Fallen Empires -- An Old Republic Era adventure (Star Wars)
- Thread starter Gazetteer
- Start date
- Sci-Fi Fantasy
- Pronouns
- She/Her
One would hope, but padawan density is one of those certainties of the universe, along with hydrogen, smugglers, and said density escalating when an attractive face is nearby.
[X] Jedi Knight Rist is likely compromised and should be assumed dangerous
We do also have knowledge about who the door does and doesn't work for, that Avress' master has concerns that were significant even before the door information, and that El willingly split off from the only person she knew could get her back out. Which. There's not a lot of reasons why a person does that -- so far, all I can think of is that either Rist threatened/attacked Elra, or Elra attacked/abandoned Rist. The latter seems unlikely, given that, in order to get in here in the first place, Rist must have a certain level of competence and dangerousness to her (and Elra doesn't seem as stupid as to off the only person that can get her out). And in any event, there's also the ominous presence that Rist has apparently decided to move closer to. That's also cause for concern.
The more we find out about Rist, the more I feel like we should not be trying to encounter her without as complete a party as possible. I'm not saying that we should treat her with hostility -- I'm saying let's make our way back towards the door with the civilians, hope that Skylah & Jorden got in, and plan more after there's distance between us, the potential rogue Jedi, and the Ominous Presence. Then Avress can take a backseat and rely on Jorden's judgment and skills.
- Location
- Nova Scotia
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Inserted tally
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Interesting that nobody seems to think (or, at least, want to accuse) El is lying
Random Member
Gardener of Human Happiness
- Location
- Behind You
[X] This must have been a misunderstanding
Whiskey Golf
Being of Editing & Technical Assistance
- Location
- Chained to my desk
[X] Jedi Knight Rist is likely compromised and should be assumed dangerous
- Pronouns
- They/Them
I don't know why you would accuse such a fine, upstanding pillar of the scavenging community of that, just because Avress is feeling something like a Darkness grow stronger as we get close to Elra and we found her actually hiding in the dark like a Gollum figure.
Also that her story is "Rist tried to lightsaber me, failed, gave up, please do not question how I survived being threatened with a lightsaber".
It's all a misunderstanding and we're all perfectly fine and on the level people around here.
Raiseth
I Find Your Lack of Memes Disturbing
- Location
- Russia
I mean, not killing a member of the treacherous order of the treacherous Sith who betray people with treason, when she surrendered to you, is also very logical and doesn't really leave any place for silly doubts like her suddenly sucker-punching you, then using you as a hostage to get another guy to surrender, then use you both as hostages for the people stuck in the temple to get them to surrender, then to torture and kill them, so maybe people are just trying to roleplay, you know.
Avress is supposedly naive and green behind the ears, but not like the skin color, that would be racist.
- Location
- Nova Scotia
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Given the way they're voting despite having said this, probably they're roleplaying too.
Raiseth
I Find Your Lack of Memes Disturbing
- Location
- Russia
Well, yes.
I'm roleplaying too, you know. Only not in-character, but for quest choices, I guess, if that makes sense?
Basically, I'm picking every choice that ( IMO ) will result in the largest amount of personal drama at any given moment.
Ah, I didn't include them in the roleplaying category, like "you all people are roleplaying" and not "people are roleplaying" or something. My bad.
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[X] This must have been a misunderstanding
013: The Apprentice
- Location
- Nova Scotia
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Jedi Knight Rist is likely compromised and should be assumed dangerous: 15
This is a misunderstanding: 13
Elra is lying about something: 1
This is a misunderstanding: 13
Elra is lying about something: 1
Avress
You study Elra for a long moment. This is all very damning and worrisome, taken together. There are some holes still — why would a Jedi knight who was so compromised as to worry your master from the first be simply allowed to wander free, let alone into Former-Imperial space? — but your instincts guide you toward the most troubling conclusions. You slowly nod, coming to a decision, confident, without really thinking too hard, that it will be binding for your two companions as well. "Jedi Knight Rist may be... unwell," you say, skirting around the likely problem. "We will need to do whatever we can to help her leave this place, before it does worse to her." Whatever form that help may need to take. Your hand tightens on the hilt of your lightsaber.
Elra looks sceptical. "We need to go help the crazy Jedi now? I've been hiding from her for days!"
"The crazy Jedi who can open the door, El," Keel reminds her. "And we have our own, right?" In spite of his earlier wariness, he seems compelled to back up this vote of confidence physically, clapping you on the shoulder. You feel a mix of annoyed at the casual touching and a strange sense of gratitude for what he's actually saying.
