Private Journey of Solitude (Solo thread)

[Ingrid L'lerim]

Lady Ingrid L’lerim-Ragal
Empress Regent of the Eternal Empire, Overlord of the Eternal Empire, the Emperor's hand
The Red Witch; Director of Blackwatch; Baroness of Vengard, Head of the House L’lerim, CEO of the HPI Consortium​

Location: Unknown planet in the Eternal Empire
Equipment: 2x red blade lightsaber shoto | Meagre survival supplies
Tag: -

Lord Commander. That is, she will soon be just a matter of a month. She felt the ordeal she had to carry out for this was completely unnecessary, for everyone knew exactly that she could survive under any circumstances anywhere. She was trained for this by the Frost Company ages ago. The other Lord Commanders, on the other hand, were adamant, if only because she also received the title of Knight Warden from the Emperor without trials.

In vain she tried to argue that she was the Overlord, she could not disappear for a whole month because who would rule the Empire. A STRATCOM; that was the answer. The other Lord Commanders insisted that the woman go beyond that and not postpone the rehearsal. Eventually, she was forced to surrender and agree to do so now. She had to, because the Lord Commanders who supported her all knew that the woman knew Kainan Wolfe and the aspirations of the Order.

However, Ingrid insisted - without revealing Kessia, of course - that they obtain a shape-shifter who could replace her. At this moment, the Eternal Empire could not afford to believe that the Overlord had disappeared after the Emperor's disappearance. Fortunately, they agreed. Had they not done so, Ingrid would not have accepted their request either.

After that, all she had to do was tell Tubrok and AMCO that they wouldn’t be able to reach her for a month because she will be doing her master’s test. None of the men knew about the Wardens, so she said she was doing the test described by Tacitus, which really covered the reality, just omitting the Force User Order just behind it. For understandable reasons. She said what the test is that she has to survive on a barren planet with little equipment and her lightsabers.

Both men could know, it was child's play for the woman. Tubrok didn't even understand why she didn't get that title automatically. But she had no choice. And a few hours later, she was taken to a volcanic and ice planet at the same time, where she was exposed to the planet with the proper, almost no equipment. She was taken to the surface with a dropship, which also left after the woman got out of it.

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[Ingrid L'lerim]

Lady Ingrid L’lerim-Ragal
Empress Regent of the Eternal Empire, Overlord of the Eternal Empire, the Emperor's hand
The Red Witch; Director of Blackwatch; Baroness of Vengard, Head of the House L’lerim, CEO of the HPI Consortium​

Location: Unknown planet in the Eternal Empire
Equipment: Meagre survival supplies
Tag: -

Since she didn’t feel it was all a challenge, so after the dropship left, her first thing was to take her two lightsabers to pieces and put them in her bag, in the bag she could bring with her. Ingri had enough experience to survive without it. She looked around the landscape, recalling her conversation with AMCO when she told the Sith Lord what a trial she was going to face. On the man’s advice, she still smiled involuntarily and walked through the warmth all over her body and soul.

Her fiancé, with noble simplicity, advised her to look for a safe place where she could then spend thirty days in hibernation trance. This proposal testified so terribly to her fiancé. She just laughed and kissed the man in response. She would never do that, she chose the path that Darth Prazutis “suggested”. Because they were allies, she also had to notify someone from the highest circles that if they were looking for her, they could only talk to a shape-shifter instead of her.

Since it was no secret that she had attended a special training, she told the Shadow Hand what a test she was facing. The man remarked that she essentially expects the woman to solve it without lightsabers, only with her wit and aptitude. And Ingrid loved to race, so she accepted the terms. Of course, she didn't tell Adrian or Tubrok that. Probably none would have let her go in this case.

Returning to the frosty planet, only the tent or sleeping bag is made of enviroweave material, nothing else, so she doesn't have to worry about freezing at night or in a possible snowstorm. But she didn’t even have a mind to stay outdoors because she wanted to map the neighbourhood to where she could find animals, shelter, or where and from what to build something like that. In the first place she was not looking for a final one yet, for that later, a temporary one was perfect for her so on the first day.

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[Ingrid L'lerim]

Lady Ingrid L’lerim-Ragal
Empress Regent of the Eternal Empire, Overlord of the Eternal Empire, the Emperor's hand
The Red Witch; Director of Blackwatch; Baroness of Vengard, Head of the House L’lerim, CEO of the HPI Consortium​

Location: Unknown planet in the Eternal Empire
Equipment: Meagre survival supplies
Tag: -

Ingrid on Dromund Kaas ended up not being able to sort things out so cheaply because she had to give a statement to Darth Prazutis that she would not cheat and would pass the test as agreed. It all hurt her self-esteem a little, because she didn't even mind breaking it, it would have been humiliating for her. After all, this trip ended quite differently than she would have thought.

Down on the planet, it soon became clear that the days were quite short because, in theory, she was left here in the morning, yet six or seven hours later it was starting to get dark. During this time she successfully found a cave. Ordinary, not something that would just be made of ice. She camped here after making sure there were no residents of the place. It was enough for her that there was no draft, a big wind. Her food was roughly two to three days long, in tablet form.

She found bones in the cave, with the knife that was in the survival pack she could carve new ones, better ones, because the dagger wasn't really suitable for anything like that, it was a plain metal knife, it couldn't even be called a dagger. She also found stones that could be used as weapons, and one that could even be used to create a fire if it had wood or other material for it. Then she have to look for one or more. That is why she spent the night in the tent where there was tolerable time. She could also hear the sound of animals from outside.

The next morning she looked for these traces for the first time, and there were traces of predators and herbivores. And that meant there also had to be drinking water and food. She spent most of the day tracing these animals based on clues and did indeed find a part where there were also lichens, mosses and drinking water near a lava spring. It wasn’t too far from the cave, so she could get here in as little as an hour. Although she would have preferred to look for a better hiding place nearby. But she didn't have much time for that today because it was starting to get dark.

