He grabbed his forehead and shouted back.

“All right! I hear you, I hear you!”

The tuk’ata calmed down and rested back on its haunches.

Panthar turned to Erik.

“I can hear it. It talked to me.” He shook his head and scratched behind his ear. “This is starting to freak me out a little.”

The look on Erik’s face expressed the question “well, what did it say?” Panthar winced and looked back to the tuk’ata.

“OK, I heard you. What do you want?”

I Md'diffnnd, keeper of temple for when Dark Lord comes. Dark Lord come, Dark Lord go, Dark Lord returns. This Dark Lord not right. Must stay in ice, one who brought must die. We wait, he return.

Panthar looked back to Erik. “Uh, he says his name is Med-diff-ned… or something like that. He says he’s the housekeeper, and this dark lord isn’t right… and it needs to stay in the ice. Oh, and I think we need to wait here and kill the one who brought these here.”

[ 12-31-2003 10:43 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Panthar Dantares ]

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...not that any sort of weapon we would have would aid in killing an evil Dark Lord. Besides, who is he anyway?"

Erik paused, his already developing frown darkening. "You tell your tuk'ata buddy if he wants to kill the Dark Lord who brought these things here...

...he'll have to do it himself," Erik finished, nodding towards the frozen Phalomir and Graysith.

--------------------

Panthar scratched his head and looked back to the tuk’ata.

“I don’t know, there, buddy. Like Erik said, we don’t exactly have an arsenal at our disposal here. You know, like maybe if we had claws like you…”

Panthar glanced down at his hands, noticing the long, sharp ends of his own hands.

“Yeah, well, maybe if we had a spear or something sharp…”

Panthar became aware of the horns protruding from his head and placed a hand upon one of them.

“Yeah, well… how about a blaster then?”

The tuk’ata snarled low and stood. Coughing a disgusted sound, it trotted to the door and entered the hallway, disappearing from view.

--------------------

He trailed a moment, the look in his eyes sardonic, "I guess you'll have to charge him with your horns when he arrives...

...cause I seem to be lacking in that area. Now if I could get my hands on a lightsaber..."

Once more he trailed, shaking his head. "...but like that is going to happen."

At this Erik uncrossed his arms, hearing the tukata's low growl somewhere nearby. "Guess that's our cue," he stated then, shrugging as he began to follow the direction of the sound.

"...not that we have any choice in the matter," he muttered under his breath.

[ 01-16-2004 10:49 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Erik Kartan ]

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“Hey, Erik, you saw which way the beastie went, right?”

Erik stopped and gave Panthar a dark, quizzical look.

“You mean you weren’t keeping track of him either?” Panthar asked. “Oh no, all this time I was following you!”

Panthar slapped his head and listened. Aside from the steam escaping Erik’s ears, there was not a sound. He looked around, they had just passed through an intersection of five other hallways, and he no longer remembered from which direction they had come.

“Oh bloody hut dung!” he exclaimed.

[ 01-30-2004 02:14 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Panthar Dantares ]

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"Well, I can tell you if I sense the animal's presence, and the general area of it. I should also be able to track it to some extent..."

Erik trailed a moment, "...but then, my Force-abilities aren't nearly as attuned as my wife's. This, however, I should be able to do."

That said, Erik's brown eyes turned vague and he stretched out with the Force, searching and seeking for any lifeforms registering within it. He wasn't expecting to come up with many larger life forms, so the tuk'ata should have been fairly simple to locate...

Erik's eyes snapped alert after a moment, something dark growing in their depths. "The tuk'ata isn't far away," Erik stated then, calmly enough. "He seems to have settled for the moment..."

Erik trailed then, his eyes locking with Panthar's, "And from what I pick up...

...we may not be here alone any longer..."

[ 01-31-2004 10:31 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Erik Kartan ]

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He let out a perturbed sigh, followed by a quick snarl that echoed through the hallways.

“I tell you what, the longer I stay in this big red body, the more I think I’m starting to feel like one of those dudes. I mean, I never before would have thought that pounding my fist through the wall would make the situation better, but I gotta tell you that right now it seems like a pretty damn good idea.”

He stared at the closest wall, intently looking at the bricks and feeling the energy well up inside of him. Yes, just pound the fist into the wall and let the hand plow through… ooo, that would feel good!

No, you’d probably splinter your stupid hand into a million pieces and then you’d be in pain as well as lost.

He rolled his hands into fists and set his face in a sneer. He growled at his own logic, but heeded it. Needing release, he turned and bolted down the hallway they had originally started into. At the first wooden door he skidded to a halt and let loose with all of his might.

The door shattered as Panthar rammed his fist into it. Large jagged splinters fell to the floor on the other side, and Panthar relished in the blessed release the action brought him. With narrowed eyes and a wild smile he peered through the hole in the door, watching the blood trickle from his arm in many locations. It took a moment before he noticed that the room inside was slowly pulsating a soft red.

He stood where he was, arm straight and stuck in the hole, staring at the soft light, taking no notice of Erik’s approaching footsteps.

--------------------

...at least, not from his position outside of the door.

