Faction Asha'kurat | Dream Police

[Darth Empyrean]

Vash'karath
902 ABY

The City of Dreams, Vash'karath stood on the precipice of infinity and nonexistence. Manifest into reality by will alone, it stood as a testament to the power of a Veritas and of Empyrean himself. He strode into the city, in its endless avenues and hallways, walking through a world that answered to him in its entirety. Today, however, was not to be his - it was a christening of something greater. For decades, Empyrean had built upon his name some of the greatest accomplishments any being had managed, let alone of the Sith - they would all be turned to this new Order, this new beginning.​

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So that his ambitions, his beliefs, would far outstrip his already ended life.​

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Far from the center of this dream were pillars being erected, both by his own will, but the will of other Veritas to believed in his vision. Other sorcerers, many of which he had taught, combined their skills to anchor this world into reality even now. Empyrean would not assist them now, instead he stepped into nothing and appeared in Verak'tal, the Hall of Voices. It was a transparent floor, and the 'door' disappeared behind him - leaving the Emperor walking over literal stars.​

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The abyss beneath him shifted and swirled with each step, and the obsidian walls glowed fiercely at his approach. With a raise of his hand, he would force the walls to break in their small alcoves, creating portals to the other realm in each. With it came a message, appearing before each;​

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"Come and see."​

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Some, like Srina Talon and Taeli Raaf had already known of what he had created in the Asha'kurat. They were true Asharim, as they deserved to be - but now was the time for others to join them as well. Kaila Irons , Allyson Locke , and more besides. Today was a day for them to see that the future was beholden to them, their designs, their personal prophecy.​

 

[Srina Talon]

Tag: Darth Empyrean
Location: Vash'karath
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A hush rippled through the Force before silence snapped.

There was only one door, one portal, that opened for her, but she instinctively knew that these points of entry had opened across the galaxy. Blooming, like wounds in reality. Not a summons of desperation but a calling of certainty. The words echoed in her mind before they could be carried through the ether, and she found herself walking forward. It was effortless, this sensation of falling, and piteously easy to bend for the directive that came from her other half.

He called. She answered—It was the way of it.

She left the chill of her private sanctum to step through the fold in space as if walking, sinking, from one room to another. One breath and she was amidst cold obsidian and sterile, metallic walls, and the next she was surrounded by stars. The ground beneath her feet felt like some sort of Force-Woven transparency. Not glass, nothing so pedestrian, but thought made form to offer the most eye-opening view of velvet space she could imagine. The heel of her boot clicked softly while lengths of pure white hair turned iridescent in the starlight. Srina took in the shifting abyss.

The shadowed form of Darth Empyrean was standing not far away. Such a construct should have brought a sense of humility or fear, but the City of Dreams was an extension of all that she knew. There was nothing to be afraid of. This place knew its creator, moreover, so did she. Everything he was echoed in these obsidian halls, and it was a luxury, perhaps, that only she could call that presence home. His name spoken alone was a gravity well…But this place? Vash'karath? It was…Everything.

Srina knew the depths of Empyrean's will, the clarity of his vision, even if there were certain things they didn't see eye to eye on. This was a place that she had felt the shape of long before it had been willed into existence. She had spoken to him in dreams. Walked beside him, in silence. Her gaze lifted, and gold-hewn orbs settled on the center of the Hall where the void sang to her the loudest. The city, if it could even be called that, wasn't built on the backs of the inferior. It hadn't been built at all.

Vash'karath had been born.

Manifested from belief, power, and maddening ambition. Its spires shimmered in her periphery, endless, and ever-changing. Every inch pulsed with a sort of sentience that made one wonder if it was actually alive. Regardless the truth, it remembered.

A ghostly twinge touched the corner of her mouth when she stopped moving beside the Corpse King of the Sith Order. It wasn't quite a smile. It wasn't not a smile—It was something deeper.

"Mmm…I like it here, meldanya."