Because the days were short, the nights were almost twice as long, so she spent time meditating in the dark before going to bed. She could already make fire from mosses and lichens, so she had light. And while meditating, she set out to recall the knowledge in her mind that she had stolen from the Force Entity on Trenwyth. After all, when does she learn these, if not now, when she can’t do anything anyway?

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[Ingrid L'lerim]

Lady Ingrid L’lerim-Ragal
Empress Regent of the Eternal Empire, Overlord of the Eternal Empire, the Emperor's hand
The Red Witch; Director of Blackwatch; Baroness of Vengard, Head of the House L’lerim, CEO of the HPI Consortium​

Location: Unknown planet in the Eternal Empire
Equipment: Meagre survival supplies

After practicing, she lay down to sleep with a headache, it was not the most pleasant when countless new memories and knowledge tried to fit into her mind. She even felt the effects the next morning, but she didn’t care, she now had to hunt and get water because her own supplies were running low and they were needed for a time when she couldn’t get fresh food and water, like a snowstorm, for example.

To stay in training, she ran the distance to the water source she saw yesterday, so she was there in less than half an hour. She first searched for materials for a rudimentary trap, which she fortunately found, and then placed the traps and set about mapping this area now. In the meantime, she even collected mosses and lichens and found some frost-resistant fruitiness and roots. Who knows when these will come in handy. Nearby she found a larger cave system where the temperature was also more pleasant.

Based on the odours that were there, lava could have been inside and used regularly by animals, both herbivores and predators. She could only survey the beginning of the cave today, but she did find the lava in it, as did the lake on the brink of its source, which had a strong sulphur odour. Now she was pretty sure that probably the whole place could be in the chimney of a volcano. This was not the best option possible. In the meantime, since she had spent quite a bit of time here, she set off backwards.

Along the way, she remembered something else to see if she could find clay soil because she could make pots for herself. Returning to the source, she found two rabbit-like creatures in the traps, killing them quickly, and exposing the traps again, who knows if she'll catch something tomorrow and won't be eaten by predators. Fortunately, she also found clay, so she returned to her shelter with these. There she set fire, skinned and gutted the animals, then fried them. She formed a bowl out of clay and began to burn it.

It was completely dark outside and there was also a blizzard. Since she was still well during the day, she spent the second half of the day practicing again. Sometimes by meditation and recalling memories, and sometimes by practicing them. She had previously managed to bring the undead back by necromancy for a few days, and she did so now, dead animals reminiscent of wolves climbed out of the ground waiting for their summoning order. Not wanting to keep them, she sent them back, only condemning a few, but they also collapsed like bones because she only needed the bones.

At least she had to make new weapons and other tools. Although there were not too many components here, she also tried to practice alchemy on the bones and corpses. After all, she had to spend half of her day with these. What else could she have done?

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[Ingrid L'lerim]

Lady Ingrid L’lerim-Ragal
Empress Regent of the Eternal Empire, Overlord of the Eternal Empire, the Emperor's hand
The Red Witch; Director of Blackwatch; Baroness of Vengard, Head of the House L’lerim, CEO of the HPI Consortium​

Location: Unknown planet in the Eternal Empire
Equipment: Meagre survival supplies

To tell the truth, the woman was lucky enough to capture those two rabbit-like creatures because she couldn’t go anywhere for the next two days. During this time, a blizzard raged outside. Even if the surrounding snow hadn’t been clear, the fall was fresh, so with a quick test to see if it was drinkable, she first boiled it in the clay pot and then just drank it. The two rabbits had plenty to wait for the storm to retreat with food.

Since she couldn’t really go out, she was left to practice all day. With the help of the Force, she spied on the area to see if the red-haired woman could feel any animals, but felt nothing, and even herbivores and predators avoided going outside in the storm. However, she knew that if the storm dragged on for a long time, she would have to, or she would starve. since she did not have so much moss and lichen, she also had to deal sparingly with fire. Mainly because she had no taun-taun nearby that could have hidden in its stomach. provided these legends are true. Ingrid never tried.

Returning to meditation, recalling memories and the knowledge the woman stole from the Force Entity. She recalled things she never thought she would know one day. Sure, AMCO knew these, but the Sith Lord began learning the Force much earlier than the woman. Now that she didn’t have much to do the two men missed her enough, Tubrok and Adrian. So far, she hasn't had time to think like that. And of course she also remembered Telis Taharin-Zambrano that she still couldn't talk to the man since the day of peace treaty.

As for recalling knowledge, it still meant that Ingrid’s head was constantly aching with knowledge, which didn’t make these attempts just as pleasant, but didn’t give up. She even tried what she knew in practice. It was pretty limited in this place because the Overlord didn’t want to summon any demon or creature like that, she didn’t want to influence her trial, so what remained was to bring one of the wolves back to life and experiment with and cast spells on it. Therefore, there was no harm to the creature anyway. Later, if she can, she will get a live animal so she can practice on it.

Her two days were pretty much like that, and on the third day after the storm broke, she woke up to the fact that the sun was finally out. It was time, because today she finally wanted to bathe in one of the hot springs, after so much freezing, she deserved this so much.

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[Ingrid L'lerim]

Lady Ingrid L’lerim-Ragal
Empress Regent of the Eternal Empire, Overlord of the Eternal Empire, the Emperor's hand
The Red Witch; Director of Blackwatch; Baroness of Vengard, Head of the House L’lerim, CEO of the HPI Consortium​

Location: Unknown planet in the Eternal Empire
Equipment: Meagre survival supplies

The two days of snowfall resulted in at least a meter of snow that had not yet completely frozen, so it was not the easiest to move through. It was impossible to run now, so instead of half an hour it was an hour and a half, that is, the time until Ingrid reached the water source where there might be animals. There was a warm-water lake here as well, though it smelled like enough sulphur, but there was no choice to find a better one. She warmed up and swam in it for half an hour before getting dressed and continuing her task.

