Private Exitus [Eira]

[Darth Carnifex]

The veiled figure watched the acolytes train, quiet eyes fixed on the unknowingly stalked. A large pit of sand, the walls gently sloped, had been erected at the center of a large courtyard. Pair of acolytes entered the sand pit and fought with weapons intentionally dulled -- enough to break the skin, but not to grievously maim -- and smeared with a numbing poison. Most left the pit battered and bruised, forced to be carried out as their limbs became numb from repeated strikes. Only a few stayed in for longer than a handful of rounds, but there was one who was proving herself to be exceptionally skilled.

Her sweat-slicked skin was coated with a fine coat of sand, mixing with the blood where several blows had made their mark. Wavy dark locks fell around her slender face, partially obscuring the frightful scar that cut a terrible path down over her right eye. Many more scars road-mapped her flesh, kissed by a life of innumerable hardships; forged through adversity and pain. The veiled figure watched this one most of all, His bright eyes shining through the obscuring black silk that draped over His face like a leper's shroud.

Two of the academy's prefects stood to attention just behind the veiled figure, silent and unnerved by His mere presence. When He turned to them, all color drained from their face as they stood just a bit more rigid, fear lancing through their bowels at His gaze.

"Bring that one to the headmaster's office."

No other command was given, nor was any justification or reasoning. The two knew better than to raise objective or even pose a question, this one's will was not to be denied in any manner. They merely bowed as low as they could while still standing, and then curtly pivoted to carry out the Lord's demand. By the time they turned the corner to catch the sight of the veiled figure in their peripheral vision, He was already gone.

It was then that acolyte Eira Dyn was brought into the headmaster's office, a richly decorated monolith to hedonistic thought. The two prefects who escorted her said not why she was being brought here, in fact they said little of anything other than to confirm her name and order her to follow them. Now they swiftly departed, leaving her alone in the too spaceous office filled with a thousand gaudy baubles.

Or, at least, she thought she was alone.

There was a shadow behind the headmaster's desk, a shadow in the shape of a man. It watched her like a predatory watched prey from the underbrush, only the glow of His eyes penetrating the miasma of darkness which fell over the room. She could see that He wore plain vestments of black and gray, a long voluminous robe descending from broad shoulders, and a lightsaber in the shape of a twisted fork of iron and steel dangling from His hip like a cruel instrument of torture.

The figure said nothing.

He merely watched her.

Hungrily.

Eira Dyn ​

 

[Eira Dyn]

Outfit: Training Garb
Equipment: Practice Saber
Tag: Darth Carnifex

Eira had beaten her opponent, someone ranked higher than herself at Jutrand but was not directly above her so Eira knew it was not a duel that would help her rank rise. But it was a demonstration to those observing that she was rising much faster in rank that they had placed her in. Eira was someone who took the ordeal of her initial lowly position and used it as the fuel for hatred and anger to grow stronger. Powerful. More powerful than those who had settled for mediocracy. Something that Eira found disdaining. It was insulting to her that some were settled. It was the duty of a Sith to push forward, to find a limit and punch through it.

When she was approached by two seniors, stating that she had been requested to the headmaster's office, Eira had wondered if there would be time to tend to her wounds, recover from the numbing poison and clean herself to be more presentable than she currently was. However, it was stated there was no time and that she needed to follow them right away. Eira began to wonder if she was going to be removed from the academy due to suspicions that she must be cheating, Eira was someone who was growing stronger, quickly. As if she was rising to face a powerful danger from the opposite side of the Force.

However, Eira held back those thoughts and figured it could just as likely be that the headmaster wanted to reward Eira for her fast progress. For the determination and appreciate how serious Eira took the tenets of the Sith code. All Eira had to do was allow things to happen as they did, assess things as they went and then go from there with her actions.

Entering the office, Eira looked around the room. There was a look of unimpressed etched on her face, everything in the room was very unnecessary and it seemed to be something of a style that Eira would rather burn than live with. However, she made sure not to hold her face on the unimpressed expression since it would be insulting to the headmaster and that would not do well for her chances in continued success. Instead, Eira's expression shifted to one of mild interest with the surroundings she was in.

