Character
Some time after the destruction of Exegol
Writing with
Valery Noble
Darth Vinaze, returning from the otherworldly sojourn forced upon him by his defeat at the hand of
Eina L'lerim-Vandiir
, had found the paradigm shifted in an unrecognizable galaxy. Solipsis was dead, Exegol and the New Sith destroyed, the Mawite tribes scattered to the four winds. The Sith Lord could not help but succumb to the sentimentality the defeat had brough about.
Exegol had been his home long before the Maw had adopted it. It was a sacred place, so holy to the Dark Side, and as the final blow in a series of sanctified worlds taken by the Jedi, it had fallen to the fate which Korriban had narrowly avoided. Purged, cleansed, destroyed. It had been where he had first witnessed the prophetic vision of the Sith'ari on the Dark Throne, and where years later he had seen it come true.
Even had the artificers employed in Vinaze's lab on Exegol escaped it's destruction, there had been no contingency, no world kept in reserve, simply because defeat had been inconceivable. And yet, one day Vinaze had awoken to find that defeat had come to pass, and that all his work to find the Sith'ari had amounted to nothing. He had become listless, a wanderer with no direction or desire. He had contemplated yet another pilgrimage for his soul to reflect on the Sith Code, but what was there left to see? Practically every world sacred to the Sith had fallen to the Jedi of the Ashlan Crusade.
Ultimately, he had resolved to return, at great risk, to the one place where he could stop and make sense of it all: the desert world of Tash-Taral. On the edge of the galaxy, it had once been the hill upon which the Dark Sovereigns had chosen to die in defiance to Carnifex's Empire. It had also been the world that Vinaze had ruled in their name, what little it held to lord over. Ironically, when the Ashlan Crusade had finally reached Tash-Taral two of the three Dark Sovereigns were dead, with Vinaze having absconded with the remnants of the Warlords and pledged fealty to Solipsis.
His return had thus far been fortuitous. In the far northern polar regions of the world the secret laboratory, where he had created Sithspawn in the service of Kascalion Giedfield, remained undefiled by the Jedi, though long abandoned by the Sith. In addition, in returning to the sector once occupied by the Jedi crusaders, he had chanced upon an opportunity.
The spirit of Darth Vinaze, though weakened after the battle at Tython, still had a measure of power. Though he could no longer imagine projecting himself across an army as he used to in his battle meditations, he needed only to dominate the minds of a few now. His subject, the vehicle of his return to Tash-Taral, had been the Jedi Master Gar Izes, an Ashlan Crusader still active in the fringes of old Sith space with his three knight companions.
The Jedi had been unaware of what came over them as the spirit of Darth Vinaze had possessed their master, and with the strong Force connection of Master Izes, Vinaze had amplified his dominating power and enthralled the knights. When they arrived at Vinaze's lab, he wondered how long these men had searched for this place, only to find it as slaves to its architect.
Their power, their vital Force, would be incredibly valuable to Vinaze if he was to begin building a new powerbase from the ground up, but his authority over them was tenuous. They were strong and dedicated followers of the Light, and their connection to it would constantly buck at the dark reins holding them. Vinaze knew he had to work quickly and decisively or he risked losing them, or worse, for their comrades to find them. Experiments would be pushing it, but nevertheless he had to test if he still had it in him to create monsters. With each knight that he might turn into a diabolical Sithspawn, it would be one less he had to exert himself to control. The monsters would need only a physical cage to contain them.
And so, he set about with his thralls to ready his lab chambers for the first transmogrification. He found himself greatly preferring such thralls as he had now to the old test subjects he had so often used, their midichlorians strong and plentiful, his dominion over their minds allowing for a quiet and focused workplace unburdened by screams of pain or terror. The first of the Jedi knights went silently and grim faced, whatever terror he was facing deep in his subconscious unallowed to show. His comrades watched in similar enthralled stoicism as the dark side roiled through him, twisting him into a monstrous killing machine. Vinaze relaxed some as he ceased enthralling the former knight, and let the mindless Sithspawn bash itself against its cage in beastly anger. Yet, he could feel his time slipping. He had to proceed even faster lest Gar Izes overcome his dark chains and interrupt Vinaze.