Unfortunately, her traps were destroyed by the storm, but she found another dead animal. This was chewed by the predators even before the storm, so she didn’t take it out of the meat, but the animal’s guts were pretty much intact and the bones that could be used came in handy for her. The intestines could be made into thread and bandage, not to mention if she finds wood, then a bow. The skin of the animal was also peeled off, because it can be used to make a bag or a clothes in which it can collect quite a lot of moss and lichen.

She still collected clay for herself, more than she had in the past. It was the first day she saw birds in the sky. Ingrid recognized the way they flew, as if they had fled something. They didn’t migrate seasonally, they just wanted to get out of here. Moments later, she felt what the reason was. Farther away, a geyser erupted from under the ice and snow, and the ground beneath her legs trembled a little noticeably.

She knew she had to go further out of this area and find a way out of here until it was too late. Of course, she have to catch an animal to have food. The red-haired woman also had an idea about it. She had brought with her some meat from a previously processed and deboned animal, not for herself, but for meat trapped in one of her traps near her own cave, she hoped she could catch a predator. True, their meat was not so good, but the animal itself could still be used.

Since there was no other option now, she ate from the pills and made new dishes from the brought clay, and then used the skins she had skinned before and today for a backpack. And after the trap was placed, practice and memory recalls could come. As usual, it still caused quite a headache in the woman, it wasn’t pleasant, but she started to feel it and it all got easier for her.

During this time and during the night, she felt several times the weak earthquakes in the ground and through the Force that the animals were afraid and fleeing. It was a sign that she should do the same…

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[Ingrid L'lerim]

Lady Ingrid L’lerim-Ragal
Empress Regent of the Eternal Empire, Overlord of the Eternal Empire, the Emperor's hand
The Red Witch; Director of Blackwatch; Baroness of Vengard, Head of the House L’lerim, CEO of the HPI Consortium​

Location: Unknown planet in the Eternal Empire
Equipment: Meagre survival supplies

This night wasn't exactly the most pleasant due to the earthquakes, but by morning a very unexpected surprise came to her, as she found an injured wolf near her trap. An adult specimen into which countless icicles were stabbed and this caused the wolf’s injuries. It was quite a large piece, its height at the withers reaching the line of the woman's waist, though Ingrid was quite tall. The wolf couldn't stand up to the woman's approach.

The wolf could only growl, but it was loud, even in this state it was wild. Fortunately, she has always had a good relationship with animals, especially since she became Force Sensitive. She knew she had such Force ability and was aware that she was most likely to use it. So even now she tried to do so, reaching out carefully to the animal to dispel its fear and reassure it. In the meantime, she still spoke to the wolf that it didn’t have to worry. It took long minutes before the animal finally began to calm down and the woman could go closer.

She was prepared all along for the possibility that the wolf would attack her. The red-haired woman did not want the consequence to be, as in the case of Tiren, very, very long ago. However, the wolf did not attack her, but rather let the woman examine the beast. Ingrid felt it fear, so she kindly scratched the base of the animal's ear. As she looked at the injuries she saw that the beautiful animal was badly injured and perhaps dying.

Through the Force ability and the Force itself she understood with the wolf that she wanted to save its life, and now she is leaving, bringing to the beast food, hoping that the animal could survive for so long and try not to move because the icicles could kill it. After that she left and ran to the drinking water, now they were wild here. Since she didn't need anything herself, she broke the neck of one of the gazelle-like creatures with telekinetics and used the Force to take it back to the wolf so it could eat.

Slowly it started to get dark again, so she had to do something, the wolf wanted to live, she felt it from the beast, so she took it very carefully to her shelter to try to do something there. She tried to explain to the wolf that she might be able to save it, but then the wolf would be different than it is now. Hopefully a little different, but Ingrid has never created a sithspawn yet, so she can’t know what the outcome will be from this experiment. Through the Force, she felt that the wolf had agreed, that it was more intelligent than she thought.

So she started because the wolf was starting to get in very bad shape and she didn’t want the creature to die. Ingrid began to concentrate and then used all her alchemists and sorcery knowledge she had gathered over the past few months to save the creature. The icicles in the wolf’s fur and flesh began to collapse, Ingrid handed over a little of her own life force to the wolf (she did this for the first time) when she did so, the icicles glowing greenish and crystallizing, but no longer disturbing or harmed the animal.

In the following hours, almost all night, she spent her time doing magic and alchemy, while there were two more earthquakes, this time already strong. By the time she was done with the ritual(?), that is, what she wanted, it had become lighter out there, and she was completely exhausted. It was morning again.

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[Ingrid L'lerim]

Lady Ingrid L’lerim-Ragal
Empress Regent of the Eternal Empire, Overlord of the Eternal Empire, the Emperor's hand
The Red Witch; Director of Blackwatch; Baroness of Vengard, Head of the House L’lerim, CEO of the HPI Consortium​

Location: Unknown planet in the Eternal Empire
Equipment: Meagre survival supplies

Truth be told, the wolf looked exactly as before except for the greenish crystals. Ingrid was a little tired, which was understandable because she was awake and not to mention that she had given a little life force to the wolf. It was a method similar to the one Adrian used at the Bastion, only there her lover passed on the life force of another living being, not his own. Plus, the woman wasn’t in a position where this whole thing would have been too much life insurance. She can’t know that the wolf will attack her, or not.

After many hours of work, the wolf slowly rose from the ground and shook itself. He was smart, but by animal standards, he might have hit a child’s level of intelligence, but he couldn’t talk, he wasn’t a Loth wolf. He looked visibly healthy and no longer had an injury. Thanks, he stuck his nose at Ingrid and licked her face, then sat down beside her peacefully. She was much more direct now than before, and since she had an animal she knew the other was expressing his gratitude.

But she would have just needed to sleep or eat now, but then another earthquake ensued. Which was much stronger and longer than before. In the distance, she also heard explosions, not to mention the sound that meant the avalanche and the fact that the ground was also open. That was the last point she could still stay here. Even during the earthquake, she packed up and hurried out into the open, followed by the wolf. Through the Force, she told the animal, if he wanted to, he could go because he was free.

