Dark Lords and Sleeping Kings

[Boethiah]

Since their victory over the Republic resistances on Korriban, The Primeval have slowly begun to occupy the precious Sith world. In orbit above a warfleet was being formed, in the red sands below armies were forged and battlements were erected.

As likely as it was that war would once again find its way to Korriban that was not the concern this day. The force was stronger than usual as many trained in its ways have arrived here for a single purpose. To train, to become stronger, and to unlock age old mysteries left behind by the Dark Lords and Sleeping Kings of the Sith. Anja Aj'Rou's vessel had landed only a few klicks off from the Sith Academy.

The structure was still being rebuilt but it was now functional enough to walk through its halls and make yourself at home. Taking a speeder, the Host Lord traveled down the canyon path and into the Valley of the Dark Lords where great Sith made their final resting place. Swinging past pillars and monuments, the eons old dust stirred restlessly as the presence of power engorged Korriban's shattered spirit. The dead call out for absolution and demand vengeance against their great enemy, the Jedi.

Once more the dark world's power would rise and this time an unlikely ally would be their caretaker. The speeder slowed to a crawl before halting at the entrance of the Academy. The pale of her eyes wandered over its vast surface and her heart felt awe in the marvel of its construction. Marching through the grand entrance she entered the hallway where Sith Lords once walked freely. This is where it would begin...

[member="Zambrano the Hutt"] | [member="Venris Helion"] | [member="Token Waters"] | [member="Dara Gola"] |[member="Perla Pirjo"] | [member="Nimue Stormson"]

 

[Nimue Stormson]

With the Fringe now part of the Primeval Nimue felt it best to put her best foot forward in joining the faction by meeting with their leader [member="Anja Aj'Rou"] yet again. They'd met once before where Anja had offered to teach the Empress her own means of magic in exchange for a few favors that would benefit the Primeval itself. It was a means to an end for both of them. But now more offers of training were given, and as a part of the Primeval now Nimue realized now she was now entitled to share in their teachings. The news of what was taking place on Korriban, the ancient home world of the Sith, had brought a lot of interest to her. Taking the nearest shuttle she made her way to the old and dark world where, upon landing at the given coordinates, she could see the grand design of the old Sith temples and the like. The planet itself oozed with the darkside with every breath she took. ​

​

Her eyes wandered, seeing Anja, before approaching her with a friendly smile and open arms while declaring "Lady Anja! It's been far too long." trying to hug her.​

 

[Venris Helion]

Of all the places in the galaxy where Venris had expected to walk, he never would have imagined Korriban being on that list. The birth place of the Sith Empire, the cradle of dark side affiliated Wielders of the Force for countless millenia...and a place that suddenly made the eerie and unwelcoming environment of Dathomir seem comfortable in comparison.

Out of habit Venris had left the Renegade Knight at a reasonable distance from the planet before taking a shuttle down. Despite his new status in the Primeval, he still guarded himself against those in its ranks who might hold a certain influence over him. His membership was primarily one of convenience, and Venris knew that among so many other powerful force users he would have to watch every step and carefully think out every decision he made if he wishes to remain in the Primeval's good graces.

To that end he'd agreed to a suggestion to take part in the activities taking place in Korriban's Academy. Venris' thirst for knowledge lead him to the halls where Sith Lords who were feared throughout the Galaxy in their time were given the tools of their trade and taught how to use them. If he had been told a decade ago that he would go from a wandering mercenary on the outer rim to standing in the Academy of Korriban itself he never would have believed it...heck, he would have likely punched out the lights of whoever had proposed such a scenario, and yet here he was disembarking his personal shuttle and setting foot on the cold metal floor of a hangar.

Even now he could feel the influence of the dark side permeating the very air molecules around him, making each breath feel like he was inhaling smoke and causing a shudder to run up his spine. This place was rife with the memories of the long dead, countless generations of Sith who haunted the soil and whispered in every breeze of air.

Venris pulled his hood up over his head and fought the urge to keep his hand near his lightsaber, which was the only weapon he'd chosen to keep with him for this trip.

