Graysith's life was at risk...

...and they were stopping for a little chat and dinner...

...with a bunch of bigwigs from the Empire...

...who were their new ALLIES?!?

Her greeny-blue eyes blackened slightly.

Correction. Phalomir's new allies. NOT hers.

Deep inside, something which hadn't been given voice for quite some time in Shayla Stargazer rose and gained a voice. It cried out in renewed anger, balling its fists and shaking them as words scrolled across Shayla's mind in blood red.

They had killed her parents...

...all in the name of conquest. Some things would never change...

Pursing her lips, Shayla strained to keep her thoughts from spiraling down to even darker roots. But as the Reborn finally led them to quarters where they would be allowed to refreshen themselves before their dinner at the Captain's table, Shayla couldn't stop herself from turning to regard Phalomir across the way.

She didn't dare say a word. But the look in her eye all but screamed: I hope you know what you are getting yourself into...

[ 09-10-2003 08:31 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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“Shayla, Erik, even you, Panthar.” He said to each person individually. “I am taking a risk, but one that I feel may be worth the gamble. Please, bear with me, I feel we may need powerful allies both inside and outside of the Sith.”

He sat in one of the chairs.

“You think I have been ignoring you, Shayla, but I have not. You have great concerns for Graysith, who I now know to be the Dark Lady. You sense something has happened to her, something to make her change. Something is afoot, and it involves her, the Dark Lord of the Sorcerers, ourselves, Thoran, and most likely others. Please, tell me everything you can of her and your experiences with her. And of the Empire, and the Dark Lords.”

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"There is so much I could tell you, and so little time in which to do so," Shayla started, her eyes a bit distant as memories continued to play through her mind. "The important thing is that in my experience with her, Graysith had the ability both to love and to hate...

...and to act in whatever manner was most appropriate in the grand spectrum of things, regardless of how others may view it. She taught me..."

Shayla paused, biting her lowr lip, "She taught me to see the shades of gray in everything that happens; to see there is no definite good or bad, that it all depends upon the angle from which you view things. She loved me as a sister; as she would her very own flesh and blood...

"...but once her husband feld without a trace, leaving her in a possibly fatal situation..."

Again Shayla trailed, her look growing impossibly more vague. "...since then, things seem to have changed...

...and it is not only in Graysith that I have seen the change occur. The Dark Lord of the Sorcerors, who once even backed a Sith blood-oath between Graysith and a human, no longer seems to give a damn about humans...

...not since his race of peoples have returned. The Dark Lady, Graysith...

...has broken the link I once shared with her. And even before that but after her husband fled her response to me, as I look back on it, seems distant. Perhaps with the betrayal of her husband and possibly of the Dark Lord of the Sorcerors, the very one who made her Graysith...

...she has snapped. After all, she trusted them both very much..."

And she used to trust you too, Shayla, a small voice whispered deeply inside. She closed her eyes a moment, a pain filling her heart. Then she opened them, and forced herself to continue and not dwell on that thought.

"As for the other Dark Lords, the Lord of the Weaponry Clan, Suranas Rean, is dead. Roan has the heart of a warrior and an unbreakable will; he stopped at nothing to bring the Sith back, uncaring as to what he had to do to make this happen...

...and I suspect he will stop at nothing even in death. His only true weakness may be his arrogance..."

Pausing, Shayla swallowed to wet her throat, her thoughts again darkening as she turned to the final part of Phalomir's question, "The Empire..."

"...it may have changed. But it's still all about taking over the whole galaxy, one way or the other."

With that, Shayla then clammed up, not wishing to divulge any further on that particular note with big eyes and ears probably lurking somewhere nearby. "That, for now, is all I can tell you. Perhaps when we continue on our journey I can elucidate further...

...but now I believe it is time for us to clean up and get ready for our 'dinner' engagement..."

[ 09-11-2003 09:44 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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“Then we will speak more of this at a later time. But tell me, her husband… was he Sith? Where is he now?”

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...and is supposedly the true heir to the title Dark Lord of the Warrior Clan. He told us that he did not inherit the title initially because a Sith Sorceror used magicks on him so that he would not wake til such a time as Graysith "needed" him to protect her. Protect her from what exactly, I do not know, for he certainly didn't protect her when she stepped out and risked her own life to face off once and for all with Dark Lord Roan. Instead he took his and Graysith's son and departed, not knowing if she would ever return to us or not.

"But she did...and so did he apparently, for he was there on K'eel Doba when we were and my memories were still blocked. I did not recognize him, but...

...now I'm certain of it. I do not know if he is still there or if he has sought to gain his title as Dark Lord of the Warriors...

...for I do recall him speaking of doing just that in the past..."

She trailed even as she said the words, remembering how she and Erik had been cornered on K'eel Doba for possibly perpetrating Roan's death...

...and remembering Graysith's explanation as to why she let them go.

"He did challenge Roan!" Shayla then exclaimed, "Back when we were on K'eel Doba, and Roan was discovered dead...

...Graysith mentioned that someone had challenged his title and then disappeared after he was murdered...

...gods only know why the one who should lay claim to the title after Roan's death would then choose to simply disappear..."

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“It was I who killed Roan. Mostly I. I was in command of Panthar’s body, yet the power came from the Eye, drawn in turn from the Dark Lady. I do not know her husband.”

“Yet you would challenge him for her, wouldn’t you?” said Panthar.

Phalomir shot a darting look to Panthar.

“Hey,” Panthar continued. “Roan challenged you, he would have killed you from behind. You blasted him as part of that challenge. Shouldn’t that mean that you have a claim to the title? Hell, if it were me then I’d be pissin’ a fit!”

“Panthar,” said Phalomir. “I do not believe that is the way these affairs are handled. There is procedure, bloodlines, and…”

“And lots of name-calling and chest beating, yeah, I get it,” snorted Panthar. “I’m just saying, if it were me, then I’d be there yelling at someone to prove me wrong.”

Phalomir stared at Panthar, who reclined in a chair and stared back.

“Panthar, I am truly sorry I brought you into this.”

"Yeah, whatever. Just do what you need to do and get me my body back. I think this one has fleas."

[ 09-11-2003 10:41 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Phalomir ]

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