Private Wisdom Of Thy Elders

[Revna]

Tags: Srina Talon // Darth Empyrean​

Revna was restless.

As each new day passed upon Korriban, the closer she drew to a future she was both looking forward to and one that made her nervous. So many different emotions and thoughts were tangled into what was coming, and for Revna it was almost overwhelming. Excitement and trepidation were interwoven with one another each time her mind touched on the topic, every time she opened her eyes to look upon faces that were becoming more familiar and known to her, and every time she set foot upon the ancient and Dark soaked sands of Korriban.

Every time her eyes shifted over the horizon, to the distant Valley of the Dark Lords and the ancient scattered tombs behind…she felt the weight of what was coming descend upon her shoulders.

And if she was honest with herself - she had no idea how to prepare herself for it, to become a ruler, a queen. She understood a little bit of what it meant to be a leader of a group of people - but nothing on this scale. Of course, she wouldn’t be doing this alone…but she had accepted the offer that had been extended to her, and she took the fact that Caedes would be sharing that with her and relying on her, very seriously.

But there was something else that kept her moving, kept her mind shifting and her thoughts turning. She wanted to be the best partner she could be, for him, but she had no idea what that looked like. Darth Caedes wasn’t her Master, he wasn’t her High Priest.

He was something altogether different, and she had no experience with any of …that.

He wanted her to be his queen…but what did that mean? What did that look like?

Revna had no one whom she felt could truly answer that question for her. No one she knew had a partnership with someone else…

Well, that wasn’t exactly true. And this set her mind to rolling and wondering if perhaps the most important female figure in her life, Srina, could provide some wisdom and insight. She was partnered to one of the most powerful Sith in the entire Galaxy, and was the Empress of the Sith Order. Surely she had something that could be useful to the young Sith woman. And, as terrifying as the idea was, perhaps Revna could talk to them both about these things. But she didn’t expect the Emperor himself to even be bothered with such a matter, and so she set that option aside.

Revna was deep in midst of her pacing and thoughts, when she felt a familiar touch upon her mind - one which froze her in place as she tilted her head and listened. When nothing happened immediately, she touched that familiar presence, and felt a bridge being shaped and formed - one that spanned the galaxy. Awe and near reverence shone in Revna’s eyes; she was always amazed at the power that Srina wielded. Revna had never seen the full weight of it expressed in person, but she had heard stories. Maybe, one day, she could fight alongside the woman.

Revna closed her eyes and encouraged the bridge to build further as a small smile played across her face, and when she sensed there was an open pathway between her and Lady Talon, she sent along a brief message.

I miss our ‘study sessions’ aboard the Malsheem.

There would be a brief pause, before the young woman continued speaking her thoughts.

I am safe and sound - as much as I can be anyway. But I have matters on my heart I need advice and wisdom on…and there is no one else I could think of besides you that could help me, my Lady. May…may I come see and speak with you, over some tea perhaps? ​

 

[Srina Talon]

Direct Tag: Darth Empyrean | Revna

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// I will send for you //

It was the singular response that Revna would have received after reaching out. The mental bridge that had formed between herself and the young woman waxed and waned when it was needed but had never faded away. Perhaps, it was because of her situation. Srina waited for when the apprentice reached out in need because she was a prisoner in plain sight. Free but not free. Believing that her Master had passed into the Mists Beyond…And even perhaps that her family had forsaken her.

Srina wished for the raven-haired woman to know that in an Empire of ghouls and beasts…She was not alone.

A missive had been drafted for Darth Carnifex a fortnight prior, requesting, that Revna be sent to Jutrand. There was no reason for the Butcher King to deny her request as he had control over the apprentice in the form of a device wrapped around her spine. She could not run. She could not disobey him. The Empress had visited with Revna many times on the Malsheem without incident…And the reply had been favorable. The apprentice of the late Darth Strosius would be delivered to her.

Their guest would be greeted on one of many landing pads by Praetorian Guards and assessed by nosy Sepulchral for any perceived threat. The long-lost silent wars between the Kainite, Tsis'Kaar, and Eternalism were in the past, but not so far removed, that trust was instantly granted. Within the walls of the palace there were already conniving snakes, slithering in the shadows, and the Sepulchral seethed at the thought of competition. Revna would be led through winding corridors of the blackest obsidian, creased, with gold and blended with technology. Jutrand was evolved, a synth city, after all.

Large doors opened to reveal a chamber that was dimly lit, brightened with effervescent lamps, and a pale glow evening coming through a transparisteel skylight. The void of space could be seen above the city lights, where stars stretched endlessly into the void, distant, and indifferent to the Empire that sat beneath them. This room seemed to be some sort of twisted conservatory. It was not a place where vegetation thrived, but pristine, and full of steel and instruments with medical cleanliness.

