Private A Bridge To Span Realities

[Arcturus Dinn]

Arcturus smiled. "Masque, Kal of Masque, are they not interchangeable?" But he nodded all the same, in understanding, and tucked that tidbit of information away within his mind. If he found himself back here, in this realm between realms, he'd certainly seek out Masque for himself. Now that he had a way to find the place, that was. Helpful... Incredibly helpful. "You have my eternal thanks."

At Kal's modest response, Arc shook his head.

"I never took you for one so humble," he laughed, grinning ear to ear. "Something of an artisan..." He reached back into that pouch and pulled free the compass. "Says the Shadow who just whipped this up on a whim." Fantastic is what it was.

He watched as Kal perused the golems, and pointed the finger right back at Arc. Shook his head some. "Even they are formed of your machinations are they not? It's your clay I used to form them, after all. Funny little things, aren't they? They've got nothing going on inside their hollow minds, and yet they have such personality all the same..."

His query had him shrugging some.

"I always have projects on the go. I devised a few new ideas for sand types, while trapped in this place. Have you ever visited the Eversands? Oh, that place filled me with inspiration."

So many possibilities... So little time.

Kal​

 

[Kal]

Radiating a sense of amusement, the Shadow seemed to rub the boat almost affectionally. "You know, I was not responsible for the creation of Living Clay. That was some of our affiliates. As for whipping up a compass..." Without any warning, part of the boat slipped from the whole only for Kal to twirl it about lazily, its form shifting slowly with minor exertions of will.

"It is easier to make something from something than something from nothing, no?"

Letting the black metal go, it crawled back into place as if on its own accord.

"I imagine so, for a man of your preferences! The sands themselves have never called to me, though the illusions it brings are a different matter. I could easily lose myself among them, studying their complexity..." Assuming he was not needed elsewhere, of course. One of the many benefits of timelessness. It was a shame Arcturus was mortal.

He seemed the kind of man who could keep himself busy or entertained forever.

Arcturus Dinn​

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

He watched the Shadow's fascinating show of strength and will here in the Nether with barely veiled amusement, a grin forming across his lips. Ship was pulled apart, yet somehow remained afloat, and he carried it as though it were featherlight. And upon being done with it, Arcturus was given quite the show as it pulled itself back together again.

"Amazing."

It was amazing, too. An awe-filled moment that turned reality upon its head. "I didn't realize the clay was not of your own devising. Either way, I have much enjoyed utilizing it. Is there a way I can procure more? I see a horde of these wee beasties in my future, if I'm able to make it so." They had certainly been of great benefit to him here since he'd formed them, they could carry more than one boy ever could, and there was much in the Nether that he wanted to experiment with. The sands, for example.

"Most would look at what you formed the compass from as little to nothing. Though most would look upon anything and fail to find a use for it outside of its intrinsic intentions. I pity such beings... They don't know what they're missing out on."

He shifted so that his back was to the aft of the boat, and hummed under his breath for a moment. Then he nodded.

"It is the illusions I seek to harness, in some form or another. Picture it now, friend... Sand which does not blind, it disorients, it changes one's enemies view of reality. Confuses them into madness, or a standstill. Either or. Mayhaps they'd even find cause to turn on their own men in turn." He shrugged, whatever happened it would be fascinating to witness. And if it kept him from the thick of it? Then all the better.

Kal​

 

[Kal]

Arcturus had taken quite the interest in the material - fair enough, it was rather easy to work with. Flexible, too.

"Certainly. Where and how much - actually, I can just give you a HoloNet address. Minor things like Living Clay can be requisitioned in a lot of ways." Just because they were spirits native to the Netherworld did not mean they were digitally inept, so to speak. At least as a whole. Not that Kal spent all that much time online.

He much preferred a tangible reality to a digital one.

"Fascinating. I have little expertise in offensive illusions..." Little expertise in offence in general would have been a more apt description. It was simply not his forte. "... but that sounds like an excellent delivery mechanism."

Arcturus Dinn​

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

"Awesome" was his primary response to Kal's suggestion that he check out a holosite to continue purchasing the clay. A broad smile accompanied the word. "Who knows, maybe one day I'll branch out into other materials. I can't think what off the top of my head though, I'm not sure how conductive something like durasteel would be to the creation of golems..."

Surely it would work, most of what gave his constructs life was the synthetic crystals he made more so than the rest of their material, but still. The clay seemed... right? It felt more organic. Almost like skin.

Okay that was a weird thought.

When talks turned to sand, that smile became a grin.

"That's why I prefer it," he stated, with a shrug, "It's not quite so offensive as, say, a lightsaber. Gets the job done, though, doesn't it? If you ever have a want for some, you let me know. I'll make you a batch up. I'm always open to more ideas of what to do with it, too... I heard there's a desert on Tython that's silent. Wouldn't that be cool? Deafening sand...."

