Private Dead and Dreaming

[Darth Vinaze]

Malachor V
Nulgath Zardai

Darth Vinaze had never expected to return to the place of his death, and rebirth. It had been an end and a beginning, when deep in the ruins of Trayus Academy the Dark Sovereign Kascalion had taken his life to fuel his ascendancy to the prophesied Sith'ari. How quickly things had changed after that. How quickly he had cast aside Giedfield for Solipsis. It hadn't been long after that the Jedi had taken Malachor and ransacked it of its valuable old relics.

After that, the tides of fate had washed Vinaze farther and father away from the Stygian Caldera, from Malachor, and yet it called to him incessantly. It was there he had cheated death, passing his consciousness into the Force, but refusing to become one whole with it. He was a dark spirit, a revenant, but death beckoned him towards it. True Death. It was torturous in a way, that he still devoted himself to the affairs of the living, when his corpse was interred below the ashen wastes. He had become like the many dark spirits lingering that he had been so fortunate to meet on worlds like Korriban, where the tombs were plentiful. But even they did not stray far, waking only to defend what was theirs in life, never meddling beyond that.

In the wake of Darth Solipsis' defeat, the listless Darth Vinaze had returned to Malachor V with deep conflict in his soul. He stood at a crossroads, where he could choose to either continue on, purposeless, or he could succumb to that siren's call from beyond and accept the slumber of true death. Though it was not an easy decision, Malachor was a wound in the Force, where spirits like him dwelled innumerably, from tragedies long ago and recent alike. He would need time to reflect, to call on the dead through the Force, not as an interloper like he had been long ago in the service of the Dread Ascendancy, but a pilgrim, a lost soul, perhaps even a companion to listen to the woes of the perished.

His passion had been extinguished at Tython, his chains a heavier burden than ever before. He did not know who or what he would find, but he prayed it would be solace, in the Dark Side if not in the Sith Code...

 

[Nulgath Zardai]

The desolation of Malachor V stretched out endlessly, a bleak landscape of ash and ruins under a perpetually darkened sky. Ancient relics of forgotten battles littered the surface, silent witnesses to the violent history that had unfolded here. Amongst the rubble and decay, a figure moved, draped in a tattered black robe and cloak that billowed ominously in the howling winds. The being's form was obscured by the shadows of a sith robe, their physical appearance shrouded in darkness. But where eyes should have been, two crimson suns blazed with otherworldly light, piercing through the gloom like divining rods.

As the figure sifted through the ashes, the air crackled with the static of an impending storm. Light rain fell in a relentless cascade, casting a glistening sheen over the barren wasteland. The raindrops seemed to bend around the figure, as if reluctant to touch the darkness that enveloped it. In the Force, the presence of the being was palpable, a roiling miasma of decay and corruption that tainted the very essence of the planet. Like a festering wound in the fabric of the Force, its aura radiated waves of darkside energy, sending shivers down the spine of any who dared to draw near. With each movement, the being exuded a sickening metaphysical sickness, a perverse distortion of life and vitality. The force around him twisted and screamed in aberration.

WRONG, WRONG, THIS IS WRONG.

Was it so hard to believe that this could of been a Man once?

Darth Vinaze

 

[Darth Vinaze]

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. That old phrase was nowhere more true than Malachor V. It was the one world of the Sith that did not claim grand mausoleums, a legacy of the hallowed dead, a memory of the past. Malachor abhorred the past, denied it to all those who had not mastered the technique to commune with the dead here without going insane. And yet, the past continued to linger here for Vinaze.

Across the ashen desert, two robed figures approached one another. Vinaze appeared as nothing more than a robed shadow, his form gracefully moving over the rough, wet sand, unperturbed by the relentless lightning. He moved ever closer to the unnatural feeling in the distance. He knew this energy, this aura, from long, long ago.

Reaching his own diminished aura out through the Force towards the roiling energies of the other Sith Lord, he called to him.

"You and I are no strangers to this world and its recent past, are we? It has been many years since I have heard tell of the Lord of Decay, and never have I met another who reeks in the Dark Side as yourself. You are Nulgath Zardai . Malachor finds you... as it always has. " He remarked as he made his presence known to the other man. The man's energy was deeply unstable, truly manifesting as a storm in the Force, not as Vinaze had seen some Sith do in battle, but as the nature of Immortuous' being, it seemed.

