The Holonet Boards : Tears of the Rancor

posted 07-22-2007 06:40 PM

Naad sighed inwardly, it was clear he was not getting anyplace with this woman. Even so it appeared he was, for the moment, at least, out of any real danger. Indeed, it was not nessescary to his plan that he convince her of the danger her people faced. It was probably better that she not be swayed by his arguments. She had done a wonderful job of portraying the ruling class of the clans as being as self-absorbered as he had always claimed. He only regretted that this would probably mean that the Warriors would suffer greater casualties when the Empire did finally come. Hopefully his envoy to Couroscant would be able to convince the Imperials to leave K'eel Doba under the rule of the United Sith. Still, it was a pity about all the damage that would have to be done. He had been hoping to inherit a whole kingdom, not one which had been laid to waste by warfare. Naad knew that he should take leave of this place, perhaps find RhoHalla, and plan his next move. There were many things to take care of before he was in any position to take control. There were loose ends to tie up. Stil, his pride at been wounded by her remark and he could not resist one last remark.

"Thats the problem with you're kind, you think yourselves so great that you only need to cope with the big problems. With Mystical and indescernable opponents and assailants with unheard of occult abilities when there are real, earthly, problems facing your people that you simply deign beneath your notice. You might not like to hear this but it wasn't one of these unfathomable dangers you spoke about that wiped out our people in the past, but ordinary power hungery despots. And it will happen again and again, as many times as you drag your people forth from the past they shall come to be destroyed by the arrogance and blindness of their leaders. The All is indeed a powerful force capable of producing marvels, but those who weild it are not quite so awe inspiring. You think to persuade me by citing descisions made by the Dark Lord Aelvedaar,yet he to seems to have suspect motives and priorities not befitting of a leader. No, I do not acknowledge him as my Lord," he bowed, biting off the sentence before he said too much, "I shall not wait for your Mother. Thank you for your time, my Lady, at least you have proved my concerns about this Clan's leadership to be well founded. I think before long you will see your error. Good Bye."

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I am NOT a stone!

Posts: 119 | From: NYC | Registered: Aug 2002 | Logged: 66.108.214.50

ShaRhylla

Dark Rose
Member # 156

posted 07-22-2007 09:54 PM

ShaRhylla was on her feet in a flash. Now, she had become quite bored with this being, who no matter what she said seemed too sunk in self-absorption to lend a whit's worth of credence to the subtle warnings she had sent his way. But now he had clearly overstepped his bounds; though the warriors had dissociated themselves from the triumvirate even she could not let his traitorous statements pass.

For one who would be turncoat to his own clan obviously would find it ridiculously easy to become an open enemy to the others.

"You do not claim the Dark Lord Aelvedaar as your own?" she queried, cocking her head to scrutinize him as if he was a mere granite-slug beneath her feet.

"Those are traitorous words that you speak, and though sorcerer you may be I will not abide with them here. I do have some decorum about me, after all! I should toss you into my dungeon, but I will not sully these walls, nor the minds of my people, with even the most remote threat of your simple trickery!

"Guards!!" she raised her voice, clapping her small hands with authority. Immediately there materialized a squadron of personal guards, great hulking warriors of great fighting skill and strategic savvy, who carried magickally endowed weaponry with them. She nodded toward the group, who moved into equidistant positions around Freedon, and before he could react drew from pouches at their waists slender silver cords with which they loosely lassoed him. The cords were not meant to be a physical barrier, but rather a magickal one; beneath their influence not one of his spells would have any effect upon anyone or anything.

"Escort this one to the gates of the city, and release him. Meanwhile, I shall send word to our-- Brother -- of this traitor in the sorcerers' midst, that he might deal with him in whatever manner he wishes."

She glared at Freedon, who met her eyes fearlessly with his own, and smiled to herself to see the lifelong rage against her that she had fomented.

Go-oo-ood...

"Do not return to this city again, upon pain of death." She smiled silkily. "We might be mere warriors, and you a skilled illusionist, but believe me if you so much as step one foot upon Phrinnchatkan soil again you will find exactly how powerful my All-ally can truly be."

With that she nodded, and the squadron bowed their heads. Then they whirled in place and quickly ushered Freedon from the Receiving Hall, out into the corridor without. They didn't so much as pause but continued down the corridor, finally passing the Great Dining Hall, and coming to the double doors opening upon the pillared Grand Foyer. Through these they proceeded, out onto the courtyard, through the small archway and down the stepped side of the immense temple, Freedon helpless beneath the influence of the cords that bound him.

Thus was the sorcerer sent out of Phrinnchatka, taken to the city gates and released to the country beyond. The squad leader showed surprising respect to him, for he was a fellow Sith after all, and apparently not too much of an enemy as he had merely been booted out in what was to them disgrace, and not killed or even imprisoned.

"Believe what the Lady says, good sir," the warrior said. Then whirling, he barked an order to the Gatekeeper, instructing him to never let this one pass through again, and after seeing the gates close securely behind Freedon led his warriors back home to the temple.

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I Ride the Beast whose outcry is Despair, and whose coat is the color of blood!

Posts: 568 | From: | Registered: Mar 2002 | Logged: 12.216.67.77

Thoran

posted 07-23-2007 11:50 PM

Thoran paused, then reflected on Sorben had said.

