Brotherhood of Darkness (The Prelude)

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

Secluded section of the Library, Ryloth​

There was so much more the library could give her, Katrine was beginning to see as she took more to reading and studying what the secluded area had to offer her rather than finding new friends and getting into trouble. It was not to say Katrine didn't enjoy the latter because she absolutely still did but at the same time, she was more and more beginning to enjoy actually learning on her own and discovering so much. The books here were less useful than the Grimoire itself but they were useful none the less. Her head was buzzing with information as she reached for a new book from the shelves, even though more than a dozen of books were already open on the long table, each page containing relevant information to Kat. It all looked like a gigantic mess but she'd found a lot of interesting facts about Ryloth, about former Force orders here, about magic, about Mandragora written by outsiders.

The new book had given her more on some secluded village which offered very little information, peeking her interest. Katrine read and stored information in her head before she put the opened book on the table, and proceeded to pick up another book. The buzz in her head was making her move fast - read fast, store information, read more. She was hungry to know. Another book she'd picked up gave her plenty on something called the Brotherhood of Darkness and the Dark Army. A small mention of a structure made her place the book beside another one before she went back to the Grimoire which had been resting on its stand at the back, consulting some of its pages on additional information on magic. Very few books she had read gave good information on the Mandragora or magics in general. Outsiders who wrote on it in the past weren't very included in the proceedings of their Force Order but their views were invaluable to her.

It was a way to keep busy, just plain exploring but once Katrine got into it, she couldn't really stop. As her finger ran through the large ancient page, she sang to herself without melody. Her head was filled with so much right now that the song was meant to keep her focused a little longer, unable to actually just stop and take a break when she'd found so much, even if she could just share it with herself.

@Er'in Tenel

 

[Er'in Tenel]

Er'in stepped quietly into the silent aura of the library with a reverent expression on her features. She paused for a moment on the threshold, looking around with barely restrained interest. Her gaze drifting to one of the stacks, then another as she stalked down the isles at a measured pace, heels clicking on the hardwood floor. She had a purpose here, but for the moment she was content to remain lost in the stacks, drifting from topic to topic as the mood took her.

She stopped at one particular shelf, then reached up and plucked off a book with a frown. This one. It called to her. Unmarked and unremarked, but it held dark secrets. She could feel them, burning like gentle coals.

The noise of the woman singing finally intruded on her conciousness and she remembered her reason for visiting. Darth Metus had set her the first real task - the first real test - and the woman she was here to speak to about it was here. Given that she had seen only two other people, and those men at that, she presumed the voice was who she was looking for. She wound her way through the shelves until she found the pile of books surrounding the short blonde woman who looked barely older than she was.

"Katrine Van-Derveld Hawk?" She asked quietly, waiting until a break in the song marked a break in attention long enough for her to speak without too much disruption. "I'm Er'in Tenel, Dark Acolyte. The Vicelord sent me to speak with you."

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

Right in the middle of her song, a female voice had said Katrine Van-Derveld Hawk, making the blond freeze, the lyrics cut at that exact moment. It was her name, it was how she was born. Her Mother was a Hawk, her Father was claimed by her Mother and he too was therefor Van-Derveld Hawk since the eve of their claiming ceremony. It was who she was. Problem was, Katrine Van-Derveld Hawk didn't exist, not in this time. Not for another half a century and some more. She was a child born decades later.

Slowly, she had turned to look at the owner of the voice, thinking back on the time when she had only introduced herself as Kat or Katrine, before she had even found her parents. Since she did and Father tended to keep close, she had taken to using the name she most commonly used, her Father's last name same as her siblings did, calling themselves Van-Dervelds rather than Van-Derveld Hawks as they had been born and named in their Naming ceremonies by their great great grandmother Satara.

Looking at her was a woman she didn't recognize, not really. Something about her seemed familiar though she didn't quite know what as other things ran through her mind and whils he was shocked to be called by a name given to absolutely no one in the Confederacy. In fact, if Katrine had to think of someone, she could think of a single person who would know her true name and that was her Uncle Isley. Even if he was way younger than the man who had been there throughout her childhood and strangely felt different in ways she couldn't full comprehend yet, Katrine still knew it was him on the inside.

