We're All Mad Here!

[Carliah Dakrone]

Carliah was wearing another red and black dress, this one had strange looking board game pieces and a checkered pattern on the skirt. She smiled at Taeli when she entered to room, the Oghma Infinium resting in her lap. She wondered in Taeli had heard her screaming about her stolen tarts.

"I hope you slept well? And I hope you find the clothes acceptable as well?" Carliah asked as she stood, clutching the book in one hand. She continued to smile as she stepped down from the raised platform her throne of lightsabers rested on.

"Also... Did you happen to see any suspicious looking servants, likely with jam of some kind on their face? Someone has stolen my tarts again," The Queen's last question came with a sinister looking grin attached to it. [member="Taeli Rae"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

"Yes, I slept very well. To answer your other question, the Mon Cal servant who brought me here had jam on the corner of his mouth," Taeli replied, sensing stealing tarts was a serious offense in this strange world. "As for the dress, I do like it indeed."

Looking around the throne room, she could see several other servants dressed similarly to the one that had brought her here, and her host had stuck with the strange dresses again.

"Perhaps a tour once you deal with your thief?" she asked. "I have some time before our master expects me back on the capital."

[member="Darth Vivaldi"]

 

[Carliah Dakrone]

"I can give you a tour as we search for my little thief," Carliah replied with a smirk. She lead Taeli off down a corridor and openned a door to their left, entering into a huge library. The book Carliah had been reading before Taeli had arrived was still tucked under the Queen's arm. She smiled, sure that Taeli would enjoy the sight of this room. The room was about twice the size of the one Taeli had stayed in before and was filled will nothing but books and a few chairs and couches. There was an empty display case next to them, where the book Carliah was reading normally rested. [member="Taeli Rae"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

"What wonderful room," Taeli said with a smile, turning in a circle to admire all the books. "May I ask what is so special about that book you set in the case?"

Taeli was happy to see several titles she had read on Lorrd, a time that felt so long ago now. Several books were detailed ways to torture someone, not surprising given her host enjoyed causing pain and suffering in individuals.

[member="Darth Vivaldi"]

 

[Carliah Dakrone]

"Well it's strange. I feel like I've learned alot from it, but once I close it it's as if I can't tell anyone what it's about. It has a title, but the author's name has been scratched off. You're welcome to return here anytime you'd like to play around in the library, and to read the book, but I'd prefer the Oghma Infinium stay on Widek, in it's case when it's not it use," Carliah explained, turning to examine Taeli. The other girl appeared to be please with the library. Carliah had a feeling she would be returning more often for the library than for any want for Carliah's company. [member="Taeli Rae"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

"I thank you for the offer," Taeli said, bowing her head slightly. "Perhaps I'll come back to study this wonderful book when I have time away from my duties. Shall we continue the tour?"

Taeli was impressed with the collection, she could easily admit that, and this Oghma Infinium intrigued her. But, best to start a study once she had a chance to settle into a routine. Carliah was turning out to be more and more interesting and complex than their first meeting on Zeltros had indicated.

[member="Darth Vivaldi"]

 

[Carliah Dakrone]

Carliah nodded and lead her off through the palace, they stopped into the kitchen where the located the servant who had indeed taken her tarts. Carliah grabbed the offending person by their shirt and slammed her fist into the side of the man's head. She grabbed a butcher's knife off the nearby counter and stabbed it into the counter. The mad Queen then took the now unconscious slaves hand and spread it out on the counter. She jerked out of the counter and effortlessly slice off four of the man's fingers, leaving only his thumb in tact.

"He should be greatful I knocked him out first. If he steals from me again he'll suffer much worse," Carliah grinned over at Taeli, no doubt the younger woman thought the punishment was a bit harsh for stealing tarts. "Before you begin to comment on his losing fingers over tarts, keep this in mind, if I allow him to get away with stealing food from the kitchen how long will it be before he tries to steal more important things? Better to give a him lesson he won't forget now, than to wait for him to do something that could possibly cause irreparable damage."

Carliah glanced over at the small crowd of servants in the kitchen watching the process. She grinned even more and gestured to a young Twi'lek girl. "Clean this up will you? I hate it when slave's make a mess of my kitchen." [member="Taeli Rae"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Taeli watched the whole scene unfold and mentally shrugged as the Mon Cal lost his fingers.

"Oh no, I quite agree that thieves should be dealt with harshly," she said, looking at the unconscious servant. "I'm more surprised, given your track record, you didn't demand for his head to be taken off."

The crowd of servants around the two Sith shuddered, but Taeli could sense they were resigned to the fact and had heard that sort of thing before. How many people had met that fate she wondered as they continued their tour out of the kitchens.

[member="Darth Vivaldi"]

 

[Carliah Dakrone]

"Actually I stopped collecting heads for every little incident after the first week. It became less necessary to show that I am not to be messed with after that week. Once you see your former friends and neighbors heads rolling across the ground, it doesn't take long to get the message. We do still have a few rebels, but now they get sent to the dungeons to be... convinced to give up any information about other rebel groups, before being executed, and if I deem it necessary, all record of them get erased upon their death. It as if they never existed," Carliah explained as the left the kitchen behind. She bypassed her private quarters as well as the room where Taeli had been staying. She openned up another door and led the way down a stair case. Screams could be heard as they neared the bottom. [member="Taeli Rae"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

"So now what do you do? Tear out entrails to skip rope?" Taeli giggled, more joking than serious with that question as they moved down the staircase. Distant screams of agony could be heard, raising the hairs on the back of her neck.