“Well,” he chuckled mildly, “Mr. Sorben Tarnus, I wish you luck in applying your laws to the Sith. They’re not part of any big galactic bonding party, not yet anyway. And they usually keep to themselves when they can help it. But from what I know, this is a time of terrible mystery and anxiety -- there is a huge invading fleet surrounding the system, and I know of at least one ship that was detained. That is going to make anyone down here nervous, you know. Plus, the Dark Lady is not herself right now, and I beg you to not let her ruin it for all of us. Some of us are quite friendly! Hell, if we get out of here, I’d be more than happy to let you buy me a drink!”

Thoran sighed and leaned on the door.

“Now, as for getting out of here… If we can get out of these cells, I can get us out of the temple and to your ship. You gotta take me with you, though, because she is crazy and I need to get in touch with someone else. In fact, we should get to Khar Delba!”

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The ancients are not the oldest, nor the wisest.

Posts: 265 | From: Urbandale, IA | Registered: Aug 2003 | Logged: 172.162.3.112

posted 07-24-2007 04:05 PM

The guards, having ensnared Naad with gossamer lassos and ejected him forcibly from the city, did little physical harm to the sorcerer. Naad would not give them the satisfaction of watching him struggle, and they in turn did not seem particularly predisposed to acts of cruelty. Naad’s ego, on the other hand, had been crushed by the experience. The shame of being dragged through the crowded temple and being cast out of the city like so much waste was unimaginable, especially after his ego had been grossly inflated by the years he spent leading the United Sith. Naad had never felt smaller, weaker, or less significant than he did as he sat pathetically outside the city. Indeed, the experience had so shocked him that he could bring himself to do nothing but sit lamely in the rural outskirts of town like a common beggar. Time past and the sun sank in the sky and still Naad was at a loss. Periodically he would succumb to fits of rage and shout curses at the empty air, but by and large he just sat there and nursed his wounded pride. It occurred to him that he had left the lovely RhoHalla waiting in the Temple Dining Hall, yet it seemed impossible to reach her. He was tired and the Magicks necessary to communicate over the vast distance between them were beyond him in his weakened and emotionally unstable state. He wished he had left her more detailed instructions. He further wished he had not been quite so standoffish before the Dark Lady. Digging idly in the dirt with one clawed hand Naad wondered if she would in fact alert the Dark Lord of Sorcerers. Naad doubted the Dark Lord would be terribly concerned with his insubordination, indeed it was Freedon’s understanding that the Sorcerer was capable of viewing remotely (through the use of his Octahedron) any place he chose, and so probably could have discovered the United Sith had he been so motivated. No, he decided, Aelvedaar probably would probably dismiss him just as ShaRhylla had. That realization stung him perhaps more than the thought that he might have endangered his people. The idea that for all his work and accomplishments he was still beneath their notice pained him. Not for the first time he wished he could wield the All as Aelvedaar did. Then he would not be trifled with like this. But, he thought resentfully, the Dark Lord had withheld that information from him, not deigning to teach him even when he was the last surviving Sorcerer. Anger and bitterness flooded Naad’s soul, washing away the shame and hurt. Things would not always be like this, he vowed silently. Rising to his feet Naad took off across the country side, resolved to contact RhoHalla, and win for himself, at least, some small sense of accomplishment. She could be a valuable contact within the Temple, and given the fact that he was presently persona non gratis in the city, this was not something he could afford to dispense with.

[ 07-24-2007 04:08 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Freedon Naad ]

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I am NOT a stone!

Posts: 119 | From: NYC | Registered: Aug 2002 | Logged: 66.108.214.50

RhoHalla

posted 07-30-2007 11:19 AM

The young serving girl sat quietly in the booth, making herself generally invisible to all merely by remaining immobile. The booth originally chosen was along the far wall of the Great Dining Hall, and near a corner, so it was one not constantly visited by others working in the immense chamber. Solitude, however, makes time tick by at a snail's pace; frowning a bit, she uncrumpled the napkin she had been twisting about in her hands and studied its cryptic message once again.

He would return, he promised...

She balled the napkin up again, hiding it in one fisted hand and folded both together atop the table, waiting with great patience and expectation. But as time continued to tick on she grudgingly was forced to admit that all Freedon had said to her, and indeed what he had imprinted upon the little napkin, had more than likely been empty words, and that he was by now long gone.

She blinked rapidly, fighting a sudden heaviness in her heart.

That couldn't be it. He had been so earnest, seemed so honest with her, and had quite captured her heart and mind with all he'd had to say to her. Surely he wouldn't have risked exposing such to anyone if it were untrue, for wouldn't that risk bringing misfortune upon him if then revealed to others, even if those words had been false?

She straightened in the booth, pursing her lips as she considered this further.

Perhaps the Lady ShaRhylla had managed to ferret from him the same traitorous words he had given so freely to her, which would explain why he had yet to return to her.

That had to be it, and at this very moment he was more than likely rotting within some cell deep within the bowels of the huge temple.

She fidgeted slightly, new and somewhat darker thoughts now flicking through her head. He had indicated to her a willingness to assist her, to free her from her life of unending drudgery and loneliness, hadn't he? Didn't that deserve some kind of commitment on her part in turn?