Er'in Tenel, the brunette had introduced herself before adding the Dark Acolyte next to the name. Katrine knew what those were though she didn't actually sit down with anyone of them to get a better understanding of their purpose just yet; something she planned on correcting sooner rather than later. Then Er'in went on to add that the Vicelord had sent her to speak to her, shedding light on her earlier confusion. "Uncle Isley shouldn't be telling strangers things about me. Not that you're a stranger, I'm sure. But please, if you're going to mention my name, could you not mention that last word. I don't really like too many people knowing I'm a Hawk," The blond started off in a bit of a ramble before she regained her focus completely.

"Come on in. I'm not sure why Uncle Isley sent you but if you're here, must be a big deal. And since you're here, mind if I pick your brain on the Dark Acolytes since I haven't had too much of a chance to ask about it." Curiosity might have killed the Nexu but like them, the Van-Derveld Hawks had nine lives to spare so it was fine. It hadn't killed her yet though so it was always a worthy risk to take, as far as Katrine was concerned.

@[member="Er'in Tenel"]

 

[Er'in Tenel]

The confusion, near fear and the babble of thoughts that raced across the other womans mind was fascinating to sense. Enough so to make Er'in really wish she was focusing more on that aspect of the Force, but... no, not burning out every nearby electronic item was a much better line of focus. She wondered if her temper and moods had always been this volatile?

Anyone who knew her could have told her the answer to that.

Still, it was clear she'd said something wrong with that last name, and Force-above knew that she hid hers often enough when she did not want her family history to come out.

"Of course, my apologies. I must have misunderstood..." A long pause, where it's clear Er'in doesn't see Darth Metus as 'Uncle Isley' at all. "...the Vicelord."

"I brought you a book." It seemed like the logical thing to say, even though it held no logic, she presented her earlier find to Katrine. "I think it will be useful later. Or to you, I don't know. It holds terrible secrets."

After a moments thought she arranged her skirts and sat gracefully.
"To answer your questions in appropriately reverse order, I can tell you relatively little about the Acolytes as a whole - but a reasonable amount about my role within them and those I know. We're all... quite individualistic, I think you might say? Unique problem solvers, would be a good term. The Vicelord..." A pause. "... your Uncle Isley has asked me to look into the reports that there was once an ancient Sith Academy on Ryloth and to help the Mandragora recover it so that those of us of an... occult bent might share the lost lore and the location, if it is habitable. He told me you would be the woman to talk to about... moblising the Mandragora, while Tmoxin is away on business."

[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

Er'in quickly apologized and said she must have misunderstood Uncle Isley. Vicelord. It was a term she couldn't get used to. Sure, Uncle Isley had been Vicelord for a long time in every tale Mother had about him but he was her Uncle Isley so Katrine couldn't just switch calling him something he wasn't to her. Family took such a high place in her head, even if that family wasn't one she shared blood with which meant that in the hierarchy of non-related people, her Uncle took a very high position even if any and all official titles were taken off. For him, she had even stood between her Father and him, trying to make him stop attacking Uncle Isley, having not understood the need for them to fight. No, you didn't fight family, Katrine knew that.

Her head tilted slightly as Er'in said she had brought her a book, thinking it would be useful later. Held terrible secrets. Katrine watched the book for a few moments before walking over to the woman and reaching for it, wanting to see it. Her head was filled with so much information that hadn't been placed into right compartments just yet and she felt like she needed more. So much more.

She blinked slowly as Er'in said she would answer her questions in a reverse order, blinking again as it started. "Order," Katrine whispered almost without a sound at that. Er'in couldn't tell her much about the Dark Acolytes. Individualist, unique problem solvers. Uncle Isley had charged Er'in to look into reports that there was once a Sith Academy on the planet and to help recover it. As if a light bulb had suddenly formed over Katrine's head, her eyes widened in realization she knew something about it. "I was reading about that!" She squeaked very cheerfully as she returned to her pile of books, going through open pages to find the right one. Two were one right beside other, her hands taking one. "There was an Academy on Ryloth. This book talks about the Academy," Kat informed her, looking down at the other book beside it. "This book talks about something called the Brotherhood of Darkness and mentions them having an academy. It's a little vague but based on the few details about the place, I think it could be the same thing." Neither book though talked in too much detail but there was enough to get her interest peeked.

