Terrin, buddy. Listen, I’m not going to take control of you, all right? Your body, I mean. I know this is difficult, but listen to me. What you just saw there was not Panthar, and it was not Galen. There was a very powerful magick at work here, Sith magick. I would have recognized it sooner if I wasn’t hiding in here. I’m not sure what’s going on, but I have an idea that someone – or something – wants us split up and lost. And it did a good job, I’m guessing. But please, make sure nobody panics and for the love of salty rocks, nobody split up!

[ 12-09-2004 10:41 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Thoran ]

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...but he had to at least take note of his words, since Shayla had asked Thoran to explain what was going on. "Thoran is apparently still hiding," he spoke up then, "But he says that the Galen and Panthar we were following was the product of powerful Sith magick, and that someone or something has been trying to split us up."

He paused, frowning, not liking how his thoughts were progressing. "You all know as well as I do that if Galen and Panthar aren't nearby that there are only a few other possibilities. Thoran may be telling the truth...

...or someone with All abilities may have snatched both of them. Shayla, can you sense either of them at all, maybe if you stretch out further?"

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...but finally, she opened her eyes. "I can't pick up anything specific," she admitted, drawing an even more concerned look from Terrin. She held up a hand to stop any comments he might have as she then continued, "But I do sense sentient life that is most likely human. I can't get a lock on that life as of yet since we appear to be some distance from it...

...but this information definitely leans in Thoran's favor. After all, there should be no sentient life on this planet other than us, particularly not of the human variety. I believe that both Panthar and Galen are still here, and that we need to quickly get to the business of finding them. But first we are going to have to find ourselves. Unfortunately, I don't think any of us has great knowledge of this temple...

...except maybe one of us. Thoran, have you any ideas on where we are, and how to get back to where we were?"

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OK, Terrin, tell her that I don’t know where we are without looking around first, so I’ll need to… hmm, tell her that… oh heck, it would be easier if I were in control. Terrin, buddy, do you mind?

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Sure as kriffing hell did he mind. But if Thoran knew something that would help them find Galen, there was going to have to be at least somewhat of a compromise here...

Considering this along with the group's overall feelings about Thoran--particularly Galen's rather obvious ones and his very own--Terrin made a choice.

If the group goes to have a look around and I describe what I see to you, could you give us some idea of where we are that way?

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Yeah, that is really gonna help us get the hell out of here quickly...

Looking to the others then, he relayed Thoran's reply, including the left-hand trick. Then he added his own two credits worth.

"I suggest that we move in the direction of the lifesigns you think you sense, Shayla, and try to get a handle on precisely where we are and what happened to Galen and Panthar as we progress--and as soon as possible--I don't like that we've been split up like this at all. This really is the only option we have, unless someone else has another idea."

Pausing at this statement, which was clearly aimed not only at the others in the group but Thoran as well, Terrin motioned for Shayla to take the lead, anxious to get going.

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Let the others stumble around in the dark, communing with the spiders and the other guardians of the temple. As for me, I’ll be content to stay here where it’s warm. I am the only one here with magick, oh my. I wonder…

Thoran let his powers flare a little, reaching out to the space around the group. He felt magick all around him, as if the very hallway was alive with it. He tried to trace it to a source, but it was too diverse, too chaotic. It was almost as if something was deliberately trying to confuse him, using the magick in this temple. Being bounced around in these underground hallways, it was acting like n amplifier an scrambler. But why?

Oh…

Hey, Terrin? Um, watch out, all right? I think there is something going on here, something more than us getting separated. There’s an incredible amount of Sith magick bouncing all over place, but it’s, well, chaotic. I’ve never felt anything like this before, like we’ve walked into a trap of sorts. I’m not sure I’ll be able to do much with my powers while we’re in this mess.

[ 12-16-2004 10:51 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Thoran ]

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“What is this?” he asked the emptiness. He looked down at Jharmeen, still silent in his arms. He raised his face to the near darkness and peered into the quiet nothing. There was no sound, no movement of air save for the steady but faint whisper of Jharmeen’s beath. He inhaled himself, turning it into a contemplative sigh.

