Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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Private An Arranged Meeting

Location: Outside Darth Maliphant's Office, Odavessa
Tag:
Darth Empyrean Darth Empyrean


Xzinn stood silently as he waited outside the office of Darth Maliphant. The tall, heavily-muscled Falleen man was clad in the simple dark robes befitting an acolyte of his station. He resisted the urge to pace back and forth. Impatient though he may have been, he certainly did not want to give off that impression to a Darth, particularly not one of Maliphant's station. Indeed he hardly seemed to move at all, staying right where Darth Maladroth had left him. Xzinn had been told that Maliphant would be along to see him after some larger, more important meeting, though not exactly when that would be. He did not go looking for Maliphant, nor did he dare knock on the door and chance interrupting. It was one thing to speak out of turn or mouth off to an academy overseer; it was another to do so to one of the most powerful Sith in the entire Order.

Instead he focused on the nervousness, the fear, every emotion that this encounter, and his entire experience with the Sith, could provoke in him. Control it, harness it, let it give you strength.

The first months of Xzinn's training as an acolyte had been among the most difficult in his young life. He'd started to get an idea of just how strong he could truly become, but also how weak he was now. His physical condition and prior combat training gave him a significant edge over many others in that area, but learning these new styles, and particularly learning to use a lightsaber, was quite challenging. He was told that he was exceptionally strong in the Force, and that he'd likely been using it unconsciously for most of his life, but learning to consciously control it proved tougher than he would have expected. His studies of the Force in general, and of the Sith, had started off slowly due to a prior lack of proper education. This caused him no small amount of frustration, something he'd learned to use as fuel for his ambition.

The robotic Sith lord, who had first found Xzinn in the Nar Shaddaa underworld, had returned after a time to offer him the opportunity to network with Maliphant. Though Maladroth was somewhat vague about what such networking would entail, Xzinn jumped at the chance. If he could make himself stand out, it would give him access not only to great sources of knowledge and power, but connections higher up as well. He knew he would need both if he wished to become truly powerful.
 


A giant of a man with a rifle approached Xzinn with a scowl. Surgery scars lined his face and hands - and by a simple glance one could tell he was a rare breed of supersoldier, augmented to the limits of biology. He motioned to the door with a grunt;​
"Time to go in, kid."​
He wouldn't follow, but beyond the portal of the door would be Maliphant, standing near one of the far bookcases and looking within it. He wore long black robes that fell just short of his ankles - angling themselves with ornamental golden lining. White hair in a long braid down his back made him stand out as an Arkanian, but his gaze was frightful. His head turned, and Xzinn Dronnol Xzinn Dronnol would see two phrik orbs where eyes should be - with no discernable pupil to see.​
The Sith Lord motioned to a chair, closed the book, and began to speak.​
"Take a seat, Acolyte. Your name, tell me it."​

 
Location: Darth Maliphant's Office, Odavessa
Tag: Darth Empyrean Darth Empyrean

Xzinn did as he was told, entering the Sith Lord's office at the prompting of the scarred soldier. The collection of books stood out to him; he'd seen very few on Falleen as a child, none he could remember on Nar Shaddaa, and only some here and there since arriving at the academy. And yet here was an entire collection, more together than he'd seen in his entire life, all in one place.

Maliphant himself was simultaneously less and more intimidating than Xzinn might have thought he would be. His appearance was more refined, more elegant even than one might imagine from a Sith of his stature. The white hair suggested he was an Arkanian, which to Xzinn's mind at least made sense. Despite that, the Falleen was not put at ease. Unrefined though his abilities with the Force were, he could feel some small portion of the man's power, like brushing one's fingers over the surface of the ocean, looking down into the void, unable to completely comprehend just how deep it goes. Maliphant turned, and Xzinn could see his unnatural eyes, devoid of pupils. They looked like the eyes of a blind man, but Xzinn had no doubt that Maliphant could see him just fine.