[member="Er'in Tenel"]

 

[Er'in Tenel]

"All I know was what I have been told - and a tiny bit of information from some of the texts I've read. I can't pretend to be an expert, although, all being well we should both be experts at the end of this."

Er'in smiles genuinely, leaning over to look at the indicated books with genuine interest, although given the conversation she doesn't have much more time than to skim the indicated passages.

"From what I understand, they specialised in... well, use of the Force. Specifically for more subtle pursuits, which probably explains why no one has found this Academy up until now. I imagine they hid it quite well."

She paused, weighing up the conversation for a few moments in her mind. Katrine had been honest, which to a Hapan was a rarity. The fact she was a woman added automatic credence to anything she said, although Er'in had less of that unconcious bias than some. 'Uncle Isley' had taught her that in reasonably short order.

"You may not know much about the Acolytes, but as it happens I'm not exactly fully briefed on the Mandragora. Perhaps if we exchange knowledge, we might be able to combine our efforts to locate this academy succesfully?"

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

Er'in didn't know much about it either, Katrine took in as her eyes moved against the page of the book she was looking it. "Oh, totally," she agreed. "These two things are little vaguer than I'd like but it was clearly written by those not directly involved as a lot of the sources on Mandragora actually are in this library." Katrine had found plenty when she had actually gone looking but the majority of it wasn't written by members of their orders, she was sure of it from what she had read. Some information was completely wrong but others were partly right to let her know that the writers did have some sort of sources or did their research right enough to write what they did.

"They weren't Sith despite their title," she added to Er'in's words. "Just darker than a Jedi," she continued. "It does say that the Sith rule of two comes from them though. Their legacy." Katrine pointed out as her finger tapped against the words, glancing back into the book she had shared with Er'in. "But that book does say they were training Sith Assassins and spies in the Academy here despite it."

When she had taken all she could find in the two books she had, Katrine took more focus to what Er'in had brought her, finding far more inside the book. "This author was either a foot in the doors or they had their inside source," she commented as she read. There was certainly more details here though the same occurred here as it did before. "The location of the Academy is still vague. It does say something about the eternal night hiding it from the curious," she read and then looked at Er'in pointedly as she thought about it, remembering something Mother told her about Ryloth about the time Father served as Viceroy of the planet. "The fascinating thing about Ryloth is the forever light and dark," she articulated word for word as she had been told as a child. "Not in the sense of Dathomir but instead, literal. There are sides of the planet that are always bright and parts that are covered in eternal night." She finished, all while looking at Er'in. "It's something my Mother told me about Ryloth when I was little. Maybe that's got something to do with the eternal darkness they're talking about."

Er'in didn't know too much about the Mandragora either and suggested they exchange what they knew in order to find their destination. "That's easy. Mandragora is a Force Order much like the Witches of Dathomir. The Grimoire also has a big section on Dathomirian magic. It's why when my ancestor crash landed thousands of years ago, having been trained in the Mandragora ways by her parents, adapted to Dathomirian magic she was taught there." Avarisa had been vague in her storytelling but she did tell her a long time ago about how she had been on her ship with her daughter Ceta, who was still a child when they crashed on the planet. Avarisa's life was lost but the child had been taken in by the Witches of the Singing Mountain Clan. The first member of Hawk bloodline on her home planet. Though she had never shared what Ceta's true name was, only the name she had been given by the Witches due to the Jart tattoo on her skin. "Magic has the same history as the Force in reality. First Witches were taught it by an exiled Jedi Knight, Allya, who is still honored. But those women were unable to use the Force for some reason so Allya found a way by chanting. We've evolved since, of course, we use both powers and spells for the Force to do our bidding." Katrine watched Er'in, wondering if she would have any questions after she had said what she did. She hadn't actually arrived at the point of the spirits which represented each of the pacts, who pretty much came out the same as clans on Dathomir. "So, what's up with the Dark Acolytes? Are they just Force Users? Do they have classifications like we do?"