His thoughts turned to the others, hoping for their safety. While he no idea where Shayla, Terrin, and the others could have gone, if Panthar had indeed made it to the steps perhaps he was safely above these passages with the tuk’ata. The guardians of the temple…

Guardians.

The tuk’ata, above, were indeed the guardians of the temple. The temple itself. But what if there were other guardians, powered by the Sith magick that flowed through this place, and fashioned by the Sith Armorer clan? Of course, the Sith would not simply abandon this planet and leave its temple unguarded. Accoring to Jharmeen, the entire clan was relocated to Khar Delba, leaving this planet alone. But Koris’ian was still a Sith world, and held secrets of the clan and of the race itself. It would simply not be abandoned!

So, were what he thought Galen and Panthar simply phantoms manifested through magick? If so, the magick would most likely come from the temple itself, or if not that then at least from some ancient protection placed upon the temple. He had already experienced something of the sort upon his initial arrival here, when he faced the spirit of Lord Rean.

Where he earned the Lordship of the Clan! Phalomir, you fool! He thought, placing his hand upon his cheek. This is your temple. You are the Dark Lord of the Armorers! Your magick is gone, but the tattoo of entitlement remains. These phantoms, if that is what they be, fall within your realm. Perhaps they could they provide a link to the magick of this temple?

He inhaled deeply once again and placed his back to the wall. He looked to his right, then to his left, noticing that the passages seemed somehow different, as if someone had simply rearranged the hallway. He lifted his head and spoke out.

“I am Phalomir, Dark Lord of the Armorer Clan. I have obtained this rank through right of combat, vanquishing the soul of Lord Rean. I bear the mark of entitlement, granting me authority over this domain and all who dwell within it. Hear me now, and speak with me.”

He paused, gave a slight nod, and glanced once again to Jharmeen.

Well, my love. It is worth an attempt.

[ 12-16-2004 11:51 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Phalomir ]

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Deep underneath the surface of the planet of the Armorers there rambled a great and long unused maze. Indeed, there had been no need for this maze to rise up from the sleep in which its masters and creators had placed it in, for no one had come to disturb the silence of four thousand years. But now... now the corridors of the underlayers resounded with the echoes of bootsteps.

Unfamiliar bootsteps.

And so the maze had quickened from its long sleep, raising at first slowly, insidiously, and then gaining energy from the very life force of those who dared to tread within it. Bolstered and fed by that energy, it began coiling and twining about itself, like vines in the wind, and where junction met wall another corridor was created and the old lost behind a dead end. All throughout this maze the magicks remained strong, and grew stronger, and the maze grew more and more convoluted.

But then...

From nowhere there appeared a pair of great eyes. They were huge, the size of banthas, colored a brilliant periwinkle with jagged streaks of brilliant silver crackling within them. There was no pomp or circumstance in their appearance; they just...

Appeared.

And studied Phalomir in calm appraisal.

“No, I am not he who made you. That one is most likely long gone, dead from the depth of ages since when you were made. But I am the one who now rules the clan, and I call upon you to recognize my authority. I am here to begin the long task of rebuilding the Clan of the Armorers, and there are many things that need to be done. Help me, assist me in this endeavor. You have done your job well but now you must shift your concentration to other foci.”

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"Other foci?" came the silken thunder at length.

"A--clan? Of Armorers?

"We know not of what you speak; there are no clans here. We are of peace, we are of the ages, we are that which brings order and peace to all.

"We are Triumvirate Made Whole.

"We...

"Are."

The thunder echoed softly down the corridors, which picked themselves up and laid themselves back down again, in yet another arrangement of stone gone liquid.

Somewhere, lost in yet another corridor, a tuk'ata lifted it's muzzle and yowled in fear and protest against the vagaries of its peculiar brand of gods.

