Dominion The Heir of Ruins | (SO Dominion of Alvaria)

[Srina Talon]

Tag: Darth Nwul | Darth Malum of House Marr | Darth Empyrean
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Most would have recoiled in horror from the presence of what her husband had become.

No matter how his wicked servants tried to give him a weak guise of humanity or keep what was left of his decaying skin there was always a sickly-sweet perfume. For anyone who had ever been in a war, it would be a brutal reminder of what the Sith Emperor had been forced to relinquish to obtain the might and power required to lead. Srina, wished it had been a choice.

The Dark Side, simply put, did not care. The price was the price.

The concept was the exact same thing in this room.

She could feel the miasma from Darth Empyrean drawing back into his core and her head continued to rest against his shoulder as her eyes fell shut. His rage fell away like an unforgiving tsunami rolling back into the ocean from whence it came. The surface seemed peaceful, but it was the greatest lie. It was always there. The fiery vitriol, the blatantly arrogant soul, the sharp wit, that moved her in place of the mundane.

There was no danger here.
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Srina was aware that Darth Nwul watched on and she was more than aware that Darth Malum of House Marr had something in his possession that was far from pleased with his current situation. The almost mystical energies that rolled through the room clashed in a juxtaposition from the source and intent. The cut of her traveling dress left the unblemished skin of her back exposed while the young Heir of Marr spoke. If he wished to strike, now, would be his best chance. When her back was turned. Her Echani mind had already calculated battle-ready statistics and she felt assured that he would never get close to driving a saber through her spine…But there were always variables. She could feel him shaking. Feel, his rage.

Good.
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This meeting had obviously not gone according to his plan but the Order spent too much time bandying platitudes with one another that didn't matter. Lying through their teeth for favors and coin. It was taxing, exhausting, and ineffective. She wanted, the truth. Moreover—She wanted Malum of Marr to live without a sucking chest wound or some form of paraplegia. To live without falsely shoving his head in the sand and denying what the Dark had given him for the sake of taking the easy path forward. The Sith needed those who would stand in defiance, not, those who bent and broke the moment a threat arrived. Perhaps Malum thought he knew her husband better than she.

He would have been wrong.

No one knew the mind of Darth Empyrean better than his wife. No one, absolutely no one, would know the hell he could rain down when provoked better than she did. She remained, for the moment, where she was. Darth Empyrean had what he wanted. It was the reason he had called to her through the void and in the end the needs of her beloved were met. By hook or by crook. "One step at a time Malum of House Marr…", she breathed, lightly, after Empyrean gave his edict.

The matter of a damocles sword hanging overhead had been momentarily quieted but this was far from the end of any discourse. Words, orders, would not end such blind servitude for Ophidia. They would be required to cut a bloody swath through those that still supported the snake, but there were some that were worth extending an effort to rehabilitate. "I have not asked that you choose. It was an inevitability that would come to pass one way or the other."

She had stated it plainly. That he "must" choose. Not, that she would "like" him to or even to ask if he "wanted" to because the moment would have come regardless of her intervention. Srina only hastened it in order to lay the groundwork for a world in which he might ascend versus reaching the final death all too soon. Empyrean had come, with designs on killing him to eradicate weakness. He had proven something far more valuable…Strength in the face of the Corpse King and every terrible might he brought to bear."—But you have chosen…It will be remembered."

Devotion.
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A word that he still used so lightly, so incorrectly, that a soft laugh escaped primrose lips. It was unusual. The wintry woman had a reputation for remaining as emotionless as stone…But there were moments when things broke through her flawless exterior. It was a rather enjoyable sound, dulcet, without being too high or too low. Just as she spoke in a measured cadence…Everything in moderation. Her head tilted toward Marr and she met his eyes with that same pale smile. Neither here, nor there.

"You are bound in word and deed, certainly, but worry not…as I mentioned…", she trailed off, eyes distant, before snapping back toward the Sith of the hour. "Certain things are earned if they are ever to be had at all. Let us close this chapter so that we might move forward. Progress calls…"

"The past has no place here."

No. They did not trust, could not trust, anyone who had ever been associated with the Tsis'Kaar. What they could find purchase in was the promise of mutually assured destruction. To press those who might stray into a place where they could either find advancement to further their own goals or slide backward and lose all they had obtained. Most Sith could be bought, sold, and traded like cattle if the right fortune or magical artifact was offered. It was one of the reasons the old Empire had fallen.

It was a cycle that needed to end.