He'd been informed that the Host Lord, Anja, who he'd met while investigating what turned out to be a rogue sect of the Primeval, would be here among other important figures. This was not the humble Expeditionary Fleet made up of freelancing freighter captains and mercenaries, it was a collection of powerful and influential people who lead a faction infinitely larger and stronger than the Fleet...and this made Venris feel both intrigued and a little worried.

Ironically he ended up hearing of Anja's arrival before he could sense it, literally. In the midst of his exploring the academy he heard somebody, a woman, calling out Anja's name just as he rounded a corner...quite the coincidence. He stepped into view just in time to see the speaker greeting Anja with open arms.

[member="Nimue Stormson"] [member="Anja Aj'Rou"]

 

[Armand Temi]

Perla had been at the Korriban Academy before but only as a visitor and assistant to a Massassi Sith Lord. This time she returned as a willing initiate of the dark arts. The Dathmoir exile had only experimented with alchemy and Nightsister magic with disastrous results for the most part. But with the right tutor she hoped to begin to hone her Force powers into a black, corrosive energy which devoured everything in its path and left only vacuity.

There were others who traveled with them and they also thirsted for the knowledge and attention of the Host Lord. Perla inwardly sneered at them but kept a straight and emotionless façade. The competitive warrior side of her did not like to share and she hoped this resentfulness over having the God Empress divide her attention over a few students would fuel her rage and help give her an advantage over the other students. Perla wanted to be a thriving Agent in the Bleeding Sun and she would have to earn it through these exercises in pain and toil. She dug her fingernails into her skin waiting for the trial to begin and hoping she would be pitted against an opponent worthy of her huntress sensibilities.

[member="Venris Helion"] [member="Nimue Stormson"] [member="Anja Aj'Rou"]

 

[Dara Gola]

Dara waited inside the temple for the others to arrive. She had been instructed by the host lord to go to Korriban for training and while she was nervous she wouldn't refuse the host lord anything that she asked. The air was thick with the darkside, it permeated every pore of her being, and while she wasn't unfamiliar with the feeling of reaching out for the darkside to assist her in battle, the oppressive forcefulness of its presence on Korriban was hard to get used to. She hardly had to focus at all and the darkside was there, eagerly awaiting the chance to fill her with the power she needed, and more. It felt like a flood of power waiting for her to access it, she could feel the air itself humming with power.

Dara felt the arrival of the host lord through her force signature, the raw power emanating from the leader of the Primeval was a supernova even among the heavy force presence on the planet. She felt several other force signatures approaching as well, one felt familiar to her, but the others were all new and unknown. She moved from her kneeling position to a more visible one in the mainhallway so that when she was needed she could react. The temple was being refurbished and there were hundreds of slaves working around the valley, Dara skillfully dodged several of them before she stepped into full view of the main entrance. she wasn't worried about being recognized or being forgotten, in her experience in dealing with the host lord, she had come to realize that the woman had a knack for knowing everything that was happening around her.

Dara had been working hard to improve her skills and had been devouring any and all history she could find on the Primeval. She had become a member of the Bleeding Sun and wanted to ensure that when the time came, she could be called upon to act. Her job left her with the freedom to do many things and most of that time she was alone when she did it, she was very happy at the chance to interact with other members of the order and to learn new things.

[member="Venris Helion"] |[member="Nimue Stormson"] | [member="Anja Aj'Rou"] | [member="Perla Pirjo"]

 

[Brooke Waters]

This place was new. Token was going to give it a try. She knew that the Fringe was working closely with the Primeval, and while she supported both the Fringe and the Levantines, she figured, she might try to see what this third group was about. Token Waters was after one thing, after all. Balance. Balance in life, and maybe even including the Force in that. She knew she had a lot of skills but the Force and feeling comfortable with it? Not really on her list of things.

