Opening the Codex

[Bolt]

Sitting at a large ornate desk, made of a deep and rich brown - crafted of a Val'hallan Oak - with ancient runes carved into the trimming, Zander leaned back in his lush chair. It was a scarlet, against a dark black wood, seeming very warrior worthy.

Resting his chin on his hand, the Elder Mind looked at an object sitting on the table before him. Though his eyes were not really taking it in, rather, they were almost vacant. His mind, having opened many a Holocron through his lives, was calculating and thought-filled. What would it take to open this one? Would he require immense power to do so?

Slowly leaning forward, finally figuring it would simply require enough meditation and focus on the effort, he clasped both hands - one now a replacement crafted of Titanium - then placed his elbows on the desk, then closed his eyes. He began to slowly disperse himself into the Force, taking and giving all the same. The knowledge of what would come next, would come when the time allowed.

A small red light on a nearby Comlink flashed, signaling that a message recently typed, had been sent:

'[member="Vulpesen"], if you would like to be present when I open the Holocron, and learn with me, come to my home on Dantooine. The Coordinates will be included.'

 

[Vulpesen]

Vulpesen turned his head at the beep of his comlink as he sat in his office on Veradune. Taking a moment to click it on, he read through it while signing several bills. So, our friend is ready to learn from his prize. He grinned and typed back a response before getting up. "Ace, prep the ship. I'll be out shortly." As Ace scampered off to do as he was told, Vulpesen grinned and got himself ready. Of course, he had almost every confidence that Zander didn't intend to fight him. Why would he? Still, Vulpesen placed on his armored coat and gauntlets. With a galaxy as wild as this one,who knew what could happen.

Once he was ready, the leader of the Tenevi headed out to his ship and took to the stars, setting course of Onderon. The trip would take a few hours, but still, he would be as fast as he could to reach his destination. No need to make [member="Zander Greyson"] wait any more than was necessary. Especially not when he had lost an arm to gain the prize he was about to share.

 

[Bolt]

Hours the man sat, his eyes closed, his senses turned every where but inward; he would not get what he wanted by looking in. With a grace that few apprentices had - strictly cause of his memories of Master-hood - Zander finally learned what he wanted. Taking a few long moments drawing himself back into himself, almost with regret, the man leaned back, relaxing tensed muscles.

"Sir, a ship is incoming." A voice from down the hall, which lead from his office to the rest of his modest estate.

"Thank you! When [member="Vulpesen"] lands, please let him in! You will know him when he shows!" Zander called back.

Then, looking towards the Holocron, with a tap on his energies, the Elder Mind murmured, "Open your teachings." Each word was infused with the Force, and the result was quickly revealed. A hologram of a man appeared, speaking in return.

"Finally, someone accesses my teachings." The voice said.

Zander smiled, bringing his hand to his face, a finger extended to touch his lips which twitched upward in a smile.

 

[Vulpesen]

Getting off of his ship, he felt the familiar weight of Ace as the wold sat on his shoulder. Truthfully, the master was rather excited to see what lay in the holocron, though he had no idea what it would be. Seeing a man waitin for him, he stepped forth and nodded a greeting. Zander was right about one thing, Vulpesen was an unmistakable person. When he wasn't hiding, his golden eyes could be seen glowing fiercly under the hood of his coat and his black tail was easily seen waving behind him. Following his apparent escort up through the estate, he stepped into the room to meet the apprentice. "Thank you for calling me."

[member="Zander Greyson"]

 

[Bolt]

Casting his eyes to the newcomer, Zander nodded his head, gesturing to a nearby chair, "Welcome Vulpesen, please, have a seat, consider my servants at your disposal." At these words the same man that met the Master at the door showed himself once again, "Drinks, food, drugs, whatever you need." Zander said smiling.

Then, changing his view once again, toward the Holocron, Zander asked it to relay the information it held. Something itched at the back of his senses as the hologram began to answer with what it knew...something about the information held within was dangerous. He was never a Farsight master, but he could sense things before they happened on occasion, and this time it yelled at him to be careful.

"Crucitorn...I used that in a fashion in my last life..but not enough to say I have true knowledge." Zander said thoughtfully.

He still paused before asking the being to continue, to truly show what it knew in depth, glancing at [member="Vulpesen"], "Should I continue?"

