Jasyn Lancaster really wanted a drink.

Really bad.

But the problem was, he was having to for once, much to his dismay, be the "responsible one" this go around. He had barely been able to help Cazun Farr aboard the Sith fighter, the other man was so kriffing drunk. Now, Cazun snoozed blissfully on, draped ungracefully in one of the passenger's seats aboard the Sith fighter, snoring loudly every so often. The Sith pilot which had been assigned to escort them to K'eel Doba...

...hadn't said a word. Jasyn wasn't even sure he spoke basic. It had been around three hours since they had left Khar Deblan space, and Jasyn knew it would be at least a couple more before they arrived on K'eel Doba. He also knew that they were too close to utilize hyperspace, not without some piloting skill and precision, so he was not alarmed that standard drive was chosen for their journey.

Not to say that he wasn't in some form alarmed for other reasons. As each minute passed, Jasyn felt more awkward sitting behind the silent Sith pilot, who kept an intense gaze on the controls of the fighter. Mentally, he cursed Cazun for having gotten so damn schnokered...

...although the gods knew he couldn't blame him. Intermittently, a little shoulder devil popped up on his shoulder, snickering.

What if the Sith pilot ISN'T taking you to K'eel Doba? What if what's happening isn't at all what you've been told? He is flying a Sith fighter after all, and you don't know how to fly it or how to read or speak the language he is using to fly the thing...

Unconsciously, Jasyn sighesd disgustedly. How he wished Terrin and Galen were here. And Matt...

He frowned, sadly, feeling like the worst friend ever. At length, Jasyn just couldn't take the silence any longer.

"How long til arrival at K'eel Doba?" he inquired, not really expecting a reply, but suddenly wishing for anything to distract him from his guilt-ridden thoughts of the friend who had been left behind for far too long.

[ 11-26-2015 10:25 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Jasyn Lancaster ]

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He nodded his curled, bifurcated horns at Jasyn even as he momentarily lightened the connection existing between himself and the ship.

"It shall not be long. Several..."

He paused a moment, his brow furrowing a bit at the predicament of time displacement now facing him. For he knew how long it would take, speaking as a Sith...

But as how this-

What was he again?

Human reckoned the telling of time, he had to stop and make a quick calculation.

"Perhaps 14 standard hours," he finished, the slight frown now deepening for the headache his calculations cost him. Inherent in magick he might be, able to fly a ship he could do...

But mathematician indeed he was not.

"Try to make yourself comfortable, and-"

He cast iced periwinkle eyes once over the snoring form of the tibanna miner.

"And see to the comforts of your companion. There are supplies in the back of the ship.

"Now, leave me to my task."

Well, at least somebody was seeing some action. Panthar shrugged, he had seen enough action to warrant a long rest, why would he care if something else was going on? He wouldn’t! Sith business was no business of his, despite his outward appearance. What he really wanted to do was get back to his old life, digging up relics.

Yeah, but digging up relics was what got him into trouble in the first place. And into this big red body. He missed his old body, he had grown rather fond of it through his life. The only solace he could take in losing it was that the dirty rotten bastard Thoran was also dead for stealing it. At least, he thought he was dead. Wasn’t he?

Panthar found himself wandering the hallways, not quite remembering when he stood and left. Fatigue was definitely upon him and he let his intuition and perfect memory lead him back to his sleeping chamber. He tightened the robe around him to keep out the draft and let his thoughts wander back in time. Back to the days he was trying to prove that there was even such an ancient race as the Sith. Well, here they were now, in all their splendor! Yup, big freakin’ splendor. All magic and mysterious, somehow connected to some big power even beyond the Force.

Well, that was really something else he had suspected and was trying to discover evidence of when he came across that stupid crystal. The only thing good that came out of that was bringing Phal back to life – or whatever it was. Then again, that was one screwed up guy. Might have bene better that he stayed trapped inside that rock.

Panthar bumped into someone scurrying by. My, it was like they were all trying to find something. Everyone too busy to pay him any mind. Ah well, bed time was calling, and here was his room.