But the wolf remained and apparently wanted to show something. Given that Ingrid didn't know where to go from here, she followed the animal. He led her in a direction the woman didn’t know yet, which wasn’t surprising in light of the fact that she didn’t have time for much in the few hours she was clear. So in this place he led the woman to a system of caves, through which they went down and down the hill and they left the cave system on a smooth, even plain about an hour later.

Here she could already look at the mountain behind her, she had indeed been in the chimney of a fairly high mountain so far. The earth was constantly shaking, the volcano was already squirting pieces of magma, farther away the lava was trickling down the side of the mountain, the volcano. What the woman saw here in the light of the setting sun was that there was a forest in front of them and countless other mountains. There was snow and frost everywhere, but at least there was already wood here, but the soil was equally frozen and icy.

The wolf continued to show the way to the woman, but then another strong earthquake occurred, one of the trees fell next to her, which she could avoid, but slipped on the ground and could not regain her balance due to the earthquake, causing her to fall on another tree, beating the head and lost her consciousness…

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[Ingrid L'lerim]

Lady Ingrid L’lerim-Ragal
Empress Regent of the Eternal Empire, Overlord of the Eternal Empire, the Emperor's hand
The Red Witch; Director of Blackwatch; Baroness of Vengard, Head of the House L’lerim, CEO of the HPI Consortium​

Location: Unknown planet in the Eternal Empire
Equipment: Meagre survival supplies

She had no idea when she regained consciousness, she just felt cold and was surrounded by some warmth from several places. She had a headache and she could see rather vaguely for a few moments. One must have been by day because she could faintly see the light of day. The air was a little warmer than before, but she soon saw why. The volcano erupted completely, though she avoided the place where she was, but lava flowed in many places.

The wolf was lying next to her and he kept her warm during the night. She smiled gratefully at the animal and hugged the animal. There seemed to be some connection between the two of them when the woman saved the animal's life. She tried to sit up, which made her a little dizzy and nauseous, but she still managed to make it. Now she didn’t have any memory loss, as she did before on Anzat, thankfully. What she felt immediately was hunger and thirst. Later, at first, it would have been nice to get a little further away from the volcano.

For it still poured the lava out of itself, and the smoke was harder to breathe, and there were clouds in the sky. The wolf seemed to continue on the way, so she went after him. They marched essentially all day, meanwhile the wolf found a spring from which Ingrid could drink and the animal even hunted a smaller deer-like creature from which they would both be able to eat later. The sun had set, so they reached the other side of the valley in the dark, where they hid in a cave.

After being able to rest for a while, she finally felt better and the snow here was no longer as dirty as it was near the volcano, not to mention that it was easier to breathe. Still, she knew she would have to go even further to get as far away from this place as possible so that they wouldn’t have any health problems from it.

Today, after hours of rushing all day, she didn’t really have the strength to practice because she couldn’t even relax herself properly. She did not explicitly consider loss of consciousness to be that. So now she had the opportunity to clean her head wound as well, which was quite uncomfortable, she roasted herself several servings of meat from the animal that the wolf was preying on and even the wolf could eat it properly. By the time she was done with everything, it was really late. So she even set up her tent, snuggled into her sleeping bag and fell asleep almost immediately.

She wanted a restful sleep, instead she dreamed of Adrian and Tubrok and that there are problems in the Eternal Empire during her absence…

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[Ingrid L'lerim]

Lady Ingrid L’lerim-Ragal
Empress Regent of the Eternal Empire, Overlord of the Eternal Empire, the Emperor's hand
The Red Witch; Director of Blackwatch; Baroness of Vengard, Head of the House L’lerim, CEO of the HPI Consortium​

Location: Unknown planet in the Eternal Empire
Equipment: Meagre survival supplies

After waking up in the morning, Ingrid had even more guilt until she suppressed it. Not only because she left the Eternal Empire for a month with no idea what was going on there, but also because of her two disciples. One is Ben Serrano and the other is Ismael Cal-Drouga; she knew perfectly well that Kessia Miran would replace her as best she could, but that wasn't the real thing either. And she had only done a third of her trial. The Empire was still in a rather delicate position, so it was all at a rather delicate time.

She chased away those thoughts, packed everything up, and then they moved on with the wolf. The Overlord named the animal Kveld today, yet he needed a name if the wolf apparently no longer wanted to go and leave her alone. This morning, after “normal” sleep, she was feeling a little better, physically. Walking outdoors was getting easier as they got farther and farther away from the volcano.

At least in the first half of the day, this was the case, as more earthquakes began around the afternoon and the other mountains in the area, the volcanoes, began to wake up. She was very hopeful that she wasn’t right in the middle of a supervolcano, because then the whole continent she was on could explode, not just the neighbourhood. Why didn't they see this when she arrived? Or was it intentionally exposed here? She didn't deal with it right now.

Now, thanks to the awakening volcanoes and fires, there was enough light so even she and Kveld could move in the dark. They found their way out of the mountainous countryside, to which the animals were also heading, and then, passing through it, the woman finally arrived at an endless tundra and taiga landscape. One part was a tundra, and then further away was a wooded area reminiscent of a taiga. From a distance you could hear the sound of birds and the sound of water.

As she looked away in the direction of the sounds, she strengthened her senses with the help of the Force, so she noticed the sea or ocean in the distance. Luckily she was in a higher area, so Ingrid didn’t have to be so afraid of a tsunami. In any case, however, the red-haired woman wanted to get as far away from the mountain as possible. So she walked until she felt she couldn't go any further, either she or Kveld. The woman wasn't worried about herself, because her stamina was good, even if it wasn't visible on her physique.

It was a full day and a half, here Ingrid could still have moved on, but Kveld was already very tired. So the woman was looking for a more rocky, sheltered place where they could be safe. Although the place was plain, there were stones, large or small. In this part, the earth did not tremble so much, they were also farther from the ocean, and they also found a larger rock formation. Here she made refuge for the two of them. She heated and boiled water to make it drinkable and they both ate fried meat for lack of better, with some frozen fruit she found along the way.