The acolyte sat when instructed to do so. "Xzinn Dronnol, my lord," he replied, dipping his head to Maliphant. He raised his head once more, meeting the Sith Lord's gaze steadily. Show deference, but do not cower. "Darth Maladroth hoped I might be useful to you."
 


Though subtle, Maliphant held the Acolyte's gaze as he found a seat across from him. Many of such low rank and refinement would cower - to find strength in their fear, protection in seeming small. It was a poor reaction based on primal nature - that somehow subservience would lessen the impact of an Alpha's recourse. In truth for Sith it was more accurate to say that to seem small made one seem like easy prey rather than a willing slave.​
For this exact reason, Maliphant never regarded those who cowered with much respect, even at a low rank. What he did now was a good first step in the eyes of the powerful Sith.​
"Xzinn Dronnol.", rolling the words around like it was a test.​
"Darth Maladroth is a good Sith, and I don't take his recommendation lightly. Be careful, however, if you are to name drop him to others - or even myself. In the wrong company, having friends like me can cause you more harm than good."​
A simple truth. Those like Darth Carnifex Darth Carnifex or Darth Ophidia Darth Ophidia had vast allies - and as any Sith alliance went, Maliphant's relationship to them meant only as much as the mutual benefit they served to one another.​
"Tell me, Xzinn, what are your goals? How do you believe the Sith would benefit you - and more importantly, how do you think you can benefit me?"​

 
Location: Darth Maliphant's Office, Odavessa
Tag: Darth Empyrean Darth Empyrean

Xzinn nodded thoughtfully at Darth Maliphant's warning. His time in and around the underworld meant that he wasn't a total stranger to politicking and intrigue, but what little involvement he had there was nothing like what went on among the Sith. It wouldn't do for him to get himself killed due to his own carelessness.

"My goals..." The acolyte paused, looking for the right words. "Freedom through strength, my lord. I've spent a lot of my life in thrall to the lowest, basest sort of scum the galaxy has to offer, serving at their leisure, fighting and bleeding and killing purely for their profit and entertainment, like some sort of animal. They dared to treat me like that." Anger had crept slowly into Xzinn's voice as he spoke. He became aware of it and leveled his tone once more. "I could be put in chains again, but I will not be a slave ever again, and I will not serve that kind of unworthy filth again. Not if I have anything to say about it. If I have to serve, let it at least be someone worth serving."

Xzinn took a deep breath. "That's why I came, to become Sith. To know true power and realize my own potential, and rise above the dregs that would keep my face in the dirt." He nodded, as if to emphasize his words. "I don't have anything concrete I can give you, my lord, and I won't presume to know exactly what you need. But I'm strong. Not just physically, but with the Force too. I can fight. And I'm far smarter than many of the fools around me realize. I know I will be capable of a great deal, and I'm sure you'll be able to find some use for my talents."
 


"Maladroth knows me well.", he sighed.​
"Once, I was a Slave as well; so you have my condolences. I had no name, yet my reputation carried far."​
He adjusted back in his seat and steepled his hands atop his leg.​
"I believe in something I was taught, called Eternalism. It is a Sith Doctrine, a philosophy to guide you to greatness - to teach you our purpose and our path. In it, we strive to ascend - to dominate the galaxy in both the physical and metaphysical. Strength is well regarded and Sith should be worshipped by the lesser man for their dominance against Fate. It was, afterall, Fate that led you to what you were - and it was the act of breaking Fate that is why you stand before me."​
"The Sith fight destiny, Xzinn Dronnol Xzinn Dronnol - and there is no greater foe. I can provide you with much, a platform to learn, allies and tools. In turn, I ask you learn all you can of what I offer; and spread its strength and message."​
"Do you understand?"​

 
Location: Darth Maliphant's Office, Odavessa
Tag: Darth Empyrean Darth Empyrean

Xzinn nodded, listening intently as the Sith Lord spoke. So even one as powerful as this was once a slave, once just as powerless as he had been. In his mind this lent a great deal of credence to what came next. Darth Maliphant had risen to great heights from a very low place; and if he could, then so could Xzinn.