Her gaze shifted to the shadow behind the desk. The eyes, the attire and then the Lightsaber. It was intriguing and she had studied the modern legends of Sith to recognise the appearance of one standing before her. "Greetings Lord Carnifex. It is an honour to be in your presence." She gave a small bow before standing with her hands placed on her shapely hips. "How can I help you?"

 

[Darth Carnifex]

The dark figure swept towards her like a shadowy phantom, the movement unnatural and swift. As He drew near, the shadows began to dissipate from His flesh. The regality of His presence became fully known as He stood before the young Eira, the Dark Side radiating from Him like blazing heat from an open furnace; yet paradoxically bitter cold and biting to the bone. The blaze in His eyes would set alight the kindling of fear in the heart of even the most brazen of men.

"I have watched you closely, Eira Dyn. Your progression through the academy has been particularly noteworthy. I've come to see if you are truly worthy of being graced with the higher mysteries of the Dark Side." What exactly that entailed, He didn't disclose immediately. But she would know that she had been chosen for something greater than herself, for the Eternal Father of the Kainate had not set His eyes upon her.

"Particularly, I am in need of a new apprentice. I understand that you were somewhat acquainted with my previous student, and know what has become of her. I know that she has spoken to you about me, and has no doubt filled your mind with many preconceptions. None of those matter today. I can sense the hunger in you, the desire for more -- the hallmark of an ambitious Sith."

"Face these trials, and you will find yourself at my side. Turn from them, and know only a life of mediocrity."

Eira Dyn ​

 

[Eira Dyn]

Outfit: Training Garb
Equipment: Practice Saber
Tag: Darth Carnifex

Eira watched as Darth Carnifex dissipated the shadows and his full regal form was full on display for her, the powerful man stood before her. The one that many saw as a god. That many saw as the foundation for the Sith Order, a chair that would be near impossible to take over. Eira could feel the power and the compelling force to be fearful of. Eira did not display any fears or made a hint that his presence was intimidating for her at all. Instead, she maintained her cool composure, Eira knew this would be one time that she could make an impression that could be lasting.

His compliments caused her chin to lift and her blood red eyes to meet his own. Her arms positioned themselves behind her and a smirk etched on her lips as she thought about the fact she had been observed. That her hard working was now finally paying off and that she was getting the recognition she had wanted from the man she had been observing in return. She had studied on Carnifex plenty after learning his ties to Kaila and she did not see the Sith Lord in the same light that her former friend had seen him in.

She knew he was doing what was necessary for the Sith, for his own rise in power. Eira respected it.

"Kaila did not appreciate the opportunity you presented her." Eira stated calmly, her gaze shifted to the side as she thought about the opportunity to be taken in by Carnifex, to train under him and gain that opportunity to learn more than she would ever learn from others. The trials were never going to be easy, she would have thought less of the Sith Lord if they were easy. No, she knew they were going to be gruelling. What Eira needed to figure out was if she was ready for it.

Hell, Eira knew she couldn't say no.

Speaking up after she had thought for a moment, "I will pass your trials and prove my worthiness for this opportunity. When do we begin?" Eira stated in curious tone.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

The trials had been simple at first.

Feats of strength, endurance, and guile. Eira had been made to endure unbelievable conditions, forced to undergo rigorous tribulations. She was made to survive in environment entirely inhospitable to her, forced to contend with beasts and monsters, and even tasked with assassinating a Galactic Alliance official and returning with their body. All of these things she did eagerly, completing all that the Dark Lord asked of her without fail.

But as these trials came to an end, there was but one more thing the Dark Lord would require of her. He brought her to an ancient moon in orbit of a gas giant, the system's name discarded and forgotten. There had once been a city of such splendor that it had rivaled even the greatest civilizations known to history, but it had all faded to dust. All that remained were shelled out ruins and empty promenades.

The Dark Lord bade her delve deep into the ancient waterworks of the city, which wound far down into the deepest depths of the moon. There, He brought her before an reservoir whose waters were black and bottomless, a glossy sheen casting a misshapen reflection back into her eyes.

