Private The World is a Stage

[Gerwald Lechner]

TAG: Kaila Irons

A reason. The answer produced a knowing nod. Many Sith wanted a reason. Were they not all looking for a reason or a purpose? Sith simply made their own purpose. The search for a reason resulted in making a reason. It was not those who looked for a destiny that found one. It was those who made their destiny which walked in it. The lesson was something Gerwald had learned the hard way. Everything he had now, he had taken, or seized the circumstances to bring it all about.

He made choices.

Gerwald was going to give Kaila some choices.

“How would gaining the memory steal what you are now?”

His question was directed at the exact thing she said.

“Why be concerned with who you are today when the choice in front of you is about who you want to be tomorrow?”

The Wolf extended his hand, palms facing upward.

“On one hand you could choose to remain as you are, or on the other you can retrieve your memory and become something more. Gaining your memory does not invalidate the strides you have taken since losing them. If it does, then you did not gain a thing by the process.”

The Wolf reached into the pouch on his belt and pulled out a coin. On it was the symbol of his Second Legion on one side and the Revivalists on the other. This was his work, and it was the path he saw forward. Gerwald had told his mate, Naedira Darcrath , he would reshape and reform the Order. This was how he would do it, one life at a time.

One follower at a time.

“Whatever you decide, follow me. Join the Second Legion. Break the chains of Eternalist, Kainite, Tsis’kaar, and become a Revivalist. Help me return our Order to the purity of the Sith Code. Spend your life building something greater than what this galaxy has ever seen.”

He set the coin on the desk. She could pick it up if she wished.

“You will make us stronger.”

 

[Kaila Irons]

Kaila hesitantly took the coin in hand, holding it up to the light as she flipped it over to study the strange symbol on it's shiny face.

"Revivalist, my lord?"

It sounded as if they were but another contender in this endless game of factionalism and plots. If true, then it seemed ironic to claim that such a thing would be the end that very cycle. However... if Gerwald was one of them, then it was likely they had something the other factions did not: support of The Empress. She spoken to many sith since coming here, and the one commonality that most shared, with but rare exception, was loyalty to her. Even her husband's enemies.

She was the only unifying factor which kept this empire alive.

It was evident in the way that she was squinting at an empty corner of the desk that she was deep in thought, already running calculations with no more than a name to go on. But would someone like her truly make them stronger? one who had miscalculated so dramatically as she? That was the question she asked herself.

Then again, was it her place to question his judgement, even of her own character?

Suddenly it was no longer about the memories, not about the past, but of the future and the part she would play in it. Though uncertain, it was... weirdly comforting, to have this freedom to consider a future for herself at all. One where, for the most part, she was at the helm of her own fate.

"I must admit, you've piqued my curiosity."

"Though dedicated, you do not seem the type to recruit for mere zealots and petty factionalism..."

She rolled the coin, catching it between two fingers on it's way back across so that she may again inspect the diamond symbol.

"Tell me more."


Gerwald Lechner

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

TAG: Kaila Irons

Gerwald ignored the question. There was no need to give an explanation or define a word that held no meaning to the wider Sith Order yet. They were new, a fledgling construct which had been organized to ensure an outcome which was still in motion. For now words would not be enough to draw those to a cause that remained shrouded in some level of secrecy. Parts of what they wished to accomplish were still hidden, and needed to remain hidden.

“Factionalism,” Gerwald scoffed questioningly. “No, as I have said, I wish to eradicate it. The feudalism which we now allow is a cancer which will destroy us if we do not cut it out. It leads to the idea that we can never be one Order, but will always be made up of different philosophies which compete for power. It will always ensure that we believe the true enemy to our Order will always be within our own borders, in our own home, rather than the weakness and corruption of what lies beyond.”

The Wolf watched as Kaila played with the coin and inspected it closely. He smiled, knowing he had her curiosity at the very least. What he proposed seemed to settle under her skin. It was not the same offer she had received from anyone else within the Order save his mistress perhaps.

Her request for more produced something she likely did not expect.

Gerwald shook his head.

“No, but I will show you.”

He paused.

“Join my next raid. Experience life among the Second Legion, and see what we stand for. If you like what you find then join me. If you do not like what you discover then I will allow you to walk away, free.”

This offer was also something he knew no other Sith would truly give her. It was an option which left her in control, or at least it would seem that way. Joining the legion would naturally come with some level of surrender and submission, but in the end it would still be her choice. This was all she wanted after all, to be the master of her own fate and the architect of her own destiny. It was that which Gerwald was offering.

“This is larger than Echnos, and if we succeed it will create something which is stronger than what exists now. Our Order must change. You know this already. We can stagnate and die, or change and grow. There is no other option. What I am offering you is simple. You can be among those which perpetuate the death of this Order, or you can be one who makes us better.”

Gerwald pointed to the coin.

“You may keep it until you make your decision.”

 

[Kaila Irons]

Kaila glanced away with a guilty frown. The hard truth was that she'd adopted that very mindset a long time ago, treating nearly every sith she came across as the enemy. Anathemous would never admit it to the wolf, but she'd killed killed more sith than jedi, and the numbers were staggering.

Her training encouraged this.

The state of the order she'd found herself in encouraged this.

But Gerwald was offering her, and perhaps the order, a way out.

That intrigued her. However, anyone could bring change. But would it be a positive change? If he would not tell her who or what these people were, then it was something she'd have to see for herself. Supposedly she had options.

"Well," she began with a knowing smile as she tossed the coin into the air.

"You know how to tease a seeker."

Anathemous caught the coin on it's way down, turning her palm up to look at it. The young darth was not one to leave her decisions up to fate, and in fact she wondered if men like Gerwald would not have her killed if the lengths she would go to circumvent the the fates were ever truly known, but she was curious.

Her hand opened, and just as she suspected, the mark of the revivalists stared back at her.

"Hmh."

She pocketed the coin.

"Very well, Lord Lechner. I shall give your 'revivalists' a chance, as well as the legion."

"I'm looking forward to it, in fact."