As Maliphant spoke Xzinn couldn't help but smile ever so slightly at the belief that the Sith ought to be worshipped by those beneath them for their power. Not because he found it laughable, but because the idea intrigued him more than he might have thought it would had it occurred to him before. He was obviously better than much of the rest of the galaxy, and would only become more so the stronger he got. Rule over the lesser made some sense; but worship? That was a new one.

When Maliphant finished the Falleen acolyte nodded once more. "I believe so, Lord Maliphant. Power, breaking chains, it's not just about the people around us. It's about freeing ourselves from fate itself." He paused at length, considering this. "I always thought of fate as something more... abstract? More like an idea than an actual thing you can control or break. What is fate exactly, and how would one even begin to overcome something like that?"
 


"Breaking the chains. It was a bastardization of its intention that led to men like Darth Malgus - who agreed that the Code of the Sith was to seperate oneself from attachment and bindings. On the contrary, I believe he was mistaken - that the Sith find strength in attachment.", he interjected at the pause.​
When Xzinn asked about the details of 'Fate', Maliphant smiled - though subtle. It showed in the wrinkles around his eyes nonetheless -​
"You're asking the right questions, Acolyte. Fate to the laymen is abstract, Destiny an unknown he can hardly comprehend let alone believe - yet that is why they are laymen. The reality is that the Galaxy is guided by fate - the Force and its controllers alter it, change it to their hearts desire. Jedi see the Force as a guiding light - that its control over the Universe will offer balance. They are slaves to its call, its mask."​
He adjusted to stand and grab a book for the Acolyte. It was small but the age showed greatly - leather bound and likely millenia old. It's cover was littered in ur-Kittat kanji, and were Xzinn able to read it, he would understand it was the journal of a long dead Sith who studied the very phenomonem that he spoke of now.​
"The Sith work against fate, when they are aware of its influence, aware of its control. Those who do not fall into its grasp, become tools just as the Jedi to perpetuate evil for evil's sake - but Eternalism teaches us something more. To be free of the Force's influence means you become a god wherever your influence touches - but the Galaxy will do all it can to keep you down."​

 
Location: Darth Maliphant's Office, Odavessa
Tag: Darth Empyrean Darth Empyrean

The young acolyte considered the Sith Lord's explanations carefully as he listened. He spoke with an air of authority and knowledge, a degree of certainty that, to Xzinn at least, lent his words even greater weight. He did not speak when Maliphant stood and retrieved a book from its resting place nearby. The script on its cover was utterly incomprehensible to Xzinn, but he found his eyes drawn to the leather-bound tome all the same. He couldn't even begin to imagine just how ancient the thing must be, what sorts of secrets and lost teachings it might contain.

He spoke once more, trying his best to synthesize and understand what he was being told. "Then power in the Force is not just power by itself, is it, my lord? Mastery of the Force is mastery over the workings of fate itself. Control over your own destiny, and the destiny of others even." Xzinn smiled again, as if something had just occurred to him. "And what would you call someone truly powerful, someone free of the whim of fate, someone who can dictate it to others... other than a god?"

The Falleen nodded, his mind brimming with all sorts of questions. "Are there any who have attained full, complete mastery in this way? And how ought we as Sith deal with one another, given all this?"
 


"The Worm Emperor, perhaps, has achieved complete immunity to the Force's whims. However - to control others fate is something one can not impart in totality. Not without something far greater to sustain that control - and expand it to the Galaxy at large. To do so requires something you aren't quite ready for, Xzinn Dronnol Xzinn Dronnol .", he said with a shake of his head.​
"I will tell you about it someday - but know now that the Force is sentiently controlled, it is actively working against those who align themselves with the 'Dark Side'. All you should concern yourself with for the moment is your own independence of the Force - train yourself to feel its influence and deny it. Anything in your area of control should be yours alone - and not the borrowed power of a greater entity."​

 

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