Until she was too tired, she also made a bow and arrows from the trees collected along the way. They also have to hunt tomorrow, because there is not much left of the animal captured almost two days ago because of Kveld. The wolf ate quite a lot because of his size. After she was done with everything, she also went to sleep and fell asleep almost immediately.

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[Ingrid L'lerim]

Lady Ingrid L’lerim-Ragal
Empress Regent of the Eternal Empire, Overlord of the Eternal Empire, the Emperor's hand
The Red Witch; Director of Blackwatch; Baroness of Vengard, Head of the House L’lerim, CEO of the HPI Consortium​

Location: Unknown planet in the Eternal Empire
Equipment: Meagre survival supplies

The night passed quite calmly, both of whom were able to rest themselves as much as possible. The next day they were greeted by gloomy weather because of the volcanoes, but they had to move on because they were still too close. Nowhere in the distance was another mountain, maximum hills, and on the other side the sea or ocean. However, there was another inconvenience both of them had to deal with. There were no animals.

For they felt the geological changes and stood on, moving faster than Ingrid. Although Kveld caught a few small rodents during the day, it was only good for him not to be hungry, the woman wasn't so much up to eating these mouse-like animals. She still had some food pills, she ate them. Even today, it was fairly unanimous in the empty wilderness. The minor unexpected turn occurred in the evening.

By this time they had been walking in the dark for hours, thanks to the fact that it was still getting dark very soon, but eventually they found a fairly wide, long-dried and frozen riverbed and on this south road - the sea or ocean was north - were the ruins of an ancient city they are visible in the distance. Now the sky wasn't so cloudy, so it was pretty visible in the light of the moons and stars. However, they could no longer go there today.

For the wind suddenly arose, the clouds came from almost nothing, and in less than a quarter of an hour, a huge blizzard formed, which made them unable to go any further. There was not much shelter here in the wilderness, so they were forced to pull themselves into the riverbed, Ingrid set up the tent here and had to wait for the whole end in it. She hoped it wouldn’t last for two days now like the previous one because that would be very uncomfortable.

After a rather poor dinner, Ingrid even practiced a little and meditated before she went to sleep. After all, she hoped a ruined city had to be mapped tomorrow. Provided the snowstorm stops during the night…

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[Ingrid L'lerim]

Lady Ingrid L’lerim-Ragal
Empress Regent of the Eternal Empire, Overlord of the Eternal Empire, the Emperor's hand
The Red Witch; Director of Blackwatch; Baroness of Vengard, Head of the House L’lerim, CEO of the HPI Consortium​

Location: Unknown planet in the Eternal Empire
Equipment: Meagre survival supplies

They had no luck, the snowstorms around here really seemed long enough and relatively dense. The storm didn't bother Kveld, as he went outside the next morning, leaving Ingrid alone. Since he had not returned in hours, the woman thought that from then on the animal would go its own way, so in the end she would be pleasantly disappointed when the wolf returned. However, there were not many hours left until then.

Being alone, so she didn’t really have many options other than getting bored and sleeping or exercising. The tent was too small for training, so there was still time to recall memories and exercise them. Most of all now, she was looking for memories and knowledge that could influence her environment. Ingrid knew she would probably never be able to do this in a large area like other sorcerers, but now the illusion was enough.

So being alone was pretty boring when she wasn’t just dealing with memory analysis. That is, there were disadvantages to being able to think of more than one thing at a time. This is also why she has thought more and more of AMCO and Tubrok Ragal. She tried to think of them as little as possible because it was all painful and she missed both men. At other times, she had been more than ten days away from them, both of them, but then she was doing a real job and not just bored.

Then she had the opportunity to busy her mind with someone else and was not bored on a permanent basis. She may have been a lone wolf at work, but that didn’t mean she didn’t require a high level of intellect and conversation. This is why she usually feels lonely when she is in company, because there are few people with whom you can have a meaningful conversation. Fortunately, Adrian and Tubrok were great companies in that regard as well. And that's how Telis Taharin-Zambrano came to her mind again. It filled her with even greater guilt, she didn’t want to harm him. But she also had time to reflect on Bryn’adûl.

She sighed, clearing her head of inappropriate and disturbing thoughts, and returned to practice. The storm continued to rage outside, already covering the tent pretty nicely on all sides, though it hadn't completely covered it yet. The day was over, it was getting dark, and the snowstorm was finally starting to ease. And Kveld arrives with a killed animal, which Ingrid was glad that at least the wolf could eat something. Because she was hungry already, but not so much to eat raw meat.

And the snowfall stopped the next morning, so they could both set off for the ancient ruined city.

​

 

[Ingrid L'lerim]

Lady Ingrid L’lerim-Ragal
Empress Regent of the Eternal Empire, Overlord of the Eternal Empire, the Emperor's hand
The Red Witch; Director of Blackwatch; Baroness of Vengard, Head of the House L’lerim, CEO of the HPI Consortium​

Location: Unknown planet in the Eternal Empire
Equipment: Meagre survival supplies || Kveld

Half time!

It was the morning of the fifteenth day on the planet for Ingrid. She only had to endure the same amount here once more. She hoped it would be less eventful than the first half was, hoped it would be boring. That is, more boring than before, because talking still didn’t make much sense. For Kveld didn't really understand the words, only the telepathic communication, through the Force. She would never have thought that in a place like this she would miss human speech the most.

As for the bad conditions, she had lost a few pounds since she was here, now she looked much more sickly skinny than her former airy exterior. At least there will be a reason why she eats so many candies when she returns to civilization. Her only real weakness is sweetness. Whether it’s candy, chocolate, or cake, it doesn’t matter, it’s sweet, that was the point. The way she thought about them was caught up with hunger, since she hadn't eaten anything in two days.

