Public The Inner Fire (open Dark Side training)

[Darth Daiara]

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[Avalore]

Avalore left her makeshift fire, a sense of purpose to the stride that saddled her right back to the main group. Ashin had sent Avalore away to assist Illian Dragos , but now even he seemed to be picking up the skill with the aid of her amulet.

Which she would totally be taking back.

Her legs threatened to wobble as she approached the larger flames, but if she stomped and moved quickly it became impossible for her body to quake. She spilled onto the ground besides the woman, shoving her hand into the flame with no words ... and no screams either. A force shield buffered thickly over her hand, her discovery with Illian marking her among those that had succeeded. Finally.

She jerked her hand back just as fast, unwilling to linger as she puffed out her distress in large breaths.

There.

She didn't look up at Ashin, only caring that it was done .

Never again.

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

Avalore

"Excellent."

 

[Illian Dragos]

Each passing moment summed up to another failed attempt. For some time, the young squire had attempted the exercise. Using Ashin's advice, he kept attempting to draw on his anger, which continuously grew with each failure. Avalore 's success had given him more motivation to continue. Despite his failures, his attempts continued to be more refined. He was getting better, if that counted for anything.

Remembering the suffering he had endured till the current moment gave Illian the perseverance he required to keep on going. And with that, he would be rewarded. Some time later, as he attempted to absorb the fire, it did not burn him, but held onto his hand. He even felt he could use it to replenish his force reserves, an interesting discovery.

But the fire went away in thin air, or attempted to burn him. He had at least conquered one part of the task. Now, Illian shifted his focus to making sure that it was probably being absorbed. In this case, he had more success than in the first parts of the trial. Yet, he remembered that he had someone's amulet, and he had to return it.

He didn't need to create more enemies.

The healing cream was helpful, but other medical applications would be required for his hand to return back to it's original state. Nevertheless, as far as he was concerned, for someone who did not know the force, he had done as much as he could. And with it, a new skill that would help him grow stronger in battle.

"Thank you for the amulet, and your tutelage. I will remember it." Illian stretched out his hand, giving the amulet back to Avalore.

"And thank you for your tutelage as well Ashin." Bowing in respect, he awaited both their responses, wondering if there was anything else that they were going to be taught.

 

[Daeron]

As the discussion around the campfire continued, Daeron silently repeated his attempt to pass his hand over the flames. Over. And over. And over. Sometimes he managed to bring his hand closer to the flames than before. Sometimes for not as long. Tweaking his process and his methods with the Force in small amounts each time – experimenting. He would always push forward until his body’s natural reaction to heat forced him to pull back.

Only briefly did Daeron stop as he looked up to see Avalore and Illian return to the main campfire. He shortly returned to his repetitive practice.

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

"Well done, Daeron . Persistence, repetition, variation - high-quality practice. And you as well, Illian. Strong progress along a similar vein."

Ashin slapped her knees and stood. "Time for a field trip. You've all worked hard enough to earn a reward. There's a secret alchemical laboratory at the bottom of the lake. Rave Merrill built it; it used to belong to Akure Executive Interstellar. I've arranged with the qo'saarai tuk'ata caretakers for us to visit."

Her bag of gear yielded enough standard Jedi rebreathers for everyone.

"It's a cold underwater swim and the lake has hssiss, so stick together. But once we get there it's a comfortable, classy place where you can rest and learn any number of things for as long as you like."

Marcis Sorr
Kaalia Pavanos
Avalore
Illian Dragos

 

[Avalore]

One would never see Avalore move so quickly, the marginally lazy girl grabbing a rebreather with no delay. There was no dragging of her feet as she skirted for the water's edge.

Either Ashin was finally chipping away at her resistance or Avalore was just that doubtful she wouldn't be tossed to the flames again. In truth, it was a bit of both. She paused just long enough to try and retie the amulet on her hand, but there was no recovering the shriveled edges of the leather. She jammed it into her pockets with a huff, looking over her shoulder for the others.

A ball of light appeared by her cheek, illuminating the excitement in her dark eyes.

As they came to her side, she waded in... belly flopping at waist level and sending up a splash of cold. The ball of light went with her, moving like a jelly fish as she took lead.

