Weekend Treasure Hunt 12: The Last Will and Testament of Rave Merrill (open)

[Yasha Cadera]

Taurannik Codex:

Clue One:

Dromund Kaas. I hate this planet. It's little more than a pit of misery and ruins. I can smell the deep and deathly cesspools here, both recent and ancient. It's to the ruins of the never-completed statue of Darth Vowrawn that I seek whispers of Rave's alchemical pursuits. The Slave Rebellion of Dromund Kaas had once been massive, instigated by a member of the Sith: Darth Baras. He died later, of that most common of Sith Killers: Hubris.

Clue Two:

I pull the Sumatiyara into orbit around Mindor and sit back in the copilot seat. Bingo the Naval Droid takes over the controls and Bucket grabs me a thick, long coat. Rave's disappearance doesn't sit right. I burst into sobs while I had a cup of tea, as if the diverted grief of close friends hit me in my glass jaw.

I don't know why, but it put a more industrious alloy of durasteel in my spine. [member="Valik"]

Mindor. It was here that the former Sorcerer of Rhand and Darksight Prophet Cronal had his 'final' stand, if any stand could be final for those of us with uncanny powers and magic bullets. Did Master Skywalker annihilate him as thoroughly in all that? Has Rave given me a clue based on the Rhandites' own missives?

My boots hit the surface and I let my intuition guide me. I have to find the Codex.

I have to find it and keep it safe.

[member="Rave Merrill"]

 

[Viktor Romanov]

[member=Rave Merrill] (This answer is dependant on if you think Ewoks eat people :3)

Viktor re-examined the first clue as he held the second piece in his hand, and thought for an answer with renew vigour. He sprung up from his chair as he thought of where he had to head next. He hopped on his transport and made his way straight for Endor to locate the final piece of the riddle.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

...The Dark Forge of Aza’zoth, and the secret facility that holds it, on a hidden world rich in stygium, as well as the Deicide Oculus.

Cerita Sarova did not know the answer to Rave’s riddles and neither did she have to, she knew of Fort Elsa and knew of the things that were located there. Better than anyone the clone knew what kind of things Merrill had been experimenting with, terrible things, beautiful things, things that could destroy the fabric of reality if taken by someone who was lax and ambitious enough.

The last thing she knew positively was that people would come for it, not immediately, Kelsier was a frontier world, few if any knew of its location. But eventually someone would figure it out or stumble upon it by accident, an impossibility that could not and would not happen with her still in play.

While the men and women of the Galaxy tried to figure it out, Cerita simply landed on the landing platform of Fort Elsa. She ordered the evacuation of the facility, everything of use, the Dark Forge, the Deicide Oculus and many other things were taken quietly into the night. Away from Fort Elsa to a different, more secure location.

No risks would be taken and everything should go smoothly.

Except if [member="Rave Merrill"] had killed Cerita Sarova before disappearing, which would probably mean that none of this has happened. Fingers crossed.

 

[Velok the Younger]

If she still existed, Rave would have appreciated the effort put in by [member="Anders Sivas"], and been moderately sympathetic when it turned out that Dromund Kaas and Mindor -- both interesting guesses -- were too much of a stretch.

[member="Viktor Romanov"] did not find what he was after, not on Endor.

Fort Elsa, on the hidden planet Kelsier, along with the Dark Forge and the Deicide Oculus, remained undisturbed, because the qo'saarai refused the evacuation order from [member="Cerita Sarova"]. One, a great chief among them, handed her a note.

Cerita,​

Don't be a Circe.​

If you want a bequest from me, take this as my final lesson:​

Go out and do the work, same as anyone else.​

This riddle is off-limits to you; go work on the others.​

I love you.​

​

The note was dated a week ago. It seemed Rave's grasp of time hadn't been confined to the process of erasing herself.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Arcanix, curiously looking over the will of [member="Rave Merrill"] was hooked on the riddle for the Dark Forge. Going through pages and pages of research in multiple libraries and archives across Coruscant, she stumbled upon the origins of the Rakata. How they had been cannibals and had been gifted technology and knowledge by the Kwa, before they turned on their uplifters and the Kwa degenerated into the Kwi on Dathomir, thus changing their faces. Deciding even just a day trip to Lehon or Rakata Prime as it was sometimes called was worth it even if she was wrong, she took off for the planet,

 

[Jairus Starvald]

Cerita sniffed as she read through the letter, but as she read it a great weight lifted itself from her shoulders. She wouldn't have to be the keeper of Merrill's secrets, to her dark legacy and everything that came with it. She finally... felt free, she might not have any credits on her name, no ancient artifacts or holocrons, but she had her mind and the knowledge instilled upon it by Merrill and Valik - that would have to be enough.

