(Sorry, muse kicked the bucket for a little while. Didn't want to give you guys a half-assed post. Back now)
If it wasn't obvious by Josh's response, he was wondering pretty much the same thing, well, not exactly, but similar. How had he not sensed it? Was it perhaps because of the sense of death in the air from the bodies just outside that clouded them? Or was he perhaps just rusty and not as adjusted to sensing the dark side as he once was? This entire situation frustrated him. Why? Why him? Why did he have to think that he'd be fine going to Zeltros, despite the fact he hadn't trained against Circe's pheromones, which were oddly similar to Zeltros' pheromones, like he had before he went into hiding? Why did he have to care so much about what would happen to people if he didn't make sacrifices, or what would possibly happen to the Jedi if he didn't? Why couldn't he have just stood firm and said no and gotten himself out of this situation before it got as bad as it did? Because now all of that had just landed him in hot water with the Jedi. No better then if he had gotten the damned Empress and her people mad. The Jedi would have brought him here to face trial and justice either way. This entire blasted thing was a bad situation, and he had sincerely hoped that it was over when he stopped being contacted by Nimue. Obviously, this wasn't the case.
It was best he just told them what he could. There was no point in lying. And he'd rather they not scan his memories anyway. Not for anything to do with this situation, but because he had never been in a situation where memory scanners only looked at what they were supposed to look at. And this was the same Order that had used his morals and values as a means to pressure him into stepping down. He was rightfully distrustful on that account.
"I'll answer what I can. First off, Master Karr-Speaking of, haven't I seen you before?" The blonde haired Jedi Master would inquire toward [member="Kian Karr"] with a curious expression. He could almost swear he'd seen him before... But where? "Ah, I suppose it doesn't matter at present, we can get acquainted later once our business is concluded" The Jedi Master would decide aloud. "But back to what I was saying... Master Karr, you asked about my actions, yes? Truthfully, there wasn't much I could do at that moment. I wasn't happy about it whatsoever, I can say that. But with the Empress's people all there, there was no benefit in causing a stir. Empress Stormson had requested a private moment elsewhere later to talk, once her... Antics, were discovered by your man at the party. I waited until then, when there was less chances of consequences, to talk about it" He would remark calmly.
"We... Had a bit of a heated argument over it. She told me that those prisoners were all rebels in this civil war that was going on, and there were customs in the old ways that these rebels were fighting for, customs that demanded executions and hangings for rebellions such as this one. Customs she claimed were the ones she was trying to steer away from, but she put them to the fate that their kind wanted and fought for. I was unhappy, of course. I didn't feel that death was the right way to go with it. I mean, at the very bloody least, she could have just locked them up and got them to calm down, try to see things her way and settle it diplomatically without bloodshed. Hell, she could have asked for my aid in settling it diplomatically, I have a history with that sort of thing. I don't generally involve myself in... Political affairs, but when lives are at stake, I afford what I can. Its why I stepped in during the Republic's war with the Fringe, just before I became Grandmaster. Politics meant very little to me. But the lives that could be spared meant something. A peaceful resolution without needless bloodshed is what I want in any situation. That's what any Jedi should shoot for, no?" The blonde would speak. "She said she didn't want to, but had to in accordance to what their customs were, and to keep them from escaping and attacking again. Quite ruthless, if you ask me, but I didn't speak past that because I'd already made things dangerously tense and continuing the subject wasn't wise. Had to change the subject to keep things from escalating, and I've learned from experience that pissing off royalty tends to result in guards rushing the room, and all that exciting stuff like activating your lightsaber and deflecting blaster bolts, and jumping out a window to conduct a daring escape to your ship while being chased by guards. Quite fun and all, but the part where you're declared an enemy of the state, barred from the planet, and then have to take months, maybe years, to try and sort things out... Yeah, that parts not so fun"
That last bit was obviously meant lightheartedly, and the Jedi Master's sense of humor shined through despite the seriousness of the situation. But then he let out a sigh. "Point is, I did what I could, Master Karr. I spoke my piece and attempted reasoning. With her possibly being a Dark Jedi though... Well, honestly it could explain a lot. And I'm still honestly disappointed I wasn't able to sense it. I'm still trying to figure out how I hadn't been able to myself. Either she's good at hiding it, or the reasonings were circumstantial, or I was just rusty. Considering I've had multiple encounters with her, the first and second ones seem more likely now that I look back" He would add, scratching his beard. "My only real regrets are not being there for the civil war to stop the bloodshed of innocents, and not being able to get out of this situation before it escalated like it did"
