The Magics of Crystalsong

[Nikolas Faselli]

Crystalsong
Near Crystal Caves
@[member="Krest"]

Not many people have been to Crystalsong, but it's actually quite logical considering the amount of people who know anything about the planet. Only some time ago Coruscant managed to find the planet, even though Ryloth and Tatooine already had colonies there. The arrival of Coruscanti people made life for the local people more difficult, like she had already come to understand.

The planet on which Maria lived on was beautiful. It was full of crystalline forests and places not many planets had. The name it had been given suited it quite well. Nioks and their crystal-hunting nature was really interesting and like it seemed, they were one of the most human-like people native to the planet. Obviously it wasn't their appearance which made them seem so close to humans, but their society.

The slaves of the Witch of Arx Mortis stood really close to one of the most powerful locations on the planet, which was known as Crystal Caves. Most of the city was beneath the surface, underground, which made it even more interesting. The architecture of the surface area was indeed magical, kind of like the Jedi Temples were, but the underground area was more like an organized cave. The streets over there were basically so precise, that a person could just measure the length and width of the streets and get the exact same answer every time.

 

[Darth Ferus]

Krest had found himself on Crystalsong some time ago. As part of his pilgrimage around the known galaxy he had set his droid to go to random destinations, periodically removing each destination as he arrived to prevent going to the same place twice. The Zabrak was wearing his usual armor when he had originally came to the planet, but he had forsaken them for a loincloth.

He met the Nioks right after his landing. At the time he was in his armor, but he had found the lumbering beasts depressed. All of them were, expect for the leader. Krest learned that the nearby Ulki had taken one of the Nioks children, holding them hostage for crystals. Krest was able to convince the war leader of the small band of Ulki (With the aid of the force) to give the child back and simply leave. With the child in his arms he went back to the tribe, all of which instantly became happy. Overjoyed.

The Nioks took the Zabrak deep into the crystal caverns, where they built a fire. They partied, celebrated, laughed. To the Templar the Nioks were the most fascinating thing on this planet. Not the Crystal plants or animals, but the big antlered lumbering beasts. Krest changed into the loincloth to entertain the Nioks, dancing wildly around a fire. The dance held no significance to Krest, but it was something he had learned as a child.

He had no clue another would come to the planet and explore with him. He wasn't feeling out with the force to find another. @[member="Darth Malificete"] would not be noticed by the Templar until she wanted to be noticed. If she did. For now the Zabrak danced around the fire, grinning and laughing with the Nioks.

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

But Maria was there for another reason. She had a grand scheme in mind.

Walking around the underground city, she tried to locate the powerful leader of this city. He was supposed to be in his quarters, but as Maria had arrived to the front door of it, she couldn't sense his presence. He was either a Force-sensitive or not there. And judging by the communistic society which the Nioks had, she was sure, that he is just somewhere in the city.

Time to play some hide and seek...

And so she left the residence of the Supreme Crystal Hunter, moving towards the party which took place in the other side of the city. Of course this underground city wasn't the size of Coruscant, but... it was still kind of huge, taking up kilometres and kilometres of land. Getting to the other side without using a taxi (which was controlled by the government) was impossible, so she took one.

A man was driving the machine. Weird. Normally, droids did such things, but nonetheless, she sat in the taxi and asked the driver to take her to the party.

@[member="Krest"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

Krest continued to dance around the flame wildly, a grin on his face. The Nioks had joined in his dance, their forms fumbling around as they try to copy. For the big lugs the dance proved to be too complicated for them, so they changed it up, going into one of their own dances. The Zabrak grinned, watching them for now, plopping down beside the fire. This was a happy day for all, and Krest was more then willing to enjoy it.

He looked about the caverns, simply happy at their size. Beautiful, that's all he could think. @[member="Maria Zambrano"]

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

As she arrived to the party, the first thing which Maria saw, was the Zabrak. She had thought she's the only non-Niok over here, but... Well, never mind. She could use some help at talking to the ruler of this tribe and the Zabrak seemed like the best idea.

When she stepped out of the taxi, she immediately sensed Force-sensitivity in the man. Well, he looked like a good partner for her. Walking towards him, she actually noticed the leader of the tribe, but she decided, that it would be the best to talk to this Zabrak person before fighting with Nioks. True, she didn't know if she has to fight or not, but most likely Nioks weren't just going to give away their home to be ruled by a...