Though Vinaze had never known this other Dark Lord personally, they had once served the same cause in battle here, trying to end the reign of the Zambrano dynasty. He had nothing of the Lord of Decay for decades after. Was Immortuous anything more now than a wandering husk of a corpse? The shuffling speck of black on the distant horizon did not tell him one way or another. But the screaming ferocity of his presence in the Force made Vinaze know that this man was alive, in some primal way, perhaps even more than Vinaze himself. What a curious encounter he foresaw...

 

[Nulgath Zardai]

" Grrraawwhhahahh" A guttural moan emitted from the black void in the hood of the spindly cloaked figure. For a moment it sounded like a sigh or maybe even a gasp. Was the hooded one startled by the sudden arrival of the newcomer Darth Vinaze ? Spinning around to face the origin of tangible speech. The figure turned to face the Sith Lord and out of the darkness a toothy smile formed apon hearing the name; Darth Immortuos. The cloaked figure straightened its posture and held its head high. Little light that was shed on Malachor V shined apon the face of Immortuos, revealing a face decayed by time, twisted by sith sciences and magics. Infected yet controlled. Rotting yet preserved. Dead yet alive.

The Lord of Decays maw managed a chewing motion before raw intellect was showcased. " You think you know me?" Eerie red eyes scanned Vinaze as he approached. " You..." He paused and began to accept the energies of the man through the force. Feeling his aura and trying to gain a idea or semblence of where Immortuos had met or encountered this stranger. For a momment he looked at if to ask a question, then paranoia intruded into his undead expression. " If you think flattery will keep you alive, you are mistaken. Who are you?" he spat.

Over the years it was paranoia that had kept Immortuos alive for so very long and being as old as he was now and stronger than ever, he counted that as a win and so it made no sense to ignore that gut feeling now. Not in till more information was leveraged here.

 

[Darth Vinaze]

Even as the man's storming aura swelled, Vinaze pushed towards him through the ash, and then it seemed as though the shuffling corpse before him relented, just for a moment, as the energies of the two Sith lords connected through the Force. The tension was thick, the power of the man approaching Vinaze was volatile, so he spoke calmly,

"I am a ghost like any other man you would meet wandering these wastes, but one I suspect you do not know me. I am not an enemy, if that is what concerns you. Enough Sith blood has been spilled here for an eternity, ours would merely be drops in a sea."

Drawing closer, Vinaze could see the man, if he could even be called that still, for what he was. The Lord of Decay possessed a body befitting his title, like a walking corpse. It took walking a fine line to remain as he was, clinging to the space between life and death. It was admirable, from the view of a Sith alchemist like Vinaze. Many Sith could not do with parting from a mortal form, as Vinaze had. Though a man strong in the Force could linger on after a mortal death, it indeed made one weaker. That was why Vinaze had relegated himself to an observer, an advisor, and chiefly, a shadow. Death had suited a Sith like Vinaze, for it was a tool to serve a greater cause, as he had always done. But of course he understood the appeal in immortality, in endless pursuit of ever growing power. It was what all Sith desired, in some form or another. Vinaze was no different, though his pursuits were always into the mysteries of the Force.

But how many Sith lord could he recount tales of, who fought with their utmost being to remain in the land of the living, so to taste the soaring heights of the power they could accumulate? Be it the power to kill or to influence, it was power all the same and it was spectacular when seen in its ends. Darth Sion held a corpse body together with nothing but sheer willpower derived from his rage. Darth Sidious perfected Force sensitive cloning for an endless supply of new mortal forms. Dathka Graush had replaced his own organs with force crystals that would not fail him unlike a mortal's insides. And so it seemed, Darth Immortuous had joined that legacy, somehow. The why never changed much, so Vinaze was most eager to know the how. So too did he wish to know the reason that fate had led to this encounter, of the two lone Sith in this worldwide graveyard.

Your being, so close to death. Neither truly over the edge like myself, but nor are you living, not like any other living thing that is. It takes its toll on you, does it not?"

Nulgath Zardai

 

[Nulgath Zardai]

"I am a ghost like any other man you would meet wandering these wastes, but one I suspect you do not know me. I am not an enemy, if that is what concerns you. Enough Sith blood has been spilled here for an eternity, ours would merely be drops in a sea."