It was a simple statement that wouldn't mean much given the overwhelming grandeur of where they stood. It was not simply a place, or a city, but scripture that had been written in fire and thought. Srina looked away and found her eyes drawn back to the floor made of distant whispering lights. She was unhurried, unbowed. The stars whispered beneath her, almost joyous, as if they had recognized kin instead of an intruder on their solitude. "Others will come."

"They will marvel…They will fear…They will deny the existence of such a place…", she murmured, softly, aware that many Sith seemed to be changing. Becoming something else. Something new. The constant wars between Shadow and Light had taken their toll, but the goal posts had now moved entirely. It was an adjustment—But, it could only enhance them. Educate them…At least, if it didn't destroy them first. "And once they finish denying it…They will crave it."

Her voice was a cold wind through gilded halls, soft, but final.

Sith could resist many things. The promise of power?

That usually…Wasn't one of them.

 

[Kaila Irons]

Wearing: Robes
Tag: Darth Empyrean Srina Talon | OPEN

Moments earlier...

Anathemous flipped through the ever changing grimoire, setting on a newly forming page as it began writing to her of the dead. A new corpse had been brought into the office for just the occasion, some criminal who'd had the misfortune of firing upon her sister's ceremony and since become but one more tool in her arsenal of research.

Some would have found it puzzling to see a warrior of her stature poured over tomes, broad shoulders hunched as she copied glyphs and runes from forgotten literature.

But ever conqueror needed an army, and the witchblade knew she could no longer rely on brawn alone.

She turned suddenly, brandishing a lightsaber as something made itself known behind her, and yet this was no assassin in her midst nor jedi invader. It was a foreboding sense of familiarity accented in the incomprehensibly alien.

The very stars spoke to her.

"Come and see."

Golden eyes went wide as they stared into a world beyond the stars, a thing of dreams, yet it looked so real that she could reach out and touch it.

. . .

A gloved hand reached into Vash'karath.

Behind it stepped Darth Anathemous, her unnaturally heavy steps rendered both cautious and weightless, and her insatiably curious gaze awestruck by the dark beauty of this arcane world.

She looked down to slide a book into her midnight robes, and her stomach sank.

Better then to look upon those who'd summoned the young lord of Echnos, who's presence in the force she recognized for the oppressive awe they wielded.

"...my Emperor...!" she bowed her gold strewn head to the masters of this world.

"My Empress."

But if they had brought her here, was this to be a boon or a curse? Punishment overdue for actions against the Kainites, Or a reckoning, for the affections so tenderly shared with their daughter?

She dared not ask.

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[Allyson Locke]

//: Darth Empyrean //: Srina Talon //: Kaila Irons //:
//: Attire //:

For a long time, Allyson had no path. She wandered the galaxy, always searching for something or someone to give her purpose. She found herself at odds with the Empire in every corner of space, no matter what form it had taken. She had fought the Butcher King more times than she could count. Taeli Raaf draped her in gifts and honeyed praise—things the Corellian had never received from those she once called allies.

Everything changed for a reason.

She found herself in an apartment filled with knowledge, thick with old lessons and quiet revelations. The walls practically hummed with the promise of transformation. Here, finally, was the guidance she'd craved her entire life. True freedom—He spoke of it, warned her of its cost. And as she remembered their conversation after Woostri, her hands clenched, skin stretching tight over knuckles. Everything He had warned her about was beginning to unfold. She could already feel the corruption bleeding into her bones, slow and patient.

And still, Allyson didn't resist.

She relished the change.

The old Jedi lessons had taught her to fight it, but instead, she leaned in. The clarity filled her. For the first time, she felt anchored. She was breaking chains, erasing the leash that had kept her bound to duty and blind loyalty. She didn't want it anymore.

She wanted the freedom to choose who was worthy of her loyalty on her terms.

The pile of tomes around her grew steadily as she buried herself in the material her Master gave her. Still, she made time for missions and training—whether for the Dark Council, for her Master, or quietly, for another.

Now, stretched across one of the larger tomes, her mind was melting from repetition. The texts all bled together, philosophy and Force theory layered on top of one another until they were noise. How did her Master expect her to understand all of this?