... tyrant.

No, Maria was definitely not a tyrant like her cousin was.

@[member="Krest"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

Krest hadn't even so much as noticed @[member="Maria Zambrano"] yet. He was still off in his own peaceful world with the Nioks. He never felt @[member="Maria Zambrano"]'s presence, never say her her. He was oblivious.

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

Maria stepped closer to the Zabrak and there she was. She was standing right next to him. "And I though I am the only non-Niok here," she spoke, her voice being playful and happy like if she was still a child. She was not a soprano, though, so there was a shade of adultery in her voice, though. "Hi! I am Maria!" The way she started talking to the Zabrak was... interesting.

She could be a supreme partner...

She was waiting for him to start talking to her as well. It would have been really weird if he didn't speak back.

@[member="Krest"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

Krest turned his head, blinking. A female. Human. He just stared at @[member="Maria Zambrano"], blinking slowly. So he really wasn't the only person on his planet. Well, person as in non native. She was surprisingly bubbly, almost as if she was just as happy as the Niok's themselves. He stood, still just in a loincloth, scratching the side of his head. "Hi.. Er. Maria. My names Krest..?" He was confused, very confused. Not often he's greeted in such a way, and the Noiks never mentioned another.

"Do you need something from me..?"

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

"Oh, no... I just noticed, that you are here and... Well, what a coincidence." That was an obvious lie. She was there, talking with him, just because she wanted help. And maybe she would help the man if he needed help. But not at the moment. And probably never. If he didn't have good enough intentions. "So... Mr. Krest, I'm assuming you are enjoying this beautiful... party... over here?" she asked, her voice not changing at all. He looked directly into the eyes of the man and smiled. Nioks seemed to be happy at the moment. Though some of them were confused. They understood what these two people are talking since their own language was quite similar to Galactic Basic Standard, actually.

Yeah, that was true.

This Epicanthix had a slight accent which came from the fact, that her native language was not at all Galactic Basic Standard and not even Crystalsong Standard, which was so widely spoken in this world.

@[member="Krest"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

Krest nodded his head slowly. Coincident. Probably not, but, there was no reason to push it. What ever her intentions were, they were at least.. Friendly. Or so he hoped. "Yeah. The Nioks are amazing. I helped them get back one of their young, and the whole of the tribe rejoiced. They have some serious link with one another. Happiness feeds happiness, sadness feeds sadness. It's.. Remarkable." He truly was amazed by the locals. If anything, he'd protect them. As best as he could at least. He watched @[member="Maria Zambrano"], more then curious as to why she was here.

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

"Indeed? These... Nioks... are better than I thought they are... When I first came to this planet, I thought, that they were but mere semi-sentients, but now..." she spoke. Honestly, she didn't know, that Nioks were so empathic, but she had known, that their society is incredibly powerful and that they are as communistic as possible. "I assume you haven't been here for long?"

She was about to ask something.

But just a bit more before she could ask the question. She had to wait for the right moment. To keep her mind from collapsing under the pressure, the nervousness, she just turned her head to analyze these unique species.

@[member="Krest"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

"Not for long, no. Half a day maybe?" His gaze drifted from @[member="Maria Zambrano"] to the Nioks again, watching them as they danced. He was happy, excited to be apart of this. These were people who shared everything, lived together in bliss. Until they were taken advantage of. The other species had a tendency to use them. And it wasn't something Krest was fond of. He drifted off in his own thoughts, almost forgetting the Witch beside him.

Almost. He glanced to her again, mildly curious. The Zabrak was traveling, exploring the known galaxy. What was she doing here?

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

"Well, then you may already know much about them... I have been living on this planet for years, but I still don't know much about them," Maria spoke. "But I would love to strengthen my connection with them. Actually, I would love the planet to be as a whole like Nioks are; caring, powerful, empathic..." She turned to @[member="Krest"]. "Maybe you're willing to help me with that?"

The question had come, though not in the barbaric way in which Maria actually wanted to ask it. She was a Zambrano, after all, so she was supposed to be cruel and evil. Yet... not it seemed like she had actually become interested in this species.

