Faction Crystal Beasts

[Seo Linn]

The cool sea air settled comfortably around Seo's shoulders as she stepped onto the ancient stone of Ahch-To. Though she had visited the world before, the feeling it stirred within her had never diminished. There was an unmistakable depth to the Force here, ancient and patient beyond words. It did not press upon her so much as quietly surround her, like an old friend whose presence needed no announcement.

As Matsu led them through the restored temple grounds, Seo found herself admiring the balance that had been achieved. The old and the new existed side by side without one diminishing the other. Ancient stone corridors overlooked research stations, Crystal Biots conversed with Jedi scholars, and artisans carried tools through halls first walked by beings whose names had long since faded into history. Rather than feeling divided, it all seemed to belong together. The Jedi had always grown by learning, and there was something fitting about seeing that tradition continue in such a place.

Hanae's delighted commentary earned another quiet smile, as did Olarra's promise to defend Novac from the Fairalee. Even Connel's almost casual dismissal of dragons as though they were an everyday inconvenience drew the faintest hint of amusement from her. Around them, curiosity flourished in different ways. Novac's mind seemed consumed with understanding how everything worked, Olarra absorbed every new wonder with open excitement, and Kyrie continued asking thoughtful questions that revealed how earnestly she was trying to understand both the Force and herself.

When Kyrie spoke of not knowing where she had come from, Seo looked toward the young woman with gentle understanding. "The beginning of our story is important," she said quietly, "but it does not decide how the rest of it is written." Her gaze drifted briefly across the weathered stone beneath their feet. "Many people spend their lives searching for where they belong, only to discover that belonging is something they build rather than something they inherit. The Force has a remarkable way of leading us where we need to be, even if the path rarely resembles the one we imagined."

As they continued climbing, Matsu spoke of the crystal caves hidden beneath the waters surrounding the island. Seo listened with the same attention as everyone else, despite having heard similar lessons before. There was always something new to learn when Matsu spoke, and Ahch-To itself seemed eager to teach those willing to listen. "Water asks something different of us than ice," she reflected softly. "It cannot always be resisted. Sometimes it asks us to surrender our certainty and trust what cannot yet be seen." Her eyes rested briefly upon the ocean stretching endlessly beyond the temple before returning to the path ahead. "Perhaps that is why these caves have remained sacred for so long."

The mention of dragons shifting their forms and the Repository waiting somewhere beyond only deepened the sense that this journey was about far more than gathering kyber. Seo let her awareness settle into the rhythm of the island instead of reaching for answers. The wind, the surf, the countless living beings around them, and the ancient temple itself all seemed to speak with the same quiet voice. She smiled almost imperceptibly to herself.

"This world has been teaching long before any of us arrived," she murmured. "We only have to be patient enough to hear the lesson."

Olarra Zand Connel Vanagor Novac Lyrikal Matsu Ike Kyrie Blaze Nolan ork

 

[Olarra Zand]

LOCATION: First Jedi Temple // Ahch-To
TAGS: Matsu Ike Seo Linn Novac Lyrikal Kyrie Blaze Connel Vanagor
FACTION: Order of the Silver Jedi​

The transition from the sun-baked, dry stone of the pavilion to the winding, ancient staircase was a visceral lesson in itself, each step carrying them higher into the misty sea air.

Olarra stayed in stride with the group, though her eyes kept darting back to the lower terraces where the colossal, shape-shifting dragons were moving crates like simple playthings. The sheer logistics of an ecosystem where your librarian might be an organic clone construct and your dock worker could literally change their cellular mass at will was completely throwing her structural engineering mind for a loop.

Novac's bewildered murmur about the local fauna brought a bright, highly amused grin back to her cerulean face, and she couldn't help but chuckle as Connel casually cruised past him with the ultimate veteran swagger.

"See? Just go with it, snake man," Olarra teased softly, dropping her voice to a playful whisper so only Novac and Kyrie could hear. "If a dragon asks you for directions, just point 'em toward the nearest fish pile and try not to look like a snack."

Kyrie's quiet confession about feeling like she was walking into a crowded room without knowing the language made Olarra pause, her warm amber eyes softening with immense empathy. Hearing the other girl speak so honestly about not knowing her own origins struck a deeply resonant chord in her chest. She knew what it was like to feel unmoored, to look at a blank schematic of your own life and wonder who drew the lines.