She couldn't tell how happy it was that the snow hadn't finally fallen and they were able to head for the city. Since it wasn't far from here, but the snow was getting big enough, with Kveld she got close enough in about two or three hours. From here, it was perfectly clear that this was a formerly developed metropolis. That is, there was an advanced civilization on the planet, sometime.

As far as she could see the buildings were not in the best condition, so it may have been all hundreds of years ago. The Overlord wondered what might have caused all this to make the city disappear. Due to the cold, even the remnants of the former nuclear winter may have played a role, but also the intense volcanic activity that made it an ice age on the planet. Maybe she will find out using the psychometry ability. But for now, she hoped there were animals in town and maybe even some usable stuff.

It was for this reason that she had no idea to go anywhere else, but to do so towards the city. Another, about an hour later, they arrived at the city borders. One of the first clues she saw was the trail of animals in the snow, fresh clues, herbivores, from which she could hope that there was even an ecosystem in the city that would have been very good for her. She could have meant she didn’t have to go any further from here and just stay alive in this ruined city.

One of the first things the red-haired woman saw was a frozen, completely inoperable combat droid…

​

 

[Ingrid L'lerim]

Lady Ingrid L’lerim-Ragal
Empress Regent of the Eternal Empire, Overlord of the Eternal Empire, the Emperor's hand
The Red Witch; Director of Blackwatch; Baroness of Vengard, Head of the House L’lerim, CEO of the HPI Consortium​

Location: Unknown planet in the Eternal Empire
Equipment: Meagre survival supplies || Kveld

Her first "journey" led to the droid to see it. It was a bit like the spider droids produced by Adrian’s company, but of course it was quite different. Although it may also be that she was associated with those droids only because of a lack of human company, because she would have liked to be with her fiancé or her husband. Or with both of them at the same time. Sometimes she too can be insatiable and ambitious, especially after the two lonely weeks of her life. Of course, Kveld was here, but the wolf was not human, and Ingrid was now thinking primarily of human company this time.

Everything in and around the droid was completely frozen, the metal frame was rusty. It may have been a long time ago, the red-haired woman couldn't tell the kind here, because she hadn't seen it before. As she looked at this, she continued on her way inside the city. Where one could see out of the houses in the distance, the pointed volcanic part provided a rather apocalyptic sight, but fortunately the woman was already far enough away from that place. They have come far enough to be just some major actual disaster that can cause them trouble. However, one from that can ruin the entire planet.

Although fresh snow fell here as well, it found countless fresh traces between the buildings, although it was here where the draft was stronger than the wind in the wilderness, but in many places there was no wind and the air felt warmer. Lichens and mosses reappeared on the walls of the houses, and some frozen bushes were also visible. She was actually wondering where the living beings are grouped here. So she reached out to the Force to sense the living beings. Ingrid also managed to find them towards the centre of the city.

Here once stood a larger building, collapsing. Under the large building, she thought of a block of at least two hundred meters twice. The place collapsed largely underground, and a larger lake was visible inside, which was liquid. Here, too, she could smell sulphur again, and around the lake she saw grasses, bushes, and even trees. The whole place was pretty much protected, and the lake kept the area warm as if it were a natural biodome. Kveld went ahead and found that the water was drinkable, at least for the animals.

Since the reconnaissance took quite a bit of time so far, because until she got here Ingrid thoroughly reviewed everything and decided to look for some safe place to sleep during the night. Eventually they found such a place in one of the nearby buildings, if there was a very, big problem, they could have escaped in several directions, but it was a place protected from wind and external influences. Where old wooden furniture remained, which could now be used as a campfire and roast the former raw meat, so after three days Ingrid was finally able to eat something.

Here, with the fire, the whole room could be heated, which means it was completely normal time. What a person from an ice planet can call normal. Others would have been frozen here. Kveld went out in the evening to walk around the place because he needed it and then only came back in the morning. Ingrid had practiced the use of Force until then, still mainly alchemy and sorcery, when it was very late, she went to bed to sleep. Her loneliness again was not helped by the fact that she dreamed of her gentlemen.

​

 

[Ingrid L'lerim]

Lady Ingrid L’lerim-Ragal
Empress Regent of the Eternal Empire, Overlord of the Eternal Empire, the Emperor's hand
The Red Witch; Director of Blackwatch; Baroness of Vengard, Head of the House L’lerim, CEO of the HPI Consortium​

Location: Unknown planet in the Eternal Empire
Equipment: Meagre survival supplies || Kveld

In the morning, Kveld also returned and in his own way shared with the woman what he had seen in the area. All of this was also very helpful for the woman who wanted to spend today, and probably the next one looking around the city anyway. She was glad Kveld did the same, but she liked to do it herself. And what the wolf saw was very good for her. Make her job easier.

After breakfast, leaving most of the equipment behind, Ingrid only took the bone guns and bows with her, everything else could stay, they set off. Thanks to Kveld showing where he was, reconnaissance was much faster than it would otherwise have been. It is not in vain to use a probe droid for such a task anyway, but there was no such thing here, so the wolf and herself remained. Fortunately, during the night, the wolf was able to tour much of the city, so they also looked at the more important points together.

One of the earlier plaza-like ones also sank, there was also a lake with warm water in it, so thanks to that there were plants and animals around it as well. There were already birds in this place, not just mammals. Also some bushes with edible plants, fruits, mainly with berry like fruits. Now there were no leaves on the tree, but some dried and frozen berries still that were too high for the animals. Ingrid gathered them to eat later.

From the condition of the trees and vegetation, Ingrid believed that the climate could be warmer in summer and that is why there are bushes and smaller trees here as well. True, the taiga was already close enough here, so it was conceivable. Now since there was finally a warm water lake here and there were no animals during the day nor did she take a long bath nearby. By now, she was very, very eager to relax and pamper herself in one of the Jacuzzis.