Except no, this was not his room. Panthar looked around, his surroundings seeming familiar but not quite where he expected to be. But he had definitely been here before, who knows when? Maybe with Graysith? He reached for the door, then hesitated. If there was one thing he learned here was that you shouldn’t just go opening doors. Especially if it was a door to a Sith harem or something.

Did Sith have harems? Seems that they should. They were pretty weird about stuff, and that seemed like it would be right up their alley. Panthar had a thought then – if he was destined to spend his life in a Sith body, maybe he should try to be a little more like a Sith. Or, well, at least get a Sith girlfriend. Wait, do Sith have girlfriends? I mean, Phal and Gray were pretty close but she was sorta more human, and maybe it was just a male thing for the Sith. He really had never seen a Sith couple. This definitely required investigating, and if his intuition had brought him to this door, then maybe this was the door to a Sith harem!

Smiling, Panthar rapped on the door, breaking the silent waiting of the Dark Lord therein.

[ 04-03-2015 08:58 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Panthar Dantares ]

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..or he and Cazun were in deep doo doo. After all, Jasyn had been back and forth between Sith worlds long enough to know that, since they'd already been in flight a few hours, the rest of the trip should probably take no more than 6 or 7 hours.

Oh hell.

He tried to let as little of his concern creep out for the Sith pilot to notice, although truthfully he'd already turned his back to Jasyn and didn't have any idea. Or even care. So instead Jasyn nodded uselessly to the Sith's back, got up, and walked over to Cazun, who he uncerimoniously shook by the shoulder.

"C'mn friend, let's head aft and leave this good Sith to his flying," he stated,loudly enough to cause the Sith to turn slightly, a somehow bemused look crossing his face, as Cazun stirred with slurred curses.

"Come on," Jasyn reiterated, shaking the other man once more by the shoulder.

Kriffing hell, if the guy didn't wake up and get on the move, he'd be sleeping here with the Sith pilot on his own...

...cause at the moment Jasyn just wanted to head to the back...

...and, as he was so wont to do...get a drink. Or at least imagine that he was going to get one, since he had to be the responsible one here, and Cazun clearly didn't need to be inebriated any further.

Awww, bloody hell...

[ 04-03-2015 09:48 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Jasyn Lancaster ]

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...but he had to question if what he found would be enough to convince Seus to act. While it was some rather disturbing information, including an ancient race knowing about Vector Prime and someone pondering what appeared to be the mating...or creation, at least...of a Sith/Yuuzhan Vong hybrid. Still, it didn't lead to any obvious attack or take over of the universe.
And that's precisely what Erik believed the Sith were planning to do.

So he made a final decision, and perhaps a quite dangesrous one at that. Pulling his holopad from his pack he accessed the pictures and any information he had taken from the strange vault he had found in the ground...

...and encrypted it so that it would take quite some time for anyone else to decode it and then transferred it over to his commlink. The next decision Erik Kartan made was to not replace the holopad in his pack at all, but instead in nearby, rather thick, underbrush. He didn't know if he would ever recall its location or not, but he most certainly didn't want it on his person in the event that he was captured.

Which perhaps he might indeed be with what he was now considering as his next move. Pulling his Jedi cloak from his things, he then replaced his pack on his back and put on the robe, pulling its hood over his head...

...and then stretching out with the Force as his guide, Erik began heading towards where he sensed life, which inevitably meant a more inhabited region of the planet...

...but with perhaps more information for him to gather...

[ 04-04-2015 09:21 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Erik Kartan ]

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Aww dammit, he missed Terrin, Galen, Matt. And in the case of the latter, perhaps he was too late...

As Jasyn took anotehr drink of Sith brandy, a clacking sound interrupted him from his thoughts and a movement nearby caused him to jerk.

After a moment of surprise, K'kihl's insectoid body seemed to coalesce across from him.

Sithspit, maybe this brandy was stronger than most. Had the Verpine been there all along?

"S--sorry," Jasyn said in the Verpine's general direction, even as he realized how stupid he must sound. "My mind was elsewhere."