Writing with
Valery Noble
Darth Vinaze, returning from the otherworldly sojourn forced upon him by his defeat at the hand of
Eina L'lerim-Vandiir
, had found the paradigm shifted in an unrecognizable galaxy. Solipsis was dead, Exegol and the New Sith destroyed, the Mawite tribes scattered to the four winds. The Sith Lord could not help but succumb to the sentimentality the defeat had brough about.Exegol had been his home long before the Maw had adopted it. It was a sacred place, so holy to the Dark Side, and as the final blow in a series of sanctified worlds taken by the Jedi, it had fallen to the fate which Korriban had narrowly avoided. Purged, cleansed, destroyed. It had been where he had first witnessed the prophetic vision of the Sith'ari on the Dark Throne, and where years later he had seen it come true.
Even had the artificers employed in Vinaze's lab on Exegol escaped it's destruction, there had been no contingency, no world kept in reserve, simply because defeat had been inconceivable. And yet, one day Vinaze had awoken to find that defeat had come to pass, and that all his work to find the Sith'ari had amounted to nothing. He had become listless, a wanderer with no direction or desire. He had contemplated yet another pilgrimage for his soul to reflect on the Sith Code, but what was there left to see? Practically every world sacred to the Sith had fallen to the Jedi of the Ashlan Crusade.
Ultimately, he had resolved to return, at great risk, to the one place where he could stop and make sense of it all: the desert world of Tash-Taral. On the edge of the galaxy, it had once been the hill upon which the Dark Sovereigns had chosen to die in defiance to Carnifex's Empire. It had also been the world that Vinaze had ruled in their name, what little it held to lord over. Ironically, when the Ashlan Crusade had finally reached Tash-Taral two of the three Dark Sovereigns were dead, with Vinaze having absconded with the remnants of the Warlords and pledged fealty to Solipsis.
His return had thus far been fortuitous. In the far northern polar regions of the world the secret laboratory, where he had created Sithspawn in the service of Kascalion Giedfield, remained undefiled by the Jedi, though long abandoned by the Sith. In addition, in returning to the sector once occupied by the Jedi crusaders, he had chanced upon an opportunity.
The spirit of Darth Vinaze, though weakened after the battle at Tython, still had a measure of power. Though he could no longer imagine projecting himself across an army as he used to in his battle meditations, he needed only to dominate the minds of a few now. His subject, the vehicle of his return to Tash-Taral, had been the Jedi Master Gar Izes, an Ashlan Crusader still active in the fringes of old Sith space with his three knight companions.
The Jedi had been unaware of what came over them as the spirit of Darth Vinaze had possessed their master, and with the strong Force connection of Master Izes, Vinaze had amplified his dominating power and enthralled the knights. When they arrived at Vinaze's lab, he wondered how long these men had searched for this place, only to find it as slaves to its architect.
Their power, their vital Force, would be incredibly valuable to Vinaze if he was to begin building a new powerbase from the ground up, but his authority over them was tenuous. They were strong and dedicated followers of the Light, and their connection to it would constantly buck at the dark reins holding them. Vinaze knew he had to work quickly and decisively or he risked losing them, or worse, for their comrades to find them. Experiments would be pushing it, but nevertheless he had to test if he still had it in him to create monsters. With each knight that he might turn into a diabolical Sithspawn, it would be one less he had to exert himself to control. The monsters would need only a physical cage to contain them.
And so, he set about with his thralls to ready his lab chambers for the first transmogrification. He found himself greatly preferring such thralls as he had now to the old test subjects he had so often used, their midichlorians strong and plentiful, his dominion over their minds allowing for a quiet and focused workplace unburdened by screams of pain or terror. The first of the Jedi knights went silently and grim faced, whatever terror he was facing deep in his subconscious unallowed to show. His comrades watched in similar enthralled stoicism as the dark side roiled through him, twisting him into a monstrous killing machine. Vinaze relaxed some as he ceased enthralling the former knight, and let the mindless Sithspawn bash itself against its cage in beastly anger. Yet, he could feel his time slipping. He had to proceed even faster lest Gar Izes overcome his dark chains and interrupt Vinaze.
