Private A Debate on Evolution

[Taeli Raaf]

Continuing from the Second Invasion of Brosi
The Lord of Hunger
​

It was quickly apparent to her that her opponent had not expected her vector of attack upon him. Like so many others, she suspected he had assumed she was just one more normal Sith Lady, prodigious though her knowledge and power might be said to be. He might have known of what she had done to the first Galactic Alliance in theory or academically, but perhaps that had overlooked the fact she lived among the Jedi for over ten years. She had been a respected Jedi Master during her assignment within the New Jedi Order, and that had meant being able to wield the light as well. She had never forgotten how to do so, all these decades later, and she had continued to augment her knowledge and experience with all of the Force traditions she had studied directly.

She could feel his agony and panic as the light attempted to strip him of his powers, of everything he had anchored his being within. She could also feel the agony of something else within him, some sort... her frown deepened. She had sensed the hunger when he had arrived within the grove, sensed that ravenousness that she had only encountered in those who hungered for the Force or had been exposed and succumbed to Blackwing. But this... had he modified the most dangerous, in her opinion, Alchemical creation for his own purposes. That answer became apparent as the tendrils burst from his form and wrapped themselves around the jewel embedded in the center of his armor. It was an immediate reaction as the souls apparently contained within it were released, beating back the light even as the parasite and its host fed and fused with the gem. His aura returned, fortified by the feast that host and parasite had consumed and merged with.

He spoke of her actions had forced him to evolve and she did take some satisfaction that she had indeed surprised him, but disagreement immediately rose within her as he continued to speak of how he had grown. His lightning started to build up in his gauntleted hand, preparing for another attack as he boasted of she would witness his theory of evolution in practice. The storm of lightning would erupt from his hand and she couldn't allow it to strike the others in the grove. If it struck Madrona A’Mia , then it might distract or harm her enough to throw off Psilofyr. If it struck Lunaria Talon or Matteo Guo-Yian , then the barrier they were creating would be disrupted and the Imperials could continue their Bombardment even as she sensed through the tree the retreat of multiple aspects of their troops.

And besides, she wanted to have a chat about his so called evolution.

There would be a subtle shift in her presence as she channeled the Force a different way once again. His storm, all of his arcing bolts, instead of branching out would be drawn to her like a lightning rod. The hassat-durr techniques of the Baran Do were useful in channeling and drawing power, particularly lightning, as it suffused the user with a low level of electromagnetic radiation. Combined with tutaminis and Force Absorption... well the lightning he unleashed would flow into one of her hands and out of the other until it began to wrap around them in a bubble. The bubble of lightning would flash as her own powers took hold and a spell began to weave.

Beyond that bubble, it would seem everything had stopped moving. Not a branch twitched, not a single wing of an insect beat. The others in the grove stopped moving, to their perceptions, all together.

"That's better, we have some time to talk amongst ourselves now," she remarked, even as she continued to channel the lightning until he realized how fruitless the attack was. "I've shifted us just slightly out of time and space. Think of it as our own little bubble of space-time. Now we can continue this contest and we can see if you can actually overpower me or we can talk about about our rather conflicting theories on evolution."

 

[The Lord of Hunger]

LOCATION: Brosi - Grove
OBJECTIVE: Dominate - Talk
IMPORTANT LINKS: Sword #1 | Sword #2 | Armor | Jewel | Ring | Necklace | Gauntlet | DIII Gluttoneria | The guards | KRONOS
TAG: Taeli Raaf​

His head tilted ever so slightly when even his current force lightning was still being halted in its tracks by Darth Arcanix, his eyes glanced at her, her hands, the build-up of the force which she seemed to exude. It did not take long for the Lord of Hunger to trace what was happening, realizing that the woman in front of him was effectively using him as a conduit for a spell she was weaving...a spell for certain, as he could not think of anything else which would allow her to survive through something like his lightning passing through her if it weren't utilized as fuel, as some sort of expense to create or conjure. Whether it was advanced sorcery or the art of magicks, he wasn't certain...but he was interested.

As soon as she seemed to have achieved her goal, the monster snapped his hand shut, his eyes slowly glancing across the place, realizing what she had done, what she had created. He saw himself as an embodiment of destruction, but he realized that if he had her beat in absolute power, Taeli Raaf more than compensated with an inexhaustible knowledge and finesse.

"Ugh... I must admit, this is quite a neat trick," Hollow, gravelly and yet strangely showing a certain hint of amusement, Despite what had happened, the Lord of Hunger's voice seemed to be less ghoulish, less grating. As if with the most recent new reaches obtained, so too did his voice reflect a new stage, a new position. "Now than...If we are going to have a conversation... You have my attention. Tell me, what is it you want to know?"

