The Secret of the Ruined City

[Nimue Stormson]

“I had it sent to the ship.” She explained before walking back to the wardrobe. “We’ll have to eat on the way. Let me change and we’ll be ready. Unless you prefer to fight in something other than a party dress.”​

​

She’d looked back and smirked at her remark to [member="Darth Arcanix"] before changing. The Empress wound up wearing something a little more suited for exploration. Leggings and leather boots and a tunic tied around her waist. She didn’t wear anything in her hair and all of her locks were wrapped into a large ponytail. She did, however, wear her horned crown and bring her staff, along with packing a few extra weapons and items that were stored in a bag.​

​

She looked back to Arcanix and explained “I’m wearing it so at least if we’re stopped no one will second guess me being Empress.” After that she gestured to the wardrobe and said “You can wear anything if you’d like.”​

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Nimue Stormson"]

"I'll select something more suitable when we get to my ship," Taeli replied, bowing politely to show she appreciated the offer. "Shall we?"

Opening the door, Taeli started moving with the Empress through the halls to her ship, following the Empress more often since she would be familiar with the palace and the city without any guides to show Taeli how to go through the city. Once they reached it, she quickly went into her quarters on board and changed out of her party dress into something else.

Choosing a deep purple dress that had some armor plates along the edges of it and along the sleeves, she also put a black hooded cape around her shoulders and grabbed her satchel that contained her lightsabers and other equipment.

"All ready to go?' she asked, looking over the meal that bad been brought for them.

 

[Nimue Stormson]

As she lead [member="Darth Arcanix"] out of the palace Empress Nimue explained to one of her hand maidens what was happening. Of course she objected on the grounds of how it was dangerous and forbidden but Nimue waved it off. She told how this was a means of showing how the outsider galaxy could help them, starting with finding the secret to the ruined city of Kullcor. And, as part of a show of good faith having the Empress return thanks to a Sith would add to the image.​

​

Once they would arrive at the Sith;s ship the Empress gave one final goodbye to her handmaiden, a kiss on the forehead, before entering. But both would see there was a number of small boxes all stacked together and waiting. This was, as Nimue would point out, the food she’d ordered.​

​

“What can I say?” she began as she sat down and unwrapped one box. “I like to start the day out with a hardy meal.”​

​

Given how much there was it was a surprise that the Empress could each so much and yet stay so skinny. In any case she gave a nod to indicate she was ready to leave for the city when Lady Arxanic was. As they flew off Nimue realized she didn't have a drink with her to wash the meal down.​

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Nimue Stormson"]

"We should be there in a few minutes," Taeli said, setting the autopilot to the coordinates of the city and sitting down across from the Empress. Seeing no drink, she used the Force to pull several bottles of water to her and some tea bags she had on board.

"I hope you like water or tea, all I've got I'm afraid," she said, adding a bag into a cup of water and using the Force to disperse the tea. "Don't drink alcohol at all, as a Sith I can't really allow myself the luxury of being impaired in my thinking unless in private company such as last night."

The ship continued to streak through the sky of the planet, and Taeli started to wonder how the Empress felt that she was actually flying through the sky.

"So I must ask, how do you feel about being in a ship flying through the sky?' she asked, helping herself to some of the food.

 

[Nimue Stormson]

As she ate the Empress kept looking out to the open airy sky she and [member="Darth Arcanix"] flew through. It was amazing to see everything seem that much smaller from this height. It was like being a giant without her feet on the ground, towering above the denizens of the lands they passed. And the fact it was so quick a ride as opposed to journeying via Selipa back or the like.​

​

When asked about a drink she only said “Water, please.” Still looking out like a child in awe.​

​

She pressed her face against the glass and smiled as she watched as they continued to fly over one familiar place to Nimue after another. She noted how it had only been a few minutes let if they traveled the more conventional way they’d have taken a few hours just to get to where they were.​

​

When asked she said “This is incredible. The birds of the world see the world like this every day! No wonder they live to fly.”​

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Nimue Stormson"]

"Even our ground transports now can get to places quickly," she said, enjoying the fact that the Empress was in awe of something Taeli saw almost everyday. It showed to the Sith that Nimue was definitely more open-minded towards expanding into the stars than her people, if she thought this was amazing. Space would probably either terrify her, make her giddy, or both.

"I'm guessing you don't have speeders or speeder bikes here," she said, amused as they neared the city. In the back of her mind, she could feel something, a soft whisper of the dark side, but it sounded tired and still. It would seem the nexus was dormant, but perhaps that was because they were still just landing on the outskirts of the city.

Thinking about how to awaken it to full strength already, she knew a powerful spell would be needed and something that would re-ignite the power here. She hoped these Dwergi were here because she had a feeling she would need a way to release a powerful burst of the dark side.

"We're here," she said, lowering the ramp of the shuttle.