This could be just the thing she needed to prove to him that, even though she had just met him, and scarcely knew him for that matter, she believed firmly in what he had said to her and would thus quite willingly throw in her lot with him.

Nodding her head as if coming to some sort of agreement with herself, she rose quietly from the booth, and thrust the balled up napkin deeply within the pocket of her serving gown. Then, her lowly status keeping her generally ignored by the clientele in the Dining Hall, she exited the room, not being stopped by a single soul for a drink for her tray was yet sitting on the seat of the booth.

I'll not be using that again, she vowed to herself as she turned left and headed down the corridor. She left the main thoroughfare at the first intersection that she came to, and by constantly doing thus at length found herself away from the throng of Sith who were going about this business or that. One way she would zig, and then she would zag in another direction, her pace increasing now for she was certain she was far enough away that she no longer needed to remain stealthy.

A grin flicked about her lips when she thought of herself as being stealthy, and broadened when she discovered that she liked the sensation very much indeed...

On and on she went, soon penetrating deeply into the heart of the temple, where at length she came to a small, moss-covered wooden door. Beyond this lay uneven and condensation-slicked stone stairs; taking a deep breath she stepped out quickly, letting the ancient door creak closed behind her. She proceeded onward, going down one set of stairs after another, interspersed here and there by some going back up, or by corridors leading off in various directions. For the dungeons of the Sith were, by both their position within the temple and the means one had to take to reach them, clearly meant to show to any brave enough to go there the fate of the prisoners they contained:

Those unlucky souls were meant to be lost and forgotten by all but their gaolers for the remainder of their natural lives...

[ 07-30-2007 11:26 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by RhoHalla ]

Posts: 55 | From: Phrinnchatka | Registered: Jun 2007 | Logged: 12.216.67.77

posted 07-31-2007 05:24 PM

Naad walked along the outskirts of Phrinnchatka as he mulled over prospects for re-entry. While there was certainly a chance that it would be possible to once again enter the city proper with just a simple change of clothes and a bit of magickal camouflage, this was not an ideal plan as it relied far to much on luck and circumstance. It would also, he reasoned, be possible to re-enter by finding himself another host body and transferring his consciousness into it (an act of magick he had practiced with all too much frequency in the past,) but such a trick would necessitate forsaking his true body which he had spent so long re-acquiring. RhoHalla, he decided, had probably either given up on any chance of him returning, deciding he had abandoned her, or else thought he had been imprisoned. In either case it was unlikely she would still be sitting in the Dining Hall waiting for him. Naad furrowed his sweat soaked brow thoughtfully. Reaching up with one clawed hand to wipe the perspiration from his eyes, Naad became suddenly aware of how tired this whole ordeal had made him. Fighting the urge to turn tail and return to his village he instead adjusted his course so that he was once again walking back towards Phrinnchatka proper. He needed to act now, plan be damned, or else risk loosing a valuable ally. The pensive sorcerer trudged up the crest of a large hill. Finally, achieving its summit, he was granted a sweeping view of the sprawling metropolis that was Phrinnchatka in the distance. Seeing the city in the distance and yet knowing he could safely move no closer to it forced Naad to realize the true hopelessness of his situation. He could, he though, dispatch another Sith, a member of his village, to go collect her. Naad dismissed this idea to, realizing it too contained to many variables. There was no safe way to go about this, Naad knew. He would be better of turning around and going back. Naad shook his head, youthful pride and bravado overruling the judgment of the more rational part of his mind. He might have been alive for countless years, but here and now he wore the same body he had worn as a youth, and that fact, for better or for worse, went a long way towards altering his perspective. He cast an eye skywards and watched birds and other creatures of the sky circling above and, as people often do when they survey the sight of birds in the air, pined for the freedom of flight. It was then that the muses saw fit to grant him the priceless gift of inspiration. Naad flopped down on the hillside, his exhaustion replaced by a rush of exhilaration. The Sorcerer’s face beamed, even as he scolded himself for not thinking of the idea sooner. The answer was so simple, so elementary (and generally so useless) that it had simply not occurred to him. Naad looked at the city and turned the idea over in his head. True, there was quite a distance between himself and the Temple, but that shouldn’t, theoretically speaking, be a problem. Of course, things were seldom practically as uncomplicated as they ought to be in theory especially when it came to Magick. Still, Naad reasoned, this was the first worthwhile thing he was likely to think of. Naad prepared to work his magicks once again.