"Hey," Olarra murmured gently, bumping her shoulder playfully against Kyrie's arm as they climbed. "You don't need a blueprint to know a machine is built well. You're here now. That's a pretty solid frame to start with."

As she spoke the words, Seo's recent guidance about not measuring her journey against anyone else's echoed back into her thoughts. The senior Jedi had told them to trust themselves, to notice the world in a new way, and to remember that the gathering wasn't a race or a test to be forced. Olarra caught herself, realizing her own internal processors were revving far too high.

Closing her eyes for a brief, intentional second, she took a measured breath of the heavy salt air and consciously centered herself. She pushed down the frantic urge to analyze every mechanical system around her, letting the restless chatter in her head dissolve into the steady, rhythmic roar of the ocean below. For a moment, she just listened, grounding her wandering focus until her heartbeat finally matched the patient pace of the stone beneath her boots.

When she opened her eyes, her mind was clearer, though the practical reality of Master Matsu's announcement still presented an interesting challenge.

Beneath the sea.

Kyrie was already peppering the air with questions about gear and swimming matrices, and Olarra looked up at the floating Grandmaster with a mix of genuine curiosity and lingering amusement. She had been daydreaming about a fluid, hand-carved Songsteel casing accented with a dense sleeve of dark obsidian, weaving gold wire filigree directly into the grip to match her own glyph markings. She was determined that beyond being her traditional weapon, it would also be an ornate extension of her artisan soul. But pondering closer about diving into the sea quickly brought her back in the moment.

"Wait, Master Matsu, Kyrie has a really good point," Olarra cut in, her tone shifting into an open, inquisitive curiosity. "Are we actually diving into the open ocean for this?"

She gestured broadly out toward the endless, crashing grey horizon below the cliffs. "I'm completely down for an adventure, but I've never imagined myself being surrounded by a massive wall of freezing dark water. Are there dry cavern tracks down there, or should we be looking around the docks for some rebreathers before we take the plunge?"

 

[Matsu Ike]

Olarra Zand Novac Lyrikal Connel Vanagor Seo Linn Kyrie Blaze

She was walking and listening to them as she went, small amounts of amusement as leading the way it went up and wrapped around the island. SHowing the ocean but she looked at the others... their questions about diving was there and she didn't say anything yet while waiting for them. "We could, it certainly is a possibility. There are solarite mesh nets about a half a kilometer from the island in the water for safety but we can just enter the caves. They are in the back of the repository just." She paused for a moment. "That is half the test, the repository is a place that has been built for the jedi and contains tens of thousands of years of artifacts, fetishes, trinkets and items."

Matsu was looking aat it all and there was more to them while she was leading the way down another path and the large doors came into view. "Some of them brought here because of their corruption, some because of their power and some because the jedi did not know where else to take them at the time." She was still speaking as the doors were massive and deeper into the rock to obscure and hife it from view and at low tide the doors were uncovered. "The entrance to the caves is at the back of the repository and it is deep, deeper then most. Imagine a cave of wonder and collecteion but it is dangerous to touch more. Ilum's cave tempts you and tests you mentally. THis is a little more something you can see and feel but it is preserved by the caretakers."

 

[Kyrie Blaze]

Objective: Crystal hunt
Location: First Jedi Temple, Ahch-To
Outfit: Light adventure clothing
Tags: Matsu Ike | Olarra Zand | Seo Linn | Connel Vanagor | Novac Lyrikal

Kyrie listened quietly as Seo answered her. For once, she didn't immediately have another question. Her eyes wandered over the ancient stones beneath her feet while the Jedi spoke of beginnings and the stories that came afterward. Kyrie had spent so much time wondering about the blank space behind her. Where she'd been born. Who had taught her to fight. Why she knew things she couldn't remember learning. Whether there had been people who cared about her—or people she should be running from.

The beginning of our story is important, but it does not decide how the rest of it is written.

Kyrie looked back up at Seo. "I think I like that better than finding out I'm secretly somebody important," she admitted with a small smile. "Being Kyrie because I decide who Kyrie is sounds... better." She wasn't entirely sure when she'd started thinking that way. Maybe that was what Seo meant.