Just an idea, though. The likelihood of him actually procuring sand from such a place was slim to none.

Why would he ever visit Tython?

Kal

 

[Kal]

"We have other elements in our possession, what this boat is made of, for one, but personal innovation may well be as good or better. Alchemy is as much an art as it is a science - an attachment to both material and goal is ideal." Kal himself tended to work better with pre-prepared materials, but that was a matter of taste more than anything.

His current favourite was Astracite, though he often worked the crystal into forms better suited for whatever project he was working on. Sometimes that involved gemcutting, sometimes that involved more mystical efforts.

"Consider me intrigued, though I tend to prefer avoiding conflict when possible." He was really rather good at it too, though that was less impressive than it could have been if he couldn't just leave his body behind in an emergency. "If you plan to use it against armoured foes, you would certainly want at least some variants to not require skin contact."

It was possible that was already the case, of course.

Arcturus Dinn​

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

No skin contact?

Arcturus pondered over the logistics of that for a moment, a soft frown falling over his expression. "I'll have to think of a way to make that work" he mused aloud, though for now no ideas sprung to mind. That was okay though, not everything had to be an immediately fulfilled notion. It was okay to take time to develop things.

"I prefer to avoid combat, too. It's so... Ugly." Unnecessary, even. He'd never understood that aspect of the Sith, the part of them which sought only to fight and grow in strength in so garish a fashion. Breaking their own chains only to forge new ones on others... No. Why people couldn't just mind their own business and get on with their own lives, regardless of views, he'd never understand.

"Say... What is the boat made of, exactly?'

Now that he gave it a proper look, he couldn't exactly deduce on looks alone. It didn't feel like anything he was all too familiar with though, even if initially he'd believed it to just be any old ordinary material.

Kal

 

[Kal]

"Unnecessary, even. A truly abysmal form of conflict resolution." Given Kal's innately telepathic nature, it was difficult to tell for sure if they were simply of one mind on the matter or whether he was passively reading surface thoughts.

If he was, it was at once unplanned and subconscious. Instinctual, in a manner of speaking.

"Animatter, short for animated matter. Looks like metal, but isn't - not quite. We make it from Netherwordly matter, but it can keep its form just fine in Realspace too. Useful stuff." Especially since the Shadows weren't prone to set up mines and the like to collect what they needed. There was a strong preference for creation over collection when at all possible.

Arcturus Dinn​

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

"Agreed" he retorted with something of a grimace, therein glancing down at himself. He was still covered in blood, black and red, formed within the Dreaming Dark. The companion he'd found inside had been particularly good at the process of ending lives, like he'd lived his entire life in the duty of his blade. Arcturus had seemed like a child in comparison.

"Still I suppose there are times it's necessary for survival. What I wouldn't give to have an incorporeal form too. You don't know how lucky you have it, Kal."

Next came a description of the ship's material. At first he thought he'd heard anti-matter, a notion which boggled his brain, but nope. Animated Matter... "Cool!" Materials of the Netherrealm, made possible within Realspace? That at least boded well for the sand he'd lugged out of the Eversands.

Arcturus too preferred to collect and harvest, to salvage and reuse. It only seemed right.

"Well it certainly seems to do the trick. Feels sturdier than the Ferryman's boat, at least; don't tell him I said that..."

Kal

 

[Kal]

Kal was silent for a long moment, his eyes gazing down towards the river upon which they sailed. A river associated with the concept of death to a truly profound degree. "It must be difficult, living as your kind does. Starvation, a bad fall, or some as of yet unknown pestilence. Wars and the steady advance of age. I can understand why so many fear death."

Entropy was a looming inevitability for all things, but Kal was confident that he would at least see his end coming. The same could not be said for humans and the like - they could fall asleep one night and simply... cease to be.

He had seen it all in the minds of the recently deceased, many of them fading away soon after.

Those that stayed for longer tended to be marked by great resolve or even greater tragedy.

Shaking the gloom from his mind, he gave his boat an almost affectionate pat. "I would certainly hope so. Tangibility was one of our most central requirements: Ferrymen may be able to make do with vessels that are but will made manifest."

Arcturus Dinn​

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

"It is" he offered, with a shrug, "But there's a beauty in that too, in a way. Every moment is fleeting, and we don't know how many remain. Kind of makes the whole concept of war all the more tragic, though. Putting such a sudden end to life..." He shrugged, and glanced over the side of the boat to the rippling river of souls. "I'm not afraid to die, though. I was, once upon a time. I suppose knowing the general place I'll go after helps; so long as I'm not thrown into the Dreaming Dark I think it won't be all that bad."