The air would be heavy with silence, punctuated only by the slow, deliberate press of ivory keys beneath the fingertips of the Empress. She sat beside the Emperor on a long piano bench while she played a song that she had heard Darth Empyrean play for her a thousand times. She…Was good at technical precision. At memorizing the score. But, she lacked his ability to make it come to life.

"Slower on the left hand."

The correction from her husband came easily—Gentle for her sake, but absolute. The voice of her beloved was like a deep current, horrifying to most, but Srina found comfort in tones that could have peeled paint from a wall. He did not reprimand her. He did not demand. It was merely…Instruction. The pale woman did not at him, did not need to, and knew that a force unseen would guide her wrist. Adjusting a finger, when necessary.

Once, he had played for her.

Now, she played for him.

The activities that they took to as husband and wife were often not what one might expect. They danced. They talked. They read books, Empyrean, braided her hair and filled it with charms of his choosing. Each a letter of love and pride. Few seemed capable of adjusting to the idea of a Corpse King and his still-living bride, but often, they overcomplicated the ideal. Created fantasy, where reality, was so much plainer and satisfying. There was an unspoken bond between them—Something neither needed to explain nor reflect upon. Sith did not abide sentiment, yet, they held relentless attachment to one another. Unending, affection.

Moon and stars.

Sun and sky.​

A shift in the Force stirred the air, subtle, as the change in the piece's movement from adagio to allegro.

"She is here, meldanya*[beloved]."

Srina had explained that Revna would be coming that day, that likely, their lesson would be interrupted. They had gone over the situation with her imprisonment, which was not quite, and the death of her Master, which was not quite. The latter half they could not yet speak of. Her eyes remained on the keys but her focus shifted to the entryway while she continued to play the solemn and sweet piece for the enjoyment of the man at her side. There was a moment. A breath of quiet contentment…That yielded their needs in the face of duty if only because Srina wished it so. When the children of the Empire called, she would answer.

The melody softened while her fingers remained still on the keys for a moment.

"Enter.", the Empress spoke, voice like winter.

 

[Darth Empyrean]

Empyrean had been a slave to many masters, but few knew any of this about the Emperor. Fewer still, perhaps, knew that the monster he was could play the piano with great skill, or cook on par with many high end restaurants. These things were known only by Srina Talon - because she was all that needed to know anything but the beast others feared.​

​

So he taught her in the isolation they shared, in the quiet presence of eachother. Srina was good with her finger movements, deftly crossing each hand and finger through complex positions - it was her way, as an Echani, to be all the more skilled in dexterous movements than he was. She had won a fair more than a few of their own duels using similar skills. Even still, she lacked a certain ear for the art in something - the care of a cooked dish, the life of a piece of music. These things were not her strong point, despite the fact she could tell someone's entire history with a simple spar.​

​

The Emperor mused on these things as he gently pushed her fingers when they were out of place, using his omniscience and skill as a Force User to correct her. Small instructions. Quiet words as she played music he was no longer able to.​

​

When she spoke, he didn't offer a word in response, only offered a small grunt of an affirmation. He was already aware of her coming - but said nothing to stop their lesson or move from his place. He didn't even look back at the door as it was told to open.​

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Srina Talon // Revna​

 

[Revna]

Tags: Srina Talon // Darth Empyrean

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I will send for you.

It was all Revna needed to hear to know that her request had been heard, and had been accepted. She didn’t have to wait very long before a ship arrived on Korriban, collected her, then made its journey back towards Jutrand. For her trip and her upcoming visitation with the Empress, Revna had decided to wear something that she was most comfortable in: simple Zeyd-cloth robes, combat boots, silken black gloves to cover her hands so she didn’t cause unnecessary death with her newfound ability, and her utility belt with a single lightsaber hilt at her hip. She wore no embellishments, and though she normally would have worn the necklace of the ashes of her Master, she chose to leave it behind in a safe and secured place that only she knew about.

The young Sith was contemplative on the flight back to Sith Space, somber even, as she looked back over everything that had happened, all the choices and decisions she had made that had led her to this moment in time. Revna realized too that this would be the first time she had seen Srina since the death of her Master. She recalled the moments early on where she desperately wanted to sit in Lady Talon’s presence and mourn, to try and make sense of the loss suffered and where to go or what to do next - but the darkness had been so consuming and so great that she had rejected nearly everyone in those early days. She had been close to her Master, had looked forward to their reunion - and to watch and feel Him die and at the hand of her own flesh and blood…that was a pain unlike anything she had experienced yet.

Not even the torture that Carnifex or Prazutis had put her through had compared to that kind of pain. It was still something she struggled with, but she was trying to heal, trying to figure out her next steps in life, seizing opportunity when and where it arose for her.