 

[Nimue Stormson]

“We do have speeders.” Nimue pointed out as she turned back to [member="Darth Arcanix"]. “But only so many. We’ve been meaning to buy more from your galactic people. Right now the most we have are within my city. All others tend to be bought and owned by the higher society citizens of Effekt. Don’t be too surprised if not everyone has the same traveling experience as the other.”​

​

After that she looked back to the scenery before they began to lower down. Knowing what it meant Nimue ate the last bit of food, washing it down with water, before hearing Arcanix say there had arrived. Slowly, as the ramp descended, Nimue stepped out first to see if it was true. And indeed it was. They’d arrived on the outskirts of Kullcor.​

​

The city was indeed a ruin. Everything was old and barren. Bulinds and streets were empty and looked half destroyed by some great force. It looked like rock almost, given that there had been no plant life of any kind that had grown over the ruins. There were spired towers that had the highest points broken off from rot or the great destruction that lead to this. And at the very center was the palace of the Skyborn, the capital point of Kullcor where the original leaders had lived. The whole city certainly looked like a ghost town.​

​

Pointing it out Nimue said “See the palace? That’s where the sorcerers who ruled this city use to live. If anything this nexus will be in there.”​

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Nimue Stormson"]

"Impressive architecture," Taeli said, looking around the ruins. That background feeling was still there, and it seemed to emanate, as Nimue had said, from the central spire. the city itself reminded her of other lost ruins from across the galaxy, but these ones had that feeling of ones that had been more dark side inclined such as on Lehon, Thule, and Upekzar.

"I wonder, what are you feeling?" Taeli asked they began to move into the city proper. She could feel other Force presences around them, watching them and trying to understand why two females were in their territory. She hoped they would continue to observe and follow them, and she fully expected some opposition once they reached the palace in the center of the city.

Stopping to examine some artifacts that were lying on the ground, she realized that whatever spell these sorcerers had been trying to do was almost like the spell Darth Vitiate used in the distant past, no bones were nearby, but that might also be from scavengers or these Dwergi.

 

[Nimue Stormson]

As they began to walk in the Empress actually fell back and followed [member="Darth Arcanix"] instead of leading her. She was a little more worried about being here, even if she’d agreed to go in the first place. As she looked around she could almost sense they were being watched. The dwergi were hear alright, but as long as the two were out during the daylight the man-beasts wouldn’t be able to come out of their holes.​

​

When Arcanix asked the Empress answered “I feel like the dwergi are trying to figure out how they’ll deal with us. They can’t hit us now, and they’re not too bright, but given how long they’ve stayed here they might have a few tricks ready for us. I suggest staying as alter as possible.” After that she noted “I also feel as though….there’s more of you, Arcanix. Or rather…something with the same power as you. Like we’re getting closer to a group of Sith. Is this…from the Nexus?”​

​

As they kept walking there were more signs of Dwergi. Poles and staffs with bones decorating it and old weapons lying in some places. Areas with fire pits already brunt up and little rocks for seats. Other bones had been left around as trash, the dwergi proving to be messy eaters. All of it felt like walking through a crime scene of the past made present.​

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Nimue Stormson"]

"That is indeed the nexus, and I suspect some of your Dwergi might have had a forced evolution done to them by being exposed to this site for so long," Taeli said, noting the signs of increased activity and the enemies lurking and watching them. From her satchel, she pulled out her primary lightsaber, the half circle guard around the hilt hiding her hand slightly, but she didn't ignite it yet.

"Sometimes, a nexus will empower individuals or objects that remain immersed in it, so some of the Dwergi, the elder ones at least, might have access to some basic Force techniques but nothing too powerful or extreme."

The more she saw, the more she was convinced these things were very much like Flesh Raiders and that could prove slightly useful to her. She hoped a large concentration would be within the spire as they moved closer, she would probably need them for what she had planned. Something else she noticed was that the shadows were starting to deepen already, and she had a feeling that while the nexus was dormant, it was clouding the area in an aura of shadow and fear.

 

[Nimue Stormson]

After being told the effects the Nexus would have the Empress gulped before saying “Oh great. That’s all we need. Magic Dwergi. Gods save us all if they start moving further out into the open lands.”​

​

With that the Empress had her scepter at the ready before also reaching into her bag and pulling a sword out as well. It was one thing to have to deal with dwergi but needing to take them on for the sake of calming something that was there’s was a whole other matter. Sometimes whole units of men were sent into Dwergi caves to clear them out or force them deeper underground for the mining benefits. But a concentration of what was in Kullcor wasn’t something they’d tackled before. And now it was only two warrior women against an entire tribe? The more she thought about it the more the empress feared for what they were doing was folly.​

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[member="Darth Arcanix"]​

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Nimue Stormson"]

"Don't be so tense," Taeli said with a smile as they neared the spire palace. That background noise was even more prevalent, but it still wasn't nearly as strong as it would be if the nexus was active. She was actually getting more excited as they went, plus the dark side energies she could feel were absolutely exquisite.