"Think we should go and take a look?" he queried then, his brown eyes meeting Panthar's own surprised ones.

The human-turned-Sith shrugged, so Erik took matters into his own hands, reaching out to then turn the knob on the large wooden door which now sported a gaping hole. He found himself stepping into a dim room which appeared to be filled with various and sundry weapons...

...and amidst these was one small crystal. It was red in hue, glowing atop a table along with something that looked like chisel and some other shaping tools he didn't recognize. As the thing continued to glow its soft red, a chill returned to wander up and down Erik's spine once more.

He gulped. "Hey uhhh...

...does that remind you of anything you've had your ahhh...

... eye on lately???"

[ 02-23-2004 11:16 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Erik Kartan ]

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“What the hell… who would be… why would they… buh?”

Panthar walked slowly to the pulsating crystal. It glowed softly, a gentle red radiance casting shadows on the dark table on which it lay. Panthar crouched and studied the crystal, looking as closely as he could without touching it.

“Well, it definitely resembles the Eye of R’lous, that’s for sure. I studied that damn thing up close enough to know, but this is different. The shape is lightly more oblong, and it has something stamped into the side here.”

Panthar moved to a better position to look closely at the side of the crystal.

“This looks like that symbol we’ve been seeing everywhere. I think it is like that new thing on Phal’s head, maybe it’s the mark of the Armorers… that or a brand logo. I’m betting on the first thing, though. Hey, wait, what’s this….”

Panthar caught the shadow of something dark inside the crystal, as if there was movement. He stared but saw nothing, then moved to a different position. Again he saw a strange slight movement of something inside. As he stared, shapes took form inside the crystal, coming into focus enough to define the figures of four individuals. The image was hazy, but Panthar could still make out what appeared to be ghostly images of two humans, a tall figure which looked almost like a Kaminoan, and a huge Sith…. Phalomir? The image wavered with the gentle pulsing of the red light.

“Hey, Erik…. I see red people….”

--------------------

Erik's frown deepened. "This is giving me the creeps," he admitted, his voice soft, his eyes still locked to the wavering image. "Could that be Phalomir in that image? Or maybe it's that Master he is always talking about...

...I dunno. I don't know if we can use it as a weapon or a key to our advantage, but I'm damn sure about one thing. This thing just might be important to the Powers that be, so maybe we should take it before someone else decides they need it more...

...or maybe we should see what that tuk'ata has to say about it since he seems to be a little more in touch with things here than we are. Where the heck is he anyway...?"

Even as he said this, Erik glanced around a bit, wondering if just maybe the tuk'ata had already been a step ahead of them in finding this thing.

--------------------

“I don’t know, I haven’t seen or heard him for a while. Hey, this is really cool. I think it IS Phal, the more I focus the clearer this image becomes. It’s almost like a holo-comm, only one of those really old ones like they used to use in the mines back on… oh, hey, look, this is really clear now! Let me see if I can make out the tattoo stuff on Phal…”

Panthar gazed at the image harder, trying to focus on Phalomir’s face. Suddenly the image zoomed in, showing a full body close-up of the Dark Lord.

“Holy holo-crap! It just zoomed in! I tried to focus on Phal and it zoomed in on him and the guy next to him. Check this out! Can you see it?”

[ 02-26-2004 09:09 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Panthar Dantares ]

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"How in the name of the Force..." he muttered, blinking his eyes as if to clear an image he wasn't certain was there.

Panthar turned and looked at him dubiously even as Erik's gaze remained locked on the one guy whose image shone clearly in the crystal. With effort, Erik looked to Thoran.

"That guy in the image with Phalomir...

...I know who he is. He's a guy by the name of Terrin Danner, someone who my wife has told me was very much involved with the Sith, and namely Graysith. I haven't yet been able to remember any of this clearly...

...but I know from what Shayla tells me that Terrin married Graysith's sister. But there's one other little thing about Terrin that Shayla has told me, and that I do actually vaguely remember...

...and that would be that he is dead."

[ 02-26-2004 09:23 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Erik Kartan ]

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“What do you mean, dead?” he asked.

“If he’s dead, then how could be talking with Phal? That makes no sense, Erik. Are you sure it’s him? I mean, absolutely sure? This is some pretty mixed up poodoo we’ve been involved in lately, but if we’re bringing dead guys back to life then I want out now!”

Panthar looked back to the crystal, the image still clear.

“I mean, crap, what if someone was able to bring back whoever they wanted? Like my astrophysics instructor… or worse, that monster Roan?”

Panthar shuddered, thinking of the brief encounter he had with Roan. He was stuck away behind Phalomir’s consciousness at the time, but he would never forget what he saw. Indeed, what would Roan be doing right now if he were alive?

Panthar’s eyes widened as the image in the crystal wavered, then refocused on another scene. It was the image a flat rocky area overlooking a dark valley. The scene resembled the previous one in dark atmosphere, and as Panthar focused the body of a large person came into view. The figure was lying prone on the rock, as if looking down at something below. He focused more, the image zooming in and clarifying.