Then, suddenly realizing he really hadn't ever had the time to really speak to the Verpne one on one and knew very little of him, he wondered at exactly what he should say. "How much longer do you think we have?" Jasyn settled with, taking another sip of brandy...

...and wondering if Cazun was ever going to wake up.

[ 11-26-2015 11:44 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Jasyn Lancaster ]

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While heading into more populated areas of Khar Delba could get him more incriminating information...
...he'd probably never get out alive with it.

And what good would any of the information he had gained serve anyone if he was dead? He was going to have to make a choice here: to trust that Seus would follow up on his end of the deal and pick him up when he called, and hope like Hell that he would see the importance of the information that he had gathered.

Settling to rest at least via the Force for a few hours—for he didn’t want to be completely unconscious due to the deadly wildlife in the area—Erik knew it was time to make the call…and remember that this was not just a revenge business, no matter how much his heart ached at the loss of his son…and yes, of the only woman he thought he’d ever love.

The Galaxy was in danger. From the Sith. And from more than just that…

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...and pretty solid evidence at that. And both that immediately came to mind he was all-too-familiar with, and so close to that he had to get it before he backed out entirely. So he'd spent the majority of a day plotting out his path, based on the sensors he had and the sheer knowledge he had of this world. While he knew traveling at night was potentially dangerous, he also knew he was close enough to civilization that he needed the darkness to help shield him from prying eyes.

Once more, he headed towards civilization, and within a couple of hours he reached his desired location: the outskirts of Cyopanthe. As he travelled, the land shifted from icy to more jungly. Taking great care, and well aware of the wildlife he could risk tangling with in the less-populated areas, Erik walked just on the outside of some of the small cities to increase the likelihood he had of passing safely without being seen. In another hour, while the moon still shone in the sky and darkness covered him, Erik at last knew he was close enough: He’d been here before; too many times before.

Only this time he was alone. And he had come to his senses.

Pulling his electrobinoculars from his pack, he raised them to his eyes. For a while he scanned and searched, looking for something very specific…

…til he at length found it: the Palace. He set his electrobinoculars to record the image, and zoomed in, also increasing the depth. The electrobinoculars radiation sensors and night vision made the image oh-so-clear and vivid…including the image of a Sith Warship that Erik was certain he had probably piloted once before. On that he focused, zooming in once more, allowing the electrobinoculars to record its length. He took additional readings on the Temple’s range, azimuth, and elevation.

Satisfied with the recording, Erik replaced the electrobinoculars in his pack, and used what remaining nighttime he had to slip away just beyond the outskirts of Cyopanthe…this time into the more equatorial, less populated region which would be most certainly less traveled.

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As if on cue to that thought, an upwelling of Darkness oozed forth, shifting from a focus on Shayla's greeny-blues to that of utter black awfulness, out of seemingly nowhere......and in but a few moments completely vanished once more.

Erik's browns jerked open, beads of sweat forming on his brow.

Why this? And why now?

He reached a hand up to wipe the sweat away, and then stood, still surrounded by jungle. Not far away stood the Sorcerer's Temple, and Erik had already discreetly backed up his recordings and data elsewhere. And while he had rested some, between visions or nightmares as you would call them...

...it would still be dark for an hour or so before the sun rose. So, standing, Erik gathered his wits about himself, and headed back towards the Temple, putting his Jedi cloak away and stashing his pack to help him be more mobile but making certain to have both blaster and lightsaber ready.

He had been left in the dark for oh-so-very-long. He needed more information...

[ 12-26-2015 02:56 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Erik Kartan ]

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…but it was too quiet. Erik frowned as he took another gaze through his electrobinoculars, seeing little to no activity outside the entrance of the Temple.

What was going on…?

Not that Erik planned on going in via the Temple entrance anyway. He’d lived in the Temple, worked on ships there…

…and had escaped from the Temple a time or two. There was more than one way inside.

As dusk began to settle, Erik Kartan replaced his electrobinoculars in their pack on his hip,next to the lightsaber hilt he briefly fingered. Despite himself his memory flashed to another day in time: one of Shayla practicing ferociously with her own saber within her chambers in the temple, trying so hard to please Graysith.