Well, he'd seen where some of the souls went. Where some of them ended up. Some just wandered for an eternity, but Arcturus hoped to bypass that in some way. "Maybe if I keep coming here I can figure out some way to prolong my afterlife. I don't really care about returning to Realspace, I'm not going to be the next body-hopping Sith Lord by any means. I just... There's still so much I want to learn, you know? If I were to die tomorrow, it'd be a real tragedy."

Gaze was torn from the river to return to the Shadow as he spoke of tangibility, lightening up the topic some in the process. "Well, the boats I've traveled by here have always felt rickety. As though in a moment they might disappear entirely. I'll take your fancy riverboat any day."

Kal

 

[Kal]

Kal nodded in understanding and recognition. On this, they were in agreement.

"That is certainly doable, at least for a time. A certain amount of power and control tends to be necessary, but it can, at least in theory, be as simple as making a choice." Gaze sweeping across the horizon, he nodded towards a large group of fuzzy forms in the distance. "Of course, once one actually dies the pull towards Oneness can be all but irresistible."

Many beings spent their last moments fearful of death's grasp only to embrace it once it happened. Only a small minority retained any sort of individuality for long - even Kal did not know how the transition felt, not really.

"Technically speaking, they could. No one in their right mind antagonises Ferrymen aboard their boats."

Arcturus Dinn​

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Arcturus wasn't entirely sure where he'd fall when the time came, if he'd really try to fight to cling on to his existence or if he'd simply let go and accept his fate for what it was. He didn't have that same power hungry drive many Sith had, and in theory that alone might prove to be his undoing. His emotions were not often at either extreme; he would not cling to life in a rage, refusing by sheer will alone to let some other mortal, or the throws of time, be his undoing... But nor was he likely cling out of some higher plan or hope to continue his perceived purpose.

Largely the boy was without drive and ambition, he didn't have any preconceived place or purpose in life. He was a drifter, left to his own devices. It was a harrowing existence in many ways, lonely and drawn out and aimless. But it afforded him a chance to dabble if nothing else. To carve his own path, however humble that might have been.

These thoughts plagued him for a short time, though he never vocalized them. Perhaps in his own way, through their proximity and general closeness, Kal might perceive as much. On his expression, perhaps, or his general demeanor. Simply by knowing Arcturus for who he was, more than perhaps any other at this point in time. They were similar in many ways, after all, only Kal was capable of so much more than Arcturus could ever imagine himself doing.

Talks turned to ferrymen though and he lifted his head and smirked. "Only a fool would look upon one and think to do so. The service they provide is invaluable... Having walked a decent length of this place as opposed to making use of one, I know this for certain..."

No ferryman had arrived upon the bank of the River when they'd escaped the Dreaming Dark, Seydon and he. Perhaps that had been for the best, though, their journey had been an experience to say the least. Certainly Arcturus felt as though he had learned a great deal about this place. Even if all it could be summed up to was: Do not ever try to jump the Chasm again. He did not want to experience that stretching and warping of time and reality ever again.

Arcturus sighed, and leaned back against the side of the boat with his eyes softly closing. "How have you been, Kal? In general, I mean... I felt the fall of Korriban in here, I hope you had the good sense to simply leave when it all came to a head." He swallowed, then peeked open an eye. "Any new and incomprehensibly fascinating projects?"

Kal

 

[Kal]

Arcturus was plagued by doubts, at least for a little while. Kal could sense as much, but chose not to make that known to his friend; if he wanted to discuss the matter he would bring it up himself, no doubt. Kal was not entirely tactless.

"Oh, absolutely. I was never all that close to the Sith Eternal, to begin with - the people dying to defend it were not friends of mine. I was present during the largest battle that took place on the tomb world, but only to examine a new dig site." It was surprising to find anything new on the oft-scavenged world, but an entire planet was hard to search.

"Always. Most recently I have been tinkering with temporal observation, in a manner of speaking. Seeing things after they have happened. The lenses I made for that purpose facilitate some fascinating insights."

Arcturus Dinn​

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Arcturus smiled at his friend, genuinely grateful that he'd been able to escape without any real issue. "A new dig site?" he inquired, peeking open an eye to glance upon the Shadow, "You found something new on Korriban?" Was it so surprising, given how vast and untamed the world was? Perhaps not, but the folly of the Sith was that they clung to the same things. Same principles, same ideals, same symbols, and the same structures. Heritage, tradition; it did not make for much branching out, however much they tried to claim otherwise.

He paused for a second, then shook his head. "Well I'm glad you at least gave the Eternal a try, I doubt we'd have reconnected after the whole Save-Spencer thing otherwise. Unless Noelle still had you trapped, of course. I did visit her a couple of times after, you know, to make sure she was good."

When talks turned to a stand-in for psychometry though, the boy shifted where he sat and opened both eyes to look at him. "Fascinating. When I was on Coruscant, after the whole Ossus fiasco, I was taken to a man named Moondog. He tried to teach me the basics of Psychometry, though I admit I never really took to it. Does it work somewhat akin to that? Only without the need for objects and impressions?"