"One things remains," intoned the Dark Lord, stepping up to His knees in the black water. "A baptismal rite, a submersion into these dark waters. Come, breath deep of the water, and let it fill your lungs." She would literally have to drown herself by baptism, allowing the Dark Lord to submerge her and hold her there until she drank deep.

Only He knew what waited for her beyond.

Eira Dyn ​

 

[Eira Dyn]

Outfit: Training Garb
Equipment: Daggers, vibro-sword and blaster pistol.
Tag: Darth Carnifex

He had taken her through trial after trial. Testing her skills and pushing her limits. Between the trials that Carnifex was tasking her with, the Academy training and training with Quinn. Eira was growing stronger each passing day. Her body was reflecting the changes in the manner that she had been pushing herself. While she did not have defined muscular features, she was leaner, her posture was stronger and the Force emanated from her as if she was a harbinger of death itself. Her senses were stronger and she could tap into the Force easier to note the presence of smaller things than she could before. Her abilities were growing beyond what she had once thought was above average but upon reflection, she had been mediocre in her skills. Now she was beginning to stand above average.

All it cost her was the willingness to go beyond what she thought possible. Eira was littered in scars and burn marks. There was nothing gentle or soft about these trials and Eira never once complained. She growled, she screamed in agony and she cried with the pain. But she never let Carnifex gain the satisfaction of hearing her complain. Eira did everything she could with all that she had to give. It was clear how much the acolyte wished to impress the Sith Lord, how much she was willing to dedicate herself to becoming someone worthy of his time.

Wandering the forgotten moon, a civilisation lost to time, her eyes admired the ruins. What was left from a history that none knew about, it was curious and Eira did not realise there was still parts of history and civilisations that were lost to time. That had been eroded away to nothingness. It was a prospective future that Eira dreaded. She could not be someone whose name was simply lost to history. That was not remembered. Not after everything else she had been through. To get here, she was now more determined, more ambitious than she had been when Eira took on the challenges of the trials. A deeper hunger for power and infamy roared inside her.

Watching Carnifex step into the blackened waters, the inky, icy water was a curious finishing step in their trials. However, Eira did not question the decision. She had learned much earlier that everything Carnifex did had a purpose and that purpose was sometimes hidden until she needed to know of it. Stepping into the water, she felt the icy grips on her body, even through her clothes. Descending until she was standing beside him, having to crane her head up to look the Sith Lord in the eyes due to his grand stature.

Breathing in deeply, she leaned back into the water and began to submerge herself into the freezing, black inky waters. Waiting to see what came next.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

The Dark Lord's hands cradled Eira carefully, submerging her beneath the icy black waters until she was fully immersed. Beneath the surface, her sight would be obstructed by the opaque water, ash from the disturbed lake floor suddenly rising up to coat her clothes and exposed skin. For however long she managed to hold her breath, it would eventually come to an end. The Dark Lord's hands kept her beneath the waves, no matter how ferocious she thrashed and fought against His grip.

It was a losing battle, the water demanded to be let in; to fill her lungs with its cold embrace. As the Dark Lord pushed her deeper underwater, she would find that her will to survive was losing out to the darkness that suffocated her. Water rushed in, her lungs burned as though lit ablaze, and her vision faded and receded from time and space. If she thought she would die here, then she was correct. She would die here.

But it would not be the end.

Perception swam back into her senses, the water seemingly disappearing incrementally but the cold never leaving her skin. As she bolted forward, a reflex of the drowning, she would find her alone in a dismal chamber of stone and volcanic glass. Feeling around, she would find various runic inscriptions carved into the stonework at her feet, and more at the walls to her immediate left. Emptiness yawned hungrily to her right, a faint pulsating light illuminating the end of a long lightless corridor.

Following the corridor, she would find herself in another chamber; but one far larger than the one she awoke in. Tubes and cables of various sizes ran along the floor and down from the walls, terminating in a large stone sarcophagus at the center of the room. Machinery unlike anything she had ever seen before was attached to the sarcophagus, ancient technology from an age lost to knowledge and time. Within, she could feel life. Faint and corrupted, consumed by darkness.

