The Sith are eternal (solo thread)

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Maja Vern"]

"Interesting tattoo," Taeli muttered as she saw it appear on Maja's face. Almost like the Marks of Darkness that Taeli kept hidden at almost all times nowadays, but she would make them appear if she ever needed them. The woman circling them was most certainly a witch of the dark side, but her power was . . . nowhere near as powerful as Taeli's. It seemed . . . almost faded, even as she asked why Taeli was here. Taeli took in all the warriors around them and the woman constantly checking her bag to make sure it was still there.

A book? Oh, now that was interesting. A book that might contain some information she needed or would like to study.

"I came to seek an answer to a question I've been pondering and rolling around in my head for some time now," she answered easily. Honesty would be best for now, but Taeli knew a fight might be coming soon. "I've been retracing the steps of Darth Zannah to discover if she left behind something to decode a journal she left behind.

 

[Darth Zilti]

Maja’s thoughts were confirmed by the Sith, the tattoo had reappeared. Was it her proximity to the witch that did it, or had she performed some new magic. And what did she mean she was expected.

As her companion’s attention turned to the witch, Maja kept quiet. Darth Arcanix appeared to be the better bet if things turned bad, but she wasn’t going to antagonise her hosts either, she’d play both sides of both sides for as long as she could – just in case.

“Answers you seek? What you know of Zannah? My book, not yours not Zannah’s. My book, given by my mother it was. Not yours, mine. You shall not steal my knowledge.” Her voice rose an octave and the men seemed agitated by her demeanour now. They were not yet showing any hostility but they were no longer as still as statues.

“Go now, even you little one. Not come back. Leave now and no blood will be spilled.” Her hand went into her little bag and clearly gripped something inside it.

[member="Darth Arcanix"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Maja Vern"]

"That sounds like a threat," Taeli sighed, looking at the old queen. Tribals usually had a pecking order, and once the head was cut off, they usually followed the person who did the cutting until they were cut down and so it repeated. It would seem to her that this particular tribe was more inclined to have a woman as a leader, and while she didn't really want a personal tribal force, she needed that book.

"It's not wise to threaten a Sith Lady," she said, her purple eyes blazing yellow in an instant as she made a snap decision. The queen had what she wanted, the queen was being intransigent about giving her just one little cipher key, the queen had threatened to kill her if she didn't leave. The queen had annoyed her, and was refusing to give her the information she had worked so hard to find.

She never saw it coming.

Red-pseudo lightning shot off from her hand in a powerful stream to engulf the queen, draining what little life force she had left in her body, but Taeli pushed the technique even further, wanting to reduce her to just dust on the wind . . . besides the valuable bag the queen had.

 

[Darth Zilti]

Maja stood by and heard the threat in the Sith’s voice – similar to how she’d been with the Jedi. On moment she was calm – steel within a velvet glove and then the glove came off.

That red-lightning arced from the Sith’s hands again, Maja really had to learn that one. But unlike the spiders, the arc of pseudo lightning never stopped – she was literally draining every cell of the witch’s body dry. Maja’s tattoo burned with an intense heat and then it stopped. Without looking she knew what had happened. Without knowing why, she knew what had happened. The tattoo would be visible and permanent.

So she glanced down at the pile of clothes and belongings the queen wore and carried and shrugged. “Well I guess she had it coming,” she said to Darth Arcanix. And then she glanced at the men. As one they went down on one knee and started chanting. Maja nodded towards the bag, now lying on the floor. “That’s where the book was by the way. I think you’re better off pickling it up.” She smiled wickedly and performed a mock curtsy. “Your Highness.”

[member="Darth Arcanix"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Maja Vern"]

Taeli rolled her eyes at the title, she had no interest in leading these tribals . . . but then again, they could have a use if properly trained. Picking up the bag, she removed a small book and she could immediately tell that this was no witch's manual or heirloom from a witch. The texture of the cover, the dark side energies that still clung to it, even after all this time, this truly belonged to a Sith.

"Had to be done," Taeli said, her eyes going back to purple. "I really have to thank you for leading me to this, Maja. Would you like a chance to look through it first? I suspect you didn't get much of a chance last time you were here."

She was being very generous, she knew that, but she owed the girl for helping her find this.

 

[Darth Zilti]

Maja was a little surprised at the generous offer but said nothing, in case the Sith changed her mind. She leafed through the book quickly. It must have been preserved in some magical way because the majority of the handwriting she recognised. Towards the end there were a number of newer entries - with at least three or maybe four different hands having penned them. "This was Zannah's I recognise the..."

