Private The Witch's Knowledge

[Countess Anétresya]

Somethings were hard to discover about the Lady Anetresya. The enigmatic woman kept many secrets, pieces of information that only her family, and those who serve her would come to know if they were so fortunate enough. So it certainly piqued her interest when she got a message delivered by one of her servant that a Sith was demanding to see a century old witch, Aurelia Xonavi. Her witch's name, that this whoever this Sith Lord was must have done a great bout of investigation to discover.

Nevertheless, she had told the servant to send a message that she would see him at dusk at the Sky-Tavern, the bar on the 297th floor of the skyscraper. Interested to hearing what this entity might want that required a century old witch specifically. At dawn she sat at one of the quieter area of the restaurant reserved for the Elite patrons, at such a height, the grand veranda over looked the entire city and its lights. And with the backdrop of the last of daylight slipping into the horizon, it was quite the view.

She'd sent one staff to escort the Lord Strosius to her, such a figure should not be hard to find. When he finally appeared, in full armour and mask, it was not quite the attire she was expecting. "Lady Anetresya. A pleasure to meet you Lord Strosius. " She greeted, extending a hand to shake in a simple exchange in pleasantries. "Can I get you something to drink before we start?" She offered.

"How did you come to know about Aurelia Xonavi? What do you seek from her?" The lady asked, getting straight to the point.

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

The entrance of Darth Strosius was unmistakable, the way the air shifted and chilled just before the heavy sound of metal boots and dragging cloth could be heard. Whether it was done purposefully to disturb the more quite and refined venue or if it was just how he always appeared was unclear. What was clear however was his stride, intent and without hesitation as each long stride carried him forward until he stood before the Lady herself. "The pleasure is mine."

He took her hand carefully and gave a simple shake, stiff but gentle as though the movement was unexpected or uncommon from him. Either way his hand was quick to retract back into the folds of his robes as he sat down across from her. "I'm quite fine on refreshments thank you, but please feel free to order something for yourself." Thus far he had given off little more than typical pleasantries and formalities, but when she asked the pertinent question he grew silent for a few moments.

He sat back in his seat as he simply stared at her, his visor reflecting her expression and giving no clues as to his own beneath it. "Two questions you ask of me, and two answers you will receive in full." He raised up a finger, his gauntlet glinting in the low daylight. "But in turn I expect that you shall answer two of mine when I ask them. A fair arrangement don't you think?"

His hand dropped to rest on the table, the clawed fingers of his gauntlet seemingly serving as a subtle threat if she were to be disagreeable to his terms. "For the how, it wasn't easy. I had to call in quite a few favors just to learn of any witches at all, let alone where they might be and how to contact them. But with enough persistence and some...persuasion I was able to track down a few rumors about a handful." The masked man shifted in seat slightly and shrugged. "Thus far all of them that I've visited have been uninclined to share their knowledge with me, which brings me to Aurelia Xonavi. What little trail that I could find went cold on Bastion quite some time ago, but it did eventually lead me to one name in particular."

He raised his hand and gestured towards her with an open palm. "Yours." There was a pause before his fingers curled and closed. "As for what I seek, it's simple. Knowledge. Understanding. Context. I find myself dissatisfied with Sith teachings of the Force alone. Our view is expansive and has many facets, but it also too...focused. Too limited in scope. So I wish to broaden my view."

Countess Anétresya

 

[Countess Anétresya]

This was far from the first Sith Lord she had encountered over the century, they always held an air of superiority... and of control. She had her fair share of study of their world and their code, the Qotsisajak. The Sith Lord before her seemed no different, but nothing she wouldn't be able to handle, valuing diplomacy and peace rather than conflict... at least unless it became personal.

The Sith Lord proposed his terms - a formal exchange of answers and questions that was all fair. "No." The word left her mouth. "Here, I expect us to have an honest, genuine conversation. I will ask and answer as many questions as I see fit, and you will do the same." There was no need to dance around rules with something as simple as that.

The Lady listened to him speak on the lengths he came to discover about her. If she'd be honest, it was almost flattering. But it was knowledge he sought, and with knowledge was the power came in tangent. It quite reminded of herself in her earlier days, before she had gained immortality through an embrace, when her thirst for knowledge had been insatiable. "You do understand that the witch, Aurelia Xonavi, would be well over a century old?"

