"But as for Aelvedaar..."

I let my words trickle to a halt then, crossing my arms in front of myself and letting my head drop forward until my chin rested against my chest. Seconds passed as I stood thus, then I slowly raised my head.

"You know, going to him might not be such a hot idea. I mean, yeah, he might have someone else pulling his strings, someone stronger than he is even, or someone who has something over his head or something.

"But the endpoint of that particular speculation is still the same: if this is indeed the case he undoubtedly would still be forced to be rid of us, even though he might actually not want to harm us."

I paused a moment longer, casting a look around at the others before finishing my thoughts aloud.

"Maybe the best approach is still to find Aeylmaar. He at least has proven by his actions that he can be trusted, and although he's not a Dark Lord he at least is a sorcerer. He might be able to help us in that regard as well."

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

She trailed briefly at that, an image of a vision somehow creeping into her senses, that of a Sith with curved horns approaching her as a child, atop a mountain near the Praxeum.

And then she remembered. "Hey!" she suddenly spoke up then, not sure where this revelation would take them if in fact she was correct. "Isn't Phalomir somehow related to Aeylmaar?" she asked, quirking a brow. "Perhaps he has a personal stake in this, and we should seek him out before we go to Lord Aelvedaar. Still, I also agree we need to go to Aelvedaar because, in the end, we need to know where he stands...

...and he may help us regardless of whether he is..." she paused, making quotation marks with her fingers, "...on our side or not."

Falling silent a moment, her eyes grew vague once more, and that image of the Sith...

...one which she was becoming more and more convinced was Aeylmaar...

...returned to her mind's eye. Finally she spoke. "I think I should mention...

...and I have before...

...that I had a vision not so long ago of a Sith coming to me as a child, a Sith with curved horns. I believe that Sith in the vision--

--whether it is reality or not--

--was Aeylmaar. I've never been one to have many visions...

...but could this be a sign of sorts? I just have this feeling..."

She trailed once more, frowning. Your true potential...

"I doubt it means nothing," she then stated rather directly. "But it might not have anything to do with what we are dealing with now. Regardless, I stand by what I said...

...I think we ultimately need to go to Aelvedaar...

...and that perhaps we should also confer with Aeylmaar. It may indeed take them both to succeed in getting Phalomir back safely from the Master."

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

“About Phal and Aeylmaar, hmmm,” he said. “Phal was once told by someone – was it the Eye? – that he was part of a line of sorcerers that supposedly included Aeylmaar. I remember him scoffing at that, but that was when he was first finding out that he was actually from the future, not the past, and the memories he had been given about his father were false. Oh, what was his name? Tralaminus? Trailmixes? Tralanicus? Anyway, not important. But yeah, if the information was correct, then somewhere along the line Phal is supposedly some descendant of Aelymaar.”

Panthar folded his arms.

“And as for me, I say we go find Aelymaar anyway, regardless. I mean, he is the reason we came here in the first place, right? Well, that and finding Galen’s daughter. Which reminds me—well, maybe later.”

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

...which was quite an effort, considering his personality. More techie than anything else, he usually let his mouth lead him before he thought. But this was different. Anything remotely dealing with the Sith, regardless of how much they had been there and done that, he wasn't particularly thrilled with.

Nor was he particularly fond of the idea of trying to play buddy-buddy with Aelvedaar again. Still, Phalomir had played a part in keeping Galen safe and bringing Terrin back from the dead.

So this was important stuff to weigh and consider.

"Hell, I agree with Panthar," Jasyn finally spoke up. "If Phalomir is in the same line of sorcerors as Aeylmaar, Aeyl may not care for what is going on and might be willing to pitch in. We already know he doesn't like something that Lord Aelvedaar has been up to...

...and we did come here to find him. So we should finish the task. His imput may be important in defining the direction which we take."

[ 08-14-2005 10:36 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Jasyn Lancaster ]

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"Very well then," she said. "We shall go to Aeylmaar, who awaits us within the Temple of S'slan. I presume to think you are of this same line of thought, Mr. Kartan? If I am incorrect, please speak now."