"And of course, speaking of which, I guess I might as well tell the story, so as not to keep the Grandmaster waiting" He spoke, with a polite smile toward [member="Corvus Raaf"]. "I was honestly hoping this whole thing would just blow over and I wouldn't have to deal with Nimue again. The whole thing was incredibly uncomfortable" He remarked, but now came time for the moment of truth. "This stays between us, I hope. You're a Jedi, I know I can trust you to be honorable and know that letting information get out could lead to more bloodshed. Neither of us want that"
"So... What happened... Well, as you know, I left the Jedi Order due to conflicts of interest, and went into a self imposed exile, cutting off most of my contacts with anyone who hadn't already abandoned me at that point, because everything that had been happening to me in those final months had rendered me a broken man. I needed to go away for a little while and... Fix myself. Start over. Clear my head and come back stronger then I was before. I spent nearly a year in exile, training, learning, reading, no attachments, no distractions. My mind and body slowly healed. On the side, I made secret excursions away from my training grounds to assist the Republic in dealing with crime rings and illegal slave rings on their planets, without them knowing. I had little encounters with the Sith, thus why my first assumption on all this was that I was rusty, before I looked back at things. This went on until the Ession Reformation found me, which after they told me the Jedi were being purged by the One Sith and they needed my help, and once I'd agreed to it, I knew that if I could be found once, I'd be found again. And next time possibly not by friendly allies. So my time there ended. I was back in the fold. After the Reformation dissolved, I found solace with the Silver Jedi. I hoped to assist their efforts against the Sith, and made it a habit to go incognito and visit planets of... Ill repute, risking myself to try and garner information. Generally, I'm pretty successful, even if it takes time and a few cantinas and establishments to do so"
"Now, with that out of the way, this is where things went south. You see, I had made a habit of training myself to resist the allure of pheromones, in order to counteract one of the primary weapons used by Sith Lord Circe Savan, otherwise known as Enigma or Jentara, or Victoria as I found out during a party I visited recently" He spoke, subtlety revealing Circe's newest secret identity to the Jedi Order. The smallest of smiles crossed his lips after he said that last bit, perhaps an indication of it. Circe was a master of deceit and backstabbing people, including Joshua. Destroying his family was another thing on her list. If he wasn't able to find her to garner his own revenge, perhaps another Jedi would be able to find her during her Victoria disguise. If he could control the radius of the memories they saw, perhaps he would allow Corvus to scan the memories of that party... Not Nimue's, but the one with the Duchess who he was pretty sure was involved with the One Sith, as were many of the partygoers. Being able to identify another of Circe's disguises, especially her newest one, would benefit the Jedi in some fashion. He didn't care who did it, after all, someone needed to take care of Savan before she caused more pain and suffering. If someone didn't... Then perhaps he would.
"So when I went to Zeltros with a few Jedi and the at-the-time Supreme Chancellor, for reasons that... Honestly, even I don't understand fully. As far as I know, we were there as bodyguards for Chancellor Harkness, which was a weird thing to ask of the Grandmaster, two Masters, and a Knight, but I'm pretty sure he brought us there for the sake of getting to watch the Jedi succumb to pheromones, be less stiff and have fun"
"... And marry one of the Masters he had his eye on while she was drunk and pheromone drunk to boot. Which he did" He remarked, sounding a bit disgusted by the idea. "Turns out there's pheromones in the air all over the place in Zeltros, which... Was bad. In the end, because of my training, I unintentionally ended up being the only one who didn't succumb, leaving me the one to bail the other Jedi and the Supreme Chancellor out of the messes they had gotten themselves into. Of course, this story has a point. I realized I could go to Zeltros, which is known for its dirty deeds and information trades in the midst of its partying, without risk of succumbing. I ended up visiting after I joined the Silver Jedi, hoping to gather information on a lead I had found on a slave encampment led by a Sith Lord residing in the One Sith. Unfortunately, what I didn't realize was that as I had stopped the pheromone training during my exile, as I felt I didn't need it and would be fine, I'd ended up out of practice and... Yeah. You guessed it. The pheromones and the drinks spiked with them eventually got me. Empress Nimue Stormson, who I'd met prior on a party held by her at her planet to let her people get to know other races outside of them and I had gone there to establish friendly impressions as a Jedi, recognized me while I was eavesdropping on a convincing lead. I don't remember a whole lot from there, but I know that the pheromones rapidly drained my senses, and before I blacked out, the last thing I saw was Empress Stormson dragging me toward a private room for... I don't even think I want to know"
