Public The Weight of Passing (Apprentice Seeking/Interruption Thread)

[Taresa Kae]

For the Assassin

A bargain made. Whether you could trust the spiteful nature of judgment in any bargain was another matter. In this duty yes, attending to the past was her calling, a potential keeper of Sith Lore if she survived or evolved out of her apprenticeship and vindictive mindset.

Taking the crystal without any fanfare, she placed it in a pouch on her suit usually reserved for delicate mem-stiks or devices that could break easily. Helmet back on to conceal identity. Her mirrored form disappeared from view, concealed in the force. Carefully the half Echani carefully exited the cave, a spirit or two perhaps repulsed from her, knowing not to get too close to the other spirits lingering around the Kae Killer.

For the Brother

It was a bitter battle, alchemized axe covered in ash and dust of the dead. His face was almost covered in grey by the end of it and had more than a few cuts to remember the battle. Reaching for the crystal, he reached it high and his chanting never stopped. The ceiling was awash with its color, and the littered dead bones around him a trophy reflecting new light. He took two trophies of the dead, and placed them along his belt. The old rusted weapon of the first challenger was also put on his back.

Walking from the room, you could hear him more confidently seeking out the Mynocks not waiting for them to come to him! The hunter seeking another trophy for this day!

For the Sister

There was a certain sentimentality which some might viewed as a Sith weakness to the girl, or a strength if used correctly. A want to hold to memories, perhaps her race, perhaps work, her parent, or her nature. Lingering a while longer remembering the visions in her mind, she slowly rose and turned to leave.

Spotting her brother in combat they fought their way out together, both elated from their victory. Blood was spilled in wildling fury for their gifts and their potential future….

For Darth Osiris | Lord Reficite

Three acolytes would return, which even a fated storyteller in their book had not seen coming. First to arrive were the siblings, covered in the signs of battle, especially the male hunter who looked almost nothing like when he had left. His sister showed signs of battle too, a wound to her cheek and blood on her ribs.

The male hunter knelt presenting the crystal trophy high into the air.

The female eventually joined him, holding her solemn shard of remembrance close to her chest, reluctant to offer her memories of the past, but she did eventually do so.

Judgment decloaked somewhere to their side. "I have added your tombs to our archives, they will be serviced and protected.... if you wish it." Although the next part was harder for her, she was such a loyal kethenite to be trained by another was a difficult concept to grasp. Yet Keth wasn't able to train anyone anymore, dead he was no longer capable of exerting that level of ability for long. Eventually, her palm presented forth her assigned crystal.

Turning toward Darth Osiris judging eyes were like daggers behind her mirrored suit, a black mirror of light reflected in different directions. All were looked at in comparison to the Sith Code, the acolyte so zealous as to walk judging it in every step.

Lord Reficite | Darth Osiris

 

[Lord Reficite]

Tags: Taresa Kae Darth Osiris

The voice broke through from afar, he had detected the other but his loud noises did grant his attention. The Force indeed was active today, to bring him other guests and people to talk to. Eyes slowly opening, the spirits went back fully into the mask and slowly stood up without turning. Sensing him a bit more, he finally spoke as he looked still towards the mountains.

"Most don't expect people like us anymore here...Ziost is a graveyard, full of old memories. I unfortunetly...am one that has risen and see what memories are left here. I find it unusual that today is the day we may meet...after sending three-"

Then they had returned, all duo of them which brought a rather bit of a surprise. He expected one, two or all of them to be dead. But all three returning...it meant something, it meant potential. He could sense the other from afar, so it was expected to be making an entrance or something similar. When they three acolytes came to present their trophies towards him, he could only look down upon them as each one was in a different state of battle damage though the Brother was the first he examined.

Slowly taking the Brothers crystal, he examined it and stared deeply into its crimson like structure. It was fresh, it was empowered...it was indeed filled with the rage of battle and something else he could not put his finger on.

"You fought the undead. We never attempted to clean them out after the conflict...Darth Necrid saw to the rising of so many of them. To kill this many...meant a growth in the cave. This is one of a kind...and no one else will ever have something like it. It is rewarded to you and it shall remain with you. When your time comes, it will be the centerpiece of your power...whether you realize it yet or not."

