Faction LOTS │ Trial of Sand (Open to All Acolytes/Knights)

[Alina Tremiru]

Aspect of Passion | Darth Arkanus​

"Darth Malgus never had any children. I'm fairly certain he's demanding a Sith who can live up to his ideals be the one to claim his holocron. Which also means he'll likely have trials within set up for such a test." She let out a sigh as she glanced to her Zabrak ally. She said nothing more as she slipped through the crack to better see the tomb and it's entrance. It was open. Her eyes narrowed more. Was the spirit within inviting them? Likely. That was even more worrying. Her grip on her spear tightened as she walked down.

There was no longer a need to hurry, in her eyes.

The tomb was dark, as many were. Her blade ignited as she lifted it up much like a torch, illuminating the darkness around them. Immediately she recoiled. A near mummified corpse was impaled by some kind of spear. A spear held by a droid twice her height. She readied herself to strike at it should it move, but there was no movement.

It was deactivated.

She lowered her blade and exhaled before looking to Dral. "I'm not sure why, but it's off. We should see if there's a way to control them. Last thing we need is something like this coming after us if we take the holocron."

 

[Quintus Varro]

With a grim smile he began their long walk towards the mountains, the sound of the howling wind dying behind them as they moved forward. "I'm guessing the temple is at the epicenter of this eye. Whatever is powering all of this they aren't trying to hide at all, if anything they're guiding us in. Who knows what kind of trials wait there."

Spying some footprints ahead as they continued he pointed them silently to Arcturus as they continued onwards. If it was a race they were now sorely behind, of course there was also the unfortunate possibility they were merely the first victim of Darth Malgus' tomb. "It makes sense really that only one can take the holocron. In fact it may be designed that way purposely given his solitary nature."

The looming spires of stone rose over them as he followed the dark power at the center of the storm more then the canyon itself. Glancing between the continuing footprints around the canyon and where he could sense that center he weighed their options out loud with Arcturus Dinn . "If they're on the right path they'll have reached the tomb before us, and possibly even the holocron itself. If they're on the wrong path we'll only be lead astray as well. I say instead we follow out instinct and head towards the center of the storm. What say you?"

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Thesh looked up from the sand which had begun to swirl at his feet, and stared pointedly at his companion who was talking so much he hadn't realized what they'd stumbled upon. He glanced past him, following Quintus' gaze toward the mountains in the distance, before shaking his head some.​

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"I mean, if you want to go off on some wild goose chase, be my guest. But..." He tapped his foot against the sandstone, and once more began to draw upon the Force to start brushing away the sand at their feet, slowly unearthing one entrance to the tomb. No doubt there were many scattered around, no doubt others had found another way in. "You could always just help me unearth this instead."​

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It was funny how two men could walk the same path, yet each see different things within it. Perhaps it was his experiences on Tash-Taral which had even allowed him to take notice of the sunken structure. Why would one even presume it was buried beneath layers of sand?​

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With or without Quintus' help though, Thesh would see this part of the tomb unearthed.​

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Quintus Varro ​

 

[Dis]

Surur Pomi (Dis the Shadow(cat))
Shadowcat, explorer and wanderer; Owner of the Cat’s Paw; Member of the Greystone Mercantile​

Location: Korriban
Equipment: Chosen Host | Lightsaber
Tags: Val Drutin

Dis looked back as Val began to prick the dead Hssiss. It didn’t think this was such a good idea, but since it saw worse than that from the Sith in the host’s memories, preferred not to speak. Didn’t want the girl to get in any trouble because of its own misbehaviour that Shadowcat might be doing while it was in her body. At the man's words, turned around and saw the eggs.

"Oh! They are still alive?"

Asked quickly and then looked at Hssiss to stay here, it would look at the eggs. Picked up one too, feeling through the Force that they were alive. Val rescued them all before the male animal could eat them. Shadowcat knew that such eggs were rich in many nutrients, so it could be really good food for Hssiss, but it wouldn’t have let the lizard eat them either.