Elra still looks dubious but doesn't, in the end, have a better idea. "Yeah, okay," she says. "If she comes at me with a sword again, though, I'm hiding behind you."
"Of course," you say, turning back toward the hall, expecting both siblings to follow. "Defending you is a Jedi's duty."
"Try reminding her that," Elra mutters. You're not sure if you're supposed to have heard that.
"I will," you say, meaning it. You hope that your master is having better luck with Skylah.
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Brenby
Your name is Apprentice Brenby Vox. You've never known your age. This victory tastes like ash in your mouth.
It seems like a particularly perverse twist of fate that has led to your fellow apprentice somehow losing to the weaker of the two opponents you faced, and yet managing to best them both in one, decisive move. The only thing more surprising than such a master stroke from Jyte Blackstar, of all beings, is that she restrained herself from beheading the girl. Hatred: Raw, fickle and insecure is never far from the surface with Jyte. All the way back to base, you sensed it radiating out of her, warring with her own intense self-satisfaction.
"That was fair-incredible to see, milord," says Corporal Dee. You feel her smiling at you openly, something she would never dare do around Jyte or your master. You've never decided if this habit of jocularity started because she perceived you as more restrained than either of them, or if she merely assumed you can't tell what her facial expressions mean. She's blind, like most humans, and does not entirely understand true Sight. Truth be told, you've never been able to bring yourself to be offended at what some would consider impertinence. You don't encounter many minds quite as relentlessly cheerful as Dee. Combined with a genuine, dogged loyalty, you could do a great deal worse in an aide.
"I am pleased to have entertained you, Corporal," you tell her, flatly.
"I didn't mean nothing by it, milord!" Dee clarifies, hastily. "You would've had the older one, I'm sure, if things'd gone on a little longer." It's good that someone thinks so, even if it's not true. Your senses stray to the two bound figures laid out on the repulsor lift, without your needing to turn around to face them. The elder of the two — unnaturally, disturbingly calm even in the heat of your earlier duel, giving you nothing to work with emotionally or physically. And the younger, the one Jyte fought, with a lightsaber that resonates like an artificial crystal. She's... something else entirely. Something you hadn't expected to encounter in this way, certainly.
You feel the coolness in the air as you all pass into the Partisan bunker, your master's domain. The hardened bunker deep in the forest is well-concealed from creatures with eyes, as well as well defended against anyone foolish enough to blunder into it. The place practically blazes in the Force, however. Simmering anger and, today... triumph.
You hang back, noticing Jyte saunter off ahead of you without a backward glance — Sighted or not, she still relies too much on her eyes. Smug satisfaction has won out within in her, for now, despite the pain you can perceive throbbing in her hand. "Dee," you say, once Jyte is out of earshot.
Dee comes to attention, hand-me-down armour clattering audibly as she does so. The armour is an object, cold and dead to the Force. Nonetheless, her feelings are intertwined deeply enough in it that it still stands out to you. Someone close to her wore it before her: a mother, or sister, or aunt. "Milord?"
"Lord Myre requests my presence," you say. "See that the prisoners are placed under proper guard. They are not to be unshackled, and they are not to be left unattended for an instant."
"Right! Sure! Understood, Milord!" Her tone remains bright, but the salute feels like respect. You'll take that much. "We'll keep 'em well looked after."
You proceed down familiar hallways, toward the centre of power in this place. Personnel stand up straight as you pass, At the sight of you, their fear blossoms as always. Today, though, it's joined by pride.
You pass through a door that opens at your access code, moving toward your Master's audience chamber. Jyte is there, waiting outside. The caution she only seems to display for your master is entirely obvious. She glares at you, raising a finger to her lips. You perceive both gestures as much through her intent as anything, but both were unnecessary — The barely-ajar door offers as little barrier to your perceptions as open air would. And you hear the voices coming through them as plainly as she does.
Your master, Lord Myre, stands before a holocomm projector. A human of indeterminate years, mind sharp and severe and steeped in the Dark Side in a way you can only strive for. Before the figure he's speaking to on comm, though, he's as meek as a raw acolyte... and burning with all the same veiled, impotent fury of one. "The situation is under control, Dark Lord. I have captured the Jedi."