Giving back the crystal carefully, he knew how important of a crystal it was. Perhaps of all three, this was indeed the most powerful among them. Nothing could compare, it would infuse and empower those who wield it, but at the cost of the Dark Side amplifying. When the sister presented, his eyes would betray another surprise as he noticed the white crystal and made him pause for longer than a few seconds. Unlike the previous one, he dared not even touch it as he merely stared at it, his silence meaning so much in such little time. When he finally spoke, his voice was a bit lower, as if remembering.

"Marauder Cheia wielded what was considered some of the rarest of the crystals. He attempted so much to cultivate those, refusing to let them even have one single imperfection. He wielded a blade of silver, shining just like that crystal...we all had phrases in the past that matched us. Justice, Not Peace, Cheia believed that with those who bring order, brings justice and stability. He indeed was...in his time, unique. What you hold is part of his legacy...and just like your brother, it was given to you. I don't know...what you did to find one like this...but it is yours. You both...have passed your trials."

When the final one came back, Judgement herself, she had spoken about what she had seen as he processed the words. He did not say anything until he was presented with the crystal that made him take two steps back for a brief moment. Much like the other, he did not even attempt to grab it, he knew the signature of that crystal. Leaning forward then back, he nodded a bit as he gave a gentle wave for a moment.

"I see...no, no one is to be in that room again. The guardian was to see to that yet...I see you convinced it otherwise. More so...it dug out what I tried to get rid of. That is part of my first crystal, my first lightsaber. I will not lie, I returned to life after seeing so many of our own being killed off. We were rapidly dwindling in number, I let it kept going...there would been no Sith left, we would been vulnerable. I decided at that moment that I needed to confront my own apprentice...after Marauder Cheia was killed by him, I confronted him on the steps of the Citadel and fought him all the way up to the council chambers...we used everything we had...including my old lightsaber."

"The lightsaber, now embedded in the wall, was the same one that I ended up slashing down on his body with, killing him. They all surrendered to me, they were shocked I came back to life...I was to be rewarded, renamed to Darth Reficite but...I felt to much in so little time. I disowned the Emperor publically...and with it, his Empire crumbled around him rather slowly but surely within a few years. Yes, he tried to kill me but rather unsuccessfully at the time. People departed...Sith joined other cults, other groups. It fractured but it was not the end, not how others tried to be...I took the weapon I created him, the Scepter you saw in the chamber, and embedded it into the crystal structure with its guardian, a Sith Wyrm known as "Coai". It was an exogorth when it was much younger, it helped made the tunnels...its size now is colossal but at the time, it knew why it was to be guarded.

"It is one of four I created for my apprentices, each amplifying their power similiar to my own. Necrid had the undead, Cheia had nature, Ulrik had manipulation, and Vodik had his rage. In the end, with how the Emperor had manipulated Necrid far further into madness and how much it could have corrupted them...I hid away each scepter, each one with a Guardian. Some now have failed....one is in the possession of a Grayson, a former Ashlan Crusader. Another, one whom was of Ulrik, has been kept by the Jedi since his death by them. Cheias has remained in that cave...and Necrids, Necrids is on Korriban but somewhere in molten magma. I do not think anyone can get it out now, it is lost."

"But that is the rest of the story, you hold the crystal...well a growth of it, that killed my apprentice. The start of my journey in the Force...and with it, the death of a Jedi. What you do with this crystal...is entirely up to you now, crush it, keep it...I do not care. But if you are to keep it...then know the blade will be sharp, sharp enough to burn through sandstone in a few seconds."

Turning a bit, he looked back towards now the Sith that had joined them all, pondering for a moment on what to do as he raised his left hand up slowly, almost in a motion to talk but also of actual curiosity.

"The Force...has willed us to meet, to have this moment. It is as if this is a sign...tell me, do you believe in the Force guiding us towards something greater? If so...what of it? Is it asking us to create something anew? Something of greater importance once more?"

 

[Darth Osiris]

Osiris said nothing at first, watching the other Sith speak to the returning individuals, it was clear there was a trial of one form or another underway, and it would have been rude to interrupt the moment further. So, he watched, he took note, and considered the possibilities of all that he saw, that he sensed and heard, and began to craft a better idea of the situation as a whole. Osiris turned his eyes first to the masked Sith, and from what he could tell from his presence in the Force, and the words he spoke, he was old. Quite old, if Osiris's guess was correct. If the man had existed centuries ago during the height of the Old Sith Empire, perhaps even longer, then perhaps this meeting was truly foretold, as he suggested.

