Approved Tech The Varanin Holocron

[Ashin Varanin]

Intent: To flesh out and codify Ashin's holocron, nail down details, and to make it more usable by others for writing purposes.
Development Thread: No
Manufacturer: Ashin Varanin
Model: N/A
Affiliation: Independent
Modularity: Information can only be added by Ashin or Spencer
Production: Unique
Material: Crystalline lattice, alchemical protective coating.
Description: Ashin made her holocron during her long years in the Unknown Regions, infiltrating and destroying a Sith faction. When she first came to Darth Moridin's Sith Empire and took up a position as his enforcer, the holocron came with her, along with the holocrons of Darth Vectivus and Lumiya. It recorded her studies with the Telos Holocron and the great spellbook of the Empire, as well as the other contents of the Empire's archive. After so long with her, the holocron knows everything Ashin knows about the Force. Like Ashin, the holocron is reticent and unwilling to share, especially with the unworthy -- and the holocron's gatekeeper defines worthiness in complex and shifting ways. Generally speaking, the holocron will not share information with the chaotic or the selfish, and most of the holocron's advanced knowledge, as detailed below, might only be accessible to someone who demonstrated a very, very good reason to know something specific. Some who've studied with the holocron whisper that the former Darth Desmius, the Binder, might have bound a shadow of herself to the holocron's gatekeeper. It certainly thinks like her. As a note, since the holocron's content was recorded at various points in her career, it includes abilities accessible only to Lightsiders as well as abilities accessible only to Darksiders. The gatekeeper's appearance has been known to shift relative to when the material was recorded.

It should also be noted that Spencer has full access to anything in the holocron. Impersonating Spencer, visually and in the Force, could potentially work assuming significant familiarity with Spencer's Force presence, and thus the holocron requires passcodes as well.

Among other elements, Ashin's holocron contains the following information.