She thanked the Qo'saarai for giving her the letter, before folding it up and putting it in her pocket. Then she left Kelsier, taking one last look before finally taking a step towards her own future.

Cerita had been to Rave what Rave had been to Velok, this only dawned on her later and when she realized that Merrill had tried to protect her in the end from her own fate... well you know how it goes when girls get emotional.

[member="Rave Merrill"]

 

[Arage Bao]

In a world without gold, we might have been heroes.

He had known some of Merrill’s story, not all of it by any means, but some of it and yet… reading about it in this fashion it brought a whole new perspective on things. Looking back at all the things they had been through together and the years spent in the Monolith this revelation cast a whole new light on all her efforts.

And it made him rethink everything he had been gone through, everything he had done up until now. Jared Ovmar had been a honorable man, once, before the temptations had gotten to him, before the world had settled itself on his shoulders and the Lord of the Fringe cracked under the responsibilities he himself had put there.

Now he was the villain, a sobering thought he had never contemplated before. Jared had considered himself above such petty and vindictive labels, he had considered himself simply... a man. A man who took what he wanted and did what no one else could do, the Sith Lord wasn’t sure when the lines had blurred, when enough wasn’t enough anymore and he started to grab for more.

Always more.

How does this story end, Jared thought to himself as he once again read through the letter that had been sent to all of them. Would he continued as planned? Keep up the ‘good work’? A day ago, hell a hour ago he’d have replied positively to that question. He would have grinned his lazy grin and shrugged if someone would suggest to him that perhaps he was finally going to far.

But things change, as they always do and now that he stood on the crossroads. Jared finally began to understand how [member="Rave Merrill"] had felt when she had been presented with the same choice. He wanted to curse her, track her down and cast her down for what she had done to him, but such things were beyond the realm of possibilities.

Or were they?

A thought came to mind. One last… plot, one last adventure, one last trick before the Lord of the Fringe would finally accept oblivion and bow out of this realm. The easy path had been given away, but perhaps it had been the easy road that had led him here in the first place. The Sith Lord, always taking the shortcuts, always trying to skip out from the hard-work. This would be different, he told himself, this would peace.

He looked down at the skyline of Lianna from his office and shook his head. Merrill had always loved to play games with him, it seemed that this was the last one she’d play on him.

In a world without gold, we might have been heroes.

You were right, Merrill. You were always right.

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Darth Arcanix"] had made a good guess; in a sense, she was on the right track. However, she found nothing of Rave's on Lehon. Oddly, Rave had never even been there. She'd wanted to, but other things -- corporate acquisition, invention, mastery of time, borking a jawa named Triko, taking revenge for Gilamar Skirata -- had gotten in the way.

 

[Viktor Romanov]

[member="Rave Merrill"]

In a final attempt to solve the last riddle, Viktor made way towards Dathomir home of the Kwa who had been the ones who gave the infinite empire of the Rakata the technology and information that they needed in order to begin their galactic conquest.

 

[Seydon of Arda]

...The Dark Forge of Aza’zoth, and the secret facility that holds it, on a hidden world rich in stygium, as well as the Deicide Oculus, I leave to whoever can solve the following two location clues. Here body-gnawers received overdue education at the hands of that which changes face.

...An element to Ms. Merrill's chosen wording managed to tug out an irk in Seydon's countenance, clawing flaking kelp-weeds out of water-logged chain-link wrapped on an old leather cuirass. Lake Krul had been indelibly forlorn, hostile, desolate with the company of petrified balla-wood and wriggling eel-things swimming in her stagnant currents. He'd gingerly applied a handful of tourniquets upon his shoulders, hip, and left-hand ribs. Eel-fangs, despite appearing fragilely translucent, bit and caught with vigour. They and a seven-foot specimen of mutant barracuda, stripped and with a pike's love of contesting prey, harried him along the cold dive into an underwater grotto fashioned from the innards of a spectacularly sized crustacean shell. Inside were moisture-locked tin chests, viscously lathered in carmine resin and arrayed around a rotted shrine. He'd keep his discoveries to himself in the afterward.