Leaning back, Allyson sighed, eyes drifting to the ceiling. Her thoughts looped. How do I move forward? Everything made sense, and yet none of it did. She exhaled, longing filled her chest, raw, aching. She just wanted to be free.

That's when she felt it—something pulling.

A nudge in the back of her mind. She tried to ignore it. Her eyes were tired, her brain worse. But the pull grew sharper, harder, like something trying to tear her from herself.

When she opened her eyes, a gateway shimmered into being above her. Of course. She'd seen holofilms that started like this. And they always went sideways.

Rising from her desk, Allyson gave the portal a deadpan look, then turned her back on it. "Not tonight," she grumbled. After Anoat, she had no patience for whatever theatrics Taeli Raaf had planned next.

She poured a glass of whiskey in the kitchen. Persistent and apparently not getting the hint, the portal moved to hover near the fridge, a swirling mass of Force energy demanding attention.

Allyson took a sip. Then, without warning, her hand brushed too close. Just like that, the Force yanked her through. The whiskey glass shattered behind her, hitting the floor in her absence.

She blinked. The world was unfamiliar, yet strangely right. Towers spiraled into the sky, flickering and reshaping as she walked. The dreamscape bent with every step, molding itself to her subconscious. She knew this feeling. She knew who had done this. The Force vibrated with His signature.

She moved forward, the dream building itself, until it delivered her to a gathering. Her Master stood there, the Empress beside Him, and a blonde girl Allyson had never seen before. She raised an eyebrow but didn't hesitate. She approached, keeping her usual confidence.

"My Master. Empress." She offered a respectful nod, her voice measured. Then she glanced toward the unknown girl, tilting her head slightly. "Scary Girl." Another nod, assuming that was appropriate.

She looked around the world, twisting around them, her senses open and searching. A quiet thrill pulsed beneath her skin.

"Is this one of those places your lessons speak of?" she asked, directing the question toward her Master. "Between realities? A place that is, but also isn't?" Even as she spoke, she could taste it in the air. The freedom she had always imagined.

And for the first time, it didn't feel like a dream.

It felt possible.

 

[Darth Empyrean]

"You've been studying.", Empyrean said with gentle affirmation. It wasn't a compliment, persay, but it was acknowledgement.​

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"It is. This is Vash'karath. It is me - but it is more all the same. As we speak, half a dozen Veritas are working with my alchemists to anchor this realm into reality. It will be a place where you...", he said looking at Allyson Locke , but then turned to Kaila Irons , "... both of you, will be welcome to stay. Study. Learn."​

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He motioned with his hand, and in the center of the 'room' rose a floating image of Vash'karath and all its worlds. Gardens aplenty, manors, apartments, alchemic research labs, borderline factories focusing on small scale production. The place was no more a dream than it was a true city, but how far it would stretch seemed to be an unknown. Pieces of the image were building themselves, others seemed to blur away into nothing. The world was changing, even now.​

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"I have no brought you here as punishment, rather an opportunity. I have spent many years fighting for my beliefs - of freedom, of emancipation, of the power to determine a future of my own design for the galaxy. Today, I wish to expand that offering. I have created Vash'karath as a home for the Asha'kurat.", he said gently, unlike his usual tone. Perhaps there was a softness in it - or at least, equality. Respect.​

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"It will be a secret, so mind that if you deny me here that you ever speak of this place or this organization again. If you do accept your place as prospective Asharim, you will get access to the full breadth of my authority in the galaxy. You will not be equals, yet, but you will be in time. Asharim in your own right, should you prove worthy to us.", he said, motioning to Srina Talon . Taeli Raaf had not yet joined them, but that didn't matter for the moment.​

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"Financial assets. Military. Political. Knowledge of every sort. My reach has grown greater than any one being could utilize, and unlike the Kainite I do not want an Empire built in my name. I would ask you to inherit my will, and carry forward my ideology beyond my death or my retirement, however my 'end' is to manifest."​

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"I will warn you - the initiation may prove... painful. To access this world again, you will be branded via ritual."​

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Darth Empyrean Srina Talon Kaila Irons Allyson Locke
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The children were asleep, the wife was out with her best friend testing a new weapon, the grandchildren were ensconced in their favorite places within the grounds of her home. And she was within her study, the doors locked and sealed with a spell to prevent being disturbed. She was looking up at the holoimage displayed by her office's projector, watching the real time simulations her researchers were feeding her.

