Faction We Are the Light of the Force (Jedi)

[Caden Evesa]

There were multiple new people who had joined the group.

One was a teenager, not much older than himself. He seemed capable of talking, perhaps too much, to the point he was starting to get caught on his own words. He had an odd fascination with the young teen though, he didn't look like the typical Jedi that he saw in the temple.

The next was another young boy, again older than him. This one seemed to have a small droid following him. Caden thought for a moment, how he wanted a droid. They were like companions, unable to grow old. They'd be there forever, a true friend where as people could come and go.

The Queen seemed to have tea.

He oddly wanted tea after seeing her with it. It wasn't something he'd normally drink, but he found that he was always craving things after hearing them mentioned or seeing them. It was surely an odd trait, but not a bad trait in any way. Just interesting.

He listened as the old Jedi Master spoke about a Force Nexus, and he listened as everyone in the group chipped in their own ideas of what a Force Nexus was. He was very glad everyone was chipping in ideas, he would go back to the Temple and collate all of the ideas and study.

"Thank you, Master"

Tiland Kortun | Starlin Rand | Okkeus Dainlei | Auburn Sioda | Kyra Perl | Sigyn Vanir | Aurelion Nova | Serena Rylvin

 

[Starlin Rand]

Shortly after Starlin trailed off, an elf-eared girl spoke up. He did his best not to gape at her, but she definitely stood out both due to her looks and her dress. While she talked, a redhead and a girl wearing a bathing suit whispered to each other. Thanks to his antennapalps, he knew that they were commenting on the fairy chick's outfit. Another guy approached the group behind him. Pointy-eared like the girl, the blond was accompanied by a small droid.

Starlin stood still and listened as the Jedi Master spoke, fully engaged. Tiland Kortun was everything he could have asked for in a wise old mentor, at least where first impressions were concerned. He looked cool, he sounded cool, and he knew how to explain things in a thoughtful and interesting way.

But when Kortun addressed him by name, Starlin realized he was still standing up at the edge of the group while everyone else was seated around the master. He plopped down at once, sitting between Caden Evesa and Serena Rylvin in a chair that was not meant for plopping in. The group of students that had gathered so far was evenly split between the sexes, four girls and four guys, including himself. As he sat down, he surveyed their faces, lingering perhaps a bit too long on the bathing suit-clad Kyra Perl before he snapped back to reality.

“The Dark Side nexus I was in was on Zeffos,” he said, figuring he might as well elaborate. “It was caused by a coven of witches that had set up shop in the ruins of an ancient library. They had been killing any scavengers who came in to loot the place, which is probably how the nexus came to be. My master and I fought them. She was able to get rid of the corruption they left behind.” It had been an overall insane and very unpleasant experience, but he didn’t want to gross anybody out with the nastier details. There was, however, one thing that had bothered him ever since, and he was hoping Master Kortun could shed some light on it. Pun intended.

“My master was afraid I wouldn’t be able to defend myself against the witches, so she took the time to train me with a lightsaber while we were hiding in some tunnels under the library. She introduced me to a lightsaber form called Juyo, but when I started practicing it with her, she suddenly stopped me, all upset. She said it was a mistake to try and teach it to me when we were so close to a Dark Side nexus—that it was dangerous and that it increased the risk of my falling to the Dark Side.” Smirking grimly, he shrugged his shoulders. “But if I did come close to falling, I sure didn’t notice it. In fact, I thought I was doing pretty good.”

Syd had since finished their training on Juyo, but on Kashyyyk near the SJO stronghold there, far from the Darkness. Her reaction in the tunnel still lingered in his mind, though. She had been horrified, then concerned and apologetic… but what did she have to be sorry for?

"If I fell that easily, wouldn’t it be my own fault? Wouldn't it take much more to turn me than just learning a martial form too close to a dark nexus? It seems so arbitrary..."

Okkeus Dainlei Auburn Sioda Aurelion Nova Sigyn Vanir

 

[Tiland Kortun]

Starlin Rand Okkeus Dainlei Auburn Sioda Aurelion Nova Sigyn Vanir
===============

Tiland nodded as they spoke, bowing in greeting to those who arrived, and tracing a finger through his beard as he listened. The story didn't surprise him, at least not the effects of the nexus on the padawan while learning Juyo. That was one not even he had studied, except its counters and weaknesses. Being Anzati brought him close enough to the Dark Side on a daily basis. He had no interest in making himself more vulnerable that way.