Osiris then turned his eyes towards the three individuals. He dismissed two of them, his eyes instead focusing on one in particular. From her Osiris sensed age as well, though not in the same way he did from Darth Reficite. With him, there was a detached feeling, time did not flow the natural way for him, but for this black armored woman...she had experienced every year that Osiris sensed from her. A long lived species, clearly, but there was more to her then just that. Her cold, probing gaze tore into him, as Osiris returned the stare levelly. she had an intensity of purpose and will, he would grant her that.

When Osiris was finally addressed directly, he turned his full attention back to Darth Reficite. He considered the other Sith's words carefully for a moment, but inclining his head. "We all know," Osiris began, "that the Force is a living entity. Not in the same way as I or the acolytes here, and certainly not the same way as you, but it lives. It has a Will of its own, a drive to accomplish plans beyond our understanding. To ignore it is to ignore the movement of the galaxy itself."

Osiris turned slightly and, without any other physical movement, tore a rock from the ground nearby and brought it to him. He lowered himself onto it, resting his hands leisurely on his knees. "The Force has ensured this meeting will happen, and so it has. To question that is pointless for it already has transpired. To look at what is to come, or what could be again...yes, yes that is something to truly discuss."

He glanced once more at the acolytes, the armored woman in particular, before leaning back on his newly created seat. "The Sith still exist; it would be nearly impossible to eliminate us fully. The Kathol Sector to the galactic south has become the bastion of the dark side, but it has not always been that way. Ziost was but one world among many that once belonged to the Sith of the past. The Sith Empire, the Brotherhood of Darkness, the One Sith, all names of those who have come and gone. Their legacy, though, lives on."

Osiris turned his gaze heavenward, casting his senses out into the breeze, drawing in the feeling of Ziost. "You can feel the weight of history on this world. The galaxy may have forgotten about Ziost, Korriban, Dromund Kaas...but we have not. I do believe the Force has guided this meeting to happen. However, I think it is the memories of the past," Osiris paused, staring intently at Darth Reficite, "and the ghosts of those times that implore us to create something more. They desire Sith space to belong to the Sith once more. They want to rebirth of our galactic dominance, and the return to heights of power that have not been seen since."

Osiris smiled beneath his mask, the corners of his mouth the only visible sign of the movement. "Who are we to deny such desires from the dead?"

Lord Reficite Taresa Kae

 

[Taresa Kae]

The Brother took the crimson glow offered, still kneeling. He still hadn't said an understandable word, whatever tragedy or trials had come before in their past seemingly had taken his voice and broken his sisters. Only chanting a few more words and the area around them seemed to offer a better flow, perhaps more success or realised intent to any action attempted. A minor effect of his budding battle meditation chants on everyday life.

They both listened to every word, students of history, purpose, and potential. "Shaper of Rebirth. We serve. We die for you. We earn new phrases in your name. Not waste legacy given." The sister said in broken basic, dipping her head to her crystal. The brother looked up in determined agreement. Their weapons forged, their crystal potential ready, and their oaths taken. She did the same as her brother had previously and marked her own palm with her alchemized blade, a small hint of the black lingering on the wound. Like before he had begun to empower his apprentices, and although there were not yet four to replace four, there might still be, fate was funny that way.

Both siblings took their victories, and place to the side, standing behind Darth Reficite. While the assassin's form took the command as law. "As you wish. Anyone entering the tomb will not leave alive." She said with finality, sure to assign some Kethenite fanatics or cloaked Tomb Keepers to watch over the area, whichever was more appropriate. It would be her pleasure to hunt down any who happened to get too far. Listening and watching intently as her Master recited what had befallen the previous apprentices and fracturing. "Knowing and living the past is the most valuable thing we will ever have," and for the first time she said it. "Master." The change going from Keth to a new Master actually cut her tongue like glass, so committed in her loyalty, which was probably her best attribute. Lord Reficite

Judgment passed. The black mirror ahead of Darth Osiris moved to stand to their side when he did not flinch. It was a sign of strength and resolve to look into the uncertain reflection that the Kae Killer embodied. Many Sith all too often would falter or fail. Taresa held part of Reficite's lightsaber past in her hands, it appealed to her preservation of the past. If it were possible the Sith Keeper had a momentary contentment behind her masked form, fleeting as it was. A drop of certainty upon a figure that walked with the opposite.

such desires from the dead?