 

[Darth Ferus]

Krest turned his head, blinking at @[member="Maria Zambrano"]. She who had been living many years on the planet didn't know that much about them? Was she actually a native? His mind raced for a moment before it came to a focus on her question. She wanted his help, a stranger, only because he seemed to know more about a species he met just that day? Well, that's certainly an interesting turn of events. The Zabrak eyed her for a moment before turning to the Nioks. Reform the planet..

"Help you reform the planet? Tell me why you want to do so. What is your role here? Who are you?" He turned the rest of his body, crossing his arms. He wanted to help the Nioks, that was for sure. But he had no idea who this person was. Until she explained herself, he would not only decline assisting, if she proved to be a threat to the species he would openly go against her. But, he doubted the later. She seemed kind, but only time would tell if that was correct.

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

"Well, it was just a thought. I am a resident of this planet, though I live far away from the native species of this planet. I live really, really far away. I have my own little citadel here and I... am its lady. But I am nothing else. The planet is a powerful one with strange inhabitants. But all of them are so different. Nioks, Larriks... - Who were the other ones? Oh, yeah... - Mankarii, Ulki, Nàrrans... They are all separated from each other, they always fight with each other. Nioks are the only ones actually being realistic. I have seen many battles take place in this world."

She took a deep breath.

"Larriks pretend to be cultural being, having a powerful republic of their own. But they are natural assassins. They would chop others' heads of whenever they had a chance. Mankarii are seducing creatures who can appear as normal trees. They are as evil as a Sith would be. And then there are Ulki, the powerful warmongerers. They never turn their back if there's a chance to have a war with somebody. And Nàrrans are the worst. They fight with each other. They destroy everything dear to them. They don't have a soul."

A fake tear appeared in her eye. She wasn't an emotional person, actually.

@[member="Krest"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

Krest rubbed his chin slowly. There were only two races he knew about, the Ulki and the Nioks. But, it wasn't his place to judge the other races. To try and change the ways of the natives on this planet. At least, not without knowing them himself. He looked back to the party, smiling lightly. The Nioks were so far the only peaceful group he had seen, much as she said. To make a choice, he was going to have to visit the others.

"Larriks, Mankarii, Nàrrans, I don't know them well enough to judge. Show me them, and maybe I will help.'

@[member="Maria Zambrano"]

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

"I don't know if you want to see them, but alright. I must say though, that they are monsters. They have the potential to turn into something peaceful, but as long as they are ruled by supreme warmongerers, nothing can change," Maria spoke. "When shall we go on the trip where we meet all of the inhabitants of this planet?" Some fake tears still ran down her cheeks, but they were the last ones. There was no need to cry anymore.

She turned a bit and some some Nioks looking at him with a bit displeased faces. The most interesting thing she noticed, though, was, all of them became displeased in a 'wave'. So that was what Nioks actually were. Metaphorically speaking, they had one mind and one heart. They were all connected to each other.

@[member="Krest"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

Krest turned to the Nioks, moving up the the chieftain. He bowed his head to the large Niok, both hands down by his side. He would not judge the unknown. But he would not turn his back on the Nioks either.

"We shall leave now. I cannot judge the unknown, but I will protect the Nioks." He was speaking to @[member="Maria Zambrano"], but as he stood he began to speak to the chieftain, his blue eyes on the Niok's. "I will protect all of you." The Zabrak moved over to his pile of belongings. His weapons, his armor, his ring. He pulled all of it on with ease, then took a hold of his blade, Deus. He was ready to go off, there was no reason to wait.

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

"Alright, then. We shall start moving. As you have already seen Ulki and Nioks, we can go to see the tree seducers. They are kind of strange and they could possibly be everywhere in their tree form," Maria spoke as she started moving out of the party area, hoping, that the man is following her.

"Well, the problem with them is, that they are kind of selfish, praying to their own gods or whatever they have. They don't have a centralized government, so they are not ruled by a dictator, but all of them believe in one supreme being - who I don't know anything about - and think, that he or she orders them to do anything. That's the problem with them. That's why the earliest wars on this planet took place."

She looked into the distance.

"The wars of Gèor Da and Crystal Caves. They were terrible. Many people died."

@[member="Krest"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

Krest walked close behind her, both hands behind his head. For now he listened to her words, her tail. He had no idea what the war was, when it took place, where. But he wanted to know more. If there was a war, if there was such death, perhaps he would change his mind. Perhaps he would just help @[member="Maria Zambrano"] bring peace to the world. Well, he'll see soon enough.