 

[Vulpesen]

Vulpesen grinned as he heard the skill spoken. Crucitorn, a skill he had learned about long ago and honestly, h always had an affinity for it, something that happened in his worst hours. Though, the offensive for would be a great use for him. Non-fatal but incredibly effective possibly even drawing on the darker aspects of the force. It was the perfect thing for the Vitae master to learn. Peace through pain without death. "Aye. And once you're done that's something I'll wish to learn as well. Though for now, I'd prefer if you focused more on the self version. Leave the pain of others for the future when your power and control in the force has grown."

[member="Zander Greyson"]

 

[Bolt]

(Instead of a big post explaining its uses, I am going to do a small 'end of the speech' one then move to practicing it.)

"...using this ability, it simply dampens pain, not removing it entirely, but in doing so you may continue longer in battle, or escape capture with ease." The Hologram explained, finishing its speech. It had explained how one could Contort its body, allowing easy escape, as well as to apply it in battle to allow pain to mean nothing. In its speech, he also made special note that practitioners of the art could also remove damage done to ligaments alongside the removal of the pain itself. Basically it was a perfect talent that Zander had never learned in his days as Zaiden, and would be a useful talent for his arsenal.

Nodding slowly, Zander sensed a change in his body, but simply ignored the effect as it meant little to nothing for the moment. Turning to his servant that stood vigilant in the room, he asked for a pair of plain steel handcuffs. Sitting back in his chair, Zander waited a time, before glancing up to see his servant arrive with a pair. Arching a brow at the swiftness, he wanted to ask where they came from so abruptly, but the servant blushed a scarlet hue and coughed - obviously he did not wish to go into why he had them.

Shrugging, Zander looked to [member="Vulpesen"], holding his arms before him, "Care to do the honors?"

 

[Vulpesen]

Vulpesen listened intently to the speech of the holocron. He might have had a basic understanding, but that was true for a lot of abilities. And yet, he seemed to be able to practice very few in comparison to the techniques that were swirling in his mind. Gaining further understanding was certainly refreshing, especially since it was the first time in years that he hadn't learned a skill that required him taking the life of another.

Taking the cuffs from the servant, he rose a brow the same question popping into his head. Of course, one other joined it, only to be answered with, Alex would kill me. Turning to Zander, he started to lock the objects onto him, rather curious as to what he had planned. he had several ideas how to test crucitorn. The usage of handcuffs were not involved in any of them.


[member="Zander Greyson"]

 

[Bolt]

Taking a long deep inhale, Zander rested his arms behind his back, then exhaled, popping his thumbs clean out of place, reducing the feeling of pain at the same time as it arose. Slipping both hands up and out, Zander only had to grind his teeth to avoid the majority of the residual pain. It was a powerful technique, and even allowed him to feel little to nothing - with enough practice it would likely be very potent in future battles.

Placing the handcuffs softly on the table, Zander stared down at disfigured hands, then used his main fingers to grip first his left thumb, jerking it back into the correct position, then he did the same with the other. Wiggling both testily, he smiled to himself, then raised both hands to show to his new found friend and ally. Shaking each thumb in turn he chuckled, "Not so difficult, once you know how to do the ideal deadening of nerves. Still extremely painful for those such as myself, with little control over the powers they so readily wield.

"Bring me rope, and a few more sets of hand cuffs." Zander said to the servant once more, then glancing towards the nearby ally he smiled yet again, "Im going to up the ante."

When the servant arrived back, a lot longer than the previous swift incurrsion, Zander cuffed his hands behind his back, asking the servant and the Master, "Can you cuff my elbows and forearms, then tie the rope around both arms from the wrist upward."

[member="Vulpesen"]

 

[Vulpesen]

Vulpesen twitched a bit as he saw [member="Zander Greyson"]'s plans. "Please don't tear your arms off. You may not feel it as much, but the damage is still being done." Despite his words, he still did as the man asked, binding him to test what he could do. "I expect you to do the same to me so that I might see my own skills with this."

 

[Bolt]

Zander chuckled, "Of course I wont be ripping my arms off. If I cant get them off, I will simply have you guys remove them. And I will indeed help you." Concentrating for a moment, Zander dulled the ligaments of his arms, first the thumb joints, then the wrists, elbows then his shoulders. Exhaling slowly, Zander jerked his right arm forward, popping it out of place with a sickening sound, then he did the same with his elbow, as he yanked downward with the other arm.

At first there was no effect, other than the pain. Before long however he felt his thumb collapse inward towards his hand, then his hand was freed. Wiggling his elbow cuffs, he then pushed it far to the side until it to was dislocated, where he was finally able to slide it free. Lastly with the rope being the sole thing holding his arms, he paused and winced against the pain that was flooding his body.

Even with the Force it was excruciating.