This world felt dark. It was… different. She didn’t really like it, but if this was where the Primeval were going to introduce her to the Force? She might try it. Dathomir was a bit dark. And at the same time it wasn’t. Maybe it was just the setting and not how the Primeval always viewed the Force. Token was here to learn, though and she would give it her all. Long mass of blonde hair up in a bun, and in standard black on black with purple, because pink was for fools, highlights in her workout clothes, because hell if she knew what was going to happen here.

Still, she made her way towards where the Host Lord was. That was how she was going to learn, right?

[member="Perla Pirjo"] [member="Venris Helion"] [member="Nimue Stormson"] [member="Anja Aj'Rou"]

 

[Boethiah]

Others began to arrive or have already arrived by the point Anja made her way into the primary chamber. It came as a sudden surprise when [member="Nimue Stormson"] decided to meet her with open arms. Affection in any form; hugging, kissing, even smiles and body language were quite beyond the comfort of the Host Lord. So when it came to the point when the woman's arms wrapped around her she couldn't help but feel puzzled; not surprised or angry. Just confused. To some it may be a sad fact that even as a child she never received such affection, at least none that she could recall.

She kept her arms down and was as stiff as a statue with no words to be said until it finally came to the point where she could pull out of the hug without making it more awkward. How she even know when was more of intuition than anything else; certainly not experience. "Yes..." Yes? That was the only word that came from her lips and her voice fluctuated with the spontaneous response. Her eyes wandered the room and met with several faces, some new and others familiar.

Taking two steps back, "I have found it personally beneficial to instruct you all in magick. Whether you're with the Bleeding Sun or... Something else, I want those of The Primeval to remain strong." Her voice was soft yet remained commanding, loud enough for everyone to hear.

The Academy's foundation was thousands of years old, dating back to the Old Republic when the Sith Empire was arguably at its greatest height. Now that Korriban was ruled by The Primeval it was an interesting thought to wonder what purposes or intentions they had with the ruins that once housed acolytes and masters. Truthfully; Anja wished to restore what she could and once again allow Sith and her people to train within the confines of the Academy. There were still ruins to be explored even when many were ransacked, people found that Korriban was worthless but she intended to prove them wrong.

Of course The Republic knew the dangers of a Korriban once again ruled by those who follow the dark side and intended to keep it from falling into their hands even after the world was lost.

Although some of them might be happy with talking, Anja was keen on getting them into action as soon as possible. She was not a great teacher but she knew how to utilize the environment in her instructions.

[member="Perla Pirjo"] | [member="Venris Helion"] | [member="Nimue Stormson"] | [member="Token Waters"]

 

[Nimue Stormson]

Nimue had found the reaction of [member="Anja Aj'Rou"] adorably awkward. She knew she wasn't the type for physical expressions of any kind but that was part of Nimue's disposition. After she slipped out of her grasp the epress gave a small giggle before looking around at some of the others. Only one boy among a group of women, one being a twi'lek. An interesting group. Though Nimue wondered how far any of them had come to learning magic from the Host Lord. Perhaps it was just a matter of waiting and seeing. The talk of leaning it straight from her was a beneficial perk for Nimue to be sure, seeing as how last time the spell she'd been taught induced fear in others; a talent that proved useful in her fighting during the civil war on her home planet. Whatever spells were to come next Nimue wanted them to be equally effective. ​

​

[member="Token Waters"] [member="Dara Gola"] [member="Perla Pirjo"] [member="Venris Helion"]​

 

[Venris Helion]

[member="Nimue Stormson"] [member="Anja Aj'Rou"] [member="Token Waters"] [member="Dara Gola"] [member="Perla Pirjo"]

Magick...it seemed that Venris' entire life was beginning to revolve around witchcraft. He knew that the Primeval had no small number of witches, many from Dathomir, and this had helped to encourage him to join their ranks for information. The marks on his back had been numb and silent ever since he'd arrived, perhaps an indication that the Witch who held power over him was keeping herself hidden in case anyone here might detect her lingering presence through the link she had with Venris.

If she was frightened, then it served her right. All of this insanity had started because of her marking him, and he wouldn't lose any sleep if she felt too nervous to pester him for a while.