Ashin Cardé Varanin Marcis Sorr Illian Dragos Daeron Kaalia Pavanos

 

[Marcis Sorr]

Very much unwilling to be beaten by a little girl, Marcis was next into the water, the cold a lesser shock next to the darkness inherent to the lake itself.

Whether from the cold or the nexus or both, his skin prickled and a momentary sense of lightheadedness coursed through him, though it did nothing to impede his progress into the water, not even when he dived in as Avalore had right before. He was too proud to look weak in front of a crowd, doubly so when said crowd included a former Empress and a Sith Lady of no small renown.

It was a good thing he'd opted for something more close-fitting than the traditional robes so many of his peers favoured, they would have made swimming impractical or left him exploring an old Sith laboratory in his underpants, neither of which sounded particularly appealing.

 

[Illian Dragos]

The young warrior quickly followed the man with weird tattoos. It appeared that there was a little competition among them. For Illian, he was happy staying in the middle. He had no knowledge of how the facility looked like, nor did he see the point in engaging in a competition out of pride. He had learned from his encounter with the Nightmother that it was best to keep one's intentions hidden. Even if he loved competition, and saw it as a way to out-beat his rivals, he had not known them long enough to see them as a rival. They were half a galaxy away, and he had only began his journey of ascension.

Jumping in the water, he could feel the cold water serving as a way to relax the tension in his hands. His mind relaxed, any tension in his muscles loosening as he sawm in the water. It was as if he had undergone a reset: the anger he had previously mustered had gone away, and he was back to his previous state before he had undergone the trial by fire.

Truthfully, another reason he had not jumped quickly was because he did not know how hssis looked like. At the current moment, the young warrior's only defense mechanism was to swim as quickly as possible. And swords didn't work well in water. At least, his swords anyway.

Noting this, he couldn't wait to find out how tutakatas looked like.

 

[Kaalia Pavanos]

Realizing how good of an opportunity this was for Aradia to pick up skills, Kaalia saw no reason to head back home just yet. Besides, even Sith lords and ladies didn't know everything there was to learn. If there was anything new for her down there, she'd gladly take the time to learn.

And so Kaalia took one of the rebreathers and pulled the Force around her in preparation of her dive. Water shaping would make her trip down much faster and easier. She looked over to the rest of the group as she approached the body of water. "I'll stay at the front of the pack and manipulate the flow of water," the woman stated. "It should keep most creatures at bay, but please do keep your guard up regardless."

Darth Daiara | Ashin Cardé Varanin | Illian Dragos | Marcis Sorr | Daeron ​

 

[Daeron]

Daeron’s exercise stopped the moment Ashin mentioned taking a field trip. He looked up and listened to the master. He accepted the rebreather and donned it immediately. Before he followed the group into the water, Daeron left the pain box behind on his seat.

Without fanfare, Daeron entered the water and swam with the group toward the secret lab.

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

Hssiss weren't the brightest creatures, but they knew better than to attack seven Sith, two of them Masters. Things might have been different if the acolytes had failed to stay together. Between the water's murk and true night, Ashin caught only the odd glimpse of twisting scales. Soon enough the slimy, grasping weeds parted.

AEI had designed this site with privacy in mind. The dome's exterior was matte and nearly indistinguishable from the lakebed. However, once Ashin swam up through a vertical waterlock, the facility proved to be clean, elegant, even beautiful.

A robed canid caretaker inclined his head in a nod that wasn't quite a bow. <Welcome,> he said in rasping, fluent ur-Kittat. His face would be familiar to any Sith among them who'd seen the tuk'ata - Sith hounds - of Korriban and similar worlds. But he wore clothing and walked on his hind legs.

Ashin pulled out her rebreather, snorted muddy water from her nose, and returned the nod, equal to equal. <Thank you for permitting the visit.> She introduced the party briefly and turned to them. "The qo'saarai tuk'ata caretakers are Sith in their own right. Tuk'ata include both sapient and semi-sapient subspecies."

<Many years ago,> the caretaker explained, <the alchemist Rave Merrill pioneered the process that gave many of us opposable digits and the capacity to walk upright indefinitely. Since her death there are many of us, but we keep our privacy well. I would request the respect of your silence, within reason.>

Ashin translated for those who didn't speak Ancient Sith.