Entering the shadowy insides of the spire, she called on her command of the dark side and her lightsaber ignited into a brilliant crimson red that revealed a whole horde of pale creatures with sharp teeth and radiating aggression.

'So these are Dwergi,' she thought to herself as they appraised the trespassers and decided hunger was more important than the strange light one female held in her hand. Their aggression would only be heightened by the dark side here. 'Primitive, but the elders will be deeper inside and I don't want to kill all of these right now.'

"Ready to fight?" Taeli asked Nimue. "We just can't kill all of them at once, we will need a great many of them for later."

 

[Nimue Stormson]

Despite her words Nimue said nothing, only looking around as she could sense more Dwergi around them. As they approached the palace in the center it became clearer this was where the concentration of them were, in the center of the city. Likely they were drawn to the nexus’ power.​

​

When [member="Darth Arcanix"] activated her saber it had blinded Niume for a moment. When she looked she was surprised by the brilliant light it emitted, but didn’t have time to take it all in before seeing the dwergi around them.​

​

The Empress’ heart sank with fear at the sight. She’d pulled back a little towards Arcanix while keeping her weapons close. Clearly she was afraid, but was it her own fear or something else? The sight of the snarling dwergi as they shook their weapons and snapped their jaws was scary enough, but what Nimue was feeling might have been more than that.​

​

The nexus! It was affecting her mind.​

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Nimue Stormson"]

It would seem the Empress would require a great deal of training if the nexus was affecting her so, Taeli on the other hand allowed the power to rush through her, dark sigils appearing around her eyes and their color changed from purple to a blazing yellow. These insignificant creatures would not stop her, and every death would only help awaken the nexus fully, but a sudden extinguishing of life would work even better.

Angling her lightsaber, she charged right into the midst of the crowd of Dwergi and began a barrage of elegant, yet powerful and swift attacks. Dwergi fell around her as she fought her way forward, limbs and bodies littered the floor around her, even as the Dwergi tried to attack them. One tried to attack her with a crude knife, but she caught it on her armored sleeve and beheaded the beast. Lightning flowed across her fingers as she unleashed several streams of Force Lightning at a group, their screams of pain music to her ears as they were left just as smoldering corpses. For everyone she killed, she dominated another one's primitive mind with her will, forcing them to submit to her and become docile to their presence.

More Dwergi kept coming though, and scowling, she activated the second blade of her lightsaber, wondering just what the Empress thought of all of this.

 

[Nimue Stormson]

As she watched the Sith deal with the dwergi the Empress was surprised by how well she was handling the beasts. Enough of them were chopped down or submitted by some powerful work on the mind that many began retreating. Dwergi may have been dumb but they knew when to run, and the sight of one enemy attacking them like that was enough to send any monster fleeing.​

​

Nimue didn’t see them at first but a trio of dwergi were trying to sneak up on her silently. Her force sense had caught them, however, and she, out of fear, turned and held her arms out before a powerful force push erupted from her hands. It send them flying back and landing on weapons that impaled them.​

​

Seeing what she did the empress was surprised, as if disbelieving she’d really done that. Either way she’d managed to kill a few at least. After that she only hurried to [member="Darth Arcanix"] as she’d managed to scare the majority off. ​

 

[Taeli Raaf]

"I saw that by the way," Taeli said, turned her second blade off, but keeping the first one up to give them a source of light. "Someone certainly has some untapped potential there."

Even though the Dwergi had fled from them, she still had a connection to the ones she had subjugated to her will. She would need those connections for later, but for now she would keep them firmly in her control. Turning on her heel, she began moving deeper into the spire, the Empress following her but she could feel both more confidence from her and confusion. Nimue hadn't expected to be that powerful it seemed, and she wasn't sure how she felt about it. Taeli hoped she would enjoy the power it gave her, and would be eager to learn more when the lessons began.

Deeper and deeper into the palace they went, the Dwergi keeping a distance, but even that didn't stop her from reaching out with the Force and binding them to her will. She knew what she was planning to do to awaken the nexus would be quite dangerous, but it was worth the risk to unlock that power and she could feel it slowly pulsing from the chamber up ahead. It was like a sleeping force, each breath allowing a small amount of tis power to leak out, but it was nothing compared to what it would be.

She could feel several Dwergi up ahead, but they felt different, more empowered and perhaps even slightly intelligent. How interesting indeed.