"Yes, Val says it right, you won't eat the eggs!"

Fully agreed with its partner. Luckily, Hssiss sat back and went back to his place to wait to get his dinner. However, Val didn't see any corpses around here either. The Shadowcat smiled and nodded enthusiastically that yes, this was Korriban, they would definitely have found a dead somewhere. Turned back to Hssiss to tell him they were going out and looking around to see if they could find a residue that might be good for him. If he wants, he can come with them or stay and eat his dead companion. There was not much to wait for an answer because Hssiss stood up and walked over to the two of them.

"He's coming with us! He says that so… the best word for this practical. That makes it more practical. And we can go!"

Since didn't have to run now, just walk, Dis was able to move perfectly. Also saw traces of the others in the sand, as well as several pyramids or a half-buried tomb. However, has not seen anything other than animals and their peers yet. Just a huge dune.

"Let's climb to see if we can see more from there." pointed to the said sand dune.

 

[Quintus Varro]

He stopped in midmotion realizing he'd been so absorbed and in his obsession with that dark side energy that he'd completely missed what Arcturus was on about. Giving an apologetic smile he nodded and closed his eyes joining with him. Drawing that sweet nectar into him he could taste it as he slowly began moving the sand aside. Perhaps the tomb had never been truly hidden after all, but the years and sand had simply hidden it from sight. Of course the opposite was also possible. A tomb hidden so long that the sand above it had been gently moved away... or rather violently by a sudden force storm.

It gave him an idea though as he pulled the sand outwards instead of brushing and pushing it. He sought to form a second, much smaller and less intense wall of sand then the great one that surrounded them. He brought back images of pain into his mind from times gone by, and his rage built. He thought of them differently now then he once had. They weren't torturing him, only preparing him for the fire. In his mind he placed a wall of strong binding chains in a circle around them, and then each through a thousand chains onto the ceiling of the temple pulling away handfuls at a time.

Letting his mind meld into it he lost some exterior focus as he worked to clear their quarry together. Soon they would be in the tomb then, but how far behind would they be?

Arcturus Dinn

 

[Darth Arkanus]

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TAG: Alina Tremiru | Aspect of Passion | Darth Empyrean​

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Following Alina the pair delved into the depths of the tomb. As the light faded behind them Dral watched as his companion ignited her blade like a makeshift torch as they delved into the darkness that awaited them. His nose was filled with the smell of sand and dust that had accumulated in the tomb over the years.​

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Whilst they continued, his eyes struggled to adjust to the darkness, finally coming to him he looked around the room they had stumbled upon. Hearing Alina's start his hand shot towards his hilt before he too noticed the corpse, and the droid that had impaled it.​

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"I was always more old-fashioned, I bet you better with these hunks of walking metal than I am anyway."​

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Looking around his eyes looked upon the walls for any sort of clues, or traps, making sure to watch his feet. He figured that any good Sith would lie some traps of much different variety in their tomb, to keep it safe from the wrong hands, and to dishearten potential apprentices from entering to gain their hard-fought knowledge, as the pair was doing.​

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[Val Drutin]

"He's coming with us?" Val exclaimed, his tone one of protest. He was convinced that Mr. Hssiss still had designs on eating the eggs as soon as their backs were turned. But he supposed there was nothing he could do to stop them, short of killing Mr. Hssiss right here and now.

Which would make perfect sense, given that right at that moment, Val had a vision. So did all the other acolytes, apparently. "Ooooo," Val murmured. "That was spooky. Did you get that, Surur? Malgus' ghost just hollered at us."

But Surur had already headed out, followed by Mr. Hssiss. Val caught up with her, still floating the eggs in a neat little troop behind him. They had reached a sand dune, and a half-buried tomb beyond it. "Does this mean that we're going to have to fight the others?" he asked aloud. Maliphant's questions had been slightly vague in that area, though he had specified that they couldn't kill their fellow students. That didn't meant they couldn't fight, however. This was a competition, after all. But Val at least took comfort in the fact that nobody likely wanted to mess with him, considering him beneath them. Not even worthy of notice...