Apon closer inspection Immortuos could see the truth. This "Man" was more of a specter than anything else and much like how the Sith Lord had died on Malachor V so many years ago. This ghost was now haunting the planet like so many others before him. The Lord of Decay felt little for the phantoms predicament. He should of prepared better. It was rather the inquiry of Darth Immortuos's own condition was what garnered his attention. For years, decades even, Immortuos had studied and learned many feats of strength and power in the darkside, but his current condition was the pinnacle of his achievements. Even now, though much could not simply be perceived at glance, there was still so much potential he had yet to discover how to use. To his knowledge there was no other Sith in history that had gained everlasting life as he did and under most circumstances he would keep that secrets to the grave but to gain power as Immortuos did was to accept and invite oblivion...If you failed.

That was the gift of The Sickness.

Your being, so close to death. Neither truly over the edge like myself, but nor are you living, not like any other living thing that is. It takes its toll on you, does it not?"

" The paradox of my existence has a price that no average sith would ever indulge, Ghost. " The Sith Lord blinked once and set his eyes in a squint to observe this ghost more. He was slightly tempted to use Force Walk to claim the phantoms power as his own but he had no need for that at the moment. " Tell me your opinion and thoughts on the Sith Code and lastly... Who do I have the pleasure of speaking with?" Immortuos grinned wide. A sharp toothy smile that threatened to disfigure his face, except it didnt, it only grew wider with each passing second. A bloodthirsty crazed smile. " Answer me this and I may indulge your curiosities about how my current state came to be." he mentioned as incentive.

" Mind you there is a right and wrong answer to this exchange." He added quickly. There was something about this ghost's energy in the force that was enough to bring Nulgath to a memory of the past. He was invested now. Who exactly was this phantom before him?

Darth Vinaze

 

[Darth Vinaze]

"You stand before Darth Vinaze, a title anointed in the pain and blood of the Sith Schism. It is dangerous to ask a man his opinion of the Qotsisajak in this age of chaos, but as my mind lingers on many questions, it is only fair indulge your own. Maybe I ought to be called heretic for it by the very enemies I have put that name upon, but I have come to believe that peace is not a lie, but an illusion of mortality. In life, through constant change and strife there can be no peace, indeed. But in the void created by destruction, by death, one can find the true peace of nothingness, of pure darkness. As fleeting mortals we may never live to see what our actions and our adherence to the Code will bring, so we do what is prescribed by our forebears and pray our successors do it better. That was the core philosophy of Darth Bane.

Yet, in life we harbor a spark of the Light, always. It was the failure of the likes of Darth Vader, and of Darth Revan, that they did not purge from themselves that last sliver of goodness. Their failures ultimately ended great plans of Sith domination in a fraction of the time their predecessors had spent scheming.

The Light is strong, but it is only as strong as we let it be. It is the role of the Sith to constantly chip away at the Light, in our enemies, in ourselves, in existence. Only then, in true darkness, after one's chains have been broken by the rites of the Code, that one finally achieves peace in the absence of the Light.

But I wonder, how many countless Sith have clung to life and power because of that inevitable spark of the Light that sits deep within them, perhaps without even knowing? In you, Lord Immortuous, I cannot sense it. One who walks in undeath as you do has rejected, nay, perverted, the sanctity of Life and Light in a way few others can."

Nulgath Zardai

 

[Nulgath Zardai]

The undead sith lord remained composed as he listened and took in the information. Every now and then he would nod his head to himself as if noting particular details and then a popping sound would emit from his jaw as it shifted out of its socket and back in. In life it served Nulgath to stimulate himself and aid in processing information and in undeath it did the same. This "Darth Vinaze" went over the Sith Schism, a detail that could not be missed and it only brought up one question in Immortuos's mind.