Why Shayla? Why did you yearn to please her so? In the end, she betrayed you, and abandoned you..

Shaking himself from such thoughts, he set himself to the task, and began heading towards the outskirts of the Temple, hoping to find an avenue in which once had been used as an escape…

…praying to the Fates he didn’t encounter the one who had introduced it to him and others in the process.

Another momentary flash. An infant in an incubator, a Sith with regal, curved horns coldly sending them away…

…Aeylmaar.

Erik’s brown eyes darkened several shades.

The beginning of the end…

He continued to walk.

[ 01-15-2017 05:27 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Erik Kartan ]

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"Disturb you have I?" he queried in his odd, lilting voice. "Sorry then am I."

He paused a moment, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. His metabolism was as high as the species from which his race had developed, and thus he found sitting for any great time to be something along the lines of sheer intolerance. Especially if he had nothing with which to occupy his mind.

The simple question of Jasyn's offered him surcease from his personal brand of sorrow. He tilted his head, fiddled one manipulatory appendage about for a moment, and then replied.

"Wrong, this Sith is," he chattered and clacked. "Math so simple even, beyond reach him. Time estimate I... 6.48 hours standard, no more, no less."

A shift of his torso and downward tilt of his head indicated that his glance had left Jasyn to settle on the gently snoring form of Cazun.

"Ill, your companion is?" he asked, trying to put as much concern into his voice as he could but being Verpine found himself falling sadly short in the attempt.

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He'd encountered some of it before, after all, he thought a bit blackly, recalling how he'd been dragged into the Temple oh so long ago.

When he had come here to find and rescue Her. What an idiot he had been.

Erik at length reached the outskirts of the edifice, quite ways from the main entrance. He paused a few moments, listening, and hearing nothing. He frowned.

It was way too quiet.

His hackles raised, and his hand strayed instinctively to his blaster. He sensed outward with the Force a bit more...

...and while he was still not as well trained as he could be, what he was sensing outward for was readily apparent.

That space of Force "non-ness"....what was it they called it? A chronotic shield, that was it.

He moved in closer to where he sensed it, yet still remaining almost right against the Temple walls.

He knew it was here somewhere...

And he was right, just when he was about to give up, he found the door, just as it had been there when he and the others had left the Temple seemingly so long ago to find the hidden hangar...

...at Aeylmaaar's directions.

Erik's eyes darkened a shade again, and this time he not only reached for his blaster, but unholstered it and held it up, ready to shoot if need be...

...and tested the door.

Of course, nothing.

Erik had expected that it would be locked, and had come prepared. It was a simple latch, and nothing he couldn't handle easily. He had, after all, been an information smuggler, and smuggling information meant being able to pick a lock. Reaching into his tool belt, Erik retrieved a small, knife-like tool. Granted, he did have a lightsaber, which would make short work of the door...

..but he didn't want to draw any attention to himself or how he got in or out if possible. Getting to work, in just a few minutes Erik felt the latch begin to wiggle...

...and the inward latch spring open.

He put the tool back in his belt, and took hold of his blaster once more, raising it slightly before gently pushing down on the latch and slowly opening the door, sensing outward with the Force but feeling no one on the other side of the door...

...at least not immediately.

For now he did sense others...possibly two or three...and though he wasn't the best at sensing it other than Shayla, who he knew full well, he thought the signatures seemed familiar...

Carefully, Erik pushed the door closed behind him...

...and it snicked closed with a certain sort of impending finality.

What he heard next did little to relax his nerves, for he was certain he heard a knock, followed by a deep, booming voice.

Oh hell...

[ 01-15-2017 09:57 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Erik Kartan ]

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6.48 Hours. OH bloody kriffing Hell.

Jasyn took a good swig of the brandy mug he had in his hand, not certain when he refilled it but thankful for its contents oh so very much.

Brandy, you're a fine girl...

Then he directed his attentions to K'khil's other query. He nodded in the direction of Cazun's slumbering form.

"Oh, hes not ill," he responded, snorting a bit. "More like plastered."