• Instruction in Shii-Cho from the galaxy's most skilled user of that Form.
• Instruction in Ashin's personal speciality, the Master-level power known as Force Weapon, as well as her unique ability (so far taught only to Alen Na'Varro) to use Force Weapon to protect not only a weapon but one's body, in whole or in part.
• Instruction in Ashin's secondary speciality, which is grounding, or rendering oneself utterly immovable and impossible to unbalance. This instruction includes notes on the necessity of applying powerful physical enhancement to strengthen one's body, as well as detailed warnings about the hazards of grounding oneself in the wrong location or situation.
• Instruction in advanced mental defence.
• Instruction in energy manipulation at a high level, including thermal and electrical energy. This instruction focuses on defensive applications.
• Instruction in Force Drain, especially as used defensively to counter an enemy's Force Drain. Instruction in countering Force Drain through Light Side means, including reliance on Force Bonds and instruction in Force Light, as taught to Ashin by Ben Watts.
• Instruction in creating a Force Storm, a hyperspace wormhole for what might be called destructive transportation, as taught to Ashin by Sirella Valkner. Notes on Rave Merrill's successful transition to Otherspace by using instinctive astrogation to jump to hyperspace inside a Force Storm. Notes on the hyperspace events which terminated Ashin's two duels with Darth Moridin, including one event initiated by Jorus Merrill.
• An account of the former Vagrant Fleet, with its locations, membership, and vessels. Much of this information is outdated.
• Instruction in the process of creating a false Dark Side aura. Instruction in the process of creating a false Light Side aura.
• Instruction in intermediate biological alchemy, including the process of making an individual immune to pheromonal influence. Instruction in moderately advanced, though not expert, metallurgical alchemy, including the process of substituting one's own blood for the innocent blood required by many advanced alchemical rituals.
• Instruction in transferring someone else's spirit into a new body, as Palpatine did to Bevel Lemelisk, as Val'Ryss Zankarr did to Ashin, and as Ashin did to Zaiden. Instruction on Force Walk, or the subjugation and binding of spirits to oneself -- the root of the name 'Desmius.' Instruction on removing bound spirits from oneself or another, by various means. Instruction on conferring Force sensitivity, as Palpatine did to various servants and as Ashin did to the Rakata queen and Baroness Magrath.
• A review of the contents of the holocron of Darth Vectivus, which Ashin guarded for four years, as well as instruction in his trademark Force Phantom technique. Force Phantom is incredibly draining for a Master with access to a powerful Force nexus. Ashin has been known to use it in emergencies. The fundamental principles of Vectivus involve contempt for traditional 'murder-everything' Sith, and a powerful reinforcement and clarification of the central Sith tenet that one should sacrifice whatever is necessary in order to achieve whatever one's core goal may be. As a Sith, Ashin, like Vectivus, sneered at path dependency and championed finding one's own goal rather than relying on what one thinks a Sith should be.
• A review of the contents of the holocron of Vulta Daanat, apprentice of Kaan and founder of the Blackguard. The fundamental principles of Vulta Daanat state that the purpose of Force study is to acquire understanding of the purposes, meanings, and mechanisms of the universe and its people.
• A review of the teachings of Lord Calypho, who taught that clarity, insight, precognition and power could be amplified through ascetic self-denial.
• A review of the philosophical teachings of Lumiya, Dark Lord of the Sith. Lumiya taught that most heroism was fundamentally selfish, and that one could only be assured of the purity of one's galaxy-saving intentions by becoming despised and hated. She viewed this process of becoming despised as closely intertwined with the traditional Sith sacrifice of what one loved most.
• A review of the teachings of the Jukre Star Sailors of Trevel'ka, a pacifist, ascetic, wandering Force tradition. The Jukre have the ability to interact with the deep currents of the Force, tuning away dissonance in subtle and prolonged ways. This allows them to smooth out emotional spikes, such as public unrest, if necessary, or even to bend fate in gentle ways. An account of Ashin's training under Hagron-tides-of-green, a Jukre elder, during his decades-long tuning of the planet-sized slum of Trevel'ka. An account of Ashin and Spencer using Jukre tuning to shape the emotional balance and probabilities of the Parliament of Gand.
• An account of the principle of throwing stones. As taught by Luke Skywalker, the principle states that every Master of the Force faces a choice between power and insight, or sensory ability. One can throw stones into the water, or read the ripples; one cannot hear a whisper if one is shouting all the time. Ashin, fully aware of this choice, chose long ago to focus on power, and her sensory abilities have suffered as a result, despite her journey to the Dagoyan Masters -- the galaxy's greatest teachers of sense and insight.
• An account of Ashin's journey to the planet of the Five Priestesses, after being recognized as a Jedi Master by Ben Watts. The planet is the homeworld of midi-chlorians, and of prime importance to the balance of life, death, and the cosmic Force. The Five Priestesses administer various tests, which some consider the ultimate tests, in order to grant the secret of retaining one's identity after death as part of the cosmic Force. The holocron contains the location of the planet, an in-depth description of the tests and the technique, and, most importantly, the ability to administer the tests, which seem and feel utterly real.
• Speculation on Spencer Jacobs' status as a Chosen One due to her Force-based conception, her overwhelming focus on the balance of the Force, her role in helping destroy the Sith Empire by weakening it and coopting its strongest leaders, and other factors.
• An account of Ashin's service as a Jedi sleeper agent within the Sith Empire and other Dark Side factions after repeated and irreversible exposure to Sith Poison, including a variant which locked her away from the Light Side. Accounts of her sleeper status being known by Ben Watts, Kiskla Grayson, and Darron Wraith at various points. A review of all known means of countering Sith Poison.
• An account of Ashin's plan to destroy the Sith Empire by guiding it around easy targets, such as the Mandalorians, and toward the only party capable of stopping it: the Republic. The plan involved siphoning away the most powerful, talented, and potentially redeemable members of the Empire to weaken it for the eventual Republic strike.
• Data on Ashin and Spencer's personal vessel, the Peregrine, as well as Ashin's longtime command ship, the Chimaera -- the former flagship of the Sith Empire and of the Lords of the Fringe. Data on the defences and key players of the Fringe. Data on the defences and key players of the Sith Empire during Ashin's tenure.
• The holocron has been infected with the VLK virus, meaning that, at random intervals, it will display thorough information on Republic and Jedi war crimes at Metalorn, Contruum, and Manaan.
• An account of mouthing off to the Jedi Council and base jumping off the High Council chamber's tower.

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

[member="Ashin Varanin"]
My Jedi is sniffing disapprovingly at some of these subjects. But that’s only to be expected.

Otherwise…approved!