Private Canyon Crawlers

[Kaila Irons]

Location: Ossus, Imhar Canyon
Wearing: Armor + Robes
Tag: Ran Serys

Darth Anathemous had always been impressed by that which defied fate.

The Jedi temples of Ossus had been ravaged by time and peaked clean by scavengers for hundreds of years before her birth. Only ruins stood now, dusty, crumbling, but standing nonetheless. They whispered secrets to those who but had the will to hear, to clean away the dirt and much and to read them carved upon the walls in runes once considered a dead language.

Others were lucky enough to find their secrets, but few understood them.

Deep within the Imhar Canyon, one such secret had been discovered. A rockslide, they said, old stone eroded somewhere far beneath them all had caused a shift in the surface. It had revealed something peculiar; a door that did not open.

Locals had worked tirelessly to clear rubble from the entrance, archeologists had sketched and theorized and cleaned away the dust just long enough for rumors to spread into nearby systems, and it is for this reason that Anathemous came to them.

"I am permitted to be here." she said idly to one such man.

"You are permitted to be here."

Kaila looked at him, lips pulled into a frown at the use of such powers.

Still, it was better than the alternative.

"I am not to be disturbed, send the others away until I return."

The workers were given an early break whilst the hooded figure carefully observed the door, chin pinched between gloved fingers.

At first she found it confusing with no visible mechanism by which to open the ruins, but in time, she noticed the large grooves in the walls around them were not so decorative as she once believed. Flanking each side of the door, there was a circular dip with some sort of metal plate. Were inquisitive gaze followed the indentation to the opposite ends, where large bronze spheres were tightly bound to the wall, or so one may believe.

Kaila smiled faintly.

She'd seen this on Jedha.

With a flick of her wrist, both spheres rolled through each groove until arriving beside the door, and with the sound of grinding stone and falling dust, the door began to ascend into the ceiling.

The sith walked into it's dark halls, following the sounds of rushing water.

​

 

[Ran Serys]

Location: Ossus, Imhar Canyon
Wearing: Robes
Tags: Kaila Irons

Ossus was a planet with a long and gone history. Cultures, peoples, and knowledge lost to time. Ancient History. At the core of that history was the Jedi. So there Ran was, a Jedi Knight, come to see what had been.

A recent rockslide reported in the Imhar Canyon revealed an ancient sealed door, one that could not be opened according to the locals and Ossus’ more studied visitors. Ran held a theory that it was only unopenable to them, the many who could not touch the force as a Jedi did. She decided it was best not to test that theory so far away from home. After all, she was an interloper in a part of the galaxy where the Galactic Alliance had no sway. If a Jedi opened the way for more discoveries, the enemies of the Jedi would bear down on her. So Ran walked the canyon, keeping a distance from the excavation site, feeling as if she walked in the wake of another. She tried to shake off the feeling but it was an echo in the force and therefore unable to be shook.

She searched her surroundings to find nothing immediately threatening, and still she pulled her lightsaber. She held it out before her and channeled the force into its hilt. Its casing was made mostly of magnetized Slivian Iron, and when focused on Ran could use it as something akin to a compass or dowsing rod to find magnetic distortions, mineral deposits, and water. Anything that could be used to find the presence of caves, ancient ruins, water ways, and aquifers.

It didn’t take long for her to find an alternate avenue. The ruins were crumbling with time just as the nearby rock faces. All Ran needed was to find a path down, and a path she did find. She inserted herself, with some effort, into a narrow slit in the canyon face. She crawled through the tight, claustrophobic darkness, until she met water. Running Water. It was even more void-like than her cave crawl. She blinked her eyes, triggering her mutation. A form of night vision and infrared sight, with it she could even see in the dark. She waded into the cool, dark waters, feeling refreshed and also pulled. The current had taken her into its arms, not violently but softly, and transported her through water way after water way that were too precise to be naturally occuring. The waterways were aimed at her destination and she knew this. She trusted in this.

 

[Kaila Irons]

Wearing: Armor + Robes
Tag: Ran Serys

The doors shut behind Kaila with a flick of her wrist.