The sorcerer crossed his legs and with one claw scratched a circle around himself in the loam. He closed his eyes and focused. Old memories of his days as an Apprentice Sorcerer flooded his mind. In those days he had used (and on a great many occasions misused) on a multitude of occasions. It was, after all, one of the fundamental Magicks (and yet also one of the most difficult to grasp initially.) It was said that if you could project your consciousness, or mind-walk as it was termed the sorcerer’s vernacular, then you had a future in the Clan, and if not, then you probably wouldn’t amount to much of a Sorcerer. Naad could mind-walk. Indeed, his most potent ability (the ability to transfer his essence from host to host) was largely extrapolated from research on mind-walking. While the adage had proved untrue, and Naad had never been more than slightly above average in any other aspect of Sith Magick, he was still a more than competent mind-walker. Naad pushed aside his memories focusing his entire mind, not on himself, but on the world around him. He concentrated on the sounds of the world around him. He heard the wind in the grass, the breeze in the trees, the animals and people going about their day around him, he even heard the insects chirping and buzzing about. He could smell the earth, the manure, and very faintly, that particular unpleasant and yet comforting scent that can only be described as the smell of the city. Beneath him the grass and dirt could be felt, and all around him the sweet country air, perfect except for the hint of tainted air from the nearby city, tasted. He imagined he could feel the planet turning, spinning on its invisible axis through space. Slowly, he rose up out of his body. Whereas before he had only been focusing on the input of his senses and picturing the world around him as best as he could in his minds eye, now, very slowly, he could truly perceive. Gradually this nebulous feeling of perception and presence solidified and localized until a spiritual body, visible only to himself, was floating in the air above his corporeal form which still bore the expression of deep though and meditation.

Time was of the essence now. While mind-walking did not completely separate his consciousness from his body, it did leave his body essentially immobile and completely defenseless. Furthermore the state could only be maintained as long as his mind could deal with the significant strain of maintaining the magick. He had been tired when he undertook to perform this task, so he was fairly certain his body would give out before long and he would be forced to return. Because Naad’s spiritual body was not a real thing, but construct his mind manifested to enable to him to focus on specific parts of the vast world around him and not be overwhelmed, it could travel at the speed of thought. Naad’s spiritual form covered the distance between his body and the temple almost instantly. Passing intangibly through the great doors of the temple Naad could see faint glimmers of light and thought all around him. He knew these grey blurs and clouds of light were people who he was unfamiliar with going about their business. At this range, it would be impossible to see or communicate clearly with anything or anyone except those whose minds were open to him. He focused on RhoHalla. His spiritual body faded and twisted like vapor in a breeze as he widened the scope of his focus. Then he found her. He relished the warm, colorful glow of a mind that was both familiar and friendly to him and seeped inside he consciousness like so much cloying smoke. This was not an invasion of her mind. Indeed he could not control her like this if he wanted to. He couldn’t even discern her thoughts. Mind reading, though simple in theory, was quite complex and entailed rooting through a myriad of diverse and largely irrelevant bits of mental activity to locate one valuable snippet of information. Attempting, through this form of Magick, to read minds, was like searching for a needle in a haystack. It was hard enough to make sense of the alien forms that the thoughts of others took, but that was only the tip of the iceberg. The fact that the lions share of brain activity was given over to things like automating internal functions and monitoring the status of the body, and the fact that one though process was superficially indistinct from another did not make mind reading through mind-walking an attractive prospect. The idea of expending significant effort deciphering a particular thought only to discover that all he had learned was how many times RhoHalla’s heart beat per minute, or how many mitochondria were present in a specific cell did not appeal to the Sorcerer. Instead, he sought to muster a significant psychic presence that he might communicate with RhoHalla. First, he became aware of her location. The rest of the temple had been a blur of reconstructed memory, but where she was he could more-or-less see clearly. Was this the dungeon? What was she doing here? Naad decided to address these concerns later and instead focused on relaying a message. His voice, initially a faint whisper in the back of her mind, gained strength as he spoke, “RhoHalla, it’s me. I have not abandoned you. I have been cast out of the temple, barred from the city, but I could not leave one such as you behind. I gave you my word I would come back for you.”

On the distant hillside, Naad’s corporeal body was panting and sweating profusely. He would not be able to maintain the connection for much longer.

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I am NOT a stone!

Posts: 119 | From: NYC | Registered: Aug 2002 | Logged: 66.108.214.50

RhoHalla

posted 07-31-2007 09:27 PM

Intent upon her mission to find Freedon's cell, for by this time the young girl had utterly convinced herself of his imprisonment, RhoHalla did not hear the soft voice coming into her head. Indeed, there was nothing to pay heed to; her own mind was too busy winding about in as many different directions as the corridors she padded along, trying to figure out a way to free him from whatever cell she would finally find him in. So when the first small whisper, like a coolest and most comforting of zephyrs, finally managed to make itself known to her she ignored it as being her own imagination.

Strangely enough, it persisted, poking into her consciousness now with such tenacity that she paused in her tracks and cocked her head to one side. Next to her a strange reptilian sort of creature slithered through the black and dripping moss that covered the dank walls, pausing in turn to regard her with its beady, bright eyes. This too, though, was ignored by her, as was that first little niggle, but only from sudden and overwhelming shock.

"Freedon?" she whispered, raising a daintily clawed hand to her mouth in wonder.

"Is that you?"

Surprisingly enough, from somewhere not too distant from her, there came snippets of a seeming reply.

"If you... get... of cells... crazy..!"

Confusing thought with reality, echo with whisper, she pressed onward, and coming around a corner came to a corridor which was filled with the dying sounds of speech. She blinked, wondering who was here, and why, for although the dungeons were the bane of life they hadn't really been used in many, many years.

"Freedon, is that you?" she called out, a touch more loudly now as she took a corresponding step forward toward the source of the voices.

