Another start, another life (Anakin Quest) Reboot

Confession

The decision is difficult.

You have witnessed… You don't rightly know. Dooku, once a teacher, now Count, has taken something from the Archives. It cannot be something really important. You know full well the public Archives are not the only ones in the Temple. There are reams of data, old scrolls and stranger things still waiting in sealed rooms. The Code says there is no ignorance but knowledge. Yet the Jedi hold that knowledge is power and dangerous lore exist. As you stood serving your teacher you heard the truths told in hushed tones among the Council. There are things called holocrons who are more than mere depositaries of knowledge. They are possessed of a mind and a spirit and not all were built by your predecessors. Perhaps one day you will hold them and talk with their guardians. Yet this time may never come and duty calls.

Dooku is not your peer. You could be tempted to ignore or even hide the fault of an apprentice or an initiate. You are accustomed to do so as the slaves of Tatooine live and die through the community. Yet Dooku is not of your companions. He stood high in the Order but he leaves because the Jedi will not herd the people. You suppose he sees himself a shepherd but you know better. Many are the kinds of depurans. On Tatooine the threefold sun shines on many who hold to no higher truth than power. They own slaves because they are mighty and the slaves are weak. Others are not without some honesty. Watoo was aware he courted slavery through his gambling and he accepted the risk. Still there is a rarer breed who imagine they are doing a favor to their chattel. Those often promise freedom but never judge their slaves worthy of it.

So your steps lead you to your teacher's room. This surprised you at first. Teacher Windu is adamant you can come to him anytime except when the Council is occupied by secret matters. Liars they are those who call the Jedi heartless. You have seen the eyes of even their highest members fill with sorrow when they saw you cringe when you made a mistake. There are lessons where failure is answered by pain but never because the teachers are angry. To wield fire is to court the risk to be burned after all. For these reasons and others, you don't hesitate to strike at the door and enter as soon as it is opened.

For all the grandeur of the Temple the Teachers' rooms are spartan. A bed, a kitchenette, a meditation rug and some scant artifacts are all that is. Some gifts it would have been impolite to refuse stand across the walls. A painting of abstract red and white designs stand on a wall, the work of a rescued child prodigy who had nothing to offer but her talent. Some natural flowers from Coruscant sit in a vase. All Teachers have their loves and yours has two. The first is well-known. Mace Windu is a knight of knights. He is an artist with the blade and surely the greatest warrior of the Order. According to Yoda warriors are never great but even among the Order, all respect Mace Windu for his prowess, the foes he has defeated, the lives he has saved and the threats he ended. Yet his second love is for life in all its forms. He is fascinated with what he calls the candles in the dark. The lone plant in the desert, the flower of perhaps three petals growing in the sands, the smile when all hope seems lost, an offered cup passing between those who have nothing… All these are offerings and witnesses to the Force that binds everything.

Your teacher is sitting in meditation but his eyes are opened. Looking in them is difficult. You are not accustomed to cross the gaze of your betters. Yet there is another thing. The eyes of the teachers see much. You will always remember the moment where you stood among them, their eyes piercing flesh and thought, or at least it was what you felt. They knew your thoughts and smelled the nature of your fears even as they did not know anything about you. Even now you feel your master's mind touch yours, enveloping you in the fire of his being. You wondered when you felt the first time if surrendering to it would be good. How magnificent it would be to simply let go and burn in the flames of another's, subsuming and drowning in their thoughts. Yet this is not what the Jedi seek. The only pyre into which one must bring thoughts, feelings and dreams is the Force itself until the love of one becomes the love of everything. Still it is sweet to feel it like the voice of your mother raised in distant song. You voice comes down unbidden.

"Before teacher Dooku left the Temple, I followed him." No answer but a narrowing of the eyes. No anger in this gaze but an invitation to continue. "He went to the Archives. He erased something, I don't know what or why." The face of your master shifts in an instant as he speaks with a worried tone.

"Did he see you?" You signals that no you don't think so and Teacher Windu sighs.

"This could have ended very badly for you. Yes it was perhaps for the greater good." You are surprised which only grows when he smiles: "Perhaps further training in stealth would be a good thing."

What do the Teachers do with the information you've given them? Choose 1

[] Teacher Billaba, Teacher Ku'ro, Knight Vos are sent in the region of Sereeno where Dooku rules. Officially they are to keep this sector of the galaxy for threats. Officiously they are to keep a close eye for the Count's actions. Their reports are regular. Gives the Game Aspect: Struggle of Souls

[] Elder Yoda is contacted by Dooku several months after the incident. The Count has bought property on the planet Vjun. He calls the Order when discovering the place is seemingly haunted. Knight Kenobi and Knight Vos are sent there to assist him, along with Teacher Bulq friend and companion to your own master. Gives the Game Aspect: Plots Within Plots

[] The Council decides to talk things openly with Dooku yet tragedy strikes as they depart. The Count is missing, the wreckage of his ship found above the skies of Dathomir. Teacher Tholme and Teacher Ku'ro are soon bringing the Order's news of resurgence in forgotten cults on the rise. It seems the Force can take many paths, some quite crooked indeed. Gives the Game Aspect: Many Houses in the Force

The time has come for your first mission outside the temple with your Teacher. Which one is this. Choose 1

[] On your home planet of Tatooine, the Tuskens are on the warpath. Video evidence of their atrocities have reached even Coruscant. At their head is someone with a lightsaber. Your teacher comes to convince this Sharadd Hett to return home. You return with him to the sands and the three suns.

[] Bounty Hunters are tracking Jedi. Not idiots with too much blasters shots in their head but cold professional using grenades, sonic weapons and sniper rifles. This must cease and you are surprised when your Teacher and others announce they will talk with the head of the Bounty Hunter lodge. You are reassured when Teacher Windu says the negotiations will be backed by stealth and guile. After all good is not dumb.

[] Elder Yoda has required you to accompany him on the planet Kamino. The same place Dooku wiped out from the archives. While nobody knows what exactly prompted this decision, it is thought an investigation will reveal it. As the one who exposed Dooku's treachery, you are entitled to your presence.


Struggle of Souls: The galaxy is a place of turmoil internal and external. Nobody is sure of what tomorrow will bring. Heroes can turn villains and villains can turn heroes as the tale is rewritten endlessly. This Aspect will be invoked either by you or me to make characters doubt their allegiances, and struggle with their choices. Nobody is above the fall, nobody below redemption, yet in the end the scales must be balanced.

Plots Within Plots: The Sith are a phantom menace, a dagger in the night, an absence in the great symphony of existence. The Order stands strong against armies but can it maintain its vigilance against treachery and cunning? They will try nonetheless and the Shadows will serve well at this moment. Tis Aspect will be invoked either by you and me to place conspiracies and counterespionage operations in the war for the galaxy. It will be used to force foes and friends to be subtle. On your part it can insert Tholme, Qunlan Vos or any Jedi Sentinel in a scene.

Many Houses in the Force: Neither the Jedi nor the Sith have the monopoly on the Force. Many are the traditions who spread through the galaxy and many are the religions who consider the Force at least in passing. Now they are preaching in a galaxy who don't see the Jedi are special anymore. This aspect will be invoked either by you or me to insert cults and societies worshipping the Force through the setting and highlight their importance. On your part it manifests by traditions marked by the Light Side or another point of view in mainly Dark Side societies.