The Verpine cocked his head Jasyn's way, clacking his mandibles a bit. "Nothing will cure a drunken stupor other than a good sleep."

He paused again, taking another swallow of brandy. Despite himself and his frustration with Cazun, he idly wondered how much of the stuff was aboard ship.

He shook his head to himself. "I suppose what comes around goes around," he stated out of seemingly no where. "And by the way...

...disturb me you did not. It's gonna be a long 6.48 hours sitting here waiting for him," he paused, nodding once more in the ddirection of Cazun, "To sleep it off. Company is greatly appreciated."

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Lord Aelveedar's Sanctum Sanctorium was the only thing in this vicinity in the Temple. Who would be stupid enough...?

Erik kept his blaster in place, edging against the wall, stretching out with the Force to sense at least a couple of life signatures, all of which seemed vaguely familiar. Erik cursed himself for not being more aware of those he knew here in the past, not having been trained enough to notice the differing nuances that might have helped him know one person from another. What he did know, however, was that the closest being seemed utterly oblivious to his approach, most likely indicating that this was no All or Force user of any variety. Cautiously, Erik moved against the wall until he came to a hallway intersection and stopped.

The knocking was more hesitant, but louder, clearly just around the corner.

Erik took a careful glance around the corner to see a large Sith knocking insistently on the door of the Sanctum Sanctorium before moving back around the corner to safety.

Funnily enough, something about the knocking Sith was familiar...?

And then it dawned on Erik.

It was that Panthar Dantares guy...

Erik decided, in that moment, that he'd stay right where he was for just a few ticks. After all, if Dantares kept banging on the door of Aelvedaar's Sanctum like that much longer, he'd be getting all of the Dark Lord's attention...

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[ 01-02-2019 11:05 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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“Well,” he said, “If this is a harem then they are probably pretty occupied.”

He backed away from the door and sighed. Even if it was a harem, they were obviously having none of the outside world. Ah well. On second thought, maybe a Sith harem was not what he needed right now after all.

“All right, Panthar ol’ buddy,” he said. “You let fate steer you here, so let’s see where fate wants you go now.” He looked down the hallway from where he had come, then looked down the hallway in the other direction.

“I think fate wants me to go that way,” he said. “Yes, that’s the direction. Surely there’s an eligible young Sithette just around the corner. Yeah, that’s it.”

Panthar straightened his robe and started walking.

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Erik made a quick decision then, one which he was almost certain would be the death of him...

...and lowered his blaster as an unsuspecting Panthar came around the corner. "

"Hey there, Panthar," Erik said simply as the human in a Sith's body rounded the corner. "When did you get here?"

In the back of Erik's mind, he seemed to recall that this guy used to be some kind of researcher or something. Could be useful...

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“Shawn! No, wait… Matt? No, wait, don’t tell me!” Panthar thought back, there were so many people that had come and gone, who was this one? Where had he met him? Oh, right, this was Shayla’s ex! Poor sap. Hmm, he thought, wonder if she is still single.

“Erik! Sorry, man, it’s been a rough week. I almost got killed, and I got to ride a takeeto, or whatever they’re called. Man, I would kill for a back rub, but everyone here seems to be occupied for some reason. Like they’re looking for someone. So what are you doing here? Is anyone else here?”

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Somehow Erik managed to keep his whits about himself and resisted the urge to pull out his blaster and stun Panthar.

He was at least in a Sith body. Could be useful...

"Shayla has been gone for some time," Erik answered honestly, his eyes darkening slightly for a moment before Erik forced all feelings aside somewhat as he decided on the most logical answer to Panthar's question.

It came much too easily. "I don't know where everyone else is, really. I left to deal with the death of my son and just got back here."

Nevermind that, in the meantime, you went to Kamino, then went to the Guild World and found Seus, worked on Jedi training...

...and decided to come back here to collect evidence. Cause these Sith, they are up to more than what is Good for All, as they so often state. And they've never really been your friends, not really...

No matter what Shayla thought... came a final, seemingly errant thought.

[ 01-02-2019 09:50 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Erik Kartan ]

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Panthar looked down the hall behind him, seeing nothing.