Then Olarra bumped against her shoulder, earning a surprised little sidestep and a laugh. The Pantoran's comparison caused Kyrie's brows to furrow before amusement spread across her face. "So I'm a machine with a missing blueprint?" She considered it. "...Actually, I kind of like that." There were certainly worse explanations for why Kyrie knew how to do things nobody remembered teaching her.

Her shoulder bumped playfully back against Olarra's. "Pretty solid frame yourself." She grinned and continued upward.

It was strange. Kyrie still wanted answers about who she'd been. She couldn't imagine ever completely abandoning that search. But somewhere between Matsu's lessons, Seo's wisdom, Olarra's friendship and walking through an ancient Jedi temple on a world she'd barely known existed until today, finding those answers didn't feel quite as urgent.

There were things happening now.
People she knew now.
A person she could become now.

Maybe those deserved just as much attention as whatever existed behind her. The philosophical revelation lasted until Matsu finally answered the question about the ocean. Kyrie listened intently. There were safety nets. Good. Half a kilometer offshore. Less good. But they didn't actually have to swim through the ocean.

Kyrie's shoulders visibly relaxed. "Oh, good." A relieved smile appeared. "I was starting to wonder if 'trust the Force' meant Master Matsu was going to throw us off the cliff and tell us to figure it out on the way dow—"

Repository.

Kyrie's smile disappeared. Her head tilted. Matsu continued explaining. Tens of thousands of years of artifacts. Kyrie's eyes widened. Powerful objects. Her pace slowed. Corrupted objects. Slower still. Objects the Jedi hadn't known what else to do with. Kyrie stopped entirely.

"...Oh." She stared toward the massive doors embedded within the rock. Then she looked down at her hands. "Ohhhhh."

Psychometry had been part of Kyrie for longer than Kyrie herself, as far as she could tell. She didn't remember learning it. Half the time she wasn't even sure she was using it. Touching something simply caused impressions to come. Sometimes they were little more than emotions. Sometimes images. Sometimes considerably more.

Kyrie's gaze returned to the doors. Behind those doors were thousands upon thousands of objects carrying histories potentially older than entire civilizations. And Matsu had just said touching them was dangerous. "Okay." Kyrie immediately grabbed both straps of her satchel. "New rule." She looked toward Olarra. "Kyrie's hands stay attached to Kyrie."

Her expression turned unusually serious for approximately two seconds. Then she pointed her chin toward Olarra. "And if I see you trying to take apart some ancient Jedi thing to figure out how it works, I'm tackling you." A grin. "You stop me touching mysterious things. I stop you disassembling mysterious things." She nodded firmly. "Teamwork."

Kyrie started forward again, though she kept both hands firmly wrapped around her straps. As they approached the doors, however, her humor gradually faded. Something was there. She couldn't explain it.

Kyrie's pace slowed again. She didn't reach outward intentionally this time. She didn't need to. The closer they came, the more she became aware of... impressions. Not words. Not even voices. More like standing outside a room containing thousands of conversations and hearing fragments through the walls. Fear. Hope. Anger. Grief. Purpose. Things carried across centuries by objects whose owners had disappeared long before Kyrie had awakened aboard her ship.

Her fingers tightened around the straps. One sensation flickered across the edge of her awareness. Kyrie froze. Familiar. Her head turned slightly toward the doors. For the briefest instant there had been something she recognized. Or thought she recognized. She couldn't even describe what it was. A feeling. An echo. Something that made a buried part of her mind insist: You know this.

Kyrie took half a step toward it. Then stopped. Her eyes closed. Breath in. Breath out. Don't chase. Master Matsu had taught her that. Kyrie opened her eyes again. Whatever she'd sensed was gone. She didn't follow it. Instead, she moved closer to Matsu.

"Master?" Her voice had lost most of its playful edge. Kyrie glanced toward the enormous doors and then back to her teacher. "I understand not touching anything." Her grip tightened slightly on the straps. "But what if I don't have to touch it?" She hesitated, trying to find the right way to explain the sensation. "What if something in there reaches me first?"