Venris briefly examined those around him. The Twi'lek he recognized from the same encounter he'd had with the Host Lord, but the others were unfamiliar...though each was strong in the Force, he could feel that without even needing to analyze them through it.

What worried him more was if he would even be abLe to participate in this. Would he even be able to learn Magick? Was it like using the Force? For all his encounters with witches he knew little of how their power worked.

 

[Armand Temi]

After an awkward hug from one of the other initiates, the Host Lord spoke her introduction. Perla silently agreed with the God Empress that the Primeval needed to be strong. She had fought with Mandalorians and that time would come again. They needed to use all available resources – magic, wits, weapons, pure tenacity – to stay in battle and come out victorious. To surrender was unforgivable.

The witch very much wanted to learn how to use illusions to disrupt and disturb her enemy’s mind. Likewise she wanted to be able to plant fear in her adversaries psyche and hoped the Host Lord would guide her students in that direction. Finally if she were able to learn a few tricks from Vheissu Ireles, particularly the powerful fire magick that she had witnessed first-hand, this would round her spells out quite nicely.

Perla stood quietly and listened, communing with the dark energy that pervaded every inch of Korriban and its inhabitants.



[member="Venris Helion"] [member="Nimue Stormson"] [member="Anja Aj'Rou"] [member="Token Waters"] [member="Dara Gola"]

 

[Dara Gola]

Dara stood off to the side and glanced around at the gathered for the training session. She only knew the one person from that interesting adventure on Rysil II. she didn't know any of the others, but that didn't bother her at all. she listened to the Host Lord talk about learning magick and she tilted her head. Force Magick wasn't something she had any experience with, she had solely studied with the Jedi and the Sith. This would be an interesting learning experience.

She wondered what type of spells they would be shown and how it would be useful to her as an assassin. the recent skills as well as the gift she had gotten has helped her become the weapon she needed to be. She listened along, but she was gauging the other's around her as well. There were that she guessed were newer to the idea of training, as they both had force signatures that were close to her own, neither radiating much power. The man she knew to be powerful yet cautious, so she had to be careful to avoid underestimating him. The woman that had gotten friendly with the Host Lord was strong as well, and she did little to hide it. She kept her hands behind her back and her black robes closed around her as she waited for the training to begin.

[member="Perla Pirjo"] | [member="Anja Aj'Rou"] | [member="Venris Helion"] | [member="Nimue Stormson"] | [member="Token Waters"]

 

[Brooke Waters]

She was the type of woman…girl….young woman who was used to being on her own. Token spent a lot of time traveling in the past… what, decade? Had it been that long? Near enough, really. There was a woman from the Fringe and a whole lot of people Token didn’t recognize. The Dathomir witch-in-training was feeling a bit out of sorts here so far. But really, that was only because she didn’t know any better.

Magic, though, that was why she was here. It seemed to make the Force more… controlled and less wild. And for Token? That meant something. The wild Force made her nervous. She knew that Marek liked the wild bit, he and the rest of that part of her family seemed to live for how wild the Force flowed. But her? She was terrified of it, and that meant she needed a way to put a stopper on it. Like… fast. Running a hand through her mass of blonde hair, she nodded.

These people were a bit more intense than she was used to. Hopefully she could keep up.

[member="Dara Gola"] [member="Perla Pirjo"] [member="Venris Helion"] [member="Nimue Stormson"] [member="Anja Aj'Rou"]

 

[Boethiah]

The halls of the Sith Academy eclipsed the facilities on Bastion to which the Bleeding Sun had called home. What purpose the temple would serve remained vague and to a certain extent unknown, it was being restored in an effort to further solidify their alliance with the Sith but beyond that it offered a tether between them and the ancient Sith of old. Were the ghosts of dead Sith Lords watching them as they trained? Perhaps they were tired of conflict and power and remained at rest in hopes of achieving absolution.