Empyrean admitting that it would be a "shame" to kill Malum or Alisteri was the closest they would get to any sort of praise from her husband. In his mind, the last few moments likely passed for what he thought to be polite conversation. Thinly veiled, that it was. Srina had no such compunction. The pale woman withdrew slowly from the Emperor and turned to evaluate the state of the young Heir and his guards. Darth Nwul was still there. Feeding, she surmised, while lurking as only a priest could. "I believe that your intent for the moment aligns with the will of Order. Although trust may be an issue going forward… I do find that I like you. For now, that is enough."

"Is it not, beloved?"

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[Darth Nwul]

The tension in the room intensified and Nwul's mirth seemed to flag a little. Not out of fear, but out of focus. He drifted to the left a few paces, his eyes narrowing with concentration. Malum, the young man he'd seen in his visions, what a fascinating creature. His fear was palpable, but so was something else. Rage, and the desire to live. If only he had hope and other positive emotions to draw on, to resist the might of the walking corpse. His eyes trailed down to the talisman around Malum's neck, then up to Malum's face. Oho...

Nwul's gaze shifted to Empyrean as the young man spoke. Malum was forced to submit, for now anyway. His pride was too strong to crumble that easily. That made him fascinating. Nwul resisted the urge to smile and canted his head to the right, fully focused on the Dead God's reaction. Nwul's expression remained still, his true emotions hidden completely by the raging storm of emotions that he had built within himself, practicing the Full Spectrum. A good thing, because the more he sensed of Empyrean, the louder the whispers became.

Traitor... Betrayer... Leech... Worm... Long dead but clinging to what is not his... a pox on the Sith... a false god...

Nwul forced the whispers aside, they held the weight of the thoughts that came when he spoke to the dark side, but they were far more visceral, spiteful, angry, were they memories of a Sith he'd consumed? Perhaps. But within the psychotic fury of the words, the Dark Side had a message for him. Empyrean was not the Sith'ari he had been praying to meet either. Not the man he would kneel to.

He licked his lips and turned his head away, glancing at the Empress. She spoke, clarifying for her husband. Nwul remained silent as he listened to the words, nodding along, his gaze only tilting up when he felt her mind drift towards him. His eyes fixed on her face and he cracked a magnanimous smile and inclined his head politely. He would wait before these mighty beings were gone before seeing to the young man. The Dark Side had told him to assist the boy, and it seemed it would be in the killing of his former master. Curious.

Darth Empyrean Srina Talon Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

Malum might have sighed in relief if he was not still in front of an audience.

He may have done it still anyway, for that was the sheer weight which had suddenly been lifted off his shoulders, with even more weights pressing down on him throughout the magnitude of the conversation that though only lasting a few minutes, had felt like a century had passed, so momentous, so trying had it been for every ounce of his being.

Yet it was over, and still, he resisted the sigh, his pride would not allow him that.

After all, his work was far from done.

Staring down Darth Empyrean, the Emperor was an intimidating task, a difficult one, one fraught with strife and hardship with every step.

Yet how did that compare with staring down Darth Ophidia, and attempting to kill her? Throwing out the loyalty sworn to your teacher, in a bit to overcome her.

It was the way of the Sith, yes.

Yet, it was still without any doubt.

Betrayal.

It had not fully hit him, yet it would, he knew it would. He was still so energised by his victory, minute as it was, that his mind could not yet comprehend the next daunting task in front of him. Yet, when he would, he would no doubt collapse from the tumult. Before needing to pick himself back up, standing beside his friend, his battle brother, and doing what needed to be done. For them, for the Tsis'Kaar, for the Order, for the Imperium.

It would not make preparation for the day any easier.

It would not make the battle any easier.

Yet, this was the path he had committed himself to.

There was no option but success.

But victory.

He shook the thoughts off as he looked to the Emperor, his words were harsh, yet Malum had far since gotten used to harsh. As he nodded his head in respect.

"Your Imperial Majesty, my betrayal shall be decisive and complete, I have already been given my assignment from my Mistress, to deviate from it, to wear a force locator, would only catch her attention." And I would be a fool to let you place anything on me, "Yet I am not so naive to ask you for trust, I shall be on a ship, the Mors Vistra, the flagship of the Tsis'Kaar fleet," And what a ship it was, it might even cause the worldly Empyrean some surprise, "When the battle begins, I will make my way to the surface, to the command centre of the planet's defences. Within hours of the battle's beginning, it shall be over, with the head of the snake cut off," And two, taking her place, "I would ask that you would honour the ceasefire request when it comes through from Tsis'Kaar forces."

He turned towards the Empress, nodding again.

"Is there anything else the Imperial family would have of me?" Malum spoke out, his eyes glancing at the quiet interloper still amongst them, the one he knew little of, and the one who had heard far too much.

Would he be a problem, this priest?

Darth Empyrean Srina Talon Darth Nwul