Private Consequences of Violence

[Liin Terallo]

After a recent attempt on my life when I travelled back home after visiting Coruscant and Naboo, I felt vulnerable. My parents balk at physical combat. The real battle is on the political stage afterall. It is through what happens there that can result in war. But it is not the politician that fights in the wars. However they do fund them.

Still I thought that it would benefit me to at least learn a few things. It may be unbecoming of a Lady, but if I could be of some help to myself in a dangerous situation; then that in turn could help the security teams that had been hired to protect New Cov and myself when I travel.

Outside of my charming wit, my only accessory is my fan. I wonder if there is some way to hide a dagger within it. Yet I cannot pretend to be an expert in such things.

Word of the attack on the transport that carried me had spread further than New Cov. Well wishers had come and gone; some leaving behind gifts. To my credit I have done my parents and the Board of Directors proud. And with my ankle fully healed, I am now ready for the next step.

The first of which is to welcome a nobleman guest. I wait dor him in my library, wearing the dress that my Mother says brings out the color of my eyes. I cannot see the colors at all, yet I trust her to know what is best. Always.

Tag: Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

For a man who was so nervous around women, he did not interact with them if he could help it, being paid to spend time with one was a strange and real change in pace.

Malum had not expected to stay at New Cov that long, it was a beautiful planet mind you, and very interesting to boot, a jungle planet with such dangerous flora and fauna that the denizens had to create domed cities to survive. In such regard, it was less a planet, and more a series of connected cities.

He had no real need to stay here, he had only arrived to refuel the Lochris as he continued on his travels.

That was until he had seen the ad, a request by some businessman for a tutor to teach their daughter some self-defense. It paid ludicrously well, and though it was not as if Malum needed credits by any means, some more spending money could do a lot of good for him. And for once, this was one of those ads that he could actually confidently fulfill, he was a Sith, and an assassin to boot, teaching some self-defense could not be too hard, could it?

Thus it was, as Malum approached the door of the house of said businessman, that confidence whirled with nerves regardless, he rapped his knuckles thrice on the wooden door, greeted the doorman politely, and was directed to the library some distance away. His black boots stepped across the laminated floor.

And he felt his breath leave him, his mouth dry.

There she was, Liin Terallo, as the ad had advertised. He had not been expecting her to wear such a dress, no doubt he had seen more provocative, more revealing, than just some dress barring shoulders for display, but he had not been expecting his student to be wearing such a thing now, nor even for his student to be so... pretty.

This may be more difficult than he had thought initially.

"Greetings, Lady Terallo, I am Malum of House Marrtaniel, at your service," Malum said, his red eyes, concealed with blue contacts staring ahead, as he gave a small nod of his head in respect, as always in his travels, he kept himself hidden, incognito, the Sith were still not liked much in these worlds.

That would change someday.

Liin Terallo

 

[Liin Terallo]

His arrival comes unannounced. Partly. I overheard the knock on the door, for the library was just to the right of the foyer. So I knew right away that my instructor had found the apartment. My Father had assured me that one had answered his call. There are few that can resist a dip into my Father's coffers. And most especially when it comes to being in his good graces. So it does not surprise me in the slightest that the answer to his call came quickly.

I had expected some middle-aged man; yet instead I am met with a man appearing nearer to my own age. And he appears equally as surprised as he sets his eyes upon me. I smile and lower my chin in greeting before striding over to him with my right hand lifting for him to grasp. "It is a pleasure, Instructor Malum. And welcome to Ilic. Can I get you anything before we start?" Always the gracious host. My Mother has trained me well.

Tag: Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

Malum quickly yet with grace took the profered hand, noting immediately how soft it was, with neither wear nor callouses, it was what he expected if he was being honest, still that would mean he would need to be starting with the most basic of basics.

No trouble.

He brought the hands to his lips, and kissed them softly. Slightly being surprised that she was following such etiquette, very few in his travels had. Though of course he reminded himself that Terallo family considered themselves nobility, of course they would teach their daughter such things. Of course Malum was not sure if they were true nobles, New Cov was far from the noble circles of Jutrand and the Sith Empire, still, it was possible she was from a family of upjumped merchants.

It was possible, her family were high ranking members of the New Cov Biomolecule Company after all.

It reaked of Burghers attempting to rise above their station.

Still, it was no matter, he would do his task as instructed.

He let go of her hand, and withdrew back a respectful distance.

"Some water would be appreciated, I would prefer wine, but such lessons as I will teach you are better with a clear mind, no?" Malum offered a small confident smirk, a jape, to ease the scene. On one hand he was glad she was acting like a noble lady, for one who truly nervous for interacting with others, at least this way, he could move with practiced movements and words.

He had been trained for this after all.

"I think with our first lesson, we should establish what you wish to learn, I know the basics from the request from your father, but I desire to know what you wish to learn, and indeed, what you already know." The shadowy invisible tendrils of Consume Essence had already attached themselves onto her, he first noted that she did not seem to be a force sensitive, disappointing, and would make some more advanced skills more difficult, but what was more pertinent at the moment.

She seemed to be as intrepid as him, it would be best to put her at ease then.

Liin Terallo

 

[Liin Terallo]

I am not surprised at his impeccable manners. Indeed the instructor holds the essence about him of a true nobleman. I give a small smile as my hand is kissed and dip my head in acknowledgement of the gesture.

In seconds he responds to my inquiry, which leads to a small laugh at his jest. "We shall save the wine for later, then. So water it shall be." I direct the instructor over to a side table which carries a variety of drinks and small canapés. I pour some water from a crystal pitcher into a tall crystalized glass. Everything here is elegant and beautiful; just the way I like it.