Going from comforted to depressed in about three seconds, Val sank into a sullen funk that rivaled the dark swirling mass of the sky overhead - or perhaps was fed by it. Lightning flashed like a lash over the eye of the unnatural storm. He cradled the two eggs close to his chest as though guarding some precious treasure, and realized how little he cared about the goal of this little adventure. A holocron belonging to a dead man. What was Darth Malgus to him? What was the Lords of the Sith to him? What was he even doing here?

The impulse to drop all the eggs seized him, but he stopped himself. He had always wanted pets. These would do. But as for the holocron, why bother? He supposed he had no choice. Sunk cost fallacy. He was here, he'd gotten this far, he might as well see it through.

Without saying another word to Surur, Val started walking towards the tomb. He had become a hollow man, empty of feeling, dangerously apathetic. In other words, an "episode" had begun.

OOC: See bio for details, I'm too tired to explain.

Dis​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"These droids are older than old fashion." It was an idle muse as Alina looked over the mechanical giants. It was certainly one way to intimidate a tomb raider. Something like this stalking towards just about anyone would fill hearts with dread. Interestingly, not a scratch on their chassis. Intricately carved, too. Is that.. Runes? She brushed a palm over one, studying it.

Old magic.

"Definitely the tomb's guardians.. Alright." She lowered her hand from the droid, turning her gaze to Darth Arkanus . There was no reason for them to just hang around the entrance. "Tell me, what do you see with your Zabrakian eyes?"

 

[Darth Arkanus]

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TAG: Alina Tremiru | Darth Empyrean | Aspect of Passion​

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The yellow eyes of the man glancing over the walls as he touched them softly with his hands reading the text in his head. Mumbling some words, Alina fading to the background as he racked his head for the meaning of the words he had learned so long ago.​

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"Sis kash tave qo, kia stebe kia xauti tave home iv visa aureole. This is a rough translation to, This is the way, to follow to find the home of all glory. I guess this is at least, some sort of right path...."​

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Dral noted this softly as he looked upon the path that lies before the pair before motioning for the young woman to lead the way, as she had taken the lead before, he wouldn't stop her from doing that again.​

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[Arcturus Dinn]

Two were definitely better than one.​

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Though it still took time, with the Force as their ally they had enough of the entrance unearthed soon enough that they could freely pass inside and head deeper into the tomb. He paused though, as he lowered his hands from their place within the air, and glanced over at Quintus. What lay within might be dangerous, more so than either could contend with, and that had him worried. He hadn't gotten to see too much of what the other man was capable of. Certainly he did not wish death upon him.​

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"You ready for the unknown, brother?" he asked, unable to keep hints of concern from worming their way into his tone, "Who knows when we'll see daylight again..."​

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The ever-present song was louder here than it had been prior, it was calling to him and Thesh wanted nothing more than to step forth and answer it. But he wanted to make sure the other was ready too. Or, as ready as any of them ever could be given the circumstances.​

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Quintus Varro ​

 

[Kal]

Wearing: Devaronian Male; Early Twenties, Athletic, Curved Horns and Fitted Robes.
Equipment: One Standard Issue Survival Kit
Tags: Melydia Gold

Chuckling happily at her little pun, he nonetheless kept an eye open for any appropriate birds, but only spotted an aircraft of some sort in the distance; a late arrival or the Sith in charge of this little event keeping an eye on them. If so, were they making a statement with their presence?​

Drawn away from his constant overanalysis by Melydia's statement, he turned his attention towards her only to notice the slight tremor of potential in the air himself; lo and behold, a storm to guide them and a voice to usher its chosen one forward. This changed things.​

"You heard the voice too?" At her affirmation, he would turn to gaze thoughtfully towards the eye of the storm before nodding to himself.​