"Let me guess, the room where you have either the most fun or the second most fun," Taeli asked, hearing the screams coming from below growing louder and louder.

[member="Darth Vivaldi"]

 

[Carliah Dakrone]

"We're still interrogating a few rebels," Carliah replied with a grin. She found that she actually enjoyed Taeli's company. She was surprisingly easy to get along with. The Queen wondered if maybe having Taeli visit her from time to time wouldn't be that bad after all. She kicked open the door at the bottom of the staircase and strode through it calmly. Beyond them stretched a hallway full of cells on either side, some of which weren't empty. At the end of the hallway was another door, leading to what Carliah affectionately referred to as her 'Play room'. The Queen lead the way into the torture chamber, and immediately glared at the man currently in charge of interrogations.

"He's not going to tell you anymore useful information! You've been at this for weeks. If he was going to tell us more, he would have done it by now!" Carliah growled, grabbing a knife off a nearby table and flinging it across the room. It embedded itself in the throat of the poor soul being tortured, silencing his screams forever. [member="Taeli Rae"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

"Well that was sudden," Taeli said, unsure what to make of the sudden killing. She enjoyed Carliah's presence when she was sane, but her bouts of insanity could be trying. Personally, she would have taken that prisoner back to their cell and found another use for them, even if it would be just manual labor that only a broken man could accomplish.

The torture room certainly lived up to its name, so many different devices, some ancient some modern, filled the room. Screams echoed and she figured there were identical rooms that led off the other doors.

[member="Darth Vivaldi"]

 

[Carliah Dakrone]

Carliah merely nodded. She led the way out of the dungeons and back to the main floor of the palace. She showed Taeli a few more places around the palace, the only interesting ones being the armory and a large lab. Once the little tour was over the Mad Queen led Taeli back to her ship. [member="Taeli Rae"]

"I do hope you'll come back for a visit some time Taeli. You are surprisingly pleasant to be around," the Queen of Madness smirked at the girl as she said her farewells.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

"I suspect this won't be the last time I visit Widek, farewell," Taeli said, climbing the boarding ramp of her ship. As she began to go through the pre-flight check, she activated her comlink, saying, "Taeli Rae to Darth Praelior, I have the Graug samples as requested, on my way back to the capital now."

That was when she felt her master close by, her presence radiating outwards and getting close to the planet. Racing back down the boarding ramp, she could see the shuttle descending to land next to hers.

[member="Darth Praelior"]

 

[Balaya Praelior Zambrano]

[member="Darth Arcanix"] [member="Darth Vivaldi"]

Balaya heard the news as she looked down from her ship, a smile curling her lips now as she walked towards the shuttle and headed down to the planet. Her eyes flicking back and forth as she walked to join her apprentices here and now speaking when she saw them. "You have done well my apprentices and for your efforts you are to be rewarded." She thought about what they could be given and had the idea of something so simple that they could use while her hand came up opening. "Come here, for your services my dears you have both earned the right to become more powerful within the One Sith, come and partake of your Marks of Darkness."

 

[Taeli Raaf]

"Mark of Darkness, master?" she asked, bowing her head as the Zeltron stood over them.

She had never heard of such a thing, then again, she hadn't had the chance to read about all the traditions the One Sith had.

[member="Darth Praelior"] [member="Darth Vivaldi"]

 

[Carliah Dakrone]

Carliah stepped forward with a smile. For some reason the Zeltron's words brought an image of a skull with a snake curling through it to her mind. She shook her head a bit at the thought. SHe must have seen the design in a book or something. She stood next to Taeli, glancing up at Darth Praelior curiously, wondering what the woman meant. [member="Darth Arcanix"] [member="Darth Praelior"]

 

[Balaya Praelior Zambrano]

[member="Darth Vivaldi"] [member="Darth Arcanix"]

Balaya looked at both of them and removed her cloak. The clothing underneath wasn't her armor but it was just standard clothing. A zoosha fabric top and pants while she stood there and let the mark appear. Starting on her pelvis as it wrapped around her stomach and hips, stretching over her ribs until it inched up her neck, down her shoulders to the elbows. Her chest had the black marks wrapping around and making ornate patterns while she spoke. "It is a symbol of the darkside and your connection to it. The Dark Lord created it so those who stood in the one sith would be united in purpose."

 

[Taeli Raaf]

"I see," Taeli said, observing the marks and she thought she sensed a hint of the power they contained wafting up.

The idea that their master was once again going to increase their power, either in the Force or within the Sith, excited Taeli. More power and prestige meant access to more knowledge and more freedoms to do as she wished within the Sith.

[member="Darth Praelior"] [member="Darth Vivaldi"]

 

[Carliah Dakrone]

Carliah watched with silent fascination. She wondered if her marks could be blood red instead of black. She thought the color would suit her much better, what with her being the Bloody Queen among other things. She laughed a bit at the thought. It really was a fitting name... if you only based your opinions on her first week ruling Widek. She hadn't publicly spilled a gratuitous amount of blood since that first week. [member="Darth Arcanix"] [member="Darth Praelior"]