A voice called to her from within, little more than a spiteful whispering rasp.

"You have come. What do you seek?"

Eira Dyn ​

 

[Eira Dyn]

Outfit: Training Garb
Equipment: Daggers, vibro-sword and blaster pistol.
Tag: Darth Carnifex

As she was submerged, her ability to hold her breath lasted minutes. It was clear that she was using the Force to sustain her beyond what her body naturally needed in terms of oxygen. However, time was not her ally in this matter since Carnifex was not waiting on her ability to outlast his will to hold her under the water. Eventually, her body was deprived too long and she could not sustain herself with the Force any longer, instinctively her body rebelled and fought to survive. It was a trial in facing death that Eira knew she needed to face but there was a drive to live, a hunger to breathe and a determination to never surrender even in the face of defeat.

However, her body was not strong enough. She could not escape his grasp. Eira felt the water fill her lungs and the drive to survive, the will to fight. It faded and was drown with her in the inky depths. Eira fought for as long as she could, but in the end, a darkness consumed her vision that was even darker than the inky blackness of the waters.

Once her body felt life again, she was bolting upright and coughing out all the water that had filled her. It was more water than she realised could be in a person. Eira gasped for air in a manner that felt like she had not breathed in years. The sensation of drowning was an experience Eira realised that she never wished to experience again. It was akin to the near burning to death that she experienced years ago. Another deadly manner that she would rather not have happen to her again.

"Where am I?" Eira looked around, confused about how she arrived here, or if here was even near where she had been with Carnifex. Why did he bring her here? There was a lot that she wanted answered but the only path to answers was the one she felt drawn to. Eira reached the larger chamber and looked around, seeing the sarcophagus and the tubes. Something spoke to her, a voice that was weak but spiteful and raspy.

The darkness coming from the sarcophagus intrigued Eira, it seemed that she was in the tomb of a dead Sith potentially. Though the tubes and technology could also be something that was capable of sustaining life in a manner that Sith no longer could. Eira allowed the question to linger in the air as she thought about her answer. About how she would approach the topic of why she was here.

"I seek power. I seek knowledge. I seek servitude of those lesser than me." Eira answered in a cool tone, adopting the deepened, huskier voice she commonly used once more. "I seek to know where I have come to." She added, determined to know more about what this place is.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"You seek power, but to what end? The Sith Lord, Darth Bane, once posited that power in itself was purpose. Once this had been true, the necessary belief for the era in which it arose. But we have evolved, the Sith have evolved. Darth Krayt gave power to the One, the Sith Order itself. We have followed this belief, for we still hold the One above all others despite those who seek to pollute our Order."

The sarcophagus rumbled forward, righting itself and moving from an inclined rest to standing straight up. Hydraulic machinery hissed and whirled as pressurized air exhaled from the coffin's exhausts, the front splitting open and sliding away. Within was darkness so absolute it could not be pierced by any illumination known to this world, nor could any power of the Force unveil it.

From within emerged a skeletal hand whose bones were jacketed by bronze, each plate inscribed with a runic symbol unrecognizable to Eira. What followed was the rest of the arm, equally skeletal, followed by the upper portion of a torso and a leering skull that still retained the most vestigial remnants of what had once been skin and muscle. Glowing eyes, flames rather than fleshy organs, stared out from within sockets blackened by a great and terrible flame.

The figure floated in the air, cables and tubing cascading down from the ruin of His body and curving back into the open sarcophagus. If she had any knowledge of it, she would have recognized the distinctness of Rakatan technology ubiquitous throughout the machinery around them.

"I am the culmination, child. I am the Begetter, your lord everlasting. I have brought you here to appraise your worth, to know if you are befitting of my instruction."