"I wonder who it calls - I certainly would not fit the description, but circumventing the will of the dead remains a possibility." He was from the Nether, where one could hardly throw a pebble without inconveniencing some dead mortal or another. One quickly learned not to bend to their will.​

Without further ado, he set out towards the storm and the presumed tomb at its centre - the others would be converging too, no doubt.​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Darth Arkanus | Aspect of Passion​

"Of all glory, huh.." She took a breath. Certainly sounded ominous enough for a Sith Tomb. That with the dead bodies and the droids really sold the idea of impending doom and death await the unworthy. Which wasn't actually anything the tomb said anywhere. Just her minds eye enjoying the idea. Helped keep her calm, given the circumstances. And Dral wanted her to lead? The young Sith let out a sigh as she stepped ahead of him. She might of been eager, but wasn't he the one who kept wanting to teach her something?

No, it made sense. She did go in first last time. The hall stretched on for what seemed like an eternity. More of the droids were visible, some standing idle. Others once animated to kill intruders but now frozen in that last act. Corpses still attached no less. It was a dreadful sight, but it did show just how strong these droids might actually have been.

Given some of the lightsabers scattered on the floor by several of the corpses, it was likely they once stood up to Sith.

Though, she wasn't looking for the holocron now. With all the droids they were coming across, the idea that they might reactivate was a looming threat she didn't dare to chance. Her eyes constantly scanned their surroundings, looking for anything that might give away the idea of a control room or.. Something like it. Anything really.

There it was. A side passage not part of this 'path of glory'. Immediately she turned to it, forsaking the current path in favor of this new development. Without a word at that. Finding the controls was the only thing that mattered at the moment.

 

[Quintus Varro]

With just a nod he dropped into the tomb, the makeshift entrance could lead anywhere inside of the structure itself, but thinking about it wouldn't help at all. They were simply too far behind to play it safe. He suppose it didn't matter if Darth Malgus had already selected one to be his heir, yet still he felt a need in this race. If nothing else it was the first time he'd applied himself without exterior motivation. The first time he didn't doubt himself and his use of the force.

Stepping into the darkness he held up a hand to ward off Arcturus Dinn from polluting the air with light as he examined the area both in the force and the ultraviolet spectrum. It was as dead in that spectrum as it was in the normal, but the force was now full of that darkness making it difficult to separate things he felt. Something was close, he just didn't know what.

"Smaller here then expected, maybe a side tunnel for construction, or some type of access tunnel? Thoughts?"

 

[Dis]

Surur Pomi (Dis the Shadow(cat))
Shadowcat, explorer and wanderer; Owner of the Cat’s Paw; Member of the Greystone Mercantile​

Location: Korriban
Equipment: Chosen Host | Lightsaber
Tags: Val Drutin

Dis saw that Val was still insecure about Hssiss because he was sure he was going with them because he wanted to eat the eggs. In fact, the Shadowcat had to agree with him that there was a good chance of that. However, Mr. Hssiss has behaved very well so far and has not tried to do ugliness. Of course, not even Dis could rule out the fact that this was just a diversion. After all, the animal was intelligent enough for that. Although he seemed to catch an odour as they climbed the hill, Dis did not smell anything in the host’s body to suggest that.

After Val's question, Dis turned to the man in surprise and shook its head. Maybe the problem was that Shadowcat was not a Dark Side Force User? It was completely neutral. Luckily knew the answer to the next question, it was good to watch and listen when Darth Empyrean gave a briefing and explained the task to them. So actually Dis was capable of responding to both comments at the same time.

"I didn't feel anything. And yes, fighting is allowed, it can happen. But you… we can't kill the others or each other."

Fortunately; but Dis did not say this out loud, nor did it say that it do not want to fight anyone. The Shadowcat never fought, though there was much information about the fight in the host’s memories. It could be seen quite well from the top of the hill, and then suddenly Val began to behave very strangely, even strangely to Mr. Hssiss, who looked at Dis questioningly.

