"Shush, shush; be thou still," he said soothingly in the manner of his kind. "For thou hast been grievously wounded, and hath lost much blood."

Panthar relaxed, the healing energies flowing back through him. His thoughts turned to warm walks on the beach, of soft fuzzy animals dancing in circles around him, of lying on a luxurious blanket made of rich flaming red fur… red… flaming red…

His eyes darted open again. He tried to flail but his body was too relaxed.

“Heyyyyy!” he called out, in slow motion. “Nooo… telllll… walllllll….. Aelllll…..ve…..daaaaaaarrrrrrrr…..”

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

He shook his horned and hoary head.

"Thee hath been hallucinating, a by-product of blood loss; return now to thy dreams, and may they be ones more pleasant..."

On he went, striving to send Panthar into slumber, that his body might find the rest it needed to heal. As he worked, his skilled eyes could not but help catch sight of the myriad scars and old wounds Panthar's body bore. Shaking his head in bemusement, he made an instant decision.

"It will not do for thee to heal, only to come near to death again, as apparently it has been thy wont," he observed in a low and wry voice. "Therefore I shall place this ward of protection upon thee, that in the future thee shall not be oppressed so."

A wave of one hand, a sprinkling of an unknown herb, and a light tracing of a new sigil upon Panthar's left cheek, and the deed was done.

For when he at last would awaken it would not be to merely find himself fully healed, but with one of the strongest wards against further injury the magicks of the Sith could provide.

The Healer smiled at his prowess, and continued with his ministrations.

Panthar relaxed, his eyes beyond the capacity to open. As the depth of slumber washed over him, he let his head fall to one side and a rush of air came sighing from his lungs in total relaxation.

“If they don’t break the wall Shawn will die,” he sighed, smiling peacefully, and falling into a deep sleep.

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

Perhaps there was something to that which he keeps insisting so, he thought as he sent an even stronger sleeping spell upon him. As Panthar's beleaguered body finally gave itself in to the pressing (and pressed upon) need for slumber, the Healer rose. Swiftly and silently he moved from the couch and over to the shadows, where Aeylmaar yet stood watching over happenings in the Octahedron.

"Pardons, m'Lord," the Healer bowed. "But the injured one is most concerned about an individual named 'Shawn'. He insists that if a wall is not broken, this 'Shawn' will die.

"Although I do not know anything further about which wall it is that he speaks of."

Bowing again, he backed away, and soon returned to Panthar's side. Smiling, he settled to his knees in a meditative position, and soon was lulled into a trance-like state by the gentle sounds of that worthy's snores.

...and then once more, this time in genuine consternation. Turning quickly, he hastened to the place where Lord Aelvedaar had opened the Portal to Dagobah, only to come to a skidding halt.

It was no longer there. The Dark Lord had closed it.

Aeylmaar raised a clawed hand, as if trying to reach out physically to them, his mouth open slightly as if trying to speak to them. But then from the midst of his growing puzzlement there arose a possible solution.

There had been a time when he had assisted Galen and Shayla and Erik and Panthar in escaping from the dungeons of this very temple. At that time he had implemented a link with Galen, so as to contact them at a later time and in a far safer place than the circumstances had then allowed.

Smiling, he closed his eyes, allowing his hand to drift down to his side as he concentrated with all his might on opening up that old, yet not dissolved, Link.

Galen, Galen, hear me. There is danger; you must break down the wall or Shawn will die...

Over and over he sent that message, hoping but having no way of knowing if it would work. But on the off chance that it had, he followed up with images of what the Master had just done against Lord Phalomir, before quietly closing the connection and returning to his vigil.

((OOC: Go to Into the Undiscovered Deeps in the "CSWU" forums to see the effects of Aeylmaar's mental call, thank you.))

[ 12-27-2006 09:28 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Aeylmaar ]

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

The young Sorcerer Heir Apparent nearly jumped out of his skin, as scant moments after he had sent that warning into Galen's mind there came a response...

From his father.

"My son, this is your Father speaking to you now. Go to the Octahedron, my boy; ask it to show the wall which must be broken, the wall behind which Shawn undoubtedly waits for us.

"Find his whereabouts, my son, that through this link you may send the information into the mind of the pilot of this ship."

Gathering his momentarily startled wits into a modicum of coolness, he nodded, turning back to the Octahedron which was now showing him the Master and Rykounagin, once more deep into an unknown conversation. He wavered, chewing upon his lip... then cleared his throat.