He asks me what I know and once again I give a small laugh as I pour myself a glass of water. I wait for him to sip first as it is customary to wait for the guest to indulge before myself. "I know very little, I am afraid. Self defence is not usually left to me. I have staff for that. However there will be another time where I will not have staff to help me. And so, I should like to learn to at least something to give myself a chance in getting away to safety." I draw my free hand up into a loose fist. "Weather it is with a small weapon that I can hide within my fan or my dress, or with my hands and feet. A Lady should not use violence. However I understand that there may be times upon which I will have no choice but to use it." I hope that I have answered his questions well enough to receive his help.

Tag: Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

Malum nodded at her words, as he sipped on the water, taking a canapé and chewing on it softly, as he was chewing thoughtfully at her words. She was an anomaly to him, a paradox in some sense, he had met many a noble lady in his life, those from many planets, some close to him, he had sisters after all, and some far away, some opportunity for a marriage to strengthen House Marr, to continue its line. Yet most of them, almost all of them really were one of two things, dainty little ladies who were naive to the world and content in their comfortable and luxurious lives, willing or perhaps unable to protest being wed to whoever their family chose. Then there was the other, the lively and independent women, refusing to accept the position their families attempted to impose on them, rebelling against any and all constraints.

Malum would easily admit the latter intrigued him far more than the latter.

Still, as was becoming more and more obvious as Lady Terrallo spoke, she seemed to be in the middle of the binary spectrum he had made in his life. It was not as if that was too strange, Sophia had always been like that to a degree, still, it was interesting enough. This woman was both content in her standing and position but too seemed far from completely naive, knowing that the world was a dangerous place, and others would not always be able to protect her.

It was odd that her father seemed to recognise that too, old lords were a prideful bunch.

Though he was not exactly old, nor a lord, was he?

He could not be thinking like they were as such, it would certainly come back to bite him.

"Well, it seems you have the right of it, that is very good," Malum said simply, taking another sip of water, considering the rest of his words, "The galaxy is a dangerous place, especially for beautiful young ladies," Malum offered a smile, even a small wink in jest, "As for the weapon in question... I shall admit that while I primarily use li-, longswords in my practice, even blasters, I can teach you the use of a dagger, and indeed it is a good weapon to have, not hard to learn, though I will say, it is generally blasters that most would use to defend themselves," Malum left the unasked question in the air, why indeed, a dagger over a blaster, daggers were useful to him, an assassin as he was, and they were useful true if you could get in close with a person, but a blaster, especially for a civilian was perhaps the better choice, far more versatile certainly, "Regarding where to hide a dagger, I must admit I have never seen someone hide a dagger in their fan, though I have heard of it," Yes, in fiction novels, "But yes a dagger could rather easily be hidden in a dress, or a holder in your leg and arm." Was that her reasoning then, the ability to hide it? Well, it was not as if blasters could not be easily hidden either.

He blinked, why exactly was he trying to convince her against using a dagger? It was not as if he was greatly proficient with a blaster enough to teach her.

Curse him and his curiosity.

Liin Terallo

 

[Liin Terallo]

I smile as he compliments my looks. Even if it was not truthful, it was still sweet to hear. I have heard it a lot lately from outsiders, but recognized it as more of sweet-talking than anything else. That is a common thing to encounter in this position. So I just take it in stride.

I give my full attention as he continues on, letting me know of two different weapons of choice that could be useful for me. It seems as though my fists are out of the question. I look down at my hands briefly, studying them and my knuckles. Perhaps my hands are far too dainty to defend myself with. That could be a good reason that weapons are far better for me to use.

"There is sure to be a way to hide a dagger within the stems of my fans. Even through scans, it may be undetectable. A blaster may not succeed. I have also never fired one before. My aim could be so horrible that I could end up hitting someone else or no one at all. And more often than not, a potential kidnapper would be within reach of me." I speak from experience. I was grabbed and carried off so harshly and quickly, that if I had a dagger on me, I might have gotten away. But hindsight is twenty-twenty or so they say. And I just do not know if I am even capable of learning to defend myself.

I am sure that my instructor will tell me if that is the case.

Tag: Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

To be undetected then, hmm? He could not resist the chuckle that erupted out of his lungs, even if he was chiding himself in the depths of his mind, only moments later. Ah, that would be awkward, normal people did not exactly randomly erupt into laughter, especially when nothing particularly humourous had been said, "My apologies, it was nothing you said, I simply remembered a previous student of mine." A lie... he thought, well no, he was certain, he had no student, after all, he was still one, but something in his mind voiced disagreement, though he was not sure why.

Regardless, to be fair to him, it was hard to not laugh when the irony was so plain that it bordered on design rather than coincidence. For her to unknowingly ask an assassin to train her with a dagger of all things because a dagger was a weapon that could not be detected. Because where he would use a dagger for offence, she would use it for defence.

He feigned a hum of consideration, then one of understanding, glad that she had given an argument against the use of a blaster better than he could have.

"Perfectly understandable, so tell me, do you have a dagger of your own, or do you need to borrow one of mine?" He reached into his robes and pulled out two small daggers, both equal in size, without any features that would merit any real consideration. They were... not foreign to him, after all, he had been trained in the arts of smoke and mirrors for years now, but the fact was when one had access to the Force and lightsabers, simple daggers became rather... childish.

It was an odd word to use when describing dangerous weapons, but it felt apt.

Liin Terallo

(OOC: I am so sorry for the wait).