"Not arbitrary, no," Tiland replied smoothly. "Like Force Light, nexuses concentrate and channel the Force, regardless of Light or Dark. It manifests more strongly in these places, and in the way the Light flows like a stream, the Dark can easily seep into the mind and emotions of those open to it. Think of your mind and your spirit as pools of water. Through meditation, we clear the streams and channels that lead from the ocean into the pool to create an unhindered flow. The Dark Side is much the same, but it functions in a different way. It draws power from the blockages and mental hurts that cause pain within our selves. For juyo practitioners, they use those blockages as a means of channeling the speed and power of the flow of energy."

He stopped to let the words sink and give time for the students to learn and understand them. Not that it was easy to understand. Even he was uncertain of the specifics, especially on such an abstract level. "To do that in a Dark Side nexus contaminates the entire flow, spreading the contaminant of the blockage into the pools. Your teacher was correct-- it does increase the risk of falling. The Dark Side is alluring and it whispers in our minds, offering us what we most want in the easiest, quickest way possible. Juyo makes those stronger and gives them easier access to our minds."

 

[Caden Evesa]

He had learned a scary amount.

He had only been on Takodana a half hour, if that. He hadn't even been on the planet long and he had already learned so much about the force, about nexuses. Nothing yet about Force Light, but to Caden that didn't matter. He had more knowledge than he had even come to the planet for.

The experienced boy had sat himself down next to Caden.

Caden had studied the boy for a few moments. He could certainly talk, it may very well have been a skill of his. If you were to look at him, he didn't have much going for him. He wasn't especially intimating or anything, but then again, nor was Caden.

"So does a dark side nexus increase feelings and emotions that are already there, or does it implant new ones? Someone once told me that every single person feels emotions such as anger, so does a dark side nexus just take that emotion and multiply it or does it implant a whole new level of anger?"

Caden looked around, and smiled.

Tiland Kortun | Starlin Rand | Okkeus Dainlei | Auburn Sioda | Aurelion Nova | Sigyn Vanir

 

[Tiland Kortun]

How could he answer the question. Caden Evesa had asked a good question and it was complicated, not to mention not exactly what most "traditional orthodox" Jedi would find acceptable as an answer. Even more so, he didn't have a full answer. The ways of the Force were by their nature mysterious. That was the most important lesson he'd ever learned and wanted these young Jedi to learn. No dogma or code or traditional teaching will encompass the entirety of the mystery.

He took took a deep breath. "The answer is both. Emotions are our body's chemicals trying to communicate something. We and the Force are in a symbiotic relationship. Our mental state feeds into the Force and responds from the Force as well. A Dark Side nexus evokes feelings of fear, initially, oppressive, choking fear, as well as despair. Our mind responds, physiologically, by releasing the biochemicals."

Tiland paused. He hadn't expected to be teaching a biochemistry class, but here it was. "With the fear from the nexus, it becomes easy to interpret those chemicals as fear and terror, creating a cycle that feeds itself and can grow out of control." He paused. "How an individual responds to the fear is another thing. Humans and near-humans often respond to fear with anger. Nothing wrong with that. It's understandable. Physiologically, anger is often accompanied by chemicals that make the body stronger, faster, more aggressive, as a way of masking the fear. The two are closely related."

"But the Dark Side will use whatever emotion you feed it. Fear, anger, pain. It takes those and amplifies them. It's why Force Light is able to counteract the existence of a nexus. It cleanses the area from the effects of the emotions."

 

[Auburn Sioda]

Auburn listened quietly as Tiland Kortun and the little puddle ones spoke about the effects of a Dark Side Nexus, and then how the body's chemicals interacted with the Force. When Starlin Rand spoke so... Casually, about falling to the Dark Side, she gripped the cup of tea in her hands tighter. He was so young, and it dawned on the queen that falling could be a reality to these children if they were already being exposed to a Dark Side Nexus.

What a cruel fate they had chosen to follow.

Taking a sip of her tea, Auburn considered speaking up, and commenting on responses to fear. It reminded her of when the Beannachtai began to die off, so long ago.

"Fear is a powerful, dangerous thing. Fear of death, fear of the unknown, fear of everything you knew crumbling around you... Giving in to your fears can have horrible, terrible, consequences."

Auburn sighed quietly, a frown tugging at her lips. The curiosity of children knew no bounds, it seemed.

Kyra Perl Aurelion Nova Sigyn Vanir Serena Rylvin Caden Evesa