"Show me the whereabouts of the one named Shawn, the one who is known to the Dark Lord Aelvedaar," he commanded, then stood in silence as the device obeyed. The mysterious greeny-goldness swimming in its depths whirled and collided, melding and molding and roiling until the image of the dark pair was lost entirely, replaced instead by that of a towering scarp face. As he watched, a bat flew forth from a tiny crack, about 1800 feet up the sheer face.

Not knowing what else to do, he simply stared at the picture, knowing instinctively that his adoptive Father was receiving the same image as well.

((OOC: You may now return to Into the Undiscovered Deeps in the "CSWU" forums, thank you.))

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

((OOC: Incoming again from Into the Undiscovered Deeps in the "CSWU" forums, thank you.))

"The nightbat, my Son; follow the nightbat..!"

No sooner had the words formed in his head than he let them slip forth from his lips. Soon the Octahedron was showing them an image of the nightbat in flight, with the Dagoban landscape rolling away beneath it...

((OOC: Once again you may return to Into the Undiscovered Deeps in the "CSWU" forums, thank you.))

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

Panthar awoke again, the healing powers of the Sith magick not enough to keep him asleep through the bedlam that rocked the halls. He heard voices shouting in confusion and the sounds of breaking glass.

Still in great pain, but much better off than he had been before coming to this chamber, he arose. His mattress had shifted from the frame, and he wondered how he possibly could have managed to not fall to the floor and crack his skull open.

But he did not dwell on this, for something big had just happened, and he needed to find out what was going on and what he could do. And how he could get back to help with the search for Erik.

“Hey!” he called out. “Aelvedaar? Galen? Anybody?! Where are you?”

He paused a moment, trying to remember what had happened after he went through the portal. Then he lifted his head and shouted “Where am I?!”

[ 01-10-2007 12:50 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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With a start he realized he was upon the floor, propped halfway against the Crystal Octahedron.

With an even greater start, he realized the roiling greeny-goldness within it was dark, as if it too had been momentarily stunned.

He raised a hand to his forehead, winced.

"Wha- what has happened?" he murmured, to no one in particular... but it was enough. The Octahedron, yet beneath his head, immediately obliged, gradually brightening within until at length it was again filled with greeny-golden splendor.

A splendor which immediately segued into utter darkness, a darkness in turn bit by bit becoming sparkled with stars.

He blinked again and raised himself up on his elbows, staring in shock and wonder as with cool, crystalline impassivity the Octahedron showed him the sudden production of the enormous chronotic shield, it's rapid expansion, and gradual dissipation into nothing. It then returned to its normal state, the subdued green light it shed casting a sickly shadow across his face.

"No-oo..." he began, when a distant shout caught his attention. Hurriedly, yet somewhat dazed, he rose to his feet and staggered into the antechamber, blinking again.

He frowned with annoyance to discover that this sudden predeliction to fluttering his eyelids was due to a trickle of blood now creeping into his right eye, then put aside that brief and selfish thought. For there was an apparently panicking Panthar, half rising from his sick-couch, an unconscious Healer sprawled on the floor nearby.

Aeylmaar hastened to him, collapsed on his knees next to the couch.

"Something terrible has happened; you are with me," he stammered, somewhat confused and utterly naive to the fact that he'd received a concussion when the universe seemed to explode.

[ 01-10-2007 12:24 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Aeylmaar ]

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He lifted his head and looked around, seeing the small healing ward in which he had spent the past – well, he wasn’t sure how long he’d been here. But he remembered a strange dream he had, one which involved the caves and Shawn and thousands of those damn white spiders.

Holy crap! he thought. Shawn! And Erik!

Panthar swung his feet around to touch the floor, sitting up as he did so. He steadied himself and rose to his feet, holding his chest tightly with his arm. He waited a few seconds, and when satisfied that he was not going to fall apart he stepped forward.

He made his way to the door of the room, and pushed it open. He stepped into the hallway, looking both ways for signs of life. There seemed to be nobody stirring here…

Wait, where was here? He remembered being in the cave, in deep serious pain. And he remembered Galen. Ah, Galen, pressed up against him. Sure, it hurt, but she was warm. And she felt really nice.

All right, Panthar, don’t go down that line of thought. Nothing but trouble thinking like that!

But he did need to remember…

Aelvedaar! He came! And opened a portal out of the cave! And then… and then…

Then the dream. All right, he was somewhere in the Sith worlds, this much was clear. And there weren’t gabs of burly red dudes walking the halls with spears, so it probably wasn’t the Temple of the Warriors. And unless Phal had managed to build a new temple for his clan already, then this was probably the Temple of Sorcerers…

Cool! He’d never been here before!