She was forced to wield a lightsaber as though it were a torch.

The cave was bathed in crimson glow as she made her way deeper and deeper. It didn't take long for her to become waist deep in rushing water, at some point the current was enough that only the weight of her implants kept her from being swept away, eventually leading to a deeper point.

Now the young Darth was no swimmer, but she knew a trick or two.

After a moment spent staring hesitantly at the water, she removed her robes, which were quickly swept up by the current and sent gods know where.

She was down to an armored bodyglove which thankfully kept the water out, and soon fitted with a breath mask from her toolbelt. Still the Sith was not so prepared as one may think and she sank to the bottom of that watery chamber as though she were a heavy droid. It took powerful levitation to achieve come close to the surface, such that she could no longer concentrate fully on veiling her signature in the force, spreading a dark chill a short distance around her, though it was not the extent of her signature.

Even so, she was at the current's mercy for some time.

Kaila closed her eyes and a sixth sense prod her surroundings, keeping her informed enough to dodge the odd rock or two by shifting her weight and levitation in one direction or the other. Eventually this led her to a much larger chamber after many twists and turns, emptying out in a great pool which connected many passageways.

She clung to the rocky bank with all the strength she could muster, ripping the breath mask away.

Glowing eyes shone fiery gold in the dim light of that chamber, illuminated only by the thinnest sliver of sunlight from the ceiling high above. She rose to her feet slowly, creeping towards a vague feeling in the force.

Something was here, likely important, deeper within.

And she wanted it.

​

 

[Ran Serys]

Location: Ossus, Imhar Canyon
Wearing: Robes
Tags: Kaila Irons

It was soon when the waterways were ready to release Ran. Their currents slowed and brought her to an easy exit. With less than a spurt of water, Ran exited the subterranean canals with impressive grace. Yet, despite her impeccable balance, she felt off. Strange sensations touched her awareness. She felt it. The chill of the Darkside. It was a muted feeling, hushed, but one that Ran had to question. How? Why here? Were her suspicions correct and did she walk in the wake of another? She prepared herself for the possibilities of taint, corruption, and trespassers with less than noble intentions.

The antechamber the canal set her loose in smelled of dust and ancient mildew but was otherwise well preserved. It was down deep enough to be kept safe from the ruined surface and still time took its toll. Ran continued onward in the only direction she could. The antechamber led out to what appeared to be a training room for the Ossus Jedi of the past. Walls were intricately carved with stories by the hands of Jedi artisans. Their style was unmistakable. Ran’s knowledge of the past let her date the carvings to the times of the Old Republic. She pulled a datapad from her belt to scan and preserve the carvings and the stories told. She’d look to confirm these stories against the Order’s own archives.

With more to explore, Ran recognized the symmetry in the layout of the underwater temple. Several antechambers meant several different entry and exit points. She doubted they all led back to the same point of origin. Instead of following another watery canal she continued down an adjacent dry hall. The hall was lined with several rooms. To the untrained eye, the rooms were filled with ancient scrap, junk, silly gizmos and doodads made of long oxidized metals. A dust covered tinkerer’s workbench in every one. To the trained eye, the rooms were a slightly different sight. The rooms were filled with lightsaber components, some more well preserved than others, and a crafter’s station with specialty tools not seen in thousands of years. Ran inspected them. The knight catalogued the components in her mind by size, shape, obsolescence, and rarity.

It wasn't until she came to the end of the hall that Ran found something she was truly interested in. Interested enough to linger on. A box only opened with a slight touch of the force revealed it. She picked it up, the component inside, and inspected it. Holding it in what little dim light the temple systems provided. It was a focusing lens, masterfully crafted and balanced, and wonderfully preserved. It was as if the lens were new. Ran knew a lightsaber didn’t make a Jedi but she also knew to add this piece to any lightsaber was to increase one’s control over the multi-faceted instrument. She held up her datapad in an attempt to scan it but when she did, she noticed a shadow in the datascreen’s murky reflection. She was not alone. But was the being a friend or was it a foe?