Whatever intention the restless dead had here it would remain their own so long as they chose to be hidden amongst the ruins and relics of simpler days. The trainees as they might be called seemed to gather in no apparent order but most were listening intently and it wasn't difficult to guess that some were likely trying to turn this into some sort of contest; a show of power. That was the nature of force-users, whenever they began to learn they made it their mission to outdo their fellow learners. For the Sith they embraced this as a contest where acolytes fought against each other for the prize of becoming a fully fledged Sith. For The Primeval it was a symbol of progress.

Anja turned her attention to [member="Token Waters"] briefly, the one who seemed most out of place. Though she did not say a word the Host Lord looked through the young woman and was searching for something beyond the perceptions of her eyes. Did she find something? Who knew, she moved on anyway and began to search the rest with her eyes.

There were five of them besides herself, "Pair up. Find someone, anyone, and make them your partner."

[member="Dara Gola"] | [member="Venris Helion"] | [member="Nimue Stormson"] | [member=Token Waters] | [member="Perla Pirjo"]

 

[Nimue Stormson]

Following the others Nimue had looked with intrigue at the rest of the old Sith academy. The Sith she knew very little about, only that they were the enemy of the Jedi and the first of the darkside users. Some of the powers she learned originated from them. Given how everything felt and seemed she could tell they were almost seeped in the darkside from the very beginning. It made her wonder what they were like; the very first Sith. How did they find their power? How did the galaxy react to them? So many questions she felt the need to know later on when she had the time. ​

​

When [member="Anja Aj'Rou"] had told everyone to pair up Nimue's first action was to try and team with the teacher herself. Knowing there weren't enough for each student she only wanted to see how Anja would react o yet another flirtatious advance. Either way she would concede if she said otherwise, and instead looked to the one twi'lek out of the whole bunch. She did enjoy meeting aliens, and this one was rather attractive. She smirked at her, awaiting her reaction as Nimue had decided to go with her as a second option. ​

​

[member="Dara Gola"] [member="Token Waters"] [member="Perla Pirjo"] [member="Venris Helion"]​

 

[Dara Gola]

Dara was focused on what the Host Lord had to say, she focused in on her words and very little else. She had spent a lot of the last few months training and she was ready for any and all tests that they would be thrown into. She was an agent of the Bleeding sun and she could and would do any mission that she was given. If they were supposed to break off into pairs then she would work with whoever was there. she was more than capable of handling anything this test would entail and she was more than ready to begin, standing around with all of the darkness pressing down on her was making her nervous.

She noticed the woman from before approaching her and she tried not to roll her eyes. She had seen that look before and she wanted nothing to do with it. she was on a mission, training or not and there was no time for anything other than focusing on her mission. She took a step back and hoped that someone would intercept this woman before things got awkward. If she had to work with her then she would, but if she hindered her on this mission, then there would be an accident before the day was over.

[member="Nimue Stormson"] | [member="Anja Aj'Rou"] | [member="Token Waters"] | [member="Perla Pirjo"] | [member="Venris Helion"]

 

[Venris Helion]

[member="Perla Pirjo"] [member="Dara Gola"] [member="Token Waters"] [member="Anja Aj'Rou"] [member="Nimue Stormson"]

Well...that shot down any chance of Venris not being blasted with magick by the end of this particular lesson, it would seem. He glanced between the other disciples to gauge them...

There was the blonde haired human woman...he felt great fear from her.

Then there was the other woman, dark haired, eager...very eager, immersed in her environment...she was definitely the most at home.

And the third...he was honestly much more nervous to read her for different reasons, but her body language told him the bare minimum required. Everything about her screamed 'regal'.

The Twi'Lek seemed to up his alley based on what he knew, but then again most men would make the same claim...still, she showed discomfort and annoyance with the third human woman...maybe this could be a chance to get on the good side of at least one member of the group. If he was going to maintain a position in the Primeval he had to get some good will...even if it meant potentially treading on the toes of another in the process.

Taking a risk, Venris exhaled softly and stepped across the floor to the Twi'lek-Dara, yes, that was her name.

