Private Crumbling Castle

[Irveric Tavlar]

//IN ORBIT// Dromund Kaas
//ON-BOARD// Epitaph
//TIMELINE// Shortly After The Return
//THEMATIC// Red
//FOCUS// Avernus

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Freshly returned to service after his mortal armor was marred gruesomely during the Sith-Imperial defense of Mandalore. The vision within the eye that remained had finally returned wholly- providing a well enough benchmark for the Sith Empire to press their newest Lord General into service once more. However before his fleet disembarked from port in Dromund Kaas - someone had demanded a meeting with him. A Sith in particular- it shouldn't have been any suprise who it was.

Avernus - the face alien but the name all too familiar. Voi'kryt had convened with him to nurture her force sensitivity from raw potential into tangible power which she could utilize. It wasn't an action that sowed distrust in her, there was little that could manage that but it certainly was something he reviled. He had made clear his distrust of the Sith only for her to fraternize with them behind his back. Such was the nature of working beneath the banner of the crimson saber.

Donning his Sith-Imperial officer uniform it was an odd change of pace from the last he was donning any Imperial colors being his battle armor which was utterly shredded to unidentifiable scrap on Mandalore - useful only to be molded into the next rainment he would don into the next battle. Within his command center under the bridge of the Marr II he'd utilized as his flagship times over he consulted with a few of his subordinates of the next steps to take. With the Emperore carrying a loose grip over military command it was largely aimless where Tavlar might march his legions next.

The blast doors opened to reveal the Pureblood, Tavlar peering up with his cold visage marred scores over by blades, flechettes, blasters and explosives he offered a nod to the other officers present dismissing them from his presence for the time being. Wirm'nael'armiir was one of the few to make their way past the Sith, the blast door shutting behind him, leaving the Lord General alone with the Sith within his planning room - a large holomap displaying the star systems of the galaxy dissipating with a press of a button, letting the cold, artificial florescent light ignite the room once more to reveal the extent of Irveric's fresh wounds. Silent - the Lord General appraised the man, setting a cybernetic hand on the edge of the table he seemed to expect the Sith to speak first - more focused on reading the man's actions than he was concerned with discerning the reasoning for his presence. His face eerily familiar if only from the visions within Lyra's subconscious though seemingly different given the brazen wounds he sustained on Mandalore had yet to be seen from her.

​

 

[Avernus]

It was instantly apparent that the Darth was a wealthy eccentric. The outfit, sunglasses, and his audacity to wear an actual crown on his head made that perfectly clear. Opulence such as this almost looked offensive against the utilitarian, industrial architecture of the Epitaph's interior. He stopped as the blast doors whirred closed behind him, clasping his hands together and letting them hang down in front of him, showing off an absurd ring on his right hand.

Avernus' eyes narrowed once he realized he couldn't sense Tavlar's presence in the force. Where he could once feel nearly every little emotion from every person on the ship he could now feel nothing standing before the Lord General. His first thoughts were far from the idea that the Lord General was force-dead or somehow cut off from the force. On the contrary, his first thoughts were that he had somehow buried his own presence in the force so deeply that even Avernus' extremely potent empathy was lost on him.

Truthfully, Darth Avernus had become so used to his constant, passive sense of empathy that being without it was almost alien to him. It was a big leg-up in social interactions, and admittedly he had been using it as a crutch for as long as he could remember. To be without such a thing in the face of a Lord General wasn't exactly intimidating, but he was far less comfortable that he would like to be. Despite all of this he kept a brick wall of a composure, managing to show no tells aside from the slight narrowing of his eyes.

"Lord General Tavlar," Avernus' voice was far deeper than his appearance would have let on, and he had the typical Imperial-adjacent accent and intonation one would expect from a Pureblood. "I am glad that we could meet. I'm sure you already have an idea of why I insisted on such a meeting, yes?" His tone was mostly neutral, but he did regard the Lord General with some vague semblance of respect, which was more than he granted most. While the Lord General did technically outrank him for all intents and purposes, Avernus was Sith and in his mother tongue, Sith meant 'Perfection.'

He would show no trait of a subordinate, nor would he accept being treated like one. In his eyes, the Lord General should have been thankful that Avernus' had decided to be cordial. It wasn't like any Sith worth his salt abided too strictly by the hierarchy set into place by the 'Rule Of Order'. Non-Sith were always below, regardless of what the intangible hierarchy said. Strength was the only tangible hierarchy, and the Sith were strength.