“Hey, where are you staying? Have you eaten yet? We could head to the big hall and grab some more – I mean, grab some food. The Sith are great hosts, even got me these fancy robes to wear!”

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If he was going to get good information on the goings-on of the Sith, this was the best way to do it. Provided that Lord Aeylmaar character didn't pop up again any time soon....

Despite himself, Erik's eyes went a little distant for a moment, recalling his last interaction with said Sith Lord, and recalling how he'd been told that this was not the place for humans.

For the second time...

Erik shook himself from the darkening thoughts. "I literally just got here and am staying nowhere," Erik then responded. "And it sounds like you and I are perhaps left on our own for the moment."

Or at least you hope so, came an errant thought, one that pointed out that they were right around the corner from the Sanctum Sanctorum.

"I haven't had anything to eat in quite a while, and it sounds like you may be able to update me on everything that has been going on since I've been out of the loop," he then said, cocking his head slightly in the direction where he knew the main dining hall was located. "Let's get a bite and you can get me back up to speed."

[ 01-03-2019 03:14 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Erik Kartan ]

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Because you know you have been here frequently, Kartan, he thought to himself. With your wife.

Erik closed his eyes for a moment as the lingering hurt inevitably hit. And that it did.

Sithspawn, would it ever stop? She feld from you to find Graysith, no doubt. At a time when you needed to be with her. to bury your son. She doesn't love you...

...not like you loved her? Not like you do love her???

Erik shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. The Sith were bad, bringing the Vong back into the Galaxy, somehow having entanglements with them. Shayla knew this, and had stuck hard and fast to Graysith's side nonetheless. You can't be a part of that. Besides, you haven't felt her presence through that link you once shared with her. She's shut you out, for good this time.

Erik shook himself from his darkening thoughts, and looked Pathar's way. "So do you know where everyone is?" he asked the other, taking a sip of the drink that had just been placed before him as he did so.

[ 01-21-2019 10:57 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Erik Kartan ]

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Panthar glanced around the large hall, then waved a hand to indicate the bustling Sith. Various servants and runners, some with looks of frustration, came in and out of the room. At one point a large guard entered.

“See?” Panthar asked. “Lots of activity. But yeah, everyone else… good question.”

The large guard seemed to take notice of Panthar and Erik. He moved his head from left to right like a deer trying to ascertain movement from a potential foe. Or, as if he were looking for a Sith and a human. Either way, he began walking their way.

“Maybe we should narrow it down,” Panthar said a little nervously, trying to put the encroaching Sith out of his mind. “Anyone in particular you’re looking for? I mean, I’ve been on a weird adventure, and the only person I know about for sure is that Rykounigan guy.”

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A Sith... and a human...

He straightened imperceptibly, clawed fingers brushing down metallic purple robes, flicking off invisible lint puffs even as he started his approach to them. His eyes hooded as he drew near and came to a stop.

Drinks in frozen hands, the two looked up at him, wayyyyyy up, for even by Sith standards he was tall. He merely stood quietly, letting his bearing fill the room for them before finally deigning to speak.

"A Writ of Abeyance has been declared, for the discovery of two beings. One is Sith..."

He bowed his horn-crowned head toward the oddly un-Sithy non-human, who stared up at him with a strange admixture of seeming naivete and humor.

"And the other is... human. The Writ states their names as being Panthar Dantares and Matt Stanza; please, honor this one with an answer to my query. For two such gentle-beings to travel in the company of each other is uncommon to be sure; are you the two whom all Sith have been seeking the greater part of this day?"

Matt Stanza...that was one of Terrin Danner's men. And he clearly recalled that Matt and Panthar had gone off to K'eel Doba. So what had happened after that that there was some sort of Writ out there to find both Matt and Pathar? Very curious...

"I am Erik Kartan," Erik spoke up simply and directly, choosing to let Panthar speak for himself.

Still, in the background, a little mental voice added: Yeah, you are Erik Kartan, the husband of Shayla Stargazer Petrolu Kartan, Adept to Graysith. I wonder if this particular Sith as any knowledge of that...

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