Kyrie's eyes returned to the Repository. "Do I shut it out?" Another moment passed. "Or am I supposed to listen..." Her brow furrowed. "...and trust myself enough not to follow it?" For once Kyrie didn't rush to find the answer herself. She simply waited for her teacher.

 

[Novac Lyrikal]

Olarra Zand Matsu Ike Kyrie Blaze Seo Linn Connel Vanagor

As his brain went all over the place he was brought back to reality when Olarra Zand spoke, "Oh no you misunderstand, i own a few dragons. Its not fear or worry in the slightest." He though it might be best to leave out one of them was a sith creation and another on of them was ten meters tall, at least the other dragons where...more normal compared to those two.

When he heard the word swim his heart stopped for a second, until it was revealed that they in fact would not swim.

As Kyrie Blaze joked with Olarra novac said, "That doesn't stop me from touching thing though." with a slight grin. He probably wouldn't touch anything anyway, probably.

 

[Seo Linn]

Seo listened as Matsu explained what waited beyond the great doors, and some of the easy curiosity in her expression gave way to something more thoughtful. Tens of thousands of years of artifacts was difficult enough to comprehend on its own. Knowing that some had been brought here because of their corruption or because the Jedi simply had not known what else to do with them made the Repository considerably more intimidating. Her gold eyes remained upon the doors as they approached, and even without reaching deliberately into the Force, she could appreciate the weight of history gathered beyond them.

Olarra and Kyrie's agreement to keep one another from touching anything earned a quiet laugh from Seo. "That might be wise," she commented, though she left it at that. Novac's observation that their arrangement did absolutely nothing to prevent him from touching something drew her attention toward him next, one eyebrow lifting. "Then I suppose we'll find out how good your judgment is." The amusement in her expression made it clear she was teasing rather than attempting to police him. If Matsu wanted to establish rules before they entered, that was Matsu's responsibility.

Kyrie's question was different. Seo's expression softened as she listened, particularly when Kyrie described something inside reaching toward her without physical contact. That was something Seo understood. Psychometry had become more manageable with training and experience, but she had learned long ago that sufficiently powerful impressions did not always politely wait to be invited. Some places carried histories so strongly that merely standing within them could be enough to feel their echoes.

She did not answer for Matsu. Kyrie had asked her Master, and Seo was content to let the Grandmaster decide what lesson belonged in the moment. Still, when Kyrie glanced toward the doors again, Seo offered her a small, understanding smile. "For what it's worth, I understand why you're asking. Psychometry doesn't always wait for touch. I've had places and objects reach me before I consciously reached for them." Her gaze briefly followed Kyrie's toward the Repository. "Learning the difference between what you're sensing and what you're choosing to pursue took me time."

There was something else in what Kyrie had said that caught Seo's attention, however. Familiar. Considering everything the young woman had shared about her missing past, Seo could imagine how difficult it had been not to immediately follow that sensation. "You stopped," she observed quietly. "Whatever it was, you felt it and didn't immediately chase after it." A little warmth entered her smile. "I think that says something about how far you've already come." Beyond that, Seo left the question where Kyrie had placed it, with Matsu.

Her attention wandered toward Olarra for a moment, though Seo said nothing about what the Pantoran should or should not do. Olarra had her own strange relationship with psychometry, one tied so intimately to her craftsmanship that Seo was curious how the Repository would feel to her. If anything happened, Seo could offer what experience she possessed then. Until it did, there was little reason to crowd the younger woman with warnings when Matsu was standing only a few paces away.

Seo finally looked back toward the doors herself. There was a certain irony in bringing an investigator gifted with psychometry into a place containing tens of thousands of years of mysteries, and a faint smile appeared as she loosely clasped her hands behind her back. "I will admit, this place is going to test my curiosity too," she murmured, mostly to herself. Somewhere beyond those doors were stories that might not have been heard for centuries. For someone who had spent much of her life searching for forgotten truths, that was temptation enough.

Still, this was not Seo's Gathering, nor was it her lesson to lead. She had come because Matsu had invited her, and because there was value in accompanying younger Jedi through experiences she remembered from her own journey. So Seo simply remained with the others, her attention returning to the Grandmaster as she waited to see what Matsu intended for them next.

Novac Lyrikal Kyrie Blaze Matsu Ike Olarra Zand Connel Vanagor Nolan ork