But the irk. 'That which changes face.' Whether or not famed Varanin ever harrowed the Tythos Ridge, a lightning wracked vale in Tython's maligned wilds he'd find out to his peril. Riddled quandaries did not suffer presumptions. And he knew Flesh Raiders still bred in blacker, secret places below Tython where tempest moonlight never reached. Yet, in lieu of clues regarding lost Rosa, it'd be an adventure nonetheless...

[member="Rave Merrill"]

 

[Velok the Younger]

Neither [member="Viktor Romanov"] nor [member="Seydon of Arda"] would find what they sought.

 

[Viktor Romanov]

...Second Skin, my alchemical, living powered armor, I leave to whoever can solve the following. He faced first contact with great stature and cleaving might, his prize a crystalline art.

As Viktor realized that more and more people would be after the second half of the puzzle that unlocked the location of the Dark Forge, the more he realized that he would have to take it from them. This would be a problem as his fighting skills were a bit lackluster so he decided to go after Rave Merrill's legendary armour, the Second Skin. He took the riddle to his mind and cleared his frustrations of the first puzzle. He found the answer to be King Adas. He met the Rakata as king, great stature, and eventually fought them off his planet using his axe, cleaving might. Finally the crystalline art most likely referred to his holocron. But before he left, Viktor hid his half of the puzzle deep in his secret laboratory, so that none that opposed him could find it without a fight.

[member="Rave Merrill"]

 

[Danger Arceneau]

...Jen’asha Station, my outpost on an inconceivable frontier, I leave to whoever can solve the following. A traitor father took refuge here, with theatre and candles.

Smoke would rise from the lit vice that lay perched between Danger's lips. The news was certainly one of sorrow, but in it joy. Danger held [member="Rave Merrill"] in high regard, not only as a businesswoman but in character. That she had taken control of her life and done the impossible to gain her own measure of peace was a choice to be respected.

[SIZE=11.8181819915771px]A toast would be cast in honor of Rave, Whyren's finest reserve. [/SIZE]While the pang of loss what there, grit and determination would also rise. Jen'asha Station. She had done business with the woman in using five of her own ships and the Hana Station in conjunction to that station, and the keen interest to give Rave one last game and solve this particular riddle would fan a devilish grin.

So to that endevour she would gather her resources and set aside a small search party. A traitor father took refuge here, with theater and candles. Roche Asteroids perhaps?

There in Nickle one, Arceneau Trade company scouting parties would begin their search.

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Viktor Romanov"]'s dedication paid off. At the tomb of King Adas, Romanov found the Second Skin, and instructions for growing and reshaping it to fit another's body.

[member="Danger Arceneau"]'s people would be looking a long time; Roche did not hold the answer.

 

[Viktor Romanov]

Here body-gnawers received overdue education at the hands of that which changes face.

This one riddle had caused Viktor weeks of pain, never knowing how close he would be to finding out how close he was. His next guess was Byss, the mythical world that surged with the dark side of the force. He could feel it's perversion pump through his steel heart as he made his way of the shuttle. This place was the secret capital of the Dark Lord Sidious and was where his clone bodies were hidden. As well, it was once a prominent Rakatan world, until the collapse of their Empire.

[member="Rave Merrill"]

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Viktor Romanov"] would find nothing on Byss but the iron fist of the One Sith, and enough background radiation from the Deep Core to get a tan right through his viewport.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Arcanix wasn't even disappointed in not finding anything of [member="Rave Merrill"]'s on Lehon, it had been a rather pleasant trip to the ancient world. She decided her next stop would be to another world frequented by the dark side. Kursid. The natives of that world had seen countless changing faces as Sith master and apprentice of Darth Bane's Order came and went and had been uplifted throughout their ritual battles with the Sith in attempts to try and provide a decent challenge.

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Darth Arcanix"] was in for another pleasant sight-seeing tour, but if she hoped to find anything of Rave's on Kursid, she would be disappointed.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Arcanix wasn't even feeling remotely dashed by not finding of [member="Rave Merrill"]'s yet, Kursid had been an interesting experience and she had learned some history of the Sith. Not to be daunted, she decided next to travel to Korriban, site of the ancient Kissai and their Knotter of Entrails. She figured it was worth checking out since the Sith species had encountered and been taught much by the Rakata, and then the Fallen Jedi such as Ajunta Pall had arrived, giving some much needed change in faces to look at. She was quite enjoying herself on this little riddle hunt.

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Darth Arcanix"]

One planet was a large place to search (apart from the very real difficulty of operating there under the Republic's nose) -- but in the end all that mattered was that Rave had not hidden that particular piece on Korriban.