Ties that bind

[Darth Isolda]

B Y S S
Temple of Vahl

[member="The Handmaiden"] [member="Soeht"] ( [member="Odium"] cause they might be looking for you boo eventually xD )

"F̴i̡n̶d h͟i͝m.."

The order fell with a distinct rasp of the Chosen of Vahl's voice, floating in between the smoke of the overhanging incense burners. Twin orbs of black peered beyond the scrying water urn that stood in front of the High Priestess of the Ember of Vahl, her straight black hair a molten waterfall over her shoulders and back. Power radiated with the low thrum of charged electricity, constantly floating in and throughout the nihilstone chamber.

Blood dripped in scarlet beads upon the polished surface of the water, rippling across as Isolda's pale angular visage snapped up to settle upon the two bowed forms of her apprentice and Handmaiden. She had felt him; ages past, a writhing undercurrent of the one who had been her apprentice before.

Darth Odium.

He was her sole successful apprentice. A slave to the Goddess and Her will. If Soeht were to successfully take his place, he would be tasked to come face to face with the one who held that title before him.

 

[Soeht]

Before [member="Darth Isolda"], Soeht was to the right of [member="The Handmaiden"]. He appeared to be unassuming - donning typical Sith attire, with a typical Sith mask, with a typical Sith lightsaber clipped to his belt. While slightly above the average Stormtrooper’s height, he was not an imposing physical monstrocity that seemed to be common for Sith Masters and rather thin.

It had not been long since Darth Isolda agreed to take Soeht as an apprentice. This was also the first moment where Soeht and the Handmaiden were in the same room.

After hearing the order from his master, Soeht stood upright and responded with, “Him?”

 

[The Handmaiden]

[member="Soeht"] | [member="Darth Isolda"]​

​

The Handmaiden stood quietly besides The Apprentice.

Her back was stiff, her cloak was pulled above her face, her dark purple lips pulled into a sickening smile. Her shoulders were square and even, her hands gently fidgeted at her side, neatly pulling at the scraps of robe that hung above her waist. Her arms were thin, frail, her fingers were spindly and spiderlike, her nails jaundice and discolored. She peered from beneath her hood, watching as the Mistress spoke, lips parting like a grand maw.

"The other." She hissed. "The one who came before."

The Handmaiden shifted her gaze from the dread mistress towards the apprentice, observing his reaction with interest.

 

[Darth Isolda]

[member="Soeht"] [member="The Handmaiden"]

Fingers would curl to beckon, dark tipped nails summoning Soeht towards the basin. Around them, the chants of the Ember of Vahl priests and priestesses would spike in a low murmur. Incense rolled, swinging heavy upon the golden orbs overhead. The sound of chanting would grow louder. That jolt of energy thickening with a lifelike pulse.

Slender digits came to a sudden stop over the water basin, hovering over it as if in anticipation. The water stilled, it's ripples vanishing in an instant, turning as slick as glass; a singular reflection of the silver eyed Priestess. Isolda's lips parted, and a cloud of breath came spilling forth.

A mirror of the past, where Odium had once stood before her.

Her hand would weave and manipulate the veil of smoke and water. From within, shadowy figures would take shape. Smoke and water danced, spun, until the image of the twisted form of what remained of the Nautolan was visible.

// You shall feast upon others. Bind their souls to increase your power…Life for a life, you shall grow in your strength for His Glory. //

"͢Y͞ǫu wįll̷ ̡be t͠h̵e h͠eír ́o҉f͟ Ņo̵x̵ ͡an̨d̷ Gr̡a͘u҉s̛h, ̷a͏ Ma̷s͜te̡r͘ o͞f͏ ͟t̡he҉ De̶ad.̴ ̀
̕

Y҉ǫu sh̡a҉ll͞ ͜b̡ę, à L͡ic̷h̡-͢King.̀"̴

That is what she told Odium then. It was at that time that she sent him on a quest for the Heart of Graush. He had instead taken it a step beyond, crafting his own heart and filling it with the souls of countless planets and beyond.

"T̶h͠e͠ ̷on͟e̢ w̴h̵ose͏ ͡st͟e͢p̶s ͏yo͝u ̀sh̴a͏ll̸ f͠ol̶l͝ow͠."͝ !͢ the Goddess was certain to bring this in full circle.

Snapping her head up, twin orbs of black would settle upon her new apprentice. " D̢art́h̸ O͘di͏ưm͞.͜"

 

[Soeht]

Per [member="Darth Isolda"]’s gesture, Soeht approached the basin without responding to [member="The Handmaiden"]. He looked down to see the appearance of [member="Darth Odium"]. He continued to stare at the basin as Darth Isolda spoke. An audible hiss of air escaped from a slit on his mask.

Turning back to Darth Isolda, Soeht then asked, “Where would I start to find him?”

 

[The Handmaiden]

[member="Soeht"] | [member="Darth Isolda"]​

​

"He will come to you." The words were hissed, serpent like teeth showing for half a moment between The Handmaidens hood.