Her voice cut-off in mid-sentence. Towards the back was a sketch. It was rough but it was unmistakable. And beneath it were three words including a single word, a name. Her name. How did she know it was a name? She had no idea, but like so many things that had happened to her, she just knew it to be true. Wordlessly she handed the book to the Sith Lady next to her, keeping the page open with her thumb. She kept the mental image in her head and closed her eyes. How she wished her sister [member="Silara"] could see this, how she longed to share this moment with her instead of a stranger. But she refused to cry, her time for tears was behind her now.

Spoiler

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Pluvia - help her​

​

[member="Darth Arcanix"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Maja Vern"]

"Pluvia?" Taeli said, looking at the page with the sketch on it. "It seems someone had a vision of you, including what your real name is. Although I think Maja might be better for you to use in public or while out and about."

Taeli leafed through the pages, enjoying the feeling of them as she saw the handwriting that could only be Zannah's. The back few pages also seemed to have an entry of two from Zannah's apprentice, Cognus, and the one after the Iktotochi. Still, she had the key to what would lead her, or them if the girl wanted to join her, to Zannah's hidden holocron.

"I'm sorry you couldn't share this moment with your sister," Taeli said, feeling the conflict and sadness rolling off the girl as she comprehended her name. "If you were my sister, I'd be beyond proud of you. Still . . . this journal is what I need to discover a hidden holocron of Zannah's. When I decode the location, would you like to accompany me and a few others in locating it and other artifacts?"

 

[Darth Zilti]

Maja seemed temporarily lost for words. That casino owner said he knew how to find her name and he had the book that brought them here. Perhaps he knew more? Of course, he was now way too dead to tell her anything.

“Pluvia,” she repeated absent-mindedly. “Maja will do for now. It was the name I was given by the family I knew for all those years. They may not have been blood relatives and members came and went but they were always there for me.” Her voice was calm but her eyes suggested her thoughts were somewhere else.

The mention of Zannah rather than her sister brought her back. “Holocron? I never saw any specific mention of one – but I know she must have had the knowledge, with all of the work she did for Bane. And the correct question is, how are you going to stop me.” She smiled wickedly again, “And what are you going to do about them?” She jerked her thumb over her shoulder at the men who were still kneeling. “We can’t take them with us, surely?”

[member="Darth Arcanix"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Maja Vern"]

"That's because Zannah was smart and didn't leave mention of her holocron in one piece," Taeli said, smiling back at the girl. She was eager, that was very good, but the holocron would eventually end up in Taeli's possession. "She split her true journal into two parts, and encoded them with the cipher I need from this book. Now that I have it, we won't have too much longer to wait until we discover the location."

Looking over the Sayormi, she reconized it might be useful to take them with them, but she would do that another time. With a bigger ship.

"Await your queen's return," she said, cringing a bit at having to use that title, but comes with the territory it seemed. "When I return, I will take you into the stars and the Sayormi will become even more powerful than you are now."

Not that they were all that powerful, even in the small scheme of things, but hey, manipulation at its finest. Gesturing for her new followers to go about their lives again, she turned and nodded at Maja to begin heading back to their ship. It was time for the answers she craved.

 

[Darth Zilti]

The men bowed their heads when Darth Arcanix spoke and then, at her command they stood as one and then slowly drifted off.

"Too obedient for me," Maja said out loud, "I like them with a bit more spirit in them." And she tagged along with her Sith companion as they headed back to the ship. "Um, the Pluvia thing...please don't tell anyone - and I mean anyone if you catch my drift. And this holocron, I have one thing to do quite urgently but it'll take me at most a day, maybe two. Can you wait for me? I mean, please wait for me."

She fell silent after her barrage of questions, before finally settling on, "And thanks."

[member="Darth Arcanix"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Maja Vern"]

"Take your time, it might be a few days before I fully de-crpyt the location from the data packets I recovered from Ciutric IV," Taeli said, smiling as they slowly made their way out of the Dead Forest and into a normal section of the woods. "But, you need not fear about getting left behind, you've earned this chance to help me with finding the holocron. I'm not one to be petty or greedy, I genuinely enjoy teaching and having companions."

She debated about the name thing, but it didn't really affect her to hold the secret.

"Your secret is safe with me about your name," she said. "Odd though, I think Pluvia means rain in some language, intriguing no? Seems you were destined to follow in Rain's footsteps after all."

 

[Darth Zilti]

Maja remained silent for the duration of the journey back to the ship. In true cinematic style, one chapter in her life story seemed to have closed and another was about to start.

As they parted their separate ways, Maja knew what she had to do. She needed to craft a saber but first she needed to get to know her crystal better. It was an odd sensation. Her Kinrath crystal felt like an object - a tool. But Bane's Heart was definitely something she needed to understand before she contemplated putting it into her saber - and she had a place in mind to do just that. Except, the thought didn't feel like her own. Funny that!

"Until we meet again, Queen Arcanix," she said and smiled, "It'll give you time to find a suitable crown, yes?"

[member="Darth Arcanix"]