This and many other things circled through the young Sith’s mind as she continued her journey to the Sith capital world. She was, admittedly, excited to see Srina again. The wintry woman had been a sort of rock, an anchor, for her when she’d been aboard the Malsheem, undergoing her many tests and trials and challenges. Srina had been the one good thing she could look forward to, one of the very few things that pushed Revna to succeed and defy the odds stacked against her. She wanted to live to see the Echani again, to listen to her read from one of the many books within Darth Carnifex’s grand library.

It had been the only time where she was allowed a respite from the torture, from having her bones repeatedly broken and healed in her duels and martial practices from both Dark Lords; from being forced to butcher slaves just to keep herself alive, among many other things that she had faced and conquered. The Revna that had gone into the Malsheem had been effectively broken down and reshaped into something more than what she had been before, but no matter what they did to her - they never could shake her faith, and she never lost sight of who she was - though she had come close to turning away from everything she had ever known.

Upon landing, Revna disembarked and was immediately greeted by imperial Praetorian Guards. Revna was silent and neutral as the Sepulchral assessed her to make sure she was not a threat. When she had passed all the requirements to enter the Imperial Palace proper, Revna was guided onward, through vast hallways of obsidian veined with gold, blended seamlessly with technology. The place was dark and grand, just as she remembered it being, and it was so vastly different from the natural and more traditional themes of Korriban. Where Jutrand embraced its synth heart, Korriban embraced the long held traditions and architecture and history of the ancient Sith themselves. It was something she had come to deeply appreciate and enjoy, a place she had begun to finally see as home.

A place worth fighting and spilling blood for - at least it was for her.

The little Sith was guided towards two massive doors, and beyond them she could sense a deep well of pure and malevolent power - the Dark side made manifest. Jutrand was soaked in the energies of the Dark side, but this was far beyond even that. It was near suffocating, thick like blood or oil and it sent a chill down her spine, made the hairs across her body stand on end. It was perhaps her first and strongest indication that it wasn’t just Lady Talon on the other side. Darth Empyrean was either beyond those doors, or not too far away, and this caused the young woman’s heart to begin racing away within her chest.

She’d only really seen and spoken to Empyrean once, at a lavish dinner she had attended along with her Master after participating in the Emperor's War Council, but this would be the first time facing him after the events of the Kaggath, and the bold and frankly foolish declarations made by Strosius. Everything and everyone that had been connected to and with her Master had been declared as traitors, and she wasn’t sure if the Emperor would indeed view her as such due to her loyalty and connection to her High Priest.

She supposed there was only one way to find out.

The doors opened when a frigid but familiar feminine voice beyond beckoned Revna to enter, and so she did. Fiery eyes that almost seemed to faintly glow in the low light flickered over the grand chamber she had been led towards, noticing the near surgical cleanliness, the lights and the gleam of the evening light coming through the transparisteel skylight above. Musical notes, sweet and melodic, reached her ears and her sharp eyes settled upon the two figures seated together before a grand piano. For a moment, all Revna could do was watch and listen in awe - just like she had watched the duo dance a few years prior, when she'd been but a fresh acolyte.

Back then, their connection had mystified and awed her, not because she was so shocked that such a beautiful woman would be connected with what amounted to a living Corpse, but because Revna simply hadn’t understood what it meant to have a companion, a partner, someone with whom to share such moments with. Now, she was beginning to understand, and there was a twinge of guilt within her for having intruded into this private moment for the two of them, but she also knew that she wouldn’t have been allowed in if her presence wasn't wanted, and so the guilt was pushed aside as she silently genuflected in a gesture of respect.

She absolutely despised kneeling to anyone; she had refused to kneel even to Carnifex or Prazutis and she had never even bowed to her own Master, but this was a completely different situation, and frankly she didn't wish to provoke Empyrean's infamous and legendary ire. If respect was owed then it would be given, despite how Revna felt about it.

And thus she waited there to be addressed, waited for the time where she could speak about the things that had prompted her to seek out Lady Talon in the first place. And maybe, if she was lucky, she would be granted the gift of insight and wisdom from the Emperor too.

 

[Darth Empyrean]

Empyrean had not moved as Revna entered, but he did look back at her with the dead expression of a corpse. Metal eyes seemed to watch her for a moment, and the sensation of darkness became more sickening and absolute as the Emperor's artificial attention bore down on her but for a moment. He looked away, and it relented.​

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"Rise child. You are here on my Wife's favor; you need not feed my pride. Be free, I am only her husband today.", he said flatly, though the roughness of his voice had made it sound angry, despite it being clear he wasn't. That was one unfortunate part of being a corpse - you always sounded like you wanted to kill.​

​

Still, he made no demands of her now. He remained quiet, and waited for Srina Talon or Revna to continue, himself just a third participant in something he knew was more important than ceremony.​