[member="Er'in Tenel"]

 

[Er'in Tenel]

"Well... I'm Darth Metus' personal apprentice, so that makes me a less-than-light Force user. I... I would classify myself as following the Sith Code as I understand it, and Darth is of course a Sith term. But the Dark Acolytes are not all force users, and they are not all Sith - and even the force users are not all apprenticed to Darth Metus in the strictest sense. But within that, we all have the loose outlines of duties related to both intelligence and enforcement. There are about a dozen of us, all told, although I've not met them all."

Er'in takes a few long moments to digest what Kat has to say, then nods thoughtfully in response. Ryloth does indeed have two sides, and the dark side - hah - has several locations that might be appropriate. She ponders, flicking idly through some of the books.

"I recall some references to the Academy - or an Academy - being within a mountainous region. Looking at this map, there are only a few locations it could be, and these two here are settled. I would suggest anywhere it was would be unsettled, or people would have found it. Do you have a book of..."

She plucks one out of the pile.

"... local legends. Of course you do. So the Dark Acolytes are half Metus' personal apprentices, half his personal agents. So the Mandragora work magic in a similar fashion to Sith Sorcery? I... would it be improper to ask if this could be learned, or about your beliefs? Half my knowledge is stolen from... a benefactor, the other half... I'm hoping to gain at this site, or on another expedition I've signed up to." She flicks quickly through the book, looking half at headings, half at pictures, stopping to read the occasional title. "Look, here. A village that just vanished overnight, reported to have been taken by dark beasts - those could easily be Sithspawn. And this mountain range has legends of a terrible lost fortress that a warlord once occupied, claiming to have tamed the beasts within it and turned them on other warbands, before he was defeated by a Jedi."

She sighs.

"We could do with access to the Jedi records, if they still exist."

She looks up from the book, looking thoughtful. The Mandragora likely didn't have the Sith Sorcery Darth Metus had told her about and that she hungered for, but... magic was magic, and the Force was the Force. Power... was power.

"Spells?"

[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

The other woman took to explaining of the Dark Acolytes and herself, starting off with saying she was Uncle Isley's personal apprentice and saying she followed the Sith code before going on to point out Dark Acolytes weren't all Force Users, all of the Sith or even apprentices to Uncle Isley. Katrine nodded. Intelligence and enforcement. "Interesting," the blond said as Er'in paused. "I know he's a Darth, nothing wrong with following the Sith code. As long as you're choosing your fate and it's not chosen for you, it's all great."

Katrine knew Sith were often regarded as fallen. Nona tended to say her Mother had been a fallen angel for her time as a Sith but Nona never did understand them well enough to know that her Mother hadn't fallen just like she had never been a Jedi with her own heart. She had chosen to have fun, to enjoy life as she regarded the Jedi to be boring and restricting. "I've tasted it, the darkside. Got swept up in it for a bit but it was never me. I belong in the middle of it all, accepting of everything," Katrine pointed out after a beat. She'd been dark and lost, her Master had been turning her into someone she was never meant to be. Not even as a Lupine could Kat be a mindless beast she had tried to make of her, bleeding out her heart to turn her into a darksider.

Er'it went on to mention recalling an Academy in the mountain region, consulting a map in one of the open books. She thought two were out of the question as settled. "When you remove whatever is impossible...," the blond whispered in agreement as Er'in moved to another book, one of the local legends as she went back to talking about the Dark Acolytes again, wondering if the Mandragora worked magic as the Sith did. "In a way we do, yes," Kat confirmed while the other woman asked if it could be learned or about her believes. Then she mentioned something about stealing knowledge from a benefactor which Katrine didn't understand. "Benefactor?" So, of course, she asked.