"Don't look at me like that, I don't know what's wrong, but we'd better go after him!"

Mr. Hssiss went forward, he managed to run down the dune to the tomb where Val went in then to Dis. For the Shadowcat, it all went a little slower because didn’t want to fall. Eventually it arrived. The air was standing inside, a little sweet from the rotting flesh, a dead rhodian lying near the entrance, and Mr. Hssiss was eager to start having dinner. Dis looked at its partner, a little worried about the strange behaviour.

"Val, everything is alright?" asked.

 

[Val Drutin]

The male Hssiss, scenting the rotten flesh of a dead Rhodian near the entrance to the tomb, began to devour it at once. Val observed the gruesome carnality out of the corner of his slanting dark eye, but didn't pause to admire it. He could hear the feline feet of Surur padding across the sand after him, asking if he was all right. He was tempted to ignore her, but a small voice in his head warned him: Act like everything is fine.

"I'm fine," he replied. "I'm just tired of waiting around. Let's get this over with."

He headed further into the tomb, leaving the sound of snapping jaws gnawing at rotten flesh behind. It was dark within, and soon he couldn't see a thing. Being half Hapan, his eyesight was exceedingly poor in low lighting. He was practically blind here in the tomb, reliant on the Force for guidance.

There were lifeless husks of droids lying around, presumably the tomb guardians. Val was no gearhead, but he sensed that whatever mechanism powered them was still active, though reduced to a hibernative state.

He also sensed that they were not the first students to reach the tomb. Tucking the Hssiss eggs away inside his tunic (now encrusted with dried dragon gore) he took his lightsaber from his belt and activated the violet blade, using it as a light source. By the glow of the plasma he noticed designs on the walls, hieroglyphs and murals, but he couldn't make sense of them.

"How badly do you really want this holocron, Surur?" he asked in a low voice. "Or if you don't want the holocron, do you just want to win? Or... are you doing all this out of obligation, because you're a student in Maliphant's class and have to do what he says?" There was a wicked smile on his face as looked at her, awaiting an answer.

Dis Alina Tremiru Darth Arkanus Arcturus Dinn Quintus Varro Darth Empyrean Kal Melydia Gold - I'm tagging everybody since we're all in the tomb now alrighty​

 

[Melydia Gold]

Wearing: X, X
Wielding: X
Tags: Kal

"We do hear it, yes," she responded, shuddering as if she could shake the remnants of the voice from her head. Having such voices in her head, especially those of the unfamiliar sort, left such a weird feeling, not quite painful but also not quite comfortable. And once it was gone, it left behind an annoying silence she'd been oblivious to before.

"We wouldn't know. It's unlikely it refers to us, too." There was a twinge of something, melancholy in her voice of many. As one who'd wished so much for acceptance, yet knew better to expect it, there were still moments in which the bleak reality was overwhelming for the insectoid creature. "There's one way to find out for certain, though!"

As they continued their trek toward the tomb, Melydia's wandering walking pattern would once more draw to a slowed pace. "Kal-friend, do you recall when you found the cave-veins among the forest?" She asked, wandering gaze drifting between the now-Zabrack and the sand beneath them. "What if we found one of the tomb's veins? Might be a bit more, uh, accessible than through the storm."

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

For one who had shown indecisiveness and uncertainty when they'd first met, Quintus had become rather confident in himself. He simply stepped off the ledge and dropped through into the corridor below as though this was an ordinary walk in the park; Thesh could not help but nod in admiration, before following him down into the unknown.​

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Save for the soft, Force-softened thud of his boots, there wasn't much noise down there. In fact the sand above helped to insulate against even the sound of whipping wind as it vortexed around them. The air felt heavy, dust and sand having been kicked up with their descent. They kept to the darkness, allowing their eyes to adjust and reaching out with the Force to bolster their senses as opposed to lighting the way. It was safer that way, for now at least. Less likely to disturb some great unknown...​