[ 07-31-2007 09:33 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by RhoHalla ]

Posts: 55 | From: Phrinnchatka | Registered: Jun 2007 | Logged: 64.12.116.7

posted 07-31-2007 10:38 PM

Freedon felt more than a little on edge.

"No," he explained, doing his best to maintain clearly understandable voice, "I'm not down... here. I'm elsewhere... outside the city," he paused, his incorporeal ears also registering the faint snippets of a conversation.

"But nonetheless do press on," he went on, his voice registering a conspiratorial note, "we might discover something usefull."

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I am NOT a stone!

Posts: 119 | From: NYC | Registered: Aug 2002 | Logged: 66.108.214.50

Thoran

posted 08-04-2007 01:00 PM

Thoran waited silently for Sorben to think over his plan of going to Khar Delba. Never mind that there was the little problem of getting out of the cells. He had been a slave to the Master for so long that he forgotten what freedom tasted like, and for the short time between then and arriving at the cell, he had come to like it. And now he longed for his freedom even more furiously.
“Freedom,” he heard, supposedly from his mind.

“Yes,” he said to himself, “freedom!”

Then he heard more words coming, but this time he realized they were not spoken merely in his head. No, this was coming from the hallway!

“Yes!” he called out. “Yes, we’re here! Freedom, please!”

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The ancients are not the oldest, nor the wisest.

Posts: 265 | From: Urbandale, IA | Registered: Aug 2003 | Logged: 24.241.104.26

RhoHalla

posted 08-20-2007 06:54 PM

The young Sith female froze a moment, then rushed down the dank corridor toward the sound of the voices.

"Freedon, I am here!" she called as she rounded the final junction and came to two lost and isolated cells. Black mold swarmed on the dripping doors which locked the pair, rusty nails and chains and padlocks completed the picture of misery now standing in front of her.

"I shall release you, do not fear!"

Still believing the voice she had heard belonged to the sorcerer who had so quickly entranced her, she took a look around, her eyes darting here and there as she sought something to use to either unlock the locks, or batter down the door itself. Nothing presented itself save a lone spider, which crept along the stone wall and was of a size to very capably drag along its current prey, a large granite slug.

She rushed to the nearest door, placed her hands upon it and raised up on her tiptoes to put her mouth nearer to the tiny, barred opening.

"There is nothing here with which to free you; I shall depart for the moment and seek out a tool, or perhaps I can find a key..."

She paused a moment to give the one she believed to be Freedon the opportunity to offer any better suggestion, waiting with her heart in her throat for fear one of the husky jailers would appear to catch her where she most certainly ought not to be.

[ 08-20-2007 06:55 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by RhoHalla ]

Posts: 55 | From: Phrinnchatka | Registered: Jun 2007 | Logged: 64.12.117.195

Thoran

posted 08-20-2007 11:48 PM

Thoran puzzled at this young Sith voice coming from the hall, for he could not recognize it at all. He first thought that perhaps it was Galen’s daughter, but it was definitely not! Sith females had a unique quality to their voices that he was well familiar with, and well found of.

“You can help me,” he said quietly. “I can remove myself from this cell, but I can only do it by first opening a gateway to a very bad place and re-emerging to somewhere I have seen. I wish to also release my friend, but I will need to know where he is so I may find this place again. Please, go to the--”

Thoran paused, thinking of a place that he knew of here, not too public, yet easy to identify.

“Go to the fireplace in the main dining hall. Do you know where that is? Make sure you can find your way back here, for you will need to lead me back here to rescue my friend. Find a cloak if you can, so I may cover my face if need be. Do you understand?”

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The ancients are not the oldest, nor the wisest.

Posts: 265 | From: Urbandale, IA | Registered: Aug 2003 | Logged: 172.168.29.42

RhoHalla

posted 08-20-2007 11:59 PM

RhoHalla wondered why Freedon was speaking so strangely to her, but quickly shrugged it off. He was after all a sorcerer, was he not? So all this talk of opening a door to one place only to re-emerge in another, though beyond her own comprehension, was probably an everyday event with him.

It didn't even dawn on her as to why he just didn't do this the moment his gaolers had left him...

"I shall do as you ask," she replied. "And swiftly, too."

With that she laid a hand against the door for a moment, then fled, hastening quickly back the way she had come to complete the small task he had given her as quickly and efficiently as she possibly could.

Posts: 55 | From: Phrinnchatka | Registered: Jun 2007 | Logged: 64.12.117.195

Thoran

posted 08-21-2007 10:46 PM

Thoran waited until the girl had left then called out over to Sorben.

“Hey,” he said. “You still want out of here? Here’s the deal, I can zoom myself out of here by—well, by, um…”

Thoran paused, searching for words.

“Well, by opening a gateway to Hell and coming out somewhere else I’ve been. It’s this thing I can do. I am going to pop out of here, and meet that nice young girl somewhere. Now, if you want me to, I’ll come back here to get you too. But you have to be willing to run through Hell to get out of here, you up to that? But you need to help me, I have to find Phalomir.”

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The ancients are not the oldest, nor the wisest.