“There seems to be much that we do not know of each other, and I am very interested in sharing tales with you. You exist on a world that was once inhabited by my people, and in fact this very hall lies beneath the main Temple used by the leaders of this world. There were three worlds that formed the center of my race, each housing a different clan, this world was home to the Clan of Armorers. They were forced to depart the planet long ago, and I assumed you were placed here to protect the Temple in those vacant times. I see that perhaps I have assumed incorrectly.

“Please, allow me to know more of you. You speak of Triumvirate, which is a key concept of my race. I cannot help but feel the connection. Tell me, who is he that made you?”

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With each syllable that thundered against the cold stones of the walls and floors the very atmosphere grew darker, not in color but in feeling, until it seemed every molecule of which said atmosphere was made up stood out in strange and sharply velveted relief.

The great eyes blinked, seemed to darken a bit themselves.

"He who made us...."

Time stopped, literally, while the anomaly paused to think. Phalomir froze in mid-breath, his lady between one beat of her heart and the next; without the place where they confronted each other every living thing, avery non-living thing, every being thing simply stopped being for a moment.

A moment which stretched out into eternity.

"There is no He."

The returning words rang into the corridor like an audible tsunami, washing life and breath and existence back into all that was, along with a subtly subliminal awareness that, frighteningly enough, for an unfathomable moment all indeed wasn't.

"He is Us, We are He. I am that which is, and this is my place of all places that Are."

“The Triumvirate made whole… You speak of something my race aspired to attain, an ideal we tried to reach. It was to save us. If you are what you say, then that which we sought was with us all along, and we were too blind to see it.”

Phalomir lowered his head and bowed slightly, bending his knee to the floor. Jharmeen remained cradled in his arms.

“You are the spirit of my people, and I thank you for palaver. Here before you are two Dark Lords of the Sith, humble and in need. The third of our Triumvirate is at odds, and believes in the rule of One. He is set against us, and the fate of the race you embody is in the balance.”

Phalomir raised his head to the darkness.

“I have given my magick to protect this one from him. Despite his hunger for power, I still feel we can come to terms and continue the Triumvirate. Tell me, please, enlighten me. Are you, Spirit of Triumvirate Made Whole, or even Gods of the Sith, in a disposition to assist in the course of the Sith?”

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At length she simply stopped, the determination still set in her eyes even though her shoulders slumped slightly. "This is not going to work," she then stated simply, turning to the others. "It's as though the maze keeps changing itself...

...and I wouldn't doubt that this is exactly what is happening. This thing is clearly designed to keep people lost and seperated. I only wish that there was a way to get back to the others without having follow this neverending maze...

...but I'm afraid the only way to do that would be through nothing short of All usage."

Shayla paused at that, her look dark as she continued to ponder. A thought then occurred to her, and whether it was plausible or not she spoke it aloud, hoping it would at least spark further ideas.

"Thoran stated that we seemed to be underground, in some sort of maze. What would happen if we simply tried to go up to the surface rather than wandering on through this maze?"

[ 12-18-2004 11:02 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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“Well,” he said. “We made it. Looks like no-one else is waiting for us here though.”

The rattled growl that cut its way from the room’s only door told him otherwise. Panthar and Galen both looked to where the sound emanated and saw the tuk’ata just rising from the spot it had apparently been laying.

“Hey, looks like he came back and waited for us. Hey, Diffy! Can you lead us to the armory room? Where we saw the red globe thing?”

The tuk’ata cocked its head and snorted.

“Ar-mor-eeeee room,” said Panthar, enunciating every syllable slowly. “Red globe thing-eeee…”

The tuk’ata rose fully and trotted over to Galen and Panthar. Panthar felt Galen’s hand tighten around his arm, and tensed himself, ready to throw himself in front of the beast should he need to. But the tuk’ata stopped a few feet away and whined. Panthar glanced to Galen and then extended his hand out. The tuk’ata leaned forward and let its face tendrils sniff and caress Panthar’s hand. It then turned and started for the door.