"Not sure if you remember me," He greeted Dara. "Venris Helion, we met back in the middle of the mess with that rogue sect."

 

[Armand Temi]

Unlike the others, Perla was fully ready to take advantage of the weakest opponent and so far that appeared to be the fellow Dathomirian witch. She approached the pretty blonde initiate and planted herself in front of her, staking her claim. "My name is Perla Pirjo," she said. "I'm from the Great Canyon Clan on Dathomir but an exile. I haven't been back to our planet in awhile."

Perla wasn't here to make polite conversation - she was here to train and most of all to fight as she was used to out in the wilderness and beyond. But she was curious about the blonde witch's background and what clan she came from.

"From where do you hail on Dathomir?" she asked [member="Token Waters"]

[member="Venris Helion"] [member="Dara Gola"] [member="Anja Aj'Rou"] [member="Nimue Stormson"]

 

[Brooke Waters]

The little blonde wanderer definitely didn’t expect to be approached. Sure, maybe Token was pretty, well, she thought she was, but still, that didn’t mean much here. The Primeval seemed to scream about rule of people who could do things, and aside from being a decent pilot, the Fringe refugee was new here and really not that competent with the Force, even less so than most, with her fear of the Force. When she was approached, she smiled at the dark haired woman.

Oh.

A witch.

Like a real one.

Token didn’t just play one on TV, she did her time with the Blue Coral Divers, and would be returning soon. But she was Corellian. “I’m actually a transplant. Corellia, original.” She nodded, fighting back an urge to blush. “But I did time with the Blue Coral Divers.” If people couldn’t tell, Token was one of those girls, those surfer girls who did good with their chosen self expression but were concerned with the style of it too. "I'm Token!" Right, names.

[member="Perla Pirjo"] [member="Venris Helion"] [member="Dara Gola"] [member="Nimue Stormson"] [member="Anja Aj'Rou"]

 

[Boethiah]

Anja remained silent as she watched the souls gather up and pair off. Despite their motives, it was charmingly naive to see people being sociable... Yet they were wiset to be as with any trial it would be meaningless to partner with someone you couldn't trust and how could you trust someone if you didn't know them? Of course it could also be beneficial to find someone you could get to trust you and abuse that trust to your advantage.

It seemed that [member="Token Waters"] would be with [member="Perla Pirjo"] and [member="Venris Helion"] with [member="Dara Gola"]. The remaining soul all on her own was [member="Nimue Stormson"], someone who the Host Lord had once trained before the Netherworld crisis some six years ago. Little was she aware of the woman's interest in pairing with her or even the flirtatious attitude that was being projected through her actions, attitude, and body language. Anja wasn't oblivious but she did not interact with people in such a way so whilst the brief hug did happen she didn't think anything of it, people hugged as a greeting... Not that people ever before had the audacity to hug her.

With the thoughts of the earlier display to the back of her mind, Anja realized that the woman meant to pair up with her just by the given look.

Approaching Nimue, "Do understand that in the trials to come I will not be a particularly advantageous ally." She lead loud enough for the others to hear as well which perhaps might give hint to what kind of trials lie ahead, given Anja's abilities; should they know them.

 

[Nimue Stormson]

It had seemed the twi'elk girl was already taken. That did in fact leave Nimue with only [member="Anja Aj'Rou"] now. It made a little more sense when she thought about it, seeing as they were the two oldest in the group. At least Nimue thought so given only a quick glance over of the rest of the gathered students. She walked over to Anja and stood with her before hearing her mention how she would not be the best of allies. Instead of seeming intimidated or put off Nimue shook her head with a smile still on her face.​

​

"My dear Anja, it's not about being an ally during the trial. It's a matter of me knowing I'll have the best training because I'll be the one closest to the teacher." her tone and mannerism as she said it indicated her more devious intent to gain more power than anything else. "I'd think you'd know me better by now."​

​

[member="Token Waters"] [member="Perla Pirjo"] [member="Venris Helion"] [member="Dara Gola"]​