One brow crooked as she sent a meaningful look toward Shayla's husband, before generalizing that glance to include everyone within it.

"And now, as to the bacta tank and the unknown held within it, what say you all? Do we free it that it hopefully will be yet another ally to our cause? The more manpower we have, the greater our strength.

"I leave this up to you as well, but let us resolve this final issue quickly. Time is a commodity we do not have enough of, I fear; every moment we tarry here is another where my love is--"

She cut herself off with that, lowering her face to hide behind her long tendrils the expression of pain and grief that now flooded across it. Another precious few seconds passed as she stood in this manner, then at length she raised her head. Once again her expression was calm, even though her eyes were bright with gathered moisture.

"How say you all?" she repeated, and fell silent, waiting.

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

...I think now may be too soon to begin to trust it. As Galen pointed out, the thing was rather threatening to us all aboard the warship...

...and that shouldn't be taken lightly. Where I come from..."

Here he trailed, looking momentarily to Terrin then back to all the others, "...trust is something that is earned, not given. We shouldn't be too hasty. As for Aeylmaar and Aelvedaar...

...I'm in agreement with the others. We should find Aeylmaar, meet with him while we are here, then proceed from there once we know more about what Aeylmaar may be able to tell us."

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

...some while we were all in hiding on K'eel Doba and even before then. I know what he seems to be to us all now but..."

He trailed, his brown eyes thoughtful. "Both Shayla and Graysith...

...Jharmeen...

...have a point. We cannot judge Lord Aelvedaar's possible actions and response to us solely on what he's done in the more recent past. If we look at the bigger picture of things...

...he has, over all, been an overwhelming help. Now, I don't know what drove him to do so then, nor do I know what drove him to turn us out of Prinn'chatka. But if he is the..."bigger picture" guy I think he is, he may see how very important getting Phalomir back from the Master is. I think we should go to him...

...and, as my wife said, find out directly from the source where he stands. And, as to the pod..."

Erik frowned, "...it obviously has a desperation to be freed, which caused it to threaten us all. Wasn't a good start to things...

...but desperation can lead to reacting any way necessary to become free. I think we should free it, and give it a chance to prove to us whether we can trust it. Inside its shell, we will never know whether or not it could be our ally or not."

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

...but as for taking the chance of letting that kriffing pod thing go..."

He frowned blackly, totally agreeing with Galen, "Hell no."

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

His mind worked quickly, attempting to justify allowing his blade to be taken. He believed his natural curiosity, while perfectly sufficient to him, would not suffice as reason enough when explaining the situation to Lady ShaRhylla.

But, now that he thought about it, she had much to gain from this occurence. They would remain unseparated, for part of him still resided within her. And she would gain a spy into her mother's doings, assuming Ragorian desired to inform her of the actual adventures of this group. Yes, he believed he would be able to placate ShaRhylla when she realized his vessel was gone. He hoped so, at least.

It is decided, then, he said to himself. I will reveal myself, and travel with them if I may.

Reaching out with his magicks, he probed the barrier ShaRhylla had put before his blade. It was, as he thought, unbreakable to his abilities. It contained that mysterious power of hers, Graysith's, Aelvedaar's, and others: the All. Against that, there was next to nothing he could do.

So it came down to convincing Graysith to break it, which was no easy task. While they had parted with a passable amount of trust, he believed, it seemed from her reaction when she remebered him that it was gone. It could be difficult to get her to grasp the blade again. Still, he would try.

Reaching within his talents, he called upon the few ways he could communicate with those who did not or had not grasped his blade. He could project emotions to many and send images and a few choice words to one. All of these together seemed to have the best chance of succeeding, so he spent a moment concentrating and preparing, then was ready.

First, he sent out a wave of melancholy lonliness and desire for freedom, emotions familiar enough to him, throughout the room. These were mainly to attract attention, though they would hopefully convey some of his innocence to those in the room.

Then, he focused solely upon Graysith. Reaching out, he sent towards her mind various images of his own conjuring: one of her breaking the barrier around his sword and grasping it, followed by an image of her and himself (a Sith, as he imagined himself to be), obviously talking calmly

Carried with these images, he sent her a choice few words: "Please, let us talk."