“Well,” said Panthar. “Either it understood or it didn’t. But like I said, it helped me before. I’m ready to follow it again, are you?”

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"I'm thinking we might let him try to find the others with his powers. Not that I trust him...but I'm certain he wants out of here just as much as we do. In the meantime..."

He paused, glancing to the swords in his commrades' hands, "...we may want to try digging up and see what happens. Shayla, do you think your Force powers could help any with this?"

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...do it. I have a general idea of where they may be, but the Force can't direct me straight to them, not at this distance."

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A terrible vision of a tuk'ata leaping straight at me, ten-inch claws extended and eager... an entirely too personal view of its sleek underside as it flew gracefully over my rolling body... a brief and bloody flash of my sister, pale hands held to gory midsection as the swipe meant for me impacted upon her flesh instead....

Another: a foreboding and echoing chamber, vaulted ceiling lost to the shadows which commandeered its walls... the sneering horror of Dark Lord Roan smiling so smugly down upon the still body of Terrin, who lay limply between the claws of a hunched and growling and drooling tuk'ata....

I jerked slightly, digging my fingers into Panthar's arm. He didn't seem the least bit disturbed by the animal, who was beginning to act like Man's Best Friend toward him.

I however knew better. Man's "Best Friend" possesses what sometimes proves to be the Teeth-Best-For-Ripping-Man-Friend-Or-Not; I didn't trust this critter in the slightest.

I, after all, wasn't wrapped up in Sith flesh now, was I?

So I just stood there, stone still, digging into Panthar's arm, and hoping to Hell's Seven Circles that when this critter finally realized I was there it wasn't going to be as an hor d'oeurve....

[ 12-23-2004 01:39 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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Thoran gathered his powers around his spirit. The magick energies that were all around him fed into the mix, and when he felt the time was right he sent a powerful surge up the length of Terrin’s arm. A blue energy blasted from Terrin’s outstretched finger, illuminating the hallway and colliding with the dark ceiling. The bolt ricocheted from the ceiling and angled to the corner where the wall met the floor, then bounced to the far wall of the hall. It continued to bounce from one wall to the next, coming dangerously close to several of the group before finally striking Jasyn squarely in the chest. He flew backwards and slumped against the wall, falling slowly to the floor.

Jasyn’s hair smoked slightly, and sparks flew from his eyes and ears for a few seconds. He twitched a little and then went limp, before his eyes flew open and he shuddered involuntarily.

Well, that didn’t work. Too well, anyway. Good thing it wasn’t a full blast, eh?

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Quite suddenly there came a pounding, a rhythmic beating which struck against the walls, the floors, the ceiling of place where Phalomir stood quietly waiting, crashing against them in a rising crescendo of power and intent unguessable.

Until the familiarity of that rhythmic pounding revealed itself to puny ears simply for what it was:

Laughter.

At length the chuckling lessened and the shaking quieted, save for the bits of loosened stone which fell from the ceiling to litter the floor.

"We know not of Sith...."

The words were barely discernable against the fading echoes of cracking and falling rock.

"We are... and this is Our Place of Places.

She paused, furrowing her brow a little as she continued to analyze what she felt, "...like the Valley of the Dark Lords. Thoran...

...do you know if the Dark Jedi had already gotten to the Clan of the Armorers here on Kor'isan before the Sith were pulled into this time frame? I'm not certain, but something is telling me that they had been...

...and that this magick anamoly which traps us was to protect this place from further attacks. It is also then very possible that the magick is fueled by the fallen spirits from that attack by the Dark Jedi, just as the Valley is protected by fallen Dark Lords. The fallen Dark Lords in the valley can be communicated with...

...so perhaps they can be communicated with here as well. I'm going to try, regardless."

Falling silent at that, Shayla closed her eyes and stretched her senses completely out. Even as she did so, she could feel the power of the magick that surrounded them touch her senses, and she waited to see what, if anything, would happen next.

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