 

[Irveric Tavlar]

//FOCUS// Avernus

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The sight of the Sith in...whatever he was donning, was certainly one to behold. Irveric had certainly seen eccentric socialites in his brief tenure in Dromund Kaas that he'd just disembarked from but...this...this was truly something. Were he looking at it in isolation he might've laughed but here it all was, the rainment of a Sith Lord, a pureblood at that. It was almost as if his innate disdain for the dark creed had manifested itself into something he could never comprehend the sight of before him.

"A peculiar question to ask as the man initiating the meeting at all." Irveric commented, slowly rounding the holomap table to approach the Sith with narrowed eyes - a gaze still in innate disbelief as to what he was looking at.

"I can never assume why a Sith might care to delve into military matters but no matter." Irveric remarks coldly to the Pureblood, letting the silence ease for a moment before speaking once more. In spite of the absolute raw confidence Avernus must have mustered to equip himself in that panoply of decadence with any level of conscious thought - Tavlar carried himself without a fiber of a fear in his aura. Not as if any of that could be read beyond his body language.

"Shifting your trajectory to meet with me here must require greater business than making acquaintances so please - do tell."

 

[Avernus]

Avernus' face contorted into a slightly confused expression, head cocking somewhat to the left as the Lord General approached. That expression slowly quirked into an amused and smug grin as a realization came over him: The Lord General was completely oblivious to what had become of Voi'kryt. He crossed his right arm over his chest, resting his left elbow on the forearm and holding his chin with his left hand in a feigned 'thinking' pose. This was mostly done to add to his own smugness, which he reveled in.

"You don't know? Tell me, Lord General, when was the last time you spoke to Colonel Voi'kryt? It had to have been recent, no?"

Avernus had simply come to learn more about the man and his relation to his new apprentice. He'd figured if the relation was as significant as he assumed, she would have told him. It was odd, Avernus thought, that she could be so bold in the face of him, a Sith Lord, but not in the face of Irvertic Tavlar. Did she fear a mere man than a Sith, the galaxies epitome of strength and perfection? How interesting.

 

[Irveric Tavlar]

//FOCUS// Avernus

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"I'm not sure what that has to do with you at all, Sith." The Lord General remarked, his tone taking ahold of shades of bitterness and anger as the Sith spoke to him. His immediate thought was not so much that Avernus had taken up his subordinate as an apprentice, but that the Sith had sent him to intimidate the Lord General. Picking up on his recent activity they may have sought it fit to threaten him- threaten her. And in an act of even greater slight, send the message embodied within this pureblood who sought to don the most truly decadent outfit imaginable in the presence of a Lord General.

"Why do you ask of her, Pureblood?" Tavlar carried on, furrowing his brow. It was perhaps now that he revealed true weakness. A rare showing, but revealed shades of true vulnerability beneath a tempered armor of hardened resolve.

 

[Avernus]

Though Avernus had no access to Tavlar's inner emotions or intentions, he could easily pick up on the small nuances of weakness the Lord General telegraphed. Several muscles in his face twitched erratically with zeal as he smelled the weakness like a tuk'ata would. He'd had the impression since he first saw Tavlar's face through Lyra's thoughts that he had some kind of disdain for the Sith. Avernus still hadn't figured out what the relation between the two was, but the opportunity that dangled right in front of him to break the news about his new apprentice, the opportunity to cause such displeasure, it was exhilarating.

"I'm surprised that she hadn't confided in you about this. I had the assumption the two of you were close."

The Pureblood smirked something sinister, vile intent materializing across his face.

"Colonel Voi'kyrt, or should I say-"

The malicious expression reached it's peak as the next words spilled out from between his edged Sith teeth.

"Darth Sybila."

Darth Sybila was the name Darth Avernus had bestowed upon his apprentice as she pledged herself to his service on Korriban some time prior. It practically unheard of for an apprentice to be given such a title in the modern-day, but Avernus had foreseen change. He'd never been much of a conformist to the current ways of the Sith. His traditionalist upbringing and personal avant-garde philosophy could be to blame for this.

"She pledged herself to my teachings on Korriban some time ago. My intention was to come here and speak to you about some details of the agreement, and also to find out why you were such a point of contention within her emotions. Though, I didn't expect her to keep you in the dark about such a wondrous occasion."