Posts: 265 | From: Urbandale, IA | Registered: Aug 2003 | Logged: 70.56.249.244

Sorben Tarnus

Former Top-Dog Bounty Hunter, Now 3rd-In-Charge of the Galaxy
Member # 44

posted 08-21-2007 10:55 PM

Have to be willing to run through Hell... Seems like I've already done that a time or two in my career...

"I'd kind of like to link up with Phalomir myself," I replied, a bit tersely. Then I quickly followed with, "After all, you said that was the last person you'd seen my Verpine friend with."

A momentary pause ticked by, and I clenched a fist, studied the projecting knuckles.

Maybe this young girl, whoever she was, would be able to lead us to where my gear had been stowed. I was kind of fond of that armor of mine...

"I'm in, pal," I finally said, and fell silent, planning the next steps I would take once I had slipped from the prison which held me.

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I am not a droid

Posts: 380 | From: | Registered: Aug 2000 | Logged: 205.188.117.195

Thoran

posted 08-21-2007 11:22 PM

Thoran nodded, not caring that Sorben couldn’t see it.

“All right,” he said. “I’m going to open up a gate to the Darker Realms. If I don’t get eaten, I’ll open up another gate and get back here soon. Prepare yourself.”

With that, Thoran took a deep breath and sliced the air with his hand. He took another breath and stepped through, quickly closing the portal behind him.

A few seconds later, a slight shimmer lit the shadow to the side of the fireplace in the great dining hall. Thoran appeared, sweating, and frantically closed the portal. He took in a deep, deep breath as he backed into the wall. He wiped his forehead, and dreaded going back into that realm again.

That was too close, and they’ll be waiting for me next time.

He then remembered what he was doing and glanced around for the Sith girl. There she was, standing facing to the fireplace, holding a bundle of cloth.

“Oh,” he said, coughing. “hey, it’s me!”

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The ancients are not the oldest, nor the wisest.

Posts: 265 | From: Urbandale, IA | Registered: Aug 2003 | Logged: 70.56.249.244

RhoHalla

posted 08-22-2007 12:35 PM

RhoHalla whirled about, but the joyful expression on her face quickly faded into one of utter confusion. For this indeed wasn't the Sith sorcerer who she expected to see; this was, instead, an apparently bona fide prisoner.

And here she was, speaking with him. If anyone should happen to see them together who knew who he was, she would be guilty of freeing him at the very least, not to mention of whatever crime he had committed at the most, simply by associating with him right now.

A flash of anger brightened in her eyes. If she was going to risk everything, she really would rather have it be done for Freedon's sake, not this stranger's. But the tuk'ata had already fled the stables; time to force that away and go on in the direction Fate had presented her with.

"You are not Freedon," she said tersely through gritted teeth, but held out the cloak even as she spoke. Thank S'slaan that he had appeared here with his back to the room, and that they were in fact over by the great fireplace and not anyplace closer to where others were dining. His ragged clothing spoke of some sort of issues he had undergone, either before landing in the dungeons or en route to them. In either case, they were not what a well-appointed Sith would wear out to dine, especially one who wished to remain invisible, so to speak, to others.

She cut a quick yet assessing glance out as he took the cloak and donned it, still facing her. So far so good; no one appeared to take notice of him; now that he was safely garbed she felt she could breathe more easily again.

"And now--?" she said, her voice very low, nodding toward him and making a miniscule motion of one hand to indicate the diners in the Great Hall.

[ 08-22-2007 12:36 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by RhoHalla ]

Posts: 55 | From: Phrinnchatka | Registered: Jun 2007 | Logged: 205.188.117.195

Thoran

posted 08-22-2007 02:12 PM

“Thank you!” said Thoran quietly, adjusting the robe about him. Satisfied that it would hide his appearance he breathed easier and looked at the somewhat annoyed girl.

“I don’t know who ‘Freedon’ is,” he said. “I’m sorry if that’s who you thought I was. My name is Thoran, and I was put in there by mistake and left to die. I will tell you my story on the way, and I swear on the very heart of R’lous that I will not harm you. It is imperative that I find Phalomir… he’s the Dark Lord of the Armorers now.”

Thoran glanced at the others in the dining hall. Graysith was nowhere to be seen, nor was Shayla. Aside from them, the only people who could possibly recognize him would be Graysith’s daughter, perhaps, and whoever it was that threw him in the cell. At that thought he pulled the top sides of the robe up further to cover his cheeks.

“If you help me, I will do you a huge favor in return someday. Whether that’s helping find this Freedon, or whatever you want, I’ll do my best. All I can say here, right now, is that the future of the Sith depends on me finding Phalomir, and I think I am going to need the other guy in that cell across the hall. Will you lead me to him, please? I promise, I’ll explain it all along the way.”

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The ancients are not the oldest, nor the wisest.

Posts: 265 | From: Urbandale, IA | Registered: Aug 2003 | Logged: 159.182.1.4

RhoHalla

posted 08-22-2007 02:33 PM

RhoHalla eyed the stranger, still angered that she had been taken in... and not necessarily angry with him. For now that she'd had a chance to think about it, she realized that she was angry with herself for not being so thorough in determining exactly who it was she had agreed to assist. Then her anger gave way to interest, especially when he spoke of the future of the Sith. Not knowing who Freedon was, she therefore concluded that he was not of his camp; perhaps she could learn something useful to report to the sorcerer at whatever time in the future the Fates determined they should meet again.