Eira Dyn ​

 

[Eira Dyn]

Outfit: Training Garb
Equipment: Daggers, vibro-sword and blaster pistol.
Tag: Darth Carnifex

"We hold onto beliefs that have allowed the Jedi to rise into a super power that the galaxy thinks is unstoppable. Change is needed. We need to adapt. We need to demonstrate that they are not all powerful, that they can bleed. That they will lose everything they hold dear." Eira stated boldly, there was no concern in her wrathful fiery gaze, she was simply stating what she believed to be truth. "The Sith divide themselves too much. We are fractured even now, there are those that think of small goals, personal desires. Not where our true focus should be."

Eira was thinking of the meetings she observed within the Tsis'Kaar, the display from Carnifex. Moves that were trying empower that person, that did not mean it empowered the Sith as a hold. Not while their enemy was floundering in mediocrity and inadequacy. It was infuriating at times to observe. But she was still young, she was still an acolyte so her voice was not as crucial. Not yet. Hence her need for power, her desires to rise stronger than ever. "Like all Sith, I focus on myself, the One. However, there is a bigger picture that is not being addressed."

"The Jedi are primed to crumble, yet there are some that are seeking to take the throne for themselves. Where is the One mentality there?" Eira asked with a raised eyebrow. "We are strong now, our emperor is strong now. Take the throne after the Jedi have fallen. It would be when he would be his weakest anyway."

Though she held big doubts that anyone would be ready to deal with Srina and what she would do with the second death of her husband. Even Eira knew that the dreaded empress was a foe she would not wish upon the worst of her enemies.

Watching the living corpse pry himself out of the sarcophagus and the unknown technology that was still keeping him alive. Eira's gaze did not seem fazed by this, in fact there was a bemusing thought that crossed her mind. What happened if she used the Force to explode the machines, or yank the connecting tubes and wires. Would the body collapse dead? The Begetter killed by a child willing to pull on some wires. She knew that she would die the instant she attempted, but she was sure she could strike true fear into being before then.

Perhaps her sadistic thoughts taking over once again. Desiring to strike fear even into something she could not comprehend. "And how do you intend to assess whether I am befitting of that, corpse?" Refusing to grant the title to this being since it had decided to call her child. She was in comparison, so there was logic. But she was a woman, and a dangerous one in her own right.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"The Order is the One, young acolyte. All that exists is the Order. Lords rise and fall, but the Sith are Eternal. Throughout the ages, the Order has persisted beyond any single Lord's ambition, beyond their triumphs and their failures. The least wise among us only know of personal victory, they only see that which gives them temporary strength. They are vain and fleeting, even if they bring about defeat against the Jedi, the Order persists."

The Begetter talked slowly, each word carefully articulated as though it was their last. Despite the laborious effort, they never once paused to breath. Indeed, upon closer inspection, the body which loomed before Eira now seemed to had been cored out by some intense flames; the heat of which still smoldered in what remained of the chest cavity. The bones were held together by both magic and science, a blasphemous union of forbidden knowledge considered monstrous to all creeds save for the most depraved of the Sith.

Pointing at the young Eira with a bony digit whose withering sinew was akin to blackened strips of leather, the Begetter continued His speech. "The Eye will know." The tip of the Begetter's finger, now unbelievably closer that it had been moments ago -- without Him actually moving closer -- touched the center of her forehead. A symbol breathed to life atop her skin, that of the eponymous Eye, smoldering with an intensity akin to drowning in the coldest watery darkness.

A dark presence, not the Begetter's, flooded her cognition. It was wholly alien, far beyond what the Sith or Jedi could do with their Force. This was no mere scrying of thoughts, this was so much more intrusive. The shadowy feeling that slithered through her mind was grotesque.

Wrong.

Foreign.

But, after several seconds had stretched into an eternity, the presence slipped away like the fading horrors of a nightmare. The symbol had gone, but her skin was tender to the touch where it had appeared. "The Eye has seen, it has decided."

"You shall be trained."

Eira Dyn ​

 

[Eira Dyn]

Outfit: Training Garb
Equipment: Daggers, vibro-sword and blaster pistol.
Tag: Darth Carnifex

"True," Eira was considering the information given to her. It was true that no one could kill the ideals, the vision of the Order, no one person could outlive it either. However, there were concerns in her that there were going to be some who would weaken the Order. Risk it's strength and rising power to take out those that wish to stand in their way.