You sense Jyte bristle with outrage at this. You're not surprised, though. It's precisely the kind of reward you've come to expect from Lord Myre, and Darth Shaed's moods are known to be highly mercurial. It's never remiss to remind her of why, precisely, she keeps one of her servants around. Even a Lord of the Sith.
"Capture? My, such restraint!" There's a playful cheer in Darth Shaed's voice. Seemingly genuine, for the moment. Through the call, her presence is in the room, stretching across vast distances of space through the Force. It gives you the impression of something not-quite-human, although you don't recognise the specific species. Her mind is impenetrable even for a Force user: the most it gives you is the feeling of a complex and ordered psyche, long ago twisted into chaos. Shaed's tone abruptly turns deadly as she adds: "You will find out what has brought the Jedi Order here, Lord Myre. You will interrogate them personally: I expect results."
"Of course, Dark Lord," your master says, bowing his head.
Her grin feels razor-edged even to you. "Try not to get distracted by having too much fun," she tells him, "you'll be on my time."
"Of course, Dark Lord."
The call ends, and your master stands still for a long moment, quietly seething. When he speaks, all submission is gone from his voice: It cracks like a whip. "Are you two going to simply stand there, or do you plan to attend your master as ordered?"
The two of you file inside swiftly and without complaint, coming to stand shoulder-by shoulder a respectful distance from him, heads bowed. He looks at you and Jyte for a long while, still fuming, and you wonder if he's going to take his frustrations out on you both in spite of the service you've done him. Eventually, he relaxes fractionally, burying his anger for later use. "You have done well, Apprentice Blackstar," He says to Jyte.
"You honour me, Master." Her hand still plainly throbs, having received only rudimentary medical attention for the several fingers that have been removed or mangled. The lightsaber she took from the captive girl still hangs from her belt, her own having been broken beyond immediate repair in the fight.
"My Lord?" As you speak, you feel his attention turn to you, and through long practice you don't flinch away.
"Speak, Apprentice."
"I am concerned for the third. The young Jedi who escaped into the temple during the fighting. With your permission, I would like to go after her. Should she manage to emerge, I'm not certain that the forces we left guarding it would be enough to contain her."
"Permission denied, Apprentice Vox," he says, voice plunging toward icy. "I'm sure you'd like to be allowed to visit that ruin on your own, to take what you can find for yourself. Or simply to chase the glory you failed to win today. You will know your place, boy." The threat there is naked and very real.
"... understood, Master." Bitter resentment fills you. You've held off a Jedi Knight in single combat today, the hardest fight of your life. And he speaks to you of glory you failed to win.
"Leave us, Apprentice Vox," Myre continues. "I have further words for Apprentice Blackstar."
A dark fury fills you as you leave, clouding your perceptions of the world. You won't have to put up with this for much longer — your Master overlooking your talent's, Jyte smug satisfaction. The insinuation, however correct, that you might betray him. You are ready to move beyond him. You've been ready for some time, you're certain. All you need is a little more power. An edge. And you've found it:
For nearly a month, your sleep has been plagued by visions. Visions of a future that you sense is now rapidly approaching. Of something buried deep in those ruins, hidden away by the Ancient Sith. Something powerful enough to have drawn Darth Shaed's attention to this remote part of Tyrost, to have sent your master here to live among this ragtag band of loyalist rebels. You're so close, you can taste it.
Because, in every one of those visions, standing beside you as you enter the temple and retrieve whatever is hidden there... is the same girl who Jyte took captive today. With her strange, conflicted presence and her naive sense of mercy. You know that you cannot allow her to be tortured and killed by your master, because you may have need of her. You will have to act quickly now, while he and Jyte are both distracted.
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Brenby:
When you have whatever is in the temple, how do you plan to betray your master? (Note: Skylah is about to be at least partially dragged into this plan.)
[ ] You plan to bring whatever power you unconver directly to Darth Shaed, going over you master's head
You will take advantage of Shaed's capricious nature to seize glory at his expense. You know her and her moods better than you do any of her peers.
[ ] You plan to bring whatever power you uncover to a different Sith Lord, cutting both your master and Shaed out of things
Your master is a cretin, and Darth Shaed a dangerous lunatic. There are others within the loose constellation of Sith Lords that now passes for your Order — you will find one and earn their favour even as you escape Myre and Shaed's combined wrath.
[ ] You plan to keep this thing, whatever it is, for yourself
You're tired of sharing power, of being subordinate to another. You will use whatever you find to strike down your master, and any who try to stop you, establishing yourself as a free Lord of the Sith in your own right.