As Osiris and Reficite spoke of the past, present and future, lingering force ghosts might be seen lurking in shadows to watch this pronouncement of fate or destiny to come, vague shapes lingering around in the shadows. Keth's countless dead, endlessly trapped or bound to these places, several to Taresa Kae for judgment over their failures or fall. In every battle more were taken or fell and more were bound.

They desire Sith space to belong to the Sith once more | Their legacy, though, lives on.

The mirrored form felt another emotion, pride, it was radiating off the acolyte. While a single Kethenite lived the Sith sites would be protected but they would never be what they once were with their work alone. The eternal watcher watched and waited to see what her Master would say.

Darth Osiris | Lord Reficite

 

[Lord Reficite]

It was strange to hear people wanting to have themselves die in your name but it was not the first...nor the last he would gather. When they went to his side, he did not once complain...they knew whose word and law is to be followed, the Dark Lord of Rebirths. They were going to soon be more than just mere Acolytes, they were Apprentices, ones that would ensure the proper steps is taken. Though with three...it is almost like a cult or group, perhaps he needed a name? Before he even could formulate a further thought on that, the Assassin spoke on the tomb. The word Master going through made him feel something he had not felt in a while. Aged, Old...and a tad cranky. Hanging his head for a moment, he merely nodded as he spoke to her quickly.

"Those wishing can be allowed to harvest crystals...but none into that room, none. There are some things...best forgotten, even if we must honor them."

A black mirror decided to side with him? He was a bit confused though stranger things have happened in the Force but now he seemed to have a small group with him. Finally, he would address the other Sith across from him, eyes closed for a moment as he pondered each set of words.

"Ignoring what the Force is trying to guide us towards is indeed a fools errand...but the small detours, the small...little nudges, it works out fine to manipulate the plan. I been on the opposite end of the Living Force, controlling it and I have met fates...fates that would be cruel yet justified. The Force wishes balance on every person and attempting to manipulate the balance only ends in disaster...we can grip the hair to control it but if held to long, it will buck and we will be thrown off."

"But yes, we stand on the titans of our own, people here on Ziost that have died and have a legacy...a legacy that is unfortunately, lost and becoming dust. Yes, we all attempt to follow what they done and we try to fix the issues that caused their failure. The One Sith from what I read, was led by one Emperor such as the one I had...yet he went mad, lost it all...no definition of handing over the reigns when it is over. The Rule of Two, almost beyond my time, required the Master and Apprentice, one killing the other. I implored part of that....somewhat with one apprentice. it did not work well...it to, has many risks."

"The Brotherhood of the Sith tried to fix all previous issues, it failed as it had no singular or group of strong leaders, just pirates in disguise with the ability of the Force. What of the New Sith Wars, ones I was part of? So fractured that it became comical to send ten jedi to deal with a hundred of us. Yes...I can speak for a while of every persons failure...but each one of them had to try something new. Reclaiming our heritage, reclamations of Sith Space...all have happened time and time again. Each time in failure or of great sacrifice."

"Each time we rise up, some jerk usually with yellow hair and a blue lightsaber ruins it single handedly, an entire empire of Sith crumbling to one person. It has happened time and time again...the catalyst of total darkness and the Force throws a singular person in to balance it once more. I know that fate and I know what will happen if we try to assert all dominance. We will have it...then we fall again."

"The Sith Order exists with many cults, many sects that fight amongst each other...much like the days of the New Sith Wars, yet here...here there is no fighting, there is words. To make them all co-exist is near impossible, no simple ruler can affect them all...but perhaps in the days of old, we can influence still the decisions of the Galaxy, the Force can be guided as much as it can be used to guide others off its path...in little detours to our own advantage. The Galaxy has never been this vulnerable in a very long time...and we need to take advantage."

"I do not deny the desires of the dead...but we must answer our own desires first to then assist those of the dead. What do you say on what my words? What do you think should come from all those fighting, all those bickering?"

Taresa Kae Darth Osiris