She did not approach the basin, nor did she follow after Sohet. Her stature, her poise remained the same. Shoulders drawn back, head held up high, her face still hidden by the heavy cloak surrounding her features. Her horns protruded out from beneath the thick silk, more than a bit of the cloth wrapping around them as she slowly turned her head towards her Mistress.

"He will seek you out." Again, her words were a serpent like hiss, trailing with a slight echo. "But you must give him reason."

Odium would come.

It was simply a matter of luring him in.

 

[Soeht]

“A reason?” rhetorically asked Soeht as he turned to [member="The Handmaiden"].

“Oh, I know nothing about him,” he continued as he stepped away from the basin - not to be on the same physical level as [member="Darth Isolda"].

Turning back to his master, Soeht asked her, “What would compel him to act?”

 

[Darth Isolda]

[member="The Handmaiden"] [member="Soeht"]

What would provoke Odium to act?

A rather wolfish grin would twist upon Isolda’s crimson lips. In the past her apprentice and she were connected by her mark. His physical body tied to hers, her power influencing him with her presence even from half a galaxy away. His subsequent death and rebirth had cast that mark to the ashes, but the Force was an all powerful thing.

She still felt him, like a maggot writhing within the mine. Feeling him slither through with the faintest of echoes through the Force. He had grown into a powerful Lord in his own might, much like the Goddess had foreseen. He was a Lich King.

Her black eyes would swivel towards a Handmadien to her left, where by silent instruction brought forth a small tray decorated with crystals and polished stones. Being an apprentice of Vahl meant that a blood sacrifice has to be made. Odium had done so many times before, such a faithful one. His blood had tied to her own, his essence much the same.

Fingers would pluck at the polished red Heart of Fire stone. It was a shining, red glowing stone from the planet Kiffu. On Kiffu, it was tradition to give the stone to someone you loved and cared about. It was said that the stone held a little of the spirit of both the giver and the receiver. However, Isolda would use it for a far more malevolent capacity.

Years ago, her apprenticed had successfully channeled the spirits of ancient members from the Order of the Terrible Glare. These spirits now dwelled and saturated the ground upon the temple of Vahl. They had whispered and tempted with secrets, a transfer of knowledge that came at a terrible price.

One of those were the creation of soul snares. Used for their own means, the soul snares were capable of holding a sentient being's life force for all eternity. She would use this knowledge to corrupt the Heart of Fire stone into a soul snare that would be like a beacon for the Force walker.

Blood of her blood and alchemized with sorcery, the Eye of the Dark Lord would pour her power into it. In it she would charge it with all of the memories and suffering Odium had lived, a remembrance of what he was. A method to channel that power and expand on it. It was as much of a compass as it was a beacon, carrying a trace of Darth Isolda’s essence to complete it.

“He shall know you by this.” Isolda would coo, the now lightly glowing crimson stone held up for her new apprentice to take hold of. An amulet.

 

[Soeht]

With care, Soeht took with amulet with a hand. He held it by the chain and looked at the crimson stone for several seconds.

“Interesting,” commented Soeht.

While holding the amulet, Soeht asked [member="Darth Isolda"], “Do you want him dead or alive, master?”

 

[The Handmaiden]

[member="Darth Isolda"] | [member="Soeht"]​

​

This time the Handmaiden would remain silent.

There was nothing for her to offer or add, nothing for her to say. In the presence of her great lady she was only a cheap imitation. It was better for her to simply watch and observe, for her to see what the Apprentice would do and how he would react.

Her eyes would wander between the two of them.

Odium would come, eventually. She had seen that much.

 

[Darth Isolda]

[member="The Handmaiden"] [member="Soeht"]


"Alive." Isolda's voice would float over the two with a weighted command.

In one form or another.

The body, after all was merely a vessel. [member="Darth Odium"] had proven that multiple times already. The confines of the physical were not the chains that bound the Nautolan.

No. He was a slave to power. Cursed to endlessly search for it.

Cursed to feed.

 

[Darth Odium]

[member="Darth Isolda"] [member="Soeht"] [member="The Handmaiden"]

He could feel her as he sat in his chains. She was a crimson thread in the black swirling mass of his twisted soul. He desired her still. The feel of her presence, the taste of her darkness. It had been to long.

His mind wandered into the realm known as beyond shadows where he sought his goddess. She was close. She was always close. Her flaming hand caressed his olive cheek as he walked to her and knelt at her feet. Her hand slowly lifted his chin and eyes of crimson flame met those of obsidian void.

"Soon my priest." she said in a voice that echoed in his labyrinthine mind, "You will be freed soon."

"Yesssss my godesssss." he whispered as he returned to consciousness in his body once more. A wicked smile spreading across his lips. "And the galaxy will know destruction."

 

[Soeht]

"So be it, master," replied Soeht to [member="Darth Isolda"].

Be there nothing else for this meeting, the Eye's apprentice would make his departure.

 

[Darth Isolda]

As he left, the Eye of the Dark Lord would twist her lips in a growing smirk.

Soon, my Forcewalker, you will return to me...