Daeron Illian Dragos Kaalia Pavanos Marcis Sorr Avalore Darth Daiara

 

[Darth Daiara]

Aradia attention tore from the direction of the ship, her thoughts in conflict with Kaalia's. Why stay in class when experience was out there and at your finger tips. She clamped down on her new idea, her patient streak showing as she dived in and swam after Kaalia's heels. She did not show her master's same aptitude for water manipulation.

She did however forgo the rebreather in exchange for practicing a breathing technic with the force. Or rather, surviving an absence of it while underwater. If she had just known it back on Gree, maybe she wouldn't have needed Allyson Locke 's help that day in the first place.

Lessons learned.

She peeled herself onto the water's edge, only to look back and find Avalore had remained behind. The girl floated butt up facing a stray Hssiss. It's barely visible figured lingering on the edge of the lack's weeds. Aradia squinted through the darkness, feeling more than seeing as the dark haired girl tried to communicate with the creature.

Friend?

Aradia nudged the rib of the closest person, tattling with a gesture.

 

[Illian Dragos]

Tukatas certainly lived to their reputation as hideous creatures, yet Illian was more surprised that it could speak. It appeared from what he gathered that was either from the force, or through some form of genetic engineering. How, he didn't know, but it was certainly a skill he wanted to learn later on in his career.

The language of the Sith. He had heard so much about it, and he was extremely disappointed. In comparison to the claims Illian had heard about it's beauty, it sounded like pure gibberish. Memories of how certain people spoke in Nar Shadaah appeared in his mind. He was disappointed that all the hype was for nothing. But, he appreciated the translation from Ashin.

"What does the laboratory possess? And who is Rave Merill?" He knew he was an alchemist, that was self-evident. But he'd never learned the name before. It was another name for him to discover, and perhaps learn about in his own time.

 

[Daeron]

Once Daeron emerged on the other side, he began shaking the water off his robes. Or at least as much as he could. Just after he pocketed the rebreather, he saw a walking, talking Tuk’ata.

Daeron stared blankly at the caretaker.

After listening to the Tuk’ata and Ashin’s translation, Daeron nodded in agreement to the request for silence.

A look of shock appeared on his face as Illian broke a form of silence, though.

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

Ashin grimaced. Most of them, except Illian, were quiet.

"Translation error," she said drily. "The silence was figurative. The caretaker was talking about not sharing this place's nature and location with all and sundry."

The tuk'ata caretaker nodded.

<The laboratory,> he said - Ashin translating - <focuses on biological alchemy, mostly studying the spontaneous alchemical mutations found here at Lake Krul. Sithspawn prototyping and creativity. We have any number of strange little creatures penned here, or even allowed to roam free within the laboratory's non-sterile areas. As for Rave Merrill, she was a Nightsister and a Sith alchemist who died, oh, quite a few years ago. She founded Akure Executive Interstellar, which used to control this facility. But Akure fell on hard times when she died, and this secret site was forgotten. We kept it running, kept learning.>

The caretaker gestured deeper into the facility with blue-gray claws.

<Feel free to wander the facility, look in on alchemical processes as long as you don't enter sterile labs and such. There's a unit of visitor quarters, small private rooms that are rarely used. You can linger here as long as you want - days or indefinitely, if you want to learn - though when you leave I'd recommend doing so in groups because of the hssiss in the lake. Do any of you have a talent for alchemy?>

Illian Dragos Daeron Marcis Sorr Kaalia Pavanos Avalore

 

[Marcis Sorr]

Having been second into the water, it would have made sense for Marcis to make it to the facility promptly; no fuss, no muss. Hssiss, however fierce, were liable to possess just enough sense to stay well clear of the likes of Ashin and Avacyn. The Dark Side calling to the Dark Side.

The rest of them, however, were another matter entirely. Potential master or potential snack? Hard to say how they thought.

Turning to the fiery redhead at her prodding, a sigh escaped his lips, muted by the breathing mask he wore. What in the Nether was that little girl up to now? Whatever it was, it might be working, given that the lizard did not seem determined to consume her within the immediate future - but with stealth-reliant predators like these it was hard to say. For all he knew it was waiting for the light snack to move closer.

Even without the ability to speak, the look he gave the redhead spoke volumes. Think she'll be eaten or not?

Avalore | Darth Daiara​