Kal

 

[Kal]

"Same old, same old, I'm afraid. Nothing Forceful, certainly - but cultural artefacts can be equally exciting." There was much less of a drive to collect ancient Sith vases and so ancient Sith vases were much easier to find than, say, 'swords of infinite doom and gloom'. Supply and demand, in a manner of speaking - far too few Sith were true historians.

"No, she let me go well before that." About time, really. It was a wonder she had the mental endurance to keep him imprisoned as long as she did. "As for the Eternal, I was always more of an observer - I'm not very Sithy."

That did not mean he had not made friends, of course, as Arcturus would well know.

"Indeed it does, it very much is an extension of or analogous to Psychometry. It works better on objects and places with a solid impression, actually - think of it as watching the past through ripples in the present. The less interference, the better." It was one of the reasons why urban areas were difficult - and why leaving crime scenes undisturbed remained important.

Not that most law enforcement had access to such tools, unfortunately.

Arcturus Dinn​

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

"Great, more priceless artifacts for wayward students to smash in their efforts to prove themselves," he replied, rolling his eyes, "So much destruction, it leaves one wondering how there's very much of anything left on places like Korriban in the first place." That statement brought with it a fresh pang of worry, one he tried to squash down as readily as it arrived. What was the state of the Academy and its surroundings now? Had it simply been a ground invasion, or had they seen fit to glass the desert and its accompanying structures?

Arcturus caught his wayward breath, and then smiled. "No, you're not Sithy. Better than that, I reckon... Truly, I envy your freedom of movement and all else that comes with your form. Nobody could ever really force you to remain in place, huh? Well... Noelle certainly managed. How did she do that, by the way? Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

He raised a hand, as though swearing on it, the boy was merely curious.

Talks turned back to the lenses and he rested his chin atop his hand, and his elbow to his knee, taking it all in. A sponge for knowledge, in that moment at least. "Somewhere quiet, then? What if one was to move the item in question from a busier place to an isolated one? Would the impressions linger?" Questions, questions, questions...

Kal

 

[Kal]

"At this point it is mostly scraps, I imagine. Anything of real significance ought have been found decades, centuries, or even millennia ago unless extraordinarily well-hidden." Especially artefacts that could be sensed through the Force.

He wondered, briefly, if Noelle had even properly hidden his presence when she bound him. He had been so unprepared back then, unconcerned about the dangers of the material. It had been a valuable lesson. "She bound me to a piece of jewellery, of all things. Embarrassing, really, given that she was and is a novice sorceress at best."

Naturally, he had taken various precautions since that little fiasco. Training, contingencies, and even artefacts - in a twist of fate, Noelle's own mother had made one of the most potent countermeasures in his possession.

"Not quite. The more and more significant changes have been imposed upon the item or location, the more difficult it is to find the figment of presents past you are searching for. Think of it as a needle in an ever-growing haystack."

Arcturus Dinn​

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

"Makes you wonder how anything new is ever unearthed on worlds like that," he remarked, with a small nod, "I wonder if there are many other tombs lost beneath the sand, though, they might have a higher chance of something cool. Either way, I doubt I'll be digging to find out. I'd much rather make my own things than try and make sense of what another left behind."

A piece of jewelry? He'd been bound to jewelry? Arcturus smirked ever so slightly at that thought.

"All we have to do is find you a lamp, and you can be a genie" he stated, humour sewn all throughout his tone, though doubtless his friend wouldn't find it quite as amusing given that, well, that meant giving up his freedom again. Not that Arcturus would ever do such to him, of course! "Why did she do it, anyway?"

Talks turned to haystacks and needles, and Arcturus tried to visualize it before shaking his head. "Every interaction leaves an impression?" Psychometry at least was focused more on emotional events, things with a lingering presence in the Force. He couldn't imagine looking at or touching an item and seeing every mundane interaction.

He shuddered just to think of it.

"Yeah, I imagine it'd be tough to find what you were looking for..." Either way, it was a neat creation!

Kal

 

[Kal]

"She was trying to conjure her dead mother's spirit - after that, well, opportunism. She figured rightly that I might be able to help her." Facial features swirling into an amused smile, he did not seem to be holding any grudges. "Of course, it might well have been cheaper - so to speak - if she had just asked politely instead of binding me."

Noelle Varanin still owed him twice over, but he was nothing if not patient when it came to collecting.

Truth be told, he quite enjoyed being owed; being indebted to another, conversely, was rather unpleasant.

"Quite right, but the stronger and more recent the clearer. It is difficult to identify individual mundanities across the fog of ages, but great events are a different matter. Even they can be distorted, however - especially for a novice user." Anyone could use a Chronoscope, at least one designed for accessibility, but skilful use could facilitate greater clarity.

Arcturus Dinn​