 

[Taeli Raaf]

The Lord of Hunger
​

She scoffed lightly as he commented on what a neat trick it was. She highly doubted he could replicate the same feat of utilizing his opponent's own attack to weave a bubble of space-time while making sure said attack didn't harm oneself in the process. His words did hint, at least she was fairly certain, at perhaps a touch of jealousy beneath the veil of amusement, and her mild scoff would likely impart to him, if he didn't already know her by reputation, that she took a rather high view of work and powers.

"I seek... understanding," she replied to his question, slowly lowering her hands as she seemed to have his attention for this conversation, "and to settle a sudden disagreement on what actually constitutes an evolution. But that can wait a moment, as proper manners would dictate introductions. I'm certain you already know who I am, but if not," and she would offer him a polite curtsey, "Lady Taeli Raaf, otherwise Darth Arcanix, Dark Councilor of the Sphere of Research and Science, the Mother of Monsters, the Great Deceiver, and a couple of other titles that were hoisted upon me by Darth Carnifex and others."

The moment she waited for his response would also allow her to quietly observe the armored figure through physical and more ethereal means, gauging his strength and studying both the gem that fused with him and the Blackwing-infested or created parasite within him. And she knew it was Blackwing... beyond the hunger it radiated in the Force, she would practically smell it, having been an alchemist for so long.

 

[The Lord of Hunger]

LOCATION: Brosi - Grove
OBJECTIVE: Dominate - Talk
IMPORTANT LINKS: Sword #1 | Sword #2 | Armor | Jewel | Ring | Necklace | Gauntlet | DIII Gluttoneria | The guards | KRONOS
TAG: Taeli Raaf​

It looked like she got him, while he did somewhat sneer about the fact she had made a sort of time bubble, the Lord of Hunger was indeed not persay jealous, but moreso envious. The woman in front of him had displayed a great expanse of powers and skills in but a few moments. Forcing him to understand his own weaknesses faster than any other had done before her. However, it was not a negative feeling, for the amusement, the interest was nonetheless also there within those words, she simply made it obvious that his vision, his philosophy was in fact not at all wrong: knowledge lay at the basis of growth, growth was the basis for evolution and evolution was what he sought first and foremost, at all cost.

When Darth Arcanix explained the reason for this strangely peaceful interruption of what should or would have been a battle which could've ripped apart brosi itself if both parties deemed it necessary, the Lord of Hunger tilted his head ever so slightly when Taeli Raaf began to list her titles, pseudonyms and more. It was rather funny, because of how closed-off the Lord of Hunger had been, how he had remained so long in the shadows, he couldn't drop so many nicknames on her, but he found it rather amusing to hear the ones she listed.

"Proper manners I believe would also dictate showing one's face," the man once simply known as Credius Nargath exclaimed, his hand raising upwards, as his armor, his long cape, each individual part began to shimmer and vanish, revealing the man underneath it. If The Dark Councilor had ever seen the Lord of Hunger prior to his return to the main stage, before he had become what he was today, she might've been surprised and what was being revealed. For there would be no monstrous man, no disfigured being of abominable proportion. In fact, without his armor, without the need to allow the force to course through his veins at a hightened pace, the truth of what he had become was revealed in the form of a young man, much younger than what his true age would bely, it revealed the Lord of Hunger not in his fifties as he had been during the days as Viceroy for the Confederacy, not as the younger man in his forties he had shown himself in during the days of the Zweihander Union, not even the man in his thirties he had shown on occassion during his brief return to the Sith Order. He had reached that point where he looked like how he looked in his absolute prime, strangely androgynous, handome and beautiful with an edge of danger mixed in thanks to the eyes which still revealed that whatever was within this beautiful package, was anything but revolting and monstrous. "I believe someone of your status, your access to knowledge does not need me to introduce myself in any way beyond the name which I have born for the past few years... though if it is a necessity, you may address me simply as Credius."

The gem, the jewel which had been in his family for hundreds, if not thousands of generations remained right there, on his chest, though seemed to have returned to its original appearance, though Taeli had probably already understood that this was but a ruse and that most likely, it couldn't even be removed by the Lord of Hunger himself at this point.

"Understanding...of what exactly though?" The man crossed his arms, though raised his left arm slightly to allow his hand to touch his chin in a way to show his curiosity to the subject of this conversation. "My philosofy, my ideology, my idea of evolution... allow me to ask you this... What exactly do you understand as being an evolution? I'm curious though... for I wonder what you think I am?"

TAG: Taeli Raaf ​