and if there was only creed in the empire that could succeed in securing something without anyone being aware. His mind turned to the thought of the piece of jewellery that hung around Srina's neck...

...Maybe he would not even need to do that.

Lina Ovmar
Mentioned: Srina Talon

 

[Lina Ovmar]

Lina gave a mocking pout. “Oh, poor Malum, did I hurt your feelings? Did I strike a nerve revealing that Revna's devotion is to your opponent and not to you and your family?” She remained where she was ignoring the door he held open for her.

“Or perhaps I struck at your own insecurity about the blood that runs in your veins seeing as you seem to think your whole identity rests upon it?”

She scoffed and turned away from him. “Alliances are built by sharing resources and information, Malum. Yet you only seem to want to reciprocate anything I provide when it involves matters of the flesh.”

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

The door slammed shut, as the winds bellowed a great whistle along the corridors.

In the moment it took one to blink, his eyes flashed dangerously, pulsing with the flames that were quickly smothered under the cool winds of a forced composure, "Revna is Darth Strosius' apprentice, I would have her devoted to no one, but if it was to be anyone, then the man I know behind the mask will move heaven and hell in order to protect her, is hardly on the bottom of my list," Malum countered, for all of his app- co- apprentice's failings, for all which he held no patience, nor ability to see the greater picture.

Even after all that had happened, there was no man which Malum trusted more, to do exactly what was necessary. Which only made the upcoming tumult all the more difficult.

Malum took a step forward, his eyes still unnaturally still, his breath still heavy, "You have some nerve to talk of my identity, Djo," He paused a moment, visibly his mind in consideration, as if he had made a mistake, before pressing onward again, "or perhaps it was Zambrano," Another step, yet this one with the weight, that seemed to be the epicentre of an earthquake that strummed outward, "My mistake, no it was Fenn, no?" A wick of a candle was lit in his eyes, as she turned away, as he found himself back to position intimate, "Right... Ovmar now, is it?"

All which he had wanted to remain professional, all which he had wanted to be gone from her withered away, as with a confidence beyond that of a man approaching his hand to a snake, found itself at the small of her back, all the while, himself stood at a distance that might be otherwise dangerous, the other hand awaiting a sign.

As the last of her words made him actually pause.

The hand fell to her shoulder, "...What do you want to know from me?" He whispered, a husky hot breath down her drums.

Lina Ovmar
Mentioned: Darth Strosius Revna

 

[Lina Ovmar]

Lina levelled him with an icy gaze as he drew closer, his words meant to taunt her fell short of their target. “Djo” she began softly, “was the name I took after having my face reconstructed as a teenager in order to hide from a man who wanted me dead.”

Her words were quiet, as icy as her stare, he was firing shots in the dark while knowing nothing of her past. “Zambrano I took to secure my freedom. But I have always been Ovmar. Never Fen. If you are going to attempt to insult me, you will need to try harder than that.”

She let him close the gap again, his hand sliding to the small of her back, the other coming to rest on her shoulder as her emerald eyes bore into his. Her hands slid up his chest. “See, that wasn't so hard was it?”

A small smile tugged at the corners of her lips. “There is no information you can provide me with that I don't already know, however I'm going to take Corva Yag. I'd like your support when I do.”

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

Malum shrugged his shoulders, the ghost of a smile appearing on his lips, "Djo, Zambrano, Ovmar, and though you never wore it, Fen, for whatever reasons you have for using these names, or not using them, do not tell me that you do not feeling for each of them... some insecurity... some nerve," His vision bore hard into hers, "...Your conduct on Jutrand was hardly smart, nor unnoticed," Though then he had had been distracted by his own problems, distracted by his sisters, he had seen, he had heard, he had corroborated, he knew something had occurred, but he was hardly sure what.

Realised that this woman might have a flare for the theatrics that might have been even beyond him.

He smirked as she allowed his ministrations, as her hands rested easily upon his chest, feeling beneath armour and robe the subtle swell and sway of his muscle, as his heartbeat their ever consistent chant. As his hand on her shoulder, trailed up her neck, fingers caressing across soft skin, before resting upon her cheek.

He allowed himself a small chuckle at her words, "Well you hardly make it easy... though, I imagine we hardly make it easy for each other on purpose." Lights filtered through the window, as they stood in close proximity, their breaths melding in the air between, as the rains continued to fall outside.

If Malum did not know exactly what was occurring out there, he might have even thought this was vaguely romantic.

The smirk returned at her retort, as he felt the weight upon his chest, "Do you want to bet?" He countered, before removing her ability to do so, as his head sprung forth, as his lips softly collided against hers, as the involuntary left his throat, instincts, and familiarity taking hold, as unlike before, he gently pressed her back against the closed window. Hers was a familiar taste, and ever so intoxicating, as the air caught up with him, it was a whine he had to keep suppressed, as he pulled himself back.

To immediately clamp down on any external reaction, as his internal reaction was one which... was somewhere between a volcano's eruption and a flower's blossom.

"...As for Corva Yag, why is that?" It was a fair distance away from Eliad, and a far cry away from Alvaria, such that he felt no fear on that front, on the other hand... it was not something he could so easily ignore either, as the curiosity took hold, as his arms wrapped around her, and rubies stared into emeralds.

A research world, that was what it had been classified as, and unfortunately, all he knew of the world, on one hand, it was easy to know why she wanted it.

On the other hand, the specifics eluded him.

Lina Ovmar

 

[Lina Ovmar]

“My conduct,” she said, the iciness returning to her tone “is none of your concern.” she didn't remove herself from his hold. “It doesn't matter what name I have, it doesn't matter whose blood flows in my veins. I am my own person, and neither of these things define me.”

The argument with Carnifex had been cruel, his words had cut her deep, but it had hardened her resolve, not to kill him, but to prove him wrong.

A whirlwind of sensation ran through her as Malum's lips crashed against hers, and for a brief moment, she returned this kiss. She needed the distraction, something to make herself feel better. But the bastard was under her skin, his cold words rippled through her mind on repeat.

You had been given an opportunity to live in happiness, yet you threw it all away. For what? A child, swaggering about with power he barely comprehends.

Malum's question fell on momentarily deaf ears as with an uncharacteristic snarl she reversed their position, slamming his back against the window so hard it cracked, one hand held against his chest as she'd stepped back from him.

“I have no interest in continuing our game.”

Her hand shook slightly as she withdrew it, turning away from him she ran her hand through her hair, steadying herself. The need for destruction, to see something burn, almost overwhelmed her. A beat passed, then two and she managed to regain her composure.

“Corva Yag has research resources I need. You don't need to know more beyond that. Can I count on your support, or not?”

Darth Malum of House Marr