"Firefist in the south, Grek in the north," she mumbled, watching as models predicted the collision of the companion galaxies within a matter of days and not thousands if not tens of thousands of years. Something was drawing them into the galaxy proper... just one more data point for the strangeness creeping into the galaxy.

She would feel just the slightest of tugs in the Force, the quiet call... she would shut down the projector and answer it.

A circle of ravens and raven feathers announced her arrival within the space shaped by His will, the marks around her eyes glowing a deep purple as the Brand, incorporated into her tattoos from a bygone era, finished bringing her to the sanctum of the Asha'Kurat as the Emperor explained to Allyson and Kaila why they were there. Fully hooded and robed, she would for once to Allyson no doubt and to Kaila, appear as the Sith sorceress that she was truly at heart.

"Apologies, I was appraising the collision trajectory of Firefist and Grek with the Rim," she would mutter in greeting, bowing her head to the Emperor and Empress.

 

[Kaila Irons]

Wearing: Robes
Tag: Allyson Locke Darth Empyrean Srina Talon Taeli Raaf

The arrival of a one-eyed stranger in their midst changed everything.

She called him master, and those golden eyes widened. For one to earn the attention of the sith emperor, enough to teach her, this woman was surely a dangerous sort. Confident too, it reminded the former Kainite of when she was first selected to be Carnifex's apprentice, how... important she felt in that brief moment.

"Scary Girl." Another nod, assuming that was appropriate.

Kaila inclined her chin slowly, a faint smirk creeping into the corner of her lips.

The Emperor spoke then after their exchange, putting to rest the young Darth's doubts. An invitation then? To study this world's alien splendor would have been enticing enough, but to take an active part in his war against fate? This could be everything she'd dreamt and fought for.

"...Vash'karath..." she echoed, approaching the ever changing map with a curious glint in her eye.

More words came, Asharim, Asha'kurat, Veritas, each more strange than the last. A secret society, she suspected, or perhaps some special agency, although her intuition leaned towards the most esoteric option.

"I would ask you to inherit my will, and carry forward my ideology beyond my death or my retirement, however my 'end' is to manifest."

Kaila glanced up from the map, uncertain.

Not of his will, she'd seen enough to know that they shared common cause. It was the seeming inevitability with which he spoke of his demise which bothered the knight. That would surely be a dark day, a war of succession, she believed. Her only hope then was that Quinn's ascension would be swift.

"I will warn you - the initiation may prove... painful. To access this world again, you will be branded via ritual."

She rubbed her sleeve, beneath which lay jagged scars where limbs not her own had been grafted time and time again, which wreathed metal bones which marked her initiation into the sith.

"I am no stranger to pain." she murmured.

A storm of feather and claw interrupted the thought, heralding the arrival of Taeli Raaf .

"Darth Arcanix." Kaila dipped her chin in greetings to the esteemed, if mysterious, dark councilor.

Clearly this was bigger than a pet project if they were all gathered secrecy beneath one roof. Or... sky, at least.

"So... this is where the war against fate begins?" she questioned.

"If that is what these Asharim are, then I will do what I must to join these warriors of the true battle."

"Though I am afraid you all, even your student," she gestured to Allyson Locke "Have me at a disadvantage. Veritas, Asha'kurat, this place even, are all unknown to me."

"How does one become worthy of such things?"

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[Darth Empyrean]

"By being chosen.", Empyrean said gently, flatly.

"In time, all of these things will be understood if not attained. While Allyson Locke is my student, the Asharim will give their full support to all other prospectives and Asharim alike. Wealth, knowledge, power - all that I have attained in my life and unlife are to be your inheritance, if you prove yourself capable. "

"This is where you either accept it, or depart. Accept, and you will be branded by the sorcerers here. Decline, and you will be stripped of this memory by force."

Allyson Locke // Kaila Irons // Taeli Raaf // Srina Talon