Private Through the Ripples

[Onrai]

"I presume he wriggles when you poke him. That, or he's one of those composite organisms made up of an entire colony of worms." She responded, eying the architecture of the place. It felt... familiar, certainly. "So they continue to develop their power and their talents in the Force - yet they do not know of what this all comes from. Descent from the creations of the firstborn of Onrai, mixed and melded until they were no longer a species but a philosophy." She said, shrugging.

"It's what I would expect of you to be on the constant seeking for knowledge and the enrichment of those like yourself." She said, before saying something somewhat surprising.

"Might want to help take Quinn down a notch, though. She was somewhat haughty the last time I saw her."

Ashin Cardé Varanin

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

"I don't have a clue where the name comes from. The Worm is a multigendered composite being that considers himself, itself, godlike."

They'd come to an observation window with a view of Korriban from space. At Onrai 's last comment, Ashin tore her gaze from the planet she loved and refocused on her guest.

"That's Quinn," she said flatly. "In what context did you see her? And do I need to get ready to kill anyone or anything to secure her safety?"

 

[Onrai]

“Godlike?” Onrai chuckled. “Makes me wonder whether it has ever tasted the life force of a being that has seen so many empires rise and fall.” She smiled, gazing out over the landscape of Korriban before Ashin’s switch to being a protective father became plain to see.

“It was some exhibition the Sith had put on where apprentices were seeking to find masters. She and her clique of apprentices were merely watching. I believe she was involved with one of the shapeshifting spawn of Prazutis - Vesta, I believe they were named. She had told me you and Spencer both were dead and I told her I would assist her in whatever it was she required out of an obligation to her parents.”

That had been the only time she had ever actually interacted with Quinn. Her other interaction with one of Ashin’s spawn had been less polite. Errant had caused her much trouble on Bastion.

Ashin Cardé Varanin

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

"I'd very much enjoy watching you walk tall against the Worm. Take him down a peg. Of all the Sith Lords I know, you three - the Worm and Carnifex and Onrai - are the most convinced of their own divinity."

A small, tired smile - perhaps a flicker of emotional authenticity, perhaps feigned - crossed Ashin's face.

"Do you have children, Onrai ? I have three, and for the life of me I cannot understand them. Perhaps it's just that they're young. Maybe I broke whatever's..." She shook her head. "Noelle, Quinn, and Ibaris. All radically different. I have no idea whether they'll grow up into truly worthwhile allies." She snorted. "If Quinn keeps running her mouth to Dark Lords, she may not grow up at all."

 

[Onrai]

“It’s not impossible for there to be multiple gods, Ashin. I will say that Kaine’s presence as a god is less relative to his ability to do the deeds of a god and more related to Imperial propaganda. I have no idea about the Worm Emperor - but I at least know I can do things a god is supposed to be able to do, including help a people.”

She pondered for a bit. “All children I have ever had were experiments grown in labs. I have never actually had a long-term partner like you. And all of them end up suffering some sort of horrific fate, or simply disappear into the void. Even my most recent one, the only one to truly match my ambitions, has gone off and probably gotten herself killed by now.” She shrugged. “Evidently I am to be the mother goddess of civilizations, not an actual mother.” She replied in disappointment. “I wouldn’t know about the other two, but I do worry about Quinn sassing the wrong person and me having to do the old soul-snaring technique to bring her back to the realm of the living.”

Ashin Cardé Varanin

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

"I don't have any vat-grown progeny like that," Ashin said slowly, "but I can empathize. Apart from Spencer, every apprentice I've ever trained was a colossal disappointment in the end. I'm working on one right now, a girl named Avalore . No idea whether she'll turn out worthwhile, but she's got potential. Maybe she'll be the one to break the curse."

She chewed on her thoughts for a long moment.

"If you were to find a partner now, I think that would look very different from your previous choices in mates. You're...well, whatever you are now. I'd imagine finding a worthy partner isn't easy. Have you considered marrying into the Zambranos? They always have a spare heir lying around."

The suggestion was quite obviously not a serious one.

 

[Onrai]

"Oh?" Onrai replied in curiosity. "She sounds interesting - I would certainly like to meet her would the opportunity arise. It's not every day our affairs get to intermingle." She shrugged. "Don't be too hard on yourself. Your apprentices were colossal disappointments. My attempt to lead the shattered remnants of the Sith Empire through a dark time failed miserably." Still, the New Order had at least endeared her to the veterans.

"I don't know if it's possible to find a partner now." She chuckled a bit at Ashin's jab of marrying into the Zambrano family. "There was only one Zambrano I ever had any sort of love or affection for. And the truth is, with what he's done to be what he is now, he is physically incapable of feeling any sort of emotions. Love included. That, and the whole thing of polygamy would mean I'd be fighting for his affection with all the other wives. That only leads to bad things."

Ashin Cardé Varanin

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

"What exactly is Kaine, at a physical level? I've been...away. I know he's embraced ever more bizarre body replacements, but I don't know what his current form is. Something designed to strike terror into the hearts of the unwashed masses, no doubt?"

Onrai

 

[Onrai]

“He’s a gene-spliced abomination. Specially crafted. Still very much a mortal who has to rely on his spirit being able to possess a body in order to interact with the physical world.” She said. “The superman is a god to unknowing mortal men, even if he doesn't really fulfill any godlike properties." She said, shrugging. "I've occasionally considered seeing if whatever boundaries are on his emotions can be removed, but I have no idea."

Onrai shrugged. It was both familiar and strange to have so casual a conversation with Ashin while she still traversed through Otherspace on the forgotten world of Demonsgate, hunting for the item she so very much desired.

Ashin Cardé Varanin

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

Ashin turned away from the view of Korriban, frowning. "I'm really not sure why, but I find that concerning. I'll have to think on it. And you? This...body of yours - is it mortal? Is it an illusion, a construct? What exactly are you? What would I see if I looked at you through some...Force microscope? Seeing the truth of things isn't one of my talents."

 

[Onrai]

"I'm not entirely sure what the best description would be." She said, shrugging as her form reverted to the more familiar near-human features she once had. "My fleshy body was certainly physical, and this one is too. I can taste, touch, and generally do whatever it is I wish to. But mortals do not do the things I can do - defy the very laws of reality. Manifest matter. Have fully independent yet synchronous presences across the galaxy. For you to understand, you would have to take your belief of the universe and throw it to the wind - believe that you can do whatever you wish to do so long as it is within your power. Unfortunately my origin has somewhat limited my ability to take advantage of this."

Ashin Cardé Varanin

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

"Oblique," Ashin said with a chuckle. And most likely overblown. Sith Lords as a whole tended toward overestimation of their own abilities. Well, that wasn't really fair to Sith Lords - everyone from Mandos to fleet commanders to Jedi Masters did the same, with their own particular flavour. She'd never been wholly free of that cognitive bias herself.

"So what does that mean for you, for your life, your plans? What satisfies someone who can be anywhere? Do you intend to, oh, transcend form and be everywhere at once?"

 

[Onrai]

“That seems too small, truthfully.” Onrai replied. “Between the boundaries of the various dimensions, there lies a prime universe. A world between worlds within which one can directly alter existence as we know it. It’s the plane the Celestials retreated to once the initial seeds of darkness have been planted within this universe.” If I can get there... then I will have the ability to directly influence the very whims of reality. Perhaps even create my own universe, more than a mere pocket dimension.” She smiled.

“The key is the gates. Interdimensional gates, rifts between the planes. The right rift will give access to this domain. Or it could lead to Otherspace, or the Netherworld, or even Mortis.” She said.

Ashin Cardé Varanin