"Yes, it can be learned. Have you spoken to the spirits yet though?" It wasn't necessarily a requirement, especially since she was Uncle Isley's apprentice but Katrine was curious. "While you are a Dark Acolyte, even Uncle Isley had been chosen by one of the spirits. And I assume Srina is among these Acolytes as well since she too is his student. I know she's a Mandragora as well." It was a guess at best, an assumption based on Er'in identifying herself as his student so Katrine had to ask. She was curious if Er'in would be willing and if the spirits would choose her.

The discussion was promptly interrupted as Er'in found a mention of a village vanishing overnight, prompting Katrine to move closer to Er'in and see what else was written in the book since she hadn't read that section. Her sapphire blue gaze brushed over the words. The book did talk about the village being taken by dark beasts, which Er'in speculated could have been Sith spawn. Katrine frowned almost immediately at the unfamiliar word as Er'in read on about legends of a lost fortress once occupied by a warlord. "What's a Sithspawn?" She was unfamiliar with the term at all, other than now hearing Er'in referring to them as dark beasts, so she was naturally curious.

Mention of Jedi records reminded Katrine of something, as her sapphire blue gaze focused on Er'in, she was going through her memory for where that had been mentioned, remembering a book. Her head turned to the table, index finger moving through the air as she recalled before she summoned a particular book with the Force to her hands, flipping through it before she found what she was looking for. "There was an Enclave the Jedi used, rescued slaves as well. If we can't find anything in the library, maybe there would be something there," she suggested though she couldn't recall if she had found anything about the Jedi in the books she had read but Katrine hadn't been looking for the Jedi specifically but instead collecting knowledge in general. Maybe there was something she hadn't found yet.

Then Er'in asked a simple question, making Katrine look back at her. "You want to learn some? I know a lot of spells of my people but only a few in Sith Sorcery. I vanquished my Master before I could learn more, I'm afraid." Avarisa had taught her only a few before she had set herself free, which was in a sense a shame though getting rid of the spirit that had been haunting her for so long had ultimately been far more important.

[member="Er'in Tenel"]

 

[Mirra Voss]

Wrong me. Back in the cave Solari!

 

[Er'in Tenel]

"That... does rather seem to be the fate of a fair few of them."

Er'in remarks, her tone not exactly light, but certainly matter of fact. A brief read of history showed her that a signifcant number of so-called 'Dark' Jedi had... leadership issues.

"But to answer your questions, in no particular order. A Sithspawn is a creation of Sith Alchemy, the Dark Side and some entity... they're... not terribly pleasant, but records seem to indicate they are effective. Your uncle..." The words come slightly easier now. "... has a no sithspawn rule, however. A long story involving a freighter, some Mandalorians and a rak'ghoul sithspawn." Not that Er'in had any such policy, but from everything she'd learned she'd need more power than she easily had access to now to create one, and really... she had droids to do that kind of dirty work.

"I've not, uh... spoken to the spirits. What does that entail? It... sounds like it may disagree with a fundamental tenet of my personal philosophy on force use." It sounds like binding yourself to an outside force, and the only outside force Er'in intends to be bound to is Darth Metus, and then only until she can break that chain, one way or another. Call her a fast learner in Sith philsophy.

"Hmmm. I don't know much about the Jedi enclave, I'm afraid. Do you know it's location? That at least would be a starting point for us - if we follow what we've got, we'll be hunting across an entire frozen mountain range for a secret academy that is concealed from detection. I don't know about you, but I'm not that fond of mountaineering."

She glanced around the library, then stood up to start to browse along the shelves. There was bound to be something on the Jedi in here.

"I would be interested in learning what you know of sorcery, or of any of the magic of the Mandragora you're willing to share." Er'in made the words come out casual, still remarkably surprised at peoples willingness to share secrets of the occult. So far, every book she'd read was fragmentary knowledge and sorcerors hoarding their knowledge. "I don't have much to offer in return - some unusual alchemical techniques I learned, they don't fit well with my connection to the force, but they gave me a good grounding - that was the benefactor I mentioned. Janick. She's a member of the Outer Rim Coalition? She... seemed very keen to teach me."