He turned into the hallway and began walking. Sooner or later he would find Aelvedaar or his son, hmm…. Alymire? Aelvimeyer? Hmmm… Well, eventually he would find someone who could lead him to someone!

[ 02-14-2007 10:50 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Panthar Dantares ]

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A peace broken by the startled yelp of a robed Sith that barely noticed Panthar in time to step aside. Panthar, still groggy, paused and stared.

“Oh,” he said. “Excuse me. I was just, um, you know, from the sickbay, and… well, I need to see someone like… um…”

Panthar waited for the word to come to him, then it finally did.

“Aeylmaar!” he exclaimed. “I need to get back to Dagobah and save Shawn from the spiders. Where is Aeylmaar?”

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

A moment later the door opened again, this time wide. Another Sith, this one in bright gold robes, smiled at Panthar and motioned his arm in a broad sweep, indicating Panthar should enter. The other robed Sith, eyes wide, hesitated and then bowed to the golden robed Sith, then turned and departed quickly.

Panthar shrugged and walked through the doorway. The golden robed Sith closed the heavy door with a loud bang and then scurried to lead Panthar down a hallway. They soon came to yet another door, which opened easily as the Sith pushed against it.

Behind the door lay a room, walls lined with books, tan furs covering the floors, and a large desk with many objects on it. Behind the desk sat Aeylmaar.

“Aeylmaar!” cried Panthar, stepping forward. He caught his toe on the egde of a fur carpet piece and nearly stumbled, but he managed to catch his balance just at the last moment. “I’m glad I found you! It’s Shawn, have they found him? And Erik, too?”

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

What could have caused that shield? he wondered to himself as he hastened along. Perhaps Father might know...

The thought of his adoptive father brought on its heels a reminder of what he was supposed to be attending to; injury or not, he had been remiss in his duties. He winced again, this time in guilt, and hastened his step back to Lord Aelvedaar's great Sanctum Sanctorum.

A distant commotion caught his ears as he neared the ornate double doors leading into his father's chambers, one that grew louder with every step he took. His frown deepened when, arriving at the doors at last, he realized the racket was coming from within.

He sighed, pushed into the echoing room... and stood in something of momentary surprise at the sight of a golden-robed Healer being reduced to actually fighting with a patient. The Sith grunted and half-turned his head in recognition of Aeylmaar's entrance; fangs exposed, he gritted his teeth.

"This one seems to be fighting the wards I have placed upon him," he said as the immense Sith he was trying to heal flailed out wildly with his hands. Ducking, the Healer reached out yet again in the attempt to grasp a horn, that he might bring him to submission, if only for his own sake. But the Sith patient, one Panthar Dantares, would have nothing of it. He kept flailing and yelling out, making wild comments about Erik and Galen and a nightbat and a cave but mostly about Shawn.

Aeylmaar grimaced in pain, then hurried to his side.

"Let me assist you," he said as he reached out and grasped Panthar by both wrists. A tiny push of his blossoming All-talents, and Panthar's hands seemed suddenly to increase in density until even as powerful as was his body, he could no longer hold them up. They crashed to the cushions upon which he yet lay, sinking deeply into them and effectively pinning his arms there.

"Now," Aeylmaar said, nodding to the Healer. The medico needed no further instructions, but quickly grasped one of Panthar's horns and applied pressure, both gently and effectively.

Panthar stiffened on the couch, his eyes wide open.

Aeylmaar waved the Healer away and relaxed in a kneeling position beside the befuddled Panthar.

"Hush, it is I, Aeylmaar," he whispered, nearly crooning, hoping to gentle the man's mind as between them he and the Healer had managed to gentle his body.

"You are safe; you have been quite ill, but all that is now behind you. You are healing, there is no need to fight, you have nothing to be afraid of, my friend.

"Hush."

[ 03-19-2007 10:06 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Aeylmaar ]

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“Aeylmaar,” he managed. “I had a vision, it was bad. Shawn in the caves, white spiders everywhere, wanting his life in trade for Erik. Are they back yet? Is everyone safe?”

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

"White spiders?" he repeated, wincing for how the comment made him seem the dullard. He raised up, settled back on his heels. Stared Panthar straight in the eye.

"I do not know the current condition of the others, for they have not yet returned from Dagobah," he went on.