 

[Irveric Tavlar]

"Darth...what?" Irveric interrogated, his brow furrowing as he ground his teeth against one another. He could piece together quickly enough what had occurred. It was a worry that had been brewing within the sinews of the Lord General for years, ever since the two of them discovered her force potential years ago. He had done all in his power to conceal it from the Sith, partly by her bidding. Yet here she betrayed his trust. Betrayed what they both agreed to nearly a decade prior.

"She did this...and told me nothing. And how did she find you, Pureblood?" He asked, narrowing his one eye to the Sith. It took everything from him to not try and choke the life from this Sith who reveled in the deceit with innate smugness.

"Wondrous occasion? To be made another leech of this Empire? Burying herself in hubris and self obsession with power as the rest of you lot have? There is nothing to revel for, Sith. What did she tell you of me then? Did you peer into her mind only to find me and flaunt this? Pathetic if that is so -- it is all the Sith care for after all, to posture their power. " Irveric remarked, shaking his head in bitter disdain.

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Avernus

 

[Avernus]

Avernus found an odd sense of pleasure in the Lord General's remarks. He was much bolder than many would dare to be in the face of a Sith Lord. Such courage was admirable, a sign of strength for certain. The smug expression on his face remained as Tavlar spoke, the pureblood maintaining eye contact through the calm boutade from the Lord General. A loud, posh laugh emitted from between the Pureblood's edged teeth.

"I have no interest in posturing over this matter. A Sith is the ultimate individual, it is wonderous that Sybila can break from the machine that suppresses that exact quality in a being, isn't it?" He placed his hands behind his back and paced slightly to the left side of the Lord General's command center.

"I hadn't necessarily peered into her mind on purpose either. That kind of sense for me is about the same as hearing works for you, but I digress. She, in fact, didn't mention you at all. Thus why I sought you out. It was a daunting task to figure out who you were based on facial credentials alone, and I don't much care to interfere in military proceedings to get information. Though if I had, I would have no doubt found you much sooner."

There was a small pause in his address to Tavlar as he paced around.

"I wished to ask a few questions, and thus discover why you were such a point of her contention in her emotions. You've already done me a service and answered my question, be it unintentional. I see where her reluctance stems from when considering your jealousy-seeded low opinion of Sith. Considering how much she seems to care about you, it's only reasonable that she would feel such conflict over the situation."

His explanation was very much a mouthful. His tone and attitude of perceived superiority probably didn't do much to make it bearable for the Lord General, either.

"You've given me more insight on how to exploit her doubts than you realize. Using bait to incite negative emotion is always the best way to train a powerful sith. I'm pleased your relation to Darth Sybila will prove to be useful in her training long term."

Irveric Tavlar ​

 

[Irveric Tavlar]

He would be playing his game if he let himself stoop the level of righteous anger he truly wished to impose on the Pureblood. Another reminder of his deep rooted disdain for the creatures who adhered themselves to the dark creed. No - showing anger again would only reveal weakness in himself. When he next spoke, his tone returned to its more even handed, stoic cadence as before.

"Jealousy? You speak like some spoiled child. You clearly do not understand the nuance, few of the Sith do. The Sith speak in the primal language of strength and power and refuse to understand why men like me wouldn't all bow in the wake of their display of godliness. No Sith of Pureblood or creed adherence is perfect, its all the force -- without it...you're nothing. You, the Emperor, his 'Shadow Hand', all nothing without it. It is a lesion on what could make the Empire reach its potential. So long as we are subdued to their whims, we embark on an endless death march. Thrawn threatened to conquer the Galaxy all his own with resources comical in comparison to what Carnifex or Krayt could muster. Pellaeon restored order to the Galaxy in the wake of the Yuuzhon Vong incursion and yet men like them are regarded as chaff in these places. To make way for the Eye Of Soloman and Sith Lords content to lap the boots of their greater masters. Your power is nothing but a testament to your deceit for your masters and now...Lyra." Irveric Tavlar states outright, his words tantem to treason spoken in any other company -- even still he didn't seem to regard Avernus, or any of the Sith with any fear. Not as if the Pureblood could ever pry into his mind -- separate and void from the force.

"And so what, you pry her now to raise up as Sith? So that she might strike you down when she equals you in power? Or so that she might be vexed into cutting me down? It would only make sense for the Sith to secure such contingency, even if it might spare a shade of awareness that they are not what has built this Empire. So do tell, Pureblood...do you come here merely to mock me and flaunt your meager triumph?" He asks, furrowing his brow.

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Avernus