Trying to poach a student? Simply looking for someone on the same wavelength? Er'in still couldn't figure that woman out. Why teach someone the ability to steal knowledge, let them use it, then show them how to apply it? But who said a force user had to make sense - normal people didn't. But everyone had an agenda, everyone, even the most saintly Jedi. And... well... some of what that woman had thought had been very strange, and Er'in chose not to dwell on it too much.

Kat was odd. But Er'in suspected she was starting to look and sound slightly unusual herself. Her apartment was filled with textbooks and she'd begun studying archeology in extreme detail. The past hid so much.

Like this library. Like this book.

"Ah. This one seems to reference the Jedi, here... take a look. You know a lot more about the local history than I do."

[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

She started blinking again when Er'in started answering her third questions, what a Sithspawn is, trying to go through her mental list to find the spot for the answer the woman was giving her. Katrine had issues with answers out of order but Er'in hadn't picked that up yet and the blond hadn't explained yet. She would have to, Katrine realized as a slight shiver ran through her skin, trying her best to concentrate on the answer about Sithspawn. Sith Alchemy creations, dark side and something, not pleasant, effective. Uncle Isley had a no sithspawn rule, she built a proper reply into her head when she fully concentrated. She wasn't familiar with this story Er'in was mentioning though. "I haven't heard that one," Katrine threw out then.

Before Katrine could point out about the order in answering, Er'in started talking about spirits. She'd asked that one right before, her mental list rolling back to find the spot. She hadn't spoken to them though, she realized. "Spirits tend to call," the blond told her. "The first time you touch the Grimoire, if you are summoned, you reach this spiritual plane where the spirits talk to you and one of them chooses you. Lylek, Doashim or Jart. One of them chooses you based on who you really are. Sometimes, people get surprised by whom they were chosen." Katrine still remembered the way Paige was surprised when the Lylek had chosen her since she didn't feel like she was deceptive in nature.

Did she know the location of the Jedi Enclave? Katrine shrugged. "Not yet," she said with a confidence after a moment though. "The answer will be hidden in one of these books for sure. Right now, all I know that it was build inside a natural element, that of a mountain. Which makes me really interested because it reminds me of home. Singing Mountain of Dathomir is home to our clan," she explained. It made her really want to find this Enclave and see in which stage it was. Hopefully, it would be of use.

Er'in was interested in learning what she knew of sorcery and magic of the Mandragora. "Sure," Katrine was quick to reply, before Er'in went on to say she didn't have much to offer in return. There were some unusual alchemical techniques as she had called them. "I'd be willing to learn alchemy," Katrine told her. The thing Er'in would learn about her, depending on how long they were gonna keep each others company was that Katrine defined her as a true neutral. Raised among neutral Witches who leaned heavily towards the light and their Allyan traditions, with parents who had an affection for the darkside. Her open mind though played a pivotal role in it, refusing to submit to a single side. She claimed herself, no side claimed her. "I don't know any Alchemy, it would be useful". There were so many things Katrine had cooking in her head, things she wanted to create. Like weapons. There was an idea of two blades swimming somewhere in the back of her mind. There was even a drawing of the work in her spellbook, something she'd taken plenty of time coming up with but while she had been taught how to create regular weapons among the Dathomiri, she still thought she had plenty to learn. And besides, there were other inklings of ideas slowly starting to take shape but not completely.

"Could you um... please answer in order? That would be much appreciated," she pointed out after a beat, watching Er'in just before the other woman would move to the shelves and start looking for something among them. When she'd chosen a book and began reading, calling her to join her as it some mention on the Jedi. Katrine joined her at her side, glancing over the text. It gave a bit of a poetic explanation as to the location. "Where the brightness met the night, two days of Brashka, it's settlement meant to protect. Nature provided a hiding place beyond the walls, the wise Thorla ensured their safety at all costs...," Katrine read part of the paragraph pausing suddenly as she thought about it. She already knew the Enclave was built into the mountain, which was what that protection and safety were all about. And the word Thorla had already come up in one of the books, making her walking away from Er'in, back to her books, concentrating on what she had read, searching for the image inside her head. Her hand outstretched as she remembered which book, calling it to her. The book pulled from under another one, flying into her arms. "Jedi Master Vhiin Thorla. He founded the settlement for liberated slaves," Katrine read out loud now, looking at it. "Two days walk from the village Bashka." Suddenly, it became clear, the passage in the book Er'in was still holding. "Bashka is on the border of light and dark," Katrine mussed out loud, remembering something else she had read. So, it was a trick meant to deceive, talking about the Enclave being in the border of dark and light. It was the village, she realized. "I think I can find the Enclave," she finally decided.