"Tell me all you know that has happened there... anything. And tell me what you know of the white spiders."

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

“When we put Gray’s body in storage on Dagobah,” he began, “Phal made a shield around her to protect her, but then this massive bunch of white spiders came rolling in and completely covered the area where she was. Then later, when we rescued her spirit from the Master and Thoran stuck her inside of Shayla—“

Panthar paused a moment, thinking of Shayla. He felt a sense of urgency, wanting to jump up and demand a ship take him to… to… to somewhere! With effort he beat it down and continued.

“We were all on Tattooine, it’s where Aelvedaar thought we would be safe while he went back to Dagobah to get Gray’s body. Well, he was gone a long time, then Shayla took off on her own after blasting everyone with her Jedi superpowers. Then Aelvy came—I mean, Aelvedaar came back through a portal but he was all covered with these white spiders, like they were sucking the life out of him. A bunch got on Galen, and I think they got on me too, but I don’t really remember. Anyway, we got them off, and then we got out of there. Those things are probably still somewhere on Tattooine for I know. But that’s what I know about the spiders.”

Panthar closed his eyes.

“Well, that, and this vision. It’s all like life for life. Don’t ask me why, or how this is in my head, but I felt weird being down in that cave, all broken and all. All I could think about as people were trying to get to us was how it would be OK if I died, because I stayed alive long enough to help them get to us, and now Galen would be saved. Then I began to have weird dreams, flashes, I think I lost a lot of blood there. But it was all about white spiders, and balance, and all that, and that I lived. But Shawn was still there.”

Panthar’s eyes flew open again, staring at Aeylmaar.

“I need to go back,” he said. “I should have been there to trade for Galen, now I'm afraid they’ll want Shawn.”

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

"No," he underscored the motion. "That is not so, my friend. For if the spiders had wanted you, well--" He trailed, gave Panthar a meaningful look before continuing.

"It is not your life they wish, Panthar," he said, his voice growing soft with concern.

"Whose life it is, this I do not know. But if your visions hold true, they indeed shall be seeking one. Life begets life in death."

He nodded, blinked slowly, then rose to his feet.

"You should rest, and I have a duty to perform at the behest of my Father. He is with the party; I trust in him, and his abilities to keep all of them safe from whatever or whoever might come."

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

Panthar propped himself up on the bed with his elbows, wincing.

“I mean, I need to be doing something! Don’t you have any staffs to clean, or crystals that need polishing? Or better yet, send me back to help them on Dagobah! I can speak Sith, and that warrior can’t speak standard spacer. Or, better yet, send me off to help out Phalomir, he said he was going to K’eel Doba. He’ll need all the diplomatic political BS help he can get!”

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

"You are not rested enough, not yet healed enough to be anything but potential detriment to the party there, I am sorry to say. Wrapped up as they are in their own trials, they do not need to have to worry about your welfare as well.

"I am sorry; what I now do, I do for your benefit."

With that the young sorcerer waved a hand and uttered a short spell, dropping Panthar back against the cushions like a butchered dewback. The chamber echoed with the sound of his snores; Aeylmaar couldn't help but allow himself the privilege of a small grin.

"Rest a few hours, and heal completely, my friend," he said quietly, laying a brief hand on Panthar's shoulder before he moved off to take his former position in front of the Crystal Octahedron. A few crisply uttered words and the greeny-goldness roiling within churned and twined, then coalesced to show an image of two piles of vines.

Several figures stood about, gesturing as if arguing about something.

Aeylmaar cocked his head, repeated his command to return to the assassin Rykounagin. The image faded, was replaced by greeny-golden convolutions, then segued back into the same image once again.

Now he raised a brow.

"How very interesting," he said to no one in particular, then fell quiet, debating just what he should do with what he had discovered.

[ 03-28-2007 10:07 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Aeylmaar ]

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Panthar stirred in his sleep, beads of sweat trickling down his face.

The ship… you know which one.

The voice was strong within his mind, and the shadowed figure which loomed just out his vision scared him senseless. But he was compelled to listen to the voice, he had no choice.

I have not left you, my love. That shall be our secret, yours and mine. I shall grant you my strength, and I shall guide you with my wisdom. They believe I left you, that I was cast out upon the cold ground of Khar Delba, but even they should have known better. There is always a little left, and a little is all it takes. Now wake!