Pulling his other arm, he slowly straightened it in the opposite direction, the rope and now freed cuffs finally pulled entirely free. It took a few moments for him to relocate each joint moving upwards. Sighing in relief, he nodded to the master as he sat down. He needed rest; he couldnt even speak agaisnt the pain he felt.

[member="Vulpesen"]

 

[Vulpesen]

Vulpesen's ears and tail flicked irritably at every excruciating noise. Pain for the sake of knowledge had never been one of his major beliefs and seeing the lengths [member="Zander Greyson"] would go through to learn set him a bit off edge. Once it ended, he let out a small sigh of relief of his own. I guess that makes it my turn. Goody. Taking the cuffs from before into his own hands, Vulpesen called on the force to click them around his wrists. Time from his life on Nar Shadaa had taught him to pick most locks, including something as simple as these. But sometimes, such means wouldn't be an option. So he might as well learn the alternative here in a controlled environment. After all, it was better than trying to do it for the first time while his life was at stake.

Focusing on the force, he let it flow through his limbs and mind, numbing the sensation of pain as his hands started to pull against the cuffs. The pain at first was fairly excruciating, but before long, he manages to squelch it with the force, muffling the cries of pain in his mind. Maybe it was the battles of his past creating a tolerance to the sensation, but he fairly sure that the cruciform was working. His thoughts were confirmed when he saw his thumb pop into his palm with only some discomfort to show for it. Pulling his hand through the cuff, he popped his thumb back and quickly did the same with the other. He felt a bit drained from the full use of true crucitorn, but he dare not turn it off, simply because of the residual pain he had in his joints. "And you did this with your entire body."


(Sorry for the lateness. I've been busy IRL. Spring break and hell from school.)

 

[Bolt]

(Its all good lol. Stuff happens.)

Zander leaned back, his body still aching in multiple points, his breath was heaving while slow, and his power was dulled quite a bit from forcing so much into his limbs. He then offered a meak smile at his allies words, he had indeed done far more, and if not for his skills at escaping capture already, likely wouldnt have been able to complete what he had.

Taking a deep breath, he spoke slowly, "Yeah. You have way more control to, so imagine that along how much I did." Pausing to breath a bit he then continued, "Also, did you happen to find anything in that pit we could learn from also?"

[member="Vulpesen"]

 

[Vulpesen]

Vulpesen cringed a bit more as he thought of it. The perks of being strong enough to earn master. You were generally more controlled even with your newest powers. "I hope you don't mind me saying but... that's unhealthy." While not quite overbearing, there was a look of worry in the master's eyes as he looked at [member="Zander Greyson"]. Sure it was just training right now, but Vulpesen knew as well as any other that there could be hell to pay if you pushed yourself too far.


Once his rising paternal instinct was subdued, he took a holocron from his coat and held it up. "Nothing quite as fun, but it could come in handy, especially if you expect to face a stronger opponent." Of course, Vulpesen had taken a bit of time for some minor studying back on his ship, though he hadn't quite delved fully into the technique. "It teaches emptiness."

 

[Bolt]

"Do you think we could work on that as well?" Zander asked, his brow arched as he reclined. His breathing was slowly returning, but was still labored. Dragging a hand across his brow, he wiped the sweat that gathered there. Moving his hand against his jeans, he then transferred the wetness there next. Sighing, Zander stretched again.

[member="Vulpesen"]

 

[Vulpesen]

Vulpesen nodded and took a seat once more, moving the holocron of crucitorn aside and replacing it with his own on the desk. "This one, I see no reason for restriction on its teachings, at least not from what I've seen so far." He focused the force into the small object, causing the gem at the top to rotate before the three inclined sides fell down to the table. From there rose the gatekeeper who would begin his speech.

[member="Zander Greyson"]

 

[Bolt]

Zander nodded, sitting back and listening to the speaking of the gatekeeper as he explained in depth the use of Emptiness. It was as far as he could see, a deep meditation that relinquished the user of all feelings and emotions for a time. Once revived from the said meditation, the user could also benefit frrom a minor boost in power - plus the best affect being something the Stealther loved; being harder to detect in the Force.

Restig his head on his hand, Zander yawned once, showing his weariness - luckily he had gotten his body to relax by that point however...

Closing his eyes, Zander relaxed into the meditative state the Gatekeeper had spoken of, something similar to the Far-Seeing meditation he was accustomed to during his days as a Master and Knight. His breathing slowed to near nothing, his heart rate did the same...he was lost in the feeling of emptying himself of all things...

[member="Vulpesen"]