The figure was another Sith, large as life and as terrifying as death. He seemed to be chuckling, and as Panthar stared more intently the Sith paused and turned his head, a curious look on his face as if looking for something. Panthar gasped and stepped back, the shock registering on his face.

“Erik… it’s Roan…”

--------------------

Erik trailed even as the answer to his question arrived within the image of the crystal. For about this time a very familiar hovering Sith appeared just above Roan, and seemed to direct some words his way. "That's Phalomir with him too, isn't it..."

Erik frowned even as the words registered in his mind. "Panthar, this is the second dead being we've seen with Phalomir in this crystal. What do you suppose that means?"

Quieting at this, Erik turned now to regard Panthar, his own dark thoughts possibly apparent in his eyes.

--------------------

“I wonder if this is a vision of the past, present, or future? Or maybe something fictional?”

Panthar’s eyes snapped to Erik.

“Hey, I want to try something. Maybe it’s one of those spy glass things that will let you see what someone is doing… show me, um, Shayla… um, Petru… Petri… Pertru….”

The crystal went blank.

“Um, ok…. Show me Thoran.”

The crystal remained blank.

“Show me… um… Graysith.”

The crystal flashed, then went to a dark foggy color. Silver mist seemed to swirl in the darkness.

“This is getting weird. Show me Med-diff-ned, the tuk’ata guy.”

The image cleared instantly, showing the tuk’ata resting on its haunches in a splintered doorway.

[ 02-29-2004 10:49 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Panthar Dantares ]

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"Is it me, or is he acting as though he's waiting for us to figure something out about all this?"

Even as he said this, Erik turned back to Panthar, who was now looking up as well. A thought then occurred to Erik. "Think we could identify this mystery Master with the crystal?"

Cocking a brow at this Erik quieted and waited to see just how Panthar might reply.

--------------------

Panthar continued to watch as the glow expanded, filling the crystal with its intensifying light. He shielded his eyes and tried to continue to watch, and as he felt the cry begin to escape from his throat, the light dimmed and revealed the glaring face of a Sith.

The eyes in the crystal moved from Panthar to Erik.

“Who are you?” a gravelly voice wafted from the crystal. “Why do you spy on me?”

--------------------

“It is just us, Panthar Dantares and Erik Kartan… we weren’t spying, really, your Sithness, we just, um, well…”

Panthar looked to Erik again, struggling for words, and hoping for support.

--------------------

...but then, you haven't introduced yourself either, so I can't assume you are him...

...not yet."

--------------------

The eyes in the crystal regarded Panthar.

“You are Panthar Dantares? You speak the name of a human, yet you appear as Sith. Which would you have me believe?”

Panthar cleared his throat.

“Well, your majesty,” Panthar started, “it’s a long story. You see, I was exploring a cave a while back and came across this –“

“How interesting, yes”, said the voice.

The eyes shifted to Erik.

“And you, Erik Kartan, what twist of fortune finds you with one such as this? And through what technology have you found me?”

--------------------

...that seems to have come as a result of me speaking to some sort of crystal about the identity of the 'Master'. I hardly expected it would actually answer me."

[ 03-06-2004 09:37 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Erik Kartan ]

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“This is the work of the Sith, I can feel the magick around me. Yet there is something else, something foul…”

The Master’s eyes snapped upward towards Panthar, wide with alarm.

“Where are you? Who else is there with you? I sense that you are in great danger, allow me to assist you.”

Panthar looked to Erik.

“Buh?” said Panthar. He looked back to the crystal.

“No-one is with us except our buddy the tuk’ata. Oh, and somewhere else there’s a couple of people who look a lot like our buddies frozen in ice…”

He looked back to Erik.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have said that.”

--------------------

He looked back to the image of the Sith in the crystal. "Great danger?" he repeated in inquiry. "I find that very interesting, since I do not sense anyone here..."

Erik trailed, frowning, "...at least, not since we have begun speaking with you through this crystal. And that aside, how do we know that we could even trust you, especially considering you've yet to even give yourself a name?"

--------------------

“I have never given myself a name, others have bestowed such honors upon me. In my days I have been known as Dark Lord, as Father, Husband, Son. Once, some called me Aelomir, but that was another time, another place. Much was my folly, much was my suffering, and I am now without a name save the strange title of ‘Master’.”

The eyes turned back to Panthar.

“But still, I sense a presence, dark and foul. You are hunted, my unfortunate new acquaintances. Please, allow me to assist you, your time grows short.”

Panthar looked again to Erik, confusion showing plainly in his face.

“This guy wasn’t on the list of bad guys, was he?” he asked.

--------------------

Erik trailed, looking then towards the Sith in the crystal. "Allright, I'm game, at least for this very moment. So you sense that we are in danger, and you are offering to help us. For all I know you are intending to help us right over a cliff...

...but I'll listen to what you have to say and are offering. Just how do you intend to help us...

...and, more importantly, how is it that you sense we are being hunted when I still sense no other presence here than those of our own and the tukata?"

[ 03-22-2004 10:11 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Erik Kartan ]

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