Which Schism? There had been many through the years and though Immortuos looked ancient he was in fact roughly 105 years old now and had lived through a handful of Sith Schisms. It was within their nature to fight amongst themselves and if they did not, well, then they were no true sith. As for Nulgath himself, he had lived through the death of the Emperor during One Sith's reign. Twice he had assisted like minded Sith lords over throw and murder the newly elected Sith Emperors in times past. He had been an acolyte alongside names there were infamously known today as Sith Lords of influence. Taeli Raaf, Prazitus, Erebos, Kezeroth and many more. There had been so many Schisms and yet the memory of the most recent for himself came to mind. His memory flashing back to fighting along side Darth Adekos, Kascalion, Vinaze? All Warlords of the sith? The red gaze of the Siths eyes faded slightly, a motion that may of been similar to a blink or drifting of the mind. It was all slowly coming back to him. Since his transformation and willingly afflicting himself, time and all its functions was he no longer bound by. He still thought as a man and operated as a man for the most part but his mind was freed of the trappings of time. He could be, if he so chose, everywhere and nowhere all at once. Only as long as The Sickness was present.

It is dangerous to ask a man his opinion or to chide the Qotsisajak? There was a separation between the two. " Perhaps there is danger in our curiosities, but If you are as educated as you appear then what danger is there at all?" Immortuos stated in rhetoric.

Maybe I ought to be called heretic for it by the very enemies I have put that name upon, but I have come to believe that peace is not a lie, but an illusion of mortality. In life, through constant change and strife there can be no peace, indeed. But in the void created by destruction, by death, one can find the true peace of nothingness, of pure darkness. As fleeting mortals we may never live to see what our actions and our adherence to the Code will bring, so we do what is prescribed by our forebears and pray our successors do it better. That was the core philosophy of Darth Bane.

" To have heresy is to have an accuser or accusers. There are none before you now. Most mortals live as they think they should. Sith and Jedi, it makes no difference. I once thought as you did in regards to the spark of life and light within us all. We must crush out the light! That was what I told myself. That was what I was taught and yet as I dug deeper and deeper into the histories and knowledge of the force I discovered that Darth Banes philosophy is flawed. Treachery and deception was believed to be the nature of the darkside and as history has told, that was to the knowledge of Bane and his apprentice, what they needed at the time. Even today the philosophy of Bane lives on and- " Immortuos rolled his eyes and waved a hand shaking his head and muttered a mantra or creed under his breath. Strange utterings.

" The Banite way is fixed on one interpretation. A master to hold the power and a apprentice to crave greater power. The creed does not specify the absolute removal of the master though. It only requires a greater craving for power. A great passion for it." Immortuos scoffed at the notion. " A jedi has peace, a sith has passions and what they both deny they share is obsession, conviction and will. Nothing else remains."

"There is no passion…there is solely obsession. There is no knowledge. There is solely conviction. There is no purpose. There is solely will.
There is nothing… Only me. Darth Ruins Creed. " The wide smile on the Siths face faded into a thin creased line and he paused for a time. Listening to the ghostly calls of the wind on Malachor V before remembering to address Darth Vinazes real question. A question of light and Immortuos's perceived lack there of. " I may of perverted the sanctity of life and light. From my view i have taken a step more towards it. What do you know of a Darth Drear and Darth Scabrous, Lord Vinaze?

 

[Darth Vinaze]

Curious, the philosophy espoused by the undead Lord. Of course he knew of Darth Ruin, the most infamous man of Vinaze's own species, perhaps, or at least when Vinaze had been a mortal Umbaran. Ruin's legacy had emerged in a time not dissimilar to the present, he supposed, a time when there was another cult bearing the title of the New Sith. Yet Vinaze had not thought of Ruin's creed before, not in the light he was seeing it now. Obsession and conviction were aspects of righteousness that had underlined the many great ideological crusades of history, both far past and in recent memory. Unchallenged moral superiority had been one of the Warlords' sins, however, and when the Ashlan Crusade had broken them their moral highground had shattered beneath them. Vinaze alone had been able to restore their dignity through devotion to Solipsis. It conflicted Vinaze, that he agreed with the Ruinite mantra for its power in driving the conflict which the Sith relied on, yet also that its ultimate arbitrator was strength. Conviction could make a man strong and determined enough to challenge, or cheat, death, but it meant nothing if the opponent was truly stronger. In such a case it was only foolhardiness.

He would not immediate challenge the notion, letting it stew in his mind through the discussion continuing, for the discussion of the dastardly Sith alchemists that followed intrigued him greatly.