But she had to wait two more weeks for that, it was almost eternity. When she was done with everything, she went on with Kveld to explore the place. Since it got dark very soon, they had to hurry because of Ingrid. What she saw was that here in downtown, most of the buildings were used by the animals they were able to get into. There were probably sheltered places because they didn’t even see these creatures just in clues.

And she also had an idea, looking around to see which was the tallest building, and as soon as she found it, they headed for it. It was time to look around the whole place, as well as the distance, from a height.

​

 

[Ingrid L'lerim]

Lady Ingrid L’lerim-Ragal
Empress Regent of the Eternal Empire, Overlord of the Eternal Empire, the Emperor's hand
The Red Witch; Director of Blackwatch; Baroness of Vengard, Head of the House L’lerim, CEO of the HPI Consortium​

Location: Unknown planet in the Eternal Empire
Equipment: Meagre survival supplies || Kveld

It was finally a good bit of exercise to go up to the top of a very tall building to look around the whole area. It’s not like a lot of walking and hiking on the tundra so far hasn’t been a great workout, but climbing stairs still moves other muscles than walking on a flat surface. However, as for climbing the building, the woman had to do it alone because Kveld didn’t want to go high. Ingrid fully understood that.

After all, it was a land animal, and most of them didn’t like heights. Because of this, the woman went up alone, which was not such an easy task for her either. There was also a lot of snow and ice inside, not to mention that the building was not in the best condition either. If they were in a more modern place where there is civilization, this building would certainly have been doomed to demolition, not to mention that she would not have allowed anyone near it. Here, however, she had no choice.

She understood the buildings somewhat because she loved to design something like that, a hobby she started doing because of Tubrok, because her husband was passionate about architecture. So thanks to this hobby, she successfully avoided the dangerous parts and reached the roof. The building was not tilted, so there was a completely straight, smooth roof upstairs where it could be safe. The wind was strong and cold, but it didn't bother her much now. With the help of the Force, she improved her sight and so she looked around.

In the distance from where she came, the situation still had not improved, dense clouds were visible, the sky was full of lightning, and the volcanoes were still not calm. The only reason there was no ash falling from the sky here was because the wind was blowing in the opposite direction. Now from here she was able to look more closely at the sea or the ocean. The Overlord thought well before, the place could really be like that because she didn’t see the end. There were other directions left that she could still look at.

In every other direction she saw the infinite wilderness only, nothing mountain or the like, it was in the direction from which she came. This pretty much confirmed what she saw from the dropship the day she arrived. From here, she was able to take a close look at the city she was currently in. Now she could also see animals moving between the buildings and ruins. The city spent more time looking at it to make sure everything was thorough.

So thanks to that, she dealt with it until in the distance it seemed that the sun was starting to go down, i.e. she was definitely up here for two or three hours. At that time, however, she had to leave quickly because she did not want to crawl through the building in the dark. So she got down quickly and then joined her wolf, who had been waiting for her quite impatiently so far. No matter how hard she tried to get back to the shelter in time, it was getting dark by the time she did it and she was tired enough, so Ingrid didn't have much mood and strength left to practice after dinner.

In any case, it was a fairly successful day nonetheless.

​

 

[Ingrid L'lerim]

Lady Ingrid L’lerim-Ragal
Empress Regent of the Eternal Empire, Overlord of the Eternal Empire, the Emperor's hand
The Red Witch; Director of Blackwatch; Baroness of Vengard, Head of the House L’lerim, CEO of the HPI Consortium​

Location: Unknown planet in the Eternal Empire
Equipment: Meagre survival supplies || Kveld

This night wasn’t specifically for the best of Ingrid, she was constantly tormented by nightmares. Went through what happened at Voss over and over again. That AMCO dies before her eyes again and again. And the other part of the dreams was the fever dream she saw when she was injured and poisoned, the dream with the children and their disappearance. So she was tortured by the most painful and worst dreams possible. Waking up in the morning, the loneliness was even worse.

Especially since she wasn't feeling well. Ingrid was very rarely sick, but now she felt yes. She coughed and shook cold. That was the price of spending two or three hours on the roof yesterday, if she survives, she could tell it wasn’t in vain. If not, it doesn't matter at all. Actually, only one thing came to her mind because at this place she doubted she would find any thing she could make medicine for herself.

For now, however, she did not want to take advantage of this opportunity, if she had no other choice, she will drain a living animal’s life force to heal herself. And it won't be Kveld, it's some herbivore. But for the first time, she’s still trying to take in vitamins, as it’s completely dropped out since she’s been here because she didn’t really have the opportunity to eat something like that. The berries collected yesterday were boiled in water and soaked. In the meantime, the red-haired woman enjoyed the benefits and opportunities of the campfire.

One sure thing had a pretty awful taste of tea, but she hoped it would be used in her state. And also that it was edible for her as well and not just for herbivores. Other than that, she didn’t have much strength for anything, she was already tired and feverish. All she did was insulate the room where she was as well as possible and make the fire even stronger because she was cold. Then hid in the tent in the sleeping bag to sleep.

Kveld also felt that his saviour was sick and ill because he was hissing next to the woman to help her recover. Although she had only been awake for barely an hour, Ingrid fell asleep almost immediately from illness and fever, sleeping all day, amid chills, coughs, and nightmares.

​

 

[Ingrid L'lerim]

Lady Ingrid L’lerim-Ragal
Empress Regent of the Eternal Empire, Overlord of the Eternal Empire, the Emperor's hand
The Red Witch; Director of Blackwatch; Baroness of Vengard, Head of the House L’lerim, CEO of the HPI Consortium​

Location: Unknown planet in the Eternal Empire
Equipment: Meagre survival supplies || Kveld

The next morning she might have felt even worse and weaker than the day before. Even so, it was already quite bright out there, she sleeping for too long. Her body was constantly cold, swimming in cold sweat. Fruit tea and sleep were not enough. She had to go out to look for some other solution in the mall before she resorted to the Force. Should have eaten too, but she had no appetite.