Her head turned to Er'in. "Now, we just have to find the Sith Academy," she told her. It occurred to her though that she had read an odd passage like the one Er'in had found in the book which she had declared as unaffiliated to the Brotherhood of Darkness but now it occurred to her it might have been on purpose. She looked through the books but she wasn't sure which one it was anymore. She remembered the passage through. "Illuminated forests. Crystal flora. A brightness hides the darkness. Beyond the rocky landscape. Find the dark, find your path." Once finished, her irises moved left and right before she looked back at Er'in. "I think I know where the Academy hides," she suddenly said as she took the book of maps. "There is a place in the Nightlands like that. Rock formations with luminescent forests created by crystalline flora," she explained as she pulled the book, flipping through it quickly as she searched for the drawing done in a lot of colors. Once she'd found what she was looking for, Katrine lifted the book up for Er'in to see. An entire page was covered with the image while the other side of the page gave a map to the location. "We should be able to find the Sith Academy beyond this. But I think it's not shown on any map on purpose," Katrine explained.

[member="Er'in Tenel"]

 

[Er'in Tenel]

"Operating in a linear temporal sequence is so predictable."

Er'in smiled to make it very clear she was joking, after all, doubtless they both knew people who would make that comment seriously, force help them. She folded the book she was carrying shut and placed it back on the shelf.

"The crystal fields? Okay. That makes a great deal of sense. I'll look at putting together some transport and a support team from interested Dark Acolytes, if you get together any interested Mandragora? Which I'm guessing will be most of them."

Backtracking up the conversation in reverse order, Er'in then replied.

"I can certainly teach you the... more colour-neutral version of alchemy was initally taught. But I should warn you, it's a bit lackluster in terms of more powerful effects. I don't mean to offend - genuinely - but it seems to me that dipping from both wells - light and dark - places many of the more esoteric elements of both shades out of reach unless you're the sort to walk a very tight balancing act. Which... doesn't feel like your tradition, it seems unique in itself. But it covers all the basics, and I can certainly show you the elements that require... the strengths of the dark side, as opposed to those of the light."

Er'in doesn't see the light side as evil, or wrong, misguided perhaps - not her way, certainly. But then, she and most 'true Sith' would have a strong argument on power, victory and self-determination.

"Grimoire? A... forgive the terribly literal, scientific term for what is an art - spiritual or force-awakened codex of some kind? Would I be permitted to see it? I... well, I don't have any objection to participating in your rituals, but I don't want to offend either by treating them as an item of curiosity. They're not, I'm always happen to learn more of the more... esoteric aspects of the Force. Which is a really, really stupid statement, because the whole of the Force is esoteric, it's just that people like putting it in boxes."

She sighs, this wasn't making things any clearer - it was obvious Kat wasn't a dark side user, like Srina wasn't one - she didn't quite understand Srina's approach, and she really didn't understand the neutral approach so many people she spoke to seemed to hold. No, she could understand it, she just didn't see quite how it could work for her. But there was no gain at all in dismissing a lived experience or in being obtuse.

"Lets try again. Hi! I'm Er'in, I hold to a variant Sith code, but I'm not a Sith - I use the dark side, but for my own freedom and from my own drive, not to subjugate others. I've heard some people call us 'Light Sith' but... well, that seems like an oxymoron to me. I seek to use the force, not let the force use me. Your uncle is teaching me, but he has his own... views on the subject, which don't quite mesh. So I'm doing this the hard way."

She beams, that's actually the most coherent version of her nascent philosophy on the force - taught by the most ecletic group of individuals you could perhaps imagine, excluding Aing Tii monk influence.

"There, that probably explains me a lot better, doesn't it?"

[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]