Besides, hadn't she already tossed her lot in with that of the Sith now standing before her?

"There is a servant's corridor in the back of this room; if we leave through it we can travel far into the Temple without being seen by many others who might recognize you," she finally said, although judging from how much of this Sith the cloak enveloped, she believed the risk of him being recognized to be a slim one. But still it was the safer way to travel; her relative anonymity within the heirarchy of those who served in the Temple assured that.

"Come, and please, tell me your story. It shall make the time pass more quickly while I guide us back into the Dungeons."

With that she motioned Thoran to an unobtrusive little doorway, and ushered him into a plain, narrow stone corridor.

"It is this way," she announced as he followed, the door back into the Dining Hall closing quietly behind him as he did so.

Posts: 55 | From: Phrinnchatka | Registered: Jun 2007 | Logged: 205.188.117.195

Thoran

posted 08-22-2007 06:48 PM

“Oh boy,” said Thoran, “where do I begin?”

He followed the girl into the corridor. He looked around to make sure nobody else was here to listen. He still shook from the narrow escape he endured in the Darker Realms just moments before.

“I don’t even know your name, or anything about you! Except that you’re probably a serving girl? But what were you doing in the dungeons? Well, looking for this Freedon, I guess. OK, sure, I can buy that, but I hope you’ll elaborate later.”

Thoran looked at the girl, who was looking back at him now. Her eyes shown in the dim light giving her a quality of youthful beauty he could appreciate. His nerves relaxed a bit, and he was able to inhale deeply.

“You have lovely eyes, by the way,” he smiled, finally calming. He shook his head and rubbed at the back of his neck.

“My name, as I said, is Thoran. I am really sorry if you thought I was someone else, but I really didn’t know… I mean, it was hard to hear in that cell and I thought I heard you say… well, anyway, you helped me and I really appreciate that. So I will be blunt: the Dark Lady of the Warriors is under the control of an evil force. Her second-in-command is too, and for all I know maybe even her daughter ShaRylla. I need to contact Phalomir and tell him he was right, and then maybe we go to Aelvedaar for help. He’s the Dark Lord of the Sorcerers.

“Anyway, Phalomir has the marks of all three clans, and if anyone should be trying to unite the Sith then it should be him. He is a strong believer in the triumvirate, but it doesn’t have to be three different people, see? But anyway, Graysith wants – I should say, the darkness that is controlling her -- wants to begin a new triumvirate, with her, Shayla and ShaRhylla as the members. Well, one human as a Dark Lady is enough, but 2 and a half? Not to mention they would need to bump off both Phalomir and Aelvedaar to do this.

“But that’s not really point either, because the whole issue is that the Yuuzhan Vong are coming to invade, and in order to stop that we’ll need the Sith united and working with the other races. And THAT is what we need the guy in the other cell for! With him and Phalomir, and Aelvedaar, we should be able to… well, get started anyway.”

Thoran paused and looked at the girl.

“That didn’t make one bit of sense, did it?”

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The ancients are not the oldest, nor the wisest.

Posts: 265 | From: Urbandale, IA | Registered: Aug 2003 | Logged: 159.182.1.4

posted 08-27-2007 12:21 AM

Freedon felt a surge of irritation at the fact that the servant had yet to discover that the voice she was hearing was psychic and not attatched to any person. However, feeling the connection to her weeken, he was forced to refocus himself and was therefore unable to speak as she freed the stranger. He was able to hear through her ears as the stranger spoke. If he had not been an immaterial wraith at the moment he would have smiled. She was proving more valuable by the moment.

He whispered into her mind once again, his voice clear and lucid now, having composed himself, "Give no indication you can hear me unless you want them to believe you mad. I have not been put in this dungeon, but have been cast out of the city. I speak to you now by my magicks from some distance. I hear as you hear and see as you see and if you direct your thoughts at me I should be able to hear them, but only if you intend them to be heard," He paused, wondering how clear his explanation had been, then went on, "If freedom is still something you desire and if you wish to take hold of your own destiny, then I am still willing to help you. But you must allow me to linger here in the corner of your mind for a time, and be my agent for the time being. I feel that there is more to this man you have freed than meets the eye. He may apear a naive and affable bafoon, so open and trusting of stangers, but he and the other must have been dangerous enough to warrant imprisonment. There are ends to which I believe these two might be put to use. Ends which would benfit our people greatly... if you are still willing to help me."

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I am NOT a stone!

Posts: 119 | From: NYC | Registered: Aug 2002 | Logged: 66.108.214.50

RhoHalla

posted 08-27-2007 11:50 AM

The serving girl had been watching Thoran warily as he began his introductions, but the moment he commented on her eyes she turned her face away, partly confused, partly resigned, thoroughly embarrassed. For no one had ever complimented her on anything other than perhaps an oblique comment tossed out here and there regarding her capability for work; now two rather nice looking Sith had done so, in the space of mere hours.

She blinked, staring at the floor, and was walking in this position as Thoran continued with his speech when Freedon's whisper strengthened in her mind from uncertainty to reality. Her eyelids fluttered, her mouth dropped open a bit in astonishment; then she got a grip on herself, and smiled a little.