The last time she was sick was when she was poisoned, but that wasn’t really considered a disease either. Recently, she had to miss a working day only due to injuries sustained in war, her real illness has not been since she was a small child. None. She felt like she still had a fever, a much higher fever than yesterday. It might be a big mistake for her to get out of here, but she had to do it, especially since the fire was out and she would need to gather another tree, moss, and lichen.

She got out of bed with great difficulty and picked up the clothes she was wearing outside, then set off. Kveld didn't want her to go, tried to arrest her, whimpered, but to no avail. The woman tried to tell why this was necessary, but she didn’t know if the animal understood it or not. It must have been too complicated for the wolf. She kept coughing outside as well and, even after a few minutes of walking, gasped as if she had taken part in the toughest workout.

Truth be told, the red-haired woman could not recall later how she got back to her shelter. She had no memories of the whole day and could not recall them later, not even with the Force. It was all like having a more serious head injury than, say on Anzat. Ingrid only had a very high fever. She was at least sure of that, because she knew, that is, she remembered, that it was as if she had been talking to Adrian and Tubrok during the evening, that is, she was arguing. After all, they both wanted her to go home because it wasn’t all worth dying of pneumonia. And she still remembered playing sabacc with Mordaen.

Of course, she may have only dreamed and not just imagined these. But this is something she will probably never know again. In one thing, even in this situation, she was sure that what the two men “said,” that is, her own subconscious, said the same thing that the two most important men of her life would have said to her. The point and luck was that the next morning when she woke up she was feeling a little better.

​

 

[Ingrid L'lerim]

Lady Ingrid L’lerim-Ragal
Empress Regent of the Eternal Empire, Overlord of the Eternal Empire, the Emperor's hand
The Red Witch; Director of Blackwatch; Baroness of Vengard, Head of the House L’lerim, CEO of the HPI Consortium​

Location: Unknown planet in the Eternal Empire
Equipment: Meagre survival supplies || Kveld

The next morning, when she woke up, she felt a little better. She was still sick, but less so, though she kept coughing and having a fever. At least she could think better, her mind was much clearer. She had no appetite at all, and could not look at the food. She didn’t know when and how she got back, but she saw she made the fire, she even cooked food or water for herself. Whatever she found out there used to be and was better, but still very far from healing.

Ingrid knew that if she remained in this state, even if Kveld took care of her, she would not survive. But she didn't want to die. Theoretically, she had to survive with her own wit, no one and nothing forbade her to use Force in the process. After all, the rule and the trial was made even when they just wanted to destroy the Light Side of the Force, not the whole Force. Now she felt she would be able to use a Force that could have helped her. Although she had not done this before, she had theoretical knowledge.

It may have been a Light Side ability because of the Force healing, but it was the Sith aunt who taught her. Especially after she almost died of poisoning last time. She knew it originally lasted for an hour, but she didn't know if it could be used for a disease. She hoped, because after all, a virus or a bacterium could be thought of as a "poison." It is quite difficult to concentrate and meditate when a person coughs non-stop due to pneumonia. Still, she decided to give it a try.

Half the day went by practicing how to do it because it wasn’t that easy starting from scratch, not to mention it took for her a while to figure out how to rule out a cough. It was already getting dark by the time she finally managed to start the meditation with which she could cleanse her body. Fortunately, it also worked for diseases, not just poison.

The process became more and more easier during meditation as the disease receded. Because she had no practice in it, the process lasted for three hours, but by the end, her cough was gone with fever as well. She hadn’t felt hungry yet, but she might become hungry over time. Now, however, it was quite late, she was not only physically but also mentally tired, so Ingrid fell asleep again almost immediately. The day was not productive, but if all is true, at least she was no longer sick…

​

 

[Ingrid L'lerim]

Lady Ingrid L’lerim-Ragal
Empress Regent of the Eternal Empire, Overlord of the Eternal Empire, the Emperor's hand
The Red Witch; Director of Blackwatch; Baroness of Vengard, Head of the House L’lerim, CEO of the HPI Consortium​

Location: Unknown planet in the Eternal Empire
Equipment: Meagre survival supplies || Kveld

In the morning when she woke up, she was finally really feeling a lot better, except for the fact that she was very weak. Ingrid wasn't really surprised, because as far as she knew, it was already the third or fourth day she hadn't eaten anything. She wasn't really hungry now either, she would have liked to eat chocolate or sweets at any time. So she would not have called this complete healing because she could eat candy at any time, even while dying, in any quantity. But it was still a progress.

She forced herself to eat the meat she had previously roasted. She didn’t feel well at all and even became nauseous from eating. However, the fruit tea was pleasant. However, it was very unfortunate that all their food was run out, i.e. they were forced to hunt today. Of course, Kveld was very happy with this news, and he would have started enthusiastically now, just like a dog. Ingrid got ready and they could leave after that.

The after-effects of the disease were really felt to be more tiring, although this could also be attributed to the fact that she had been eating for a long time. The fruits were usable, so she went back there first to take a bath and collect more fruits for herself, in addition to plants that could be used for firing. When they were done with this, it could be that she would scout an animal with Kveld and try to hunt it down. They knew where they were in the daylight, so they headed in that direction.

It was the first time the Overlord saw a larger crowd of animals in this place. She didn’t want to possibly get sick, so she chose a healthy animal for herself. It was a smaller stag-sized creature, which would be enough for her and Kveld for a few days, though the wolf could hunt himself very well if needed. Luckily, she had a great sense of aim, although what else could be expected from a sniper. So she was able to hunt an animal with the bow she made.

It was now a bigger one to keep their food longer. Of course, the animal was eviscerated and processed here, taking out all the salvageable parts that existed to take with them. What Kveld still wanted to eat from the chewed bones, he could eat. Seeing the dead animal, the woman also had an idea of what to practice, a little necromancy. She had already learned how to set up an army of dead sentient beings, thanks to AMCO , well it was time to learn that from animals as well.

She took the food back to her shelter and then went to one of the places where several dead corpses and skeletons could be found. It was time to practice.

​