"I know of those lords, as every alchemist should. They are a cautionary tale of hubris. Undeath for the sake of... nothing, and a creation beyond the control of its masters... bodes unwell."

Nulgath Zardai

 

[Nulgath Zardai]

It was always interesting when conversing with another individual holding the title of Darth. One never really knew what the other was thinking or knew. Sometimes I found pleasure in catching other lords and ladies in their follies and thus far I could not find one with this Vinaze. Aside from the fact that he was in fact not living.

" Of the two, I have learned that Scabrous would of remained the closest to achieving the power left behind by Drear. The immortality offered and left behind by the two sith is hardly easy to master and exacts a terrible price, If you fail. That price is oblivion. Your mind, body and very essence assimilated into what the Sith call, The Sickness. Your body will rot, your mind held captive and your essence kept within a collective consciousness. " Immortuos glowered and shook his head some. There was movement beneath his robes and a red glow emitted from a skeletal-like hand that cupped a red cube about the size of a jedi holocron. It was a datacron. A tool of learning to be examined and used. To entice if possible.

Beady red eyes scrutinized the cube as it floated between the two of them. Up and down it lifted and sank and glew faintly in pulsating waves of electronic energy. It was only then that the Lord of Decay decided to "correct" a viewpoint held by Vinaze. " Where the Sith of the past failed. I did not." He stated and grinned. " It took me many decades to prepare the ritual and if by some chance I missed a detail. Well...I would not be conversing with you now." I had missed a detail in the end, well almost. " Would you not take up Immortality if it was offered to you?"

"I know of those lords, as every alchemist should. They are a cautionary tale of hubris. Undeath for the sake of... nothing, and a creation beyond the control of its masters... bodes unwell."

" Undeath... not for the sake of nothing." Immortuos waved his finger at his friend "You see Lord Vinaze, As I stated earlier, People live as they think they ought and use their strength in doing so. Life is strength...of sorts." Immortuos's voice became almost a whisper briefly before returning to normal. " You live, then you effect your world. You cannot contest this fact. Take yourself as example, You are a learned man. Educated in arcane sciences, alchemy and sith magics. No doubt you have been bestowed many titles and conquered many lands that you lay claim. Your name is respected, your claims prospered and your apprentices and family grow and flourish. You lived as you thought you should. " Immortuos waved his hand with a gestures as he continued on. " But now.." He looked Vinaze up and down. Inspecting the ghost of a man who once was. " Now, you are dead. Your lands are to be divided, your family and apprentices move on and you are...forgotten. A good life but you were ultimately a slave to death."

" You might as well be a memory of the man you were. Nay, not a memory but a memory of a memory. Hollow. And I wonder with your new potential life, Will you once again, Fade in the shadow of greater beings?" He hissed and then let his tone soften some. " Or will you rise to that stature of your destiny?"

Tags: Darth Vinaze

 

[Darth Vinaze]

Vinaze felt as though he was beginning to understand Immortuous' thinking. Though the Sickness, Blackwing as the Imperials had feared it long ago, was truly no way for a Sith to die, or to live in its collective conscious, power over it had clearly done something for the Dark Lord standing before him. And being a spirit of the Darkside, what had it done for Vinaze? He took a moment to ponder.

It had been a sacrifice, first and foremost, that he had always attributed to another necessary step in fulfilling the prophecy of the coming Sith'ari. But in the wake of their failed ritual at Tython and the death of Solipsis, Vinaze had become so unsure. And now he was at the end of the road or so it seemed. He had slain his own apprentice when challenged, he had placed the crown on the Sith'ari, and he had ultimately failed to give what little power he'd had left to the ritual. He had severed his legacy and his future in service of a goal that hadn't come to pass. And what Immortuous spoke was true, that his lands had long been carved up by the Jedi, so even returning to them he had been an unwelcome interloper.

"A slave to death... that is... yes that it all I have ever been. I spent life and unlife alike giving parts of myself, my own power, to the Sith. I have only been the great prophet of the Sith'ari at the expense of subservience. And now I wander these wastes no more than the ghosts of Revan's war do. But to return in my own right... I wonder. The corpse I once wore lies as bones far beneath us right now, bones I would never seek to wear again. But another man's form, one that I could possess and whose power I could take for myself. I have done it before, but never permanently."

Nulgath Zardai