Panthar’s eyes snapped open and he shot up in his bed, sitting straight and panting. His bedclothes were soaked with sweat, and his heart was racing. The healer sitting in the corner of the room was startled, as if he himself was woken by Panthar’s sudden outburst. Panthar looked at the healer, then began to clamber out of the bed. Bandages unwound, causing fresh blood to soak his nightshirt.

“I need to get to K’eel Doba,” he said. “I need to do it now. There are lives in danger, thousands of lives! And so help me if you try to make me go back to sleep, I’ll… I’ll…”

A sudden rush of adrenaline came over Panthar, and he looked menacingly at the bed. His face set in a sneer, he let loose with his unbroken hand and sent a fist flying into the headboard. The rich wood splintered into pieces, and Panthar turned back to the groggy healer.

“Get me a ship to K’eel Doba! Dammit, people are going to DIE!”

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

How had he been roused from the Sleep of Healing? He himself had not instigated such, nor had the nearby Healer, as judged by the look of groggy amazement he wore.

Very gently, so as not to aggravate further the already highly aggravated Sith, he let his hand loosen, flow gracefully back to his side.

"Welcome," he said softly, nodding once to Panthar.

"You appear... whole?"

The light query inherent in that comment was not stressed, for fear that the Sith might become even more agitated. Instead, he let it carry as an observation, to assuage the emotional state Panthar seemed embroiled in, that perhaps he might begin to calm down.

"Your words are most grievous, my friend," he continued, now letting a small frown crease his brow. Off to one side the rising form of the Healer caught his eye; nodding once, he waved him away, letting him know by those slight motions that he did not want the Healer to place himself in undue danger by attempting to knock Panthar unconscious once again. Only when the Healer had nodded back, turned, and quietly departed altogether from the sanctum sanctorum did Aeylmaar turn back to Panthar.

He smiled easily, indicated the Crystal Octahedron that he had been studying.

"Let us see if your words are the result of a vision, or of the fever from which you have suffered," he said, motioning that Panthar should come up beside him.

"I will let you ask the device one question, and hopefully by what it shows you will your fears be put to rest."

[ 06-19-2007 05:49 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Aeylmaar ]

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

“Thank you,” he said, calming as he walked to the device, to stand next to Aeylmaar.

“You must think I am crazy,” he said to the heir. “But you have to believe me, there is something going on. Dark and sinister, behind the scenes, I just don’t know. I don’t think these visions have been all from fever, you know. I mean, yeah, white spiders and darkness and all, sure, they could be my mind sorting things out – but it’s more than that.”

Many questions rushed through Panthar’s mind, but the one he wanted to ask the most was fresh in his thoughts.

Am I still possessed by that awful stuff that came out of the Darker Realms? That tar stuff that I got rid of at the Temple of Armorers… came the thought. But the words would not make their way to his mouth. No, there were other, more pressing things to know. Yes, of course, he couldn’t still be possessed or he would be flailing about like he did then, trying to kill everyone.

No, there was something else eating away in his subconscious. Something important, he knew it. He had seen it before, filed it away for processing later, but the events that unfolded since then pushed it back.

“I’m sure that I can’t ask it silly things like ‘What is that is bothering me?’ I mean, I’m sure I have to be specific, right? Well, it’s difficult to think about that, because I feel that something is dreadfully wrong on K’eel Doba, and it’s something I should know about. Like there is a link somewhere within me and something is calling out over it. Calling for help, or something.”

He batted his forehead with the palm of his hand over and over.

“Think, think!” he said. “Wait… there was a ship… a ship we all came back on once, the weird one from Khar Delba. There was something about it. Something strange. It had been left untouched with all the brouhaha about Jharmeen’s daughter killing her and stuff, and I was supposed to do something… with Phal?”

A proverbial light bulb clicked on over Panthar’s head.

“The ship from Khar Delba, which was used to move that planet into the Elseness, where is it, and does the cargo remain in the ship?”

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

The image grows larger and larger, the sigil pinpointed; then as if some zoom lens were in motion the image grew smaller and smaller, backing down, backing away, soon tarmac showing once more, then other ships, then other Sith as they moved hither and yon within the spaceport.

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

“The cargo of that ship is dangerous,” he said. “I remember being aboard it, and the Master just appears from nowhere, like he’d been hiding there waiting. I don’t remember all that happened then, but when Phalomir and I were on K’eel Doba, before all of this stuff happened, we were going to go break into that ship. Phal knew something was up with it, and didn’t want it to fall into the wrong hands. I feel it, there is something wrong here, and nobody is paying any attention to that ship. Send me there, please, I have to finish what I told Phal I would do.”

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