"Yes, Freedon," she tried to think back, not really certain if he could hear her or not, but happy that she was hearing his voice.

"You may listen to what I hear..."

With that she raised her head, and tossed a sideways glance over her shoulder toward Thoran.

"I do not know of much of what you say, but I do know that the Dark Lady has always been one to be trusted," she said simply, beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable toward this man even as she tried to shed a niggle of discomfort at the very words she had just spoken. Not only was it becoming clear to her why this one might have been imprisoned -- his words, if not utterly traitorous, were by their nature inflammatory to say the least -- but it was becoming just as clear that her own feelings about her life were being questioned more and more as well...

By herself.

Two people, strangers to her a mere day ago, both daring to speak out in one manner or another against the only way of life she knew of. Who was right, who was wrong? Who spoke calm words of reason, who utter nonsense buoyed by fanaticism? The words spoken by this prisoner whom she had just released were frightening, and would have any loyal Sith in an uproar. But Freedon's private hints, though brief and quiet, had spoken volumes as well, not to mention the fact that they had personally touched her.

Her head whirled; this was all way beyond her understanding, let alone her comfort zone. In the space of hours her life had turned upside down, yet in the face of this momentous occasion routine continued as normal within the Temple. That sudden realization made her head whirl all the more, too, provoking yet another brief flush of something akin to victory.

Perhaps this one might assist Freedon somehow? In a way, the words they both hint upon are alike... The thought struck her even as his prompt to pay heed to what Thoran had to say came through.

She remained quiet a moment, then spoke up to Thoran once more. "Who are the Yuuzhan Vong?" she queried in a soft voice, all the while hoping that Freedon was not only hearing all this, but that he would speak back to her and put her uneasy thoughts to rest.

[ 08-27-2007 12:03 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by RhoHalla ]

Posts: 55 | From: Phrinnchatka | Registered: Jun 2007 | Logged: 12.216.67.77

posted 08-31-2007 12:44 AM

Freedon heard clearly her words, but also felt something more beneath the surface. Something within her mind was ill at ease, and though the specifics eluded him, it was plain that all was not well within RhoHalla. Freedon imagined he could detect a rising tide of negative emotions within her, fear and uncertainty were increasingly present within her mind. Naad did his best to calm her. Trying to lead his calming tones to he psychic speach,

"Be at ease child," Freedon spoke, vaguely aware that he appeared much the same age as she and that, given this, perhaps the appelation child was somewhat inappropriate, "I know that much has happened to you this day, but I am with you. I will guide your hand and watch over you. I shall not let harm befall you. Incidentally, The Vong were a fearsome race of invaders from a distant galaxy with whom we fought a long and destructive war. I believe this individual is asserting that they are on the cusp of returning. A thought which, though not one I relish, does not seem to be of terrible importance to our people at this juncture. The galaxy defeated the Vong once already without our help. They can doubtlessly do it again. Nonetheless, his notions are certainly intruiging, if a little half-cocked."

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I am NOT a stone!

Posts: 119 | From: NYC | Registered: Aug 2002 | Logged: 66.108.214.50

Thoran

posted 09-02-2007 11:27 AM

“Ah boy,” said Thoran, “the Vong. They are a bunch of baddies, came here once before and got beaten by a united front, which the Sith weren’t a part of because they weren’t – well, they just weren’t. But they’re coming back, and this time they will know the weaknesses of the galactic forces. Plus, we’re under this new Empire and they’ll want to run the show, and get blasted. We need to have the Sith involved, and when the Dark Lady is busy trying to ruin Phal’s plans for unity then it’s all going to be a mess.”

Thoran paused, remembering what the girl had just said about the Dark Lady.

“Don’t get me wrong, though,” he said. “I know the Dark Lady, she’s a real sweetheart and I would do about anything for her and Phalomir. But she is under the influence of a darkness and has to be saved from it – and if that can’t happen then she has to be stopped somehow. I know this darkness, you see, and it won’t let her go without something big and drastic happening. I just hope we can deal with this before the Vong, those are two problems which in bad enough on their own. Cripes, imagine if they were connected!”

Thoran began walking again, shaking his head slightly.

“Which is why I need to get this other guy out of jail. He can help me find Phalomir, he’s the Dark Lord of the Armorers, remember? Also a damn fine sorcerer. In fact, he carries in him the lines of all three houses. But anyway, we’re about to embark on a mission to find him, warn him of the darkness thing before Jharmeen – I mean, the Dark Lady – you know, under the spell of this darkness, does something to him. Then we can save her, get the Sith all happy and unified again, make some new friends in the galaxy, then kick some Vong ass.”

Thoran smiled, then looked at the young girl as he walked.

“And I promised to help you find this Freedon, and I will. I’ll need some information, though, like a description and where you last saw him and such. If something is that important to you to trust a stranger for help then you can count on me. Believe me, if finding Phalomir wasn’t as important as it is, I would not have told you everything I just did. I think I can trust you, though, and I hope you can trust me.”

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The ancients are not the oldest, nor the wisest.

Posts: 265 | From: Urbandale, IA | Registered: Aug 2003 | Logged: 12.216.75.207

RhoHalla