There, he said satisfiedly when he had finished. That should certainly get the message across. There is little else I can do...

So he simply waited. He watched for the reactions of all in the room to his wave of emotion, and focused on Graysith especially, waiting for her to get his message, and hoping that she would see fit to break his barrier and at least give him a chance to talk.

Ragorian was getting so tired of this fancy dining hall, after all.

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

They will not give my Sire the chance to truly prove himself, came an oddly errant thought.

He will not harm us-- he will not harm me; he could never, ever harm me, even though he tries with all the power at his disposal--

Her head jerked up, her eyes widening as it suddenly struck her how strange her thought processes had become. Mere seconds before she was grieving for Phalomir, hot with pain and impatience to rush to his aid, yet now...

Now she was suddenly filled with feelings about Lord Aelvedaar, feelings clearly out of place to the situation.

She blinked, then frowned.

No. Not Lord Aelvedaar; these feelings weren't about someone, but rather were being sent forth from another.

Her brows furrowed in puzzlement; then as if from a great distance four groupings of sounds came wafting into her consciousness, flowing melodically, rising and lowering in timbre, beating at her very being until all at once they coalesced into four distinct words.

"Please, let us talk."

She immediately knew who their author was.

Raising a hand to cut off the votes of the others, she turned and walked to the fireplace. There she came to a halt, cocking her head as she studied the deadly form of the blade which hung above its mantel.

"My friends," she spoke to the others, her back to the group. "It appears there is one more whose voice would be heard in these proceedings."

She paused a moment, remembering the last encounter she had had with Ragorian. Recalled too the ease with which she had repelled his attempt to commandeer her mind and body. Knew that if he tried to do such a thing now he would be just as easily repelled, for she was well protected by the All.

Decided in an instant what her next course of action would be.

"I will hear what he has to say, and let you know what I have learned. I shall waste no time in this, however; time, as I said, is yet short.

"But herein lies a sorcerer, who could be a strong ally to us. Fear not for me, my friends; I am safe enough in his presence."

With that she reached out with her talents, and broke the barrier created by her daughter as easily as a ronto would break an eggshell.

Then she raised up on her tiptoes, reached out with her hand, and firmly and deliberately took hold of the hilt of the Blade.

[ 08-14-2005 11:43 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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As it were, he allowed himself a feeling of satisfaction as she broke his barrier, reached out, and grasped his hilt.

Now, he knew, he had to proceed delicately. Reaching out with a small tendril of himself, he gently touched Graysith's mind just enough to allow communication between them. For now, it was all he dared.

Then he spoke.

"My Lady Graysith," he said, his voice calm and respectful, "How good it is to speak to you again. It has been far too long."

"My thanks to you in breaking the ward that imprisioned my blade," he continued. "The presence of another prision atop this accursed blade was fast becoming unbearable."

For a moment he paused, considering, picking his words carefully. Then he continued.

"I called out to you for reasons more that just desiring freedom from that ward, milady. I confess that I was listening in on the conversation you and your companions
were just holding, and it seemed to me that you were going to reach a decision and leave quite soon."

"As such, I felt a need to make myself, and my desire to speak with you known quickly, for fear you would depart before I had the chance."

"You mentioned in your conversation that you require the aid of a sorcerer. As you seem to recall, I am possessed of some skill with Sith magick."

Ragorian paused again, considering whether or not he was making a mistake. Then, with something of a deep mental breath, he continued.

"I called out to you, Lady Graysith, because I wish to offer you my aid in your...quest. I wish to help you."

[ 08-15-2005 01:58 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Blade of Chaos ]

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To what purposes, she didn't know for a fact.

What she did know was that she had repulsed him from her; then he had rapidly changed his tune and become almost civil.

She frowned, gripped the sword harder, and turned round to the others.

"Within this blade there lies the essence of an extremely powerful Sith sorcerer who goes by the name of Ragorian," she said flatly.