Breathing out slowly, "while the Order will always survive, it can be suppressed. I refuse to let others damage us to the point that Sith seem more myth or legend than active in the galaxy." Eira stated with a fire in her eyes. She would embody the creeds of the Sith, the tenets of the Order and ensure no single individual would stand in their way in their conquest.

The Order needed to keep going strong, getting stronger.

As the finger touched her forehead, Eira growled at the foreign, alien sensation. It was a sensation that she was not meant to enjoy and the fact that she had someone, something, investigating her mind. Probing her thoughts, desires and hungers. Eira did not want to share her mind with others but if this was the process needed for power then it would be something she would endure.

Something she had to endure.

Once the probing had finished, Eira let out the breath that she was holding hard. Breathing slowly as she didn't even realise she had been holding in her breath. "Good. Is there anything else to this process? Why was I brought here?" Eira felt like this was not the normal process for training a student, in her talks with Kaila, in learning about Carnifex. This was something else.

Now she wanted to know what that else was.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"You were brought here so that you do not follow their path."

Slowly, almost in reverse time, the specter known as the Begetter began to retreat back into His sarcophagus. The smoke which had accompanied His arrival likewise began to move in reverse, siphoning back into the sarcophagus along with His body. As it sealed up, she would hear His words again ringing through her ears.

"You have a much greater destiny than that."

Darkness enveloped her again, smothering her in it's cloying embrace. Pain would lance through her, dragging her back into the living worlds as a deluge of water was choked out of her lungs. She'd sputter and gasp for breath, laying on her back upon the ancient temple floor. Darth Carnifex had been waiting beside her the whole time, seated in quiet meditation. As she awoke, so too did His eyes open to gaze at her curiously.

"Welcome back, my apprentice. You have passed the Trial of the Eye, congratulations."

Eira Dyn ​

 

[Eira Dyn]

Outfit: Training Garb
Equipment: Daggers, vibro-sword and blaster pistol.
Tag: Darth Carnifex

Watching the Begetter moving backwards into the sarcophagus, there was a lot that Eira still held questions over but she couldn't form them fast enough before the sarcophagus was closed again and the lingering mention of a greater destiny haunted her. What did that mean? Was something seen where she got her desires achieved? Did it mean that there was something that this being had seen in searching her mind that Eira was completely unaware of?

When life kicked back into her physical form, the water pouring out of her as she coughed roughly, Eira panted hard once the ordeal was over. She did not find the experience of drowning as something she would seek out again. Eira still preferred it over being burnt alive. Eira turned onto all fours, to make sure that the water had fully exited her lungs. Her fingers curled into a fist as she thought on the lingering words of the Begetter, something in her mind was desperate to know what had been seen of her potential.

".......What.... What does that mean now?" Eira paused for a moment then tilted her head up and looked over to Carnifex, she was unsure what there would be next for her to face. What challenges would be put upon her going forward now? "I was told I have a greater destiny. Is that true or something stated to stroke my ego?"

There was glint in her eye, something that seemed curious but concerned as well. Eira didn't want her ego caressed while her desires were unattainable.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"It means that you are worthy to receive my instruction. You have been deemed so. The Eye sees through the spirit, and it has peeled back the layers of your very being." The Dark Lord rise, power thrumming through His veins. He bade her to rise, and she would. She was now officially His apprentice, and would be given all the privileges that followed such an appointment. All that would come in time, however, when they traveled to the Malsheem; the Dark Lord's center of power.

"The destiny spoken of refers to the potential you harbor within yourself, the building charge. In time, if harnessed, it could be used to achieve great and mighty things. Squandered, and all it would avail you is the life of a petty despot." They would travel back up through the earth, retracing their steps to the surface. In that time, the Dark Lord would speak with Eira at length on any subject that passed through her mind. It would eventually circle back to the topic of destiny.

" Kaila Irons once was upon the precipice of such a destiny, but her path has wandered. I believe you two were close once?"

Eira Dyn ​