[member="Nimue Stormson"]

 

[Nimue Stormson]

The comment made by [member="Darth Arcanix"] had made Nimue give a little shrug and smirk. She’d managed to move things before but not with such power behind her. Perhaps her fear was helping to fuel her emotions more than she thought. Perhaps she could be able to use it to her advantage.​

​

After that she followed her friend further into the city, looking around and seeing the dwergi were scared to go after them now. The ones that followed thanks to Arcanix’s powers, however, had intrigued her. To think of having an entire army of Dwergi as mindless slaves to fight in battles. They’d be just as effective as the warriors but they would be more cannon fodder instead. The most humans on Effekt did with Dwergi were to use them in gladiator battles against their champions; strapping helmets on them so they’d not be blinded by the sun’s light. But an army’s worth? Now that would’ve been a surprise for any enemy.​

​

She stopped as Arcanix did when they sensed stronger Dwergi ahead. Sure enough there were five of them that walked out of the shadows as if to stand and challenge the two. They were bigger and stronger looking, and they stood more upright than the others.​

​

“Alpha males.” Nimue pointed out. “They must’ve been affected by the Nexus.”​

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Nimue Stormson"]

"We will see just how alpha they really are," Taeli replied, reaching out with the dark side. She could see that the Dwergi alpha expected some sort of blunt Force attack, something similar to what they could probably use, but Taeli's attack was far more insidious. Focusing on their individual cells and molecules, she began a rapid slowing of the ones she dominated.

Frost started to appear on three of the Dwergi as their bodies began to freeze up and they collapsed to the ground, dead and with ice forming around them. The other two Dwergi elders were older and more powerful, so Taeli decided another course of action was required. Tapping into the hunger that existed within herself from a previous lesson, a red-pseudo lightning erupted from her hand and arced towards the Dwergi alphas. As the arcs connected, the Dwergi started howling as their life force was drained away and added into Taeli's own power. They collapsed to their knees, then fell to the floor, their life drained away completely and Taeli felt rather refreshed. She didn't like to use Force Drain, to avoid the negative side effects tapping into the hunger could have, but she felt it was appropriate for the situation.

"Not so alpha compared to a full dark side Force user's power," she quipped at the Empress, moving over to examine the bodies for a moment. "Hmm, the nexus increased the size of their brains but I'm also guessing it aggravated the growth of their more primal and aggressive tendencies."

Standing back up, she smiled and said, "The nexus is just up ahead if you want to go forward, I need to call upon the other Dwergi and bring them here."

 

[Nimue Stormson]

Still standing behind [member="Darth Arcanix"] the Empress watched as she stood boldly in the face of the alphas. She seemed as brave as any other warrior the empress had seem fight with dwergi in the gladiatorial battles they would old now and then, a test of strength and skill against vicious man-beasts. Knowing that there was the power of the darkiside behind this woman’s abilities Nimue stepped back a little and watched to see what would happen.​

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When some of the alphas had fallen from a frozen spell Nimue’s eyes were wide with awe. The Sith didn’t even touch them and already the dwergi alphas were cut in half, frozen corpses from being turned into icicles from the inside. Then came the attack which, from what the empress could tell, had drained the very life out of the dwergi in one grand flash. She was even more amazed by this, especially when the dwergi around them began to flee or shudder back in terror. They now knew that humans had more power behind them than before.​

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When she looked back, telling the nexus was ahead, Nimue nodded, clutching her scepter, before saying “Oh yes… yes… We should hurry…” still looking at the dead dwergi. “Amazing…"​

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Nimue Stormson"]

"Impressed?" Taeli asked, a small smirk playing across her lips as she stepped over the alphas into the chamber beyond. The Empress seemed to be in awe of what she had just witnessed, which suited Taeli just fine. The feeling was strongest here, and the recent deaths had stirred something within the dormant nexus. The shadows around them were deeper, the room was slightly chillier than the rest of the spire, and it appeared the Dwergi had recognized what lay around them.

If she didn't know any better, she would say they had begun developing a primitive religion, worshipping the shadows and the nexus that gave them more power to hunt and kill. Stakes decorated with skulls were spaced around the center of the chamber, the spot that was calling to Taeli. Walking to it, she could see the very faint outline of a rune circle carved into the floor. This must have been where the ancient sorcerers did their ritual and were consumed by it instead.

"Hmm, interesting," she said, rubbing away some of the dust on the circle and examining the runes. "These fools thought to harness the power of the people of the city to become almighty overloads of your world, judging by this spell circle. They miscalculated though, here and here are mistranslated runes that appear almost Sith in origin. The books from your library called these sorcerers the Sect of the Skyborn correct?'

It interested her greatly as she remembered another story, from a planet near here in fact, where Sith had been stranded and been called Skyborn. But, was it possible the same thing happened here on Effekt like on Kesh? It was possible given the war, and perhaps these sorcerers were descendants of those Sith. It was a theory at least.

"Regardless," she continued saying, "the nexus is currently dormant and that won't do at all. We need to fully awaken it."