"This is not the first time our paths have crossed; when first we met, he attempted to overtake my mind and body, for that is what occurs when an unprotected being takes hold of this."

She held the sword out for everyone to see.

"He now states his... wish to assist us, having overheard our conversation and thereby gaining the knowledge of our need of a sorcerer. His... assistance could indeed be something to consider, as he is most likely a far more powerful sorcerer than the young Aeylmaar."

A dark look flicked across her face, and she fell quiet.

[ 08-15-2005 02:46 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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The words rang out in her head, sokehow becoming almost damning. Shayla frowned, shaking her head as if to clear the words away.

"We will need a strong sorceror," Shayla then agreed. "As it is, Aeylmaar is just an adept, and probably does not have full usage of the All..."

Her words dropped off, and something else occurred to her. "The Master does have All usage..."

As she turned her look to Jharmeen and the others from her thoughts, the sudden stormcloud in her eyes burst into lightning. "We have to go to Lord Aelvedaar," she stated frankly. "No Sith adept will be able to defeat this Master. No powerful sorceror, even. We may very well need the powers of the sorceror in the blade...

...but I know for all the Fates that we are going to need a sorceror with All powers. For, with the Master as a Sorceror with All powers himself, it's going to take someone of the same skill to defeat him."

Trailing at that, Shayla let the words she had just spoken fall on the ears of all present. Then she added one final addendum. "And as for the pod...

...there are two sides to every coin. We've all been talking about its initial threat to us, while what we're all missing, as my husband stated, was its point of view. I'm certain after being confined in that bacta tank for years, desperation took hold when it plead to be freed and did so in vain.

We should let it free. We need all the allies we can get, of all the varieties we can get...

...and we just might need more than just a touch of the dark to defeat the Master as well."

[ 08-15-2005 03:04 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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"That sorceror has just overheard everything we've spoken," Matt said directly, "I'd hesitate to leave him here, should he in turn lead others we may or may not care to find us directly to us. And as for the pod...

...I think I'd prefer to make it one of my allies now instead of leaving it to become a possible ally of someone else. We need all the helping hands we can get, and aside from the small fiasco aboard the ship, it has been helpful. And, as with the blade, I'm certain Jharmeen could stop it if it turned on us. As to who we should go to concerning all this..."

Matt trailed a moment, his green eyes never losing their intensity, "I agree with most of you...

...we are going to need Aelvedaar, who is both a powerful sorceror and an All user. Being somehow related to Phalomir might give Aeylmaar a stake in all this...

...but then again it might not be in the way we all seem to be hoping. After all, it is Phalomir's own Father who is doing all this to begin with."

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

...then he'll know everything, and I don't much like eavesdroppers...."

Even as Terrin spoke the words, Jasyn nodded in agreement, scowling as he did so.

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

Good words spoken by all, sound advice.

A smile curled briefly about her lips--

Good friends, all. And now, perhaps others as well...?

She blinked, bringing her attention back to the others, cast a steady gaze into their faces, reading clearly the trepidation and hesitation and yes, fear within all, darker emotions which each one had gained mastery over to reply in what he or she believed to be in the group's best interests.

She let her eyes linger a moment upon her sister. The red-haired woman merely pursed her lips, glared back, but remained silent.

Her eyes shifted back to Shayla.

"So be it, I -- we -- have decided then."

She held the blade aloft.

"This sword shall accompany us, but for the well-being of all shall come into no other hands but my own. The bacta tank shall be opened, and its occupant released; should he prove harmful, I can easily dispense with him in one manner or another.

"We shall go to Lord Aelvedaar, armed and strong but in peace, and shall present our case to him, along with our suppositions and speculations. But not before we attend to the needs of his son, Aeylmaar."

Twisting her wrist, she brought the sword to her face.

"I know you can hear me, Ragorian," she said aloud, that all could hear her words.

"Through common consent I accept your offer of assistance; it is my hope that your words prove true, and that you are not lying to us for purposes not, perhaps, entirely unknown."

Her grip tightened ever-so-slightly, allowing a subtle tactile warning to pass between them.