Countess Anetresya was a name she had only began to assume less than a decade ago. But he must have caught whiff of it through the word of mouth of other witches he encountered. "A witch's knowledge is ancient, sacred and dangerous should it fall in the wrong hands. Witches have been feared and hunted for millennias. There is a reason there are so little of us, and why many are uninclined to share. But surely you already know that. " She spoke.

"And why should you think my views would be any different than the other witches you have encountered?"

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

The masked man didn't seem too pleased by her refusal of his offer, his expression unseen yet the subtle clenching of his fingers on the table more than signified his annoyance at her response. Honesty and genuineness between strangers couldn't be relied upon nor could it be proven even if suspicions were raised. He had been hoping that a simple deal would be a more amenable option than the two of them sparring with deflections and half-truths but apparently not. Perhaps he could manage to salvage something useful from this little chat regardless.

"Extending one's lifespan with the Force is nothing new nor even surprising." Darth Strosius rebuked her question with a dismissive gesture of his hand. "I have no doubt that a witch would be able to find more than a few methods to keep herself alive beyond a century or two just as Sith and even Jedi have done before." There were even methods to do so that didn't involve the Force at all, and with this witch in particular being very adept at hiding her tracks he knew that she could find any number of ways to keep herself alive.

He'd be more surprised to have found a corpse than a warm body in truth, no matter how long it had been.

"Because unlike the other witches I've encountered you've got two very important things." He sat forward and clasped his hands together on the table, the metal of his gauntlets making slight yet harsh grating noise as he did so. "First and foremost, unlike the other witches that I've encountered thus far, you're not sequestered away on some backwater world. You're out and about, with stakes and responsibilities. Things which can be lost or cultivated depending on the situation."

If his words were meant to be some sort of threat then he certainly didn't speak them like they had any real double meaning behind them. When he continued however, his tone dipped down to something far colder and aggressive. "But most importantly, you happen to have something that I very much want and will have. A man attempted to secure some information from you not too long ago but you halted him in his work. I want him back."

Countess Anétresya

 

[Countess Anétresya]

The Lady listened, ever poised on her seat. He spoke of extending life, but still she did not confirm nor deny if she was the witch he sought.

Anetresya had always been across the galaxy, seeking and building the chapters of her life, never confined to a single planet for more than a year. However his words had an edge to them that toed the lines of sounding like a threat. But she was a patient woman, those that dared to challenge her would only meet their demise.

However, his next words was certainly of interest. He spoke of Dorian, the man who attempted to steal from her and failed. Finally, she had gotten an answer after all these weeks to who his master was. "You sent him to steal from my house." She merely stated with a scoff. "I had not halted him, he had failed and paid the price with his life. " She explained, however, while there was truth to her words, it was not all.

"I must say. I hadn't expected anyone to come seeking for a him." Anetresya admitted. There was some worthiness to his character after all.

 

[Darth Strosius]

Darth Strosius let out a small noncommittal hum at her frank statement, finding no reason to deny the accusation that he already knew to be true. Sending Kasir had been a calculated move, one done in conjunction with his own movements in order to try and force a better bargaining position in this very discussion. A move which for whatever reason hadn't paid off in his favor and one that he now had to run damage control because of. A risk that could be recovered from even if it was a setback.

"Is that so?" Failure was anathema to a Darkseeker, they of all his Sith knew that the price of failure so far away from friendly lines and forces was nothing short of death. Kasir most of all knew better. She claimed that he had perished but he had his doubts, although the lack of contact from Kasir meant that something had indeed occurred to him. And regardless of what she claimed he knew that she was the cause.

"And I hadn't expected you to so brazenly dismiss the one piece of leverage you had." He clicked his tongue and sat forward, clasping his hands together as his reflective visor peered across at the Lady with an unreadable expression yet a decisive edge in his voice. "If he is dead as you say, then I have no need to let you live. I can simply take whatever I need from your abode once I've disposed of you." He cocked his head to the side. "But if he is alive, then we have something to discuss and you get to walk away with your life. Now, where is he?"

Countess Anétresya