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When Quintus next spoke he turned his gaze toward the sound and just about made out the other man.​

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"Some Sith made their tombs purposely difficult to navigate. Dead end tunnels, traps. We should tread carefully, and watch for anything that could be out of place. Which way do you wish to go?" They could keep going the way they faced, or further down the passage at their backs. "Which way was the center of the storm?" He tried to peer back up through the hole they'd made, but even that was slowly being covered back up and it was hard to tell anything from such an angle.​

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Perhaps they'd just have to bite the bullet and choose at random.​

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Quintus Varro ​

 

[Kal]

Wearing: Devaronian Male; Early Twenties, Athletic, Curved Horns and Fitted Robes.
Equipment: One Standard Issue Survival Kit
Tags: Melydia Gold

Noting the subtle hints of melancholy, Kal turned to look at his friend and quickly made a decision. "If so, his loss - any Sith Lord of yore would be lucky to have you as the heir to their legacy." Patting her on the shoulder, he seemed genuine in every way. Sure, she was hardly the traditional Sith, but in his mind that was a good thing; she had strange powers of her own, the ability to use them when not distracted, and was very nice to boot!​

After some wandering, another question was asked, this one pertaining to their shared experiences on Dxun. An idea - and not a bad one.​

"Yes, yes that may just work." A large complex for a mighty Sith would be his guess. There may well be "veins" stretching even beyond the storm's reach. Dropping to a knee, he pushed a single crimson-skinned hand into the sands then closed his eyes, slowing the body's breath and other functions until it had well and truly entered a trance-like state. All the better not to interfere with his more mystical senses.​

Clearly supremely confident in Melydia keeping him safe from external threats, he rested like that for several minutes until his eyes finally snapped open, a smile on his lips. "Yes! There are... utility tunnels, or perhaps the shifting paths of a maze, stretching outwards like the roots of a great tree. Most do not come out quite this far, but a few do. There is one that reeks of death, but another..."​

"That way," Kal said, smile brightening.

 

[Darth Arkanus]

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TAG: Alina Tremiru | Darth Empyrean | Aspect of Passion​

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His eyes wandered the path, reading the story that was on the walls, they were all written in ancient sith, so he made out more words and phrases with some names and places came into the sentences that littered the wall. Repeating the name of the path over and over again.​

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Scanning over the words he found the names of Courasant and others. Where he had dominated his will Dral figured, or great battles that the sith had one over the many years that he had been around, being the truest form a sith could ever be. He founds words and phrases that confused him, almost as if they undermined the man that was there, but he shook away these as turmoils that he had overcome in his many years.​

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"Alina where are you going? We are looking for the Holocron, if we leave the path we might not make it back out again."​

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Dral looked at Alina as she ducked down a side passage, his eyes following her as she walked down and he let out a sigh giving chase to the younger Sith.​

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[Melydia Gold]

Wearing: X, X
Wielding: X
Tags: Kal

She took Kal's attempt at comfort with a small smile. It was appreciated, to be sure. Kal was one of the few she would call friend who would call her friend back. "Their loss indeed, the hive will just have to make our own legacy."

They made a good team, shadow and insect. While Kal searched for veins below, Melydia kept eyes both above and around them. The occasional beetle flew by, buzzing secrets into her ear, news of other pairs moving throughout the desert, some already making their ways into the tombs. She briefly considered telling Kal, warning him that they might be moving too slow, but decided against it. Their flight pattern would move at its own pace, even if it made achieving the original objective unlikely.

She buzzed with excitement at Kal's news. "Yes, maybe we should avoid the deathly one, not after last time," she admitted, the ghost of a memory sending another shiver down her spine. She brushed that off, smile brightening to match Kal's. "Yes yes, let's," she agreed with a nod. "And once we get down there, the beetles can check the death-route. Just to be sure." Another quick nod, this time more so to herself, and she was ready to follow.