The blonde haired Jedi let out a sigh as he shook his head. "Not my best moment. That set off everything, because I'd made a mistake. That mistake has since been rectified, of course. I've resumed that part of my training, it won't get me again. But the next thing I remember is being back on my ship which was flying away from Zeltros. Nimue contacted me later, as she remembered more then I did, and after a meeting, we had a falling out. I figured that was the end of it" He revealed. "Then the civil war happened, because of her trying to establish contact with other races and many of her people not wanting that due to their old ways that I mentioned earlier. After that war had been won on her end, a party was held to resume contact with other races, same as before. I attended, hoping that I'd be able to smooth things over and keep a business relationship, and have an ally in royalty and a future ally in Effekt that might be able to assist the Silver Jedi in future. Of course, Nimue requested a meeting away from the crowds, and as your man can probably tell you, she uh... Wasn't exactly on the same page as me on that. I wanted a business relationship, and she wanted a more intimate one. I didn't lie to your man, as I said. She did actually get overzealous and jump on me, turning a friendly hug into... Yeah. This was where things got complicated. I couldn't tell anyone what was going on because if it got out, the few people she'd managed to get to see her way would likely cause another civil war if they saw their Empress being intimate with someone not of their race. And I couldn't really refuse her advances as, as your man also saw, she can easily make the situation look like something its not, to get her way. It wouldn't be hard for her to pretend I'd jumped on her, and have her people cause the Jedi serious trouble, both the Jedi Order and the Silver Jedi. As she couldn't tell the difference between myself and Master Ryan, that says it all there. So... I ended up in an awkward situation, and rolled with it until I could think of something, for the sake of protecting both the innocents of their race, as well as the Jedi. It was a sacrifice I didn't want to make, but I couldn't see any other choice. Figured I might be able to find a way out with no bloodshed later"
"So as you know, your man witnessed it, though I'm surprised he didn't notice the awkward and uncomfortable look on my face that Nimue seemed to be too overzealous to notice herself. Once she realized she'd been spotted, she slapped me to make it look like I'd gotten too friendly with her and left, with a subtle note to me just beforehand to stay at the party after it was over. Your councilman confronted me, and while I didn't lie to him, I was intentionally vague in order to make sure that no harmful information got out, and nobody would overhear me. To me, it was the best thing I could do for the moment"
The Jedi took a breath. "I went to the gardens to grab some air, and that's when I saw... Yeah.... The bodies. I felt sick to my stomach. I couldn't believe that'd done that, and left them there as an example. I didn't stay long, the whole thing had left me sick and uncomfortable, and I returned to my ship to wait out the rest of the party. Afterword, I met Nimue where I was supposed to, and after our argument that I mentioned, I was pushed into another... Situation, that I really don't want to detail. After the fact, there was relationship talk, but it was made obvious on her end that it was meant to be nothing but an intimate thing, nothing more. I did offer for her to accompany me the next time I tried to deal with slave traders, without giving her any details on my next plans, and she was up for it. Of course, she never got back to me on it, but most likely, if she had, I would have found out about her force affinity and her dark side aura there, in the line of combat"
"In the end, it seems she's grown tired of me. There has been no contact since, and honestly, I sort of hope it stays that way. This entire things been a bad situation, and I was content to finally have my way out without bloodshed to anyone, until you called me here" The Jedi Master added, moving some hair from his face. He noted he'd been twirling stands of his hair throughout the entire exchange, a habit he had when he was experiencing stress. This entire thing had been nothing but stress, and reliving it was all the same.
"I have no intentions of working with her now, after all that, especially now that I know she's most likely a darksider" He would add. "That's all the information I have, Grandmaster Raaf, Master Karr. But I do have a question" He spoke, looking straight at Corvus. "One things been worrying me ever since you said she was likely a darksider. Do you have a medical droid on board? One that could examine me for poisons of any kind? I haven't felt anything of the sort since the encounter, but if its a subtle one, its best I look as soon as possible and get treated if necessary" He would speak, his tone and expression dead serious. He wouldn't put it past a dark jedi to poison him after all this. She had plenty of opportunity.