Then before anyone could respond, she raised her other hand, the index and little fingers extended outward like horns, the others curled to meet beneath her loosely cupped palm. A quick twist, and the chronotic shield about the bacta tank disappeared.

In three quick strides she was before the object, standing there to stare down upon it.

Then she lifted the Blade aloft, to then bring it down upon the tanks locking mechanism with a resounding, ringing clang. The locks fell from the tank to cling upon the cold stones of the floor.

Graysith raised the blade to ready stance, and waited, although from her body language it was clear that she would brook no more delays in time lost to further conversation.

Now was the time for action.

[ 08-15-2005 03:41 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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"We thank you. We are in your debt eternally."

[ 08-15-2005 04:27 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Onidorei ]

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As the decision was reached, Ragorian reached out to speak to Graysith again in reply.

"This is good, milady. I am glad to have been accepted, at least, by your friends."

"And I hope, with time, my actions will allow me to gain some measure of trust from you and your companions, trust that you all obviously hold for each other..."

"...ahh, what adventures you must have faced together to gain such trust for each other," Ragorian said wistfully, to himself almost as much as to Graysith.

"The tales you must all have to tell...

He feel silent, realizing he was beginning to ramble, then spoke again.

"But I digress, milady. As I said, I am here to offer my assistance. Is there anything I can do to help you or your friends now?"

"After all, I would like a chance to show you and your friends that my intentions are, in fact, good, milady Graysith."

[ 08-15-2005 04:43 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Blade of Chaos ]

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

To both she tilted her head graciously, for whether or not she yet truly trusted either was no reason to fail in her status of Dark Lady of the Warriors.

"I thank you both for your willingness to throw your lot in with ours, and welcome you to our group."

[ 08-15-2005 06:10 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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

For better or worse, a voice in his head snorted.

"Seems like, time pressing and all, now's the time to blow this joint and get going. But then..."

He trailed a moment, cocking a brow, "Just how are we going to ahhh...'take our leave' of this place?"

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

"We take the high road, Mr. Lancaster," she said, the solemnity of the words tempered by the twinkle in her eye.

Again her free hand stretched out, fingers curved just so, her eyes then closed and her head fell back, the Glyph lighting the Dining Hall with swaths of glowing, cold light.

There seemed to be a nearly audible ripping sound... then she opened her eyes and waved toward the portal she had just opened in the fabric of space and time.

"The high road," she repeated as she then turned on her heel and, sword in hand, entered the Portal she had created between the Temple of the Warriors and the Temple of S'slan.

[ 08-15-2005 06:39 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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But what could I do? Ok, so I could pull out easily enough; I had the invisibility device, and I knew how to run the sith ship we came in. I could take Terrin and we could begin our own little private venture in this great and shadowy temple, seeking our daughter...

I wanted to do that more than anything in the entire universe.

"Terrin--"

I trailed, gripping his hand, hanging back a bit as the others traipsed through the opened portal. Quickly, before all had passed through, I spoke my thoughts to him, making certain to keep my voice in as tiny a whisper as I could, that only he could hear me.

[ 08-15-2005 06:35 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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...and it came as no surprise to him then that he wanted that for her too. The moment he looked into Galen's eyes, he already knew what he'd say to her.

"You know I stand with you," he whispered back to her, his blue eyes locked on her, "If you want to look for Darra...

...then let's do it. And this time...

...let's look for her together."

[ 08-15-2005 06:44 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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Kriffing hell, but he'd forgotten how he hated all this stuff...

As if just then realizing that the lounge wasn't all that far away...

...and that he really needed a drink...

...Jasyn made a dash for it, hoping the portal would give him enough time to snag at least one bottle of brandy. And heck, Terrin and Galen were taking their time, so...

The cap on the brandy bottle barely popped off before the bottle reached his lips, the liquor burning his throat.

Kriffing hell, but he'd forgotten how good this stuff was...

As he continued to drink, he very, very slowly began to make his way back. After all, if he turned up missing, everyone would probably be able to ascertain exactly where he was. And, after all, others were still lagging behind...

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

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